The CMO Spotlight is a chance to get an inside look into the minds and journeys of high-performing marketing leaders. 

Setup CEO, Joe Koufman, virtually sat down with Christi Mason, the Chief Marketing Officer at Slutty Vegan to discuss the importance of learning different perspectives, how imagination is more powerful than intelligence, and more.

WATCH + READ THE RECAP BELOW

(SCROLL TO THE END FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW)

Q1 | What advice would you like to share?

Mason has worked in various industries and marketing disciplines, allowing her to learn an array of skills. She credits her career advancement to her range of experience and firmly believes that marketers should constantly expose themselves to new ways of thinking and operating. 

“Look for the opportunities that give you a new perspective on how you go about marketing that challenge your assumptions. Look for those things and be clear on building out your skill set so that you can call upon those experiences down the road.”

Q2 | What is your superpower?

Mason’s superpower is simplification. 

She can see a challenge and break it down into simple, actionable solutions. Mason is very curious and not afraid to ask questions to get to the core of a challenge. “Being able to genuinely have an interest in other people's perspectives and points of view and being able to use that both from the perspective of building relationships, and to break down challenges and questions has been fruitful for me.”

Q3 | What values are important to you?

“Intellectual curiosity” is a value that is very important to Mason. She stated, “I like to be challenged. I like for people to share a different perspective or question things.” Although it’s important to have perspective and opinions, Mason believes that it’s just as important to “be willing to evolve your way of thinking about things.”

She’s also a big believer in integrity and honesty. “Life and decision making, all of those things can be challenging at times, but they’re important for you to be able to both stand on what you've aligned to do and admit when things don't go well. Invariably, those are lessons learned.”

Q4 | Tell us about an impactful campaign.

The Slutty Vegan brand creates exciting and fun campaigns and events that match the brand. For Valentine’s Day, Slutty Vegan held their first wedding at their Edgewood Atlanta location. The wedding was for a lovely couple that consumers got to know over time on Slutty Vegan’s social media platforms. 

Mason loved incorporating the brand and the community into the couple’s special day, and felt like hosting the wedding was very aligned with the brand's spirit. “All those little brand touches along the way made it brand curated, and it was still very much about this couple and the celebration of love. It was a really great example of how a brand could be a part of a moment and a part of a an occasion and do so in a way that feels authentic, as well as further the brand love that exists.”

Q5 | Is there a quote that inspires you?

Mason draws inspiration from the Albert Einstein quote, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." 

She stated, “There's this sense of always being the most prolific in terms of the facts, or this never-ending sense of wanting to know everything that there is to know…but, at the end of the day, some things are knowable…and a large extent of life and a lot of success is about being deeply imaginative.”

For more marketing leadership advice and a view into the mindset of marketing executives in various industries, be sure to watch the full interview with Christi Mason, and keep an eye out for more thought leadership from our CMO Spotlights.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW TO THE RIGHT.