George B. Thomas
Christina Kay has a way of showing up that feels equal parts creative and steady. She has been in the HubSpot world since 2009 and has spent over 15 years in marketing. Today, she is leading a new initiative at Hopkins Printing, bringing a digital mindset to a world built on tangible experiences, such as in-store signage, direct mail, and the kits brands send to influencers.
In this Women of HubSpot conversation, Christina and I discuss the unexpected turns, the moments that shake your confidence, and the choices that bring you back to yourself.
Christina shows what it looks like to separate your worth from your job title, how to protect your energy without losing your ambition, and how to use HubSpot, community, and personal boundaries to build a career you actually want to live.
The moment that changed everything
Christina did not grow up dreaming of “marketing operations” or “technology strategy.” She wanted public relations. She pictured magazines. She imagined a life that looked like a creative career in a big city.
Then work showed her the truth fast.
Some paths look great from a distance, and feel wrong up close. Over time, Christina leaned into what came naturally: performance, storytelling, and the ability to bring energy to a room. She has always been an entertainer at heart, and she found a way to make that part of her work, not something she had to hide.
But the turning point that tested her most came later, when she got laid off in 2023. That kind of moment can shrink you if you let it.
It can also reveal you.
For Christina, it became a season of separating business from identity. It was also the same season where she and Troy Sandage stepped onto the main stage as hosts at Inbound. Behind the scenes, life felt heavy. On stage, they still delivered. And that contrast left her with a truth she now carries forward: “I do matter in the HubSpot community.”
That sentence is not about ego. It is about belonging.
How she leads, builds, and uses HubSpot
Christina leads with clarity, and she does not pretend that confidence arrives fully formed. She has felt underestimated. She has felt out of place. At one point, she realized her mismatch was not just about people; it was about the tools and the ecosystem.
She said it plainly: the technology stack can impact your happiness more than people want to admit. Now she treats alignment like a strategy, not a wish.
When she talks about HubSpot, she lights up about the ecosystem. She loves seeing businesses build applications specifically for HubSpot because HubSpot cannot build everything, and it does not try to. That openness creates options for teams and pushes the entire platform forward.
She also keeps a close eye on day-to-day reality, especially for sales teams. She enjoys the moments when someone realizes they can simplify their work, stop using duct tape to patch processes, and actually utilize the customer relationship management system as intended.
She knows the product updates can overwhelm people, so she focuses on what matters most: the next clear step and the next “aha” moment that makes a team’s week easier.
And when it comes to being a woman with a strong voice in a fast-moving space, Christina does not shrink.
“I don't give a hoot what others say.”
Connect with Christina Kay on LinkedIn.
The lesson she wants you to carry forward
Christina has an honest view of empowerment. You cannot pour into everyone forever. You cannot “perform” inspiration on demand. And you cannot empower others well if you never pause long enough to take care of yourself.
She talked about how she now journals, how she checks in with herself, and how she pays attention to her energy before trying to lead anyone else. She even described how easy it is to slip into proving and performing, especially after a setback. Her definition of success is the simplest kind, and it lands because she earned it: “Success to me means happy.”
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Not hype.
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Not titles.
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Not chasing someone else’s scoreboard.
Happy, in a way that lasts.
