Podcasts about Adweek

Female Quotient founder Shelley Zalis grew up assuming she'd be a stay-at-home mom, just like her own mother. Then a job interview she thought was at an ad agency turned out to be for market research—and she took the job anyway. That accident launched a career that put her decades ahead of her industry, dragging market research onto the internet before most people had email and building a company she'd eventually sell for $80 million. On this episode of She Pivots, Shelley shares the 2 a.m. idea she had while feeding her newborn, the boardroom moment where every man in the room got picked for her own project, and why she turned down money from her family when she needed it. She also shares how inviting five girlfriends to walk the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show sparked The Female Quotient, now a community of 8.5 million professionals with lounges from Davos to the Super Bowl. Keep up with Shelley on Instagram @shelleyzalis and see what the Female Quotient is doing at @femalequotient, and on their website www.thefemalequotient.com Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration. She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success. Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rachel Lowenstein is a leading independent cultural strategist and content creator. For over a decade she has worked at the intersection of culture, brand, and girlhood, helping the world's most influential companies understand how culture is moving, especially for women/girls. Top brands including Nike, Google, Unilever, Dove, Essity, Meta, Chief, and UN Women trust her expertise to grow their brands and their cultural impact. Before building her own consultancy, she spent a decade at WPP/Mindshare, rising to Global Head of Inclusive Innovation, a role created for her. As a content creator, she has built an audience of 160,000+ followers across social media decoding girls, business and culture. Brands including TED and Tracksuit partner with Rachel for her cultural expertise and engaged audience. Rachel is also the creator of Girl Studies, a Substack for the serious study of girl culture and its commercial, social, and behavioral implications.She has spoken on prestigious stages at the United Nations, Cannes Lions, SXSW, CES, DK Festival Croatia, Mumbrella Sydney, Advertising Week, Yale, and Arizona State University. Her work has been recognized on Ad Age's 40 Under 40 (2023) and Advertising Week's Female Is Female Award (2022). She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Ad Age, Adweek, Campaign, The Observer, Slate, Glossy and Business Insider for her insights.

McDonald's has lost its reputation for low prices… so it's bringing back the PlayPlace.Figs makes the scrubs in HBO's The Pitt… and its stock has doubled in the past year.Nvidia says it can contain all the rogue AI… with its new AI-proof smart fence.If you're applying for a job right now, you better freshen up your cursive.Join the waitlist to attend our live NY show at Seedtag on Oct 8th near in Flatiron: https://6c05jscjq8k.typeform.com/to/RlYICxJi More details on Seedtag's Ad Week programming: https://events.seedtag.com/advertisingweek26 $FIGS $MCD $NVDAGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingSan Francisco 9/23: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C0064AFB5F688BDBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-ticketsNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today's top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's up everyone, today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Christina Garnett, Fractional Chief Customer and Communications Officer at Neuemotion.(00:00) - audio-Christina (01:19) - In This Episode (05:37) - Why Your Tech Stack Cannot Fix Siloed Customer Teams (11:10) - Why Getting the Name Right No Longer Counts as Personalization (18:08) - Why A/B Testing Programs Ignore Qualitative Customer Data (24:14) - How Brands Build Core Memories Customers Cannot Buy (29:55) - How B2B Brands Build Core Memories Without a Budget (35:46) - What to Do When Transactional, Behavioral and Feedback Data Disagree (42:12) - Why Spotify Wrapped Works and What Gen AI Took Away (49:17) - Why Personalization Feels Predatory Even When You Have Consent (53:58) - Where Influence Ends and Manipulation Starts in Marketing (58:57) - Why Audiences Are Going Back to the Humanities in the AI Era Summary: Christina spent 5 years teaching math before she ever wrote a subject line, and it shows in how ruthlessly she takes apart the personalization playbook. Getting someone's first name right used to be impressive and now it just proves you didn't get fired, which leaves marketers chasing hooks and tricks while customers quietly learn to read the pattern. She makes the case for core memories a brand cannot buy, walks through what actually happened when Spotify Wrapped got the AI treatment, and introduces earned context, the idea that having someone's data and having the right to use it are 2 completely different things. Along the way she calls CX and brand the same job, refuses to bet her life on NPS, and explains why the B2B move nobody is making costs almost nothing. If you have ever shipped a perfectly segmented campaign that landed with a thud, this one will tell you why.About Christina GarnettChristina Garnett is a fractional Chief Customer and Communications Officer at Neuemotion and the founder and principal at Pocket CCO, where she builds customer trust systems for agencies and SaaS companies. She's the author of Transforming Customer-Brand Relationships, which won the Independent Press Award and the International Impact Book Award and was a Foreword INDIES finalist, and she's currently writing a second book built on the Customer Trust Equation she created.Before going independent she built customer advocacy at HubSpot, growing the HubFans program from 0 to 37,000 members and more than 4,000 active advocates, and she led social and customer strategy at global scale through ICUC. She's a contributing writer at Campaign US, was previously a byline at Adweek, and she started her career as a teacher.Why Your Tech Stack Cannot Fix Siloed Customer TeamsEvery few years a software category shows up promising to end the silo problem. The CRM was going to do it. Then the customer data platform. Then the customer 360, the composable stack, and whatever the warehouse-native vendors are calling it this quarter. Marketing, support, social, and CX all get wired into the same tables, and everyone assumes shared data will produce shared behavior. Buy the integration, get the alignment.Christina has been on enough of those teams to know how that ends.She came into marketing sideways, an English major who taught math for 5 years, including a stretch at a school built for kids with learning differences where she trained in the Orton-Gillingham method. That method exists to move information from short-term into long-term memory. Marketers have a word for the same thing and call it brand recall. Her husband told her early on that she should go into advertising because she couldn't watch an ad without rebuilding it in her head, tweaking the copy, cutting the music, fixing whatever was broken. She went and took every course, read every book, and kept the teacher's instinct the whole way through: make the hard thing make sense, find the right words for the room you're in.Then she sat at basically every table that claims part of the customer, working as a social listening strategist, a social media creator and a social media strategist, and putting time into support, CX, community and advocacy. What she kept finding was the same organizational failure repeating under different logos, and no amount of shared tooling moved it.Here's the argument that runs under her whole book. Nobody is solving customer experience alone, because nobody is the only person reaching the customer. Support talks to them, so support gets blamed for the relationship. But your UX team is shaping what the customer can and can't do, whether they think of that as CX work or not. Your legal team is writing the fine print the customer reads at the worst possible moment. Finance sets the refund window. All of it builds the relationship, and most of it never appears on anyone's CX dashboard.The result is a company that's genuinely excellent in one place and quietly hostile in another, and it shows.That's why the material became a book rather than a framework or a course. A framework asks you to already agree with its premise before you'll use it. Christina wanted the thing she'd been hunting for on shelves and never found, written for the people at all of those different tables at once. Her words on it: "I think we all wind up writing the books that we wish already existed." The structure follows the problem in 3 moves:Every moving piece that actually builds a brand relationship, most of which sits outside the CX team., Community as the silo killer, the thing that finally forces those teams into the same room., What happens when something lands that you had no way of seeing. A brand crisis, an acquisition by a company your customers hate, or AI arriving and throwing the whole operating model in the air.That third one is where most companies are living right now, and it's the least rehearsed. The martech buying cycle keeps funding integration projects because integration is something you can purchase, and cross-functional accountability is something you have to negotiate. Until one person owns the customer relationship end to end on paper, a new platform just gives 4 teams a shared place to file work they still refuse to coordinate.Key takeaway: List every team that shapes your customer's experience, including the ones that never speak to a customer. Legal writes the cancellation language, UX decides how buried the downgrade button is, finance sets the refund window, and none of them get counted. Put all of them on one page and mark who currently owns the customer's experience of each moment. The blanks are your real CX roadmap, and no platform purchase will fill them in for you.Why Getting the Name Right No Longer Counts as PersonalizationAccuracy in a lifecycle program has never been cheaper. You can segment by behavior, by lifecycle stage, by predicted churn, by what someone hovered over last Tuesday, and the tooling will do all of it on a mid-tier plan. Ask a marketer whether their email is personalized and they'll show you the merge fields and the branching logic and say yes.Ask the person receiving it and you get a different answer. Christina's position is that martech made accuracy so cheap that creativity started to look like a nice-to-have, and customers noticed long before marketers did.Her frame for the whole industry is the Jeff Goldblum line from Jurassic Park, the one about scientists so preoccupied with whether they could that they never stopped to ask whether they should. We're living inside that meme, she says, running on a lot of we could so we can. And the cost shows up somewhere marketers rarely look, which is in what we've trained people to expect.Conditioning is real, and it doesn't require a marketing degree. Somebody w...

Your attention takes up your time, and your time makes up your life.

About Maria VorovichMaria Vorovich is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of GoodQues, the “anti-research” research company she launched in 2019 to rid market research of its biggest blind spot: a lack of creativity. Under her leadership, GoodQues has doubled revenue year over year for three consecutive years, earned a spot on Inc. Magazine's list of America's fastest-growing companies (2023), and was named a top global market research firm by StartupPill (2020, 2021), all while partnering with Fortune 500 brands including P&G, PepsiCo, Adobe, and Pernod Ricard.Maria has redefined her own role from standard CSO to “Data Storyteller,” replacing the industry's 100-page decks with insights that are vivid, action-oriented, and built to be shared across an entire organization. An early adopter of AI in market research, Maria has integrated machine superpowers into every stage of GoodQues' process. This includes methodology development and data analysis to the outputs themselves, which allow for creative and unexpected deliverables like podcasts and cinematic highlight reels, instead of the industry standard 100-page decks."She has become a sought-after voice on the future of AI in research, speaking at SXSW, lecturing at Columbia, and contributing editorially on where the industry goes next.Before GoodQues, she honed her craft at Grey and as Chief Strategy Officer at Air Paris, launching and repositioning brands such as CoverGirl, Marriott, Kiehl's, and McCormick, work recognized by Effie, Cannes Lions, and Clio awards. A pioneer of human-centric research design (from in-survey meditation to moderator casting), she continues to push the field toward work that is both more dynamic and rigorous.About Holland MartiniHolland Martini is the co-founder and Chief Insights Officer of GoodQues, where she has built a career proving that data, applied creatively, can grow companies and move culture. A pioneer in fusing empathetic methodology with emerging technology, Holland was among the first in her field to put AI to practical use. Since 2020, she has architected GoodQues' breakthrough tool "smart qual," which blends human and machine analysis, and AI-driven consumer personas.Her early, hands-on work building these tools has made her a recognized thought leader on applied AI in insights. She has been the go-to insights consultant for brands including Pfizer, McCormick, and AARP, and has evolved her own role from Chief Data Analyst into the “Voice of the Consumer,” ensuring every output helps brands connect more meaningfully with the people they serve. Her work and perspective have been featured across Inc., Adweek, Business Insider, and SXSW.Outside the boardroom, Holland is a seven-time global marathon runner immersed in NYC's international running community, and a part-time welder specializing in ceramic and wrought-iron design.Get in touch with them here: https://www.goodques.com/Don't forget to register for our upcoming LinkedIn Workshop from September 28th to October 2nd here: https://www.thetimetogrow.com/AtoEonLinkedinWorkshop

Maria Vorovich and Holland Martini are the co-founders of GoodQues, the “anti-research” research company built around the idea that rigor and creativity shouldn't be opposites. Maria serves as Chief Strategy Officer and Holland as Chief Insights Officer, combining strategy, psychology, analytics and research to better understand what people actually think, feel and do.Maria spent much of her career on the receiving end of consumer research and saw the same problem: companies had more data than ever, but the questions and answers had become predictable. Before co-founding GoodQues in 2019, she was Chief Strategy Officer at Air Paris and Global Strategy Director at Grey Group. Her work blends creative strategy, psychology and storytelling to make research more useful and memorable.Holland comes at the problem from the data side, focused on making research more actionable and human without sacrificing precision. Before GoodQues, she built and led Grey New York's Data Strategy team and later its Data Center of Excellence. She previously led advanced analytics and business strategy for Johnson & Johnson brands at J3/UM. At GoodQues, she challenges the conventions of research, including whether companies are asking the right questions in the first place.Together, they've built GoodQues into one of ADWEEK's Fastest Growing Agencies for 2026, working with brands including Adobe, TikTok, PepsiCo, P&G, Mars, PayPal and Unilever. GoodQues grew 2,082% in three years and has appeared multiple times on the Inc. 5000. Their work can mean borrowing techniques from psychology, replacing obvious questions with creative exercises or turning research into a podcast instead of another deck.What connects Maria and Holland is a belief that better research starts with being more human. They push against an industry that often prioritizes faster and cheaper instead of asking whether the research itself is getting better. For GoodQues, creativity isn't the enemy of rigor. It's often what gets a more honest answer, uncovers something the obvious question missed and turns data into an insight people actually remember.

(0:00) Joe DiMaggio of podcasts is back(0:29) I paid two clowns so I didn't have to go to AdWeek(2:26) They got kicked out for getting too much attention(3:50) Bureaucracy is scarier than billionaires(4:18) GrokBot booked me a UM guest lecture(5:18) BBYO talk + climb cringe mountain(8:17) You don't need to be a finance bro to make finance bro money(11:01) Cool shit law (make cool shit → meet cool people)(12:53) Meme Fighter: Smash Bros for the timeline(14:19) Spicy Cubes + my wife got a brand to pay for her gala(15:48) Snap embracing the memes (go luxury-silly)(19:35) Muse vs GrokBot vs Instinct (Pokemon agents)(22:29) Building the most useless AI agent (iMessage)(24:25) Artificial general stupidity(26:19) Fait accompli: only tell people after it's done(27:18) Taste comes from cooking, not eating(29:41) Stop overthinking Reels, just tell a story(31:38) Never start a business with your girlfriend(33:08) Keep cooking (retard in motion > genius at rest)(36:47) Grindr acquires Hyrox + let marketers vibe code(39:39) Deep thoughts: Clav is performance art(41:30) Grandpa, Meta Ray-Bans, aliens are real(41:59) Luck = exploiting accidents (Napoleon)(42:56) Things to do while AI is loading → rip a Reel(44:34) Don't like it. Love it. Comment.

If "ore" is always the answer, "Enough" will never arrive

In this episode I sit down with Kevin C. Roy, CEO of GreenBanana SEO, who's spent the last 15 years mastering search engine optimization and is now at the forefront of how AI is completely rewriting the rules of how businesses get found online. Kevin walks me through his wild entrepreneurial journey, from getting laid off and going door to door offering free websites, to bringing on a 50/50 business partner that nearly sank everything, to surviving a lawsuit from a sales partner who tried to put him out of business entirely. We get real about why most business partnerships fail and what he'd do differently. Then we dig into the meat of what his agency does today: how AI engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude decide who to cite, why building your author authority and connecting it to your content is now more important than keyword stuffing, and the exact three-block content format businesses need to use to get found by AI instead of just Google. If you run a business and you're not thinking about how customers are finding you through AI search right now, this conversation is your wake-up call. Guest Bio & Social Links Kevin C. Roy is the Founder and CEO of GreenBanana SEO, an Inc. 5000 (3x) digital marketing and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) agency based in Beverly, Massachusetts, that he's built over more than 15 years into a pay-for-performance SEO and AI search visibility firm. He's a frequent podcast guest, author, and media commentator on SEO, AI search, and AEO/GEO, with commentary and work featured in Adweek, SiliconANGLE, Inc., Boston 25 News, and Techstrong TV. Website: greenbananaseo.com LinkedIn (personal): linkedin.com/in/kevincharlesroy LinkedIn (company): linkedin.com/company/greenbanana-seo Instagram: instagram.com/greenbananaseo X/Twitter: twitter.com/greenbananaseo Facebook: facebook.com/GreenBananaSEO YouTube: youtube.com/@GreenBananaSEO About Justin: Justin Colby is the host of The Entrepreneur DNA and The M.O.R.E Show podcasts and a best-selling author. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience. Driven by a passion to help entrepreneurs thrive, Justin created the Entrepreneur DNA community to support business owners in building wealth, systems, and long-term freedom. Through his podcasts, books, education platforms, and hands-on mentorship, he continues to help entrepreneurs scale with clarity and confidence. Connect with Justin: Instagram: @thejustincolby YouTube: Justin Colby TikTok: @justincolbytsof LinkedIn: Justin Colby Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, sponsored by Instacart Enterprise, Portager, Vusion, and Sifter Solutions, Ben Miller is joined by Sarah Engel, President of digital marketing agency and consultancy January Digital and one of Adweek's 50 most influential marketing executives, to take stock of the latest developments in Agentic Commerce and unpack the global grocery news stories from this week that we believe are worth paying attention to. This week, they discuss: • Anthropic's new blueprints for Shopping and Merchant Agents, Amazon's latest Alexa for Shopping update, and what the rise of Agentic Commerce means for grocery: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/anthropic-launches-ai-agent-blueprints-retailers-ahead-holiday-shopping-season-2026-09-02/ • Sprouts Farmers Market's CEO succession plan, with Jack Sinclair stepping down and COO Nick Konat set to take over.: https://www.grocerydive.com/news/sprouts-names-ceo-nick-konat/829368/ • Kroger and Meijer's September wellness events, and whether in-store health and wellness activations can really move the needle: https://progressivegrocer.com/kroger-takes-health-focused-message-across-country-wellness-tour • Walmart expanding restaurant delivery through Dunkin', and why the move could be a smart way to build delivery demand and order density: https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/09/walmart-expands-restaurant-delivery-with-dunkin • Aldi letting shoppers vote on new private label coffee creamer flavors, and whether it's smart engagement or simply a fun gimmick: https://progressivegrocer.com/aldi-takes-store-strategy-instagram-facebook Plus, GrocerTalk Grab & Go brings even more stories to the table, including Aldi's Barbie-themed UK exclusive, Sarah's pick of the week, and Ben questioning whether Starbucks' new UK autumn menu is helping clarify what the brand actually wants to be. A few things worth checking out from this week's episode: • Register for our Fall Conference “Must See” Tech Preview on September 17: https://www.linkedin.com/events/omnitalk-sfallconferenceseason-7486477216600518656/theater/ • Watch Jack Sinclair's Groceryshop keynote from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPdm5IAecYc GrocerTalk is your weekly dose of the trends, tech and big ideas shaping grocery and CPG. Episode 004. Welcome to GrocerTalk. P.S. Be sure to check out all our other podcasts from the past week here, too: https://omnitalk.blog/category/podcast/ Music by hooksounds.com

This week on Own It we're talking to Laura Hutfless from FlyteVu. It is a full-service entertainment marketing agency that helps brands connect with consumers through the entertainers and events that drive pop culture. The firm has been recognized as one of AdWeek's fastest growing agencies, received Chief Marketer's Top 200 lists twice and has won many awards for its impactful and innovative campaigns. Laura also prides herself and FlyteVu on the fact they have given back nearly $1 million in charitable donations since she founded the firm. We talked about her adrenaline activities of skydiving and surfing … one Christy loves and the other she would never do … her journey to ownership and the nuances of the entertainment industry … and, of course, her perspective on closing the gender gap in agency ownership. This was such a fun conversation. We know you'll enjoy this episode. You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Laura Hutfless and the agency website for FlyteVu in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. If you're enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. Also, if you're a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com. Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You can have convictions without making conflict your personality.

You can't go back in time. And God doesn't make mistakes. So God placed you right-here and right-now for a reason.

Jason Mitchell is a social media strategy pioneer, agency executive, and the Co-Founder & CEO of Movement Strategy. Starting the agency from a college dorm room, he has scaled Movement Strategy into a premier 150+ person social-first marketing agency with major hubs in New York, Denver, and Los Angeles.Under his leadership, Movement Strategy crafts breakout social campaigns and community-first strategies for global brands, including Netflix, Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Nike, and Klarna. Recognized as an industry thought leader, Mitchell frequently writes for publications like Adweek, Ad Age, and Inc. on topics ranging from generative AI in creative workflows to cultural marketing and social-centric business models.

On Episode 395 of The Chasing Daylight Podcast, we dive into the massive reaction surrounding the Good Good x Callaway driver ad, why the campaign missed the mark, and whether the backlash has gone way beyond the original mistake. We also get into the sponsor fallout, the reaction across golf social media, and what the entire situation says about golf's growing internet culture.Then we turn to the other huge story: Is LIV Golf nearing the end as we know it? With questions surrounding the league's future, Bryson DeChambeau's comments, and the possibility of major LIV names eventually returning to the PGA Tour, there's plenty to unpack. The LIV discussion begins around 57 minutes into the show.Topics include:The Good Good x Callaway ad controversyWhy the ad missed the markCallaway's role and the social-media backlashSponsor fallout surrounding Good GoodHas outrage culture officially reached golf?The PGA Tour's proposed 2028 playoff and match-play formatWhy match play could make the Tour Championship much more entertainingLas Vegas National and current Vegas golf-course conditionsHarold Varner III and the sixsome controversyThe Country Club Hitchhiker and creative golf contentIs LIV Golf finally nearing the end?Could Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann and others return to the PGA Tour?Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler's differing views on LIV players returningWyndham Clark, Rory McIlroy and the Player of the Year conversationBryson DeChambeau rules talk and the Internet InvitationalEpisode 400 golf bag giveaway updatesSubscribe to The Chasing Daylight Podcast for golf news, unfiltered opinions, Las Vegas golf talk, equipment discussion, and everything happening around the game.Make sure you are following the show on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chasing-daylight-podcast/id1464725572Special thanks to our show sponsor:Garsen Grips - https://garsengolf.comAnd also our show supporters:Gretsch Golf Academy - https://gretschgolf.com/Las Vegas Golf Superstore - https://www.worldwidegolfshops.com/Rohrs Golf Co - https://rohrsgolf.com/CDP Socials:https://www.instagram.com/chasingdaylightpodcast/https://x.com/CDPGolfShowhttps://www.facebook.com/chasingdaylightpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@chasingdaylightpodcastJoe's HittinGreens Channel on Whatnot:https://www.whatnot.com/s/Cdk2ZpkuJeremy's New Golf Brand:https://www.damngoodputter.com/Follow the Chasing Daylight Crew:Mathew Wangrycht: https://www.instagram.com/1440golf/Joe Keith: https://www.instagram.com/hittingreens/Jeremy Martin: https://www.instagram.com/damngoodputterDan Hodges: https://www.instagram.com/bogey_free_62/Support the show

Success does not always mean moving faster, achieving more, or keeping up with someone else's timeline. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik has built a career across marketing, business development, media, travel, and entrepreneurship, yet some of her biggest lessons have come from learning when to slow down. Stephanie and I explore burnout, wellness, fear, AI, social media, intuition, and why our lives rarely follow a straight path. We talk about doing your best without needing to be the best, trusting your instincts, letting go of what you can't control, and staying open when life changes the plan. I believe you'll find useful ideas here about personal growth, resilience, and creating a life that feels like your own. Highlights: 0:10:15 - How high achievement can lead to burnout, stress, and health issues. 0:16:09 - Learning to control fear instead of letting fear control you. 0:24:30 - How asking, trying, and taking initiative can open new career paths. 0:35:35 - Doing your best matters more than being the best. 0:45:26 - Knowing when to stop pushing and let life unfold. 0:58:37 - Trying more helps you discover what you're capable of. About the Guest: Dr. Stephanie Gutnik is President of tuxedo concepts, providing management consulting and public speaking to organizations across the world. Her focus areas are integrated marketing communications, business transformation and corporate wellness. She is also the author of the children's book, “My Very Best”. Stephanie has spoken globally from Taiwan to Brazil, with notable events including Advertising Week New York and London, Ad Age's Business of Brands in Chicago, Brand Innovators in New York, Possible in Miami and AdAI in Toronto. Her articles and interviews can be found in publications such as Adweek, AdExchanger, Digiday and the Association of National Advertisers. She has also been a juror for the likes of The Drum and Future is Female. As EVP Omnichannel at Wilkins Media, Stephanie has previously held roles as Global Chief Strategy Officer at Billups, Global Head of DOOH at Yahoo, Vice President of Digital Strategy and Programmatic Sales at OUTFRONT Media, and Vice President, Business Development at Broadsign. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of New York and Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal. Stephanie graduated with a BA from McGill University and has a MBA and doctorate from Edinburgh Business School. Ways to connect with Dr. Stephanie**:** People can follow me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniegutnik/) Tuxedo concepts (tuxedoconcepts.com). My book is available through Amazon and directly through Book Baby (https://store.bookbaby.com/book/my-very-best) About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingston, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head-on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Hi there! Welcome to another episode of Unstoppable Mindset. We're glad you're with us wherever you happen to be. Hope you're having a good day. Our person that we get to chat with today is Dr. Stephanie Gutnik, Doctor No Less. We'll have to find out about that, but she is is here from Toronto, where right now it's pretty cold because we're recording this on the 30th of January, so it's cold where she is. It's not quite as cold where I live in Victorville, California, but we're doing okay and we'll cope. So Dr. Gutnik is the president of Tuxedo Concepts, and I'm not going to go into any detail about it because I want to leave all that for her. So we'll just do it this way. Stephanie, welcome to Unstoppable Mindset. We're glad you're here. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  01:49 I am so glad to be here. Thank you. Michael Hingson  01:51 Why don't you tell us a little about maybe the early Stephanie growing up and all that? Let's start with that. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  01:57 All right. The early Stephanie grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is even colder than Toronto is this time. So I'm definitely used to snow and negative temperatures, and I just had a wonderful, wonderful upbringing to be in the prairies. You get perspective on a lot in life, and was very close with family, friends, and then very quickly I wanted to discover more of the world, so I left to study at McGill for undergrad, and it's in Montreal, in Canada. And my life took shape around that. I traveled the world. I continued my academic pursuits and certainly climbed my way up in the business world as well. Michael Hingson  02:47 How did travel to various places sort of shape your outlook on things? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  02:54 I've always had the travel bug. Growing up, we would go away to you know different parts of the states and some warmer destinations with a family road trip as well. And then as I got older, it was it was Europe, it was Australia, and I was always very happy to travel alone or with groups of people that I met for the first time. And I was just really curious to see what life was like in other places, and that translated very nicely into my my working reality, where I was largely in marketing and business development throughout my career, and I was with companies at first that were rapidly expanding internationally. So I was able to open an office in China and set a business plan for you know hiring in the Middle East and go to South America and speak and and grow the business. So I'm really grateful because when I meet people now, typically wherever they're from, I can you know pick my favorite food that I ate while I was there, and we have something to smile about and talk about. Michael Hingson  04:04 That's pretty cool. Well, I I haven't traveled as as much as you have, but I've traveled enough, and I enjoy travel. I enjoy going to different places and meeting people and experiencing different customs. And even around the United States, there's so many diverse and different kinds of environments. It's it's pretty fascinating. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  04:25 Very much. Do you have a favorite place in the U.S. Michael Hingson  04:29 Oh, it's still going to be California because the weather's better. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  04:34 I hear you. I Michael Hingson  04:35 my favorite place is probably in the San Diego area because I think it's still the best weather anywhere. It's a temperate climate. It's a good climate. It doesn't really get cold to freezing very often, although it can in the winter. But it warms right up during the day. So I really like San Diego. We enjoyed my wife and I living in San the San. San Francisco area. We lived in a town called Novato, which is in the North Bay of the San Francisco area. We lived there for 12 years, and I enjoyed that too. But San Diego still has the best weather. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  05:12 The air in La Jolla is is delicious. Michael Hingson  05:17 Oh yeah, Speaker 1  05:18 yeah, Michael Hingson  05:19 and and of course that's the whole point. La Jolla is such a nice place, and it's northern San Diego County, and you've got the beach, and you've got the university there, and so many other things that make it a nice place. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  05:32 Very true. Michael Hingson  05:33 Now I live in Victorville, which is kind of up on the high desert of California, so it's not exactly the same. And I never thought I would live here. But we moved here because it was the only property in Southern California when we wanted to move down to be closer to family. It was the only property that we or place where we found property where we could build a home, and we wanted to build a home because my wife was in a wheelchair her whole life, so we wanted to build an accessible home, and that's what we did. So we've been here now. I've been here for well. We moved down in July of 2014. So my gosh, it's going to be 12 years in five months, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  06:13 isn't it? It's funny that you say that because I always find in life there just you find yourself in circumstances that you did not plan, and then they become rather permanent, and you can't really envision your life without that place or that circumstance. Michael Hingson  06:30 I hear you. I agree. And well, and you know, this house is very comfortable. I like it. My wife unfortunately passed away in November of 2022, so it's me, a dog, and a cat, but I enjoy it, and I'm I'm perfectly happy here. I said I never thought I would live in Victorville, but that's okay. That is where I am, and the house is wonderful, so I I'm I'm fine with it. If I had one thing to say about Victorville, it is the drivers up here all think they own the road, and they're as far as I'm concerned. I ought to be able to get a driver's license because I could drive as well as a lot of the people up here. I don't see the problem myself. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  07:12 But up until recently, I hadn't driven a car in like at least 12 years, just from living, you know, in more cosmopolitan cities, and really enjoying a good walk. Michael Hingson  07:24 Yeah, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  07:24 just yeah. Michael Hingson  07:25 But you drive now? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  07:27 No, I've just been behind the wheel to break that. Break that. Michael Hingson  07:31 Just to get into that habit. Yeah. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  07:33 Totally. Yeah. Michael Hingson  07:35 Well, and Toronto, you you can certainly get around Toronto without a lot Of grief, Speaker 2  07:41 totally, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  07:41 yeah. I am. I very much value the ability to live somewhere where you can just run out and pick something up to eat, or you know, see people around you. I think it's important. Certainly, it feeds me. Michael Hingson  07:58 Yeah. So, and I and really, for the most part, enjoyed living in New Jersey and working in New York City. New York City is a great place to be able to get around. It's pretty easy to to travel anywhere in the city, subways and all that. Now, it wasn't as easy for my wife because she was in a wheelchair her whole life, and a lot of subway stations and so on aren't accessible. But one day, it was actually before we moved back there. We were both we were in the city, and my wife wanted to go see the UN, and it turns out that she could go downstairs in the hotel where where we were staying, and I was doing other work. But she was able to get a bus that took her right to where the UN was. She could wheel across the street and take a tour of the United Nations and so on, and then take the bus back home because everything was accessible. So she was really excited about having had the opportunity to do that. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  09:09 I love that. Michael Hingson  09:11 Yeah, I was at. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  09:12 It really is, and it's important. I was at Yahoo for a couple years, running a division there globally, and when I started, it was part of Verizon Media. Yes, Verizon Media, part of Verizon, and the work that groups were doing on accessible features and technology really intrigued me. And you kind of think there should be an element of that at every company producing whatever it is that they're doing because it makes such a difference. Michael Hingson  09:41 Well, when you think about it in terms of, let's say, in the U.S. for example, the Center for Disease Control says that up to 25% of all people have a disability. Now, I disagree with that, and I'll come back to that in a moment. But they say 25% have a disability, and so often. Often companies don't deal with that. They're leaving out 25% of their prospective customers because they don't want to make things accessible. And there is so much evidence to show that companies that do create accessibility get the brand loyalty and they get the business, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  10:21 yeah. Michael Hingson  10:22 And the reason I object to 25% is my belief is everybody has a disability. For most of you, it's light dependence. You all don't do well when the lights go out, unless you happen to have a smartphone or a flashlight or whatever. So I describe disability as a characteristic that everyone has. It's just that it manifests itself differently for different people, but that's that's that's my view on it. And one of these days, we'll get more of society to recognize that there is a lot more that they need to do to to to deal with preventing this whole business of leaving so many people out. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  11:00 I mean, I couldn't agree more with you. By the way, and there's also, you know, call it disability or whatever you want. Everybody has something in their life that you know it either doesn't make it as easy or makes it their own. And so the whole point of you know when you talk about a customer base, really just interacting as humans, it's how do we how do we understand that everybody is dealing with you know one thing and what can we do and you know throughout my throughout my working career I was somebody who like despite being born in Winnipeg I should have been born in Manhattan because my work ethic is one where I'll work day and night and be very happy about it. I walk quickly. I get things done quickly, and so it was. You know, if you if you give me a challenge, I'll do anything to you know fulfill it. And I think what has what I've seen with myself and amongst others in my network, is that that type of personality begets a whole slew of other issues: burnout, health issues, stress. And so, one thing that I developed and have started to take on the road. I know you're a public speaker. I am as well. I call it the wellness workshop, and it's not you know get up at five in the morning and do your yoga and then your 30 minute meditation and then your your 5k run or it really is much more more tangible and certain tips and tricks that we can do when we're on an airplane or you know in a hotel or just in a period where we're feeling overwhelmed, and I really believe that we have to be cognizant of what's going on with each other in the workplace and just in general, and be able to offer some of the these these guidelines to just help everyone, you know, be okay, if you will. Michael Hingson  13:00 One of the things that I have adopted as a pretty hard line way of living is when I'm flying to travel and speak. I don't want to work on the airplane going or coming. Rather, I'll use that time to sort of mentally prepare because when I get off the airplane at a destination, I know I'm on until I get off until I fly out again. There are going to be people who want my attention and all that. So I use that time to relax, and then when I leave again, I don't want to work. I want to be able to kind of unwind. So I like to read and do things like that, but I I use those airplane flights basically as a time to unplug. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  13:49 Yeah, and see, you're being mindful of the space that you need to let yourself unwind and be that much more productive, and have your battery recharged when you're when you're landed. But I think more Michael Hingson  14:01 people should do that. And there are so many different kinds of things that we can do. We collectively, as a society, tend not to be overly introspective. We don't think about things. So something doesn't go right. We consider it a failure. We worry about it. We fret about it. But what we don't do is listen to our own inner voice, and we don't analyze well. So, what was the real problem here? What am I afraid of? What can I do to make sure that this doesn't happen again? We don't ask ourselves those questions. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  14:31 Oh wow! I kind of needed to hear that actually today. So, thank you for bringing that up. You're very right. Michael Hingson  14:37 Is that because you haven't figured out why you live in the snow. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  14:41 I'm working on that. Yeah, there you are. Yeah, cold is actually very good for our vagus nerves. So yeah, Michael Hingson  14:48 well, I it it gets fairly cool here at night. It was down to oh what 27 degrees, so it was like minus. Two or three Celsius a couple of weeks ago here, and but I am I I can keep pretty warm, and when I'm sleeping at night, my cat sleeps right up next to me. She does it because it keeps her warm, but it helps keep me warm too. So I'm not complaining. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  15:19 There you go. Michael Hingson  15:20 But I minus Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  15:21 minus two. By the way, that's beach weather. Michael Hingson  15:24 Yeah, yeah. Well, there you are. Yeah, fine. You go to the beach then. But I, but I think that we we really do need to collectively and individually think about the need to unplug to to not just always do every single thing and that the same way, and then when there's a problem, we don't take time to think about it, which is a real problem. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  15:51 There's also the concept of I don't know if we're raised with this or if at some point we think this is what happens in society, but to think that our lives are almost like a staircase, and that the older we get, the further up the staircase we should be going, is is quite a fallacy. Because again, it you know you're gonna it's just not how it works. Sometimes things stay flat. Sometimes you're gonna go down a few steps. And no, this is called. We're all about the unstoppable mindset here, right? So it really is. If you're falling down a few stairs, what do you do to get back up? I would say, Michael Hingson  16:31 right? Yeah, and that's and that's it. And you have to really look for that answer, which is which is Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  16:40 the issue. So, Michael Hingson  16:41 yeah, go ahead. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  16:42 I was just going to say, like, is that something that people can learn, or is it something that you, you know, is ingrained in you from a younger age? Michael Hingson  16:51 Well, I think that for some people it it may be, and I think, but it is a matter of life. It is a matter of upbringing. I think it is something that people can learn. So during the pandemic, I wrote my book "Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories for a Blind Person and His Dogs About Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and and Moving Forward in Faith. And what I talk about through as the basic premise of the book is that in reality, we can learn to control fear. I will not say we should never be a. We should never say we're not afraid. We should never say that. Oh, I don't ever experience fear. We do experience fear, and it's evidenced in so many ways. But you can either allow fear to overwhelm you and and as I would put it, blind you, or you can learn to control fear. You can learn that fear can be a very powerful tool to help you. And my evidence of that is that I learned so much prior to September 11th about what to do in emergency and other things like that. And all of that clicked in on September 11th. But I realized during the beginning of the pandemic that I'd never taught other people to do the kinds of things that that I do, and that I still tend to do. And so, I wrote "Live Like a Guide Dog" to to try to teach people by using examples that I learned from my eight guide dogs and my wife's service dog about how to live. So, the example I use most often is people. What if everything to death? Well, what if this happens? What if that happens? What if this? What if that? And the reality is, 95% of that will we have no control over, and all we do is create fear and worry because we keep going "What if" about this, and there's nothing we can do about it. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be aware of things, but we don't have to worry about them. We don't have to focus on all the stuff over which we have no control. Dogs don't. What if anything? And I learned that because on September 11th, when we got home, I was going to take my guide dog Rozelle out. I took the harness off, and she ran off and grabbed her favorite tug toy and started playing tug of war with my retired guide dog Linnie. And when I talked to the people, the veterinarians at Guide Dogs for the Blind, where I got Roselle, I talked to them the next day. They said, "Well, did anything threaten her at the World Trade Center? And I said, "No. And they said, "There's your answer. When the harness came off, it was over for her. They don't. They don't. What if? And we should learn that. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  19:27 And she wasn't. She wasn't processing what just happened. She just moved on. Michael Hingson  19:32 She moved on. You know, and and people still today fear it, and they worry about so many Things as I said, the the fact is we should be aware, but it doesn't mean that we have to worry about, especially if we don't have control over it. I rented office space in the World Trade Center in late 1999, early 2000, and. I was able to get office space because there had been a bombing in the World Trade Center in 1993. It wasn't much of a bombing. It was an explosion in a parking lot on the fourth sub sub level of the World Trade Center. So it wasn't the last. Yeah, it wasn't a big thing, but the occupancy rate by the time I was looking for office space, had dropped to 80% and why? If if something were to happen, something would would happen. But people worried about it, and so many people left the World Trade Center, and I thank them for doing that because I got a great rate, and we rented office space there. So fine, but but the fact of the matter is that we worry about so many things over which we just don't have control, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  20:48 right? So you're a bit of a risk taker too in that sense. Michael Hingson  20:51 Well, in a sense, but you know, so there was a bomb that a car something exploded, and I understand that, but was it a true risk to go off and rent space in that building and that complex afterward? Well, is there risk in doing it today with the new complex? The fact of the matter is that there are always going to be things that can happen. the The question is, is it really taking a risk, or are you being silly and putting yourself in harm's way? I won't do that if I can avoid it. But that doesn't mean that I'm not gonna gonna be out there and try to live my life and and help others do the same. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  21:38 That's the biggest thing: not living in fear of of so many different variables, Michael Hingson  21:44 right? So you went to McGill, and you you worked in you graduated with what degrees in business or what? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  21:53 No, I graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science and communications. Okay, I went to McGill thinking that I was going to become a broadcast journalist. I loved the idea of being on camera and in the heat of something going on. And I've been told that I ask a lot of questions, and it's just it comes naturally. I'm very curious, so I love speaking to people and getting their opinions on various things, and then bringing that all together for what hopefully is a representative story of multiple truths, right? And I'm still like that to this day. So everything, if I had you know strength, it would be how do I compile a lot of information and then kind of organize it to to cut certain things out and really get at the crux of whatever it is that we're dealing with. So I loved I loved that. I still do. I had an internship at CTV Montreal, so it was a big news station nationally in Canada. And you know what? It was one of those things where I just didn't feel like a fit for me at that time, and so again, it's what do you do after? Oh, I was entering my my last year of undergrad, and I I thought, okay, maybe I'll just go do a master's because I really loved. I've always loved school, and instead, I got the advice: just go out there and pick something and work a little bit and figure out, you know, what it is that you want to do from there. When you're, I graduated a year early, so I was 21. It is hard to know what you want to do, right? I think a lot of young people find themselves in that position, and instead of, I guess, going back to the idea of fear, instead of being paralyzed by it and not doing anything, just do something, and at least it puts you on some sort of path. So, what did Michael Hingson  23:44 you do? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  23:45 I got lucky. I ended up working for News Corp in Montreal for a couple of years in advertising sales, and that introduced me to the world of advertising. It helped me refine sales sales, you know, efforts and and skills, and I think that understanding how sales work, whatever you do in your life, that's going to come in handy, right? So I was doing that, and I was dealing with agencies and marketers for various different brands, like L'Oreal, for example, Denon, and I liked what they were doing. So then that led me to a job in marketing for a software company, and that's the story: is marketing turned into business development and partnerships, and launching a new tech effort and expanding with that company across the world. And I was able to lean into a lot of writing and speaking, and that's that's how my career evolved. And I did my MBA while I was working for that company, so there were a lot of lots of studying during plane rides. So not quite the unwinding, but it was definitely a break. From the actual work, Michael Hingson  25:02 well, that's fine, and you, you, you've you've done a lot with it. So you got your master's degree. Where did you get that from? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  25:11 That was from Edinburgh Business School. So I did that remotely because I was traveling a lot, and I had a lot of business in the UK. So it made sense to do something around there, and again from there I was recruited to. I built a lot of my own positions while I was at this company, always going, "Oh, this isn't being dealt with. Why don't I take a stab at it and see what happens? Oh, there's a gap here. Let me figure that out. Even you know, the Middle East is one that I like talking about because at the time we were not doing any business there, and I had a hunch that I was like, "Look at all the research. We should be there. We should have a sales rep at least. And the CEO at the time said, "No, no, it's it's not really. I don't agree. So we made a deal for a small amount of money. I was able to figure out my trip and see if I could make a business plan, and so I took a flight from Montreal that had two stops to get there. Lost my luggage, and I know. But on the way back, I mean, long story short, the company now has a thriving business in that region, and while I was there, maybe there's a certain age at which you don't know any better. But I think I've always had this and always will. Is I was raised to understand that if you don't ask, either you don't get or you won't know. So I reached out to the editor of Golf News, which is their biggest paper there? And I said, "Hey, you know, I'm here growing a business in this industry. Can I write an article for you? And he said, "Yes, and it was published. And so stories like that is it kind of defines my life. I always like to figure out what else I could do and and learn from it and push the envelope a little bit. Michael Hingson  27:02 Yeah, sometimes you have to to take a stand. Sometimes you you have to develop your own mental toughness. And when when people disagree, you unless they can really present some strong argument, then you really just need to to push forward. And and clearly that's what you did, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  27:21 yeah. And look, sometimes you're right, and sometimes you're wrong, and that's a learning experience in itself, and that's part of being humbled. And I think that's equally as important. Michael Hingson  27:32 Yeah, and it's all part of the adventure of life. If Speaker 3  27:40 you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes. Thank you for being part of the Unstoppable Mindset Community. Michael Hingson  28:13 What made you decide to get a doctorate? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  28:16 Ah, so after the MBA again, I loved school, and I figured, why not just keep going? And I was moving to New York, and it was my mom who said, "You know what, Steph? Like, you're. I think I was I was 26. She goes, "Just enjoy your life a little bit, and she wasn't wrong. So I took a few years, and after that, it was still at the back of my mind. I still really wanted to continue and take my education as far as I could. So I thought long and hard about what I would want to study for that kind of time. And you know, it's not going to change the world. But I studied the advertising effects of mass media and ones that have been changing as a result of you know the whole media landscape has been digitized, so that's what I did. And actually, the the brand that I worked with for my research is a company out of California called Goodr. So they they make sunglasses, and I worked with their marketing team, and it was just a wonderful experience. And again, it's a different way of thinking. By that point, I was very much an executive, and I had been at private and public companies. And going back to school in that sense and learning, you know, in the business world, everything is about being concise, which I think is a very powerful skill to have. And in academia, you slow things down, and you really look at the whole picture plus all of the small, small details that build it. So, I'm an impatient person, and that definitely took some some work, but I loved the whole process. It wasn't easy, but I'm very happy that I did it. Michael Hingson  30:03 So, when did you get your PhD? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  30:05 I graduated. I want to say two odd years ago, two or three years ago. Michael Hingson  30:11 Congratulations! Well, that's cool. Thank you Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  30:13 very much. Yeah. Michael Hingson  30:15 How how do you think that AI is affecting the the world of media, the world of public relations and marketing, and so on. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  30:27 So, despite working in ad tech, I myself am quite a luddite. I I'm very removed. I don't have too much social media, and usually with technology, unless it really benefits me, I'm not going to be the first. I'm not going to be an early adopter, if you will. So with AI, I appreciate you know the the code and so on that it's built on all of the the knowledge behind it and how it works. And I definitely think there's so many realms in which it's going to help us advance as a society, and I think that with advertising and marketing and media, AI helps take out. It's there's something that preceded it in terms of media buying called programmatic that I've spent a lot of my career dedicated to, and programmatic just really automated media buying and selling, made a little bit easier than picking up the phone and calling two dozen different vendors to put a campaign together, and so with AI, it does that even more so. It just takes out a lot of the more tedious and redundant work from media planners to strategists and helps us understand a little bit better how marketing dollars are actually put to work, and how effective they are in terms of the results that we see. But here's the thing: is as much as AI is going to simplify certain processes, we, at the end of the day, are human beings, and the reason why, as far as I know, nobody's really mastered the stock market yet. It's because we're driven by emotion and we're fickle, and think it takes a lot for a machine to understand how we think and how we work. And so the same thing applies to advertising because for an ad to be effective, it has to strike a chord with humans somehow. So I think that by nature of us being human, the the world of advertising will still have media departments and creative teams, and have to continue to think about you know the strategy behind what it is that we're doing. Michael Hingson  32:34 How about social? What would you say? Well, I I think there's a lot of truth to all that. I think that AI is a tool, and different people will use it in different ways. And I'm not going to even go to the negative aspects of it because the the reality is most anything that we create, somebody will find a way to misuse it, and and I can't worry about that. But I do see the value of AI and the AI technology, in terms of how it can help us codify or create different kinds of aspects of whether it's marketing or or anything else, AI can assist us. But it is a tool, and we're still the humans, and we're going to be the ones that will be in control. I'm not ready to accept that it can take over in the end. I don't think that's going to happen. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  33:28 I'm still. I'm still not even thinking about Michael Hingson  33:32 it. Yeah, I just think I think there are a lot of ways that we can use it. AI has done already a number of really good things for us collectively, and I think that's great. That doesn't mean that we're all going to use it, or that doesn't mean that we'll all use it extremely, well, in an extremely productive way all the time. But it is out there, and I think it's again, it's one of those things that's worth learning about and understanding because it's going to be here. It's not going away, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  34:07 right? Michael Hingson  34:08 How about social media? That's the that's the other one that's become even more pervasive. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  34:14 And social media, again, just by nature of who I am, I am not big on it, and it's not knocking it. I just know that it's not, it's not something that I want to have in my life to the extent that some others do want it in theirs. I'm really good with just doing my own thing and focusing on my little bubble in terms of you know the restaurants that I choose to go to and what food I'm eating and and all of that and with the people who are in my life I love hearing from them directly and getting updates and seeing their pictures so I definitely I use LinkedIn for business I think it's fantastic yeah and it's a wonderful platform to to build a profile and interact with people. Your world that way, and I think that there's a lot of people doing the same with other platforms. And so, when I look at social media from a business perspective, I think it's amazing. And when I look at it from a personal perspective, again, it's not for me, but I I think if people enjoy being on it, that's totally up to them. I can't. I just don't really have the patience to to. I'd rather do something else. I'd rather work on, you know, either my my full time job or my my business is on the side, or go for a walk. Quite frankly. Well, Michael Hingson  35:39 I think again, I'm I'm I'm kind of with you. I think that, especially personally speaking, people who spend hours a day on social media are missing out on so many other kinds of things that would would be even better. And and a lot of that has to do with personal contact with other people, which you don't have. No matter what people may say, you don't have when you're just dealing with communicating through social media. That's not the same. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  36:08 It's true. Plus, there's the element. Yeah, and there's I think people feel pressure, and we see this. It goes both ways, but I do think there's a bit of a pressure to put your best foot forward in a social media environment, right? Whether it's Photoshop or editing or posing for you know a lovely photo when you're not doing great, whatever it might be, and I think that's slowly changing. But for me, it's more. Think we're all just trying to do our best, and you know, I don't. It just doesn't work for me on a personal level. Michael Hingson  36:45 Yeah, I think we should try to be doing our best all the time, anyway. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  36:48 Yeah, that's true. Exactly. We should. Well, that actually leads me to. This is a. You know, I'm. I'm going to go for it. This is a plug. It's. I wrote a book called My Very Best for that reason. Actually, I was going to talk to you about that. Yeah, go Michael Hingson  37:03 ahead. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  37:04 So you know exactly what you're doing. Yeah. And by the Michael Hingson  37:07 way, I would appreciate it because I don't think that you did send me a picture of the book cover that we can put in the the notes, the show notes. I Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  37:14 did, and I will follow up with that again. Thank you so much. It's that was something that I've always wanted to do. When I was younger, my mom tells me about how I used to bring a stack of books over to her to read to me, and I definitely have fond memories of reading books to my sister, who's younger than me. And I've always just loved children's books because they're they're so beautiful in their simplicity and the way that they can frame a young mind into being curious and imagining and learning so much about the world, and so I wanted to definitely write a book about the values that my sister and I were raised with. She told me that she was having our first child about a year ago at this time, and so in that time frame, I was like, "This is the moment. This is when I have to write a book. And so I wrote it for for him and her, my nephew. And it was one thing where I just I started with writing out the the copy, and then I needed to get it illustrated, and then from there I was like, you know what? I've done all this work. Let me let me publish it. And so I just was a big learning experience and so much fun. And I had readings, and I just went to go see it on the shelf at Canada's biggest bookstore called Indigo. And I'm I'm so thrilled. So I wrote it because my parents really-they raised my sister and I to really understand that it's not about being the best; it's about giving something your best effort. Because that way, you know, if you do well, great-you worked really hard to get there. And if you don't do well, you're not going to be wondering, hmm, if I only had tried more, because then you're disappointed with yourself. So it's about setting yourself up to always be proud of who you are, and that's really important to me. Michael Hingson  39:11 Are there any books, other books inside of you that may come on in the future? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  39:14 Oh, well, that one I I'm loving right now. If we consider my thesis, my doctoral thesis, a book, that one will put you to sleep because it's long and quite academic. Many theses Michael Hingson  39:31 will do that. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  39:32 Yeah, and I think I quite like. I can see moving forward the more journalistic style articles. So maybe there are a few of those that address very specific moments or questions. Maybe we'll we'll see some of those come out. And what about you? Given that you are also you're a New York Times bestseller, do you have anything up your sleeve? Michael Hingson  39:53 Not at the moment, but we'll see down the line. But one of the things that that I believe. His and I and I've roused about this even on the podcast a few times. I think that textbooks are so boring, and they shouldn't be. I think that every every textbook that that someone writes ought to have some personal things in it to help draw readers into being more excited about learning more about what's in the textbook. So a physics book is is real lovely, but it's very boring. Why don't Why don't they have Why don't the physicists, the scientists who create those books, put in as part of what they do some stories about their efforts, some stories about the discoveries they've made to really make the books more personal and to draw people in. Publishers don't want that, but the reality is it would really attract, I think, a lot more interest in textbook material. And and the same thing with technical journals and technical manuals. They're so boring, and there's so much more that could be done with them. I think that would would attract people much more than than they do today. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  41:07 There's something about humanizing and adding a little bit of maybe even imperfection. Dare I say, like, hey, this is what happened, and let's be real about the situation. That yeah, makes it more entertaining for sure. Yeah, Michael Hingson  41:20 yeah, which I think makes makes perfect sense, and and it would be I think a wonderful thing to do. Well, maybe we'll have to start a new publishing company and insist that the people who write books for our company do that. Some to think about it. I'm with you. We Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  41:38 can we can offline on that. Michael Hingson  41:40 Yeah, ought to be able to do something with it. Well, so anyway, for you, so you wrote the children's book, and and it's out there. Did you self publish it, or was it published by a company? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  41:53 Yeah, I went through a company based in New Jersey, and they just had the perfect platform and distribution for me, and it really-I would say-around the time that I was 35, which is now when I turned that age, I really started thinking about like you know, okay, our life doesn't have to be cut and paste, and there really is no manual. And I had thought that for most of it, I would look at people that I admire or respect, or people around me, and look at them, evaluate the milestones that they had reached by specific ages, and then I'd look at myself, and you know, sometimes I was feeding those milestones. In my opinion, like I, I worked my way up the corporate ladder very quickly, but there were other ways in which, at the time, I thought I was lagging or, or dare I say, failing, because certain other elements of my life weren't where other people's were, or I thought it should be. So I've been going through a process really of of letting that go, and again, just to your going full circle to what you said earlier, just being a bit more introspective and appreciating that we're all again trying to just do our best here, and nobody's journey is going to look the same. So with that has just come. I've always again I've always wanted to try new things, but it always is. I'll wake up in the morning and go like, you know, what do I want to do today? Who should I reach out to to see if there's some way to collaborate or have a new experience? And it's just made for really fun travels and stories and successes and and learning experiences. And I'm, but I'm working on that. I can say that as much as I want, and I think, you know, it's it's really believing it that is a bit more of an effort. Michael Hingson  43:48 Well, there you go, and you know, it'll it'll be interesting to to see how it all comes out as you go forward. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  43:54 Yeah, did you have that at all throughout yours? As you know, those periods of of Like plateaus, Michael Hingson  44:02 I think probably so, but I but I don't think that I really ever thought that that I was failing. There were times that that things were not happening the way I would like, and usually what I needed to do was to make an adjustment in my attitude to understand why things were going slower or not the way I expected, and sometimes they weren't going the way I expected because I had the wrong expectations. And again, I love introspection, and those are things that I learned along the way. And I also discovered that when I reevaluated and said, "Oh, maybe this really wasn't the right way to do this. Let's look at this. I think that's that's an important thing to do, but I usually find, and I still do, that if something's not working right. Usually, my inner voice, if you will, will tell me what is good, what's working, what's not working, what should be done, and I have to be the one to pay attention to that. and And if I don't, then I can get into trouble. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  45:15 It's amazing how much our our gut instincts really know what's best for us in certain situations, and how sometimes it takes a minute for our brain to to get there too. Michael Hingson  45:29 Yeah. Now, are you a spiritual person at all? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  45:32 Oh, totally. Another good segue. Yes, I believe in the scientific method, obviously. So, so that's that's that. But I am comforted by the idea that there's a lot more to what we're doing here than what is commonly accepted. Michael Hingson  45:50 Yeah, I think I think that's absolutely true, and that gets back to my comment about the inner voice, which is, if you want to say God talking to us or however you want to view it. It doesn't matter. the The point is that I think the information is there if we learn to listen and and accept it. Our our own minds absorb so many things that we tend to forget about, but all that information is there for us to use if we would, but tap into it, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  46:24 yeah, Michael Hingson  46:24 or allow it, or when it and it when it tries to tap us on the shoulder and say do it this way, we need to learn to listen. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  46:32 Ooh, and that's a great point too. Is for people who are used to propelling, you know, things forward, and you had mentioned what's out of our control. That's another really important word that I speak about in wellness and has been given to me. Yeah, do I see a do I see a psychic? Absolutely. I often get the words render because, again, sometimes it's just it's being able to to accept, and I do a little bit of Kabbalah in terms of reading and and learning about how that works. And the the term actually means to receive. So when we look at what we're doing here again, I think you want to put out some energy to put things in motion, and then there's a point where you just have to let life come to you. Michael Hingson  47:21 Well, and I think also it's it's so helpful at night to when when falling asleep, even you want to do something. Ask your ask yourself, what do you think about this? Should I do this? Give me guidance and give me insight as to what works. The more of that we do, the more we develop our mind muscle to be able to get the information and process it and do something with it, and that will help us. But it it has to be a discipline that we create and develop to really work on getting that information and seeking it every day, and listening to what our minds are telling us. I, people probably will get bored with this because I say it often on the podcast, but I talk about Trivial Pursuit. You know the game. How often do we get a question asked on a game, Trivial Pursuit, and we immediately think of an answer, and we go, "Oh, that was just too easy. That can't be it. And we think a little bit more about other options, and we choose a different option. But the first one that we thought about was really the right answer. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  48:33 Yes, Michael Hingson  48:34 exactly. And the point is that happened, and people agree. Now, what do we do about it? Well, we learn to listen to that inner voice. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  48:42 The same thing happens with students, by the way, on exams. Multiple choice is not always that easy because so many students have the tendency to second guess themselves. Michael Hingson  48:53 Yeah, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  48:54 and it's usually that their first instinct was the right answer. Michael Hingson  48:57 Right. Yeah. If they would just but listen and learn; they'll get the right answer by doing that. And and the reality is that I think there are some studies that have been done that people that truly do learn to listen and take those first answers and use them tend to be right a whole lot more often than they otherwise would have been, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  49:21 yeah. Again, trusting our instincts, Michael Hingson  49:25 right? Yeah. So, what kind of projects are you working on now? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  49:30 Oh, well, again, I I'm an EVP at an ad agency, so that's my that's my full time project. EVP. But then I always EVP, Executive Vice President. Michael Hingson  49:40 Oh, EVP. Okay, yeah, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  49:41 yeah. Okay, Michael Hingson  49:42 VP. Okay, got Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  49:43 it. Yeah, with an E. You know, if we're if we're looking at, so that keeps me very busy. And then on the side, I always again, I think it's very important to have an identity outside of work, and this is something that I actually had to learn. Because for a while there, my my job title and so on was my whole life, and you can do have hobbies and so on. The side for me, it has to be more constructive than that. So the other things that I have on the go is I have my company Tuxedo Concepts, where I do all different types of consulting work. I have clients across the world in the world of media through to you know a private equity fund called Links Equity, and I'm actually working on a protein superfood snack right now called Balance Bites. So that's another I'm snacking all the time, and I have a massive sweet tooth, so usually I'm going for like the brownies and the cookies, and I work with the founder of this brand, and they're packed with a lot of nutrients that give me a lot more energy throughout the day. So that is something that I definitely want to bring to more people. Michael Hingson  50:58 Oh, that's exciting! Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  50:59 It lines very nicely with this this whole wellness kick that that I'm trying to bring to others, but not not in the lifestyle that's impractical to some people or makes them you know not even want to think about it. More so again with those ideas of if you're feeling overwhelmed or anxious, splash some cold water on your face, right? Like there's there's certain tips like that that you don't have to go to a yoga studio or sign up for a gym membership. Though you know you should be exploring physical activity. It's what are small things that we can be doing for ourselves to bring us back into the moment. Michael Hingson  51:37 Do you think there are things in your life that that you're not doing that-that you should be doing, or that that you miss. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  51:46 Oh, on a personal level, I feel yeah. At this age, that probably from a family perspective, I should be getting on that. But that is one of those things that is so out of our control, and I find that in those instances, just it's very easy to look at what we don't have and yearn for it, but that can be depressing. So instead, it's it's much more fulfilling to look at what we do have and lean into that. Right? Michael Hingson  52:19 Yeah, I know that when my wife and I got married, we both pretty much thought we knew what we wanted in a partner, and we kept looking until we found it. We found each other, and and that worked. But we were I was 32 and she was 33, so we didn't get married right away, but the other side of it is we met in January of 1982, and we got married in November of 1982 because it clicked. We knew what we wanted, and we saw things in so many ways exactly the same. But there were also times that we disagreed with things. But you communicate. You you work through it, right? Michael Hingson  53:03 So, for example, she didn't want to have children because she felt that that would be kind of hard on her body being in a chair in her case, and I was fine with that. But our our solution to that was we'll be glad to entertain nieces and nephews and things like that because at the end of the day, we can either sell them to the gypsies or send them home, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  53:24 and that's beautiful, right? You still have such a wonderful impact on other people, and that's a thank you for sharing that. And one of my one Michael Hingson  53:34 of our nieces lives about three miles from me, and we see each other all the time. She and her husband, and now their kids are grown and have kids of their own, so we we get to see everybody. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  53:47 That is lovely. What about you? Are there any things that you still have on your bucket list that you'd like to be doing right now? Michael Hingson  53:55 Well, I certainly want to do more speaking because I want to keep that going. I'd like to to travel more, but it's not nearly as fun for me, at least traveling alone. But one of these one of these years, certainly in the next two or so years, I'll probably decide to take a cruise because I love cruising. Yeah, me Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  54:15 too. Michael Hingson  54:16 And I and I can do really fine cruising. I think that's a lot of fun to Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  54:21 do. Definitely. Which which part of the world would you cruise in? Michael Hingson  54:25 You know, I'm pretty open on that. I I first of all, I've been to New Zealand. I'd love to go to Australia, but as far as cruising, I'm pretty open. I'd like to to do a cruise up and down the Mississippi River, but I'd like to to to do some cruising around Europe or other places as well. I think it'd be fun. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  54:46 Yes, I I very much agree. My family went on. I was very fortunate. We did four cruises together, my parents, sister, and I all over the Caribbean and Mexico, and then I did one in South America, and I've done one. In Greece and Turkey, and I also I took a catamaran with about a dozen strangers in Thailand for almost two weeks. Yes, well, because why not? Michael Hingson  55:12 First cruise that we took, Karen was a travel agent at the time, actually, and her family wanted to go on a cruise. We did a two week Trans Panama Canal cruise, that was a lot of fun. Loved it. Then we did a cruise to Mexico, and I think we did another cruise in the Caribbean, and then the last cruise we took was to Alaska, which was a lot of fun. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  55:42 Okay, that is wonderful. Michael Hingson  55:45 Yeah. Was there anything Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  55:45 in Alaska that surprised you? Michael Hingson  55:48 Nothing that surprised me. It was just fun to go for me and and Karen actually. Although it's fun to get off and tour, we're fine if we're just on the ship the whole time, even just because it's the it's relaxing, it's the attitude and and and having fun. But but I would like to go and and cruise some. I think we'll do that sometime in the near future. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  56:13 Well, I mean, I'm all for it. You let me know when you go. Want to go? Yeah, I'm down. Michael Hingson  56:20 Yeah, we'll have to do that. That'd be fun, but yeah, we'll kick off Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  56:24 our textbook company on the cruise. Michael Hingson  56:26 There you go. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  56:27 Multitask Michael Hingson  56:28 books afloat Inc. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  56:30 Love Michael Hingson  56:33 it, but I think there's there's so much to do that you know we'll make it work. So you um um we talked about a little bit, but you really feel that having been in a variety of cities has helped your life perspective. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  56:48 Definitely. Look, the the way that you're just talking about travel, it's the same thing. Where I've lived in four cities and have traveled to many more, and it shapes you certainly when you when you make moves, I moved a couple times for work, for example. You are often finding yourself somewhere where you're alone, and you have to build a whole new community and support system. And sometimes that can be very lonely. And as much as I love spending time with myself, or but I think overall it really proves to you that you can be resilient and you can make you know wonderful things out of situations that you you didn't know what would happen, right? So similar to you not knowing that you would live where you do now, yeah, it's a beautiful testament to what we can do as humans, what we're capable of. Michael Hingson  57:44 Life's an adventure. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  57:46 I know. I love that theory. Michael Hingson  57:48 So, for you, what's been one of your biggest learning lessons over the last year? Since I assume you still believe that you learn all the time, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  57:57 I learn all the time. And again, I think it really is just going back to the spirituality element. Man plans, God laughs. I definitely have thought that there's a lot in my life that I had the ability to plan out. And even when I think things are going in a certain direction, the universe has this fun way of you know establishing a plot twist and seeing how I react to it. So yeah, maybe it's it's not take certain things as seriously and and kind of learn to go with the flow a little bit more. That's the biggest lesson there. Michael Hingson  58:33 Good for you. That's a that's a very important lesson. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  58:37 Yeah. So maybe it's a little bit later in life, but you know, it's never too late for these things. Michael Hingson  58:43 Never. What would be Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  58:44 one of yours? Michael Hingson  58:46 Well, I think for me, spending more time being introspective has has been a great lesson for me, and I've learned to to step back and again not plan so much, as you said. Man plans, God laughs. I don't know. I would say God laughs. God's just patient, and He says, "Go do what you're going to do, and then let me know when you're ready to get real. But you know, I I think there's a lot of truth to that. So for me, I'm just constantly learning to be a little bit more patient, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  59:22 a good one too. Michael Hingson  59:24 So, what kind of advice would you give to an up-and-coming entrepreneur or person about living life? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  59:32 Ah, Speaker 4  59:34 just Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  59:35 do do everything. Do everything that you want to do. Really, would be because I think that like the more that you try, the more you are learning about what you are capable of and who you are as a person. The more different types of people that you meet, the more opportunities that might come your way. And some of it you're not going to like. That's a learning lesson. And some of it. You're going to love. So, if there's, so I would say do all of that, and then the other one is, is make it happen, because nothing will come to you if you are not going after it. And I just said that we have to surrender and let things come to us, but I really believe that there has to be not a manifestation, but really just some intention to push us in a certain direction, and that that hard work is necessary in anything that's really good that comes to us in life. Anything that's good is going to take work. Michael Hingson  1:00:36 The only thing that I would add to that is when you said there are things that might might be happening. That might happen that you don't like. My only comment to that would be: step back and try to figure out why you don't like them, and see if there's really a reason. Because we we we are such a knee jerk reaction society. It's always good to analyze and go, what really is the issue here? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:01:00 Yeah, you're so right. Michael Hingson  1:01:02 Well, I want to thank you for being here. This has been absolutely fun. It has now been over an hour, and it's got to be past the beginning of your dinner time. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:01:12 It's almost past my bedtime on a Friday night. How about there? You go. Well, Michael Hingson  1:01:17 I really appreciate you doing this and and spending the time with us, and I I've learned a lot, and I hope other people have. If people want to reach out to you, how do they do that? Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:01:27 Oh, please reach out on LinkedIn. It's just Stephanie Gutnick. You'll find me. Michael Hingson  1:01:33 Spell that if you would, just to play safe. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:01:35 Yes, absolutely. S T E P H A N I E, and the last name is Gutnick. G U T is in Tom and is in Nancy I K. Michael Hingson  1:01:45 So hunt down Stephanie on LinkedIn. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:01:49 Stephanie doesn't know who Tom or Nancy are, but she just thought that those would be helpful names. Well, Michael Hingson  1:01:54 there you go. Well, hey, whatever works. Yeah, Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:01:57 exactly. Michael Hingson  1:01:58 There you are, Michael. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:01:59 Thank you so much. Michael Hingson  1:02:00 It's been a pleasure. Well, I want to thank all of you for being here with us, and hope you've learned some things today, and that you've enjoyed it. Wherever you're monitoring our podcast, please give us a five star review. But even more, or rating, but more important, give us a great review. Reviews are things that people like to see when they're thinking about what podcast to listen to, so we value your reviews greatly. And if you'd like to reach out to me, it's easy. It's speaker, S P E A K E R at Michael Hinkson, M I C H A E L H I N G S O n.com. Love to hear from you. If you know anyone who ought to be a guest on the podcast, let us know. Stephanie, you as well. Always looking for more people, and so I appreciate you doing that. And with that, Stephanie, once more, thanks for being here. This has been fun. Dr. Stephanie Gutnik  1:02:50 Thank you so much. I very much agree. Michael Hingson  1:02:55 Thank you for being here with me on Unstoppable Mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about. If you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others, I have a free gift for you. Head over to MichaelHingson.com and download my free ebook, Blinded by fear, it explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning, and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable mindset.

If Amazon's AI shopping assistant starts recommending products to millions of buyers every day, and your listing is not optimized for that recommendation, where does your brand show up? Neil Twa dives into an Adweek piece revealing how six major retailers are already using AI shopping assistants to drive sales, not just assist. Neil shares a standout case study of Ashley, who broke the million-dollar mark in sales in under twelve months with a twenty percent net profit. Her success came from optimizing her listings to answer real customer questions, not just listing features. Neil outlines three actionable moves to ensure your brand is AI-ready: rewrite your bullets as answers, focus on data quality, and streamline your account. Sellers at every level can benefit from these strategies to stay competitive in the AI-driven retail landscape. Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=epNone Ready to implement with us? Join the Voltage Business Builders cohort at voltagedm.com: https://voltagedm.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep-draft

To learn more about valuable resources for entrepreneurs and business owners, please visit https://www.sbprou.com/Using AI to Stop Working Below Your Paygrade is covered in this podcast.***************************************As a business owner, your time is your most valuable asset—yet too many entrepreneurs spend their days buried in repetitive tasks, administrative work, and low-value activities that prevent them from focusing on growth.Join Andrew Frazier, MBA, CFA, and special guest Jimmy Newson for an eye-opening conversation on how artificial intelligence can help business owners reclaim their time, increase productivity, and focus on the work that truly drives results.In this livestream, you'll discover how to:•Identify the tasks that are keeping you stuck in the day-to-day•Use AI to automate repetitive and time-consuming activities•Leverage AI tools to improve decision-making and productivity•Create more time for strategy, leadership, sales, and relationship building•Build systems that help your business grow without requiring more of your timeIf you're ready to stop being the busiest person in your business and start becoming the most valuable, this session is for you.Jimmy Newson is a business growth strategist and founder of Moving Forward Small Business (MFSB), helping entrepreneurs leverage AI, automation, and digital strategy to grow efficiently.Known as the “Impact Influencer,” he has trained thousands of business owners worldwide on improving productivity, profitability, and scalability.He has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Adweek, and Ad Age.• LinkedIn:   / jimmynewson  • Website: https://movingforwardsmallbusiness.com/

Camm Rowland, the Chief Creative Officer and Chief AI Officer at Kepler Group. Camm is an Emmy-winning creative leader named to Adweek's AI Power 50, sitting right at the chaotic intersection of data, human design, and emerging technology. Before leading applied AI and creative at Kepler, he held Executive Creative Director roles at Kohler Co. and Digital Kitchen. What makes Camm fascinating is that he isn't just treating AI as an efficiency tool—he is actively mapping how AI changes the physics of consumer discovery, brand building, and the future of human creative talent. Today, we're diving into the death of traditional funnels, when to use AI versus human craft, and what happens to the next generation of creative professionals when 'speed' replaces foundational skill-building.

Jacques Spitzer is a 4x Emmy® award-winning creative agency founder who was named to AdWeek's Agency Vanguard as one of the top 20 leaders shaping the future of advertising. His agency, Raindrop, has generated billions in campaign sales for powerhouse brands like Dr. Squatch, Native and Grüns and insurgent brands like Good Culture, Hello Panda, Magic Spoon and more. Raindrop's creative force has been showcased by their work on three Super Bowl campaigns and their recent execution of the largest brand launch in Procter & Gamble history for Spruce. As a champion for the next generation of disruptive companies, Jacques serves as a strategic advisor to high-growth CPG brands that Raindrop Ventures has uniquely helped launch and invested in, including Grüns, Laundry Sauce, ForAll, VitaWild, Maeva and Magic Mind. With a trophy case boasting over 50 advertising awards, Jacques' work is consistently recognized for its rare blend of viral creativity and massive ROI. His insights have been featured in Forbes, AdAge, and Entrepreneur Magazine.  He was recently named one of the “most influential people in San Diego” by the San Diego Business Journal and one of “California's most visionary CEOs” by the Los Angeles Times, who noted: “Raindrop's creative success and results have put San Diego on the map for creative work across the country.” In addition to his work in advertising, Spitzer helped produce the full-length documentary Wampler's Ascent, which won over 38 international film festival awards. In This Conversation We Discuss:  [00:00] Intro [02:43] Scaling Ecommerce through storytelling  [04:41] Maximizing current growth channels first  [08:14] Managing multiple priorities as a founder [10:11] Shifting from product to customer worth [15:26] Callouts [15:36] Overcoming a leader's limiting beliefs  [24:03] Taking balanced risks to protect equity  [25:17] Combining math with strategic stories Resources: Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube Marketing that people love raindrop.agency/    Follow Jacques Spitzer linkedin.com/in/jspitzer5/    If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Él es el Chief Creative Officer y socio global de GUT, la Agencia del Año en Cannes 2023 y la más efectiva entre las independientes según el Effie Global Index 2024, después de haber sido la primera contratación de DAVID, la agencia de WPP. A lo largo de 30 años de carrera acumula más de 50 Cannes Lions, entre ellos 3 Grand Prix, y fue nombrado una de las 100 personas más creativas del mundo por Adweek. Este año preside el jurado de Direct en Cannes Lions 2026.Él es el CEO de TBWAColombia, donde junto a un equipo de más de 500 personas han construido el reconocimiento como la mejor agencia del mercado. Lleva más de 25 años también como profesor de innovación, creatividad y liderazgo en programas de MBA en el CESA. Este año es jurado de Creative Data en Cannes Lions 2026.Comienza una noche más de El Martínez Podcast Bar desde Cannes Lions 2026, con 2 amigazos que llegaron a darnos mucha sapiencia después de participar en sus jurados respectivos, y que nos contaron también de la vida. Hablamos de la importancia de entender el arco narrativo de alguien que empieza en Cannes, desde un joven creativo hasta convertirse hoy en día en presidente de un jurado de Cannes Lions, además, con una agencia multi premiada. Y nuestro otro invitado, nos contó cómo llegó a ser gerente de una de las agencias más influyentes de Colombia. Fue lindo porque pasamos, de nuevo, desde lo personal y de lo chiquito, a lo importante que puede ser para cualquiera de nosotros formar parte de un jurado, y cómo al final del día Cannes es un Casino, donde todos apostamos a que nuestras ideas van a destacar, y van a ser reconocidas, pero está en manos del jurado ver qué pasa. También hablamos de la diferencia cultural que puede haber dentro de un jurado, y cómo eso se maneja en una discusión que a veces te hace cambiar de opinión. Todo esto y un poco más en el episodio #3 de El Martínez con Joaquín Cubría y Xavier Serrano.Visítanos en https://www.elmartinez.net/ y suscríbete en Spotify, Apple Podcasts o donde lo estés oyendo ahora. Síguenos en FB o IG @elmartinezpodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our second special edition pod, we spoke with Mark Stenberg, Senior Media Reporter at AdWeek, to compare notes on what people are talking about this year: AI FOBO, the proliferation of creators, and the increasingly blurry purpose of the festival itself. We get into why Cannes may be less about new ideas than consensus building, why public panels feel more PR-approved than ever, and data dissonance in the basement of the Palais. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cannes Lions Day 3: Moloco CMO Paul Darcy on AI Disruption, Brand vs Performance + Festival Voices & Award HighlightsOn day three of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, host Conor Byrne records The Cannes Sessions in partnership with The Digital Voice and interviews Paul Darcy, CMO of Moloco, fresh off an Adweek panel on how AI and LLM-driven consumer behavior are disrupting digital brands and acquisition channels. Darcy discusses the growing importance of brand as a signal to LLMs, the rising opportunity cost and measurement challenges of brand media versus increasingly optimized performance marketing (including CTV and in-app video), and Moloco's focus on expanding modern performance surfaces. He also summarizes Moloco and BCG's report on AI disruption by industry, highlighting discovery and customer-relationship durability, and notes AI overviews reducing clicks. The episode also features Cannes attendee perspectives (Amir Rasekh of Nectar 360, Beatrice Bordel Grant, Pauline Yoo from Samsung Ads, and Max from Adnormally) and Conor's press-room roundup of select Cannes Lions winners.00:00 Welcome to Cannes01:15 Meet Paul Darcy01:39 AI Disrupts Brands02:43 Brand vs Performance04:29 Performance as Brand05:19 Fixing Ad Inefficiency06:44 Moloco Growth Mission07:19 BCG Disruption Report10:33 Digital Voice Street Chats10:56 Nectar 360 Goals11:50 Amazon Port Surprise14:24 Samsung Ads Highlights16:12 Networking at Cannes17:34 Press Room Winners20:07 Wrap and TomorrowThat's What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.Listen, follow and find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.comConnect with Conor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbyrneirl/If you enjoy the show, please follow, subscribe and leave a review. It helps more marketers find the conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kenny Gold is Edelman's Global Chief Creator Officer, leading Edelman Creator, the firm's global creator marketing offering. In this role, he is responsible for advancing Edelman's creator-first approach to communications and marketing, helping clients harness the power of creators, culture, and emerging technologies to drive business impact.Kenny joined Edelman from Deloitte Digital, where he served as Managing Director and Head of Social and Creator. There, he built the practice from the ground up, developing a differentiated offering at the intersection of consulting, creativity, and creator-led marketing. Throughout his career, he has led transformative work for some of the world's most recognized brands, including Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and McCormick, and is widely recognized for his expertise in creator strategy, AI-enabled content systems, and integrated marketing innovation.Prior to Deloitte Digital, Kenny led social media at Grey Group, where he architected P&G's groundbreaking #DistanceDance campaign with TikTok creator Charli D'Amelio. The campaign became one of the platform's most successful creator-led initiatives, demonstrating the power of creator partnerships to drive engagement and cultural relevance at scale.Kenny's contributions to the industry have earned widespread recognition, including being named to the Adweek 50 in 2022 and recognized as an AEF Talent Champion in 2021. He is known for helping brands navigate the evolving creator economy and for building innovative marketing solutions that connect audiences, creators, and businesses in meaningful ways

Video Game profits collapse, PC sales boom & The Next Gen battle begins in Japan These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in November 1994.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost.  Check out his podcast here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/ and order his book here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/book Get us on your mobile device: Android:  https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly92aWRlb2dhbWVuZXdzcm9vbXRpbWVtYWNoaW5lLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz iOS:      https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/video-game-newsroom-time-machine And if you like what we are doing here at the podcast, don't forget to like us on your podcasting app of choice, YouTube, and/or support us on patreon! https://www.patreon.com/VGNRTM Send comments on Mastodon @videogamenewsroomtimemachine@oldbytes.space Or twitter @videogamenewsr2 Or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vgnrtm Or videogamenewsroomtimemachine@gmail.com Or Discord https://discord.gg/mYdkBJe8 Links: If you don't see all the links, find them here: https://www.patreon.com/VGNRTM/posts/november-1994-161464050      7 Minutes in Heaven: Jazz Jackrabbit Video Version: https://youtu.be/IIom2LSch6w     https://www.mobygames.com/game/902/jazz-jackrabbit/ Corrections: Ethan's fine site The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ November 1984 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/VGNRTM/posts/november-1984-157521521     Great Exhibition Digital Recreation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wNEgZDetNk     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_VS._System     Moondust 7 Minutes - https://youtu.be/jT3QzYpUEck?si=MbYsjB7cDptFfIBY      November 1994: Video Game Industry profits plummet          Sega Reports 47 Percent Drop in Earnings in Fiscal First Half, Associated Press Worldstream, November 11, 1994; Friday 07:03 Eastern Time, Section: Financial pages       SEGA PROFITS PLUNGE 43PC AS VIDEO GAME RIVALRY HOTS UP, The Guardian (London), November 12, 1994, Section: THE GUARDIAN HOME PAGE; Pg. 1, Byline: Nicholas Bannister In London And Kevin Rafferty In Tokyo     EDITORS:Associated Press Worldstream, November 21, 1994; Monday 07:13 Eastern Time, Section: Financial pages     KOEI LOWERS PROFIT ESTIMATES, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 4, 1994, FRIDAY     NAMCO SUFFERS LOWER PROFITS IN 1ST HALF, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 4, 1994, FRIDAY     KONAMI TO LOG 3.1-B.-YEN LOSS FOR FY '94, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 9, 1994, WEDNESDAY          KONAMI SLIPS INTO RED IN 1ST HALF, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 25, 1994, FRIDAY     CAPCOM SUFFERS SHARP DROPS IN PROFIT, SALES, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 24, 1994, THURSDAY     Play Meter November 1994, pg. 22     TAKARA RETURNS TO BLACK IN 1ST HALF, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 18, 1994, FRIDAY     T-HQ announces third-quarter results, s'ipment of the XBAND Video Game, Modem aNd new equity financing, Business Wire, November 14, 1994, Monday     SOFTWARE ETC. STORES, INC. REPORTS THIRD QUARTER RESULTS, PR Newswire, November 10, 1994, Thursday - 13:59 Eastern time, Section: Financial News Software Etc. and Babbage's to merge         SOFTWARE ETC. STORES, INC. REPORTS THIRD QUARTER RESULTS, PR Newswire, November 10, 1994, Thursday - 13:59 Eastern time, Section: Financial News Big money bets against Atari     CBS rich with takeover rumors, USA TODAY, November 7, 1994, Monday, FINAL EDITION, Section: MONEY; Dan Dorfman; Pg. 4B, Byline: Dan Dorfman     https://mdsass.com/our-team/     ATARI RESPONDS TO DAN DORFMAN ARTICLE IN USA TODAY, PR Newswire, November 8, 1994, Tuesday - 09:10 Eastern Time     Atari stock plummets,The Financial Post (Toronto, Canada), November 8, 1994, Tuesday,DAILY EDITION, Section: SECTION 1, NEWS; Pg. 14; APPOINTMENT NOTICE, Byline: Bloomberg     ATARI CORP. ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER AND NINE MONTHS 1994 RESULTS, PR Newswire, November 14, 1994, Monday - 05:59 Eastern Time, Section: Financial News     COMPANY NEWS; ATARI STOCK RISES AS DEAL WITH SEGA IS COMPLETED, The New York Times, November 17, 1994, Thursday, Late Edition - Final, Distribution: Financial Desk , Section: Section D; ; Section D;  Page 4;  Column 1;  Financial Desk ; Column 1;  Siliwood deals abound!     Activision, Henson in Multimedia Muppets Deal, Ad Day, November 7, 1994, Section: NEWS ROUNDUP; Pg. 12         Move over, nerds - Hollywood's here, The Age (Melbourne, Australia), November 15, 1994 Tuesday, Late Edition, Section: COMPUTERS; Frontier Media; Pg. 43     https://archive.org/details/electronic-games-1994-11z Baby Bells form Multimedia Colossus         3 BABY BELLS FORM MULTIMEDIA COLOSSUS 1994, Reuters News Service, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), November 1, 1994, TUESDAY, FIVE STAR Edition, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. 6C    TELEPHONE FIRMS AIM AT CABLE BELL ATLANTIC AND TWO OTHER, BABY BELLS PLAN A MULTIMEDIA VENTURE. , USERS COULD ORDER, VIDEOS.The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 1, 1994 Tuesday FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. C01         Info highway dream team / Ovitz wants Hollywood on high-tech map, USA TODAY, November 1, 1994, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION, Section: MONEY; Pg. 1B; Cover Stor      William Morris goes Interactive     William Morris Courts Agencies, ADWEEK, November 14, 1994, Western Edition, Byline: By Cathy Taylor Siemens gets into settop boxes    2 Companies Join Siemens In Video Plan, The New York Times, November 8, 1994, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final, Distribution: Financial Desk, Section: Section D; ; Section D; Page 5; Column 1; Financial Desk ; Column 1;Byline: By Bloomberg Business News     Intel, Backed On ITV, Sails For CablePort, Electronic Buyers News, November 28, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. 3; ISSN: 0164-6362, Byline: Jonathan Cassell TCI buys into Acclaim     TCI AND ACCLAIM FORM PARTNERSHIP FOR INTERACTIVE, ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE, M2 PRESSWIRE, November 4, 1994 TeleWest goes public         Time is right to float, says TeleWest, The Herald (Glasgow), November 8, 1994, Section: Pg. 25, Byline: Nicola Reeves BCE Holdings to buy Rage and Software Creations     NEW GAME PLAN AT £25M BCE, Daily Mail (London), November 2, 1994, Section: Pg. 65           BCE HOLDINGS TO BUY SOFTWARE CREATIONS (HOLDINGS): 2, Extel Examiner, November 1, 1994, Tuesday - 03:04 Eastern Time, Section: Company News; Takeovers and Acquisitions           COMPUTER GAMES MERGER GOES TO EUROPEAN LEVEL, The Guardian (London), November 5, 1994, Section: THE GUARDIAN CITY PAGE; Pg. 38, Byline: Jim Levi     Consoled by a £10m fortune, Mail on Sunday (London), November 6, 1994, Section: Pg. 5, Byline: Jason Nisse     Computer games 'set for surge in sales', The Times, November 9, 1994, Wednesday, Section: Business, Byline: By Neil Bennett Warner buys Renegade     Amiga Games, November 1994, pg. 34         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renegade_Software Mindscape to buy Atreid Concept     L'editeur Mindscape rachete Atreid Concept, Echos, November 19, 1994             https://www.mobygames.com/company/661/kalisto-entertainment-sa/      Video game ratings system still a thorn in coinop's side     Play Meter, November 1994, pg. 20     https://arcade.fandom.com/wiki/Parental_Advisory_System Sega goes big with VR-1     Japanese take virtual reality for a ride; Sega has combined fairground rides, with hi-tech wizardry, writes Arnold Redhead, The Independent (London), November 21, 1994, Monday, Section: NETWORK PAGE; Page 25, Byline: ARNOLD REDHEAD          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VR-1        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_rf9FiwBUk Japanese Next Gen Holiday Lineup Set     Video-game makers out to zap 32-bit rivals, Nikkei Weekly, November 7, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. 9; Vol. 32;     Multimedia video game wars begin, The Daily Yomiuri, November 8, 1994, Tuesday, Byline: Terumitsu Otsu; Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer     Nintendo's super 'game boy' from Dundee, The Scotsman, November 16, 1994, Wednesday, Section: Pg. 32          NINTENDO, U.S. FIRM TO DEVELOP 3-D SOFTWARE, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 22, 1994, TUESDAY            https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Paradigm_Entertainment Saturn release date set     INDUSTRY TREND: CONSUMER ELECTRONICS FIRMS JOIN VIDEO GAME, ORGY, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 18, 1994, FRIDAY          New Video Machines Battle For Supremacy, The Associated Press, November 30, 1994, Wednesday, AM cycle, Section: Business News, Byline: By BRAVEN SMILLIE, Matsushita announces next gen system for 1995     Matsushita likely to market 64-bit game machines in '95, Japan Economic Newswire, NOVEMBER 15, 1994, TUESDAY      Matsushita and IBM team up     Matsushita, IBM in multimedia project, United Press International, November 20, 1994, Sunday, BC cycle        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panasonic_M2#Technical_specifications 3DO announces massive loss     Video Game Maker 3DO Reports $ 12.8 Million Second-Quarter Loss, The Associated Press, November 4, 1994, Friday, BC cycle          (THDO) 3DO announces second quarter financial results, Business Wire, November 4, 1994, Friday Goldstar launches 3DO in USA         Goldstar Co, Wall Street Journal (3 Star, Eastern (Princeton, NJ) Edition), November 8, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. B4; Vol. 224; No. 91; ISSN: 0099-9660 Creative to launch 3DO Blaster    Unveiling the latest in computer magic / Film and fun: Morphing and more, USA TODAY, November 17, 1994, Thursday, FINAL EDITION, Section: LIFE; Pg. 4D     3DO Blaster Video - Retro Collective - https://youtu.be/qaHAuGmN3Tk?si=OHf5v3Z9vfJ3RZfl Nintendo launches massive DKC blitz     https://youtu.be/SbHL8-XkXMA?si=d3GNpw2n57mTQBuL       https://youtu.be/OGqUF02zVt4?si=XFO_2LUnM157ayC5        Burnett Seeks to Make Donkey Kong King, AdWeek Midwest; AdWeek, November 21, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. 2; Vol. XXXV; No. 47;           Yen and old product cause slide in Nintendo profits, The Financial Post (Toronto, Canada), November 22, 1994, Tuesday,, DAILY EDITION, Section: SECTION 1, NEWS; Pg. 15; APPOINTMENT NOTICE           Video Games Showdown: Will Sega Zap Nintendo?, Christian Science Monitor 8Boston, MA), November 28, 1994, Monday, Section: ECONOMY; Pg. 4, Byline: Mark Trumbull, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor     Nation Goes Ape For Donkey Kong Country; Runaway Sales for Hit Video, Game Exceed Box Office Gross for Current Number One Movie, Business Wire, November 30, 1994, Wednesda Atari to spend big in Europe     Atari Tackles Games Giants In Pounds 5m Spend, Marketing, November 10, 1994 Jaguar launches in Japan     Atari's Jaguar Enters Japanese Retail Markets 11/22/94, Newsbytes News Network, November 22, 1994     https://forums.atariage.com/topic/330871-the-japanese-atari-jaguar/ Sony announces Liverpool dev centre     SONY CREATES 250 NEW JOBS FOR MERSEYSIDE, Press Association, November 7, 1994, Monday          SONY ELECTRONIC INVESTMENT IN, The Guardian (London), November 8, 1994, Section: THE GUARDIAN CITY PAGE; Pg. 14, Byline: Martyn Halsall, Northern          SONY TO SET UP U.K. GAME SOFTWARE CENTER, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 8, 1994, TUESDAY        JAPANESE GIANT TO MAKE GAMES AND 250 JOBS ON MERSEYSIDE, M2 PRESSWIRE, November 28, 1994 Nintendo signs Russian Distribution deal     Russia: Nintendo has selected Steepler as an exclusive distributor of Nintendo video games., Kommersant, November 1, 1994          https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Steepler_Ltd.#1994:_Dendy:_The_New_Reality,_partnership_with_Nintendo          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendy           Mortal Kombat 2 launch is massive     Mortal moral: Gore sells, money yells,  Computer Retail Week, November 14, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. 116; Vol. 4;     Ad budget Rises    Ad/Media Bulletin: Computer games ad push targets grown-ups, Marketing, November 17, 1994 Movie tie-ins getting tighter         (SNAPSHOT), The Age (Melbourne, Australia), November 12, 1994 Saturday, Late Edition, Section: SATURDAY EXTRA; SNAPSHOT; Pg. 15     Another Big U.S. Deal Turns Sour for Japanese Firm, Associated Press Worldstream, November 18, 1994; Friday 06:09 Eastern Time, Section: International news, Byline: PETER LANDERS           Hard lessons from Sony's software underbelly, The Independent (London), November 18, 1994, Friday, Section: BUSINESS & CITY PAGE; Page 34, Byline: HAMISH McRAE     Leisure Concepts reports third quarter, nine-month results, Business Wire, November 14, 1994, Monday             https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldenEye        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldenEye_007  Nintendo premiers VirtualBoy     Nintendo Unveils Virtual Reality Game, The Associated Press , November 14, 1994, Monday, AM cycle, Section: Business News          https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-ganofsky-15873/     Nintendo announces investment in Reflection Technology Inc.; home video game leader also acquires exclusive worldwide license for proprietary LED, display technology, Business Wire, November 14, 1994, Monday     VIRTUALITY PLAYS DOWN IMPACT OF RIVAL NINTENDO PRODUCT, Extel Examiner,November 16, 1994, Wednesday - 07:16 Eastern Time, Section: Company News; Other     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy      PC sales boom     Spurred by many factors, home PC sales are soaring, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), November 10, 1994, Metro Edition, Section: Special; Pg. 2S, Byline: Steve Alexander; Staff Writer Bandai and Apple team up for children's PC     BANDAI, APPLE TO JOINTLY DEVELOP PC FOR CHILDREN, Jiji Press Ticker Service, NOVEMBER 10, 1994, THURSDAY       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pippin     Apple sets sights on video games, The Financial Post (Toronto, Canada), November 11, 1994, Friday,, DAILY EDITION, Section: SECTION 1, NEWS; Pg. 5; COLUMN Apple to sell MacOS at retail     MICROFILE, The Guardian (London), November 17, 1994, Section: THE GUARDIAN ONLINE PAGE; Pg. 7     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v4BaWwoyA0 Commodore Sale delayed... AGAIN!     DELAY IN THE SALE OF COMMODORE CREATES ANXIETY A LONG WAIT COULD KILL PROSPECTS FOR THE FIRM'S AMIGA COMPUTERS. AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT ITS ADHERENTS SAY., The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 7, 1994 Monday FINAL EDITION, Section: PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS; Pg. G01, byline: Dan Stets,     Amiga Games, November 1994, pg. 19 Australia funds multimedia development         Multimedia funding is welcome news, The Age (Melbourne, Australia), November 1, 1994 Tuesday, Late Edition, Section: COMPUTERS; Frontier Media; Pg. 34 Korea invests in games     Korea Makes Huge Game Industry Investment, Newsbytes, November 21, 1994, Monday Looking Glass goes VC     LOOKINGGLASS RECEIVES $3.8 MILLION IN VENTURE CAPITAL FROM INSTITUTIONAL VENTURE PARTNERS, MATRIX PARTNERS, PR Newswire, November 21, 1994, Monday - 14:24 Eastern Time, Section: Entertainment, Television, and Culture     PC Player November 1994, pg. 17 Humongous bets on hand drawn art     "FREDDI FISH AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING KELP SEEDS(TM) SWIMS INTO STORES,PR Newswire, November 7, 1994, Monday - 12:52 Eastern Time" Staples stocks games     Office Superstores Emphasize 'Play" with Software, Discount Store News, November 7, 1994, Business and Industry, Section: Pg. S4; Vol. 33; No. 21; ISSN: 0012-3587 Amstrad targets direct market     Marketing Technique: Key movers - Publishers are still paying mega bucks for titles on mega bytes. So why does computer publishing continue to thrive, asks Michael Kavanagh, Marketing, November 24, 1994, Byline: By MICHAEL KAVANAGH IBM moves to online software distribution     IBM to beam up satellite-based software delivery, Network World, November 7, 1994, Section: TOP NEWS; Pg. 10, Byline: Michael Cooney IBM introduces multilevel disc     IBM's multilevel optical disk named "Best of What's New", Business Wire, November 9, 1994, Wednesday        https://research.ibm.com/publications/multilevel-volumetric-optical-storage AT&T buys Imagination network     AT&T buys interactive computer games unit, Financial Times (London,England), November 16, 1994, Wednesday, Section: International Company News; Pg. 34, Byline: By LOUISE KEHOE and REUTER      Xband launches     PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY New video game service for kids ready to come on line Thursday, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, November 13, 1994, Sunday, Section: BUSINESS; Section R; Page 3, Byline: By Kris Jensen STAFF WRITER Sega Channel to get nationwide rollout     Sega Channel test a success -- service prepares for national rollout in December; Final test results far exceed expectations, Business Wire, November 30, 1994, Wednesday Jaguar to go online     CUC BUYS ITS WAY INTO INTERNET TRANSACTIONS; IMAGINE AT&T OWNING THE COMPANY; NOT MOSAIC, NETSCAPE; COMMERCE THROUGH COMPUSERVE; OTHER NEWS: Advertising Age, November 21, 1994, Section: Pg. 15 Sega goes online     Sega goes on-line with CompuServe & World Wide Web; real-time conferences, video clips, contests, chat rooms all part of new interactive, services for Sega fans, Business Wire, November 2, 1994, Wednesday     "CHRYSLER CD-ROMS GROOVE TO GENERATION X; TREKKING TO THE INTERNET; ONLINE VIDEOGAME NETWORK BOWS; AOL BOOSTS INTERNET STRATEGY; OTHER NEWS: Advertising Age, November 14, 1994, Section: Pg. 22" Mosaic Communications changes name to Netscape     CUC BUYS ITS WAY INTO INTERNET TRANSACTIONS; IMAGINE AT&T OWNING THE COMPANY; NOT MOSAIC, NETSCAPE; COMMERCE THROUGH COMPUSERVE; OTHER NEWS: Advertising Age, November 21, 1994, Section: Pg. 15 AOL goes shopping     "CHRYSLER CD-ROMS GROOVE TO GENERATION X; TREKKING TO THE INTERNET; ONLINE VIDEOGAME NETWORK BOWS; AOL BOOSTS INTERNET STRATEGY; OTHER NEWS: Advertising Age, November 14, 1994, Section: Pg. 22" CUC buys netMarket     CUC BUYS ITS WAY INTO INTERNET TRANSACTIONS; IMAGINE AT&T OWNING THE COMPANY; NOT MOSAIC, NETSCAPE; COMMERCE THROUGH COMPUSERVE; OTHER NEWS: Advertising Age, November 21, 1994, Section: Pg. 15 Paul Allen invests in Cnet     Vulcan gets C/NET, The Financial Post (Toronto, Canada), November 4, 1994, Friday,, DAILY EDITION, Section: SECTION 1, NEWS; Pg. 47, Business Briefs; CORRECTION Bill Gates touts information future at Comdex     https://youtu.be/7fJWMsgxzvA?si=VzEkgqkFwbDHUzRz         Microsoft chief sees new era in computing, St. Petersburg Times (Florida), November 21, 1994, Monday, City Edition, Times Publishing Company, Section: BUSINESS; TECHNOLOGY; TECH TALK; Pg. 8; DIGEST, Byline: DAVE GUSSOW Publishing     Pearson Buys Future     PEARSON ACQUIRES FUTURE PUBLISHING, M2 PRESSWIRE, November 28, 1994 Street Fighter the RPG     Play Meter November 1994, pg. 170      Fighter History suit settled     Computer game makers settle copyright dispute, Japan Economic Newswire, NOVEMBER 1, 1994, TUESDAY     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_East_USA,_Inc._v._Epyx,_Inc.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capcom_U.S.A._Inc._v._Data_East_Corp.      Nintendo wins again     NINTENDO WINS THIRD SUMMARY JUDGMENT THIS YEAR IN PATENT INFRINGEMENT CASE, PR Newswire, November 30, 1994, Wednesday - 14:45 Eastern Time, Section: Financial News GATT changes coming     BAN ON CD, GAMES HIRE, The Sydney Morning Herald, November 20, 1994 Sunday, Late Edition, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. 58, Byline: BRUCE JONES          VOTES IN FAVOR OF GATT, Congressional Press Releases, November 29, 1994, Tuesday, Section: PRESS RELEASE, Byline: STEPHEN HORN     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade US Government to fund Software Protection Efforts in China         Business Report ON TECHNOLOGY China shines as new market, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, November 2, 1994, Wednesday, Section: BUSINESS; Section G; Page 2, Byline: By Bill Husted Cyber crime booming     Crimes of the 'Net', Newsweek, November 14, 1994 , UNITED STATES EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Software; Pg. 46 Internet Cafe profiled    Are You Ready For The Future?, The Sunday Times (London), November 20, 1994, Sunday, Section: Features, Byline: Christopher Lloyd Hate moves online     Report Assesses Extremist Groups in Europe, Associated Press Worldstream, November 15, 1994; Tuesday 10:34 Eastern Time, Section: International news, Byline: MARILYN AUGUST      Cybermania 94 awards     Interactivities, Playback, November 07, 1994, Section: Pg.9, Byline: Pamela David Lego awards video game resistance     Lego awards annual prize for services to children, Agence France Presse -- English, November 15, 1994 11:14 Eastern Time, Section: International news CNN visits Brittannia Manor     Haunted House Owner Goes All Out to Create Hell at Home, CNN NEWS 3:14 am ET, November 1, 1994 VR goes Dental     "https://vrarwiki.com/wiki/Virtual_i-O_i-glasses!   Dentist's drill or a 3D thrill The Age (Melbourne, Australia), November 8, 1994 Tuesday, Late Edition, Section: COMPUTERS; Pg. 50, Byline: Alan Sayre" Casio debuts digital camera     New still camera puts your memories on silicon chips, The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia), November 17, 1994, Thursday, FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. D4      Interview with game translator     PC Joker, pg. 61 William A. Higinbotham has passed     William A. Higinbotham, 84; Helped Build First Atomic Bomb, The New York Times, November 15, 1994, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final, Distribution: National Desk , Section: Section D; ; Section D;  Page 29;  Column 5;  National Desk ; Column 5; ; Obituary (Obit); Biography, Byline: William A. Higinbotham      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Higinbotham       https://archive.org/details/sim_creative-computing_1982-10_8_10/page/190/mode/1up  Recommended Links: The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/ Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/ The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/ Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/ Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/ Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/ Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/ Games That Weren't - https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/ Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play. Copyright Karl Kuras

Kamran AsgharKamran began his advertising career in 1997 at Ogilvy & Mather during an era when creative directors and media planners still worked side-by-side. It was here that he helped pioneer integrated communications planning, a holistic approach that defined his breakthrough launch of American Express Blue—the most successful card debut in that company's history. When the advertising industry went through the "unbundling era"—where holding companies began aggressively tearing media buying and creative strategy into entirely separate, siloed businesses—Kamran openly rebelled against the trend. Viewing the forced separation of creative and media as the "original sin of advertising," he co-founded Crossmedia in October 2000 to keep the disciplines unified, accountable, and entirely neutral. Under his vision, Crossmedia has rejected the non-transparent, kickback-laden media practices common among legacy holding companies. Instead, he structured the agency as a certified Minority-Owned Business Enterprise built on three core, transparent pillars: Trust, Reason, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Over the last decade, Kamran has more than tripled Crossmedia's footprint. The agency consistently achieves double-digit growth and has been recognized as a multi-time Ad Age Best Place to Work and Small Agency of the Year winner. To meet the demands of an AI-driven marketing landscape, he officially unified the company's worldwide operations under a single brand standard. A graduate of the College of William & Mary and a diehard Washington Commanders fan, Kamran was named an Adweek Media All-Star in 2014 and Adweek's Media Executive of the Year in 2022.

Welcome to the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence.In today's episode, we dive into the “new gold rush” of health marketing: AI search. Joining us is Vincent Grippi, founder and CEO of Grippi Media, a seasoned expert with over sixteen years of experience crafting digital marketing strategies for both startups and Fortune 500 brands. Featured in AdWeek, Business Insider, Fierce Healthcare, and Marketing Dive, Vincent has become a key thinker on the future of marketing, especially as AI rapidly reshapes the landscape of how consumers find and trust information.As AI-driven search tools become more prevalent, marketers face a barrage of new acronyms, shifting priorities, and a swirl of tools promising the next competitive advantage. But is all this hype justified or is confusion clouding marketers' judgment? Sara Payne and Vincent Grippi discuss the challenges, myths, and real strategies for thriving in the world of AI search, uncovering what businesses should and shouldn't be chasing in the age of rapidly evolving algorithms.Key Takeaways:1. SEO Fundamentals Still Rule Ignore the Hype Around New AcronymsDespite the explosion in AI search tools and terminology, Vincent stresses that marketers don't need to throw out their SEO playbooks. Google has clarified that AEO and GEO are myths; strong, traditional SEO remains the foundation for ranking and discoverability in AI search results (03:02, 06:23). Chasing new acronyms or unproven tools is likely to waste time and resources.2. Chasing Hacks and Tool-Based Shortcuts is Risky (and Costly)Vincent warns against “hacks” like AI-generated spam content or gaming platforms like Reddit, which may yield short-term wins but almost always backfire, leading to plummeting rankings or even platform bans (04:09, 04:41). Many popular tools are simply wrappers built on top of existing AI like ChatGPT and charge steep fees without meaningful results. Marketers should be wary of proprietary “visibility” scores or brand metrics that vary wildly between platforms (16:05).3. Discoverability is the New Visibility: Focus on Meaningful PresenceAI search changes how users access information summaries, replacing ten blue links, and click-through rates on web content are falling fast (20:12). Marketers must go beyond surface-level “visibility” to focus on discoverability: mapping high-value, original content to the specific prompts and research needs of their ideal customer profiles. This means prioritizing non-commodity content, such as unique research, proprietary data, case studies, and expert perspectives (08:46, 12:26).4. Thought Leadership and Digital PR Are More Important Than EverAI search doesn't just reward what's published on your site it pulls in podcasts, videos, ratings, reviews, and third-party features. Sara and Vincent emphasize the necessity of digital PR, proactive reputation management, and strategic media placements to build both authority and trust (23:26, 25:26). Genuine originality and credibility whether in written articles, public speaking, or interviews set brands apart in both the algorithm's eyes and consumers' trust.5. Marketers Must Reframe Success Metrics and Build Trust, Not Just TrafficThe AI search landscape demands new thinking around measurement: instead of obsessing over conversions or clicks, marketers should triangulate traditional SEO metrics with AI visibility, share of voice, and brand sentiment. With fewer referrals from search, ultimate success is about influencing perception, discovering new audience touchpoints, and fostering trust by surfacing reliably credible, compelling information where it matters (19:01, 36:07).Thank you for joining us for this conversation on staying grounded and staying ahead amidst the noise of AI search. Be sure to subscribe for more insights, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence.Learn more about Vincent and the work he does at https://www.grippimedia.com/.Mentioned in this episode:Health Marketing Collective is Powered by InprelaThe Health Marketing Collective is powered by Inprela: a communications firm built for health brands determined to lead, not follow. We partner with marketing innovators who aren't just chasing attention—they're building movements. Connect with the audiences shaping the future of care and lead the conversations that move your market. Ready to rise above the noise? Visit inprela.com. Let's create something that moves the market.Inprela Communications

Most people assume award-winning creative work is a high-wire act: brilliant, risky, and impossible to repeat. Karen Pearce of Rethink makes the opposite case. Fresh off Ad Age's 2026 Agency of the Year and ADWEEK's 2025 Independent Agency of the Year, and as the most-awarded independent agency in the world last year, Rethink keeps producing famous, business-moving work on purpose.Recorded as a Cannes Lions lead-up, this conversation gets into the machinery behind the run. Karen explains why independence lets Rethink protect creative standards instead of chasing scale, why the client's real job is finding sparks rather than poking holes, and how the CRAFTS framework gives a whole agency a shared language for what good looks like. Karen walks us through the Heinz philosophy that every ad is a product ad, the go-then-grow approach that turns big swings into low-risk reps, and why, going into Cannes, she expects a reclaiming of human craft in an AI-flooded market.The through-line: bold creative shouldn't feel scary. Build the right system and the right partnership, and the work that wins awards is the same work that drives the business.Timestamps00:00 Find the sparks, not the holes02:08 What's behind the run: independence and the receipts05:48 Why great creative shouldn't feel scary09:12 Builders vs hole-pokers: the client's real job14:27 Famous brands outperform business metrics19:17 AI, human craft, and the IKEA sleep talkers22:42 CRAFTS: a shared language for great work30:57 Heinz: every ad is a product ad36:24 Go then grow: getting your reps in44:17 Idea first: when media becomes the creativeReferencesRethink: rethinkideas.comKaren Pearce: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/karengpearce/Rethink's Book: The Business of Creativity Referenced campaigns: IKEA “U Up” and IKEA organizer / Skittles out-of-home; Heinz “Looks Familiar” and the keystone ketchup pouch; Destination Canada; Coinbase craft-led film; Epitaph “garbage media” dumpster billboardsAnthropic “Keep Thinking” campaign for Claude, by Mother Awards context: Ad Age 2026 Agency of the Year

Dan Wakeford is one of the world's leading experts in celebrity and entertainment media. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, he has served as editor-in-chief of some of the industry's most influential brands, including People and Us Weekly, working with everyone from Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston to Prince William, President Obama, and President Biden.Today, Dan is the founder of Celebrity Intelligence, a newsletter and platform that uncovers meaningful insights from the worlds of celebrity, entertainment, and popular culture.An award-winning editor and media executive, Dan has built and transformed iconic brands by growing audiences, expanding revenue, and creating culturally relevant content. As editor-in-chief of Us Weekly, he led a successful brand refresh that modernized the publication, expanded its reach, and strengthened its authority in celebrity reporting.Previously, as editor-in-chief of People and Editorial Director of Entertainment Weekly, Dan oversaw editorial operations, strategy, and growth across both brands. Under his leadership, People reached more than 118 million consumers each month, generated billions of weekly impressions, expanded into television, podcasts, video, and Apple News+, and became one of the most successful media brands in the industry.Alongside his commercial success, Dan has championed purpose-driven journalism, leading coverage on issues including public health, domestic violence, racism, climate change, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. He also prioritized diversity and representation both in content and newsroom leadership.His work has earned numerous honors, including Folio, GLAAD, Didi Hirsch, and Adweek awards. Widely respected throughout the entertainment industry, Dan has secured unprecedented access to some of the world's most influential public figures and helped shape cultural conversations for decades.Dan joins us on The Vault to discuss why celebrities, influencers, and public figures have such a profound impact on society. We explore parasocial relationships, the responsibilities that come with fame, and how public discussions around mental health can influence policy, awareness, and cultural attitudes. He also shares the vision behind Celebrity Intelligence and how he is bringing a smarter, more thoughtful lens to celebrity culture.Follow Dan WakefordDan Wakeford Instagram Dan Wakeford LinkedIn- Subscribe for Celebrity Intelligence-Follow Dr. Judith:Instagram: https://instagram.com/drjudithjoseph TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drjudithjoseph Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drjudithjoseph Website: https://www.drjudithjoseph.com/Sign up for my newsletter here: https://www.drjudithjoseph.com/newsletter-sign-upDisclaimer: You may want to consider your individual mental health needs with a licensed medical professional. This page is not medical advice.

What if bringing your authentic self to work could open new doors for your career?Listen in to this engaging conversation with Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and bestselling author of 'Be Yourself at Work', joins Natalie Benamou for a conversation about authenticity, kindness, and what it means to lead without shrinking. Claude shares how leaders can create space for people to feel seen and how small acts of kindness can have a ripple impact.Take a listen to this personal discussion of discovery and what led Claude to write her national bestseller. If you want to experience joy and purpose in your work, this is for you.About Claude SilverClaude Silver, the world's first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, believes that showing up with heart and humanity is the key to unlocking greatness in people. As a leader, she sees it as her job to infuse empathy into every aspect of the organization. As a speaker, author, podcaster, industry trendsetter, and LinkedIn influencer, she's now inspiring other leaders to do the same.Claude has proven time and time again that empathy fuels growth. With her as Chief Heart Officer, Vayner has grown from 400 people to a global team of 2,000+ with offices in 11 countries. Claude also helped lead VaynerMedia—Vayner's foundational company—to be named the Breakthrough Media Agency of 2022 by Adweek.Claude SilverClaude Silver on LinkedInSpecial thanks to Michelle Pecak for introducing us!Keep shining your light bright. The world needs you.HerCsuite® is a leadership network where women build what's next. Our members land board roles, grow businesses, lead the AI conversation, and live their best portfolio career with our programs. Join us at HerCsuite.com, where our core value is kindness and connect with host Natalie Benamou on LinkedIn.

This week, Donny Deutsch breaks down the biggest brands rising and falling this week — from Hollywood flops to Wall Street trust shifts, political advertising disruption, and the women's sports boom. This week on Brands of the Week: Star Wars' worst box office since 2012 — why The Mandalorian & Grogu underperformed despite $102M Memorial Day opening Gen Z trusts DraftKings & Polymarket more than Disney and Bank of America — what this seismic brand trust shift reveals about the future of institutional brands AI is replacing "lower value human capital" — a major bank CEO accidentally says the quiet part loud, sparking massive backlash Spencer Pratt's LA mayoral campaign — why his AI-generated, rap-infused political ads may be the future of political advertising World Cup 2026 tourism disappointment — 5 million tickets sold but hotel bookings are collapsing, and America's global brand may be to blame Enhanced Games & Silicon Valley doping — Peter Thiel-backed, Trump Jr.-endorsed: is this the future of sports or a dangerous testosterone marketing funnel? Christie's $1.1 billion auction night — the most in history, and what it says about the tale of two economies Women's sports exploding — the Caitlin Clark effect, WNBA surge, and why the 55+ demographic is driving the boom Operation Epic Fury — is Michael Bay's film about an ongoing war a new low in military propaganda? Yoko Ono's brand rehabilitation at 92, Jell-O goes natural, James Bond casting frontrunners, and Heart Attack Grill closes after 21 years Older influencers outperform Gen Z creators — new Adweek research shows the 55+ demo controls 50% of consumer spending but gets almost no ad dollars Plus: the science of why nighttime sex is bad for your relationship, America's most misspelled words, and a preview of Thursday's big interview with ABC's Martha Raddatz on her new book about war heroes. In a world where everything is a brand — athletes, celebrities, companies, ideas, movements — Donny Deutsch helps you understand who's winning, who's losing, and why it matters. New episodes every Tuesday (Brands of the Week) and Thursday (long-form interview). Subscribe so you never miss a drop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it take to lead, connect, and build trust with people who may think, communicate, or experience the world differently than you? In this re-released episode of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer sits down with leadership expert, speaker, and author Stephanie Chung to explore the power of ally leadership and how leaders can create stronger, more connected, and higher-performing teams. Stephanie shares insights from her book Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You and discusses the importance of empathy, communication, inclusion, and self-awareness in today's workplace. The conversation also explores how embracing different perspectives can strengthen leadership effectiveness, workplace culture, innovation, and long-term success. Tune in to hear: What ally leadership really means in today's workplace How to build trust across different backgrounds and perspectives Leadership habits that help teams feel more connected and engaged The role empathy and communication play in high-performing teams How leaders can create environments where people thrive ABOUT STEPHANIE CHUNG  Stephanie is not just an #1 international best-selling author; she's a force of strategic innovation, a beacon of change, and a titan in the world of business growth and human capital management. With over 30 years of experience, Stephanie has cultivated a reputation for turning challenges into opportunities and transforming growing businesses into thriving hubs of success. As a pioneering woman of color in the aviation sector, Stephanie has ascended to top executive roles, influencing industry standards and driving impactful growth. Her tenure as Chief Growth Officer at Wheels Up and President at JetSuite is marked by innovative strategies that significantly expanded membership and redefined brand positioning. As an aviation trailblazer, Stephanie has 35 years of aviation experience, from a baggage handler to being the first African-American private aviation company president. Never meeting an expectation she didn't plan on surpassing, she led a private aviation sales team that beat their quota of almost $1B every year. Apart from her executive accomplishments, Stephanie is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and author whose work has been translated into 60 different languages. Her works, particularly in applying neuroscience to sales and leadership, offer groundbreaking and practical strategies for professional growth. Her engaging and practical insights have made her a top rated speaker for events and organizations in search of deeper, longer lasting, change. Stephanie's influence also extends to her board roles with organizations like the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the National Business Aviation Association, where her strategic insights have guided significant organizational transformations. At the heart of Stephanie Chung's extraordinary success is her unwavering belief in the strength of human connections, fueling a journey that inspires us all to be better, together.  Stephanie has received numerous accolades. She was named: Adweek's "Women Trailblazers", Robb Report's "23 Black Visionaries Who are Changing the Luxury World", WLTH's "Top Women in Travel & Hospitality", Savoy Magazine's' "America's Most Influential Black Executives, and D CEO Magazines "Top 500" She is listed on the Ebony Power 100, was a contributing columnist for Inc. and Black Enterprise Magazine, and has influence that transcends borders. She is a former contributor to Inc. Magazine and can be seen on ABC, NBC, CBS, and more. Her journey is a testament to the power of strategic thinking, resilience, and unwavering dedication to excellence.  Connect with Stephanie: Order Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You TikTok: @thestephaniechung Instagram: @thestephaniechung Linkedin: thestephaniechung YouTube: @Coachstephaniechung Facebook: TheStephanieChung Website: www.stephaniechung.com  About the Host of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer: Kristel Bauer is a corporate wellness and performance expert, keynote speaker and TEDx speaker supporting organizations and individuals on their journeys for more happiness and success. She is the author of Work-Life Tango: Finding Happiness, Harmony, and Peak Performance Wherever You Work (John Murray Business November 19, 2024). With Kristel's healthcare background, she provides data driven actionable strategies to leverage happiness and high-power habits to drive growth mindsets, peak performance, profitability, well-being and a culture of excellence. Kristel's keynotes provide insights to "Live Greatly" while promoting leadership development and team building.   Kristel is the creator and host of her global top self-improvement podcast, Live Greatly. She is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur, and she is an influencer in the business and wellness space having been recognized as a Top 10 Social Media Influencer of 2021 in Forbes. As an Integrative Medicine Fellow & Physician Assistant having practiced clinically in Integrative Psychiatry, Kristel has a unique perspective into attaining a mindset for more happiness and success. Kristel has presented to groups from the American Gas Association, Bank of America, bp, Commercial Metals Company, General Mills, Northwestern University, Santander Bank and many more. Kristel has been featured in Forbes, Forest & Bluff Magazine, Authority Magazine & Podcast Magazine and she has appeared on ABC 7 Chicago, WGN Daytime Chicago, Fox 4's WDAF-TV's Great Day KC, and Ticker News. Kristel lives in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area and she can be booked for speaking engagements worldwide. To Book Kristel as a speaker for your next event, click here. Website: www.livegreatly.co  Follow Kristel Bauer on: Instagram: @livegreatly_co  LinkedIn: Kristel Bauer Twitter: @livegreatly_co Facebook: @livegreatly.co Youtube: Live Greatly, Kristel Bauer To Watch Kristel Bauer's TEDx talk of Redefining Work/Life Balance in a COVID-19 World click here. Click HERE to check out Kristel's corporate wellness and leadership blog Click HERE to check out Kristel's Travel and Wellness Blog Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician for any recommendations specific to you or for any questions regarding your specific health, your sleep patterns changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.  Always consult your physician before starting any supplements or new lifestyle programs. All information, views and statements shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not medical advice or treatment recommendations.  They have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration.  Opinions of guests are their own and Kristel Bauer & this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests.  Neither Kristel Bauer nor this podcast takes responsibility for possible health consequences of a person or persons following the information in this educational content.  Always consult your physician for recommendations specific to you.

Malinda Sanna operates at the intersection of creativity, culture, and data, using insight as a creative tool to shape how luxury brands connect with people.As the Founder and CEO of LookLook, she built a 7-figure proprietary consumer insights platform over 15 years with a global team of 16. Her methodology centers around what she calls “Cultivated Communities” — highly curated groups of individuals, particularly high-net-worth women, recruited one relationship at a time rather than through traditional third-party panels.She is the creator of Beautyverse, a proprietary community of 1,000+ affluent women focused on luxury beauty, as well as Luxuryverse, communities designed to provide brands with deeper and more nuanced consumer insights beyond traditional market research.Through more than 900 studies and 30,000+ research participants worldwide, Malinda has helped brands including Shiseido, BMW, LVMH, Google, Mondelez, and Nestlé better understand not just what consumers want, but why they want it — and how to translate that into meaningful products, storytelling, and experiences.Her work spans a global network of executives in New York, Paris, Dubai, São Paulo, Beijing, and Shanghai. She also writes a Substack newsletter followed by luxury brand executives around the world.Before founding LookLook, Malinda studied classical music and English literature at Goshen College and worked as a singer. She has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, CNBC, HuffPost, Forbes, Bloomberg, Business Insider, The Washington Post, AdWeek, and Inc.LinksWebsite: LookLookInstagram: @luxuryverse100Support the showIf you would like to get involved with The Wider Lens, you can review sponsorship and contribution options here, as well as become a member here.Remember to stay safe and keep your creative juices flowing!---Tech/Project Management Tools (*these are affiliate links)Buzzsprout*Airtable*17hats*ZoomPodcast Mic*

Brandon Lentino is a prominent creative executive in the social media and creator economy space, currently serving as the Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at Viral Nation, one of the world's leading social media marketing transformation agencies. His work focuses on bridging the gap between traditional brand marketing and the fast-moving "social-first" world of creators and influencers. Chief Creative Officer: Lentino oversees the creative direction for global brands, ensuring that their social presence isn't just "ads," but content that resonates with modern audiences (especially Gen Z and Gen Alpha). VN Studio: Following Viral Nation's acquisition of Eight Seven Media (a production agency Lentino co-owned), he helped spearhead the creation of "VN Studio." This internal hub focuses on high-speed content production, distribution, and monetization for athletes, celebrities, and brands. Strategy: He is a vocal advocate for "engineering UGC" (User Generated Content). His philosophy is that brand activations should be designed as "social engines" where the physical experience is built specifically to prompt sharing and digital engagement. Zillow & "Demure" Marketing: He led a viral 2025 campaign for Zillow featuring creator Jools Lebron, leveraging the "very demure, very mindful" trend to reach first-time homebuyers on social media. Super Bowl Coverage: In February 2026, he was a featured expert for ADWEEK's "Big Game Live Show," providing real-time analysis of Super Bowl ads, social sentiment, and creator-led marketing strategies. 7-Eleven "Summer of Sev": He oversaw the award-winning creative for 7-Eleven Canada, which used a digital-first approach to position the brand as a convenience leader for a younger, social-savvy demographic.Lentino often speaks about the "Hybrid of Tech and Humanity." He argues that while a strong tech stack (social listening, AI, and analytics) is necessary, it must be combined with human expertise to know when a brand should enter a cultural conversation without looking like an "outsider."

Haley Sacks — better known as Mrs. Dow Jones — is the financial educator helping millions of people stop being weird about money and start building real wealth. Named Creator of the Year by Adweek, featured on Fortune's 40 Under 40, and dubbed by The Wall Street Journal as “the financial guru millennials listen to,” Haley has built a movement around making personal finance feel less like punishment and more like power. She's also the author of the brand-new book Future Rich Person: The New Rules for Building Wealth — a modernized, judgment-free playbook for anyone who's tired of the old advice that doesn't work anymore. This conversation is a masterclass in mindset, money, and why the old American Dream needs a complete rewrite. Takeaways:• The Old American Dream Is Dead — Use the New Rules: Your parents' money playbook was built for a world that no longer exists. Pensions, affordable homes, single-employer careers, and predictable student debt are gone. Haley breaks down why financial literacy in 2026 has to include AI, business structures like LLCs and S-corps, retirement vehicles for entrepreneurs, and the negotiation tactics nobody taught you. If you're still playing by 1985 rules, you're already losing.• Money Magnifies Who You Already Are: There's no shame in wanting to be rich — money is just a tool that amplifies your character. If you're a giver, money lets you give bigger. If you want to take care of your family, build your community, or leave a job that doesn't serve you, wealth is the fuel that makes it possible. Drop the guilt, own the goal, and start building a financial life that matches the impact you want to have.• Money Etiquette Is a Wealth Skill: Money is energy — and how you carry yourself with it determines how it flows back to you. Holding too tight, nickel-and-diming, or being tone-deaf about other people's situations doesn't just hurt your relationships, it actually slows your wealth-building. Move with grace, lead with humor, communicate openly with your people, and treat money etiquette like a non-negotiable part of your financial education. Sound Bytes:“Money only magnifies who you are.” “The system was always created by the people that it serves.” “Money is energy. If you hold on to it too tight, it's not going to come to you as freely.” Connect & Discover Haley:Instagram: @mrsdowjonesWebsite: mrsdowjones.comLinkedIn: @mrsdowjonesTikTok: @mrsdowjonesBook: Future Rich Person

Paddy Smith is Chief Creative Officer at Born Social, where he oversees the creative output for the agency. He's spent his time at Born building a 60+ strong department spanning Creative, Design and Production, developing some of the brightest creative minds in the industry. He's pitched, won and delivered best in class creative across iconic brands like Guinness, Smirnoff, Mars, Uber and Ford, helping them transform into social-first brands. Paddy's work has collected creative awards from The One Show, The Creative Circle, The Webbys, Shortys, Marketing Week, Digiday and Campaign Awards and sat on juries with The Shorty Awards and Creative Review. Paddy has also written and hosted multiple industry events on varied creative subjects spanning brand design, generative AI, influencers, social-first brand building and modern craft, as well as writing thought pieces on creativity for the likes of The Drum, Adweek, Future London Academy and Creative Review.

Asha Shivaji is redefining what it means to innovate in marketing effectiveness and ad tech. As a woman of color and former Google executive, she co-founded SeeMe Index in 2023 to help brands and agencies unlock growth with untapped audiences. Powered by its proprietary Responsible AI, SeeMe is building the industry standard for identity measurement and provides data-driven insights, benchmarks, and certifications that connect representation to measurable business outcomes, from creative effectiveness to long-term brand loyalty.Before launching SeeMe, Asha led strategy for Google's global marketing services organization, where she co-developed global initiatives with the UN's Unstereotype Alliance to dismantle harmful stereotypes in media. Her career includes partnerships with iconic brands such as Apple, Disney, Moët Hennessy, Estée Lauder, and Johnson & Johnson, where she modernized marketing strategies and drove business impact.Asha is an honoree on Ad Age's Tech Power List, ADWEEK's Innovator 50, a Campaign US 2025 Inspiring Woman in the Championing Change category, and 2025 Advertising Week Future is Female Winner. She is a sought-after speaker and advisor and has shared her insights on AI, DEI, and the future of inclusive marketing at major forums, including Cannes Lions, Advertising Week, SXSW, Ad Age's AI Marketing Playbook, CEW's DEIB Forum, the World Women's Federation, and thinkLA's Diversity Summit. She continues to serve as a consultant for the United Nations Unstereotype Alliance and is a vocal advocate for building ethical technology that reflects the richness of human experience.Asha holds a BA in Economics and Political Science and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.

Ari Paparo and guest co host Paul Knegten are joined by Mark Stenberg, Senior Media Reporter at Adweek, for a conversation about the current state of digital media and publishing. They discuss Vox Media's reported plans around its podcast business, how publishers are adjusting to declining search and social traffic, and why newsletters, podcasts, and direct audience relationships are becoming more important. The episode also touches on OpenAI's advertising plans, Ziff Davis acquisitions, AppLovin's growth, and broader shifts happening across media and ad tech. Takeaways Podcasts are becoming more valuable media assets than traditional websites. Publishers are shifting away from dependence on search and social traffic. Peer to peer sharing and push notifications are growing distribution channels. AI platforms are changing how users discover products and content. Ziff Davis is betting that legacy media brands still hold strong value. Media companies are increasingly focused on owning direct audience relationships. OpenAI advertising products could become a meaningful channel for marketers. AppLovin continues to expand its influence across digital advertising. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and guest welcome 01:59 Marketecture Live heads to Chicago 05:30 Why digital media is in chaos 06:23 Vox Media podcast network sale discussions 08:53 The future of Vox Media's remaining brands 10:27 How media business models evolved over time 11:51 Why podcasts are more defensible than websites 16:04 Verson's media acquisition strategy 18:08 Ziff Davis buying digital media brands 22:23 Publishers leaning into push notifications and sharing 26:02 The rise of dark social and private sharing 29:58 OpenAI launches advertising products 32:52 AI generated podcasts and content experiments 37:01 AppLovin's continued growth in ad tech 40:19 Taboola earnings and publisher strategy 46:31 Kochava FTC settlement discussion 48:45 The end of Ask Jeeves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every B2B marketer knows the funnel concept is broken. Yet that same model your team is being measured on right now was invented in 1898, and it's surviving because nobody at the top has been given permission to use anything else.Carolyn and Amber react to a recent article in Adweek from Professor Mark Ritson, where he calls the funnel the "cockroach of marketing concepts", a 128-year-old model that has outlived every attempt to replace it. They break down why every critique fails to land, and why the real problem isn't the funnel. It's the classrooms teaching it, the boards demanding it, and the marketers who can't challenge it without risking their careers.Topics covered in this episode:Why a model from 1898 still anchors how B2B companies measure marketing in 2026The gap between what the funnel was designed to do (a market snapshot) and what it's used for (SQL-to-opp conversion, MQL targets)Why every "funnel is dead" critique fails to kill it, and who actually keeps it aliveThe Amazon "full funnel campaigns" moment, and what it says when even the best companies are still using the languageWhy a snapshot in time tells you nothing about where to move budget, why CAC is up, or what to do when pipeline missesIf you've tried to kill the funnel inside your own org and watched it survive every conversation, this is the episode. The cockroach isn't the funnel. It's the system that keeps demanding it.-----------------------------------------------------Want answers now?

In this episode, Britten is joined by Matt Bull for a rich conversation on branding, messaging, repetition, and the resistances that can arise when magical, creative people try to clarify what they do in the world. Together, they introduce their upcoming Mystics Making Money workshop, Have You Tried Making It Weirder?, and explore branding not as something flattening or corporate, but as a process of becoming more coherent, more recognizable, and more deeply aligned with your own magic. Along the way, Britten reflects on her own history with branding, from early agency days to the creation of Emergence Astrology, and the ways this process has helped her articulate and anchor what is most true in her work. Topics They Cover: Britten and Matt's shared history in advertising, branding, and creative work, and how that informs this collaboration Why branding can feel resistant or confining to artists, mystics, and intuitives How repetition and consistency function as powerful tools for helping people understand and remember your work Branding as a magical practice: sigils, taglines, visual identity, messaging, and the creation of a doorway into your world Britten's personal experiences with branding, including the creation of her logo and the emergence of Emergence Astrology What participants can expect inside Have You Tried Making It Weirder?, including positioning, visual identity, messaging, and interactive exercises At the heart of this conversation is the idea that branding does not have to mean becoming less yourself. In fact, the deeper invitation is the opposite: to get clearer about your you-ness, to commit to what is actually yours, and to let that clarity support how your work moves through the world. This episode is a thoughtful and energizing entry point into a workshop designed to help people get more honest, more potent, and yes, a little weirder, in how they share what they make.   About Matt Bull: Matt Bull is a Clio and Emmy-winning advertising creative director who was once called "an advertising folk hero (of sorts)" by Adweek. Over his 30 year career he has helped brand, launch, rebrand, and grow hundreds of businesses of all sizes. The boutique creative agency he founded is entering its 13th year of helping local and global brands alike break through the oversaturated marketing space with personality-driven and occasionally even outright weird creativity. Website: https://heykickstand.com/    Learn More: Britten invites listeners to join her and Matt in the 5th installment of Mystics Making Money: Have You Tried Making It Weirder? in May, a four part workshop series focused on branding as a practice of clarifying and expressing what you do. Together, they'll work through core elements like positioning, messaging, and visual identity, with an emphasis on consistency and repetition as the way your work becomes recognizable and remembered.  The workshop includes both teaching and interactive exercises, offering a space to actually work with your material, refining how you communicate what you're offering and shaping something others can more easily see, understand, and step into. Registration opens on Friday, April 24, for a ONE DAY ONLY EARLY BIRD. You can join the newsletter to be the first to know by clicking here and learn more here.   ++++   E M E R G E N C E  A S T R O L O G Y ⁠⁠https://brittenlarue.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@brittenlarue Order Living Astrology Join my newsletter here Check out my new podcast CRYSTAL BALLERS on Spotify, Podbean, and Apple.   +++   Podcast art: Angela George. Podcast music: Jonathan Koe.  

From the archive: This episode was originally recorded and published in 2022. Our interviews on Entrepreneurs On Fire are meant to be evergreen, and we do our best to confirm that all offers and URL's in these archive episodes are still relevant. Yesim Saydan is a renowned social media expert, Forbes- and AdWeek-featured speaker, LinkedIn Creator Program alum, and Google Accelerator mentor sharing expertise with global leaders. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. On LinkedIn, share your daily struggles, real life content gets the most engagement. 2. Most people post and ghost, they create content but don't stick around. 3. Even big influencers want comments, they want to be seen and heard. Connect with Yesim on LinkedIn - Yesim's LinkedIn Sponsors HighLevel - The ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies. Learn more at HighLevelFire.com. 50 - Join JLD on his free '50 days to something' video series on YouTube and create something special in 50 days. Blinkist - Turn your spare moments into learning moments with Blinkist. Go to Blinkist.com/fire to start your free trial and lock in an extra 30 percent off today.

In the summer of 2006, a teenage girl began posting video diaries to a then-new site called YouTube under the handle lonelygirl15. Within weeks she was a phenomenon—even though no one knew the truth of who she really was. The frenzied quest to change that, to solve the mystery of lonelygirl15, would ultimately land her on the front page of newspapers and the covers of magazines. Twenty years on, lonelygirl15 is both an artifact of an earlier online era and an origin point for the internet as we know it: a place full of video diaries, parasocial relationships, influencers, hyper-engaged fandoms, and the knowledge that you can't always believe your eyes.In this episode, you'll hear from some of the people who investigated lonelygirl15 way back in 2006: culture critic Virginia Heffernan, who writes the Substack Magic + Loss and co-hosts the podcast Omnishambles; entertainment journalist Richard Rushfield of The Ankler; Emmy Award-winning producer Jenni Powell; and one-time cybersleuth Chris Patterson. We also speak with the people involved in making lonelygirl15: Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Jessica Rose Phillipps, and Amanda Goodfried. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's Supervising Producer. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.Thank you to Greg Goodfried, Matt Foremski, and Tom Foremski. Special thanks to Ryan Broderick and Grant Irving of the podcast Panic World, who introduced Willa to the lonelygirl15 story on a recent episode of their show and suggested it might make a good topic for Decoder Ring.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This EpisodeCresci, Elena. “Lonelygirl15: how one mysterious vlogger changed the internet,” The Guardian, June 16, 2006.Davis, Joshua. “The Secret World of Lonelygirl,” WIRED, Dec. 2006.Falconer, Ellen. “An oral history of lonelygirl15,” RNZ, June 16, 2016.Flemming, Brian. “Arguments for a real LG15 fall short,” Brian Flemming's Weblog, Aug. 25, 2006.Foremski, Matt and Tom Foremski. “SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 11, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household…,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Glaister, Dan. “Cult blog a fake, admit 'lonelygirl' creators,” The Guardian, Sep. 9, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia and Tom Zeller Jr. “The Lonelygirl That Really Wasn't,” New York Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “A Pause for Some Words From Bree,” New York Times, Aug. 23, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “Sweet, Weird, Fraud or Other,” New York Times, Aug. 24, 2006.“LGPedia,” LG15, 2016.“lonelygirl15 and when lies could be fun,” Panic World, Feb. 4, 2026.“Lonely Girl And All Her Friends,” On the Media, Sep. 1, 2006.Nudd, Tim. “Lonelygirl15 still a mystery, for now,” ADWEEK, Sep. 1, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Lonelygirl15 Video Blog Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Mystery Fuels Huge Popularity of Web's Lonelygirl15,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 8, 2006.Wendt, Milo A. “LonelyGirl15: It's Not So Lonely In The Bay Area,” milowent, Aug. 30, 2006. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the summer of 2006, a teenage girl began posting video diaries to a then-new site called YouTube under the handle lonelygirl15. Within weeks she was a phenomenon—even though no one knew the truth of who she really was. The frenzied quest to change that, to solve the mystery of lonelygirl15, would ultimately land her on the front page of newspapers and the covers of magazines. Twenty years on, lonelygirl15 is both an artifact of an earlier online era and an origin point for the internet as we know it: a place full of video diaries, parasocial relationships, influencers, hyper-engaged fandoms, and the knowledge that you can't always believe your eyes.In this episode, you'll hear from some of the people who investigated lonelygirl15 way back in 2006: culture critic Virginia Heffernan, who writes the Substack Magic + Loss and co-hosts the podcast Omnishambles; entertainment journalist Richard Rushfield of The Ankler; producer Jenni Powell; and one-time cybersleuth Chris Patterson. We also speak with the people involved in making lonelygirl15: Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Jessica Rose Phillipps, and Amanda Goodfried.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's Supervising Producer. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.Thank you to Greg Goodfried, Matt Foremski, and Tom Foremski. Special thanks to Ryan Broderick and Grant Irving of the podcast Panic World, who introduced Willa to the lonelygirl15 story on a recent episode of their show and suggested it might make a good topic for Decoder Ring.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This EpisodeCresci, Elena. “Lonelygirl15: how one mysterious vlogger changed the internet,” The Guardian, June 16, 2006.Davis, Joshua. “The Secret World of Lonelygirl,” WIRED, Dec. 2006.Falconer, Ellen. “An oral history of lonelygirl15,” RNZ, June 16, 2016.Flemming, Brian. “Arguments for a real LG15 fall short,” Brian Flemming's Weblog, Aug. 25, 2006.Foremski, Matt and Tom Foremski. “SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 11, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household…,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Glaister, Dan. “Cult blog a fake, admit 'lonelygirl' creators,” The Guardian, Sep. 9, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia and Tom Zeller Jr. “The Lonelygirl That Really Wasn't,” New York Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “A Pause for Some Words From Bree,” New York Times, Aug. 23, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “Sweet, Weird, Fraud or Other,” New York Times, Aug. 24, 2006.“LGPedia,” LG15, 2016.“lonelygirl15 and when lies could be fun,” Panic World, Feb. 4, 2026.“Lonely Girl And All Her Friends,” On the Media, Sep. 1, 2006.Nudd, Tim. “Lonelygirl15 still a mystery, for now,” ADWEEK, Sep. 1, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Lonelygirl15 Video Blog Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Mystery Fuels Huge Popularity of Web's Lonelygirl15,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 8, 2006.Wendt, Milo A. “LonelyGirl15: It's Not So Lonely In The Bay Area,” milowent, Aug. 30, 2006.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the summer of 2006, a teenage girl began posting video diaries to a then-new site called YouTube under the handle lonelygirl15. Within weeks she was a phenomenon—even though no one knew the truth of who she really was. The frenzied quest to change that, to solve the mystery of lonelygirl15, would ultimately land her on the front page of newspapers and the covers of magazines. Twenty years on, lonelygirl15 is both an artifact of an earlier online era and an origin point for the internet as we know it: a place full of video diaries, parasocial relationships, influencers, hyper-engaged fandoms, and the knowledge that you can't always believe your eyes.In this episode, you'll hear from some of the people who investigated lonelygirl15 way back in 2006: culture critic Virginia Heffernan, who writes the Substack Magic + Loss and co-hosts the podcast Omnishambles; entertainment journalist Richard Rushfield of The Ankler; producer Jenni Powell; and one-time cybersleuth Chris Patterson. We also speak with the people involved in making lonelygirl15: Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Jessica Rose Phillipps, and Amanda Goodfried.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's Supervising Producer. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.Thank you to Greg Goodfried, Matt Foremski, and Tom Foremski. Special thanks to Ryan Broderick and Grant Irving of the podcast Panic World, who introduced Willa to the lonelygirl15 story on a recent episode of their show and suggested it might make a good topic for Decoder Ring.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This EpisodeCresci, Elena. “Lonelygirl15: how one mysterious vlogger changed the internet,” The Guardian, June 16, 2006.Davis, Joshua. “The Secret World of Lonelygirl,” WIRED, Dec. 2006.Falconer, Ellen. “An oral history of lonelygirl15,” RNZ, June 16, 2016.Flemming, Brian. “Arguments for a real LG15 fall short,” Brian Flemming's Weblog, Aug. 25, 2006.Foremski, Matt and Tom Foremski. “SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 11, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household…,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Glaister, Dan. “Cult blog a fake, admit 'lonelygirl' creators,” The Guardian, Sep. 9, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia and Tom Zeller Jr. “The Lonelygirl That Really Wasn't,” New York Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “A Pause for Some Words From Bree,” New York Times, Aug. 23, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “Sweet, Weird, Fraud or Other,” New York Times, Aug. 24, 2006.“LGPedia,” LG15, 2016.“lonelygirl15 and when lies could be fun,” Panic World, Feb. 4, 2026.“Lonely Girl And All Her Friends,” On the Media, Sep. 1, 2006.Nudd, Tim. “Lonelygirl15 still a mystery, for now,” ADWEEK, Sep. 1, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Lonelygirl15 Video Blog Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Mystery Fuels Huge Popularity of Web's Lonelygirl15,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 8, 2006.Wendt, Milo A. “LonelyGirl15: It's Not So Lonely In The Bay Area,” milowent, Aug. 30, 2006.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the summer of 2006, a teenage girl began posting video diaries to a then-new site called YouTube under the handle lonelygirl15. Within weeks she was a phenomenon—even though no one knew the truth of who she really was. The frenzied quest to change that, to solve the mystery of lonelygirl15, would ultimately land her on the front page of newspapers and the covers of magazines. Twenty years on, lonelygirl15 is both an artifact of an earlier online era and an origin point for the internet as we know it: a place full of video diaries, parasocial relationships, influencers, hyper-engaged fandoms, and the knowledge that you can't always believe your eyes.In this episode, you'll hear from some of the people who investigated lonelygirl15 way back in 2006: culture critic Virginia Heffernan, who writes the Substack Magic + Loss and co-hosts the podcast Omnishambles; entertainment journalist Richard Rushfield of The Ankler; Emmy Award-winning producer Jenni Powell; and one-time cybersleuth Chris Patterson. We also speak with the people involved in making lonelygirl15: Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Jessica Rose Phillipps, and Amanda Goodfried. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's Supervising Producer. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.Thank you to Greg Goodfried, Matt Foremski, and Tom Foremski. Special thanks to Ryan Broderick and Grant Irving of the podcast Panic World, who introduced Willa to the lonelygirl15 story on a recent episode of their show and suggested it might make a good topic for Decoder Ring.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This EpisodeCresci, Elena. “Lonelygirl15: how one mysterious vlogger changed the internet,” The Guardian, June 16, 2006.Davis, Joshua. “The Secret World of Lonelygirl,” WIRED, Dec. 2006.Falconer, Ellen. “An oral history of lonelygirl15,” RNZ, June 16, 2016.Flemming, Brian. “Arguments for a real LG15 fall short,” Brian Flemming's Weblog, Aug. 25, 2006.Foremski, Matt and Tom Foremski. “SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 11, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household…,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Glaister, Dan. “Cult blog a fake, admit 'lonelygirl' creators,” The Guardian, Sep. 9, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia and Tom Zeller Jr. “The Lonelygirl That Really Wasn't,” New York Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “A Pause for Some Words From Bree,” New York Times, Aug. 23, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “Sweet, Weird, Fraud or Other,” New York Times, Aug. 24, 2006.“LGPedia,” LG15, 2016.“lonelygirl15 and when lies could be fun,” Panic World, Feb. 4, 2026.“Lonely Girl And All Her Friends,” On the Media, Sep. 1, 2006.Nudd, Tim. “Lonelygirl15 still a mystery, for now,” ADWEEK, Sep. 1, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Lonelygirl15 Video Blog Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Mystery Fuels Huge Popularity of Web's Lonelygirl15,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 8, 2006.Wendt, Milo A. “LonelyGirl15: It's Not So Lonely In The Bay Area,” milowent, Aug. 30, 2006. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the summer of 2006, a teenage girl began posting video diaries to a then-new site called YouTube under the handle lonelygirl15. Within weeks she was a phenomenon—even though no one knew the truth of who she really was. The frenzied quest to change that, to solve the mystery of lonelygirl15, would ultimately land her on the front page of newspapers and the covers of magazines. Twenty years on, lonelygirl15 is both an artifact of an earlier online era and an origin point for the internet as we know it: a place full of video diaries, parasocial relationships, influencers, hyper-engaged fandoms, and the knowledge that you can't always believe your eyes.In this episode, you'll hear from some of the people who investigated lonelygirl15 way back in 2006: culture critic Virginia Heffernan, who writes the Substack Magic + Loss and co-hosts the podcast Omnishambles; entertainment journalist Richard Rushfield of The Ankler; Emmy Award-winning producer Jenni Powell; and one-time cybersleuth Chris Patterson. We also speak with the people involved in making lonelygirl15: Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Jessica Rose Phillipps, and Amanda Goodfried. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring's Supervising Producer. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.Thank you to Greg Goodfried, Matt Foremski, and Tom Foremski. Special thanks to Ryan Broderick and Grant Irving of the podcast Panic World, who introduced Willa to the lonelygirl15 story on a recent episode of their show and suggested it might make a good topic for Decoder Ring.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This EpisodeCresci, Elena. “Lonelygirl15: how one mysterious vlogger changed the internet,” The Guardian, June 16, 2006.Davis, Joshua. “The Secret World of Lonelygirl,” WIRED, Dec. 2006.Falconer, Ellen. “An oral history of lonelygirl15,” RNZ, June 16, 2016.Flemming, Brian. “Arguments for a real LG15 fall short,” Brian Flemming's Weblog, Aug. 25, 2006.Foremski, Matt and Tom Foremski. “SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 11, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Foremski, Tom. “The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household…,” Silicon Valley Watcher, Sep. 12, 2006.Glaister, Dan. “Cult blog a fake, admit 'lonelygirl' creators,” The Guardian, Sep. 9, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia and Tom Zeller Jr. “The Lonelygirl That Really Wasn't,” New York Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “A Pause for Some Words From Bree,” New York Times, Aug. 23, 2006.Heffernan, Virginia. “Sweet, Weird, Fraud or Other,” New York Times, Aug. 24, 2006.“LGPedia,” LG15, 2016.“lonelygirl15 and when lies could be fun,” Panic World, Feb. 4, 2026.“Lonely Girl And All Her Friends,” On the Media, Sep. 1, 2006.Nudd, Tim. “Lonelygirl15 still a mystery, for now,” ADWEEK, Sep. 1, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Lonelygirl15 Video Blog Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 2006.Rushfield, Richard and Claire Hoffman. “Mystery Fuels Huge Popularity of Web's Lonelygirl15,” Los Angeles Times, Sep. 8, 2006.Wendt, Milo A. “LonelyGirl15: It's Not So Lonely In The Bay Area,” milowent, Aug. 30, 2006.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded live at the Marketecture Live Conference in New York City, this episode brings together Cosette Chaput, CEO & Co-Founder, Always Alpha; Allyson Felix, Co-Founder, Always Alpha; Wes Felix, Co-Founder, Always Alpha; and Zoe Ruderman, Chief Content Officer, ADWEEK, to unpack how female athletes are reshaping brand strategy, storytelling, and ROI. From breaking outdated sports marketing models to building authentic athlete-driven campaigns, this conversation dives into why brands need to rethink their approach now, before the window closes ahead of LA28. Takeaways Women's sports is a high-growth business, not a trend, delivering strong and compounding ROI. Traditional sports marketing models were built for men and do not translate effectively to female audiences. Brands miss the mark by targeting male audiences instead of engaging female consumers authentically. Female athletes outperform influencers in engagement and trust despite having smaller followings. The biggest opportunity lies in storytelling. Female athletes bring relatable, real-life narratives that drive deeper connection. Waiting until major events like the Olympics is too late. Effective campaigns require long-term buildup. Investment in women's sports is currently top-heavy, creating sustainability risks if the broader ecosystem is not developed. Brands that win collaborate with athletes as partners, not just endorsers. Categories like beauty are leading the way, while sectors like finance and automotive still lag behind. The window of opportunity is open but closing fast as competition and valuations rise. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the session and why women's sports matter now 00:56 The origin story of Always Alpha 02:43 The problem with one-size-fits-all athlete representation 03:18 Why women's sports is still misunderstood as a trend 04:40 Why traditional sports marketing does not work for women 05:32 Looking ahead to LA28 and the future of brand investment 06:19 The risk of a women's sports bubble 08:15 What brands should be doing differently by LA28 09:08 The power of 360 storytelling in women's sports 10:15 Authenticity and relatability as marketing advantages 11:23 What brands are getting wrong today 12:39 Why storytelling beats templated campaigns 14:05 Female athletes vs influencers, engagement and impact 15:19 ROI in women's sports and brand trust 16:07 The education gap with brands entering sports 16:59 Why brands need to act now 17:26 Categories leading the way (beauty, retail) 18:17 Opportunities in underrepresented industries 19:00 How Always Alpha defines success today 20:17 What is driving optimism for the future 23:05 Closing remarks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Too many leaders are still trying to succeed by becoming someone they think they're supposed to be—quieter, tougher, more polished, less human. And in the process, they're leaving their greatest strengths at the door.My guest believes that's exactly backward. Today, we welcome back Claude Silver to discuss her latest book, Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart. We explore what authentic presence really looks like at work, and why pretending to be a different kind of leader rarely gets better results. Claude and I unpack why many leaders have accountability backwards, why the more power you gain, the less truth you often hear, and how being open and emotionally present doesn't weaken communication but rather prevents under-communicating with your team. Finally, Claude offers us a simple, actionable practice you can use right away to take a small step and rebuild trust and connection where it matters most.This is a conversation with one of my favorite humans on the planet about stopping the performance of leadership—and starting to lead from the strengths that made you worth hiring in the first place.To access the episode transcript, go to www.TheEmpathyEdge.com, search by episode title.Listen in for…The importance of bringing your unique perspective, talents, and humanity to your team.What authentic presence looks like at work.Protecting healthy boundaries with courage and kindness while still connecting with others.Signs your culture is thriving and how to get there. Why is the room with everyone in it smarter than any one person in that room?The reason actions say more than words ever will.The dangerous byproduct of silence."When a person is real, they are not carrying the burden or the weight of any other facade." — Claude SilverAbout Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer, VaynerX, and Author of Be Yourself at Work:Claude Silver is on a mission to revolutionize leadership, talent, and workplace culture. She is the world's first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, partnering with CEO Gary Vaynerchuk to drive their success. Silver has earned Campaign US's Female Frontier Award and AdWeek's Changing the Game Award, and she electrifies audiences at national and international conferences, as well as at organizations including Meta, Google, US Government agencies, and the US Armed Forces. She has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts and featured in The New York Times, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. Silver lives in New Jersey with her wife and two young children. She is the author of Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart.Connect with Claude: Website: claudesilver.com VaynerX: beyourselfbook.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/casilver Instagram: instagram.com/claudesilver Book: Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart Connect with Maria:Get Maria's books: Red-Slice.com/booksHire Maria to speak: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake the LinkedIn Learning Courses! Leading with Empathy and Balancing Empathy, Accountability, and Results as a Leader LinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaFacebook: Red SliceGet your copy of The Empathy Dilemma here- www.theempathydilemma.com

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.    This week, I have the pleasure of welcoming Claude Silver to the show. She is on a mission to revolutionize leadership talent and workplace culture. She is the world's first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX and partners with CEO Gary Vaynerchuk to drive their success. Claude has earned Campaign's U.S. Female Frontier Award and Adweek's Changing the Game Award. She is also the author of the new book, Be Yourself at Work.    THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders who want to build high-performing teams without sacrificing humanity.    TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…in this conversation, Claude shares why she believes AI should enhance human potential and not replace it. She explains why burnout is often a leadership system's problem rather than a personal failure. And she challenges managers to create cultures where people feel safe enough to speak up, honest enough to name their imposters, and supported enough to grow.   KEY TAKEAWAYS: AI should enhance human capability while preserving meaningful human connection. Emotional fluency allows leaders to choose their response instead of reacting impulsively. Energy management matters more than time management in preventing burnout. Psychological safety creates the conditions for belonging and high performance. Leaders scale culture by modeling self-awareness and vulnerability first.   WHAT I LOVE MOST…Claude reframes leadership as something deeply personal before it's organizational. You can't build belonging for others if you haven't built awareness in yourself. Her reminder that "you are the CEO of you" feels especially powerful in a world that's moving faster than ever.   Running Time: 26:15   Subscribe on iTunes    Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X    Find Claude Online: Website LinkedIn   Claude's Book: Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart