Creative strategy
without the agency overhead.
For founders, boards and startups who need ideas tested, forged, and responsively brought to life in real time.
The problem
Healthy startups and new brand ideas are never “finished.”
They’re a work in progress — tested in the market, reshaped by customers, and forged by the team that brings them to life.
Ideas Move in Loops
Progress isn’t linear. It’s circular. It depends on agility, speed, and responsiveness.
Agility Wins
The ability to pivot is everything.
Respond in Real Time
Listen, adapt, refine — fast.
But most agencies aren’t built that way.
They prefer tidy projects with a beginning, middle, and end — a handover of assets or a deck that’s pushed into the wild.
New ideas don’t grow that way. They grow through conversation, testing, and refinement.
The Onboard Solution
The onboard approach is built for the reality of progress. I step inside your business for 3 to 9 months collaborating as part of the team, not outside it.
Together we create a living feedback loop between:
Product ↔ Brand ↔ Team ↔ Market ↔ Customer
Instead of one-off delivery, the brand work evolves in real time — tested, refined, relaunched. Fast enough to keep up. Flexible enough to adjust.
Because new ideas don’t need a handover. They need a partner inside the process.
How I Work With You
Every founder, team, and board is different. My role is to step inside your circle and work alongside you — not outside.
What I bring:
Strategy + execution → I don’t just hand over decks, I realise ideas in market — through shoots, socials, comms, and storytelling.
Embedded accountability → I sit in the loop with founder, board, product, team, and customer.
Transfer of ownership → when I step out, your team has the playbook, voice, and creative contacts to carry forward.
How that looks in practice:
Discovery & Listening
I start 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 shoots and social campaigns to comms and product storytelling — I also bring my network of trusted creative partners so you can move fast with the right people.Roadmapping & Refinement
From insight to execution — strategy becomes content, and vision becomes output. Always tested, always evolving.
I work directly with you and your team — educating, mentoring, executing, and leaving the business stronger for the next chapter.
I’ve worked with brands you know and love — from global names to disruptive startups.
Projects in Melbourne, London, LA, Tokyo.
Brands like Bellroy, Crumpler, Campaign Agent, and more.
Work that challenged convention, opened new markets, and started conversations.
The No-Agency Playbook
I wrote the No-Agency Playbook to share the principles behind this way of working.
It’s short. Practical. And built from years of work across art, strategy, and brand.
Inside you’ll find:
12 principles for creative work that cuts through.
How to avoid the agency trap.
A framework you can use right now.
📥 Get the Playbook + Join the List
(First name + email only.)
ABOUT ME
I’m Michael Lelliott — an artist, strategist, and creative.
My work blends art and strategy: from painting landscapes of resilience after fire, to helping brands find new ways to connect with people.
Purposeful disruption sits at the heart of everything I do: asking different questions, joining unexpected dots, and finding the unseen opportunities.
Ready to Onboard?
Two ways to start:
[Download the Playbook]
[Start a Conversation]