For over 20 years, Cassette has been delivering bold and impactful work that drives results for its clients. At the helm of this thriving creative, communications, and content agency is Jessica White, whose journey from client-side marketing roles with prestigious brands like Mercedes-Benz, L’Oréal Groupe Groupe, and Mirvac has uniquely shaped her leadership approach.
Since joining Cassette in 2011, Jessica has played a pivotal role in transforming the agency into a powerhouse with over 50 team members across Melbourne and Sydney, offering end-to-end services that cater to a diverse range of clients.
Taking time out of her busy schedule for our first Fat 10 of the year, White sat down with Sparrow to answer 10, very quick questions.
1. You’ve had a diverse career originally client side, so firstly why the jump to agency side and after 14 years it’s obviously been a big success?
White: Leaving my role as National Marketing Manager at 26 without a new job lined up was risky, but it was definitely by design. When I reflected on when I’d been most fulfilled and inspired as a marketer at DaimlerChrysler, L’Oréal Groupe, Mirvac and The GPT Group – it was always when I was working with various agency partners.
Collaborating with great creatives, repositioning brands, being on photoshoots with leading Australian photographers and stylists – they were absolutely my happiest days.
14 years ago, I set out to grow Cassette from a design and print studio, to a creative and communications agency. Today, we’re a team of 60, with offices in Melbourne and Sydney, one of the AFR’s Best Places to Work in our industry, and we’re privileged to work with some incredible marketers and partners.
I’m extremely proud of the agency we’ve built.
2. What I love about Cassette is your investment in people & culture. What drives this passion for developing talent & being a great place to work?
White: Our investment into building an agency that our team want to stay with, is not only good for us, but immensely valuable for our clients.
One of the biggest learnings I had from my time on the other side of the boardroom table was the importance of appointing an agency team that would be there for the long term. Constant changing of account service or creative/strategy teams is incredibly disruptive as a client.
I wanted to create an agency that strikes the balance of having a smaller, more agile private business approach, but delivering a workplace experience that people would expect within a larger organisation.
Our average tenure is more than double the industry average, and we’re proud to buck that trend.
3. As an owner/CEO, how does that influence your leadership style?
White: Whilst Cassette is privately owned, I often say in learning and development meetings with the team that success is when my role becomes redundant!
We employ ambitious individuals at Cassette, high performers who are creatively courageous but also very commercially minded. Those types of high performers need to see and experience opportunity and growth – the succession opportunities need to be there and need to be real.
Over the years I’ve been proud to see Account Executives become Group Account Directors and Production Assistants become General Managers.
Ambition is contagious, and it’s something we deeply curate at Cassette.
4. What’s keeping your clients awake at night & how will you evolve to give them a better night’s sleep?
White: The Head of Marketing at Melbourne Airport once wrote about us “Cassette can be relied upon to be up at night, thinking about the very same issues we are – a true business partner.”
There are more things keeping our clients awake than ever before, there is no one thing, what we offer at Cassette is the ability to deeply understand their business, their operating environment and be a long-term trusted partner – even if it keeps us awake at night too!
5. You are an incredible mentor & always give back; who have been your mentors that have influenced your career?
White: I was incredibly fortunate to find my first and greatest mentor in Year 7.
My principal, Di Fleming, was an absolute powerhouse. She was one of the few female principals leading a private school in those days, and quite frankly, I idolised her throughout my high school years.
Di was (and still is) a visionary. Her entrepreneurial spirit and ability to create meaningful change left a lasting impression on me and helped shape the kind of leader I aspired to be. I can still picture her walking confidently down the school halls—charismatic, compassionate, and utterly inspiring.
6. As an industry, what’s one thing you would change to make us all better?
White: As an industry, we need to address the retention issue of female senior talent.
Too often, I hear women say they’ll switch to client side when they plan to start a family. We need to make agency life as attractive, with better equality in pay and flexibility to retain top talent.
As an agency we’ve signed up to support the Five Hour Work Day movement, and because I want to show it can be done, I’ve moved to a five hour work day for term one this year to help my preppie, Izzy settle into school.
7. What’s the backstory behind the Cassette name?
White: The completely honest answer? Charlie, who founded Cassette as a printing company 24 years ago, just really liked the abstract name!
That said, it’s become the inspiration behind our agency methodology, Remixed Thinking. Music is one of the purest expressions of creativity, with its incredible diversity allowing it to resonate with people across all background.
Remixed Thinking draws on that same principle—it’s a transformative methodology designed to unlock bold, innovative solutions by blending diverse perspectives and ideas in unexpected ways.
8. With the current economic headwinds Are your client’s investing for growth this year?
White: We’re fortunate to work with a fantastic mix of international and national clients, and we’re seeing them invest in growth this year. However, I believe the definition of ‘growth’ has evolved significantly over the past four years. Growth is no longer solely about being bigger—it’s now about being stable, agile, prepared, and resilient.
I echo that sentiment in my leadership of Cassette. As an independent agency, my responsibility is to lead in a way that ensures we’ll be here for our people and clients for another 20+ years.
The era of being singularly focused on growth defined by team size or revenue is behind us. I think this shift opens the door to an exciting new chapter in business for those who recognise the opportunities this next era presents.
9. What’s one thing that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
White: My first ‘real’ job was at 13, working at a florist, and I absolutely loved it. It was such a special experience—coming into a space every day that was all about creating beautiful things and bringing joy to people.
I learned how to create quite complex floral arrangements, experimenting with colours, shapes, textures, and forms. That job sparked a lifelong love of flowers, which I still use as an outlet for my creativity today.
My retirement dream? To own a little florist and spend my days making beautiful things.
10. Important last question, do your parents know what you do?
White: Well, my mum definitely does!
She was a school teacher for most of her career, but later in life, she went back to university to study book editing and has since been the series editor for over 15 children’s books.
Over the years, whenever we’ve needed a bit of overflow or freelance writing support, Mum has stepped in to lend a hand. It’s been pretty special to have her involved in that way.