Nicole R.Braley
CMO of Inception Fertility
“Offering Comprehensive Fertility Care”
Nicole R. Braley, Chief Marketing Officer, Inception Fertility, is a fast mover. It's important for this steadfast leader, especially when taking on a new role in a new industry, to lean into transferable skills. For Nicole, that meant quickly assessing the big picture and determining what she could do immediately to jumpstart Inception’s marketing initiatives while beginning to plan for the long term. “My ability to offer a fresh perspective from outside the industry was welcomed. Many women executives are still the only women in the room,” says Nicole. “But my focus is on allowing my work speak for itself. Inception is an entrepreneurial setting that values everyone’s ideas, including my thoughts as a new executive to the organization.”
“Inception Fertility LLC, is a fast mover. It's important for the steadfast leader, especially when taking on a new role in a new industry, to lean into transferable skills.”
Inception isn’t just one brand—it’s a family of brands, businesses, and service lines that comprise the premier fertility services provider for North America. Being new to the CMO role, defining a brand architecture was Nicole’s first challenge, including process standardization across brand identities. As the person who oversees commercial efforts, it was important to Nicole to establish a standardized lead generation process and incorporate it into Inception’s ERP to nurture those leads and measure defined objectives to track ROI.
After two years of IVF, along with frustration and tears, TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO of Inception, welcomed his son, Wyatt, into the world. His birth was the beginning of Farnsworth’s journey toward founding Inception Fertility with the goal of improving each patient’s experience of starting or growing a family. Inception strives every day to ensure that each patient, for which the company has the privilege of caring, has nothing less than a five-star experience. As CMO, Nicole works to ensure that exceptional messaging about patient experience, coupled with extraordinary CX across the patient journey, is a top priority.
Built by patients, for patients, Inception is working towards its purpose to achieve the highest bar in science and technology to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes. “Part of my role is to oversee our client experience, which for us means patients aspiring to be parents. That patient experience is at the heart of all we do, so I make sure it’s the center of every campaign,” explains Nicole. “Part of my role is helping ensure we’re setting the highest industry standards in technology and science, and that those standards are communicated to the market for all of our brands and service lines as we continue to rapidly expand.”
Nicole thinks it’s important to feel connected and aligned with the customers. Inception’s patients are incredibly diverse, which allows them to understand so many different fertility journeys—no two families are alike. Like many, Nicole has friends and coworkers who have experienced infertility and the uncertainty and stress that comes with that often arduous journey. “It’s a privilege to come to work every day knowing we’re helping build families,” she says.
When asked for a piece of advice for future CMOs, Nicole advises them to lead with gratitude. “Ask your team what you can do for them today. That doesn’t just mean leaving thank-you notes and bringing in breakfast on Friday morning (though these are great things to do)—it also means holding your team to the highest standards and leading by example,” she explains. “Transparency is also key to leadership. Take yourself ‘on the road’ and showcase the hard work you and your team have been executing. Show how you’re driving the business forward.”
Inception is an innovator in the fertility space. “Just this year, we’ve rebranded one existing business line and launched an entirely new one that offers industry-first approach to fertility financing—and its only February!” adds Nicole. “Coming into a new CMO role, my job wasn’t to turn over the apple cart. It was to bring fresh perspective, be open to learning, and to elevate how we talk to the market, patients, and our employees.”IE
Company
Management
Nicole R.Braley
CMO
Description
Inception Fertility, LLC (Inception) is a family of fertility brands committed to helping patients build their own families. Built by patients for patients, Inception’s purpose is to achieve the highest bar in experience, science and medicine in an effort to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes.