GERETY TALKS: Australian Creativity With The Aunties

On Tuesday, February 8th, Gerety Talks Australian Creativity with The Aunties:

Phoebe Sloane, creative, Special Group Australia 

Sarah McGregor, executive creative director at Communicado Melbourne 

Huei Yin Wong, senior art director at Clemenger BBDO 

Just like the award show, the Gerety Talks series puts some of the marketing and creative industry’s true changemakers in the spotlight - and at the centre of the conversation - with the aim to drive progress within the industry on a global scale. The series will bring together agency and brand leaders from around the globe for a refreshing take on what leadership looks like. 

The Aunties was launched to inspire, protect, connect and champion women of all ages and backgrounds across Melbourne’s creative industries, through tailored mentorships, seminars and networking opportunities. The name pays tribute to, and is inspired by, legendary advertising mentor, Esther Clerehan, who often refers to herself as an “auntie” to the countless number of women she’s mentored over the years.

Phoebe Sloane

Phoebe Sloane is creative at Special, Melbourne, Australia.

Her advertising debut came in 2018, when she finished top of her class and won the national brief at AWARD School (the Miami Ad school equivalent). A year later she was identified as a rising star for the Cannes Young Lions Creative Academy. Phoebe was one of 25 creatives picked globally by advertising legend Bob Isherwood. 

Making the industry a more inclusive place is a personal mission of hers. In 2021, alongside the ten women of the Melbourne Advertising and Design Club, she created The Aunties. A support system that inspires, protects and champions women across creative industries by connecting women through mentorships and meetups. It’s designed for women at all stages of their lives and careers, proudly pairing up industry mothers with other industry mothers to help provide unique support through shared experiences. With ambitions to expand off-shore, her focus is to have women and all marginalised genders to feel like they have that “phone-a-friend who is more than a friend, who can be there to guide and look out for you”. Look out world, The Aunties are here.

Outside of advertising, Phoebe is a loving plant-mother, cocktail enthusiast and true-crime podcast tragic. She might call herself a ‘foodie’, but that’s a bit wanky…

Huei Yin Wong

Huei Yin Wong is a senior art director at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, with over seven years’ experience working on brands such as Ford, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal Paris, and Maybelline NY. 

Born in Malaysia and raised in New Zealand, she is an outspoken advocate of representation in the industry and a scholarship recipient and mentor of D&AD’s and Google’s RARE Masterclass 2017 & 2021. She's also part of the Melbourne Advertising and Design Club where she—alongside many passionate others—launched the Aunties: Melbourne's first multi-level mentorship program for marginalised genders. Huei is also a designer and artist, with work exhibited internationally and in private collections worldwide.

In 2020, her project Bleached Coral was nominated for the prestigious Designs of the Year award by the Design Museum of London, where it now remains as part of the permanent collection. Bleached Coral will also outlive her as part of the permanent collection at the Design Museum of Holon, where it was part of the State of Extremes exhibition, curated by Aric Chen, and amongst her heroes Olafur Eliasson, Virgil Abloh, and Lucy McRae.

Her pandemic project, Lives and Livelihoods, saw her embroidering the world's largest stock markets on to face masks daily and can be found in collections worldwide from San Francisco to New Zealand—proudly exhibited next to heavyweights Elmgreen & Dragset, Shepard Fairey, and JR. She's a recipient of the City of Melbourne's Annual Arts Grants, with her project Distant Kisses exhibiting in 2022. When she's not on a long nature expedition, she's always on the internet and loves meeting new people. 

Sarah McGregor

Sarah is currently executive creative director at Communicado Melbourne, after working the last 20 years at agencies in both Melbourne and London including Leo Burnett, Cummins&Partners, Karmarama, Y&R and Grey London. 

Over her career she’s worked with some of the world’s best-loved brands including Honda, Bonds, Nintendo, 7-Eleven, Virgin, Emirates, UK TV, Cadbury, Petstock, Lifespace, Tourism Western Australia, Plan International and Marriage Equality. 

In 2019, she was the winner of both Campaign and Creative of the Year at the B&T Women in Media Awards. Her work has also been recognised both locally and internationally at Cannes, The Clios, The Webbys, The Effies, One Show, New York Festivals, Spikes, Mobius, Adfest and Award, to name a few. She has been part of the jury for Award for the last four years, The Gerety Awards 2019 & 2020, Spikes Asia, B&T’s 30 under 30 The London International Awards and Cannes Lions. 

She served as Victorian Head of Award School, Australia's preeminent course for aspiring creatives, for three years and gives back to the creative community in a number of ways. Most recently via The RMIT Professional Advisory Committee, Snapchat Creative Council, Award School Legendary Lessons and MADC and SheSays mentoring. She has also been a speaker at Behance, The Communication Council’s Foundation Series and News Limited’s Copy School. 

Sarah brings a unique empathy to her leadership, teamed with an insatiable energy to build brands and win business.