A life can begin in a moment of uncertainty and still grow into something extraordinary. For Josie White, the story began on a rainy November night in 1906, when W.D. and Nora Cook found a newborn baby abandoned in a gutter in D’Lo, Mississippi. That moment would become the defining opening of a remarkable life—but…
In 1906, a Black newborn was abandoned in a Mississippi street. What happened next would shape a family, challenge the boundaries of its time, and leave a legacy that endured for generations. Life started for Josie White on November 26, 1906, in the gutter of a dimly lit street in rural D’Lo, Mississippi, at the…
After nearly four decades of telling other people’s stories, I’m finally telling one of my own — my family story. Some stories find you. Some stories follow you. And some stories wait more than a century to be told. For me, Josie is that story. I’m incredibly proud—and deeply humbled—to announce the upcoming publication of…
What the Queen of Country Taught Us About Authenticity, Resilience, Reinvention — and Building a Brand People Don’t Just Recognize, But Love! There are brands you recognize. There are brands you remember. And then there are brands that somehow become part of who we are. Dolly Parton was that kind of brand. And now, as…
The smartest brands don’t just sell products. They create memories people want to relive. There are some brands you have to explain. And then there are brands that need only four letters—the clean, cool kind. ICEE. Say it, and chances are pretty good you can see it. The unmistakable red-and-blue cup. The polar bear….
How quickly the world’s biggest branding success became its biggest communications challenge. Only weeks ago, the FIFA World Cup accomplished something extraordinary. It united continents. It filled stadiums. It energized cities. It introduced millions of international visitors to America in ways no advertising campaign ever could. In a recent WordSmith dispatch, I called it America’s…
Taco Bell Reminds Us Every Crisis is Really a Test of Trust There are moments when a crisis arrives so unexpectedly that it changes the conversation overnight. One day you’re selling Crunchwrap Supremes and Baja Blasts. The next you’re setting up war rooms, stopping trucks, pulling ingredients from restaurants and trying to reassure millions of…
One hundred years ago, a young journalist published a novel that changed his life. When Ernest Hemingway published The Sun Also Rises in 1926, few could have imagined the impact it would have beyond literature. It also changed the fortunes of an entire city. The novel launched Hemingway toward literary immortality. It helped define the…
What World Cup fans reminded us about the power of authentic branding Every marketer dreams of building a brand people love. Every communicator hopes to tell a story that resonates. Every organization wants customers to become ambassadors. This summer, America received an unexpected reminder of what authentic branding looks like. It didn’t come from an…
For years, marketers have obsessed over one question: How do we get noticed? But the latest Morning Consult Most Trusted Brands report suggests the better question may be: How do we become dependable? In a time marked by political division, economic uncertainty, rapid technological disruption and shrinking institutional trust, Americans are gravitating toward something surprisingly…