Clarity Calling

Can you take a social call?Every other week, we have a social call with our guest to get to know the person behind the title. We roll the dice to ask three questions, get to know them better, and then play a personalized game.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.0:54 - 3 things you should know about Angela2:26 - Traveling for good food8:41 - 3 Questions for Angela17:57 - Angela's Game: The Real Questions About Bravo!

Angela Brown, Head of Marketing at Halda, joined Will for a Strategy Call to discuss AI in a more measured and realistic way. What are small ways you can get started using it on campus? How do you maintain your brand and not water it down with poor prompting? Angela drops a lot of great wisdom in this episode, so take notes!Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:25 - Meet Angela Brown5:15 - Small steps you can take to let AI take on some repetitive education marketing tasks9:52 - The marketing problem with AI: if it can do "anything," where can we start doing "something?"12:11 - Angela's tips for maintaining brand voice and personality with AI17:49 - Golden idea: How to train AI on your audience21:45 - The most over- and underutilized use cases for AI in higher ed25:55 - The AI tools and use cases Angela is finding the most useful today29:43 - Angela's calling

Can you take a social call?Every other week, we have a social call with our guest to get to know the person behind the title. We roll the dice to ask three questions, get to know them better, and then play a personalized game.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.0:57 - 3 things you should know about Jennifer3:07 - The horse girl origin story4:41 - How Jennifer went from studying elementary education to enrollment marketing expert and executive7:58 - 3 Questions for Jennifer17:36 - Jennifer's Game: Give me "hay" or give me "neigh"

Are you ready for a strategy call?Jennifer Lonchar, joined Will for a Strategy Call to discuss the results of the AmbioEDU x Clarity EM survey of how high school students are consuming digital media and streaming services. The full results come out the week of 5/25/26, so this is an early preview. Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:19 - Meet Jennifer Lonchar3:35 - 2026 High School Media Consumption Survey Results: Reaching students on streaming services 6:36 - Streaming advertising is where digital advertising was 10 years ago, the opportunity is now8:40 - Tailoring ads to the platform10:26 - The majority of students are taking action after seeing an ad13:27 - Seeing brands on TV makes them more credible to students17:31 - What is working to engage students in video ads21:30 - Almost half of students are only applying to colleges they see advertised23:02 - How students are using Pinterest26:22 - Using the survey results to impact summer melt and yield35:15 - Jennifer's calling

Can you take a bonus call?Well, sometimes you know someone so well that you can't build just one game. That's what happened when I called Ange Huffman, so today you get a bonus game called Each Beach. Ange has to guess if a Google Review is about her new hometown, Huntington Beach, or Indiana Beach. Play along and have some fun!

Can you take a social call?Every other week we have a social call with our guest to get to know the person behind the title. We roll the dice to ask three questions, get to know them better, and then play a personalized game.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:03 - 3 things you should know about Ange4:54 - Ange's experience on stage7:22 - 3 Questions for Ange12:58 - Ange's Game: Cue the Cusack

Are you ready for a strategy call?Ange Huffman, Associate Director of Admissions - West Coast Regional, SoCal at Purdue, joined Will for a Strategy Call to discuss being a regional recruiter, maximizing connections in a new territory, and being an advocate recruiter.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:21 - Meet Ange Huffman2:58 - Ange's advice for getting to deeply know the area as a regional rep6:09 - Building relationships from scratch8:33 - Balancing work and life as a regional recruiter and building your community13:16 - Be a true advocate and champion for students16:21 - How being an advocate recruiter impacts the family18:06 - Balancing championing students and not giving them false hope20:07 - Advice for counselors who are struggling to keep the energy high and reducing burnout22:55 - The traits that help managers lead remote staff26:11 - What you should consider before taking a remote recruiter role30:01 - Ange's calling

Can you take a social call?Every other week we have a social call with our guest to get to know the person behind the title. We roll the dice to ask three questions, get to know them better, and then play a personalized game.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.Be sure to listen to Kevin's podcast with Brody Broshears, The Pickup Meeting!0:53 - 3 things you should know about Kevin7:21 - 3 Questions for Kevin15:10 - Showing love to classic TV and the golden days of theme songs18:39 - Kevin's Game: Which is more? Vikings vs F1 Edition

Are you ready for a strategy call?Dr. Kevin Thomas joined Will for a Strategy Call to discuss how the University of Central Arkansas integrates student success and enrollment to improve student support and access. If you enjoy this chat, and I know you will, you should absolutely listen to Kevin's podcast The Pickup Meeting with his cohost Brody Broshears.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:40 - Meet Kevin Thomas5:00 - The importance of an advocate leader8:04 - The Pickup Meeting12:22 - Learning from other departments14:28 - The benefits of incorporating enrollment and student success 21:53 - Increasing access for underserved students and UCA's success with a tuition promise28:41 - How centralizing services makes UCA stand out and change the cost narrative32:10 - Cross-functional training and collaboration35:45 - Kevin's calling

Can you take a social call?Every other week we have a social call with our guest to get to know the person behind the title. We roll the dice to ask three questions, get to know them better, and then play a personalized game.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:01 - 3 things you should know about Reggie Hill2:45 - Reggie's interest in books, history, and philosophy4:25 - 3 Questions for Reggie18:06 - Reggie's Game: Real History Book/Fake History Book

Are you ready for a strategy call?Reggie Hill, joined Will for a Strategy Call to discuss the heart and soul of regional colleges, his intentional journey through enrollment management, building a personal board of governors, and multiplying your impact.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:42 - The unique portfolio of Reggie's work at UMSL3:42 - How regional colleges need to tell their story differently6:14 - In a digital world, do students view regionality the same way?8:06 - Differentiating the student experience10:28 - Reggie's intentional journey to higher ed and St. Louis12:52 - Mentorship and building your personal board of governors17:47 - How Reggie views career development for students and how that's curated for students19:21 - Reframing the role of regional colleges as empowering the region rather than serving21:32 - Be a multiplier23:17 - How Reggie keeps up with new technologies, trends, and tactics24:14 - Reggie's calling

Can you take a social call?Every other week we have a social call with our guest to get to know the person behind the title. We roll the dice to ask three questions, get to know them better, and then play a personalized game.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:42 - 3 things you should know about RJ4:51 - What is lucid dreaming and how does RJ use it?8:14 - RJ's creative outlets and seeding creativity15:05 - Creative failures and avoiding them by starting with data20:41 - 3 Questions for RJ28:52 - RJ's philosophy: "This is life, use it!"31:46 - RJ's Game: LEGO Through the Years45:48 - An exclusive announcement from RJ

Are you ready for a strategy call?RJ Thompson, Teaching Associate Professor of Digital Narrative and Interactive Design in the Department of English at Pitt, joined Will for a Strategy Call to discuss marketing philosophies, usability, and how serving students gives him energy and makes him better at his work. Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:16 - What brought RJ to Higher Ed?5:28 - The design and usability mistakes most common in higher ed8:01 - The award-winning web design philosophy: tell a complete story on 1 page18:03 - How the student-marketing relationship has changed since the pandemic and how Pitt builds student-faculty relationships early24:38 - Keeping in touch with students and how faculty can be an asset to recruitment and retention28:24 - What gives RJ hope for the future of the profession?31:49 - RJ's calling

Can you take a social call?Every other week we have a social call with our guest to get to know the person behind the title. We roll the dice to ask three questions and then play a personalized game.Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.13:10 - 3 questions for Blake19:24 - A wolverine trivia game

Are you ready for a strategy call?Blake Mischley, CEO and Cofounder of MeetYourClass, joined Will for a Strategy Call to discuss their recent survey results. Students today are very focused on campus vibe, signals of acceptance, and personal guidance. Can you break the analysis paralysis and help them find their home?Clarity Calling is a podcast of Clarity EM.1:26 - 3 things to know about Blake2:54 - The 2026 College Admissions Playbook4:21 - How students are viewing acceptance rates8:35 - The changing value of rankings12:38 - Campus vibe is critical14:53 - Beating analysis paralysis to aid student decision-making19:46 - AI for search and balancing personal guidance25:02 - Your website vs social media for college search29:12 - What is Blake's calling?31:02 - What is MeetYourClass

We're setting the stage for a new podcast launching in March 2026. Subscribe to Clarity Calling for insights into higher ed recruitment and marketing strategies. The show will have a hybrid format of a strategy call followed by a social call, delivering the perfect balance of professional development and personal connection:The Strategy Call: Focused conversations on admissions strategy and brand building.The Social Call: A casual chat and games where we get to know the humans behind the titles.Think of it like conference sessions followed by a happy hour, but you won't be flying in the middle seat. Subscribe for biweekly insights that move the needle for your institution.Clarity Calling is a Clarity EM podcast.