I had the pleasure of speaking with Lucie Loubet, Head of Marketing at Planned, a really cool startup that's tackling travel and events for companies (the second-largest spend after payroll). Lucie was kind enough to share more about her role at planned and what got her there in the first place.
What does your role and responsibilities look like at Planned?
Honestly, if you ask me in two weeks, I might give you a different answer! At a high level, it’s all about positioning—figuring out our value proposition, messaging, and testing different approaches to see what clicks with the market. But there’s still a lot of execution because we’re a startup, so you do a bit of everything. A big part of my job is supporting the sales team, making sure they have the right opportunities, credibility, and messaging to close deals.
How do you collaborate with sales at Planned?
You have to work hand in hand, every step of the way. It’s not just about generating leads and passing them off to sales. We work together on every deal, especially in startups where you're selling to enterprise clients with long sales cycles. It’s worth investing the time to collaborate closely. The better your relationship with sales, the better the results.
Marketers often think they know the perfect messaging, but sales can give you brutal feedback. They’ll tell you, ‘Those pretty words mean nothing to our clients.’ You have to lower your ego and trust them because they’re the ones having conversations with customers every day.
Can you walk me through your career journey and how you ended up in tech marketing?
My first job in marketing was for an insurance company. I’m grateful for the experience, but it became clear that insurance wasn’t my passion. When I moved to Canada, I stumbled into tech. I met someone who was starting a chatbot company in Montreal, and it just clicked for me. I realized that B2B marketing could be about new, exciting things.
That’s when I doubled down and focused on becoming a tech marketer. From AI to no-code platforms, I was hooked. Tech offered the kind of innovation and challenge I was craving.
What was it like moving from big companies to startups?
I started out at big companies like Grant Thornton and an insurance firm, which gave me a solid foundation. You learn how a company is supposed to work, the traditional roles, and how to operate in a big corporate environment.
But the energy in startups is different. When I joined my first startup, there were only six of us, and I’ve been in that 10-50 person range ever since. You get to wear multiple hats, move fast, and see the direct impact of your work! That’s the kind of environment I thrive in.
How do you build rapport with the sales team to ensure you're not going in different directions or worse at each others throat's?
In a startup, we’re all in the same space, constantly communicating. That makes it easier to stay connected with sales. I’ve also been lucky because the head of sales at Planned has the same collaborative mindset as I do.
Building relationships is essential. I think when you work in a small team, everyone comes in with the mentality that they want to work closely with their colleagues. You don’t get many people who are like, ‘This is my job, and I don’t care about anyone else.’ Everyone’s in it together.
What advice would you give to someone trying to break into startup marketing?
Don’t just wait for the perfect job post to show up on LinkedIn. If you see someone with a job you admire or working for a company you like, reach out. Ask them for their time, even just to chat. People are usually more open to talking than you think.
That’s exactly how I got my job in tech. I wasn’t even applying. I just reached out to someone I found interesting, we met for coffee, and by the end of the meeting, I had a job offer. Sometimes you just need to take that first step.
What tools do you rely on most in your marketing stack?
Zapier and Canva are two tools I couldn’t live without. Zapier lets me automate workflows without needing a developer, and Canva makes it so easy to create designs that actually look good. These tools let me move 10 times faster, and that’s essential when you’re in a startup.
Another tool that’s been a game-changer for us is Chorus.ai. It records and transcribes sales calls in real-time, which is invaluable for marketing. We get to see the exact words clients use to describe their problems and what they’re looking for in a solution. It gives us so much more insight into what resonates with them.
If you weren’t a marketer, what else would you be doing?
I think I’d go into politics. Since becoming a mom, I’ve realized how important it is to stay engaged in what’s happening in the world. When people stop paying attention to what’s going on, things can spiral. I’d want to help people stay informed, not just for my daughter’s generation, but for the future as a whole.
What’s next for your team at Planned?
If everything goes according to plan, I’d love to grow the team. We need someone to help us dive deeper into account-based marketing and another person who can focus on in-person events like roadshows and dinners.
But, like in any startup, things change quickly. Ask me again in two weeks, and I might have a completely different focus!
Quick note: Since we recorded this interview Planned has raised a $35M series B! I'm sure in no small part to Lucie and her team! 🎉
If you'd like to follow along on Lucie's journey follower her on LinkedIn here.
