Women to Watch 2025: Louisa Mennell, Kinesso

Louisa Mennell

Head of Platforms and Intelligence
Kinesso  
Australia

With a career that spans nearly two decades across the UK and Australia, Louisa Mennell has witnessed the digital media industry grow from paid search into today’s complex landscape of martech, data and performance. But what truly sets her apart isn’t just her global credentials or her impressive resume, it’s how she chooses to lead.

Since returning from parental leave in 2023, she’s launched new consultancy offerings across martech, and analytics, including a highly successful Google Marketing Platform (GMP) consultancy, significantly diversifying Kinesso Australia’s revenue. But the products are only half the story. Her strength lies in making transformation human, whether that means co-creating 45 personalised learning portfolios for team members or shaping flexible work environments that support neurodiverse talent and young parents alike.

Her leadership style blends commercial clarity with deep authenticity. “Taking parental leave wasn’t a pause, it was a reframe,” she shares. It gave her sharper purpose and a deeper understanding of the systemic change needed to make workplaces truly inclusive. Working a nine-day fortnight and leading cross-continental teams, she proves that flexibility doesn’t hinder performance, in fact it fuels it.

Mennell has pioneered some successful wins for herself and her team at Kinesso Australia. Together with bringing home the Google Trailblazer award, she has won nine new clients in a little over 18 months and has led Platforms & Intelligence to become the third highest revenue-generation product in the agency. She has also secured one of Australia’s largest advertisers and spearheaded the global expansion of some of the country’s most notable luxury brands. 

Championing brand growth, redefining team culture, and mentoring returning talent, she’s quietly challenging industry norms and the status quo. Her journey has become a blueprint for a more equitable, empowering version of leadership, one where data meets heart, and ambition doesn’t have to come at the expense of authenticity or family.