Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO — with Jaime Hunt

Jaime Hunt sits down with Eden Bloss, Chief Marketing Officer at UNC Asheville, to explore how faculty thought leadership can strengthen institutional brand, reputation, and visibility. Together, they discuss why faculty experts are one of higher education’s most powerful storytelling assets, especially when their research and expertise connect to timely conversations in the media, on LinkedIn, and across digital channels.

Guest Name: Eden Bloss, Chief Marketing Officer, UNC Asheville

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eden-bloss-46a796ba/ 

Guest Bio: Eden brings more than two decades of experience in strategic marketing communications to UNC Asheville in both corporate and agency settings, as well as a depth of experience in higher education within the UNC System. As Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications at UNC Greensboro, she led a team of communications professionals – editorial writers, social media managers, multimedia specialists, in addition to a group of cross-functional communicators across the university’s schools and programs. With expertise in crisis communication, brand and image development, media relations, website development, strategic and celebrity partnerships, brand ambassadors and community and government relations, Eden has a proven track record for developing collaborative relationships, creating a positive and productive team culture with a commitment to delivering results that exceed expectations. She is on the Board of Directors for PublicEd Works, a non-partisan 501(c)(3) charitable organization that focuses on increasing residents’ knowledge of public education in North Carolina, a CASE Awards Circle of Excellence Judge, Women in Leadership and PRSSA mentor. An avid runner, she has completed multiple marathons, including Boston and Marine Corps, and enjoys hiking across national parks – Big Bend, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are recent favorites. She is married with two adult children.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Jaime Hunt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimehunt/
https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaime Hunt sits down with Abbigail Tumpey, Vice President for Institute Communications at Georgia Tech, to unpack how AI in higher education is reshaping the future of enrollment marketing, communications strategy, and institutional leadership. From synthetic audience testing to AI-powered workflow optimization, Abbigail shares how Georgia Tech is embedding artificial intelligence into the fabric of its communications culture.

The conversation explores what it actually looks like to operationalize AI across a university marketing team — not just experiment with it. If you’re wondering how higher education marketers can move beyond AI hype and start building smarter systems, this episode offers one of the most practical and visionary conversations in higher education podcasts today.

Guest Name: Abbigail Tumpey, Vice President for Institute Communications at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Guest Social: LinkedIn

Guest Bio: Abbigail Tumpey is the vice president for Institute Communications at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she leads the Institute’s marketing and communications strategy. As Chief Communications Officer, she oversees brand and reputation management across media relations, events, research communications, marketing and internal communications, executive communications, creative services, and digital strategy.

Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Abbigail spent 25 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including 21 years in senior communication leadership roles. She served as head of communications from March 2021 to March 2022, overseeing the agency’s communication efforts during the COVID-19 emergency response. In that role, she reimagined CDC’s communications function and led the agency’s largest communications reorganization in more than a decade. 

During her tenure at CDC, Abbigail expanded clinical outreach capacity and built public-private partnerships and coalitions that advanced patient safety and public health initiatives. She spearheaded numerous national and international campaigns, including serving as one of the founders of the World Rabies Day initiative in 2007 and overseeing CDC’s antibiotic resistance communications from 2009–2016. She also played lead communication roles during major outbreak responses, including the 2012 multistate fungal meningitis outbreak, the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 mpox response.

In 2016, Abbigail was named one of 36 Champions of PR by PR Week magazine for their inaugural Hall of Femme. In 2021, she was recognized as a PRWeek Health Influencer for shaping the national dialogue around the COVID response, vaccine distribution, booster efforts, and improving health outcomes.

Abbigail earned a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University and a Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida. She is married to influenza researcher Terrence Tumpey and is the proud mother of two sons.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Jaime Hunt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimehunt/
https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaime Hunt sits down with Shane Baglini, Executive Director of Marketing and Branding at William & Mary, to unpack one of higher ed’s most persistent myths: that marketers from small institutions are somehow less qualified than their counterparts at large universities. This episode dives into how working in under-resourced environments actually sharpens leadership, fuels innovation, and builds resilience. Together, Jaime and Shane challenge outdated hiring biases and offer a compelling case for why “small shop” experience is a competitive advantage in enrollment marketing.

Guest Name: Shane Baglini, executive director of marketing and branding at William & Mary

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanebaglini

Guest Bio: Shane Baglini serves as executive director of marketing and branding at William & Mary, where he oversees the strategic planning and execution of the University's integrated marketing, multimedia, and creative teams’ efforts to create and sustain a comprehensive brand and marketing strategy for William & Mary, strengthening enrollment, advancement and institutional reputation for America's first university.  With a decade of experience in higher education, his background spans enrollment marketing, brand and creative strategy, digital transformation, and more.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Jaime Hunt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimehunt/
https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Guest Name: Justin M. Bell, Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Fordham University

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmichaelbell

Guest Bio: Justin M. Bell joined Fordham in August 2023 as the University’s inaugural vice president for marketing and communications. As vice president, he leads Fordham’s central marketing and communications division in strengthening Fordham’s brand awareness, increasing enrollment, and elevating Fordham’s unique story to enhance reputation across audiences.

Prior to joining Fordham, Bell served as associate vice president for brand marketing at The Ohio State University, leading an organization accountable for growing and protecting the Ohio State brand while driving choice through top-of-funnel marketing strategies across owned, earned, and paid media. Bell also established Scarlet Studio, Ohio State’s in-house marketing and communications agency, charged with developing campaigns and executing brand-building projects on behalf of colleges and units across the institution.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Jaime Hunt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimehunt/
https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaime Hunt sits down with Dr. Allison Steinke to unpack what it really takes to build a believable brand in higher education. Drawing from research with CMOs and Gen Z audiences, Steinke introduces a practical framework for brand believability rooted in authenticity, consistency, and emotional connection. The episode challenges traditional enrollment marketing approaches and reframes branding as a co-created, institution-wide effort. If you’re navigating trust, differentiation, or AI in higher ed marketing, this conversation is a must-listen.

Guest Name: Allison Steinke, Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication and author of Brand Thinking: Building Brands You Can Believe In

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajsteinkephd/

Guest Bio: An award-winning scholar with industry experience as a blogger, magazine editor, and social media consultant, Dr. Allison Steinke bridges the gap between high-level brand theory and real-world execution. As a Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, she equips and empowers thousands of future leaders through courses on brand management and digital storytelling. A prolific creator, she published an internationally acclaimed dissertation on solutions journalism, has authored 100+ blog posts and journalistic articles, and recently published a definitive book, Brand Thinking: Building Brands You Can Believe In. From managing global research projects to facilitating a 2009 Justin Bieber meet-and-greet, her career is defined by influential narratives.

Brand Thinking: Building Brands You Can Believe In: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/brand-thinking-9798765160831/

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Jaime Hunt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimehunt/
https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.