This week on the Lead With Your Brand podcast, Jayzen Patria challenges listeners to think about what truly makes them stand out in a world where everyone has access to the same AI tools.

AI is transforming the way we work, changing job responsibilities, and creating new opportunities. But as technology becomes more accessible, the real differentiator isn't just what you do. It's how you do it. Your unique strengths, experiences, and the way you connect with others are what make your personal brand valuable and ultimately help future-proof your career.

Jayzen explores why even the most technology-driven brands need to remember the power of human connection. Jayzen also shares practical ways to leverage AI to better understand and strengthen your personal brand. Rather than asking ChatGPT or other AI tools to define your brand for you, start by gathering real feedback from your SuperFans and career audience. Ask what makes you stand out, how you show up under pressure, and why people turn to you. Then use AI to uncover patterns and insights that help you build a brand that is authentically yours.

The challenge is clear. Don't outsource your personal brand to AI. Use technology to amplify what makes you uniquely you.

Key Takeaways:

• AI can change what you do, but your personal brand is defined by how you do it and the unique value you bring to every interaction.
• Future-proofing your career means mastering new technologies while continuing to develop the human strengths and experiences that differentiate you.
• Technology should enhance the brand experience, not replace the authentic human connections that make it memorable.
• Use AI as a coach and facilitator to identify patterns in real feedback, not as a shortcut to create a personal brand that doesn't genuinely reflect who you are.

Jayzen is joined by Jamie Cutbirth, EVP of Marketing at iHeartMedia, whose career has taken him from the early days of the internet and Chicago's Second City comedy scene to some of the biggest brands in entertainment and media.

A passionate storyteller and connector, Jamie shares how he's built a career bringing people, brands, and culture together through his work at A&E Networks, NBCUniversal, and iHeartMedia. From creating memorable brand experiences and embracing the growing creator economy to finding the opportunities that bring you joy, Jamie offers a behind-the-scenes look at what makes great brands stand out. He also introduces his memorable "caller ID test," a simple but powerful way to understand the lasting impression your personal brand leaves on others.

Guest Bio

Jamie Cutbirth, EVP of Marketing, iHeartMedia

Jamie Cutburth is an award-winning marketing executive, creative leader, and storyteller who has spent his career turning big ideas into cultural moments that connect brands, audiences, and entertainment.

Currently Executive Vice President of Marketing at iHeartMedia, Jamie leads marketing strategy and storytelling initiatives that showcase the power of audio, creators, and culture to build meaningful connections between brands and consumers.

Previously, Jamie spent 14 years at NBCUniversal, where he served as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Brand Partnerships. He helped bring to life some of entertainment's most recognizable franchises and cultural experiences, including BravoCon, Top Chef, The Real Housewives, The TODAY Show, Saturday Night Live's 50th Anniversary, and E!'s Red Carpet coverage. His work has earned industry recognition, including an Interactive Emmy Award for Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen.

Throughout his career, Jamie has built high-performing teams, developed groundbreaking brand partnerships, and championed creativity as a powerful driver of business growth. Known for blending strategic thinking with bold ideas, humor, and authenticity, he believes the best leadership starts with curiosity, collaboration, and a willingness to challenge what's possible.

Beyond his executive roles, Jamie is passionate about storytelling, mentorship, and helping others build careers that reflect who they truly are.

Links

To book Jayzen for a speaking engagement or workshop, visit Jayzenpatria.com

Happy Pride Month!

In this special Pride Month episode of the Lead With Your Brand Podcast, Jayzen celebrates and amplifies the voices of LGBTQ+ leaders, executives, creatives, advocates, and changemakers from the Pride On Brand collection.

But before diving into these powerful conversations, Jayzen opens with an important reminder: you have a brand, whether you realize it or not. The real question is whether you are consciously and strategically leading with the brand you want, or are you allowing others to define it for you?

Jayzen shares a personal story from early in his career, when he realized that others were assigning a brand to him based on only one part of who he was. At first, it felt light and fun. But over time, he began to understand that the perception being created was not necessarily the brand that would help him move into the next level of leadership. It became a powerful “aha” moment: when you do not put your own brand forward, people will create one for you.

This episode brings that lesson to life through a powerful Pride Month clip reel featuring LGBTQ+ leaders who have turned their identities, lived experiences, values, and visibility into sources of strength, impact, and career breakthrough.

Key Takeaways

• Your lived experience can become one of your greatest leadership superpowers
• Being authentic at work is not separate from professional excellence
• Your brand will not be everyone’s cup of tea, and that is exactly why finding the right brand fit matters
• Visibility, service, and giving back can all become powerful career accelerators

In this special episode, Jayzen revisits conversations with an incredible group of LGBTQ+ leaders and changemakers, including:

• Congressman Mark Takano, on becoming the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color elected to Congress.
• Jen Henderson, technology executive, on being known for your expertise and leadership and also proudly owning the identity and lived experience that shape who you are
• Erin Uritus, CEO of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, on stepping into leadership with authenticity and not trying to be anyone but herself
• Chris Mossiah, Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase, on turning insecurities into superpowers and treating their name as a brand
• Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, on visibility, media representation, and using your platform to make the world safer for LGBTQ+ families
• Beck Bailey, Chief Diversity Officer at Accenture, on combining business expertise with lived experience to create systemic change
• Christelle Miller, Senior Creative Executive at Fable Entertainment, on the importance of representation behind the scenes and on screen
• Wilson Cruz, actor and activist, on breaking barriers in the Star Trek universe and engaging in meaningful dialogue about representation
• Stephen Macias, Chief Inclusion Officer for Octagon, on building a career rooted in values, advocacy, entertainment, and culture
• Louis Vega, President of Dow North America, on giving back and helping make the path easier for the next generation
• Matt Brooks, Vice President and head of enterprise data tech and solutions at Nationwide, on how employee resource groups can build confidence, visibility, skills, and career momentum.
• Legendary Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr, on how far the LGBTQ+ community has come and why visibility across generations matters

This Pride Month, Jayzen challenges listeners to ask themselves: What are the unique lived experiences, perspectives, and strengths that can become your calling card as you lead with your brand to your next career breakthrough?

Links

To book Jayzen for a speaking engagement or workshop, visit Jayzenpatria.com

To hear the full conversations from the Pride On Brand collection, visit leadwithyourbrand.com/pride

This week on the Lead With Your Brand podcast, Jayzen Patria challenges listeners to think about their network not as a contact list, but as one of the most powerful amplifiers of their career brand.

It is not enough to deliver great work, build a strong reputation, and know what you stand for. If no one sees it, hears it, or can speak to your value when you are not in the room, your brand can only go so far.

Inspired by a recent trip to New York and a reconnection with this week’s guest, Andrew Turner, Jayzen breaks down how to keep your network alive with intention. Jayzen also explores how self-similarity bias and proximity bias can quietly shrink your professional world. It is easy to spend time with the people who look like you, think like you, work near you, or sit in the same functional lane. But the strongest career networks are built by intentionally reaching beyond the familiar.

To help listeners put this into action, Jayzen shares practical tools, including creating a personal network “treasure map,” asking for AIR (Advice, Insights, and Recommendations) as an easy way to reconnect, and treating LinkedIn as technology that powers your professional network, not just another social media platform.

The challenge is clear - do not just build your network. Keep the embers alive.

Key Takeaways:

• Your network is not just a list of people you know; it is a system of influencers who can amplify your brand
• Self-similarity bias and proximity bias can limit your network if you do not intentionally break out of them
• Use a network treasure map to diagnose where you already have strong connections and where you need to build new ones
• AIR (Advice, Insights, and Recommendations) is a simple, authentic model to reconnect without making it feel awkward
• LinkedIn only works if you are active. Like, comment, post, and show up consistently so your brand stays top of mind

Jayzen is joined by Andrew Turner, Employee Engagement Director for Diageo North America. Andrew’s career is a powerful example of how your passions and past experiences can become a differentiator in the work you do today.

A classically trained actor and self-described “reformed actor,” Andrew has built a career helping major organizations connect with employees through communications, culture, and engagement. From Universal Studios and NBCUniversal to Travelers and now Diageo, Andrew shares how he learned to meet audiences where they are, create community inside large companies, and bring creativity, storytelling, and performance into corporate life.

Guest Bio

Andrew Turner, Employee Engagement Director, Diageo North America

Andrew Turner is an experienced employee engagement and communications leader who’s spent his career helping large organizations connect more meaningfully with their people. As Employee Engagement Director for North America at Diageo, he leads strategies that bring the company’s culture, purpose, and performance ambitions to life—making sure employees feel informed, involved, and motivated to play their part. He’s particularly focused on strengthening a sense of ownership and pride across the business, while finding creative ways to tell the stories behind Diageo’s brands and people.

Andrew is known for turning complex ideas into clear, engaging communication that actually resonates. Before joining Diageo, he held senior roles at Travelers, where he helped modernize internal communications for a 30,000-person workforce, and at NBCUniversal, where he spent over a decade leading global engagement efforts, executive messaging, and large-scale change communications. He started his career at Universal Studios, working at the intersection of communications and digital during a time when companies were just beginning to rethink how they connect with employees online.

What sets Andrew apart is his belief that culture isn’t just something you talk about - it’s something you actively shape. He brings a mix of strategic thinking and storytelling to his work, helping organizations build environments where people feel connected, valued, and ready to contribute. He holds a degree from Boston College and completed postgraduate studies at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art, which explains his natural instinct for a good story.

Links

To book Jayzen for a speaking engagement or workshop, visit Jayzenpatria.com