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Meet the CEO

December 2024

CEO of the Central Coast Marriners, Alyssar Narey.

This woman made history when she took over her local A-League club

Alyssar Narey, one of just two women to run a football club in Australia, lays bare the reality of the family juggle, women in sport and the one thing she can’t survive without.

  • Zoe Samios
Australian Museum chief executive Kim McKay.

Why this CEO reckons networking is ‘BS’

For Australian Museum boss Kim McKay, work and life are about having meaningful conversations. Social media chit-chat doesn’t cut it.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

Staff got a nine-day fortnight, but still waste time on one thing

Grant Thornton CEO Greg Keith doesn’t like to see staff, who work a nine-day fortnight, wasting time waiting for everyone to get their coffee before they go back to the office.

  • Updated
  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

November 2024

IAG CEO Nick Hawkins.

How IAG boss Nick Hawkins weathered the perfect storm

In the past four years, the CEO of the $20b insurance giant has battled both cyclonic conditions and swirling regulators and politicians.

  • James Eyers

Why being good at your job isn’t enough to get a promotion

Brighter Super CEO Kate Farrar reveals the secrets to getting a promotion, what she does at 4am and what she learnt from failing at an investment bank. 

  • Updated
  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan
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Cicada boss Sally Ann Williams.

A top CEO reveals what you shouldn’t do in a job interview

Cicada Innovations chief Sally-Ann Williams discusses tips when trying to advance your career, and the thing she does every morning to make better decisions.

  • Sally Patten and Martin Peralta
Grant Wilckens presides over G’Day Group, a holiday parks company that owns $2 billion of property and is the largest provider of regional accommodation in the country.

This former investment banker now runs a $2b caravan park business

Grant Wilckens spent his early career raising capital for clients. Now he’s the CEO of the holiday parks company he founded, G’Day Group.

  • Sally Patten
Paul Scurrah.

The mantra that keeps this CEO ahead of the game

Former Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah reveals how he avoids distractions, what he has learnt from the collapse of two airlines and why he doesn’t eat until midday.

  • Sally Patten and Martin Peralta

Why retail was the Bunnings MD’s third career choice, and why he stayed

Michael Schneider found doing the thing he was passionate about helped make his career much more worthwhile than seeing it as a job with a fortnightly pay.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

October 2024

Richard Evans

This CEO gave up drinking 10 years ago, and never looked back

Why Australian Chamber Orchestra boss Richard Evans swapped alcohol for walking and a cup of tea.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

September 2024

Former David Jones boss on the ideal time to quit as CEO

Paul Zahra, the former chief executive of David Jones, says, as a general rule, there is a minimum and maximum amount of time the leader should be in the role.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan
The Walt Disney Company’s managing director ANZ, Kylie Watson-Wheeler, is also president of AFL club the Western Bulldogs.

Disney chief goes retro for AFL finals to reel in streaming rivals

Disney’s Australian boss Kylie Watson-Wheeler is bringing her AFL obsession into her day job as the US giant takes on the dominant players in the local streaming wars.

  • Patrick Durkin

What this CEO learnt from Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar

Culture Amp chief Didier Elzinga met the Atlassian duo at an awards function years ago, and got an insight into scalable business models.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

How this former accountant became a top music exec

Sean Warner, the CEO of Universal Music in Australia, thought he wanted to be an accountant, until he realised he didn’t.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan
Jon Davey.

How this former teacher became CEO of a $540m company

Jon Davey, chief executive of payments provider Tyro Payments, became a teacher after finishing school but realised it wasn’t for him.

  • Sally Patten
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Rajneen Aroro wants to further her studies at Harvard.

What this exec has learnt from becoming a CEO at 29

In 2022, Rajneen Arora was the GM of Best Gift Group when the hospitality gift card company fielded a buyout offer. The deal was contingent on Arora becoming its chief executive.

  • Sally Patten
Vicki Doyle has recently stopped drinking coffee and alcohol.

How a tragic car accident upended this CEO’s life

Rest Superannuation’s Vicki Doyle worked at insurer Suncorp for more than nine years. Three weeks into her first general manager role, she got a phone call.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

August 2024

Daniel Hunter, CEO of Business NSW, with his 12-year-old triplets. Left to right: Jack, Will and Scarlett.

How this CEO manages his job while raising triplets

In 2012, Business NSW chief Daniel Hunter and his wife, a small business owner, had triplets. To this day, Hunter is unlikely to have watched the latest show on Netflix.

  • Sally Patten

How this CEO wins back clients his business has lost

Advertising boss Michael Rebelo is a big believer in being magnanimous when he loses a deal or a client.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan
NRMA CEO Julie Batch.

The one question NRMA boss Julie Batch uses to progress her career

She comes from a long line of insurance executives. Earlier in her career she worked in Monaco in the reinsurance industry.

  • Sally Patten

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/meet-the-ceo-1mt4