Earned: Unlocking the Power of the Creator Economy

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ Chief Partnerships Officer Tim Sovay sits down with Karthik Suri, Chief Product & Corporate Strategy Officer at Sprinklr, to discuss how creator marketing is becoming a core part of the customer experience. Drawing on leadership roles at PayPal, GE Digital, and Sprinklr, Karthik shares his perspective on the evolution of social, the growing influence of creator...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ Chief Partnerships Officer Tim Sovay sits down with Damon Berger, SVP of Shared Marketing Services at Gap Inc., to discuss the evolution of digital storytelling and the growing role creators play in shaping culture. With a career spanning Disney, What's Trending, Fullscreen, Mattel, and Gap Inc., Berger brings a unique perspective on how audiences, platforms, a...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ VP of Customer Success Joy Osinloye sits down with creator and storyteller Fola Amudipe to explore what it takes to build a meaningful community in today's creator economy. Known for her beauty, lifestyle, and travel content, Fola shares how she evolved from an educational creator into a storyteller focused on connection, purpose, and lived experience—and why t...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ VP of Brand Marketing Ashley Waxman sits down with Archetype SVP of Strategy Chase Fitzgerald to explore how creator relationships are reshaping earned media, PR, and modern communications strategy. Drawing on experience across agency leadership, creator strategy, and large-scale programs like CES, Chase shares why brands need to stop thinking transactionally a...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ Chief Partnerships Officer Tim Sovay sits down with Jamie Gutfreund, founder of Creator Vision, Forbes contributor, and former executive at Hasbro, Microsoft, Expedia, CAA, and Whalar, to explore why the creator economy still lacks the infrastructure needed to truly scale. Drawing from experience across brands, agencies, and media, Jamie shares her perspective...

REPLAY: Conor Begley sits down (in the iconic flagship location) with Anastasia Soare—legendary founder and CEO of iconic beauty powerhouse, Anastasia Beverly Hills—to discuss her journey to creating a beauty (and brow) empire. To start, we discuss Anastasia's  journey from arriving in the U.S. in 1989 without knowing English, to transforming her passion for beauty into a billion-dollar empire. An...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ VP of Brand Marketing Ashley Waxman sits down with Monica Khan—multihyphenate creator economy advisor, operator, and founder—to explore how brands must evolve from campaign thinking to creator-led infrastructure. Monica shares her unique perspective from working across platforms like YouTube and Meta, advising top creators through her firm Creator Revolution, a...

In this replay episode of Earned, Conor sits down with Christina McCarthy, Vice President of Global Media at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. To start, we dive into Christina's impressive career journey from fashion and beauty giants like Victoria's Secret and MAC. We delve into Four Seasons' strategic shift from traditional marketing to crafting rich, brand-building experiences that resonate with...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Dana Paolucci, Head of Influence and PR at Dove North America, to unpack how one of beauty's most iconic brands is evolving creator marketing—without losing sight of its mission. Dana reflects on the "everything and nothing changes" reality of the space, from creators becoming full-fledged brands and franchises to the enduring impo...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Frank Dudley—marketing leader, Northwestern professor, and author of an upcoming Wiley book on Creator Marketing and Commerce Media—to unpack why the industry's shift from influencer marketing to creator marketing is more than semantics. Frank argues that creators aren't a channel; they're the connective tissue across the customer...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Gracie Schram, Head of Strategic Initiatives for Creators at Epidemic Sound, live from Dubai during the 1 Billion Followers Summit. Gracie brings a rare, dual perspective to the conversation, shaped by nearly 15 years in the music industry as a recording artist and her current role helping creators and brands harness the power of s...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Sam Clanon, Director of Product, Create at LinkedIn, live from Dubai during the Billion Follower Summit, to explore how today's platforms can better serve creators, professionals, and businesses alike. Sam reflects on his career shaping content ecosystems at TikTok and Snapchat before stepping into LinkedIn's uniquely complex manda...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Jenna Habayeb, President of Posh Peanut and four-time CMO (formerly of IPSY and Ruggable), to unpack how community, speed, and product obsession power sustainable brand growth. Jenna shares Posh Peanut's origin story—founded by Fiona on Etsy—and how the brand differentiated itself in kids apparel through buttery-soft viscose bamboo...

As 2025 comes to a close, Alex Rawitz—CreatorIQ's Director of Research & Insights—hosts the final How to Build Brands and Influence People: Live of the year with a special crossover guest: Brit Starr, CreatorIQ's Chief Marketing Officer and host of the Earned podcast. Together, they unpack the biggest creator marketing shifts of 2025 and lay out what brands should prepare for in 2026. Brit names 2...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Leah Walker, Director of Social Media at Adobe, to unpack how one of the world's leading creative companies is scaling its creator strategy. Leah reflects on her decade at Adobe and shares how the brand moved from scattered influencer activations to establishing its first dedicated influencer marketing team—marking a major shift in...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Nina Zadeh, co-founder of Sidewalker Daily, to explore the evolving landscape of the creator economy and the transition of creators into savvy entrepreneurs. Nina shares her extensive experience in brand management and offers invaluable insights into how creators can strategically position themselves as essential partners to brands...

This week on Earned, we dive into the dynamic evolution of the creator marketing landscape. Recorded onsite at our CreatorIQ Connect LA event, this episode brings you insights from industry leaders like Kate Brady from PepsiCo, Brian Manning from Wayfair, Leah Walker from Adobe, Dana Paolucci from Dove, and Amy Johnson from Wasserman as they discuss the shift from traditional advertising to more g...

In this episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Alisa Metzger, co-founder of INNBEAUTY Project, to explore her journey from leading roles at beauty giants like L'Oréal and La Prairie to building her own clean, vegan, affordable skincare brands. Alisa shares how her passion for beauty and marketing fueled the creation of INNBEAUTY Project with co-founder Jen Shane, and how they'r...

In Episode 184 of Earned, CreatorIQ's Chief Marketing Officer Brit Starr sits down with Jasmine Enberg, former VP, Principal Analyst at EMARKETER. We dive into CreatorIQ's annual State of Creator Marketing Report and what it reveals about the future of trust, community, and content performance. Brit and Jasmine unpack the shift from creator-focused to content-first strategies that are driving meas...

In Episode 183 of Earned, CreatorIQ's Chief Marketing Officer Brit Starr sits down with Liz Gramp, VP of Marketing and Communications at Moose Toys, to explore how the brand brings play to life through characters kids love—like Bluey and Little Live Pets. Liz pulls back the curtain on Moose's approach to capturing attention during the all-important July–December season, guiding caregivers through...

In Episode 182 of Earned, CreatorIQ's Chief Marketing Officer Brit Starr sits down with Roya Zeitoune, Head of YouTube Culture & Trends, EMEA. Diving in, Roya shares her journey—from early days in the matchmaking industry to leading YouTube's whimsically named "cats team"—and what it's taught her about connecting audiences with content that matters. She opens up about her unconventional career pat...

In Episode 181 of Earned, CreatorIQ's Chief Marketing Officer Brit Starr sits down with Christina McGonagle—Chief Marketing Officer of Outcast, the bold Australian fashion brand taking the world by storm—to unpack how a bikini startup transformed into a global powerhouse. From its humble beginnings selling swimwear out of a bedroom, Outcast has grown into an international sensation, fueled by a fe...

In Episode 180 of Earned, CreatorIQ's Chief Marketing Officer Brit Starr sits down with Ted Raad—founder and CEO of Trend, a top U.S. creator management agency—to explore what happens when business acumen meets creative purpose. After a career in mergers and acquisitions, Ted's perspective shifted thanks to one person: his wife, a fashion and lifestyle creator navigating brand partnerships and aut...

In this special episode of Earned, we're compiling the best moments from our conversations with five powerhouse beauty brand founders: Sarah Gibson Tuttle of Olive & June, Lilly Ghalichi of Lilly Lashes, Rea Ann Silva of Beautyblender, Taylor Frankel of Nudestix, Courtney Shields of DIBS, and Deepica Mutyala of Live Tinted. Tune in to hear how these women transformed personal inspiration and exper...

In Episode 179 of Earned, CreatorIQ's Chief Marketing Officer Brit Starr sits down with Courtney Wartman Weis, managing director of brand marketing at FP Movement, to explore how the activewear label is scaling purposefully in today's creator-driven landscape. Courtney shares how FP Movement evolved from a sub-brand of Free People into a global community-led brand of its own—and reveals how the pa...