Hi, I'm Dayna.
I help SaaS founders and CMOs grow the marketing function: the strategy, the team, and the operating rhythm behind it. My practice is intentionally small. One person, real engagements, no associates billing against my name.
Where I come from.
I've spent my career inside SaaS marketing teams: the kind that have to ship pipeline this quarter, not just decks. I've led across the whole stack: strategy, demand generation, brand, campaign execution, marketing ops, and the marketing-sales handoff. I've managed BDRs, run the math with finance, and stood behind the number in front of a board.
The pattern I kept seeing: marketing teams stretched thin, founders unsure how to evaluate the work, and a lot of money going to vendors and tools that didn't add up to a coherent function. Strategy in one room, execution in another, the revenue conversation in a third.
I started Carlin Growth Advisory in 2026 to do something most consultants don't: come in as a senior partner, look at the whole marketing function honestly, and help the team you have get sharper, ship more, and use the right tools, including AI where it actually helps. Same person writes the plan and works alongside the team to ship it.
My first client is a former employer who asked me to keep helping after I left. That's the kind of work I want: companies that already know me, or companies whose growth problem I'd genuinely lose sleep over.
Dayna Carlin
How this practice runs.
Small surface, sharp focus
A handful of clients at a time. If we're working together, you're getting the operator, not a layer of associates billing against me. Less leverage for the practice, more for you.
Artifacts over hours
Every engagement is scoped to a deliverable: a workflow, a playbook, a working system. Not a billable target. You always know what you're paying for.
Honest defaults
I'll tell you when an engagement isn't a fit, when your problem is a hire and not a consultant, and when "more AI" is the wrong answer. The job is to be useful, not employed.
Bias to ship
Strategy that doesn't reach production isn't strategy, it's a slide deck. Every engagement ends with workflows your team actually uses on Monday.
The practice is intentionally small. If we're not the right fit right now, I'm happy to point you to operators and advisors I trust.
Email is the path. I read every note that comes in personally, and I'll respond within a business day, even if the answer is "not right now" or "you should talk to someone else."