About Us
We’re Ultimate Edge Communications, a ground-breaking Sydney-based media and communications consultancy founded in 2014 by Aleisha McCall, finalist of B&T’s “30 under 30 Entrepreneur” and former international figure skating champion.
Culture
We’re trailblazers. We make things happen. We live and work on the Ultimate Edge.
After achieving National Account Manager of the Year at Australia’s leading media broadcaster ARN for 5 consecutive years, Aleisha jumped headfirst into her own venture. Starting from scratch through sheer force of will and with an abundance of heart and soul, Ultimate Edge Communications was born to fill a distinctive gap in the market. The gap Aleisha identified as needing to be filled was: high-growth brands with a sizeable budget to invest but want and need campaigns to have measurable ROI that can be tracked with full transparency and data-driven accountability across both traditional and digital platforms.
Pushing past the traditional client-agency relationship to form intimate relationships , we deliver a high level of care and cutting-edge results to have a bigger impact on each business than they’ve previously been accustomed to. We truly care about the brands we partner with, creating intimate working partnerships where we roll up our sleeves, dig deep and explore every avenue, moulding insights into data-driven solutions that work to create long-lasting, market-beating results.
Once a client determines what they want to achieve, we make it our job to get them there – and if we don’t know the answer straight away, you can be sure we’ll find it out. We have the people, the expertise, the resources and the sheer relentlessness to help our clients achieve their goals.
When a business is willing to open its heart and mind to trust us, the real magic happens. Collaborating so intimately means our client’s goals become our goals. We have an insatiable desire to beat our previous targets, to go one step ahead, to reach the next level, raising the bar over and over again. We believe it’s the only way to achieve results and growth beyond expectations.
What sets us apart from our competitors is simple: We care more. We work harder. We make things happen. And you’ll love it when you’re on our team.
“When you’re on the edge, you can do anything, you’re in full control.”
Aleisha’s experience as an international figure skater and coach lays a natural foundation of drive, determination and pure passion for the team to achieve more than most people think is possible. Entwining her tenacious hard work and champion mindset with her team leadership skills has turned our most complex work into winning campaigns that appear effortless, much like the years of dedicated practice it took her to execute a flawless and winning on-ice routine.
In figure skating, if you don’t nail a jump, you will fall on your arse – Aleisha probably fell 10,000 times, over and over, until she perfected each jump through relentless practice and consistent critique of each movement. When you perfect each move to set yourself up to launch into a jump, it means you have full control over your skate and it’s what’s known as ‘the ultimate edge’.
Understanding the value and importance of the ultimate edge skating metaphor is what we mimic to launch successful marketing campaigns for our clients.
At Ultimate Edge, we visualise what success looks like, we identify what it will take to achieve it and we work tirelessly, relentlessly, until we get ‘the ultimate edge result’. Those born from the edge are champions.
“The difference between a champion and an amateur is consistency.”
Champions are not born with natural talent and passion but are created as a result of pure dedication, tenacity and perseverance. They pick themselves up after every fall, continuously learn from mistakes and optimise every element of their practice until they can land that jump not just once, but consistently.
Champions don’t win every game, match or competition. They haven’t landed every jump – but they’ve landed more than anyone else – consistently. It is this relentless determination to consistently land a winning jump Aleisha spent years practising and perfecting on the ice that she has transferred to the team. It permeates every aspect of our campaigns and work ethic.
The consistency we are able to achieve is due to core guiding principles known as ‘Deliberate Practice Principles’, a scientific methodology that, for the past 40+ years, has created countless world champions, Commonwealth Games and Olympic medallists.
“We improve 1% every single day, every single week, every single month.”
As a young athlete, Aleisha practised winning routines on an ice rink that was 1/3 the size of a standard rink. This meant she and her teammates had to come up with innovative solutions to deconstruct their programs to accommodate the lack of space, while at the same time accelerating to top speed (technically, angular momentum) for jump launches without the benefit of space! This cunning, problem-solving ability now runs deep through the Ultimate Edge team. We don’t let the size of the budget, client segments or job complexity limit how successful a campaign is going to be.
“To succeed, you have to be willing to put the microscope on yourself, your team, your systems and processes to consistently break through barriers and overcome obstacles.”
By refining each process and skill 1 percent at a time, we improve consistently in everything we do, increasing our value to our clients while expanding the capabilities we offer. Individually, we develop our skills and strengthen our foundations and as a team, our continual progress allows us to achieve greater results as a self-organising team.
We firmly believe that each morning you should swing your legs out of bed feeling inspired at the prospect of what you can achieve that day. We celebrate each win and milestone, but don’t rest on our laurels; we will always continue to raise the bar, optimise the result and reach for the next win.
“Full transparency allows us to consistently analyse areas to improve in every aspect of our work.”
Our production and job management systems provide full internal transparency to enforce accountability by staff, by job and by client across all divisions and functions of the business, leaving no stone unturned when it comes to improvement. With fully automated and synchronised dashboards, everyone on the team is aware of each job; its budget, deliverables and deadlines.
Full transparency allows us to consistently analyse what’s working and what’s not, in real time to identify areas to improve – dynamically. This accelerates the feedback loop, allowing us to make adjustments and refinements while jobs are being processed.
“Stepping outside your comfort zone is where growth comes from.”
Armed with this level of accountability, we hold ourselves to a higher standard, improve every single day, don’t overcharge our clients, and provide exceptional value that can be analysed at every step across all functions of a job, regardless of its size, duration or complexity.
“When you aim to win, every decision taken will contribute to its success or its failure.”
We know that everything we do counts. Every decision, every purchase, every deliverable counts. When you aim as high as we do, we need an infectiously passionate team who cares. What we haven’t got is room for big egos. Even though we hold ourselves to a very high standard, we have to confront conversations to reveal how we can do more, be more, and give more. We’re willing to step outside of our comfort zone to challenge ourselves and each other to be the best version possible because that’s what it takes to be champions at what we do.
We’re trailblazers. We make things happen. We live and work on the Ultimate Edge. Would you like to give it a go?