By Ninja

Together, different.

At By Ninja, I connect good people doing good things in businesses with good customers, and help them grow through strategic and thoughtful experiences. 

I don't just think outside the box, I fold the box into a paper crane. 

Our teams are brought together on a project basis to deliver exceptional creative outcomes. This keeps us agile, lean and efficient, while staying true to the outcome. We have delivered award-winning creative for startups, small businesses, state governments, and local and international beauty brands.

Visit our website to learn more👇
www.byninja.com.au

Creative Overlord

Freelance Graphic Designer

Design Ninjas

Design Ninjas is a subscription-based design service that brings lightning-fast creativity to the forefront. 

No frills, just skills.
After years of working alongside marketers, brand managers, co-designers, and agencies, I uncovered a common challenge – the need for high-quality design that's accessible and efficient. We believe that exceptional design should be within reach for everyone, and Design Ninjas is here to make it happen.

Check out the website to learn more👇
www.designninjas.au

Founder

Communify 

As a member of the Communications Committee I advise and support the Communify team on the strategy and execution of their marketing and communications plan.

Communify Queensland is an established community organisation providing a diverse range of services, from early childhood, mental health services to aged and disability services, including day respite and aged care packages. As one of Brisbane's largest and most active charities, Communify supports the community on all sides.

Communications Committee Member

Focused Marketing Solutions Pty Ltd

Lead Designer

QinetiQ Australia

Achievements:
QLD PICA Gold Award for the Flipper Book
National PICA Silver Award for the Flipper Book

Graphic Designer

Ashdown-Ingram

Assistant Senior Graphic Designer

Salton Group

Achievements:
Design of product which rated GfK top 10 for more than 5 months running
Developed a processes and training guide for New Product Development processes
Introduced a graphics brief system which reduced draft re-work by more than 50%.

Australian Department of Defence; and HTR Engineering and IT Professional Services

As a contractor to the Australian Department of Defence, I was responsible for the development and amendment of technical illustrations for a number of high priority projects. This position required me to obtain a Defence clearance at RESTRICTED level.

Technical Illustrator - contractor

RSEA Pty Ltd

Boeing Defence Australia

This position required me to obtain a Defence clearance at SECRET level.

Junior Graphic Designer

This position required me to obtain a Defence clearance at SECRET level.

Achievements:
Selected to participate in the Boeing Leadership Development Program
Finalist in the 2006 Boeing Young Leader Award
Nominated and short-listed for the 2006 Queensland Training Awards.

Technical Illustrator

For years I worked in the creative industry, delivering multi-million dollar projects for design houses that fell short on delivering value and ingenuity for their brands.

I found myself seeking more from an industry that offered low prospects for designers and brands alike — something that was creatively challenging, but also impactful. I had reached a turning point.

I freelanced as a designer while pursuing a mechanical engineering degree. A real change occurred when I began working with brands that shared my values, and that experience led to a profound transformation.

From this journey, By Ninja was born — a brand studio that differentiates itself through a deep commitment to customer intimacy and innovation.

We create meaningful impact, aligned to the values of the brands we work with. Our approach has earned us a reputation for excellence, exemplified by high retention and professional accolades.

Now, I empower beauty brands to craft unforgettable experiences that drive growth, through conscious branding and product design. 

We take your product idea from concept to consumer; crafting brand, design and packaging experiences for the conscious consumer. 

Our clients and their results are testament to our approach:

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐚
👉 Cell Forté Serum Violet Grey top seller, selling out 3 times in 2 months. 
👉 BFCM D2C sales soared by 300%, with a 60% repurchase rate.

𝐑𝐄-𝐃𝐎𝐗 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐛
“Kathleen has an amazing ability to understand your needs and vision for your brand and translate that into a brand and product that exceed your expectations.”

𝐋𝐔𝐗𝐄 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬
“They transformed not only our branding but also our brand voice and digital presence in such a way that our business has grown in triple digits since the start of the partnership.”
👉 Doubled traffic and checkout value.
👉 Increased customer retention.
👉 Triple-digit growth in 9 months.

𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩
👉 Featured in Vanity Fair and Beauty Independent for branding and sustainability.
👉 Reduced transport emissions by up to 90%.
👉 Increased D2C sales by 65% within 12 months.

𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞
👉 Reduced carbon footprint by 24%.
👉 Diverted >1 tonne of plastic from landfill.

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬
👉 Minimised start-up costs.
👉 Mitigated product breakage.
👉 Eliminated ~0.3kg of carbon emissions per product.


Interested in working with me and my team:
🌟 Bespoke Branding & Product Design - www.byninja.com.au
⭐ Unlimited Graphic Design Support - www.designninjas.au 

Reach out to me kathleen@byninja.com.au

Kathleen Casford

People | Tech | Community

FNDN
• Building startup compensation practices that clear, fair and competitive.

FNDN Series
• Insights and interviews showcasing startup people and compensation excellence.

Startup People Summit
• The 1-day virtual summit delivering the playbook on modern practices for building and scaling your startup people practice.

How to Become a HR Consultant
• Sharing every detail of taking a business from zero to $500k in revenue per year.

Matt McFarlane

In 2023 I left my job. In 2024 I started a HR consultancy. In 2025 I earned more money than I've ever made in my life.
 
If you're questioning whether the traditional career path is right for you, you're increasingly not alone.
 
Ever since starting my business, I have had People professionals reach out asking me how they can do the same.
 
I wrote a piece at the end of 2024 that is still my most read thing ever.
- Ten's of thousands of reads
- Dozens of emails and messages
- Who knows how many calls.
 
So I decided to take this as a sign that more people are either doing this, or interested — but they want to know how.
 
I don't have the playbook btw.
But I know what I did to get where I am today.
 
I know what worked for me, and I'm about to start sharing that in deeply transparent detail — down to every dollar I spend and earn. Where, when, and why.
 
My latest newsletter is here, and it's called 'How to Become a HR Consultant'.
 
The first edition to follow-up that original piece is coming out Sunday.
 
Get it hot off the press here: https://lnkd.in/gCrNXM-n

Building startup compensation practices 👉 Compensation Philosophy + Job levels + Salary bands.

Here's every salary I ever earned, and the 2 things it taught me companies get wrong with how they pay.
 
Job 1: HR Assistant — $50,000
Job 2: HR Coordinator — $57,000
Job 3: HR Coordinator — $60,000
Job 4: HR Business Partner — $68,000
Job 5: People & Culture Advisor — $66,000
Job 6: Senior People Operations Advisor — $95,000
Job 7: People & Culture Manager — $88,000
Job 8: People & Culture Director — $165,000
Job 9: Head of People — $150,000
Job 10: Senior Director of People Operations — $170,000
Job 11: Director of People Operations — $200,000
Job 12: Senior Director of People Experience — $230,000
 
When I reflect on these roles and the salary I earned, I think of two things.
 
1. Money definitely isn't everything (I took pay cuts for jobs).
 
2. I wouldn't have achieved the heights in salary I did, if I didn't change employer — frequently.
 
Time and time again, I see companies get this wrong by doing the following things:
They don't realise that salary gets people in the door, but growth keeps them there.

Their pay practices for current people doesn't keep pace with the pay practices for new people.
 
I took lower paying jobs because I felt like I'd stagnated. 

'One step back, two steps forward' was my thinking.
 
I also took jobs because I got fed up with 1-2% pay increase year-on-year, when the market (and my value) were moving faster.
 
The two work in tandem.
 
Money isn't everything, but that doesn't mean you can take your eye off it.
 
What role does salary play for you in your career?

Here's the roadmap every Head of People needs to grow their compensation practices and scale their startup (incl. some free resources).
 
Compensation is easily one of the most critical enablers of your business, which means it's a critical focus for you as Head of People.
 
Here is the maturity model you can follow for growing your compensation practices and scaling your company.
 
<50 people:
 
You're likely not in need of a lot of structure, but you do need to know the salary you have to offer to get people in the door.
 
– Here's 20+ free compensation benchmarks to start pricing those roles: https://lnkd.in/gnHDSVt3
 
50-100 people:
 
You're starting to mature and you need to define how you want to pay as an organisation.

You need a compensation philosophy to define your market position.
 
– Here's 20+ compensation philosophies you can use as inspiration for yours: https://lnkd.in/gSSHpyqV
 
– Need help actually building it? Here's the only playbook you'll need: https://lnkd.in/gNNch7m4
 
You need a job level framework to help you define and plan your org.
 
– Read how to develop one here: https://lnkd.in/gZZkPDVU
 
🪴 100-250 people:
 
Time to get serious about how you benchmark, and use something more robust to find the right salary.
 
– Here's every benchmark provider you need to know about: https://lnkd.in/gWNcYWN6
 
– But there's a lot, so if you need help actually choosing one, here's the playbook for that: https://lnkd.in/gQuMuMc4
 
🌲 250+ people:
 
You're getting to the meaty part of compensation management, with a significant cohort and higher expectations.
 
Time to consider getting out of spreadsheets and leveraging software that can help you administer compensation fairly and accurately.
 
Consider the following tools:
• Some of the vendors in the previous step handle compensation management, like Ravio or Pave
• HRIS like HiBob have a great integrated compensation module
 
Or, use a point solution like:
– CandorIQ, or
– Stello Inc.
 
Which stage are you at and what has been most important for you?

It's the start of the year. If you're like most of us, you're starting to think about what you get paid and how to have that conversation with your manager.
 
Just in time for 2026, I jumped on the This is Work podcast with Shelley Johnson to chat about everything to do with:
- Your pay,
- Your benefits, and
- How to actually have a conversation about your value (oof)

We tackle a heap of other topics too, including job hugging (what even is it?), why it's dangerous for employee and companies alike, and crucially, what everyone can do about it.
 
We also talk about why pay conversations are such a drag and how to make them that much more manageable.
 
If you're questioning your worth, or your employees are questioning theirs AND you want to know how to deal with it, this will be worth a listen.
 
And you're in luck, This is Work is on YouTube and Spotify, so if you tire of seeing my face (understandable) you can switch to my dulcet tone's, instead.
 
Spotify: 
https://lnkd.in/giZY9pAB 

YouTube: 
https://lnkd.in/gPwtG5fh

Skills based compensation is becoming more popular, but there’s one skill I’m yet to see, and its paid more than AI engineers.

Put your hand up if you know how to fold a fitted sheet? 

That’s right. You don’t. 

And if you think you do. You don’t. 

But the people with this skill set are arguably worth top 1% compensation. 

Check this out. 

I’d pay $100 for someone to fold my fitted sheet. 

That takes them max a minute (probably 10 seconds realistically) 

$100 a minute 
x 60 minutes an hour
x 38 hours per week
x 52 weeks a year 

= $12.48 million per year. 

So stop trying to climb the corporate ladder like a schmuck. 

Learn how to fold a fitted sheet.

If you're a People person and in Melbourne (or going to be) on the 12th of February, I'd love to meet you IRL.
 
I'll be speaking at HiBob's launch of In Good Company — a community for those in the People profession, spanning all geographies and industries.
 
You'll also be treated to a fireside chat with Elise Morris and Jodi Rosenthal, discussing the key trends shaping the People profession (and how to adapt).
 
So if you're in Melbourne on the 12th, register here: https://lnkd.in/gmVsXhh3
 
If you're not in Melbourne but interested in the community, check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gbUWzCZu
 
Hope to see you there!

Me coming into that meeting on Friday afternoon

There's 7 steps you can use to improve your problem solving by 430% and productivity by 500%. Oh, and it has absolutely nothing to do with AI.

You've heard of it before, but I doubt you often *actually* get there.

It's called being in flow state.

And in the upcoming edition of the FNDN Series, legendary flow state practitioner Dave Murphy is breaking down exactly how you can get there.

Dave has helped companies like Blackbird, Boston Consulting Group and TikTok leverage flow state for their success.

And I can attest to this myself. 

Creating an environment that enables flow state is exactly how I've built a solopreneur business that earns me double what my last salary was.

I credit a lot of that to the things Dave is going to cover in this edition.

Head over to FNDN Series to subscribe, and it'll be in inbox for you to read over your Sunday morning coffee.

One of the things I’ve inadvertently started this year is resetting my YouTube feed to only insightful or helpful videos. 

A couple of weeks ago I switched from my personal account to my work account, and suddenly my whole feed was almost entirely videos about things like:
- improving productivity, or 
- using AI better, or
- being healthier. 

All stuff I want to be focus on improving. 

So now I’ve set myself a goal. How long can I stay on this account only. 

Can I fill my time by learning something instead of doomscrolling or mindless entertainment?

Can I watch deeper videos instead of shorts (this one will be the hardest). 

Don’t get me wrong, I know this probably sounds business wanky, and fuelled by a mix of start of the year energy and hubris, but I’m keen to see if I can keep it rolling. 

How long do you think I’ll last?

taplio

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Kathleen Casford

Matt McFarlane

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The Battle

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Matt McFarlane

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Matt McFarlane's LinkedIn Performance

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