Ngāpuhi creative Léon Bristow, an art director at Colenso BBDO and founder of BEINGS, has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026 list, making him one of a small group of Kiwis recognised this year.
The prestigious list recognises 300 young leaders and entrepreneurs across the Asia-Pacific region across 10 fields. They are individuals who have shown impact, uniqueness and innovation in their work. Bristow was named in the Social Media, Marketing and Advertising category.
Other New Zealanders named on the 2026 list include Gen-Z Aotearoa co-founder Nate Wilbourne and Olympic high jump champion Hamish Kerr, recognised in the Social Impact and Entertainment & Sports categories, respectively.
Recognition on the world stage
Bristow, who works as an art director at Colenso BBDO in Tāmaki Makaurau and is the founder of the casting platform BEINGS, says he was working when he found out he had made it.
“I grabbed my laptop, and I went into an empty room, and I just scrolled and looked for the list to see if I was on it, and then I just saw it,” he says.
“I think people heard me jumping around because I was so happy.”
This adds to Bristow’s list of international achievements that span from ranking fourth-best Art Director in the world at Cannes Lions’ talent rankings in 2023 to becoming the first New Zealander in a decade accepted into the Cannes Lions Creative Academy. More recently, he was a finalist for the Young New Zealander of the Year and won the Emergent Icon award at the Ngā Tohu Matihiko Awards.
The power of BEINGS
He is the founder of BEINGS, an online directory designed to help productions discover and cast actors who can bring lived experience to roles, with a focus on People of Colour, Rainbow and Tangata Whaikaha.
Despite all the accolades, he admits the road to get to this point wasn’t easy.
“There was a point where I ended up getting diagnosed with a brain tumour. I was eleven years old. I didn’t kind of understand the gravity of it,” he says.
“Because of that tumour, I had epilepsy, I’m partially blind in my left eye, and that’s shaped my journey from there, understanding how fleeting life can be and not taking any moment for granted.”
He believes he also wasn’t athletic or exceptional in schooling, but once falling into advertising, his Māoritanga is what set him apart.
“Initially, being Māori really ‘othered’ me in this space, but now I feel like it’s a superpower. As soon as I leaned into it, it was just such a huge shift for me in advertising, and things just started snowballing.
“Despite the pressures and struggles, I wouldn’t swap being Māori for anything. There’s just so much greater that comes from it.”
Next on the list
As he steps into his 30s, Bristow says his focus is now on opening pathways for representation in the creative industries on the international stage.
“As I progress in my career, I’m hoping we progress together”.
“There’s still a lot of growth for me to do, but I think as I grow, I can then learn how I can support others and create more opportunities”.
