I didn’t come from privilege. I was a reckless teen who quit uni, had zero experience, and talked my way into my first management role at 22. No training. No mentor. Just me, a job I wasn’t quite qualified for, and a team expecting leadership.

So I learned fast. I had to.
I paid attention, made mistakes, figured out how to win people over — and slowly built my own leadership toolkit that actually worked.

Over the next 20+ years, I built and led high-performing teams, scaled fast-growth companies, and coached everyone from early-stage talent to execs.

But the group I kept coming back to? Early-career, frontline managers.

They were always the sticking point in companies trying to scale. Trusted to lead, but rarely set up to succeed. They’re responsible for delivery, morale, and retention — yet most are thrown in with zero support and expected to “figure it out.”

And the training options?
Too slow. Too fluffy. Too disconnected from the reality of fast-moving companies. Delivered by a trainer, not someone who has been in the trenches.

So I built what I wished I’d had. A battle-tested playbook for managers doing the job without a safety net.

The Step Up is the result: tactical, honest, practical support — built for the people actually leading your teams, day to day.