Own It
We’re buying out of the ad industry boys’ club. Hosted by Cornett owner Christy Hiler, Own It lifts up the stories of women and nonbinary ad agency owners: their challenges, their successes, and their goals for the industry. We’re aiming to start a movement—because you don’t have the power until you own it.
Episodes
October 7, 2025 • 33 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Carrie Stein from Bridge Insights and Media. She obviously came up through the media side of the ad business, working for many years at Neilsen before co-founding Bridge with her partner Jenny Griffith 10 years ago.
They started with the idea that advertising could be smarter, more cost-effective and easier for clients. We talked about her firm, her journey to ownership and her thoughts on the ...
Mark as Played
September 30, 2025 • 39 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Jessica Blumberg from hunterblu media. It was formed in 2018 to make working with a media agency easier for brands and creative agencies, and has blossomed.
Jessica certainly came up through her career on the media side of the advertising industry. She spent time at Crispin Porter + Bogusky before turning consultant, then agency owner.
We talked about her journey, her passion for media and ma...
Mark as Played
September 23, 2025 • 41 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Casey Benedict from Maverick Mindshare. Her firm spawned from the conflict between bloggers and public relations professionals that emerged in early days of brands being involved in social media. She began bridging the gap between the two sides and brokering brand deals with what we now know as influencers.
We talked about her journey to starting and building her agency, her thoughts on the ag...
Mark as Played
September 16, 2025 • 42 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Courtney Lewis from The Variable. She just stepped into the role of partner and CEO there two months ago after being on the strategy and leadership team for several years.
Courtney didn’t land at The Variable from the agency world. She was in business and management consulting before and brought that experience and knowledge to the firm.
We talked about everything from her journey to agency l...
Mark as Played
September 9, 2025 • 37 mins
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Holly Conti of Full Swing PR. If you remember the firm’s name, Holly is the co-owner with Caitlin Copple, who was our guest back in November of 2022. She wasn’t originally an owner, so we get to hear how an employe moves into an ownership role.
Holly and Christy had a great conversation about her journey from wanting to be creative and the boss when she was young, to being creative and the bo...
Mark as Played
September 2, 2025 • 41 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Erin Emmerson and Kelsey Cross from Tower 28. It is a global agency built on a network of in-market experts that helps brands globalize content for any audience. Their unique approach to the business is fascinating.
We also enjoy hearing how co-founders and co-owners carve out that journey together. We certainly talked about that, but also parenthood, their paths to find one another and start t...
Mark as Played
August 26, 2025 • 42 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Hope Harris Refuerzo from TillSow. It is a fully integrated global storytelling studio. Hope told me they serve the needs of an evolving culture by providing a modern, bespoke experience for companies, brands and artists.
Hope is based in Los Angeles and has a production background and was once a casting director in Hollywood.
We had such a fun conversation about our industry, our challenge ...
Mark as Played
August 19, 2025 • 37 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Amy Edwards from Quality Meats. Her firm does amazing work, but don’t take my word for it. They have earned Small Agency of the Year awards from both AdAge and AdWeek. The firm launched during the pandemic with no clients and no investors.
What they did have was two partners and a producer who wanted to do great work and remove what they call the “B.S.” of the advertising world. Obviously, the...
Mark as Played
August 12, 2025 • 44 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Amanda Lucey from The Partnership. She’s been in that role for almost 13 years and has navigated through both growth and expansion. She came into the agency world from a career in associations, diplomacy and politics.
So her knowledge of that world certainly informs some interesting perspectives on the gender gap in agency ownership, and how we can attack that challenge.
Amanda is so interest...
Mark as Played
July 29, 2025 • 36 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Genna Franconi from 22squared and Trade School. She and they are based in Atlanta, Georgia. As you probably noticed, she runs two agencies. One is over a century old. The other was born out of a client need for scaling audience-based content.
Genna came up through the account side of the business and worked her way to the C-Suite at 22squared before founding Trade School as a spin-off firm, ev...
Mark as Played
July 22, 2025 • 36 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Jen Harrington from Hatch. She jumped into the world of ownership when she founded Hatch over 16 years ago. So she has been at this a long time. Her perspective on the gender gap in agency ownership is full of experience and insight.
Jen is also investing her time and energies in fostering the creative world. She creates on-ramps into the creative world for diverse talent and spends time volunt...
Mark as Played
July 15, 2025 • 36 mins
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Lisa Kribs from TGW Studio. She is based in Rochester, New York, and came up through the creative side of the business. Her firm is a social impact marketing and creative studio that helps clients tell their stories.
She is also a musician and recently finished an E-P! As you can imagine, we had a lot to discuss. I’m always excited to learn from creative brains. This episode certainly has a lo...
Mark as Played
July 8, 2025 • 38 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Erin Gwiazdon from Level Mpls. She spent several years at Level before joining the executive team, then moving into an ownership role. Most of her career has been on the agency side, but did jump out and work for brands in healthcare and arts.
We had a great conversation about spending time outdoors on the lake, her journey to ownership and her thoughts on closing the gap in advertising agency...
Mark as Played
June 24, 2025 • 30 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Kristen O’Neall of Mirage Media. She came up through the account services side of the business and founded Mirage Media last year.
Kristen is an admitted workaholic and is passionate about being a strategic visionary for her clients.
We had such a fun conversation about her journey, her influences and her thoughts on the state of gender balance in advertising agency ownership. She is so ener...
Mark as Played
June 17, 2025 • 35 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Liz Seelye from StarryEyed Strategy. Her firm believes to be starryeyed means to be creative, collaborative and visionary so you can dream new ideas and make them a reality.
But she also has a renewable energy company with her husband, trail runs and has been to over 40 countries, a dozen or so with one or more of her five children.
As you can tell, Liz is multifaceted and fascinating. We ha...
Mark as Played
June 10, 2025 • 44 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Kerry McKibbin from Mischief. What can you say about the success of her firm? They’ve been in the top three agencies on Ad Age’s A-List each of the last four years, including topping that list twice in that time.
Their work is amazing. Their success is something we’re all both impressed by and maybe a little envious of.
As you might imagine, I tried to mine her for all sorts of insights from...
Mark as Played
June 3, 2025 • 41 mins
This week on Own It, we’re talking to Emily Stutzman from Happylucky.
She calls her firm a creative community built on the ethos of Fear Less, Love More. They do work that shifts hearts, minds, and culture.
Being in Oregon – one of my favorite places – Emily loves to grow things. Everything from plants to clients to her agency.
We talked about so much … her journey, her approach to clients, and her perspective on the gender ga...
Mark as Played
May 20, 2025 • 32 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Kelly Long from Manifold. It is a creative experiential marketing firm that aims to create experiences that engage, delight, captivate and inspire people. And inspiring, Kelly certainly is.
Host Christy Hiler and Long talked about her journey, her role models and dug into the topic of the gender gap in agency ownership. Kelly is also a fellow University of Oregon grad, so it is extra special to...
Mark as Played
May 13, 2025 • 36 mins
This week on Own It we’re talking to Mary Cornette from Fuel. While we have the same last name, we don’t think we’re related. It’s spelled different. But, her family does have roots in Kentucky, so who knows?
Mary is based in Greenville, South Carolina and her firm Fuel is a brand-building agency. She landed there from New York where she spent time at R/GA and Digitas, among others. Her brand experience is a Who’s Who list of bran...
Mark as Played
May 6, 2025 • 54 mins
This week on Own it we’re talking to Benita Conde from Create Radical Love. After many years in the advertising industry at stops like Fallon, BBH and Anomaly, Benita started Create Radical Love which is a life coaching and consulting firm for people who want to radically love their whole life experience.
So this episode will be informed by her agency experience, but include much, much more.
We talked about her journey, her firm...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!