Brandidly Speaking

In today’s episode, Cris sits down with Olga Fleming, CEO of MMC, the communications agency helping brands earn a place in consumers' everyday lives. Olga shares why the strongest brands go beyond awareness and create meaningful rituals, becoming products and services people rely on daily. When a brand successfully integrates into someone’s routine, it transforms customers into true advocates...

What separates a business that grows from a business that gets acquired?    In this episode, Cris sits down with founder, investor, author, and "Exit Whisperer" Carrie Kerpen to unpack the real lessons behind building, scaling, and selling an 8-figure company.   Together, they discuss the biggest mistakes founders make when preparing for an exit, why visibility and PR can impact how buye...

From early-stage startups to seven-figure brands, every founder is asking the same questions: How do I grow? Where is my audience? What actually works in PR today?  In this SXSW special, we answer those questions in real time – giving founders just 5 minutes each to unlock smarter, more strategic approaches to visibility, storytelling, and growth. From scaling beyond referrals to refining your bra...

What’s the most powerful metric for your brand? Shares.  This week on Brandidly Speaking, Cris Gordon sits down with Jen Hayes Lee, Head of Marketing and Content at The Bump, to unpack how she’s built a brand that parents are actively recommending to one another.  From scaling one of the most trusted platforms in parenting to fostering a deeply engaged community, Jen shares how a clear understandi...

In today’s healthcare landscape, you must have both the expertise AND the ability to communicate it clearly to build genuine trust with your patients.  In this episode of Brandidly Speaking, Cris sits down with Dr. Sheila Farhang, double board-certified dermatologist and founder of Avant Dermatology, to unpack what it really takes to build trust as a medical expert in the digital age. From growing...

What does it take to build a brand story that goes beyond surface level in the beauty industry?  In this episode, Lisa Hanna, former Miss World, global political leader, and now beauty founder, shares why understanding the entire industry is the foundation for building a brand that truly stands out.  After decades on the world stage and in government, Lisa entered the beauty industry to build some...

How do you break through in the crowded supplement market where new products are getting launched left and right?    In this episode, Bridgitte Malinson, founder of Gut Personal, breaks down how she built a cult-favorite wellness brand by blending clinical credibility with community-first marketing. From strategic PR placements to organic storytelling, she focused on building trust through earned...

You’re posting consistently, so why isn’t anyone sticking around?  Most founders think they need better content. In reality, they’re over-editing, overthinking, and filtering out the very thing that makes people care.  In this episode of Brandidly Speaking, Lilliana Vazquez (former TODAY Show + E! host turned creator) shares what turns content into community, and why it has nothing to do with bein...

On this week’s episode, we sit down with Lisa Jauregui, Founder of BK Beauty, to break down how she turned audience feedback into a $25 million beauty brand.  Before founding BK Beauty, Lisa worked in advertising, became a MAC makeup artist, and later began creating YouTube makeup tutorials while raising her kids. By consistently sharing expert advice and education, she built a loyal audience that...

Finance can feel intimidating for most brand-builders and marketers but understanding the numbers might be the most powerful growth tool you have.  In this episode of Brandidly Speaking, we sit down with Chris Polakowski, Executive Director of Global Operations at MMC, to unpack the financial and operational decisions that separate busy brands from profitable ones. From understanding your P&L...

In this episode of Brandidly Speaking, we sit down with Sarah Chen-Spellings, investor & capital strategist, to talk about why understanding finances is a game‑changer for women business owners.  Sarah entered the business world at just 25 and quickly found herself in rooms where major investment decisions were being made. As a young Malaysian woman building her career, she noticed a striking...

This week on Brandidly Speaking , we’re joined by MMC’s Dr. Kavin Shah, the medical expert behind our scientific communications work. As consumers become more focused on ingredients and transparency, trust has never mattered more. Dr. Kavin, a board-certified surgeon with a master’s in public health, shares how brands can turn complex science into content that’s clear, credible, and actually drive...

In this week’s episode of Brandidly Speaking, we sit down with Aliett Buttelman, the Co-Founder of Fazit Beauty. A true innovator in the makeup application space, Fazit understands the consumer’s desire for instant confidence, and has built an entire brand around delivering it. From major sporting moments like the Olympics and the Super Bowl to music festivals like Coachella, they’ve mastered the...

Celebrity‑led brands are everywhere now, and they continue to spark curiosity, cultural relevance, and drive sales. In this episode, Kailey Bradt, CEO of Sonsie, takes us behind the scenes of leading the skincare brand founded by Pamela Anderson, and shares what it truly takes to build a brand that resonates beyond a famous name.  While Pamela provides the inspiration, Kailey explains how Sonsie i...

Consumers today are inundated with marketing from every direction - from social media, email, television, and beyond. As a brand builder, it's more difficult than ever to stand out.  In this episode, Cris Gordon breaks down the fastest way to increase brand visibility, credibility, and community by doing one powerful thing: creating an experience. By showing up at events like SXSW, a cultural...

What actually makes a brand stand out to editors today?  In this episode of Brandidly Speaking , Cris Gordon is joined by Heather Muir, Beauty Editor at Large at People Inc. , for a conversation about what truly gets an editor’s attention in an increasingly crowded market. With nearly two decades of experience across publications like Cosmopolitan , Allure , and Real Simple , Heather has witnessed...

The smartest brands are building community before anything else.  In this episode of Brandidly Speaking, we sit down with Sam Cutler, founder of Mindfull, a wellness platform focused on replacing calorie counting with nutrition intelligence. Sam used her online community of half a million women to convert her first 10k members with NO ad spend. In this conversation, we discuss what it really takes...

Building a brand is hard, but staying true to your vision is even harder. Today, celebrity makeup artist, Jo Baker, joins Cris to discuss the raw reality of the beauty industry and how she leverages her years as a celebrity artist to prioritize product integrity over marketing hype. By solving for the user’s experience (whether it’s through her product or her service as a makeup artist) rather tha...

On this week’s episode, Cris sits down with celebrity stylist and host of The Lo Life , Lo Von Rumpf, to deconstruct the tactical evolution of building a strong personal brand. Lo takes us from his early days navigating the industry’s most exclusive rooms to the high-stakes strategy behind red-carpet brand placement. Whether you’re scaling a brand’s visibility or curious about the psychological me...

The beauty landscape is more vibrant than ever, and standing out requires more than just a big budget. It takes heart and strategy. This week, Cris sits down with a true industry authority: Sara Tan. As a seasoned beauty editor and co-host of the Gloss Angeles podcast, Sara shares her "sixth sense" for what makes a brand truly unforgettable. We explore how to build authentic connections...

What does it take to cut through the noise today? We’re joined by the CEO of MMC, Olga Fleming, and Head of MMC Beauty Cris Gordon. From the evolution of iconic campaigns to the secrets of running an award-winning agency, Olga and Cris share the strategic moves that define today’s industry leaders. Whether you’re building a brand or a business, this episode is a masterclass in standing out.  New p...

For our debut episode, we are chatting all about the industry’s favorite buzzword. But let’s be brandid for a second here: Community is not something you can fake. You must cultivate it. That’s why we have none other than Jaclyn Johnson the founder of Create & Cultivate as our debut guest on Brandidly Speaking.   New podcast episodes drop every Wednesday, hosted by Cris Gordon, Head of Beauty...

In this kickoff solo episode of Brandidly Speaking , host Cris Gordon , Head of Beauty at MMC, introduces herself and shares the why behind launching the podcast. Drawing from her experience as a founder, in-house brand leader, and agency executive, Cris offers candid commentary and early hot takes on what’s broken in modern marketing and what’s actually working. This episode sets the tone for the...

Brandidly Speaking is a podcast for marketers, brand builders, and communicators where modern marketing gets real.   Hosted by Cris Gordon, Head of Beauty at MMC, each episode features candid conversations with founders, executives, creators, and cultural tastemakers reshaping their industries. Together, they break down what it really takes to build brands today: cutting through buzzwords to explo...