Our Industry Profile takes a look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, adtech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the buzzing industry.
Sarah Wood: Sydney Director at Think HQ.
Time in current role/time at the company:
Two months.
How would you describe what the company does?
Think HQ is an integrated agency that reaches today’s Australia, changes culture, writes new narratives and solves real problems. We have expertise across strategy, creative, multicultural engagement, PR, tech, and language services. As a B-Corp certified agency, we’re committed to making positive change for our clients and the communities they serve.
What do you do day-to-day?
I get to steer, blow-up and influence a really unique mix of client and business challenges - all designed to nudge the world in a more positive direction. My days swing between unlocking new opportunities, reviewing creative work, discussing briefs, and handling inevitable curveballs. Strategically, I’m focused on building Think HQ’s presence here in Sydney, unlocking new relationships and deepening existing ones, growing the team and making sure our work reflects the diversity and values of the agency.
Define your job in one word:
Unexpected.
I got into marketing because:
Creativity, chaos and glamour (LOLS).
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role?
As a newbie to Think HQ - an agency that takes their responsibility for positive change very seriously - I’m constantly checking our work and growth opportunities against our values. Ensuring that our ideas change culture isn’t easy!
What’s the biggest industry-wide challenge you’d like to see tackled?
In Australia, I’d love to see the tables turn on our industry’s infatuation with the big shiny high profile creative agencies. With so much talent spread across hundreds of independents, I’d like to see more bold, high‑profile work coming from this space, showing that creativity isn’t about the usual suspects, it’s about intelligence, guts, and a willingness to create positive change.
Notable campaigns you have worked on:
Launching the first-ever Ford Mustang in China all those years ago was pretty wild, but honestly, it’s the purpose-driven campaigns that stick. Delivering the Paralympics Australia Virtual Stadium to change lives through sport, raising the profile of First Nations art with the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, or corralling the entire city of Sydney for New Year’s Eve. Those are the projects that make me think, ‘Yep, this is why I do it.’
Who has been a great mentor to you and why?
Oof - there’s definitely been more than one. Paul Mackay, Director at Imagination, was endlessly generous with his time and knowledge, yet gave me the space to figure things out my own way when I was still very green and keen. And honestly, I’d add every working woman who somehow juggles family, relationships, health, a mountain of societal expectations and five social media accounts. They’re the uncredited mentors in my life.
Words of advice for someone wanting a job like yours?
Be crystal clear on the work you want to do, the people you want to do it with, and what really matters to you. Stay hyper-curious and embrace a genuine no‑bullsh*t policy. Be kind and make a positive mark wherever you go.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Cooking up a storm.
My mantra is:
Do good.
My favourite advert is:
This is Footy Country. I’m not even a footy fan, but I’m a sucker for Aussie culture and the diverse characters that create it. It’s humble, cheeky, irreverent, and always gives me LOLs.
Music and TV streaming habits. What do you subscribe to?
I’m constantly turning on and off streaming subscriptions depending on what’s new or my kids are hassling me for. I’ve just updated my Spotify sub to premium, and am looking forward to my first ever non kid-infiltrated Spotify wrapped later this year.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I’m crafty. In the knitting, sewing and never-throwing-out-food sense.
In five years' time I'll be:
Juggling teenagers. Eek!
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