Meet Our Team
Clare Price, CEO
Clare Price is the CEO of Octain Growth Systems, a marketing consultancy that is transforming the way companies do marketing. Her new book, Smart Marketing Execution, defines the strategies, execution process and automated systems mid-market companies and agency owners need to use marketing to accelerate their profits, performance and productivity.
Prior to launching Octain, Clare was a Research Director for Gartner’s Internet Strategies Service. She also served as Vice President of Research for Demand Metric, a strategic marketing advisory service.
On a personal note she is an amateur ornithologist and proud Mom to two Shetland Sheepdogs, Toby and Ashton.
Aric Descamps, Director of Client Services
As Director of Client Services, Aric ensures all clients receive an exceptional experience working with Octain by managing their accounts with flawless precision and accountability. He provides the resources to enable our Octain team to achieve their maximum potential, growing professionally as fractional CMOs.
Prior to joining Octain, Aric handled marketing for manufacturing companies like Chicago Pneumatic and Ingersoll Rand.
In his spare time, Aric coaches basketball, baseball, and volunteers as Den Leader for the local Boy Scout pack. He is one of the founders of the Spring Hill, TN chapter of the national fellowship organization, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith (F3).
Mary Beth Russo, Growth Architect
Mary Beth at Partners in Marketing has helped grow companies from startups to large organizations for over 20 years. Supporting B2B small-to-medium tech and climate tech companies, she is energized by making a positive impact on business results. A born problem solver, she has extensive strategic and hands-on experience in all facets of marketing, communications, and demand generation.
Passionate about making a positive impact on an organization’s bottom line, she drives and builds strategy, process, talent, and the technology needed to get results. A hands-on, big-picture thinker, she is comfortable with taking data-guided risks in order to scale and achieve measurable growth.
David LaCombe, Growth Architect
David LaCombe is a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer whose unparalleled 18-year tenure in product development, marketing, and sales leadership demonstrates more than skill—it signifies trust. Renowned for developing strategy and steering cross-functional teams toward seamless alignment, he consistently delivers an exceptional customer experience that serves as an industry standard.
An additional two decades in emergency medical services, covering clinical care, training leadership, and operations, further underscores his holistic expertise. As a trusted advisor in the B2B Healthcare space, David LaCombe offers the C-Suite market savvy and a secure pathway to sustainable growth.
Renae Scott, Growth Architect
Renae Scott, a seasoned marketing and communication executive with over two decades of experience, is the founder of Bee Collaborative, offering fractional chief marketing officer support. Renae specializes in strategic marketing and brand strategy, with an emphasis on digital marketing. She has played a key role in shaping strategic direction and overseeing comprehensive marketing and communications efforts for several organizations. Renae’s extensive background features a pivotal 16-year tenure at Victoria’s Secret, where she spearheaded direct-to-consumer marketing and played a crucial role in shaping the brand’s digital and customer contact strategy.
Jeremy Kanne, Growth Architect
Jeremy Kanne is a Fractional CMO with over 10 years of marketing experience helping small and middle market businesses. He leverages a unique background mixing civil engineering, improv comedy, and marketing agency work that brings a powerful ability to empower marketing teams to be more effective through collaboration and data. In his spare time, he enjoys building furniture, taking care of far too many houseplants than he has room for, finding his next excursion into nature, and taking care of his 11-year-old cat Persephone that still acts like a kitten.
Jason Abrahams, Growth Architect
Jason Abrahams is a seasoned Fractional CMO, Growth Marketing & Business Development Consultant, and the Founder of Next Play Marketing. With 20+ years of internal client/brand and agency leadership experience, Jason specializes in crafting innovative marketing programs that drive sales and business development efficiency. Jason’s diverse industry experience includes manufacturing, technology, healthcare, professional services, and associations/nonprofits. He shares insights on emerging growth trends and marketing technologies as an educator, speaker, and coach. With a focus on adaptability and resilience, Jason embodies the “Next Play” philosophy in every aspect of his work, propelling businesses forward with sustainable, profitable growth strategies.
Jill Hoersten, Growth Architect
Jill Hoersten is a fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) with over 25 years of full-stack marketing expertise. She specializes in driving growth through data-driven insights, customer-centric strategies, and compelling brand narratives. Her experience spans startups to Fortune 500 companies, offering a blend of hands-on skills and strategic vision. Jill excels in:
- Optimizing marketing budgets
- Refining brand positioning
- Launching impactful campaigns
- Digital marketing strategies
- Delivering measurable results
As a fractional CMO, she brings adaptability and innovation to help businesses navigate the evolving marketing landscape. Jill’s approach combines creativity with strategic planning to propel companies forward in today’s dynamic marketplace.
Austin Lafferty, Growth Architect
Austin Lafferty is a Fractional CMO with over a decade of experience driving growth for startups across Asia, Europe, and the US. Specializing in B2B services and tech, he has built and led international marketing teams, most recently helping a Singapore-based cybersecurity firm secure $15M in Series A funding. With an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS, Austin is passionate about supporting mission-driven organizations making a positive social or economic impact. He excels at bringing clarity to complex ideas, ensuring your message resonates and connects with the right audiences.
Mindy Anderson, Growth Architect
Mindy Anderson is a dynamic CMO with extensive experience in developing and deploying exceptional marketing strategies that deliver record-breaking revenue and market share gains for top global brands. Her expertise in performance marketing, sales enablement, and digital engagement has been instrumental in building and scaling brands to reach millions of people.
Mark Osborne, Growth Architect
Recognized by AdAge Magazine as one of the world’s Top 25 “Marketing Technology Trailblazers” in 2017 and a #1 Best-Selling Selling Author on B2B Marketing and Sales, Mark Osborne brings decades of experience creating Revenue Growth Systems for B2B SaaS, Tech, and Boutique Professional Services Firms.
Maria Trysla, Growth Architect
Maria brings seasoned marketing leadership as a CEO and CMO across SaaS, technology, and mobile broadband companies. She drives aligned go-to-market design, unique value messaging, and optimized product-market fit, combining strategy with data-driven execution to drive demand and accelerate revenue growth.
In a recent CEO role, she led a private equity-backed SaaS platform to a 65% revenue growth. Maria is certified as a Revenue Architect, mastering the integration of Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success, and as a Growth Architect.
Personally, Maria enjoys hiking with her husband and their Australian cattle dog and is working to improve her pickleball game.
Merove Heifetz, Growth Architect
As a Fractional CMO, Merove brings 20+ years of digital strategy, marketing operations & leadership experience with digital marketing agencies, Fortune 500s, international nonprofits, venture-backed startups, and everything in between.
With an MBA and a passion for aligning purpose-driven impact with profits, she has driven marketing efforts for B2B & B2C clients across a wide variety of industries including SaaS, financial services, food & beverage, health & wellness, publishing, tourism, education, and more.
Merove provides agile marketing leadership & data-driven growth strategies to converge disparate teams & processes into efficient & profitable marketing operations.
Michelle Seay Baker, APR, Growth Architect
Michelle Seay Baker, APR, has been helping businesses grow with integrated, multi-channel marketing strategies that have increased revenue by as much as 35% YOY for 25 years.
Michelle is a full-stack marketer with a special passion for market research, strategic planning and positioning to help companies differentiate in a competitive market and build a strong foundation to grow upon. She also excels in helping companies better track their data to optimize campaign results and marketing ROI.
She has experience working with B2B and B2C companies in health tech, manufacturing, credit unions, banking, insurance, healthcare, restaurants, coaching and non-profits.
Karin Silk, Growth Architect
Named by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “Top 50 Franchise CMOs Who Are Changing the Game,” Karin Silk combines strategic vision with hands-on leadership to deliver results that propel brands forward.
Karin accelerates growth for small and midsized businesses by transforming marketing into a powerful, profitable growth engine. Karin has over 20 years of experience leading marketing for top-performing CPG, restaurant, and professional services brands. She has consistently increased revenue faster than the category, expanded customer acquisition, scaled digital marketing and ecommerce systems, and launched over $500M in product innovation.
Karin specializes in:
- Marketing strategy
- Optimizing budgets and marketing calendars
- Building high-performance teams
- Leveraging data insights for growth
Ashton Price, Chief Happiness Officer
As Octain’s Chief Happiness Officer, Ashton is dedicated to making sure everyone enjoys the blessings of each day, never forgets to smile and to encourage one another for the greater good of the company, the team and the community.