Prenessa Nalliah, award-nominated Fractional CMO and entrepreneur, shares insights on modern leadership, strategic impact, and the balance between work and life.
Prenessa Nalliah is a Fractional CMO and Corporate Communication Specialist with 15+ years experience helping purpose-driven brands and SMMEs grow. She is the Founder of Perana Viosa and the Creative Angels Fashion Benefit, driving both business growth and youth empowerment. Guided by integrity, discipline, and respect, she delivers measurable results in revenue, engagement, and enterprise development. Recognized as an award-nominated entrepreneur and speaker, Prenessa is dedicated to leaving people and businesses stronger.
Fractional Insider: How was your transition from a traditional career to fractional leadership/consulting?
Prenessa Nalliah: It was a necessary one in one way, because a client of mine in the US where I was working as an independent contractor, had changed their invoicing structure which affected my income negatively. I decided to venture into Fractional CMO services after having exited corporate for a number of reasons including health and wellness, and personal success metrics.
It was daunting especially because in 2021 when it happened the only real awareness of a fractional executive was for Fractional CFOs. Marketing was growing, but I have experience in building something out of virtually nothing and creating new markets, so it was successful in Month1 and I’ve been effective enough in building a client base organically.
Fractional Insider: What attracted you most to this model, and what challenges did it bring?
Prenessa Nalliah: Control over my time. I am always up for a challenge but the control of my time was critical to my happiness. I get to flex my hours as and when I feel like it without compromising on the quality of my output; I get to work from anywhere with an Internet connection (following compliance requirements of course) and I get to outsource things I may not enjoy doing as much, or don’t have capacity to do.
I don’t have as much admin as the average marketing agency owner; I don’t have ridiculous overheads and I am in full control of what kind of business I take on as a client, allowing me to stay true to my values.
My key challenges were educating the market and building trust in the model so initially I had a trial discount available and slowly phased that out. I also found it difficult to find other high-quality Fractional CMOs in the same market at first because it was a relatively new concept (I’m only the second or third known fCMO in South Africa).
Fractional Insider: How do you choose the projects and clients you work with?
Prenessa Nalliah: In the first year I allowed every lead to convert into a trial but only those that fit my values and helped me achieve my core goals were allowed to progress to receive more resources from us.
Now I am values-based and I don’t negotiate my rates. I prefer to work with purpose-driven businesses for which their standard operation makes the world a better place.
Fractional Insider: Tell us about a moment when you had a major impact as a fractional leader.
Prenessa Nalliah: It depends on what the definition of impact really is. We’ve helped people save as much as 95% of their marketing operations costs, and we’ve generated roughly $150k in pipeline value within a week of launching a campaign for which we charged a client roughly $200 at the time.
We aim to have the highest possible impact in the unique context of each and every client we serve, and it’s either me or another one of our specialist fCMOs taking charge on the account. We have specialist CMOs available for the hospitality and tourism industries as well.
Fractional Insider: What are the main differences between being a full-time executive and a fractional one?
Prenessa Nalliah: Fractional executives are generally clearer about their mandates and we don’t coast on our income. We know we’re there for a limited time compared to full timers, with a very specific goal and we are generally much more disciplined at resource management in the effort to achieve said goals. Because we choose to forego the security of a permanent full time role, we challenge ourselves more to continually deliver tangible value, not just to act as a mouthpiece for our departments.
Fractional Insider: How do you explain the value of a fractional leader to a skeptical CEO?
Prenessa Nalliah: Maths: I challenge myself to use the full time hiring budget for the client’s advertised role, or the role the CEO believes is needed, as a fractional budget from which I can possibly bring in more specialists. This is where the average operating cost becomes as much as 95% more efficient than the traditional marketing operations structure.
I speak in terms of time, cost and quality metrics.
Fractional Insider: What are the most common mistakes companies make when working with fractionals?
Prenessa Nalliah: 1. Failing to set clear objectives or agree to the ones the fractional executive proposes.
2. Switching up measurement models when assessing value after signing the contract.
3. Trying to give tactical instructions to the fractional executive under the guise of knowing what works — if it was true, there would never have been a need for the fractional executive to step in.
Fractional Insider: How do you see this career model evolving in the coming years?
Prenessa Nalliah: I think it’s great for top talent; we get to fix most of what we find issue with in a traditional corporate setting and balance out our hours as we please, between enjoying life, developing our skills and knowledge bases further and actually implementing what we need to professionally.
I believe that it will force a chasm into the market across all business functions where fractional executives will continue to increase bargaining power and clients will have to actively work at being better quality clients, qualifying as brands that fractional executives feel drawn to work with, instead of the traditional job application model.
Fractional Insider: What advice would you give to a senior professional considering becoming fractional?
Prenessa Nalliah: Be very careful and clear which bridges are worth burning and what your motivation is for making the transition. It’s often not as financially rewarding until you find your groove. Don’t transition purely for financial gains.
Prenessa Nalliah proves that authentic leadership and sustainable success are built on courage, clarity, and strong values.
