Lending a (Strategic) Helping Hand: How Kara Murphy Became Brafton’s Emergency Contact

If you’ve ever met someone who seemed to light up every room they walked into, you know what a breath of fresh air they can be to your workplace. Kara Murphy, Senior Content Marketing Strategist (CMS), is one of those people, making meetings and conversations more joyful. 

What started as a goal to live out her dad’s motto — “Have fun, be safe and do what’s right” — has helped her blossom into a strategist who gets to know each client on a personal level and a co-worker who looks for opportunities to lend a hand, no matter the expense. 

Read on to learn more about Kara’s story and where her passion for people-first marketing came from. 

Learning To Lead With Heart

The people who shape us often have the greatest influence on how we treat others. For Kara, her family was that shining light that enabled her to grow into the woman she is today. 

“My sisters and I were given every tool and opportunity to know that we were strong, capable and had parents behind us no matter what,” she shared. “They gave us the confidence to go after what we want but also the moral compass to do what’s right.”

Kara’s dad always asked for people’s names, whether it was someone taking a phone payment at Xfinity or his grocery store clerk. Through his work with fire sprinklers, he gave often-overlooked individuals opportunities. This resulted in decades of loyalty.

After he passed away in 2019, his legacy continued through Kara, who carries those same principles. “Being a good person, having high morals and wanting people to be around you; there’s truly nothing better.”

In high school, Kara also volunteered with Circle of Friends, a peer inclusion program that pairs students with disabilities with general education peers to build friendships and social connections. Here, she discovered how much it meant to spend time with people who often feel as if they have no one on their team. The experience deepened her commitment to how she treats others, both personally and professionally. 

Becoming a Strategy Swiss Army Knife

After college, Kara wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She started working as a paraprofessional for SPED, a position she still holds dear. She eventually moved into email marketing, where she learned the advertising ropes and began to develop an interest in the field. Later, she transitioned into lifecycle retention management, digging into the insights behind why people make certain decisions. That’s when the light bulb clicked on. 

“I never thought I’d like data in marketing, but after my lifecycle role and growing as a CMS, I love it!”

Moving Her Talents to Brafton

Kara has always been fascinated by how people perceive the world and the science behind why they see the things the way they do. After becoming an email marketing wiz, she turned to content marketing to dive deeper into evidence-based advertising, research and client-facing work, which is how Brafton entered the scene. 

She started working at Brafton in 2022 as a CMS, right as she found out she was pregnant with her second kiddo. She quickly worked her way up to Senior CMS, the role she holds today. 

Kara loves how diverse her account portfolio is, as well as how no two days are alike. Her goal in this role? Finding meaningful ways to help her clients by getting to know them, pinpointing solutions to their problems and showing up as herself to every call. Her passion for each account is unmistakable. She brings real emotional investment to client calls, and clients trust her because of it.

“Everyone who works with me sees exactly who I am,” she said. “I think it’s important for clients to know that I care, especially in an industry that’s so revenue-focused.” 

I’m fortunate to share a few clients with Kara, and this is obvious every time I’m on a call with her. Kara’s enthusiasm for her work and her desire to ensure the client succeeds help me feel more excited and capable about the content we create at Brafton. She takes every opportunity to exceed expectations, treating each partner as a friend who has her undivided attention. 

“Showing up as yourself lets other people be themselves too,” she said. “That makes the conversations more meaningful and, sometimes, the work more impactful.”

People-First Marketing: Moving Past Data To Find What Works

As she leads content marketing strategy for clients, helps them create content that supports their goals and improves content performance through data and research, she’s thinking about more than just the numbers. While statistics and insights are critical for improved marketing performance and reaching the right audience, Kara knows it’ll always be about people first. 

Here’s what this teaches us about human-centered marketing:

• Take time to understand your audience, what they’re looking for and what motivates their actions.
• Learn your clients’ goals, listen to their challenges and find solutions that make a meaningful difference. 
• Use research and analytics to inform your strategy, but remember there are people behind every click, conversion and decision. 
• Choose authenticity to help build trust with clients and create space for more honest, productive collaboration. 
• Focus on helping clients solve problems and reach their goals rather than simply checking tasks off a list. 

Whether she’s walking a client through difficult projects for the best results or spending time outdoors with her husband, two girls and dog, you can count on Kara to show up with authenticity, care and a whole lot of excitement. She’ll always ask the hard questions, get to the root of issues and present solutions that work for the real people behind the screens. 

At the end of the day, being someone’s emergency contact isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about showing up, lending a hand and reminding people they’re never in it alone — which Kara proves daily.