Franklyn West founder & CEO Ashley Miles joins Genuin CMO Matt Wurst for a high-energy conversation on leadership, growth, and building modern communities that last. From scaling a retail media network to $1B in revenue, to reimagining how brands use AI, Ashley shares actionable insights for product leads, growth strategists, and marketers navigating today’s fast-moving business landscape.

Key topics include:

- The rise of “liquid talent” for faster, smarter scaling

- Why modern community starts with ownership and customer expertise

- Brand-owned experiences vs. platform dependency

- Driving innovation while staying grounded in purpose

🎧 Listen now and reimagine your growth playbook.

What happens when you mix community-driven strategy, creative agility, and a cold beer? You get Dana Hork. 🍻

In this episode of Genuin Connections, host Matt Wurst sits down with Dana Hork, founder and CEO of Beers with Friends, to talk about building brands that actually connect. From leading social at Walmart to launching a new kind of creative agency, Dana has consistently delivered big ideas that are both remarkable and makeable.

They dive into:

- Why brands must build with their communities, not just for them

- How decentralized storytelling empowers employees and scales authenticity

- The “Brand in a Can” framework for earning trust

- What it really takes to innovate inside large organizations

- Turning insights into action through agile, sprint-based creative work

With beer puns, marketing wisdom, and honest reflections, this conversation is a must-listen for marketers looking to move fast, stay real, and build brands people actually care about.

🎧 Cheers to great work, real impact, and genuine connection.

#DanaHork #BeersWithFriends #GenuinConnections #MarketingStrategy #BrandBuilding #AuthenticMarketing #Innovation #RetailMarketing #MattWurst #CMOPodcast #CreativeLeadership #CommunityMarketing

What happens when one of the world’s most iconic storytelling brands reimagines how ideas are discovered, shared, and scaled?

In this episode of Genuin Connections, Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED and the visionary behind TED Shorts, joins us to discuss how TED is evolving in the age of short attention spans, AI, and community-powered content.

From embracing new content formats and social video to navigating the ever-present build vs. buy vs. partner debate, Tricia shares candid insights into TED’s product strategy, innovation roadmap, and the future of digital learning.

🔍 Inside this episode:

- The rise of TED Shorts and short-form storytelling

- AI’s role in personalization, moderation, and (eventually) creation

- Lessons from the TEDx community for digital curation

- Format innovation and expanding beyond the TED Talk

- Why Genuin became a strategic tech partner

- The power of community-led discovery and feedback

Whether you’re a brand leader, product strategist, or content nerd, this episode is packed with wisdom on how to meet audiences where they are—without losing what makes you distinct.

In this episode of Genuin Connections, Genuin CMO Matt Wurst sits down with Jennifer Kattula, GM and CMO of Microsoft Advertising, for a wide-ranging conversation about the intersection of AI, creativity, responsible leadership, and customer-driven growth.

Jennifer pulls back the curtain on how Microsoft is embedding conversational AI into its products, using internal AI hackathons to unlock workflow innovation, and redefining what it means to be a marketer in the age of automation. She also discusses the unique responsibilities tech leaders face in 2024, including building ethical platforms, preserving creative originality, and listening to the people who matter most: the customers and communities they serve.

From driving measurable business growth to creating content that actually stops the scroll, this is a must-listen episode for anyone working at the intersection of marketing, tech, and AI-powered innovation.

In this episode of Genuin Connections, Genuin CMO Matt Wurst sits down with Jennifer Kattula, GM and CMO of Microsoft Advertising, for a wide-ranging conversation about the intersection of AI, creativity, responsible leadership, and customer-driven growth.

Jennifer pulls back the curtain on how Microsoft is embedding conversational AI into its products, using internal AI hackathons to unlock workflow innovation, and redefining what it means to be a marketer in the age of automation. She also discusses the unique responsibilities tech leaders face in 2024, including building ethical platforms, preserving creative originality, and listening to the people who matter most: the customers and communities they serve.

From driving measurable business growth to creating content that actually stops the scroll, this is a must-listen episode for anyone working at the intersection of marketing, tech, and AI-powered innovation.

🎙 Topics Covered:

Why AI hackathons accelerate real business use cases

The future of conversational interfaces like Microsoft Copilot

Why originality and taste are the creative moat in marketing

Empowering engineers through direct customer access

Making marketing a true growth engine

Creating content that earns attention in oversaturated feeds

The role of leaders in building ethical, responsible platforms

📌 Perfect for:

In this episode of Genuin Connections, Matt Wurst sits down with Ruth Yomtoubian, VP of Global Innovation at VSP Vision, for a powerful and practical conversation on what it really takes to drive innovation at scale.

From building cross-functional AI strategies to empowering providers and shifting outdated “build-it-here” mindsets, Ruth shares how she’s helping transform one of the most established healthcare brands into a future-forward ecosystem of connected care.

You’ll hear insights on:

🔹 Human-centered AI integration

🔹 Grounded innovation vs. hype cycles

🔹 Designing with all five senses in mind

🔹 The role of storytelling in scaling ideas

🔹 Community, curiosity, and collaborative leadership

This is an episode for anyone navigating complexity, pushing for real impact, and ready to lead with intention.

Brands talk about community, but are they truly building one? In the latest episode of Genuin Connections, Genuin CMO Matt Wurst sits down with David Teicher, Co-founder & CEO of Qru, to explore what brands get wrong about community-building—and how to do it right.

Key takeaways:

🔹 Niche, engaged communities drive deeper impact than mass reach

🔹 Loyal customers are often overlooked in favor of new acquisitions

🔹 Smaller, passionate creators offer more authenticity than mega influencers

🔹 Staying culturally relevant is an ongoing challenge, not a one-time win

🔹 Authenticity and human connection are the foundation of real engagement

A must-listen for brands looking to rethink their approach to content, culture, and connection. Catch the full conversation now.

What makes a story truly impactful? In the latest episode of Genuin Connections, we sit down with Marcelo Bukin—filmmaker, storyteller, and global adventurer—to explore the essence of human connection, purpose, and storytelling that resonates.

📌 Key Takeaways:

- Why human connection is the foundation of great storytelling

- How authenticity attracts the right audience

- The 4 branding essentials for business success

- Why happiness and purpose are deeply intertwined

- From backpacking through remote villages to working with global brands,

Marcelo shares how understanding people—not just platforms—leads to lasting engagement.

🎬 Watch now and unlock the power of storytelling.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Genuin Connections, a video podcast series where we dive deep into the minds of marketing and media thought leaders shaping the future. In this debut episode, Matt Wurst sits down with Marc Scarpa, founder and CEO of DeFiance Media, to explore the intersection of storytelling, technology, and community.

Marc shares his trailblazing journey in participatory media, from pioneering live digital events in the 1990s to leveraging AI and blockchain to empower creators and brands today. Together, Matt and Marc discuss the evolution of decentralized storytelling, the role of data in crafting authentic narratives, and how artists and brands can reclaim ownership of their communities in a rapidly shifting digital landscape.

📌 Key topics covered:

- The future of storytelling through decentralized platforms

- How AI is transforming media with tools like Roxanna, the first digital twin news anchor

- Empowering creators to build their own fan ecosystems and bypass traditional gatekeepers

- Why brands should avoid over-relying on data for strategy and embrace innovation

- Building authentic connections in a fragmented, community-driven media world

This episode is packed with insights for marketers, media professionals, creators, and anyone looking to stay ahead in a dynamic digital environment.

Don’t miss this compelling conversation as we set the stage for the future of media innovation.

🎥 Watch now and subscribe for more episodes featuring industry pioneers and bold ideas that inspire!

#GenuinConnections #Storytelling #CommunityEngagement #MediaInnovation #AI #DecentralizedMedia #MarketingStrategy

Video conversations with our community of brand marketers, innovators, creators, media mavens, and commerce-minded thought leaders.