What’s your morning routine? Do you have a WFH routine?
My day begins with two shots of espresso. Nothing remotely sensible happens before this daily ritual. Coffee is a kickstart and passion – I have spent years experimenting with a beloved Italian home coffee machine and grinder and can honestly say my next life will be devoted to the gentle art of coffee extraction. The day may begin with beans but invariably ends with words. Millions of words – written, read, edited, tweeted or spoken…. I am the words person. Work from home? Just a longer version of office days, but with less social opportunities. I like people, so really enjoy the days in the city office. Madden has assembled a great team in 2022, we are again expanding, and the one-person Madden start-up of 2016 is now a strong and resilient agency serving global brands accounting for literally trillions of dollars across multiple time zones.
What does a typical day look like for you?
No two days are ever the same. Aside from being hands-on with Communications Strategy for clients, a great passion is leading our media training offer. This year, it’s been great to get back to in-person training. I lead the small group workshop approach, helping clients to not only craft resonant messages but feel that they can deliver their message with greater clarity and confidence. I am often in boardrooms around Sydney running day-long sessions, working on pre-announcement messaging, crafting the ‘grab’ one-liner or reminding my C-suite clients of the importance of reputation and leadership. The Madden methods I have developed over many years have a very real and immediate impact on the people we train, and that’s what makes it so worthwhile.
Financial services is a passion and comes with a constantly shifting dynamic. The sector has seen momentous change over the last few years, whether it’s the ongoing review into the quality of advice or Your Future Your Super requirements on super funds. It’s been a great privilege to spend my days speaking with people across the industry, working with them to translate change into meaningful reputation strategy with a real impact on their business or customers. I’ve been in this business for…a long time! But financial and professional services keeps me engaged and is my area of expertise and my craft.
Could you talk about the latest thing you’re working on that excites you?
We are currently hiring a new round of interns. This excites me as it is a new opportunity for a fresh round of final year grads to kick off their Comms and Media careers learning from some of the best in the business, within a flat company structure, knowing that democracy and agency and mutual respect should form the basic pre-requisites of any employer they may encounter in the future.
What’s your number one rule?
Show don’t tell. Adjust your grind if it tastes bitter and let people grow to be their best version of themselves.
If you’re interested in joining the Madden & Assoc. team, we have some positions open (link here) for more information please contact info@madden.com.au