Our Team at its Core.
Allison Marchesani Ackerman
Founder & Fractional Head of Marketing
The CPG Whisperer. “Pretty sure she has powers.”
At Cortland: I’m the birdseye view—I know every in and out of what's happening here at Cortland. It was my first baby after all!
Work Persona: Firm but fair, always. I'm a listener and a problem solver at heart—someone who takes care of my team and clients with little surprises, and thoughtful touches. I love to mentor and have gathered a crew of sharp, talented humans sprinkled across the CPG world and beyond.
Known For: Radical candor. I’m your keep-it-real, multi-hyphenate, renaissance woman.
CPG Journey: Before CPG I taught high school math in a high-poverty urban school with Teach For America. After my first year, I was proudly promoted to department chair and though I always thought I’d stay in nonprofit work, my heart got too burnt out. So, I turned to something that always brightens my day—food. I’m the kind of person who looks at the menu 18 times before going to a new restaurant and thinks about dinner while eating breakfast. Great food has always been a passion, so I built a career in it.
Marketing Must: Instacart. Truly. It is something every brand can start doing to support sales. I've been on it since they launched self-serve advertising. I’m a total believer!
Life Hack: Asana, it’s my secret weapon for “having it together,” I like to keep a personal board so I don’t forget anything!
Past Lives: My time at Sir Kensington's was magical - my first job in CPG and a total rocket ship, growing it to and through Unilever acquisition, but honestly the most memorable thing was the people, the team, and culture there. I wore a ton of different hats and saw so many phases of brand and shopper marketing from the ground up! It was something special.
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Allison didn’t follow the traditional path into marketing—unless you count teaching high school math with Teach for America as the ultimate crash course in communication. She left the classroom in search of a career that would let her think strategically about her favorite hobby: food.
She found her place in the CPG world at Sir Kensington’s, where she helped grow the brand from a scrappy startup to a post-acquisition success story under Unilever. In 2018, she stepped out on her own, founding Cortland Consulting to help the next generation of challenger brands scale with heart and access to industry knowledge.
Since then, Allison has led countless go-to-market projects, served as Fractional Head of Marketing for brands like Belgian Boys, Shameless Pets, Dumpling Daughter, and Blue Stripes, helping brands connect with their target consumers through omnichannel marketing. She’s also returned to the classroom—teaching Digital Marketing at General Assembly since 2019 and for the MBA program at Butler University since 2021. Turns out, teaching and food will always be part of her story.
Carlee Delp McCann
Partner & Fractional Head of Marketing
The Strategic Pulse. “Genius or just insane attention to detail?”
At Cortland: I’m maniacal about the details but know when to zoom out—guiding big-picture decisions with stellar organization, clear communication, and a knack for keeping clients focused.
Work Persona: I bring the energy to even the most mundane workstreams and can't help but put a high level of care in everything I do (read: I’m a try-hard).
Known For: I’m a verified supertaster! (Legitimately tested by an R&D teammate, I promise.) Product testing? I’m your girl.
CPG Journey: I came to CPG hungry for a “good career” and luckily landed at Unilever. I quickly fell in love with consumer brands and the meticulous thought, care, and planning that goes into making them successful. In my 20’s, I developed a passion for home cooking and fell hard for the restaurant and culinary world. Getting to merge that love of food with my professional work? A dream-come-true.
Marketing Must: It’s simple: always bring it back to the consumer. It's easy to forget to wear our consumer hat, but their motivations aren’t some grand mystery. They're human.
Life Hack: Get sh*t done. Prove to yourself that you can tackle new things. I DIY-renovated my entire house—no prior experience, just a lot of YouTube, trial and error, and blind determination. Turns out, most things aren’t as impossible as they seem (and power tools are way more fun than expected).
Past Lives: My most cherished past gig? Working at Rita’s Italian Ice throughout high school and college. I loved interacting with customers, and—true to form—I worked my way up to location shift manager… dorky polo shirt and all.
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Carlee’s CPG roots run deep. She began her career in the classic way—joining Unilever’s rotational leadership program straight out of college. There, she got a crash course in everything from business development to brand building, with roles spanning merchandising, sales, and global marketing for iconic brands like Dove and Ben & Jerry’s.
Her marketing journey flipped on its head in 2017 when she joined Sir Kensington's—Unilever's newly acquired challenger brand— where she first crossed paths with Allison. The move marked a pivotal shift: Carlee went from managing established brands to shaping one from the ground up. She led total integrated brand strategy, ushering Sir Kensington’s into its next phase by blending classic CPG principles with small-brand ingenuity.
In 2022, Carlee brought her passion for building eater-obsessed brands to Cortland Consulting, where she now partners with ambitious emerging brands like Cloud23, Campo Grande & Monte’s Fine Foods to drive growth through thoughtful, strategic marketing.
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Laura Williamson
Fractional Marketing Director
Work Persona: Organized, forward-thinking and deliberate—with a retail folder (and a plan) for everything. I’m a resource for our team and clients alike, known for building “guide” decks that turn the complex into something clear.
Path To CPG: I started in CPG as employee #3 at an ice cream startup. A stint at Nestlé, working on an innovation brand, confirmed what I already knew—I thrive in the fast, scrappy, passionate world of small brands. I love working with female founders and mission-driven teams, blending creativity and strategy through pitch decks, launch plans, and retail readiness.
Past Lives: After living in South Korea and working in retail, I returned to my college go-to: brand ambassador. That’s how I found the CPG world. I loved the energy, the variety, the pace. Over the years, I’ve worked 100+ trade shows and events across the U.S. and internationally—from CPG expos to firefighter conventions to the Super Bowl.
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Bridget Brown
Fractional Content Marketing Manager
Work Persona: Everyone says I’m sassy, but I don’t really see it. I’m honest, empathetic, detail-obsessed, and committed to helping my team see what I can’t unsee. I think it goes beyond “perfectionist”—it’s aesthetic compulsion.
Path To CPG: I love how brands can use visual media to evoke a subconscious feeling—sparking meaningful activations and inspiring lifestyles. I studied Apparel Merchandising, flirted briefly with skincare, and found my passion in marketing products people can actually hold in their hands.
Past Lives: Oh, Hello Kitty Cafe? Yeah, I did that. I also ran a pretty major celebrity “edits” account in middle school, (where I got my start obsessing over feed presence). Since then: directed content shoots, creative campaigns, and social strategies that actually work. You could say I grew up organizing those squares in my head—that should explain everything.
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Frankie Guzek
Copywriter & Fractional Marketing Manager
Work Persona: My type B self multitasks until the job gets done. If I’ve thought about it, there’s a tab for it. My coffee? Easily my computer’s most loyal companion. I say things best with words on paper, and nothing makes me happier than a tagline that sings.
Path To CPG: A cold DM to a founder offering my copywriting services turned into a career of brand work in the CPG world! Working with creative founders who are building something every day is beyond energizing, and genuinely exciting.
Past Lives: Pre-Cortland, I was brand-building in the fast and furious tech world! Still a love of mine, especially when it’s a startup. I love an underdog. Speaking of dogs, I walked and boarded pups on Rover for about four years! Never met a dog I didn’t like. Tell yours I say hi.
Our Network
Beyond our core team, Cortland taps a trusted network of high performing CPG experts and creatives—from designers to developers, copywriters to content strategists, packaging specialists to operating partners. If we don’t do it, we know someone who does—and we love to make introductions.