Every career has a moment where the path stops being obvious. The seat wasn't assigned, it was earned, built, or occasionally taken. No Assigned Seats is a conversation series hosted by Thomas Stirling, brand strategist, agency founder, and the guy brands call when the wheels are spinning but nothing's moving. Each episode, Tom sits down with marketing and business leaders to go beyond the résumé and into the decisions that actually shaped them: the pivots, the reinventions, the bets that paid off, and the ones that didn't. This isn't a tactics show. It's a show about leadership in motion, what it looks like when clarity is hard to find, change is constant, and the next move is never guaranteed. If you're building something, leading something, or figuring out what comes next, pull up a chair.
Breaking Through the Noise: How Madhav Bhandari Uses Pattern Interrupts to Stand Out in Crowded Categories
In this episode, host Tom Stirling sits down with Madhav Bhandari, CMO at Storylane and author of the upcoming book Pattern Interrupt Marketing, to explore how brands can break through the noise when everyone in a category looks and sounds the same. Madhav brings a computer science engineering background and early experience at a three-person startup, where he learned to think like a business operator before helping multiple SaaS companies grow from early-stage traction to category leadership.
The conversation centers on why so many brands play it safe and end up blending in. Madhav shares how one simple question, what pattern can we interrupt, became PIPE, the Pattern Interrupt Portfolio Engine, and how it helped Storylane grow from $2 million to $10 million in ARR in two years as a bootstrapped, remote team. He also covers getting executive buy-in for a portfolio of bets, how buyers now research through LLMs and late-night chats instead of sales calls, and why brands that stay the same slowly decline.
Connect with Madhav Bhandari:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhavbhandari/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhavbhandari/)
Website: https://www.storylane.io/ (https://www.storylane.io/)
If this conversation moved you, share it with someone who needs to pull up a chair. Subscribe so you never miss a seat at the table.
22 Sept 2026
Building the Human Side of Wealth: How Venkat Patla Is Breaking Through the Sea of Sameness
Show Notes: In this episode, host Tom Stirling sits down with Venkat Patla, Chief Marketing Officer at RWA Wealth Partners, a leading independent wealth management firm. Venkat brings a non-traditional background spanning mechanical engineering, copywriting, advertising, creative leadership, and financial services, with previous experience at UBS Wealth Management and Edelman Financial Engines.
The conversation dives deep into the challenge of building a distinctive brand in an industry filled with similar messaging and a “sea of sameness.” Venkat shares how RWA Wealth Partners evolved from a collection of founder-led brands into a unified enterprise and how the team developed its “Human Side of Wealth” positioning by exploring the deeper human reasons behind wealth, including security, well-being, family, community, and living life with intention. He also discusses gaining stakeholder alignment, bringing a rebrand to market, keeping brand strategy consistent while allowing it to evolve, and why marketers should focus less on persuasion and more on creating genuine attraction and emotional connection.
Connect with Venkat Patla:
LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vpatla/)https://www.linkedin.com/in/vpatla/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vpatla/)
Website: (https://krop.com/vpatla/)https://krop.com/vpatla/ (https://krop.com/vpatla/)
If this conversation moved you, share it with someone who needs to pull up a chair. Subscribe so you never miss a seat at the table.
22 Sept 2026
Navigating the AI Frontier: Insights from Hawksmoor AI's Lara Shackelford
In this episode, host Tom Stirling sits down with Lara Shackelford, CEO of Hawksmoor AI, to discuss the evolving enterprise AI landscape. With a background spanning Oracle, Microsoft, and Intel, Lara brings a pragmatic, boots-on-the-ground perspective on how leaders can move confidently in an AI-shaped market, advocating for "messy action" over waiting for the perfect implementation.
Tom and Lara get into what it takes to move from being tool users to truly leading with AI, the common pitfalls that erode trust when leadership fails to communicate effectively, and why AI is less about automation and more about unifying sales and marketing into one revenue-focused team.
Connect with Lara Shackelford:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larashackelford/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/larashackelford/)
Website: https://www.hawksmoor.ai/ (https://www.hawksmoor.ai/)
If this conversation moved you, share it with someone who needs to pull up a chair. Subscribe so you never miss a seat at the table.
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