Hi, I’m Hannah Manierka!

The Story behind the Storyteller

Hi, I’m Hannah Manierka!

My first professional job was as a pianist.

That has very little to do with what I do now—but it is probably a good indication that my career, hobbies, and overall path has never been especially linear.

I studied Theoretical Linguistics at Carleton University, spent time working in hospitality, education and finance, and eventually found my way into marketing. Looking back, the common thread isn’t any one industry. It’s curiosity: I like understanding people, figuring out how things work, and finding the clearest way to communicate an idea.

These days, I do exactly that as Director of Marketing with Team Fundytus.

From Language to Marketing

I went into university fascinated by computational linguistics. Automatic translation, AI language models, and the mechanics of human communication completely captivated me.

I still love the idea that language is, in some ways, the most complex math we do. Every time we speak to someone, we’re actively calculating meaning, context, intention, truth and understanding—usually without realizing it.

Marketing wasn’t necessarily where I expected that interest to lead.

One of my first introductions to it actually happened while I was working at a Thai restaurant when I was just 16 years old. My boss didn’t speak much English and needed some help promoting the business, so I started making posters, social media promotions and advertisements.

I loved it.

She was my first boss (paid piano gigs were pretty independent) and remains one of the best I’ve ever had. Being able to use communication and creativity to support someone I genuinely cared about made marketing feel like a special power.

Since then, I’ve worked across several industries, including finance, education, customer service and real estate. That range has become one of the most useful parts of my background.

Marketing is a bit of a catch-all profession. Knowing how to communicate doesn’t automatically make someone an effective marketer—you also need to understand the people on the other side of the message. Education taught me how to explain things clearly. Customer service taught me how to listen. Finance made me particularly conscious of trust, ethics and the responsibility that comes with communicating around major financial decisions.

Finding Team Fundytus

I found Team Fundytus through a job posting more than three and a half years ago.

Shortly afterward, Nick sent me one of his famous BombBomb videos inviting me to interview. I had never received such a warm introduction to an interview process—or such clear instructions about what to expect.

I filmed my interview from my childhood bedroom while home for Christmas break, started a few weeks later in January, and haven’t looked back.

Today, my work touches a little bit of everything: advertising, website, email newsletters, CRM management, social media, graphic design, video editing and campaign strategy.

One of the areas where I’ve grown the most is paid advertising. I started as much more of a writer and social media person, but over the past few years I’ve built experience across Google Ads, YouTube, LinkedIn, Meta and other platforms.

Real estate advertising is particularly complicated. Platforms change constantly, and housing advertisements come with their own set of policies and restrictions. Sometimes a setting that appears to do one thing is actually behaving very differently behind the scenes.

A big part of my job is staying educated, testing what’s actually happening, and making sure our clients’ marketing performs at the highest possible current standard.

The People Behind Every Listing

The part of marketing I care most about are the people it affects.

When I publish an advertisement for a home, I think about the people attached to it: Maybe it’s Mary and Jim’s first home in Vanier, and selling it means they can move to Kanata, find the extra bedroom they need, and start the next chapter of their family!

There are real humans on both ends of every transaction.

There are people who want to sell, and there are people already looking for the right home to buy. Good marketing helps those people find each other faster. It removes barriers, simplifies the process and helps get the right property in front of the right audience.

That’s also why ethical marketing matters so much to me. There are tactics in the marketing world that I simply don’t agree with. I never want someone to feel manipulated or pressured into making a decision that they may come to regret. I want to ensure that people on both sides are truly happy about an informed decision they’ve made consciously.

One of the things I value most about Team Fundytus is that this philosophy is shared across the team. Everyone understands that behind every transaction are people deeply relying on us. That responsibility is taken seriously here, and it has made working with this team such a rewarding, fulfilling experience.

Three Things You Can Expect From Me

Creativity. I’m always looking for the story or detail that makes something feel human instead of generic.

Curiosity. I like understanding how things work. Whether it’s language, an advertising platform, an audience or an unexpected campaign result, I’ll probably keep asking questions until it makes sense.

High standards. I care about the details, I care about doing things properly, and I care about whether the marketing we create is something I genuinely feel comfortable putting into the world.

Away From the Laptop

Lately, you might find me playing tennis, at the gym, playing video games, watching basketball, sitting at a piano, or getting together with friends for our Sunday music jam nights.

• Favourite Ottawa spot: The Major’s Hill Park lookout, especially during the hot air balloon festival.
• Favourite restaurant: Supply and Demand.
• Perfect Ottawa activities: Karaoke at Sonny’s or geocaching through the city’s parks.
• Food I will never get tired of: A Three Brothers shawarma poutine.
• Hidden talent: I know pi to 61 digits and I make a mean tiramisu.
• Something I could talk about for hours: Language.
• Dream trip: Going back to Spain.
• Weirdly competitive about: My fast typing skills.

The Best Part Is the Connection

Some of my favourite moments with Team Fundytus happen away from the analytics dashboards and ad managers entirely.

I love our client events. I’m usually very much a behind-the-scenes person, so getting to actually meet the people whose names I’ve seen in our systems, campaigns and communications is always lovely. It brings everything back to what I enjoy most about this work: connection.

There may be algorithms, ad platforms, databases and strategy behind what I do, but ultimately, marketing is still about people communicating with people.

That’s the part I care about most.

If you see me at one of our next events, come say hello. Bonus points if you want to talk about linguistics, basketball, or all things Ottawa.

Want to say hi? Connect with me on LinkedIn.