40 Under 40 2022: Kate Lord, Akin Agency

Kate Lord

Founder and managing director
Akin Agency 
Australia

Kate Lord has always felt compelled by the power of storytelling, communications, technology and innovation. Having cut her teeth in London for innovative and cutting-edge technology companies including Intel, Sony, HP and Microsoft, she later moved to Australia and worked for a number of years as an executive leader at Royal Dutch Shell, leading the organisation’s campaigns across the country.

In 2018, Lord decided it was time to branch out on her own and so established her own communications agency. In five years, Akin Agency has grown to 10 staff and includes clients from tech organisations, including the Technology Council of Australia, Digital Skills Organisation, Datacom and The Trade Desk.

In the past year alone, Lord has led the business to secure six new partner accounts, with an impressive 90% retention rate of existing clients. Her razor-sharp strategy has seen the agency achieve an outsized revenue performance of 480% year-on-year revenue growth. She has also increased headcount by 40%.

Lord is a passionate advocate for women in leadership, as well as for women in media and tech. She has worked in areas traditionally male-dominated including tech, agriculture and resources and helped to bring women into those places to increase the diversity of voices at the table. These included appointing senior women executive leaders in her own agency.

In addition, Lord works with a number of high-profile women leaders to increase their representation across traditional media, and sits on the ACT Board of Women in Media, a not-for-profit organisation aimed at mentoring and supporting women in the media profession. Lord has two mentees who she works with and is also a mentor to executive leaders, including supporting C-suite executives with mentoring and advice on strategy, staffing and engagement.

Lord also donates a portion of the organisation’s profits to Karinya House, a local charity which supports women fleeing from domestic violence.