Category Archives: Podcast

Focus on Partnerships, Not Paychecks: Why Agencies Must Reinvent Themselves 

adspeak logo card
ADWEEK’s podcast episode.

In a recent episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, executive editor Alison Weissbrot leads a Brandweek panel featuring Nadja Bellan-White, group CEO at M&C Saatchi; Coltrane Curtis, founder and managing partner at Team Epiphany; and Kern Schireson, chairman and CEO at Known. 

Together, they discuss the need to redefine agency-client partnerships. As budgets tighten and AI reshapes workflows, they explain why legacy and fee-based models are no longer viable. 

Instead, success hinges on empathy, trust, and aligned incentives tied to outcomes. The panel shares practical strategies, from embedding test-and-learn budgets to understanding board-level pressures and deploying agile “tiger teams.” 

What you’ll learn:

They emphasize deeper specialization, real human connection, and shared accountability as the foundation for resilient, high-performing partnerships in a rapidly evolving marketing landscape.

  • How to shift from legacy fee-based models to incentive-aligned partnerships 
  • Why understanding your client’s board-level KPIs is non-negotiable 
  • The “Three Ideas Framework” for managing risk and building trust 
  • How to build genuine relationships through human connection and empathy 
  • Why agency expertise depth matters more than breadth 
  • How to balance internal restructuring and team protection with client excellence

Three agency leaders on why legacy and fee-based are no longer viable.

Nadja Bellan-White is the Group CEO at M&C Saatchi, and a “human-first” marketing leader known as a go-to fixer for complex brand transformations. With 25+ years in integrated marketing, she blends data, creativity, technology, and media to drive meaningful customer connections. She has led transformations for global brands including American Express, IKEA, and Coca-Cola, and partnered with African governments to spur growth. An AdColor Legend Award recipient, she brings a sharp focus on context, culture, and creativity to every engagement.

Coltrane Curtis is the Founder and Managing Partner of Team Epiphany, a New York-based influencer marketing and PR agency he launched in 2004. What began as a one-man shop has grown into a 70+ person, multidisciplinary agency with offices in New York and Portland. With roots at MTV and deep experience across brands like Nike, HBO, and Coca-Cola, Curtis blends cultural fluency with sharp strategic execution. Known for building powerful brand and celebrity partnerships, he has been recognized by Inc., Forbes, Adweek, and AdColor, and serves on the American Black Film Festival board.

Kern Schireson is the CEO of Known, a next-generation agency built on data-driven strategy and systemic innovation. With deep expertise in incentive alignment and AI-powered optimization, he is helping redefine the modern agency model. Kern champions using technology as a force multiplier for enhancing, not replacing, human creativity, while embedding rigorous test-and-learn frameworks into client partnerships. His approach focuses on aligning incentives and enabling continuous iteration, driving measurable, breakthrough results for brands navigating an increasingly complex marketing landscape.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Measuring Creativity


Fueling Creativity in Education bridges the gap between the science of creativity and classroom practice, with a focus on both creative teaching and teaching creativity. Since launching during the pandemic, we’ve interviewed over 100 leading researchers, educators, and administrators.

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog,Joe’s Journey, for selected short stories and personal insights on life and its detours.

Why Play is More Important than Talent for Creativity

This week my creativity blog features an excerpt from a podcast initiated in Japanese, “The Creative Mindset”, with the first guest on the podcast, Ian Spalter (Ian Spalter), the man behind the design of Instagram.

Ian cited this quote during the interview: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

A few years ago, Ian led the redesign of the Instagram app as well as its brand identity as the Head of Design at the company. That process was well documented and Ian was featured in a Netflix special called “Abstract: The Art of Design.” Since then, he moved to Japan with his family to head up the Instagram business there. He’s now leading design at Meta for its metaverse initiative, still residing in Japan, where the podcast episode was recorded.

In the podcast interview with Ian, there were three key takeaways that stood out and can be helpful for, not just designers, but those particularly in a position to manage others:

1. The permission and the freedom to be wrong is essential to creativity.

Ian uses simple activities and games in meetings with his team in order to create what he calls the State of Play. These games might be something as simple as drawing for people who are not typically used to drawing. He says that play is useful in getting people out of their comfort zone and letting people be wrong without, or at least with less, fear. Eliminating the sense of fear is essential to cultivating creativity, especially in a corporate environment, according to Ian.

2. Humility is underrated.

One of Ian’s hobbies living in Japan is to go visit shokunin, craftspeople typically engaged in making traditional daily tools and objects such as sandals, bowls, baskets, buckets, etc., oftentimes painstakingly by hand. Having visited quite a few of them in various towns, he observed that they all have something in common: a commitment to humble excellence. This kind of humility is underrated, he says, and he witnesses that it makes such a big difference in the final product.

3. Representation matters.

When he started his career in NYC, one of his first managers was Omar Wasow, a co-founder of BlackPlanet.com in the 1990s. At R/GA, Ian worked under a colleague who was from the Dominican Republic and a person of color. The fact that his bosses were minorities back then and how they reflected on Ian himself wasn’t lost on him. As a Black designer, he felt and still feels that how he does would reflect on other people that look like him that would come after him. Ian projected a sense of duty in his voice as a leading yet humble designer who happens to be Black.

If you are curious about the conversation with Ian, please listen to this episode “Why Play, Not Talent, Is More Important for Creativity” wherever you get your podcast:

This blog post represents portions of an interview moderated by Rei Inamoto, a designer by trade, a minimalist at heart. Founding Partner of I&CO. Named in “Creativity 50,” “The Top 25 Most Creative People in Advertising.”

 

Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!

Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for personal insights on life and its detours.

And, check out creative selections from my website.

Jolan tru!

 

Ad Speaks Houston: A Podcast

How does one get the inside track on anything? Well, you talk or listen to someone who is on the inside, who knows what’s going on. That’s just what we have in the advertising community here in Houston.

The American Advertising Federation-Houston (AAFH) hosts a regular podcast on everything advertising right here in Houston. But the topics don’t stop with the geography; topics know no boundaries.

The people who guest-speak on the podcast can come from a variety of backgrounds and expertise, but they all are usually focused on what the AAFH is doing and how it relates back to advertising in the Houston community.

I’m speaking, of course, about Ad Speaks Houston, the podcast brought to you by the AAFH. If you’re into advertising at all, interested in what Houston’s ad scene is all about these days, wanting to stay current with the ever-changing ad world, well, tune in and subscribe to Ad Speaks Houston.

Ad Speaks Houston airs on KPRC 950 AM from 10 am to 11 am on Sundays. You can tune in to the podcast anytime from anywhere.

Who knows, you could be their next guest-speaker.

It’ll be fun, you’ll see! Click on the logo below and enjoy!

 

Ad Speaks Houston Logo

 

Ad Speaks Houston: A New Kind of Podcast

Do you have a favorite podcast? Have you ever participated in a podcast? Do you have any idea how many podcasts there are? That’s okay, neither do I!

If you’re in the Houston, Texas area and are involved in some way with the advertising industry, you’re in luck. Even if you’re not in the area, you’ll still find this interesting and may even learn a thing or two.

Curious about what is happening at AAF Houston? That’s the American Advertising Federation Houston for those who may not know. Check out Ad Speaks Houston, which airs on KPRC 950 AM from 10 am to 11 am on Sundays. If you can’t catch it on air, all of Ad Speaks Houston podcasts are on SoundCloud. 

It’s the first time AAF Houston (AAFH) has done something like this. We just want to reach out to our members and those who may be interested in joining. You’ll find a variety of topics and interviews conveying thoughts about the industry and happenings in Houston. Many thanks go to Ray Schilens (longtime supporter and current AAFH board member) of Radio Lounge for spearheading the Ad Speaks Houston podcast.

Being a longtime AAFH member myself as well as a past board member and officer, I was honored when Ray approached the board for interviews. I was glad to help launch the project. My interview with Ray is number 19 in the series. Take a listen.

Ad Speaks Houston