Welcome to My Net Worth, our regular column on the lives and motivations of our country’s top business, legal and political people in their own words.
Justin Mowday is one of New Zealand’s most senior advertising executives. A former CEO of creative agency DDB – where he led a team of 270 – he was hired by advisory giant Accenture this year to lead its New Zealand advertising business, The Monkeys. Since studying for a bachelor of business degree at AUT, majoring in marketing, Mowday has worked for some of the region’s biggest ad firms, including TBWA and Saatchi & Saatchi. At The Monkeys, he is leading attempts to merge the advisory expertise of Accenture with the skills of a traditional creative agency, amid an ongoing shift in the global advertising industry.
My mum’s family is from Bluff and my dad’s from Wellington, but I grew up in Glenfield, Auckland. I was lucky enough to have a loving household, even if we were short of a bob.
My father was in public relations, but I didn't know what advertising was. I discovered my career entirely by luck, but I was probably always destined to go in that direction. At school, I was better at English and geography than science, and got involved in the debating team.
I ended up doing some work experience with my uncle in Wellington. He drove a Porsche and worked at a great advertising agency called Goldsack Harris Thompson. I just thought that was pretty cool. I'd found the industry I wanted to work in. Unfortunately, it's as shallow as that. But I’m one of the lucky ones to have fallen into an industry I genuinely love.
Justin Mowday in 1992.
My biggest achievement is starting The Monkeys Aotearoa and leading Accenture Interactive in New Zealand. It’s scarily amazing. I’m blown away by the smarts and depth at Accenture and the support we’ve had. It’s a chance to put into practice all the things we believe in, and so far, that’s working.
When I look back on my career, I definitely have a few regrets, but if I dwell on them too much, it’ll stress me out. So I try to look at them as learning moments, take the lessons and move forward. The key is not to repeat the mistake, right?
Like a lot of people, especially in lockdown, I juggle things as best I can. My wife is also trying to work, so we’re both trying to entertain and grow a little four-year-old and spend time with and guide our 14- and 16-year-olds, who are kindly helping us with the four-year-old. If anyone’s cracked a magic code on this, please give me a bell.
I’ve always been competitive and have wanted to succeed and see the team succeed on the world stage – to be recognised as world class, from this little old island down at the edge of the world. But I’ve never wanted to get there at the expense of people, by pushing them to breaking point, or asking unreasonable things of them.
I feel like we’re now trying to chart a different course – by investing in people, caring about them, creating an environment where they feel safe, nurtured and inspired. Can we also be the best in the world? I think there’s a different way to create a high-performance culture than working extreme hours and using brute force.
My biggest career influence has been colleagues and friends sharing and being vocal as part of this global movement towards doing business differently – caring about your people, running a business that contributes back to society, as well as making a profit. The whole triple-bottom-line theory.
Māori were already onto this, as is often the case, by consciously considering pūtake (the reason for existing) and tikanga (values and priorities) as part of doing business. It’s absolutely crucial that we run successful and profitable companies, but equally important to feel like your people are thriving and that you’re improving society and looking after the environment. Many smart people around me have taught me that over the years.
The most valuable things I own are the hand-made birthday and Father’s Day cards my kids make for me each year. My four-year-old loves making them, the 14- and 16-year-olds less so, but I love them.
I tend to splurge on experiences rather than things. Tourism New Zealand has done a good job of encouraging us to explore our own backyard. We go away, and do lots of things while we’re there.
As told to Daniel Dunkley.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
