Kansas City Marketing Legends
The marketing business is like an iceberg. What the public experiences in a :30 second spot on television or online is the tip of the iceberg. So too is the piece of positive publicity about a company or product that someone reads or the piece of persuasive content that lands in their computer or phone. All just the tip of the iceberg.
What’s below the proverbial tip is what this podcast is all about. It’s about the people behind the ideas and the effort that it takes to conceive and produce them. And it’s about all the blood, sweat, and tears these folks gave and the fun and laughter they had while doing it. Most important, the stories we will tell all happened right here in Kansas City.
Our idea is simple. Let’s reach out to all the people who made the Kansas City marketing community what it is today. What we are today is a city of creative powerhouses of all sizes doing work not just across the metro or region, but across the nation and the world.
Welcome to the Kansas City Marketing Legends Podcast!
Brought To You By — evolution Audio Post Production // Springboard Creative // KC Ad Club // PRSA of Kansas City
Episodes
27 episodes
Jack Schmid // Direct Marketing Pioneer | Founder, J. Schmid & Associates
In this episode of Kansas City Marketing Legends, we sit down with Jack Schmid, a true pioneer who helped put Kansas City on the direct marketing map. From his early days at Fingerhut to launching the Halls catalog at Hallmark and eventually bu...
Brian Brooker // Creative Leader | GSD&M, Barkley, Bernstein-Rein, Garmin
Brian Brooker didn't just write ads. He wrote campaigns that ran for years and years, helped Southwest Airlines find its voice under the legendary Herb Kelleher, and built a 100-person creative org as CCO of Garmin. From his early days at Berns...
Season Two Wrapped. Time for Season Three!
Season Three of KC Marketing Legends kicks off the way every good conversation should, by looking back before looking forward. Sam and Mike reunite to dig into the common threads that ran through Season Two: the mentors who shaped careers, the ...
Pete Kovac // NKH&W
Pete Kovac is an absolute legend in the advertising world and a founding partner of the iconic agency NKH&W. Pete’s been part of the Kansas City marketing scene for decades, with a career that stretches from working on the client side, to r...
Jim Glynn // Glynn Devins
Up next is Jim Glynn, the co-founder of the legendary senior living agency Glynn Devins. Jim and his partner George Devins started from scratch and built one of the most respected firms in the senior living space.Jim’s story is a great r...
David Westbrook // Corporate Communications Group
David Westbrook has shaped Kansas City’s marketing and communications world in a big way. He’s the founder of Corporate Communications Group, and his story is incredible. From navigating challenges as a blind student to building a powerhouse PR...
Harry Campbell // Sprint/Embarq
Harry Campbell’s name comes up a lot when you talk about marketing in Kansas City — and for good reason. He’s had a standout career that’s taken him from Procter & Gamble to Sprint, with several entrepreneurial ventures in between. Whether ...
Nick Vedros // Vedros Photography
Nick Vedros is a true legend in visual storytelling. Nick’s photography has taken him all over the world, from right here in Kansas City to big stages with some of the biggest brands, top publications, and creative agencies out there. Whether h...
Matt Anthony // VML
If you’ve listened to this podcast before, chances are you’ve already heard his name. Matt Anthony isn’t just a Kansas City advertising legend — he’s one of the foundational forces behind it. Trace almost any thread through the local marketing ...
Deb Turpin // River City Studio
Deb Turpin didn’t just ride the waves of change in the design world — she helped shape them.Back in 1985, Deb co-founded River City Studio and built it from the ground up into one of Kansas City’s most admired creative agencies. For 25 y...
Mike Goff // Sprint
Mike Goff is someone who’s left a lasting mark not just on Kansas City, but on the national and global stage. Mike’s career spans the agency world, the corporate world, and now the fast-growing space of fractional CMO services. He’s worked with...
Joe Greene // American Century/Bernstein-Rein
Joe Greene is a true marketing heavyweight whose career spans both the client and agency worlds. From launching groundbreaking mortgage campaigns at Dreyfus to helping American Express dig out of a $300 million-hole, Joe has been at the center ...
Siobhan Lesley // Valentine Radford/Walz Tetrick
Today, we’ll hear the inspiring journey of Siobhan Lesley — one of the forces behind the success of Valentine Radford, one of Kansas City’s legendary agencies, where she rose all the way to President. Siobhan’s story is rooted in leadership, pu...
Al Eidson // Eidson & Partners
From the cockpit to the boardroom, Al Eidson’s career is a masterclass in leadership and reinvention. He started out flying C-141 cargo planes across the Pacific in the Air Force, then moved into the corporate world at Procter & Gamble, hel...
Ann Willoughby // Willoughby Design
Season Two kicks off with the trailblazing Ann Willoughby, founder of Willoughby Design. Her story begins in the aisles of a small department store in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where she sketched fashion illustrations that would mark the start ...
Welcome to Kansas City Marketing Legends Season 2
Welcome to Season Two of Kansas City Marketing Legends!After the incredible energy and inspiring conversations of Season One, we knew we had to come back for more. This season, we’re diving even deeper into the stories and insights of th...
Season 1 // It's a Wrap
As they say, it's a wrap! Season One of Kansas City Marketing Legends is in the books. We are extremely grateful to all of you who have listened to our conversations with the legends of Season One and look forward to offering up more legends wh...
Becky Blades // Blades & Associates
Becky Blades is the ultimate startist. Her second book is titled Start More Than You Can Finish. That certainly describes Becky to a tee.As you will hear into this episode of Kansas City Marketing Legends, Becky not only started a lot of...
Scott McCormick // VML
So, three ad guys are sitting around in one of their homes one summer talking about how to create a new approach in the marketing business. No this is not the start of a joke. It’s exactly how the world’s largest agency was born right here in K...
Pasquale Trozzolo // Trozzolo Communications Group
Pasquale Trozzolo, without a doubt, founded one of our city’s premier agencies. Trozzolo Communications Group is an exemplary example of a family business. It also is a company that has recognized over the years how to grow through smart acquis...
Andy Fletcher // Fletcher/Mayo; Barkley
What’s it like to have your dad be your boss? Well, our guest today on Marketing Legends of Kansas City can tell us. Andy Fletcher worked for his dad at Fletcher Mayo and learned a thing or two there about the marketing business, especially in ...
Landa William // LandaJob
Chances are more than a few of you have Landa Williams to thank for a job or for an employee hire in a Kansas City agency or company. And even if you didn’t, you absolutely know a few people who did.LandaJob is her company’s name, and sh...
Larry Wheeler // Boasberg Wheeler
There can be no dispute that Ewing Kaufmann is one of the most impactful and influential business leaders in Kansas City history. In this episode of Kansas City Marketing legends, we hear from one of our own legends what it was like to work for...
Bill Fromm // Barkley
Bill Fromm was a born entrepreneur. He ran a dry-cleaning delivery service in college and his dream was to come back to Kansas City and start an advertising agency.He made that dream come true and opened the doors of his agency on June 1...
Whitey Kuhn // Kuhn & Wittenborn
Hallmark is not just one of Kansas City’s most revered companies, but it has also contributed to the overall growth of the creative community in the city. One of the best examples of that is the partnership that developed between Whitey Kuhn an...
