020: Rising from the Ashes with Dana Marxer

Biggest Small Things

On this week’s episode I am joined by Dana Marxer, CEO and Founder of Gen5, a strategic marketing firm that focuses on accelerating growth for emerging B2B companies. Dana has led marketing and product management teams for almost 20 years. She's created thought leadership concepts and visionary marketing strategies for companies across a variety of industries leading to significant revenue growth, public offerings, and acquisitions.

I admire Dana’s ambition and her commitment to family and business, which is one of the many reasons I am elated to have her as a guest. She’s one intelligent and inspiring woman. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering and Economics and Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Dartmouth College plus has a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University along with an MBA, with a concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Maryland. She is a devoted mother to five boys who are her greatest inspirations. By the end of this episode you will understand and appreciate the depths of her devotion to the millionth degree

Our conversation delivers so many takeaways it is challenging to single-out only one to highlight here. Her insight is powerful and resonant in so many aspects of my life—be it with my business or in the past when I was working on something important or passion related. I believe the idea to start and keep going is an awesome reminder—a lesson many can do well to remember. I also got enormous value from her reminder that patience is a virtue. Rome wasn't built in a day, after all.

I want to pay tribute to Dana for showing tremendous courage when she freely shared about her struggles with domestic abuse. She is positive about the outcomes and opportunities we have to make to have a better life. This episode is extremely inspiring—and a little bit heartbreaking. I really hope you enjoy it.

Show Highlights

• Using family as a motivation and inspiration for doing things you would never have thought of doing—including opening a business.
• Letting things go and watching them unfold. “It's not until I'm reflecting later that I realized when I've been successful, it's when I have let go.”
• Not believing in coincidence but in working as hard as you should.
• Surviving domestic abuse—reflecting on this difficult time in her life and in her sons’ lives then ultimately rising from the ashes.
• If you want to start a successful company, start one and don't stop. Keep experimenting. Keep trying different things. Keep going.

“This is something one of my clients told me several years ago, ‘Dana, here's how you create a great business. You get started and you don't stop. That's how you do it.’” ~Dana Marxer

Resources:

“We can all learn how to love better. Through One Love educational programs we empower young people to understand the basics of healthy and unhealthy love before relationships become dangerous and abusive, and like Dana said, raise our hands for help.” Katie Hood, CEO of One Love Foundation

For more, reference the One Love resources page: https://www.joinonelove.org/get-help/#real-time

The National Domestic Abuse Hotline, a 24-hour confidential service for survivors, victims and those affected by domestic violence, intimate partner violence and relationship abuse.: https://www.thehotline.org

Contact Dana:

Website: https://gen-5.com/leadership

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danamarxer/

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Contact Renee:

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Instagram: @Biggest_small_things

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