Growth Activated | The B2B CMO and Marketing Leadership Podcast

Mandy Hornaday
  • 5.0 (11)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

Growth Activated is a podcast for senior B2B marketing leaders, in-house and fractional, who are done going thing to thing on instinct and want to run marketing like a business. Host Mandy Hornaday breaks down the systems behind a marketing function that scales without you at the center of everything, the real decisions and real numbers behind how it runs. Proof over motivation, so you grow your revenue without losing your freedom.

  1. Sep 15

    How I’d Rebuild My $40K/Month Fractional CMO Practice

    #54 - Over the last few weeks, a lot of people in my network have been laid off. And almost every one of them has told me the same thing: "I'm open to fractional or full-time."I wince a little every time. Building a fractional practice that lasts takes commitment and focus, and if you back into it as the safety net, it tends to be a hard road.I've been fractional for about two and a half years, and I fell into it. My first year I said yes to everything, because I couldn't imagine turning down revenue. Eight clients. Forty billable hours a week. And I was more drained than I'd ever been working full-time. I had built myself a second job, and I came close to going back in-house.Then I made four changes. A year and a half later I had the practice I actually wanted: no Fridays, one or two marquee clients on retainer, project work I choose, and a practice that scaled past $40,000 a month in recurring revenue.In this episode I walk through the four moves I'd make if I had to rebuild it from scratch tomorrow: Set the vision for how you want the work to feel, then do the financial modeling behind itPick one market and go deep, because deep expertise is what lets you charge moreTurn your expertise into repeatable systems, with AI as the engineDiversify where the work comes from, before you need itPlus the rule of thumb I use for setting rates, why I don't work Fridays, and the $50,000 chalk mark story.If you're thinking about going fractional, or you're a year in and it isn't going how you pictured, this one's for you. Come find me on LinkedIn if you want to talk through your version. Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

  2. Sep 8

    What Your Team Needs Before More AI: The Marketing Brain

    #53 - For most of this year I got better output out of AI than my team did. Same tools, same access. It turned out the gap had nothing to do with how good anyone was at using them. Every time I open AI I bring the whole business with me without thinking about it. The strategy, the buyers, the deal mechanics, the politics. Nobody else has that, so they start from nothing every time. So I started building what I call a marketing brain, one documented source of truth per client that everyone on the team and every AI partner works from. I have built four of them now. In this episode I walk through what goes in one, where I start, and what happened after. What we get into: What a marketing brain is, and the 14 files in the strategic core I build firstThe one file in there written for the AI rather than for people, and why onboarding and RFPs can run off it tooWhere it lives, and the desktop setup that takes a team from single player to multiplayerWhy skills, agents and scheduled tasks keep underdelivering, and the layer underneath them most people skipSaying yes to a pre-revenue startup in an industry I knew nothing about, and the founder reaction I did not see comingThe rebrand I would have turned down six months ago, running now with a writer, a designer and a developer at half what an agency would costTearing up a campaign playbook for a 15 person team, the channel a division leader told us to skip, and the multimillion dollar opportunity that came out of itWhat I got wrong, starting with the stale brain that did more damage than having nothing at all And if you are fractional taking on new clients, or in house a few years into a role trying to get a whole team pulling the same direction, this is where I would start. Mentioned in this episode:  Episode 51, I Spent $9,000 on an AI Course. Here's What Happened. Episode 52, A CMO's AI Partner: How I Unblocked My Team and Got 10 Hours a Week Back.This is one piece of the CMO Operating System I'm building. A founding cohort of senior B2B marketing leaders, in-house and fractional, comes together this fall to build the full system together. Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

  3. Aug 18

    A CMO's AI Partner: How I Unblocked My Team and Got 10 Hours a Week Back

    #52 - I spent about 20 hours building an AI partner for one of my marketing teams, and it gave me back five to 10 hours a week and got my team moving work forward without waiting on me. The team is roughly 15 people at a $500 million company, and work kept stalling on everyday questions. Who owns this. Who has to approve it. Is this even ours to do. We had RACI charts. We had SOPs. We had process flows. None of it stopped the questions, and I was the one answering them. So I went under the hood and built what I call a Momentum Maker AI partner. In this episode I walk through the whole thing. What we get into: Why all the documentation in the world doesn't fix it, and the macro gap I found underneath oursThe three friction points that were stalling work, from blurry scope to overlapping skill sets to approvalsWhat went into the build, and how it snowballed from job descriptions into business strategyThe two iterations it took, and why my first instinct was wrongWhat happened when I demoed it live and the answers came back wrongHow AI became the referee between two teams who'd been operating in the gray for monthsRollout, including what to do when people tell you they don't need itWhat the documentation unlocks beyond the partner, from capacity planning to hiring to career conversationsAnd if you're fractional, solo, or running a small team, I get specific about your version of this early in the episode. This is not a big team problem. Mentioned in this episode: Episode 51, I Spent $9,000 on an AI Course. Here's What Happened. This is one piece of the CMO Operating System I'm building. A founding cohort of senior B2B marketing leaders, in-house and fractional, comes together this fall to build the full system together.  Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

  4. Aug 11

    I Spent $9,000 on an AI Course. Here's What Happened.

    #51 - This spring I spent $9,000 of my own money on a twelve week AI course, and the most valuable thing I walked out with won't cost you a dollar. I'm going solo to share what actually changed across three months of building with AI as a fractional CMO. Why I was heading toward burnout in the first place, what the class paid back and how fast, the AI partner I built that gives me back five to ten hours a week, and the part that surprised me most: the hardest work had nothing to do with AI. It was making decisions, and then getting them out of my head and documented so my team could move without me. If you use AI every day and still have the nagging feeling you're not doing enough with it, this one is for you. In this episode: How consuming everything about AI and activating almost none of it created real overwhelmWhat made a $9,000 investment in myself worth it, and how I knew within three weeksNegotiating a 30% rate increase, and signing two new clients at 70% above my old rateWhy I'm moving away from hourly pricing, and how to think about which IP is yours to carry from company to companyBuilding Scout, my Momentum Maker AI partner, for a 15 person marketing teamWhy decision fatigue, not technical difficulty, is the real bottleneck in AI adoptionThe free thing you can do this week to start pulling yourself out of the day to dayThe tools that changed how I work: Wispr Flow, Granola, connectors, and HTML artifactsWhat I still haven't figured out, including a living marketing brain and going multiplayer with AI instead of single player Mentioned in this episode: Automate to Accelerate by Callan Faulkner, The Uncommon BusinessMy AI hackathon episode from Snowdonia, WalesMy conversation with Liza Adams Next week I'm breaking down exactly how I built Scout, in case you want to build your own. I'm building a room for CMOs who are ambitious, who care about their growth, and who want to be AI fluent in a way that matters at our level. The waitlist is open at https://www.growthactivated.com/cmo-operating-system. Come tell me what you're working on over on LinkedIn. I'm rooting for you. Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

  5. Jun 2

    Work Is Not Finite: Staying Irreplaceable as AI Raises the Bar with Heidi Darling

    #50 - AI promised marketing leaders more time. So why do so many of us feel busier — and more stretched — than ever? That’s the honest question at the center of this conversation. Two experienced CMOs sit down, peer to peer, to make sense of what marketing leadership really looks like in the AI era — past the hype, the hot takes, and the tidy frameworks. It’s less playbook, more candid conversation about staying irreplaceable, leading teams, and protecting your edge when the ground keeps shifting underneath you. Heidi Darling has spent her career in marketing — from luxury hospitality, to founding and funding her own startup, to scaling B2B and consumer tech companies, including one that went public on the Nasdaq. A genuinely AI-forward operator, she recently moved from fractional CMO work to go all-in at Savo, a platform built on the belief that human intelligence should sit above AI, not beneath it. In this conversation, Heidi and Mandy get into: Why “work is not finite” — and how AI raises the bar instead of handing you time backThe “sameness problem”: why feeding identical inputs to the same models flattens B2B strategy, and why human intelligence is the real moatWhat to expect from your team (and yourself) when sustainable performance beats burnout-fueled outputOrchestration and agentic teams — and whether to hire a human or build an AI team firstThe traits, like curiosity and grit, that outlast domain expertise in the AI eraChapters Heidi’s Move Back In-HouseWhy Work Is Not FiniteRaising the Bar Without BurnoutOrchestration and Agentic TeamsTraits That Outlast Expertise Links & resources Linkedin: Connect with Heidi DarlingWebsite: Learn more about Savo.aiIf this one resonated, follow Growth Activated so the next conversation finds you — and if you have a moment, leave a quick review to help more marketing leaders discover the show. Growth Activated is produced by Mandy Hornaday. Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

    Work Is Not Finite: Staying Irreplaceable as AI Raises the Bar with Heidi Darling

  6. May 5

    The 4 Mindset Shifts CMOs Need for AI Transformation - with Liza Adams

    In this conversation, Mandy sits down with Liza Adams — former CMO, Human+AI org advisor, and one of the clearest voices on AI transformation in marketing — to unpack the four mindset shifts every marketing leader needs before AI can actually move the business. They go deep on what real AI transformation looks like inside a marketing org: how to scale beyond Q&A into orchestrated workflows, how to navigate AI sprawl, and how to lead change inside a quarterly pressure cooker without losing your people in the process. Liza Adams is the founder of GrowthPath Partners and a recognized leader in AI transformation for go-to-market teams — named one of the 50 CMOs to Watch and a Pavilion Fractional/Advisor of the Year Finalist. Her engineering background plus multi-decade GTM expertise gives her a uniquely pragmatic lens on AI adoption. Her bi-weekly newsletter is required reading for marketing leaders operationalizing AI inside their organizations. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why "people-first, AI-forward" is the principle that should anchor every AI decisionThe four mindset shifts CMOs need to unlock real AI transformationWhy "doing more with less" is the floor of AI value, not the ceilingHow to move from democratized building to orchestrated AI workflows (and avoid AI sprawl)A simple framework for thinking about AI risk so governance protects — rather than blocks — your teamThe "law of thirds" Liza uses to lead AI transformation without burning out trying to bring everyone alongRESOURCES: Connect with Liza Adams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizaadamsGrowthPath Partners (Liza’s newsletter & advisory): https://www.growthpath.netReferenced episode: AI Agents and the Future of Marketing Teams — My Weekend Hackathon Wake-Up Call (E39)If this episode resonated, follow Growth Activated wherever you listen and leave a quick review — it’s the best way to help more marketing leaders find the show. Growth Activated is produced by Mandy Hornaday. Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

  7. Apr 28

    Stop Running ABM Like It's Demand Gen: How to Build the Real Motion with Brandon Redlinger

    #48 - Most ABM programs don't fail because of tactics. They fail before a single campaign runs — because the accounts were wrong, the structure wasn't there, and nobody agreed on what success actually looked like. Brandon Redlinger has spent his career inside account-based marketing — from building ABM strategy at Engagio and Demandbase to running it across a portfolio of companies today as founder of Stack and Scale. In this conversation, he cuts through the noise on what ABM actually is, when it's the right strategy for your business, and the framework he uses to bring real structure and accountability to how resources get deployed against target accounts. If you're thinking about launching an ABM program or trying to understand why your current one isn't producing, this episode gets into the details most conversations skip. About Brandon Redlinger: Brandon Redlinger is a fractional CMO and the founder of Stack and Scale, where he leads marketing strategy across companies ranging from seed stage to $200M in revenue. He spent years inside some of the most influential ABM platforms in B2B — including Engagio, Demandbase, Chili Piper, and revenue.io — and now applies that experience across a wide range of go-to-market environments. In this episode, we cover: What ABM actually is — and how to tell it apart from just doing demand gen more carefullyThe ACV and TAM thresholds that signal ABM is the right motion for your businessThe account entitlements framework: how to deploy resources against target accounts with real SLAs and accountabilityHow to run a thoughtful ABM pilot — and the mistakes that sink most early programs before they get startedABM for expansion: why going deeper into existing accounts is often the highest-leverage starting pointWhat's actually working in ABM right now — events, direct mail, experiences — and what isn'tThe GTM engineer role and how it's changing what's possible in ABM executionStage-based attribution and how to prove ABM is working before the deal closesBrandon's emerging model for account-level sentiment analysis using AI — and why it may be where ABM measurement is headingWhy sales and marketing alignment still breaks ABM programs — and how incentive structure is almost always the root causeChapter Markers: (00:00) Welcome and Guest Background(04:13) Defining ABM and When It's Right(10:22) The Account Entitlements Framework(21:15) ABM Pilots, Expansion, and What Works(33:38) Measuring ABM and AI-Powered SignalsResources: Brandon Redlinger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonredlinger/ Stack and Scale newsletter: https://stackandscale.ai If this episode was useful, follow Growth Activated on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a review — it's the fastest way to help other marketing leaders find the show. Growth Activated is produced by Mandy Hornaday. Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

  8. Apr 21

    YouTube for B2B: From Zero to Results in 90 Days with Samu Kovacs

    #47 - Most B2B marketing leaders know YouTube is the second-largest search engine on the planet. Almost none are actually using it well — and that gap is still wide open. Samu Kovacs, founder of KS Media, has built a YouTube-first agency that works with over 40 B2B clients — including Adam Robinson of RB2B — to turn YouTube into one of their top pipeline channels. In this conversation, he breaks down why B2B YouTube strategy is one of the most underleveraged opportunities in marketing right now, what's keeping most companies from cracking it, and what a real YouTube-first approach actually looks like in practice. If you've been circling YouTube but haven't been able to justify the investment, this is the episode that gives you a clear-eyed picture of what it takes. About Samu Kovacs: Samu Kovacs is the founder of KS Media (ks-media.co), a YouTube-first agency helping B2B companies build high-performing channels that generate measurable pipeline. His clients include some of the most recognized names in B2B SaaS, including Adam Robinson of RB2B. In this episode, we cover: Why 90% of B2B companies still haven't cracked YouTube — and why that gap is the opportunityWhat has to be true before YouTube is worth the investment (ICP, product-market fit, and beyond)The realistic timeline to results: the 90-day, 4–6 month, and 6–12 month milestonesYouTube-first content strategy vs. repurposing what already exists — and why the distinction mattersFounder-led channels vs. company-branded channels: how to decide what's right for your businessLong-form vs. Shorts: where B2B YouTube ROI actually comes fromHow YouTube is beginning to show up in LLM citations — and what that means for your B2B YouTube strategyChapter Markers: (00:00) Welcome and Episode Overview(04:25) The B2B YouTube Opportunity(12:25) Timeline to Results(20:53) YouTube Content Strategy(32:44) Case Studies and TakeawaysResources: Samu Kovacs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samu-kovacs/ KS Media: https://ks-media.co If this episode was useful, follow Growth Activated on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a review — it's the fastest way to help other marketing leaders find the show. Growth Activated is produced by Mandy Hornaday. Thanks for hanging out with us today! Come build with us: The CMO Operating System is a six-week live cohort where you build one connected foundation for how your function plans, decides, and reports, with AI partners running on top of it. The system is yours, and it goes with you wherever you go next. The founding cohort is small and first by design. Enrollment closes September 30 and we start October 12.  👉 Join the CMO OS waitlist  Come say hi on LinkedIn: Mandy Hornaday Visit us: growthactivated.com Keep activating growth for yourself and your company. 💪

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About

Growth Activated is a podcast for senior B2B marketing leaders, in-house and fractional, who are done going thing to thing on instinct and want to run marketing like a business. Host Mandy Hornaday breaks down the systems behind a marketing function that scales without you at the center of everything, the real decisions and real numbers behind how it runs. Proof over motivation, so you grow your revenue without losing your freedom.

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