Spiraling Up — Marketing For Professional Services

What happens when you take a podcast out of the studio… and put it on stage in front of a live audience?

In this special Spiraling Up keynote episode recorded live at The SMPS Southeast Regional Conference (SERC), we put two industry experts on the hot seat—no scripts, no edits, no safety net. Just real-time answers to the biggest questions facing professional services firms today. From business development and branding to AI, authenticity, and what actually drives growth, this episode dives into:

• How business development has evolved—and where it’s going
• Why authenticity is becoming the most valuable (and rare) asset
• What separates firms that grow from those that stall
• How to build trust, visibility, and real differentiation in a crowded market
• The role of consistency, adaptability, and execution in winning work

This isn’t a typical interview. It’s a fast-paced, high-stakes conversation where ideas are tested live—and the best insights rise to the top.

If you could only choose four marketing strategies to rely on for the next year, what would make the cut?

In this episode of Spiraling Up, the team is joined by Dawn Hancock, VP of Marketing at Vertex, for a practical and engaging exercise: building a “Marketing Mount Rushmore.” Each participant selects and defends the four tactics they believe deliver the greatest impact in today’s environment.

The conversation explores how firms can prioritize effectively, allocate resources with intention, and focus on strategies that generate meaningful business outcomes.

Key themes include:

• The role of conferences, gated content, and case studies in driving growth
• How to align marketing efforts with buyer needs and long-term positioning
• Why consistency and value creation matter more than volume
• How to build a cohesive marketing system rather than isolated tactics

Whether you’re refining your marketing strategy or rethinking your approach to business development, this episode offers a clear, experience-backed perspective on what works—and why.

Connect with Dawn on LinkedIn

Check out VERTEX

AI search has arrived—and it’s reshaping how buyers discover and evaluate companies.

In this episode of Spiraling Up, the team welcomes Leah from Brandi to explore the rise of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and what marketers must do to stay visible in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

Leah explains why the shift from traditional SEO to AI search changes the rules of digital marketing. Instead of simply matching keywords, AI systems evaluate intent, authority, and share of voice across an entire market conversation to determine which companies get recommended. 

The discussion also explores how AI prompts compress the traditional marketing funnel, why content strategy must evolve to answer real user questions, and how businesses can track how AI models are describing and comparing them to competitors. 

They also tackle a dangerous assumption many marketers are making today: that AI search is just another SEO tactic or a temporary trend. 

If you’re responsible for marketing, brand visibility, or demand generation, this episode will help you understand how to prepare for a world where AI assistants increasingly decide which companies get recommended.

Connect with Leah on LinkedIn
Learn more about Brandi

In this episode, the Hinge team explores whether the gap between thriving and struggling marketing leaders can really be traced back to four letters: C.A.R.E.

Leadership strategist and bestselling author Jonathan Eldridge joins us to put his CARE framework to the test in a series of high-stakes, real-world scenarios—from boardroom imposter syndrome to marketing team meltdowns and social media crises.

Along the way, we unpack:

• Why executives don’t want perfection—they want truth
• How small, everyday behaviors quietly signal (or sabotage) leadership
• What adaptability looks like when budgets get cut and teams fracture
• How to lead with enthusiasm and influence, even in uncertainty

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to be flawless, the fear of not having all the answers, or the weight of leading through chaos—this episode will challenge you to rethink what strong leadership really means.

Because in the moments that matter most, the question isn’t whether you’re perfect.

It’s whether you CARE.

Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn, and check out his website.

Rebrands are hard. And when they go wrong, they can be really wrong.

In this episode of Spiraling Up, the Hinge team takes a playful—but deeply practical—look at Crazy, Stupid Rebrands: the most common ways professional services firms sabotage their own brand transformations.

Using a game-based format inspired by classic romantic comedies, the team dissects real branding blunders—from research-free repositioning and internal power struggles to rushed launches that leave teams confused and clients unconvinced.

Listeners will learn:

• Why most rebrands fail before design even begins
• How internal alignment breaks down during brand transitions
• What separates a “clean breakup” from a branding disaster
• The strategic foundations every successful rebrand needs

This episode is equal parts entertaining and educational—and a must-listen for marketing leaders, firm partners, and executives navigating brand change.

Every year, business leaders set ambitious resolutions—delegate more, lead better, work less, grow faster. And every year, most of those goals quietly disappear.

In this episode of Spiraling Up, the team sits down with Dr. Josh Elmore, organizational scientist and executive advisor, for a live coaching conversation on why leadership resolutions fail—and how high-performing executives create change that lasts.

Rather than relying on motivation or willpower, Josh helps the hosts unpack the systems, incentives, and behaviors that shape real leadership growth. Through candid coaching, the episode explores delegation traps, visibility challenges, burnout, and how leaders can shift from being “the fixer” to building resilient teams.

This episode covers:

• Why New Year’s leadership goals break down
• How to replace willpower with systems and structure
• The hidden costs of always being the go-to problem solver
• What sustainable leadership change actually looks like
• Practical ways to design accountability into your role

If you’re entering the new year with big leadership goals—or trying to recover momentum you’ve already lost—this conversation offers a smarter, more sustainable path forward.

Connect with Dr. Josh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshelmore1/
Learn more about Court Street Consulting: https://www.courtstreetconsulting.net/

Download the executive summary of the 2026 High Growth Study: www.hingemarketing.com/hgs

What marketing decisions truly drive growth in professional services firms?

In this episode of Spiraling Up, the team explores findings from Hinge’s 2026 High Growth Study through a structured “This or That” conversation, examining the strategic choices that differentiate high-growth firms from their slower-growing peers.

Rather than relying on opinions or industry hype, Austin McNair, Joe Pope, and Mary-Blanche Kraemer use research-backed insights to unpack common marketing tradeoffs—revealing where high-growth firms focus, where they don’t, and why many popular debates miss the point entirely.

Topics include:

• How high-growth firms balance brand building and demand generation
• The role of thought leadership, SEO, and visibility in long-term growth
• Why specialization consistently outperforms broad positioning
• How data—not instinct—should guide marketing strategy

This episode is designed for professional services marketers and firm leaders looking to move beyond surface-level tactics and make smarter, more strategic decisions backed by evidence.

If you want to understand what high-growth firms actually do differently, this conversation delivers the clarity.

Was launching Spiraling Up actually worth it?

In this special year-end episode, the team looks back on 2025 and asks the honest question every firm-led podcast eventually faces: did this experiment deliver real value?

We revisit standout clips from across the year, reflect on what worked (and what didn’t), and unpack the lessons we learned about podcasting as a strategic business tool—not just a marketing channel. From audience engagement and format experiments to internal alignment and long-term ROI, this episode pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to run a successful professional services podcast.

Whether you’re considering launching a podcast, already producing one, or questioning if the effort is paying off, this episode offers a candid, behind-the-scenes look at the realities of podcasting inside a growing firm.

In this episode:

• Was the Spiraling Up podcast experiment worth the time and effort?
• What surprised us most after a full year behind the mic
• Clips and moments that shaped the direction of the show
• Lessons on consistency, formats, and audience expectations
• What we’d double down on—and what we’d do differently
• How podcasting actually supports business development and brand growth

Who this episode is for:

• Professional services marketers and leaders
• Firm owners considering a podcast
• Podcast hosts questioning ROI or momentum
• Anyone curious about podcasting beyond “downloads and likes”

If you’re looking for a realistic, experience-based perspective on podcasting—not hype—this episode is a must-watch. Past episodes referenced:

• The 2025 Professional Services Marketing Tactics Draft + Everyday AI Examples
• Intern TAKEOVER: Will Gen Z Put Marketing in Jeopardy? with Sabrina Alperin
• Google Veo 3 is here and we're DOOMED...or are we? + B2G Power Plays with Megan Battaglia
• 10 Things We Hate About Websites (And Examples of Ones We Like)
  
  
  
  

Now that AI is inundated across everything that we do at work, what are the most  important leadership skills to prioritize in your organization?

In this episode of Spiraling Up, Dr. Mikah Sellers takes on our Blind Rankings challenge — and the results reveal the true skill gaps shaping the future of business leaders.

From EQ and power skills to AI literacy and data fluency, this playful experiment uncovers the capabilities leaders must prioritize as technology accelerates faster than ever. Stay to the end for a Pivotal Story with Hinge Managing Partner, Liz Harr, adding a real-world lens to the trends redefining the professional services landscape.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Welcome
03:33 Introduction and Guest Welcome
04:17 Emotional Intelligence in Leadership
06:50 Blind Rankings Game Introduction
08:38 Data Fluency and Literacy
10:01 Inspirational Communication
12:04 Relationship Building
18:40 AI Interfacing Skills
24:30 Emotional Intelligence
31:15 Key Skills for Future Marketers
31:27 AI's Role in Seamless Customer Journeys
33:42 Adaptability and Continuous Learning
35:52 Maintaining Core Principles in Marketing
41:20 Ethical AI and Responsible Innovation
48:08 Concluding Thoughts on AI and Leadership
49:17 Introduction to the 2026 High Growth Study
51:44 Key Insights from the High Growth Study
54:20 The Impact of Hosting Events and Conferences
58:04 Final Thoughts and Podcast Sign-Off

Connect with Dr. Mikah Sellers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikah-sellers/

In today’s episode of Spiraling Up, we explore one of the boldest moves in the accounting world: the creation of Sorren, a new Top 50 accounting firm formed through the merger of 16 independent firms.

We’re joined by two of the leaders behind this remarkable merger — Tara Davis, National Marketing Director, and Heath Alloway, Growth Partner — who take us inside the real story:

• How five long-time peer firms planted the seed for a larger merger
• How the idea spread to 16 firms within the BDO Alliance
• What it takes to align cultures, systems, processes, and people
• How they brought together hundreds of employees under a new shared mission, vision, and values

From the M&A strategy to the brand rollout, from overcoming fears and rumor mills to building trust and identity, Tara and Heath share candid insights into the challenges and breakthroughs that shaped Sorren’s launch.

Whether you're navigating a merger, thinking about joining one, or simply curious about how large-scale integration actually happens, tune in for this masterclass in communication, culture, and leadership during transformation.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
00:34 Welcome
01:30 Mergers and Acquisitions
05:42 Background
14:36 M&A Brand Therapy Session
15:29 How Do We Bring 16 Firms Together? 
23:07 Rebranding Worries
26:03 Rebranded Company's History
29:32 How To Advise An Exhausted Rumor Killer
33:58 We've Been Bought Out By The Man
39:45 The Impact on a CPA'S Career Trajectory
48:04 How Will a legacy Employee's Voice be Heard? 
51:47 Pivotal Story
52:21 Welcome
52:47 All Things M&A
53:31 Current Climate For Quality
55:36 Due Dilligence Before Brand Integration
57:27 Success Stories and Nightmares

Visit Sorren's website: https://sorren.com/
Connect with Heath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heath-alloway/
Connect with Tara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taradavis-sorren/