<h4>Podcasting got a seat at the grown-up&#8217;s table at South by SouthWest for the first time, smack in middle of Women’s History Month. So <em>Insider Interviews</em> captured content from three women also making strides in media, during <a href="https://podcastmovement.com/">Podcast Movement Evolutions</a>. I spoke with these media powerhouses at The Podcast Academy / Sounds Profitable co-sponsored booth to talk about building: businesses, communities, the future of media itself&#8230;and building up women everywhere.<br /> <strong><br /> Learn from:</strong></h4> <ul> <li data-section-id="pboawk" data-start="822" data-end="912"><strong>the co-founder of a startup modernizing how print and out-of-home are bought and sold,</strong></li> <li data-section-id="1xgoszj" data-start="913" data-end="1002"><strong>a global communications CEO who has built her career on making messaging move people,</strong></li> <li data-section-id="1u7jdk0" data-start="1003" data-end="1079"><strong>and one of the new forces behind podcasting’s growing presence itself.</strong></li> </ul> <h4>Mach on Modernizing “Premium” Media for a New Era</h4> <p><strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethmach/">Beth Mach</a>, Co-Founder &#38; COO of <a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://www.spacely.media/" data-wildlink-rate-requested="true">Spacely Media</a>, introduces the first transactional marketplace for premium media — giving print, out-of-home, and venue advertising the digital infrastructure it&#8217;s never had. </strong></p> <blockquote><p><strong><em>&#8220;Buying in those channels today still looks like it did 20 years ago — lots of PDFs, lots of phone calls. Spacely closes that gap.&#8221;</em>  </strong></p></blockquote> <p><strong>Their platform replaces friction with functionality, and dashboards instead of PDFs. Like <a href="https://bit.ly/Insider-People">Neil Vogel, in my recent episode</a> with the People, Inc. CEO, Mach is bullish on magazines and makes the case for why brands are coming back to these channels. She also explains why credibility wins the room when you&#8217;re raising money. It shouldn&#8217;t be different as a female founder. But&#8230;  <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-1927" src="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_8116-300x226.png" alt="Beth Mach with E.B. Moss" width="340" height="256" srcset="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_8116-300x226.png 300w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_8116-768x578.png 768w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_8116.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px" /></strong></p> <blockquote> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong><em>&#8220;Every founder meets skepticism. When you are female, it adds another layer — especially when the room has historically looked a little different.&#8221;</em> — Beth Mach</strong></p> </blockquote> <h4>Lund on Messaging to and for Humans</h4> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]" style="text-align: left;"><strong><a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-lund/" data-wildlink-rate-requested="true">Wendy Lund</a>, Global CEO of <a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://www.allisonworldwide.com" data-wildlink-rate-requested="true">Allison Worldwide</a> and returning Insider Interviews guest (exactly one year later!), reflects on her path from women’s health advocacy to leading a global agency — and what she’s building now. Her path ran from a master&#8217;s in women&#8217;s history to nonprofit marketing, to running a global agency. With her move to Global CEO of Allison Worldwide and Vice Chair of health at parent company <a href="https://bit.ly/Insider-Sable-Paskalis-YT">Stagwell</a>, Wendy described her enthusiasm for Allison’s strengths, across campaigns, media/influencer, and experiential. </strong></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]" style="text-align: left;"><strong>She reinforces the importance of listening, purpose-driven work, and addressing ongoing inequities in women’s health and mental health.</strong></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]" style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>&#8220;My favorite value has always been belonging. Do your customers feel like they&#8217;re part of something? To me, that is so sticky.&#8221; </em></strong></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]" style="text-align: left;"><strong><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-1928" src="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/blog-300x125.png" alt="" width="547" height="228" srcset="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/blog-300x125.png 300w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/blog-768x319.png 768w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/blog.png 920w" sizes="(max-width: 547px) 100vw, 547px" /></strong></p> <p data-start="132" data-end="249"><strong>Her advice for building brand love in a fragmented media world is deceptively simple: be real, and build belonging.</strong></p> <p data-start="256" data-end="397"><strong>She’s also clear-eyed about the disconnect between how much we talk about innovation — and how much attention women’s health actually gets:</strong></p> <blockquote> <p data-start="404" data-end="583"><em><strong>“AI is on the tip of everybody’s tongue — but at the end of the day, it’s also steeped in emotion. And we’re 51% of the population. That means we should get 51% of the attention.” </strong></em><strong>— Wendy Lund</strong></p> </blockquote> <h4>DeMellier Sounds Like an Inspiration</h4> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong><a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollydemellier/" data-wildlink-rate-requested="true">Molly DeMellier</a>, Head of Communications at <a class="underline underline underline-offset-2 decoration-1 decoration-current/40 hover:decoration-current focus:decoration-current" href="https://soundsprofitable.com" data-wildlink-rate-requested="true">Sounds Profitable</a>, gives an insider’s scoop on the organization helping shape podcasting’s growing presence at SXSW and beyond. She points to the combined strengths of the co-founders: Bryan Barletta’s (“terrifying”) encyclopedic industry brain and Tom Webster’s research engine, along with her own expanding role shaping panel strategy, supporting retainer clients, and helping partners amplify their stories. Molly describes Sounds Profitable place in podcasting as building community and connection through events, networking, research, and partner support, emphasizing that “Podcasting is really taking off and it&#8217;s the people that power it.”</strong></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>But, noting the industry’s representation gap, takes her role seriously when working on events like Podcast Movement, pondering &#8220;who do I put on stage that&#8217;s going to inspire that next person&#8221; to know they can see themselves podcasting. <img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-1937" src="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pod-community-300x226.png" alt="" width="372" height="280" srcset="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pod-community-300x226.png 300w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pod-community.png 650w" sizes="(max-width: 372px) 100vw, 372px" /></strong></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>And she closes with something that sticks: her belief that women shouldn&#8217;t have to choose between a career and a family — and why she&#8217;s determined to make sure the next generation sees women in power.</strong></p> <blockquote> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong><em>&#8220;A big fear I have is that women will leave professions not by choice, but by force. And my biggest fear is what about the children who see their mom who didn&#8217;t have a choice?&#8221;</em> — Molly DeMellier</strong></p> </blockquote> <h3 class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>This is Episode 50 in Season 2. I think it sounds like a milestone worth celebrating.  </strong></h3> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>Key Moments &#38; Time Codes</strong></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>00:00</strong> — How Podcast Movement Evolutions made its first-ever appearance at SXSW</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>00:53</strong> — Beth Mach explains why Spacely calls it <em>premium</em> media — and why that reframe matters for the industry</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>04:50</strong> — Beth explains how buying a print ad in 2025 still works the way it did 20 years ago — and how Spacely is finally changing that</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>09:40</strong> — Why print titles that shut down years ago are quietly relaunching — and what that signals for brands</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>14:55</strong> — On fundraising as a female founder: the extra layer of skepticism, and how clarity of purpose cuts through it</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>16:30</strong> — Wendy Lund returns one year later as Global CEO of Allison Worldwide — what changed, and why she missed agency life</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>22:21</strong> — What Wendy learned going in-house at Organon: the difference between talking <em>at</em> women and actually listening to them</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>23:16</strong> — Women&#8217;s health today: the innovations gaining ground and the conditions still being undertreated</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>27:35</strong> — How Sounds Profitable brought the podcast industry to SXSW — and why community-building is at the core of everything they do</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>30:57</strong> — What Sounds Profitable partners get: industry counsel, audience research expertise, and Molly&#8217;s evangelism that helps all boats rise!</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>34:59</strong> — Closing thought as a woman in business: rising childcare costs are pushing women out of the workforce not by choice, but by force.</p> <h3>Connect with E.B. Moss and <em>Insider Interviews: With Media &#38; Marketing Experts           </em></h3> <p><strong>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mossappeal">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mossappeal</a><br /> </strong><strong>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/insiderinterviews">https://www.instagram.com/insiderinterviews</a></strong><br /> <strong>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InsiderInterviewsPodcast/">https://www.facebook.com/InsiderInterviewsPodcast/</a></strong><br /> <strong>Threads: <a href="https://www.threads.net/@insiderinterviews">https://www.threads.net/@insiderinterviews</a><br /> </strong></p> <h3><strong>If you enjoyed this episode, follow <em>Insider Interviews</em>, share with another smart business leader, and leave a comment on @Apple or @Spotify… or a tip in my jar!: <a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/mossappeal">https://buymeacoffee.com/mossappeal</a>! </strong></h3> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1322 aligncenter" src="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yellow-button-300x84.png" sizes="auto, (max-width: 275px) 100vw, 275px" srcset="https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yellow-button-300x84.png 300w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yellow-button-1024x287.png 1024w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yellow-button-768x216.png 768w, https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yellow-button.png 1090w" alt="Support this content at buymeacoffee.com/mossappeal " width="275" height="77" /></p>