The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets

What does it take to build something that lasts nearly a century?  Manuel Delgado is the owner and master luthier of Delgado Guitars, the family business his grandfather and great-uncle founded in Mexico in 1928. He still builds every instrument by hand in East Nashville.  In this episode of The Spark, Manuel joins host Mark Scrivner to share how he went from East LA to East Nashville and why his...

What happens to creative work when anyone can generate something “good enough” in seconds? Mark Scrivner sits down with Wes Webb, art director at Nashville's Locomotion Creative. By day, Wes builds brands for some of the region’s biggest names. By night he makes salvaged wood sculpture, ambient music, DJ sets, and homemade software. Wes explains why DJing is really just design, and how a quote fro...

What happens when a global creative director trades 200-person agencies for a team of seven and starts making more work than ever? Alex Goulart, Founder and Executive Creative Director of Fire Kite, spent two decades creating campaigns for Gillette, Nissan, Honda, and Qatar Airways across Europe and the US before launching his own agency in Franklin, Tennessee. He joins Mark Scrivner to share the...

As AI-generated content floods every feed, what actually cuts through? Rob Erickson, founder and CEO of Massive Mission, joins Mark Scrivner to share how he turned a severance package into a video production company trusted by major agencies and global brands. Rob explains why he believes authenticity will win the AI era, how his team uses AI to move faster without replacing people, and why a comp...

What does it really take to build an agency from a hare-brained idea into a company that helped bring Amazon and MLS to Nashville? For episode 52, host Mark Scrivner, founder and CEO of Snapshot, steps into the guest seat while Snapshot President Josh Moquin takes the mic. Mark traces his path from restaurant operations to advertising, launching Snapshot on a $50,000 line of credit, surviving COVI...

What does it take to spend three decades building one brand from the inside out? Eric Jackson has the answer. He started working at Tractor Supply at 16, worked his way through an agency detour at GS&F, and just three days before this recording, was promoted to VP of Marketing for Tractor Supply and PetSense. In this conversation, Eric traces that full arc: how "Life Out Here" grew from a small re...

What does it actually take to build a PR agency from a card table to an industry landmark — and then do it all over again with your own kid? Mark McNeely spent 45 years answering that question. A former newspaper reporter who covered a corrupt governor and got tired of laughing at bad press releases, McNeely bootstrapped McNeely & Associates on $11,000 and a home equity loan, grew it into McNeely,...

What actually keeps an agency team together for over a decade? Mark Scrivner sits down with Kindra Svendsen, VP of Agency Services at Speak, to unpack the leadership philosophy and culture-building strategy behind one of Nashville's most established creative agencies. Kindra shares her journey from brand marketer to agency leader, why "shiny ball syndrome" derails good strategy, and how storytelli...

What happens when you build an agency around trust instead of surveillance? Mark Scrivner sits down with Josh Miller, President of 5by5, a Nashville marketing agency that recently transitioned to 100% employee ownership. Josh traces his path from a near-dropout physics major to web developer at Paramore to co-founder and now president of 5by5, sharing the leadership lessons he picked up along the...

What does a 450-mile canoe trip have to do with becoming one of Nashville's most respected brand storytellers? In this episode of the Spark, Nelson Eddy, former Managing Partner at FINN Partners and official historian for the Jack Daniel Distillery, joins Mark Scrivner to trace a 40-year career that took him from an English classroom to the boardrooms of two agency mergers, the launch of the Nashv...

What if the "finish line" you've been running toward as a founder doesn't feel as good as you thought it would? Shannon Litton, CEO of 3LS Professional Services and founder of the Nashville change agency 5by5, joins Mark Scrivner to unpack her path from accidental agency hire to building a Best-Place-to-Work culture and ultimately taking her team from 30% to 100% employee ownership. This conversat...

What actually makes a brand memorable — the process behind it, or the personality inside it? Michael Hutzel, co-founder and creative director of FoxFuel Creative, joins Mark Scrivner to make the case for personality-first branding over checklist-driven process, and to talk through how AI tools like Midjourney have reshaped his creative workflow. Michael also opens up about the mentor who gave him...

How does one person stay creatively engaged at the same agency for over 25 years? Mark Scrivner talks with Scott Brooks, Post-Production Supervisor at GS&F and President of AAF Nashville, about the evolution of interactive media, the mentors who shaped his career, and why he's chosen to stay close to the craft instead of climbing the executive ladder. This episode is for agency leaders, creatives,...

What does it actually take to rise from an entry-level hire to president of the agency you helped build? On this episode of The Spark, host Mark Scrivner sits down with Josh Moquin — newly named President of Snapshot — for a conversation a decade in the making. Josh walks through his unlikely path into the agency world (including how a beer after work and a notepad led him to Snapshot's door), the...

What if the setback you didn't ask for turned into the best decision of your career? Kriste Goad, founder and Chief Firestarter of fuoco, shares the unfiltered story of building a healthcare B2B marketing agency — starting with getting let go and betting on herself instead of going back in-house. Kriste breaks down what 25 years in healthcare marketing taught her about relationships, business deve...

What does it actually take to keep a booming city from losing what made it special in the first place? On this episode of The Spark, host Mark Scrivner sits down with Stephanie Coleman, President & CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, for a candid look at leadership inside one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Stephanie traces her path from federal policy work in D.C. to nea...

What happens when you accidentally build a marketing agency out of a side hustle, and then have to decide whether to bet everything on it? Ashley Robinson, founder and CEO of Green Cardigan Marketing, joins host Mark Scrivner to share how a criminal defense lawyer's side project turned into an agency serving 70 to 90 law firms a month. Ashley walks through her decision to niche exclusively into le...

What does it take for a two-person agency in Nashville to beat out well-known firms from Berlin and London for a global Sony account? Ken Byers, founder and CEO of Confidant, has lived that story, and he's spent nearly a decade since turning it into a repeatable model. In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with Ken at Creative Assembly's East Nashville studio for a conversation tha...

What does it take to build a digital marketing agency from a $500 website to a million-dollar business, and then reinvent it for the AI era?  In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with Michael Epps Utley, CEO of GoEpps, a Nashville-based digital marketing firm. Recorded at the Creative Assembly studio in East Nashville, Michael traces the origins of his business philosophy back to...

What separates great brands from forgettable ones? According to veteran marketer Bill Zinke, it starts with understanding what makes your business truly different, and having the discipline to communicate that clearly across every customer touchpoint. In this episode of The Spark, Bill shares lessons from a 35-year marketing career spanning global brands, franchise systems, private equity-backed c...

Few creatives have left a mark on Nashville quite like Chuck Creasy. From serving in Vietnam to studying under legendary artists, working alongside advertising icons, helping launch major brands, shaping Nashville's identity, and even playing a role in bringing the Predators to Music City, Chuck's story is packed with lessons on leadership, persistence, curiosity, and creative excellence. In this...

In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with Robert Froedge, EVP and Executive Creative Director at Lewis Communications, to explore the mindset behind decades of award-winning creative leadership. From growing up in Nashville to leading teams across multiple offices, Robert shares how storytelling, craft, and curiosity have shaped his approach to branding, advertising, and creative...

What does the future look like for agencies navigating AI, shifting client expectations, and a rapidly changing economy? In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with Agency Management Institute founder Drew McLellan to unpack the biggest findings from his latest agency research and why the next few years will fundamentally reshape the agency landscape. Drew shares what today's client...

In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with communication expert, keynote speaker, and ADHD advocate Dave Delaney to unpack what great communication actually looks like inside growing organizations. From the early startup days at Emma and Griffin Technology to coaching leaders at some of the world's biggest companies, Dave shares hard-earned lessons about culture, collaboration, and...

In this episode of The Spark , Mark Scrivner sits down with entrepreneur and investor Mark Montgomery to unpack a career shaped by risk, reinvention, and hard-earned perspective. From quitting his job on the spot to build a competing business, to scaling Echo Music into a major player and eventually exiting, Mark shares the raw realities behind building something from nothing. But this conversatio...