Our Mentors

With mentorship from industry’s best, our team is equipped with the skills and support necessary to create positive change, whilst developing and nurturing student professional careers.

Dr Nicholas Pontes

Experiential learning is an important part of students’ professional development in business schools. However, these learning opportunities usually take the form of class projects, internships, regional or national competitions but rarely do business students have access to opportunities that replicate a real professional environment.

With this in mind, Dr Nicolas Pontes, Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Queensland, created Newish Communications, a student-run communications agency, with a vision to revolutionize the business learning environment. Dr Pontes understood first-hand that university students possess an unparalleled motivation, passion and willingness to learn yet lacked practical hands-on experience in the advertising and marketing realm. Dr Pontes has an active role at Newish by mentoring students, providing training and workshops and acting as the chair of the Advisory Board.

Sharon Twomey

With over two decades of experience leading teams in the highly demanding and dynamic advertising industry in Australia and the UK, Sharon possesses a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

Sharon’s passion for helping people feel healthy and find balance, comes through in her confident leadership style. Her ability to nurture her team’s strengths, fostering a cohesive and supportive environment is one of the many factors that has contributed to her success in building high-performance teams.

Sharon’s Superpowers include; macro thinking, conscious selling, cultivating cohesive relationships, maintaining a solutions-focused mindset, and adopting a pragmatic approach. These qualities have contributed to her success in the ever-changing landscape of the advertising world.

Beyond her career, Sharon is a fervent advocate for health and wellness. She has embarked on a mission to inspire individuals to embrace healthy lifestyle choices. In pursuit of this goal, Sharon has established her own business, ‘Get Rooted in Health’ offering a range of products and insights that harness the power of food to promote natural healing.

Managing Director

Brittanie English

Brittanie English is the co-founder and Managing Director of Brisbane-based content marketing agency The Content Division.

Britt has 15+ years experience in digital and content marketing roles across agency, local and state government, and private enterprise. In 2017, she backed herself and co-founded The Content Division. As the Managing Director, she now leads the business strategy, HR, marketing and finance functions of the business, as well as working with clients and leading a team of epic marketing strategists and content creators. Britt’s also the editor of her ethical fashion website www.brittslist.com.au and through The Content Division runs an annual industry conference Content Summit Australia that attracts hundreds of marketing delegates each year.

mentor Brittanie English

Human resource

Leisa Messer

Leisa has over 25 years’ experience in Human Resources. She has completed a Bachelor of Business (majoring in Human Resources) and a Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations. Leisa is a Fellow Certified Practitioner of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI), and a member of their Queensland Council. She’s also a Member of the Queensland Industrial Relations Society and the Change Management Institute, and is highly experienced in advising CEOs, Boards, Directors and Senior Managers on a range of HR issues. Her HR experience encompasses various industries and business types, including SMEs, large corporations, not-for-profits and international organisations.

Mentor Leisa Messer

Marketing Strategy

Ashton Tuckerman

Ashton is a seasoned marketing professional with a passion for building brands through powerful storytelling. Ashton has more than a decade of industry experience, having worked for global game changers (Flight Centre), industry disruptors (Youfoodz), and award-winning agencies (Havas). Most recently, Ashton was the CMO and Australia GM of the private chef start-up Gathar, taking the brand global with the support of Chef Curtis Stone. Having hung up her Gathar apron, Ashton’s plate is currently full studying her MBA at UQ, with side servings of brand consulting and mentoring the next generation of marketers.

Simon Murphy

Simon Murphy is an influential and accomplished Chief Strategy Officer with 20+ years experience in the communications industry. Through insight, he leads advertisers and agencies toward powerful brand ideas and innovative strategies focused on driving business success.

He thinks creatively and analytically through brand and communication challenges. He breathes life into ideas with passion. He has exceptional communication and relationship skills. Having worked in some of the best advertising agencies in Paris, London and Sydney, he has extensive experience in many categories including FMCG, Automotive, Government, Services, Financial Services, Retail and New Business. His core competencies include creative strategy, brand idea development, brand architecture, insight development, integrated marketing, positioning, customer journey, creative direction, product innovation, portfolio strategy and research.

Mentor Simon Murphy

Stefan Lukic

An experienced management consultant with a proven track record of helping organisations solve complex challenges, improve customer experience, and achieve digital transformation objectives.

He helps clients bridge the gap between customer, business and technology – translating user needs into strategy, experience design, and solution delivery.

Mentor

Megan Smart

Megan Smart (Newish Alumni) is working at KPMG Customer & Operations. She has graduated as valedictorian of The University of Queensland Business School. During her journey at university, she tried her hand at several student staff partnership (SSP) projects, helped to run a student communications agency, and even got to publish her research in consumer behaviour.

Mentor Megan Smart

Hannah MacAuslane

Hannah MacAuslane works as a Brisbane Head of Strategy at EssenceMediacom

Client Services

Elise Biddle

Account Director of The Content Division. Fuelled by sweet treats. Wears Birkenstocks (almost) everywhere. Dreams of horses.

Mentor Elise Biddle

Public Relations

Frances Milvydas

fter 15 years working with large multinational and independent agencies, and now founding In The Making, Frankie has earned herself a reputation as a solutions-focused communications strategist.
A seasoned public relations professional with a wealth of marcomms experience, Frankie has a long history of delivering outstanding and award-winning work.

Over her career, Frankie has:

  • Fostered brand love for global favourites such as LEGO and Westfield
  • Managed the reputations of major leaders such as Expedia Group, Optus and DiDi
  • Promoted good health through work with YouFoodz and Sanofi Consumer Health Care
  • Helped build communities with Mirvac, Stockland and Aveo
  • Won awards for inspiring travelling to exotic places
  • Pursued positive change for the likes of the Australian Road Safety Foundation and Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Frankie approaches PR with sophistication and creativity. Through her collaborative nature and robust connections, Frankie offers a proven history of driving impactful results.

Kate Healy

Armed with over five year’s agency experience working with local and global brands across the tourism, hospitality, FMCG, business, and fitness industries, Kate’s dedication to delivering the best possible results for clients and creating genuine connection is where her passion lies. Throughout Kate’s communication career, she has harnessed key relationships with media both locally and nationally, after delivering stellar results for the likes of Hawaii Tourism, The Star Brisbane, InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort, Good Food & Wine Show, Pepsi Co., Subway, Mastercard, and LSKD to name a few.Kate’s diverse skillset allows her to be an all-rounder, pitching stories to journalists on a day-to-day basis whilst developing communication strategies and working in unison with clients to ensure results for any request. In 2021, Kate was shortlisted for the national Mumbrella CommsCon Awards’ Best New PR Talent of the Year.