The Marketing Career Path | Advice for the Marketing Professional #2

In the Setup CMO Spotlight series, marketing leaders share their journeys, leadership styles, and advice.

In this Marketer Musings segment, the following mashup presents marketing leaders sharing advice that they wish they had known as a younger marketer, as well as advice they would give to current marketing executives in executive, CMO, or VP roles similar to their own. Read the first batch of advice here.

Watch some of the Marketer Musings videos below:

#1 - Get back up | Scott Thomas, Senior Vice President Marketing at WorthPoint

We win together, we fail together. You learn as much from success as you do from failure. So don't be afraid of the failures - dust yourself off, figure out what you need to learn, get back up, get positive, lean in, stay focused, and move forward. 

#2 - Prioritize relationships | Catherine Lacour, CMO at Blackbaud

Get a mentor and a coach early. 

Understand your sphere of influence and really be intentional about relationships because it all comes down to relationships. So whether it's with work colleagues or with customers, you know disagreements can be so much more easily navigated if you have a strong trusting foundation.

#3 - Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable | Lynn Godfrey, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Embrace this idea of failure and putting yourself in situations where you're stretching yourself and you're going out of your comfort zone. Yes, you will feel uncomfortable and awkward and it may not work out, and then again…it may. I guarantee that you're going to take away something, you're going to learn something about yourself, you're going to draw on insights that you would have never had if you stayed within your comfort zone. 

#4 - Focus on what you want | Alan Magee, Vice President of Marketing at Empire Portfolio Group

When you move into new roles, whether it's you've been promoted or you've moved in the organization…or you move to a new company, I always tell people to really identify what are those two to three things that you want to focus on/that you want to get out of this by the time you leave that role. 

And it's okay if they're not all hard skills. A lot of roles you take to develop those soft skills.

#5 - Take the leap | Tia Cummings, SVP Global Brand Marketing Lead at Square 

Don't be afraid to take a chance, to take a risk…even when I was in a really great place, I wasn't afraid to take a leap to someplace else. I tell people all the time, “don't get comfortable…constantly challenge yourself and view your career progression as a marathon, not a sprint.”

#6 - Enjoy what you do | Stacey Tank, Chief Transformation & Corporate Affairs Officer at The HEINEKEN Company

Have fun, it's not a crime. Enjoy it. Work hard, be kind, be curious - it makes life easier. 

#7 - Find a mentor | Alex Morehouse, Chief Digital Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Banner Health

Ask for mentorship. I'm only where I am because I had very generous people who basically helped me out when I said, “Hey, can you help me out? I don't know what I'm doing here…” 

So don't be afraid to make mistakes and also get out of your comfort zone.

#8 - Chase after what you want | Tricia Melton, Chief Marketing Officer, Kids, Young Adults and Classics at Warner Brothers

Manage your own career. You're responsible for managing your own career. 

Don't assume that your boss, your HR department, or your company is going to do that for you because they won't…and it's not their job. Managing your career is your job.

The other thing I would add to that is: closed mouths don't get fed. So you have to understand what you want out of your career and plan for it accordingly and ask for what you want.

#9 - Nobody is perfect | Lisa Tan, CMO at Reverie 

You should not try to be a people pleaser. It's very easy early on in your career to want to say yes, to want to please your superiors, and to want to show up as perfect…but the reality is acknowledging when you don't understand something, or you don't know something, or you've truly messed up is going to benefit you much faster and for the long term versus trying to cover up or trying to pretend that you're perfect. 

Nobody is perfect, and we all learn and grow by making mistakes and acknowledging them. 

#10 - Life is an adventure | Jeannine D'Addario, CMO at Guitar Center

Give everything a try…consider it an adventure. 

---

The marketing career path is full of endless possibilities, and Setup can guide you throughout it. Regardless of the path you choose to take, know that there is no set path, that marketing is a vast industry, and that the background of many marketers is all over the place. 

Hear about the varying journeys marketing executives have taken in our CMO Spotlight series.

For more information on the marketing career path, check out these resources. 

COMING SOON: Guides to New Marketing Roles. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates!