Meet our UK Managing Director, Will Benton-Diggins
We have some exciting news. With Will Benton-Diggins joining the team, Creative Natives are officially open for business in the UK! So whether if you’re looking to pack your bags and move your career to the UK or you want to hire creatives coming from the UK to Australia, Will’s your guy.
We sat down and spoke with Will about the UK creative industry, his favourite podcasts and whether he’s team cat or dog.
Welcome to the Creative Natives team! What’s your role here?
Thanks for the warm welcome, I’m super excited to be part of the team. I’m the Managing Director of our expansion into the UK. It’s my job to take the amazing brand that has already been built in Australia and use my industry experience to bring it to life for creatives in the UK.
What do you bring to Creative Natives and the industry?
I spent 15 years working in design, art direction and marketing roles inside agencies and start ups – so I’ve been on the other side of the fence and know what to look for when hiring great talent. Plus I have many tips for what to do (and not to do) to move your career to the next step – speaking from experience here!
What drew you to Creative Natives?
There’s so much I love about Creative Natives, but here are my top three reasons:
- Creating genuinely useful content and using our communities to help promote brands and creatives is so rewarding for me
- The opportunity to meet people and build trusted and lasting relationships is exciting and fulfilling
- Being part of a company that puts ethics and values as a top priority is always going to be a place I want to work
What’s something that Australian creatives heading to the UK to work should know?
One of the benefits of Creative Natives having offices in both Australia and the UK is that we can work together to provide opportunities to help creatives move between the two countries. The creative industry here is thriving, from London to Manchester, Birmingham to Leeds. There are so many great agencies and independent brands creating world-class creative work.
One thing you will notice as an Australian coming to the UK is the size. Compared to Australia, the UK is tiny, but London is huge and takes forever to navigate! From top to bottom, the UK is less than 1500km but driving across London (60km) can take two hours.
Do you have any career advice for creatives?
Put yourself out there as much as possible and speak and network with people – it’s never too late to build a personal brand. Also, make sure you don’t just focus on where you want to be, but enjoy the journey of getting there.
If you could be a guest on any podcast, what would it be and why?
I’m a huge fan of the Secret Leaders podcast by Dan Murray-Serter. It gives a behind the scenes look at inspirational leaders building and scaling their businesses. I’d love to chat with Dan and hopefully one day, be invited on to talk about Creative Natives’ entrepreneurial approach to the recruitment industry!
For a bit of lighthearted fun, I also really enjoy Parenting Hell with Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett. In this perfectly curated world that we live in, it’s nice to hear some honesty about the difficulty of parenting, but also how to not take things so seriously. Josh & Rob are hilarious, so I would love to chat about parenting nightmares with them.
What are you watching/reading/listening to right now?
Watching – I recently finished ‘The Offer’, a dramatised series based on the production of the original Godfather film. It’s such an interesting story and one of those series that has gone under the radar.
Reading – On the back of the recent news of Patagonia founder Yven Chouinard giving his business away to help fight the climate crisis, I’m rereading his book ‘Let My People Go Surfing’ about the birth and early days of the business.
Listening to – In anticipation of the new Arctic Monkey’s album, I’ve been listening to a lot of their old stuff. Oh, and Self Esteem, she was probably my favourite act at Glastonbury this year, so I’ve listened to her a lot since then.
Cats or dogs?
100% dogs for me. I always had dogs growing up and love how needy and affectionate they are. We’ll have one of our own eventually, once the kids and I can persuade my partner.
What’s the best holiday you’ve been on?
When my daughter was 6 months old, we took a trip to Australia for a wedding and stopped off in Bali for three weeks on the way home. The people there were very friendly and had so much time and affection for our daughter. Plus the views and landscapes were just incredible.
Do you have a hidden talent?
I would love to say yes, but any talent I have is wide out in the open.
Want to chat with Will about how he can help your career or business? Get in touch – will@creativenatives.uk (just remember the time difference!).