We're airing an encore presentation of OWN IT today in honor of a recent accomplishment by Libby Brockhoff from Odysseus Arms. We talked to her first almost one year ago about her path to ownership which included a stint working for James Patterson, some of the biggest agencies in the world, then founding Mother. That firm just recently won the D&AD President's Award! Libby since moved on to found Odysseus Arms with her husband and partner. Enjoy our revisit with one of the true visionary ag...
Jun 05, 2023•52 min
Today we’re talking to Barbara Pantuso and Lisa Reid from Nimble Works. These sisters started their creative collaboration when they were kids with a fun neighborhood newspaper. But they didn’t always work together. In fact, Barbara started her professional career in the restaurant business. Lisa’s career was more rooted in writing and marketing creative. Eventually, the entrepreneurial spirit led the sisters into business together. Barbara talked Lisa into joining her in the venture that became...
May 29, 2023•44 min
On this episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Ali Cox from Noble West. It’s not every day that you run into an Olympic athlete. Ali not only is one, she was a member of the United States Silver Medal-winning Women’s Eight Rowing team in 2004. It’s also not every day you run into an agency owner that is also a farmer. Her family has farmed for generations in California's almond and melon fields. You might expect, then that Ali and her firm are focused on agriculture, and you would be right. But get...
May 22, 2023•30 min
On this episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Allison Bakken from Collective Measures. Her path to ownership is very different and interesting. She began at an agency called Nina Hale, once a small agency owned by a woman. When Nina retired, she sold the company to its employees. Allison became the managing director and guided the company through a rebranding to become Collective Measures. She now leads a 100-person strong media agency in downtown Minneapolis. We talked about the ins and outs of t...
May 15, 2023•29 min
In this episode of OWN IT we’re talking to Rachel Carlson and Jourdan Huys from the brand new agency Foul Mouth. They officially announced the firm’s opening the week before we spoke, I’m so excited to talk to new agency owners at the very beginning of their journey. But make no mistake, Rachel and Jourdan are not new to the business. Both have a long list of successful work at a variety of the top agencies. But like many owners before them, found themselves between opportunities and said, “We s...
May 08, 2023•52 min
In this episode of Own It, we’ve got something new and special for you. Our conversations about closing the gender gap in advertising agency ownership shouldn’t be limited to just one person asking the questions. So I’ve asked Carrie Kerpen, who you heard me talk to a few weeks ago, to step in and host an episode. Not only will she host from time to time, but so will many others who are active in our community. Today is just the first of many conversations from and with all of you. This week, Ca...
May 01, 2023•31 min
In this episode, we’re talking to Nina Stanley of MOD. Her Philadelphia-based agency does amazing work around brand storytelling, strategy and creative, but is rooted in the study of consumer behavior, neuroscience and the psychology behind what makes advertising work. That’s a long way from starting her professional career as a ballerina. We talked about that very unique career path and how its twists and turns shaped her thinking as an advertising creative and strategist. We talked about the c...
Apr 24, 2023•44 min
Today, we’re talking to Sam Laubach and Meghan Martin from Here & Now Creative Co. The two are actually cousins, so they run a family business. They didn’t start out as collaborators, though. And I love their origin story. Meghan texted Sam one day and said, “Why don’t we just start our own agency?” YES!!!! They’re both designers, though each with a different approach to creative. Their firm specializes in brand development and brand design and does amazing work. We explored their confidence...
Apr 17, 2023•30 min
Today, we’re talking to Lisa Slagle from WHEELIE! Her firm specializes in video-centric campaigns and rebrands, but they say their creative is for people who thrive outside. As you might expect, she deals with a lot of clients in the outdoor industry. She’s an avid outdoor enthusiast like me. And being in Colorado helps her with that endeavor. She skis, snowboards, hikes and also has the experience of running a marathon. We talked about her book-in-progress which is about having creative ideas a...
Apr 10, 2023•27 min
Today, we’re talking to Carrie Kerpen of Likeable. Her agency was one of the early firms to lay claim on social media expertise and her business exploded with the trend. But she says that early and fast growth covered up a lot of problems she had to work through and learn from. Carrie tells us about the power of having a clear vision for your agency and why you should think about selling your agency even if you aren’t ready to sell your agency. She says building it to sell will make your agency ...
Apr 03, 2023•39 min
Today, we’re talking to Stacy Durand of Smart Media Technologies. Stacy launched her own agency after years as the CEO of another. Stacy comes from the media buying segment of the industry, which as you’ll hear, is very different in gender dynamics. That turned out to be quite empowering for her. Our conversation about what needs to change for more women to own agencies is not what you might expect. Stacy also had some great advice for anyone aspiring to be an owner … or just anyone who is looki...
Mar 27, 2023•43 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. In this episode, we talk to Kate Black and Susan Betteridge from Pahnke. I so enjoy hearing the stories of partnership and co-ownership, so having Kate and Susan on the podcast was exciting. And their story of coming together to form Pahnke is not your typical shared ownership story. In fact, Kate ...
Mar 20, 2023•38 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. On this episode, we’re talking to Renee Miller of The Miller Group. She is a rare bird among advertising agency owners. She launched her agency in Southern California in 1990 – 33 years ago. Her agency is focused on helping purpose-driven brands and those focused on outcomes, not outputs. Renee tel...
Mar 13, 2023•37 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. In this episode we’re talking to Marissa Nance of Native Tongue. She spent nearly 30 years in the Omnicom family of agencies before taking the plunge into ownership just a few short years ago. But she did so to create more seats at the table. Native Tongue is believed to be the first Minority and W...
Mar 06, 2023•37 min
Today, we are truly honored to learn from Carol Williams. She is perhaps most commonly known as the first African-American female creative director and vice-president in the advertising business. She accomplished that at Leo Burnett in Chicago in the early 1980s. But she is more deeply known as a tireless pioneer and change agent, who has worked tirelessly to level the playing field in advertising for women and African-Americans, both in the industry and in our creative outputs. She assumed agen...
Feb 27, 2023•40 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Marissa Shapiro from Martha. Her firm claims to develop brands from the inside out and does amazing branding work for its clients. We talk about her path to ownership, which included work on both the agency and brand side of the business. She started as a writer and has most...
Feb 13, 2023•25 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Amanda Russell of Cream Studio. Her firm is based in Richmond, Virginia, and is a fantastic creative shop with specialties in 2D and 3D animation, illustration and design. They make magic come alive on screen for clients. It’s not a surprising leap, then, to know that Amanda...
Feb 06, 2023•39 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today we’re talking to the dynamic duo of Salma Gottfried and Flor Leibeschoff of Beautiful Beast. Their agency started as a Hispanic-focused multicultural agency, but quickly grew into a dynamic cross-cultural firm. Salma was born and raised in Mexico City. Flor navigated a meteoric rise through t...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Shannon LaBare of Purveyor Branding Co. She came up through the business as a graphic designer on the brand side of things. She spent time at Bolthouse Farms, then lead a creative team at Campbell’s Soup. She launched Purveyor Branding Co., to help brands create a gravitatio...
Jan 23, 2023•45 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. I’m Christy Hiler, owner of Cornett and today, we’re talking to Sue Kramer of Connecting Dots Guru. Sue is a filmmaker and screenwriter who proudly wears the title of creative disruptor. The first part of her career was spent as a successful screenwriter. She also directed the film Gray Matters wit...
Jan 16, 2023•49 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Lianne Kim from Mamas & Co. She is a business coach for Mom entrepreneurs. A big part of her mission and her own business is setting priorities around family and being protective of her time away from work. There’s so much inspiration and information that pours out when ...
Jan 02, 2023•39 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Jaime Ekman of the Stoltz Marketing Group. That agency was started by Ken Stoltz, Jaime’s father. So her path to ownership is a bit different than many agency owners. But it’s even more complicated than just growing up in the agency world. Mr. Stoltz was diagnosed with brain...
Dec 19, 2022•24 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. I’m Christy Hiler, owner of Cornett and today, we’re talking to Kate Wight of KW Content and Strong Brand Social. Katie’s journey to ownership is as unique as they come. She landed her first job because she was an avid snowboarder and spoke French. She evolved through being a French language rider ...
Dec 12, 2022•45 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Caitlin Masingill of Full Swing Public Relations. She hails from Boise, Idaho, and wanted to be a broadway actress before she found the wonderful world of agency life. Now, her agency journey and insights about ownership and the main topic we discuss here of closing the gend...
Nov 21, 2022•34 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Ashley Walters of Curiosity. She is another owner of a recent Ad Age Small Agency of the Year winner. Curiosity does such great work so I’m very excited to talk to her today. Ashley and I talk about her journey to ownership, her path through the advertising industry. She was...
Nov 14, 2022•26 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Haley Hunter of Party Land. Her firm was named the Small Agency of the Year in 2021 by Ad Age and all of us at Cornett love their work. When Haley was in high school she was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up and her answer was to make ads. She started at a small a...
Nov 07, 2022•27 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Elena Rivera-Cheek of Copy & Art. She came up through the copy side of that equation in the healthcare space thanks to a childhood expectation to become a doctor. But she followed the calling to Own It 11 years ago, and has built an outstanding agency. Like many women ag...
Oct 31, 2022•37 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Zihla Salinas of Conspiracy Theory. She is a self-proclaimed loud and disruptive personality who lets her full self shine. I love that so much and we talk about what that means. Zihla started Conspiracy Theory just a little over a year ago. It is a minority-owned and woman-l...
Oct 24, 2022•28 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Laura Janness of Orchard. She is one of the agency owners that everyone I’ve talked to has said, “You need to have Laura on your show!” Well, today, we do! Laura looks to art and poetry to inspire her creative side, and she’s in an appropriate place for that. She loves livin...
Oct 17, 2022•40 min
Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. Today, we’re talking to Sophia Johnson of Alpha Business Images or ABI. Sophia calls herself a gatherer of people and is very focused on her family. But she extends that definition beyond her husband, children and relatives to the family around her business and clients. She worked her way up throug...
Oct 10, 2022•42 min
