From Specialist to Generalist: Growing into CMO

#310 Leadership & Strategy | I sat down with Maura Rivera, CMO at Qualified, to talk about what it’s like leading marketing at one company for six years (and why most of her team has been there just as long). We got into how product launches are the glue that hold their marketing together, what agentic marketing really means for the future, why outbound is actually working for them right now, and how events have become a huge part of their strategy. Plus, plenty of good banter along the way.

Watch this episode on YouTube on my channel: https://youtu.be/4tew-Q89Fms

Timestamps

• (00:00) - — Intro & setup: Marketing’s back in the driver seat
• (03:32) - — Work, life, and moving from Boston to Vermont
• (07:07) - — Competitors, community, and the small-world CMO circle
• (12:37) - — How Maura’s Salesforce roots shaped Qualified
• (15:07) - — Working for a CEO who actually gets marketing
• (19:07) - — Lessons from startup life & learning every part of marketing
• (22:07) - — Building the right team and hiring people smarter than you
• (29:07) - — Why product launches are the heartbeat of marketing
• (43:53) - — Agentic marketing, events, and AI at Qualified
• (55:53) - — The future of marketing and why it’s back on top

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