Kevin Lee interviews Ashley West, a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader who formed her consultancy, Franklyn West, because she felt limited by traditional consulting firms' ability to provide actionable solutions with speed and accountability. Prior to forming Franklyn West, Ashley served as the Global Chief Business Officer at Thrive Global, reporting directly to Founder/CEO Arianna Huffington. Before that, she built and scaled Refinery29, the leading digital media and entertainment company for women.

Kevin and Ashley discuss how inertia is a common challenge for large companies, while small brands are often nimbler in adapting to change. Ashley is a strong exponent of promoting agility in marketing plans, with a focus on disrupting oneself and one's company to build a sustainable future workforce and media plan. She also emphasizes the importance of bringing fresh perspectives and high-value ideas to the table, rather than simply disrupting existing processes.

Another challenge lies in the fact that brands must create media plans that are more complex -- and subject to iterative modification -- than in prior years. They discuss the importance of understanding the core consumer and their aspirations in order to create personalized marketing strategies that resonate.

The discussion then pivots to consider the potential for fractionalizing talent to help organizations achieve their marketing goals while reducing costs.

Ashley is clearly optimistic about what 2024 will bring and believes her consultancy will add a lot of value to forward-looking companies in the years ahead.

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