Leah’s Story

My Tech Path

I have always been drawn to creative pursuits – music, art, dance, design – but never saw this as a ‘career’. When leaving school, although I had an interest in graphic design, I felt dissuade by the field’s job prospects. However, after seven years of study and two and a half degrees, I came full circle.

Out of university, I took an in-house designer role with a liquor distributor. Although this job gave me fantastic working experience, I wanted to work with other creatives – and this led me to Nucleus.

I have worked at Nucleus for almost 15 years, held the position of Creative Director for over 10, and my job, industry and our agency services have significantly changed over this reasonably short time. When I started at Nucleus, the concept of ‘social media’ was extremely new; a ‘mobile responsive website’ wasn’t a thing; the iPhone was only just being talked about; and no one knew what a ‘streaming service’ was. We had flip phones, ipods and watched free-to-air tv. People still read newspapers and bought magazines.

Technology completely changed the Advertising and Design industry; people were no longer recipients of advertising – they were consumers of content.

This meant we had to adapt (and we continue to do so)! Today, digital integrates into almost every solution we deliver. Whether it be building a website, developing a brand or producing a video, technology has both shifted our capabilities, and how we work.

What’s the best advice you have ever received?

When I was at uni, I was a reasonably high achiever. Although academia came reasonably easy to me, I had a tutor with whom I questioned grade he only gave me ‘pass’ grade on an essay; a grade much lower than I was used to. His response to me was ‘well… you met the criteria’. So although I had fulfilled the minimum project requirements, I hadn’t extended my thinking beyond the information I had sourced. In retrospect, it was a regurgitation of one or two theorists with aligning points of view. I hadn’t thought about my assignment critically. I realised that I could challenge, argue and rationalise different points of view; and propose my own interpretation or hypothesis based on the perspectives, knowledge and experiences of others. So the best advice came from someone who challenged me to do better; who made me realise: 

Just because someone says ‘this is the way’, it doesn’t necessarily mean it always has to be.

THIS has changed the way I look at the world, my work and the clients I work with – for the better. 

What would you tell your 15 year old self?

Don’t be afraid to pursue what you love to do. Leaving school, I always liked design, but people had told me it was hard to get a job. So out of school – I explored ‘other things’. My experiences brought me back to design. I truly believe, if you have a talent, interest or aptitude, you put the work in, and you’re proactive, you can get the job you want.