Hearts & Science’s MD Liz Wigmore harnesses over 20 years of media experience across News Corp, MCN, Foundation and now Hearts & Science. Holding the MD role since June of 2024, she played a pivotal role of transitioning Foundation Australia into the Hearts & Science banner without losing the heart of the agency’s clients.
In this week’s Fast 10, Wigmore and B&T’s very own Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham delve into the importance of a work life balance, creating emotional connection between brands and people and challenging the normalisation of burnout.
1. You’ve had a brilliant career, from starting at News Corp, MCN, Foundation, and now MD Hearts & Science. If you had to pick only one, what would be your career highlight so far?
Liz Wigmore: Honestly, it’s not a single role or title – it’s leading Hearts & Science through two major integrations without losing our ‘heart’ or our clients.
Building something stronger through change – and watching people grow with it – has been the most rewarding part of my career.
2. The Agency has a blue-chip client list, e.g., Diageo, Viva Energy, HSBC , LG, etc. What’s the current work that best illustrates your combination of Emotion & Data or Heart & Science?
LW: Our 2025 cultural study, Change of Heart, with The Lab is a brilliant example.
It focused on understanding the cultural throughlines shaping Australian households – not just what people are doing, but how they’re feeling during a period of real social and economic change.
Importantly, we didn’t treat this as standalone research. We embedded the insights into how we plan and make decisions for clients, translating emotional understanding into evidence-based strategy and planning. This informed audience strategy, messaging and channel investment.
For me, that’s Heart & Science in action – moving beyond trendspotting to a deeper understanding of what truly shapes how people think, feel and choose.
3. How do you foster the right environment so that your talent feels motivated, nurtured, and drives innovative client solutions?
LW: First is fair and sustainable commercials with our client partners. That ensures teams are designed properly with the right capability and craft mix to deliver the work.
Second is culture. We’re intentional about creating and protecting an agency environment that is happy, safe and positive. We genuinely believe healthy work life balance matters, because rested people do their most exceptional and creative work.
Third is market leading craft. We have brilliant minds who are constantly focused on growth driven communications planning. The tools and data are there – but it’s having the mental capacity and headspace to activate them well that ultimately delivers standout work for our clients.
4. As a young girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?
LW: Probably not the standard answer – I was very unwell as a child, and for a long time there was real uncertainty about what growing up would look like for me.
So honestly, what I wanted most was simply to be healthy.
5. I love that your strategy director is also a behavioural change officer. Is that unique to your agency, and how did that evolve from the regular job role?
LW: Yes – and very intentionally so.
The chief strategy and behaviour change officer role is a very Hearts expression of how we think about growth. Strategy at Hearts is about creating emotional connection between brands and people – understanding not just what audiences do, but why they feel and behave the way they do.
Behaviour change elevates that thinking further, applying evidence-based behavioural science to design interventions that genuinely shift behaviour in measurable ways.
Together, the two crafts ensure our work connects emotionally and drives real-world outcomes – which is exactly where Heart & Science comes to life.
6. As an industry, what’s one thing you would change to make us all better?
LW: Stop normalising burnout.
Looking after people isn’t a soft issue; it’s one of the strongest commercial levers we have as an industry. Find yourself a workplace that is people first.
7. What are the current challenges for your clients, and how are you driving growth?
LW: Most clients are navigating fragmented attention, economic pressure, and increasing expectations of accountability.
We help by simplifying the system: connecting brand and performance, aligning data to decision-making, and focusing investment where it genuinely drives both short- and long-term growth.
8. What’s the best career advice you’ve been given?
LW: From leaders and coaches: “know what you’re good at – and own it”.
From my mum: “make good decisions”. It’s simple, evergreen advice that applies to every stage of life and career.
9. What’s one thing that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
LW: I’m an introvert who leads in extroverted rooms. I get my energy from thinking and listening – not from being the loudest voice in the room.
My top five strengths – harmony, restorative, relator, responsibility and empathy.
They don’t always show up on LinkedIn, but they absolutely show up in how I lead and how I build teams.
10. Important last question: Do your parents really know what you do?
LW: That made me laugh.
No.
They would say I work in advertising and make people want to buy things.
Which is… not entirely wrong.
