Rhiannon McKinnon

CEO
Kiwi Health

Wellington

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“The PR industry has an opportunity to realise the full value of managing a brand's single most important attribute: trust."

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As CEO of New Zealand investment management firm Kiwi Health, Rhiannon McKinnon was named CEO of the Year at the 2022 Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards, for her work to address gender equity through financial wellbeing. Previously in London, McKinnon worked in equity research for Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Cazenove. She is a chartered financial analyst and has served three years on the Board of the CFA Society of New Zealand. McKinnon has also been a Board member of various not-for-profit organisations and government entities, including the New Zealand Film Commission.

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How do you define innovation?
A break from the past to create a new and better future.

What is the most innovative PR or marketing initiative you've seen over the past 12 months?
Xero Small Business Insights

In your opinion, which brands and/or agencies are most innovative in their approach to PR and marketing?
Alexander PR

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider to be innovative.
Standing up and calling out poor behaviour by a listed company CEO and explaining how this example of poor governance is reason enough to exclude the company from any investment.

Who do you admire for his/her approach to innovation?
Richard Phillips (aka the Phillips curve)

How do you get out of a creativity rut?
Going and doing something completely different to what you're trying to solve for.

What advice would you give to the PR industry around embracing innovation?
The PR industry has an opportunity to realise the full value of managing a brand's single most important attribute: trust.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your current job?
Sailing around the Greek Islands

Which book/movie/TV show/podcast/playlist/other cultural source has provided inspiration over the past year?
Four thousand weeks - don't try to cram more into your time - choose what's most important to you and do less.

How would you like to see work culture, and the role of the office, evolve?
I'd like to see the continuation of flexible working culture which allows more people to participate in the workforce on terms that make sense to them and how they balance the rest of their life's commitments.

How can the PR and communications industry harness innovation to make more progress on diversity, equity and inclusion?
Continue to give a voice to under-represented minorities and bring them into the mainstream.