My gurus: ‘I admire people who push against the script’

Suzanne – my former neighbour

My introduction to the world of work came from my childhood next-door neighbour, Suzanne. At a young age, we thought earning money together sounded like fun, and so found ourselves making all sorts of things: questionable jewellery, handmade magazines, whatever we could make to tempt the generosity of our neighbours. Eventually, we progressed to serving milkshakes at a café and then later picking up glasses and mopping the floor at a pub. All side by side.

I strive to integrate that same ethos within my own business. We have a laugh in the office and we’re also here to do a really good job, to make a genuine impact for our clients. That sense of camaraderie is important.

Alain de Botton – Author and public speaker

I am forever changed by Alain de Botton’s book Status Anxiety. When I was 22, and just out of university, I appreciated how ruthlessly he mocked the ways wealth inequality and social competition robs people of a lot of joy. There’s a bigger lesson for progressive values. Protect the environment, care about the less fortunate… It can all sound a bit worthy, a sort of eat-your-vegetables politics, but Alain has a great knack for making these ideas compelling and attractive.

Chris Laing – Architectural designer and activist

Growing up deaf with big dreams is not easy in the UK. Despite the barriers Chris faced every step of the way into architecture, he’s behind innovative projects like Sign Strokes and Deaf Architecture Front, both of which are making a serious impact on the conversation about the industry and inclusion.

But he’s had a very personal impact on me, too. I had my first hearing test just before I started Zetteler, and over the years, I became Deaf and entirely dependent on my hearing aids. I was originally hesitant about using the term Deaf because my hearing aids enabled me to hear fairly well. A conversation with Chris changed my perspective and helped me to understand the value of language around disability: I went from being an ally to being disabled. I’ll be forever grateful to him for helping me understand that nuance, and why it matters.

Bisila Noha – Artist and writer

I was first in touch with Bisila when she reached out for PR, and years later she helped run Design Can, an inclusivity campaign and platform founded by Zetteler which continues today.

Bisila is not an artist ‘on the side’, or someone who thinks about her different roles –she’s chief executive of the London LQBTQ+ centre – in isolation. Her wider view of how all these aspects of her life interact and feed each other has been very heartening for me, and speaks to what it means to have a ‘good’ life.

Caroline Criado-Perez – Journalist and activist

Caroline Criado-Perez’s Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men is my gold standard for what a book can achieve. It gets right to the heart of how gender equality and design shape our lives. Data doesn’t lie. I take a lot of inspiration from Criado-Perez when it comes to the idea of working to grasp the complexity of an issue and becoming immersed in the data and research, before one distils it into a message that can truly resonate with lots of different people. That’s something AI can never replace.

Zohran Mamdani – Incoming Mayor of New York City

Someone who’s been on my mind a lot recently has been Zohran Mamdani. His hard-fought mayoral campaign had everything to do with the substance behind the message. His authenticity wasn’t a gimmick; he openly talks about being a socialist in the richest city in the world, which on paper is a terrible strategy.

Over the course of my life, there’s been a handful of people like Zohran who push against the expected script and prove the alternative is possible. While running Zetteler for over a decade, I’ve turned down hundreds of thousands – in truth, millions – of pounds because the work didn’t align with our values. It’s not the easy route. But hard work is worth it when the fight is worth fighting.