You know where you are. You know where you need to get to.

I’ll find the route - starting with what you’ve already got.

lets talk

the problem.

Your revenue has stalled. 
The customer base is not growing.
The market is not great. 
Your staff are demoralised. 
You are struggling to cut any more costs. 
You can’t afford new software or hire more people. 
You cannot face another board meeting, your investors or your own team with a bleak landscape story. 
And if you own the business, there’s no one else to hand it to.

You need to talk to someone but everyone you know has skin in the game. A consultant is going to use their framework. An exec coach will work on your skills as a leader. A mentor will tell you what worked for them ten years ago. Appointed independent advisors are recommended by the board and therefore, not really independent.

-

My USP is that I am the person who when you say say ‘here’s where we are and here’s where we want to get to’ - I’ll look at what you’ve got and say ‘here’s what you need to do’.

-

I have spent years in businesses with declining budgets and reduced headcount trying to figure out how to get from A to B with what I've got. Sometimes you’ll need to buy something - usually less than you think. But I’m talking about making do with what you've got as much as you can.

-

You can tell me your story in our first meeting - the one you give to the board. But then I’m going to ask you about internal structure, processes, systems, budgets, targets, messaging, customer churn - what’s missing. I’m going to pick the shit out of what you tell me until I find the hole - and understand enough about your business to help you fix it and grow. 

The answer is there. It’s usually internal. 

And sometimes, it’s you. If it is - I’ll tell you that too.

who am i?

I have 30 years’ experience in big global businesses. I was on the exec team that took a company from $2.5M to $100M in four years. I’ve led eight acquisitions, closed a $300M deal with a Fortune 100, run a $1BN pipeline, taken businesses into new countries and built teams all over the world. And for most of it, I was hitting targets with less money and fewer people every single year. 

I also made my Sindy’s clothes out of kitchen paper as a child because we couldn’t afford the proper ones.

The skills are the same: Here’s what we’ve got. Here’s where we want to get to. How do we get there with with what we have. 

  • Alec Welland, Board & Commercial Transformation Executive (ex Apple, Nokia, Motorola)

    Commercially aware with no shortage of ideas, Ciara was able to pick apart hidden issues and confront them head on.

  • Tracey Kirkpatrick, Global VP Customer Experience

    She has a unique ability to think strategically while executing at pace. Her work was always rooted in insight, structure, and commercial outcomes.

  • Charles Knight, Senior Director, Not For Profit sector

    Ciara is the real deal.

    She combined an unstoppable amount of energy with the uncanny ability to see the big strategic picture and marry that with clearly operational roadmaps. Some people can do one or the other, but not both.

    If you need to see change and you need to see it rapidly – she's your woman.

  • Helena Jamieson, Senior Client Director, Frank, Bright & Abel

    I’ve been lucky enough to work with Ciara in different guises over the last 20 years.

    She has always been razor sharp, focused on business outcomes and understands all the perspectives that matter in a business.

    She moves fast and is great fun to work with!

ways to work with me

  • half day

    You can do a half day - usually a 2.5-3 hour session online.

    We’ll go through everything. I’ll ask a million questions.

    I’ll summarise it after. I’ll probably also do a bit of online research on your socials, website etc and add that in.

    What you do with it is your call.

  • six months

    This is for when you want me alongside you while you fix it. 

    So this would be a half a day - once a month - offsite if possible, in a relaxed environment. We work through where you are and what needs focus. If we’re four hours in and getting somewhere, I’m not going to look at my watch. 

    In between you’ve got my number to WhatsApp during my working hours for when something kicks off and won’t wait. 

    It’s six months because you won’t turn a business round in three. 

    If you’re overseas we’ll do it online.

    *Because of the depth of this work and the face-to-face commitment, I only hold space for a small number of these at any one time.

lets talk

why me?

Most people around you need something from you, your approval, your budget, your signature. 

I don’t. 

I don’t have a ‘team’ to put on your account, I have no software I get kickback on, and I have nothing to upsell. I don’t want anything from you (apart from payment). I have a skill and you need help. 

FYI - If you want a framework and a 60-page deck - I am not your person. 

I’m not a consultant. There is no powerpoint deck. I work fast. I’ll tell you what I see. I’ll suggest how you can fix it.

Whether you do or not - is up to you.

sometimes the answer’s in the numbers.

sometimes it’s in the mirror.

but there is always an answer - and I always find it.

lets talk