Someone asked you this week

“How’s business?”
You had a second to decide what to say.

I’m the person you say the real answer to, not the socially acceptable one. Then we move.

~~Book the twenty minutes~~

Free. Twenty minutes. Nothing to prepare.

Gabi Preston-Phypers, smiling, hand to her chin

“Yeah, good. Busy.”“Fine.”“Smashing it.”“Head above water.”“Could be worse.”“Yeah, I’m still breathing.”“Ticking along.”“Yep. What’s sleep?”“Yeah, good. Busy.”“Fine.”“Smashing it.”“Head above water.”“Could be worse.”“Yeah, I’m still breathing.”“Ticking along.”“Yep. What’s sleep?”

“Can’t complain.”“I love caffeine.”“All good thanks.”“Who doesn’t love managing people?”“Flat out.”“Living the usual start-up life.”“A few minor delays.”“Busy is good, right?”“Can’t complain.”“I love caffeine.”“All good thanks.”“Who doesn’t love managing people?”“Flat out.”“Living the usual start-up life.”“A few minor delays.”“Busy is good, right?”

The gap

What you said, and what you meant.

Everyone does it. Everyone gives the socially acceptable response, because nobody likes listening to moaning. But the problem isn’t politeness. It’s that the real answer never gets said out loud, so you never get the help you need.

Out loud

“Really busy. But good.”

Underneath

Deals are slower, the team isn’t landing, cash is tight, and some days you wonder whether to shut it or walk.

Three doors

So where does it hurt?

Pick the one that made you wince. I’ll tell you what I’d expect to find.

You’d say

What I’d expect to find

Where we’d start

~~That’s close. Let’s talk~~

What silence costs

It starts as one thing. It never stays one thing.

And then the trap

The longer it goes on, the less you can say it.

Because saying it now means admitting you saw it months ago and let it drag. So you try to fix it quietly, on your own, which is the one thing that has never worked.

What I am

Not a coach.
Not a consultant.
The one in between.

The friend with zero filter. I meet you where you actually are. Mindset, the business, and the roadblock sat across both.

Calls you out when you need it. Talks you up when you’ve earned it. Then we clear it.

I’m not from your industry. I’m not on your payroll. I’m not attached to how it’s always been done. That’s the only reason you can believe a word of it.

I’ll catch you if you trip.

And shove you when you’re coasting.

Sixteen years of P&Ls, boardrooms, payroll and contracts. I’ve sold, hired, fired, launched, scaled and closed, and lived with what happened next.

~~Coach, consultant or mentor?~~

Proof

Eight people said it. Here’s what moved.

Founder · 5 years in

Someone had told her they could not tell what she did.

Her own story, told properly for the first time.

2Inbound leads in 24 hours

Head of function

Running a department he’d never worked in.

Him, then his team, then the process.

1 yrBest hiring year on record

Founder · investment pitch

She walked out having smashed it.

Public speaking frightened her more than anything.

£200kRaised in one meeting

Gabi on stage, a screen behind her reading Cut the BS — On stage

Almost every one of them already knew something wasn’t right.

Knowing is the hard part. Naming it comes next

Sensing that something is off matters just as much as being able to put words to it. That’s the bit I do. I’ll help you find the words for the thing you can feel, and then we move it.

~~Read all eight~~

Before you close this

Please look up.

There’s another gear in you. You will not find it on your own, and you shouldn’t have to. Sitting in silence is putting distance between you and your family, your friends, your work. Let someone step in beside you.