INITIATIVE AUSTRALIA STRENGTHENS LEADERSHIP BENCH WITH KEY SENIOR APPOINTMENTS

Initiative Australia has expanded its leadership team with the appointments of Mikayla Ellis as Managing Partner – Sydney and Samantha Smith as National Head of Marketing. The hires follow Paige Wheaton’s promotion to National Managing Director, signalling the agency’s focus on stronger client partnerships, market visibility and sustainable growth.

Initiative Australia has strengthened its senior leadership ranks with two strategic appointments aimed at accelerating growth, deepening client relationships and sharpening the agency’s market presence across Australia.

The media agency has appointed Mikayla Ellis as Managing Partner – Sydney and Samantha Smith as National Head of Marketing, reinforcing its evolving leadership structure under newly promoted National Managing Director Paige Wheaton.

Ellis joins Initiative from Zenith Australia, where she served as Client Partner. Before that, she spent eight years within the Omnicom Group network, including senior leadership roles at Hearts & Science Australia. In her new role, Ellis will oversee the Sydney market while helping strengthen relationships with major clients including HelloFresh, Sanitarium and Netflix.

With more than 17 years of experience across complex brands and large-scale teams, Ellis has built a reputation for delivering commercial growth while bringing clarity and discipline to media strategy and decision-making. She will report directly to Wheaton as the agency continues to refine its national leadership framework.

Speaking about her appointment, Ellis said she had long admired Initiative’s strategic ambition and workplace culture. She added that she looked forward to working closely with the Sydney team to strengthen client partnerships, build capability and support the agency’s next phase of growth.

Smith’s appointment as National Head of Marketing is designed to elevate Initiative’s visibility and sharpen its positioning within the highly competitive media landscape. Having spent more than four years within Omnicom Media Group, including her most recent role as Head of Brand at Hearts & Science, Smith brings extensive knowledge of the Omnicom ecosystem and brand-building expertise.

Her remit will focus on strengthening Initiative’s market voice, improving visibility and supporting long-term business development efforts through stronger client engagement and a more differentiated agency profile.

Wheaton, who was recently promoted from Chief Investment Officer to National Managing Director, said the appointments reflected the agency’s ambition to scale sustainably while maintaining a strong client-first culture.

She described Ellis as a disciplined leader with a proven ability to build high-performing teams, adding that her experience would be critical to the agency’s leadership in Sydney. Wheaton also said Smith’s appointment underscored Initiative’s determination to build a stronger and more distinctive industry presence.

The latest appointments signal a broader growth strategy at Initiative Australia as the agency looks to consolidate its market position while investing in leadership talent capable of driving both commercial performance and long-term brand equity.