Developing Brand Strategy with Cynthia Ferngren of CFC

Cynthia was happily climbing the corporate ladder, or so she thought. Then one night, she realized that her professional life had squandered her personal life. She knew she had to change, so she moved cross-country with only seven suitcases to her name, got hired at a new job, quit it, and started her own business instead.  

In today’s episode, we’re talking with Cynthia Ferngren, founder of CFC, an outsource CMO company whose mission is to create thoughtful and profitable brands. Cynthia shares with us why she chose to leave behind her corporate aspirations, how she figured out what to charge, the ventures she’s currently working on, and so much more. 

“Who my ideal target is–it’s that small business that’s at the place where they’re right about to scale, so they want to ramp up and they’re looking for figuring out what their brand strategy is, what their value proposition and their brand story is like. ” – Cynthia Ferngren

This week on Startups in Stilettos:

• Cynthia shares the defining moment that made her want to start her business (1:19)
• Where to find business clients (6:26) 
• How Cynthia figured out who her ideal client is and how to price her services (11:47)
• The BEST advice for women in business (13:19)
• The other venture Cynthia is working on right now (15:51)
• How Cynthia manages her time (18:56)
• Cynthia and Stephanie talk about how to scale (24:22)

Resources Mentioned:

• Upwork
• Trello
• Monday
• AirTable
• Asana
• Wrike
• Clickup
• Calendly 

Our Favorite Quotes:

• “I didn’t want to have work-life balance, I wanted to be able to have a life that I was excited to wake up to, you know? I wanted to work with people that I felt connected with, I wanted to work on products and businesses that I felt connected with.” – Cynthia Ferngren
• “I do think that there is something about this idea of ‘burning the boats’, it accelerated my process because I was hungry.” – Cynthia Ferngren
• “​​I think it’s really important that as women, we charge what we know we’re worth instead of charging for time.” – Cynthia Ferngren

Connect with Cynthia Ferngren:

• YourModernCMO.com
• [email protected]
• Cynthia on Instagram

Connect with your Startups in Stilettos hosts:

• Stephanie Cartin on Instagram
• Stephanie Cartin on LinkedIn
• Jessica Abo on Instagram
• Jessica Abo on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Jessica Abo here

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