Twenty years ago, when Chrissy Bernal's twins went viral, she had to learn PR in real time without a roadmap. That crash course became the foundation of Be a Better Brand, Chrissy’s personal branding agency helping business owners bridge the gap between what they've earned and what their position in the market.

But building a career around highly custom, relationship-driven marketing offerings creates a challenge most practitioners never see coming: how do you take tailored services and package it into a structured, scalable fractional business?

That's the work Chrissy is navigating now as an Atlas Rose Licensed Marketer. In this episode, she joins Randi Beth, Monica, and Branden to talk about the shift from being a solo practitioner to a business owner following a proven system for structure, delivery, and growth.

Chrissy gets specific about what kept her playing small and the mindset switch that finally moved her forward. She also shares the invoicing lesson she learned the hard way and what happened when she finally made her first part-time hire.

Episode Outline

(01:48) How Chrissy went from managing a media firestorm to running a PR agency

(09:43) How to keep building your own business when client work is at the forefront

(17:55) The differences between a solo practitioner and fractional CMO

(24:21) How hiring a VA led two new clients in the same month

(28:22) Taking the first step into positioning yourself as a fractional CMO

(35:12) Using emotional intelligence to filter clients before they cost you

(46:58) Advice for getting paid in full and on time

Additional Resources

Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Who Not How by Dan Sullivan Time as a Tool by Dr. Ben Hardy and Blake Eriksen Learn more about becoming an Atlas Rose Licensed Fractional Marketer

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“We’re not doing marketing.”

Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard a small business owner say that 🙋

Even if you’re not “doing” marketing, every email you send, every sales call you make – really, every touchpoint with a prospect or customer…that’s all marketing. The question isn’t whether you’re marketing, but it’s whether or not you’re doing it intentionally.

David Cross spent years at P&G and Coca-Cola, ran marketing for private equity-backed B2B companies, and co-founded a startup that sold to a top 20 US healthcare system. These days, he's building his own practice as an Atlas Rose Licensed Fractional Marketer. In this episode, he joins Randi Beth, Monica, and Branden to talk about the marketing gaps in small businesses and ways to get it right.

They dig into the three factors that make or break a successful marketing strategy: knowing your customer, using data to make decisions, and effective execution. Marketing is both an art and a science, but most businesses tip the scales one way or the other. This episode unpacks how to balance both, and why every business, no matter the size, deserves to get there.

Episode Outline

(02:34) What moves the marketing needle across every industry and company size

(07:18) How to spot (and start to fix) a broken marketing program

(14:32) The "task at hand" exercise: how David earns trust in the first meeting

(26:58) Coaching small business owners through marketing imposter syndrome

(30:36) Three ways to define marketing that change how you run your business

(36:19) How to test your way forward and break out of the perfectionism loop

(38:44) Establishing core values vs. key differentiators

(45:33) Building a sustainable fractional practice with community support

Additional Resources

Learn more about becoming an Atlas Rose Licensed Fractional Marketer

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The hardest part of being a fractional CMO isn't creating the strategy or even the tactical execution. It's building trust with clients who resist change, forget the ‘why’, and make you feel like you're constantly running defense.

Wendy Wilburn knows that dynamic well, but more importantly, she knows how to break the cycle. She's the founder of Wendistry, her fractional practice, and a Certified StoryBrand Guide. In this episode, Wendy joins Randi Beth, Monica, and Branden to talk shop about how to create a sustainable (and enjoyable!) career as a fractional CMO.

Together, they explore how to work alongside a client while maintaining the strategic “outsider” perspective that fractionals are hired for. Wendy shares tangible tips for how to drive results through education and storytelling. She also outlines exactly how she uses the StoryBrand framework to create ‘aha moments’. Plus, Wendy closes with direct advice to fractionals: trust your experience and stay radically consistent in your message and presence.

Episode Outline

(01:49) Wendy’s early entrepreneurialism and unconventional path to fractional marketing

(09:45) A simple way to stay grounded and reconnect with your North Star

(14:34) Communicating the value of the varied experiences you bring to the table

(20:54) How to work WITH resistance instead of AGAINST it

(25:21) Why business owners see marketing as a necessary evil — and what to do about it

(32:07) Challenging the the narrative that the CMO position is the least respected one in the C-suite

(35:18) The teaching side of the fractional role nobody talks about

(41:52) What we can learn from Lululemon about target customers and product iteration

Additional Resources

Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes Hardcover by Elizabeth Lesser

StoryBrand

Connect with Wendy

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More From Atlas Rose

Learn more on the Atlas Rose website

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Watch this episode on YouTube