Engagements
Two ways to engage. The difference is ownership, not seniority.
A retainer makes sense when you need ongoing direction and there is nobody holding the creative function. A project makes sense when you have a specific problem and a budget you can plan around. Both give you the same seniority. What changes is how long I hold it and who holds it after.
Embedded leadership
I function as an embedded member of your leadership team, owning the creative function, managing your internal and external resources, and driving brand outcomes with real, clearly defined authority. Not advising. Not reviewing. Owning.
Defined scope
You approve the scope and the number before anything starts. No retainer, no hourly clock. We agree what we are building, what it costs, and when it is done. Every engagement ends with a working asset your team keeps.
How it works
Every engagement runs the same three phases.
The scope and the pace change. The structure does not. Each phase has one objective, a defined set of activities, and a deliverable you keep. You cannot Direct without having Diagnosed, and you cannot Build without knowing where you are going.
Phase 01
Diagnose
Surface what is real before prescribing anything.
Most consultants arrive with solutions. This phase arrives with questions. The stated problem is almost never the real problem, and the most expensive mistake in a creative engagement is optimizing the wrong thing.
Deliverable
Creative Clarity Report
Phase 02
Direct
Define where the function is going.
Standards, briefing systems, review protocols, and the operating model the function will actually run on. This is where the highest-leverage gap from the diagnosis becomes a decision rather than an observation.
Deliverable
Creative Direction Document
Phase 03
Build
Create the infrastructure that outlasts me.
Team capability, partner relationships, and the operating rhythm that keeps the standard holding after I step back. The engagement should leave the function more capable than it was, not more dependent.
Deliverable
Creative Operations Playbook
Every engagement begins at Diagnose, whatever its size. A full retained engagement starts there. So does a scoped project. The Creative Clarity Report is that phase delivered on its own, and the free Creative Clarity Diagnostic is the self-scored version of the same questions.
What the first ninety days look like
Weeks 1 to 2
Listen and diagnose. Stakeholder interviews across creative, marketing, and the relevant business leads. A six-month audit of everything the function has produced. Brand guidelines and briefing process reviewed. Agency and vendor relationships assessed. Nothing is produced in this window on purpose.
Day 14
Kickoff Diagnostic. A written document, not a conversation. Current state, the specific gaps ranked by impact, the three to five priorities for the first thirty days, and anything I still need access to. Direct rather than diplomatic.
Day 30
Alignment meeting. Structured, with the sponsor, documented afterward. Findings confirmed, priorities agreed, the plan adjusted to what the first month actually surfaced rather than what we assumed going in.
Weeks 3 to 8
Foundation. The system the ongoing work will build on. Briefs, governance, standards, or production infrastructure, depending on what the diagnosis found. Working documents transfer to your team and are calibrated to what they can actually operate.
Day 90
Review. Has the problem changed? Is the work producing the intended outcome? Does the scope still match what the business needs? Scope is confirmed or adjusted in writing. Every ninety days after that, the same review runs again.
Operational in two to four weeks, not ninety to one hundred and eighty days. No agency overhead, no junior hours billed at senior rates, and authority inside a defined scope rather than advisory distance.
“Every engagement begins with one conversation about what you’re trying to solve.”
I do not require a formal brief or a polished RFP. Bring the problem as you understand it. We will clarify it together.