Dynamic Duos: UM’s Anathea Ruys and Mediabrand’s Mark Coad
In this week’s Dynamic Duos, UM Australia CEO Anathea Ruys and IPG Mediabrands CEO Mark Coad share a strong industry friendship that has seen the pair continue to cross paths over the past decade or so.
Anathea Ruys:
The first real memory I have of meeting Coady was when the Omnicom Group was helping me to move back to Australia from New Zealand. He had just taken on the role of CEO at CHE and needed a Managing Director to support him. We spoke on the phone and immediately clicked. He was engaging, warm, funny and had a clear sense of what he wanted the company to become. We worked together at CHE for around 18 months and I learned so much from him over that time. I saw then, and have continued to see over the years, his innate ability to connect with people. Sometimes I struggle to find the right words to describe this talent that Coady has…put simply he just knows people deeply because he genuinely cares about them. It’s not about him being networked, it’s just his ability to connect in so many ways and as a result he seems to know what people need and he helps them achieve their personal and professional goals, without being overt.
