Where brand, culture, and experience come together.
A strategic partner for founders and cultural leaders shaping the next generation of experience-led brands.
I work alongside founders and senior teams to turn ambition into lived experience, shaping brands that connect deeply with people, and building the leadership, teams, and systems required to deliver that promise consistently.
My Perspective
I’ve spent over 20 years creating festivals, hotels, retreats and experience-led projects that bring people together and shape culture beyond a screen.
Today, I work with founders and senior teams who care deeply about what they are building, and want their work to connect with people in a real, lasting way as it grows.
Your Position
You’re building a brand that shapes culture.
Whether you’re leading a global brand or building toward one, you care about how it feels, how it’s experienced, and what it stands for in the world. Growth matters, but not at the expense of craft, coherence, or the things that made the work meaningful in the first place.
The Work We Do
We work together to strengthen the conditions that allow your brand to keep doing its best work as it grows.
That includes shaping creative, systems and experiences with emotional depth, and building the team capacity required to support ambition and let the brand thrive over time.
What I do:
I work with founders and leadership teams building expansive brands with cultural influence. Brands that people feel, return to, and trust as they grow.
The work is about creating the conditions for that ambition to land properly in the world. So growth adds depth and clarity, teams stay aligned around what matters, and the brand shows up with intent and impact.
How We Start
- The Sprint: A short, focused process to establish clarity around the brand, the ambition, and what matters most right now. It looks at capacity, sets direction and priorities, and creates momentum for the next phase.
- The Strategic Partnership: An ongoing partnership with founders, C-suite leaders, and senior teams. I work inside the organisation to support clear thinking, strengthen leadership capacity, and ensure brand, culture, and execution stay connected as complexity increases.
- The Community: Blume is a community for experience creators and culture-led founders. We bring together strategic thinking, peer connection, and real-world experiences to support long-term creative leadership, clarity, and growth.
The aim is simple: Work that connects deeply with people. Teams that can carry the ambition behind it. And brands that grow without losing their edge.
About Me
For more than twenty years, I’ve been building brands that bring people together. Festivals on beaches, hotels on islands, retreats in the mountains, and work shaped by culture, experience, and connection.
I’ve seen ideas take off, plateau, fall apart, and find their next form. That experience taught me how to read a team, a system, a story, and the spaces in between, especially as ambition grows and complexity increases.
Today, I work with founders and leadership teams shaping culturally influential brands, helping them turn ambition into work that lands powerfully in the world and continues to hold as it grows.
You’re building something that matters.
A living ecosystem that draws people in, shapes culture, and lives beyond a single moment.
Festivals. Hotels. Retreats. Races. Spaces.
Experience-led brands that people feel in their bodies, remember, and return to.
This kind of work is led by instinct as much as strategy.
By taste, timing, and a sense for what wants to exist next.
It carries emotion, identity, and belief, not just utility.
As ambition expands, the challenge isn’t speed.
It’s holding the creative charge as more people, decisions, and expectations gather around the work.
Brand power comes from coherence.
From clarity of intent, depth of experience, and leadership that knows what to protect as much as what to push.
When those elements move together, something rare happens.
The brand becomes magnetic.
The work lands with weight.
And growth adds meaning, not more noise.
Client Success
Dan’s coaching helped me restore clarity, balance, and confidence as a founder. His blend of deep personal work and strategic insight transformed how I lead, make decisions, and build Nautica. Game-changing support.
Lucy Greenhill - Co-founder, Nautica Collective
Dan has been instrumental in shaping my business, Resurface. He created an excellent business plan, investor deck, and revamped our branding and marketing strategy. His insights and feedback are invaluable. Dan is professional, intelligent, and reliable, always exceeding expectations. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to take their business to the next level.
Josh Dickson - Founder, Resurface
I've always admired Dan personally and professionally, so I jumped at the chance to work with him as my coach. During a crucial stage of my development, Dan's guidance and insights helped me achieve my goals and clarify my values. His mindful approach and continued support have been invaluable. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to grow personally and professionally.
Jordan Hallpike - VP Music, Easol
Dan has been instrumental in helping me establish an incredibly insightful and detailed model and strategy for my hotel concept - he’s a calm, considered and influential mind. Looking forward to working together more.
Tash Peskin - Founder, Boring
I was skeptical about getting a business coach, but my apprehensions vanished after my first session with Dan Blackledge. His holistic approach focuses on you first, covering family, health, and more, not just business. Dan reignited my fire and helped me move forward. If you run a business and feel stuck, reach out to him—he’s top class!
Dan Fisk - Founder, Music Maestro