What happens when the person running growth at nine-figure brands decides the entire growth marketing industry is broken?Cherene Aubert knows a thing or two about it. She spent nearly two decades in growth, scaled Bobbie from zero to nine figures in two years, and then ran the full digital business at ILIA Beauty — DTC, Amazon, global advertising, data, and customer experience. She walked away from what she calls her dream job to start Growth Capital, a brand-led growth agency staffed with senior operators, because she watched brands hand million-dollar-a-day budgets to people in their first or second job and then ask why the business wasn't growing.In this episode, our host Robyn Nissim sits down with Cherene as she shares why social commerce is the flywheel that separates the brands still scaling from the ones stalling out, the step-by-step TikTok Shop playbook from P&L to creator community, and how she learned to quantify brand during a national infant formula crisis by tracking share of voice instead of sales.Presented by Social Snowball.KEEP IN TOUCH 👋📲 Follow Cherene Aubert on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chereneetemadi/ )📲 Follow Cherene Aubert on X (https://x.com/chereneaubert )📲 Follow Robyn Nissim (https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/ )📲 Follow Word of Mouth (https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/ )☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball (https://www.socialsnowball.io/ )💌 Join our community (https://wom.beehiiv.com/ )CHAPTERS00:00 - The problem nobody in growth marketing will admit01:04 - Meet Cherene: Bobbie, ILIA, and two decades in growth02:24 - Why growth marketing has no apprenticeship05:13 - How the pandemic finally made organic matter08:09 - What a performance marketer learns inside a brand-first company09:30 - The one thing every fast-growing brand has in common11:35 - Quantifying brand during the infant formula crisis13:21 - Shutting down the business to protect subscribers14:40 - Share of voice, the White House, and the Ashley Graham campaign16:37 - The brand love finance teams refuse to count18:45 - How TikTok collapsed the beauty funnel19:53 - TikTok Shop as a content and awareness engine22:14 - Step one: where your brand actually fits on TikTok Shop23:43 - The Javy coffee story and the omnichannel proof26:54 - Why Super Bowl ads are usually a bad investment27:30 - Unexpected white space and the TikTok-to-Amazon halo29:36 - Building the P&L before you build the program32:27 - Recruiting creators and running them like a sales force34:43 - Why social and influencer should be their own function35:41 - The Sephora field sales lesson behind every affiliate program36:14 - Scaling a community from 17M to 24M with education38:27 - What's really stopping brands from doing this39:08 - The only two growth hacks left40:31 - The new pipeline to CMO42:21 - If your ad isn't made for that screen, it fails43:19 - The Ulta program that hit $1M in six months44:34 - Retail media versus paying influencers to go in store47:55 - Organic as the testing ground for paid48:56 - The burnout that put her in bed49:44 - You are in control of your rest52:48 - Her father's rule: work fits the container you give it53:39 - Nine months in: delegation and resourcing the opportunity55:00 - Building an agency of senior operators57:22 - Fixing the broken apprenticeship in growth58:09 - Her word of mouth: respected, loved, appreciated59:18 - Kindness is the biggest cheat code

What happens when every VC says no—and you build a $35M company anyway?Noah Tucker knows a thing or two about it. At 26 years old, he sold Social Snowball—the creator-affiliate platform used by thousands of ecommerce brands—to publicly traded Dotdigital in a deal valued at $35 million. A nontechnical founder who started by hiring engineers on Fiverr, Noah went on to build Safe Links, solve one of affiliate marketing’s biggest attribution problems, and help creators earn more than $25 million through the platform in a single year.In this episode, our host Robyn Nissim sits down with Noah as he shares why being rejected by every VC turned out to be a blessing, what selling a company really looks like behind the scenes, and why real customers matter more than expert opinions. They also unpack the number one mistake brands make with creators, the future of performance-based affiliate marketing, and how founders can keep moving even when they feel completely defeated.Presented by Social Snowball.KEEP IN TOUCH 👋📲 Follow Noah Tucker on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-tucker-%E2%98%83%EF%B8%8F-71a294154/) 📲 Follow Noah Tucker on X (https://x.com/noatuck) 📲 Follow Robyn Nissim (https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/) or (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rnissim) 📲 Follow Word of Mouth (https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/)☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball (https://www.socialsnowball.io/?utm_source=wom) 💌 Join our community (https://wom.beehiiv.com/)CHAPTERS00:00 - Introduction: Trust Your Gut and Keep Jumping00:57 - Meet Noah Tucker: Founder of Social Snowball03:19 - How Safe Links Solved the Honey Coupon Problem09:40 - The #1 Affiliate Marketing Mistake Brands Make12:19 - How to Build a Gamified Affiliate Program16:08 - Turning Creator Partnerships Into a Performance Channel18:00 - $25M Paid to Creators & $250M Generated for Brands19:33 - The 30 VC Rejections That Changed Everything24:30 - Why Not Knowing What He Was Doing Became an Advantage25:27 - The Early Hiring Mistake He’s Still Paying For27:29 - Selling Social Snowball at 26: “Maximum Hard Mode”31:56 - The 200-Page Agreement & 72-Hour Closing Sprint35:36 - The Moment the Deal Finally Closed38:34 - Why Dotdigital Chose Social Snowball40:46 - Life After the Exit & Becoming Chief Influencer Officer42:49 - Building the Future of Creator-Affiliate Matchmaking49:16 - Advice for the 19-Year-Old Founder Everyone Doubts52:34 - How to Keep Going While Feeling Defeated54:56 - Word of Mouth: The Legacy Noah Wants to Leave

Is it possible to scale a brand to $40M without burning out?

Hannah Perez knows a thing or two about it. At 28 years old, she is the co-founder of SEEQ, the clear protein brand that is rapidly taking over shelves at Target, Sam’s Club, and Vitamin Shoppe. With a lean team and a massive vision, she’s redefining what it means to build a category-leading brand without sacrificing her well-being.

In this episode, Hannah shares her framework for the “energy audit,” why she believes the secret to hustle culture is actually taking breaks, and how founders can navigate the delicate transition from working in their business to working on it.

Our host Robyn Nissim.

Presented by Social Snowball.

KEEP IN TOUCH

📲 Follow Hannah Perez:

https://www.instagram.com/hanxperez/

📲 Follow Robyn Nissim:

https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/

📲 Follow Word of Mouth:

https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/

☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball:

https://www.socialsnowball.io/?utm_source=wom

💌 Join our community:

https://wom.beehiiv.com/

CHAPTERS

00:00 — Introduction: The Secret to Scaling Without Burning Out

01:03 — Meet Hannah Perez: Co-Founder of SEEQ

03:28 — The “Energy Audit” Framework Explained

09:30 — Scheduling Your Life Around High and Low Energy Blocks

13:03 — Building a Business That Fits Your Lifestyle

14:59 — Operating in Your Zone of Genius vs. Zone of Excellence

18:35 — The Door-to-Door Sales Internship That Built Hannah’s Resilience

23:31 — Is Success a Mindset You’re Born With?

26:57 — Recognizing the Signs of Burnout

31:49 — Reframing “Busy” and Protecting Your Nervous System

36:34 — SEEQ’s Explosive Growth and Preparing for $40M

42:12 — Hiring a VP of Marketing and Letting Go as a Founder

47:49 — When Viral Content Doesn’t Drive Sales

49:37 — Navigating the Co-Founder Relationship and Psychological Safety

56:20 — Advice to the 25-Year-Old Founder Grinding 90 Hours a Week

59:51 — Word of Mouth: What Hannah Wants Her Legacy to Be

What separates good marketers from the ones who build iconic brands?

Daniel James knows a thing or two. He has turned fashion and apparel brands into nine-figure ecommerce giants.

In this episode, we’re unpacking the principles behind breakout growth, why creative has become the ultimate growth lever, and how AI is changing the way the best teams operate.

Hosted by Robyn Nissim.

Presented by Social Snowball.

KEEP IN TOUCH

📲 Follow Daniel James

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieljamesgraham/

📲 Follow Robyn Nissim:

https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/

📲 Follow Word of Mouth:

https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/

☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball:

https://www.socialsnowball.io/?utm_source=wom

💌 Join our community:

https://wom.beehiiv.com/

CHAPTERS

00:00 — Preview

01:21 — Meeting Steven Bartlett and Learning the Power of Obsession

05:22 — Why Focus Beats Doing Everything

07:38 — Building a Fashion-First Growth Agency

10:50 — The Biggest Mistakes Fashion Brands Make

14:25 — Why Creative Is the New Targeting

16:04 — Paid Partnership Ads and the Future of Meta

21:00 — How to Test Creative That Actually Performs

23:08 — Why Paid Marketers Should Pay Attention to Organic Social

26:32 — When Brands Should Start Investing in Brand Marketing

32:09 — How Great Creative Briefs Are Built

33:48 — Using AI to Run a Smarter Business

35:26 — AI, Forecasting, and Inventory Planning

37:59 — Getting an Entire Team to Embrace AI

42:33 — Why Performance Marketing Is So Unforgiving

45:30 — The Emotional Reality of Agency Life

49:03 — What Entrepreneurship Really Demands

52:56 — What Daniel Wants to Be Remembered For

AI is making it easier than ever to create. The challenge is making something worth paying attention to.

Nate Schlimme is the CMO of MOSS, the functional beverage brand co-founded by Michael B. Jordan. With a lean team and a growing brand, he's using AI to move faster, create more, and rethink how modern marketing gets done.

In this episode, Nate shares his framework for authentic intelligence, why taste may be the ultimate competitive advantage, and how marketers and creators can use AI to amplify their creativity—not replace it.

Hosted by Robyn Nissim.

Presented by Social Snowball.

KEEP IN TOUCH 👋

📲 Follow Nate (https://www.linkedin.com/in/schlimmenate/)

📲 Follow Robyn (https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/)

📲 Follow Word of Mouth (https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/)

☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball (https://www.socialsnowball.io/?utm_source=wom)

💌 Join our community (https://wom.beehiiv.com/)

CHAPTERS

0:00 — Preview

1:10 — Meet Nate Schlimme

3:17 — AI as a competitive advantage

4:19 — Nate’s AI tech stack

6:17 — Using AI without outsourcing your brain

8:02 — Are marketers cooked?

9:16 — Getting started with AI

12:14 — Building a campaign workflow with AI

13:02 — Projects vs. chats

14:01 — Prompting AI to prompt you

15:35 — Where human judgment still matters

16:43 — What differentiates the output?

17:31 — Authentic Intelligence

18:55 — Taste as a competitive edge

21:19 — Can junior marketers use this framework?

24:03 — The Age of Authorship

26:17 — Building a personal brand with AI

27:34 — Climbing Cringe Mountain

32:00 — Turning product shots into hundreds of assets

34:29 — AI-generated lifestyle imagery

37:18 — Empowering teams with AI

38:31 — Why companies still need designers

40:31 — AI agents and the future of work

43:02 — The real cost of using AI

45:36 — Taking a day off from AI

46:03 — Why touching grass still matters

49:20 — What AI still gets wrong

50:05 — Why you need to triple-check the work

52:28 — Finding better creative references

53:05 — AI, copyright, and business safety

58:11 — Using AI to understand customer feedback

58:32 — Nate’s word-of-mouth message

59:19 — Where to find Nate

Everyone wants influencer marketing to work.

But nobody tells you what to do when your CEO wants ROI in 30 days, creators stop responding, and you're running three jobs at once.

In this solo episode, our host, Robyn Nissim, answers the questions she gets most often from influencer marketing managers. You'll learn how to measure influencer success, manage burnout, navigate AI, improve creator outreach, and build programs that actually drive business results.

Presented by Social Snowball.

KEEP IN TOUCH 👋

📲 Follow Robyn (https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/)

📲 Follow Word of Mouth (https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/)

☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball (https://www.socialsnowball.io/?utm_source=wom)

💌 Join our community (https://wom.beehiiv.com/)

CHAPTERS

0:00 — Preview

1:36 — Proving influencer ROI in 30 days

3:46 — Getting your founder off your content calendar

5:01 — Should marketers be worried about AI?

6:23 — Surviving as a team of one

8:05 — Working with creators on a small budget

9:26 — The metrics leadership actually cares about

10:48 — Why creators keep ghosting you

13:02 — Starting on TikTok

14:22 — Knowing when it's time to leave your job

15:16 — The biggest mistake brands are making right now

Consumers don’t just buy products. They buy rituals, identities, and stories.

Wildling Beauty helped bring Gua Sha into the mainstream, but building a category-defining brand turned out to be the easy part.

Gianna De La Torre is the co-founder of Wildling, the wellness brand that transformed an ancient skincare practice into a multimillion-dollar business. In this episode, Gianna shares what happened after Wildling exploded in popularity, the challenges of scaling a bootstrapped brand, and the tools that have helped her navigate entrepreneurship, parenthood, and burnout.

Hosted by Robyn Nissim.

Presented by Social Snowball.

---

KEEP IN TOUCH 👋

📲 Follow Gianna De La Torre (https://www.instagram.com/gianna.delatorre/)

📲 Follow Robyn Nissim (https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/)

📲 Follow Word of Mouth (https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/)

☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball (https://www.socialsnowball.io/?utm_source=wom)

💌 Join our community (https://wom.beehiiv.com/)

---

CHAPTERS

0:00 — Preview

1:21 — The chance encounter that sparked this conversation

3:44 — Becoming known as “the gua sha girl”

8:03 — From acupuncturist to Wildling co-founder

10:02 — Educating consumers before gua sha was mainstream

12:04 — The pandemic growth boom

14:05 — Scaling a business faster than infrastructure can keep up

17:19 — Why Wildling had to reinvent itself beyond gua sha

20:16 — Influencer marketing and creator partnerships that actually work

24:59 — Evolving from a beauty brand into a wellness brand

27:08 — Neuroplasticity and learning as a founder

28:12 — Psychedelics, grief, and personal healing

33:14 — Rewiring thought patterns and building resilience

35:33 — Applying healing practices to entrepreneurship

37:03 — Burnout, motherhood, and finding recovery in micro-moments

40:50 — Signs of a dysregulated nervous system

42:43 — Meditation, yoga nidra, and modern stress

44:17 — Navigating cultural appropriation conversations as a founder

47:54 — Community, growth, and lessons learned along the way

Consumers trust people, not brands.

So why are most companies still hiding behind a logo?

Lia Haberman is the brains behind employee advocacy strategy for organizations like Google and Robert Half. In this episode, she breaks down why most advocacy programs fail, what employees actually need to get engaged, and how the smartest brands are turning employees into creators, thought leaders, and growth engines.

---

KEEP IN TOUCH 👋

📲 Follow Lia (https://www.instagram.com/liahaberman/)

📲 Follow Robyn (https://www.instagram.com/igobyrobyn/)

📲 Follow Word of Mouth (https://www.instagram.com/wordofmouth.pod/)

☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball (https://www.socialsnowball.io/?utm_source=wom)

💌 Join our community (https://wom.beehiiv.com/)

---

CHAPTERS

0:00 — Preview

1:06 — How Robyn and Lia met through LinkedIn

3:12 — Why consumers trust people more than brands

4:08 — Why most employee advocacy programs fail

5:51 — Building a culture employees actually want to share

6:54 — The training gap holding companies back

9:09 — The three models of employee advocacy

10:22 — From Chick-fil-A to Staples: employee creators done right

13:21 — Building internal influencers and a North Star employee

15:58 — The first three steps to launching an advocacy program

18:34 — The biggest mistake companies make in the first 90 days

21:00 — Legal, compliance, and content ownership

22:08 — Why approvals kill great employee content

23:21 — Product launches, prompts, and content frameworks

28:29 — Why B2C brands are sleeping on LinkedIn

29:20 — How Lia landed a partnership with The RealReal

32:14 — Building a personal brand while working a 9-to-5

34:11 — Corporate creators, exclusivity, and conflicts of interest

39:20 — The dark side of visibility and online influence

43:25 — The real cost of building a personal brand

47:16 — Why bringing your whole self to work matters

50:21 — Difficult conversations and social media expectations

52:54 — What happens when employee advocates leave?

55:19 — Word of Mouth: Nice, Smart, and Get Sh*t Done

What happens when brands stop treating creators like ad inventory — and start treating them like storytellers?

In this episode, Robyn sits down with Zack Honarvar to unpack why the future of marketing belongs to creators who know how to build culture, not just drive clicks.

Zack breaks down the massive shift happening inside YouTube brand partnerships, why most companies are still structuring creator deals completely wrong, and how the best creator campaigns today look a lot more like Hollywood productions than influencer ads.

They get into:

• Why most brands kill creator partnerships before they even start
• The problem with measuring ROI on a 24-hour timeline
• Why creators need long-term partnerships — not one-off sponsorships
• How YouTube creators are becoming modern-day studios
• The real reason social, influencer, and performance teams struggle internally
• Why “making the brand cool” is actually a valuable KPI
• How a Pizza Hut creator campaign turned into a Super Bowl commercial
• What YouTube’s new DBS (Dynamic Brand Segments) ad product could mean for the creator economy
• Why creativity is the greatest unfair advantage in modern marketing

If you work in influencer, creator partnerships, media, social, or performance marketing — this episode is a masterclass on where the industry is headed next.

---

KEEP IN TOUCH 👋

📲 ⁠Follow Zack

📲 ⁠Follow Robyn⁠

📲 ⁠⁠Follow Word of Mouth⁠

☃️ ⁠Learn more about Social Snowball

💌 ⁠Join our community⁠

Sophie Jaffe has been an influencer since before the word existed. She built Philosophie, a superfood brand, in her kitchen 15 years ago, ran it for over a decade, and made the call to shut it down on her own terms. She's done 8 brand deals a week to buy a house. She's hit the wall. She's come back.

In this episode, she pulls back the curtain on what creators actually say about brands in the group chat: how comp should really work, why one creator can't carry the whole revenue line, and what brands keep getting wrong about cold outreach, attribution, and sales transparency.

She also gets honest about the personal side. The hustle that bought her family's home, the panic attacks that followed, losing her mom, closing Philosophie, and what it looks like to come back from full burnout without losing yourself in the process.

For founders, marketers, and creators trying to figure out the human side of this work.

KEEP IN TOUCH:

📲 Follow Sophie

📲 Follow Robyn

📲 ⁠Follow Word of Mouth

☃️ Learn more about Social Snowball

💌 Join our community