Steve Paoli
I build, scale and lead the teams and go-to-market strategies that turn bold ideas into commercial growth — across enterprise sales, business transformation and AI-driven innovation.
leading growth
global, managed
Impact that shows up on the P&L
A track record built on revenue, market expansion and teams that outperform — across B2B and B2C markets.
A business leader who turns strategy into commercial outcomes
I'm a senior business leader with deep experience directing and scaling organisations to revenue growth, market expansion and industry recognition.
I've built new business pipelines, owned multi-million-dollar P&Ls, and shaped go-to-market strategy across B2C and B2B — consistently positioning businesses as market leaders and acting as a visible industry figurehead through partnerships and thought leadership.
What sets my work apart now is digital transformation and AI adoption — building the tech stack and the culture that lets high-performance teams move faster and create better.
Business Strategy & Vision
Regional leadership, go-to-market, business transformation
Creative & Brand Strategy
Campaign leadership, storytelling, cross-platform media & PR
Revenue & Operations
P&L ownership, budgeting, compliance, optimisation
New Business Development
RFP pitching, enterprise sales, stakeholder relationships
Leadership & Culture
Senior team development, inclusion & diversity, mentorship
Technology & AI Innovation
CRM optimisation, AI-driven sales & marketing, tech stack build
15 years of building & scaling
From the highest-performing office globally to founding a profitable new division — a consistent pattern of turning teams into market leaders.
- Took on a ground-up ranch build in a field I knew nothing about — self-taught across the entire trade stack and delivering it hands-on.
- Construction: carpentry, gyprocking, waterproofing, plumbing, electrical, concreting and structural engineering.
- Land & farm: fencing, ranching, soil testing, plus excavator and tractor operation.
- A deliberate test of learning agility, resilience and end-to-end delivery — the same instincts I bring to building businesses and teams.
- Founded and scaled a new creative production division, surpassing the $1.1M first-year revenue forecast through government contracts and enterprise wins.
- Acted as the public face of Shootsta Premier, positioning it as a thought leader in video and creative innovation.
- Trained and deployed a custom GPT-powered AI solution adopted globally to lift creativity, strategy and operational efficiency.
- Owned P&L, staffing and operations; built a high-performance, inclusive cross-disciplinary team.
- Pivoted strategy from SMB to enterprise, delivering 22% YoY revenue growth.
- Won competitive RFPs and drove major new-business acquisition via outbound and partnership pipelines.
- Rebuilt CRM infrastructure and sales operations to enable scalable growth.
- Managed national media campaigns across radio and TV, consistently meeting revenue and engagement KPIs.
- Strengthened outcomes through improved CRM accuracy, forecasting and compliance frameworks.
- Designed and executed strategic content and advertising campaigns targeting ANZ C-suite executives.
- Delivered thought-leadership events and forums, elevating brand visibility; optimised Salesforce for measurable ROI.
- Directed 20+ sales executives, delivering 90% of ANZ revenue and setting historic sales records.
- Positioned the Melbourne office as the highest-performing globally (revenue per head), driving startup-to-market-leader growth.
- Acted as interim Managing Director with full applicable responsibilities.
- Oversaw sales, editorial and production teams totalling 40+ staff globally and ~$6M in global P&L.
Where I'm strongest
Illustrative competency mix — refine these weightings to match the roles you're targeting.
Tech & tools I lead with
A full stack spanning sales, AI, creative and hands-on engineering — including the design, build and self-hosting of this website.
Custom AI — built, trained and adopted globally
At Shootsta Premier I trained and deployed a custom GPT-powered tool that lifted marketing creativity, campaign strategy and operational efficiency — rolled out across the global business. I work hands-on across LLMs, automations and agentic workflows: proof that I don't just talk about AI transformation, I ship it.
The person behind the numbers
The interests and side projects that shape how I lead — creative, curious and hands-on.
Music & teaching
Five years as a self-employed music teacher (2006–2011) — the foundation of how I coach, mentor and bring teams together.
3D printing, electronics & code
Engineering-grade 3D printing, microcontroller programming and electronics, CAD design in Fusion 360, and hands-on coding — including this website.
Always building
From a Hunter Valley ranch built from scratch to this website — designed, built and self-hosted. Curiosity turned into things that ship.
References
Senior leaders who know my work first-hand — full contact details available on request.
Ready for the next chapter
Open to senior leadership roles in business, strategy and growth. Let's start a conversation.