CMO Therapy

When marketing met finance: how to speak CFO

In this episode I speak to Andrea Linehan, Fractional CMO, Advisory Board member for the CMO Council, and previously CMO for CurrencyFair.
Andrea and I have a fantastic discussion about the challenges marketing leaders often face with building a
relationship and communicating with the CFO… or communicating ROI from marketing in general!
We chat about:
- When you're in those budget meetings and the CFO is all about numbers, how can we manage the pressure to
justify marketing spend, especially when a lot of what we do is more long-term or harder to measure?
- Do you ever get the sense that CFOs see marketing as just a big cost centre? How can we flip that narrative and
help them understand the long-term value of brand building and customer engagement?
- The best go-to strategy for proving ROI in areas like content creation or brand awareness, where results are more
intangible, and how we can show it's worth the investment.
Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence

An introduction to CMO Therapy

Welcome to my new podcast, CMO Therapy!
 
Wait, what’s that, another podcast? OK OK. Give me a minute to tell my story.
My name is Lucy Heavens and I’m a senior marketing professional. I’ve worked in the fintech industry for more than 25 years and I love it!
One of my favourite and (so I’m told) top skills is relationship building, and I’ve built up quite a network of fintech marketers over the years. Not just any marketers. In my humble opinion, I’m super grateful to be surrounded by lots of awesome marketers.
In more recent years as I’ve become more senior (*cough* and older), I’ve realised that I need these awesome people in my life more than ever. The life of a CMO can be tough at times, right?
On a regular basis my WhatsApp pings with a “fancy a chat?” or “can I pick your brain?” message. I fondly call these ‘therapy sessions’ where my fellow CMOs and I bounce ideas off each other, discuss challenges and unpack sticky situations. Just to confirm – I am not suggesting I have all the answers, 100% not! But there is so much power in having a buddy, an ear, a trusted friend to
talk things through.
Two heads are better than one. It takes a village… take your pick of any of those quotes. It’s this approach that’s helped me grow so much quicker into a better marketer and kept me sane over the years.
During one of our therapy sessions, one person said “Lucy, we should record this. So many other would definitely benefit from listening, learning, and offering another perspective.” So this is my gift to you.
If you’ve made it this far, I hoped I’ve tempted you enough to have a listen.
So, welcome to CMO Therapy everyone! A podcast that’s hopefully going to help you navigate your way through your marketing journey because let me tell you, I get it – being a marketing leader is no walk in the park.
In each episode we dive headfirst into the world of B2B marketing, where uncertainty, tight budgets, and fierce competition are just the beginning of the rollercoaster ride. But guess what? You're not alone in this. Why go solo when you can tap into the powerhouse of insights from some of the most awesome marketing leaders in the game?
And look, the title might include the word therapy, but we're not just talking about challenges here – we're tackling them head-on. Join us as we deep dive into the nitty-gritty, share war stories, and unlock secret strategies. Get ready for no-holds-barred conversations because
sometimes I have no filter.
So, if you're a chief marketing officer, a marketing lead, or just someone looking to up their marketing game – then CMO Therapy is for you!
You’ll get one new episode every 2 weeks on a Tuesday – my new favourite day of the week - with chats about about so many marketing topics from AI, to thinking like a challenger, to how CMOs can love your CFO.
I’m so excited for you to listen and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 
Stay tuned for episode 1!
Music clip by Filo Starquez, Divergence