How I Made it in Marketing

I love the movie City Slickers.

If you’re unfamiliar, Billy Crystal is a Manhattanite, has a midlife crisis, and goes out West on a cattle drive to try to figure life out.

Spoiler alert, the crusty old cowboy teaches him that the secret to life is – ‘One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean shhh…” Well, you get the idea.

It struck me that this is a great brand lesson as well. You’ve seen the stats – our ideal customer simply gets hammered with messages every day. And there are so many things your internal team could work on. How to break through the noise? How to prioritize? I love what my next guest told me – “If you don’t have one clear position of who you are and why they should care, you’re just throwing spaghetti at a wall.”

To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I sat down with Margaret Dawson, CMO, Chronosphere [https://chronosphere.io/].

Chronosphere has raised $343 million in three rounds. In its Series C round in 2023, the company was valued at $1.6 billion.

Dawson leads global marketing efforts at Chronosphere, overseeing a budget of $12 million and a team of 23 working on digital experience, corporate communications, demand generation, customer marketing, ABM, Marketing Ops, and Product Marketing.

Lessons from the things she made

• If you don’t have one clear position of who you are and why they should care, you’re just throwing spaghetti at a wall
• Sometimes you need to poke the snake
• Integrated marketing moves the needle
• Mentoring is a two-way street
• Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should
• Don’t focus so much on winning each battle that you lose the war
• If you channeled the characteristics that made you so competent and made you authentically you, you would have the greatest power
• We do not serve ourselves or the world by hiding our light or being afraid to stand tall

Discussed in this episode

Join us on July 30th at 2 pm EDT for AI Hackathon: Build a powerful lead gen agent in just 90 minutes [https://join.meclabsai.com/mec-050-masterclass] (from MeclabsAI, MarketingSherpa’s parent company).

Outside-In Messaging: Nothing counts more than the language of the customer (podcast episode #75) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/outside-in-messaging]

The 4 Pillars of Email Marketing [https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/email-marketing/4-pillars-email-summit-2014/]

Building Brands: People and culture matter a lot, mentorship matters even more, product matters the most (podcast episode #119) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/brands]

Marketing Campaigns: Lose the brand ego and lean into humility (podcast episode #130) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-campaigns]

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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

Instead of burning budgets on Facebook ads, Talya Elitzer, CEO, Overmind Merchandise [https://www.overmind.co/], grows global merch sales with just seven employees by building worlds, not products.

In this episode, she reveals the underground community-building strategies that transformed grassroots buzz into international demand. 

Hear her playbook using this embedded player or by clicking through to your preferred audio streaming service using the links below it.

Lessons from the things she made

• Culture moves in different ways
• Build a world, not just a product
• Scale is a strategy, not a starting point
• Confidence clears confusion
• Vulnerability builds loyalty
• Let instincts override the brief

Discussed in this episode

Connect your product to your customer’s story – People don't just buy products; they buy into narratives. A powerful value proposition taps into this emotional connection. Quickly discover if your value prop resonates deeply enough using this MeclabsAI workflow – Is your value prop (really) strong enough? [https://win.meclabsai.com/value-prop] (from MeclabsAI, MarketingSherpa’s parent company).

Marketing Strategy: Data tells stories at Nationwide, fast mistakes, and the triage method (podcast episode #25) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-strategy]

Authentic Brand Transformation: To build a brand that lasts, consider rebranding a team sport (podcast episode #137) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/authentic-brand]

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Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

That is a famous quote from Anton Chekhov, and it has informed everything I personally do in writing and marketing. 

And it’s why I was so excited to read a podcast guest application that referenced the famous writer’s maxim I’ve lived my career by – show, don’t tell.

To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I sat down with Dave Anderson, Vice President of Product Marketing, Contentsquare [https://contentsquare.com/].

Contentsquare has secured $1.4 billion in funding, including most recently a $600 million Series F, at which point it was valued at $5.6 billion. 

Anderson manages a global distributed team of 10 across France, UK, Spain and the US, and currently manages 10 AI tools as well.

Lessons from the things he made

• Great experiences are invisible, but they require relentless alignment
• Telling stories with data creates internal momentum
• Experimentation wins, but only if it’s cultural
• Don’t make assumptions. Listen to customers.
• Show, don’t tell
• Innovation isn’t about waiting for a perfect idea, its about moving fast, failing smart, and building a culture that learns at speed.

Discussed in this episode

Is your value prop strong enough? [https://win.meclabsai.com/value-prop] (MeclabsAI workflow, from MarketingSherpa's parent company)

Corporate Marketing: Feedback is respect (podcast episode #44) [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/corporate-marketing]

Creating a Culture of Testing: How to defeat the tyranny of best practices [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/corporate-marketing]

Show, Don’t Tell: 3 quick case studies where companies help customers reach their own conclusions [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/show-don-t-tell-3-quick-case-studies-where-companies-help-customers-reach-their-own-conclusions]

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Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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

Yes, the Super Bowl ad. How exciting. The experiential activation with the major influencer. The new branding campaign roll out. So wonderful.

But don’t stop there.

You could have the most compelling and creative ad campaign, but if you don’t optimize for every customer touch point, you are undercutting the expectation you have built for the customer with the reality your brand is actually delivering.

So I love this lesson from a recent podcast guest application – “Marketing is the chief customer advocate.”

To hear that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Scott Neuman, Corporate Vice President of Marketing, Calix [https://www.calix.com/].

Calix is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2024, it reported $831 million in net sales.

Neuman leads the corporate marketing strategy team at Calix, including branding, communications, content development, digital and event strategy, and field enablement. Collectively the Calix marketing team is approximately 100 professionals with a primary focus on the North American markets of broadband service providers.

Lessons from the things he made

• Marketing is the chief customer advocate
• Always think B2B2C
• Activate your social army
• Great marketers are great storytellers
• There’s more science than art to great storytelling
• Effective leaders challenge rather than direct
• “Every day, let ’s try to suck less”

Discussed in this episode

Join us Tuesday, July 8th at 2 pm EDT for AI Masterclass: Build a powerful lead gen campaign in just 90 minutes [https://join.meclabsai.com/mec-050-july-8]

The Difference Between Marketing and Advertising (and Why It Matters) [https://marketingexperiments.com/digital-advertising/the-difference-between-marketing-and-advertising-and-why-it-matters]

Marketing Chart: Biggest challenges to growing membership [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/challenges-to-growing-membership]

B2B External Communications: How IBM conveys the value of complex products, spotlights innovative employees and entrusts employees with social media [https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/b2b-marketing/ibm-b2b-external-communications/]

Get more episodes

Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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

It’s a noisy world out there.

So anytime you have that most valuable of things – a small window into your ideal customer’s attention span – are you clear and memorable with your value proposition?

Of course, that is all the more complicated by the fact that the small window of attention isn’t only when they see your big TV campaign or whatnot, it can come from so many places – it’s also when they step into your store, add something to the cart on your website, reach out to customer service, and on and on.

Which is why this lesson from a podcast guest application stood out to me – “Even bad brands can be good, when they’re consistent.”

To hear the story behind that lesson, I talked to Drew Holmgreen, CEO, PPAI [https://www.ppai.org/].

PPAI is the Promotional Products Association International, the largest trade association in the world for the $27 billion promotional products industry – a community of 15,000 members.

Holmgreen manages a team of 50 and a budget of $25 million.

Lessons from the things he made

• Rally together to overcome Murphy’s Law
• When you can’t send a sample, send the entire state
• Formalize the brand and consistency will come
• Tell them what you know definitively. Not what you think.
• Even bad brands can be good, when they’re consistent
• Volunteers are your best resource
• You should always have a chip to help push you forward

Discussed in this episode

When you can’t send the entire state, send a customer story. In this episode, our guest discusses sampling on an experiential marketing scale. If you don’t have that budget, try sending a customer story instead. Our latest MeclabsAI Workflow makes it easy – turn a client win into more leads [https://win.meclabsai.com/]. (from MeclabsAI, MarketingSherpa’s parent company).

B2B Marketing Leadership: The higher you get in the organization, the more details you need to know (podcast episode #115) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/B2B-marketing-leadership]

Creative Marketing and Advertising Campaigns: Hold the line & get a door kicker (podcast episode #84) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/creative-marketing]

Get more episodes

Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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

Data-driven marketing.

That is an oft-repeated phrase in our industry. It’s hard to find a LinkedIn profile that doesn’t make a claim of being a data-driven marketer these days.

And while data is helpful, it’s not the only thing that should drive you, my next guest says. Be human first, because people drive brands.

To hear that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Desiree Sanchis, VP of Marketing for Beliv US [https://belivcompany.com/].

Beliv has sold a million cases across 40 brands in 30 countries. Sanchis manages innovation, marketing, and e-commerce for Beliv’s U.S. portfolio of eight active brands in addition to those in the company’s development pipeline 

Lessons from the things she made

• Human First: People drive brands
• Dream big and embrace change
• Find your purpose and execute relentlessly
• Lead with empathy
• Storytelling is powerful
• Build internal momentum

Discussed in this episode

AI Guild [https://join.meclabsai.com/]

CPG Campaigns: Marketing is often about showcasing human truths (podcast episode #107) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/CPG]

Marketing Storytelling Examples: How 3 brands told their stories (with results) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/marketing-storytelling]

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Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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

Timing is key to successful marketing.

If you broke it down, that’s probably a third of it. Right offer to the right prospect…at the right time.

But how well do you focus on timing for your personal brand in your own career?

You can hear ideas for that from this episode’s guest – she said one of the key lessons in her career is ‘know when it’s time to leave.’

Here to share the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, is Lisa Lahiji, CMO, Eurest [https://www.eurest-usa.com/] and ESFM [https://www.esfm-usa.com/].

Eurest and ESFM are part of Compass Group, a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It reported $42.2 billion in revenue in 2024. Lahiji oversees the strategy for 45 marketers. 

Lessons from the things she made

Know when it’s time to leave

• Scaling up means letting go
• When the world changed, so did we
• Advocate for others
• Relationships matter
• Raise your hand

Discussed in this episode

Advertising and Brands: Details matter, know when to quit, …be nice (podcast episode #27) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/advertising-and-brands]

Marketing Adaptability: The art of letting go of creative ideas so you can champion future concepts (podcast episode #112) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-adaptability]

Elements of a Landing Page, Advocate Marketing Program, and Conversion-Optimized Blog Post: 3 quick marketing case studies [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/elements-of-a-landing-page]

Get more episodes

Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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

If there’s one word that defines what I’ve seen in the marketing industry in my career, it’s ‘acceleration.’

When I started, I was writing print ads in The Wall Street Journal for clients all over the country. So the deadline was when FedEx came to our building…or if we were really pushing it, FedEx’s deadline at the airport. This created a natural ebb and flow.

Then PDFs came along, and well, that deadline got pushed much farther back. But because it still ultimately had to go to print, there was still an ebb and flow.

Fast forward to today. Everything is always on, real time, with endless data streams. It feels like there is no more ebb, only flow.

Which is why this lesson really caught my eye in a podcast guest application – It’s important to ‘take a beat.’

To hear that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Cindy Van Horne, global head of marketing & communications, McKinsey & Company [https://www.mckinsey.com/].

Lessons from the things she made

• It’s important to ‘take a beat’   
• Be fearless with your ambition  
• Reinvention is not optional   
• When goals are not hit, leadership is about finesse 
• The pathway to innovative campaigns is about breaking down barriers
• Real change comes when others are inspired to break their own ceiling 

Discussed in this episode

AI Guild [https://join.meclabsai.com/]

Strategic Marketing Collaboration: Find your partner in crime (podcast episode #68) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/strategic]

Branding Lessons from TV Production: Don't focus on failure, keep moving towards success (podcast episode #92) [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/brand-lessons]

Leadership Development: Network every day (podcast episode #72) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/leadership-development]

B2B Marketing Leadership: The higher you get in the organization, the more details you need to know (podcast episode #115) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/B2B-marketing-leadership]

Customer-First Marketing: Every click is a wish (podcast episode #85) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-first]

Get more episodes

Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-first] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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

As an entrepreneur, as a marketer, the world is conspiring to grab your attention and distract you.

For example, when I started in this career, there were really only a few channels you could go to. Newspaper. TV. Radio. Direct. Maybe outdoors.

Now, that number has exploded.

Just one example of how many things you could possibly do with your business and your campaigns and your budget and your time.

But to find success, my next guest says – focus on one thing.

To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Gidon Rotteveel, co-founder, Delka Talents [https://www.delkatalents.com/]. Gidon manages a team of 25.

Hear the full episode using this embedded player or by clicking through to your preferred audio streaming service using the links below it.

Lessons from the things he made

• You always have to separate work from your personal life
• Great things take time to grow
• Focus on one thing
• You don’t need 100 employees
• Entrepreneurship does not have an age
• Influencers come and go
• Don’t let small setbacks in the business distract you from your insane vision

Discussed in this episode

AI Guild [https://join.meclabsai.com/]

Adaptive Leadership: It’s never too late to reinvent yourself (podcast episode #90) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/adaptive]

Female Entrepreneurship and Marketing: Having built a big community doesn't mean you will be able to monetize it (podcast episode #71) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/entrepreneurship]

Best Practices Are Pooled Ignorance: 4 quick marketing case studies of brands that found success by taking a different approach [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/best-practices-different-approach-brands-marketing-case-studies]

Customer-First Marketing: Every click is a wish (podcast episode #85) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-first]

Get more episodes

Subscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you’d like to get more episodes like this one.

For more insights, check out...

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.

Apply to be a guest
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