Return on Reputation

Subscribe to the weekly Authority Brief: https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter   The search landscape is undergoing a massive shift. While most businesses still focus on traditional Google rankings, your next customer is likely asking ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude who to trust. This new era of AI search demands a proactive approach to AI-driven reputation marketing to ensure your business is the on...

Most founders think branded merch is a waste of money. Chris Farris has spent 20-plus years proving the opposite. In this episode of Return on Reputation, host Justin Obey and Chris Farris, founder of Boost Promotions, break down how branded merchandise becomes physical proof of a company's reputation, why trusted brands rise while commodities get cut in a downturn, and how a $100 gift can open th...

Can you build a B2B pipeline on LinkedIn with no ad spend, no cold calls, and no cold emails? Michael Kurson did exactly that, and he tracked every step.   Michael is the co-founder of FirstTouch, a platform that turns LinkedIn into a measurable go-to-market channel by attributing every comment, connection, and DM back to HubSpot. Before tech he sold something harder to move: hard seltzer, one thr...

📩 Subscribe to our newsletter the Authority Brief: https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter 🎙️ Free Podcast Planner GPT: https://get.obeycreative.com/podcastplanner   Most companies are trying to figure out what AI is going to change. Jon Dick thinks the better question is what AI won’t change. In this episode of Return on Reputation, Justin Obey talks with Jon Dick,  Chief Customer Officer at Hub...

📩 Subscribe to our newsletter the Authority Brief: https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter 🎙️ Free Podcast Planner GPT: https://get.obeycreative.com/podcastplanner     Most early-stage founders think they have a marketing problem. But sometimes the real problem is simpler: the founder can sell the vision in a conversation, but the company cannot explain it clearly anywhere else. In this episode o...

📩 Subscribe to our newsletter the Authority Brief: https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter 🎙️ Free Podcast Planner GPT: https://get.obeycreative.com/podcastplanner     David Brown has seen thousands of pitches. He funds very few of them. Not because the ideas are bad. Because the founders haven't done the work of being known, trusted, or differentiated before they walk into the room. David is the...

📩 Join the Friday Briefing (free newsletter): https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter 🎙️ Free Podcast Planner GPT: https://get.obeycreative.com/podcastplanner   Every B2B company says they have a positioning strategy. Almost none of them can explain what they actually do in one sentence. Anthony Pierri has seen this up close, hundreds of times. As co-founder of Fletch PMM, he's spent the last thr...

📩 Join the Friday Briefing (free newsletter): https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter 🎙️ Free Podcast Planner GPT: https://get.obeycreative.com/podcastplanner   Alexandra Crabb just became the owner of a 28-year-old PR agency.   She didn't start it. She grew it from the inside over 14 years — joined as VP when the team was five people, helped build it to ten, and six weeks ago acquired Castor Com...

📩 Join the Friday Briefing (free newsletter): https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter 🎙️ Free Podcast Planner GPT: https://get.obeycreative.com/podcastplanner ⬇️ Download the Authority Blueprint: https://get.obeycreative.com/mediaengineblueprint Every company says they're using AI. Almost none of them can prove it's working. Mamoon Chowdry has a front-row seat to that gap. As Director of AI Trans...

What do you do when the New York Times labels you the face of failure — and your face is literally the first result when someone Googles the word? If you're Suneel Gupta, you use the article as your calling card, spend the next few years interviewing hundreds of the world's most successful people, and write the book that answers the question everyone's afraid to ask: why do some people get backed...

In 2007, a kid from Bentley University Googled "personal branding" after a boring corporate training class and decided to own the entire category. Today, Dan Schawbel has 170,000+ LinkedIn followers, a newsletter reaching 380,000 professionals, three bestselling books, and a research firm that has interviewed 3.18 million people across 26 countries for companies like Oracle, Deloitte, UKG, and Upw...

Thomas Edwards Jr. built one of the most recognizable personal brands of his generation. He was the real-life Hitch. Wall Street Journal. CNN. Steve Harvey. Tamron Hall. ABC Nightline. MTV. Axe. Maxim. Over 400 media appearances. He helped 400 people find love and get married. By every external measure, he was winning. He was also slowly disappearing. In this episode of Return on Reputation, Justi...

What does it really take to kill your own brand — and rebuild it into something better? In this episode of Return on Reputation, host Justin Obey sits down with Jon Mason, founder of Swing Juice, for a raw and honest founder story about entrepreneurship, brand building, and the pivot that changed everything.   Jon spent nearly a decade building Swing Juice as an all-natural hydration and energy dr...

Most founders chase the next ad format, the next platform, the next growth hack. But what if the thing that was actually closing deals was just you, posting honestly on LinkedIn every week, even when it felt cringe?   In this episode of Return on Reputation, my guest is Jessica Chase, Co-Founder of getabovethefold.com  , a programmatic advertising agency helping brands scale beyond Google Ads into...

What does it actually take to raise a venture fund when no one would have hired you to run one? And how do you build the kind of reputation that convinces 80 people to bet their money on you before you have ever written a single check?   I sat down with Justin Kang, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Visible Hands, a pre-seed venture capital fund investing in underrepresented founders across Bosto...

How do you build a personal brand that compounds over time? What does it actually take to go from invisible to authoritative, and what are the laws of brand storytelling that make it all work? Justin Obey sits down with Jessica Gioglio — bestselling author, keynote speaker, and founder of With Savvy Media & Marketing — to answer exactly that. Jess co-authored The Laws of Brand Storytelling and...

What separates founders who scale from the ones who stall? Andrew Nash has spent 40 years finding out. Serial founder, investor, and entrepreneur Andrew J. Nash has built and exited companies acquired by Apple, eBay, Deloitte, and Chowly. After selling Targetable in 2024, he moved back to Australia ready to step back - and then AI pulled him right back into the arena. Now he's building again: laun...

Join over 500 others and receive the Friday Briefing (free newsletter): https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter   Download the Authority Media Engine Blueprint: https://get.obeycreative.com/authority-media-engine-blueprint How do you pick yourself up when your life changes forever in just three minutes? And more importantly, how do you transform your scars—both physical and emotional—into the foun...

Join over 500 others and receive the Friday Briefing (free newsletter): https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter   Download the Authority Media Engine Blueprint: https://get.obeycreative.com/authority-media-engine-blueprint   How do you move from being an invisible founder to the definitive face of an industry? And more importantly, how do you use AI to scale that presence without ending up with a...

Join Friday Briefing (free newsletter): https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter   Download the Authority Media Engine Blueprint: https://get.obeycreative.com/authority-media-engine-blueprint   How do founders lead through rapid growth without losing themselves - or their team? That's exactly what we unpack in this episode. I'm Justin Obey, founder of Obey Creative, and Return on Reputation is the...

📩 Join the Friday Briefing (free newsletter): https://get.obeycreative.com/newsletter 🎙️ Free Podcast Planner GPT: https://get.obeycreative.com/podcastplanner Most founders are more capable than they are visible. And that gap is costing them. In the very first episode of Return on Reputation, I sit down with Laurie Schloff - founder of Partners in Communication, author of Smart Speaking, and one...

In this episode of Proof University, host Justin Obey sits down with Steve Myers, one of the key figures behind Ilegal Mezcal and now co-founder of Dynamic Beverage Consultants. Steve shares his journey—from his early career in the corporate world to his time in Latin America, where a series of unexpected events led him to build one of the most recognized mezcal brands in the industry. He opens up...

In this episode of Proof University, we sit down with Ryan Provost, co-founder of Booz Box Cocktails, to talk about how he turned a simple idea into a disruptive ready-to-drink cocktail brand. What started as a casual dinner conversation led to the creation of Booz Box, a unique take on premium cocktails—served in a bag-in-box format. With no prior experience in the alcohol industry, Ryan and his...

In this episode of Proof University we’re joined by Draga Culic, the founder of Blacklisted Brandy, to uncover her inspiring journey from corporate powerhouse to boutique spirits innovator.  With a career spanning industry giants like Diageo, Bacardi, and Jim Beam, Draga reflects on how her extensive experience laid the foundation for her leap into entrepreneurship. But it was a personal trip to S...

In this episode of the Proof University Show, we’re joined by Shea Coakley, a visionary entrepreneur and co-founder of Green Street Beverage, a company leading the charge in the THC-infused beverage industry. Shea’s journey is a testament to innovation and resilience, starting with Leanbox, a smart refrigerator business, and evolving into the creation of High Tide, a groundbreaking THC beverage br...