Media People Podcast

Sales & Marketing – two departments that at any time, could be working in harmony or at each other throats. And today’s guest, Jennifer DeFrenza has had a seat both tables. Jennifer is the VP of Marketing for Surex, a company offering insurance products for consumers and businesses. Before moving into marketing, she had a successful career as a media sales professional for companies such as Rogers...

Sales leader, quota crusher, champion of grassroots basketball, hockey podcaster, and arguably the OG of Canadian digital media sports sales—Tony Luccisano, stops by to chat. A native of Toronto’s Little Italy neighborhood, Tony studied biology with the goal of becoming a doctor. To use his words, his grades weren’t going to cut it for med school, which quickly shut down that plan. After school he...

Mo Dezyanian describes himself as the “kid who skipped cartoons to watch the commercials.” But if you look at his early years, you’d be hard pressed to see a future ad agency founder. A somewhat nomadic childhood, Mo was born in Iran, but spent much of his youth living in Germany. His family eventually moved to Canada, and Mo would go on to study computer Science at York University. The original g...

Publics relations, social media management, media strategy, and new business development have all played a pivotal role in Sarah Thompson’s career. Born & raised in Dorchester, Ontario, Sarah relocated to Toronto after graduating from university and college. The early part of Sarah’s career was heavily concentrated in public relations. This included roles at National Public Relations, Accenture, a...

Agency, vendor, and not-for-profit, Lucy Collin has touched virtually every segment of the media & marketing world. Born & raised in Cartier, Ontario—a small town 80 kilometers north of Sudbury, Lucy moved to Toronto when she was 18 to study Fashion Merchandising and Marketing at Centennial College. After graduating, Lucy moved into media buying & planning at Media Buying Services. Additional oppo...

Founded in 1987 by Denise and Allan Jones, the Jones & Jones Group has served many sides of the creative world for Afro-Caribbean & multi-cultural creators. And at the head of this is today’s guest, Jesse Jones. Born in Sudbury and raised in Toronto, Jesse studied marketing & communications at the University of Ottawa. Being in the nation’s capital presented a coincidence that Jesse parlayed into...

Have you ever viewed a science, history, or geography video on social media? Of course you have. They’re everywhere. Then it’s likely you’ve seen something produced by Steve Hulford’s company, Underknown. Underknown is a next-generation digital media company operating 40+ owned & operated video channels on social media. With 50 million followers and 120 million active monthly viewers, you might be...

What was your first sales job? Was it in adtech? Media? Perhaps it goes a back a little further. A paper route? Girl Guide cookies? Or maybe a lemonade stand. When Jaime Lipowtiz was a child, she was flipping Beanie Babies. That was then and this is now. She has since moved from collectables and into cannabis. Jaime is the founder of the High Buds Club, the premiere discovery platform and social c...

If you look back at Krista Webster’s high school career, nobody would blame you for thinking she was headed straight for Broadway. The arts —especially music theatre, played a major role in her teenaged years. But her professional career would bring about the opportunity to work with a relatively new type of performer—influencers. Krista is the President and CEO of Veritas Communications, Canada’s...

We have a return guest—Walder Amaya from Episode 4 is back on the podcast. So what’s Walder been up to since we last chatted way back in 2015? Quite a bit actually. He departed Evolve Media to co-found Apex Mobile Media—a leading mobile marketing solutions company. And in just a short period of time the company has grown to include the Apex Gaming Network and AlphaKonnect. Walder takes us through...

Data—it has always played a role in advertising and marketing, and its prominence & demand has only grown over time. As a matter of fact, many thought leaders refer to data as the new oil to illustrate just how important it has become. And at the heart of all this is today’s guest, Janice Liu. Janice is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Magnet, a data & engineering consulting busine...

Media, adtech, renewable energy, and seafood? It’s quite the eclectic mix of business interests, but it’s just a selection of the many professional endeavors of today’s guest, Andrew Murray. Andrew is the CEO of Broadside9, a media agency specializing in interactive media solutions. Andrew was born in Ottawa, but spent the majority of his youth in Prince Edward Island. You’d think a media agency C...

Darrick Li’s Comscore career started directly after university, and continued for more than a decade. He began as an analyst before pivoting into sales—a move that would launch his career within the company and take him all the way to Senior Director of Sales. It should be no surprise that Standard Media Index tapped him to lead their foray into the Canadian market. Outside of work, Darrick has a...

Think managing media a country with two national languages is complicated? Try handling media and marketing in India—a country with over 1.3 billion people, a number of languages & dialects, and a variety of cultural nuances that need to be accounted for. But that’s only one of the many pieces that make up the life and career of today’s guest, Maz Tannir. Born in Lebanon, Maz’s father moved his fa...

Working at a media agency can provide ample opportunities to support a variety of clients across a number of different industries. But no two industries—let alone clients, are truly alike. Opportunities to support theatrical movie studios can be particularly limited given that there are only a handful of them in the entire world. But today’s guest, Larry Medeiros, has worked with the likes of Sony...

When Acast—one of the world’s leading podcast companies, wanted to expand into Canada, they tapped Heather Gordon to lead the charge. A digital media sales veteran, Heather got her start at CHUM, working as an unpaid office assistant. She moved over to a paid role at CHUM Interactive, providing sales support for one of their first digital sales teams. She rose through the ranks before taking the r...

Sales reps: Stop me if you’ve heard this line—“You’re only as good as your last quarter”. Success in sales is quantifiable, and it can seem like an endless chase to hit one’s target—with little room to breathe when you do. The constant hustle can massive repercussions on mental health. But there is hope. Today’s guest, Jeff Riseley, is tackling the mental health issues plaguing sales professionals...

In the push to persuade audiences to choose your product or service over the competition, it’s easy to forget that advertising is in itself both a form of art and expression. This is part of what motivated today’s guest, Simón Rojas Gajardo, to pursue a career in advertising’s creative side. Simón is both the Creative Director and a Partner at Derooted Immersive—a creative technologies company tha...

We’ve had our share of worldly individuals on the Media People Podcast, but very few have criss-crossed the globe like today’s guest, Amina Mattern has. Born in Pakistan, Amina’s personal, academic, and professional journey has taken her to places such as Dubai, Houston, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, and Montreal – to name a few. Amina is currently based in Toronto, where works as the Financial Service...

Hustle—it’s a requirement for anyone trying to make it in media. And it’s a word that today’s guest, Amy Foster uses to describe herself. Amy is a New Business Manager at Dentsu Canada—the Canadian division of Dentsu International, one of the world’s largest multinational media & marketing communications companies. On the outside, media might appear to be one the more exciting and sexier industrie...

Leadership jobs are some of, if not the most sought-after roles. But stop me if you’ve heard this, it can be lonely at the top. And even leaders need an experienced person to lean on. That’s exactly the gap that today’s guest, Kristine Lyrette aims to fill. Kristine is the founder of Authentic Leadership Coaching—a company that helps leaders become better at what they do. With an HR diploma from C...

Making the jump to digital advertising can be challenging, especially if you’re coming from the broadcast world. Moving to a new medium while pivoting careers can make it even more difficult. But today’s guest, Cheryl Luciani, did just that. Cheryl’s the Director of Digital Sales at Star Metroland Media, but it was broadcast buying where she got her start—planning and negotiating multimillion-doll...

Vice President, drummer, and fellow podcaster, Corby Fine sits down to chat with us about the twists and pivots that comprise his story. A lifelong Toronto native, Corby attended Ryerson University where he studied Administration and Information management. After graduation, he jumped into the dot com start-up world as a project manager. He would pivot into sales, focusing on pharmaceuticals with...

Both personally and professionally—Saeed Zaman is probably one of the most globalized individuals you’ll ever meet. Born in Pakistan, his family moved to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia when he was just four. When it came time for University, Saeed applied to a number of schools in the United States, ultimately landing at Purdue University in Indiana. His media career started immediately after graduat...

Content Marketer, producer, entrepreneur, educator, and author—these are some of the many roles comprising the career of today’s guest, Mohit Rajhans. But if the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen his work in front of the camera. Mohit’s eclectic career includes various reporting roles for the CBC, Breakfast Television, and OMNI Television—where he was Canada’s authority on Bo...