Essence Global2011–2021
Held commercial account accountability and advised on learning & capability. Clients include BT, Financial Times, Audible. Joined at 80 people, left at 2,000+ across 25 offices and $4bn in managed media, now EssenceMediacom.
I help businesses fix what’s actually slowing them down.
Most training gaps aren’t training gaps.
Often, there's a performance, manager, or culture angle too.
Daniele Mainardis (he/him)Learning · Capability · Transformation
Worked with
How I can help (with case studies)
Swipe through, tap any for the full case.Open any one for the full case.
How I work
From discovery to an embedded fix
Why me
The brief behind the brief
I carried commercial P&L accountability for global accounts, teams of 30+, C-suite relationships, revenue targets, while also advising on capability and learning across the business. Most people in this field have done one or the other. Very few have carried both, at the same time, for years.
It means I look at a capability problem the way someone accountable for revenue would: "What is this actually costing?" and "What’s causing it?" Not a training solution first, and working backwards from there. I build the conditions where people surprise themselves, and the business feels it. I call it magic. The commercial background is what makes sure it shows up in the numbers too.
Career backbone
Career backbone
Spin Brands2022–2023
Facilitated a boutique agency’s purpose statement, still guiding it today as it’s scaled into Spin Group, and designed the foundational learning and capability roadmap.
Foster + Partners2023–2025
Led L&D strategy on a six-figure budget at a 2,300-person, 20-office architecture practice, rebuilding leadership development and scaling onboarding through a sustained hypergrowth period.
Shopper Media Group2025–2026
First dedicated L&D hire, building the function from nothing at a 500-person agency running major retail media networks.
Get in touch
If something on this page sounds like a problem you're looking at right now, I'd love to hear about it.
danielemainardis@gmail.com
Fastest by email. Happy to talk through a specific problem before there's any brief.
dani.danielemainardis.com · London