Growing Forward: Lead like the top 1% in growth, marketing, & product

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com/value Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value In this episode, Philip Ruffini, a growth leader and co-founder of Hire Overseas, shares his journey from managing small teams at Rupa Health to scaling a global workforce of US employees and overseas contr...

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com/value Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value In this episode, Rex Gelb, a performance marketing expert and leader, shares his journey from being an eager first-time marketer to leading paid media teams and building Summit Chase, his own paid media age...

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com/value Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value In this episode, Jenny Wanger, a coach for product teams, shares her story of growth and leadership development. Jenny discusses the pivotal moment at SpotHero when she was informed that she would not recei...

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com/value Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value In this episode, Emily Chong, a dynamic growth leader, shares her journey from VP of Marketing to VP of Growth and the challenges she faced during the transition. Emily shares the turning point at CodePath...

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com/value Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value --- In this episode, Barron Ernst, a seasoned product and growth leader, shares how his diverse career led him to navigate success in environments where his tried-and-true playbooks didn’t apply. Barron dis...

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com/value Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value -- In this episode, Noah Levin, founder of Serious People, an AI Studio and Advisory, shares how a career built on ambition, high standards, and strong convictions forced him to confront a harder question:...

Swipe my growth resume template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR6Bbdwg80Hu-6TSz-8aGe4GgIBDukUzYXTdbr4pd0I/edit?tab=t.0 New role? Get my 90-day Growth Leader onboarding plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90 In this solo Field Notes episode, I break down a practical framework for getting more out of your team in an era where AI and modern tools are rapidly increasing individual output. We’...

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsors: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value -- Leaders don’t stall because of a lack of talent, but because the habits that helped them get promoted, such as saying yes, working longer hours, and proving value through output, stop scaling. In this episode...

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor: Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com In this episode, Jacob Woodward, a longtime product and tech leader, shares what happens when a strong resume runs into a brutal job market. He reflects on the year and a half after leaving a struggling company, attempting to go independent, applying nonstop, and still feeling invisib...

If you're focused on scaling your team and driving more revenue in 2026: Hire Overseas, helping growth and marketing teams find and hire exceptional overseas talent: https://hireoverseas.com/value -- High performers don’t get stuck because they lack talent. They get stuck because the habits that made them successful as individual contributors quietly stop working once they’re leading others. In th...

Swipe my growth resume template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR6Bbdwg80Hu-6TSz-8aGe4GgIBDukUzYXTdbr4pd0I/edit?tab=t.0 New role? Get my 90-day Growth Leader onboarding plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90 In this solo Field Notes episode, I break down a simple but powerful career reframing I’ve been sharing with clients who feel stuck, burned out, or misaligned in their current roles: t...

Download my customizable 90 Day Plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90 In this episode, Jay Desai, Growth Lead at Navattic, shares his approach to stepping into an early-stage growth role with clarity and purpose. He reflects on how his first 90 days were spent gaining product knowledge, ramping up without burnout, and aligning cross-functional teams around a unified vision of growth. Jay talks...

Swipe my growth resume template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR6Bbdwg80Hu-6TSz-8aGe4GgIBDukUzYXTdbr4pd0I/edit?tab=t.0 New role? Get my 90-day Growth Leader onboarding plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90 In this solo episode, I kick off a new series called Field Notes, by walking you through a framework I’ve developed for making resumes clearer, more compelling, and easier for non-expe...

In this episode, Scott McNeely, Head of Product and founding team member at Epicurate and co-founder of Modern Adventure, traces his journey from “kid with an Apple II+ in his mom’s dessert business” to building and scaling product teams in travel, publishing, and tech. He reflects on growing up in humble circumstances while attending an elite LA boys’ school, stumbling into travel writing, and th...

In this solo episode, I share the thinking behind a major evolution of the show and its new name: Growing Forward. I walk through what I learned while building the podcast, where the original positioning fell short, and how listener feedback helped clarify the show’s true purpose. In this conversation, you’ll hear: Why the original name worked early on, and why it was time to change it What listen...

In this special solo episode, I pull back the curtain and share a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of the show. In this conversation, you’ll hear: Why I started the show - and what I’ve learned after 85 eps. How I’m reshaping the show to blend storytelling with practical leadership lessons you can apply immediately. Why expanding the format unlocks more impact, more value, and more meaningf...

In this episode, Don McGray, product marketing leader and Head of Growth PMM at Vimeo (formerly Dropbox and Airtable), shares how to separate identity from performance without dialing down ambition. From being told his launch plan was “C-plus work” to navigating a surprise layoff, Don shares the inner-game shifts that helped him rebuild trust, make cleaner calls, and keep moving in high-stakes env...

In this episode, Natalie Marcotullio, Head of Growth & Operations at Navattic, looks back on a “rollercoaster” year and what it taught her about role fit, energy management, and leading through constant change. She traces the shift from growth to product marketing amid a noisy AI landscape, a new product line, and a leaner team, and how those forces sparked both imposter syndrome and new clari...

In this episode, Luke Wallace, founder-turned-fractional growth leader and former Chief Growth Officer at Zipline Education, opens up about the moment high-visibility mistakes hit customers and forced him to rebuild his operating system. He shares the CEO feedback that drew a line between being nice and being kind, why he chose to hire an executive coach instead of switching jobs, and how he moved...

In this episode, Diego von Söhsten, immigrant operator, product leader, and Director of Product Growth at Jobber, opens up about the “after you’ve already proven yourself” flavor of imposter syndrome. He recounts a moment when a senior executive publicly tore down his work (and blamed his accent), and how he rebuilt confidence, created alignment without air cover, and ultimately earned a promotion...

In this episode, Kelly Gillease, two-time CMO, daily meditator, and former search marketer turned executive leader, talks candidly about the inner game behind durable leadership. She traces her path from debating podiums to performance marketing at Hotwire, through scale-up chaos at NerdWallet and post-acquisition life at TripAdvisor/Viator—sharing how mindfulness, therapy, and a “true, kind, nece...

In this episode, Mallory Contois, VP of Growth at Maven and founder of The Old Girls Club, traces her path from hypergrowth operator to community builder. She reflects on the “up, down, up” rhythm of her career, from Pinterest’s rocket ship years to rediscovering fit after leaving Metafy, and shares what she’s learned about ego, feedback, and identity along the way. Mallory opens up about being di...

In this episode, Ryan McCready, content leader turned Principal Content Engineer at Demostack, opens up about the moments that shaped his path: hacking distribution in the early “monoculture SEO” days, sharpening his voice through roles at Foundation, Reforge, and Whimsical, and facing his first layoff. He shares candid stories about creator burnout after viral teardowns, being the last marketer s...

In this episode, Kirk Reynolds, seasoned founder and now the creator of Wilder Retreats, opens up about the hardest conversations of his career. From telling his 55-person team that he was selling the company without sharing the real reason, to navigating the identity crisis that came when the acquirer shut it down, Kirk reflects on what it means to lead with honesty, even when fear and burnout ma...

In this episode, Heidi Gibson, product and growth leader with stints at companies like GoDaddy, Typeform, and Bill.com, reflects on the pivotal lessons from her unconventional career path. From welding nuclear submarines to becoming VP of Product, Heidi shares how resilience, feedback, and self-awareness shaped her leadership journey. Heidi opens up about the realities of imposter syndrome, learni...