Mavens & Moguls is a global marketing and branding consultancy that provides outsourced CMO services, strategic marketing support, and communications expertise to help companies grow and strengthen their brands. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Paige Arnof-Fenn, founder and CEO, to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Paige Arnof-Fenn’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Arnof-Fenn said:
“My first job out of college was in finance on Wall Street in the 80s. I realized early on it was not a good fit so I wanted to switch career tracks. Being a Financial Analyst in investment banking paid well but the hours and lifestyle did not leave time for anything else and I really did not enjoy the work even though I was always good with numbers and strong analytically. I wanted to find work that was a better balance between my left and right brain. A friend at the bank helped me realize my skills and strengths could be put to better use. We worked in different groups but often grabbed lunch or hung out together on weekends. After our 2 year commitments were done we traveled together to Spain & Portugal before going off to business school.”
“One day on a beach in the Algarve we discussed what we wanted to do after grad school and she said she loved finance and would stay in the field after her MBA. I had really disliked my job and knew I wanted to do something else but had no idea what that would be, all I had ever wanted to do was finance and banking so I was stuck. She prodded and said there HAD to be parts of my job over the past 2 years I had enjoyed and finally I said yes there were in fact 3 things I liked about it — running ads in the WSJ & NYT when deals closed, planning the closing dinners to celebrate the end of a successful transaction & choosing the ‘deal toys’ to commemorate the event.”
“She blurted out ‘Paige I have no idea why you always thought you were a finance person, every single thing you liked about the job is marketing NOT finance! You liked advertising, event planning & promotions. You are a marketing person! That is what you should be doing!’ She was right. I got the top grade in my first year required marketing course for my MBA and a great summer internship that lead to a full time offer in marketing post graduation. I have never looked back. Being comfortable using data is a big competitive advantage in marketing too. She and I are still friends and I am forever grateful to her for setting me on such a fulfilling career path. I have no idea how long it would have taken me to figure it out without her brilliant insight when we were 23. She saved me a lot of career angst for sure!”
“On Wall Street I learned to jump in and roll up my sleeves, come in early and stay late. I worked really hard and built a great reputation for having a strong work ethic and being fun and easy to work with. This is great for entrepreneurship too! In my experience when you are curious and ask a lot of questions people appreciate working with smart people who enjoy learning. Pay your dues, get great experience learning from smart people in well run organizations who train and develop your skills so you will be prepared and set yourself up for success.”
“Great opportunities tend to follow great teams and talent so I have found when you learn from the best doors open and interesting ideas/options appear. You have to keep your antenna up! Entrepreneurs have to be driven, focused, intensely curious and always be looking for the next way to make something better, be a good listener, show respect for great ideas, and be a strong communicator. With these traits and a strong work ethic you will be a success.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Arnof-Fenn shared:
“I did not plan on starting a company. I always wanted to go work for a global business and be a Fortune 500 CEO. When I was a student I looked at leaders like Meg Whitman & Ursula Burns as my role models. I started Mavens & Moguls after beginning my career on Wall Street in the 80s and having a successful career in Corporate America at companies like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola and then working at 3 different tech startups as the head of marketing. All 3 startups had positive exits. I took the leap right after 9/11 when the company I worked for cut their marketing. I had nothing to lose. Running a global marketing business provides me a platform to do work I truly enjoy with and for people I respect. It has been a journey to get here but I am lucky to have found it.”
“I love the autonomy, flexibility and the fact that I know every day the impact that I have on my business. When I worked at big companies I always felt the ball would roll with or without me, that if I got hit by a bus someone new would be in my office right away. Now my DNA is in everything we do and I can trace every decision and sale to something I did or a decision I made and that is incredibly gratifying and fulfilling. Like most entrepreneurs, I am working harder and longer than ever and I have never been happier. Working for yourself and building a business you started is incredibly rewarding and gratifying. It has been a lot of fun, I joke that I am the accidental entrepreneur.”
“Our name really sets us apart I think. For my company when I started the firm I jokingly referred to the women as the Marketing Mavens & the guys as the Marketing Moguls & for short I called them Mavens & Moguls as a working name but never expected it would stick. I did research over e-mail with prospective clients, referrers, media, etc & tested ~100 names. Mavens & Moguls was one choice on the list & to my great delight & surprise it came out as a clear winner. It has helped us be memorable and stand out from the pack. Because I have a hyphenated last name half the battle is for clients to be able to find you when they need your help.”
“I have had clients tell me they could not remember anything other than my first name & one word of my company so they googled Paige & Mavens and we popped right up. I was at an event one day and a venture capitalist started waving in my direction and shouted ‘hi Maven!’ across the crowd, everyone looked my way and we ended up getting introduced to a portfolio company that hired us! Names contribute to your brand and in our case I think it has been a major plus. Maven is Yiddish for expert and a Mogul is someone of rank, power or distinction in a specified area. I like the alliteration and I think it sets us apart from other consulting firms. It shows a little personality & attitude and implies we do not take ourselves too seriously. Would you rather hire “Strategic Marketing Solutions” or Mavens & Moguls? We are the “not your father’s Oldsmobile” of marketing firms. If nothing else our name is a great conversation starter and getting into a conversation is all it takes to open a door.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Arnof-Fenn reflected:
“In the first few years of my business I had pitched a CEO before I ran into her at a networking event where she was the keynote speaker and her topic was about being a woman leader in a traditionally male-dominated business. I had followed up after sending my proposal several times via e-mail and voice mail but the CEO never returned any of my messages or even acknowledged receipt of the proposal requested. I thought I was being pleasantly persistent but I was nervous to see her at the event because I thought she might think I was stalking her. You can imagine my shock when she announced at this event as part of her speech that she believes it is important to put your money where your mouth is and for women CEOs to support other respected & well-run women’s businesses and that is why she has hired my firm to handle all her company’s marketing & PR!”
“Everyone congratulated me after, her word of mouth was a better endorsement than the New York Times because she was very well known and had the reputation of being very tough with high standards so I got a LOT of business from people in the room that night because they thought if I was able to impress her I must be very good 😉 To think I almost did not even show up maybe seeing me there is what prompted her to pull the trigger and hire us? I sold more business in the month that followed than l ever had since starting my company so we really began to scale quickly at that point and got a lot of referrals as a result! It was a big day in our history for sure. Wasn’t it Woody Allen who said 80% of success is just showing up. It is a strategy that has worked for me and has been a fun way to build my marketing business. I think it has to be genuine you cannot incentivize people to refer business they do not believe in, the more authentic the more effective it will be.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Arnof-Fenn explained:
“Mavens & Moguls is a virtual marketing department for organizations that want access to great talent on an as needed outsourced basis. My company’s mission is to bring world class marketing talent and expertise to organizations that want to make a difference in the world regardless of size or budget. I think we are more relevant today than when we started 2+ decades ago, great stories never go out of style.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Arnof-Fenn acknowledged:
“My biggest challenge early on was that the people you start with are not always the ones who grow with you. The hardest lesson I learned when I started my company is not getting rid of weak people earlier than I did in the first few years of my business. I spent more time managing them than finding new customers. I knew in my gut they were not up to snuff but out of loyalty to them I let them hang around much longer than they should have. It would have been better for everyone to let them go as soon as the signs were there. They became more insecure and threatened as we grew which was not productive for the team. As soon as I let them go the culture got stronger and the bar higher. “A” team people like to be surrounded by other stars. It is true that you should hire slowly and fire quickly. I did not make that mistake again later on so learned it well the first time. I wish I had known it even earlier though but lesson learned for sure!”
“I recommend NOT spending money on things like fancy brochures, letterhead, business cards, etc. Until you know your business is launched I would say to put your budget into things that help fill your pipeline with customers. Getting your URL and a website up and running is key. I created online stationery for proposals and invoices, ordered my cards online and made downloadable materials as leave behinds for people looking for more information to help me find clients more quickly. I know other business owners who spent thousands of dollars on these things and found it was a waste of money. Your story will evolve as you find your market, you need to look professional and have a web site to be taken seriously but embossed paper with watermarks and heavy card stock is not going to accelerate your sales cycle. Find those reference customers quickly, use them to get testimonials and referrals. There is plenty of time later to dress things up!”
“More recently to avoid distractions, a key challenge has been about the importance of focus. There is so much noise out there with social media, 24/7 news, climate change, gun violence, political unrest, etc. that for my clients and me staying focused with all the distractions we are bombarded with on a daily basis can be tough. So my top tip is to learn to give yourself permission to say no. Whether it means passing on joining another committee, delegating to someone on your team to attend the event, sleeping in (no to an alarm clock), meditating, taking a walk, or just turning off my phone and computer (no I will respond later on my own schedule), simple acts of letting myself focus, relax and be present in the moment are the very best gifts I can give myself as an entrepreneur. Like most small business owners and entrepreneurs there are never enough hours in the day to fit everything in so when something has to give it is usually time I have allocated for myself to think, exercise, read or just relax. What I have come to appreciate and realize in my 50s is that “me time” is not a luxury or pampering like it was in my youth, now it is maintenance! To improve productivity in my experience when you focus and do less you can get more done.”
“Another challenge is that market research is more important now than ever! Whatever we thought we knew or understood before Covid about our customers and market must now be checked because the world has changed so much since March ‘20. Before you spend anything you need to conduct market research! When real customers are willing to pay real money for your product or service, you have a real business. Start with the fundamentals: Who are you and why should anyone care? If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, then why should anyone else be? There’s a lot of noise in every category, so if you don’t have a unique story to tell and a new approach or idea that excites you, then go no further. Every great business is built on a great story so start telling yours to potential customers and see if they buy what you’re selling.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Arnof-Fenn noted:
“I started my business before social media, digital marketing or AI even existed. Who would have thought that the killer application in 2025 would be authentic interactions, not Artificial Intelligence? Another key challenge today marketing leaders face is juggling the speed of change with the volume of activity and noise distractions. With all the AI tools generating robotic messages that sound generic, your brand can stand out and break through the sea of sameness with personalized, thoughtful communication serving your audience’s specific needs. Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT are great tools that can help you generate ideas and brainstorm but they cannot compete with or replace your humor, experience or war stories.”
“Authentic first-hand experience is a key trend in SEO today, Google has said for years that experience, expertise, authority, and trust matter to qualify but the prevalence of AI-generated content and users’ search for authenticity have made those qualities critical for anyone trying to rank content now. When you share what you know — your passion, your war stories, the good, bad and ugly — the stories will be interesting and the lessons will be real, people will remember you and come back for more. Tell your origin story, share mistakes/failures, be vulnerable if you want to drive engagement, build connections and relationships with your audience and show your humanity which is more important for now than ever before! To build trust you have to connect on a personal level.”
“With AI speeding up the production of lots of blather, I’m trying to double down on what’s real and personal. For my business Content Marketing/Thought Leadership are great ways to build your brand/increase visibility/raise your profile/attract more clients. Activities like hosting podcasts/webinars, writing articles, building your following on social media all contribute to increasing your awareness with potential customers and building your credibility with a larger community. LinkedIn has become more than an online resume/rolodex, it’s the foundation for building trusted relationships in the digital economy and adds credibility/transparency when you know the people you are meeting or working with know people in common. You don’t need to blog or be on all social media platforms but make sure you are active on the ones where you are. If your customers do not use Facebook/TwitterX/Instagram to find you then you don’t need to make them a priority. For many professional service businesses like mine, LinkedIn matters the most. Share quality content there, curated content/ideas from a trusted source beat paid content every time.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Arnof-Fenn cited:
“I knew I had made it when Harvard wrote 2 case studies on my business a few years after I started it, we were very early to pioneer sharing resources on the marketing front (before my company it was really only done with HR, legal and accounting/finance).”
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? Arnof-Fenn highlighted:
“Our success is our clients’ success. I want to be recognized by the impact we have not the awards we have won. I am very proud of the work we have done for organizations across many categories and geographies. We branded and launched a conference as part of the Sundance Film Festival to ‘invest in media that matters,’ we created a major fundraising opportunity for a nonprofit celebrating a milestone anniversary for helping people live productive lives with AIDS, we rebranded and renamed 2 social service agencies that help people with mental disabilities and we rebranded and elevated the profile and awareness of a for-profit organization that is an intensive family- and community-based treatment program that focuses on addressing all environmental systems that impact chronic and violent juvenile offenders — their homes and families, schools and teachers, neighborhoods and friends. These are all great organizations that are better off today because of our work and that is incredibly fulfilling.”
“However the one client I am most proud of is an industrial products company based in New Orleans that we started working with just before Katrina and continued to work with them for years after. Our work with them spanned many areas and we were able to “keep the trains moving” post-Katrina when their biggest trade show of the year was happening and they ended up as the belle of the ball there, our branding work for them helped them recruit great talent after the storm, the tag line we created for them helped them solidify their message and in conjunction with the branding messages we developed for them, stand out from the pack of competitors. I grew up in New Orleans so helping a local business means a lot to me even though I have not lived there since college.”
Primary Responsibilities
What are your primary responsibilities? Arnof-Fenn pointed out:
“Officially I am the Founder & CEO but really my DNA is in everything we do. I connect the dots, keep the pipeline full, paperwork signed, invoices sent and team paid. I am the chief cook and bottle washer.”
Total Addressable Market
What target market is the company pursuing? Arnof-Fenn assessed:
“We are industry agnostic and work with early stage VC-backed startups, Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations and mid-emerging market firms looking for help with their communications, research, PR, branding or strategy as a seamless extension of their team. We are storytellers and content creators who help our clients in compelling ways by finding the right words and pictures to create interest for their products and services. My company does anything a marketing department, ad agency, market research shop or PR agency does on an as needed outsourced basis. We have resources in 14 cities in the US and major metro areas overseas.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Arnof-Fenn affirmed:
“Everyone in our group comes out of industry so our heads and hearts are much more aligned with our clients than a typical agency or consulting firm. We are not professional PowerPoint makers, we have actually done the job as marketing and communication leaders so our recommendations come from having been in our clients’ seats before. We are an extension of their team and spend their money the way they do, not as a vendor so I think that is a compelling angle when they hire us. We do not see marketing as a necessary evil, we believe in the power of great brands and think all organizations regardless of size or budget deserve great marketing advice. Our passion comes through in our tag line “Because Marketing Matters” and in everything we do.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Arnof-Fenn concluded:
“I have no idea where my business will evolve but I am confident I have built a great foundation with interesting clients and colleagues who value communications and want to use marketing best practices to make a difference in the world. It has been a circuitous route to get here but as Steve Jobs said it is only looking backwards where you can make real sense connecting the dots in life. I believe I am on the right path and am going to follow it and see where it goes. I see us continuing to pivot and stay relevant. If we all find a way to incorporate the pandemic lessons of gratitude, simplicity, friendship and love into the new normal I will be incredibly happy that we did not waste the crisis. I do not want to waste one minute of my life post pandemic with people or things that do not matter. If we can hold on to the very best parts of the pandemic personally and professionally the world will be a better place for it.”
