Founded by Sophia Swidzinska

I’ve spent most of my career working with people at the very start of theirs, and it’s shaped how I think about work, learning, and leadership.

Over the past two decades, I’ve supported and trained students, NEET young people, interns, apprentices, graduates, early career hires, career changers, and their managers, working across FTSE-listed businesses, global agencies, public sector organisations, education and universities, alongside managers responsible for leading early talent at scale.

Across sectors and generations, the context changes but the challenges stay consistent. People want to understand what’s expected of them, how work really gets done, where they fit, how they build strong professional relationships and how to take responsibility when things aren’t clear.

When these foundations are in place, people contribute better, show more of their best, and take these foundations with them as they grow into managers and leaders.

Next Wave is built on experience spanning early careers recruitment, programme design, facilitation, and organisational change. I’ve worked in strategic roles inside complex, global organisations including Publicis Groupe and Ogilvy, leadership roles within the UK’s award winning largest graduate recruiter and training provider, Teach First, and inside mission-driven organisations such as Media Trust.

I’ve partnered with teams at companies including PwC, Goldman Sachs, Accenture, Google, BAFTA, BBC, ITV, News International, and universities across the UK.

At Publicis I led the redesign and delivery of the group wide emerging talent development programme, supporting hundreds of early career and emerging talent people and their managers across a multi-entity business. The work strengthened the end-to-end experience and the programme was recognised with industry awards (British Training Awards & The Princess Royal Awards), alongside measurable outcomes including probation failures reduced by 90%, attrition reduced by 32%, and 65% of participants promoted.

I deliver training in person because people show up differently when they’re in the room. You can feel the energy, the moments that spark, and the moments people get stuck — and you can work with it. Being in the room helps us build trust quickly so your people can engage fully. I adapt in the moment, respond to what’s happening, and help people think clearly and honestly so the learning actually sticks.

I want people to leave with more than they arrived with; clearer about themselves, better equipped to work with others, lifted, and able to apply what they’ve learned straight away, sparking their potential into success.