He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast

Jaci Russo
  • 5.0 (30)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The He Said, She Said, Razor Branding™ Podcast is hosted by Jaci and Michael Russo, covering topics like entrepreneurship, B2B marketing, messaging for your target audience, and of course, building your brand. Together, they provide branding insight, tips, and best practices from their combined 40+ years of experience. Special guests from various industries are welcomed to the podcast regularly to share their stories and how branding played a pivotal role in their success.

  1. 3D AGO

    B2C Thinking in a B2B World W/ Juliana Pereira

    In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Juliana Pereira, marketing consultant and fractional CMO, to talk about what B2B brands are getting wrong and what they could learn from the consumer world. Juliana brings a rare perspective, having worked across both sides of the marketing divide at companies including Ralph Lauren, The Met Store at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smartling, and Ziff Davis before joining Flow Commerce post-Series A and helping drive its $500M acquisition in just three and a half years. She now works as a consultant and fractional CMO for startups and established businesses across the U.S. and Europe. She shares why B2B brands cling too tightly to features and descriptions while missing the emotional connection that actually drives decisions, and how removing friction from the buying process can be a game-changer for complex sales cycles. From her parallel-path approach to walking into a new client engagement, to her dream of spending her first months at a company actually selling the product, this is a practical and refreshingly jargon-free conversation about what it really takes to build a brand that connects. Key Takeaways B2B brands can learn a great deal from B2C by focusing on the individual buyer rather than treating companies as faceless decision-making entities Emotional connection does not mean sentimental – it means making your audience feel something, whether that is confidence, ease, or trust Removing friction from the B2B buying process, through pilots, guarantees, or try-before-you-buy models, is an underutilized competitive advantage Walking into a new engagement with deep preparation allows you to start solving problems on day one rather than spending weeks just assessing Authenticity has to run through every touchpoint – if your campaign promises warmth and humor but your sales team is stiff and technical, the disconnect will cost you The best marketing is clear, simple, and direct – buzzwords and industry jargon get in the way of connection every time Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at razorbranding.org

    48 min

  2. APR 30

    Building a Brand from the Inside Out w/ Michelle Herl

    In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Michelle Herl, Vice President of Marketing at SOR Controls Group, to talk about what it really takes to build a marketing function from the ground up inside a mid-size industrial manufacturer – and keep it growing for more than 25 years. Michelle shares how she started with no office, no budget, and catalogs hanging from wires, and turned it into a seat at the leadership table. She also breaks down how SOR manages a house of brands across three distinct product lines – SOR, SSi, and SENSOR – and why educating your internal team on brand structure matters just as much as reaching customers. From building a strategic planning system that keeps the one pager club at bay, to winning over the CFO by watching the bottom line like a marketer who actually cares about money, this conversation is full of real-world lessons for anyone trying to make marketing matter in a complex B2B environment. Key Takeaways Getting the house in order before going to market is essential, especially in manufacturing and industrial B2B Earning a seat at the leadership table takes time, but it starts with proving that marketing drives strategy, not just tactics Managing a house of brands requires consistent internal education across sales teams, partners, and leadership A structured planning system with clear priorities keeps marketing focused and protects the team from reactive one-off requests Building trust with finance means watching expenses, questioning invoices, and showing that marketing is accountable to the bottom line Differentiating through people, not just products, creates authentic brand moments that competitors cannot replicate Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at razorbranding.org

    50 min

  3. APR 22

    Legal Marketing and the Art of Standing Out W/ William McLaughlin

    In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with William McLaughlin, Director of Marketing at McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC and founder of the BD Roundtable, to talk about what it really takes to build and market a law firm brand in one of the most complex and competitive spaces in professional services. William shares how corporate law firms require a level of intentionality that goes far beyond billboards and TV spots, and why legal marketers often find themselves acting as translators, culture builders, and change managers all at once. He also explains how his experience building legal market strategy across 12 Asia-Pacific jurisdictions shaped the way he approaches audience, context, and differentiation today. From passing warm lead data to the BD team to studying the competitor client experience, this conversation is a practical look at how strategic marketing can cut through the noise and actually move a firm forward. Key Takeaways Corporate legal marketing requires a tailored, intentional approach for every practice group, audience, and geography Marketers in professional services firms are often translators, helping attorneys turn complex ideas into content clients actually want to read Passing warm lead data from the marketing team to the BD team is one of the highest-value moves a legal marketer can make Studying the competitor client experience, including RFP response times and follow-up, is a powerful and underutilized research tool AI can streamline workflow and improve consistency, but it cannot replace the human storytelling and authentic voice that truly differentiates a firm Alumni are some of a firm’s most valuable brand ambassadors and should be actively cultivated Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at razorbranding.org

    51 min

  4. APR 16

    Scaling a Brand Across Locations w/ Laurie Leer

    In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Laurie Leer of SingerLewak to talk about what it really takes to manage and grow a brand across multiple locations with a small but mighty team. Laurie shares how her team balances national brand consistency with local visibility, using location-specific SEO, testimonials, and content to strengthen their presence in markets across the country. She also explains how leaning into people – not just services – has helped drive stronger engagement and measurable growth. From leveraging short-form video and YouTube to repurposing content and streamlining processes, this conversation is a practical look at how modern marketers can do more with less while still delivering results. Key Takeaways Highlighting people over services helps professional service brands build stronger connections Location-specific marketing and SEO are essential for multi-office organizations Short-form video can significantly increase impressions and engagement with minimal production effort Repurposing content across channels improves efficiency and extends reach Proving marketing value with data is critical to securing leadership buy-in and budget Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at razorbranding.org

    51 min

  5. APR 9

    Niche Branding w/ Howard Kelly

    In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael Russo sit down with Howard Kelly, Director of Marketing at S&S Cycle — a Wisconsin-based manufacturer that has been making Harley-Davidson motorcycles faster, louder, and more powerful since 1958. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to build a brand so strong that customers tattoo your logo on their bodies, this is the episode for you. S&S Cycle doesn’t market to motorcycle riders. They market to Harley riders. And not just any Harley riders — they market to six distinct groups of loyalists defined by the engine era their bike was built around, from knuckleheads and panheads to the latest M-Series. That’s a niche within a niche within a niche, supported by a 550-page catalog, over 5,000 SKUs, and a marketing team of four people based in a town of 650 in rural Wisconsin. Jaci, Michael, and Howard dig into what it actually takes to market across six different customer segments without losing your brand voice — and how S&S uses seasonal patterns, event strategy, and a deliberate split between dealer-facing and consumer-facing communication to reach the right people at the right time. Howard also shares the story behind the Independence Tour, a traveling display of six custom-built motorcycles — one per engine era — that gives every segment of the S&S audience something to connect with at major events across the country. There’s also a great conversation about the unexpected power of bringing back a printed catalog in the age of digital everything — and why mom-and-pop motorcycle shops across the country called to say thank you. They get into the S&S relationship with Harley-Davidson, the rigorous testing process behind every product release, and what it means to be a fourth-generation family business still operating from the original farmhouse property where it all started. But the moment that says everything about what S&S has built? Customers don’t just buy their parts. They buy S&S patches to sew on their jackets, sell out S&S hoodies at Daytona Bike Week, travel from Singapore to ask Howard a question in person at a show in Japan, and submit daily tattoo entries in an ongoing brand contest. That’s not a marketing campaign. That’s a brand that means something. Howard Kelly is the Director of Marketing at S&S Cycle, a manufacturer of high-performance V-twin engines, parts, and accessories headquartered in Viola, Wisconsin. Howard is also a former motorcycle magazine editor and author. Learn more at sscycle.com.

    51 min

  6. APR 2

    Marketing from Both Sides w/ Chanelle Yarber

    In this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Chanelle Yarber, a marketing strategist, agency owner, and in-house marketer at First United Bank who has spent over two decades doing something most people only claim to do — actually connecting with the customer. Chanelle’s path into marketing didn’t start with a job posting. It started with journalism, speech and debate, video production, and a curiosity about what makes people tick that has never left her. From managing social media back in the MySpace-and-HTML days to building go-to-market strategies for clients across industries, her career is a masterclass in what happens when storytelling meets strategy — and when someone refuses to let tactics drive the bus. Jaci, Michael, and Chanelle dig into what it really means to zoom out before you execute — and why so many marketers never do. Chanelle shares how she pushes back on clients who walk in asking for a Facebook ad or an email campaign before anyone has asked what outcome they’re actually after. She talks about the damage done when tactics lead and strategy follows, and why clients who’ve been burned before bring a level of mistrust into every new agency relationship that has to be earned back carefully and honestly. There’s also a sharp conversation about the rebound agency effect — the idea that every new client is leaving something behind, and that trust has to be built before any creative work can land the way it should. They get into how to stack an internal and external team based on actual strengths, how to know when to keep work in-house versus when to bring in a partner, and why the institutional knowledge that comes from years of skinned knees in this industry is something no AI prompt can replicate. The conversation also touches on what it’s like to navigate constant change as an elder millennial marketer — from analog to digital, SEO to AI, and every shift in between — and why the fundamentals of good marketing have never actually changed, even when everything around them has. Chanelle Yarber is a marketing strategist and agency owner with over 20 years of experience across video production, social media, digital marketing, and brand strategy. She specializes in helping businesses build campaigns and go-to-market strategies rooted in a deep understanding of their customer. Connect with Chanelle on LinkedIn.

    39 min

  7. MAR 19

    Data Driven Branding w/ Libby Cain

    In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Libby Cain of Extraco Banks to discuss how data can strengthen marketing strategy without losing the human side of the brand. Libby shares how her team built a unified customer data approach across the organization, using insights from multiple departments to create stronger segmentation, improve conversions, and lower acquisition costs. She also talks about the challenges of leading that kind of transformation, from internal change management to developing new skills along the way. From smarter targeting to stronger collaboration between marketing and producers, Libby explains how data can help brands make more informed decisions, build better customer journeys, and create marketing that is both strategic and personal. Key Takeaways Data becomes most valuable when it is unified across departments and used to guide real marketing decisions More targeted segmentation can improve conversions while lowering cost per acquisition Stronger collaboration between marketing and sales teams leads to better qualified leads and better outcomes Change management is a critical part of any data initiative, especially in large organizations The best marketing still balances analytics and automation with genuine human connection Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at razorbranding.org

    43 min

  8. MAR 12

    Branding by the Numbers w/ Cathy Bertrand

    In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael Russo sit down with Cathy Bertrand, a marketing leader at Rittal and Eplan whose career path took an unexpected turn from mathematics to global marketing leadership. Cathy shares how her analytical background shapes her approach to marketing today. Instead of treating marketing as purely creative, she sees it as a balance of art and science, with data, strategy, and customer insights driving measurable results. From aligning marketing with sales to diversifying outreach beyond platforms like LinkedIn, Cathy explains how modern marketers can build strategies that actually move the needle. Key Takeaways Marketing works best when creativity is supported by data and analysis Strong alignment between marketing and sales drives better results Personalization and account-based strategies help B2B brands reach the right people Relying on one channel or tactic is risky in today’s fragmented media landscape Understanding how customers consume information is essential to building an effective marketing strategy Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at razorbranding.org

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5
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30 Ratings

About

The He Said, She Said, Razor Branding™ Podcast is hosted by Jaci and Michael Russo, covering topics like entrepreneurship, B2B marketing, messaging for your target audience, and of course, building your brand. Together, they provide branding insight, tips, and best practices from their combined 40+ years of experience. Special guests from various industries are welcomed to the podcast regularly to share their stories and how branding played a pivotal role in their success.

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