Learning Innovation
Three types of tough crowd
"Tough crowd."
You've heard someone say this after a gig, a presentation, a workshop. But there&
Building a Portfolio Career
For freelancers, independents, and anyone building a career that doesn't fit in a job title.
I've been a freelancer, a founder, a consultant, and an accidental entrepreneur - sometimes all at once. These are the pieces I keep coming back to when I'm thinking about how to build something sustainable without a traditional path.
Start Here
The essential reads on portfolio careers
Howard's Riffs
A Quiet Way to Know Someone
On receiving a book someone's already read
Future Of Work
Two Pilates studios - and the great capability divide
One teaches craft, one delivers product. In an AI-driven world, the gap between human expertise and scalable systems is widening fast.
Howard's Riffs
How on earth are people cranking out so much content?
Between client work, parenting, and trying not to lose the plot - when does all this 'content' actually happen?
Portfolio Career
Er... how are people keeping up with the content machine? No. Really.
Seriously—how do you stay creative, keep it flowing, and not lose your mind (or soul) to the algorithm?
Creative Business
Weaving Threads: The Great Compression of Mid-Career
Early career is all about loose threads. But mid-career? That’s when the weaving really gets tricky…
How-To Guides
Practical playbooks for building your portfolio
Future Of Work
An antidote to AI tinnitus
Sam Altman says agency and adaptability will be extremely valuable. But what does cultivating them actually look like?
Future Of Work
Soft Skills are dead. Let’s talk Character Skills.
Forget buzzwords—how do we build environments that make developing Character skills exciting, impactful, and irresistible?
Independent Paths
The wallet, the CV, and me
A simple but effective method to design any kind of creative career.
Future Of Work
8 questions to get better at hiring
How to get better at hiring? A few simple questions can go a long way…
Hiring is one of the
Mindsets & Growth
Viva la voz
A more effective - and authentic - way to set up a meeting.
Creative Business
How to do Deeper Work
How to do more with less? Or rather, how can you create valuable work with less resources but also less burnout, stress and distractions?
Independent Paths
Stories from the road less traveled
Building a portfolio career?
Join Groove Theory - every other Sunday, a story, a framework, and usually a question I can’t stop thinking about.
Browse All
Everything on portfolio careers and the future of work
Learning Innovation
Three types of tough crowd
"Tough crowd."
You've heard someone say this after a gig, a presentation, a workshop. But there&
Howard's Riffs
A Quiet Way to Know Someone
On receiving a book someone's already read
Future Of Work
Two Pilates studios - and the great capability divide
One teaches craft, one delivers product. In an AI-driven world, the gap between human expertise and scalable systems is widening fast.
Howard's Riffs
How on earth are people cranking out so much content?
Between client work, parenting, and trying not to lose the plot - when does all this 'content' actually happen?
Portfolio Career
Er... how are people keeping up with the content machine? No. Really.
Seriously—how do you stay creative, keep it flowing, and not lose your mind (or soul) to the algorithm?
Creative Business
Weaving Threads: The Great Compression of Mid-Career
Early career is all about loose threads. But mid-career? That’s when the weaving really gets tricky…
Future Of Work
Mispriced Talent
Underserved. Underrepresented. These are valid terms for talent, but let's be honest - they've lost their edge.
Best of...
7 ways to improve a conference speaking proposal
I’ve just finished evaluating proposals for SXSW 2025. Here are 7 things that separate the standouts from the rest.
Stage Left
6 lessons from going live with Oprah
I was sitting at my computer willing the words to come.
I’m creating a workbook/guide for independent professionals
Entrepreneurial Endeavours
Employee of the Month
It’s really easy to let our inner critic run riot.
The negative self-talk, the comparison trap, that nagging
Portfolio Career
Lowercase skills
You may be familiar with concepts like T-shaped or I-shaped people to help
simplify the way we think
Battle Scars
How one club night became the turning point for my business
In February 2009 I left a promising career in advertising to build a music
company.
My vision, albeit partially formed,