I’ve been thinking a lot about why I’m building what I’m building.
For a long time I’ve been drawn to the idea of a lifestyle business, something aligned with how you actually want to live. That thinking was shaped by The 4-Hour Workweek and the broader idea that work should support your life.
At the same time, whenever things have felt uncertain, I’ve always returned to sport. From triathlon to open water swimming, and more recently ultra trail running, there is something about pushing yourself in remote, difficult environments that strips everything back and reconnects you.
That thread of simplicity, resilience and clarity has carried into my work.
I set up Phoenix Advisory because I became interested in how finance was evolving. Cloud systems first, AI now, with the pace accelerating. What this enables matters: sharper decision-making for founders, and businesses that can support the lives behind them.
If I’m honest, the path hasn’t always felt clear. As Steve Jobs put it, you can only connect the dots looking backwards. Leaving a stable role and questioning whether it’s the right move is part of it. I’m also not a natural risk-taker. I prefer things properly structured and thought through. The aim is to build deliberately, with the kind of care that lasts.
What I enjoy is fairly consistent: finance, systems, solving problems, and working with founders who genuinely care about what they’re building. Outside of work, I care about health, endurance, and the kind of physical effort that builds something real in you.
What I’m trying to create sits at the intersection of those things: helping founder-led e-commerce businesses in the health and wellbeing space become financially strong and sustainable; using better systems and AI to bring clarity and lift performance; and building a business that allows real freedom, with time for the people who matter, room to work from anywhere, and space to step away for something challenging and meaningful.
Longer term, I’d like it to grow into a community as much as a business. Possibly even a physical space, a place to work, think, and enjoy a good coffee.
Ultimately, what matters is the process: the standard you hold yourself to, and who you become along the way.
That’s the real why.
Phoenix Advisory is an advisory-led accountancy practice providing Portfolio FD support to founder-led UK Ltd businesses, primarily health-optimisation brands in e-commerce, and a small number of selective professional services firms. We help founders build the clarity, stability and momentum to scale profitably while designing the life behind the business. Where it helps, we also provide compliance services, so founders work with one team rather than coordinating three. Every engagement begins with a free thirty-minute Discovery Call.
A free 30-minute Discovery Call. No obligation, no sales pressure.