On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Stacey Epstein, CMO at Freshworks. As someone who has held roles as both CMO and CEO, Stacey understands the importance of choosing your own adventure along your career path. She explains how Freshworks approaches content strategy as a company with over 5,000 employees and over 400 million in recurring revenue, and why the skills you learn as a CMO often translate well into a role as CEO.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts!Key takeaways from this episode:Let go of ego. When it came time for her to jump into a new role, Stacey was wise enough to remove her ego from the equation. Although she held the coveted CEO title in her previous role, she didn’t hesitate to move back into the CMO role when she was presented with a position that checked all the most important boxes: great people, a product she was passionate about and a huge market opportunity. It’s all about the people. Whether she’s working at a company of 500 or 5,000 people, Stacey’s commitment to prioritizing her team remains. She believes that no matter what title you hold, your most important job is to ensure everyone on the team, from managers to frontline employees, is thriving.CMOs make great CEOs. Since they typically have experience working with the organization’s head of sales, HR and finance, CMOs are tasked with the same type of coordination work that’s required in the CEO role. In the future, we’ll likely continue to see more marketers making the jump into executive leadership roles.Learn more about Freshworks here: https://www.freshworks.com/ Learn more about Stacey here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyepstein/ 

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Cate Lochead, CMO at JumpCloud. As a marketing executive who is on their third CMO role to date, Cate has plenty of wisdom to share about juggling product growth and the marketing machine, balancing a channel investment with your direct investment, and much more. Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts!Key takeaways from this episode:Strike the right balance. Cate mentioned that as a software marketer, she fell in love with the challenge of striking a balance between the voice of the engineer and crafting messaging that will resonate with the consumer. With early-stage companies, marketers are challenged to transition the overall marketing narrative from the early positioning that’s geared towards how the product was built, into a story that will convey exactly how it’s going to change the world.Build a team you can trust. For Cate, one of her strengths as a marketer is being able to intuitively hire the strongest people for each role and delegate effectively so she can focus on her top priorities as CMO. Even though she’s passionate about communications, she knew she had to let go of this particular role and instead hire a leader she trusted to take ownership over it.Put things into context. Cate commented that one of the most important skills she looks for in potential CMOs is the ability to contextualize the business. In other words, it’s important to be able to understand the interconnectedness of the business overall by taking a birds-eye-view approach of all the operations.Learn more about JumpCloud here: https://jumpcloud.com/Learn more about Cate here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clochead/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Peter Finter, CMO at CyberGRX. During our conversation, we discuss several interesting topics, including the importance of finding alignment with your finance department, and strategies for creating a predictable revenue engine.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts!Key takeaways from this episode:Bigger isn’t always better. During his career, Peter has led marketing teams at large companies with upwards of 10,000 employees as well as smaller scale operations. He believes that one of the upsides of being part of a small team is that it can foster a strong sense of connectedness and collaboration. It’s also given him more opportunities to experiment with new tactics, which consistently keeps him stimulated and engaged in his role.Make friends with the finance function. As marketers, we often hear how important it is to find alignment with the sales team to optimize outcomes. However, Peter reminds us that it’s equally important to connect with your company’s finance team and CFO. Not only will this potentially help you to secure more budget for upcoming projects, but it’s also essential in terms of finding alignment on a shared vision for the company’s future. Tell the right story. Peter also emphasized the importance of identifying your customer’s pain points and crafting a narrative from there. For all marketers, the key challenge to tackle is bringing something new to the table that will help the buyer solve a problem in a way they may not have considered, while activating the channels that are most relevant to them.Learn more about CyberGRX here: https://www.cybergrx.com/Learn more about Peter here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterfinter/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Dr. Patti Fletcher, a best-selling author, international speaker, award-winning business strategist, and CMO at Limeade. Patti shares her perspective on the employee experience, industry disruptions, content strategy, and much more.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts!Key takeaways from this episode:Disrupt the status quo. Throughout the various roles she’s held during her career, Patti has consistently maintained an attitude of continuous improvement, growth, and evolution. In her words, if she’s comfortable, then she’s uncomfortable, which is a great maxim to live by if you’re hoping to make your mark as an industry disruptor and innovator.Diversity begets disruption. As a leader, Patti understands the importance of diversity in the workplace, and it’s a core principle of the topics she discusses in her speaking engagements, content and her latest book, Disrupters. She reminds us that bringing together a wide variety of perspectives, cultural backgrounds and identities helps to lay the groundwork for impactful disruptions and a thriving business. Be a thought provoker, not a thought leader. Now more than ever, the customer journey is about building trust, and in Patti’s view, the average buyer today is looking for more than just a transactional relationship. Marketers need to focus on helping their customers solve the problems of today, in addition to looking ahead to the potential challenges and opportunities of the future.Learn more about Limeade here: https://www.limeade.com/Learn more about Patti here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drpattifletcher/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Julie Knight, CMO of Unit4. Julie shares the story of how she landed her position at the software company, which has over 2,000 employees and has been around for more than 40 years now. She also explains the playbook she and her team used to modernize the company’s content strategy and weave a consistent narrative across channels.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts!Key takeaways from this episode:Lead by example. As CMO of Unit4, Julie sets the tone for hundreds of people each day, so she’s conscious of the habits, behaviors and overall attitude she brings to the table. With employees working on a remote basis from various locations around the world, Julie aims to focus on keeping her team engaged through ongoing communication, team events and a welcoming open door policy.Reflect your values to the world. When Julie first came on as CMO of Unit4, she noticed a disconnect between the company’s incredible culture, strong values and clear mission, and the way these qualities were being conveyed to the world. To bridge this gap, she mobilized her team to help rewrite the company’s narrative in a way that would clearly communicate its strengths.Be a ruthless editor. As Julie and the team at Unit4 strategized to craft a new story for the company, it became clear that they would need to do away with much of the content that had been built in the past. In other words, Julie wasn’t afraid to clean house if a piece of content didn’t align with the simple, streamlined tone they were hoping to capture.Learn more about Unit4 here: https://www.unit4.com/Learn more about Julie here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieknightludvigson/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Daniel Incandela, the CMO of Reachdesk. We discuss the importance of creating a human connection in marketing, building relationships through gifting, and the entire buyer journey as a whole.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!Key takeaways from this episode:Focus on relationship building. One of Daniel’s main strengths in his role as CMO is building relationships and helping others succeed. Throughout his career, Daniel has learned that all functions within the executive team play an essential role in the company, so building relationships founded in trust with all team members is critical.Gifting brings a human element to B2B marketing. As Daniel mentioned, gifting is something that’s present in all cultures around the world, which he learned while studying anthropology. Today, gifting has become a critical channel for marketers to rely on because it strengthens relationships and incorporates a human connection to tap into the emotional side of your customer.Marketing begins with words. No matter the campaign, channel or medium you’re relying on as a marketer, content is always at the core of all marketing activities. Daniel believes the best B2B marketing content comes from a place of authenticity and a strong connection to the company’s true voice and message.Learn more about Reachdesk here: https://reachdesk.com/ Learn more about Daniel here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielincandela/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Jeff Boehm, the CMO of Formlabs. We discuss the 3D printing space and some of its practical applications in areas like dentistry, the medical field and more. Jeff shares his perspective on the importance of understanding your market, especially when you’re still learning the various applications of your offering.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!Key takeaways from this episode:Keep it simple. Although working in the 3D printing space added an element of complexity to the marketing journey for Formlabs, Jeff reminds us that at the end of the day, all marketers share similar goals. No matter the product or service you’re marketing, it’s always a question of identifying pain points and connecting your customers with an easy and effective way of solving them.Focus on the people. Throughout his career as a marketing leader, Jeff has learned a few critical lessons when it comes to choosing the right fit for your next role. He now believes that the most important factor overall is aligning with an organization where the people share similar values, goals and philosophies on problem solving.Use content to connect with your customer. From a content marketing perspective, Jeff’s strategy involves tailoring content directly to the customers Formlabs serves. By connecting to a customer’s “why” before beginning to address the “what” or the “how,” marketers will have better luck capturing the buyer’s attention through their content strategy. Learn more about Formlabs here: https://formlabs.com/ Learn more about Jeff here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffboehm/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Carly Brantz, CMO at DigitalOcean. We discuss strategies for keeping marketers engaged and continuously evolving in their roles. Carly also shares her perspective on the changing nature of the content strategy, and why it’s an essential component of the customer journey today.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!Key takeaways from this episode:Keep it fresh. When it comes to keeping CMOs engaged and growing within their roles, Carly recommends experimenting with as many different areas of the marketing practice as possible. By keeping it fresh year after year and venturing into unknown territory, Carly has been able to gain exposure to new areas of the business and become a continuous learner. Prioritize people. For Carly, making the jump to the C level was all about prioritizing her personal connections with people across the organization. Since marketing has become even more metrics-driven in recent years, Carly highlighted the importance of forging strong relationships within the finance department and maintaining those relationships through your career. Provide value first. In terms of the customer journey, Carly emphasized the importance of building trust by providing value from the get go. DigitalOcean does this through its hefty catalog of free learning resources including a repository of over 5,000 video tutorials as well as plenty of guides and research briefs geared towards developers.Learn more about DigitalOcean here: https://www.digitalocean.com/ Learn more about Carly here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlybrantz/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Kim Caldbeck, the CMO of Coursera. We discuss how Kim approached learning the business when she first came on as a director, and how she ultimately worked her way up to the role of CMO. Kim also shares her top tips for customer acquisition and her philosophy on leading a team of marketers amidst a changing landscape.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!Key takeaways from this episode:Join the mission. By the time she was on track to become CMO at Coursera, Kim had already made herself an indispensable member of the team by helping to build the company’s vision from the ground up. As a key player in the company’s strategy-shaping phase, Kim had earned respect and credibility, which ultimately allowed her to position herself as the best (and only) candidate for the CMO role.Follow your passion. Here on The Marketer’s Journey, many of our guests have highlighted the importance of following your passion in your career, and Kim is no exception. She believes we’re all at our best when we’re doing what we love, which is why taking action based on what excites you most will bring you luck and longevity along your career path.Be a lifelong learner. Kim mentioned that her time at Facebook helped her expand her knowledge of different areas of the business, which ultimately helped her become a more well-rounded marketer. Continuous learning is something we can all apply to our daily lives to become more engaged, knowledgeable and effective at what we do each day.Learn more about Coursera here: https://www.coursera.org/ Learn more about Kim here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-caldbeck-58b7273/ 

In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Kevin Sellers, CMO of Ping Identity. Kevin believes strongly in using the psychology of marketing to connect with customers, and during our conversation, he shares his tips for adopting this mentality. He also explains some of the key lessons he learned during his 13 years at Intel, and how he knew Ping Identity was the right fit for him as a 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:Build credibility early on. Coming off the heels of a long stint at Intel, Kevin had to shift gears and earn the trust of a new team when he first came on as CMO of Ping Identity. To do this, he secured a few short-term wins early on in his role, established trust with his team and made his intentions as CMO clear to really hit the ground running as a leader.Learn the immutable laws of growth. Kevin mentioned that during his time at Intel, he learned from the company’s former CEO Andy Grove that success requires two key ingredients: a unique product or service, and the ability to communicate its value to your audience. Without innovative marketing and branding tactics, a company will find it difficult to move the needle or grow as an enterprise.Tap into human psychology. Kevin is a big believer in tapping into human psychology and emotion through marketing tactics. By crafting a compelling narrative around a universal human truth, marketers will have a better chance of getting through to their audience in a way that feels unique, emotive and personal.Learn more about Ping Identity here: https://www.pingidentity.com/en.html Learn more about Kevin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsellers116/