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Soul & Science: Fast Forward Your Marketing Mind

Soul & Science: Fast Forward Your Marketing Mind

By: Mekanism and Jason Harris
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About this listen

 Soul & Science is an award-winning podcast where marketing’s brightest minds reveal what it takes to build breakthrough brands. Hosted by Jason Harris, each episode explores the balance between brand building (Soul) and business performance (Science). From legacy brands to emerging disruptors, we delve into the insights, culture, and vision behind the most successful brand stories.

Soul & Science is a Mekanism podcast produced by Maggie Boles, Ryan Tillotson, and Lily Jablonski. The show is edited by Daniel Ferreira, with theme music by Kyle Merritt.

Brought to you by Mekanism.2025 Mekanism Art Economics Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • #103: BetterHelp Chief Growth Officer Sara Brooks | Scaling Empathy

    #103: BetterHelp Chief Growth Officer Sara Brooks | Scaling Empathy
    Nov 2 2025
    Empathy at scale isn’t easy—but it’s the heart of BetterHelp’s mission.With two decades of marketing leadership at Facebook, The RealReal, and Beyond, Sara Brooks has helped brands grow from startup to IPO and beyond. Now, as Chief Growth Officer at BetterHelp, she’s using data and storytelling to make mental health care more accessible around the world.

    In this episode, Sara joins Jason Harris to talk about leading with empathy in a data-driven world, the power of authentic storytelling, and how vulnerability has become one of the most effective tools in brand building. She also shares lessons from campaigns with Lewis Capaldi and college athletes that prove empathy—and humor—can coexist with rigor and scale.

    Key Takeaways:

    ✅ Empathy and data aren’t opposites—they’re accelerants
    ✅ Authenticity can’t be automated, but it can be scaled
    ✅ Vulnerability builds affinity faster than perfection
    ✅ Destigmatizing mental health starts with honest storytelling

    Memorable Moments:

    💡 “When you feel better, everyone in your life feels better as well.”
    💡 “Vulnerability isn’t a risk—it’s the whole point.”
    💡 “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Just get started.”
    💡 “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

    ”Brought to you by Mekanism.
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    38 mins
  • #102: Redefining Success Through Service | Stinson Parks III, Former Marketing Executive at PepsiCo & Amex

    #102: Redefining Success Through Service | Stinson Parks III, Former Marketing Executive at PepsiCo & Amex
    Oct 26 2025
    Building a brand takes focus. Building a meaningful career takes range.

    From leading global campaigns at L’Oréal, PepsiCo, and American Express to driving purpose-driven change in accessibility, youth empowerment, and the arts, Stinson Parks III has built a career by refusing to be boxed in. After surviving a near-death experience, he redefined what success means—shifting his focus from building brands to building impact.

    Today, Stinson is using his marketing mindset to drive change across four pillars: accessibility, youth, community, and the arts. In this episode, he joins Jason Harris to talk about transforming professional skills into personal impact—and why the same tools that move brands can also move people.

    Key Takeaways:

    ✅ The skills that build brands can also build change
    ✅ Accessibility isn’t charity—it’s innovation and inclusion in action
    ✅ Art and storytelling have the power to heal and connect
    ✅ True success isn’t what you achieve—it’s who you help

    Memorable Moments:

    💡 “I went to the school of Mattel, PepsiCo, and Amex—these were my universities.”
    💡 “I was literally dead for a month. Now I see my injury as the biggest blessing of my life.”
    💡 “Change happens one person, one conversation, one community at a time.”
    💡 “It’s not what you have to do—it’s what you get to do, and who you get to serve.

    ”Brought to you by Mekanism.
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    38 mins
  • #101: When a Movement Becomes a Brand | Kyle Lierman, CEO of Civic Nation

    #101: When a Movement Becomes a Brand | Kyle Lierman, CEO of Civic Nation
    Oct 19 2025
    How do you turn civic engagement into a brand people actually want to join?

    Kyle Lierman, CEO of Civic Nation and former Obama White House staffer, joins Jason Harris to talk about leading large-scale movements—It’s On Us, When We All Vote, Made to Save—and the organizing principles that make them work.

    Kyle shares how his time at the White House shaped his leadership philosophy, why Gen Z is the most pivotal generation for social change, and how cause-driven campaigns can harness creativity and data to move millions without losing their humanity.

    Key Takeaways:

    ✅ Organizing and branding share the same goal: building trusted relationships at scale
    ✅ Great movements have a sprint mentality—urgency drives innovation and impact
    ✅ Gen Z controls the culture for a 30-year block; win their trust, and you shape the future
    ✅ Build where people want to be, not just where they already are

    Memorable Moments:

    💡 “Put your head down, do your job incredibly well for six months, and then you can do anything.”
    💡 “We’re making one plus one equal five—organizing power plus creative storytelling.”
    💡 “Gen Z has the power to bring an issue to the forefront in a way no other generation does.”
    💡 “Our job isn’t to give people medicine—it’s to build the kind of community they want to join.”

    Brought to you by Mekanism.
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    37 mins
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