Onboard — Creative leadership for founders & boards in moments of growth, reinvention, and ignition.
Brand building isn’t linear. It’s alive — it shifts, pivots, and tests possibilities in real time. This is where I work best.
I step in when clarity matters most:
Early stages, when a bold idea is taking shape.
Reinvention stages, when a brand needs to reset, reignite, and cut through again.
Onboard is my model for working with your team for a season — partnering, collaborating, educating, and creating — so together we build the systems, stories, and momentum that make your brand travel.
How Onboard Works
Leadership: I work inside the loop with founders, boards, products, teams, and customers.
Hands-on: I’m both collaborator and an operator. Working with you and your team defining brand pillars and when required I can get a lot crunchier, art directing and getting in the ‘tools’.
Ownership: when I step out, your team owns the brand voice, playbook, and creative network.
Seasons: Typical engagements run between 6 weeks and 12 months, on-site and remote.
What Onboard Brings
30 years’ creative leadership spanning brand, strategy, product and execution.
A proven track record of scaling brands, co-founding businesses, and directing global campaigns.
Track Record
Bellroy – (carry) – worked with founders and senior leadership to shape a brand atlas and refresh the mission during growth.
Knog - (cycling accessories) – scaled from $200k → $10m in 2 years.
Saint Unbreakable - (motorcycle protective apparel) - Created and co-founded, developed world-first fabrics, grew to $5m turnover.
Crumpler - (bags) - shaped irreverent global brand voice, expanded to 25 stores across Europe.
SKINS - (compression sports apparel) - directed global creative across 5 regions.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Lelliott is a strong entrepreneur and remarkable creative, who has a rare ability to find sparks forging new brands and products that resonate.”
— Andy Fallshaw / Bellroy
“Lelliott is a great entrepreneur in the motorcycle denim world, very passionate about what he is doing and driven by personal believe. I worked very closely with Michael when he was at SAINT, to introduce a revolutionary new single layer protective denim with Dyneema® into the market. It was Michael’s personal dream to develop a comfortable, all-day wearable Jeans that at the same time protects you when you fall. His clear objectives of what he wanted combined with his open and honest communication and feedback made it very pleasant and effective to work with Michael. While SAINT was a new brand in the motorcycle market, thanks to Michael and the rest of the SAINT team, they managed to make a big impact in the market in a very short time with a great product, great product name and with great promotion”
— Giovanni Henssen – Business Development Manager Performance Fabrics / DSM Dyneema
HOW I WORK
Every founder, team, and board is different. My role is to step inside your circle and work alongside you — building clarity, momentum, and confidence together.
What I Bring
Strategy through execution → Ideas realised in market through shoots, socials, comms, and storytelling.
Accountability → Working in the loop with founder, board, product, team, and customer.
Empowerment & ownership → at the conclusion of an onboard project, teams have an integrated understanding of the narrative, playbook, praxis, voice, and creative network to move the brand forward.
How That Looks in Practice
Discovery & Listening → I begin with questions. Deep listening surfaces not just what’s being built, but why.
Co-Creative Sessions → I join your team to shape fuzzy ideas into something clear, shareable, and actionable.
Vision Crystallisation → You already know what you want to say. I help shape it so others understand it, feel it, and remember it.
Execution & Delivery → From campaigns and comms to product storytelling, I’m strong on the tools and also bring a trusted creative network so we can move fast with the right people.
Working with an Empowered Team → My role isn’t to compete with or replace your team — it’s to build confidence, unlock ideas, and create the conditions for people to grow.
Roadmapping & Refinement → Strategy becomes content and vision becomes output — tested, evolving, and designed to travel.
At the conclusion of every onboard project, your brand is alive, the team is stronger, and ready for its next chapter.