Tiffany Wilburn, Fractional CMO at Clever Disruption, joins AMA's Bennie F. Johnson to talk about why being fearless is important, the expanding senior executive marketing space, staying connected, and the value of critical thinking.
Tiffany Wilburn, Fractional CMO at Clever Disruption, joins AMA's Bennie F. Johnson to talk about why being fearless is important, the expanding senior executive marketing space, staying connected, and the value of critical thinking.
Bennie F Johnson
Hello, and thank you for joining us for this episode of AMA's Marketing / And. I'm your host, AMA CEO, Bennie F. Johnson. In our episodes, we explore life through a marketing lens, delving into conversations of individuals that flourish at the intersection of marketing and the unexpected. We hope to introduce you to various visionaries whose stories you might not yet have heard of, but are exactly the ones you need to know.
Through thought-provoking conversations, we'll unravel the challenges, triumphs, and pivotal moments that have been shaped by marketing. Today, our very special guest is Tiffany Wilburn. Fearless and brilliant. With over two decades of global marketing leadership, Tiffany is known for her fearless creativity and her strategic brilliance. She's held senior roles as Chief Marketing Officer, Interim Chief Marketing Officer, SVP in marketing, consistently transforming brands and driving business success. Tiffany's recent triumphs include spearheading innovation for major global brand company Nestle, to reinvigorating other large global brands, to crafting the brand equity strategies for the iconic TGI Friday’s. She constantly blends art and science to make marketing with deep understanding of society, culture, and human behavior. Recently, she just expanded her role as the new global marketing strategy practice lead. I'd like to welcome Tiffany to our podcast today. Tiffany, welcome.
Tiffany Wilburn
Thank you, Bennie. I'm excited to be here.
Bennie
So, you know, I love it when the first time you meet someone, it's not through their image or through their voice, but just through their words. So I'm gonna give a quote that's the first one that met me. “I'm not afraid to get creative, which means innovation is always on the menu.”
Tiffany
That's right.
Bennie
Talk a bit about this. When did you realize that you were fearless?
Tiffany
When I was a little girl and my mother brought it to my attention that all the other kids were being so managed and measured with their steps that they took. They didn't go to the top of the hill with their bicycle and come flying down the hill, feeling it with excitement. They were more cautious. They stayed on solid ground.
Bennie
Mm. Right, right.
Tiffany
Tiffany, you're fearless. You just go right to the top and throw yourself off every single time.
Bennie
Wow, so it's great that we have those attributes that start off in our early memories. Now, when did you transition that or realize you had transitioned that into your professional arc? When did the professional, fearless Tiffany emerge?
Tiffany
I would say it was early in my career. So before I began my career in the food and beverage industry, all in the function of marketing, I actually started in journalism. And I was very shy. I didn't want to be in front of the camera. I didn't want to be behind the mic, but I forced myself to because I thought there was something different about the perspective I was offering.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right. Okay.
Tiffany
I thought there was something creative about the approach I took in terms of the storytelling for news articles that I was writing or documentaries I was putting together from a video perspective. So my approach even when I was a child was to lean into fear or lean into what feels uncomfortable in order to feel comfortable and feel more at peace.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right.
Bennie
So kind of this leaning into the uncomfortable space in there. We talk about that in marketing as our world has changed so much. When you, when we look at this notion of not being afraid, you know, often fear comes as a part of change in our space and marketing today and tomorrow is really at the forefront of change.
What advice do you have for our listeners for those market days at various states of their career about leaning in and working through their fear to come on the other side to be fearless in their marketing.
Tiffany
Yeah, I mean, my advice would be don't think that you're in it alone. Everybody is afraid. Everybody is feeling overwhelmed. Everyone is naturally resistant to change. It's a visceral response that we all have in order to protect ourselves. And so it's not a bad thing. It's what keeps us alive. It keeps us from jumping in front of a bus or it keeps us from doing things that would actually cause harm to us.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right.
Tiffany
But I think it also prevents us at times from experiencing the full range of emotions that are at our disposal. We're only tapping into and leaning into some of the emotions that feel more comfortable. And I have found that there's breakthrough opportunities when you're willing to allow yourself to even just step across the line one inch, maybe two inches, three inches to see, how your reception would be different.
Bennie
So it's interesting as you start talking about reaching across and expanding in there. You one of the things that's really notable about your career arc is how you've been able to transition into these senior executive marketing roles. And you're working a lot across the table, across the line, across the businesses. You know, what's been a principle or approach for you as your career has grown? Like I said, you're not just doing core marketing, you're actually extending marketing to executive reach.
Tiffany
Yeah. My guiding principle would be very much aligned with that opening quote that you shared, which is don't be afraid. And it could be don't be afraid to try. Don't be afraid to get creative. Don't be afraid to look silly. Don't be afraid to say I need help.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right.
Tiffany
But don't be afraid as a framework is a guiding principle that I have leaned into throughout my career because fear is often behind a lot of the decisions to not move forward.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right.
Tiffany
And so that's been something that I've been very conscious about and want to proactively address. And so don't be afraid is really been the approach that I've leveraged the most.
Bennie
So how have you, as you've entered into these larger roles of marketing and leadership, how have you been able to champion marketing as a function or as a strategic element in these larger conversations at the executive table?
Tiffany
Yeah, I have always taken the approach to keeping the consumer in the passenger seat, if you will, not the back seat. So I am a social psychologist by trade. So my peers often go to get their MBAs. I actually went and received my master's of science in applied sociology and market research. So people are my widget.
Bennie
Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
Understanding how people engage with each other, how they create shared value, how they create shared language in order to understand as a brand, how can you create a shared relationship with consumers? So for me, championing marketing, regardless of if it's in the food and beverage industry or outside of that industry, it's been very much aligned with people.
Bennie
Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
Been aligned with the consumers first and foremost, deeply understanding consumers and ensuring that they have not just a seat in the car, the business objectives, but they're the passenger in the car and they have a role in helping us determine the destination that we're on our way to on the road, but they also can enjoy the journey along the way with us.
Bennie
So I wanna talk a bit about, you spent a lot of time in the food and beverage space. And it's funny, your first quote talked about what's always on the menu. So I'm gonna have a little fun with you since you're being silly in the space in there. What was your favorite menu item to market at TGI Fridays? What hailed a special spot for you?
Tiffany
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, iconic response would be the mozzarella sticks or the whiskey glaze that would go on a chicken tender or a wing.
Bennie
Right. Right.
Tiffany
But honestly, the item that holds my heart captive were our truffle tachos.
Bennie
Okay, tell me more.
Tiffany
And it's because, yeah. It's because it was so unexpected and there was a lot of resistance aka fear to introducing that menu item nationally because it was different than what our core consumer was typically expecting from the brand. You wouldn't typically think truffle and TGI Friday. The form of the tacho was a mashup almost between like a potato and a nacho.
Bennie
Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
So it was a very novel concept to try to communicate. However, the product execution was flawless. Like it is a phenomenal product and consumers demonstrated their love for this product in their repeat purchase. They continue to come back and purchase this product over and over and over again. So for me, the truffle tachos would be my answer.
Bennie
Nice. I think you may be the first guest I've ever said who's mashed up truffle nachos and tacos. I think you may be afraid, but you know it, that speaks of culinary tension, but I want to talk a little bit about the business tension that you started to allude to. So you had corporate business aims at TGI Friday’s, but then you had kind of filled operational spaces. Talk a bit about how you're able to navigate. Marketing really fits at the nexus of that, right?
Tiffany
Yeah.
Bennie
In terms of business strategy, both at a national macro level and then at the store field level. Talk a bit about how you manage that tension.
Tiffany
It's not either art or science, it's both. And so the science comes in a lot when we're talking about the operational execution, how our service levels are looking in terms of the employees taking care of our guests or how fast the food is coming out hot, how quick the turnover between the consumer order time and the product to table is that's all data driven information that we can continuously improve on.
Bennie
Right. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
But then there's the art, which tends to be the art of selling, giving the consumer something to get excited about, whether it's talking about our daily specials or how we're welcoming them when they're coming in through the front door.
Bennie
Right. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
That all is a part of marketing that is very relational in nature and it is very distinctive, especially in the hospitality sector, where you are a retailer of sorts, but you're also selling your staff, your personnel, and the ultimate product that the consumer is purchasing.
Bennie
So we look at, like you said, that connection to the consumer. What keeps you connected as you continue to expand? One of the tensions that we have sometimes is as we move further up in our corporate spaces, the consumer gets further and further out of reach, but rather gets further out of embrace.
Tiffany
Right.
Bennie
You talked about your experience in market research and understanding human behavior. What keeps you connected?
Tiffany
I love market research and that's one of the aspects of the marketing function that I've never handed over to someone on my team because I need to understand from the consumer's perspective how they see our product or our brand, how they're utilizing our product or our brand. And I also very much love ethnographic research. So shop along.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right.
Tiffany
So I may go and do a store visit and in some instances I'm not engaging with the consumer at all, but I'm observing how they're interacting with, if it's a bartender in a restaurant example, or if it's a retailer, how long are they spending at the shelf? Are they going down the aisle or are they just using the aisle signage to guide them through the store? I think those are very invaluable data points that every strategic marketer needs to have awareness of because there's conscious reaction. The consumer will tell you, every morning I make a cup of coffee. But then there's unconscious things that we do. yeah, I forgot every morning when I make a coffee, I also put this little adaptogen in my coffee that helps me concentrate. So coffee doesn't.
Bennie
Right. Right.
Tiffany
Their response to us may be, coffee doesn't bother me at all. I'm not impacted negatively or adversely with caffeine at all. Well, you forgot to tell me you're putting adaptogens in there. So that's why I love those observational opportunities to stay connected.
Bennie
I think that's incredible insight, right? Because there's so much we learn by being present and observing and kind of walking and living in the space of our consumers and our customers. And I strongly encourage everyone on my teams and we work with to take yourself out of your comfort zone, whether you're seated at the table or you're sitting in the Zoom and experience the world through your customer's experience. So you had a chance,
Tiffany
Yeah.
Bennie
You ran innovation, big idea at Nestle, big company, right? Just saying it out loud puts a lot of pressure in that space in there. Talk about your experience thinking about innovation for Nestle at that scale and impact.
Tiffany
Absolutely. Well, it was me and many other people because of the size of the organization who were a part of a global transformation initiative for Nestle. I think the bigger opportunity at hand was to find ways to create fewer, more impactful global innovation projects that drove top line and bottom line value for the organization.
Bennie
Right. Right.
Tiffany
I think for me, what was really interesting and influential was having the opportunity to work across Nestle Waters, Nestle Purina, as well as the food side of the business. I had up until that point only worked in the food sector, mostly frozen food. And so that really gave me a opportunity to see how other Nestle operates thought through product innovation and specifically thought through idea to launch, which is it seems so quick, but it's not. You know, it can be a multi-year process to get from a concept to actually having a viable product on shelf for sale at retail.
Bennie
Right.
Bennie
So, you've taken this really great growth pattern in marketing roles that are direct to consumer and food and beverage industry and moved up through the marketing leadership ranks. Today and over the last few years, you've spent a lot of time in what's a new function, which is this notion of a fractional CMO. And that's been a popular term to come up lately in which people identify they need our marketing research. I need our marketing insights. They need our marketing leadership.
But talk a bit about the excitement that comes with being a fractional CEO and a little bit of a cautionary tale as well of serving in this capacity.
Tiffany
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love being a fractional CMO and operating as such. And what that means essentially, I like to think of or use analogies or metaphors. And the metaphor I often use with marketing is a suitcase. The CMO owns the entire suitcase, but inside the suitcase, when you open it up, you've got SEO, you have website, you have consumer insights, analytics, creative, merchandising, product development, and on on and on and on.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right. Right.
Tiffany
What I love about being a CMO is I have visibility to all of those sub-disciplines of marketing. I have access to all of those subject matter experts, and I can strategically pull on all of those levers when needed in order to move the business forward. What a fractional CMO does is nothing different. They do that work for businesses one to three days a week instead of full-time, and that affords them the opportunity of working typically between one to three clients, different brands or different clients a week.
Bennie
Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
So what is exciting about it for me is it allows me to engage in the sectors of food and beverage that I am most passionate about. So I work with distilleries, have in the past, do it presently, that also affords me the opportunity to kick to continue to work in the hospitality and restaurant sector, and then apply that knowledge to categories that might be outside the food and beverage industry. Thinking of some recent work I did with a laundry brand. But that's what's exciting about being a fractional CMO. It's applying what I've learned and put in practice over last 20 plus years to businesses who may have an asset light model.
Bennie
Right. Right.
Tiffany
Maybe they only have five full-time headcount and everybody else is a freelancer or consultant and it's kind of a hub and spoke model. Or it's a little bit of a democratization of executive leadership knowledge and companies that typically would never be able to access the executive leadership that you would get from an ex-PNG, an ex-Nestle, an ex-Connect, an ex–Kellogg.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right. Right.
Tiffany
It gives them the opportunity to have more of an equal playing field with some of those bigger brands. How it can maybe be a little bit of a struggle or a little bit of a downside, I don't think it's for everybody.
Bennie
Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
Certainly, you have to have a high level of agility and higher than any, you know, typical CMO role that I could ever think of or equate it to, you have to be very agile. You have to know your voice and know enough about how to support developing others. It's not just about coming in and telling someone what to do.
Bennie
Right. Right. Right.
Tiffany
It's about coaching and guiding and potentially shepherding internal marketing personnel that they have, but maybe they're not at the level in terms of seniority as you. So that would potentially be the downside. It requires a high level of agility and a high level of self-awareness.
Bennie
It's really great advice. What do you see? What have you seen as the inflection point for organizations to say, you know, I need to bring in a Tiffany. I need to bring in this fractional CEO. What triggers the business to make this leap?
Tiffany
Yeah, my experience has been it's potentially they're looking to sell and they want to have a fresh perspective on, okay, everything that we've done, the strategies we have put in place, the tactics that we have executed have got us to this point. But in order to sell, we need to increase our top line sales 40% in the next 18 months.
Bennie
Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
We need disruptive thinking. We need someone to come in and really help us blow the doors off. That is one example. Another would be business has been stagnant to declining for a couple years, maybe three to five years. And they have really strong internal folks, but maybe they're drinking their own kool-aid…
Bennie
Right. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany
They can't see outside of the car, know, the glass is fogged. They don't understand, well, what's wrong? How can we change? We need to have someone come in and support us on that front. And then the other inflection point would be there's an, in my experience, there's a new and imminent threat to their market.
Bennie
Right, right. Right.
Tiffany
So maybe it's a new competitor has come in. Maybe there's a competitor who is specifically attacking them on maybe their growth channel. So they were, you know, the business was really successful in retail and now they have lost 60% of their retail space to this new competitor and that is significantly putting their total business at risk. So those are the most common reasons that I've been brought into organizations. Now that's not to say that those are the only reasons.
Bennie
Right.
Tiffany
Sometimes it's simply, in my experience, it's been because I've established a really strong relationship with the leadership team and they appreciate the holistic approach that I take when creating marketing strategies or thinking through product innovation or merchandising challenges that can be overcome. So sometimes it's simply relational.
Bennie
Right. So we asked the question of when did you realize you were fearless? So the second part of that question is when did you realize you were a chief marketing executive? When did you kind of fully walk into that space with the confidence of knowing Tiffany is the chief marketing officer?
Tiffany
You know, I don't really like labels, so I just show up and I believe I have the right to be in every room I walk in…
Bennie
Right. Uh-huh. I love it. I'm gonna ask you to say that again, because people need to hear that over again. Just say it loud for me.
Tiffany
I don't believe in labels. I choose to believe that I deserve to be in every room I walk in. And so, you know, I've had the mentality for a long time. I'm not offended if you call me the janitor, but you're gonna listen to what I'm going to offer and let's see how it lands. Just give me an opportunity to share what I know and let's see what we might do differently. And...
That has always worked for me. I think, you know, I don't have a conflated sense of self. I'm not attempting to wear my label on my sleeve. I show up, I'm a team player, and I will, I am not above making the coffee just as much as I'm not above creating the strategy for how we grow the coffee brand.
Bennie
Nice. Speaking of brands, what are some of the brands that excite you today when you look out into the market space? You're, I'm going to say it so you don't have to. You're an expert in brand disruption and market disruption. What are some of the brands that kind of make you smile when you look and go, wow, that's some interesting work they're doing.
Tiffany
Yeah. Outside of the food and beverage industry, the one brand that has been catching my attention is Rivian, and they're primarily in the automotive sector.
Bennie
Okay. Yes. I smile because for our listeners, we just, I just sat down with Forrest Young, who just recently left was their Chief Brand Officer for Rivian. So that's why we're smiling because yes, yes, as well.
Tiffany
Really? Well, I like what I see them doing. And I think that they're doing it, I'm going to call it a quiet strength manner. They're not loud. They're not flashy. They're demonstrating consistency and approachability. And when you're talking about an electric truck, that breeds question and potentially fear.
Bennie
Mmm. Mm-hmm. Right.
Tiffany
And I think they're doing a really good job of meeting the consumer where they're at and humanizing the product without talking about the product so much. So I like what I see them doing.
Bennie
Right. We're going to have a Marketing / And first, so I'm going to connect you with forest so that I can have two of my guests who are bonding over the brand. yes, excellent. I like to ask that question occasionally because it's interesting to see what my disruptive experts, what they're noticing and seeing in the space. Now you recently just add it to your plate, your, your role expanded. Tell us about, I know you're shaking your head. We've got more work for you to do.
Tiffany
Yay! I love it.
Bennie
So tell me about how your role now is expanded in the new space.
Tiffany
Yeah. So in addition to being a fractional CMO for clever disruption, I've taken on the role of global marketing strategy practice lead for a global consulting firm that's headquartered out of London called Control vs Exposed. I love the work that the team, we refer to them as CVE or we refer to us as CVE. I love the work that they've done already.
Bennie
Mmm.
Tiffany
They work with a lot of enterprise brands, brands like 7-Eleven, Mars, on transformational projects. So it could be a new process transformation. As an example, how do we operationalize marketing strategy? They work with them on a lot of data transformation projects. How do we take more ownership over our data in order to leverage that data for stronger, more efficient, effective marketing ROI in the ultimate outcome?
Bennie
Okay.
Tiffany
So my role is to support CVE in standing up their global marketing strategy pillar and complementing the work that they've already done for years in data strategy transformation.
Bennie
Really exciting work. I'm going to ask this question as you talk about building a practice. What do you look for in your marketing team members? What do you look for younger team members are coming in?
Tiffany
Honestly, the number one thing I look for is critical thinking. Because what's more valuable to me than you being able to remember how we do the process is being able to identify, well, I see a pain point and I have this toolkit of assets that I could leverage to address the pain point, but which tool do I leverage, when and why? And being able to articulate that with some rationale.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right.
Tiffany
So for me, it's very important that people who are partnering with me at Clever Disruption or CVE have the ability to critically process and think through the information that they have available to them in order to understand its potential impact.
Bennie
So when you look and you're building a team, how much is a global understanding important to you as well? CVE is based in London, you're in Dallas, the brands we're talking about are global by definition. Talk a bit about that, of adding that to our skill set, like a real true global understanding.
Tiffany
Yeah. It is important. It is very important. I think it's a privilege that I've had the opportunity to be exposed to global marketing in the way that I have. We've already talked about the global marketing work I've done with Nestle. I also did global marketing and brand strategy with Sazerac and the spirits industry. My global exposure started actually when I was 14. I was an international exchange student in France.
Bennie
Mm-hmm. Right.
Tiffany
Another example of being quite fearless, I studied Spanish and I chose to go to France.
Bennie
Oh my goodness.
Tiffany
My mother was like, what are you doing? I said, I got on the plane, all I know is Bonjour. I'll figure it out. And that's what I did. But that was the first of many experiences I had where I was able to be quiet and just listen and observe.
Bennie
Right.
Tiffany
And I didn't know it then, but I was a researcher even when I was 14. I was doing a sort of ethnographic observational research. And so it is important for, I think all marketers, even if you don't have ambitions of working in a specific global region or country, I think it's valuable to understand cultural nuances and how those nuances present themselves even in North America if you're selling paper towels.
I mean, we live in a country of immigrants to a lot of extents. And so even if you're selling and marketing in North America, you still need to have an understanding of global culture and global nuances and how that might affect a consumer when they get to the shelf to pick your brand or another.
Bennie
So speaking of shelves, you started off and spent a ton of time in frozen foods. Do you ever find yourself lost in the aisles today? Looking at the brands?
Tiffany
Yes, it can be overwhelming. It's very exciting to see all the innovation that is taking place in frozen food. And I do think that there's a health benefit opportunity that frozen food offers. know, flash freezing a product at its height of nutrition, it locks it in. And so when you come home, that organic blueberry is just as fresh if you had picked it off of the blueberry bush yourself versus you choosing the frozen option.
Bennie
Right.
Tiffany
And so I think there's lots of nutritional benefits to frozen food, but there's a lot of option currently in the frozen food category. And frozen food, you know, breaks down into probably dozens of subcategories, whether it's frozen vegetable, frozen fruit, frozen novelty, frozen ice cream. It goes on and on.
Bennie
Right, right. So I'm going to keep us in that aisle and where the aisle itself hasn't changed that much. We talked about the product innovation, but over the last two decades as you've worked, what have you noticed about consumer evolution? You know, think about those choices weren't there 20 years for us in the market. As a researcher, as a listener, as a marketing leader, how have you noticed our consumer habits changing over that time period?
Tiffany
Well, the first observation that came to mind for me was frozen breakfast. That was not so much of a large subcategory 10, 15, 20 years ago. And now it's up to eight feet in some sections and eight out of 24 feet. Frozen burritos, frozen breads, frozen omelette creations like bite size snackable things. Breakfast innovation in particular is one that has expanded quite a lot in the frozen aisle over the last few decades we'll call it.
The other thing that comes to mind for me in terms of innovation in the frozen category is just the merchandising. A lot of the larger mass retailers like Target now, they used more sustainability practices in their frozen merchandising strategy. So instead of having all of the doors lit 24/7, now they're motion activated. So that's an innovation that's connected to the merchandising strategy that I think is a good innovation to have been made. The third thing that comes to mind for me is packaging. Packaging has come so far from the clear or the white bag.
Bennie
Right. Right.
Tiffany
Of product to these full colored dimensional packages that are in the frozen category. And 20 years ago, brands didn't invest to the level that they do today in packaging and frozen because the thought was, well, it's behind a door. It doesn't matter. Well, we know now that it actually does. It matters significantly, just as much as if the item was in a shelf stable category.
Bennie
And you think about it, our packaging experience has emerged as another channel for us. We think about communicating the brand, the brand value and meaning. It's very much a part of that. And if you're not stepping up in this space, you best believe you're a competitive offering to the left and the right, are making this an experience of delight. I opened up the cold door and Tiffany, there's something magical for me, right?
Tiffany
Yeah, exactly. You know, packaging can be a real unlock in terms of distinctiveness, not just in the frozen category, but broadly speaking, and brands that are leveraging packaging to create more ownable brand properties or drive distinctiveness for their brand compared to another are winning.
Bennie
It really, you what I love about our conversation is we're making everybody hungry because we're talking about the lights of frozen food, but really we're having this really sophisticated conversation about marketing strategy. And so how much of, how much of the work that you've done that you find immediately transferable as you work with these other brands as a CMO, like the lessons you've learned, we're talking about the experience and customer listening. Where do you find those moments of true transfer of skills and strategy?
Tiffany
Honestly, it all matters. I mean, I still leverage today things that I learned or approaches that I took literally 20 years ago. So it all matters. And it's additive, or more cumulative. You could say the more that you do it, the more it feels like second nature.
Bennie
Right.
Tiffany
There's very little that is truly new to world in my opinion. I think there's just a subtle twist on how we may have done things in the past and how we can potentially do them today. Everything that I have done, whether it was when I was in undergrad and I interned at Williamsburg in Virginia, giving guided tours and talking about the battlefield.
Bennie
Right. Right.
Tiffany
Like it seems so disjointed, like, well, how does that connect? Well, I was talking about how people lived and how they built community and how they interacted with community and how they identified themselves, how they positioned themselves, what their needs were, what their wants were. That all relates. It 100% relates to the work I do today, but in a completely different context.
Bennie
Right. So I'll ask this question because you've spent time as an innovation leader, a strategy leader, marketing leader. Where do you find inspiration? Where do you find ways to kind of continue to keep that spark lit?
Tiffany
My instinct was to say everywhere because my head is on a swivel at all times. I'm always, and that's being present. I have to be present where I am at that moment. I find inspiration from other marketers. I find inspiration from being outdoors and just observing nature. Very specifically, I have taken colorway references from watching the leaves change at one point in my life.
Bennie
Very nice. Yes.
Tiffany
And that that execution was so beautiful because it felt not to be pun intended, but it felt natural. It felt very, it felt very reflective of the mood and the emotional state we were trying to communicate. And so something as simple as being outdoors, I take inspiration from. I'm very much an equal part creative and analytical individual.
Bennie
Right.
Tiffany
And so I love reading the HBR article or listening to the podcast or having those deep debate conversations, but I equally, I love painting, I draw, I love writing, and that also inspires the work that I do.
Bennie
Right. That's so great to speak like. So how do you protect that balance or that kind of energy between the spaces of being both HBR analytical and Picasso? How do you find solutions to do that? I know a lot of people struggle with trying to balance that space for their whole.
Tiffany
Yeah, I don't struggle so much with balancing my analytical and my creative. I think of it more as like I'm accessing my feminine traits, which tend to be creativity and innovation and empathy. And I'm also accessing some of my masculine traits, which tend to be decisive and strategic and very process oriented.
And we all have access to both of those energies and both of those traits. It's just we utilize them to different degrees based on maybe our comfort zone. Some of us are less comfortable being creative and some of us are maybe less comfortable being analytical.
But for me, it's not been a struggle because it's, I think of it almost like a dance, not a, it's more of a tango. It's a constant back and forth. It's a weaving in and out and you couldn't have the same outcome if you only had one of those dancers. You need both of them to create this beautiful outcome.
Bennie
Wow. I think that's a great way to close our conversation that we need both sides. We need the science and the art to create this beautiful tango through the frozen food aisles my friend, but for having fun.
Tiffany
Yes, I love it!
Bennie
So, so I'm going to invite you. So we're going to meet somewhere between DC and Dallas, and we're going to spend the afternoon going through and checking out frozen food. I think it would be a delight to see how marketing shows up in the wild, but
Tiffany
Yes, I’m there.
Bennie
Thank you, Tiffany, so much for this conversation and sharing your journey, but also the space of being a fractional CMO and how leadership shows up and the skills are transferable and transformative. It's been a real delight. Thank you for being a part of this episode. And thank you for leading and living and growing, being fearless. And thank you all for joining us.
Tiffany
Thank you, Bennie.
Bennie
This has been an incredible episode with Tiffany Wilburn, fearless and brilliant as you can see, creative marketing strategist, leader, and global CMO. Thank you for joining this episode of AMAs Marketing / And.