George B. Thomas
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Justine Gaignard does not chase noise. She chases impact. She is the kind of founder who pays attention to what is working, what is not, and what her gut is trying to tell her.
Then she moves. Clean. Calm. On purpose.
In this Women of HubSpot episode, I sat down with Justine, founder of Guépard, a HubSpot partner agency based in Quebec City, Canada. We talked about her path from journalism to agency ownership, how she earned confidence in a space that can feel intimidating, and why she cares so much about helping teams adopt HubSpot in a way that sticks.
Justine shows you how to turn results into confidence, how to speak up when you feel small, and how to build a customer relationship management system experience that feels more conversational and less complicated.
The moment that changed everything
Justine thought she knew what her career would be. She studied journalism, stepped into the media world, and quickly discovered the version of journalism she landed in did not match her values. The work moved so fast that it stripped away the part she cared about most: research, depth, and creating something meaningful.
She described it with the kind of humor that still holds a sting. She was producing news on a conveyor belt, almost like “ChatGPT with a terrible prompt.” That experience did not just disappoint her. It redirected her.
Instead of forcing herself to stay in a system that did not fit, she pivoted into content marketing. She realized she could create strong, well-researched content when she worked with companies. She could still tell stories, still do the work with care, and actually feel proud of what she put into the world. And looking back, you can see the thread.
Even before journalism, she had already been training for this.
She ran ghost tours in Old Quebec. She learned customer experience. She learned how to read a room. She learned how to pivot fast when humans do human things. She credits her former boss, Anna, for shaping those skills, and she still uses them today in the way she guides people through HubSpot.
How she leads, builds, and uses HubSpot
When Justine started her agency in 2016, she was 25 years old. She became one of the first HubSpot partner agencies in Quebec, and she walked into her first Inbound event feeling intimidated and small. That is a real moment for many people, especially women in a partner space that has not always had many female owners.
But she did what strong builders do. She focused on results.
Over time, she noticed a “superpower” in the way she connects with people. She listens closely enough to catch what frustrates teams, what stops them from using HubSpot, and what they need in order to actually adopt it. When she saw sales teams start using HubSpot consistently, it gave her proof. Not just that she belonged, but that she was doing something different that worked.
She also had to navigate being underestimated.
She hired people who were older than her. Some were men. And she described how often people assumed her male employee was the owner. One moment stood out. Someone told the client they must be proud of her, like she was the employee, not the founder. It was meant as a compliment, but it made her feel small.
So she started naming the truth out loud. “That’s my company.” And instead of shrinking, she found pride in what she built. She let those moments teach other people, too. Not with anger. With clarity.
Justine also shared a business lesson that hits hard if you have ever trusted someone else’s judgment more than your own. She hired someone even though her gut told her it was not the right fit, mainly because a friend she respected had made a similar decision. It did not go well. The person was not bad; it just was not a match. And the lesson stuck.
Trust your gut. Especially when building a team.
When it comes to HubSpot itself, she gets excited about where things are headed. She loves that the customer relationship management system is becoming more conversational, where you can tell it what you need and receive help more quickly. She is also a big fan of the sales workspace because it consolidates sales tools in one place and supports modern selling without forcing the team to piece everything together.
Connect with Justine Gaignard on LinkedIn.
The lesson she wants you to carry forward
Justine’s version of empowerment is not about titles. It is about purpose. She feels most empowered when she sees the ripple effect of the companies she supports. Her clients come from many industries because she chose not to narrow into a single niche. She gets to learn new worlds, then help those teams succeed inside HubSpot.
She said it best when she talked about why the work matters: being “part of the story of so many great businesses that are having an amazing impact in the world.”
That is her compass. And it explains why one of her proudest moments recently was stepping onto a stage in Quebec to speak about using artificial intelligence in sales processes. The room filled up. People could not even get in. Then the real win came after. People tried what she taught and wrote back to tell her it worked.
That is the dream. Not applause. Application.
So if you are listening and you have been quiet, or you have been doubting yourself, hear Justine’s reminder: “You have something to say.”
