Marketers Beyond The Ladder

Yulia Olennikova
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There’s more than one way to grow in marketing. Marketers Beyond the Ladder is a podcast about what career growth can look like when becoming a VP or CMO isn’t the only goal. I talk to experienced marketers who have built careers as senior ICs, founders, advisors, creators, specialists (or some combination of them) to understand how they made it work. We talk about the decisions behind unconventional career moves, what gets harder when you step away from the traditional management ladder, and the question career conversations too often avoid: how do you actually make money? Hosted by Yulia Olennikova, a B2B marketer with 15+ years of experience. Connect with Yulia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/italeffa/

Episodes

  1. Oct 14

    02 - Going Solo: From VP to $1M in 90 Days with Josh Grant (Stacked GTM)

    Josh Grant went from being the VP of Growth at Webflow to booking over $1 million in revenue in his first 90 days as a solo founder. Sounds like an overnight success story... right? Not quite. In this episode of Marketers Beyond the Ladder, I talked to Josh about what made that explosive start possible: growing a high-quality audience while working in-house, finding a niche, turning content into a client acquisition engine, and knowing when to pivot your business model. I also asked Josh about the things that worry me personally about going solo: - How to stay consistent when your day job already consumes all your energy - How to find your first clients - How to hold your pricing when self-doubt kicks in (and there's plenty of self-doubt.) Josh has rewritten his homepage about a dozen times since launching, admits that selling himself is uncomfortable, and says he still wakes up thinking his business is failing - despite his remarkable results. We also discussed whether we've normalized slow starts too much, why experienced in-house marketers have an advantage when building their own businesses, and how to know when you're ready to take the leap. Guest: Josh Grant, founder of Stacked GTM and former VP of Growth at Webflow. Connect with Josh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgrant5/ Connect with Yulia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/italeffa/

  2. Oct 7

    01 - Marketer Turned Founder: The Choices, Risk & Reality with Adam Holmgren, CEO of Fibbler

    Adam Holmgren, CEO of Fibbler, used to think leadership was the only realistic way to keep progressing and making more money. Instead, he became a founder. In the first episode of Marketers Beyond the Ladder, Adam and I talk about what that choice actually looks like beyond the usual founder success story: why management drained him, how he discovered that great operators can make great money, and why he built Fibbler alongside his full-time job for almost two years before finally going all in. We also get into the less glamorous parts: financial risk, burnout, work-life balance, the pressure of always feeling behind, and why Adam says becoming a founder is probably the wrong move if money is your only motivation. We talk about: • Why senior marketers often feel pushed toward management • Whether companies need to pay senior ICs more • Building a company without quitting your job first • What finally made Adam leave the security of employment • Founder income vs. a senior marketing salary • Why working more doesn't automatically get you product-market fit • Building a company as an introvert who hates pitching • Why experience might be an underrated advantage for aspiring founders And, because this is the first-ever episode of Marketers Beyond the Ladder, we start with a big question: what if becoming a VP or CMO isn't the only way forward? Follow Adam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-holmgren/ Follow Yulia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/italeffa/

  • 2 Episodes

About

There’s more than one way to grow in marketing. Marketers Beyond the Ladder is a podcast about what career growth can look like when becoming a VP or CMO isn’t the only goal. I talk to experienced marketers who have built careers as senior ICs, founders, advisors, creators, specialists (or some combination of them) to understand how they made it work. We talk about the decisions behind unconventional career moves, what gets harder when you step away from the traditional management ladder, and the question career conversations too often avoid: how do you actually make money? Hosted by Yulia Olennikova, a B2B marketer with 15+ years of experience. Connect with Yulia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/italeffa/

Information

  • Creator
    Yulia Olennikova
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Yulia Olennikova
  • Show Website
    Marketers Beyond The Ladder