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Carolina Cruz-Letelier has seen career growth from a lot of different angles. From brand side to agency side to jumping to new cities without a job, she’s had a chance to think about how people adapt to new teams and organizations, and what prevents success there. Over the wild (understatement?) past Read more…

Adam Nayman is a film critic, lecturer, and author. In an interview he posted with the maker of the film The Empty Man (which I loved), Adam presses the director on other films he was reminded of or felt was referenced. The interview raised some questions for me about my Read more…

Jenny Nicholson, Executive Director, Brand Experience at McKinney began her career as a copywriter. But before landing in advertising, she earned a Master’s degree in Social Work. She’s always been in touch with how people think and make decisions. Despite working on beautiful and compelling creative, she wondered traditional advertising Read more…

Chief Innovation Officer at UC Irvine and UN Advisor on AI, Neil Sahota, joins a lively discussion with host Adam Pierno on how AI is improving. Improving means getting smarter, but also carving out niches for applications. This wide ranging conversation touches on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and thinking beyond Read more…

Colin Mitchell has come from a traditional planning background at BMP and other shops famous for planning and creative, along with a stop at McDonald’s before his current role at Virtue, the agency powered by Vice. Adam and Colin discuss how that planning education from the pre-digital era has informed Read more…

Reginald Cash, CEO of 3BLACKDOT joins Adam for an in-depth discussion about how creators are transcending (escaping?) the confines of platforms through their own creativity. His background spans the NY party scene and top-levels of high finance communications, providing a different prism to the oft rehashed world of creators, looking Read more…

Where do you fit in and why? Christina Garnett has figured out that people rarely fit in to communities that aren’t welcoming. She’s been single-handedly making Twitter friendlier (put her on the payroll, cowards!) and sharing insights about how to nurture meaningful communities. If you’re a long-time listener, you know Read more…

Joe Cole joined me from his cross-country travel to share what he’s learned building a list of what agencies are serving the interests of oil and fossil fuel companies at Clean Creatives. He’s been rallying creative people–and others (that’s important) to bring that work into the light, and make it Read more…

In this episode, I’m joined by Brad Scott of Applied Design Works. I wanted to talk to him about how Applied worked with the Braille Institute on a branding project and ended up developing a font intended for people with visual impairment, that they called Atkinson Hyperlegible. We talk about Read more…

Leslie Short studies workplace dynamics and to identify how diversity, equity and inclusion can be better woven in–sometimes in places where it has never been considered. Her approach is practical, pragmatic. I was fortunate to speak with her and learn more about the questions she asks, and how she addresses Read more…

I had to take a break from publishing. Truth, I got extremely busy at my full-time job, some challenging freelance strategy projects for brands, and little disinterested in extra effort beyond all of that. Thanks for hanging in there while I paused. When I tried to turn the podcast and Read more…

Some decisions seem really simple. When I get to a fast answer on something, I can get frustrated by questions which aim to bisect something that appears straightforward. But as we’re all learning, there are very few simple answers built on something without defined principles. We can’t consider every possible Read more…

Nick Childs is an incredible mind. Hear the episode at specific.substack.com/p/nick-childs-helps-tell-your-story Transcript of the episode here: Adam Pierno: Alright, welcome back to another episode of The Strategy Inside Everything. Today we are going to have an enlightening conversation I’m positive. Our guest today is Nick Childs he is co-founder of Read more…

All day long, you hear challenges and create plans to navigate through them. Briefs, decks whatever. You put in writing the plan for how to get from the place the organization or brand is in today to where it needs to be. Where are you today? Are you where you Read more…

Most industries work in teams. The recent adaptation to the way we work has affected our approach in some simple and profound ways. As I’ve spoken to strategists and marketers, I’ve learned that this has impacted the way their assignments happen, or maybe just the way they feel. Work, or Read more…

How often do you look back at your old work? A funny thing happened during the recording of this episode. My guest, Ben Perreira began describing something he had done earlier in his career and made an off-hand joke about a decision he made. But we continued to discuss, and Read more…

For the past year, there’s been a big reason for each of us to think about ourselves. My safety and security. My health. My job security. Basically protecting our small bubble. As vaccination happens en masse and we take our first tenuous steps back towards a physical social world, you Read more…

What happens when a promise made by a company is broken? Complaining on Twitter. No more customer. You can lost trust one customer at a time, or en masse. When companies suffer surges in demand that let customers down (Clorox wipes) or just get caught with their hand in the Read more…

When I write down my influences, I’m often pretty embarrassed. Terrible stuff like 80’s metal, schlock horror and comedy like Mr. Show inform some of my basic sensibilities. Despite a college education and continued study, the academic and arts portion of my influence pie chart is hovering at about 20% Read more…

Over the past year, I’ve been living almost exclusively online. If I had to guess, I would estimate I’ve watched more than 200 movies and competed a dozen series. I wrote and recorded a bunch. I’ve played video games and scrolled multiple marathons distance on Twitter. And then came TikTok. Read more…

In the month of January, I thought I reached the limit of my capacity. Again. I returned to work from a week away from the “office” to all that awaits when you are off for a week. Days of non-stop meetings, and non-moving deadlines kept me moving from item to Read more…

How do you find the things you love? Films, music, products, people, food? More and more, we’re turning to the internet to find pretty much anything. Or, we may not even be looking for things anymore. Amazon, Google, Spotify, Netflix are all recommending things, to varying degrees of success. Social Read more…

As a part of my current keynote presentation, I usually ask people what they have been thinking about immediately before sitting down for my talk. Common responses are their upcoming meal, a deadline, finding a seat, etc. Immediate needs. Unimportant when viewed from a wider perspective. I ask the question Read more…

For some of us, the last 9 months have been times of tremendous upheaval and sacrifice. There have been hundreds of thousands of lives lost, millions of jobs lost. But some parts of the business world continue their progress as if nothing has changed. Some (ahem, Amazon) have actually pulled Read more…

Not quite depressed. Not quite happy. Not quite anxious. Not quite relieved, or disappointed. This year has been a lot. I’ve experienced an entire lifetime of lows and (relative) highs since March. We spend a lot of time thinking about things, and thinking about what we’re thinking. We slightly less Read more…

Authors, actors, publishers and studios once served as the gatekeepers and influencers of entire generations of viewers, or consumers. With the ability to rate, or share feedback directly with creators, there’s been a tilt. The fans can influence the creation as much as the creation influences the fans. There are Read more…

What is reality? More subjective than you thought a year ago, I bet. Consuming our own individual, curated set of inputs we can take our minds anywhere we want. There are people who have seen all of the Star Wars films and believe those 11 (12? Who can keep track?) Read more…

Do you know those things you’re supposed to do, things that are good for you that you avoid? For many children, it’s eating vegetables or studying math. For me, it is making contact with people. Left to my own devices, I would mostly avoid people and try to focus inward, Read more…

Listen to the episode here: https://specific.substack.com/p/how-weve-always-done-things-with?r=n6j6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy I’ve been paying much more attention to my routine as a result of writer’s block that I suffered in the middle of all this pandemic craziness. For the first two months, I kept most of my routine as similar as possible, with the exception Read more…

There’s been a bit of a cynical backlash against purpose driven marketing. A lot of the backlash has been earned by insincere cash grabs by organizations wrapping themselves in a cause for relevance or just to have something to say. Nothing new there. Listen to the episode here: https://specific.substack.com/p/taking-steps-toward-purpose-with The Read more…

To say that this has been a trying time for people is past cliché; it is becoming trite. What’s been interesting on the strategy front is a potential limit to what agencies and marketers in general have been squeezed into over the past 20 years. The evolution of powerful communications Read more…

Being isolated has been a real challenge for me. I am fortunate to be with my family, but relating to my co-workers and partners only via screens and phones has been taxing. I’ve always considered myself some kind introvert but now I recognize the energy I get from sharing space Read more…

It’s always fantastic to work with collaborators, partners, peers that share your values. In my career, it hasn’t always been that way but I am always energized when values and goals line up. The work is better, and feels effortless; less like work. When I’ve had the ability to choose Read more…

Something I’ve been seeking and placing a lot of value in these days is perspective. The news is jarring and disorienting. I’ve been finding more use and comfort in longer term views, even though those are no more certain when looking forward. I’ve been thinking about the other economic shocks Read more…

I’ve been watching a LOT of screens. News updates for a little while, but now anything to distract me and my family, or to try to pretend everything is OK. Notice, I used the word screens. That’s new for me. We’re swapping tablets, phones and televisions depending on the show Read more…

Since I was in elementary school, I’ve been a little obsessed with how ideas and thinking fit together. Taking concepts from history and applying math to them. Taking concepts from art and applying it to science. Well, applying concepts from art to everything no doubt. Weirdly, I’ve always compartmentalized my Read more…

I’ve been trying to think about anything except our current situation. It’s just terrible and not many bright spots, especially as any attempt at dialogue goes immediately to the political, which I abhor. I’ve been fortunate to be spending time with my immediate family and we have been (mostly) getting Read more…

I was set to speak with Scott Goodson, founder of StrawberryFrog, sometime before we ended up in self-isolation. But the timing was perfect. His experience partnering with brands to turn purpose into movement highlights the best of business and branding. People using the energy they have for the purpose to drive the business and vice versa.

I spoke with creative, Michelle Hickey about how she balances productivity in an always-on work from home environment and why we shouldn’t feel guilty about our guilty pleasures.

About ten years ago, Keith Stoeckeler bought a domain on Squarespace and started All That Inspires Me, to simply document things that captured his attention on line. After expanding the site to host writing and posts from other voices and growing an audience, he shut the site down. Recently, he decided the time was right to focus on inspiration again. We talk about inspiration and a bit about our current state of affairs in this upbeat conversation.

When SXSW was cancelled last week, Nikki Sunstrum took notice. A few minutes later, she took action. She innocently suggested Virtual SXSW replace the event. And then, it came to life around a single tweet. You can hear about it here, and the amazing group of presenters and topics that will be streamed to Virtual Austin Group on Facebook on March 18, and 19.

I had the opportunity to sit down across thousands of miles of internet cabling with Tom Goodwin to discuss his new book, ReThink. He was open to breaking down and challenging the core concept and I think you’ll agree the conversation was a lot of fun. You’re hearing the author think on the fly.