Isabelle Duarté

The Outsider’s Advantage

Seeing organisations from the edges

I grew up between cultures, built my career across countries, and learned early that some of the most interesting insights come from the margins. This blog is a place to think out loud about work, marketing, finance and leadership – from that vantage point. A place for CMOs, CFOs, and business leaders to reflect on what’s changing and what’s important.

Watch, Read, Listen

Topics Explored

I write about how CFOs, CMOs, and Business Leaders make decisions when the rules are changing. My work sits at the intersection of finance, marketing, leadership, and growth – exploring the mental models, trade-offs, and operating principles that help organisations scale with clarity, trust, and intent.

Progressive Finance

I focus on how finance evolves to better support CFOs and business leaders. Progressive finance is a concept I help define, to shift focus from control that slows businesses to empowerment that fosters agility.

Trust, autonomy, and accountability are built in from the start.

Marketing as a Discipline

Much of my writing draws on my experiences as a CMO: clear choices, operational rigour and structure. Frameworks like the Four Ps show how strategy becomes actionable.

I explore how this discipline translates beyond marketing into leadership, finance, and growth decisions. 

Leadership in Practice

I see leadership as something you practice every day, not just a job title. I explore the balance between trust and control, speed and safety, and autonomy and accountability.

I am interested in how leaders’ actions, choices and behaviours influence business culture.

Growth with Intent

Growth is a recurring theme in my work and my career path. It is exhilarating, sometimes elusive, and almost always chaotic.

I explore how organisations scale without creating chaos or fragility. Where structure, purpose and clarity enable speed, not bureaucracy.