CMO Journeys

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Jeff Cato, Chief Marketing Officer at Jasco, a consumer electronics and connected home company with products sold across major retail and digital channels. Jeff shares how a career spanning sales, operations, e-commerce, and digital transformation has shaped his approach to marketing leadership, growth, and agency partnership.

What the Conversation Covers
• Jeff’s path to the C-suite, including how early roles in sales and operations shaped his view of marketing as a growth function
• What it means to lead as the CMO of the full business, not just a few priority brands or initiatives
• How Jasco is navigating a changing retail landscape where private label growth and digital-first brands are reshaping competition
• Where Jeff is increasing investment across influencers, paid social, AI discoverability, and new channels like CTV and TikTok Shop
• How he evaluates agency partners, including the importance of specialization, proactive thinking, transparency, and asking the right questions before pitching

Guest Bio
Jeff Cato is Chief Marketing Officer at Jasco, where he leads marketing across a portfolio that spans retail, e-commerce, digital, and brand growth. His background includes leadership roles in sales, operations, and digital commerce, giving him a broad view of how companies grow and how marketing can drive measurable business outcomes.

About the Podcast
CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Tristan Pineiro, Chief Marketing Officer of Grindr, about leading brand, content, communications, and partnerships at one of the world’s most culturally significant platforms. His perspective is especially valuable because it blends storytelling, community understanding, and global brand building at a time when Grindr is expanding how it shows up for users beyond its original identity.

What the Conversation Covers
• Tristan’s unconventional path into marketing, from queer nightlife and communications to agency work and leadership across major brands
• How early experiences in culture, language, and entertainment shaped his approach to storytelling, positioning, and emotional resonance
• How Grindr is evolving its brand from a hookup app into a broader “global gayborhood” built around connection, safety, information, and community
• What it takes to run a lean, content-forward marketing function that acts more like a studio, with strong internal creative direction and selective agency support
• How Tristan evaluates agency partners, especially their ability to understand queer culture with depth, authenticity, and real listening rather than surface-level signals

Guest Bio
Tristan Pineiro is Chief Marketing Officer of Grindr, where he leads brand, content, communications, and partnerships for the global LGBTQ+ social platform. He came to marketing through communications and has built a career across agencies, entertainment, and culturally driven brands, with a leadership style shaped by storytelling, audience insight, and community fluency.

About the Podcast
CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Edithann Ramey, Chief Marketing Officer of Ruby Tuesday, about leading a legacy restaurant brand through a new chapter of relevance and growth. Drawing on experience across restaurants, entertainment, and consumer marketing, she shares how she approaches traffic, value, loyalty, and brand positioning in a category under real pressure.

What the Conversation Covers
• How Edithann’s career evolved from public relations into senior marketing leadership across brands, including Pizza Hut, Chili’s, Topgolf, Six Flags, and Ruby Tuesday
• What she had to unlearn as she moved from messaging and communications into roles accountable for traffic, sales, and business outcomes
• How she is helping Ruby Tuesday reconnect with consumers by leaning into brand familiarity, core menu strengths, and a more focused value proposition
• Why loyalty and CRM need to do more than drive discounts, and how she is thinking about using customer data in a more effective and profitable way
• What makes agency relationships work, including responsiveness, specialization, collaboration, and the ability to manage transitions smoothly

Guest Bio
Edithann Ramey is Chief Marketing Officer of Ruby Tuesday. She leads the brand’s marketing efforts across positioning, value strategy, loyalty, and consumer engagement, bringing experience from restaurant, entertainment, and consumer-facing businesses. Earlier in her career, she worked agency side and in public relations, experiences that continue to shape how she leads teams and works with external partners.

About the Podcast
CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Tim Asimos, Chief Marketing Officer of Timmons Group, about his path from agency leadership to building an in-house growth function inside a professional services firm. He has worked across agency, SaaS, and client-side roles, giving him a grounded view of marketing leadership, business development, and what firms should expect from agency partners.

What the Conversation Covers

• How Tim’s career moved from advertising media into marketing leadership roles across Timmons Group, agency life, and a SaaS platform focused on customer experience for AEC firms

• What he learned from SaaS about sales structure, measurement, demand generation, and marketing’s role in buyer enablement

• Why professional services firms often lag in marketing maturity, and how Tim thinks modern marketing principles still apply across industries

• What his first 90 days as Timmons Group’s first CMO have focused on, including team building, internal discovery, leadership alignment, and a 2026 strategic marketing roadmap

• How he evaluates agency partners, including the importance of relevance, thoughtful outreach, value-led prospecting, and expertise that complements internal capabilities

Guest Bio

Tim Asimos is Chief Marketing Officer of Timmons Group, where he leads marketing, business development, and pursuits for the engineering and technology firm. He previously spent more than a decade helping build an agency digital practice and AEC specialization, and later served in a growth leadership role at a SaaS platform focused on customer experience management for AEC firms.

About the Podcast

CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.

In this episode of CMO Journeys, Christian Banach speaks with Jess Alpert, Chief Marketing Officer of EPM, about a career path that spans fashion, entrepreneurship, agency leadership, consumer tech, and fintech. Her perspective stands out because she brings both creative instinct and analytical rigor to the role, with a strong point of view on execution, personalization, and how modern marketing teams should work.

What the Conversation Covers
• Jess’s nontraditional path to the C-suite, from launching her own fashion accessories brand to running an agency and later moving into corporate marketing leadership
• What she learned from shifting out of pure creative roles and into data-driven marketing, with a stronger focus on CRM, KPIs, testing, and conversion
• How she is approaching her new role at EPM, including remessaging the brand, sharpening differentiation, and building more personalized lifecycle marketing
• Where AI fits into her thinking today, from media and workflow efficiency to the need for human oversight and authentic execution
• How she evaluates agency partners, including the importance of preparation, strategic thinking, industry understanding, and a bias toward action over polish

Guest Bio
Jess Alpert is Chief Marketing Officer of EPM, a national mortgage lender. She leads the company’s marketing strategy and brand evolution, with a focus on personalization, lifecycle marketing, and sharper market positioning. Earlier in her career, she founded a fashion accessories label, built her own agency, worked in creative leadership at Samsung, and later moved into fintech and financial services marketing.

About the Podcast
CMO Journeys is a podcast from NextBigWin hosted by Christian Banach. The series features conversations with marketing leaders about the path to the C-suite, the challenges they are tackling inside their organizations, and how they evaluate agencies and strategic partners.