It's quite traditional in that I did a marketing degree at university. I wanted to study something with a clear career path at the end of it, rather than something like English or media studies. I chose marketing and did a year’s placement at Sussex Cricket Club while studying at Bournemouth University.

After graduating, I went straight into the beauty industry, always in-house, always client-side. My first role was with a Virgin beauty brand, then I moved to The Body Shop. After that, I went into the fragrance industry as a brand manager for fragrances like Issey Miyake. I worked for a distributor in Weybridge, which meant I had the opportunity to manage multiple brands, including a skincare brand called La Prairie. I was there for nine years.

Then I moved to Goodwood, where my now-business partner, Chris Thornhill, was my boss. He hired me as the Senior Marketing Manager for the Goodwood Revival (an iconic, historic motor race meeting staged entirely with a period theme), the Members' Meeting, and the Goodwood Road Racing Club. During lockdown, we were both furloughed, and that’s when Chris and I decided to start our agency.

As it was pre-social media and pre-digital marketing, it was all about brand activation, working with retailers to create in-store experiences because, with fragrance, it’s all about the actual scent. We also did a lot of traditional advertising such as print ads in magazines and billboards. It was old-school but brilliantly simple.

Most of the creative work was done by the head office in France, and we just rolled it out in the UK. I wanted to be more creative and strategic rather than just executing someone else’s plan. When I moved to Goodwood, I had the chance to be much more creative and develop full marketing strategies with Chris. I looked after Goodwood Revival and the Goodwood Road Racing Club. That’s when I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

One big challenge was the ageing demographic of attendees at the Goodwood Revival. For years, tickets would sell out instantly, then suddenly, they didn’t. We had to figure out why and find ways to attract younger audiences without alienating our loyal fans. We gathered market research and built strategies based on insights, which was fascinating.

Another challenge was with the Goodwood Road Racing Club, which had a capped membership to maintain its exclusivity. There was a waiting list of thousands, and our challenge was: How do we keep those people engaged? How do we monetise that waiting list while maintaining the club’s prestige? We worked with the club’s general manager to create a tiered membership system to solve that problem.

It was about dialling up the unique style and fashion side of the event. Since I left, they’ve taken it even further with the Revive & Thrive theme, which focuses on repurposing fashion, mending clothes, and sustainability.

Social media was a huge channel, but we also used direct mail because we had strong customer data. Email marketing played a big role, along with traditional above-the-line advertising including PR, magazine ads, even ads in train stations. It was a full Marketing Mix.

During lockdown, Chris asked me to consult for a charity, Dementia Support, which he is a trustee of. I was furloughed and had the time, so I said yes. When we presented our marketing strategy to them, we had our “Aha!” moment. Why wait to be made redundant when we could start our own agency now?

Yes! When Chris and I were at Goodwood, we used a personality test based on the Myers-Briggs system that assigned you an animal.

I’m a Panda - organised, methodical, loyal, sociable, and people-focused.

Chris is a falcon - strategic, decisive and visionary.

We loved how this test helped teams understand their strengths and communication styles. That’s where the Growth Animals concept came from, helping businesses understand their strengths and grow accordingly.

We have now developed our own Brand Quiz in partnership with David Hodgson and is inspired by Carl Jung’s Theory of Personality which has been further adapted and researched by The Myers-Briggs Company ©, David Keirsey and others. (See link at the end of the interview).

Chris and I are specialists in brand development and marketing strategy, so our process is highly structured and rooted in insights.

When a client comes to us, we start with discovery, understanding their business, market positioning, and competitors. It always includes a workshop, inviting stakeholders from across the client’s organisation to offer different perspectives and take all the necessary individuals on the journey towards a uniting brand manifesto - a banner behind which to march in unison. We conduct stakeholder and customer interviews, audience research, and competitor mapping. Then, we develop the brand manifesto that defines their core messaging and values and speaks directly to the audience the brand aims to attract and engage.

We test this with real customers to ensure it resonates before implementing it across marketing channels. It’s a thorough process, but it’s what makes our clients stand out and the strategy so robust.

Mark Ritson, without a doubt. I took his Mini MBA in Marketing about eight or nine years ago, and it changed the way I think about strategy.

Before that, I found the word strategy intimidating. Senior people would ask me about our strategy, and I’d feel unsure of how to answer. Ritson breaks it down in such a simple, systematic way, taking you through market research, audience insights, competitive mapping, and positioning.

He strips out the jargon and nonsense and makes marketing accessible. I read all of his work, and his approach has definitely influenced how we build brand strategies at Growth Animals.

When we started Growth Animals, we wanted to build it with an ethical marketing foundation. We were really inspired by the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, which showed how manipulative and intrusive social media can be, especially for young people.

Since we were starting from scratch, we decided to set everything up using the B Corp framework, everything from our recruitment policies to our choice of suppliers and even our banking. Chris led the B Corp certification process, and while it was easy in some ways (since we don’t manufacture or ship products), proving our impact was the real challenge. It took two or three years, but we got there.

Yes, but even if you don’t go for full certification, I’d recommend using their free assessment tool found on the B Corp website. It highlights areas where you can improve, and even if you make just one change, you’re still doing something positive for people and the planet.

We initially thought our USP would be ethical marketing, so we launched The Ethical Marketing Minute series of articles. But we soon realised clients were choosing us for our brand strategy expertise, not because we were a B Corp - that was a bonus, but not the driver. So now we have two content streams:

The Ethical Marketing Minute – Chris leads this, focusing on ethical marketing practices.

The Strategic Marketing Minute – My focus, helping businesses understand real marketing strategy.

We find that the content on strategy seems to get more engagement, which isn’t what we had anticipated.

Chris and I specialise in brand development and marketing strategy. We are sector agnostic, but our heartland is helping B2B brands ranging from tax and accountancy firms, M&A advisors, packaging providers, IT services, and architects, to name a few, stand out in the sea of samey competitors in their market. They want to be seen as the go-to for their services, but they often don’t know where to start.

We help them unearth their brand’s essence. We interview stakeholders, conduct audience insight research, and define their positioning. I love that process because it creates such a strong, resonant brand.

Our workshops are a crucial part of our business. Every client we work with starts with a workshop, it’s the foundation of everything we do. We also do taster sessions via webinars and at coworking spaces and industry events to help businesses understand the value of branding and strategy. These often lead to deeper engagements where we help businesses roll out their strategy.

The workshops bring together different voices within a company, from leadership to frontline staff, so we can create a brand strategy that truly reflects the business. It’s a collaborative and immersive process, and the results speak for themselves.

We can all spot AI-written content a mile off, can’t we?! AI is great for structuring ideas, summarising data, or organising research, but it should never replace human creativity or voice. It’s only as good as the person using it. When it is used badly or without editing, it is cringe!

I used to get really caught up in what other agencies were doing, but I’ve stopped worrying about that. It was inauthentic and a waste of time. Instead, I focus on continuous learning and practical application.

That being said, staying informed is important. There’s so much content out there such as newsletters, webinars, and courses, and if you subscribe to everything, you’d go bankrupt! I’ve become much more selective.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that just because something is trending doesn’t mean it’s right for our business or our clients. We assess new tools and trends through the lens of our strategy rather than jumping on every new platform or technology.

Start with the basics. Too many businesses focus on tactics by which I mean social media, e-shots, PPC, etc. without a strategy. You need to understand your customer, your market, and your brand positioning before diving into tactics.

Another big mistake I see is companies looking for a unicorn - someone who can do everything from graphic design to SEO to PR. That person doesn’t exist! Marketing is a broad field, and it’s better to specialise and collaborate with experts rather than trying to do it all yourself.

If you’re new to marketing, focus on developing strong analytical and strategic thinking skills. Learn how to gather insights, build a brand, and create a structured plan. Those are the skills that will make you stand out.

We’re a founder-led agency, which means when you work with Growth Animals, you work directly with Chris and me.

We specialise in helping businesses that have grown organically but now need to step up their marketing. We help them define their brand, position themselves effectively, and build marketing strategies that drive real results.

We’ve been in-house marketers ourselves, so we understand the challenges. We don’t just advise; we help businesses actually implement their strategy in a way that works for them.