Paige Tills didn’t set out to be a marketer. After starting in international relations and higher ed, she pivoted into business development at Sam Sales - where she built her way into marketing and ultimately grew into the role of VP of Marketing. Paige has built her role from the ground up, shaping the company’s content engine, experimenting with paid and organic channels, and scaling what started as one newsletter into a multi-channel brand presence.

In this conversation, we dive into Paige’s journey, her lessons learned on newsletters, social, ads, webinars, YouTube, and AI, and what it takes to market with personality, precision, and scrappiness.

Here’s what we cover:

• Saying yes to pivots and building a career in unexpected places
• How Sam Sales scaled from one newsletter to a full content ecosystem
• Zero-click content and why click-through isn’t always the goal
• LinkedIn ads, thought-leader campaigns, and what not to do with targeting
• YouTube lessons: shorts, long-form, and CTAs that actually work
• Why founder-led brands win - and what to do if you don’t have one
• Making webinars engaging without the slide deck snoozefest
• Early AI + LLM experiments: traffic, Wikipedia, and Reddit potential
• The role of personal storytelling and motherhood moments on LinkedIn

Key Links:

Guest: Paige Tills: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paige-tills/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

––

Like WIB2BM? Show us some love with a rating or review. It helps us reach more listeners. <3

Michelle Denogean has one of those careers that makes you stop and take notes. From dreaming of Super Bowl ads to running marketing at eHarmony and Edmunds, advising dozens of startups, writing a book, and now leading as CMO at Mindtrip—she’s lived the full spectrum of B2B and B2C.

In this conversation, we dig into what’s working in B2B marketing today, how to scale reputation and relationships, and the career lessons Michelle learned the hard way (and turned into her leadership superpower).

Here’s what we cover:

• Why “reputation” resonates more than “brand” with startup founders
• Customer-as-hero marketing and the power of relationships in B2B
• Scrappy (not crappy!) ways to build brand without big budgets
• How to “punch above your weight” as a startup and look bigger than you are
• The decline of email as a pure demand channel (and what to do instead)
• Why culture is your frontline brand asset
• How tough feedback reshaped Michelle’s leadership style
• Breaking out of the box: taking on projects beyond your role
• Networking early and outside your company to open career doors

This one is packed with practical takeaways and some real talk about the realities of leading teams, advising founders, and building reputation in 2025.

Key Links:

Guest: Michelle Denogean: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelledenogean/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

––

Like WIB2BM? Show us some love with a rating or review. It helps us reach more listeners. <3

**Originally published on April 12, 2023**

This episode features the one and only Thao Ngo - SVP of Marketing at Uptempo and a total gem of a leader. We talked about building team culture across time zones, leading through three back-to-back acquisitions, and why she ditched PR and the company podcast (and what’s actually working instead).

Thao’s smart, hilarious, and brutally honest in the best way. One of my fave convos.

- Jane

-----------

In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra interviews Thao Ngo, SVP of Marketing at Uptempo. Thao shares her unique journey from early-career marketing student to global marketing leader - and the lessons she’s learned from decades in high tech, M&A chaos, and building high-performing, human-first teams.

This episode covers:

• Leading through three acquisitions (and merging tools, teams, and time zones)
• The chaos and lessons of combining CRMs, MAPs, websites, and work cultures
• How to actually build team culture on Zoom (hint: not forced virtual lunches)
• Why they paused their podcast, PR, and newsletter, and what’s working better
• The live, no-recording MOPs huddles that build real community
• Her onboarding playbook, including a slide on "how to work with the CMO"
• Burnout prevention tips like calendar audits, Slack boundaries, and no-meeting blocks
• How Thao uses Slack photos and custom statuses to lead with personality
• What it's like to lead as an Asian woman in tech, and how she speaks up when it counts

Thao also shares why building trust and being yourself is the most powerful tool a marketer can have.

Key Links:

Guest: Thao Ngo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thaongo/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

––

Like WIB2BM? Show us some love with a rating or review. It helps us reach more listeners. <3