Dynamic Duos: Cheek Media’s Hannah Ferguson and Kristin Perissinotto
In this week's Dynamic Duo's, Cheek Media's chief content officer, Hannah Ferguson, and chief executive officer, Kristin Perissinotto, caught up with Mumbrella to share how an unlikely friendship and a gap in the market for progressive, feminist media became the perfect storm for social and podcast-first publication, Cheek Media, to flourish.
In Dynamic Duos, Mumbrella each week asks two members of the same organisation with a professional and personal affiliation to share with readers the importance of workplace relationships in an increasingly hybridised world of work.
Hannah Ferguson:
Kristin and I met in 2019 when I began volunteering with feminist not-for-profit, One Woman Project. Kristin was actually managing my role within the organisation and over a considerable period of time and lots of hard work, I pushed my way into her incredibly closed-off friendship circle. I want to declare from the outset that this was no easy task. This was a woman who would probably cross the street to avoid even meeting the glance of someone as extroverted as me, but I wore her down and eventually cracked her open by sending her a text message about the violent diarrhoea I had on a flight from Sydney to Brisbane on the launch day of our magazine. Kristin’s friendship is a badge of honour I wear with pride every single day, because she really does hate people.
During our time volunteering together we founded, developed, and published two editions of a bi-annual magazine, RARA, for the One Woman Project. While creating this publication, we began discussing the significant gap in the market for progressive media which focusses on both feminist and political issues. Within a year we were sending essay long messages to each other on Instagram, brainstorming a media company into existence. Over the next six months we prepared to launch Cheek Media, which would have had a more unfortunate name if that decision was left to Kristin, I’d like to add.
Our relationship is built on shared social views, personal values and a concerningly well-functioning business dynamic. Our skillset, interests and personalities are contrasting, while our ambition, vision and commitment to our business is perfectly matched. Kristin is the most reliable, hardworking and angry (read: passionate) person I know. Our ongoing partnership works because we have a knack for identifying our respective wants and needs, and most importantly, inherently knowing who needs to take the wheel and who is giving off passenger vibes on every single topic or task.
Kristin is the provider of snacks, sender of calendar invitations and giver of advice that if not taken, has dire consequences. I hope we are consulting about the wording of our angry tweets for a long time to come.
Kristin Perissinotto:
Hannah and I first met volunteering together in a feminist organisation, and aside from her height, one of the things that first stuck me was how she always entered a conversation as if she was in the middle of it already. One prominent memory from our first few months of working together was when we met up one evening for a meeting and she arrived with a container of Coles deli olives in hand, which she was snacking on, and then opened up her bag to reveal one singular roll of toilet paper she had just purchased on the way to the meeting.
To the untrained eye, Hannah and I are opposites. One very tall and 98% extroverted (her), who will strike up a conversation with anybody, loves new people, and hates small talk. The other short (although still of average Australian heights thank you), completely introverted, dislikes the general public, and is good at small talk because it’s a shield for real conversation that you don’t want to have with some stranger in the lift or at (god forbid) a networking event. Suffice to say, Hannah was the one who initiated the friendship. My openness to new relationships was recently compared to a house whose windows are almost completely boarded up, and whose doors are deadbolted and rusted closed. Hannah took a crowbar to the locked door and pried her way into my life. Which is lucky, because if she hadn’t, we wouldn’t have our company, Cheek Media Co.
We agree on most things, but do thrive on debating very specific nuances, usually of political and societal topics. Our relationship is built on extreme levels of multimedia communication with each other (face-to-face, video calls, written messages, voice notes, those 20 second Messenger videos, and real-time reaction photos), and determining the ‘winner’ of an argument based on who cares the most. Hannah is the only person outside my family and partner who I can have productive disagreements with which, again, is lucky.
Hannah on Kristin:
Most memorable moment with Kristin:
The day after the federal election was one of the most significant for our business and for us personally. We were both absolutely exhausted, running only on fumes and staring burnout straight in the eye. We knew we had made a difference, and we had given so much of ourselves and seen the success of our company firsthand. We woke up early, got ready to record an episode of our podcast and basically just survived the day on satisfaction alone. I knew things were going wrong because Kristin, the most secure person I know, had a slight dilemma about whether or not to wear a full length tracksuit to record (Kristin does not engage in discussion about clothing or how anyone looks for more than 12 seconds, ever). The next fortnight was spent trying to recover from pushing our bodies and brains to the brink, but in that moment we knew we had contributed to monumental change, we also knew that this was a pivotal moment for Cheek and the future of our content. It was the happiest day of the year, but our mental health was also waning.
Best word to describe Kristin:
Doer. Kristin will always get the task ticked off in record time. She is nothing if not efficient, stable and secure. No calendar will go unmarked, no task will be left incomplete and no hard conversation will go unhad in her presence. It is both a blessing and a curse to know and work with someone who is always three notifications ahead of you.
Kristin’s most annoying habit or endearing behaviour:
Always being right, and her ongoing commitment to making sure you know it.
Kristin on Hannah:
Most memorable moment with Hannah:
The first time we were ever approached by someone who follows Cheek and listens to our podcast, we were at an event at the Sydney Opera House. We had just left the building after watching a panel session, and were arguing about one of the panellists. The way Hannah will describe it was that I was shouting into the Sydney Harbour (which I wasn’t, but I was definitely doing hand gestures) when a woman approached us to say hi. Hopefully she still listens to our content and didn’t completely write us off for being seemingly unhinged.
Best word to describe Hannah:
Aware. It’s a bit of a dull word, but Hannah is aware in every sense of the word. She knows what’s going on at all times, whether that be in international news, at a social event where the vibes are kind of off, and is extremely self aware. I often get caught up with one specific idea or plan, and attention to detail doesn’t come naturally to me, and Hannah’s awareness complements that extremely well in a business setting. And in a personal setting, it means she can detect the smallest, most imperceptible of mood changes, which makes her a really good friend.
Hannah’s most annoying habit or endearing behaviour:
Hannah is a lot more of a loose cannon than me when it comes to the small things. I am extremely routine-oriented and consistent, and Hannah doesn’t even know how to access the Google calendar invites I consistently send her. The perfect example of this difference between us is the way we each open a sleeve of Oreos. I peel open the glued edge on the top so the leftover biscuits can be sealed and stay fresh. Hannah rips the packet completely down the side so it’s never able to be resealed again, then offers it back to me as if any of those Oreos will be fit for consumption after 12 hours of being exposed to the open air.
If you and a colleague would like to submit your story to Dynamic duos, please email kwelch@mumbrella.com.au.
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topics
Cheek Media
Hannah Ferguson
Kristin Perissinotto
The Weekly Cheek
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