Own It

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

In this episode, we talk to Kate Black and Susan Betteridge from Pahnke.  I so enjoy hearing the stories of partnership and co-ownership, so having Kate and Susan on the podcast was exciting. And their story of coming together to form Pahnke is not your typical shared ownership story.

In fact, Kate even said she didn’t want to return to agency life after seeing the industry from the publishing side of the aisle working at The Onion of all places. Creativity brought her around and Susan asked her not to work at an agency, but help lead one. 

And, of course, we talk about their ideas on closing the gender gap in agency ownership. You’re really going to enjoy this conversation.

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT with  Kate Black and Susan Betteridge from Pahnke. You can find links to their LinkedIn profiles and the agency’s website 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

On this episode, we’re talking to Renee Miller of The Miller Group. She is a rare bird among advertising agency owners. She launched her agency in Southern California in 1990 – 33 years ago. Her agency is focused on helping purpose-driven brands and those focused on outcomes, not outputs. 

Renee tells us about the evolution of the advertising business through the last three decades and how gender roles in the agency world have changed. She also draws a line and tells us some typical behaviors we shouldn’t use to make our world better.

As you might expect, Renee spends a lot of time these days mentoring, so having her on the show is a real blessing, for me and I think, for all of you.

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT with Renee Miller of The Miller Group. You can find links to her LinkedIn profile and agency’s website 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

In this episode we’re talking to Marissa Nance of Native Tongue. She spent nearly 30 years in the Omnicom family of agencies before taking the plunge into ownership just a few short years ago. But she did so to create more seats at the table. Native Tongue is believed to be the first Minority and Women Business Enterprise certified media agency in the world. 

Marissa talked about her experiences that led her to ownership, what advice she has for those with aspirations to own it, and what she thinks is holding us back. The answer to that was eye-opening. Listen for that, for sure. 

I think you’ll find that for a big-shot media agency owner in the glitz and glamor of L.A., Marissa is perhaps the most down-to-earth, straight-forward and REAL person you can talk to about this business.

Enjoy this conversation. I know I did. 

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT. You can find links to the resources we discussed, Marissa's LinkedIn profile and Native Tongue.’s website in our show notes at untilyouownit.com.

Other resources mentioned in the episode:

• The earring artist: Andrea Iyamah (https://www.andreaiyamah.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.

Today, we are truly honored to learn from Carol Williams. She is perhaps most commonly known as the first African-American female creative director and vice-president in the advertising business. She accomplished that at Leo Burnett in Chicago in the early 1980s. 

But she is more deeply known as a tireless pioneer and change agent, who has worked tirelessly to level the playing field in advertising for women and African-Americans, both in the industry and in our creative outputs.

She assumed agency ownership in 1986. Carol H. Williams Advertising continues to be a beacon of great work, great people and great purpose in our industry. What an honor to have her share her path to ownership with us today.

Learn more about her agency, its purpose and its people at carolhwilliams.com. Be sure to connect with Mrs. Williams on LinkedIn, too.  

If you’re enjoying Own It, please subscribe, then rate and share it on your podcast service of choice. Also, if you’re a female or non-binary agency owner, or you want to own an agency someday, join our growing community 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

Today, we’re talking to Marissa Shapiro from Martha. Her firm claims to develop brands from the inside out and does amazing branding work for its clients. We talk about her path to ownership, which included work on both the agency and brand side of the business. 

She started as a writer and has most recently been writing a fiction novel. So exciting!

Marissa has some great thoughts about continuing our work to close the advertising agency ownership gender gap and supporting one another along the way. And get out your notebooks … she shares some great resources for you as well.

Communities & Resources

Books

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT with Marissa Shapiro from Martha. You can find links to the resources she shared, Marissa's LinkedIn profile and Martha's website 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

Today, we’re talking to Amanda Russell of Cream Studio. Her firm is based in Richmond, Virginia, and is a fantastic creative shop with specialties in 2D and 3D animation, illustration and design. They make magic come alive on screen for clients.

It’s not a surprising leap, then, to know that Amanda enjoys gaming. She plays Fortnite with her two children and husband. We actually connect that activity with some creative wisdom in our conversation.

While we talk about the gender gap in advertising agency ownership here on own it, Amanda has a double whammy. She is a female owner in the animation studio space. My guess is the gender gap may be more pronounced there.

Her ideas about how to handle that rare air and solve the gender gap are certainly valuable to consider. I so enjoyed talking with Amanda. You will enjoy listening.

The two books Amanda referenced in the conversation were:

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT. You can find links to Amanda Russell's LinkedIn profile and Cream Studio's website 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

Today we’re talking to the dynamic duo of Salma Gottfried and Flor Leibeschoff of Beautiful Beast. Their agency started as a Hispanic-focused multicultural agency, but quickly grew into a dynamic cross-cultural firm. Salma was born and raised in Mexico City. Flor navigated a meteoric rise through the biggest agencies in Argentina.

They came together in Dallas, Texas and co-created Beautiful Beast just last year. In fact, their one-year anniversary is coming up next month. 

Our conversation was so rich because these two women are literally in the early stages of building an agency. Being bold was their theme for last year and bold they were. 

Because their entrepreneurship and path to ownership is new, they have some very smart and pointed perspectives on the gender gap in agency ownership. This will be one of those episodes I refer back to often. I’m sure you will too.

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT with Salma Gottfried and Flor Leibeschoff of Beautiful Beast. You can find links to their LinkedIn profiles and Beautiful Beast’s website 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

Today, we’re talking to Shannon LaBare of Purveyor Branding Co. She came up through the business as a graphic designer on the brand side of things. She spent time at Bolthouse Farms, then lead a creative team at Campbell’s Soup. She launched Purveyor Branding Co., to help brands create a gravitational pull to customers in 2017.

Since then, she and her agency have worked with brands across agriculture, food and beverage, consumer goods and more. Company culture is a big part of what she focuses on. Purveyor actually has a 30-hour work week. 

I love talking to creative people and I loved Shannon’s perspective on the gender gap in our industry. 

Enjoy my conversation with Shannon LaBare.

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT. You can find links to Shannon's LinkedIn profile and Purveyor Branding Co.’s website 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

I’m Christy Hiler, owner of Cornett and today, we’re talking to Sue Kramer of Connecting Dots Guru. Sue is a filmmaker and screenwriter who proudly wears the title of creative disruptor. The first part of her career was spent as a successful screenwriter. She also directed the film Gray Matters with A-list stars like Heather Graham, Tom Cavanaugh and Sissy Spacek.

She transitioned to owning an agency after taking time off to raise her daughter. But every time she switched from one hat to another, she had doubters and explained to me that doubt is a gender bias. I love her explanation of that in our conversation. 

There’s a lot to dig into here. Sue is also a Latina activist who created the “Be Dope. Vote” campaign and platform in 2020. Voting, you’ll hear, is a major pursuit in her life. 

And … she’s a dancer! I told you there was a lot to cover!

Enjoy my conversation with Sue Kramer.

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT. You can find links to Sue Kramer's LinkedIn profile and Connecting Dots Guru website 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.

Hi and welcome to the OWN IT podcast, where we celebrate the growing number of (women and non-binary) ad agency owners and talk about buying out of the boys’ club of advertising, one agency at a time. 

Today, we’re talking to Lianne Kim from Mamas & Co. She is a business coach for Mom entrepreneurs. A big part of her mission and her own business is setting priorities around family and being protective of her time away from work.

There’s so much inspiration and information that pours out when you talk to Lianne. She hosts MamaCon, a conference for moms who run businesses, in Toronto each year. She hosts a successful business podcast. But she also sits around the table with her family each night and shares her day, and checks in with theirs.

As you might imagine, Lianne is excited about exploring the issues we face in closing the gender gap in agency ownership. She talks about her business with her daughters and has some interesting ideas on how we can create more pathways to ownership for little girls and those who are coming next.

Enjoy this conversation with Lianne Kim.

Thanks for listening to this episode of OWN IT. You can find links to Lianne Kim on LinkedIn and to her firm, Mamas & Co, and her fantastic podcast, The Business of Thinking Big, 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.