Your business is growing. But growing into what?
Independent strategy advisor helping founders, leadership teams and investors make the decisions that shape everything else.
“Most companies don’t need another strategy. They need the courage to answer the question they’ve been avoiding.”
Selected clients:
For more than twenty years, I have worked at the intersection of media, marketing, brand and business: as a journalist, editor-in-chief, strategist and entrepreneur.
Journalism taught me to look beyond the first answer. Entrepreneurship taught me that strategy has to survive reality.
That combination still shapes how I work today. I help founders, leadership teams and investors uncover the question everything else depends on, and turn the answer into a clear direction for business, brand and growth.
It rarely starts as a strategy question.
What leaders say, and what may be happening underneath.
We’re growing. But decisions are getting harder.
Growth creates complexity. What needs to stay true as everything else changes?
We need to get everyone on the same page
Maybe the team isn’t the problem. Maybe the strategic choices aren’t clear enough to guide decisions.
We have too many ideas and opportunities.
Which ones strengthen what makes you valuable — and which ones don’t?
We need a rebrand.
Maybe the brand isn’t the problem. Maybe the business has outgrown the story it tells.
Something is getting in the way. Let’s find out what it is.
“We came to Ingrid with a packaging question. She showed us that the real challenge was much bigger:
how to turn an unfamiliar seaweed product into a natural aperitif choice. We left with a clear strategic direction across positioning, product, foodservice and retail.”
How I work
First, we uncover the real question.
It’s usually not where you think. Together, we make the key strategic choices, uncover where the real leverage lies, and keep every decision aligned with that direction.
Independent
I don't sell campaigns or software. My job isn't to make everyone happy. My only agenda is helping you make better decisions.
Questions before answers
Better decisions start with better questions. I uncover the real question before teams rush into solutions.
Honest conversations
I ask the questions everyone is thinking, but no one is asking. Good decisions require uncomfortable conversations.
Connect the dots.
I don’t arrive with a pre-packaged answer. I connect what’s already there and turn complexity into a clear direction everyone can use.
Where should we start?
A shared direction needs a shared foundation.
Let’s start at the core.
01
Back to the essence
"Everyone tells a different story."
This is the strategic foundation every deeper engagement builds on. Before we start, the people closest to the organisation may give very different answers to what it is really about. Afterwards, they share one strategic understanding they can use to make coherent decisions.
Result is a shared strategic foundation that guides decisions across business, brand, product and people.
Strategic direction and alignment
Typical investment: €7,500–€15,000 · Based on complexity
02
Make it real
"How do we turn this into action?"
Make It Real builds on the strategic foundation created through "Back to the Essence". But a clear Strategic DNA does not answer every question. It reveals which question deserves deeper work next.
Depending on what emerges, we may explore:
- Growth Patterns — where could future growth come from?
- Offer Architecture — how should products, services and propositions fit together?
- Partnership Strategy — which relationships could unlock something the organisation cannot build alone?
- Community Strategy — what kind of community could create real value?
- Positioning Architecture — which place can the organisation credibly own?
- Narrative Architecture — which story connects strategy, brand and growth?
Make It Real
Continuatinuation from step 1
03
Stay Sharp
“We don’t want strategy to fade away.”
Strategy is diluted one decision at a time. I stay involved as an independent outside perspective by helping leadership test new decisions against the chosen direction, challenge assumptions and bring relevant shifts in the outside world into the room.
What I help you do :
- Protect strategic focus
- Test key decisions against the chosen direction
- Challenge assumptions before they harden
- Bring relevant outside shifts and signals into the room
Monthly strategic counsel
€2,000/month · Starts with a three-month engagement
Or, start with one focused question…
See the Pattern
Sometimes, one focused session is enough. One question. Three hours. A clearer way forward.
“I think we're missing something.”
For founders or CEOs who sense that something is getting in the way, or that an opportunity is being missed - but can no longer see the situation clearly.
We focus on one specific tension, question or decision. I look beneath the explanation you have been working with, connect what may appear unrelated and reveal the pattern underneath.
You leave with clarity
- A clearer understanding of what is really happening;
- The question that actually deserves attention;
- The choices or tensions that need to be resolved;
- A sharper view of what should happen next.
Pattern Session
€1,500 · 3 Hours
“We had no shortage of ideas, but our marketing was starting to move in too many directions.
Ingrid helped us return to the strategic core, set clearer priorities and make sure our initiatives reinforce one another instead of each standing on its own.”
"We asked Ingrid to help us make Karomia feel more human without losing our credibility as a B2B tech brand.
By defining our core, heart and character before the visual work began, she gave both our team and designer a clear strategic foundation, and got us to the right result much faster"
"My Treats was built from a strong founder instinct and a genuine belief in community, but we still needed to turn that energy into a shared direction.
Ingrid helped us clarify what should bring people together and translate that intuition into a more coherent strategy for the brand, content and partnerships.”
Recent thinking.
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Still wrestling with a strategic question?
Good.
That's usually where the interesting work begins.