Go-to-Market Magic

In the season finale of The Enablement Edge, hosts Steve and Amber chat with Stephanie Middaugh, Founder & CEO of Phoenix GTM Consulting, about where to succeed in enablement in 2025. Together, they tackle the industry's current challenges, including burnout and exhaustion among professionals, while highlighting the need to sustain passion and empathy in these roles. Stephanie shares actionable strategies for navigating market uncertainties and organizational obstacles, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing skill-building over task-focused activities and looking to what is actually within your control. The discussion also explores Stephanie's book, Elevate and Optimize: Your Enablement Maturity Journey, which provides practical guidance on advancing enablement functions and setting achievable goals. Stephanie shares her insights into effective maturity models, the current and future impact of AI on enablement, and the transformative potential of a well-aligned enablement strategy. Her advice inspires listeners to stay focused on their enablement objectives and drive meaningful change within their organizations. — Guest Bio Stephanie Middaugh is a seasoned expert in revenue enablement and sales operations, known for her innovative approach to training and process improvement. She is currently a CSM with Luster, a cutting-edge AI sales practice and upskilling solution that is revolutionizing how go-to-market teams learn and practice. However, Stephanie is also the Founder & CEO of her own business, Phoenix GTM Consulting. Most recently, Stephanie was the Head of Global GTM at Pinecone. With a career spanning leadership roles at Zoom, Divvy Inc., DataStax, Alteryx, and Sage, she has consistently built scalable enablement frameworks supporting global sales teams. Passionate about fostering community and delivering impactful programs, Stephanie continues to be a thought leader in the enablement space. — Guest Quote “People are tired, exhausted, and burnt out. But that passion is still burning. We want to help. So we're still going to be there.  Enablement as a profession is still going to get these initiatives, trainings, and everything [else] through. We're still going to be bought into helping our reps succeed and seeing the business move forward.  Even though it kind of goes through these ups and downs and ebbs and flows, enablement is going to be here for a while, and it's the companies that know how to properly leverage it that are going to see the results at the end of the day.”  — Time Stamps  00:00 Episode Start 4:45  How Stephanie defines enablement 6:38 Facing burnout in 2025 9:56  Where is all this pressure coming from? 12:50  Moving foward despite uncertainty 16:13 Focus in on what you can control 18:20 Elevate and Optimize: Your Enablement Maturity Journey 24:37 Does your enablement team have to be large to be mature? 28:11 Transformational enablement 31:40 On the Edge — Links Connect with Stephanie Middaugh on LinkedInRead “Elevate and Optimize: Your Enablement Maturity Journey”Check out Phoenix GTM ConsultingCheck out LusterConnect with Steve Watt on LinkedInConnect with Amber Mellano on LinkedInCheck out Seismic