An interview with Cindy Goodrich, Chief Marketing Officer, Empathy

Q: Cindy, thank you for joining us on Beyond the Brief Marketing Conversations. You’ve been described as a marketing leader who specializes in building trust-first brands, particularly in sensitive and stigmatized spaces. How did your background lead you to focus on this unique challenge?

Cindy Goodrich: Thanks for having me on, Chris. For me, this work is both personal and professional. It’s about aligning my values with the kind of impact I want to make. My background in marketing across various sectors has always centered on empathy-driven storytelling, connecting brands with people in deeply meaningful ways. The opportunity at Empathy is unique; we navigate some of life’s most challenging moments, such as loss, grief, and significant life changes. These aren’t topics many marketers get to work with because they require a fundamentally different approach, one that is balanced between building a brand while being very sensitive to respect and privacy. My experience in working with brands that are category creators, along with the company values, and the massive opportunity associated with this mission, led me to Empathy.

In talking with friends and seeing their real-life experiences, I quickly saw how Empathy addresses a universal human need, bringing true innovation to a long‑established space and creating the potential for meaningful, large‑scale impact.

Q: Empathy recently made two significant announcements expanding its offerings, including Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support and venturing beyond loss to address Leave Support. Could you share why these are so important both for Empathy and the broader social context?

Cindy Goodrich: Absolutely. Our expansion in these areas reflects Empathy’s commitment to providing scalable, compassionate solutions that help both individuals and their employers by offering structured support that fosters well-being through hard moments.

The importance of these offerings stems from the realities that many people face, yet rarely talk about openly, especially at work. For instance, Pregnancy & Infant Loss affects 1 in 4 pregnancies, yet we know that workplace support around it is often scarce or inconsistent. This leaves grief unacknowledged and isolation deepened—both of which are painful for employees and costly for organizations, as they can lead to higher turnover or absenteeism.

Similarly, our new Leave Support product, offered in partnership with MetLife, addresses the hidden costs of leave. Roughly 2.6 million employees take a leave of absence from work any given week due to illness or injury. Navigating the complexities of leave, from filing claims to managing physical and mental healing, can be challenging and, without adequate support, can result in longer recovery times and more missed workdays.

These ripple effects can be significant. By providing evidence-based pathways back to work, we help insurance carriers and employers provide more proactive support, which benefits both individuals and organizational health.

Q: Given the sensitive nature of the topics you address, how do you approach marketing for Empathy in a way that respects privacy and fosters trust without appearing performative?

Cindy Goodrich: This is an intentional process that starts with a respect-first mindset. When you’re working in spaces like grief or loss, every word matters. We avoid shock tactics or superficial empathy, which can feel opportunistic or disingenuous in these spaces. Instead, authenticity is key. We center our messaging around real stories and real needs, emphasizing privacy and trust.

Building this at scale means tailoring conversations appropriately for different audiences—whether employers, HR leaders, or individual users—and ensuring that our messaging always conveys our deep understanding of the complexities involved. One way we do this is by grounding everything in evidence and data that highlight the human and organizational impacts of grief and loss, which reinforces our credibility and empathy as a brand.

Q: Can you elaborate on how Empathy balances a consumer-first approach with the B2B nature of its enterprise partnerships?

Cindy Goodrich: That’s a great question, and it’s part of what makes our work so nuanced. At Empathy, we recognize that although our clients are often large enterprises like life insurance carriers or employers, the end users are individual people navigating difficult moments. So, we aim to bring a consumer heart into a B2B world. This consumer sensibility guides us in designing experiences and communications that resonate on a personal level while aligning with business goals.

This dual perspective means our product and marketing strategies are deeply informed by user needs and preferences, leveraging insights to create solutions that are easy to access and intuitively supportive, all while helping our partners deliver measurable value. And ultimately we’re building products for and marketing to people; whether they’re B2B or B2C, they’re human and our work should resonate emotionally and practically, no matter the label.

Q: In your work, you’ve highlighted turning taboo realities — like grief and loss — into design and brand strategy constraints. How does working with these realities shape your team’s approach to creativity and innovation?

Cindy Goodrich: Working with taboo or stigmatized topics changes the marketing playbook quite a bit. These realities challenge us to discard traditional aggressive or overly promotional tactics and instead focus on strength, dignity, and meaningful engagement.

It pushes our creativity toward building—and earning—brand trust through transparency, empathy, and education. For example, our product design incorporates privacy features and personalized care plans that honor individual experiences. We always have to balance pushing innovation forward while respecting what our users will want in sensitive moments.

And more generally, innovation in this context isn’t just about technology but about how we humanize support at scale. It’s about making difficult conversations accessible without stigma or euphemism and crafting narratives that hold space for both pain and hope.

Q: Authenticity seems to be a cornerstone of your marketing philosophy. What lessons have you learned in avoiding performative empathy, especially when marketing around loss or hardship?

Cindy Goodrich: Authenticity is non-negotiable here. One of the biggest lessons is that empathy cannot be superficial—it has to be demonstrated honestly and consistently across every touchpoint.

Avoiding performative empathy means listening more than talking, validating real emotions, and aligning marketing messages closely with actual product capabilities and user experiences. It also requires internal alignment, too: making sure that the brand’s internal culture truly reflects these values so that every team member acts from a place of genuine commitment.

When marketing around grief and hardship, people see through insincerity instantly, so our approach is always about real connection, transparency, and respect. We are not asking people to move on, but helping them move forward.

Q: Can you share how your personal background shapes your approach to marketing and insight gathering at Empathy?

Cindy Goodrich: My background, spanning corporate and transformational category creators, and growth roles, has taught me the power of narrative and fueling a movement—in building a brand. As I grew and developed my career, I learned that understanding people at a deep level, beyond their surface behaviors, is essential.

At Empathy, this translates into a strong focus on qualitative insights, user stories, and data-driven discovery, enabling us to refine our approach continually. It means engaging with people—not just metrics—and fostering a team culture where empathy is both a business imperative and a guiding principle.

Q: Empathy has been recognized by Apple, Google Play, and Fast Company, among others. How do these accolades reflect on your marketing efforts and the company’s mission?

Cindy Goodrich: These recognitions are affirmations that our approach of combining cutting-edge technology with compassion is resonating beyond just the immediate users. They help validate that building a category-leading, human-first brand in a complex and sensitive space is not only possible but also essential.

From a marketing perspective, accolades like this support our credibility when reaching partners and users, amplifying our message and reinforcing that Empathy leads with innovation and heart.

Q: As a leader building a global team, what advice do you have for marketing leaders who want to build brands in difficult or sensitive categories?

Cindy Goodrich: My advice is to lead with humility and prioritize listening—both to your customers and your team. Category creation in these spaces requires a passion for making the industry you’re in better, and for making some big bets that help break through the stigmas. You also have to recognize that the space you’re in is bigger than your company alone.

Meaningful engagement takes time, especially when discussing sensitive and even taboo topics. Invest in education—both internally and externally—to foster understanding. And finally, empower your team to innovate responsibly, recognizing that your work has a profound impact on lives, not just metrics.

Q: Looking ahead, what excites you most about Empathy’s future and marketing’s role in that?

Cindy Goodrich: What excites me most is the opportunity to expand true support ecosystems for people at their most vulnerable moments, pushing industry boundaries around care, technology, and communication.

Marketing’s role will continue to be about weaving these elements together into clear, respectful, and impactful experiences that make a real difference. We want to continue shifting norms, fueling a movement and breaking the silence around taboo topics, and showing that even in hardship, there can be dignity, healing, and strength.