Numbers and Narratives

In this enlightening episode of Numbers and Narratives, hosts Ibby Syed and Sean Collins engage in a riveting discussion with Austin Ripmaster, Chief Creative Officer and VP of Brand at Lucchese Bootmaker. Ripmaster offers listeners an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how a 142-year-old American icon maintains its relevance and expands its customer base while staying true to its roots. From the...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, hosts Ibby Syed and Sean Collins sit down with Keith Jensen, Chief Communications Officer at Engine, to discuss the revolutionary approach to business travel management. Keith shares how Engine is disrupting the traditional travel management company (TMC) model by offering a free, user-friendly platform that saves businesses time and money.  He explains h...

In this captivating episode of Numbers and Narratives, hosts Ibby Syed and Sean Collins engage in a lively discussion with Nate Rosen, founder of Express Checkout and a leading voice in the CPG industry. The conversation centers around the challenges and opportunities facing consumer brands in today's competitive landscape, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes look at how successful compani...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, hosts Ibby Syed and Sean Collins reunite with Aidan Parisian, partner at Connor Group, to explore the fascinating world of AI adoption in finance. As the podcast's first returning guest, Aidan brings his wealth of experience in data analytics to shed light on the current state of AI implementation in financial operations. The conversation takes liste...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, Ibby Syed and Sean Collins welcome Matt Barr, the innovative mind behind Fairing , a leading post-purchase survey platform. Matt takes listeners on a fascinating journey through the Shopify ecosystem, sharing his experiences as both a merchant and a SaaS founder. The discussion provides a comprehensive look at the challenges facing Shopify app developers,...

This episode of Numbers and Narratives takes listeners on a journey through the evolving landscape of marketing technology. Hosts Ibby Syed and Sean Collins welcome Allan Heo, founder of For Now Marketing, who shares his expertise on Braze and technical marketing.  The discussion kicks off with an exploration of what it means to be a technical marketer in today's data-driven world. Allan brea...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, hosts Ibby Syed and Sean Collins engage in a thought-provoking discussion with Lauren Vriens, a startup advisor, former general manager at Revel and VP of Growth Strategy at Accenture, about the changing landscape of go-to-market strategies for startups in the AI era.  The conversation kicks off with Lauren sharing her extensive background in AI product d...

  This week, we had an insightful conversation with Krystina Rubino about managing agencies for optimal output and setting yourself up for success. Krystina brings a wealth of experience from her time at various agencies and her current role at Right Side Up, where she started the growth marketing practice for offline marketing. Three big things that stood out: 1. Choosing the right partner - Be c...

This week, we had a fascinating chat with Juliana Evangelista about what makes luxury customer experience actually luxurious. Juliana comes with a really interesting perspective from working with brands like Swarovski on how to train retail teams and create those "wow" moments that keep people coming back. Three big things that stood out: Discovery before transaction - don't just as...

This week, we had a super interesting chat with Giancarlo Bizzarro from Crooked Media about the ins and outs of podcast advertising. It was fascinating - turns out there's way more to this than just throwing money at podcasts and hoping people buy your stuff. Key things we covered: Your budget should be big, but not as big as you think Host-read ads crush pre-recorded ones Target specific sho...

This week, we had a pretty fascinating chat about how SEO and content marketing are changing. Turns out 97% of web pages get zero (yes, actually zero) traffic from Google, and we went into detail about how SEO has basically ruined the internet by gaming the system with crappy listicles and generic content. Key stuff we covered: - How AI is taking over search results (but might not be terrible) - W...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, we rambled about a wide array of things including conference experiences, the trend of bundling vs. unbundling in SaaS products, and the challenges of building software for small businesses.  Key takeaways from the discussion: Value of smaller, focused conferences Bundling trend in SaaS products Challenges of all-in-one solutions Rippling as an example of...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, Ibby and Sean engage in a candid discussion about the changing landscape of B2B marketing, particularly focusing on the decline of cold email outreach and the rise of AI-powered marketing tools. They explore alternative strategies for building meaningful connections with potential clients and share insights on leveraging AI effectively in marketing effort...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, we spoke with Rebecca Holliday, Head of Customer Success and Impact at Groundswell. Rebecca shared insights on corporate philanthropy, employee engagement, and the evolving landscape of donation platforms. Drawing from her experience in both nonprofit and corporate sectors, Rebecca discussed how Groundswell is revolutionizing corporate giving programs. Ke...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, we speak with Naomi West, a seasoned email and lifecycle marketer (currently at Parcel). Naomi shared insights from her extensive experience in the email marketing space, including her work with various ESPs and her recent venture into course creation. The conversation delved into the intricacies of email marketing, its importance in the digital landscape...

In this episode of Numbers and Narratives, we sat down with Stefan Stahl to discuss the intricacies of product development and customer data utilization. Stefan, with his background in mechanical engineering and experience leading product teams at startups like QuietKat and Ellavate, shared valuable insights on balancing customer desires with practical product design. Key takeaways from the conver...

In the latest episode of Numbers and Narratives, we engaged in an insightful discussion with Disha Gosalia about the transformative impact of AI on customer experience (CX). Gosalia, drawing from her extensive experience in the customer experience space (most recently as Gladly's Chief Customer Officer), shared valuable perspectives on the current state and future of AI in CX. Key takeaways f...

Hey everyone! This week on Numbers and Narratives, we had an enlightening conversation with Rich Donnellan, Head of Customer Experience at Aro. Rich shared valuable insights on building a hardware-software product aimed at helping families reduce screen time and foster better relationships. Key highlights from our chat with Rich include: The evolution of Aro's product from a dad-focused appro...

Hey everyone! This week on Numbers and Narratives, we had an insightful conversation with David Karp, an experienced leader in customer success and post-sales operations. David shared valuable perspectives on building strong customer relationships, team management, and fostering a positive company culture. Key highlights from our chat with David include: The importance of understanding customers a...

Hey everyone! This week on Numbers and Narratives , we have an exciting episode featuring Justin Crosby, the Head of CX at Tula Skincare. We delve into the crucial role of customer experience in omnichannel strategies and how Tula navigates the complexities of maintaining a consistent brand voice across diverse platforms like Amazon, Sephora, and Ulta. Justin shares insights on the importance of u...

Hey everyone - this week, we've done a much longer episode of Numbers and Narratives with Aidan Parisian of the Connor Group. We dove deep into AI's role in go-to-market strategies, the importance of data analytics, and the power of resilience in personal and professional growth. Aidan shared insights on leveraging AI to democratize data and enhance customer experience, the challenges of...

Hey everyone - this week, we had an incredible conversation with Drew Price. We dove deep into career growth, the importance of personalization in marketing, and how to build trust with your customers.  Drew shared insights on creating personalized weekly digests for Grammarly users, tackling the challenges of starting and scaling teams, and the vital role of leadership buy-in. Plus, he revealed h...

In today's Episode of Numbers and Narratives, we're interviewing Firstleaf Wine's CMO, Geoff Sanders. Geoff has extensive experience across finance, e-commerce, and subscription services and offers a treasure trove of knowledge on performance marketing principles. Learn how essential metrics like LTV, churn rates, and net revenue retention can guide your strategies to enhance custom...

In our latest episode of Numbers & Narratives, we explored the transformative impact of AI on marketing and hiring. AI is reshaping how marketing teams operate, shifting focus from routine tasks to creative problem-solving. We dived deep into how small teams can be more agile and efficient using AI, and the importance of understanding the audience to tell compelling stories. We also discussed...

Today, we dive deep into CX with Pegah Valeh, who leads the customer experience team at Meta's Reality Labs. Pegah brings her seasoned expertise from the Reality Labs team at Meta, focusing on improving customer experiences to support business growth.  Throughout this episode, we'll explore how Pegah and her team use metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure the severity of custom...