In this episode of Humans of Growth, host Aly Hathcock sits down with Leah Keggi , Marketing Manager at Spearhead Global, one of the fastest-growing companies in spirits packaging and design. With over a decade of experience in alcohol marketing, Leah has worked across beer, wine, and spirits—supporting everything from emerging CPG startups to legacy liquor brands. Now at Spearhead, she helps alcohol brands rethink their packaging not just as a product necessity, but as a powerful marketing and brand positioning tool. We explore how the alcohol industry is contracting post-COVID, what that means for brands trying to scale, and how strategic packaging design can become a brand’s most powerful sales asset—especially when combined with omnichannel marketing, social media campaigns, and category-specific messaging. You’ll also hear how Spearhead shifted their B2B messaging from "packaging supplier" to "brand partner"—resulting in higher engagement, stronger lead generation, and deeper customer loyalty. This episode is packed with insights for B2B marketers, CPG brand managers, alcohol marketing teams, and anyone navigating the intersection of sales enablement and brand storytelling. In this episode, we cover... The post-pandemic market contraction in alcohol and spirits How to use packaging as a brand differentiator on the retail shelf The psychology behind consumer buying decisions in wine & spirits Why legacy brands often overestimate awareness The role of color psychology and container shape in packaging design Building a sales-forward marketing strategy that drives case velocity Why marketers must “sell internally” to align with sales and leadership Using LinkedIn marketing and thought leadership to humanize B2B How brand storytelling beats feature-heavy messaging in B2B Why attribution is broken—and how to market in a world of messy data Balancing AI automation with the need for human connection Lessons from building campaigns for stadiums and sports partnerships The evolution of consumer behavior in the alcohol category How smaller alcohol brands can justify investing in top-of-funnel content Need help with marketing for your business? Check out PerissonNetwork.com to get connected to a top-tier marketing agency.Find Leah Keggi at LeahKeggi.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahkeggi/Learn more about Spearhead Global over at spearheadglobal.com.

What happens when you lose everything in the 2008 crash? You rebuild smarter. In this episode of Humans of Growth, Jorge Vazquez, CEO of Greystone Investment Group, shares his raw, unfiltered journey from financial advisor to real estate mogul. We talk through the pivotal moment he had to choose between securities and social media, how he leveraged MySpace to kickstart his real estate career, and the painful but powerful lessons of losing 22 properties and starting over with $10K and a borrowed couch. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why most businesses fail to build resilience—and how Jorge created a recession-proof model How social media forced him to pick a lane (and why it was the best decision he ever made) The compounding power of property management and monthly cash flow How Jorge uses his real estate business to fund a nonprofit teaching youth financial literacy What it really takes to grow a vertically integrated real estate brand (without selling your soul to scale) If you care about growth that lasts, you’ll walk away with lessons on grit, strategy, and staying grounded. Helpful Resources:Want to learn more about real estate? Check out graystoneig.com or propertyprofitacademy.comNeed help with marketing? Schedule a free strategy session at perissonnetwork.com.

What happens when a SaaS founder takes the chaos of everyday family life and turns it into a SaaS with a product-led growth engine? In this episode of Humans of Growth, host Aly Hathcock sits down with Nathaniel Robinson, CEO and founder of Trustworthy. Together, they unpack how Trustworthy has grown through product-led growth (PLG) by focusing on user experience, referral loops, and genuine customer empathy. Nathaniel shares how his team leverages onboarding optimization, freemium strategy, and AI innovation to transform household chaos into clarity — all while creating organic, sustainable growth. You’ll learn: Why clarity and focus are the ultimate growth levers for startups. Why shifting from free trials to freemium boosts conversion rates, customer lifetime value (CLV), and organic adoption How AI-driven personalization, automation, and LLM-optimized content are redefining customer experience (CX) and reducing churn. The power of referral marketing, network effects, and multi-user collaboration in a product-led viral loop. Why marketing around life transitions beats traditional pain-point tactics. And how product-led virality turns users into your most powerful marketing channel. If you’re a founder, marketer, or growth strategist looking to understand how to scale through product-led marketing, this episode is for you. If you’re a human, you need Trustworthy. Trustworthy is a secure, all-in-one Family Operating System that helps households organize, store, and share vital information — from legal documents and passwords to insurance, finances, and medical records — in one encrypted platform. Visit trustworthy.com to get started for free. Need marketing support? Head over to PerissonNetwork.com for a free strategy session.

We put clients first” is meaningless… unless you can prove it.In this episode of Humans of Growth, host Aly Hathcock sits down with Ben VerWys, founder of Fiduciary Financial Advisors (FFA)—a wealth management firm that has scaled to 40+ advisors without spending a dime on traditional marketing. Ben shares the strategy behind FFA’s organic growth engine, built entirely on clear positioning, brand values, and referral-based momentum. Instead of flashy funnels or paid ads, Ben focused on building a value proposition that’s fact-based, legally enforced, and transparently client-first—in an industry where most messaging is vague and undifferentiated. Whether you’re a founder, marketer, or scaling a professional services brand, this episode is a masterclass in how to turn your internal values into external growth. You’ll Learn: Why “we put clients first” is meaningless without proof How to create a differentiated brand in a commoditized market Why fee transparency and fiduciary-only models are winning How FFA built an inbound growth engine with zero ad spend The marketing power of operational decisions (not slogans) Why most “top 10 firm” lists are SEO plays, not value indicators How FFA turned tax planning into a scalable referral lever Why advisor experience can be as important as client experience The mindset shift that took Ben from reluctant founder to growth CEO If you're ready to build a brand that grows through trust & differentiation, this episode is for you.Learn more about Fiduciary Financial Advisors at forfiduciary.com. Need marketing support? Head over to PerissonNetwork.com for a free strategy session.

Can a brand go from total obscurity to industry recognition in just one year - without a huge ad budget or big marketing team?Ray Huang, Senior Director of Marketing at Canopy Connect, joins the show to unpack exactly how he did it. When Ray joined Canopy Connect, the company was a 12-person insurtech startup with zero brand recognition, no real marketing infrastructure, and a fragmented market.Fast forward 12 months: they’d saturated their niche, dominated industry events, and flipped their cold-start problem into pipeline momentum. In this deep-dive, Ray reveals his full B2B go-to-market strategy—how he prioritized brand awareness over bottom-funnel lead gen, why memes outperformed traditional creative, and how Facebook outpaced LinkedIn in ad ROI by 10x. He also shares how he transitioned from solo marketer to team leader, built a paid media engine from scratch, and used list-based targeting to run smart, scalable ABM-style campaigns. We cover: Building brand awareness in a niche B2B market Paid media strategy: Facebook vs. LinkedIn for insurance tech Content marketing and early-stage demand gen Why low-funnel attribution often misleads startup marketers Using first-party data to scale ABM campaigns Growth marketing vs. brand marketing tradeoffs Hiring sequence: content, demand gen, partner marketing How to justify brand spend to the C-suite (and get buy-in) If you're a Chief Marketing Officer looking to increase market saturation or a startup CEO needing to get your company off the ground, this episode is your roadmap.Want to learn more about Canopy Connect? Check out usecanopy.com. Need help with marketing? Go to perissonnetwork.com for a free strategy session.

In this episode of Humans of Growth, host Aly Hathcock interviews Ryan Duitch, CEO of Arro Finance, to explore how a fast-growing fintech startup scaled through organic growth, partnership marketing, and bold brand positioning—without relying on traditional paid media. Whether you're a growth marketer, startup founder, or marketing strategist, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the startup marketing strategy that helped Arro acquire thousands of users with under $12K in ad spend. Ryan breaks down how his team leverages B2B2C growth, affiliate partnerships, and funnel strategy to reduce CAC (customer acquisition cost) while boosting LTV (lifetime value). Inside, you'll learn: How to drive user acquisition through partnership marketing instead of paid ads The role of brand strategy in lowering CAC and improving retention Why customer trust and brand messaging beat traditional performance marketing How Arro Finance uses financial education and AI to improve conversion rates Why smart marketing automation and product marketing fuel growth at scale Lessons in crafting a scalable marketing funnel without breaking your budget This episode is packed with real, tactical insights for anyone building a brand in a competitive market—especially in fintech, SaaS, or mission-driven startups. Learn more about Arro Finance at arrofinance.com. Looking for the right marketing partners to grow faster?Head to perissonnetwork.com for a free strategy session.