Escape Velocity – Where Strategy Meets the Unexpected
Escape Velocity - Where Strategy Meets the Unexpected
Podcast Description
Conversations That Propel You ForwardHave you ever felt the need to break free from the gravity of routine thinking? To escape the constraints that keep you circling familiar orbits, reaching only as far as the same outcomes, the same ideas? We have. And that's why we’re thrilled to introduce 'Escape Velocity', our brand new podcast designed to help you overcome those very barriers.Breaking Free from Conventional ThinkingThe term escape velocity is often used in astrophysics—it’s the speed an object must reach to break free from a planet’s gravitational pull and move into a wider, limitless space. For us, it’s a perfect metaphor for how we approach creative work, innovation, and growth. Every creative project, every branding challenge, and every reimagined strategy requires reaching that critical point where old ideas are left behind and you begin to operate in entirely new territory.In a world full of saturated markets, disrupted industries, and ever-growing noise, we need more than just iteration; we need an intentional leap—one that changes our perception and opens new frontiers of thought. That’s what Escape Velocity is all about.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers a multitude of themes centered around creative work, innovation, and personal growth, including political branding, workplace culture, the impact of AI in design, and generational insights. Episodes such as the one featuring a 10-year-old discussing Gen Alpha slang and another exploring political campaign branding showcase the show’s diverse focus areas.
Escape Velocity is a podcast about brand, growth, and creative leadership in complicated industries. Hosted by Tracey Halvorsen, CEO of adeo, a Baltimore brand, digital, and communications agency working with higher education, cultural institutions, nonprofits, and complex growth brands. Each episode features strategists, founders, and creative leaders on what it actually takes to build brands, lead teams, and grow in complicated markets. helloadeo.com
Jaime Hunt has spent more than two decades inside higher education marketing, including nine years as a chief marketing officer at three very different institutions. Now she is the founder of Solve Higher Ed Marketing, author of Heart Over Hype: Transforming Higher Ed Marketing with Empathy, instructor at West Virginia University, and host of Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO.
In this episode of Escape Velocity, Tracey Halvorsen, CEO of adeo, talks with Jaime about what higher ed marketing looks like from the inside, why empathy is not the opposite of accountability, and how colleges and universities can stop reaching for tactics and start solving the real problems.
They get into Jaime’s shift from journalism to higher ed, what changed when she launched her own firm, and why entrepreneurship made her feel “ungovernable” in the best possible way. They also talk about the evolution of brand and marketing inside higher ed, why internal audiences matter as much as external polish, how agencies can better collaborate with campus teams, and why marketing work has to connect to measurable institutional goals.
The conversation also moves into the pressure higher ed is under right now: the enrollment cliff, shrinking budgets, AI panic, risk aversion, institutional sameness, and the danger of mistaking shiny objects for innovation. Jaime makes the case for curiosity, empathy, and problem-solving as essential leadership disciplines, especially in a moment when campuses need sharper strategy, stronger alignment, and more human-centered marketing.
This is a conversation for higher ed marketers, enrollment leaders, agency partners, presidents, CMOs, and anyone trying to build work that is more useful, more honest, and less driven by hype.
Guest links:
Solve Higher Ed Marketing
Heart Over Hype: Transforming Higher Ed Marketing with Empathy
Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO
Jaime Hunt on LinkedIn
Escape Velocity is hosted by Tracey Halvorsen, CEO of adeo, a brand, digital, and communications agency based in Baltimore working with higher education, cultural institutions, nonprofits, and complex growth brands. Learn more at helloadeo.com.
Topics: higher ed marketing, enrollment marketing, higher education branding, empathy-driven marketing, higher ed CMO, brand strategy, AI in higher education, higher ed enrollment cliff, campus communications, student journey mapping, marketing leadership, internal change management, Solve Higher Ed Marketing, Heart Over Hype, Jaime Hunt.
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