Sim took home People's Choice at the B&T Women in Media Awards!

Every founder secretly dreams of that exact moment when the industry pauses, looks up, and says out loud: yeah, we see you.

For Sim, our CEO, Co-founder, and relentless force behind Pounce, that moment landed at the 2026 B&T Women in Media Awards, where she scored the coveted People's Choice Award. Not via a shadowy judging panel or a complex scoring spreadsheet, but directly from the industry itself.

Here’s why that distinction matters to us: judged awards praise what looks polished on paper, but People's Choice is the crowd cheering for the human in the ring. It’s the difference between polite applause and a standing ovation.

From building an agency to building what comes next

Sim founded Pounce with an ambition to build an agency willing to keep questioning what an agency should be.

Over the years, that ambition has evolved considerably. Pounce has grown across Australia and Malaysia, expanded its capabilities and increasingly moved beyond traditional marketing into the intersection of strategy, creative and technology.

Today, Pounce is a Creative Transformation Agency built around a simple mindset: Relentlessly Curious.

That curiosity has also shaped Sim’s approach to leadership. As AI continues to reshape businesses, industries and the way people work, she has become an advocate for a human-led, AI-enabled future, challenging leaders to embrace the opportunity without outsourcing the thinking, creativity and judgement that make people valuable in the first place.

Along the way, there have been plenty of lessons, pivots, risks and the occasional moment of wondering what on earth we’ve signed ourselves up for. Because building something rarely happens in a straight line.

Why the industry voted for her

Ask anyone who’s ever sat in a room with Sim, and they'll tell you the same thing: she doesn't play leader, she just leads. She’s the one slicing through chaos to craft a concrete plan, championing her team without hesitation, and refusing to settle for 'good enough' when shortcuts look tempting.

That approach has earned Sim a place on B&T’s Women in Media Power List for four consecutive years, recognising her ongoing contribution to Australia’s media, marketing and creative industries. The 2026 People’s Choice Award adds another layer to that recognition because it was voted for by the people around her, including peers, colleagues, clients, friends and members of the wider industry who have followed the journey.

For Sim, that community has always been a big part of the story.

“Being recognised by your peers means an enormous amount. Pounce has never been something I’ve built alone. There’s an incredible team behind what we do, clients who have trusted us to challenge the obvious, and family and friends who have backed me through every iteration of the journey. This recognition belongs to that village too.” Simran Kaur, Founder and CEO, Pounce

And because great news deserves a spotlight, Sim's face is currently lighting up prime digital billboards across Sydney thanks to QMS Media. Beecroft, Macquarie Park, and Cheltenham have all taken turns beaming the celebration across the city.

For an agency that spends most of its time helping other brands get noticed, seeing our own CEO larger than life around Sydney is a pretty special moment, and one we’re going to enjoy before getting back to building whatever comes next.

What this means for Pounce

The recognition comes at an important point in the Pounce story, as the agency continues to evolve across Australia and Malaysia and build on its position as a Creative Transformation Agency.

Under Sim’s leadership, that evolution has meant continually questioning what an agency should look like as technology reshapes the way businesses operate, customers behave and teams create. Today, Pounce brings strategy, creative and technology together to solve business challenges, with AI increasingly embedded into how we think, build and deliver.

That same curiosity is taking Pounce into new territory. We’re developing new products and intellectual property, experimenting with agentic workflows, growing the Pounce Catalyst community and finding new ways to turn emerging technology into practical, measurable outcomes for the organisations we work with.

Through all of that change, the ambition remains consistent: build an agency that keeps moving forward, keeps asking better questions and gives ambitious businesses a partner willing to explore what comes next with them.

For us, Sim’s recognition is a pretty special marker of how far that journey has already come, with plenty more still to build.

Leadership that shows up in the work

Awards are lovely. Billboards are pretty fun too. But the part that matters most to us is what recognition like this represents.

The same curiosity, ambition and high standards that have shaped Sim’s career continue to shape how Pounce approaches every challenge we’re trusted with. They influence the questions we ask, the ideas we challenge and the way we bring strategy, creative and technology together to create measurable outcomes.

For our clients, that means having a partner whose leadership is actively involved in where the industry is heading and equally invested in turning that thinking into something useful for their business.

So yes, we’re going to enjoy this one. Congratulations, Sim, and thank you to everyone who voted, supported and continues to be part of the Pounce journey.

Curious about what we could build together?Get in touch with Pounce.