Hart & Hustle Podcast
Hart & Hustle delivers real conversations with nonprofit and healthcare leaders who are scaling mission-driven impact through strategic innovation. Hosted by Efrain Lozada, each 45-minute episode explores leadership, operations, technology adoption, and practical strategies for mission-based organizations. Learn from executives who've transformed accessibility, efficiency, and community engagement while staying true to their values. For nonprofit directors, operations leaders, and healthcare innovators who hustle with heart. New episodes weekly.
Hart & Hustle Podcast
He Built a Marketing Team Inside a Nonprofit That Banned the Word "Marketing" | Christopher Lloyd
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
VP of Marketing at a nonprofit that didn't believe in marketing — here's what he built.
Christopher Lloyd is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Aspire Indiana Health, one of Indiana's largest nonprofit health systems serving 40,000+ patients annually across behavioral health, primary care, addiction recovery, housing, and crisis services.
But when Christopher joined in 2019, the organization had never marketed itself — and they wouldn't even let him use the word "marketing" in his job title.
In this episode of Hart & Hustle, Christopher breaks down what it really takes to build a marketing function from scratch inside a mission-driven organization, how to earn trust with clinician-led leadership, and why every nonprofit needs a marketing voice at the highest level of decision-making.
In this episode:
- Why almost every modern marketing tool was built for wealthy consumers — not the people nonprofits actually serve
- How Aspire grew from 10,000 to 40,000 patients served by investing in brand and communications
- The connected TV experiment that worked — and why Christopher walked away from it anyway
- What Medicaid funding cuts actually mean for safety net health organizations
- The servant leader management model that's reducing turnover in one of healthcare's hardest environments
- Why marketing communications belongs at your executive leadership table
"We serve with compassion. We serve with humility." — Christopher Lloyd
🔗 Connect with Aspire Indiana Health
Website: aspireindiana.org
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/aspire-indiana-health
Facebook: facebook.com/AspireIndianaHealth
Instagram: @aspireindianahealth
Services: Behavioral Health · Primary Care · Addiction Recovery · Crisis Services · Housing & Job Assistance · Pharmacy