One of Australia’s biggest independent digital media companies, Mamamia, has ushered in a new era of leadership with the appointment of 28-year-old Luca Lavigne — the son of founder Mia Freedman — as its newest chief executive officer.
Founded by Freedman in her own living room back in 2007, Mamamia has grown from a small personal project into one of the nation’s most prominent independent media voices focused on women’s content. Lavigne’s rise to the top role is not a sudden handout: he has worked his way up through every tier of the company over the past decade, starting his tenure as an 18-year-old intern straight out of school. After cutting his teeth across multiple departments, he stepped into the chief operating officer role just two years ago, and has now been promoted to the top spot vacated by outgoing CEO Nat Harvey, who departed Mamamia to take up a new leadership position at Southern Cross Media Group.
The announcement of Lavigne’s appointment was made public during a recent episode of the Mumbrella podcast, where the new CEO opened up about his career trajectory, his connection to the company’s founding team, and his plans for the future. In a candid conversation, Lavigne first paid warm tribute to his predecessor, praising Harvey’s unmatched ability to inspire teams across the organization.
“CEO really stands for chief energy officer, and Nat is the best example of that,” Lavigne said. “I’ve never met anyone who can get up in front of a group of people and inspire them as Nat can, and I’m going to miss that about her hugely.”
Ahead of inevitable public and media scrutiny over his family ties to the company’s leadership — Freedman is his mother, and his father Jason Lavigne also serves as a company director — Lavigne was open about how he first joined the company, while pushing back against assumptions that his promotion was unearned. He acknowledged that his family connection gave him the initial foot in the door a decade ago, but emphasized that Mamamia’s culture does not allow leaders to rest on their family connections.
“Let’s be honest about how I got in the door here 10 years ago, the co-founders and I go back a long time. We’ve known each other a while, I’m not going to insult anyone’s intelligence by pretending otherwise,” he joked. “What I do know is that Mamamia is not a place that you can coast.”
Outgoing CEO Harvey also publicly defended Lavigne’s appointment, noting that his decade of hands-on experience, relentless work ethic, and proven contributions to the business leave no question about his suitability for the role. “There will be nobody in this business, certainly over the last 12 months, that would question Luca’s work ethic or contribution or ability to do the job,” she said.
Reflecting on his rapid career progression, Lavigne noted that taking on senior roles earlier than the industry average has become a pattern for him: after starting at 18, he is now taking on the CEO role at 28, and just recently welcomed newborn twins, bringing his total number of children to three. “I found my first grey hair the other day, which I think says a lot about where I’m at in my life,” he joked. “I’ve also just had newborn twins, I’ve got three kids at home. So it seems to be a pattern in my life that I seem to do things a little early.”