At the end of 2014, Callum Fry walked away from a successful recruitment career, a manager's title and a solid contract book to chase a million-dollar idea. He travelled the US, pitched venture capitalists, met potential customers, and watched the idea run out of road. But he has never stopped backing himself.
He talks about it with a grin, "There's a lot to be learnt from trying," he says. "It's helped me in a lot of areas since."
That instinct, back yourself, have a crack, learn from what breaks, is the thread running through Callum's career. It is also what he brings to Allura Partners, where he joins as Principal Consultant in the Technology and Digital team, based in Melbourne.
Callum is a Kiwi who never planned to build his career at home. Out of university, he looked across the Tasman, saw bigger opportunities, and applied online for a job he didn't fully understand. His first impression when he landed it confirmed as much. He was out of his league, and the learning curve was steep.
He started at Robert Walters in 2010, focused on technology recruitment, in what he describes as a competitive, high-volume, boiler-room environment. Ties on at eight, ties off at six. Stray from either, and you'd hear about it. Hard work, but the place where he learned the craft. Four years in, he was managing a team and had built a contract book and a set of client relationships he still nurtures today. "I've got relationships that were established at the very beginning of my career that I still catch up with for coffee nearly 15 years later."
After the business venture, he rebuilt, joining Experis in-house for three years before old colleagues tapped him on the shoulder to join Method Recruitment Group. One thing led to another. He stayed eight years, grew the technology function from a single person to a team of fifteen, moved into an Associate Director role, and led the growing team through the pandemic.
Callum never stopped being an operator. The entrepreneurial streak came from his parents, small- business owners for 30 years, where working on fishing boats after school was the norm. Trying new business models, testing new apps and tools, and keeping up with AI is part and parcel of his week.
This isn't a hobby he keeps separate from his day job. It is the day job. "It allows me to relate closely to my clients, particularly the startups and scaleups," he says. "I understand what they're doing and how they're doing it, rather than just what's on their CV."
The result is a consultant who can sit across from a founder or an engineering leader and follow the conversation. "I get a different seat at the table, because I understand what they're going through."
Callum wasn't actively looking. He was comfortable. For someone who has always backed movement over stillness, that was the problem. "I had a good situation, but I wasn't growing, I wasn't learning."
When Niall Ross, Director of Melbourne, called, two things stood out. The first was the model. "The point of difference for me was the executive search function and then the recruitment function. It made so much sense. You put an executive into an environment, then you go in and build the team underneath to set them up for success." The second was private equity, a space he had never worked in. "It's a whole different ball game. That's what got me across the line, an opportunity to learn and grow in a different area."
His plan in Melbourne is deliberate. First, build the brand in a market where Allura Partners is less established than in Sydney. Then build a technology desk, but on his own terms. "I don't want a large team. A small team of high-calibre recruiters who are successful. That's the cap."
Callum is an ambassador for The Shaka Project, a mental health organisation, and it is something he cares about well beyond a line on a profile. "It's always stuck pretty true and close to me," he says.
He brought it into his last business and watched it change the way people spoke to each other. "It just opened up an environment where everyone was more comfortable talking about it." The proof was personal. People started coming to him directly. "I had a lot of people reach out to me and discuss their challenges and their troubles."
He sees the need clearly in his own industry. Recruitment is full of people who have moved across the world for the job, often without family nearby, and that isolation can be heavy.
Whether you're growing a technology team in Melbourne or weighing up your next move, Callum backs a good conversation. Reach out and start one.