Back in January, when I sat down to prepare for the year ahead, I couldn’t have known what the year would bring. I certainly didn’t expect that the business would go through an exciting rebrand to TLS Talent, or that we would have so many shining stars join the TLS family.
And while I had no doubt that our talent would soar to new heights both professionally and personally, I could not have foreseen just how much they would collectively achieve in just 12 short months (as you can see from our dazzling report card below 😊).
On a personal level, I was thrilled to be nominated and then go on to win the B&T Women in Media Agent of the Year Award in August. It was an honour to be celebrated alongside some brilliant women, many of them my colleagues and friends.
Yes, it’s fair to say that 2024 has been a thrilling ride, so I’m taking this opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come and as we close out the year, I wanted to share some of our favourite moments from 2024 and also share a little preview of what you can expect in the year ahead.
Thanks to each and every one of you for your support this year. Wishing you all a wonderful festive break, and while I’m looking forward to some downtime, if truth be told, I can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store.
OFFICE CLOSURE DATES
Our office officially closes on Monday 23rd December with the team back in action from 6th January. As always, we’re here if you need us, so feel free to email us during this period and a member of the team will respond.
2024 IN NUMBERS
The talent business is all about people, but it would be remiss of us not to reflect on the numbers too. So if you’re wondering what we’ve been working on this year, here goes.
This year our TLS Talent have been involved in:
- 176 events
- 21 TV programs
- 152 campaigns, ambassadorships and partnerships; and
- Released 6 books
And that’s not to mention the myriad articles, podcasts, news and lifestyle segments they’ve been involved in too; so there’s certainly plenty of reasons to crack open the champagne and get our festive on.
2024 HIGHLIGHTS
1. Big events
When we think of big events in 2024, then SXSW Sydney has to be up there. Already a prestigious summit in the US, SXSW has dominated conversations since coming to Sydney last year, and we were fortunate enough to have not one but FOUR of our talent participate in this year’s event. Molly Taylor, Dr Gina Cleo, Dr Kieran Kennedy and Tilly Kearns all shone, sparking lightbulb moments and thought-provoking discussions among SXSW attendees. Tilly also captivated audiences at the Mumbrella Sports Marketing Summit in September, sharing her insights on how she has built and maintained engagement with her huge online audience, and the power of storytelling and authenticity for female athletes.
Of course, when it comes to sporting events, they don’t come much bigger than the Olympics and Paralympics, and I was fortunate enough to be in Paris for much of the action.
Transitioning beautifully from competitor to commentator, Ellie Cole made a splash in front of the camera as a Nine Network fixture at both events – on pool deck for the Olympics and in the studio as co-host of the Paralympics and clearly it’s not just us here at TLS talent that were impressed. Ellie has been named as a finalist in the ASC Media Awards for her performance as cohost of the Paralympics and selected as a finalist in the Rising Star category – with winners to be announced at a star studded event in February 2025.
In the field, 19-year-old first-time Olympian Claudia Hollingsworth reached the 800m semi-finals, and beach volleyball champ Mariafe Artacho del Solar notched up her third Olympics, arriving at the semi-finals match to take on Brazil and in a gutsy performance ultimately finishing in fourth place.
Race walker Jemima Montag took home a double bronze and arguably nailed one of the best post-race interviews ever captured (seriously, it’s worth a watch if you’re not one of the more than 10 million people who already have), while water polo star Tilly Kearns’ silver medal winning performance with the mighty Stingers brought the house down and cemented the sport of water polo firmly into our hearts and minds.
2. New talent
As long-time supporters of women in sport, we were thrilled to have three outstanding athletes join TLS Sport this year: track-and-field sensation Claudia Hollingsworth, race walker and social-change advocate Jemima Montag, and up-and-coming motorsport talent Aiva Anagnostiadis. These young women are the future of sport in this country (and in Jemima’s case, medicine too), each of them unique in what they bring even at such a young age.
It’s a big year ahead for all three of these young women, in particular for 17-year-old Aiva, who is about to make history in her sport and will be living life in the (very very) fast lane. Stay tuned for more details in early January.
3. Walking the talk
This year Dr Preeya Alexander brought her winning personality to an even wider audience with celebrated appearances on Q&A and The Health Report, and in case you missed it, she’s just been announced as co-host on ABC’s Health Report next year – go, Preeya!
Dr Joanna McMillan has been a Today Show favourite for years, and this year she brought us more of her expertise and charisma in long form content taking on the role of one of the good chefs in Network Ten’s Good Chef Bad Chef and she’ll be returning again in 2025.
Speaking of TV shows you’ll want to tune into… sustainability chef Simon Toohey has been slaying on production of seasons four and five of the very delicious Freshly Picked, due to go to air mid 2025. And if you’re looking for summer food inspo, and don’t want to wait for the new series, you can check out the show on 10play or SBS on Demand.
Looking for some Christmas inspo, then you won’t want to miss Carlene and Michael Duffy’s styling tips to create the perfect Christmas laid out beautifully in Home Beautiful.
Shelly Horton drew on her long reign as a TV queen to launch Speak with Impact, a series of workshops to teach confidence on screen.
Paralympian Ellie Cole won legions of new fans as the first amputee to enter the I’m a Celebrity jungle, and was honoured in The Female Athlete Project’s Hall of Fame. Molly Taylor had a blockbuster year, nailing the brief as Supercars commentator and pitlane reporter at the Bathurst and Gold Coast Supercars rounds, and notching up masterful driving performances in the Extreme E championship (with her team Veloce Racing) finishing the year as championship leaders. And arguably the best is yet to come: with Molly having been selected to take on some of the biggest names in motorsport at the Race of Champions event in Sydney in March 2025.
4. Brilliant words
Positive psychologist Dr Tim Sharp has long been renowned for his impactful books but this year he took a new approach, releasing his most personal book yet: Lost and Found – How to Wander your Way to a Better Life. In it, Tim shares his own journey of letting his mind (and his feet) wander, and in this beautiful book he details how it helped him find himself.
Menopause awareness has become a major wellness trend (finally!), so the release of Jaime Rose Chambers’ book The Peri Diet in August was perfectly timed. Full of recipes and evidence-based nutrition advice for navigating perimenopause, it’s a practical, empowering read. Meanwhile, GP Dr Ginni Mansberg made a major impression with essential menopause guidebook The M Word a few years ago and it’s been so popular she released a revised edition this year, with updated research and interviews with key experts in the space.
Dr Marny Lishman one of our Academy alumni helped us all understand how to manage burnout and take us through to brilliance in her book – Burnout to Brilliant; and the book was such a success that her new title Crisis to Contentment will be available from late December. Perfect holiday reading to set us up for the new year.
Dr Preeya Alexander launched her family food book Full Plate and the first season of her highly entertaining podcast Happy to Health.
And habit change scientist Dr Gina Cleo’s book The Habit Revolution was a big talking point – so much so that Audible named it in the top 20 audiobooks for the year! Looking ahead to 2025, Shelly Horton, Ellie Cole, vet Dr Claire Stevens, as well as speaker and health writer Casey Beros all have books in the works. High fives all round!
LET’S GO AGAIN!
We’re going again with some of our favourite partnerships in 2025. I’m thrilled that our talent have the opportunity to continue working with these brilliant partners:
- Dr Preeya Alexander x AIA & NNT Scrubs
- Molly Taylor x Supercheap Auto, Castrol, Quadlock and Hella
- Ellie Cole x Toyota and APM
- Bardie Somerville x Bisley
- Dr Joanna McMillan x Cobram & Marine Stewardship Council
- Shelly Horton x Motto Fashions
- Simon Toohey x Hemp Foods Australia
And there’s plenty more to come including lots of new partnership announcements across our suite of talent. Get set for some big announcements in the new year.
Finally, thank you for all of your support this year. We’ll be back with more news on February 1st. Happy Holidays! 🎄