The Marketing Umbrella Podcast

What if 90% of what businesses call "strategy" is actually just expensive to-do lists?

Alex M.H. Smith didn't set out to become a strategist, and definitely didn't take the traditional path to get there. In fact, he started his strategy consultancy before ever reading a single book on the subject. What he did have was curiosity, a knack for pattern-spotting, and a frustration with how often businesses skip over real thinking in fav...

Gaurav Bhattacharya, known to most as “G,” has spent his life building from the ground up. Raised by a single mom in New Delhi and teaching himself to code at age 10, Gaurav has followed a path shaped by resilience, curiosity, and a deep belief in solving real problems with technology. With over 14 years of experience across product, sales, recruiting, and machine learning, he’s built and sold multiple startups—including Involve.ai...

The Power of Weird: How Calm Used Quirky PR to Go Mainstream

Before Calm became one of the most recognizable wellness apps in the world, it was a nine-person startup in a tiny San Francisco apartment with a big problem: no one knew it existed. That’s when they brought in Peter Freedman, founder of Thinking of Think, a creative PR and guerrilla marketing firm known for turning offbeat ideas into global attention.

In this episode of ...

What Do Counterintelligence and Marketing Have in Common? More Than You Might Think.

Just ask Bill Rice. Before he was helping fintech and SaaS companies drive predictable growth through inbound marketing, Bill was in the U.S. Air Force running counterintelligence and information warfare operations. His journey from espionage to entrepreneurship isn’t just unusual—it’s the foundation of his marketing philosophy.

In this episode of ...

Few CEOs know their company from the inside out quite like Margaret Sikora. With a PhD in Law and nearly a decade at Woodpecker, she’s held roles across the organization—starting in customer support before stepping into leadership as Head of Product, Interim Manager, COO, and now CEO. 

In this episode of the Marketing Umbrella Podcast, host Kevin Prewett talks with Margaret about the lessons she’s learned at every stage of Woodpeck...

How Do You Build a World-Class Company?

In this episode of the Marketing Umbrella Podcast, we chat with Srikrishnan Ganesan, co-founder and CEO of Rocketlane. Sri shares his journey from launching and scaling SaaS businesses to building Rocketlane, a customer onboarding platform that’s redefining project delivery.

Sri discusses how his experience at Freshworks, where he helped scale the company from $18 million to $220 million in A...

Is a Creative Subscription Service the Secret to Scaling Without Hiring In-House Designers?

Jonathan Grzybowski built Penji out of necessity—struggling to find reliable design talent, he co-founded a creative subscription service that removes the hassle of hiring in-house. Now, as CMO, he helps businesses access high-quality design work on demand. What began as a personal challenge has evolved into a thriving company serving thousa...

Could your network be the catalyst for content co-creation and scalable growth?

In this episode of The Marketing Umbrella Podcast, Jakub Zajicek, founder of Demandi.co, shares insights on building businesses through collaboration and content co-creation. With a successful exit from SpeakOn Podcast (a podcast booking service) under his belt, Jakub now helps B2B teams create impactful content by leveraging their ecosystem of partners...

Struggling to Connect with Modern Buyers? Here’s How to Close More Deals

In this episode of The Marketing Umbrella Podcast, Chelsea Olsen, sales expert and founder of Clohz, shares how modern sales techniques can help you connect with today’s buyers more effectively. With over 20 years of experience—15 of those mastering B2B sales on LinkedIn—Chelsea reveals strategies for building trust, standing out, and closing deals in the digi...

Ready for the Relationship Economy Revolution?

Peter Lisoskie, founder of Relatable and tech innovator, shares how the relationship economy revolutionizes how businesses connect with their customers. With a rich background that includes leadership roles at Nike and Hewlett-Packard and an impressive 18 patents, Peter shares insights that redefine marketing strategies.

Relatable, Peter’s latest innovation, is an interactive video pla...

How AI Can Help Small Businesses Level Up Their Marketing

In this episode of The Marketing Umbrella Podcast, Adam Nathan, founder of Blaze AI and Almanac, shares how AI can simplify marketing for small businesses and agencies. With experience from the White House, Apple, and Lyft, Adam has created tools that make life easier for small teams trying to grow and succeed.

Blaze AI acts like a virtual marketing assistant, helping busine...

Are you building a business that serves your goals—or one that traps you in an endless cycle?

In this episode of the Marketing Umbrella Podcast, Jonathan Baker, head of the M&A practice at Punctuation, shares his knowledge in helping small to medium-sized marketing firms adjust their businesses to fit personal goals and get ready for successful sales. As a former business owner and seasoned advisor, Jonathan tackles the emoti...

Can AI give your SEO the boost it needs to climb back to the top of search rankings?

Mike Roberts, CEO of Rivalflow AI and SpyFu, knows how to leverage AI to help brands get their content noticed and reclaim those top spots in search rankings. With a solid background in SEO and marketing tech, Mike created Rivalflow to help businesses identify gaps in their content and make impactful updates. Recently, on The Marketing Umbrella p...

Could video-first demos be the secret to closing more software deals, faster?

Troy Munson, founder of Dimmo AI, shares how video-first demos are changing the way companies connect with potential customers. By cutting down the back-and-forth and getting straight to the point, these demos grab attention and keep it, helping businesses stand out in a crowded market.

In this episode, Troy breaks down why video-first demos are perfect f...

Are you making the most of AI in your marketing strategy? AI can do more than just automate tasks—it could redefine your entire workflow. Ashley Gross, an expert AI marketing strategist and thought leader, shares her journey from traditional marketing to pioneering AI-driven business transformation. With her extensive expertise, Ashley leads the charge of innovating marketing strategies through AI.

In this episode, Ashley delves ...

Is your content truly original, or are outdated plagiarism tools missing the mark?

In this episode of the Marketing Umbrella Podcast, our host Kevin Prewett talks with Jonathan Gillham, founder of OriginalityAI. Jon shares how growing up in a small Canadian town and his frustrations with tools like Copyscape led him to build a smarter content checker. With over 10 years of SEO and content marketing experience, Jon explains why st...

Making one bold decision can revolutionize your career. In this episode of the Marketing Umbrella podcast, our guest Cristian Dina, a young entrepreneur and founding member of Tekpon, shares his story of leaving college to venture into the tech world, inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice. He compares the outdated lessons he learned in school with the fast-moving, real-world experiences at Tekpon, showing how taking risks early can ...

Bilal Ararou, a product designer turned entrepreneur from Morocco, shares his journey from early tech enthusiast to successful business founder. Beginning as a web developer in 2008, Bilal transitioned to product design and UX in 2009, collaborating with global clients as a freelancer. In 2016, he founded Kreatinc, a web design and development agency that has created SaaS products for industries including real estate, finance, eCom...

Struggling to keep up with the demands of social media content creation? Imagine having a personal AI team at your fingertips. Austin Armstrong built the solution with Syllaby.io, and it's changing the game for solo creators and small businesses. 

Austin's journey from MySpace enthusiast to AI innovator is a testament to the rapid evolution of digital marketing. In our chat, he shares how the pandemic became a turning point, pushin...