I was 14 when I started working at Williams Newsagency in Ballarat, Australia. For 8 years, I watched people buy magazines. What they picked up, what they put back, what made them pause. I couldn't unsee that.

At 12 feet, category recognition. At 6 feet, brand clarity. At 1 foot, detail. Magazine publishers knew this. FMCG brands call it packaging hierarchy.
I just called it watching people. It's what I've done ever since.

At 22, I moved to London and cold-called olive Magazine at the BBC.
The Creative Director answered: "Who are you and what do you want?"
I showed up with my portfolio. Started the next day.

That was the start of 20 years across the food content ecosystem. Editorial, digital, packaging, retail POS, and advertising campaigns. BBC Good Food, M&S, Waitrose, ASDA, Lindt, Ben & Jerry's, BOSH!, and MOMA, among others.

The most useful thing I do for a brand isn't telling them who their customer is. It's telling them who it isn't. Most briefs are written to include everyone, which means they reach no one.
 

I work with brands at the point where that gets expensive. Early-stage businesses finding their footing, bootstrapped teams making every pound count, category disruptors trying to be heard above the noise, and established brands that know the market has moved but aren't sure which way to turn.
 

What they have in common: they can't afford to get the foundation wrong.
I work on the unglamorous stuff. Audience insight, persona building, occasion mapping, tone of voice. Because when that's sharp, everything downstream gets cheaper and faster.
 

I'm currently completing an MBA because the gap between creative quality and commercial decision-making is a structural problem worth understanding properly.
 

What I believe: beautiful work that doesn't work commercially is just expensive art. Constraints are where creativity lives. Progress beats perfection.

Always up for a conversation about food, drinks, and creative challenges.