Meet the Mischief Behind the Marketing

Welcome to the Chocolate Pill, the podcast from a growth company run by three marketers who’ve actually done the work (and aren’t afraid to say what everyone else is thinking). In this not-too-polished debut, your hosts Sandi, Chris, and Erin introduce themselves, their company Miracle Max Marketing, and their mission: help scaling companies storm the marketing castle with less chaos and more clarity.

In this episode:

• Why we started this podcast (hint: we needed an outlet for what’s actually happening in marketing)
• Our backgrounds and what happens when an enterprise marketer, a startup growth strategist, and a content purist walk into a bar
• The patterns we keep seeing in the companies we work with
• The biggest marketing lies we’ve all been told (and why they’re still so common)
• What to expect from future episodes (spoiler: tactical tips + battle-tested strategies + therapy for marketing leaders)

Meet your hosts:
 🎤 Sandi Green: Product marketing and GTM expert. Seven M&A deals, three exits, Fortune 100 + startup experience, and trusted advisor to Founders and CMOs.
 🎤 Chris: Startup veteran and first-GTM-builder. Deep experience with growth marketing, demand gen, budgeting, and headcount planning.
 🎤 Erin: Content strategy queen. Founding Content Strategist at multiple companies, Webby Award Honoree, and master of helping brands tell stronger stories.

Follow us:
👉 Miracle Max Marketing
👉 Connect on LinkedIn: Sandi, Chris, Erin

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Transcript

Unknown: 0:13

Hey, everybody, welcome. Welcome to our first official podcast episode. You should have seen the behind the scenes before we started recording, when the three of us were trying to get the stuff together, maybe we'll have a blooper reel that can be kind of cool. So this is news, Aaron, this is a little scary. I would have sworn more had I known we were going to do a blooper reel, and now people are going to think I'm professional. So great. Well, no for moving forward, the real us. So we can do quick intros. And you know why we started in Miracle Max and why we started this podcast, Sandy. Do you want to go first with an intro? Sure, I'm Sandy green. I'm out of Denver, Colorado, very happy to be pitched to these two with miracle Max. My expertise is in product marketing and event management, little go to market strategy, little content you'll hear once, once Erin and Chris introduced ourselves. There's lots of overlap, and that was really part of the reason why we wanted to start miracle Max. From my perspective, it's been something that I've wanted to do for a long time. I just didn't know exactly where, like, I always knew I wanted to work for work with multiple companies, and not just one, because they do get bored quickly. And also, I feel like when you move around more, you just you bring a lot more perspective. You know, someone who's worked with 100 companies is very different than someone who's worked for 10 years with at one and so for me, the joy of it is really, really looking for companies that have have problems, and then just helping them work on it. One of the, one of the things that I loved about the way that we conceived of the of the the company is we said we don't want to be there forever, right? We say, like, want to be there for a good time, not a long time. And when we started thinking about this, the whole idea of fractional had just kind of really just started bubbling up. And so the reason why I think that this is a great idea now, and a great idea with the three of us, is because we have worked in places where we've had to either dive in and turn something around or dive in and get something off the ground really quickly. So it really speaks well to kind of how we're how we're approaching clients now. So that's my very long winded intro, Chris, you want to go next? You said it all. I don't know if I can say anymore. We're done. We're going to sign off. No, no, I think we do all overlap, right? We've all done each other's jobs at some point, but this is a crazy thing. I love startups and scale ups. That's kind of what we do, and what I've done my whole career. And I think these two have as well, and we just really connected, I think, on that level and just philosophy of how how to go about those things. So I'm just north of San Diego, been doing startups for, I don't know, 10 or 11 of them, I think, and then helping a bunch more. So I love everything about it. I have a little bit of add. So it works out really well, I guess. I guess on the just kind of work wise, I love the strategy. I love the demand gen side. Those are kind of two areas that I kind of shine in, I guess. Yeah, no, for sure. So I'm Erin. Hello everybody. I am kind of our content leg shoot content leg of the stool. And so we, we really do complement each other really well. And so that's what we found with when we're supporting our various clients, there's always one of us, like when someone starts talking, starts talking about their needs, we're like, oh, that's Sandy. Oh, that's great, you know. And so it's pretty cool how we've found we're really, really are a full service, fractional, you know, kind of marketing operation, which is pretty awesome. So, so yeah, we kind of really do all overlap. Sandy is a wiz at events as well. It's pretty incredible to see her. She just wind up and go when she's which is managing these, these crazy, crazy events. But yeah, for content from, you know, audio to video to written word, you know, I love it all strategy as well, kind of mapping out people's content strategy and SEO, and seeing how AI layers into all of it, like, I'm so into that right now. Like, AI is fascinating to all three of us, actually, and how we can, you know, harness it as this incredible tool. And it's funny, people have asked us, where did you come up with the name miracle max? And so we were just like chatting one day, and it was like, it'd be cool to have some sort of, like a pop culture reference in our name. Like, there's a band called zoo, zoos petals from It's A Wonderful Life, right? And then there's another one from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Veruca Salt that banned from the 90s, you know? And so then Sandy was like. Like, that guy in a princess, is it a Princess Bride, right? Yeah, yeah. Like, you know what? His name, you know? And it's like, Miracle Max, the one who says, like, have fun storming the castle, like, and so that's, that's our inspiration, one of the best movies of all time. So, 100% Good. Good choice. Jen, yeah, it's so, so we'll have that sometimes, and that's we'll have that sometimes in some of our copy, our messaging is like, you know, we have fun storming the castle. And I think that speaks to, kind of, our personality and our vibe for the three of us and our company too. Is there anything else that we want to kind of intro in this, like, really quick episode. Just trying to, like, get you guys to know who we are. We want to go over we speak in memes. Just on a fun note, memes and GIFs. That's a fun fact about us. Yep, I think another, I think another fun fact is Chris and I are terrified of Aaron. She's our editor in completely and completely we I used to think I was a good writer, until I met Aaron, and she was like, that's cute. Let me go ahead and judge that up a little bit. But I need, in all seriousness, we do lean on each other really, really, really heavily to just make sure that we do the just the best possible thing that we do. And we love doing that with our with our clients. And I think that speaks to what Chris was saying. And was saying, and that we have all done bits of each other's jobs. So the way, I think it described it to a to a client last week, is like, we're like, three person basketball where we just pass, pass, pass and and go, yeah, yeah. And I think we're kind of sweeping in at the right time. I think Sandy, you mentioned this a little bit earlier. It's like budgets are tighter. Competition is crazy. AI is rewriting, really, the playbook for a lot of things. A lot of teams are in transition, and that's kind of our sweet spot, too. When you kind of find yourself in this transition, you know, of like, maybe you've had some exits, you know, maybe you've had some cuts and you're trying to figure out the next best foot forward, and I will say for this podcast too, like it's not a promotional arm for miracle Max. Like we're introducing ourselves on this first episode and kind of giving you our background so so you kind of get to know us a little bit better, but the episodes really will be full of like insights and tips and kind of tricks we've we've learned along the way to help you in your business grow everything from like hiring for marketing to growing your marketing team to like figuring out SEO, which is kind of like the dark arts. It's always changing from like how to manage events moving forward. So we'll go over that, and we'll have guest speakers. On some of these episodes as well. So this is all kind of about supporting you, the listener, and kind of growing your business, or the company you're supporting, or the startup that you you're founding, and that sort of a thing too. So I just want to make that clear, this is very sort of a support arm to you, and really like how we even how we support our clients. We were trying to make you look good. And so this is, this is all about you and helping you out. Yeah, Sandy, what are some of the didn't you pull some data the other day about how teams are turning over, they're going through a was a 65% or something like that. I can't remember the stat. Yeah, it was, it was, it was LinkedIn marketing trends from 2024 it was something like six, over 60% of organizations that were mid market across the world. So it was a global survey have experienced reorganization and something like seven out of 10. So almost 70% and higher. Anticipate one in 2025 and this is, you know, these are, these are, these are CMOs and marketing leaders talking so the changes are coming. And I think, to Aaron's point, like, what we're what we're looking to do is to plug in. Because one of the things that we all know is marketing never comes out unscathed. With reorganizations and with with downturns, even with Mergers Acquisitions, like, there's still the running of the show, right? The running of the programs the show must go on, and then there's always these other opportunities. So I do think it's a good it's a good time, as if you're a CMO out there, or a founder looking for just additional resources, agencies, fractionals like us, even, you know, consultants, just people who can kind of come in for a little for a short period. For a short period of time, and sort of get you to higher ground, is going to be really crucial when you don't have the budget to replace head count. I don't think it's a stat either. I mean, I talked to some other agencies this last week, and they're seeing the same thing. They're seeing a huge pickup in that kind of, that reforming of teams. And, you know, we see that all the time, I think with startups and scale ups just the the amount of work that you have to do when you first come in. And we're seeing more of it, right? Like, we're seeing all of that, that kind of resource and technical debt that happens, you know, in that time period when you come in, like. Um, I think a lot of it has to do with the way that that venture capitalist view teams now, especially in the in the software space, but other spaces as well, where you're hiring for the, you know, the next year and a half, not necessarily for, you know, long term. So you get, especially in a company that's scaling, you get some siloing. You get you get a lot of that stuff happening, and then when you come in, you know, you not only have the technical side, but you have a team that may be in disarray, and roles may be in disarray. And that's that's really interesting, I think so, Chris, what are you seeing? Because I know not to not to date us all, but you know, back in the day, when we did go to market strategy, there was almost always a longer view, right? It was like 12 month, 18 month. I remember sometimes doing a three year, and now it seems like it's a 10th event. It's three months, six months, nine months. What are you seeing? Oh, yeah. Well, I talked I was up at a VC up in San Francisco a few months ago. Really interesting. Had all these companies, you know, that had been invested in, in the room and basically was just saying, you know, it's really interesting that what, what they're seeing in terms of return right now on companies, maybe in 35 40% range, if you're lucky, as a VC. So that has a lot of implications, right? Like for companies that are trying to do hyper growth, right? If you're in the startup world, startup land, that's really interesting, right? If that's what's happening right now, there's obviously, I think we're starting to see more of a focus on profitability. You're starting to get a lot more pressure across the org, especially on the go to market side, right? Hiring harder, you have to justify more. So all of that stuff's all of that stuff's happening. And then if you're, if you're trying to balance that at the same time, when you're coming into a place that's really crazy, because you may, if you, especially if it's like a scale up, right? You may have all of this tribal knowledge, right, that you're trying to deal with. You have people that have been siloed. And then if you don't deal with that in an effective way, you're, you're really going to be hurting it. So if you don't have frameworks, for example, you don't have models for people to be successful, you don't you're not promoting, you know, cross functional stuff in the way that you should be. You know that all that all goes away. The Tribal, the tribal stuff, right? Is probably the hardest to deal with, because if you haven't recorded those processes and everything, or come out with something that that works cross functionally, you end up with really, and we've seen it this past week or two, right? Just campaigns that don't even make sense, stuff that doesn't even connect. Because you you have to deal with that when you come into companies now. So yeah, that's what I'm seeing, yeah, yeah. And I feel like a lot of people that we talk to, things are so siloed, and we kind of come in, you know, and we're just kind of like, okay, everything needs to be integrated, because they have the ad messaging isn't speaking to, you know, what's being written for Thought Leadership isn't speaking to, like, what's over here? What are the sales people say everything's like, all over the place, and they feel like that's status quo for a lot of organizations. And it's like, how to bring it all together. So it's all kind of like walking in lockstep toward the same goals. Well, it's a symptom of of the way that we view leadership now too, right? Like, if you, if you're only there for a year as a marketing leader, you're only there for two years, maybe as a marketing leader, how can you create any solid, consistent messaging, any any thematic things that you want to use for your team? You end up being a service arm. You end up being reactionary most of the time, right? And if your playbook is, you just come in, I'm going to do a website. Well, that may work the first couple times, but where it gets around, you know, so you have to be able to, I think, I think you have to be able to, to address all of this so, and that's, that's, honestly, that's where, where we come in, we help, help people, right, especially the CMOS, or, you know, similar executive teams and just kick start a lot of that, a lot of that framework and all of that work that will power, you know, them going forward, and help them mitigate some of that. So, yeah, one of the first questions I love to ask, well, I have many that I love to ask, but one of the first ones I love to ask, just to get to the heart of messaging, is, Where can I find your messaging? I can't count the number of times. I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I walked into an organization. And this is regardless of their age. This five year old companies, five month old companies, they don't have their messaging written down in one place. And one of the dangers of that, and I know Erin, you felt it, and I know Chris you felt it, is if it isn't written in one place, you don't have a single source of truth, how are you enabling your agencies, your partners, your employees, your your your your market facing people to sing from the same page, to have a consistent message. And I know Aaron, it's a it's a pet peeve of yours, because it's really, really hard to spin up content without some value. Foundational docs. And, you know, Chris, I know in previous lives, when we've worked together, we've seen We've seen it where the journey on, say, the ads on the digital front, doesn't match the final destination, which is the landing page of the homepage, and is has nothing to do with what sales is saying and is completely antithetical to what the founders are saying. So all these disjointed stories, I think, speak to what Aaron was saying earlier, which is like, if it's all in a silo, and your organization isn't really optimized to work together and sort of go from it go for a single source of truth, and your leadership isn't there long enough to kind of get your arms around it, you can end up with just, you know, what we call the random acts of marketing, where you've got campaign here and ad there a great idea that someone has executed there. You hit the jackpot in one place, but you can't really speak to what works, because trying to optimize for all of that, or even wrap your arms around all of that, is it's, it's next to impossible. Yeah, very true. That's so true. And so we're so excited to bring this free resource to everybody. So because we're out there in the trenches, in the front lines every day, working with a variety of different organizations, a variety of sizes, from scale ups to startups, enterprise like we're dealing with it all, and so we're so excited to share with you guys are learning so that can help support you. And like we said, we'll have you know guest speakers on as well that can like, share their insights. So in addition to like what we offer as a company, we're so excited to bring like, this kind of free resource alongside, and we love to hear from you as to like what you would love us to cover right like, what? What obstacles are you running into that we can help support. So we encourage you to continue to tune in as we get this this puppy started, and we'll be distributing it on all the major podcast distribution arms as well, so you can find us anywhere podcasts are available, so again, thanks for tuning in, and let's see where this rocket ship goes. So excited. You.