Devin Bramhall

Co-host: Don't Say Content. Marketing Advisor. Agency Growth Strategist. Former CEO of Animalz.

Your CEO doesn't hate marketing. They hate that you can't prove that it works.

I know because I've been the marketer pitching brilliant strategies that get shelved and the CEO wondering why marketing feels like an expensive black box.

After 15+ years building content strategies as a marketer and tripling Animalz to nearly $12M ARR as CEO, I realized the real problem:

We're optimizing for activities instead of outcomes. Checking boxes instead of driving growth.

The dirty secret? Most "content marketing strategies" are just glorified to-do lists.

My book "B2B Content Marketing Strategy" shows why "do more marketing" is killing growth and what to do instead.

Now I help companies stop doing marketing and start growing businesses as a fractional Chief Growth Officer.

If you're tired of: 
→ Defending your work instead of leading with it 
→ Following frameworks that feel like busy work 
→ Watching brilliant ideas die in committee

You're in the right place.

I help marketers ask better questions. Not “what content do we need?” but “what does the business need to grow?'"

Get weekly no-BS takes on growth: devinbramhall.com/newsletter

Chief Executive Officer

So why am I starting a newsletter when there are already ten thousand marketing newsletters? Fair question.

I got tired of having the same conversation in private that nobody's having in public.

Every week, I sit with marketing leaders who are smart, capable, doing everything right on paper, and still getting crushed. Because the company around them is broken in ways nobody talks about.

The CEO who says "I trust you" and then rewrites your strategy in a board meeting. The founder who hired you to lead marketing but won't let you make a single decision without their sign-off. The reorg that has nothing to do with performance and everything to do with politics.

I hear these stories constantly. From my advisory clients. From my coaching sessions. From people in my comments and DMs who just need someone to say "no, you're not crazy."

So why is everyone learning this stuff alone?

I've also been the CEO. I have been the person making the calls that marketers complain about, and I've been the marketer complaining. I know what both sides are thinking because I've been both sides.

That's what Good Question is. 

I take real stories, real situations, change the names, and break down what actually happened. The human problem. The politics, the miscommunication, the thing nobody in the room said out loud.

Get my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ehqXFYNB

First edition arriving in your inbox soon.

Chief Growth Officer [Fractional]. Author: “B2B Content Marketing Strategy” out now on Amazon

I’ve been a CEO. I’ve also advised dozens. And I can tell you... 

I've watched the same person look at the same marketing report on a Monday and love it. 

Then Wednesday? "I don't know why you're showing me this."

Same numbers. Same deck. The CEO had a different week.

And like, that's not a criticism. That's just the job. Being a CEO means you're thinking about 500 things in the next half hour. Your marketing report is maybe thing #387.

So my PR team sends me this question...
"What's the best ROI metric marketers should track in 2026?"

And I wrote this very long answer that was basically me being like, this is the stupidest question I've ever heard. It depends on the industry, the company, the CEO's literal individual personality. (I was nicer about it. Slightly.)

Because every CEO is different. Every person you report to is different. And what I keep trying to tell people is, your job isn't to prove marketing works with the perfect dashboard.

Your job as a marketing leader is to figure out what story your CEO will hear, what they'll say yes to, and what they can go brag about.

Like, give your CEO one killer data point the week before they go to a big dinner or conference. Something specific. Something they can drop in conversation. They'll tell you they don't care about vanity metrics, but THEY DO. They love those bragging rights. They just don't want to see the whole spreadsheet.

And get other people on the team whispering in their ear. Multiple people. So the CEO's hearing it from everywhere.

That's when you start actually making an impact. When your CEO looks good and lets you keep doing the work you know is right.

We keep debating metrics like there's a universal answer. There isn't. There's a human sitting across from you. Speak to them.

Anyway... I got into this more with Ross Hudgens on his podcast. 

Link in comments if you want the full rant.

Speak their language

I'm attending the CMO Alliance Summit in NYC this March.

85+ CMOs and marketing leaders in a closed, peer-focused environment. We're digging into why CEOs don't trust marketing by default, what actually earns that trust, and how you shift from defending your work to owning business outcomes.

If you want to build real trust with your CEO, this is worth your time.

It's invitation-only. DM me for an invite.

Shoutout to the CMO Alliance

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Everyone says the best marketers think like CEOs.

I've been both. They're wrong.

When I first started sitting in exec meetings, I was so focused on proving I was smart I missed every signal in the room. What the CEO actually cared about. Why they were pushing back. Gone.

That was the whole mistake.

I didn't need to think like a CEO.
I needed to pay attention like a marketer.

The CEO is an audience.
The CFO is an audience.
The annoying executive who suddenly has very strong opinions about marketing is definitely an audience.

You do not win those people over by becoming them.

You win them over the same way marketing works anywhere else. Study what they care about. Figure out why your pitch isn't landing. Then run a campaign on them like the marketer you are.

That is the job.

Talked about this Jordan Ogren on the On Marketing podcast and honestly went off more than I planned. If you want the full rant, link's in the comments.

So CEO buy-in is my thing now. 

I didn't pick it. I honestly kind of stumbled into it.

When Margaret Kelsey and I were doing our podcast Don't Say Content, we started talking about the disconnect between CEOs and marketing. 

First time we talked about how companies fail when the CEO and the GTM org aren't even speaking the same language? 

It was our best episode. By whatever the podcast metrics are. So we tried it again, slightly different angle. Same result.

And I was like OK that's interesting.

Then I started looking at my LinkedIn posts differently. I started paying attention to saves. Sends. Shares. Those are completely different-level signals than someone hitting the like button.

And what I care about the most is where people are deeply engaged. Where I see a real problem to be solved. And it was THIS topic.

But I didn't just go all in on this immediately. 

I spent years kind of figuring out what mattered within it. Testing it. Narrowing. What specifically about CEO buy-in? Which part of that conversation? What's the thing marketing leaders actually need?

And this is the part nobody wants to hear because it doesn't come with a template. You need to stop looking for proof. Stop asking for feedback. Stop looking at what your friends are doing.

What you need to do is think for yourself. Come up with an idea. Have enough leading indicators that it could work. Then go put together logical experiments to see if it will.

That's it. That's the whole strategy. Follow signals. Test. Narrow. Commit.

Nobody gave me permission to go all in on CEO buy-in. I just followed enough signals that I trusted myself to try.

Ross Hudgens and I talked about this, the whole thing about why nobody wants to hear "think for yourself" as strategy advice.

It's a good conversation if you're in this headspace right now. I'll link it below.

𝘖𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Happy snow day to all those who celebrate.

Juliana Casale

Building a Beverage Brand

Hi! I’m the founder of Balloon, a Toronto-based sparkling water brand that I launched in October of 2023.

I’m having a blast figuring out how the CPG space works. Even if the brand flops, I am learning so much along the way.

One day I would love to work on the fizz biz full time, but I have a ways to go before I can give myself a paycheck so I’m a copywriter/content marketer by day 😁.

Okay, back to the career stuff:

Once upon a time in Arlington, Massachusetts, a little girl dreamed of becoming a marketing thought leader.

Hahaha. Can you imagine? No, I wanted to be a bridal shop owner.

Like many people, I stumbled into marketing early in my career. It’s a hard gig for many reasons, but I keep doing it because it’s about people - who they are, what they think, what they need and how to give it to them. 

Marketing is also about words, and as an English major I am really into those. 

If you’re looking for someone who can growth hack, eat spreadsheets for breakfast and gain your business thousands of followers in a month, you are reading the wrong profile. 

I have 13+ years of experience working across a variety of marketing platforms with a focus on boosting site traffic organically, leading visitors down the sales funnel in a thoughtful way, creating optimized (but human-friendly) content, and maximizing retention opportunities through product marketing. 

I'm laser focused on the customer experience, dedicated to building mutually beneficial relationships between sales, product, partnerships and customer success - and I know how to get shit done. 

Skills: 

- Marketing strategy
- Copywriting (case studies, newsletters, blog posts, interviews)
- Content promotion (social media, email)
- Sales enablement (acquisition and retention/upselling)
- Co-marketing + business development
- Building customer communities
- Event management
- Social media
- Video production
- Creative direction
- Website design 
- CRO

Public speaking:

- Guest speaker at Woodbury University's Coms 360 Media Professions class, September 2021 

- Member of Shine Speaker Bootcamp class of September 2019; see attached video

- “Customer-Centric Marketing Campaign Design” MBA guest speaker at Babson and social media/content marketing at Fisher College, both in October 2018

- Guest speaker on digital media at Emerson, April 2018 

- Guest speaker on adtech at Northeastern, October 2016

Freelance Writer

I’m baaaaaack.

Okay so, here’s what happened:

FRIDAY

- Woke up at 5 am to fly out to Van for the Canadian Health Food Association trade show
- Spent the afternoon unpacking boxes and setting up my booth 
- Found out 1/4 of my cans had exploded or lost carbonation in transit due to packing error
- Started putting adhesive logo stickers on the disco ball cups but rapidly realized I didn’t have the energy and made it a future me problem 
- Grabbed a quick dinner, hit two mixers then passed the eff out

SATURDAY

- Woke up at 7:30 to grab ice for my cooler and a Snickers for breakfast, finish booth setup and join LCG Foods Distribution’s 
briefing on show protocol 
- Joined by my first ever paid booth helper (Lu) at 1, which, thank god because:
- I was absolutely slammed all day, didn’t have time to finish the disco ball sticker application before happy hour started at 2 😅
- Went ham on cup dispersion until they were all gone
- Wrapped up the show day, grabbed some pizza and headed out to Fairgrounds for pickleball like an absolute lunatic. Had THE best time.

SUNDAY

- Back to the show in the am, breakfast sandwich in hand
- Booth was so busy it took me an hour and a half to finish it  
- Got help from my wonderful friend Hilary Kilgour; she and Lu tag teamed so I could take some personal time to bop around and visit founder friends 
- Hurried back when Hilary texted me that Choices was at the booth and wanted to meet me
- Wrapped up the show day and had a celebratory sushi dinner

MONDAY

- Flew back to Toronto, landed late at night

TUESDAY

- Cold plunge with a friend to debrief on everything that happened

TODAY

- Currently in an Uber on my way to Shopify’s Toronto office for a merchant workshop bc I don’t know when to stop ;) 

In a nutshell: 

The show in Van was incredible, SO glad I signed on last minute. It was fully worth the investment, and I haven’t even followed up with any of my leads yet.

🪩🎈🚀

"Wanna try some dysfunctional sparkling water?"

It took some time to test out what worked, but I finally nailed the opening line that got peoples' attention at the Canadian Health Food Association show. 

After hours of sampling snacks/drinks with prebiotics, fiber, and protein in them, attendees would turn me down when I offered samples, thinking my drink was also functional. 

So I let them know the Balloon 🎈booth was a safe space ;). It got a laugh and it got them sipping. 

As for how the show went overall.... whew. 

I signed up for it 4 weeks out and went through a mad scramble to get my cans freighted, forms signed, badges registered, booth help secured, marketing materials printed. 

I was sweating the weather leading up to it, convinced there'd be an ice or snow storm that would prevent me from flying across the country. 

But I made it. My stuff made it. A bunch of cans exploded in transit due to packing error but, I had enough to pour and give away. 

The booth happy hour couldn't have gone better. 

A few people showed up at 2 pm to grab a Balloon branded disco ball cup, then the people with the cups were asked where they got them, then more attendees were walking around with them, and suddenly it was a topic of conversation in the womens' bathroom and we ran out.  

This is going to be a two-part recap because I have a LOT to say. 

First and foremost....

To LCG Foods Distribution, my brand-new, first-ever distributor: 

I cannot thank you enough for taking a chance on an unknown, early stage beverage brand. I've learned a ton about CPG since I launched in 2024, but there's still an intense amount of stuff I don't know (yet). 

Kent Lin - every time I've emailed you a question I've been so grateful for your patience and thoughtful guidance. 

Barron Lau - you were an absolute champ in getting everything organized for the weekend. 

After chasing retailers down at shows for two years, having the team bring them to me (and feed me lunch!) felt downright luxurious. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

To The SEED Agency, my brand-new, first-ever staffing partner:

I'm obsessed with the brand ambassador you lent me for the weekend. 

Lu was everything I could have asked for and more - calm, professional, with an insane work ethic, and a wonderful sense of humor. 

I am immensely grateful for her help (s/o to co-helper Hilary Kilgour!), which allowed me to eat the aforementioned lunch, listen to people talk about my disco balls in the bathroom and visit my friends at their booths. 

I can't wait to work with you again!

To Karen Sargan and Samantha Piechota:

I used to watch other founders chat with buyers like they were friends, and wonder how that happened - now I know. 

Thank you for stopping by the booth, and for your support of Balloon; it means the world and I can't wait to see it on your shelves (virtual and IRL!). 

I've exceeded the maximum character limit, so I'll save more pics & stories for tomorrow. What an EPIC weekend.

Prep for trade show. Prep for family trip. Prep for next two consumer shows. Send outreach to sales leads from trade show. Kick off Venturepark cohort. 

It’s been an insane end of February/start to March. 

I typically unplug when I’m on vacation (particularly if I’ve been feeling overwhelmed), but with so many deadline-driven tasks to complete for Balloon 🎈 this week it just wasn’t possible.

Recognizing that work/life will rarely balance and that it’s all ebbs and flows (like the tides, someone with a poetic mind might say) has helped me give myself grace while sending retailers follow-ups from the beach. 

FWIW, I am feeling much better than I did last Thursday🧘‍♀️.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from working at early stage startups my whole career, it’s that burning the candle at both ends for a sustained period of time can put you dangerously close to burnout.

I like to pretend I’m still in my 20s, but the hard truth is I’m 42, with two small kids and freelance clients to report to. 

For the past two years I’ve been able to keep up the juggling act with room left to take a breather, but as Balloon 🎈 scales bigger (and faster!) it seems like lately every task is time sensitive and there aren’t enough hours in the day to get them done.

After 4 weeks of sprinting to get ready for CHFA, running at full speed during the show and then trying to follow up with retailers while onboarding to the VenturePark cohort, QAing a site redesign and prepping for a family vacation,* I found myself starting to melt down.

The signs:

- Spiraling over small things like not finding my son a pink shirt in time for pink shirt day at school

- Avoiding phone calls and texts 

- Feeling rundown and frazzled 

- Reaching for comfort movies (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is my go-to)

To pull myself out of the nosedive and get out of fight or flight mode I delegated travel tasks to my husband, booked a therapy appointment, did a cold plunge with a friend, popped a couple weed gummies and took myself out for tacos (not all in one day 😉).

Am I still feeling stressed? Yep.

Will travel help? Here’s hoping!

*typically, trips involving our 5 yo and 2.5 yo are not what one would deem “relaxing”

I’m running an International Women’s Day giveaway on Balloon 🎈’s IG page!

Enter to win $250+ worth of products made by female founders in Canada (Cheryl Sutherland, Karen Danudjaja, Jenny Yue, Caroline Dai, Alannah Smith🍌, just to name a few!) 

You have until Monday to take a chance at the prize pack; best of luck 💅

(See comment section for link to enter).

#iwd2026

Founder friends: 

If I were to teach a free online class about getting better at posting on LinkedIn, would you be into that?

Here’s what I’m thinking in terms of agenda:

- How to get over blinking cursor paralysis
- How to make it a habit
- What to write about
- How to write it
- Best practices*/tips based on analytics
- Live Q&A

Please drop a comment with any other related topics you’d want me to cover 😎

If there’s enough interest I’ll run a poll to figure out the best day/time for the most amount of people to attend virtually and we’ll go from there. 

*ex: always add an image or video before publishing! People on the internet like animals!

I’ve been feeling super overwhelmed lately. Stretched thin, skipping lunch, don’t know what day it is kinda stuff.

There’s a TON of exciting stuff happening behind the scenes of Balloon 🎈.

Everything feels on fire, time sensitive. 

It’s too much for me to handle by myself, but I can’t afford to hire help; I also don’t have time to apply for grants (even with a grant writer there’s a bunch of upfront work involved) or the bandwidth to onboard/manage anyone. 

When things get like this I try hard to double down on the good stuff:

- Catch-up calls/coffee/tacos with friends
- Cold plunges
- Buy a new bath product
- Look at or do things that make me laugh* 
- Talk to another founder who gets it 
- Take advantage of making my own hours

This is one of those crazy growth phases, but I refuse to go crazy because of it ;)

*this inexplicable peach butt dessert always cracks me up

FUN FACT! 

When I am not:

A. Parenting my two kids
B. Running Balloon 🎈 
C. Helping Coldsmoke - Shopify Premier Partner with their marketing 

I am:

D. Writing copy for a twirly dress brand (including naming fabric swatches!).
 
I used to dream about naming nail polish colors as a job when I was a tween.

This is close enough - and yes, just as fun as it sounded back then😍

Still pinching myself that I get to be part of Arlene Dickinson’s accelerator program.

Welcome Juliana Casale  and Balloon 🎈 to Cohort 21! Founded as a passion project between tech jobs, Balloon Water is a sparkling water brand built to fill a real gap in the market — offering something between zero-sugar seltzers and full-calorie sodas, without alternative sweeteners or "better for you" additives. Leaning into nostalgic flavours and a bold, fun colour palette, Juliana has spent three years building Balloon with the energy and curiosity of someone who fell in love with CPG along the way.

Now in year three, she joined Venturepark to access the industry expertise, frameworks, and community that can make a real difference at this stage of growth without taking any equity. Welcome to Cohort 21!

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The Battle

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Juliana Casale

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The Battle

Devin Bramhall

Juliana Casale

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Devin Bramhall's LinkedIn Performance

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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

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