Hey, it’s Harrison, career coach and writer of Creative Thought Partner. Thanks for checking out my About page.
Here’s me in 8 beliefs (a clue to what you’ll find me writing about)
Clarity emerges in the rear view mirror
Electrician, artist, SaaS tech founder, writer, career coach. If you’d shown me that list when I was 16, I’d have said it belonged to several different people. It doesn’t look like a plan because it never was a plan; it was a series of moves that each made sense to me at the time for reasons I could rarely explain. And I’ve come to learn that following your inexplicable interests is a principled way to live because it’s the most accurate compass to a life that’s genuinely yours.
Overwhelm can be generative
Right now I’m drowning in dense papers from Positive Psychology as part of my ICF coaching accreditation. The sheer volume of new material and ideas is overwhelming, and I don’t know which end is up. But I’m enjoying it. I’ve noticed that the most interesting periods of my life have felt like this: disoriented but alive, not quite sure what I’m doing next. I view this overwhelm as a positive signal that something important is emerging.
Artists and entrepreneurs are cousins
Both artists and entrepreneurs make things, break things, question rules, go first, take risks, and paint bold visions. The separation between artist and founder has always felt artificial to me, probably because I’ve been both of them, often simultaneously. This is about the artist’s mindset, not aesthetics. A way of operating that can be turned on to any domain.
Silliness is wisdom
Me and my wife Corina have been together for over ten years despite being very different. We credit a lot of this to the fact that we spend a lot of our time together behaving like silly children. We make weird noises, do pranks, flop around sulking when something goes wrong. It’s very immature. We’d be embarrassed if you saw us. But what it’s doing is short-circuiting the heaviness that accumulates in a long relationship and in the seriousness of life. There’s a particular type of wisdom in childishness that the grown-up world overlooks.
Stuckness is (almost) always a courage problem
The people I work with are always capable of the things they say they cannot do. What’s actually stopping them is not about talent, it’s not about passion, it’s not about resources of any kind; it’s about something scary they haven’t done, a conversation they haven’t faced, a risk they haven’t taken, a version of themselves they haven’t yet been willing to become. There’s a reason we have the mythological figure of the dragon in our collective imagination, and there’s a reason those proverbial dragons guard big pots of gold.
Attention is a moral issue, not a productivity one
The conversations around protecting your focus from technology are usually framed around getting more done. It’s not wrong, but it’s missing something more important. The more insidious effect of attention engineering is that it quietly fills your time with content that makes you feel less than you are, and corrodes your confidence by presenting you with an unrealistic picture of what a creative life looks like. Protecting your attention is about protecting your capacity to think and act from your own convictions. It’s one of the most important projects of our time.
You’re probably using AI wrong
Everyone’s excited about what AI can build for them. But I believe the real value is in getting AI to work on you. When used well, AI can be a rigorous, tireless thinking partner, one that grills you, pushes back, and doesn’t let you off the hook until you actually know what you think. There’s a real danger in us outsourcing our cognition to these tools. The way to use them more deliberately is to work the way that a good coach works, which is to protect your capacity to think and act from your own convictions, and work even harder to arrive at your own insights.
True freedom lies in constraints
Too much freedom produces paralysis, not innovation. The interesting question is not how to get more freedom, or what to do with your freedom; it’s how to configure just the right type and degree of constraints—a constraint “sweet spot”—where progress feels almost inevitable rather than permanently optional. This is one principle among many that I learned from art school, from building a company, and from years of watching what actually helps people move forward. Curate your constraints!
Strengths coaching
Besides writing, I run a professional strengths-focused coaching practice for people in career and creative transitions. I’m currently undertaking my ICF certification in Positive Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a leading psychologist and scholar on motivation and happiness.
My coaching clients have said they “feel like new career paths have been unlocked that they didn’t know were open to them,” and that they “can build new maps of the future and advocate for themselves with renewed confidence.”
If you are interested in coaching conversations that can help you become more aware of your own strengths, build a richer vocabulary of your strengths (and those of others), and learn how to aim your strengths at different parts of your life, get in touch and we can arrange a 30-min complimentary, no obligation discovery call.
Here’s my timeline for context:
1986: born in Sheffield, England
Early childhood: developed a severe stammer, creating a frustrating barrier to self-expression. But I was artistically gifted. Our neighbour, an art teacher, noticed my drawings and told my mum they were years ahead of children my age — an early recognition of creative ability that would go dormant for years.
1999: after hearing my mum repeatedly complain about her bin being stolen, I spotted an opportunity. I bought stencils and spray paint, and started a door-to-door bin numbering business, earning £100 a day. A customer called me “very enterprising,” and gave me more than I asked for — the first time I connected creativity and initiative with outsized outcomes.
2003: without clear direction and seeing friends in trades earning steady income, I followed my uncle Gary’s suggestion and began an apprenticeship as an electrician. It was a practical decision that wasn’t aligned with my creative instincts but would provide valuable skills.
2006: imported winter coats from China to sell on construction sites.
2007: started a garden lighting company alongside my full time electrical job, finally discovering a way to combine technical skills with creative expression. I secured King’s Trust funding, bought tools, and landed my first customer, only for the 2008 financial crash to halt my momentum 😤
2009: discovered Tony Robbins tapes and completed his Personal Power course. Robbins’ ideas and self-belief were game changing for me. I felt he was the inspiring father figure I’d never had.
2011: read that “90 pence in every pound spent in the UK is spent in London” so I decided to move to London. Landed a job building the London Olympic Village.
2011: worked part-time in the film industry as an electrician on productions including The Inbetweeners Movie, Now Is Good, and music videos for Wretch 32.
2011: landed a coveted electrical job on the London Underground after pestering the hiring manager every day for 3 months straight even though he said, “STOP F**CKING RINGING ME!” I was then promoted to Supervisor within 6 months.
2011-2012: ready to reconnect with my creative instincts, I enrolled in a foundation art degree, working nights on the Underground while attending college during the day to cover expenses.
2012: secured a place to study Fine Art (BA) at Central Saint Martins London. This is my life-defining achievement (CSM is like the Oxford or Cambridge of the art world). I finally began pursuing my creative dreams while maintaining income through weekend electrical work.
2014-2015: lived and studied in Turkey and Thailand during my BA.
2015: invited to create site-specific sculpture in Norway and presented my work to the Norwegian Queen.
2016: secured a place to study Contemporary Art Practice (MA) at the Royal College of Art, the world’s top art school, funding it through a crowdfunding campaign where I made original artworks for all contributors.
2016: won a commission to create award trophies for the Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival and had my first solo exhibition in Sheffield.
2017: by now my work had appeared in over 20 international exhibitions.
2017: worked as assistant to Turner Prize-nominated painter Hurvin Anderson.
2017: won a national competition with my concept for a Slack-like digital platform for construction sites, combining my creative skills with industry experience. I became the first artist granted a place at the RCA’s prestigious entrepreneurship centre.
2017-2022: built the company, raising venture capital and hiring a team. The company combined my practical knowledge with creative vision in a way few others could attempt but ultimately failed — a humbling and devastating experience that forced reassessment.
2022: me and Corina left England to travel full time.
2022: created this publication knowing that I wanted to write, create interesting projects, and help others do the same.
2022: began learning structured coaching skills using the GROW™ model.
2023: won an O’Shaughnessy Scholarship to participate in David Perell’s renowned Write of Passage (WoP) writing school, a transformative writing course that connected me with a community of exciting writers.
2023-2024: became a crew editor and workshop facilitator for WoP.
2024: joined full-time as WoP’s Dedicated Writing Mentor — professionally integrating my creative and coaching skills.
2024-present: started professionally coaching creative people to make significant life transformations: new career pathways, identity-shifting creative projects, and personal reinvention.
2025-present: joined creative ‘passion project’ accelerator Act Two as the Resident Coach.
2026: undertaking my ICF accreditation in Applied Positive Psychology Coaching under the supervision of Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener.
Client Testimonials
Judy Murdoch - Digital Marketing Consultant
What I found most helpful from a “coaching skills” perspective was your commitment to not answering my questions directly or solving my problems. You are so committed to helping your clients find their own answers. It’s very, very empowering.
The other aspect I appreciate about you is you are such a great, wise guide. You absolutely believed in my capacity and at the same time you met me exactly where I was. You are also very focused on “what is possible?” I had a few times where I was pretty wrapped up in a victim mentality and feeling stuck. And you gently kept pushing me to reframe my situations. And that is enormously valuable to me as a coaching client.
I love your creativity and how you enjoy being a little puckish. We’re very much the same that way. We like to be a bit provocative in a gentle, mischievous way and it makes our sessions feel fun and light. For some reason I also keep remembering how deBono referred to humor as being one of the best examples of divergent thinking. I always like poking at things a little, “Are you sure?” “What if?”
Last thing, I appreciate your devotion to your friends and family. How they are a source of joy and inspiration to you. It reminds me that I can create my own support ecosystem and to be sensitive to how people make me feel. Are they pulling me forward and helping me see possibilities or are they pushing their fears and insecurities on to me.
And Harrison, I have to say it continues to strike me that you should be teaching AI to groups of people for money because you’re very good at this.”
Yujia Du - Climate Leader
“Harrison’s own multifaceted career makes him a Swiss Army knife of a coach. Since leaving full-time employment and navigating my own evolving career and interests, he has seamlessly moved between being my writing coach, business coach, and art coach as needed. He has a rare ability to be patient and grounding when I’m feeling frustrated or restless, and encouraging and motivating when I’m embarking on something new. What sets him apart is not just his exceptional range of coaching skills, but his genuine professional understanding across fields. He never hesitated to follow me as I explored everything from writing and entrepreneurship to becoming an artist, and he was never out of his depth. This freedom to roam, without ever feeling constrained or judged, has truly allowed me to explore, grow, and become who I needed to be.”
Michael Skinner - Real Estate Entrepreneur
“Think of a sounding board, but better - like an intellectual creativity board. That’s one of the many talents Harrison offers: he stimulates, nurtures, and empowers the creative inside of you.”
Gloria Castillo - Business Executive & Civic Leader
“This coaching experience gave me a sense of confidence that I was going to do something new that I really hadn’t done before, that I wasn’t repeating myself. Repeating yourself is easy, and particularly when you’re pretty senior in your career, doing something new gets harder and scarier. I wouldn’t want to limit my feedback by saying, “Oh, when you have a specific need, call Harrison,” because the experience was much more about his ability to listen to what is needed in the moment, to what you are trying to accomplish. It’s his listening skills, and being able to distill from that what’s needed to achieve whatever goal is in front of you.”
Taylin Simmonds - Writer, Musician, and Entrepreneur
“Harrison’s personality and his approach is that of the perfect coach. I mean that sincerely. He’s not just popping into a call and saying, “Ah, here’s what I noticed. Here’s the advice. Here’s how to fix it.” His approach is that he wants to help you arrive at your own conclusions and have true insights and breakthroughs. One of my favourite sessions was when he pushed back. I came to the call and said, “Hey, I would love you to just let me know the things that need to be fixed?” And he was like, “Actually, no. That’s not what we’re going to do here. I think you’d get more out of it if we took a different approach. I will ask you questions and we will help you arrive at some new revelations that are going to help you get through these blocks yourself.” And by the end of the session, I was like, “Yeah, that was exactly what I needed.” I didn’t need someone to tell me what to change. I needed someone to help me work through my own process, to help me uncover the things that were holding me back in fixing these problems myself. And that’s why I think he’s such a good coach. He asks really good questions and he helped me arrive at my own conclusions, which was more valuable than just giving me the answers.”
Justin Nothling - Technology Entrepreneur
“The value of your coaching comes from those moments that are difficult to replicate alone. It could be that ‘reps’ are almost as effective alone as they are with a coach. But those ‘aha’ moments that happen during conversation are unique. Just bouncing ideas gave me access to a part of my brain that is usually difficult to access alone.”
Jerry Johnston - Change Management Consultant
“Harrison came into my life and introduced me to coaching, and I appreciate all the insight, patience, time, and energy that he’s given to me. His brain is great, and he’s someone I’ve enjoyed learning from. He was gracious enough to hear me express some of the things that made me uncomfortable, and still brought me to places where there’s real beautiful stuff that we talked about and realised together. I’m ending this work feeling light and thankful, and I hope this is the beginning of a longer, more involved discussion about how to do all this in a way that feels true to myself.”
Jennifer Scott - Poet
“Harrison is so much more than simply an “accountability” coach. He is a nimble, high-idea-generating, creative troubleshooter. He can weave effortlessly back and forth between strategy and tactics (and then zoom out, and operate at a level even more meta than that)!”
Daniel Hunter - Senior Software Engineering Manager
“When I was building a new web application called Shiny Dimes, I hit a wall. I had already curated a rich collection of quotes, essays, and insights—things I knew would resonate with the kind of people I admire and follow online. I had even validated the concept with early users. But I couldn’t figure out how to present it all. What was the best way to communicate the value? What should the aesthetic and vibe feel like? What would actually land? This is when I reached out to Harrison. He has a rare gift: the ability to give real-time feedback that’s both emotional and precise. Whether it’s an essay or software, he can immediately articulate how something feels... and equally as important, why it feels that way. He points out what’s confusing, what’s distracting, and what might be turning people off, even if it’s subtle. It’s like working with a great video editor. You know that feeling when a movie just doesn’t work, but you can’t quite explain why? Maybe the pacing is off, or there’s an awkward cut. Harrison can see those things in a product or a piece of writing.”
Jeremy Mathew - Social Worker and Artist
“When I began working with Harrison as a mentee, I felt overwhelmed, lost, and uncertain about my creative path. I was working on an application for my first artist’s residency, submitting an ambitious project that I struggled to communicate clearly to my audience. Harrison went above and beyond every step of the way. His mentorship helped me not only clarify the core concepts behind my project but also find confidence in my own voice and perspectives. Through his guidance, I learned new ways to approach my writing process—from initial ideas to execution—helping me feel more organized and focused. Harrison continuously showed up for me as a mentor, and beyond practical advice, I have felt genuine companionship in our work together.”
Linart Seprioto - Marketing Manager
“When you call out things I didn’t notice and when you put on your mentoring hat, I honestly feel like you have a lot of great ideas, Harrison, and you really have a good understanding of your craft because of your experience.”
Michael Dean - Editor-in-Chief at Write of Passage
“Harrison absolutely aced the editor “exam” during our training (60/60), and has helped two cohorts of students around a range of technical and psychological blocks. His experience in art school enables him to give a perspective shift to anyone he works with.”
See Eun Ma - Entrepreneur and VC Partner
“Harrison’s guidance came at a moment where I was transitioning in my creative journey. After completing the “Write of Passage” bootcamp, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of feedback and the realization of how much I needed to work on. I felt lost feeling the pressure to quickly revamp what writing process I thought I had. Harrison’s approach to nonfiction writing was a much-needed change of pace. He made real the idea of playfulness and patience, transforming what felt like a giant, overwhelming task into flexible, bitesize explorations every week. Watching him write alongside us and seeing others similarly struggle made the journey feel human and achievable. My encounter with Harrison planted the seeds for me becoming a more open and resilient writer.”
Owen Fitzpatrick - Psychologist, Coach and Author
“Working with Harrison was invaluable in helping me identify my writing weaknesses. He was able to shine a light on why some of my writing wasn’t working. This has made a huge difference, as I now understand what I need to improve on and work on the most. He’s a nice guy, fun to work with, and is really interested in being as helpful as possible. I definitely recommend Harrison as excellent in his space, and he will help you improve your writing skills dramatically.”
Becky Isjwara - Artist & Writer
“Harrison is a discerning, collaborative, and attentive creative partner. He’s helped me out with my writing for over a year now and I just know that whatever piece I’m working on will be a few notches better once it’s got a ‘Harrison pass’. He’s also incredibly resourceful, being able to pull in a variety of prompts and references from his ever-growing library.”
Matheus Felipe - Engineering Consultant
“The most valuable aspect of working with you was discussing new ideas and getting new thoughts about things I didn’t even think of checking. You made me realize that I don’t write badly, I just frame it badly and overcomplicate it. Now I’m trying to be more straight-forward with my writing first, and add details and jokes only when it’s necessary.”
Ved Shankar - Strategy Consultant
“Harrison helped me clarify my thinking much earlier in the writing process. His Strategic Questions have become a go-to tool I use after a first draft to catch logic gaps before getting too deep into revisions.”
Marios Georgiou - Clinical Psychologist
“You are personable and approachable in a way that puts me at ease but also passionate about writing and expression, which I think is important when trying to strike a balance between ‘taking something seriously’ and being playful and curious. I like to think about how you approach the habit of writing as a fun experiment, there are many ways to get into writing and what to choose to focus on. Systems and habits are all well and good, but when you are reflective and connected to your ‘why’ it helps staying aligned while not putting pressure on yourself in a way that sucks the fun out of what should (ideally) be a challenging yet playful endeavour.”
Kevin Doffing - Company President
“Harrison, I wanted to let you know I was able to get out of the house and find a coffee shop to write for over an hour tonight. I completed a SFD [shitty first draft]. I really appreciate it!”
Brandon Lee Weaver - Writer
“I worked with Harrison on a draft that was giving me fits. He left me with two vital and memorable pieces of feedback: 1) list on a separate page all key themes/topics discussed in the piece and focus on the 2-3 that are the heart of your draft. 2) Instead of editing the current piece, start over with those 2-3 key themes—what! It worked. My next draft was focused, clearer, and cleaner, allowing me to get to the heart of what I wanted to write. Harrison is an enjoyable, thoughtful, and clear communicator that will make you and your writing better.”
Dominik Gmeiner - Senior Design Leader
“I went from a mess of ideas to writing pieces that connected with people. Harrison has a skill and approach to bring out the best in your writing. I’ve seen this improve in my writing and how I work with teams.”
Hugo Lebarrois - Product Manager
“Harrison helped me overcome a creative block while I was rewriting a few essays. His questions—always rich and unexpected—pushed me to think and feel differently. He’s the kind of person who opens your eyes to things you didn’t realize were missing. He especially brings such positive energy to writing. It’s contagious. Suddenly, something that felt like a grind becomes playful and, dare I say, fun. Perhaps that’s the most valuable thing Harrison has given me: the joy of writing again.”
Queen Elizabeth II - Contemporary Monarch
“One eagerly awaits additional commendations.”
