When Is a Job More Than a Job?
Ollie Hall bids farewell to Bolster and his professional twenties.
After nearly seven years and two significant chapters, we say goodbye to our Strategy Lead, Oliver Hall. Ollie joined Bolster as our 13th hire, starting as a Junior Campaign Manager in 2017. Over the years, he proved himself to be a versatile talent, rising to the role of Strategy Lead as the agency evolved alongside him. Now, Ollie is set to embrace a new challenge as a Field Marketing Manager at Red Bull. Below, he reflects on his time at Bolster, sharing his journey and what lies ahead.
Landing at Bolster, fresh-faced at 23, felt like striking gold. It wasn’t just the lure of working with Laneway Festival or Splendour in the Grass—events that had cemented my early friendships and my taste in music. It was also the people.
The role required relocating from Sydney to Melbourne—a daunting move, but I was all in. A scroll through Bolster’s Instagram had shown a tight-knit team, and I felt confident that I wasn’t just stepping into a job but something more. Thankfully, I was right.
My second week at Bolster included a team-wide retreat to Splendour in the Grass —three days deeply immersed in the very thing that had drawn us all to work there: a shared love of music. If there’s a better way to bond a team, I’m yet to find it. And it's safe to say it paid off. We were a small team, now so tightly-knit that whispers of the ‘Bolster cult’ followed us wherever we went.
Office downtime was spent playing ping pong and cards with friends—our lunchtime 'Presidents & Assholes' matches were unhinged (and addictive). I loved going to work. It sounds cliché, I know, but it wasn’t the ping pong or cards that made the culture; it was the genuine trust and freedom to deliver your work, your way.
Having the freedom to influence decisions at Pitch Music & Arts and Future Classic at 23 was a refreshing break from Sydney’s ad-land. The work was challenging, but I was given immense autonomy. The ethos was clear: put in the work, but have fun. See an opportunity? Seize it. Think the agency should evolve? Push it forward. This mindset birthed Linktree, a testament to the team’s collective ambition.
Surrounded by people eager to innovate, I watched as Linktree grew and LNWY.co (our custom publication with Laneway Festival) found its feet — a content platform ahead of its time. Meanwhile, I was forging strong relationships, including my ongoing one with Untitled Group when they were still a small(ish) challenger brand (the excitement of that first BTV sellout remains a highlight). From there, my role evolved into consulting on media for events like Red Bull Music Festival, speaking on panels with Facebook, and deeply exploring the role media and content play in shaping a brand.
By 2020, I was three years and two promotions deep at Bolster. The team had grown, and with it, my circle of friends at the company. In a team that tight, shifts in mood were contagious. Wins were shared, but so were losses. Collectively, we noticed a change: the charm of the startup culture was beginning to fade, and the balance between the social aspect of the agency and our growing ambitions started to feel at odds.
Then COVID hit, shattering the illusion entirely. An event agency during a global pandemic was a precarious place to be. Bolster did well to diversify, taking on brand work with KFC, and some festivals went online—MIFF successfully, others less so. But it wasn’t enough. The redundancies were inevitable. Those were emotional times—endless calls, countless tears, all compounding the isolation of lockdown. The Bolster dream, for me, was over. I took a role in Sydney to escape the city I felt trapped in. It was a necessary change, but I missed Melbourne—the one I remembered, at least.
When my contract at Sydney Festival ended, James Clarke, formerly Bolster’s Head of Partnerships, reached out. He had taken over the business from the original directors — Anthony and Alex Zaccaria and Nicky Humphries — who were now focused on an ever-growing Linktree. James knew of my ambitions to be a strategist, and to play a more active role in our client base beyond media. I was grateful for the opportunity to return.
The transition from pre-COVID to post-COVID Bolster was rocky, but the entrepreneurial spirit remained. We matured, shedding our scrappy upstart image, adding processes, growing the team, expanding our client base, and pushing for more sizeable work. The agency evolved at a steady pace. The feeling that I was in the right place returned. This growing team was equally as driven, but the codependence of the pre-COVID period had transformed into healthier separation.
I had the opportunity to push the agency into new directions again, launching our insights offering, developing the Ticketing State of Play report with Tixel, and auditing Australia’s music media landscape to shape what would become Warner Music’s Blare. Presenting at BIGSOUND and the inaugural SXSW Sydney, I felt like I was making a difference in the industry I had tied so much of myself to.
This was my secret to success at Bolster — most of the time, I was marketing to myself. From the start, I’ve been lucky enough to work with clients I am genuinely passionate about. And as my tastes evolved, the agency evolved with them. One day, I’d be crafting the social media strategy for Melbourne music bar High Note; the next, curating talent for an NTS partnership, building a playlist of local artists for Nike, or interviewing festival bookers for Tixel. This variety — combined with trust, autonomy, and a genuine sense of purpose — kept me here for seven years.
As I close this chapter, I am filled with immense gratitude. Bolster wasn’t just a job; it was a place of profound personal and professional growth. It was my twenties — my work, social life, identity — and all the beautiful confusion that comes with such blurred lines.
I am so proud of what Bolster has collectively achieved as a four-agency group — a far cry from the 13-strong startup I first joined. But the prevailing memory, from both chapters, is the team. This is Bolster’s true legacy — its people.
While I look forward to new challenges, Bolster will always hold a special place for me. It might sound a little sappy or grandiose, but I don’t share this lightly: the friendships Bolster forged and the lessons it instilled will remain inseparably tied to who I am and how I engage with the world.
To everyone who played a part in my time at Bolster, thank you.