Martin van Rensburg

Martin is a second generation Australian. Both his parents moved to Australia as teenagers in search for a better life through education and their careers. Both of his parents regularly moved throughout Australia due to their work commitments. His family didn't have roots tied to the community like his friends who he grew up with and so he relied on stories and the occasional communication to grandparents, uncles and aunts to learn about his culture.

While he was still young his father had a longing to take his family back to South Africa. Martin started to learn from his family, who had lived for over three hundred years in the country, some of their culture and his roots. He was able to learn from the best examples of multicultural society and learn some of the worst parts during apartheid. Due to crime and wanting to get back home, his family for a brief time moved to New Zealand. He studied at a prominent Maori school until they settled in Adelaide where he did his primary education. As a family they moved to Canberra where he studied at Alfred Deakin High School. He was offered a cadetship at the Australian Taxation Office that seeks to develop young leaders through a career and education via studies in IT at the University of Canberra. After a year of studies he pursue his career in Marketing and Communications. He started his career and education in Brisbane, with a Communications degree at Griffith University.

The embracing cultural life Martin grew up with, impacted his worldview and the way he did life. While his family didn’t have immediate roots with family around him, the community became integral to his personal growth. Through involvement in school, sporting groups and his local church he found his identity.

In 2008, Martin van Rensburg’s passion for business and an entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish Celest Group Pty Ltd a boutique marketing agency operating in Brisbane. Celest’s fresh approach and enthusiasm for driving business through marketing and customer service quickly became a key player in the creative industry.

Celest is active in giving back and developed social enterprise projects through national charities National Breast Cancer Foundation, Baptist World AID and Compassion Australia. Over the last five years, the company has proceeded to thrive and grow. Helping to realign organisations’ marketing and sales by connecting their ‘why’ to the customer experience.

From the inception of Celest, Martin has had his eye on building up the community, in particularly family small businesses and not-for-profits where he can support their Big Hairy Audacious Goals – from ‘Joshua Care sponsor a child’ who make a difference in the Philippines, to driving the growth of Botswana Orphan Project, that support children who are victims to the AIDS epidemic.