I'm a straight talking Kiwi with a reputation built over the last 20 years as a maverick that stands up for what I believe in. In June 2018 while on holiday in Italy, I made a decision to throw a grenade into my life. 6 weeks later I’d sold my new business agency and launched FTSQ, a community and consultancy for non-conformists, focused on supporting their dreams and helping them achieve everything they were told they couldn't, by F***ing With The Status Quo.
Later that year I had a chronic illness hit me and after a couple of years off, I'm back, albeit a little less frantic than I used to be and in addition to The FTSQ Consultancy, I am in the initial stages of getting The FTSQ Gallery up and going. It's a WIP but I have big plans to support artists and to attract art lovers. The underlying brand driver for the gallery is that Art is Legacy (for the artists who are creating long-lasting pieces and for the art lovers who will leave amazing collections for future generations to enjoy).
With a 32 year global career under my belt, I use my knowledge, experience and connections to help others. I've had a highly successful career in 'adland' working in senior roles for the likes of Ogilvy, Wunderman, Vizeum and Dentsu Aegis Network, but I've also grafted in the SME agencies in and around London too.
Different to most career agency types, for the first 14 years of my working life I worked in SME’s that had nothing to do with agencies at all, boat builders, landscapers, construction, town councils, city planning etc. So I bring an alternative view to the table. As a 19 year old I already ran my own department with a team of five people reporting into me. And at the ripe old age of 23 I left a promising career to trade my parents small business out of near disaster when the Inland Revenue (NZ equivalent to HMRC) threatened to end them (it took me two years but I succeed).
I have also started three of my own companies (the gallery is a brand extension of FTSQ) without any external funding; have mentored many bright young people that have gone on to achieve amazing career successes and have made millions for the companies I've worked for and with, having won many of the industry’s largest commercial pitches over the years.
I will forever stand up for non-conformists, (it's why I love supporting artists), when they can’t stand up for themselves, often seeing the extraordinary in people when others walk right on by. I know there’s power in the unconventional, the different and the unorthodox. A maverick and a caregiver to the core, I do NOT think you need to conform to succeed. “Don’t conform to the norm, there is power in your difference.”
Work history
FounderThe FTSQ Gallery
London, United KingdomFull Time
I recently setup The FTSQ Gallery, which is in it's initial stages. I am currently doing everything i.e.
- source new artists
- curation (private and business)
- manage commission processes
- branding/marketing/sales
- partnerships and collaborations (including brands and other businesses)
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Founder/FixerFTSQ
Wandsworth Common, London SW18, UKFull Time
I have 30 years experience in business. This is my third business and I've had 17 years in the UK working in agencies, mostly at a senior level at WPP and Dentsu Aegis Network Owned agencies as a senior marketing and new business director before setting up my own new business consultancy in 2014 before selling my half to my business partner in 2018 to set up FTSQ. I've had my hand in the Corporate and SME world pretty much my whole career as the first business I ever worked for launched onto the stock exchange in NZ when I worked for it and I was part of the team that worked on that launch. But I have also worked for my parents businesses on and off over the years as well. Plus while working in corporate in the UK I actually always had a side hustle of some kind in the SME world. So I never lost touch with what was going on in SME's and the tech startup world here in London.
Skills
- Business Coaching
- Leadership
- Business Consultancy
- Business Growth
- Business Innovation
- Business Startups
- Business Strategy
- New Business
- Marketing Consulting
- Brand Consultancy