Courtney Hurley and Kelly Evans: Helping Small Businesses Master Marketing

In the world of small business, a quiet yet familiar story unfolds every day. A business owner, fueled by passion and dreams, sets up shop and steps into the digital marketplace, believing in the promise of growth. They turn to marketing agencies—polished, persuasive, and seemingly full of answers. At first, everything feels right. The website looks sleek. Ads start running. For a moment, there is hope.

But slowly, a different reality emerges. Every adjustment, every pivot, and every new idea is held hostage by agency contracts and fees. Promised results diminish as control slips away, often falling to low-level employees who lack the expertise to deliver. This isn’t just a minor inconvenience; it’s a systemic issue that keeps businesses small, dependent, and exhausted. Courtney Hurley and Kelly Evans know this story well, and it’s precisely what they set out to change when they founded Screws + Stilettos.

Hurley and Evans’ Mission: Breaking the Agency Chains and Restoring Autonomy

With over 30 years of experience in marketing, Courtney Hurley and Kelly Evans have seen too many businesses trapped in the “agency cycle.” In this model, ownership of key marketing assets is handed over to someone else, robbing businesses of their ability to make timely decisions and adapt to market shifts. It’s a cycle that not only stifles growth but also drains energy, leaving business owners burnt out and frustrated.

Hurley and Evans didn’t want to be just another agency holding all the keys. They wanted to return them to their rightful owners: the business owners themselves. This desire gave rise to their 8-week workshop, “Market Like A CMO,” which goes far beyond traditional marketing training. It is a complete system that equips participants with the skills to manage their marketing while teaching them how to optimize their energy and productivity for sustainable success.

Market Like A CMO: Combining Marketing Strategies with Peak Performance Training

The “Market Like A CMO” workshop is a bold response to the challenges small businesses face in today’s fast-paced marketplace. It provides a clear, step-by-step framework for taking control of marketing while simultaneously addressing the root causes of burnout and inefficiency.

Participants learn how to set up, manage, and optimize their marketing strategies—free from the dependence on agencies. But Hurley and Evans know that strategies alone aren’t enough. To truly thrive, business owners need to be at their best mentally and physically. That’s why the workshop also integrates neuroscience-based training to help participants tap into “flow,” a state of optimal focus and creativity where productivity can soar by up to 500%.

This dual approach ensures that business owners not only master marketing but also learn how to sustain their performance, maintain balance, and avoid the exhaustion that often accompanies entrepreneurial efforts.

The Link Between Marketing Independence and Peak Performance

Marketing independence and peak performance might seem like separate concepts, but Hurley and Evans understand they are deeply connected. For many business owners, marketing feels like an overwhelming maze of decisions, deadlines, and dependencies. Agencies often add to this stress, creating a bottleneck for creativity and progress.

By teaching business owners how to take control of their marketing, Hurley and Evans help reduce this stress and restore a sense of agency. Through peak performance training, they go a step further, enabling participants to maximize their focus, creativity, and energy. These two elements—control over marketing and mastery over personal productivity—create a powerful synergy that transforms how business owners approach their work.

Neuroscience Tools for Sustainable Growth

In addition to hands-on marketing strategies, the workshop equips participants with structured practices for achieving and maintaining flow states. Techniques such as single-tasking, time blocking, and power-down rituals are introduced to improve focus and reduce distractions. Participants also learn to identify and leverage flow triggers, such as aligning tasks with passion and minimizing environmental disruptions, to enter states of deep concentration more frequently.

The science doesn’t stop at productivity. Hurley and Evans also teach business owners how to recognize and combat burnout by integrating active recovery practices, from mindfulness exercises to environment optimization. These tools not only enhance work performance but also ensure that business owners can be fully present in their personal lives, creating a sustainable work-life balance.

Real Success Stories: The Power of Marketing and Performance Alignment

When Hurley and Evans talk about marketing independence and peak performance, they aren’t speaking in abstracts. Their workshop has already produced remarkable results for businesses. One 30-year-old retailer, facing collapse during the pandemic, had no online presence and no way to reach its customers. Hurley and Evans stepped in, helping the business develop a marketing strategy it could own and execute independently.

The results were transformative: a 55% increase in leads and a 51% rise in revenue. But beyond these numbers, the real success lay in the business owner’s newfound confidence and capability. With the marketing strategy and productivity tools learned in the workshop, the business could adapt, grow, and thrive without waiting for outside approval.

A Vision for Empowerment and Balance

Courtney Hurley and Kelly Evans believe that small businesses deserve more than agency contracts and fleeting results. They deserve the tools to shape their own marketing strategies and the skills to sustain their energy and creativity. The “Market Like A CMO” workshop is built on this belief, offering practical knowledge and neuroscience-backed methods to empower business owners to succeed without sacrificing their well-being.

Hurley and Evans envision a future where small businesses can make decisions with confidence, pivot with ease, and grow without compromise. They want to create a world where business owners are not only effective but also fulfilled, striking a balance between professional success and personal satisfaction.

Join the Movement for Marketing and Life Mastery

If you’re a business owner ready to break free from the agency trap and realize the untapped opportunities within your business, Courtney Hurley and Kelly Evans have paved the way. The “Market Like A CMO” workshop is more than a marketing course—it’s a life-changing program that equips you with the skills to reclaim control and work at your peak.

Visit their workshop page to learn how to master marketing, enhance your productivity, and build a business that thrives sustainably. What Hurley and Evans offer is more than just tools; they offer the possibility of independence, balance, and growth on your terms.