CrossFit’s Chief Marketing Officer Set to Leave Company as Exodus Continues
CrossFit’s Chief Marketing Officer, Erin Clift, has announced she will be leaving the company effective September 14. No replacement has been announced, but the CrossFit media and marketing teams will now report to Alison Andreozzi, the Chief Financial Officer and former interim head of CrossFit.
One big thing: Clift is the fifth C-suite or Director level executive to transition out of their position with the company in the past eight months, signaling a significant amount of uncertainty among CrossFit LLC’s top leadership for the future of the company.
- On May 16, Jeremy Landis, CrossFit’s Chief Technology Officer announced that he was stepping down from his position after a 17-month tenure.
- Then, Alison Andreozzi was named as the “interim head of CrossFit,” Dave Castro was rehired by the company as a “key affiliate advisor,” and Eric Roza stepped down as CEO.
- During the CrossFit Games week, on August 2, Don Faul, a Marine veteran and leader in fitness tech, was named the new CEO of CrossFit. Faul, a combat veteran and former platoon commander, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has held key roles at several technology companies including Pinterest, Meta, and Google. Most recently he was CEO of Athos, a smart apparel company that offers technology that tracks data on muscle activity.
- On August 26, Jason Dunlop, the (now former) president of CrossFit announced that he was leaving the company to take a lead role at Orangetheory Fitness on his public LinkedIn account.
What they’re saying: In a September 1 letter to the staff at CrossFit HQ and shared with The Morning Chalk Up by a CrossFit spokesperson, Clift wrote: “I wanted to let you know that I’ve made the difficult decision to leave CrossFit.”
- “I am still inspired and passionate about CrossFit’s mission, methodology, community, potential, and people, and I remain totally committed to my personal CrossFit journey, but I’ve decided that it’s time to start a new chapter in my professional life, so my last day at CrossFit will be September 14,” she continued.
- “Although I made my decision prior to the Games, I have loved getting to know Don (Faul) over the past month, and I have never been more excited and confident about CrossFit’s future. As you know, Don is leading a strategic planning process, and that process will include the best way to drive our marketing and media efforts going forward. In the interim, the marketing and media team is going to maintain its current structure but reporting will shift from me to Alison (Andreozzi), so we can reduce disruption and maintain our great momentum into the fall.”
- She concluded: “Thank you for everything, and I look forward to following all of the ways you will continue to change lives through CrossFit.”
Remind me: Prior to joining CrossFit in October 2021, Clift was the Chief Marketing Officer at Waze from 2017-2021, and before that, the Global Vice President for Marketing and Partnerships at Spotify. Prior to that, Clift worked in a variety of director-level marketing roles Google for seven years.
- In an emerging pattern (following Landis and Dunlop), Clift leaves CrossFit at about the one-year mark of her tenure. Landis stayed with the company for 17 months, and Dunlop for a little over a year.
The bottom line: How much turnover is too much turnover at the executive level in less than a year? The picture is becoming clear that CrossFit is moving into a rebuilding phase, but what about the rebuilding phase that started in 2020? The CrossFit Games were undoubtedly a success, but it’s hard not to view the executive team as treading water at best right now.
Related Articles:
- Jason Dunlop Resigns from CrossFit to Take Lead Role with Orangetheory Fitness
- Marine Veteran Don Faul Named New CEO of CrossFit
- CrossFit Hires Jason Dunlop as New President
- Alison Andreozzi Named CrossFit’s Interim Chief
- CrossFit’s Chief Technology Officer to Step Down, “New Initiatives” in CrossFit Tech On Hold
- Eric Roza Stepping Down, Moving to Chairman of the Board
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