Shortlisted for Business Innovation — The Complicated Coach
Complicated Co. has made the shortlist at the Stratford Herald Business & Tourism Awards 2026, in two categories: Best Business Innovation and Best Green Business.
I'll be honest, this one means more to me than most.
Why this one means more
Not because of the trophy. Because of who's doing the judging. These aren't strangers reading a submission from somewhere else. They're local judges, people who actually live and work in this community, who've watched this business grow from something I started at my kitchen table into what it is now. Being seen by people who know Stratford is a different kind of recognition than being seen by people who don't.
What "innovation" actually means here
The Best Business Innovation nod is for the whole ecosystem I've built: the coaching, the clothing, the conversations, all of it designed around one idea, that support should meet people where they actually are, not where they're pretending to be. That idea started with coaching, and it's still where it lives most.
When I left corporate in 2024, I didn't set out to build a brand. I set out to have honest conversations with business owners and leaders who were exhausted from performing certainty they didn't feel. Most of the people I work with aren't stuck because they lack ability. They're stuck because they've been carrying more than anyone can see, and nobody's ever asked them what's actually going on underneath the plan. That's the work: naming what's real, then figuring out what to do about it together, whether that's a founder deciding what to say no to, or a leader working out who they want to be now that the job's changed shape around them.
So when a panel of local judges look at that and call it innovation, what they're really recognising is that this approach works. That you can build a business on honesty over performance and still grow it into something real. That's not a small thing to have confirmed back to you, especially by the people closest to where you're doing the work.
Built properly, not just marketed well
The Best Green Business nod is for our organic cotton tees, statement tees for the days that prove it, which grew out of the same instinct: build things properly, without cutting corners, even when nobody's checking.
If you've supported this business in any way, booked a session, sent someone my way, listened to the podcast, this shortlisting is yours as much as mine. You made it real before anyone else was looking.
And to the other businesses shortlisted alongside us: congratulations. It says something good about Stratford-upon-Avon that there's this much independent, values-led work happening here.
If any of this sounds familiar, if you're doing well on paper and still feel like you're holding too much, that's usually where a first conversation starts. Let’s have a chat, you can book here.
