About Us

Lachlan is an experienced operations, change management, tourism and hospitality professional with a proven track record of delivering financial and non-financial objectives within organisations.

Lachlan served 6.5 years in the Australian Defence Force as a Combat Engineer and Education Officer, 3 years within Merlin Entertainments running operations for a Zoo, Aquarium and Adventure Parks around Australia. Currently, As the General Manager of His Boy Elroy.

He works closely with the NSW Small Business Commissioner in a reference group and sits on several committees including the local Legacy committee.

Daniel has been involved in Barstool Brothers from its formation in 2019.

For 19 years, Daniel has been involved in the hospitality industry. This has included working in front of house, management, owning cafes & restaurants and providing entertainment to venues through event organisation.

For the previous 3 years, Daniel was the venue manager at His Boy Elroy, where the Barstool Brothers was formed.

Daniel also sits on the committee for Healthier Illawarra Men (HIM), an Illawarra based health organisation, bringing both mental and physical health awareness to men in the region.

Daniel brings experience and passion from the hospitality industry to help drive our mission to create more mental health conscious & safe venues across the country.

Sam is a financial services professional and the Board Secretary for The Barstool Brothers.

After several years in consulting, Sam joined Westpac Banking Corporation where he established himself as an operations & strategy specialist. Across 5 years, he held key roles in several significant programs including as Delivery Lead for the announcement, planning and execution of Westpac's public commitment to bring back ~1,100 customer support roles from overseas hubs to Australia. In 2020 & 2021, Sam was awarded with back-to-back CEO Awards, the Bank's highest honours for employee performance, before joining Angle Auto Finance in 2022 to help the new company establish & streamline operations teams and risk processes within its Wholesale business.

Sam is a One Young World Ambassador having represented Australia at the London hosted conference in 2019. He returned from the experience with a strong interest to drive meaningful change in his own community after meeting and connecting with world leading humanitarians, philanthropists and entrepreneurs.

James has over thirty years of financial, compliance and management accounting experience - coupled with senior managerial skills - derived from a career in professional accounting with KPMG, government, and private enterprise.
My skills encompass: audit (external/internal); business consulting services; sales and acquisitions; liquidations; taxation; strategic planning; finance business partnering; project management; performance management; and change/transformation/innovation management.
During his career, he has worked with, or within, a diverse range of organisations - from private SME’s to large multinational corporations; federal, state and local government; utility corporations; and education sector entities.
He has a well-developed understanding of stakeholders needs in both urban and regional areas having lived and worked in Sydney before moving to Tamworth in 2001, and from 2020 basing himself in Wollongong.

Nic is a driven woman who has risen to the top of her field in Psychology, and has a Bachelor or Science, Honours in Psychology and a Masters in Business Administration working with the best businesses in the country and the world. Nic has consulted to BlueScope Steel, Rio Tinto, GrainCorp, Suncorp, Broadspectrum, Philips and has worked across the mining, utilities, finance, defence, construction, health and medical and not for profit sectors. Nic comes with a diverse and unique skill set, with formal training in Psychology, Science and Business.

Whilst working for Mission Australia for 6 years, Nic was determined to do better for young Australians struggling with Alcohol and other Drug Dependence and comorbid mental health issues. She and her team researched, lobbied, tirelessly fundraised and designed NSW's first youth detoxification service, The David Martin Centre in Knights Hill, a $3 million facility which accommodates up to 10 youths aged 16 to 24.
Young people participating in the program undertake a substance withdrawal and detoxification program for up to 28 days with the option of transitioning to the adjacent Triple Care farm, a longer term rehabilitation and aftercare program.

Her founding purpose as a psychologist is to assist people to create a life worth living, through the application of psychology at work, at home and in the community.

Graham was recently appointed to the Board of Barstool Brothers and is a solicitor with over 32 post-admission experience, including more than 25 of those in commercial law and dispute resolution.

Graham is an Accredited Specialist in Commercial Litigation (Insolvency) and is the current President of the Illawarra Connection, having served as its Vice President for over 13 years and President for over 4 years now. He is a Life Member of the Association of APEX Clubs, was a former board member of the Specialist Accreditation Board of the Law Society and has assisted in founding a number of not-for-profit organisations, including Digger Drop Off Limited and Superhero Enterprises Limited. Graham also served as company secretary for the Illawarra Basketball Association for 6 years and its present for 1 year.
Graham was recently made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) at the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2022.

Mark is the General Manager of Destination Wollongong, an organisation enabled by the strategic long-term support of Wollongong City Council, charged with delivering visitor economy growth by positioning Wollongong & surrounds as a premier regional tourism, events & conference destination.

Mark has extensive executive experience in both the private and public sector, is passionate about infrastructure and the importance of facilitating investment that benefits the community and visitors alike.

Mark champions the role visitors play in a vibrant and diverse local economy and the importance of collaboration and all parties working together to ensure the long term success of the region.

Mark is the Chair of Healthier Illawarra Men, an organisation established to raise funds to provide mental fitness training in the region and sits on the Board of Regional Development Australia, the Illawarra Turf Club and Rare Ovarian Cancer Incorporated.

Julian O’Brien has more than a decade of experience as an editor of two of Australia’s largest and most successful regional daily newspapers, and three decades of experience as a journalist. Julian was Editor of The Advocate Newspaper in Tasmania’s North-West for four years and Editor of the Illawarra Mercury in Wollongong for six years, before forming South Break in collaboration with Total Sport and Entertainment owner Paul Smith.

With a passion for community engagement, some of the campaigns run by those mastheads under Julian’s editorship have been recognised among the nation’s best.
The Mercury’s suicide prevention campaign, Care to QPR: Question, Persuade, Refer, was recognise with a:

• 2019 Mental Health Service Awards of Australia and New Zealand for service to mental health, and
• 2019 national LiFE Media Award for excellence in suicide prevention.

It was also nominated for the 2019 News Media Awards for best community or social-purpose initiative.

Under Julian’s editorship, the Illawarra Mercury was a vocal and passionate voice for its region. This included the
Save Our Steelworks campaign playing a vital role in securing the long-term future of a critical industry to the region, and
Illawarra Proud, a campaign fighting for the return of the Illawarra name to the region’s NBL franchise, the Illawarra Hawks.

Julian oversaw the mastheads at a time of significant transformation in the Australian media landscape, overseeing the rollout and implementation of one-platform publishing at the Mercury for both its printed and digital products. He also oversaw both masthead’s growth as significant digital Australian news websites.

Julian has a passion for sport and was a long-time sports editor and sports journalist.

He resides in Shellharbour on the NSW South Coast with his wife and fellow media professional Kellie O’Brien and their two children, Ella and Holly.

Kathryn has worked at the highest levels of government along with advising businesses, associations and peak bodies. These roles have required her to use her extensive experience in government relations as well as strategic communication including the key areas of stakeholder engagement and issues management.

In more than 18 years' of experience across the public and private sectors, Kathryn has worked as a federal ministerial press secretary, a senior policy adviser in the ACT Legislative Assembly as well as working in departments in both the Queensland and ACT governments.

Throughout her career, she has had the opportunity to work in and advise on a wide range of industries spanning mining, transport, infrastructure, FMCG, health, agriculture, aged care, defence, law enforcement, tourism, disabilities, communications, manufacturing, regional development, city services, construction and property management.