Local Leaders

There is a well known saying among economists that recessions create opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs. So it is hardly surprising that one particular young Canberran has decided now is the time to make the move and set up a new business in the middle of a global pandemic. After finding success as a director for one of Canberra's big brand...

Henry Posch started Monaro Windows in 1988 and established the business's reputation for quality, service and manufacturing their own quality assured products in their Queanbeyan factory. The business thrived, and in 2014 Henry's son, Dan Posch, bought the business off his father and he continues to run a manufacturing plant at Queanbeyan, where they make their own products and employ...

When MJ Qail and Tam Bakr sat down for a coffee 12 years ago, they came up with a grand business idea. They launched Big Impact Media just before the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, against the advice of everyone they knew. The innovation and startup sector knows well that if your product is good enough, demand will be there...

Courtney Milne was a new mother when she discovered her baby, Taylor, had a medical condition which required repeat surgeries. Working at an accounting firm, she asked for an extension of her maternity leave, without pay, and was instead made redundant. With her husband leaving the army and financial uncertainty looming. Courtney had to make some drastic changes. Without the...

Tate Harris is a personable, easy-to-talk-to guy. He grew up on a farm at Hall, where his grandmother and father now run one of Canberra's oldest and most respected kennels: the Dog'otel & Purrrfect Cattery. He remembers running around chasing chickens when he was three or four years old, and riding his 50cc PeeWee motorbike around the farm. When the...

Kirk Fonseca grew up in Mumbai, India’s financial capital and most populous city. An associate partner in professional services firm Rubik3, he came from an unlikely, yet ideal, grounding for the people-centred organisation. Mumbai heaves with a population of more than 20 million people in an area smaller than Canberra. In this sea of humanity, every step is for survival....

By his own admission, when he began studying for an information science degree at the University of Newcastle, Greg Boorer had never used a computer. Now Greg is the CEO of a multi-billion dollar technology company that he co-founded, Canberra Data Centres. The company underpins so much of what we take for granted in Australia in terms of safety, security...

Manuel Xyrakis always wanted a cash register for Christmas and had aspirations of being an accountant. Instead, he inherited a supermarket that has become his second home. He's really only had a break at his first home due to COVID-19. Mr Xyrakis jokes his nephews Nicholas, Dimitri and Keith locked him out of the Ainslie IGA during the COVID-19 pandemic...

Being a perfectionist has its challenges, but it has never worried Dr Rick Luu. It is a hallmark of his life and career. Starting his life in Australia as a boat refugee in the late 1970s, Rick grew up appreciating family, the value of money and hard work from a young age. Lessons he says he has not forgotten. The...

Like many first generation Australians, Spiro Pazios was urged by his immigrant parents to do well at school and go to university. While unsure of what to do once he got there, Spiro, unafraid of hard work and change, is now one of Canberra's leading orthodontists. Director of Embrace Orthodontists in Manuka and Belconnen, Spiro was born in Adelaide to...

Over time, seemingly small gestures accumulate into life-changing leadership from people putting others ahead of themselves and encouraging individuals to follow their example. Paul Nicholl experienced this during his apprenticeship as a greenkeeper in the NSW Central West town of Condobolin, where Malcolm Nash was head greenkeeper at the local bowling club. https://www.facebook.com/riotactnews/videos/976048622812408 The Condobolin Bowling Club nurtured young staff...

After a military career spanning three decades, Michael Mahy stepped in to the civilian world joining Synergy Group as an Executive Director in 2018. The well-respected Brigadier and ex-Director of Military Strategy had decided the time was right for a change. Little did he know his skills honed in the Army would assist one of Canberra's leading professional services firms...

It took a sense of purpose and big dreams for Jessie Chen to make some big moves in her life. These same qualities make her stand out in her career with Canberra mortgage broker Clarity Home Loans. Originally from Sichuan in China, Jessie moved to Australia when she was just 17 years old. Jessie says her parents wanted to give...

Perhaps it is because Lara Morgan was born and raised in Canberra that she is so good at what she does. Working as an insurance broker, her local knowledge is essential when talking to clients about their business needs. She has a complete and thorough understanding of the environment in which ACT businesses operate, and the culture of the nation’s...

If you want something done, ask a busy person, so the saying goes. If that is the case, Nadia Pessarossi must get an awful lot done. "Sometimes life gets hectic and I don't want to miss anything so I have to plan my days carefully," she says. Now an associate partner at Rubik3, one of Australia's fastest growing and youngest...

Atop hill or down valleys, for many farmers and residents living in south-west NSW, there was always looming exasperation when it came to mobile phone and internet coverage. It seemed that once a black spot, always a black spot. And that felt a bit like the cart, led by a blinkered horse, lumbering clumsily along a rough track while just...