Mission Driven Business How to Build a Mission-Driven Marketing Business with Caitlin Durning
What does it actually take to build a mission-driven marketing business, grow a team you can trust, and pivot into a new role without losing everything you built?
In this episode, Brian Thompson sits down with Caitlin Durning, founder of Meraki Media Management and fractional CMO, to talk about her nine-year journey building an agency, her recent transition into a new kind of leadership role, and what entrepreneurs should be thinking about when it comes to organic marketing right now.
Caitlin shares the story of growing a nonprofit's Instagram from 18,000 to half a million followers in 30 days, how she built a team that could run without her, and the practical marketing strategies she is seeing work for small and mid-sized businesses heading into the new year.
In this episode you will learn:
- How a mission-driven business uses values to guide marketing and partnership decisions
- Why Caitlin transitioned from agency owner to fractional CMO and what that shift looked like
- How to build a team that can run the business without you
- Why organic marketing should come before paid ads for most small businesses
- What collaborative and partnership posts are and why they are becoming more powerful
- Why carousels and storytelling are making a strong comeback in content marketing
- How to evaluate whether your marketing investment is actually working
- What Facebook groups can do for local businesses looking for high-quality leads
- How to think about a marketing budget when you are under a million in revenue
Organic marketing, community building, and knowing your values are not just feel-good concepts. They are the foundation of a mission-driven business that attracts the right clients, builds the right team, and creates real momentum over time.
Whether you are just starting to think about marketing or you are ready to bring on support, this episode is full of honest, practical insight from someone who has built her career doing exactly this work.
Resources + Links
- Follow Caitlin Durning Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
- Learn more about Caitlin's work: Meraki Media Management
- Newsletter Sign Up
- Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes
- Follow & review the podcast: on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast
Brian Thompson, JD/CFP®, is a tax attorney and Certified Financial Planner® who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.
On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.