Strategic Partner
Working with ambitious brands in luxury, culture and lifestyle driven by purpose and legacy, who are committed to doing things differently, and better, for individuals and communities.
Yelena partners with founders, senior executives and creative directors to realise and amplify their vision, applying fifteen years of sector expertise as a business leader advising on the delivery of fundamental impact.
Expertise
Developing a vision and brand strategy which defines a business’s unique role in the world, stretching its ambition and ensuring that every action and decision is rooted in a singular purpose.
Brand
Leading campaigns, collaborations, experiences, and commissions which powerfully bring to life the story of the brand wherever it exists.
Storytelling
Great brands never stand still. Evolving and enhancing a brand’s existing universe to ensure it is set up for continued growth, as well as identifying and developing strategies for new opportunities.
Growth
Advising executives on defining a business plan and pitch narrative to attract investment, and unlock the next chapter of growth.
Funding
Crafting a product strategy for the lifestyle sector that is truly rooted in the brand’s spirit, and that delivers distinctive, storied collections that move and inspire those who live with them.
Product
Providing insight on the specific dynamics within luxury, culture and lifestyle, and guidance on how a brand can navigate its way through as a platform for purposeful change, dialogue and legacy.
Thought leadership
Working together
Each client has a unique alchemy of creativity, ethos and mission. Yelena respects this individualism, and ensures it can thrive and deepen as a brand grows in its reach and impact. Bringing a tailor-made, considered approach to her work, Yelena partners with her clients through a working dynamic which blends the commercial and creative.
Whether an emerging entity or an established brand or institution, Yelena’s enthusiasm, love and fascination for the work of her clients is a genuine energy that flows through every engagement.
About
Yelena Ford is a leading mind in the sectors of luxury, culture and lifestyle, with fifteen years of experience as a Managing Director, Commercial Director and Strategy Consultant.
Over eight years, Yelena built and led The New Craftsmen, the foremost luxury craft business in the UK, advancing its strategic position and overseeing product, brand and marketing, operations, sales, and investment. Nurturing growth from the ground-up, Yelena brings an entrepreneurial, human and financially aware approach to her consulting, by acting as a bridge between imagination and practicality.
Yelena has led and cultivated teams across multiple markets and disciplines, fostering a connected, action-orientated culture to deliver globally recognised brands which lead positive change.
Yelena began her career at Wolff Olins, advising CEOs of multinationals across the luxury, technology and cultural sectors. In 2022 Yelena was named a Tastemaker on Walpole’s Power List, and holds a BSc from LSE and a MSc from SOAS.
Fascinated by business models which connect purpose, creativity and commerce, Yelena partners with like-minded individuals and their brands to drive brave, transformative work.