Launching Seat for Society

Over the past year or so, I’ve taken a step into something new. I’ve started building my own tech start-up — something shaped by recent lived experience and a growing sense that I wanted to do things differently. Much more on that soon.

But alongside building something new, I realised something else. I couldn’t fully step away from the world I’d loved and spent 20 years in.

Over a transatlantic cup of tea with my friend Kate, we found ourselves reminiscing about our corporate days and more specifically, leadership — partly sparked by what we’re seeing play out on a global stage and our reflections with hindsight as we both began new chapters.

From the outside, we often talk a lot about leadership. But we don’t talk enough about what it actually feels like. The pressure. The weight of accountability. The trade-offs. The moments where there isn’t a right answer — only a decision.

That curiosity turned into something. We’ve created Seat for Society — a podcast exploring how leaders make decisions when the stakes are high and the consequences are human. It’s all about what leaders draw on in the moments that matter.

It’s honest. It’s thoughtful. And it’s the kind of conversation I wish I’d had access to earlier in my career. In a world full of podcasts, we think there’s space for this one — because these are the conversations we were looking for. At Virgin Media, I sat in rooms where big decisions were being made — the kind that shape businesses, communities, and everyday lives. And sometimes the accountability of who we gave charitable money too, for example, felt big.

So this is my way of staying in the room - while also building something new alongside it. I’m learning a lot, stretching myself in new ways and quietly enjoying staying close to the corporate world.

You can find out more here: www.seatforsociety.com