In August 2015, Marion Crawford took a hunting trip to Africa. She had set her sights on bagging big game with bow and arrow. Husband William Crawford is an enthusiastic and accomplished hunter and Marion is the daughter of a hunter. But her hunting experience was limited to nabbing some quail with a shotgun — once.
Entering uncharted territory, she began preparing more than a half-year ahead of time. First came a weight-training class that she needed to develop the strength to sufficiently draw the bow. That was followed by four or five months of regular target practice in the yard of her Greenville home. In between, she watched videos and otherwise diligently prepared herself for the trip and the hunt.
On their final day in Mozambique, with no trophy in the bag, Marion reached for a rifle. “I had never shot a rifle,” she says, and was “never really taught how to shoot.” Ahead of her, a small herd of impala ran past. “They scatter fast, because they can scent you.” But one stopped and fatefully looked back. “Shall I do it?” Crawford asked. “And I did it. And there you have it.”
Crawford, president and CEO of Crawford Strategy, describes it as “a big adventure in my life.” But it is also a glimpse into how she attacks a challenge: focus on it, devour all the information you can about it, learn from and build relationships with people who are successful at it. And, when necessary, take a chance.
Business is always personal
It’s a strategy that has lasted throughout her career, from internships with NBC and the BBC, through the news department at WSPA-TV and the sales team at ScanSource, and ultimately to the marketing and PR fields and founding her own company.
Last month, Crawford Strategy celebrated its seventh year as a full-service agency offering advertising, marketing, PR, and website services to its clients. Crawford and three staffers hung up the CS shingle in Greenville on March 15, 2010. Today, there are 25 staffers and nearly two dozen clients.
One of her clients, United Community Bank, is helmed by Lynn Harton, a close friend of the Crawfords well before he took over UCB. While at UCB, Harton eliminated the marketing department and signed on with CS. Harton identifies the “big difference” between CS and other Greenville firms as its “holistic, strategic approach” and the ability to “grasp the big picture.”
For UCB, it was important to develop a brand focus that covered the Southeast, not just Greenville. That’s included developing enterprise-wide brand standards, implementing and executing media relations across UCB’s four-state footprint, and building an on-demand marketing library accessible to all 100 branches.
Harton says they make a “conscious effort” to keep a separation between their friendship and work. “We have such great trust in each other that I’m confident that will never be an issue,” Harton says.
It takes a team
No successful entrepreneur or leader is truly a lone wolf. It takes a team to get things done. That’s integral both to Crawford’s success and the enjoyment she derives from it.
“Team” comes up frequently in conversation. “Our strategy is all about our team. How do you add the right team and select the right people?” she says. “I tell my team I have two families: my personal family and my work family.”
The importance of team grew considerably in her view in March 2014 when the loss of a large client forced Crawford into a layoff.
The experience, which still seems to affect her, crystallized for her “how important my people were.”
Crawford, who says, “I always try to learn through everything,” asked herself, “How do I grow from this?” Her answer was to bring in a professional development coach, who is now a regular part of the CS culture. There are programs on leadership, work styles, strategies, and monthly questioning “rounds” with the boss. The questions are consistent (What’s working well? What are areas for improvement? Do you have someone you want to recognize? Do you have the tools you need to do your job? Do you have any tough questions for me?), and Crawford expects honest, constructive answers.
“It took effort to go out and spend the money to do that,” she admits, “but it was critical. And has been a consistently positive piece of our puzzle.”
The development of the team has been an important business strategy. She actively recruited the talent she needed to pursue bigger regional clients, notably bringing in Andy Windham, COO of a Memphis marketing firm and a 25-year industry veteran, as senior vice president for client strategy. Crawford credits Windham’s contacts and relationships with getting them introduced to North Myrtle Beach and Southern Wesleyan University, for whom Crawford Strategy has handled marketing efforts.
Learning is a quest, not a pastime
Learning is “in my DNA,” says Crawford.
“I constantly want to be the best I can be. Read a book, listen to a podcast, try to take a class,” she says. “I’m always doing something to learn more — not just for me but for the company, too.”
After reading Simon Sinek’s book “Start with Why” — and asking her entire staff to do the same — she found her “why” was “to learn, grow, have fun, and help others do the same.” Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” helped her identify qualities in herself and her company that differentiate good companies from great companies.
Focus is important to Crawford, so she pictures racehorses with blinders on. “They don’t get distracted by what’s going on around them. If they continue to look ahead, they’ll run better. Whenever there is something around me that I perceive as a distraction, I remind myself that I have to keep my blinders on and look ahead.”
Learning is delivered in many forms, often wrapped up in Crawford’s complex mentor/friend/client relationships.
Nowhere is that more evident than with Greenville’s grande dame of PR, Sandra Linning.
Linning is Crawford’s mom’s best friend, so when Crawford decided to go into PR, she turned to Linning for advice. Linning invited her to join her PR firm to get a feel for the business in 2008, then reversed roles and sold the firm to Crawford in 2010, signing on as a partner with CS. “She is a quick study and a great communicator,” says Linning, now retired. “She always leaves a meeting asking, ‘Is there anything else I can do to make you successful?’”
Noting the growth in CS over the past seven years, as well as Crawford’s community activities, personal values, and family, “She exceeds all my expectations,” Linning says.
Crawford, in turn, has created a brag-book of “Sandy Linning Lessons.” “She would refer to many clients as ‘my friend,’” reads Lesson 11. “It is such a nice feeling to work with, and for, people that I also call friends.”
Greenville and beyond
Crawford maintains a busy portfolio of personal commitments, as well. She currently serves on the boards of the Peace Center, the Urban League of the Upstate, and the Cancer Center of Greenville County, and is a past president and board member of Artisphere.
Henry Horowitz, Artisphere founder, cites her listening abilities, sense of urgency, and responsiveness as the most significant contributions she brought to the “hands-on” organization. “She was very strategic,” Horowitz says, “and ran the board like a company.” He credited that approach with “adding a lot of value” and raising Artisphere’s rating on the list of Top 10 festivals in the U.S. to seventh during her term.
In 2012, Crawford help create Ice on Main, a project she executed in partnership with UCB, Windsor/Aughtry (neighbor and friend Bo Aughtry is a founder), and the city of Greenville. With it she brought together both her interest in enhancing the city’s profile, serving clients, and growing the business.
As the marketing partner, CS needed all the tools in the toolbox — fundraising, media relations, marketing, and a massive social media presence and buzz. CS’s successful campaigns have grown Ice on Main into a well-known and highly anticipated seasonal experience, and as a side note have earned CS eight national, international, and state awards.
Success in Greenville has been fulfilling, but Crawford has a broader vision.
“We’ve grown beyond Greenville,” says Crawford, pointing to two diverse regional clients: The North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Haywood County (N.C.) Tourism and Development Authority.
George Durant, vice president for tourism development at the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, had never heard of CS before receiving its response to their RFP for a new marketing partner.
North Myrtle Beach was seeking “fresh thought without preconceived notions.” What Crawford found was an opportunity to create a branding and marketing profile for a destination that both benefits from its proximity to one of the premier vacation destinations in the country while at the same time distinguishing it as something different.
“They responded to our challenge to push the envelope from a technology standpoint,” Durant says, noting that CS changed the marketing mix to 70 percent digital/30 percent traditional print/radio/TV.
The deliverables so far have included a new visitor app, streaming website content, and a significant “maximizing” of social media.
Durant is an experienced marketer himself and knows that great ideas come easily, but “bringing them to light is hard.” He offered praise for CS’s ability to commit to a process, listen and absorb information, and produce verifiable results. “Beautiful, award-winning marketing is not as important as key performance indicators,” he says.
Family first
Crawford’s business demands a lot of her time, but family always comes first.
She gets up early — sometimes before 5 a.m. — to get a start on work, but is generally home to cook dinner by 6 p.m. Crawford “loves to cook,” but wears out by the end of the week, often opting for takeout.
When her kids were young, she made a conscious effort to keep work in the office because “I didn’t want them to think of me as always working,” she recalls.
She stayed home for years when her children were young, and when her mother fought breast cancer. And she credits her husband with keeping her centered personally and on track professionally.
With so much on her plate, there must be some things she just says “no” to.
“I would like to exercise more, to spend more time with friends than I do,” she admits. “And I don’t watch television. I don’t turn it on. I don’t even know where the clickers are.”
If she could have anything, she says, it would be more time. Time to mentor and give back as others have given to her. Time to spend with her family. Time to write a book, for which she has several ideas. “I have books in me,” she states.
What is her greatest achievement so far? “Figuring out the delicate balance of being the best mom I can be, the best wife I can be, and the best business owner I can be. Because those are the most important to me.”
THE CRAWFORD FILE
Education: BA, University of Virginia, 1989
Family: Husband William Crawford Jr.; children Brawley, McKoy, and MC. William, Brawley, and McKoy are all accomplished musicians. Marion has seen two of her children perform at Carnegie Hall on separate occasions with the Carolina Youth Orchestra.
What’s in her office? It’s no bigger than anyone else’s and is filled with mementos and family photos. A pair of sneakers is tucked away next to a treadmill desk, where Crawford can work and go 2.5 mph at the same time.
Early ambitions: “When I was young, I wanted to be Jane Pauley,” Crawford recalls. This led her to an externship for the BBC in New York City, an internship with NBC’s “Today” show during the inauguration of George H.W. Bush, and a nine-month stint as an NBC Page.
Watch Marion Crawford’s video for the Entrepreneur’s Forum, including her work as a local TV reporter:
On the air: In 1990, Crawford took a job as a news assistant at WSPA-TV in Spartanburg. There she met Jane Robelot, who she credits as being one of the four major influencers in her life. Learning of her interest in being an anchor, Robelot gave her advice that has stuck through the years: “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” That paid off on Jan. 16, 1991, when — untested but appropriately dressed — she was tagged to cut into live programming and announce the start of the Gulf War.
Tech boom: She left WSPA in July 1991 to focus on family, and in 1993 she joined the sales department at ScanSource. CEO Steve Owings became a mentor. “I learned a valuable lesson when I started to realize that everyday results mattered,” she says. His mentoring style also fed Crawford’s passion for learning. “He taught me just by asking questions and, through those questions, showing me what was important that I needed to know.”
Lasting influence: Among Crawford’s influencers, Sandra Linning is the first among equals. The Crawford Strategy annual MVP award — the Sandy Linning Excellence Award — honors that special relationship.
What They Said
“She listens extremely well. The key thing in any client relationship is listening and spending the time to really understand us. … As good as Marion is, you’re nothing without your team. The ultimate test of a leader is what does the team look like, and her team has been outstanding in their support of us.”—Lynn Harton, United Community Bank
“It’s a rare trait among marketing firms to just sit back and absorb enough information to make solid, actionable, metrics-driven recommendations. They showed the ability to listen and immerse themselves in those unique characteristics that are North Myrtle Beach.”—George Durant, North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce
“She was very strategic, and ran the board like a company … adding a lot of value.”—Henry Horowitz, founder of Artisphere
“She is a quick study and a great communicator. She always leaves a meeting asking, ‘Is there anything else I can do to make you successful?’ … She exceeds all my expectations.”—Sandra Linning
