In this episode, Meredith sits down with Vita Molis, Head of Editorial at the B2B Institute (LinkedIn), live at the B2B Marketing Expo in Miami. They dig into "The Credibility Code" — new research on why B2B marketers don't have a reach problem, they have a credibility problem. Vita breaks down the credibility stack, the rise of B2B influencers, why executives and founders may be the most underrated creators in B2B, and how brands can build "bounded authenticity" without sacrificing brand safety. The conversation wraps with Vita's best advice for marketers: embrace a growth mindset and take small, safe risks to learn faster.

0:00 — Introduction
0:42 — The Credibility Code
1:28 — Why B2B Buying Is Changing
4:46 — Creators and the Rise of B2B Influencers
5:44 — Executives as B2B Creators
7:45 — Bounded Authenticity and Brand Safety
11:32 — Authenticity as Coherence
15:11 — Advice for B2B Marketers
17:28 — Closing Thoughts

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Contact Meredith: info@compressionmarketing.co

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Contact Meredith: info@compressionmarketing.co

At the B2B Expo podcast, Antonia Ferrero, CFO of her LLC Dragonfly Financial Consulting with 30+ years across industries including tech, discusses why cross-functional relationships fail when departments don’t communicate, harming both external customers and internal “customers” (employees and executives). She emphasizes transparency, empathy, and understanding other teams’ pressures (sales quotas, marketing’s big-picture messaging, finance’s service and process needs) to streamline workflows and improve results. Ferrero recommends asking, “What can we do to help each other?” and encouraging teams to learn each other’s roles through job shadowing and sitting in on executive meetings for context. She outlines a leadership philosophy of teaching, sharing wins with the team, taking responsibility for faults, and leading by example. Her advice: work hard, keep learning, ask for help, build confidence, and stay empathetic.

00:00 Meet Antonia Ferrero
01:43 Why Departments Disconnect
03:24 Internal Customers Matter
05:36 Asking Better Questions
07:33 Leaders Normalize Curiosity
08:49 Job Shadowing Builds Empathy
11:05 Leadership Versus Bossing
12:09 Leading by Example Story
14:58 Advice for Aspiring Leaders
17:08 Closing Thanks and Wrap

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At the B2B Marketing Expo, Alex, who leads go-to-market at SlashExperts, explains the company’s focus on building trust through “social proof” by connecting existing customers directly with prospects to generate leads, speed sales cycles, and provide insights. He shares the founding story: founder Brayden Young (formerly of Sendoso) saw that prospects increasingly resist demos and trust customers more than salespeople. Alex discusses survey findings from 450+ GTM leaders (with Heinz Marketing) showing social proof as a top obstacle and notes deals convert over 3x higher when relevant social proof is delivered within 48 hours versus 3+ days. He describes an upcoming AI agent, Carly, to deliver social proof autonomously and cites customer results of ~25–30% sales-cycle reduction. His key advice: systematize customer references and social proof to avoid late-stage fire drills, while using community and in-person connections to build trust.

00:00 Meet Alex SlashExperts
00:34 Trust And Social Proof
02:02 Founding Story Sendoso
03:48 Expo Themes And Data
05:39 Speeding Up References
05:52 AI Agent Carly
08:16 Experts Network Badges
09:04 Community Builds Trust
10:25 Top Tip Systematize Proof
12:01 Wrap Up And Thanks

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