Carey Straetz, Mode’s Head of Demand Generation, approaches marketing with a lens of experimentation, continually seeking opportunities to connect to audiences where they are through new channels, launching a successful small business podcast and streaming audio and video advertising to build top-of-funnel awareness. In just the few months she has been at Mode, Straetz has developed several new competitor ABM strategies, ran a successful go-to-market playbook focused on the customer lifecycle and overhauled the paid search function to maximize pipeline and ARR with better cost efficiencies.

Not only has Straetz lead exceptional innovations in marketing, she led the SurePayroll Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) marketing committee where she had spent an extensive amount of time and creativity in inspiring and challenging colleagues across the organization to discuss, analyze and challenge ways of thinking to create a safe, inclusive and equitable place for all employees and clients.

Her passion for DEI led her to experience firsthand the ramifications, isolation and retaliation that come with challenging policies and experiences that isolate others based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. These experiences have further entrenched her belief that allyship is imperative to equity and led her to continue expressing allyship by sponsoring, mentoring and advocating for women of color.