The Bespoken Team

Our talented professionals enjoy a collaborative environment, sharing and drawing on their extensive experience across the full spectrum of Australian media, marketing, business and engagement.

Collectively, we have worked on newspapers, magazines and wire services, been in-house with government communications departments and digital agencies and acted as valued service providers to major names in real estate and property development. That’s only a small taste of what we’ve done and where we’ve been, but the end result is an unparalleled instinct for how to hone, package and distribute the right message at the right time and in the right way.

Sarah Morgan

Managing Director

Sarah is passionate about creating bankable strategies for Bespoken’s valued clients in the fields of marketing, communications and engagement. A dynamic leader, Sarah brings her years of experience across marketing, engagement and communications to develop and deliver tailored and strategic plans that surpass client briefs and KPIs, while providing evidence-based solutions for their organisations. She has worked with many high-profile companies, including Lendlease, Coles Development, Davidson, RCSA, The Johnathan Thurston Academy, The Big Pineapple, RetireAustralia, Clubs Queensland, Cover-More Travel Insurance and Hanson Construction. Sarah has a broad skill base having worked across a range of industries such as hospitality, recruitment and HR, technology, renewables, construction, property and not-for-profit organisations. She also has a strong journalism background as a former senior reporter with several regional newspapers, magazines and online publications in Australia and England. An accomplished communicator who is a strategic and creative thinker, Sarah is highly sought after to provide communications advice, media relations and stakeholder support. She is also regularly engaged for public speaking and presenting opportunities.

Rochella Brisset

Operations Director

Rochella is an experienced financial accountant with more than 20 years commercial experience in service industries, ranging from small to global companies. Her extensive experience has allowed her to gain and practice a broad knowledge of various business operations. Rochella’s expertise in analysis and reporting for her clients makes her a trusted part of the team.Rochella worked for Flight Centre for seven years in a variety of finance roles including; Global Financial Accountant, Financial Accountant and Team Leader. During her extensive time, Rochella was responsible for FCL Group’s monthly reporting and analysis, preparation of yearly budget packs, management and reporting of global fixed assets and other various business operations.

Michaela Ryan

General Manager

Michaela is a corporate affairs and communications specialist. Although she began her career as a lawyer with Minter Ellison, she has worked in media and communications for more than two decades. She is an experienced journalist, having written predominantly for magazines and online publications. She has also worked in PR and communications in the higher education and agriculture sectors, and managed website and multimedia production for several Network Ten television productions. For many years Michaela ran her own award-winning video production and communications business. She speaks Japanese and French, having spent time studying in both Japan and France. With a love of people, storytelling, business development and customer service, Michaela brings a set of skills ideally suited to her role as General Manager of Bespoken Agency.

Jenna McManus

Marketing Manager

Jenna is an experienced marketing and communications professional with more than 10 years’ experience in the retail, e-commerce and FMCG landscape. Passionate about building and executing integrated strategies that connect businesses and brands with their customers, she is driven by both mission and metrics.With a personal mission to supercharge the ability of those around her to run faster and do better, she has immense experience in delivering world-class communications and marketing strategies with both global brands and local organisations.Her understanding of the social and digital landscape, and evolving trends mean she loves nothing more than ensuring all key messages, campaigns, and content talks to the right audience, at the right time to drive the right result.As Marketing Account Lead, Jenna is a cheerleader for business, lending her engaging support to all Bespoken marketing clients in delivering powerful strategies and positive day-to-day account management.

Melissa Grant

Senior Media and Communications Specialist

Melissa is an experienced media professional with a career spanning 15 years across metropolitan and regional media. She is now focused on delivering strategic public relations and communications campaigns for Bespoken’s valued clients to increase brand awareness. A specialist in media relations, content writing and editing, Melissa has worked with clients in a diverse range of sectors including agriculture, trades, finance and aged care. Melissa has a strong journalism background, having worked as a reporter, chief of staff and editor in newsrooms across the country. She spent nearly five years filing stories as a national reporter at the Australian Associated Press in Brisbane where she covered general news and also acted as chief of staff and bureau chief. Her role as a magazine editor saw her manage a small team and eight quarterly parenting magazines in Melbourne. Melissa is an engaging writer with an excellent news sense. She knows how to craft a good story that will hook journalists and connect with the right audience.

Lisa Chant

Senior Media and Communications Specialist

Lisa is a Senior Media and Communications Specialist with more than 30 years’ experience in legacy and digital media across Australia and Asia. With a sharply honed instinct for powerful storytelling, she specialises in creating and curating powerful content that draws attention with clever, accessible and insightful angles. Expertly pinpointing the stories that matter, she brings authentic and responsive guidance to client relationships to ensure maximum return on investment. Lisa’s extensive CV includes senior editorial and production roles with some of Australia’s biggest newspapers and magazine publishers, including News Corp and Are Media. The former Chief Sub-Editor of Better Homes & Gardens magazine, she was also National Features Manager for Pagemasters, overseeing production of a wealth of products, from travel and lifestyle magazines to newspaper inserts. This diverse experience has given her an unparalleled network of contacts and a keen understanding of how to amplify client messages to grow and evolve their brands, boost awareness and develop thought leadership positions. She is also an engaging and experienced copywriter, book editor and editorial consultant.

Stephanie Rose

Media and Communications Specialist

Stephanie is a media professional with 20 years’ experience across metro and regional media in Australia and the UK.She is now focused on delivering strategic public relations and media campaigns for Bespoken’s valued clients to enhance brand awareness.Steph spent several years in Australian regional media, before a long stint in London working across a range of newspapers both in print and online. She then returned to Brisbane, where she has worked in senior roles in regional and metro newspaper production, including production editor, and acting chief subeditor; consulting with editors, managing a team of production journalists, and whipping editions into shape. With a passion for words, Steph’s news sense ensures she knows what will boost clients’ brands through the media.

Angie Christofis

Media and Communications Specialist

Angie is an experienced communications and public relations professional with a 20-year portfolio working across industries including not-for-profit, property development, health, tourism, and the arts. Her background includes roles as Director of PR and Communications Asia Pacific for hospitality giants Wyndham Hotel Group and Travel + Leisure Co., both NYSE-listed companies. Angie’s passion for storytelling is evident in the broad scope of her experience, which encompasses magazine editing, content creation for print and digital platforms, copywriting for advertising campaigns, video production, and devising and implementing successful global communications strategies. She also has a keen interest in sustainability, having established and chaired award-winning sustainability programs in the hotel industry. A dedicated and detailed-orientated professional, Angie has a strong track record of boosting brand visibility through consistent, tailored and impactful media coverage.

Anna King Shahab

Media and Communications Specialist

Based in Auckland in New Zealand, Anna is a talented writer and media professional with two decades of industry experience. With a passion for the craft of storytelling, she has a knack for seeking out angles that get to the heart of the matter and the brand to expertly capture the attention of the intended audience. Crisp communication with a friendly and approachable tone is her forte. Anna carried many of the principles around clear and correct use of language from her initial career as an English language teacher into her work in media. Her CV includes roles on the editorial teams of lifestyle magazines for publishers including Bauer Media and Tangible Media, writing for a multitude of publications across print and digital platforms, copywriting for advertising and advertorial campaigns, working on book titles as a researcher, editor, and proofreader, and helping brands with the strategy and execution of storytelling across various channels.

Ash Moore

Media Specialist

Ash is an experienced media professional whose 12-year career encompasses work in radio and online journalism at the ABC, as well as in-house media and communications roles within the not-for-profit sector. Equally comfortable with a keyboard, microphone, notebook or face-to-face chat, Ash uses his journalism experience to get to the heart of any story, before crafting it into enticing angles and pitches that resonate with journalists by strategically targeting their subject specialties and audience needs. With experience in managing and mentoring small high-performing teams to achieve brand exposure through internal and external channels, Ash has completed a Middle Leader course through the Australian Institute of Management (AIM). Ash takes a special interest in the work of science and technology professionals and is excited to help spotlight their innovative work to new, broader audiences in a manner that is both accessible and exciting.

Molly Atkinson

Marketing Specialist

Molly is a Marketing Specialist with a diverse background spanning media, marketing and advertising. Throughout her career, she has worked on exciting projects in the sports, tourism, hospitality and retail industries, coordinating campaigns for various household brands. Molly loves that creative ideas will never run out! In her role with Bespoken, Molly’s expertise in digital marketing, social media, content creation, copywriting, campaign planning and execution are the perfect foundation for her project management and strategic marketing work.

Jye Laarhoven

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Jye is a Communications and Marketing Coordinator who enjoys introducing new and innovative ways to increase his clients’ digital footprint. He brings a fresh perspective to the social media and content creation field with skills across several online platforms.As a marketer, he has worked across a multitude of industries ranging from creative arts and hospitality to engineering and agriculture, requiring him to be flexible, wearing different hats on a regular basis. Jye is a highly adaptable digital marketer who loves a good challenge where he can critically and analytically solve challenging problems.At Bespoken, Jye assists the team with the execution of a range of strategies for clients such as social media management, content creation, community engagement, website management and media research.Jye’s most recent role at a leading private healthcare provider gave him the opportunity to expand his marketing skills in the medical, mental health and hospitality industry. He supported the organisation with their expansion by executing a launch strategy for the opening of three new businesses.

Ella Steele

Social Media and Marketing Assistant

Ella is a Social Media and Marketing Assistant with a strong passion and love for all things media. Initially, she started her career as a freelance content creator and editor, but soon found herself steering towards social media content as she began building her own online presence as a micro influencer. Ella’s unique perspective and passion for the industry have led her to the Bespoken team where she spends her time working on content creation, marketing and communications strategies and social media. By combining both her professional and personal experience in the social media landscape, Ella uses her skillsets to create exciting and impactful content which connects her clients with their target audience.

Vikki Vaughan

Graphic Designer

Vikki brings 20 years of graphic design experience to the Bespoken team. She is a consummate professional with the ability to understand, interpret and design within strict corporate branding guidelines. A true creative, Vikki can also unleash her innate creativity and develop beautiful designs from scratch.Vikki’s exacting approach means she is detail and deadline focused, producing high quality work, regardless of the size or complexity of the project. With decades of industry experience, including 10 years with the Macquarie Group’s global marketing and communications team, Vikki has experience in delivering all manner of marketing and promotional collateral including large-scale consortium public private partnership tender documents, logo development and design, style guides, digital presentations and client and event branding.With meticulous attention applied to each design project, Vikki’s experience as a freelancer has honed her relationship building and client liaison skills. She can manage suppliers, including printers, always ensuring a quality outcome for clients.Away from her design life, Vikki is a passionate traveller, with adventures from more than 50 countries now residing in her memories. Animal welfare, interior design and real estate are other interests that continue to spark her imagination.

Sarah Morgan

Managing Director

Sarah is passionate about creating bankable strategies for Bespoken’s valued clients in the fields of marketing, communications and engagement. A dynamic leader, Sarah brings her years of experience across marketing, engagement and communications to develop and deliver tailored and strategic plans that surpass client briefs and KPIs, while providing evidence-based solutions for their organisations. She has worked with many high-profile companies, including Lendlease, Coles Development, Davidson, RCSA, The Johnathan Thurston Academy, The Big Pineapple, RetireAustralia, Clubs Queensland, Cover-More Travel Insurance and Hanson Construction. Sarah has a broad skill base having worked across a range of industries such as hospitality, recruitment and HR, technology, renewables, construction, property and not-for-profit organisations. She also has a strong journalism background as a former senior reporter with several regional newspapers, magazines and online publications in Australia and England. An accomplished communicator who is a strategic and creative thinker, Sarah is highly sought after to provide communications advice, media relations and stakeholder support. She is also regularly engaged for public speaking and presenting opportunities.

Rochella Brisset

Operations Director

Rochella is an experienced financial accountant with more than 20 years commercial experience in service industries, ranging from small to global companies. Her extensive experience has allowed her to gain and practice a broad knowledge of various business operations. Rochella’s expertise in analysis and reporting for her clients makes her a trusted part of the team.Rochella worked for Flight Centre for seven years in a variety of finance roles including; Global Financial Accountant, Financial Accountant and Team Leader. During her extensive time, Rochella was responsible for FCL Group’s monthly reporting and analysis, preparation of yearly budget packs, management and reporting of global fixed assets and other various business operations.

Michaela Ryan

General Manager

Michaela is a corporate affairs and communications specialist. Although she began her career as a lawyer with Minter Ellison, she has worked in media and communications for more than two decades. She is an experienced journalist, having written predominantly for magazines and online publications. She has also worked in PR and communications in the higher education and agriculture sectors, and managed website and multimedia production for several Network Ten television productions. For many years Michaela ran her own award-winning video production and communications business. She speaks Japanese and French, having spent time studying in both Japan and France. With a love of people, storytelling, business development and customer service, Michaela brings a set of skills ideally suited to her role as General Manager of Bespoken Agency.

Jenna McManus

Marketing Manager

Jenna is an experienced marketing and communications professional with more than 10 years’ experience in the retail, e-commerce and FMCG landscape. Passionate about building and executing integrated strategies that connect businesses and brands with their customers, she is driven by both mission and metrics.With a personal mission to supercharge the ability of those around her to run faster and do better, she has immense experience in delivering world-class communications and marketing strategies with both global brands and local organisations.Her understanding of the social and digital landscape, and evolving trends mean she loves nothing more than ensuring all key messages, campaigns, and content talks to the right audience, at the right time to drive the right result.As Marketing Account Lead, Jenna is a cheerleader for business, lending her engaging support to all Bespoken marketing clients in delivering powerful strategies and positive day-to-day account management.

Melissa Grant

Senior Media and Communications Specialist

Melissa is an experienced media professional with a career spanning 15 years across metropolitan and regional media. She is now focused on delivering strategic public relations and communications campaigns for Bespoken’s valued clients to increase brand awareness. A specialist in media relations, content writing and editing, Melissa has worked with clients in a diverse range of sectors including agriculture, trades, finance and aged care. Melissa has a strong journalism background, having worked as a reporter, chief of staff and editor in newsrooms across the country. She spent nearly five years filing stories as a national reporter at the Australian Associated Press in Brisbane where she covered general news and also acted as chief of staff and bureau chief. Her role as a magazine editor saw her manage a small team and eight quarterly parenting magazines in Melbourne. Melissa is an engaging writer with an excellent news sense. She knows how to craft a good story that will hook journalists and connect with the right audience.

Lisa Chant

Senior Media and Communications Specialist

Lisa is a Senior Media and Communications Specialist with more than 30 years’ experience in legacy and digital media across Australia and Asia. With a sharply honed instinct for powerful storytelling, she specialises in creating and curating powerful content that draws attention with clever, accessible and insightful angles. Expertly pinpointing the stories that matter, she brings authentic and responsive guidance to client relationships to ensure maximum return on investment. Lisa’s extensive CV includes senior editorial and production roles with some of Australia’s biggest newspapers and magazine publishers, including News Corp and Are Media. The former Chief Sub-Editor of Better Homes & Gardens magazine, she was also National Features Manager for Pagemasters, overseeing production of a wealth of products, from travel and lifestyle magazines to newspaper inserts. This diverse experience has given her an unparalleled network of contacts and a keen understanding of how to amplify client messages to grow and evolve their brands, boost awareness and develop thought leadership positions. She is also an engaging and experienced copywriter, book editor and editorial consultant.

Stephanie Rose

Media and Communications Specialist

Stephanie is a media professional with 20 years’ experience across metro and regional media in Australia and the UK.She is now focused on delivering strategic public relations and media campaigns for Bespoken’s valued clients to enhance brand awareness.Steph spent several years in Australian regional media, before a long stint in London working across a range of newspapers both in print and online. She then returned to Brisbane, where she has worked in senior roles in regional and metro newspaper production, including production editor, and acting chief subeditor; consulting with editors, managing a team of production journalists, and whipping editions into shape. With a passion for words, Steph’s news sense ensures she knows what will boost clients’ brands through the media.

Angie Christofis

Media and Communications Specialist

Angie is an experienced communications and public relations professional with a 20-year portfolio working across industries including not-for-profit, property development, health, tourism, and the arts. Her background includes roles as Director of PR and Communications Asia Pacific for hospitality giants Wyndham Hotel Group and Travel + Leisure Co., both NYSE-listed companies. Angie’s passion for storytelling is evident in the broad scope of her experience, which encompasses magazine editing, content creation for print and digital platforms, copywriting for advertising campaigns, video production, and devising and implementing successful global communications strategies. She also has a keen interest in sustainability, having established and chaired award-winning sustainability programs in the hotel industry. A dedicated and detailed-orientated professional, Angie has a strong track record of boosting brand visibility through consistent, tailored and impactful media coverage.

Anna King Shahab

Media and Communications Specialist

Based in Auckland in New Zealand, Anna is a talented writer and media professional with two decades of industry experience. With a passion for the craft of storytelling, she has a knack for seeking out angles that get to the heart of the matter and the brand to expertly capture the attention of the intended audience. Crisp communication with a friendly and approachable tone is her forte. Anna carried many of the principles around clear and correct use of language from her initial career as an English language teacher into her work in media. Her CV includes roles on the editorial teams of lifestyle magazines for publishers including Bauer Media and Tangible Media, writing for a multitude of publications across print and digital platforms, copywriting for advertising and advertorial campaigns, working on book titles as a researcher, editor, and proofreader, and helping brands with the strategy and execution of storytelling across various channels.

Ash Moore

Media Specialist

Ash is an experienced media professional whose 12-year career encompasses work in radio and online journalism at the ABC, as well as in-house media and communications roles within the not-for-profit sector. Equally comfortable with a keyboard, microphone, notebook or face-to-face chat, Ash uses his journalism experience to get to the heart of any story, before crafting it into enticing angles and pitches that resonate with journalists by strategically targeting their subject specialties and audience needs. With experience in managing and mentoring small high-performing teams to achieve brand exposure through internal and external channels, Ash has completed a Middle Leader course through the Australian Institute of Management (AIM). Ash takes a special interest in the work of science and technology professionals and is excited to help spotlight their innovative work to new, broader audiences in a manner that is both accessible and exciting.

Molly Atkinson

Marketing Specialist

Molly is a Marketing Specialist with a diverse background spanning media, marketing and advertising. Throughout her career, she has worked on exciting projects in the sports, tourism, hospitality and retail industries, coordinating campaigns for various household brands. Molly loves that creative ideas will never run out! In her role with Bespoken, Molly’s expertise in digital marketing, social media, content creation, copywriting, campaign planning and execution are the perfect foundation for her project management and strategic marketing work.

Jye Laarhoven

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Jye is a Communications and Marketing Coordinator who enjoys introducing new and innovative ways to increase his clients’ digital footprint. He brings a fresh perspective to the social media and content creation field with skills across several online platforms.As a marketer, he has worked across a multitude of industries ranging from creative arts and hospitality to engineering and agriculture, requiring him to be flexible, wearing different hats on a regular basis. Jye is a highly adaptable digital marketer who loves a good challenge where he can critically and analytically solve challenging problems.At Bespoken, Jye assists the team with the execution of a range of strategies for clients such as social media management, content creation, community engagement, website management and media research.Jye’s most recent role at a leading private healthcare provider gave him the opportunity to expand his marketing skills in the medical, mental health and hospitality industry. He supported the organisation with their expansion by executing a launch strategy for the opening of three new businesses.

Ella Steele

Social Media and Marketing Assistant

Ella is a Social Media and Marketing Assistant with a strong passion and love for all things media. Initially, she started her career as a freelance content creator and editor, but soon found herself steering towards social media content as she began building her own online presence as a micro influencer. Ella’s unique perspective and passion for the industry have led her to the Bespoken team where she spends her time working on content creation, marketing and communications strategies and social media. By combining both her professional and personal experience in the social media landscape, Ella uses her skillsets to create exciting and impactful content which connects her clients with their target audience.

Vikki Vaughan

Graphic Designer

Vikki brings 20 years of graphic design experience to the Bespoken team. She is a consummate professional with the ability to understand, interpret and design within strict corporate branding guidelines. A true creative, Vikki can also unleash her innate creativity and develop beautiful designs from scratch.Vikki’s exacting approach means she is detail and deadline focused, producing high quality work, regardless of the size or complexity of the project. With decades of industry experience, including 10 years with the Macquarie Group’s global marketing and communications team, Vikki has experience in delivering all manner of marketing and promotional collateral including large-scale consortium public private partnership tender documents, logo development and design, style guides, digital presentations and client and event branding.With meticulous attention applied to each design project, Vikki’s experience as a freelancer has honed her relationship building and client liaison skills. She can manage suppliers, including printers, always ensuring a quality outcome for clients.Away from her design life, Vikki is a passionate traveller, with adventures from more than 50 countries now residing in her memories. Animal welfare, interior design and real estate are other interests that continue to spark her imagination.

The lowdown

Size doesn’t matter to us. We enjoy working with organisations at any stage – from start-up to scaling – as well as government agencies, industry bodies and not-for-profits.

Our team are experienced professionals who have significant results behind them.

Our close partnership with Vaxa Analytics means all of our work is evidence-based – whether it’s data-led media management, sentiment indexing for our community engagement or diving into your available data to create new marketing channels or revenue streams. 

We are committed to an extensive program of community and charity work which protects our most vulnerable – our environment through new thinking in circular economy, our children through Bindi Bindi Place and our disadvantaged through small to large campaigns personally aligned to our team. 

Our purpose is to help you be bold, be seen and be heard, to grow and expand your organisation.

Chemistry check

Still not sure if we are the right fit for you? Why don’t you check out our blogs for an insight into all things communications, engagement and marketing or to learn more about our recent wins and projects. Or give us a call today for a coffee to see if we are a good fit for your future goals. 

Latest Blog & News

In the world of venture capital and angel investing, the adage “investors invest in people, not just companies” holds a lot of truth. Investors are not just looking for a groundbreaking business idea; they are looking for a solid leader who can navigate the tumultuous journey from startup to scaleup and beyond. Most founders have an extraordinary vision. But they need to convince investors they also have the leadership, technical skillset and resilience to see it through.
Raising capital? If so, you need a strategic timeline for your media campaign. Media hits spread out over six to 12 months (or more) leading up to a cap raise is the ideal scenario, with positive stories continuing to drop even as you begin meeting with investors. Media coverage is more important than ever for startups and scaleups, with the current market for raising capital proving challenging. For tips on doing media the right way, check out the latest story in our scaleup blog series.
With climate change affecting every country on Earth, there is a global market for climate tech solutions. But when does it make the most sense for a company to seek markets or investment offshore? It’s a question Bespoken General Manager Michaela Ryan recently explored with Monty Compost Co CEO and founder Ashley Baxter, GeoNadir co-founder Paul Mead and Ashurst Global Co-Head Energy Industry Dan Brown as part of a panel at Climate Salad’s Queensland Climate Tech Showcase 2024.
In the world of venture capital and angel investing, the adage “investors invest in people, not just companies” holds a lot of truth. Investors are not just looking for a groundbreaking business idea; they are looking for a solid leader who can navigate the tumultuous journey from startup to scaleup and beyond. Most founders have an extraordinary vision. But they need to convince investors they also have the leadership, technical skillset and resilience to see it through.
Raising capital? If so, you need a strategic timeline for your media campaign. Media hits spread out over six to 12 months (or more) leading up to a cap raise is the ideal scenario, with positive stories continuing to drop even as you begin meeting with investors. Media coverage is more important than ever for startups and scaleups, with the current market for raising capital proving challenging. For tips on doing media the right way, check out the latest story in our scaleup blog series.

Stay in touch. We love a chat.