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Lindsay Rogers
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Lindsay was once fired from a magazine, perhaps because her communication skills extend far beyond a glossy page. In fact, she knows the phonetic and fingerspelling alphabets, is an absurdly fast typer, and always up for slightly inappropriate banter.
We mean the kind of banter that makes Lindsay laugh so uproariously that everyone in the studio stops what theyâre doing to look over their monitors in astonished silence. We think it must be the same laugh that won over her imaginary friends Ali and Ixox when she was younger (it sure explains a lot).
Tristan Velasco
Co-Founder & Creative Director
With a bunch of time on ‘client side’, Tristan knew it was time to give full-time content creation a red hot go. He’s a lover of getting down to it, making a way and solving problems. Tris is all about creating cool stuff; written, typography inspired, hand drawn, painted or shot, he’s got the eye.
An early riser, soy flat white drinker and golf extraordinaire. Tris believes ideas come in many forms and that’s the complexity of our weird and wonderful brains.
Kiel Van Daal
Director of Growth
Kiel has an irrational fear of needles. But that fear competes with a stronger, rational love of tattoos: he has eight of them. He started his first business at 22 and still found time to tour Australia for seven years playing drums in a band. He dislikes chocolate which should be baffling but we secretly appreciate that it increases our share of the family-sized blocks that get passed around the studio.
Eric OâBrien
Director of Strategy
Eric credits his grey hair to spending 25 years in communications. Hey, hair pigment is worth it in the name of transforming brands, thinking creatively and innovating products. Heâs a photography nerd and a domestic zookeeper with two dogs, three cats and a stray that lives in his garden. He dislikes spreadsheets, Vegemite (!!!), and people saying thirty-three-and-a-third in bad Irish accents.
Archie De Sales
Senior Account Manager
Meet Archie. He really likes other humans, so heâd rather get on the phone or meet face-to-face than endure a convoluted email or text. Heâs been told heâs too inquisitive, but we think thereâs no such thing (…except when youâre trying to organise a surprise birthday). With seven brothers and sisters, he’s indebted to his siblings for his organisational and problem-solving skills.
Having attended the same school as Richard Branson, a place the business magnate famously disliked, Archie is unsure if his graduation is a point of pride or remorse. His favourite tree is the lemon-scented gum.
Matt Lazenbury
Brand & Content Strategist
Matt was initially destined to be an archaeologist. Inspired by Indiana Jones, he spent his childhood digging endless holes in the garden. That was, until his parents took his spade away. And, well, here he is at Chello. He’s called both London and Paris homeânot to mention an icy hole in the snow, which was his accommodation during a winter trek across subarctic Canada where he embedded himself into communities of aboriginal Canadians. On that particular expedition, the closest he came to death was not grizzly bears, wolves, or -45°C temperatures, but an angry, drunken local with a shotgun.
Amy Watson
Producer
Like all good people, Amy loves eating. At most times Amy is thinking about food or trying to find food. Thatâs also why she has the most elaborate desk pantry out of all of us.
Harbouring a profound love of music, the rest of her time is measured in gigs and songs. Her cropped fringe is perhaps a tactic to avoid pushing hair out of her eyes mid-concert? Itâs definitely been part of her identity, in fact she becomes deeply troubled if it grows even midway down her forehead. She thinks it makes her face look weird. We do wonder if sheâll keep trimming it when she eventually runs away into the mountains to live with her music and abundant pantry.
Ceri Jones
Producer
If spiders terrify you with their insistence on being present in your company, Ceri is the person to call on so that said spider can be released into a vicinity that is not your own. This makes her an asset in an office, and Australia more generally. Yet her first eighteen years of life were spent in small English towns â and London, where she hit the books at Central Saint Martins. With a fascination for the odd and macabre, her weakness is haunted houses.
She is unable to pass one without daring to enter, which may prove inconvenient at times. She is a proud parent to two rabbits, Ballet Slippers and Captain Willard. In her spare time, she can be found drawing or keeping up with her pen pal â who happens to be her grandmother.
Tahnee De Souza
Account Manager
If you’re arrested in NSW you’re entitled to contact a friend or relative and a legal representative. When you call Tahnee you kind of get two in one; she used to be a lawyer. Although sheâs fled corporate law for the Chello studio, we think hers would still be a nifty phone number to have on hand. But she has her flaws. Tahnee lacks any sense of direction and finds herself constantly lost. Yet she plans her travels around food and wine, so can probably be oriented by the promise of a meal. She justifies all absurd expenses as âan experienceâ. Which may extend to her water bills, given that she is an obsessive shower-er due to germaphobia. She can shower up to four times a day. But, hey, you don’t get to judge if youâve just been arrested.
Celina Siriyos
Senior Copywriter & Strategist
Do you have a pop cultural memory that cannot be Googled? Celinaâs is a Gregorian chant version of âGhetto Supastarâ which she heard in a Sanity near the turn of the millennium. She is unsure now if it was just an elaborate figment of her imagination or a stroke of genre-crossing genius that cannot be unearthed by the internet.
In the time between (supposedly) hearing this song and the current day Celina has managed to: kill a litany of plants, learn Japanese book-binding, and become a writer. She loves turbulence but is terrified of amusement park rides.
Sean Pointing
Senior Motion Designer
Fun fact: Sean (a UK-import) has no sense of smell. Fortunately, having no sense of smell means Seanâs other senses have developed at a Super-human rate – his eagle-eye vision in particular enables him to compose shots with pinpoint precision while his god-like hearing means he can hear like, really well. Heâs also super enthusiastic about motion graphics, typography and the monarchy (we guess).
When heâs not-not smelling things, he spends his free time riding his BMX and paddling his fishtail short-board with his unnaturally small feet. Feel free to ask Sean what things he canât smell (which spoiler alert â is everything).
Shea Bennett
Senior Camera Operator & Editor
Shea (pronounced like shea butter, not shay-ah as Tristan discovered on day one) spent a lot of time in Asia shooting fast cars and luxury brands and joined our team to capture and release killer shots. An avid lover of James Bond books as well as the movies, he enjoys the fast pace and vicariously living a scandalous lifestyle.
Between the hours of 12-2am you’ll probably find Shea with a breakfast burrito in hand, because yolo, he believes you can enjoy a breakfast burrito at any time of the day.
Vincent Power
Camera Operator & Editor
Vinny was once fired from a bar for being âtoo enthusiasticâ. Apparently this was a bar for people who like despair, sadness and the feeling of locking your keys inside your house. We happen to be enthusiasts of Vinnyâs enthusiasm.
It has resulted in him adopting cats (heâs a dog person), letting a crab escape from the Sydney Fish Markets (it was chased through the market then jumped off the pier), being a mischief maker (we may have too many of these already) and cooking fusion meals like laksa with southern fried chicken (get in line). At 14 he broke his neck while playing rugby and claims it is âone of the best things to ever happen to meâ. See? Heâs even kind of enthusiastic about breaking his neck.
Scott Windon
Senior Full Stack Developer
Scott spends his free time smoking, meat that is. He is a meat connoisseur, travelling this country of ours far and wide competing against other pros. But we think he should turn the studio into a speakeasy-style pop-up restaurant instead… He’s starred in a YouTube video that has garnered over 30 million views but it’s unclear exactly what kind of video this is. He has a dog named Thirsty and is a firm believer that the greatest band of all time is AC/DC. Fluent in six languages, he only speaks one. (Does coding humour ever get old?)
Tommy Altiparmakov
Full Stack Developer
âBatman chicâ is the interior design style that Vogue Living has neglected. At least according to Tommy and his meticulously decorated home. This is paired with his default tendency to sing Sealâs Kiss from a Rose. As avid supporters of culture and the arts we, of course, all know that this is a song intimately associated with Batman Forever.
Apart from a Batman obsessive, Tommy is a compulsive problem solver, enthusiastic gamer and⊠an unpaid ambassador of steamed bun burgers from Maccaâs. âTrust me,â he says. âAsk for it next time.â What could go wrong? (A reminder Tommyâs views are not representative of Chelloâs as an organisation.)
Sophie Taylor
Head of Design
Sophieâs secret? Sheâs 5â1â. Most people donât realise because she keeps her heels on, thank you very much. When you meet her she is likely to be hungry and thatâs the reason why she eats lunch as soon as it is socially acceptable (12:01pm, obviously).
But that doesnât mean sheâll eat just anything. She dislikes foods that canât commit to being a solid or a liquid, naming yoghurt, panna cotta and custard as perpetrators of this crime. Despite her city-dwellerâs black wardrobe, with hints of navy, sheâs a country girl. Or⊠she likes the humble sound of being a country girl. She left when she was four. But itâs still technically correct (the best kind of correct).
Natalie Wong
Senior Designer
Natalie prefers dogs to people. We know this is true because whenever we go out for lunch or drinks we’ll invariably turn around to find that Nat has somehow coaxed a dog into her arms. Luckily she has her own staffy to shower adoration on: his name is Percy â or Percival if he’s being naughty.
Nat travels for food and has had the very distinct pleasure of eating both tarantula and starfish. (She turned down the sheep’s appendage though.) It has been verified that she makes a mean chocolate meringue almond torte.
William Nghiem
Designer & Illustrator
Things Will dislikes: attention, wasted time and negativity. But he likes movies, all kinds of movies, from sappy rom coms to high-brow cinema. Will is likely to be entangled in an art, illustration, or handicraft project at any one point in time. He also claims to be quite flexible but we are yet to confirm this in an office flex-off.
He lives by the quote, âWhatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.â (And just quietly, we think it shows in his work.)
Becky Gillis
Junior Designer
Becky has two older sisters, 37 cousins and 17 aunts and uncles. Family get togethers must be frantic. And possibly the reason that Becky can eat three times her body weight at twice the advisable speed. This often results in a bout of hiccups so if youâve got a weird hiccup cure weâve got just the person to verify its effectiveness.
Having danced for eleven years she is r-e-a-d-y for any costume party that requires sequins, sparkles and feathers. She has paraglided off the Alps but remains terrified of heights.
Lillian Cassidy
Junior Designer
Controversy has a new name and itâs pronounced âLillianâ. This is a person with a passionate hate for both BBQ and tomato sauce. We are just as shocked as you are. How does she eat meat pies? Old school hot chips? But we have found it in our hearts to forgive her because she has many redeeming strengths.
For instance: always colour coordinating her earrings to her outfit, a keen talent for op-shopping, and the ability to do the splits. Having gone to uni in Melbourne it was inevitable that she would be a coffee snob, prepare for a grilling if you offer to pick up a coffee for her.
Lucy Bailey
Finance Manager
Lucy is from a big family and a small town. But if you were alive in Australia in the early naughts, youâll know of this town⊠Lucy is from the âvery exoticâ Shropshire. She originally came to Australia for a six month holiday but that was six years ago and she hasnât made plans to leave. Sheâs worked in waste management, transport and property but after three and a half years in an agency knew that this was the right industry for her. Lucy is most annoyed by slow walkers and loves any meal she doesnât have to cook. Or that comes with a wine. Better make it both.
James Horan
Senior Editorial Photographer
Say hello to James, photographer and human database of great places to eat and drink. This makes him useful on far-flung shoots, apart from his ability to take natural, modern images that evoke the personality of his subjects.
Heâs snapped for big brands and big names like, well⊠ever heard of this guy, Barack Obama? Yeah, he sounds vaguely familiar to us too. James loves lifting weights but if heâs not working you’ll likely find him in the ocean.
Rowena Clarke
Photographer
Despite her passion for all thingsâ photography related â Rowena is not a fan of Nickelbackâs âPhotographâ. But then again, nobody is. She does however enjoy The Cureâs âPictures Of Youâ and âHey Man Nice Shotâ by Filter.
Rowenaâs fascination with photography started when she saw her grandfathers wartime photographs of his time riding camels in Egypt â and has gone on to be published by titles such as The New York Home Observer and Cosmopolitan Bride. We often like to ask Rowena to look at our photographsâŠbecause every time we do it makes us laugh
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Responsible for increasing happiness, studio productivity and taking people for a walk.
