why I do what I do…

For nearly 10 years I ran a PR consultancy. I loved the creative environment, the strength of the team and the huge variety of the work. I was lucky to work on many high profile consumer, corporate and government campaigns.

But it was the behaviour-change campaigns that increasingly became the focus of my interest - how could we apply the emerging behavioural insights theory and develop approaches that had a measurable social, economic or environmental outcome?

Alongside my job I volunteered for the CIPR, championing the take up of CPD and becoming the first CIPR Chartered Practitioner in Wales. Through this I was excited to be able to collaborate with other senior practitioners on a number of CIPR co-authored books. For a lifelong bookworm, seeing my name in actual print was the biggest thrill.

Outside work, I was involved in the growing hyperlocal news movement in Cardiff, opening doors for me into community projects, creative/arts events and digital inclusion campaigns. It also, indirectly, led to me taking up a volunteer directorship with RCMA, the social enterprise behind Cardiff’s farmers’ markets. I’ve loved getting to know my own community better, and especially being able to create opportunities for others to share those connections.

I drew these strands together - advocating for behaviour-change, running a membership organisation and promoting community engagement - with my role as director of Business in the Community Cymru. Running the Prince’s Responsible Business Network in Wales was an incredible opportunity to work alongside many of our most progressive business, third-sector and government leaders.

The best companies already get it - but there’s still a long way to go to deliver the corporate behaviour-change that will be needed to move us towards a fairer, circular, restorative economy.

Around the same time, I also teamed up with my good friend Tom to launch Roath Brewery - a hyperlocal brewing business celebrating the beers we love to drink and the stories we see around us in our community. We had two great years trading at Roath farmers’ market and seeing our beers on bars and off-licence shelves around the city.

In 2019, I brought together everything I’ve learned in 25 years, all my experiences and networks, into my own independent consultancy. In late 2021, the business certified as a B Corp, joining the global network of for-profit companies that use the power of business to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

I want to prove that strategic communications can effect genuine, positive behaviour-change. I want to help organisations to understand, embed and share the positive social impact they can have on people and places. I want to help to build better, purpose-driven businesses.

If I can help you with any of those challenges, I’d love to hear from you.