The Innovative Agency

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek welcomes Isabel Muñoz-Cadilla, co-founder of Sounds Fun, an agency built around creativity, curiosity, and authentic human connection. Drawing on her big-agency experience, Isabel shares why she and her team intentionally created something different and how embracing playfulness helps them stay resourceful, relevant, and ready to solve complex challenges for clients.

Isabel explains how agencies can balance business results with creative joy, build stronger relationships, and protect the human experiences that matter more than ever in the age of AI.

For agency leaders navigating constant change, this conversation is a refreshing reminder that creativity and fun aren't distractions from the work. They can be powerful drivers of innovation, connection, and growth.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why maintaining a sense of fun is more than just good culture

• The strategic thinking behind naming an agency "Sounds Fun"

• How to balance creativity and joy with the pressure of KPIs, deadlines, and demanding enterprise clients

• How agencies can use internal programs to encourage learning and fresh perspectives from every team member

• Approaches for integrating AI thoughtfully

• What brands are really looking for now in a world obsessed with technology

Bio

Isabel Muñoz-Cadilla is the co-founder and CEO of Sounds Fun and has over 16 years of marketing experience leading global campaigns, rebrands, and product launches for iconic brands, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Lenovo, Volvo, Hershey, and New Balance. Prior to co-founding Sounds Fun, Isa led client relationships at agencies including Grey, Arnold, Hill Holliday, and Virtue. She is committed to driving innovation and creative excellence while building strong cultures and lasting relationships with clients and partners alike.

Resources:

• Website: https://www.soundsfun.co/

• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isamunoz/

• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sounds-fun-creative-agency/

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast, Sharon Toerek sits down with Jon Benson, pioneer of the video sales letter and Founder of BNSN, to explore why great agency work doesn't always translate into great results.

Jon shares how disconnects between marketing and sales, weak messaging, and a lack of meaningful audience research can derail even the strongest campaigns. He explains how "mirror language" and deeper niche targeting can help agencies uncover what their ideal clients truly care about and create messaging that resonates and converts.

For agency leaders looking to sharpen their messaging, better connect marketing with sales, and turn audience insights into measurable results, this conversation offers a powerful perspective on what it takes to convert in the age of AI.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why most marketing agencies miss the mark on true audience pain points

• How digging for "mirror language" unveils what your buyers secretly want

• Where to look for genuine consumer insight

• Why the brands that dare to narrow their focus end up with raving, loyal fans

• What every agency should know about blending human insight with technology to futureproof client results

Bio

Jon Benson is a copywriter, entrepreneur, and AI pioneer whose work has quietly shaped how the world buys things online. Best known as the inventor of the Video Sales Letter, the format that became the backbone of modern digital marketing, he has spent decades writing words that move people to act—not through manipulation, but through what he calls "persuasion that feels good on both sides."

In 2010, Jon turned his attention to copywriting software, becoming one of the earliest pioneers at the intersection of AI and sales copy. That work eventually evolved into BNSN, a platform trained exclusively on high-converting marketing campaigns and built for small business owners who sell good things to good people. BNSN reflects Jon's core belief that the human element of business—community, coaching, and genuine connection—separates sustainable success from a flash in the pan.

Resources:

• Website - https://bnsn.ai/

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/itsjonbenson/

• Twitter - https://x.com/itsjonbenson

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/itsjonbenson

• YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPDvmgurd-rym4pyPjviIuw?sub_confirmation=1

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonbenson

This week on The Innovative Agency Podcast, Sharon Toerek sits down with Eric Fulwiler, co-founder and CEO of Rival, to explore what it takes for agencies to stay relevant as AI and technology reshape the traditional agency business model.

Eric shares how Rival has evolved from startup to global consultancy by embracing experimentation, building community, and investing in proprietary technology. He reveals why the agencies positioned to thrive will be those that focus not just on greater efficiency, but on greater effectiveness combining human expertise, AI, and intellectual capital to create meaningful value for clients.

From monetizing agency IP to building tech-enabled solutions and cultivating stronger industry communities, Eric offers a look at how agencies can rethink their models, differentiate their expertise, and build for what's next.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why the traditional agency business model is under pressure (and what forward-thinking leaders are doing about it)

• Blending technology, community, and IP can create a stronger and more resilient agency

• Why intentional community building among both clients and talent is more than just a networking exercise

• What it takes to turn agency "doing" into monetizable "thinking"

• Why developing technical fluency in your team is non-negotiable for staying relevant and effective

• The real constraints agency leaders must watch as they rethink their model

Bio

Eric Fulwiler is an entrepreneur who builds businesses through modern marketing, management, and innovation practices. Over the last 15 years he's been lucky enough to help build some of the biggest brands in the world, from billion-dollar start-ups to Fortune 50 enterprises, and learn from some amazing people along the way. He spent 10 years in the agency world and was a first-15 employee and MD of EMEA for VaynerMedia, founded by Gary Vaynerchuck. He was the Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer for 11:FS, a global fintech consultancy that builds digital banking and insurance propositions from scratch. As co-founder and CEO of Rival, his main job is to hire the smartest people in the industry and get out of their way!

Resources:

• Website: https://www.wearerival.com/

• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericfulwiler/

• LinedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearerival/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKBbavCLf8Jjf29i-HTPl4w

• SCRATCH by Rival Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/scratch-cmo-interviews/id1591008871

• Research: https://www.wearerival.com/aimarathon

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek welcomes Simone Mandel and Rachel Segall, co-founders of NBZ, to explore what it takes to build sustainable new business momentum.

Drawing on decades of experience across holding companies and independent agencies, Simone and Rachel share why agencies often struggle to market themselves as effectively as they market their clients, and what they can do differently.

From strengthening your agency's brand and building a community around business development to maintaining momentum during lean times, this conversation offers practical strategies for agencies at every stage of growth.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why most agencies struggle to apply their own brand-building expertise internally

• What it really takes to get everyone "singing from the same songbook"

• The hidden power of having a clear agency identity (especially in an industry with over 88,000 competing voices)

• Practical low-budget steps to maintain momentum when business is slow and resources are tight

• Why specificity is the key to standing out in a saturated market

• The ways AI and community can act as great equalizers for both small and independent agencies

Bio

We're Rachel and Simone. We spent decades building brands and driving performance at the biggest agencies in the game. The more we learned the rules of entry, the more we wanted to rewrite the playbook for success. So we transformed our experience into a growth engine that helps small to midsize businesses compete with the big guys. We're not here to fix a broken system. We're here to help you keep pace in a fiercely competitive market by giving you an ownable brand, a winning growth strategy, and an expansive network.

Resources:

• Website: https://www.nbzpartner.com/home

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nbz-partner/

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast, Sharon Toerek sits down with Park Howell, Founder of Business of Story, consultant, and former agency owner, to explore how agencies can transform their intellectual property into a competitive advantage.

Park shares how his approach to "artful intelligence" helps agencies operationalize their expertise, strengthen storytelling, improve client outcomes, and unlock new revenue opportunities.

He also discusses why agencies shouldn't let fear of AI disruption dictate their future. Instead, they can harness emerging technologies to monetize their know-how, increase their relevance, and build stronger, more resilient agencies.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why most agencies struggle to monetize their intellectual property

• The untold power of operationalizing your agency's brand story using AI (or as Park Howell calls it, "artful intelligence")

• The critical difference between pushing your capabilities and pulling prospects in with demonstrated abilities in your new business pitches

• How to develop and license campaign IP, sidestepping the common pitfalls agencies face trying to productize their methods

• The overlooked role of "StoryOps" in driving agency revenue and client loyalty in a noisy, fast-changing landscape

Bio

Park Howell is known as The World's Most Industrious Storyteller, having grown purpose-driven brands by as much as 600 percent. He is an EMMY Award-winning, 40+ year veteran of the advertising industry and now consults, teaches, coaches, and speaks internationally to help business, sales, and marketing leaders excel through the stories they tell.

He is the host of the popular weekly Business of Story podcast, which is ranked among the top 10% of downloaded podcasts in the world. Park published Brand Bewitchery in 2020 to help you use his proven Story Cycle System to craft spellbinding stories for your brand. In 2021, he co-authored The Narrative Gym for Business, a short 75-page guide on how to use the foundational narrative framework of the ABT (And, But, Therefore) to make you a more confident, compelling and persuasive communicator. Park recently launched the StoryCycle Genie™ to help business leaders craft a lucrative brand story strategy in minutes, not months, at a fraction of the cost of the old, traditional way of branding.

Resources:

• Website: https://businessofstory.com/

• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkhowell/

• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/7575384/

• StoryCycle Genie: https://www.storycyclegenie.ai/

• The Business of Story Podcast: https://businessofstory.com/podcast/

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek sits down with Jacques Spitzer of Raindrop Agency to explore how agencies can bridge the gap between creativity and measurable results. Jacques shares Raindrop's unconventional journey from humble beginnings to helping launch billion-dollar brands and the lessons learned while navigating swift growth along the way.

Jacques unpacks how to set clear client expectations, recognize patterns before challenges become problems, and communicate honestly when growth puts pressure on strategy and operations. He introduces his approach to "brandformance," bringing brand and performance marketing together to create stronger, more sustainable results.

For agency leaders looking to scale without sacrificing creativity, client trust, or business outcomes, this conversation offers valuable insight.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why "brandformance" may be the untapped pathway for agencies caught between the pull of brand-building and the pressure for immediate results

• The challenges (and unexpected rewards) of going from local service providers to national innovators without a traditional agency pedigree

• The art and science behind setting client expectations before the first strategy session, and why saying "no" can be your most powerful business safeguard

• Why pattern recognition and historical context beat rigid formulas every time when deciding which clients and projects to accept

• How to use data, direct communication, and sometimes tough love to align your agency's ideas of success with your clients'

Bio

To some, Jacques Spitzer is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside of some of the greatest performing commercials of all time. To those he works with, Jacques is a passionate leader, connector, and storyteller with an innate ability to build brands and create ideas that people love.

His Four-time Emmy® award-winning agency, Raindrop, has generated billions of views and billions in campaign sales for powerhouse brands like Dr. Squatch, Native and Grüns and disruptive brands like Good Culture, Hello Panda, Graza, Magic Spoon and more. Raindrop's creative force has been showcased by their work on three Super Bowl campaigns and their recent execution of the largest brand launch in Procter & Gamble history for Spruce.

As a champion for the next generation of disruptive companies, Jacques serves as a strategic advisor to high-growth CPG brands that Raindrop Ventures has uniquely helped launch and invested in, including Grüns, Laundry Sauce, ForAll, VitaWild, and Maeva.

Resources:

• Website: https://raindrop.agency/

• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jspitzer5/

• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raindrop-agency/

• Website: https://www.jacquesspitzer.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquesspitzer

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jacquesspitzer

• Marketing People Love Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-people-love/id1642420328

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek chats with Stephanie Tillinghast, Vice President of Business Development at Battery Agency, to explore what it really takes to drive sustainable agency growth while protecting the culture and creativity that make an agency unique.

Stephanie shares how Battery has turned business development into a true team sport using data, transparency, and open conversations about wins, losses, and lessons learned to keep the entire agency engaged.

As AI changes how quickly ideas can be developed and raises new questions around intellectual property, Stephanie shares her insights on how agencies can be more intentional about what they're willing to give away and how they communicate those boundaries with prospective clients.

From building a stronger business development culture to navigating the changing expectations of pitches and spec work, Stephanie offers practical insights agency leaders can use to grow with greater intention without losing sight of what makes their agency valuable in the first place.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why rapid agency growth often breaks your processes (and what to do about it)

• How transparency about wins, losses, and the reasons behind them can energize and rally your entire agency

• The power (and pitfalls) of sharing business development data and trends agency-wide

• How to become an indispensable partner to account teams

• Navigating the age-old question of spec work

• Why proactive, nuanced conversations about AI with clients are quickly becoming a non-negotiable for agency leaders

Bio

Stephanie Tillinghast is the VP Business Development at Battery, in their Los Angeles headquarters. With over 12 years of experience as a new business lead at advertising agencies, she thrives at the intersection of growth and creativity.

Since joining Battery in 2024 as the creative shop's first-ever head of new business, the agency has achieved double-digit growth and Stephanie's leadership earned recognition from Campaign U.S. as New Business Development Team of the Year.

Resources:

• Website: https://www.batteryagency.com/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniefranko/

This episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast welcomes Michelle Wintersteen, CEO and Founder of MKW Creative. Michelle unpacks the real costs of saying yes to too much, and why creative agencies, no matter how talented, often hit a wall when operational cracks start to show.

Talent and creativity can fuel growth, but without the right systems, boundaries, and internal structure, that growth can quickly become unsustainable. Michelle shares lessons from navigating turbulent years in the agency world including why knowing when to say "no" can be just as important as knowing when to pursue an opportunity.

Michelle offers a candid look at what it takes to build an agency that can thrive for the long haul, all without sacrificing your agency's creative edge.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why saying yes to every client request can undermine your agency's value and operational health

• How project management tools and operations leaders keep creative agencies profitable

• How boundaries with clients (and within your team) lead to better work, happier people, and accountability on both sides

• Moving from social-driven inbound clients to referral networks and deeper client relationships

• Why rethinking deliverables, like a return to print and tangible brand assets, could be your next competitive advantage

Bio

Michelle Wintersteen is the Founder and creative director of MKW Creative Co., an award-winning branding and design studio based in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. Since 2014, she's helped 250+ luxury, lifestyle, hospitality, and product-based brands go from overlooked to overbooked — building identities so recognizable they become brag-worthy. She's also the host of Kiss My Aesthetic, a podcast with 100K+ downloads dedicated to real-world branding, marketing, and creative entrepreneurship — no fluff, no gatekeeping.

Resources:

• Website: https://mkwcreative.co/

• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-wintersteen/

• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mkwcreativeco/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mkwcreative.co/

• Community Group: https://app.heartbeat.chat/kissmyaesthetic/feed

• Podcast: https://app.heartbeat.chat/kissmyaesthetic/feed

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mkwcreative.co

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast Sharon Toerek welcomes Russel Dubree, Founder of An Agency Story, to cut through the noise surrounding AI and explore what agency leaders should be focused on to build resilient, profitable businesses.

As technology reshapes the agency landscape, Russel argues that AI isn't the existential threat many fear. Instead, it's a magnifier, exposing weaknesses in positioning, operations, pricing, and value delivery while creating new opportunities for agencies that have their fundamentals right.

Russel details how agencies can better articulate the outcomes they create for clients, and why strong positioning may be an agency's greatest protection against uncertainty.

For independent agency leaders navigating relentless change, this conversation offers a grounded roadmap for turning disruption into opportunity and building an agency designed to thrive no matter what comes next.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why AI is NOT replacing the need for agency differentiation or strategic positioning

• The real opportunity for independent agencies to monetize their intellectual property and methodologies

• How the shift from activity-based to outcome-based compensation changes how agencies capture value and price services

• What agencies that successfully leverage AI are doing differently

• How meaningful metrics can become a growth engine in the age of AI disruption

Bio

Russel Dubree is a business coach guiding agency owners to build and grow their most ideal agency.

Resources:

• Website: https://anagencystory.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russeldubree/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/an-agency-story/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anagencystory
• Live Workshop: https://anagencystory.com/agency-planning-workshop/

On this episode of The Innovative Agency Podcast, Sharon Toerek chats with Amanda DeVito, Chief Marketing Officer of women owned and led Butler/Till, to explore how employee ownership, strategic specialization, and a culture of accountability have fueled the agency's remarkable growth.

Amanda shares how treating employees as true partners creates an owner's mentality that strengthens trust, encourages innovation, and empowers people at every level of the agency to contribute to its success. She also digs into the role emerging technologies like AI and agentic advertising will play in the next chapter of agency growth, and why leaders need to approach disruption with both fearlessness and rigor.

This conversation offers a powerful reminder that sustainable growth starts with giving your people ownership, embracing innovation, and building a culture equipped to adapt.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why independent agencies are facing a moment of both tremendous opportunity and deep uncertainty about the future of their business models

• The distinction between AI as a tool to improve operational efficiency and AI as a competitive differentiator in agency positioning

• What agencies that successfully leverage AI are doing differently

• Why intellectual property (IP) and proprietary methodologies offer a path to higher margins and long-term agency value in an AI-driven world

• A perspective on keeping grounded and serving clients' true needs in turbulent times

Bio

Amanda DeVito is Chief Marketing Officer at Butler/Till, responsible for driving strategic thinking, creative solutions, and innovation across the agency. As CMO, she is integral in setting the future course of the agency. Amanda has 20+years of experience assisting clients, agencies and brands generate effective results, with core competencies across Business/Disruption and strategy.

Resources:

• Website: https://butlertill.com/

• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandadevito/

• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/butler-till/