Meet the NSW Assisters
Hannah Sturrock

A bigger canvas – working almost as a pseudo ‘management consultant’ to the advertising industry – allows me to zoom out from the day-to-day and work on long-term industry sustainability. Helping to author legacy initiatives like Create Space while building my own profile and brand gives me autonomy and purpose, while also allowing me to support and connect people across the industry.

Having worked with disruptive and challenger brands, startups and social enterprises, I can offer genuine insight, direction and inspiration by asking better questions, re-framing propositions, synthesising diverse perspectives, and translating vision and ambition into stories that empower and connect, internally and externally.

I have had a very colourful career – working in London and Sydney in production, traffic, operations, client and agency management and strategy, for companies like BMF, The Hallway, Karmarama and Wallpaper* magazine.

With 20 years in the industry, I’ve experienced most things – fun, fame, friendship, redundancy, promotion, self-promotion, crazy growth, tough decisions, finding my tribe and finding my voice.

In 2018 I won a scholarship for the Marketing Academy leadership program and was named one of AdNews 30 Emerging Leaders and Campaign Asia’s Account Management Person of the Year (I wasn’t really an ‘account management person’!). I learned about identifying and working to my strengths, being aware of limiting beliefs, the power of asking great questions, and the benefits of coaching and mentoring to my confidence.

All of this has led me to advocate for people who don’t “stick to their lane” and who are ambitious but are plagued by doubt or held back by outdated definitions or labels. At Advertising Council Australia, I launched the Create Space brand and program to drive positive change for a more inclusive industry – an ongoing mission.