The Marketing Marriage Fabio and Slavka

Davide Grasso makes top level leadership seem effortless. His mindset is to work with people on something great every day and to end each day in a better shape than it started. It’s no surprise he’s been on a remarkable international career journey at some of the world’s most recognized and loved brands. Starting out as a product line manager for Nike, and progressing to the CMO role at the Swoosh. Today he holds the CEO reigns at the Italian luxury car manufacturer Maserati. We were privileged to chat with Davide about his leadership journey and pull back the curtain on:
His competitive spirit and instinct to follow his passion. The importance of creating value in everything he does. The ability to move massive organizations toward a common vision. The biggest challenge of letting go while building resilience. Why he enjoys the power of a good crisis. His take on creativity and the pitfalls of not putting the customer at the center. How he went about bringing Maserati to profitability.

Growing up with a famous radio dad, Scott Fitzgerald has spent a big chunk of his life wearing headphones and gracing the world of the broadcast radio with his memorable voice. He hosted shows in markets like Charlotte, Raleigh, Cincinnati,  Dayton, Louisville and Birmingham  before switching to podcast production a few years ago. Moving from his producer seat for this episode, Scott joins us as a guest and shares: 
His love-hate relationship with broadcast radio. Life lessons from the competitive and crazy world of talk radio. His career transition while working with Forbes. Why he loves helping people create memorable podcasts. Advice on how to channel one’s passion into creating a podcast of your own.   Dos and don’ts of getting into podcasting. 
Scott is the proud father of four relatively normal grown children and is thrilled to be a horse husband to his Swiss wife Annette. Scott believes in UFO's and Bigfoot.  You can reach him at scott@thepodcastauthority.com.

Born and raised in New York to Brazilian parents, Andre Borges lived the American dream as a D1 soccer player for Clemson University and as a professional post-college. Soccer took him to many interesting places in Europe and ultimately back to his family origins - Brasil. While he considers himself very fortunate for that destiny, he lightheartedly adds it may have been the worst pro-athlete career ever. Yet, he wouldn’t change anything and today puts the earned skills and passion into helping world-class businesses form their teams. Note: his bromance with co-host Fabio Tambosi dates way back before Fabio’s marriage and thus before the podcast was a thing, so it’s certainly worth a listen :). 
 
We chat with Andre about:
 
How the duality of his background shaped him.  The defining nature of college sports and going pro. How and why the worst professional soccer career ever became the best things that happened to him. Three priceless qualities he gained playing sports and  applies to his work today. Staying motivated while sitting it out on the bench. Pivoting to what is now a 12-year-long corporate career helping business form the best teams.  Helpful insights into recruiting and headhunting.

His childhood dream was to be part of the sports world. Thus, it comes as no surprise that he had spent the majority of his career at one of the sports industry’s giants - adidas. Michael Kraphol is a German native with emotional ties to Spain’s Barcelona. Humble and passionate about people, Micha calls himself a regular guy in the marketing world. He believes in the old-fashioned Shakespearean storytelling and in our conversation we cover:
The joy of sharing excitement with others. Imposter syndrome and earning one’s self-confidence. Reminder that it’s a combination of things that define you. His most memorable moments at the Three Stripes. Why he is a bit of a LinkedIn hater. How simple, old-school storytelling is more important than the special tools and effects available to today’s creatives. His belief that companies should hire theater play writers for their marketing departments.

We’re bringing you the other half of the sibling duo behind the NYC digital creative agency The Charles Group - Aaron Edwards. While his sister Sam (Ep 28) is known as a “right brain” person, Aaron complements the relationship with his self-proclaimed “left brain” approach. Originally hailing from Manchester, England - Aaron spent his early career working as a financial analyst at Barclays Capital in London, before moving to New York in 2010 to found The Charles Group. Aaron’s penchant for trends, data and analytics, made his transition from finance to creative relatively seamless, particularly as it was during the first wave of data driven design with marketing agencies flourishing in the creative and digital industry. In our unplugged chat, we discuss: 
His journey from a boring, yet well-paid corporate job to an unpaid internship at an ad agency.  Why writing a business plan is the quickest way to find out if you know the industry.  His thoughts on sales being the hardest skill to learn.  Why he gets excited about the “non sexy” brands on their roster.  Their agency’s breakthrough moment working on the Cocainenomics project with the Wall Street Journal.  How he uses AI to arrive at results faster.  Automation becoming a big focus in marketing in the uncertain economy ahead.  Aaron’s deep understanding of the relationship between creativity and commerce and attuned business strategy skill set has helped to solidify The Charles as ranking in the top 1000 of the INC5000 fastest growing creative marketing and digital agencies in the United States. The Charles’ current client roster includes corporate tech and lifestyle heavyweights IBM, Boston Consulting Group, Netflix and Bloomberg and time-honored luxury brands including Estée Lauder, Marriott, Cartier and Omega.

Continuing our mini-series with recruitment and job search experts, we are joined for an episode with the head of talent acquisition and employer branding at one of Europe’s largest digital banks, N26, Chris Hunter. Chris traded his initial career ambition of becoming an international human rights advocate for building relationships and understanding people. Whether it’s helping individuals achieve more than they did the day before, or helping a client indentify their exact need and finding someone they know will change their business, Chris is driven to assist others. In our chat we discuss:
How his university years became a seminal time in his life. His take on diversity in the workplace. Taking your job, not yourself too seriously. Why recruiting is often misunderstood. Employees defining their own employee experience. Importance of not taking layoffs too personally. Best in class examples of how to stand out in the job market. To hear tables turning and Chris asking Fabio and Slavka questions, listen till the end!