413 Fractional Marketing, Burnout Recovery, and Building a Business from Scratch with Lauren Murdoch of Murdoch Marketing

**Episode 413:** Rain or Shine Podcast
**Guest:** Lauren Murdoch, Founder of Murdoch Marketing

From Burnout to Boldness: How Lauren Murdoch Left Corporate, Moved to New Zealand, and Built a Marketing Business on Her Own Terms

Episode 413: Rain or Shine Podcast
Guest: Lauren Murdoch, Founder of Murdoch Marketing

Quick Summary

In this episode, host Kelsey sits down with Lauren Murdoch, founder of Murdoch Marketing, a fractional marketing consultancy based in Burlington, Ontario. Lauren shares the raw, messy, and ultimately inspiring story of leaving a burnout-inducing corporate career, taking her family to New Zealand for four months, and coming home to build a business rooted in clarity, community, and genuine strategy. This is a must-listen for marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone who has ever felt the pull toward something more aligned — but wasn't sure how to get there.

In This Episode

How Lauren went from corporate marketer to fractional marketing consultant after 15 years
The 1:00–3:00 AM panic attacks that finally pushed her to quit
Why she spent months saying yes to everything — and what it unlocked
The real story of how her family made four months in New Zealand happen (no big bank account required)
Her first fractional client — and why he showed up at a golf simulator
Why going viral is NOT the goal — and what actually generates revenue
The simple marketing moves most small business owners skip entirely
How co-hosting workshops became her most powerful visibility strategy
Why she hopes she never goes viral

Key Takeaways

It's never the right time to take the leap — but if the desire is there, dig in and figure out how to make it work. The right conditions rarely just appear; you have to engineer them.
In the early days of a new business, saying yes to everything isn't reckless — it's research. Clarity comes from doing, not planning.
The best marketing starts with one thing: being relentlessly clear about who you are, what you offer, and telling people exactly what to do next.
Optimize before you add. Before building a new offer or platform, look at what you already have and ask if it's been given a real chance to work.
Getting out of your office and into rooms — events, coffee chats, workshops — is still one of the most underrated business development strategies that exists.

Memorable Quotes

"You will always find reasons not to do something. It's never a good time."
"Don't go try to do five to ten channels. Pick two. Get really good at those."
"I genuinely hope I don't go viral — because that's not the fastest path to building a real business."

Resources Mentioned

Murdoch Marketing website:murdochmarketing.ca
Lauren’s Instagram:@itslaurenmurdoch
Kelsey's Website: www.KelseyReidl.com
Kelsey's Instagram: @KelseyReidl
July 23rd Burlington Event: Cocktails, dinner & speakers on inner self and outer style — checkmurdochmarketing.ca for details
New Zealand Work From Heart sabbatical program (mentioned in context of Lauren's employer's policies)

About the Guest

Lauren Murdoch is the founder of Murdoch Marketing, a fractional marketing consultancy helping entrepreneurs and small business owners build clear, effective marketing strategies. After 15 years scaling companies in corporate marketing, she left to build a business and life that actually fit — including a four-month family adventure in New Zealand. She's based in the Burlington/Hamilton area of Ontario and works with clients across Canada.

DELIVERABLE A: CLEANED & EDITED TRANSCRIPT
Kelsey: Lauren, welcome to the Rain or Shine podcast. I'm so excited to chat with another marketer. It's actually really funny how we met — we both opted into a matchmaking session through a B2B marketing community we're both part of, and I got randomly matched with you. We jumped on a Zoom call last spring, realized we lived within an hour of each other, and we've since attended events together. I'm excited to sit down and get to know you even better today, so thanks for being here.
Lauren: Thanks for having me. Anyone who asks how we met, I say, "Yeah, I met her through a US community," and then we were like, "Where do you live? Oh, you know all the same people?" It's crazy how many mutual connections we have.
Kelsey: That's the value of joining masterminds and online communities. Even if you just meet one person — and normally you'll meet 10 or 20 — one connection can truly ripple into so much more. The investment is always worth it.
Kelsey: Okay, let's get into some rapid fire questions. I know your life has many moving parts — you're busy, you're a mama, you have a husband who travels. What is your favorite way to wind down after a really busy week?
Lauren: Honestly, if it's even an option — because I never do it otherwise — it's literally ordering pizza, having a glass of wine on the couch, and watching a movie with the family. There are just always so many moving parts and so much noise. If I can just sit down and not think for five seconds, that's the best.
Kelsey: It's the simple routines that are the most nourishing. I don't want a big night out — I want my couch, a movie, and my kids.
Lauren: The older I get, the more I feel that. It really is the little things for me.
Kelsey: What is one thing you do every single day that is non-negotiable — for your health, your wellness, your sanity?
Lauren: This hasn't been true my whole life, but over the last year or so it's been moving my body. Whether that's going to the gym with my personal trainer — which I never would have done before — or if I can't get there, my husband and I will drop the kids and go for a walk. I really started to realize that moving is how I manage stress best, so that has to happen.
Kelsey: I love that. Why did you decide to invest in a personal trainer?
Lauren: We were in New Zealand for four months, and I was 39. We were coming back in March and I was turning 40 in May. I had time to think about myself and what I wanted, and I was like, "My health is so important to me, but I've always been all over the place with working out." I wanted to go into 40 strong and maintain that as I get older — being able to run around with my kids and grandkids someday. That was the main driver.
Kelsey: That's such a great lesson for entrepreneurship too. If something is important to you, invest in making it easy. Hire the trainer, show up to the gym three times a week, and stop carrying the mental burden of figuring it out on your own. Putting resources behind your priorities is how they actually happen.
Lauren: Exactly. I fully realize I'm a "class person" — I need to meet someone there. Just having someone hold that for me so it's in my calendar and I just have to show up. One morning everything was running late and I messaged my trainer saying I'd be 15 minutes late for my hour session. She said, "If you want to switch days, go for it." And I said, "No, because I won't do it. I know I won't." 45 minutes is better than zero minutes.
Kelsey: So you've been running your business for a couple of years. Before that, you helped scale companies with millions in revenue. How did you eventually make the leap from corporate to launching Murdoch Marketing?
Lauren: In the back of my mind, I always knew I wanted to do it. I was in corporate for 15 years, and especially going into my 30s, I had that pull — but I was terrified and didn't really know anyone in the entrepreneurial world to ask what it was like.
Lauren: What actually pushed me was that my company was acquired by a US firm while I was on maternity leave with my son. I came back to a very different job and culture. I stuck it out for eight months, but it turned into a really difficult situation. I was working crazy hours, waking up between 1:00 and 3:00 AM in a panic because I had come to terms with the fact that there was no way I could ever catch up. I eventually talked to my husband about quitting, and he said, "The state you're in — you need to quit tomorrow."
Lauren: After I left, I took some time to settle. I started interviewing again by December, and by January I was near the end of the process and started having that panicked feeling again. My husband said, "So just don't do the interview — what are you freaking out about?" And I realized: I don't want to do this at all. Which was way scarier than quitting, because it meant making a decision to fully change my life.
Lauren: So I didn't do the interview. I spent five or six months genuinely not knowing what I was doing. I love marketing. I love travel — planning it, everything about it. So I decided to just say yes to pretty much everything and see where it led. I worked with a few people on small projects, and then someone introduced me to a woman who runs service trips. Within 45 minutes of our first call, we decided I was going to help her plan a trip to Ecuador — happening in April, and it was February. And while all of that was happening, my husband and I started talking about going to New Zealand. What started as a joke became a real plan. Within six months, we had figured out how to get our family there for four months.
Lauren: We got back in March 2024, and I just started working — offering fractional marketing services. The timing of everything was crazy, but it all started falling into place when we returned.
Kelsey: I love that you had that season of saying yes to everything. You could have been picky with your experience — "I've got 15 years in corporate marketing, I have standards." But instead you dropped the preconceived notions and just opened yourself up. Those seasons can be the most opportunistic when you let them be.
Lauren: Absolutely. And I honestly just needed the time with my family. That entire year and a half completely shifted the way I think about everything.
Kelsey: In what ways? Because you and your husband rearranged your whole life for four months in New Zealand — kids, house, everything. A lot of people would say, "The kids are in school, I work full-time, it's not the right time." What would you say to someone wrestling with that decision?
Lauren: Our kids were two and five at the time, so it's not like they were grown. Looking back at videos, we sometimes ask each other, "How did we do that with a two-year-old?" But honestly, it's never a good time. You will always find reasons not to do something.
Lauren: Four months felt like an eternity going in — and it goes by so fast. I saw a friend a few weeks ago who I hadn't seen since January, and I thought, "That's the exact amount of time I was in New Zealand." I truly believe my kids have a better relationship because of that trip. They're each other's best friends.
Lauren: We didn't have a perfect path to it either. We just saw a potential opportunity and asked, "How do we make this happen?" My husband found out his company has a Work From Heart sabbatical program for employees who've been there seven years — and he had literally just hit seven years. We went at the end of the year to use vacation time, rented out our house for four months, handed back our leased car early. There are so many things you can do when you actually dig in. It's not like we had a big bank account — we just figured it out.
Kelsey: Once you got back, how did you land your first clients?
Lauren: It was definitely scary. Even just not being in the corporate world anymore and then sending out a proposal — I was like, "How do I even format this? How do I send an invoice?" You're answering all these little questions while also second-guessing yourself.
Lauren: One mistake I made early on was walking into events and putting myself at newbie level — not sharing my background or experience because I felt new. I completely discounted 15 years of career capital, which wasn't fair to myself.
Lauren: As for my first client — the timing was wild. Someone I went to high school with had become a customer of the company I used to work for. We'd had a casual lunch about marketing ideas years ago. Less than a week after we got back from New Zealand, I ran into him at a golf simulator on my dad's birthday. It was a total fluke. That conversation over the next couple of months turned into my first fractional marketing client.
Lauren: The lesson there is: let people know what you're doing. Post it on LinkedIn, post it on Instagram, tell your family and friends. People don't know what you do, and they might need exactly what you offer — but they don't even know to ask.
Lauren: And you don't need everything perfect to start. I'm in marketing, and I literally just launched my full website two weeks ago. You don't need a website to get your first client. It's nice to have eventually, but don't wait for perfect.
Kelsey: Your business will not be built by isolating yourself in your office. Random run-ins, showing up at events, chatting with people — those opportunities only come when you put yourself out into the world. I was at our local bookstore the other day, got chatting with the owner, and now we're planning a December event together. That only happens when you show up.
Lauren: Exactly. And I'm not the loudest person in the room — I'm not an extrovert. So if getting out to events sounds scary, start smaller. Reach out to someone you follow who's local and say, "Can I grab you a coffee?" Making one-on-one connections is just as powerful.
Kelsey: You've been really intentional about getting out to events, joining communities, setting up coffee chats. Why is that a priority in your business growth strategy?
Lauren: A few reasons. First, entrepreneurship can feel extremely lonely. I used to share an office with my husband — sitting right next to someone — but he doesn't know the ins and outs of what I'm doing, and it still felt lonely. Having friendships in the entrepreneurial space where you can talk openly about challenges and get real advice is invaluable.
Lauren: Second, at the beginning especially, seeing how other people run their businesses is so helpful when you feel like you have no idea what you're doing.
Lauren: And third, depending on your audience, those rooms might be full of potential clients. Not going in and pitching yourself, but building genuine relationships and getting your name out there over time.
Lauren: I also started hosting my own workshops. That was about demonstrating expertise in a way that felt more natural to me than posting on Instagram. I co-hosted a full-day 2026 marketing planning workshop, and it was a ton of work — stressful, honestly — but it was deeply valuable for my own growth. I had managed teams and hosted panels, but I'd never stood up in front of a group and taught for a full day. It challenged me. That personal growth is a big reason I keep putting myself in those situations.
Kelsey: When you're working with a client building their marketing strategy from scratch, where do you start?
Lauren: The biggest mistake people make is overcomplicating things or trying to do too much. Before any marketing, start with your business goals. What revenue number do you want to hit this year? Is there a new market you want to enter?
Lauren: If someone has been in business for a year already, I start by looking at the numbers — where have leads actually come from, and what can we build on? If someone's brand new, the most important thing is being crystal clear on who you're talking to and what you're offering, and then letting people know.
Lauren: A lot of people think they've told people what they do — but have they really made it explicit? Do they have a pinned post that says, "This is who I am, this is what I do, this is who I work best with"? And beyond that, are they actually telling people what to do next? I had a conversation recently where I said: share your service to your story and say, "I have two openings for next month." Most people don't do that. Give people a specific, clear action to take.
Lauren: Also — don't try to be on five to ten channels. Pick two. Get really good at those. Pick one or two services and get really clear on them. Repetition matters too. Posting about something once or twice is never enough. You have to talk about it all the time.
Lauren: I also think before people rush to add new services or products, it's worth looking hard at what you already have. I had a client who offered a four-week program, an eight-week program, and ongoing options. All we did was create a one-week trial so people could easily experience working with her — and she posted it and got seven new clients that week. Sometimes the answer is already there; you just have to optimize what you've built.
Kelsey: I think the last 10 years made marketing feel more complicated than it needs to be. The principles haven't changed — clear messaging, telling the people around you what you do, being relevant and specific. That's it.
Lauren: Exactly. And I've genuinely said to someone, half-joking but also kind of serious: "I hope I don't go viral." Because for most service-based businesses, going viral isn't the goal and isn't the fastest path to revenue. Having that solid foundation strategy is what makes everything else sustainable.
Kelsey: Lauren, tell our listeners how they can work with you and stay connected.
Lauren: My website is murdochmarketing.ca. On Instagram I'm @itslaurenmurdoch. I have a really fun event coming up on July 23rd in Burlington — cocktails on a terrace, dinner, two guest speakers talking about the inner self and outer style and how we show up in the world. It's going to be a really great summer evening.
Lauren: From a marketing perspective, I do marketing audits to understand what you're already doing and identify opportunities to grow. From there, there are options for VIP days focused on specific areas of your business, full marketing strategy plans, and ongoing services.
Kelsey: We'll link everything in the show notes. Lauren, this has been such a rich conversation — travel, family, adventure, the leap from corporate into entrepreneurship. Thank you so much for being here.
Lauren: Thanks for having me. So much fun.

413 Fractional Marketing, Burnout Recovery, and Building a Business from Scratch with Lauren Murdoch of Murdoch Marketing