In this week’s Fast 10, our very own Greg ‘Sparrow’ Graham chatted with Think HQ‘s founder and managing director Jen Sharpe about bringing the B Corp agency to life and seeing it through to 15 years.
Sharpe’s personal values reflect in the values of Think HQ—the business is dedicated to projects that result in positive change and it works closely with clients from all sectors who want to do good.
In 2019, Think HQ acquired multicultural communications and community engagement consultancy CultureVerse, operating as the agency’s specialty arm for diverse communications. Its focus on multiculturalism is something that the agency has continued to strengthen—its 100+ staff speak 37 languages and come from 21 countries.
Sharpe is a 2021 B&T Women in Media Entrepreneur winner and a winner of the Executive Leader Award at the 2020 B&T Awards.
1. You’ve had an outstanding, diverse career, from publishing, social marketing to now, founder/MD of Think HQ. If you had to pick only one, what would be your career highlight so far?
Jen Sharpe: Last year we celebrated Think HQ’s 15th year with over 100 staff, two acquisitions under our belt, a B Corp certification and a growing Sydney office. I was pretty proud of all that coming together in a milestone year.
The other highlight was handing in my resignation at my old job 15 years ago knowing that by hook or by crook, I was going to realise the vision of Think HQ – as terrifying as it was.
2. You have just launched a Sydney office. Why was this essential, and have specific clients driven this?
JS: When I originally started a small Think HQ team in Sydney back in 2022, it was not of a strategic move, but out of necessity. After covid, I struggled to find quality candidates to hire – where did everyone go?? Anyway, it became apparent pretty quickly that unless I doubled down in investment, a small Sydney offshoot of the Melbourne team wasn’t going to be sustainable, which is why we acquired Loud in 2024.
While people will tell you that remote work means you can be based anywhere, I’ve found that unless there are Sydney people working on Sydney clients, it doesn’t really work. Me coming up every few weeks with some jazz hands didn’t work – everyone knew I was a Melbourne founder just testing the waters in Sydney. Ever since our Sydney director Sarah Wood stepped into the role to lead, everything has changed for the better.
I always wanted to prove to myself that the Think HQ business model could scale in a different market and so far, so good!
3. You have achieved excellent growth and continue to thrive. Can you please share why … you must be super proud?
JS: We have sustained pretty amazing growth for 15 years, with no external capital or debt. To me, it comes down to having a crystal clear and unrelenting vision, a strong strategy, a unique differentiation in the market and most importantly, a genuine commitment to looking after the humans who work at Think HQ. It’s all about the people. I’ve been dismayed at our industry’s blind acceptance that AI will reduce jobs – I will fight to retain who we have, and to add some more!
4. As a young girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?
JS: Funnily enough, I wanted to make a positive difference, and I wanted to run a business. I didn’t grow up in ideal circumstances, and I desperately wanted agency over my own life to make positive choices for myself as well.
5. Years ago, you championed diversity and acquired CultureVerse , why was it one of the best decisions you have ever made?
JS: I’ve been working with the Scanlon Foundation on their Mapping Social Cohesion Research since 2007 – which means I’ve been across migration patterns at a detailed level for a long time. I knew that if we as an agency couldn’t communicate to new migrants, then we wouldn’t be able to effectively communicate to all Australians.
The acquisition of CultureVerse was the best business decision I ever made, not just because Jess Billimoria and Loc Trinh are such great people, but because it created a business and cultural revolution within Think HQ. It widened our lens not just externally about who we could talk to and how, but internally we have become incredibly diverse. Currently, we speak 37 languages and come from 21 countries. It has also led not to just a really strong offer in the multicultural campaign space, but a thriving in-house language services team too. It’s been amazing.
6. As an industry, what’s one thing you would change to make us all better?
JS: Can I make it 2?!
I would attract and recruit top talent from everywhere. The industry lacks diversity in all its forms, but diversity of people leads to diversity of thought and creativity – which I consider to be a competitive advantage.
I’d also love to elevate the dialogue about ethics in the industry. I’ve questioned for years why each of the large agencies has on their roster an alcohol client, a gambling client and then a large NFP service provider that helps people with gambling or alcohol problems! It doesn’t make sense, but my argument has always fallen on deaf ears. It’s an inconvenient truth that needs to be interrogated.
7. What are the current growth challenges for your clients, and how is Think HQ driving effective solutions?
JS: Our government and corporate clients are all facing the same challenges. How to communicate across such disparate channels, and how to communicate to newer Australians who have different cultural influences and/or who speak a language other than English at home.
We solve these challenges via through the line multi-channel solutions, and campaign work that takes into account cultural and language requirements from the beginning. We don’t separate out mainstream and multicultural – because Australia is multicultural.
8. What’s the one current project that showcases your best work and delivered on client results/sales?
JS: There’re heaps, but the results from our recent national recruitment advertising campaign for the AFP, is just too big not to showcase. We pitched and won the AFP account based not just on our strategic and creative capability, but on our experience in reaching a more diverse candidate pool – in particular, women and people from multicultural backgrounds.
Our inclusive strategy, creative and production led to an incredible +79 per cent increase in applications when comparing the 2025 campaign period to the same period in 2024. Female, multicultural and First Nations applications all saw an increase when compared to the same time last year.
Overall confidence in the AFP also saw a slight directional increase in the proportion of Australians who claim they have high confidence in the AFP, increasing from 64 per cent to 67 per cent, which is pretty good given the overall decline in trust in institutions more broadly.
9. What’s one thing that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
JS: I LOVE Below Deck – the reality TV show, and I also love miniature trains. I dragged my kids to a miniature train show last year and while they were bored, I had the best time!
10. Important last question: Do your parents really know what you do?
JS: Absolutely not! My Dad just worries about how I manage to pay everyone but not much beyond that, and my Mum will sometimes hear something on the ABC radio and ask if I had something to do with it. I gave up years ago trying to explain it, and they gave up years ago asking the questions!
