Shante sits down with Nishat Jones, Fractional Chief Growth & Marketing Officer and founder of Strate8.com. Nishat helps B2B companies build brands that actually work—not just on the website, but inside the organization where alignment, clarity, and culture truly live.

In this conversation, you’ll hear what a brand really is, why misalignment quietly drains revenue, and how founders can create teams that operate as one unified voice. This episode is practical, honest, and packed with insights for anyone leading people, revenue, or strategy.

⏱️ Episode Chapters
00:00 – Welcome
01:14 – Nishat’s Journey to Becoming a Fractional CMO
03:00 – When Leaders Struggle to Model the Brand
04:48 – The Hidden Costs of Misaligned Branding, Sales & Marketing
05:17 – How a Fractional CMO Rebuilds Team Alignment
08:10 – AI in Branding: Helpful or Harmful?
09:38 – What Actually Makes Up a Brand (Brand Architecture)
10:33 – Helping Founders Discover Their Brand Story
11:46 – Why Customer Feedback Matters in Branding
14:47 – Why Customers Resist Rebrands (The Twitter/X Effect)
18:50 – Final Leadership Insight: Operate as One Brand, One Team
20:47 – Closing Thoughts

🔗 Connect with Nishat Jones
LinkedIn
Website - www.strate8.com

In this episode of Lead Well, Build Better, Dr. Brittany Connors breaks down the real meaning of rest. She explains why rest is more than a break. It is a capacity-building tool that helps leaders think clearly, lead better, and show up with empathy.

We talk about overlooked signs of burnout, how to build a rest strategy you can use at home, and why rest should sit at the top of your self-care list. Dr. Connors shares practical steps founders can use today, from reviewing their time to building “micro rest” into the week.

If you lead a team, run a business, or feel stretched thin, this conversation gives you grounded tools to restore your energy and reset how you work.

What you will learn:
• How rest expands your capacity
• Signs you are pushing past your limits
• How to build a simple rest routine at home
• How rest supports team culture and performance
• Why silence improves clarity and decision-making

Connect with Dr. Brittany Connors:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com

Website: https://www.optimistictheory.com

Email: info@optimistictheory.com

Listen to more episodes on Apple & Spotify.
Subscribe for real conversations on leadership and sustainable success.

Welcome to Lead Well, Build Better — the show for founders and CEOs who want to scale with clarity, not chaos.

If you’re building with purpose and want practical strategies to streamline operations, lead stronger teams, and create systems that scale, this is your corner of the internet. I’ll pull back the curtain on real lessons from the field—fractional COO insights, workflow breakdowns, leadership frameworks, and the tools successful founders use to regain time, increase profit, and lead with confidence.

This isn’t theory. It’s the work.

Subscribe and join a community of founders committed to building businesses that run without running them. Let’s lead well and build better—together.