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Stormy sky over the landscape

Storm the Ordinary.

AI strategy for people ready to do real work with it.

For owner-operators, coaches, and consultants who've built something real and want to do more with AI than just keep up.

A thinking partner. Who can also build the thing.

Why I built this

I built dreamstorm for people ready to lean in.

The owner-operators who've built something they actually love.

The coaches and consultants who want to multiply their impact.

The regional firms ready to use AI without losing the thing that makes them them.

The people who know AI matters, want to do real work with it, and don't want to figure it out alone.

People who want to build. Not just keep up.

Lian Passmore, founder of dreamstorm

dreamstorm founder

Lian Passmore

There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses in Aotearoa with the ambition, the clients, and the craft to do real things with AI. What most of them don't have is someone who can sit on both sides of the table, who can actually understand the people inside the business and build the tech. That's me.

The industry is selling magic. I do clarity.

What I actually do

Make AI useful.

Not impressive. Not theoretical. Useful.

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  • 01 Auditing what you've already got and telling you honestly what's worth keeping.
  • 02 Building roadmaps you can actually run with.
  • 03 Sitting in the strategist seat alongside you on retainer, so you don't have to track the landscape yourself.
  • 04 Designing and building bespoke AI products when that's what the work calls for.

I won't take work I know you'd be better off paying someone else to do. That's not a disclaimer. That's how I work.

Why dreamstorm is different

You're not getting an AI person who learned about people. You're getting a people person who learned to build AI.

Most AI consultants are technologists who picked up business along the way. I came in the other direction.

Fourteen years inside one of New Zealand's largest energy companies, designing learning, leading wellbeing strategy for 1,400 staff across 14 sites, building the kinds of systems where the cost of getting it wrong is real.

Then I taught myself to code, completed a Master of Technological Futures, and shipped six AI products.

What that means for you: when I look at your business, I see the people inside it first. The AI is a tool to serve them. Not the other way around.

The reasoning behind this approach is documented in my Master's research at lianpassmore.com/project-rise. The short version: when values are in the system logic, people feel them. When they're only in the language, they don't.

Values in the architecture. Not the footer.

Read the Charter →

Recently shipped

The studio builds.

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Delivered

Coach Emma

Conversational coaching companion built for Scaled Ambition. 100% activation.

Master's research

Project Rise

My Master's project on relational insights for systemic empowerment.

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Live

YourHQ

For businesses (and people) too good to look average online.

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Piloted, in development

Ray

A relationship coach AI exploring trust through conversation.

What clients are saying

"It's the ultimate bridge between sessions. My clients now have a confidential space to practise my frameworks the moment they need it."
Emma Kirkman, Founder of Scaled Ambition

Emma Kirkman

Founder, Scaled Ambition

A bit of credibility

Operational systems experience. Human systems expertise. AI builder capability.

See full background →
01

Master of Technological Futures, AcademyEX (2026). Three original theoretical contributions.

02

Six AI products shipped. Coach Emma, Coach Strong, Ray, YourHQ, Vox, and the Project Rise research agent.

03

14 years at Northpower across systems training, instructional design, and wellbeing strategy.

04

Winner, 2022 HeadFit Awards. Engagement and Communication.

05

Precision Nutrition certified across Sleep, Stress and Recovery, and Change Psychology.

06

Board Appointments Panel Member, Sport Northland.

The podcast

Follow the White Rabbit.

With Larissa from Flux Digital. Honest, curious, goes places the polished version of the industry conversation won't.

A few questions, answered straight

The honest answers.

What does dreamstorm actually do?

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dreamstorm is an AI strategy studio for small and growing businesses across Aotearoa New Zealand. We audit what you've already got and tell you honestly what's worth keeping, build AI roadmaps you can actually run with, sit in the strategist seat alongside you on retainer, and design and build bespoke AI products when the work calls for it.

Who is dreamstorm for?

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Small business owners, coaches, consultants, owner-operators, and regional firms across Aotearoa and globally who've built something real and are ready to use AI to grow it. People who want to do real work with AI, not just keep up. Free Community Hour reserved for Aotearoa-based not-for-profits and Māori and Pacific networks.

How much does it cost to work with dreamstorm?

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Free Community Hour for Aotearoa-based not-for-profits and Māori and Pacific networks. $2,500 for a Half-Day Intensive. $5,000 for a 90-Day Sprint. Retainers from $700/month (Focus) to $2,200/month (Whole Picture). Bespoke builds are scoped separately. All prices NZD, GST exclusive.

Where is dreamstorm based?

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Whangārei, Northland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Working remotely with clients across Aotearoa and globally. In-person sessions available in Northland.

Who is Lian Passmore?

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Lian Passmore is the founder of dreamstorm. A Samoan and New Zealand European woman based in Whangārei. Master of Technological Futures (AcademyEX, 2026), fourteen years inside Northpower designing wellbeing and learning systems for 1,400 staff, six AI products shipped including Coach Emma, Project Rise, YourHQ, Ray, Vox, and Coach Strong.

What makes dreamstorm different from other AI consultants?

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Most AI consultants are technologists who picked up business along the way. Lian came in the other direction. Fourteen years of human systems work first, then AI. The work is grounded in kaupapa Māori and Pacific principles: reciprocity, care, and designing with people, not for them. Values are built into the system architecture, not bolted on as language.

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