Fractional CMO · Founder-led B2B companies · Ireland and UK
Build growth thatdoesn't dependon you.
I’m Shahad Azees, a Dublin-based fractional CMO. I come in to look at the whole commercial picture, not just the marketing.
Growth shouldn't depend on the founder being involved in everything.
When you’re building a business, being close to every decision is an advantage. As the business grows, it can become a constraint.
Marketing, sales, positioning, people, systems and data start pulling in different directions. My role is to connect those pieces, decide what actually matters, and build the commercial system around them.
So you can lead the business without having to hold it all together.
Sales first
I learned how people buy before I learned how to market.
Built, then lost, my own company
14 branches and 250+ sales executives, until the COVID lockdowns ended it.
100+ paying schools in nine months
From a first digital product, launched in January 2025.
Is this where you are?
You don't need more activity.
You need clearer direction.
As a business grows, the challenges change. What worked before can leave gaps between strategy, marketing, sales and execution.
Alignment
Marketing and sales aren't aligned.
The teams are working hard, but not towards the same commercial goal. Leads are coming in, sales are happening, but marketing and sales don’t share the same priorities, pipeline or definition of success.
Strategy
Marketing has no clear direction.
Your team is producing work, but the strategy isn’t clear. Campaigns, content and channels keep moving, but nobody has a clear view of what matters most or what to stop.
Founder
You're too close to the business.
You know the business better than anyone, but too many important commercial decisions still come back to you. It becomes harder to step back and focus on where the business needs to go.
Leadership
Your team needs senior leadership.
You have people doing the work, but nobody owning the whole picture. You don’t necessarily need another full-time executive. You need someone who can connect strategy, marketing, sales and execution.
Systems
Growth is happening, but the system hasn't caught up.
The business is growing, but the processes, CRM, reporting and commercial structure haven’t evolved at the same pace.
Clarity
You know something isn't working.
There are plenty of opinions, ideas and competing priorities. What there isn’t is agreement on which one to act on first.
The fractional CMO role
You don't need another
marketing plan.
You need someone who can work out what matters, bring the right people together, and make sure it gets done.
What you need
Clear priorities
Know what matters now, what can wait and what should stop.
An objective view
Someone who can step back from the business and identify what’s actually holding growth back.
Alignment
Marketing, sales and the wider team working towards the same commercial priorities.
Decisions that lead to action
Clear ownership, measurable outcomes and accountability.
Senior leadership
Experienced marketing leadership without committing to another full-time executive.
What I bring
Commercial perspective
I look across positioning, go-to-market, marketing, sales, systems and data.
Diagnosis
I find the underlying constraint rather than simply adding more marketing activity.
One direction
I connect marketing, sales and execution around the priorities that matter.
Ownership and accountability
We decide what needs to happen, who owns it and how we’ll measure it.
Fractional CMO leadership
I lead the function, work with your team and direct external partners when needed.
I don't just give you the plan. I help lead the work.
I work with your team and vendors, keep priorities clear, and hold the work against the commercial outcomes we’re trying to achieve.
Where I lead
Six areas.
One commercial function.
I bring marketing, sales and commercial growth together across six areas.
01
Positioning & Messaging
Make it clear what you sell, who it’s for and why it matters.
02
Go-to-Market Strategy
Turn growth opportunities into a clear plan for where to focus, how to reach the market and what happens next.
03
Marketing Leadership
Set the direction, priorities and standards your marketing function needs to perform.
04
Sales & Marketing Alignment
Connect marketing activity to pipeline, sales activity and commercial goals.
05
CRM, Data & Reporting
Create the visibility you need to know what’s working, what’s not and where to act.
06
Team, Hiring & Vendor Direction
Make sure the people and partners around you have clear roles, priorities and accountability.
Selected work
Different businesses.
The same underlying challenge.
A few examples of how I’ve helped businesses clarify their direction, build commercial systems and create growth beyond the founder.
Education psychology · UK & Ireland
From first digital product to 100+ paying schools in nine months
Built the go-to-market and commercial system for an education psychology company’s first digital product, from launch to 100+ paying schools across the UK and Ireland.
100+
paying schools
Nine months, January to September 2025
First multi-academy trust agreement, covering six schools
After-sales service · India
From a single repair shop to a nationwide service model
A fragile local acquisition model rebuilt around specialist positioning, organic search and online booking, taking one Mumbai repair shop to a Pan-India service.
Pan-India
service model
From one physical shop in Mumbai
About 18 months to peak scale
Direct sales · India
From 10 salespeople to 14 branches across India
How a direct-sales business scaled by turning performers into leaders, and leaders into branch operators who shared in the upside.
250+
sales executives
14 branches across India
Built from 10 people in Hyderabad
I don’t name clients or employers — the results are mine to describe, the relationships aren’t mine to advertise.
How I work
The Commercial
Growth System™
Every engagement follows the same five stages. The work is tailored to the business, but the discipline stays the same.
01
Discover
Understand the business, the founder, the market, the customers and the commercial objectives.
02
Diagnose
Find what is actually constraining growth, rather than treating the symptoms.
03
Design
Set priorities, ownership and measures, and agree the baseline and target.
04
Deliver
Lead the execution, keep the team focused and make sure the work moves forward.
05
Develop
Build the capability, systems and processes that continue working after the engagement ends.
The goal isn't to make you dependent on me.
It’s to leave the business with a clearer direction, stronger systems and greater capability than when I arrived.
Working together
Three ways to
work together.
The right level of involvement depends on where the business is and what it needs next.
01 · For clarity
Growth Blueprint
30-day project
Find the constraint, then put the next moves in order. You leave with the diagnosis, the reasoning behind it, and a plan you could hand to someone else.
€3,500–€6,000
Flat fee · Paid upfront
02 · For direction
Strategic Advisory
Monthly engagement
For when people are doing the work but you need senior leadership, challenge and accountability to keep the function moving in the right direction.
€3,500–€4,500 / month
03 · For leadership
Flagship
Embedded Fractional CMO
Monthly engagement
For when the business needs someone inside the business taking responsibility for bringing marketing, go-to-market, sales and commercial systems together.
€4,000–€8,000 / month
6-month minimum
Common questions
A few things worth knowing
before we talk.
How I work
You don't need to have the problem neatly defined before we talk.
Sometimes the most useful first step is simply working out what’s actually going on.
What does a Fractional CMO actually do?
I work inside the business rather than advising it from outside: making the calls with you, building what’s missing, and making sure it keeps running once I’m no longer in the room. Not a strategy deck — the thing a deck would have described.
Do you work with an existing marketing team?
Yes. I can lead an existing team, work alongside specialists or direct external partners depending on what the business needs.
Do you execute the work or just provide strategy?
Both. I lead the thinking and direction, but I’m also involved in getting the work done through your team and partners.
What kind of businesses do you work with?
Primarily founder-led B2B companies. I have particular experience in EdTech and businesses selling into UK and Irish schools.
Do I need to know exactly what the problem is before we talk?
No — and most people don’t. Most arrive with a symptom rather than a diagnosis: leads are down, the pipeline is unpredictable, marketing is busy but nothing builds on anything else. The first conversation works backwards from the symptom to the constraint underneath it. If that turns out to be something I’m not the right person for, I’ll tell you.
Who are you probably not right for?
If you want someone simply to run campaigns or deliver a quick fix, I’m probably not the right fit. I focus on improving the system that produces the marketing.
How much does it cost?
Engagements currently range from €3,500 for the Growth Blueprint to €4,000–€8,000 per month for an Embedded Fractional CMO engagement. Exact investment depends on scope.
Let's talk
If growth feels harder
than it should, let's talk.
If any of this sounded like your business, that’s reason enough to get in touch. A few lines about what’s going on is plenty to start with.
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