Mix & Matchbox Podcast
The Mix & MatchBox podcast explores innovative digital tools, dissects complicated marketing strategies, and offers pro tips on how to grow your business online. Join podcast host Brent Feldman, co-founder of Matchbox Design Group, in interviews with members of the Matchbox team, industry partners, and other marketing specialists.
We’ll break down complex marketing topics into bite-sized pieces to help you hone your marketing skills and thrive online.
We realize that our mission to “make the web better” is more significant than just us. So we’re passing the torch to you and hoping you’ll join us in making the internet more responsive, user-friendly, and accessible for all.
Episode #1 – Why We Use Figma
Brent Feldman, co-founder at Matchbox Design Group, and UI/UX Designer, Alex Shaw chat over Google Meet about why our agency uses Figma for designing websites and digital assets.
Episode #2 – An Interview With Matt Raithel Of Graphite Labs
Brent Feldman, Cofounder at Matchbox Design Group, and Graphite Lab’s Founder & Studio Director, Matt Raithel chat over Google Meet about Matt’s background, and how his full-service game development studio works.
Matt and Brent discuss advice for getting into the industry, their approach to projects, lessons about client relationships, and even dig into fee structure and how they bill for their work. We reveal some news about a new title they will be producing with Atari and some of the goals that as a game development shop, they still are looking to achieve.
Episode #3 – Why Empathy Is Important In Marketing
Brent Feldman, Cofounder at Matchbox Design Group, and Tim Leon of Geile/Leon Marketing Communications sits down to peer into Tim’s vision behind trademarking the term “Return on empathy”. Brent and Tim discuss why empathy is overall important in marketing, how different brands such as Pepsi and Nike use empathy to connect more to their consumers, and whether or not these marketing campaigns have failed. Is philanthropy more than just donating money to organizations? Tim and Brent take a deep dive into this topic and many more.
Episode #4 – Best Practices For Site Mapping
Brent Feldman, Cofounder, and Rachel Jurina, Content Strategy Lead at Matchbox Design Group sit down to talk about the best practices for creating a sitemap for websites.
Brent and Rachel discuss the dos and don’ts of site mapping, why it matters when dealing with search engine optimization, and where to start when you’re trying to migrate five or more websites into one site map.
Episode #5 – This Product Helps With Self-Sufficiency
Brent Feldman, Cofounder at Matchbox Design Group, and Myke Bates, Cofounder at Hearo sit down to talk about the product Myke and his team have created. Brent and Myke discuss how their product came to be and how they maneuver challenges such as privacy, accessibility, and many others. All while creating a product that helps people who need care or are living with disabilities live without full-time in-person supervision.
Episode #6 – The Bridge Between Digital & Traditional Ads
Brent Feldman chats with Jill Gainer, Director of Marketing at AAO and board member at 314 Digital. They discuss the bridge between digital and traditional ads, myths about traditional advertising, her role at 314 Digital, and what they love about advertising and marketing in St. Louis.
Episode #7 – The Importance Of Web Accessibility
Brent Feldman and Cullen Whitmore sit down with Kyle Pellegrino-Hartman, Partnerships Consultant from eSSENTIAL Accessibility to talk about what accessibility really means, why it matters, and how the pandemic made companies start caring about web accessibility more than ever.
Episode #8 – Savvy Coders Versus Other Bootcamps
Brent talks with Laurie Wilson, Director of Partnership Outreach at Savvy Coders. During this episode, they chat about how Laurie got to Savvy Coders, what changes she’s seen in workforce development, what sets Savvy Coders apart from other boot camps, and how they prep candidates for interviews.
Episode # 9 – Is Brand Naming Important
Brent talks with Tyler Doyle of TBD Naming to discuss what brought Tyler into this type of career, what are some of the best brand names out there, and what methods are used to come up with a great name.
Episode # 10 – Is SEO Dead?
Brent chats with James McMinn, Senior Digital Strategist at Matchbox Design Group about SEO, its nuances, and following instincts. They also talk about how to make the most of a relationship with your SEO vendor and what SEO myths just won’t go away.
Episode # 11 – Influencer Marketing
Brent Feldman sits down for an in-person interview with Mary Asher from the Instagram account of mary.eats.stl. Mary is a transplant recipient and the curator of content for her account. In this episode they discuss influencer marketing, how Mary got started down this path, and even share some recommendations for food around St. Louis.
Episode # 12 – Makersspaces And Community Engagement
Brent Feldman chats with Maggie Holper, Makerspace Coordinator for the Moberly Area Community College Columbia Higher Education Center. Better known as the MACC Lab, this makerspace helps bring in business owners, artists and craftspeople so they are able to execute their vision on a wide variety of technical equipment.
Episode 13 – Cyber Security
Brent Feldman chats with Al Marcella, President of Business Automation Consultants. Al discusses the history of his company and experience in the cyber security field, common threats and where the field may be headed in the future.
Episode 14 – What’s It Like Selling An Agency
Brent chats with Eric Thomas of Electric Oak about his former businesses that he grew and sold in various different ways. There are plenty of lessons to be aware of and things to think about throughout the process.
Episode 15 – Why The World Needs More Designers
Brent chats with Noriko Yuasa, Department Chair of Art Design and Art History at Webster University, about her start in the design field, how she views success in the field and what students should know beforehand.
Episode 16 – Winning Workplace Award
Brent and Cullen talk about what it was like to win the St. Louis Small Business Monthly Winning Workplace award and what it means to them.
Episode 17 – Staying Grateful
As is the season, we talk with Keisheia Smith, Operations Manager at Matchbox Design Group, about gratitude. Keisheia consistently helps the Matchbox team with valuable insight and perspective on a range items and she shares her thoughts on how she stays grateful and shares this with people.
Episode 18 – Grading SEM Performance Metrics
We chat with Derek Mabie, founder of ClickScore, about the product and what it means for clients and agencies when it comes to analyzing digital marketing performance. We dig into Derek’s roots in the industry and how his experience led him to create the product.
Episode 19 – Approaching Business Challenges From A Diferent Perspective
Brent chats with Eliot Frick, founder of Bigwidesky. They discuss how Eliot approaches thinking about client issues, what futurists do for the company and their clients, and answers the question of why the world needs more designers.
Episode 20 – Leading A Family Business
Brent speaks with Noah Besheer about leading his family’s multigenerational business, his transition from a marketing career and vision for the future.
Episode 21 – Great Customer Service
Brent chats with Doug Belleville the owner of STL Beds about what makes a great customer service experience. Doug “delivers dreams” nationwide and has an amazing record of Google Reviews.
Episode 22 – International Women’s Day
We’re celebrating not only International Women’s Day but also Women’s History Month with a special podcast episode.
Episode 23 – Marketing Legal Services
We chat with Mark Cantor about Cantor Injury Law in St. Louis, MO, and his experience marketing his firm.
Episode 24 – How to Develop Authentic Client Relationships
Brent talks with Matchbox Design Group’s Accounts Director, Jamye Mann about how she works to develop client relationships.
Episode 25 – How To Make The Most Of Internal Marketing Departments
We sit down with Alex Kinkade, Marketing Manager for StreamTech Engineering to chat about his experience working in internal marketing positions. He shares some important advice for people working in the marketing department as well as the people that interact with them.
Episode 26 – From Skateboarding To Design
Today we chat with John Freeborn, Director of Design at Art of Problem Solving and Editor at Tails Of… Zine. We chat about skateboarding, design and even meeting the Beastie Boys. From his start with an internship at a streetwear brand in the 90s, John shares his career stories.
We hope you are enjoying the Mix & Matchbox Podcast. If you have any questions or if you would like to be on the podcast please contact us below.
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