⚡️ Columbus Marketing Community: https://columbusmarketing.org

Andy just hosted his first in-person marketing event in Columbus, and this episode is the full, honest post-mortem. He breaks down every number: who he invited, who showed up, what it cost, and what he'd do differently. If you've ever thought about hosting your own event or building a local community around your brand, this is the real math behind doing it for the first time.

CONNECT WITH ANDY
🌐 Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction
01:34 Venue and Logistics
03:50 The Numbers: People
06:45 The Numbers: Cost
10:27 Time and Overall Expense
12:11 Wins and Successes
17:18 Lessons and Improvements
21:06 Follow-Up and Feedback
27:37 Next Steps and Conclusion

TEAM
🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/
🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

⚡️ High-Converting Websites Visual Swipe File: https://www.mmgdesign.net/visualswipefile

Dr. Lillian Liang Emlet has spent 20 years in critical care medicine and is still practicing today. After a pandemic-driven reckoning forced her to confront her own burnout, she founded Transforming Healthcare Coaching to help other healthcare leaders name what's actually happening to them at work. In this episode, we trace her path from a pre-med kid pushed toward medicine to an ICU physician and executive coach, and dig into why burnout is a workplace problem rather than a personal failing. If you lead people in a high-stakes environment, healthcare or otherwise, this one is worth your time.

CONNECT WITH LILLIAN

🌐 Website: https://transforminghealthcarecoaching.com/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lillian-liang-emlet-transforming-healthcare-coaching/

CONNECT WITH ANDY

🌐 Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Recording rituals and pre-show nerves

02:24 What actually got Lillian into medicine

05:31 20 years in critical care and the move from ER to ICU

06:50 The pandemic reckoning that led to coaching

08:36 Being coached for the first time and not knowing yourself at 40

10:09 Linear vs. curvilinear career paths

12:04 What clinical teaching taught her about coaching

15:23 Burnout is a system problem, not a personal one

15:50 The real numbers behind healthcare burnout

18:23 What burnout actually feels like day to day

20:45 You are more than your output

22:53 Why community exists and the loneliness problem

27:35 What separates a thriving community from one that fizzles

30:26 Free community as a top-of-funnel offering

33:42 Why success looks different for a new grad vs. a 20-year veteran

36:19 Where to find Lillian

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

⚡️ Are you a marketer? Get the best jobs delivered to your inbox every Monday: https://www.columbusmarketingjobs.com

Dr. Kristina Medvedeva is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Otterbein University who spent nearly a decade as a marketing practitioner at companies like IKEA and Deutsche Post DHL before stepping into academia. In this episode, she and Andy dig into what's really changing in higher ed, why AI is both the great equalizer and the great trap for marketers, and how she's rebuilding her curriculum around critical thinking instead of prompt writing. If you're trying to figure out how to stay marketable, hire smarter, or make sense of what a marketing degree is actually worth in 2026, this conversation gives you a straight answer.

CONNECT WITH KRISTINA

🌐 Website: https://www.otterbein.edu/profiles/kristina-medvedeva/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-s-medvedeva/

CONNECT WITH ANDY

🌐 Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:36 - Six degrees, four languages, three countries

03:15 - Why she left the industry to teach

05:56 - Nine years teaching, fifteen years as a student

06:53 - What's actually changed in higher ed

13:02 - The real ROI question every student should ask

16:03 - Is US business education really the best in the world

20:17 - How she keeps her curriculum from going stale

23:43 - What makes a marketing student marketable

28:27 - Why every marketer has to be AI literate

32:37 - The advantage, and disadvantage, of AI: everybody can use it

36:28 - Why she still grades you, not the AI

42:33 - The wrong way to pick a career based on AI

45:09 - Her honest advice for anyone considering college

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

🤝 Powered by // AMA Columbus: https://amacolumbus.org

⚡️ 2026 State of Healthcare Web Report (100+ Websites Analyzed): report.mmg.studio

Tom Casano, founder of Tamarind, has managed over $50 million in LinkedIn ad spend across 3,000+ campaigns. In this episode, he breaks down what actually separates LinkedIn Ads from Meta and Google, why Thought Leader Ads are one of the cheapest ways to reach decision makers, and the exact default settings that quietly burn ad budget. Then Andy hands over his screen so Tom can build a real LinkedIn ad campaign for MMG Design live, targeting mistakes and all.

CONNECT WITH TOM

🌐 Website: https://www.tamarind.agency/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomcasano/

🏢 Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tamarind-0/

CONNECT WITH ANDY

🌐 Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:26 - From Wall Street to accidental marketer

02:47 - The $50 lead that became a $10 lead (and why that didn't matter)

05:21 - LinkedIn vs. Meta vs. Google, the real difference

15:28 - The $2 click hiding in plain sight (Thought Leader Ads)

23:11 - What makes a perfect LinkedIn Ads client

32:02 - The default setting quietly tripling your ad costs

40:06 - Building a live LinkedIn ad campaign on camera

55:41 - One click, ten million wasted dollars

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

🤝 Powered by // AMA Columbus: https://amacolumbus.org and our friends at COHATCH (Get 2 free weeks or premium coworking, on us) https://www.cohatch.com/mbd

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

⚡️ Columbus Marketing Jobs: www.columbusmarketingjobs.com

I sat down with Max Miller of Chute Gerdeman for an episode of Brands & Banter, a show about retail design and brand strategy. We got into extreme ownership, why brand consistency works like a bouquet of flowers, and why most B2B websites are designed like filing cabinets when they should be designed like storefronts.

CONNECT WITH MAX

🌐 Website: https://www.chutegerdeman.com/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxmiller614/

CONNECT WITH ANDY

🌐 Website: https://www.mmg.studio/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:20 - How I explain what I actually do

01:20 - What Findlay and student-run agency work taught me

06:51 - The power follows the finger of blame

09:15 - The bouquet of flowers, why brand consistency breaks trust

15:49 - Getting laid off and starting MMG the same year

18:15 - Why we niched into healthcare and B2B

20:38 - Quantifying risk instead of avoiding it

25:25 - Why a website is a digital storefront

34:51 - The lead magnet philosophy, giving away what you could charge for

41:55 - Volunteering with AMA Columbus and no expectation of return

44:16 - Why Columbus Marketing Jobs exists

TEAM

🎙 Host // Max Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxmiller614/

🎥 Production // Chute Gerdeman: https://www.chutegerdeman.com/

🤝 Guest // Andy Milligan, MMG Studio: https://www.mmg.studio/

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

⚡️ 2026 State of Heathcare Web Report: https://www.report.mmg.studio

Brian Massey has spent eighteen years proving that CRO isn't a small tweak to your homepage headline, it's a discipline. As founder of Conversion Sciences, he's run over 35,000 tests and helped 300+ companies generate more than $1 billion in new revenue. In this episode, Brian explains why most website redesigns lose ground instead of gaining it, why your own traffic is the biggest focus group you'll ever have, and how AI is changing the pace of testing without changing the need for proof. If you've ever launched a "better" site that performed worse, this one will change how you think about every future redesign.

CONNECT WITH BRIAN
🌐 Website: https://conversionsciences.com/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmassey/
📖 Book:

CONNECT WITH ANDY
🌐 Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:22 - Why nobody understood CRO back in 2007
01:55 - The dot-com crash that led him here
03:34 - The real science behind the lab coat
06:52 - Your website is one giant focus group
10:52 - The right way to personalize a B2B site
12:42 - Business people are still just people
16:14 - Building test tools with Claude and Codex
17:19 - Why ten AI ideas still need a test
22:36 - Does AI make experts more valuable or less
25:25 - What used to take two hours now takes ten minutes
27:13 - The bank teller problem
29:07 - Road bikes, Jung, and quantum physics

TEAM
🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/
🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/
🤝 Powered by // AMA Columbus: https://amacolumbus.org and our friends at COHATCH (Get 2 free weeks of premium coworking, on us) https://www.cohatch.com/mbd

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

⚡️ Columbus Marketing Jobs Newsletter: https://www.columbusmarketingjobs.com/

📄 The B2B Healthcare Website Breakdown: https://www.report.mmg.studio

I sat down as the guest on The Marketers Exit with Tas Bober and Tim Davidson, and we're bringing the full conversation over to Marketing by Design. I get into the real story behind MMG Design, the February 2024 layoff that started it all, the local networking grind that built 70% of my referral business, and how I went from a $1,200 client to a $200K studio in two years without a niche for the first year. We also get into the YouTube discipline of posting my monthly P&L for 26 straight months, why I waited too long to specialize in Webflow and healthcare, and what I'd actually tell someone thinking about going solo.

CONNECT WITH TAS & TIM (The Marketers Exit)

🎙 Podcast: https://themarketersexit.com/

🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMarketersExit

💼 Tas Bober, The Scroll Lab: https://thescrolllab.com/

💼 Tim Davidson, B2B Rizz: https://b2brizz.com/

CONNECT WITH ANDY

🌐 Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

04:26 - I Got Catfished By a Co-Working Space

09:13 - Why I Never Looked For Another Job

11:30 - My First Client Paid Me $1,200

13:47 - Why I Post My P&L Every Month

16:02 - 439 YouTube Videos and Counting

20:44 - The Videos With 3 Views Still Mattered

22:40 - Why I Ignore Every Bad Comment

25:02 - No Safety Net, No Plan B

27:18 - The 7:30 AM Networking Grind

32:04 - Why I Waited Too Long to Niche

34:15 - My Actual Offer Breakdown

38:54 - The Project That Made a Client Cry

41:12 - $40K to $200K in One Year

53:00 - Would I Ever Sell MMG?

57:37 - The Most Overrated Advice I Got

59:35 - Advice vs. Experience, Know the Difference

1:00:01 - What My Parents Think I Do

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

🤝 Powered by // AMA Columbus: https://amacolumbus.org and our friends at COHATCH (Get 2 free weeks of premium coworking, on us) https://www.cohatch.com/mbd

⚡️ Start Your Website Redesign Here: https://www.mmg.studio/visualswipefile

Motion design founder Matt Vojacek returns to Marketing by Design to unpack what actually separates memorable creative from forgettable work now that AI can get anyone to "average" in minutes. We dig into why he built Made by Things around story instead of software, the difference between creating and curating, and how the entire quality bar is shifting under marketers' feet. He also breaks down a sales philosophy that has nothing to do with cold calls and everything to do with being a real person over a long horizon. If you market a B2B brand and you're worried about blending in, this gives you a sharper way to think about standing out.

CONNECT WITH MATT

🌐 Website: https://www.madebythings.com

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattvojacek/

📚 Book (The Business of Making Things): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GVBK9KVC

🎟 Making Midwest: https://www.makingmidwest.com

CONNECT WITH ANDY

🌐 Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:10 - The book he swore he'd never write

09:30 - "I wanted to make something real"

13:15 - How a dinner for 8 became a Columbus conference

22:40 - The first question every creative asks him

27:05 - The number he hit, and why it felt empty

34:20 - What AI actually changed (and what it didn't)

38:50 - Creating vs curating

44:30 - "AI makes everyone average"

49:15 - Sales is just making friends at scale

54:40 - Seven figures in a backwards hat

TEAM

🎙 Host // Andy Milligan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmgdesign/

🎥 Production // MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

🤝 Powered by // AMA Columbus: https://amacolumbus.org and our friends at COHATCH (Get 2 free weeks of premium coworking, on us) https://www.cohatch.com/mbd