If you’re a TikTok user, chances are you’ve scrolled past a crazy green owl. That’s the work of our latest guest, Zaria Parvez, social media coordinator at Duolingo. In this episode, we uncover the secrets behind Zaria’s rapid success on TikTok and how she learned from trial, error, and taking some major risks to gain 2.8 million followers. Zaria shares why she chose Duolingo for her first job out of college and how her lack of experience in the industry has been part of her advantage. You’ve read it everywhere, but we as marketers have a whole lot to learn from Gen Z – and Zaria is a quintessential example of that. Take a listen to learn some new social media tips and get a peek behind the curtain at how one of the most successful brands on TikTok today found their niche. 

Guest Bio

Zaria Parvez, social media coordinator at Duolingo, is a recent graduate of the advertising program at the University of Oregon. At just 23 years old, she’s turned Duolingo into one of the most recognized brands on TikTok. Zaria brings a fresh perspective to the creative space, leaning into risk taking and the idea of rejection. She sources inspiration from some unlikely places, and believes in the idea of keeping your ideas simple. This is just the beginning for Zaria and we’re excited to see what she accomplishes next! 

Key Takeaways:

• What’s the secret behind success on TikTok? Zaria shares some of her tried and true methods as well as lessons she has learned along the way.
• We learn the differences between being a creator, influencer, and a brand on social media.
• Zaria shares her thoughts on representation and diversity in advertising. 
• We discuss the importance of being fully yourself in the pursuit of finding a job. 

In this episode, we sit down with Hana Jacover, former director of demand generation at MadKudu and current director of marketing technology at Unreal Digital Group. Hana shares her insights on the democratization of data in today’s marketing efforts and the importance of making data accessible to drive powerful insights. She also offers her unique perspective on leadership and the idea of leaning into authenticity to create communities. Hana firmly believes in the idea of “lifting others as you rise” and fostering an environment of sponsorship to give others opportunities. This episode is insightful and engaging — exactly the type of conversation needed for that extra ounce of motivation!

Guest Bio

Hana Jacover, former director of demand generation at MadKudu and current director of marketing technology at Unreal Digital Group, has spent the majority of her career working agency side, focusing on driving demand for various B2B clients. Today, she largely values building and managing meaningful relationships in the workplace and being a servant leader. She’s spent a great deal of time on self-discovery to find the true intent of her life, which today involves a great deal of DEI work to create more inclusive and equitable spaces for people of color. 

Key Takeaways:

• What’s the best way to build community? Hana shares her thoughts on navigating shared experiences and owning her own unique story.
• We learn what it means to leverage empathy to be a servant leader.
• Hana shares some of the organizations she’s passionate about, including Black Marketers Association of America and Women in Revenue.
• We discuss the difference between mentorship and sponsorship.

Unless you’re not a TV fan, you’ve likely caught an episode of one of reality TV’s biggest shows, The Bachelor. In this episode, we sit down with Ryan Neal, a recording artist and producer who was a contestant on The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart. Ryan shares his background as a musician and how being on the show amplified his following, rocketing him into the world of creating and growing a personal brand. Ryan shares his experience of gaining a massive following overnight and how it forced him to focus on what really matters. If you’re in the creative business and working on growing your own personal brand, you’re gonna want to hear this one! 

Guest Bio

Ryan Neal, recording artist and producer, credits his musical inspiration to his professional pianist grandmother. After idolizing her for years and getting a little extra nudge of inspiration from the movie School of Rock, he decided to pick up a guitar at 13 and has never looked back. A musician at heart, after being discovered on Instagram for a hit reality show, Ryan was quickly propelled into the world of personal brand development. Today he’s focusing on growing his brand and creating music that makes him happy.

Key Takeaways:

• We discuss what it truly means to make a career out of your passion. 
• Ryan shares some behind the scenes details of his experience on The Bachelor.
• We learn the challenges of marketing music on Instagram.
• How does promoting a personal brand play into creative expression? Ryan shares his experience with learning to market himself.

Episode Summary:

If you’re a music lover, chances are you’ve heard of a little brand called Spotify. In this episode, we’re lucky enough to get a peek behind the scenes from Naomi Barnett, editor of Spotify’s digital newsroom, For The Record. Naomi shares their appreciation for all things organization and how they’ve been able to combine the left and right sides of their brain to uplevel their creative output. They share a refreshing perspective on their ability to stay organized with intricate checklists while also making space for creativity. If you’re under the assumption that chaos is a guaranteed part of the creative process, then this episode is for you! 

Guest Bio:

Naomi Barnett is an editor at Spotify’s digital newsroom, For The Record. After originally wanting to go into publishing, Naomi combined their passion for telling stories with their deeply rooted admiration for organization and pivoted into a career in content marketing at Group SJR. During their time on the agency side, Naomi honed their project management skills, learning to stay organized while creating time and space for their own creative content production. After a few years at Group SJR and some time spent working on the Spotify account, Naomi transitioned over to Spotify’s in-house team. Outside of work, you’ll find Naomi running, writing poetry, and providing some killer music recs! 

Key Takeaways:

• We discuss how honing your ability to stay organized has the ability to make you even more creative.
• Naomi shares some of their top music recommendations.
• We learn about some of the most exciting projects in the works at Spotify.
• Did you think Spotify was just a music and podcast app? Naomi shares their insider knowledge on For The Record and the incredible content at Spotify you may have never heard of.

Anyone who has worked in the creative industry knows that no two roles are the same. From agencies big and small to in-house gigs across a variety of industries, creative roles can vary greatly. Miranda Miller, senior marketing designer at Brandfolder, shares her creative journey and the lessons learned as she has grown throughout her career. In this episode, Miranda shares her insights on how her agency experience coupled with her love for working with her hands has turned her into the designer she is today. She touches on how being thrown into the fire taught her to trust herself and how she's learned to appreciate the criticism and critiques received along the way. Miranda is the creative visionary behind so much of what we do here at Brandfolder, and we’re excited to share a bit of her journey with you all!

Miranda Miller, senior marketing designer at Brandfolder, started her creative career with a BA in Creative Advertising from Michigan State. Following school, she took a leap of faith and moved to Colorado on a whim. Her talent landed her a role as an agency designer at Crispin Porter Bogusky, where she worked on high profile brands such as Dominos, Hotels.com, and American Airlines. With a healthy mix of big and small agency experience throughout her career, Miranda brings a fresh perspective to the B2B SaaS world, helping Brandfolder to stand out to marketers and creatives alike.

If you’re a dog lover, you know there’s basically nothing that rivals the pure joy our furry friends experience when they get a new toy. BarkBox has taken that small simple pleasure and turned it into so much more: a household name in the dog world. Zoe Costello & Will Storie, two senior copywriters for BarkBox, paired their passion for comedy with their love for dogs to help build a brand many of us know and love today. In this episode, Zoe & Will share their insights on how humor fits into the brand experience, some of the risks they took along the way, and insights on how they judge their own creative work. We also touch on their all-time favorite brand partnerships and how the company has remained true to its original vision while growing into an industry leader. You don’t want to miss this one! 

Zoe Costello, a senior copywriter for BarkBox’s Retail and Partnerships division, started with the company as a customer service representative. Since joining in 2014, she has worked as a comedy editor, a video producer and head of social media to help craft the BarkBox experience and connect with fellow dog people. Zoe’s one of the creators of and (pseudo) rappers in the viral “Dog Mom Rap” video (if you haven’t seen it, you won’t regret going down this rabbit hole!). 

Will Storie is a senior copywriter at BarkBox, where he specializes in product copy and the subscription box experience. If you've ever laughed at any words that appeared inside your BarkBox, Will either wrote them or can tell you who did. A six-year veteran, Will has grown with the brand, from a "Buzzfeed-for-dogs"-style blogger to his current role leading product copy and coordinating theme development for their flagship subscription business.

This one’s for all the creatives and marketers out there who’ve ever had people think that all they do is “arts and crafts.” As we know, it’s so much more. Design departments can no longer be underestimated as they touch nearly every aspect of a business. As brand touchpoints continue to multiply exponentially, each moment needs to be thought through on a visual and emotional level. Industry Dive’s creative director, Chelsea Ennis, has helped grow the design department to prove, with no uncertainty, how valuable creative output can be. In this episode, we talk with Chelsea about what it took to scale the design department, prove that it was worth the effort, and how she led her fast-growing team throughout the process. 

Having worked with brands like Target, Home Depot, Twitter, and IBM, Chelsea got her start at digital agency Group SJR as a graphic and web designer. She eventually found herself at Industry Dive, where she helped build up a talented design team that works with brands to tell better stories. Over her career her skills spread the gamete, from design project management, leading and scaling creative teams to and marrying the design strategy with business needs. All of which shaped her into the creative director that she is today.

Communities are built through little moments, genuine connections between people and the world around them. Building a community from a brand perspective means removing the self-promotion and putting the moment ahead of the message. That’s just a glimpse of what Kyle Skinner, social media engagement manager at Patreon, talks about with us. Tune in to hear how he goes above and beyond, not to win points for the brand, but just to show support for fellow creators.

Having spent his early career helping to build the social media program at the Oakland Athletics baseball club, Kyle made the jump to Patreon to be a part of the company’s mission to get creators paid. There, Kyle focuses on engaging with artists, musicians, writers ​​— creators of all kinds — to keep doing what they love and find ways to support them, whether they’re on the Patreon platform or not. He is known for his work building communities, advocating for creators, and having fun along the way.

How do you build a brand? There are tactical, strategic and even philosophical questions that come into play when answering a question like this. Arguably every brand is working to elicit an emotional response and a cognitive attachment from its audience. But the avenues to do so are wide-ranging. In this episode, we dig into these challenges with Agency Fifty3’s creative director, Brianna Huynh, by discussing her passion: experiential marketing and the power it has to shape opinions and move the needle.  

Brianna Huynh is a creative director who’s worked with brands like Nike, Gatorade, Nationwide and Salesforce to create experiences that both stand out from the rest and really sink in with an audience. Brianna's consistent leadership, creative prowess, competitive edge, and ability to execute is recognized by clients and team members alike. She honed her skills in design and brand management while working in sports and eventually made the leap over to tech. She’s built a reputation for original thinking and based on our conversation, we can see why.

A podcast about our favorite brands featuring stories from the marketers and creatives behind them. Here's a preview of what's to come!