Meet Our Team

Likeable Nick (aka Nick McDonald)

Head Honcho:

With a background in trading and financial markets, Nick has a keen eye for financials. Our ‘ROI’ man, Nick constantly challenges us to strive for excellence and get real returns for our customers. He’s also pretty good at setting the challenge on the foosball table!

Likes:  Fishing, delivering excellence for customers, growing businesses, coffee, wine, rugby (the All Blacks and his kids’ teams)

Dislikes: Tomatoes, bad customer service, waiting in queues, letting anyone down.

Emojis: ? ☕ ?

Location: Tauranga, New Zealand

Likeable Nicola (aka Nicola Farrant)

Social Mastermind:

Nicola is a renaissance woman who loves learning new things. So when social media platforms throw something new our way, Nicola gets right into it, and constantly adapts to the changes. She loves to learn about new businesses and clients and show how Likeable Lab can help them grow. She also has an eagle eye for detail.

Likes: Baking, op shopping, Friday drinks

Dislikes: Wasting time, not loading the dishwasher, injustice

Emojis: ? ? ?

Location: Tauranga, New Zealand

Likeable Phil (aka Phil Waylen)

Chief Commander:

Phil is the ringmaster of this circus. He multi-tasks across both our creative and ads teams and is our chief of quality control. He takes sport far too seriously and has a habit of using a sporting analogy to describe any situation. He also has the world’s longest to-do list.

Likes: Foosball, DIY, burgers, white chocolate

Dislikes: Tequila, reality TV and green bananas

Emojis: ? ? ?

Location: Tauranga, New Zealand

Alex Haskell

Head of Creative:

Alex is our Head of Creative here at Likeable Lab. She has always had a passion for Social Media, her favourite platform being Instagram. She graduated with a BMA majoring in Graphic Design from Wintec School Of Media Arts and joined us here at LeadSocial at the start of 2018.

She is constantly growing and is always trying to push the boundaries when it comes to social media and digital design with some big (and sometimes quite extra) ideas.  Her goal is to create effective visual communication for our clients whilst creating thumb-stopping content.

Location: Hamilton, New Zealand

Kim Herewini

Senior Account Manager

Kim is Likeable Lab’s, Go-To Gal. When she isn’t in the office, you can find her in the gym (gain train) making her Likeable Lab’s very own SportySpice.

She has a strong interest in creating those ‘golden’ captions with a background in PR and a Bachelor in Communications. Whilst being relatively new to the Social Media game she is developing rapidly within the industry with an ever-growing list of awesome clients.

Location: Hamilton, New Zealand

PJ Jefferies

Front End Web Developer

PJ is our Web guy.  You’ll find him working on all website jobs from start to finish, right from design all the way through to developing.

Graduating from Wintec with a Bachelor of Media Arts, PJ has a background in graphic design, digital content creation, and web design (what doesn’t he do?). With a strong passion for digital media, PJ is a keen learner constantly looking for different avenues to upskill and develop ensuring your website is the best it can be.

Location: Hamilton, New Zealand

Likeable Susanne (aka Susanne Irwin)

Admin Ninja:

Susanne looks after the details so the rest of the team can focus on getting likes and leads for our clients. She’s a whiz on a spreadsheet, never one to leave things unfinished, and thrives on being busy (lucky for us). And, just so you know, her name is actually pronounced Susanna.

Likes: Hanging with her kids, Stewart Island, her cat and dog, hiking in the mountains

Dislikes: Bad coffee, wetas, unreliable people

Emojis:  ? ⛰ ☕

Location: Tauranga, New Zealand (from Germany)

Likeable Carole (aka Carole Bettendroffer)

Ads Master & Account Manager:

Carole is a keen social media user who has an eagle eye for detail and a love for original content. Carole is super organised and heads up a lot of our special projects that require creativity and originality.

Likes: Cooking, travelling, a good glass of wine

Dislikes: Spiders, weak internet connection, traffic jams

Emojis: ? ? ✈️

Location: Tauranga, New Zealand (from Luxembourg)

McKenzie Claydon

Graphic Designer:

Location: Hamilton, New Zealand 

Maddie Eman

Account Manager:

Location: Hamilton, New Zealand 

Likeable Patrick (aka Patrick Tiam Watt)

Ads Master:

Patrick has been working in social media ads since 2016. When he’s not working, he’s either playing with his dogs or playing old computer games from the late 90s to early 2000s. He’s a sucker for nostalgia and anything that reminds him of the 90s.

Likes: Sunny days, playing with dogs, morning walks in the garden

Dislikes: Rainy days, crowded places, public speaking

Emojis:❤️??

Location: The Philippines

Likeable Josh (aka Josh Baird)

The Video Man:

Josh is an all rounder when it comes to video production. Whether it’s shooting, editing or animation, he always does a stellar job. Having lived all over the world, he has found a lot of influence and inspiration in different cultures. When he’s not working, you’ll find him lounging in the sun or out for a beer with friends.

Likes: Surfing and anything in the ocean, practicing jiu jitsu, and cooking

Dislikes: “Peak hour” traffic anywhere, especially the supermarket.  Miscommunication and banana breath

Emojis: ??⚡

Location: Tauranga, New Zealand

Likeable Paul (aka Paul Harrison)

Client Whisperer:
Paul loves to chat. He meets new (potential) clients, gets to know them and their businesses. He comes up with bespoke strategies to cater to our client’s needs and makes sure our clients are happy as Larry.

Likes: Rugby, coastal bike rides, Social Media.

Dislikes: Brussel sprouts and soap operas

Emojis: ? ✌ ?

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Likeable Ryan (aka Ryan Schofield)

Education boss:
This chatty South African, who resides in the sunny Gold Coast, heads up the education division. He works for our clients producing educational material and sending it out on social media, making sure it’s being seen by the right people.

Likes: Craft beer, surfing, road trips (without the kids)

Dislikes: Buffering, tardiness, shaving, road trips (with the kids)

Emojis: ? ?‍?‍? ?

Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Likeable Stephen (aka Stephen Haupt)

Wisdom bearer:
Stephen is our voice of reason. Originally a mentor to our head honcho, Nick, he’s now Likeable Lab’s Non-executive Chairman. With a mountain of management experience, he works hard deciding future strategies and opportunities for Likeable Lab.

Likes: His family and 2 Cockapoo dogs, playing golf and skiing.

Dislikes: Quitters, guns and bureaucracy.

Location: Bournemouth, England

Emojis: ? ? ?

Likeable Swati (aka Swati Patani)

Money Magician:
Swati mostly has her head in our books. Making sure our accounts are looking in tip-top shape and we are operating a well-oiled machine. Swati is the almighty accountant who fixes the problems, we never knew we had.

Likes: Avocados, languages, wittiness, making lists.

Dislikes: cold weather, people who do not follow through on things, beetles and bugs (especially the flying ones!!)

Emojis: ? ☀️ ?

Location: London, England

Likeable Rakesh (aka Rakesh Rakhra)

Content Composer:
Just like a music composer, Rakesh brings together greatness. He creates content to educate, challenge and motivate our client’s audience to leave them feeling inspired.

Likes: Playing the piano, gourmet bacon cheeseburgers, watching Scotland Rugby win.

Dislikes: Onion on pizza, time wasting, Scottish weather, bad car parking.

Emojis: ? ??

Location: Glasgow, Scotland