Nataly Kelly

Nataly Kelly

Chief Marketing Officer at Zappi

Qualifications

Chief Marketing Officer at Zappi; independent director at Lionbridge

Former VP of International Operations & Strategy at HubSpot and VP Marketing at Smartling

Author of Found in Translation and Take Your Company Global; HBR contributor and keynote speaker

Expertise

Globalization

International expansion

Localization

Marketing leadership

Global growth strategy

Content marketing

I love helping great companies achieve global reach. I've worked as an executive in marketing, international operations, and globalization at multiple tech companies, both venture-funded start-ups and public company scale-ups, from $20M to beyond $1.5B in annual recurring revenue. I'm an award-winning tech leader, with honors like Marketing Executive of the Year (Best in Biz), 40 under 40 (Direct Marketing News), Top 25 Content Marketers in Enterprise Software (Skyword and Traackr), Woman of the Year in Software Finalist (Stevies), and Women Worth Watching (Profiles in Diversity Journal). Major media outlets often feature my viewpoints on marketing and global business, including Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Inc, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NBC, CBS, NPR, the Guardian, and many others. My latest book (Take Your Company Global) comes out with Berrett-Koehler in September 2023. I'm also a Penguin-Randomhouse author (Found in Translation). I frequently write about marketing, global growth and international expansion for Harvard Business Review, and on my own blog, www.borntobeglobal.com. I'm a sought-after keynote presenter, having delivered talks at Google, Microsoft, United Airlines, and more than 100 conference presentations around the world, as well as guest lecturing spots for many universities in the US and Europe. I'm also an adjunct professor in a graduate degree program at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, California. I've served on several boards, with roles as a Board member at Multilingual magazine (current), Board member at Special Olympics of Massachusetts (past), Board member at National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare (past), and business advisor to Lottie Dolls (current).

Experience

Chief Marketing Officer at Zappi

Jan 2024 — Present · 2 yrs 6 mos

Leads marketing at Zappi's consumer insights platform; co-hosts the Inside Insights business podcast.

Independent Director at Lionbridge

Feb 2026 — Present · 5 mos

Independent board director at the global localization company Lionbridge.

Advisor at KKR

Sep 2025 — Present · 10 mos

Advisor to the global investment firm.

Chief Growth Officer at Rebrandly

Jun 2023 to Dec 2023 · 6 mos

Led growth strategy at the link-management SaaS company.

Vice President, International Operations and Strategy at HubSpot

Apr 2015 to Jan 2023 · 7 yrs 9 mos

Drove HubSpot's international expansion, shifting international revenue from under 20% to nearly 50% as ARR grew past $1.5B.

Vice President Marketing at Smartling

Apr 2013 to Mar 2015 · 1 yr 11 mos

Promoted from VP Market Development; led marketing at the translation technology company.

Qualifications

Chief Marketing Officer at Zappi; independent director at Lionbridge

Former VP of International Operations & Strategy at HubSpot and VP Marketing at Smartling

Author of Found in Translation and Take Your Company Global; HBR contributor and keynote speaker

Expertise

Globalization

International expansion

Localization

Marketing leadership

Global growth strategy

Content marketing

Our Editorial Guidelines

Smartcat’s content goes through a rigorous editing and fact-checking process that includes reviews by insurance agents, data scientists, and multiple editors with years of experience in insurance and personal finance. We vet every article and report for: accuracy, educational value, objectivity, enjoyability.