Media People Podcast

Episode 119 of the Media People Podcast is LIVE with Reboot Consulting Group Managing Partner & Founder, Kerry Harris. We chat:

From sports media to crisis management, TIEJA INC. Founder and Communications Strategist, Tieja MacLaughlin joins Episode 118 of the Media People Podcast. We chat…

The birth of a media agency? Obsessed Media is fresh to market! Co-Founder Danny Weisman stops by Episode 116 to chat all about it and more. We cover… - Obsessed Media’s origin story - Advising clients on buying expensive Super Bowl spots - What exactly is “The Most Index”? - Saving the NBA All-Star Weekend - How different media brands are leaning into different genres **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/ www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast

Table 9 Productions Founder & Creative Director, Matt Manuge is my guest. We chat… - Starting Table 9 Productions - How networking & reputation directly impacts freelance work - Living off credit card debt between freelance gigs - His tenure at Blue Ant Media - Why professional wrestling is a lifelong passion **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/ www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast

Kabil Rahaman is the Head of Commercial Data at The Globe & Mail—leading the company’s charge in the application of data monetization. Born in Zambia to Guyanese parents, Kabil and his family moved to Canada when he was three—settling in Brampton, Ontario. He studied anthropology at the University of Waterloo, dabbled in sales after graduation, before making the jump into ad operations with Suite 66. He moved agency side, holding senior roles at Accuen and Omnicom Media Group. Kabil Rahaman stops by to chat about growing up in Brampton, why his influences range from George Orwell to Ken Griffey Jr, his career in advertising, and leading data monetization at The Globe & Mail. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@MediaPeoplePodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/ www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast

Isaac Adejuwon is the CEO and Founder of Metricsflow—a cutting-edge, privacy-friendly data attribution solution for marketers. A native of Nigeria, Isaac’s early life had its challenges. Electricity and running water were inconsistent, while there was no infrastructure for home internet. Much of his time was spent farming and playing soccer, but it was the introduction to a physics textbook that would spark a lifelong passion for science. That passion carried him to the University of Lagos where he majored in physics. He continued his studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering. Isaac Adejuwon stops by to talk about growing up in Nigeria, his passion for science, why he chose to relocate to Canada, his experiences as a Nigerian-Canadian entrepreneur, and where the idea for Metricsflow came from. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtu

Chris Quinn is the co-founder of ProOps Consulting, a consultancy dedicated to accelerating operational efficiency and proficiency within the digital media ecosystem. Chris was born in Sudbury, Ontario, raised in Cambridge, and spent his teenaged years living in Brazil and Italy. He studied business and marketing in university & college, and took up an internship with a TV branding agency. Chris quickly learned that creative advertising wasn’t for him, and jumped at the chance to move into a role focused on operations with Rydium. Operations is where Chris found his groove, and his career grew to include senior level roles at Suite 66, Olive Media, Kijiji Advertising, and Loblaw Media before founding ProOps. Chris Quinn and I chat living and learning on three different continents, being a Bob Dylan fan, returning to Canada for university, passing on a career in creative advertising, spending a decade at Kijiji, and why he decided to start ProOps Consulting. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter**

Shelley West is the Chief Revenue Officer at Elite High Performance—an organization specializing in human-centric mindset coaching and high-performance leadership training for teams and individuals. Born in Manchester, England, and raised in Toronto, Shelley’s early years were defined by her passion for dance. She studied different types, taught, and graduated from the prestigious Randolph College for the Performing Arts. Changes to the professional dancing landscape forced Shelley to rethink her pro career. She pivoted into media with Brunico, before assuming sales leadership roles with Rogers, Cimoroni & Company, and MiQ. Shelley West joins me to chat about her dancing career, why she retired from dance at 23, her move into media sales & adtech, and how Elite High Performance is redefining leadership development. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/ www.ti

What do Paris, New York City, Boston, London, Toronto, Montreal, and Fernie, British Columbia have in common? They are all places that make up the (somewhat) nomadic life and career of today’s guest, Will Rizzuto. Each location plays an integral part in Will’s story. He’s American, but spent his infant and pre-school years in Paris. The majority of Will’s youth was spent in New York City, but he attended university in Boston, returned to New York City to start his career in adtech before moving to London where he met his future Canadian wife, whom he relocated to Canada with. And in-between he found time to indulge his passion for skiing on a fulltime basis. Will Rizzuto, Sr. Manager, Advertising Sales & Partnerships at TELUS stop by to chat about his early life in Paris and New York City, studying business at Northeastern University, finding his way into adtech, the fast-paced story behind his relocation to London, his road-trip sabbatical from media, and helping to lead TELUS’ foray into media and data

Rob Meyers is the Managing Director and Partner at VERSUS—a studio crafting highly creative, one-of-a-kind work for brands and agencies. A New Jersey native, pop culture played a big role in Rob’s early life. He refers to himself as an avid reader—everything from books to comics and was heavily invested in both TV and movies. Studying Television, Radio, and Film Screenwriting at Syracuse University provided the education Rob needed to pursue his interests professionally. He’s held a number of creative roles and has written and produced for the likes of BET, ESPN, NFL, Nickelodeon, CNN, and USA Networks—to name a few. Rob Meyers stops by to chat about growing up in New Jersey, the life of a freelance writer and producer, why he started working for a homeless charity after 9/11, and how VERSUS is shaking up creative advertising. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagram.com/vic

What does a strategy director do at a creative agency? According to VML’s Rory Petty—you figure things out. This includes everything from writing the creative brief to consulting with the client marketing team—with any number of things in-between. Creative is actually a recent move for Rory. His advertising career started in broadcast media at Carat’s London office. He took a role as a Planning Account Manager at Mediavest, before relocating to Toronto to continue his career. Rory Petty stops by to chat about growing up in a village outside of London, how studying the human side of geography prepared him for a career in advertising, how the advertising industry in London differs from Toronto, and his move from media to creative. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/ www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast

The word “coach” is closely aligned with sport, but it’s becoming ever more synonymous with the corporate world. More people are employing experienced professionals to provide career coaching. Sometimes that coach is a colleague and sometimes it’s an outsider bringing fresh advice & insights. And that’s exactly what today’s guest, Theresa Smith, does for her clients. Theresa is the founder of The LeaderSmith—a company providing executive coaching and leadership development coaching, for all levels. This includes emerging leaders right up to the c-suite. And Theresa has a tremendous amount of wisdom to impart. Her media career started in print sales with the Financial Post, before pivoting into digital with CANOE and MSN Canada. Most people familiar with Theresa’s story will recognize her from Olive Media, where she served as VP of Product, General Manager & VP, and President. Theresa Smith stops by to chat about growing up in Strathroy, competitive figure skating, why she studied history in universit

Heads+Tales Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Amanda Shuchat, is part of a team that’s flipping the agency model on its head. Heads+Tales offers best-in-class integrated marketing services while focusing on high-performance coaching to foster greatness. And Amanda is ideally placed to disrupt the agency model. Her career begins as a PR Intern with Strategic Objectives, and continues into senior roles at Hill+Knowlton, Citizen Relations International, and Middle Child. The roster of clients Amanda has worked with is equally as impressive, and include Kraft, Pfizer, HP, Motorola, Canada Goose, and Endy—to name a few. Amanda Shuchat stops by to chat about her early life in Toronto, completing high school in Israel, negotiating and reselling Yogen Fruz local elementary schools, why she studied journalism, her career in PR, and taking the entrepreneurial leap with Heads+Tales. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeo

Media and commerce are closer than ever before. Retail Media is the term used to reference this convergence. And it’s where today’s guest, Victoria Cromie, is leaving her mark. Victoria is the Managing Director, Canada for Mars United Commerce—a global commerce company, dedicated to driving growth for brands and retailers. Before helping retailers get more hustle out of their media dollars, Victoria was applying similar principles to her babysitting business. While most teenagers were sitting around waiting for referrals from friends & family, Victoria was putting up flyers around the neighbourhood and generating her own leads. She honed her marketing skills at York University and Sheridan College before jumping into agency life with Carat. Victoria Cromie stops by to chat about growing up in Toronto, her affinity for do-it-yourself projects, working on the Hyundai and Ford media accounts, selling Olympic-calibre balance beams on Amazon, and her move into retail media. **Subscribe to the Media People N

When CHUM Radio wanted to monetize its online audience for the first time, they called Debbie Benadiba. When Rogers Media launched its first online, on-demand streaming video app, they called Debbie Benadiba to lead ad sales. Debbie has a knack for launching new advertising products to market. There are other examples I can touch on—they include both mobile and OOH advertising, but you’ll have to listen to this episode to hear those stories. Debbie Benadiba, CEO of Talon OOH Canada, stops by to chat about growing up in Toronto, her love of dance, how her original life plan was to become an orthodontist, why she left agency life early in her career for media sales, and what lured her back into the agency world. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/ www.tiktok.com/@media.people.podcast

Brigitte Sachse is the founder of Bee Video Production—a digital video producer specialising in branded content. But securing content production budgets from clients such as the Toronto Star, Accenture, and the Royal Bank of Canada is a bit of a 180 from her early work. Before founding Bee Video Production, Brigitte’s career focused on providing public and private financing for documentaries, TV shows, and feature-length films. This included reviewing grant applications for the Canadian Media Fund & the National Film Board of Canada, and advising private media lenders on which TV shows and movies to invest in. Brigitte Sachse stops by to chat about her nomadic childhood, cleaning kennels, why she studied business and french literature in university, a career in public and private media financing, and the founding of Bee Video Production. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagra

Pary Bell’s CV is stacked with leadership roles at some of Canada’s biggest media companies including, but not limited to, the CBC, Rogers Media, and TorStar. He’s made a career of leading organizations through digital transformation, but his original plan didn’t involve building teams, managing people, and navigating internal politics—Pary’s first love was drawing. Pary studied General Arts at Queen’s University, but departed after two years to pursue a Fine Arts Degree at Emily Carr University of Art & Design. It was difficult making it as an artist, and Pary made the choice to enroll in the Communications & Multimedia program at Centennial College. He aggressively chased an internship opportunity with the CBC, and his digital media career took off. His current role? Leading The Podcast Exchange. Pary Bell, CEO of The Podcast Exchange stops be to chat about growing up on a farm outside of North Bay Ontario, the impact sport has had on his life & career, his passion for drawing, and leading teams and d

Sue Haas is the President and COO of NLogic—Canada's leading provider of audience analysis technology and data. But Sue’s career didn’t start in data and analytics. Her first job in media was an internship on eTalk Daily, researching and writing interview questions for celebrities like Phil Collins, John Mayer, and Nelly. This was a complete shift from her childhood in the rural town Melbourne, Ontario. How rural? No cable TV, dial-up internet was the norm, she had to travel one town over just to go to school, and there weren’t many opportunities for part time work. Sue Haas stops by to chat about her growing up on a hobby farm, studying English and Journalism in university, a career that includes everything from digital product development to getting John Mayer coffee, and what NLogic has in store for the future. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/ htt

It’s episode 100 and we welcome back our episode nine guest, Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada President, Sonia Carreno. Sonia was only a handful of months into her presidency when we first chatted back in 2015. Nine years later, Sonia returns to talk about how the IAB Canada has evolved under her leadership, while providing insight into how the organization tackles issues and shapes policy impacting the digital media industry. A big thank you to all of our loyal listeners and past guests. We couldn’t have hit the 100-episode milestone without your support. **Subscribe to the Media People Newsletter** mediapeople.beehiiv.com/subscribe **Listen & Subscribe** www.mediapeople.ca www.youtube.com/@mediapeoplepodcast www.instagram.com/vicgenova/