EP60: From growth tactics to storytelling: building a center of excellence in Marketing
From In Demand: How to Grow Your SaaS and Stay In Demand by Asia Orangio & Kim Talarczyk
March 24, 2026 · 49 min · Season 7 · Episode 60
About this episode
Asia reflects on her first year as a fractional CMO, emphasizing the importance of leadership and storytelling in marketing.
Growth leaders often focus on tactics, channels, and experiments. But at a certain point, the real unlock is not another marketing playbook. It is leadership. In this episode of In Demand, Asia reflects on her first year working as a fractional CMO and the shift she is experiencing in her role. After spending months identifying growth levers and investing in long term bets like SEO and brand, she realized the next phase is more about leadership and building a center of excellence. Asia and Kim explore the role of storytelling, brand, and the difference between deciding positioning versus operationalizing it. If you are a founder, marketing leader, or executive figuring out how to move from doing the work to developing the people doing the work, this episode will give you a thoughtful look at what that transition actually feels like. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links: DemandMaven Radical Candor by Kim Scott A child psychologist’s guide to working with difficult adults | Dr. Becky Kennedy on Lenny’s Podcast
People in this episode
Hosts: Asia Orangio, Kim Talarczyk
Topics covered
- leadership
- storytelling
- marketing
- growth tactics
- center of excellence
- branding
Keywords
- fractional CMO
- growth levers
- SEO
- brand
- positioning
- marketing leadership
- storytelling
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Lenny’s Podcast
Books & works: Radical Candor
More episodes of In Demand: How to Grow Your SaaS and Stay In Demand
- EP66: How to pick the right marketing channels for your SaaS Part II · June 2, 2026 · 53 min
- EP65: How to pick the right marketing channels for your SaaS · May 29, 2026 · 1h 11m
- EP64: What early stage SaaS companies miss about product discovery · May 15, 2026 · 55 min
- EP63: Overcoming growth stalls · May 5, 2026 · 56 min
- EP62: The four levels of product consciousness · April 28, 2026 · 35 min
- EP61: Why companies get stuck at $3-5M ARR · April 9, 2026 · 44 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the In Demand: How to Grow Your SaaS and Stay In Demand podcast page.