Episode 309: Growing A Visual Storytelling and Training Company - with Si Beales from Sidedoor Studio

In a recent episode of the HR business marketing podcast, A Better HR Business, Ben and his guest, Si Beales, Founder/Learning Director at Sidedoor Studio talk about how to attract HR clients with visual storytelling and habit-based learning.

Si Beales is a trainer, speaker, and academic at Leeds School of Art & Design and Leeds Beckett University. He’s also the founder of Sidedoor Studio.

He works with businesses, students, and creative teams to build practical human skills—like thinking, collaboration, and curiosity—and turn them into habits that actually stick.

Through Sidedoor Studio, he creates learning experiences using video, workshops, and events, helping organisations make their training more engaging and useful.

His focus is simple: make learning clearer, more relevant, and easier to apply in the real world. Si has worked with organisations including Nike, Carlsberg, Boots, E.ON, and Central Saint Martins. With a background across industry and academia, he brings a practical, straightforward approach—focused on ideas people can actually use.

You’ll hear practical strategies for marketing for HR consultants, using storytelling to stand out as a consultant, and shaping learning experiences that stick. Whether you identify as HR, workplace, L&D, OD, recruitment, or people & culture, you’ll discover real stories and actionable advice to attract clients, win contracts, and grow sustainably.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How habit-based learning and visual storytelling can make training and onboarding more impactful
• Why authentic, relevant content engages learners and drives real culture change
• Si Beals’ approach to finding the right clients (and why working with SMEs brings agility and creative freedom)

Episode highlights:

• Si’s career journey from marketing and academia to founding Sidedoor Studio, and the realisation that traditional learning approaches are often ineffective.
• The development of the “PEARS” framework for learning: Prepare, Engage, Apply, Reflect, Strengthen.
• The importance of making learning personal, authentic, and relevant to ensure it is effective and memorable.
• Using innovative approaches like first-person drone video and interactivity to immerse learners in real-world scenarios.
• Key client types and use cases—working with SMEs on both marketing content and learning & development projects.
• Avoiding “creativity by committee” and the value of collaborative content development with clients.
• Examples of social learning, like building an internal radio station and creating story-driven engagement for distributed teams.
• Focus on understanding audiences by directly observing client environments and existing training.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Sidedoor Studio website: www.sidedoor.studio
• Si Beales’ website: www.sibeales.com
• Si Beale’ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/si-beales

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About The A Better HR Business Podcast

The A Better HR Business shares strategies, tactics, success stories, and more about marketing for HR consultancies and marketing for HR tech companies, and how to get more clients.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don’t miss future episodes.

For show notes and to see details of our previous guests, check out the podcast page here:

www.GetMoreHRClients.com/Podcast

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