The People of Digital Marketing

"I need content to connect dots that I didn't know were connected before...Otherwise...I could go look all this stuff up already on my own." Tracey Wallace is the Director of Content Strategy at Klaviyo. Prior to that, she was the head of marketing for two early stage start-ups (Eterneva and MarketerHire), and the Editor-in-Chief over at BigCommerce. She has 13 years of experience in...

 "When you stop selling, you stop growing...If you think that you're maxed out right now...what if you lose a client?" Ali Schwanke is the CEO and Founder of Simple Strat, an agency of expert strategists in sales and content marketing for B2B tech companies. Ali and her team focus on growing businesses through technology and automations, specializing in the implementation of HubSpot....

“If there’s not a fit between your personality and the environment that you’re in, it’s going to be difficult for you to drive impact. This is regardless of how much you know in your [marketing] domain.”  Patrick Moran was most recently an Executive in Residence at Reforge where he led the Growth Marketing, Experimentation and Testing, and Brand Marketing programs which he also co-developed. Previ...

“It doesn’t matter if you’re employed or not, it matters if you’re employable…if you learn the skills around how to grow ‘capital-efficiently’, [affecting] the growth curve in a positive way—that’s incredibly employable.” Bill Macaitis is an advisor and board member, guiding aspiring unicorns and helping build out world class teams and innovative go-to-market strategies. Over his 20 year career Bi...

“Take a look at your agency and if their tests keep losing and you’re like ‘oh our current ad keeps performing better’…you should have a real hard conversation…[You’re losing] every time they tested…”  Samir Balwani is a marketing thought leader, out-of-the-box thinker, and an intrinsic connector. As CEO and founder of  QRY  (pronounced “query”), Samir has built a world-class media agency of innov...

“Failure is the best way to learn…You have to try new methods and new things to surprise your audience and surpass your competitors.” Keren Pakes is the Chief Brand & Communications Officer at Bright Data and the General Manager of The Bright Initiative. After 14 impressive years as an award-winning BBC News journalist (she won an Emmy?!), Keren left the field of journalism to pursue marketing...

“Video is great, and audio is better.” Nora Sudduth, Co-founder of Hello Audio is a leading marketing & conversion strategist who has helped businesses sell over $500M of products & services online. She’s also designed several courses, coaching, and certification programs that have generated millions more. Nora has over 20 years of experience working with startups to Fortune 500 companies...

“When someone interacts with your brand for the first time, it’s literally a first impression.” Sydney Michuda is the owner and creative lead behind Super Creative, a design and branding studio based in Milwaukee. With a nearly decade of design experience under her belt, most of which has been focused on branding small businesses, she's most at home when working with passionate, like-minded cr...

“Take your top priorities and cut them in half, and then focus on doing fewer things exceedingly well.” Chad is the VP of Marketing & Communications at Jotform, a leading online form, and productivity software company. He holds a master’s degree in communication and resides with his wife and cats in Oakland, California. Hiring for skills that matter and why writing is one to master! How to bui...

“A podcast is like a Swiss army knife, it can accomplish so many objectives…” Dan Sanchez is the Director of Audience Growth for Sweet Fish, a podcast agency for B2B brands. Equipped with his MBA and a career that has crossed design, technology, marketing, and education, Dan is ready to teach others how to grow their audience in a digital age. He contributes regularly to the B2B Growth podcast, Li...

“[For] some clients who have not necessarily reinvented themselves yet–the experiences that we’ve experienced in the past need a facelift…” Ashley Cline is a Digital Marketing Consultant and Freelancing Expert. As the VP & Co-Founder at Ice Cream Social, Ashley has over 17 years of experience specializing in marketing strategy, execution, and collaborative efforts. She is a proponent of the im...

“…This just provides more flexibility for really top-notch marketers to live the life that they want.” Arlyn Davich is an entrepreneurial executive with a proven track record of building and scaling consumer-tech businesses as a startup Founder/CEO (PayPerks...Allswell...ShopShops) and Fortune 50 Intrapreneur at companies like Walmart. She specializes in direct-to-consumer strategy, brand building...

“Assuming timing exists, you [have to have] people, process, and technology…” Zac Litwack is a partner at Savage Ventures, a venture operator with HQ in Nashville, TN which has created $450M in enterprise value so far. He recently led marketing for Savage portfolio company OutKick, which scaled to 7 figures per month in revenue and sold to FOX less than 1 year after its launch. He is currently Chi...

“Relationships are what turn into opportunities.” Rachel B. Lee is a fearless marketing #ladyboss and the wife of Joshua B. Lee. Together they have formed a powerful business relationship that connects with audiences across the world. Rachel leads the marketing and branding strategy for Standout Authority and its clients and can help you find your voice and create influence like you’ve never imagi...

“I really only have about two tips: one is read more than your peers . The other one is do side projects .” Justin Watkins is the Founder and CEO of Native Digital, a brand and marketing firm acquiring customers where they live: online. In 2020, AdWeek ranked Native Digital as the 4th fastest growing agency in the Midwest. Questions and topics we covered include: How Justin bridges the skills gap...

“Nobody is going to manage your career for you.” Jan Deahl is a marketing leader with over 20 years of investment industry experience who has ran international and global institutional marketing efforts at some of the world’s top asset management firms including AllianceBernstein, Janus Capital Group, American Century Investments, and the CFA Institute. He has worked globally, including being base...

“The first question is, ‘How hard is it to extract value from our product?’” Justin Parnell is the VP of Marketing at BrightIdea. Justin is a data-driven marketing leader who oversees a full range of initiatives including influencing business strategy, developing lifecycle marketing plans, and the project management of BrightIdea’s marketing initiatives. Justin is also experienced in launching and...

“ It can help to work for a mission-driven organization, but you’re going to maximize that opportunity if you have some perspective on what your personal values are.. .” Always one to believe in bringing her whole self to work, Julia knows that the marketer who is deliberate in the purpose of their work will have the greatest impact. Early in her career, personal circumstances helped Julia define...

“Click rates don’t always correlate to revenue.” Joe works as the Director of Retention at The Beard Club. In his spare time, he's been growing his audience of 30K+ followers on Twitter and LinkedIn by sharing daily marketing tips and content geared toward DTC marketers. He has generated over $50mm in revenue with email marketing throughout his career and recently finished teaching his first Email...

“Your job as a manager is to only care about three things: the financial goals of your direct reports, their professional goals, and finally their personal goals.” Patrick Ward is the VP of Marketing for Rootstrap, a custom software development consultancy that digitally transforms companies like MasterClass & Google, along with A-List Celebrities like Tony Robbins & Snoop Dogg. He’s also...

“Fun translates into good performance.” The four things every marketer should know before starting their career: Find a skill (channel) that is the most fun to do. Then specialize. Specialization brings money. Specialization solves hard problems that matter. You take this even further by also specializing in a specific industry (e.g. I specialize in marketing for fintech and insurance orgs at the...

“SEO takes time…” Steve Toth is a growth-focused SEO Consultant to companies around the world. He’s a trusted resource to over 10,000 subscribers of SEONoteBook.com , a newsletter full of weekly emails about how he’s approaching SEO strategy. Steve was previously the full-time SEO Manager at FreshBooks, but in February 2020 he took the company as a client after getting them to rank #1 for a search...

“You gotta be flexible but, not spineless.” JD Dillon lives by the principle of "Mission First, People Always." A U.S. Army veteran and graduate of the United States Military Academy, JD has spent his career in Corporate America focused on profitable top-line growth while investing in individuals and organizational development. Currently, the CMO for renewable energy upstart Tigo Energy, his caree...

“The key thing in all of this really is understanding the value that you give and that you have, and then getting other people to help tell that story for you…” Christina’s love of marketing started during her undergraduate days, when under the wise guidance of her grandmother she decided to do a marketing and management degree and hasn’t looked back. Having held various roles in marketing in diff...

“Carpenters aren’t scared of nail guns. It can replace the hammer but, it can’t replace the carpenter. I think that is what AI is and represents.” Dave Snyder is the CEO of CopyPress. His background in SEO, social media, and content marketing led Dave to look for a better way to scale and create content. That search led to the formation of CopyPress. Today, CopyPress is one the most trusted conten...