Company: Megaphone – Melbourne, Australia
Nomination Submitted by: Megaphone
Company Description: Megaphone is a full-service digital marketing agency with a proudly unique culture that has continually striven toward two goals: one, be the world’s best marketing agency, and two, be the world's best place to work. Rapidly-growing Megaphone has 120+ staff across Australia, the USA, and the UK; services 350+ diverse businesses, and holds the title of 2022’s Leading Social Media Marketing Agency.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Mentor or Coach of the Year - Marketing/Public Relations/Social Media
 Nomination Title: Lauren Oakes
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2020 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
Always selfless, Lauren Oakes, who stepped into the Megaphone CEO position in 2018 with innovation and ambition, wanted to create two things: one, the best place to work in Australia - an environment where people could develop into the best versions of themselves - and Australia’s best marketing agency (tick!). She’s always believed that only by constantly improving our team on an individual basis through learning/coaching can we improve the company and, therefore, improve clients' results.
Led by Lauren, Megaphone stands out from the myriad global marketing agencies because of its foundation built on radical personal development and 73% female leadership.
Rapid company-wide growth since 2020 (tripled in size) is off the back of Lauren’s selfless contributions to helping staff develop both professional and personal skills (e.g. through one-on-one mentorship, book clubs, wellness initiatives, and leadership workshops). This rare ability to bring out the best in her peers is why Megaphone’s seen 50+ promotions in just 6 months (50% of the Australian team!).
The agency naturally rewards those who continuously learn, and, through her involvement in hiring and nurturing, Lauren’s facilitated an energy - an inherent pursuit - of self-development that springboarded Megaphone’s (and her own) remarkable post-2020 growth.
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
Since 2020, with huge focus on nurturing, coaching and empowering her people, Lauren has grown Megaphone exponentially. Through mentoriship, she’s grown the team from ~40 to 120, opened new offices, tripled the client base, and increased revenue from $457k monthly (June 2020) to $1.45m (December 2021) — 217% growth.
While her focus is selfless, Lauren has no shortage of individual accolades. Individual and team achievements include:
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Spearheaded Megaphone’s rise to Australia ’s #1 Social Media Agency.
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Created a diverse workplace; highlighted by 73% female leadership and the inclusive ‘Megaphone Committee’.
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Silver Award for Women-Run Workplace of the Year (2020 Global Stevie Awards).
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Bronze Award in Chief Happiness Officer of the Year (2020).
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Shortlisted in the B&T Women Leading Tech Awards (Executive Leader category).
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Lauren is a thought-leader and a mentor to fellow businesswomen, offering pro bono one-on-one coaching since 2019.
Under Lauren’s inspirational guidance, the long list of recent Megaphone awards (please follow link) is a testament to her ongoing dedication to growing Megaphone by growing, motivating, and empowering its people.
Never forgetting community, Lauren’s also coordinated not-for-profit partnerships with organizations including Make-A-Wish and OzHarvest, and runs regular industry networking events and businesswomen mentorship programs.
To stay ahead in the hyper-competitive and constantly changing digital marketing landscape, Lauren dedicates significant time and resources to industry research and community knowledge-sharing; including using tools like Mentorpass and Clarity.fm, and hosting regular industry dinners. Making a big dent in the workforce, Lauren has created one of Australia’s most enviable female-led workplaces.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Always setting an example for the team (and the industry), Lauren comes to work every morning with a burning desire to innovate, inspire, and grow not only the company, but those around her.
So, with the aim of creating a place where the brightest minds in Australia could thrive, Lauren lay the foundations for what would become a culture benchmark and Australia’s #1 Social Media Agency.
There’s a stark contrast between Megaphone before and after Lauren as CEO. Beforehand, it was a small agency floating in the 6-to-7 figure revenue ballpark. With Lauren putting an enormous focus on developing the team members, Megaphone has grown holistically to 8+ figures — because by inspiring staff, providing the best and constant learning resources, and placing people first, the rewards (growth and revenue) come naturally.
The achievements are also testament to the success of Lauren’s various people-focused initiatives, including:
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Offering one-on-one CEO/staff mentoring sessions.
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Running regular ‘Learn Days’.
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Building an in-house library and running multiple book clubs.
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Launching The Megaphone Committee — features representatives from all cities and departments to ensure comprehensive and widespread engagement with (and shaping of) company direction.
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Launching the Megaphone Social Committee, which features staff of all seniority levels who plan company-wide events, shaping the inclusive culture.
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Running regular workshops (e.g. James Clear on Atomic Habits).
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Building a House system that sparks cross-department bonding.
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Running regular industry meet-and-greet dinners.
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Appointing Head of Development, Staff Development Executive, and People and Culture Manager.
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A robust physical and mental wellness program.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
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Empowering workplace diversity: Lauren has created an environment where everyone is empowered to succeed, making Megaphone a posterchild for workplace diversity. This video shows first-hand the team’s gratefulness for having a motivating, mentoring, engaging environment.
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Get to know Lauren personally through this video (73 questions), see the proud culture in ‘Why Work at Megaphone’, and read "Megaphone born to ignite a new-wave workplace culture", from which Megaphone was declared 50 Leading Companies of the Year thanks to Lauren’s leadership.
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Culture Amp survey results (attached)
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To ultimately create an even more enjoyable, engaging, and forethinking workplace, Lauren proactively initiated Culture Amp to analyse employee engagement and satisfaction.
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Culture Amp — What do you love about Megaphone? (attached)
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Culture Amp — What are some things Megaphone does great? (attached)
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Direct feedback for CEO, Lauren Oakes (attached)
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These anonymous responses show Lauren being an inspirational, encouraging, kind, inclusive and passionate leader.
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Megaphone Houses (attached)
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Megaphone Mentoring Sessions (attached)
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Megaphone promotions (attached)
Plus, thanks to Lauren’s innovative, learning-driven culture, Megaphone constantly delivers outstanding results, exampled by a few videos below.
Lastly, additional documents (in "merged PDFs") provide behind-the-scenes insights into company aspects shaped by Lauren: e.g. ESG initiatives and learning programs.
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