We’re taught that the most brilliant creative minds snap new ideas into reality in near-divine moments of inspiration. But that’s not the full story.

Texas Realtor with Realty Austin

Oklahoma City area landlord and realtor with Re/Max First

We now live in an age where creativity is, paradoxically, both systemically devalued by businesses and absolutely necessary for their survival.

The more flexible someone's mind, the more multi-dimensional their view of every problem they encounter.

Residential real estate may not have collapsed, but the game has completely changed.

Childcare and preschool facilities can’t go online, but we also can’t afford to let them go under.

Where should private schools focus as they struggle to maintain enrollment?

University budgets were suffering before the pandemic and could be forced onto a better path under the circumstances.

COVID-19 has renewed our interest in nomadic adventures this summer, and brands should adapt.

This season may be less about adventure and more about the familiar for many tourists.

Quality is a top priority for those still traveling during the pandemic, and the industry should bet on it.

The travel industry has spun into a COVID-19 depression, the country is in a recession, nothing feels safe, and yet the road calls.

Brands have an opportunity to help parents regain balance in their lives and restore their productivity before they burn out.

As traditional schools try to quickly convert to homeschool, actual learning has been lost in translation.

The needs of this audience are changing dramatically, and brands should be paying attention.

Businesses may want to increase work-from-home following the pandemic, but this time around, they should think it through.

Locked-down audiences are exploring new ways to work out, and the industry competition is fierce.

There is higher demand than ever for alternative food deliveries and suppliers, but can these businesses meet it?

Tips for navigating an unprecedented media landscape.

A story about confronting change.

You must bend both dimensions to make real change.

And it’s OK if you did.

What can brands learn from the January “New You” blitz?

A story about how people [don’t] change.

Come on, Millennials, a little color won’t kill you.

Mark Steele, Owner of Mark Steele Creative

An MK recipe.

One day, all too soon, it will be too late.

Mark Steele, Owner of Mark Steele Creative

A Pops original recipe.

Why is there no middle ground between UTMOST JOY and crying into your tinsel?

An AM Survey

A Tuck Oden recipe

A grandfather’s legacy.

An AM Survey

A nearly impossible recipe I learned from my dad.

The final chapter of “Rancho Recuerdos”

An AM survey

A Lavelle family recipe.

The story of a legacy that was baked into a cookbook.

The fourth of five chapters in “Rancho Recuerdos”

A recipe from Grandma’s House

An AM Survey

The third of five chapters in “Rancho Recuerdos”

How family tradition and legacy form narratives that span generations.

The second in five chapters of “Rancho Recuerdos”

The first of five chapters of Rancho Recuerdos

The taste and aroma of a grandmother's love.

A recipe from Great Nana

AM employees share their slow travel bucket lists and experiences.

What The Holiday (2006), Eat Pray Love (2010) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) can teach us about slowing down.

A true story about a visit to the UK and what I learned about slow travel because of it.

Slow travel for people who hate road trips.

The road less traveled with photographer Shea Hussey & senior art director Dean Wilhite

How to get on track for a soul-feeding journey.

Can brands ease the burden of too much information that stunts slow travel?

It’s all fun and games until you take away the tablets. Or is it?

It’s a mission, a mindset and a movement.

We can learn a lot about slow travel from the way people cook and eat food.

A five-step guide to slow travel for fast people.

Courtney Pielsticker, senior strategist for audience engagement and Jillian Powell, strategist for audience engagement, share their experiences.

Work/life balance. Avoiding burnout. And the fact that sometimes inspiration comes from... nothing.

What do AM employees do to let off steam when they’re not at work?

Our favorite local shops and eats in Texas, Oklahoma and some other gems we’ve discovered in our travels.

Founder and President of Black Optical

Small businesses have more resources than ever to get themselves online. There’s just one (or two) problem(s).

Women’s sports need to move beyond the underdog narrative, even as it brings them to this incredible moment.

AM is as tuned in as the rest of the world, and not just for the World Cup.

Owner and Founder of Positive Aging Counseling and Consulting, LLC

Without a roadmap, roads or even a clear need to travel, how can we get alternative energy back on track?

A fictional exploration of the humans behind the art.

Managing Member of the Historic OKC Farmers Market

With increasing competition from niche workout brands and online fitness offerings, LBB gyms should be investing in the physical experiences members can’t get anywhere – or with anyone – else.

These are the influencers and websites AM employees rely on for fitness and wellness inspiration.

Owner and Manager of Vincent Vacations

Which banking and personal finance apps do AM employees rely on to simplify their lives?

With so many trust issues, it’ll take much more than a good app to save this relationship, but it can be done.

Printmaking and Sculpture Artist

Universities need help cultivating the loyalty of graduates until they hit their generous years.

None of us said cold calls.

Founder of LifeSquire

A Story of Memories, Perspective & Aging.

Croquet isn’t quite the new golf, but it has potential.

Owner and Operator of The 9th Street Barking Lot

Executive Director of Rodeo Cinema in Oklahoma City

How far can airline brands fall before they go into a tailspin?

We think airlines could do much better.

Bill Winkler, Chief Financial Officer

Tyler Petersen, VP Director of Episodic Programming

Peter J. Wolfgang, Senior VP of Strategy

AM weighs in on self-driving cars, automation and safety features.

Self-driving cars can only take over the road with the help of the least emotionally invested drivers.

A crafter, a DIYer, an artisan, an artist, a smith, a woodworker, a baker and basket weaver walk into the same bar... and all they serve is glitter.

Influencers We Look to for Inspiration.

Owner and Co-Founder of Threshold Climbing, Fitness and Yoga

The local food movement shows that consumers are more conscientious than ever before about where their food comes from, so why aren’t brands diving deeper into that story?

Assistant Professor at California State University, Northridge

What traditional healthcare can learn from our obsession with wellness.

What will it take for gaming’s invisible audience to get some information sources of its own?

Chief Operating Officer and News Director at The American Genius

How social media makes it easy not to go deeper.

Fashion Blogger And Influencer At House Of Kubes

Lessons From the Snake Oil Peddler's Handbook

Immersing yourself in experiential marketing.

Gen-X nests are emptying and they’re ready to roll, but travel is still all Baby Boomers and Millennials.

As Kondo trends, content creators should take note of our growing obsession with organization.

Professional Podcaster and Content Producer

Expecting moms deserve better than a one-size-fits-all “Pregnancy Bible,” so why aren’t apps stepping up?

Even miracles can go awry.

Ashley Ball, EVP and Executive Creative Director

Bob Harstad, EVP for Account Management at Ackerman McQueen

How can we help first-timers retrieve the answers they need?

Staff Editor at ProvingGrounds.tv

Disney plans to bring back its classics in live-action form, and our nostalgic selves can’t resist.

Shifting your perspective to connect with audiences.

When authenticity is the top priority, both brands and influencers should be playing a long game.

Dean Wilhite, Senior Art Director for Ackerman McQueen

Dedicated coffee drinkers are more deliberate than ever about their morning pick-me-up.

Brands marketing to kids underestimate the impact of food allergies on the greater community.

Younger travelers want experiences beyond tourist destinations, and visual platforms deliver.

Who’s Bryce Harper? Who’s Mike Trout? Why don’t we know?

Brands can light the way toward a bright future.

Chief Creative Officer

Auto-play video and the consequences of Facebook clutter

Is there a doctor in his house?

VP / Director of Episodic Programming for Ackerman McQueen

Gillette weighed in on masculinity and so it must be discussed.

A story about what makes us human.

Senior VP for Account Services for Ackerman McQueen

A story about failing to meet expectations

A grocery retailer on the top of the food chain

What Brands Can Take Away from 45,037,125 Viewers

Entertainment Brands Rediscover Their Role As Tastemakers

Associate Creative Director & Craft Beer Enthusiast

What keeps the fine watch community ticking through technological progress?

Sometimes being quiet makes more noise.

The magic bullet of messaging for every brand

AM Time Lapse Cinematographer

Why being nice is more important than making good beer (but you have to do that, too).

Founder and Executive Creative Director of Element X in Dallas, TX

Mic is a cautionary tale for brands using middlemen to reach audiences.

Is it even possible?

Food brands must stop considering “Millennial Moms” a singular demographic.

What Vine Can Teach Brands About Video

AM Senior Vice President, Creative Director and Executive Producer

Sometimes you have to disconnect to reconnect.

Gyms are the social hotspots everyone needs.

As this wine YouTuber considers her future, engagement is her greatest asset.​

AM Senior Producer

Can brands really empower women, or are they just along for the ride?

3 Ways Media Can Transform Corporate Culture

A fictional exploration of fictional disease that is all too real.

AM Senior Vice President & Associate Creative Director

How to create and promote corporate events that can really influence corporate culture.

3 Ways to Get Ahead by Dragging Your Name Through the Mud

Vice President of Operations for Encore Live

Brands can embrace an empowering narrative for men in the post-John Wayne era.

You are one with the hivemind. (Just admit it.)

“Streets of London” is everything brands want, so where are they?

It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

The Culture Architect

Playing with video is like playing with food – fun, but not the same as eating it.

Head of Creative Agency Partnerships​ for United Talent Agency

How to stand out as a driving/rideshare brand in a ridiculously saturated market.

A fictional exploration of one gig driver’s perspective.

Gig/share service brands such as Uber & Airbnb didn’t just disrupt the marketplace, they changed the ballgame for brand loyalty.

On the Art of Digital Episodic Video Editing

Brand-created content played an integral role in elevating American TV from a curiosity to an institution

How brands can build a narrative strategy around the feature film story.

On Making Movie Magic Behind the Scenes

In a world of micro pop-up ads, be the long-form branded film you wish to see.

By embodying everything that digital content isn’t, magazines offer status and self-expression

A fictional glimpse at society transformed by transportation

Print magazines are looking better than ever, and it’s more than jacket-deep.

On the “Connections” Series for INTEGRIS

Despite all the setbacks, this platform might still pull out ahead.

What automation does and does not mean for convenience storefronts

The writing may be on the wall for Snapchat, but this is a train wreck worth rubbernecking

How physical retail can be reinvented to save itself.

On the LoyalTV series for BancFirst

In 40 years, will we remember LeBron James played basketball?

Do theaters actually want movie subscribers to show up?

From the makers of “Print Journalism Smells Delicious” and “But Do You Even Listen to Vinyl, Bro?”

Who needs a record label when you own your own streaming platform?

On eSports, Gaming & Twitch

As digital experiences and worlds advance, we must consider both the physical and the virtual "realities."

How healthcare can be less awkward online.

Your home gym equipment could be the future of programming.

Over the last several years podcasts have grown in their adoption to a truly mass media. Their intense engagement with a loyal and growing audience has made it one of the most effective mediums for capturing audience's attention and time.

How to change the world the easy way.

The platform is changing, and brands must tread carefully.

How to usher in the next generation of gamblers.

But make a podcast anyway.

Go ahead, do it.

Alexa, play Ray Charles.

Alexa, order another box of dishwasher detergent.

Alexa, turn out the lights.

Alexa, how do you know when someone really loves you?

“This is wasteful. Why am I spending all this money on ads in the Wall Street Journal and on primetime television when all the people I want to influence could probably fit into one room?”

A Brand Content Studio. Everyone wants one. Most don’t know why. Few succeed. It doesn’t have to be that way. Brand Storytelling and Content Marketing works.

We are in the beginning of the golden age of video content and much of it is being consumed commercial-free (On Demand, DVR, news feeds and/or distracted by the second screen).

The travel and tourism industry lends itself to storytelling naturally. Hotel brands can authentically use brand storytelling to engage with travelers during every part of their journey.

If you are an influencer, a brand, a movement, you need to pay attention to what is happening - and it’s happening everywhere, from your house to your customer's house.

Near the beginning of 2017 when Google Fiber announced it was scaling way back, news sites and blogs began wildly bemoaning the failure of the project.

As the field for interruptive marketing narrows, brands must stop thinking about how to work themselves into consumers existing media and start becoming the media they want to watch.

The media and marketing landscape has been flipped: consumers now control when, where and how they interact with brands.

Let's go back to the fall of 2003. October 29, to be exact.

In 2015, I decided to leave my ocean view in Miami for a concrete jungle in the middle of Texas.