In this episode of Creative Friction, we welcome Ryan Paul Gibson. Ryan shares his background in B2B sales and marketing, specifically in the franchise industry, where research played a crucial role. They talk about their hands-on approach to gathering customer insights and how it influenced their marketing strategies, business development, and operations. Tune in to hear more about their journey and the lessons they learned along the way.

In this episode of Creative Friction, Madeline and Jeff discuss the struggles that many agencies are facing in terms of generating new customers and the slow process of closing deals. They attribute this to the current economic climate and clients' hesitation to spend money on marketing. They also highlight the challenges faced by tech-related agencies and offer suggestions on how to stand out and differentiate yourself in the market.

In this episode, Madeline and Jeff speak with Maribel Lara of the Sasha Group, discussing how to effectively support small business clients in developing their online presence through social media. We talk about the daily routine and week-to-week tasks involved in work, and challenges faced by clients who expect the agency to handle everything. Maribel emphasizes the need for collaboration, strategy, and a focus on the clients target audience rather than just increasing follower counts.

In this episode of Creative Friction, Madeline and Jeff dive into the topic of Pride Month and the increasing corporatization and monetization of the LGBTQ+ community. They discuss the performative marketing strategies employed by brands during this time and the pushback from queer individuals. Join the conversation as they explore the challenges faced by creative entrepreneurs in staying true to their roots while navigating the commercialization of Pride.

Many creative folks dream of calling their own shots, but few feel brave enough to step out on their own as a solopreneur and make their way into the world of branding and marketing. That’s why we sat down with Jasmine, founder of Eight Thirty Seven, to talk candidly about what it took for her to bet on and believe in herself, and create a career all her own as a designer and brand strategist to companies around the country.

We sat down with Ari Krzyzek of Chkalophia, a creative and technology agency that specializes in working with women-led companies to build strong brand pillars and online experiences to talk about what it takes to build an agency that allows you to amplify your impact in the most meaningful ways.

We had Dominique Broadway on the Creative Friction podcast to talk about how to use event based and experiential marketing as a way to grow brands and create community. Dominique is a provocative financial literacy trailblazer on a mission to make wealth attainable for everyone. As an award winning personal finance expert speaker and the founder of Finances Demystified, she has a passion for working with young professionals, entrepreneurs, and people of all ages to bring their dreams to reality in order to extend the reach of their brand and bolster connections within their community

We’re navigating a really interesting season as business owners and marketers. With so much uncertainty from larger employers and layoffs happening almost everywhere, there are a lot of folks looking for work, and a lot of agency owners and creatives picking up new contracts to fill the gap where companies no longer have the full staff to support their marketing efforts.

However, one of the common mistakes we have seen many agency owners make, including ourselves, is hiring too quickly for the sake of fulfilling contracts. That’s why we want to dig into this topic further to give concrete guidance and examples on how to go about hiring the right people the right way.

As we approach Women’s History Month, we can’t help but feel like few things have shifted in the past 5 years in favor of women and equity — which is why we are going to be doing things differently this month.

As much as we want to celebrate the successes of women, it’s also time to have a really candid conversation about all the ways inequity still persists and impacts the lives of women, particularly female entrepreneurs.

This week we chatted about all things software audits! A software audit is helpful to review all the software being used in your marketing agency. The audit is designed to identify software overlap and determine which tools are still relevant to accomplish agency goals.

This week we talk about the timely topic of the dos and don’ts of marketing during Black History Month. Every February, brands suddenly find they have something to say (or sell) related to Black History Month. It’s become common for brands to participate in Black History Month, but these efforts are often perceived as little more than performative activism.

So, how can your company uplift and celebrate Black culture and the Black individuals in your community, without appropriating Black culture for likes on social media? Let’s find out.

This week, we’re here to talk about Artificial intelligence (AI) and how it might impact your creative business. AI has become a buzzword in the agency world, and some are worried about how it could harm the industry. We want to give you some advice on how to utilize AI to achieve maximum impact and efficiency.

This week, we are tackling the beast of rescoping! Inflation is impacting every business. As creative operators, it’s crucial to ensure our work is properly priced and valued by our clients. These are the pillars of future profitability and prosperity - so let’s dive into it!

We are so excited to dive into this podcast journey with you all, and we couldn’t think of a better jumping off point than addressing client red flags. Clients are an integral part of agency work, but we want to make sure you are working with the right clients for your business.