uProfile May 2025 - Cherie Gregory

Cherie's initial journey with Umbraco

My entry into the Umbraco Community was not A-typical (if there is such a thing in a community such Umbraco’s 😜)... My husband Peter started using Umbraco the year that it was released open source and in 2010 he joined HQ on staff. I had been to CodeGarden with him several times in the in-between years, learned a lot about the CMS and business via Pete and loved getting to know everyone in the HQ team (VERY small back then) and the wider community at CodeGarden. In 2011, with my background in writing, I joined the HQ marketing team and was with the team for 2 years.

Connecting Our Community

After leaving HQ (nothing nefarious HQ just decided to run Australia direct from Denmark), Peter and I with still a lot of passion for Umbraco and the community opened our digital agency, Koben Digital, specialising in Umbraco.

We continued to travel to Codegarden as often as our calendars would allow, and in 2018 approached HQ about bringing some of the CG fun down under and ran the first UDUF - Umbraco Down Under Festival - on the Gold Coast with around 75 attendees and Niels Hartvig flying in to join us. SO much fun! We ran it again in 2019, again on the Gold Coast, and then decided to run 2020 in Sydney, where the bulk of Umbraco agencies were at the time. Sadly, the whole world-wide plague situation shut us down and we had to postpone our Sydney plans… finally realising that vision in April this year with Sydney UDUF 2025. Mats and Emma joined us all the way from Denmark HQ, we had many people travel from around Australia and NZ and it was an amazing time having a lot of the AusPac community together in one place again.

Shaking Up Great Memories...

Oooooh so many! Not sure how many from those early days would be appropriate to write about now and have in print. ;) But it sure was fun! There was that time, post conference, that half the community ended up at Ruby’s cocktail bar at around 1am and we taught the bartenders how to make Espresso Martinis (I know, I know, you’d think it’d be common knowledge but this was well over a decade ago when beer was more popular than bougie cocktails!) Everyone ended up ordering them for the rest of the night (even non-Umbraco patrons). They asked us to name it, so we called it the ‘Conchord’  (yup, it was ‘that’ year…..)
We went back to Ruby’s a year later and it was in print on the cocktail menu and we said to our waiter ‘we named this drink!!’ and he said nah, a bunch of rowdy people from a conference came in about a year ago and named it…. It was this whole thing….’ Not sure that was a ‘proud’ moment but certainly a fun memory!

Why I Love the Umbraco Community

I love that it’s always remained true to being the ‘friendliest’ community, and not in a try-hardy way. Just in a genuine and authentic way. It’s never felt clicky. It’s never felt like it tries too hard to be something it’s not, and even though obviously it’s grown exponentially since we got involved nearly 20 years ago, it’s remained loyal to its community and true to its values.

Community Learnings & Advice...

If coming to CodeGarden or wishing to be involved in the Umbraco Community, here's some things I've learnt along the way. Some silly, some fun and the last point, a must!

• Flipping a car is not as easy as first assumed (IYKYK!) 🚘
• Brush up on your Hammerschlagen. 🪵🔨
• Get involved - In the code, in the fun, and therefore in the community as a whole. 💻🎉💖

Future Plans

As a business we are continuing to grow Koben Digital, expanding into new markets and growing and supporting our amazing team and clients. We are also concurrently, aggressively and intentionally growing our second digital company, Thumsters, which started as a parenting app and has quickly pivoted into a movement. At its heart, Thumsters isn't just about managing kids' behaviour — It's about creating a generation of empowered, emotionally intelligent, resilient adults by supporting and equipping today’s parents with the tools, the community and the encouragement they need.

We will also continue to support the community by throwing kick-ass UDUF conferences, evangelising Umbraco down here where the sun always shines, and hunting down the drop-wallaby’s Ravi swears exist. 😆

The Koben Digital team.

Fun Facts About Me

• Something unexpected - Technically I can say I’m a ‘best selling author’. I wrote a chapter in a women in business anthology book a few years back that went bestseller for about 1 hour on Kindle. Proud to say I am of course! (But also can’t say it without giving context lol).
• What's on my Desk? - My lead PM lol. I’ve taken the couch on the days he’s in the office. We’ve run out of office space, currently looking to relocate!
• What book am I reading? - My bible 100%. Currently loving The Passion Translation, with some Complete Jewish Bible for context.
• If I could have a super power what would it be? - A favourite topic around our office and we have the discussion at least once or twice a year (just to check in and see if anyone has changed up).  I’ve always said read minds because I’m curious (/nosey?) by nature, love to understand the way other’s think and process, and also an empath so I’d love to be able to step in and support people when needed. But obviously, it comes with a raft of cons...
• What’s on top of my bucket list? - To split our time between 2 countries now our kids are all young adults. Watch this space…
• What’s my most memorable meal? - Dinner at Geranium in Copenhagen with Niels and his beautiful wife, post Codegarden one year, many years ago… Immediately followed the same night by skipping down the canals and getting organic hotdogs from a stand… Both meals were epic.😆This was the infamous Ruby’s night. It was a good night.🙂
• Do I have a hidden talent? - I can play Classical Gas on the guitar. Most of it. Some of it.
• If I could be an animal what would I be? - A quokka. They just always seem happy! Everyone loves a quokka. But also maybe a capybara, because they don’t seem to have beef with anyone/thing else in the animal world and that sits well with me.

Cherie Gregory with her family & colleagues! Noah, Hannah, Peter, Cherie, Caleb and Coco.

Is there someone you'd like to nominate for a uProfile?

Do you know someone who deserves a spotlight on their Umbraco journey? To nominate a friend, peer, or colleague, reach out to Lucy Brailsford in the DevRel Team at community@umbraco.com and explain why!