What if the setback you didn't ask for turned into the best decision of your career? Kriste Goad, founder and Chief Firestarter of fuoco, shares the unfiltered story of building a healthcare B2B marketing agency — starting with getting let go and betting on herself instead of going back in-house. Kriste breaks down what 25 years in healthcare marketing taught her about relationships, business development, and brand clarity, plus the hard lessons behind scaling to Inc. 5000 recognition. This episode is for marketers, founders, and agency leaders who want a real look at growth, resilience, and how to use AI without losing the human judgment that makes the work valuable.

Episode Highlights
01:36 – Kriste traces her path into healthcare marketing back to her early days at Healthways
08:06 – The real story behind founding fuoco: "the only reason I started my own agency is I was fired"
10:44 – Where the name fuoco — Italian for "fire" — actually came from
12:04 – What years in business development taught her about swings, rejection, and relationships
22:39 – The most common mistake healthcare B2B brands make when telling their story
30:20 – Lessons from Inc. 5000 growth, including the over-hiring trap many agencies fall into
39:54 – Building the "fuoco operating system" and an AI org chart inside the agency
44:49 – Staying the "human in the loop" when clients bring AI-generated work back to the table

Learn More & Connect
Show Notes + Resources: https://creativeassembly.agency/ca-podcast/
Connect With Kriste Goad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristegoad/ | https://growwithfuoco.com/
Connect with Mark Scrivner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markscrivner | https://snapshot.agency/health

Our Sponsor - Snapshot: https://snapshot.agency/health

Follow The Spark: https://creativeassembly.agency/ca-podcast/

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