A new season begins
A new season begins
It’s taken me a long time to write this. Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because it’s hard to fully articulate how much this moment means to me. After years of ideas scribbled in a notepad, half-formed thoughts captured on runs, and late-night planning sessions at the kitchen table, New Season is finally here.
A New Season Begins
It’s taken me a long time to write this.
Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because it’s hard to fully articulate how much this moment means to me.
After years of ideas scribbled in a notepad, half-formed thoughts captured on runs, and late-night planning sessions at the kitchen table, New Season is finally here.
This isn’t a pitch or a press release (for once). It’s a reflection on how this started, what I’ve learned, and why I’m so determined to make New Season something special.
It’s also a commitment to keep sharing the journey honestly, the wins, the setbacks, and the small lessons, because too often I feel like we only see the polished versions of stories like these.
I want to share a bit of what it’s like to build something meaningful, not to glorify it, but to normalise the uncertainty, the effort, and the quiet joy of doing work you care about. Hopefully it offers a reminder that if you’re on a similar path, it’s okay to still be figuring it out.
At its heart, New Season is a creative PR and communications studio where sport, climate and culture collide, helping ambitious organisations tell better stories about sustainability, gender equity and social impact.
Why I started New Season
Why I started New Season
I’ve worked in sport almost my entire career, from The Queensland Reds and The Blues to three Rugby World Cups, Les Mills, the America’s Cup and the Olympics (read: I’m old).
I was obsessed with sports. I loved the energy, the spectacle, the sense of connection that sport brings.
But over time, I started to question the impact I was having on the world beyond just entertainment.
I’ve always been passionate about sustainability, but for a long time I never really saw a natural way for sport and sustainability to come together.
The New Zealand SailGP Team was where that shift really happened for me, working with Pete Burling and Blair Tuke, and then later across the League at SailGP on their ambition to become the world’s most sustainable sport with the unstoppable force that is Fiona Morgan.
It was there that I discovered the insight that athletes are among the most trusted voices in society. And with that trust comes both an obligation and an opportunity to harness it for good.
That stuck with me. I began to see the untapped potential of sport not just to entertain but to inspire and drive change. If I could take what I’d learned at SailGP and apply it to bigger organisations, purpose-driven brands and athletes, I felt I could have a greater impact.
So, I took the leap of faith to do just that and start working for myself just under two years ago. No roadmap, safety net or any real idea whether there was a market for creative communications. Just an instinct that sport could be a force for good on a bigger scale, and that communications could be the bridge.
Fast forward to today, and I’m pretty amazed by where that leap has taken me.
Projects I never imagined being part of, from Liverpool FC’s sustainability strategy The Red Way, to a partnership between HYROX and High Impact Athletes engaging everyday racers on climate action, to Ocean Conservancy bringing together Hollywood stars and Surfer John John Florence to drive awareness of ocean health, to working with marine innovators driving systemic change, and collaborating with the Equality Institute to tackle gender-based violence through sport.
I’m not very good, in fact I’m awful, at stopping to reflect on the last two years, but it’s nice to take a brief moment to pause and look back. I finally feel incredibly proud.
A Leap of Faith (and a Baby)
This journey hasn’t been straightforward.
Starting a business without a steady salary, at the same time as having a baby (the legendary Otis, now 15 months old) might not have been the most sensible timing in hindsight. But in a strange way, it gave me the impetus and even more drive to make it work.
It’s by far the hardest I’ve ever had to work, but it’s also been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
There were moments I wondered if I’d made a mistake, when the workload felt impossible, or when the uncertainty and self-doubt inevitably crept in. When people told me there was not the money or the market for what I wanted to do.
But persevering and overcoming those moments has given me a huge amount of confidence that I’m on the right track.
I’ve realised how much I love this, not just the work, but the purpose behind it. I finally feel like I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing, using communications and sport to make a genuine difference.
And it feels good. It feels right.
Why sport and why comms
I’m ambitious about the role of sport in driving change. But I believe in it.
In an increasingly polarised, fractured society, sport is one of the last things that still unites us. It cuts through noise and politics in a way almost nothing else can.
Communications isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s how sport reaches hearts, not just headlines.
A lot of amazing work is happening behind the scenes, from sustainability strategies and carbon targets to governance frameworks, but I think sport’s real superpower lies in how we tell those stories.
The problem is, sustainability and social impact often fail to connect with people.
The language is wrong, or too corporate, or too heavy, or loaded with jargon no one really understands. New Season exists to change that.
I want this studio to make those conversations engaging, hopeful and human. To help sport and purpose-led brands reach people through creativity, culture and storytelling.
Because this isn’t just about doing the right thing; it’s also about staying relevant and creating long-term value. Fans, sponsors and brands expect more. Sport risks losing its social licence to operate unless it can prove it’s contributing positively to people and the planet. That creates a huge opportunity for those willing to lead, to show that purpose and performance can work hand in hand.
That’s why the tagline Make History means so much to me.
Because I want to work with ambitious people, brands and organisations who want to do something bold, who want to genuinely build legacies, not campaigns.
Gratitude
None of this has happened alone.
I’m lucky to have crossed paths with some brilliant people who believed in this before it even had a name, and who’ve helped shape what New Season has become.
Ollie at Marine Futures, who believed in the vision early (from a single LinkedIn message) and gave me the opportunity to help drive climate action across the marine industry.
Olympians Marcus and Hugo at High Impact Athletes, who started as clients over a coffee at Pophams and have become good mates, building something genuinely meaningful together.
Peter Udzenija and Isabella Bertold, who brought me in for the Women’s America’s Cup campaign, a project that showed me why visibility and representation in sport matter so much.
And then there’s Josh at Porter James Sports. Josh and I actually worked together way back in 2012 on the Blues website, which is making me feel even older just typing that.
Fast forward thirteen years, and he’s built an incredible fashion label that I’ve quietly (and now not-so-quietly) become the number one fan of (do yourself a favour and buy some of his trousers). Seeing someone else evolve their craft over that time has been a reminder of why long-term vision matters.
So when it came to developing the New Season brand, working with him again was really special. It’s been a full-circle moment, from designing a rugby team’s site in Auckland to creating something that represents this next chapter.
Josh has absolutely nailed the look and feel, the energy and the vision. It’s bold, modern, and just the right kind of disruptive.
Finally, none of this would be possible without Becs and my little man Otis.
As I write this on a Sunday afternoon while Becs is looking after him, I’m acutely aware of what it takes to build something like this; the sacrifice, the care, the kindness, the patience.
She’s probably had to hear the words “brand positioning” more times than any human should. She’s listened to every idea, crisis and client update, and still somehow cheers me on. From the late-night pep talks to celebrating tiny wins that only I care about, she’s been the constant through all of it and I’d be lost without her. I’m forever grateful.
Now, with Fin joining as PR & Comms Exec and Celina supporting PR (more to share on these two rockstars soon), it finally feels like we’ve got a small but mighty team that can make waves.
What’s Next
It’s still early days, but this is the beginning of something I’ve wanted to build for a long time.
There’s so much potential in this space, to disrupt the status quo, to help sport communicate with clarity and emotion, and to make complex topics like sustainability and social impact connect with people again.
So yeah, I’m excited. I’m proud. I love my job. And I feel like this launch is just the start.
If any of this resonates with you, if you care about using sport, creativity and communications to drive change, I’d love for you to join me.
Please follow along, drop me a note, or find time to grab coffee.
Because this really does feel like the start of a new season. Let’s make history.
— James
