In this series, we’re taking a look at some of the most creative faces in Melbourne with some help from our friend Kathleen Gunther, who partners with independent agencies across Australia and New Zealand to scale their brand presence and drive sustainable growth. This week, we spoke with James Richardson, the founder of Optimising.
1. How long have you been in Melbourne? If you weren’t born here, did you choose it or did it choose you?
I grew up in Greensborough and have moved around a fair bit since: Carlton, Ascot Vale, Moonee Ponds and Montmorency, plus a few short stints overseas. Every time I’ve been away, I’ve come back more convinced I couldn’t live anywhere else long term.
The tech scene has come a long way since we started Optimising in 2008. The food never runs out, there’s sport on most nights, and it’s a great place to bring up kids. I’m also a Melbourne Demons fan, so patience is something I’ve had plenty of practice at.
2. What’s the most Melbourne thing about the way you or your team works?
We work out of West Richmond, and the most important meeting of the day usually happens at Trenery Tuckshop. It’s a little gem, and if an idea is stuck, the fix is normally a coffee there.
Most of the team lives in the inner city and rides, walks or jumps on the train to get in. Our bike rack does more work than the car park. That suits the kind of people we hire. They like being part of the city, not just commuting into it.
3. Who in the local industry has shaped the way you think about leadership or doing business? Tell us about them.
Simon Goodrich and Andrew Apostola, the co-founders of Portable.
We work alongside them and share a few clients, so I’ve seen how they operate up close. They’ve been at it since 2006 and have built Portable into an agency doing serious work in areas like legal, mental health and education. That’s not the easy route, and they’ve done it with a great team and their values intact.
What’s stuck with me most is how generous they’ve been with their time. They’ve shared how they handle clients and workflows, and when we’ve been through bigger organisational change, they’ve been a sounding board for that too. They’ve never treated us like competition. It’s something I try to pay forward.
4. What’s got you most excited about where the industry is heading locally?
Melbourne is quietly becoming a really interesting place for AI.
Search is our world, and it’s changing faster than at any point since I started. People are getting answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode instead of scrolling through Google. For an Search agency, that’s either terrifying or exciting. We’ve chosen exciting.
What excites me more is what’s happening beyond search. Local teams are building genuinely new products and apps with AI, not just bolting a chatbot onto something old. Melbourne doesn’t always shout about this stuff, but the work is happening here.
5. If you were a Melbourne walk-up song, what would it be and why?
Crowded House, Four Seasons in One Day.
It’s the most accurate description of working in search right now. Sunny at 9am, an algorithm update by lunch, and AI has changed everything again by 5pm.
Kathleen Gunther is the founder of Gunther Consulting, partnering with independent agencies across Australia and New Zealand to scale their brand presence and drive sustainable growth. With expertise spanning digital marketing, brand strategy, PR and communications, she brings the pragmatism, specialist connections and industry know-how to help agencies market their most important client — themselves. Kathleen also serves as a Board Member of AWIA, actively shaping Australia’s digital landscape and championing inclusivity in the industry.
