The Marketer's Journey

Ep #125: Getting Schooled in Market Segmentation w/ Quinn O'Brien

Nov 29, 2022

In this episode, Quinn O'Brien, CMO at Carnegie Learning, shares his journey from marketing agency receptionist to brand marketer. He discusses the complexities of market segmentation in the education industry and the importance of understanding each segment's pain points. Quinn also emphasizes the significance of following your passion and finding fulfillment in your career.

34:42

Episode guests

Quinn O'Brien

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Following your passion can lead to a successful career and life

Understanding the pain points of each market segment is crucial for providing effective solutions

Deep dives

Unique Journey from Receptionist to CMO

In this podcast episode, Randy Frisch interviews Quinn O'Brien, the CMO at Carnegie Learning. Quinn shares his unique career journey, starting as a receptionist in a marketing agency and eventually becoming the CMO of a fast-growing ed tech company. He discusses the diverse experiences he gained at agencies like Arnold and McCann, as well as his time at Lenovo, where he served as the head of brand globally. Quinn also explains his decision to move to the education space and the importance of finding a fulfilling career path. Overall, his journey highlights the value of gaining context and making purposeful career moves.

Introduction

2min

From Receptionist to Brand Marketer

7min

Choosing Education and Making an Impact

3min

Chasing Passion, Finding Fulfillment, and Making Career Moves

3min

The Complexity of Market Segmentation

17min

Making Time to Disconnect and Have a Good Time

3min

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Quinn O'Brien, the CMO at Carnegie Learning, an ed-tech leader that is shaping the future of learning through AI. Letting us in on his unique career background so far, Quinn shares the story of his humble beginnings working as a receptionist at a marketing agency, and how that role piqued his interest in the brand side. He also shares stories from his past role at Lenovo, where he spent a large part of his career, and what he learned from launching his own company.

Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!

Key takeaways from this episode:

Follow your passion. It sounds cliché (and maybe it is) but that doesn’t mean it’s untrue: following your passion will take you far in your career and in life. In Quinn’s case, this meant looking for opportunities in the world of education, where he felt he could truly make a difference.
Understand each market segment’s pain points—inside and out. Once he had made the leap into the education industry, Quinn quickly realized just how complicated the system was in North America. By taking the time to gain a deeper understanding of each market segment, he was better able to identify their pain points and therefore, provide solutions.
Get clear on your definition of success. In a fast-moving industry like education, Quinn and his team need to ensure they have a crystal clear vision of what success means to them so they can stay consistently focused on their goal. With the concrete benchmark of helping teachers overcome daily challenges in mind, the company is in a better position to hit the ground running when it counts.

Learn more about Carnegie Learning here: https://www.carnegielearning.com/

Learn more about Quinn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinnobrien/