Josh Mulrine’s WhatsApp profile sums the Business Manager of the RiotACT up, really. It reads simply: “Let’s do this 🚀 ”.
Yes, Josh is the kind of bloke you want around if something needs doing. He’s irrepressible. He’s also entrepreneurial, well-connected around town and has boundless energy and enthusiasm for new media as well as plenty of ideas for helping individuals and organisations to tell their stories through digital platforms.
As we all are on the RiotACT team, Josh is also Canberra through and through.
“I wasn’t born in the Canberra Hospital, I was actually born in Wanniassa, so I’m a southsider, 2903, a great place to be,” the 29-year-old says, quickly assuring us that it was planned that way, as a home birth in front of the warm slow combustion fire, with a midwife and nurses on hand.
“I love Canberra, I’m a proud Canberran.”
Josh reckons the capital is an eclectic place, and an easy place to live and bring up a family.
“We’re surrounded by nature. I’ve always lived somewhere where there’s a stunning view of the mountains, it’s very easy to get around and to park, we’ve got great cafes, restaurants and good culture,” he says.
“I love the fact that New Acton really kicked off Canberra and made it the place to be and happening.”
With qualifications in fields as diverse as neuro-linguistic programming, real estate, media production, business, professional communications and small business, Josh is a lifelong learner, and a self-confessed personal development junkie. He particularly likes being around smart people.
“That’s one of the main reasons that I got on board with the RiotACT: the new owners and what they bring to the table: really strong strategic direction and great reputation,” he says.
Being near the action is important to the young intrapreneur.
“We’ve got a lot of very intelligent people here in Canberra, who basically run the country from Canberra, so there’s a lot of influence here.”
Josh is a man of vision himself. He wants to help launch Canberra as a global capital and to lead the charge to build the RiotACT into a signifiant media business in the Canberra region and beyond.
He’s also a leader, working actively in his role as Vice President of the Phillip Business Community to further the interests of local business owners, managers and key staff in the precinct.
On the entrepreneurial side, Josh has experience working with business, government and not-for-profit clients in Canberra through his Phillip-based video production agency, Digital Content Studios. Social media and web publishing expertise give him an edge when it comes to creating compelling content to get audiences thinking about brands.
A long-term fan and contributor to the RiotACT, Josh is a big believer in the power of our platform.
“I feel that the RiotACT is very community owned, and you’ve got the opportunity to say what you want and have your views and start a conversation, and I guess the exciting thing is, RiotACT’s been around so long, it has built up a big, big audience, so that we’ve got the eyeballs of Canberrans.
“With our new policies, we’re really humanising it, so people feel more comfortable using it. I think that’s what’s really exciting right now.”
Josh is looking forward to working with clients to create content that will entertain and engage the RiotACT’s audience across platforms.
“Your phone is now your newspaper and your TV combined into one, and where in the past you’d read the print or watch TV, having that combination of both makes the RiotACT a stand-out platform … people are going to be coming to the site because of that.”
The father of one gorgeous daughter is also excited about branding people, and looks forward to working with new talent to ensure everyone in Canberra gets to know them.
“I want brands to be inviting them to events in different places, so growing a local influencer network is exciting for me,” he says.
So, if you’re ready to “do this 🚀 ”, to find out how a content-driven RiotACT campaign can help your organisation, you can reach Josh via josh@the-riotact.com or on 0413 474 962.
This article is part of our series introducing the new team behind the RiotACT following the recent acquisition of the business by new owners. We’re working on the next piece, which will introduce the new directors themselves.