In this episode, Wendy MacKenzie Pease interviews Marta Grutka, a global operator with 30+ years of experience leading cross-border initiatives in highly complex environments.

A U.S. citizen by birth and career expat by choice, Marta has lived in major international media and government centers across APAC, EMEA, and the U.S. In 2025, she was recognized as one of the World’s 50 Most Influential Business Women Making a Difference for her impact on more than 100 communities – from the Mannequin Pis to the Merlion.

Marta shares firsthand lessons from managing multilingual teams in emerging markets, running daily operations with real-time interpretation, and navigating high-stakes environments where infrastructure, language barriers, and compliance requirements collide. She walks through how miscommunication impacts execution, why global strategies fail at the operational level, and how to implement simple but effective frameworks to maintain clarity across teams.

The episode also dives into intellectual property protection and anti-piracy efforts across Asia, showing how enforcement, education, and localization strategies must work together to shift behavior in complex markets. From COVID-era crisis management to building systems for accountability across languages, Marta provides a grounded look at what it takes to operate globally without losing control of compliance, quality, or brand integrity.

• Where global regulatory execution breaks down: How language gaps, unclear ownership, and cultural misalignment create risk across submissions, labeling, and documentation.
• How to operationalize multilingual teams: Real examples of running daily standups with live interpretation, structured reporting (announcements, agreements, actions), and maintaining accountability.
• How to reduce compliance risk across markets: Why miscommunication—not strategy—is often the root cause of regulatory delays and errors.
• What anti-piracy and IP protection teach us about global enforcement: How shifting messaging, local engagement, and education can change behavior in complex markets.
• How to build resilient systems during crises: Lessons from managing teams and operations during COVID in low-infrastructure environments.

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In this episode of the Global Marketing Show, Dr. Sarita Jackson, Founder and CEO of Global Research Institute of International Trade, shares her expertise on the intricate world of international business expansion. Having guided over 30 U.S.-based companies through the challenges of exporting and importing in 2025, she explains how tariffs, trade agreements, and country-specific regulations can create both risks and opportunities for growing businesses. From helping medtech, building safety, and cosmetic companies to navigate complex trade policies, Sarita demonstrates the importance of understanding not just the market, but the specific product, its classification, and how trade agreements like USMCA can impact costs and competitiveness. She also discusses the often-overlooked “non-tariff barriers” that can hinder market entry, emphasizing the need for precise, tailored research before investing in new markets.

Through real-world examples, Sarita illustrates how data-driven market research and customized strategies help companies avoid costly mistakes and identify markets with the highest potential for sustainable growth. She breaks down how to evaluate international opportunities, consider consumer behavior and demand, and pivot when initial market assumptions don’t match reality. This episode is packed with actionable insights for business leaders, marketers, and entrepreneurs who want to expand globally without getting blindsided by hidden risks.

What listeners will learn:

• How tariffs and trade agreements actually impact exporters and importers, including why where your product is manufactured can dramatically change your cost structure.
• The hidden “non-tariff barriers” that trip up companies abroad, from regulatory hurdles to discriminatory market practices that can block entry even when tariffs aren’t an issue.
• Why data-driven market research beats gut instinct when choosing international markets and how the right strategy can uncover overlooked opportunities while avoiding costly expansion mistakes.

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In this forward-looking episode of The Global Marketing Show, Wendy MacKenzie Pease sits down with Justin Seibert, founder of Direct Online Marketing, a Premier Google Partner offering search engine marketing and other forms of digital advertising to clients around the globe. Justin unpacks what global marketing looks like in a world increasingly driven by AI search engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. With 25 years in digital marketing and clients in 30 countries, Justin shares how his agency evolved from traditional SEO and paid search into what he calls Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): the art and science of getting recommended by AI.

This isn’t just a tech conversation, it’s a global one. From helping Australian exporters break into the U.S. market to running localized campaigns in French, German, Italian, and Greek, Justin explains why professional translation and cultural nuance still matter even in the AI era. The episode explores how reputation, localization, cross-border partnerships, and strategic positioning all intersect in today’s intent-driven marketing environment. If AI is reshaping how buyers discover and shortlist companies, this conversation is your roadmap to staying visible (and credible) across languages and borders.

• What Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) actually is and why it may overtake traditional SEO within the next two years.
• How AI-driven search changes buyer behavior, creating higher-intent, pre-educated prospects before they ever visit your website.
• Why reputation, localization, and cultural positioning are critical to showing up in AI results and how to adapt messaging across global markets without fragmenting your brand.

This episode is essential listening for exporters, international marketers, and growth-focused service firms who want to future-proof their visibility in an AI-first world.

Check out The Global Marketing Show Blog.