Rory McLaughlan

Shirt in a Box

Founder of Shirt in a Box, the world's leading Mystery Football Shirt Retailer. 

In the space of 18 months, we grew from a bedroom start up to a hyper growth business, with over 2.7 million recorded in revenue and 70,000 in sales.

Founder

Numbers Game

Director

Rory's Football Shirts

Originally selling vintage football jerseys on online marketplaces, including Depop & Ebay, grew into a brand with 10,000 followers and a succesful website.

What initially started as a hobby way back in March 2020 when the UK entered a lockdown, would turn into over 2000 sales.

Business Owner

Hello! I’m Rory, the founder of Shirt in a Box and I’m on a mission to disrupt the football industry.

After setting up my first business at 17, I developed a huge passion for entrepreneurship, especially around what I live and breathe… Football. 

Fast forward to now, I have over over 70,000 sales & counting through two businesses, a team of 10 and collaborations with some major partners across the football industry. 

Shirt in a Box offers football fans a unique experience like no other. Once purchased, they are sent a high quality mystery football shirt. This allows customers to get a new shirt they may not have been aware of and clubs get their kit in to the hands of a different audience - it’s a win win! 

Through running 2 businesses, I have built a large entrepreneurial skillset including social media advertising (both organic & paid), management, supply chain and logistical management.

In my down time I’m a Web 3.0 enthusiast, a crypto investor and I play football semi-professionally, winning multiple Irish cups at youth level.

Feel free to send me a dm to chat all things business and football!

Founder of Shirt in a Box, the worlds leading Mystery Football Shirt Retailer. 

In the space of 18 months, we grew from a bedroom start up to a hyper growth business, with over 2.7 million recorded in revenue and 70,000 in sales.

A HUGE moment for Shirt in a Box!

Thanks to Gary and the Stick to Football team for a mention on this week's episode!⚽️

We loved hearing Jill Scott was a fan of her Bari top from us - clearly great taste! As for Roy...let's just say his reaction was a little less enthusiastic (no surprise there😅).

Either way, we'll take it!

Disrupting the Sport Industry / Founder of Shirt in a Box

It was great to catch up with Gary Neville yesterday & show him the progress we’ve made since we last met. 

10 months ago he took an interest in what we were building at Shirt in a Box & decided to share it with the world on Stick to Football - that kindness has helped open our eyes to what’s possible, and propelled us to greater heights. 

Congratulations on yesterday Gary Neville - a great occasion & fitting ceremony. Thank you to Queen's University Belfast for helping to facilitate this opportunity. 

The journey is still only getting started.

We're launching Shirt in a Box Turkey.
 
80 million people. Football mad. Jerseys retail for £90 (more expensive than UK).
 
The opportunity? They're deprived of authentic international shirts.
 
Will take 6 months to set up. Then Turkey becomes our gateway to Asia.
 
Sometimes the best business ideas come from travel, not just asking ChatGPT...

LinkedIn, I need your help.

Our box manufacturer has just burned us. Original timeline: delivery before Black Friday. New timeline: after Christmas.

We need 30,000 boxes urgently:

📦 Diecut

📦 Printed one colour

📦 330mm x 247mm x 19mm

📦 12mm DS tape rip seal

I know this is ridiculously late notice. But Black Friday is our biggest moment of the year and we can't let our customers down.

If you know a factory with capacity or have any connections in packaging/manufacturing, please DM me or comment below.

Any shares massively appreciated. There's got to be someone out there who can help.

We've worked too hard on this Black Friday to let boxes be the thing that stops us.

I love working at the Christmas Market, even if it's only a few hours once a week.
 
Why? It gives you a great insight into your customer & product that you can't get online...
 
I found out we were too cheap at the Christmas market last year.
 
We were charging £40 for mystery boxes when they're £45 online. We changed to match online prices on day 2, and finished 25% up on the previous year.
 
The market gives you real feedback you'd never get sitting online.

We purposely go 'late' with our Black Friday deal. We launch tomorrow, the Wednesday of Black Friday week.
 
Increasingly, I see brands going early, usual with the idea that if you don't, your potential customer will have spent all their money by the time Black Friday rolls around.
 
However, to make it work you have to run about 4 different offers across the promotion. Each one progressively getting better, and as a result decreasing your margin.
 
In my opinion, it's a lot of effort, for similar returns (according to those who can see the data across multiple brands like Stuart Worgan) as one mega offer on Black Friday week.

I posted about our box supplier crisis last week. 30+ shares, flooded with DMs. Fred Lill came through. Boxes arriving just after Black Friday.

Grateful for everyone who helped. A reminder of the power of building in public.

Other stuff I discussed in EP14 of Building the Box…

Christmas market opened with our best weekend ever.

Visited our first claw machine in Sheffield at Yardball (class venue - street football mini golf). 200 plays in week one.

Flew to Manchester to meet suppliers. The progress from one in-person meeting beats six months of emails.

Testing Australia/New Zealand markets. Early signs promising.

Black Friday strategy: Everyone goes early with 10 offers. We go late with 1 killer bundle. Similar results from what I’ve seen, less complexity.

Full episode now on

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ed7iRrGC

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e-Z5uNQE

Interested in how Shirt in a Box gets a shoutout on one of the UK’s biggest football podcasts?

In Episode 16, I break down how we featured on Stick to Football, chat about the whirlwind of Black Friday sales, and share why taking new staff out for lunch is our secret to building trust (and having a laugh).
 
Whether you’re a football fan, a startup enthusiast, or just love a good underdog story, this one’s for you.
 
Watch & listen now:
▶️ YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eRimwNMF
🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eFK5FVxT

Open video: EP16: How we got on Stick to Football, New Staff & Black Friday Madness on youtu.be

EP16: How we got on Stick to Football, New Staff & Black Friday Madness

Kurogo

We turn entrepreneurs into credible thought leaders through personal branding so they can scale their businesses, unlock untapped opportunities and outlast their competition.

It’s not a question of IF you should be building your personal brand, but why you haven’t started yet. 

1️⃣ Customers are willing to pay 13.57x more for those they consider to be elite experts 
2️⃣ 86% of customers trust a company when their senior management team are active on social media
3️⃣ Global executives believe up to 45% of company market value is attributable to CEO reputation

The figures speak for themselves, but if that isn't enough to convince you, check out some of our client results: 

🚀 Jack generated 2.5M views and 6 figures in revenue in 90 days with us 
🚀 Sue generated over 8.3 million views in 4 months
🚀 Olly generated 15,000 newsletter subscribers. 
🚀 Debbie got 1,021,073 views and generated 10,494 profile visits in her first 90 Days!
🚀 James became an Amazon Best Seller 
🚀 Mike won over £13K of new business within 1 Month!

Kurogo is the go-to agency for building powerful personal brands and converting them into meaningful opportunities and real ROI. Our results-driven approach has helped over 150+ founders and CEOs become credible thought leaders and achieve their business goals. 

Ready to become your industry’s go-to thought leader? Find out how we can help you build your personal brand, head to www.kurogo.co.uk or get in touch at hello@kurogo.co.uk.

Director of Growth

FUNC

Hi! We're FUNC!👋 The home of functional drinks. Through our online shop, in-person events and ever-growing community, we curate the best of functional drinks - helping people discover, buy and experience drinks with a purpose.

FUNC was founded two mates and I (officially in 2024), on a mission to make functional drinks mainstream (and actually easy to find!) In 2024 alone, over 260 new functional drinks launched across the UK and Europe, yet there was still no single place to discover and shop them all. So we built it.

FUNC brings the best of functional together - from chill to focus, good-for-gut to perform - making it easier than ever to find drinks that do good and help you feel your best. And the timing couldn’t be better: the UK’s no- and low-alcohol and functional drinks market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7% between 2022–26. We’re for the first-timers and the functional pros - a community for the curious. And we live, breathe (and drink) functional. 

Our vision? To be the go-to for functional drinks - for everyone, every day.

Co-Founder

Child Action Northwest

Vice Chair

Non Executive Director and Trustee

BWOWNIES

Supporting the Founder of BWOWNIES, Keelan Waldock, on his mission to be the world’s most-loved brownie company. 

www.bwownies.com

Advisor

Spring North

Spring North's core vision is to develop innovative solutions to create a positive impact on the lives of children, young people, families and the communities in which they live whilst challenging inequality and disadvantage – to enable them to meet their full potential.

Spring North is a member-based organisation which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of residents in the North West - with a focus on addressing inequalities, a target on deprived local communities and a concentration on vulnerable individuals and families. 

Member organisations of Spring North can gain a number of benefits, including: quality improvement, negotiating power and funding prospects, image and profile, strategic capability, business support and bid writing services.

If you’re a grassroots community group, new charitable start-up or an established voluntary organisation, and want to tell us about your work, please email office@springnorth.org.uk or call 01254 503200. 

Registered charity number: 1150126

Armago

Investor and Advisor

Hullo

Hullo is a national not-for-profit organisation born during the pandemic in March 2020. We exist to unlock the power of conversation and create an inclusive, safe and non-judgmental space for people to chat and connect with others. 

Our mission? To connect communities, one conversation at a time. 

Our vision? A world where everyone has someone to chat to.

Since launching, we've built a community of 100+ volunteers, we've connected with thousands of people across the UK and we've unlocked the power of conversation.

TEDx

Delighted to have spoken at TedX Durham University. The event, titled “Things Left Unsaid, was held on Saturday 8th June 2019 at the Gala Theatre in Durham. 

With 10-days to prepare my TedX talk on mental-health, my first hurdle was to decide specifically on a title. In the end, I chose the title “Mental Health: Where do we go from here?” 

My talk explored my battle with clinical depression in 2015/16, as I explained my symptoms and how my recovery continued well-beyond counselling and therapy. 

I also offered my thoughts on how we can, collectively, move to a better understanding of mental-health as a construct and change the way we perceive it. 

Mental health is being talked about more than ever before. We must build upon the foundations of awareness, and introduce 3 core strategies into our every-day life and society to improve mental-health awareness and support. 
1. Compassion 
2. Connectivity 
3. Community 

My TedX talk is on the official TedX YouTube.

Tedx Speaker

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. 👋 

Passionate about start-ups and all things charity. Love bright-coloured shirts 👚 and caramel lattes ☕️

- COO @ Kurogo. We create thought leaders through personal branding. Over the last 2 years, we've worked with some of the world's most exciting founders, CEOs and entrepreneurs to build their personal brands. 

- Advisor @ BWOWNIES

- Vice Chair and Non Executive Director at Child Action Northwest 
- Non Executive Director and Spring North.

Here’s 3 random facts about me: 

1️⃣ I’ve played the trumpet for 12+ years 🎺
2️⃣ I’m an only child 
3️⃣ I’m scared of rollercoasters and chalkboards

Lewis Alexander Baxter

I didn’t take a gap year at 18 or 19.

Truthfully, I didn’t feel ready for it.

And over the past few weeks, I’ve met a lot of younger travellers who are choosing to travel at that age. 

People from Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, and the US.

We talked about their studies, what life is like back home, what they want to do after travelling, and what they’re curious about.

And we had some deep, philosophical conversations too: about time travel; about whether languages and dialect will stand the test of time, and about how different countries approach education.  

What stood out to me was their confidence.

Asking thoughtful questions. 
Navigating a new country so naturally at that age. 
Being open and warm with people they’ve known for five minutes.

Plus, doing all of it in a second language.

There’s a level of maturity there that I really admired.

It also made me reflect a bit.

At that age, I wasn’t ready, and that’s okay.

Many people aren’t.

But travel brings out something different in people.

More self-trust.
More independence.
More confidence in handling the unexpected.

Those conversations became a bigger part of my experience here than I imagined.

I’ve made new friends because of them.

And it changed my perspective about “readiness”.

People grow at different paces and in different ways.

I have so much appreciation for the younger backpackers who take that step early in life.

It’s a bold thing to do.

And you'll have the best experiences of your life. 

If you travelled young, I’d be interested to hear what it taught you.

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I’m an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO, scaling a personal branding agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as a fractional COO. After travelling Australia and Fiji, I’m currently in Bali! 🇮🇩

I flew to Bali to switch gears. To get back into a routine after weeks of travelling.

And then Monday morning arrived.

I woke up, made a coffee…

and it dawned on me in a way it hadn’t before:

I don’t have a full-time job anymore.

Not in the way I used to.

It was a normal Monday, but it didn’t feel like one.

No Monday morning team meeting.
No calendar already filled with meetings and tasks.

I had client calls and projects to get on with, but I still found myself asking a question I hadn’t asked in years:

“What am I actually going to fill my day and week with?”

And that moment made me pause.

For 4+ years, my week was basically already mapped out for me.

The routine was there before I even thought about it.

My calendar filled itself.

And the direction I was heading in was kind of decided by the environment I was in.

In my previous full-time COO role, everything had structure.

Now, as a fractional COO, working across multiple agencies and advising on different projects, the structure is something I have to create for myself.

I’m fully responsible for organising what I have to do, and when.

And I have ownership over the pace of the week.

This is what I told myself:

“I’m on my own now. I’m building my own things.”

Freedom and uncertainty, all at once.

And honestly, I’m here for it.

I’m lucky to have the space right now to think about what’s next. And to build a few things in the background.

This is part of becoming independent.

And part of becoming a leader is realising you have to create your own structure, not wait for someone else to give it to you.

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I’m an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO, scaling a personal branding agency to 7 figures, I now advise ambitious agencies and B2B founders, as their fractional COO. After travelling Australia and Fiji, I’m now in Bali! 🇮🇩

PPS. please ignore the socks in the background. It was raining, I walked through a puddle and and my feet/socks got wet!

I’ve arrived in Bali!

Here for just under two weeks.

Travelling has been epic. I’ve loved every single minute.

BUT, I’ve been itching to get back to work.

Time to “lock in” (isn't this what we say nowadays?!?)

Work looks very different now.

Up to mid-October, I was in a full-time COO job.

I'd been in the role for 4 years; learnt so much and made some brilliant friends (clients and colleagues!)

Now, I’m working fractionally and supporting a few scaling companies.

That includes:

- A sports marketing agency (now consulted for ~3 months now)
- A client in gaming marketing (excited about this one, huge potential!)
- Growth Index (in Oct, we launched Retail Index ‘25, featuring the top 100 fastest-growing retailers).

Plus, I have a few more discovery calls in the next 1-2 weeks.

I’ll also be back in the trenches with FUNC. With Christmas and Dry January coming up, will be a fun few months. 

And after consuming a ridiculous amount of food in Australia (and Fiji), it's time to hit the gym again. 

If you're in Bali, let me know. I'm keen for a coffee or a co-working day! ☕️ 

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO scaling an agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as fractional COO. After travelling Australia and Fiji, I'm currently in Bali! 🇮🇩

COO & Builder | Co-Founder @ FUNC | Experienced NED | Exploring what’s next (and sharing stories on entrepreneurship, leadership & life)

What a trip. Almost the trip I didn’t go on.

It ended up being the best eight weeks of my life. ❤️ 

I nearly talked myself out of it.

Not because I didn’t want to go. It just felt easier to say “not now”. I had a stable full-time job at a scaling company, and loving life in London.

But, I'm so glad I said "yes". 

Everything about the trip was brilliant. And I’m really glad I made it happen, and genuinely grateful. 

66 nights.
~59,200 km travelled.
6 coach trips across Aus.
22 hostels, hotels and Airbnbs.
15 flights (and a lot of time in the air).
4 countries (Australia, Fiji, Bali & New Zealand).
35 out of 37 games of pool won (promise I wasn’t counting).
Saw 15 dolphins, two turtles, a few sharks (and quite a few spiders…).

But what really made it special were the people, and the moments in between. 

Conversations with people from all over the world - strangers at first, who felt familiar within hours. Bonding over long bus journeys, shared meals, early mornings, and some very late nights.

That shared rhythm of travel where no one quite knows what day it is, and it doesn’t really matter.

I’ve never really been a thrill-seeker, and I don’t often push myself far outside my comfort zone.

This trip changed that.

- Two days driving 4x4s along the beaches of Fraser Island.
- Two nights on a boat in the middle of the ocean.
- Snorkelling on the reef.

(Also, I've learnt there’s a word for my fear of deep water...thalassophobia).

And there was the city life, too.

Exploring Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns and Auckland.
(Lots of walking, so we could see as much as possible!)

Then there was Fiji. 🇫🇯 

The most untouched country I’ve ever visited.

Before my mum died, her and I spoke about visiting this beautiful island together. She visited in her early 20s. Sadly, we didn't make it happen, but I followed her footsteps. 

Welcoming people, vibrant culture, incredible food.

White beaches and crystal-clear water. Paradise.

And I finished up with ~2 weeks in Bali. My second time there.

I was back in 'work mode'. Truthfully, I didn’t really leave Canggu, one of their main villages, so I didn't do much exploring.

Still, it was a change of pace.

--

The last eight weeks have flown by.

Not because every day was packed, but because I stopped overthinking things. I just went with it a bit more.

And it’s hard not to notice how often we delay things we actually want to do, waiting for the timing to feel right.

So if there’s something you keep putting off - a long trip, a little city break, a change of scenery - maybe it doesn’t need perfect timing.

Maybe it just needs a "yes".

Because if not now… when?

--

♻️ Repost to share this message.

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. If this resonated, feel free to follow along.

The simplest culture shift I made as COO.

A Friday ritual worth stealing.

Every Friday, at my previous agency, 20 team members joined our call from four continents.

We shared our ‘highlights, wins and learnings’, and it shaped the culture more than anything else.

When we were scaling, I started to notice something:

The wins mattered.

But what brought people closer was sharing HOW we got there (and the reflections along the way).

So we built a Friday ritual that became the heartbeat of the team.

This is what it looked like:👇

--

1/ Highlights & Wins -> Win Together Mindset.

Before any client status updates, we opened with the good stuff:

- What went well this week?
- Who deserves recognition?
- What are we proud of?

We split this into two parts.

Part 1: Client Wins

- Awards
- Viral posts
- Major shoutouts
- LinkedIn News features

These moments gave everyone visibility of the impact we were making, across the business.

Part 2: Team Wins

- Meaningful client feedback
- A great client call someone led
- Someone demonstrating our values
- A colleague going above and beyond

People felt seen.

Quiet contributions weren’t missed.

The team took a second to acknowledge each other.

It was never “my win”.
It was our wins.

We carried this energy into the rest of the week too.

Slack channels (# TeamWins, # ClientWins, # Learnings) filled up constantly.

--

2/ Learnings -> Staying future-proof.

Every week, someone brought something new:

- A Canva update someone spotted
- A change to LinkedIn’s algorithm
- An automation that shaved hours
- A Notion feature worth exploring

If it helped one person, it could help the whole team.

Somewhere along the way, we’d built a learning culture.

Curiosity spread.
Ideas compounded.
People started experimenting again.

When a team learns together, it grows together.

--

3/ Failures & Experiments -> What I’d add if I did it again.

Looking back, there’s one thing I’d introduce earlier:

A ‘Failures & Experiments’ segment.

Because I’d say this on calls:

“If failure isn’t safe, people won’t experiment, and results stay average.”

I’d carve out 10 minutes each week for:

- What someone tested
- What didn’t work
- What surprised them
- What they’d try next

No judgement.
Only learning.

Most breakthroughs come after a string of failed attempts.

It only takes one good experiment to shift how the whole team operates.

That’s the kind of environment I’d build even earlier next time.

--

So, why does this matter?

Whether you’re a team of 5 or 50, this simple ritual builds:

i. Connection - People feel seen
ii. Collaboration - Wins become shared momentum
iii. Psychological Safety - Failure isn’t feared
iv. Culture - Remote work feels human
v. Learning - You stay ahead without forcing it

These Fridays shaped the culture more than any system I introduced.

It gave people a space to show up as a team.

That made all the difference.

--

♻️ Found this interesting? Please repost.

I’ve posted for 28 days in a row.

Long enough to learn what consistency really does.

Daily posting was the plan all along.

I set out to be committed, intentional, and consistent with my content.

Documenting my travels and sharing lessons from scaling an agency, leadership insights and advice on hiring (and how to land your dream role at an agency).

Historically, I'd struggle to hit 'post' every day. Something was holding me back. 

Let’s be honest…

Putting yourself out there online feels a lil cringe at first.

You have to put any fear and imposter syndrome to one side. 

If you don’t, you’re leaving opportunities on the table.

Since leaving my full-time role (ironically, at one of the biggest personal branding agencies), I’ve had to do the thing we helped hundreds of clients do:

Build my own brand.

I’m selling me.

My services. 
My knowledge. 
My learnings from four years scaling a leading agency.

No ads (yet). 
No cold calling. 
And no client referrals (yet).

Just showing up every day on LinkedIn, trying to provide value.

And in November, here’s what that consistency created:

- 44,407 impressions 
- 1,378 reactions 
- 498 comments 
- 336 new followers

The metrics matter. Of course they do.

But more importantly, my content has opened doors.

- 27 people reached out (saying the content was valuable) 
- 6 became leads 
- 2 are now clients

(For context: 6 months ago, my LI content would get 100,000+ impressions monthly, but no inbound opportunities or leads.)

Next week, I have 4 more discovery calls.

Since stepping into fractional COO work for agency and B2B companies, every single opportunity has come through LinkedIn.

All because I've showed up.

That is the power of posting with purpose.

I’ve worked inside a leading personal branding agency for years.

I’ve seen what this platform can do for careers, opportunities, and businesses.

Now I’m experiencing it for myself.

And I’m just getting started.

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO scaling an agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as fractional COO. After travelling Australia and Fiji, I'm currently in Bali! 🇮🇩

It’s surprising how quickly you open up when you’re miles from home.

People you meet by chance can feel familiar within hours.

The moment you’re on the move, speaking to new people becomes second nature.

You walk into a hostel, join a tour, or sit in a 4x4, and the conversations start immediately:

“Where are you from?”
“How long are you travelling for?”
“Where are you heading next?”

Everyone is slightly outside their usual routine, which makes it easier to speak to each other.

I spent two days on Fraser Island in Australia in a 4x4 convoy with people I’d never met before.

- A German girl (who had just finished college).
- Two Italians (on a working holiday visa in Aus).
- A Dutch law student.

And two English friends, travelling the East Coast.

Different countries, different backgrounds, very different lives.

Yet we spent the next two days together - driving across the island, swimming in lakes, taking photos, sharing stories.

Nothing forced.

We all happened to be in the same place, at the same time, for the same reason.

A few days later, it was the Whitsundays, two nights on a boat with around thirty people.

By the second day, people were speaking to each other quite naturally.

What brought us together was the shared experience of travelling.

Being on the move.
Exploring somewhere new.
Having the space to be present.

Travel shows how quickly a connection can form.

Perhaps this doesn’t happen as much at home.

We’re all so caught up in day-to-day life.

It’s easy to stay in your own little world.

But when you’re travelling, you meet people you’d never otherwise cross paths with. 

Connection feels, well - simple.

To anyone travelling right now, especially if you’re doing it alone:

Keep going.

Speaking to people you don’t know is part of the experience… and maybe it’s something we could bring back into everyday life too.

-

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I’m an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO, scaling a personal branding agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as a fractional COO. After travelling Australia and Fiji, I’m currently in Bali! 🇮🇩

No alternative text description for this image

About to board a flight to Doha, on the way back to London. ✈️

I’m not back yet, but I can already feel the shift.

That moment before returning home where you’re still holding the calm of time away, but your mind starts edging back towards familiar rhythms.

Back into work mode, with a fairly intense few days of meetings in the capital and Christmas events ahead.

I’m grateful for the last eight weeks. Genuinely grateful.

And I’m ready to come back.

Both can be true.

I’ll draft a more reflective post on the flight. (I’ve got 14 hours to sit still - plenty of time to eat plane food, read my book and think before a layover in Qatar). 

--

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. If this resonated, feel free to follow along.

PPS. Anyone else LOVE doing work on the plane? I feel so productive (WiFi permitting!) Let me know in the comments.👇

This is the longest stretch I’ve ever worked on the road.

It’s changed the way I think about work more than I expected.

I’ve done the odd few days remotely in other cities.

Lisbon, Paris, Copenhagen.

Nothing like this.

I've been blending work with exploring, whilst travelling the East Coast of Australia. 

Travel has taken priority.

Exploring new cities, long days out, sightseeing, beaches (all that good stuff!)

But, I've needed to weave work around the travels. 

20-25 hours this month.

I’ve learnt about what 'work' actually means to me:👇 

--

1/ I struggle to work from home when I’m “home” (or in  a hotel room!)

In familiar surroundings, I slow down.

I get tired.
I drift.
I’ll happily lie in bed a bit longer.

But in a café?
A new environment?

My brain switches on.
I focus properly.*
I actually enjoy the work more.

Turns out I do better when I’m “out in the world”, not tucked away at home.

This isn't groundbreaking stuff. But, before my travels I was honestly pulling 15-hour days working in my room. 

When back in London, I'll mix up my environments. Hotel lobbies, coffee shops, co-working spaces.

*with coffee

--

2/ I’m reflecting on what a productive routine looks like for me.

Being away has made analyse my working habits more honestly.

- What pace feels sustainable?
- What do I genuinely value in a working week?
- What rhythm helps me do good work? 

For the first time in a while, I’m questioning my current defaults or habits.

I’m paying attention to what gives me energy.

And, what drains it. 

I'm thinking about how I want my days to look like, not just what they “should” look like.

Shaping a routine around your values, rather than someone else’s expectations, changes how you show up.

--

3/ I’m learning to let go of the “always on” mentality.

For years, I worked 60+ hour weeks without thinking twice.

Partly out of necessity.
Partly out of habit.

And in 22-23, because I was juggling a full-time job with my final-year studies.

Being away has shown me how that mindset sticks.

Even now. 

Without a '9-5', I catch myself feeling guilty for not clocking the same hours.

It's been tricky.

Not refreshing emails every hour. 
Holding back from replying to client messages immediately.
Trying not to refresh LinkedIn notifications the moment they pop up.

This month has reminded me that productivity isn’t measured in hours.

It’s measured in intention, energy, and doing the right things (at the right pace)

I'm still learning. 

Let's be real:

Boundaries aren’t a luxury; they’re part of doing good work.

--

This month has given me something I didn’t realise I needed:

Perspective.

A reminder that work can fit around life. Not always the other way round.

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO scaling an agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as a fractional COO, writing this post from Australia while exploring what’s next.

I finally read The 4-Hour Work Week word-for-word.

It challenged more of my assumptions than I expected.

For years, it sat on my shelf as “the productivity book everyone talks about”.

I’d flick through a few pages here and there, but never gave it a proper read.

But reading it fully, slowly, gave me a different perspective.

Here are 4 ideas that really stayed with me:👇

-

1/ Productivity ≠ progress.

Ferriss talks a lot about the trap of being busy.

There’s a line that captures it perfectly:

“Focus on being productive, not being busy.”

It made me realise how easily a full day can deceive you.

Messages.
Quick wins.
Back-to-back calls.
Endless bits of “stuff”.

You get to the end of the day feeling active, but not necessarily any further forward.

It’s easy to confuse activity with progress.

A few years ago, when I started my first full-time job, I fell into this trap
(and it's hard to get out of!)

So, here's the critical question to ask yourself:

If I only had 2 focused hours today, what would genuinely move things forward?

--

2/ Start with the life you want, then build the work backwards.

Most of us do it the other way around.

We build our work first… and then try to fit a life around whatever space is left.

(usually very little space!)

Travelling Australia right now has made this land differently.

The environment you’re in shapes the energy you bring.

Your rhythm shifts depending on the boundaries you set.

Ferriss nudges you to design your weeks and months on purpose, not as an afterthought.

The more I travel, the clearer it becomes that you don’t stumble into the life you want.

You have to shape it deliberately.

--

3/ Test small. Move fast. Learn quickly.
 
The book is full of “mini experiments”.

Tiny two-week tests that teach you far more than long-term planning ever does.

The more I think about it, the more universal it feels.

It applies to scaling a business.
It applies to your career.
It applies to life in general.

You rarely need a perfect plan.

Instead, try something small, pay attention to what you learn, and let that guide the next step.

Some of the most important decisions I’ve made started as small tests like this.

And they compound in ways you don’t expect.

--

4/ Subtraction is often the unlock.

This was the bit that quietly resonated with me.

It applies to life as much as work.

We instinctively add when something feels off:

More meetings. 
More processes. 
More things on the calendar.
More you feel you “should” be doing.

Ferriss puts forward a simple principle:

“Eliminate before you delegate.”

Because if something shouldn’t be done at all, delegating it only scales the inefficiency.

Sometimes the thing that moves you forward is the thing you remove.

--

TL;DR: 

Reading the book properly made me rethink 'busyness', boundaries, experiments, and the value of doing less, but better.

PS. Have you read the book? Curious to hear what stuck with you.

Two days in Cairns and it’s felt like five different trips.

Australia really does variety better than anywhere I’ve been.

Yesterday was my waterfalls day, plus a walk through a rainforest.

And an (unsuccessful) attempt to chase the sunset… by the time I finally got to a viewing point, the clouds arrived!

Then today… completely different energy.

I went to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

(a spot so many travellers recommended, most of them coming down the East Coast while I’ve been making my way up).

Crocodiles everywhere (naturally!)
Kangaroos.
Koalas.
Reptiles and tropical birds (including one that got a little closer to me than I planned) (see pic 😆) 

After that, lunch and a stroll in Port Douglas. Beautiful spot; a quieter pocket just north of Cairns.

What a great way to wrap up my time in Australia.

Fly to Bali tomorrow. 

--

PS. took a few cool photos in Cairns whilst out and about. Will add to comments!

If you want guaranteed LinkedIn growth, this is the only advice you need.

Seriously. This is the BIG secret.

...

There is no secret.

I don’t know about you but every man and his dog seems to have a “magic formula” for LinkedIn and social media growth.

Most of it contradicts itself.

Most of it is noise.

What frustrates me most is when people position their advice as: 'the only way'.

I spent a few hours yesterday reflecting. And the one common thread between my favourite creators:

- They show up consistently. 
- Their content is valuable.
- They stay authentic.

No "hacking the algorithm"... and not an engagement pod in sight. 👀

Working while travelling doesn’t look like a perfect routine.

And that's okay. 

It's now 1:38am.

I landed in Auckland on Sunday, and I'm here for two nights. 

(I'm 13 hours ahead of the UK, which still feels slightly surreal!)

And today was… full.

(For the very few who might be interested, here's how my Monday played out)

6am - woke up
6:30-7am - gym (22 minutes, technically. Mostly spent realising I’m a bit out of shape)
7-7:30am - swim + shower
7:30-8:30am - big breakfast, 2 coffees
8:30-11am - work block 1 (business development, outbound, admin)
11am-2pm - long walk around central Auckland. Admired some very expensive yachts that are about £15 million out of budget right now. 
2-3pm - lunch by the harbour
3-4pm - a bit of retail therapy (I don't love shopping, so have to limit this to an hour max!)
4-7pm - power nap + watch football highlights
7-9pm - dinner by the harbour (Salad, then dessert... because balance matters!)
9pm-1:30am - work block 2. (x3 sales calls for an agency I’m fractional COO for. And a catch-up with Surbhi, my Community Manager and EA!)

This isn’t what my “normal” working day looks like.

I’m not up at 6am every day. Far from it.

But I am a night owl. Always have been.

So working into the early hours, especially while travelling, isn’t completely out of character.

That’s the point, really.

When you’re on the move, work stretches and bends.

Days look different. Hours shift.

It’s not permanent. It’s not a badge of honour.

You do what you’ve got to do to keep things moving.

Flexibility is the real luxury here.

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I’m an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO, scaling a personal branding agency to 7 figures, I now advise ambitious agencies and B2B founders, as their fractional COO. Writing this post from Auckland 🇳🇿 !

In early November, it was Trustees’ Week.

I became a trustee at 18. I’m now 27.

It’s not a typical path.

(Especially in the UK, where the average trustee is 61.)

To be clear, that experience matters. 

Boards need people who’ve spent decades in the sector or in industry. People who’ve managed risk, navigated crises, and understand governance at a deep level. 

That depth is essential.

For me, stepping into that role so young shaped my understanding of leadership, responsibility, and service. 

Currently, I'm Non-Executive Director for a charity that provides funding and support to other charities, and Vice Chair at Child Action Northwest, a leading children and young people’s charity.

Charities sit at the heart of civic life in the UK.

They show up in the places where government and markets often can’t: social care, youth services, mental health support, education. 

They fill the gaps most people don’t see.

Behind every one of those organisations is a Board.

A group of Trustees and NEDs responsible for strategic direction, governance, finance, and safeguarding.

Boards are the backbone of how an organisation is led and supported.

And trusteeship is one of the most meaningful forms of volunteering.

You give your time, judgement, and skills not for reward, but because the work matters.

But here’s the part we don’t talk about enough:

Young trustees are still missing from the table.

Only around 3% of trustees in the UK are under 30.

That gap matters: symbolically and practically.

Boards need diversity of age, and the diversity of thought that comes with it.

Young trustees bring lived experience, curiosity, challenge, plus a clearer sense of how culture and expectations are shifting.

We help boards stay future-focused...

rather than anchored in legacy thinking or “how things have always been done”.

Starting at 18 taught me this quickly.

Sitting alongside senior leaders forced me to listen hard, ask better questions, and widen my understanding of impact.

It grounded my approach to leadership and the way I think about responsibility.

When you’re accountable for safeguarding, budgets, outcomes, risks, at 18, it stays with you.

You grow up fast. 
In a good way.

Being a young trustee is about representation. 

Building boards that genuinely reflect the communities they serve.

So Trustees’ Week is a valuable reminder:

If you're a Chair or CEO of a Charity:👇

Create space for young trustees.

Do it with intention, and make sure they’re able to contribute meaningfully.

And if you’re a young person:👇 

Don’t underestimate what you bring.

- Your insight is relevant.
- Your lived experience is needed.
- Your voice carries more weight than you think.

(Ask yourself: 'What perspective do I bring to a board that doesn’t exist there yet?')

If we want a resilient, forward-looking charity sector, we have to build it intentionally.

Making space for every generation is part of that work.

I’ve reviewed 11,500+ Cover Letters and CVs.

Here’s what the top 1% do differently:

(After hiring 50+ people over the last four years, the patterns are impossible to miss). 

For context, at my previous agency, we hired for content writers, account managers, and strategist roles that attracted hundreds (sometimes thousands) of applicants. 

I read every single Cover Letter and CV.

It took hours, but it mattered. 

And like most hiring managers, I’d spend ~20-30 seconds scanning each one before deciding whether to keep reading.

These are three patterns that stood out:👇 

--

1/ Most people undersell themselves. 

Candidates list what they’ve done but they don’t explain why it matters.

They share their experiences, but they don’t connect it to the role they’re applying for.

The Cover Letters that stood out weren’t the longest. They were the ones that were relevant, clear, and intentional.

--

2/ Preparation is the fastest way to stand out.

In our most recent hiring round, less than 20% even mentioned the agency by name.

Ever fewer showed signs of doing deep research.

Out of the 11,500 Cover Letters and CVs I’ve reviewed, the candidates who did prepare stood out instantly.

- They mentioned our clients.
- They referenced content our team had created.
- They’d listened to podcasts with our founder/team

Those 1% were almost always the ones we hired.

--

3/ Communication skills separate the good from the great.

The candidates who connected with us on LinkedIn, sent a thoughtful thank-you note after the interview, or checked in during the process?

They stood out.

Every time.

That’s what being professional, responsive, and human looks like.

If you're applying for roles right now, remember this:

The hiring manager is scanning hundreds of Cover Letters and CVs.

Maybe thousands.

Don’t just apply.

Make them remember you.

--

Hope you found this valuable!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more practical advice on becoming a top-1% applicant, and landing great roles at marketing and comms agencies.

--


PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO scaling an agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as a fractional COO, writing this post from Australia while exploring what’s next.

It’s Monday tomorrow.

And if you’re already feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’ve been there.

Sometimes the week creeps up on you before you’ve properly switched off from the last one.

Right?!?

One thing that’s helped me (more than any fancy system) is taking a few minutes on a Sunday to ask myself a couple of grounding questions.

It brings a bit of order back into things.

A few you might find useful:👇 

1/ What actually matters this week?
The handful of things that will genuinely move the needle.

2/ What isn’t urgent? 
Because a lot of things pretend to be.

3/ What’s been quietly draining me?
A conversation you've avoided. A task you've been half-carrying. A small thing that’s taken up too much space.

4/ What would make this week feel like a win?
A simple, honest answer goes a long way.

5/ Where can I make things easier for myself?
There’s usually one small tweak that removes a lot of friction.

Funny how a few minutes of clarity on a Sunday can take the edge off a whole week.

Have a great week, folks. ✌️ 

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO scaling an agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as a fractional COO, writing this post from Australia while exploring what’s next.

Most agency founders don’t audit their business.

Then wonder why growth feels chaotic.

Over the last few months, I’ve worked with three agency clients who all came to me with the same request:

“Help me scale.”

On the surface, it sounded simple enough.

But when I asked what was actually holding them back, none of them had a clear answer. 

Not a confident one, anyway.

That’s when it became obvious:

They didn’t need more tactics. 

They needed clarity.

Clarity on what’s working in the business.
Clarity on where the bottlenecks are.
Clarity on what’s slowing them down (without them realising it!)

So I introduced them to the framework I use: the Operational Audit.

A 2-hour deep dive into how the agency really works today, and what the founder actually wants the next stage of growth to look like.

Before the session, I share a set of questions. 

Nothing too complicated. Just the basics most founders never stop to interrogate:

1/ How do you currently win new business?
2/ Where do you feel the biggest bottlenecks are?
3/ What’s going well in the business right now?
4/ What does success by the end of this year look like?
5/ Which parts of running the agency do you most enjoy?
6/ Which parts feel the most draining?
7/ If you stepped away for two weeks, what would break?
8/ How confident are you in your systems and processes as you grow?
9/ And zooming out 12 months, what would “excellent” really look like?

Then there’s one quick exercise I always include:

If you could spend £10, £100, and £1,000 to improve the business tomorrow, what would you do (and why)?

It forces founders to separate:

- A £10 problem
- A £100 problem
- A £1,000 problem

Because so many agencies spend £1,000 solving £100 issues. 

And for all three clients, the audit changed everything.

1/ One realised their bottleneck was slow, inconsistent decision-making.
2/ Another realised they didn’t need more clients; they needed stronger systems to serve the ones they had.
3/ And the third realised they were spending their time on work they actively disliked, instead of hiring for it.

None of that would have surfaced without slowing down long enough to actually diagnose the business.

So if you’re an agency founder and you’re feeling stuck, ask yourself:

- Do you truly know where your current problems are?
- Or are you making educated guesses?

Because if you don’t diagnose the real issue, you’ll keep treating symptoms.

But when you do create that clarity, everything else becomes easier:

Hiring decisions.
System decisions.
Growth decisions.

Even how you spend your time as a founder.

Get the diagnosis right, and the path forward stops feeling chaotic.

--

PS. Hi, I’m Lewis 👋. Ex-COO who helped scale an agency to 7 figures, now supporting early B2B founders as a fractional COO, sharing this from Australia.

PPS. I’ve got a couple of December slots to run these audits one-to-one. If you think it would help, DM me.

Most of us underestimate what we can do in a year.

And overestimate what we need to do by Friday.

Earlier this year, I realised I’d turned every week into a sprint.

That feeling where you judge yourself every seven days and think you’re not moving fast enough.

I caught myself reacting to whatever was in front of me, not where I actually wanted to go.

I wasn’t looking at the bigger picture.

I didn’t feel in control.

Instead, I felt I was constantly catching-up.

And it reminded me of something I’ve had to relearn a few times:

You can’t build anything meaningful if you’re constantly sprinting in weekly races.

The work that matters compounds over months and years, not in one week.

I kept asking myself:

“Is this a decision for this week, or for the long-term?”

Most days, I was still choosing the week.

And that’s when it clicked that something needed to shift.

Tracking your week is still useful.

Goals 
Habits
What's moved forward.

But it can’t be the only lens you use.

Without the bigger vision in mind, the week will call the shots.

So, if you’re feeling behind right now, here’s something to consider:

Stop judging your progress by the week.

Feeling behind usually means you’re measuring yourself on the wrong timeline.

Progress never feels fast in the moment, but it adds up when you keep showing up.

And if you want something practical:

Before tomorrow, ask yourself:

“What’s the one thing I can do this week that serves the bigger picture?”

Not 10 things.
One thing.

- Make it specific
- Make it small enough to complete
- Make it meaningful for the long-term

If you can do that every week, one thing that genuinely matters, you’ll look back in a year and realise you were never behind.

You were building something bigger than the week.


♻️ If this was useful, feel free to repost.

--

PS. hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I'm an operator, builder, and believer in doing work that matters. After 4 years as COO scaling an agency to 7 figures, I now advise early-stage B2B founders as fractional COO. Currently exploring Australia! 🇦🇺

In four years, I’ve read 17,750+ cover letters, interviewed 850+ candidates, and hired 35+ people.

When you’ve spent that much time inside the hiring process, you start to see clear patterns in who stands out.

Here’s what the best candidates consistently do: 👇 

--

1/ They tailor their application.

- They adjust their CV, cover letter, and portfolio to reflect the company’s tone and priorities.
- They answer screening questions with tangible examples that closely mirror the role.
- And in interviews, they reference real projects that show genuine alignment.

Impact = It tells the hiring manager, “I understand your world, and I can add value here.”

--

2/ They show their thinking.

- Their application explains the “why” behind key projects, not solely what they delivered. Specific numbers, impact, data. 
- Their cover letter shows how they make decisions and solve problems.
- And in interviews, they talk through their approach step-by-step.

Impact = It proves they think clearly and independently - a trait managers trust most.

--

3/ They prepare deeply.

- Their CV and cover letter reflect a real understanding of what the company actually does.
- Their screening answers reference the team, product, or mission.
- And in interviews, they ask informed questions that show homework. 

Impact = It signals intent, that they want this job, not just any job.

--

4/ They communicate well.

- Their application is structured, concise, and easy to read. No fluff. 
- They respond quickly, politely, and clearly in pre-interview messages.
- And in interviews, they listen, adapt, and follow up with gratitude. Plus, the best applicants will follow-up after the call. 

Impact = It reassures the hiring manager they’ll represent the company well: internally and externally.

--

5/ They stay curious.

- Their CV and cover letter show learning, progress, and self-development.
- They share relevant industry news, and ask a small but thoughtful question about it.
- And in interviews, they ask about impact, growth, and how to excel in the role.

Impact = It signals they want to grow with the company. 

--

When you put all of this together, something becomes clear:

The candidates who stand out treat the process with care, take the time to understand the business and, critically, they connect the dots between their experience and the company’s needs. 

Found this valuable?

♻️ Feel free to repost to help someone in their job search.

Your future self is paying attention to the choices you make today.

I wrote that down earlier this week.

Progress rarely comes from big moments.
It usually shows up on fairly normal days.

The things you don’t really clock at the time.

- Finishing something you said you’d finish.
- Making time for work that actually matters.
- Pausing before rushing into the next thing.

Choosing habits that support where you’re trying to get to, rather than what feels easiest that day.

None of this feels important on its own.

It’s not exciting. And it’s definitely not visible.

But it adds up.

When I look at the founders I work with, and when I’m honest about my own journey, the people who move forward aren’t doing anything special.

- They’re consistent. 
- They follow through more often than not.
- They make choices that line up with what they say they want, even when they’re tired or distracted.

That’s usually the difference.

So heading into a new week, the question probably isn’t: “what do I need to change?”

It’s simpler.

What’s one small thing you can do today that your future self would be glad you did?

Start there.

♻️ Repost if you found this valuable. 

--

PS. Hi, I’m Lewis! 👋 I’m an operator and builder. After four years as COO, helping scale a personal branding agency to seven figures, I now work with agencies and B2B founders as a fractional COO. I’ve recently been travelling Australia and Fiji, and I’m now based in Bali 🇮🇩

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