Booking Spring ’26 · 2 spotsLondon / Remote · Est. 2018§01 — Manifesto

Breakthroughcoaching forcreative leaders.

Six months, behind closed doors, working with creative directors, founders and agency leaders who’ve gone quiet on themselves.

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§02 — About
Portrait of Nora Marlowe
Portrait · N. Marlowe, 2025

I’m Nora. Before this, fifteen years as a creative director — at Pentagram, then running my own studio. I’ve sat where you sit.I know the version of stuck that doesn’t look like stuck from the outside.

I started coaching in 2018 after my best designer quit on a Tuesday and told me she hadn’t made anything that felt like hers in three years. We talked for an hour. She didn’t come back — but I did, to the work. This is what I do now. Sixty clients in, mostly leaders of studios you’ve heard of, a handful you haven’t yet.

60+
Clients since 2018
93%
Renew or refer
6mo
Standard engagement

The approach.Four stages.

§03 — Method
01Diagnose
02Reframe
03Risk
04Hold
Stage 01
Find the wiring under the block.

Two long conversations. We map your pattern. Where the work goes thin, where you flinch, where you over-deliver to avoid the harder thing. Honest, slow, without notes-app jargon.

Stage 02
Replace the story you've been running.

You're carrying narratives that worked once and don't anymore. We pull them out, look at them in the light, and write better ones. This part feels strange. Then obvious.

Stage 03
Make the thing that scares you.

A bounded creative bet, with stakes. The point isn't the output — it's the muscle memory of choosing what scares you on purpose. Most clients do this thing twice. Then everything.

Stage 04
Stay in the new shape.

Three months of light-touch holding while the new pattern sets. Voice memos, one call a fortnight, the occasional 11pm text. You don't un-become a creative leader — you become a different one.

What wedo together.

§04 — Services
01 / 1:1, fortnightly · 6 months

The Six-Month

The flagship. Diagnose, reframe, risk, hold. For one creative leader at a time.

02 / Intensive · 3 months

The Ninety Days

Compressed. For an inflection — a pitch, a launch, a leaving. Weekly, no flinching.

03 / For founding teams of 2–4

Studio Holds

When the creative direction of the company is held by more than one person, and it's gone foggy.

04 / One session · 90 minutes

Office Hours

A second opinion on a hard call. For people who don't want a coach — they want a sharp room.

Selectedcase studies.

§05 — WorkNames redacted · with permission
01

M. Founder / CCO

Series B fintech

Rebuilt the design org from the inside.

02

J. Creative Director

Independent agency, London

Stopped doing the work, started doing the work.

03

A. & P. Co-founders

Design studio, six years in

Got specific about what the studio is for.

04

R. Head of Design

Consumer hardware co.

Made the thing that scared her.

05

T. ECD

Network agency · 200+ creatives

Left, but on his own terms.

Client M.
Brilliant designer turned reluctant manager. We renegotiated the role with her CEO, hired her replacement-as-IC, and gave her permission to
Client J.
Eight years of pitching, no portfolio he was proud of. We killed the new-business addiction and rebuilt his calendar around two days a week
Client A. & P.
Two founders who'd stopped agreeing in rooms. Twelve weeks of separate work then joint sessions. They're still business partners — and the s
Client R.
Sat on a personal project for four years. We built a forcing function — a public ship date, a single trusted reader, a binned escape route.
Client T.
Came to figure out how to stay. Left to start something. We didn't push either way — but we got him through the decision intact, with a runw
§06 — In Their Own Words
Creative Director, London
Independent studio · 22 staff
“Nora is the only person I’ve paid to disagree with me. She earned it back in the first month.”
“She doesn’t do the “you’re enough” thing. She does the “you’re not, yet, and here’s the part of you that knows it” thing.”
Founder
Series B fintech
ECD
Global network · WPP
“I expected to feel coached. I felt seen. There is a difference and it’s the whole point.”

Three waysto start.

§07 — Pricing
01 / 3 months · weekly

The Ninety

For a single, urgent inflection.

  • +Weekly 75-min sessions
  • +Voice-memo support, M–F
  • +One emergency call, used or not
  • +Final-week recalibration
Investment
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Most chosen
02 / 6 months · fortnightly

The Six-Month

The flagship engagement. Most clients are here.

  • +Fortnightly 90-min sessions
  • +Voice-memo support, always
  • +Two emergency calls
  • +Quarterly partner/peer session
  • +Three-month follow-up hold
Investment
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03 / For 2–4 founders

Studio Hold

When the direction is held by a team.

  • +1:1s with each principal
  • +Joint sessions, fortnightly
  • +Shared diagnostic doc
  • +Six-month base term
  • +Optional renewal
Investment
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Engagements begin with a free 30-minute conversation · we’ll both know in 20 if it’s right

Questions,asked plainly.

§08 — FAQ
01

Is this therapy?

+
No. I’m not a therapist and I won’t pretend to be one. If something comes up that needs a therapist, I’ll say so and we’ll find one. Coaching is about the work you make and the leader you are while making it.
02

Why six months?

+
Because three is enough to see your pattern but not enough to live in a new one. The middle three months are where the real work happens — and they only feel like real work because of the first three.
03

Do you work with non-creatives?

+
Rarely, and only if a creative leader sends them. The methodology is built around people whose output is judged on taste.
04

Where are you based?

+
London. Sessions are by video unless you’re in London, in which case the first and last are in person. Walking, ideally. I have a favourite route.
05

Will my employer pay for this?

+
Most do. I provide an L&D-ready proposal once we’ve had a first call. Don’t lead with it though — let’s talk first.
06

What if it’s not working?

+
You can stop at any month boundary, no questions, prorated refund. In seven years two clients have. I include the option because the option is the point.

Notes fromthe practice.

§09 — Writing
The Practice — Newsletter

One letter a month. Notes from sessions, sharpened. 2,400 readers. No sponsors.

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Let’sbegin.

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