I dropped out of University to build a startup. Since then, I’ve spent 15 years building companies; 1 failure (MatchChat), 2 successful exits (Sanctus & The Knot) and coached 100+ founders to flourish.
I loved building Sanctus. I lived and breathed our mental health mission. It was my passion that built our brand, closed our first customers, investors and employees. I was in flow and we got to £1m ARR quickly.
At ~80 people and £2m+ ARR with 150+ b2b customers, I began losing my edge. People “smarter” than me gave advice and I wavered. I got confused on what to let go of and what to hold onto. I became stressed and anxious building my dream company. I didn’t know how to be a Founder & CEO authentic to me.
You set out to build the business of your dreams, for it to work for you and you end up burning out, working for it - Sifted
I hired a CEO and created a Founder role for me. I exited in 2022 to ScaleUp Capital, bringing in £8m of investment into the business and selling my shares along the way. I moved to a board role, wrote a book with Penguin on Mental Health at Work and created an MSc Entrepreneurship Course with University of Staffordshire. Sanctus has now merged with 2 other companies maintaining our brand.
Now, I help founders travel the same roads I have; 1) Create a business you love 2) Be yourself in it 3) Get to where you want to go.
I work with founders 1:1 to guide and support. I’m in your corner, on your side. I’m a mentor, coach and advisor that wants you and your business to win.
Who I work best with:
Founders with revenue between £100k - £2m
Founders with a social mission
Founders who have lost or are losing their spark and want to get it back
Founders who want to bring more soul and passion into their work
Founders who want it all; no burnout, good mental health, good relationships and a great business.
Topics I support you with:
In our work together, we’ll discover what is important to you and go there. Here are some examples.
setting a clear direction and strategy
your role, loving what you do everyday
delegation, hiring and letting go
exit planning, leaving your business, selling shares, transitioning into something new
mental health, self-care, burnout prevention
relationships (employee, investors, co-founders)
personal brand, writing and social media
purpose, soul and essence of your company
Outcomes & ROI
Everyone I have ever worked with has moved forward and arrived at their destination.
Your business runs smoothly, you feel great and are happier and healthier than ever.
ROI: Sanity
Your business grows 50% - 100% in 12-24 months, because you are in flow and making good decisions with guidance.
ROI: 10 - 50xYou transition out or exit your business with an ongoing board role and/or cash amount.
ROI: 10 - 50x
Investment: £3k - £6k per quarter. 3 month trial and then rolling monthly.
How I work
Weekly or fortnightly 60min deep dives where we make progress on 1-2 of your biggest challenges.
Regular check-ins on text or voicenote
Before each session you fill in an update sheet with key metrics, reflections and challenges.
Your investment is £1,000 - £2,000 per month.
I work 1:1 with you or with your founding team.
Steps Forward
Apply here
We discuss where you are and where you’d like to be.
We agree to work together.
I send a confirmation follow up confirming our contract and session dates
Pre-session you complete an Update Sheet that includes; KPIs, personal reflections and biggest challenges
A typical session; Framing, grounding, checking in for ~ 10 mins. Deep dive into your biggest challenges for ~40 mins. Checking out, agree takeaways and action for ~ 10 mins.
My style
I dance between coaching and advising you.
I don’t believe founders need a pure play coach. I believe most founders need someone who has been there and done it, with a coaching edge. That is me. I mostly believe you have the answers about your business, but you can’t always see a path you’ve never walked before.
My job is to show you the way.
FAQs
What is founder coaching?
My definition of founder coaching is different to the typical definition of coaching. Firstly I believe that to be a “Founder Coach” then you must have been a Founder yourself at some point. You cannot relate or understand the founder experience if you have not experienced it yourself.
Secondly, my version of founder coaching breaks from the typical boundaries of coaching and blurs the lines between coaching, mentoring and advising. This is because I don’t believe that all founders only need coaching. Founders have stressful and intense roles filled with complexity and uncertainty - sometimes the most beneficial thing they have receive is advice or mentorship - not coaching.
Yet, the coaching approach is fundamental - creating a safe space for the founder to explore and share challenges and then creating a container for the coach to ask questions, share feedback and help the Founder find a path forwards.
Who is founder coaching for?
Founders! I only work with Founders and I class this as the person that started the business. I don’t work with CEOs or other leaders. In my experience these roles require totally different support.
Is founder coaching confidential?
Completely and this is a crucial part of the coaching contract. Not only will I ask you to share your feelings with me, I will also ask you to share business information so we can track your mood and the company performance. Two very important data sets. Everything you share is treated with complete confidentiality.
How is founder coaching different from executive coaching?
Founder coaching is for Founders and executive coaching is for executives. Sometimes founders receive executive coaching because they want to be better executives (CEO/CTO etc). This is not an area of interest or experience for me. I am skilled at support founders to be the best founders they can be - therefore we focus completely on your life and role as a founder, not as an executive.
Can coaching help burnout?
Yes. I believe that a committment to founder coaching can both prevent burnout and entirely and bring you back from it if that’s where you are. The safe space to discuss is a relief, but then the practical steps you will take from coaching sessions would allow you to move towards a situation that is more energising and nourishing for you.
Do founders need therapy or coaching?
Good question! I feel like everyone benefits from therapy at some point in their life. It depends on the context of the challenges being faced by the founder. Founder coaching can “feel” therapeutic but it is nothing like therapy. Founder coaching can support your mental health but it is not explicitly there for your mental health.
How long does founder coaching last?
I have no completion date or timeframe for a program of work. Our work finishes usually when you have reached your next milestone and this is when we feel like there is a natural end.
How much is founder coaching?
With me £1,000 - £2,000 a month depending on the number of sessions.
What will I get from founder coaching?
Beyond the other things I have listed on my website or the founder coaching page… everyone I have ever worked with has arrived at their destination. There is usually a reason or inner calling inside you that pushes you towards working with someone. I believe that if you follow that and commit to a process then in our work together I will help you get to where you want to go.
Most Founders Don’t Need a Coach
I’ve met thousands of founders, I’ve spoken intimately with hundreds and had coaching relationships with many. Sanctus, my mental health in the workplace brand, delivered tens of thousands of coaching sessions where I employed 50 coaches and interviewed hundreds more.
Philosophy
I believe that Founders are artists; deeply creative and innovative. Their business is their canvas. Their brand is their album. Their product is their masterpiece.
Why Founders Sometimes Need More Than Coaching
Coaching done well means that the coach would never tell you what to do. Or, the coach would delicately offer themselves the chance to invite in their own opinion. They might pause, take a breath and ask you if they could switch to a mentoring position and tell a story.
The coaching framing shifts the relationship to the hard moments — instead of something to push through, they become information. A lot of founders I talk to don't realize how much of their friction is actually misalignment between what they're building and what matters to them.