I’m an award-winning journalist turned brand strategist and creative, with 10+ years bringing brands to life across corporate, agency, and independent platforms.

My work spans brand strategy, campaign creation, tone of voice, and copywriting — from packaging to podcasts, I’ll leave my mark.

I create brands, voices, and campaigns that make people feel, laugh, and think differently. Work that’s clever, commercial, and human.

I’VE HEARD ABOUT THAT

MAGGIE

KELLY

writer + podcast host + brand strategist +

Hot take:

The best writers are the ones who bring weird but complementary skills to the table.

Alongside my work in branding and creative, I have also dabbled in deeply nerdy, academic roles. A far cry from creative and agency environments, these roles reshaped my brain, training me to always dig deeper into the ‘why’, the ‘how’, and most importantly — the ‘what if?’

I have trained under industry leaders in systemic design thinking, and mentored by futurist and future-studies experts in both Australia and abroad. I am also a qualified data analyst, and get my kicks telling a story using both words and numbers.

When you have me on your project, I’m looking at more than the words on the paper: I am building a holistic brand strategy that taps into the past, the present, and the future.

“I have a crush on how Maggie approaches brand strategy. She has this remarkable ability to absorb complicated, disparate information and make it all click into place. What really sets her apart is her gift for crafting words that tell simple, elegant stories about complex things. Suddenly, what felt overwhelming becomes not just understandable, but genuinely accessible.”

— Kara Joshi, Digital Account Director, Southpaw.

“Maggie has this innate ability to make any piece of content feel like a warm hug from a close friend. She's a dream to have on projects - the kind of person you just can't wait to work more with.”

— Josh Braines-Mead, Wonderboy Studio.

I have written, produced, and hosted two award-winning podcasts.

Parentkind

My first podcast, Parentkind, won the 2024 Best Parenting Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards. Each episode of Parentkind covers two incredible stories about parenting. As host, I unpack issues around body image, sex, cheating, abortion, the experience of being a transgender or disabled parent, and of course, love.

Some of the stories are weird and funny, while others are just heart-wrenching. But all of them unpack this vast and ancient thing that brought literally all of us into existence. They may be small stories of parents, but it’s one huge tale of Parentkind.

Self Help(ed)

My second podcast, Self Help(ed), is hosted with my long-time friend Tully Smyth. The premise is simple: we’ve done the therapy, so you don’t have to. Modern women are done with hiding. Divorce, infertility, fledgling careers, single parenthood - the so-called taboos of female ‘failure’ are quickly becoming our favourite topics. Why? Because we’ve all been there.

Under the glossy exterior of success, we’re all just trying to dodge the demands: be sexy, be smart, be brave, be a wife, be a mother, be a feminist, be fit, be fun… but don’t talk about it. We’re burning down the facade and telling it like it is. Self Help(ed) is where those stories live - unfiltered, hilarious, vulnerable and real. Each episode dives into the messiness of modern womanhood with honesty, humour and hindsight. It’s second-hand therapy, the space we wish we had during our hardest chapters… and now, it’s yours too.

Listen to Parentkind

Watch Self Help(ed)