Anjana Khallouf, Thinkerbell's former national head of earned, has joined youth media company Shameless Media in a newly created managing director position.
Khallouf wrapped up at Thinkerbell last month after growing the agency's earned offering over the past two years. Prior, she spent 11 years establishing and building OMD Fuse (now Create) in Auckland and Melbourne respectively.
Khallouf said her appointment at Shameless Media is a bold and exciting step away from the agency landscape.
"Shameless is a brilliant female-founded youth media company having a huge amount of fun on the cusp of another major growth phase. I have been fangirling over their success for a number of years so this decision felt equal parts natural and exhilarating," Khallouf said.
"I can't wait to inject my media and marketing knowledge, strong leadership skills, proven business strategy experience and obsession with pop culture into the next chapter of the Shameless Media journey. This is just the kind of challenge I knew it was going to take to lure me away from agency-land."
Zara McDonald, Shameless Media co-founder, says hiring Anjana is a critical step in scaling the publication to be known as more than just the home of Shameless Podcast.
“We’ve known for a very long time that Shameless Media is about more than just Shameless Podcast and more than just Michelle and me. We wanted to bring someone into the managing director role who can mentor our young staff, spearhead strategy and enable us to do the thing we know we’re really good at: making new shows,” McDonald said.
Michelle Andrews, Shameless Media co-founder, said as soon as she and McDonald met Anj, they knew she was the person for the job.
"We intend for Shameless Media to be the most engaged-with, and therefore impactful, youth media brand in the country, and Anj’s knack for constantly having her finger on the pulse is precisely what will take us to that next level," Andrews said.
"Her marvellous reputation precedes her, and we can’t wait to have someone so talented, warm and energetic lead the team.”
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