I build marketing that gets people off the couch and onto a start line, because someone did it for me first.
Specialties include experiential marketing, sponsorship strategy, and event activations specializing in endurance and outdoor brands.
I wasn't the athlete anyone picked first. Growing up, I got teased for the way I ran. I was told, more than once, to just quit. I didn't.
I was never going to do an Ironman and somehow did two in 91 days, which doesn't make a lot of sense unless you understand me: When I’m determined, nothing can stop me. Never has. That's not a personality quirk I picked up along the way, it's the thing that's been true about me since I was a kid getting laughed at during jog-a-thon. That's also why I do this work. I know what it feels like to be told you don't belong in a sport. I build marketing that does the opposite, that tells someone they absolutely do belong on that start line, even if nobody's ever told them that before. If a campaign I build helps one more person believe they can do it, I've done my job.
My purpose
My work
With over 13 years experience, I've built marketing and partnership programs that connect brands to the athletes who actually show up for them, at the LA Marathon, HYROX, Rock 'n' Roll, and beyond. I've managed $3M+ sponsorship portfolios with 92% renewal, scaled a revenue line from $700K to $5.2M, and built event ecosystems that reached 450,000+ athletes across 40+ live activations.
What I'm actually good at is the unglamorous part: building the system underneath the big moment. The playbook, the staffing plan, the data capture strategy, the thing that still works when the wind picks up mid-event and the schedule falls apart. I lead with discipline and grit, but the creativity is what makes the work mine, I came up through a studio art degree before a master's in sport management, and I've never stopped treating a campaign like a canvas.
Who is Carleigh?
I'm a toddler mom, 2x Ironman, and former last picked for sports kid who fell in love with endurance sports. I raced my first triathlon in 2009 and never looked back. I live in Colorado with my family, with a nonstop creative brain, an 8-year Duolingo streak, and a very strong coffee addiction to make it all happen.
If I'm not working, I'm outside with the family or training. Next up is my 15th Ironman 70.3, followed by my second standalone marathon. Next year I aim for my triumphant return to Ironman as a mom.
I'm sarcastic, I choose kindness anyway, and I made it to the semi-finals of Winter Wipeout, which tells you everything about how I handle a challenge: badly balanced, fully committed.