Chair Showcase: Penelope Bettison – Purpose-driven leadership

Founder, Executive Leader, Culture Builder, Vistage Chair

Penelope Bettison has always taken the unconventional path. Her journey is shaped by curiosity, courage, and a commitment to meaningful impact. She accepted a scholarship in Los Angeles at 21. Later, she founded and exited her own marketing agency. Since then, she has built a career defined by growth, reinvention, and intentional leadership. Her experience spans more than 25 years across technology, energy, advanced manufacturing, professional services, and the not-for-profit sectors.

Penelope founded Pitstop Marketing in 2008. She grew it over nearly a decade before selling the business. She then stepped into an executive role at clean-energy innovator 1414 Degrees. Initially Head of Corporate Services, she was later appointed Executive Director. In this role, she guided the organisation through major growth milestones.

Her governance experience spans ASX boards and not-for-profit directorships. This complements her executive capability and gives her a truly rounded perspective on strategy, accountability, and organisational performance.

Penelope’s career has centred on scaling organisations. In particular, she designs the operational and cultural foundations needed for sustainable success.

At VAILO, she helped grow a manufacturing and technology team from three people to more than fifty in three years. This intense scaling period became a defining leadership experience. Not because the growth was easy, but because the culture held firm under pressure.

Despite the company later entering administration, Penelope watched her team stay united, committed, and proud of the environment they had created. The culture they built was recognised twice as a Top 10 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work.

Penelope has held senior executive roles across South Australia’s innovation ecosystem. This includes COO positions across multiple sectors. In 2025, she was appointed Chief Operating Officer at Harrison McMillan. As a result, this reinforced her presence and influence within the state’s executive community.

She has been featured in industry forums, leadership panels, and innovation events including Tech23. Additionally, Penelope continues to remain actively engaged with South Australia’s business and entrepreneurial networks.

Across every role, a consistent thread runs through Penelope’s leadership:

• Culture is revealed in hard moments.
• Operational clarity enables people to thrive.
• Leaders do their best work when supported and challenged.
• Growth requires both introspection and courage.

Her approach integrates the discipline of an operator, the perspective of a founder, and the empathy of a coach.

As a Vistage Chair, Penelope is building a confidential CEO group in South Australia. This group is for ambitious founders and leaders who want to grow not just their businesses, but themselves.

She brings the strategic insight of an executive, the lived experience of a founder, and the empathy of a coach. She creates a trusted environment where CEOs can unpack the realities of leadership. Furthermore, they gain support for the loneliness that often comes with the role.

Penelope is driven by purpose and grounded in experience. She is committed to helping leaders think deeper, see more clearly, and move forward with confidence. For CEOs ready to step into a circle of honest challenge, meaningful support, and transformative conversations, her Vistage group offers exactly that. It is a place to grow, to reflect, and to lead with intention.