This episode is for brand leaders who are ready to stop waiting and start creating.

Toni Ronayne is the founder of the C-Society and a fractional CEO, specializing in enterprise and brand transformation for growth-stage and scaling brands. She partners with founders, boards, and executive teams during moments of complexity, helping align brand, operations, people, and strategy to drive sustainable performance.

After years climbing the traditional corporate ladder at Starbucks, LIttle Caesars, Freshii, Perkins and more, Toni saw what many leaders are experiencing: fewer seats at the table, flatter org charts, and a leadership model that doesn't fit modern businesses or real life. Instead of forcing herself back into a shrinking mold, Toni built something new: an innovative, fractional leadership model that gives brands access to senior talent when they need it, and gives leaders a way to create true impact without burning out.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

A timely conversation for leaders who want more freedom, more creativity, and a clearer way to build what comes next.

Books: The Enneagram Test

Brand: Knix and Mandy’s Gourmet Salads

Beverage: Gin and tonic or spicy margarita mocktail

Song: “Unstoppable” by Sia

Modern marketing offers more tools than ever before. But Eleanor’s message is clear: growth doesn’t come from doing more, it comes from doing the right things well.

Eleanor is the founder and CEO of Verity, a shopper marketing and retail media agency helping up-and-coming brands grow in a world made for big-brand incumbents. After a career at PepsiCo and high growth challenger brands like Kodiak Cakes and Siete Foods, she saw brands often confuse access with traction and activity with progress.

Eleanor breaks down what actually drives brand growth today and what gets in the way when teams chase new tactics before the strategy fundamentals are in place.

✨What challenger brands can do that legacy brands can’t, and how to leverage it

✨Why in-store still matters, even as retail media and e-commerce grow

✨Where to focus when budgets are tight and velocity matters most

✨Why marketing can’t fix broken unit economics and what leaders should fix first

✨How to decide which growth levers are worth pulling now, and which to ignore

A practical conversation for brand leaders navigating modern marketing and shifting consumer expectations without losing sight of what actually moves their business.

Book: Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz

Song: “So Much Better” from Legally Blonde

This conversation is a rare treat.

Roxanne Quimby is co-founder and former CEO of Burt’s Bees, artist, conservationist, philanthropist, and one of the most influential brand builders of the last half-century.

Roxanne doesn’t seek the spotlight. She seldom gives interviews, doesn’t let anyone take her picture, and almost never appears on camera. In this episode, she generously shares the ideas, routines, and values that created one of the most trusted brands of our time, and how she stays creative to make historic and lasting impact.

Roxanne spent years living off the grid. This nature-led lifestyle became the foundation for Burt’s Bees, the iconic personal care brand that helped redefine the beauty category long before “clean,” “organic,” or “purpose-led” became industry buzzwords.

Under her leadership, Burt’s Bees scaled nationally and internationally, eventually selling in two landmark transactions that valued the company at more than $900 million. For Roxanne, the exit was not an ending, it was a beginning.

Using the proceeds from the sale, Roxanne donated more than 87,000 acres of land to help create Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument, along with tens of millions of dollars to the National Park Service and other causes.

Today, Roxanne has come full circle, returning to art, conservation, and hands-on creativity. We talk about her latest projects, and how she continues to create, collaborate, and give in ways that will inspire brand leaders everywhere.

✨ How to build a brand people love by staying grounded in truth and simplicity

✨ Why humor and humanity help stories travel further than polished marketing

✨ How nature’s pace teaches patience and incremental change compounds

✨ Why choosing what not to do can be just as powerful as what to pursue

✨ What it looks like to turn success into true, lasting and shared, impact

A sweet reminder that the most enduring brands, and the most creative lives, are cultivated with integrity and courage to stay creative in every chapter.

Roxanne’s Creative Inspiration

Books: Food photography and cookbooks

Brands: Cheerios and Quaker Oats

Beverage: Espresso martini

Song: Call Me By Your Name

The best trends reflect deeper, lasting shifts in how we shop, eat, and behave. If you want to understand which trends are gaining real traction, and what they mean for your brand and business, this sneak preview of the year ahead is especially for you.

Megan Lynberg is Senior Vice President of Client Strategy at Datassential, the world’s leading intelligence platform tracking the most relevant trends. Her work predicts what will impact consumer categories from restaurants and CPG to personal care and beauty.

Megan shares how Datassential helps the best restaurant, retail, and CPG companies translate consumer insights into ideas, evaluate new concepts, and find white space earlier. And she explains how you can plan, prioritize, and innovate with confidence.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✨ How Datassential uses AI (and has before it was cool) to forecast top trends with 98% accuracy to inform and inspire ideas across industries

✨ Why more approachable or incremental, brand-inspired innovation often outperforms chasing short-lived trends

✨ The biggest macro shifts shaping 2026 and how brands distinguish meaningful, lasting trends from fleeting fads

✨ How brand leaders vet new ideas and validate concepts before investing time, money or operational upgrades

✨ Why collaboration between operators, manufacturers, marketers and insights teams is the new superpower for innovation

A must-listen (or watch) for brand leaders who want to transform data into clearer brand direction to get ahead in the New Year.

Megan’s creative inspiration:

Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Brand: Buc-ee's

Beverage: Boulevard Beer

Songs: “Glorious” by Macklemore and “Rosalita” by Bruce Springsteen

If you’re trying to spot new opportunities earlier, build best-in-class brands faster, and think bigger for ideas that define complete categories, you’re in the right place.

Jack Gibbons, CEO of FB Society (creator of Velvet Taco, Whiskey Cake, Sixty Vines, Haywire, Mexican Sugar, Legacy Hall and more), shares how he and his team turned a portfolio of new-to-world concepts into a true powerhouse.

Jack pulls back the curtain on how breakthrough ideas are sparked, shaped, protected, and scaled with soul. He also shares how his rise from server to COO to CEO fuels the creative risks behind FB Society’s continued success.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✨How to think bigger by intentionally carving out time to break away from the day-to-day and discover new possibilities

✨How multi-unit, multi-brand operators (“MUMBOS”) can win by centralizing what ensures efficiency and safeguarding what creates distinction

✨The exact DNA framework FB Society uses to keep their concepts unique and growing, year after year, even through industry headwinds

✨Why execution is the real indicator of success, and how to use traffic, reviews, and constant feedback loops to keep brands moving forward

✨How to apply the same brand-building systems to inform and inspire your wellness journey, including Jack’s now-famous 40-pushup club

A must-listen for any brand builder who wants to grow their business faster, spot white space earlier, and unlock bigger ideas.

Jack’s creative inspiration:

Book: The Wealth Money Can’t Buy by Robin Sharma

Brand: Hillstone

Beverage: Tequila reposado on ice with an orange slice

Song: “More Than a Feeling” by Boston

What does it take to communicate with clarity, confidence, and creativity so that you move rooms, mobilize teams, and communicate ideas worth spreading?

Briar Goldberg, one of the world’s most sought-after communications coaches and the force behind hundreds of the most iconic TED Talks, shares the essential skills today’s leaders need to break through noise, complexity, and shrinking attention spans.

As the Head of Speaker Coaching at TED, Briar has coached CEOs of Meta, Ford, and Levi’s; Nobel laureates; Oscar and Grammy winners; founders and executives. In this episode, she reveals what the best communicators do differently, and how everyday brand builders can apply the same tools for campaigns, board meetings, and more.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✨ Why “audience before content” (the ABC rule) is the fastest path to clarity, influence, and trust

✨ The art of shaping a single powerful idea and why most messages fail from the very beginning

✨ How to prepare for high-stakes presentations (and why rehearsing in your head won’t cut it)

✨ Why humor, humanity, and specificity will separate compelling communicators in the AI era

✨ The behind-the-scenes stories of coaching top scientists, innovators, and leaders shaping the future

A candid, practical conversation about courageous, audience-first communication from the coach who helps the world’s best speakers inspire action, and how you can, too.

Briar’s creative inspiration:

Books: Humor, Seriously by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas; Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini and The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Brands: Midi Health, TUSHY

Beverage: Paper Plane

Song: “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” by John Denver

What does it take to lead a 60-year-old legacy brand into its next, new era while staying optimistic, quality-focused and people-first?

Heather Neary, President and CEO of Taco John’s, shares lessons learned during her rise from Auntie Anne’s marketing manager to CMO-turned-operations leaderand then to one of the very few female chief executive officers in her industry.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✨ Why fun and hard work can (and should) co-exist, and why humanity is a competitive advantage for true and lasting impact

✨ How Heather bridged the infamous marketing-ops divide and why understanding operations is the fastest way to be a better brand leader

✨ The real reasons women fall out of the leadership pipeline, and what must change to support the next generation of female CEOs

✨ What to do when your brand goes viral overnight (including how Heather led a systemwide pivot that gave away 20,000 meals in 72 hours)

✨ How to stay nimble in an unpredictable economy and why the future belongs to leaders who can pivot fast, simplify, and focus

✨ An uplifting episode about optimistic leadership, operational mastery, and brand building from one of the industry’s most beloved CEOs.

Heather’s creative inspiration:

• Books: Begin with We by Kyle McDowell and The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma
• Brand: Buc-ee’s & high-quality operators everywhere
• Beverages: Black coffee and red wine + collagen and creatine
• Song: “Mama Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J

What does it take to stand out early in your career, stay creative as you rise, and lead teams so they are inspired to follow?

Todd Smith, President of Swig and longtime brand builder (Sonic, Wendy’s, Yum! Brands, ROCTACO, Flake), shares the honest lessons behind bold thinking, humble leadership, and taking risks even when you can’t see what’s on the other side.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✨ Why success has less to do with titles and wins, and more to do with your willingness to step into the unknown

✨ What building your own brands teaches you about resilience (and why failure can often be your greatest teacher)

✨ What leaders get wrong when they say they want candor, and how to actually create a culture where teams tell you the truth

✨ How to shift from “being the best in the room” to “building the best team” using questions that unlock bigger thinking

✨ Why Swig’s magic isn’t just dirty soda; it’s Daymakers, first-sip rituals, and moments that turn customers into superfans

A playbook to turn failure into fuel, curiosity into candor, and big thinking into courage.

Todd’s creative inspiration:

• Book: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
• Brand: Ferrari
• Bevs: Island Time and Waikiki
• Song: “Rock Star” by N.E.R.D. (Pharrell)