It was March 2020. The world shut down.

We were all home, trying to teach our children math at the kitchen table. Conferences canceled. Networking events gone. The constant hum of business travel—silent.

The world stood still.

But I couldn't.

When Everything Stopped, I Started

I longed to talk about branding and marketing. Not the surface-level stuff. The real work. The decisions. The pressure. The thinking that happens before the campaign ever goes live.

Because here's what most people miss: You need a brand before you can market.

So I started The CMO Brief.

Not because I had a business plan. Not because I saw a gap in the market. But because I needed to keep doing what I do best….unpacking the strategy behind the campaigns everyone else just admires.

And something unexpected happened.

Within months, it grew to 4,000 subscribers. Chief Marketing Officers from all over the world started showing up on LinkedIn every week to discuss brands and their campaigns. Real conversations. Real stakes. Real expertise.

We weren't just celebrating creatives. We were studying decisions aka signals.

Then I Walked Away

When the world opened back up, I made a choice.

I paused The CMO Brief. I wanted to go back to what was comfortable. Back to consulting. Back to the known.

And I did. I've had the liberty of working with Fortune 500 companies, RCA Records, Home Depot, DeWalt, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Dunkin', United Airlines, and more. I’ve run a successful multi million dollar digital marketing agency that has paid me an annual salary           over $450,000 and I am doing what I love…..building brands.                                                                                                                               

But here's the truth: I'm overworked. I'm underpaid for the value I create. And the newsletter kept calling my name.

More than that the community I built kept calling me.

The Decision That Terrifies Me

I've decided to go all in on The CMO Brief.

I can't believe I'm saying it. I'm scared and excited all at the same time. My mentor Bob Proctor always told me that I was created for more than what I was accepting.  He also told me, “if your goal doesn’t scare you and excite you all at the same time, you have the WRONG goal. 

So I must have the right goal because I am ready.

I've spent years being the person in the room where money is on the line. I've been inside boardrooms where a single decision could make or break a quarter. I've seen what survives legal, what earns the CFO's nod, what holds up in the debrief.

And I realized: I don't just want to build brands. I want to build my own.

What The CMO Brief Really Is

Let me be clear about what this is and what it isn't.

We don't study trends. We study decisions…SIGNALS.

That's the difference between marketing that looks smart and marketing that is smart.

When we see an ad, we don't say "cool." We ask:

• What pressure was this team under?
• What were they protecting?
• What were they risking?

That's what real strategy looks like.

Most newsletters explain what happened. We explain why it was allowed. That's the real story.

Because good marketing looks fun. Great marketing survives the boardroom. It clears legal. 

It earns the CFO's nod. It holds up in the debrief.

We explain how it got there.

This Isn't a Swipe File. It's a Strategy File.

You're not reading The CMO Brief to be inspired.

You're reading it to sharpen your judgment before your next big decision.

Every campaign we break down was a high-stakes decision. Budget. Risk. Reputation. We don't just admire the outcome. We unpack the pressure behind it.

That's how you get better at your own.

You don't need a Super Bowl budget to use a Super Bowl idea. We break down billion-dollar campaigns so you can use the thinking behind them—not just the headlines they made.

We don't tell you what to post. We show you how the best campaigns are architected—so you can think like the people who built them.

Why I'm Doing This (Even Though It Scares Me)

Marketing isn't magic. It's a decision chain.

Most people celebrate the ad. We study the approval.

Because great marketing isn't about creativity—it's about who said yes, and why.

I've been on the consulting side. I've helped build some of the most recognizable brands in the world. I've been paid extremely well to do it.

But at the end of the day, I was building their equity. Not mine.

And the truth is: CMOs don't chase attention. They manage risk, timing, and narrative.

That's what I'm doing now. I'm managing my own risk. I'm choosing my own timing. I'm controlling my own narrative.

I'm not just a consultant anymore. I'm a founder. A publisher. A builder.

I am Jayme Washington.

And I'm betting on myself.

What Comes Next

The CMO Brief is back. Not as a side project. Not as a hobby.

As the thing I'm building.

Every Thursday at 7am ET, I'm breaking down the campaigns that matter. The strategic decisions behind them. The frameworks you can use. The thinking that separates good marketing from great marketing.

Not because it's comfortable. Because it's what I'm meant to do.

And if you're a CMO, a VP of  Marketing, a founder, or a CEO who knows that better marketing starts with better thinking—I'm building this for you.

Because you don't need more creative ideas.

You need better thinking about which ideas to back.

That's what we write for.

Welcome back. Let's build something that lasts.