CEO · Managing Director · GAICD · Former Top 3 CMO
Growth and profit. Brand and performance. Purpose and results.
I've spent 20 years proving you don't have to choose. You build both.
I'm an engineer turned marketer turned MD with a track record across Unilever, Naked Wines, and Big Red Group of rewiring consumer businesses, building challenger cultures, and delivering transformation that's commercially rigorous AND genuinely purpose-led.
AND engagement at all-time high
AND margins +350bps
AND challenger brand operator
AND GAICD
My story
I grew up watching my dad work the same job from age 15 just to keep the bills paid. And I watched people in nursing, teaching, community work doing extraordinary things for others but unable to get ahead themselves. It didn't feel right. It felt like a false choice. I've spent 20 years testing whether it actually is.
Unilever was where I built the foundations. Twelve years across Dove, Magnum, Ben & Jerry's, under Paul Polman when high-purpose, high-performance wasn't a nice-to-have, it was genuinely the operating system. I moved from marketing into running divisions. Big P&Ls. Complex organisations. Led two significant turnarounds, scaled B Corps, built challenger cultures inside a global machine.
By the time I left I needed to put my feet to the fire. Real accountability, different environments, no global HQ holding the map. So I deliberately sought out three types of experience. DTC and digital-first scale at Naked Wines as CMO, growing the business 41% during COVID. Post-M&A complexity at Big Red Group, consolidating four brands and a digital transformation simultaneously. And then the genuine deep end: back to Naked as MD, into a business mid-liquidity crisis.
Fifty-seven winemakers whose livelihoods were genuinely at risk. A team under real stress. A business model that needed rewiring from the ground up. That chapter tested everything I believe about leadership. You can't just cut your way out of a crisis. We rewired the commercial model, rebuilt the culture, supported the winemaker community through their own solvency challenges, and left the business with EBIT tripled, engagement at its highest ever, and Australia now the blueprint for the group's global recovery.
Rewiring a business system. Not optimising. Genuine transformation: a turnaround, a step change in growth, a post-acquisition integration, or a business that's hit the ceiling of what its current model can deliver.
Genuine purpose to build around. Not a brand line. A real reason the business should exist that connects to something bigger than the margin. When you find it, it's not a distraction from performance. It's an accelerant.
Uniting people across silos. Replacing "we can't because" with "we can if." Building a genuine challenger culture, not as a vibe, but as a commercial operating system that unlocks people ahead of resources.
How I think
Most businesses treat these as tensions to manage. I've found they're multipliers when you set them up right.
Scaling revenue without sacrificing margin. Turned around declining divisions and grew businesses 41% while simultaneously fixing unit economics.
Long-term brand building and short-term commercial results aren't enemies. Same strategy, different time horizons.
The scrappiness of a challenger brand and the discipline of a global P&L. I've led in both environments and bring the best of each.
Purpose isn't a side project. It's a commercial accelerant when wired into the model. Results validate the purpose; purpose makes the results worth having.
Core competencies
People-first leadership that fosters challenger mindsets and empowers teams to deliver results.
Rewiring legacy models, brands, and supply chains to unlock long-term potential and success.
Full accountability for $500M+ multi-category portfolios across FMCG and DTC models.
Creating a "we" mindset, uniting cross-functional teams, retail partners, and boards around shared strategies.
M&A due diligence, post-acquisition integration, joint ventures, and professionalising founder-led businesses.
Career
Revitalising the business and repositioning it as a global growth engine under significant liquidity constraints.
Post-acquisition integration and digital transformation across RedBalloon, Adrenaline, and Experience Oz.
Scaling the DTC challenger brand whilst fixing the underlying economics.
Restoring growth and transforming profitability for a division diluting overall ANZ operating margins.
Re-engineering a legacy portfolio to win market share and exceed commercial expectations.
Growth advisory and fractional partnerships for scale-ups and NGOs.
Eight years building commercial craft across Brand, Shopper, and Sales functions. Roles spanning Dove Men, Lynx, Rexona, Magnum, Cornetto, and Male Grooming portfolios across UK/Europe and ANZ.
What people say
His unique point of difference is his ability to combine an inspiring vision for "doing great by doing good" with very astute strategic thinking and commercial skills. I believe Paul sets a new standard of the role today's leaders should play both to deliver business results and inspire change.
PC is one of the most ambitious leaders I've worked with. He pushed us to raise the bar on how we represent Naked, internally and externally, and was never satisfied with "good enough." He brings clarity, sets high expectations, and creates an environment where people step up.
The reason I was so keen to lure him back for a second stint is that Paul brings you a much broader skillset. He is comfortable and extremely able to deliver commercial goals, and has the ability to engage and enthuse operational teams.
He leads authentically, he's highly mission & brand driven, and he champions people & nurtures them to succeed. I've seen first hand how this type of leadership has enabled him to deliver compelling commercial results in a tough category. Run, don't walk if you have the chance to work with him.
A great understanding of commercial growth coupled with financial acumen. Above all else he leads a team without driving them. Can't recommend him enough.
An exceptional leader when it comes to AI adoption. What made the difference was how openly he shared his own use of AI, including mistakes and unexpected wins. That vulnerability created safety, and that safety created real momentum across the team.
A consummate professional with next level skills, deep experience, an innovative mindset and a genuine caring nature. During our work on large martech projects his leadership resulted in frictionless collaboration between technology, product, and front of house.
One of the best and inspiring managers I have worked with in the last 10 years. He has a strong eye for strategy, great hunger for unlocking new business and thrives on cementing purpose across brands. An ambition or challenge is never too big for him.
He cares about his team mates and has been a passionate advocate for our brand's positive social impact. A strong strategic thinker, effectively outspoken and committed to driving growth across the business, top to bottom lines.
As leaders go, Paul's the best example I've seen. He creates vision and direction for a cross-functional team, inspiring those around him to lead with purpose and compassion to deliver impact.
He's got this amazing ability to blend bold, creative marketing with smart, strategic business growth goals. He builds teams you actually want to work with: talented, driven, and just fun to be around.
Credentials
Education
Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, 2025
Education
Manufacturing Engineering & Management, University of Warwick, 2006
Recognition
CMO50 Awards, recognising the most innovative and effective marketing leaders
Board experience
Australia's leadership community of 150+ senior marketing leaders
Board experience
Board member championing business as a force for social and environmental good
Board experience
Board member supporting social enterprise and youth disadvantage
Academic
Guest Lecturer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
Leadership roles
I'm looking for my next leadership role. A business that needs transformation, a purpose worth building around, and people ready to do both at once. If that sounds like yours, I'd love to hear from you.
Advisory & interim
For businesses that refuse to choose. I also work as a strategic advisor and fractional leader, helping ambitious businesses perform and matter at the same time, without compromise.
Visit Both And Group →