Why I Social

In this episode of the Why I Social podcast, host Chris Barrows sits down with Matthew Makak, a licensed mental health counselor.

Makak originally began his career with the desire to be an actor before making a shift in his career to become a mental health professional. Today, he operates his own solo private practice. He also spent more than five years as a content creator on YouTube, where he ran a YouTube channel with more than 1,000+ subscribers.

The conversation includes:

• How his experience as an actor plays a role in his success as a mental health professional
• His background in content creation and personal experiences with the positives and negatives of social

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Mental Health and Social Media

And as always, discover why he socials!

• Psychology Today

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

In this episode of the Why I Social podcast, host Chris Barrows sits down with Steven Puri, CEO and Founder of The Sukha Company.

Steven's career bridges engineering and storytelling. Drawing on his computer engineering background and creative communication skills, he moved into the film industry through digital visual effects, contributing to films like Independence Day, before taking on studio executive roles at Sony, DreamWorks, and Fox. Today, he leads The Sukha Company, building a tool that helps people reduce distraction and do their most focused, productive work.

The conversation includes:

• How Steven combined technical skill and creative communication to go from digital visual effects to studio executive.
• Why great writing comes from a deep understanding of human nature rather than derivative tropes
• Why Large Language Models (LLMs) are probability engines that reflect past data, and why human creatives remain uniquely able to break patterns and innovate.
• How an offline flight and an unexpected flow state inspired a company named for the Sanskrit word for "happiness."

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Storytelling and Flow State

And as always, discover why he socials!

• LinkedIn
• TheSukha

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

In this episode of the Why I Social podcast, host Chris Barrows sits down with Nicole Rodriquez, Senior Manager (Marketing and Communications) at The American Epilepsy Society.

At the American Epilepsy Society, Nicole leads as a strategic marketing and communications leader responsible for advancing the organization's mission, elevating brand visibility, and driving stakeholder engagement through integrated, data-informed strategies. She previously served as a Communications Strategist and Marketing Manager prior to her current role.

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Non-Profit and Mission-Driven Marketing

And as always, discover why Nicole socials!

• LinkedIn
• The American Epilepsy Society

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

In this episode of the Why I Social podcast, host Chris Barrows sits down with Jenn, Vice President of Customer Advocacy at PeoplePath, to explore how an unconventional career path through entertainment, international education, and community management shaped a unique approach to customer advocacy and social media strategy.

Jenn's journey reveals how diverse professional experiences compound into sophisticated communication skills. After starting as a publicity intern at Island Def Jam managing campaigns for major artists, she transitioned through high-profile talent booking at William Morris before pivoting to teach English abroad in South Korea. That decision to prioritize global communication and cross-cultural connection ultimately redirected her toward building communities and advocacy programs that would become the foundation of her current work.

At PeoplePath, Jenn redefines customer advocacy as the intersection of marketing and customer service, grounded in recognizing that meaningful relationships and communications always start with treating others as human beings.

What You'll Learn:

• How a background in celebrity branding and entertainment PR translates to B2B customer advocacy
• The power of community-building initiatives like Twitter chats in establishing industry authority early in her career
• Crisis communications frameworks and why they matter to your social media strategy
• The human-centered philosophy behind effective customer advocacy programs

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Customer Advocacy

And as always, discover why Jenn socials!

• LinkedIn

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

In this episode of the Why I Social podcast, host Chris Barrows sits down with Blake Mischley (co-founder of Meet Your Class) to break down the creation of Meet Your Class to serve the Higher Education industry, including the launch of a new social media platform, Reach - designed with the unique aspects of the industry in mind.

Blake breaks down his transition from student community manager to education tech founder, revealing how the landscape of university recruitment has undergone a fundamental shift. Today's incoming students research institutions through social media with the same weight they give institutional websites, especially first-generation students.

In addition, the episode also covers the practical challenges campus social teams face daily and introduces Reach, a brand-new ecosystem purpose-built to solve them.

What You'll Learn:

• The impact of social media in the era of AI search engines
• How incoming students are researching Higher Education institutions
• Why social media is important for first-generation students
• The story behind the building of Reach

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Building Social Media Tools (Reach) for Higher Education

And as always, discover why Blake socials!

• LinkedIn
• Meet Your Class
• Reach

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

In this episode of the Why I Social podcast, host Chris Barrows sits down with Joshua Altman, Managing Director of beltway.media, to unpack what "social first" really means for small and medium-sized businesses. Joshua breaks down what it means to operate as a fractional Chief Communications Officer, taking the day-to-day communications burden off founders and technical teams. Also, find out why "Social-First" means treating social as a core distribution channel from the start, with content workflows designed so bigger projects automatically feed smaller pieces.

In addition, the episode also covers two frameworks Joshua uses with his clients:

• Story, Narrative, and Brand: The raw facts, the throughline that shapes how people interpret them, and every touchpoint a customer has with a company
• The Four Languages: Designing content around how audiences read, see, hear, and experience information

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: A Fresh Perspective on a Social First Approach

And as always, discover why Joshua socials!

Get To Know Joshua

• LinkedIn
• beltway.media

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

On this episode of Why I Social, Chris is joined by Derek Hales, founder and editor-in-chief of NapLab.com, who brings a background in SEO, social strategy, and content marketing, shaped early on by agency experience working with Fortune 100 clients. Derek shares the origin story of NapLab, born out of a frustrating and expensive in-store mattress shopping trip with his wife back in 2014, and how that experience pushed him to start reviewing and comparing mattresses online. He also discusses how NapLab built its reputation on highly objective, data-driven testing, including why he waited two full years before publishing his first "best of" list to make sure it was backed by clinical-level data rather than opinion.

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Building Trust

And of course, learn why Derek Socials

Derek's Links:

• LinkedIn
• NapLab

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

On this episode of Why I Social, Chris is joined by Eric Carlson, founder of Loon's Eye Digital, who has spent his career in the world of digital marketing, building digital strategies that have included SEO, conversion rate optimization, email campaign strategy, and social strategy. His recent webinar with the National Institute for Social Media covered the topic of how marketers can create tech stacks to improve their workflow, which he further discusses as part of this week's Hot Topic.

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Building a Tech Stack for Social Media Marketers

And of course, learn why Eric Socials

Eric's Links:

• LinkedIn
• Loon's Eye Digital

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] Watch Why I Social on YouTube About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

On this week's episode, Chris is joined by Dex Polizzi (Owner of Sidewalk Savers) who began his career in the agency world, specializing in public relations and digital marketing. His professional history includes working with technical industries, such as cybersecurity and tech infrastructure, as well as organizations close to the federal government. He has since started his own business locally in Verona, NJ serves residential, commercial, and municipal markets at a hyper-local level.

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Marketing Local Business through Social Media

And of course, learn Dex Socials!

Dex's Links:

• LinkedIn
• Sidewalk Savers Website

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.

On this week's episode, Chris is joined by Eli Igra Serfaty (Co-Founder and CEO, MAIA Digital), whose career winds from military service through venture capital before landing in the world of LinkedIn strategy. Founded in 2019, MAIA Digital specializes in LinkedIn profile optimization, company page management, and immersive workshops that pull back the curtain on the platform. Fun fact: The name carries meaning too, inspired by MAIA, the Greek goddess of growth, which reflects the company's mission to set individuals and businesses up for LinkedIn success.

Hot Topic for This Week's Episode: Employee Advocacy on LinkedIn

And of course, learn why Eli socials!

Eli's Links:

• LinkedIn
• MAIA Digital

Read and Subscribe to the latest Why I Social Newsletter [LinkedIn] About our sponsor: The National Institute for Social Media (NISM) empowers marketing professionals to elevate their social media expertise through industry-recognized certification. NISM provides comprehensive training designed to build confidence, credibility, and credentials, and to foster a global community of practice and collaboration among social media professionals. Learn more about how you can advance your career at https://nismonline.org/ The Why I Social theme song was created by Benjo Beats and may not be used outside of this podcast.