Strategy is easy.
Behaviour is hard.
I build businesses and advise leaders on the decisions and behaviours that turn strategy into practice.
Entrepreneur · Founder & Group CEO, House of 8 · Gothenburg and Malmö
Talks for leaders whose decisions must work in practice.
Each talk draws on businesses I lead and organisations I advise. Keynotes run 30–45 minutes; workshops from 90 minutes to half a day. In English or Swedish.
Strategy Is Easy. Behaviour Is Hard.
Keynote · signature talk. Why transformation stalls between the strategy and the Monday meeting, and what leaders can change about judgement, ownership and habits. Given at Business Change & Transformation Europe, June 2026.
Turning Change into Action
Workshop. A working session for leadership teams with a change to carry out: decisions made, owners named and first steps agreed. Upcoming at tcworld, Stuttgart, 11 November 2026.
Leading at the Breaking Point
Keynote. Leadership when technology, AI included, moves faster than the organisation: trust and judgement when familiar models stop working. Given at WomenTech Global Conference, May 2025.
The Room Decides
Keynote · in development for 2027. How working environments influence behaviour and decisions, drawn from designing and building them.
Operating responsibility informs the advice.
I combine leading businesses with advisory work, so decisions meet the realities of customers, teams, resources and delivery. Through House of 8 I build and lead companies in advisory, interior architecture and construction, and I work with leadership teams as an advisor and board member. Across that work, three things shape whether a strategy takes hold.
Decisions
Leadership shapes everyday decisions: who decides what, how quickly and on what grounds.
Behaviour
A plan changes little until habits do. Change has to be part of how the business runs.
Environments
Working environments influence behaviour, from the boardroom to the places where work is done.
Stages: WomenTech Global Conference 2025 · Nordic TechKomm Stockholm 2026 · Business Change & Transformation Europe 2026 · Upcoming: tcworld Stuttgart, 11 November 2026
House of 8: the group I lead
House of 8 builds, acquires and develops businesses. I lead it as Founder & Group CEO. Each company keeps its own identity.
In the Arena
Strategic advisory and leadership development. Advisory enquiries go here. inthearena.se
Atelier 61
Interior architecture, interior design and bespoke joinery. atelier61.se
8 Build
Construction, project planning and development.
Notes from the Arena
Writing on decisions, behaviour and the places we work.
Are we hiring for yesterday’s problems? · 11 October 2026
Organisations rise to the quality of their decisions. · 3 August 2026
Power without performance. Elegance without compromise.
For speaking and board work, write to me directly. Advisory enquiries go through In the Arena.
Email: hello@fridastjernholm.com
Based in Gothenburg and Malmö.