It was recently announced that B&T’s 30 Under 30 Awards, presented by Vevo, has returned in 2027 with a Y2K twist.
To celebrate the Awards which crowns the trailblazers in the advertising, marketing and media industries, we are sitting down with the 2026 winners to discuss their triumphs, their planned trajectory and what the industry should be focusing on more.
The first cab off the rank is none other than the Grand Prix winner and proud Wonnarua–Gringai woman Nikyah Hutchings. This media superstar also took home the Media Sales/Account Management category on the night.
Hutchings is already setting the pace at NITV and equally setting examples of how we can all better serve Indigenous and First Nations audiences with smart storytelling, partnerships and cultural sensitivity and inclusion.
Hutchings is NITV’s first executive producer of commercial and sponsored content, a new role that combines storytelling, communications, community impact and commercial thinking. She leads NITV’s commercial content portfolio, a role that would keep most people busy enough. But Hutchings also voices a weekly national weather segment that centres Indigenous knowledge systems and she is a contributor to SBS’ (parent company of NITV) Australia Explained series.
This year, for the first time, we’ve partnered with Gumtree to give you a behind-the-scenes sneak peak at how to win one of these most coveted of awards.
She discussed with B&T why First Nations people should be involved with the whole campaign and not just featured in it, how the Awards gave her a platform to help amplify her important work and how she plans on giving people opportunities she didn’t see when growing up.
B&T: After winning a 30 Under 30 Award, where do you see yourself in 3, 13 and 30 years’ time?
Nikyah Hutchings: In three years, I hope I’m still making work I care about, but on a bigger scale, producing, developing and hopefully being in front of the camera more too. I’d love to be telling stories that bring people together and open doors for other First Nations and regional creatives.
In 13 years, I hope I’ve helped build something that lasts: a platform, a team or a body of work that gives people opportunities I didn’t always see growing up. I want to be in a position to back good ideas and the people behind them.
In 30 years? Hopefully I’m still curious, still having fun and still making things. I’d love to look back and know that I helped make this industry a place where the next generation doesn’t have to fight quite so hard to belong.
B&T: Why did you choose to enter the Awards?
NH: I entered the awards because I wanted to put myself and my work forward to a wider audience. I’ve been really lucky to have people who believe in what I do, but I also wanted to reach people who hadn’t had the chance to see that work yet.
Six months on, winning the B&T 30 Under 30 Grand Prix has helped give it my work that visibility. It’s opened up real conversations with people I might not otherwise have had the chance to meet and yarn with, and I’m grateful for that.
B&T: What would you do differently if you were to enter the Awards again?
NH: I’m still figuring that out. It’s easy to look back after winning and say I wouldn’t change a thing, but I think I’d give myself more credit for the work before anyone else had validated it. The award means a lot to me, but the work mattered before I won, too.
B&T: What’s one issue the industry should be spending more time on and why?
NH: Who gets to be part of the commercial opportunity behind the stories we tell.
We talk a lot about representation, and that matters, but we need to see more First Nations people involved from the start- as creatives, producers, decision-makers and partners, not just as the people featured in a campaign. When the communities you’re trying to reach have a say in the work and share in the opportunities it creates, the storytelling is stronger and the impact goes further.
Has Hutchings’ motivated you to be amplify your work? Enter the 2027 30 Under 30 Awards here.
