Marketing In The Now

In this episode of Marketing In The Now, host David Reske sits down with Krista Patterson, CEO and co-founder of Positioning Collective, to unpack what it really means for a leader to have an "authoritative voice." Krista explains that this voice lives at the crossroads of professional experience and personal learning — which means leaders have to get comfortable with a little vulnerability, something many are afraid to do. She and David dig into why perfection is the wrong goal, how an authoritative voice for a leader is distinct from brand positioning for a company, and why clarity (not narrowness) is the real key to standing out. Krista also walks through the 10-week process her team uses in the Founders Positioning Lab to help executives close the gap between what they think they're communicating and what their audience actually hears, and shares her take on where AI fits (and doesn't fit) into building that kind of authentic, confident leadership presence.

What does it take to build an AI-native company in one of the most heavily regulated industries on the planet? In this episode of Marketing In The Now, David Reske sits down with Dilbir Bain, CEO of Galaxy Pharmaceuticals, a newly licensed 503B outsourcing facility in Albany, New York, that produces sterile injectable medications for hospitals facing drug shortages. Dilbir shares how his team embeds AI into every step of an FDA-governed workflow while keeping a human in the loop as the critical control point, why AI has proven four to six times less expensive than traditional ERP systems, and how the operational savings are being reinvested into terminal sterilization to create real product differentiation. The two also dig into why internal skeptics are essential to building trustworthy AI, what kind of technologists succeed in an AI-first environment, and why speed and quality don't have to be a trade-off.

In this episode of Marketing In The Now, David Reske sits down with Justin Stoddard, Co-Founder and CEO of ProInsight and author of The Upstream Model, to explore how businesses can grow through deep, trust-based professional relationships rather than digital tactics alone. Justin shares the personal story behind his passion for referral relationships, explains the "upstream" metaphor he developed while building a luxury home construction business, and breaks down the exact process for identifying, approaching, and nurturing the professional partners best positioned to send you high-quality referrals. The conversation covers the mistakes most people make when networking, how to have a genuine "pain is the pitch" conversation with a potential referral partner, and how ProInsight's technology is scaling these principles across the home services industry. It's a practical, relationship-first counterpoint to a marketing world often obsessed with funnels and automation — and a reminder that even in a digital-first environment, real growth still comes down to real relationships.

In this episode of Marketing in the Now, David Reske sits down with Cornelius Schmahl, founder of Unicorn Coach and a growth advisor who has helped scale companies like Lazada and Uber, invested in over 100 startups across six continents, and turned nine of them into unicorns. Cornelius unpacks why product-market fit is a spectrum rather than a yes-or-no question, why "patching AI on top" of old processes is a trap he calls the ignorance tax, and why the real winners are rebuilding lean, AI-first teams from scratch instead. The conversation moves through his framework for finding the most profitable slice of a business, why aggressive outsourcing beats hiring, and why he believes personal growth — even therapy — is the real bottleneck to building a billion-dollar company. It's a candid, high-energy look at what it actually takes to scale in the age of AI.

In this episode of Marketing In The Now, host David Reske sits down with Alicia Williams, Founder & Chief Creative Strategist of Aliste Marketing, to explore why real community — not polished networking — is the missing ingredient for so many entrepreneurs and marketers. Alicia opens up about her own experience with burnout, the "glitter on the mirror" problem she kept seeing in traditional networking circles, and why she and her brother/co-founder Chris Viscomi built Momentum Exchange, a new community designed specifically for marketing and communications professionals to pressure-test ideas, share unfiltered wins and struggles, and stay ahead of rapid changes in AI and marketing technology. David and Alicia dig into what makes a business community actually work, the difference between in-person and virtual connection, and why surrounding yourself with the right peers — not just cheerleaders — can be the difference between staying stuck and finding your next breakthrough.

Serial entrepreneur David Guttman — a Wharton grad with one eight-figure and one nine-figure exit, cancer survivor, and mentor to nearly a dozen CEOs — joins David Reske to reveal how top operators are actually using AI, and why most people are still leaving the vast majority of its value on the table. David explains why treating AI like a search engine barely scratches the surface, and walks through the techniques he uses instead: elaborate, expert-level prompting, iterating across multiple AI tools simultaneously, and pushing back on AI responses the way you would with a brilliant, endlessly patient friend. He shares how he cut his legal expenses by 90%, built a 100-page business plan for a father-son nonprofit in just three hours, and watched his 84-year-old father code an entire app with Claude. The conversation dives into why AI may benefit experienced professionals and inexperienced 25-year-olds differently, why "technology last" is replacing "technology first" as the smart build strategy, and where David sees AI having its biggest impact on health and longevity in the next 12 months.

In this episode of Marketing in the Now, host David Reske sits down with Eleanor Kubacki, CEO of EFK Group, a socially responsible marketing agency with 30 years of experience serving clients like Nike, the U.S. Navy, and the CDC. Eleanor shares her personal journey from AI skepticism to full-scale reinvention, unpacking why women — especially those 50 and older — are uniquely positioned to lead in the AI era rather than be left behind by it. She breaks down her three-part framework for embracing AI (accepting it as a superpower, using it daily, and committing to reinvention), and gets candid about the fear, ethical questions, and internal culture shifts she had to work through before investing in her own AI software platform. The conversation is a practical, honest look at what it really takes for an established business — and an established leader — to reinvent itself in real time.

In this episode, David Reske sits down with Katie Sadler, owner of SDLR Consulting and go-to-market strategist, to explore what it really means to build an AI-native sales and marketing operation. Katie breaks down the difference between AI endpoint tools and truly AI-native workflows, shares practical examples of where AI is creating the biggest breakthroughs in B2B sales — from intelligent content hubs to AI-powered onboarding — and explains why the future of selling is less about replacing human connection and more about giving buyers a safe, informed space to research and engage. She also introduces her content diagnostic tool, designed to help companies understand how AI models are actually interpreting and representing their brand.