Ever feel like marketing success is just about doing more - more channels, more activity, more noise? In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy is joined by the brilliant Lauren Berkemeyer, CMO at YuLife, to unpack why that "boil the ocean" approach is quietly wrecking budgets, trust and focus across marketing teams everywhere.

They get into:

• Why high-volume, low-relevance outreach is actively damaging your funnel (the stats are brutal: 73% of B2B buyers avoid suppliers sending irrelevant outreach and 81% straight-up ignore generic messaging)

• How to use AI for account intelligence without losing the human touch that builds real trust

• Why patience, not speed, might be your most underrated sales and marketing weapon

• And why so few marketers actually know their ICP and what that's costing them

As Lauren puts it: "One in four are your real trailblazers... those are who I want to find."

If you're ready to trade spray-and-pray for precision, relevance and a much healthier funnel, this one's for you.

Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence

Hiring marketing talent has always been hard, but right now it feels like a whole new level of chaos.
In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy is joined by Conor Coughlan, CMO at Armis, to unpack the slightly painful reality of finding genuinely brilliant marketers in an AI-driven world. Because let’s be honest, everyone looks polished on paper now. CVs are sharper, applications are slicker and AI can make almost anyone sound like they know exactly what they’re doing.
Conor shares what he’s seeing first-hand while rebuilding a SaaS marketing team, including the sheer volume of applications, the rise of AI-polished CVs, and why traditional screening methods are starting to break. He also gets into the practical stuff: how to write clearer job descriptions, why reference checks still matter, how to test for real capability and why grit, curiosity and attitude can be just as important as experience.
As Conor puts it, AI tools are amazing, “but my God, they can put lipstick on a pig.”
If you’re hiring, growing a team, or trying not to make an expensive mistake, this one is absolutely worth a listen.lucyvheavens@gmail.com. Press tab to insert.Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence

AI has well and truly landed in marketing teams, and yes, it can be brilliant. It can speed things up, sharpen ideas and help us get more from the content we already have. But it has also unleashed a wave of bland, samey, beige content that sounds suspiciously like… everyone else.
In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy is joined by Wade Coleman, Head of Brand and Content Strategy at Fiserv, to talk about the AI content identity crisis facing marketing leaders right now. They get into why so much AI-generated content feels soulless, where AI is genuinely useful, where it needs a firm “absolutely not” and why strong brand voice, audience understanding and human judgement matter more than ever.
As Wade puts it: “ChatGPT is a shortcut to sounding like everyone else.”
If you’re a CMO or marketing leader trying to use AI without quietly murdering your brand voice, this one’s for you.Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence

In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy meets with the brilliant Sinead Willis for a very honest conversation about the messy reality of the modern CMO. Because sometimes the role you’re sold in the interview process and the role you actually walk into are two very different things.

Together, they explore why so many senior marketers end up in businesses that say they want strategic marketing leadership, but don’t actually create the conditions for it to work. They get into red flags, due diligence, broken systems, moving goalposts, and the difference between a role that stretches you and one that slowly grinds you down.

They also unpack why communication matters so much at this level, because being good at marketing is one thing, but being able to hold your own in rooms full of strong opinions is another.

As Sinead puts it, “They’re not stretching, they’re basically eroding.”

If that hits a nerve, this episode is for you.

Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence

Being a marketing leader in a big brand is one thing… but stepping into a startup? That’s a completely different sport. In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy is joined by Sharon Hergarty, who’s done both - from global giants like Samsung and the BBC to getting properly hands-on as a fractional CMO in a startup where you’re essentially the entire marketing function.
Together they unpack what actually transfers (the principles), what needs to be unlearned (hello, endless process and over-engineering) and why decision-making suddenly feels a lot more personal when there’s nowhere to hide. They also get into the reality of building without infrastructure, staying focused when everything feels urgent and how your network becomes your secret weapon when the “team” is… well… you.
As Sharon puts it,“You can’t optimise yourself into oblivion… sometimes you’ve just got to try stuff and see what happens.”
If you’re navigating the shift between big brand muscle and startup hustle, this episode is packed with honest, practical insights you’ll actually use.
Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence

In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy sits down with the brilliant Mel Barfield, Managing Partner and Brand Voice Lead at Copy or Die, to talk about why tone of voice still matters massively… especially now AI can produce polished content in seconds.
We get into why tone of voice is not just a nice little brand exercise or a page buried in the guidelines, but a real leadership choice that shapes trust, consistency and how your business actually shows up. Mel shares why so many brands end up sounding the same, where tone-of-voice work usually falls apart and why implementation matters just as much as the strategy itself.
We also dig into the growing tension between speed and quality in the age of AI. How do you use AI without letting your brand voice get replaced by bland, robotic beige-ness?
As Mel puts it: “The language that you use is so important. It can make trust and it can break trust.”
If you care about brand, credibility and sounding like an actual human, this one’s for you.Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence

In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy is joined by Lucas Bergmans (ex Wise, Moneysupermarket, Cazoo, Heineken, Britvic) to get into one of the most important and most misunderstood relationships in B2B marketing: the one between the CMO and the founder or CEO. It can be energising, messy, brilliant and maddening in equal measure and when it works, it changes everything.
Together, they unpack the patterns marketing leaders come up against time and time again in founder-led businesses: big vision, strong opinions, fast decisions, deep customer instinct and the occasional tension over who really knows best when it comes to marketing. They talk about how trust gets built, how CMOs can bring structure without killing momentum, when to challenge, when to lean in and why credibility at the top comes from commercial thinking, customer understanding and evidence, not just good ideas.
As Lucas says, “data takes opinions off the table” and in these relationships, that matters. Because the fastest way to move from friction to progress is getting out of opinion tennis and into something real.

In this episode of CMO Therapy, Lucy sits down with expert marketing leader and Brand & Marketing Director at Zego, Ingrid Sierra, to unpack one of the toughest challenges in B2B marketing: what really happens after the contract is signed.
Because let’s be honest… once the high-fives fade and onboarding is done, most customers aren’t thinking about you at all.
So why is retention so hard, especially in industries where interaction is low and pricing often wins the deal? And why won’t loyalty schemes and “just checking in” emails save you?
Lucy and Ingrid dive into the messy middle between onboarding and renewal, from NPS drop-offs and usage gaps to gamification, trust-building and showing up in the moments that actually matter.
As Ingrid puts it: “If they choose you because of pricing, you need to make sure that at renewal they actually choose you for the right reasons.”
If you care about churn, growth and earning the right to show up when there’s no obvious reason to, you'll love this episode.Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence