31/05/2026
Eleven years ago, I bought a teal shirt in a hurry.
I had about half an hour before I had to pick my son up from kindy. I stopped into one of my favourite little shops on the main street where I live and grabbed this deep teal shirt because it just felt right.
The next week, still getting over the flu, I wore this teal shirt to a workshop about starting a creative freelancing business. It included a free headshot. Five minutes, my flu-drained face and twenty other people in the room. (Thankfully Samara Clifford was the photographer).
I've kept that photo for eleven years. And that teal became my brand colour. It's stayed through every refresh and every new chapter, because some things just feel right before you can explain why.
That headshot got me going. This month, McKenzie and Co. turns eleven.
When I left my corporate marketing role, I'd spent eight years working with global technology brands and before that, agencies and in-house marketing departments. I had seen what strategic thinking and creative excellence could do when properly resourced.
What I wanted to do was bring that to the organisations that needed it most and couldn't normally access it. Purpose-driven businesses, social enterprises, not-for-profits, local founders building something that mattered. To give them the kind of brand services that had previously only been available to companies with big budgets and bigger teams.
I didn't have a grand plan. I had a teal shirt, a free headshot, and something to offer.
Eleven years later I've had the privilege of working alongside founders and leaders across Australia and around the world. In boardrooms and community halls and remote communities and everywhere in between. I've watched brands come to life and impact grow and organisations finally find the words they've been searching for.
It has been scary. And stretching. And honestly the best decision I ever made.
You'll see a new headshot from me soon. I won't pretend I don't look a little older. But I've also got something that first photo couldn't capture yet. A lot of wisdom, and experience, and empathy from walking this road with so many remarkable people.
Here's to the next chapter. And to everyone who has been part of this one.
