Media People Podcast

Kevin Bartus is a terrible employee—those are his words, not mine. But that’s OK because he’s a very successful entrepreneur. Kevin is the President and CEO of Ideon Media—Canada’s largest digital rep firm, responsible for monetizing Canadian ad traffic for brands such as VICE Media and IGN, to name a few. Ideon also owns and operates several sites including SavvyMom, 29Secrets, and AmongMen. A Ch...

Cracking the media industry can be tough for an employee, but for an entrepreneur? Building something from scratch can be a tall order. But it was a challenge that Sotero Bernardo was up for. Sotero is the Co-Founder, Head of Business Development at Coastal Digital Group—an experience agency combining creativity with technology. The original goal was to make it in media sales. But sales opportunit...

Sales is a performative art, and presentations are like a play. Notes serve as the script, while the PowerPoint deck acts as the set. The boardroom the stage, and clients the audience. At the heart of the production—the sales rep. When comparing the two professions, you can see why today’s guest, Kristie Painting, has enjoyed a successful sales career. Kristie is Pinterest’s Country Manager for Ca...

When Valerie Tyson interviewed for a marketing role with the Charlotte Hornets, it was team owner and NBA legend, Michael Jordan, who handled her final interview. And this is only one of the many stories comprising Valerie’s sports marketing career. Valerie is the Co-Founder, Head of Strategy + Sports at Unrivaled Group—a female led, sports driven tech consultancy. Valerie’s career didn’t start in...

Kensington Grey is an influencer management agency rooted in diversity, representing an extensive roster of black and brown creators. At the heart of the agency is President & CEO, Shannae Ingleton Smith. Born in Toronto, raised in Calgary, Shannae studied finance and economics in university. But marketing was her real passion. There wasn’t an option to major in it, so Shannae filled her electives...

Ian Dallimore is Lamar Advertising’s Vice-President, Digital Growth & General Manager of Programmatic, but his path to OOH advertising didn’t start with a typical agency job. A New Orleans native, Ian’s original plan was to be a pediatrician. He studied medicine at Louisiana College while on a basketball scholarship. An injury nixed this, and he transferred to Louisiana State where he graduated wi...

It’s difficult to refute social media’s supremacy in the platform hierarchy. Brands are increasingly trying to find new & innovate ways to leverage social for audience engagement. And it’s exactly why they turn to today’s guest, Darcy MacNeil. Darcy is the Head of so.da—a full service, specialized, and award-winning social first agency. Darcy’s career started behind the camera as a clearance coord...

Science has always played a role in marketing—whether it be focus groups, surveys, or any other form of research. But the marriage between the two disciplines has grown increasingly closer over the years. So much, that it has formalized the role marketing science plays in advertising. And PHD Canada has entrusted Matt Devlin, to handle this for their roster of clients. Matt is their first Managing...

You might know David Cairns as the co-founder of Cairns Oneil, but the agency he started with Sherry O’Neil back in 2012 is just one of the many companies he’s had a hand in founding. In fact, some of those agencies became the entry points for international holding companies looking to enter the Canadian market. For example, David’s first agency—David Cairns & Company, was acquired by Aegis and re...

You could say a career in advertising was foreshadowed in Anthony Hello’s childhood. After all, two of his influences were fictional advertising executives–Angela Bower from Who’s the Boss?, and Darrin Stephens from Bewitched. Anthony was born, raised, and educated in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He moved to Toronto after graduating from the University of New Brunswick, landing an entry level role...

Running commentary on your profession can be daunting—especially on LinkedIn, where point-of-views can be read by your entire industry. But that hasn’t stopped today’s guest, Danny Weisman, from publishing his thoughts. Danny is the Group Media Director at Noble People—a New York-based creative media agency focused on new thinking and innovative methods. In my opinion, Danny is also one of the mos...

In a world where job hopping is normalized, it’s rare to meet someone who has spent their entire career with the same company. And it’s even rarer to hear about an intern working their way up to president. But this is the story of today’s guest, Caroline Moul. Caroline is the President of PHD Canada—the Canadian division of PHD Media Worldwide. Not only is she the president, but also a lifelong em...

Marketer, educator, podcaster, & founder—Darian Kovacs stops by to chat. Darian and I talk about growing up in the border town of Tsawwassen, British Columbia, studying art education & visual arts at the University of Victoria, his time as a youth worker in Surrey, and his entrepreneurial endeavours which include Jelly Digital Marketing & PR Agency, the Jelly Academy, and Marketing News Canada. **...

Ron Tite, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Church+State stops by to chat. And what a conversation we have. Even if you’ve never met Ron, there’s a good chance you’ve come across his content. Apart from being the CCO of Church+State, he’s an in-demand guest speaker, published author, and very active on social media. What makes Ron’s content both unique and refreshing are his honest opinions on...

Out-of-home media has seen tremendous growth in recent years. Much of this can be attributed to the proliferation of digital signage and the convenience of purchasing inventory via programmatic platforms. We’ve come a long way from manually placing posters in transit shelters. And today’s guest, Stephanie Gutnik, is helping accelerate this change. Stephanie is the Global Chief Strategy Officer at...

Coming from a family of scientific and mathematical academics wasn’t enough to deter Kaaveh Shoamanesh from pursuing a career in entertainment. And he wasn’t about to let something like university, which he attended for an entire month, get in the way. After leaving university, Kaaveh packed up at the age of 18, moving south to Los Angeles to kick off his career. He started as an on-air personalit...

Jed Schneiderman, Episode 22 guest returns to the podcast. When we last chatted with Jed, he was taking us through his early life and career leading to the founding of Tapped Mobile. Since then, he’s sold Tapped Mobile, and is now the country Manager for Jebbitt—a platform that helps brands collect more data by driving customer personalization efforts. But Jed hasn’t stopped there. A couple years...

What was your Achilles heel in school? Essays? Presentations? Tests? I was never strong at exams, so I had put the effort into my course work to salvage a decent grade. But this is where Universal Design for Learning comes in. The goal of UDL is to provide students with the options to learn for themselves in ways that make sense to them. At the forefront of bringing UDL to the classroom is today’s...

The title “producer” is everywhere in show business, but what exactly does a producer do? It’s a bit of a loaded question as responsibilities can vary, but it’s a question that today’s guest, Jodie Davis, will answer for us. Jodie has spent over 20 years in television, and there’s a good chance you’re familiar with his work. This includes many of the major Canadian awards shows such as the Juno an...

As a marketer, overseeing a national brand can be a demanding ask. But leading no fewer than six? That’s a separate challenge altogether. And that’s exactly what the day-to-day entails for today’s guest, Cheryl Gresham. Cheryl is the Vice President Marketing, CMO for Verizon Value—a division of Verizon Communications serving value-conscious consumers looking for the flexibility of prepaid wireless...

In May of 2022, Becca Lucas Lord resigned from her role as VP, Director of Client Services at Wunderman Thompson. She was ready to explore new opportunities that complimented her recent agency work. That sabbatical lasted all of three days before she was asked to return in a consulting role. When you look at the breadth Becca’s resume, it’s easy to see why they wanted her back. Besides Wunderman T...

You'll be hard pressed to find a more eclectic resume than Ryan Ladisa’s. Ryan has worked in broadcast, out-of-home, digital, programmatic, and creative. He’s worked for agencies, big corporate conglomerates, and specialised ad tech vendors. He’s slung media space, sold cross-platform solutions, led departments hunting for the latest innovations, and helped innovative companies find their foothold...

Cynthia Rubino—CYTRINE CONSULTANCY Founder, advertising educator, and mental health advocate returns to the podcast. The pandemic forced everyone to adjust personally and professionally. For CYTRINE CONSULTANCY, this meant putting more emphasis on mental health services. If you’re a professional, you probably embraced zoom calls in sweatpants. And for many of us, not having a daily commute was a p...

Whether it be in the classroom, through her podcast, or her self-published meditation journal—teaching is a big part of Shaelah Pirie’s life. A native of Porcupine, Ontario—a village of maybe 3,000 people, Shaelah studied political science at university, but pivoted into television writing and production after graduation. Her first breaks in media included promotion and production roles on The Dis...

Starting a media company used to be an expensive and bureaucratic endeavour. It usually required buckets of money, a team of lawyers, and even a CRTC license if you were looking to break into TV or radio. But the internet brought down those barriers, giving new media companies a chance to challenge the old guard. And one company in particular, The Peak, is doing just that. The Peak was created to...