What happens when an agency is built on teaching and not just executing? In our latest episode, Ren Akinci sits down with Kim Lawton, founder & CEO of Enthuse Marketing, to break down the non-negotiables behind sustainable creativity, the traps experiential teams keep falling into, and what agency leaders need to unlearn heading into 2026.

In this Episode Ren Akinci sits down with Claude Silver to discuss her new book Be Yourself at Work. Together, they explore the moment Claude knew this book needed to be written, the healing and emotional bravery behind it, and the parts of herself she once hid but now embraces.

Erin Fabio joins Ren Akinci for a candid conversation on what it takes to build and scale a marketing agency as a woman in an industry still catching up. They get into early barriers, pivots, leadership evolution, and the unfiltered realities facing female founders today

In this episode Ren Akinci speaks with Morana Bakula, President and CEO of Bond Brand Loyalty. In this conversation, Morana shares what sets Bond apart in the loyalty and customer experience space, offers an inside look at The Loyalty Report — the agency’s annual industry benchmark — and reflects on how brands can evolve to meet rising customer expectations. She also opens up about her journey as a first-generation immigrant leading a fast-growing agency into its next chapter.

Is deleting social media comments just “good housekeeping”? Madeline Krasno didn’t think so. Her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, deleted her posts about animal testing, leading her to file a lawsuit in 2021. Though a district court initially dismissed the case, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision in 2025, ruling the censorship unconstitutional. In this episode, Madeline shares how she turned her experience into leading Justify, a nonprofit supporting current and former lab workers.

In this episode, Ren Akinci sits down with Nathan Friedman, Co-President and Chief Marketing Officer of Understood.org, to explore the intersection of creativity, inclusion, and business strategy. Nathan shares how his personal journey with learning and thinking differences shaped his career and fuels his passion for building a more inclusive world.

We dive into insights from Understood’s recent study on neurodivergence in the creative industry, unpack the tension between valuing “different thinking” and actually supporting neurodivergent talent, and explore the untapped market potential of neurodivergent consumers.

This Week on Great Minds: People & Culture Ren Akinci is joined by Professor Joseph Fuller, a leading expert on workforce strategy from Harvard Business School. Together, they dive into why so many companies still treat talent like a spot-market transaction, how employers can reframe community colleges as strategic partners, and what it will take to move from degree-based to skills-based hiring. It’s a timely conversation for any leader rethinking how to build a more resilient and future-ready workforce.

After returning from her own parental leave to find her team struggling and her career momentum stalled, Allison Whalen knew this wasn’t just a personal challenge—it was a systemic issue. That insight led her to launch Parentaly, a company helping employers turn parental leave into a strategic advantage rather than a career disruption. In this episode, Allison joins, Ren Akinci, to talk about what most companies get wrong about parental leave, how to support both managers and employees through the process, and why leave isn’t just a benefits issue—it’s a leadership and retention issue. We also dig into the real impact of career disruption on working parents and explore practical, proven strategies that organizations can use to do better.