Own It

This week on Own It we’re talking to Tracey Pattani from BSSP … that’s Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. The firm was the 2025 AdAge Small Agency of the Year. Its clients include ESPN, Amazon, Kikkoman and Wild Planet, among others. 

Tracey came up through the account side of the business, spending time at FCB and Digitas along the way. Her work lies at the intersection of creativity, AI and business transformation. She partners with leadership teams to reimagine what’s possible.

We talked about her journey, the influences she learned from along the way, her transition to ownership and more. We also loved hearing her perspective on the gender gap in agency ownership, particularly because she admitted she had more male leaders on her path than females.

You know we love the different perspectives our guests bring to the table. You’re going to enjoy this one.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Tracey Pattani and the agency website for BSSP in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Judith Carr-Rodriguez from Fig.  Her firm bills itself as storytellers for the information age, and that they are. Judith was named to Meta’s “THE List” in 2023. She was one of Ad Age’s Leading Women in Advertising, Marketing and Media in 2022. And one of the 40 over 40 most influential people in advertising in 2021 by Campaign U.S.

Her resume is impressive, having led both LBi and MRY before launching Fig 13 years ago. 

Her experience, influence and wisdom are so valuable to tap into. I so enjoyed the story of her journey, talking to her about the state of the industry and what we can do to close the gender gap in agency ownership.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Judith Carr-Rodriguez and the agency website for Fig in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Amanda Atoyebi from Red Thread Strategy Partners. She and the firm specialize in transformative commerce strategy to help brands grow. Her solutions over the years have helped clients like Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker Oats, Colgate, Unilever and Energizer, among others.

Amanda and her husband have an 18-month-old son. She is also a life-long equestrian and owns and rides two horses and teaches at Miami University of Ohio.

She’s so brilliant and insightful. You’re going to love this episode. 

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Amanda Atoyebi and the agency website for Red Thread Strategy Partners in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Katie Schibler Conn from KSA Marketing. Katie has been a part of the Own It community from day one so this episode has been a long-time coming. 

Katie jokes that her firm’s initials, K-S-A, stands for Kick Some Ass. And my, how true that is for her clients. The business evolved from a small consultancy to a 15-year-old agency helping lead brand governance for companies large and small. Her journey is nothing short of amazing.

It includes down-sizing her time to spend more time with family, traveling from South America to Mongolia thanks to a serious wanderlust passion, to being a girls scout troop leader for her daughter.

In all those adventures, she accumulated a wealth of knowledge, experience and insights to run a fantastic agency by understanding collaboration, partnerships, managing relationships and more. She had great insights for closing the gender gap in agency ownership, too.

These conversations just keep getting more and more interesting. You’re going to love this episode. 

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Katie Schibler Conn and the agency website for KSA Marketing in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Brandi LaFontaine from Together With. She is based in Victoria, British Columbia in Canada, but the agency has locations in Buenos Aires, Toronto, Miami and Louisville. 

Together with lives in what they call a contrast – data with empathy, logic with intuition and collaboration with candor. You can tell this conversation will be very interesting. 

Brandi and I talked about her journey to ownership which comes from the analytics, economics and financial side of the agency world. She led operations and managed analytics for a few firms before becoming CEO of Together With a little over two years ago.

As always, these conversations help all of us learn and get inspired. This one is no different.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Brandi LaFontaine and the agency website for Together With in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Laura Hutfless from FlyteVu. It is a full-service entertainment marketing agency that helps brands connect with consumers through the entertainers and events that drive pop culture. The firm has been recognized as one of AdWeek’s fastest growing agencies, received Chief Marketer’s Top 200 lists twice and has won many awards for its impactful and innovative campaigns.

Laura also prides herself and FlyteVu on the fact they have given back nearly $1 million in charitable donations since she founded the firm.  

We talked about her adrenaline activities of skydiving and surfing … one Christy loves and the other she would never do … her journey to ownership and the nuances of the entertainment industry … and, of course, her perspective on closing the gender gap in agency ownership. This was such a fun conversation. We know you’ll enjoy this episode.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Laura Hutfless and the agency website for FlyteVu in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Meranne Behrends from Words From The Woods. She is a strategist and started Words From The Woods in Portland, Maine, almost nine years ago. Her resume is full of leading strategy and planning for major brands dating back to the mid-2000s. She worked her way through Deutsch / Lowe, Wieden + Kennedy, The VIA Agency and MullenLowe among others. 

She spent six years freelancing before formalizing Words From The Woods in 2018.. 

We loved her perspective as an owner, her stories of being outdoorsy and her brother who she claimed was the better artist. This was such a fun chat. You’ll enjoy getting to know her.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Meranne Behrends and the agency website for Words From The Woods in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Sommer Poquette from Keep It Real Social. She was a teacher before the blogging revolution of the early 2000s. She became a mom blogger, but quickly became effective at bridging the gap between brands and what we now call influencers. After 10 years of a successful venture there, she started Keep It Real Social to help brands optimize their digital and social media presence. 

As if that wasn’t enough, she also started her own travel agency, so we get twice the experience and insights today. 

Sommer was so much fun to talk to and learn from. You’re going to love this episode.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Sommer Poquette and the agency website for Keep It Real Social in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It we’re talking to Ari Krzyzek from Chykalophia. Her firm is a web conversion focused firm. They bring brand ideas to life to transform their websites for growth. Speaking of growth, the agency was born from Ari’s simple website design consulting work she began in 2009. So she has seen ownership from that seed of consulting int a large and successful agency.

Ari is originally from Bali, but now based in Chicago. We talked about that journey, how she started and built her agency, and her interesting perspective on closing the gender gap in agency ownership.

We so admire Ari’s drive and determination to own it. You will learn so much from her.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profiles for Ari Krzyzek and the agency website for Chykalophia in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Own It, we’re talking to Kiley Peters from Rayne IX. She and her firm specialize in helping women entrepreneurs launch, scale and build valuable businesses. And not just in the advertising space, but many verticals. And she is the perfect person to do just that because she is a serial entrepreneur with experience building her own businesses, including a very successful content marketing firm.

We talked about so many things including one of her spirit-feeding activities: gardening. Of course we talked a lot about her journey and expertise, so those of you thinking about starting an agency are going to learn a lot. 

Kiley is so much fun to talk to. You’re going to love this episode.

You can find links to the LinkedIn profile for Kiley Peters and the agency website for Rayne IX in our show notes at untilyouownit.com. 

If you’re enjoying Own It, please find it on your favorite podcast app and drop us a rating and review. Those help more people discover the show and join our community. 

Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community at that same address … untilyouownit.com.

Subscribe, rate and review wherever you found this podcast. For more, visit untilyouownit.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.