Tessa Tysome has one of the most unconventional and instructive careers in modern marketing.

A Global Brand and Growth Strategist, Fractional CMO, eCommerce and Digital leader, and Soho House Creative Network mentor, she has shaped brands at Meta, Nike, L’Oréal, Diageo and PepsiCo before launching her own consultancy.
Her journey spans continents and categories, but the real value is how she thinks.

Tessa brings sharp perspective on creating coherence across the funnel, understanding culture at a local level, building teams that move fast, and knowing when to break from the rulebook entirely.

This is not a linear career story. It is a blueprint for marketers who want to grow with intent, make better decisions, and build brands that stand up in the real world.

If you want insight you can actually use, this episode will give you plenty to work with without giving everything away.

Connect with Tessa Tysome on Linkedin

Bridget Hirst, Head of Brand at DASH Water, joins us to explore how a young soft drinks company is preparing to take on the giants.

She explains the mix of discipline and creative instinct behind DASH’s rise, shaped by her years on Lucozade and Ribena at Suntory and sharpened through her work at Proper Snacks.

Bridget talks through why DASH has stayed focused on its core range while other brands chase trends, how the team models shifting consumer behaviour as people move away from both sugar and artificial sweeteners, and why taste remains the real battleground in soft drinks.

She also shares the story behind DASH’s first TV campaign, a creative risk that could have gone either way and instead became a defining moment for the brand.

This episode looks at the practical side of challenger growth. How to prioritise. How to avoid dilution. How to build a brand people are proud to be seen with.

For anyone interested in the thinking behind bold creative leaps or in the mindset required to scale a challenger, Bridget’s approach offers rare clarity.

🎧 Beyond the Brand is brought to you by ⁠Sampl⁠, the smarter way for brands to turn product trial into measurable growth.

Olivia Mae Hanlon turned a one woman side project into Girls in Marketing, a global community of more than half a million marketers.

Now as co-founder of Passata, an AI productivity tool built to make work more personal and effective, she is redefining what balance looks like for modern founders and marketers.

In this episode, Olivia joins Adam Wright to talk about the realities of building a business around your passion, how to create a community that grows with its members, how to recognise the signs of burnout before it takes over, and how to find purpose again when your work becomes your identity.

This is an honest conversation about growth, leadership and the pursuit of balance in a world that celebrates busyness.

Connect with Olivia Mae Hanlon

LinkedIn | Instagram | Girls in Marketing | Passata

🎧 Beyond the Brand is brought to you by Sampl, the smarter way for brands to turn product trial into measurable growth.