Colette Dill-Lerner, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Growth Channel, joins CMO Journeys to discuss how marketing leaders are navigating pressure, complexity, and financial accountability. Her perspective is shaped by a career across direct response marketing, consulting, private equity-backed companies, and ad tech.

What the Conversation Covers
• Colette’s unconventional path into marketing, from political science and early startup exposure to senior marketing leadership.
• How her direct response background shaped her focus on customer acquisition, revenue, LTV, CAC, and business fundamentals.
• Why today’s marketing environment is increasingly shaped by CFO scrutiny, tighter budgets, and the need to prove financial impact.
• How Growth Channel is approaching go-to-market through relationships, in-person events, useful content, and strategic client support.
• Colette’s perspective on agencies, including why they may become more valuable as companies face smaller teams, more pressure, and growing complexity.

Guest Bio
Colette Dill-Lerner is Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Growth Channel, a platform helping agencies and in-house teams simplify programmatic advertising across channels including CTV, audio, display, and retail media. In her role, she leads marketing, strategy, client success, and client advisory work, helping brands and agencies connect campaign execution to broader business goals. Her background includes direct response marketing, consulting, healthcare, private equity-backed companies, and ad tech.

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.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Linda Bethea, former Chief Marketing Officer of Danone North America, about what it takes to balance long-term brand building with the short-term business pressures facing modern CMOs. Drawing on leadership roles at PepsiCo, Diageo, and Danone, Linda shares a practical perspective on portfolio strategy, creative risk, consumer insight, and why marketing needs a real seat at the business table.

What the Conversation Covers
• Linda’s path from studying psychology into a marketing career shaped by curiosity about consumer behavior and brand growth
• The leadership lessons she learned across PepsiCo, Diageo, and Danone, including how to move from being a doer to leading through teams
• How to manage a large and complex portfolio by clarifying the role of each brand and aligning resources to long-term strategy
• Why strong brand building can come under pressure in short-term, financially driven environments and how CMOs can defend marketing investment
• How Linda thinks about agency partnerships, bold creative ideas, media fragmentation, AI, and measuring marketing’s impact more effectively

Guest Bio
Linda Bethea is a former Chief Marketing Officer of Danone North America and has held senior marketing leadership roles at companies including PepsiCo and Diageo. Her career has focused on brand building, portfolio strategy, media and marketing effectiveness, and leading teams across some of the world’s most complex consumer organizations.

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.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Mike Bell, Chief Marketing Officer of Everspring, about building marketing around strategy, systems, and measurable outcomes rather than disconnected tactics. Drawing on a career that spans the Air Force, consulting, consumer brands, SaaS, and higher education, Mike shares how that broad experience shapes the way he leads full-funnel marketing in a rapidly changing environment.

What the Conversation Covers
• Mike’s unconventional path from the Air Force and consulting into marketing leadership, and how each chapter built a different part of his leadership style
• Why he believes strong marketing starts with strategy, clear priorities, and the discipline to stay focused on outcomes
• How AI is changing the way prospective students discover, compare, and choose educational programs before they ever visit a website
• What Everspring is doing to improve visibility, strengthen full-funnel performance, and adapt to a world where influence happens earlier in the journey
• How Mike thinks about team structure, agency partnerships, and using AI as a force multiplier rather than a substitute for strategic thinking

Guest Bio
Mike Bell is Chief Marketing Officer at Everspring, where he leads full-funnel marketing across more than 45 higher education partners. His career spans the Air Force, consulting, consumer brands, SaaS, and education, giving him a systems-driven perspective on leadership, strategy, demand generation, and marketing transformation.

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.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Jamie Richardson, Chief Marketing Officer of White Castle, about how a century-old brand stays relevant in a fast-changing culture. With nearly three decades at the company across marketing, corporate relations, and government affairs, Jamie brings a uniquely broad perspective on brand stewardship, innovation, and what it takes to grow without losing what makes a brand iconic.

What the Conversation Covers
• Jamie’s path from agency life into White Castle and how his experience across multiple functions shaped his approach to brand leadership
• What he learned from working beyond traditional marketing, including how corporate relations and government affairs deepened his understanding of brand reputation
• How White Castle is balancing heritage with innovation through menu development, loyalty, automation, and new guest experiences like the Castle of Tomorrow
• Why staying culturally relevant means focusing on the right audiences, especially Gen Z, while continuing to serve loyal longtime fans
• How Jamie thinks about agency partnerships, prioritization, AI, and building a marketing organization that can move quickly without losing brand clarity

Guest Bio
Jamie Richardson is Chief Marketing Officer at White Castle, where he helps lead marketing for one of the most iconic brands in quick service. Over nearly three decades with the company, he has held roles across marketing, corporate relations, and government affairs, giving him a broad view of how brand, reputation, culture, and business strategy connect.

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

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Sunil Frida, Chief Marketing Officer at Zscaler, about helping shape the next phase of growth for one of enterprise security’s most important brands. Drawing on leadership experience across cloud, AI, and cybersecurity, Sunil shares how he is aligning marketing, product, and sales to support Zscaler’s evolution in a rapidly changing market.

What the Conversation Covers
• Sunil’s path from Singapore and engineering into business leadership, product marketing, cloud, and cybersecurity
• How his experience at AWS and CrowdStrike shaped the way he thinks about messaging, customer obsession, and leadership under pressure
• Why Zscaler’s next phase of growth depends on tighter alignment between product, sales, and marketing as one go-to-market system
• How he is thinking about prioritization, pipeline, team structure, and speed in a global marketing organization
• Where AI is changing marketing workflows, agency relationships, and the way enterprise brands build and scale their stories

Guest Bio
Sunil Frida is Chief Marketing Officer at Zscaler, where he leads marketing for a company helping redefine enterprise security through a cloud-delivered zero trust model. Before joining Zscaler, he held leadership roles across cloud, AI, and cybersecurity, including at AWS and CrowdStrike, building a strong foundation in product, go-to-market strategy, and enterprise technology 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.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Adam Shpiro, Chief Marketing Officer at SBS, about helping reposition a legacy fintech company for a more modern cloud and AI-driven future. With a background spanning engineering, consulting, operations, venture investing, banking, and go-to-market leadership, Adam brings a broad operator’s view to how marketing can drive growth inside a complex global business.

What the Conversation Covers
• Adam’s unconventional path from engineering and consulting into business leadership, fintech, and eventually marketing
• What changed when he moved from leading global go-to-market into the CMO role, and how that shaped his view of marketing as a growth engine
• How SBS is working to reposition itself from a legacy core banking provider into a more modern cloud and AI-focused platform company
• Why Adam believes marketing, product, and sales must operate as one connected go-to-market system
• How he thinks about prioritization, AI adoption, agency partnerships, and building a marketing team that can move with both quality and speed

Guest Bio
Adam Shpiro is Chief Marketing Officer at SBS, a global financial technology company providing software platforms for banks, lenders, and payment systems worldwide. Before stepping into the CMO role, he led global go-to-market efforts at SBS and built a career across engineering, consulting, operations, venture capital, banking, and fintech, giving him a distinctive commercial and operator-focused perspective on marketing leadership.

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.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Marie Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of Princess Cruises, about leading marketing during a period of brand evolution, leadership change, and shifting traveler expectations. Drawing on a long career across Disney and travel marketing, Marie shares how she balances short-term demand with long-term brand building in one of the world’s most recognized cruise brands.

What the Conversation Covers
• Marie’s career path across sales, strategy, guest experience, direct marketing, and media leadership, and how those roles shaped her approach as a CMO
• What it took to leave Disney after a long tenure and step into a growth opportunity at Princess Cruises during a major transformation
• How Princess is balancing the heritage of The Love Boat with a more modern, premium, experience-led brand story
• Why video, strong creative, and a balanced brand-and-performance media strategy are central to driving both demand and long-term loyalty
• How Marie thinks about agency partnerships, team leadership, AI, and building marketing around the guest experience from first impression to onboard delivery

Guest Bio
Marie Lee is Chief Marketing Officer at Princess Cruises, where she leads the brand’s marketing strategy during a period of new leadership, new ships, and brand evolution. Before joining Princess, she spent most of her career at Disney Experiences in a range of roles spanning sales, international marketing, merchandise strategy, guest experience, direct marketing, media, and customer engagement.

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.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Esi Eggleston Bracey, former Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at Unilever, about the mindset, leadership principles, and brand-building lessons behind a global marketing career. Drawing on leadership roles across Procter & Gamble, Coty, and Unilever, Esi shares how curiosity, courage, and a deep understanding of people shaped her approach to growth at every stage.

What the Conversation Covers
• Esi’s path from an early interest in math and science into a career in brand building, growth, and general management
• The career moments that shaped her perspective, from launching new products at Procter & Gamble to leading global businesses across markets and cultures
• Why she sees marketing as the work of understanding people, creating desire, and turning that demand into sustainable business growth
• The leadership principles that have guided her career, including embracing discomfort, protecting energy, and saying yes to growth opportunities even when they feel scary
• How she thinks about the future role of agencies, creativity, AI, and what brands need most to drive sustained growth

Guest Bio
Esi Eggleston Bracey is a longtime growth and marketing executive with leadership experience across Procter & Gamble, Coty, and Unilever, where she most recently served as Chief Growth and Marketing Officer. Over the course of her career, she has helped shape global brands, drive business transformation, and lead growth strategies grounded in consumer insight, creativity, and commercial impact.

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