kreate ceo dylan reed’s ten lessons from ten years at the helm of kreate.

13 Sep

In August 2024, CEO and Partner Dylan Reed celebrated 10 years at the helm of our agency. He joined as GM in 2014 and went on to become MD, then CEO and co-owner in 2018. He has been sharing his top 10 learnings from the last ten years in LinkedIn and we’ve consolidated them all here into a handy top ten!

1. Relationships are worth more than gold
I fundamentally believe that everything is done better when we work together. I have never burned a bridge in my 21 years in the industry and this means that even today Kreate is working with clients and partners who I have worked with or known since the early 2000s. Maintaining a strong network of like-minded colleagues has meant that we have continued to work together and generate reciprocal positive outcomes even as we reflect on the 'old days'.

2. Hire your replacements
Recruiting the right team is the most important part of building a cohesive culture. My goal has always been to recruit team members who I can learn from, whilst also providing them with opportunities to be mentored, grow and develop - and who will create you memory collages like this one! As a small-business owner, not just an employee, I’ve always had a goal of hiring in people who will replace and outshine me, because I know that when they feel a sense of autonomy and confidence they will feel a stronger sense of ownership in the work we do.

3. Don’t be afraid to get uncomfortable
Quitting my job at a media outlet to take a plane and a chance on the GM role at Kreate back in 2014 was probably THE most uncomfortable career move I ever made, and over the years I’ve learnt that you have to get uncomfortable in order to grow and learn.
I walked into an industry space at the original Kreate that I didn’t really know or understand and felt very out of place, but I learned so much about a whole new world and was able to infuse my own areas of expertise and interest into the business to create a whole new KREATE. If I hadn’t taken a chance and got uncomfortable away from my otherwise heavily Capricorn planned out self back in 2014, I wouldn’t be here today.

4. Get Silly
I’ve always been a fan of workplace friendship, fun and frivolity. I remember my early days at the City of Melbourne and the friendships I built there which still endure today – alongside the jokes which we still laugh about now 20 years later. As a leader, it’s important to command a level of respect and maturity, but it’s also really important to show that you can have a bit of fun.
Do the dress up costume, play Friday night board games and share in the group chat jokes – we are all humans at the end of the day and having fun is in our nature. Someone said recently our industry saves PDFs and not lives, so don’t take it all too seriously.

5. Know Your Worth

It’s very easy as a start up or a smaller sized business in the service sector to compete on price, offer discounts and undersell yourself. Now, this is not to say that pricing in a cost effective manner to win is a bad idea, but if that is underselling your value then it’s a fast race to the bottom. When you cost for your time and expertise appropriately, you will attract the sort of clients who value your knowledge and respect your advice and what you bring to their needs.

6. Build a culture that you want to work in

Having worked in a variety of workplaces - some with incredible cultures, others with terrible ones - I knew that when building Kreate I wanted to ensure that we were a culture built on values such as respect, commitment to excellence, taking responsibility, cooperation and a bit of fun. I knew that if our workplace culture was one I wanted to be in on a day to day basis, so would potential employees.

7. Get your hands dirty

In a small business, particularly one that puts on events, delivers media calls and creates content - no one is above mucking in to get the job done. I believe it’s important that if there’s something that has to get done, everyone should jump in to help. So, from time to time you may find me holding a photographer’s lighting stack, filming social content, moving boxes or sweeping floors before an event - not because it’s a career high, but because leading by example is important.

8. Carve out your niche

As an agency that delivers everything from in-store food sampling to major national PR campaigns, we pride ourselves on having a diverse skillset across integrated communications. That said, we’ve been able to really carve out our niche for communications in the hospitality, tourism, events, destinations and precincts space - giving our clients expertise and rounded knowledge to deliver success. It’s also aligned to our team’s passions and interests, which helps build great results!

9. Always be learning

I have always had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and so I am always keen to learn as much as possible. I think it’s really important to continue to expand your knowledge, especially in the marketing, communications and events space which looks nothing like it did when I first started working in 2003. Upskilling in technology, new processes and ways of doing things is great, but reading about the world, news, learning languages or studying a side skill is just as important and can often have mutual benefits to your career.

10. Be planned, but stay flexible

A lot of people have asked me ‘what does the next ten years look like’? And, the reality is I don’t have an answer to that question. I think it’s important to plan ahead, keep an eye on trends, monitor how the industry is evolving and anticipate what changes we can expect - but it’s also great to have a certain level of flexibility to where things will go. That is difficult for me to accept as an overthinking Capricorn, but it’s an important lesson I’ve become more and more accustomed to.

If you had asked me ten years ago what the last ten years was going to look like, I can guarantee it I would have got quite a few things wrong (global pandemics and such) but with an eye on the future and a good radar for where things are going you can work through most challenges and achieve great results.