The CMO Whisperer

My guest this week is Jon Francis, the newly appointed Chief Data & Analytics Officer, and Head of Digital at State Farm Insurance. John's career reads like a master class in how data, digital and experience converge to drive transformation. At State Farm, he's going to be focused on building smarter, more human digital experience that serves both customers and agents, a mission that sits squa...

My guest today is Steve Cundari, co-founder and partner of Summit House, an award-winning venture studio that's quietly become a growth engine for some of the most recognizable brands on the planet. Steve is a builder in the purest sense. He's founded companies, exited companies, scaled platforms, and now leads a collective of specialized agencies that operate as one integrated ecosystem, blending...

Evan Greene is back on the CMO Whisperer Show! And if you heard his first appearance, you already know why we brought him back to the scene of the crime. Evan is widely credited as the marketing leader who helped transform the Grammy Awards into one of the world's most coveted brands during his 16+ years as CMO. Before that, he spent a decade on the marketing teams at Disney and Sony, working on s...

My guest today is Jackie Corbelli, Founder and CEO of BrightLine and one of the true pioneers of interactive television and engagement-driven advertising. She’s spent her career helping transform TV from a passive screen into a two-way experience for Fortune 100 brands and the world’s largest streaming platforms, long before most of the industry realized where things were headed. Jackie is also th...

My guest today is Cassie Schmid, the Chief Strategy Officer for Philadelphia International Airport and the Northeast Philadelphia Airport. She's the one shaping how millions of people will experience Philly, especially as the city gears up for the World Cup, the All-Star Game and the country's 250th birthday in 2026. Cassie leads enterprise-wide strategy, performance management, communications, gu...

My guest today is Don Sklenka, SVP of AI Optimization at Claritas and one of the rare operators who's lived at the intersection of creative media and machine intelligence long before AI became a buzzword on every deck. With nearly 25 years in digital marketing, Don built his foundation inside global agency powerhouses like Publicis and Dentsu, leading omni-channel strategies for Fortune 500 brands...

My guest today is Bonin Bough, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Portrait Media Group. He's one of the most awarded marketing leaders on the planet, a rare blend of operator, builder, and boundary pusher who has reshaped how billion-dollar brands grow. Bonin's career reads like a highlight reel of modern marketing He became one of the youngest Fortune 500 C-suite executives, led transformat...

My guest today is Kerry Gordy , a name woven into the fabric of modern music and a force in his own right at the intersection of brand, culture, and intellectual property. Yes, he’s the son of Berry Gordy , but Kerry’s career stands on its own merit. He grew up inside the Motown ecosystem, managed Rick James through his comeback years, played a pivotal executive role at Prince’s Paisley Park Recor...

My guest today is Lucy Markowitz, SVP and General Manager of the US Marketplace at Vistar Media. Lucy oversees it all: Sales, client services, analytics, DSP, and supply partnerships. She leads teams that power the connective tissue between agencies, brands, publishers and DSPs. Her leadership is the reason Vistar's marketplace hums, ensuring every relationship and every impression delivers value....

My guest today is Perry Kamel, founder and CEO of DNA Vibe and I'm going to tell you exactly how this conversation started and where it started at CES. I walked in expecting to see a lot of shiny new tech and walked out genuinely awestruck after encountering one of the fastest-growing brands in wearable technology. That's where I first experienced DNA Vibe. That's where I was introduced to the Shi...

My guest today is Maria Del Rio, Chief Marketing Officer at DNA Vibe. She is a builder, a scaler, and a leader who's been in the arena for over 25 years, shaping brands, launching growth engines, and helping companies move from interesting idea to real market impact. At DNA Vibe, Maria is steering brand creative and growth as the company expands across wellness, performance, and health tech.  Befo...

My guest this week is Joseph Perello, founder and CEO of Props. Props is a performance-based creator marketing platform built around a simple belief. The best marketing still comes from people, not metrics. Instead of chasing follower accounts, Props uses AI to match brands with creators based on storytelling strength, trust, and audience authenticity. So campaigns are both data-driven and deeply...

My guest this week is Jonathan Sackett, a former D1 track athlete turned music industry insider who recorded at Paisley Park and Flight Time before moving into advertising where he built award-winning work for giants - Geico, Coca-Cola, Walmart, McDonald's, IBM, Harley-Davidson, Budweiser, and Mars. He did it at agencies like FCB, the Martin Agency, DDB, and Ogilvy. He now partners with former NBA...

My guest this week is Catherine Salazzo, Chief Marketing Officer at Appfire, a leading global provider of enterprise apps that connect the world's top platforms. Catherine oversees Appfire's global marketing and communication strategy, driving brand expansion, go-to-market acceleration, and deeper engagement across developer and partner communities. With more than two decades of experience at comp...

Welcome to a very special CMO Whisper at CES episode. This is part of an ongoing series of conversations we're recording before, during, and after CES to give CMOs and growth leaders real perspective on what actually matters right now and what's coming next. Today, I'm joined by Chase Miller, Chief Growth Officer at Claritas, where he leads go-to-market strategy and revenue growth, aligning sales,...

Welcome to a very special CMO Whisperer at CES episode. This is the first in a series of conversations we're recording before, during, and after CES to give CMOs practical perspective on what matters most right now and what's coming next. Today, I'm joined by Cort Irish, Head of Marketing at Claritas. Claritas works with agencies like Publicis, Horizon, and Dentsu.  Brands including Walgreens, Ver...

My guest today is Lisa Harrup Mieuli. She’s the CMO of Gigamon, the company leading the way in deep observability and network visibility for today’s hybrid cloud world. Lisa brings more than two decades of experience building and scaling global marketing engines at companies like Tenable, Nimble Storage, and Symantec. She’s known for designing high-impact programs that drive measurable growth, ele...

My guests today are two leaders who are reshaping how marketing makes decisions in the age of AI. Henry, or his close friends and pretty much everybody calls him, Hen, is the co-founder and CEO of Mutinex, the company behind Theseus AI. It's built on a simple belief that measurement should be continuous, transparent, and tied to real business decisions, not quarterly reporting cycles and guest wor...

My guest this week is Matt Sutton, SVP and head of marketing at Columbia Sportswear, a leader who thrives on tough challenges and new terrain. With 15 years across agency, brand and platform side marketing, Matt's led global teams, own P &Ls north of 700 million and driven growth across apparel, jewelry and home goods.  His superpower? Solving brand problems end-to-end, rethinking everything f...

On this episode of CMO Whisperer, Steve talks to Karen Kaukol, CMO of Entrust, about how AI is transforming both cybersecurity threats and defenses, how digital identity has evolved beyond physical credentials, and why marketers must balance frictionless experiences with rigorous security. Karen also breaks down the importance of simplifying complex technology for diverse global audiences and buil...

My guest this week is Jason John, a seasoned marketing leader and entrepreneur who has spent his career at the crossroads of culture and digital innovation. Jason has served as CMO at 1-800-Flowers.com and Publishers Clearing House, and he has held senior marketing roles at several iconic retail and lifestyle brands, including J.Crew and Martha Stewart, where he led large-scale digital transformat...

My guest this week is Rachel Sterling,  Chief Marketing Officer at Identity Digital. Rachel leads global marketing with a focus on driving awareness and adoption of Identity Digital’s portfolio of top-level domains. Before stepping into her current role, she held senior leadership positions at Instagram, Twitter, and Google, where she built and scaled strategies across product marketing, integrate...

My guest this week is Chris Murphy, Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing at Adidas North America. For over 20 years, Chris has been shaping the voice of one of the world’s most iconic sports brands. From building Adidas’s first global newsroom and forging early partnerships with Facebook and Twitter to leading the U.S. loyalty program from 12 to nearly 50 million members, Chris has been at the...

My guest this week is Steve Phillips, CEO of Zappi and chair of the Mayor's Sustainability Council. He has been at the forefront of transforming the insights industry. Under his leadership, Zappi has pioneered AI-driven tools that help creators worldwide test, validate, and scale ideas—long before AI became mainstream. That doesn’t mean he’s old, by the way. Today, he’s doubling down on new models...

My guest this week is Bill Harper, a guy who's been building brands longer than most people have been talking about branding. He's the Chief Creative Officer/CEO of BrandBossHQ , his fifth agency, where he helps businesses find the story that actually scales. Bill has worked with more than 300 brands, helped drive over $2.5 billion — that’s with a B — in new revenue, and built a playbook that smal...