Redefining What Growing the Middle of Your Career Looks Like

Most mid-career professionals have done the work. Nobody taught them how to name it. That's the gap Growing the Middle was built to close.

Growing the Middle is a professional development company for mid-career professionals and the organizations that employ them. We help people translate years of real experience into the language that gets them recognized, promoted, and paid using evidence, not affirmations.

This community is for you if you're:

Feeling stuck, overlooked, or underpaid despite years of strong work
Pivoting, stepping into a bigger role, or navigating a layoff
Moving into tech-adjacent fields like customer success, operations, or strategy
Done with generic advice and ready for structure, language, and a plan

This is for your organization if:

Employees struggle to articulate their impact in performance reviews or promotion conversations
Your internal mobility programs aren't producing the advancement you're investing in
You want ERG or L&D programming that leaves people with tools, not just inspiration
You're looking for a speaker or facilitator who brings real operational experience, not just frameworks

About Growing the Middle

The Founder

Meet Mariah Bayne,

Founder of Growing the Middle

I'm Mariah Bayne, Founder & Talent Development Strategist at Growing the Middle. I have 12+ years of experience across sales, customer success, operations, and account management — in both traditional companies and SaaS startups.

Past roles include Director of Customer Success Operations, Director of Account Management, Account Manager, and Insurance Underwriter for personal and professional lines.

Key highlights:

Responsible for over $500M in new and recurring revenue
Personally managed $21M+ in accounts and scaled a team from 8 to 33 people
Hired and interviewed 350+ professionals across multiple organizations

Today I work as a strategic advisor for startups and nonprofits and run Growing the Middle's coaching community and corporate training programs, helping mid-career professionals and their employers close the gap between the work being done and the language used to describe it.

The GTM Guarantee

If you show me your work, I will show you the skill, the competency, and the business impact behind it. Regardless of your title, your industry, or where you are in your career. That's what builds real confidence. Not inspiration. Evidence.

BUILD YOUR MOMENTUM

Trusted by organizations that invest in their people

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Ready to Start?

Find the Offer That Moves You Forward.

THE CAREER WORK ROOM

EVERY THURSDAY, 12PM
This is a free, live drop-in space where we tackle real career questions in real time.

REGISTER HERE
TASK TO SKILL WORKSHOP

Turn everyday responsibilities into clear, credible value: tasks → skills → impact → proof.
Walk away with interview-ready stories you can tell in 60–90 seconds.

GRAB YOUR SEAT
RESUME REVIEW W/ ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK

Receive detailed, actionable guidance on what’s working, what needs improvement, and exactly how to fix it including role-specific KPIs and top-priority recommendations.

GET YOUR REVIEW
EVENTS & COMMUNITY

The right room changes everything. Join GTM virtual and in-person events.

SEE UPCOMING EVENTS
FREE RESOURCES

Free tools, templates, and guides designed to keep you moving between sessions.

ACCESS FREE RESOURCES

What Clients Are Saying

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What Clients Are Saying

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What Clients Are Saying

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What Clients Are Saying

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"Mariah has a unique ability to help others see the bigger picture, encouraging us to envision our end goals and navigate the complexities of the industry with clarity and purpose. I'm grateful for her mentorship and highly recommend her to anyone seeking to excel in their career."

—Cierra C.
"Thank you for the excellent workshop today on building your task bank. I found it very informative and will certainly use it for job interviews."

—Joy S.
"This was both engaging and informative. I left with very clear next steps about how to leverage my current skillset to land a higher salary."

—Audience Feedback, Sista in Sales 2025
"I’m so thankful for all the insight and support you’ve given me along the way. You played a big part in helping me land a role. Couldn’t have done it without your guidance. "

—Eunice W.
"Working with Mariah has been such a positive experience. She is consistently helpful and interactive during the placement session. Her guidance and encouragement has made everything feel easier to navigate and has boosted my confidence."

— Steph F.
"I’ve done other impact statement workshops but this was hands down the most thoughtful and actionable framework. I’m glad I trusted the process and fought the urge to skip ahead or rush to Chatgpt. I needed the time and headspace to think through my daily work to connect it to broaden business impact. Thank you."

—Kisha V.
"Mariah's passion for empowering others aligns perfectly with her ability to ignite ambition and build confidence. These qualities make her an invaluable resource for anyone seeking growth."

—Jamila M.
"Mariah's approach is both, strategic and personalized. She takes the time to understand her clients' career goals, experience and unique strengths, ensuring the final product truly reflects their professional brand."

—Harold V.
"Growing the Middle's tool helped me to paint a picture, and to tell my story better. She was able to give me sound feedback on my resume, tips and tools that can help me improve it, and also connections she has that can lead me in the right direction."

—Emeka A.
"Truly one of the best leaders I've had the privilege of working with and learning from throughout my career."

—Stephany M.
"Mariah jumped right in and went straight to the root of who I am and what I do. She guided me in highlighting my unique professional experience and helped me to articulate my past roles to hiring managers."

—Tahj P.

Big ideas, real impact.
Thoughtfully crafted to elevate what matters most.

Ways to Partner with Mariah:

Speaker — Keynotes and Conference Sessions

Framework-driven talks that leave attendees with tools they can use the same day. Mariah speaks on career development, workforce strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship across corporate, conference, and community stages.

Team Building Experiences:
Structured, skills-based sessions that reconnect teams to the strengths they already have.

Employees leave with clarity, concrete outputs, and renewed momentum not just a good afternoon.

Best for: ERG programming, onboarding cohorts, leadership development initiatives

Workshops (Corporate & Conference):
Hands-on, framework-driven sessions that help employees articulate their skills, strengthening retention, internal mobility, and team performance.

Popular formats: Lunch and learns, half-day workshops, conference breakouts

Panel Discussions & Fireside Chats:
Mariah brings candor and cross-industry perspective with 12+ years across insurance, sales, customer success, operations, and entrepreneurship. She speaks from real experience on both sides of the table.

Topics include: Hiring and talent selection, customer success and retention, sales and revenue operations, employee engagement and workforce development, and building a business from lived experience.

PARTNER WITH MARIAH

Speaking Engagement Highlights

Growing the Middle Video Testimonials

SMALL MOVES
BIG MOMENTUM

PARTNER WITH MARIAH

Redefining What Growing the Middle of Your Career Looks Like

About Growing the Middle

Meet Mariah Bayne,

Trusted by organizations that invest in their people

~

Services

~

Services

~

Services

~

Services

~ Services ~ Services ~ Services ~ Services ~ Services ~ Services ~ Services ~ Services

THE CAREER WORK ROOM

TASK TO SKILL WORKSHOP

RESUME REVIEW W/ ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK

EVENTS & COMMUNITY

FREE RESOURCES

What Clients Are Saying

~

What Clients Are Saying

~

What Clients Are Saying

~

What Clients Are Saying

~

What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~

"Mariah has a unique ability to help others see the bigger picture, encouraging us to envision our end goals and navigate the complexities of the industry with clarity and purpose. I'm grateful for her mentorship and highly recommend her to anyone seeking to excel in their career."

"Thank you for the excellent workshop today on building your task bank. I found it very informative and will certainly use it for job interviews."

"This was both engaging and informative. I left with very clear next steps about how to leverage my current skillset to land a higher salary."

"I’m so thankful for all the insight and support you’ve given me along the way. You played a big part in helping me land a role. Couldn’t have done it without your guidance. "

"Working with Mariah has been such a positive experience. She is consistently helpful and interactive during the placement session. Her guidance and encouragement has made everything feel easier to navigate and has boosted my confidence."

"Mariah's passion for empowering others aligns perfectly with her ability to ignite ambition and build confidence. These qualities make her an invaluable resource for anyone seeking growth."

"Mariah's approach is both, strategic and personalized. She takes the time to understand her clients' career goals, experience and unique strengths, ensuring the final product truly reflects their professional brand."

"Growing the Middle's tool helped me to paint a picture, and to tell my story better. She was able to give me sound feedback on my resume, tips and tools that can help me improve it, and also connections she has that can lead me in the right direction."

"Truly one of the best leaders I've had the privilege of working with and learning from throughout my career."

"Mariah jumped right in and went straight to the root of who I am and what I do. She guided me in highlighting my unique professional experience and helped me to articulate my past roles to hiring managers."

Big ideas, real impact. Thoughtfully crafted to elevate what matters most.

Ways to Partner with Mariah:

Speaking Engagement Highlights

BaddieCon'25, Baddies in Tech

Sistas in Sales, Summit ‘24 & ‘25

Propel’25

Watch My Speaker Reel 2026

DiversiTech

Growing the Middle Video Testimonials

SMALL MOVESBIG MOMENTUM

GROWING THE MIDDLE

~ Services ~ Services ~ Services ~ Services

What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~ What Clients Are Saying ~

Big ideas, real impact.
Thoughtfully crafted to elevate what matters most.

SMALL MOVES
BIG MOMENTUM