I am a problem solver, innovator and team leader with over 20 years’ experience spanning a full range of brand and commercial challenges, and sectors (including: FMCG, Drinks, Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, Automotive) in both the UK and many international markets. I have proven team leadership skills working across cultures and functions, re-organising, refocusing and enhancing teams’ performance through clear direction, one to one coaching, team building, collaboration and integration with other business functions.What sets me apart are clarity and authenticity. I have the ability to cut through complex problems and information to define a clear course of action and drive for solutions. While ‘Authentic’ is a bit of buzzword, it does describe my style – I’m open, with a strong focus on collaboration and approachable – but not scared of taking tough decisions or managing conflict to find the right solution. To ensure this in all of my roles I have focused on building strong relationships within the organisation, to build partnerships, foster greater integration and reduce the ‘politics’ that can obstruct progress. One thing I have learnt is that the answer is never the same, but experience is great at making the process of getting to an answer more efficient and smoother. Furthermore, experience has taught me to be a firm believer in the value of insights to drive performance - whether that be digging deeper to better understand my team and stakeholders, or applying agile approaches to derive intuitive and meaningful consumer insights that can unlock projects and better strategy. Through my career I have built on this firstly as a consultant combining it with strategic thinking, commercial understanding, strong leadership and stakeholder management to deliver successful, pragmatic solutions for the businesses I worked with. Latterly, I have expanded my role to become an innovation leader blending strategic thinking with creativity and commercial rigor to generate new sources of business and brand building ideas.