How did you end up working at Bain?
I’ve been a part of Bain for four and a half years now, but it has been more than 20-year journey to get here, going all the way back to university. I have always been intrigued by consulting. I even applied to several large consulting firms right out of college, including Bain, which sent me an automated snail mail rejection letter. I didn’t yet have the credentials I needed. But of course, I kept trying, and here I am.
If I rationalize my career looking back, my interest in consulting drove me to want to work with a breadth of clients and problems across industries. I felt that would give me the variety to keep me excited, learning, and stimulated. I always took client-facing roles, which I enjoyed.
I started out on the client side of a marketing team. Then I moved to a large global agency which took me from Australia to the UK and Singapore. Then I joined one of the largest tech companies in the world before landing at Bain.
That automated rejection from Bain back after university was no accident, I am sure. All those experiences since have allowed me to land where I am now.
Why Bain?
Coming from a large global tech company known for its culture, this factor was paramount in my decision. Bain is also known for its culture, though, and it has truly exceeded my expectations. Here, you get to be your authentic self at work. I’m recalling a time when I was asked to emcee a major Bain event for our leadership via live broadcast which our worldwide managing partner attended. I wore a burgundy suit and filled my time with dad jokes, dancing, amateur poetry, and copious Roger Federer stories (I’m a huge fan!). At the end, I thought maybe I’d overstepped, and it was too much. Nervously, I checked my email. It was mostly positive feedback, especially from senior leadership. That touches me personally. At Bain, you bring your authentic self and people accept it, burgundy suit and all.
What have you enjoyed about the work?
I got to be an early pioneer on the FRWD@Bain team and explore new ways of working and solving client problems. We got to prove that this new type of marketing and e-commerce expertise could integrate into Bain, and it has worked. That’s been a rewarding journey.
What moment are you proudest of at Bain?
One of my proudest moments has to be one of the first ones, with an accounting software company in Australia. This client had just been acquired by a private equity firm. They brought on Bain to focus on creating additional value in the first 100 days. The team and I got access to their performance marketing, advertising, and web analytics data, and dug in. The new owners suspected marketing could be improved. The existing head of marketing wasn’t so certain.
We completed our analysis, and of all six workstreams, marketing was indeed underperforming and could drive huge incremental revenue. We presented that to management and the board, and a board member turned to the head of marketing and asked, “Whose numbers are these, yours or Bain’s?” There was a moment of truth. And the head of marketing responded, “They're mine and I stand by them.”
That was a real milestone for me. Our client owned the recommendations and we got to work together and enact them. At the end of six months, the head of marketing’s standing in the organization had undergone a complete reversal she was seen as critical to the company’s future.
Do you find Bain inclusive?
Most definitely. I’m an advocate for Womxn at Bain (WAB) and as a father to a young girl and the biggest supporter of my wife, I want to add what I can to this forum. It’s also a place of immense learning and experience for me, listening compassionately and developing empathy.
Also, all of my success would not have been possible without the support of my mentors, and the safety to bring my own authentic self to work every single day. In turn, I try to emcee events and drive that culture for others too.
