Where did it all start?
After graduating with a MA in Film, I had originally intended to be a film producer. Landing a job at Film Sales company Hanway Films was an incredible experience that put me in the center of film financing, marketing and the sales circuit. With hindsight, the throughline of my career as a balance of creative and commerce really started there.

What inspired you to start your consultancy?
My consultancy sits at the intersection of Creativity, Commerce and Community – three elements that have been at the forefront of my career for the last two decades. Being able to take that experience and support the growth of a diversity of creativity businesses around the globe, is a real privilege. As a mother and global citizen, I have recently gained clarity on what is important to me – flexibility and real human relationships across the creative industries. I take true pleasure in connecting people to ideas, clients or a collaborator and essentially built my consulting practice around this premise – especially if I can support small and large clients alike from across the globe. My most recent client is in fact an independent creator – I am supporting them by booking them to speak on larger stages to grow their brand awareness.

This year, the Davey Awards is celebrating how bold ideas from small teams make waves and shape the future of our industry. Have you seen something in the wild recently that made you stop and look?
As someone who is constantly drawn to community – building it, being a part of it – I was drawn Rebecca Rowntree’s work around her Get Sh*t done movement  – a platform dedicated to Getting Sh*t Done by learning from the stories and actions of world-class individuals and using the power of the crowd to Get Sh*t Done. This successful event series (named one of the top 30 Events in London by The Dots) and podcast (previously known as This Way Up), ranked No.5 on iTunes, was created in 2017. She has also recently announced, alongside a cohort of advisors, the UN//SCENE Festival – a response to the inaugural SXSW London happening this June in London. With an overwhelming amount of speaker interest and not enough stages to accommodate all, UN//SCENE will be a new and affordable event across London to host conversations about the breadth of the creative sector.

What’s your dream project?
I actually just closed it! A leading network of creative businesses based across the US and the UK are looking to raise their positioning as a tastemaker and cultural connector within a group of stakeholders across art and business. With a culture of creating real and genuine relationships over cold selling their services, they want to curate potential clients around dinner and a conversation in London and New York. Being able to flex my biz dev chops, curation, programming, strategy and production all in one job and across my two main cities is a dream.

What have you seen recently that has fueled your creativity?
Being back in the UK after 13 years in NY, I feel like a total stranger in this town which means it’s a fresh start to discover what’s happening here. I recently was able to moderate some sessions at the incredible Remix Summits – a conference at the intersection of Culture, Technology and Entrepreneurship. I was able to talk to the incredible teams at Marshmallow Laser Feast, Pophouse and Sadler’s Wells East who are all doing incredible work around live experiences in dance and immersive.  I have also been reminded of the abundance of incredible freelance talent here and smaller shops who are creating award winning work.

At the end of the day, how do you unwind from work mode?
Now that I run my own thing, the line between work and nonwork mode is blending! But I always make sure I am free for dinner with my kid to talk about her day, go exploring in nature (we are spoilt for choice in Brighton between the sea on one side, national park on the other). A cheeky little G&T is never off the cards too.

Jurors like Sabrina are waiting to review your work and celebrate the best small shops. If you enter by May 30th, you can save with preferred early pricing.