The Village

The Village is about connection. Welcome to #MemberStories, a monumental moment each week where we spotlight a member of our growing community. Ricky Chanana 🤍 Father of Hudson (3), Cleo (9 months) 💻 Chief Growth Director, RC Consulting Growing up, I only knew one way — work hard, and then work harder. This mindset came from watching my dad, whose work ethic was deeply rooted in our ethnic family's values. He ran a very successful business, but unfortunately, he spent most of his time focused on that. I followed his example early on, balancing three jobs at once: Maccas after school, a local newsagent on weekends, and night shifts at Franklins supermarket (remember that place?) I carried that same relentless intensity into my media career — late-night calls, working weekends, blurring the lines between work and home, and missing out on the moments that truly matter. But everything changed when my dad suddenly passed away from a heart attack out of nowhere! It hit me really hard and made me realise just how important it is to spend time with your family. Now that I'm a dad myself, I really cherish the daycare pickups, bath and bedtime stories, weekend sports activities and simply kicking a ball around with my three-year-old son.  What Drives Me to Be Part of The Village? In our fast-paced media industry, we often push ourselves to excel on all fronts while also trying to juggle our personal lives, especially as parents with young kids. That's why I'm so proud to be on the board of advisors for The Village. We finally have a platform where we can openly discuss these pressures, share our experiences, and not feel alone as we navigate it all. It’s a space where we can support each other, knowing we're all in this together.  🔖 Sign up here to Join The Village community: The Village https://lnkd.in/g3S3eZPu 📣 Have a story you want to share? Email us: [email protected] #TheVillage #WorkingParents

1,000 LinkedIn Followers, we did it! 👏🏻 We are thrilled to meet this milestone and wanted to take a moment to thank you to all for your support and engagement. We couldn't have done it without you! A special shout out to our 1,000th Follower Suzanne Mellon - thank you for the follow and welcome to The Village community. While we have all of you here are a few reminders... 🔖 If you'd like to be the first to know about The Village mentor or workshop series please join as a Member here: The Village https://lnkd.in/g3S3eZPu 🔈 Stay tuned for more details for our launch workshop 'Where is My Village?' on 29th October! 📣 Have a story you want to share? Email us: [email protected] -- 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘴 🔔 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥. 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 👋🏻 𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮.𝘢𝘶/𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯-𝘶𝘴.

The Village is about connection. Welcome to #MemberStories, a monumental moment each week where we spotlight a member of our growing community. Kate O'Ryan-Roeder 🤍 Mum to Elle the queen of sass (7yrs) and Finn the jokester (5yrs) 💻 Managing Director, Mindshare Sydney Growing up my Mum and Dad both worked full time, they had incredibly strong work ethic and even stronger devotion to family. Having immigrated to Australia with two young children they also had no family on hand to help yet my brother and I were blissfully unaware of the constant jigsaw of life that they juggled. It’s only now, having a career that I love and two gorgeous munchkins that are my world I think “wow” how on earth did they manage. I have an incredible hubby, a hands-on family and a fab support network yet still the juggle is real and not always pretty! I was promoted whilst still on mat leave and I vividly remember the commute into work that first day back, the feeling of trepidation that I wouldn’t be able to “do it all” and then the realisation that I was putting more pressure on myself than anyone else was. That’s why The Village is so important, a community that connects, that share stories and that supports one another. It really does take a village and it’s one that I’m forever grateful for. 🔖 Sign up here to Join The Village community: The Village https://lnkd.in/g3S3eZPu 📣 Have a story you want to share? Email us: [email protected] #TheVillage #WorkingParents

Here at The Village we are still absolutely buzzing from the launch of our mentor series, 'Fill Your Cup' in collaboration with UnLtd. & MOOD ☕ A big thank you to our board of advisors and everyone who came to connect and build your network with other parents in the industry. We enjoyed seeing you today Jacquie Alley GAICD Georgie Nichols Clare Tsubono Ricky Chanana Angeline Lee Adam Elliott Pia Coyle Mark Coad Rachel Troy Ashley McGrath Stephen Hunt Hannah Mansur and the many more. 🔈 Stay tuned for more details for our launch workshop 'Where is My Village?' on 29th October! #TheVillage #WorkingParents --- 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘴 🔔 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥. 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 👋🏻 𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮.𝘢𝘶/𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯-𝘶𝘴.

☕ 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐔𝐏 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 UnLtd. & MOOD ☕ This is an informal mentor event for parents/expecting parents in media. The goal is to connect you with parents in other organisations so you can build your network and gain lessons to help you thrive as a working parent! #TheVillage #WorkingParents

Last week many of us had the privilege of attending B&T Women in Media Awards, a night dedicated to acknowledging all the amazing women in the industry. Hearing from the formidable Maz Speaks, and celebrating 28 wonderful winners across the categories, we at The Village would like to congratulate all the women, and the mums, for their contribution, and say thank you to B&T and Are Media Pty Ltd for driving such an important initiative. A special mention goes to our very own Kandiese Villella who took out the Women in Media award for Agency Sales/Account Management. Those of you who have the pleasure of working with, or alongside Kandi know she is one of a kind. She is thoughtful, caring, passionate and extremely generous with her time. Whether that be her dedication to leading her team or clients, her years of involvement in industry events and initiatives like being a committee member for the Media Federation of Australia MFA5+, being a part of Meta's pilot 'Pass her the Mic' program an initiative with a mission to get more women on stages and panels or most recently volunteering her time to The Village. It's safe to say here at The Village we think she's the bomb! Congratulations Kandi! 👏👏 #TheVillage #WorkingParents

☕ 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐔𝐏 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 UnLtd. & MOOD ☕ This is an informal mentor event for parents/expecting parents in media. The goal is to connect you with parents in other organisations so you can build your network and gain lessons to help you thrive as a working parent! #TheVillage #WorkingParents

The Village is about connection. Welcome to #MemberStories, a monumental moment each week where we spotlight a member of our growing community. Clare Tsubono 👨👩👦👦 Mother to Leon (17) and Frankie (15) 💻 Head of Media ANZ at Lion Beverages When I was a young media professional I didn’t know how I would manage balancing media work and having kids, and I didn’t have too many role models. Once I had children, I knew 2 things - 1. I definitely wanted to go back to work, and - 2. I was not going to sacrifice time with my children for the sake of ‘presenteeism’, when I could still get the work done.  I’ve done part time work, non-client facing roles, leading pitches and working overseas. It was challenging and I always worked hard, but I was as strict as I could be about a couple of things – as much as possible I tried to make sure that I had dinner/bedtime with the kids, I read stories every night until late primary school – the laptop can always be turned on again at 9pm; and it’s not a one woman job if there’s 2 parents – both need to be all in and share the sick leave/daycare pick-ups/ holiday care. Why I want to be part of the Village - churn and seniority of our client teams is a huge issue industry wide. The hours and expectations are so hard on parents, but we need people with lots of experience to stay on in the industry, if The Village can help drive this I want to be part of it. 🔖 Sign up here to Join The Village community: The Village https://lnkd.in/g3S3eZPu 📣 Have a story you want to share? Email us: [email protected] #TheVillage #WorkingParents

☕ 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐔𝐏 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 UnLtd. & MOOD ☕ This is an informal mentor event for parents/expecting parents in media. The goal is to connect you with parents in other organisations so you can build your network and gain lessons to help you thrive as a working parent! Mark your Diary l August 21st 9-10am at Omnicom Sydney - Bay 7, 2 Locomotive Street South Eveleigh More locations coming soon - website https://lnkd.in/gtu3gwXp #TheVillage #WorkingParents

The Village is about connection. Welcome to #MemberStories, a monumental moment each week where we spotlight a member of our growing community. Scott Laird 🤍 Father of Lottie (5), Ollie (3) and Jack (1) 💻 Chief People Officer at GroupM Navigating fatherhood while working in our industry has given me a firsthand look at the evolution of parental leave policies. With each of my three children, I've experienced different levels of support. For my eldest, I had two weeks; for my second, four weeks. But when my youngest, Jack, was born, I was able to take advantage of GroupM's full 16-week gender neutral parental leave program. Taking that full 16 weeks was transformative. It allowed me to be truly present for Jack's first year, embracing the daily experiences and milestones that I regrettably missed with my older children. While I anticipated that difference, what surprised me were the deeper learnings. Stepping into the role of primary caregiver, I gained a profound understanding of the relentless responsibilities, the invisible mental load, and the unique challenges of re-entering the workforce after an extended absence. It also gave my family choice and the sharing of time allowed my wife to explore a career change and take on a great new opportunity. What drove you to becoming a part of The Village? Although the evolution of practices and policies over the last 5 years has been great, for some areas in particular, there’s still a way to go. The Village is a great initiative that bridges some of those gaps and provides collective value for all people across our industry. 🔖 Sign up here to Join The Village community: The Village https://lnkd.in/g3S3eZPu 📣 Have a story you want to share? Email us: [email protected] #TheVillage #WorkingParents