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132
August 31, 2026
Episode 132: What Comes After CMO?

What Comes After CMO?

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About the Episode

Mallory is joined by Rob Zinkan, founder of Navigate Gray, to discuss the career trajectories of higher education chief marketing officers. While corporate CMOs often advance to executive roles like COO or CEO, higher ed CMOs frequently face limited upward pathways, often moving laterally to other campuses or exiting the sector entirely. Rob shares insights from analyzing nearly 100 organizational charts, highlighting the need for institutions to intentionally integrate marketing leaders into core strategic planning and build leadership capacity to develop true enterprise leaders.

What Comes After the CMO?

People in this episode

Host

Mallory Willsea is a strategist and consultant working at the intersection of higher education.

Interviewee

Rob Zinkan

Founder and Principal of Navigate Gray

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