Strategy Bites

🎙️ New Strategy Bites episode is live! Last week, I sat down with  Melanie Kansil , Chief Strategy Officer at MECCA Brands. Melanie started her career at McKinsey, then went on to build startups, work across multiple sectors, and now shapes strategy for one of Australia’s most loved consumer brands. We talk about: ✨ What the CSO role really looks like day to day ✨ What consulting prepares you br...

Today on Strategy Bites, I’m joined by  William Loh , Executive Director of Strategy at Foxtel. Foxtel has pulled off one of the most impressive transformation stories in Australian media over the past decade. William has been there for the entire journey, starting as a commercial analyst and rising through the ranks to lead the group’s strategy. We dig into: what it was really like inside Foxtel...

Season 6 Episode 5 Charlie Newark-French, CEO of Cascade In this episode of Strategy Bites, Anika Stokes sits down with Charlie Newark French, a former McKinsey consultant turned VC and now CEO of Cascade. Charlie brings a rare mix of strategy depth, tech insight, and startup scar tissue. From scaling AI-driven companies to surviving the rollercoaster of venture-backed growth, he’s lived the full...

This week on Strategy Bites, I’m joined by someone who genuinely redefines what it means to think differently. Jim Hogan has spent over forty years at the forefront of technology, innovation and leadership, and he just happens to be autistic. He was the Chief Innovation Evangelist at Google Cloud and the Vice President of Accessibility in Technology for Google’s Disability Alliance. Through his wo...

Stevie-Ann Dovico maps a clear route from consulting into the C-suite. Starting in Big 4 strategy and moving in-house across major banks before becoming CIO at Beyond Bank, she’s led high-performing teams, shipped real products, and picked up industry recognition along the way. In this episode we unpack how curiosity, adaptability and lifelong learning powered each pivot, what “tech fluency” looks...

PE can look shiny from the outside. James spends his days helping funds and port-cos create real value, and we get into the parts you don’t see on LinkedIn: leadership, resilience and building a career you actually like. We talk about saying yes to the “weird and wacky” projects and opportunities that end up changing everything, what PE firms really look for when hiring ex-consultants (including O...

In this episode of the  Strategy Bites Podcast , I sat down with Ian Hill, founder of Enthoosa. AI and creator of  Palpable.io  — to unpack the reality of AI adoption and what it means for consultants, leaders, and businesses. Here are some highlights you won’t want to miss: Why banks are leading AI adoption in Australia The  hidden costs  behind flashy AI ROI claims Which industries are next in l...

Joining us is the brilliant Rushika Handa who has an impressive 13+ years of experience working with top-tier consulting firms like McKinsey & Company and BCG. She’s a wizard when it comes to strategy, product, organisational design, and so much more. From startups and venture incubation to digital strategy and building high-performing teams, Rushika has done it all. In this episode, she'l...

Join us for an insightful conversation with Danielle Handley, the Chief Customer and Transformation Officer at Bupa. With a wealth of experience in driving customer-centric transformation, Danielle shares her journey, strategies, and the challenges she has faced in the ever-evolving healthcare and insurance industry. Tune in to gain valuable insights and practical advice from a leader at the foref...

With over a decade of experience as a consultant at Deloitte and now serving as the Chief Business Operations and Strategy Officer at Xero, Angad Soin brings a wealth of knowledge to this episode. Angad delves into how he rose from Analyst to Partner, honing his expertise in business operations and strategy. He gives some great advice on how a strategy consultant should think about their careers,...

Rosanna Leddy, a self-confessed gender equality advocate, is the Founder of MBBW – a global private member community for professionals from top-tier consulting firms. Roseanna is a McKinsey Alumna who has held senior roles in the Champions of Change Collision, a global community of 250+ CEOs who implement innovative initiatives on gender equality in their organisations and drive national conversat...

Leah Balter has most recently been the Chief Transformation Officer and CIO at Bunnings. Having worked her way up through McKinsey to Associate Principal level, Leah left McKinsey to pursue a career in Industry when she became pregnant.   Leah talks about her journey, being a mum of 4 whilst holding down a C-Suite role, and she gives her best advice to the community from whence she came on how to...

Olya Rudenko is currently the CEO of Cars24. Born and raised in Russia, she vowed to make a better life for herself in Australia. Olya is a McKinsey Alumni with Private Equity background prior to joining Management Consulting and has now led teams in multiple tech firms across Australia. She talks about how to navigate your career should you want to go through the tech and startup space. 

Mailys Pauletto, ex Roland Berger consultant, has purposefully designed her current lifestyle and currently, she has a dual career. Mailys is a contract or interim Strategy consultant which allows her to also follow her passion as a holistic breathwork coach and yogi, running retreats and classes to teach others about her practice. Mailys talks to me about the pros and cons of being a contract man...

Wendy is a Managing Director of Pollination and she was previously a Managing Director and Partner in BCG's Sydney office.  At BCG, Wendy worked in Financial Services & Insurance and also led BCG's Social Impact, Climate and Sustainability work in Australia and New Zealand.  Wendy talks to me about working in ESG and what types of projects she was doing at BCG and now at Pollination. S...

Aliza Knox was the first Female partner at BCG in Asia and has been dubbed a “kick-ass woman slaying the world of tech”. Aliza was also listed as a Top 100 Women in Tech (Singapore, 2021), has been named the IT Woman of the Year (Asia, 2020), honored as the AWA Singapore International Business Woman of the Year (2015), elected to Chief Executive Women (Australia, 2016) and featured in the book Wom...

I speak to Anna about her decision to leave Bain in order to found Start-up sensation Lyka, which has gone from strength to strength and is now a leading supplier of human grade pet food in Australia. We discuss the challenges of growing a business at speed and the highs and lows of being a start-up founder. This is a must listen to for any consultant who has an idea for a business but are yet to...

Milosh Milisavljevic, Chief Customer Officer at Medibank and McKinsey alumni has been a go to mentor to many an ex consultant, helping them work through the trade-offs and options of moving from consulting into corporates, and then growing and developing in a corporate role once they make the move. We discuss what the high achievers in corporates who came from consulting did differently. Milosh gi...

Sophie Hayek, CEO of PropHero and Roland Berger Alumni talks to me about her experience moving from France to Australia to join Woolies Group Strategy, why she moved to NBN, and what she feels were the skills that helped her climb the ladder in a Corporate. We discuss her motivations to move into a Tech- Start-Up and the skills necessary to be a CEO of a Scale-Up. She gives some great advice to ma...

In this episode I am joined by my esteemed colleague Asha Walsh who specialises in recruiting roles at Manager to Head of level roles in Strategy. We discuss the market and what we are encountering currently in our sector. Asha also gives some excellent advice to any junior to mid-level strategy candidates considering a job search.

In this episode, I chat with Steve Duke, who left McKinsey at the Consultant level to help grow two Unicorns at a young age. He shares his story of transitioning from consulting to tech startup life. After being let go from the last start-up Steve went on a journey of personal discovery and talks about his quest for career enlightenment. This led him to become a fellow podcaster, he is currently t...

Join me as I chat with Katrina Barry, the former CEO of Me&u and now Group CEO and MD of Webjet. In this episode, Katrina shares her personal journey and life experiences, going from a country girl in New Zealand to McKinsey and on to exciting roles in a variety of sectors from Finance to Fitness, Travel to Tech. She candidly discusses the challenges she has faced on her journey as well as her...

Victors’ 2nd appearance on the podcast! In this episode, we deep dive into : The importance of case interview prep How to be a good case interviewer to attract the best candidates The importance of humility How to harness unshakable self-esteem and more.... Links to information referenced in the podcast https://caseinterview.com/ “Look” Over My Shoulder https://www.caseinterview.com/look-over-my-s...

Ex BCG Principal Josh Taylor has worked and lived all over the world. He is now an Aussie who has settled in Dallas (for now)! He shares his experience of traveling with BCG to different continents and gives his best advice to those considering an international career now that travel is back on the cards.

Tech Unicorn Rokt was Sydney-founded and is now  New York-headquartered. Rokt closed the largest single venture raise in Australian history, securing a $2.75 billion valuation from a US$325 million (AUD$458 million) Series E funding round led by Tiger Global. Stuart joined Rokt in the early stages and has grown with the business. Both Stuart and Founder Bruce Buchanan are ex-BCG consultants....