The spark that cuts through the noise
What began as a response to founders carrying too much on their own has grown into a way of building marketing that actually holds up under real business pressure.
About illumination
I work with founders and leadership teams when growth starts to change the nature of the job.
I’m a fractional Chief Marketing Officer and strategic growth advisor with more than 20 years of experience working inside growing companies, where decisions carried real consequences and the business could not afford loose thinking or wasted effort.
That time spent inside the work shapes how I operate today. I don’t advise from a distance. I step in when founders need marketing to function as an executive responsibility, not a collection of activities running in parallel.
How I work with founders
Most founders aren’t struggling because they lack skill or drive. More often, they are carrying too much responsibility personally for too long.
My role is to help redistribute that load.
I help founders:
Turn business goals into focused marketing systems
Make decisions that hold up under pressure
Build structures that support both the company and the people running it
This work is practical and grounded. Strategy only matters if it fits the reality leaders are actually living.
The Work That Holds You
I wrote The Work That Holds You for founders who are still personally holding the business, even as it grows.
The book looks at:
The early weight of leadership that often goes unnamed
Why tools fail when the foundation is not ready
How to build work that supports you instead of wearing you down over time
It’s not a memoir and it’s not a traditional business book.
It’s an honest look at what happens before things settle and what it takes to build in a way that lasts.
CMOs Without Borders
I also host CMOs Without Borders, a podcast featuring candid conversations with experienced marketing and growth leaders.
We talk about what the work actually looks like inside real companies. Decision-making, tradeoffs, responsibility, and the parts of leadership that rarely make it into public case studies.
The podcast extends the same thinking you’ll find in my writing and client work, through conversation rather than essays.
Working together
I work best with founders and executive teams who:
Are scaling and feeling the weight of responsibility
Want structure without rigidity
Prefer careful thinking over constant activity
You can explore examples of my client work in Fast Growth Hits, read my long-form writing in Insights, or reach out directly if something here resonates.
This work is demanding.
It does not have to be depleting.
Let’s build marketing that earns its keep
Thinking about growth without hiring a small army?
If your marketing has grown organically and now needs structure, that’s a good problem to have. It just means the next chapter needs a clearer plan.
Fill out the form and we’ll talk through next steps. No pitch deck required. Just practical direction and a plan that fits the stage you’re actually in.