Our story

Where this all started

The story of Elaine Grant Creative Consulting starts a long way before 2023. It starts in Peckham, in a comprehensive girls’ school where I absolutely fell in love with drama. From there I went on to a performing arts centre to learn more about the arts. I tried everything. Ballet, jazz dance, jazz vocals. Then on to a BA Honours Degree in Performance Arts.

I left and worked in the industry as an actor, which I did for 12 years. That was my first life in this work, and it taught me what theatre can do.

Starting the consultancy in 2023

In 2023 I left that organisation and started my consultancy. There was no real strategy, but there was a network of relationships I had built over years, and there was a clear sense of the work I wanted to do.

I did a few business programmes along the way, but what really got the consultancy off the ground was the kindness of industry specialists, marketeers and producers. People generously gave me their time. I told them what I wanted to do, the two areas I wanted to specialise in, and work just came to me.

I started working with community groups, getting them in to see shows. They paid me to coordinate their visits, because they trusted me to do the bit they did not have time for. Things started small. Things built up. Momentum came.

I created a LinkedIn profile, said I was open for work, and joined an amazing business coaching programme that gave me the belief, the skills and the knowledge to grow the business properly. Three years on, I have proved myself in this industry. I am authentic, genuine, hard working, and I deliver what I say I will deliver. If I commit to filling an allocation, I fill it.

What this work is for

I stand for creating live experiences for the people I work with. High quality art and cultural live events. That is what I want my legacy to be. That I gave people these experiences, life-changing, long-lasting memories with their friends and their families.

Arts and culture is for everyone. Not a luxury. Not elitist. When I talk about diversity, I do not just mean culturally diverse. I mean diverse in the widest sense. There is no discrimination, no prioritising of particular groups. For me, art is for everyone, and that has been the shape of my career from the very beginning.