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In this episode of The Intangible Brand, Jerry and Carl sit down with Pamela Slim to explore what it really takes to scale an expert-led firm without diluting the client experience that made it successful in the first place.

Pamela shares insights from her work advising founders and professional service leaders who want to grow into larger, more complex markets. As firms expand, positioning gets blurrier, operations get strained, and client expectations evolve. The tension is real: growth creates opportunity, but it also exposes gaps in systems, clarity, and leadership alignment.

We talk about what Pamela calls building a “widest net” business, one where the brand promise, delivery systems, and team experience are aligned. The conversation digs into how market perception can drift from reality, why operational discipline is essential for protecting brand equity, and how leaders can design businesses that scale without burning out their people or confusing their clients.

This episode offers practical perspective for professional service leaders who want growth that strengthens their brand rather than undermines it.

We cover:

• What it means to scale without eroding client experience
• Why expert-led firms struggle as they move into larger markets
• The gap between market perception and actual delivery
• How systems and profitability discipline protect brand integrity
• Aligning team experience with client expectations
• What a “widest net” business really looks like in practice

Resources mentioned:

• Exceptional Experiences by Neen James
• Podcast by Nathan Barry (CEO of Kit, formerly ConvertKit)

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In this episode of The Intangible Brand, Jerry and Carl sit down with George Ghneim, a veterinarian, restaurateur, and distiller, to explore what brand and experience look like in businesses where emotions run high and the work is deeply human.

George shares lessons from veterinary medicine and hospitality, two fields where trust, empathy, and presence are not optional. We talk about how client experience is inseparable from employee experience, especially when teams are navigating stress, grief, or urgency. George also unpacks how he thinks about brand at a small-business level, from naming and visual identity to the signals leaders send through everyday decisions.

The conversation digs into how leaders can stay grounded in tense moments, why listening is often more powerful than reacting, and how support teams quietly shape the outcomes clients remember most. Throughout, George emphasizes care as a leadership discipline, not a soft value, and explains why the best brands are built through consistent human behavior rather than marketing alone.

This episode offers a grounded, practical perspective for leaders in professional services who want to build brands rooted in trust, empathy, and real-world service.

We cover:

• What veterinary medicine and hospitality teach us about experience
• Why employee experience and client experience cannot be separated
• Staying calm and empathetic in emotionally charged situations
• How listening builds trust more effectively than quick fixes
• Building brand through everyday leadership decisions
• The role of support teams in shaping client outcomes

Resources mentioned:

• Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh

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Follow the Hosts: Jerry Gennaria & Carl Winstead

Learn More about TOKY & Cline

Get In Touch: hello@theintangiblebrand.com

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In this episode of The Intangible Brand, Jerry and Carl sit down with Benjamin Sachwald, Senior Vice President of Acoustics, Noise, and Vibration at AKRF, to explore a dimension of employee experience that is often overlooked but deeply felt: sound.

Benjamin helps unpack why acoustics is becoming a more visible and strategic part of workplace design, especially as organizations rethink offices, hybrid work, and what it means to create spaces people actually want to use. We talk about how “office vibe” is shaped not just by what we see, but by what we hear, and why sound plays a major role in focus, collaboration, and overall well-being.

The conversation also looks at why acoustics can feel like a black box for many teams, how late-stage fixes often fail, and what it takes to make sound an intentional part of the design process. Benjamin shares how tools like Pindrop help teams hear design intent earlier, and why creating the right mix of spaces for calls, focus, and collaboration is really about cultural clarity.

This episode offers a practical lens for leaders, designers, and firm owners who want to think more holistically about how the built environment supports both employee experience and client perception.

We cover:

• Why acoustics is gaining importance in people-centric workplace design
• How sound shapes “office vibe” and cultural perception
• The challenges of open offices, hybrid work, and acoustic privacy
• Designing spaces that support focus, calls, and collaboration
• Making acoustics an intentional part of the design process
• How tools like Pindrop help teams understand sound earlier

Resources mentioned:

• 20,000 Hertz podcast, with a recommendation to start with the THX Deep Note episode
• AKRF and Benjamin Sachwald on LinkedIn

Connect With Us

Follow the Hosts: Jerry Gennaria & Carl Winstead

Learn More about TOKY & Cline

Get In Touch: hello@theintangiblebrand.com