Meet the team
Ryan Kelly
Founder/Director
Having started Creative Natives in 2019, Ryan's role involves working with clients to make them better places to work and helping steer the careers of Executive level talent. Outside of work, you'll find Ryan trying various sports and activities in an attempt to keep the dad bod at bay, hanging out by the beach and pretending to have some form of wine knowledge.
Callum Senior
Managing Director, Australia, specialising in Digital Marketing / Social Media / Content & Copywriting / Sales / Senior Creative roles
Callum started in the recruitment industry in March 2020 - what a time to start! Despite the tumultuous beginning, he fell in love with the work and the industry, and it shows in his candidate & client care. When he's not working, you can find him at the gym, watching sports (Every. Sport. Imaginable), running around the Tan and greeting all the dogs of Melbourne.
Kristen Gallagher
General Manager
Kristen brings 17 years’ experience across sales, strategy, people management, client service and running her own recruitment business, and funnels this wealth of experience into helping people and teams achieve their professional and personal goals. Outside of work, you can find her down at Phillip Island on the weekends with her family and Tully the Kelpie, or curled up on the couch on a Friday night watching her favourite reality TV series (or the mighty Dees) with a glass of red.
Charlotte Flood
Director - PR & Communications, specialising in PR / Communications roles
Charlotte has over nine years' of specialist experience recruiting in the PR & Communications space and works across both agency and in-house roles at all levels in Sydney. She has a real passion and huge drive to help people in their careers. Outside of work, you'll find her spending time with her young family, outside in nature or on the beach in Bondi. She loves to travel and enjoys catching up with friends for food over a nice glass of wine.
Steph Graham
Senior Consultant, specialising in Account Services / Advertising / Marketing roles
Steph has been working in recruitment for four years and specialises in the advertising, marketing & PR space. She started her career in PR & marketing, but soon found her passion for helping others find their dream career. In her spare time, you can find her running around the park with her dog Rosie, eating pasta and improving her intellect by watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Cameron McKay
Senior Consultant, specialising in Product Management / Delivery / Strategy roles
Cam has nearly ten years' recruitment experience in both the UK and Australia and is a specialist digital transformation consultant. An avid DJ in his spare time, he is always making sure people are having a good time whether that's behind the decks or at his desk!
Lilian Yessayan
Senior Consultant, specialising in Social Media / Account Services roles
Lilian has over seven years' experience in the recruitment industry. Having previously worked agency and client side for over five years, she is passionate about helping candidates and clients find their perfect fit. Outside of work, you may find her supporting and prepping couples as a birth doula, singing and gigging at weddings or pubs and running around her two little ones.
Mikhaila Warburton
Senior Consultant, specialising in Creative / Design / UX / UI roles
Mikhaila brings over 15 years working in agency recruitment across Australia. She is super passionate about the design and creative sector after running her own coaching business for return to work parents and experiencing what it is like creating creative content for the business. She's a mum to two girls, an advocate for return to work parents and a self confessed affirmation and mindset junkie who you'll likely find on Coogee Beach in sunny Sydney.
Holly Redden
Consultant, specialising in Product Management / Delivery / Strategy roles
Irish native Holly has over four years' experience in the HR sector, in both in-house and agency recruitment roles. She's passionate about helping clients and candidates find the right fit, both culturally and skills-wise. In her spare time, you'll find Holly checking out all of the tourist and food hot spots in Sydney, admiring every dog she sees and having the craic with her friends.
Dakota Middleby
Consultant specialising in PR / Communications roles
Dakota has been in recruitment for over a year, working in the PR & Communications space across Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland. She may come across as a bit of a chatterbox on the phone, but that’s just because she cares deeply about getting to know you and what makes your creative heart sing. Outside of work, you'll find her in the pilates studio mastering the art of balance and strength or at the beach, diving into a good book.
Teegan Elliott
Consultant specialising in Creative / Design / UX / UI roles
Teegan brings four years of creative recruitment expertise working in Australia and the UK. She specialises in the Design and Creative space and is passionate about building a pool of reliable freelancers for clients who need ad-hoc support. She gained the travel bug when she moved to London in 2016 and also enjoys pretending to know how to ski (mainly there for the apres), reading, soaking up nature and staying active with pilates.
Avantha Jayasinghe
Junior Consultant, specialising in Marketing / Design / Digital roles
Hailing from the sunny, wet island of Sri Lanka, Avantha brings plentiful experience in recruitment and ops. When he's not scheduling interviews or sourcing talent, you'll find Avantha binge watching documentaries on the Middle East or rushing the badminton court!
Venice Dumagan
Junior Consultant, specialising in Social Media / Content / Creative roles
Ven has almost six years' of recruitment experience across various tech, medical and software businesses in the Philippines and the US. In her spare time, she watches a bunch of commentary and analysis videos on fashion, memes, movies, tv shows and music. She lives vicariously through people whose motto is ``another day, another slay``.
Leah Kmiec
Content Marketing Specialist
Definitely not a recruiter, Leah is a marketing and communications professional with over eight years' experience, mainly in the not-for-profit space. A self-confessed sports nut, she spends a lot of time yelling at the TV whenever there's a netball game on or her beloved Collingwood are playing, loves a good book and is obsessed with travel. Just ask her, she'll help you plan your next holiday!