E126: Why The Colab Built The Anti-Agency

Ashley Mann is a seasoned communications and PR professional with 15 years of expertise in B2B and B2C technology. Her experience spans both agency and startup environments, where she has honed her approach to strategic communications. As co-founder of The Colab, she partners directly with high-growth companies to uncover and amplify their core mission. Ashley brings a unique perspective shaped by extensive experience in consumer and technology sectors, focusing on delivering impactful, mission-driven communications strategies.

Lizzy Harris is a co-founder and Partner at The Colab, the leading anti-agency for B2B and B2C tech companies. Having worked at agencies and in-house over the last 15 years, Lizzy built The Colab with a vision of turning the traditional agency model on its head, with a hyper focus on transparency, communication, and overexceeding metrics. She is passionate about forging authentic partnerships with clients, helping them define their narrative, and driving measurable business outcomes through tailored strategies.

E125 Megan Hueter: Why pedal uphill when you can use an eBike?

Megan Hueter is the strategic leader of MikeWorldWide’s digital practice and the managing director of the social and influencer agency Everywhere, with 15+ years of experience leading digital and social media strategy for both B2B and consumer brands such as Deloitte, Nikon, FanDuel, Subaru, Whole Foods, YETI and more.

She has a wide range of industry experience that cuts across large-scale digital product designs and builds, customer experience, journey mapping, email marketing, social media, influencer marketing, paid media, content development, analytics and more.

E124: Nicole Emerick: Why every good campaign starts with trust

Nicole Emerick went from commercial banker to blogger to Fortune 100 social media director. With experience as a creator/entrepreneur, agency lead and client side social media leader, Nicole has a unique perspective on using social media to drive and sustain business growth.

Outside of work, Nicole enjoys coaching leaders on building standout personal brands.

E123 Smile Train: The one thing any business can learn from our Nonprofit of the Year

Brandon Lawson is a nonprofit communications specialist based in New York City and currently serves as the Director of Content Strategy at Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft charity. With over 20 years of experience, Brandon has dedicated his career to helping organizations craft compelling narratives, engage audiences, and achieve their financial goals. Check out his team’s multiple Shorty award winning blog and Oscar-qualified documentary film, Every Day After, streaming now on the Documentary Channel.

Nicole Bell is Smile Train’s Vice President of Public Relations, bringing over 20 years of experience in journalism, media strategy, and communications. She has led award-winning campaigns and continuously secures coverage in top media outlets like NBC Nightly News, The Associated Press, CNN, Good Morning America and Fox News. Nicole has experience as a college professor, teaching graduate-level public relations courses. Previously, Nicole spent over a decade as a TV journalist, reporting for network affiliates across the country. She holds a Master’s in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor’s in Speech Communications from East Stroudsburg University.

E122 Jenny Hoyos: Can you make anything go viral?

Jenny Hoyos has mastered the art of making anything go viral, amassing over 6M subscribers and 2B views. Through her group coaching program, she’s helped thousands of creators replicate her success too. You can learn more at ViralShortsClub.com

And what you learn very quickly is that Jenny is building for the long term and putting the same amount of detail into this business than a CFO at a Fortune 500. If you’re a brand looking to understand creators better and create better brand deals – or a creator looking to level up – then this is just the episode for you. Let’s learn something together.  

E121 Kathy Eldon: How to find inspiration in 2025

Kathy Eldon has worked as an award-winning film and television producer, best-selling author and journalist in England, Kenya and the United States.  In 1998, Kathy and her daughter, Amy, launched Creative Visions Foundation, inspired by the life of her son, Dan Eldon - Reuters photojournalist, artist, and creative activist.  Creative Visions, a United Nations non-governmental organization, has helped incubate more than 500 projects and productions on five continents.  

Kathy, a popular speaker, has been featured on countless television and radio programs globally, including several appearances on Oprah. Documentaries and films that Kathy has produced have been distributed through global outlets including, Columbia Pictures, Netflix, CNN, PBS, TBS and OWN.  Her many EP credits include Emmy-nominated "Dying to Tell the Story," "Extraordinary Moms", an Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) special, that features actor, Julia Roberts, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and CNN Chief Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and "The Journey is the Destination", a feature film about her son Dan's life.  Now available on Amazon, the award-winning film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

E120 Troy Clarke: Apologies in Advance

You may have seen your favorite creators apologizing in advance for sponsored posts during the holidays. Troy Clarke gives a great breakdown on how to fix that for the brand, the creator and the consumer.

Troy is a seasoned brand advocacy consultant at Duel, specializing in helping some of the world’s leading fashion and beauty brands harness the power of their passionate advocate communities. With three years of experience in the brand advocacy space, Troy designs and implements strategic, gamified programs that enable brands to identify, manage, and activate their most loyal advocates, driving deeper connections and exponential growth.

E119 Kyra Knox: A Career Pivot, Risks Worth Taking and Becoming Producer of The Year

Kyra Knox is an award-winning director who understands the power of storytelling. Her work has been featured in Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, NPR Morning Edition, Axios, Filmmaker Magazine, and more. Driven by a passion for storytelling, Kyra transitioned from a full-time job to pursue directing. Her directorial debut, the award-winning feature documentary "Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia," explores gun violence in her city and the community's efforts to combat it. FOX Soul and Prime Video have acquired her feature, and it has been seen by over 300,000 households (and counting) since its December 2023 debut.

Kyra's filmmaking approach fosters a deep connection between the audience and the participants of her documentaries. This stems from her belief in respecting and caring for each person's story. Her dedication has been recognized with numerous awards, including Producer of the Year at the Shorty Impact Awards, one Shorty Impact Award for Storytelling, eight Telly Awards, four Communicator Awards, a Gold Addy, and a Mosaic Award. Kyra is known for her infectious enthusiasm and commitment to creating a safe and collaborative environment on set.

E118 Scott Fisher: The next (and biggest) growth space for top creators

Scott Fisher, Founder and Chairman of Select Management Group, is an early innovator in the creator economy. Since founding Select in 2010, Scott has transformed it into a leading talent management firm, championing digital-first creators and producing award-winning content. His forward-thinking approach has pushed Select to the forefront of media, entertainment, and commerce, making it a powerful force for next-gen talent. Today, Select manages a diverse roster reaching over one billion people worldwide and supports talent through partnerships spanning endorsements, publishing, events, and consumer products.

With successful ventures like Hairitage and SACHEU Beauty and a #1 Hulu series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Select is reshaping the entertainment landscape. Beyond Select, Scott was named one of Los Angeles Business Journal’s “20 in Their 20s” and co-founded The Fisher Family Foundation with his wife, Alexis, to support youth empowerment and social justice initiatives.

E117 Doug Busk: The Role of Humor in Marketing

Doug Busk brings a builder’s perspective to marketing transformation based on a career that spans global brand product marketing, higher ed, and political organizing. Currently, he’s advising Google on their brand social media approach.

 While leading marketing at Emory, Doug multiplied the university’s share of voice via social through the first phase of the pandemic --- catapulting it from 12th to 1st among top
competitors. At Coca-Cola, he created and implemented the company’s first global approach to social. The “Hub Network” included a 20-person headquarters team serving over 2,000 brand marketers worldwide. Subsequently, Doug led Coke’s corporate brand marketing efforts. “Coca-Cola Journey” empowered communicators in over 100 countries to drive data-drive storytelling about the company on owned sites and social.

Doug previously created and built the landmark mobile organizing efforts of the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.