Joanna Howes

The Change Creators 

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.

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

Clemenger BBDO

- Re-invented the company ways of working to drive agility, efficiencies, and flexibility to meet all client requirements
- Built a new production offering to achieve fast effective content delivery, resulting in a new stream of revenue  
- Supported the win of large pitches by selling operations excellence

Operations Director - Executive team 

McCann London

Operations Director

-  Introduced project management into the agency which doubled the agencies productivity 
- Transformed the commercial effectiveness with systems, data, technology, and accurate tracking resulting in increased profit margin
- Lead the process with the leadership team to evolve the culture to be bold and brave to increase the quality of work

Head of Project Management

Arthur London

Operations and New Business Director

Creative Services Director / Operations Director

VCCP

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

I lost my dad 29 years ago
and last week I was given a photo of him I’d never seen before.

It took me a moment (and my breath away) to take it in.
He was only 50 when he died, an age I'm only 3 years away from. 

This photo captures him in his element, surrounded by food doing the work he loved.

Grief doesn’t vanish.
You don’t 'move on.'
You move with it.

Some days it sits quietly. 
Some days it taps you on the shoulder.
And then there are moments like this, when it brings someone straight back into your heart.

But this photo did something else too.
It reminded me exactly where my own fire comes from.

My dad was all graft, pride and heart.
He cared deeply about his craft.
And he cared about people.

I started working for him when I was 12.
By 15, I was running the restaurant at weekends
Leading people twice my age, learning fast, getting things wrong, figuring out how to hold a team together.

At the time it just felt like 'helping Dad.'
Now I see it for what it was: my first leadership training ground.
So much of who I am today started in that restaurant.

Courage.
Ownership.
Showing up even when you don’t feel ready.
Taking pride in your work.

Seeing this photo now, almost three decades later, has pushed me even further into my own path.

His passion was food.
Mine is helping leaders find their courage to do the work that matters.
Different passions, same spirit.
Although my second choice would have been a food critic 😀

For anyone who’s lost someone, you’ll know this:

The grief softens, but the love doesn’t.
And moments like this make you stop and ask:

👉 Are we using the time we have well?
👉  Are we doing the work that feels true to us?
👉  Are we leading with pride in our craft… or just getting through the week?

I feel incredibly grateful for the years I had with him, for what he taught me, and for the reminder this photo brought.

If you’ve had a moment like this recently, I’d love to hear what it brought up for you.

♻️Repost to remember how important the time we have left is
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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

For my birthday last week, I went to a restaurant with NO menu.
And it felt so good to let go of control.

7 courses and no idea what's coming next. 

Even when they put butter that had marmite in it!! (I'm a hater)
It was amazing and I would have never ordered it had I been given the choice.

But here's the genius bit:

Every table eating the same thing.
Only 2 sittings at 7.30pm and 8pm.
The kitchen wasn't chaos... it was calm precision.
No decisions to stress about.
Just pure focus on quality and experience.

And they were all having the BEST time, singing to the music and having the time to have banter with us and make us feel SO special. 

There is so much to learn from this in corporate business. 

What could be possible is leaders stopped trying to control every outcome.
Empowered their teams to be creative.

Stopped offering endless options.
Just do fewer things... really, really well.

What if you applied this to your next project?

Your team?

Your life?

I already have and it's amazing how you can strip things back and simplify to create a better experience.

The old saying 'less is more' is so true.

Where is one area you can apply this to?

♻️ Repost to inspire new thinking 
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This wasn’t just the most special morning.
It reminded me why I started the podcast in the first place.

I never imagined how much the guests would teach me, inspire me, and shape how I see leadership today.

Here’s just a small glimpse of the impact being created by the people around this table:

🔥 Mollie Kmita & Rosie Kmita – driving transformational change in women’s football, even when faced with misogyny and resistance.

🔥 Sedge Beswick – lifting founders to believe in themselves again and drive business success.

🔥 Lee Chambers - Driving research to raise the alarm on the impact AI is having on young boys and pushing for guardrails at government level.

🔥 Ali Hanan – showing brands how inclusive marketing isn’t just the right thing to do…it delivers stronger commercial performance when you truly listen.

What was truly wonderful is how different all their worlds are and yet the thread between them is the same:

Courage.
Curiosity.
A deep desire to make things better.
And genuinely lovely kind people. 

And it made me reflect on a simple leadership question:
What change are we each quietly trying to make…
and what would happen if we backed ourselves a little more?

I honestly feel incredibly lucky to learn from these remarkable humans.
And if you’re not following them yet, I’d really recommend it.

If you want more content like this then do give me a follow Joanna Howes

The power of glitter.

A room full of women sharing.
Listening.
Supporting.
And encouraging each other to take those 'F*ck It' moments to live our potential. 

Nishma Patel Robb 🪩⚡️ created a night I’ll remember.
Not because it was shiny (even though it was), but because it felt safe.
Safe to be honest.
Safe to be seen.
Safe to let someone else hold a bit of your story.

I’m so grateful she followed her dream. 
It’s not the easy road, but it’s one that’s helping so many women back themselves.

If you’re not already following her, go step into her world of glitter. It’s genuinely uplifting.

Amazing to get to spend the evening with incredible women including Kerry Collinge Amanda Baker Catherine Peacock Anna Cairns Justine Hendry

If 'doing the right thing' could cost you EVERYTHING...

Would you do it?!

Zelda Perkins did.

She spoke out and fought to break her NDA with Harvey Weinstein after being silenced for years.

Her courage exposed how NDAs were being used to hide abuse and protect power.

That single act sparked Can't Buy My Silence, a global movement to end NDAs that cover up wrongdoing.

Speaking to Zelda about her story is one of the most powerful conversations I have had to date and one not to miss.

Especially if you feel currently strongly about something but are unsure or afraid of acting on it.

We went deep on:

- What happens when you speak out against power
- Why we need to go to government for support
- Recognising self-bullying
- Why speaking up needs to stop being seen as 'brave'
- The ability to keep going despite setbacks

This episode will make you question so much and start to see things in a completely different way.

Zelda had the courage to change what she saw was wrong and to keep going despite the emotional toll this took. 

She is a true inspiration. And I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the episode.

Watch it on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

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

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

Check out Zelda's work here: https://lnkd.in/eZgJQJGp

Support the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/e83YkGpq


♻️ Repost to stop systems protecting the wrong people 

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What a brilliant night.

It's not often you see a room full of Marketeers sing the Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 miles). 😂

The most special part is knowing the event is supporting 2 incredible causes.

⭐️ The amazing The Marketing Academy Foundation creating opportunities in our industry for people from challenging backgrounds

⭐️ Under One Sky, who are working to end homelessness 

The goal is to raise £250,000 and it's not too late to take part in the auction to contribute. Check it out on this link https://lnkd.in/eKJZW7AF

And all organised by the amazing Joel Barnett and his team at Fortune Hill. 

Thanks to my brilliant quiz team including Sophie Devonshire⚡️and The event queen herself Mays Elansari

I don’t often listen to The CEO Diaries anymore,

but this episode has helped me a lot. 

I’m in a stage of really questioning what matters
how I spend my time,
what genuinely lights me up,
and what I’ve been saying yes to out of habit.

Listening to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor brought me right back to what it means to be human.

She lost eight years of her life after a stroke.

Her story is extraordinary, not only because of what she overcame, but because of how she chose to live after.

She said something that I've found myself repeating all week:

 “Your life is worth 30 seconds.”

Thirty seconds to pause before reacting.
Before saying yes.
Before letting stress spill into the next moment.

Those 30 seconds hold the power to change how we live and lead.

Think about the impact of NOT taking them:
🔥 Being exhausted and not able to think straight
🔥 Losing the love for what you do 
🔥 Poor decisions and feeling stuck 
🔥 Your stressed energy costing your health and infecting those around you

We’ve all become so quick to react, especially under pressure.

So when everything feels urgent, take 30 seconds to remember what actually matters.

I can't explain enough how this has changed the way I'm approaching my week. I have such a clear head and lighter heart.

Your life and those you lead is worth 30 seconds.

How can you take this into your leadership?

Episode link in the comment. 

♻️ Repost to focus on what really matters
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This episode will stay with me for a long time.

The energy Mollie Kmita and Rosie Kmita walk into a room with is infectious, but the authentic leadership story behind that energy is where the real power sits.

At 14, they lost their home.

At 17, they lost their dad

At 19, they started their own women’s football club

At 23, they became professional footballers

And today, they are Forbes 30 Under 30 and founders of The Powerhouse Project 

Two incredible women who openly spoke about the chaos, the fear, the grief and the courage it took to build a life that looks nothing like where they started.

They’re proof that your beginning doesn’t get to decide your future.

And for leaders, their story is a reminder that resilience isn’t built in comfort.

It’s built in the moments you think might break you… but don’t.

If you want a dose of inspiration going into the weekend, I can’t recommend this episode enough.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ejGUyEhm 

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

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eZwwYhS7

Check out their amazing work with The Powerhouse Project: https://lnkd.in/exAJ4v6K 

♻️ Repost to inspire leaders who want to be inspired and build their resilience

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#Leadership #WomenInFootball #ThePowerhouseProject

Resilience isn’t built in comfort - Mollie & Rosie Kmita

12 leaders.
2 days
1 company with big ambitions.
1 beautiful venue.
And a table full of brilliant human beings. 

Year two of running PrettyGreen | The Global Fame Makers’s leadership two-day planning days reminded me why this work matters so much.

When a team is willing to pause the 'busy' button and look at themselves and the business, really look, opportunities open up.

We went deep into:

 • Innovation – what it really means
 • Curiosity – how to stay open, especially under pressure
 • Values – how they evolve as you grow
 • Culture – the behaviours that build trust (and the ones that quietly break it)
 • Emotional fitness – leading with steadiness even when things feel messy
 • Feedback – the conversations that change everything 

These are the muscles every leadership team needs right now.
Especially in a market where certainty is a luxury.

A special shout-out to Jessica Hargreaves Paczek, one of the most caring and courageous CEO's I’ve met (and I’ve interviewed over 150 on the podcast).

And to 🌳 Mark Stringer, for meeting change head-on, taking feedback with grace, and having an endless energy resource.

If you’re a leadership team reading this, here’s my question for you:

When was the last time you stopped long enough to look at the way you work together… not just the work you deliver?

A huge thanks to the full team for giving everything to the 2 days, even when the wine started to show up in plastic cups!! Sarah Henderson Lucy Mart Adam Shoemark Joe Stratton Hannah Macleod Emma Carson Lucy Porter Darren Greene Samantha Hooper Gill Sereena Abbassi FRSA

And Anna Maria Brezsa Timar  and Nicholas Barnard for the organisation and support. 

♻️ Repost to inspire great leadership
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How often do you go to the other side?

Last week, the right side of my brain finally got a turn.

My whole career, I've been told I'm too left-brained.

Interesting considering I spent my whole time in the creative industry, but it was in operations : )

So I decided to give it some exercise and went to a painting class. 

I had to work quite hard at trying to let go of it being right or overthinking what to do. 

Right now, I'm seeing too many leaders rigid in their thinking, so this is my shout-out to go and do something you don't normally do.

Give your dominant brain a rest and explore the other side. 

Have fun. 

I'd love to hear from anyone who consciously exercises both sides of their brains and what they do in the comments. 

♻️ Repost for more quick bites of inspiration 
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Are you a self-bully?

I've never said those words before.

But when Zelda Perkins said them to me, it made sense.

I’ve spent years talking about bullying in the workplace.
But I’d never thought about how much we bully ourselves. 

I’ve always understood self-sabotage - the fear that holds you back.
Self-bullying feels different.

This past week, I've been noticing when it shows up and it starts with 'self-judgement'.  

The voice that says you should be doing more, should know better, should be further ahead by now.

I used to think I needed that voice to drive me.
But I’ve realised it’s not sustainable.
And it’s definitely not kind.

Zelda’s episode isn’t live for a while,
but I wanted to share this early because it’s already shifted how I treat myself and how I think about courage.

Because if we’re bullying ourselves,
we won’t have the energy to stand up to the bullies in the workplace.

👉 A few things that can help are: 

1. Catch it in the moment - build self-awareness 
2. Pause and shift. Go into gratitude and ask, “What else could be true?”
3. Be kind to yourself. It’s surprising how quickly that softens everything

If we want to lead with courage, 
we have to stop the bullying that happens inside first.

The way we speak to ourselves sets the tone for how we lead everyone else.

Maybe it starts with learning to have our own back.

Do any of you judge yourself too harshly? I'd love to hear from you.

♻️ Repost to spread awareness
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What if your resilience is actually survival mode?

That was the question running through my mind as I spoke with Mollie Kmita and Rosie Kmita – former pro footballers, now founders of The Powerhouse Project.

They have achieved so much:

🔥 Forbes 30 Under 30

🔥 Nike and Google partnerships

🔥 Creating real pathways for women in football

But what we talked about wasn’t the glossy stuff.

They vulnerably shared:

• The impact of losing their dad at 17 to alcoholism
• How hyper-achievement helped to hide grief 
• The guilt you feel if your not ‘busy’
• How people pleasing impacted two businesses not working
• 16 years of pushing so hard, in case it all disappeared

It is so important to recognise the difference between resilience and survival mode. 

Resilience is steady.
It helps you adapt, recover, and lead with clarity.
You can pause. You can choose. You can breathe.

Survival mode is frantic.
It’s fuelled by fear, guilt, and the belief that if you stop, everything will fall apart.

One keeps you grounded.
The other keeps you running.

The Kmita twins are now operating from resilience and realising you calm down without losing ambition.

If you lead a team, here’s the real challenge from this episode:

Don’t just ask, “How do we build resilience?”
Ask, “What are we silently rewarding – survival mode or sustainable leadership?”

Because your people are watching what you live, not what you say.

Are you in survival mode? Let me know in the comments.

🔗 If you want to hear the full story – from loss, identity crisis and burnout to building The Powerhouse Project – the episode with Mollie and Rosie is live now on the Courageous Leaders Podcast.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ejGUyEhm 

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

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eZwwYhS7 

Check out their amazing work with The Powerhouse Project: https://lnkd.in/exAJ4v6K 

♻️ Repost to inspire leaders who feel they are in survival mode

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Very excited for Nishma Patel Robb 🪩⚡️to be putting the Glittersphere spotlight on me at 5pm today. 

I'm going to share when I first rebelled, how I found courage and so much more.

Be great to see you there - link in the events page below. 

Jo x

Putting the brilliant Joanna Howes under the spotlight and discovering more about this brilliant leader, podcaster and leadership expert. 
Join me for this exclusive sparkly conversation.

Nishma Patel Robb 🪩⚡️, Nimmi Shah and 4 other attendees

Shhhh….

Have you ever stayed quiet when you knew you should speak up?

Maybe out of fear… or because you didn’t think your voice would make a difference?

When the Harvey Weinstein ‘story’ was about to break, Zelda Perkins broke her NDA to do the right thing. 

She told the journalist everything, hoping other women with NDAs would come forward too.

But no one did.

So, she went first.

Her story isn’t just about taking on one man… it’s about taking on a system that silenced victims.

It took passion, resilience, courage - and 7 long years of pushing for change.

If you’ve ever felt pressure to stay silent, or you’re trying to create a culture where people can speak freely, this episode will really resonate.

Zelda shares her journey, her mission to make workplaces safer and more transparent.

And why speaking up should be seen as normal - not ‘brave.’

It’s one of those conversations that will stay with me - and I hope it does with you too. 

I’d love to know what you thought of the episode.

Watch it on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

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

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

Check out Zelda's work here: https://lnkd.in/eZgJQJGp

Support the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/e83YkGpq

 
♻️ Repost to stop systems protecting the wrong people 

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Too many of us are self-bullying!

And we need to stop it.

In my latest episode on Courageous Leaders , Zelda, who for years has campaigned to stop bad behaviour, shared the moment when she realised how badly she’d been treating herself.

It made me stop and think.

As leaders, we talk about the importance of compassion.

But how often do we give it to ourselves?

It’s a tough role, and there’s not much thanks that comes with it.

So it’s easy to notice what we’re not doing instead of what we are.

So maybe today, just check in:  
How are you speaking to yourself?

And what would it sound like if that voice came from compassion instead?    

If this resonates, this conversation with Zelda is a powerful reminder that courage starts with how we treat ourselves.

Watch it on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/eHGVyFSE

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

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

Check out Zelda's work here: https://lnkd.in/eZgJQJGp

Support the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/e83YkGpq

♻️ Repost if to bring more compassion to leaders 

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Why am I making life harder for myself?

The question Mollie Kmita and Rosie Kmita are trying to answer.

And one I think we all are!

Rosie shared how the voices in her head kept saying:

“You’re not good enough.”

“You’re boring.”

“No one’s listening.”

It’s like having a toxic boss in our own heads that keeps us working hard.

We know that we perform better with encouragement, yet we are stuck in a cycle of criticism. 

My theory is that many leaders believe that if they talk nicely to themselves they won’t achieve as much?

What are your theories on this?

Let us know in the comments and hope you enjoy this great episode!

Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ejGUyEhm 

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

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eZwwYhS7

♻️ Repost to a leader you think needs to talk more nicely to themselves 

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#leadership #selftalk #podcast

🔥 Courage in Bitesize 

How to let someone challenge you, without getting defensive 

Most of us say we want honesty.
Until someone offers it and we suddenly launch into our Greatest Hits of Justification. 

I tried this and it does make a difference. 

1. Pause - Just one beat.

2. Relax your face - Your eyebrows don’t need to panic.

3. Say - “Thanks — tell me more.”

4. Listen, don’t load your comeback.

5. Focus on the outcome you want to achieve to manage emotions 

That’s it.
Tiny moves.
Big courage. 

It’s amazing how quickly people stop tiptoeing when they realise you’re not gearing up for battle.

Any further tips please add to the comments. 

♻️ Repost to help busy leaders access tips
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Lauren Spearman

How much is guilt driving your leadership? 

That feeling of “I should be working… I should be doing more” — and before you know it, you’re saying yes to too many things and juggling work that doesn’t actually move you forward. 

On our latest Courageous Leaders episode, Mollie Kmita and Rosie Kmita share how ten years of saying 'yes' to everything finally caught up with them.

There’s a season early in your career where saying yes makes sense — you’re learning, building, getting curious.

But there’s also a moment of becoming a leader where you have to be strategic. 

Maybe the most courageous move isn’t adding more.
Maybe it’s stripping back so you can think clearly again.

What’s one thing you could say “no” to this week? 

I recommend watching the full episode. It's one of our most inspiring yet. 

Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ejGUyEhm 

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

Or on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eZwwYhS7

♻️ Repost to inspire leaders to focus 

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