I've spent over 15 years working closely with founders and leadership teams inside growing businesses.

Across that time, my role has taken different forms - Strategic Planning, Exec Assistant, Operations Lead, Project Manager, Head of Client Delivery - but the thread running through all of them has stayed the same:

Being the person a founder can think out loud with - someone who also gets stuck in when it matters.

Most founders don't struggle because of lack of ambition or ideas. They struggle because there's no one else who sees the whole picture the way they do - even with a good team around them.

What once felt simple starts to feel heavier. Decisions take longer. Priorities compete. Everything still somehow runs through them.

That's the space I've always worked in.

These days, I work as a Founder's Associate - a right hand to founders and leadership teams, not a service that gets called in when something breaks.

That usually means stepping back to help you see what's really going on, and stepping in to actually carry things when that's what's needed. Sometimes that's thinking something through together. Sometimes it's me getting properly stuck in myself.

I tend to work with service-based businesses - from paid media and PR agencies through to events, communities, coaching and property businesses. They all share a few things in common: strong client relationships, real ambition, and increasing complexity behind the scenes that no one outside the business can quite see.

Some clients bring me in for a specific piece of thinking, a defined season, or one conversation when they need it. Others work with me continuously, as an ongoing right hand - and for some, that means stepping fully into the leadership team, owning delivery and accountability day to day rather than advising from outside.

Either way, the work is the same at its core: making sure you're not carrying it all alone.

Outside of work, life is pretty full in a different way. I'm a mum of two, living in Surrey with my husband and our sausage dog, Ralph. Most of my spare time is spent at the gym, at Pilates, or getting pulled into whatever wellness trend is doing the rounds.

If you're carrying more than you should be - even with a great team around you - I'd love to hear from you.