Founder & LinkedIn Strategist | I help founders and executives turn deep expertise into an unmissable personal brand | 10 years at L’Oréal & J&J | Book a free strategy session (offer ends 20/02)

Most founders and executives have more expertise than visibility. I help turn that expertise into visible authority, inbound opportunities, and leverage – without turning you into a full‑time content creator.

Hi, I’m Alec, I went from global consumer marketing at L'Oreal and Johnson and Johnson, tp Founder of We Grow. Here's more about me:

🟢 In 2015, I joined L'Oreal on the most competitive marketing grad scheme in the UK.
🟢 From 2017 to 2024, I was promoted 6 times from Assistant manager to Global Group Manager.
🟢 In 2024, I grew my LinkedIn from 3,000 to 60,000 with daily posts on career growth.
🟢 In 2025, I quit to be a Career Coach and helped 150+ people get promoted to 6-figure roles.
🟢 I also helped others grow on LinkedIn, building a 6-figure personal branding service in 9 months.

Now in 2026, I am relaunching that business as WE GROW.

WE GROW helps partners and executives with deep expertise, go from invisible to unmissable online.

Our done-for-you marketing services help you create a distinct and ownable brand and grow your reputation and influence at scale. 

So WE can attract new opportunities and clients, while YOU focus on what you do best: building relationships and delivering great work.

🟢 To connect and learn how I can help book at: https://calendly.com/we-grow/wegrowintro
🔵 To partner with me as a content creator or public speaker, please email: enquiries@alecrickard.com

Alec Rickard

You’re allowed to outgrow what you’re known for.

Your job.
Your resume.
Even your reputation.

Where you start doesn’t have to limit where you finish.

At some point, growth feels uncomfortable.

You walk into work and something feels off.

The role that used to stretch you now feels small.
The problems feel repetitive.
The praise feels routine.

That discomfort is not random.

It is information.

It is pointing you toward your next move.

Most people ignore it.

They tell themselves they should be grateful.
They remind themselves the pay is good.
They stay because it is familiar.

But growth rarely feels comfortable.

It feels risky.
It feels uncertain.
It feels like you might disappoint people who only know you one way.

You are allowed to grow beyond your current identity.

If you are known as the operations person, you can build strategy skills.

If you are known as the quiet executor, you can become the one who leads meetings.

If you are known for one function, you can start learning the next one before you are given the title.

Reinvention does not start with a new job.

It starts with a decision.

A decision to stop settling for being good at what is easy.

Look at the skills you already have.

Communication.
Project ownership.
Data analysis.
Client management.

Ask yourself where those same skills could create a bigger impact.

Then start acting in that direction before anyone gives you permission.

Volunteer for a cross functional project.

Ask to present the update instead of sending the email.

Have the conversation about the role you want next.

Build proof in small ways.

That is how your identity shifts in real time.

What you are known for today is based on your past actions.

What you build tomorrow is based on the actions you choose now.

A growth mindset is not a quote on a wall.

It is choosing expansion over comfort.

Again and again.

So be honest with yourself:

Are you staying loyal to an old version of you,
Or are you building the next one? 👇

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Founder & LinkedIn Strategist | I help founders and executives turn deep expertise into an unmissable personal brand | 10 years at L’Oréal & J&J | Book an intro call below

Your potential is far higher than you think.

Don’t limit it by building your own ceilings.

Most people hold themselves back with beliefs like…

🚫 “I’m not qualified enough”
🚫 “I’m not ready yet”
🚫 “What if I fail in front of everyone”

But here’s the truth: you don’t need to feel ready.

You just need to start. 

4 Actions to Go After What You Want:

1️⃣ Apply before you feel qualified
↳ Most people learn on the job.
↳ Confidence comes from action, not waiting.
↳ The worst they can say is no.

2️⃣ Say yes before you feel ready
↳ Courage shows up before confidence.
↳ Growth comes from uncomfortable reps.
↳ You’ll figure it out faster than you think.

3️⃣ Ask even if it scares you
↳ Promotions, raises, opportunities… they go to people who ask.
↳ Closed mouths don’t get fed.
↳ The ask is often the difference-maker.

4️⃣ Try again after you fail
↳ Everyone stumbles.
↳ The winners are simply the ones who get back up.
↳ Each failure is training for your next attempt.

You’ll never feel 100% prepared.
Do it anyway.

What’s one thing you’ve been holding back from? 
Drop in the comments 👇

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High-performers stand out for 2 things:

1. They execute the brief.
2. They support others along the way.

I used to believe high performers win by beating others.

Be first.
Be faster.
Be louder.

But the opposite is true.

The best performers I’ve seen don’t compete with their peers.

They work with them.
They act as a role model.
They help drive higher standards.
             
It's the fastest way to build trust
And make an impact on the whole team.

And trust changes everything.

When people trust you, 
They back you.
They want you on bigger projects.
They speak your name when you’re not in the room.

That’s how careers really move.

None of this slows you down.
It speeds you up.

Because leaders don’t promote the person who steps on others.
They promote the person who makes the whole team stronger.

The goal isn’t to win alone.
It’s to rise by helping others rise too.

So ask yourself this:

Are you trying to win, or build something people want you to lead?
Share your thoughts 👇

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Your boss will never say these out loud.

But they’re expecting them. Always.

There’s nothing more frustrating than:

 → Doing solid work
 → Delivering results
 → Still being overlooked

If that’s you, this is why:

Your boss has expectations they’ll never tell you.
They’re watching what you do when no one’s watching them.

Here are 8 unspoken expectations your boss has from you: 

1️⃣ Take initiative
↳ Doing what’s asked is the bare minimum.
↳ Leaders anticipate, not wait.

2️⃣ Bring solutions, not problems
↳ Pointing out issues doesn’t move the business forward.
↳ Showing initiative does.

3️⃣ Understand the bigger picture
↳ You’re not just doing tasks, you’re driving results.
↳ Know what success looks like for the team.

4️⃣ Make their job easier
↳ They notice who helps them breathe easier.
↳ Manage your work without constant check-ins.

5️⃣ Act like the next level up
↳ Promotions go to people already performing at that level.
↳ Show leadership before it’s official.

6️⃣ Take feedback like a pro
↳ Feedback isn’t criticism, it’s direction.
↳ Curiosity beats defensiveness every time.

7️⃣ Be consistent daily
↳ Your habits build your reputation.
↳ Reliability is remembered long after results.

8️⃣ Invest in your own growth
↳ Your boss won’t map your development plan.
↳ They expect you to own it.

They may not say it, but they’ll always reward it.

Which of these do you think most people overlook? 👇

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Nobody cares about your job title.

They care about what you actually do.

You can have the most impressive title in the building.

But if you're not delivering? 
It means nothing.

Titles don't get you promoted. 
Work ethic does.

Showing up earlier. Staying later. Solving problems nobody asked you to solve.

That's what separates the people who rise from the people who stall.

Here's what nobody tells you about work ethic: 

1. It's visible even when you think it's not 
↳ People notice who follows up without being asked. 
↳ That reputation gets built before any title does.

2. It compounds faster than skill 
↳ Skill takes years. Trust takes months. 
↳ Consistency beats talent every single time.

3. It follows you when you leave 
↳ Titles stay behind when you walk out the door. 
↳ Habits don't. They carry you through every restart.

4. It attracts the right people 
↳ Nobody reaches out because of a title on your profile. 
↳ They reach out because someone saw how you work.

A title tells people where you sit in the org chart.

Work ethic tells people whether you're worth betting on.

One of those matters in a meeting. 
The other matters in a career.

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Hard work got you here.

It won't get you to the next level.

Beyond a point, effort stops adding up.
If you run your career like a system, you make cleaner decisions and protect your time.

Most people stay stuck in reactive work and chasing the wrong numbers.

Here are the 9 laws high performers use, and how to put them to work:

1) North Star Principle
↳ A long-term goal that guides every career decision.
➟ Keeps you focused and on track over the years.
➟ Check it weekly and ask if your tasks are serving that goal.
➟ Use before planning your quarter or saying yes to something.

2) Law of Inversion
↳ Avoid failure first, then chase the win.
➟ Fewer mistakes, more consistent results.
➟ Before big moves, write down what could go wrong and block it now.
➟ Use on strategy, hires, deals, and launches.

3) Parkinson's Law
↳ Work grows to fill whatever time you give it.
➟ Tighter timelines and faster results.
➟ Cut your deadline in half and add a midpoint check.
➟ Use for projects, presentations, and decisions.

4) Law of Diminishing Returns
↳ After a certain point, more effort gives you less back.
➟ Save time and stop over-polishing.
➟ Stop at 80 percent and get real feedback next week.
➟ Use on decks, features, content, and analysis.

5) Peter Principle
↳ People get promoted until they reach a role they struggle in.
➟ Stay sharp after every promotion.
➟ Within 30 days, plan skill sprints and get coaching.
➟ Use after promotions or big jumps in responsibility.

6) Goodhart's Law
↳ When a number becomes the goal, it stops telling the truth.
➟ Better behaviour and fewer hollow wins.
➟ Track a mix every month: quality, speed, impact, satisfaction.
➟ Use for KPIs and personal scorecards.

7) Principle of Least Effort
↳ People always take the easiest path available.
➟ More gets done when the right action is also the simplest one.
➟ Remove friction and make the good habit the default today.
➟ Use on workflows, templates, and routines.

8) Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)
↳ A small number of actions drive most of your results.
➟ More impact with less wasted effort.
➟ Every week, find your top 20 percent and spend more time there.
➟ Use during planning, reviews, and prioritisation.

9) Gall's Law
↳ Big systems that work always started as small systems that worked.
➟ Fewer failed projects and faster learning.
➟ Start small and test with one case this week.
➟ Use before building new processes or products.

Why this matters: at senior levels, good judgment beats hard effort.
Use these to protect your energy, raise your standards, and grow without burning out.

How to use this: scan it before big decisions.

Each week, pick one law and apply it to one choice.
Review monthly and add another.

Save this and come back to it before your next planning cycle or promotion conversation.

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Your logo doesn't matter if no one knows what you stand for.

What people think personal branding is:

→ Nice logo
→ Viral posts
→ Quote graphics
→ Paid ads
→ Fancy website
→ Catchy tagline
→ Cold outreach

What personal branding actually is:

→ Clear identity
→ Sharp positioning
→ Real relationships
→ Useful content
→ Two-way conversations
→ Strong values
→ Shared growth

Personal branding is clarity.

Clarity on:

Why do you care?
Who will you help?
Why are you different?

What problem do you solve?

When people know exactly what you stand for,
decisions get easier.

Introductions happen faster.
Opportunities feel aligned.
Trust builds naturally.

You stop chasing.

People start coming to you.

And here’s the hard truth…

If I asked 10 people in your network what you’re known for
Would they give the same answer?

Or 10 different ones?

So ask yourself:
What do people actually know you for? 

If that answer isn’t clear,
your personal brand isn’t either.

If you want help getting clear on your positioning:

Book your FREE strategy session
Link at top of my profile 👆👆

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Your personal brand is either working for you or against you.

There is no in between.

If buyers don’t feel influenced, they won’t inquire.
Influence drives inbound, pricing power, and deal velocity.

After a decade in global marketing,
here are the 6 hidden rules behind brands that consistently convert:

1/ Reciprocity
→ Give value before you ask for anything.

↳ Publish how-tos, templates, checklists people can use today
↳ Answer questions in comments; be useful in public
↳ Builds goodwill that turns lurkers into warm leads.

2/ Consistency
→ Repetition creates trust and recall.

↳ One clear positioning and promise
↳ Weekly cadence across 2-3 content pillars
↳ Makes you predictable and memorable to buyers.

3/ Scarcity
→ Specificity increases perceived value.

↳ Niche by audience, problem, and outcome
↳ Show limits (capacity, waitlist, scope), not fake FOMO
↳ Say no to misfit work publicly

4/ Likability
→ People buy from people they like.

↳ Write how you speak; use first person and plain language
↳ Share your reasoning and values, not just wins
↳ Be generous: credit others, engage, reply fast

5/ Social Proof
→ Evidence beats claims.

↳ Case studies with numbers and screenshots
↳ Logos, testimonials, and “before/after” outcomes
↳ Public milestones (speaking, features, growth)

6/ Authority
→ Lead with what you’ve actually done.

↳ Name roles, scope, and results (e.g., “led X to Y”)
↳ Teach proprietary frameworks you’ve used in the field
↳ Highlight earned media, talks, boards

Stacking beats solo tactics.

Authority + Social Proof = instant credibility.
Reciprocity + Consistency = long-term trust.

Scarcity focuses demand on you.

Save this and audit your last 10 posts and your profile against all 6.

Use them in your headline, banner, pinned post, and weekly content.

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Founder & CD at White Bear 🐻‍❄️ | Top 22 Female Founder 2022 ⚡️| Small Agency of the year 2022 🥇| CP Top 5 Agencies in UK ✏️ | Speaker and Host 🎤 | 16x Award winner 2022 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

Kelly Mackenzie is a two-time founder, creative director, and unapologetic brand obsessive. She leads White Bear, the award-winning creative agency with studios in London, Dublin, and South America, recognised as Agency of the Year 2022 and winner of multiple DBA, Transform, Pent, Mobius, IDI, Creativepool, and Red Dot awards for work with brands like Red Bull, Netflix, Bold Bean, Tom Parker Creamery, and The Kerry Group.

She’s also the founder of People Like Me – a growing community for women in marketing to make real, meaningful connections in person, cutting through the algorithm and digital noise to create friendships, share challenges, and help each other shine.

Named one of Startup Magazine’s Top 22 Women of 2022 and a Creativepool Leader of 2023, Kelly is passionate about design thinking, education, and championing women in leadership. She has lectured at IADT and NUA, served on the board of The Big Idea, and mentored start-ups with Bethnal Green Ventures, Enterprise Nation, and SeedLegals.

Her philosophy? Build unforgettable brands, disrupt industries, and make people feel something – and have the craic while doing it.

Learn more at 
http://www.whitebearstudio.com
http://www.peoplelikeme.io


Subscribe to our newsletter at: https://mailchi.mp/whitebearstudio/newsletter
Or contact me directly at kelly@whitebearstudio.com

Kelly Mackenzie 🐻‍❄️

Your brand problem is not the same as your branding problem. 

They might sound similar, but they're not. 

Shout out to Jo Bird ✨ for this carousel, it breaks this idea down perfectly!

I spend a lot of my time speaking to founders who are looking for a full rebrand.

But once we sit and look at where the faults are,
it's immediately clear their branding isn't the issue.

While brand and branding get bundled together all the time.
They're not the same thing.

And it's often where founders spend hundreds on solving the wrong problem. 

This is what you need to know about the two: 

Brand is who you are.
Branding is how you express it.

Brand is your positioning.
Branding is your identity system.

Brand lives in people’s minds.
Branding lives in your assets.

Brand is the decisions you make.
Branding is how those decisions show up visually and verbally.

If you're still not sure exactly which you're struggling with,
here's what to look out for ↴

You probably have a brand problem if:

1. Your sales and leadership team can’t describe the business the same way.
2. Your proposition keeps expanding to please everyone.
3. You’re attracting the wrong type of client.
4. Internal debates keep circling back to “what are we actually trying to be?”

You probably have a branding problem if:

1. Your visuals don’t reflect your level of ambition.
2. Your tone feels inconsistent across channels.
3. Your website feels disconnected from your pitch.
4. You’ve evolved, but your identity hasn’t.

While it might all sound simple, you need to be 100% clear on which problem you're looking to solve before you put the time and money behind it. 

Because they require very different work and efforts. 

And you don't want to polish surfaces of shaky grounds. 

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Kelly ‍️

Brand vs Branding

The fastest way to lose someone's respect isn't being wrong.

It's wasting their time and acting like it doesn't matter.

I've sat through countless meetings where people were there physically but clearly somewhere else mentally.

It's saying: "This dinner with friends matters less to me than whatever's in my inbox."

When someone gives you their time, they're making a choice.

They chose you instead of being with their family or finishing another project.

How you honour that choice shapes everything that comes next.

These are 5 ways to show someone their time actually mattered:

1. Put your phone face down before they arrive
→ This shows them that you care about the conversation.

2. Ask what would make this time useful for them
→ Show them you care enough to let them shape the agenda.

3. Remember what they have told you in the past
→ Nothing says "you matter" like proof you were listening.

4. Wrap early if the conversation's done
→ Stretching a 20-minute chat to fill an hour just wastes their time.

5. Do what you said you'd do
→ Follow through without reminders to help build the trust.

I'm not alwasy great at this myself, I find it so hard to focus...

In the past I've treated meetings like transactions.

I didn't realise the impact until I saw someone else do it to me and felt how it landed.

Now I'm more careful because people who make time when they're stretched are worth keeping.

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The way you handle conflict says more about your leadership than the way you handle success.

I’ve seen the same pattern throughout my entire 20+ year career ↴

The teams that thrive are the ones where people can be honest without any consequences.

And the problem comes from what we decide to deal with a conflict:

❌ We smooth it over instead of talking it through
❌ We don't apply any healthy communication structures to give feedback
❌ We choose to focus on the work hierarchy rather than solving the actual problem

And every time you do that, you lose a little more trust in your leader,
because genuine relationships are built on honesty.

But this is how I've been doing things differently since starting White Bear:

Avoiding difficult conversations doesn't protect relationships
↳ It slowly adds more tension that later leads to work conflicts.

The longer you wait to say what needs saying, the messier it gets
↳ Clear conversations are often kinder than silent resentment.

Leadership today requires emotional maturity, not suppression
↳ You can be direct without being cruel. Clarity is kindness. 

The best teams argue well
↳ They can disagree, say what's actually bothering them, and move forward without grudges.

None of this happens by accident.

If you're leading a team right now and there's something unsaid that's eating away at you:

Say it.

✅ Not in a passive comment in Slack
✅ Not in a rush simply to get it over with
✅ Not in a performance review months from now

Saying "it's fine" when it's not is the quickest way to losing.

Leaders who want to create teams want to resolve each conflict as quickly as possible.

And that means having the hard conversations during the most stressful of times. 

This is the type of conflict resolution that pays off in the long term. 

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I studied 4 of the worst rebrands:

These are all the bad practices that I noticed ↴

Every brand change gets backlash.

That's just part of the journey.

People don't like change. 

But I've watched and delivered enough rebrands over the years to know that not all backlash is the same.

Sometimes people resist change because it's new and uncomfortable and they need time to adjust.

Other times, people reject what's happened because something they cared about has actually disappeared.

That's one of the hardest pieces of feedback a brand needs to deal with.

Here's what I've noticed after watching the 4 worst rebrands unfold:

1️⃣ HBO Max → Max

HBO has always wanted to appeal to a broarder audience. 

But when they dropped the one word that signalled premium, they lost of customers.

Nobody was willing to pay more for a service they didn't associate with exclusivity.

Your strongest asset is having a name that people recognise.

Don't throw away your equity. 

2️⃣ Twitter → X

Elon Musk deleted the vocabulary people had built around the product for nearly two decades.

The brand that was related to the word "Tweet" disappeared overnight.

There was no longer a term to solidify X's position as a leader in the market. 

Always think about how your audience talks about your brand and use it to your advantage.

3️⃣ Jaguar (2024/25)

I firstly want to say I absolutely loved their original leaping cat logo...

It was instantly recognised across 60 years of automotive history.

They have now stripped the one thing making their brand unique by jumping on the minimalistic logos trend. 

I get that they wanted a new audience but they went to far. 

Don't distroy your legacy.


4️⃣ Cracker Barrel

"Uncle Herschel" had been on the logo since the opening of the store. 

Honestly, most customers didn't consciously notice him until he vanished from the branding.

Always test core design changes before applying them to your brand.

The pattern across all four brands: deletion > replacement.

They removed the distinctiveness of their brand before creating a new lasting connection with their audience.

That's asking your audience to forget everything and start over.

And most people won't just continue trusting your brand the same way immediately.

With over a decade building brands at White Bear, 
and a decade before that some of the biggest agencies in the world,
I've learned that evolution works when it understands what people value.

Change feels like growth when it builds on what came before.

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World's Worst Rebrands

Doing everything yourself doesn't prove you're committed.

It proves you haven't learned to trust anyone yet.

I've noticed a pattern with every project I've ever done:

When I'm working solo everything takes 2x as long as it should.

I'm carrying everything myself and it's exhausting.

But the second I bring someone else in (that I trust) things start happening.

Once you trust each other that movement becomes real progress. 

There's a clear difference between working alone, working together, and actually trusting the people around you.

And each of the 6 levels unlocks something different:

1️⃣ Alone means full control but half the speed
→ You make every call but you're also the bottleneck for every decision.

2️⃣ Together means ground gets covered faster
→ Two people can spot what the other misses.

3️⃣ Trust means you stop second-guessing every step
→ When you trust someone their judgement becomes as good as yours.

4️⃣ Trust lets you divide the work and multiply the output
→ You're not managing them you're building alongside them.

5️⃣ Speed comes from working together and results come from trusting your team
→ One gets you going the other gets you there.

6️⃣ The more you trust the faster things work
→ Waiting to see if someone proves themselves just delays everything.

I spent the first five years of White Bear building it completely on my own,
because I thought that's what serious founders did.

It worked, to an extent, but everything moved at half the pace it could have.

When I brought my husband, David Endersen in as MD and as a partner the real shift happened and I stopped over thinking.

That's when I realised I was the one holding everything back by refusing to let go.

AND THEN, I saw proof of this once again bringing in Steven Mzar and Ben Parish as ACD's. 
(insert the magic sprinkles).

Trust changes what you perceive as actually possible.

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Leadership is a superpower.

Learn it and you can achieve just about anything.

Since starting White Bear, I've put a lot of thought into my leadership style. 

And I've got it wrong A LOT! But I've learnt and every day I'm learning more. 

And something I learned almost immediately was there was 2 paths I could take:

1/ Become a leader because I have the right title.

Or 

2/ Become a leader a team would actually choose to follow.

The difference between these two is found in how you show up,
AND how people feel when they're working with you.

These are the 5 levels of becoming a more impactful leader:

1️⃣ Role
↳ People follow you because it’s their job to. 
↳ You have authority on paper, but very little trust yet.

2️⃣ Safety
↳ Once your team feels safe (respected, heard, human), 
they follow you more closely. 

3️⃣ Impact
↳ This is where your team sees and feels your impact. 
↳ Works moving forward, better decisions are made, there's real momentum. 
↳ Now people want to follow you because you make things better. 

4️⃣ Care
↳ This shows up a few ways, when you invest in your team, you back them, you challenge them. 
↳ This is where they follow you because they believe you will make them better. 

5️⃣ Trust
↳ Now your team knows you, and sees your consistency. 
↳ Now they follow you because of who you are and what you represent.

Most leaders get stuck at Level 1 or 2, and let their ego get in the way. 

But if you're leading a team right now, ask yourself: 
↳ Which level do I want to be at?

The gap between 1 and 5 is where the real work lives.

Leadership isn't about just a position or performance.

It's about how you treat people when things go wrong, and when no one else is in the room.

By building this trust, more people will follow you, because they actually want to.

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I’ve never believed great teams are built on internal competition.

In fact, I've seen repercussions of exactly that.

When people guard their ideas, claim team credit personally,
or spend energy managing perception instead of improving the work.

Honestly, it’s exhausting.

So when I started White Bear, I was clear on one thing:

We would build on collaboration.

Because I truly believe that's what offers the best outcomes. 

When your team members aren't afraid to give opinions or share their honest thoughts. 

That's where average ideas become brilliant ones. 

And that's exactly what I've seen be true this week, 
as the team has just been nominated for a Nexty Award at the Natural Products Expo West, in Anaheim.

Of course I’m thrilled to be nominated!
But this means more than just a prize.

It’s recognition of how this team operates.

The debates.
The care with detail.
The standards they hold each other to.
The fact that people feel safe enough to say, “I think we can do better.”

Awards are a moment, 
but culture is a decision you make every day.

So to the team, you know how much I appreciate you.
Even a nomination like this is a reflection of you 💛

And of course, to PANOS Brands for being brave with us (because yes, this project was brave!). 

This nomination is the result of you trusting us.
And the magic that can happen when a client truly trusts the team.
Jessica (Moore) Herb Pooja Ganesh-Weglarz

P.S. The White Bear team will be at the Natural Products Expo West next week!

So, if you’re going, come and say hello, we'd love to meet you 👋

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Your growth has less to do with discipline.

And more to do with who's in the room with you.

When everyone around me had the same problems and the same ceiling, 
I kept convincing myself that my goals weren't possible.

The moment I stepped into rooms where the standards were higher, 
my own standards started to increase simply because of being in those rooms.

If you feel stuck despite working harder than ever,
this is how you can find the spaces that actually move you forward:

1️⃣ You mirror what you're around

The norms you see become the norms you adopt.

Instead, spend time with people whose baseline is your stretch goal.

2️⃣ Standards rise through exposure

When you're surrounded by people doing bigger things, your definition of "enough" changes.

You should always consider getting into spaces where you feel slightly behind.

3️⃣ Challenge signals care

The people who push you are the ones showing you what's possible.

Because of that, you need to value the people who don't let you off easy.

4️⃣ Comfort lowers the bar

Staying in familiar circles feels safe, but it keeps your thinking small.
↳ Notice when you're shrinking to fit in.

5️⃣ Honest feedback sharpens thinking

The right people will tell you the truth without tearing you down.
↳ Build relationships where honesty is the default.

6️⃣ Growth needs friction
If everything feels easy, you're probably not being stretched.
↳ Look for rooms where the conversation makes you think harder.

This is about being honest with yourself about who's pulling you forward and who's keeping you comfortable.

Sometimes the hardest growth move is outgrowing a circle that no longer serves where you're trying to go.

Discipline can only take you so far and at some point, you have to choose the rooms that prioritise growth.

If you're looking for a good time and to build some honest connections, grab yourself a ticket below 👇

https://lnkd.in/gakq6Fii

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PS: I'm obviously talking about professional circles here for career growth, don't go ditching your OG's!

If you want better conversations, change the environment.

People respond to context, not instruction.

Last night People Like Me hosted 24 women for a cook-along with a Michelin-starred chef!

But it wasn’t positioned as just another “networking” event...

There were no job titles on our name badges, no panels, or awkward circling of the room.

Just a small group of women who are into brand and marketing cooking together.

And almost immediately, the tone changed!

No one was leading with their job role.
Or subtly scanning for who might be “useful.”
Or trying to sell a polished elevator pitch.

Because when your hands are busy and you’re working on something together, you stop that usual networking performance.

That's where the conversations move naturally from surface to substance.

From “What do you do?”
To “What are you figuring out at the moment? I’ve been navigating that too.”

I started People Like Me because I was tired of rooms that reward polish over honesty.

Because behaviour follows design:

If you want depth
↳ Design for shared experience.

If you want honesty
↳ Remove the stage.

If you want connection
↳ Give people something real to do together.

Cook, build, walk, create.

Because activities build the kind of relationships introductions rarely can.

So a massive thank you to every woman who came and made the room what it was.

To Chef Hazel for setting the tone so beautifully!

To Clarisse Fraisse Fraise and Ellie Harrop, who, without their amazing support there would be no community. 

AND, finally to Mission Kitchen who provided a beautiful place for us all to get messy.

These events are exactly what I hope networking can become. 

Next up: breakfast at Ozone Coffee on 27th March...

If you’re ready for conversations that actually go somewhere and you want to chat to women obsessed with brand and marketing, you’ll want to be there.

Details in the comments 👇

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Calling all foodies in California next week!

We are officially on our way to Anaheim 🙌

Natural Products Expo West, we're coming for you...

For anyone who doesn't know it, this is the world's BIGGEST natural and conscious products event. 

Where thousands of the most interesting food and drink brands will all be under one roof.

So, for someone who obsesses over brand and packaging in this space, it's honestly some of the best few days of the year.

Because there is nothing like being surrounded by people who actually care about what they're building, and seeing how this space is continuing to evolve every year.

Now, me being me, I've already got a very serious list going for the trip beyond the expo floor.

(Let me tell you that WholeFoods and Erewhon are non-negotiable 😂)

But I'd also love to be pointed in the direction of any other recommendations you might have?!

And if you're heading to the event, old friends or new ones, DROP ME A MESSAGE!! 

Would love to grab a coffee and talk ☕️

Who's going to be there? 

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Most agencies are kept at arm’s length.

And that’s exactly why progress is slow.

But the best client work we’ve ever done barely started with the brief.
It started with trust.

Trust to sit inside the team, and to move without constant permission.

Still, most client-agency relationships are built on distance.

1. You pitch
2. They approve
3. You deliver
4. They feedback
5. You revise

There’s always a layer between the work and the people doing it.

What I've learned is that layers creates lag and friction.
And eventually, defensive feedback loops.

Honestly, you spend more time explaining context than actually building anything.

But when you’re embedded inside a team, things move smoother 

You’re no longer guessing what matters, because you’re close enough to feel it.

Instead of:

❌ Designing before fully understanding the audience
❌ Thinking only in one platform when launching something new
❌ Treating a brief like an only child, rather than a holistic family

You can:

✅ Stay close enough to protect consistency as the brand grows
✅ Move fast without waiting for approval on every small decision
✅ Focus on what actually matters in the moment, not just what looks good

We’ve worked with ZOE this way for years.

We’re in their Slack channels daily.
Working alongside their marketing and creative teams.

👏 Together, we shaped a podcast with 3.5 million downloads.
👏 Launched the app across three US locations.
👏 And most recently, helped them raise over £3 million in under two weeks.

That doesn’t happen from the outside.

It happens when you’re trusted to be inside the business.

Proximity changes the pace.

It sharpens the thinking and removes the theatre.

From our experience, great work never came from more rounds of approval.
It came from trust and shared momentum.

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