GO Falkland: Fertile Ground for Vital Conversations
At Fraendi, we create the conditions for vital conversations, the kind that bring the mainstream and the leading edge into meaningful relationship. It’s at this intersection that we believe real transformation begins. GO Falkland 2023 and 2024 were such conversations. Sparked at Groundswell 2022 by Ninian Stuart’s vision and the generosity of the Cherry family, these gatherings took place at Falkland Estate, Scotland. They brought together farmers, landowners, crofters and others working with food, fibre and fuel to explore regenerative practices and reimagine the future of food and farming in Scotland. Fraendi was honoured to be a core partner, joining [...]
Case Study: partnership with a leading Swiss Private Equity company
Fraendi began a working partnership with a Swiss private, entrepreneurial investment firm whose initial request to Fraendi was for Jackie Thoms to work as an Executive Coach with a Senior Leadership Team Member. This initial relationship was tended to with transparency and rigour. As a result, the company's Chairman and owner invited Jackie and her colleagues to deliver more interventions across the organisation over time. This has led to a 7-year-long partnership, supporting various key members in 1-1 Coaching work as well as strategy off-sites with 30 senior leaders in the company, team offsites ranging from groups of 9 to [...]
Family Business as Living System: Strategy that Breathes
Family businesses are not just commercial entities — they are living systems. Shaped by people, history, community, economy, and place, they often defy a simple definition. So instead of asking what a family business is, more generative questions might be: Where are its edges? Or What sustains its vitality? Is the edge the founding family? The wider team? The community and customers it has served for generations? Or perhaps it’s found in its buildings, craft, or culture. When we see family businesses as living systems, strategy becomes something to tend and evolve — not something to fix or contain. Meeting [...]
Somatic Resilience in Times of Change
As you read these words, take a moment to notice the position of your body and the points at which it is in contact with your clothes, maybe your feet on the ground or maybe your legs on a chair. Notice where your hands are resting or perhaps holding a phone as you scan these sentences. Notice if there is tension in your body where that is and pay attention to how you feel for a moment - the emotions you are experiencing, the stories that are alive in you. Take a breath and notice being in your body. Welcome [...]