Own It

Today's episode of OWN IT features Sarah Latz and Francesca Piancone-Crowley from Book180. It is an online portfolio school that sources the best agency talent to teach new professionals in our industry! That is so cool! The conversation that became the idea for Book 180 was born during COVID. The two worked together at a portfolio school in Chicago before and during the pandemic and saw the onlin...

On this week's episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Haley Dagan from The Written World. As you might expect, her background is as a copywriter and her firm specializes in purpose-driven copywriting and content marketing.  Writing has been a big piece of her journey along the way. In fact, when she worked in the hotel business, she started a travel blog. She then started blogging and writing as a fr...

In this week's episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Alana Ficalora from Aligned for Impact. Alana is a dancer away from work and does a lot of community and volunteer work in Los Angeles. She actually comes from a deep tradition of building community. She founded HER - Helping Each Other Rise, a community group of like-minded women dedicated to helping women in advertising and entertainment. Her fi...

On this episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Mary Knight of Hydrogen. She is a writer and came up in the business on the creative side of the aisle. In fact, she is currently working on a satirical novel of climbing the corporate ladder we can’t wait to read! Mary’s father was a marketing director on the client-side of the advertising business. He raised her and her sisters with the mindset that a...

On this episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Megan Devine from cat&tonic. She came up through the account side of advertising, but is also a painter with a creative side. That mix turned out to be important in her climb to a position of ownership.  But her path to ownership includes experiences of being fired, leaving an agency and starting something new with partners and then rebranding that agenc...

We're airing an encore presentation of OWN IT today in honor of a recent accomplishment by Libby Brockhoff from Odysseus Arms. We talked to her first almost one year ago about her path to ownership which included a stint working for James Patterson, some of the biggest agencies in the world, then founding Mother. That firm just recently won the D&AD President's Award! Libby since moved on to found...

Today we’re talking to Barbara Pantuso and Lisa Reid from Nimble Works. These sisters started their creative collaboration when they were kids with a fun neighborhood newspaper. But they didn’t always work together. In fact, Barbara started her professional career in the restaurant business.  Lisa’s career was more rooted in writing and marketing creative. Eventually, the entrepreneurial spirit le...

On this episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Ali Cox from Noble West. It’s not every day that you run into an Olympic athlete. Ali not only is one, she was a member of the United States Silver Medal-winning Women’s Eight Rowing team in 2004.  It’s also not every day you run into an agency owner that is also a farmer. Her family has farmed for generations in California's almond and melon fields.  Yo...

On this episode of OWN IT, we’re talking to Allison Bakken from Collective Measures. Her path to ownership is very different and interesting. She began at an agency called Nina Hale, once a small agency owned by a woman. When Nina retired, she sold the company to its employees.  Allison became the managing director and guided the company through a rebranding to become Collective Measures. She now...

In this episode of OWN IT we’re talking to Rachel Carlson and Jourdan Huys from the brand new agency Foul Mouth. They officially announced the firm’s opening the week before we spoke, I’m so excited to talk to new agency owners at the very beginning of their journey. But make no mistake, Rachel and Jourdan are not new to the business. Both have a long list of successful work at a variety of the to...

In this episode of Own It, we’ve got something new and special for you. Our conversations about closing the gender gap in advertising agency ownership shouldn’t be limited to just one person asking the questions. So I’ve asked Carrie Kerpen, who you heard me talk to a few weeks ago, to step in and host an episode. Not only will she host from time to time, but so will many others who are active in...

In this episode, we’re talking to Nina Stanley of MOD. Her Philadelphia-based agency does amazing work around brand storytelling, strategy and creative, but is rooted in the study of consumer behavior, neuroscience and the psychology behind what makes advertising work. That’s a long way from starting her professional career as a ballerina. We talked about that very unique career path and how its t...

Today, we’re talking to Sam Laubach and Meghan Martin from Here & Now Creative Co. The two are actually cousins, so they run a family business. They didn’t start out as collaborators, though. And I love their origin story. Meghan texted Sam one day and said, “Why don’t we just start our own agency?” YES!!!! They’re both designers, though each with a different approach to creative. Their firm speci...

Today, we’re talking to Lisa Slagle from WHEELIE! Her firm specializes in video-centric campaigns and rebrands, but they say their creative is for people who thrive outside. As you might expect, she deals with a lot of clients in the outdoor industry. She’s an avid outdoor enthusiast like me. And being in Colorado helps her with that endeavor. She skis, snowboards, hikes and also has the experienc...

Today, we’re talking to Carrie Kerpen of Likeable. Her agency was one of the early firms to lay claim on social media expertise and her business exploded with the trend. But she says that early and fast growth covered up a lot of problems she had to work through and learn from. Carrie tells us about the power of having a clear vision for your agency and why you should think about selling your agen...

Today, we’re talking to Stacy Durand of Smart Media Technologies. Stacy launched her own agency after years as the CEO of another.  Stacy comes from the media buying segment of the industry, which as you’ll hear, is very different in gender dynamics. That turned out to be quite empowering for her. Our conversation about what needs to change for more women to own agencies is not what you might expe...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  In this episode, we talk to Kate Black and Susan Betteridge from Pahnke.  I so enjoy hearing the stories of partnership and co-ownership, so having Kate and Susan on the podcast was exciting. And th...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  On this episode, we’re talking to Renee Miller of The Miller Group. She is a rare bird among advertising agency owners. She launched her agency in Southern California in 1990 – 33 years ago. Her age...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  In this episode we’re talking to Marissa Nance of Native Tongue. She spent nearly 30 years in the Omnicom family of agencies before taking the plunge into ownership just a few short years ago. But s...

Today, we are truly honored to learn from Carol Williams. She is perhaps most commonly known as the first African-American female creative director and vice-president in the advertising business. She accomplished that at Leo Burnett in Chicago in the early 1980s.  But she is more deeply known as a tireless pioneer and change agent, who has worked tirelessly to level the playing field in advertisin...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  Today, we’re talking to Marissa Shapiro from Martha. Her firm claims to develop brands from the inside out and does amazing branding work for its clients. We talk about her path to ownership, which...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  Today, we’re talking to Amanda Russell of Cream Studio. Her firm is based in Richmond, Virginia, and is a fantastic creative shop with specialties in 2D and 3D animation, illustration and design. Th...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  Today we’re talking to the dynamic duo of Salma Gottfried and Flor Leibeschoff of Beautiful Beast. Their agency started as a Hispanic-focused multicultural agency, but quickly grew into a dynamic cr...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  Today, we’re talking to Shannon LaBare of Purveyor Branding Co. She came up through the business as a graphic designer on the brand side of things. She spent time at Bolthouse Farms, then lead a cre...

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time.  I’m Christy Hiler, owner of Cornett and today, we’re talking to Sue Kramer of Connecting Dots Guru. Sue is a filmmaker and screenwriter who proudly wears the title of creative disruptor. The first p...