CMO Journeys

Christian Banach
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Marketing

CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin featuring conversations with the marketing leaders behind today’s most recognizable brands, including Princess Cruises, White Castle, and Ruby Tuesday. Hosted by Christian Banach, Founder and Chief Growth Officer of NextBigWin, each episode explores the personal and professional journeys that brought today’s CMOs to the C-suite — from the pivotal career decisions and mentors that shaped them to the lessons learned along the way. The conversation then turns to the realities of leading modern marketing organizations, including the mandates CMOs are driving inside their companies and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners. Through candid discussions, CMO Journeys gives agency leaders, marketers, and industry professionals a behind-the-scenes look at how modern CMOs build teams, shape brands, drive growth, and partner with the organizations helping bring their strategies to life.

  1. 11h ago

    Susanna Song, CMO of Aeris: From Newsroom Storytelling to Marketing Leadership

    Susanna Song, CMO of Aeris, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how her background in journalism, communications, podcasting, and executive storytelling shaped her path into marketing leadership. Her perspective is especially valuable for marketers and agency leaders working in complex categories where education, trust, and clear messaging are essential. What the Conversation Covers • Susanna’s early leadership experiences and how her ambition to become a journalist eventually evolved into a marketing career. • What the newsroom taught her about deadlines, audience understanding, and knowing why a story matters before telling it. • How she applies those storytelling instincts to Aeris’ vertical go-to-market strategy across connected IoT use cases. • Why podcasting and thought leadership can help simplify technical categories and build brand equity without directly selling. • How Aeris is educating the market around cellular IoT security, channel enablement, and value-added solutions in a highly specialized category. Guest Bio Susanna Song is Chief Marketing Officer at Aeris, a company helping power large-scale connected IoT programs across industries including automotive, utilities, energy, logistics, healthcare, and manufacturing. She brings a background in journalism, corporate communications, podcasting, executive moderation, and go-to-market leadership. At Aeris, she focuses on market education, vertical messaging, partner enablement, and building thought leadership around cellular IoT. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

  2. Jul 24

    Sivan Koenig Galinsky, CMO of Barack Ferrazzano: From Legal Operations to Marketing Leadership

    Sivan Koenig Galinsky, Chief Marketing Officer at Barack Ferrazzano, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how legal marketing works inside a relationship-driven professional services firm. Her perspective is valuable because her career moved through legal recruitment, client relations, operations, business development, and marketing before she became the firm’s first CMO. What the Conversation Covers • Sivan’s early interest in law, her decision not to attend law school, and how she found a different path inside law firm management. • How her early work across recruitment, client relations, billing, collections, events, websites, pitches, and proposals gave her a 360-degree view of how law firms operate. • Why legal marketing requires understanding what motivates attorneys, how firms make money, and how client relationships are built over time. • How she earned trust as Barack Ferrazzano’s first CMO by repositioning marketing from an administrative function to a strategic business development partner. • Sivan’s perspective on AI, pitch and proposal volume, lawyer training, business development programs, and the future of law firm marketing operations. Guest Bio Sivan Koenig Galinsky is Chief Marketing Officer at Barack Ferrazzano, a Chicago-based general practice law firm advising businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, and financial institutions on complex legal matters. As the firm’s first CMO, she leads marketing, business development, positioning, proposal strategy, and attorney development initiatives. Her background includes legal recruitment, client relations, law firm operations, business development, and marketing leadership across firms of different sizes. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

  3. Jul 17

    Sandy Kaup, CMO of Southern Technical College: Why Revenue Alignment Starts With Marketing

    Sandy Kaup, Chief Marketing Officer at Southern Technical College, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how marketing, admissions, and revenue alignment work together in career-focused education. His perspective is valuable because he built his career from admissions into marketing leadership, giving him a practical view of the full student journey from lead generation to enrollment outcomes. What the Conversation Covers • Sandy’s early path from admissions into marketing, and how the need for better lead flow shaped his approach to growth. • Why he believes marketing and sales must work together around shared revenue goals, not separate departmental priorities. • How Southern Technical College measures performance through cost per lead, appointment, interview, enrollment, and start. • The impact of AI, search behavior, and changing media habits on education marketing and student recruitment. • How Sandy evaluates outside partners, including why specialization, transparency, proof of results, and industry understanding matter. Guest Bio Sandy Kaup is Chief Marketing Officer at Southern Technical College, a career-focused education institution serving students in fields such as healthcare, skilled trades, and other in-demand areas. His role has expanded across several sister colleges, giving him responsibility for marketing, admissions alignment, revenue growth, and process standardization across a broader portfolio. His background includes decades of experience in admissions, lead generation, performance tracking, and career college growth. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

  4. Jul 10

    Andrea Schwenk, CMO of Egglife Foods: Scaling a Challenger Brand With Focus and Discipline

    Andrea Schwenk, Chief Marketing Officer at Egglife Foods, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how she helped shape the brand from an early-stage challenger into a growing CPG platform. Her perspective is valuable for marketers and agency leaders because she brings experience across agencies, restaurants, spirits, retail, hospitality, and better-for-you food innovation. What the Conversation Covers • Andrea’s early interest in architecture, journalism, and advertising, and how those experiences shaped her balance of creativity and business discipline. • Her path from agency roles to brand-side leadership, including what agency experience taught her about building stronger client-agency partnerships. • How Egglife built its brand around one core product line before expanding into pasta, grab-and-go breakfast products, and new retail channels. • Why focus, discipline, and prioritization are essential as a challenger brand balances awareness, innovation, retail velocity, and budget constraints. • Andrea’s approach to agency partnerships, including how specialized partners, clear roles, transparency, and curiosity help support a fast-evolving business. Guest Bio Andrea Schwenk is Chief Marketing Officer at Egglife Foods, a protein-forward food company reimagining flour-based staples with eggs as the foundation. She first joined the company as VP of Marketing and has helped guide its evolution from a focused wrap brand into a broader food platform. Her background includes agency work, restaurant marketing, spirits, hospitality, CPG, and challenger brand growth. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

  5. Jul 3

    Dan Eisenberg, CMO of Blue Chip: Why Agency Growth Starts With Trust

    Dan Eisenberg, CMO and Partner at Blue Chip, joins CMO Journeys to discuss agency growth, client relationships, and the connection between brand building and business development. His perspective is especially valuable for agency leaders because he has spent his career helping agencies grow through trust, thought leadership, and stronger client partnerships. What the Conversation Covers • Dan’s early path from Los Angeles to Michigan and how studying history shaped his interest in human behavior, consumers, and brands. • How his account service background gave him a foundation in client leadership, integrated campaigns, retail operations, and business problem-solving. • Why agency marketing and business development need to work together instead of relying on referrals, reputation, or the CEO’s network alone. • How Blue Chip approaches growth through positioning, thought leadership, relationship mapping, events, PR, and a focused ideal client profile. • Why trust is the foundation of strong agency-client relationships, especially as agencies help clients connect marketing investment to business impact. Guest Bio Dan Eisenberg is CMO and Partner at Blue Chip, an independent brand commerce agency that helps brands connect long-term brand building with near-term sales performance. His career spans account service, experiential marketing, client leadership, agency growth, and business development. At Blue Chip, he leads marketing and growth strategy with a focus on positioning, thought leadership, new business, and building trusted relationships with clients and prospects. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

  6. Jun 26

    Karen Craven, CMO of the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer: Turning Programs Into Public Trust

    Karen Craven, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how public-sector marketing can build awareness, credibility, and trust. Her perspective is shaped by a career spanning journalism, government, public affairs, associations, education, and consumer-facing financial programs. What the Conversation Covers • Karen’s early career in journalism and how reporting shaped her approach to education, transparency, and public accountability. • The career pivots that moved her from journalism into government affairs, marketing, communications, and public-sector leadership. • How the Treasurer’s Office uses marketing to help residents understand programs tied to unclaimed property, college savings, retirement, disability savings, and community investment. • Why public programs require clear communication, ethical marketing, multilingual outreach, and trusted community channels. • How agencies can better understand government procurement, RFPs, partner selection, and the need to communicate complex programs clearly and responsibly. Guest Bio Karen Craven is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer. In her role, she helps lead marketing and communications for public-facing financial programs that serve Illinois residents, families, local governments, nonprofits, and communities. Her background includes journalism, public affairs, government, association leadership, marketing, and communications strategy. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

  7. Jun 22

    Michael Klozotsky, CMO of IMO Health: Weird Thinkers Build Stronger Marketing Teams

    In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Michael Klozotsky, Chief Marketing Officer of IMO Health, about how unconventional career paths can create stronger marketing leaders and better teams. Michael shares how his background across academia, bartending, and enterprise healthcare marketing shaped a leadership style grounded in curiosity, simplification, and a deep belief that different ways of thinking lead to better business outcomes. What the Conversation Covers • Michael’s unconventional path from teaching and academia into marketing leadership, and how that journey shaped the way he thinks about talent and leadership • Why simplifying complex healthcare and enterprise technology stories is one of the most important jobs marketing can do • How IMO Health is evolving beyond its legacy position and explaining its value across a broader healthcare and technology ecosystem • Why Michael believes the best marketing teams include “weird thinkers” who challenge assumptions and approach problems from unexpected angles • How he thinks about building teams, using agencies, and balancing human judgment with AI in a fast-changing marketing environment Guest Bio Michael Klozotsky is Chief Marketing Officer at IMO Health, where he leads marketing for a company focused on improving the quality and integrity of clinical data across the healthcare ecosystem. His career path has been anything but traditional, spanning academia, teaching, bartending, and leadership roles in complex healthcare and enterprise technology organizations, giving him a distinctive perspective on team building, storytelling, and strategic marketing. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

  8. Jun 19

    Dil Fernando, CMO of Freeosk: Connecting Shopper Experience, Data, and Brand Growth

    Dil Fernando, CMO of Freeosk, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how in-store product discovery is evolving into a more measurable retail media experience. Her perspective is valuable because she brings together experience in radio, music, entrepreneurship, CPG innovation, brand strategy, shopper engagement, and experiential retail media. What the Conversation Covers • Dil’s early career in radio and music, and how being on air taught her that attention is earned through timing, relevance, and storytelling. • What entrepreneurship taught her about resilience, scrappiness, and understanding business from multiple angles. • How her work in CPG innovation at MillerCoors shaped her view of experimentation, emerging technology, and scaling new ideas inside large companies. • How Freeosk is evolving from a sampling business into a broader experiential retail media platform connecting sampling, media, shopper engagement, and data. • Dil’s approach to agency partnerships, including why market understanding, strategic thinking, functional expertise, and useful insights matter. Guest Bio Dilini “Dil” Fernando is Chief Marketing Officer at Freeosk, a company helping brands and retailers create measurable in-store product discovery experiences. In her role, she leads brand, communications, positioning, partnership marketing, insights, and media analytics. Her background includes radio, music, entrepreneurship, business school, CPG brand management, innovation, and shopper marketing. About the Podcast CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

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About

CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin featuring conversations with the marketing leaders behind today’s most recognizable brands, including Princess Cruises, White Castle, and Ruby Tuesday. Hosted by Christian Banach, Founder and Chief Growth Officer of NextBigWin, each episode explores the personal and professional journeys that brought today’s CMOs to the C-suite — from the pivotal career decisions and mentors that shaped them to the lessons learned along the way. The conversation then turns to the realities of leading modern marketing organizations, including the mandates CMOs are driving inside their companies and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners. Through candid discussions, CMO Journeys gives agency leaders, marketers, and industry professionals a behind-the-scenes look at how modern CMOs build teams, shape brands, drive growth, and partner with the organizations helping bring their strategies to life.

Information

  • Creator
    Christian Banach
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Christian Banach
  • Show Website
    CMO Journeys

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