About Olivia

Nice to meet you!

I’m Olivia Haigh – the chief cat herder.

I’ve spent 20+ years being the person who makes things work – for founders, CEOs, and the teams behind them. I’ve been the Operations Manager, the Chief of Staff, the Head of HR, and the trusted right-hand to leaders navigating some genuinely complicated situations. I know what it feels like when a business is growing faster than its systems. I also know how to fix it.

What I’ve done.

My most recent role was at a deep tech start-up – the kind of business where the science is world-leading, and there are layers of operational complexity. I joined as Operations Manager when it was small and scrappy, became Chief of Staff as it scaled, and moved into Head of HR as it matured. I helped build the operational and people foundations of a business that grew to over 65 employees over several years.

Before that, I spent a decade as a Founding Director of my own business – so I know what it actually feels like to run one. The decisions that keep you up at night, the things that don’t fit neatly into any job description, the tension between doing the work and running the show.

And before that, I spent years in creative agencies and advertising, in Sydney and Amsterdam, working across branding, advertising, and communications. I understand the creative world from the inside. The culture, the personalities, the way those businesses work at their best and their most chaotic.

• Industries: Deep tech, creative agencies, branding, advertising, education, corporate video
• Roles held: Chief of Staff, Head of HR, Operations Manager, Founding Director, Creative Services Director
• Business size: Start-ups through to 75-person teams across Australia and the Netherlands.
• Experience: 20+ years across operations, people, culture, communications, and leadership support

A bit about me.

I’m a Canadian who made my way to Australia via The Netherlands, alongside my Kiwi husband.

Long before any job title, I’ve always been the person who quietly notices what’s not quite working, and figures out how to fix it. Wired to think ahead, spot the gaps, connect the dots before things unravel.

I work with founders and leadership teams to bring order to the chaos of a growing business. When things feel messy, unclear, or harder than they should be, I step in as a trusted right-hand. I connect people, strategy, and execution so you get smoother operations, better communication, and a business that runs with more clarity and less friction.

I love working with start-ups and creative, fast-moving businesses. A little scrappy, ambitious, full of potential – the kind of places where the culture is real and worth protecting. That’s exactly where I do my best work.

And yes, I still plan everything three steps ahead. My husband doesn’t fully understand it … but he definitely appreciates it.

Why “Herding Cats”?

Because that’s often what building or running a business feels like.

You’ve got clever, independent, highly capable people doing excellent work, often with strong opinions, different working styles, and a healthy resistance to unnecessary bureaucracy.

I get it. And I genuinely love it.

The goal isn’t to flatten what makes them special. It’s to create structure so the business can function, grow, and support its people properly – without losing its spark.