In this must-listen for small business owners, Dusti sits down with Laura Sprinkle—affiliate strategist and founder of Rootabl, an affiliate platform built for modern online businesses. Laura lays out why we're not in a "trust recession"…we're in a trust revolution—and how SMBs can capitalize by designing referral worthy experiences and smarter affiliate programs.

• Trust > tactics: Why buyers are choosier (and how to earn referrals that stick).

• Keystone partners, not "affiliate armies": Go deeper with 5–20 aligned partners while still empowering your customer "pollinators."

• Affiliate UX matters: Make it stupid-easy for partners to share and get paid (assets, links, attribution—no friction).

• Micro-influencers win: Smaller creators + genuine stories = higher conversion and brand lift.

• For newer owners: Start building relationships now. The sale may come later—the network equity compounds today.

• Personal growth: The hardest lesson Laura learned (asking for help) and why it changes everything.

Laura Sprinkle is an affiliate strategist and the founder of Rootabl, lightweight affiliate software purpose-built for creators and online businesses. She's helped run and advise some of the biggest partner campaigns in the space and is on a mission to make sharing what you love (and getting paid for it) radically simpler.

In this episode of Referral Worthy, host Dusti Arab is joined by Samara Bay, bestselling author of Permission to Speak and a sought-after speaking coach. Samara shares how coaching actors on accents in Hollywood led to coaching leaders on voice, presence, and the courage to sound like themselves. She explains why she chose to scale her ideas, not herself, and how B2B partnerships let her do deep, long-term work with rising executives and culture shapers.

They dig into what actually lands in 2025. Viral moments are emotional, yet most teams still reward flat delivery. Samara breaks down why the old rules around authority are outdated, how to use one upcoming talk as a Trojan horse for broader leadership growth, and why permission is not something you get from the outside. It is an embodied choice. The conversation also touches on activism, choosing service over hot takes, and giving yourself the freedom to have a lower-visibility era so you can do work that matters.

What listeners will take away:

• A practical lens for speaking that people feel, not just hear

• How to use a single high-stakes presentation to rewire your leadership presence

• When to choose B2B over B2C so you can do deeper work without burning out

• Why emotion is memorable, how to use it responsibly at work

• The difference between external permission and embodied permission, and why it changes how you sell, lead, and get referred

Samara Bay is a speaking and leadership consultant and Professor of Practice at USC's Annenberg School. She's the bestselling author of Permission to Speak and a behind-the-scenes guide to forward-thinking leaders across tech, culture, social impact, and politics. A former Hollywood dialect coach (credits include Gal Gadot), she shifted during a high-stakes election cycle to help rising political voices. Her mission: change the story of what power sounds like—so we change who has power.

In this episode of Referral Worthy, host Dusti Arab sits down with Melissa Cassera, a screenwriter, author, and publicity strategist with a portfolio career that spans movies, novels, VIP publicity days, and even on-camera gigs. Melissa breaks down what is working now for authors and founders, why traditional media is no longer the slam dunk it once was, and how to think about publicity as public relationships that you own.

They get into the reality of publishing in 2025, including why many Big Five launches rely on the author's own platform, the quiet power of digital sales, and how one-star reviews can sell more copies than you think. Melissa shares her drip, trickle, flow framework for revenue, the joy-first lens that makes launches sustainable, and a practical look at AI from inside the enterprise world.

What you will learn

• How to design publicity that builds buyers, not just buzz

• Why traditional media hits rarely convert on their own, and where to focus instead

• The real math behind book sales, print vs digital, and why direct sales can outperform

• How to plan a joyful, sustainable launch that you can actually keep doing

• When a traditional deal helps, when it hurts, and what hybrid models look like

• A clear-eyed take on AI for creatives, plus how to educate yourself without the doom spiral

Melissa Cassera is a screenwriter, author, and publicity strategist. She works with authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs through focused VIP publicity days and builds revenue across multiple streams, from screenwriting to spicy pen-name releases. She hosts the podcast Drip Trickle Flow Flood.