Dynamic Duos: Love at first sight
This week in Dynamic Duos, we hear from partners in work and life, Danny Massa and Elouise Hahn - managing director & founder and chief operating officer of Ardent Communications, respectively.
In Dynamic Duos, Mumbrella each week asks two colleagues with a professional and personal affiliation to share with readers the importance of workplace relationships in an increasingly hybridised world of work.
Danny Massa:
Elle and I met back in what I like to call ‘the golden years’, before people were sliding into Instagram DMs and navigating the plethora of dating apps. It was a typical Saturday night after the races in Paddington – very old school of us meeting in real life before we met digitally!
We dated for a few years before getting hitched and are now coming up to our 10-year anniversary. We have also been blessed with three little ones to pad out the brood.
After the birth of our daughter Grace (child number two), Elle returned from maternity leave to join me permanently behind the wheel at Ardent. She brought with her a strategic communications and journalist background that helped to launch our PR department and solidify our full-service offering.
It has been Elle’s intuitive sense of business performance that has provided a different lens to support the growth and development of Ardent over the past 3 years. She knows what works and doesn’t work and can channel this into crafting growth strategies both for our partners and for us as an agency.
Interestingly, we have quite different views on how the agency should run. Particularly, the bigger picture elements such as values, ideas and direction – which I always tend to come back and present as my own ideas six months later!
We have different strengths and management styles that ultimately complement each other. Even when we have differing opinions, we are respectful of each other’s point of view. Don’t get me wrong, there are times of disagreement and stress, but we understand life is about balance. The give and take, the ebbs and flows that go along with it around the kitchen table and at work.
Our relationship is built on laughter and good times, which considering that we are now both business and life partners, provides a solid basis for what life throws at us. Just this week we were in emergency room with our eldest, Teddy, on a Monday evening for a nasty finger cut. Come Tuesday morning l was back in the office steering the Ardent ship, whilst Elle navigated follow up appointments, surgery, and consoling a very upset six-year-old.
Juggling work and family commitments is never easy. But with Elle, I can share these with someone that intimately understands exactly what I am talking about, the emotions I am feeling, and the highs and the lows. She’s riding the same wave.
Elouise Hahn:
I met Danny at the Paddington Inn after a long day out at the Randwick races many moons ago! We had an instant connection and I even remember saying that night, ‘he’s the man I’m going to marry’.
We dated for about seven years before tying the knot in 2015. We now share three beautiful children, Teddy (6), Grace (4) and Joe (1). We have always had fun and our relationship is filled with a lot of laughter with our kids, good humour, and love. Our relationship is built on a solid foundation of trust which makes for a rewarding partnership.
I officially joined Ardent in 2021, after returning from maternity leave with the vision to support Ardent’s growth and service expansion. In a way I had been there from the beginning, watching as Danny took a leap of faith, leaving a senior position working in mainstream media to build an agency of his own in 2016.
I am continually impressed by Danny’s determination to challenge the status quo and bring passion to his work. There’s a reason Ardent is an agency with ambition built on trust, transparency, and efficiency and that is Danny. It is his vision that has solidified Ardent’s stature as a catalyst for transformation in the marketing industry.
For the first few years of our business relationship, especially during the scaling up of Ardent, Danny and I encountered hurdles that could often end in disagreement. We tried to put barriers up around work and home life however over time learnt to embrace the fact that we are partners across both realms of our lives.
Danny has such a strong sense of determination and care for others both at work and at home. He leads authentically and with a passion to grow. He has genuine care for those around him and that extends beyond our family to encompass our Ardent team and our clients. He works hard to ensure that their performance is the best it can possibly be through support, guidance, and a genuine understanding. It’s Danny’s approach to life that gives Ardent its winning edge.
Danny on Elouise:
Most memorable moment with Elouise: Travelling through South America on our honeymoon. Footloose and free. Something we both look forward to doing more of in future years! Work wise it has been enormously gratifying to share Ardent’s recent growth together.
Best word to describe her: Impossible to pick one…courageous, bold, beautiful, empathetic and warm.
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour she has: Thinking that all her good ideas are hers and not mine when I bring them up six months later.
Elouise on Danny:
Most memorable moment with Danny: It would have to be the birth of our three children. Also, our honeymoon across South America is also up there – so many memories there!
Best word to describe him: Loyal.
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour he has: Danny doesn’t take life too seriously. He’s in for the ride and even when we are faced with big decisions to make (that I would generally lose sleep over!) 99% of the time he’s able to switch off and fall asleep within one minute flat! Not sure if that’s an annoying or endearing trait!
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Really lovely Dynamic Duo! Well done to you Danny and Elouise on the success of Ardent! Particularly after the years of hard work you have put in.
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