What does a three-minute country song have in common with a brand message?
According to Peter Cronin, almost everything. Peter is the co-founder and CEO of Cronin Creative. He spent decades on Music Row as a Billboard journalist, music publisher, and songwriter before building a branding agency with his wife, designer Karen Cronin.

In this episode, he shares how a Waffle House waitress ended up with her own jukebox song, and how a persistent publicist pushed him into running Madonna’s Nashville publishing company. He also explains how he gave a sprawling Mississippi arts center a story it could tell in one paragraph. Creatives, marketers, founders, and agency leaders will hear why imagination and real relationships still beat AI. The conversation covers brand messaging, songwriting craft, the Nashville music business, building a business with your spouse, AI in creative work, and building a creative career.

Learn More & Connect:
Show Notes + Resources: https://snapshot.agency/the-spark

Connect with Peter Cronin: LinkedIn | Website

Connect with Mark Scrivner: LinkedIn | Website
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What brought you to the table might not be what keeps you there.
Jamie Dunham, founder and president of Brand Wise, joins Mark Scrivner to trace her path from journalism to two of Nashville’s most influential agencies, then out on her own in 2010. She explains why journalism made her a better strategist, describes the prospect who wouldn’t hire her because she was a woman, and shows how consumer research changed Gigi’s Cupcakes’ view of who its customers were.

This conversation is for creatives, marketers, founders, and agency leaders who want to build a business that lasts. Topics include brand strategy, marketing to women, consumer research, lean agency models, Nashville’s creative community, and professional networking.

Learn More & Connect:
Show Notes + Resources: https://snapshot.agency/the-spark

Connect with Jamie Dunham: LinkedIn | Website

Connect with Mark Scrivner: LinkedIn | Website
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What happens when the company you built runs fine without you?
Elise Mitchell started a PR firm at her kitchen table in Fayetteville, Arkansas, grew it 500% in five years with clients like Walmart and Tyson Foods, and sold it to Dentsu. She tells Mark Scrivner the founder story most people skip: the workaholism that came with growth, the intervention that changed how she led, and the hard question of who she was once she stepped away. For creatives, founders, and agency leaders, it’s an honest look at building something big without losing yourself. Topics include mindset during change, scaling with limited talent, founder burnout, selling an agency, identity after the exit, and looking through the turn.

Episode Highlights
00:00 – The founder story that starts after the sale
06:04 – Moving to Fayetteville and choosing “bitter or better”
14:36 – What 500% growth cost: workaholism and perfectionism
20:43 – The intervention that changed how Elise led
31:12 – “I think I’m bored”: the road to selling to Dentsu
36:10 – Who are you when you’re no longer the CEO?
40:27 – Two questions that revealed her next chapter
44:46 – Big Mike and the lesson of looking through the turn

Learn More & Connect:
Show Notes + Resources: https://snapshot.agency/the-spark

Connect with Elise Mitchell: LinkedIn | Website
Get Elise's Book, Leading Through the Turn

Connect with Mark Scrivner: LinkedIn | Website
Our Sponsor - Snapshot

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