Small business owner Andy Culligan on resilience, risk, and reinvention in his career

In our podcast, Small Business Diaries, we talk to small business owners of organizations from across the world. This blog post is a summary and the lessons we learned from the episode [link].

We talked with Andy Culligan, a seasoned B2B marketer who’s the CEO and Co-Founder of Purple Path, a company that helps SaaS businesses grow.

He shared his journey - from being a young Irish expat with limited German language and sales experience to becoming a successful business leader.

Andy discussed his insights with Jon and Steve on how to stay resilient in a very unpredictable small business world and the importance of trusting the process.

Managing adversity

Andy grew up in Ireland but made a big life decision and moved to Austria at just 23 years old.

“I moved without thinking. My wife wasn’t happy in Ireland, and I just said, ‘Fine, I’ll move to Austria,’” Andy says. What followed was a tough and he had to quickly learn to adapt to the culture shock, unemployment, and language barriers.

“I struggled for a couple of years,” Andy recalls. “I didn’t speak German and couldn’t find stable work. I even managed to get hired into a German-speaking SDR role despite not really knowing the language.”

But Andy didn’t let it stop him. Instead, he stayed resilient, and now he is grateful that he tried his luck. “If I could go back and tell myself that 15 years later I’d be doing what I’m doing now, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he shares.

On tech companies and managing risk

Andy is very active on LinkedIn and created a popular post that compared a younger and current photo of himself. It sparked many conversations about change, growth, and job insecurity, having seen countless talented professionals laid off in recent years.

He reflected on the state of the tech world, saying, “Post-pandemic, companies overhired and then had to pull back hard. I know people who were crushing their targets for years and were still let go without warning. It makes you question the system.”

Both Andy and Steve acknowledge the challenges of leading or working in small businesses, especially during times of instability. Andy points out how business owners are often forced into making tough hiring and firing calls during periods of growth and risk. Something crucial, despite being one of the more unenjoyable aspects of the job.

The “accidental” entrepreneur

Andy’s consultancy (AndyCulligan.com) wasn’t part of his original plan. After finding himself burnt out after years as a CMO in a high-growth SaaS business, he took a step back. During this time, he found that clients kept reaching out to him, and before long, he had a full roster and was being introduced as a “fractional CMO”.

“I didn’t even know what that meant,” Andy explains. “But I was helping startups build their marketing functions without hiring full-time staff. It worked, and I scaled from there.”

Now, with a small team and over 95 years of combined experience, Andy helps businesses fine-tune their marketing operations. From lead generation to brand building, he and his team offer big agency insight with startup agility.

Marketing is all about execution

When asked what the biggest challenge is for small business marketing teams, Andy pinpoints the problem exactly.

He urges small business CEOs to avoid the “one marketer fits all” mentality and to prioritize focus, saying, “If you want someone to do social media, product marketing, lead gen, events, and content… expect all of it to be done badly.”

Burnout, boundaries, and personal branding

Throughout the episode, Andy is candid about the toll that startup life and leadership can take. From struggling to adjust in Austria to burning out as a CMO, he’s no stranger to rough patches.

He emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries for both yourself and your team. “You can’t just give people stuff they can’t do. That’s how burnout starts. It’s not about working hard; it’s about feeling out of control.”

Andy’s vulnerability is also part of what makes his brand so compelling. Whether he’s sharing a photo of his post-marathon faceplant or offering raw insight into mental health, his authenticity has helped him build a following—and a business.

Lessons in leadership

Andy offers his advice for aspiring founders or marketing leaders thinking of going solo: “If you don’t have a network, where will your customers come from? It won’t fall out of the sky.”

His success has been built on years of trust and visibility on LinkedIn. Now, he’s doubling down on scaling smartly, without losing the values that got him here.

Final thought

Andy’s story is a blueprint for anyone navigating the world of small business leadership and marketing. It's about doing the hard things, knowing when to pause, and embracing the unpredictability of growth.

When asked what he’d ask the next podcast guest, he knows exactly what he wants to know: “Tell me about a failure - and what you learned from it.”

Listen to the episode, in full, by visiting our YouTube page.