Leadership
Two leaders. Complementary strengths. One standard.
Daggie Dog is led by two people who came to the same belief from different directions: that care, opportunity and commercial success can strengthen one another.
Dean with Charlie.
Chief Executive Officer
Dean De Jesus
Dean De Jesus is the Chief Executive Officer of Daggie Dog, where Dean turns the vision into a business that runs: commercial partnerships, sales growth and the day-to-day delivery of premium, single-source protein treats for dogs.
Dean has spent more than 17 years in ICT sales and channel management, and knows how to build the relationships that grow a business. Nine of those years were at HP, where Dean managed value-added reseller partners across New South Wales and nationally, coached partners on product strategy and led several from HP Silver to HP Gold status. Dean also served as an HP Global Ambassador, driving projects in workplace engagement, culture and community. Earlier roles at Leading Solutions and Gemteq built a strong grounding in new business development, account management and tendering across corporate and government markets.
Dean is also a lifelong dog person and a hands-on small business owner. Dean founded Charlie’s Mates, a professional dog services and online retail business, and previously ran Puppy Splash Dog Grooming in Sydney. That experience of being in the room with dogs and the people who love them shapes how Daggie Dog earns trust in a crowded pet market.
At Daggie Dog, Dean brings the commercial discipline to match the mission: a business that does right by dogs, by customers and by the people it employs.
Dean is based in Sydney.
Darren with Luna.
Founder · Chief Marketing Officer · Chairman
Darren Needham-Walker
Darren Needham-Walker started Daggie Dog on a simple belief: a business should be judged on the good it does as well as the money it makes.
Daggie Dog Treats makes premium, single-source protein treats for dogs. Daggie Dog is also a purpose-led social enterprise that aims to create meaningful employment for people the system has too often overlooked. Darren leads the vision and gets stuck into the detail, from go-to-market strategy and national rollout to investment, governance, product development and supply chain. In Darren’s words, it runs “from boardroom to butcher’s block.”
Before Daggie Dog, Darren spent more than three decades in senior marketing and commercial leadership with some of the world’s best-known technology and consumer brands. At HP, Darren led marketing across Australia and New Zealand, then relocated to Portland, Oregon to run worldwide marketing for Office Printing Solutions. Darren also led the brand and marketing team behind HP’s US$1 billion acquisition of Samsung’s printer division. Other roles include Group Director of Marketing & Communications at TechnologyOne (ASX:TNE), Chief Marketing Officer at road-safety analytics company AMAG, senior roles at Lenovo, and General Manager for Asia Pacific export at Coleman Brands.
Darren is also Principal Consultant and CEO of DNW Consulting, working with founders and executive teams on brand positioning, go-to-market planning and confident communication. The approach is practical and has zero fluff: help people grow until they no longer need the help.
Darren is a Fellow and Certified Practising Marketer, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD), and a graduate of Stanford’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate Program.
Darren is based in Brisbane.
Together
How two businesses became one vision.
Darren built a natural dog treat brand. Dean built a neighbourhood pet care business. Their paths crossed again through Daggie Dog: first distribution, then investment, then a shared conviction that they could do more together than apart.
Dean brings the operational and commercial drive. Darren brings brand strategy and board leadership. Between them they cover the practical and the strategic sides of building a pet care company people can trust.
Dean and Darren at R U OK? Day.
Say hello.
Partnership, stockist and investment enquiries go straight to our leadership team.