Podcast

A Founder's Life:

Balancing Entrepreneurship, Family, Health, & Fun​

Podcast

A Founder's Life:

Balancing Entrepreneurship, Family, Health, & Fun​

Ep #22 - Freedom Over Hustle: How This Founder Did It - Courtney Kehl

In this episode of A Founder’s Life, we sit down with Courtney Kehl, founder of Expert Marketing Advisors, to uncover what it really takes to build a business rooted in freedom, flexibility, and purpose. If you’re an entrepreneur navigating the rollercoaster of growth, self-doubt, and personal evolution, this is the episode for you.

Courtney shares her journey from Silicon Valley acquisitions to running a 40-person B2B marketing agency built on trust, partnership, and adaptability. We discuss the realities of leading during life’s toughest seasons—like the loss of a parent—and how she created a business that supports both high performance and personal well-being.

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Guest Info

Courtney Kehl is a B2B marketing leader with a track record of building and scaling marketing programs. Eight years ago, Courtney launched Expert Marketing Advisors in Silicon Valley to provide businesses with top-tier marketing expertise and execution. As the founder of Expert Marketing Advisors, she has helped tech leaders – from startups to enterprises like Mastercard, Lenovo, Viptela/Cisco, and AppDynamics/Cisco – overcome their biggest marketing challenges. She has developed marketing playbooks, acquired firms, and built an engaged audience of 20K+ LinkedIn followers and nearly 7K on X. With unmatched industry talent, her firm continues to inspire exceptional customer experiences.

Show Notes

About this Episode

In this episode of A Founder’s Life, we sit down with Courtney Kehl, founder of Expert Marketing Advisors, to uncover what it really takes to build a business rooted in freedom, flexibility, and purpose. If you’re an entrepreneur navigating the rollercoaster of growth, self-doubt, and personal evolution, this is the episode for you.

Courtney shares her journey from Silicon Valley acquisitions to running a 40-person B2B marketing agency built on trust, partnership, and adaptability. We discuss the realities of leading during life’s toughest seasons—like the loss of a parent—and how she created a business that supports both high performance and personal well-being.

Highlights

  • Early Career & Organic Start: After multiple roles in tech companies that were acquired, Courtney turned freelance projects into a full-time business.

  • Building a Team: Created a culture of loyalty, flexibility, and ethics with a team of 40+ using a mix of contractors, partners, and full-time staff.

  • Personal Loss & Business Growth: Launched her business shortly after her father passed, pushing past the need for traditional validation.

  • Mental Health & Self-Care: Advocates for unlimited PTO, self-care routines, and letting employees build their own ideal schedules.

  • Family & Animals: Moved to Texas to be close to her brother and seven nieces/nephews, fosters animals, and builds joy outside of work.

  • A Redefined Balance: Found calm and control in designing a lifestyle-first business with room for passion, travel, and experimentation.

Resources

Learn more about Courtney: 

https://www.expertmarketingadvisors.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneykehl/

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