Andy Starr is one of the rare minds operating at the true intersection of strategy, creativity, and business design — and he is not interested in the surface-level version of any of them. 

As co-founder and managing partner of Level C, the world's most visionary branding education program, Andy built something genuinely unusual: a school for how to think, created alongside iconic brand author and strategist Marty Neumeier. 

In this episode, Andy shares his unconventional origin story — musician, literature student, finance professional, recovering law student — and how a single book handed to him by the right person at the right moment changed the entire trajectory of his career. 

He breaks down why brand strategy has become dangerously commoditized, why AI is a tool built for averages in a discipline that demands advantage, and why the practitioners who will win in the years ahead are the ones developing taste, judgment, and the courage to think non-linearly. 

This is a bold, unfiltered conversation about what it really takes to do this work at the highest level.

GUEST BIO:

Andy Starr is co-founder and managing partner of Level C, a school of masterclasses and critiques in brand and business design that he built alongside international brand expert and author Marty Neumeier. His path to that role is anything but conventional: a trained musician who studied English Literature as an undergraduate, Andy worked in finance and studied law before entering the world of brand — and the detour through each of those disciplines sharpened the cross-trained thinking that now defines his approach. Born in Philadelphia and currently living in Vienna, Austria, Andy is also a top-1% TEDx speaker, an MBA professor at a European university, a co-founder of an LA-based public safety tech company, and a self-described C-suite sparring partner for select clients. He describes himself as a "provocateur-for-hire" at the intersection of education, business, and brand — helping clients outmaneuver competition and conditions in their markets and make their marketing, advertising, and PR work better, land stronger, and drive real results. Through Level C's progressive series of masterclasses, Andy and Marty are training a new generation of strategic thinkers — people who know not just what brand is, but how to actually use it.

LINK: Level C

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Paul Povolni (Voppa) is the founder of Voppa Creative and a creative leader with over 30 years of experience in brand strategy and design. Based in Jackson, Mississippi, he has worked with clients internationally, leading teams in award-winning branding while serving as a coach and speaker. Paul delivers workshops and keynotes on brand strategy, creative thinking, and organizational culture, and hosts The Headsmack Podcast: Conversations with Misfits. His work centers on helping organizations lead with Clarity, Creativity, and Culture.

Headsmack Website

Voppa Creative Website