A former political advisor, founder Ben Hart has more than 20 years’ experience working across the media and communications industries. He has led the communications functions at headspace and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and developed compelling narratives for organisations in the energy, transport, not-for-profit and sports sectors.

At ARENA he created ARENA WIRE, the agency’s news site for renewable energy technology articles and video, and launched ReWired, a podcast series telling the human stories of Australia’s renewable energy revolution.

He has advised leaders across all three tiers of government (most recently he was the Chief of Staff to the Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp), while maintaining a presence in the media, writing for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian Australia, ABC Life and Broadsheet.

Over his career, Ben’s background in journalism has fuelled a growing conviction that organisational storytelling must move beyond the safety of traditional corporate messaging and instead be built on interesting, emotionally-connecting stories of purpose and impact. In 2021 he completed Harvard University’s Public Narrative course, led by renowned narrative theorist Marshall Ganz.

Louise wears so many hats that a more honest job title might be "Head of Doing Lots of Things". "Business Development" will have to do for the time being. But if we had the space, her business card would probably say “Head of Strategic Partnerships, Master of Brand Building, Chief of Communications and Sales Lead”.

A strategist, problem solver and relationship builder, Louise brings a trove of storytelling and business experience to Fireside’s table. She was the co-founder of frankie, a publishing phenomenon and Magazine of the Year award-winner, as well as its brother magazine Smith Journal. In 2017 Louise launched Lunch Lady, a multi-media company that produces clever content to inspire and support mums (but without taking parenting too seriously).

Today, Louise is happiest when helping communities and businesses make real impact, working with clients to create campaigns that change the world.

As a writer, editor and journalist, Chris Harrigan brings a small forest plantation’s worth of media expertise to his role as Fireside’s Editorial Lead.

For a number of years he was the Editor of Smith Journal, an honest-to-goodness print publication made out of paper and ink. Smith gave the celebrity treatment to people with singular, sometimes harebrained but always interesting obsessions. It was nice to look at, though people tell Chris they read it for the articles as well.

Chris is also a published writer, having appeared in New York Magazine, Buzzfeed, The Guardian, The Age, frankie and Junkee, among other publications that may or may not still exist. (Publishing’s a fickle industry.)

In recent years, Chris has used his storytelling skills to help brands big and small connect with larger audiences. He’s worked on narrative-shaping projects for some of the country’s largest corporations, but sleeps more soundly when he’s working with organisations making a positive impact on the world.