Three careers’ worth of practice at saying the difficult thing simply.

I started in agencies, writing campaigns for international brands where an idea had to be strong enough to survive a media plan and clear enough to work in six words. That’s where I learned to write to a brief, at speed, and to defend a line without being precious about it.

At Speexx, I worked across campaigns, long-form content, email, websites, customer stories and other marketing materials, adapting the message for different audiences and markets.

In between, I built my own brand from nothing and sold it into shops. That taught me more about commercial writing than any brief ever has.

Questions before sentences

I’d rather spend the first week asking awkward questions than the last week rewriting. Most content briefs are unclear because the underlying decision is unclear.

Research is the job, not the prep

Customer interviews, existing research, source material and the actual product. Writing good copy is mostly knowing how to listen and turning what you learn into clear, concise copy.

Consistency, so it scales

Once you know what a business needs to say, the challenge is keeping that message clear and consistent wherever it appears – from a website or campaign to an email, report or sales document. I like finding the right voice, structure and principles to make that happen, so the message works across formats without losing its clarity or personality.

AI as a tool, not a ghostwriter

I use AI for research synthesis, structuring, variant testing and first-pass drafting – then do the thinking and the writing myself.

I wrote SAUCE, a memoir about obsession, entrepreneurship, success, failure and a decade spent trying to build a hot sauce company.