Once a WINR, always a WINR: Senior Commercial Manager, Graeme, looks back on his 15-year career 

In Australia and the UK today, the average employment tenure is just over three years – the US is slightly higher at just over four. WINR’s Senior Commercial Manager, Graeme Hutchison, is far from average.  

Having met WINR’s co-founders Malcolm (MT) and Marcelo (Celo) back in 2009, after arriving from the UK with little more than a backpack, Graeme is now preparing to celebrate 15 years working with the duo. Here he share some of the things he’s experienced along the way:

“I started working with Celo and MT at the very first of their three start-up ventures, RDP, back in 2009, doing paper-based lead gen. For those of you too young to remember, this was when brands marketed their products or services by buying space in envelopes. It was the start of an innovative new insert channel in the Australian market and my first experience working closely with the guys. I was so impressed by their work ethic, achievements and values that I followed them to their second venture, Cohort, a couple of years later. During my six-year tenure, I became responsible for Cohort’s commercial growth and stayed until the company was sold in 2017.

Despite a couple of years at another data-driven consultancy, in 2019 I rejoined MT and Celo when they kicked off their third venture, WINR. Ultimately, what brought me back was good people.”

Genuine culture from the top down

“This year marks five years at WINR and 15 years working with the guys. Why so long? Well, the very (very!) short answer is, I’m happy. This, in the most part, has been driven by MT and Celo who started all three of their companies with clear goals of what they wanted to achieve, the environment they wanted to do it in and the culture they wanted to nurture. They put the foundations in place from day one and I haven’t seen them waiver off course yet.

Celo has a huge personality and an even bigger heart, while MT is incredibly knowledgeable and supportive: he’s exactly who you want next to you when you need a solution. On a personal level, both have been an incredible support over the years since my son was born with significant health issues.“

Investing in growth, rewarding loyalty

“Day-to-day, I get challenged by the founders, the team and our clients and that helps keeps me focused. Trust is embedded in the whole team, and everyone is exposed to business frameworks, which means we all understand the common cause we’re working towards. It’s a refreshing level of transparency that helps keep the team engaged.

The evolution of a fast-growing industry and WINR’s speed of global growth – particularly across US, UK, Asia – has also made me think outside the box. WINR continues to invest in my training, travel and conference opportunities to grow my skills, enabling me to adapt my approaches to different industry landscapes and cultures.”

Bigger team, without the growing pains

“In my experience, building a cohesive workforce is down to finding the right team members: individuals who buy into the idea that creating and maintaining a positive culture requires effort from everyone. You can’t play tennis unless you return serve.

Over the last few months, we’ve grown fast and have a team of over 20 fantastic people. Growing at speed could have easily rocked the boat but I’m happy to report the biggest change has been the volume of dumplings we now consume!“

Finding common ground

“Sports and dogs are probably the two main talking points in the office! I’m coach to my kids’ soccer and softball teams and a huge Bradford City fan. There’s a lot of footy supporters in the team, but one person’s experience really stuck with me over the last couple of years. Software engineer, Leon, didn’t have his own team when he joined us, but after only a few months of throwing himself into our team culture he became the biggest Parramatta Eels supporter! We’re fortunate to have people who not only contribute to culture inside and outside the office but also actively lean into each other’s hobbies.

Over the years, WINR has become synonymous with dogs! Aside from little Yeebo, Oscar and Chips who wander around the office most days I have also raised two guide dog puppies. Yoda is now a fully qualified guide dog who supports a young female student and Bowie is a therapy dog.

After 15 years, it’s fair to say the evolution of my career, under the mentorship of supporting founders, is completely intertwined with my personal journey of achieving Australian residence and bringing up a family. So, to my ex-colleague, Maeve Dunn, who sent my CV to MT back in 2009 – thank you.”