What happens when growth stalls and alignment breaks down between marketing and sales? John Eitel, Chief Growth Officer at Orum, has made a career out of solving just that. In this episode of Pipeline Brew, John joins host Matt Hummel, CMO at Pipeline360, to share how CGOs think differently about scale, structure, and strategic focus.

From his early days scaling Rackspace to leadership roles at Canva, Demandbase, and now Orum, John opens up about the biggest changes he’s seen when it comes to building high-performing GTM teams. He dives into the pressures revenue leaders face today, the value of brand in a demand-heavy world, and why sales-marketing tension is still so common.

You’ll also hear why John believes onboarding is more listening than doing, the steps modern distributed teams can take to build trust, and why alignment starts with shared KPIs and honest communication. If you’re responsible for growth, or accountable to it, this episode is a blueprint for leading with clarity, empathy, and measurable impact.

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Guest Bio

John Eitel is a seasoned revenue and go-to-market leader with over 20 years of experience accelerating growth in B2B SaaS, cloud, and digital businesses. He’s built and scaled high-performance teams across sales, marketing, operations, and customer success in both emerging startups and large enterprises exceeding $1 billion in revenue.

Known for transforming underperforming organizations and launching successful market expansions, John combines strategic vision with operational discipline and a people-first leadership philosophy. He’s passionate about coaching leaders, aligning cross-functional teams around outcomes, and driving measurable business impact.

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Guest Quotes

“Not to say we abandon all other numbers and metrics, but at the end of the day, that shared understanding that pipeline is everyone's problem is so important. I think if you can get that common agreement . . . that really does force a good, healthy dialogue.”

“In that first month of onboarding, remember you have two ears and one mouth. Listen more than you talk. Resist the urge to just take action right out of the gates and start kind of showing up with your point of view. Ask a ton of questions, take a lot of notes, listen, absorb; people will notice.”

“I learned early in my career the power of when [marketing and sales] are aligned. It's a magical thing. But many folks never ever get to see that, right? I now have responsibility for sales and marketing, and so this has been fun for me to lean out of my comfort zone and bridge that gap even more so and really put my money where my mouth is.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:25 Icebreaker

03:00 John’s background

06:15 Finding alignment across distributed teams

09:45 Marketing misunderstandings on revenue

13:00 Closing the sales/marketing gap

16:20 Finding the balance between brand and demand

20:05 Aligning sales and marketing around pipeline

28:10 The one metric that ties everything together

34:40 Advice for new GTM leaders

39:00 How customer trust shapes sustainable growth

42:15 What’s on Tap for John Eitel

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Links

• Connect with John Eitel on LinkedIn
• Check out Orum
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

With content teams being asked to do more with less, how can marketers build a strategy aligning brand and revenue which actually leads to business outcomes? Today on Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Chloe Thompson, Director of Content Marketing at Visier, to discuss what it takes to build high-impact B2B content.

Chloe shares her journey from journalism to content marketing, her role in scaling Reward Gateway’s blog into a content engine that supported two private equity events, and how she leverages subject matter experts across the business. She breaks down what content should own, how to partner with demand gen, and why storytelling must align with business outcomes to be respected internally.

Chloe also discusses how content teams can move beyond vanity metrics, build influence with data, and embed themselves in go-to-market strategy. Whether you’re a solo content marketer, scaling a team, or trying to prove your impact in a revenue-driven world, this episode delivers practical frameworks and hard-won lessons for content that actually moves the needle.

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Guest Bio

Chloe Thompson is the Director of Content Marketing at Visier, a workforce intelligence platform. With over 15 years of experience turning editorial storytelling into a growth engine for brands, Chloe has a long background in HR tech with prior roles at Reward Gateway and Compt. A J-school grad turned marketer, she’s built and led global teams, launched research programs that generated millions in pipeline, and helped fuel a $1.4B acquisition.

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Guest Quotes

"When people first start out in their career, you should say yes to every opportunity that you get. I think being the first one to raise your hand in the room gives you a lot of visibility and a lot of opportunity, and I think that's also a lesson that you have to kind of turn on its head as you get more senior in your career and be the one to be able to say no to things strategically."

"I think that content fueled a lot of the things that we did at the organization, but of course it was also our product, our sales, the incredible 750+ people that I worked with across the different markets that really just created a differentiated brand and a vision for the company. But I think content played a really big part in terms of trying to elevate our internal subject matter experts and really making the case for being an ally for our HR audience."

"The subject matter experts that I've worked with in the past, they're so passionate about what they do. Like you find someone who loves what they do, who loves their job, that's passionate about it, they want to share their knowledge. They want to help, but it needs to be in a way that feels natural instead of feeling prescriptive and like it's another thing on their to-do list."

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:15 Icebreaker

03:00 Chloe’s career journey and early lessons

07:30 Building the content function at Reward Gateway

10:30 Clarifying the line between content and demand

12:45 Content’s impact on a $1.4B acquisition

15:30 Strategic advice for new content marketers

17:15 Working with SMEs across the business

21:20 Content metrics that prove value

24:00 Connecting content to revenue and brand

28:00 Making the case for content at growing companies

33:00 What’s on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Chloe Thompson on LinkedIn
• Check out Visier Inc.
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

With today’s marketers bogged down by overflowing tech stacks, where can they cut complexity to focus on what drives measurable growth? In this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt sits down with Reed Hansen, Owner & Chief Growth Office of the Illinois based agency, MarketSurge, to explore what it means to lead with strategy over software.

Reed shares his shift from SaaS sales to entrepreneurship, the decision to buy MarketSurge, and how he transformed it from a CRM implementation shop into a growth engine powered by strategy and human connection.

Reed also reveals how his podcast, Inside Marketing with MarketSurge, became an unexpected growth lever—fueling client acquisition, partnerships, and sharper thinking. He explains why showing up in public conversations builds more credibility than traditional sales outreach, and how authentic, human-first marketing can outperform any tech stack.

Whether you’re leading your own agency, navigating the chaos of MarTech overload, or looking for practical ways to drive results without losing authenticity, this episode delivers sharp perspective and actionable ideas for marketers who want to scale smarter.

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Guest Bio

Reed Hansen is a seasoned marketing leader and growth strategist recognized for his ability to scale businesses through visionary leadership and data-driven innovation. As Chief Growth Officer at MarketSurge, Reed leads with a clear mission: to help businesses transform marketing chaos into streamlined systems that drive predictable growth.

With a career spanning startups to Fortune 500 companies, Reed has held leadership roles at Northwestern University, Punchkick Interactive, and Solstice, where he built and guided teams that delivered high-impact digital products and record-breaking revenue growth. Prior to MarketSurge, he founded Million Dollar Studio, where his leadership extended beyond strategy into operations, mentoring, and building resilient teams.

Known for his ability to blend creative problem-solving with operational discipline, Reed has become a trusted authority in digital marketing and organizational growth. His leadership style emphasizes clarity, collaboration, and empowerment — guiding teams and clients alike to see marketing not just as a cost center, but as a powerful growth engine.

Beyond his executive role, Reed is the host of Inside Marketing with MarketSurge, where his leadership voice extends to the broader business community through conversations that challenge assumptions, explore innovation, and inspire action.

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Guest Quotes

“There's a tremendous opportunity to approach marketing like a white-glove business: results-focused rather than tool-focused. Clients don’t care about a line item list of platforms. They care about growth, leads, and pipeline. And marketing leaders today need to adapt to that mindset shift.”

“Podcasting is like the new city square or barbershop. It’s where people go to be heard, to connect, and to spark ideas in a space that feels casual but still meaningful. It’s helped me synthesize ideas, build partnerships, and even get clients. I didn’t expect that, but it’s been a tremendous growth lever.”

“I would spend much more time on creating great content and making sure to get myself out there and doing more networking conversations. The content that I can generate is a bigger determination of our business success and growth than any of the traditional sales efforts.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:25 Icebreaker

03:00 Reed’s journey from sales to entrepreneurship

07:05 Diving into MarketSurge

11:55 How podcasting became a top tier growth lever

14:25 Marketing with purpose

16:20 From tools to service

19:15 Elevating the human side of marketing

24:30 What’s on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Reed Hansen on LinkedIn
• Check out MarketSurge
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

How do you lead modern marketing teams through disruption without losing purpose, clarity, or connection? In this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Steven Pritt, VP of Content Marketing at Thomson Reuters, where he’s built a high-performing content function that balances scale, creativity, and authenticity.

With a career spanning creative agencies, sales, and enterprise marketing, Steven shares why today’s best leaders act as stewards, not gatekeepers, and how a clear sense of purpose aligns individuals, teams, and strategy. He breaks down the difference between tension to solve vs. tension to manage, why marketing silos shouldn’t be tolerated, and what it takes to create content that’s both measurable and meaningful.

Listeners will hear Steven’s take on AI as a force multiplier, how to foster team culture from any role, and why friction is often a sign of movement, not failure. Whether you’re scaling a content team, navigating leadership challenges, or rethinking how marketing delivers value, this episode delivers practical insights for marketers leading through change.

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Guest Bio

Steven Pritt is an award-winning marketing executive with over a decade of experience in the information technology and services industry. As the VP of Content Marketing at Thomson Reuters, he has spearheaded the creation of a center of excellence that integrates content marketing, creative services, organic social media, and SEO.

Steven's leadership is characterized by his innovative approach to developing and executing comprehensive content strategies that drive engagement and conversion. He is also recognized for his expertise in team building and leveraging generative AI to modernize the content supply chain.

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Guest Quotes

“I think a demand for more authentic content is going to be really, really important. Not even just personalized content, but content that is really providing a service. Is it coming out of an attitude of really serving up information? Is it really servicing the need of what the customers are asking versus putting it out there just for a hook or a barb?”

“I think my view of leadership is really where can I bring clarity? Where can I remove obstacles for my team members? And then along the way, if I can give away as much credit, I feel like I'm doing a successful job.”

“Businesses want to use AI, they just don't know how to use it in the right way or in a more meaningful way. And I think the content marketers who can demonstrate that or show that propensity will definitely have a leg up. It's beyond just, ‘Do you know how to use ChatGPT?’”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

02:00 Icebreaker

04:15 Purpose, clarity, and team alignment

06:05 Building Thomson Reuters' content center of excellence

08:15 Centralization vs. personalization in content marketing

10:35 Managing vs. solving tension in marketing teams

13:20 Why you need a little friction

15:25 Creating culture at every level

17:05 The evolving role of content in a post-AI world

20:30 Truly authentic, high-impact content

24:25 Advice for navigating career changes

27:40 Embracing AI as a value-add, not a threat

31:10 What’s on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Steven Pritt on LinkedIn
• Check out Thomson Reuters
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

How do you build B2B marketing programs that move beyond short-term lead counts and actually deliver lasting impact? In this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Fiona McKenzie, CEO of Revere, a UK-based agency known for its “marketing with meaning” approach.

With nearly two decades in B2B technology, Fiona shares why today’s most effective CMOs are as commercial as they are creative. She walks through outcomes that the C-suite cares about, how to reset strategy around shared definitions, and frameworks like Revere’s Wheel of Consideration, which reimagines the buyer journey beyond outdated funnel models.

Listeners will also hear Fiona’s perspective on bold creative, selling big ideas internally, and the role of AI as “accelerated intelligence” that removes friction without replacing human judgment. Whether you’re a marketing leader rethinking measurement, a strategist tasked with growth, or a brand builder looking to stand out in crowded markets, this episode offers a roadmap for making marketing more meaningful — and more impactful.

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Guest Bio

Fiona McKenzie is the Chief Executive Officer of Revere, a strategic B2B marketing agency in the UK. With nearly 20 years in B2B technology, she leads teams that combine buyer insight, brand, and demand to create “marketing with meaning” programs that build trust and long-term growth.

Fiona believe’s the best way to produce great integrated work for clients is to have a tightly integrated team, with a relationship founded on trust, collaboration, and transparency.

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Guest Quotes

“Marketing with meaning is really the ethos that drives everything we do day to day at Revere. It’s about making sure that marketing is driving long-term programmatic approaches that deliver results. It’s all about taking marketing from being seen as short-term lead generators to long-term impact drivers. That’s what resonates with marketers, moving from tactical thinking into long-term campaigns and initiatives.”

“The buyer journey has become overly simplistic. At Revere we’ve built a new model called the Wheel of Consideration, which helps marketers see where activity really sits in the buyer journey and how to connect with customers in meaningful ways.”

“We accelerated speed of delivery on an insane level. Historically, what would’ve taken months upon months, we delivered it in six to eight weeks with an 87% reduction in investment. That’s why I call AI accelerated intelligence, not artificial intelligence.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:10 Icebreaker

02:35 Fiona's career journey in B2B marketing

04:20 Lessons from stepping into the CEO role

07:15 Defining “marketing with meaning”

09:20 Why strategy must get commercial

11:40 Resetting strategy and reporting for the C-suite

14:15 How to build ROI-driven plans on a page

17:55 Selling bold creative to executives

22:40 Positioning creative work as business growth

24:50 AI as accelerated intelligence in marketing

29:55 What’s on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Fiona McKenzie on LinkedIn
• Check out Revere
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

How do you scale campaign strategy across a complex product suite without overwhelming both your audience and your sales team? In this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Stephanie Almeida, Senior Marketing Manager of Demand Generation at Avalara, the automated tax compliance software powered by AI.

With over six years at Avalara and an extensive background spanning both agencies and in-house teams, Stephanie shares what it really takes to build sustainable, high-performing B2B campaigns in today’s noisy landscape. Some of the topics covered in their conversation include incorporating agility into new product lines, why content, messaging and sales should be aligned around campaigns, and how paid syndication is a still winning strategy.

You’ll also hear Stephanie’s advice for educating sales on top-of-funnel expectations, and why she says every marketer should advocate for bold, emotion-driven brand work. Stephanie brings a practical, tested perspective that’s especially relevant for marketers navigating multi-product complexity and shifting buyer behavior.

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Guest Bio

Stephanie Almeida is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the technology sector, specializing in marketing and advertising. She currently serves as the Senior Marketing Manager at Avalara, where she leads a team in developing innovative campaigns and strategies that drive brand growth and business performance.

Prior to her role at Avalara, Stephanie held key positions at several leading advertising agencies, including VML and Razorfish. Her expertise spans across various domains, including digital marketing, brand management, and integrated advertising campaigns. Stephanie is known for her ability to bridge the gap between creative teams and business stakeholders, ensuring that marketing initiatives not only resonate with target audiences but also align with company objectives and market trends.

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Guest Quotes

“As a CFO or a finance leader, tax compliance is usually not their full-time job, it’s a portion of what they do. So really making sure they have the education they need and can feel confident in that area is a lot of what we focus on. That’s where our campaigns need to meet them.”

“I believe that paid syndication should definitely be a part of a holistic marketing strategy and plan. We have seen that we typically have really strong website traffic, but just like everybody else, we've seen some declines in paid and organic search. Now with the AI answers being within the platform and getting people what they need there, it's really helpful to balance out your overall lead gen strategy.”

“You can't just go out there and be super generic with your messaging. You need to tap into people's feelings and emotions. Be funny, be something that stands out. You gotta be bold.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:15 Icebreaker

03:05 Stephanie’s career journey

05:00 What is Avalara?

06:35 The challenge of scalable campaign strategy

09:05 Aligning with sales across complex product lines

12:05 How Avalara builds content around core pain points

14:05 Why paid syndication still matters

17:00 Educating sales on top-of-funnel leads

18:30 The role of brand in demand generation

20:00 Standing out in a crowded messaging world

21:20 What’s on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Stephanie Almeida on LinkedIn
• Check out Avalara
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

How can you enable your marketing teams to do more with less while still maintaining brand relevancy and impact? In today’s episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt welcomes Janine Pares, Founder & CEO of Thinksmart Marketing to explore why strategy and brand positioning have become even more critical differentiators in today’s market.

Having founded Thinksmart in 2014, Janine’s agency specializes in strategy-led marketing across content, digital, brand and product to help global companies stand out while driving growth. Drawing from her experience across B2C and B2B, Janine shares insights on the challenges of balancing centralized global strategies with the unique demands of diverse regional markets like APAC.

Additionally, you’ll hear why strategy starts with what you choose not to do, how to get C‑suite buy‑in for brand investment, and why the best content often has a longer shelf life than marketers think. Janine also explains the role AI can play as an enabler, freeing up human creativity and critical thinking while keeping teams agile.

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Guest Bio

With 30 years experience, the first 17 years of Janine’s career was forged in corporate marketing for some of the world’s leading B2C & B2B brands across global, regional and national remits in Australia and abroad. With a commercial focus and strategic approach, Janine founded Thinksmart Marketing in 2014 and today leads the team to partner with enterprises and scale up B2B brands across APAC.

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Guest Quotes

"Strategy more often than not [is] about the things you choose not to do [rather] than the things you choose to do. And having a really focused vision on what success looks like, and then focusing the energy resourcing around those things, that makes a huge difference. And I think in the context of budget cuts and resource cuts and all the rest of it, we need to be very selective about what we actually do."

“What does your brand mean in the minds of your audience? How do people understand you and what you stand for, and what value you bring in comparison to others in often saturated marketplaces? When that is not clear, salespeople aren't able to articulate the value prop, and cross-sell doesn't happen as easily. [You] can't get as much traction with net new, [you’re] not progressing deals through the pipeline.”

“APAC is the most diverse region that exists when we think about everything from not just languages, but cultural differences. Market maturity is often very different. Value systems are very different. The way of doing business and selling is actually very different across a lot of these regions. And so the diversity that exists within APAC is huge."

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

01:05 The power of sticky notes

03:00 Icebreaker

04:30 Janine’s career from corporate to agency

07:15 Doing more with less

11:25 AI as an enabler, not a replacement

16:20 Securing C-suite buy-in for brand

19:00 Regional nuance and complexity

24:00 Balancing centralization and localization

27:00 Quality over quantity in content strategy

31:10 What’s on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Janine Pares on LinkedIn
• Check out Thinksmart Marketing
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

How can marketers drive meaningful demand in today’s complex B2B landscape? In this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Emanuela Mafteiu of Ping Identity to unpack how you can go beyond MQLs and start building pipeline that truly converts.

Emanuela is the Head of Digital and Demand, EMEA at Ping Identity, a leading identity security platform serving over half of the Fortune 100. Together, she and Matt dive into the evolving role of demand generation by aligning tightly with sales, localizing content, and embracing AI with intention. Emanuela provides actionable takeaways from her own team’s experience with pod-based collaboration, persona-driven campaigns, and agile feedback loops to deliver real business outcomes across EMEA.

Additionally, you’ll learn why your content needs to provide real education, how to effectively pivot campaigns mid-flight, and where AI can make the biggest impact on your team. Emanuela also shares practical SEO insights from BrightonSEO and explains why she believes localized marketing is easier than ever and well worth the investment.

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Guest Bio

Emanuela Mafteiu is an all-around marketer with a strong background in brand strategy and campaign management. She is skilled at translating corporate visions into engaging marketing communications and content, ensuring alignment with strategic portfolio development. As the Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Ping Identity, Emanuela leverages her expertise to drive digital growth and optimise return on investment, making her a key contributor to the company's success.

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Guest Quotes

“Progressing pipeline is as important as generating pipeline. In Demand Gen, we're always thinking about generating demand, but we don't always focus on how to move that pipeline forward. One of the strongest shifts we’ve made is creating real alignment with sales. It’s not just about MQLs anymore, it’s about MQAs and activating buying behavior.”

“We stopped calling it awareness, we now call it education. Because our goal is to create content our audience can use, not just read. Whether it’s identity professionals or security leads, they all want clarity, relevance, and value. When we focus on education, the results speak for themselves.”

“AI helps us move faster and scale smarter, but it’s not a replacement for strategy, creativity, or customer connection. We use AI for segmentation, testing, and even language optimization, but we still validate everything with human insight. It’s about reducing friction and focusing human time where it matters most.”

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Time Stamps

00:00 Episode start

02:15 Icebreaker

04:30 Aha moments in Demand Gen

08:20 Branded Demand in action

12:25 Pivoting in real time

14:45 Everyone owns pipeline

17:00 Results from localization

19:25 Getting closer to buyers with AI

24:35 The future of SEO in a post-AI world

31:15 What’s on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Emanuela Mafteiu on LinkedIn
• Check out Ping Identity
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360