NEWSLETTER MONETIZATION & SUBSTACK GROWTH COACHING
I help entrepreneurs transform their expertise into profitable newsletters and Substack publications. With proven email marketing strategies for lead generation and monetization, audience building, and subscriber conversion, I've guided clients to multiple 6-figure launches through newsletter-first business models.

EMAIL AUTOMATION & EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY
Specializing in designing automated nurture, onboarding, and sales sequences with seamless newsletter and CRM integration. My comprehensive approach covers list growth strategies, campaign design, audience segmentation, and performance analytics to maximize email marketing ROI.

PLANPROPHET CRM TRAINING & IMPLEMENTATION 
Comprehensive PlanProphet CRM adoption services. Currently accepting discovery calls and pilot clients for foundational setup and support. 

BUSINESS PROCESS & AUTOMATION CONSULTING
Specializing in workflows, digital systems, and advanced email automation that scale your business. I eliminate manual processes and create systematic approaches that save 20+ hours weekly while improving conversion rates by up to 35%.

Why Work With Me: 
→ Email Marketing & Newsletter expertise spanning nearly two decades
→ Advanced email automation and CRM integration specialist
→ PlanProphet as a new but rapidly growing consulting specialization
→ Proven track record with 4,300+ newsletter subscribers

Ready to Scale Your Business?
Accepting discovery calls for Email Automation, Email Marketing Strategy, Newsletter Monetization, and PlanProphet CRM services. 

DM me to discuss how we can streamline your operations while maximizing your email marketing potential.

CARRIE LORANGER

I stopped posting on LinkedIn for 7 years.

Not because I was “too busy.”

Because I was afraid my coworkers would see the real me - what I was thinking, planning, or doing ouside the office.

I was a Marketing Director.
Single mom.
On a “Safe” corporate path.

And I worried:

- My boss would think I was looking for a new job
- My team would judge my content
- People would roll their eyes at my coaching and newsletter work

So I stayed quiet.

I built skills.
I built systems.
I even built income streams.

But I did it silently in the dark.

No posts.
No voice.
No real visibility.

Then one day, I realized that staying silent was costing me more than being seen.

I was coaching creators on showing up online…
while hiding my own story.

So I started small.

→ I shared one post about leaving corporate without burning bridges.
→ I talked about how I built my newsletter and my first $1,000 month.
→ I opened up about deleting 967 subscribers and why it grew my business.

I expected judgment from coworkers.

Here’s what I got instead:

- DMs from colleagues asking how to start a side business
- Old coworkers asking for help with email automation and systems
- Clients who said, “I’ve been reading your posts for months. I’m ready to work with you.”

The fear was so loud it had paralyzed me for 7 years.
But the backlash never came.

Every time I posted:

→ My network got clearer on what I do.
→ My opportunities increased.
→ My income streams became more stable.

Not because I went viral.
Because I stopped hiding.

You might be where I was:

- Sitting in a corporate role with bigger dreams
- Afraid your coworkers will talk
- Afraid your manager will notice
- Afraid to share what you really want to build

Here is what I tell my clients now:

- You don’t need to post everything.
- You do need to post something.
- You can share your expertise without attacking your employer.
- You can build options without burning bridges.

For 7 years, I let fear of scrutiny keep me quiet.

Now my content is the reason I can:

→ Run a newsletter-first business
→ Coach founders and creators
→ Consult on CRM, email automation, building a business with multiple income streams, and Substack growth

All while creating more safety for myself and my family than any single paycheck ever gave me.

If you’ve been hiding on LinkedIn because of your coworkers, this is your sign:

Start with one honest post.
One simple story.
One clear offer to help.

You don’t need permission to build a life that fits you.

You just need to stop letting other people’s opinions run your career.

Join 5,700+ readers of 9-To-Thrive if you want weekly, real-world guidance on building multiple income streams and a newsletter-first business while you work:
https://lnkd.in/gXMzXweK

CRM Training & Implementation | Hubspot, Salesforce, PlanProphet | Business Process & Automation | Newsletter Monetization & Substack Growth Expert

No alternative text description for this image

I deleted 967 subscribers on purpose.

It felt scary as hell.

My brain was spiraling: “You worked so hard for these," and "What will my sponsors think?"

But here's the thing.

A dead list hurts your business.

I used to wait a year, then do one huge, painful cut.

Now I do a small one each month.

Here is how I choose who leaves:

→ No opens in 180 days
→ Repeated bounces
→ Spam complaints or clear “not interested”

Before anyone goes, I run a short win‑back campaign:

Email 1: “Still want these emails?”
Email 2: best posts, clear link to stay
Email 3: “Last call”, easy unsubscribe

No click. No reply. They go.

The first time, my stomach hurt.
Now it feels like cleaning my closet.

Result:

Higher opens.
Stronger deliverability.
More clicks and paid subs from a smaller list.

You do not need a big list.

You need a clean one that wants to hear from you.

What is your current list clean‑up routine?

Three years ago I walked away from a safe corporate paycheck.

Now my portfolio of paychecks has passed six figures.

I didn't work more hours.

I built systems.

Year one, I focused on consulting.

Retainer clients paid for deep work on CRM, email strategy, and automation.

When those systems were developed and running on smoothly, I added coaching.

1:1 calls helped creators grow newsletters & launch Substack.

Next came digital products.

Playbooks, templates, and swipe files delivered my process without my time.

Afterward, I launched a small membership.

Group support, live sessions, more access to me.

The last piece was full newsletter monetization.

Paid tiers, sponsors, and services linked to my list created a real portfolio of paychecks.

One income stream at a time.

Each with a clear offer, simple delivery, and strong automation.

Three years later, my income feels more stable than a single salary.

Join 5,700+ readers of 9-To-Thrive to see how I build these streams step by step: https://lnkd.in/gXMzXweK

Let me know your thoughts on building a portfolio of paychecks.

Krista Mollion

Last Business Coach You'll Ever Need I 100% Activator + Rebel 💥 Blow Up Your Solopreneur Business By Joining Profitable Solopreneur/MBA/Accelerator 🚀 Free Masterclass: Path To 10k+ Months 🎯 Content AI Workshop 5/10🧠

Congrats! You built a great product or service.

You've done all the right things, including hiring marketing and sales experts. 

So why aren't the numbers adding up?

When your revenue isn't steadily growing, it is normal to blame a bad hire, coach, or agency. 

But that's not it.

And it's not your fault either.

The true issue?

Your GTM foundations aren’t built for your next stage of growth.

When GTM is broken, you don’t just waste money —you lose decision speed, momentum, and compounding progress.

That cost is invisible on a P&L, but brutal over 12–18 months.

So you hire someone new, hoping, and ... they fail again.

See the problem? It's the system, not the hires.

That’s where I come in.

I convert marketing investment into forecastable revenue by fixing the GTM systems behind it.

What I Do

I operate as a Fractional CMO with executive ownership of growth.

I don’t replace founder judgment.
I translate it into a disciplined, board-ready revenue system teams can execute and finance can trust.

I design and lead go-to-market systems that align:
	•	strategy
	•	demand
	•	sales
	•	unit economics

So growth compounds capital-efficiently — not through brute force.

My work sits at the intersection of GTM, finance, and leadership.
Silicon Valley–fluent. Operator-minded.
Low theater. High standards. Real accountability.

How I Work

I partner with founders, CEOs, and CFOs to align growth targets, unit economics, risk tolerance, and capital constraints before execution begins.

I don’t advise from the sidelines.
I take responsibility for execution by leading the system until it is operating, measurable, and ready to scale — whether that means directing internal teams, coordinating external partners, or sequencing work myself when needed.

I’m engaged as an external executive partner — not an employee — with clear scope, authority, and accountability.

I work across three engagement types:
	•	GTM Strategy (strategy-only)
	•	GTM Advisory (quarterly or ongoing)
	•	Fractional CMO (operator role)

In Fractional CMO engagements, I stay through the system build until growth is stable and a full-time CMO can inherit clarity, clean economics, and momentum — not a reset.

Execution follows the system.
Accountability stays with me.

Fit

I work best with founders who value ownership over activity, discipline over speed, alignment over consensus, and want long-term sustainable systems, not short-term fixes. 

If you’re looking for quick results or someone to “just run marketing,” I'm not it. But if you want someone to build a growth engine, let's talk.

Fractional CMO + Chief Creative Disruptor for SaaS Brands

Attention is currency and it is our mission to get you more of it. 

We design creative, AI-driven, digital and influencer marketing campaigns For micro brands with macro goals

Privately, I love the slow life.

All-day ski runs.
Long hikes.
Driving the California coast with nowhere to be.
Sailing. Boats.
Long dinners that stretch past midnight.
A good bottle of Château Margaux.
Long, lazy summers.

Very different from Silicon Valley work culture.

Everything moves fast.
Everyone is in a hurry.
Time is the enemy.

Launch faster.
Hire faster.
Raise faster.
Prove results.
Close deals.
Grow.
Hit deadlines.

Missed? You're gone.

For a long time, my weekday and weekend worlds felt completely incompatible.

And I burned out and took a break.

During my time away. I realized a couple of things:

Speed doesn’t have to mean sloppiness.
And slow doesn’t have to mean inefficiency.

What actually reconciles the two is precision.

The “slow lover” in me doesn’t hate speed — she hates chaos.
She hates half-done work.
She hates hacks, shortcuts, cheap fixes, and fragile systems.

So I stopped trying to hack my way to success via chaos.

Instead, I focused on building things that are:
• clean
• intentional
• well engineered
• designed to scale

In my work, that looks like:

• crystal-clear KPIs
• thoughtful GTM architecture
• systems designed to scale without breaking
• foundations strong enough to run fast on

That’s my beautiful way of blending speed with efficiency.

Move fast — but on purpose.
Build quickly — but with elegance.
Scale — without sacrificing quality.

And rest. We need to pause in business too and reflect. Getting away from the problem will open up the new angles like nothing else.
And when you return, you will see things with fresh eyes.

Whether you move fast or slow, excellence is always an option.

You don't have to accept chaos as the only path.

Build a revenue engine that endures
Then relax and watch it build momentum.

For me, excellence is the goal.
But I combine it with alot of hands-off time.
And it works for me while I am away.

Life is too short to settle for anything less than getting the best of both fast and slow worlds.

Founder, Unignorable Brands | Founder-Operator Fractional CMO & GTM Leader for $3–20M B2B Companies | Global Expansions | Numbers ​> Narratives

Most founders don’t hate marketing.
They hate paying for confusion.

When marketing “doesn’t deliver ROI,” what usually breaks isn’t execution — it’s expectations.

Marketing gets treated as promotion.
Promotion gets treated as growth.
And when the numbers don’t line up, pressure moves downstream to sales, pricing, and attribution.

That’s how marketing starts to feel expensive, vague, and hard to trust.

In this week’s newsletter, I unpack why marketing so often fails to deliver ROI — not because teams aren’t working hard, but because marketing is misunderstood as an activity instead of a system.

The short version:

Marketing isn’t ads.
It isn’t content.
It isn’t campaigns.

It’s the system that aligns what you sell, who it’s for, how it’s priced, and where buyers encounter it — so sales doesn’t have to create clarity from scratch every time.

When that system is missing, promotion is asked to compensate.
And that’s where ROI quietly breaks.

I published this as part of a new series on why marketing is so often misunderstood by founders — especially in the $3–20M ARR range, where growth starts to feel heavier than it should.

Read the full article here → 

Curious how this shows up in your business:
Where are you relying on activity to compensate for missing clarity upstream?

Founder, Unignorable Brands | Fractional CMO (GTM & Revenue Systems) | Fixing Growth Bottlenecks for $3–20M B2B Companies

A founder-level look at the 4 Ps — and why promotion alone was never designed to drive growth. Most CEOs don’t dislike marketing. They dislike wasted 

Open article: Why Marketing Doesn’t Deliver ROI (And What CEOs Miss) by Krista Mollion • 5 min read

Why Marketing Doesn’t Deliver ROI (And What CEOs Miss)

A quick clarification on the CMO role (especially for first-time founders and growing companies).

A Chief Marketing Officer is an executive leadership role, not a delivery function.

At the CMO level, the mandate is to own:
• Go-to-market strategy
• Positioning and market narrative
• Demand architecture and pipeline quality
• Revenue alignment with Sales and Finance
• Budget allocation and priority sequencing
• Cross-functional alignment across Product, Sales, and Finance

For this reason, a CMO reports to the CEO.

Not as a matter of hierarchy — but because marketing decisions directly affect revenue quality, capital efficiency, and long-term valuation.

What the CMO role is not designed for:
• Campaign execution
• Content production
• Tactical channel management

Those functions require dedicated operators, and the CMO requires hiring/performance authority and budget ownership over them to be effective.

When marketing leadership is placed under operations or staff functions, it often becomes activity-driven rather than outcome-driven. Over time, this shows up as inconsistent demand, misaligned incentives, and slower compounding.

This isn’t about titles.
It’s about governance.

Growth scales best when marketing has clear executive ownership and accountability.

💎 Fractional CMO for $3–20M B2B Founders | Executive GTM leadership to build compounding growth systems | Single-owner accountability across GTM, spend & outcomes | Silicon Valley–fluent, operator at heart | 3x founder

Over the years, I’ve learned that how you lead matters just as much as what you do.

So I wrote down my operating beliefs — the principles that guide how I think, decide, and build with founders and leadership teams.

This isn’t theory.
It’s how I actually operate.

If you’re curious whether we’d ever work well together, this will give you a very clear answer.

Read the full piece here →

How I think, decide, and build as a Fractional CMO and GTM Execution Partner I believe who you are and how you lead matters just as much as what you d

Open article: My Operating Beliefs as a Leader by Krista Mollion • 9 min read

If you missed your 2025 targets, please don't: 

– Blame your team 
– Hire a bunch of new people or a new agency “to fix it”
– Add tools you don’t fully use
– Chase new tactics after watching one convincing video
– Wait and hope things improve
– Invest in AI before you understand where it fits

Blame and new hiring is easier than leadership accountability.

Growth doesn’t come from quick reactions, avoided decisions, blame, or throwing money at random solutions.

It doesn’t stall because founders lack ambition or intelligence.
It stalls when random action is mistaken for strategy.

Real growth comes from building a revenue engine, choosing the right levers, and sticking with them long enough to compound — and yes, that usually takes longer than you’d like or hope, but that’s simply how it works.

Before you plan forward, look backward.

Start with this quick growth audit for 2025:

𝟭. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲.
Where did revenue actually come from this year?
Which channels looked busy but didn’t convert?
What worked once — but never compounded?

𝟮. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.
Could your ideal customer clearly explain what you do —
or are you still “kind of everything”?

𝟯. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀.
Who reached out first this year — and why?
Which conversations turned into deals fastest?
What objections keep repeating?

𝟰. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗴.
What decisions took too long?
What initiatives stalled momentum?
Where is leadership still involved in things that shouldn’t require it?

This checklist is the starting point of your success for 2026.

If you want the full picture, my Growth Engine Diagnostic shows you exactly where leverage is hiding — and what to fix first so 2026 compounds instead of plateaus.

What’s your growth top priority in Q1 2026?

💎 Fractional CMO for $3–20M B2B Founders | Executive GTM leadership to build compounding growth systems | Single-owner accountability across budgets, runways & board narratives | Silicon Valley–fluent, operator at heart

As we enter a new week — and especially still in January— I’ve been sitting with a quiet but radical thought.



What if this year, we focused on prioritizing the right P in business?

Not profits.
People.

We all say people matter. It’s almost a given.
But if we’re honest, most systems, incentives, and decisions are still built around profit first.

This is normal. No profits, no business.
And yet… profits don’t exist without people.

The work is done by people.
The bills are paid by people.
Funding comes from people.
Trust is built (or broken) between people.

Somewhere along the way, many of us started viewing people through a transactional lens:
	•	What they owe us
	•	What they didn’t deliver
	•	What they should have done better

Customers become “leads.”
Employees become “resources.”
Investors become “gatekeepers.”

We see people as a means to our own end, not as real. That subtle detachment changes everything. It creates tension, frustration, and burnout — often without us even realizing it.

But what if we flipped the lens?

What if we put people back at the center — not as obstacles between us and success, but as the very foundation of it?

Because when people are truly prioritized:

	•	Productivity becomes more natural
	•	Collaboration deepens
	•	Trust compounds
	•	And yes, profits will increase

So here’s my challenge for you:

What if 2026 is the year you truly put people first?

And how might that reframe the way you think about:
	•	Your customers
	•	Your employees
	•	Your partners
	•	Your investors

What’s better: more or less?
99% or 10%?

Most people default to more.
More reach. More likes. More followers. More emails. Spam, spam, spam!

I always pick less.

Because “more” is a big business—
and LinkedIn is full of people selling it.

If you want to go viral, create content 99% agree with:

• Eye-candy photos or videos
• Personal stories
• Feel-good quotes
• Light humor
• Colorful carousels
• Big announcements

Nothing wrong with it.
It’s built for mass appeal.

But if you sell high-ticket B2B services (not generic products), here’s the truth:

At any given time, only ~10% of your network will ever need, be ready for, or be able to buy.

That makes things easier.

If you want to get paid, your content only needs to resonate deeply with that 10%.
And when you do the math—that 10% is worth millions.

The other 90%?
Colleagues. Friends. Old conference connections.

Nothing wrong with them.
They’re just not your buyers.

So ask yourself:

Are you optimizing for reach—or for revenue?

P.S.
Ghostwriters, content managers, and social media experts:
chasing views without positioning may look good on dashboards,
but it doesn’t always serve your client’s business.

Clarity beats virality.
And conversions pay more than claps.

One of the most misunderstood ideas in marketing is lag time.

Not clicks.
Not channels.
Time.

Most B2B businesses have a 60–90 day gap between the first meaningful touch and closed-won revenue. And yet we keep asking monthly marketing spend to explain monthly results.

No wonder the conversations get tense.

Once you make lag time visible, a lot of friction disappears:
Marketing looks less mysterious.
Finance looks less impatient.
And decisions get calmer.

If you know how long it takes to bake the cake, stop opening the oven for a peep, only to confirm what you already know.

It’s a small shift in reporting, but a big shift in how growth gets discussed.

Food for thought as the week wraps up:
Does your exec team actually know how long revenue takes to materialize (and are your marketing goals and reporting set accordingly)?

Everyone’s obsessed with the LinkedIn algorithm.
And yes — algo candy works.

I usually do the opposite.

I post heavy content.
Real thinking.
High signal.
High cognitive load.

The kind that doesn’t get many likes —
but quietly lands in DMs weeks later.

Here’s the truth most people miss:

The algorithm doesn’t reward depth.
It rewards ease.

Fast to consume.
Low friction.
Familiar formats.

So if your thoughtful posts aren’t performing,
you’re not wrong — you’re just asking the algorithm to work harder than it wants to.

The tradeoff no one names:

Heavy posts = trust, authority, quiet DMs
Light posts = reach, visibility, growth

Different jobs.

The real question:
Are you trying to be popular —
or are you trying to sell?

Trying to do both at once
without intention
usually fails at both.

The algorithm isn’t your customer.

Join me tomorrow - Thursday, January 8th - where I'll be speaking about LinkedIn 2026 strategy aifh the incredible Tracy Bedwell . RSVP to join live in UK time or get the replay. https://lnkd.in/gRR5iunF

Both sides are acting in good faith.
Both sides are usually disappointed.

The CMO expects a system.
The CEO expects one person to do six jobs.

Alignment beats optimism. Every time.

Drama feels productive.
It isn’t.

Calm leadership is what actually scales.

You can have the right strategy.
Strong leaders.
The right tools.

I’ve watched capable teams stall, not from lack of talent,
but from leadership volatility.

When priorities keep shifting and decisions get reopened emotionally,
compounding quietly breaks.

Adding more features
Constantly switching strategies
Priorities change with politics
Hires come and go with layoffs and churn
This is the best way to create chaos.

What does scale is boring in the best way:
clarity, trust, high retention, clear priorities, and steady leadership.

Same team.
Same talent.
Very different outcomes.

This is usually where compounding quietly breaks.

Drama feels good in the moment
but it is an expensive mistake.
Setting up calm, consistent "boring" systems and then staying disciplined and focused with a "less is more" attitude is the profitable way.

------------------------
If you're new here, I'm Krista Mollion, Fractional CMO and founder of Unignorable Brands and I talk about why growth stops compounding as companies scale. 🚀 Follow along - I aim to address real problems after working with 250+ B2B companies.

Let’s talk about engagement pods.

For anyone new to the term:
It's a group that agrees to like, comment on, and repost each other’s content to trigger the algorithm. 

Pods have always existed on all social platforms but in the past these were all simple free groups.

Today, they are hiding inside paid communities.

Pods didn’t disappear. They evolved.

Same idea, new packaging:

• Paid communities (Kajabi, Circle, Skool, etc.)
• “Optional” engagement channels
• Support threads
• “Growth” cohorts or creator challenges

But the mechanics are identical.
Drop your post. Get flooded in the first hour.

If someone’s content consistently explodes in the first 60 minutes — and their account keeps getting restricted — that’s not organic reach. That’s coordinated engagement. Even if they lie about it.

Don't believe me? Go to your biggest, most popular creators and look if they either run or belong to a best-selling course-cohort-community. I bet you the answer will be 'yes'.

Almost every course or community I’ve joined in the past two years had an “optional” pod inside it.

I don't participate in them (check my posts and you will quickly see 😉) but many do...and lie about it. They call their behavior "support one another's posts". It's not; it's fake engagement and it hurts your credibility, destroys trust, and doesn't attract your dream clients. I highly recommend you don't do it.

When you see a post that have double digit reposts and thousands of likes, unless it is a public figure, it is either boosted (paid ad) or fake engagement.

They may brand themselves as a LinkedIn or Creator community or course, but know this: there’s usually a link-drop thread somewhere.

I hope this clarifies things — for those who already knew, and for those who now do.

Now you know what’s up.

Question:
Have you joined a course or community in the past 3 years and discovered an engagement pod behind the scenes?
And if you run a community — would you be comfortable if members shared screenshots here?👇

One screenshot below from a course I bought last year to learn a new skill. Note: I have canceled and will not continue.

The irony is when you see someone post their account was temporarily restricted and they "have no idea why", I know why. And now you know too.👇

From the outside, it probably looks like a lot is happening.

Your team is busy.
Meetings are full.
Campaigns are live.
Deals are moving.

But underneath that activity, something isn’t carrying forward.

Every quarter feels like a reset.
The same conversations keep coming back.
Progress exists — but it doesn’t stack.

That’s a frustrating place to be as a CEO.

Not because people aren’t trying.
But because effort keeps getting absorbed instead of converted into momentum.

When that happens, the issue usually isn’t execution.
It’s that something upstream isn’t clear enough for work to compound.

I wrote a deeper breakdown on how to spot where momentum is actually leaking — before you add more pressure, headcount, or tools.

Read it here →

A practical breakdown of the system behind predictable growth Most founders think they have a lead generation problem. What they usually have is a GTM

Open article: What Is Go-To-Market (GTM)? by Krista Mollion • 6 min read

This is why “good posts” keep getting buried on LinkedIn.

Most experts don’t lose on social because they lack insight.

They lose because they explain too early.

Algorithms don’t reward depth at the top of the funnel.

They reward:
• Simplicity
• Repeatability
• Predictable formats
• Low cognitive load

That’s why “basic” posts spread
while better thinking gets buried.

The mistake isn’t being smart.
It’s leading with complexity
before you’ve earned attention.

Simple surface × repeatable frame → distribution.
Depth below the fold → trust and conversion.

The winning move:
Hook first. Go deep later. 💎

Where do you naturally default?

📅Want more insights on how to win on social? On Thursday, January 8th, I'll be speaking about LinkedIn 2026 strategy aifh the incredible Tracy Bedwell. RSVP to join live in UK time or get the replay. https://lnkd.in/gRR5iunF

Now Hiring! 🎉

👉 Wanted: Supernatural CMO

Requirements include:
• Predict the future
• Make us viral
• Crush the competition
• Double revenue
• Save the day

Work location: The Upside Down
Reports to: The CEO (office nickname: Papa)
Mandate: Defeat Vecna. Save Will. Keep the board calm.

Warning: The previous 4 CMOs did not survive the mission. Résumé exaggeration will be exposed immediately.

Bonus points if you can do it with limited data, a moving ICP, and
“we’ll figure the strategy out later.”

Marketing experience preferred.
Telekinesis required. 🔮

Happy Friday.

Why CMOs age in dog years 🐕

You’re driving the car.
Everyone else is in the backseat.

“Go faster.”
“Slow down—what’s the ROI?”
“Why aren’t we there yet?”
“Take a left. No—my other left.”
“Have you tried just… more leads?”

One steering wheel.
Six opinions.
Same destination: predictable growth.

If you’ve ever wondered why marketing feels exhausting, it’s not the work.

It’s the navigation.

Happy Sunday to every CMO still holding the wheel. 🚗

P.S. Will AI be the equivalent in Marketing to the self-driving car?

You can do everything right —
and still be forced to downsize.

Several exceptional people at Agorapulse  are suddenly on the market — through no fault of their own.

This wasn’t a failure of talent.
This wasn’t a failure of effort.
This wasn’t leadership “cleaning house.”

Because economics happened.

They’re proven.
They’re resilient.
They’re exactly who you want when things get hard.

If you’re a founder, hiring manager, or recruiter — or hiring soon — please take 30 seconds to look:

👉 https://lnkd.in/gxjaACQs

I’m using my platform today for one reason only:
to spread the word and help good people land fast, fairly, and with dignity.

It could be you.
It could be me.

If you can help, comment, share, or reach out directly.

Let’s turn an unfair moment into a fast, human outcome.

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Fractional leadership isn’t a trend.
It’s a response to how executive work has changed.

After 20+ years in the game, priorities shift.
Time and judgment become more valuable than sitting in an office five days a week.

Post-COVID, many senior executives chose alternatives to full-time roles —
not out of laziness, but clarity.

Some join boards.
Some write.
Some go fractional.

What companies actually get:

A truly senior executive
(not theory — decades of pattern recognition)

Someone who operates like a full-time leader
with real scope and ownership —
without full-time overhead.

Is fractional right for everyone?
A loud no.

It works best for companies in the $3–20M ARR range,
especially remote-first or flexible teams.
(Stage matters.)

And on the executive side:
fractional only works with real seniority.
This is not a role for juniors.

A fractional executive is:
• Not a strategist
• Not an advisor
• Not a contractor
• Not full-time

Fractional ≠ temp.

When fractional is misunderstood, companies don’t just waste money —
they lose decision speed, momentum, and compounding progress.
That cost rarely shows up on a P&L,
but it becomes painfully obvious over 12–18 months.

Many of my fractional engagements last longer
than full-time CMO roles in tech
(which average ~18–24 months).

Real transformation takes at least 12 months.

Fractional can be long-term leadership for the right-sized company.
Some companies outgrow it.
Others choose sustained growth without the overhead.

Honest question:
Did you actually know what “fractional” meant before this post?

The highest-leverage leadership work often feels invisible —
until the results (or the stagnation) show up. And by then, alot of time and budget have already been wasted and missed opportunities.

Loud presence gets attention.
Quiet confidence earns trust.

The founders I respect most
aren’t trying to win the room.

They’re listening.
They’re watching patterns.
They’re deciding when to speak — not rushing to fill silence.

Attention is easy to get.
Trust is built slowly.

And the people who understand that
usually don’t need to announce it.


If this resonates, you’re probably not the loudest voice in the room.
That’s not a problem.
It’s often the advantage.

Who I Work With (and Who I Don’t)

I do my best work with calm, experienced B2B founders ($3–20M ARR).

They’re past the ego phase.
They respect marketing without micromanaging it.
They value clarity over urgency.
They run founder-led companies with low politics.
They are highly disciplined.

They want a senior operator—not a yes-man to follow commands without actual ownership—
to build a durable growth engine, not short-term spikes.

This profile isn’t arbitrary.
It’s non-negotiable.

Because it protects:
	•	energy
	•	reputation
	•	timelines
	•	sanity

And it aligns with the kind of work that actually compounds:
deep, foundational, long-horizon work.

Who I Don’t Work With

Anything outside that profile usually brings:
	•	constant urgency
	•	second-guessing
	•	blame when shortcuts fail
	•	decisions by committee

That environment doesn’t create better growth.
It just creates friction.

Alignment matters far more than simply filling a role, especially since my contracts are annual. Working together for a year means being careful to find the right fit.

Question: have you clearly defined who you work best with and who you don't?

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CARRIE LORANGER

Krista Mollion

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The Battle

CARRIE LORANGER

Krista Mollion

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}CARRIE LORANGER's LinkedIn Performance

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