Disruptive Influence: The Business Storytelling & Brand Communication Podcast
If you know what you do but struggle to talk about it in a way that lands - this podcast is for you.
Most founders, creators, and leaders have the expertise…but not the story, clarity, or communication skills to express it with confidence, conviction, and influence.
Disruptive Influence is the storytelling, communication, and executive presence podcast for founders, solopreneurs, and LinkedIn-era leaders who want to communicate with more clarity and power - in meetings, in pitches, in content, and in everyday conversations.
Learn how to:
- turn lived experience into clear, compelling stories
- communicate with clarity, confidence, and executive presence
- build a strong POV that attracts the right people
- sell your ideas, your value, and your vision with conviction
- unlock the mindset shifts behind real influence and high-performance communication
Hosted by Jeff Abracen - executive storytelling coach, former agency VP, Creative Director, and creator of the Disruptive Influence™ system - each episode reveals how exceptional thinkers shape narratives, build presence, and communicate in ways that create opportunity.
Through a mix of solo tactical episodes and deep conversations with founders and creators who are disrupting and influencing their industries in their own way, you’ll learn how real leaders think, speak, and tell stories that move people.
If you're building a company, growing a personal brand on LinkedIn, leading a team, or simply want to communicate with more confidence and conviction - this podcast gives you the tools and perspective shifts to become the most influential person in the room.
➞ Subscribe and learn how to tell stories that sell - and speak with clarity, confidence, and conviction.
➞ Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.
Disruptive Influence: The Business Storytelling & Brand Communication Podcast
Creativity Isn’t Efficient (and That’s the Point) with Joel Holtby
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Joel Holtby believes creativity should be the most exciting part of any business — not something optimized into submission.
As Founder & Global Co-CCO of Courage, one of Canada’s most awarded creative agencies, Joel has helped build work for brands including KFC, KitKat, CIBC, Nescafé and more.
In this conversation, Joel & Jeff get into why creativity and efficiency often sit at opposite ends of the spectrum, why people don’t actually hate advertising, how Courage finds human truths that travel beyond borders, and why craft still matters in an AI-powered world.
We also talk about the agency’s philosophy of courage, turning down the wrong clients, the story behind KitKat’s security convoy, Joel’s experience creating IKEA’s Lamp 2, working with people like Seth Rogen and Connor McDavid, and why AI should remain a tool - not become the creative.
In this episode:
- Why creativity is a powerful business driver
- The difference between courage and risk
- Why efficiency can work against creativity
- How simple ideas become memorable through craft
- Why people don't hate ads - they hate bad ones
- Creating work that enters culture instead of interrupting it
- How Courage chooses clients
- Why brand DNA can be a creative “cheat code”
- The enduring power of human insight
- Joel's concern with using AI to replace creative problem-solving
- Why the next generation of creatives should become sponges, not trend-chasers
Chapters
00:00 — People Don't Hate Advertising. They Hate Bad Ads.
00:35 — Meet Joel Holtby & Courage
01:43 — Creativity as a Business Driver
04:02 — Finding the Feeling of a Great Idea
06:05 — Awards, Ego & Finding Joy in the Work
09:25 — Building Courageous Brands
11:02 — Courage's First Big Creative Bet
14:52 — The Secret Sauce of Storytelling
17:50 — Why Creativity Isn't Efficient
20:22 — What Makes Advertising Memorable
23:07 — People Don't Hate Ads - They Hate Bad Ads
25:14 — The KitKat Security Convoy
27:40 — Courage as a Client Filter
30:12 — Rich and Miserable vs. Great Work
32:21 — The Ad That Changed Joel's Creative Philosophy
36:13 — IKEA's Lamp & The Art of the Rug Pull
38:15 — The Pressure of Creating Lamp 2
40:01 — Finding the DNA of a Brand
42:57 — Seth Rogen, Connor McDavid & Celebrity
46:01 — AI vs. Lived Human Experience
49:39 — Advice for the Next Generation of Creatives
Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabracen/]
If you are or know a disruptive influencer who would make a great guest, we'd love to hear from you.
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Cover art by Daniel Devoy
Music by Stephen Voyce
©2024-2026 The Disruptive Influence Podcast - Jeff Abracen