Operations · Marketing · AI

I translate complexity into systems that scale.

I run operations and marketing for a boutique group of food and beverage businesses, and I'm making it AI-forward without losing the high-touch experience our customers come for. Through my consulting firm, Resonant Growth, I help a few other relationship-driven businesses do the same.

COO & CMO, Toronix Gourmet 15+ years leading marketing in healthcare and insurance Resonant Growth · Claude Partner Network
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$6.1M
Pipeline built from $96K baseline through integrated marketing & sales operations
Zynx Health
357%
Website traffic growth via SEO and thought leadership strategy
Zynx Health
$3M+
Cost reduction by building internal media buying function
Confie Seguros
46%
Increase in marketing-qualified leads year over year
Zynx Health

The translation lens

Mariana Small speaking at a podium

I grew up across ten countries in a diplomatic family: Brazil, Algeria, Iran, Senegal, New Caledonia, Mexico, Australia, Germany, France, and the United States. That background gave me five languages and a habit I use every day: translating between systems, cultures, and ways of thinking.

In marketing, that means connecting functions that usually work apart. At Zynx Health, I transformed marketing from an order-taking function into a strategic department that generated $6.1M in pipeline. At Confie Seguros, I built and led a 17-person multinational team across the US, Mexico, and Peru, cutting $3M in advertising costs while improving ROI.

I'm COO and CMO of Toronix Gourmet, a boutique group of food and beverage businesses that imports specialty products from Spain. My mandate is to make it an AI-forward company without compromising the high-touch experience our customers come for. In practice, that means I build the systems myself: most days I'm in Claude Code, building the dashboards our leadership uses to see what's happening and the workflows that take routine work off people's plates.

I spent the 15+ years before that in regulated industries like healthcare tech and insurance, where confidential information is the job. I still work that way: structure first, then tools. That's the premise of IA Before AI, the framework I'm developing.

My consulting firm, Resonant Growth, is part of Anthropic's Claude Partner Network. Toronix is where I do this work every day. Through Resonant Growth I take on a small number of outside clients so I can stay hands-on with each one.

The thread across all of it: I build systems that make the work repeatable and lighter to carry, so people can spend their attention on what actually needs them.

Based
Santa Monica, CA
Countries Lived
10
Countries Visited
64 (goal: 100)
Languages
English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French
Largest Team
17-person multinational (US, Mexico, Peru)
Largest Budget
$23M

How I work with AI

My AI practice is hands-on. I write code with Claude Code, build automation workflows with n8n, and architect knowledge systems in Notion. Every day.

I also build the infrastructure: custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that connect Claude to the tools we work in. I build them from scratch when I'd rather not hand a third-party tool our credentials.

My framework, IA Before AI, starts from a simple premise: organize your information and your thinking before you adopt AI. Then let AI take the busywork, so people keep the judgment. The organizations that get this right are the ones that structured their thinking first, whatever tools they use.

Working with Anthropic

What I've built

A few things I've built with Claude. Most of them get used every day.

For teams adopting Claude Code
Claude Code Tips + Starter Kit
A field guide for teams getting started with Claude Code, paired with a starter kit they can copy and run. The tips site explains what to do and why. The starter kit is the setup itself.
Infrastructure
Custom MCP servers
Connectors that give Claude secure access to the tools a team already works in. I build them from scratch when credentials shouldn't pass through a third-party tool.

What I deliver

Team & Budget Leadership
Outcome
Efficient teams that deliver measurable outcomes, not just activity
Proof
$3M cost savings, 90% CPL reduction ($120→$12), 17-person multinational team, $23M budget
Marketing Operations & Systems Architecture
Outcome
Full-funnel visibility through integrated MarTech: routing, scoring, and attribution tied to revenue
Proof
$6.1M qualified pipeline at Zynx Health
Revenue Operations
Outcome
Marketing directly accountable to revenue, not vanity metrics
Proof
46% lead increase, $6.1M pipeline in 2024 (from $96K baseline)
Go-to-Market Execution
Outcome
Traffic, engagement, and conversion lifts that compound over time
Proof
357% traffic growth, 395% page views via SEO strategy
Brand Strategy & Management
Outcome
Unified brand systems that scale across locations, markets, and teams
Proof
Unified branding across 250+ retail locations, +5% brand recognition across 6 refreshed brands (Confie Seguros)
AI Strategy & Integration
Outcome
Organizations that use AI with intention. Structured thinking before tool adoption.
Proof
Daily Claude Code builds, custom MCP servers, Claude Partner Network (Resonant Growth), TechWalk LA co-director

How I lead

Some of my best leadership has been with volunteers and partners: people who could walk away at any time.

President, six years

Rebuilt a 60-year-old, 2,000-member club. Membership up 25% in a year, volunteers up 150%, event attendance from 300 to 2,500. Named Zone 8 Region of the Year in 2020.

Accelerating Change
Co-founder & CMO

Co-founded with three-time international racing champion Christina Nielsen. Built 50+ corporate partnerships, including Michelin as title sponsor, Porsche Cars North America, BMW Motorsport, Audi Sport, and Sephora.

Co-director

Monthly gatherings that bring Los Angeles's tech community together.

From a Korn Ferry 360° assessment of 17 colleagues across clinical, finance, HR, sales, product, executive, and vendor teams:

Influence Style

Leads through relationships and trust, not positional authority. Top influence technique: building rapport and connection before getting to business. Persuades through logic, example, and earned credibility.

Cross-Functional Trust

Every function (clinical, finance, HR, sales, product, executive leadership, and external vendors) independently validated the same pattern: she builds trust across organizational boundaries and creates psychological safety for collaboration.

Operating Philosophy

"Leave things better than I found them." The thread raters saw across every role, from rebuilding PCA-LA into Zone 8's Region of the Year to building Zynx Health's first integrated marketing-sales pipeline.

What colleagues and executives say

Mariana consistently brings valuable knowledge with a strong practical mindset, especially in tools like Claude, Notion, and other AI platforms. What truly stands out is her ability to translate complex concepts into real-world applications that can be implemented immediately.

Ana Cristina de la Torre
Sustainability & Human-Centered AI Leadership

Her ability to integrate marketing and sales operations created unprecedented visibility into our pipeline. She focused relentlessly on driving leads to the business and exceeded all my expectations for what a Head of Marketing could do with limited resources.

Jesse Rosenthal
Sr. Vice President · Zynx Health

Mariana possesses a natural and unique blend of marketing and operations expertise that serves her well when building relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Her motto is 'leaving things better than she found them.'

Anya Weaver, MS, PCC
ICF Certified Executive Coach · Korn Ferry

Mariana's data-oriented thinking has been critical in building a solid technical and operational foundation for marketing initiatives. She takes a holistic approach that integrates the broader commercial team, subject matter experts, and other stakeholders into the process.

David Manin
Vice President of Marketing · FDB (First Databank)

Foundation

Formal Education
MBA, Foreign Commerce & Exchange
Fundação Getúlio Vargas · Brasília, Brazil · 1999–2001
BA, International Relations & Diplomacy
Schiller International University · Heidelberg, Germany · 1995–1997
Executive Education
  • Strategic IQ: Creating Smarter Corporations · Harvard Business School
  • Strategic Marketing Management · Harvard Business School
  • Executive Presence & Influence · Wharton School of Business
  • GOLD Executive Development Program · Hearst / Korn Ferry
  • Hearst Leadership Development Program · Harvard Business Publishing
  • Positive Psychology · University of North Carolina
  • Public Relations (Distinction) · UCLA Extension
  • Private International Arbitration · International Chamber of Commerce
  • Penetrating International Markets · UC San Diego GPS

Let's talk.

I'm glad to talk about AI in relationship-driven businesses, or about speaking on marketing and AI.

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