why I founded the hendy collective…
I help creators protect their work, and leaders to navigate their own development.
When people ask what I do, I tell them: "When I grow up, I'd like to be a polymath."
My career spans higher education leadership, Royal Navy transformation, technology consulting, and creative practice. That wasn't a lack of focus — it's that the interesting problems live at the intersections.
I founded The Hendy Collective because I kept seeing gaps that specialists miss. Coaches who focus on individual mindset but ignore organisational reality. Technologists who build tools for creatives without understanding how creative industries actually work. Consultants who redesign systems but forget there are humans in them.
I've been on multiple sides. I bring all of them.
I spent a decade in higher education — including as Deputy Head of Learning and Teaching at Birmingham City University. I co-authored the Higher Education Academy's national framework on graduate employability (still being cited in academic research over a decade later). I designed and delivered Masters-level leadership curriculum and trained coaches and mentors.
Then I spent a decade in transformation consultancy. £25M+ programme leadership. Senior leadership transformation at Royal Navy HQ. Digital delivery at the Met Office. Security-cleared infrastructure work. Consulting across sectors from financial services to government.
I hold an M.Ed with Distinction and am a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
The Professional Story
I'm a published poet, songwriter, and short fiction writer, in addition to articles for The Guardian and HuffPost UK. I actively collaborate with music creators across the UK, and am part of many creative communities.
I hold an MA in Creative and Critical Writing (Distinction) and my first teaching post was teaching Creative Writing.
I understand what it means to create work and worry about what happens to it.
When I started building Magpie Standard, it wasn't because I spotted a market opportunity. It was because I'm a creator who understands what's happening to creative work in the age of AI — and I have the technical skills to do something about it.
The Creative Story
I was (finally) diagnosed with AuDHD in 2025, after a fellow coach suggested I get tested. The great irony? I'd spent years referring students and clients down that same path - but career success had masked the signs in myself.
A lot of things suddenly made sense — including why my brain won't stay in one lane, and why pattern recognition across different domains comes naturally.
For me, the autism brings the systems thinking, the deep-dive focus, the persistence to solve problems when something really matters; the ADHD brings the cross-domain curiosity, the dot-connecting, the ability to hold complexity without oversimplifying.
Together: a brain that can go deep AND wide. Which is useful when you're working on problems that don't respect professional boundaries.
I work particularly well with people whose careers don't fit neat boxes. Because mine doesn't either.
The Personal Bit
Magpie Standard — AI licensing infrastructure for collecting societies and creative organisations. We've built a working platform that enables creators to register their work, set AI training permissions, and receive compensation when their work is licensed. The EU has allocated €12M to research this problem. We've already built the solution.
What I'm Building Now
Leadership Development — Evidence-based coaching for individuals and organisations navigating complex change. From single sessions to year-long programmes. From emerging leaders to CEOs.
