Arrows in Motion
Most podcasts about business and marketing tell you what to think. Arrows in Motion asks better questions.
Hosted by Scott Heaton, Arrows in Motion is a long-form conversation podcast that goes deep with entrepreneurs, executives, and marketing professionals who've built real things — and learned hard lessons along the way. Each episode explores the gap between how success looks from the outside and what it actually takes to get there: the strategy, the grind, the pivots, the moments nobody posts about.
Whether you're a Fortune 500 VP rethinking what career advancement really costs, a small business owner trying to figure out if your marketing agency is actually on your side, or a fitness entrepreneur building something from scratch with nothing but drive — there's a conversation here for you.
For early-career marketers and marketing students trying to break into the industry, Arrows in Motion is the mentorship most people never get access to. Real talk on salary negotiation, building professional confidence, navigating agency culture, and what marketing careers actually look like beyond the job description. No gatekeeping. No fluff.
For experienced professionals, it's a mirror — and a reminder that the smartest people in the room are still asking questions.
New episodes drop on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe wherever you listen.
marketing strategy
entrepreneurship
career development
personal branding
agency vs in-house marketing
small business growth
corporate leadership
women in business
fitness entrepreneurship
professional development
entry-level marketing
marketing
You Don’t Have to Go to a Coast to Make Films: Bree Maniscalco on Cinema St. Louis, SLIFF and the Future of Midwest Filmmaking
A lot of young filmmakers think they have to leave St. Louis to make it. Bree Maniscalco has spent her career showing them another way. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Bree Maniscalco, Executive Director of Cinema Saint Louis, for a conversation about what it takes to build a genuine film community in a city that most people don’t associate with cinema, and why that is changing faster than most people realize. Cinema Saint Louis presents the St. Louis International F...
16 Oct 2026
Stuff's Not Going to Land in Your Lap: Wilder Politte on Freelance Videography, AI and Making Things Happen
Wilder Politte forced his way into every opportunity he has ever had. And then AI took one of them away. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Cory sits down with Wilder Politte, freelance videographer and photographer based in St. Louis, for an honest conversation about what it looks like to build a creative career from scratch, lose it to something you never saw coming, and figure out what comes next. Wilder's origin story is not a straight line. Fire Paramedic Science student who switched t...
22 Sept 2026
It Looks Too Perfect. Tyler Wagner on How to Spot an AI-Built Website and Why That Matters
Tyler Wagner has been building websites long enough to notice something most people haven't yet. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Tyler Wagner, Director of Website Development at Arrows Up, for a conversation about what AI is actually doing to web development, the creative industry, and the people building things in the middle of all of it. Tyler breaks down how you can already identify an AI-built website by looking at it. Too perfect. Specific recurring motifs. Th...
15 Sept 2026
You Have to Learn the Rules Before You Break Them: Cory Montero on Building Brands That Actually Work
Most small businesses think branding is a logo. Cory Montero has spent his career proving it is everything else. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Cory Montero, Chief Creative Officer at Arrows Up, for a conversation about what brand strategy actually looks like when you strip away the jargon and get honest about why most small businesses get it wrong. Cory breaks down the two stages every business goes through. The first stage is survival: a good product, some connect...
8 Sept 2026
Don't Build a Product for Your Customers. Let Your Customers Build It | Ed Rodriguez of Hire LATAM
Ed Rodriguez did not set out to build a recruiting agency. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Ed Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Hire LATAM, for a conversation about what happens when the market tells you something your original plan didn't account for. Ed spent years as an engineer before taking the leap into entrepreneurship with a cleaning business. What Ed learned in those years building a service business from scratch shaped everything that came after. The transition...
1 Sept 2026
The Question Marketing Will Be Asking in a Year: Josh Jones on Why Integrity Wins Every Time
Josh Jones took a pay cut to be present for his daughter. That one decision changed everything. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Josh Jones, Business Development Manager at Digital Strike in St. Louis, for a conversation about what it actually means to sell with integrity in an industry that doesn't always reward patience. Josh started in AT&T corporate retail, climbed to managing 50 apartment properties across three states, and walked away from all of it when h...
25 Aug 2026
Never Lose Sight: How Angela Ricketts & Mark Borrela Turned Tragedy Into a Mission for Change
Some businesses start with a market opportunity. Some start with a mission. And some start with a moment so painful that making something beautiful is the only response left. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with two Kirkwood artists whose nonprofits were born from personal tragedy and grew into something that touches thousands of lives. Mark Borrela has been making a living as an artist since college. His dad cut him off when he moved in with his girlfriend, so he start...
18 Aug 2026
There Is More Than Enough Work for Everybody: RJ Shay on 50 Years of Commercial Illustration
Episode 12: RJ Shay Some careers are planned. RJ Shay's just kept going. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Bob, known professionally as RJ Shay, a St. Louis illustrator, caricaturist, and commercial artist with more than 50 years of work behind him and no intention of stopping. Bob grew up in East St. Louis in the 1950s and 60s, when it was one of the fastest growing cities in America. He graduated, walked into Obata Design, and was hired on his second day. He moved...
11 Aug 2026
Perfect Your Craft and the Rest Will Follow: Brian Bauer of PHENIX Investigations
Episode 12: Brian Bauer of PHENIX Investigations Brian Bauer has been doing one thing since he was 20 years old. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Brian Bauer, founder and CEO of PHENIX Investigations, for a conversation about what it looks like to build a career and a company in one of the most misunderstood industries in America. Brian started investigating right out of college and never stopped. Thirty years later, with no other profession on his resume, he runs on...
4 Aug 2026
Nobody Wants to Be the Toby: Hunter Butler on Building HR That Actually Helps People
Episode: Hunter Butler of Streib Company Everyone has a vision of what HR is. Most of them involve Toby Flenderson. Hunter Butler wants to change that. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Hunter Butler, Director of HR at Streib Company, St. Louis's premier nonunion electrical contracting firm, for a conversation about what HR looks like when it's built around people instead of policies. Hunter joined Streib three years ago because of one thing. The CEO, an electrician f...
28 Jul 2026
I'm Going to Behave Recklessly With My Career for Eternity: Jon Brunts on Comic Books, Sandwiches, and the Glue Guy
Episode: Jon Brunts of Altered State Comics & Matterhorn Stitchworks Some people have a career. Jon Brunts has a career sandwich. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Jon Brunts, owner of Altered State Comics and Matterhorn Stitch Works in St. Louis, for a conversation about what happens when you refuse to pick one thing and commit to it forever. Jon's career has been a deliberate series of pivots that look reckless from the outside. Graphic design student. Screen pr...
21 Jul 2026
They Will Step Over However Many Bodies It Takes: Jeremy Anderson on Building an Ethical Home Services Company in a Industry Gone Wrong
Most home service companies will never tell you what's actually happening in your attic. Jeremy Anderson will. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Jeremy Anderson, founder of a multi-branch home services company covering HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, built from the ground up with his wife and business partner Stacy on one foundational principle: honest, ethical home services where the customer is always in the driver's seat. Jeremy pulls back the curtain on what privat...
14 Jul 2026
In 20 Years of Agency Work He Never Saw This Strategy Fail — Tom Gatti of Black Twig Marketing
Twenty years is a long time to run an agency. Long enough to watch the industry change completely. Long enough to know what never changes. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Tom Gatti, partner at Black Twig Marketing and Communications in St. Louis, for a conversation about what it actually takes to build a marketing business that lasts. Tom started at Black Twig entirely by accident. His previous agency folded six months in. A call from founding partner Bruce Kupper ch...
7 Jul 2026
The Art World Said No. The Punk Scene Said Yes. Brian Chankin of Deadly Prey Gallery
Some businesses start with a business plan. This one started with a book. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Brian Chankin, co-founder of Deadly Prey Gallery and former owner of Odd Obsession Movies, for one of the most unexpected entrepreneurship stories the show has told yet. It started when a customer walked into Brian's Chicago video store and handed him a copy of Ghana Vision. Inside were hand-painted movie posters made on flour sacks by Ghanaian artists, created o...
30 Jun 2026
The Honest Truth About Why Marketing Agencies Let You Down
Episode: Jack Nations | Marketing Director Most small business owners sign a contract with a marketing agency expecting results — and end up frustrated. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, we sit down with Jack Nations, a longtime marketing professional who made the transition from the agency world to in-house marketing leadership, and he has a lot to say about why so many agency-client relationships fail. Jack breaks down the core problem at the heart of most bad agency engagements: misalig...
23 Jun 2026
From Hydroponic Lettuce to Hemp Homes: James Forbes on Building at the Edge of What's Legal
Most people hear hemp and think one thing. James Forbes has built two businesses around everything else. James is the founder of Good Life Growing — a hydroponic urban farm supplying local restaurants across St. Louis — and Tiger Fiber Hemp, a hemp manufacturing company turning one of the most versatile plants on earth into products most people have never considered. In this episode of Arrows in Motion, we get into the backyard chicken boom that quietly created a $7 billion market, why hemp o...
16 Jun 2026
No Gym, No Plan, No Problem: How Ben Smith Built a Personal Training Empire From Zero
Episode: Ben Smith | Fitness Friend What does it take to build a successful personal training business from scratch? In this episode of Arrows in Motion, we sit down with Ben Smith, founder of Fitness Friend, who walked away from the restaurant industry to pursue his passion for fitness — and never looked back. Ben shares how he built a thriving in-home personal training business with no outside funding, growing it from a solo operation into a team of independent contractor trainers serving c...
9 Jun 2026
Nobody Gets Fired for Being Too Creative — Dan Graney on Copywriting, AI, and Decades of Big Swings
Episoe: Dan Graney | What does it actually mean to stay creative for decades in an industry that keeps changing the tools? In this episode of Arrows in Motion, Scott sits down with Dan Graney — veteran creative copywriter, pop culture enthusiast, and advertising lifer — for a wide-ranging conversation about the craft of copywriting, the reality of agency burnout, and what AI actually means for creative professionals who've been doing this long before the algorithms showed up. Dan brings a rar...
26 May 2026
The Corner Office Has a Cost: Kate DeWulf on Burnout, Boundaries, and What Nobody Tells You About the Top
Kate DeWulf | Fortune 500 VP & Founder of The Big Apple Red She has the title, the salary, and the corner office — and she'll be the first to tell you the cost. Fortune 500 VP Kate DeWulf gets honest about burnout, salary negotiation, career confidence, and what it really takes to advance in corporate without losing yourself along the way. Arrows in Motion Most podcasts about business and marketing tell you what to think. Arrows in Motion asks better questions. Hosted by Scott Heaton, Arr...
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Contact Arrows in Motion Podcast
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Arrows in Motion Podcast?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
