Generic GTM is dead → Go to my featured section for actionable GTM insights and elevate your marketing game 🔥| Co-Founder of TACK | Creating the category of People-first GTM 👥| 13+ Years in B2B Marketing 📈

I help B2B companies build go-to-market strategies that prioritize real connection because relationships, not just reach, drive growth.

After 14 years in B2B marketing, I’ve led field marketing, demand gen, community, and influencer programs. I know what works, what doesn’t, and what’s changed.

Too many companies still treat buyers like leads. That’s not how modern GTM works.

I’ve helped 35+ B2B brands shift from transactional tactics to connection-driven growth, building scalable strategies, launching communities, running 30+ webinars, and rolling out on-demand models that replaced bloated in-house teams.

Today, I work directly with brands, founders, and marketers to build go-to-market engines that scale—without the spam.

What I do:
→ Build integrated campaign strategies that drive pipeline
→ Coach creators and brands on influencer marketing
→ Design community-led and field programs that actually work
→ Speak on GTM, content, and creator-led growth
→ Act as a fractional marketing leader or advisor

📚 Author of B2B Influencer Marketing: Work With Creators to Generate Authentic and Effective Marketing (Kogan Page, 2025)

👋 Let’s work together: DM me or visit https://linktr.ee/NickBMarketing

Nick Bennett

I wasn't a brand marketer.

I was the "pipeline now" guy. The "just get meetings" guy. The "who cares about brand when we need revenue" guy.

Then I watched the same movie play out at company after company.

10 things I learned the hard way about brand in B2B:

1. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗗𝗥 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟮𝟬𝟬 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝘅. You're literally paying for invisibility. In time. In burnout. In missed quota.

2. "𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱." I've heard this from every CEO. It's like saying "let me drown first, then I'll learn to swim."

3. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴? They're not better. They're just... known. Familiarity beats features every damn time.

4. "𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗴𝗲." No, they just have no idea who you are. There's a difference between a bad lead and a cold lead. Brand warms them up before sales even talks to them.

5. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀. That competitor who's been blogging for 3 years while you were "waiting for budget"? Yeah, good luck catching up now.

6. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱. It's underspending. Ask me how I know. Actually don't. It still hurts.

7. 𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮𝟰 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝟲. Same close rate. Only difference? People had heard of us. That's 18 touches your SDRs don't have to make.

8. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗔𝗖 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸. But nobody wants to hear that in a board meeting when pipeline is down 40%.

9. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱: "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗔𝗖 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽?" Also every board: "Cut brand spending, we need pipeline now." Make it make sense.

10. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗳𝗳𝘆 𝗕𝗦. It's the difference between cold calling 100 people and having 10 people call you.

If I could go back and slap 2010 me:

Start content on day one. Not after product-market fit. Not after Series A. Day. Freaking. One.

Put 30% into brand even when it hurts. ESPECIALLY when it hurts.

Stop measuring brand impact at 30 days. That's like planting seeds and digging them up next week to see if they grew.

Document everything. Share the ugly parts. Be known for something before you try to sell something.

The brutal truth?

While you're in another meeting debating whether brand is "worth it," your competitor just became the default choice in your prospect's mind.

And once they own that mental real estate?

Your 10% better features mean exactly nothing.

15+ Year B2B Marketing Leader Turned Founder | ABM, Field Marketing & Events, Influencer Marketing & More | DM Me to Learn More

After working with 35+ B2B brands in 3 years, here's what's actually going to matter in 2026.

Not predictions. Not hot takes. Just patterns I keep seeing with companies that are winning right now.

𝟭. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗕𝗠 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀.

Every company says they do ABM. Maybe 10% actually do it right.

The difference? They pick 25-50 accounts MAX. They know the actual humans involved. They create experiences, not campaigns.

One client went from 500 target accounts to 30. Pipeline went up 3x.

𝟮. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.

The companies growing fastest? They're not doing it alone.

Customer co-marketing. Influencer partnerships. Integration partners running your events. One customer selling to another customer.

Solo marketing is dead. Everything is partnerships now.

𝟯. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 + 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

Stop arguing about brand vs performance. You need both.

The winning formula I'm seeing: 30% brand, 70% demand. But that 30% makes the 70% work 10x better.

We went from 24 touches to 6 at one company. Just because people knew who they were.

𝟰. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰.

The 500-person conference still exists. But the ROI is in the 8-person dinner.

VIP experiences. Executive roundtables. Customer advisory boards. Micro-events in tier 2 cities.

Quality > Quantity. Every single time.

𝟱. 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Not just case studies. Not just referrals.

Customers creating content. Running webinars. Speaking at your events. Closing deals for you.

The best GTM teams are turning customers into an extension of their team.

𝟲. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹.

Not because of AI. Because CFOs are done with 120+ tools.

The companies winning? They have maybe 15-20 core tools. Everything else is noise.

Pick platforms, not point solutions.

𝟳. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆.

Your buyers are people with actual problems, actual budgets, and actual bosses breathing down their necks.

Talk to them like humans. Solve real problems. Make their lives easier.

The companies that remember this are the ones still growing.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵?

None of this is revolutionary. It's just hard to execute.

But after 15+ years in B2B, I can tell you:

The basics done well beat innovation done poorly. Every time.

Anything you disagree with on the list?

Nobody talks about the hardest part of internal marketing.

Getting your own team to actually give a shit.

I've watched brilliant campaigns die because sales didn't get it. Product roadmaps derail because engineering thought marketing was just making things pretty. Budgets vanish because finance saw us as a cost center.

Know what actually works? Stop trying to convince everyone. Start making them part of it.

Here's how I rally stakeholders without the corporate theater:

1. Anchor on one outcome, not 47 metrics

This campaign creates 30 meetings by March 31st.

Not impressions. Not MQLs. One number everyone understands.

2. Make ownership embarrassingly clear

Sarah owns email. Tom owns landing page. Mike owns enablement.

No we'll figure it out together BS. You own it or you don't.

3. Translate, don't escalate

Sales: This gets you 30 meetings
Finance: $50K investment, $500K return
Product: Positions feature X as differentiator

Same campaign. Three languages. Zero confusion.

4. Kill the weekly status meeting

Monday Slack update. Three bullets:
✅ On track
⚠️ At risk (why)
🔴 Blocked (need X)

2 minutes to read. No calendar invites.

5. Make fast decisions when shit gets messy

Sales wants A. Product wants B. Here's the tradeoff. I recommend A. Deciding by 3pm.

No committee. Just clarity.

6. One doc to rule them all

Not 14 decks. One living document:
Goal. Owners. Timeline. Status.

7. Bring sales in before you build

What would make this actually useful?

They shape it = They sell it.
They're surprised = They sabotage it.

8. Share wins like your job depends on it

That campaign? 12 meetings. $2M pipeline. Here's what worked.

Public wins create believers.

The brutal truth?

Your stakeholders don't care about your marketing strategy. They care about their problems.

Show them how you solve THEIR problems, and they'll fight for your budget.

Show them another PowerPoint, and they'll find reasons to say no.

I spent years trying to educate stakeholders about marketing.

Now I just show them what's in it for them.

Works every damn time.

LinkedIn's year in review was like getting a participation trophy from your kid's soccer league.

Congrats! You existed on our platform!

Meanwhile, ŌURA just dropped me 18 shots of actual data. Not 3. Not 5. EIGHTEEN. 

242,792 steps. 131 crowns. Sleep scores. Recovery trends. Stress patterns over time. And that's just what I could screenshot before my thumb got tired.

The kind of data that makes you go holy shit, I did that?

Not you posted 47 times or whatever vanilla metric LinkedIn thinks matters.

Here's what kills me about year in reviews:

Most companies treat them like automated birthday cards.

Generic. Forgettable. Zero emotional connection.

But when you show me I walked the equivalent of Boston to Philly and back? That I earned 131 daily crowns for hitting my goals? That my sleep improved when I started that evening routine?

That's not a recap. That's a mirror.

The companies that get this right understand something simple:

Data without context is just numbers.
Data with YOUR context is a story.

Spotify doesn't just say you listened to music. They show you discovered 847 new artists and played that one embarrassing song 97 times at 2am.

Strava doesn't say you exercised. They show you climbed the equivalent of Everest twice.

Oura doesn't say you wore a ring. They show you exactly how your body responded to every decision you made this year.

Why this matters for every company:

Your customers are doing incredible things with your product. But you're sending them PDFs that say thanks for being a customer.

Show them their journey. Their growth. Their wins they didn't even know were wins.

Make them feel something about their own progress.

4 years as an Oura customer (not sponsored but seriously, Oura, let's talk 👀) and this is the first year in review that made me actually proud of data.

Not because the numbers were good.

Because they told MY story.

Your move, LinkedIn. Maybe next year show me which posts actually moved someone's career forward instead of you got 73 reactions.

Until then, I'll be over here staring at my 242,792 steps wondering how my knees still work.

What's the best year in review you've gotten? The one that actually made you feel something?

Ashley Amber Sava

Manychat

I write because I’m convinced most messaging needs a serious attitude adjustment. At Manychat, I don’t do predictable. I don’t do “safe.” My job is to bring life, personality and chaos to words that wouldn’t dare sound human on their own.

No templates. No polished nonsense. Just raw, unhinged creativity and a relentless quest to make writing feel alive—whether that means a bit weird, a little rebellious or just too real for comfort.

I break the rules. And I’ve yet to look back.

Senior Writer

Content Storytelling and Consulting

Welcome to the disruption zone—where content, communications and culture collide. You’re not here for a shiny facade—you crave authenticity, engagement and a story that’s raw and real. Forget corporate jargon and empty promises. This is where we dig deep, unearth truths and craft vibrant messages—because settling for mediocrity? Not an option.

What’s on the Menu?

Content Culture Alchemy: Transform your first content hire into a powerhouse. I’ll create the perfect job description, seamlessly integrate into your hiring process and lay down a roadmap for success from day one. Every great story needs a killer opening line.

Interview-Led Insight Crafting: Tap into the minds of industry titans. I’ll turn insider knowledge into compelling narratives that elevate your brand and drive authority.

Cutthroat Editing: Your story deserves to shine. From blogs to case studies, I’ll sharpen your narratives, ensuring your voice cuts through the noise.

Ghostwriting for Titans: CEOs and entrepreneurs, your time is money. Hand over your thoughts, and I’ll transform them into thought leadership pieces that resonate.

Dynamic Employee Onboarding: From the moment the ink dries on an offer letter, let’s create an onboarding experience that makes new hires feel like they’ve joined a movement.

Culture Playbook Creation: Say goodbye to dry employee handbooks. We’re crafting living documents that reveal your true culture through candid insights.

Executive Comms Warfare: Leaders, master the art of feedback and foster a culture of empathy. I’ll equip you to turn tough conversations into powerful growth opportunities.

Engagement Ecosystem Revamp: Dive deep into your internal communication and emerge with a revitalized strategy that ensures every voice is heard.

Employee Communications & Content Storytelling Expert

Alight Solutions

By crafting and executing a robust content strategy meticulously aligned with our company's overarching objectives, I achieved remarkable results in enhancing brand awareness and engagement while leading content at Alight. 

One of my key achievements was optimizing our content creation process. Through strategic adjustments and workflow enhancements, we slashed production times while elevating the caliber of our output. This not only bolstered efficiency but ensured that each piece of content resonated deeply with our target audience.

I led initiatives to establish thought leadership and authority in our industry through impactful content. By leveraging subject matter experts and thought leaders, we created compelling thought leadership pieces that positioned our brand as a trusted advisor and industry influencer.

Beyond metrics and numbers, my role extended to fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration within our team. By championing creativity and emphasizing strategic alignment with company goals, we cultivated a team environment that consistently delivered.

Director of Content Strategy

Unpopular Opinion Podcast

Unpopular Opinion is a podcast for professionals from all walks of life who want to hear the success stories of innovators who’ve won by taking the path less traveled. In each episode, recovering journalist and content marketer Ashley Amber Sava interviews individuals who have prospered thanks to their GENUINELY unpopular opinions, despite warnings from the naysayers, threats to their careers, and colossal obstacles. 

All rebels are welcome.

Audience Ops produces the show! If you're a professional looking to launch a podcast like this one, visit https://audienceops.com/unpopular-opinion/

Host

Rolebot | AI-powered Job Board for Passive Talent

As the steward of all marketing content initiatives at Rolebot, I wielded a strategic vision to elevate community engagement, fortify brand awareness and drive impactful sales outcomes across diverse platforms and formats. Embedded within the senior executive leadership team and reporting to the CEO and Founder, I ensured that every piece of content—from internal communications to external campaigns—resonated with our brand ethos and seamlessly aligned with organizational objectives.

I meticulously crafted a unified brand narrative that spoke volumes across online, social media, email, point of purchase, mobile and video channels. Each piece of content was not merely created but  optimized for both search engines and user experience, ensuring maximum reach and resonance.

In addition to driving day-to-day content operations, I architected a robust content strategy that harmonized with broader marketing initiatives, fostering both short-term impact and long-term growth. This strategy was not static but evolved through agile methodologies, continuously adapting to market dynamics and customer insights.

At the helm, I led a talented team of designers and strategists, empowering them to translate creative visions into compelling realities. 

My impact extended beyond creation to establishing standards, systems and best practices for content creation, distribution, maintenance and repurposing. I streamlined workflows—from content inception to retirement—ensuring efficiency and consistency while maintaining a relentless focus on quality and brand integrity.

By aligning creativity with strategic foresight, I not only fortified Rolebot's market position but also cultivated a vibrant community of engaged stakeholders who resonated deeply with our brand's narrative and mission.

Head Of Content, Director of Marketing

Pushnami

I was responsible for the development, execution and delivery of Pushnami's editorial content that connects with customers, employees, thought leaders and prospects.

As the very first content hire, I played a pivotal role in shaping our brand's narrative and amplifying our market presence through strategic content initiatives. 

I crafted a cohesive content strategy that seamlessly integrated with our overall marketing objectives. By conducting in-depth market research and audience analysis, I identified key opportunities and developed content plans that resonated with our target demographic.

One of my significant achievements was optimizing our editorial calendar and content workflows. Through meticulous planning and process refinement, I ensured timely and high-quality content delivery across multiple platforms. This streamlined approach enhanced productivity and yielded consistency in our messaging and brand voice.

In collaboration with cross-functional teams, I spearheaded the creation of compelling content assets. From blog posts and case studies to whitepapers and social media content, each piece was meticulously crafted to engage our audience and drive meaningful interactions.

I implemented robust editorial standards and quality assurance processes to uphold content excellence. By fostering a culture of creativity and attention to detail within my team, I elevated the caliber of our content while adhering to brand guidelines and SEO best practices.

Beyond content creation, I leveraged data-driven insights to measure content performance and optimize our strategies. Utilizing analytics tools, I monitored engagement metrics, conversion rates, and audience feedback to continuously iterate and improve our content approach.

Through strategic partnerships, guest contributions and expert interviews, I positioned our brand as a trusted industry voice, driving thought-provoking discussions and building credibility within our niche.

Content and Editorial Manager

As the very first content hire, I built content into the culture of the company. 

I established editorial style guidelines, maintained content calendars, built a social media following and helped put the Pushnami name on the map. 

I championed cross-functional collaboration and knowledge-sharing initiatives. By fostering open communication and collaboration with sales, product and CS teams, I ensured alignment in messaging and campaign execution, ultimately driving unified brand storytelling and customer engagement.

Content Marketing Manager

Tethr

As the inaugural content marketing manager at Tethr, I spearheaded the development and execution of our content strategy from the ground up. Embracing the challenge of establishing a robust online presence, I began by immersing myself in understanding our brand's voice, market positioning and audience personas.

I conducted a comprehensive audit of existing content assets and market landscape. This assessment provided valuable insights into our strengths, weaknesses and untapped opportunities. Armed with this knowledge, I crafted a strategic content roadmap aligned with our business objectives and customer needs.

Collaborating closely with cross-functional teams, I championed the creation of compelling content across various platforms. From engaging blog posts and thought leadership articles to informative guides and social media hits, each piece was meticulously crafted to resonate with our target audience and drive meaningful engagement.

In parallel, I implemented SEO best practices and monitored performance metrics rigorously. Leveraging analytics tools, I tracked content performance, measured key metrics such as traffic growth, engagement rates and conversion metrics, and continuously optimized our strategy to maximize ROI.

Beyond content creation, I played a pivotal role in enhancing brand visibility and thought leadership. Through community engagement initiatives, I fostered deep connections with our audience and stakeholders.

I laid the groundwork for a scalable content marketing infrastructure and cultivated a culture of creativity, collaboration and continuous improvement.

Content Marketing Lead 

Pipefy

I led a dedicated team through the intricate realm of marketing communications, ensuring every piece of content, pitch, campaign and presentation resonated with clarity and persuasion. My role encompassed overseeing the entire spectrum of verbal and written communication, from meticulously refining marketing materials to crafting compelling narratives that captured our brand essence.

Collaborating closely with each team member, I facilitated the development of cohesive marketing strategies tailored to meet our objectives and engage our target audience effectively. Whether it was aligning campaign messages with brand values or refining pitch decks for client presentations, I ensured that our messaging was not only on target but also compelling and persuasive.

I spearheaded initiatives to elevate our brand voice across various channels, enhancing our market presence and driving engagement. By harnessing the power of words, I crafted compelling content that sparked interest and fostered meaningful connections with our audience. This included everything from website copy and blog posts to social media content and email campaigns, each meticulously crafted to drive impact and deliver results.

Beyond content creation, I instituted rigorous quality standards and editorial guidelines to uphold consistency and excellence across all communications. By leveraging my expertise in storytelling and messaging, I transformed complex ideas into clear, digestible narratives that resonated with stakeholders and amplified our brand story.

Through strategic guidance, attention to detail and a passion for impactful storytelling, I empowered our team to deliver compelling marketing initiatives that made a lasting impression and drove business growth.

Head of Content, Editor & Social Media Manager

Concordia University Texas

As Concordia University Texas' dedicated content marketing lead, I held the reins on all things linguistic, weaving a narrative that resonated across digital and print landscapes. I not only managed but meticulously curated content across diverse platforms, ensuring every word echoed the university's ethos and mission with clarity and impact.

At the heart of my responsibilities was the management and cultivation of the university blog, where I crafted compelling narratives that engaged our community and showcased the spirit of Concordia. Beyond blogosphere prowess, I wielded my editorial prowess to polish and refine copy for all marketing collateral, from brochures to digital campaigns, ensuring consistency and effectiveness in every communication piece.

The heartbeat of Concordia's alumni community beat through the stories I penned for our esteemed alumni magazines, where I told stories of their life and achievements, fostering a sense of belonging and pride among our graduates. I crafted engaging content that welcomed prospective students, guided current ones and celebrated our academic achievements and community milestones.

Recognizing the need for coherence and continuity in our communications, I spearheaded the development of Concordia's inaugural content style guide, establishing clear guidelines for voice, tone and messaging across all platforms. This guide ensured brand consistency and also empowered colleagues to articulate Concordia's narrative in their respective communications confidently.

I was the go-to resource for all things editorial. Whether it was fine-tuning a angle or settling a debate over punctuation, I was the university's internal comms and content expert.

I collaborated with various departments, lending my expertise to campaign strategies that amplified our educational offerings, community initiatives and student achievements. All official external communications underwent my meticulous scrutiny.

Content Marketing Specialist, Content Lead

Hill Country News

As the Editor in Chief of the Hill Country News, I wielded a pen—or rather, a digital interface—to shape the weekly heartbeat of Cedar Park, Texas. From guiding reporters to uncover compelling stories to meticulously crafting narratives resonating with our community, I was a busy bee.

My role was not just about overseeing operations but immersing myself in the pulse of the community. From breaking news to in-depth features, every piece underwent my editorial lens, ensuring accuracy, clarity and journalistic integrity.

Beyond editorial duties, I wore multiple hats, often donning the photographer's lens to capture the essence of community events and milestones. Whether it was city council deliberations, school board meetings or town halls, I was there to document and distill the essence of local governance and civic engagement into compelling visual and written narratives.

Each issue was a testament to my meticulous attention to detail and commitment to delivering timely, relevant content that informed and connected our community.

Community engagement was at the core of my responsibilities. I crafted features and community pieces that celebrated local heroes, highlighted cultural events and showcased the diverse fabric of Cedar Park. Through storytelling, I fostered a sense of belonging and pride among our readers, reinforcing the Hill Country News as a trusted source of information and reflection of our community's vibrancy.

Through diligent reporting, thoughtful editing and creative leadership, I upheld the newspaper's mission to inform, inspire and empower our readers, making a lasting impact on the fabric of the city.

Editor In Chief

Content, Editorial & Employee Communications Leader | Recovering Journalist | Storyteller | The Editor | Unpopular Opinion Podcast Host | Incurably Cheerful

There’s a moment in every LinkedIn scroll where you feel it—a slow, gnawing nausea. It creeps in with the motivational TED Talk masquerading as a post. You know the one: a guy in an ill-fitting blazer whisper-screaming about “unlocking potential." Keep scrolling. Enter the grind-bro. Eyes bloodshot. Skin like a haunted drumhead. He’s been awake since 2:47 a.m. for...reasons. His post reads like a deranged love letter to burnout culture, all caps yelling about “discipline."

And then, the fluff prophet/AI oracle. Their face is slack, mouth twitching as they whisper, “AI is going to disrupt everything,” like a doomsday preacher on a street corner with a cardboard sign. “We’re living through the next industrial revolution,” they declare, conveniently ignoring the fact that their entire strategy is pasting ChatGPT outputs into Canva templates.

The clap emojis pile up. The buzzwords snowball. And you sit there, wondering why we're applauding this nervous breakdown.

Welcome to my profile. I don’t do that here.

Here, you’ll find stories that make you laugh, flinch, maybe even even stop mid-scroll to reread. I write to jolt you awake—not to whisper sweet nothings about KPIs. My posts are jagged, human and unapologetically real. They’ll linger like a scar you can’t stop tracing. Because that’s what good writing does—it takes your attention hostage.

I’ve been called irreverent, abrasive, “not for everyone.” I take that as a compliment. My words are a protest against the beige corporate sludge clogging up this platform. I write for the people who hate white noise, and who crave a voice that’s sharp, raw and distinctly human. My content is for those who want something real, even if it stings. If that’s you, stick around. If it’s not, go back to clapping for the guy trying to sprint through his midlife crisis.

Here’s what to expect: Stories about the absurdity of modern work culture. Rants about the dumbest trends. Tactical advice wrapped in cynicism. And maybe, just maybe, a small dose of hope—wrapped in barbed wire, because I’m not a monster.

Because while this platform loves its safe, saccharine posts about “growth” and “hustle,” I’d rather talk about the messiness of actually trying to get there. The fumbles, the failures, the outright catastrophes. It’s not pretty, but it’s honest. And honesty’s in short supply these days.

If you’re tired of scrolling through LinkedIn posts that feel like a bad infomercial for someone’s personal brand, stick around. Let’s be human, even when the algorithm begs us not to be. 

And yes, I still use em dashes. Fight me.

Head Of Content

At some point, we stopped being people and started being furniture for our phones — folded things with beating hearts, bent into human question marks, worshipping glowing rectangles like obedient livestock at an altar made of dopamine and notifications.

And it really hit me on... a Disney Cruise. 

People were not scrolling. No one purchased the internet packages. 

Phones were ornamental. Holy relics we only used long enough to freeze time in a photo and then put away like dangerous artifacts that might summon a demon if held too long.

And suddenly… humans were human again.

No one was slouched like a defeated shrimp, forehead inches from blue light. No one doom-scrolled while pretending to nod at the waiter.

Menus? You could hold them. You could spill on them. It was lovely.

People were looking at their partners and children like they actually knew them. Strangers talked to each other just because… we exist in the same physical universe.

Turns out we are significantly less monstrous without constant internet access. We enjoy each other more when we aren't sharing with the non-stop slot machine universe in their pockets.

We’ve convinced ourselves convenience = progress, but somewhere along the way convenience started chewing on our bones. And on that ship, I realized that the most luxurious thing today is being offline.

We talk about “connection” but what we’ve been doing isn’t connection. It’s worship, and we are devout little pilgrims bowing to devices that suck marrow out of our attention.

Luxury now is:
*Conversations with no silent extra "participant"
*Movie theaters where no one lights the room with a device
*Parties where nobody checks out mid-sentence to serve the online gods
*Relationships not lived through text bubbles and timestamps
*Random conversations with strangers because you were bored in line and boredom didn’t kill you
*Waiting in silence and hearing your own thoughts without catastrophizing
 *Choosing to be unreachable and not apologizing
 *Just… living without documentation, without audience, without performance

Maybe web-native, chronically connected, hyper-responsive “always on” culture has turned us into pathetic little addicts wearing productivity like a collar with our master's name etched into it.

On that cruise, the world slowed. We watched water move. We waited for sunsets. We existed without being broadcast.

We all crave creased menus. We crave eye contact. We crave being witnessed by something real instead of an algorithm measuring our usefulness.

Screens will always win when they can. They’re engineered to. But maybe we get weirdly rebellious. Maybe we choose the messy, inconvenient, beautifully analog version of being alive.

Everything “old” isn’t quaint. It’s real. The “future” we built is endlessly refreshing, and spiritually numbing — and I think we’re finally starting to gag on it.

I don’t want to scroll through life.
#ThatAshleyAmber

Content Anarchist | Recovering Journalist with a Vendetta | Writing What You’re All Too Afraid to Say | Keeping Austin Weird | LinkedIn’s Resident Menace

This year...

*Take up space
*Bite life first
*Sleep through anything you don’t respect
*Attach yourself to comfort like it’s a survival skill

Meet Thomas O'Malley, the newest member of our family. Tiny leopard. Huge opinions. Zero plans to contribute.
#ThatAshleyAmber

You won’t hear from me next week. Yes, I know, you’ve trained yourself to expect my relentless nonsense smeared all over your feed like abstract art. But I am PEACING OUT.

My husband and I are taking our daughter on a Disney Cruise over the holidays. Destination: the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. Sun. Salt. Rum. Mickey. Jasmine.

It’s tragic. The void of my content. The silence. The unbearable thought of navigating your workdays without my unhinged commentary. But try to survive it. It’ll be hard. Harsh. Maybe impossible. Especially if I'm eaten by a shark. Or dragged into the sea by Ursula, legally murdered by a contract I didn’t read. 

I could make eye contact with Captain Hook and immediately lose a hand. Maleficent could curse me for standing in the wrong line. Scar could shove me overboard. Hades would absolutely drown me and then gaslight me about it. 

Even the friendly ones are suspicious. Goofy has the energy of someone who would accidentally knock me into the ocean and then say “Gawrsh” while a shark clocks in for lunch. Minnie knows where the bodies are.

Moana would say something ominous about “the ocean choosing” and then the ocean would, in fact, choose against me.

Elsa might freeze a section of the deck just as I step on it. 

Pocahontas would say something cryptic about listening to the wind, and suddenly I’d be making a deeply wrong decision with confidence. Esmeralda would clock my chaos immediately, offer a knowing look and let the universe handle the rest.

Brace yourselves. I am officially off the grid until further notice. No internet for us!

I’ll be back. Probably. Unless I’m not.
#ThatAshleyAmber

Physically brace your meat-suits. Hold onto the armrests. Bite down on something wooden. Because we have officially entered the “let’s circle back in the new year” era… and the calendar has dragged us here by the hair.

December was your stage. You performed art. Delaying like a prodigy. Gold medal. Perfect score. Standing ovation.

But the lights are back on. The curtain is open. The audience is silent. And every single “let’s circle back after the new year” has crawled onto your lap, breathing warmly into your face.

Unfortunately, it is January 2, 2026.

Circle back, baby.
#ThatAshleyAmber

New Year’s resolutions don’t always have to be about giving things up. This year, instead of quitting bad habits (why bother?) I want to put more bizarre energy into the world like an existential sprinkler.

To start, more unhinged food decisions. Not healthier. Not better. Think midnight pickles (hey, get your mind out of the gutter!) Afternoon cereal like I’m eight. Spite-based snacks consumed specifically because I’m alive and must rebel against structure.

More theatrics in casual life. If the microwave finishes and I don’t get to it in time, I gasp like I missed a wedding vow. I LIVE this year. 

More unreasonable loyalty to extremely specific objects. This year I will have a fork I believe in.  A chosen one. A destiny fork.

More hobbies that shouldn’t coexist. Extreme People Watching but narrating it like a nature documentary inside my skull. “Here we see a man approaching the self-checkout like he believes in destiny.” Collecting deeply cursed thrift store portraits and assigning them emotional backstories they absolutely don’t deserve. Practicing recreational prophetic whispering in inappropriate contexts.

More emotional plot twists. Just mid-week quirky personality drops.
“Oh, I’m emo now.”
“Oh, I only speak in medieval metaphors today.”
“Oh, I’ve befriended three intrusive thoughts and named them.”

More nonsense. More joy that feels like it was built in a lab by mad scientists wearing pajamas. More laughing until my lungs feel like balloon animals.

I don’t want to be smaller this year. I don’t want to become calmer. I don’t want to build a gentler cage.

In summary, I'm adding:
*Weirder rituals
*Stranger joy
*Deeply unsettling whimsy

What deranged addition are you installing in your 2026 firmware?
#ThatAshleyAmber

You guys, LinkedIn has diagnosed me as a Catalyst, which explains none of my symptoms!

Their Year in Review told me all kinds of useful stuff like...
*The year I joined
*That I showed up here 344 days this year (which feels less like a flex and more like an indictment)
*That my peak posting time is before 10 a.m., which confirms I am spiritually aligned with war criminals
*That my first-ever connection was the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at Mizzou because whose first connection wasn’t a professor or another student legally required to make an account for a class rubric?

Then, this super insightful reminder that I paid for Premium. Yes. I did. And I still don’t know why. 

But apparently, as a Premium member, I “really stood out.” Premium means I am a very special hamster, running faster than the other hamsters on a wheel that doesn’t move.

I wonder how many paid customers they are going to lose who watch their Year in Review and remember they forgot to cancel...

I posted 318 times this year. Gained 10,000 followers. Used the laugh reaction the most (accurate — despair is funny). Obvs got called a Catalyst (so did everyone — Oprah voice: YOU’RE a Catalyst, YOU’RE a Catalyst). Not a cult leader, tragically. Missed opportunity. 

It told me Logan 👀 Freedman was the person I kept up with most this year, which felt accurate.

It didn't mention:
*What content actually worked
*Which posts got the most comments, shares, saves, reposts
*What my audience responds to
*What I should double down on
*What I should kill with fire

This is where I’d like to not-so-gently place LinkedIn face-down on the floor and ask: What are we doing here?? Because this platform used to be a dusty job board.

Creators turned it into:
*a social platform
* a feed
*a dopamine slot machine
*a comment coliseum

Creators are why people scroll. Creators are why ads get seen. Creators are why Premium sells. Creators are why the entire attention economy breathes. 

We are the eyeballs that pay the bills. And what do creators get in exchange? No revenue share. No creator program. No early feature access. 

We pay for Premium to access features LinkedIn should be begging us to use.

We enable their toll booth. And monetization is only one slice of this rotting pie.

The bigger issue is systemic creator neglect. We can’t:
*search posts older than a year
*categorize saved posts
*search our own high-performing comments
*see who “rang our bells”
*understand long-term content performance without squinting at crumbs

Meanwhile, the platform sends me a year-end wrap like: “Remember when you joined? ❤️”

I don’t need a montage, but I'd love some better infrastructure. 

Creators fund this place. Don't forget it. 

One day, us "Catalysts" will revolt. We’ll misuse the platform until it feels itchy.

And when the lights are on but no one’s performing, when Premium is very quiet, when the dashboards are immaculate and dead, that’s when they’ll remember.

Too late.
#ThatAshleyAmber

Your urgency is not my emergency (you left a pile of half-baked plans on my desk and now expect me to pole-vault through them naked.)

Your urgency is not my emergency (you planned poorly, I clean bodily fluids, metaphorically, off your deadlines.)

Your urgency is not my emergency (you dropped a blueprint of incompetence in my lap and I am now performing emergency brain surgery with a pencil.)

Urgency Vampire (n.): An irresponsible human that lets weeks rot in the dark while humming softly, then leap out with fangs bared, dripping panic and claiming it’s now your problem. 

You thought your inbox was safe. Silly human. The Urgency Vampire sees time as a buffet, and you are the main course. Tasks you thought were optional are now torches lighting your personal purgatory.  By the time they leave, you are answering emails with one eye sewn shut, gnawing on a conference room table like a cornered rodent and swearing allegiance to the first god that will answer.

Here’s an email template to fight back:

Subject: Containing the metastasizing emergency

Dear [Urgency Vampire’s name],

Thank you for forwarding the urgent matter. I see how it may have seemed benign from the cocoon of your week-long inaction, but it has now erupted into a full-scale hemorrhage in my domain. 

To prevent further outbreaks of spontaneous necrotic panic, future tasks must be communicated before the hour of self-immolation.

Procrastination is not a magical time machine. Delayed action cannot transmogrify into my emergency without formal ritual acknowledgment of its carnage. 

Responsibilities must be clearly delineated, so your black-molded, time-eating fungi do not infest my bloodstream again.

Failure to heed this warning may result in a polite but surgical dismemberment of your timeline in full view of leadership, HR and anyone else’s butt you are typically seen puckering up to. 

Following the white rabbit, 
The Human Who Refuses to Make Your Urgency My Emergency
#ThatAshleyAmber

You’re asking the wrong questions. You’re knocking with the wrong language. You’re scared of what would answer if you actually asked for the truth and stayed long enough to watch it crawl out.

I'm not. 

People keep asking why they feel like this: empty, twitchy, permanently on edge, as if the answer isn’t tattooed across their routines. As if scrolling until your thumbs ache doesn’t count as self-harm because it’s socially acceptable.

As if numbing out is neutral.

The truth isn’t subtle, and it isn’t polite.

And neither am I.
#ThatAshleyAmber

Okay so apparently my family and I have been wasting our lives doing literally anything else because we are CLEARLY meant to be a full-time, unionized, overly dramatic, Disney-adjacent acting troupe.

We have range.
We have commitment.
We have a child who can cry on cue (because she’s a child).
And we have an adult man who can do “confused but protective” like he trained for it.

Let me know if you’re casting.
#ThatAshleyAmber

My intrusive thoughts lean in close enough that I can smell hot pennies and bad decisions, so I started naming them. Because if you don’t name them, they start running meetings.

Consider it pest control. This is me standing in my own skull with a clipboard and a cigarette, tagging wild animals before they maul the furniture.

Once you name something, it stops pretending it’s God.

Meet the residents.

The Meat Siren: Sings when you’re tired enough to confuse rest with disappearance. Her voice smells like rusted railings and old blood and relief. She never says “die.” She says “lie down.” Big difference. Legally...

The Exit Sign Flicker: A strobe light in your peripheral vision that suggests an escape hatch where there is only drywall and consequences.

The Wet Matchstick Choir: 30 identical voices rehearsing catastrophes that never ignite but never go out. They believe preparedness is a virtue.

The Highway Median Evangelist: Preaches impulsive salvation at 75 mph. Wants you to believe revelation happens fast and sideways. Keeps pamphlets made of static.

The Spicy Brain Bees: Tiny, furious, paprika-dusted thoughts that only activate when you lie down. The moment your head hits the pillow they unionize.

The “Do It For The Plot” Demon: Doesn’t care if the plot is a tragedy. Doesn’t care if you’re the body. Believes character development requires at least one irreversible mistake. Per quarter.

The Wet Concrete Urge: Heavy. Cold. Wants you to stay perfectly still until you harden into whatever this feeling is. 

The “I Could Ruin Everything In 3 Seconds” Button: Always warm. Always glowing. No safety cover. Just sitting there like it’s bored and waiting for you to brush past it with a sleeve.

And those are just the loud ones...

There’s also:

The Catastrophe Sommelier: Swirling potential disasters, sniffing, saying “ah yes, notes of humiliation, a bold aftertaste of unemployment.”

The Social Autopsy Intern: Replays every interaction frame-by-frame like it’s evidence in a murder trial where you are both suspect and corpse.

The Bathroom Mirror Prosecutor: Only speaks when you’re naked and vulnerable and legally unable to leave.

The Gas Stove Curiosity Committee: Asks questions it already knows the answers to and hates you for noticing.

The Funeral Daydream Concierge: Plans services you are not attending yet. Very detail-oriented. Weirdly polite.

The “Say Something Unhinged Aloud Right Now” Imp: Shows up in elevators. Weddings. Quiet rooms. Lives for timing.

I am not calm. I am outnumbered but literate.

Some people say “my anxiety is acting up.” I say, The Wet Matchstick Choir has booked another residency.

They can knock. They can scream. They can stage a full dress rehearsal of my demise.

But they don’t get the pen. 
 
If you’re haunted too, good. Start naming the ghosts.

Monsters hate paperwork.
#ThatAshleyAmber

Ideas are what committees cling to when they want credit without consequence, or when they’re terrified of choosing. 

Ideas are abundant. Anybody awake can generate them.

Levers? Fangs. Jawbones. Teeth in the neck of the system.

The world rewards levers pulled violently, purposefully and unapologetically.

Pick one. Pull it like you mean it. Pull it like you’re willing to be wrong in public.

Pull it like you’re done asking permission.

I know it seems like the people who win should be the ones with the best thoughts, but they’re really the ones with the most teeth.
#ThatAshleyAmber

taplio

The Battle

Nick Bennett

Ashley Amber Sava

Followers

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Performance ScoreNick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreAshley Amber Sava's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Nick Bennett

Ashley Amber Sava

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);}Nick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreAshley Amber Sava's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreNick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance