‘I made a conscious decision to step into the indie world’: Connecting Plots nabs DDB’s Kate Sheppard as new MD
Independent agency Connecting Plots has welcomed long-term DDB leader Kate Sheppard to the newly-created role of managing director.
After 20 years of executive leadership experience within the DDB network, where she worked with leading brands including McDonald’s, Wrigley, Arnott’s, Virgin Australia, Unilever, PepsiCo, and J&J, Sheppard told Mumbrella she was ready for a change.
“DDB was an incredible network, and it was an amazing place to have many chapters of my career, but I didn’t want that to be my only chapter, I felt like I had another one in me,” she said.
“I made a very conscious decision that I wanted to step into the indie world for a couple of reasons. I wanted to be somewhere where decisions are made in that room that I am in, I wanted to be with an agency where agility is what they do, not what they aspire to be, and I wanted to work directly with partners to shape the growth of the wider agency group.”
She told Mumbrella that Connecting Plots cares as much about putting creativity and imagination into every single impression, regardless of which end of the funnel its from, and that attracted her to the agency.
“Connecting Plots is really well equipped as an agency model to grow the business,” Sheppard continued. “They’re well placed as an indie to have an offering at both ends of the spectrum and they’ve got a really unique approach from their heritage as a production company.”
In the newly created role, she will be instrumental in driving the agency’s next phase of growth, leveraging her experience to deepen client relationships, inspire high-performing teams, and strengthen the agency’s integrated offering, which now includes advertising, content, brand, social, influencer, and earned media all under one roof.
CEO and founding partner of Connecting Plots, Tom Phillips, said: “Kate has a proven ability of providing steady leadership and supporting and growing the businesses of her clients.
“Having someone like Kate who can ‘connect the plots’ of our evolved offering to bring the best possible solutions to our clients will be pivotal in this next phase for our company.
“I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews from anyone who has worked with Kate and am excited to work alongside her in 2025 and beyond,” he concluded.
Sheppard joins the agency’s leading team alongside Phillips and fellow owners Dave Jansen and Sophia Kang; creative partners Matt Geersen and John Gault; strategy partner Craig Page; and creative operations director Mary Morrell.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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topics
appointment
Connecting Plots
DDB
indie
Kate Sheppard
Management
Managing director
MD
network
Tom Phillips
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