So why The Explorer?

At the start of 2026 I put together some ‘Top Trumps’ style cards where I turned all of the ASDNE team into LEGO-style characters with our strengths and skills, likes and dislikes on the back.

We’d been working with Kat Sykes who does the pretty complicated serious job of teaching business people about stakeholder engagement in project management, but has developed an approach and marketing message by gamifying what she does.

I was inspired by that, and I turned myself into The Explorer. It’s my job to go out every day and look for treasure – the jewels in question being new work, repeat work, new clients, existing clients.

So going back a bit, to 2022 I took on Nathan Cockburn on a six month placement. Within three months it was clear he was going to change my business forever.

And he did change my business, and my life. My entire approach to everything changed. And here we are part way into year 5 (at time of writing).

Five months in to Nathan’s placement, we took on Nathan’s ‘little’ brother Josh Cockburn, initially for a week of work experience. And here we are about to enter year 5 (at time of writing). Josh made me realise not all employees are made the same. Josh was just “different”.

And all this time, my partner Nic Sawyers has worked with me and ASDNE in various guises – we’ve had a few sister companies over the years and today Nic is the ‘eyes and ears’ of ASDNE, looking after the calendar, inbox, tasks, and making sure I don’t forget to turn up to things (which I still do sometimes).

But the team doesn’t end there. One thing that became apparent when gamifying our business strategy was that there are other players – other game tokens if you like – that are pivotal or have been pivotal to this game.

Nicola Jayne Little has been a client, an employer, a mentor, a collaborator and a friend for nearly a decade. Paul Sun is a business partner, client and friend who has been instrumental in helping me shift my mindset out of freelance and into business owner. Phil Mordey was once my boss and is now one of my longest-serving clients, we’ve worked together in one way or another since 2005 and Phil is very much an unofficial commercial advisor and inspiration. And Toyah, through my best friend of three decades Craig Astley, is the client I have worked with and for the longest, since 2003 or “Josh minus three” as I like to call it.