This week on Own It, we’re talking to Lisa Kribs from TGW Studio. She is based in Rochester, New York, and came up through the creative side of the business. Her firm is a social impact marketing and creative studio that helps clients tell their stories. She is also a musician and recently finished an E-P! As you can imagine, we had a lot to discuss. I’m always excited to learn from creative brains. This episode certainly has a lot of that. Find links to Lisa Kribs's LinkedIn profile and TGW Stu...
Jul 15, 2025•36 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Erin Gwiazdon from Level Mpls. She spent several years at Level before joining the executive team, then moving into an ownership role. Most of her career has been on the agency side, but did jump out and work for brands in healthcare and arts. We had a great conversation about spending time outdoors on the lake, her journey to ownership and her thoughts on closing the gap in advertising agency ownership. There’s so much great insight and learning in this epis...
Jul 08, 2025•38 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Kristen O’Neall of Mirage Media. She came up through the account services side of the business and founded Mirage Media last year. Kristen is an admitted workaholic and is passionate about being a strategic visionary for her clients. We had such a fun conversation about her journey, her influences and her thoughts on the state of gender balance in advertising agency ownership. She is so energetic and smart. We learned a lot from this conversation. We're sure ...
Jun 24, 2025•31 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Liz Seelye from StarryEyed Strategy. Her firm believes to be starryeyed means to be creative, collaborative and visionary so you can dream new ideas and make them a reality. But she also has a renewable energy company with her husband, trail runs and has been to over 40 countries, a dozen or so with one or more of her five children. As you can tell, Liz is multifaceted and fascinating. We had such a great conversation and, of course, got into the challenges o...
Jun 17, 2025•36 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Kerry McKibbin from Mischief. What can you say about the success of her firm? They’ve been in the top three agencies on Ad Age’s A-List each of the last four years, including topping that list twice in that time. Their work is amazing. Their success is something we’re all both impressed by and maybe a little envious of. As you might imagine, I tried to mine her for all sorts of insights from her journey, her leadership, her thoughts on the business and more. ...
Jun 10, 2025•45 min
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Emily Stutzman from Happylucky. She calls her firm a creative community built on the ethos of Fear Less, Love More. They do work that shifts hearts, minds, and culture. Being in Oregon – one of my favorite places – Emily loves to grow things. Everything from plants to clients to her agency. We talked about so much … her journey, her approach to clients, and her perspective on the gender gap in agency ownership. You’re going to love this episode. You can find...
Jun 03, 2025•41 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Kelly Long from Manifold. It is a creative experiential marketing firm that aims to create experiences that engage, delight, captivate and inspire people. And inspiring, Kelly certainly is. Host Christy Hiler and Long talked about her journey, her role models and dug into the topic of the gender gap in agency ownership. Kelly is also a fellow University of Oregon grad, so it is extra special to have her on the show for Christy! You will love her insights in t...
May 20, 2025•33 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Mary Cornette from Fuel. While we have the same last name, we don’t think we’re related. It’s spelled different. But, her family does have roots in Kentucky, so who knows? Mary is based in Greenville, South Carolina and her firm Fuel is a brand-building agency. She landed there from New York where she spent time at R/GA and Digitas, among others. Her brand experience is a Who’s Who list of brands and her experiences and perspective are a treasure to learn fro...
May 13, 2025•37 min
This week on Own it we’re talking to Benita Conde from Create Radical Love. After many years in the advertising industry at stops like Fallon, BBH and Anomaly, Benita started Create Radical Love which is a life coaching and consulting firm for people who want to radically love their whole life experience. So this episode will be informed by her agency experience, but include much, much more. We talked about her journey, her firm’s intent and work, and of course the challenges we face with the ge...
May 06, 2025•54 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Shannon Langrand from her self-titled agency, Langrand. She founded the agency 22 years ago and has built an amazing firm focused on solving tough problems, telling great stories and doing meaningful work. Shannon’s father was a Nicaraguan revolutionary. She is bi-cultural with her roots there, but her upbringing in Illinois. She now calls Houston, Texas, home where her agency brings that diversity to bear for her clients. She’s writing a book, but we got a c...
Apr 29, 2025•45 min
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Hani Anis from Kahani Digital. Her firm is a little over four years old. It focuses on telling the stories of South Asian owned and founded brands through digital marketing and social media. Hani grew up in Maryland, but her family is from India. Her geographic journey is as diverse as her professional one. We talked about her early interest in medicine, then work in investment banking and beyond. COVID shifted her priorities and needs and Kahani Digital was...
Apr 22, 2025•25 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Alyssa Toro from Connelly Partners. She is a senior partner and chief creative officer there and has been with the firm since its inception 25 years ago. She worked in a few design shops early in her career including Leonard Monahan, Hill-Holliday and Engle. The latter is where she met eventual business partner Steve Connelly. We talked about her journey to ownership, the challenges we face in the industry today, and so much more. You’re going to learn a lot ...
Apr 15, 2025•33 min
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Laura Jordan Bambach from Uncharted. Laura is not only the founder and chief creative officer of Uncharted but also the co-founder of SheSays, an organization that educates, promotes and inspires women to take up digital creative careers. As you can tell, she is a perfect guest for Own It! We had a great conversation about her path through the industry which included stops at Grey, D&AD and an independent firm in the UK called Mr. President. She’s very a...
Apr 01, 2025•40 min•Ep. 139
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Laura Petruccelli from nice&frank. She co-founded that firm in 2022 after a long stint with Goodby Silverstein and has quickly guided nice&frank to an AdAge Newcomer Agency of the Year honor. Laura is a creative through and through. Her father was a commercial photographer, so she grew up around art directors and copywriters. She even started a cartoon business as a child. Her background and journey are so very interesting. We had so much fun listeni...
Mar 25, 2025•41 min
This week on Own It we’re talking to Jessica Dimcevski from Blurr Bureau. It is a brand strategy and branding firm Jessica founded in 2022. She also invests in founder-led brands through Blurr, including Flings, an award-winning snack brand found in Target. Jessica began as a graphic designer in Melbourne, Australia before leading brand strategy at Redscout in New York. There, she led brand strategy and innovation projects across its international audiences. I so enjoyed learning more about her,...
Mar 18, 2025•37 min
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Molly Rice from Spyglass. It is a strategic brand marketing firm based in Minneapolis. Molly was a founding partner when the company began back in 2001. She now serves as CEO and president. We talked about her journey to ownership, but then got some great insights from her two decades of experience being a leader and an owner in our industry. We also talked about a book she’s writing! It’s so much fun to learn from our guests. This one is no different. Thank...
Mar 11, 2025•33 min
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Hope Farley from Adolescent Content. She and her partner Ramaa Mosley founded Adolescent in 2013 with a mission to help talented creative individuals from underrepresented backgrounds found paths to exposure. Think of it as part creative agency, part talent agency and all amazing. We talked about her path to ownership, the agency and its focus, and of course, her take on solving the gender gap problem in agency ownership. Hope was so fun to talk with. We kno...
Mar 04, 2025•30 min
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Tori Nygren of Hogwash Studios. Tori is an award-winning creative director, writer, and filmmaker who started her career learning from the best and the brightest at Droga5 and McCann. She has also worked in-house at tech giants like Uber as well, where she experienced first hand how creativity can transform a business narrative. Hogwash Studios is a production house that helps brands define their voice with video, experiential and social storytelling. We tal...
Feb 18, 2025•31 min•Ep. 134
This week on Own It, we’re talking to three owners all together. Lauren Buckley, Allie Fendrick, and Kate Meehan are the power trio behind the Hush Collaborative. Right off the bat the common thread we learn about them is they are all adventurous. They dance, they travel, they study and research herbs … we're almost jealous of all their experiences. Lauren, Allie and Kate started Hush in 2020. Its focus is to partner with companies who struggle because their strategies are abstract, they work in...
Feb 11, 2025•46 min•Ep. 133
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Randi Matthews of Multi-Hyphen Media. Her agency bills itself as a hybrid of math and magic and specializes in entertainment and influencer marketing along with social strategy. And it’s the perfect place for Randi, a former NCAA Division I track and field athlete who came up through the broadcasting and entertainment agency world. We talked about her journey to ownership and experiences along the way, our children and more. The diverse perspectives these ag...
Feb 04, 2025•29 min•Ep. 132
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Shruti Dang from the firm Dang. It is based in Los Angeles and focuses on modernizing brands to better connect them with the next generation of consumers. She is a UX / UI designer by trade but grew up through the industry and launched Dang in April of last year. Shruti is a dancer who does so with her daughter. They enjoy traditional Indian dance. We talked about that, her journey to ownership and got her unique perspective on the agency gap in ownership in...
Jan 28, 2025•44 min•Ep. 131
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Molly Lopez from Sparo. Molly came up through the media side of the advertising business and started Sparo almost six years ago. She actually started her career not far from me in Kentucky at Asbury College and internships at some of the brands here in Lexington. We talked about her journey to ownership which she says came about because of the lack of female ownership role models along the way. We loved her perspective and are so glad to share her journey wi...
Jan 21, 2025•44 min•Ep. 130
On this week's episode of Own It, we’re talking to Cindy Dodd from PEMA. Her firm is based in Miami and focused on driving high quality leads for B2B clients. They do amazing work largely because of her drive and creativity. Cindy was born in South Africa, but her parents are from the Congo. Her mother was a dentist and a key inspiration for her entrepreneurial spirit. She has a goal of inspiring female marketers, so we had to have her on the show. Her background and evolution is fascinating and...
Jan 15, 2025•26 min•Ep. 129
Happy New Year and welcome to the first episode of Own It for 2025! This week we’re talking to Alona Lisa of Far From Timid. There are few people we talk to as diverse and fascinating as her background suggests. She paints, runs, plays basketball and writes. She’s a blockchain and metaverse thought leader. She’s worked on both the brand side with IBM and Marriott, and on the agency side with Razorfish, Gray and more before founding Far From Timid in 2019. As you might imagine, her journey, her i...
Jan 07, 2025•53 min•Ep. 128
On this week's episode of Own It, we’re talking to Chanel Cathey from CJC Insights. Her firm is an award-winning strategic communications firm that helps brands move forward with creativity, connection and community. She founded the firm in 2018 after leading the corporate practice at Hunt & Gather. She also spent time at Viacom, Unilever and ABC News. We dug into that journey and her thoughts on the advertising and marketing world. And we loved her thoughts on the problem we face with the l...
Dec 16, 2024•34 min•Ep. 127
On this week's episode of Own It, we’re talking to Tiffany Holland of Consiglieri. Her firm counsels brands and their executives on how to shift from campaign-oriented marketing to playing offense with 365-day intentional, modern marketing approaches. She developed that perspective after a career on both the agency and brand side where she was part of the digital teams at T-Mobile and Nordstrom. Tiffany and Christy had such a fun conversation about her journey, her perspectives on marketing and,...
Dec 09, 2024•43 min•Ep. 126
On this episode of Own It, we’re talking to Christine Tolton from Red Cat Marketing. She and her firm are based in Toronto. The company is a leading global agency specializing in strategy, branding and digital marketing. It’s celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Christine is a craft cocktail and mocktail maker who also enjoys photography. Her journey to ownership is as fascinating as anyones. We talked about that, her thoughts on the gender gap in agency ownership and so much more. You’re...
Dec 03, 2024•36 min•Ep. 125
On this episode of Own It, we’re talking to Rachel Brandt and Madeline Meade from Corner Table Creative. These two agency dynamos joined forces just this year to create Corner Table Creative. It is a New York City-based firm focused on helping brands make memorable connections. These partner conversations are so much fun because we get twice the perspective. Madeline came to New York City wanting to be a jewelry designer, which she still does occasionally. Rachel originally wanted to be a choreo...
Nov 25, 2024•38 min•Ep. 124
On this week's episode of Own It, we’re talking to Sharon Toerek from Legal+Creative. It is a firm focused on marketing law, advertising law and intellectual property law for creative people. She and the company are based in Cleveland, Ohio. We talked about the legal side of our business, her journey to ownership and so much more. We are super excited to have her on the podcast. We know you’ll learn as much as we did from this episode. Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT with Sharon T...
Nov 18, 2024•37 min•Ep. 123
On this week's episode of Own It, we’re talking to Steph Belsky from Love of Good. It is redefining cause marketing from the agency side of things. Their specialty is facilitating alliances and relationships among talent, non-profits and brands. Their work is not only outstanding, but does good in the world. She also shares a lot of her journey and thoughts on how to change the world via her own podcast. She’s the host of Missed Opportunities for Good, which we highly recommend. We talked about ...
Nov 12, 2024•43 min•Ep. 122
