Speaking & Writing
The unexpected part of you is your biggest strength. Drawing on two decades of leading teams through crisis, technology shifts, and creative development, I help audiences understand how being different is a feature not a bug. There are even bad jokes included, no extra charge.
I'm open to inquiries for speaking engagements in 2026 across Australasia and Asia. Please get in touch to learn more, or explore some of my favourite talks, workshops and podcast conversations below.
Speaking Topics
- Surfing the chaos: practical steps for leaders and boards to embrace advanced technology
- How your small weird crew can outdo the giants
- Deep storytelling for leaders
- Neurodiversity in an AI age
- Video game industry history, trends and futures
- Horror and creativity: the dark places hold the treasure
The Storytelling for Leaders Workshop series is about shaping living stories that bring teams and organisations together.
The ability to craft and share compelling stories is a crucial leadership competency. We've all experienced the transformative power of a leader who tells great stories: the clarity it brings, the vision it paints, and the profound impact it has on a team's motivation and performance.
Storytelling for Leaders is facilitated by Jo Fitzgerald and Colin Rowsell, leaders and communicators who've supported teams through some of the biggest challenges imaginable. From the ancient fundamentals of storytelling in human history and ritual, to insider case studies from cutting-edge startups and the worlds of film, tv, and video game development, we will take you on a journey of applied narrative mastery.
For more information, free guides, testimonials and booking inquiries see the Storytelling For Leaders website.
Talks and podcast conversations
Emotional Climate Change: The inner landscapes of horror
Horror is the most primal genre, grounded in experiences that resonate with deep human fears and emotional landscapes. This talk explores how effective horror development starts with understanding the connection between external terrors and internal emotional states, creating a "psychic bridge" between creator and audience.
Small Weird Crews: Building high-performing teams of humans
Lessons for NZ's growing game dev ecosystem from other regions and industries - how to keep the focus on people while growing business value. A realistic yet optimistic talk for founders, team leaders, and anyone interested in building lasting creative firms that honour he tangata (our people).
The Campfire in The Storm: Leadership Storytelling during Crisis
This talk explores how effective leaders use storytelling as an interactive framework that helps teams navigate through chaos. Drawing on crisis management experience from disaster recovery, high-growth startups and scale-ups, we examine how stories shape team resilience, decision-making, and ultimately, the games we create.
Hello Chaos My Old Friend: Learning from the Messiest Projects
Game development has sometimes struggled to learn from other fields as it evolves. But areas as diverse as disaster recovery, startups, SaaS scaling, and public sector rollouts offer fascinating (and sometimes hilarious) comparison points for the age-old question: how do you manage when things are completely off the rails?
Let's Go Dark Together, the Sequel: Darkerer
A philosophical discussion of the possible evolution of interactive entertainment. Indie horror games - 13th century Italian poetry - Information theory - the Imaginal Realm - Lovecraft - hope.
Lovecraft's Letters and Influence
A conversation with the great S.T. Joshi, H.P. Lovecraft scholar and bibliophile.
Narrative, Story Worlds, and Transmedia
A deeply personal conversation with Jeff Gomez, modern mythologist and innovator of the collective journey.
Interactive narrative and pursuing the writer's dream
A conversation with Sarah Beaulieu, Narrative Director on the Assassin's Creed video game franchise.
One of the most exciting times in the history of media
A conversation with Simon Pulman, leading entertainment dealmaker working across games, film, tv and complex rights deals.