Sounds like you’ve travelled quite a bit! What’s your story?

In 2007 I was working in a bowling alley. If you'd told me I'd have a 19 year career in advertising (and counting), I'd have laughed and said "shoe size please."

After leaving my childhood home of sunny Napier to do a marketing degree at Vic Uni in windy Wellington, I didn't really know what to do next. So I went and taught English in China for six months. Still none the wiser, I rolled back to Wellington and was happily working on my bowling game, while trying to figure out where I'd go next.

A few weeks later I somehow talked my way into an office junior role at GSL Network, where Katrina Richmond (yes, that Katrina) taught me how advertising actually works, including how to use a fax machine to get TV avails.

After three great years at GSL I was off to London with my then-girlfriend-now-wife, via a brief stopover at FCB in Auckland. I landed a job at M&C Saatchi Mobile running global app install campaigns, and we spent a few years living in North London, travelling the continent on EasyJet flights, and getting married.

In 2014, Google posted a role at their Dublin HQ for someone with two-plus years of app advertising experience. That was a pretty short list at the time. We were planning to move to Ireland anyway, so I applied, got the job, and we were off. Over the next decade I worked across a number of roles at Google. The thing I'm most proud of is launching Performance Max across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. My last role was in revenue strategy and business intelligence for travel and financial services, where I helped sales leaders figure out where the money was coming from and how to get more of it.

Dublin was good to us. Our family grew there; three kids, a dog, and a great life. But we wanted the kids to experience New Zealand growing up too, so we packed up and came home. We left as two people with a backpack each and came back a family of five.

We came to Tauranga to be close to family, and a chat with Tim led to a great opportunity back at Hemisphere leading the Bay of Plenty and Waikato business and heading up our digital offering. I'm still learning from Katrina, although no fax machines these days (plenty of 80s music and pop culture though).

What would I say to my 2007 bowling-alley-working self? "Size 8 please."

Wow, what a ride it’s been. What do you fill up your time with when you’re not at your desk?

I'm a clichéd middle-aged endurance sports tragic. In Ireland I took up running, for fun apparently, and it quickly became a way of life. What I love about it is how simple it is. Keep showing up, put one foot in front of the other, and you get faster. I made some great friends (...running friends...) and ran a few great races along the way.

Since moving back to Aotearoa, I've swapped the running shoes for cycling, taking advantage of the great trails and weather. I love going on bike rides with the kids along the Matua waterfront, or on the Whakarewarewa trails in Rotorua. The competitive side hasn't gone away either. I'm looking forward to some gruelling mountain bike and road races. It's a different sport, but the same idea really. Show up, move the legs, and clear the head.

Don’t think, just go. What are three words to best describe yourself?

Persistent. Curious. Wanderer.

What do you love most about working at Hemisphere?

Good people doing good work and having good fun. Pretty good stuff altogether.

And a core memory you have of Hemisphere so far?

Awa and I did a piece of UX work for Harbour Asset Management. Great teamwork, and there's something really satisfying about figuring out the simplest, most obvious way to help people along a journey.

Any office catch phrases?

“You seem busy”

Want to work with Craig and the team?

Get in touch to see how we can help with your next campaign.

kiaora@hemisphere.nz