The BroxtenDigital Show

Broxten Davis
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The BroxtenDigital show focuses on the advertising and marketing industries, representing a resource for young professionals and students in the industry to learn from some of the best already doing it! Host Broxten Davis interviews some of the best & brightest in advertising and marketing, sharing the key tips and secret hacks that will skyrocket your career, straight from the Directors, Vice Presidents, Presidents, and C-Suites who have already done it.

  1. 6d ago

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 22: Matty May

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ Everyone tells students that if you don't land the big internship, you're already behind. Matty May built a 20-plus year career at Paramount, and she says that idea is exactly the wrong way to think about breaking in. This episode is her real playbook for starting a career in media: she's a VP of Convergent Ad Sales, a Michigan State advertising grad, and a certified leadership coach, and she has spent decades watching what actually separates the people who make it. We get into how a marketing degree turns into a career when you stop waiting for permission and start creating your own experience. This is for students and young marketers who keep hearing that it's internship or bust and feel stuck when the "perfect" opportunity doesn't show up. Matty breaks down the mistake most people make in the job hunt, why smaller organizations can teach you more and faster than the big names, and how volunteering and freelancing (especially if you know how to work the socials) turn into the network and the resume nobody else has. She gets into her own MSU story, what ComArtSci and its professors do differently, why she pours so much back into students, and what her actual day job pitching convergent ad deals at Paramount looks like. We get into the leadership coaching angle, reframing setbacks, staying adaptable as the industry shifts around you, and why real AI fluency right now is one of the fastest ways to stand out. Here's what I keep thinking about: you start your career as a nobody, then if you keep grinding and adding wins, one day you wake up in a VP seat. You don't have to wait for the title to start building this skill. Give it a watch and let me know which piece of advice you're actually going to take action on. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: Two Spartans, One Show 1:30 The Biggest Job-Hunt Mistake Students Make 3:45 Why Smaller Organizations Beat the "Dream" Internship 5:10 Freelance and Volunteer Your Way to Experience 8:40 What MSU ComArtSci Does Differently 11:20 Professors Who Actually Lived the Career 13:30 Why She Pours Back Into Students 16:45 Inside Her Day Job: Convergent Ad Sales at Paramount 19:20 How to Network the Right Way 24:30 The Coaching Side and Reframing Setbacks 29:40 What Inspired Her to Start Coaching 33:30 Selling Big Deals Without Losing Yourself 40:00 Staying Adaptable as the Industry Shifts 42:40 Cannes and Learning AI on the Job 46:30 Why AI Fluency Is Your Career Edge 50:20 Rapid Fire: Pizza, People to Follow, and MSU Love 55:30 Final Thoughts and Go Green, Go White Connect with Matty May: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matty-may-pcc-3407871/ Mentioned in this episode: - Evan Shapiro, media cartographer, a great free follow to understand where the industry is headed - Matthew Belloni and The Town podcast for the business behind media and entertainment Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

  2. Jul 10

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 21: John Vehlewald

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ I see performance marketing brought up everywhere but almost never actually explained, so I got someone who ran it at scale. This episode is John Vehlewald's full story: MSU advertising student to VP of Marketing at Rocket, and how he built a marketing career along the way. He got his foot in before LinkedIn was even a thing, printed out resumes and applied through Monster, started in sales, and just kept stacking one opportunity on top of the next until he was running marketing for one of Detroit's biggest names. If you are trying to figure out how a marketing degree turns into an actual career, John has the blueprint. This is for students and young marketers who keep hearing 'performance marketing' and want to know what it actually means and how to get into the space. John zeros in on the part people skip over: at the end of the day, it's always about spending money and pulling in more than you put in. The channels shift. The tools change. The math doesn't. We get into why starting in sales toughens you up, why a big company or agency is a great first move, how he built his brand on LinkedIn without complaining into the void, why the relationships you make early pay you back a decade later, and how to actually start learning AI instead of just slapping "AI expert" on your profile. The one that stuck with me: when John hires, he is not looking for the person with the perfect resume, he is looking for the curious one who digs deeper and asks the next question. That is the skill you can start building today, for free, before anyone gives you the title. Give it a look and let me know which advice you're actually going to take action on. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: Meeting a Fellow Spartan 1:26 From MSU Advertising Grad to Rocket VP 2:51 Breaking In Before LinkedIn Existed 4:15 Why Starting in Sales Toughens You Up 6:22 Landing at Quicken and Getting Noticed 11:29 Performance Marketing, Actually Explained 15:33 The Fundamentals That Never Change 16:08 Learn by Doing and Just Ask for Help 17:30 Networking Your Way Into the Industry 18:50 Big Company vs Small: Where to Start 23:36 Building Your Brand on LinkedIn 25:56 Standing Out in a Brutal Job Market 28:49 Why Relationships Pay Off Years Later 30:54 Getting Into AI Without the Hype 35:03 What He Looks For When Hiring 37:11 Spartan Talk and Favorite MSU Spots 39:17 How to Actually Start Learning AI Today 42:43 John's Open Offer to Listeners 46:11 Final Thoughts Connect with John Vehlewald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnveh/ Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

  3. Jul 3

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 20: Avin Narsimhan

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ Avin Narasimhan is the Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis Media, and his career is the kind you point to when someone tells you the path is a straight line. It wasn't. He quit his first job with no backup plan, printed off resumes and went door to door before LinkedIn even existed, cold emailed his way in, and built one of the most respected strategy careers in the business from there. RGA on MasterCard, rebuilding comms planning at PHD, seven years up to Chief Strategy Officer, and on from there. This episode is how he did it, and what he'd tell you if you're trying to break in right now. I wanted to make this one for anyone staring at the scary headlines about AI and entry-level jobs and wondering if there's still a way in. Avin graduated right before the Great Recession, so he has lived the version of this that was equally scary, if not worse, and his answer is the most reassuring thing I have heard on the show. We get into why the industry needs your perspective more than ever, why a point of view is the real thing that gets you hired when everyone has the same degree, the reason curiosity is the one skill nobody can teach you, why you should always take the call, and how guarding every relationship pays you back a decade later. The one that stuck: never stop acting like you're three. A three year old asks 300 to 400 questions a day, and by the time we hit six, school beats it out of us. Avin thinks holding onto that is what makes a great strategist. I think it's what makes a great anything. Give it a watch and tell me which piece of his advice you're actually going to use. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:54 Marketing in the bloodline 2:34 The professor who pointed him to advertising 5:01 Quitting without a job to break in 9:52 Seeing what great strategy really looked like 10:13 The leap to PHD that became his best decision 16:36 Breaking in when the headlines are scary 18:18 Why the industry needs your perspective 21:45 A point of view is what gets you hired 23:01 Why senior people actually want to help you 25:54 Advice for your first few years 29:40 Guard every relationship 32:22 Always take the call 35:40 The one thing they can't teach: curiosity 52:13 The hard skill that still matters: storytelling 56:29 What he's driving now 57:55 Rapid-fire: who to follow 62:57 Advice to his 22-year-old self 64:04 Final thoughts Connect with Avin Narasimhan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinnarasimhan/ Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

  4. Jun 26

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 19: Kevin Mangini

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ Kevin Mangini's done marketing work at Warner Bros. Records, MTV, and FXX, helped NewsNation find its footing as a national news network, and then hit the world record for higher-ed fundraising using the same approach. He's done a bit of everything you can do in this business. This episode is about how he pulled it off. I wanted to make this one for anyone who has ever been told to pick a lane and stay in it. Kevin is proof that the lanes are way more open than they look, as long as you know how to market. We get into the actual decisions that let him jump from record labels to cable to news, why he took a job for half the pay at 29 to get into the right lane, how to pitch an idea in a room full of egos, and why he thinks storytelling and owning your own career story are the skills that matter most for our generation. Learned a ton from this one. I really believe you're the guardian of your own story, which is why you need to start documenting it. Give it a view and let me know what hit you the most. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 2:03 Breaking in: record labels and a leap of faith 3:46 MTV at the center of youth culture 6:45 The Jackass x Nintendo safari stunt 8:10 Learning the craft inside an ad agency 9:09 WGN America becomes NewsNation 13:30 Take the right lane, not the raise 26:37 The Simpsons marathon that broke cable 31:16 Why giving back compounds your career 36:26 Going independent after nine years 42:08 Rapid-fire value segment 44:12 You are the guardian of your story 49:24 Advice to his 22-year-old self 51:49 Final thoughts Connect with Kevin Mangini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmangini/ Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

  5. Jun 19

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 18: Fran Westbrooks

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ In Episode 18 of The BroxtenDigital Show, I'm joined by Fran Westbrooks, founder and president of Boulevard, a Detroit creative agency he started in 2010, and the incoming president of Adcraft Detroit. Fran walked off the street into a junior copywriter seat with zero design experience, then helped build a startup shop into an extremely successful multicultural agency. We get into how he broke in, why he thinks my generation has the biggest opportunity in advertising right now, and the mindset shifts that separate the people who last from the people who burn out. This one is packed with real, actionable advice for students and young marketers: how to create your own space while you break into the industry, why "the best time to look for a job is while you have one," and the difference between being passionate as a personality trait and being passionate with a purpose. Fran also breaks down why great advertising is really just one plus one, how he reads culture, and the soft and hard skills he'd tell every young pro to lock in today. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:11 How Fran broke in (the non-traditional path) 4:47 Breaking into advertising today: carve your own path 10:23 The best time to look for a job is while you have one 12:28 Building a billion-dollar multicultural agency from a startup shop 16:16 Stepping into leadership (the positions came to me) 20:04 The $8M deal that vanished and what it taught him 22:45 Why advertising is really just one plus one 26:08 Culture is life: taking the color out of culture 31:36 The startups Boulevard is betting on 36:51 Brands that transcend: Red Bull, Nike, and owning a feeling 42:02 What he would tell his 22-year-old self 44:15 Rapid fire round 51:51 Wrap up Connect with Fran: LinkedIn (AdFran): https://www.linkedin.com/in/fran-westbrooks-3209265/ Boulevard: https://boulevarddetroit.com Adcraft Detroit: https://www.adcraft.org Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

  6. Jun 12

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 17: Dipa Gandhi

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ How does someone go from a master's in animal physiology and HIV research to Director of SEO? Dipa Gandhi did exactly that, and in Episode 17 she walks through the whole non-linear path. Dipa is the Director of SEO at 99 Calls and a Platinum Google Business Profile Product Expert. She was one of the company's first employees and has spent 15 years watching the SEO space change almost weekly. She came back into the workforce through a work-from-home data entry job that quietly turned into organic SEO and lead generation. I honestly think her story is one of the most reassuring ones we've had on the show for anyone who feels behind or unsure about their path. Here's what we get into: • How a data entry job became a 15-year SEO career • Why keeping an open mind beats locking into one major or role • How to keep up when your field changes every single week • Getting over the fear of sending that first LinkedIn connection • The number one soft skill and hard skill to build for 2026 • What is actually moving the needle in SEO now, from Google Business Profile to AI Overviews Dipa Gandhi is the Director of SEO at 99 Calls, a digital marketing company that helps home service businesses like plumbers, HVAC, and electricians grow. She is also a Platinum Google Business Profile Product Expert. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:36 Meet Dipa: 15 years at 99 Calls 02:25 How SEO has changed in 15 years 03:24 How to keep up when the field changes weekly 05:53 Starting in data entry, not knowing what SEO was 08:07 Turn your day to day into your own case study 10:08 Networking when your network is tiny 13:30 Posting on LinkedIn before you feel ready 16:38 Finding a passion for SEO 17:00 From HIV research to Director of SEO 21:19 What's moving the needle now: GBP and AI Overviews 26:20 Rapid Fire Value Segment 28:24 The #1 soft skill for 2026 29:40 The #1 hard skill right now 33:12 People to follow in SEO 36:02 One thing she'd tell her younger self 38:27 Where to find Dipa Connect with Dipa Gandhi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dipa-gandhi/ Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

  7. Jun 5

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 16: Scott Hess

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ How do you go from a poetry degree and a yogurt-shop job to Chief Marketing Officer at one of the largest advertising agencies in the world? Scott Hess did it, and in Episode 16 I got him to lay out exactly how. Scott is a Global CMO at Publicis Media and one of the sharpest voices on youth culture in the industry. He took the long, anxious way into advertising, and this conversation turned into a full career playbook for any student or young professional trying to break in. I honestly think it's one of the most useful episodes we've recorded. Here's what we get into: • Why the most senior people in the room actually want to talk to you • How to ask for what you want, and why people usually say yes • The three relationships that make you un-fireable at any agency • Why your career is more like hitchhiking than a straight line • How to handle early-career anxiety and pressure • Why you don't need to see the whole path to keep moving Scott Hess is the Chief Marketing Officer at Publicis Media, previously EVP at Spark Foundry / Starcom. His TEDx talk on Millennials has over 700,000 views, and now he's providing killer insights and advice for Gen Z marketers & advertisers on The BroxtenDigital Show. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:00 Why senior people want to help you 05:38 The unconventional path: poetry degree to advertising 12:33 What work was like before the internet 19:00 Commit to a job for a year, not a daily referendum 22:49 The story you tell yourself, and the power of the pause 30:52 Getting "cold" when the stakes are highest 34:44 Stop waiting to be noticed: ask for what you want 38:44 The un-fireable playbook: senior champion, client, peers 42:32 Build real relationships, not a network 44:56 You don't have to see the whole path 49:40 Where to find Scott Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

  8. May 29

    The BroxtenDigital Show - Episode 15: Nicole Milazzo

    Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis-6b050a239/ I'm joined by Nicole Milazzo — Associate Director, Learning & Development at Publicis Media. Her actual day job is coaching the entry-level talent inside one of the largest media-agency networks in the world, which means the audience of this show is, quite literally, her audience too. I asked her the questions every 22-year-old should be asking their L&D lead but never gets the chance to. In this episode we cover: - The "complete accident" that landed her in media in 2011 with an English & business degree, and the 10-year media-buying career at Starcom that came before the L&D pivot - Why Gen Z actually shows up to an agency at a disadvantage on soft skills (it's not what you think) and the 4-to-6-month onboarding curve every entry-level hire should give themselves grace for - The slow, methodical career pivot she ran from Associate Director on the media side into a full-time L&D role — including the 6 months of career counseling, the Org Psych master's done nights-and-weekends, and the volunteer work that ultimately became her job - Whether the master's degree was actually worth it (with a real answer, not a recruiter answer) — and how to know if it's right for you - The number one soft skill she tells every early-career marketer to build now: over-communication, and what it actually looks like in practice - The hard skill most associates wait too long to develop and regret later (it isn't Excel) - The "wacky" free learning resource she swears by — and why "horizontal networking" with the peers you're coming up with might matter more than chasing the CMOs above you - The two pieces of advice she'd give 22-year-old Nicole: imposter syndrome is real, and pace yourself before you burn out Nicole drops a TON of actionable, demystifying advice for anyone in the first 0–3 years of an advertising or marketing career — and a lot of it is the opposite of what the LinkedIn algorithm wants you to hear. Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing! Follow the show on Instagram for more daily value and insights: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow/ ⏱ Chapters 00:00 Intro: meet the L&D lead who trains the people watching this show 01:07 The "complete accident" — how an English & business major ended up in media 09:23 Why Gen Z onboards slower than they think — and the 4-6 month grace period nobody tells you about 18:30 Networking, alumni connections, and the introvert's case for reaching out anyway 27:55 The slow pivot: earning the L&D role before they paid her for it 35:38 Is a master's degree worth it while working full time? An honest answer 45:24 The #1 soft skill (over-communication) and the #1 hard skill every associate should build now 58:18 Advice to 22-year-old Nicole: imposter syndrome is real, and pace yourself 🔗 Connect with Nicole - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-milazzo-86b274a/ #DigitalMarketingPodcast #AdvertisingPodcast #YoungProfessionals #MarketingPodcast

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About

The BroxtenDigital show focuses on the advertising and marketing industries, representing a resource for young professionals and students in the industry to learn from some of the best already doing it! Host Broxten Davis interviews some of the best & brightest in advertising and marketing, sharing the key tips and secret hacks that will skyrocket your career, straight from the Directors, Vice Presidents, Presidents, and C-Suites who have already done it.

Information

  • Creator
    Broxten Davis
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Broxten Davis
  • Show Website
    The BroxtenDigital Show