Jerel Blades is the Head of Growth at TUSHY, which provides best-in-class bidet attachments for toilet seats. As a growth marketer, he was the VP of Growth at GOAT Foods, where he led growth for Licorice, Pretzels, Caramels, and Chocolate. Jerel began his career as an intern in fashion brand management.

In today’s consumer-led digital landscape, growth marketers must drive short-term performance without sacrificing long-term brand equity. As paid media becomes increasingly competitive and attribution becomes unclear, marketers must demonstrate their value while aligning with broader business objectives. How can growth teams build scalable strategies that protect and enhance brand value?

With a background in fashion branding and performance marketing, Jerel Blades maintains that curiosity, business acumen, and a deep understanding of customers are foundational traits for any high-performing growth team. He stresses the importance of aligning brand and performance KPIs, using shared tools and frameworks to promote cross-functional collaboration. Post-purchase surveys and consumer insights can also address skepticism around unfamiliar products and shape more effective, empathetic marketing campaigns.

In this week’s episode of Chief Advertiser, Jerel Blades, Head of Growth at TUSHY, joins Samir Balwani for a discussion about building performance programs that support long-term brand strategy. Jerel explains how to create alignment between growth and brand teams, strategies for educating consumers in a high-consideration category, and the ideal characteristics of growth marketers.