Marketing Leadership Is Broken—Let’s Fix It at SXSW 2026
Help bring this conversation to SXSW 2026
After two decades in marketing, I’ve seen a pattern I can’t ignore.
Marketing leaders aren’t leaving their roles because they’ve lost their edge, or because they’re not capable of delivering results. They’re leaving because the jobs they’re hired for are often set up to fail.
It starts with good intentions: a founder wants a “Head of Marketing” to drive growth, own the go-to-market strategy, and lead the brand forward. But too often, the role they create looks more like 15 disconnected jobs in one—everything from lead gen to PR to event planning—plus full revenue accountability, and little to no structural support to make it all happen.
The result? Burnout. Frustration. High turnover. And a cycle that hurts both the marketing leader and the business.
It’s time to break that cycle.
Taking the conversation to SXSW 2026
I’m excited to share that I’m part of a proposed panel for SXSW 2026 with Stacey Anderson (Senior Recruitment Business Manager at LMA Recruitment) and Dennis Campbell (Founder of DNY Enterprises) called Marketing Leadership Is Broken—Let’s Fix It.
This cross-functional panel brings together perspectives from marketing, recruitment, and founding teams to explore:
Why most “Head of Marketing” roles are unscalable by design—and how to fix them
How to balance accountability with authority so marketing leaders can actually lead
A practical framework for building sustainable, high-impact marketing leadership grounded in clarity, trust, and collaboration
Our goal isn’t to point fingers, it’s to start a conversation about building healthier, more effective marketing leadership that works for both founders and the leaders they hire.
How you can help
SXSW uses a community voting process to help determine which panels make it to the stage.
Voting is simple:
Create a free SXSW account (it takes just a moment).
Bonus: once you’re in, you can browse and vote for other panels that interest you.
If you’ve ever hired for, or held, one of these roles, you know how important this conversation is. By voting, you’re helping bring practical solutions, real stories, and fresh frameworks to the stage next March.
Let’s make it happen!
