3-minute read
Written by Jess Borys, Communications Manager
Photo provided by Erin Blaskie
From a young age, Erin Blaskie had a very entrepreneurial spirit. She was only six years old when her father gifted her a Commodore 64 computer, and she began dreaming of being a high-level executive one day.
“As I was growing up, that entrepreneurial spirit never went away as I was always looking to find the next hustle,” smiled Erin. “When I finished school, I worked at Willis College under the leadership of a female CEO, Rima Aristocrat. Growing up, I hadn’t been exposed to high-powered female executives. She inspired me to start thinking about having my own business.”
Fast forward to the present day, Erin is a fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and marketing advisor, to startups and scale-ups, with nearly 20 years of experience. A fractional CMO performs the same general tasks as a full-time chief marketing officer but in a part-time capacity.
Erin launched her company in 2004 and spent nearly 15 years working with scale-ups in Silicon Valley and worked with some of the world’s leading brands, including Disney, Microsoft, Post, Ford, and Alliance Films. From 2017 to 2020, Erin worked for two organizations, but then in 2021, Erin went back to her roots.
“In early 2021, I quit my full-time job to return to my fractional CMO roots, working with high-growth companies, as well as teaching the next wave of digital marketing professionals,” said Erin.
Photo provided by Erin Blaskie
Community-led growth is at the core of the work Erin does. She stresses the importance of community-building and how leveraging community-led growth in your business can increase brand visibility, generate more leads, and produce more revenue.
“Community-led growth goes well beyond a product or service,” said Erin.
“It’s thinking about the community your product or service serves and putting them first. They have to be the reason why you’re doing what you do as a business. Yes, you want to generate revenue as a business, but ultimately, if we don’t have someone buying into what you do, you don’t exist. If you focus on your customer, the revenue and growth will fall into place.”
Photo provided by Erin Blaskie
On February 16, we will welcome Erin as our luncheon keynote to share more on community-led growth and provide tangible human-centric marketing strategies to build long-lasting relationships with the community you serve.
“Marketing needs to be thought of as a human connection. Everyone can do it,” said Erin. “Sometimes we look at what other companies are doing and think we could never do that for lack of skillset or capacity. But I look forward to sharing clear-cut ways people can achieve big things in an accessible way.”
*Photos provided by Erin Blaskie
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February Luncheon
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