‘Proactive, curious, willing’: Marketers on their mindsets for success
Ahead of this year’s Festival of Marketing, we asked speakers to share the approaches and behaviours they believe will set marketers up to succeed.
· Marketing WeekBy Marketing Week Reporters 14 Sep 2026 7:00 am
Marketing is an ever-changing sector, and the mindsets marketers take to be agile and ‘raise the bar’ within their teams is what will be explored at this year’s Festival of Marketing.
Ahead of the event, we asked speakers to share the key approaches, mindsets and behaviours they have learned throughout their careers are to enable success.
Lauren Berkemeyer, CMO of YuLife, feels being “proactive”, “curious” and “willing to take the initiative” has served her well, particularly as she has moved across industries, working everywhere from big businesses to startups.
“I’ve always been someone who asks a lot of questions, puts myself forward and looks for the opportunity in something. If I see something that could be bigger or better, I tend to just go after it. I think a lot of that is how you create your own luck,” she says.
Alongside this, she advises her team to understand “how the whole machine works” in a business, not just marketing.
“That combination of curiosity and being willing to get involved has probably been the biggest thing for me. Don’t wait to be asked. Get in there, understand it and see where you can make a difference,” says Berkemeyer.
To drive change and leave a legacy, Georgina Bramall, CMO at Giffgaff, echoes that being eager to learn, and “unlearn as you go”, is important.
“The world of marketing changes so quickly. Those who succeed will be the ones that can leave established ways behind them and relearn what’s working on today’s market,” she believes.
Beth O’Malley, CRM and email specialist and founder of astral, agrees, advising marketers to “chase discomfort” as “growth beats perfection every time”.
“Learn to sell, and learn how the brain works. Psychology over instinct,” says O’Malley.
Hear from Lloyds, KFC and more as full Festival of Marketing agenda now live
Stefanie Nastou, CMO of talent acquisition and workforce solutions company AMS, feels it’s important to be the person “who removes barriers and makes things happen”.
“Early in my career I learned that leaders don’t remember who had the best idea in the room, they remember who made it happen, under pressure, on deadline, when it felt impossible.
“Making things happen isn’t about working harder. Instead, it’s about defining a clear measurable goal, breaking it down into steps, and being relentlessly accountable when things go wrong instead of pointing fingers. That combination of urgency plus complete ownership is what’s let me build trust fast with every executive team I’ve worked with,” shares Nastou.
People skills are important, as well as having hard conversations. Marketing professor and founder of Passionbrand, Helen Edwards advises marketers to “assume that most people have good intentions” and, if it feels like they don’t, “try to understand more about their perspective”.
And when things don’t feel quite right, fractional CMO Holly Rix stresses the importance of questioning whether “another brand could do” the work you’re putting out.
“If yes, it’s not distinctive enough. Go again,” says Rix.
Festival of Marketing takes place on 14 October at The Brewery. For more information, to view the full agenda and buy tickets, click here.