Meet the Team

Originally from the jungle, Marius M. Monkey started his career in banana imports and exports before branching out into the media.

His first publishing foray involved trying to get one million of his cousins working on typewriters to reproduce the complete works of Shakespeare and was not successful due to a lack of typewriters.

Following this he realised the future of publishing was in creating quality content for niche industries and he founded Monkey Media.

Chris started Monkey Media in 2012 by accident when he was supposed to be taking a holiday. Prior to that he had launched six successful magazines, as well as couple of unsuccessful ones, and lived through the most tumultuous decade in the history of publishing by learning to adapt.

He has helped hundreds of business-to-business companies improve their marketing and reach further into niche markets, and won’t rest until he has helped hundreds more.
Chris has previously served on the board of Publishers Australia and has long campaigned for more publishers to adopt the industry’s voluntary standard of circulation audits.

In his spare-time, Chris tries to explain the evolving publishing industry to his school-aged children.

Laura started editing niche trade magazines more than ten years ago, with a focus on infrastructure, construction and utilities.

She left the industry for a while and spent a few years writing about the travel industry, but returned because she missed the glamour of writing about sewer pipes.

Laura excels at writing to a purpose and creating the right content for the right audience and the right context.

Jessica’s journalistic experience includes writing for titles like Broadsheet, Time Out Melbourne and The Weekly Review, as well as playing a role in the creation of Switch Magazine.

Originally from Geelong, Jess is the quiet achiever of the team but is known for cutting loose on the dance floor when she gets the opportunity.

Alejandro (yes, …like that song) is the friendly guy wearing that funky t-shirt that gets called every time someone needs a website or wants to know what the latest Instagram filter is.

He has been crafting beautiful, functional and clever designs for print and digital for over 10 years.

Originally from Colombia, and having come to Melbourne via Brisbane and Cairns, Alejandro’s creative flair has helped to spice up many marketing campaigns.

When the rest of the team is going bananas, Tanya is the one who holds it all together.

With a background in marketing for major ASX-listed companies, Tanya adds another level of experience to the team, but she hides a dark secret…

Her hair is naturally curly, like crazy curly (think Hawaiian frizz) but thanks to today’s amazing hair appliances, she is able to fool everyone into thinking it’s straight. She is also a much nicer person with straight hair. Watch her sprint if the rain catches her off guard…

Yilin (Lin), our superstar office manager who shares her role with Tanya, brings a wealth of experience from her previous role as Media Manager at one of the largest media agencies in Australia. As well as tasked with the challenge of keeping our office under control, Lin is also balancing motherhood and teaching yoga and meditation.

Always happy to bust out a yoga move or two, Lin dreams about owning a yoga retreat/winery and is a closet Gilmore Girls fan, hoping to one day have similar witty repartee with her kids.

Harry is our Marketing Account Manager, looking after our clients and working closely with the entire team at Monkey Media HQ to ensure everything is running smoothly and everybody is happy.

Having won the ‘Happiest Boy in the School’ award when he was 5, he’s now able to pass that positivity on to his colleagues – and they kindly don’t let on that it was an award handed out to those who hadn’t won anything else that year…!

Although he was born in Sydney, you certainly wouldn’t know it from his accent, and he isn’t afraid to make it known when England are doing well in sport. (However, the silence is deafening when they’re losing though…!)

Radhika is our ace Marketing Associate, in charge of crunching data, analysing metrics and innovating new ways to keep Monkey Media running ever more efficiently.

While she’s always a positive presence in the office, don’t be fooled by her serene disposition; Radhika is a person of wild and varied interests. Rad adores motorsports, especially Formula One, having previously worked in the classic and supercar industry. While her friends grew up on The O.C. and Gossip Girl, Rad devoured Top Gear. Now, the toss-up between Saturday night drinks and F1 qualifying is a no brainer.

Having studied a double degree in Science and Commerce, Radhika’s also a geology nerd. Her love of rocks is matched only by her love of rocking out – a die-hard metalhead, she loves moshing at gigs, especially when her favourite band Northlane are in town. Lucky for us, Rad brings this uncompromising passion to everything she does, and has quickly become an indispensable part of our Marketing Team.

Stephanie made her debut with the Monkey Media team in the middle of a global pandemic.

While she was only able to meet the team and go into the office after the government restrictions were eased, Steph took it all in her stride as she learnt the ropes working from home.

A talent for chit-chat made Steph a natural for the role of marketing assistant, where her day is spent liaising and engaging with clients. From welcoming onboard their team, to sending the final reports –  you’ll be in close contact with Steph.

In between walking clients through the technical specs and inner workings of campaigns, Steph can be found enjoying a homemade meal or asking anyone within earshot if they’ve eaten, always utilising her decade long dedication to chefing and the hospitality industry.

After completing her commercial cookery training and working in some of Melbourne’s most renowned venues, Steph quickly realised her ambitions were bigger than her qualifications and finished her formal education with a hospitality management degree opening many doors, including owning and operating a cafe.

While it’s frequent to see Steph happily behind the stove, stirring a large pot of ‘Nonna’s Red Sauce’, beloved Staffy, Lou, at her feet, Steph loves to tinker and will try her hand at any DIY project. A trip to Bunnings for a (veggie) sausage is a high priority most weekends.

Charlotte set the bar pretty high for her career when she met and interviewed J.K Rowling for The Telegraph when she was still in primary school.

Since then, Charlotte has been trying to relive her glory days by editing a community newspaper, serving as Digital Communications Coordinator at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, and contributing to Plus Ones, an online publication reviewing food, arts and events.

Having lived and worked on a desert island off Cambodia, which was used to film Survivor, Charlotte developed the cut-throat skills she needed to enter the world of utilities and is now Editor of Utility Magazine.

When she isn’t immersed in the world of utilities, Charlotte rides her horse, Rudolph, and competes in dressage and showjumping competitions.

Lauren brings a fresh approach to content. Despite having written for publications like Australian Geographic and The Border Watch, and featured in Girlfriend Magazine she has found that no amount of fashion how-to guides can compare to her true passion, writing editorial about pumps.

Lauren has also worked as both an English teacher in Korea and a cherry picker in South Australia. And while she is sadly a cat person the rest of the team try not to hold that against her.

Ruby is our Event Coordinator, looking after sponsors, venues and making sure all our events run smoothly. Ruby’s passion for the event space first sparked during her time interning in San Francisco and exploring the globe for most of 2019.

Now back down under Ruby channels what she learned overseas, along with knowledge from her Bachelor of Digital Media degree into her role as the Event Coordinator. Since joining the Monkey Media team Ruby has combined her interest in creativity and social connection to help build our virtual events. If a Global pandemic can’t stop the Money Media events nothing will!

On Ruby’s days off you can find her with her labradoodle and a pink gin lemonade in hand.

Eliza grew up in the beautiful rural city of Wangaratta in Victoria’s north-east, famous for its fantastic Jazz Festival and incredible wineries.

Before jumping aboard the Monkey Media team Eliza worked in the retail sector for almost a decade, working across customer service, social media and visual merchandising.

In her downtime Eliza enjoys reading, and doing her own writing. She loves live music and attending festivals, and has freelanced as a music journalist. Eliza also enjoys quieter pursuits, searching for rare books and other treasures in vintage stores and taking care of her garden.

Currently completing a Bachelor of Professional Writing and Publishing with Curtin University, Eliza feeds everything she learns into her role as one of Monkey Media’s ace Editorial Assistants.

Imogen is obsessed with storytelling in all forms – podcasts, movies, television, books, magazines etc. You can often find her down at The Moth, a live story-telling event, where she requires little coaxing to tell a story on the spot, despite going in with no intention to do so. Imogen channels this passion, along with knowledge from her Bachelor of Media and Communications in Journalism and Creative Writing – into her role as the Assistant Editor of Energy, guiding the growth of our youngest magazine.

If she weren’t in the writing game, Imogen would be a dog-whisperer. She “has the knack for it”, often having deeper connections with dogs than with humans. She also loves elephants, and has spent time in Thailand volunteering at a sanctuary. A keen traveller, Imogen joins us in Melbourne by way of Adelaide, Canberra and Edinburgh – her favourite place in the world.

In fact, Imogen is drawn to a wildly diverse array of challenges. She’ll just as soon go on a 35km walk as a 5km run; she’s an undisputed champion of the card game ‘spit’, and she loves a good debate on anything from ethics to movies to that most controversial of topics, pineapple on pizza.

Rima is a part-time Business Development Manager and full-time mum of two. Years of experience as an account manager for a top agency means she brings the marketing know-how to the team. She is also resident DJ on the office Spotify, bringing the classic ‘Ibiza Chill Out 3’ and other playlists to her head-bopping colleagues.

In her spare time Rima enjoys shopping, globetrotting, and spending time with her kids.

Brett has been working in publishing, marketing and events for more than 10 years, having worked with a number of the major publications and events in the utility and energy space.

When he’s not gracing the aisles of a trade show he is building a hockey dynasty, having previously played a state level, Brett then married another state player and now and both their children also play at a state level,

When he’s tired of the challenge of trying to hit a moving ball, he plays golf instead.

Jac started out as an IT Consultant but soon found she had too much personality for such a career and turned to her more creative side, starting her own graphic design business.

When she’s not wrangling her three kids under seven, she now puts both her design and web skills to use for our clients.

Danielle is a highly versatile graphic designer, having worked in Auckland, Melbourne and Berlin both in-house and freelancing. Joining Monkey Media’s ace design team, she works across all four magazines, as well as designing for M2M clients and event branding.

We’re all convinced Danielle is secretly a spy or secret agent — she’s just that cool. Wearer of funky jackets, recommender of great books, Danielle keeps the office entertained with a stream of unexpected stories. (She once spent three years teaching English in the Japanese countryside, and has co-written the screenplay for a full-length film.)

She tells everyone she meets that she’s from New Zealand even though it’s… virry appirrunt.

In her off-time, Danielle freelances as a graphic designer and goes on adventures with her kelpie, The Captain.

Born and raised in San Francisco Bay Area, Daniel graduated college with an economics degree in 2013. After deciding economics probably wasn’t for him, he backpacked around Southeast Asia for six months during which time he started a travel blog.

Daniel made his way to Australia and had his heart captured by Melbourne where he was lured to Monkey Media with the promise of fast-paced writing and trivia nights. Having caught the writing bug, Daniel released a self-published lifestyle design book in 2017 and in his spare time enjoys listening to Led Zeppelin, attending music festivals and giving juggling lessons.

Alkesh has run his own international web development business for more than 10 years, and has worked with Monkey Media since 2012 before becoming a permanent member of the team.

His unparalleled skills with WordPress and ability to find a solution to every problem has led to him being known as the Shah Rukh Khan of WordPress.

When he isn’t creating the world’s best websites he spends his time with his children aged 5 and 2 or watching the latest Bollywood movies.