A Brave New Podcast

Josh Dougherty
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Biweekly

Great marketing is all about making smart decisions, developing your discipline, understanding and meeting the needs of your prospective customers, and putting in place the right systems to make the whole process easier. A Brave New Podcast, with brand and marketing strategist Josh Dougherty, is here to teach you how to truly unlock your business potential through the power of marketing! Each episode will bring you insights, best practices, and top strategies from a variety of business leaders and marketing & sales experts. Tune in to A Brave New Podcast to learn how to build a more memorable brand and accelerate your growth with bold marketing.

  1. 1d ago

    Building Trust in Digital Health, with Geoffrey Schiavon

    Geoffrey Schiavon is a marketing leader with more than 15 years of international experience driving growth through B2B2C business models across ecommerce and health tech. His expertise spans performance marketing, customer engagement, strategic partnerships, and go-to-market strategy, helping businesses build lasting relationships and drive sustainable revenue growth. Before joining dacadoo as Head of Marketing & Client Success, Geoffrey spent nine years at Webloyalty, where he held a variety of marketing leadership roles, partnering with leading retailers and ecommerce businesses across Europe to deliver scalable customer acquisition and retention programs. Today, Geoffrey helps insurers, banks, and retailers leverage AI, behavioral science, and gamification to create engaging digital health experiences that improve customer wellbeing and business outcomes. Outside of work, Geoffrey is a licensed private pilot and enjoys exploring the intersection of technology, precision, and lifelong learning.  What you'll learn about in this episode: Why trust is the foundation of healthcare branding and how it shapes customer interactions. How dacadoo differentiates itself through personalization, engagement, and a holistic approach to health. How messaging evolves to address the unique needs of insurers, employers, retailers, and healthcare organizations. Balancing brand, product, and performance marketing, including how these functions work together to drive growth and measure success. Why retailers are an important growth opportunity and how wellness is creating a new customer engagement. How AI is improving efficiency and influencing the future of marketing. Additional resources:  Geoffrey Schiavon on LinkedIn dacadoo newsletter on LinkedIn dacadoo's website Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's website

  2. Jul 15

    Marketing at Scale, with Ashley Buehnerkemper

    Ashley Buehnerkemper is Director of Marketing at VitalSkin Dermatology, where she has led marketing and brand strategy since the company's inception in 2019, growing the platform from its earliest locations to more than 40 today. Her role spans far beyond traditional marketing: as a member of VitalSkin's executive leadership team, she owns the martech stack, performance reporting, and brand governance across a fast-growing, multi-brand dermatology group, with a particular focus on driving tight alignment between marketing and operations. Before joining VitalSkin, Ashley spent 11 years at Heartland Dental, the largest dental support organization in the country, where she rose from managing marketing for a handful of offices to leading corporate communications and brand management across a network of 800+ locations and $1B+ in annual revenue. There she led a multi-million-dollar corporate rebranding initiative and built the systems that fueled acquisition growth, learning firsthand that marketing only works when it's built in true partnership with operations. At VitalSkin, that philosophy has shaped her approach to scaling a company built through partnership with strong regional dermatology practices, each with its own identity and community roots. Ashley is known for pairing data-driven rigor with an insistence on keeping the patient experience personal, never letting scale come at the cost of the local relationships that make each practice trusted in its market. She lives in Effingham, Illinois, with her husband Jay and their two daughters. What you'll learn about in this episode: How VitalSkin manages multiple local and regional brands while maintaining consistency and a local presence. VitalSkin's strategy for supporting numerous clinics effectively, including the use of standardized MarTech stacks and templated resources. Why collaboration across teams like marketing and operations is essential to delivering a seamless patient experience. Best practices for selecting agencies and vendors that can support long term growth. How AI is streamlining operations while leaving creativity and storytelling to people. How patient feedback, online reviews, and local search strengthen both reputation and brand, including strategies for gathering and maintaining them. How playbooks, templates, and local ownership create consistency across a growing network of practices. Additional resources:  Ashley Buehnerkemper on LinkedIn  VitalSkin's website Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's website

  3. Jul 8

    Where Brand Building & Performance Marketing Intersect, with Kristi Annes

    Kristi Annes is a healthcare marketing executive with more than 15 years of experience building brands and driving growth at some of the most influential companies in health IT.  Kristi currently serves as VP of Marketing Strategy at IMO Health, a private equity-backed leader in clinical intelligence and data solutions, where she has spent nearly a decade defining how the company shows up in the market. When IMO Health acquired Melax Tech, she led the marketing integration — unifying teams, technology, and execution to deliver impact from day one. Her path to that role ran through one of health IT's most notable transactions: the IBM acquisition of Merge Healthcare. As Director of Performance Marketing at Merge, Kristi was retained post-acquisition to lead segment marketing inside IBM Watson Health, guiding a specialized healthcare brand through the demands of integrating into one of the world's largest technology organizations. Earlier in her career, Kristi held marketing leadership roles at the American Hospital Association, where she helped launch AHA SmartMarket, and began her career in brand and creative strategy at Shaker Recruitment Advertising. Kristi holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Illinois State University. What you'll learn about in this episode: How IMO Health keeps its mission focused on improving patient and clinician experiences while developing AI-ready solutions. How Kristi defines branding beyond logos and visuals, and why emotional connection and trust are essential in B2B healthcare. Why enterprise healthcare buyers make decisions emotionally, and how brands that deliver clarity, reliability, and human centered messaging stand out in complex markets. How collaboration between brand, content, product, and performance marketing teams create cohesive campaigns, leading to stronger business impact. How Kristi's team approaches attribution, pipeline generation, and ROI during the complexities of long healthcare buying cycles. How interactive virtual experiences, research-driven surveys, and creative engagement are outperforming webinars and generating meaningful conversations with prospective customers. Practical ways AI is helping marketing teams automate reporting, content creation, and operational tasks. Why future marketing leaders will oversee both people and AI agents, balancing automation with strategy, ethics, and relationship-building. Additional resources:  Kristi Annes on LinkedIn IMO Health's website Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's website

  4. Jul 1

    HubSpot Sensitive Data Update, with Hank Lander

    Product Management and innovation enthusiast, Hank Lander, currently serves as a Group Product Manager at HubSpot, focusing on Customer Data Protections. Hank's expertise lies in launching new products and building product pipelines. Prior to his current role, he was the Director of Product at ZoomInfo and worked at multiple early-stage startups. Hank holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from MIT Sloan School of Management and a BS in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. What you'll learn about in this episode: How AI is reshaping sensitive data governance inside HubSpot. Which portions of HubSpot support HIPAA compliance via sensitive data Why AI features that touch sensitive data must be opt-in, scoped, and auditable How HubSpot is embracing the concept of "toggle off" data access so that customers can decide if they want AI to not touch specific data. How HubSpot is building in  'undo' capabilities with AI integrations like Claude, to provide more control to users. How AI can improve quality and streamline workflows before the work reaches your team. Why AI-powered audit logs will become a proactive tool for security and governance. What the future of CRM looks like as humans and AI agents work together. Additional resources:  Hank Lander on LinkedIn HubSpot's Website HubSpot Sensitive Data Understand how Sensitive Data is used in HubSpot tools Store Sensitive Data in HubSpot Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's Website

  5. Jun 24

    The Branding Multiplier, with Josh Dougherty

    Josh Dougherty is a brand strategist, speaker, and the founder and CEO of A Brave New, a Seattle-based branding agency that crafts bold and memorable healthcare brands. They have specific expertise in healthcare technology, hospitals and specialty care providers, and healthcare nonprofits. Josh has 15 years experience building new brands from scratch, refreshing existing brands and building strategies to bring those brands to life in the market. What you'll learn about in this episode: How your brand can serve as a multiplier of your marketing efforts if you've take the time to craft a bold and differentiated brand memory. How your brand can limit marketing performance if it's not fully thought through or expressed. The difference between brand and marketing, also why treating them as the same thing can create growth challenges. Why you can't optimize your way out of a brand problem when the brand foundation isn't strong. How brand acts as a multiplier on marketing efforts, increasing or limiting the impact of every dollar spent. Three signs you're facing a brand problem rather than a marketing problem. How to strengthen your brand by aligning what you're offering with existing memory, building consistent presence, and defining what makes you unique. Practical ways healthcare orgs can strengthen their brand without slowing growth initiatives. Three diagnostic questions leaders can use to evaluate whether their brand is helping or hindering growth. Additional resources:  Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's Website

  6. Jun 10

    Service Pivots and Brand Evolution, with Jennifer Sargent

    Jennifer is a seasoned healthcare leader with expertise in leading start-up and high growth organizations, with a proven track record of executing on go-to-market and growth strategies in the employer, payor and provider channels.  Jennifer currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Pacify Health, a leader in tech-enabled Maternity Management Solutions.  Previously, Jennifer served as General Manager and Chief Commercial Officer for Vera Whole Health, an advanced primary care organization and at Optum as Senior Vice President, Commercial Growth.  Jennifer serves as a board member for Zero Health, a leader in employer direct contracting and as the Board Chair for the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies.  Jennifer holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and an MS in Kinesiology from the University of North Dakota. What you'll learn about in this episode: How Jennifer and the Pacify team made the strategic decision to expand from on-demand lactation into a doula-led maternity management model What the research actually shows about doulas' impact on clinical outcomes and birth experience How to apply "calculated bravery" when making a fundamental shift to your business model Why Pacify chose to evolve its brand positioning rather than rename the company How to balance brand messaging across complex audiences, including members, providers, paying customers, and internal teams Why education and human outbound calls are essential to driving engagement, even for free services How Jennifer thinks about the role of AI and technology in a deeply human care experience Additional resources:  Jennifer Sargent on LinkedIn Pacify Health's Website Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's Website

  7. Jun 4

    Brand Architecture and Healthcare M&A, with Josh Dougherty

    Josh Dougherty is a brand strategist, speaker, and the founder and CEO of A Brave New, a Seattle-based branding agency that crafts bold and memorable healthcare brands. They have specific expertise in healthcare technology, hospitals and specialty care providers, and healthcare nonprofits. Josh has 15 years experience building new brands from scratch, refreshing existing brands and building strategies to bring those brands to life in the market. What you'll learn about in this episode: Why branding decisions during mergers and acquisitions shouldn't be treated as an afterthought. The hidden cost of delaying brand strategy until after a deal closes. The three main brand architecture approaches: monolithic brands, endorsed brands, and house of brands. How to determine which brand architecture approach is right for your organization.  Why understanding buyer behavior is critical when evaluating brand consolidation. How brand architecture and on the ground teams can serve as a driving force in aligning leadership around how to communicate about the future of the combined organizations Why tactical branding changes made under pressure often create long-term challenges. Additional resources:  Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's Website

  8. May 27

    People Are the Brand: How VitalPath Builds Trust Through Execution, with Bridget Locke

    Bridget Locke is Vice President of Strategic Marketing at VitalPath, a leading contract design and manufacturing partner focused on complex catheter solutions for the medical device industry. She specializes in helping highly technical B2B organizations translate complex capabilities into clear market positioning, scalable growth strategies, and high-impact customer engagement. With experience spanning strategic marketing, sales alignment, brand development, M&A integration, and commercial strategy, Bridget has built and led growth initiatives across the medtech manufacturing ecosystem. Her career has included leadership roles at Vantedge Medical, ATL Technology, Heraeus Medevio, and Northwire, where she partnered closely with executive teams to align marketing, sales, and business strategy in complex and regulated industries. At VitalPath, Bridget focuses on building a brand centered around collaboration, technical partnership, responsiveness, and innovation, helping OEMs accelerate the development and commercialization of next-generation catheter technologies. She is particularly passionate about aligning strategy with execution, creating strong sales and marketing integration, and leveraging emerging technologies like AI to enhance both customer experience and operational effectiveness. Based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul medtech hub, Bridget brings a practical, growth-oriented perspective on branding, leadership, and the evolving future of medical device innovation. What you'll learn about in this episode: How VitalPath differentiates in a competitive market by being the responsive, collaborative specialist rather than the large generalist. Why the strongest MedTech brands are built on focus and people, not capabilities lists. The importance of understanding your customer journey and what it looks like to map that out in a B2B contract manufacturing context. How Bridget approaches sales and marketing alignment, including her perspective on having sales operations aligned within the marketing organization. What marketing in a PE-backed company looks like, and how to think about your four distinct audience profiles. Where AI is adding value today in MedTech marketing, and where the human touch can't be replaced. Additional resources: Bridget Locke on LinkedIn VitalPath's Website Josh Dougherty on LinkedIn Josh Dougherty's speaking site A Brave New's Website

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5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Great marketing is all about making smart decisions, developing your discipline, understanding and meeting the needs of your prospective customers, and putting in place the right systems to make the whole process easier. A Brave New Podcast, with brand and marketing strategist Josh Dougherty, is here to teach you how to truly unlock your business potential through the power of marketing! Each episode will bring you insights, best practices, and top strategies from a variety of business leaders and marketing & sales experts. Tune in to A Brave New Podcast to learn how to build a more memorable brand and accelerate your growth with bold marketing.

Information

  • Creator
    Josh Dougherty
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Brave New
  • Show Website
    A Brave New Podcast