“Your Peer Said They’d Quit If We Promoted You” - How This VP of Growth Turned It Around
She thought the CMO promotion was locked in. Instead, a single comment from a colleague blew it up - and forced her to face blind spots she didn’t know she had.
Today, at noon (est), I’m joining Gururaj Pandurangi (CEO, ThriveStack) for a live webinar on Product Activation: Key Drivers and Growth Leaks.
We’ll break down why activation is the most critical, and most misunderstood, phase of SaaS growth, plus the frameworks and experiments top PLG teams use to improve time-to-value and reduce churn.
If you lead a growth or marketing team and want to spot leaks, fix them, and drive stronger outcomes, you’ll want to be there. Register here.
This VP of Growth thought she was getting promoted to CMO.
She’d been hitting her goals. Delivering results.
In her mind, the promotion felt inevitable.
Instead, her CEO said:
“Your peer told us that if you get promoted - they'll quit.
So we’re opening the search to external candidates.”
She went home furious.
Because she was sure she was ready for the job.
And she couldn’t believe a colleague would sabotage her like that.
Days later, she grabbed coffee with a mentor.
She was hoping for some validation. Someone to tell her she’d been wronged. Someone who was on her side.
Instead, they gave her something much harder to hear - and way more powerful...
"This isn't happening to you. You did this."
It hit hard.
Because until that moment, she hadn't considered her own role in what happened.
Her mentor walked her through the blind spots:
How focused on herself she’d been.
How competitive she was with her peers.
How little she’d invested in relationships.
How rarely she lifted others up.
Then came the blunt truth:
"You've tapped out as a senior ambitious IC.
If you want more - you'll need to change."
It wasn’t easy to hear. But it was a turning point.
That conversation reshaped how she showed up at work.
She shifted from chasing wins for herself to building wins with others. And it set her on the path to eventually becoming a 4x CMO.
Our full conversation explores three other career-defining moments - and the lessons she carried forward from each:
Having a panic attack on the flight home after an All-Hands meeting.
A costly marketing mistake she initially failed to own.
Learning to separate her identity from her job title.
Catch Joanna’s full story on YouTube:
Or listen on Spotify: