Senior Partner Manager at Hootsuite | Enterprise Alliances with MarTech SaaS | Head of Sales & Marketing at MyRisk | Board Director | Author of "Connect & Act - Systematic Social Selling"

I spend my days working with boutique marketing agencies across Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific helping them build businesses that feel lighter, clearer and more scalable.

Agencies don’t struggle because of a lack of talent; they struggle because they’re carrying too much alone. That’s where I fit.

ActiveCampaign gives them the tooling. I help them build the engine, the rhythm and the confidence to grow.

After moving to Australia nearly a decade ago, I found myself drawn to the agency world — the conversations, the creativity, the honesty, the challenge of wearing ten hats at once.

One thread that runs through everything I do is the belief that business moves at the speed of human connection. It’s why I’ve created my #42coffees series: slowing down enough to hear people’s stories, understand their direction and find the right doors to open for them.

The same energy shows up in the in-person events I run across Asia Pacific. When people meet in real rooms, things shift: ideas get clearer, partnerships form faster and growth feels more human.

Since then I’ve supported partners at ActiveCampaign and beforehand at Hootsuite, GoTo, Noggin, KeepItSafe and across the broader MSP and MarTech landscape. The work is always a mix of:
→ partnerships (finding the right doors)
→ automation & lifecycle systems (removing friction)
→ Social Selling (building visibility without becoming someone you’re not)
→ productised services (so the business stops feeling heavy)

What I enjoy most is watching agency founders realise they don’t need to grow through burnout — they can grow through structure.

Moving to Australia was not a straight line. A layoff opened a moment of pause which became an inflection point. I studied leadership using the time to understand the emerging SaaS ecosystem. That allowed me to transfer my experience into a new market, build a partnership-focused identity from the ground up, and develop the human-connection mindset that defines how I work today.

I’m also a long-time writer with 28 books from travel guides to Social Selling and personal development. Writing helps me make sense of things and help others do the same.

Outside work, I serve as a Board Director of Sydney’s historic Castlereagh Boutique Hotel. It’s a role rooted in community, heritage and looking after something that matters — values I try to bring into my work with agencies as well.

If you’re a boutique marketing agency founder trying to shape the next stage of your business, I’d love to hear your story. Every agency journey starts differently and no one builds it alone.

Gunnar Habitz

Collaboration rarely starts with a contract but with showing up, sharing the space, and building something together, one small step at a time.

Collaborating is one of the best #habits to develop - and the core of true #partnership.

Successful collaboration rarely starts with a big announcement or a formal partnership.
Most of the meaningful collaborations in my corporate work and my writing business didn’t begin with strategy decks or contracts.

Instead they started with curiosity, generosity, and a simple willingness to build something together before knowing exactly where it would lead.

Over time, I noticed something important: People who collaborate well don’t wait for the perfect opportunity, they practice collaboration as a habit in small and repeatable ways.

Here are some of my recent examples:

1. LinkedIn Power Lab: Since I added a co-facilitator into my webinar series with Natalie Tran (she is on the photo above) it opened broader opportunities for my network.

2. Company Events: Why should I talk during the whole event when I can introduce a fireside chat with a fellow expert as in my next event with Deanna Notice in Brisbane.

3. #42coffees: My networking series is running in its third season to showcase interesting people and their passions with my network on LinkedIn nearly every Friday.

Find more stories alongside mini-insights and actions in my latest 4-2-1 Habit blog here: https://lnkd.in/gU3hxJsh

What's your secret in winning collaborators for doing something together?

Helping boutique marketing agencies scale through human connection, automation & AI-powered workflows | Agency Ecosystem Lead @ ActiveCampaign (APAC) | Ghostwriting educational email courses for authority & conversion

🇦🇺 Agency Leaders: Join us in Brisbane for our Partner Event on Tuesday 10 February.

The marketing agency landscape is evolving fast. Are you keeping pace?

From Denver to London to Brisbane: the #EvolvingAgency Series consists of collaborative workshops designed for agency leaders who want practical strategies for scaling, retaining clients, and leveraging #AI without burning out.

What you'll gain by attending:
→ Learn how to productise your services for scalable, recurring revenue
→ Discover AI workflows to implement immediately (not just as theory)
→ Explore the agency partnership opportunities with ActiveCampaign
→ Connect with peers tackling quitesimilar growth challenges you face
→ Listen to the practitioner view in my fireside chat with Deanna Notice

Honoured to run this event in the HQ of the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand which was my first professional organisation in Australia to be part of (nearly 10 years!).

The Details:
📍 Level 29/10 Eagle Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
🕙 10:00am – 3:00pm incl. lunch
💰 Free (limited to 2 attendees per agency)

🚀 Secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/gBWBMqRh

See you in Brisbane ☀️

#MarketingAutomation #AIAgents #MarTech #Marketing

Can you post the same content across multiple platforms? And can you simply repurpose the same by using email marketing?

You might think the simple answer is "no". But there is a better way.

Yes, you can be active on more than one platform if you position them well.

Like Facebook and Instagram have similarities so you know what to post one the one and how to tweak on the other side.

You can also position yourself on Substack from a personal side while keeping LinkedIn your professional self as the only serious reference checkpoint.

Preparing my webinar with public speaking expert Veronica Llorca-Smith🎤 next Monday about the LinkedIn Substack flywheel, here are my tips in this 373rd episode of #socialsellingmonday.

1. Position yourself with clarity on LinkedIn and on Substack, ideally in a different while congruent way attracting different audiences.

2. Define which types of content works best on which platform, sometimes it can be a different take of the same topic.

3. Engage with your audience in direct messaging on both platforms instead of just subscribing them to the other side.

4. Learn #emailmarketing on the Substack side by building your email list - your business or corporate role will thank you.

Want to learn more? Veronica and I are running a webinar "From LinkedIn Content to Substack Flywheel".
📅 Monday, 19 January 2026
🕖 7:00 PM Sydney/Melbourne time
🕖 4:00 PM Hong Kong/Singapore time

Please register here: https://lnkd.in/g8yej9QS

See you there!

Next week I’m restarting my #42coffees ☕️ - the series that connected people.

Before I do that, I looked back at what the previous 88 conversations have actually taught me (and my network).

Here are my top 8 learnings with patterns that keep repeating, no matter the industry:

1️⃣ Relationships compound: One coffee today becomes an open door two years from now.

2️⃣ Offline–Online–Offline works: Meet once, stay in touch online, meet again with trust already built.

3️⃣ Great connectors listen first: The superpower isn’t talking, rather remembering, noticing, and connecting dots.

4️⃣ Content should sound human: AI can help, but heart and story are still the differentiator.

5️⃣ Data without intent is noise: If you don’t know why you collect it, you can’t improve anything with it.

6️⃣ Change is the real job now: Whether it’s cybersecurity, hybrid work, or growth—strategy means choices + change.

7️⃣ Clarity beats hustle: The best operators turn chaos into simple systems people can actually run.

8️⃣ Trust is the real growth engine: Partnerships, referrals, community are all about that with different words but the same truth.

I’m bringing the series back because these learnings matter more than ever in a noisy world.

If you’ve ever met someone over coffee and thought “this conversation might change something”… you know exactly what I mean.

What’s the best thing a coffee conversation has taught you?

Do you also observe that many professionals post consistently on LinkedIn, yet everything disappears in the feed within hours?

At the same time, many of them heard that Substack could be the right place to build a real audience… but they struggle to connect the two together.

Are you on both platforms as well but never connected the dots?

This is where my new webinar episode comes in - delivered together with Veronica Llorca-Smith🎤, one of my favourite authors and public speaking experts.

📅 Monday, 19 January 2026
🕖 7:00 PM Sydney/Melbourne time
🕖 4:00 PM Hong Kong/Singapore time

This is what we will cover in this episode:
1️⃣ LinkedIn: How to write content to spark curiosity
2️⃣ Substack: How to turn curiosity into a community
3️⃣ The Flywheel: How to leverage both to your advantage

Please register here to receive the Zoom link and the recording afterwards.

See you on Monday 19th!

Veronica & Gunnar

View event: From LinkedIn Content to Substack Flywheel

From LinkedIn Content to Substack Flywheel

What can #marketing agency leaders expect from our #EvolvingAgency Series event in Brisbane on 10 February?

Yesterday I announced my upcoming ActiveCampaign event calling for marketers from Byron Bay and Gold Coast up to the Sunshine Coast.

Already hosted in multiple cities on the globe, I will cover what matters to our existing and protective partners for wining clients in the age of AI such as:
- Scaling and sustaining agencies
- Productising tools & services
- AI for agencies

One of the highlights will be my fireside chat with our regional specialist Deanna Notice.

We will take our initial discussion from Sydney to the next level for 2026. Deanna works closely with clients and fellow partners to ensure everyone can make the best out of the technology we all use.

Now to forget: the best software won't help achieve anything when it is not implemented properly. She and her team optimise #marketingautomation success at every step to ensure clients improve their business.

The Details:
📍 Level 29/10 Eagle Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
🕙 10:00am – 3:00pm incl. lunch
💰 Free (limited to 2 attendees per agency)

🚀 Secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/gBWBMqRh

See you in Brisbane ☀️

Who do we want to have in our networks? Only selecting clients means missing out.

A LinkedIn guru told me last year he only connects with existing or prospective customers from his target geography - not with anyone else.

He is totally missing the mark and ignores that my network is full of his targets, just I moved down under and don't qualify for his criteria anymore.

In my view (and proven over years) it's much better to define who we attract AND also add those surrounded by that. Think about suppliers, partners, customers of our customers and fellow experts in the industry.

That mentioned guru totally overlooked that people are moving within their industry.

Here are my tips in this 372nd episode of #socialsellingmonday - the series that taught me all about consistency.

1. Rewrite your profile's About section being clear about your value for your target audience. Rewrite it based on your anchored identity, not just role or activity based.

2. Define your ICP = Ideal Customer Persona, the ideal person you serve (some also call it ICA for Avatar). Then describe who belongs to their network.

3. Build a list of important players in that market and bookmark their profiles activity by adding "/recent-activity/all" to their profile URL and saving those to your browser for easy access.

4. Engage with the content of your direct ICPs and some of their frequent networkers to enhance your visibility in the target market.

Your business will be thankful if you do that consistently for the next four weeks when business is not yet fully back to speed.

What's your tip to define the target network for outreach and engagement?

Starting the year with a bit of fun...

Most people connect AI with unlocking creativity or efficiency.

But there is more to it - at least when it comes to Active Intelligence.

What ActiveCampaign built over last year is a stunning example that AI can be a true, proactive companion - a really good mate!

I use it regularly for activities as described in the bingo card below, such as:
- setup a 5-day welcome sequence
- figure out how I can connect a certain app
- find out if my 56% open rate is actually good or not

Gone are the days where I would go to Unsplash for selecting a base image, then to ChatGPT for crafting some copy and finally to Canva for merging that together.

It's all there - within one platform.

That's why I love working with marketing agencies - doing by myself helps to understand their challenges.

How do you use #AI in #marketing?

Mindset Michele TV Show

I am on a mission to spread Mindset awareness.  I am passionate about supporting people to learn the skills and tools they need to become more successful by mastering their mindset. As the host of the Mindset Michele TV Show I invite special humans beings, who are experts in their fields, to share their life experiences and what has worked for them in building their own mindset for success.

It takes a village to make this work.  I need your help in making a positive impact because we all belong to the one community of human beings and as one of us masters our mindset, we can support others to do so as well.

Increased productivity, greater focus, more energy, the list is endless of the benefits from training your Mindset and learning how to build those mental muscles.  Greater mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well being are just some of the outcomes.

We work with individuals and organisations through our Mindset Program to:

1- CLARITY- get greater clarity about your current situation and what mental behaviours and barriers are sabotaging you and your success

2- STRATEGY- determine a plan to get you from where you are to where you want to be in simple and doable steps which build you and your teams mental muscles

3- RESULTS- we define what success if for you and then track against this to make sure that we can course correct to get the results that you want and deserve

Mindset Consultant I TV Show Host

On Purpose Transformation

On Purpose Transformation solves the problems of Time, Money and Resources for people and organisations by focusing on getting Clarity to develop Strategy with measurable and targeted Results.  
As the pace of transformation and change increases exponentially each year the way that we lead and manage ourselves and our teams has become much more complex and collaborative in a digital "always on" world.
As a trusted advisor to government, corporate and not for profit organisations, On Purpose Transformation builds your skills to lead yourself, lead your organisation, manager your teams and develop your own personal branding as a leader in the your industry.

Lead Transformation Consultant

The Women's Achievement Institute

Executive Director

Shine Global

As a global executive who has led business transformations I have a proven track record for developing and implementing strategies for profitable growth in global technology, education and services sectors. 

Working with professionals and consultants I have served them, and their teams, in overcoming stress, overwhelm and procrastination by using productivity strategies and plans so you can maximise your time, energy and money, freeing you up to live the life you love.

As an experienced coach, facilitator and consultant I have built my career on empowering others and helping them to build their ‘A’ team around them for personal and professional success.

There is great power and synergy in collaborating with others, especially during times of complex personal or professional transformation. This is when a variety of ideas and experience can help you cut through and gain greater focus, determine successful strategies and compare results.  Your success, and speed of your success, can be co-related to the people you surround yourself with. 

For me this began as a 7 year old child I lay in bed at night looking out the window at a star. I knew that it would be there for me- watching over me as I went to sleep.  It was the stability that I didn’t have anywhere else in my life and so it became my 'North Star'.

After a few years of working I realised that in my career I was also working in roles to do with the same thing- creating stability and calm – helping individuals and organisations going through transformation and my role (whatever the title was) meant I was assisting leaders and their teams to return to the stability and calm that they needed to be able to manage the transformations in front of them, and to stay sane amongst the chaos. 

I found myself stepping in and leading people through chaos, empowering them to connect to their North Star.

If you’re curious to see how you can connect with our own North Star - use the link below to book in an exploratory session with me.  We’ll work together to build the foundations of your strategy to build your success roadmap that brings you success in Career, Life and Legacy.

https://calendly.com/michelegennoe/complimentary-discussion

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Gunnar Habitz

Michele Gennoe- Mindset Coach

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The Battle

Gunnar Habitz

Michele Gennoe- Mindset Coach

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Gunnar Habitz's LinkedIn Performance

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