Lindenmeyer, founder and former CEO of Proximity to Power and sales and marketing executive for brands such as Tech Wildcatters, is sunsetting her successful business consultancy to focus on the high-growth startup, Gig Wage, and its vision to transform the $2 trillion gig economy.
(Dallas, TX. July 8, 2021) – Gig Wage, the FinTech payroll platform for the 1099 workforce, today announced the addition of Clarisa Lindenmeyer as Chief of Staff to the CEO and Chief Brand Officer. In this latest addition to the Executive Team, Lindenmeyer will build the Office of the CEO and lead the growth and development of the brand image, experience and promise – both internally and externally. She will do this in support of the mission to build the bank of the gig economy and create a financial safety net for under and unbanked workers.
The brand also announced today that it has raised an additional $3.25 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) as a strategic financial decision to bring on additional financial flexibility at competitive terms that will be used to invest in key growth areas of the business. Lindenmeyer, who will help support this growth, has over 15 years of leadership experience in B2B2C marketing and PR, growth strategy and brand building. Her unique ability to work horizontally across organizations position her well to work alongside Gig Wage Founder and CEO, Craig J. Lewis, in support of his vision for rapid growth and eventual global expansion.
For the last five years her consultancy, Proximity to Power, has served an impressive list of long-standing clients in the venture/startup, healthcare, commercial real estate and government sectors as well as numerous non-profit roles including: Vice President of Community Engagement on Dallas’s The Family Place Board, Board of Directors for Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity and Executive Committee for the United Way Social Innovation Accelerator.
Lindenmeyer, a Mexican American wife and mother of three, is joining the shortlist of Dallas women holding C-level roles within the technology and innovation community. Furthering Gig Wage’s bold DEI goals, she is joining Gig Wage’s growing C-Suite alongside Ethan Austin, Chief Strategy Officer and formerly Managing Director of Techstars; Anna Enns, Chief Product Officer; Robert Belsky, Vice President of Finance and formerly of Bloomberg and J.P. Morgan and Rocco Stanzione, CTO; as well as newly hired go-to-market leaders — Brandi Utria, Senior Vice President of Business Development and former Vice President of Business Development at Asure Software; and Desmon Lewis, Senior Enterprise Sales Executive and former Director of Sales at Citi.
Gig Wage was founded in 2014 and has raised $16.45 million to-date from Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT), Silicon Valley Bank, Foundry Group, Continental Investors, Techstars, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and more.
1. How according to you can brand/marketing leaders create a better impact with their choice and implementation of marketing automation; an impact that drives more marketing and overall business ROI?
The answer to this question is and always has been: perform a needs assessment across the customer journey. Meaning, you can’t just compartmentalize into what Marketing needs or which platform does one task well. What does Marketing need? What do Pre-Sales and Sales need? What do Customer Success and Product need? How will a marketing automation tool integrate with others across the organization? Collaboration and a fierce commitment to achieving the big goals of the COMPANY should drive these decisions.
2. What were the key milestones in your career that helped you scale to this level?
Going to work in the Startup, Innovation and Venture Capital Space. I was hired by a visionary female CEO who paid me what I deserved, let me work from home two days a week and gave me the autonomy to help her build the business. Working around tech companies and founders is truly inspiring and made me realize that anything is possible.
3. Marketing leaders are either embracing data science or hiring data analysts for their operations. How do you think a CMO should plan/train with data science?
You can’t run a marketing organization today without relying heavily on data. Full Stop. At the same time, I believe a great CMO or CBO should be a phenomenal generalist. We should hire data specialists and partner with amazing agencies to fulfill this aspect of the role. It is very important to stay up to date with trends and strategy but surrounding yourself with experts who live in the tactics and execution every day is key.
4. As the need for deeper analytics and insights grows, what kind of business intelligence and data will become more crucial for marketers of the future?
This is easy! Payroll and payments data. Anonymized of course. There is much to be learned as we observe the entire flow of funds between employers and their workforces.
5. In your own words what do you do?
I solve problems that stand in the way of growth.
6. Can you describe your clients?
Our clients at Gig Wage are the most diverse group of companies I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving. Whether you identify as a gig economy company or a freelancer or contractor or independent economy – if you pay or get paid as a 1099 you can be our customer. We serve companies in: trucking, catering, food delivery, real estate, mortgage field service, Public Relations, event planning and even on-demand healthcare. By 2023, ½ of the US workforce will receive a 1099 and we want to help them all get paid.
7. What has been your biggest milestone/achievement so far?
Landing my new role as Chief of Staff to the CEO and Chief Brand Officer. It’s an amazing role and at an amazing company. I’m getting to do the work I was born to do and for an amazing CEO, building an incredible team for a company that is powering the future of work. I’ve worked hard to land the “dream job” and am beyond proud of it.
8. How has Covid-19 affected your work so far? How did you get your first clients and how did you grow this bigger? Any tips to share?
When Covid began I still owned and ran my boutique consultancy. At first, I didn’t know if we would survive. However, we thrived and I attribute that to a couple of things. First, we had cultivated a select, diversified and long-tenured client base. We had become an essential part of their business versus just a vendor. Second, I didn’t build a normal agency model. Most agencies have too much overhead and too much staff. So, when things change in the economy they have no margins to work with. We built a high-profit business that relied on our clients’ internal teams or helped them outsource the work. In the end these things made us resilient.
9. What has been your greatest accomplishment so far?
Launching my own business after a layoff and while 7 months pregnant with my 3rd child.
10. Do you work with influencers? Do you think this is a great marketing method? Why yes/no
I think working with the right influencers, especially in B2B2C, is extremely beneficial. People are PEOPLE. People make decisions. We talk a lot about building a very human brand. Third-party endorsements are a fast (and sometimes expensive) way to do this. You have to be strategic but it can result in exponential impact.
11. What is the best advice you have ever received? (advice that led to Proximity to Power)
To state the obvious and keep short accounts. You have to be able to navigate hard and awkward situations and conversations. By simply stating what you’re feeling or observing, you give others the chance to add clarity or even share how they are feeling about the interaction. This is incredibly powerful. Learn to read the room but be willing to speak about what you see!
![From Music to Perfume: How did your background as a music teacher influence your transition into perfumery, and how do you incorporate your musical sensibilities into creating fragrances? I’ve always thought in terms of metaphors, and music has many that can be related to perfumery! Beyond just thinking in terms of top, middle and base notes [soprano/alto/tenor in choir], I approach each fragrant idea as a composition. When documenting my ideas, song structures often come to mind. As the scent brief is visited, I meditate on what the fragrance should convey - do I want to create an accord or a “chord” of fragrance note combinations? Do I want an a capella soloist (a particular ingredient to stand out more than others?) Many of my thoughts regarding song composition transfers to my scent formulation process, with me treating each note as an intentional soliloquy at some point.
Brand Origin: What inspired you to start Pink MahogHany in 2005, and how has your vision for the brand evolved since its inception?
An avid lover of all things pleasantly scented (with slight modesty), looking back in retrospect, it’s no huge surprise that I’ve created an indie perfume house with just an idea to provide unique options for those who may be sensitive to unnecessary pungency. Initially, I just wanted to evaluate various blends to note their aroma profiles when “played” together…it wasn’t until I had friends and family asking if I knew of brands that catered to those who may be on the more olfactory sensitive side, that I really began to take my research more seriously. In the almost 20 years that Pink MahogHany has been in existence, our micro visions for the brand have evolved to larger territory. Where Pink MahogHany used to only be a personal brand, we are now also a bespoke formulation service provider to other indie brands seeking unique fragrance offerings for their products. These products range from (but are not limited to) perfumes, candles, body butters and lip balms. Ingredient Transparency: You emphasize transparency and the use of desirable ingredients in your products. How do you select your ingredients, and what challenges have you faced in maintaining this standard?
Being an indie brand often comes with a set of assumptions and misconceptions - one of them being more negative than positive as it relates to ingredients used. There is a lot of “fluff” in the industry with labeling falsification. Because fragrance formulas are a trade secret, not every molecular breakdown of a material has to be noted on the ingredient label (it would be incredibly long), but we at Pink MahogHany™️ adhere strongly to the IFRA [International Fragrance Regulatory Association] regulations that state for common and potential allergens to be listed on our ingredient label. We’ve taken this a step further to also include these ingredients listed on our website to promote further transparency, all while protecting our intellectual property. Unfortunately, we’ve had companies to unethically sell lesser expensive “dupes” of our artisan perfumes, so as a way to create a better authenticity stamp, we make it our duty to be honest about our claims. If our perfume says “Rose Bulgaria”, it is in fact just that and not a component of rose being passed off as the source material. Collaborations and Custom Scents: Can you share more about your work with private label clients? What excites you most about creating custom scent solutions for other indie brands? I could easily sum this up in one word and say “Funding.” True, there is money out there, but I’m always thinking outside the box. Having a program that has an “Each One Fund One” mentality doesn’t exist (that I’ve been made aware of). Bootstrapping can be quite the challenge, even when you’ve reached the 6-figure mark annually. Competition to be seen and set apart is extremely high, so having quality packaging and branding is a must. There are lots of factors to consider, though when desiring to make upgrades. If there were a unique, tier-geared funding operation available, it would help perfume brands offset packaging and bulk material costs in the beginning stages.
Industry Challenges: What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as an independent fragrance house, and how have you overcome them to grow your brand? As the brand continues on the path of organic growth, I would like to expand our reach into schools, offering perfumery as an arts elective for middle and high school. I’d love to partner with botanists, farmers and horticulturists directly to grow and source raw materials for the students to work with in the creation of tinctures. My passion is getting back to nature as best as possible, as nature was my first “scent experience” as a child. We would also love to witness our fragrance creations being used to scent model homes, our focus diffuser blends being used in automobile dealerships as well as partner with Air Bnb and boutique hotels that specialize in highlighting minority, indie brands. Personal Journey: How has your personal experience, particularly as a divorced mother and someone who has experienced the loss of a child, shaped your approach to life and your work in perfumery?
Because I homeschool my twin sons, we are together a lot more than most, so one thing we all do is have moments of sharing where a neutral “floor” is laid to converse about anything. Though they are quite communicative by nature, I realize that sometimes I can be in work mode so much that it spills over into what should be our quality time. My sons see the authentic me and learn how to communicate through seeing authenticity. I’ve learned not to feel as if I have to be the epitome of perfection but allow them to see my imperfections vulnerably but with discernment. Having had two traumatic experiences pretty close together has taught me how to truly slow down and enjoy the simplicities of life - igniting a spiritual aspect that I’ve always carried but never fully explored…until Kenji’s sudden passing (2018.) Grief has a way of catapulting us into a quest for more meaningfulness in both life and business. After Kenji’s passing and my processing through the initial stages of grief, I was able to incorporate our spiritual bond into Pink MahogHany by way of essential oil diffuser blends for both focus and sleep and most recently aromatic perfume elixirs. It’s been quite the process channeling the void of his physical presence, but I also have peace knowing he can be honored in a great way through scent. I noticed once I began to be more open and receptive to spiritual signs, synchs and “winks”, more ideas began to flow. It’s been this way since his transition. Emotional Expression: Fragrance is often tied to memories and emotions. How does your personal life influence the fragrances you create, and do you have a particular scent that holds special meaning to you? My creative process is much more alchemic now, and I include Kenji by talking out loud to him, believe it or not. I’m a firm believer that when our loved ones transition from the physical plane, they are still present - just in another form. I choose to keep his memory alive by not pretending he never existed (even if for a brief period of time). I am working (slowly) on a book and accompanying fragrance, but I know it will require me to revisit some memories I’m not quite ready for, so until then, his big brothers will launch their debut fragrance, The Peaceful Tiger (they chose the name.) I’ve learned that even in what we consider “small things”, our transitioned loved ones want to be recognized and acknowledged. When the twins and I designed their fragrance label (with a designer out of the country that didn’t know anything about me personally), we had issues with the graphic - so much so that the designer asked if they could rework the design. When they sent the proof for approval, the Tiger was not only younger but sleeping, with an uncanny, angelic resemblance to baby Kenji! Becoming more aware and being more sensitive to my intention for launching a fragrance has definitely made room for more divine situations like these to occur. Healing Through Scent: In what ways has creating fragrances been a form of healing or expression for you, especially after the loss of your son, Kenji Mwamba? I know my sons may not necessarily want to be perfumers, but they definitely have an entrepreneurial heart. My desire is that whatever they decide to pursue (acting, script-writing, music or architecture), they know that anything is possible with the right amount of determination, grit, belief and immersion. One reason I chose to homeschool is so they could enjoy learning without restraint and have ample time to devote to their own separate passions and it still be fun. They know Pink MahogHany is theirs if they want it (many, many years from now - lol), and we are already discussing business structures for whatever they choose their role to be once I retire. Work-Life Balance: How do you find balance between your professional responsibilities and personal well-being, and what self-care practices do you prioritize? I’m not just a perfumer; I’m also a consumer, and self-care is huge for me. I often take salt baths to reset my energy and clear my mind after being around large groups of people or free a long day. I’m a habitual perfume sampler, and I have so many to choose from to wear as my “nightcap.” Even if just for 10-15 minutes, I cherish each moment I’m able to have some “me-time.” When time and co-parenting schedules permit, I’m definitely on a flight somewhere to indulge in some delicious food and mouth-watering mocktails!](https://www.womenontopp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_3812-1200x720.jpeg)
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