The Growth Distillery

Welcome to Episode 3 of Stories Untold.

From Big Brother to boardrooms, Maz Farrelly has spent her career mastering the art of commanding attention, and keeping it.

In this episode, she shares what four decades of storytelling have taught her about leadership, impact, and the difference between simply being seen and truly being remembered.
Because the best stories don’t happen by chance, they’re built, sweated over, sharpened, and fearlessly delivered.

• Why leadership starts long before the job title
• How to earn your audience’s trust (and keep it)
• The make-me-care formula for content that actually connects
• Why “professional” doesn’t mean “boring”
• How to pitch, speak, and create with conviction

If you’ve ever wanted to tell a story that sticks, this one’s for you.

Welcome to Episode 2 of Stories Untold, a series about redefining success, leadership, and the stories we don’t always share.Sherilyn Shackell spent the first 15 years of her career leading the way she was taught, with pressure, performance, and a belief that success meant rising fast and leading hard. But it came at a cost. To herself. And to the people around her.In this episode, she shares the moment that forced her to stop, reassess, and redefine what leadership should really look like.Because true leadership isn’t about control. It’s about building others up. It’s not about having the answers, it’s about knowing how to listen, ask better questions, and create the conditions for people to thrive.• What it takes to unlearn outdated leadership habits• The moment that sparked a complete personal and professional reset• Why The Marketing Academy was born from a desire to give others a different path• How to lead with care, not control• The essential human skills we should be teaching from age eightIf you’ve ever questioned whether there’s a better way to lead, this one’s for you.

Welcome to Stories Untold!

This season is about pulling back the curtain, on the mess, the moments, and the lessons you don’t always hear out loud.

In this first episode, we sit down with Xanthe Wells, VP of Global Creative for Pinterest, to talk about what it really takes to grow, as a leader, a creative and a human. From early missteps in management to the reality of building safe spaces for risk, this is a conversation about staying open when everything around you is shifting.

Here’s what we get into:

• Why being promoted is not the same as being prepared

• How to protect the space for creativity, risk and realness

• The uncomfortable truth about never having the “right” brief, team or budget

• Why safety, not polish, is the foundation of creative work

• What it means to lead when everything, and nothing, is certain

If you’ve ever found yourself in the chaos of doing the work and figuring it out as you go, this one’s for you. Hit play and exhale.

🎙️ Welcome to Episode 12 of Unfiltered

This one is about personal legacy, leadership and learning to bring your whole self forward.

What happens when vulnerability meets mentorship? When cultural pride becomes creative fuel? In this conversation, Anuj Chhabra and Jinal Shah explore what it really takes to grow with purpose, and stay grounded while rising.

From cocktail introductions to candid conversations, they reflect on the lessons they’ve exchanged, the fears they’ve reframed and the futures they’re working toward, for themselves and the next generation.

• How to hold space for growth, and still tell the truth
• Why integrating culture into work isn’t a risk, it’s a superpower
• What coaching looks like when both sides show up with honesty
• The leadership strength in sitting with discomfort, not running from it
• Why sometimes impact starts with one conversation, one decision, one leap
If you’ve ever wondered how to lead with both humility and heat, or how to pass it on while still showing up for yourself, this one’s for you. Hit play and feel the shift. 🎧👇

Welcome to Season 2 of Unfiltered

This time, we’re talking fierce allyship, honest conversations, and what happens when you choose to back someone you were once told to beat.

Bec and Belle started out on opposite sides of the pitch. But instead of staying competitors, they became allies, leaning into shared values, motherhood, and the big questions neither of them could answer alone.

In this episode, we dive into the realities of careers that collide and connect. From late-night voice notes to career pivots, from feeling like rivals to becoming each other’s mirror, this is a story about choosing connection over competition and how that choice can become your greatest advantage.

Here’s what we get into:

• How candid conversations can cut through brand lines and build real trust

• The quiet power of having a sounding board who understands your life stage

• Why guilt, ambition, and motherhood often sit side by side

• How embracing vulnerability can sharpen your focus not weaken it

If you have ever stood on opposite sides of the table but felt the pull to build a bridge, this one is for you. Hit play and lean into the conversation.

Welcome to Season 2 of Unfiltered

This time, we’re talking shared leadership, evolving identity, and what it really takes to co-run a business when there’s no rulebook for how it’s done.

It started with a conversation on a park bench. Sian and Laura hadn’t worked closely before, but what followed was a leap into co-leadership, built not on history, but on possibility, mutual respect, and a shared ambition to do things differently.

In this episode, we unpack what it means to lead one of the country’s most influential media businesses through ambiguity, feedback, and cultural change, while resisting the urge to homogenise what makes each market, and each leader, unique.

Here’s what we get into:

• How to lead as two, and make space for more than just each other

• Why radical trust is more important than shared history

• What co-CEOs learn when they swap structure for stretch

• Why you can’t control culture, but you can empower it

• The difference between having a job and building a career

If you’ve ever wondered what leadership could look like when it’s co-created, this one’s for you. Hit play and challenge the model.

Welcome to Season 2 of Unfiltered
This time, we’re talking creative courage, mutual respect, and the kind of partnership that pushes you to grow personally and professionally.Fern and Jamil’s careers have grown in parallel, shaped by shared ambition, sharp thinking, and a belief that creativity should mean more to clients, to culture, and to the people doing the work.In this episode, we go inside a partnership defined by candour, care, and a deep understanding of what it takes to build trust in the work, in each other, and across an organisation.Here’s what we get into:
• Why the best creative partnerships are built on challenge, not comfort
• How strategic alignment strengthens creative ambition
• The reality of pushing too hard and how to know when to pull back
• What trust really looks like between clients and agencies
• Why creativity thrives when you stop hiding behind the maskIf you believe great creativity is worth protecting, this one’s for you. Hit play and dive in.

Welcome to Season 2 of Unfiltered. This time, we’re talking about long-distance leadership, creative tension, and the lessons that come from building something big, when you’re never in the same room.

Chris and Gary run a brand that operates across five continents, while living on two different ones. Yet, their ability to challenge, back, and learn from each other has taken their business further than either imagined.In this episode, we explore how two cofounders found clarity in their roles, built trust across time zones, and made distance a strength, not a setback.

You’ll hear:

• What cofounding looks like when you're never in the same country
• Why optimism and realism are both essential in creative decision-making
• How disagreements can sharpen vision, not derail it
• Why learning what not to do is just as important as having a planIf you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to build a business across time zones, and stay truly in sync, this one’s for you. Hit play and hear how they made it work.

Welcome to Season 2 of Unfiltered.

This time, we’re talking bold ideas, rethinking bravery, and the power of perspective shifts that change everything.It doesn’t always take a total rewrite — sometimes the smallest tweaks are the ones that make people stop, listen, and remember.

This episode dives into the dynamic between two creative minds who challenge each other to think bigger, go deeper, and bring more humanity to the work.In this episode, we’re unpacking how to challenge gently, lead authentically, and create space for new ways of thinking to take root.

• Why brand bravery starts with character, not chaos
• How tiny creative pivots can spark long-term impact
• What happens when debate is grounded in deep respect
• The kind of trust that frees you up to think, not defendIf you’ve ever felt stuck in familiar thinking — or unsure how to make brave ideas land — this one’s for you. Hit play and rethink the rules.

Welcome to Season 2 of Unfiltered. This time, we’re talking friendship, trust, and the power of showing up as your whole self.Some people lead with their title. Others lead with trust.This season, we’re diving into the relationships that shape us, not just the ones on paper, but the ones that hold us up, truly see us, and stay in the room when things get hard.In this episode, we explore what happens when the person you work with becomes the person you trust most. What it means to build a partnership that can survive scaling up, scaling down, and even a redundancy meeting.• How to lead with empathy• Why the best working relationships feel human, not hierarchical• What it looks like to bring your whole self to work• The surprising truth about conflict (and why they never had one)If you’ve ever wondered what it really means to work with someone you trust, this one’s for you. Hit play and feel the difference.