This week on Strivin & Thrivin, we speak with Mitchell Parkins, founder and MD of Build Brand Equity.
Mitch has worked in wagering for pretty much his whole career, starting out at Centrebet, then hopping over to Sportsbet, then to GVC Group and is now the founder of Build Brand Equity.
As for his first role, Mitch says it found him.
“I was the type of kid that didn’t want to go to uni. I deliberately chose to go to College because I was very independent, and I didn’t feel like I had it in me at the time to do three or four years of study to work out what I wanted to do. I was like, “Mate, I love sport. I know that. Macleay are doing an advanced diploma in sports management and marketing.” I was like, “That’s me. I’ll figure out the rest later.”
Like many of us, Mitch decided to do his own thing during the pandemic, and why not?!
“It is a gamble…it is addictive. Backing yourself in, taking risks. I don’t think that’s ever not going to be a part of my DNA. Sitting there at the start of that lockdown, just going, “What I’m doing now. I like it. It’s good, but it’s not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
We wanted to hear what lights Mitch up, and he told us about recently connecting with his Indigenous heritage.
“Obviously the Build Brand Equity piece. I am serving as drop-in GM and marketing roles. And helping essentially fill gaps in the market at the moment because there’s literally a lot of them.
That’s keeping me busy with the intention that in roughly 15 months’ time… my wife and my son and myself will hit the road for a full year to connect with the Indigenous culture of Australia.
Without giving you an entire life story, because they’re boring, I discovered my Indigenous heritage about three years ago….
I want to spend, I’m saying a year, because I think my wife needs an end date. An indefinite period of time travelling, eating, learning, listening, just immersing myself in the culture. And hopefully, just providing a bit of an insight into essentially what Australia at a macro level is missing. And how and why we need to start championing indigenous agriculture.”
As for mentoring, Mitch sees it as helping to get out of your bubble. For him, having spent a really long time in one category meant he felt he needed mentoring from outside the category to become a bit more rounded. “You can get mentored from anyone if you’re open to it.”
