It's No Fluke

Emilia Costa has spent nearly 20 years in media and advertising, watching the digital landscape transform from the earliest days of podcast sponsorships to the rise of AI-enabled platforms. She currently serves as Senior Manager of Member Engagement & Development at IAB, where she works with some of the biggest companies shaping the future of digital media and advertising including TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, Beast Industries and OpenAI. An optimist at heart with a love for trend spotting, she serves as IAB’s category lead for the Creator Economy and AI member companies, alongside influential publishers, and broadcasters, and has led strategic sponsorships and thought leadership at events like the NewFronts and IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting (ALM).Before IAB, Emilia spent six years at Vevo leading national integrated marketing and branded entertainment strategy, building campaigns for top advertisers like Apple, Disney, and State Farm with Shawn Mendes, Demi Lovato, and Billie Eilish. Earlier in her career, she was the first dedicated Online Marketing Manager at SPIN, the iconic music publication, and got her start at NPR working on sponsorships in the early days of podcasting.

Camille Dagorn, VP of Creator Partnerships, McCann New York, is an award-winning creator and influencer marketing expert with more than a decade of experience building high-impact campaigns for global brands including L’Oréal, Unilever, Pernod Ricard, GoPro, and Mastercard. She is known for scaling social-first programs, designing creator-led brand initiatives, and driving measurable growth across beauty, lifestyle, tech, and consumer verticals. Camille is passionate about creating meaningful, unforgettable moments for creators and audiences.

Margarita Neymark is a brand executive and community builder who operates at the intersection of strategy and human behavior, connecting physical media to the evolving landscape of technology to create experiences that resonate, while benefiting local communities. Having spent the majority of her life building communities from the ground up, Margarita is passionate about reframing soft skills and principles like inclusion, belonging, care, clarity, and compassion as the most essential skills in business. Her current work focuses on bringing more humanity into how we lead, collaborate, and show up for each other.She is presently the Senior Director of Partnerships at Firefly (a mobility media company that supplements the incomes of rideshare and delivery drivers with digital ad displays and car wraps), The San Diego Chapter Lead of Our Third Place (an in-person and online ecosystem designed for women in media, finance, and tech to network in an approachable, accessible community of like-minded peers), and a TED Community Ambassador.

Spy Ninjas Entertainment is a creator-led media company based in Las Vegas, and is home to Spy Ninjas, the longest-running serialized narrative show on YouTube, which has 47M+ subscribers and 18B lifetime views since its launch in 2018. Founded by creators and entrepreneurs Chad Wild Clay and Vy Qwaint, the company recently announced it is investing $25M into its content pipeline and production capabilities, and aims to hire 50 new employees this year. Shelly Soriano is President of Spy Ninjas Studios, part of the creator-led media company, Spy Ninjas Entertainment, which reaches tens of millions of fans, anchored by its eponymous flagship original family entertainment franchise. Spy Ninjas is the longest-running, serialized narrative show on YouTube. With a career rooted in building and scaling digitally native companies, Soriano has transformed emerging brands into breakout businesses through new platforms and content formats, strategic acquisitions, and high-impact partnerships. As COO for Jubilee Media, she helped drive accelerated company growth through collaborations with top brands such as Amazon, Google, Netflix, Spotify, and McDonalds, and original premium content, including the launch of the viral internet series Surrounded.

Travis W. Keyes makes images and films that live in the spaces most people miss. Cinematic, story-driven work that celebrates connection, character, and the beauty of being seen.From film sets to nightclubs, studios to streets, Travis has always chased moments with energy, intention, and story at their core. Based in New York City, he is a cinematic portrait photographer, filmmaker, and content creator whose work now lives under one roof: Travis W Keyes Creative, a creative house spanning photography, film and motion, live events, content creation, and brand partnerships. A proud alumnus of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (BFA, Photography), Travis's path began in film and television production before weaving through entrepreneurial ventures in hospitality across New York, Connecticut, and Miami. His collaborations with Sony, Adobe, NBC, AMC Networks, and Bravo reflect a reputation for imagery that balances polish with honesty and presence with restraint.In 2024, that storytelling instinct moved into motion: Travis produced his first feature film, Bulls, released through Vertical Entertainment, and is currently in preproduction on his second, Happy Hour. He documents the honest, unfiltered road of independent filmmaking on his podcast, Just Make the F*#%ing Movie. No fake polish, no gatekeeping, just the real process.Beyond his own work, Travis is deeply invested in the creative community. He served as New York Chair and later National President of American Photographic Artists through January 2026, advocating for photographers at every stage of their careers. He is an Adobe Ambassador, an AMD Ambassador, a Sony Alpha Camera Advocate, a Harlowe Ambassador of Light, and a member of the NAB Content Creator Council, and previously served on Adobe's Lightroom Advisory Board.

Josiah Hritsko is a leading YouTube strategist trusted by the platform’s top creators and companies, including JesserCo, CrunchLabs, Theorist Media, Home Renovision DIY, Contrarian Thinking, and Blueprint.Over the past decade, he has shaped the ideas and thumbnails behind videos with 4 billion views. Through thousands of rigorous, data-driven A/B tests he has built a reputation around creating banger thumbnails.

Kaleigh Moore is an AI search strategist who helps B2B SaaS content teams show up in AI-generated answers. She is now researching LLM information retrieval at Harvard, she advises content teams on AI search strategy, and publishes the Context Window newsletter.

Corey Martin has spent over 25 years contributing to powerful integrated earned communications programs – connecting influencer marketing with earned media to effectively take advantage of an ever-changing media landscape. Press + media influencers as well as social + cultural influencers create a media dynamic that requires a cohesive strategy and as Managing Director of Media & Influence at Allison Worldwide, Corey focuses on bringing an evolved approach to an expanding media universe to deliver clear impact for his clients. He has built PR and influencer strategies for a variety of brands across CPG/personal care, beauty, food & beverage, consumer health, tech, pharma and more. Corey is also a professor of influencer marketing at Montclair State University and creates content with his husband and son on their Instagram and TikTok Channel @RainbowDads with over 2M+ followers across Instagram and TikTok. RainbowDads has become a go-to voice for brands looking to connect with families through authenticity and laughter love of sports. Known for deep ties to the NFL, Buffalo Bills, and broader sports community, Corey brings both professional and personal influencer expertise to his work with a variety of clients.

Jeffrey Matisoff is CEO & Managing Partner, North America at The Brandtech Group, the world's leading Gen AI marketing company. Over more than two decades, he has helped global brands including IBM, Nestlé, and Verizon navigate major shifts in media, technology, and consumer behavior. Before joining Brandtech in 2021, he served as Global President of WPP's dedicated IBM agency, where he led an 800-person global organization spanning creative, media, technology, and analytics. Since joining Brandtech, Jeff has played a key role in the acquisition and transformation of Jellyfish and the development of the company's agentic media platform, helping marketers harness AI to drive growth, efficiency, and competitive advantage.

Seth Akkerman is a creative technologist driven by curiosity, humor, and a desire to leave things better than he found them. With a background in architecture, product design, UX, development, and motion, he thrives on cross-disciplinary collaboration and complex challenges.Instrument's Playspace is a living archive of in-progress experiments: a home for scrappy builds, tiny tools, and interactive sketches that explore new patterns, technologies, and creative directions

Eva Nassery is a public relations professional specializing in media relations, influencer partnerships, and brand storytelling. Her passion for PR began at a young age through building online fan communities for her favorite artists and TV shows, where she developed an early understanding of audience engagement and digital culture. Today, she serves as a Senior Account Executive at APC Collective, helping brands connect with audiences through culturally relevant campaigns and strategic communications.

Kenny Gold is Edelman's Global Chief Creator Officer, leading Edelman Creator, the firm's global creator marketing offering. In this role, he is responsible for advancing Edelman's creator-first approach to communications and marketing, helping clients harness the power of creators, culture, and emerging technologies to drive business impact.Kenny joined Edelman from Deloitte Digital, where he served as Managing Director and Head of Social and Creator. There, he built the practice from the ground up, developing a differentiated offering at the intersection of consulting, creativity, and creator-led marketing. Throughout his career, he has led transformative work for some of the world's most recognized brands, including Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and McCormick, and is widely recognized for his expertise in creator strategy, AI-enabled content systems, and integrated marketing innovation.Prior to Deloitte Digital, Kenny led social media at Grey Group, where he architected P&G's groundbreaking #DistanceDance campaign with TikTok creator Charli D'Amelio. The campaign became one of the platform's most successful creator-led initiatives, demonstrating the power of creator partnerships to drive engagement and cultural relevance at scale.Kenny's contributions to the industry have earned widespread recognition, including being named to the Adweek 50 in 2022 and recognized as an AEF Talent Champion in 2021. He is known for helping brands navigate the evolving creator economy and for building innovative marketing solutions that connect audiences, creators, and businesses in meaningful ways

Jason Y. Lee is the Founder and CEO of Jubilee Media, a digital media company with a mission to provoke real human conversation. Under his leadership, Jubilee has grown into one of the most recognizable digital-first media brands for Gen Z, reaching more than 380 million monthly views across platforms through flagship series including Middle Ground, Surrounded, Odd One Out, and Versus 1. Jubilee’s format-driven content brings people with differing perspectives into direct dialogue on the issues shaping culture today. Jason also launched Nectar, Jubilee’s sister channel and mobile app focused on love and dating, and executive produced the documentary Accepted, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2023. Prior to founding Jubilee, Jason was a consultant at Bain & Company and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Zach Blume is the co-founder and president of Portal A, an award-winning brand and original content company built for a social world.Portal A has been named Campaign’s Brand Entertainment Agency of the Year, Digiday’s Video Agency of the Year, the Streamy Awards Agency of the Year, and Cynopsis Digital Studio of the Year. The company's work has been viewed over 4 billion times online and received recognition by the One Show, the Clio Awards, Tribeca, Brand Storytelling at Sundance, the Webby Awards, the Shorty Awards, and many others.Portal A has been independent since its founding, and in 2019 took on a strategic investment from Wheelhouse, the next generation entertainment company founded by Brent Montgomery and partner Jimmy Kimmel.

Michelle Makasini is a D1 All-American soccer player turned award-winning digital marketer who has built social ecosystems from the ground up for some of the world's most iconic brands; Hilton, American Airlines, and Asana. As the architect behind Hilton's first-ever Shorty Award, Michelle proved that the most powerful marketing moments aren't bought, they're earned through authentic storytelling and community trust.Now Head of Social Intelligence, Engagement & Advocacy at Asana and founder of Makasini Group (makasinigroup.com), Michelle brings the same grit, film study, and team-first mindset from her days on the field to every brand she champions. Her philosophy is simple: in sports, you're always live, no edits, no do-overs, just realness over polished perfection and failure is going to be a part of the journey, so use it to get better, and great marketing should feel exactly the same way.The US Men's National Team surprised kicked off the World Cup in style against Paraguay but the process leading up didn't always look confident, a reminder that winning on the biggest stages doesn't happen overnight. It's built in the reps, the losses, the film sessions, and the moments nobody sees. That's exactly what this episode is about. Tune in for the playbook.

Wes Elder is an entrepreneuer, filmmaker and actor. He's the co-founder of Creatorspace, a marketplace connecting brands with creators for everything from standard sponsorships to ambitious branded productions. His background is in film and TV. He co-created and starred in the 2016 romantic comedy The Matchbreaker (a two-year Netflix title) and produced the renovation competition series Gutted, the experience that ultimately inspired Creatorspace. He continues to work across entertainment and tech helping creators get funded to focus on what they're best at, creating.

Nia Testamark is the Director of Strategy and Client Leadership at We Thrive Media, a millennial-led, Gen Z-powered digital marketing agency specializing in digital & social media, influencer marketing, and creative production across culture, entertainment, education, healthcare, sports, and social impact.With nearly a decade of experience across marketing, creative strategy, and digital storytelling, Nia has helped brands, organizations, and cultural campaigns build work that feels relevant, thoughtful, and culturally aware. Her work has contributed to nationally recognized campaigns, including a 2026 Shorty Award-winning campaign.Born in New York, raised in the South, and influenced by her West Indian background, she brings a cross-generational perspective to creativity, communication, and internet culture. Nia is also an author, mentor, and advocate for creating more visibility, representation, and reflection for women navigating marketing, creativity, and leadership today.

David Clarke leads communications at Oh Hello Agency, specializing in public relations, strategic messaging, and brand storytelling. His career spans NYC Public Schools, NYC Pride | Heritage of Pride, Inc., The WNET Group, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, earning high-impact media coverage and shaping resonant campaigns. A published journalist in OutSmart Magazine, BroadwayWorld, and others, David blends strategy and storytelling to elevate diverse voices with authenticity and purpose.

Sara Currie is a video editor for MrBeast turned founder and CEO of the trusted creative agency, Rich Bear Brandworks. She has her finger on the pulse of the real inner workings of the creator economy. And now she's here to share it with you.

Jacques Keyser is the Director of Programming at VidCon, where he leads the strategy and execution of event programming across the US and international markets. With over 15 years of experience in music, entertainment, and the creator economy, he has worked with leading platforms, labels, creators, executives, and global brands. At VidCon, Jacques has helped launch and scale events worldwide, curating industry-leading programming that unites creators, executives, and fans on a global stage. Previously, he held senior roles in talent management and artist development, shaping the careers of top UK digital and music talent while building strategic partnerships across the industry. Jacques also shares insights on the creator economy through his bi-weekly VidCon industry newsletter. 

Drew Sutton is the founder of Drew Sutton Leadership and creator of Culture Systems — a proprietary leadership architecture that replaces force-of-will management with scalable systems for aligning people, culture, and execution across an entire organization. This episode was recorded live at Innovate Summit in Louisville. Check out their next event in Nashville in October. Vibes improved by Old Commonwealth Kentucky Nectar. A former Chief Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Drew holds 30+ patents in rotorcraft systems and composite structures, and has led cross-disciplinary engineering teams on multimillion-dollar U.S. defense programs spanning Air Force acquisitions, SOCOM prototyping, and research partnerships with Johns Hopkins University and the Air Force Research Laboratory.Today he applies that same systems discipline to leadership development — specializing in the doer-to-leader transition for technical professionals and culture-wide change adoption for organizations in transformation. He delivers 37 talks across leadership, AI integration, multigenerational workforce alignment, change management, and decision architecture, in formats ranging from keynotes to multi-day team engagements.Drew is based in Georgetown, Kentucky and serves clients nationally.

Holly Hartman is an AI governance strategist and founder of FWS Enterprise LLC (Future Workforce Systems), where she works with enterprise leaders to build the guardrails, policies, and workforce readiness programs that make responsible AI adoption real, not just a talking point.She is also the co-founder and President of The WO Network, Kentuckiana’s largest professional women’s community with more than 4,000 members, and an international bestselling author.Holly is a NAWBO Women Business Owner of the Year 2025 honoree, a Louisville Business First Enterprising Women 2026 recipient, and a Bingham Fellow in the Class of 2026.She is currently pursuing her AI Governance Professional (AIGP) certification through IAPP.Her message to organizations wrestling with AI right now is simple: you do not have to choose between innovation and integrity. The ones who will lead are the ones building governance now, not later. Every AI decision is a workforce decision. She works with organizations to move them AI-Anxious to AI-Ready, From Guardrails to Governance all through an ethical AI Lens.futureworkforcesystems.com

Whitney Belmonte spent fifteen years scaling marketing for category-defining brands, including Supergoop!, where she helped scale digital from a single channel into a multi-format engine. She has shipped campaigns, hired teams, and rebuilt operations from the inside.Now she works with founders, marketing leads, and ops teams to put AI to work in the parts of their business that actually move revenue — without the buzzwords, without the gloss, and without breaking the parts of their company that already work.Her clients tend to be the operators noticing what's quietly broken — content cycles that take three weeks, briefs that take longer than the work itself, leads that arrive cold and stay cold. The fix is rarely the model. It's the workflow around it.

Kimberly Bottom is a 15+ year veteran in storytelling and community initiatives. An award-winning broadcast journalist and video producer, Kimberly now focuses on helping nonprofits sharpen their messaging and amplify impact through modern fundraising technology. In her current role as Director of Community at Velora, the nonprofit operations platform, Kimberly's north star is connecting nonprofit professionals to share ideas, elevate diverse voices, and celebrate the people doing the world's most important work.

Emily Benner Snyder leads social media at United Airlines, where she’s helped transform the brand into one of the industry’s most engaging and talked-about voices online. Named Ad Age’s 2025 Social Lead/Community Manager of the Year, she sets the strategy and turns everyday travel moments into scroll-stopping stories. Before United, she brought her storytelling magic to both Disney and Olive Garden—so yes, she knows how to make both planes and breadsticks go viral.

Paddy Smith is Chief Creative Officer at Born Social, where he oversees the creative output for the agency. He's spent his time at Born building a 60+ strong department spanning Creative, Design and Production, developing some of the brightest creative minds in the industry. He's pitched, won and delivered best in class creative across iconic brands like Guinness, Smirnoff, Mars, Uber and Ford, helping them transform into social-first brands. Paddy's work has collected creative awards from The One Show, The Creative Circle, The Webbys, Shortys, Marketing Week, Digiday and Campaign Awards and sat on juries with The Shorty Awards and Creative Review. Paddy has also written and hosted multiple industry events on varied creative subjects spanning brand design, generative AI, influencers, social-first brand building and modern craft, as well as writing thought pieces on creativity for the likes of The Drum, Adweek, Future London Academy and Creative Review.

Asha Shivaji is redefining what it means to innovate in marketing effectiveness and ad tech. As a woman of color and former Google executive, she co-founded SeeMe Index in 2023 to help brands and agencies unlock growth with untapped audiences. Powered by its proprietary Responsible AI, SeeMe is building the industry standard for identity measurement and provides data-driven insights, benchmarks, and certifications that connect representation to measurable business outcomes, from creative effectiveness to long-term brand loyalty.Before launching SeeMe, Asha led strategy for Google’s global marketing services organization, where she co-developed global initiatives with the UN’s Unstereotype Alliance to dismantle harmful stereotypes in media. Her career includes partnerships with iconic brands such as Apple, Disney, Moët Hennessy, Estée Lauder, and Johnson & Johnson, where she modernized marketing strategies and drove business impact.Asha is an honoree on Ad Age's Tech Power List, ADWEEK’s Innovator 50, a Campaign US 2025 Inspiring Woman in the Championing Change category, and 2025 Advertising Week Future is Female Winner. She is a sought-after speaker and advisor and has shared her insights on AI, DEI, and the future of inclusive marketing at major forums, including Cannes Lions, Advertising Week, SXSW, Ad Age’s AI Marketing Playbook, CEW’s DEIB Forum, the World Women’s Federation, and thinkLA’s Diversity Summit. She continues to serve as a consultant for the United Nations Unstereotype Alliance and is a vocal advocate for building ethical technology that reflects the richness of human experience.Asha holds a BA in Economics and Political Science and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.

Taylor Cromwell is a writer, content strategist, and the founder of Creator Diaries, a newsletter exploring the stories and strategies behind the creator-to-founder transition. She works with companies like beehiiv and HubSpot, and previously wrote for The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. She's obsessed with the intersection of media, storytelling, and the creator economy.

Emma Witkowski is Vice President, Media Solutions at WildBrain where she leads the advertising teams responsible for driving monetization through innovative video advertising and branded content strategies for WildBrain’s portfolio of iconic IP such as Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Inspector Gadget and more. Witkowski and her team deliver cross-platform digital campaigns across YouTube, FAST, social media and gaming platforms, including Roblox and Fortnite, to connect brands with kids and their parents worldwide. Based in Los Angeles, Witkowski brings over 20 years of experience in digital strategy, investment planning and revenue growth within the media and entertainment industry. She has a proven track record of building scalable advertising ecosystems and driving high-impact partnerships that unlock new revenue streams.Before joining WildBrain, Witkowski served as Global Head of Strategy and Client Success at Moonbug Entertainment, where she was instrumental in developing and scaling their brand partnerships business. Her career spans leadership roles at major global media companies including WPP and Omnicom, driving digital growth and innovation for brands such as Apple, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, Facebook and PlayStation. 

Rio Wilson is the founder of Brain-Body Therapy, a mental health app rooted in the powerful connection between movement and emotional well-being. Her path into this work was deeply personal. After navigating several traumatic experiences, Rio began to notice the profound impact exercise had on her own nervous system, clarity, and healing. What started as a personal coping tool evolved into something much bigger -- a belief that mental health support should engage both the mind and the body.That belief became Brain-Body Therapy: an accessible, therapist-informed app designed to help people regulate stress, anxiety, and depression through guided therapeutic tools paired with intentional movement.Rio holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University, blending clinical expertise with an entrepreneurial lens to reimagine how mental health support can meet people in their everyday lives.

Colin Petrie-Norris, Founder & CEO of Fairground Entertainment, is a pioneer in streaming TV. His new AI studio and global platform unite creators and technology to redefine entertainment. Previously, he built and sold Xumo to Comcast, expanding it with Charter into a global FAST ecosystem. Earlier, he helped grow Advertising.com, later acquired by AOL.

Meredith Levine is a Fanthropologist, studying fans and fandom and doing strategic audience development research and strategy work at the intersection of Hollywood and the Creator Economy. She is also the VP of Audience Development at SuperBam, helping media companies adapt their back catalog and currently airing content for social digital video distribution. Prior to SuperBam and her consultancy, Meredith worked in strategy at Theorist Media and in fandom research at Troika and ZEFR. Meredith has her M.A. in Critical Media Studies with an emphasis in Fan Studies from UCLA, and has spent time as a professor and guest lecturer of Fan Studies at USC, Emerson, UCLA, and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Glenn Ginsburg is the President of QYOU Media, a media and entertainment company powered by the creator economy. QYOU specializes in developing, creating, and distributing creator-centric campaigns that help brands connect with audiences and make a cultural impact across social and digital platforms. With more than 25 years of experience across the creator economy and wider entertainment and media industry, Ginsburg has been instrumental in building and optimizing the QYOU team since he joined 2015 and currently oversees brand partnerships, strategy, creative content development and distribution with a client portfolio that includes Hulu (Paradise), Paramount Pictures (A Quiet Place: Day One and Smile 2), Kraft Heinz (Buffalo Wild Wings x Mustard), Warner Brothers (Wonka), 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, DreamWorks, and other leading entertainment companies, as well as Ubisoft, Hyundai, Kraft Heinz, MGA Entertainment and more.

A proud California girl, Louisa Frahm was born and raised in San Diego. She received her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2012. Throughout the past decade, she's built a booming career in the news SEO world, conducting search efforts at E! Online, Yahoo!, TMZ, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and ESPN. She also served as a Trends Curator on the Google Trends team. To bolster her communications skill set, she acquired a master's degree in communication management from the University of Southern California in 2021. Leadership development and mentoring are two of her biggest professional passions. When Louisa isn't busy with work, she loves enjoying any and all things pop culture with her family and friends. Her Funko Pop collection is over 100 figurines strong. Ask her about Prince, Freddie Mercury, and David Bowie.

Jenn Herman is a social media consultant, speaker, and globally recognized Instagram expert. She is a sought-after and international speaker providing tips, resources, and training for organizations of all sizes that need to structure their social media strategies. Her business background includes Administration, Sales, Human Resources, and Marketing and she enjoys bringing all these skills together to help you grow your business. Jenn has been featured in Inc., Fox News, BBC News, Yahoo Finance, Entrepreneur, HuffPost, The Verge, CBS Radio LA, and numerous other podcasts and publications. She is the author of “Instagram for Dummies”, “Instagram for Business for Dummies”, and “The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing”.

Rachel Simon is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Cut, Glamour, Vice, and many more outlets. A former editor at Bustle and Mic, her debut book, Pickleball for All: Everything But the "Kitchen" Sink was published by HarperCollins in 2022. She also teaches writing with Redbud Writing Project and Gotham Writers Workshop, and constructs crossword puzzles through her business Clue & Brew. A New York native, she earned a B.A from Boston's Emerson College and now lives in Raleigh, NC.

Jeff Tousignant is Head of Marketing at Air, where he leads brand and go-to-market strategy for the company’s creative operations platform. Based in New York, he brings experience from leading technology and consumer brands including Figma and Duolingo, with a focus on helping teams scale high-quality creative work in an increasingly AI-driven content landscape.

Luke Smith is the co-founder and Global CEO of Croud, a leading independent digital agency he founded in 2011. Under Luke's leadership, Croud has become a full-service global business, delivering innovative marketing solutions to top brands like Amazon Prime Video, Nespresso, and Ford.Luke has grown the Croud team to over 600 employees across offices in the UK, US, and MENA, with a global network of on-demand digital experts known as "Croudies" providing coverage in 118 markets and 86 languages. Through strategic acquisitions like Born Social and Vert Digital, Luke has further expanded Croud's capabilities.Beyond impressive growth and award-winning client work, Luke is passionate about fostering a positive work environment, as demonstrated by Croud's inclusion in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list for two years running.Outside of leading Croud's global business, Luke enjoys spending time with his family, taking on various sporting pursuits, collecting wine and supporting the below average Championship club Preston North End.

Ryan Stern is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Collectively and Alexa Tonner is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Collectively, a global leader in creator marketing that transforms brands into social-first enterprises, part of the Brandtech Group. Collectively quickly rose to prominence as a strategy-led data-backed creator marketing partner to some of the world’s leading brands including Unilever, Dove, TRESemmé, Intuit QuickBooks, Salesforce, Meta, Converse, Delta, and many more. Collectively was the first creator marketing company recognized by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list and has earned Cannes Lions, Effie, Webby, Glossy, Shorty, and OMMA awards for its programs. In 2025, Ryan was named an Advertising Week Future is Female nominee and Collectively was named to Adweek’s Fastest Growing Agencies and Top 10 women-led agencies.In 2026, Alexa was named an ADWEEK Architects of Culture Honoree.

Michael Wasserman is the CEO and co-founder of Tiltify, the leading fundraising platform that empowers digital communities and charities to raise funds through innovative interactive technology. With a passion for leveraging technology to drive social impact, Michael has played a pivotal role in transforming how nonprofits engage with their communities and harness the power of online fundraising. Under his leadership, Tiltify has forged partnerships with numerous organizations and content creators, fostering a vibrant ecosystem dedicated to charitable giving. Michael's entrepreneurial spirit, combined with his extensive background in digital marketing and fundraising, positions him as a visionary at the intersection of technology and philanthropy.

One of the biggest (of many!) frustrations with dating apps today is something most people know well: you match with someone who has a great profile, the texting is solid, and then you meet in person and realize there’s simply no chemistry. That exact disconnect inspired Brittnee Barnes, founder and CEO + Co-Founder of Vybes, to build the platform.Vybes is designed to help users understand that chemistry before committing to a first date through a feature called the Vybe Check, a quick in-app face-to-face call that lets people experience someone’s real voice, energy, and personality before meeting offline. The platform also takes a more curated approach to dating. Vybes is application-based, verifies users through IDs and social accounts, and offers exclusive in-person events so members can connect beyond the screen.The company also launched Vybes Villa, a creator-led reality dating series that blends dating culture with unscripted storytelling. The first season, which launched earlier this year generated hundreds of thousands of views per episode, driving 50,000+ new applications to be submitted, 47% of new users are completing a Vybe Check within their first week on the app, and 2,000 users have already applied for Season 2. 

David Born is the Founder and CEO of Born Licensing, Born to License, and Learn to License, an integrated licensing ecosystem that redefines how brands understand, access, and unlock the value of entertainment intellectual property (IP). An industry innovator with nearly two decades of experience across both brand and agency sides, David specializes in making licensing strategic, viable, and scalable, helping brands to use IP as a meaningful business growth driver across marketing and commerce. Founded more than 10 years ago, Born Licensing is the go-to agency for creative and advertising partners seeking to license iconic characters and entertainment IP for campaigns. Building on that foundation, David launched Born to License in 2024, an end-to-end licensing management company that acts as a strategic partner for manufacturers and businesses, alongside Learn to License, a comprehensive education platform. Throughout his career, David has collaborated with top global brands including Uber, Disney, Google, Warner Bros., Paramount, Hasbro, Mattel, and Samsung among many others, as well as emerging direct-to-consumer brands like Hippo Blue, Plum Deluxe Tea, Steven Singer Jewelers, Elihome, WOLFpak, and Keepsake Cards, converting them into beloved brands by consumers and licensors alike. David regularly shares expert insights on news, trends and opportunities through his Born to License podcast and content channels, and mentorship work. He serves as a Licensing Mentor for Daily Mentor (founded by Shark Tank Australia’s Davie Fogarty) and has been recognized as an industry leader by License Global as a Top 40 Under 40, featured in Licensing.biz’s Power 50 list, and as one of Brands Untapped’s Top 100.

Jay Williams is the Founder and Big Bird of Free Bird Southern Spring Water, a bold new beverage brand that’s putting real water back in the hands of real people. Free Bird is sourced from the Blue Ridge Mountains and is designed to celebrate the best of America. No buzzwords. No gimmicks. Just damn good water, made for those who work hard and live harder.Williams launched Free Bird after stepping away from a 25 year career in real estate, where he developed more than a billion dollars’ worth of multi-family and student housing development projects. Trading boardrooms for beverage production and development deals for distribution agreements, he built Free Bird from the ground up with zero industry connections—relying on hustle, curiosity, and a deep respect for his customers.Today, Free Bird is rolling out across America, gaining a loyal following of everyday Americans who see themselves in the brand’s unapologetically authentic identity. For Williams, it’s more than a business—it’s a salute to the backbone of America and proof that the best ideas often come when you’re willing to start over.

Farra Kober is the VP of StoryWorks Americas, BBC Studios’ brand content studio and internal creative agency. An Emmy-award-winning content executive and brand marketer, Farra is passionate about creative storytelling with purpose. As a creative leader, she guides teams in driving growth, customer engagement, and sales through multi-platform content born of strategic insights and data. Prior to joining the BBC, Farra held leadership positions at WeWork as Sr. Director of Global Content Marketing, at theSkimm as VP of Content Studios—leading their extension into branded content, podcasting, and web editorial—and at NBCUniversal. As Director of Digital for MSNBC, managing creative and operations of MSNBC.com, Farra led the company to its best-year-ever in digital video viewership and launched its first-ever podcasting arm, including Chris Hayes’ award-winning program, ‘Why Is This Happening?’ 

In her role as Chief Impact Officer, Sona Khosla is at the helm of Benevity Impact Labs, an incubator and social innovation lab. Sona and her team bring cutting-edge data, research and insights to help organizations and individuals maximize their impact and inclusion efforts, and authentically live their purpose.As the host of the Speaking of Purpose by Benevity podcast, Sona is also a frequent guest on shows and in the media because of her expertise and sharp insight on purpose-driven business and corporate social impact.

Zach Katz has spent more than 20 years building alongside creators at defining moments in their careers. He began as a music attorney before managing several of Dr. Dre’s closestcollaborators, spending years in the studio as Dre coached Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent. That early immersion shaped Katz’s belief that enduring careers are built on structure, ownership and long-term vision, not just hits.He later co-founded Beluga Heights, launching global stars including Sean Kingston and Jason Derulo. After more than a decade as a music entrepreneur, Katz became President of BMGNorth America, where he helped guide the careers of artists such as Juice WRLD, DJ Khaled, Janet Jackson, blink-182, DJ Snake and Bebe Rexha while overseeing one of the industry’s most influential rosters.He went on to partner with Scooter Braun to invest in emerging technology reshaping how creators grow and monetize audiences, and later served as President and COO of FaZe Clan, where he saw firsthand the lack of institutional infrastructure for digital-native talent.Today, as co-founder of Fixated, Katz is bringing traditional Hollywood and music-industry deal architecture, and long-term career strategy into what he views as the “new Hollywood”: the creator economy. His focus is on building durable infrastructure around digital talent the way record labels once built global superstars: with structure, IP ownership, strategic partnerships, and generational brand thinking.

Kristina Monllos is a senior reporter for Marketing Brew. She has spent over a decade covering the advertising business for publications like Digiday and Adweek. Her reporting has also appeared in publications like Rolling Stone, New York Magazine's Vulture and Elle, among others. She is also a filmmaker.

Yann Caloghiris leads brand experience at Left Field Labs, creating immersive experiences where emerging technology becomes something people can actually feel. His work combines strategic thinking, real-time interactivity, and on-device AI to turn complex technologies into meaningful human experiences.He has led experiential programs for Google, Qualcomm, Salesforce, GitHub, Meta, Amazon, and Hasbro, including Snapdragon’s edge-AI demonstrations, Salesforce’s Agentforce City at Dreamforce, and Google’s AR navigation experience at CES. Yann is also the creator and host of For Breakfast, a podcast exploring creativity, technology, and the evolving nature of work in the age of AI. Through conversations with designers, filmmakers, and technologists, he examines what machines can accelerate, and what remains uniquely human. His perspective is simple: AI can generate possibilities, but effective creativity still depends on human insight, intuition, and connection.

Amir Sahba is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Thinkingbox, a brief to built agency creating innovative digital, experiential, social, and content. Since founding the company in 2010, Amir has championed the belief that creativity and production belong together. He has built a collective of thinkers, makers and doers operating across specialized divisions including Thinkingbox, The Heist and AntiSocial to deliver end-to-end storytelling for leading brands across sports, gaming, entertainment and technology, creating work that doesn’t just keep pace with culture but helps define it.

Named to Inc.’s Female Founders list, Priscila Martinez is founder and CEO of The Brand Agency, a public relations and creative communications firm. She is an award-winning marketer whose firm services Fortune 5 clients and other household name brands. The Brand Agency is the only agency globally to service clients like Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Disney, and Netflix with a female-only team. Recently, Ragan recognized Martinez as a Top Women in Communications, industry trade PRNews named her Top Women in 2024, and her agency was named “Best in Business” by Inc. Magazine for two years. Her speaking engagements include UCLA Velocity Women’s Leadership Summit, USC Marshall School of Business marketing series, USC Own It Summit, and the International Trade Council's Think Global Conference. Martinez was an entertainment correspondent for NBC’s Peacock streaming platform. She has been featured in publications like The Hollywood Reporter and Forbes and frequently contributed to Newsweek and Entrepreneur. Martinez sits on the board of Tierra del Sol Foundation. She is a Mexican immigrant who started living in the US full-time upon being accepted to Pepperdine University.