Special Sauce

Sarah Personette is a media industry leader who has worked at some of the most well known media brands over time: Facebook, Twitter, Starcom, Universal McCann and Refinery29.

She is now the CEO at Puck, the media company covering the intersecting worlds of Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Washington and Wall Street.

Sarah joins the podcast to talk about her bold career ambitions growing up, how agencies provide the opportunity to e...

Lee Brown has been the Global Head of Advertising at Spotify for the last 5 years. Before that, he held senior revenue positions at Buzzfeed, Tumblr, Groupon, and Yahoo! He's been a leader at the largest digital properties, companies innovating in commerce and culture, and has done so with an energy and curiosity that's hard to match. 

Lee joins the podcast to talk about growing up in Kentucky, the experience of being th...

Gurman Hundal leads MiQ, a programmatic media company that is beloved in the ad tech industry by its clients and partners. He started MiQ with his partner Lee Puri 15 years ago and the pair have since grown the business to 1,500 employees around the world.

Gurman joins the podcast to talk about why he believes in operating with a long-term mindset, the reason he never took venture capital, the philosophy of "sell or be sold&...

Robert Mads Anderson is one of the most accomplished mountaineers of his generation and has balanced those pursuits with a multi-decade run working at advertising agencies around the world. He joins the podcast to discuss the characteristics that climbers have in common, what he learned from experiencing tragedy early in his career, what it's like to stand on the summits of the highest peaks in the world, and why climbing Mount...

Joy Robins has been working in the news business for almost 20 years. In her most recent 3 jobs, she has led the ad revenue teams at Quartz, The Washington Post and The New York Times. She joins the podcast to talk about what happens on the business side of a news org when a global news story breaks, the impact of technology on generations of news readers, and the people who have influenced her career. She and Jordan also discuss a...

Jill Kelly has worked exclusively in advertising agencies for almost 30 years. First as a media buyer, famously as a successful Comms leader, and ultimately as an agency CEO over the last 3 years. She joins the podcast to talk about the inspiring story of her early childhood, the lessons she learned from her mom (spoiler alert: when you encounter challenges "don't get through it, go through it"), and what she learned fr...

Matt Derella is the VP of Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn, the team focused on serving the advertising industry. Prior to his current role, Matt spent many years at other major global platforms including Google and Twitter, where he rose to the job of Chief Customer Officer. He joins the podcast to talk about what he got out of his English education at Georgetown, the role he had at Google and why he left, and what made Twitter suc...

Jack Myers is an author, consultant and content creator, who has been a steady presence in the media industry for 50 years. Having started out working at big media companies in outdoor, radio and cable in the 1970s, he ultimately struck out on his own in the mid-80s when he launched MediaVillage and The Myers Report. He joins the podcast to talk about why he made that move, and both the positives and challenges to being an innovati...

Suzie Reider might be the OGest of the Digital OGs. Her career took off in the pre-Internet era of the tech publishing world, bridged to early new media when she joined a then 30-person YouTube operation, and continues today as she builds out the media business at Lyft. Suzie joins the podcast to talk about the moment YouTube took off and those early days of digital video. She and Jordan discuss the importance making career connect...

Rich Lehrfeld is the General Manager at Walmart Connect, the company's advertising platform that helps brands reach shoppers online and in stores. Prior to Walmart, he spent 23 years at American Express in roles with increasing levels of influence and responsibility. Rich joins the podcast to talk about his time at both companies, how he looks at driving innovation inside (really) big organizations, and the influence that his c...

Lisa Sherman is the CEO at The Ad Council, the organization that brings together the best minds in advertising and media to create public service campaigns addressing the biggest challenges facing our society. She joins the podcast to talk about how she came to be in her role and how the work of the Ad Council has changed in the decade since. Lisa shares her coming out story in corporate America and how that experience change...

Jeremi Gorman loves to be "at the beginning" of things. She helped plant the seeds and grow the ad businesses of both Amazon and Netflix. The former was in its very early days when she arrived and is now the 3rd largest media company in the world. The latter is still in its relative infancy, but won't be for long. She joins Special Sauce to share the reason she moved from marketing to sales early in her career (it's...

Ryan Barwick is a journalist covering media and advertising. He is a rising star on the beat. In just the last year, he has reported on Lina Khan and the FTC, the Google antitrust proceedings and how the ad business is using AI. Ryan joins Special Sauce to talk about how he got up-to-speed on the industry, how reporters view other reporters, and to share some advice for Comms people. He and Jordan talk about what it's like to b...

With the Los Angeles wildfires still raging, we're using this episode to share a brief story about our next guest and suggest a worthy cause in need of donations. That cause is the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, which is raising money to buy emergency fire shelters, hydration backpacks and wildland brush tools to support firefighters on the ground. As these current fires get contained, new ones will surely follow...

Eric Berry has been a founder of companies in two disruptive categories: advertising technology and healthcare technology. He started TripleLift, the ad tech company he eventually sold for $1.4B, when he had just two years of industry experience. Eric joins Jordan to talk about why he moved from law to advertising, how the intuition of a founder is critical early on in the life of a company, and the importance of building the pipes...

Peter Naylor has been one of the most respected names in digital media since...the beginning of digital media. With stints at Lycos, iVillage, NBC, Hulu, Snap and Netflix, he has helped create and shape some of the most important platforms in each era of internet advertising - from web to online video to mobile to streaming. Peter joins the podcast to discuss his style of servant leadership, his belief that "readers are l...

Heather Freeland has held senior level marketing jobs in Silicon Valley for over a decade, with roles at Facebook, Lyft and Adobe. Prior to moving out west, she was a New Yorker having worked at MTV, Gilt Groupe and the marketing services company, Digitas. Heather joins to talk about the challenge of marketing to marketers, how working for Sheryl Sandberg taught her to be a better listener, and what she learned working with A...

Carl Fremont is a long time veteran of advertising agencies. He's also my mentor. Ask anyone who has known him closely over the years and they will tell you that he's been a mentor or advisor to them as well. He joins the podcast to talk about what he's gained by staying at companies for long stretches, and then what he looks for - and advises others to look for - when seeking a new job. He shares the family story that ...

Lisa Caputo has worked in the c-suite of some of America's largest companies for over two decades. Prior to her career in the business world, she served as a press secretary on Capitol Hill and later in The White House. Lisa shares how she came to know and work with Hillary Clinton, what her relationship with Hillary has meant to each of them over time, and what it's like to work in one of the most famous buildings in the w...