"It's important to help people navigate their own early experiences, offering them context that only comes with experience, and really just helping them create context and how to think about things."

Kris Sadens, Senior Director of Sales at VIZIO talks with Rio Damata about the value of mentorship, navigating a career in modern media and ad sales, building emotional intelligence, and why young professionals should follow their innate interests over money. A great conversation on how success in sales and leadership is grounded in forming genuine human connections and serving as a consultant rather than just pushing a product.

Ever wished someone could break down the world’s most complicated topics into something anyone can understand?

That’s what Explain It To A Teenager is all about.

We take big, complex ideas and explain them in clear, simple ways, without the jargon. Whether you’re a teenager, a busy pro, or just curious about how things really work, this series makes learning easy (and fun).

Because when you can explain it to a teenager, you really understand it yourself.

We got the chance to sit down with Marion Ranchet, solopreneur and co-host of The Media Odyssey podcast. She gave us some incredible insight on how to get started in an already developed industry, and how to pioneer your own personal brand. This is a great interview if you want to know how you could get started in business, or if you would like ot hear good advice. Thanks, Marion!

Kenny Gravillis - a fan favorite from 2024- is back for a highly anticipated part.2 after a great year of great movies, with even better posters. Thanks, Kenny, not only for meeting with us once, but twice, and for another great interview.

In this interview, Rio Damata speaks with Jenna Lauer, head of the commercial organization at Marketcast, a leading market insights and research agency. Jenna breaks down how Marketcast helps top brands develop smarter advertising strategies and measure what’s actually working. She shares insights into her day-to-day role, how her team collaborates across industries, and what it takes to build a career in market research. Whether you're into marketing, advertising, or just curious about the psychology behind consumer behavior, this conversation is packed with valuable takeaways and great advice.

In this interview, Amy Segal, Global Head of Recruiting for Bloomberg News, Media, and Research Division, discusses career opportunities in recruiting and journalism.

Topics Covered:

• The responsibilities of a Global Head of Recruiting, including hiring across news, media, and research divisions.

• Two paths in recruiting: working for a search firm or going in-house for a corporation.

• The importance of an in-office culture, especially early in a career, for learning and networking.

• Bloomberg's journalism, media, and research divisions, including Bloomberg Intelligence and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

• The importance of truthful, unbiased journalism, particularly business and financial journalism, in a world with increasing misinformation.

• Pathways into journalism for high school and university students, as well as apprenticeship programs in places like the UK.

• Advice for aspiring recruiters: start your career in a search firm to understand the fundamentals before transitioning to an in-house role.

Tune in for some key recruiting insights and real-world wisdom. And, as always, enjoy!

Ashley Wheeler oversees supply side partnerships at Magnite, one of the biggest independent supply side platforms in the ecosystem (as she describes it). I wasn’t sure how to pronounce that at first-and didn’t even know anything about it. After interviewing her and rewatching the video, I have a much clearer understanding and I hope you’ll have one too. With that, I wanna give a big thanks to Ashley for meeting with us, and enjoy the video!

Something that's always interesting to me while I do interviews is how futuristic some companies seem, and how much we can see the world change in front of our eyes. Jess Loren is the CEO of a company that I find futuristic, Global Objects | Digitizing the World. Global Objects creates something called a “digital twin,” which is an (exact) online replica of a real object, made by cutting-edge technology, lasers, and AI (as I understand it). It is then deployed into different industries such as entertainment, video games, etc. Recently, she sat down with longtime Explain it to a Teenager editor, Luca Messina, who edited this video, and explained what she does. Therefore, if you’re curious about what a digital twin is, how it fits into different industries, and what technology is at play, she’ll be able to explain it to you far better than I could so check out the video!

Brittany Hershkowitz is the Chief Marketing & Brand Officer @ IRCODE, which is an "image-recognition technology startup company". In simplest words, IRCODE focuses on putting the things from your screen (TV) onto your phone. It's really fascinating, and I'm sure Brittany explained it better in this video than I could in this description. Check it out, and thank you Brittany!

The day we conducted this interview with Dan Callahan, it was announced that he would be stepping into the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of Spectrum Reach. Many people know about Spectrum and the TV services they offer, but not everyone knows about the advertising side, Spectrum Reach. Spectrum Reach connects audiences and advertisers to traditional TV and streaming TV, all while giving digital solutions to connect anyone with their audience. Dan walked us through what it takes to be in his position, ways for someone to join, and how Spectrum Reach operates. This was a fantastic interview, and a big thank you to Dan for taking the time to shoot this with us. Congrats on the new position, Dan!

How do influencers get their names out there? How do companies use social media for marketing? How do influencers and brands connect? They utilize an "influencer marketing company" that helps connect brands and talent, create ad campaigns, and more. I had the chance to talk to Deanna Marzillo (Malee), who oversees sales for "central and west coast" at an influencer marketing company, RhythmInfluence By Nexxen.

Lauren King, a copywriter at Weber Shandwick, creates messaging for brands that resonates—especially with Gen Z. In this interview, she explains how she uses personal experience to craft authentic campaigns, what it’s like to work on organic social content, and why confidence is the most important tool for anyone entering the creative field.

🎙 Topics Covered:

• What a copywriter does day-to-day

• How to make brand messaging feel authentic

• Using personal experience to connect with audiences

• Behind-the-scenes of creating social media content for brands

• Advice for teenagers on confidence and putting yourself out there

If you’ve ever wondered how ads are written, how brands capture attention, or how to break into creative work, this conversation pulls back the curtain.

In this insightful interview, Ken Lagana, Chief Revenue Officer for Media.net, demystifies the complex world of ad tech. He explains the crucial role of an ad exchange and how Media.net empowers advertisers to reach their target audiences efficiently and at scale. Ken also offers valuable career advice for those looking to enter the dynamic field of advertising technology and discusses the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on the industry. Topics covered in this video:

• What is Media.net? Ken introduces Media.net as a supply-side platform and ad exchange, facilitating connections between advertisers and a vast network of online publishers.

• Understanding an Ad Exchange: A detailed explanation of how an ad exchange aggregates thousands of top websites, allowing advertisers to execute a single, efficient buy across multiple platforms.

• The Role of a Chief Revenue Officer: Ken outlines the responsibilities of a CRO, focusing on generating and managing all revenue streams to ensure a company's financial success.

• Career Advice for Ad Tech: Learn what skills are essential for aspiring professionals in ad tech, including the importance of computer science, data analysis, mathematics, and STEM fields.

• AI's Impact on Ad Tech: Discover how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the industry by helping to process disparate data, uncover key insights, and optimize advertising strategies.

Tom Weiss is a man of many journeys. he describes himself as a “data and technology” guy in our interview and a “serial entrepreneur” elsewhere. He studied physics at Oxford for many years, and even made an invention which productized a gunshot residue detector, making gathering evidence easier for police departments around the world. This is an inspiring interview, and thank you so much to Tom Weiss for sitting down and explaining what he does!

In this interview, Dr. Marcus Collins, a marketing professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and author of For the Culture, discusses the profound influence of culture on human behavior and commerce.

Matt Chmiel, Head of Discourse at On_Discourse, works with executives, founders, and investors to spark deeper, more thought-provoking conversations. In this interview, he explains how he provokes dialogue, why the best discussions start with powerful questions, and how active listening can transform your interactions.

🎙 Topics Covered:

• What it means to be “Head of Discourse”

• How to challenge people to think beyond their answers

• Examples of provocative icebreaker questions

• Why listening is the most important skill in conversation

• Advice for teenagers on working with people and leading dialogue

If you’ve ever wondered how to ask better questions, create meaningful exchanges, or work in a role that’s all about people, this interview offers valuable insight.

We had the chance to interview Adtech legend Ari Paparo, the CEO of Marketecture Media, the "Barstool" of advertising (as he describes it). He describes what Adtech means, explains his company, and talks about his new book, Yield: How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance. Thank you, Ari, for this amazing interview, and thank you for watching!

Mike Brooks from LG Ad Solutions explains the four areas of partnership to a teenager

Aubriana Alvarez Lopez is a co-founder and COO of the "agentic orchestration platform built for media operation", Agnitio.ai. If you're wondering what that means, watch the first 50 seconds of the video to find out, and you'll get a better answer from her than I could give lol. From what I understand, Agnitio is a company that utilizes the new AI sphere as digital agents, which, in simple terms, is like an AI employee. These digital agents allow companies, workers, and executives to use their creative power and channel it through their jobs far more efficiently. Give this interview a good watch, cuz I know you'll like it.