Why "Just Hire More Creators" Is the Wrong Brand Move with Aja Dang

Why "Just Hire More Creators" Is the Wrong Brand Move with Aja Dang

After a decade as a creator. Aja Dang has thoughts on where brand-creator relationships go next: brands become the creator. She joins Mike for a candid conversation about her own pivot era, the AI brand deals she walks away from on principle, and what changes when a brand decides to build its own creator function in-house. Connect with Aja: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajadang/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajadang/] Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/]

Why an Unboxing Experience Is a Story, Not a Box with Maria Karr

Maria Karr says the unboxing experience is a story, not a box. After two decades across agency, in-house, bootstrap, and incubator seats, she has built brands at every scale. She joins Mike for a candid conversation about why brand affinity comes before paid creator deals, how "cheap, fast, or quality, pick two" still drives 99% of project decisions, and what Maesa learned building AI-generated worlds for its fragrance brand Finery. Connect with Maria: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-karr-05a80a31/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-karr-05a80a31/] Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/]

What Goldie Locks Took Out to Stand Out with Devin Graciano

Devin Graciano took protein out of professional haircare and built Goldie Locks around what she saw from the chair. She joins Mike for a candid conversation about going back to school for chemistry as a working stylist, how her partnership with McKenzie Turley actually works, and how a bootstrapped team thinks about influencer PR boxes when the budget isn't $50 million. Connect with Devin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-graciano-04098824/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-graciano-04098824/] Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/]

Why Home Is a Feeling, Not Just a Look with Jenny Wolf

The offices Jenny Wolf's commercial clients ask for don't feel like offices. They feel like home. Jenny, founder of Jenny Wolf Interiors and The Huntress, joins Mike to talk about why home is a feeling, not just a look, her "10% design, 90% problem solving" framing of the work, and a Hudson, NY, auction story that ends in 2026 with a piece she first spotted in a 2016 magazine. Connect with Jenny: https://www.instagram.com/jennywolfinteriors/ [https://www.instagram.com/jennywolfinteriors/] Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimsmikeryan/]

What Brands Misunderstand About the Men's Market with Ian Michael Crumm

Ian Michael Crumm built Boys in Beauty around a simple idea: beauty doesn't have to be gendered. In this candid conversation, Ian walks Mike through the line connecting his esthetician practice, his Times Square billboard for the Melanoma Research Foundation, and his collective to democratize beauty for men. Inside: why community beats audience size, what brands get wrong about the men's market, and how a "beauty spectrum" replaces the old grooming-vs-makeup divide. Connect with Ian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-michael-crumm-7a28a741/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-michael-crumm-7a28a741/]