2 decades ago Mark Kelly thought globally, but acted locally, creating then building up his Global Surf Industries by appealing to the mass market of beginner & intermediate surfers rather than world champs; and offering customers certainty of supply and consistently good quality brand surf and paddle boards. GSI flourished to become a major supplier of boards in some 74 countries around the world. Along the way, Mark Kelly became a political activist, without really meaning to, by thinking locally, and acting globally. In 2018 he began a small local grassroots campaign, on a closed Facebook group, with the catchy title “Vote Tony Out”. The “Tony” being former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and the campaign’s aim was to vote Tony Abbott out as the federal Member for the seat of Warringah. Gutsy? Yes. Provocative? Certainly. Successful? Yes. What Kelly ended up building was a community-based political campaign, via savvy use of social media and yes, old-fashioned t-shirt sales, that helped turf Tony Abbott out of the federal seat he’d held for a quarter of a century. Kelly’s campaign also boosted the new Independent candidate, now sitting MP, Zali Steggall.
In Part 2 of our chat this week, find out how exactly Mark built a successful political campaign, from scratch, and helped usher in the new wave of Independents!
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Build It. They'll Come.