Media People Podcast Victor Genova

Cracking the media industry can be tough for an employee, but for an entrepreneur? Building something from scratch can be a tall order.

But it was a challenge that Sotero Bernardo was up for. Sotero is the Co-Founder, Head of Business Development at Coastal Digital Group—an experience agency combining creativity with technology.

The original goal was to make it in media sales. But sales opportunities are scarce when you’re fresh out of school, so Sotero took a job as a jr. media planner at Cossette Media—working on both the Nike and Sony PlayStation media accounts.

He moved into venue advertising before networking his way to a sales role with Ideon Media. His success led to a promotion along with expanded responsibilities that included managing people and acquiring new publisher representation deals.

But Sotero saw an opportunity within the creative space. He had a plan to capitalize on it, and co-founded Coastal Digital Group with his business partner.

Sotero Bernardo stop by to chat about growing up in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, attending high school in suburbia, working at McDonald’s, monetizing charisma lessons, his media sales career, and entrepreneurship in the ultra-competitive media space.

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Sales is a performative art, and presentations are like a play. Notes serve as the script, while the PowerPoint deck acts as the set. The boardroom the stage, and clients the audience. At the heart of the production—the sales rep.

When comparing the two professions, you can see why today’s guest, Kristie Painting, has enjoyed a successful sales career.

Kristie is Pinterest’s Country Manager for Canada, and while many people in her position have a marketing or business degree, Kristie majored in drama.

Her first job out of university was handling pharmaceutical orders. Kristie wasn’t enthused by the work, and quickly moved into media sales with NOW Magazine.

She progressed into roles with Yahoo! and DoubleClick, and ascended into leadership positions at Olive Media and Bell Media, to name a few.

Kristie Painting stops by to chat about growing up in suburban Toronto, her passion for the dramatic arts, her media sales career, why she took an agency job, and leading Pinterest’s Canadian office.

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When Valerie Tyson interviewed for a marketing role with the Charlotte Hornets, it was team owner and NBA legend, Michael Jordan, who handled her final interview.

And this is only one of the many stories comprising Valerie’s sports marketing career.

Valerie is the Co-Founder, Head of Strategy + Sports at Unrivaled Group—a female led, sports driven tech consultancy.

Valerie’s career didn’t start in sports, but local radio—running promotions for stations in Arizona and San Diego. She moved KLSX in Los Angeles, where it provided her first taste in sports marketing. It included LA Kings radio broadcasts along with west coast events for the Howard Stern Show.

She jumped at the chance to lead marketing for the LA Avengers inaugural season in the Arena Football League, and it was from here her sports marketing career took off.

Valerie Tyson stops by to chat about growing up in Chicago, why she studied journalism in university, creative ways to launch an arena football team, relaunching Charlotte’s NBA team after the original Hornets moved to New Orleans, and what she’s out to accomplish with Unrivaled Group.

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Kensington Grey is an influencer management agency rooted in diversity, representing an extensive roster of black and brown creators. At the heart of the agency is President & CEO, Shannae Ingleton Smith.

Born in Toronto, raised in Calgary, Shannae studied finance and economics in university. But marketing was her real passion. There wasn’t an option to major in it, so Shannae filled her electives with every marketing class available.

She moved into finance after graduation, but quickly pivoted into media sales with Mediaplanet Publishing.

Shannae moved to Rogers Media, holding sales roles at MacLean’s Magazine, Elevate Multi-Platform Sales, and leading a multi-million-dollar territory of education-based clients.

It was during this time that the seeds for Kensington Grey were planted. Shannae ran a private Facebook group providing business advice to black influencers. She noticed that opportunities were slim, and their services were undervalued. She saw an opportunity to rectify this, and Kensington Grey was born.

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Ian Dallimore is Lamar Advertising’s Vice-President, Digital Growth & General Manager of Programmatic, but his path to OOH advertising didn’t start with a typical agency job.

A New Orleans native, Ian’s original plan was to be a pediatrician. He studied medicine at Louisiana College while on a basketball scholarship. An injury nixed this, and he transferred to Louisiana State where he graduated with a degree in marketing.

He moved into minor league baseball, taking marketing roles with AAA affiliates of the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros.

Ian pivoted into OOH advertising with Lamar, rising from strategist to where he is today.

Ian Dallimore stops by to chat about growing up in New Orleans, running marketing for minor league baseball teams, why Michael Jordan is the GOAT, and working for Lamar Advertising. And be sure to check Ian’s podcast, the Digital Dirt Podcast—featuring conversations with inspiring and influential thought leaders from the advertising world.

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It’s difficult to refute social media’s supremacy in the platform hierarchy. Brands are increasingly trying to find new & innovate ways to leverage social for audience engagement.

And it’s exactly why they turn to today’s guest, Darcy MacNeil. Darcy is the Head of so.da—a full service, specialized, and award-winning social first agency.

Darcy’s career started behind the camera as a clearance coordinator. This involved securing commercial rights to content so it could be legally integrated into programming. Her work led to a series of producing jobs before she moved into content marketing, joining agencies like UM and getting the opportunity to start Mindshare Canada’s Content+ department.

Darcy MacNeil stops by to chat about growing up in suburban Toronto, playing ringette, why dance is such big part of her life, how a pop culture history class at the University of Victoria got her thinking about a career in media & journalism, and running one of Canada’s largest social digital media agencies.

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