Currently accepting clients for Spring 2026 engagements.
Work With Me

You know your business can be more, but you haven't figured out the next lever to pull.

Let's bring clarity through the complexity to reach your vision with a 60-day focused engagement.

Strategy Operations AI Solutions

Who This Is For

You're a small business owner who wears a lot of hats. You know something needs to change: maybe you've hit a growth plateau, your operations feel haphazard, or you're hearing a lot about AI changing everything but you're not sure how to make it work for your business. Maybe you don't know what you need and could use someone to help you see what you haven't. You don't need a consultant who drops off a cookie cutter report based on their last customer. You need a partner who rolls up their sleeves and helps you get to the root of the problems in your business.

That's what I do.


Why Me

Although I have a lot of strategies that I use, I don't have a set playbook that I use for each business. The truth is, you already know more about your business than I ever will. What I do is help you pull out what's already in your head, connect the dots, and make sense of it all. Sometimes I provide new dots too, whether that's a framework, a book, a tool, or just a question you haven't thought to ask yourself yet.

I'm a facilitator first, not a lecturer. I'll challenge your thinking, help you see what you haven't seen, and work alongside you to close the gap between where your business is and where you aspire it to be. The answers come from you. I just help you find them faster and with more clarity.

I'll challenge your thinking, help you see what you haven't seen, and work alongside you to close the gap between where your business is and where you aspire it to be.

About Me

I'm an entrepreneur and small business owner. My wife and I co-founded Radio Chatter, a conversation-starter card game for the overland and off-road community, and it was a side hustle for a few years while I did the corporate grind. But I needed a change. Since going all-in on our company, I've done everything from product development, fulfillment, marketing, Meta ads, social media, customer support, website development, and wholesale partnerships. I even built our mobile apps (available on iOS and Android) using AI tools.

I know what it's like to be the person doing all of it.

I also build custom AI agents for small businesses. At an OpenAI (ChatGPT) hackathon, my team placed 2nd by building a custom GPT for a real local business: a growth partner to handle the mundane tasks and by the end, we had it handling their brand voice for marketing, creating responses to customer emails using their FAQ, generating social media posts in their style, and creating recommendations for expanding their catering business. That's not theory, it's the kind of thing that's possible when someone understands both technology and business.

Paul Gunnels holding 2nd place check at OpenAI hackathon in Detroit
2nd place at the OpenAI Sales Mind Hackathon, Detroit 2025

Before all of this, I spent nearly two decades leading operations and software teams at General Motors and Henry Ford Health. The kind of places where the stakes are high, things are ambiguous, and someone has to bring clarity through the complexity. I launched GM's first centralized vehicle software portfolio. I led teams through the largest IT implementation in Henry Ford Health's 100-year history. I've built new teams from the ground up, stabilized ones that were struggling, and partnered with leaders at every level. That experience gave me the systems thinking, strategic mindset, and coaching instincts that I now bring to every engagement, just without the corporate overhead.

That experience gave me the systems thinking, strategic mindset, and coaching instincts that I now bring to every engagement, just without the corporate overhead.

The 60-Day Engagement

A focused partnership to bring clarity and a plan for moving forward.
$5,000
flat fee
Problem Deep Dive
90 min first session to dig into the real problem, align on goals, and scope the engagement
Up to 8 Working Sessions
60–90 min each. Virtual first, with in-person options on a case-by-case basis
Async Communication
Email, shared docs, follow-up resources, and things to think about between sessions. The work doesn't stop when we hang up
Homework & Accountability
We set goals between sessions, and each meeting builds on the last. That's how momentum happens
Final Deliverable
A documented, clear plan to execute after the engagement concludes so you know exactly what to do next
Two Follow-Up Check-Ins
30 min each at 30 and 60 days after we wrap. I'm invested in your outcomes lasting
Since I also run my own small business, I rarely have more than a single client at a time so you can be sure we are focused on your outcomes.
Focus Areas
Strategy Operations Scaling & Growth Process Improvement Change Management Custom AI Agents Data-Driven Decision Making

Next Steps - Book a Strategy Call

Every engagement starts with a free 45-minute strategy call. Think of it as a first date to see if we vibe, and this one's on me. If afterwards, one of us doesn't think it's a good fit, the 45 minutes was well worth it. No follow-up emails, no convincing you to join. Just a conversation to see if your challenges and my coaching are the right fit to get you to where you aspire your business to be.

Book Your Strategy Call →

What Others Say

Working with Paul in a more hands-on capacity brought structure and traction to my strategic thinking. He didn't just offer advice—he rolled up his sleeves and helped me think through the process, often prompting deeper questions and offering insightful suggestions that shaped my next steps. He challenged me to articulate my ideas, refine them, and recognize the value in things I was already doing—but hadn't yet framed as part of a clear revenue model. I couldn't see that, but he could. His feedback helped me uncover new possibilities and gave me a sharper sense of direction. That's what truly propelled me forward.
Millie Chu — Owner, Global Entrepreneurship Business Lab and former client

From Colleagues and Team Members

“Paul is a great mentor and manager. He is a great leader, but you can also talk to him as a real person.”
— Former colleague
“In one of my low moments, I reached out and said 'I need help.' He quickly found time to meet, and we had such a great conversation about how to handle problems at work.”
— Former colleague
“He has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills by helping team members improve on their weaknesses and bringing out the best version of everyone.”
— Former team member
“Some of Paul's strengths are leading through ambiguous situations, listening, digesting, and working through conflict, and educating his colleagues.”
— Former colleague

Ready to Get Unstuck?

Think of it as a first date to see if we vibe, and this one's on me. Book a free 45-minute strategy call.

Book Your Strategy Call →