Marketing With Purpose Kit: Breaking Down Silos Across Teams

**SPEAKER_2** (0:03)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media and programmatic ad experts.

**Michele Brasfield** (0:15)
Welcome to the Marketing With Purpose Kit, where we explore what it really takes for marketing leaders to create impact that goes beyond the numbers. I'm Michele, in each episode, I sit down with CMOs to explore their leadership approach and strategies. The drive performance and resonate with their audience. Together, we'll dive into what's working, what's not and how purpose and empathy can transform the way brands connect with people. Let's get started. Today, I'm joined by Laura Rice, Chief Marketing Officer at Celebree School under Huffman Family Brands. Laura brings more than 28 years of marketing experience across multiple industries including real estate auctions, government contracts, consumer products, and a decade in K-12 and higher education. In her current role, she leads marketing and execution across the entire Celebree portfolio, with a focus on driving franchise awareness, expanding the network, and ensuring consistent brand visibility. We're going to explore breaking down silos across teams today. Laura, before we dive in, I'd love to hear why was breaking down silos across teams, the topic you chose to explore with us today, and what makes it so important right now.

**Laura Rice** (1:30)
Thanks, Michele. I'm really glad to be here. I wanted to focus on breaking down silos because it's imperative to understand that silos really slow growth. They often create duplication, miscommunication, and even mistrust among teams. In today's environment where we have fast growth and a lot of times people are working from home, silos are more visible and damaging than ever. This isn't about structure, it's really about emotional intelligence. Silos are rarely solved by org charts or more meetings. They're solved through trust, empathy and a shared sense of purpose. Here at Celebree, we focus on franchise growth, and that really depends on the alignment between the marketing team, franchise development and our local operators. To support that, we've built cross-functional dashboards and we hold joint strategy sessions so everyone is aware of the goals and are on the same page. That transparency creates accountability, but even more importantly, it builds trust. I love to say that breaking down silos is less about tearing down walls, it's really about building bridges where those gaps are.

**Michele Brasfield** (2:32)
Yeah, exactly. I also believe it creates more innovation and a much higher, not just employee satisfaction, but customer satisfaction too.

**Laura Rice** (2:41)
Absolutely.

**Michele Brasfield** (2:45)
CMOs are often pulled between short-term campaign results and long-term brand strategy. How do you ensure your marketing stays aligned with the company's growth goals and where do you find the biggest friction points in making that happen?

**Laura Rice** (3:00)
Yeah, I would say this isn't just unique to CMOs, this is something that happens with all marketers. It's a constant education out there with people who are not in the marketing department or the marketing world. A strong marketing strategy always ties back to our three pillars here, which is enrollment, franchise development, and brand trust. Like you said, the real challenge is balancing that near-term campaigns that drive immediate enrollment with that long-term brand storytelling, especially for an emerging brand that builds equity over the years. Both are essential.
The quick wins to keep momentum and the brand foundation ensures sustainability and relevance in the world. I like to think of it as a portfolio approach. Some initiatives deliver results today and others are for tomorrow. For example, we've paired local digital campaigns that generate inquiries with national thought leadership. We're always looking for thought leadership and other things that we can do to build that credibility. I love when people come up to me and say, oh, we're seeing you everywhere. Celebree is everywhere. That makes me know that my team and we're doing a great job here of getting our name out there and building that brand. But the mix that I just talked about has helped us grow in the moment while also strengthening our brand for future markets because we're still looking to grow. The biggest friction I would say is the tension between the revenue pressure, give me the results now, and the patience for brand building. Brand is only chasing the clicks, you'll miss customers. If you're only worried about building your brand, you'll miss cash flow. You really need to build both of those into your success story.

**Michele Brasfield** (4:33)
Yeah. Great answer. Thanks. In high-stakes situations like a brand crisis or market downturn, how do you maintain a sense of purpose and empathy while making quick strategic decisions?

**Laura Rice** (4:48)