Throughout my entire career, my primary focus has always been on building strong teams. It has always been evident to me that my own success is intricately tied to the success of the team surrounding me. I derive immense satisfaction from witnessing the individuals who were once part of my teams go on to achieve great roles and accomplish remarkable things.

My personal journey has been filled with extraordinary opportunities, collaborating with exceptional professionals across various companies. I have experienced exhilarating highs and navigated through challenging times. However, as I have always maintained, these experiences are merely chapters in a book, with each one contributing to the next. There are no inherently positive or negative events, only valuable lessons and growth. For me, experience is a crucial term. Unfortunately, experience and being considered “long in the tooth” are often conflated. Add in difficult economic situations and companies making redundancies, and we find ourselves in an era where numerous talented and experienced individuals are actively seeking new ways of operating and, in fact, reevaluating their entire approach to work.

As I scrolled through LinkedIn, witnessing one post after another announcing new consultancies or individuals offering their services, it became clear that there was a need for a new way to connect these individuals with projects. The entire process required streamlining, whether it be for businesses seeking fresh ideas or consultants searching for their next roles. Furthermore, having experienced the challenges of working as a consultant myself, I understand the sense of isolation that can accompany such a career path, as the circle of contacts diminishes and invitations to events become scarce.

And so, the idea arose to create a business in partnership with my co-founder, Rachel Forde, that would exclusively focus on senior talent. We aimed to assemble a collective of exceptional minds within the consulting industry and connect them with wonderful projects and businesses seeking solutions for a myriad of challenges. Welcome to TheZoo.London. Simultaneously, we are building a community of consultants who can meet, share experiences, learn from one another, collaborate, and begin constructing a broader network. This network will provide vital support, inspiration, and affirmation that the decision to design one’s own work-life balance is a sound one!

Our objective is not recruitment. We do not aspire to become just another platform. Our purposeful design centres around two senior practitioners, myself and Rachel, who will match senior consultants and business leaders, bridging the gap between the two sides of the marketplace. Clients can rest assured that this collaboration is being overseen by two individuals with extensive experience in team management, talent evaluation, and a shared understanding of what constitutes excellence. Our sole focus is on connecting people through dialogue, meaningful conversations, thorough assessments, and facilitating meaningful connections. Rachel and I are dedicated to fostering a sense of community, managing the business, and delivering exceptional work through our collective of consultants. The true stars of our enterprise are the consultants themselves, and we firmly believe in the power of “we” over “me.” Our collective will continually evolve and grow, with some individuals pursuing full-time engagements, others seeking temporary assignments before transitioning to new roles, and some uncertain about their future prospects. Nevertheless, they are all experts in their respective fields.

TheZoo.London has become the go-to platform for independent consultants who have various reasons for wanting to join us. Some may feel uncomfortable with self-promotion or find the hustle of marketing themselves arduous. Others may not actively engage in the social aspects of LinkedIn, while some wish to shield themselves from confusion regarding their availability for full-time employment. TheZoo.London is here to assist by marketing their skills, identifying suitable projects, and providing ongoing support. We wholeheartedly celebrate the wealth of talent possessed by experienced professionals, and we invite you to join us in this celebration. Bring us your intriguing consultancy challenges, and if you are or know an independent consultant who you feel could benefit from being part of the collective and TheZoo.London then please send them our way.