This episode of The Art of Entrepreneurship is for anyone who’s tired of throwing spaghetti at the wall with their marketing—and wants it to finally stick.

My guests are Michael Ray and Stephanie Roland, lead strategists at Accelity, who approach marketing from two different but equally valuable angles—performance and brand. We dig into what it really means to build a marketing plan from the ground up, how to align with your sales team, and why brand is the foundation every business needs before launching anything new.

We also cover what to do when you’re the whole marketing department (hi, solopreneurs), how to handle unrealistic expectations from the C-suite, and why investing in a plan now saves you from scrambling later.

P.S. Check out Part 2 next week for a refreshingly honest convo about marketing that balances art with science!

About Michael Ray

Michael is the Strategic Marketing Director at Accelity, where he's spent almost four years helping companies build interconnected marketing and advertising strategies that build brands and deliver leads. With more than fifteen years of strategy and advertising experience, he works to build innovative and creative, data-driven strategies for clients and also specializes in tracking, reporting, and optimization of their campaigns. 

About Stephanie Roland

Stephanie is the Brand and Marketing Director at Accelity, specializing in brand strategy. She’s partnered with clients across non‑profit, B2C, and B2B sectors, and most of her B2B work—until recently—focused on B2B SaaS. Her core focuses include brand strategy, content strategy and advertising strategy, ensuring every campaign tells a compelling story and delivers results.

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LinkedIn – Michael

LinkedIn – Stephanie

If you like this episode, here are some others you'll enjoy.

• Podcast: What if we launched a buzz-worthy campaign? w/ Michael Ray, Strategic Marketing Director at Accelity
• Podcast: Rewriting the relationships between sales, marketing and buyers w/ Chris Heard, CEO of Olive
• Podcast: Can marketing replace sales?

💡 Submit your topics for the podcast: https://www.jackiehermes.com/connect

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💛 Production support is provided by Accelity, a full-service marketing agency for bold people growing bold companies.

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