Oliver Duffy-Lee

Founder of Authority Agency & Komms | 800+ Agencies Mentored | Previous clients include Volvo, Porsche and Unilever

21six is a brand and purpose studio that believe the world needs Brands That Care. More than that, we know that genuinely caring isn't just a slogan, it's a commercial strategy – we call it The Care Advantage™. It’s our simple but powerful system for helping the world’s leading companies grow crowded markets by showing they care – not as a slogan, but as a living, breathing part of how they operate.

We’ve used The Care Advantage™ to help Johnson & Johnson, The North Face, and Philips with global projects, capture new audiences, and create work that actually matters. And we apply it to every brief, from rethinking a brand’s positioning to igniting movements people want to join.

The age of simply churning out campaigns is over. We’re here to transform the way brands connect with people; faster, smarter, and with more humanity than ever before.

Founder

Website: https://www.authorityagency.co.uk

Welcome to the age of Thought Leadership.

Most B2B brands are drowning in a Sea of Sameness, unable to differentiate themselves from their competition.

And so they spend their time:

- Scrapping for low quality opportunities
- Unable to build an audience
- Failing to fill their pipeline
- Struggling to sign new clients 
- Pricing their services too low
- Stagnating and not growing
- Struggling to make pay day

The problem isn’t caused by lead generation, marketing or sales…

It’s a positioning problem.

Strong positioning will:

✅ Differentiate the business
✅ Attract high quality leads
✅ Convert them into high paying clients
✅ Grow the business month on month

And the strongest way to position in 2024?

Build Authority.

If you want help becoming the Go-To Authority Thought Leader in your space, book a call below:

https://content.authorityagency.co.uk/

Guy Littlejohn

Guy is a healthy lifestyle focused business development professional 

He owns Function, a unique blend of business owners only memberships, retreats, events and community.

Guy has formed a business model that rips away traditions, focusing people first, business second. 

This focus delivers a huge ROI for members and the events participants whilst supporting others to engage with health conscious peers 

Active on LinkedIn and Strava, Guy has a network science approach to development which enables others to find their best form of personal and professional development through processes he shares and delivers

Seed Investor

Having taken the role as CRO, I invested in the company and continue to support as a user 

2.5 years ago I said to my wife ‘I need new friends’ 

This was after a series of comments from people seemingly close to me coupled with a feeling I was growing faster than most of those around me 

What should have been normal conversations or situations I was comfortable in turned into me being (semi) attacked 

I wanted to be myself and couldn’t be, but this isn’t a sob story - it’s a story I hear every week 

There are many people I haven’t met yet who will be feeling the same way

It’s one of the reasons I started this business and it’s one of the reasons people join as a member - to feel themselves with no judgement, only support 

*our next event we open to non members is on the 28th Jan. 7 considering membership and wanting to be part of our growing tribe of 17 are coming along - haven’t met me yet? Founder of a NW business? Message and I’ll meet you next week

Function is an extraordinary Founder and C-Suite community comprised of monthly events and memberships uniquely blending business & wellness

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Just before Xmas I was voted my gym’s male member of the year 

Voted for by my peers, other members 

It was based on; 

Training consistency 
Being supportive & encouraging 
Relative progress 
Adding value to the community 

I was shocked. I’ve just been doing my thing and being me 

Is that the best thing? Players player? 

And it gave me confidence that if a community I’ve been part of for over two years thinks I’m doing the right things for 12 months, I can build the community I am in that image 

But, why don’t more B2B businesses have a players player? 

How many Xmas parties gave that award away? 

Someone recognised by their peers / colleagues not just the business or their boss 

Worth thinking about for silly season 2026 


* The crazy thing? 

My wife, won female member of the year and that was less of a shock. She’s a hard tick ✅ in every one of those boxes 

Double scoop for the LJ house and perhaps the next person to help me build the Function community? 

Realistically, don’t think I can afford her 😂

Many people don't know that I was without a home quite a few times during my time in London 

My appetite for drink, partying and playing the fool often got on the wrong side of people and my credit ran out 

I wasn't homeless.  I always crashed on couches, slept in the office, etc and sometimes had to leave a job, go back to my parents, regroup and go again. 

There were many low points and times where I had to admit to people that I was struggling emotionally and financially but was lucky to have a small support group every time I messed up 

I knew there were many people not as fortunate as me or didn't have the clarity to come back a little better each time.  They were really homeless 

So I started giving to Shelter every month.  A simple thing to do and it ran to a couple hundred £ every year 

But moving to Manchester and seeing the homeless on the walk to work everyday in 2019 got me a little more, so I started to search for more involvement 

A few years later I met Barnabus Manchester and did the CEO sleepout in November 2023, raised a few thousand £ and felt I had given my time, when anyone fortunate enough can give money 

The last couple of years of one business changing and this one being created have meant a pause in my relationship with helping the homeless but it's always been on my mind for 2026 

On Friday I met up again with the amazing Carol from Barnabus and we went into detail of what we can do together and where I can help personally raise funds for the charity but secondly help them with their corporate partnerships

Homelessness is misunderstood and far too individually complex to sum up here but the focus Barnabus have on getting people who want to go from the street into a home and into work is unlike any other charity I have met in this space   

'For the journey, off the streets' is one of their straplines and it plays very nicely into our mission of helping some people in a stronger current position (business owners) with their journeys focused on mind, body and business 

I am running London Marathon for Barnabus in 2027, Function will be hosting events where % of ticket sales are donated to them in 2026 and supporting with events where business owners can come together to help Manchester get more people off the street  

If anyone would like to know a little more about why I chose Barnabus vs other charities in this sector then please just ask

Yesterday we held our first open gym session for members only 

Open gym is where we have a gym facility, ACE Performance in Warrington, available only to Function members 

There is no one else allowed in the building at that time 

Ergs, running machines, weights, sleds, pull up bars, sauna, ice bath, showers are all available 

It’s this type of exclusive training environment our members crave 

Time to workout in total isolation or together an know that any water cooler chats are with other business owners only 

Our partners / facilitators are a huge part of what we do and this particular ‘event’ one is the second Thursday of every month and part of a growing cadence available to members in 2026 

When time is stretched, our members can prioritise getting a workout in and that next business meeting at the same time

Another reason why we do what we do? 

1) Event attendee lists.  No event provider ever gives you the list of who is there, unless you pay £000s at an exhibition event.  Even then you have to do the cringe outreach...'sorry we missed you' email 🤮 

2) Walking into an event alone.  Ever been here? Course you have.  Don't know anyone, people talking among themselves, no real intro's (and you didn't know who was there so you have no idea who anyone is / can't put a face to the name) 

It's just lazy so we do things completely differently 

1) We give all event attendees a doc with the others on - 1 week before 
2) We don't only share the list of attendees, we give detail.  My comments on the person and business, LI urls, emails, etc 
2) We buddy each non member, irrelevant of how many times they have attended, with a member so they have a welcoming experience 

Quite often we have spoken to non members attending about the other members, so they can see if they are attending / their name jumps out therefore have instant wider connection - another point of reference 

We want all attendees to be relaxed and have the best day, not just the members 

This is just one of the frustrations I saw over the last 5 years of running my own business, trying to maximise my time and be purposeful at events.  But if I had had this given to me, I might not be where I am now....creating events / memberships that are totally different in so many ways, even down to the small details

Events that make you feel alive - that's what we all want isn't it?

You don't just network. You sweat together.
You don't just talk business. You share a cold dip.

When you leave it all on the floor in a HIIT class, a level of trust is formed that a coffee chat can never match

You see their character. You see their grit

That is the foundation of a partnership that lasts

This is what happens when Mind, Body and Pipeline align

The 2026 movement has already started, join us 

#Jan6

The amount of people who fell into the beer and pizza networking trap in December is huge 

You leave with a foggy head. You can't remember names. You promised follow ups you'll never make. And your pipeline? Still empty. So why did you go?

For too long, the B2B world has accepted a dangerous trade off, professional success at the expense of personal health.  Professional success without personal purpose

We're done with that

Your business cannot function at its peak if you aren't functioning at yours

2026 is the year we replace the old grind with a high performance rhythm. One that aligns your Mind, Body and Pipeline into a single unstoppable system

If you're new to my content, welcome to Function

#Jan2

Another reason we do what we do? 

1) Event speakers. They’re always on a subject you a) know b) could read online 

2) Event speaker set up. Projector / screen share with a sea of chairs in an office (looking) space 

We decided that because we have founders, directors and exited founders of multi-million £ businesses with us every month we couldn’t do that. 

What could someone teach them about growing, scaling or exiting a business? 

No AI, Sales, Marketing, HR, Finance or other here 

And because all the businesses in the room are different, we couldn’t have a ‘the latest trends in X topic’ (but wouldn’t want to anyway, because you can read it online) 

1) Our speakers are all founders with stories - good, bad and ugly - but with a specific insight into how they built outside of their subject matter knowledge 

2) They have a brief - how mind, body and business have to run in sync 

3) They present in a tipi, looking out over a lake 

When I’ve been to events in the past, the speakers had a really tough job. Teach the audience. 

We look at it different; 

Hormone hacking 
The chimp paradox 
Cardiovascular health 
Stoicism 
The endurance mindset 
Consistency 
Values as verbs 
Public speaking 

Just some of the topics that blended into mind, body and business where our attendees have learnt something

….it’s always a challenge stopping the Q&A so we don’t overrun 🥴

Over the last 8 weeks of 2025 I time stamped myself 

Noted down everything I did and now long it took relating to Function 

Then I noted against each thing if it HAD to be me doing it 

This was to see what skillset we needed in the business next.  I feel I can get to 30 members by myself but as we are at 19 now, 30 will come around quickly and hiring this first role is the most important thing I do over the next 3 months for a number of reasons 

As I juggle current member support, event logistics, new member meetings and onboarding over the next few months I will be seeking help to do this but before I do I wanted to invite comment and support (publicly or privately) 

To help get my thoughts onto paper, I made this doc which could be used as a good brief 

Excitingly nervous times as we head towards being the place for NW founders who want it all - mind, body & business - flowing in the right direction

Function 1st hire 

Pillar One; The Mind

Business performance is mental performance

High performing founders don't just need more tactics, they need more presence.

Through deep-dive sessions with our partners, we uncover the mental roadblocks holding you back;

Imposter syndrome. Decision fatigue. The 'freeze' response that stops you from scaling

A Function Mind is one that is;

Galvanised against knocks and resilient to setbacks. Disciplined enough to carve out non-negotiable 'me time'. Outcome focused instead of just 'working hard' for the sake of it

Your mindset is your competitive advantage

#Jan3

How do you get 16 business owners together for 3 hours on a Saturday? 

Run a Hyrox Simulation. I haven’t found any other way than asking them to get involved in something health, fitness and wellness related that brings the weekend into play 

Nothing else is as important as putting the person first, the business second 

Nothing else gets them closer to each other 

Nothing else gets easy sign off from family 

This is our third one, all three have had roaring reviews 

We do these every quarter 

Join us in April? 


* Credit ImagineAI for spicing up the picture

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The Battle

Oliver Duffy-Lee

Guy Littlejohn

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The Battle

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Guy Littlejohn

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Guy Littlejohn's LinkedIn Performance

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