About Us

Meet Team Rebel

We’re a collective of comms professionals, creatives and coaches. We love helping our clients solve their most complex problems and we really enjoy doing things a little differently!

We’re a bunch of good eggs who love getting our teeth stuck into client briefs and thinking up new and innovative ways to make an impact. We love what we do – and that’s why we’re on a mission to help people thrive in the work they do. Read on to meet us all and find out what being a rebel means to us…

“Being brave enough to do things differently in the world of work”

Advita Patel

Founder

Having worked in internal communications roles for most of her 19-year career, Advita took the leap to self-employment to create CommsRebel and is based in her hometown of Manchester.

She wanted to use her own personal experiences of not fitting in and belonging in the workplace to create a comms consultancy that focuses on making a difference to people and how they feel at work.

A qualified coach, Advita also works with senior leaders and internal communications teams to develop their confidence to lead change and have those difficult conversations.

Known for being a straight-talker, Advita is leading a rebellion to make the comms industry more diverse. In 2021, she held the first ‘Unleash Your Inner Rebel’ conference for comms and HR leaders to learn how to lead with impact.

Advita is the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, a membership for underrepresented women looking to progress in their careers, and a co-host for an award-winning podcast, CalmEdgedRebels. She’s also an experienced speaker and often shares her thoughts on internal comms, confidence and being a rebeI with a cause.

Advita is currently writing a book about diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, which will be published in 2023.

Dharini Patel

Chief Operating Officer

Dharini has over 15 years’ experience of working within the education sector, leading on numerous programmes, high-profile projects and policies within government.

In September 2022, Dharini branched into the world of CommsRebel as our COO. As a qualified project manager, Dharini can solve any complex challenge and brings a wealth of experience to oversee all things operational for CommsRebel.

“Not being afraid to say, do, or be different and empowering others to tap into their rebellious side!”

Alexandra McAvoy

Creative Virtual Assistant

Alexandra McAvoy has been in the world of marketing and events since she was fresh out of university in 2013.

Being a social butterfly all her life, she has a passion for marketing communication. With a MA in Digital Marketing communications, Alexandra has experience in many sectors including professional services, construction, and technology. Using the experience gained over time, Alexandra founded Voy Management and became a creative VA to help businesses with their presence online, for a fraction of their time.

“Using my voice to constructively challenge the way I and others think”

Rupa Bharadva

Associate

Rupa Bharadva is a copywriter and communications professional with over 20 years’ experience, working in PR, internal communications and editorial roles.

In 2021, she founded Rupa Bharadva Communications to empower women business owners to share their personal stories behind their brands to get more visible. Rupa works with purpose-led businesses to help them communicate with their clients and employees, build a media profile and boost their online and social presence.

“Doing things your way. After all, life’s too short to conform”

Sarah Weston

Event management specialist

Sarah Weston is an expert at creating bespoke event solutions for organisations.

With over two decades of experience and an extensive network of contacts, Sarah has produced thousands of event all over the world. Offering full event management; from venue organisation to third party sourcing, procurement and budget control, Sarah offers a flexible service tailored to client’s needs.

“Wearing double leopard print! Feeling confident to do what I think is the right thing… even when everyone else thinks its not!”

Vardeep Edwards

Associate

Vardeep Edwards is founder of The Branding Fox, a brand development agency that helps female founders build effective brands and distinctive brand identities. So they can stand out in a sea of noise and connect with their ideal audience.

We believe that when you know yourself and your business, you can tell the story of who you are and what you do in a way that resonates with your ideal clients. And we work hard to make sure that every client becomes an expert of their own brand—so they can tell their story effectively, both on the page and off it.

We’ve been helping female founders (and other professionals) do just that for over 20 years—and we love seeing our clients get real results from our work together!

“Having a creative mind means stepping outside the box and finding your own path”

Sarah Black

Associate

Sarah Black has 30 years of experience in communications having worked in consultancy for major brands, small businesses, and non-profits across the UK, Ireland, the United States and in-house for non-profit organizations in Northern Ireland and Texas.

She is a former director of a multi-award-winning global PR & content agency where her achievements included leading campaigns addressing racism and sectarianism and promoting reconciliation and community building. She is an expert in crossing and adapting to cultures – ask her about learning enough Norwegian to write a press release for a local non-profit!

Sarah is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a former member of its Board and Executive Committee. She is also a Member of the Public Relations & Communications Association and a former Board Director of the global non-profit, Families in Global Transition.

Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, she has lived in Norway and Texas though she currently calls Aberdeen home.

“Not conforming to expectations, stereotypes or cultural pressures. It's about daring to do things differently and having a great time doing it”

Raakhi Vadera

Associate

Raakhi has 12+ years experience within HR with everything from Recruitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion planning for businesses and helping individuals get the best out of their job and championing themselves.

She is a huge believer in belonging and the employee experience. Raakhi works with businesses to embrace the employee experience side of employment and individuals to help empower and advocate for themselves with the end goal of enjoying work and having the work-life balance they deserve.

"Being a rebel to me means that I live unapologetically and unafraid. I try to "do" life authentically and I strive for better for myself and others"

Nishant Patel

IT management professional

Nishant Patel is an IT management professional with over 15 years’ experience across several sectors.

His extensive and progressive career incorporates service delivery, new/existing technologies and global team leadership. With his strong commercial acumen and technical expertise, Nishant has broad insight of business drivers to provide effective and efficient solutions to the management of processes and strategic technology.

"The ability to disrupt a market is being a rebel to me"

Sarah Browning

Associate

Sarah is an independent kindness cheerleader and communicator. She first fell in love with internal communications when she stumbled across it in her first ‘proper’ job in financial services.

Since then she has moved to specialise in working with charity, Higher Education and public sector organisations. She works with these not-for-profit clients to find ways to communicate their stories, change attitudes and behaviours, and achieve their organisational goals. She is a member of CharityComms and the Organisation for Responsible Businesses.

In 2021 Sarah founded the Time for Kindness programme, an initiative to celebrate kindness and rebalance the narrative we have about the world we live in.

"Kindness is powerful because it connects us all as human beings. There is lots of it in the world already, we just don’t talk about it enough – yet!"

Clients

Testimonials

They did a fantastic job of coaching us through the thinking and actions

Jenni and Advita were methodical in their approach and did a fantastic job of coaching us through the thinking and actions we need to take. We’re now in the process of presenting the findings to our senior management team, sharing what DEIB means to us and how we’ll adapt our strategy around it. It really made us question what it means if we say we’re inclusive and equitable.

Jen Robson – Head of Communications, NELEP

Coaching with Advita is extremely positive

I have found the experience of coaching with Advita to be extremely positive, not only in helping me to identify key personal objectives but also offering practical tools, techniques and suggestions to achieve them. She helped me quickly realise what I wanted to achieve in both my professional and personal life and was always available to give me guidance and advice. Advita has a natural ability to make you recognise your own potential and help guide you towards it. Therefore due to the help and advice I have received during my coaching sessions, I have grown more aware of what is important to me and have gained confidence in myself and therefore my professional role.

Tony – Communications Manager

Advita helped me find clarity when I was stuck

Together, we worked on developing my self-confidence and focussing on the things I wanted to achieve that would ignite that confidence… and on how to get there! Every single time my imposter syndrome was kicking in, she encouraged me to be proud of all that I have accomplished and pushed me forward. I will be forever grateful for this journey.

Laura Colantuono – Head of Internal Communications