CMOs Without Borders

Trust isn't a feature or a differentiator; it's the actual product in financial services. It's built over years, and can collapse in a single moment. In this episode, Mandy MacPhee and Joel Crampton discuss candidly how to earn, protect, and rebuild trust in financial services, and how AI's rapid rise is making that task both easier and riskier at the same time. From social proof and testimonials...

Marketing to diverse audiences doesn’t start with translation or last-minute campaigns. It starts with understanding how people think, what they value, and how they make decisions. Without that foundation, even strong campaigns fall flat. In this episode, Joel Crampton and Mandy MacPhee sit down with Nicholas Segura, founder of Segura Marketing, to unpack what multicultural marketing actually requ...

Getting the lead is only the beginning. What comes next, the follow-up, the nurture, the conversion, the retention, is where most firms either win or quietly hemorrhage what they invested to get there. In this episode, Mandy MacPhee and Joel Crampton go deep on the full marketing funnel, from first lead to loyal, referring client. Building on their previous conversation with Client's Black Box, th...

Most financial advisors know they need more clients. What they don't know is that the answer might already be in their prospects' Facebook feeds. In this episode, Mandy MacPhee and Joel Crampton sit down with Alex Khassa, founder of Clients Blackbox — a Meta advertising partner with $10M+ in ad spend and 30,000+ appointments booked for RIAs. Alex breaks down why education, not promotion, is the st...

The best marketing leaders aren't just strategists. They're operators, builders, and systems thinkers — and the fractional model is exactly where those skills come to life. In this episode, Mandy McPhee and Joel Crampton pull back the curtain on what it actually means to be a fractional CMO. No guests, no filters — just two practitioners sharing what a real week looks like: the clients, the chaos,...

AI isn’t coming for your business — it’s already inside it. The real question isn’t whether to use it, but whether you’re using it strategically, safely, and in a way that actually drives results. In this episode, Mandy MacPhee and Joel Crampton sit down with JL Verboomen, analytics and AI strategist at Massive Insights. With 30+ years of experience in data and analytics, JL shares a practical per...

Growth doesn’t begin with tactics, campaigns, or activity. It begins with self-awareness — understanding the patterns shaping your leadership, the foundations supporting your business, and the systems required to turn effort into sustainable growth. In this episode, Mandy MacPhee, fractional CMO and co-host of CMOs Without Borders, shares the thinking behind her new book The Work That Holds You ....

Client growth doesn’t begin with tactics, campaigns, or quick wins. It begins with clarity — understanding the journey prospects are already on, the psychology behind their decisions, and the systems required to guide them from interest to trust. In this episode, Joel Crampton, fractional CMO, co-host of CMOs Without Borders, and author of Trailblazing Growth , shares the thinking behind his frame...

Client trust doesn’t begin with performance reports, portfolios, or marketing. It begins inside the firm — in how people work together, how culture is lived, and how leadership shapes the environment clients ultimately experience. In this episode, Ethan Chazin , fractional Chief Culture Officer and leadership advisor, provides insights into how he helps organizations build high-performance workpla...

Most founders don’t struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because everything still runs through them. Growth stalls when the founder is the system — making every decision, solving every problem, and carrying every role. In this episode, we sat down with Mike Walrod , fractional integrator and EOS practitioner at Incite Business, who helps companies replace founder-driven chaos with struc...

Most founders treat exit planning like something you only worry about when you’re ready to retire or sell. But your exit gets decided years earlier by one simple question: Can your growth run without you? If growth only happens through referrals and founder effort, buyers don’t see a system, they see dependency. In this episode, we sat down with Tracy Jepson , a multi-passionate entrepreneur and b...

As Season 1 of CMOs Without Borders comes to a close, we step back to reflect on what defined marketing in financial services in 2025 — and what leaders need to prepare for as we head into 2026. In this episode, Joel Crampton and Mandy MacPhee unpack the realities behind AI adoption, the evolution of search and digital trust, and why strategy, not shiny tools, will separate winners from noise in t...

Every financial services leader eventually reaches the same truth: your products don’t set you apart — your client experience does. We sat down with Glenn LaCoste , founder of Surviscor Group, whose team has spent over two decades evaluating client experience across banks, credit unions, brokerages, and digital-first financial brands. Glenn breaks down why the client experience is far more than a...

Every great leader eventually runs into the same realization: expertise alone doesn’t set you apart — your story does. We sat down with Will Severns , co-founder of ShareYourStory.com , to explore how books, personal narratives, and authentic storytelling are becoming the next major differentiator for founders, financial advisors, and thought leaders. Will shared how he and his team have helped mo...

In this episode we sit down with Clay Hicks , founder and CEO of H7 Global Network , to unpack what authentic networking really looks like and how founders, financial advisors, and entrepreneurs can build relationships that actually move the needle. Clay shares the story behind H7’s rise from a regional Ohio-based network to a global community spanning 23 countries , all grounded in one simple phi...

In this episode of CMOs Without Borders , hosts Joel Crampton and Mandy MacPhee tackle one of the most persistent problems in financial-services marketing: why most funnels still don’t convert. From RIAs to fintechs, firms spend heavily on awareness and ads — but too often, those efforts fail to translate into meaningful conversations or new clients. Joel and Mandy break down what’s really going w...

EPISODE OVERVIEW In this episode, hosts Joel Crampton and Mandy MacPhee sit down with Randy Frisch, founder of Trusty, an AI-powered estate planning platform redefining how families manage, document, and pass down their legacies. With $84 trillion set to change hands in the coming decades, Randy shares how technology, emotion, and storytelling can transform estate planning from a cold, legal proce...

When founders tell their story, they don’t just market their product or service, they create demand and separate their company from the competition. In this episode, Joel Crampton and Mandy MacPhee sit down with fellow fractional Chief Marketing Officer Chris Downey to unpack a modern, founder-led approach to building pipeline — show up where your buyers already consume content, earn trust with yo...

Financial institutions are waking up to the power of AI in accelerating their marketing engines. In this episode, Heather Gerdes, co-founder of Promode.ai , joins Joel and Mandy to unpack what real adoption looks like inside banks, credit unions, and RIAs. We dig into customer-driven demand for better digital experiences, how to keep compliance tight while moving faster, and why AI is an amplifier...

In this episode of CMOs Without Borders , hosts Joel Crampton and Mandy MacPhee dive into one of the biggest challenges facing financial services marketing today: the Sea of Sameness . From fintechs to RIAs to credit unions, firms are sounding more and more alike, shouting the same claims about being “client-focused,” “digital-first,” or “fee-only.” But if everyone is saying the same thing, how do...

Before you spend another dollar on marketing, find out if your plan is already broken. Most marketing plans at financial services companies don’t fail because of sloppy execution — they fail before they even start. In this first episode of CMOs Without Borders , Mandy MacPhee and Joel Crampton unpack the hidden reasons plans break down, from fuzzy positioning and misaligned teams to leadership tha...