This week on Digital Cheesecake, Ellie and Jane get into the unglamorous reality of running a business while raising small children.

From going back to work one week after giving birth, to juggling work time and toddler time and selling a business on an ultimatum, this episode covers it all.

Plus: outsourcing everything you can, running the house like a business, and what it actually means to have no financial backup when maternity leave isn't an option.

Raw, real and very relatable.

🎙️Stream now on:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/Pd8DzruLaA8

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-cheesecake-marketing-and-growth-podcast/id1780522616

#marketing #raisingtoddlers #mumsinmarketing #mumsinbusiness #motherhood #digitalcheesecake #marketingpodcast #podcast

Jamie Irving is SVP of Digital at Pentland Brands, home to Speedo, Canterbury, Kickers, Endura, Mitre and more. Previously Digital Director at Boden.

This episode gets into the commercial reality behind digital marketing at scale. Jamie talks through what it really meant to go from 80 agency clients to a single brand, then to a portfolio of eight.

He shares the tech investments that genuinely moved the dial at Pentland (including a CDP and ESP onboarded across seven brands in eight months), why he thinks insight teams are the most underrated function in any business, and where he's placing his bets on AI search, AEO, GEO, and Reddit.

He also gets into measurement vs. "pretty marketing," why word of mouth is built on product story not brand story, and what junior marketers should be prioritising right now to protect their careers.
Topics covered:
Agency to brand side: the commercial shift
Going from one brand to a multi-brand portfolio
The CDP and influencer platform investments that moved the dial
Insight teams: the most underrated function in marketing
AEO, GEO, Reddit and the AI search arms race
Pretty marketing vs. measurement — where brands come unstuck
Word of mouth: why it's a product story, not a brand story
What junior and mid-level marketers should be doing right now

🎙️Stream now on;

Youtube

Apple:

#marketingpodcast #digitalmarketing #marketingleader #digitalcheesecake

Peter Dudley joins Digital Cheesecake to discuss the launch of Seek, a platform designed to simplify how businesses find office space by connecting them directly with landlords.
After spending 15 years in commercial real estate, Peter saw an opportunity to modernise an industry he believes has been slow to evolve.
In this episode we discuss:
• The inspiration behind Seek
• Why office space is making a strong comeback
• The changing demands of modern workplaces
• Building a startup without a technical background
• Entrepreneurship, risk-taking and backing yourself
Whether you're a founder, business owner, property professional or aspiring entrepreneur, this episode is packed with practical insights and startup lessons.

Paul Canavan joins the Digital Cheesecake hosts at our Live Podcast Event to unpack the biggest challenges facing ecommerce brands today.

From rising acquisition costs and customer retention to, Wickes 15 minute fulfilment and the impact of AI on search.

This episode explores what separates growing brands from those standing still.

If you're responsible for ecommerce, digital growth or customer experience, this episode is packed with practical insights.

#loyalty #fulfillment #podcast #ecommerce #ecommercepodcast #marketingpodcast #marketing

Jack and Sarah break down the biggest recruitment lessons they’ve learned from 15 years working across marketing and digital hiring.

In this episode they discuss:

• What separates great employees from average ones• Signs of a high-potential candidate• Whether references still matter• Bad hire vs no hire• Why some interview questions feel outdated• Office working vs remote working in 2026• Small details that instantly stand out in interviews

A practical and honest conversation for candidates, hiring managers, and digital leaders.

🎙️Stream now on:

#hiring #jobsearch #recruiters #businesspodcast #business #careers #careerpodcast #careermotivation

Megan Jones is the co-founder of ByBabes, the beauty brand behind the viral lash serum that’s sold over 100k units on TikTok Shop.

In this episode, we unpack how ByBabes scaled from an idea into a best-selling ecommerce brand using TikTok Shop as a major growth driver.

If you need some mid-week motivation, or want to branch on to Tiktok Shop, this is one you want to watch!

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube.

#TikTokShop #Ecommerce #MarketingPodcast #FounderStory #GrowthMarketing #ByBabes #LashSerum

AI search is changing how customers discover brands but maybe not in the way most people think...

In this live bonus episode of Digital Cheesecake, we sit down with Garret Cunningham, VP of Global CX at Columbus, to discuss the rise of LLM-driven product discovery, “zero-click” shopping journeys, and what brands need to do to stay visible as customer behaviour evolves.

From ChatGPT recommendations to AI-powered buying decisions, this episode explores how ecommerce brands can adapt without losing sight of the fundamentals.

We cover:

• Why LLM traffic numbers can be misleading
• The rise of the “zero-click economy”
• How customers are using AI for product discovery
• Why discoverability now happens before the click
• The importance of reviews, authority and brand trust
• How AI evaluates ecommerce brands
• Why metadata and structured content matter again
• The relationship between customer experience and AI visibility
• What brands should be testing right now

If you work in ecommerce, SEO, paid search, retail or digital growth, this is a conversation worth listening to.

How AI is quietly changing ecommerce discovery 👀

Find out more about Columbus Global here: https://www.columbusglobal.com/

#AI #SEO #AISearch #ConsumerBehaviour #CustomerJourney #LLM #LargeLanguageModel #Chatbots #CRM #Customerexperience

In this episode, we turn the mics on Jack and Sarah, the founders behind Blu Digital. We skip the small talk and dive straight into the operational frameworks and strategic pivots that have allowed Blu to thrive for 15 years.
If you are interested in the reality of career growth at the executive level, this conversation is a blueprint for long-term business building.
In this episode:
• Dividing the founder role: Strategy vs. Operations.
• How to stay objective when the stakes are personal.
• The evolution of the digital talent market from 2010 to 2026.
• Lessons in scaling: When to hire, when to pivot, and when to hold.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro – The origin of Blu Digital
06:15 Splitting Founder roles for scale
13:40 Navigating high-level strategic disagreements
22:10 15 years of digital market evolution
30:50 The reality of building a "legacy" brand
38:00 Advice for long-term co-founders