Trudi Sampola has been appointed to the newly created role of national head of people for independent agency Hero.
Sampola joins the agency’s senior leadership team alongside founder Ben Lilley and chief operating officer James Greet.
She brings two decades of experience to the role and joins the agency having previously worked at carsales as group marketing manager and marketing transformation director.
Sampola was previously a communication strategist Naked London, followed by a stint at OMD Australia as a communication strategist then strategy director.
She also worked at Ikon Communications in Melbourne as managing director and national chief talent officer. Sampola was also talent director at CHE Proximity.
Trudi Sampola said of her appointment: “There are moments in life when you know you are in the right place with the right people getting the chance to do work you love. Joining Ben, James and the awesome team at Hero is 100% that.
“With our clear focus on bringing Borderless Creativity to life with our people, my whole focus is on helping to build the mortar amongst us and make sure we all have what we need to do the best work of our lives together in a place we all love working in. Simple!”
Greet added: “I’m fortunate to have known Trudi for almost two decades now since we first worked together at OMD. She is super qualified for this role as a leader who’s an experienced strategic marketing professional, a passionately curious collaborator who knows how to get the best out of a team, as well as being loved by children and small animals alike.”
“The unique benefits of our national offering, integrated under our philosophy of Borderless Creativity, have been embraced over the past 12 months by flagship clients like Toyota, Topo Chico, Maybelline and v2food. And have seen Hero rank in the top agencies at the Australian and APAC Effies.
He added: “We’re excited to now have the benefit of Trudi’s expertise to lubricate the wheels of Borderless Creativity through our people as we continue to grow and develop our integrated creative, media and technology teams and offerings.”