In this episode of The Education Marketing Leader, I talk with Mike Barzacchini, Director of Marketing Services at Harper College, about how to stop being seen as a service desk, and start being viewed as a strategic leader.

Mike shares how his team made that shift by putting strategy first, building credibility through clear planning frameworks, and creating a culture of collaboration with leadership.

One of the biggest takeaways:

Slow down to move smarter.

Key ideas you’ll hear:

• How Harper’s 55-page goals and outcomes doc keeps everyone aligned
• The value of creative briefs to control scope creep
• Why “more isn’t better. Better is better” needs to be your north star
• What it really takes to build trust with leadership and reset expectations

We also get into internal culture, onboarding for mindset alignment, and the power of informal channels like Microsoft Teams to build team cohesion in hybrid settings.

🎣 Bonus: Mike’s son runs the YouTube channel John B., with 1.8M+ subscribers. If you’re into fishing, check it out.

🎧 Listen now and follow The Education Marketing Leader for more real conversations with higher ed marketers who get it.

A special thank you to Mariah Tang of Stamats for the introduction.