Signal Over Noise: The Power of Authentic Brand Partnerships with Daymond John (FUBU) and Karen Spaeth (Starkey)

20:36Jim Stengel:Amazing. And you're a little bit competitive, aren't you, Damon? A little bit. No, not at all. Not at all. So can you react to what Karen said about the culture because you've had experience with so many different cultures. And, you know, it's not easy to keep these things the way that Karen just described Sharky over the years and over the leaders, right?

20:54Daymond John:I mean, she's spot on. She's spot on. I was getting a little, my eyes were getting a little glossy when I was hearing about the culture because I know it so well. And the turnover is little to nothing. If you ask me, I go in there and it's all the same people and you feel like you're at a home. But yeah, you know, you're hiring for culture. And I think that's the right thing that they do. They want to hire and they want to hire people that want to create change and want to sustain change and want to put the customer first. And that's at the end of the day, if a company can keep that identity of putting the customers first and being of service, the company will always win because that's where the world is even going more and more now ever before you know we're going into this as you know this ai world where information is abundant so you either have to be super technical or you have to act like the 1950s where you call up people for no reason and you just have a chat right and you get that warm feeling and that's what you get when you work with the company i think that's projected as well in their marketing you know because remember they sell to hearing facilities and so those people all those i mean karen knows the numbers, but all those people who are small mom and pop shops or larger chains, they have a bunch of people that they're competing with.

22:14Daymond John:They're competing with the over-the-counter product. That's, I don't know,$200 in Walmart or maybe whatever the case is, all the other large hearing device companies. And these people that they sell to, these hearing facilities religiously come out to support them, you know, at their conferences on whatever the case is, because they also make them feel like what they're doing is God's work. And it's powerful to make people feel like that, especially when at the end of the day, you still got to look at the numbers. You got to run a business. You got shareholders, you got the board, you got the bank, you got barriers, other things.

22:50Daymond John:So all this warm and fuzzy stuff is nice, but you still got to pay the bills.

22:56Jim Stengel:Let's flip into talking more about the category. I mean, it's such a fascinating marketing case, right? I mean, you know the numbers way better than I do, but as I was researching you, I mean, 50 million Americans have hearing loss issues and 12 million people do something about it, something like that? Yeah. I mean, you know, our CEO will often say we're selling something nobody wants. And that's that stigma that we talked about previously is people think it makes them feel old, it makes them look old, it makes them look uncapable. And the reality is, as Damon talked about with Jarvis is we want it to be their superpower and to be that edge and, you know, bring it rather from awareness to more of this like empowerment tool in their lives.

23:44Two of us are wearing glasses right now. And so we want it to continue to go the way of being broadly accepted, but we are for all intents and purposes selling something very few people want in their lives until we give them the connection as to why they should.

24:03Jim Stengel:What are you both learning in tackling that challenge? Because it's a super complex one. I mean, you're selling new to the world stuff. Your category is underdeveloped. The purchase, I suspect, is influenced by family and friends. So it's a little bit like selling diapers, right? The baby wears them, but you have to sell to the parents and the grandparents. So what are you learning? Because you're obviously, in some ways, you're succeeding in this. You have a lot of TAM, right, that's underdeveloped. but you're still a very successful enterprise. What are you learning that would be helpful for others who are trying to develop a category to sell something that people need, but they may not want to confront?

24:39I think so much of it is normalizing the conversation, which sounds silly and easy. And it is in fact, one of the toughest nuts to crack from a marketing perspective, because there are perceptions. We've gone as far as we have royalty-free images on our website for media to use, for people to use, because so much of it is a stigma right now that is perpetuated by old images and old devices. And so, you know, we often will say internally, it's not your grandpa's hearing aid, but it isn't. It is sleek. It is small. It is, dare I say, sexy. And we've got to be able to normalize those conversations so people can recognize hearing aids are designed to fill the gaps in your brain, right?

25:33And when you think about it as brain food, when you think about it as helping remove cognitive decline and lowering your chance for Alzheimer's, those are all things that people are working overtime now to remove from their lives or to slow that that onset and hearing aids is a way in which we can do that um but we've got to get people to you know no pun intended to listen i'm just i'm looking for my devices i

26:04Jim Stengel:don't even you're looking for your red ones oh there they are oh they're beautiful look how

26:09Daymond John:pretty those are they are gorgeous you know why they're red because i can't wait for people to ask me, what do I have in my ears when I'm talking to people? But, you know, Karen shared with you, obviously the stats are the facts and I don't want to butcher them or it takes somebody 10 years to realize they have hearing loss before they actually hear it, before they actually do anything about it. And, you know, I became that person in the room turning the TV up to 10 and nobody wanted to be in the room or that person who was talking loud at dinner about somebody else. My wife is like they can hear you you know or that person who had conflicts in my life and all of a sudden it's everybody else's problem when I'm the problem because I didn't hear them well enough but where I find a lot of the opportunity is is that it's always a significant other or it's usually the kids now who are realizing that like Kevin when he goes to Dubai he puts his phone on the table and he listens and he gets his and he gets through here while he's talking to people he He gets his texts, his emails, and he also gets translation if he needs.

27:15Daymond John:And then he gets an important text. He takes it and walks out the room. You can't do that with these because you look like you're listening to the ball game. And people start to associate, the younger generation start to associate the fact that they can have this form of productivity and that these are cool. And then they start to push it on the older generation with, you need these just for everything else we're doing. And that's where I find the, but again, I'm not the CMO. I'm just the man on the street having conversations. So that's where I'm finding a lot of opportunity there. Yeah, I think that's a really good call out is people simply, right, it has to be a great hearing aid, has to sound good.

27:55But all of the healthable features that we have in it, we often say the ear is the new wrist, right? It is where we can take your temperature. It is where we can detect falls. It is where we can translate. You can stream music. And those are all productivity hacks, as you called them, Damon, that you're right, it's starting to skew slightly younger, because people growing up are used to having things in their ears. And it's not seen as so awkward, so uninteresting for younger generations, and they are starting to bridge that gap a little bit to four to seven years. But even waiting four years, having a hearing problem can lead to so much social isolation.

28:38And you talked about there's often conflict with the people you are living with or the people around you. And so getting that bridge to be even smaller is, of course, the marketer's goal.

28:58Hi, everybody. I'm Andrea Sullivan, the CEO of Vive, and we have produced the CMO podcast with Jim Stengel for many years, and I'm sitting in his seat right now. It's so exciting. I wanted to tell you a little bit about one of our programs. It's called Vive by Vayner. It's a 12-month program that's designed for C-suiters and founders. And we want to help people to grow their businesses, but also to grow themselves. And so we bring in people from Shark Tank to talk to our founders, but we also focus on wellness. We want to make sure that people are leaning into becoming their best selves, their best and happiest selves.

29:39So if you are someone that wants to learn how to grow your business and grow yourself, check us out at vive.co. That's V-Y-V-E dot co. We'd love to talk to you.

29:56Jim Stengel:You must have an ambition as a company that everyone who needs it will get help and preferably with your company. What do you think it'll take to crack it? And are you optimistic about cracking it? Because 50 million with a problem, 12 million who are addressing it, that's a big gap. So, and I think there's a lot of marketing interest and curiosity and learning in that, because I think obviously it applies to your category, but it could apply to others as well. I am optimistic that we will crack it eventually. I mean, you mentioned it. The goal is to be Kleenex, right? To have people walk in and simply say, I want to be, I want Starkey versus I need hearing aid.

30:37I want them to say, I want Starkey. Right now, consumer awareness of any hearing brand they're wearing is sub 10%. So there's a big push in the industry as a whole to simply educate and bring it to the forefront as a collective. And our CEO is the chairman of the Hearing Industries Association to try to push those initiatives forward. But it won't just be Starkey that can do that alone. It is the entire hearing industry has got to continue to uplift the profession and to push the education. People often think it's access and it's a considered purchase for some, but there are hearing aids for every lifestyle and every pocketbook as Damon talked about.

31:28So it is far less that and far more of where do you go? who do you trust to that it's a medical device and it is personal, like your, your thumbprint, you know, it's your earprint, I suppose. And those are pieces and parts that people don't know where to start. And so they go to Google. And so we have to go to Google. And with AI, there is a ton of opportunity, of course, but there is also limitations to how, how fast we can move and how fast AI is going.

32:03Jim Stengel:Where do you go for inspiration for this challenge? Are there other markets in the world which has a stronger penetration or a smaller gap between those who need it and those who seek help? I love cars and shoes. Okay. Because everybody has them and they are similar in so many aspects when you move from the competition. And so they have to, again, sit and talk through what is different. What's our differentiator? Why do you want a Mercedes versus a Cadillac versus a Lexus? And how do they pull in their audiences? The same would be said for Adidas and Nike and Reebok. Go down the shoe categories.

32:51There are a ton of similarities. Every hearing aid has immense technology in it. Every hearing aid that is in the hearing industry is good. Ours is better. And it's my job to push through and share why it's better and that it is that superpower. But we have a same baseline in a lot of instances. So I use Carson shoes often for inspiration.

33:16Jim Stengel:Damon, what's your perspective on this challenge we're talking about? You obviously think about a lot as a partner with a company. having more people like you who discover it, who are an advocate, who are proud of it. You obviously don't look or feel old, right? So you're not that paradigm.

33:32Daymond John:You know, I always look at it, you know, they've done such a wonderful job that I don't really wrestle with it from the perspective of talking to people 40 and over. But I look at it as, you know, when, as you know, when we're on ABC and they're looking at the numbers on who watched the show, it could be a hundred million people, but how many would between 18 to 35, right? Why? Because, you know, the people on here may be carrying with shoes, but we're probably not buying 12 pairs of sneakers a month. We're probably not doing a lot of those things. But I do think that we're at a tipping point because these things have become so productive that I think we're one streamer away from everything collapsing and everybody going, why don't I have it?

34:21Daymond John:One person hitting, you know, this year, thank God, we have Mr. Beast on as a special guest shark on Shark Tank. It's going to do a lot for Shark Tank for a couple of reasons. Number one, all the cool influencers are going to say, I'm not that cool, I need to get on the Shark Tank. So it's going to revive that. It's also going to revive a generation of young kids looking. But we're one Mr. Beast. We're one this and that, the version of the Kardashian. I don't know who that is today, but we're one version away from them showing how productive they are and walking around that thing. Now, I don't want to date myself, but I remember Lando Calrissian.

34:56Daymond John:You remember his guy? He used to always be like this around him in Star Wars, that guy. You know, we're one step away from people walking around like that for productivity. And these things are becoming so, so powerful. So that's where I see the opportunity because they already have that other side. I can't say figured out. as Karen said, but I could say that they have it as figured out as they can as it grows. And once this side falls, it will all fall.

35:23Jim Stengel:You're also in a market which has lots of new to the world products, new to the world features. Now with AI, it's going to get even more interesting. And Damon, I want you to speak to that a bit because going back to the early days of FUBU, right? You had to create awareness. You actually were an early pioneer in a different kind of marketing model, right? You worked with music, rappers, athletes. You kind of understood to gain awareness and relevance, you had to do something different. So I'd like you to wax a bit about that experience and what about that might translate into some of the challenges Karen and our company are having.

35:59Well, you know, I think that no matter what, it's just getting more and

36:03Daymond John:more, it's getting more and more that the easiest thing to sell is the truth. I think that the The company has 65 years of cutting edge technology and caring and, you know, emotion and being of service. And I think that as more and more products come into the market, like, you know, my buddy Brandon, who's the CEO of the company, we're starting to call him now the Steve Jobs of hearing because what he's doing is kind of putting it all together. He's not saying we're just a hearing company, we're a technology company. And I think that as people start to get more familiar with this category, they're going to find out who is the really the ones who they are, who are the leaders, who are the ones that we see and we know who the people are who are making the product, not people who are in and out every other day because they're a publicly held company.

36:58Daymond John:They're going to double down on that. but there's so much information out there about what they've done in the past and where they're going now currently that I think that it's easy to sell that. And that's what I did with FUBU. It was really like, you know, I'm not going to put three, like Karen said about cars and shoes, I'm not going to put three sleeves on a shirt, but the Italian people that we love, these brands, it's great, but they don't know who Run DMC is. You know what I mean? They're not in villages in Africa. They're not training hearing facilities for people to be able to empower them.

37:27Daymond John:They're not giving away this if you don't have it. They're not cutting edge technology. This is who we are. And as you start to investigate who we are further, you'll find that we're probably a better choice. If not, then we're failing in our job.

37:42Jim Stengel:Karen, what do you love about what you do as CMO of this company? What do you love most about it? I love that I get to tell real stories. I think that so often in marketing, we're trying to find the next way to say something. And so, I mean, I want a clip of what Damon just said because we can get that for you. Yeah, thank you. That is marketing gold, right? That is something that I didn't pay him to say. It is something that he believes. And so much of marketing has to be grounded in truth and trust. And so I love that most of the time I have things like that to use in my marketing to tell those stories.

38:26And everybody knows somebody who could benefit from hearing aids, from hearing technology, from hearing protection, right? And so I think that everybody can say it's me, it's my daughter, it's my co-worker and understand that they could benefit from that. And I think to be able to give something so empowering is really important and powerful, certainly.

38:51Daymond John:Jim, hopefully I'm not I don't know if you have any hearing issues or something, but I would love to see that. I even started inviting people down. I do.

38:59Jim Stengel:I do, Damon. And it's a long story. I do, and I should be doing more about it. But so.

39:04Daymond John:I got to invite you down to check it out. But, you know, they're so humble as a company. They have fit everybody in the world. Every president, I don't know, Mandela, Mother Teresa, you go through the hallways and you have to see you're like everybody. And I say that in a very respectful way because they don't advertise and market that. You know, because, again, these people have the Pope. I mean, everybody, they have their privacy, first of all. They want to respect that and they want to respect who those people are. So you're looking at a company who has all the assets they ever wanted. Right.

39:43Daymond John:They have the technology and the history. They're changing lives on the front end. They're creating productivity. and they find this middle ground to be this company of, you can trust me, we're of comfort, we're here to serve you. Forget all the noise, that's noise. We're about signal. And I gotta tell you, it's so refreshing. I can't walk into a pizza shop, but that thing is up online already. So yeah, it's just so refreshing the way they, and they craft it. They really crafted to say, this is not about all the glist and glamour. It's about what we could do for you.

40:24Jim Stengel:Karen, this guy's pretty amazing. Yeah, he is. No, really, Damon, you are. I love it, man. I think that that's, you know, from our owners is, you know, Damon brings it up as it's the president, it's your grandma. To them, it's the same. And I think that that's why people like Damon are able to integrate so quickly and so authentically because you're right. We do sit on a lot of assets. So I hope my boss doesn't see that part. But it is really a part of our ethos of just if you need help, we will figure out how to help you. Damon invited you and he meant it. Come to Starkey Gym because we will help you.

41:05And those conversations happen all of the time because we're allowed to have them, which I think is really important.

41:14Jim Stengel:Karen, you're a CMO. And Damon, you have a CMO and you work with a lot of CMOs. You've met a lot of CMOs. What do you both feel today in 2026 is the most important characteristic for a successful, wonderful, fulfilled CMO? I spoke about it a bit earlier, but bringing that trust in both with your teams and with the clients, because leadership as a whole is kind of built in those small moments, right? It's not one big thing. It's not one big direction. It's not one big campaign. It's built in those repeated behaviors and the way you show up both for our customers and certainly our employees. But with AI, with everything else, CMOs are being stretched and they're going from campaign runners in a lot of instances to kind of capability enhancers.

42:06We're having to move at the speed of AI and at the speed of interest and at the speed of what will stop your scroll. And those are things that are hard to harness in. So if you don't have that trust with your team on a regular basis, none of those will be harnessed.

42:26Daymond John:Yeah, I agree with what Karen said also. You know, there's so much noise out there for CMOs to deal with today. And at the end of the day, you know, having to report to a board and the numbers and what's popular today and who's hot on Instagram or an athlete is a challenge. And I think that it's still the CMO's job at the day to clear that noise and say, how can I be a better service to my customer today than I was yesterday? And how can I make my customer a better version of themselves? I was just doing a keynote for a smoothie cane yesterday. You know, they said, well, we thought that and they know that what they're doing is great with the nutrients and all that other stuff.

43:08But we found out that everybody, that's not the answer.

43:12Daymond John:Some were, you know, I just want a quick snack in the morning. I want more protein. I want this. So everybody has a different touch point to the brand. And then they said, well, how do we go out and get more of that information? And don't lose track on that because somebody said we should do this shiny stuff over here. And it goes back to why you're being an entrepreneur or entrepreneurial thinking. You're either doing one or two things. You're either solving a problem or bringing them joy. And if you bring them joy, you solve a problem. But you got to stay on top of what that problem is and how that person wants you to supply a better version of themselves.

43:58Jim Stengel:Damon, at the end of all my episodes, we flip into what we call the creative brief, and we talk about some things that are a bit even more personal, perhaps. And Karen, I want you to go back to the day you started at Starkey 17 and a half years ago. What did you see in the company? You talk about it beautifully now, but what did you see back then that drew you in, that made you change jobs? Yeah, it's the people. And I know how corny that sounds, having interviewed people, having talked through it. I didn't know anything in the hearing space. I had a degree in political science. I worked in politics.

44:36I thought this might be a stopover job. It's been a very long stopover, and I hope they'll continue to have me. but even on the hard days when I was trying to learn about hearing technology and hearing aids and ear anatomy, the people at Starkey make it so easy to want to stay there that when you have the great days and you have a great team to celebrate with, it's even more warm and enjoyable. But certainly we have, truly, truly, we have people that are second to none. And I know a lot of companies say that. And when you come to Starkey Gym, I think you'll feel that immediately when you walk in.

45:21Jim Stengel:I guess we should just make the appointment now, right? I got you. You should. It's great. Great place. So Damon, you've written several books, including one for children. I want you to talk about which book that you enjoyed the most working on.

45:35Daymond John:It'll absolutely be the one for children. It's called Little Damon Learns to Earn. I wrote it because I realized after all those years on Shark Tank, I think I was on Shark Tank about 14 years. And then I decided to write it. I wrote a lot of books for adults. And I found the adults kept coming and asking me the same questions after that. And I was tired of writing for adults. I was just tired of even talking to them. You don't get it by now, by me or any of the other books out there. You ain't going to get it, homie. But the kids are so beautiful. They're a sponge. their life is not determined yet and I wrote it because I realized that America had not had financial intelligence or financial literacy growing up we weren't taught that we were taught ABCs and all that kind of stuff but we weren't taught about compounding interests and FICA and various other things and I realized that we were setting our kids up to fail because if the parents didn't know or have an understanding of financial literacy well then in 15 16 these kids can get marketed for student loans that are going to be$500 ,000,$600 ,000,$700 ,000 for a career that, of course, with AI, they don't even know they're going to want to have.

46:45Daymond John:And you set them up for failure. And so I want to write this book because I figured if I write this book and if I can get it up to be a New York Times bestseller, that way more smarter people in the world and way more popular or famous people in the world would write their own version. So I got it up to that level. And it was very good because, you know what? I had teachers coming to me saying I could teach social studies, but I don't have financial intelligence either. I had parents coming to me saying that type of stuff. So it's been extremely fulfilling. And but more importantly, I started wearing a top hat around because I was, you know, reading the kids.

47:18Daymond John:I come in there with a Brooks Brothers suit. They don't care who I am. But if I came in there with a top hat, they were like, what are you? You're a magician. Yeah. I'm going to show you how to get paid for something you would do for free. And I'm going to show you how to sell something you would buy. and i'm gonna show you how to disappear out of your parents house at 18 years old so it just became fun and you know brings a smile to my face yeah obviously do you have another book in you

47:42Jim Stengel:damon anything you have you're kicking around it'll be something about kids it is something

47:47Daymond John:about children maybe goal setting maybe investing and more the next step of investing where don't start your own company well you know public companies and you know and how to how to do something like that. It'll be something around the little cute kids and going to the schools, man. When a seven-year-old will ask you some questions, it'll make you go home and rethink life. So it's always fun.

48:11Jim Stengel:It's so good. I have three granddaughters under four and the questions they ask, the things that it's just full of joy for all the reasons you say, Damon, for all the reasons. So Karen, you studied politics in college. You started in politics and to get two jobs in politics. You flipped into business. What was the catalyst? I think that for me, Starkey is always a place where I can do good. And there's very little friction there. Politics, when I was in politics, there was starting to be a lot more friction. It was a lot more divided. And that was a really hard place for me to be all of the time.

48:50I cared deeply about what I did and who I did it for. But every corner we turned around, there would be conflicting information. And Brandon, our CEO, we ran into each other several times at different events. And he just said, come check out Starkey, like you belong here. And it really gave me an opportunity to go into business, which I hadn't been politics is in warehouses, it is gritty, It is, you know, knocking on doors as much as it is public speaking and things on stages. And Starkey afforded me the opportunity to really dig into something I knew nothing about and have to become an expert on in a really short amount of time.

49:35And again, I thought it would be a bit of a stopover. And it's just it's an exciting time to be a part of the category. but it's also there's, we're always helping somebody. And that's a really easy way to lay my head on my pillow at the end of the night.

49:53Jim Stengel:Damon, as you think back of on FUBU, and by the way, my son has many heritage things from your collection that he has not never gotten rid of or sold. He's very proud of that. But when you look back on that experience, you know, what lesson did you learn in that that you carry forward to this day?

50:11Daymond John:You know, I learned that people have different perceptions of your brand and your product than you may think. And and that when when they have that, I'm talking about the good ones and the bad ones. That means it's a it's a potential new customer to change if you treat them special and listen to their criticism. But when they have this kind of touch point with you, it's something special to them. It's something very emotional to them, such as, you know, you said your son and you know that a brand is a destination and you should never let somebody down. I find that that was probably the biggest thing I learned from the company.

50:49Daymond John:The other thing in line with what Karen was saying is if you can get people around a movement and a culture, you're unstoppable. You know, in Fubu, we got people for the first many years underneath that. And then we did fall apart because we started thinking about the dollars only and the inventory or the lack of inventory or the margins and stuff like that. And when I started treating customers, you know, when I stopped treating them well, and I'm not talking about necessarily the end customer, I'm talking about like the small stores or the department stores, you know, I started to lose market share.

51:26Daymond John:And then it was hard to climb out of that. And I promised myself that I would never do that again. And that I would always, even if I'm going to lose market share, let me lose it being able, as Karen said, to put my head on the pillow and know that I did the right thing.

51:41Jim Stengel:Going back to your childhood, what's the first brand you both remember making an impact on you? The first brand you remember? I have to imagine you get this often, Jim. I've listened to some of your episodes, Barbie. I mean, I love an iconic brand. I love a brand comeback. I think that, you know, when I go back to being four, five, six, that's all I wanted. Barbie and New Kids on the Block. Less of a brand, more of a band. But those were the two things that I remember vividly waiting and coming home from school. And I hope I got the new Barbie. They weren't drops back then, though maybe they were ahead of their time.

52:19And in fact, they were drops where I would Fridays, I would get good grades. I could go get the new Barbie. And I just think it's such an iconic brand. And I love how they revitalized that over the last handful of years.

52:34Jim Stengel:Did you love the movie? I loved the movie. I had a whole talk about it. Yeah, we had their CMO on the show when the movie was released. It was amazing. It was amazing in every way. Damon, how about yourself? First brand.

52:47Daymond John:Adidas. You know, I grew up in Hollis, Queens, home of Run-DMC. That day that they sent three school buses and picked us all up and took us to the garden. And it was three school buses full of Adidas that they gave us. and we were able to put our Adidas in the air when that song came on in Madison Square Garden. And somebody stole my Adidas on the way home, but the best time of my life, my Adidas.

53:15Jim Stengel:All right, last question. Who's been the most inspiring person in your life? Damon?

53:19Daymond John:My mother. I clearly say it. She raised me by herself and taught me all the things that I didn't later on realize that I was learning until I was probably into my 30s and risked everything. I always say a mom is the ultimate angel investor. You know, a mother brings a child into the world. She doesn't, there's no book that's going to tell her how to figure things out and she's going to figure it out. So good old mom. I would echo that. Certainly. I mean, my mother called me right before this to wish me luck and you didn't need it. And she will call me right after and ask how it went. So I love the way you just called it an angel investor.

53:57I think that's an excellent piece. But the other one is Tani Austin from Starkey. I mean, we call her Mama Tani. So in the same mother vein, I mean, she pours into the people of Starkey and each of us individually. And I think that that's such an admirable trait that I hope I can carry on as well.

54:20Jim Stengel:It's a beautiful way to end it. I mean, thank you, you two, Karen, Damon. I mean, I knew this would be fun, interesting, fascinating, but it touched my heart. And I think this episode is going to help a lot of people get some things right in their life. So thank you. Thank you.

54:34Daymond John:Well, great. Great question, Jim. Thank you, Karen, for everything. And thank you both.

54:39Jim Stengel:That was my conversation with Damon and Karen. Three takeaways from this one for your business brand and life. First one, the best partnerships start with a shared belief. One of the biggest lessons from this conversation is that the best partnerships don't begin with a contract. They begin with a genuine belief. What started as Damon attending a Starkey Foundation event evolved into a relationship built on personal experience, trust, and advocacy. Damon talks about Starkey not because he's paid to, but because he genuinely believes in the product and the mission. That's the difference between an endorsement and authentic influence.

55:13Jim Stengel:Second takeaway, great brand building starts with a big ambition, and Starkey certainly has that. Starkey isn't simply marketing hearing aids. it's changing the way people think about hearing health. By focusing on empowerment instead of stigma and technology instead of age, the company is helping redefine an entire category. It's a reminder that the best marketers don't just grow brands, they reshape their categories. And third takeaway, as the saying goes, culture eats strategy for breakfast. Both Karen and Damon repeatedly came back to the same idea. Starkey's success starts with its culture.

55:49Jim Stengel:From hiring people who share the company's values to putting patience before profits, they described an organization where purpose isn't a slogan, it's how decisions get made every day. That culture has become the foundation for everything from innovation to customer loyalty. That's it for this week's episode of the CMO Podcast. As always, I would be grateful if you shared our show with your friends, along with subscribing and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. The CMO Podcast is a Vive Original Production.