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Three themes came out of my conversation with Imogen Hewitt: imperfection, partnership, and the power of tiny transformations.
As Chief Media Officer of Publicis Media ANZ and CEO of Spark Foundry ANZ, plus two kids and a husband, she has a lot going on. But Imogen believes in telling the truth about what it takes to ‘have it all’ – which in her case is a stay at home husband and accepting that there’s always a wheel falling off somewhere. Believing that perfection holds us back (even as it can propell us forward in some cases), Imogen wants to give every woman permission to take some downtime, and find your spot on the happy <> chaos scale.
I really enjoyed this candid chat about the realities of being a working parent, and hope you do too!
In this episode we discuss:
- Why telling the truth helps stop unrealistic expectations
- An illusion of perfection does a disservice to those coming after you
- The importance of true partnership in realising your dreams and making life better
- Imogen and her husband tested out both working part time, each working full time, and now he’s a stay at home parent while she is the full time earner
- Being flexible in your approach, and stepping back to make space for your partner to do things their way too
- How perefctionism can drive us to achieve, but letting go of it helps make space in your life
- Imogen’s desire to always be better connected to the people in her life
- How being vigilent about presence helps Imogen find balance on the happy <> chaos scale of life
- The story that working mothers should make up work time in the evening, and that we need downtime too
- Giving yourself permission to get things wrong
- The value of tiny transformations
- Her husband’s transition to being the stay at home parent
- The Andrew Tate-ism of young men, the lack of nuanced conversation, and the challenges facing men
- The most powerful thing you can be is yourself
About Imogen Hewitt
Imogen is the Chief Media Officer of Publicis Media ANZ and CEO of Spark Foundry ANZ. She has spent 25 years in full service, media and creative agencies both in Australia and South East Asia. A career strategist she has parlayed her skills in insight, instinct and understanding people into agency leadership roles. In 2024, she was appointed Chief Media Officer for Publicis Groupe ANZ while retaining her role as CEO of Spark Foundry ANZ.
Since taking on the position of Spark Foundry Australia CEO four years ago, Imogen has accelerated the growth of the agency exponentially. Topping the new business lists in 2020 and 2022, Spark Foundry has more than doubled in size in the last three years while also becoming one of Australia’s happiest agencies. In 2022, Imogen expanded her remit to include Spark Foundry New Zealand.
Recently, she was named #3 in Mediaweek Australia’s 2023 Agency 50 Power List and has been recognised on the B&T Women In Media Power List every year since 2017. She has also previously been named as one of Campaign Asia’s ‘Women to Watch’ in 2017 and 2020.