THEY’RE at the top of their game, running multi-million dollar companies and managing large numbers of employees. But everyone had to start somewhere.
We asked Australia’s high-achieving corporate bosses what they were doing when they were 25-years-old — an age when many of us are still trying to work out what to do with our lives.
While some were already achieving far beyond their peers, others took a more colourful route to corporate success, proving that the road less travelled can take you beyond your wildest dreams.
Here’s what some of the finalists in the 2015 Executive of the Year Awards, which are being held in Melbourne tonight, were up to when they were 25.
ATOMIC 212 GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE JASON DOORIS
“Get a job, Jason.”Source:Supplied
The year was 1994 and the thought of running a media agency couldn’t have been further from Jason Dooris’ mind.
The 25-year-old Londoner had just returned home from travelling around the world and was on his last $500.
His parents, with good reason, told him it was time to get a job — and that there would be no more hand outs.
Through a friend, Jason got a job working at street designer market Hyper Hyper, where he spent most days sitting on a chair selling risqué club wear from a stall.
At this time, he was also sending out hundreds of CVs to the banks in the hope of getting a job (a la Gordon Gekko).
He did not get a single response.
He did, however, meet Kylie Minogue, who purchased several pairs of silver foil shorts — which Jason was wearing — for her touring band.
It all started with a fortuitous Kylie encounter.Source:Supplied
He began building relationships with various media types, as they often bought clothes from the stall for fashion shoots and music videos.
Jason was eventually offered an intern position by the newly launched FHM Magazine, at a time when men’s magazines were beginning to bloom.
He began dealing with advertising agencies on a daily basis and, a year later, was offered an entry level position at the prestigious London agency Ogilvy & Mather.
Although a marginally late starter, he was successful as Rookie of the Year and his career began to grow with a very healthy balance of luck and energy (and street smarts) in the corporate world.
Jason Dooris found his feet after briefly relying on the bank of Mum and Dad.Source:Supplied
Kylie Minogue pioneered the metallic shorts trend in the 1990s. Picture: Peter StillSource:Supplied
Up until the time he was offered a position at FHM Magazine, Jason didn’t even know the media industry existed.
He often refers to this period as a time that taught him two things: Number one, you need to make your own luck. And number two, persistence and stamina will reward you.
Jason went on to survive the Bali bombing attack in 2002, when he was seriously injured (the blast partially severed his left knee, which has since been reconstructed), and lost his best friend.
Post Bali, Jason has ferocious focus on work life balance and people, with the philosophy that if you care about your people, they will care about you and the business.
Jason is a CEO of the Year finalist.
MCCANN CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND CHAIRMAN BEN LILLEY
Patrick Baron, pictured left, and Ben Lilley were reunited at McCann after 15 years.Source:Supplied
Ben Lilley could not have known at 25-years-old that he would one day be running the advertising agency that gave him one of his first jobs in the industry.
Through what he describes as either pure coincidence or a remarkable case of the stars aligning, Ben rejoined McCann, which was recently named the world’s most creative advertising agency, in 2011 as chairman and chief executive — 15 years after they hired him for a two-year stint as a copywriter.
He went on to climb his way up the ladder of the advertising world, from senior creative at George Patterson Y&R to executive creative director at Smart, where he returned to serve as chief executive in 2000 after four years at HubGroup, the agency he co-founded.
He spent 11 years at Smart before it was bought by McCann, reuniting him with the art director he had been teamed up with all those years ago — Patrick Baron, now the agency’s executive creative director.
Ben said that while the pair had made an ambitious creative team in their youth, he would never have imagine how the stars would align to bring them back together in a leadership capacity.
Ben is a CEO of the Year finalist.
M&C SAATCHI CHIEF EXECUTIVE JAIMES LEGGETT
“Out of my depth”— Jaimes Leggett took a risk, and it paid off.Source:Supplied
Jaimes Leggett jumped in the deep end of the advertising world at 25, and it paid dividends.
The year was 2005 and when he joined London advertising start-up Grand Union as an account director and equity partner, Jaimes admits he was out of his depth.
But it was a brave new world in advertising; television, press and posters were losing ground to digital — so being young and out of your depth wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Jaimes quickly moved through the ranks and was promoted to Managing Director within three years.
Five years on, the agency had 130 staff and was sold into a larger network for 13 million pounds.
Jaimes moved over to Ogilvy Advertising as the agency’s director of digital acceleration, and from there the only way was up.
Jamies is a finalist for CEO of the Year and Media Executive of the Year.
CITY WEST HOUSING CHIEF EXECUTIVE JANELLE GOULDING
She had to fight for a sales job at a real estate agency. Now she builds affordable housing developments like this block at Carriageworks, in the inner-Sydney suburb of Eveleigh.Source:News Corp Australia
When Janelle Goulding was 25-years-old, she was single and living in a tiny one-bedroom flat in Strathfield in Sydney’s west, and paying $33 a week in rent.
Working the front desk of a real estate office using a plug-in switchboard, she had bigger dreams.
Everyone knows the highest earners in real estate are in property sales, and Janelle pestered her boss until he agreed to give her a start.
Back then, the industry was even more male-dominated than it is today, but she succeeded, becoming the first woman in the company’s history to sell apartments.
Now she runs a not-for-profit affordable housing development company, with projects including a $23 million block of 88 apartments at Eveleigh, in Sydney’s inner south.
Janelle is a Not-for-Profit Executive of the Year finalist.
ING DIRECT CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CUSTOMERS VAUGHN RICHTOR
Vaughn Richtor fondly recalls his early years in London, before he was a business leader. Picture: Dan HimbrechtsSource:News Limited
Before he was a banking titan running ING Direct’s Asian retail division, Vaughn Richtor was driving a bright green Ford Capri around London.
The 25-year-old was enjoying married life before the children came along, wiling the hours away playing squash and mucking around with his guitar.
Working in Her Majesty’s Treasury for Rank Xerox, he never thought about becoming a corporate boss, he was more focused on doing things he enjoyed, taking opportunities to learn more and do interesting things.
Vaughn is a finalist for CEO of the Year and Financial Executive of the Year.
PETCIRCLE CHIEF EXECUTIVE MICHAEL FRIZELL
Online retailer Michael Frizell, pictured at Alexandria Park with his dog George, earned his stripes in the corporate world before striking out on his own.Source:News Corp Australia
Michael Frizell’s younger self was certainly no slacker.
Before founding Australia’s largest online pet shop, Michael gained a solid corporate grounding.
In 2007, 25-year-old Michael had just graduated from the University of Western Australia with degrees in finance and engineering.
He nabbed a graduate job with Perth-based management consulting and corporate advisory firm GEM Consulting, which took him all over the country.
This gave Michael experience and insight into the business practices, strategies and processes of national and international firms across the mining, utilities and national infrastructure sectors, and allowed him to forge connections with some of Australia’s most prominent business leaders.
From there Michael moved into investment banking, before founding Pet Circle in 2011 at the age of 28.
Michael is a Startup Executive of the Year finalist.
BLRT FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANURAG CHAKRADHAR
Anurag Chakradhar’s gap year paid off; he returned full of ideas and motivation.Source:Supplied
By the time he turned 25, tech entrepreneur Anurag Chakradhar already had plenty of experience under his belt.
As a high-achieving employee at Ogilvy Interactive in Sydney, Anurag was knees deep in the first dotcom boom, delivering online advertising and digital properties.
But he had a dream.
Anurag was determined to start his own digital agency — but first, he had some travelling to do.
Aware that he was facing the hard slog that comes with the first few years of starting a business, he did what any young dreamer would and embarked on a whirlwind trip around the globe, visiting 20 countries in a year.
By his 26th birthday, Anurag was ready.
He started app development company Think Unthinkable, which has since been renamed Thinkun and employs 15 people.
Thinkun launched Blrt, a free app that allows users to talk, point and draw over websites, images and documents, short-listed for best mobile or app start-up at last year’s Australian Mobile and App Design Awards.
Anurag is a Start Up Executive of the Year finalist.
MONASH HEALTH CHAIRWOMAN BARBARA YEOH
There was once a time when seatbelts were optional.Source:Supplied
At 25, Barbara Yeoh was already paving the way for a high-level medical career.
Freshly graduated from university, she was on the research team that helped bring about the world’s first laws making it compulsory to wear a seat belt.
Working with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Barbara contributed to groundbreaking research into the effectiveness of seat belts.
It was the trust and confidence her boss invested in her at this time that taught her the importance of nurturing, supporting and encouraging young people to reach their fullest potential and contribute to a better world.
Barbara is a Chairperson of the Year finalist.
SIRTEX MEDICAL CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER DR DAVID CADE
Dr David Cade had his hands full at age 25.Source:Supplied
The year was 1993 and David Cade was a 25-year-old medical student.
In order to meet his course requirements, he was busy delivering 20 babies at Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne, and learning about patients with schizophrenia at Mont Park Psychiatric Hospital.
One of the highlights of medical school, he said, was not being in the operating theatre, but working as a barman at the Grand Hyatt — where the cocktails were plentiful, and the customer tips very generous.
After graduating, he trained in surgery with a view to becoming a plastic surgeon.
But David had always had a side-line interest in finance and economics, so he ducked off to complete an MBA in Melbourne and Barcelona.
Before he knew it, he’d been snapped up by a global managing consulting firm, where he learned how Thai banks, Indonesian telcos and British petroleum companies worked.
A few years later, David took a role with a small company called Sirtex Medical to help set up their business in Germany.
At the time, Sirtex had a market capitalisation of $50 million and was just getting started; 13 years later, it has a market capitalisation of $2 billion, 250 staff and operations in 40 countries.
David is a Health and Pharmaceutical Executive of the Year finalist.
SIRTEX MEDICAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE GILMAN WONG
Gilman Wong credits his early entrepreneurial venture with preparing him for corporate life.Source:Supplied
He might be running a biotech company, but Gilman Wong’s background is in advertising, sales and marketing.
The year was 1975 and, aged 25-years-old with just a few years’ agency experience as an account manager under his belt, Gilman decided to take the plunge and go out on his own.
He now counts the decision to start his own boutique agency as an ambitious step taken “with the bravado of youth”.
While the venture had its ups and downs, it eventually did succeed, and Gilman cashed out a few years later.
But the most valuable thing he gained was great hands on experience in the overall running of a business, developing unique management skills and techniques.
This would serve him well as he rose through the ranks, including in various senior roles at the now-defunct whitegoods manufacturer Email, where he spent a decade before crossing over to Sirtex.
He joined the biotechnology giant as managing director in 2005, and saw sales of its liver cancer treatment more than triple to $72.9 million.
Gilman is a CEO of the Year finalist.
ING DIRECT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JOHN ARNOTT
John Arnott rose from graduate banker to executive director of marketing.Source:Supplied
John Arnott got his start as a graduate banker with HSBC in London, running its student banking proposition.
When he wasn’t enjoying London life that year, he was off on holiday to Vancouver.
He went on to join ING has head of savings products in 2006 before rising through the ranks.
John is a Marketing Executive of the Year finalist.
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