WHAT WE’RE EXPLORING.
We're interested in what makes people choose where they spend their time, what makes brands matter, how experiences create commercial value, and how leaders can see what's changing before it becomes obvious.
So we're always looking outward.
We follow the thinkers challenging conventional wisdom. We look for research that reveals something beneath the headlines. We visit places that make us stop and wonder why they work. We pay attention to brands changing expectations and to cultural shifts that quietly change what people value.
Cut Above sits at the intersection of people, place, brand and growth.
PEOPLE
The people shaping our thinking about leadership, behavior, experience, cities, brands and growth.
We're interested in people who challenge assumptions, connect seemingly unrelated ideas and make us see familiar things differently.
Some are futurists. Some are designers. Some are CEOs, academics, marketers, architects or urbanists. What they have in common is curiosity, and a willingness to ask better questions.
People worth listening to
RESEARCH
Good strategy needs more than instinct.
We follow research that helps us understand changing consumer behavior, economic forces, technology, cities, culture, retail, hospitality and the future of work.
The goal isn't to collect statistics.
It's to find the signal underneath them, and understand what that signal might mean for brands, places and businesses.
Evidence worth exploring
PLACES
Places that make us pay attention
A place tells you a lot about what its creators believe about people.
We look at streets, neighborhoods, shopping districts, hotels, airports, restaurants, cultural destinations, stadium districts and mixed-use developments, to both admire, get inspired, and understand them.
CULTURE
Culture is commercial intelligence
Culture tells us what people are beginning to care about before conventional market research always catches up.
We follow publications, creators, designers, artists, journalists and cultural institutions that help us understand changing attitudes toward identity, belonging, community, consumption, status, leisure and connection.
BRANDS
The best brands don't simply sell something. They create preference. They make an experience easier, more meaningful, more desirable or more memorable.
We watch brands that are changing the expectations around retail, hospitality, luxury, entertainment, technology, community and culture—and ask what other businesses can learn from them.
Brands worth watching
FUTURE
A look forward and around the corner
We don't believe anyone can predict the future. But we do believe leaders can become better at seeing the signals.
The futurists and foresight practitioners we follow help us distinguish between a passing trend and a meaningful shift, connect seemingly unrelated signals and imagine what those changes could mean for people, businesses and places.
CONTACT US
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ABOUT
Cut Above explores the ideas shaping how people choose where to spend their time, attention and money—and what that means for the brands and places creating those experiences.
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FOUNDER & FRIENDS
Connect with Corrine & her network of contributors and collaborators in the exploration of people, place, brand, and growth
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POSTCARD POV
Thoughts, insights, perspectives, and research from personal and professional exploration of the intersection of people, place, and brand.
