It's No Fluke

Michelle Makasini is a D1 All-American soccer player turned award-winning digital marketer who has built social ecosystems from the ground up for some of the world's most iconic brands; Hilton, American Airlines, and Asana. As the architect behind Hilton's first-ever Shorty Award, Michelle proved that the most powerful marketing moments aren't bought, they're earned through authentic storytelling and community trust.

Now Head...

Wes Elder is an entrepreneuer, filmmaker and actor. He's the co-founder of Creatorspace, a marketplace connecting brands with creators for everything from standard sponsorships to ambitious branded productions. His background is in film and TV. He co-created and starred in the 2016 romantic comedy The Matchbreaker (a two-year Netflix title) and produced the renovation competition series Gutted, the experience that ultimately inspir...

Nia Testamark is the Director of Strategy and Client Leadership at We Thrive Media, a millennial-led, Gen Z-powered digital marketing agency specializing in digital & social media, influencer marketing, and creative production across culture, entertainment, education, healthcare, sports, and social impact.

With nearly a decade of experience across marketing, creative strategy, and digital storytelling, Nia has helped brands, org...

David Clarke leads communications at Oh Hello Agency, specializing in public relations, strategic messaging, and brand storytelling. His career spans NYC Public Schools, NYC Pride | Heritage of Pride, Inc., The WNET Group, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, earning high-impact media coverage and shaping resonant campaigns.

A published journalist in OutSmart Magazine, BroadwayWorld, and others, David blends strategy and sto...

Jacques Keyser is the Director of Programming at VidCon, where he leads the strategy and execution of event programming across the US and international markets. With over 15 years of experience in music, entertainment, and the creator economy, he has worked with leading platforms, labels, creators, executives, and global brands. At VidCon, Jacques has helped launch and scale events worldwide, curating industry-leading programming t...

Drew Sutton is the founder of Drew Sutton Leadership and creator of Culture Systems — a proprietary leadership architecture that replaces force-of-will management with scalable systems for aligning people, culture, and execution across an entire organization.

This episode was recorded live at Innovate Summit in Louisville. Check out their next event in Nashville in October. Vibes improved by Old Commonwealth Kentucky Nectar.

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Holly Hartman is an AI governance strategist and founder of FWS Enterprise LLC (Future Workforce Systems), where she works with enterprise leaders to build the guardrails, policies, and workforce readiness programs that make responsible AI adoption real, not just a talking point.

She is also the co-founder and President of The WO Network, Kentuckiana’s largest professional women’s community with more than 4,000 members, ...

Whitney Belmonte spent fifteen years scaling marketing for category-defining brands, including Supergoop!, where she helped scale digital from a single channel into a multi-format engine. She has shipped campaigns, hired teams, and rebuilt operations from the inside.

Now she works with founders, marketing leads, and ops teams to put AI to work in the parts of their business that actually move revenue — without the buzzwords, w...

Kimberly Bottom is a 15+ year veteran in storytelling and community initiatives. An award-winning broadcast journalist and video producer, Kimberly now focuses on helping nonprofits sharpen their messaging and amplify impact through modern fundraising technology.

In her current role as Director of Community at Velora, the nonprofit operations platform, Kimberly's north star is connecting nonprofit professionals to share ideas, elev...

Emily Benner Snyder leads social media at United Airlines, where she’s helped transform the brand into one of the industry’s most engaging and talked-about voices online. Named Ad Age’s 2025 Social Lead/Community Manager of the Year, she sets the strategy and turns everyday travel moments into scroll-stopping stories. Before United, she brought her storytelling magic to both Disney and Olive Garden—so yes, s...

Paddy Smith is Chief Creative Officer at Born Social, where he oversees the creative output for the agency. He's spent his time at Born building a 60+ strong department spanning Creative, Design and Production, developing some of the brightest creative minds in the industry. He's pitched, won and delivered best in class creative across iconic brands like Guinness, Smirnoff, Mars, Uber and Ford, helping them transform into soci...

Asha Shivaji is redefining what it means to innovate in marketing effectiveness and ad tech. As a woman of color and former Google executive, she co-founded SeeMe Index in 2023 to help brands and agencies unlock growth with untapped audiences. Powered by its proprietary Responsible AI, SeeMe is building the industry standard for identity measurement and provides data-driven insights, benchmarks, and certifications that connect repr...

Emma Witkowski is Vice President, Media Solutions at WildBrain where she leads the advertising teams responsible for driving monetization through innovative video advertising and branded content strategies for WildBrain’s portfolio of iconic IP such as Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Inspector Gadget and more. Witkowski and her team deliver cross-platform digital campaigns across YouTube, FAST, social media and gaming plat...

Rio Wilson is the founder of Brain-Body Therapy, a mental health app rooted in the powerful connection between movement and emotional well-being. Her path into this work was deeply personal. After navigating several traumatic experiences, Rio began to notice the profound impact exercise had on her own nervous system, clarity, and healing. What started as a personal coping tool evolved into something much bigger -- a belief that men...

Meredith Levine is a Fanthropologist, studying fans and fandom and doing strategic audience development research and strategy work at the intersection of Hollywood and the Creator Economy. She is also the VP of Audience Development at SuperBam, helping media companies adapt their back catalog and currently airing content for social digital video distribution.

Prior to SuperBam and her consultancy, Meredith worke...

Glenn Ginsburg is the President of QYOU Media, a media and entertainment company powered by the creator economy. QYOU specializes in developing, creating, and distributing creator-centric campaigns that help brands connect with audiences and make a cultural impactacross social and digital platforms.

With more than 25 years of experience across the creator economy and wider entertainment and media industry, Ginsburg has been instrum...