What do you learn about yourself when you're alone in the mountains for a month with no plan and no one to impress? John Starkweather is the VP of Advertising at AT&T, but this conversation isn't really about advertising. It's about what happens when you get quiet enough to actually hear yourself, and what changes when you stop being so rigid about everything. This week, host Lauren Douglass sits down with John to talk about the breakthroughs that only come from long stretches in nature, why being flexible might be the hardest thing to learn, and what he realized about himself when his plan went completely off the rails. They get into the tension between AI and humanity, why real connections still matter, and how John's thinking about leadership shifted after he stopped trying to make everyone conform to him. John opens up about being his own worst enemy, what it means to actually listen, and why he introduces himself as a dad first, not by his job title. This is a conversation about slowing down, letting go of control, and figuring out what you actually want to leave behind.

Rachel Goldflam is building something from scratch, and she's doing it in a category that doesn't quite exist yet. As CMO of Sneex, a hybrid sneaker-heel brand, Rachel is figuring out how to normalize a product people have never seen before, get it on enough feet to reach a tipping point, and do it all with a scrappy team of four.

This week, host Lauren Douglass sits down with Rachel to talk about what it's really like to work at a founder-led startup after years at established fashion brands like Veronica Beard and Spanx. They dig into why fashion isn't vapid, how Rachel unlearned the rigid career rules she grew up with, and the feedback that changed everything when she was 22 and thought she had all the answers.

Rachel opens up about balancing motherhood with building a brand, why enthusiasm beats credentials every time, and what she learned from taking a risk she thought she wasn't "allowed" to take.

This is a conversation about scrappy ambition, learning what you don't want, and why sometimes the best move is the one that doesn't follow the rules.

Not all pivots are about moving up, some are about moving on. Dave Kersey is the Global Head of Media at SharkNinja, and his journey here includes a wrong phone number that changed everything, switching from architecture to media on a hunch, and learning the hard way when to walk away.

This week, host Lauren Douglass sits down with Dave to talk about career pivots, unexpected turns, and why he didn't leave a toxic work environment sooner.

Dave opens up about staying curious, building trust by being authentic all the time, and why no one cares about your career more than you do. This is a conversation about resilience, self-awareness, and learning when to protect your own worth.

Sunni Hickman spent 20 years working with some of the biggest brands in the world: Dollywood, the Harlem Globetrotters, amongst others, before stepping into what she calls her "desert season." A brand strategist and connector, she now has her own company, B. Sunni Hickman, where she helps organizations and audiences find their voice, own their story, and ignite growth.

This week, host Lauren Douglass sits down with Sunni to dig into what it's really like to start your own business and brand after years of corporate life. Sunni unpacks how she stopped hiding behind her work and started owning it, and how she's redefining success on her own terms. They dig into why women hide behind their work instead of claiming it, how Sunni's retraining herself to say "I did that," and why she believes AI will never replace marketers because it doesn't have a heartbeat.

This is a conversation about resilience, self-worth, and what happens when you finally let people see you, not just your work.

This week on Humans & Brands, we're doing something a little different and flipping the script as Courtney Johnson interviews our host Lauren Douglass on Courtney's podcast, Slay the Gatekeeper. This one's all about cheat codes. Lauren shares the cheat codes that have shaped how she shows up, builds, and creates, from reframing fear into courage, to using intuition as a business tool. The women dig into why your purpose doesn't have to stay static, how thinking like a kid unlocks creativity, and what it really takes to build a personal brand that opens doors. This crossover episode unpacks the messy parts of entrepreneurship, the power of vulnerability, and why sometimes the best move is to just start. Let's get into it.

Am I living or am I just existing? That's the question that hit Eleni McCready at a funeral three years ago, and it changed the course of her life.

This week, host Lauren Douglass sits down with Eleni McCready, Partner and Chief Marketing Officer at PWRHOUSE Collective, who recently left the corporate world after 20 years to leap into consulting. We talk about the funeral that changed her life, what she calls her "midlife awakening," and how she found the guts to leave a stable job without knowing exactly what came next.

Eleni shares the exercise that helped her realize what really mattered, what it's like to navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and the importantance of the spiderweb of connection.

If you've ever wondered whether it's time to make a leap, felt stuck in the day-to-day grind, or questioned what legacy you want to leave behind, this conversation is your reminder that the second half of your career can look however you want it to.

What does it take to turn down a full-time offer at one of the biggest beauty brands right out of college to start your own company? This week, host Lauren Douglass sits down with Brittany Lo, founder and CEO of Beia Beauty and Beautini, a clean beauty brand creating lifestyle skincare that keeps you clean and confident throughout the day. Brittany gets honest about what it takes to build a beauty brand at 22, how her first company became the stepping stone to building the brand she'd dreamed about since second grade, and why passion that keeps you up at night matters more than confidence. We talk about why being naive can be a blessing, learning to hear "no" over and over again, and why overnight success stories on TikTok don't show you the real work. If you've ever had an idea you can't stop thinking about but don't know where to start, this conversation will remind you that sometimes you have to be a little crazy and figure it out as you go.

What does it mean to keep the human at the center of everything you do? Host Lauren Douglass sits down with Heather Bollinger, Chief Revenue Officer at Vurvey Labs, an AI company that's built on a simple but powerful idea: AI should be powered by people, not replace them.

Heather's path is anything but linear: from anti–human trafficking work overseas in her 20s, to leading revenue at an AI company, she’s built her career on empathy, grit, and keeping the human at the center of everything. She gets real about her mantra "you can do hard things," why resilience means showing up even when you don't want to, and the crooked paths we all navigate.

This one's a grounded, inspiring listen for anyone navigating growth, AI, or just life itself. Let's get into it.