Becoming a Partner at Animate

A reflection by Nina Rogers

I have recently become a Partner at Animate - it has got me thinking about my journey to this point, why now and why Animate.

Rethinking what consultancy could be

Before I started doing this work, I had a particular idea in my head about what a consultant was.

I imagined consultancy as something detached. People helicoptering into organisations, delivering something off the shelf and then disappearing again.

I worried about how much impact you could really have when you were only stepping into an organisation for a relatively short amount of time. I also thought I would miss being part of a team and having that sense of connection and belonging.

What I discovered through Animate was the complete opposite.

I joined Animate initially as an associate. In many ways, I was testing it out. Was consultancy really for me? Was I the right fit for Animate? Did the way Animate worked genuinely align with how I wanted to work and who I wanted to be professionally?

My background is in HR, but for me that was always about people. I have always been endlessly curious about the human experience, about relationships, behaviour and what helps people feel connected, safe and able to do their best work. That has shaped every role I have taken throughout my career and is a big part of what drew me towards Animate’s way of working.

I realised very quickly that you can have a huge impact in a short space of time when people are given the opportunity to pause, reflect and speak honestly about what is really happening. I also realised that the relationships do not end when a session finishes.

Teams come back. Relationships continue.

Clients send emails weeks or months later saying, “You’d be so proud of me. This is what we’ve done.”

That completely changed my understanding of what consultancy could be.

What I thought would feel detached has actually left me feeling deeply connected, not just to my Animate team, but to the wider network of people and organisations trying to make a difference. Through this work, I have found myself connected to teams across charities, social care, homelessness, justice, local authorities and the NHS.

There is something incredibly hopeful in that. In seeing how many people are doing thoughtful, difficult and important work in challenging times. And in knowing that even small shifts in teams and relationships can have a much wider ripple effect.

Relationships are the work

 At Animate, relationships are central to the work. They are the work.

One of Animate’s core values is prioritising relationships, and I see that reflected in everything we do, both internally and externally. We nurture relationships within the team. We check in with each other. We create space to reflect on the work we are doing and how we are showing up in it.

One of the most valuable parts of my experience at Animate has been team supervision. We bring real pieces of work, difficult dynamics, questions and uncertainties into the room together and properly interrogate them. We ask ourselves questions like: am I showing up fully here? Is there something I am carrying into this piece of work? What might be happening beneath the surface in this team or organisation?

We ask clients to pause and reflect deeply, so it matters to me that we do the same ourselves.

What partnership means to me

That commitment to reflection and integrity is one of the reasons becoming a partner feels so significant to me.

For me, partnership means stepping into shared responsibility for the future of Animate alongside Jo and Ian. It means helping shape where Animate goes next and contributing to decisions about how the organisation continues to evolve. It also means becoming a steward of the values and ways of working that drew me here in the first place.

As an associate, I experienced first-hand the level of care and reflection that sits at the heart of Animate. Becoming a partner feels like taking shared responsibility for protecting and nurturing that culture as the organisation grows. That includes supporting associates well, building strong relationships with clients, and continuing to create work that feels thoughtful, relational and genuinely useful.

What stands out to me most about Animate is how deeply people care. We care about our clients, the work they are doing and how we can support them well. We challenge each other internally, reflect on our own practice and talk openly when something does not feel aligned with our values.

That matters to me deeply.

The moments that stay with me

Over the last couple of years, I have worked with many teams. What stays with me most are the moments where something shifts in the room.

A group may arrive feeling cautious, overwhelmed or disconnected. The energy feels heavy. People are unsure about the process or reluctant to engage.

And then, slowly throughout the course of the session, something shifts.

Shoulders drop.

People begin speaking more honestly.

Someone says the thing that needs a space to be heard.

A team reconnects.

Those are the moments that stay with me. They are the reason I do this work.

The feedback I value most is rarely about models or frameworks. People talk about feeling comfortable. Calm. Safe. They say the space we co-created felt real and human.

I think that comes from being supported to show up authentically. Animate has given me the trust and freedom to facilitate in a way that feels aligned with who I am rather than trying to fit a particular mould of what a consultant should be.

For me, becoming a partner is not about arriving somewhere. It is about committing more deeply to a way of working that I believe in.

A way of working rooted in relationships, reflection, courage and care.