My approach to creative leadership combines technical thinking, storytelling and experiential design.
I started my creative career more than 20 years ago, designing and hand-coding websites. That gave me a practical understanding of how digital systems work, how people move through them and how ideas can scale.
Over the past 15 years, I have applied that thinking to live experiences across multiple markets. I have led creative teams and major pitches for brands including adidas, Nike, LEGO, Airbnb and HUGO.
I attended the Rudolf Steiner School in Northern Ireland. It was founded by a group of parents who wanted an alternative education for children growing up during the Troubles.
At a time of conflict, the school offered a different way of understanding the world. Storytelling and visual art were central to the curriculum. Our mornings began with stories that explored economics, human behaviour and shared experience.
I did not realise it at the time, but this taught me to look beyond the surface and ask what is really driving people. It continues to shape how I respond to briefs, work with teams and develop ideas.
I see creative leadership as a collaborative process. My role is to give people clarity, earn their trust and create the conditions for good ideas to develop.
Music has always run alongside my creative career. Over the past 35 years, I have released music, composed soundtracks for short films and worked as a DJ.
This has shaped how I think about physical spaces. I pay attention not only to how an environment looks, but also to how it sounds, moves and feels.
For me, a brand experience is not simply a physical build. It starts with an idea, and the form follows from there. That might mean a permanent space, a ten-hour live broadcast or an original piece of cultural programming.