From The Culture

This week on From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin sit down with Nick Tran, a veteran brand leader whose career has taken him through some of the biggest moments of disruption in business.After navigating company shakeups at places like TikTok and Hulu, Nick now pursues companies that need help growing through uncertainty, including in his current role as President and CMO of First Round a consortium of brands that includes Cîroc and Lobos 1707. He shares why crisis mode can create unexpected opportunity, why he never wants to lead marketing in the same industry twice, and why change can be the fastest path to growth when you know how to meet it.They also unpack personal resilience, building capacity during stressful seasons, and how to stop fearing change long enough to use it.If your company, career, or life is in transition, this one’s for you.

On this episode of From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin sit down with Felicity Fellows, a global community strategist who has built and scaled cultural ecosystems through her work with TED, TEDx, and her fandom agency Stan—to unpack the hidden dynamics shaping workplace culture.Starting with a striking reality, HR is overwhelmingly made up of women, yet remains one of the most undervalued functions in organizations—they explore how roles rooted in traditionally “feminine” qualities like care, empathy, and nurturing are often dismissed as soft or secondary.From HR to community-building, the conversation reframes these roles not as peripheral, but as foundational, asking what might shift if we treated care and connection as central to how work actually works.

On this episode of From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin sit down with Courtnee LeClaire, a transformational leader behind iconic moments at companies like Apple, to explore why she started calling herself a Chief “Becoming” Officer.From launching products like the iPod and iPhone to navigating personal upheaval, Courtnee shares a deeply honest look at success, failure, and the myth of having it all figured out. Together, they unpack the tension between helping others and doing the inner work, the importance of trusting your instincts, and what it means to grow and learn while leading.At the center of the conversation is Courtnee’s powerful reframing: we’re never “finished” we’re always becoming. And the real work isn’t perfection, it’s having the courage to keep going, even when you don’t know what you’re doing.

On this episode of From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin sit down with stylist, author, and cultural thinker Stacey London for a candid conversation about feminism, identity, and how society assigns value to women.They explore some of the reasons why patriarchal work cultures are bad for business and what it could look like to design a working world that utilizes traditionally feminine traits for business strategy and community culture. They unpack some of the ways women are often forced to navigate competing expectations just to exist, and they discuss why there’s a growing group of “older” post-menopausal women who want to stay in the workforce despite the ageism of patriarchy. The conversation also examines the role men play in building a more equitable world—and why real progress requires moving beyond shame, guilt, and reaction.At its core, this episode is about shifting from survival to wholeness: letting go of old frameworks and learning how to show up fully, without shrinking to fit the room.

In the final episode of the series, Amanda and Marcus discuss various factors around the day to day and legacy interactions that shape us. They discuss this with Chrysi Philalithes (first Chief Digital Officer at RED) alongside the digital firsts she created with the likes of Apple, Nike and X (formerly Twitter). Amanda then interviews the podcaster, artist and photographer Dario Calmese who amongst his many achievements shot the 2020 front cover for Vanity Fair featuring Viola Davis. What starts as a candid conversation about burnout, travel fatigue, and the illusion of “having it all together” quickly evolves into a deeper reflection on the frameworks we operate within. From personal routines to organizational culture, Marcus and Amanda unpack how the “frame” we exist in and the “gravity” it creates, quietly influences our decisions, energy, and sense of self.

In this episode of From The Culture, hosts Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin are joined by Sherlen Archibald, a cultural marketing and communications expert who has built a career at the intersection of art, music, fashion and storytelling. As Co-Founder of We The Roses Agency, he has led campaigns for global brands such as Red Bull and Google Arts & Culture, while also collaborating with iconic artists such as OutKast and Ciara. Together, they explore Google’s Project Aristotle......one of the most influential workplace studies ever conducted and unpack what it reveals about psychological safety, collaboration, and the hidden forces behind high-performing teams.

In this episode of From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin are joined by Laura Beyer - Head of Brand Partnerships @TED. They discuss the deeper forces behind behaviour and how shared beliefs influence decision making, creativity, and the way organizations evolve over time. They unpack the relationship between identity, community, and the systems we operate within especially when it comes to managing boundaries. It's a reflective look at how culture isn’t just something we participate in—it’s something we actively build, challenge, and redefine.

In this episode of From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin explore how creativity, culture and identity intersect in modern storytelling. The conversation features an interview with Misan Harriman (Photographer, Social Activist and Chair at The Southbank Centre in London) who shares insights on visual storytelling, cultural perspective, and the responsibility creators carry when shaping narratives that reach global audiences. Together they discuss the power of representation, the role of culture in creative work, and how intentional storytelling can influence and change how people see the world.

In this episode of From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin explore the forces that shape organizational culture and the role identity plays in leadership. The conversation features a powerful interview with Dr. Eric Solomon (YouTube, Spotify, Google), who shares reflections on navigating corporate environments, aligning personal values with professional work, and why psychological safety is essential for meaningful culture change. Together, they discuss community, purpose, and the deeper human dynamics that influence how organizations grow and evolve.

In this episode, Marcus and Amanda reflect on an interview with Bing Chen - American entrepreneur, former YouTube executive, and co-founder of Gold House. They explore what it truly means to build a culture of abundance.From leadership and performance standards to identity, representation, and resilience, Bing shares how an abundance mindset can reshape organizations, careers, and communities. The conversation moves beyond business strategy into personal growth, faith, and redefining success in a world that often defaults to scarcity.

In this episode of From The Culture, Marcus and Amanda explore what culture really is beyond the invisible system that helps us make meaning of the world. They are joined by Lenore Skenazy — American speaker, syndicated columnist, author and leading voice behind the free-range parenting movement. The conversation moves into identity, engagement, attention, and the modern struggle to create meaning in a world where we are never bored and rarely still. If culture shapes how we interpret reality, then organisational culture shapes how we think, behave, and decide...often without realizing it.The discussion goes beyond parenting. It’s about fear, trust, cultural norms, and how shared beliefs, often unquestioned can influence the systems we build and the freedoms we allow.

Where does creativity really come from? Is it talent, discipline, inspiration… or something else entirely? In this episode, Marcus and Amanda explore the hidden conditions that allow creativity to emerge alongside Alejandro Chavetta (Brand Executive Creative Director at Adobe). From mental space and environment to boredom, constraint, and deep focus, they unpack the psychology and neuroscience behind original thinking. Creativity isn't just for creatives, it’s a cognitive process that fuels innovation, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and meaningful work. Whether you are a creator, founder, leader, or simply trying to think more clearly, this episode will challenge how you understand the magic or monotony of the creative process.

In this episode of From The Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin dig into one of the most deceptively complicated forces inside every organization: change.Change isn’t just a strategy, or a punchline, it’s emotional, messy, cultural, and deeply human. They explore trust, resistance, and the role values and shared meaning play in shaping behavior. The conversation also draws on insights from Javier Farfan, a seasoned marketing executive and current strategic advisor at J Wolf Advisors, who’s helped brands like the NFL, McDonald’s, Miller Coors, New Balance, and TIDAL navigate culture, entertainment, and technology to build impactful and lasting relevance.

In this episode, Marcus and Amanda reflect and explore big questions, real experiences, and the deeper meaning behind the work we do and why sometimes, it can't be separated from the lives we live. In this episode, Amanda interviews Tariq Hassan, one of the industry’s most recognized marketing leaders, on how legacy culture impacts modern organizations. With over two decades of global marketing, communications, and brand leadership — including leading marketing at McDonald’s USA — Hassan shares practical insights on navigating change and building brands that stay relevant.

In this episode of From The Culture, Marcus and Amanda interview Nadia Kokni a leading Business & Marketing Leader (PUMA, Hugo Boss and JD Sports). They discuss why the most important truths about work, culture, and organizations are often hiding in plain sight. They unpack how “obvious” ideas can become invisible, why teams overlook the fundamentals that actually drive performance, and how shared assumptions quietly shape the way organizations think and behave.Ultimately, this is a conversation about learning to see again — and how noticing what we usually ignore can unlock healthier cultures, better work, and more meaningful collective outcomes.

In episode two of 'From The Culture', Marcus and Amanda reflecting on their conversation with former IBM CMO Jon Iwata. Drawing on Iwata’s experience interviewing more than 100 founders and entrepreneurs—and his work as a lecturer at Yale School of Management—they explore how business culture is shaped. The discussion digs into the role of values, examining how a company’s culture often initially mirrors its founder, particularly in the context of legacy brands however, over time and through natural business leadership values can and in some cases need to change.

Marcus and Amanda begin their deep dive into the divergent forms of culture and its continual powerful influence by exploring the organizational culture of work. They open season one by delving into the manner by which organizations come together and collaborate which can often take on a mesmeric force amongst the people that buy into it, yet it can often be difficult to discern or define.

From The Culture is a podcast that explores the inner workings of organizational culture, the x-factor that enables companies to thrive, teams to win, and brands to succeed. If culture eats strategy for breakfast then this is the most important conversation in business that you aren't having.