Overview

FRACTIONAL CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Lyons Leather Co. | Remote | Part-Time/Fractional
Reports to: Founder & CEO, Lisa Dannen

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Lyons Leather Co. is not your typical leather goods brand. We’re a rapidly growing, woman-owned business that solves a real problem women face every single day: the endless frustration of switching bags depending on where you’re going.

Our founder, Lisa Dannen, spent over a decade searching for one perfect bag. She wanted something comfortable enough for all-day wear, cute enough for going out, and convertible enough to work as a crossbody, fanny pack, or shoulder bag. After years of coming up empty, Lisa taught herself leatherworking in her garage in Lyons, Colorado, and created what she’d been searching for all along: the “Bee” – our flagship 3-in-1 convertible pouch.

That was three and a half years ago. Today, Lyons Leather Co. does $2.5 million in annual sales and is on track to hit $4 million this year. We’ve grown 180% year-over-year. We operate at 30%+ profit margins. We have over 100,000 monthly website visitors, ship 2,000 orders per month, and maintain a 28% returning customer rate. Our customers leave us 2,000+ five-star reviews and participate in a passionate Facebook fan community.

Here’s what makes us different: We’re not a mass-market, made-in-China operation. We partner with talented artisan workshops in Leon, Mexico – the leather bag capital of the Americas – to handcraft small batches of premium products. Lisa still designs every prototype in her Colorado workshop.

We source 100% full-grain vegetable-tanned leather from North America’s most sustainable tannery, which runs entirely on solar power. All our manufacturing partners are Leather Working Group certified, meaning ethical production is verified, not just claimed.

We’re a DTC-first brand. Roughly 95% of our revenue comes through our Shopify-powered website, and we currently sell only domestically (with the intention to expand beyond the U.S. when it makes strategic sense). We spend over $100,000 per month on paid advertising – almost entirely on Meta, focused on new customer acquisition. We work with agency contractors for email marketing, paid ads, and conversion rate optimization. Our email and SMS marketing through Klaviyo is our primary retention channel.

We’re also intentionally constraint-based. We could scale to $9 million this year if we wanted to, but we’re not chasing growth for growth’s sake. Our manufacturing and inventory constraints are the real limiters – not our marketing. We operate at about 80% capacity and recently dialed back ad spend to decrease customer acquisition costs and improve marketing efficiency ratio. We’re profit-led, not volume-obsessed.

Right now, everything is working. This is not a turnaround situation. We don’t need someone to “fix” what’s broken. We need someone to take what’s working extremely well and make it work even better.

ABOUT THE INDUSTRY

The leather goods and accessories market is crowded, competitive, and spans from $50 Target bags to $5,000 luxury designer pieces. Most brands fall into one of four categories:

Mass-market retailers (Target, department stores) compete on price and convenience. They use lower-quality leather and unclear labor practices. Their bags last one to two years.

Luxury brands (Coach, Michael Kors, Kate Spade) compete on status and logo recognition. They have higher price points, established retail presence, and strong resale value. But they often lack transparency in sustainability practices and charge significant premiums for brand recognition rather than craftsmanship alone.

Artisan makers (Etsy sellers, individual craftspeople) compete on uniqueness and customization. They offer one-of-a-kind products with direct maker relationships. But they often lack professional marketing execution, have long wait times, and show inconsistent quality control.

DTC sustainable brands (Cuyana, Polène) compete on values alignment and modern minimalist aesthetics. They position as conscious alternatives to fast fashion and luxury excess. This is our competitive set.

Lyons Leather Co. occupies a strategic sweet spot: We deliver near-luxury quality and verified sustainability at contemporary pricing ($198-$238 for our signature pouches), with the authenticity and founder story of artisan goods. We’re expensive enough to signal quality and values, but affordable enough that our customers don’t need to be wealthy.

Our customer base is primarily women aged 45-65+, earning $50,000-100,000+, who value minimalism, sustainability, and adventure. They’re willing to invest in fewer, better things that last.

The convertible bag trend is growing. Consumers increasingly want versatile products that simplify their lives rather than accumulating specialized items for every occasion. Our 3-in-1 design – crossbody, fanny pack, shoulder bag in one product – directly addresses this shift toward intentional consumption and minimalism.

Industry benchmarks show that affluent consumers aged 18-39 make multiple luxury leather goods purchases per year (55%), as do those over 40 (44%). Our customers typically purchase 1.4-1.5 times in their first year, and over an average 2-3 year lifespan, they place approximately 1.8-2.0 total orders.

Our current 12-month customer lifetime value is $254, with our biggest LTV driver being our Rewards Program (launched September 2024). Our customer acquisition cost is just $30-60 – giving us an exceptional 4:1 to 5:1 LTV:CAC ratio.

The biggest industry challenge right now is authenticity. Consumers are tired of greenwashing and performative sustainability claims. They want an organic, feel-good founder story – the “American Dream” – and products designed by women for women to solve a specific problem. Our story is our biggest asset.

It took Lisa 6 years and hundreds of prototypes to perfect “The Bee.” It’s been a slow, steady, intentional design process, which – combined with our small-batch “almost always sold out” inventory landscape – helps drive both value perception and quality expectations. Not to mention our Lifetime Warranty, which is virtually unheard of these days. We also have intellectual property protection with our Patented Snap Strap (design patent). That’s exactly what we offer, and it’s why our growth has been so strong in a crowded market.

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is an execution-focused position, not an advisory one. We don’t need someone to review decks and dashboards once a week. We don’t need a consultant who gives high-level strategic recommendations and then disappears. We need someone who can own the entire marketing function – strategy, execution, agency management, creative direction, and performance accountability.

Think of this as an “air traffic control” role. You’ll be organizing all the moving pieces of our marketing operation: paid ads, email/SMS, CRO, content creation, influencer partnerships, brand messaging, product launches, and customer lifecycle strategy. You’ll work with our existing agency contractors, but you need deep enough expertise in email/SMS (specifically Klaviyo), paid ads (Meta and Google), and conversion optimization to evaluate their work critically and spot red flags when they appear.

You are not here to fix something broken. Everything is working well. Your job is optimization, not rescue. You need to understand what we’re doing right and do more of it, identify what’s holding us back from the next level, figure out what our competitors are doing that we should copy, and spot opportunities that nobody else is seeing.

You also need to understand how to match marketing execution with inventory constraints. We’re not a business that can just “turn on the firehose” whenever we want. Manufacturing lead times, small-batch production, and intentional growth pacing mean marketing needs to work as both a gas pedal and a brake. When inventory is flush, you scale. When it’s tight, you dial back and focus on retention and efficiency.

Here’s the hard part: Most fractional CMOs we’ve interviewed assume the business is struggling. It’s not. Many have lifecycle experience but defer to agencies without deep strategic knowledge of the actual channels. Many can’t identify gaps or improvement opportunities when asked directly. Many seem to rely heavily on AI assistance during interviews, making it difficult to assess their real expertise.

We need someone who has personally built and scaled brands in the $2-5 million revenue range. Not someone who managed a channel at a $50 million company. Not someone who worked in consumer packaged goods at Procter & Gamble. We need startup and founder experience – someone who understands the stage we’re in and has lived through it successfully before.

You should also personally use and enjoy leather products. If you’re vegan or ethically opposed to leather goods, this role is not for you. We need someone who genuinely appreciates what we make and understands the customer who buys it.

This is a fractional engagement starting at $4,500-9,000 per month depending on experience and scope, with the opportunity to expand or transition to full-time as the business grows.

WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO

Own the entire marketing function from strategy through execution. You’re not advising – you’re doing. You set the strategy, make the final decisions, direct the agencies, approve the creative, allocate the budget, and own the outcomes.

Manage and critically evaluate our existing agency contractors. We work with agencies for email, paid ads, and CRO. You need deep expertise in these areas – especially Klaviyo, Meta, and Google Ads – so you can assess whether they’re doing excellent work or just going through the motions. You should be able to identify red flags, ask probing questions, challenge assumptions, and push back when something doesn’t make sense.

Identify missed opportunities and unlock new growth levers. Here are some areas where we know we have gaps:

  • We’ve never had any earned media or PR strategy
  • Our organic TikTok presence is minimal due to lack of skillset
  • We have a healthy affiliate program that’s driven $100K in 2025 (costing us just $13K in commissions), but it’s on autopilot without much strategic thinking
  • We have no strategic brand partnerships to date
  • Email is currently our number one sales channel, but we suspect our email strategy could be significantly improved

You should be able to walk in, assess what we’re doing across the business, and quickly spot these kinds of opportunities without us having to tell you where to look.

Align marketing execution with inventory and manufacturing constraints. We’re not a typical DTC brand that can just order 10,000 units from China and warehouse them. We work with small-batch artisan production, which means lead times, capacity limits, and intentional pacing. Marketing needs to scale demand when inventory allows and dial back when it doesn’t. You must understand how to match the marketing engine to the supply chain reality.

Own brand consistency across every customer touchpoint. Our brand is calm, confident, elevated, and authentic. It needs to feel like Lyons across our website, product pages, email campaigns, SMS messages, paid ads, social media, and launch messaging. Right now, Lisa is the brand quality control filter. You need to become that filter so nothing goes live off-brand without her having to review every single asset.

Drive retention and lifecycle strategy to improve customer lifetime value. We have a 28% returning customer rate and an 18% repurchase rate within 30 days. That’s solid, but there’s room for improvement.

Our average customer makes 1.8-2.0 purchases over their lifetime. We want that number higher. We want our top 20% of customers to feel special (Marshall Fields principle). We want our second and third quintiles – the customers ranked 21st to 60th percentile by value – to increase their purchase frequency.

Right now, we’re heavily indexed on new customer acquisition. You need to build a retention engine that compounds the value of every new customer we bring in.

Lead creative direction and approve all customer-facing content. You set the creative direction for paid ads, email campaigns, product launches, website updates, and CRO tests. You guide photographers, content creators, freelancers, and agency partners. You make sure every asset serves the brand, converts effectively, and works cohesively across paid, lifecycle, social, and on-site channels.

Optimize our current customer acquisition engine. We’re spending $100K+ per month on Meta, almost entirely on new customer acquisition. No retargeting. No retention ads. Just top-of-funnel cold traffic. Our conversion rate is 2.6%. Our average order value is $220. Is that the right approach? Are there quick wins in retargeting or abandoned cart optimization? Should we be testing Google Shopping or Pinterest? You tell us.

Plan for quarterly limited edition drops and artist collaborations. We release limited edition colors twice per year. They sell out quickly and create urgency.

We’re also working on artist collaborations. These launches need strategic planning, campaign buildups, email sequences, paid media support, and post-launch follow-through. You own the entire launch process from concept to execution.

Prepare the business for a strategic exit in the next 2-3 years. Lisa is working with a business coach on her exit strategy. The target is $6-7.5 million in annual revenue within two years, which would make Lyons Leather attractive to strategic buyers like Hermes-type companies or DTC aggregators.

Your marketing strategy should build enterprise value, not just short-term revenue. That means focusing on brand equity, customer data quality, repeatable systems, and scalable processes.

Communicate clearly and confidently with leadership. You need to establish a clear source of truth for marketing performance. You report on marketing efficiency ratio (MER), blended customer acquisition cost, spend efficiency, incremental revenue contribution, and strategic recommendations. You translate performance into plain language without jargon. You make confident recommendations backed by data and experience.

REQUIREMENTS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Requirements:

  • 8+ years in DTC marketing leadership with hands-on execution experience
  • Direct experience working with founders at startups during high-growth periods ($2-5M revenue stage specifically)
  • Proven ownership of Meta and Google Ads outcomes (not just channel management at a larger company)
  • Proven ownership of email & SMS strategy and execution using Klaviyo specifically
  • Comfortable managing six-figure monthly ad budgets and making real-time pacing decisions
  • Deep understanding of marketing efficiency ratio (MER), incrementality, spend elasticity, and blended attribution
  • Experience with businesses that are intentionally profit-led rather than volume-based
  • Strong brand instincts with disciplined restraint (knows when to say no to trends)
  • Confident decision-maker who operates independently without needing constant approval
  • Experience in similar verticals: accessories, fashion, leather goods, or premium handmade products
  • Startup or founder experience growing brands in the $2-5M range (not corporate/enterprise background)
  • Comfortable collaborating with operations, creative, and fulfillment teams
  • Genuinely appreciates leather products and understands the customer who buys them

Responsibilities:

  • Own end-to-end marketing strategy and execution across all channels
  • Manage and critically assess agency contractors (email, paid ads, CRO)
  • Set spend ceilings, pacing rules, and scaling frameworks for paid media
  • Make final decisions on when to scale, hold, or pull back ad spend based on inventory and efficiency
  • Own marketing efficiency ratio (MER), blended CAC, and customer lifetime value outcomes
  • Align paid media spend with inventory availability and manufacturing lead times
  • Protect and evolve brand consistency across website, emails, ads, social, and product launches
  • Refine product page copy to reduce hesitation, improve conversion, and protect premium positioning
  • Own lifecycle strategy across email and SMS to increase second-purchase velocity and LTV
  • Set creative direction for paid ads, campaigns, product launches, email flows, and CRO tests
  • Plan and execute quarterly limited edition product drops and artist collaborations
  • Identify and prioritize missed opportunities (PR, TikTok, affiliate optimization, brand partnerships)
  • Guide photographers, creators, freelancers, and ensure assets work cohesively across channels
  • Establish clear reporting and source of truth for marketing performance
  • Communicate recommendations confidently without platform jargon
  • Build systems and processes that allow the business to scale without founder dependency
  • Contribute to revenue forecasting driven by paid media capacity and inventory constraints
  • Build enterprise value and prepare marketing foundation for strategic exit in 2-3 years

THIS ROLE IS NOT:

  • Advisory-only
  • Brand-only or strategy-only
  • A rebrand or reinvention mandate
  • ROAS-obsessed or channel-siloed
  • A “review decks and dashboards” consulting gig
  • Focused on fixing broken systems (everything works – we need optimization)

COMPENSATION & ENGAGEMENT:

  • Fractional engagement: Part-time, remote
  • Monthly retainer: $4,500-9,000 based on experience and scope
  • Opportunity to expand scope or transition to full-time as the business grows
  • Potential equity discussion as business scales toward exit

🟥 TO APPLY (preferred): Send your background, relevant experience with brands in similar stage/vertical, and why you’re the right person to take Lyons Leather from $4M to $7.5M. USE: Lisa [at] LyonsLeatherCo [dot] com. In the subject line of your email, put “Resume – Harry’s post / CMOjobs.” Alternatively, you can use Lyons’ LinkedIn job posting elsewhere on this page.

To post a VP/CMO job on CMOjobs, text Harry Joiner @ (404) 281-2025.