Melbourne, September 24th, 2020

After finishing a short-term contract in Australia, Emma Andrews was looking for new agencies that needed additional strategy resources. She came across a listing on the website of Luminary, a full-service digital agency with branches all over the country, and after some contract work she eventually became the agency’s Strategy Director.

In an interview with TIA, Andrews gave us an inside look into one of Australia’s leading agencies, describing their work flow, challenges and features that make them stand out.

Luminary has been creating award-winning digital experiences since 1999, specializing in large-scale projects.

What makes your city an attractive place to work and live?

Let’s pretend you asked that question pre-COVID. The answer would be the diversity, culture, dynamism and constant change; plus the outdoor lifestyle (I’m a cyclist).

There’s always something going on to satisfy your thirst for new experiences both personally and professionally. COVID has really activated the people in my social and work circles to look at what can be done, what is possible and how we want to come together as friends and colleagues to make the best of the situation for ourselves and our clients.

Tell us how did you find yourself working as Strategy Director at Luminary

I’d come to the end of my first role in Australia which was a temporary one – a maternity cover short term contract leading the digital team for a tertiary online education provider. I was keen to get back to agency side and was searching for agencies who were looking for additional strategy resources. I came across a listing on Luminary’s website. I found out later that it was actually supposed to have been taken down but lucky for me the page was still live! After a few conversations and some contract work with Luminary, they offered me a permanent role to grow the agency’s strategic practice and I jumped at the chance.

How is communication flowing these days?

Much as it ever has. We’ve been operating as a distributed team across multiple locations and time zones for many years so it wasn’t unusual to walk into a meeting where more than one person had already joined remotely.

We use Slack to communicate internally, Confluence to document all our best practices and tools like Miro to translate the physical workshop experiences into an online delivery. Our monthly all-in team meetings are an important bookmark and daily team stand ups keep each other current with our priorities and challenges. We deliver projects using an Agile methodology so regular communication with clients is a feature of all of our projects.

In your opinion, what makes Luminary stand out?

Is it a cliché to say ‘the people’? It’s a small word but means big things here. It’s the team, our clients, and the mindset that we all have to genuinely do the best at all times. A previous CEO of mine back in the UK used to say: ‘Work hard, be nice to people’ and although that’s never been overtly articulated as our vision, it really is a thread that runs through everyone at Luminary.

Name a challenge your team is currently facing.

COVID! Ok I’ll pick another. Actually what we’ve seen is people using this space to create opportunities. Applying the ‘downtime’ to progress projects that have been de-prioritized for whatever reason in the past and investing in projects for the future. It’s a real positive.

What advice do you have for women aiming for leadership positions?

Gosh that’s actually quite a hard one to answer. Listen to everyone’s advice, take what you like and delete the rest with a smile! And stay curious.

Do you think there are particular personality traits of women in business that should be applauded?

No. I actually think that considering personality traits of women as distinct from men fuels the gender divide. I think there are personality traits of leaders that one can aspire to – patience, openness, curiosity, inclusiveness, confidence, warmth.

Is there any lesson you’ve had to learn multiple times?

To ask for help – to be vulnerable and not be concerned that it will be seen as weakness; and allow the team to back me up.

Where do you go if you want to get inspired?

Away from whatever it is that I am currently doing that I am stuck on. So that could be a bike ride, reading something different from my norm, listening to an audio book, having a conversation with someone – something to lift me out of the tunnel and widen my view.

What research methodologies give you greater insight?

That would most likely depend on what we were trying to find out. I personally love primary research with end users; talking to them about their perspectives, challenges and needs. This usually always brings with it some surprises that mean we can support innovation for clients – be that radical or incremental.

In another life, what job might you have chosen?

A pilot. I took flying lessons for a while and if you asked me I could take off and land in restricted air space and fly a circuit! But honestly, I can’t stay still for long enough to get anywhere. I love the dynamic environment of a workshop, or the deep insights we see when working with our clients’ end customer. I like the ‘movement’ of the work we do.

Is there’s a playlist that helps you get focused?

Chilly Gonzales.

Thanks Emma!

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