Media People Podcast: Recent Episodes
Victor Genova
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.Get your copy of I am Here to Fulfill My Destiny→Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/52nrn7t8 Indigo: https://tinyurl.com/8denvr8z
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.Girl Gone Wild is available April 1st, 2026. Pre-order your copy here→Amazon: https://amzn.to/4tCl9m6Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/85623/9781949487541
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Subscribe**www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 129 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with CEO | President, Brad Furtney. We chat:🎯 Growing up in London🎯 His time at Labatt🎯 Building decks in cottage country🎯 The differences between winning & having fun🎯 Leading sales at Sympatico, CBC, and Twitter🎯 The importance of mentorshipSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 128 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Team Friday Founder & CEO, Michelle O’Grady. We chat:🎯 Growing up in Los Angeles🎯 Founding Team Friday with $15K and no clients🎯 Her first part time job as a grocery bagger at Ralph’s🎯 Working in experiential and trade show marketing🎯 The differences between working in LA and NYC🎯 The importance of communitySubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 127 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Serial Entrepreneur, David U.K.™. We chat:🎯 His media sales career🎯 A reference letter from Clint Eastwood🎯 Why he trademarked his last name🎯 Why you should arrive at work before your boss🎯 His entrepreneurial ventures 🎯 Launching Digital Day Camp🎯 His preseason Super Bowl pickSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 126 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Up Level Coaching & Consulting Founder & CEO, Amy Kiernan. We chat:🎯 Working at Twitter’s first Canadian office🎯 Working at Twitter as it became ‘X’🎯 Applying for a marketing role, but landing a sales job🎯 Mentoring the leaders of today and tomorrow🎯 Launching Up Level Coaching & Consulting🎯 Amy’s passion for gaming🎯 Growing up in Dublin & Limerick, IrelandSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Let’s get ready to Rumble! Episode 125 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Epitaph Group Inc. Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Mike Rumble. We chat:🎯 Founding a media agency on the back of cannabis legalization🎯 Growing the Epitaph Group into one of Canada’s premier independent agencies🎯 Leading teams at Cossette and Media Experts🎯 Bridging the divide between media & creative🎯 Mike’s passion for theatre🎯 Growing up in VancouverSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 124 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with ESHAP Owner + Cartographer, Evan Shapīro. We chat:🎯 Solving restructuring problems for top-heavy companies🎯 Dropping out of the University of Massachusetts🎯 Executive producing shows like Portlandia🎯 Growing up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey🎯 The irony that comes with being a disruptor🎯 Evan’s passion for theatreWatch the full episode on YouTube and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel. The audio edition of today’s episode is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 123 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Clarity Global US Managing Partner, Kristen Ingraham. We chat:🎯 Legacy-creating moments🎯 Turning a cold email into a job offer🎯 The truth about working with celebrities🎯 Studying magazine journalism at Boston University🎯 Growing up in Greene, New York🎯 Leading Clarity Global’s US officeSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
☕Coffee is for closers!🤝 Episode 122 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with veteran media sales executive and NABS Director of Media Sales, Jennifer Hawtin. We chat:🎯 Vulnerability as a strength🎯 The importance of selling YOU for that first sales role🎯 Defining ‘protein spill’🎯 The differences between selling local & national radio🎯 Why ‘cold’ is Ottawa’s reputation🎯 NABS’ positive impact on the advertising industrySubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 121 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with ThinkStart.ca Award-Winning Speaker and Consultant, Mohit Rajhans. We chat:🎯 The new Minister of AI portfolio🎯 Future-proofing your skills🎯 Mohit’s go-to resources for learning a new platform🎯 How ThinkStart.ca has evolved since our last episode 🎯 Why it’s wrong to think AI is a young person’s gameSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 120 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Don’t Be A Little Pitch Founder/CEO & Pitch Pro, Bryce North. We chat:🎯 Receiving a ‘bait & switch’ offer on Dragons' Den🎯 How Don’t Be A Little Pitch is disrupting the PR landscape🎯 Why Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight is an inspiration🎯 Growing up in Winnipeg🎯 The glory (and accountability) that comes with being a hockey goalie🎯 How location impacts a founder’s ability to raise capital🎯 Bryce’s numerous entrepreneurial venturesSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Episode 119 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Reboot Consulting Group Managing Partner & Founder, Kerry Harris. We chat:🎯 Why dissolving a business partnership is akin to a divorce🎯 Why Kerry passed on an NCAA track scholarship🎯 Why Canadian citizens make the best US travel show producers🎯 Leading Weber Shandwick Canada🎯 What’s next with ReBoot Consulting GroupSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
From sports media to crisis management, TIEJA INC. Founder and Communications Strategist, Tieja MacLaughlin joins Episode 118 of the Media People Podcast. We chat…🎯 Running a communications firm focused on crisis management🎯 Delivering a career-changing elevator pitch…in an elevator🎯 Why extra curricular activities are the most important part of university🎯 Interning with the Ottawa Senators🎯 Competitive dancingSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
🎙️From competitive 🎹 piano playing to media agency leadership, M&K Media President, Jill McDonald joins Episode 117 of the Media People Podcast. We chat…🎯 Running M&K Media’s day-to-day business🎯 How an injury sidelined her music performance career🎯 Studying Media, Information, and Technoculture in university🎯 Teaching the next generation of media managers🎯 How working at Pizza Hut builds resilience & skills for a career in mediaSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
The birth of a media agency? Obsessed Media is fresh to market! Co-Founder Danny Weisman stops by Episode 116 to chat all about it and more. We cover…- Obsessed Media’s origin story- Advising clients on buying expensive Super Bowl spots- What exactly is “The Most Index”?- Saving the NBA All-Star Weekend- How different media brands are leaning into different genresSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Table 9 Productions Founder & Creative Director, Matt Manuge is my guest. We chat… - Starting Table 9 Productions- How networking & reputation directly impacts freelance work- Living off credit card debt between freelance gigs - His tenure at Blue Ant Media- Why professional wrestling is a lifelong passionSubscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcastViews expressed by participants are personal.
Kabil Rahaman is the Head of Commercial Data at The Globe & Mail—leading the company’s charge in the application of data monetization.Born in Zambia to Guyanese parents, Kabil and his family moved to Canada when he was three—settling in Brampton, Ontario. He studied anthropology at the University of Waterloo, dabbled in sales after graduation, before making the jump into ad operations with Suite 66. He moved agency side, holding senior roles at Accuen and Omnicom Media Group.Kabil Rahaman stops by to chat about growing up in Brampton, why his influences range from George Orwell to Ken Griffey Jr, his career in advertising, and leading data monetization at The Globe & Mail.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Isaac Adejuwon is the CEO and Founder of Metricsflow—a cutting-edge, privacy-friendly data attribution solution for marketers.A native of Nigeria, Isaac’s early life had its challenges. Electricity and running water were inconsistent, while there was no infrastructure for home internet.Much of his time was spent farming and playing soccer, but it was the introduction to a physics textbook that would spark a lifelong passion for science. That passion carried him to the University of Lagos where he majored in physics. He continued his studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering.Isaac Adejuwon stops by to talk about growing up in Nigeria, his passion for science, why he chose to relocate to Canada, his experiences as a Nigerian-Canadian entrepreneur, and where the idea for Metricsflow came from.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Chris Quinn is the co-founder of ProOps Consulting, a consultancy dedicated to accelerating operational efficiency and proficiency within the digital media ecosystem.Chris was born in Sudbury, Ontario, raised in Cambridge, and spent his teenaged years living in Brazil and Italy.He studied business and marketing in university & college, and took up an internship with a TV branding agency. Chris quickly learned that creative advertising wasn’t for him, and jumped at the chance to move into a role focused on operations with Rydium.Operations is where Chris found his groove, and his career grew to include senior level roles at Suite 66, Olive Media, Kijiji Advertising, and Loblaw Media before founding ProOps.Chris Quinn and I chat living and learning on three different continents, being a Bob Dylan fan, returning to Canada for university, passing on a career in creative advertising, spending a decade at Kijiji, and why he decided to start ProOps Consulting.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Shelley West is the Chief Revenue Officer at Elite High Performance—an organization specializing in human-centric mindset coaching and high-performance leadership training for teams and individuals.Born in Manchester, England, and raised in Toronto, Shelley’s early years were defined by her passion for dance. She studied different types, taught, and graduated from the prestigious Randolph College for the Performing Arts.Changes to the professional dancing landscape forced Shelley to rethink her pro career. She pivoted into media with Brunico, before assuming sales leadership roles with Rogers, Cimoroni & Company, and MiQ.Shelley West joins me to chat about her dancing career, why she retired from dance at 23, her move into media sales & adtech, and how Elite High Performance is redefining leadership development.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
What do Paris, New York City, Boston, London, Toronto, Montreal, and Fernie, British Columbia have in common?They are all places that make up the (somewhat) nomadic life and career of today’s guest, Will Rizzuto.Each location plays an integral part in Will’s story. He’s American, but spent his infant and pre-school years in Paris. The majority of Will’s youth was spent in New York City, but he attended university in Boston, returned to New York City to start his career in adtech before moving to London where he met his future Canadian wife, whom he relocated to Canada with.And in-between he found time to indulge his passion for skiing on a fulltime basis.Will Rizzuto, Sr. Manager, Advertising Sales & Partnerships at TELUS stop by to chat about his early life in Paris and New York City, studying business at Northeastern University, finding his way into adtech, the fast-paced story behind his relocation to London, his road-trip sabbatical from media, and helping to lead TELUS’ foray into media and data sales.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Rob Meyers is the Managing Director and Partner at VERSUS—a studio crafting highly creative, one-of-a-kind work for brands and agencies.A New Jersey native, pop culture played a big role in Rob’s early life. He refers to himself as an avid reader—everything from books to comics and was heavily invested in both TV and movies.Studying Television, Radio, and Film Screenwriting at Syracuse University provided the education Rob needed to pursue his interests professionally.He’s held a number of creative roles and has written and produced for the likes of BET, ESPN, NFL, Nickelodeon, CNN, and USA Networks—to name a few.Rob Meyers stops by to chat about growing up in New Jersey, the life of a freelance writer and producer, why he started working for a homeless charity after 9/11, and how VERSUS is shaking up creative advertising. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
What does a strategy director do at a creative agency? According to VML’s Rory Petty—you figure things out. This includes everything from writing the creative brief to consulting with the client marketing team—with any number of things in-between.Creative is actually a recent move for Rory. His advertising career started in broadcast media at Carat’s London office. He took a role as a Planning Account Manager at Mediavest, before relocating to Toronto to continue his career.Rory Petty stops by to chat about growing up in a village outside of London, how studying the human side of geography prepared him for a career in advertising, how the advertising industry in London differs from Toronto, and his move from media to creative.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
The word “coach” is closely aligned with sport, but it’s becoming ever more synonymous with the corporate world. More people are employing experienced professionals to provide career coaching. Sometimes that coach is a colleague and sometimes it’s an outsider bringing fresh advice & insights.And that’s exactly what today’s guest, Theresa Smith, does for her clients.Theresa is the founder of The LeaderSmith—a company providing executive coaching and leadership development coaching, for all levels. This includes emerging leaders right up to the c-suite. And Theresa has a tremendous amount of wisdom to impart.Her media career started in print sales with the Financial Post, before pivoting into digital with CANOE and MSN Canada.Most people familiar with Theresa’s story will recognize her from Olive Media, where she served as VP of Product, General Manager & VP, and President.Theresa Smith stops by to chat about growing up in Strathroy, competitive figure skating, why she studied history in university, the culture shock that came with teaching English in Japan, her media sales career, both leading & sunsetting Olive Media, and how The LeaderSmith is shaping a new generation of leaders.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Heads+Tales Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Amanda Shuchat, is part of a team that’s flipping the agency model on its head. Heads+Tales offers best-in-class integrated marketing services while focusing on high-performance coaching to foster greatness.And Amanda is ideally placed to disrupt the agency model. Her career begins as a PR Intern with Strategic Objectives, and continues into senior roles at Hill+Knowlton, Citizen Relations International, and Middle Child. The roster of clients Amanda has worked with is equally as impressive, and include Kraft, Pfizer, HP, Motorola, Canada Goose, and Endy—to name a few.Amanda Shuchat stops by to chat about her early life in Toronto, completing high school in Israel, negotiating and reselling Yogen Fruz local elementary schools, why she studied journalism, her career in PR, and taking the entrepreneurial leap with Heads+Tales.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Media and commerce are closer than ever before. Retail Media is the term used to reference this convergence. And it’s where today’s guest, Victoria Cromie, is leaving her mark.Victoria is the Managing Director, Canada for Mars United Commerce—a global commerce company, dedicated to driving growth for brands and retailers. Before helping retailers get more hustle out of their media dollars, Victoria was applying similar principles to her babysitting business. While most teenagers were sitting around waiting for referrals from friends & family, Victoria was putting up flyers around the neighbourhood and generating her own leads.She honed her marketing skills at York University and Sheridan College before jumping into agency life with Carat.Victoria Cromie stops by to chat about growing up in Toronto, her affinity for do-it-yourself projects, working on the Hyundai and Ford media accounts, selling Olympic-calibre balance beams on Amazon, and her move into retail media. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
When CHUM Radio wanted to monetize its online audience for the first time, they called Debbie Benadiba.When Rogers Media launched its first online, on-demand streaming video app, they called Debbie Benadiba to lead ad sales.Debbie has a knack for launching new advertising products to market. There are other examples I can touch on—they include both mobile and OOH advertising, but you’ll have to listen to this episode to hear those stories.Debbie Benadiba, CEO of Talon OOH Canada, stops by to chat about growing up in Toronto, her love of dance, how her original life plan was to become an orthodontist, why she left agency life early in her career for media sales, and what lured her back into the agency world.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Brigitte Sachse is the founder of Bee Video Production—a digital video producer specialising in branded content.But securing content production budgets from clients such as the Toronto Star, Accenture, and the Royal Bank of Canada is a bit of a 180 from her early work.Before founding Bee Video Production, Brigitte’s career focused on providing public and private financing for documentaries, TV shows, and feature-length films. This included reviewing grant applications for the Canadian Media Fund & the National Film Board of Canada, and advising private media lenders on which TV shows and movies to invest in.Brigitte Sachse stops by to chat about her nomadic childhood, cleaning kennels, why she studied business and french literature in university, a career in public and private media financing, and the founding of Bee Video Production.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Pary Bell’s CV is stacked with leadership roles at some of Canada’s biggest media companies including, but not limited to, the CBC, Rogers Media, and TorStar.He’s made a career of leading organizations through digital transformation, but his original plan didn’t involve building teams, managing people, and navigating internal politics—Pary’s first love was drawing.Pary studied General Arts at Queen’s University, but departed after two years to pursue a Fine Arts Degree at Emily Carr University of Art & Design.It was difficult making it as an artist, and Pary made the choice to enroll in the Communications & Multimedia program at Centennial College. He aggressively chased an internship opportunity with the CBC, and his digital media career took off. His current role? Leading The Podcast Exchange.Pary Bell, CEO of The Podcast Exchange stops be to chat about growing up on a farm outside of North Bay Ontario, the impact sport has had on his life & career, his passion for drawing, and leading teams and departments at some of Canada’s most prolific media companies. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
Sue Haas is the President and COO of NLogic—Canada's leading provider of audience analysis technology and data.But Sue’s career didn’t start in data and analytics. Her first job in media was an internship on eTalk Daily, researching and writing interview questions for celebrities like Phil Collins, John Mayer, and Nelly.This was a complete shift from her childhood in the rural town Melbourne, Ontario. How rural? No cable TV, dial-up internet was the norm, she had to travel one town over just to go to school, and there weren’t many opportunities for part time work.Sue Haas stops by to chat about her growing up on a hobby farm, studying English and Journalism in university, a career that includes everything from digital product development to getting John Mayer coffee, and what NLogic has in store for the future. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/https://www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast
It’s episode 100 and we welcome back our episode nine guest, Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada President, Sonia Carreno.Sonia was only a handful of months into her presidency when we first chatted back in 2015. Nine years later, Sonia returns to talk about how the IAB Canada has evolved under her leadership, while providing insight into how the organization tackles issues and shapes policy impacting the digital media industry.A big thank you to all of our loyal listeners and past guests. We couldn’t have hit the 100-episode milestone without your support.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Kevin Bartus is a terrible employee—those are his words, not mine. But that’s OK because he’s a very successful entrepreneur.Kevin is the President and CEO of Ideon Media—Canada’s largest digital rep firm, responsible for monetizing Canadian ad traffic for brands such as VICE Media and IGN, to name a few. Ideon also owns and operates several sites including SavvyMom, 29Secrets, and AmongMen.A Chicago native, Kevin was quite the academic in his youth. He found subjects like math easy, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he graduated from both MIT and Harvard.He moved into consulting after university and then founded Blue Spark—a company building websites for TorStar and Rogers.Despite an exit and the chance to lead Rogers Media’s foray into digital advertising, Kevin had the itch get back out on his own. He saw the success Olive Media enjoyed in the rep space, and decided to emulate their business model with Ideon Media.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Cracking the media industry can be tough for an employee, but for an entrepreneur? Building something from scratch can be a tall order.But it was a challenge that Sotero Bernardo was up for. Sotero is the Co-Founder, Head of Business Development at Coastal Digital Group—an experience agency combining creativity with technology.The original goal was to make it in media sales. But sales opportunities are scarce when you’re fresh out of school, so Sotero took a job as a jr. media planner at Cossette Media—working on both the Nike and Sony PlayStation media accounts.He moved into venue advertising before networking his way to a sales role with Ideon Media. His success led to a promotion along with expanded responsibilities that included managing people and acquiring new publisher representation deals.But Sotero saw an opportunity within the creative space. He had a plan to capitalize on it, and co-founded Coastal Digital Group with his business partner.Sotero Bernardo stop by to chat about growing up in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, attending high school in suburbia, working at McDonald’s, monetizing charisma lessons, his media sales career, and entrepreneurship in the ultra-competitive media space.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Sales is a performative art, and presentations are like a play. Notes serve as the script, while the PowerPoint deck acts as the set. The boardroom the stage, and clients the audience. At the heart of the production—the sales rep.When comparing the two professions, you can see why today’s guest, Kristie Painting, has enjoyed a successful sales career.Kristie is Pinterest’s Country Manager for Canada, and while many people in her position have a marketing or business degree, Kristie majored in drama.Her first job out of university was handling pharmaceutical orders. Kristie wasn’t enthused by the work, and quickly moved into media sales with NOW Magazine. She progressed into roles with Yahoo! and DoubleClick, and ascended into leadership positions at Olive Media and Bell Media, to name a few.Kristie Painting stops by to chat about growing up in suburban Toronto, her passion for the dramatic arts, her media sales career, why she took an agency job, and leading Pinterest’s Canadian office. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
When Valerie Tyson interviewed for a marketing role with the Charlotte Hornets, it was team owner and NBA legend, Michael Jordan, who handled her final interview.And this is only one of the many stories comprising Valerie’s sports marketing career.Valerie is the Co-Founder, Head of Strategy + Sports at Unrivaled Group—a female led, sports driven tech consultancy. Valerie’s career didn’t start in sports, but local radio—running promotions for stations in Arizona and San Diego. She moved KLSX in Los Angeles, where it provided her first taste in sports marketing. It included LA Kings radio broadcasts along with west coast events for the Howard Stern Show.She jumped at the chance to lead marketing for the LA Avengers inaugural season in the Arena Football League, and it was from here her sports marketing career took off.Valerie Tyson stops by to chat about growing up in Chicago, why she studied journalism in university, creative ways to launch an arena football team, relaunching Charlotte’s NBA team after the original Hornets moved to New Orleans, and what she’s out to accomplish with Unrivaled Group.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Kensington Grey is an influencer management agency rooted in diversity, representing an extensive roster of black and brown creators. At the heart of the agency is President & CEO, Shannae Ingleton Smith.Born in Toronto, raised in Calgary, Shannae studied finance and economics in university. But marketing was her real passion. There wasn’t an option to major in it, so Shannae filled her electives with every marketing class available. She moved into finance after graduation, but quickly pivoted into media sales with Mediaplanet Publishing. Shannae moved to Rogers Media, holding sales roles at MacLean’s Magazine, Elevate Multi-Platform Sales, and leading a multi-million-dollar territory of education-based clients.It was during this time that the seeds for Kensington Grey were planted. Shannae ran a private Facebook group providing business advice to black influencers. She noticed that opportunities were slim, and their services were undervalued. She saw an opportunity to rectify this, and Kensington Grey was born.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Ian Dallimore is Lamar Advertising’s Vice-President, Digital Growth & General Manager of Programmatic, but his path to OOH advertising didn’t start with a typical agency job. A New Orleans native, Ian’s original plan was to be a pediatrician. He studied medicine at Louisiana College while on a basketball scholarship. An injury nixed this, and he transferred to Louisiana State where he graduated with a degree in marketing.He moved into minor league baseball, taking marketing roles with AAA affiliates of the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros.Ian pivoted into OOH advertising with Lamar, rising from strategist to where he is today.Ian Dallimore stops by to chat about growing up in New Orleans, running marketing for minor league baseball teams, why Michael Jordan is the GOAT, and working for Lamar Advertising. And be sure to check Ian’s podcast, the Digital Dirt Podcast—featuring conversations with inspiring and influential thought leaders from the advertising world.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
It’s difficult to refute social media’s supremacy in the platform hierarchy. Brands are increasingly trying to find new & innovate ways to leverage social for audience engagement.And it’s exactly why they turn to today’s guest, Darcy MacNeil. Darcy is the Head of so.da—a full service, specialized, and award-winning social first agency.Darcy’s career started behind the camera as a clearance coordinator. This involved securing commercial rights to content so it could be legally integrated into programming. Her work led to a series of producing jobs before she moved into content marketing, joining agencies like UM and getting the opportunity to start Mindshare Canada’s Content+ department.Darcy MacNeil stops by to chat about growing up in suburban Toronto, playing ringette, why dance is such big part of her life, how a pop culture history class at the University of Victoria got her thinking about a career in media & journalism, and running one of Canada’s largest social digital media agencies. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Science has always played a role in marketing—whether it be focus groups, surveys, or any other form of research. But the marriage between the two disciplines has grown increasingly closer over the years. So much, that it has formalized the role marketing science plays in advertising.And PHD Canada has entrusted Matt Devlin, to handle this for their roster of clients.Matt is their first Managing Director, Marketing Science, where he’s responsible for connecting media investments back to their results.An Ottawa native, Matt left capital city to attend university in Toronto. But unlike most students who enter with a major, Matt used his first year to dabble in a variety of different classes before settling on a degree in Cinema Studies and Semiotics.After graduation, Matt relocated to the United Kingdom, taking his first media role at Zenith Optimedia’s London office. He moved back to Canada and continued with Zenith at their Toronto office.He was let go by Zenith, but picked up by PHD where he continues today.Matt Devlin stops by to chat about growing up in Ottawa, being the youngest of five siblings, the differences between Canadian and UK media life, and the increasing role marketing science plays in advertising.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
You might know David Cairns as the co-founder of Cairns Oneil, but the agency he started with Sherry O’Neil back in 2012 is just one of the many companies he’s had a hand in founding. In fact, some of those agencies became the entry points for international holding companies looking to enter the Canadian market.For example, David’s first agency—David Cairns & Company, was acquired by Aegis and rebranded Carat. But if you look back at David’s passions and education, you would have thought a role in the creative world was forthcoming.A life-long artist with degrees in visual arts and education, David worked for two years as an art teacher in rural Prince Edward Island.David returned to Toronto and took a job as a Media Estimator with Ogilvy & Mather, and it was from there that his media career took off.David Cairns stops by to chat about growing up in Toronto, his passion for painting, working the late shift as a taxi driver, his career in media, and why every entrepreneur should have an exit strategy. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
You could say a career in advertising was foreshadowed in Anthony Hello’s childhood. After all, two of his influences were fictional advertising executives–Angela Bower from Who’s the Boss?, and Darrin Stephens from Bewitched. Anthony was born, raised, and educated in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He moved to Toronto after graduating from the University of New Brunswick, landing an entry level role working on the Labatt Breweries account at Echo Advertising.Anthony went on to senior roles at The Hive, Mediacom, and Bensimon Byrne. During this period his career became increasingly focused on content marketing. Anthony married an American, and he and his husband decided to settle in New York City, where his career continued with senior roles at UMWW and the Mediabrands Content Studio.In his spare time Anthony is also a podcaster. He’s the producer and host of All The Boys, a podcast dedicated to telling the historical stories of gay men arrested on so-called morals charges, who were then outed in the press for the sexuality. All The Boys is available wherever you get your podcasts.Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Running commentary on your profession can be daunting—especially on LinkedIn, where point-of-views can be read by your entire industry.But that hasn’t stopped today’s guest, Danny Weisman, from publishing his thoughts.Danny is the Group Media Director at Noble People—a New York-based creative media agency focused on new thinking and innovative methods.In my opinion, Danny is also one of the most open and curious media professionals on LinkedIn. His opinions are candid, and are mix of industry research along with professional and personal experiences.You can check him out on LinkedIn, but be sure to subscribe to his newsletter, Let Me Think, at letmethink.beehiiv.com.Danny Weisman stops by to chat about growing up in the New York City borough of Queens, the impact summer camp had on his life, attending university in Nashville, how a media director’s role continues to evolve, and openly sharing his opinions on the advertising industry. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
In a world where job hopping is normalized, it’s rare to meet someone who has spent their entire career with the same company. And it’s even rarer to hear about an intern working their way up to president. But this is the story of today’s guest, Caroline Moul. Caroline is the President of PHD Canada—the Canadian division of PHD Media Worldwide. Not only is she the president, but also a lifelong employee—going back to the days when the agency was known as HYPN. Born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa, Caroline moved with her family to the Toronto suburb of Oakville when she was a teenager. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in the advertising program at Sheridan College. She joined HYPN on a media planning internship, and grew with the company as it was acquired by the Omnicom Media Group and integrated into the global PHD Media family.Caroline Moul stops by to chat about growing up in Africa, the differences between attending school in South Africa and Canada, and how having a firm career plan can help you move from the cubicle to the corner office. Subscribe to the Media People Newslettermediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Marketer, educator, podcaster, & founder—Darian Kovacs stops by to chat.Darian and I talk about growing up in the border town of Tsawwassen, British Columbia, studying art education & visual arts at the University of Victoria, his time as a youth worker in Surrey, and his entrepreneurial endeavours which include Jelly Digital Marketing & PR Agency, the Jelly Academy, and Marketing News Canada.Subscribe to the Media People Newsletterhttps://mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribeListen & Subscribewww.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Ron Tite, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Church+State stops by to chat. And what a conversation we have. Even if you’ve never met Ron, there’s a good chance you’ve come across his content. Apart from being the CCO of Church+State, he’s an in-demand guest speaker, published author, and very active on social media. What makes Ron’s content both unique and refreshing are his honest opinions on a wide variety of topics concerning, marketing, advertising, and business.Ron Tite stops by to chat about growing up in Oshawa, why he studied Phys Ed in university, how working for a business school was just as good going to business school, and a creative advertising career that includes founding of the award-winning agency, Church+State. www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Out-of-home media has seen tremendous growth in recent years. Much of this can be attributed to the proliferation of digital signage and the convenience of purchasing inventory via programmatic platforms. We’ve come a long way from manually placing posters in transit shelters.And today’s guest, Stephanie Gutnik, is helping accelerate this change. Stephanie is the Global Chief Strategy Officer at Billups—a leading global out-of-home tech company reinventing the way brands and agencies approach planning and placement.But a career in advertising wasn’t part of her original life plan. Stephanie had her sights set on broadcast journalism. That is until a summer internship left her second-guessing that goal.After graduating from university, Stephanie took a role with News America Marketing’s Montreal office, working on direct mail, couponing, and in-store media solutions.From there she moved to Broadsign, working her way up to VP of Business Development—and with it a move to New York City. Stephanie would go on to hold senior roles at Outfront Media, Verizon, and Yahoo.Stephanie Gutnik stops by to chat about growing in Winnipeg, studying in Montreal, working at some of the biggest players in out-of-home media, and the differences between working in Toronto and New York City.www.mediapeople.cawww.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcastwww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Coming from a family of scientific and mathematical academics wasn’t enough to deter Kaaveh Shoamanesh from pursuing a career in entertainment.
And he wasn’t about to let something like university, which he attended for an entire month, get in the way.
After leaving university, Kaaveh packed up at the age of 18, moving south to Los Angeles to kick off his career.
He started as an on-air personality, hosting an entertainment news show produced for the global Persian community.
Kaaveh then moved into producing and talent management, working with the likes of HGTV and Netflix. At HGTV he worked on the popular real estate renovation show, Love it or List It, handling brand and product integrations.
He’s taken 21 years of product placement experience and founded Plaiced, a platform enabling advertisers to reach their target audience within online community groups.
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Jed Schneiderman, Episode 22 guest returns to the podcast.
When we last chatted with Jed, he was taking us through his early life and career leading to the founding of Tapped Mobile. Since then, he’s sold Tapped Mobile, and is now the country Manager for Jebbitt—a platform that helps brands collect more data by driving customer personalization efforts.
But Jed hasn’t stopped there.
A couple years back he co-founded the M2T Collective—a rotational program that gives recent graduates and those looking for a career change the opportunity to experience four different companies within the marketing, media and technology space.
And then there’s Jed’s most recent project—CleverHire, a curated job site for marketing, media, and adtech professionals that integrates candidate videos into the recruitment process.
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What was your Achilles heel in school? Essays? Presentations? Tests? I was never strong at exams, so I had put the effort into my course work to salvage a decent grade.
But this is where Universal Design for Learning comes in. The goal of UDL is to provide students with the options to learn for themselves in ways that make sense to them.
At the forefront of bringing UDL to the classroom is today’s guest, Danny Smith.
Danny is a professor at George Brown College, educating students in the college’s marketing and advertising program.
But this Ottawa-area native almost missed his calling to teach. When the concurrent education program at Trent University passed on Danny’s application, he chose to study mass communications at Carleton University.
This led to a career in marketing, which led to a career in education administration, which would eventually pave the way for Danny’s teaching career.
Danny Smith stops by to chat about growing up in Nepean Ontario, a marketing career that includes the Sales & Merchandise Group and Capital C, and how he’s revolutionizing the classroom experience with Universal Design for Learning.
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The title “producer” is everywhere in show business, but what exactly does a producer do? It’s a bit of a loaded question as responsibilities can vary, but it’s a question that today’s guest, Jodie Davis, will answer for us.
Jodie has spent over 20 years in television, and there’s a good chance you’re familiar with his work. This includes many of the major Canadian awards shows such as the Juno and Gemini awards. He was entertainment producer on Toronto One’s The A-List, before getting the chance to executive produce ET Canada.
Jodie Davis stops by to chat about growing up in Uxbridge Ontario, simultaneous attending both York University and Seneca College, a producer’s collective duties, and what it’s like producing Canada’s biggest entertainment news show.
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As a marketer, overseeing a national brand can be a demanding ask. But leading no fewer than six? That’s a separate challenge altogether.
And that’s exactly what the day-to-day entails for today’s guest, Cheryl Gresham.
Cheryl is the Vice President Marketing, CMO for Verizon Value—a division of Verizon Communications serving value-conscious consumers looking for the flexibility of prepaid wireless service.
Born, raised, and educated in Seattle Washington, Cheryl packed her bags after graduation, heading south to start her marketing career in Los Angeles.
And what a career it has been. Prior to Verizon Value, Cheryl held senior roles at companies that include Initiative, Coca-Cola, Taco Bell, Mattel, Google, and TikTok.
Cheryl Gresham stops by to chat about growing up in Seattle, her time in the agency world, working for some of the biggest global brands, and leading marketing for Verizon Value.
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In May of 2022, Becca Lucas Lord resigned from her role as VP, Director of Client Services at Wunderman Thompson. She was ready to explore new opportunities that complimented her recent agency work.That sabbatical lasted all of three days before she was asked to return in a consulting role.When you look at the breadth Becca’s resume, it’s easy to see why they wanted her back.Besides Wunderman Thompson, Becca’s career includes time at Cohn & Wolfe, Sequentia Environics, Twist Image, and Mirum.She has worked on all categories from automotive, CPG, pharmaceuticals, and even petroleum pipelines.Becca Lucas Lord stops by to chat about growing up in London Ontario, why she took a year off from university, her career journey from coordinator to VP, and the decision to move into consulting.www.mediapeople.cawww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
You'll be hard pressed to find a more eclectic resume than Ryan Ladisa’s.Ryan has worked in broadcast, out-of-home, digital, programmatic, and creative. He’s worked for agencies, big corporate conglomerates, and specialised ad tech vendors. He’s slung media space, sold cross-platform solutions, led departments hunting for the latest innovations, and helped innovative companies find their foothold in the Canadian market.And we can also add entrepreneur to the list. Ryan was Freshii franchisee number 1. This was back when Freshii was known by its former name, Lettuce Eatery.Ryan Ladisa stops by to chat about growing up in Toronto, studying Creative Advertising at Seneca College, and his extensive media career that spans both the agency and vendor side of the business.www.mediapeople.cawww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Cynthia Rubino—CYTRINE CONSULTANCY Founder, advertising educator, and mental health advocate returns to the podcast.The pandemic forced everyone to adjust personally and professionally. For CYTRINE CONSULTANCY, this meant putting more emphasis on mental health services.If you’re a professional, you probably embraced zoom calls in sweatpants. And for many of us, not having a daily commute was a plus.But if you’re a student? Well, virtual lectures and group work sapped all the interpersonal benefits that come with the classroom. Something that Cynthia saw first-hand while teaching.Cynthia Rubino stops by to chat about the current state of mental health and wellness in the advertising industry, how it’s impacting our students, and her recently launched Masterclass series.And if you haven’t already, be sure to jump down to Episode 37 to catch our first conversation. You can find the link in the episode description. Link to Cynthia's first time on the podcast -->Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/z5dbu34jApple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/wmrf7njswww.mediapeople.cawww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Whether it be in the classroom, through her podcast, or her self-published meditation journal—teaching is a big part of Shaelah Pirie’s life.A native of Porcupine, Ontario—a village of maybe 3,000 people, Shaelah studied political science at university, but pivoted into television writing and production after graduation.Her first breaks in media included promotion and production roles on The Distinguished Artists Series and Canadian Idol.Working in television is far from a 9 to 5 gig. 14-hour days are normal keeping you from family and friends. And as a new mother, Sahaela moved into teaching to have more time with her daughter.But her role has an educator grew beyond the classroom. Shaelah's taken increased authorship of her career. She’s focused on bringing meditation and wellness to parents and children. Helping them deal with personal trauma. www.mediapeople.cawww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Starting a media company used to be an expensive and bureaucratic endeavour. It usually required buckets of money, a team of lawyers, and even a CRTC license if you were looking to break into TV or radio.But the internet brought down those barriers, giving new media companies a chance to challenge the old guard. And one company in particular, The Peak, is doing just that.The Peak was created to provide Canadian professionals with the news they need. They cover business, tech, and any other important stories of that day. It’s a news site, but also a collection of newsletters and podcasts. And all of this is available at readthepeak.com.On this episode we have The Peak Co-Founder and CEO, Brett Chang, stopping by to chat.Brett speaks with us about growing up in Toronto, his previous entrepreneurial ventures, working in public policy at Uber at time when the legacy taxi industry was very hostile towards both Uber and its employees, and successfully starting a new media company in a very competitive ecosystem.www.mediapeople.cawww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Sales & Marketing – two departments that at any time, could be working in harmony or at each other throats.And today’s guest, Jennifer DeFrenza has had a seat both tables.Jennifer is the VP of Marketing for Surex, a company offering insurance products for consumers and businesses.Before moving into marketing, she had a successful career as a media sales professional for companies such as Rogers Media, The Weather Network, and Expedia. Jennifer DeFrenza stops by to chat about growing up in Toronto, completing most of the 8th grade in Red Deer, Alberta, and going from chasing marketing dollars to controlling marketing budgets.www.mediapeople.cawww.instagram.com/vicgenova/
Sales leader, quota crusher, champion of grassroots basketball, hockey podcaster, and arguably the OG of Canadian digital media sports sales—Tony Luccisano, stops by to chat.
A native of Toronto’s Little Italy neighborhood, Tony studied biology with the goal of becoming a doctor. To use his words, his grades weren’t going to cut it for med school, which quickly shut down that plan.
After school he joined the Financial Post as a Business Manager, but would move into online financial service sales with the Datagroup.
Tony’s digital ad sales career started with Canoe. He departed Canoe for TSN—arguably Canada’s largest and oldest sports media brand, where he would enjoy a nearly 13-year career. A move to competitor Sportsnet was short-lived after a sales team restructuring.
Tony has since turned to consulting, putting his experience and success to work for companies looking for fractional growth and experience to jump-start their revenue potential.
But Tony’s move into consulting isn’t entirely by design. Like many experienced members of the Canadian media industry, his career has been impacted by ageism. We close out our conversation by discussing the impact ageism has had on his career, and why it’s important for the industry to reject this form of discrimination.
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Mo Dezyanian describes himself as the “kid who skipped cartoons to watch the commercials.” But if you look at his early years, you’d be hard pressed to see a future ad agency founder.
A somewhat nomadic childhood, Mo was born in Iran, but spent much of his youth living in Germany.
His family eventually moved to Canada, and Mo would go on to study computer Science at York University.
The original goal was to work for Microsoft, but Mo decided to enroll in McMaster University’s MBA program. While there, he won an inter-university business case competition. The prize? Admission to a CFO conference. And it had a big impact on his future. He met a member of the Tim Horton’s board who also owned a boutique ad agency.
He converted that meeting into his first media job before moving over to Trojan One.
Mo shifted into freelancing before founding Empathy Inc.—an agency priding itself on providing expertise in media, but also showcasing what media can do for business.
Mo Dezyanian stops by to chat about growing up in Iran and Germany, starting Empathy Inc., his love for classic kung fu films, and how the Iranian authorities confiscated and erased his entire kung. fu movie collection.
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Publics relations, social media management, media strategy, and new business development have all played a pivotal role in Sarah Thompson’s career.
Born & raised in Dorchester, Ontario, Sarah relocated to Toronto after graduating from university and college.
The early part of Sarah’s career was heavily concentrated in public relations. This included roles at National Public Relations, Accenture, and Mansfield Communications, to name a few.
Additional responsibilities in social media and strategy pushed Sarah deeper into the media world, which lead her to opportunities with Corus Entertainment, Theo, Cossette, and Mindshare
Sarah Thompson, President of Dentsu Media Canada stops by to chat about her career in PR and media, the importance of blending her personal and professional identities on LinkedIn, and why we all need to pay more attention to the erosion of local news.
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Agency, vendor, and not-for-profit, Lucy Collin has touched virtually every segment of the media & marketing world.
Born & raised in Cartier, Ontario—a small town 80 kilometers north of Sudbury, Lucy moved to Toronto when she was 18 to study Fashion Merchandising and Marketing at Centennial College.
After graduating, Lucy moved into media buying & planning at Media Buying Services. Additional opportunities to grow within the agency world presented themselves before pivoting into broadcast sales at the CBC. That was just the start of a sales career that went from local markets in Western Canada to leading sales for multiple Olympic Games and Hockey Night in Canada.
Lucy would continue to hold sales & marketing leadership positions at IMG, Marketing Magazine, and Bell Media, to name a few.
Lucy Collin, the Canadian Marketing Association’s VP of Member Experience, stops by to chat about growing up in Northern Ontario, the move to the big city, her storied media career, and moving into the not-for-profit sector.
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Founded in 1987 by Denise and Allan Jones, the Jones & Jones Group has served many sides of the creative world for Afro-Caribbean & multi-cultural creators. And at the head of this is today’s guest, Jesse Jones.
Born in Sudbury and raised in Toronto, Jesse studied marketing & communications at the University of Ottawa.
Being in the nation’s capital presented a coincidence that Jesse parlayed into an opportunity which would arguably help launch his career. Working at the campus radio station allowed him to apply for press credentials when the JUNO Awards were in town.
While at the JUNOs, he networked his way into a sales and marketing job with Hot 89.9, which at the time was a new Ottawa FM radio station focused on hip-hop, R&B, and popular music.
From there Jesse moved into marketing and PR roles with SonyBMG Canada, Youthography, and the Timex Group.
And if you’re a fan of realty TV and ET Canada, you’re probably asking yourself: Is it THAT Jesse Jones?
It is.
Some of you might already know Jesse as the season one host of the Bachelor in Paradise Canada, and ET Canada’s Black History Special: FORWARD, Celebrating the Future of Black Entertainment in Canada.
Jesse Jones stops by to chat about his career in the boardroom and his work in front of the camera.
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Have you ever viewed a science, history, or geography video on social media? Of course you have. They’re everywhere. Then it’s likely you’ve seen something produced by Steve Hulford’s company, Underknown.
Underknown is a next-generation digital media company operating 40+ owned & operated video channels on social media. With 50 million followers and 120 million active monthly viewers, you might be familiar with some of their brands including “What If” and “How To Survive”.
Special interest video content is something Steve has always been passionate about. One of his first forays into media was a self-produced documentary called “Real Travel: 60-Days in Indonesia”.
As a storyteller, Steve’s career has always been close to sports media—whether it was working for TSN, SportsNet, or the now defunct Quokka Sports. As an entrepreneur, he was one of the first to see the opportunities the internet could bring to fantasy sports and brands.
Steve Hulford stops by to talk about growing up in Waterloo Ontario, his time as an elite swimmer, and his professional ventures in the digital media and content space.
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What was your first sales job? Was it in adtech? Media? Perhaps it goes a back a little further. A paper route? Girl Guide cookies? Or maybe a lemonade stand.
When Jaime Lipowtiz was a child, she was flipping Beanie Babies. That was then and this is now. She has since moved from collectables and into cannabis.
Jaime is the founder of the High Buds Club, the premiere discovery platform and social club for budtenders and cannabis retailers in Canada.
A native of Suburban Toronto, Jaime studied political science in university, with ambitions of becoming a lawyer. She decided against this, launching a sales career spanning everything from spa packages to Groupon-like deals to media.
Jaime Lipowtiz stops by to chat about her life, career, where the idea for the High Buds Club came from, and the gap it’s filling in the cannabis market.
We even get a very surreal story about the time she rubbed elbows with Snoop Dog while working at Mary Jane Media.
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If you look back at Krista Webster’s high school career, nobody would blame you for thinking she was headed straight for Broadway. The arts —especially music theatre, played a major role in her teenaged years.
But her professional career would bring about the opportunity to work with a relatively new type of performer—influencers.
Krista is the President and CEO of Veritas Communications, Canada’s largest influencer marketing agency that walks the line between public relations and marketing.
But how did Krista go from performer to influencer agency CEO? You could argue that the clues are in her university career.
Krista pivoted away from the performing arts, pursuing an undergraduate degree in English Literature & Women’s Studies. Not only did this help Krista hone her writing skills, but set her up for success when completing a Masters in Journalism.
Krista Webster stops by to chat about growing up in suburban Toronto, how extra curriculars activities and teachers shaped her time in high school, taming the art of retail sales at her local Gap, and her accomplishments in the PR & marketing world.
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We have a return guest—Walder Amaya from Episode 4 is back on the podcast.
So what’s Walder been up to since we last chatted way back in 2015? Quite a bit actually. He departed Evolve Media to co-found Apex Mobile Media—a leading mobile marketing solutions company. And in just a short period of time the company has grown to include the Apex Gaming Network and AlphaKonnect.
Walder takes us through where the idea for Apex came from, and what was required of both him and his business partner, Chris Lombardi, to make the company a reality.
We also get a first-hand account of what it was like navigating the global pandemic from the perspective of an entrepreneur.
And after you’re done listening to this podcast be sure to jump back in time to Episode 4, which serves as a de facto pre-qual for today’s show.
Data—it has always played a role in advertising and marketing, and its prominence & demand has only grown over time. As a matter of fact, many thought leaders refer to data as the new oil to illustrate just how important it has become.
And at the heart of all this is today’s guest, Janice Liu.
Janice is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Magnet, a data & engineering consulting business.
Born in China and raised in Vancouver, Janice has held senior level roles at both the agency and client level, and is also the founder of multiple start-ups including Filling The Gap: a bi-annual not-for-profit women’s empowerment conference.
Janice Liu stops by to chat about growing up in Vancouver, attending university in Montreal, a career that includes companies such as PHD, Cossette, and CIBC, along with her entrepreneurial ventures.
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Media, adtech, renewable energy, and seafood? It’s quite the eclectic mix of business interests, but it’s just a selection of the many professional endeavors of today’s guest, Andrew Murray.
Andrew is the CEO of Broadside9, a media agency specializing in interactive media solutions.
Andrew was born in Ottawa, but spent the majority of his youth in Prince Edward Island.
You’d think a media agency CEO would be armed with a business degree, but Andrew studied Neuroscience, focusing his research on learning and memory functions of the brain.
And it’s a degree that comes in handy when you consider persuasion, brand engagement, and recall, are all major parts of marketing.
Andrew Murray stops by to chat about growing up & studying in Atlantic Canada, his passion for art, his entrepreneurial ventures in the media space, the innovative way he’s modernizing legacy infrastructure to bring green energy to homes in Prince Edward Island, and jumping into the restaurant business during the global pandemic.
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Darrick Li’s Comscore career started directly after university, and continued for more than a decade. He began as an analyst before pivoting into sales—a move that would launch his career within the company and take him all the way to Senior Director of Sales.
It should be no surprise that Standard Media Index tapped him to lead their foray into the Canadian market.
Outside of work, Darrick has a history of giving back—both within and outside of the media industry.
Darrick Li stops by to chat about growing up in Markham, his time at Comscore, what brought him to Standard Media Index, tips for anyone looking to chase a promotion, his teaching career at Seneca College, his passion for the culinary arts, but also how he has fused said passion with his philanthropic efforts.
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Think managing media a country with two national languages is complicated? Try handling media and marketing in India—a country with over 1.3 billion people, a number of languages & dialects, and a variety of cultural nuances that need to be accounted for.
But that’s only one of the many pieces that make up the life and career of today’s guest, Maz Tannir.
Born in Lebanon, Maz’s father moved his family to Oman in order to escape the war happening at home.
After high school, Maz moved to Cyprus to study business at Cyprus College. But while most students enter workforce after graduation, Maz relocated to England to study acting.
Maz eventually returned to Oman, taking a role at OHI—an agency now part of the DDB network. From there opportunities to work both agency and client side took him Dubai, Morocco, and India—to name a few.
Maz Tannir stops by to chat about his early life in Lebanon and Oman, studying theatre in the UK, the differences between agency life in Dubai and Oman, emigrating with his family to Canada, and the importance of giving back to the media industry.
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Working at a media agency can provide ample opportunities to support a variety of clients across a number of different industries. But no two industries—let alone clients, are truly alike.
Opportunities to support theatrical movie studios can be particularly limited given that there are only a handful of them in the entire world. But today’s guest, Larry Medeiros, has worked with the likes of Sony, Paramount, and Warner Brothers.
You’d expect most kids to gravitate towards TV and video games, but a young Larry Medeiros found his passion in radio. And he pursued that passion—enrolling in the radio broadcasting program at Canadore College.
After graduation, Larry worked both on-air and behind the scenes for small market radio stations in North Bay, Brockville, and Cornwall, Ontario. But the radio opportunities began to dry up, leaving Larry to ponder what was next for his career. A friend recommended an entry level role at a media agency, and the rest is history.
Larry Medeiros stops by to talk about his early days in radio, a media buying & planning career rooted primarily in theatrical studio business, working directly for Warner Brothers, and the challenges of navigating movie business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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When Acast—one of the world’s leading podcast companies, wanted to expand into Canada, they tapped Heather Gordon to lead the charge.
A digital media sales veteran, Heather got her start at CHUM, working as an unpaid office assistant. She moved over to a paid role at CHUM Interactive, providing sales support for one of their first digital sales teams.
She rose through the ranks before taking the reins of the digital sales team responsible for the legendary Canadian music television brand—MuchMusic.
From there Heather moved to the CBC, where she led digital sales for the public broadcaster.
Heather Gordon stops by to chat about the women who influenced her career, leading digital sales for some of Canada’s biggest online media brands, and launching Acast’s first Canadian team.
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Sales reps: Stop me if you’ve heard this line—“You’re only as good as your last quarter”.
Success in sales is quantifiable, and it can seem like an endless chase to hit one’s target—with little room to breathe when you do. The constant hustle can massive repercussions on mental health.
But there is hope.
Today’s guest, Jeff Riseley, is tackling the mental health issues plaguing sales professionals.
Motivated by experiences from his own sales career, Jeff is the founder of Sales Health Alliance—a company that teaches salespeople how to improve their mental health, build resilience, and manage stress.
Prior to this Jeff started in media & marketing, working for Mindshare and Melaine Communications. From there he moved into a series of sales rep and sales leadership roles at companies such as Aussie Farmers Direct, World Trade Group, In-Acuity, and Crowdbabble.
If you’re a sales professional looking for ways to manage your mental health, then be sure to visit saleshealthalliance.com for tips, insights, and more information on the corporate services Jeff’s company provides.
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In the push persuade audiences to choose your product or service over the competition, it’s easy to forget that advertising is in itself both a form of art and expression.
This is part of what motivated today’s guest, Simón Rojas Gajardo, to pursue a career in advertising’s creative side.
Simón is both the Creative Director and a Partner at Derooted Immersive—a creative technologies company that specializes in producing uniquely memorable and interactive experiences for brands and live events.
Simón was born in Santiago, Chile, while the country was under dictatorial rule. His parents were part of the opposition, and it’s here he learned the role artists can have at resisting tyranny.
At a young age his family moved to Canada, settling in Toronto.
Computers and graphic design software peeked Simón’s interest. And he pursued those further, enrolling at the International Academy of Art & Design where he studied advertising and art direction.
Simón Rojas Gajardo sits down to talk about living under the former Chilean dictatorship, the authors and artists who influenced his life and work, his experiences working for both large and boutique creative agencies, his time working in Spain’s creative industry, and what it’s like to simultaneously be both a Partner and a Creative Director.
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We’ve had our share of worldly individuals on the Media People Podcast, but very few have criss-crossed the globe like today’s guest, Amina Mattern has.
Born in Pakistan, Amina’s personal, academic, and professional journey has taken her to places such as Dubai, Houston, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, and Montreal – to name a few.
Amina is currently based in Toronto, where works as the Financial Services Lead for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.
But marketing wasn’t part of the original plan. Amina originally wanted to be a journalist, obtaining a graduate degree in journalism from Montreal’s Concordia University.
Like many budding journalists, she found herself working in public relations after graduation. This was at a time when brands were beginning to experiment with social media.
As advertiser interest in social media increased, so did the opportunities for experienced professionals.
This served as the perfect springboard for Amina’s career. She was able parlay her experience into leadership roles with major media firms such as Mediacom, Omnicom Media Group, Loblaw Media, and Arcane.
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Hustle—it’s a requirement for anyone trying to make it in media. And it’s a word that today’s guest, Amy Foster uses to describe herself.
Amy is a New Business Manager at Dentsu Canada—the Canadian division of Dentsu International, one of the world’s largest multinational media & marketing communications companies.
On the outside, media might appear to be one the more exciting and sexier industries. But little is ever made about the demands, let alone the impact it can have on a person.
Amy gives us a candid look into how after suffering from burnout she decided hit the pause button on her career, and used the time to find a role that incorporated what she loves about the industry.
Amy Foster drops by to chat growing up in Cambridge and St. Catharines, Ontario, being raised by a single mother, the positive impact community workers had on her childhood, and a media career spanning broadcast buying, integrated media sales, leading planning teams, to prospecting, pitching, and closing new agency clients.
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Leadership jobs are some of, if not the most sought-after roles. But stop me if you’ve heard this, it can be lonely at the top. And even leaders need an experienced person to lean on.
That’s exactly the gap that today’s guest, Kristine Lyrette aims to fill.
Kristine is the founder of Authentic Leadership Coaching—a company that helps leaders become better at what they do.
With an HR diploma from Confederation College in hand, a career in media didn’t seem like an obvious path at the time. But an opportunity to join Due North as a media assistant changed that. Kristine excelled at media buying and planning, and parlayed her experience at Due North into senior roles at Cancom Entertainment Group, Deutch LA, and OMD.
She joined Zenith as their Executive Vice-President, and moved into the role of President when the opportunity presented itself.
Kristine has worked with an impressive roster of clients that include the likes of Apple, Rogers, and Mitsubishi Motors, to name a few.
She’s taken all that experience and returned to her HR management roots with Authentic Leadership Coaching.
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Making the jump to digital advertising can be challenging, especially if you’re coming from the broadcast world. Moving to a new medium while pivoting careers can make it even more difficult. But today’s guest, Cheryl Luciani, did just that.
Cheryl’s the Director of Digital Sales at Star Metroland Media, but it was broadcast buying where she got her start—planning and negotiating multimillion-dollar television campaigns for brands such as Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola. She pivoted not only into digital media, but also media sales when an opportunity to cross the aisle with Rogers Media presented itself.
Cheryl Luciani sits down to chat with us about growing up in small-town Ontario, her time in college studying desktop publishing & advertising, moving from media buying to media sales, and leading digital ad sales for one of Canada’s largest news media companies.
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Vice President, drummer, and fellow podcaster, Corby Fine sits down to chat with us about the twists and pivots that comprise his story.
A lifelong Toronto native, Corby attended Ryerson University where he studied Administration and Information management. After graduation, he jumped into the dot com start-up world as a project manager.
He would pivot into sales, focusing on pharmaceuticals with Pfizer. This was at the time when Viagra was arguably worth more than gold, and made Pfizer reps the target of burglars and thieves.
Corby’s digital media career started agency side, but his move to Rogers Communications is where he experienced significant career growth, holding multiple roles at the Sr Director and VP level.
He left Rogers after an opportunity to join CIBC—one of Canada’s largest banks, presented itself.
But the Telco world would once again come calling. Corby was recently appointed VP of Digital Marketing and Sales at Bell.
If you are interested in hearing more from Corby, then be sure to check out Fine Tune with Corby Fine—a self-produced podcast that offers innovative ideas, opinions, and examples that address a multitude of business challenges. Available at corbyfine.com, or wherever you get podcasts.
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Both personally and professionally—Saeed Zaman is probably one of the most globalized individuals you’ll ever meet.
Born in Pakistan, his family moved to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia when he was just four. When it came time for University, Saeed applied to a number of schools in the United States, ultimately landing at Purdue University in Indiana.
His media career started immediately after graduation when he was recruited by Starcom’s Chicago office. From there he would continue to grow. Senior level opportunities presented themselves taking Saeed to places such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, and Dubai.
Saeed Zaman sits down to chat with about his media career that spans multiple cities in three countries across two continents, his passion for music, and the caution he was forced to employ in a country where western music was discouraged.
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Content Marketer, producer, entrepreneur, educator, and author—these are some of the many roles comprising the career of today’s guest, Mohit Rajhans.
But if the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen his work in front of the camera. Mohit’s eclectic career includes various reporting roles for the CBC, Breakfast Television, and OMNI Television—where he was Canada’s authority on Bollywood Cinema.
Mohit Rajhans sits down to chat about his life growing up in Mississauga, attending an arts high school where he focused on the drama arts, his experience as a movie extra, and working as both an on-air talent and marketer.
We’ll also get an interesting story about the time he was given an 11th hour opportunity to interview then Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.
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Planning and transacting media used to be a straightforward process. You hired an agency, and benefitted from their collective buying power, vendor relationships, and knowledge. But in an age of data, disruption, and a slew of new platforms, many marketers are rethinking this time-old formula.
One option involves finding new & innovative ways of working closer with your agency partners. But in some cases, it might involve taking certain responsibilities in-house.
These are some of things that today’s guest, Gah-Yee Won, has been tasked with navigating.
Gah-Yee is the Director of Account Management, Agency Operations, & Marketing Channel Strategy at Scotiabank, one of Canada’s largest financial instructions.
A Toronto native, storytelling was a big passion of hers growing up, and was one that she fostered through drama and visual art in high school.
One of the OG’s of the Canadian digital media space, Gah-Yee jumped into agency life at time when traditional media was still king, and digital advertising was more of an afterthought. From trafficking ads, to starting one of the first transparent agency trading desks in Canada, to working with the mother of all global advertisers, Proctor & Gamble.
We sit down with Gah-Yee Won and chat about everything from being a French immersion student, growing up in a multi-generational home, and managing a portfolio of clients that ranged from the Toronto Zoo to Proctor & Gamble.
And for those looking to grow their careers? Gah-Yee also provides some sound and straight-forward advice on how to position yourself for a promotion.
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Joel Dembe, Paralympian and former #1 ranked Canadian wheelchair tennis player returns to the show. When I first introduced Joel back in Episode 15, he had just retired from wheelchair tennis and was balancing a corporate communications career with becoming a media personality.
Joel still works in corporate communications, but with increased responsibilities that include public relations. But that’s not the only thing he’s been up to.
His media roles have also expanded to include a TED Talk, an ambassadorship with the Rick Hansen Foundation, Paralympic broadcast commentator for the CBC, and most recently—consumer tech influencer.
It’s that last role which has been gaining steam. A passionate technophile, Joel is becoming a leading voice on how technology is revolutionizing life for people with disabilities.
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Model, entrepreneur, talent manager, ad tech and marketing professional—these are just some of roles comprising the eclectic career of Amanda Dorenberg.
A native of Prince Edward County, Canada. Amanda fast-tracked her education, graduating high school when she was just 16 before moving on to study computer programming in college, and marketing in university.
Modelling was Amanda’s first big career move, which took her on shoots around the globe. While modeling, she saw an opportunity to put her marketing prowess to work and began representing some of her fellow models.
But all of this came to a grinding halt one day, as Amanda would be rushed to the emergency room with an arteriovenous malformation—a traumatic brain injury that’s guaranteed to be lethal if not treated immediately.
Amanda would wake up from brain surgery hours later, virtually immobile, and forced into months of rehabilitation to regain many of her basic functions.
She went on to make a full recovery and would begin her assent through the advertising and tech world, holding positions at Postmedia, Cieslok, Dynamic Outdoor, OUTFRONT Media, Centry’s, and Frontrunner Technologies.
Amanda’s latest role is an OOH advertising homecoming of sorts, as she was recently appointed President of the Canadian Out of Home Marketing Measurement Bureau.
Amanda Dorenberg stops by to chat about her days as a model, balancing work at a call centre and grocery store while enrolled as fulltime student, and her experiences in the OOH & ad tech industry.
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For most of us? 2020 hasn’t been good for business, but if you work in the sport media world, it has been an absolute disaster. Professional leagues abruptly shut down mid-March because of COVID-19, and would spend months trying to find ways to safely restart.
For today’s guest, Jamie Saull, his professional world came to a grinding halt.
Jamie’s the Head of Brand Partnerships at TSN, a Canadian sports media company that produces live broadcasts and news content for its portfolio of online, TV, and radio platforms.
When the sports world stopped, Jamie had to think fast to keep clients invested in TSN.
Jamie has always been a sport nut. Playing and watching was a big part of his youth, and when it came time to pick a university program? He enrolled in sports business.
He landed his first gig with the CBC while in university. From there his professional career began to take off, and it was doing so well that he had to defer graduation for years until the final class he needed to complete his degree was available online.
Jamie Saul drops by to chat about his passion for sports business, rising through the ranks at TSN, to leading their Brand Partnerships division during what’s arguably become the professional sports world’s most challenging time.
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Do you work in digital media? If so, then you already know how comprehensive it can be. You could be working with anything from data to content to search or social—and that’s not even the full list. Today’s guest, Celeste Normington, has seen her career grow with the evolution of digital media.
Celeste started out at the old Toronto.com, which offered local search engine advertising solutions well before Google was known for it.
From there Celeste moved to Olive Media, where she rose through the ranks from sales executive to management—working on everything from monetizing partnership inventory to leading their charge in the mobile solutions space.
Leading French-Canadian news company La Presse came calling, tapping her to lead sales in their Toronto office.
Celeste has pivoted away from content and media sales, joining Pelmorex Data Solutions where she is currently their Head of Data Sales and Product Strategy.
We chat about everything from growing up in small-town Ontario to the culture shock and excitement that came teaching English in Japan. And we even compare notes on what reality shows kept us from attending class in university.
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Marketer, strategist, and nerdologist—that’s the way Boris Cho introduces himself on LinkedIn. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll learn that the Midas Exchange’s Senior Director of Strategy has one helluva story to tell.
Boris was born in Sao Paulo, Brasil, and emigrated with his family to Canada at an early age.
1980’s & 90’s pop culture was a big part of his upbringing—everything from cartoons, comic books, video games, music and even professional wrestling. All of which helped shape the person he is today.
And it was pop culture that influenced his early career moves. This includes everything from working in the music industry to opening a pizzeria in Saskatchewan.
What’s one of the keys to Boris’ success? I’d argue it’s the way he chases employment opportunities. Never one to take an apply-&-interview approach, he makes sure to do his due diligence on both the role he’s applying for and the company that’s hiring. From there he proactively seeks out the hiring managers, and then pitches to them how he can solve their business problems.
Boris Cho stops by to chat about all this and more.
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Science argues that people are either left brain or right brain thinkers. Left brain people are more likely to analytical, while right brain thinkers tend to be more creative.
However, today’s guest, Jordan brooks, defies this theory by straddling both sides of the spectrum.
A native of Barrie Ontario, music was one of Jordan’s passions growing up, but upon graduating from university he found himself working in the AdTech world. He’s held roles at AdConion, Olive Media, and was one of the early employees at Cadreon’s Canadian office. As a matter of fact if you go through his LinkedIn profile, you’d think he’s completely a numbers guy.
Jordan has taken all of that collective AdTech & data experience and founded CTRL-X, a “cut the crap agency”.
But he hasn’t stopped there. Indulging his creative side, Jordan recently launched CANNADA BRANDS—a new video production studio dedicated to telling the entrepreneurial stories of Canadian cannabis purveyors.
CANNADA BRANDS https://cannadabrands.ca
Victor Genova IG VicGenova www.mediapeople.ca
Entrepreneurship is something that was engrained in Jerrid Grim’s psyche from an early age. In fact if you ask Jerrid, he’ll tell that his younger self believed that starting a business was the only way to make money.
A native of suburban, Edmonton, Jerrid’s first job was a local flyer route. But unlike most kids who are stuck spending hours bundling flyers before lugging them out for delivery, young Jerrid outsourced part of the labour to his sisters—essentially turning his first job into his first ever managerial role.
After high school Jerrid enrolled at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, where he studying marketing.
After graduation he landed a job selling advertising space on bike racks throughout Edmonton. With little structure, it was the type of role that required an entrepreneurial mindset for success.
From there he moved over to Pattison Outdoor, one of the latest outdoor advertising companies in Canada.
Jerrid had planned to take a year off to backpack Europe. The only problem? A senior role at Newad presented itself just as he was getting ready to leave. He convinced Newad to hang onto the job, and returned a year later into a VP position.
It was during his time at Newad where he was handed a massive branded content opportunity. Both the client and the dollars were big, but the process of getting the campaign live proved to be both costly and cumbersome. Jerrid saw these hurdles as a business opportunity. Clients wanted to spend more on branded content, but the ability to scale and report efficiently across multiple partners was difficult. And just like that—the idea for Pressboard was born.
We sit down with Jerrid Grimm, Pressboard CEO and Co-Founder. If you’d like learn more about the company then open up your podcast app and search for ‘The Science of Storytelling’, the official Pressboard podcast that brings together the best minds in the digital publishing space to talk about how stories can change the way we think and feel.
Pressboard https://www.pressboardmedia.com
Victor Genova IG VicGenova www.mediapeople.ca
Wine: It’s one of the few things as old as time. There are different types & colours, and it can range in price from inexpensive to unaffordable. It’s also the one of the few exports many countries aggressively compete to be known for.
Picking the right wine is enough make your head spin, but today’s guest, Angela Aiello, has spent the better part of her career helping young adults make sense of it.
Angela started in hospitality while at university, working in the Four Diamond restaurants at some of the Niagara Region’s biggest wineries. After graduation she relocated to Toronto, continuing in wine retail.
From there she moved into the corporate world, working at XM Satellite Radio before pivoting into Executive Recruitment.
But Angela continued to pursue her passion for wine on the side. She harnessed the power of social media, uploading self-made wine info videos to YouTube. Those videos laid the foundation for what would eventually become the iYellow Wine Club, Toronto’s premier wine club
Angela sold the iYellow Wine Club after more than a decade, and is focusing her time on covering the wine industry. A dedicated wine journalist, content creator, and influencer, we learn why she is affectionately known as the 'Super Wine Girl'.
Angela Aiello IG SuperWineGirl www.superwinegirl.com
Victor Genova IG VicGenova www.mediapeople.ca
Going out and starting your own company isn’t easy, but it’s difficult to resist when you have a solution that could benefit an entire industry. And that’s what today’s guest, Joshua Alvernia, and his peers have done.
Josh is the co-founder and CEO of Clue Digital: a comprehensive marketing service that leverages automation, data science, and analytics to improve media performance on customer acquisition campaigns.
Ad tech was the farthest thing from Josh’s mind growing up. He was in a band, with ambitions of making it in the music business. When that wasn’t panning out he pivoted into advertising, enrolling at Sheridan College just weeks before the semester began.
His first advertising gig was agency side working on the mother-of-all clients, General Motors. But it was less about the client and more about the timing that would set Josh’s career on its current trajectory. His time on General Motors coincided with the growth of ad tech, where ad buying and analytic platforms started taking a bigger role in the planning process.
He left agency life for sales, starting first at Rocketfuel before moving on to MediaIQ. It was during this time that he and couple of his industry peers discussed the possibility of starting their own company. They all resigned from their respective jobs, and within months Clue Digital was born.
From small-town Northern Ontario to the heart of Canada’s media industry, today we chat with Terra Sharek, Group Director of Strategy at Omincom Media Group’s, Red Magnet.
Originally from Dundalk, Ontario, Terra spent the early part of her life on a farm. She moved to Beaverton during her high school years and then relocated to Barrie, Ontario to study advertising at Georgian College.
Terra’s media career started before she even had the chance to graduate, beginning as a digital media assistant at M2 Universal, and looking after high-profile clients such as the Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Royal Bank of Canada.
From there she moved on to senior digital roles at OMD and Vizuem.
Terra pivoted to media sales when the opportunity presented itself with the Globe and Mail.
But agency life would come calling again, and Terra took a full-on programmatic role at Touché under the Omicom Media Group banner. An internal promotion moved her to Red Magnet, a sister agency specifically created to serve Rogers Communications, Canada’s largest telecommunications company.
What makes Terra’s story so interesting is the fact that she brings experience from three different digital media disciplines: direct planning & buying, programmatic strategy, and media sales.
Data, it’s what many people refer to as the ‘new oil’. It’s supposed to provide the unbiased insights companies need to make key decisions. But extracting those insights is easier said than done, and that’s what today’s guest, Kris Makuch, aims to change. Kris is the founder of datakris, a consultancy that interprets and uses data to help companies retain and acquire new customers.
Originally from Poland, Kris’ family immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto when he was just 2 years old. He caught the video game bug early on when he received a Sega Genesis, and has been a lifelong gamer ever since.
He spent a year studying geography at Carleton University before pivoting to Advertising & Marketing at Sheridan College.
His first break in the media industry came at Mindshare, where was on the team handling Walmart’s media buying & planning. He moved deeper into the retail world, taking a data analyst role at EB Games.
From there Kris made the jump to the Omincom Media Group, taking on a series of data science roles at PHD and Red Magnet. He’s making all that experience available through his own consultancy, datakris.
Entrepreneur, senior media executive & leader, award winning media buyer, and one of the early advocates for mental health & wellness in the media industry, Cynthia Rubino, stops by to chat.
A Cosssette media alumnus, Cynthia landed at the agency right out of university. In an industry where it’s not uncommon for talent to move around she stayed at Cossette, moving from planning assistant to media manager during her 16-year tenure with the agency.
When Novus Media expanded into Canada, Cynthia was one of their first hires. After building and establishing the Novus Canadian office, she moved into teaching where she currently mentors and educates the future media leaders of tomorrow.
It was also during this time that Cynthia founded CYTRINE CONSULTANCY, a firm that provides 2 services. The first being media strategy, buying & planning, and the second dedicated to wellness and mental health solutions.
Mental health in the media industry is something Cynthia has become very passionate about. She's the founder of Mindful Mornings, a series of quarterly breakfast sessions geared towards helping media professionals understand and manage their own mental health.
She’s taking this one step further with ‘I Matter’. It’s the first ever mental health symposium for the advertising/marketing/communications industry, and it’s happening on October 7th of this year.
Starting a website might be easy, but finding success in today’s digital publishing world is extremely difficult. Both audiences and advertising dollars tend to be concentrated between a few popular platforms, with the rest of the internet duking it out for the leftovers.
But that didn’t deter today’s guest, Manny Bahia, from jumping in.
Manny is the co-founder and Chief Revenue Office of Daily Hive—a news, information, and entertainment site servicing millennial audiences through localized editions in select Canadian and US cities.
Originally a computer science major, Manny shifted to business after taking a microeconomics elective in his first year. It was during his time in University that he co-founded the website Vancity Buzz.
Vancity Buzz would later be renamed Daily Hive as part of national expansion strategy into Toronto and Montreal. Expansion into Calgary and Edmonton followed, and just recently Daily Hive has gone international, adding Portland and Seattle to the family.
Manny Bahia talks to us about growing up in Vancouver, what he learned about business from delivering pizza, and shares with us the journey from growing Vancity Buzz into Daily Hive.
You can call Brooke Robinson many things- social media maven, entrepreneur, and multiple sclerosis survivor.
One of the OG’s of social media strategy, Brooke’s career started at Sunlife Financial, where she was charged with managing their social media presence.
Her experience took her to the agency world, where she would start and head-up, Mindshare Canada’s first-ever social media department. There she worked on campaigns for clients such as American Express and Ford, to name a couple.
It was during this time that Brooke was handed her biggest challenge yet- she was diagnosed with an accelerated form of multiple sclerosis. One that had her walking with a cane, and was poised to have her wheelchair bound.
A chance meeting with a stranger would set her recovery in motion. He advised Brooke about an experimental treatment in Ottawa. As luck would have it, she qualified for the procedure which put her MS into remission.
Brooke’s gone out on her own founding BRS, where she’s lending her marketing experience and wisdom to a variety of clients.
Educator and Sales Leader, these are two ways you can describe today’s guest, Ivan Pehar.
Ivan’s media career started agency side, where he worked at a number of (agencies) including Mediacom and OMD.
His work in performance marketing caught the eye of AOL, which recruited him to manage advertising campaigns for their home internet service. He pivoted to AOL’s media sales department after the company got out of the ISP business, and went on to hold senior media sales roles at Sympatico MSN and Yahoo! Canada.
Ivan is currently the Manager of Large Client Solutions at Twitter Canada, and when isn’t helping brands creatively engage audiences in 280 characters or less, he’s teaching college students the fundamentals of advertising.
Many people have made the jump from media sales to agency life. But few have left the world of media sales to start their own agency, but that’s exactly what Zoltan Toth- Managing Director of Mellor Croy has done.
A lifelong music aficionado, Zoltan's first media gig was overseeing the jazz time slot at his University's campus radio station.
After graduation he parlayed that passion into a full time career, holding positions at Denon Music, Koch Entertainment, and Entertainment One.
He pivoted into media sales at Famous Players—looking after the emerging world of in-cinema advertising. Famous Players was eventually bought by Cineplex Entertainment, and after nine years with the company he made his first entrepreneurial foray into agency life with Octopus Media.
Zoltan’s latest venture is Mellor Croy, a boutique agency providing senior level media buying/planning expertise to a variety of clients.
From selling domain registrations to media buying & planning to building & managing advertising trading desks, Tessa Ohlendorf has quite the expansive resume. But if you look back at the early part of her life, you’d be hard pressed to find a direct path to the ad tech world.
Born & raised in Toronto, Tessa’s early passions were rooted in photography and art. But it was philosophy that captured her mind and would become the cornerstone of her university education.
After university, Tessa entered the world of internet marketing- holding positions Tucows & HostCompare. Tessa would eventually pack a suitcase for New York City and the life of a Madison Avenue media executive. While in New York, she held senior roles at CrossMedia and Convergence Point, all while starting her own agency— Online Media Management.
The great recession of 2008 brought Tessa back home to Toronto where she went on to senior roles at Mindshare.
She’s the founding employee of Cadreon’s Canadian office, and is now leading MightHive’s expansion into Canada.
Jamie Schouela, Blue Ant Media's President of Canadian Media stops by to chat.
A Montreal native with a life-long passion entertainment, Jamie always found a way to tie this passion into both his academic and work life.
From campus DJ to summer student running the promo van for a Montreal radio station, after university Jamie moved into full-time marketing gigs for some of the biggest names in Canadian media including Alliance Atlantis, Canwest, and Shaw Media.
The Media People Podcast turns the big 3-0! For our 30th episode we get a look into the life and career of educator & entrepreneur, Emily Baillie.
The founder of Compass Content Marketing, Emily’s story starts in the small town of Grand Bend, Ontario, and continues to cities like Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, along with a brief stint in Dublin, Ireland. Social justice has played a major part in her career. Emily’s held positions at both the Irish Human Right’s Commission and Legal Aid Ontario. In-between she’s managed to mesh her passion for travel with communications, heading up content marketing for luxury travel group, Kensington Tours.
Not only is Emily her own boss, but she is also putting her experience to work in the classroom, teaching the future marketers of tomorrow at McMaster University and Humber College.
Have you ever volunteered your way into a management role? Tracy Ball has. The founder of Stars & Strollers- a program where parents enjoy a day at the movies with their toddlers, impressed corporate partner Cineplex so much that they bought the idea, and made her made their manager of groups sales and special events. But this just one of many roles in the career of Tracy Ball.
This Waterdown native studied Broadcast Journalism at Mohawk College. After graduation she jumped into the entertainment industry, booking talent for campus events. From there she pivoted into media, holding sales support and leadership roles at the CBC, Sun TV, Pelmorex Media, AcuityAds, among others. She made the jump from media sales into the agency world, and now heads-up programmatic advertising at INNOCEAN Worldwide Canada.
Tyler Cameron, published author and media sales leader stops by to chat. What make’s his story so interesting is that it’s full of career jumps and pivots. Born & raised in small-town Northern Ontario, Tyler relocated to study radio broadcasting at college in Hamilton, Ontario. After college he pivoted into media buying and planning, landing at mega media agency, OMD. From there he made the jump to media sales, hocking TV and digital ad space at TheScore, Rogers Media, and Brightroll. Tyler is currently the head of partnerships at True Calling, but he’s also a published author. He'll give us a peak into his first book- A Dude’s Guide to Surviving his Wedding.
Yuli Shumsky, the Director of Digital Marketing & Operations for Canadian financial institution, CIBC, stops by to chat. Born in the Ukraine before the fall of communism, Yuli, emigrated to Canada as a teenager. He went on to study at York University in Toronto, and quickly caught the advertising bug through a summer marketing gig. He liked both the work and the paycheque, and decided to swap his life around going from full time student and part time employee, to part time student and full time employee. The rest of his story reads like an unofficial history of programmatic advertising, where we worked on early digital bidding platforms well before anyone had coined the terms real-time-bidding or programmatic. Yuli is also one of the founding members of Toronto AdOps, a not-for-profit organization aimed at bringing together advertising operations professionals from all corners of advertising industry.
INNOCEAN Worldwide Canada Head of Insights & Analytics - Seif Khemaissia, stops by. Born in Algeria, Seif's personal and professional journey has taken him across four continents, and from entrepreneur to analytics & ROI guru. He shares with us his thoughts on the media industry- and where he thinks it's all going, his passion for football, and why he calls retired Manchester United player Eric Cantona, one of his heroes.
From the front desk to the corner office: Michelle Kelly stops by to talk about her rise from receptionist to Editor-In-Chief of Cottage Life Magazine.
Stewart Stevenson is the president and founder of The Social Producers- a Toronto-based startup focused on simplifying the social video production process for both brands and consumers.
A digital media veteran, Stewart kicked-off his career at internet domain & directory company N49. From there he made the jump to the agency world, holding senior level positions at places such as Cossette Media, Mediacom, Klick Health, and OMD.
Stewart chats with us about his time in the industry, where he got the idea for The Social Producers, and why he chose to go out on his own.
Tom Yawney is both the head of business development and a partner at The influence Agency- A Toronto-based agency leading the charge in the influencer marketing space. Tom’s career path has had some interesting turns- with more pivots than linear progressions. Some highlights include playing hockey in Australia and the Netherlands, scriptwriting for TSN, and working as a consultant for an internet marketing company. What makes Tom’s story unique is that unlike other entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Media People Podcast- with businesses in their 4th, 5th, or 6th year of operation, is that at time of recording The Influence Agency is just four months old.
In this episode we chat with Jed Schneiderman, President & Co-Founder of Tapped Mobile- a mobile-focused ad tech solutions company. But media and tech weren’t always part of his story. Jed started out in the garment industry before making the jump to CPG powerhouse, Procter & Gamble. His professional media career kicked off at AOL- back when dial-up subscribers were just as important as ad sales. Jed’s held senior roles at Digital Cement, Echo Marketing, Bell Media, and Microsoft- where he helped launch the Bing search engine to the Canadian Market.
My guest is Shelley Middlebrook, President of Fifth Story- a company that specializes in content marketing solutions and strategies.
Shelley started her professional career selling cars, but a recession moved her into media sales as a print rep, working for some of Quebecor’s B2B publications. Her next role was at Brunico Communications, where she started an impressive 11-year stint capped off with her rising to the role Executive Vice President. She pivoted to broadcast media at the CBC, and after holding senior roles at Rogers Media, the Globe and Mail, and Postmedia, she’s moved into the agency world.
Today we get a peek into the life of an executive at a global media agency. Scott Stewart, Managing Director, Head of Strategy, for Maxus Canada stops by to chat.
Scott’s path into the media world didn’t start directly out of school. After taking some time to be a self-proclaimed snowboard bum in Kelowna, British Columbia, Scott landed his first media gig at the legendary Canadian advertising firm, Vickers & Benson. From there he rose through the industry ranks, assuming senior roles at agencies such as Vizuem, Carat, and UM.
So what’s Scott’s secret to success? More than anything else, he credits having great mentors.
From client side, to supplier side, to agency side- Ray Reid has had one of the most well rounded media careers. Ray can also add one other title to his resume: entrepreneur. The former head of Neo@Ogilivy sits down to chat with us about his two new endeavours: advertience, a digital media agency and consulting firm, and Digital AdLab, an education company brining practical and theoretical programmatic education to the masses.
Today’s guest is Dave Howlett, RHB. He’s the founder and Managing Director of Real Human Being Inc.- a keynote speaking company focused on helping organizations and their employee’s breakdown silos and transcend tribalism.
But being an entrepreneur is just one of the many hats this self-proclaimed 'military brat' wears. Dave is also a distinguished toastmaster, veteran scuba dive instructor, triathlete, and most recently, published author.
Dave Howlett drops by to chat with us about growing up in a military family during the cold war, the perfect pitch for selling an electric toothbrush to dentists, his personal experiences with entrepreneurship, and the Real Human Being philosophy for breaking down silos and shifting gears.
It’s part 2 of our chat with Laura Gaggi, Founder and CEO of Gaggi Media. In this episode we’ll learn about the growth of Gaggi Media, some of Laura’s ventures that didn’t go as planned, and her most recent endeavour- Peleton Media.
And if you haven’t already, be sure to check out Part 2 of our interview.
It’s Part 1 of our chat with Laura Gaggi- Founder and CEO of Gaggi Media.
In this episode Laura Gaggi chats with us about life growing up in Toronto, her first media gig, and why she decided to go out on her own and start Gaggi Media- an agency that’s been a major player in the Canadian media world for the past 24 years.
Come back next week for Part 2, where we’ll learn about the growth of Gaggi Media, some of Laura’s ventures that didn’t go as planned, and her most recent endeavour- Peleton Media.
In today’s episode we get a peek into the life of a musician working the local music scene. Francesco Alfano, the founder, and one third of the rock trio, Lucid Movement, stops by to chat about life as an artist in a digital world.
We’ll also get a listen to 'Next Thing'- one of Lucid Movement’s tracks. And if you like what you hear, be sure to check them out in-person at their next show on May 20th, in Toronto, at Club 120. Tickets are available now at the band's website – www.LucidMovementBand.com.
A former #1 ranked wheelchair tennis player in Canada, Joel Dembe has represented his county at numerous tournaments across the globe. Notably the 2012 Paralympics in London, and the 2015 ParaPan Am Games in Toronto, where he brought home the bronze medal in front of a hometown crowd.
He recently retired from competition, and sits down with us to chat about what it’s like starting off as an athlete, and then growing into his own personal brand.
Jeff Atkinson is the Vice-President of Sales & Marketing for Green Savroee Racing Promotions, and while you may not be familiar with the company name, if you’re from the Toronto area, you are probably familiar with one of their events- the Honda Indy Toronto, a race for which he also serves as President.
Jeff chats with us about managing one of Canada’s largest annual sporting events, and what it’s like working in the racing world- a place where he has spent virtually his entire professional career.
Gut instincts and assumptions have taken a back seat to data in the decision making process and today’s guest, Devon MacDonald, is that the forefont of this practice. Devon is the Chief Strategy Officer at Mindshare Canada, where he leads overall strategy and story for the agency and their roster of clients.
Have you ever wanted to work abroad? Pack a suitcase and dive into a new job, in a new location? Well today’s guest, Joni Joyner, has done just that. Not once, but multiple times.
Originally from Scotland, Joni has held senior ad tech and ad operations roles in places like London, Kansas City, and Australia, at companies such as AOL, Adknowledge, Sky Broadcasting, and Adconion- to name a few.
She’s landed in Canada where she currently serves as Managing Director of AdGear’s Toronto Office.
Today’s guest, Ben Davies, wears two hats. By day, Ben is an executive recruiter at Grapevine Executive Recruiters, matching candidates in the media industry with their next big opportunity. By night, he’s a filmmaker- carving his own path in the Canadian film industry. Ben chats with us today about life as headhunter, and the production of his first feature length film entitled Rise & Fall, that recently wrapped principle photography, and is slated for a spring 2016 release.
Have you ever had a rep come in and pitch the WRONG solution for the WRONG client? Marilyn Sherman did, but instead of dismissing the idea she leveraged it to win a new business pitch. This story illustrates why it's important for media agencies and sales reps to have as much face time as possible- something Marilyn feels has regressed over the years. All this, and insight into Marilyn's time at Echo Advertising, and her current role as Media Director at Twenty6Two International.
It wasn't for a teacher's strike, Marilyn Sherman might have had a different career path. In Part 1 of our chat with the Media Director of Twenty6Two International, we hear about how she 'tripped' (her words) into media while still in high school, learn about her days at Saffer, Cravit, and Freedman- where she served as planner and buyer on many big retail accounts like Towers department stores and Bata Shoes, and learn how the entrepreneurial culture of that agency challenged planners and buyers to rethink how they did business.
It's Part 2 of our interview with Sonia Carreno- President of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada.
In this episode Sonia chats about her time at the DAC Group, and her experiences working in local digital media. We also get peek into some of things she is looking to accomplish during her tenure as President of the IAB Canada.
Missed Part 1? Catch up on it here --> https://soundcloud.com/mediapeoplepodcast/episode9part1
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be part of digital media world in the 90s? You know, back when the industry was young, VC capital was plentiful, there was no Google, and, as we saw later on, a growing bubble that was about to burst. Today's guest, Sonia Carreno- the new President of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada, was front and centre for all the excitement.
In Part 1 of our interview we get a glimpse into the dawn of digital advertising, but also learn about Sonia's time growing up on both sides of the Atlantic, and why she left a promising position with IMG to join the digital media world.
What's it like working for Canada's biggest sports talkshow? In Part Two of our chat with Aaron Bronsteter, Aaron speaks about his current role as Producer, Talent Relations, with TSN's hit sports talkshow- Off The Record with Michael Landsberg.
Aaron Bronsteter - Producer, Talent Relations on the hit sports talkshow Off The Record, chats with us today. Aaron gave us so much to work with that we're going to break into two parts. In this episode Aaron chats with us about growing up in Thornhill, his time at Brock University and Humber College, and his early start in the industry that included roles at Cogeco Community TV, The Fan 590, and TheScore. Come back next Monday for Part Two.
What do you think is the highest accolade an individual in the media industry can receive? Is it a Cannes Lion? A Media Innovation Award? In my opinion, being referred to as a ‘Rockstar’ carries much more weight than any statue ever could. And that’s exactly how Marketing Magazine has described this episode's guest, Mitch Joel.
There are many things you can call Mitch: from best-selling author to public speaker, to blogger, to podcaster to media agency president. The list goes on.
Today we sit down with Mitch Joel- Canada’s rockstar of Digital Marketing to learn about life growing up in Montreal, working as writer covering the Canadian music scene, co-founding a record label, and being the President of Mirum, a digital media agency that started out life at Twist Image.
In this episode we have the privilege of chatting with Kiip’s founder and CEO, Brian Wong. Kiip is a mobile advertising platform that matches digital ads with reward-based moments. Founded in 2010, this relatively young company is turning the advertising world upside down with its unique offering. Brian ventured down to Silicon Valley to start his career after graduating from the University of British Columbia, at the age of 18. That right, I said 18- the same age when many students are thinking about applying to University. Brian chats with us about growing up in Vancouver, life as an accelerated academic, and what it’s like being CEO of your own company, at the young age of 24.
Blaire Appotive is the founder and owner of Ignite Consulting- a firm specializing in marketing solutions for small businesses and entrepreneurs. But before Blaire ventured out to become her own boss, she was part of Canadian media agency landscape, juggling omni-channel media campaigns for multi-national brands. Blaire chats with us about her past life in the media world, walking away from a this promising career to pursue an MBA, and why after finishing grad school, she decided to go out on her own.
Emigrating with his family at a young age from his native Honduras, Walder Amaya was forced to restart his life in a new country. But this would prove to be just one of the many challenges that he would turn into opportunities. Walder chats with us about moving to a new country, dropping out of high school to start his own business, and how chance meeting with an executive at Rogers Media, started him on a career path to where he is now Executive Vice President of International Sales and Operations, at Evolve Media.
Nikki Hawke is a staple in the Canadian media world. She’s held senior marketing positions at major companies like CTV, Canwest, Alliance Atlantis, and Corus. Nikki even spent time working for Showtime, in the US. But just as media is becoming digital first, so has Nikki’s career. She’s currently Vice President, Global Marketing for The Exchange Lab. Nikki chats with us about growing up in Toronto, attending university in Quebec and New York City, and the marketing differences between TV stations and digital media firms.
Corinne Copreni, the co-founder of Offtrax drops by to chat about her recent adventures driving from London to Mongolia, working in the Canadian media creativity industry, and why after getting a law degree in her home-country of Italy, she passed on taking the bar in favour of moving to Canada.
What's it like holding senior media positions on both sides of the Atlantic? We sit down with Hannah Savage- VP, Head of Strategy at Havas Media to chat about the differences in being a media manager in London and Toronto, her time working for a not-for-profit in South Africa, and growing up in a British military family.