Joanna Howes

Helping leaders step into their courageous zone and create positive impact, through transformative coaching & training | CEO of The Change Creators Ltd | Campaign 40 over 40 | International Coach of the Year 2020 🏆

We specialise in creating courageous leadership teams who win together.

Whether you're a newly formed team, a merged company establishing a new board, or feeling the need for a reset, we can help you create a strong aligned cohesive team. 

Courageous leaders are open, vulnerable, and committed to continuous learning, driving exceptional results for their teams and the organisation.

We help by:

• Moving from operating in silos to a collective mindset 

• Avoiding feedback to leaning into compassionate candor 

• From going around in circles to make decisions to a bias for action 

• From working as job titles to truly understanding each other as human beings 

• From all talk and no action to peer-to-peer accountability 


Our approach centers on increasing individual and team awareness, fostering a unified leadership team culture grounded in aligned principles, and promoting effective communication and accountability.

"When the business isn't performing, the first place to look is the leadership team."

👉 For coaching and training inquiries, please email: joanna.howes@thechangecreators.com

👉 For podcast and speaking engagements, please email: anna@thechangecreators.com

Let's connect and explore how we can elevate your leadership team to achieve extraordinary outcomes.


Trusted by: 
Monzo, Amazon, BBC, Troy Asset Management, Ada Ventures, Iris Worldwide, Uncommon Creative Studios, 6 Nations Rugby, ITB, PrettyGreen PR, Hue & Cry, McCann Worldwide.

What our clients have to say: 

“She's 'Life Changing'. Jo has an ability to enable a fearless focus on creating a personal and professional roadmap to success”. - Director Of Client Services at SYZYGY London

“As a coach Jo has been fantastic- full of insights, always there to listen and most of all provide practical solutions. As a team we have come out more confident and ready with practical tools to help us develop further in different areas.” - Head Of Project Management at BBC Creative


🌐  Visit: www.thechangecreators.com

CEO and Founder of The Change Creators - Leadership Coach and Trainer 

At The Change Creators, we provide transformational services to help leaders grow and become the leader they know they can be. We focus on the mindset, skills and behaviours leaders need to step into their courageous zone, create a positive impact and deliver results.

Our services include:
 
✅Cultural shifts and transformations  

✅Leadership and team coaching and training

✅Operational excellence consultancy 

✅EDISC and Meta Dynamics profiling to increase self-awareness and self-leadership 

✅Executive 1-2-1 coaching 

If you would like to take your leadership to the next level and invest in your growth, get in contact with us today and watch your influence and performance sky rocket.

My FIRST sober holiday showed me a mistake I see leaders make A LOT!

We focus on changing behaviour…
but skip the part that actually makes change stick.

Identity.

When I have tried going sober before, I'd say things like:

 “I haven’t drunk for 10 days.”
 “I’m doing Dry Jan.”

I was still identifying as someone who drinks.
So it was easy to wobble and slip back to old habits. 

This time, I said.
 “I don’t drink.”

It meant I moved to a new identity of someone who doesn't drink. 

And because of that, there was no internal debate. 

I see this in leadership constantly.

Leaders say to me:
 “I’m working on delegation.”
 “I need to stop people-pleasing.”
 “I should speak up more.”

That keeps change at the behaviour level.

But identity-led change sounds like:

 → “I'm a leader who builds leaders.”
 → “I can be respected without being liked.”
 → “My perspective has value.”

Change doesn’t always need more effort.
Sometimes it needs a clearer decision about who you are.

So...

❓Where in your leadership are you ready to step into a new identity?

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Strengthening Leadership Teams to Connect, Perform & Grow Together | Courageous Leaders Podcast| Speaker | International Coach of the Year 2020 🏆 | Follow for posts about self-mastery, leadership & culture

Most of the big changes in my life didn’t start with confidence.

They started with discomfort I couldn’t ignore anymore.

Over the years, I’ve had to choose courage over comfort more times than I expected:

👉 Leaving my first marriage that looked fine on the outside

👉 Quitting a secure job to backpack around the world 

👉 Moving countries for a role I thought would be 'the one' and wasn't

👉 Completely changing my career from Ops to Coach 

👉 Starting a business without a roadmap

👉 Launching a podcast with no idea if anyone would listen, or what I was doing

👉 Reshaping my work so it fits my life, not the other way round

None of these moments felt brave at the time.
They felt unsettling. Lonely. Risky.

But here’s what I’ve learned:

Courage doesn’t usually look like a leap.
It looks like being honest with yourself before you’re ready.
It looks like letting go before you can see what’s next.

Every time I chose change over comfort, I didn’t gain clarity first.
I gained it after I moved.

That’s what built the business.
The podcast.
The work I love.
The life that actually feels like mine.

Not because I had a grand plan.
But because I stopped ignoring the nudge.

If you’re feeling restless right now, stuck, flat, or quietly frustrated - it might not be a motivation problem.

It might be a courage moment.

So I’ll leave you with this:

What are you tolerating that your future self will thank you for leaving?

Sit with it.
You don’t need the whole answer.
Just the next honest one.

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I'm about to do the opposite of everything I was taught as a woman! 💪

I've just had my first call with the brilliant Georgie Rechner, founder of Midlife Rebel (and if you are not following her on Instagram yet, you need to be).

She is my health coach who is going to help me do the opposite of what many of us have been conditioned to do.

I'm INCREASING my calories!
Going to be Lifting heavy weights.
And getting comfortable taking up more space.

I go to the gym. I do Pilates. I swim.
But I’ve never really known how to train properly.

So this year, the focus is all on building muscle mass and strength!!

NO more shrinking!! 
 
I’ve spent years working on my mind, courage, confidence, and self-belief.
Now it feels like my body’s turn, so they can work together. 

In your life and leadership, bringing your mind and body together will have a huge impact on how you feel about yourself and how you can show up for yourself and your team. 

Where might you be ready to stop shrinking and start building instead?

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Big news! 

This Thursday we are kicking off 2026, with the amazing Sedge Beswick on the Courageous Leaders Podcast. 🙌

Sedge has led social at ASOS, built her own agency SEEN to £24 million, and now she’s helping brands and entrepreneurs grow their businesses with bold ideas and courage.

Subscribe below to hear us dive into: 

🔥 How to know when it's the right time to leave your company (even when it's your own)

🔥 How to find better balance with ambition, family and life

🔥 How to have the courage to do things differently and stay true to your values

It’s a conversation I LOVED and left feeling so motivated.  

If you want real stories and honest insights about leadership, confidence, and making brave choices.

Catch the episode this Thursday - don’t miss it!

👉 Subscribe on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

👉 Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

👉 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

 ♻️ Repost to help leaders you know to have the courage to change 
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OLD JO: Shit, I don't have any posts ready for this week
So work for hours trying to do some. 

NEW JO: Oh well I'll go to the spa.

Seriously transformational, a whole new Monday afternoon ritual. 

So, this is all I have for you today but I actually think there is a powerful message here.

When you focus on what matters most and what is going to help you show up in the best way, your mind is so much happier, which means you are.

I used to sit for hours writing posts, overthinking them and worrying if they resonate.  

Now, I write when I feel like it and focus on what I want to share vs what the gurus' are sharing is the formula for likes and reposts.

So a gentle question for today:
How are you choosing to use your time right now?
And is it actually helping you feel good or just busy?

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TIME! 🕰️

In the Xmas break, something FINALLY landed. 

After years of podcasts, reading and courses.

My brain has finally accepted a simple truth.

Time is the most valuable thing I have. 

I know, this is OBVIOUS.
And yet, I've never truly prioritised it before.

I've prioritised:

1. Earning more money - (important, yes, but how much is enough?)
2. Saying yes to more than I can realistically handle
3. Clearing my work to-do list before my life one
4. Long hours over time with friends and family
5. Exercise (saving the good habit for last)

What has changed is how I view being successful. 

I also have some dear friends who are having their time cut short, and it's been a big wake-up call. 

I’m not pretending my old habits won’t try to sneak back in; they will.
But now I have a new healthy lens on life.

And that changes the decisions I make when they do.

Where are you still spending time like it’s unlimited?

What are you waiting to feel ready for, or waiting until you have achieved X, until you can have some joy?

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We need less ego.
More openness.
Less control.
More trust
No need to be the smartest person in the room.
More focused intention with our time and energy.

That’s what sat underneath the conversation with Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, on the Courageous Leaders Podcast - which is live now.

You don’t need to have the best idea.
You don’t need to control everything.
You DO need to create the conditions for others to thrive.

If you’re leading a team right now, this episode is for you.

And maybe think about this question:

What might change if you stopped trying to hold everything together and trusted a little more?

Watch the episode on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/e7WrG-dy

Or listen on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

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Key insights from Simon Cook - CEO Cannes Lions 

ONE thing I consistently see missing in leaders.

They think they have it.
Yet, when the time comes it's not there.

That thing is courage.

The leaders who will succeed this year won’t be the most certain or polished.
They’ll be the most courageous.

The one's who will:

1. Challenge the dominate voice in the room, even when it feels risky

2. Feels discomfort with all the change but keeps moving forward 

3. Can go to a beginner’s mindset and be okay not knowing the answers

4. Be honest when things are hard, and let others help

5. Refuse to tolerate their teams being treated badly

6. Stop defending territory and protecting ego and lead as a true executive collective

7. Look after themselves so they can show up consistently for others

Courage isn’t loud.
It’s often quiet, uncomfortable, and deeply human.

Where is courage being asked of you right now and what are you avoiding?


♻️ Repost to inspire your fellow leaders to step into courage
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“I’ve always been addicted to my career, addicted to working."

Sound familiar? 

So many of us get a buzz from the next big win, the title, the ever-rising bar we set for ourselves. 

But what happens when it feels more like an addiction than an ambition? 

In our latest Courageous Leaders podcast, I discuss this exact topic with Sedge Beswick. 

She had the courage to change and design life on her terms. 

Let’s be honest and courageous about our relationship with work. 
It can be our passion, but it shouldn’t be our prison.

Have you ever questioned whether you’re addicted to working and what it would take to break free, even a little? 

You can listen or watch the full episode using the links below: 

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eF_KU3Ri

Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

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MEET PERKY

My new productive friend 🐧

On holiday, my husband bought me a penguin clock for my desk.

Partly because I love penguins.
Mostly because I have zero shame about loving cute things.

Enter: Perky.

His current alarm settings include:

🐧 Fun time, Perky
🐧 Move away from your desk, Perky (rude but fair)
🐧 Fuel up, Perky
🐧 Call a friend, Perky (emotionally supportive penguin)

Every time I look at him, I smile.

Every time he goes off, I giggle as it's the funniest music and he makes such a funny sound when I turn the alarm off, I actually do the task 😀

We spend so much time in leadership chasing:
smarter systems
better tools
cleverer gadgets

When sometimes what really changes behaviour is something small, human, and oddly joyful.

Perky now reminds me to move, eat, connect and not take myself quite so seriously.

Friday question for you:

 What’s on your desk that makes you smile?
 (And if the answer is “nothing”… may I gently suggest a penguin?)

Happy Friday 🐧💛

Many CEO’s I work with have a lot of CONVICTION. 

But they miss ONE core ingredient that impacts whether change will be successful. 

Which is why I invited Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Lions, to the Courageous Leaders Podcast. 

Simon has been through so much change over the last couple of years that I thought, who better than to share their insights and strategies. 

I was also curious to get to know Simon more and hear his story.

And, I don’t think I’ve been in the presence of someone so calm and grounded before. 

This episode gives some very practical advice on how to lead through change. 

We cover: 

🔥 Why conviction and coordination need to work together for success

🔥 What it took to navigate change on a large scale

🔥 Why relinquishing control is both terrifying and essential, especially when building a high-performing team

🔥 The hidden value in failure (but why you shouldn’t “budget for it”)

🔥Why protecting your time and mental fitness is now a non-negotiable executive responsibility

🔥 Advice for agency CEO’s

I’d get a pen and paper ready for this one as some brilliant tips you can implement straight away.

Watch the episode on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/e7WrG-dy

Or on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

 ♻️ Repost to support leaders right now
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What happens when the CEO of Cannes Lions admits that his greatest strength was also holding him back?

It was an honour to go behind the scenes with Simon Cook on The Courageous Leaders Podcast.

On Thursday, you will be able to find out what was holding him back and:

🔥 Where he needed to find courage
🔥 The advice he would give to Agency CEO’s
🔥 What it took to lead through change at a large scale
🔥 The 3 C’s that he lives by 
🔥 What he believes the future of the industry is 

Tune in on Thursday for LOTS of practical tips and advice.

Make sure you don’t miss the episode

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

Or on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke


 ♻️ Repost to let leaders know this resource is coming soon 
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Insights from the CEO of Cannes Lions - Simon Cook

"You won't get balance, but you can get your priorities straight." 

A simple but powerful insight shared by Sedge Beswick. 

When she made certain things non-negotiable, everything else started to fall into place. 

As leaders, when you ring-fence what matters most, work and life feel more purposeful and you actually get to be present for the moments that count.

For me, my self-care, lunch break and having space between meetings are my non-negotiables and these simple things have been life and business changing.

What’s a non-negotiable in your schedule?

You can listen or watch the full episode using the links below: 

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eF_KU3Ri

Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

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Struggling to know if you should leave? 

Then this is for you.

Sedge Beswick - founder, advisor, and someone who knows firsthand the internal battle that comes with walking away. 

If you’re struggling with letting go of a role, a title, or an identity you’ve worked so hard to build, let Sedge’s story give you permission to pause, reflect, and move forward without guilt.

In my career, I have walked away from 2 roles and at the time, it was challenging, but both ended up being the best decisions of my life. 

I'd love to know in the comments if walking away worked for you, so we can support those who are torn in their decision-making right now. 

You can listen or watch the full episode using the links below: 

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eF_KU3Ri

Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke

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Struggling to know if to walk away? 

I now understand why my husband has banned me from the kitchen.
(when he is cooking).

"Help is the sunny side of control".

Whenever he cooks, I go in with good intentions to “help”.
What I’m actually doing is trying to control the dinner so it turns out how I like it.

He’s clocked this completely.
Hence the ban.

Now, apply that line to leadership.
Where do you think you're helping but still holding on to control?

Where do you jump in to “support” a team member or steer their thinking because you want it done a certain way?

The intent is usually good.
But the impact can be reducing learning, confidence, and ownership.

The very things leaders ask me to help build in their teams, without always seeing how their own behaviour might be getting in the way.

Real support looks like:

👉 Trusting people to figure it out
👉 Letting things be imperfect
👉 Staying available without taking over

So, where might you need to ban yourself from? 

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How are you going to protect your time this year? 

Some tips from the brilliant Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Lions.

If we can master this as leaders, we are setting ourselves and our teams up for success.

What’s one thing you are going to do differently this year to manage your time better? 

Share in the comments to help other leaders. 

Watch the episode on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/e7WrG-dy

Or on Apple: https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eJatPjke


 ♻️ Repost to help leaders who are up against it right now
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This week I'm sharing a breakthrough I had to change how I run my life and business.

It will help you as a leader to know why you maybe feeling stuck and give yourself the ability to tune into what really matters to help your decision making.

So this weeks Courageous Leaders episode is me talking to you to share my personal experiences on how I've created change.  

Subscribe to https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

Follow at https://lnkd.in/edeq-Wvp

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Courage to listen to yourself 

Currently Open to - Non-exec, Chair and advisory roles.

After nearly two decades building hedgehog lab, I stepped down as CEO at the end of 2025. I am now taking a breath, exploring new horizons and rediscovering who I am beyond the singular identity of founder.

When you build something for twenty years, it becomes hard to know where the company ends and you begin. Stepping away has meant rediscovering the edges of my own identity. It is uncomfortable and quietly exciting in equal measure.

What I built at hedgehog lab still matters to me. We grew from two people with laptops and borrowed furniture in a warehouse unit to a global digital product consultancy working across the UK, US and Europe. 

Along the way we raised nearly £10m across three PE transactions, navigated two major turnarounds including Covid and the 2023 market crash, acquired a company, and built a culture that consistently earned recognition as a great place to work. I am proud of what we created and the people who made it possible.

Today I serve as a Non Executive Director at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where I focus on digital transformation and governance. I also chair Health Call, a digital health company building products that improve care across the NHS. 

Both roles reflect something I have believed for a long time: technology is most meaningful when it serves people.

I continue to mentor founders and leaders navigating the messy reality of building and scaling businesses. I am also open to advisory and non executive roles, and curious about what else lies beyond the horizon.

If any of that resonates, I would love to connect.

Sarat Pediredla

📢 Some BIG news from me to begin 2026! 

After almost nineteen years at hedgehog lab, I have reached the moment where it feels right to step aside and make space for the next chapter of leadership. 

This company has shaped almost every part of my adult life. It has stretched me, grounded me, humbled me and given me more purpose than I ever expected when we started with two laptops, some broken furniture and a warehouse unit that rattled in the wind.

The journey has been full of moments I will never forget. The early scrappy wins that convinced us we might actually make it. The years of learning how to lead while building a culture that felt human. The surreal milestones where we found ourselves working with global brands or opening new offices. The tough seasons too, from painful restructures to the burnout I walked through in 2023 and 2024. Each high and low shaped me in ways I am still processing.

What stands out most as I look back is the people. There are far too many to thank in a single post, and I am not going to spam your feed with a long list, but please know this. I will reach out to each of you, because none of this would have existed without the countless hands, minds and hearts that helped build what started as a twenty five year old’s pipe dream.

I believe now is the right time to hand over the reins. I am proud of the Executive team we have built. They bring clarity, energy and a renewed sense of direction and I have complete confidence that they will take the company further than I ever could. I will step down as CEO immediately and support the business as an Advisor for the next twelve months.

As for what comes next, I am going to slow down. My family has carried the weight of my ambition and identity for many years and they deserve more of me now. 

After some rest, I will take my time exploring where I want to spend the next 20 years of my professional life. In the short term, I am open to advisory and non executive roles, so if you feel my experience could help, I would love to talk.

I leave with immense gratitude, pride and joy. Titles change. Chapters close. But once you learn to be the hedgehog, you never quite stop. 

#foreverahedgehog

Sarat Pediredla 

CEO & Founder in Consulting w/ PE experience | NED & Chair | Scaling digital companies through culture, growth, turnarounds & transformation | 🏆 AI 100 UK | 🏆 BIMA 100

💡 Excited and nervous to share this finally! I've had this idea for 10 years. I'm finally building it.

If you've spent the last three years running a consultancy or agency, you know how hard it's been. I've watched friends make redundancies they never thought they'd have to make. Studios closed. Founders burn out or sell for less than they deserved.

And through all of it, the tools that were supposed to help? Most of us see them as a necessary evil at best.

I'm building something different. A thinking partner for consultancy leaders, not another database to administer.

It's called thredspan. Professional Services Intelligence.

We've got 3 early pioneers helping shape what this becomes. I'm looking for 7 more to complete a founding cohort of 10.

I wrote about why in this article. If you run a consultancy or agency, I'd love to know if it resonates.

#thredspan #seearoundcorners #focusongreatwork

For 19 years I ran hedgehog lab, a digital product consultancy. And for most of those years, I wrestled with a problem I couldn't solve. It wasn't the

Open article: thredspan - Building Professional Services Intelligence by Sarat Pediredla • 3 min read

thredspan - Building Professional Services Intelligence

Accenture acquiring Faculty for billion dollars (or so) is one of those deals that tells you more about where the market is heading than about either company individually.

Faculty has spent a decade building something genuinely AI-native. Not AI bolted onto existing services, but AI as the foundation. Their work with the NHS during COVID, their safety work with OpenAI and Anthropic, their decision intelligence product. This is what it looks like when AI is the starting point rather than the add-on.

The signal here is clear. There is no separate “AI market” anymore. AI is simply how technology gets built now. Every digital product, every software platform, every consultancy engagement will be AI-native or it will be irrelevant. The days of AI as a distinct service line are ending. It’s becoming the water, not the fish.

Marc Warner becoming CTO of the entire company is the tell. This isn’t a tuck-in acquisition. This is Accenture admitting they need to rewire how they think about technology from the top.

The question is whether Faculty’s culture and approach can survive inside a 784,000-person organisation built around a very different model. Specialist acquisitions by large consultancies have a mixed track record. The thing that made them special often gets absorbed into the machine.

What I find most interesting is what this signals for the market. If Accenture needs to acquire AI-native capability rather than build it, that says something about the opportunity for consultancies that are AI-native from the ground up. 

Plenty to still play for. Feels like the mid 90s with the Internet. Exciting times!

For most of my early years at hedgehog lab, I was the primary commercial driver. 
 
When I co-founded the company in 2007, I did not think of myself as a salesperson. I was a technologist who happened to start a business. But the work needed to come from somewhere, and for most of the journey, that responsibility sat with me.
 
I originated most of our key accounts. I led the pitches. I built the relationships that turned into long-term clients. For a long time, I thought this was just what founders did.
 
Over 18 years, I learned a few things that might be useful if you are in a similar position.
 
𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. The best opportunities I ever won came from understanding what the client actually needed, not from presenting what we wanted to sell. I used to walk into pitches with a deck full of capabilities. The wins came when I put the deck down and asked better questions. What is the real problem you are trying to solve? What does success look like for you personally, not just the business? What have you tried before that did not work?
 
𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀. Some of our biggest clients came from connections I made five or ten years earlier. Not because I was strategically nurturing them, but because I stayed curious about people and kept showing up. Consultancy sales is a long game. The founders who treat it as transactional tend to struggle.
 
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. We spent years chasing new logos before I understood that the clients who already trusted us were the real growth engine. Referrals and repeat business built most of what we became. The energy I put into new business would have been better spent making existing clients genuinely successful.
 
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. This was the hardest lesson. I was comfortable being the commercial engine. It felt safe. But it also meant the business depended on me in ways that were not sustainable. I started building broader commercial capability later than I should have. If you are the founder and you are also the primary seller, that is fine for a while. It is not a permanent strategy.
 
If you run a consultancy and you recognise yourself in this, you are not alone. Most founders I mentor carry the same weight.
 
The path to distributing commercial responsibility is not obvious. But I think it starts with being honest about the dependency.

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Joanna Howes's LinkedIn Performance

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