Susan Kelly

About Susan Kelly

Susan has over 25 years of experience working with owner-managed businesses, VC/PE-backed firms, and global corporations ranging from <$5M to > $600M. Susan brings proven abilities to manage people, projects, and technology, from strategic growth to implementations that increase valuations.

As a leader in the digital frontier, where strategy and tactics meet technology and analytics, she has helped organizations fast-track change, scale revenue generation functions, and automate operational platforms. Experienced in using the latest tech stacks and digital technologies, she targets ideal customers and grows pipelines, commercializes product/service offerings, and measures customer experience to drive the top and bottom lines to higher levels.

She is also the founder of Raine Media, a marketing research and consulting services firm that develops sales and marketing strategies and technology infrastructure to help clients better reach their customers, lower their total cost ownership for marketing, and develop growth paths for accelerated valuation.

How Susan has Helped Businesses Grow

• P&L Management and Strategic Growth:
  • As CEO and President of K/P Corporation, a $100M company in digital services fulfillment, Susan increased ESOP share value by 73% and led the company's private placement sale process.
  • At Xerox, she created a $300M end-to-end horizontal supply chain Line of Business for outsourced digital marketing and communication services, demonstrating her ability to drive significant business growth and manage substantial P&L responsibilities.
  • Susan has a strong history of developing high-performance cultures and long-lasting client relationships, which serve as the foundation for accelerated growth.

• Sales and Marketing Leadership:
  • Susan has held multiple high-level sales and marketing positions, including SVP Sales and Marketing with a global salesforce of 300 across 23 countries targeting diverse technology sectors, including software manufacturers, resellers, MSP/MSSPs, retailers, SaaS businesses, ISVs, VARs, VADs, and OEMs.
  • As the CMO at New Horizons, a technology services company, she led the digital transformation and implemented sales and marketing automation systems to support the global direct and channel sales organizations across B2C, B2B, and B2G markets.
    
    
• Digital Marketing and Lead Generation:
  • Implemented multiple best practice Demand Generation and ABM Frameworks for clients to boost the pipeline of qualified leads while optimizing conversion rates.
  • Consistently grew enrollments by 15% each semester for top-tier education institutions. In a recent engagement, initiated content syndication to fill the SQL pipeline and drove organic social media to a 6+% engagement rate.

• Product Development and Innovation:
  • Delivered technology service offerings for Xerox channel partners, scaling B2B, B2C, and B2G businesses.
  • Led several 'rip and replace' digital transformations for companies ranging from $5M to $200M, leveraging best-in-class enterprise SaaS applications.
  • Assisted product management for test and measurement products, helping the client convert from software services to product-led growth.

• Technology and Cybersecurity Expertise:
  • She has a strong technology strategy background with experience with multiple CRM, ERP, and Service Support systems. Susan is a member of Chief Outsiders’ AI Tiger team. She has worked with 20+ clients on their digital transformation and implementation projects, which included HubSpot, Salesforce, ZenDesk, ServiceNow, Atlassian, AWS, MS Dynamics, NetSuite, ConnectWise, etc.
  • At CompTIA, she built an accredited cybersecurity institution, expanded to five regions, developed key Workforce Board relationships, and increased employer sponsorship for cybersecurity jobs by more than 125% in less than five months.

Executive Experience

• SVP/CMO Marketing, New Horizons
• CMO, CompTIA Academy
• CMO/EVP Apollidon Learning
• VP Global Alliances, Xerox
• VP Enterprise Communications and Marketing Services, Xerox
• CEO/CRO K/P Corporation
• SVP Sales, Marketing and Product Development, R. R. Donnelley
• Founder and Managing Partner, Raine Media Consulting
• Head of Pitney Bowes, Canadian Division

Clients Served

• Concord Servicing
• Northeastern University
• Corsica Technologies
• Liquid Instruments
• National Society of Learning and Success
• New Horizons Worldwide, LLC.

Education

• MBA, York University
• Bachelor of Technology, Ryerson University
• CMA, University of Toronto
• CAM (Certified Alliance Manager)

Testimonials

“We engaged Susan because of her expertise with top-tier education institutions and her ability to quickly assess challenging situations. In three months, she produced quality deliverables that helped accelerate an execution path to incorporate student experience best practices, capture quick wins, and identify growth options to scale the college."

Dr. Radhika Seshan, Dean, College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University

 

“The experience with Chief Outsiders has been great, and Susan has felt truly like part of our team working with our Leadership team and our Board. I appreciate the work it took to jump in as CMO, and totally restructure and stabilize our Marketing team while managing the day-to-day requirements. Her relentless focus on demand generation and implementing lead gen processes accelerated the company’s top-line growth. It’s been a valuable relationship and we continue to engage her advisory services."

Brian Harmison, CEO, Corsica Technologies

 

“We faced multiple challenges due to evolving student populations and emerging demands, so we had many concerns about how to move forward, Susan played a key role in our exploration by posing the big questions, doing the research and examinations to get answers, and helping us define the current state of our business and what the future state could look like. She was a guiding light on this effort, an important partner for me on this project, and a great & supportive team member,  especially as we initiated complex restructuring efforts and developed a data culture. I greatly value Susan’s support on our effort and I have very high regard for her perspectives, experience, and strategic insights.  She’s done a terrific job!"

Charles Kilfoye, Ed.D, Senior Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Graduate School of Education, Northeastern University

Download Susan's Resume Here