Second Wind by AKA

Nico Poalillo spent years being told he needed to pick one thing. Director. Producer. Photographer. Creative. Experiential. Instead, he kept doing all of it. Now he’s bringing that multidisciplinary career to General Motors, joining GM as Director of Global Design Visualization and Environments. On this episode of Second Wind, Nico joins Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch to talk about the unlikely pa...

Consumer psychologist and Thinkerbell founder Adam Ferrier thinks advertising has a bigger problem than AI: the industry is still too focused on making ads. In this episode of Second Wind, Adam joins Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch to unpack what advertising and marketing look like when you start with human behavior rather than the 30-second script. Adam explains why the traditional creative model...

Pancho Cassis is Global CCO and Partner at DAVID and one of the creative leaders behind Burger King’s Moldy Whopper, Stevenage Challenge and some of the most awarded advertising of the last decade. His starting point for every brief is brutally simple: people will do anything to avoid advertising. On this episode of Second Wind, Pancho joins Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch to talk about what it tak...

Cannes Lions has spent decades defining what great creativity looks like. Effie has done the same for effectiveness. Paul Kemp-Robertson sits inside both. As Chief Content Officer of LIONS, Paul has a rare vantage point on the forces shaping the global advertising industry. LIONS brings together Cannes Lions, Effie, WARC and Contagious — institutions that influence what gets celebrated, what gets...

“We just have no interest in flooding the public consciousness with ugly noise.” Justine Armour, International Chief Creative Officer at 72andSunny, joins Second Wind to talk about what great creative work looks like when everyone has access to AI. Fresh from serving as a D&AD Jury President, Justine talks about why human craft is becoming more conspicuous, what separates genuinely creative cu...

Most products are designed for someone who doesn’t exist. The average user. David Vogel, Executive Experience Director at Hypersolid and former AKQA design leader, argues that the idea of a “normal” human has quietly shaped everything from schools and workplaces to digital products, customer experiences, and AI. The problem is that normal was never real. In this episode of Second Wind, David joins...

AI isn’t changing marketing. It’s changing what a brand is. In this episode of Second Wind , Craig Elimeliah, Chief Creative Officer at Code and Theory , introduces a concept we haven’t been able to stop thinking about since recording: brand refounding . For years, companies have talked about brand transformation. Craig argues we’re entering something much bigger. AI isn’t simply making marketers...

What does it take to lead one of the world’s biggest brands? Jo Shoesmith joins Kerrie Finch and Gully Flowers shortly after becoming Chief Brand Officer at Amazon to discuss leadership, AI, creativity, agency relationships, and why the best leaders never stop proving themselves. From Amazon’s leadership principles to building trust, influencing at scale, and preparing for a future shaped by AI, t...

AI is making execution cheaper. Brands are building stronger in-house teams. Holding companies are consolidating. Production companies are being pushed further downstream. So what are agencies still uniquely for? Anthony Reeves has spent his career inside some of the world’s biggest agency networks and brands. He has worked at WPP multiple times, held senior roles at Amazon and LVMH, and now leads...

Susan Credle has helped build some of the most famous advertising characters of the last 30 years, from the M&M’s ensemble to Allstate’s Mayhem. In this episode of Second Wind, she joins Kerrie Finch and Gully Flowers for a sharp, funny and unusually honest conversation about what makes creative work last. Susan talks about seeing brands as characters, how M&M’s grew from candy mascots int...

We keep designing for a “normal” user. The problem is, that person does not exist. For neurodiverse people, that myth shows up early. In classrooms. In checklists. In systems that reward one way of thinking, one way of sitting still, one way of paying attention, one way of moving through the world. On this episode of Second Wind , Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch talk with David Vogel, Executive Exp...

Marques Gartrell is Co-CCO of Wieden+Kennedy New York, the agency behind work for Nike, McDonald’s, Delta, and Michelob Ultra. In this episode of Second Wind: how the Travis Scott meal started from a tweet why the Grimace Shake became internet folklore how W+K made “Horizontal Breakfast” in 7 days why brands are competing with childhood memories what young creatives get wrong why Marques still kee...

Andrew McKechnie is Head of Business Creative Studio at OpenAI. Before that he was SVP and Chief Creative Officer at Verizon, where he ran a $3 billion marketing budget and built a 300-person in-house agency. Before that he was Global Head of Design Group at Apple. Across his career he has won a Gold Cannes Lion, multiple D&AD pencils, six straight Webbys, and an Emmy nomination. He sits down...

Craig Allen wrote the Skittles spot where a man accidentally murders his family with rainbow candy. He helped make the Old Spice response campaign ; 286 videos in 36 hours, one every 7 minutes, until they broke YouTube. Then he left Wieden+Kennedy, asked Dan Wieden what to call his new agency, and got told every name was stupid. This week on Second Wind, the founder and CCO of CALLEN sits down wit...

Eric Kallman is the co-founder and chief creative officer of Erich & Kallman, the independent agency behind standout work for brands like Reese’s, King’s Hawaiian, Franzia, Toyota and more. Before that, he helped create some of the most iconic advertising of the last two decades, including Old Spice, Skittles, Little Caesars, Kayak and Ragu. Erich & Kallman was named Ad Age’s 2024 Small Ag...

Micah Walker, co-founder of Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, joins Second Wind for a sharp conversation on what it really takes to make better work. He talks about building an agency that refuses to become a smaller version of the big networks, why caring too hard is a feature not a flaw, why the best ideas should never arrive with a safety option, and how great production turns good thinking into someth...

Matt Cooper, founder of Little Black Book, joins Second Wind to talk about how LBB became the most visited creative platform in the world, why awards are becoming toxic, why the work no longer speaks for itself, and what the industry still gets wrong about reputation, craft, and growth. We get into the rise of indie agencies like Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, why clients and agencies need more belief,...

Una Walsh has spent 25 years working at the seam between what a brand promises and what a customer actually feels — from Virgin Atlantic and Nike's House of Innovation to Apple, and now as Executive Experience Design Director at Google. In this conversation, Una and co-hosts Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch dig into why retail has gotten boring, what brands like Nike and LOEWE are doing differently,...

Jason Sperling is the Chief Creative Officer at INNOCEAN ; and one of the creative leaders behind Apple’s legendary “Mac vs PC” campaign. In this episode of Second Wind , Jason shares what it was really like presenting to Steve Jobs every Wednesday, surviving brutal creative cycles at TBWA\Chiat\Day, and helping turn “I’m a Mac” into one of the most influential campaigns of the century. We also ge...

David Kolbusz is Chief Creative Officer at Orchard, with a career across Droga5 London, Wieden Kennedy New York, BBH London, Goodby Silverstein, Mother, and TBWA Toronto. In this episode, we talk about what actually makes advertising work stick. Mental hooks that live in your head. The difference between chasing culture and understanding it. And why David thinks the industry needs to be more hones...

Kevin Frank has lived the full arc. Apple Creative Director for nearly a decade, then Executive Creative Director at LinkedIn, where he helped turn the team into Ad Age In House Agency of the Year and a two time Best Places to Work honoree. After LinkedIn, he hit pause on the corporate grind and moved to Paris. He taught at The American University of Paris, mentored creative leaders, wrote a book...

Creativity isn’t a “nice to have” - it’s infrastructure for growth. Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions, shares what the world’s top leaders are learning about turning creativity into a repeatable system that drives brand building, innovation, and business growth - even when budgets tighten and AI reshapes the rules. In this episode, we cover: • From polishing trophies to leading Cannes Lions: Simon’s...

Kelly Knapp has helped shape some of the most ambitious experiential work in the world; from the $2 billion Sphere in Las Vegas to Netflix’s first permanent venues and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. In this episode of Second Wind , Kelly shares how a background in ballet, music, landscape architecture, and extreme outdoor exploration informs her belief that creative work is choreography; the...

Diane McArter is the founder of Furlined, one of the most respected production companies in the industry. In this episode, Diane reflects on leadership, power, and what it really means to build a culture where people can do their best work. She shares her journey from early leadership at Ridley Scott Associates to founding Furlined, navigating fear, responsibility, and reinvention along the way. W...

Carmen Rodriguez didn’t get her first job in advertising by talking about advertising. She got it by talking about soccer. In this episode of Second Wind , Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch sit down with Carmen Rodriguez, Global Chief Growth Officer at GUT , to unpack a career built on passion, trust, and a deep belief in the power of creativity. Born in São Paulo and now based in Amsterdam, Carmen s...