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On a mission to create positive impact in the world, I consider myself an accidental entrepreneur. I discovered this during the 2009 economic crisis and in 2010, embarked on my first people, planet, profit venture; at the time challenging the negative perception of plant-based diets; enabling reduced-carbon and responsible consumption through a (then) pioneering circularity, systems-thinking, and purpose-led business.
In 2015, relocating to Singapore with a more intentional move back to my innovation roots, I found few to no organisations combining both sustainability and innovation. It was this that seeded my vision for The Inceptery.
I am happy to support organisations in understanding, integrating and managing evolving sustainability requirements that are now a mainstay of any contemporary corporate strategy.
Aside from having started two sustainability-driven businesses in recent times (one of which has been 2x B Corp certified), I also have over twenty years of experience across various industries and organisations, with a proven capability to navigate complex environments effectively, functioning as a practitioner/consultant while overseeing people and processes simultaneously.
Over the years, my work has employed the structured approach utilised in management consultancy (research, analysis, synthesis, ideation/recommendations, decision-making, and implementation) to create more business value, design systems, improve processes and solve all kinds of problems using design and innovation.
I’ve also served as a people and process guide, aligning and managing strategic intent, account directorship, budgets, resources, outputs, clients, business growth, and financial accountability.
Having started this journey many years ago, and having applied this to the sustainability context over the past 10-15 years, I think I’m quite well-placed to support those who want or need to make changes across their organisations.
Having worked to create value and address challenges in the corporate world, I had a feeling that I could make a positive contribution to the world through my work. Initially, I had no idea where to start, so I took a permaculture design course - which taught everything from self-sufficiency and resilience to systems thinking, followed by other learning experiences and courses around sustainability. Following that, I applied what I had learned to cofounding a sustainability-led, regenerative, circular, and plant-based venture back in 2010 (still considered a weird hippy outcast back then).
When I moved to Singapore, I combined my past experience in design and innovation with sustainability, but focused on supporting others this time. This led to the vision for the Inceptery and the ongoing work around it.
If we consider our contribution in this life, I was looking for meaning, purpose, and positive impact.
The Inceptery has a unique network-based business model. We are women-owners, so our core team is very small. After spending a number of years attempting, we became B Corp certified (with the broader community's help the first time). It's an ongoing journey for us too, though. We are not perfect, and are constantly learning based on new understanding or expectations.
In addition, there is little separation between my work organisation, and my general professional and personal life. Here are a few things I can point to from my past:
Gaining widespread, true acceptance is still a challenge. No matter how much people talk about it, many organisations are still unable or reluctant to invest in sustainability as a business driver, because they do not see it as a competitive advantage or value creator.
I am not sure that we have overcome this yet, but many of us are working on it!
Starting as early as I possibly could (even being one of the early TMI Buddies!). It's never too late. We are all just doing our best and it's worth remembering that the small steps we take build into a big lifetime habit. We can all contribute something.
At the Inceptery, we feel that we are some of the pioneers of the new systems. We focus on sustainability as something creating systemic value, not simply as a risk management or compliance need. I believe we have inspired many others to take this brave and somewhat challenging step (we have been told by many that we have done so anyway)!
As a boutique collaborative-consultancy, we have a different model which is asset-light and built on partnerships to adapt (scale or shrink). It turns the traditional consultancy model on its head somewhat and many organisations have emulated this now.
Also proud of our dedication to try to walk the talk ourselves - using business as a force for good.