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.

I've spent five years thinking about going sober.

And this year, I've finally committed to doing it in 2026.

I think it’s taken me so long because I was brought up with the belief that drinking means you are having a good time.

When I was younger, I also linked confidence to alcohol.
I was the quietest person in the group, and when I discovered alcohol, it helped me come out of my shell.

Then, as I got older, I became worried about how others would judge me for not drinking and the social awkwardness.

Watching others go on this journey is what finally helped me make the decision.  Two big inspirations have been Georgie Rechner and Sarah Jepson.

Why am I stopping?

Yes, it’s about health.
But it’s also about:

• Getting more comfortable saying no
• Letting go of what other people think
• Fully retiring my people-pleasing / accommodator role
• Getting to know my true self in social situations
• Sitting with emotions instead of rewarding a hard day with a drink
• Not limiting where I go because a cab home feels “too expensive”

The biggest surprise so far is the instant relief I felt on Jan 1st.

No more mental chatter about should I / shouldn’t I drink.
That alone has been freeing.

I know there will be awkward moments.
But right now, I’m more curious than worried.

I’m sharing this publicly because it helps when people know.

And also to say, if you’re doing this too, or quietly considering it, you’re not alone.

If enough of us are up for it, I may set up a monthly check-in to share learnings.
Message me if you’d like to join.

♻️ Repost to inspire your audience to prioritise themselves
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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

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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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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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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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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And we are back 😃

I took a little break from LinkedIn over Xmas.

Not deliberately, just didn't feel drawn to my laptop. 

So I’m easing back in on a Sunday with a gentle one, a few simple things I’m doing to set the year up, in case any of them help you too.

1. Booking my holidays for the year! Always good to have things to look forward to

2. Choosing only 2 main goals to focus on vs a buffet of too many

3. Blocking out my diary with lots of YELLOW, which is my colour for thinking time

4. Letting go of clutter - clothes I haven't worn for 2 years - gone, out-of-date tins and spices. Binned at least 30 notepads I was saving 'just in case'. 

5. Getting support - I've signed up with a fitness and nutritionist coach (sharing more about this in another post) - 2026 is all about muscle mass! 

Nothing crazy, but all very focused and intentional. 

And one more bigger thing that I'll share more on tomorrow. 

I already feel calm and prepared for the year.

What's one simple thing you're doing to set yourself up well this year? 

♻️ Repost to inspire your audience to set up 2026 well
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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

 ♻️ Repost to inspire courageous leadership
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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

♻️ Repost to support more leaders
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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

♻️ Repost to support more leaders
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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

♻️ Repost to support more leaders
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Struggling to know if to walk away? 

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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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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