British born but I have called New Zealand my home since my teens. A tragic football fan, I often trade a good night’s sleep to follow my favourite team through various exultant highs and sombre lows. My obsession with various sports as a fan opened my eyes to how data can influence decision making and strategy – convincing me I wanted to be a part of that in some way.
After a foray into legal research and business development, my first steps into the industry proper were with management consultancy (Gemba Group); managing New Zealand’s largest sport and entertainment research programme.
Initially, I worked as an insights analyst – delivering quantitative, qualitative, psychographic focus groups (online & in-person), maximising incumbent client data sources etc. I wanted to turn those data points into something tangible and be part of the effort to carry that forward with clients to underpin strategic decision making. So I moved into a hybrid insights and strategy role, taking my research background and delivering insights-driven strategy workshops, valuations, partnership planning and measurement.
Now, I call myself commercial strategy consultant and am grateful for my experiences working with corporate brands, sports rights owners, charities and government both domestically in New Zealand and internationally through projects in Australia, the United Kingdom and China.
The other variables in my personal Venn diagram of things I love include: craft beer, my dog, fantasy novels, cooking/eating good vegetarian food and the aforementioned various sports (football, basketball and league).