Mari-Liis Vaher on Marketing Strategy, Resilience, and Why No One Wins Alone

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Make It Happen by Being You Podcast, I'm joined by Mari-Liis Vaher, a marketing strategist with 20 years of experience and an entrepreneur for 15 years. At just 12 years old, Mari-Liis was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, underwent an eight-hour operation, spent six months in hospital, and was told she would never live a normal life. She went on to build a multi-million euro business, raise two children, move to Spain, write a book, and launch a global marketing community. Her story is quietly powerful. We talk about her five-step marketing framework (featured in her book The Greatest Marketer ), why strategy must always come before tactics, how to work in business with your partner without it destroying your home life, and what marketing looks like now that AI has arrived. She also shares how the Costa Women network helped her find the missing piece she needed to finally finish her book after five years. Because as Mari-Liis says 'no one wins alone'. What We Cover in This Episode How Mari-Liis rebuilt her life after major spinal surgery at 12 (and what she'd say to anyone who's been told what they can't do) The five-step framework inside The Greatest Marketer : Mindset, Strategy, Marketing, Communication, and Leadership Why marketing meetings should never start with "so, what ideas do we have today?" How she and her husband grew a marketing company to over 2 million euros in revenue, reached the edge of burnout, and made the brave decision to leave it all behind and move to Spain How COVID gave her the space to develop the framework that now underpins her whole business Working with your partner: the one boundary that changed everything How to choose your marketing platform based on strategy, not emotion The role of AI in modern marketing and why human connection matters more than ever Her current vision for 2026: global partnership programmes connecting her marketing community with business chambers in Sweden, Spain, and New York Key Takeaways Strategy is the agreement on direction. Without it, every activity runs in a different direction. Marketing meetings should start with your business goals, not your ideas. If you're running on empty, you cannot build a successful business. Mindset comes first. Your time is your most expensive resource. Choose platforms intentionally. AI is a tool, not a leader. Use it for heavy lifting so you can focus on genuine connection. The right support changes everything. You don't have to do it alone. About Mari-Liis Vaher Mari-Liis Vaher is a marketing strategist, entrepreneur and author of The Greatest Marketer . With 20 years in marketing and 15 years as a business owner, she is the founder of Powerful Marketers, a global community helping business owners and marketers bridge the gap between marketing activity and actual business results. She is currently building global partnership programmes across Europe and the US and is based in Spain. Connect with Mari-Liis: LinkedIn: Book: Community: Support the show Thanks for listening to the show! If you are a Woman in Spain, or a Woman thinking about moving to Spain join - its free to join

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Mari-Liis Vaher on Marketing Strategy, Resilience, and Why No One Wins Alone is an episode from Make it Happen with Costa Women by Ali Meehan.

This episode is 22:56 long.

This episode was published on Apr 15, 2026.

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