Meet Lori Asbury | Marketing Executive, Founder CMOco

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lori Asbury and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lori, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I decided to star my own marketing and advertising agency after a relatively long career in media because I wanted to be in control of my own destiny. While I had worked in very senior-level management positions at several major media companies, I was always working 50+ hours a week to make someone else wealthy. I decided that if I really wanted to be in charge of my future, and if I wanted to create something truly meaningful, then the best thing I could do was start my own company. At first, I did take pay cuts and give up some great benefits in order to build the infrastructure of the business. It’s taken 10 years for us to really hit our stride. We’ve always been profitable from the very beginning, but now we are really growing fast. It’s been a lot of really hard work, but I knew if I stuck with it and believed I could make it work, it would.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
CMOco provides an organization the knowledge, experience and abilities of a seasoned, highly-skilled Chief Marketing Officer and marketing team without the burden of full-time executive salaries and overhead. We provide a full-service, one-cost, total solution to a company’s marketing services needs. We also operate as a full-service advertising agency, developing comprehensive multi-platform advertising campaigns. From media planning and buying to full scale campaign execution, we pretty much do it all. We have a very diverse portfolio of clients consisting of both business-facing and consumer-facing organizations. We have to quickly learn unique industries and craft marketing and advertising strategies that help businesses reach their financial goals.

My background is in media, primarily working for television stations and television networks. I’ve always been on the creative and strategy side leading large creative teams. After working for several years in media, I decided to go back to school and get an MBA. This helped me to start to think differently about how I approached creative and how I developed campaigns. I began to not only focus on advertising messaging from a creative point of view, but also from a business point of view. I learned how to better manage return on ad spends, and focus on the measurability and success of an ad campaign as it relates to driving a return on investment. Getting my MBA also gave me the confidence to start my own company because I became educated on all that goes into running a business and understanding financial reports such as a P&L statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.

I worked my way up through the ranks as a producer and in management roles on creative teams with Televisions Stations in Oklahoma City, Miami, Chicago and New York. I then was VP of Advertising and Promotion for the 35 Fox Owned and Operated TV Stations, prior to becoming SVP of Marketing, Creative and Brand Strategy for HGTV. I left HGVT in 2011 and then later that year started CMOco. Initially I was partnered with web development and design company before buying out their share of the company and branching out on my own in 2015. 2024 will mark our 13th year in business. The last three years have been our biggest yet and we show no signs of slowing down (God willing)!
There most definitely have been a lot of highs and lows but I always tried to grow judiciously. It’s always been my philosophy to grow slower but hire more experienced staff that allowed us to operate at a higher level and ultimately more efficiently. Our staff now consists of 11 people with plans to add at least another full-time person in 2024, if not more. We’ve launched several programs that extend our reach to other markets but also provide additional income streams. We now offer 20 digital ad products in-house and have robust infrastructure to serve our clients.

One thing that’s extremely important to me as we grow however, is that we remain extremely accessible and collaborative with our clients. We want to truly operate as an in-house marketing team, that just happens to reside in West Knoxville. When our clients call they reach us, when they need something we are there. I don’t hold any clients to long-term contracts, because if we aren’t meeting their needs, then they should be free to explore other options. I just believe that’s the healthiest way to do business.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
1. UT Football Tailgates, and UT Football games 2. Great Smokey Mountains National Park
3. Yee Haw Brewing Company outdoor patio for craft beer and great wings
4. Downtown Knoxville & Market Square
5. The Farm where I keep my horses

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have had such an amazing support system throughout my career from family and friends, but my parents have been the most encouraging and supportive. I have been a single mom since my daughter was 5 month’s old and my son was 3. It’s been quite a journey raising them on my own, especially when I have been trying to build the business as they’ve been growing up. My parents moved to be closer to me so they could help with logistics, and they always encouraged me to chase my dreams. They instilled a relentless work ethic drive in me and always encouraged me to stay strong and fight through the tough times. They also gave me a great spiritual foundation which has been something I have leaned on heavily over the years.

Website: https://cmoco.com

Instagram: @cmocoadvertising

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cmoco/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOcoMarketing

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cmoco1972

Image Credits
Photo Credit: Bryan Allen