Thank you, Laura Gassner Otting, for joining us for this crucial conversation. As you aptly noted, time = love and vice versa. And the time you spent with us is pure love (and insight). Thank you again to Expert Webcast and Anna Spektor for this glorious opportunity to share my authentic pals with the world.
Laura Gassner Otting’s secret superpower is seeing your greatness and reflecting it back on you, so that you can get “unstuck” — and achieve extraordinary results. On this episode of Expert Webcast’s “All the World’s YOUR Stage,” Laura and host Roy Sexton (me!) – two self-professed introverts – discuss the secret (and not so secret) advantages to introversion, what it really means (hint: it is NOT shorthand for “asocial”), why the unexamined life is not worth living, but also how to avoid dreaded analysis paralysis and just, well, try something! All of this adds up to an insightful assessment of how being true to one’s self without getting mired in overthinking can provide effective personal and professional brand differentiation.
A frequent contributor to Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, Harvard Business Review, and Oprah Daily, Laura is the Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of three books, Wonderhell, Limitless, and Mission-Driven. Laura’s 30-year resume is defined by her entrepreneurial edge. She served as a Presidential Appointee in Bill Clinton’s White House, helping shape AmeriCorps; left a leadership role at respected national search firm to expand a tech start-up; and founded, ran, and sold her own global search firm, partnering with the full gamut of mission driven corporate and nonprofit executives.
Laura is turned on by the audacity of The Big Idea and that larger-than-life goal you just can’t seem to shake. She’s an instigator, motivator, and provocateur, and she’s never met a revolution she didn’t like. Just ask her enduringly patient husband, two almost-grown sons, and two troublesome pups with whom she lives outside of Boston, MA.
Roy Sexton is excited to share some inspiring stories with the world.
Joining with Expert Webcast in launching a new series, Sexton is hosting a new show called “All the World’s YOUR Stage: Authentic Culture Drives Authentic Growth.”
Sexton, a Saline resident who is the Clark Hill Director of Marketing and Immediate Past International President of the Legal Marketing Association, said this new show is an exciting opportunity to share his friends’ stories.
“I’m thrilled to be able to share my friends and their inspiring stories with the world. These professionals all have incredible and varied careers, rich with life lessons that can help others succeed and thrive in their respective work,” Sexton said in the Expert Webcast announcement. “I come from a long line of storytellers, and I think the best way to learn and to be inspired is by sharing our journeys with each other.”
Sexton leads Clark Hill’s marketing, branding, and communications efforts in collaboration with the firm’s exceptional team of marketing and business development professionals. He has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, business development, and strategic planning.
Sexton’s show is expected to feature discussions “with notable business leaders on why culture matters, how one’s personal and professional brand are inextricably linked, and how to leverage your innate authenticity to create growth and spur sustainable organizational change.”
Expert Webcast is a woman-owned company and is a leading source of transactional wisdom and market intelligence for the professional and the business communities locally, nationally and cross-border.
Producing the industry’s leading panel discussions and interviews covering corporate, M&A, restructuring and finance topics, Expert Webcast said it “addresses timely and relevant issues faced by general counsel, C-level executives, boards of directors, business owners and their advisors, as well as institutional investors.”
Anna Spektor, Expert Webcast’s Founder and CEO, said they are looking forward to what Sexton’s show will bring.
“We partner with leading media outlets and organizations to expand the reach and impact of the platform, and to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among industry peers and stakeholders,” Spektor said in the announcement. “Roy is a welcome addition to our voices. We’ve already recorded our first episode [with Blaine Fowler], and I’m just thrilled with the direction. I think our viewers – attorney leaders, executives, professional services practitioners – will gain great insight from these accessible, fun, authentic conversations.”
Spektor added, “As an acknowledged business leader and a top legal marketing, communications and strategic planning executive, Roy will add a new dimension to the Expert Webcast legal, finance and transactional programming by interviewing entrepreneurs, media personalities and other business leaders, focusing on business culture, growth and collaboration.”
Sexton is described as being passionate about problem solving, facilitating business growth, crafting communications strategy, and enhancing law firm culture. He works closely with the marketing team to advance the firm’s digital and social media presence and external engagement, using multi-channel distribution and data collection. This enables the team to quantify results and use those results to produce thoughtfully and strategically organized content for clients and prospects.
Sexton also advises attorneys on marketing and business development strategy by curating relationships among external publications and media outlets and creating the appropriate platforms and opportunities for attorneys to promote their knowledge and practice.
He has been heavily involved regionally and nationally in the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) as a board member, content expert, and presenter. He currently serves as Past President of LMA. He also serves on the governance board committee of Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and was marketing chair for Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor’s board.
Sexton was named one of INvolve People’s 2023 Top 100 OUTstanding LGBTQ+ Executives internationally. He was listed in Crain’s Detroit “Notable LGBTQ in Business” in 2021 and “Notable Leaders in Marketing” in 2023, and he was a Michigan Lawyers Weekly“Unsung Legal Hero” (2018).
In 2022, Clark Hill’s marketing campaign, which Sexton played a key role in developing, received the Best Marketing Campaign award from the Managing Partners’ Forum in London, celebrating professional services organizations. The campaign was noted for its focus on values, diversity, and inclusion. The Clark Hill marketing and business development team was also awarded “Best Marketing Initiative” by Managing Partners’ Forum in 2020.
Sexton is also a published author of two books: Reel Roy Reviews, Volumes 1 and 2and he was named “Best Actor in a Musical” by BroadwayWorld Detroit in 2017 for his performance as Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Ann Arbor Civic.
Sexton’s first season’s guests will include:
96.3 WDVD’s morning show co-host of Blaine and Lauren Blaine D. Fowler
The Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Wonderhell and Limitless as well as keynote speaker and coach Laura Gassner Otting
Author/coach/recovering attorney/president of Harrington Communications Jay Harrington
Thank you, R.J. King and DBusiness Magazine. You are always very kind to me. You do so much good for our Metro Detroit community. And you are appreciated.
Roy Sexton, director of marketing for Clark Hill Law, will host a new show called “All the World’s YOUR Stage: Authentic Culture Drives Authentic Growth” for Expert Webcast, a woman-owned company and source of market intelligence for the professional and the business communities locally, nationally, and cross-border.
It produces panel discussions and interviews covering corporate, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and finance topics, expert webcast addresses timely and relevant issues faced by general counsel, C-level executives, boards of directors, business owners, and their advisors, as well as institutional investors.
Sexton’s webcast will feature discussions with notable business leaders on why culture matters, how one’s personal and professional brand are inextricably linked, and how to use innate authenticity to create growth and spur sustainable organizational change.
The first season’s guests will include Blaine D. Fowler, 96.3 WDVD’s morning show co-host of “Blaine and Lauren;” Laura Gassner Otting, The Wall Street Journal best-selling author of “Wonderhell” and “Limitless” as well as keynote speaker and coach; Jay Harrington, author/coach/recovering attorney/president of Harrington Communications; Aarash Darroodi, vice president and corporate secretary and general counsel for Fender Musical Instruments Corporation; Roop Raj, prime time anchor for FOX 2 Detroit; and Lauren M. London, general counsel for Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti and executive director of The Penny Seats.
“I’m thrilled to be able to share my friends and their inspiring stories with the world,” says Sexton. “These professionals all have incredible and varied careers, rich with life lessons that can help others succeed and thrive in their respective work. I come from a long line of storytellers, and I think the best way to learn and to be inspired is by sharing our journeys with each other.”
Sexton leads Clark Hill’s marketing, branding, and communications efforts in collaboration with the firm’s team of marketing and business development professionals. He has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, business development, and strategic planning.
Sexton is a published author of two books: “Reel Roy Reviews,” Volumes 1 and 2 and he was named Best Actor in a Musical by BroadwayWorld Detroit in 2017 for his performance as Jasper in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” at Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.
Thank you, David Ackert and Kevin Martin, for this opportunity to reflect on our amazing Legal Marketing Association – LMA International community and on 2023…
In this episode of The Market Leaders Podcast, join host David Ackert and special guest Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing at Clark Hill Law, for a conversation that looks back at the industry trends that defined 2023, Roy’s tenure as the President of the Legal Marketing Association, and where the legal marketing industry is heading in 2024 and beyond.
Tune in to hear about:
•Building community and collaboration in and after the pandemic
•Reflections on organizational impact and personal growth
•Exploring unique expression and authenticity in relationships
•Managing challenges and building unity in a diverse community
•The importance of data and accountability in organizational management
Finally got a chance to listen! (Yes, I know I should be asleep … but I’m still wired from seeing fab musical film Mean Girls tonight!) Thank you, David and Kevin for this therapeutic gift. Means a lot to have this kind of reflective moment and to share it broadly. My mom and I were dissectors after the fact (plays, movies, events … card games 😅), so this dialogue had a comforting, yes, healing familiarity. So thank you.
Thank you also to those who had an important impact on me this past year and beyond. I didn’t get to mention everybody I might have wished but these beautiful folks all get shout outs during the show.
Love you, all: Brenda Plowman , Maggie T. Watkins , Despina Kartson , Jill Huse , Deborah Brightman Farone , Jennifer Manton , Kevin Iredell , John Byrne , Ashley Stenger , Alycia Sutor , Susie Sexton , Don Sexton , John Mola , Nancy Myrland , Gail Lamarche , Heather Morse , Lindsay Griffiths , Laura (Toledo) Gutierrez , Gina Furia Rubel , Renee Branson, MA, CReC, CFT , Lisa M. Kamen, CAE , Athena Dion , Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit , Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor , Clark Hill. 💕
Expert Webcast has launched a new series hosted by Clark Hill director of marketing and immediate past international president of the Legal Marketing Association Roy Sexton.
Titled “All the World’s YOUR Stage: Authentic Culture Drives Authentic Growth,” the show will feature discussions with notable business leaders on why culture matters, how one’s personal and professional brand are inextricably linked, and how to leverage your innate authenticity to create growth and spur sustainable organizational change.
Counselor and spiritual coach Julie Booksh, MA, LPC
FOX 2 Detroit prime time anchor Roop Raj (TBD)
Eastern Michigan University General Counsel and Executive Director of The Penny Seats theatre company Lauren M. London
Keynote speaker/corporate comedian/client care strategist Brenda Pontiff of Partner Track Academy
Professor of Psychology, Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience Area, University of Michigan and author Stephanie Preston
President and CEO of Detroit Regional Partnership Maureen Donohue Krauss, FM
Storyteller + Strategist: on stage and behind the scenes, award-winning voiceover artist Ratana
Communications Manager at Walt Disney Imagineering Dana C. Harvey, MBA
“I’m thrilled to be able to share my friends and their inspiring stories with the world. These professionals all have incredible and varied careers, rich with life lessons that can help others succeed and thrive in their respective work,” Sexton observed. “I come from a long line of storytellers, and I think the best way to learn and to be inspired is by sharing our journeys with each other.”
Expert Webcast is a woman-owned company and is a leading source of transactional wisdom and market intelligence for the professional and the business communities locally, nationally and cross-border. Producing the industry’s leading panel discussions and interviews covering corporate, M&A, restructuring and finance topics, Expert Webcast addresses timely and relevant issues faced by general counsel, C-level executives, boards of directors, business owners and their advisors, as well as institutional investors.
“We partner with leading media outlets and organizations to expand the reach and impact of the platform, and to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among industry peers and stakeholders,” Anna Spektor, Expert Webcast’s Founder and CEO, noted. “Roy is a welcome addition to our voices. We’ve already recorded our first episode [with Blaine Fowler], and I’m just thrilled with the direction. I think our viewers – attorney leaders, executives, professional services practitioners – will gain great insight from these accessible, fun, authentic conversations.”
Roy Sexton leads Clark Hill’s marketing, branding, and communications efforts in collaboration with the firm’s team of marketing and business development professionals. He has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, business development, and strategic planning.
“As an acknowledged business leader and a top legal marketing, communications and strategic planning executive, Roy will add a new dimension to the Expert Webcast legal, finance and transactional programming by interviewing entrepreneurs, media personalities and other business leaders, focusing on business culture, growth and collaboration,” Spektor added.
Sexton is passionate about problem solving, facilitating business growth, crafting communications strategy, and enhancing law firm culture. He works closely with the marketing team to advance the firm’s digital and social media presence and external engagement, using multi-channel distribution and data collection. This enables the team to quantify results and use those results to produce thoughtfully and strategically organized content for clients and prospects.
Sexton also advises attorneys on marketing and business development strategy by curating relationships among external publications and media outlets and creating the appropriate platforms and opportunities for attorneys to promote their knowledge and practice.
He has been heavily involved regionally and nationally in the Legal Marketing Association – LMA International (LMA) as a board member, content expert, and presenter. He currently serves as Past President of LMA. He also serves on the governance board committee of Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and was marketing chair for Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor’s board.
Sexton was named one of INvolve People’s 2023 Top 100 OUTstanding LGBTQ+ Executives internationally. He was listed in Crain’s Detroit Business’ “Notable LGBTQ in Business” in 2021 and “Notable Leaders in Marketing” in 2023, and he was a Michigan Lawyers Weekly “Unsung Legal Hero” (2018).
In 2022, Clark Hill’s marketing campaign, which Sexton played a key role in developing, received the Best Marketing Campaign award from the Managing Partners’ Forum in London, celebrating professional services organizations. The campaign was noted for its focus on values, diversity, and inclusion. The Clark Hill marketing and business development team was also awarded “Best Marketing Initiative” by Managing Partners’ Forum in 2020.
Sexton is a published author of two books: ReelRoyReviews, Volumes 1 and 2 and he was named “Best Actor in a Musical” by BroadwayWorld in 2017 for his performance as Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.
Blaine Fowler is a radio legend, celebrating 20 years as host of one of Metro Detroit’s top morning drive-time shows. He is an engaged community leader, championing countless local non-profits, and is an in-demand speaker for business gatherings and retreats. He and Roy are also close pals, after Roy crashed a promotional event, handing Blaine a salad spinner. More on that later.
Roy Sexton and Blaine Fowler discuss the importance of personal and professional brand in career growth, tips on networking, and how community leadership can transform a career. Oh, and they might geek out over KISS (the rock group), the finer points of Star Trek vs. Star Wars, and random other acts of geekery.
Excited to announce the launch of my Expert Webcast series “All the World’s YOUR Stage: Authentic Culture Drives Authentic Growth.” Thank you to wonderful Anna Spektor for the opportunity (as well as the delightful brainstorm chats that got us here).
“Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing at AmLaw 200 firm Clark Hill and past international president of the Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, chats with notable business leaders on why culture matters, how one’s personal and professional brand are inextricably linked, and how to leverage your innate authenticity to create growth and spur sustainable organizational change.”
Please join me this year as well as these upcoming guests …
96.3 WDVD’s morning show co-host of “Blaine and Lauren” Blaine D. Fowler
The Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Wonderhell and Limitless as well as keynote speaker and coach Laura Gassner Otting
Author/coach/recovering attorney/president of Harrington Communications Jay Harrington
Thank you, 9Sail and Joe Giovannoli, for all you do for our profession and community. Such a gem! Thank you also to Lynn Tell for inviting me. And Todd Rengel, you are an absolute delight. Greatly enjoyed this conversation and being able to share my free-ranging perspectives on our collective future.
In this installation of 9Sail’s Legal Marketer Webinar series, Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing at Clark Hill and President of the Legal Marketing Association, and Todd Rengel, legal marketing technologist and President of Animus Rex, Inc. joined 9Sail founder and CEO Joe Giovannoli to reflect on this year in legal marketing and review trends for the future.
Key takeaways:
Market Consolidation: continuing law firm consolidation is likely, in part arising from increased competition from technologically savvy firms that have a mature infrastructure and strong, highly specialized teams already in place. Marketers should prepare to play a larger role in strategy, and to encourage their firms to be proactive rather than reactive.
Increase Team Efficiency: One of the best things marketers can do, both in budget and in use of technology, is to streamline and find the pathways that are most efficient to satisfy the needs of their internal lawyer clients and external firm clients.
Be Digital: It’s vital for legal marketers to engage in effective digital marketing, or be left behind.
Thank you, Wabash College! ✨… Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing at Clark Hill Law and 2023 International President of the Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, has been named to the INvolve People Outstanding 100 LGBTQ+ Executives Role Model List for 2023.
While at Wabash, Sexton was a double major in English and Theater, was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, Student Senate, The Bachelor, and the Wabash College Theater.
The Outstanding LGBTQ+ Role Model Lists supported by YouTube showcase LGBTQ+ business leaders and allies who are breaking down barriers and creating more inclusive workplaces across the world. They aim to represent the wide range of impactful and innovative work being done for inclusion across different countries, organizations, and sectors, and celebrate the diverse range of inspiring individuals who have made it their personal mission to make a difference.
INvolve is a consultancy and global network driving diversity and inclusion in business. Through the delivery of advisory solutions, awareness workshops, talent development programs, INvolve drives cultural change and creates inclusive workplaces where all individuals can succeed. They publish annual role model lists recognizing and celebrating business leaders and future leaders who are breaking down barriers at work and inspiring the next generation of diverse talent.
Always a thrill when this year-end edition hits mailboxes. I admit I might be even a bit more excited this year. 🤓 Thank you, Kathryn and Julie, for your exceptional editorial leadership!
“To move forward on your own path through the doubt and the unknown, you must be forever willing to work hard at what you love, over and over.” —Laura Gassner Otting, “Wonderhell”
Wonderhell: We’ve all experienced it. Anyone who is driven to grow and thrive has found themselves at this crossroads, a concept explored by our #LMA23 keynote speaker Laura Gassner Otting in her recent book of the same name.
From a recent Forbes interview, she explains: “Wonderhell is that feeling when the excitement of your achievement mixes with the burden of your potential. I’m seeing a version of myself that I didn’t know was possible, who opened more doors than I ever thought possible. But through those doors, I now see even more doors that I can open.”
I’m not going to lie, 2023 was my wonderhell. It’s been a great honor to serve as your president. I’ve loved every minute of it. And I couldn’t wait for it to end.
When I joined LMA over 10 years ago, I attended my first annual conference. The fabulous Alycia Sutor was president at the time. I sat dutifully in the front row of the opening session, in awe of her warmth and command. I said to myself, “One day, I hope I get to do that!”
And here we are. Only I added a Lady Gaga showtune and a drag queen to the mix. That’s the kind of amazing community we are.
But with that dream achieved, I was in wonderhell. The pressure to deliver, the fear that I wouldn’t. The worry that some would shake their heads in disappointment.
Roy, get over yourself. That’s what a self-induced panic attack on the last day of #LMA23 taught me.
Being a good leader isn’t about what you do or, worse, what you can brag about. It’s about what others are empowered to do on your brief, ephemeral watch.
And oh, what you all did! 2023 was a return to form for this community — engagement, innovation, collegiality and support. Let’s look back at some highlights:
• Over 1,200 attendees at this year’s annual conference
• Round two of the 21-Day Social Media Challenge
• Continued growth in membership, targeting 4,100 in 2023
• 100+ educational offerings
• Six regional conferences this past fall
• The continued development of additional international outposts, with Australia, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Spain in development
• And the exceptional content here in Strategies & Voices Year in Review
Over a decade ago, your voices inspired me to commit to legal marketing as a career. Your voices are doing that for someone right now reading these words. Your actions, leadership, and dedication keep the mighty engine of this community chugging along.
You, too, will find yourself periodically in wonderhell, daunted by all the possibility that unfurls before you when you achieve some aspiration or milestone. But remember that sometimes the accomplishment is enough, and you can derive as much satisfaction from celebrating the wins of those around you. That in turn will inspire you for whatever magic comes next.
And now I’m ded 🫠. Thank you, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell! You absolutely made my day with this. As honored, as I am with this INvolve People recognition, and I certainly am, to have a leader like you, someone I’ve long admired, reach out with your congratulations is so very meaningful. I still remember having great chats with you back when I worked at Oakwood Healthcare. Grateful for you and your voice.
I never had voice lessons. I didn’t sing in high school choir. But when I was attending Wabash College, I suddenly found myself craving all the music my parents listened to when I was growing up: Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis, Lena Horne, Doris Day. And I would go to the Walmart or Target in Crawfordsville, Indiana (we only had two stores … lol) and grab any CDs I could find. Columbia House helped too! I may still owe them for some of those discs, come to think of it. And I’d pop the shiny objects into my Discman that plugged into a tape deck in my swanky 1986 Buick Century and sing WAY out loud as I drove. Those artists “taught” me how to sing.
A few years later, I was cast as one of the leads in The Fantasticks. My mother, who DID have formal vocal training, told me years later that she was terrified over what was about to unfold. She said that once I opened my mouth and let out a warble, she knew I was going to be ok.
And I think I love singing for the very reason that it’s always been mine. No one forcing rules or expectations on me. Just doing it the way that feels natural to me. It refills my well and brings me joy. Not sure if it does the same for the audience, but that doesn’t stop me. Everyone needs something like that in their lives.
So, I leave you, in my way, with a song. “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell became one of my mom’s favorite tunes before she died. And I think I know why. In this beautiful yet poignant moment of transition in my life, its lyrics speak to me in a way they never did before. I hope they will hold some meaning for you as well.
Thank you for this opportunity to help bring something back to a community that has given me so much. 2023 will be a highlight of my career and life. And thank you for letting me be my weird and open-hearted self. That may be the best gift of all.
Love you…
P.S. For those wondering how the whole “playlist” thing got started, one more, to bring us full circle: “AmpliMix … the OG” on Spotify and Apple Music. This was created about a year ago this time for our LMA leaders kick-off (regional presidents, international board, committee co-chairs and SIG co-chairs). It only feels right to share this far and wide. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy the positive vibes here – and maybe use this mix to ring in the New Year!
P.P.S. And for completists out there (like me!) here’s the full list of this year’s playlists. Thanks for letting me share the soundtrack in my head with you all year long!
President, 2023 LMA International Board of Directors
Director of Marketing, Clark Hill
Check out the LMA Fireside Chat with LMA 2023 President Roy Sexton, and President-Elect Kevin Iredell, moderated by Interim CEO Ashley Stenger, reviewing LMA’s successful 2023 and looking ahead to 2024!
FLASH PROMO: Register by December 31 to be entered in a drawing for a free room night and room upgrade — plus get the Early Bird discount!!
If you ever wondered why I am the crazy nut I am … thanks to my cousin Krisan Gregson for finding and sending. I was truly fortunate to have the parents, upbringing, and home I did … full of creativity, hustle, and love. #youngauthors #ptareflections #indiana #onlychild
