Why I don’t start with the business
There’s a moment that happens quite often when someone first comes to me. They start explaining what’s going on in their business - what isn’t working, what feels messy, what they think they need help with.
And I listen. But not in the way they expect. Because while they’re talking about the business, I’m paying attention to something else entirely. I’m listening for them.
How they’re thinking. What they’re carrying. Where they sound clear… and where they don’t. What feels heavy.
What feels important, even if they haven’t quite said it out loud yet. Because in my experience, the business is rarely the real starting point.
The instinct to fix the business
When something feels off, the natural reaction is to look for a solution - a better strategy, a new system, more structure, a plan. And don’t get me wrong - those things matter but they only work if they actually fit the person leading the business. Otherwise, they just become more noise, more pressure and more things to maintain.
I see it all the time. Brilliant women building successful businesses but carrying so much behind the scenes that the business starts to feel heavier than it should. Not because they’re doing it wrong but because no one has stopped to really understand how they operate.
Why I start with the person
For me, this has never been a surface-level thing. Early in my career, I pushed myself well outside my comfort zone to spend time offshore. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to properly understand the people I was supporting. Not just their roles but their reality - what their days looked like, what they were dealing with and what mattered to them. That experience shaped how I work to this day. I don’t believe in advising from a distance, I believe in understanding first - then acting.
Understanding how people think
Over the years, that’s shown up in different ways. Through my background in HR and leadership, I’ve spent a lot of time understanding how people think, communicate and make decisions - including using psychometric tools and personality profiling to build that picture. Not to label people but to really understand them. Because when you understand how someone processes information, makes decisions, or responds under pressure… everything becomes clearer. Conversations land differently, decisions feel easier and support becomes more effective.
Going deeper than the surface
Even in my work within the spa and skincare space, I found myself doing the same thing. I didn’t just want to know the products, I wanted to understand the experience so I trained in treatments - facials, massage, energy work - so I could properly appreciate what was happening from the client’s side. Because again, context matters. It always does.
What this means for the work I do now
When I work with a founder, I’m not just looking at the business in isolation. I’m looking at:
how they think
how they lead
what they’re carrying
what their life actually looks like day to day
what they want - beyond what they think they should want
Because all of that shapes the business and when you take the time to understand it properly, something shifts.
Decisions become clearer.
Priorities make more sense.
Things start to feel lighter.
Not because we’ve added more but because we’ve understood what actually matters.
A different starting point
There’s no shortage of advice out there - strategies, frameworks, plans. But most people don’t need more input, they need space to think, they need clarity and they need someone who can see what’s really going on and reflect it back in a way that makes sense. That’s where I do my best work.
Not by jumping in with answers but by starting in the right place….. with the person.