ACDs Shy Ganglani and Seamus Fagan Lead Run of Leo Hires

Associate creative director pair Shyaire (Shy) Ganglani and Seamus Fagan head up a brigade of new creative talent coming through Leo Australia’s doors.

Having previously worked with Shy and Seamus, the agency’s Melbourne-based executive creative director, Hilary Badger, told LBB she is happy to reunite with the pair.

“As a team, Shy and Seamus have been collaborators of mine for a few years now; Seamus for even longer,” Hilary said.

“I trust them to deliver great creative thinking, well crafted, which is why I was so happy to be reunited with them in my new(ish) role at Leo. Not only are they whip smart, they're great relationship builders. Seamus’s self-designed t-shirt wardrobe is a marvel. And as for Shy, working with a stand-up comedian and performance poet is exactly how you’d expect it’d be – always very creative and surprising.”

A multi-disciplinary copywriter, Shy plies her trade as a poet, a spoken word artist, and a stand-up comic, which has taken her to Dubai, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, and Madrid.

Her advertising career spans the Middle East and Australia, having worked with brands including Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Tourism Abu Dhabi, Dubai Tourism, Tourism Australia, and multiple automotive clients.

Shy has also hosted UNESCO’s Slam-O-Vision, raising funds through Poets for Palestine, and performed poetry at the closing show of Melbourne Fashion Week 2024. Outside adland, she is a published poet and editor at Mavens Mag.

She has also spent more than 18 months as a mentor with Assisterhood, a program aiming to address representation imbalance among communications professionals across Australia and New Zealand.

With work blending heartbreak with sharp social commentary, she’s working on a poetry anthology, a memoir, and a screenplay with the support of a Creative Australia grant.

Seamus has experience as a designer, art director, and now associate creative director.

Seamus has spent over 15 years in advertising, across agencies including Ogilvy, Clemenger BBDO, and Thinkerbell.

Pivoting to design and art direction after starting in biological science, Seamus has worked with brands including KFC, Coca-Cola, Dan Murphy’s, BMW, Lion, RMIT, La Trobe, ANZ, Nintendo, Microsoft, Nokia, IBM, Powerade, AFL, and BING.

Leo Australia also confirmed the appointment of senior copywriter Tatsuki Kamekawa, who joined from INNOCEAN in February, and Baxter Atkins, joining from CHEP in March.

Madeleine Batkin-Walkerden, also formerly of CHEP, also joined the agency in March as senior art director.

Founder of the Deni Dictionary -- billed as the Australian Urban Dictionary -- Lyndon Christie, also joined in February as a copywriter. Leo further bolstered its creative team with the hires of Geraldine (Gerry) Buzzo as conceptual designer, Hanna Grant as art director, Joey Phillips as junior art director, and Mae Phillips as junior copywriter.

Hilary joined in April to head up the Melbourne creative department, while Tim Woolford and Tommy Cehak were promoted to co-ECDs in Sydney.

Recently, the trio told LBB the agency is experiencing a moment of excitement and energy.

“It’s a testament to what the market is seeing, and there's a sense that Leo is a place to go to get some of the best work of your career out the door and made,” Tim said.

“We’re not a creative department, we’re a creative agency. We’re balancing ambition with the culture of a creative agency.”