Latest / The Marketing Career Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Jobs, Skills, and Career Growth / How Mid-Career Marketers Use the Portfolio Career Model
Transcript
- Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — maybe a side project idea or a new way to pitch yourself — then today's episode is about taking that impulse and turning it into something real. We're talking about the portfolio career model for mid-career marketers. Luna: Portfolio career — it sounds like something a creative director in 2012 would say. But I'm guessing it's more structured than that now. Lucas: It is. And it's actually becoming really common. A 2025 survey from MarketingProfs found that 34 percent of marketers over the age of 35 now have some form of portfolio career. That means they combine a full-time role with consulting, teaching, a newsletter, maybe a mini-course — multiple income streams that feed off the same skill set. Luna: Thirty-four percent. That's huge. And I bet a lot of those people started during the 2023 layoffs and just never went back to a single job. Lucas: That's exactly the pattern. I talked to a senior brand manager at a midsize CPG company — let's call her Sarah. She was laid off in early 2023, spent six months freelancing, then took a full-time role but kept two clients on the side. She also started a newsletter about brand strategy that now has about 4,000 subscribers. Last year, she launched a mini-course on competitive positioning that brought in roughly 15,000 dollars. Luna: So her full-time job is the anchor, and then the freelance and the course are the variable income. What does she do about time management? That sounds like a recipe for sixty-hour weeks. Lucas: She's very disciplined. She blocks Friday afternoons for the newsletter and client work. The course is evergreen — she recorded it once, and it's on a platform that handles delivery. She told me the key is to treat the side projects like actual work with a schedule, not like a hobby you get to when you feel like it. Luna: I think the hobby trap is real. I've seen marketers start a TikTok channel or a Substack and then abandon it after three months because they didn't set aside time. So the portfolio model only works if you have the discipline to calendar it. Lucas: Exactly. And the other risk is burnout. But the advocates of this model argue that a portfolio actually reduces career risk. If your full-time role gets eliminated — which happened to about twelve percent of marketers in 2025 according to LinkedIn data — you already have income coming in from other sources and a network that knows you can deliver. Luna: That's the resilience argument. I buy it. But I also wonder about employers. Do companies look down on someone who has a side business? Or do they see it as a sign of initiative? Lucas: It depends on the industry and the manager. In Sarah's case, her boss actually sees it as a plus because she brings fresh ideas from her consulting work. But I've heard of companies that have strict moonlighting policies, especially in tech and finance. So you need to check your employment contract. Some companies claim ownership of any intellectual property you create, even on your own time. Luna: Good point. And I think the framing matters. If you tell a hiring manager, 'I run a side business because I'm worried this job won't last,' that sounds defensive. But if you say, 'I consult with startups on brand strategy because I love solving those problems, and it actually makes me a better marketer for you,' that's a different conversation. Lucas: That's a great distinction. The portfolio career is really about intentional skill stacking. Every project you take on should build a capability that makes your core role stronger. Sarah's newsletter, for example, forces her to write weekly about brand strategy. That writing practice improves her internal presentations and her thought leadership inside her company. Luna: So she's essentially getting paid twice — once by her employer and once by her subscribers and course students — to get better at the same thing. That's smart. Lucas: Right. And I think this is where the mid-career marketer has an advantage over someone earlier in their career. You have enough experience to know what you're good at and what the market needs. You can identify a niche where you have a unique insight. Sarah's niche is competitive positioning for CPG brands that are trying to go direct to consumer. That's specific enough that people will pay for it. Luna: Let's talk about numbers for a second. What does a typical portfolio income look like for a marketer? I'm guessing it's not replacing a full salary for most people. Lucas: No, for most it's a supplement. The MarketingProfs survey found that the median side income for marketers with a portfolio was about 18,000 dollars a year. But the top quartile earned over 50,000. Those are people who have turned their side work into a real business — maybe they have multiple courses, or they consult at a higher rate. The key is that even 18,000 dollars is meaningful. It could cover a mortgage payment for several months if you lose your job. Luna: And it's also a way to test a potential career pivot without quitting your day job. If you discover that you love teaching more than brand management, you can gradually shift your portfolio toward education and then eventually make the leap. Lucas: Exactly. I know a marketing director who started teaching a Saturday morning class at a local university. After two semesters, she realized she preferred curriculum design over corporate strategy. She now works full-time at an edtech company building marketing courses. The portfolio allowed her to pivot without taking a huge pay cut all at once. Luna: So for someone listening who's thinking, 'I want to start a portfolio career but I have no idea where to begin' — what's the first step? Lucas: I'd say audit your existing skills and your network. What do you get asked about repeatedly by colleagues or friends? That's usually a sign of expertise you could monetize. For Sarah, it was brand positioning. For another marketer I know, it was data visualization — she started a small workshop for nonprofits. The second step is to pick one small project and commit to it for three months. A newsletter is a good starting point because it's low-cost and forces you to produce content regularly. Luna: And you have to be realistic about the time. If you have a full-time job and a family, maybe you start with a monthly newsletter instead of a weekly one. The key is consistency over frequency. Lucas: Absolutely. And I want to emphasize that the portfolio career isn't for everyone. Some people prefer the clarity of a single job with clear boundaries. That's fine. But for marketers who are naturally curious and entrepreneurial — and let's be honest, a lot of marketers are — the portfolio model offers a way to build more control over your career trajectory. Luna: It also aligns with the broader trend of skills-based hiring. When you have a portfolio of projects, you can point to concrete results: 'I grew this newsletter from zero to four thousand subscribers,' or 'I helped this startup increase conversion by twenty percent.' That's more powerful than a resume bullet point. Lucas: You know, speaking of building something concrete — this show itself is a bit of a portfolio project for us. We deliberately don't run ads on these episodes. And that's a choice we made because we want the conversations to be exactly what you need, not what an advertiser wants. If you've found value in that approach — if something we said helped you land a role or start a side project — and you want to support the ad-free model, there's a simple way. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, no perks, just knowing that the show stays independent. Luna: Yeah, I think it's a nice parallel to today's topic. We're essentially running a portfolio of shows, and listener support is what keeps us from having to chase sponsors. It's a good feeling. Lucas: Exactly. So back to the portfolio model — one more practical tip. When you're interviewing for a new full-time role, you can use your side projects as evidence of your skills. But be strategic. Pick the project that's most relevant to the job. If you're interviewing for a content marketing role, talk about your newsletter. If it's a product marketing role, talk about the course you built. Don't list everything. Luna: And be ready for the question: 'How do you balance all this?' Have a genuine answer about your time management system. If you say 'I just work really hard,' that sounds like burnout waiting to happen. Instead, talk about how you batch tasks, set boundaries, and prioritize. Lucas: Right. And I think one underrated benefit of the portfolio career is the network expansion. Every client, every student, every newsletter subscriber is a potential referral or future employer. Sarah told me that about half her consulting leads come from people who read her newsletter. So the portfolio isn't just income — it's a marketing engine for your career. Luna: That's a great closing thought. It's not just about money; it's about visibility and optionality. I think we've covered a lot today. For anyone thinking about starting, the takeaway is: pick one small thing, schedule it, and see what happens. Lucas: And don't forget to check your employment contract first. That's the boring but essential step. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with another topic.