Jean Freeman Chats Origin Stories, Resilience, and the Future of Independent Agencies on The Ad Podcast

Jean Freeman, Principal and CEO of Zambezi, joined The Ad Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, the founding of Zambezi, and her perspective on where independent agencies are headed.

On the show, Jean traced her path into advertising, from her first job at Fallon Minneapolis (“Fallon was at its creative peak, and it was the perfect place to start”) to her time at Nike, and then to the launch of Zambezi with co-founder Kobe Bryant.

She recalled Kobe’s early vision for the agency: “Kobe always wanted his involvement with Zambezi to stay behind the scenes. He didn’t want it to be known as Kobe's agency; he wanted the work to speak for itself.”

Jean also spoke about resilience and independence, from weathering the 2008–09 financial crisis to growing Zambezi into a leading woman-owned agency. She also discusses the genesis of Own It, the organization she co-founded in 2021 with Christy Hiler of Cornett, a network that now includes more than 600 women-owned shops. “Less than 1% of agencies in this industry are owned by women. That’s why visibility and community are so important; we need to support each other to change that.”

When it comes to the investment of brands in women’s sports, she discusses “the moment” that is happening now, but acknowledges the grind that’s been taking place for decades. 

Looking ahead, Jean shared that Zambezi is developing a proprietary AI model to help mid-market brands scale toward enterprise level. She also highlighted recent creative wins, including Anna Kendrick starring in LPL Financial’s first consumer-facing brand campaign, Liquid I.V. 's launch of I.V. O’CLOCK that kicked off with a Times Square takeover, and a branded content series with Caitlin Clark for the ESPN and State Farm docu-series Full Court Press, which earned a Sports Emmy nomination. 

Jean closed with advice for aspiring agency founders: “Starting is often the hardest step. Once you begin, you figure things out as you go, and that’s what builds the confidence to keep going.”

Listen to the full episode here.