If you’re leading a professional services firm and want to grow without losing what makes it yours, this episode brings clarity to one of the biggest decisions you’ll face: whether to take on investment and how to do it without compromise.

In this episode, John speaks with Laura Morrill, Investment Director at Agathos Management LLP and a highly accomplished competitive tennis player. Laura offers practical insight into how external investors can help founders sharpen their direction and strengthen their firms, while staying true to the ambitions and aims that led them to be founders in the first place.

Laura brings a rare blend of boardroom discipline, human insight and athletic resilience – and a belief that great partnerships are built on challenge, not comfort.

She has supported founder-led firms at their most critical inflection points. Her view? You don’t have to change who you are to grow and thrive. But you do have to know where you want to be heading and have a plan for how you’ll get there.

Key discussion points include:

• Why resilient founders actively seek challenge and why investors trust those who do
• What really changes post-deal (hint: not as much as you might think)
• How to prepare your mindset and your firm for long-term value creation, long before external capital arrives
• What a value creation plan looks like inside a consultancy, with or without investment

Whether you’re actively considering investment or simply want to build a firm that lasts, this conversation is a masterclass in resilience, clarity and leading the long game on your terms.

Host: John Howard, Partner at Garwood Growth
Guest: Laura Morrill, Investment Director at Agathos Management LLP