Our Leadership

Karen McFarlane is a strategic B2B marketing executive, board director, and venture builder with more than 25 years of experience, including 14 years as a fractional CMO and CMO-in-Residence helping companies scale smarter. As founder of Kaye Media, she partners with high-growth startups and mid-market B2B companies that need senior marketing leadership to accelerate growth, refine positioning, and develop next-generation leaders. Known for bringing the strategic mindset of a CMO and the operational discipline of a COO, Karen helps organizations strengthen their message, align their teams, and build systems that turn ambition into measurable growth.

Whether guiding startups like Fivetran and CareAcademy, repositioning SaaS challengers like Smartling and Creative Virtual, or supporting global leaders such as Amazon, Twilio/SendGrid, Braze, and Knowable (a LexisNexis company), Karen has delivered outcomes that change trajectories. She has scaled pipelines to seven figures, cut go-to-market cycles from 12 weeks to 6, and reduced customer acquisition costs by 20% while accelerating pipeline velocity. She has repositioned brands to category leadership, multiplying marketing-qualified leads fivefold and translating into millions in new revenue opportunities. She has also led AI-driven product launches with Creative Virtual and Knowable, combining category strategy, messaging, and demand generation to bring AI-powered innovations to market.

Karen’s leadership extends beyond client work. She served as president of the American Marketing Association New York and AMA’s Professional Chapters Council, leading volunteer boards responsible for strategy, operations, and leadership development nationwide to strengthen infrastructure and increase member value. She also develops ventures at the intersection of innovation, culture, and business—from launching Really Good Intros, a visibility platform for overlooked talent, to co-hosting The E Word podcast, a show exploring leadership, culture, and systems of power.

A published author, speaker, and recognized thought leader, Karen has written influential industry reports on inclusive marketing and organizational strategy and was named one of Crain’s Most Notable in Marketing & PR. She serves on the board of the Hudson Valley Credit Union ($8B in assets) as Chair of the Compensation and Benefits Committee, and on the board of AMA New York as Secretary/Treasurer. 

Karen is an NACD© Certified Board Director and holds an MBA in Marketing and a BS in Communications from New York University, and has completed executive education in governance, negotiation, executive compensation, and entrepreneurship through programs at Columbia Business School, Wharton, MIT, and Cornell.

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