“There is a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing.” Flint McGlaughlin shared that strategy maxim in Customer-First Objectives Application Session: See real webpages optimized for marketing conversion (https://meclabs.com/course/sessions/customer-first-objectives-application-session/) and it got me thinking about the marketer’s role in the organization while reading over the podcast guest application from our latest guest.

When reading about pivoting a startup to do the right thing earlier in her career, I wanted to know how that experience helped her focus the larger companies she worked in do the right thing as well, a challenge many marketing leaders face while filling a key role in the organization – being the advocate for the customer.

You can hear the answer to that question, along with plenty of lesson-filled stories, from Kristin Russel, Chief Marketing Officer, symplr (https://www.symplr.com/).

The enterprise healthcare operations software and services company is backed by Clearlake Capital, which currently has $60 billion of assets under management, and Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private investment firm that has raised $15 billion.

In her role as CMO, Russel manages 16 agencies in the content and creative lines, seven in marketing. She also manages relations with 230 vendors and partners.

Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketing

Take chances, be prepared to fail, and pivot
Walk your own path
Take care of yourself
Build communities, not a customer list
Transparent leadership with a first-team mindset
Unvarnished truth leads to powerful solutions and better collaboration

Related content mentioned in this episode

How I Made It In Marketing podcast (https://marketingsherpa.com/podcast)

Marketing 101: What is funnel creation? (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/website-and-landing-page-design/marketing-101-funnel-creation/)

Brand Marketing: Look in people’s closets (podcast episode #18) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/brand-marketing)

How to authentically build communities, from the co-founder of Reddit (https://marketingexperiments.com/social-marketing/authentically-build-communities)

About this podcast

This podcast is not about marketing – it is about the marketer. It draws its inspiration from the Flint McGlaughlin quote, “The key to transformative marketing is a transformed marketer” from the Become a Marketer-Philosopher: Create and optimize high-converting webpages (https://meclabs.com/course/) free digital marketing course.

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If you would like to apply to be a guest on How I Made It In Marketing, here is the podcast guest application – https://www.marketingsherpa.com/page/podcast-guest-application

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