BroadcastPR Expert – Getting Brands on TV & Radio | Broadcast Consultancy & Media Relations | Media Training | Speaker | bebroadcast.co.uk

👋 Why listen to me? Because I have built campaigns for leading organisations across almost every sector and delivered consistent award-winning work since 2010. I’m now taking the approach that has helped me to grow and putting into my own agency – Be Broadcast.
 
I love getting under the skin of issues and working out what makes people impacted tick to inspire change. I work back from that weaving in the role the brand plays in order to solve or make it better.

🤩Now it’s your turn…

You’ve seen me (and your peers) sharing their incredible broadcast results on LinkedIn, hitting key messages, and finding creative ways to reach their audiences. 

And that’s without mentioning the possibilities to bring in new customers and the limitless potential broadcastPR can have on the bottom line. 

But you’re either not sure where to start, or you’ve started and you seriously want to level up.

If you’re ready to see a real ROI through broadcast PR your operatives need to be doing it right, not handling it like a factory – churning out ‘hit and miss’ content. 

I can work with you to develop strategies that my clients use to increase their sales, grow their brands and 
take advantage of audio and visual media on behalf of the brand. 

I provide:
✅ Broadcast Consultancy 
✅ Broadcast Media Relations
✅ Help With Spokespeople
✅ Research
✅ Global Broadcast Media Relations
✅ Media Training
✅ Podcasting – Development, Planning & Creation
✅ Podcast Hosting
✅ Podcast Promotion
✅ Adhoc Broadcast Media Clippings
✅ Monitoring – Week-Long and Ongoing
✅ Broadcast analysis – To Build Competitive Advantage

All available on https://bebroadcast.co.uk/ 

What my clients say:

“We cannot emphasise enough how Be Broadcast evolved the story for us delivering results like we have never seen before”

“Be Broadcast were great at shouting about our news. We got tonnes of engagement with people getting in touch from seeing and hearing the news. On a subject that could be seen as sensitive, Be Broadcast were there all through the week, with suggestions and support. We can’t wait to work together again”

“Josh was able to guide us through the entire process, provide on-the-spot media training and help us articulate what we wanted to say in the best way”

“Dynamic, ambitious and very hard-working, Be Broadcast is eminently capable working at the most senior level with clients, delivering superb client service and terrific results.”

Drop me a DM, let’s do this. 
And if you’re not ready yet – you can find free advice and guidance here: 
https://bebroadcast.co.uk/case-studies/

Josh Wheeler

Update: Thankfully has been taken down now

In today’s episode of “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”.

A school has publicly posted identifying information about a child: name, year group, and other details that make them easier to find.

The child’s mum has just won The Traitors.

A primetime show watched by millions - including unfortunately people who don't see things the way the rest of us do.

Which means the child is now part of the story too, whether they like it or not.

And for what?

To “join the conversation”. To ride the moment. To borrow a bit of relevance for the brand.

This is where comms forgets safeguarding.
If your content requires a child to be identifiable, it’s careless. And it should have been a hard no.

We need a hard reset on judgement: just because something will get likes doesn’t mean it’s worth the risk.

Can I be really honest? The world probably doesn't need your take on Brooklyn Beckham.

Entertainment TV didn’t lose people because humans changed. And PRs need to be wary.

Humans haven’t changed. I don’t even think our behaviour has shifted that much.

What changed is that entertainment TV started serving us more of the same, right as we all got devices designed to pull us apart.

And streamers didn’t “change” us either. With the odd exception, they are putting out content you can get anywhere else. The same shapes. The same safe bets. Just in a different app. We’ve all paid £4.99 on Amazon for something we later find on ITVX.

That’s why I think The Traitors matters.

Not because it’s “a clever format”.

Because it’s human emotion in HD. Suspicion. Loyalty. Shame. Relief. Vindication. The stuff that makes people watch together, message mid-episode, and argue about it the next day.

It’s landed in culture. And the ripple effect arrived fast. Including the inevitable “incredible” stunts. Meh. OMG A CLOAK.

Once The Traitors became the breakout hit, schedules filled up with more “smart competition” shows built on the same ingredients:
>> The Fortune Hotel (ITV)
>> The Inheritance (Channel 4)
>> Destination X (BBC)
>> Genius Game (ITV)
>> The Trust: A Game of Greed (Netflix)

Not heard of them? Quite a few didn’t land. Because “what worked once should work again” gets tired fast.

We’ve seen this before. The biggest shows that truly gathered us were emotional rituals.

Strictly. X Factor. Big Brother. Love Island. Soaps.

Then the industry got scared. Networks and platforms chased safer repetition. Same beats. Same casting types. Same twists. Then acted surprised when audiences drifted off.

PR has the same trap. The safe set pieces. The familiar templates. The “winning” angles on repeat.

When the world zigs, it’s tempting to zig harder. But that’s how you end up invisible.

So here’s what we keep close at Be Broadcast.

When they zig, we jag.

Not zag. Someone else is already zagging.

Jag means sharper. More human. More specific. More emotionally true.

Attention is fragile.

But emotion still brings people together.

Yesterday, I wrote about entertainment TV and what we as PRs can genuinely take from it. 

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: attention isn’t the problem. Emotion is.

That’s why I keep coming back to The Golden Girls. Not because it was “ahead of its time” in a naff, Pinterest-quote way. But because it did things PR still bottles, even with bigger budgets, better data, and far more channels.

This wasn’t a calm “progress is inevitable” era. This is Reagan into early Bush: culture wars hardening, “family values” politics everywhere, AIDS stigma, abortion battles, disability rights still being fought for (the ADA wasn’t signed until 1990), and women’s rights at boiling point. Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony, then the “Year of the Woman”.

Sounds familiar?

That’s the America The Golden Girls lands in. So when I say it was “bold”, it isn't just a compliment.

Against that backdrop, it did this:

> It told America (and the world) that women didn't disappear at a certain age.
> It dragged HIV stigma to the kitchen table. In 1990, Rose faces possible HIV exposure from a blood transfusion. Fear, shame, ignorance from the people closest to her.
> It didn’t give you one racist villain. It made the room complicit to make us all face our prejudices.
> It made elder care and cognitive decline personal. Sophia realises a friend has Alzheimer’s. Denial, recognition, grief.
> It normalised later-life financial precarity. Rose loses her pension and has to start again.
> It took domestic emotional abuse seriously inside a sitcom. Blanche misses the warning signs: power, manipulation, humiliation.

And it did all of this without sounding pious. It earned the right to go there by being funny, warm, messy, and human first. Humour wasn’t a safety net to get away from something - it was the way in.

Entertainment-education works. A 2025 systematic review found story-led content can improve knowledge, confidence, and even behaviour. When people are carried by narrative, they lower their guard. They listen. They reconsider.

So here’s the uncomfortable question for brands:

If four fictional women in Miami can do all of this in the 80s, what exactly is stopping your brand from telling a story with a backbone?

I’m not even talking about “purpose comms”. Just light, shade, and emotion that actually lands.

Because “safe” doesn’t mean “responsible”. Safe usually means forgettable.

Don’t waffle like a St Olaf storyline. Be a friend. Tell the truth. Make it land.

Here's some inspo of what they took on...

And if you’ve got this far, you might recognise Blanche’s bedroom wallpaper in the Be Broadcast office. Everything we do is intentional.

Resharing this from 6 months ago because it’s happened again. This week, crime scene photos from the Idaho murders were released, then pulled.

And what’s horrific is what came after.

The families had to put out statements begging people not to turn their loved ones’ deaths into content. Begging strangers not to zoom in, screenshot, “analyse”, repost, and pick it apart for clicks.

The families of kids murdered had to say “Murder is not entertainment”.  Imagine writing those words about your loved ones?

That is the bit I cannot shake. Yes, crime scene photos can/should/are be released in some cases. But we are not in that world anymore. We are in a world where the moment something is public, it is fed into an attention machine. A machine that rewards outrage, speculation, and the most graphic angle. A machine that makes grief searchable. A machine that can spill into real life and, in some cases, risk the integrity of legal proceedings.

Social media is having a “change moment” around under 16s. Good. But let’s be honest – they reflect us and we are not behaving like adults either.

So, I still think social media platforms must be accountable. Legally and ethically. Like media.

That means:
 -Removing defamatory content once notified
 -Disabling comments on sensitive and live cases, and doing more than that
 -De-ranking speculative crime content until legal proceedings are over
 -Blocking monetisation of harmful content
 -Suspending accounts that harass survivors or families
 -Real legal recourse against perpetrators

This isn’t about PR. But PR helps explain it.

Earlier this week I watched a documentary on the Idaho college murders.

Four young people killed. Brutally.

What stuck with me wasn’t just the horror of the crime. It was what happened next.

Not by the killer. By us. By people online, convinced they were part of the story. Solving it. Avenging it. Getting clicks from it.

Two young kids survived the attack. They were in the basement. One thought she heard something, checked in with her housemate, and they went back to sleep.

That’s the level of detail people obsessed over. Not out of compassion. But to accuse. They became suspects. Received death threats. Were doxxed. Hounded on every platform.

All while going through a trauma we can barely imagine. And as bits of blummin kids.

Another victim’s best friend was sent messages like “I hope you fry.”

His address. His parents’ workplace. His car. All posted online. All because people were “just asking questions”.

And here’s where the PR lens matters.

The Police Dept weren’t equipped to handle a quadruple homicide. Press conferences were delayed. Clarification took too long.

And as any comms professional knows, a vacuum like that doesn’t stay empty. It fills with speculation. Assumptions. Rage. Fame-chasers. Grief-baiters. TikTok theories.

It became a sick game.

The accused even seemingly joining dedicated Facebook groups about the case. He dropped cryptic posts. Played along. 

***This is the part I can’t stop thinking about***

We regulate press (to a degree)
We regulate courtrooms.
We regulate who can shout with a megaphone in public.

But anyone can build audiences and profit off trauma in real time.
No duty of care. No checks. No protection for those left behind.

One survivor talked about trying to move on. But their name lives online - tied to conspiracy and hate. Did they really conspire to murder their friends?

Imagine being about to graduate, trying to get a job and THAT is your name online.  

And when the consequence is lives shattered again and again by we say: “Oh well, that’s the internet.”

Social platforms are not neutral. They are publishing engines. Recommendation engines. Outrage engines. They shape public opinion faster than any newsroom ever could.

And yet, we still hold journalism to higher standards than TikTok or X.

That needs to change.

So what’s the ask?

Social media platforms must be accountable. Legally and ethically - like media.

That means:
 • Removing defamatory content once notified
 • Disabling comments on sensitive and live cases (and going further)
 • De-ranking speculative crime content until legal proceedings are over
 • Preventing monetisation of harmful content
 • Suspending accounts that harass survivors or families
 • Genuine legal recourse against perpetrators

This isn’t censorship. It’s protection. Of real people. In real pain.

If we wouldn’t let someone scream abuse outside a murder trial, why let thousands do it from their phones?

This is genuinely bleak to read.

I’ve followed Jack Murley’s work for a while, and whatever you think about the wider case, it takes a lot to stand up, challenge a culture, and keep going when the easiest option is to stay quiet. 

Not everyone has that in them.

What struck me most is how rarely we talk about the everyday stuff. The microaggressions. The “just banter”. The throwaway comments that slowly teach someone to shrink themselves at work. 

I guarantee you it happens.

And I don’t think we measure it properly. We don’t really explore it. We rarely spotlight LGBTQ+ leadership in our industry either.

I did a quick straw poll of my LGBTQ+ pals in comms and media. Every single one had a story that felt uncomfortably familiar.

Every. Single. One.
So where’s the line?

At what point is a joke not a joke?
At what point are you “too sensitive”?
At what point are you labelled “too woke” - as if basic respect is a trend?

And in a world where LGBTQ+ rights are being pushed back (and if we’re honest, they’ve often been pretty light-touch protections anyway), we need to be stronger and louder.

The people with broad enough shoulders to take the heat have to speak up - not just for ourselves, but for the ones who don’t feel able to yet.

Truth to power. A bit harder. A bit more often.

Episode 9 of Be Broadcast's Accidentally Brilliant is out.

I’m joined by Darryl Sparey (Chart.PR, FPRCA, FCIPR), co-founder and MD of Hard Numbers 📈.

This conversation is basically about confidence. Not the loud kind. The practical kind. Where it comes from. How to get it type stuff.

The confidence to say what you will deliver.
The confidence to measure it properly.
The confidence to commit to it in writing.

We also get into the nitty gritty on #GEO and the uncomfortable truth that PR needs to own what happens next, or somebody else will.

Link in comments

COO @ Kurogo | We Create Thought Leaders Through Personal Branding | x2 TEDx speaker | Advisor, Investor & NED | Law Graduate | I talk about entrepreneurship, agency life and grief

Hey, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters.

For the last 4 years, I helped scale Kurogo, one of the leading personal branding agencies, as Chief Operating Officer, partnering with 300+ world-class founders, CEOs, C-Suite Execs and public figures to grow their influence and impact. I joined in September '21 and within 4 years, we scaled to a 7-figure business, with a global, remote team of 20+. We had clients across the UK, Europe, USA and MENA regions.

I have 5+ years' experience as a Non-Executive Director, particularly within the non-profit and social impact sector. At present, I continue to serve as:

- Vice Chair & Non-Executive Director, Child Action Northwest
- Non-Executive Director, Spring North

Currently, I’m travelling and building quietly behind the scenes - creating space to explore what’s next.

Lewis Alexander Baxter

It’s been a tough week.

And a harder start to 2026 than I expected.

There’s been some personal stuff going on.
Nothing I want to share publicly right now.

I’ve had to pull back on work.

Slow things down. Create a bit of space.

That hasn’t come easily. 

I've talked a lot recently about building work around life, not the other way round.

I guess this is what actually living that out looks like.

It’s been a reminder to keep the people around me close.

Not to default to busyness.
Not to disappear when things feel heavy.

And to come back to a simple, poignant message:

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.

I’ve felt that this week.

From compassionate clients.
Understanding colleagues.
Friends who’ve checked in.

I’m really grateful for it.

Life can feel fragile at times.

And moments like this are an important reminder of what actually matters.

Age 18, I had no interest in a gap year or solo travelling.
 
Age 27, something had shifted.

When I step back, the thing that stands out most isn’t necessarily the places I visited. 

It’s how significant it felt to be away from home, and away from work, for nearly 3 months.

Because as a teenager, it just didn’t appeal to me then.

Not in the way it seemed to for other people.

Several friends had gap years.

They spoke about travelling constantly.

I listened, but honestly... I never felt the pull myself.

From 18 to my early 20s, I had no interest in travelling on my own.

And if I’m honest, I don’t think I even questioned that at the time.

I absolutely LOVE travelling, though.

That came from my mum, predominantly. 

My parents and I went on some great holidays, and I know how fortunate I was.

But, until last year, the idea of jetting off to the other side of the world, didn’t appeal.

Over the last year or two, following Lukas and Ellie (and others), hearing how they’d travelled, explored the world, built space into their lives, planted something.

So spending 3 months late last year across four countries, meeting strangers, having unfamiliar conversations, learning how to sit with my own thoughts…

That version of me wouldn’t have made sense to 18-year-old me.

I was an only child.
I spent a lot of time on my own.
I never had a huge group of friends (only a few close ones, and we often moved in different directions).

So stepping that far outside my comfort zone, even at 27, felt significant.

Let’s not underestimate that.

We’re quick to tell ourselves we’re “late” to things. That we should’ve done them earlier.

That having adventures somehow has an expiry date.

But even at 27, it felt like a big move.

A stretch.

And I don’t think age matters when it comes to travel.

It doesn’t matter if you do it at 18.

Or 27.
Or 46.

It still takes courage.  

In the end, it came down to saying yes. And giving myself the chance to have the trip of a lifetime.

A reminder that it isn’t as out of reach as it can feel.

--

P.S. Have you ever surprised yourself by doing something much later than you thought you would?

P.P.S. Hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I share reflections on business, life and travel. I’m on a mission to design work around life, not the other way around. I'm a fractional COO, builder and believer in doing work that actually matters.

22,000 people have chosen to follow my thoughts on work, life and whatever else I end up thinking out loud here.

So, thank you. 🙏 

I’m not entirely sure why I celebrate follower milestones.

But I do. So… here we are.

Since Jan 1st, this little corner of LinkedIn has grown by almost 2,000 people.

(This feels slightly surreal, given I’ve been on here for 9+ years and for a long time it was mostly me, my dad, a few friends, and the occasional recruiter checking in!)

This recent growth has come from the hiring posts I’ve been sharing. 

Each week, I share a roundup of genuinely good agency roles across marketing, social and communications. Roles I’d actually send to a friend.

Last week, an amazing copywriter saw one of those posts, applied, and now has an interview lined up. This alone made the whole thing feel worth it!

The goal of my content? 

To provide as much value as I can, share what I’m learning about scaling agencies and operations, and connect great people with companies doing interesting work. 

--

So, if you’re new here, hello! 👋

Probably a good moment to reintroduce myself.

I’m Lewis. Age 27.

A northerner now living in London.
A law graduate turned agency operator.
A believer in doing work that actually matters.

👉 Until Oct '25, I was COO at a leading personal branding agency, helping scale it into a seven-figure, fully remote business working with founders, CEOs and senior leaders globally. Learnt so much!

👉 I love travel (and was lucky enough to spend late last year in Australia, Fiji, Bali and New Zealand).

👉 I’m hugely passionate about the charity sector, and currently sit on two charity boards. 

👉 After my own battles with mental health, and losing my mum aged 21, I talk openly about grief and human leadership (and encourage others to do the same)

Right now, I’m building a few things:👇 

- An operations consultancy, working with agencies on ops, finance & hiring
- FUNC, an online marketplace for functional drinks and better-for-you products
- A new agency in a space I genuinely love (more on that soon!)

And this year, I’m designing work around life, not the other way around. 

More travel, more gym, more life, more 'me time'. 

If you’re here for hiring, leadership, building from 0-1, or the more human side of work - welcome. 

And if you’ve been here a while… thanks for sticking around. 🙏

I’ve been using the phrase “designing work around life, not the other way round” a lot recently.

Partly because it captures something I’m trying to be more intentional about.

And partly because I’m still figuring out what it actually means for me.

It doesn’t necessarily mean working less.
Or escaping responsibility.
Or building some perfectly balanced, always-calm life... (I don’t think that exists).

What it does mean, I think, is starting from a different place.

Instead of asking: “What does my work demand of me?”

I’m trying to ask: “What kind of life do I actually want to live, and how does work support that?”

It’s a small shift, but I’ve noticed it changes how I think about most decisions.

For me, this isn’t a binary thing.

It’s not something you “achieve” and tick off.

It’s a mindset.

A process.

A way of noticing when work is taking over more space than it deserves, and deciding, consciously, whether that’s a trade-off I’m happy to make right now.

Some weeks, work will come first. 

Other weeks, life might take the front seat. For some family time and space to think.

Designing work around life, for me, is about being intentional in those choices - rather than defaulting to work winning every time.

These are a few of the questions I’ve been asking myself lately, and maybe they’re useful for you too:

- What am I optimising for right now (travel, energy, learning, money)?
- If nothing changed for the next three years, would that be okay?
- What parts of my work give me energy (and which drain it)?
- What does a “good” week actually feel like?
- Where am I saying yes out of habit?
- What am I protecting time for?

I don’t have crystal clears answers to all of these.

Some of them shift depending on what life looks like at the time. But asking them has already shifted how I approach my work, and how much space I'll allow it to take up.

It feels less about getting it right, and more about paying attention as things change.

Curious, what does designing work around life look like for you, in practice?

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I share reflections on business, life and travel. Right now, I'm on a mission to design work around life, not the other way around. I'm a fractional COO, builder and believer in doing work that actually matters.

5 awesome agency marketing jobs YOU can apply for this weekend:👇

--

1/ Account Director 
Raptor 
Salary: £55K - £65K (DOE) 
Location: London

Raptor is a culture-led, youth-first marketing agency working across brand, social, experiential and real-world engagement. In this role, you’ll lead 2–3 key client accounts end-to-end, owning integrated campaigns, managing budgets, driving account growth, and leading a team of up to 6 in a fast-paced environment.

--

2/ Content Manager (Executive Thought Leadership) 
Triangle 
Salary: £30K - £35K (DOE) (+ bonus) 
Location: UK-based 

Triangle are a thought leadership and personal branding agency working with an exclusive group of leading CEOs as well as C-Suite executives at billion-dollar companies who want to leverage their own personal voice to transform their business. In this role, you’ll turn podcast-style executive interviews into high-performing LinkedIn posts and long-form content, combining writing, research, content strategy, and strong client communication.

--

3/ Senior Account Executive (PR) 
Citizen Relations 
Salary: £31K - £34K 
Location: London

Citizen are a global PR agency focused on building authentic connections between brands and communities. In this role, you’ll take ownership of client programmes, managing timelines, developing media materials, pitching press and talent, supporting crisis comms, and presenting campaign results, while mentoring junior team members. A great opportunity to grow your career in PR.

--

4/ Senior Social Media Executive
Plus 1 Communications
Salary: £30K (DOE)
Location: Windsor

Plus 1 Communications are a global creative and communications agency working across consumer, lifestyle and culture-led brands. In this role, you’ll lead end-to-end social campaigns, creating high-impact content, running paid social, and optimising performance across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and X - helping shift social from reactive posting to strategically led, high-production work that matches the agency’s award-winning creative standard.

--

5/ Podcast Producer (Personal Brand)
7xContent
Salary: £25K-£35K
Location: Remote-first

7X are a specialist video-first podcast agency helping world-leading creators and brands turn conversations into high-impact content engines. In this role, you’ll own the strategy and production of Creator Playbooks - leading the founder’s podcast end-to-end, while also driving the marketing engine behind Callum’s personal brand and 7X’s content funnel across YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and email.

--

Every week, I share fresh roles across marketing, social and comms. All posted in the last 10 days, with salary shown.

♻️ Repost to share these opportunities with your network.

5 agency marketing jobs YOU can apply for this weekend:👇

--

1/ Senior Account Executive - Publicity (Film & TV) 🎬
Substance Global
Salary: £30K - £34K (DOE)
Location: London (Hybrid)

Substance Global are an independent, insights-led digital marketing agency working across Film, TV and entertainment, with teams in London and globally. Known for their collaborative culture and creative ambition, they deliver high-profile campaigns blending strategy, publicity and innovation. In this role, you’ll support Film & TV publicity campaigns, working on media liaison, client relationships, screenings, premieres and events. A fast-paced role for someone organised, confident and plugged into Film & TV culture.

--

2/ In-House Content Creator
HonestBrands
Salary: £40K - £50K (+ bonuses) 
Location: Remote (UK / Barcelona preferred)

HonestBrands run a beginner-to-advanced e-commerce training community helping people build real brands across Amazon, TikTok and Shopify. Content sits at the centre of growth. Your job is simple: create a high volume of high-quality content that drives demand. You’ll work closely with the founders on organic, paid and long-form content that builds trust, attracts the right audience and scales repeatable content systems.

--

3/ Senior Account Executive (Public Relations)
Group42
Salary: £28K - £30K (DOE) 
Location: London

42 Bruton, part of Group42, are a high-growth boutique PR agency working with ambitious scale-ups and challenger brands across the UK and US. Known for sharp positioning and clean execution, they deliver storytelling that drives real audience and investor engagement. You’ll support PR and digital campaigns across lifestyle, FMCG, travel and tech, working on media relations, content and client comms.

--

4/ Account Executive
adam&eveTBWA
Salary: £30K (+ bonuses)
Location: London

adam&eve\TBWA are a global creative agency built on the belief that emotion drives business growth. As the European hub for one of TBWA/Omnicom’s longest-standing global clients, the London team delivers fully integrated campaigns across ATL, digital, social, CRM, POS and internal comms. You’ll support the day-to-day delivery of international campaigns alongside senior account, creative and partner teams.

--

5/ Marketing Assistant
Signal Group
Salary: £26.6K - £26.8K
Location: Watford

Signal Group are a growing, people-focused marketing organisation delivering collaborative, detail-driven campaigns for a range of clients. They place strong emphasis on developing talent and long-term growth. In this role, you’ll support campaign delivery, brand consistency, research, performance tracking and reporting. A strong entry-level opportunity to gain hands-on experience across marketing.

--

Every week, I share fresh roles across marketing, social and comms. All posted in the last 10 days, with salary shown. 

♻️ Repost to share these opportunities with your network.

PS. Check out my comments section for links to every role.👇

We’re very good at being busy.

But, we don’t check in nearly enough on our energy.

Meetings.
To-do lists.
Deliverables.

Important, yes. But only part of the picture.

Some of the things that matter most aren’t obvious while you’re in the middle of it.

Energy. Presence. How you feel at the end of the day, when the laptop closes.

I’ve been paying more attention to that lately.

Not simply what I’m working on, but how the work leaves me feeling.

Energised. Or, drained.

Because you can be doing all the “right” things, ticking off tasks from your to-do list, and still finish most days feeling depleted.

Intentional life design, I’m realising, starts in these small moments.

In patterns you notice early, before they harden into defaults.

What consistently gives you energy.
What slowly takes it away.
What you’ve normalised, simply because it’s familiar.

So if there’s one thing worth paying attention to this week, maybe it’s this:

At the end of each day, pause for a moment and ask yourself:

Did today’s work give me energy, or take it away?

Answer this honestly.

You could even treat it like a simple energy audit - 'red, amber, green' your tasks, or loosely score them based on how much energy they gave you.
 
(I might write more on this separately).

Because how your work feels, day after day, matters more than we often admit.

Curious, when you think about your last few working days: what’s been giving you energy lately?

--

♻️ Repost if this resonated.

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I share reflections on business, life and travel. I'm on a mission to design work around life, not the other way around.

Today reminded me how much depth can exist in a short conversation.

Even with someone you’ve never actually met.

Earlier today, I chatted with George for 30 mins.

We’d been connected on LinkedIn for about six years.

But until today, we’d never actually spoken.

And as it turns out, I first reached out back in 2019.

Today was the first real conversation.

We started with work.

Marketing. Social media. Creative careers. Where things are heading. The challenges and the opportunities for companies and those looking for new opportunities. 

Then, quite naturally, it shifted.

Mental health and wellbeing - particularly for men.

Grief and loss. Identity.

Family. Relationships. The stuff beneath the surface.

All with someone who, until today, was effectively a stranger.

What struck me most was how easy it felt once we moved past the polite first few minutes.

Many of these topics can feel hard to talk about - especially as men, and especially with people we don’t really know yet. 

There’s often a sense you should keep things light and 'professional'. 

(especially when you've connected originally on LinkedIn)

But when there’s openness on both sides, it doesn’t feel forced.

It feels human.

It was a rich, thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation. 

The kind that reminds you how much depth can fit into a short window of time (if you let it).

One more thing that feels worth sharing:👇 

George has a book coming out next week.

"Be A Man About It: Building a Healthier Idea of Masculinity" (22nd January) (more details in comments) 

After the conversation we had, I’m genuinely looking forward to buying it and sitting with it properly.

Stephen Fry described it like this:

‘An absolutely fascinating enquiry into the nature of masculinity, coming at a time when it's really needed."

If the book carries even a fraction of the openness, depth and honesty that came through in our call, it’ll be an important one.

So, thank you, George. I’m really glad we finally connected properly.

Today made me realise how much we often leave unsaid, and how powerful it is when we don’t.

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I share reflections on business, life and travel. Right now, I'm on a mission to design work around life, not the other way around. I'm a fractional COO, builder and believer in doing work that actually matters.

Most people don’t have a time problem.

They have a thinking problem.

Or more accurately, they’re trying to think and execute at the same time.

This rarely works.

One thing I’ve been paying more attention to lately is separating strategy time from execution time.

Intentionally. 

Because when everything is 'execution mode', you default to reacting.

Emails. Slack. Tasks. Requests. WhatsApp messages.

And when thinking time is squeezed into the 5- or 10- minute gaps between meetings, it never really gets the space it needs.

There are a few ways I’ve seen this work well:

1/ A dedicated strategy day each week (I'm trialling next week!)
2/ Every morning (for ~2 hours) as locked-in thinking time
3/ Or, weaving smaller “thinking blocks” into each day

There’s no single right way. Do what feels right for YOU. 

And if anyone tells you that their way is the 'best way'...

Don't listen to them...

I was listening to a podcast clip with Leila Hormozi, and I wanted to share one line with you:

“If your week isn’t planned by Sunday, you have already lost the week.”

And for me, this makes perfect sense.

Not because Sunday planning magically solves all your problems. But because unplanned weeks get dictated by everyone else’s priorities.

Strategy time is where you decide:

- What actually matters this week
- What doesn’t need doing at all
- What can wait

Execution time is where you do the work.

Mix them together, and both will suffer.

So if things have felt busy but oddly unproductive lately, maybe this is the place to look.

Not “how can I do more?”

But: "When is my thinking time?"

--

♻️ Repost to share this message. 

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I share reflections on business, life and travel. Right now, I'm on a mission to design work around life, not the other way around. I'm a fractional COO, builder and believer in doing work that actually matters.

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The Battle

Josh Wheeler

Lewis Alexander Baxter

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The Battle

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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);}Josh Wheeler's LinkedIn Performance

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