CEO Series: Lynn Browne

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Lynn always wanted to make an impact on the world in a way that was creative and unique. During her undergraduate years at Penn State, Lynn realized that the field of advertising and media strategy would be an excellent career path – offering the opportunity to work in a creative and dynamic capacity. Her first role was in media planning and buying on both the agency and client-side at Zenith Media. She took on a new role as a hybrid digital and magazine planner where she was exposed early on to new ways to market and distribute advertising campaigns. She found a passion for retail marketing and transitioned into a client-side role at Macy’s, which gave her the chance to understand all the nuances that go into marketing on every level. 

Despite the roles that she had on both the client and agency side, Lynn saw that both areas have to deal with an archaic process for media planning and buying that involves painstaking outreach to sales contacts. How come there was such a disconnect between the two sides to marketing and no efforts in attempting to innovate this process? “Ten years of frustration with the old process is what motivated us to found Brandverge and create an easier way of doing business,” Lynn notes as the catalyst moment in starting her own business with her roommate and co-partner Mollie Kehoe. At first, Lynn’s idea for the Brandverge platform was to create a simple marketplace that focuses on saving buyers time and creating more selling opportunities. From brainstorming their business plan to putting things in action with the product team, Lynn’s dream of finally bridging the gap between the different areas of the advertising world was starting to come true on the Brandverge platform. 

The process of becoming an entrepreneur and creating their own business has not been easy, “learning and adjusting in each step is absolutely critical. When a challenge presents itself, you have an opportunity to address that challenge and learn how to deal with similar challenges you may be faced with in the future,” Lynn exclaims. The process of creating their company was filled with building initial MVPs, researching their market and potential competitors, and constantly making new and exciting client relationships. By having a co-partner throughout this process, Lynn was able to find a business partnership that she trusted completely and who could carry them through the tough times and notes this as the most important thing to keep in mind for any budding entrepreneurs wanting to do the same. Lynn’s biggest accomplishment with Brandverge started on the day that they launched their website, “There is a ton of unseen preparation, planning, and hard work that goes into building the foundation of a business that makes being able to launch this product and put it into the world my biggest accomplishment.” 

Moving forward, the future is bright for both Lynn and Mollie in Brandverge. Over the next few years, they plan on expanding their offering to all ad media types, thus expanding their company for all areas of marketing campaigns. The best advice Lynn has for people wanting to start their own business is to be passionate about the problem you are trying to solve, “One of the best ways to deal with constant stress is to always have an eye on the problem you are solving, and the drive to soldier on and bring a solution into reality. Without that passion, it is easy to take shortcuts or get distracted from the mission you’re on.” We can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Lynn and her endeavors! 


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