I’m here to get you better results from your brand comms.

Too often I see companies who have created something amazing selling themselves short. Their communications aren’t doing them justice and they’re missing out on reaching the people who will be enthusiastic customers.

It breaks my heart a little, every time 💔

I know how much work it takes to start a business (I’ve started 4). How much energy and effort and time and money goes into it.

You want to give it the best chance of success, right? Of course you do.

That’s why I’ve designed an approach to brand and messaging strategy that’s specifically for early growth stage businesses. It gives you a solid framework for impactful, focused communications that get results. And it will support your company’s growth for years to come.

20 years in the making, this process works.

Here’s how we’ll tackle your brand strategy challenges:

  1. Research and discovery

    Every type of service I offer includes detailed research to take stock of your brand and understand what customers think about it. With voice of customer research, surveys, interviews and more, you can stop guessing and hoping that you’re spending your marketing budget smartly. Instead, you’ll have a way forward, backed by data.

  2. Guided workshops

    For Brand Fundamentals, Brand Voice and Brand & Messaging Strategy projects, we’ll include guided discussions, exercises and several proprietary models that cut to the chase and reveal what makes your brand special. (These workshops are super insightful and fun!)

  3. Strategy development

    After the first two phases comes the Serious Thinking part. It’s the time where ideas percolate, analysis runs, insights infuse and smart ideas arise from proven models and frameworks and a little alchemy 🪄

  4. Presentation and discussion

    When the work is finished, I’ll talk you through it to make sure are happy we’ve hit the nail on the head - and that you understand how we got there. You’ll always have plenty of time to discuss it and ask questions.

  5. (Optional) Implementation and reviews

    If you need a little help or accountability to ensure your strategy rollout stays on track, I offer strategy and brand voice coaching and audits.

Hey, I’m Jo.

Throughout my 25+ year career I’ve worked with brands ranging from huge multinationals to government departments, a load of tech and SaaS businesses, insurance companies, financial services, higher ed institutions, broadcast and media organisations, and more.

The big names include L'Oréal, Spar, Southern Comfort, BT (British Telecom), STA Travel , the UK Department of Health, Johnson & Johnson, Triumph, Primedia, Motorola, Jeep.

But early growth phase companies are my focus these days as that’s where I’m most effective - and y’all are aways really enjoyable and dynamic to work with.

  • Spent 10 years in advertising, marketing and communications agencies in London and Cape Town.

  • Founded South Africa’s first and biggest freelancer site, Freelancentral, and ran it for 12 years.

  • Founded and ran my own small outsourced marketing agency, Peppermint Source, for 5 years.

  • Ranked consistently in the top 1% of global talent on Upwork.

  • Living in Lisbon and trying to get my head around Portuguese verbs since 2020.

But wait, there’s more!

I’m not the right fit for everyone, but we’re likely to get along brilliantly if you also appreciate these things:

  • I’ll learn as much as I can about your business and your goals. I pay attention, ask loads of questions, and make an effort to deliver quality work and achieve a great outcome for you.

  • I’m always open to learning, new information, ideas, change, being wrong, and refining my processes. Every client teaches me something that I can use to improve what I do next time around.

  • I only take on projects that I am excited about - I need to be fired up about your business and the work we do together. I bring authentic encouragement, enthusiasm and positivity to all projects, along with a fresh perspective on what you offer.

  • Beautifully simple but effective messaging is hard, but so satisfying. It needs organisation, clarity and streamlining. These just happen to be my superpowers: I cut out anything unnecessary to get you good stuff.

  • If I’m not the best person for a task, I’ll tell you - even if it means I turn work away. Everything I do is done with the project’s best interests in mind, even if it means giving you feedback you might not like. (This will always be gentle and constructive!)

Let’s talk about levelling up your brand strategy.