Mark Blaze | Leading Nashville’s Tech Future with Vision & Community
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
Release Date: 09/25/2025
Creative Community & Purpose with Tom Woodard
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
From writing the jingles you can’t get out of your head to scaling agencies nationwide, Tom Woodard has done it all. Now, he’s on a mission to disrupt the creative status quo with The Ability Machine. In this episode, Mark Scrivner talks with Tom about his shift from building businesses to building a movement, creating a studio where neurodiversity and disability are the catalysts for better work. For agency owners and builders, this is a masterclass in leadership, purpose, and the power of radical inclusion. Timestamped Highlights: 00:00 – Tom’s journey from jingles to...
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Reinventing Radio: Music, Tech, and the Future of AI
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with digital music entrepreneur John Bolton to unpack a career built on identifying paradigm shifts before they become obvious. From pioneering early mobile music streaming to helping launch TikTok globally, John shares what it takes to build products and platforms that reshape industries. The conversation explores how AI is transforming work, why industries resist automation, and how Super Hi-Fi is bringing personality and intelligence back into audio through AI-powered radio. This is a practical, forward-looking conversation for anyone...
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How to Build a Career in Design That Actually Lasts with Katie Stix
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode of The Spark, Katie Stix—Partner and Design Director at Anderson Design Studio—shares her journey from unpaid intern to firm owner, offering a grounded look at what it takes to build a lasting career in design. She unpacks how creativity, persistence, and strong client relationships shape both her work and leadership style. Katie dives into the balance between honoring history and embracing modern design, the details that make or break a space, and why excitement and conviction are essential when pushing creative boundaries. She also explores how AI is influencing the...
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What the Best Marketers Understand About Consumers with Tricia Nichols
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
What does it take to build brands that truly connect with consumers while still delivering measurable business results? In this episode of The Spark, host Mark Scrivner sits down with Tricia Nichols—founder of Wellbent Co and a seasoned marketing executive whose career spans brands like Gap, Estée Lauder, PepsiCo, and Belk. Tricia shares insights from both the agency and brand side, exploring how the most successful marketing strategies balance creativity, data, and deep consumer understanding. The conversation dives into how marketers can uncover new growth opportunities, why agencies lose...
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From Kitchen Table to Multi-Million Dollar Agency with Trevor Emerson
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with Trevor Emerson, Founder & CEO of LSM, to unpack what it really takes to build and scale an agency over two decades. From launching at a kitchen table with no experience to leading a nationally recognized franchise marketing firm, Trevor shares the hard lessons, pivotal relationships, and strategic pivots that shaped his journey. They dive into niching down into franchising, surviving multimillion-dollar client losses, navigating acquisitions, and why return on investment—not vanity metrics—must anchor every agency relationship....
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Stories from the Set: Lessons from Hollywood with D.B. Sweeney
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode of The Spark, actor, writer, producer, director, and voiceover artist D.B. Sweeney joins host Mark Scrivner for a wide-ranging conversation about building a lasting creative career with intention, humility, and grit. From his unlikely start at NYU to starring in landmark films like The Cutting Edge, Eight Men Out, and Lonesome Dove, Sweeney reflects on the moments that shaped both his craft and his character. The conversation also dives into Sweeney’s newest film, Protector, an action thriller hitting theaters soon, and what it’s like to prepare for roles today with less...
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What It Takes to Be a Successful Entrepreneur with Sam Davidson
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode of The Spark, host Mark Scrivner sits down with Sam Davidson, CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, to explore what truly makes an entrepreneurial ecosystem thrive. From launching multiple ventures to leading one of the city’s most impactful founder communities, Sam shares hard-earned lessons on resilience, generosity, and building businesses that matter. Sam reflects on his journey as a four-time entrepreneur, including founding and scaling Batch, navigating pivots and acquisitions, and ultimately stepping into a role that allows him to support thousands of founders...
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Mariko Hickerson | Storytelling as Strategy: How Brands Win in Search
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode of The Spark, host Mark Scrivner sits down with Mariko Hickerson, CEO of Huckleberry Branding, to explore her journey from journalism to entrepreneurship and how storytelling became the foundation of her agency’s approach to branding and search marketing. Mariko shares how her early newsroom experience shaped her perspective on clarity, fairness, and extracting meaningful narratives—skills that now drive her SEO and brand strategy work. The conversation dives into the realities of running a modern agency: narrowing service offerings, building trust with referral partners,...
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Vincent Phamvan | One-Week Apps and the Future of Work
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode of The Spark, Mark Scrivner sits down with Vincent Phamvan, Founder of Vyten and a three-time CMO, to unpack how mobile apps and AI are reshaping what’s possible for small and mid-sized businesses. Vincent shares his journey from enterprise tech and healthcare into building tools that level the playing field for founders, agencies, and service-based businesses. Together, they explore why mobile-first experiences matter more than ever, how AI-driven automation can dramatically improve client onboarding and support, and what businesses need to rethink about owning their...
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JJ Rosen | Becoming Half Geek, Half Human
The Spark: Nashville Creative Secrets
In this episode, JJ Rosen shares the unexpected journey that led him from a psychology major to founding Atiba, one of Nashville’s most enduring technology companies. His story highlights the power of curiosity, adaptability, and empathy—qualities that shaped both the company’s culture and its long-term success. JJ explains how Atiba grew from a one-person operation to a 100-person organization, why “half geek, half human” became a defining philosophy, and how AI is reshaping the future of software development. Through practical insights and memorable stories, he reveals what it...
info_outlineWelcome to The Spark — where Nashville’s creative leaders share their stories of building, leading, and shaping the future.
In this episode, host Mark Scrivner sits down with Mark Blaze, President & CEO of the Greater Nashville Technology Council (NTC). With decades of leadership experience and a passion for community, Mark shares his vision for Nashville’s technology sector, the importance of workforce development, and why collaboration is key to building a thriving tech ecosystem.
Why it matters:
Nashville’s growth depends on its ability to innovate, attract talent, and invest in community. Mark’s leadership at the NTC is helping ensure the city continues to rise as a national hub for technology.
What You’ll Learn:
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Mark’s journey from executive leadership to NTC president
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Why collaboration drives Nashville’s tech success
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The challenges and opportunities in workforce development
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How the NTC supports tech companies and entrepreneurs
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Mark’s vision for the future of Nashville’s innovation economy
Learn More & Connect:
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Creative Assembly: https://creativeassembly.agency/
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Connect with Mark Blaze: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markblaze | https://technologycouncil.com/
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Connect with Mark Scrivner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markscrivner
- Thanks to our Sponsor - Snapshot: https://snapshotinteractive.com
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