It's No Fluke

Shorty Awards
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AJR’s Adam Met, Million Dollar Listing’s Ryan Serhant, Community’s Yvette Nicole Brown, and brands such as Fanatics, Adobe, Shoprite, Comic Relief all have one thing in common - It’s No Fluke they found success. We explore the big ideas, the ups and downs in creative work and life, the inner workings of storytelling through thought-provoking and culturally relevant conversations with the most prominent and diverse voices, from creators to brands and the greatest minds of our time. Episodes drop each Tuesday morning. Stay tuned!

  1. E359 Brittnee Barnes: It's Time For a Vybe Check

    3 HR AGO

    E359 Brittnee Barnes: It's Time For a Vybe Check

    One of the biggest (of many!) frustrations with dating apps today is something most people know well: you match with someone who has a great profile, the texting is solid, and then you meet in person and realize there’s simply no chemistry. That exact disconnect inspired Brittnee Barnes, founder and CEO + Co-Founder of Vybes, to build the platform. Vybes is designed to help users understand that chemistry before committing to a first date through a feature called the Vybe Check, a quick in-app face-to-face call that lets people experience someone’s real voice, energy, and personality before meeting offline.  The platform also takes a more curated approach to dating. Vybes is application-based, verifies users through IDs and social accounts, and offers exclusive in-person events so members can connect beyond the screen. The company also launched Vybes Villa, a creator-led reality dating series that blends dating culture with unscripted storytelling. The first season, which launched earlier this year generated hundreds of thousands of views per episode, driving 50,000+ new applications to be submitted, 47% of new users are completing a Vybe Check within their first week on the app, and 2,000 users have already applied for Season 2.

    31 min
  2. E358 David Born: Making Licensing Strategic, Viable, and Scalable

    22 HR AGO

    E358 David Born: Making Licensing Strategic, Viable, and Scalable

    David Born is the Founder and CEO of Born Licensing, Born to License, and Learn to License, an integrated licensing ecosystem that redefines how brands understand, access, and unlock the value of entertainment intellectual property (IP). An industry innovator with nearly two decades of experience across both brand and agency sides, David specializes in making licensing strategic, viable, and scalable, helping brands to use IP as a meaningful business growth driver across marketing and commerce.  Founded more than 10 years ago, Born Licensing is the go-to agency for creative and advertising partners seeking to license iconic characters and entertainment IP for campaigns. Building on that foundation, David launched Born to License in 2024, an end-to-end licensing management company that acts as a strategic partner for manufacturers and businesses, alongside Learn to License, a comprehensive education platform.  Throughout his career, David has collaborated with top global brands including Uber, Disney, Google, Warner Bros., Paramount, Hasbro, Mattel, and Samsung among many others, as well as emerging direct-to-consumer brands like Hippo Blue, Plum Deluxe Tea, Steven Singer Jewelers, Elihome, WOLFpak, and Keepsake Cards, converting them into beloved brands by consumers and licensors alike.  David regularly shares expert insights on news, trends and opportunities through his Born to License podcast and content channels, and mentorship work. He serves as a Licensing Mentor for Daily Mentor (founded by Shark Tank Australia’s Davie Fogarty) and has been recognized as an industry leader by License Global as a Top 40 Under 40, featured in Licensing.biz’s Power 50 list, and as one of Brands Untapped’s Top 100.

    34 min
  3. E357 Jay Williams: Diving Headfirst Into The Unknown

    1 DAY AGO

    E357 Jay Williams: Diving Headfirst Into The Unknown

    Jay Williams is the Founder and Big Bird of Free Bird Southern Spring Water, a bold new beverage brand that’s putting real water back in the hands of real people. Free Bird is sourced from the Blue Ridge Mountains and is designed to celebrate the best of America. No buzzwords. No gimmicks. Just damn good water, made for those who work hard and live harder. Williams launched Free Bird after stepping away from a 25 year career in real estate, where he developed more than a billion dollars’ worth of multi-family and student housing development projects. Trading boardrooms for beverage production and development deals for distribution agreements, he built Free Bird from the ground up with zero industry connections—relying on hustle, curiosity, and a deep respect for his customers. Today, Free Bird is rolling out across America, gaining a loyal following of everyday Americans who see themselves in the brand’s unapologetically authentic identity. For Williams, it’s more than a business—it’s a salute to the backbone of America and proof that the best ideas often come when you’re willing to start over.

    30 min
  4. E356 Farra Kober: Measuring The Impact of Storytelling

    2 DAYS AGO

    E356 Farra Kober: Measuring The Impact of Storytelling

    Farra Kober is the VP of StoryWorks Americas, BBC Studios’ brand content studio and internal creative agency. An Emmy-award-winning content executive and brand marketer, Farra is passionate about creative storytelling with purpose. As a creative leader, she guides teams in driving growth, customer engagement, and sales through multi-platform content born of strategic insights and data.  Prior to joining the BBC, Farra held leadership positions at WeWork as Sr. Director of Global Content Marketing, at theSkimm as VP of Content Studios—leading their extension into branded content, podcasting, and web editorial—and at NBCUniversal. As Director of Digital for MSNBC, managing creative and operations of MSNBC.com, Farra led the company to its best-year-ever in digital video viewership and launched its first-ever podcasting arm, including Chris Hayes’ award-winning program, ‘Why Is This Happening?’

    36 min
  5. E355 Sona Khosla: Purpose-Driven Brands Outperform

    3 APR

    E355 Sona Khosla: Purpose-Driven Brands Outperform

    In her role as Chief Impact Officer, Sona Khosla is at the helm of Benevity Impact Labs, an incubator and social innovation lab. Sona and her team bring cutting-edge data, research and insights to help organizations and individuals maximize their impact and inclusion efforts, and authentically live their purpose. As the host of the Speaking of Purpose by Benevity podcast, Sona is also a frequent guest on shows and in the media because of her expertise and sharp insight on purpose-driven business and corporate social impact.

    33 min
  6. E354 Zach Katz: What the Music Industry Teaches Us About Scaling Creators

    1 APR

    E354 Zach Katz: What the Music Industry Teaches Us About Scaling Creators

    Zach Katz has spent more than 20 years building alongside creators at defining moments in their careers. He began as a music attorney before managing several of Dr. Dre’s closestcollaborators, spending years in the studio as Dre coached Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent. That early immersion shaped Katz’s belief that enduring careers are built on structure, ownership and long-term vision, not just hits. He later co-founded Beluga Heights, launching global stars including Sean Kingston and Jason Derulo. After more than a decade as a music entrepreneur, Katz became President of BMGNorth America, where he helped guide the careers of artists such as Juice WRLD, DJ Khaled, Janet Jackson, blink-182, DJ Snake and Bebe Rexha while overseeing one of the industry’s most influential rosters. He went on to partner with Scooter Braun to invest in emerging technology reshaping how creators grow and monetize audiences, and later served as President and COO of FaZe Clan, where he saw firsthand the lack of institutional infrastructure for digital-native talent. Today, as co-founder of Fixated, Katz is bringing traditional Hollywood and music-industry deal architecture, and long-term career strategy into what he views as the “new Hollywood”: the creator economy. His focus is on building durable infrastructure around digital talent the way record labels once built global superstars: with structure, IP ownership, strategic partnerships, and generational brand thinking.

    32 min
  7. E353 Kristina Monllos: Brands Know You Hate This…So Why Do They Keep Doing It?

    1 APR

    E353 Kristina Monllos: Brands Know You Hate This…So Why Do They Keep Doing It?

    Kristina Monllos is a senior reporter for Marketing Brew. She has spent over a decade covering the advertising business for publications like Digiday and Adweek. Her reporting has also appeared in publications like Rolling Stone, New York Magazine's Vulture and Elle, among others. She is also a filmmaker.

    38 min
  8. E352 Yann Caloghiris: AI's Impact on Creative

    31 MAR

    E352 Yann Caloghiris: AI's Impact on Creative

    Yann Caloghiris leads brand experience at Left Field Labs, creating immersive experiences where emerging technology becomes something people can actually feel. His work combines strategic thinking, real-time interactivity, and on-device AI to turn complex technologies into meaningful human experiences. He has led experiential programs for Google, Qualcomm, Salesforce, GitHub, Meta, Amazon, and Hasbro, including Snapdragon’s edge-AI demonstrations, Salesforce’s Agentforce City at Dreamforce, and Google’s AR navigation experience at CES. Yann is also the creator and host of For Breakfast, a podcast exploring creativity, technology, and the evolving nature of work in the age of AI. Through conversations with designers, filmmakers, and technologists, he examines what machines can accelerate, and what remains uniquely human. His perspective is simple: AI can generate possibilities, but effective creativity still depends on human insight, intuition, and connection.

    34 min
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About

AJR’s Adam Met, Million Dollar Listing’s Ryan Serhant, Community’s Yvette Nicole Brown, and brands such as Fanatics, Adobe, Shoprite, Comic Relief all have one thing in common - It’s No Fluke they found success. We explore the big ideas, the ups and downs in creative work and life, the inner workings of storytelling through thought-provoking and culturally relevant conversations with the most prominent and diverse voices, from creators to brands and the greatest minds of our time. Episodes drop each Tuesday morning. Stay tuned!

Information

  • Creator
    Shorty Awards
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    362
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Shorty Awards
  • Show Website
    It's No Fluke

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