Brad Moore didn't plan to end up at Hallmark. It was a last-minute interview, a mystery recruiter, and a few fortunate twists of fate that put him there. But once he arrived, he helped steward one of the most quietly powerful brand platforms in the history of American marketing: the Hallmark Hall of Fame. For four decades, Brad was the standard bearer for a simple but radical idea. Emotion is a legitimate business strategy. From casting Deaf actors in Love Is Never Silent over network objections to navigating legendary agency relationships with Ogilvy, Y&R, and Leo Burnett, Brad never let the business side erode the brand's soul. In this episode, he sits down with Sam and Mike to talk about what it means to protect a brand's place in people's lives, not just their wallets.

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Cindy Maude bought an agency with a million-dollar bank loan, moved it from Topeka to Lawrence, built it into a nationally respected shop, and then watched her biggest client, representing 44% of the revenue, walk out the door. That didn’t deter her. She went to work and rebuilt the agency. Over a 27-year run with Hill's Pet Nutrition and national work with Toyota, Sprint, and Build-A-Bear, Cindy turned Callahan Creek into proof that a focused, research-driven independent could go toe-to-toe with the holding company giants. In this episode, she sits down with Sam and Mike to talk about the decisions that mattered, the culture she built by design, and what it really takes to lead with both instinct and resolve.

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SPECIAL TRIBUTE EPISODE // Greg Haflich had a gift for walking into a room, whether it be a franchisee meeting, a strategy session, or a dive bar stage, and making everyone feel like they were exactly where they were supposed to be. A Kansas-born, KU-bred field marketer who built his career across Bernstein-Rein, Val-Rad, Barkley, Applebee's, Sonic, and Callahan Creek, Greg had a rare ability to connect the boardroom to the boots on the ground, and he did it with a warmth and dry wit that people never forgot. When he wasn't solving field marketing problems nobody else wanted to touch, he was laying down guitar riffs with his band, The Bad Dadz. We lost Greg in 2025 and in this special tribute episode, four of Greg's closest colleagues join Sam and Mike to remember a legend who understood that great marketing, like great music, only works when it's honest, grounded, and played from the heart.

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If you've lived in Kansas City long enough, you've heard Skip Quimby, you just might not have known it was him. As a co-founder of Wysong, Quimby & Jones, Skip helped make radio advertising an art form in this market, lending his voice and his wit to spots that people still remember decades later. But behind the craft was a serious business philosophy — be interesting, tell the truth, and sell more instead of cutting overhead. In this episode, Skip sits down with Sam and Mike to talk about the golden age of broadcast creative, what ego does to good ideas, and the principles that held up across every era of this business.

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Pat O'Neill didn't take the obvious path to running a KC communications firm. He took the scenic route through cemetery caretaking, late-night concert reviews, limo runs for touring rock bands, and tiny Colorado newspapers before coming back to Kansas City and building something uniquely his own. Four generations of the O'Neill family have been woven into this city's political, cultural, and civic fabric since the 1880s, and Pat's chapter, the micro-agency that never wanted to be the biggest, just the best, may be the most colorful of all. In this episode, Pat sits down with Sam and Mike to talk about speed, trust, Irish Fest, and why the best business development in KC has always happened at five o'clock at the bar.

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Ronda Zillner saw the senior living opportunity before most people were paying attention and built Zillner Marketing into a powerhouse by combining sharp data instincts with a deep understanding of how boomers would redefine aging. But getting there was anything but a straight line. From Illinois Bell to a dental hygiene detour, through the Valentine Radford years and a day-before-Thanksgiving leap into her own firm, Ronda built a business, and a life, entirely on her own terms. In this episode, she sits down with Sam and Mike to talk about grit, smart specialization, and what it really means to build a career with both purpose and staying power.

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Susan Spaulding built a career on a simple but powerful idea: that understanding people deeply is the most strategic thing a marketer can do. Starting in journalism and working her way through the agency world, she became Valentine Radford's de facto research engine before spinning Market Directions into its own firm. It was complete with a 60-station phone center and a client list that stretched well beyond Kansas City. Along the way she helped brands stop guessing and start knowing, turning data into decisions that moved the needle. In this episode, Susan sits down with Sam and Mike to talk about organized curiosity, what it takes to build a discipline from scratch, and why the best creative work always starts with listening.

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Steve Doyal didn't set out to become one of Kansas City's most trusted corporate voices, but Hallmark has a way of finding the right people. After serving his country and a few early career stops, Steve landed at Hallmark and never looked back, spending decades as the company's communications compass through milestones, celebrations, and even tragedy. Along the way he helped transform Crown Center from an overlooked destination into the heartbeat of downtown KC. In this episode, Steve sits down with Sam and Mike to talk about the Hallmark way, what radical hospitality looks like in practice, and why integrity, in business and in life, never goes out of style.

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