The Team - Stepping Stone Executive Services
Ray Smith MBA, MPD, psc, GDip Mgt, BA (IntRel), AFAIM, AIPM
Ray is an experienced executive manager with 30 years management experience in Australia and overseas. Ray has comprehensive experience in all areas of senior executive leadership and management encompassing executive and general management gained in Director, CEO and General Manager positions. He has broad whole of business exposure and specific experience in, sales and marketing management, operations and change management, contract and logistics management, strategic planning, management and implementation, organisational development, risk management, program management and policy design.
Ray has been employed in the government, defence, transport, education, service, marketing, engineering, telecommunications, leisure, supply, warehousing and distribution sectors. He is an accomplished leader, well practised in developing diverse organisations into cohesive entities and has successfully led the start-up and mobilisation of several large organisations. He has a reputation for delivering results. Ray's experience is supported by multiple degrees in business, management, international relations and project management.
Dominic Dirupo
Dominic has acted as a business consultant specialising in organisational structures, operational systems and processes in Australia for the last 4 years and has worked closely with ASX 200 listed companies and SME's alike.
Prior to this, Dominic has worked at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank in the Investment Banking Divisions andGlobal Corporate Finance respectively overseeing projects in Europe, Middle East and Asia.
This experience is underpinned with an Honours Degree and continuous commitment to Executive Education.
Membership
Global Executive forum
Bruce Nelson
Bruce Nelson is an experienced communications practitioner who has provided strategic communications and pubic relations advice to the not-for-profit, government and private sectors over the past 20 years.
He has assisted with marketing and communication campaigns to a wide range of businesses including Fairfax Publications, QANTAS Airways, the NSW and Queensland State Governments and numerous private and publicly listed companies, and has consulted to a number of well-known national public relations firms. Bruce's most recent experience is with the unlisted companies sector, providing marketing and communications services to a number of high growth entrepreneurial businesses, establishing a specialist communications consultancy to the sector and editing a targeted magazine showcasing unlisted company investment opportunities. Bruce has also worked extensively in the Indigenous and ethnic media sectors in remote, regional and capital city markets.
He lectures and tutors at both Bond and Griffith Universities on the Gold Coast in public relations, communications and journalism courses and holds a Graduate Diploma in Journalism and a Masters of Arts in Mass Communications and Journalism. He is currently researching the relationship between religion and public relations through the University of New England.
Chris Keats
Chris has founded and sold successful start-up businesses through the development and implementation of medium to long term exit strategies, over the last 20+ years.
Having created and invested in many start-up businesses from a broad range of industries, Chris is personally tuned into the typical issues entrepreneurs and business owners have to contend with on a daily basis, particularly on what it takes to get a product to commercialisation. As a result, he can always relate strongly to difficulties faced with management and stakeholders, marketing and capital raising issues, both from a client's viewpoint and from an investor's standpoint.
Chris has extensive experience in the development and implementation of bringing the commercialisation of a product to the marketplace. His key skills include project management, business plans and business modeling, sales and marketing strategies, helping the business to gain a clear focus about the direction of their business and to establish successful growth strategies.
Katie Hillier
Katie has years of experience in the service industry with her recent achievements in supporting the development of a franchise system for the spa and beauty industry as well as driving the macro PR and Marketing initiatives of the business both internationally and nationally. Katie has a wealth of knowledge in providing the administrative and marketing requirements for businesses in all industries as well as implementation of strategic plans for businesses using her many years of hands on experience.
