Relevant, Resilient, Regenerative
I’m driven by the deep business design needed in today’s world.
Too many mission-driven organisations
burn out before they break through
or slowly compromise on their mission to stay alive.
I help you design differently;
so you’re relevant for today & tomorrow, resilient to change, and regenerative for the world that sustains us all.
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The biggest barrier to thriving is not being relevant. Relevant for today’s world; for the people we’re trying to reach; for the behaviour & system change needed.
I share practical ways to embed listening & participation, so that you can make sure you’re in tune with the world around you.Listening internally: surfacing misalignment between the mission or goals & how the team actually work
Listening externally: setting up lightweight, ongoing feedback loops with your audiences
Participatory design: ways of involving all stakeholders early, so decisions are shaped with people, not for them
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We all know that the world is increasingly uncertain. That could be anxiety-inducing or an invitation to design for resilience so you bend rather than break.
I help organisations grow resilience by designing for adaptability — from frameworks to team cultures where learning and iteration are the norm.
Decision frameworks: co-designing criteria so teams know what’s “good enough for now, safe enough to try”, giving clarity to the trade-offs
Scenario design: mapping possible futures to prepare for change without losing your mission
Team rituals: embedding learning cycles — retrospectives, feedback, and spaces that build trust and psychological safety so they can experiment without fear
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Businesses that thrive next will be those that restore — creating models that replenish people, planet, and purpose. It’s a shift from sustainability (doing less harm) to regeneration (intentionally nurturing renewal).
Business models: explore circular, distributive, or partnership-based models, including revenue & pricing models, that self-sustain & renew
Ownership & governance: role-play deeper changes towards steward ownership models - this might be in collaboration with those who helped us on our journey at Library of Things
Practices: where team health & vitality are prioritised. Learn from my experience designing practices like rituals of recognition, sabbatical offers, peer reflection, transparent salary-setting, self-led role reviews, as well as healthy leaving journeys
I can help you be:
Seeds I’m sowing
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Seeds I’m sowing *
Projects I love to work on
Teaching & Speaking
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Why this
I really love sharing my hard-won learnings with those on a similar journey.
I spent 12 years building Library of Things from a scrappy experiment into the world's biggest city sharing model, working out - often the hard way - what makes a mission-driven business genuinely desirable, viable & feasible.
So far, I’ve taken my learnings to the likes of the UN, the Design Museum, BBC Radio 4, as well as companies & university classrooms.
What I offer
Workshops, lectures, and keynotes on topics like: market testing, behaviour & systems change, mission-led business model design, & human-centred design.
Library of Things & other mission-driven businesses I’ve worked on sit at the heart of every session - live case studies in building, learning, redesigning to create something that’s relevant & resilient.
Business Design
Why this
The funding landscape is harder than ever and relying on grants is a fragile strategy. So, how do you make your service offer and business model as robust as your mission.
Over the last 12 years, I’ve gained deep lived expertise in developing innovative business models with mission-first organisations - working on everything from regenerative revenue & pricing, to partnership & community participation-based models, as well as steward ownership - all to make sure they are as relevant, resilient and regenerative as possible.
What I offer
Facilitated focused sessions, frameworks, expertise, & momentum to (re)design your business model to help you thrive rather than survive.
I hold the whole picture, but can also drive what’s needed next: designing a new service offer, reviewing the organisation design, or generating new income streams.
Thinking Partner
Who this is for
You're a few years into building something with a real mission. The early excitement has passed, the model is not yet secure, & the questions you're sitting with are harder than the ones you started with.
Why this
I know how hard it is to start, grow and nurture a mission-driven project from my time with Library of Things & beyond.
I often wanted more than a mentor, less than a generic coach; more of a personal cheerleader/ strategic companion who’d experienced the lows of raising aligned capital, the vulnerability of creating a
values-led team culture, or successfully avoided burnout by creating healthy ways of working.
What I offer
Part-advisor, part-collaborator; we can design what kind of strategic support you need & have budget for. From dedicated co-work days together to asynchronous support via WhatsApp, we can untangle decisions together for as long or as little as you need.
Who this is for
Business schools, design schools, social enterprise accelerators, and corporate or social innovation programmes.
People leave with a different relationship to business-building, to designing what matters.
Check out a sample of my market testing workshop-lecture combo.
Who this is for
This is for mission-driven organisations at a resilience or replication inflection point: businesses struggling to know how to prioritise both purpose & profit, social enterprises ready to scale, foundation grantees ready to move beyond grant dependency. After working together, organisations have a clearer model that can thrive.
“It's been SO great working with you.
We've all learned loads from you,
and we’re in such a better place than if you hadn't been able to help us.
Thanks so much for your patience, strategic brain and awesome ability to visualise complex processes.”
Social Enterprise co-director, post-redesign of their service offer
“Sophia helped us see that our income model was working against our mission, not with it. Within six months we'd redesigned our earned income strategy. She brought the rigour of a consultant and the instincts of someone who's actually done it."
Chief Exec, post-business model redesign
Speaking
I love to talk on topics like participatory design, social innovation, the circular economy & regenerative business. As well as the story of Library of Things, from grassroots experiments, to a global movement.
I’ve done this at places like The Design Museum, UN, BBC Radio 4, as well as at intimate dinners & panels.
Want to talk?
I love connecting with others.
If you’d like to message me, please contact me via this form and I’ll get back to you.