Mark It 2 Me Podcast

McLaren changed its logo and the internet reacted like the company was going under. The criticism is fair — but a new logo almost never hurts a brand, unless it erases the thing people recognize you by. In this solo episode, Joe breaks down what McLaren changed and kept, answers a skeptic’s “how?” with five reasons, reveals the line Gap and Cracker Barrel crossed, and shares four lessons for small...

Matthew Johnson has run Seventh. Ink by himself for nineteen years. Four years ago he moved his inventory into a warehouse. This spring he moved it back out. He breaks down why, what in-person sales actually look like right now, and how a monthly Patreon series became the only deadline on his calendar that cannot slip. Key takeaways —   Scaling up is only a good decision if you are willing to reve...

Most companies think they have a marketing problem. What they actually have is a brand clarity problem — and it shows up as fragmented messaging, shifting visuals, and campaigns that never compound. This episode breaks down why brand identity is a decision-making system, not a visual project, and what it costs when it's treated as the latter. Key takeaways Fragmented marketing is a clarity problem...

Jimmy Bryant spent years trying to earn the approval of other designers before he figured out they were never going to be his customers. Now Atomicchild is in hundreds of retailers, he sells art on products for a living, and he just shut down a profitable airport store because it was eating his life. We get into stickers, markets, manufacturing, and what success actually looks like when you stop l...

Long summary A ginger ale label sent Joe down a rabbit hole. Hal’s New York names a real person on the front of every bottle — and then describes him with five adjectives that would fit half of Queens. Hard-working. Straight-talking. Life-loving. Nothing you could picture, repeat, or remember. That is not a soda problem. It is the most common branding problem there is, and the founders who have it...

The voice asking “what if this goes wrong” isn’t protecting you — it’s rehearsing failure, and it ends up in the work you ship. In this solo episode, Joe Baron traces the question that shuts it down back to an 8th-grade production of The Music Man, and makes the case that letting fear make your decisions is the only wrong answer. Sometimes the smart move is to swing. Sometimes it’s to leave a good...

Founder-led content is the cheapest brand asset in the building, and most owners either flinch on it or borrow a format they never thought through. In this solo episode, Joe Baron uses one very public bite — and the week of executive one-upmanship that followed it — to draw the line between showing up and being worth following. Committing is the price of entry. Saying something only you could say...

Key Takeaways AI has a ceiling, & it is not a temporary one. Rocky's argument is that a system trained on existing work returns the average of existing work. Better models make average arrive faster. They do not make it above average. Using AI and designing with AI are different activities. He runs a dedicated machine for it hours a day, for admin, transcription, strategy, and structure. He wi...

Rocky Roark is the founder and design director of Blue Cyclops, an Atlanta-based brand studio named after the imaginary friend he created when he was a kid. He is a brand designer who also builds resources for solo creatives who were never taught the business side of the industry. In Part 1, Joe and Rocky break down various topics. The 30 day brand challenge he ran in public. Bird Rock Brewing Com...

Overview Polish is overrated. In this solo, Joe unpacks the moment every creative knows and never admits — the work is done at version three, but you keep grinding to version ten anyway. That extra polish isn’t for your audience. It’s for you. Drawing on Seth Godin’s The Practice and two of his own past guests, Joe makes the case for what actually builds a brand: clarity, humanity, and showing up...

Anderson Bluu returns to Mark It 2 Me for a conversation that covers more ground than most guests manage in a first appearance. We get into the creator economy in real, operational terms: how content has replaced the billboard, what “invisible hours” mean for building a loyal audience, and why the brands that reach out to Anderson usually do it because of a video he posted years earlier without ex...

Most people rebrand because they're bored — the worst reason there is. In this solo episode, Joe gives you the gut-check he runs before touching anyone's brand: six signs, scored honestly, so you stop guessing about whether it's time. Then the line most owners cross — an intentional refresh vs. blowing up equity you spent years building. In this episode • The one job every brand has — and how to t...

Mariah MacInnes journalist turned content strategist, host of 300+ episodes, came on to talk about what most businesses get wrong before they ever hit post. The conversation covered the foundations of a real content strategy, how storytelling and selling can coexist without feeling forced, why she takes a TikTok-first approach even for clients who hate TikTok, and what consistency actually means w...

Host Joe Baron sits down with Cleveland muralist and illustrator Lisa Quine for a conversation about how she built a mural business that actually works and what she's doing now to get back to the creative work that fills her up. From landing the Cleveland Guardians to writing a book to designing a Phantom of the Opera cover, Lisa's career has never followed a straight line. That's kind of the poin...

 In this episode, Joe Baron speaks directly to the listener and breaks down eight lessons gathered from Jalen Brunson's postseason, covering how confidence is built, what pressure is really telling you, why sacrifice is the strategy, and the 0-0 mindset that carried the Knicks to a championship. These lessons were there when Jalen Brunson walked into his post-game interview especially after Game 4...

Jason Frostholm is a graphic designer, educator, and former podcast host based in Mobile, Alabama. He did his undergrad at the University of South Alabama, went back for his master's during the pandemic, and spent several years teaching design full-time at a local Jesuit institution. His thesis focused on integrating business principles into design education — and it shows in how he structures his...

Overview Jason Carne has been doing lettering professionally for two decades. His client list reads like a mashup of a record store, a sports bar, and a spirits cabinet — and that range isn't accidental. It's the result of staying a student of lettering long after most people would've gotten comfortable. In this conversation, Jason and Joe get into how that career actually gets built: the early da...

Anthony “Biggie” Bencomo — Owner and CSO (Chief Sandwich Officer) of Deli Fresh Threads — joins Mark It 2 Me to talk about building a concept-driven apparel brand rooted in nostalgia, packaging experience, and real-world community. From launching KnightMare Apparel at the University of Central Florida in 1997 to founding Deli Fresh Threads in 2013, Biggie shares lessons learned from nearly three d...

In Part 2 of this conversation, Joe Baron continues his discussion with logo designer, author, and Logo Geek founder Ian Paget. The episode picks up as Ian shares the thinking behind his book, including an overlooked intermediate step in the logo design process that helps clients better understand creative decisions. From there, the conversation expands into self-publishing, his Kickstarter experi...

What does it actually take to build something meaningful as a creative without burning yourself out in the process? In this episode of Mark It 2 Me , I sit down with logo designer, educator, and founder of Logo Geek, Ian Paget, to break down the early stages of his journey to building a respected platform within the design community. We talk about how he got started in graphic design, the realitie...

In this episode of Mark It 2 Me, I sit down with Brianna Calero, founder of Pastel Creative and Fractional CMO, to unpack what real strategic marketing leadership actually looks like. We talk about the difference between visibility and authority, why most companies chase acquisition instead of retention, and how serving your “super fans” can build stronger revenue than chasing mass audiences. Bria...

In this episode of Mark It 2 Me , Joe Baron sits down with New Jersey's Larry Krayn an attorney, street photographer, curator, and rapper known as IL Lusciato . Larry opens up about rediscovering his creative identity after building a legal career, releasing his album Life’s Legacy and A World Not For Everyone , and embracing the idea that none of us are one-dimensional. The conversation explores:...

In this episode of Mark It 2 Me , Joe Baron sits down with designer, dad, and community builder Michael Smith , founder of Dadsigner, host of The Dadsigner Podcast, co-owner of R5 CoLab, and creator of two successfully crowdfunded children’s books. They dive into what it really means to build community, not just online, but in real life. Michael shares how a lonely coffee shop routine turned into...

Joe Baron sits down with Creative Director and founder of the Artoholiks, Iquan Worthington, for a real conversation about creativity, leadership, ego, A.I., and long-term sustainability in the creative industry. Iquan breaks down why your full-time job should be treated like your biggest client, how setting boundaries protects your creativity, and why most designers misunderstand agency vs. in-ho...

In this conversation, Joe Baron and Ryan Roghaar explore the evolution of Ryan's career from agency owner to consultant, emphasizing the importance of building genuine relationships over transactional networking. They discuss the significance of intentionality in networking, the concept of the '10-year overnight success,' and the balance between work and personal life. Ryan shares insights from hi...