Who am I?

Hello, I’m Katie. I’ve got a little bit of a nomadic background, having grown up in Germany, married an Australian, lived in Hong Kong (where I had two children and rescued a dog), and have now settled in the green countryside of Buckinghamshire. I’ve always worked in marketing, and more recently have specialised in strategy for small businesses. I love working with smaller businesses and have worked with many over the years. I’m an obsessive collector of jam jars and a font of knowledge when it comes to recycling! We generally try to live as sustainably as we can, and this is certainly a passion of mine.

Why Hive Social?

Well, there is a story behind that name. I met an incredible mural artist called Matt Wiley who had made it his mission to paint 50,000 bees around the world. He explained to me how a beehive works. Bees think collectively, the health of the hive is far more important than the health of the individual bee. You can probably see where I am going with this… It doesn’t take a genius to see where we are going wrong. We could all learn a thing or two from the bees.

Businesses that care

I can’t help but see business as an integral part of the health of the planet. I can see so many businesses starting on their own journeys to improve the way they are doing things. Building engaged online communities around these businesses is another powerful way to start important conversations.

How I can help

I have worked in marketing for many years, but I clearly see many small businesses struggling to apply a strategy to their marketing (especially their content). After creating done-for-you strategies for many businesses, I saw the power in making this a more collaborative process. By working hand in hand with a small business we come up with their strategy together, and they stay with me for 6 months so they are hand-held and guided through implementing this in their business.

This is the Strategy Made Simple Programme.