It's No Fluke – An Original Podcast

fluke_cover_art

Guy Kawasaki, Yvette Nicole Brown, AJR’s Adam Met, Million Dollar Listing’s Ryan Serhant, Dr. Marcus Collins, and brands like NFL, Dove, Liquid Death, Fanatics, TED and Google all have one thing in common - It’s No Fluke they found success. How, you ask? Listen and subscribe to our podcast to find out!

It’s No Fluke is a weekly original podcast from the Shorty Awards, about the untold stories and uncharted waters in culture and creativity. We explore the big ideas, the ups and downs in creative work and life, the inner workings of storytelling, through thought-provoking and culturally relevant conversations with the most prominent and diverse voices, from creators to brands and the greatest minds of our time.

Episodes drop each Tuesday morning. Stay tuned!

Screenshot_20240228_145217_Gallery

About the Host

A Shorty Award winner and Real Time Academy member, Jeff Barrett works with major influencers and brands like Adobe, Experian, Oracle, FIS and more on communications and influencer strategy. He spent three years traveling to almost every state in the country writing about startup ecosystems for Inc and Entrepreneur. After years of talking for a living, he's ready to listen and amplify the voices of amazing people, stories and ideas. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram if you have feedback or topic/guest recommendations for the pod.

Latest Episodes

Wave_logo_RGB

It’s No Fluke is brought to you by Wave, one-stop money management for creators, freelancers, and small business owners. Wave’s easy-to-use bookkeeping tools help you cut out the (guess)work, so you can focus on breaking the Internet—not the bank. Try Wave for free today!

Listen to the episode

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.

Listen to the episode

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.

Listen to the episode

E116 Laura Macdonald: Hotwire's bold, data-driven vision for growth

Laura Macdonald is Chief Growth Officer for Hotwire, leading the organization’s global business development, marketing and innovation teams, as well as consulting with top global technology clients including Palo Alto Networks, Samsung, Sony, Siemens and eBay. Under her leadership, Hotwire’s innovation team has launched a series of technology solutions from data-driven insights to measurement dashboards, and now its generative AI optimization service to allow clients to make faster, smarter decisions, delivering more impact from communications and marketing programs. Laura has a degree in Linguistics and Computer Science from the University of Cambridge.

Listen to the episode

E115 Misha Brown: A Quick Rise, "The Big Flop" and How to Keep and Audience Consistently Engaged

Misha Brown is a true entertainment powerhouse excelling as a creator, podcast host, comedian, actor and accomplished musician. Having a knack for captivating audiences he shot to notoriety on TikTok, gaining over 1 million followers in less than a year. USA Today named him one of their “TikTok Comedians to Watch” and said his comedy is “equal parts bite and heart”.

Misha doubled down on his meteoric rise on social media and passed the one million follower count on Instagram in just over a year. Today he has over 4 million followers across platforms. Beyond social media, Misha is the host of a chart topping Wondery podcast called ’The Big Flop’, which in its first season was nominated for Best Comedy Podcast by The Podcast Academy. Misha has built an impressive and dedicated community by leveraging his influence to inspire and empower.

Listen to the episode

E114 Immigration, Midjourney and The Underdog Campaign That Defied All Odds

In immigration, people feel like children. That’s the Shorty Impact Award winning collaboration from Career Pathway Institute and Affect Group that instantly grabbed attention with bold, colorful and surprisingly budget friendly design. 

Kate Khatseyeva is an award-winning Career and Leadership Coach, nonprofit founder, and passionate advocate for professional development. As the founder of the Career Pathway Institute, Kate helps individuals create clear career paths and navigate their journeys with confidence. Her own journey led her to a position at Stanford University. With a background in human resources and coaching certifications from the International Coaching Federation, Kate brings a unique blend of expertise and empathy to her work.


Galina Shubik is co-founder of Affect Group, an award-winning digital marketing agency with 20+ yrs of experience, serving clients like PepsiCo, MasterCard, LEGO & Mercedes Benz, Effie & Shorty awards winners, keynote speakers on Performance Marketing, consultants for Unilever, PepsiCo & Efes Pilsener

Listen to the episode

E113 Turning millions of views into Action for the Climate Emergency

Allie Cohen is an experienced digital marketing expert in both the for-profit and non-profit spaces. She has supported the growth and expansion of ACE’s internal creator marketing program over the past two years as Senior Creator Marketing Manager. Prior to ACE, Allie spent five years in entertainment marketing in the music industry, working across social media, e-commerce, and brand partnerships teams to connect music artists with their fans.

Breena Cocco was brought in to scale the pilot version of the ACE Creator Collective, the in-house creator marketing program at Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE) in 2021. Over the last 3 years, she has executed an innovative and humor-first approach to producing microvideos for climate and civic engagement campaigns on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. As Director of Creator Marketing for ACE, she has overseen over 45 campaigns, with the content from these campaigns bringing in over 100 million organic views.

Listen to the episode

E112 Mikki Bennett: Creating Immaculate Vibes

Mikki Bennett moved to Los Angeles, California from Kansas with a dream of editing movie trailers. While that dream has expanded and adapted along the way, the passion for entertainment marketing burns strong. With nearly a decade of experience in the industry, Mikki’s past was primarily at AV Marketing Agencies coordinating, managing, and producing AV creative assets including trailers, promos, and featurettes.

In 2020, she joined the brand-new streamer, HBO Max, as a 360 creative. She’s now leading campaigns for HBO and Max Original series spreading from key art, digital display, AV, social media, OOH and so much more.

Listen to the episode

E111 Mike Nellis: Where We Go From Here

Mike Nellis is a dynamic force in the realm of political activism and digital marketing, renowned as the Founder of Authentic and Quiller.ai. With a remarkable track record, Mike has raised an astounding $1 billion in grassroots donations for Democratic campaigns and purpose led causes.

"White Dudes for Harris" is nominated this week for seven Impact Awards and Authentic has played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of digital marketing for political causes and global nonprofits. 

Furthermore, Mike led the groundbreaking initiative of Quiller, a cutting-edge product utilizing generative AI to craft, deploy, and assess the efficacy of online fundraising content. His entrepreneurial acumen shone through as he orchestrated a highly successful $1.25 million pre-seed round of funding.

His ability to build enduring connections is evident in his relationships with influential Democrats and campaign leaders, including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Congressman Adam Schiff, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

His profound insights have garnered recognition in prestigious publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, and Politico, underscoring his substantial influence and expertise within the industry.


Listen to the episode

E110 Jordan Howlett Shares Even More Secrets

Jordan Howlett, AKA 'Jordan The Stallion,’ is a globally recognized celebrity content creator with a staggering fan base of over 35 million across various platforms.

The Oceanside, California native is our Creator of The Year. Not just because he is the founder of The Fast Food Secrets Club or because he has created hit collaborations with Donald Glover, Kevin Hart, Method Man, Halle Berry (hallelujah) and brought them to his channel. It’s because with Jordan there are no secrets and he inspires other introverts to become creators.

His unique perspective and wisdom beyond his years create an engaging experience that consistently strengthens his community. In 2024, Jordan has been featured on the prestigious Forbes Top Creator List, the cover of San Diego Magazine, The Today Show, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, Complex, BET, CNN, and Fox, reflecting not only his creative influence and success but also the impact he’s had on his hometown and beyond.

Listen to the episode

E109 Mark Boothe: Don't let perfect get in the way of good

Mark Boothe, CMO of Domo, is passionate about driving business growth through marketing initiatives. In his previous role as VP of Community, Partner, and Field Marketing, Mark and his teams established new and strengthened existing programs to address customer pain points and create a greater sense of community. They also executed campaigns, programs and events that showcase the value of the Domo platform.

Before joining Domo, Mark spent more than 10 years working in customer relations and marketing at Adobe and worked at Instructure as its senior director of customer marketing. He received his MBA from Utah State University and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University. Outside of work, Mark enjoys spending time with his family and traveling.

THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!