So nice to meet you! We’re Helen and Sally.

Helen’s an educator, designer and award-winning author. She’s also a gold-level clumsy noggin who’s guaranteed to be the one who face-plants on entering that room.

Sally’s an environmentalist, writer and award-winning founder. She’s also guaranteed to be the shortest person in any room. 

We’ve both got kids in our lives: Sally has a son and Helen has a nephew. And we want them to have a brilliant future on this amazing planet. 

We’re great believers in imperfect environmentalism. No one can get everything right all of the time. And trying to is just a highway to paralysis.

It’s about finding actions that fit in with you and your family. Creating small ripples of change that’ll help us all ride a growing wave of action*. 

* As a business based partly in Australia, we’re legally obliged to use at least one surfing analogy per 1,000 words.

How we built Be The Future

Our businesses started with a hashtag, evolved with an email, and now run almost entirely on an intricate understanding of UK-Australia time differences.

Before we met, we were both living in the UK and spreading climate positivity for #tacklethecrisis, because we’re both pretty sure that’s what the world needs. 

Something to counter the doom-and-gloom stories that make us want to stick our fingers in our ears and assume the fetal position because it’s all too much.

So there we were, being ambassadors for this hashtag, when Sally spotted Helen’s logo for her other business: UnlikelyGenius™️. 

She figured there had to be an interesting person behind that name (spoiler: there was). So in December 2020, she wrote Helen an email:

I’m looking for a witty, funny, smart copywriter and designer to help me with my idea. And you seem kind of perfect.

Helen jumped on board right away. Phew.

We got to meet in person a couple of times between lockdown ending and Sally moving back to Australia (could this founding story *be* any more pandemic?)

Sure, running a two-woman-two-business enterprise between Yorkshire and Sydney isn’t always the easiest way to do things… 

But thanks to the wonder of Zoom, WhatsApp, and our ability to reliably set alarm clocks, everything’s working out pretty well. 

Which is lucky, because we adore what we do: 

Harnessing the magic of hope, solutions and optimism to create the vision of a healthier, greener future.

We know how tough it is to find your place in climate action. The mountain often feels too big to climb. So when people get in touch to tell us we’ve inspired them or lifted them out of a climate slump, we’re honestly chuffed to bits.

It’s why we get up in the morning (nine/eleven hours apart).

⬇️ If you love our story and our mission, check out some of the things you can get involved in! ⬇️

TOGETHER Climate Play experiences

TOGETHER is our concept for an immersive and interactive experience containing 7 climate solution themed zones, plus accompanying touring and digital experiences. Our playful, interactive sustainability incursions to engage and empower young minds. Suitable for early learning centres, primary schools and governments.

Training to energise your team

You’ve got your sustainability agenda, your’ve set your goals, but now you need the team on board. We can provide interactive training that revitalises your team to get involved in the sustainable action.

Increasing interactivity in your experiences

Do you want to create engaging, interactive learning experiences that spark curiosity and inspire action? Through interactive technology, storytelling, and games, we can bring people together, and encouragecommunity-driven change.

A bit more about us…

a.k.a. the ‘official’ bios, sans puns 😂

  • Headshot of Helen, smiling at the camera

    Helen Hill, founder Be The Future IMMERS[ED]

    Helen is a learning design specialist, children’s book author-illustrator and ‘silly auntie’ to her nephew, Emmett. 

    At Be The Future she loves nothing more than to get giddy with ideas for books, games, activities and mischief, bringing in her 20+ years of working in education and the design industry. She wants to shake up our outdated education system from the outside in. She is also the in-house designer, tech guru and a trained climate coach.

    Helen is also the sole founder of UnlikelyGenius™️ Ltd, a business founded around helping people and planet to thrive. Here she specialises in producing playful designs and concepts for creative educational resources and books which teach about tough topics like grief, anxiety and climate change.

    In addition to a level 2 coaching diploma and ICF ACC status, Helen is also trained in Climate Change Coaching, Embodied Transformation and Positive Psychology, to help build stronger connections between body, mind and planet.

    Connect with Helen on LinkedIn
  • Sally smiling at the camera

    Sally Giblin, founder Be The Future

    Sally is an award-winning founder, podcast co-host, environmentalist, writer, and parent. Her purpose is to inspire others to take dramatic action on our climate and biodiversity crisis - the most important issue of our lifetime.

    She’s spreading the word about environmental action through writing for media publications and speaking at events.

    Sally is a Greenpeace Australia Pacific General Assembly Member, an Australian Parents for Climate Action spokesperson, and a Climate Reality Leader. She’s also a startup mentor for Founder Institute, the world's largest early-stage accelerator. She’s been at the forefront of many social impact initiatives over the years, with organizations such as Young UN Women and Social Good Summit.

    She previously CoFounded Pure Bundle, a circular fashion startup, and worked as a Management Consultant at PwC.

    Connect with Sally on LinkedIn