The Ad Podcast

Sarah Boyd is a marketing executive and entrepreneur best known as Co-CEO and CRO of The Digital Dept. , a leading influencer marketing and talent management firm. She originally founded Simply Stylist, a fashion and lifestyle platform that grew into a major conference series and digital network connecting creators, brands, and media. With a background in fashion PR, she’s built a reputation as a...

Myriah Castillo is a social media strategist and marketing executive, currently serving as President of Joybyte, one of the fastest-growing influencer-led social marketing agencies in the U.S. She played a key role in scaling the agency’s growth—helping drive major client partnerships and building innovative strategies across platforms like TikTok and TikTok Shop. With a background in creative wri...

Bryan Stewart is the Chief of Marketing and External Relations at Goodwill of Southern Nevada (GoodwillVegas.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to workforce development, job training, and community support through retail operations and programs that help individuals overcome barriers to employment (often summarized as "saving the waste in people and things").He joined the organizat...

Rob Dawson is the Chief Strategy Officer at Creator.co, a Vancouver, Canada-based all-in-one influencer marketing platform (founded in 2016) that connects brands with creators for authentic collaborations, campaign management, performance tracking, and AI-powered tools like their "London" AI agent for matching, outreach, and scaling campaigns. In his role, he leads corporate strategy, gr...

Mark Connon is a seasoned executive in the adtech, martech, and data industry, currently serving as CEO of Bombora, a leading provider of B2B intent data and audience solutions that helps marketers identify in-market buyers through aggregated, privacy-compliant signals from publisher content consumption. He joined Bombora as President in May 2023 and assumed the CEO role around mid-2024, succeedin...

Ajay Gupta is the Founder and CEO of Stirista (often phonetically similar to "Sistra" in queries), a San Antonio, Texas-based data-driven marketing and identity solutions company specializing in combining identity-level data, email marketing, digital execution (including DSP ownership), and multichannel campaigns to help brands and agencies acquire, activate, and retain customers. He fou...

Domenic Venuto is a prominent executive in the advertising and media technology space, currently serving as EVP and Chief Product & Data Officer at Horizon Media, one of the world's largest independent media agencies (based in New York).In this role (appointed in late 2024), he oversees enterprise-wide product, data, and AI strategy, driving innovation through Horizon's AI-native Blue...

George Baker (often referred to as George Baker, Sr.) is an award-winning American entrepreneur, innovator, investor, and mentor based in Dallas, Texas. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of 2 the Moon Ventures, an investment vehicle he established to back early-stage companies and high-impact founders, particularly those needing an extra "boost" to scale—drawing from the playful &qu...

Nikos Iatropoulos is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur based in Austin, Texas. He currently serves as Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at IA Global Ventures, a fund focused on supporting foreign-born founders and early-stage tech startups, where he leads investment strategy and operations. His career includes roles such as: Managing Partner of Rex Tech Ventures (joined in 2022). R...

Sanjoy Paul is an Indian-American computer scientist, engineer, and innovation leader (born January 22, 1962). He currently serves as Executive Director of Rice Nexus (Rice University's premier innovation and prototyping hub) and AI Houston, as well as Associate Vice President for Technology Development at Rice University, where he also lectures in Computer Science. He is a Fellow of the IEEE...

Sarah Romanko is a venture capital investor and startup ecosystem leader based in the United States. She serves as an Associate at Geek Ventures , where she focuses on sourcing, evaluating, and supporting early-stage technology startups, particularly those founded by immigrants in the U.S. Romanko has experience working with several venture capital firms and startups, including companies such as B...

Neal Bloom is a San Diego-based venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and ecosystem builder in the tech and startup space. A Southern California native, he studied mechanical engineering at UC San Diego (UCSD) and early in his career worked with NASA on the Space Shuttle Main Engines and aspects of the Artemis program. He co-founded the edtech startup Portfolium, which was acquired by Instructure. Thi...

Susan Akbarpour is an Iranian-American serial entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and venture capitalist based in Silicon Valley. She began her career as an investigative journalist in Iran before immigrating to the United States in 1997. With over 30 years of experience building innovative products and businesses in technology, media, advertising, finance, retail, and more, she is best known...

Scott Hess is a prominent executive in the advertising and media industry, currently serving as Chief Marketing Officer at Publicis Media (a division of Publicis Groupe), based in Chicago. He is a dynamic leader focused on branding, culture-building, human intelligence, and storytelling for people and brands. Hess has held key roles within the Publicis ecosystem, including CMO at Spark Foundry (a...

Alex "Fro" Frommeyer is an American entrepreneur and executive best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Beam Benefits (originally launched as Beam Dental/Beam Technologies). He started the company in 2012 with a background in engineering (educated at the University of Louisville), initially focusing on innovative dental insurance tied to smart toothbrush technology and rewards for...

David Angelo is the Founder & Creative Chairman of David&Goliath, a Los Angeles-based advertising agency known for its challenger mindset and “Brave” philosophy. With a career spanning over three decades, Angelo has built award-winning work for major brands including KIA Motors , The Coca-Cola Company , Lexus , Michelin , Reebok and the National Football League (NFL) , and has earned more...

Francesca Kennedy is a social entrepreneur, brand leader, and former fashion founder known for building purpose-driven businesses that blend design with social impact. She is the founder of Ix Style , a fashion and lifestyle brand that works with artisan makers in Guatemala to produce handmade goods while helping provide clean drinking water and economic opportunities for local communities — a mis...

Falk Eumann is the Executive Vice President of Creative, North America at WongDoody (a global creative technology agency and Infosys company), based in New York City. An Executive Creative Director with over 15 years of international experience in digital, he blends technology, design, human-centered storytelling, and innovation to bring brands to life—focusing on purpose-driven work, next-gen tec...

Crystal Foote is the Founder & CEO (also Head of Partnerships) of Digital Culture Group (DCG), an award-winning, Atlanta-based ad tech company she launched in 2023 as the industry's only Black- and woman-owned firm in the space. DCG bridges data and humanity through innovative audience targeting (e.g., her Audience Resonance Index™ or ARI), real-time cultural insights, and inclusive advert...

Dan Fernandez is the Vice President of Digital Marketing and Strategy at Concord Hospitality Enterprises, a leading U.S. hotel management and development company. He's a recognized leader in digital marketing, branding, and hospitality strategy with over 15 years of experience in luxury and lifestyle segments. He has led high-performing teams at top agencies and shaped digital strategies for i...

Tara Oporto (also known as Tara Oporto) is the Founder & CEO of Enchantra, Inc., a New York City-based modern brand house (C-Corp) focused on creating innovative lifestyle and wellness brands. A longtime marketing leader and mom of five, she founded Temperates ( temperates.com ) in 2025—an intentional non-alcoholic beverage brand and lifestyle platform exploring the "new culture of drinki...

James Nord is the Founder & CEO of Fohr ( fohr.co ), the first influencer/ambassador marketing agency and platform in the U.S., launched in 2012 in New York City. A true pioneer in the creator economy, he transitioned from Wall Street finance to fashion photography (shooting behind-the-scenes for Oscar de la Renta and Thom Browne, Inc. ) after gaining massive fame as one of Tumblr 's most-...

Evin Shutt is a visionary leader in the advertising industry, serving as Global CEO and Partner at 72andSunny, a globally acclaimed creative agency (part of MDC Partners/Stagwell) known for cultural impact campaigns (e.g., redefining music distribution with Samsung/Jay-Z, elevating the NFL as the most valuable pro sports league, United Airlines' "biggest and best" seat innovations, T...

John Carstens is the Chief Creative Officer at Team DDB (Omnicom), leading creative efforts for the US Army account—a massive, multidisciplinary consortium of 11+ agencies. A seasoned writer, strategist, and creative leader, he specializes in building and managing large teams to deliver innovative storytelling across brand categories. His career includes roles at SapientNitro (where he led digital...

Allison Arling-Giorgi is the Head of Brand at Method1, a Chicago-based advertising and strategy agency focused on behavioral science-driven marketing. She's a seasoned brand strategist and behavioral-science expert with deep experience in consumer insights, particularly for Millennials and Gen Z. She harnesses human behavior research to build memorable brands, craft high-impact campaigns, and...