Georgie Charlish: “Complexity Should Never Hold Creativity Back”

For Georgie Charlish, creativity has always been a part of life. 

Rather than advertising, however, it was music that defined her early years and sparked a life-and-career-long passion for creative expression. 

“I started playing piano when I was six years old,” she explains. “I went on to play in some amazing places, like the Sydney Opera house, and I think that in all likelihood I’d have been a musician had I never gone into a career in the media and marketing space”. 

Despite that, however, there’s no question for Charlish that at Adstream, now ER, she’s found her true spiritual home. “I’ll always consider myself to be incredibly privileged in that I’ve found something which I absolutely love doing,” she says. “I mentor a fair number of women, and one of the points I always try to get across is that when you find something you love, you owe it to yourself to work at it until it becomes your career. Fortunately, I’m able to say that from a place of experience, because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be in the world other than right here.”

When you find something you love, you owe it to yourself to work at it until it becomes your career.

Music, however, still remains an important part of Charlish’s life today. “I still regularly play duets with my Mum, which is an absolute joy and a huge part of our relationship. I’ll always be thankful for having music in my life, because of those kinds of moments.”

Day-to-day, meanwhile, Charlish is responsible for orchestrating the company’s ANZ team and delivering creativity to the region, a role she’s truly passionate about.  

Untangling Complexity

Another cornerstone of Charlish’s upbringing, and one which has underpinned her success, is a sense of diversity and multiculturalism. “I come from a Chinese background and spent large parts of my childhood at my Nan and Pop’s house which instilled certain values and traditions,” she explains. “The effect that’s had, in the long term, is that I’m acutely aware of the importance of listening to diverse voices, and the fact that doing so is likely to result in new ideas that might never have occurred otherwise.”

As a natural part of her role, the MD finds herself speaking to virtually every corner of the globe on a daily basis. In doing so, she has a fairly unique vantage point from which to observe the trends which are shaping the creative industries worldwide. 

“Complexity is a universal pain point for so many”, she says. “And, really, that should come as no surprise. Our industry has always been relatively complex but look at how much that’s increased over the past two years as a result of the pandemic. Entire businesses have had to take all their staff, all their tech, and their culture, and replicate it all at home whilst maintaining the exact same standards for their clients. That's not an easy thing to do, and it’s been a learning process for everyone to a greater or lesser extent.”

I’m acutely aware of the importance of listening to diverse voices, and the fact that doing so is likely to result in new ideas that might never have occurred otherwise.

One of the many consequences of the remote working revolution, however, has been something of a sea-change in how business is carried out day-to-day. And it’s a change which, according to Charlish, has had knock-on effects on her team’s relationship with clients.

“Ultimately, the pandemic has changed things. Established clients are picking up the phone and asking us about things they might not have spoken to us about before,” she says. “Of course, that’s a result of the trust we’ve built up over the course of many years. It’s interesting that we’re becoming more of a ‘partner’ and less of a ‘vendor,’ so to speak, in that our clients are looking for our expertise across an ever-growing number of areas within their business. What’s brilliant is that, in coming together with Extreme Reach, we’re in a better position than we ever have been to answer those questions and help clients cut through the complexity of today’s media landscape.”