Twenty years in business, and I still find introducing myself surprisingly hard.
I spend much of my time helping founders articulate who they are and what their business stands for. Turning that attention to yourself brings a different challenge, even when it’s the work you know inside out.
I’m Ruth, founder of Numen Fort, a strategic brand and digital consultancy based here in West London. I started freelancing back in 2006, and while the business has grown and changed over two decades, I have too.
The truth is, experience doesn’t make self-doubt or uncertainty disappear. I can feel completely confident in the strategic value we bring to our clients, yet still find myself staring at a blank page when trying to describe my own business.
Lately, I’ve been putting Numen Fort through the same process I take my clients through, asking questions that deserve proper consideration:
- What do we want to be known for?
- Where do we make the biggest difference?
- Does the way we present ourselves reflect the work we’re delivering today?
When you’ve poured years of your life into building something, those questions hit close to home. There’s history behind your decisions, pride in what you’ve built and a real weight of responsibility for where you go next. It can be hard to step back and recognise that the story you’ve been telling no longer quite fits who you’ve become.
That personal experience shapes how I partner with founders and leadership teams today.
A business can outgrow its positioning, website and messaging gradually, while everyone is focused on delivering the work. My role is to help clarify its direction and translate that into how the business is understood and experienced, providing strategic and creative continuity as it grows.
It starts with the people: understanding what they’ve built, what matters to them and where they’re heading. I know how difficult it is to get that perspective when you’re involved in the day-to-day and responsible for the decisions.
As Numen Fort evolves, I want to share more of the thinking behind our work, along with the lessons, challenges and less polished moments of running a business myself.
A big part of that means getting comfortable with being visible. This feels like the right place to start.