The Burson CEO spent three decades shaping messages for Nike, Starbucks, Salesforce and Google. His other education came from record shops, a thousand music bylines and the stubborn art of listening closely.

Before creator marketing had a playbook, Mae Karwowski built one from relationships, software and a stubborn belief that small voices could add up to real scale. A decade later, the company she started in an apartment sits inside WPP - and she is still asking what the industry has missed.