Robert Callan.
One strategist, no layers.
I'm a fractional CMO and marketing strategist based in Austin, TX. By Callan is how growing businesses get senior marketing strategy directly, without the agency layers.
I started in marketing at 16, running promotion for esports organizations before I could legally sign the contracts. Through college I built brands for small businesses that needed a website, a logo, and a way to get found, usually all at once and on a budget. At Illinois State I ran social media for the College of Business, which taught me how to grow an audience with a small team and a clear message.
After graduation I worked with startups, where I learned to make decisions on incomplete data and to measure everything that could be measured. Then I moved into the agency world. Today I work at a national digital agency headquartered in Chicago, where I manage strategy across 500+ client accounts in 24 industries. The work covers SEO, Google Ads, marketing automation, analytics, and web. On my own time I built an internal client intelligence platform that scans client sites for compliance, performance, and SEO problems. That scanner is the engine behind the site audit on this site.
In 2026 I moved to Austin. By Callan is my practice for businesses that need senior marketing leadership without a full-time hire: usually under $5M in revenue, with real customers and a real budget but no one owning the strategy. I work evenings and weekends on By Callan clients, on dedicated blocks, so your work gets focused time instead of the leftover minutes between meetings.
What I bring is tested weekly on larger budgets. What I offer is direct access to the person doing the work, month-to-month, with reporting you can act on.
How I work.
The strategist does the work
I don't hand your account to a junior after the pitch. I build the campaigns, fix the tracking, write the plan, and read the reports. If you have a question, you ask the person who did the work.
Honest reporting, including the misses
You get numbers tied to leads and revenue, not impressions. When something doesn't work, I say so and change it. I would rather lose a month than hide one.
Automate the repetitive so budget goes to execution
Reporting, lead routing, follow-up, and data cleanup run on workflows I build in n8n and HubSpot. That keeps the hours you pay for on strategy and campaigns.
Credentials.
See where your site stands.
The instant scan is free and takes about a minute. Or book a strategy call and I'll walk through your marketing with you.