Michael Franco is a people strategist, culture architect, and the founder of Quokka Hub, a consultancy that helps companies align their people with their business goals through systems that scale.
With more than 12 years of experience leading People & Culture initiatives, Michael has built a reputation as the person you call when your team is growing fast, your culture feels disconnected, or your managers need more than a motivational poster to lead effectively. From high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies like Wells Fargo and Coca-Cola, he has helped organizations build trust, boost engagement, and strengthen performance without the fluff.
Michaelâs work lives at the intersection of strategy and humanity. He is not just talking about culture; he is implementing frameworks that actually move the needle. That includes designing scalable org structures, developing leadership programs, improving employee retention, and guiding HR tech rollouts across global teams. His approach is people-first and business-aligned, making him a powerful partner to founders and executives who know that culture is not an afterthought. It is infrastructure.
At Quokka Hub, Michael uses tools like DISC assessments and tailored team workshops to uncover friction points, improve communication, and ensure teams are not just busy, they are aligned. His ability to bring clarity to complex team dynamics has made him a trusted advisor across industries including tech, healthcare, fintech, and retail.
Colleagues describe him as calm under pressure, sharp in execution, and unshakably grounded in trust and empathy. In a time when culture often gets reduced to perks and platitudes, Michael brings it back to what truly matters: connection, clarity, and the systems that support both.
If your organization is growing, evolving, or simply ready to do things differently, Michael is the voice you want in the room.
michael.franco@quokkahub.com | https://www.quokkahub.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrfranco/
Michael Franco brings both depth and clarity to the conversation about culture, leadership, and scaling teams. He is not just speaking from theory; he has built and transformed people strategies across industries, continents, and company sizes. His expertise connects the dots between human behavior and business performance, making him an engaging guest for any audience navigating the realities of growth, retention, and leadership.
Here is why he stands out as a guest:
He has done the work from the ground up.
With 12+ years of experience in People & Culture, Michael has partnered directly with founders, executives, and leadership teams to create high-trust, high-performance organizations. His stories are drawn from real-world situations, like scaling teams across multiple countries or solving retention issues that were quietly derailing a companyâs momentum.
He knows how to translate complex concepts into actionable strategies.
Topics like organizational design or leadership development can feel abstract, but Michael makes them practical and relatable. He breaks down frameworks like DISC assessments or culture architecture into insights that audiences can use immediately, whether they lead a team of 5 or 5,000.
He understands both sides of the growth equation.
Michael has worked with both fast-moving startups and structured global enterprises like Wells Fargo and Coca-Cola. He knows the challenges leaders face at every stage of growth and brings a balanced perspective on how to align people strategy with business outcomes.
He is not afraid to challenge outdated ideas about culture.
Michael pushes past the surface-level discussions of perks or âfeel-goodâ engagement. He talks about what really matters: trust, clarity, communication, and leadership behaviors that shape long-term performance. His perspective feels fresh because it is rooted in evidence and experience, not clichĂ©s.
He brings a calm yet compelling presence.
As someone who has guided leadership teams through crises, misalignment, and periods of intense change, Michael brings both confidence and empathy to his interviews. He delivers insights with a tone that resonates with executives, founders, and everyday listeners alike.
He delivers takeaways that stick.
Michaelâs approach is all about practicality. Every conversation he has leaves the audience with a few clear, actionable steps to improve alignment, boost engagement, or rethink how they approach leadership and culture.
If your audience cares about building organizations where people thrive and businesses grow stronger because of it, Michael Franco is a guest who can speak to that with both authority and authenticity.
Michael Franco doesnât just talk about people strategy, he breaks it down in a way that makes it useful, relevant, and refreshingly real. Whether speaking to startup founders, HR leaders, or executives scaling their orgs, Michael brings clarity to the human side of business.
Hereâs what heâs most passionate about unpacking:
Aligning People Strategy with Business Growth
Michael believes culture should never operate in a silo. He speaks about how to design people systems that actually support your business goalsâfrom hiring and onboarding to retention and team development. He unpacks what alignment looks like in practice and how to close the gap between leadershipâs vision and day-to-day employee experience.
Diagnosing Misalignment Before It Gets Expensive
Michael talks candidly about how small fractures in trust, communication, or clarity can quietly stall growth. He shares how to spot early signs of misalignment in teams, why most companies ignore them until itâs too late, and how to course-correct using targeted assessments and clear frameworks.
Leadership Development that Actually Works
Michael is passionate about creating managers who can lead, not just manage. He explores what modern leadership looks like, how to design enablement programs that stick, and why leadership is less about charisma and more about clarity, accountability, and trust.
Scaling Culture Across Distributed and Global Teams
Having worked with teams across North America, Australia, and beyond, Michael knows the challenges of scaling culture across different time zones, languages, and expectations. He shares how to create shared standards, rituals, and systems that bring people togetherâeven when theyâre not in the same room.
Why Engagement Isnât Ping Pong and Perks
Michael is a strong advocate for redefining employee engagement. He challenges the idea that engagement is something you âaddâ on top of work and instead shows how clarity, autonomy, and communication are the real drivers of connection and performance.
Decoding Team Dynamics with DISC Frameworks
Michael often dives into the behavioral science behind team friction. He explains how DISC assessments can be used to uncover unspoken dynamics, build self-awareness among leaders, and create healthier communication habits across teams.
Building People Infrastructure That Can Actually Scale
From HR tech to performance reviews, Michael loves discussing how to build the back-end of a culture that can grow with you. He covers how to implement tools like HRIS or ATS platforms, how to avoid process overload, and how to strike the right balance between structure and flexibility.
The Real Cost of Culture Drift and How to Fix It
Michael doesnât shy away from the hard conversations. He talks about what happens when culture starts slipping and no one wants to name it. More importantly, he outlines how to reset, rebuild, and realignâwithout losing momentum or morale.
Whether on a podcast, panel, workshop, or internal team session, Michael speaks with clarity, humility, and a clear goal: helping leaders create workplaces where people can actually thrive.
Iâve had the privilege of working with giants like Wells Fargo and Coca-Cola, alongside some amazing startups, to shape people strategies that make a real impact.
My work has taken me across North America, Australia, and beyond, helping teams thrive no matter their size or industry.
At the heart of what I do is a focus on clear communication, building trust, and aligning teams around shared goals. Iâm passionate about uncovering the friction points that slow teams down and turning those into opportunities for stronger collaboration and deeper connection.
With tools like DISC assessments and customized frameworks, I create strategies that improve communication and elevate how teams work together at every level.
