He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast

Most mortgage companies compete on rate. Chelsea Vonder Haar competes on relationship. In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™, Jaci and Michael talk with Chelsea Vonder Haar, the first-ever Chief Marketing Officer at USA Mortgage, about building a national marketing engine for 200+ loan officers — without stadium naming rights or a massive ad budget. Chelsea breaks down how her team...

In B2B marketing, the biggest challenge isn’t always budget or bandwidth – it’s standing out in a market where every competitor looks, sounds, and says the same thing.  In this episode, Jaci and Michael sit down with Joya Scarlata , Director of Marketing at InterraIT , a B2B IT services firm serving clients across industries from automotive to retail to manufacturing. With over a...

What does it take to walk away from a name your organization has carried for over 160 years – and replace it with something no one has ever heard? For Jeff McCarthy , SVP and Marketing Director at Bank Five Nine , it took research, courage, a tight-knit team, and an unwavering commitment to standing out in one of the most crowded markets in the world. In this episode of the He Said, She Said...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , Jaci and Michael sit down with Wendy Gugora , Director of Marketing at Prairie Capital Advisors , to talk about what it really takes to market a boutique investment banking firm in a space where the service is deeply personal, the sales cycle is long, and most business owners do not fully understand what they are being sold. ...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Danielle Dobbs , First Vice President of Marketing and brand positioning expert, to talk about what it really takes to build marketing that works when budgets are limited, audiences are distracted, and the temptation to skip strategy and go straight to tactics is everywhere. Danielle brings over 11 ye...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Bryce McCuin , Director of Marketing at BankSouth , to talk about what it really takes to build an authentic brand inside a community bank competing against institutions with far bigger budgets. Bryce brings a rare perspective shaped by nearly two decades across luxury real estate, fulfillment logisti...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Heather Johnson , marketing leader at TIE Industrial, to talk about what it really takes to build a performance-driven marketing function inside a multi-brand industrial company with a small team and long sales cycles. Heather shares how her background spanning agency life and in-house roles shaped th...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Andy Weiss , CMO and marketing strategist, to talk about why the playbooks that got us here will not get us where we need to go – and what to do instead. Andy brings a perspective shaped by decades of experience scaling B2B companies and working with brands like Sprint, Comcast, and Oscar Mayer,...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Juliana Pereira , marketing consultant and fractional CMO, to talk about what B2B brands are getting wrong and what they could learn from the consumer world. Juliana brings a rare perspective, having worked across both sides of the marketing divide at companies including Ralph Lauren, The Met Store at...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , Jaci and Michael sit down with Michelle Herl , Vice President of Marketing at SOR Controls Group , to talk about what it really takes to build a marketing function from the ground up inside a mid-size industrial manufacturer – and keep it growing for more than 25 years. Michelle shares how she started with no office, no budg...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with William McLaughlin , Director of Marketing at McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC and founder of the BD Roundtable, to talk about what it really takes to build and market a law firm brand in one of the most complex and competitive spaces in professional services. William shares how corporate law firms req...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Laurie Leer of SingerLewak to talk about what it really takes to manage and grow a brand across multiple locations with a small but mighty team. Laurie shares how her team balances national brand consistency with local visibility, using location-specific SEO, testimonials, and content to strengthen th...

In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael Russo sit down with Howard Kelly , Director of Marketing at S&S Cycle — a Wisconsin-based manufacturer that has been making Harley-Davidson motorcycles faster, louder, and more powerful since 1958. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to build a brand so strong that customers tattoo your logo on their b...

In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Chanelle Yarber , a marketing strategist, agency owner, and in-house marketer at First United Bank who has spent over two decades doing something most people only claim to do — actually connecting with the customer. Chanelle’s path into marketing didn’t start with a job posting. It started wit...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Libby Cain of Extraco Banks to discuss how data can strengthen marketing strategy without losing the human side of the brand. Libby shares how her team built a unified customer data approach across the organization, using insights from multiple departments to create stronger segmentation, improve conv...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , Jaci and Michael Russo sit down with Cathy Bertrand , a marketing leader at Rittal and Eplan whose career path took an unexpected turn from mathematics to global marketing leadership. Cathy shares how her analytical background shapes her approach to marketing today. Instead of treating marketing as purely creative, she sees it as...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , Jaci and Michael Russo sit down with Rob Einterz , a marketing leader in the global chemical industry , to discuss how branding works in complex B2B markets. Rob shares how chemical companies build brand loyalty through reliability, relationships, and niche specialization. With long sales cycles, strict regulations, and highly tec...

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Camberly Gilmartin , a seasoned marketing leader who has built her career on both the agency and corporate sides of the table. Currently leading marketing within the highly regulated world of community banking in the Pacific Northwest, Camberly brings a rare perspective to the conversation. From navig...

How do you market a craft that most people don’t fully understand—and can’t buy on impulse? In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , Jaci and Michael sit down with Sam Arcot of Rugo Stone , a national natural stone contracting company that fabricates, installs, and restores everything from floors and walls to mosaics, statues, and historic stonework. Sam breaks down the real...

In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , Jaci and Michael sit down with Ann Barilleaux , SVP Marketing Director for JD Bank, Louisiana’s Community Bank™ , to unpack what it really takes to market a bank—where compliance is non-negotiable and trust is everything. Ann shares how marketing in a regulated industry forces you to think differently: every message, sign, and disclai...

What happens when your competitor becomes your sister brand—and you’re the one responsible for marketing both? In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , repeat guest Sean Schnipper returns with a major update: Transervice Logistics merged with Lily Transportation in summer 2023 —creating two legacy brands under one umbrella, operating in the same space, with decades of brand...

What happens to a brand when growth comes fast—and comes through acquisition? On this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , we sit down with Ronnie Hay of UBEO Business Services , a company that has completed 27 acquisitions since 2017 . That kind of growth doesn’t just test systems and processes—it tests culture, trust, and brand integrity. Ronnie shares how UBEO approaches bran...

What does it take to market a global tech company in an industry that still feels new to most buyers? In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , we sit down with Andrew Mullin , who leads marketing in the Earth observation industry at Earth Daily —and (casually) also serves as the mayor of Wayzata, Minnesota . Andrew breaks down the real challenge of marketing in an early-adop...

Marketing professional services is hard. Marketing accounting might be one of the hardest versions of that challenge. On this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , we sit down with Sunny Ricks , who leads marketing for a large, multi-state CPA firm across the Southeast. Together, we unpack what it really takes to build a brand in an industry defined by confidentiality, regula...

What happens when your company does incredible work… but you can’t show half of it? On this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast , we talk with Lisa Kilwin of Midwest Machining Solutions , a full-service machining and fabrication shop she and her husband built from auction equipment… in a two-car garage… nearly 25 years ago. Lisa shares what it’s really like to grow a custom shop...