In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, Jane Serra sits down with Shannon Howard, Director of Customer and Content Marketing at Intellum, to talk about the real work behind building lasting customer relationships that drive retention, advocacy, and long-term brand love.

From her early days in B2C to leading customer marketing in SaaS, Shannon shares how she has learned to scale connection without losing the human touch. The conversation covers what customer marketing really owns (hint: it is not just case studies), how to enable internal teams to advocate alongside your customers, and the power of being relentlessly curious about the people you serve.

Jane and Shannon get into:

• Why customer marketing is about more than just advocacy and what else belongs under its umbrella
• How to stay close to your customers even without a big team or budget
• The overlooked art of marketing internal programs like customer education
• Why reverse multithreading and relationship redundancy matter more than ever
• Approaching customers for feedback in ways that feel natural, not transactional
• Turning negative experiences into opportunities to create new advocates
• The value of surprising and delighting customers, including supporting causes they care about
• How customer marketing can also play a big role in Customer Success enablement
• Expanding the definition of “customer” to include past, future, and even non-paying advocates
• Building trust with customers by treating them like people, not just personas

Key Links:

Guest: Shannon Howard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonlagassehoward/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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** Originally published on May 8, 2024 **

Katie Berg coined a phrase in this episode that stuck with me so much I literally made stickers: F*ck it Energy. It’s about saying yes to big, scary opportunities, chasing fear instead of avoiding it, and putting yourself out there even when you’re not sure you’re ready.

And honestly? I think we could all use a little more of that energy right now - which is why I’m bringing this one back from the archives. Katie’s story of building Klue’s Compete Network from scratch and carving her own path in marketing is just as powerful today as it was when we first recorded.

Should I bring Katie back for a follow-up? DM me, comment, or leave a review to tell me what you’d love us to cover next.

– Jane

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In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra sits down with Katie Berg, VP of Marketing at Klue, to dive into how she turned a scrappy idea into one of the most innovative owned media plays in B2B: the Compete Network.

From starting her career in events marketing and taking a bold leap to work in Zambia, to building Klue’s media hub that now fuels their category leadership, Katie shares the real story of saying yes to big risks, chasing fear, and creating content that actually lands.

Jane and Katie dig into:

• How the idea for the Compete Network was born (on a run!) and why it stuck
• The scrappy steps Klue took to build a media hub before owned media was “a thing”
• What it really takes to launch and scale multiple shows under one brand
• Why consistency and format matter as much as the content itself
• Lessons learned from producing four podcasts at once - and what Katie would do differently
• How teasers and “movie-style” launches helped Klue’s shows break through
• The future of B2B media hubs
• Why attribution alone isn’t enough - and how qualitative feedback can be a marketer’s gold mine
• Why women need more “f*** it energy” in content creation

Key Links:

Guest: Katie Berg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiepberg/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra chats with Shachar Oren, co-founder, CRO, and CMO at EX.CO—a rare triple-title leader with a journalist’s storytelling soul and a sharp eye on revenue.

Shachar’s unconventional journey from writing film reviews to building a video-first adtech company is full of insight for any marketer navigating career pivots, cross-functional leadership, and the ever-blurry line between brand and revenue. She shares what it’s really like owning both sales and marketing, how it’s changed her approach as a CMO, and why she believes marketers need to stop undervaluing themselves.

Jane and Shachar dig into:

• What it’s like to lead both marketing and sales as a co-founder
• How a background in journalism led Shachar into B2B tech and startup leadership
• The power of sitting in on sales calls - and how it transformed her team’s approach
• Why sales decks often fall short, and how to build enablement materials that sellers actually use
• What led EX.CO to eliminate webinars and double down on events
• How offline tactics like in-person events and direct mail became their top growth channels
• Why marketers struggle to get internal credit - and how to start changing that
• The nuances of tying marketing roles to revenue goals and compensation
• What the lack of CMOs on corporate boards says about how marketing is perceived
• How reframing our own value as marketers can shift our influence inside the org
• Navigating the balance between creativity, storytelling, and business outcomes
• Building community through thoughtful, hybrid campaigns that connect people online and off

Key Links:

Guest: Shachar Orren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shacharo/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

Shachar's Article on Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/91265760/numbers-and-narratives-the-strategic-advantage-of-uniting-the-cmo-and-cro-roles

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In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra sits down with Natalie Cunningham, a two-time SaaS CMO, former agency leader, and one of LinkedIn’s most refreshingly honest voices in marketing.

Natalie’s journey from rural Tennessee to the C-suite is packed with lessons on resilience, leadership, and pushing past “professional” expectations. She opens up about what it really means to step into a CMO role, lead through rebrands, and advocate for yourself—without shrinking your voice.

Jane and Natalie explore:

• The real difference between being a VP and a CMO (beyond the title)
• How to lead with honesty and impact, even when it comes with risk
• Why rebrands fall apart after the “fun part”—and how to avoid it
• The power of healthy conflict and treating peers as your first team
• How being vocal on LinkedIn can cost you... and why it’s still worth it
• Why “managing a team is like parenting” is a tired (and harmful) trope
• The importance of community when you’re the only woman in the room

Key Links:

Guest: Natalie Cunningham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliercunningham/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra chats with Kim Tran, a full stack marketing leader who helped take Gimmal to a successful exit as Head of Marketing and Business Development.

Kim's path into marketing was anything but linear. She started in First Amendment law before building a career focused on growth, brand transformation, and operational rigor across fintech, edtech, and data governance. With a background in psychology and a clear-eyed view of how teams and businesses scale, Kim shares the mindset shifts and tactical lessons that shaped her journey.

Jane and Kim explore:

• Why marketers need to become financial and data stewards to earn trust and influence
• How to market marketing internally and build advocates across the org
• What it really takes to modernize a legacy brand without losing its core
• How to approach marketing during an acquisition and speak to buyers, not just customers
• The importance of protecting your team’s emotional and mental bandwidth
• How to pitch yourself and take up space, especially as a woman in leadership
• Why failing safely is more realistic than failing fast

Key Links:

Guest: Kim Tran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimtrandc/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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In this episode of "Women in B2B Marketing," host Jane Serra is joined by Chaenara O’Brien - a sharp strategist who splits her time between leading digital GTM at vFunction and consulting with startups via Thought Bakery.

Chaenara brings a refreshingly grounded, systems-first lens to modern marketing, shaped by a background in energy trading, operations, and engineering services. The conversation unpacks what it really takes to build future-ready go-to-market teams, avoid burnout, and lead with both curiosity and clarity in a time of constant change.

Jane and Chaenara dig into:

• How her career in ops + energy trading led to B2B marketing leadership
• What “scenario planning” actually means - and how to make it actionable
• Why marketers need to stop reacting and start building systems
• How AI is reshaping what it means to “do more with less”
• Creating space for failure and curiosity on high-performing teams
• Why outdated ideas of brand control and executive presence need to go
• What GTM leadership should look like - and where it’s headed
• Outgrowing tech and how to protect your spark

Key Links:

Guest: Chaenara O'Brien: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaenara/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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** Originally published on January 18, 2023 **

This episode is a favorite for anyone who's ever argued about buttons vs hyperlinks, wondered if open rates still matter, or just wants to get better at email without sounding like a spam bot.

Kestrel Lemen is an email powerhouse: part strategist, part storyteller, and hands down one of the most insightful voices in email marketing. Her take on what actually drives conversions, how to balance plain text with visuals, and what marketers still get wrong about newsletters is full of gold.

It’s one I still reference, and if email is even remotely in your job description, you’ll want to give this one a listen.

Want a part two with Kestrel? Leave a review, drop a DM, or just say the word.

— Jane

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In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra sits down with Kestrel Lemen, email marketing expert and former Senior Strategist at Seguno Software (now Senior Manager Lifecycle Marketing at Zillow!) From her start in the art world to building Bronto’s London office and becoming an email force in both B2B and B2C, Kestrel’s journey is as fascinating as it is full of lessons.

They get into:

• The difference (and surprising similarities) between B2B and B2C email strategies
• Visual vs. plain text emails - and when each actually performs best
• What’s still true about email above the fold (and what’s totally changed)
• The metrics you should be tracking now - and which ones are just vanity
• Spam triggers, button design, and real talk on segmentation
• How privacy laws like GDPR and Apple MPP are reshaping email as we know it
• Why your “free Yeti cooler” giveaway is probably not the move
• Building emails that convert and don’t annoy
• Plus: how to keep your resume “conversion-optimized” for your future self

If email is part of your job - or just gives you heartburn - this episode is a goldmine.

Key Links:

Guest: Kestrel Lemen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kestrellemen/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

Community: Women of Email - https://womenofemail.org/

***Recorded LIVE at WIB2BM LIVE ATLANTA***

In this first-ever LIVE IN PERSON episode of "Women in B2B Marketing," host Jane Serra sits down with Trinity Nguyen (CMO at UserGems) and Kacie Jenkins (SVP of Marketing at Sendoso) for an unfiltered conversation about the mistakes, missteps, and full-on f*ckups that shape great marketing leaders.

They open up about failed campaigns, tool disasters, event regrets, and how they’ve built teams that don’t just tolerate failure - they learn from it. From creating psychological safety to pushing back on prescriptive execs (even the ones with AI patents), this episode is a candid look at what it really takes to lead with empathy, resilience, and a little rebellion.

Packed with tactical advice, personal stories, and plenty of f-bombs, it’s a masterclass in growing your team-and yourself-through the hard stuff.

This live panel unpacks:

• Why failure is a must-have in high-performing marketing teams
• How to build psychological safety without babying your team
• Tactics for turning a f*ck-up into a team-wide learning moment
• The CEO “parking lot” trick for pushing back on prescriptive leadership
• How to evaluate AI tools (and avoid shiny object syndrome)
• What to do when your event investment flops—and how to design ones that actually work
• The power of structured gatherings and thoughtful details at live events
• Career pivots, personal advisory boards, and defining your authentic marketing path
• How to create space for younger team members to build resilience and take ownership

Key Links:

Guests:

Kacie Jenkins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaciejenkins/

Trinity Nguyen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinitynguyen/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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