Adam Madrid is the Film Production Coordinator for the City of Jacksonville Film and Television Office, a director and editor at Argyle Forest Films, and the city producer for the Jacksonville 48 Hour Film Project. He was named Art Innovator of the Year by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, and his first independent feature, “Let Me Be Corey,” is out this year.

Monique Madrid is the Festival Director of the LOL JAX Film Festival, which she and Adam co-created — now in its 10th year. She's a Jacksonville Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and Woman of Influence, and the festival itself was just named Small Business of the Year by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.

Alaina Wis is a professional voice actor who's brought characters to life in major video games like Starfield, Skyrim, and Zenless Zone Zero. Her commercial work spans everyone from Google and Amazon to Victoria's Secret and Toyota — including that iconic "Let's Go Places" tagline we've all heard.

And if you're a regular listener, you've actually already heard Alaina's voice — she's the one who brings our podcast intro animation to life each episode.

But what makes Alaina's story particularly relevant today is how she's built a thriving creative business while navigating massive industry changes. She's gone from traditional studio sessions to remote recording, from corporate narration to interactive gaming, all while staying authentically herself in an industry that's constantly evolving.

Bob Hawkinson is revolutionizing how we think about plastic waste. After four decades of running TLC Total Lawn Care in Jacksonville, Florida, Bob couldn't ignore the mountains of plastic waste his industry was generating. Instead of accepting the status quo, he went to work with leading experts in biodegradable plastics to develop his own solution: Recede Bioplastics. His innovations have earned multiple patents and include products that completely biodegrade in both soil and marine environments. As the winner of Think Beyond Plastic's Most Innovative Emerging Business award, Bob's company now offers breakthrough solutions like SustainaLine trimming cord, Fresh Mulch biodegradable mulch bags, and weed barrier systems that work hard then disappear - proving that good business and environmental stewardship can grow together.

Brett House is the founder of HighSignals, a GTM intelligence company built on a simple, radical premise: most product launches fail not because the product is bad, but because the organization launching it isn't actually ready. His Launch Readiness Diagnostic™ benchmarks readiness across eight dimensions before a company commits budget and credibility to a launch event. His Launch Accelerator™ uses agentic AI-powered scenario planning and buyer simulation to pressure-test narrative, ICP targeting, competitive plays, and field enablement — and delivers a full launch playbook in as few as three weeks.

He also just launched signalandnoise.ai — a new media company — making him, at this precise moment, both the expert on launch readiness and a founder mid-launch. That irony is intentional, and it's gold.

He has been building HighSignals in stealth. This may be one of his first public conversations about it.

Britt McTammany is an award-winning filmmaker and creative director with over 25 years of experience shaping visual narratives. As one of Florida's digital pioneers, he helped introduce non-linear editing to the region while working at White Hawk Pictures. His work spans multiple disciplines, including cinematography, editing, animation, and sound design. Over the years, he has witnessed and adapted to major industry transformations. Today, Britt continues to push creative boundaries, recently serving as cinematographer for the critically acclaimed film ‘The Artifice Girl’ while developing new projects that explore the intersection of traditional filmmaking and emerging AI technologies.         

Carl Smith is the founder of The Bureau (formerly Bureau of Digital), a community where agency leaders and their teams find connection, growth, and friendship. Having experienced firsthand the isolation that comes with running an agency, 

Carl has dedicated himself to creating spaces where leaders can find genuine support among peers who understand their unique challenges.

Known for his authentic approach to leadership, Carl focuses on what truly matters in business: real human relationships. Through The Bureau, he facilitates small, impactful events, collaborative programs, and a vibrant Slack community where agency owners and digital professionals can share insights, celebrate successes, and work through challenges together.

Jacqueline Culver — Jackie, to everyone who knows her — has spent her career doing what most fundraisers only aspire to: turning community generosity into systematic change. As Vice President of Philanthropy at Feeding Northeast Florida, she is responsible for connecting donors, partners, and advocates to an organization that serves more than 97,000 people every single day across a 12-county region.

She holds the CFRE credential — Certified Fund Raising Executive — a designation earned through rigorous examination and documented professional achievement. It's the mark of someone who treats fundraising as a craft, not a performance.

Feeding Northeast Florida is not just a food pantry. It's a food bank — a network hub — working with retail partners, manufacturers, and farms to rescue and redistribute high-quality food before it's wasted, while purchasing additional resources to close gaps. 

Jill Thompson is the Public Relations Director at Inheritance of Hope, where she's been for over 15 years. She's held multiple roles, including Brand Director for Hope Hubs, Legacy Videos, and Hope@Home, as well as Volunteer and Family Legacy Director.

Jill has been instrumental in growing the organization from serving their 100th family in 2011 to now reaching families in all 50 states. Under her leadership, Inheritance of Hope has launched Hope Hub locations in Washington DC, Jacksonville, Twin Cities, and Tampa, and has created over 1,000 Legacy Videos.

She's also a bone marrow donor whose recipient's widow now donates annually to Inheritance of Hope - creating a beautiful story of hope coming full circle.

Kenny Juskowiak is Managing Director of Emerging Brands at NielsenIQ, where he's on a mission to prove that powerful insights aren't just for household names. With a background spanning brand strategy, big data analytics, and creative problem solving, Kenny helps startup and emerging CPG brands compete with industry giants by giving them access to the same measurement tools and ecosystem that power the world's biggest companies.

Before focusing on emerging brands, Kenny led Customer Success for NielsenIQ's manufacturing clients across the US and Canada and has worked with major brands like General Mills across multiple continents. He holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class.

Kenny's annual Founders Pitch Slam has become a must-attend event in the CPG world, and his conviction that AI will be "disproportionately impactful" for small brands is reshaping how we think about scale and competition.

Kim Muench is a Certified Parent Coach and founder based in Jacksonville, Florida, who's addressing one of the most pressing—and least discussed—challenges facing modern families: directionless young adults stuck at home, lost in screens. With her upcoming book Lost in Place (2026), Kim is becoming a leading voice on emerging adult stagnation, a crisis so widespread that 400 parents attended her first introductory class, with 150 more signed up for this month's session. Her work focuses on the epidemic of screen addiction among young men ages 19-29 and provides practical guidance for parents navigating this new reality.

A veteran broadcast journalist turned marketing innovator, Kimber McCafferty transforms brand stories into measurable business success. Her expertise spans broadcast and digital channels. Known for cultivating authentic brands, she combines strategic storytelling with data-driven results to help businesses build genuine consumer connections that drive behavior, sales, and loyalty.

Leo Bottary is the founder of Peernovation and an award-winning author of multiple books on peer learning and team dynamics, including "Peernovation" and "The Power of Peers." He's also an adjunct professor at Rutgers University.

After decades in corporate communications and PR, Leo discovered the transformative power of peer advisory groups and has dedicated his career to helping organizations harness peer influence for higher performance. His work spans five continents, proving that the best solutions often come from within organizations — not from the top down.

Madeleine Glassford graduated from Flagler College in December 2025, summa cum laude, with a BFA in Graphic Design — a track that requires a year-long independent thesis and a public defense on top of the standard coursework. She left with a Gold Award from her senior portfolio show, two Student Silver ADDYs, and a body of work that spans branding, illustration, photography, packaging, and a seven-minute silent film — plus a decade of theater and stage management before she ever opened a design program.

She’s also served on the AAF Jacksonville board as Social Media Chair, interned at Future Friends, a working branding studio in St. Augustine, and led an Omeka database build for a Digital Humanities grant project that put her in rooms with museum curators. Her branding for the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, designed in a college class, is still in use today.

Marsha Faulkner is the principal of Studio M Interior Design, a Jacksonville-based firm known for timeless, classical design that honors architectural integrity. But she's also serving an unprecedented third year as President of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art's Florida Chapter.

What makes Marsha's story particularly compelling is that she took on the ICAA leadership role thinking she was stewarding a thriving organization—only to discover she'd need to rebuild its operational foundation while maintaining programming excellence and managing statewide expansion. She's done all of this while continuing to run Studio M and serve clients across Florida.

Naz Pauperio is a communications strategist and co-founder of FIFI, a Portugal-based sustainable fashion brand. She's on a mission to prove fashion can be thoughtful, long-lasting, and still make you feel like your best self. She leads the comms and marketing side of FIFI and believes clothing should add value—not waste.

Sadaf Javed is an Executive Leadership Coach, founder of Quiet Thrivers, and someone who has made it her mission to shift the leadership narrative, to help introverted leaders embrace their authenticity and thrive without changing who they are. Proving that thriving doesn’t have to mean getting louder; it means getting clearer.

With a background spanning decades in the corporate world, Sadaf understands firsthand the challenges introverted leaders face in environments that often favour extroverted styles. 

Today's guest is Emmy-winning executive producer and showrunner Tom Shelly. He started out directing for America's Most Wanted, co-directed the making-of documentary for Mel Gibson's Braveheart, and was one of the original pioneering producers on Survivor — where he won a Primetime Emmy, earned five more nominations, and ran the show as EP and showrunner for eight seasons. He's since launched series for ABC, NBC, Fox, and Facebook Watch, including Dating in the Dark, Love in the Wild, and Coupled. Through his company Steele Mill Productions, he's now developing scripted features with CBS Studios and A24 — including a Brownie Wise biopic starring Sandra Bullock and a Ronnie Spector biopic with Zendaya. Tom, welcome to Now, Near, and the Future.