076: Chauncey Zalkin On Culture, Creativity, and Being a Gen X Woman in Today’s World

On this very special episode of Gen X Amplified, I am chatting with writer, 2x creative entrepreneur, and former multi-agency brand strategist Chauncey Zalkin.

As a podcaster, Chauncey is also the host of the groundbreaking podcast Actual People, which is an unfiltered exploration of individual and societal shifts in a world undergoing tremendous change.

During our conversation, Chauncey and I discuss her overall Gen X journey as storyteller, creator, brand strategist, and entrepreneur. And also Chauncey shares personal and professional insights on navigating today’s world as a Gen X woman, particularly during midlife and mid-career.

In this episode, Chauncey and I unpack:

• Chauncey’s inspirations and motivations for her writing and creativity
• Why Chauncey decided to launch the Actual People podcast
• Chauncey’s experiences living in New York during the early 2000s and the golden age of hip-hop
• Why publishing a novel (or two) is her ultimate dream
• Chauncey’s very candid and powerful “Suddenly 50: Where We Are & What’s Next As Gen X“ episode of her podcast
• Chauncey’s passions for observing culture through a Gen X lens
• Why Chauncey prefers to work with startups as opposed to larger companies and career pursuits of becoming a CMO
• And more!

Chauncey’s Personal Theme Songs

“Clean Slate” by M Ward

“The Final Countdown” by Europe (Honorable Mention)

About Chauncey

Chauncey Zalkin is a writer, 2x creative entrepreneur, former multi-agency brand strategist, and most recently VP then SVP of Marketing at tech startups establishing brand architecture, cross-channel, cross-funnel messaging and operationalizing marketing and building processes for success.

She is also the host of the groundbreaking podcast “Actual People”, which is an unfiltered exploration of individual and societal shifts in a world undergoing tremendous change.

In this podcast, Chauncey opens up about her own experiences in order to dive into social and cultural phenomena, positive developments, and collective pain. Each episode is dedicated to meaningful conversations about the evolving landscape of our lives and the power of our own creativity and imagination to make magic.

Chauncey got her start observing culture as founder of a pre-blog era blog called Girl on the street, was nominated for a webby and got some press in places like Teen People, Trace magazine, NY Post, Daily News and then went on to join the ad world at the height of cripsin porter + bogusky’s success, and went on to work at 2 other agencies over her career. going into advertising, she’s not sure that was the right choice.

She is a writer first and foremost, former multi-agency brand strategist, owned a brand documentary agency which she loved and did for companies like beyond meat and timex, and then went on to be a senior executive marketer for startups. she’s since leaned back into pure content and story for herself and select clients that she feels are meaningful in the context of today’s culture and building the future.

Her substack is https://chaunceyzalkin.substack.com/ and her website is www.chaunceyzalkin.com.

Actual People can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

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