Sustainability is either your competitive advantage or your biggest reputational risk. The difference is strategic.
I advise founders and leadership teams on turning sustainability commitments into commercial advantage — before investors, regulators, or the market force the conversation.
Businesses often treat sustainability communications as a marketing exercise. That’s where the risk starts.
Impact reports that get published and never referenced in a single commercial conversation. Sustainability claims that don’t survive scrutiny. Brand narratives that confuse what the parent company does with what the subsidiary can credibly claim. Messaging that’s either so cautious it says nothing, or so ambitious it invites accusations of greenwashing.
These aren’t copywriting problems. They’re strategic ones. And by the time they surface publicly, the damage is already done.
“Russ made what could have been a complex, high-stakes impact reporting process feel calm, clear and well-judged over two consecutive years.”
Jenny May, Former ESG Manager, Unily
Most sustainability advisors don’t understand brand and commercial strategy. Most marketing consultants treat sustainability as a messaging exercise. I’ve built my career in the gap between those two blind spots.
I’m Russ Avery. 16 years in sustainability marketing and communications. Marketing lead at two of the UK’s leading sustainability consultancies. Founder of a B Corp certified agency, built from scratch and closed on my own terms.
I’ve advised businesses from early-stage impact businesses to established professional services firms, and the pattern is always the same: the strategic thinking is where the real value sits.
That experience is what you’re really paying for. Not a set of deliverables, but the clarity to make better decisions.
How I work
Strategic Advisory
Ongoing access to senior counsel on sustainability positioning, stakeholder communications, and brand strategy. For leadership teams navigating high-stakes decisions where impact, commercial reality, and reputation intersect.
Focused Engagements
Time-bound, outcome-defined work: strategic communications audits, impact narrative development, or critical campaign direction. Brought in when the team needs a sharper lens before committing resources.
Leadership Support
Fractional CMO engagements, advisory board roles, and founder mentorship. For businesses building at the intersection of impact and growth that need a strategic voice at the table, without the overhead of a full-time hire.