At Catalyst Directions we are… Real People.
Delivering… Real Results.

Back in 2002, Bevan began working as a Web Designer, never guessing where he’d be now; the Director of Catalyst Directions. Surrounded by a fabulous and brilliant team that continues to reach milestones, Bevan has numerous proud moments to recollect, and too many to list here. Regardless, his team’s accomplishments in the nonstop revolutionary world of digital technology astounds him because something is always changing, so they too have to match and adjust to new tech.

Completing a Bachelor of Information Technology with Distinction at CQ University in Bundaberg was the “catalyst” for what his future was to behold. Like a moth to a flame, Bevan was drawn to assist businesses and corporations by creating thoughtful and purposeful solutions across their marketing and online habits. From day one it has been his sole purpose to convey a lasting memory throughout the client’s experience. This ambition drove him to offer his services to a tribe of customers, launching their business into being successful, with a long-standing resolve. Some of those clients have stuck with Bevan for over 20 years. “Watching them evolve has been an honour and it’s humbling to know that I must be doing something right”! said Bevan.

A fun fact about Bevan, showing his humility, is that he has been singing with The Australian Voices, as a Tenor since 2012. Part of that journey led Bevan to perform in a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, an off-Broadway show in New York, and a short tour to Bethlehem, Palestine. You’ll find recordings of The Australian Voices in all the usual places like Apple Music and Spotify and on Youtube like this. In between singing and work he usually has his hand on a piece of cheese. Cheese is important to Bevan…perhaps he was a mouse in a past life.

When it comes to achieving things, personal or business-related… Start with Why. This concept, while it isn’t Bevan’s, although he wishes it was, is the positive brainchild of Simon Sinek that guides his daily work. “It’s not just about me, it’s about my clients and WHY and how we can collaborate to achieve world-class results,” said Bevan. Sinek “started a movement to help people become more inspired at work, and in turn, inspire their colleagues and customers…People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs…had little in common, but they all started with WHY…the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way.”

By asking the WHY in all that he does, professionally and out-of-the-office, Bevan notices it makes achieving the outcome so much more satisfying, where you end up achieving more.

James Campbell

Pixel Pamperer

James has been a creative person for as long as he can remember. At 13 years old he was heavily influenced by what can be formed via art, colour, and attention to detail. A film by Osamu Tezuka, titled: Metropolis pulled him into the landscape of art deco-inspired retrofuturism. This outlet seemed to guide his destiny to find a job that continued to explore creativity where vibrant colours tell a story. And it was Graphic Design where James became enamoured with the potential to create eye-catching content, bringing him to be one of the Graphic & Web Designers at Catalyst Directions. Within the scope of design, he found that by combining the importance of symbolism, which he learned from Author Franz Kafka, and by applying that to the design, then the outcome for logos, shapes, and fluidity in Graphic Design is expressed and authoritative. These applications result in content conceptualisation with a dynamic strike force for increasing clients’ revenue. It was those childhood fantasies depicting leverage through art that transformed his creative mind, allowing James to offer a highly specialised set of skills that gets the job done right each time.

James admits that he doesn’t look like your typical office geek, looking more like a metalhead, relating to the music he enjoys listening to including electronic and dance, where he lets loose and dances it up in the privacy of his own home. This reflection of tech, electronics, and the buzz that is created through music gives James the same feeling of satisfaction that comes from creating quality content for his Catalyst Directions clients.

Steve Yeomans

The Enigmatic Plant Guy

Oozing simplicity yet mysteriousness is the juxtaposition that is Steve. He loves his job as one of the Web Designers at Catalyst Directions because the creative aspect, the positive interactions where he traverses design with clients grants him the ability to bring their ideas to life in the most influential way for their branding.

Stating, “This feels like such a cliche but this quote explains a lot about me”…” You can only become truly accomplished at something you love…pursue the things you love doing and then do them well…” – Maya Angelou. Whilst Steve prefers for his work to do the talking, his enthusiasm extends at home too, caring for ducks which keeps him busy, loving plants and gardening – something that he gives credit to his mum for teaching him. The plants, fish, and snippets of nature placed around the Catalyst Directions office are all Steve’s, grown with pride to bring a bit of home into work. He also gets a lot of contentment building aquariums and fish tanks, eating intentionally as a #vegan that finds solace in working out at the gym, using it as “therapy”.

For Steve, life is about simplicity with a touch of dirt, water, and plenty of creativity on tap both at work and play.

Lucinda Templeton

Guardian of the Universe

When it comes to loving everything pink Lucinda is the biggest fan, pink runs through her veins. So much so that her nails are pink (most of the time), she has a pink water bottle, her laptop is rose gold which is pink in her eyes, and her hair is an ombre pink that she gets complimented on. If branding allowed it she’d have a pink chair at work. Regardless, she loves her job as the Office Manager for Catalyst Directions. Whilst Lucinda said that she may not be on the creative end of the job she still enjoys working with a creative and fun company. Each week she gets to see the impressive outcome of the team’s hard work, where they produce content that makes her glad to say she works at Catalyst Directions. Working alongside the team, ensuring everything runs smoothly for their valued clients is challenging at times but also fills her cup. Or as Vanilla Ice says “Stop! Collaborate and listen…If there’s a problem, yo I’ll solve it” it’s what she’s known for!

However, in an ideal world Lucinda would be at home, doing her job, her cat curled up beside her with a cup of tea and in her pj’s, accompanied by chocolate, and surrounded by hundreds of books in the genre of fantasy and romance, especially Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and her badass characters. Reading whisks her away to another dreamscape where she feels alive, happy, and sees the world from another perspective. The complexities that go into the books Lucinda loves reading would also highlight the complexities of her job; multitasking, savvy, creating your own adventure, problem-solving, quick on her feet, and exciting. Lucinda said, “Being ‘Guardian of the Universe’ is a pretty cool gig, and I wouldn’t be anywhere else”!

Maarten van Bokkel

Alchemist Guru

Maarten van Bokkel is the SEO & Google PPC (Pay Per Click) Specialist for Catalyst Directions. His job is imperative for any business or organisation so that their online profile reaches its full potential. There is a firm connotation that if businesses aren’t achieving results then it’s time to look at their SEO (search engine optimisation) to gauge where they can improve their visibility. How Maarten achieves this is through truthful communication that is informative, aimed not only to strengthen any business but the community.

Nature, space, and community are important for Maarten and his wife and are the reasons he left his homeland, the Netherlands, after a 25-year career in the Dutch Armed forces and NATO. Setting roots with his family in an eco-village in Queensland was the next step, followed by becoming proud Australian citizens in 2008. Thrust into learning a new way of life, with no regrets, as a family they framed new relationships both personally and professionally.

Maarten is nostalgic in his daily reminder, stating…” In every moment of your life, you create the direction and content of every moment of your life”. An insight he gained after years of personal development. Adding, “If you honour self, you honour life, if you honour life, life will honour you”. His simple but profound message is how he approaches life and work; by empowering himself and clients with awareness. This is Maartens powerful strategy and is why he is known as the “Alchemist Guru”, because he imparts success and endurance across all of his life, and is how he executes remarkable SEO results.

Myla Leono

Mythical Social Magnetiser

Myla joined the team in 2018 as the Social Media Production Coordinator. Her role involves all the behind the scenes “social magnetism” where she makes certain that Catalyst Directions client’s ads are scheduled at the right time, and for the right target audience. And she attests her work discipline to her mum and dad, who are very loving yet strict, especially since she is one of eight daughters. 

Myla’s mum taught her patience, and her dad taught her and her sister’s forgiveness and how to give to others while not compromising their own family values. Living by the motto “seize the day”, inspired by the film Dead Poets Society and a book called Suzzane’s Diary for Nicholas, Myla realised how important it is to balance life. One of the ways she achieves this is by letting go and dancing around her family home, especially when no one is watching. Her favourite childhood memory is going to church on a Sunday, then after, watching a movie marathon at home with the whole family while her dad cooked and her mum sat with the girls, waiting for dad to feed them all. 

It is Myla’s tenacity of no excuses across all of her life that makes it balanced and whole. The positive impact of family time, as well as her work teammates appreciating her worth, is how Myla displays humility and connectedness in all of her endeavours. And her impressive skill set, not to mention her organisational skills, is why she was chosen four years ago to be the Catalyst Social Media Production Coordinator.

Jaiden Millett

The Pun King

Using the fluidity and fun that encapsulates puns, Jaiden enjoys adding that aspect to his resourcefulness as one of three Social Media Content creators at Catalyst Direction. His powerhouse tone, yet playfulness that outlines what his clients require for their consumers to pursue a purchase of services, is due to his attainment of Certificate II in Information, Technology, and Digital Media.

Often though, he’ll be sitting around the family table where he and his Dad have a pun off (if only to be a fly on the wall). The wit and intelligence that naturally flows with clever puns, be it at home or work is what Jaiden thrives on.

Recently Jaiden popped the question, and his fiancee said yes. It was a romantic affair. Jaiden recalls that he planned on asking his girlfriend to marry him in a fancy Italian restaurant in Melbourne, but as it was crowded he didn’t want to draw focus to their special memory. Instead, as they arrived back at the car, Jaiden moved to one side, bent over, and yelled to his girlfriend, “Hey come and check this out”! As she came around to his side of the car, Jaiden was smiling enthusiastically, propped on one knee, and popped the question. After saying yes, his now-fiancee relocated to Bundaberg where they are house hunting and hope to host many family gatherings.

Jaiden said that his life has always been full of odd synchronicities, for example, the Catalyst Directions job. The branding is fluro green, which happens to be his favourite colour. And the day he inquired about a job at Catalyst, Bevan the Director was about to post about a vacancy. Not sure if his laid-back and friendly approach to life has anything to do with his serendipitous moments, Jaiden simply takes it all in.

With his new life and a new job in Bundaberg, Jaiden appreciates each moment as it is, at home and work. And if there are puns involved then he’s a happy chappy.

Ronan Budd

Social Culture Addict

“We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing – an actor, a writer – I am a person who does things – I write…and I never know what I am going to do next…” This quote by Stephen Fry, actor and screenwriter, is how Ronan describes himself. He is a verb that does things, enjoying many points of being a verb throughout his life. One of those verbs is working alongside the inventive and cool team of Social Media Content creators at Catalyst Directions. Ronan is also studying Design and Technology to broaden his skillset for the Catalyst clients, believing that the trigger he can create in terms of interest and appeal, increasing the client’s online presence, will light up a fire of action to consume.

What makes Ronan different is that in his 20ish years of life he has travelled the globe with his family. Here he attained a deep understanding and appreciation of other cultures, learning about their food, lifestyle, and where he is now a language aficionado, continuing to study and practice linguistics. Travel opened Ronan up to a diverse range of hobbies that include spiritual practices, being a Boba tea addict, plus, he loves to read books ranging from classics to philosophy, and action. But what exhilarates him the most is snorkelling, describing the silence under the sea as transcendent and otherworldly. “Being in nature, immersed in silence, in culture, exploring the world, there’s nothing like it, no two breaths are the same when immersed in the natural rhythm of life” said Ronan.

Much like the aforementioned statement from Ronan, the creative pace that is his job, where he can utilise his worldly observations about people and how they respond, Ronan then feels confident he can translate his wealth of lived experience into a full life, with a job that holds space for his knowledge to be of great value to Catalyst Directions and his clients.