He Just Wanted a Theme Song
We were maybe twenty minutes into recording Episode 188 of Making A Marketer Podcast when Jeff Sieh mentioned, almost as an aside, that he creates a custom theme song for every guest on his show.
Not a template. A custom song. Every week.
He played an example. It was so fun — this punchy, retro, fully produced little piece of audio that felt completely alive. And then he said the thing that made me set down my coffee: he'd always wanted his own theme song since he was a kid. AI just finally made it possible.
I love that so much!
Jeff and I have known each other for over a decade, since back in our Social Media Examiner days. I spent years as the social media manager for both SME and Social Media Marketing World — that role launched my entire career, and the community it built gave me some of my most important relationships in this industry. Jeff was already in that world, doing things nobody else was doing, already more interested in building something distinctive than keeping up with whatever the platform du jour was demanding.
He convinced Michael (Mike) Stelzner to get on Instagram when it was brand new. He built a retro visual aesthetic on Pinterest that has followed him — and evolved with him — for over a decade. When AI came along, he didn't use it to become someone different. He used it to become more fully himself.
That's worth sitting with for a second.
Much of the AI conversation right now is about survival. Keeping up. Not getting left behind. And I get it — I talk about AI constantly, I use it every single day, and I've watched it genuinely change how I work. But Jeff came to it from a completely different place. He came in curious and playful, with a creative instinct that already knew what it wanted to make — and found a new toolbox to make it with.
The theme songs take him about fifteen minutes each. They bring him joy. They make his show more memorable. That's it. That's the whole story.
He quoted Lorne Michaels at one point: "We don't go on because it's perfect. We go on because it's 11:30."
I love that he brought up this quote, because it is something that I can deeply relate to. Megan Powers, M.A.💥 and I didn't plan Making a Marketer for months before we launched it. She asked me at a Social Media Marketing World networking party if I wanted to co-host a podcast with her. Three or four weeks later, we were recording our first episode. We didn't sit on it until we were ready. We just went on "because it was 11:30."
And look at us now! We're nearing the end of our ninth season.
Imperfect, joyful, shipped. That's the whole formula.
For a lot of people I know — especially women building personal brands while also doing everything else — perfectionism is the quiet thing stalling it all. The post that never goes up. The idea that gets refined into oblivion. The version of you that's waiting until everything is figured out before showing up.
Jeff has been shipping work that looks unmistakably like him for years, long before AI made any of it easier. What he has to show for it is a recognizable creative world, a loyal audience, and a workflow other people are still trying to reverse-engineer.
The joy came first. Everything else followed.
Fun Fact for my fellow Wichitans! Jeff is bringing all of this to Digital Wichita's Digital Day 2026 in Wichita on June 18th. If you want to be in a room with someone who has spent fifteen years staying genuinely curious in an industry that rewards chasing trends — and who has the work to show for it — grab your ticket here.
What's the thing you've always wanted to make?
Jeff Sieh is a content creator, live streamer, and host of Creator News Live. He'll be speaking at Digital Day Wichita on June 18, 2026. Find him everywhere at @JeffSieh.
Making a Marketer is hosted by Megan Powers and Jen Cole. Listen to Jeff's full episode here.
