It's No Fluke – An Original Podcast

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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!

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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

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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!

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E104 Lindsey Gamble: What trends (and updates) really tell us

Lindsey Gamble is an influencer marketing and creator economy consultant/advisor.  With over seven years of experience helping enterprise consumer brands develop their influencer marketing programs and a deep understanding of the creator economy, he specializes in guiding brands and agencies through new and emerging trends within the creator economy. 


Previously, Lindsey was the Associate Director of Influencer Innovation at Later (formerly Mavrck), where he led influencer marketing innovation. His client roster included Tyson Foods, SharkNinja, HotelTonight, GoPro, Chobani, Weber Grills, Fanatics, Samsung, The Scott’s Company, Burt’s Bees, and more.


Lindsey also writes a weekly newsletter that explores key social media, creator economy, and influencer marketing news and trends, offering actionable insights for creators and marketers. Buffer named it one of the best marketing newsletters to subscribe to in 2024.

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E103 Ziad Ahmed: Gen Z's Seat at the Table

Ziad Ahmed is a 25-year-old social entrepreneur, speaker, and strategist – who is the Head of Next Gen @ UTA Marketing. As a teenager, in 2016, Ziad founded JUV Consulting, a Gen Z company connecting clients with the zeitgeist. JUV then worked with over 30 Fortune 500 and launched the first-ever major industry conference with only Gen Z speakers: ZCON. Because of JUV, Ziad was named to Forbes’ #30Under30 list when he was 19 years old.

In 2024, United Talent Agency acquired JUV Consulting, forming the Next Gen practice of UTA Marketing, where Ziad is continuing to lead his team’s award-winning work at the intersection of content, community, and culture. He speaks often on the power of his generation, and he seeks to use his voice to push the envelope forward wherever/however possible. He has spoken everywhere from Cannes Lions to the White House to VidCon to Advertising Week – and has been featured everywhere from CNN to Vice to the Guardian.



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E102 Kevin Blazaitis: What we unlock by listening to creators

Kevin Blazaitis is the President of Creo at Omnicom Media Group and an executive client development leader with 15+ years of experience across emerging media, digital advertising, promotions and technology-centric organizations. He's a big fan of finding and building solutions that haven't been done before and an even bigger fan of Detroit Sports and Everton.

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E101 Shira Lazar: Breaking through impostor syndrome

Emmy-nominated digital culture trailblazer, Shira Lazar, captivated audiences in 2011 with her innovative web-first news brand, 'What's Trending'. 

For over two decades, Shira has been a leading voice in the creator economy and social media trends speaking at prestigious conferences like SXSW, VeeCon, CES and C2. She was named one of Fast Company's Most Influential Women in Technology and honored on Variety's Women of Impact list.

In 2020, Shira co-founded Peace Inside Live, a wellness agency and collective, dedicated to crafting bespoke programs for forward-thinking companies and teams. This work also led to to launch Creators 4 Mental Health, an initiative focused on bringing mental health tools to the creator economy through events and community programming. 



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E100 Lia Haberman: YouTube, Netflix & How To Crack The Creator Code

Lia Haberman is one of the most trusted and prominent voices in the creator economy. 


Her career spans roles in entertainment, fitness and tech at brands including E!, Yahoo and Livestrong. She was CMO at Fit Body App, has provided social media and creator insights for clients such as Google, AT&T and Robert Half and has led live creator community sessions for Macy’s Style Crew, Riot Games Game Changers and Colin & Samir’s Creator Startup. 


She is currently an instructor on influencer marketing and social media at UCLA Extension and writes a weekly marketing newsletter called ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) that goes out to over 30K creators and marketers.

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E99 Jerry Won: The simple reason to never fear public speaking

Jerry Won is a renowned keynote speaker and creative entrepreneur who speaks on Storytelling, Personal Branding, and Asian American Leadership. He is the Founder & CEO of Just Like Media, an innovative storytelling company home to the award winning Dear Asian Americans Podcast, whose guests include Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Asian Creator Awards, celebrating the leading creators and creator economy leaders in the Asian American community.

He is also Founder of World Class Speakers, a speaker training and coaching platform to lift up marginalized voices on stages all over the world. His speaking clients include JPMorgan, Harvard Business School, Dartmouth Tuck, Google, Pepsi, Meta, and more.


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E98 Dr. Noelle Seybert: How to prepare for the unexpected

Dr. Noelle Seybert is a higher education marketing career professional. With a career spanning more than 15 years and including three different institutions ranging from religiously affiliated private to R1 public, she enjoys the rewards and challenges that comes with the ever changing landscape of social media marketing.

In her current role at the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado's flagship institution, she is charged with managing the strategy and engagement on the main @CUBoulder social media channels. She is happiest in a spreadsheet and brainstorming new ways to communicate with various audiences. 

 

Noelle earned her doctorate in business with an emphasis in quantitative marketing from George Fox University.


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E97 Jamie Gutfreund: What creators are really telling brands

Jamie Gutfreund is a globally recognized leader and marketing professional with a proven track record of helping brands anticipate cultural and technological shifts and act on them—not just talk about them. Jamie has held CMO and senior roles at Hasbro, Creative Artists Agency, Microsoft, Expedia, and WPP. 

Today, Jamie is the founder of ⁠Creator Vision⁠, a consultancy that helps brands maximize their investments in the creator economy.

As Chief Growth Officer at Whalar, Jamie played a pivotal role in elevating the agency to industry prominence, earning recognition as AdWeek’s Creator Agency of the Year, one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and a leading creator agency on AdAge’s A-List. Jamie has been named one of Forbes’ Most Entrepreneurial CMOs, Campaign’s 40 over 40, and one of Elle Magazine’s “Women to Watch.” 

Jamie is a dynamic public speaker, appearing at events ranging from Cannes Lions, Google’s Think Retail, and CES . She is also a frequent contributor to Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Fast Company. 



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E96 Super League: The next generation of creators are builders

Matt Edelman is the President and Chief Commercial Officer of Super League, a leader in redefining the gaming industry as a media channel.

In his role, Matt has driven 20x revenue growth over four years, spearheaded multiple M&A transactions, overseen international expansion, and supported the company’s IPO while building an dedicated team of high-performing, talented individuals. 

Prior to Super League Matt formed and led Endeavor’s digital and social media operation and helped establish Marvel Comics' entertainment studio and launch Marvel.com.


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E95 Jasmine Enberg: The biggest trends impacting the creator economy

Jasmine Enberg is a VP and Principal Analyst at EMARKETER. She leads coverage of social media and the creator economy, focusing on the intersection of consumers, creators, advertising and commerce. She is a sought-after voice on topics from TikTok to X, and is frequently cited in major media publications from The Wall Street Journal to The New York Times. Jasmine is a regular guest on Bloomberg TV, and an on-air expert on the BBC, CBS, NBC, and more.



THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

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

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