Michelle Tansey, Red Queen Marketing

Member story

“I went from an absolute beginner to being considered an expert fairly quickly.”

Michelle Tansey

Founder · Red Queen Marketing

Australia · redqueenmarketing.com ↗ · Jul 2026

Digital PRSEOContent Marketing

The Work

Tell us about what you are currently working on.

I run my own business now, and I've gone all in on digital PR. It's a pretty rare skill set in Australia. I have people reaching out because of it, and with digital PR budgets forecast to increase, I only see the demand growing.

I run the full gamut: creating the content, coming up with the story ideas, pitching to websites for links and to media. I can take someone from the very beginning of that process to the end.

I've also had a couple of mentoring clients lately, and I enjoy it so much that I wanted to do more of it. That's part of why I'm back.

Before

Before you learned about GrowthMentor, how did you deal with the challenges you faced?

I was struggling. I'd moved in-house from a customer service role into a marketing role in 2019, and it was supposed to be on-the-job learning, so most of the time I was learning from whoever was around me. Then I got put into a very niche area of SEO and asked to build that function out, with no knowledge of SEO. In some ways I was so green I didn't even know what questions to ask.

Outside of that it was Google and LinkedIn, back when LinkedIn wasn't so noisy and you could genuinely learn things from people on there. People offered templates and resources.

Then COVID happened. If I had a question I'd have to Slack someone, and it just wasn't working for me. People took ages to reply, or I couldn't understand the answer when it came. I'd get paranoid that I was annoying them, and that asking would make me look incompetent.

The Decision

What ultimately compelled you to sign up to GrowthMentor?

I did a Google search for marketing mentors, came across GrowthMentor, and it seemed like a really good option. After months of waiting on Slack replies, being able to book time with someone who didn't sit in my office was exactly what I needed.

Inside the Platform

What's your favorite thing about GrowthMentor?

It's the way you can talk a problem through with someone on a Zoom call and they help you get to a solution. There's something really valuable in having an external person put their expert eyes on something and help you improve your skills. There's an inherent vulnerability in learning and in admitting you don't have everything figured out, and in some ways it's easier to tell a stranger. The great thing about the community is that everyone I spoke to was incredibly eager to help.

Second to that is how much it accelerates your growth. I went from an absolute beginner to being considered an expert fairly quickly, and that's because I was accessing people who had done things before me and could share their experience. I was like a sponge, learning and applying and experimenting. It was like a secret weapon that was making me better.

And then there's the part you can't get anywhere else. AI can tell you how to do keyword research in writing or out loud, but it doesn't show you. Watching Austin Mullins do keyword research live on a call, you couldn't have had that anywhere else. AI also can't introduce you to someone. It's the relationships you develop and the opportunities that come from them.

What topics have you mostly discussed with mentors?

Keyword research, SEO, and digital PR to start with. I basically learned how to do digital PR from mentors on the platform and then built my own functions out from scratch.

On top of the SEO side, I could talk through higher-level things too. Stakeholder management, being a woman in the tech industry. I even booked one call just to vent to someone about how hard I was finding it to collaborate during COVID.

The Breakthrough

Is there a specific session/mentor that stands out in your mind as super helpful?

There weren't many Australian mentors back then, so I was taking calls at 4am. I was so eager to get these people's time that I thought, yeah, I'll get up at four and do this. Once mentors realized I was Australian they'd say "just book the call and DM me, I'll change it to a time that works for you." They were really kind about making it a suitable time.

The one that stands out is Kevin Indig. I had a couple of calls with him, and I remember thinking, whoa, this guy believes in me. On one call he asked what time it was for me. I said 4am. He said "you should have said something, next time I'll book the call."

Then he tweeted about it: "Just got off a call with a young marketer who gets up at 4am to talk to people all over the world. #TrueGrit." My future boss saw that tweet, messaged Kevin, and asked who I was. On our next call Kevin asked if it was okay to pass my name on. I said yes.

I remember hopping off that call and getting teary. He'd only just met me, and he passed my name on anyway. I got the job.

The Transformation

How has GrowthMentor helped you?

It was a turning point. I'd already started in SEO, but the job I got through Kevin was the catalyst, because it took me to Finder. At my old job I was the beginner who didn't know anything. I walked into Finder as an expert, and that was because of Kevin and the GrowthMentor mentors.

From there I went from not knowing how to do keyword research to building digital PR functions from scratch, and now I run my own business doing exactly that.

I spent three years on the platform, then stepped away around the time my daughter was born and I was getting the business off the ground. Now it's come full circle. When I signed up, I never thought I'd get to a point where I'd be the mentor. Now I am.

The Verdict