National leadership team
Linh Diep
Chief Executive Officer & Founder
Linh hones her ‘get sh!t done’ skills in her day job as a Senior Account Director at Ogilvy, where she works across a range of clients delivering brief-to-broadcast comms solutions that matter.
A two-time winner in B&T’s 30 Under 30 Agency account management category in 2021 & 2022, Linh is a self-diagnosed Yes-Woman, having founded and co-runs the Assisterhood program.
Her perfect morning starts with a morning walk with a croissant (or bagel!) & coffee. She spends her spare ‘me’ time practicing yoga, journaling, or figuring out how to action her next world domination plan
Polina Shilenina
COO, Online Lead
Polina jumped on the Assisterhood train in February 2020 – and she’s not going anywhere! On the daily she supports the team in strategic decisions and all things techy. She also has a tendency to come up with Big Ideas (that are sometimes even good!).
During her 9 to 5 (does anyone actually work those hours?!), Polina is managing digital projects at Publicis Worldwide. With a super-team of fellow nerds, she gets through piles of strategic brainstorms, sprits, bugs, and standups – and manages to keep a smile on, the energy up and the local coffee joints well supported!
Polina can be found lurking in fabric stores in search of inspiration for her next sewing project. Her idea of a party is getting lost in a book in her local park. She also sometimes tortures a guitar and makes sounds with her mouth – she might even do it in front of you (but bring bribes).
Isabelle Beaupré
VIC Lead
Isabelle is a Senior Creative Producer and Team Lead at Australia’s largest video production agency, Visual Domain.
A good day for Isabelle is creating content that is as meaningful as it is visually stunning, alongside a talented team that she can empower and inspire to bring their A-game.
Tyler Cicerale
VIC Lead, 2023 Assisterhood Alumni
Tyler is an ambitious creative art director who has a diverse skill set in graphic design, photography, and videography. With a strong background in marketing and advertising, she brings a unique perspective to visual storytelling and brand communication.
Tyler’s passion for visual storytelling and brings her art direction visions to life. She’s eager to collaborate with like-minded professionals and contribute her expertise to the development of impactful campaigns and brand experiences.
Sophie Gallagher
NSW Lead, 2023 Assisterhood Alumni
Sophie Gallagher is an award-winning strategist, passionate about bringing stories, ideas and brands to life with smart thinking and tenacity. Her more than 10 years of experience, spanning journalism, publishing, client in-house and full service agencies, gives her the perspective to always find integrated opportunities that drive real business results. She has worked across celebrated local and international brands including Samsung, Universal Sony, LVMH, Audi, The University of Sydney, Inghams and more.
Beyond the day-to-day, Sophie’s passion lies in promoting, celebrating and mentoring women and underrepresented groups within the advertising industry. She pioneered a training program that helps young people in the industry learn to communicate and find confidence, was one of the founding members of the Advertising Debate Club and was recognised as a B&T Rising Star. Further, she was honoured to be listed as one of Advertising Week’s Future is Female recipients, celebrating the work and impact of trailblazing women in the industry.
Elise Le-Galloudec
QLD Lead, 2023 Assisterhood Alumni
Elise has 5+ years experience in the industry as a digital marketer, event manager and project coordinator passionate about all things technology, business growth, branding and diversity in digital.
Currently a Project Coordinator at the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Elise previously worked as Project Lead and Marketing Manager at Women in Digital.
After participating in Assisterhood’s 2023 cohort, Elise couldn’t wait to join the squad and put her love of marketing, mentoring and event planning to good use!
Elise is a proud cat mum, former ballerina, self-taught crocheter and in her spare time, you’ll find her hunting for Brisbane’s best cosmopolitan.
Bryony Hardy
QLD Lead, 2022 Assisterhood Alumni
Bryony (or Bea as she is more commonly called) has been part of the Assisterhood community since 2021, officially joining in 2022 as a mentee, and was part of the Queensland Squad as Community Manager in 2023 and 2024. She’s now heading up the Queensland team as Assisterhood Lead in 2025.
With over 7 years working in the marketing and communications industry across a variety of roles, she’s multi-passionate and loves doing a little bit of everything from SEO and paid media, to marketing strategy and social media. She is currently working in Marketing for Studio Blackardt, a creative agency in Brisbane/Meanjin.
When she’s got some spare time, you can find her travelling, relaxing by the beach, learning some new via her favourite podcasts or at a pilates class.
Elle Whittaker
Creative Lead (Art)
Elle Whittaker is a Queensland born and bred Art Director working at Publicis Worldwide. She has a diverse skillset having hailed from Account Service and made the swap to the dark side (creative). She has a passion for meaningful ideas that solve real world problems and has worked across global clients like KFC, James Hardie and Coca-Cola.
Elle joins Assisterhood with a passion for helping young creatives get their foot in the door. She is also a 2025 AWARD School tutor, helping shape the ideas of young creatives.
On the weekend you probably won’t find Elle anywhere as she’ll be on her couch watching any and everything on demand. Her favourite directors include Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson and Tim Burton.
Anais Read
Creative Lead (Copy), 2018 Assisterhood Alumni
Anais is a NZ-turned-Australian senior copywriter and one of the five O.G. Assisterhood mentorship recipients in 2018.
With over a decade of industry experience and more than a handful of industry awards under her belt, including the national 30 Under 30 Grand Prix and Women in Media awards, Anais’ tenacity and passion for giving back to the industry shines in her Assisterhood role. She’s also a regular award show judge, panel speaker, and AWARD School tutor.
Anais brings her wealth of Assisterhood experience to all things creative, having been promoted to Creative Lead after dedicating her time to both the VIC and QLD programs.
VIC Squad
Caitlin Alcock
VIC Squad, Community Manager
Caitlin began her career in advertising as a strategist, lending her thinking to the team at Saatchi & Saatchi and across clients such as Toyota, Ampol, Visa and Chemists’ Own. Keen to be an all-rounder, Caitlin also completed AWARD School in 2023 and proudly saw three of her pieces make it to the coveted Wall. Now, she’s ready for another year of impact as a part of Assisterhood’s VIC squad.
When she’s not strategising, you’ll find Caitlin doom scrolling through TikTok, trying a new class at the gym, or daydreaming about when she can eat her next bánh mì (must-try recommendations encouraged).
Anoushka Praveen
VIC Squad, 2022 Assisterhood Alumni
Anoushka joined us after undertaking the inaugural VIC program, bringing her expertise and organisational skills as Performance Executive at Wavemaker to the VIC team.
Mary Nania
VIC Squad, 2024 Assisterhood Alumni
Mary is an Account Manager and probably the most organised person you’ll meet. Her kind nature, ability to listen, and strong ambition to help others is seen both in and outside of work. With clear goals and the advice of her Assisterhood mentor Sheridan, Mary furthered her career progression and gained an important promotion in 2024. And she liked Assisterhood so much, she’s chosen to join the squad in 2025!
Claire Bass
VIC Squad, 2023 Assisterhood Alumni
Claire joins the squad after participating in the 2023 QLD program. She’s worked with two of Brisbane’s leading independent agencies, which has formed her into a creative who is passionate about creating content that simply delights her audience. Claire was first inspired to work in advertising because she was unhappy with the way women were consistently misrepresented, objectified & stereotyped. Advertisements have the unique opportunity to both inform and respond to popular culture, which places an enormous responsibility on the shoulders of those who create them. We are all exposed to thousands of advertisements each day, so why not take this opportunity to delight & inspire our audience on the daily?
NSW Squad
Rosalinde Czysnok
NSW Squad, 2023 Assisterhood Alumni
Rosalinde’s career and life are guided by a simple motto – to be good and do good.
To be good is to be the best possible version of herself, and to do good is to leverage her skills, effort and opportunities for the betterment of her community and the world at large. Rosalinde is commercially minded, loves working at the intersection of creativity and strategy, and is passionate about female financial empowerment.
Through Assisterhood she wants to give back to the community by breaking unconscious biases, provide guidance and shared experiences that she wish she had when joining the industry. To continuously learn and grow through a diverse network is an added bonus!
On weekends you’ll find her chatting away whilst catching up with friends & family, eating good food and tending to her mini veggie garden!
Vicky Stewardson
NSW Squad, 2023 Assisterhood Alumni
Vicky is a bright, enthusiastic and highly motivated worker both in a team environment and individually. Cool under pressure, she is a great communicator with a friendly manner, a strong creative and technical understanding and a keen eye for detail.
Vicky has real strengths working with stakeholders from all areas of the business, uniting them to ensure cohesive and competent marketing strategy and activity. She relishes getting hands on to make things happen, and firmly believes in measuring and improving marketing activity to ensure all projects exceed expectations.
Brooke Martin
NSW Squad, 2024 Assisterhood Alumni
Ellen Richardson
NSW Squad, 2024 Assisterhood Alumni
Ellen is a director’s assistant who crafts work that stays with you long after you see it. Fascinated by the creative primordial soup, she loves going down rabbit holes of ideas and collecting interesting shiny things along the way.
Starting out in an agency in production, she then moved to production companies, working on feature films, television series, commercials and film festivals.
She’s been a creative, an organiser, a researcher, a people person and a sweater of the small stuff. Working for Netflix, Warner Bros, Fremantle Media in long form, and clients like Apple, Optus, Kmart and KFC in short form.
Short films she’s written and directed have won awards and toured the world in the festival circuit. She’s dedicated to communicating the intricate and nuanced human experience. She also likes to bake.
Leora Zuckerman
NSW Squad, 2024 Assisterhood Alumni
QLD Squad
Petrice Koutsis
QLD Squad, 2022 Assisterhood Alumni
Petrice has 5 years experience in media buying and planning on the Federal Government account with a wealth of knowledge in all things media. After being a mentee in 2022, Petrice jumped at the chance to join the squad in 2024 and beyond.
Petrice is an avid disability ambassador, reader of all things romance and big fan of a lactose free iced latte and her dog, Levi.
Maddie Cristaldi
QLD Squad
I’m a skilled writer and adept communications specialist who loves hearing people’s stories and bringing them to life. My strong foundation in technical writing has given me an eagle-eye for detail, while my experience in publishing and broadcast has created a natural curiosity and a knack for working under pressure. I’m proficient in content creation, client relations, and stakeholder management, bringing people and prose together.
I am currently working as a medico-legal report writer for a case management company in Brisbane. We support clients who have been in accidents or have a disability get access to appropriate funding through national funding agencies such as the NDIS, NIISQ, and CTP.
Isabelle Debnam
QLD Mentor Liaison
Often described as the human equivalent of the sparkle emoji, Belle brings over a decade of marketing experience across both agency and in-house roles. She’s a brand builder, storyteller, and strategic thinker (some would say a wizard) with a passion for connecting with audiences, leading teams, and making an impact. As a podcaster, she also loves sharing insights, swapping stories, and helping fellow marketers navigate their careers.
When she’s not deep in marketing mode, you’ll find Belle doing pilates or soaking up the sunshine (coffee in hand, of course), snuggling her cat, playing with her daughter, getting lost in a good book, or fueling up with yet another coffee.
Liz Ballantyne
QLD Mentor Liaison
Liz has over 10 years experience in marketing and communications roles within a variety of industries – from agency, to automotive, to agricultural and now non-profit. No matter the industry, Liz is passionate about helping organisations build long-term, profitable relationships with their stakeholders by executing planned, relevant marketing strategies.
Liz is a self-claimed life-long learner and enjoys helping others grow in their career through personal development, mentorship and her podcast, Your Marketing Mates. When she’s not listening to podcasts or chatting to other comms professionals, Liz is busy hanging with her two small kids, her husband and her puppy Morris.
Molly Atkinson
QLD Squad, 2021 Assisterhood Alumni
Whilst still relatively early in her career, Molly has had experience in both media, marketing and advertising, with a particular interest in the creativity and insight behind awesome campaigns.
Molly joins the Assisterhood squad after being in 2021’s cohort, having an amazing experience she didn’t want to end.
Molly is the ultimate organiser – planning her weekends months in advance as she loves to always have something to look forward to. This skill translates perfectly in her current role, where she dabbles in all areas of marketing from campaign planning to event organisation, social media and paid advertising, all the way to sponsorship management, digital execution and design.
If she isn’t on a weekend away, Molly has most recently been on a quest to find Brisbane’s best French Martini.
Valeska Calvo
QLD Squad, 2024 Assisterhood Alumni
With over five years of experience as a multidisciplinary designer specializing in illustration and motion design, Valeska is passionate about crafting visuals that are not only striking but also tell a compelling story. She loves exploring the intersection of creativity and strategy, always seeking ways to create meaningful impact—whether through branding, animation, or user-focused design solutions.
Being part of Assisterhood’s 2024 cohort deepened her passion for creative collaboration, inspiring her to give back and contribute to Assisterhood’s mission.
Outside of work, you’ll often find her with a camera in hand, capturing moments on film.
Caragh Bradbery
QLD Squad, 2024 Assisterhood Alumni
Caragh is a seasoned professional in the event and experiential marketing industry, boasting over nine years of experience as the driving force behind Triangle House, an award-winning entity renowned for its captivating experiential marketing campaigns, innovative placemaking initiatives and creative events.
Caragh is deeply passionate about empowering small creative businesses and raising awareness for domestic violence issues. Her vision is to foster a thriving economy that supports the next generation of creatives. As a mother, she balances her professional life with a love for travel and adventure, always seeking new experiences that inspire her work and personal growth.
In 2024, Caragh was a mentee in the Assisterhood program, and is now looking forward to returning as part of the Assisterhood squad, contributing her expertise and experience to help others navigate the industry. With a strong commitment to community engagement and creative innovation, Caragh continues to make a lasting impact in her field, combining her expertise with a genuine passion for creating meaningful connections and experiences.
Wendy Phan
QLD Squad, 2024 Assisterhood Alumni
Wendy is an Account Manager at Khemistry, an extrovert since birth who thrives on building strong connections and bringing creative ideas to life. Passionate about account service, she loves collaborating with clients and teams to deliver impactful results through strategic thinking and creativity.
She joins the Assisterhood squad excited to learn, connect, and contribute to the industry she loves. Outside of work, she loves being out and about to stay active – and, more importantly, reminding everyone to stay hydrated (mostly as a way to remind herself). It’s all part of her ongoing mission to spread the water addiction.
Web Dev / UX: become a part of the Squad!
We need a website designer with the knowledge of WordPress to help take the Assisterhood site to the next level by updating and evolving our online presence.