40 Under 40 2022: Kiranpreet Kaur Dhillon, Archibald Williams

Kiranpreet Kaur Dhillon

Managing director
Archibald Williams 
Australia

Proficient at sewing dinosaur bed sheets, diligently handling crafts projects for her son, smashing her KPIs at work, and running side gigs as a lifestyle photographer, Canada-born Kiranpreet Kaur Dhillon is a “master of balance”, as Bram Williams, co-founder of Archibald Williams (AW) puts it.  

A daughter of immigrant parents, Dhillon is no stranger to hustling, grinding and proving herself. Just don’t expect the usual from her. This young managing director at AW wears multiple hats, challenges the unexpected, destroys stereotypes and does whatever it takes to find success, whether ideating new concepts, implementing innovative solutions, stretching beyond her immediate responsibilities to oversee growth, staffing, and even PR for the agency. 

Little wonder then that her career has witnessed a sharp trajectory seeing her take reins of agency leadership teams from as young as 28, first as business head at CX Lavender, and later in her current profile at AW, where she rallied the troops through the volatile period of Covid. Team headcount under Dhillon’s leadership over her career multiplied from four to 25. 

Along the way, she grew her skill sets through parallels like production and strategy, which contributed to her ability to lead market-first strategies and campaigns, including Citibank’s first Australian brand campaign, Cancer Council, and more. 

With a finger on clients’ business pulse, Dhillon has helped AW deliver their highest revenue year in four years, surpassing all internal targets by a noticeable margin. Building relationships and transforming teams are her areas of expertise, which help the agency not only win new projects and clients but also improve talent retention. 

Her sharp acumen—not just in numbers but also in people—is well applied in HR practices like talent recruitment, saving thousands in fees for the firm. The empathetic leader is a prominent industry voice on diversity and inclusion. She is known to run personal checks on team members, celebrating their milestones and being a part of their lows as much as their highs. These are just a few traits which the team says “makes the concept of being human more real.” 

“She’s our barometer—she can literally change the energy in a room when she’s there, and this party-trick of hers is an incredible asset to our agency,” says Stuart Archibald, co-founder of AW.