Alex Gavalas

Alex Gavalas wanted to be a pilot until he worked out how much of that life is spent away from home. He wanted to be around more than he wanted to fly. He joined the business in 2005, doing link-building and learning SEO from the ground up, seven years before it became Bonfire. More than 20 years later he's Partner and General Manager – Strategy, and he's never worked anywhere else.

His work starts with how a client's business makes money and what they need their marketing to do about it. From there he shapes the strategy and stays with it into execution, pulling in the Bonfire specialists each stage calls for, whether that's search, media, creative, data or AI. He's proudest of Bonfire's partnership with Cancer Council Western Australia. If he can't explain a strategy without jargon, he takes it as a sign he's overcomplicated it.

He's a Perth local, married with two young daughters, and listens mostly to Greek music. He once co-ran Melodia Entertainment, bringing Greek acts over for live shows. The flying never quite left him, and he can still pick an aircraft and its route off Flightradar24. He holds the business to a simple test. People should want to stay, and be able to grow while they're here.