From Warner Media to Chief Marketing Officer: Navigating PR, Culture, and Growth with Karina Kogan of Sundays for Dogs

In this episode, we sit down with Karina Kogan, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer of Sundays for dogs. With two decades of experience scaling iconic consumer tech and media businesses, Karina has driven growth for renowned companies like Peloton, Aura, Napster, Warner Media, and P Vault.Karina shares her approach to defining high growth at the intersection of product and marketing, and how to scale brands responsibly. We explore her best advice for a new executive's first 30 days, the power of diversity in mitigating brand blind spots, and how she views AI as a creative companion rather than a replacement. Oz Rashid also dives into Karina's specific hiring philosophies and how she builds complementary teams.Key Takeaways:00:00 Introduction and the brilliant business argument for diversity in leadership.03:39 Why Karina joined Sundays for dogs and the massive market for healthy pet food.10:33 Defining growth marketing as the intersection of user experience and business KPIs.12:47 Hiring for curiosity, ambition, and attitude over just checking resume boxes.15:06 The power of a 30-day fact-finding mission when onboarding at a new company.18:54 How pre-work and relationship building shaped Karina's successful pitch to restructure Peloton's app business.22:41 Navigating unintentional PR moments and reading into brand campaigns.28:44 Diversity around the table mitigates the risk of missing blind spots in advertising.30:52 Build teams with complementary skills rather than redundant capabilities.36:14 Using hypothetical brainstorms in interviews to see how candidates think and collaborate.39:12 AI is a companion that requires human intervention and good briefing to produce quality marketing.44:38 Advice to her 20-year-old self: be less afraid and stand up for yourself.Resources Mentioned:Karina Koganhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/karinakogan/Sundays for Dogs | LinkedInhttps://sundaysfordogs.com/Sundays for Dogs | Websitehttps://sundaysfordogs.com/Spin Magazinehttps://www.spin.com/Adweekhttps://www.adweek.com/Mini MBA in Marketinghttps://www.google.com/search?q=https://mba.marketingweek.com/Pelotonhttps://www.google.com/search?q=https://www.linkedin.com/company/peloton-interactive/Aurahttps://www.linkedin.com/company/aura/Napsterhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/napster/Warner Mediahttps://www.linkedin.com/company/warnermedia/P Vaulthttps://www.google.com/search?q=https://www.linkedin.com/company/pvault/Thank you for listening to “Hire Learning with Oz Rashid.” Don’t forget to leave us a review and subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes. Connect with our host, Oz Rashid, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozrashid.  To learn more about MSH, visit https://www.talentmsh.com.#TalentAcquisition #HiringStrategy #EnterpriseHiring #GigEconomy #AIinHR #WorkforceTrends