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Hello Everyone,
I have been quiet so far on here since joining so it’s about time I introduced myself.
I am Lizzie, the Founder of my own Brand Studio, Lizzie Ridout Design Ltd – looking to explore a more fractional approach as a Creative Brand Strategist.
The Welsh/Brazilian daughter of two diplomats raised across 5 continents, with nearly 15 years as a Designer, Creative Lead and Brand Guardian – both in house and agency-side – I have now built LRD to be the Strategic, Creative & Cultural Conduit for EMEA+NA Retail and F&B SMEs wanting to turn passable to premium and launch or grow in the UK market.
Would love to connect with any fellow founders, creatives, strategists and marketeers.
Take Care
Lizzie
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For the wine lovers in the community:
Hi all – I’m Benedict Johnson, founder of Ourglass Wine. After 20 years in strategy at Ogilvy, AKQA, BBH and Publicis Sapient, I left to build the club I always wished existed.
We work with small producers who make wine with character and story, and share them with clear, useful notes/videos/articles that help you taste, learn, enjoy as you go. Decanter named us Best Wine Club, and the Drinks Retailing Awards shortlisted us for Specialist Online Retailer 2026.
We’ve also launched Taste Decoded – a series on how people from different fields who understand taste think about it. Contributors include Ogilvy’s Rory Sutherland, Oxford’s Charles Spence, Rankin, the FT’s Tim Hayward and others: https://ourglass.wine/
If you’d like something special for Christmas – for yourself, a client or a team – drop us a note and we’ll pull something together: [email protected]
Happy to chat wine, tas…
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This article is going to be bookmarked for me to refer to whenever I’m stood in the wine aisle! https://ourglass.wine/blog/wine-price-value-sweet-spot-rory-sutherland
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Totally agree. £10–50 is where quality and price work together. Wine can surprise you, if you know where to look.
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Tagging some of our wine lovers Nelly Ward Alina Listopad Guy Denison-Smith Frank J Cotroneo Andy Dougan Carolin Greiner Duncan Leask Marta Lopez John Glazewski Adriana Ci Tristan Dugmore Alex Messianu João Felizardo Amanda Doueihi Abby Brosgill Abigail Keene-Babcock Alex Issakova Alison Fleming Carole Howard Charlotte Beyer Colin Sharp Dave Ladbrook Cynthia Vanzella Dimitris Protogirou Sikta Marina Lukyanova Jonathan Simpson Tarling John de los Santos Richard Trinder Pete Domican Nick Makin Geoffroy Bauer
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Hello everyone. Does anyone here have difficult conversations they need to have with staff or team members? I’m in the middle of building an AI powered coaching app based around our unique coaching framework. We have built out a single use-case at the minute, focused on ”difficult conversations” and now I need people to use it to see if the output is actually helpful. If anyone here is interested in giving it a go, let me know.
Here’s what it does:
🧩 Preparation: Helps you diagnose the real issue, gather facts and clarify your outcome (including your part in the picture).
💬 Conversation: Provides structure, coaching prompts and a path to a clear, collaborative agreement.
📋 Follow-up: Builds accountability with actions and timescales.
🔍 Insights: Offers feedback on how you handled the situation and what to work on next.
Thanks
Niall
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A cool tool, Niall! Is this designed for HR/People professionals or anyone that manages people? Or perhaps just for anyone that deals with humans in their day to day
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It’s designed for Managers who manage a team of people. The current use-case is applicable to a wide range of scenarios, though. Anyone who has a difficult conversation they need to have should find it useful. It’s been built with an eye to managing Gen Z specifically, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used with other age groups.
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Does anyone want more clients in 2026?
(I know… so clickbait, sorry 😅)
For fractionals, warm referrals are usually the fastest, easiest, and most natural way to win work.
I’ve built a platform called Orbit that gets people you already know to introduce you to new clients, without any awkward asking or chasing.
From January we’re opening the beta to more users, and for TPC members we’re offering 6 months free (there is still a small success fee if you win work).
I’ve attached a quick overview deck, as well as a very short demo here:
If it sounds like it could be useful, or you just want to know more, drop me a line.
Jacob
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Very cool idea, Jacob – we’d love to hear how it goes with your beta testing! And great to hear that you are still encouraging human oversight in an AI tool – so important when it comes to relationships
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Hello Community,
I am officially a trustee!!
First order of business, donations!! I’m supporting Arts for Dementia in the Big Give Christmas Challenge fundraising campaign this week – they do great work and I’m very proud to be a Trustee. From 2 Dec – 9 Dec, if you could donate it will be DOUBLED, helping to inspire and empower people living with dementia through the arts.
Here’s the link to donate: https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000005bxcYYAQ
Anyone in this community who has links to the arts or connections to dementia organisations, please reach out to me – Big thanks!
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What a fab initiative! Thanks for sharing, Gary
And congrats on the trustee position!
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Alix Picard posted in the group Life Sciences Professionals
Hello, I’m Alix, I am a fractional lawyer. I have created this space for the life science experts within TPC to meet and share. I’ve been working within the service provider sector to the pharma/healthcare for 20+ years, so I know a lot about winning and servicing pharma and healthcare clients. And if I don’t know the answer to a question myself I usually know the name of someone who does. So feel free to ask away and if I can help I will!
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Great idea, Alix! Tagging some members who might be able to make good use of this group: Isaac Bailey, Jake Hoban, Alec Hirst, Corrina Kane, Noelle Reno, Savva Kerdemelidis, Bhavika Patel, Paul Agapow, Henni Granzow, Brett Smithard, Jeff Wellstead, Lester Mak, Rachel Francis, Ramune Le, Charlotte Gregson, PhD, Sophie Lenoir, Dr. Apul Parikh, Kazim Hasnain, Jennifer Bainbridge, James Craig, BRANDON TURK, Sophie Treillard, Tari Matanga, Ray Jetha
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Good idea Alix! We life science people often feel like outsiders in any networking. Or maybe it’s the preponderance of introverts …
By way of introductions, I’m Paul, and I solve biological problems with data, stats, AI – whatever it takes to help make a better decision. I’m based across Cambridge and London, working with a number of pharma and biotechs. Connect to me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-agapow/
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Thanks Alix. Great idea.
I am a strategy and transformation consultant working in healthcare (amongst other sectors) and a large part of my work has been with pharma/biotech and with the NHS.
My LinkedIn is https://linkedin.com/in/lestmak
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Hey everyone 👋
I’m looking for a developer to help me build (and maintain) an interactive surf-tourism platform online. Ideally someone who’s great with maps, APIs, and clean mobile-friendly UX.
For any overseas developers you’ve worked with before:
• Who do you recommend?
• Who should we avoid?
Preferably someone you know and trust!
I’m also looking for a UX/UI designer to help turn the concept into something intuitive, simple, and beautiful.
I’ve spent far too long getting the ”idea” from my head on Lovable, Glide etc but really now need to turn to a professional!
This is paid, but looking for someone to support me with an interest in ocean conservation and/or watersports etc as opposed to a random agency asking for lots of money!
Thank you!
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Fun project, Charles
Thanks for sharing!Tagging some devs & UX/UI peeps who might be able to help out: Tes Macpherson, Mohymenul Islam, Dan Lester, Will Helliwell, Mark Woodhall, Jesmarie Vargas, Pratham Sharma, Gillian Rosen, Val Miranda, Mahmoud Zareef, Jack Irwin-Smith, Lorène Levavasseur, Anna Bashynska, Eva 🔮 Glitch Witch 🕯️ Sands, Macdonald Anyanwu, Ola Podgorska
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Hi Charles,
Your project looks great, really exciting!
I’m a UX & UI Designer and would love to have a chat about how I could support you and bring value to your project. Let me know if you’re still looking for someone. I’d be happy to help.
Wishing you a lovely day, and I hope to speak with you soon.
Lorène
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He’s not a TPC member, but can competely vouch for https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-christopher-johnson/
Apart from being an indedible developer, he’s very focused on helping you build the right thing as quick and cheap as possible. Definitely worth a chat
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Hi there! One of the companies in our portfolio, StirlingX (www.stirlingX.io) is looking for a fractional HR person. We’ve not fully designed the requirement yet, and we’re looking for someone that could not only do the job, but also help us design the requirement.
Please comment here if interested in disucssing?
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Thanks for sharing, Chris!
Tagging some members who might be able to help: Liz King, Amanda Doueihi, Sandeep Khanna, David Tait, Hannah Batchelor, Elaine Kimber, David Blackburn, Eva Phillips, Christina Taylor
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Hi Chris, happy to have a chat to see what you need and whether I’m the right person to help. Feel free to book time with me at: https://calendly.com/christina-learntogrow/30-minute
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Hi Chris, I am not sure if you have already filled this position, but I would welcome a chat if not – I should be able to help. Ed
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Hi Chris, I am a fractional HR professional who is used to creating the scope for the role and delivering. If this opportunity is still available it would be great to chat.
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thanks for sharing Benedict!
Great to have you, Lizzie!
It’d be amazing to have you join us at our monthly online Community Networking, as this is great to way to meet fellow community members and learn things from those a few steps ahead of your in their portfolio career, as well as teach those a few steps behind: https://portfolio-collective.com/events/community-networking-with-brave-starts/
Looking forward to hearing more about your portfolio career