Creative Reset

This month I'm exploring something that took me years to properly understand - before you can lead anyone else, you have to lead yourself.

It sounds simple. It isn't.

I spent a long time believing that good leadership meant holding everything together - for the team, for the project, for everyone but myself. It took one particularly bruising production experience to teach me the difference between being responsible for a project and being responsible for myself within it.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be sharing what that shift actually looked like in practice - starting with the day I stopped waiting for permission to lead, and what changed once I did.

Full story on the blog this week: www.creativereset.co.uk/blog/what-nobody-tells-you-about-creative-leadership

👉 Where in your own work have you felt the pull to lead everyone else before you'd sorted yourself out first?

Writing this from Espinho, Portugal, where FEST - New Directors New Films Festival - is in full swing 🎬

What has struck me most isn't any single film or masterclass. It's the camaraderie.

There's a genuine sense of teamwork here - filmmakers, students and industry professionals from all over the world, drawing energy from one another. People celebrating not just their own work but the work of others, including those whose films are being shown but who couldn't be here in person.

Earlier this week I saw a wonderful programme of shorts under the banner ‘Tales of Womanhood’, a real, global voice for women's experiences told with honesty and range. I’ve also attended masterclasses with people who've taken completely different routes to where they are. funded his feature through NFTs as the traditional paths weren't open to him and he made the case that not being able to follow the well-worn road can actually push you towards more innovative thinking. and - one of the most accomplished production design teams in the industry having worked across everything from period drama to Barbie - shared decades of insight built through collaboration.

There isn't one direction in this industry. There are as many directions as there are people in the room. And the courage to follow your own - even when it doesn't look like anyone else's - is what makes the work that comes out of it so alive.

It's exactly the kind of environment I try to create in my own coaching and group work - spaces where people feel supported enough to be honest and energised by each other rather than in competition.

🌟 What's a moment when not following the obvious path actually worked in your favour?

Today I am working on something I've been looking forward to for a while.

A three day Film London workshop - Production Levelling Up - coaching a group of media professionals from different levels in the industry. People who are at that stage where the next step feels uncertain and the path forward isn't always clear.

I know that feeling. I remember it.

The workshop is about resilience, self-confidence and self-worth. About helping people recognise the strengths and values they already have - not as abstract concepts but as real, practical tools they can use to build their
careers with intention. Career planning. Career mapping. A plan that's actually theirs - rooted in who they are, not just what the industry expects them to be.

This is the work I find most meaningful. Not because it's comfortable - it rarely is - but because it matters.

Because the creative industries are better, richer and more vital when they genuinely reflect the range of voices and experiences that exist in the world. And because early investment in people - real investment, the kind that
sees them clearly and helps them see themselves clearly - changes the trajectory of careers in ways that last.

I'll be sharing some reflections as the week goes on. For now I'm just grateful to be in the room.

👉 What's the most valuable thing someone did for you early in your career and have you had the chance to pass it on?

Not every role works out. And that's not always about you.

I've been thinking this week about a job I took some years ago - during a period when I was genuinely excited about what it could be. A new company, fresh ideas, a real sense of purpose behind the work. The kind of opportunity that looks, from the outside, like exactly the right move.

I went in with energy, with transferable skills built over years across different fields, and with a genuine belief that I could contribute something meaningful. The intentions - mine and the organisation's - were good. I have no doubt about that.

But good intentions, it turns out, aren't enough on their own. What was missing was the infrastructure to support them. The systems, the management, the clarity of purpose that allows talented people to actually do what they've been brought in to do.

And here's what I've learned, and what I share with the creative professionals I coach - when the infrastructure isn't there, it's not your job to become the infrastructure. You can contribute. You can adapt. You can bring everything you have. But you cannot build the foundation of an organisation from inside it, especially when the people responsible for that foundation aren't ready to build it themselves.

Recognising that - clearly, without self-blame - is one of the most useful things you can learn in a creative career.

Not every role that doesn't work out is a failure. Sometimes it's information. Sometimes it's direction. Sometimes it's the thing that teaches you, more precisely than anything else could, what you actually need in order to do your best work.

👉 Has there been a role that looked right from the outside but didn't work from the inside and what did it tell you about what you actually need?

I'm writing this from the coast ☀️

Broadstairs, to be specific. I arrived this afternoon with no meetings, no agenda and no deliverables. Just a few days of thinking, walking and asking myself some of the questions I don't always make space for when I'm in the middle of everything.

A mentor of mine once told me about a trip she took alone - not a holiday but a deliberate act of stepping back. She described it as one of the most valuable things she'd ever done professionally. Not because she came back with a perfect plan but because she came back knowing herself better. Clearer about what she wanted. More honest about what wasn't working.

That stayed with me. And today I'm taking my own version of it.
The theme this week is one I feel very personally. How to test yourself without burning out. How to keep growing without losing yourself in the process. How to know when to push and when to pause.

I've got things wrong in both directions. I've pushed too hard and paid the price. I've also held back when I should have trusted myself more. Finding that balance - understanding your own rhythms well enough to work with them rather than against them - is one of the most important things a creative professional can develop.

🌊 The sea helps. It has a way of putting things into perspective that very little else does.

What does stepping back look like for you - and when did you last allow yourself to do it?

Happy May Bank Holiday 😎

If you're anything like me, a day like today brings a particular kind of quiet. The diary is clear. The emails can wait. And for a few hours at least, there's space to actually breathe.

So here is the question - when did you last stop and ask yourself: am I actually growing - or am I just busy?

Because there's a difference. And it's one of the most important distinctions a creative professional can learn to make.

Busyness feels productive. It looks productive. It gives us something to point to at the end of the day. But it can also be a way of avoiding the deeper, quieter question of whether we're moving in a direction that actually means something to us.

Growth is different. Growth is slower. It requires pausing long enough to ask hard questions. It requires honesty about where you are and courage about where you want to be.

With summer arriving, half term in full swing and a bank holiday giving us all a rare moment of breathing space - this feels like exactly the right time to sit with that question.

Not to have all the answers. Just to ask it.

Are you growing - or are you just busy? And how do you know the difference?

Last week I spent two days in rooms full of creative professionals - and something shifted.

Last Tuesday I was at the RSA (Royal Society of the Arts) for the launch of the Future Skills Agenda of the Creative Industries. Last Wednesday I was at (prev. known as the Media Production & Technology Show) at Olympia - panels on skills, platforms, diversity and inclusion, the future of the industry.

Two very different events. But the same message kept coming through.

It's not the technical skills that are going to define the next generation of creative professionals. It's the human ones.
The skills built through experience, challenge and resilience. The ability to read a room, communicate across difference, adapt without losing yourself, connect with people in ways that no algorithm can replicate.

One of the representatives at MPTS10 made a point that jumped out at me; she said we should stop calling these soft skills. They're professional skills. And they have as much value - if not more - than anything technical. Because they can't be taught in a short course. They're built over years. Through everything you've lived through.

If you've spent your career in the creative industries feeling like you're always catching up - always learning the next platform, the next tool, the next format - I want you to hear this.

The thing that makes you most valuable isn't what you've learned. It's who you've become in the process of learning it.

That's not just reassuring. That's a complete reframe of where your real strength lies.

What professional skill - built through your own experience - do you think you've been undervaluing? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Last Friday - what an afternoon! 🎉

That day I attended the Canva, 'Design your growth' session over at Old Street (London) and I'm still feeling really fired up.

The room was packed with entrepreneurs (and honestly, what a brilliant, predominantly women-led crowd 🙌) and the conversations were so open and energising.

Here's what I'm taking away:

✨ Remember your why. It's so easy to get lost in the day-to-day and forget what you're actually building this for. Today brought me right back to that.

✨ Be more you. I've been trying to show up authentically online but today reminded me I can go further - more personal, more real, more me.

✨ Scrappiness is okay. I'm still learning how to build a business, and that's completely fine. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be real and keep moving forward.

Such a good reminder that we're all figuring this out as we go — and that's not a weakness, it's just the reality of building something from scratch.

Thank you Canva and to all of those participating for such a brilliant afternoon! 💙

👉 Are you a fellow 'scrappy' business owner still figuring it out? Let me know in the comments - you're not alone!

There was a point in my career where I was spending enormous energy trying to be someone I wasn't.

Not deliberately. But I was constantly measuring myself against other people's versions of success - trying to work the way they worked, think the way they thought, present myself in ways that felt more conventional, more acceptable, more like what I thought a professional was supposed to look like.

It was exhausting. And it wasn't working.

The shift came gradually. I started paying attention to the moments where I felt most alive in my work - most effective, most energised, most like myself. And I noticed something - those moments weren't happening when I was trying to fit in. They were happening when I stopped.

When I leaned into the way my brain actually works. When I drew on my own experiences rather than someone else's framework. When I stopped treating my unconventional path as something to apologise for and started recognising it as the thing that gave me my edge.

Your foundation - the experiences, instincts and ways of thinking that are uniquely yours - isn't something to overcome. It's something to build on.

That's what the last six weeks have been about. And it's the strongest base you'll ever have.

Next week we move into something new - finding your direction. But before we do, I'd love to know:

👉 What's one thing about your foundation that you've started to see differently over the last few weeks?

I'm still buzzing from Thursday! 🙌

I attended the 'Meet The Founders' event run by Grow London Local at the University of East London and what a day it was.

Three brilliant founders on the panel - Hakan Elbir from Dialogue Cafe UK, Sally Paull from and Dr Hadeel Hill from . All were so open, so honest and so genuinely motivating.

The whole event was beautifully inclusive - two fantastic BSL interpreters made sure every voice was accessible and the Grow London Local team absolutely nailed the organisation.

Here's what I'm taking away with me:

✨ Don't make assumptions. People have a whole range of capabilities and needs and it's on us to recognise that - in our work and in how we show up for others.

✨ You're not alone. Hearing other founders talk honestly about the hard parts was such a relief. We're all navigating this.

✨ Reach out to people. Their experiences and perspectives are genuinely invaluable - don't be afraid to ask.

I also met some wonderful people in the networking session afterwards - fellow small business owners doing brilliant things.

If you're a small business owner, especially if you're neurodivergent or have a disability, keep an eye on what Grow London Local have coming up - see me in the pic with , a brilliant member of the Grow London Local team. Highly recommend 💙

👉 Have you ever attended an event that completely shifted your perspective? I'd love to hear about it!