Nothing about that path made her unhappy. In fact, she loved it. “I’ve basically studied marketing, done marketing the whole time, absolutely love it, wouldn’t want to do anything else,” she says. Yet about a year ago, she decided it was time for something different. She struck out on her own to become what’s becoming commonly known as a fractional marketer, someone who jumps into businesses, large and small, to handle marketing strategy and execution without coming on board as a permanent employee.

She launched Cue Marketing in April last year with the help of a few business mentors. Word travelled quickly. “I’m really well-networked just from working in large businesses, and I like meeting people,” Steph explains. One of her first big wins was Goodfood Group, which already had access to Ideally in place. Stepping into that environment was something of a trial by fire for Steph. “I’d been used to big research agencies like Kantar or TRA,” she says, recalling how she had to rapidly learn new tools that catered to tighter budgets and faster decisions.

That steep learning curve had an unexpected benefit. Now, whenever she joins a new company, she can bring along a toolbox of practical, cost-effective methods to test campaigns or pack designs. “As a fractional marketer, I’m in the business, but I’m also briefing agencies,” she says. Whether it’s rebranding a family-owned tile retailer or launching a new campaign for a legendary pizza chain, Steph is no longer tied to the traditional structures that once governed her work.

Her partnership with HELL Pizza exemplifies what fractional marketing looks like in action. “Working with Hell Pizza is the golden crown,” Steph says, describing how she first came in to handle strategy. That strategic dive revealed several opportunities to refresh the brand’s approach and refine marketing tactics to boost sales, not just brand awareness. “I came in initially just to do the strategy for them. That obviously uncovered some things that needed to be addressed, so I’m basically taking the marketing plan and putting it into action.”

Steph oversees HELL’s marketing efforts remotely and taps into nimble research solutions when needed. If the team has an unconventional idea, they can quickly gather data to gauge how the market might respond. “We tested HELL Pizza’s new campaign. The first time we used quick-turnaround research, we didn’t test the right thing. We messed it up. The second time we did it, we got much better insights,” she says, laughing at the lesson learned. The process reflects a core part of her ethos: pivot quickly, learn from each attempt, and never let perfect be the enemy of good.