Podcasts about global chief strategy officer

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.

What if AI isn't just changing marketing, but changing what a brand actually is? Melissa Jackson-Parsey has spent her career helping some of the world's most recognizable organizations reinvent themselves at the intersection of strategy, creativity, technology, and experience. As Global Chief Strategy Officer at RGA, She leads a worldwide team shaping brands for the intelligence age, from rebooting Android to launching the new sports streaming brand from ESPN, Fox, and Warner Brothers Discovery. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why building brands for AI agents requires context over cleverness How to shift marketing focus from single campaigns to generating intelligent systems The critical difference between bottom line efficiency and top line growth in the AI age Why modern talent needs to evolve from T-shaped to M-shaped expertise How the craft of human taste prevents brand slop Episode Chapters (00:00) Intro (00:45) What Endless Tech Evolution Hasn't Changed About Brand Building (02:06) Encoding Brands for Machines, Agents, and Markdown Files (06:05) How AI is Changing What a Brand Actually Is (08:36) Moving from Making Campaigns to Making Intelligent Systems (12:08) Human Value, Critical Thinking, and the Role of Taste (16:33) The Biggest Strategic AI Mistake Brands Make Today (20:12) Cultivating M-Shaped Talent and the Future of Skillsets (24:41) A Brand That Made MJP Smile About Melissa Jackson Parsey Melissa Jackson Parsey is the Global Chief Strategy Officer at R/GA, having worked at the forefront of brand, innovation, and experience design across three continents. She leads a global team of strategists, designers, coders, and writers, accountable for shaping brands and experiences that add value to people and businesses. In the past year, they've rebooted the world's largest operating system brand, Android, and created the much-anticipated live sports streaming brand from ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Over the course of her career, she's led brand transformation initiatives for a broad array of organizations, including Microsoft, Under Armour, Google, IBM, the UN, and for Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson's portfolio. What Brand Has Made Melissa Smile Recently? Melissa shared her appreciation for the brand identity work created for the Amazon rainforest. The team mapped the literal curvature of the Amazon River to craft a custom typeface and visual identity system, blending deep environmental context with exquisite design craft. Resources & Links Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn. Check out the R/GA website. Listen & Support the Show Watch or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon/Audible, TuneIn, and iHeart. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to help others find the show. Share this episode — email a friend or colleague this episode. Sign up for my free Story Strategies newsletter for branding and storytelling tips. On Brand is a part of the Marketing Podcast Network. Until next week, I'll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Creative Strategy Lions jury president Sarah Lemarié and juror Dan Hill share powerful advice on how to level up strategic thinking, their stand out campaigns from Cannes Lions, why they look for 'strategic firsts' in the jury room, and a warning on using AI in awards entries. Hosted by Effie Insight's John Bizzell. Guests: Sarah Lemarié, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis France Dan Hill, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Wieden+Kennedy Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: Cannes Lions Creative Strategy Winners 2026 01:46 – Meet the Jury: Sarah Lemarié & Dan Hill on Judging Creative Strategy Lions 03:43 – Creating a Benchmark: Why Creative Strategy Lions Build a “Body of Work” 07:11 – Defining ‘What Good Looks Like' in Creative Strategy at Cannes Lions 10:21 – Human Ingenuity & Empathy in a World of AI: What the Winners Proved 11:38 – Grand Prix Breakdown: Heineken's “The Pub That Refused to Die” in Ireland 13:18 – Community Ownership & Brand Purpose: How Heineken Helped Save Local Pubs 16:09 – Gold Winner Spotlight: Faroe Islands Space Program and Tidal Energy Reframing 17:48 – “Simple but Clever” Strategy: Making Sustainable Tech Feel Playful & B2B-Friendly 20:12 – AI and Creative Strategy: Dove Real Reviews, Claude and LLM‑Ready Ideas 23:37 – Classic vs New Media: How Dove and Claude Blend Old CPG and New Tech 24:38 – How to Win a Creative Strategy Lion: Entry Writing, Storytelling & Results 26:40 – The Fosbury Flop of Strategy: Novelty, Firsts and Playful Creativity at Cannes For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcastsSign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latestBook a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe

Today, we have Angad Soin, the Managing Director for Australia & New Zealand and Global Chief Strategy Officer at Xero. Xero is the cloud-based accounting software that started in New Zealand, listed in Australia and now had 4.4 million subscribers globally in over 180 countries. Angad joined Xero back in 2021, he was elevated to lead Xero’s global strategy function in 2023 and late last year, he took on the added responsibility of leading Xero in Australia and New Zealand - Xero’s biggest region. In this conversation, we explored a whole range of fascinating topics including: How success often comes from doing the things counter to the obvious  To scale globally, Xero needed to do less in a few places really well How the “Rule of 40” has evolved into the “Rule of X” because the market rewards growth more than it rewards pure cash flow _ Download the free app (App Store): http://bit.ly/FluxAppStore Download the free app (Google Play): http://bit.ly/FluxappGooglePlay Daily newsletter: https://bit.ly/fluxnewsletter Flux on Instagram: http://bit.ly/fluxinsta Flux on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flux.finance —- The content in this podcast reflects the views and opinions of the hosts, and is intended for personal and not commercial use. We do not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, statement or other information provided or distributed in these episodes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Con un valore di oltre 470 miliardi di dollari, seppur in lieve calo, per il 13esimo anno consecutivo Apple è il brand più potente al mondo. Lo rivela Best Global Brands 2025, la classifica firmata Interbrand che ogni anno mette in fila le 100 marche di maggior valore a livello globale. La classifica di quest'anno conferma anche gli altri due brand sul podio, Microsoft e Amazon, ma contiene molte sorprese che, tra le righe, raccontano le profonde trasformazioni che il mondo dei consumi sta attraversando. Ne abbiamo parlato con Manfredi Ricca, Global Chief Strategy Officer di Interbrand.La crisi economica si misura anche con l'orlo delle gonne: se sale e le gonne, quindi, si accorciano non c'è da preoccuparsi, se scende e le gonne si allungano arriva la recessione. È solo uno degli elementi del "guardaroba della recessione", tendenza protagonista del focus sui trend di questa settimana, che abbiamo mappato con Elena Marinoni, senior trend researcher di Nextatlas.Omaggio a Diane Keaton nella riflessione finale con il sociologo dei consumi Francesco Morace. Attrice straordinaria, musa di Woody Allen, ma anche icona di stile, con quell'uso ironico ed elegante dei capi maschili - la camicia, la cravatta, il panciotto - simbolo di emancipazione e libertà.

Small businesses in Australia are changing. For one thing, there’s 2.6 million of them, employing 5.4 million people and contributing $590 billion to our GDP.But the reasons for starting a business are evolving, with more people looking for the autonomy and financial independence it gives them. Success looks different to every founder, but surprisingly, almost a third of all entrepreneurs don’t have an endgame in mind.Sean Aylmer speaks to Angad Soin, Managing Director Australia & New Zealand, and Global Chief Strategy Officer at Xero about why it seems so few founders are thinking about their future, the risks of operating without a long-term strategy, and tactics for entrepreneurs to create an endgame that will turn their vision for success into a reality.Xero is a supporter of this podcastFind out more: https://fearandgreed.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Tod Rathbone discusses trends related to digital marketing and why it matters including: the evolution of live media, digital ad tracking, AI's impact on marketplaces and media, identity mapping and platform challenges, AI and online safety, challenges of digital information management, and infrastructure vulnerabilities. Recording Date: 2 Sep 2025 Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bio:  Tod Rathbone is a seasoned marketing strategist and agency leader with over four decades of experience guiding global brands and creative organizations through transformation and growth. He currently serves as a fractional Chief Strategy Officer for Infinity Marketing Team and Reed Art Department. Previously, Tod was Global Chief Strategy Officer at WONGDOODY, where he built and scaled the strategic offering that helped transform the agency from a $25M regional shop into a $200M global digital innovation company. He also served on the 4A's Board of Directors, contributing industry leadership at the national level. His earlier leadership roles at Publicis Sapient, Razorfish, and Band Digital spanned brand strategy, digital transformation, and innovation for Fortune 100 clients including Samsung, Nestlé, and Apple. Known for shaping agencies into engines of growth and cultural relevance, Tod combines deep expertise in brand building, digital innovation, and creative strategy with a proven track record of scaling businesses, inspiring teams, and delivering award-winning client work. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

We have been making progress in incorporating emotional responses into measures of public perceptions to predict behavior. On this episode, we talk with Tomas Gonsorcik, Global Chief Strategy Officer at DDB Worldwide, about innovations in considering how what we feel says something about what we tend to think and do. 

How Brene Brown quotes helped Mercado Libre win dozens of Lions, some real talk on creators and inside stories from a Lions jury room. Hosted by WARC's David Tiltman.Guests: Sean Summers, Chief Marketing Officer, Mercado Libre; Fernando Ribiero, Global Chief Strategy Officer, GUT; Anastasia Leng, CEO and Founder, CreativeX; John Bizzell, Head of Awards, WARC

In a world where artificial intelligence is rapidly redefining the boundaries of commerce, the latest episode features Holden Bale, the Global Chief Strategy Officer at Merkle, as he explains the effects of AI in both digital and B2B sectors. Holden shares information on how generative AI and large language models are reshaping consumer expectations and market dynamics.  The episode explores the democratization of AI tools, the importance of aligning business and technology strategies, and the challenges businesses face in implementing customer-centric and omnichannel approaches. Throughout the discussion, Holden emphasizes the need for businesses to creatively apply AI technologies to drive growth and innovation in the evolving digital commerce landscape. Show Highlights: Role of AI in agentic and B2B commerce. AI's impact on consumer expectations and omnichannel experiences. Discussion on democratizing AI tools in digital commerce. Importance of aligning business and technology strategies for successful AI-driven business transformation. Exploration of the plateau in e-commerce growth and the necessity of customer centricity, omnichannel strategies, and digital transformation in mature markets. Challenges and opportunities in integrating AI with human expertise to drive business innovation and efficiency. Follow and Review: We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review,” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second, and it helps spread the word about the podcast. Supporting Resources: Holden Bale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holdenbale/  Merkle: https://www.merkle.com/  Learn more about Agentforce for Commerce: https://www.salesforce.com/commerce/ai/  Join the Commerce Cloud Community: https://sforce.co/commerce-crew *** Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com. Let them know I sent you.

Dr. Kawin Boonyapredee is the Global Chief Strategy Officer at Applied Quantum. In this episode, he joins host Charlie Osborne to discuss practical steps businesses can take to prepare themselves for upcoming quantum threats, including implementing quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms, developing a transition plan, and more. Leading the charge with cutting-edge solutions built to stand strong in a quantum world, Applied Quantum is equipping businesses with the latest strategies to stay ahead of the curve — and ahead of the hackers. Visit https://AppliedQuantum.com and https://SecureQuantum.com to learn more about our sponsor.

Dr. Kawin Boonyapredee is the Global Chief Strategy Officer at Applied Quantum. In this episode, he joins host David Braue to discuss today's quantum threat landscape, including how it ties into the cybersecurity industry, as well as sharing an overview of Applied Quantum, what the company does, and more. Leading the charge with cutting-edge solutions built to stand strong in a quantum world, Applied Quantum is equipping businesses with the latest strategies to stay ahead of the curve — and ahead of the hackers. Visit https://AppliedQuantum.com and https://SecureQuantum.com to learn more about our sponsor.

In this episode of the AW 360 Podcast, we sit down with Sean McDonald, Partner and Global Chief Strategy Officer at Rethink, a fiercely independent creative agency making waves in the industry. Sean dives into the key pillars of brand strategy for 2025, the art of staying memorable in a cluttered marketing landscape, and why … Continue reading "Building Bold Brands: Strategy, Creativity & The Power of Independence with Rethink's Sean McDonald"

In this episode of Spikes Excitement Talks, Gordon sits down with Suzanne Powers, Founder and CEO of Powers Creativity and former Global Chief Strategy Officer and President at McCann Worldgroup. With a career that has shaped some of the most iconic agencies—including TBWA, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and McCann—Suzanne shares her journey through the world of brand strategy, creative transformation, and what it truly takes to power creativity. They explore the impact of disruption as a strategic tool, the importance of embedding creativity at every level of an organization, and how brands can create culturally resonant work. Suzanne also reflects on the evolving creative landscape, why the best strategies are never built in isolation, and how bold thinking can drive meaningful change. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on the future of creativity, leadership, and why starting a “selfish company” might just be the best career move.

In the latest episode of the Meaningful Media Podcast, we dive into Havas Media Network's recently released 2025 Media Imperatives report, a robust report rich with perspectives from consumers, media platforms, and brands.Capturing consumer attention is one of today's biggest challenges. With rising expectations and a new era of consumer agency, brands must balance AI with the human touch, push personalization without overstepping, and deliver seamless, privacy-first media experiences. It's a tricky dance—but the stakes have never been higher.With Havas Media Network experts Jamie Seltzer, Global EVP, CSA & Mx Analytics, Seema Patel, CPC, ELI-MP, Global Managing Director, Mx Intelligence, Joanna Lawrence, Global Chief Strategy Officer, and Jonathan Waite, Global Managing Director, Mx, host Ben Downing explores how brands and partners can turn insights from this report into action. Ready to make 2025 the year of meaningful media? Let's get started.

WARC's Paul Stringer talks to Mimi Turner, Head of Marketplace Innovation at LinkedIn, Harjot Singh, Global Chief Strategy Officer at McCann & McCann Worldgroup, and James Hankins, Global VP Marketing, Strategy & Planning at SAGE. Discussing the value of making a promise to the customer in B2B marketing.Stay up-to-date with the latest marketing and advertising news with our free daily newsletter.

These days, many consumers are finding buying decisions overwhelming and walking away from interactions online. It's getting harder to tell what's real – from product reviews to descriptions – which can lead to hesitation and confusion in people's shopping habits. This poses a real challenge for organizations engaged in digital commerce. In this episode, we'll hear from Corie Barry, C.E.O. of Best Buy, and Baiju Shah, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Accenture Song. 

The new season of the podcast is only a week away, so before we get started – why not have a listen to some of the best bits from Series 7? From a deep dive into women's health to why the industry thrives on a little healthy competition, there's plenty to discover in last season's highlights. As well as the EMJ GOLD team's analysis of the key themes, you'll hear from six former guests: Mercedes Diz, Chief Marketing Office, Almirall Nichole Davies, Global Chief Strategy Officer, VML Health Edmond Chan, Senior Director, EMEA TA Lead, Haemato-Oncology, J&J Stefan Woxström, Senior Vice President, Europe and Canada, AstraZeneca Danie Du Plessis, EVP, Pharmaceutical Operations, Kyowa Kirin Harmony Garges, Chief Medical Officer ViiV Healthcare.

In this episode of Yeah, That's Probably an Ad, Luz Corona and Rebecca Stewart are joined by Sara Garibaldi, President at BODEN Agency, and Lee Maicon, Global Chief Strategy Officer at The Community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WARC's Amy Rodgers talks to Harjot Singh, Global Chief Strategy Officer at McCann Worldgroup and Islam ElDessouky, Global VP Creative at Coca-Cola. Discussing the themes from the winning campaigns from the Creative Effectiveness Lions and insights from the judging room.

Harjot Singh, Global Chief Strategy Officer at McCann Worldgroup chairs a panel at the IPA Talent & Diversity Conference 2024 exploring partnerships and progressive portrayals. Harjot is joined by Pranay Chandra, Head of Whiskey, Diageo, Sara Denby, Head of the Unstereotype Alliance Secretariat, UN Women UK and Sabrina Godden-Tuma, Global Creative Director, Vodafone.

Marketing needs mavericks. That's why ‘larger than life' Harjot Singh has been at the top of his game for so long – from Account Executive to Global Chief Strategy Officer, from Asia to North America and back again. Twice. In this episode, Harjot sits with LIONS CEO Simon Cook to break down the stories of his Award-winning career, offer advice from his present, and look ahead to his future. You'll get to know the 5 pieces of work that helped Harjot make history and cement his industry reputation as a true maverick in the making. LIONS is the home of creativity – and everyone in the making. Be part of it: Join us 17–21 June at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and follow LIONS on Instagram and LinkedIn for more inspiration from all corners of marketing and creativity.

Ella es Managing Director y Global Chief Strategy Officer for Marketing en Accenture Song Nueva York. Una defensora de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible que en 2019 copresidió la Cumbre anual de Medios de los ODS en la ONU. En ese sentido cocreó y lanzó el Pencil de One Show de Desarrollo Sostenible, que juzgó en 2020. Este año es la presidenta del Jurado de Cannes Lions de Business Transformation.Esa noche hablamos de lo que significa ser la primera mujer argentina en presidir el Festival Internacional de la Creatividad, Cannes Lions. También conversamos sobre capital humano y de cómo las buenas ideas pueden cambiar al mundo.Recordamos el pasado, compartiendo un buen mate y un whisky doble. Me habló de su tierra natal, Buenos Aires, de su pasión por el desarrollo sostenible y el impacto que puede tener en las personas.Profundizamos en la responsabilidad y complejidad que representa ser jurado en Cannes. Abordamos el tema de la competencia creativa y de lo benéfica que puede ser para la sociedad. Y por último, nos prometimos vernos en Cannes Lions para celebrar juntos los premios otorgados, la amistad, la vida y las buenas charlas.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.

Tom Morton, R/GA's Global Chief Strategy Officer, crafts winning brand strategies and champions innovation across disciplines. Tiffany Rolfe, R/GA's Global Chair/Chief Creative Officer, drives innovative brand strategies for industry leaders like Nike and Verizon, blending storytelling and technology for business growth. On The Menu: 1. Describing the 'Fever Economy': The discomfort of a fluctuating economy, impacting various sectors simultaneously. 2. Anticipating Recession Duration: Avoiding predictions but emphasizing brands' role in aiding consumers with fewer resources. 3. Strategizing Amid Turbulence: Boosting customer confidence through UX design amidst economic uncertainty. 4. Navigating Economic Challenges: Advising brands on assisting customers to achieve more with fewer resources. 5. Aligning Brand Strategy with User Experience: The importance of holistic consumer connections for long-term relationships. 6. Redefining Brand Purpose: Encouraging brands to redefine their long-term purpose and business strategy beyond current products. 7. Elon Musk's Twitter Influence: Concerns about changes impacting Twitter's safety and productivity due to Musk's influence Click here for a free trial: ⁠https://bit.ly/3RV1Emq Follow us on social media to hear from us more - Facebook- https://bit.ly/3ZYLiew Instagram- https://bit.ly/3Usdrtf Linkedin- https://bit.ly/43pdmdU Twitter- https://bit.ly/43qPvKX Pinterest- https://bit.ly/3KOOa9u Happy creating! #TomMorton #TiffanyRolfe #RGA #MarketerOfTheMonth #UXCurrents #Outgrow #Podcastoftheday #MarketingPodcast #UX

In a special bonus episode of the Digital and Dirt Podcast, host Ian Dallimore spoke with a diverse range of industry experts and thought leaders in the Lamar Green Room backstage at the DPAA Global Summit, held in New York in October. The conference serves as a forum for discussion of the latest trends and innovations in DOOH. In this episode, we capture some of the most insightful moments and compelling conversations that unfolded on the main stage featuring: François de Gaspé Beaubien, Chairman & CCO at Zoom Media (0:35-5:32)Kira Rich, Global Senior Product Marketing Manager at Google (5:40-12:16)Craig Benner, Founder & CEO at Accretive Media (12:25-19:47)Stephanie Gutnik, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Billups (19:55-25:09)Mikhail Damiani, Co-Founder at Blue Bite (25:15-32:21)Scott Fiaschetti, Senior Executive at Geopath (32:30-35:28)Alejandro Claboirne, Executive Director at Mediahub (35:35-40:12)For the final two interviews, Ian passes the mic to a special guest host, John Bresemann, for engaging discussions with:James Denman, SVP of Global Strategy at Esprit (40:18-49:31)Jillian Zech, Sr. Manager of Digital Brand Media at Brooks Running (49:39-57:42)

Series ThreeThis episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features Tom Morton, Global Chief Strategy Officer at R/GA. He helps brands solve the biggest challenges of a changing world: launching and scaling innovation, turning revolutionary technologies into legitimate brands, identifying and winning a radically different next generation of users, defining a purpose to transform the organisation and unlock future growth, developing marketing for today's media and culture, redefining brands from words to actions to create value through interface and innovation, responding authentically to the societal challenges of remote work and racial justice. As a standard setter for creativity and marketing effectiveness, Tom's been a judge for the Effies, Cannes Lions and the IPA Effectiveness Awards, and has won multiple effectiveness awards for increasing revenue and brand equity. As a champion of talent, he sits on the selection committee of the Advertising Hall of Fame and Hall of Achievement to honour diverse leaders who make a positive impact in the creative industries. So, and as you can imagine, we cover a lot of ground in this dynamic conversation: it's not every day that you hear philosophy, psychology and sociology mentioned in the same sentence when discussing brand actions. But first, we have to get past his 'Day One' in agencyland, that saw him tasked with sending faxes to clients. The question is, was he any good as a Jnr Account Exec?

Out-of-home media has seen tremendous growth in recent years. Much of this can be attributed to the proliferation of digital signage and the convenience of purchasing inventory via programmatic platforms. We've come a long way from manually placing posters in transit shelters. And today's guest, Stephanie Gutnik, is helping accelerate this change. Stephanie is the Global Chief Strategy Officer at Billups—a leading global out-of-home tech company reinventing the way brands and agencies approach planning and placement. But a career in advertising wasn't part of her original life plan. Stephanie had her sights set on broadcast journalism. That is until a summer internship left her second-guessing that goal. After graduating from university, Stephanie took a role with News America Marketing's Montreal office, working on direct mail, couponing, and in-store media solutions. From there she moved to Broadsign, working her way up to VP of Business Development—and with it a move to New York City. Stephanie would go on to hold senior roles at Outfront Media, Verizon, and Yahoo. Stephanie Gutnik stops by to chat about growing in Winnipeg, studying in Montreal, working at some of the biggest players in out-of-home media, and the differences between working in Toronto and New York City. www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/

For the past two decades, Harjot Singh's unwavering zeal to excel in comprehending people, brands, and cultures from both creative and commercial angles has propelled him on a remarkable global journey. With an extensive footprint spanning six countries across three continents, he has cultivated, delivered, and moulded strategic solutions for some of the planet's most successful brands. In 2021, Harjot assumed the esteemed role of Global Chief Strategy Officer at McCann and soon went on to become Groupwide Global Chief Strategy Officer of McCann Worldgroup in 2023, a renowned advertising agency brand with a presence across its worldwide network. Prior to this, he held the position of Chief Strategy Officer EMEA. Harjot's journey includes a stint as the Head of Planning at BBDO China in Shanghai from 2003 to 2006 before he transitioned to North America. On this side of the globe, he has held significant planning and leadership roles at Cossette Canada, Leo Burnett Canada, and Grey Canada, where he stood as the Head of Planning. We discuss: -Growing up in India -Realising you're different from others -Falling in love with advertising and pursuing a career in it -Being told, “You must be more humble.” -Deciding you want a global role -What to do if others don't believe in you -Becoming Global Chief Strategy Officer of one of the most iconic agencies - Mccann Worldgroup -Repairing your relationship with your family -Never dimming your light for others Chapters: 00:00 Trailer 01:12 Intro 01:32 Ashley's Intro Poem 02:28 Harjot's Summary 07:03 Harjot's Childhood 14:42 Finding A Passion For Adverting 18:33 Relationship With Family 22:14 Education 27:14 Challenges In Early Adulthood 34:26 Getting Your Foot In The Door 42:44 Wanting A Global Role 48:32 Working In China 55:45 Moving Back To Canada 58:23 Moving To New York 01:02:36 McCann 01:10:37 Not Letting Limits Define You 01:15:33 Advice On Getting A Global Role 01:25:06 Becoming Global Chief Strategy Officer At McCann 01:27:44 What Needs To Change In The Industry 01:32:02 Family Relationship Reflections 01:37:07 Final Words 01:38:18 Charles' Summary 01:39:54 Ashley's Final Poem 1:41:29 Outro Watch on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HOWIBECAME__⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We're on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Unity & Motion⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - A London based production company specialising in commercials and branded content Email: info@weunify.co.uk This is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UNIFY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast. Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Unity & Motion⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: Director: Charles Parkinson Poet & VO Artist: Ashley Samuels-McKenzie Editor:  Catherine Singh

As we delve into the depths of this digital agora, we must confront the delicate balance between freedom and responsibility. 

In this episode, our friend and colleague Tod Rathbone, Global Chief Strategy Officer at WongDoody, joins us for a drink and a chat about the world of Experience Strategy and its role in Digital Transformation. We frame up the two leadership mindsets of 'ambition v. fear', and explore which one led him to pivot away from advertising in order to focus solely on digital. We also discuss what Strategy means in the age of AI, the balance a strategist must strike when considering both 'what if' and 'what is', and Tod's concept of the 'the tyranny of enablement'. Drinks: Fort Hill Brewery Fresh Pick American IPA, New Realm Brewing Company Hoptropolis Tropical IPA, Brewery Ommegang Neon Rainbows New England Hazy IPA Links: www.wongdoody.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatbubblesup/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whatbubblesup/support

There is plenty you could go deep on when talking about what it takes to scale a business from 1m to 1bn+, but in this session you'll hear 30 years of experience doing exactly that - compressed into a handful of key focus areas that really matter - principles that have proven to make the difference when surrounded by options and chaos.   Video: https://youtu.be/CQdAzSfhz54   Want to join the SaaStr community? We're the

In this episode Richard Shotton, author of The Choice Factory focused on applying behavioural science to advertising, and Sean Healy, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Carat, join us to discuss Media Decarbonization, bringing dentsu's programs from theory to practice, and the consumer behavior changes that are influencing the work.

Ever overthink things and hesitate to find your leadership voice? Stop being in the background and start evolving your own unique perspective so that you can become a great leader. Find inspiration from those you admire and successful companies driving the way to the next big thing. Every successful leader has their own distinct style. I host Nelson Freitas, CSO of Omnicom, where he shares his experience of becoming a successful leader by finding the courage to develop his own style and finding inspiration from unique sources. Nelson Freitas is Global Chief Strategy Officer at Omnicom (OPMG). Omnicom Group is a strategic holding company that has the industry's most diverse portfolio of more than 1,000 companies serving over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.  Nelson has served in leadership roles with BBDO, TBWA, Ogilvy and Wunderman Thompson and worked on brands like Eli Lilly, Ford, Microsoft, P+G, SAP, Google, Citibank, etc.  What You'll Discover in this Episode: The biggest fact makes for great leadership. What Nelson learned about giving and receiving feedback from his first mentor. Why it's vital for every leader to develop their own point of view. Surprising leaders and industries that can inspire and shape your point of view. A failure that accelerated his growth and job promotion. Resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelson-freitas-b616a93/ (Nelson's LinkedIn Profile) https://omnicommediagroup.com/ (Omnicom) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serena_Williams (Serena Williams) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ford (Tom Ford) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Amiri (Amiri) https://resources.kenblanchard.com/blanchard-leaderchat/developing-your-leadership-point-of- (Developing Your Leadership Point of View), Ken Blanchard https://www.ariannahuffington.com/the-sleep-revolution/ (The Sleep Revolution), Arianna Huffington Quotes: “Be good. Lead with purpose.“ ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning https://www.benfanning.com/speaker/ (Speaking and Training inquires) https://followbenonyoutube.com (Subscribe to my Youtube channel) https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/ (LinkedIn) https://www.instagram.com/benfanning1/ (Instagram) https://twitter.com/BenFanning1 (Twitter)

Nathan Brown is Global Chief Strategy Officer for UM in New York. We worked in the same building on William St in Sydney about 15 years ago. Nathan was a breath of fresh air. He built teams that expected to do creative things with their clients' media buys. He was a good coach and easy to collaborate with. He's still all of these things. But many years have passed since we worked together so I wanted to see how a coach-oriented, creative thinker was faring in the high-stakes game of media planning in New York. We discuss a lot of C-words: - Creativity in media planning, - Media buying as a commodity, - Being a CEO of PHD Media, - Being a CSO, - Culture, - Collaborating with advertising agencies, - Clients, and - Whether Nathan is a company man at heart :) You can find Nathan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-brown-8115153/ ** Find out about our 4-week virtual summer camp at http://www.sweathead.com. It starts on July 21, 2022. **

In this episode of The AdPod Wayne sits down to chat with Fern Everall, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Hybrid Theory. They discuss the evoluton of the service layer, the different types of companies within it, the roles they serve and the evolution of them - particularly since the pandemic.It's a fun episode with tonnes of real world experience and very rounded thinking. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Start trusting your gut as a leader. This can seem like something that could easily go wrong and have disastrous consequences, particularly when it goes "against the data". But, making tough decisions is something that ALL leaders have to do at some point or another, and more often than not these decisions are based on instinct. This is especially true when the data is incomplete or bad. I hosted Anush Prabu, US Chief Strategy Officer and Global Chief Strategy Officer, Creative Transformation for MediaCom. He explains how in these moments, it's important to trust your intuition and make the decision that you believe is best for everyone involved. We dive into three key strategies to trust your gut and make better decisions. Anush has been an instrumental part of the transformational growth of Mediacom since 2017, leading it to become the fastest-growing media agency and being awarded Agency of the Year three times during that period. He has also been credited for helping shape several of the agencies' offerings, including Creative Systems, which provides platform-first creativity that drives relevance and growth for clients such as Dell, Pokémon, and P&G. He has been honored as an Adweek's Media All-Star, Adweek Young Influential, International Innovator, and Integrated Marketing Influential over the years. He is also an ardent champion of diversity and inclusion, advocating for the cause on industry boards. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anush-prabhu-a11a1b15/ Company Link: https://www.mediacom.com/us What You'll Discover in this Episode: The valuable leadership lesson he learned from his job going door-to-door. How the art of listening helped them create an award-winning campaign for Pokemon. The big leadership skill in the Metaverse. The biggest mistake he sees leaders making in the Metaverse. 3 steps for trusting your gut as a leader. Why trusting your gut can lead to better decisions. A critical step to creating a culture of trust for your team. Why employees must stand up to their boss (and how to do it). The catastrophic cost of turnover and how to avoid it. Two failures that lead to BIG wins down the road. Quotes: “Failure is the best teacher.” “You don't have to have all the answers before you make a move.” ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning https://www.benfanning.com/speaker/ (Speaking and Training inquires) https://followbenonyoutube.com (Subscribe to my Youtube channel) https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/ (LinkedIn) https://www.instagram.com/benfanning1/ (Instagram) https://twitter.com/BenFanning1 (Twitter)

On this episode, OPMG's Global Chief Strategy Officer, Nelson Freitas, and C-Space's Vice President of Research, Manila Austin, join us to introduce their Customer Experience Index, why it's a game changer for marketers and how marketers can improve their work if they know their Brand Intent.

Brian Shniderman, US CEO and Global Chief Strategy Officer at Openpay (Opy), spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about building the next generation of BNPL, smart BNPL!Here is what they covered: Brian's background and his journey to Opy What's Opy's mission? What's the problem that Opy is solving? Level setting: how does BNPL work? How do you assess credit risk?  What does Opy provide? Financing for larger purchases, e.g. healthcare / dental purchases, auto repairs, education How do you differ from other BNPL solutions out there? Carefully selected industry verticals, strategic partnerships with the vendors and financing facility of USD 270m+ from Goldman Sachs BNPL has been growing tremendously in some markets, but it's unavailable in some. Where does Brian see the most significant potential What's the technology behind Opy's solution Business model From Australia to the US, UK and New Zealand - key markets and ambitions Recommended book: A CEO Only Does Three Things: Finding Your Focus in the C-Suite  The best way to reach out: Brian Shniderman (Linkedin) or e-mail: bshniderman@opy.com

Andy talks to Nathan Brown, Global Chief Strategy Officer at UM.

On this episode, RAPP's Global Chief Strategy Officer, Shiona McDougall, joins us to share the insights you can gather from taking the Marketing IQ self-assessment tool her team developed to assess your brand's modern marketing capability across three dimensions of Customer,  Context and Content.  Try it from yourself here: https://www.marketing-iq-assessment.com/kern. 

On this episode, RAPP's Global Chief Strategy Officer, Shiona McDougall, joins us to share her insights on how the death of third-party cookies in 2022 is really just the death of lazy personalization and the new dawn for more meaningful relationships between brands and consumers.

Produced in partnership with FutureBrand to coincide with the launch of the new 'FutureBrand Super Sustainability Report', Russell Goldsmith was joined online to discuss some of the issues raised in the report and the potential impact super sustainability might have on the future of business, by: - Jon Tipple, Global Chief Strategy Officer, FutureBrand - Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, Global Director of Product and Marketing, Octopus Energy Group - Axel Löber, Senior Vice President Global Brand and Marketing, E.ON The report is available to download at https://www.futurebrand.com/super-sustainability-report

Su quali terreni, assi, valori si gioca oggi la competizione tra i brand? E' il punto di partenza di questa nuova puntata della serie speciale di Essere e Avere, puntate monografiche sulle profonde trasformazioni avvenute in questi mesi anche nel mondo dei consumi. Superato il concetto di "settori", Interbrand propone quello di "arene": una nuova prospettiva che sposta l'attenzione dai prodotti e servizi alle nuove abitudini ed esigenze dei consumatori. Come la Play Arena, in cui s'intersecano gaming, intrattenimento e sport. Ne parliamo con Manfredi Ricca, Global Chief Strategy Officer di Interbrand.

We hear the stories behind the strategies and creative that fueled the success of Burger King and, more recently, the chicken sandwich wars that reenergized the Popeye's brand.

In this deep dive edition, Adam Ferrier helps us understand the principles of psychology to make better advertising and business decisions. We explore co-creation as a strategy, the IKEA effect, building a social mechanic into your cause, main principles of psychology for business owners to use, when to skill-up your customer, eliminating complexity in advertising and much much more! Stay tuned until the end to hear Adam's thoughts on creativity - can it be turned on? Global Chief Strategy Officer at Cummins & Partners, Adam has won loads of awards in advertising and is the author of The Advertising Effect. Adam is a regular commentator on consumer behaviour on TV and radio, including being a regular on the Gruen series, Sky News, Ten News and Triple M. Adam has written for The Australian, The Drum and Adnews, amongst others, and his comments and articles have also appeared in publications like TIME, Fast Company, The Guardian, and the Wall Street Journal. Mentioned in this episode Ep 044: (Raw edition) Nine essential business books Book - The Advertising Effect by Adam Ferrier Who Gives A Crap? Book - How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp MSIX - Marketing Science Ideas Xchange Consumer Psychology Interest Group Thank you for listening… Thanks for taking the time to listen to the Razor Sharp Show. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please share it on Facebook and/or leave a review on iTunes. Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes so you can get the latest episodes as soon as they’re published. If you have a question or would just like to say hello, feel free to shoot us an email: hello@razorsharpshow.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Timothy Keiningham is one of the world's most highly acclaimed loyalty experts, an internationally renowned speaker, consultant, and author. He is the Senior Vice President, Head of Consulting and Global Chief Strategy Officer at Ipsos Loyalty, one of the world's largest market research firms. His most recent book, Why Loyalty Matters, provides compelling insight into how our loyalties, large and small, lay the foundation for our happiness, and determine the kind of world we live in. The book offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what loyalty is, what it isn't and how to unlock its power.

Timothy Keiningham is one of the world's most highly acclaimed loyalty experts, an internationally renowned speaker, consultant, and author. He is the Senior Vice President, Head of Consulting and Global Chief Strategy Officer at Ipsos Loyalty, one of the world's largest market research firms. His most recent book, Why Loyalty Matters, provides compelling insight into how our loyalties, large and small, lay the foundation for our happiness, and determine the kind of world we live in. The book offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what loyalty is, what it isn't and how to unlock its power.