Problem solving
Classic what-the-frog moment.
When something isn’t working and nobody can quite agree why.
We find the real issue, strip away the noise and work out what needs to change.
Still waters. Sharp minds.
Something stuck, changing or not quite adding up?
Fox & Frog is a boutique consultancy led by Jade Proudman. Businesses bring us in when something is complicated, stuck, changing or hard to see clearly from the inside. We work out what’s actually going on, agree what needs to change, and help get it done.
Small on purpose.
Fox & Frog is led personally by Jade Proudman, Principal Consultant. You work with her directly.
When a problem needs a particular kind of expertise, she brings in people from a small network of trusted specialists. The team is built around the problem, without the machinery, overheads or bureaucracy of an agency or a large consultancy.
No enormous agency team.
No 74-slide strategy nobody uses.
No theatre.
We work with founders, CEOs, leadership teams, boards and investors, from start-ups to businesses turning over around £100m. Bigger businesses don’t necessarily have fewer problems. Sometimes money just makes inefficiency harder to notice.
At heart, every engagement comes down to four questions.
What is actually going on?
What is getting in the way?
What needs to change?
And how do we get it done?
Usually in that order.
What we help solve.
Not a menu. Most problems touch several of these at once. That’s usually why they’re hard to solve from the inside.
Change management
Restructures, resizing, new processes, culture and uncertain times.
Bringing people through change. Not just writing a PowerPoint recommending it.
Project leadership
Getting the bloody thing done.
Important projects that are stuck, drifting or complicated.
Jade can diagnose and advise, or take ownership of a defined project and get it over the line.
Process & business simplification
There is almost certainly a simpler way.
Duplicated work, weak processes, wasted spend, and things done “because that’s how we’ve always done it”.
We make the business easier to run.
Commercial & strategic thinking
Business models, propositions, routes to market, pricing, expansion and the big decisions.
Practical thinking about where the money is and how to get there.
Founder & leadership advisory
For founders and senior leaders who are too close to the business to see it objectively.
An independent view, and someone who will ask the awkward question.
Investor evaluation
Before you invest in a company or opportunity.
Independent investigation of the business, team, operating model and proposition, and a straight commercial assessment.
Brand, product & innovation
Making people give a damn.
Propositions, positioning, product development, NPD and new ventures.
Taking an idea through to something commercially viable.
Sometimes you don’t need an agency. You need a very good brain in the room.
Problems don’t stay in boxes.
Real business problems rarely arrive neatly labelled by department. These are the moments people usually get in touch.
Something isn’t working, and nobody can agree why.
A big change is coming, and the team is nervous.
The project has been ‘nearly done’ for months.
Everything takes three times longer than it should.
usually the bit nobody ownsYou’re too close to it to see it clearly.
You’re about to invest, and want an independent look first.
Having a “what the frog?” moment?
Something’s stuck. Something’s messy. Or something just isn’t adding up.
Tell us what’s going on.
We’ll help you work out what’s actually happening, and what to do about it.
Selected problems solved.
A sense of the range. Client details are kept confidential.
International market navigation
Helped an international business understand and navigate UK regulatory requirements.
Business resizing
Supported a founder through a deliberate, strategic resize: pulling back to spring forward, and building a stronger base for future growth.
People & change
Supported and empowered staff teams through challenging periods of organisational change.
Brand & product development
Developed brands for nutraceutical manufacturers and advised on new product development.
Sector market research
Conducted market research for a private family office to inform its interest in the cannabis and hemp sector.
Investment readiness
Helped a founder prepare for and negotiate investment into their business.
This isn’t an exhaustive list, and we do like a challenge. But if we’re not the right frog for the job, we’ll tell you. Quickly, and without a sales pitch.
We start with the problem, not a methodology.
There’s no giant framework every client gets pushed through. Jade talks to the relevant people across the business, not only senior management. She watches how things actually work. She listens for patterns.
People inside a business often know exactly where the problems are, but don’t feel able to say so. An independent outsider gives those observations a safe route to the surface.
Sometimes the real issue isn’t the one leadership thought it had. Occasionally, leadership is part of it. Jade will say so. Constructively, and with a way forward.
And at every size of business, she asks a bootstrapper’s questions. Is this necessary? Is there a simpler way? What are we actually trying to achieve? Not to be cheap. To avoid waste.
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1
Talk.
Tell us what’s happening. You don’t need to know which service you need. Working that out is part of the job.
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2
Figure it out.
Jade talks to the people who know, works out what’s actually needed, and we agree the scope. The work is priced on what it involves.
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3
Sort it.
Advice, support or hands-on project leadership, depending on the problem.
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4
Leave it better.
When the job is done, we’re done. Periodic check-ins or advisory support afterwards, if that’s useful.
We’re not here to make ourselves indispensable. We’re here to solve the problem.
What we’re not
An outsourced marketing department, social media manager or sales team. A replacement for your day-to-day operations. A giant consultancy team, a source of endless meetings, or a strategy document that disappears.
Jade advises, guides, solves and helps implement. She isn’t there to become another employee.
Jade Proudman MA
Principal Consultant
Entrepreneur, former CEO, strategist and problem solver.
Jade has built a business from £500 to seven-figure revenue and introduced an international brand to the UK. She has negotiated international distribution, worked in highly regulated markets, built teams and processes, developed products and propositions, and managed change.
Her strength is seeing patterns others miss, asking the awkward but necessary question, and simplifying complicated situations until a practical way forward appears.
She holds an MA in Social Pedagogy from York St John University: the study of how people learn, develop and change. It shapes how she brings teams through change.
She works directly with founders, C-suite teams, boards and investors.
Recognition.
2023
King Charles III: The Leadership and Vision of a Modern Monarch
Jade was featured in the official commemorative album marking the King’s coronation and 75th birthday.
2024
The Women of the Year
Selected among 400 women honoured for social impact.
Media coverage.
YouTube · Charlotte’s Web
Jade Proudman – Global Brand Ambassador
Watch
leafie · April 2022
In conversation with Jade Proudman, founder of Savage Cabbage
Read
Borkowski · PR case study
Charlotte’s Web: kickstarting serious conversations about a mission-driven CBD business
Read
Open Access Government · Contributor, December 2022
Contributor profile: Jade Proudman, founder of Savage Cabbage
Read