Erinn Tarpey of Visual Lease: 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career As A CMO

An Interview With Rachel Kline

High drive — Being results-oriented when interacting with internal and external customers is key. If you’re committed to a particular outcome, you will find a path to achieve it.

A successful CMO has many roles, including leading an organization’s marketing department, establishing marketing strategies, and tracking successes and failures. How can a CMO create a highly successful career? What tools, strategies, and approaches can a CMO use to be successful? In this interview series, we are talking to current or retired CMOs about “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career As A CMO”. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Erinn Tarpey.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Erinn is responsible for leading Visual Lease’s brand direction, company positioning and go-to-market strategies for its solutions and services. Erinn has expertise scaling up organizations in SaaS companies during periods of high growth and has driven marketing efforts around proprietary research development, mergers and acquisitions and channel sales.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your personal backstory with us?

Thanks for the opportunity, Stephanie, it’s a pleasure to connect with you and your readers.

Sure, I’m happy to share a bit about myself. I spent the first half of my career on the advertising agency side, primarily supporting business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) technology clients with their media planning and buying needs. Early in my career, I had the privilege of working with some high-profile software and telecommunications accounts, such as BellSouth, IBM and FreeMarkets — which eventually led me to a career in client-side software marketing. My time spent on the agency side got me really comfortable with spreadsheets, which primed me for the investment management and ROI forecasting responsibilities that are required of CMOs. So, while you could say that demand generation is home base for me, I got into this line of work because I love the art (brand strategy, product positioning), in combination with the science of it (investment modeling for ROI, funnel builds and campaign management). Being responsible for the strategic decisions made in both of these spheres to drive the right business results is what I find stimulating and challenging about the work.

I’m currently the Chief Marketing Officer at Visual Lease, the #1 provider of lease optimization software that helps companies transform their lease portfolios into strategic assets. Visual Lease is my fifth client-side software run. I’m drawn to the challenges and opportunities that come with building teams within high-growth, scaling technology companies. In these landscapes, you need to manage up, down and across with a ton of fluidity — not just to survive but to thrive. What’s exhilarating and inspiring about being in these environments is that you are not just close to crafting the business strategies, you are embedded in executing against them as well.

Aside from the work itself, I’m energized by the talent that high-growth software companies typically attract — motivated, dedicated and determined individuals who are willing to get their hands dirty. For me personally, my goals are less focused on developing my own “brand” — although I recognize that this is a fairly common pursuit among other executive leadership team members — and more so focused on creating opportunities for other people. When a business succeeds, new doors open, and I love providing my team members with a chance to seize those opportunities to expand their oversight and skillsets.

On a personal note, I live on the East Coast with my husband and 2-year-old West Highland White Terrier, Marty — he is a funny little man with a big personality, and we adore him. I also have a daughter who is wrapping up her undergraduate degree and is about to launch her own career journey. Watching her explore her interests, talents and options has been equally terrifying and exciting — I want for her to feel as challenged and fulfilled in her career as I have.

What do you think was a pivotal moment that led you on your path to becoming a CMO?

I was working at one of the advertising agencies I mentioned earlier when its CEO moved me into a Vice President position. Truthfully, I wasn’t yet qualified from an experience standpoint, but he took a gamble on me based on my drive, focus and aptitude. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t incredibly difficult– because it was. But I am a firm believer that some of the most rewarding moments in one’s professional and personal life are often born from challenging circumstances. Having the opportunity to step into a VP position was monumental for me because I got to experience that sort of transformative growth myself, and I knew that I wanted to be in a position of authority so that I could provide others with their shot at a seat at the table, too.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Recently, Visual Lease went through a company-wide alignment exercise during which each area of our business — from product development to marketing to sales to customer success — came together to ensure that we all understand, accurately represent and are poised to further our solution value through our ongoing work together.

This sounds like such a simple concept and one that you’d assume most organizations have done or are doing — but the truth is, it’s extremely difficult to successfully align all functional areas of the company to a unified corporate vision. Doing so not only creates stronger processes and results but also, secures buy-in across the business, which fuels a company-wide commitment to the vision set. I’m very grateful to my fellow ELT members for investing in this exercise because it has already proven to be highly impactful, and will be critical to our continued success in the years ahead.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes, the last CMO that I worked with has influenced how I operate in the same position today. I was her sole direct report for several years, and because we worked at another high-growth software company, we understood the benefits of transparent communication. By consistently being direct and honest, especially about difficult topics, we were able to pivot quickly to impact business outcomes. We accomplished a lot together and had many laughs along the way. She is someone I continue to consult with, and I am thankful for the experiences we had together, as well as the relationship we maintain today.

I communicate with my team in a similar fashion. I keep an open line with my direct reports, and also hold regular check-ins with the rest of our marketing department and my leadership counterparts cross-functionally. I am happy to say that strong communication extends beyond my team and is truly a pillar of our culture at Visual Lease. As a remote-first company, our executive leadership team has committed to hosting weekly company-wide stand-ups, quarterly town halls and ad-hoc meetings. Our executive team also sends regular communications to employees, via email, Teams and our company intranet. As you can imagine, despite not being physically together all the time (although, we do host many in-person events), there’s no shortage of opportunities for our teammates to connect and collaborate.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I have a lot of idioms and quotes in my rotation — my team often teases me about this, but like most marketers, I simply love words and the weight they carry. As it relates to “life lessons,” a few of my favorites include “trust but verify” and “it’s OK to fail, but fail fast.”

There’s a common theme that l tie back to my management style. My approach is to operationalize things by having the people, processes, systems, metrics and checkpoints in place to monitor progress and leave room to discuss what’s working and what isn’t.

For me, these sayings point toward the importance of creating and maintaining a culture in which your team feels comfortable discussing failures and proactively offering solutions and go-forward plans. As professionals, we aren’t paid to get it right all of the time — that is impossible, we’re human — but because my team is provided with a safe space to discuss performance, I do expect them to identify issues and proactively offer solutions for addressing them.

Can you share with us three strengths, skills, or characteristics that helped you to reach this place in your career? How can others actively build these areas within themselves?

I touched on this earlier, but drive and persistence can often take you to new places in your career. For me, it was what prompted that CEO to move me into a VP position. While drive and persistence aren’t necessarily something you can easily cultivate — I do believe people have a greater likelihood of accessing their drive if they pursue what they’re good at, which creates a path toward pursuing a real career versus a job.

Another thing that has served me is my willingness to take on business challenges that need to be addressed, even if they don’t fall into my area of expertise — or — and this is really important — if they aren’t high on my list of passion areas. I am willing to stretch outside of my comfort zone and take risks. I think everyone can benefit from doing more of the things that scare them because those are the assignments that often translate into impactful learning and resume-building experiences.

I also work to manage “whole people,” meaning I invest time in understanding their needs and motivations, as well as the best casting for their talents in a given business environment — which of course, can and will change over time. I ask questions about my team members’ personal lives and keep tabs on important life milestones, such as their pets, significant others, dietary preferences and personal passions. As a leader, you need to ask about these things and check in on them regularly — and not just because it makes people feel seen and valued when you do, but also, because it’s the right thing to do and makes everyone’s connection to their career more meaningful. Work is an important part of many folks’ day-to-day, but it isn’t the full picture of their lives, and I’ve always approached my work relationships with that in mind.

Which skills are you still trying to grow now?

I’m always working on better active listening skills. Being so action-oriented, I often have the instinct to jump in with a perspective, suggestion or solution. That said, I am focused on being more mindful of starting conversations with open-ended questions, such as “tell me what’s on your mind” or “what are you thinking?” or “expand on that point.” Doing so will allow me to confirm my understanding of the circumstances before acting, and also, encourages and allows others to be heard.

Fantastic. Here is the primary question of our interview. Having reached this space, what do you believe are the five things you need to be a highly successful CMO? Please share a story or example for each.

Sure, I will share some of what’s in my toolbelt and how it can impact one’s career in marketing:

1. A customer-centric approach — To be successful in marketing anything, you have to first know and understand your buyers, as well as the influencers in your market. This is why so many organizations invest in market research and persona-based messaging exercises — establishing a genuine understanding of your target demographic is essential in any industry.

2. High drive — Being results-oriented when interacting with internal and external customers is key. If you’re committed to a particular outcome, you will find a path to achieve it.

3. Vision — In many industries, but especially within software, good marketing tactics revolve around a compelling product/company vision statement. What is the long-term value that you’re positioning? In some cases, you’ll market a vision for an iteration of your product or service that doesn’t yet exist, but if done well, it will resonate, stimulate interest and drive sales.

4. Adaptability — If you’re working for a high-growth business, you have to be able to pivot. Things will inevitably change — investments, market conditions, progress against company goals, etc. — and your success as a leader will depend on your ability to navigate each evolution.

5. Internal and External Corporate Communications Orientation — When it comes to marketing, some businesses will solely focus on demand generation because you can draw a direct line from these efforts to sales. While demand generation is crucial, I’ve always maintained that establishing strong corporate communications programs for your internal and external audiences is just as important, particularly in high-growth software companies to ensure your stakeholders are aligned with the company’s visions and goals.

Are there any underrated skills or qualities that you encourage others not to overlook?

Yes, empathy. When you’re so focused on achieving results, it’s quite easy to adopt tunnel vision and forget about what motivates and impacts others. Great colleagues and leaders are considerate of those around them. Differences of opinion, background and point of view are often the building blocks of a high-performance culture — so, I often remind my team (and myself) to be conscientious of and open to what others bring to the table.

What are some of the main issues that other CMOs commonly struggle with? What can be done to address those challenges?

Using data to make smart, strategic decisions is a rising priority not just for CMOs, but also, for leaders across all departments — it’s one of the very things that Visual Lease helps finance executives tackle by empowering them to optimize their lease portfolio data.

According to a DemandGen report, 83% of organizations said their biggest challenge is their data is old or outdated in their contact database. When CMOs are working with a prospect, customer, or market data that isn’t up to date, they won’t have a full picture of who they’re selling to and what their circumstances are. This lack of visibility will hinder their ability to make strong decisions around investments and campaigns — it’s akin to attempting to fly a plane with a blindfold on. You’ll do everything you can to land, but without access to strong data, the odds will not be in your favor.

What do you believe is the most effective way to stand out and make an impact as a CMO?

A strong CMO will invest in building a world-class team. Marketing is highly cross-functional and requires regular interaction with internal and external stakeholders. By hiring marketers who have strong interpersonal skills, and the attitude and aptitude for the work that needs to be done, you’ll assemble a group of professionals who naturally motivate and challenge one another. It’s all about casting the right folks for your company’s particular chapter of growth. The end goal is to build a team that your internal and external stakeholders rave about because when they do, it signifies your department is successfully working with other areas of the organization to achieve business goals, together.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I feel very strongly that more work should be done to address age bias in the workplace.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) reports that two out of three workers between ages 45 and 74 say they have seen or experienced age discrimination at work, and job seekers over age 35 cite it as a top obstacle to getting hired. By overlooking or underestimating these age groups, businesses are perpetuating workforce challenges (talent shortages, retention, etc.) felt across all industries. There’s also the issue of empathy and perspective, which I mentioned earlier. Whether or not it’s conscious, if companies continue to exercise age bias, they will shut themselves off from a range of unique perspectives and experiences that could positively impact their culture and business performance.

I’d love to see more businesses fully incorporate age bias into their ESG and DEI, as it’s usually the least covered topic in this arena, and yet, can inspire greater inclusivity and help companies successfully navigate the growing skills gap.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

This is a tough question. There are a lot of people that I’d love the opportunity to share a meal with, but there’s one name that immediately comes to mind and it is Kim Scott, the author of “Radical Candor.” If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

I admire Kim for a few reasons. Kim worked as an executive at Apple, Google and YouTube. She also served as a CEO coach at many other prominent tech companies where she counseled their executives on how to effectively lead teams by harnessing direct and open communication.

Kim’s experiences and inspiration for “Radical Candor” resonate with me. In fact, long before I read her book, I had implemented a very similar communication style — as a fellow woman in tech, it helped me manage up, across and down throughout the various stages of my career.

It would be very cool to connect with Kim — she’s inspiring and helping others to adopt a unique management style and unlock many opportunities along the way.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

It’s been so much fun. Thank you for having me — I appreciate it.

If your readers are interested in keeping up with me and Visual Lease, they can follow both of us on LinkedIn: Erinn Tarpey and Visual Lease.