5:47 a.m. · Dawn
5:47 a.m. · Growth leader and CMO for a season

Customer Psychology - Growth Strategy - Team Leadership - Magic Before Breakfast

Any sufficiently advanced marketing is indistinguishable from magic.

I'm Claire Almand. I study why people say yes, then build the marketing that earns it, as your CMO or through Rarecraft, the company I co-founded. Before sunrise, you'll find me on the beach with a camera.

Work with me See the results
7:15 a.m. · Work with me

A CMO, for a season.

I studied psychology, then spent a decade at MPOWER Financing, from MBA intern to Director of Growth Marketing. Now I step in as a part-time or interim CMO who can read the room, make the calls, and leave the team stronger than she found it.

Claire Almand, headshotClaire Almand

When you need

A team that runs without you

MPOWER's growth team went from one part-time MBA student to 10 people across the US and India.

How the team grew

Growth unstuck

1.8× revenue on a flat budget, and 3× qualified leads six months after a year-long shutdown.

The restart

A new market opened

MPOWER's first event in Nepal drew 1,500 qualified prospects, after a launch I led on national TV and radio.

The Nepal story

How a season works Book a 25-minute call

Looking for a speaker? Invite me to speak.

9:30 a.m. · What I've led

Spells that worked

Mostly customer insight and clean data, plus knowing when to stop spending on what isn't working.

Before, or withoutAfter, or with

90%
lower customer acquisition cost

Breaking the paid-ads habit

Students trusted their friends far more than ads, so budget moved into organic search, referrals, and ambassadors.

Read it
23×
growth in qualified leads and revenue

Growing up, not just out

Seven years of leading digital at MPOWER, comparing April to December 2018 with the same months of 2025.

See the MPOWER years
2.4×
qualified leads from women

Women Who Dream

The data said women converted better at every stage, so we built a campaign just for them.

Read it

From the people who worked with me

“Claire is the kind of leader who backs you, hypes you up, and makes the whole team excited to collaborate. She's equal parts strategist and the life of the office.”
Shreya PaulProduct marketing, reported to Claire at MPOWER
“She transformed our team's decision-making and created a wonderfully open bidirectional feedback culture. I would jump at the chance to work with Claire again.”
Mohammed Imran ACampaign manager, worked with Claire at MPOWER
“One of Claire's biggest strengths is that she is both personable and effective. That combination is not easy to find.”
Utkarsh RoySenior product manager, worked with Claire at MPOWER
“Claire is one of those rare leaders who combines sharp strategic thinking with genuine empathy for her team.”
Tanya LakhmaniDigital marketing, reported to Claire at MPOWER
“She was far more than a manager to me. She was a mentor and a teacher who played a meaningful role in shaping how I approach both work and life.”
Utkarsh PandeyGrowth marketing, reported to Claire at MPOWER
“She leads with both conviction and care, a combination that is genuinely rare.”
Kavyashree BSResearch and data, on Claire's growth team at MPOWER
“Claire is a driven, detail-oriented tech wizard who has taken it upon herself to learn all things social media and marketing.”
Rebecca ThayneWorked with Claire at The Globe, 2014

See all results

12:10 p.m. · How I got here

The scenic route

  1. 2011

    Psychology

    Swarthmore, then behavioral data for clinical psychologists. Still my favorite toolkit.

    Read this chapter
  2. 2012 to 2016

    Eastern Shore

    Hospitality, a Professional Wizard consultancy, and a lot of sunrises.

    Read this chapter
  3. 2016 to 2018

    MBA

    University of Maryland, and a laugh that got me hired.

    Read this chapter
  4. 2017 to 2026

    MPOWER

    First growth marketer to Director of Growth Marketing. My team grew from one part-time MBA student to 10, across the US and India.

  5. 2026

    Rarecraft

    Co-founder and CEO, with Sagar Somani and Aakash Sethi.

    Read this chapter

Read the whole story

4:45 p.m. · When you need a whole team

Rarecraft and the Guild: the team I always wanted to hire.

I co-founded Rarecraft with Sagar Somani and Aakash Sethi, two people I conjured growth with at MPOWER. We figure out why customers say yes (and why they don't), then ship the positioning, campaigns, and AI workflows that change the answer.

This is my personal site. For the marketing agency and the team, head to Rarecraft.

Claire Almand

Wizard

CMO for a season

Rarecraft co-founder & CEO

Growth Strategy - Customer Psychology - Full-Stack Digital

Sagar Somani

Knight

Growth strategist

Rarecraft co-founder & COO

Growth & Product - Referral Engines - Fellow Wizard

Aakash Sethi

Artificer

GTM engineer

Rarecraft co-founder

GTM Engineering - AI & Automation - Data Plumbing

Plus a network of independent specialists on six continents, from brand design to AI.

Visit Rarecraft Meet the Guild

6:58 p.m. · Blog and newsletter

The Spellbook

Where the spells get written down. The Growth Grimoire is my newsletter on the psychology behind growth, Claire's Charms are shorter notes, and History of Magic holds the throwbacks.

History of Magic · No. 1

The MBArtist files

My first MBA year in 19 old blog posts, and one chalkboard too many.

Read it
Growth Grimoire · No. 1

The Allen Key Spell

Why people overvalue what they help build, and when extra effort backfires.

Read it
Claire's Charms · No. 2

A decade in one post

Ten years at MPOWER, and the people who made them.

Read it

Open the Spellbook Get it by email

Or subscribe on LinkedIn.

11:11 p.m. · Make a wish

Send an owl

Contact and booking

Owls fly at night, so this is the right time.

Need a marketing team?

That's Rarecraft, the firm. One of the founders replies personally.

Visit Rarecraft

Need a CMO for a season?

Pick a time that suits you, and tell me what you're building.

Book a 25-minute call

Anything else?

Speaking, a collaboration, or a book recommendation with dragons in it.

Or send an owl right here

It lands in my inbox, and I reply myself.