How do you take a business from a basement office in Queens to a $25 million company—without losing the personal touch that made it special in the first place?
Joining us today is Fred Meyers, President and Founder of Queensboro, a company that has revolutionized the custom logo apparel industry. Fred spotted a market gap while doing laundry in his college dorm room, long before e-commerce, fax machines, or even 1-800 numbers were mainstream. What started as a small side project in the late 1970s has grown into a thriving business with over 125 employees, helping small businesses across America build their brands through high-quality custom apparel.

About Fred Meyers

Fred Meyers is the founder of Queensboro, a company he started in the late 1970s that revolutionized the custom logo apparel industry. Before the existence of fax machines or 800 numbers, Fred identified a market gap in the premium polo shirt space dominated by brands like Lacoste and Ralph Lauren.

Through determination and innovation, he built a supply chain from scratch, transforming a college dorm room operation into a multi-million dollar company that has sustained growth for over 45 years. Today, Queensboro serves major clients like Costco, Burger King, and Pepsi, while maintaining its commitment to helping small businesses build their brands through custom apparel.

Resources

Queensboro website: https://www.queensboro.com

The B2B Agility podcast website: https://www.b2bagility.com

Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com

Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/b2b-agility/

Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com

Payroll isn’t exactly what you’d call exciting—so how do you take a - let’s face it - rather boring topic like that and make it relatable, engaging, and even funny enough to capture an audience’s attention?

Joining us today is Jason Ing, Chief Marketing Officer at Gusto, a leading platform that provides small and medium-sized businesses with payroll, health insurance, HR tools, and more to empower their teams both locally and internationally. Jason has spearheaded innovative campaigns like the recent "Choose Gusto" campaign, proving that even the most unexpected topics can connect deeply with audiences.

RESOURCES

Gusto: https://www.gusto.com

Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom

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Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com

The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow

The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Is your brand’s story building trust—or are you leaving credibility to chance?
Our guest today is Karla Jo Helms, Founder and CEO of JOTO PR Disruptors™. Karla is an expert in transforming B2B brands through innovative public relations strategies.
With a career dedicated to building trust, managing crises, and leveraging data-driven storytelling, she has helped countless businesses scale and thrive. She’s here to share her insights on harnessing the power of PR to elevate B2B brands, even in the most challenging environments.

Karla Jo Helms, Chief Evangelist and Anti-PR Strategist
Karla Jo learned firsthand how unforgiving business can be when millions of dollars are
on the line—and how the control of public opinion often determines whether one
company is happily chosen, or another is brutally rejected.
Being an alumni of crisis management, Karla Jo has worked with litigation attorneys,
private investigators and the media to help restore companies of goodwill back into the
good graces of public opinion—Karla Jo operates on the ethic of getting it right the first
time, not relying on second chances and doing what it takes to excel.
Karla Jo has patterned her agency on the perfect balance of crisis management,
entrepreneurial insight and proven public relations experience. Helms speaks globally
on public relations, how the PR industry itself has lost its way and how, in the right
hands, corporations can harness the power of PR to drive markets and impact market
perception.

Resources

Joto PR Disruptors™ website: https://jotopr.com/

The B2B Agility podcast website: https://www.b2bagility.com

Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com

Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/b2b-agility/

Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com