I founded my digital marketing agency, Refuel Creative, with humble goals in 2017. After several years of steady growth, 2022 brought significant expansion in both our team and our international client base.
This growth, while exciting, highlighted the need to develop my management and leadership skills to keep pace with our business growth and meet the needs of a company of our newfound size.
The opportunity offered by the Industry Leaders Fund provided a perfect chance to commit to professional development to help me lead Refuel towards our goal of becoming a global, 24/7 marketing agency.
My journey with the Industry Leaders Fund began through a fortuitous introduction to Geoff Vogt, then CEO of ILF, at the BDO Fast Movers launch, where Refuel was in the top 25 fastest growing companies in 2022. Geoff's support and guidance throughout the application process proved invaluable in putting together the application.
The application process itself was one of the simpler applications I've had to put together. The most challenging aspect was adhering to the strict word and character limits - hard to fit all the enthusiasm into so few words!
The panel interview with the board members, while I was nervous going in, turned into an engaging conversation about leadership and my business vision. Armed with advice from previous ILF recipients, I approached it as an opportunity to do my best and learn what I could, and felt quite comfortable in the room.
I'll never forget receiving the call from Geoff about the grant. I was at Digital Adelaide, Adelaide’s biggest marketing conference that I co-organise, and it was a hard thing to keep quiet about in the lead up to the announcement!
Selecting the right course was daunting. The opportunities presented by the Industry Leaders Fund are nearly endless. Trying to pick one course is the hardest part of the application, followed closely by those word limits!
I tried to narrow down course selection by reviewing the courses that previous ILF recipients had enrolled in. Stanford's Executive Program for Growing Companies (EPGC) stood out because of its alignment with Refuel's future direction and our growing US client base.
While I sought an American perspective, when I arrived on campus reality was slightly different. The 2023 intake was only the second since COVID restrictions had been lifted, and as a result more than 80% of the students were from outside of the USA. There was strong representation from South America, Europe, and beyond in our cohort of 80 students.
There were three ILF recipients in the same course, which I didn’t realise until I met Brenton Cooper and Michael Waite on campus. We made up a 5 strong Australian contingent, while even the course director, George Foster, was Australian!
This was a different experience than I was expecting, but something more valuable - a truly global outlook.
The Stanford experience was immersive and transformative. The campus tour revealed the rich history of Leland Stanford and his wife Jane, Stanford University through the years, and Silicon Valley itself. The names represented on the buildings were awe-inspiring.
Seeing the Hewlett and Packard buildings, facing each other on campus, was a reminder of where we were. The course itself was held in the Knight Management Center, named for Nike founder Phil Knight.
Living at the Schwab Residential Center, we were fully embedded in this prestigious environment. Our days began early with optional exercise sessions, where some colleagues met for basketball games, while others took advantage of campus running trails. Sharing all meals together in the Vidalakis Dining Room created natural networking opportunities with both our EPGC cohort and participants from other executive programs.
And in case you needed a reminder that we were in Silicon Valley, we had a presentation of a flying car one night.
Another night we had dinner on the hill of Stanford University’s football stadium. Their new, ‘smaller’ stadium for college football that’s the size of Adelaide Oval!
The program's integration of humanities with business leadership sets it apart. From day one, when we engaged in a team building session revolving around improv, it was clear this wasn't a traditional executive program. The course emphasised that modern leadership extends beyond management skills to how we show up every day, communicate effectively, and maintain personal resilience.
The Knight Management Center became our primary learning space. From here we tackled subjects ranging from strategic leadership to AI applications. We looked at decision-making through neuroscience and leading through chaos.
Some of the most impactful sessions focused on personal sustainability as a leader. This is an area I normally overlooked, as many business owners have since told me they do too. As a friend of mine likes to remind me, you have to put your oxygen mask on first so that you’re fit and able to put the mask on others. This really underlined the importance of looking after myself not for my own benefit, but for the benefit of those around me, and that depend on me.
The storytelling content helped address a weakness I'd identified in how I approach telling personal stories. The scientific approach to decision-making has already influenced how we support clients at Refuel.
One of the key messages from the final day was not to rush back to the office and try to implement everything immediately - that would be a disaster. Instead, we were encouraged to look at implementing everything in manageable chunks. Think of it as 1% direction changes over the following year - they’ll compound over time. One of our lecturers, Bill Barnett, even requested an email on the impact of our compounding 1% direction change 12 months later.
This measured approach has proven incredibly effective.
When I returned from Stanford, I wanted to find ways to share the learning opportunities I'd received with our team. The experience, the course content and the learnings were inspiring to me, and I wanted others to be able to benefit from that.
One initiative was starting a Book Club. Initially this was developed for our team, with the benefit rolling out to clients. Our initial book list used reading material from Stanford’s EPGC reading list, and books recommended by fellow students. I set myself a modest initial goal - just one person reading one book would make it a success.
While it took a couple of months to gain traction, we reached that goal and the club has continued to grow. It's become one of the ways we're fostering a culture of continuous learning at Refuel.
Other early initiatives included:
Initiatives from my ‘Stanford list’ still adorn my office walls, and will continue to be implemented over the next 12 months.
The program fostered deep connections across borders. Our cohort maintains an active WhatsApp group, where it seems that some participants are always dropping into someone else's country! An annual EPGC ski trip has even emerged as a tradition.
Having three ILF scholars in the cohort also created strong local connections that continue to provide value.
The EPGC experience has significantly influenced Refuel's growth trajectory. The course has equipped me with knowledge crucial for leading Refuel toward our vision of becoming a global, 24/7 marketing agency. The global perspectives gained have proven invaluable as we plan our international expansion.
Being part of the ILF community brings ongoing opportunities for learning and connection. I look forward to contributing to this community and supporting future scholars in their journeys.
I am grateful to Geoff Vogt, the ILF board, and the entire ILF community for this opportunity. The experience has not only helped develop my personal leadership skills, but has positioned both myself and Refuel for our next phase of growth.
I look forward to staying connected with the ILF Scholars Network and contributing back to this remarkable community. The impact of the learnings from EPGC will continue to benefit us as we continue to implement them and stay connected to the global network developed at Stanford.