Joanna Howes

The Change Creators 

At The Change Creators, we provide transformational services to help leaders grow and become the leader they know they can be. We focus on the mindset, skills and behaviours leaders need to step into their courageous zone, create a positive impact and deliver results.

Our services include:
 
✅Cultural shifts and transformations  

✅Leadership and team coaching and training

✅Operational excellence consultancy 

✅EDISC and Meta Dynamics profiling to increase self-awareness and self-leadership 

✅Executive 1-2-1 coaching 

If you would like to take your leadership to the next level and invest in your growth, get in contact with us today and watch your influence and performance sky rocket.

CEO and Founder of The Change Creators - Leadership Coach and Trainer 

Clemenger BBDO

- Re-invented the company ways of working to drive agility, efficiencies, and flexibility to meet all client requirements
- Built a new production offering to achieve fast effective content delivery, resulting in a new stream of revenue  
- Supported the win of large pitches by selling operations excellence

Operations Director - Executive team 

McCann London

Operations Director

-  Introduced project management into the agency which doubled the agencies productivity 
- Transformed the commercial effectiveness with systems, data, technology, and accurate tracking resulting in increased profit margin
- Lead the process with the leadership team to evolve the culture to be bold and brave to increase the quality of work

Head of Project Management

Arthur London

Operations and New Business Director

Creative Services Director / Operations Director

VCCP

Helping leaders step into their courageous zone and create positive impact, through transformative coaching & training | CEO of The Change Creators Ltd | Campaign 40 over 40 | International Coach of the Year 2020 🏆

We specialise in creating courageous leadership teams who win together.

Whether you're a newly formed team, a merged company establishing a new board, or feeling the need for a reset, we can help you create a strong aligned cohesive team. 

Courageous leaders are open, vulnerable, and committed to continuous learning, driving exceptional results for their teams and the organisation.

We help by:

• Moving from operating in silos to a collective mindset 

• Avoiding feedback to leaning into compassionate candor 

• From going around in circles to make decisions to a bias for action 

• From working as job titles to truly understanding each other as human beings 

• From all talk and no action to peer-to-peer accountability 


Our approach centers on increasing individual and team awareness, fostering a unified leadership team culture grounded in aligned principles, and promoting effective communication and accountability.

"When the business isn't performing, the first place to look is the leadership team."

👉 For coaching and training inquiries, please email: joanna.howes@thechangecreators.com

👉 For podcast and speaking engagements, please email: anna@thechangecreators.com

Let's connect and explore how we can elevate your leadership team to achieve extraordinary outcomes.


Trusted by: 
Monzo, Amazon, BBC, Troy Asset Management, Ada Ventures, Iris Worldwide, Uncommon Creative Studios, 6 Nations Rugby, ITB, PrettyGreen PR, Hue & Cry, McCann Worldwide.

What our clients have to say: 

“She's 'Life Changing'. Jo has an ability to enable a fearless focus on creating a personal and professional roadmap to success”. - Director Of Client Services at SYZYGY London

“As a coach Jo has been fantastic- full of insights, always there to listen and most of all provide practical solutions. As a team we have come out more confident and ready with practical tools to help us develop further in different areas.” - Head Of Project Management at BBC Creative


🌐  Visit: www.thechangecreators.com

I lost my dad 29 years ago
and last week I was given a photo of him I’d never seen before.

It took me a moment (and my breath away) to take it in.
He was only 50 when he died, an age I'm only 3 years away from. 

This photo captures him in his element, surrounded by food doing the work he loved.

Grief doesn’t vanish.
You don’t 'move on.'
You move with it.

Some days it sits quietly. 
Some days it taps you on the shoulder.
And then there are moments like this, when it brings someone straight back into your heart.

But this photo did something else too.
It reminded me exactly where my own fire comes from.

My dad was all graft, pride and heart.
He cared deeply about his craft.
And he cared about people.

I started working for him when I was 12.
By 15, I was running the restaurant at weekends
Leading people twice my age, learning fast, getting things wrong, figuring out how to hold a team together.

At the time it just felt like 'helping Dad.'
Now I see it for what it was: my first leadership training ground.
So much of who I am today started in that restaurant.

Courage.
Ownership.
Showing up even when you don’t feel ready.
Taking pride in your work.

Seeing this photo now, almost three decades later, has pushed me even further into my own path.

His passion was food.
Mine is helping leaders find their courage to do the work that matters.
Different passions, same spirit.
Although my second choice would have been a food critic 😀

For anyone who’s lost someone, you’ll know this:

The grief softens, but the love doesn’t.
And moments like this make you stop and ask:

👉 Are we using the time we have well?
👉  Are we doing the work that feels true to us?
👉  Are we leading with pride in our craft… or just getting through the week?

I feel incredibly grateful for the years I had with him, for what he taught me, and for the reminder this photo brought.

If you’ve had a moment like this recently, I’d love to hear what it brought up for you.

♻️Repost to remember how important the time we have left is
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Strengthening Leadership Teams to Connect, Perform & Grow Together | Courageous Leaders Podcast| Speaker | International Coach of the Year 2020 🏆 | Follow for posts about self-mastery, leadership & culture

For my birthday last week, I went to a restaurant with NO menu.
And it felt so good to let go of control.

7 courses and no idea what's coming next. 

Even when they put butter that had marmite in it!! (I'm a hater)
It was amazing and I would have never ordered it had I been given the choice.

But here's the genius bit:

Every table eating the same thing.
Only 2 sittings at 7.30pm and 8pm.
The kitchen wasn't chaos... it was calm precision.
No decisions to stress about.
Just pure focus on quality and experience.

And they were all having the BEST time, singing to the music and having the time to have banter with us and make us feel SO special. 

There is so much to learn from this in corporate business. 

What could be possible is leaders stopped trying to control every outcome.
Empowered their teams to be creative.

Stopped offering endless options.
Just do fewer things... really, really well.

What if you applied this to your next project?

Your team?

Your life?

I already have and it's amazing how you can strip things back and simplify to create a better experience.

The old saying 'less is more' is so true.

Where is one area you can apply this to?

♻️ Repost to inspire new thinking 
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The power of glitter.

A room full of women sharing.
Listening.
Supporting.
And encouraging each other to take those 'F*ck It' moments to live our potential. 

Nishma Patel Robb 🪩⚡️ created a night I’ll remember.
Not because it was shiny (even though it was), but because it felt safe.
Safe to be honest.
Safe to be seen.
Safe to let someone else hold a bit of your story.

I’m so grateful she followed her dream. 
It’s not the easy road, but it’s one that’s helping so many women back themselves.

If you’re not already following her, go step into her world of glitter. It’s genuinely uplifting.

Amazing to get to spend the evening with incredible women including Kerry Collinge Amanda Baker Catherine Peacock Anna Cairns Justine Hendry

This wasn’t just the most special morning.
It reminded me why I started the podcast in the first place.

I never imagined how much the guests would teach me, inspire me, and shape how I see leadership today.

Here’s just a small glimpse of the impact being created by the people around this table:

🔥 Mollie Kmita & Rosie Kmita – driving transformational change in women’s football, even when faced with misogyny and resistance.

🔥 Sedge Beswick – lifting founders to believe in themselves again and drive business success.

🔥 Lee Chambers - Driving research to raise the alarm on the impact AI is having on young boys and pushing for guardrails at government level.

🔥 Ali Hanan – showing brands how inclusive marketing isn’t just the right thing to do…it delivers stronger commercial performance when you truly listen.

What was truly wonderful is how different all their worlds are and yet the thread between them is the same:

Courage.
Curiosity.
A deep desire to make things better.
And genuinely lovely kind people. 

And it made me reflect on a simple leadership question:
What change are we each quietly trying to make…
and what would happen if we backed ourselves a little more?

I honestly feel incredibly lucky to learn from these remarkable humans.
And if you’re not following them yet, I’d really recommend it.

If you want more content like this then do give me a follow Joanna Howes

This got me, BIG time!
Tissues everywhere... 

I’ve just finished a positive psychology course, and one of the exercises was to reconnect with your inner child.

I was totally unprepared for how powerful it would be.

I hadn’t realised how much I’d let slip by becoming an “adult.”

The playfulness.
The silliness.
The daftness.
The freedom.

When did we all get so serious?
And why do some of us need a glass of wine to loosen up and feel like ourselves again?

So I’m sharing this on a Friday as a gentle nudge:

Put your phone down.
Step away from the to-do list.
Go and find something that makes you laugh for no reason at all.

Your inner child is still in there.
They’re just waiting for you to come out and play.

Agree? 

♻️ Repost to inspire joy even in leadership
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It didn't go to plan and I didn't fall apart. 

Halfway through day one of PrettyGreen | The Global Fame Makers’ overnight offsite to plan 2026, I realised my afternoon content wasn't going to work.

The morning had taken us to an unexpected outcome. 

Old Jo would have panicked.
She would have ploughed ahead with her planned agenda anyway, convinced that sticking to the script was safer than admitting she didn't think it was going to work.

Instead, I stopped the room and shared that I didn't think the direction for the afternoon was going to work.

I brought the leaders into the thinking and we scrapped the original plan. 

That moment showed me how far I've come.

The hardest part of becoming a facilitator is learning to let go of the outcome. 

To trust that the right thing will emerge when you follow where the group needs to go.

For someone who likes control (guilty), this is terrifying.

But the magic happens when you're willing to not know. 
When you bring people into the uncertainty with you. 
When you trust yourself enough to say, "let's figure this out together."

So many of you have become rigid in your leadership. 
Clinging to how things are always done and your plans.

The best breakthrough moments happen when we let go of what we thought should happen and lean into what wants to happen.

In 2026, you need to become okay with not knowing exactly where you're headed.

That's where the real leadership lives.

Has this happened to you? 

♻️ Repost to help leaders let go
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If 'doing the right thing' could cost you EVERYTHING...

Would you do it?!

Zelda Perkins did.

She spoke out and fought to break her NDA with Harvey Weinstein after being silenced for years.

Her courage exposed how NDAs were being used to hide abuse and protect power.

That single act sparked Can't Buy My Silence, a global movement to end NDAs that cover up wrongdoing.

Speaking to Zelda about her story is one of the most powerful conversations I have had to date and one not to miss.

Especially if you feel currently strongly about something but are unsure or afraid of acting on it.

We went deep on:

- What happens when you speak out against power
- Why we need to go to government for support
- Recognising self-bullying
- Why speaking up needs to stop being seen as 'brave'
- The ability to keep going despite setbacks

This episode will make you question so much and start to see things in a completely different way.

Zelda had the courage to change what she saw was wrong and to keep going despite the emotional toll this took. 

She is a true inspiration. And I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the episode.

Watch it on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

Or Listen on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ezYgJpEY

Check out Zelda's work here: https://lnkd.in/eZgJQJGp

Support the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/e83YkGpq


♻️ Repost to stop systems protecting the wrong people 

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What a brilliant night.

It's not often you see a room full of Marketeers sing the Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 miles). 😂

The most special part is knowing the event is supporting 2 incredible causes.

⭐️ The amazing The Marketing Academy Foundation creating opportunities in our industry for people from challenging backgrounds

⭐️ Under One Sky, who are working to end homelessness 

The goal is to raise £250,000 and it's not too late to take part in the auction to contribute. Check it out on this link https://lnkd.in/eKJZW7AF

And all organised by the amazing Joel Barnett and his team at Fortune Hill. 

Thanks to my brilliant quiz team including Sophie Devonshire⚡️and The event queen herself Mays Elansari

This episode will stay with me for a long time.

The energy Mollie Kmita and Rosie Kmita walk into a room with is infectious, but the authentic leadership story behind that energy is where the real power sits.

At 14, they lost their home.

At 17, they lost their dad

At 19, they started their own women’s football club

At 23, they became professional footballers

And today, they are Forbes 30 Under 30 and founders of The Powerhouse Project 

Two incredible women who openly spoke about the chaos, the fear, the grief and the courage it took to build a life that looks nothing like where they started.

They’re proof that your beginning doesn’t get to decide your future.

And for leaders, their story is a reminder that resilience isn’t built in comfort.

It’s built in the moments you think might break you… but don’t.

If you want a dose of inspiration going into the weekend, I can’t recommend this episode enough.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ejGUyEhm 

Or listen on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp 

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eZwwYhS7

Check out their amazing work with The Powerhouse Project: https://lnkd.in/exAJ4v6K 

♻️ Repost to inspire leaders who want to be inspired and build their resilience

- Follow @joannahowes for more courageous leadership stories 

#Leadership #WomenInFootball #ThePowerhouseProject

Resilience isn’t built in comfort - Mollie & Rosie Kmita

12 leaders.
2 days
1 company with big ambitions.
1 beautiful venue.
And a table full of brilliant human beings. 

Year two of running PrettyGreen | The Global Fame Makers’s leadership two-day planning days reminded me why this work matters so much.

When a team is willing to pause the 'busy' button and look at themselves and the business, really look, opportunities open up.

We went deep into:

 • Innovation – what it really means
 • Curiosity – how to stay open, especially under pressure
 • Values – how they evolve as you grow
 • Culture – the behaviours that build trust (and the ones that quietly break it)
 • Emotional fitness – leading with steadiness even when things feel messy
 • Feedback – the conversations that change everything 

These are the muscles every leadership team needs right now.
Especially in a market where certainty is a luxury.

A special shout-out to Jessica Hargreaves Paczek, one of the most caring and courageous CEO's I’ve met (and I’ve interviewed over 150 on the podcast).

And to 🌳 Mark Stringer, for meeting change head-on, taking feedback with grace, and having an endless energy resource.

If you’re a leadership team reading this, here’s my question for you:

When was the last time you stopped long enough to look at the way you work together… not just the work you deliver?

A huge thanks to the full team for giving everything to the 2 days, even when the wine started to show up in plastic cups!! Sarah Henderson Lucy Mart Adam Shoemark Joe Stratton Hannah Macleod Emma Carson Lucy Porter Darren Greene Samantha Hooper Gill Sereena Abbassi FRSA

And Anna Maria Brezsa Timar  and Nicholas Barnard for the organisation and support. 

♻️ Repost to inspire great leadership
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How often do you go to the other side?

Last week, the right side of my brain finally got a turn.

My whole career, I've been told I'm too left-brained.

Interesting considering I spent my whole time in the creative industry, but it was in operations : )

So I decided to give it some exercise and went to a painting class. 

I had to work quite hard at trying to let go of it being right or overthinking what to do. 

Right now, I'm seeing too many leaders rigid in their thinking, so this is my shout-out to go and do something you don't normally do.

Give your dominant brain a rest and explore the other side. 

Have fun. 

I'd love to hear from anyone who consciously exercises both sides of their brains and what they do in the comments. 

♻️ Repost for more quick bites of inspiration 
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The courage to be YOU!

That was the title of my talk at the Women in PR Christmas drinks

Because it was also the title of the event I walked into 7 years ago, that completely changed my life.

Back then, I was operating from proving, pleasing and not feeling good enough.
 
Today, I get to stand on the other side and pass on what I’ve learnt. 
That’s something I don’t take lightly.

Key things I shared:

🔥 Your 3 intelligence centres - head, heart and gut, and why alignment gives you more energy than any productivity hack ever will.

😀 Your future self - yes, it’s powerful to be present… but who are you becoming? And are your daily actions actually taking you there?

🦁 Courage before confidence - we have to stop waiting to feel “ready.” Courage and certainty come first. Confidence is just the receipt.

It was real honoured to be invited to speak, thank you Laura Perry and Jo Carr.

If you  want a dose of courage for your team to lift them up, then drop me a  DM. 

♻️ Repost to inspire more courage
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What if your resilience is actually survival mode?

That was the question running through my mind as I spoke with Mollie Kmita and Rosie Kmita – former pro footballers, now founders of The Powerhouse Project.

They have achieved so much:

🔥 Forbes 30 Under 30

🔥 Nike and Google partnerships

🔥 Creating real pathways for women in football

But what we talked about wasn’t the glossy stuff.

They vulnerably shared:

• The impact of losing their dad at 17 to alcoholism
• How hyper-achievement helped to hide grief 
• The guilt you feel if your not ‘busy’
• How people pleasing impacted two businesses not working
• 16 years of pushing so hard, in case it all disappeared

It is so important to recognise the difference between resilience and survival mode. 

Resilience is steady.
It helps you adapt, recover, and lead with clarity.
You can pause. You can choose. You can breathe.

Survival mode is frantic.
It’s fuelled by fear, guilt, and the belief that if you stop, everything will fall apart.

One keeps you grounded.
The other keeps you running.

The Kmita twins are now operating from resilience and realising you calm down without losing ambition.

If you lead a team, here’s the real challenge from this episode:

Don’t just ask, “How do we build resilience?”
Ask, “What are we silently rewarding – survival mode or sustainable leadership?”

Because your people are watching what you live, not what you say.

Are you in survival mode? Let me know in the comments.

🔗 If you want to hear the full story – from loss, identity crisis and burnout to building The Powerhouse Project – the episode with Mollie and Rosie is live now on the Courageous Leaders Podcast.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ejGUyEhm 

Or listen on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp 

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eZwwYhS7 

Check out their amazing work with The Powerhouse Project: https://lnkd.in/exAJ4v6K 

♻️ Repost to inspire leaders who feel they are in survival mode

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Very excited for Nishma Patel Robb 🪩⚡️to be putting the Glittersphere spotlight on me at 5pm today. 

I'm going to share when I first rebelled, how I found courage and so much more.

Be great to see you there - link in the events page below. 

Jo x

Putting the brilliant Joanna Howes under the spotlight and discovering more about this brilliant leader, podcaster and leadership expert. 
Join me for this exclusive sparkly conversation.

Nishma Patel Robb 🪩⚡️, Nimmi Shah and 4 other attendees

Shhhh….

Have you ever stayed quiet when you knew you should speak up?

Maybe out of fear… or because you didn’t think your voice would make a difference?

When the Harvey Weinstein ‘story’ was about to break, Zelda Perkins broke her NDA to do the right thing. 

She told the journalist everything, hoping other women with NDAs would come forward too.

But no one did.

So, she went first.

Her story isn’t just about taking on one man… it’s about taking on a system that silenced victims.

It took passion, resilience, courage - and 7 long years of pushing for change.

If you’ve ever felt pressure to stay silent, or you’re trying to create a culture where people can speak freely, this episode will really resonate.

Zelda shares her journey, her mission to make workplaces safer and more transparent.

And why speaking up should be seen as normal - not ‘brave.’

It’s one of those conversations that will stay with me - and I hope it does with you too. 

I’d love to know what you thought of the episode.

Watch it on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

Or Listen on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ezYgJpEY

Check out Zelda's work here: https://lnkd.in/eZgJQJGp

Support the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/e83YkGpq

 
♻️ Repost to stop systems protecting the wrong people 

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Most leaders say they care about allyship.
Very few actually practice it.

I’ve just recorded a conversation with Lee Chambers that I can’t stop thinking about, and I’m sharing this early because it’s one every leader needs on their radar.

We unpacked the everyday behaviours that decide whether people feel safe, valued, and able to be themselves at work, and the shocking data from his research with young boys and AI.

Lee has a way of holding up a mirror without making you defensive.
He names the hard truths, but he does it with compassion and clarity.

We dug into:
• What genuine allyship actually looks like
• The pressure men feel to fit outdated stereotypes
• Why culture change stalls (and how to unlock it)
• How leaders can create environments where everyone grows
• What boys are turning to when the world feels confusing or lonely — including AI companionship

Some of Lee’s research is hopeful.
Some of it is genuinely worrying.
But it’s important we don’t look away.

This episode lands on Thursday, and it’s one to make time for.

In the meantime…
What does real allyship mean to you?

Make sure you don’t miss the episode

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

Or on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

♻️ Repost to get allyship on the map
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#CourageousLeadershipPodcast #CultureStereotypes #Allyship

Too many of us are self-bullying!

And we need to stop it.

In my latest episode on Courageous Leaders , Zelda, who for years has campaigned to stop bad behaviour, shared the moment when she realised how badly she’d been treating herself.

It made me stop and think.

As leaders, we talk about the importance of compassion.

But how often do we give it to ourselves?

It’s a tough role, and there’s not much thanks that comes with it.

So it’s easy to notice what we’re not doing instead of what we are.

So maybe today, just check in:  
How are you speaking to yourself?

And what would it sound like if that voice came from compassion instead?    

If this resonates, this conversation with Zelda is a powerful reminder that courage starts with how we treat ourselves.

Watch it on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

Or Listen on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ezYgJpEY

Check out Zelda's work here: https://lnkd.in/eZgJQJGp

Support the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/e83YkGpq

♻️ Repost if to bring more compassion to leaders 

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Why am I making life harder for myself?

The question Mollie Kmita and Rosie Kmita are trying to answer.

And one I think we all are!

Rosie shared how the voices in her head kept saying:

“You’re not good enough.”

“You’re boring.”

“No one’s listening.”

It’s like having a toxic boss in our own heads that keeps us working hard.

We know that we perform better with encouragement, yet we are stuck in a cycle of criticism. 

My theory is that many leaders believe that if they talk nicely to themselves they won’t achieve as much?

What are your theories on this?

Let us know in the comments and hope you enjoy this great episode!

Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ejGUyEhm 

Or listen on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp 

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eZwwYhS7

♻️ Repost to a leader you think needs to talk more nicely to themselves 

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#leadership #selftalk #podcast

“I’d love an emotionally available adult.”
 — a 15-year-old boy

Just take that in.

Out of everything he could have asked for, he chose presence.
Not possessions.

Just adults who genuinely show up.

Lee Chambers shared this on the Courageous Leaders Podcast, and it’s stayed with me ever since. His research with young boys is both powerful and worrying, including the finding that a third are now turning to AI for companionship.

If teenagers are craving emotionally available adults today, what does that mean for the leaders they’ll meet in the workplace tomorrow?

Leaders are more distracted than ever.
We’re sprinting through days.
Our attention is split into a thousand tabs.
And presence, real presence, has become rare.

But this next generation is hungry for it.
And Lee’s insights make it impossible to ignore.

This is the call to action:
• Put the phone down.
• Listen with both ears.
• Make space for real conversation.
• Be the adult you wish you’d had at 15.

Emotionally available leadership isn’t soft.
It’s what builds trust.

It really is a must to understand what is going on and Lee shares the hope and the fear brilliantly in his episode. 

What’s one small shift you can make this week to be more present with the people who rely on your leadership?

Watch the episode on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/exw6Wc3P

Or on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

Check out Lee’s work here: https://lnkd.in/eWGnSJUz

 ♻️ Repost to please make us change
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#CourageousLeadersPodcast #EmotionalIntelligence #FutureLeadership

🔥 Courage in Bitesize 

How to let someone challenge you, without getting defensive 

Most of us say we want honesty.
Until someone offers it and we suddenly launch into our Greatest Hits of Justification. 

I tried this and it does make a difference. 

1. Pause - Just one beat.

2. Relax your face - Your eyebrows don’t need to panic.

3. Say - “Thanks — tell me more.”

4. Listen, don’t load your comeback.

5. Focus on the outcome you want to achieve to manage emotions 

That’s it.
Tiny moves.
Big courage. 

It’s amazing how quickly people stop tiptoeing when they realise you’re not gearing up for battle.

Any further tips please add to the comments. 

♻️ Repost to help busy leaders access tips
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Lauren Spearman

Performance MCR

Founder & Organiser

The PPC Academy

Founder

Smashbox Digital

Paid Media Manager/Consultant

REFY

PPC Manager

PPC Consultant

Debenhams

Domino's

Initially brought on to cover the national paid media activity across Google, Microsoft & Programmatic, moved onto lead the regeneration of marketing for the local side of the business, working closely with Franchisees and cross department to deliver a full scale digital transformation project.

Local Digital Sales Lead/PPC

Vagabond Digital 

webuyanycar.com

• Yearly, monthly and weekly planning & strategy to ensure business and department targets are met
• Liaising with key stakeholders and suppliers to ensure yearly plans and KPIs are executed
• Reviewing performance trends across Bing, Google & Facebook
• Work with Manager/Executives to test and optimise in line with objectives and deliverability targets
• Manage and develop a team across several channels within Paid Media including (but not limited to) 
   Paid Search, YouTube, Facebook, Affiliates & Partnerships & Programmatic Display.
• Produce daily / weekly reports for internal stakeholders.
• Implementing Best Practice’s across all channels and accounts
• Manage and understand the bid management platform capabilities and structure of accounts to meet targets
• Keep up to speed with industry advancements to ensure we're always using the best products & 
   platforms to achieve our business goals.
• Take ownership of projects through to completion

Paid Media Manager

Dept Agency

Who am I?

I'm Charley, I'm Lancastrian and I bloody love coffee
I'm a mum to my gorgeous boy, Roman
I'm a change-maker and an apple cart upsetter

☕ 📈 👶 ☕ 📈 👶 ☕ 📈 👶 

What do I do?

I’m an experienced Paid Media & PPC Consultant 
I'm Founder of The PPC Academy events and community
I'm a public speaker on soft skills in a technical world & maternal mental health

If you need help managing paid ads across any of these platforms:

Google Ads
Microsoft Advertising/Bing
SA360
Stitcher Ads
Criteo/Programmatic
Apple
Spotify

.... I'm your gal. 

😍 I've worked with some pretty sexy brands so far in my career, including both Ecommerce & Lead Gen businesses including JD Sports, Webuyanycar, O2, Domino's and REFY.😍 

After years in the industry, I've niched down during freelance work and enjoy:

✅ Helping businesses sort their messy shopping feeds out to drive profits
✅ Advising on strategy across paid channels for big digital transformations
✅ Delivering kick ass paid search campaigns to drive both transactional sales and business leads

If you're looking for someone to support with any of the above, reach out 👋 

Paid Media Strategy - Team Management - Digital Strategy - PPC - Google Shopping - Microsoft Shopping - Paid Search - Programmatic - Feed Optimisation - Paid Strategy - Paid Search

Charley Brennand

Applied for a Paid Media Manager role with a dream brand recently…

…didn’t get the job

didn’t get an interview
didn’t even get a “cheers for the effort, hun”

truthfully, I was smidge gutted

WE ARE TALKING DREAM BRAND HERE PEOPLE C'MON
 
and also, my cover letter was elite

funny
personal
charming

the kind of thing that deserved at least a pity glance 🤣 

BUT here’s your gentle reminder for the day:

you can have the experience
you can smash the brief
you can literally be the walking definition of “perfect fit”…

…and still not get a look in

because talent matters, yes
timing matters
but your network?

that changes the entire game, and most people underestimate it massively

sadly
mine didn't reach that far this time

so sit down
be humble
and remember:

even the PPC Queen of the North gets pied off sometimes 🤣🥲😎

Community & Conference Founder | One simple mission - To make PPC more accessible & to inspire the underdogs 🐕 | PPC Consultant | Public Speaker 📢 |

Can we talk about something quietly getting worse in marketing?


job specs are becoming DELUSIONAL 

😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

every week I see another one asking for:

 ✔️ 7+ years experience in a platform that launched in 2021
 ✔️ expert-level AI skills (whatever that means lol)
 ✔️ full funnel, CRO, content, creative, strategy and probably plumbing
 ✔️ £27k salary (5 days office based, of course)

this isn’t ambition
it’s disconnected

and it’s pushing brilliant people out of the industry before they’ve even got started IMO 🤷‍♀️ 

we don’t need 🦄unicorns🦄 
we need humans

humans who can learn
ask good questions
take direction
be coachable
grow in a supportive team

I've said I'll do a webinar on this with my pal big G (aka Gareth Westhead) and yes it's coming but I'd like the entertainment today

what’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve seen in a job spec for a job YOU'VE looked at??? 

(ps relevant to your job role ofc, can't be mad you didn't get a footie manager job when you can't manage your own bedtime hehe)

the longer I do PPC, the more I realise this:
the biggest performance issues aren’t in the account 


they’re in the conversations we avoid

you meddle with a CPC
you can architect a CPA

but you can’t fix:
😵‍💫 unclear expectations
😵‍💫 a client who’s scared to admit they don’t understand
😵‍💫 a team too burnt out to speak up
😵‍💫 silence when results dip

hard conversations don’t ruin relationships folks
AVOIDING THEM does

the best PPC pros I know aren’t always the most technical 
they’re the ones who can talk like a human when things get HELLA messy

❤️ LONG LIVE SOFT SKILLS ❤️

We’re back, Manchester. 

The Performance Academy returns 27th Jan 🎉

post-Christmas slump? 
not on my watch

We’re kicking off 2026 with:

 🔥 real practitioner talks
 🍕 food + drinks (because learning is hungry work)
 🙋‍♀️ a room full of people who are actually nice to be around
 🚫 zero pitches, zero egos, zero £££ upsells

if you’re early in your PPC journey, switching careers, freelancing, or climbing your way to the top of the hierachy, this is the place for you

we’ll be sharing the theme and speakers soon
cause we've gotta save SOME OF THE GOOD SURPRISES til '26

but if you want first dibs on tickets… HMU

It’s Christmas party SZN 🤶🏼 💃🏻 


… but for us contractors and business owners it can be another reminder of how lonely it can sometimes be in business.

That’s why I wanna give a HUUUUUUGGGEEEE shoutout 

📣 📣 📣

MAN LIKE Eddie Whittingham  

📣 📣 📣

He’s created a community for founders that has undeniably helped me in the last 9 months.

Ministry of Work is the home of Performance MCR and has become this little haven for me and my businesses.

I’ve met some seriously talented founders during my time there 

and honestly 

it’s easily one of the best business decisions I made putting myself amongst those people 

❤️

I’ve learnt about:

profit margins
PR 
media production 
AI in business

… and soooo much more 🤯🤪

Here’s to many more years around wonderfully brilliant founders and things that require full length sequin gowns 😂🫶

No alternative text description for this image

So unbelievably proud of the UK representation on PPCsurvey.com top PPC influencers shortlist 2026 🇬🇧

Our reps include:

Chris Nightingale 
Kat Sale 
Azeem Ahmad 
Tomasz Abbott-Wieczorek 
Sophie Logan 
Samantha Noble  
🌈  Neil Andrew 
Matt Shenton (sorry, you’re not USA yet)
Becky Simms 
Ben Heath 
Dylan Hey 
Ed Leake 
Liam Wade 🎸 
Jim Banks 
Lottie N. 
 
 If you love what some of these talented people put out into the PPC universe - go vote for them and let them know you support them ❤️ 

Happy Monday
let’s support our superstars 🫶

Open article: The State of PPC and The Top 50 Most Influential PPC Experts by ppcsurvey.com

The State of PPC and The Top 50 Most Influential PPC Experts

I spotted a post on LinkedIn last week having a go at a door-to-door salesman and one of the comments absolutely floored me

Someone said the salesman shouldn’t be doing such a “humiliating job” and should “learn a soft skill like digital marketing instead”

❌ it stopped me in my tracks
❌ and turned my stomach in knots

not because the person was being nasty - but because it showed something I see ALLLLLL THE TIME in our industry:

most people don’t actually know what soft skills are
they just assume “marketing = laptop skills”
and sales = something “less than”

when, in actual fact … it’s the SAME skillset

Door-to-door selling - a job I’ve done myself - is one of the MOST emotionally demanding, psychologically taxing roles you can do

you rely entirely on:

reading people in seconds
earning trust from a stranger
spotting buying signals
handling objections
managing rejection (like, 100 times a day)
influencing behaviour
understanding pain points
adapting your pitch on the fly

if that isn’t soft skills…
tell me what is?

the whole post actually reminded me how disconnected we’ve become from what marketing fundamentally is:

➡️ persuasion
➡️ understanding people
➡️ frictionless communication
➡️ showing someone a problem they didn’t know they had
➡️ and convincing them you can solve it

which is EXACTLY what seemed to annoy the original poster 🤣🤯 

she literally described IN DETAIL how effective the salesman was and that her husband bought into the message before he even realised it

that’s marketing ✔️ 
whether it happens at a front door or in a funnel 

so no, I’m not saying everyone should go out and sell windows

but I am saying we should stop looking down on roles that require more emotional intelligence than half the jobs on this platform 😎 

some of the best marketers I know learned their craft in the “unsexy” places:

🚪 doorsteps
☎️ call centres
🛍️ retail floors
💚 charity fundraising stands

those environments teach you the stuff no certification can:
People. Behaviour. Humanity. Pressure. Resilience. Psychology.

All the REAL fundamentals in my opinion 😉

I wasn’t “the one to watch” when I left school 
I was the one they hoped would stop answering back 😂 

I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently
(as you can tell, 2 posts in 2 weeks hehe)

🤪 back then, I was the gobby one
😭 the emotional one
🫤 the “could do well if she applied herself” one
😎 the girl teachers wrote “disruptive, but bright” on every report

nobody predicted I’d build a business, run events, speak on stages, or be asked back to inspire the next generation

but that’s the thing about underdogs

🌼 we don’t bloom on demand
🌼 we bloom the minute someone stops trying to prune us

so this is my message to anyone out there
if you weren’t “the chosen one” at 16

or at 21
or at 30

you can still bloody choose yourself 
at ANY time
and still SLAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY 😂🥷 

anyone else a “late bloomer” who just needed the right environment?

Nobody teaches you how to back yourself


for literallll YEARS I waited for people “in the industry” to validate me
to tell me I was good enough
to say I belonged in the room

FUN STORY
it never happened

what actually happened:

I kept showing up
I kept learning
I kept taking up space even when I felt uncomfortable 
even when I felt not "good enough"
even when I thought "ill never be like them"

and somewhere along the way
doubt sort of became... direction?

sounds mad doesn't it? 🤔 

the more I seemed to doubt if I "could really do something"
the more I leaned into it 

and you know what the answer ALWAAAAAAYS was?

JFDI
a lesson straight from my good old sales days

✔️ just 
✔️ f*cking
✔️ do 
✔️ it

if you’re in that awkward middle bit
where you’re too far in to quit 
but still not sure you’re on the right path
THAT RIGHT THERE
that’s the part where everything’s actually taking shape

anyone else feel like they grew their career by accident and then realised… oh wait, I’m actually good at this 😆

Saturday 🏃🏻‍♀️parkrun 🏃🏻‍♀️pondering:

its not always easy 
its not always as fun
sometimes it can feel a lot harder 
other times, you’re knee deep in mud wondering why you left the house 🫠

BUT

 …during those times it’s especially important to remember it’s still the same thing you LOVED last week ❤️‍🩹

RIDE
THE 
WAVE

and pray your real/metaphorical trainers survive it 😂☠️

Charley's brain in December...

Currently juggling:
🧠 700-person event planning
📧 192 unread emails
🍫 Stress-eating a Toblerone the size of my forearm

Someone once told me “you must be so organised to run a conference.”

Babes, I once forgot I was on stage while I was on stage.

Anyway. Early Bird for Performance MCR drops in Feb.

We’re already knee-deep in excel sheets, speaker stalks and attempts to source snacks on a budget. Greggs, you're still on our sniper list 

Keep your eyes peeled. The magic is coming back.

taplio

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