This episode is a masterclass for any entrepreneur tired of marketing that doesn't deliver a clear return. Meg, founder of Max Leads Digital and manager of over $200 million in ad spend, shares her data-driven approach to scaling service businesses. Get ready to discover how to marry SEO and paid ads, navigate the "messy middle" of today's customer journey, and start seeing profitable results, even with a small budget.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Get Seen Where It Matters: Learn why focusing on high-intent platforms like Google Search is more effective than diluting your efforts across every social media channel.
• Master the New Marketing Funnel: Understand the "messy middle" of the modern customer journey and how to build a strategy that meets customers wherever they are.
• Unlock Google Ads on a Budget: Discover how you can start a profitable Google Ads campaign with as little as $500 a month and achieve a positive ROI.
• Future-Proof Your Strategy with AEO: Get an introduction to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and learn why answering your customers' questions directly is the new key to winning in search.
• Use Social Media as a Portfolio: Shift your social media strategy from a lead generation tool to a powerful credibility-builder that supports your main "hunting" ground on Google.
• Adopt an ROI Mindset: Learn to view your ad spend as a direct investment in a customer-generating machine, not just an expense.

📝 About Meg Jones

Meg Jones is a marketing strategist, Google Ads expert, and the founder of Max Leads Digital, a boutique agency focused on scaling service-based businesses and luxury brands. Starting her career as a copywriter, Meg quickly pivoted to performance marketing, self-teaching her way to becoming an expert in SEO and data-driven advertising. With experience managing over $200 million in ad spend, she has a proven track record of helping clients achieve incredible returns by focusing on smart, strategic campaigns that cut through the noise of social media gimmicks.

🎯 Meg’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Try to turn the idea of consistency into something that is high reward. So instead of focusing on that moment of success… try to get that [dopamine] from consistent work and that's going to take you to success."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Your business needs to be seen, but it needs to be seen where it matters. And where it matters, that platform is not social media… Search engine is where credit cards are being pulled.” – Meg Jones
• “Have those platforms ready and looking nice. It's like your garden, but you're going hunting on Google, basically.” – Meg Jones
• “You have to catch your customer when they need you with the right message at the right time. That's why I'm against diluting your time and your life energy on all these different platforms.” – Meg Jones

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Max Leads Digital’s website
• Connect with Meg on LinkedIn
• Follow Max Leads Digital on LinkedIn
• Follow Meg on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• ⚙️ Why every business, even a solopreneurship, has operations—and how to finally get them in order.
• 🚀 The "Slow is Fast" philosophy: How taking the time to build a strong foundation now will unlock explosive growth later.
• 🔍 A simple 3-day diagnostic tool to audit your time, identify what to delegate, and reclaim 75% of your workday for high-impact tasks.
• 🧠 How to transition from a "do-it-all" founder to a strategic leader by mastering the art of delegation and automation.
• 🤖 How to leverage AI as a "thought partner" to streamline workflows and free up your team for uniquely human, high-value work.
• 💰 The mindset shift required to view operations not as a cost center, but as the engine that builds your company's enterprise value.
• 🗓️ The "Ideal Calendar" exercise to visualize where you want your time to go and build the discipline to make it a reality.

📝 About Jamie Henning 

Jamie Henning is the founder of J Force, an operations strategy firm dedicated to helping executives, boards, and founders build systems that scale. With a nonlinear path that took her from paralegal to high-level executive assistant for CEOs in the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), Jamie gained a unique vantage point into the common operational pitfalls of fast-moving leaders. Her experience, combined with her studies at Harvard Business School, gives her a rare ability to blend technical execution with an empathetic understanding of what leaders truly need to succeed.

🎯 Jamie’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

Jamie’s most powerful piece of advice is to recognize that it's okay to ask for help, a skill that doesn't come naturally to most entrepreneurs.

1. Combat the Isolation: Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. Reaching out for support, whether for business advice or just to vent, reminds you that you're not on this path alone.
2. Help Comes in Many Forms: Asking for help isn't just about hiring a consultant. It can be getting coffee with a peer, calling a mentor, or simply talking through a problem with someone who understands.
3. Strength in Vulnerability: Admitting you don't have all the answers isn't a weakness; it's a sign of a strong leader who is focused on the success of the mission, not their own ego.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Slow is fast… when your house is in order, things do move faster and things are more scalable.” – Jamie Henning
• “About 70, 75 percent of the things that an executive and a founder is doing are things that they don't need to be doing.” – Jamie Henning
• “It's not replacing anybody. It's making people more efficient.” – Jamie Henning on AI

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit J Force’s website
• Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn
• Follow J Force on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to transform a deep personal or professional pain point into a scalable, AI-driven business model.
• The strategy for building a two-sided platform that solves critical problems for both suppliers (funders) and consumers (grant seekers).
• Why “eating your own dog food” and using your own product is the ultimate shortcut to authentic product development and marketing.
• Actionable ways to leverage strategic partnerships—from referral programs to technical integrations—to accelerate growth on a startup budget.
• The power of accelerator programs and how to use them to refine your pitch, build your network, and stress-test your ideas.
• How a simple journaling practice can be a founder’s most powerful tool for building resilience and navigating the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship.

📝 About Ray Crick

Ray Crick is the CEO and co-founder of Allegory, the AI-native platform known as the “Airbnb for grant funding.” With a deep background in product management across the global tech scene—from Portland to London—Ray possesses a rare blend of technical expertise and on-the-ground insight. His perspective was uniquely shaped when he led digital systems for an international NGO in and around Ukraine, where he witnessed firsthand the inefficient and slow-moving nature of grant funding. This experience ignited his mission to build Allegory, creating the financial and AI infrastructure to get capital into the hands of people making a real-world impact.

🎯 Ray’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

Borrowing a powerful question from author Jerry Colonna, Ray’s best advice is to ask yourself: “How have I been complicit in the conditions that I say I don't want?”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “We're not trying to replace people; we're trying to help them do what they went to school for, which is invest in their mission... rather than filling out paperwork.” – Ray Crick
• “As an entrepreneur, I am—we are—going to fail. And that's okay. We just have to find the resilience to get back up and keep going, one step at a time, one day at a time.” – Ray Crick
• “At the end of every journal entry that I write, I finish it with ‘onwards always.’ And I think that's kind of my mantra.” – Ray Crick

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Allegory’s website
• Connect with Ray on LinkedIn
• Follow Allegory on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to turn a personal passion into a scalable agency by focusing on problem-solving first.
• 📊 The truth about Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): It’s a data-driven science, not just about making your website look pretty.
• 🤝 Why finding the right business partner is like dating and how it can 10x your growth.
• 💡 How working across multiple industries can become your secret weapon for innovation and creative problem-solving.
• ⏳ Why focusing on client results can be more important than perfecting your own website (he ran his agency for two years without one!).
• 🤖 The real role of AI in business: A tool for productivity, not a replacement for fundamental problem-solving skills.
• 📈 How to build a client-obsessed culture that drives retention and powerful results.

📝 About Brendan Strzelczyk

Brendan Strzelczyk is the founder and CEO of Cobalt Commerce, a full-service e-commerce agency specializing in software development, design, and conversion rate optimization on platforms like Shopify. A problem-solver at heart, Brendan taught himself to code at age 12 and turned that deep-seated passion into a thriving business. His unique perspective combines a developer’s analytical mindset with an entrepreneur’s drive, allowing him and his team to deliver data-driven, high-impact solutions that help e-commerce businesses scale effectively.

🎯 Brendan’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"As a business owner, I think it's important to bring on the right people and trust your team... burnout and failure in your business is, I believe, more likely if you're trying to do it on your own."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I have this saying that we always treat a client's website or business as if it were our own. And that way, if we have that mindset, then we're going to go above and beyond to provide results.” – Brendan Strzelczyk
• “Finding a co-founder or a business partner is kind of like dating. And I found that this was somewhat true because I had literally gone on these quote unquote dates with other freelancers or business owners to see if they were interested in joining.” – Brendan Strzelczyk
• “We're not really just throwing things at a dartboard and hoping that it makes your business better. We look at our client's data and then analyze where the opportunities are through their conversion funnel to make a change on the site.” – Brendan Strzelczyk

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Cobalt Commerce’s website
• Connect with Brendan on LinkedIn
• Follow Cobalt Commerce on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to use AI as a co-founder to flesh out an idea from a basic concept into a fully-realized product roadmap.
• 🔄 Why pivoting your business model (like from B2B to B2C) based on early market feedback is crucial for survival and success.
• 🧠 The "systems over motivation" philosophy and how to build products and processes that deliver value even when user excitement fades.
• 🎯 The power of simplicity in product design and how focusing on 2-3 core features can create a more powerful user experience than a bloated app.
• 💡 How to turn your personal journey and unique perspective into a compelling brand story that resonates deeply with your target audience.
• 🤝 The future of community-driven products: Learn Neel's strategy for making a traditionally solitary experience (mental wellness) social and engaging.

📝 About Neel Tulsyan

Neel Tulsyan is the founder of AurePsi Systems, a mental wellness company creating operating systems for emotional clarity. A builder at heart, Neel decided to forgo a traditional college path to solve a problem he saw firsthand: the need for modern, accessible tools for self-awareness. His unique perspective as a young, tech-native founder allows him to bridge the gap between old-school reflection techniques and the needs of a digitally-connected generation, proving that technology can be a powerful force for human good.

🎯 Neel’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Just start. If you have an idea, just start… there's no perfect time… Just starting is what you need to do and it just gets you that much closer to your goals or that much closer to failing."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "There's no end-to-end guide of how to start a business because it's so different for everybody. And for me, once I realized that, that's when I realized that this is just so much more fun because I'm not following a class. There's no curriculum."
• "The biggest thing is knowing that the odds are against you and almost utilizing that to your advantage is what I try to do."
• "You can't do that in your head. You got to just get out and market, got to build, got to sell."

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Aure Psi Systems’ website
• Connect with Neel on LinkedIn
• Follow Aure Psi Systems Inc. on LinkedIn
• Follow Aure Psi on Instagram

✨ Why This Matters for You

This episode provides a critical mindset shift that will save you time, energy, and frustration:

• It frees you from the pressure of having to create something totally revolutionary.
• It gives you permission to focus on what actually moves the needle: marketing, sales, and serving people.
• It explains why a simpler, well-distributed offer will always beat a complex, unknown one.
• It provides a clear, timeless strategy for winning in a noisy, AI-driven world.

📝 Key Takeaways

• Innovation is Now a Commodity. With AI tools that allow for "vibe coding," anyone can build a technically impressive product. Your "innovative" feature is no longer a unique advantage.
• Creation ≠ Customers. Building a fantastic tool, app, or website doesn't automatically bring users. We're in an era with more zero-user products than ever before.
• Distribution is the New Differentiator. The business that wins is the one that gets seen, heard, and trusted. Your success depends on your ability to reach people, not just build for them.
• Service > Sophistication. The timeless principle of helping people solve a problem simply and effectively is what creates real business value, not complex or fancy tech.
• Simplicity Wins. In a world of endless complexity, the entrepreneur who can provide a clear, simple solution is the one who will cut through the noise and earn the customer.
• Focus on Business Fundamentals. Don't get lost in the endless sandbox of AI possibilities. Your primary job is to get customers, serve them well, and build systems around that process.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, conduct a "Distribution vs. Development" audit on your business:

• Where are you spending most of your time: perfecting your product or getting it in front of potential customers?
• What is one simple action you can take this week to improve your distribution? (e.g., reach out to 5 potential clients, post one valuable piece of content, ask a current customer for a referral).
• Instead of asking "How can I make my product more innovative?" ask "How can I make my solution simpler and more tangible for the people I want to help?"

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who is getting lost in the tech and needs to refocus on what truly matters.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The Generalist Superpower: Discover why being a "jack-of-all-trades" is a massive advantage in today's business landscape and how it helps you see both the forest and the trees.
• Building a Community on Generosity: Learn the secrets to cultivating a powerful community where experienced entrepreneurs are motivated to "pay it forward" and share their hard-won lessons.
• The AI-Powered Brain Trust: See how blending human connection with a private, AI-enabled knowledge base can give you instant access to curated, founder-specific wisdom without the noise of the open internet.
• The "Transaction Ready" Mindset: Understand why you need to operate your business as if a deal is always on the horizon, and the steps to take to be prepared long before you need to be.
• The Power of Curation: Learn why a private, "walled garden" approach to community building creates a trusted space for founders to tackle their most complex challenges.
• Beyond Industry Silos: Uncover the universal truths of navigating capital and growth that apply to any business, regardless of your niche or industry.

📝 About Geoffrey Boyce 

Geoffrey Boyce is the founder and CEO of ForFounder, a private membership community helping founders navigate capital and company transitions with the support of trusted peers. A seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience, Geoffrey was a pioneer in the telehealth and virtual behavioral health space, helping to scale a mission-driven organization to national reach. His expertise in organizational design, capital strategy, and M&A gives him a unique perspective on the critical inflection points that every founder faces. Geoffrey is a self-described generalist who excels at turning strategy into execution and building high-performing cultures.

🎯 Geoffrey’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"The idea of going through a large transaction with institutional capital alone is folly. You should surround yourself with the right people who have been there and done that before, so that you can harness their wisdom."

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “You need to operate your business from a point of transaction readiness. Those are some of the lessons that our founders are sharing with us… and that type of fundamental business knowledge, it doesn't matter what industry you're in.” – Geoffrey Boyce
• “This sense of wanting to pay it forward, to pass on those hard-fought lessons so that somebody else doesn't have to make some of the same bone-headed mistakes that many of us have already made… it's really out there. And all ForFounder is doing is tapping into it.” – Geoffrey Boyce

🔗 Links & Resources

• Learn more about Geoffrey's community for founders: ForFounder.com
• Connect with Geoffrey on LinkedIn
• Follow ForFounder on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to use a simple waitlist and early user feedback to validate your idea and build a product people are desperate to use.
• 🧠 Why starting with a complex, high-net-worth user base can be the fastest way to build a robust product that serves a wider market.
• 📈 The power of distribution as your primary moat and why getting users is more important than building a "perfect" product in secret.
• 🗣️ The "brute force" feedback strategy: How getting on 30+ calls a day with early users provides the exact roadmap you need for success.
• 🤖 A practical look at AI's future, where entrepreneurs become managers of AI agents that run entire parts of their business and life.
• How to use an "executive filter" to cut through the noise of user requests and stay focused on your core vision.

📝 About Shain Noor

Shain Noor is the co-founder and CEO of Silvia, an AI-powered personal CFO. A software engineer by trade, Shain taught himself how to code and went on to work at some of the world's most innovative companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, NASA, and The Boring Company. He took this wealth of experience and obsession with solving real user problems to build Silvia from the ground up, creating a tool that gives people unprecedented visibility and control over their entire financial lives.

🎯 Shain’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Stay curious."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "A big mistake I've made in the past was building something that I thought was going to be amazing... and then releasing it and then realizing that no one actually wants it." – Shain Noor
• "The moat now is distribution... just because anyone can pretty much spin up a SaaS app pretty quickly, you need users and you need feedback." – Shain Noor
• "Everyone will essentially just become a manager... you'll be managing agents. You may have an agent that takes care of all your personal finances. You may have an agent that takes care of your home." – Shain Noor

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Silvia’s website
• Connect with Shain on LinkedIn
• Follow CFO Silvia on LinkedIn
• Follow Shain on X

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to develop an “unwillingness to wait” mindset that drives you to solve problems instead of just observing them.
• 🤝 The secret to building deep customer trust and partnership, especially when you’re selling an innovative product that challenges the status quo.
• 🤖 Why AI is a growth accelerator for early-stage startups, allowing you to be nimble and build bigger, more powerful teams later.
• 💡 A powerful strategy for finding new revenue streams by looking for "label expansion" opportunities within your own products and services.
• 🌉 How to bridge the gap between deep industry expertise and entrepreneurial innovation to create solutions customers are desperate for.
• 🧠 Why embracing fear is the ultimate tool for entrepreneurs to constantly evaluate, iterate, and push through the toughest challenges.

📝 About J. Harte Nielson 

J. Harte Nielson is the founder and CEO of Ario Health and a rare leader fluent at the intersection of AI, real-world data, and enterprise software. With a track record of building multi-million dollar product lines and launching 17 SaaS products, he has scaled platforms from scrappy betas to global adoption. Harte's unique background, spanning from the research lab to high-level consulting and SaaS leadership, gives him a distinct ability to transform messy, fragmented data into clear, actionable insights for the life sciences industry. He is an action-taker dedicated to using technology to solve foundational problems and drive the future of discovery.

🎯 Harte’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

Embrace fear. The biggest opportunities for entrepreneurs exist in the gaps and black holes where others haven't looked—places without obvious answers. If you can learn to embrace that fear and use it as an enabling mechanism, it becomes a powerful motivator to keep pushing forward.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “What I think most entrepreneurs in this kind of space share in common is a certain unwillingness to wait for somebody else to do it. It's a driver to say, ‘I want to be the one to solve it.’”
• “We are the kind of opposite end of black box AI. We are kind of transparent and visible AI. And so we found that when we allow our customers to truly get their hands on the product, they find a lot of confidence.”
• “If you're not constantly learning about your industry, about the new technologies, about new innovations, you are by definition falling behind.”

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Ario Health’s website
• Connect with Harte on LinkedIn
• Follow Ario Health on LinkedIn
• Follow Ario Health on X
• Follow Ario Health on Facebook

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Why "hard tech" (hardware + software) is creating massive, untapped business opportunities that software-only companies can't touch.
• How to transition from a technical or academic expert into a savvy, business-minded entrepreneur.
• A founder's perspective on why AI and robotics will lead to net job growth and increased productivity, not mass unemployment.
• The framework for vetting a complex business idea: actively look for red flags and reasons it won't work to validate its true potential.
• Why the future of e-commerce, virtual reality, and even robotic surgery depends on digitizing touch.
• How to find inspiration for a new venture by analyzing existing patents, scientific papers, and other people's ideas.

📝 About Adam Hopkins 

Adam Hopkins is the founder and CEO of Sensetics, a company at the forefront of digitizing touch through advanced haptic technology. A veteran founder with a history of leading companies from conception to launch, Adam uniquely blends deep scientific expertise with proven business acumen. He holds a PhD in Chemistry and degrees in Physics from Princeton, is a recognized inventor with numerous patents, and has successfully built and sold companies in the advanced manufacturing and hard tech spaces. Adam’s experience makes him the perfect guide to understanding how to turn complex, world-changing ideas into viable, impactful businesses.

🎯 Adam’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"When you're doing what you love, then you love doing it. The rest of your life tends to be great also."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "Your first idea should never be your last idea because it probably won't work." – Adam Hopkins
• "We've sort of discovered now... that a much larger AI model and 10 more cameras won't get you to that point. You need to use a new sensation, an entirely independent vector of information... touch information." – Adam Hopkins
• "The part of it that I think that's really driven me all along... is to take something that's exciting, mine or not, and bring it into the world and show it in a new way." – Adam Hopkins

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Sensetics’ website
• Connect with Adam on LinkedIn

This episode is a must-listen for anyone feeling stuck, waiting for the "right time," or struggling to step into the role of a true leader. Drawing from her own incredible journey from a warehouse worker to a celebrated leadership mentor, Romie shares how vulnerability, self-awareness, and a heart-led approach are not weaknesses but the ultimate superpowers for building a thriving team and a business that leaves a lasting impact.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to execute the crucial "identity shift" from employee to entrepreneur by changing the story you tell yourself.
• 🤝 Why leading yourself first—with integrity and accountability—is the non-negotiable foundation for leading a successful team.
• 🔓 How to stop waiting for permission and finally give yourself the green light to build the business of your dreams.
• 🧠 A framework for discovering your "zone of genius" and building a team that complements your weaknesses, creating an unstoppable force.
• 💪 The surprising power of vulnerability and how admitting what you're not good at can build unshakable trust and loyalty with your team.
• ✨ How to adopt a "pronoia" mindset—the belief that everything is working in your favor—to accelerate your success and spot opportunities everywhere.

📝 About Romie Montpeirous

Romie Montpeirous is the founder of Leadership From The Heart and a seasoned leadership mentor with over 20 years of real-world experience. Her journey began on the floor of a warehouse, where a mentor saw the leader within her long before she did. This experience ignited a passion for understanding the psychology of leadership, leading her to manage multi-million dollar budgets and large teams. Today, Romie blends emotional intelligence with strategic thinking to help entrepreneurs and leaders stop surviving their roles and start leading with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

🎯 Romie’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Stop waiting for permission. There is no one to ask permission from. If you need to write yourself a permission slip and to sign it yourself and to give yourself permission to live the life of your dreams, then do whatever you need to do."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “You can be whoever you want to be in this life as long as you have the audacity to.” – Romie Montpeirous
• “You are who you are when no one's around. And so who is that person? And do you like that person? And if you don't like that person, then what kind of person do you want to be?” – Romie Montpeirous
• “What I realized is when I told the team what I wasn't good at, it was incredible to watch them basically cover that side of me.” – Romie Montpeirous

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Leadership From The Heart’s website
• Connect with Romie on LinkedIn
• Follow Leadership From The Heart on LinkedIn
• Get the book: Better Than You Found It

✨ Why This Matters for You

This mindset shift is crucial for your entrepreneurial journey because:

• It reframes marketing from a selfish act to a generous one. You can't help people who don't know you exist.
• It gives you the confidence to talk about your products and services without feeling sleazy or apologetic.
• It helps you overcome the mental barrier that keeps your business a "best-kept secret."
• It reminds you that if you truly believe in what you're building, you have an obligation to share it with those it can help.
• It’s a powerful lesson in authenticity and why showing up as your true self is the best marketing you can do.

📝 Key Takeaways

• Promotion is Service. Sharing what you’ve built isn’t shameless self-promotion; it’s shameless service to the people you aim to help.
• Champion Yourself. We’re trained to champion other companies, sports teams, and causes. It’s time we put that same energy into championing our own work.
• You Have an Obligation. If you're creating something for others, you're doing them a disservice by withholding it. Your audience can't benefit from what they don't know about.
• Lose the Apology. Stop using phrases like "Sorry for the shameless plug." Own the value you provide and share it confidently.
• Authenticity Inspires. Raw, unscripted, and generous content connects deeply and inspires action in others, just as Brian was inspired by his friend's first YouTube video.
• Consistency Over Perfection. Brian recorded this episode while sick as a testament to building habits. The lesson? Show up even when it's not easy, because that's what makes it easier in the long run.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, let’s practice shameless service:

• What is one thing you’ve created or are working on that you’ve been hesitant to share publicly?
• Draft a social media post or an email to your list about it.
• As you write, consciously remove any apologetic language. Frame it entirely from a place of service and excitement for how it can help others.
• Hit "post" or "send" and share your value with the world.

📣 Special Thanks and Shout Out to a Brilliant Entrepreneur!

A huge shout-out and thank you to Michael Philippou, the brilliant entrepreneur behind Big Love (formerly Frozen Fruit Co) in Santa Monica. His text message and the launch of his new YouTube channel were the direct inspiration for this episode. Michael is a phenomenal example of an entrepreneur who leads with generosity and transparency. We highly encourage you to check out his past appearance on the show in episode 308 and subscribe to his new YouTube channel. Thank you, Michael, for shamelessly sharing your journey and inspiring us all to do the same!

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The "Bonfire & Fireworks" Strategy: Learn how to create an "always-on" marketing machine with a sustainable cadence of small, consistent content (bonfires) and major events (fireworks) to build a loyal audience.
• Why Email is an Algorithm: Discover the hidden signals that inbox providers like Google and Microsoft use to decide if your emails get delivered, and how to stay on their good side.
• The Power of Peer-to-Peer Messaging: Find out why dropping the "marketing speak" and adopting a genuine, human tone is the key to building credibility and trust with your prospects.
• How to Leverage AI the Right Way: Understand how to use AI as a powerful assistant to enhance your messaging, rather than a crutch that makes you sound generic and kills connection.
• The 30-Touch Rule: Uncover why the old "7 touches" rule is dead and how to implement a long-term follow-up strategy that turns cold prospects into ready-to-buy clients without being a pest.
• Unlocking the Power of Lurkers: Learn why the people who don't engage with your content are often your most valuable future customers and how to stay top-of-mind for them.

📝 About George Linville 

George Linville is the co-founder and CEO of Outkeep, an innovative email platform designed for modern B2B marketers. A fourth-generation entrepreneur who started his first company at 15, George has a deep background as a B2B sales and marketing leader for fast-growing companies. He created Outkeep to solve the very problems he faced in the trenches: the difficulty of reaching audiences at scale without getting bogged down by technical risk or hurting brand reputation. George’s expertise lies in building trust-based, sustainable marketing systems that drive real business results.

🎯 George’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"The follow-through and the professional persistence and the diligence is what really gets you there."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "If you're trying to build trust and respect, this is one of the easiest times in history to do it as a marketer... Most marketers are too reliant on personalization or scripting that comes from AI and it becomes homogenous." – George Linville
• "Anyone that's pitching in their first few emails typically is failing. That's the kind of stuff that you and I filter right out of our inbox." – George Linville
• "Don't assume inaction or invisibility is not actually someone that's engaged. Those... are the ones that send you a random email you don't expect at all and that are ready to buy." – George Linville

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Outkeep’s website
• Connect with George on LinkedIn
• Follow Outkeep on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to transform a personal problem (like chronic migraines) into a scalable and impactful business venture.
• The strategy for using open-source data and research to validate your idea and build a prototype without a massive budget.
• Why cross-disciplinary collaboration between scientists, engineers, and business leaders is the key to solving complex problems.
• The critical mindset shift required to go from a "maker" or "tinkerer" to a market-focused entrepreneur.
• How to build a business around ethical AI, ensuring privacy and responsibility are at the core of your technology.
• A framework for approaching a long-term vision with short-term, actionable steps focused on validation and building partnerships.
• Why you should seek out collaborators and advisors who can challenge your perspective and push your idea forward.

📝 About Zeyno Dodd

Zeyno Dodd is the co-founder and R&D Technology Lead at AlgiSense, a company developing EEG-based digital biomarkers for objective pain detection. With a rich background spanning over two decades in AI systems, data architecture, and computational modeling, Zeyno is a true problem-solver at heart. Her work lies at the unique intersection of neuroscience, ethical AI, and engineering, demonstrating how combining diverse fields can lead to groundbreaking innovation. Zeyno’s journey from architect to AI pioneer gives her a unique, pragmatic perspective on building technology that serves humanity responsibly.

🎯 Zeyno’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"You have to get out [of your focus]... when you sort of look at the meta level you start observing yourself and you start seeing where you're falling behind what needs to be pushed... You can be your self-advisor."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm an engineer maker. I just try to fix something or find a solution something. It's a puzzle.” – Zeyno Dodd
• “We tend to turn things into either tragedies or... a very bleak feature. These things happen in cycles... I cannot deny the fact that there has been no way for me to get this far and get this kind of platform up without AI's help. It's a symbiosis.” – Zeyno Dodd
• "It's important to take what you do very seriously and very passionately, but it's also good to sort of get out and look at it from a meta level." – Zeyno Dodd

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit AlgiSense’s website
• Connect with Zeyno on LinkedIn
• Follow AlgiSense on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to transform your random sales approach into a repeatable “assembly line” that consistently closes deals.
• The "Bridge Fit" framework: A 4-point checklist to qualify leads so you only spend time with ideal buyers.
• Powerful techniques to uncover and address “unspoken objections” — the real reason 40-60% of deals stall.
• The simple 3-step plan to end every sales call, eliminating indecision and escaping “follow-up hell.”
• How to analyze your own successful sales calls to build a scalable process that a new hire can execute effectively.
• Why discounting is a dangerous trap and what to ask instead to address a prospect's true decision-making criteria.
• How to make your sales process more objective and less subjective, giving you clear data on what works and what doesn't.

📝 About Jonny Holsten

Jonny Holsten is the creator of the BridgeSelling System, a practical framework that helps sales teams close more deals and equips leaders to improve their reps' effectiveness. After seeing countless sales conversations fall apart from a lack of structure, he developed his framework to help businesses design repeatable calls that are easy to teach and score. As the best-selling author of "Fix Your Broken Sales Calls," Jonny’s expertise lies in transforming the intuitive genius of top-performing founders into a scalable system that anyone on the team can use to win.

🎯 Jonny’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"I don't think I even found the success I wanted to see in business until I stopped caring about being an entrepreneur... It became more about the clients, the projects, the outcomes, the wins."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Take [sales] from being a slot machine where we're just kind of pulling the crank and hoping it closes and take it from a slot machine to an assembly line.” – Jonny Holsten
• “You won't be able to teach someone to wing it, but you can teach someone if you can accurately replicate what you're doing that's successful.” – Jonny Holsten
• “Of the deals that don't close, 40 to 60 percent of them don't close because of indecision... How can we design our sales process to get all the unspoken objections out on the table?” – Jonny Holsten

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit BridgeSelling’s website
• Connect with Jonny on LinkedIn
• Follow BridgeSelling on LinkedIn
• Get the book: Fix Your Broken Sales Calls

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to master the art of sales by becoming a better listener, not a better talker.
• The "Anti-Cookie Cutter" philosophy for creating tailored solutions that drive real results for your clients.
• Why peer advisory groups are more powerful than traditional networking for solving million-dollar problems.
• The single most important KPI (Key Performance Indicator) to track that reveals the true health and value of your business.
• How to structure your time as a founder to balance day-to-day operations with long-term visionary thinking.
• The "Batteries Included" hiring philosophy for building a proactive, high-agency team that owns their roles.
• A simple framework for wantrepreneurs to build their business in the "5-to-9" without quitting their day job prematurely.

📝 About Breven Thomas 

Breven Thomas is the founder of ScaleSmart Leadership, a company dedicated to helping CEOs and business owners scale with confidence through powerful peer advisory groups. Having built a seven-figure business from the ground up, Breven understands the grit and strategy required for growth. He now focuses on empowering other leadership coaches and executives to build impactful, results-driven practices. Breven’s unique expertise lies in creating structured, accountable environments that eliminate "shiny object syndrome" and foster real, measurable progress.

🎯 Breven’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

• For the Wantrepreneur: “It's what you're doing after the… five to nine after the nine to five is really what's important… I'm going to really have to hustle in that five to nine and just being focused and not being super distracted to the shiny object syndrome.”
• For the Entrepreneur: “Don't be afraid of failure… When you do [fail], what's the feedback and then let's iterate that feedback. And that's just part of the process.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “At the end of the day, and entrepreneurs sometimes don't want to hear this, but if you don't have sales, you don't have a business.” – Breven Thomas
• “We're really big on anti cookie cutter, meaning there's not one approach, one way that works for every single business out there that would be naive to think that.” – Breven Thomas
• "I'm looking for individuals... that have that... mindset when it comes to work in general is how can we continue to grow." – Breven Thomas

🔗 Links & Resources

• Website: Learn more about ScaleSmart Leadership and their peer advisory groups at scalesmartleaders.com

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Energy Management Over Time Management: Learn why the key to productivity isn't cramming more into your day, but identifying and cultivating activities that give you energy back.
• The "Addition" Principle: Discover the counterintuitive strategy of adding energizing activities (like hobbies) to your life to prevent burnout, rather than cutting things out.
• Optimize Your Drains: Get actionable tips on how to transform energy-draining tasks (like managing your inbox) into neutral or even energizing activities using frameworks like "What would this look like if it were fun?"
• Early Warning Signs: Understand the subtle but critical symptoms of burnout—like chronic exhaustion and mental distance—so you can course-correct before it's too late.
• The "Sharpen the Saw" Mentality: Reframe rest and personal projects not as distractions, but as essential maintenance required to achieve your biggest business goals.
• Environment as an Energy Source: Realize how your physical surroundings (your home, your office) are constantly draining or fueling your energy, and how to optimize them.

📝 About Nate Hebbert 

Nate Hebbert is the founder and CEO of Selfware Consulting, an organization that empowers tech companies and entrepreneurs to beat burnout without sacrificing momentum. A former software engineer for giants like 3M and KPMG, Nate experienced a severe, career-halting burnout that forced him to re-evaluate everything. This personal crisis became his professional mission. Combining his analytical engineering mindset with a deep understanding of personal development, Nate developed a unique system of "energy management" to help high-performers thrive sustainably.

🎯 Nate’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"You need to redefine the word 'important' in your life."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “It's if I don't do all of these things that are really bringing the energy in my life, then I might burn out. So it's almost the opposite.” – Nate Hebbert
• “For any activity, ask yourself: What would this look like if it were fun?” – Nate Hebbert
• "The people that we care about in our lives, that's the tree. And our jobs that we really want to succeed in, that's the tree... The activities that we do like going to the gym or playing a video game or reading a book, that's sharpening the saw." – Nate Hebbert

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Selfware Consulting’s website
• Connect with Nate on LinkedIn
• Follow Selfware Consulting on LinkedIn
• Follow Selfware Consulting on YouTube

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🎾 The "Keep The Ball in Play" Strategy: Discover why consistent, steady effort in your business is more effective than constantly chasing huge, risky “winners” like viral posts or massive product launches.
• 🧠 How to Gain Confidence from Failure: Learn the mental framework that allows you to see every setback not as a loss, but as a lesson that builds your confidence and skill set for the next challenge.
• ⚾️ Stealing Genius from Other Fields: Understand how to borrow lessons and strategies from completely unrelated areas of your life (like sports or hobbies) to innovate and solve problems in your business.
• ☀️ Winning Before the Day Begins: Unpack the immense value of morning reflection and visualization, and why your preparation is the single most important input for your business outcomes.
• 📈 The Power of Small, Intentional Tweaks: See how focusing on making 1% improvements and being intentional with every action can lead to massive growth over time.
• 💪 From Brute Force to Smart Strategy: Hear the story of shifting from trying to hit home runs to capitalizing on your opponent’s (or the market’s) mistakes through patience and smart positioning.

📝 About Jarome McKenzie

Jarome McKenzie is the founder of Arrowhead Strategy Group, an agency dedicated to helping entrepreneurs find clarity, answers, and hidden growth opportunities within their business numbers and finances. A former college baseball player, Jarome brings a unique, athletic-minded discipline and a deeply reflective nature to the world of business. He excels at breaking down complex challenges into their core components and applying universal principles of success, making him a brilliant strategist for any entrepreneur looking to master the fundamentals and achieve sustainable growth.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I actually got more confident each time I lost… each game, each set, I learned something and got a little better each time.” – Jarome McKenzie
• “If you're not growing, you're dying… and that is something that I believe for business, life, everything.” – Jarome McKenzie
• "The most important input that I do every day… is not anything to do with what I do during the business day. It's all in the mornings before any of that starts." – Jarome McKenzie

🔗 Links & Resources

• Website: arrowheadstrategygroup.com
• LinkedIn: Connect with Jarome on LinkedIn. He loves connecting with and serving fellow entrepreneurs

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to safely experiment with powerful new AI agents without exposing your sensitive business data.
• Why the barrier to entry for building software and applications has never been lower (and how to leverage it even if you can't code).
• The crucial difference between AI hype and production-ready systems that deliver real business value.
• What "Responsible AI" actually means and why it's a critical framework for protecting your company and your customers.
• How to think like a cybersecurity expert when adopting new AI tools to avoid common (and costly) mistakes.
• A glimpse into the future of AI hardware and how it will fundamentally change the way we interact with technology and each other.
• Why waiting for a major AI "disaster" to take security seriously is a losing strategy for any business.

📝 About Evan Glaser 

Evan Glaser is the founder and CEO of Alongside AI, a firm dedicated to helping organizations implement AI securely and effectively. With a rich background in cybersecurity, AI governance, and enterprise consulting, Evan specializes in bridging the gap between technical execution and business strategy. His unique expertise allows him to guide leadership teams in reducing AI-related risks while accelerating real adoption. Evan brings a practical, security-first perspective to the AI conversation, making him an essential voice for any entrepreneur looking to innovate responsibly.

🎯 Evan’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"The barrier to accomplishing different tasks has never been lower. If you have a vision for a product or a service... that you have been limited in doing based on your skill set... I would really urge you to revisit them."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "With great power comes great responsibility, and I think that some of us who have spent more time and energy in these security, data privacy, and AI governance domains, maybe some of those risks become more evident." – Evan Glaser
• "You can't, in my experience, ever draw a firm line in the sand and say, 'This facet of technology will never work.' ...it really pays to be willing to revisit your priors." – Evan Glaser
• "AI is not coming. It's already here. These tools have really changed the way I live and changed the way I'm able to conduct business." – Evan Glaser

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Alongside AI’s website
• Connect with Evan on LinkedIn
• Follow Alongside AI, LLC on LinkedIn

This episode is invaluable for any entrepreneur tired of marketing strategies that don't move the needle. You'll learn how to transform your website from a static brochure into a lead-capturing machine, the right way to leverage AI as an assistant (not a replacement for human creativity), and how a powerful CRM can automate your follow-up so you never lose a potential customer again. Scott’s deep experience provides a clear, actionable roadmap for increasing visibility and driving real growth.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 The Modern "Omnipresence" Strategy: Why showing up in organic search, paid ads, and maps simultaneously is the new "TV, radio, and billboard" for dominating your market.
• 📝 Content That Converts: Learn why a blog is non-negotiable in 2026 and how to use it to answer long-tail search queries that your competitors are ignoring.
• 🤖 AI as Your Assistant, Not Your Author: Discover the right way to use AI for content creation—to build frameworks and generate ideas—and why 100% AI-generated posts fail to rank.
• 🤝 The Powerful Marriage of Paid & Organic: Understand how to use paid ads to fill the gap while your SEO builds momentum, creating a two-pronged attack for consistent lead flow.
• ⚙️ Why a CRM is Your Business's Central Hub: Learn how a CRM combined with automation can capture missed calls, instantly follow up with inquiries, and keep you from losing leads to competitors.

📝 About Scott Orth

Scott Orth is an SEO and digital growth expert with 25 years of hands-on experience in the trenches of online marketing. As the founder of Thrive Business Marketing and the creator of Surge by Thrive, he has mastered the art of combining timeless marketing fundamentals with cutting-edge technology. Scott got his start back in 1999, paying for clicks when they were a penny apiece, and has since evolved into a full-stack marketing authority who helps businesses build a powerful, holistic online presence that drives measurable results.

🎯 Scott’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Things don't have to be perfect. Get out there, get it done. You're going to learn as you go."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “You've got to have posts that are written, I say for a human, by a human... a search engine is going to pick up on that and rank you better for that than if you just grab an AI post and throw it on your blog.” – Scott Orth
• "How much more likely are you as a business going to get that lead or that sale than your competitor who maybe only shows up in one of those places? You're at least four times more likely because you're showing up four times instead of one.” – Scott Orth

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Thrive Business Marketing’s website
• Visit Surge’s website
• Connect with Scott on LinkedIn
• Follow Thrive Business Marketing on LinkedIn
• Follow Surge by Thrive on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The "Business GPS" Mindset: Learn to view AI not as a chatbot, but as a strategic navigation system that synthesizes data layers to show you the best path forward.
• Bridge Your Skill Gaps Instantly: Discover how AI can act as your personal expert in areas you’re weak in—from financial modeling to coding—allowing you to operate like a multi-talented founder from day one.
• Capitalize on the "Silver Tsunami": Understand the historic opportunity to acquire and modernize small businesses from the retiring baby boomer generation, using AI as your unfair advantage.
• Enhance, Don't Replace, Your Intuition: Find out how to use AI as a "thought partner" to validate your gut feelings with data, empowering you to make bolder, more informed bets.
• Achieve Presence and Build Better Relationships: Learn how simple tools like AI note-takers can free your mind during meetings, allowing you to be fully present and build deeper connections with clients and partners.
• Compete with Giants on a Startup Budget: See how a small team can now achieve what once required tens of thousands of dollars and a large staff, simply by using the right AI tools.

📝 About Connor O'Hearn

Connor O'Hearn is the co-founder of an AI strategy firm dedicated to helping business leaders navigate increasingly complex decisions. With a diverse background spanning business, entrepreneurship, aviation, and even geography, Connor brings a uniquely human-centric approach to the world of technology. His experience in an early-stage startup, where he helped lead a strategic partnership with Microsoft's co-pilot ecosystem, gave him a front-row seat to the AI revolution. Today, he channels that expertise into building a true "navigation system for business," empowering entrepreneurs to turn data chaos into clear, actionable strategy.

🎯 Connor’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

Know what you're really good at, double down on that strength, and then use AI without fear to fill in all the gaps and deficiencies you have as an entrepreneur.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “That nurture folder is where deals go to die.” – Connor O'Hearn
• “When you leave a meeting, it takes like one hour later, you've lost 50% of the memory of that conversation. And it just continues to degrade. If you wait 24 hours to go make those notes, you're down to like 10 or 5% of the actual conversation.” – Connor O'Hearn
• “Don't get too comfortable because the chaos of how fast everything is changing. You can either look at it as chaos or I think start to see the patterns in it.” – Connor O'Hearn

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Maai’s website
• Connect with Connor on LinkedIn
• Follow Maai on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Crowdfunding Mastery: Learn the insider tactics Tim used to launch a multi-million dollar Indiegogo campaign, including the one meeting that made all the difference.
• Building a Die-Hard Community: Discover the "Joshua Tree Mansion" strategy for turning your first 10 customers into evangelists who build your brand for you.
• The Power of Public Validation: Hear how Tim knew he had a winning product when strangers literally stopped him in the street to ask, "Where can I buy that?"
• Designing for Longevity: Understand why creating a customizable, "open-source" product that isn't disposable builds incredible brand loyalty and a thriving secondary market.
• From Hobby to Enterprise: Get the blueprint for turning a personal passion project into a scalable manufacturing operation.
• The Networking Long Game: Learn why maintaining relationships is crucial and how a connection from a decade ago can become your single biggest "lucky break."

📝 About Tim Seward 

Tim Seward is the founder and creative heartbeat of ONYX Motors. A lifelong tinkerer and moped enthusiast with a background in industrial design, he has created products for massive brands like Sonos, Intel, and Nike. Tim combined his passion for two-wheeled vehicles with his expertise in consumer electronics to create ONYX, revolutionizing the electric bike space. His unique perspective blends cyberpunk grit with California swagger, focusing on building not just a product, but a powerful community and culture around it.

🎯 Tim’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"I just followed what I really love to do... if you're having fun working, then it's not really work."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "When you buy an ONYX, you're actually joining more of a community of people." – Tim Seward
• "The community is more of the halo aspect of our brand." – Tim Seward
• "Had I not kept that relationship... that opportunity would have never been there." – Tim Seward

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit ONYX Motors’ website
• Connect with Tim on LinkedIn
• Follow ONYX Motors on LinkedIn
• Follow ONYX Motors on Facebook

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🤖 How to go beyond basic AI prompts by using systems that model cognition and emotion to truly understand and predict what your customers will do next.
• 📈 The power of "speed with receipts" – why demanding evidence, confidence scores, and hallucination risk from your AI is non-negotiable for making sound business decisions.
• 📊 How to turn your company's "qualitative" information (like meeting transcripts and customer calls) into a mountain of quantitative, actionable data.
• 🧠 Why an "adversarial AI" can be your secret weapon, poking holes in your strategy and forcing you to build a more resilient and defensible business model.
• 🚀 How startups can leverage specialized AI to level the playing field, consolidate data, and make enterprise-level decisions with agility and speed.
• 💡 A new framework for market segmentation that is dynamic and responsive to real-time events, rather than a static PDF that sits on a shelf.

📝 About Jill Axline 

Jill Axline, Ph.D., is the co-founder and CEO of Mavera, where she builds generative systems that give companies instant, scalable insight into people and markets. With a fascinating background that began in design and behavioral science, she holds a PhD where she studied empathy and cognitive perspective taking. Before co-founding Mavera, Jill honed her skills at Morningstar, building their market insights team from the ground up. Her unique expertise lies at the intersection of human insight and intelligent systems, making her a leading voice on how businesses can harness AI not just for efficiency, but for deeper understanding and smarter growth.

🎯 Jill’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Maintain your skepticism... but also have an open mind and don't be dismissive of things before you've really given them a shot... always be learning."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I just don't think decisions should get ahead of evidence. And I think we've really built that into the system.” – Jill Axline
• “I think of it more as an augmentation and a way to progress thinking that might be stuck in inertia circles, because I think a lot of times we kind of rinse and repeat the same things we've always done.” – Jill Axline
• “Yes, you get something faster. But where did it come from? Show me how it was sourced... I kind of call it like speed with receipts.” – Jill Axline

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Mavera’s website
• Connect with Jill on LinkedIn
• Follow Mavera on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You

Understanding how to work ON your business is the key to unlocking real growth:

• It’s how you break free from the "Finisher's Trap," where you’re so busy fulfilling orders that you have no time to grow.
• It gives you a clear roadmap for what to focus on, turning vague growth goals into specific, actionable projects.
• It forces you to build the systems and processes that will allow you to scale beyond yourself and eventually hire a team.
• It shifts your mindset from reacting to daily fires to proactively building the future of your company.
• It's not a luxury for when you're "big enough"—it's the very thing you must do to get big enough.

📝 Key Takeaways

• "In" vs. "On" the Business: Working in the business is doing the client work, the sales, and the admin—the tasks an employee would do. Working on the business is zooming out to focus on strategy, systems, and long-term growth—the work of an executive.
• Strategy vs. Tactics: Tactics are knowing what to do when there's an obvious next step (like responding to a client email). Strategy is knowing what to do when there isn’t an obvious move—it's about charting the long-term course for growth.
• The OPERATE Framework: Brian provides a 7-pillar system to guide your strategic thinking: Outreach, Pipeline, Execution, Retention, Automation, Telemetry, and Enablement. This is your checklist for working ON the business.
• Create Time to Scale: You don't get to work on your business only after you have a team. You build a team and achieve scale because you prioritize working on your business from the start.
• Manufacture Urgency: Unlike client deadlines, there’s no external urgency to work on your business. You have to create it for yourself by scheduling and committing to strategic thinking time.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, schedule your first "ON the Business" strategy session:

• Block out 60-90 minutes in your calendar where you will not be disturbed. No emails, no client work.
• Go through each of the 7 pillars of the OPERATE framework (Outreach, Pipeline, Execution, Retention, Automation, Telemetry, Enablement).
• For each pillar, ask yourself: "On a scale of 1-10, how strong is this area of my business?" and "What is one thing I could do to improve it?"
• Identify the single biggest opportunity for growth from your audit and make it a priority project for the next month.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode of daily value.
• Want to go deeper? Brian is offering to send you a FREE copy of his book, "OPERATE." Just email your address to hello@imetbrian.com. Or, grab it instantly on Amazon!
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who is stuck in the weeds and needs a clear path forward.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 Why "I'm too small to be a target" is a dangerous myth that could bankrupt your business in 2026.
• 🔒 How to find the perfect balance on the "convenience vs. security" spectrum to protect your assets without crippling productivity.
• 💻 The modern security strategies (like Single Sign-On and conditional access) that make managing a remote team easier and safer than ever.
• 🤖 The right way to use AI and "vibe coding" for rapid prototyping without exposing sensitive customer data.
• 📈 How a holistic IT strategy becomes a business enabler, giving you the confidence to focus on growth instead of tech threats.
• 🤝 What to look for in an IT partner who acts as a strategic advisor, not just a helpdesk.
• 🔑 Simple, foundational habits for onboarding and offboarding team members that instantly harden your company's security.

📝 About Martin Hiriart 

Martin Hiriart is a seasoned cybersecurity and IT professional and the co-founder of Attainable Security. With a rich background spanning helpdesk support to high-level cloud and identity management, Martin saw a critical gap in the market: small and medium-sized businesses lacked access to enterprise-grade security programs. He and his co-founder created Attainable Security to provide holistic, high-quality IT and cybersecurity strategies, allowing entrepreneurs to build their vision on a secure and efficient foundation.

🎯 Martin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Find those people and those relationships in your life that are partnerships... just knowing that you have that person or the set of people that you can trust to just, hey, let's work on this together and work towards this shared goal is huge."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "The more secure you get, the less convenient things become... It's really about helping [businesses] understand where they land on that slider." – Martin Hiriart
• "I feel like vibe coding is in that same spot as early 3D printing. It's great for prototyping... But I think it still needs to be paired with a competent professional." – Martin Hiriart
• "How can we be just as secure working from the office as we are working from a Starbucks? That's kind of at a high level what the trying to leverage and set teams up for remote work is all about." – Martin Hiriart

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Attainable Security’s website
• Connect with Martin on LinkedIn
• Connect with Sam on LinkedIn
• Follow Attainable Security on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The Audience-First Framework: Discover why you must stop telling your story and start focusing on what your audience truly cares about to grab their attention instantly.
• The Power of Simplicity: Learn how to apply the Einstein principle of "making it simple" to your pitches and presentations, ensuring your message is heard, understood, and acted upon.
• From Data to Decisions: Uncover strategies to transform dense data and technical details into a clear, concise narrative that leads directly to the "yes."
• Building Unshakeable Confidence: Get practical, low-stakes techniques to practice your public speaking, eliminate filler words, and present with authority in any situation.
• The "Less Is More" Slide Deck Strategy: Find out why your slides are only there to support you, not replace you, and how to create visuals that enhance your message instead of overwhelming it.
• Leveraging AI for Better Communication: Learn how to use AI as a tool to refine your messaging, get feedback, and tailor your communication for different audiences without losing your authentic voice.

📝 About Mandy Geyer

Mandy Geyer is the founder of Integral Edge Consulting and a former health insurance executive with nearly 20 years of experience leading actuarial teams. After seeing countless brilliant, technical experts struggle to convey their value, she made it her mission to bridge the gap between data and influence. Today, Mandy works at the intersection of data, storytelling, and persuasion, helping technical leaders, analysts, and health tech companies communicate with clarity and confidence to get buy-in faster and drive meaningful results.

🎯 Mandy’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Make sure you're taking time and space every day to be alone."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “They tend to think about their story and not their audience's story. I really try and encourage people to put yourself in your audience's shoes. And what do they care about?” – Mandy Geyer
• “You are the presentation, not your slide deck or the images that you're projecting. Those are there to support your message, but you're the one presenting.” – Mandy Geyer
• “When in doubt, define the term, define the acronym. It's not that you're dumbing anything down… it's making sure that you're all on the same page.” – Mandy Geyer

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Integral Edge Consulting’s website
• Visit Farm Table Health’s website
• Connect with Mandy on LinkedIn
• Follow Integral Edge Consulting on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Why traditional SEO is becoming obsolete and how to master the new frontier of "Generative Engine Optimization" to get found by AI.
• How to conduct a free "brand audit" to see what AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini really think about your business (and what to do if they're wrong).
• The three core metrics (Message Pull-Through, Citation Share of Voice, and Recommendation) to measure and improve your brand's authority with AI.
• Actionable strategies to "teach" and train LLMs about your brand, ensuring they accurately represent your unique value proposition to potential customers.
• How to position your business to get recommended by AI in high-intent conversations, turning AI into a powerful, automated referral engine.
• Why a holistic brand narrative is now more critical than ever for discoverability in an AI-first world.
• How to leverage AI as a new distribution channel to potentially see massive increases in referral traffic, just like Apurva's clients.

📝 About Apurva Luty 

Apurva Luty has spent the last decade on the cutting edge of every major platform shift in tech. With a track record of turning new mediums into predictable revenue streams at giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Discord, she has a deep understanding of consumer behavior. Apurva is a storyteller and marketer at heart, passionate about translating complex technology into accessible strategies. She is now the founder of Optimly, where she is tackling the final platform shift—AI—and building the tools to ensure challenger brands aren't left behind.

🎯 Apurva’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Just do it... take that leap, because you are probably more prepared than you realize you are." Apurva’s core advice is to embrace a bias for action. Whether you’re on the fence about starting a business or scared about tackling a new frontier like AI, the key is to stop overthinking and start doing.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "Instead of thinking about feeding the algorithm keywords, what you're trying to do is feed the LLM information. Truly teach the LLM who you are, what you do, who you serve, what makes you great." – Apurva Luty
• "When there's a big platform shift... it's always the little guys, right? The challenger brands that are kind of ahead of the curve that are able to kind of most take advantage of those opportunities." – Apurva Luty
• "AI, chat GPT, it's going to become some sort of gatekeeper between me and my customer... once you kind of get over that initial fear, you start to see this as a really unique opportunity." – Apurva Luty

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Optimly’s website
• Connect with Apurva on LinkedIn
• Follow Optimly on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Why a holding company structure is a game-changer for centralizing functions, gaining efficiencies, and scaling a portfolio of businesses.
• How to transform your financial statements from a compliance burden into a strategic tool for growth, acquisitions, and securing funding.
• The critical importance of proper expense allocation and how it reveals the true profitability of each venture in your portfolio.
• How a fractional CFO can help you find the hidden answers in your numbers to make smarter decisions about everything from hiring to expansion.
• The mindset and practical systems required to build a successful "lifestyle business" that allows for freedom and travel without sacrificing client value.
• A low-risk strategy to transition from a W-2 employee to a full-time entrepreneur by becoming a contractor first.
• Why you must master your manual processes before ever investing in expensive software or tools.

📝 About Alex Ostrov 

Alex Ostrov is the founder of Nomad CPA, a fractional CFO and full-service finance firm dedicated to helping entrepreneurs scale their portfolios. After starting his career at a Big Four accounting firm in Bermuda, Alex embraced the remote work lifestyle and traveled to over 35 countries, which inspired him to launch his own business. He specializes in working with hands-on operators who run multiple businesses, providing the strategic financial partnership they need to centralize processes, optimize performance, and grow their revenue to $25 million and beyond.

🎯 Alex’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"You don't have to fully dive in the deep end. If you want to get into the entrepreneurship journey, you don't need to fully quit your W2 job... you can talk to your company, see if you can scale back, go on as a contractor, and then from there, it gives you more flexibility to work with other businesses or start another business."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “If you really want to dissect your business and look at opportunities, then the numbers tell the story. The numbers tell the story, and they can help kind of show you where you're going to be in the future.” – Alex Ostrov
• “Just as you're an entrepreneur in a business, you're an entrepreneur for your own life as well. You get to create the life you want.” – Alex Ostrov
• "Before you bring on any tool, make sure that your processes are refined manually. If you can't do it with a simple spreadsheet... then you're probably not going to be able to do it with one of these fancy tools." – Alex Ostrov

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Nomad CPA’s website
• Connect with Alex on LinkedIn
• Follow Nomad CPA on LinkedIn
• Follow Nomad CPA on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The "McDonald's Process": Learn how to systematize even the most customized services in your business to ensure consistency, save time, and scale efficiently.
• Marketing is Just Experimentation: Why even high-end ad agencies don’t have a "golden nugget" and how your best strategy is relentless trial and error driven by data, not personal opinion.
• Scale Without Burnout: Discover Charlie's philosophy on using AI and automation to reduce the workload and stress on your team, allowing you to grow volume with the same number of happy employees.
• The Power of Simplicity: Understand why sometimes the best business name is the one that simply and clearly describes what you do (like WorkshopsForRetirement.com!).
• Bootstrapping from Zero: Get inspired by Charlie's story of starting his business with no money while living in his friend's sister's old room, proving that resourcefulness beats resources.
• Listen to the Market: Hear why trying to force your own beliefs on your business is a path to failure, and why the most successful entrepreneurs adapt to what the market is telling them.

📝 About Charlie Klarskov 

Charlie Klarskov is the founder of WorkshopsForRetirement.com, a company that promotes educational events to help local communities with retirement planning. Originally from a pig farm in Denmark, Charlie moved to the US at 19 with a dream of working in finance in Beverly Hills—a dream he quickly achieved. However, his entrepreneurial spirit led him to branch out on his own, building a business that brilliantly merges the power of digital marketing and automation with the high-touch, human connection of in-person events. Charlie offers a unique perspective on building a fully remote team, scaling a service-based business, and embracing technology to create a more efficient and less stressful work environment.

🎯 Charlie’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Go with your gut feeling... Don't worry about what other people are thinking, let them worry about that. Go with your own flow."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "It's a little bit like it's fun playing with Legos, taking different things, putting them together and you can build whatever you want pretty much. I feel the same way with my business." – Charlie Klarskov
• "What I found is that the only way to find out is just trial and error. Test it out... Don't go with what you personally think is aesthetically good or what you think is good because you don't know. Let data speak for itself." – Charlie Klarskov

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Workshops for Retirement’s website
• Connect with Charlie on LinkedIn
• Follow Workshops for Retirement on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You

Adopting a collaborative mindset is the fastest way to get out of the entrepreneurial trenches:

• It frees you from the scarcity mindset that keeps you small and stressed.
• It unlocks partnerships and opportunities that you could never create on your own.
• It builds a powerful network of peers, mentors, and partners who genuinely want to see you win.
• It accelerates your learning curve and helps you avoid costly mistakes.
• It shifts your focus from fighting for scraps at the bottom to creating new value at the top.

📝 Key Takeaways

• Competition is a Myth. The idea that you must beat others to win is a flawed concept taught in business school. True long-term success comes from partnership and the belief that a rising tide lifts all boats.
• Collaborate with Competitors. Instead of viewing direct competitors as threats, see them as partners for market expansion, shared education, cross-promotions, or even referring overflow work.
• Leverage Shoulder Industries. This is a business cheat code. Partnering with businesses that serve your ideal clients (but don't directly compete with you) is one of the most effective marketing strategies.
• Value is More Than Money. When collaborating, you can offer more than just cash or referrals. Offer time, access, credibility, distribution, labor, or community to create win-win partnerships, especially with those ahead of you.
• Build Your Peer Group. The entrepreneurial journey is lonely. Collaborating with peers provides essential emotional support, sanity checks, shared experiments, and a trusted circle of people who are in the arena with you.
• Co-Create With Your Market. Stop guessing what your customers want. Collaborate with them directly. Use community-led growth and user-generated content to build products and services they are guaranteed to love.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, conduct a “Collaboration Audit” on your business:

• Identify one person or business in a “shoulder industry” that you could partner with. How can you help them first?
• Think of one “competitor.” What’s one small way you could collaborate instead of compete? (e.g., share their content, propose a joint webinar on the state of your industry).
• Reach out to one peer who is at a similar stage in their journey and schedule a virtual coffee. The goal isn't to sell, but simply to connect and learn.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode.
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian.
• This is a lonely journey if you let it be! Brian reads and replies to every single email personally. Reach out and say hello at hello@imetbrian.com.
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs to shift from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 Why building an HR foundation is crucial, even if you only have a few employees, and how it prevents future chaos during growth spurts.
• 💰 How to get a professional HR system in place for free (yes, actually free for teams of 1-5 people).
• 🤖 The real future of AI in HR: How a "human and machine" partnership will streamline hiring and operations, moving beyond marketing hype.
• 📈 A founder's perspective on product roadmaps and deciding what features to build next based on customer pain points, not just shiny objects.
• 🤝 How to build a culture of ownership and trust within your team by flipping the traditional corporate pyramid upside down.
• ⚙️ What a lean, software-backed HR function looks like and how it removes administrative headaches from the founder's plate.

📝 About Jeffrey McNeal 

Jeffrey McNeal is the founder of Adapt HR and a product-driven entrepreneur with a uniquely diverse career. He’s navigated the worlds of government administration, software startups, investment banking, and HR tech, giving him a front-row seat to how organizations of all sizes operate—and where they break down. Frustrated by overly complex and expensive enterprise software, Jeffrey decided to build what most small business owners actually need: a simple, practical HR platform that works without the bloat, buzzwords, or overwhelming workflows.

🎯 Jeffrey’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"When you make that shift from employee to entrepreneur, guess what? You have to know all of it."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "Most small businesses are... an owner trying to run a business which includes the admin side... and they're using spreadsheets and color coded calendars and post-it notes." – Jeffrey McNeal
• "Ultimately where HR software needs to go as it relates to AI is a smooth relationship between human and machine... letting the machine do the heavy lifting to allow the user, the human to make the higher level decisions." – Jeffrey McNeal
• "So frequently, I see product managers who are focused on building products, they don't learn how to be a salesperson. You ask me how I know." – Jeffrey McNeal

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit AdaptHR’s website
• Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn
• Follow AdaptHR on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🧠 The Real Difference Between Agentic AI and "Wrapped LLMs": Learn to spot genuine, value-adding AI solutions from the pretenders and understand what makes an operational agent truly powerful for your business.
• 🚀 How to Innovate Without Disruption: Discover Sara's "inch at a time" philosophy for introducing new technology, ensuring your team and customers adopt changes smoothly without the pain of a total overhaul.
• 🐒 The “Trained Monkey” Question: Steal Sara’s brilliant discovery question to instantly identify the most tedious, repetitive tasks in any business that are ripe for automation.
• 🤝 Why Developing in a Vacuum is a Recipe for Failure: Understand the critical importance of co-creating solutions with your target market before you invest heavily in development.
• 📈 How Your Random Past Experiences Fuel Future Success: Learn how to connect the dots from a diverse, non-linear background to bring unique and powerful insights to your entrepreneurial journey.
• 💬 The Power of Augmentation Over Replacement: Shift your mindset from seeing AI as a threat that replaces humans to a tool that augments your team's capacity, making them more effective and focused on high-value work.

📝 About Sara Reece

Sara Reece is the co-founder and CEO of Workmind, a company that builds operational agents to automate repetitive work for franchisors and service teams. With a fascinatingly non-linear background that includes journalism, radio, flight school, and even research in national parks, Sara brings a uniquely human and multi-faceted perspective to the world of AI. Her expertise lies in creating practical, non-disruptive AI solutions that integrate seamlessly into the tools businesses already use, helping them grow smarter and more efficiently.

🎯 Sara’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

Find something you're passionate about, validate that other people care about it too, and develop the ability to take critical feedback as a business tool, not a personal attack.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “What do you do on a daily basis that makes you feel like a trained monkey? As soon as I ask that question, I get overwhelming responses.” – Sara Reece
• “If you are so disruptive that you are destroying work paths… people aren't ready for you. You need to make sure that operationally you have to give them an inch at a time.” – Sara Reece
• “You need to be able to take that feedback and you need to take a step back and realize I am presenting this as a company… and if they give me some harsh reality checks, I need to be able to not take a personal offense to it.” – Sara Reece

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Workmind’s website
• Connect with Sara on LinkedIn
• Follow Workmind on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to leverage AI to build a professional website without learning a complex new platform or writing a single line of code.
• 🎯 Why focusing on a "simple" problem that others overlook can be your biggest competitive advantage as an entrepreneur.
• 💰 A simple, powerful framework for integrating back-end functions like lead capture without needing any technical expertise.
• 🤖 How advanced prompt engineering can turn your simple business description into a fully-realized, custom website design.
• 📈 The founder's mindset for navigating the overwhelming pace of AI innovation by focusing on simplicity and actionable goals.
• 🤔 Why your communication skills, not your coding skills, are becoming the most important asset in building with AI tools.
• 💡 The "Jamstack" architecture explained for non-techies and how it can make your business more secure and scalable.

📝 About Yason Khaburzaniya 

Yason Khaburzaniya is a seasoned software engineer and the founder of Breba, an AI-powered platform designed to empower entrepreneurs. With a background that includes writing code for third-generation GPS satellites and working on advanced AI projects at Intuit, Yason brings a deep understanding of technology to the world of startups. His unique perspective is shaped by his journey from running a local IT business in college to now building tools that make powerful technology accessible to everyone, embodying the principle of making complex things simple to help people succeed.

🎯 Yason’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Take action, but be also deliberate about taking action... Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I narrowed and narrowed it down until I got a problem that looks like a middle schooler could solve it... and I'm like well because this is the thing that I can really excel at.” – Yason Khaburzaniya
• “Building is a skill and selling is an art to me at least... Try to go maybe one or two competence levels below where you think you are and then you can excel.” – Yason Khaburzaniya
• “If you make these specialized agents that solve very directed specific tasks, they can supersede humans in their competence.” – Yason Khaburzaniya

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Breba’s website
• Connect with Yason on LinkedIn
• Follow Breba on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 Why storytelling is the primary way humans learn and how you can leverage it to communicate your business values and vision effectively.
• 🎯 How to overcome the imposter syndrome that stops you from sharing your message and step into your identity as a leader in your niche.
• 🤝 The art of using relationships to build your business, from finding your first supporters to meeting the perfect mentors and partners.
• 💡 A powerful exercise to map out your own "life story" to uncover the unique themes and wisdom you can weave into your brand.
• 🗣️ How to find your unique voice not by waiting for inspiration, but through the process of taking action and sharing your ideas.
• 🤖 The right way to use AI as a tool for efficiency without letting it short-circuit the discovery of your authentic message and voice.

📝 About Janice Buswell

Janice Buswell is a multi-talented communicator, speaker, novelist, and blogger who is passionate about helping people tell the stories on their hearts. As the co-founder of the Experience Writing Conference, she has created a community designed to help writers discover their God-given voice and navigate the publishing process without losing their uniqueness. With a diverse background that includes working for a tech startup and as a communications director, Janice brings a powerful perspective on how the art of storytelling intersects with the practical journey of building something from the ground up.

🎯 Janice’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"It's really all about relationships... Don't let [other tasks] squeeze out the need to develop relationships, especially key relationships... taking the time to really connect with people wherever you go, I think is really important to the growth of any organization or any entrepreneur."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “The world actually needs that they need what's in you. That's why you're here on the earth is because there's something in you that the world needs.” – Janice Buswell
• “The way you discover your voice is actually through writing... the process is what teaches you.” – Janice Buswell
• “There may be a million kinds of versions of this kind of story, but no one will say it the way you said it. And the way you said it is the way that someone else needs to hear it.” – Janice Buswell

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Experience Writing’s website
• Connect with Janice on LinkedIn
• Follow Experience Writing on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🤖 AI as an Amplifier, Not a Replacement: Discover the mindset shift needed to see AI as a tool that frees up humans to do what they do best: be creative, build relationships, and lead with passion.
• 🚀 The "Systems Architect" Approach: Learn how to look at your own business, identify the core problems and inefficiencies, and devise tech-driven solutions—which aren't always AI.
• 📈 Why Tech Integration Leads to Team Growth: Hear a counterintuitive take on how automating processes can actually create more opportunities for human capital and lead to hiring more people.
• 🤝 Balancing Profit and Purpose: Uncover a powerful business model that uses profits from corporate work to fund heavily discounted or pro-bono services for nonprofits, allowing you to scale your impact alongside your revenue.
• 🧠 Overcoming "You Don't Know What You Don't Know": Get practical tips on using free tools like ChatGPT’s voice feature to brainstorm solutions to business challenges you can't even articulate yet.
• 🌐 The Power of Being a Generalist: Learn why, in the age of AI, having broad knowledge across different industries can be a massive competitive advantage over niching down.

📝 About Elliott Godwin 

Elliott Godwin is the founder and CEO of EG Integrations, a company dedicated to building intelligent automation and software solutions that make organizations more efficient and effective. Inspired by his parents' life of service, Elliott blends business excellence with a genuine passion for impact. His unique perspective is shaped by a desire to bring transformative, enterprise-level technology to organizations of all sizes, especially nonprofits that are often left behind.

🎯 Elliott’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"When you see something new come out, don't just watch it idly and be like, 'hey, that's awesome.' Dive into it, figure out how it works, figure out how to use it, figure out what other people are doing with it… and just stay learning, stay curious."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Let's free up the human side of things to do what humans are best at, and that's being creative and having passion, having a soul, having fervor for whatever it is they're focused on.” – Elliott Godwin
• "All these people are creating these tools, but no one's showing people how to use them... Let us show you how to get them to work for you." – Elliott Godwin
• “I can't automate a friendship. I can't automate, 'Hey, explain to me your passion for your company and let's figure out how to make it better.'” – Elliott Godwin

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit EG Integrations’ website
• Connect with Elliott on LinkedIn
• Follow EG Integrations on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You

Understanding your true customer experience is a competitive advantage:

• It’s about seeing your business through your customer’s eyes, not just your own.
• It uncovers the hidden frustrations that customers feel but never tell you about.
• It allows you to turn every touchpoint—website copy, emails, calls—into a cohesive, trust-building experience.
• It’s a way to leverage AI to get unbiased, actionable feedback that is more honest than asking a client directly.
• It’s how small businesses can create a superior experience that even large companies with more resources fail to deliver.

📝 Key Takeaways

• Customer Experience > Customer Service. Service is just one interaction; experience is the sum of every single touchpoint, from the first time they see your website to the final follow-up.
• AI is Your Unbiased Auditor. Tools like ChatGPT can analyze your communications and processes from a customer’s perspective, revealing blind spots you’re too close to see.
• Your Promises Set Expectations. The copy on your website, your guarantees, and your sales pitches are constantly shaping your client's expectations. You have to ensure the delivery matches the promise.
• Proactive Communication Wins. Don't wait for a client to ask for an update. Be the one to reach out first, even if it’s just to say there are no new updates. It builds immense trust.
• Capture the Full Context. To get a true analysis, you need to provide AI with the full picture: call transcripts, email chains, website screenshots, text messages, and project timelines.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, conduct your own AI Customer Experience Audit:

• Pick one recent client or customer project.
• Gather all the data: Screenshot the website pages they saw, compile all email correspondence, grab any call transcripts or notes, and include any text messages.
• Feed it all into an AI tool like ChatGPT with a prompt like: "You are an unbiased customer. Based on all this information, analyze my entire customer experience. Point out areas of friction, misaligned expectations, and opportunities where I could have created a better experience."
• Review the feedback and identify one or two simple changes you can implement immediately to improve your process for the next client.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who wants to build an unforgettable customer experience

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to identify your biggest personal pain point and transform it into a scalable business idea that serves a real need.
• 🦋 Why embracing an "and" mindset (e.g., being a mom AND a CEO) is crucial for building a sustainable business that aligns with your whole identity.
• 📈 The power of taking small, consistent "baby steps" instead of one giant leap to build momentum and skills on your entrepreneurial journey.
• 🗣️ How to craft authentic messaging that connects with an audience in pain, even when it’s a marketing challenge.
• 💪 A framework for rebuilding your identity and confidence after a major professional setback to come back stronger than ever.
• 🧠 Why scratching your own itch is one of the most effective ways to find a gap in the market and create a solution people desperately need.

📝 About Kat Rogers

Kat Rogers is a business coach, founder of Mariposa Mastermind, and a fierce advocate for working mothers. With a diverse background as a film producer and financial advisor, she brings a unique blend of storytelling, strategy, and empathy to her work. After experiencing firsthand how the corporate world penalizes motherhood, Kat dedicated herself to creating the supportive space she wished she had. She now helps ambitious women navigate the "messy middle" of motherhood and leadership, empowering them to reclaim their identity, joy, and strength without shame.

🎯 Kat’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Trust yourself. You are fully capable... you understand so much more than you give yourself credit for... screw everybody else's expectation... You're amazing. Trust in yourself and trust in you."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "I refused to live my life according to someone else's expectations because they will always be less than what I can deliver and they will always be more limited than what I'm capable of." – Kat Rogers
• "Doing the most feminine thing possible was punishable. So a part of my identity what I was now embracing was no longer good enough to be seen in the business world." – Kat Rogers
• "You don't have to run a department to be a leader. You are guiding your family, your children, to learn how to make decisions for themselves." – Kat Rogers

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Mariposa Mastermind’s website
• Connect with Kat on LinkedIn
• Follow Mariposa Mastermind on LinkedIn
• Follow Kat on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to make Google Ads profitable, not expensive, by focusing on revenue generation instead of vanity metrics like clicks and impressions.
• The secret to outranking giant competitors by leveraging hyper-local keywords, ad copy, and landing pages to achieve a higher Quality Score.
• Why understanding cultural differences in user behavior (e.g., online booking vs. phone calls) is critical for converting leads across different markets.
• A breakdown of keyword strategies, including broad, phrase, exact, and negative keywords, to ensure you’re only attracting customers with high buying intent.
• How to use AI not just for ad creation, but to analyze sales calls and provide actionable feedback to your team, plugging revenue leaks in your sales process.
• The critical importance of conversion tracking and why running ads without it is like flying blind and wasting your marketing budget.

📝 About Constantin Cornita

Constantin Cornita is a marketing expert with the mind of an engineer. Hailing from Moldova, an under-the-radar IT hub, he merged his technical background with his passion for marketing by mastering the data-driven world of Google Ads. He honed his skills helping a pioneer in the equipment rental industry expand across Europe, learning firsthand how user behavior and marketing strategies must adapt to different cultures. Now, with his agency Activesales, Constantin brings his technical, revenue-first approach to the US market, building systems that bridge the gap between ad data and real business results.

🎯 Constantin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Call your front desk. Call your company, pick up the phone, call them, pretend you are a customer and see how they respond to you."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “If you spend a thousand dollars on Google Ads and it generates you double, triple, or five times that amount of money, it’s not expensive anymore. If you spend even a hundred dollars and it generates you nothing, then it’s expensive.” – Constantin Cornita
• “We see a lot of agencies focusing on traffic. When you see those reports that say, ‘last month we generated you 2,000 clicks’... what? Your rental company, you don't sell clicks. Google sells clicks. You sell your rental equipment.” – Constantin Cornita
• “The ones that are rejecting AI, they are losing it.” – Constantin Cornita

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Activesales’ website
• Connect with Constantin on LinkedIn
• Follow Activesales on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to shift from managing tasks to leading a truly cohesive and connected remote team.
• 🧠 Why prioritizing employee happiness and wellness isn't a "soft skill" but a direct driver of productivity and retention.
• 💰 Creative, low-cost strategies for building team rituals that foster genuine connection, even across continents.
• 🛡️ The often-overlooked cybersecurity essentials (like VPNs) that every remote founder needs to implement to protect their business.
• 🗺️ How to navigate cultural differences and build an inclusive environment for a global team.
• burnout-proof your business by setting clear boundaries for both yourself and your team.
• 🗣️ Simple feedback loops you can create to monitor team morale and address issues before they lead to turnover.

📝 About Phillip Wyness

Phillip Wyness is the founder of Remote Flo, a consultancy dedicated to helping product-focused founders build high-performing and resilient remote teams. With over six years of experience working remotely himself while living in Prague, Phillip combines his marketing and sales background with a deep understanding of the human dynamics that make or break a remote company. He specializes in creating custom playbooks that improve communication, wellness, and retention, enabling startups to scale profitably without sacrificing their team's strength and morale.

🎯 Phillip’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Consider yourself, because you're your best asset."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “A lot of [founders] are missing the knowledge with how to manage the team properly... they're focused on the tech stack, they're focused just on maximizing results, but also maximizing results also includes keeping the team well and happy.” – Phillip Wyness
• “It's all these small investments, doesn't have to be much, but it can keep all your employees happy and you're just going to be having a great team.” – Phillip Wyness
• "I was really violating a lot of those boundaries for myself… I realized this can't continue and I was burning out." – Phillip Wyness

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Remote Flo’s website
• Connect with Phillip on LinkedIn
• Follow Remote Flo on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to recognize and act on the "goosebump moments" that signal a major career shift is needed.
• The essential mindset required to work through doubt and confusion for extended periods while building your vision.
• Why your unique perspective is your biggest competitive advantage (and why only YOU can see certain opportunities).
• How to transform an everyday observation—like a light fixture or a rubber band—into a viable business concept.
• The power of saying "yes" to an uncertain opportunity and having the courage to figure out the details later.
• Actionable advice for pivoting from a technical, service-based career into a creative, product-based business.
• How to reframe getting laid off from a job as the ultimate launchpad for your entrepreneurial freedom.

📝 About Jim Tarpo 

Jim Tarpo is a lifelong engineer, inventor, and creative entrepreneur who has spent four decades turning curiosity into successful businesses. After starting his career as an electrical engineer at General Electric, he forged his own path as a freelance test engineer. In a classic entrepreneurial pivot, he took a hard left turn into the art world, founding Fluorescent Gallery to create stunning backlit architectural art. His creative journey continued into fine art photography and most recently, the invention of a clever consumer product called Grippy Bands. Jim’s story is a powerful testament to the magic that happens when you follow your intuition and aren't afraid to build the plane as you fly it.

🎯 Jim’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"There are things that only you see and only you are good at... If you're looking at something and you think it should be a certain way, trust yourself."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “When I hung up the phone, I really could not come up with a reason to say no... it went from a maybe, it went from a no to a maybe to a hell yes, I am out of here.” – Jim Tarpo
• “I was willing to work in a state of doubt and confusion for a long period of time, because I knew, I knew that it was going to pay off.” – Jim Tarpo
• “I look up at the moon and I'm like, this is freedom. I said, I need this all the time... This is the meaning of being self-employed, being an entrepreneur.” – Jim Tarpo

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Fluorescent Gallery’s website
• Visit Jim Tarpo Photography’s website
• Visit Grippy-Bands’ website
• Connect with Jim on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to diagnose the "hidden bottlenecks" in your business that create downstream chaos and stunt your growth.
• The "manufacturing assembly line" framework for mapping your business processes to instantly identify areas ripe for automation.
• Why starting with a problem-first approach, not a solution-first one, is crucial for getting real value from AI and automation.
• How to use AI to enhance the human touch in your client onboarding, creating a magical experience that sets you apart.
• The key difference between AI and automation, and how to strategically combine them to build a powerful, efficient operational system.
• Why the businesses that experiment with and implement AI in the next year will gain a massive competitive advantage.

📝 About Mark Inge 

Mark Inge is the founder of SmartWork Automation, a company dedicated to helping small business owners eliminate repetitive tasks and reclaim their time. With a background as a mechanical engineer and process optimization consultant, Mark brings a unique, systematic approach to solving business inefficiencies. He moved from optimizing physical manufacturing lines to optimizing digital business workflows, driven by his own experience with overwhelm in the corporate world. His expertise lies in identifying the "upstream problems" that most entrepreneurs miss, allowing him to build custom systems that create real, tangible results.

🎯 Mark’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"In the next year, we will see so much value added in my opinion to the businesses that leverage this technology correctly. And I think those businesses are going to be pulling ahead of the pack."

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “Automation doesn't have to remove the humanity from the things that you do. It can really allow you to work on that even more by taking away the areas of the tasks that you do that don't add a lot of value.” – Mark Inge
• “If we can solve a problem that either saves you money or boosts your energy, you're going to be so much better off.” – Mark Inge
• “A lot of the entrepreneurs that I know, they have a little bit of a challenge with authority. I want to do it the way that I want to do it.” – Mark Inge

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit SmartWork Automation’s website
• Connect with Mark on LinkedIn
• Follow SmartWork Automation on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You

Adopting an experimenter’s mindset is the key to unlocking real, sustainable growth:

• It frees you from the fear of being wrong and the pressure to find the "perfect" strategy before you start.
• It empowers you to take action and create momentum, because clarity comes from doing, not just thinking.
• It helps you build a business that is uniquely yours, based on what actually works for your industry, your audience, and you.
• It turns every "failure" into a valuable lesson that gets you one step closer to your next breakthrough.
• It puts you in the driver’s seat, allowing you to innovate and build evidence for what truly moves the needle in your business.

📝 Key Takeaways

• Experiment > Advise. Stop waiting for the right answer from others. The most valuable insights will come from your own tests and experiments.
• Answers Expire. The strategies and tactics that worked for someone else yesterday—or even for you last year—are not guaranteed to work today. The game is always changing.
• Embrace Being Wrong. True experimenters expect to be wrong. Like Thomas Edison, they see every failed attempt not as a failure, but as discovering another way that doesn't work.
• Create Your Own Clarity. As Jeff Bezos said, you only need about 70% of the information you wish you had to make a decision. The other 30% comes from taking action and seeing what happens.
• Your Path Is Unique. No one has been on your exact journey. Stop trying to follow someone else's map and start charting your own course.
• Your Only Benchmark Is You. Instead of asking "What's a good reply rate?" ask "How can I improve my current reply rate?" The goal is constant improvement, not hitting an arbitrary external metric.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, commit to being an experimenter:

• Identify one area in your business where you’ve been stuck collecting advice or waiting for the "perfect" plan (e.g., marketing copy, sales outreach, content strategy).
• Ask yourself: What is one small, low-risk experiment I can run this week to get real data?
• Launch the experiment without attachment to the outcome. The goal isn’t to be right; the goal is to learn.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs to stop planning and start doing.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Unlock Your Data Goldmine: Discover how to leverage "unstructured data"—like customer reviews, emails, and online menus—to uncover powerful insights and drive your marketing strategy.
• Go Beyond Generic AI: Understand the massive difference between a general LLM (like ChatGPT) and a specialized AI tool that acts as a mini, hyper-focused expert on YOUR brand.
• The AI-Powered Camera: Learn how new AI tools can take your existing product photos and place them in countless new, on-brand scenes, creating endless visual content without expensive photoshoots.
• From One Idea to the Next: See how Jessica’s team identified new opportunities within their first business (GoGoGuest) to build an even more powerful, next-generation solution (Mowie).
• The Future Role of Agencies: Hear an agency founder’s perspective on how AI will augment, not replace, human creativity, and where the real value of marketing professionals will lie.
• Build an Ecosystem, Not Just a Product: Learn from Jessica's experience scaling GoGoGuest through strategic partnerships and integrations, creating a powerful distribution channel from the ground up.

📝 About Jessica Valenzuela

Jessica Valenzuela is a seasoned entrepreneur with nearly two decades of experience building innovative, tech-forward companies. She co-founded GoGoGuest, a platform that helps hospitality and restaurant brands grow by leveraging their internal data, scaling it through a powerful ecosystem of over 30 strategic partners. Today, Jessica is building the future of marketing with Mowie, an AI platform that transforms millions of unstructured business data points into a cohesive brand strategy and hyper-targeted content. Her journey is a testament to the power of curiosity, seeing inefficiency as an opportunity, and relentlessly building what comes next.

🎯 Jessica’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Know why you're doing it... know that the journey is a big part of it. And it's a long game."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "We are seeing that data and AI really, really is able to bring things to the present where you can actually define and listen to the signals that's available in your data and be able to utilize that for creating your strategy."
• "Our private beta customers have said it's better than an actual real camera lens that's taking a photo of their products... you can do it in a minute or two."
• "I think it really takes a lot of grit to be an entrepreneur... there's a lot of passion there, just a lot of focus, there's also a lot of resilience, but curiosity and, and to me, I'm still just learning."

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Mowie’s website
• Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn
• Follow Mowie AI on LinkedIn
• Follow Mowie AI on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to spot a massive, underserved niche within your own industry and build a business to fill that gap.
• The strategy for creating a "win-win-win" business model that benefits customers, partners, and your bottom line.
• Why creating content (like YouTube reviews) can unexpectedly become a powerful branding tool and a new revenue stream.
• How to overcome the "expert's curse" and learn essential business skills like sales and marketing from zero.
• The blueprint for evolving your business offerings based on organic customer feedback and market demand.
• How to build a business that offers multiple monetization streams, from direct consulting and online courses to influencer-style partnerships.
• Practical tips for managing your time and setting boundaries to build a successful company without burning out or sacrificing family life.

📝 About Dr. Joshua Guttman 

Dr. Joshua Guttman is the founder and CEO of Peachtree POCUS, a consulting firm focused on optimizing point-of-care ultrasound operations. As an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University and a fellowship-trained ultrasound educator, Dr. Guttman brings over a decade of clinical and academic leadership to the entrepreneurial world. He is a nationally recognized expert who has authored numerous research studies and textbook chapters, but his true passion lies in being a "physician builder." Dr. Guttman brings a unique perspective on bridging the gap between high-level professional expertise and scalable, impactful business innovation.

🎯 Dr. Josh’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"I would say especially for the wantrepreneurs, just do it. Don't think about it... don't get scared... You've got to take that leap and make that decision to just get into it."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "We're doing great for people while making money doing it... and the hospital saving money... and so that's where we all kind of come together to innovate to the point that's better for patients." – Dr. Joshua Guttman
• "I didn't appreciate how much fun it would be to learn new things. And so how did I do them? I read a lot and I talked a lot." – Dr. Joshua Guttman
• "It's wonderful to have people say, 'I think what you provide is valuable and I'm going to pay money for it.'" – Dr. Joshua Guttman

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Peachtree POCUS’ website
• Connect with Joshua on LinkedIn
• Follow Peachtree POCUS on LinkedIn
• Follow Peachtree POCUS on X
• Follow Peachtree POCUS on Facebook
• Follow Peachtree POCUS on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to apply "gamified therapy" principles to train your team, test leadership skills, and build resilience in a safe, simulated environment.
• The entrepreneurial superpower of being a "polymath autodidact" and how connecting unrelated fields can lead to breakthrough business innovations.
• Why questioning the fundamental rules of your industry is the first step toward building a truly unique and scalable business.
• A powerful framework for turning your most challenging life experiences into the fuel for your entrepreneurial mission.
• How to leverage AI as a creative soundboard to validate logic and build better systems, not as a replacement for critical thinking.
• The mindset shift required to stop waiting for permission and start building the world and business you want to see.

📝 About Jules Wordcraft 

Jules Wordcraft is a game designer, forever game master, and the innovative mind behind World of Wordcraft. Driven by a lifelong obsession with physics, psychology, and story, Jules set out to build a modular gaming framework from scratch after finding existing systems lacked logical consistency. As a self-taught polymath, Jules brings a rare perspective to entrepreneurship, connecting seemingly disparate fields to innovate in gaming, corporate training, and even therapy. Jules' journey is a powerful testament to transforming personal challenges and a non-traditional background into an unstoppable entrepreneurial force.

🎯 Jules’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Never give up, never surrender."

This simple but powerful quote from the movie Galaxy Quest encapsulates Jules’s core philosophy. True entrepreneurs don’t wait for permission or give up when things get hard; they see a problem and take ownership of the solution.

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “If I can do something, I should do something... if you want something done bad enough, just go take care of it yourself.” – Jules Wordcraft
• “We're the only species on the planet that can change reality. Like if we think we want to build a building... we put a building on a plot that wasn't there before.” – Jules Wordcraft
• “Every interaction that I have has been broken down to a statistical probability of how do I get the most joy out of this interaction for everyone involved?” – Jules Wordcraft

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit World of Wordcraft’s website
• Connect with Jules on LinkedIn
• Follow World of Wordcraft on LinkedIn

This episode is a must-listen for any entrepreneur tired of paying for bloated, expensive SaaS products that don't quite fit their workflow. Andrew breaks down how the new tech landscape makes custom solutions more accessible than ever, allowing you to build exactly what you need, save money in the long run, and gain a significant competitive advantage. Drawing from his experience running a software agency in Jordan, he also provides a masterclass on how to ethically and effectively tap into the global talent pool to bring your vision to life.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business 

• Why "vibe coding" is a powerful collaborator, not a replacement for skilled developers (and the critical security gaps AI can’t fill on its own). 
• How to identify the tipping point when it’s more cost-effective to build your own custom software instead of paying for multiple, oversized SaaS subscriptions. 
• The strategic advantage of building bespoke tools that perfectly match your unique business operations, rather than forcing your processes to fit a pre-made solution. 
• A look into the future: why niche, custom-built software will become the new standard for small and medium-sized businesses. 
• How to leverage the global talent pool to build high-quality tech without breaking the bank, and why a cultural "bridge" is key to success. 
• The step-by-step process of turning a business pain point into a custom software project, from initial consultation to MVP and ongoing maintenance.

📝 About Andrew Stabeno 

Andrew Stabeno is a business-minded developer, digital nomad, and founder of the software development agency Mount Seir Tech. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Andrew has spent 16 years living abroad and is currently based in Amman, Jordan. He is passionate about leveraging technology to create opportunities and has a specific desire to bring high-quality tech jobs to the Middle East. Andrew's unique perspective comes from bridging the gap between American business needs and the incredible, often untapped, talent within the global tech community.

🎯 Andrew’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Be adaptable... if you're not adaptable, then... you could be irrelevant tomorrow."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I think it is going to be instead of needing 20 programmers, you might need two, but it just means you can build more stuff in a shorter amount of time.” – Andrew Stabeno
• “Before you know it, it's like, man, you put about as much time into making all these software packages that you're paying per user per month... you could have like almost built your own with AI at this point.” – Andrew Stabeno 
• “You could get... a bunch of credit card information stolen because you told [AI] to store some credit cards in plain text because you didn't know any better. And it said, ‘Sure, I can do that,’ and didn't say you shouldn't.” – Andrew Stabeno

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Mount Seir Tech’s website
• Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn
• Follow Mount Seir Tech LLC on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to identify and fill the critical monetization gaps in the exploding AI market.
• The strategy for turning AI-generated content into tangible, sellable products like home decor and apparel.
• Why AI is creating a new class of entrepreneurs by decoupling creative expression from technical skill.
• How to find the "signal in the noise" and build a business that curates high-quality AI content.
• The playbook for using print-on-demand and brand partnerships to scale your AI-driven business.
• The key differences between targeting the mass market versus enterprise clients with a new AI venture.

📝 About Carol Zhu 

Carol Zhu is the CEO and co-founder of DecodeNetwork.AI, the monetization layer for AI creativity. With a rich background as a product lead at AWS AI and a founding project manager at TikTok Shop, Carol has deep expertise in scaling consumer products and navigating the complexities of the artificial intelligence stack. Her unique vantage point, shaped by roles at iconic companies like Credit Karma, gives her incredible insight into building viable, revenue-generating businesses on the cutting edge of technology.

🎯 Carol’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Believe in your correct contrarian and push it forward."

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “What AI has changed... is that it decoupled self expression, or artistic expression or creative expression from the skills itself.” – Carol Zhu
• “The supply of creativity gets largely unlocked.” – Carol Zhu
• “What's the real problem now is to extract signals out of noises... out of the 15 billion images, there must be some top really good ones.” – Carol Zhu

🔗 Links & Resources 

• Visit DecodeNetwork.AI’s website
• Connect with Carol on LinkedIn
• Follow Carol on Instagram

✨ Why This Matters for You

Understanding the dynamic of unsolicited advice is a superpower for entrepreneurs:

• It protects your confidence from being eroded by people who don't have the full picture.
• It helps you distinguish between genuine support and someone else's ego trip.
• It gives you a framework to filter out the noise and stay focused on your unique path.
• You’ll walk away with a simple, powerful script to handle unwanted advice with grace and finality.

📝 Key Takeaways

• Context is Everything. Advice without full context isn't wisdom, it's just noise. The advice-giver never has the complete picture of your business, finances, or personal life.
• Competence Questions, Incompetence Declares. The smartest and most successful people ask questions because they understand complexity. Less experienced people tend to give declarative, overconfident advice (the Dunning-Kruger effect in action).
• Intention vs. Impact. Even if someone "means well," the impact of unsolicited advice often lands as judgment, implicitly saying, "I know better than you."
• Advice Can Be a Boundary Violation. When advice isn't asked for, it’s not helpfulness; it's a violation of your autonomy and decision-making process.
• Support > Advise. The most valuable people in your corner aren't the ones telling you what to do. They are the ones who support and encourage you on the journey you've chosen.
• "Nobody Bigger Than You..." Brian shares a powerful quote from The Magic of Thinking Big: "Nobody bigger than you will ever try to knock you down." People who use unsolicited advice to make you question yourself are revealing their own position, not yours.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, use this episode to build your defense against unwanted noise:

• Think back to the last time you received unsolicited advice. How did it actually make you feel? Acknowledge that feeling.
• Instead of internalizing the "advice," ask yourself: "What context is this person missing?" This reframes the situation and protects your mindset.
• Prepare for the next time it happens. Mentally rehearse Brian’s simple response: “I really appreciate that, but there’s a lot of context that you probably don’t know going on behind the scenes.”

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs this powerful reminder to trust their own path

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 The critical difference between mentorship, therapy, and coaching—and which one you need to break through your current plateau.
• 💡 Why embracing vulnerability is a superpower for male leaders, fostering stronger teams and deeper client relationships.
• 🔥 How to answer the question, "Who are you without telling me what you do for a living?" to uncover your true identity and purpose.
• 🎯 The simple yet profound daily practices to shift your energy from apathetic to anabolic, attracting more opportunities and positive outcomes.
• 💰 Why knowing your "why" is the ultimate foundation for a business that not only makes money but also provides deep, personal fulfillment.
• 🤝 Actionable strategies for building genuine connections and a powerful support network to combat entrepreneurial isolation.

📝 About Kevin Kertes

Kevin Kertes is the founder of advanceMen Coaching, a practice designed to help men move forward with confidence, clarity, and purpose. With nearly 30 years of experience as a senior music executive at industry giants like Warner Brothers and Sony Music, Kevin brings a unique blend of corporate wisdom and certified coaching expertise to his work. His mission is to help men break out of isolation, build genuine confidence, and live with intention, transforming how they show up as leaders, partners, and community members.

🎯 Kevin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Make sure you know your why. If you don't know your why, nothing's going to work. It all comes back to why you're doing something."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “One of the first questions I ask in the men's group is tell me a little bit about who you are without telling me what you do for a living.” – Kevin Kertes
• “The energy you put out into the world, you get back. And if the energy you put out is genuine and it's really you, you'll get it back.” – Kevin Kertes
• “Being an entrepreneur is another word for being a salesman… But if you know it and it comes back to your why, then the family work, the running the kids to soccer practice… you manage it.” – Kevin Kertes

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit advanceMEN Coaching’s website
• Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn
• Follow advanceMEN Coaching on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to transform a personal knack (like spotting defects) into a scalable, high-value business concept.
• Why building infrastructure—systems, habits, and processes—is more critical to success than chasing the next big idea.
• The leadership secret to creating a culture of excellence: “Walk the walk” and demonstrate the standards you expect from your team.
• How to leverage AI to automate mundane tasks, enhance human efficiency, and turn compliance into a competitive advantage.
• The mindset shift from dreading audits and measurement to using them as powerful tools for continuous improvement.
• A practical framework (the Eisenhower Matrix) to ruthlessly prioritize your tasks and eliminate time-wasters.
• Why consistency and structure, not motivation, are the true drivers of entrepreneurial momentum.

📝 About May Guevara 

May Guevara is the founder and CEO of Guevara Group and GalaxiTron, operating at the intersection of compliance, quality systems, and advanced AI. With deep expertise across aerospace, space, defense, and other highly regulated industries where failure is not an option, May helps organizations achieve audit readiness and operational resilience. Known for her integrity-driven leadership and a track record of zero audit findings, she is now pioneering the use of AI to transform compliance from a manual obligation into an intelligent, continuously monitored system. Her unique perspective makes the often-intimidating world of quality control accessible and actionable for any entrepreneur.

🎯 May’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

“Stop chasing ideas and start building infrastructure.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I don't just chase shortcuts because they will always come back and bite you in the behind. I care deeply about quality, integrity, structure, and doing things the right way from day one.” – May Guevara
• “Quality is a mindset. It's a culture. It starts with the right mindset first and then translate[s] it into workmanship and what you do every day. Where you need to start is you got to care first.” – May Guevara
• “AI is not necessarily out there to take away jobs... I built it with a vision that this tool will help human workforce work more efficiently, take away their burden, take away their manual workload.” – May Guevara

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit GalaxiTron’s website
• Visit Guevara Group’s website
• Connect with May on LinkedIn
• Follow GalaxiTron Inc. on LinkedIn
• Follow Guevara Group LLC on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to leverage AI as a co-founder to fill skill gaps you have in your business—from coding your website to understanding legal requirements.
• Why "playing" with AI for personal tasks is the most effective first step before implementing it professionally.
• The crucial difference between deterministic tasks (where AI fails) and creative tasks (where AI excels), so you know exactly when to trust it.
• How to use AI as a team, leveraging the unique strengths of models like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini to achieve the best results.
• A framework for using AI ethically, recognizing its inherent biases so you can build a responsible and fair business.
• How to use AI to overcome entrepreneurial roadblocks, turning your inner critic into a strategic advocate for your vision.
• Practical ways AI can accelerate your business launch, from crafting marketing strategies and cold email campaigns to ensuring legal compliance.

📝 About Luka Anic 

Luka Anic is the Croatian-American co-founder of Fox + Spindle, a boutique consulting firm dedicated to AI transformation. His journey into AI began by accident while helping a former employer implement it internally, but it quickly ignited a passion that led him to co-found his own company with his best friend. Luka’s unique perspective combines strategy and storytelling, focusing on helping entrepreneurs and businesses wield AI with confidence, effectiveness, and a strong ethical foundation.

🎯 Luka’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"It's never the right time. So if you think that you want to do it, just go ahead and do it."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “AI allows you to be someone you have never been before or even knew that you wanted to be. It can unlock skills that you don't have and in a way don't even need to build anymore.” – Luka Anic
• “Generative AI is fantastic when there is no correct answer. That's why it's so good at recommending books, why it's so good at writing stories.” – Luka Anic
• “If you're new to AI, please don't start using it at work right away. Have fun with it first.” – Luka Anic

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Fox + Spindle’s website
• Connect with Luka on LinkedIn
• Follow Fox + Spindle on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to define and build "perceived value" so you can command premium prices and earn immediate trust.
• Why running two parallel businesses can be your greatest asset, making you a more insightful and valuable entrepreneur.
• The power of authentic, relationship-based networking in a world obsessed with automation and transactional interactions.
• Actionable strategies for maintaining client relationships that feel personal and high-touch (even on a budget).
• How to use AI as a tool for efficiency without sacrificing the essential human element that builds loyalty.
• The "Pillar Method" for defining your brand's core identity and staying authentic through every stage of growth.
• Why a "buttoned-up" digital footprint is the first step to proving your business is legitimate and trustworthy.

📝 About Justine Lafond 

Justine Lafond is a military spouse, mother, and the dynamic founder of two distinct businesses: Étoile Agency, a boutique national media agency, and Jaunty J Interiors, a full-service luxury interior design firm. With nearly two decades of experience in niche and luxury industries, she possesses a rare mastery of sales, marketing, and relationship-based networking. Justine’s unique perspective comes from her ability to apply the principles of luxury, trust, and authentic connection across different industries, making her an invaluable guide for entrepreneurs looking to build brands with lasting impact.

🎯 Justine’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"If you feel a pull towards something that can make a difference in people's lives or businesses or the world, you should do it and not make excuses and just give it a shot."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Luxury is how something makes you feel. But to a degree, it's also kind of perceived value of things.” – Justine Lafond
• “The big piece I think that's missing especially in the luxury space is the trust that you have to have... before they're going to commit to spending X amount of dollars.” – Justine Lafond
• "I think it's always going to be trendy to just be authentic. And that goes for home design and the digital marketing world.” – Justine Lafond

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Étoile Agency’s website
• Visit Jaunty J Interiors’ website
• Connect with Justine on LinkedIn
• Follow Étoile Agency on LinkedIn
• Follow Étoile Agency on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 Why a strong business foundation (website, messaging, branding) is non-negotiable for advertising success.
• 💰 How to set realistic expectations for your ad campaigns to avoid the "Nike results on a startup budget" trap.
• 🎯 The masterful qualification question you must ask potential clients to understand their true intentions and avoid headaches.
• 📈 How to design effective Calls to Action (CTAs) that guide website visitors and turn traffic into tangible leads.
• 🧠 Why patience is the most underrated—and most crucial—element of a winning digital advertising strategy.
• 🤝 The "dating process" for onboarding new clients to build deep, long-lasting partnerships based on communication and trust.
• ⚙️ How to prepare your backend systems (like a CRM) to handle an influx of leads so you don't miss out on massive opportunities.

📝 About Kayla Bravo

Kayla Bravo is the owner and founder of Maverick Advertising, a digital advertising agency built on the core values of transparency, education, and strategy-driven results. After pivoting from a career in accounting to her true passion for marketing, Kayla launched Maverick to provide a different kind of agency experience. She views her clients not as accounts, but as extensions of her team, making their problems her problems and their successes her own. Her unique perspective combines a love for data with a deep commitment to building genuine relationships, helping businesses achieve real, sustainable growth.

🎯 Kayla’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Don't let fear overtake you, take that risk."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “A lot of people want Nike results, but they don't have the Nike budget. And I'm very clear with that—the expectations are real.” – Kayla Bravo
• “Their success is our success. Their problems are our problems because we're trying to help them.” – Kayla Bravo
• “I had a client once say, 'You understand we're never gonna leave you at this point. We're married.'… And I think about it that way. It's like I'm getting to know my clients and understand what their needs are.” – Kayla Bravo

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Maverick Advertising’s website
• Connect with Kayla on LinkedIn
• Follow Maverick Advertising on LinkedIn
• Follow Maverick Advertising on Instagram
• Follow Maverick Advertising on Facebook

✨ Why This Matters for You

Understanding this shift is critical for your survival and growth:

• It’s about viability, not just advantage. Your competitors are already using AI, and customer expectations are shifting rapidly.
• AI is becoming "assumed infrastructure" like a website or email. Operating without it will make your business seem outdated and inefficient.
• It directly impacts your bottom line, from customer response times and content visibility to your own operational sanity as a founder.
• You haven't missed the boat yet, but the window is closing. Now is the time to build momentum, not wait to be the last one to adapt.

📝 Key Takeaways

• The Website Parallel: In the early 2000s, websites were optional. Today, a business without one is invisible. AI is following the exact same trajectory.
• Advantage vs. Penalty: The conversation around AI has shifted. In 2026, you won’t be rewarded for using AI; you’ll be penalized for not using it.
• Customers Won't Wait: AI-enabled businesses offer instant support. If your response time is measured in days, customers will simply go elsewhere without telling you why.
• Content and Visibility: AI allows your competition to create 5-10x more content. Without it, you're fighting for visibility with one hand tied behind your back.
• Ease Your Mental Load: As a founder, you're already stretched thin. AI is a critical tool for automating operations and freeing up your mental energy for high-level strategy.
• It's Not Too Late (But Act Now): It’s no longer about being first. It's about not being last. Building momentum now is the key to staying in the game.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, conduct an honest AI audit of your business:

• Identify the single biggest manual bottleneck in your operations. Could an AI tool help automate or streamline it?
• Look at your customer response process. Where could AI provide faster, more efficient answers to common questions?
• Pick one area—show notes, social media posts, email newsletters—and experiment with using AI to speed up your content creation this week.
• Don't aim for perfection. The goal is to start moving and build momentum.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs to hear this urgent message about the future of business

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to adopt a patient-first (or customer-first) mindset to uncover market-defining product ideas that incumbents overlook.
• 💰 The powerful strategy of reinvesting 100% of early profits back into research and development to build a sustainable innovation engine.
• 🧠 Why the simplest solution is often the best, and how to find the "least common denominator" to solve complex problems effectively.
• 📱 How to leverage existing, ubiquitous technology (like a smartphone's camera and AI) to make your own products smarter, safer, and more accessible.
• 📈 The art of educating your market: How to explain complex technology (like UVC disinfection) in a way that highlights clear, undeniable benefits over the competition.
• 🤖 A balanced perspective on AI: How to use it as a game-changing tool for personalized solutions while being wary of the "garbage in, garbage out" data problem.

📝 About Dr. Peter Bonutti 

Dr. Peter Bonutti is an orthopedic surgeon, inventor, author, professor, and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience. He is the founder of Bonutti Research, a medical device incubator that has developed technologies used worldwide, resulting in over 500 patents and 700 licenses. Dr. Bonutti’s unique perspective comes from balancing his active surgical practice with a relentless drive to innovate, always focusing on solving problems from the patient's point of view. He proves that world-changing innovation doesn't have to come from a major tech hub, but from a deep commitment to improving the lives of others.

🎯 Dr. Peter’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"We owe ourselves the responsibility to enhance the lives of those around us, and that can be done as an entrepreneur by looking at problems that we see, coming up with solutions, and iteratively changing those to improve the quality of life around us."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "I started to focus early on my career, listening to the patients, seeing what their problems were, and then tried to develop technologies, ideas that would address what patients were concerned about the most." – Dr. Peter Bonutti
• "My job is not just to practice medicine, but to improve the quality of medicine." – Dr. Peter Bonutti
• "Just because the status quo exists does not mean that it's optimal. We can always improve things around us." – Dr. Peter Bonutti

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit UVCeed’s website
• Connect with Peter on LinkedIn
• Follow UVCeed on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Why the "organic content grind" that worked in the 2010s is a death spiral now, and how to start pivoting your strategy for 2026.
• How to combat the loneliness of entrepreneurship by shifting from a one-way content model to building a genuine two-way community.
• The emotional journey of scaling a business up and then back down, and how to find gratitude and excitement in being a solopreneur again.
• How to leverage your entire library of past content as an unbelievable training asset for AI, sparking fresh ideas you've never thought of.
• The critical importance of "play" – how geeking out on unrelated hobbies can unlock unexpected skills and lay the groundwork for your next business venture.
• A powerful mindset shift: viewing your business's growth not just for yourself, but as a vehicle to provide opportunities and support for your team.

📝 About Ian Westermann 

Ian Westermann is the founder of Essential Tennis, the world's #1 online tennis instruction resource. Since 2008, he has built a content empire, publishing over 4,000 videos and helping millions of players improve their game. Ian is not just a world-class coach; he's a seasoned entrepreneur who has navigated the incredible evolution of digital media for over 16 years. His unique perspective comes from experiencing the full cycle of the content creator economy, from being a trailblazing pioneer to competing in a now-saturated market, offering invaluable, hard-won lessons for any business owner today.

🎯 Ian’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"If you're not excited about the thing you're working on, you will never, ever, ever put in the hours or ever, ever follow through enough times to ever have a chance of being good enough at that thing to be able to charge any money for that product or service."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Humans are just not wired to just yell into the void and feel whole. I don't think it's okay to want that two-way street.” – Ian Westermann
• “I’m just coming back around again to being excited about being a solo creator again… learning to be grateful just for that again, which I know there's people listening that are like giving me the middle finger right now if you don't already have your own business.” – Ian Westermann
• “Just being able to get outside your own head… especially when you don't have a team… It's unbelievably powerful.” – Ian Westermann on using AI as a strategic partner.

🔗 Links & Resources

• Website: EssentialTennis.com
• YouTube: Essential Tennis
• Podcast: The Essential Tennis Podcast

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Humanize Your Brand: Discover how to build a business that people trust and connect with on a human level, even in a traditionally sterile industry.
• Culture as a Retention Tool: Learn how investing in your team's growth and creating a safe, nurturing environment leads to long-term employee loyalty.
• The Power of Proactive Education: Find out how educating your market—instead of just reacting to their needs—can build immense trust and position you as a go-to authority.
• Mastering the Art of Follow-Up: Understand why accountability and consistent follow-up are the unsung heroes of successful business growth and relationship building.
• Calculated Risk-Taking for Growth: Hear why getting comfortable with risk is essential for any entrepreneur looking to scale their vision and achieve professional breakthroughs.
• Leverage AI as a Business Partner: Get insights into how a founder uses AI tools like ChatGPT for strategic planning, marketing, and business operations, not just task execution.
• Delegate to Elevate: Learn the importance of identifying your weaknesses (like scheduling!) and hiring people who love doing the tasks you don't, freeing you up to focus on growth.

📝 About Justin Weinstein

Justin Weinstein is the founding partner of Weinstein Legal Team, a statewide law practice in Florida he started in 2016. With a background in both business and law, Justin brings a unique entrepreneurial perspective to the legal field. He has successfully scaled his firm by focusing on a human-first approach, building a powerful culture centered on empathy, meaningful relationships, and community impact. Justin’s vision is to make the legal world more accessible and proactive, proving that you can build a thriving business by putting people first.

🎯 Justin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

Your success as an entrepreneur is directly tied to the quality of the relationships you build and your commitment to continuous learning.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "Growth is directly related to fulfillment in whatever it is that we're doing. It's so important to step outside of the, 'What do I have to do today?' versus, 'Okay, let's make sure that we're growing some of the employees.'" – Justin Weinstein
• "People are people first. I'm not just a lawyer, I'm a person. Just like every single client we have is not just a client or someone who got injured, they're a person with a family and a career." – Justin Weinstein

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Weinstein Legal Team’s website
• Connect with Justin on LinkedIn
• Follow Weinstein Legal Team on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The MVP Mindset: Learn how Deniz and his co-founder built a "crappy" prototype in just one week to gather immediate, high-value feedback without building a full-fledged app.
• Niche-Down Strategy: Discover the process of taking a massive vision ("help everyone be healthier") and strategically narrowing it down to a hyper-specific ideal customer (urban parents) to gain initial traction.
• Action Over Insight: Understand why customers often need help with execution, not more information, and how to build a business that bridges the gap between knowing and doing.
• Retention Before Scale: Hear Deniz’s powerful argument for why your first goal isn't massive distribution, but creating a product that 10, then 100, super-happy users absolutely love.
• Harnessing AI for Operations: Get a behind-the-scenes look at how an AI expert uses simple prompts to streamline everything from summarizing customer interviews to brainstorming product ideas.
• The Power of a Positive Mission: Learn why focusing on a mission that genuinely excites you is the ultimate fuel for long-term motivation and perseverance through entrepreneurial challenges.

📝 About Deniz Binay 

Deniz Binay is the co-founder and CEO of Lemon, an AI-powered health companion. A two-time ex-Googler, Deniz has been at the forefront of AI innovation, playing pivotal roles in the launch of the Gemini mobile app and the founding team of Google Assistant. Originally from Switzerland, his passion for technology has always been tied to creating a positive impact, from building marketplaces that connect people to now building a solution that helps people live healthier, more active lives. His deep expertise as a product manager gives him a unique and pragmatic perspective on building technology that solves real human problems.

🎯 Deniz’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"As cheesy as it sounds, just follow your dream."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "My number one need is help me actually take actions for my health. Everyone wants to be healthier, but many, many people have trouble to follow through." – Deniz Binay
• "Don't work like months and months without shipping anything... Always try to find what is the easiest thing you can do to collect the feedback that you want to have." – Deniz Binay
• "At the very starting phase, it's not so much of a game of scale. It's very much of a game of finding 10 super-happy users, finding 100 super-happy users." – Deniz Binay

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Lemon Health AI’s website
• Connect with Deniz on LinkedIn
• Follow Lemon Health AI on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to Build a Business from Lived Pain: Discover how Keith transformed years of frustration with unstructured data in the private credit world into the core idea for GoodStream.
• Why We're in a Once-in-a-Lifetime "Super Cycle": Keith explains why the next 24 months represent a massive opportunity for founders, as nearly every business is re-evaluating its software stack due to AI.
• The Power of "Vibe Coding" with AI: Learn how to use AI to rapidly iterate and prototype your product ideas with customers before you ever write a line of production code, saving you time and money.
• The Unspoken Rule of Success: Distribution is King: Even with the most incredible product, you need a strategy to get it in front of users. Keith breaks down why this is more important now than ever.
• Solving Old Problems with New Tech: Understand the framework for identifying manual, human-led processes in any industry and applying AI to create immense value and efficiency.
• Balancing Ambition and Family: Keith shares vulnerable insights on his journey as a single father raising two kids while building multiple companies, and how his family became his greatest source of entrepreneurial lessons.

📝 About Keith Smith 

Keith Smith is the co-founder and CEO of GoodStream, an AI-first platform transforming how the $13 trillion private asset industry manages data. A lifelong entrepreneur on his seventh startup, Keith previously spent nine years in private credit, where he deployed over $6 billion and experienced the exact pain point his company now solves. His unique perspective comes from living on both sides of the table—as an operator and an investor—giving him a deep understanding of market needs and the power of leveraging new technology, like AI, to create elegant, powerful solutions.

🎯 Keith’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"If you're thinking about solving a problem that you understand well, now is the time to jump in and do it... I do think we are in the middle of a super cycle that we will not see again, potentially in the next decade or our lifetimes."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "I do better toiling under my own vision than I do somebody else's vision." – Keith Smith
• "AI is not like anything else I think we've seen before. It is an alien intelligence that we are all sitting here... front row seats to watching this alien intelligence come to life." – Keith Smith
• "The lessons that I have learned about being an entrepreneur, the vast majority of them came from the experiences and the insights that I gained by starting a family and raising two little humans." – Keith Smith

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit GoodStream’s website
• Connect with Keith on LinkedIn
• Follow GoodStream on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You 

Choosing one word is more than a trendy exercise; it's a strategic tool for entrepreneurs:

• It provides clarity and focus, cutting through the noise of a dozen competing goals.
• It acts as a simple filter for decision-making. Does this opportunity align with your word?
• It creates a theme that guides your actions, ensuring you’re consistently moving in the right direction.
• It turns your year from a series of random events into an intentional journey of growth.
• It helps you build a business and life that are aligned with a single, powerful vision.

📝 Key Takeaways

• One Word > Resolutions. The one-word concept provides a single point of focus that centers your character and creates a vision for your future, unlike resolutions which are often abandoned by February.
• A Lens for Action. Your chosen word becomes the filter through which you view opportunities, challenges, and decisions. When Brian’s word was "Bigger," he constantly asked, "How can we make this bigger?"
• Evolution of Focus. Brian’s journey from "Better" to "Output" to "Actions" and beyond shows how each year’s theme builds on the last, creating a compounding effect of personal and professional growth over time.
• 2026 is About "Systems." Brian's word for 2026 is "Systems." The goal is to build repeatable processes that remove you as the bottleneck, ensure consistency, and turn your business into an "infinite game" that can run without your constant manual effort.
• Systems Create Freedom. By systematizing the routine, mundane, and day-to-day tasks, you free up the mental and emotional energy to be more spontaneous, creative, and present in both your life and business.

🚀 Put It Into Action 

This week, take on the one-word challenge for yourself:

• Reflect on the year ahead. What do you want more of? What do you need to focus on to get to the next level?
• Brainstorm a list of potential words that capture that feeling or theme.
• Choose the ONE word that resonates most deeply and feels right for your next chapter.
• Share it! Brian would love to hear your word. Drop him an email at hello@imetbrian.com and let him know what your focus is for 2026.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who is ready to set a powerful intention for the new year.

📣 Special Thanks and Shout Out to a Brilliant Creator! 

A huge thank you to the folks at MyOneWord.org. Brian was introduced to this concept by them nearly a decade ago, and it has been a foundational part of his annual planning ever since. We highly recommend you visit their site to learn more about this transformative practice

For the next seven episodes, I’m gifting you something I’ve never done before on this show: one full pillar per day from the OPERATE framework, straight from the audiobook.

No fluff. No teasers. Just the core operating system I’ve refined over 17+ years of entrepreneurship.

If you’ve ever felt:

• Like your business only moves when you move
• Like growth creates more chaos instead of freedom
• Like you’re the bottleneck — even though you’re “successful”

This week is for you.

🚨 The Finisher’s Trap (Why OPERATE Exists)

Most founders are stuck in what I call The Finisher’s Trap – being the fixer, the closer, the quality control, and the safety net for everything.

It feels responsible. It feels productive. But it’s actually a ceiling.

OPERATE is about escaping that trap and stepping into the role you were always meant to play: The Architect — the one who designs systems that scale without burning you out.

📘 About the Book: OPERATE

OPERATE isn’t about hustling harder or hiring endlessly.

It’s about installing a 7-Pillar Operating System that turns a founder-dependent business into a scalable, self-running machine.

Hustle builds momentum. Systems build businesses.

You can get the full book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at OperateBook.com.

🎧 Today’s Episode: Enablement

This episode is one full chapter from OPERATE, focused entirely on today’s pillar. Listen all the way through — these pillars compound when applied together.

📕 Want the Full OPERATE Experience?

These seven chapters are the pillars, but they’re only part of the full story.

OPERATE includes:

• The Finisher → Architect identity shift
• Real-world examples from my journey
• The connective tissue that ties the system together

Get the full book on Amazon or visit OperateBook.com.

Thanks for being part of Operate Week — and for letting me give you the most meaningful gift I can: a better way to build.

For the next seven episodes, I’m gifting you something I’ve never done before on this show: one full pillar per day from the OPERATE framework, straight from the audiobook.

No fluff. No teasers. Just the core operating system I’ve refined over 17+ years of entrepreneurship.

If you’ve ever felt:

• Like your business only moves when you move
• Like growth creates more chaos instead of freedom
• Like you’re the bottleneck — even though you’re “successful”

This week is for you.

🚨 The Finisher’s Trap (Why OPERATE Exists)

Most founders are stuck in what I call The Finisher’s Trap – being the fixer, the closer, the quality control, and the safety net for everything.

It feels responsible. It feels productive. But it’s actually a ceiling.

OPERATE is about escaping that trap and stepping into the role you were always meant to play: The Architect — the one who designs systems that scale without burning you out.

📘 About the Book: OPERATE

OPERATE isn’t about hustling harder or hiring endlessly.

It’s about installing a 7-Pillar Operating System that turns a founder-dependent business into a scalable, self-running machine.

Hustle builds momentum. Systems build businesses.

You can get the full book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at OperateBook.com.

🎧 Today’s Episode: Telemetry

This episode is one full chapter from OPERATE, focused entirely on today’s pillar. Listen all the way through — these pillars compound when applied together.

📕 Want the Full OPERATE Experience?

These seven chapters are the pillars, but they’re only part of the full story.

OPERATE includes:

• The Finisher → Architect identity shift
• Real-world examples from my journey
• The connective tissue that ties the system together

Get the full book on Amazon or visit OperateBook.com.

Thanks for being part of Operate Week — and for letting me give you the most meaningful gift I can: a better way to build.

For the next seven episodes, I’m gifting you something I’ve never done before on this show: one full pillar per day from the OPERATE framework, straight from the audiobook.

No fluff. No teasers. Just the core operating system I’ve refined over 17+ years of entrepreneurship.

If you’ve ever felt:

• Like your business only moves when you move
• Like growth creates more chaos instead of freedom
• Like you’re the bottleneck — even though you’re “successful”

This week is for you.

🚨 The Finisher’s Trap (Why OPERATE Exists)

Most founders are stuck in what I call The Finisher’s Trap – being the fixer, the closer, the quality control, and the safety net for everything.

It feels responsible. It feels productive. But it’s actually a ceiling.

OPERATE is about escaping that trap and stepping into the role you were always meant to play: The Architect — the one who designs systems that scale without burning you out.

📘 About the Book: OPERATE

OPERATE isn’t about hustling harder or hiring endlessly.

It’s about installing a 7-Pillar Operating System that turns a founder-dependent business into a scalable, self-running machine.

Hustle builds momentum. Systems build businesses.

You can get the full book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at OperateBook.com.

🎧 Today’s Episode: Automation

This episode is one full chapter from OPERATE, focused entirely on today’s pillar. Listen all the way through — these pillars compound when applied together.

📕 Want the Full OPERATE Experience?

These seven chapters are the pillars, but they’re only part of the full story.

OPERATE includes:

• The Finisher → Architect identity shift
• Real-world examples from my journey
• The connective tissue that ties the system together

Get the full book on Amazon or visit OperateBook.com.

Thanks for being part of Operate Week — and for letting me give you the most meaningful gift I can: a better way to build.

For the next seven episodes, I’m gifting you something I’ve never done before on this show: one full pillar per day from the OPERATE framework, straight from the audiobook.

No fluff. No teasers. Just the core operating system I’ve refined over 17+ years of entrepreneurship.

If you’ve ever felt:

• Like your business only moves when you move
• Like growth creates more chaos instead of freedom
• Like you’re the bottleneck — even though you’re “successful”

This week is for you.

🚨 The Finisher’s Trap (Why OPERATE Exists)

Most founders are stuck in what I call The Finisher’s Trap – being the fixer, the closer, the quality control, and the safety net for everything.

It feels responsible. It feels productive. But it’s actually a ceiling.

OPERATE is about escaping that trap and stepping into the role you were always meant to play: The Architect — the one who designs systems that scale without burning you out.

📘 About the Book: OPERATE

OPERATE isn’t about hustling harder or hiring endlessly.

It’s about installing a 7-Pillar Operating System that turns a founder-dependent business into a scalable, self-running machine.

Hustle builds momentum. Systems build businesses.

You can get the full book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at OperateBook.com.

🎧 Today’s Episode: Retention

This episode is one full chapter from OPERATE, focused entirely on today’s pillar. Listen all the way through — these pillars compound when applied together.

📕 Want the Full OPERATE Experience?

These seven chapters are the pillars, but they’re only part of the full story.

OPERATE includes:

• The Finisher → Architect identity shift
• Real-world examples from my journey
• The connective tissue that ties the system together

Get the full book on Amazon or visit OperateBook.com.

Thanks for being part of Operate Week — and for letting me give you the most meaningful gift I can: a better way to build.

For the next seven episodes, I’m gifting you something I’ve never done before on this show: one full pillar per day from the OPERATE framework, straight from the audiobook.

No fluff. No teasers. Just the core operating system I’ve refined over 17+ years of entrepreneurship.

If you’ve ever felt:

• Like your business only moves when you move
• Like growth creates more chaos instead of freedom
• Like you’re the bottleneck — even though you’re “successful”

This week is for you.

🚨 The Finisher’s Trap (Why OPERATE Exists)

Most founders are stuck in what I call The Finisher’s Trap – being the fixer, the closer, the quality control, and the safety net for everything.

It feels responsible. It feels productive. But it’s actually a ceiling.

OPERATE is about escaping that trap and stepping into the role you were always meant to play: The Architect — the one who designs systems that scale without burning you out.

📘 About the Book: OPERATE

OPERATE isn’t about hustling harder or hiring endlessly.

It’s about installing a 7-Pillar Operating System that turns a founder-dependent business into a scalable, self-running machine.

Hustle builds momentum. Systems build businesses.

You can get the full book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at OperateBook.com.

🎧 Today’s Episode: Execution

This episode is one full chapter from OPERATE, focused entirely on today’s pillar. Listen all the way through — these pillars compound when applied together.

📕 Want the Full OPERATE Experience?

These seven chapters are the pillars, but they’re only part of the full story.

OPERATE includes:

• The Finisher → Architect identity shift
• Real-world examples from my journey
• The connective tissue that ties the system together

Get the full book on Amazon or visit OperateBook.com.

Thanks for being part of Operate Week — and for letting me give you the most meaningful gift I can: a better way to build.

For the next seven episodes, I’m gifting you something I’ve never done before on this show: one full pillar per day from the OPERATE framework, straight from the audiobook.

No fluff. No teasers. Just the core operating system I’ve refined over 17+ years of entrepreneurship.

If you’ve ever felt:

• Like your business only moves when you move
• Like growth creates more chaos instead of freedom
• Like you’re the bottleneck — even though you’re “successful”

This week is for you.

🚨 The Finisher’s Trap (Why OPERATE Exists)

Most founders are stuck in what I call The Finisher’s Trap – being the fixer, the closer, the quality control, and the safety net for everything.

It feels responsible. It feels productive. But it’s actually a ceiling.

OPERATE is about escaping that trap and stepping into the role you were always meant to play: The Architect — the one who designs systems that scale without burning you out.

📘 About the Book: OPERATE

OPERATE isn’t about hustling harder or hiring endlessly.

It’s about installing a 7-Pillar Operating System that turns a founder-dependent business into a scalable, self-running machine.

Hustle builds momentum. Systems build businesses.

You can get the full book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at OperateBook.com.

🎧 Today’s Episode: Pipeline

This episode is one full chapter from OPERATE, focused entirely on today’s pillar. Listen all the way through — these pillars compound when applied together.

📕 Want the Full OPERATE Experience?

These seven chapters are the pillars, but they’re only part of the full story.

OPERATE includes:

• The Finisher → Architect identity shift
• Real-world examples from my journey
• The connective tissue that ties the system together

Get the full book on Amazon or visit OperateBook.com.

Thanks for being part of Operate Week — and for letting me give you the most meaningful gift I can: a better way to build.

For the next seven episodes, I’m gifting you something I’ve never done before on this show: one full pillar per day from the OPERATE framework, straight from the audiobook.

No fluff. No teasers. Just the core operating system I’ve refined over 17+ years of entrepreneurship.

If you’ve ever felt:

• Like your business only moves when you move
• Like growth creates more chaos instead of freedom
• Like you’re the bottleneck — even though you’re “successful”

This week is for you.

🚨 The Finisher’s Trap (Why OPERATE Exists)

Most founders are stuck in what I call The Finisher’s Trap – being the fixer, the closer, the quality control, and the safety net for everything.

It feels responsible. It feels productive. But it’s actually a ceiling.

OPERATE is about escaping that trap and stepping into the role you were always meant to play: The Architect — the one who designs systems that scale without burning you out.

📘 About the Book: OPERATE

OPERATE isn’t about hustling harder or hiring endlessly.

It’s about installing a 7-Pillar Operating System that turns a founder-dependent business into a scalable, self-running machine.

Hustle builds momentum. Systems build businesses. 

You can get the full book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at OperateBook.com.

🎧 Today’s Episode: Outreach

This episode is one full chapter from OPERATE, focused entirely on today’s pillar. Listen all the way through — these pillars compound when applied together.

📕 Want the Full OPERATE Experience?

These seven chapters are the pillars, but they’re only part of the full story.

OPERATE includes:

• The Finisher → Architect identity shift
• Real-world examples from my journey
• The connective tissue that ties the system together

Get the full book on Amazon or visit OperateBook.com.

Thanks for being part of Operate Week — and for letting me give you the most meaningful gift I can: a better way to build.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 The Napkin-to-Product Playbook: Learn the step-by-step process of taking a simple idea and turning it into a tangible, sellable product people love.
• 🧠 Action vs. Motion: Discover the critical difference between being busy and being productive, and how to focus on tasks that actually move the needle.
• 🤝 The Mirror Method for Marketing: Uncover the secret to crafting a brand message that connects deeply with your audience by making them see themselves in your product.
• 📈 How to Navigate Inflection Points: Understand the key stages of business growth and the different questions you need to ask to scale successfully.
• 🛠️ AI as a Force Multiplier: Learn how to leverage AI as a powerful tool to enhance your work and save time, without letting it become a crutch for decision-making.
• 💪 The Power of Reps and Resourcefulness: Why experience in one industry can become your superpower in another, and how to cultivate the resourcefulness to solve any problem.
• 💥 Overcoming the Fear of Failure: Reframe failure as a lesson-learned opportunity that provides the crucial experience needed for your next big win.

📝 About Andrew Safnauer 

Andrew Safnauer is a cross-industry entrepreneur and strategic advisor with a track record of turning bold ideas into thriving businesses. His diverse career includes winning an Emmy for voiceover work, leading creative teams for a major broadcast company, launching and exiting a seven-figure apparel brand, owning automotive dealerships, and developing apps. Andrew now leverages his deep experience in execution and problem-solving to help growth companies and leaders navigate complex challenges, cut through indecision, and accelerate their path to success through his consultancy, 9Five Partners.

🎯 Andrew’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"The takeaway would be get off this podcast when you're done listening to it and write down one thing you've been avoiding and write down what it's costing you... Indecision is the problem."

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “Ideas are a dime a dozen... it's getting it done. People have said to me... ‘well, I thought of ideas like that.’ And my thing was always like, well, you should have executed on them.” – Andrew Safnauer
• “You can't steer a parked car. You've got to make decisions and move forward.” – Andrew Safnauer
• “Creative really, in the end, is trying to turn the mirror back on the audience, right? They want to see themselves in your product.” – Andrew Safnauer

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit NineFive Partners’ website
• Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn
• Follow NineFive Partners on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🍕 The "Two Pizza Rule": A simple yet profound way to know exactly when you need to change your systems, communication, and processes as you grow.
• 💰 Fundraising Red Flags: Why raising $16M from angel investors can be a strategic mistake and when you should pull the trigger on institutional capital instead.
• 🚀 Need vs. Demand: Learn the critical difference between a market that needs your product and one that is willing to pay for it—a lesson David learned from a multi-billion dollar business venture.
• 🔥 How to Execute a 90-Day Sprint: A step-by-step guide to breaking down your biggest goals into granular, actionable tasks that guarantee progress every single quarter.
• 🛠️ The Coach, Build, Transfer Model: Discover a unique methodology for getting expert help to build scalable systems and then seamlessly transferring ownership back to your team.
• 🤯 The Entrepreneur's Mindset: Why you must believe in your vision "like gravity" and drive full-speed towards the cliff, trusting that your car will either fly or land safely.
• ⚖️ The Speed, Cost, & Quality Triangle: Understand the trade-offs you're making in execution and how to consciously choose which two you will prioritize to achieve your goals.

📝 About David Frederiksen 

David Frederiksen is a seasoned CEO, entrepreneur, and executive coach with over 25 years of experience scaling businesses in healthcare, finance, and technology. He is the founder of Tobias Advisors, where he helps leadership teams execute with clarity and grow smarter. As a former CEO, David built and exited a healthcare company after raising $16 million and scaling it to over $250 million in receivables. His unique, hands-on experience gives him a rare perspective on what it truly takes to navigate the chaos of growth and build not just a scalable company, but a sustainable life.

🎯 David’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"It's really, really important to distinguish the difference between need and demand... Demand is taking that same need, but there are customers willing to take out their wallets and pay. Those are fundamentally different things."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "Entrepreneurs... they drive full speed towards the edge of the cliff with every ounce of conviction that either the car is going to fly or there will be something to drive on." – David Frederiksen
• "Every time your team grows to the point where you need two more pizzas to feed your team, you've got to do things differently. You've got to communicate differently, you've got to solve problems differently." – David Frederiksen

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Tobias Advisors’ website
• Connect with David on LinkedIn
• Follow Tobias Advisors LLC on LinkedIn

This isn't just theory; it's a practical guide for wantrepreneurs and entrepreneurs to stop guessing and start exploring. You'll learn how to apply the tools of an anthropologist to uncover what your customers really need (not just what you think they need), embrace change as an opportunity, and build a business with longevity and purpose. Dr. Andi's unique blend of human insight and strategic thinking will give you the objective perspective you need to innovate, scale, and thrive in 2026 and beyond.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to apply the mindset of a corporate anthropologist to see your business as a "small-scale society" and uncover hidden opportunities for growth.
• Why you need to get out of the office and "go exploring" to see how customers actually use your products and find their true unmet needs.
• The core principles of Blue Ocean Strategy and how to create new, uncontested market space instead of fighting bloody battles in a crowded "red ocean."
• Techniques to overcome your own biases and develop an objective perspective that allows you to see possibilities your competitors miss.
• How to embrace disruptive technologies like AI as powerful assets to expand your thinking and add innovative value, rather than viewing them as threats.
• The critical link between curiosity, purpose, and building a sustainable business that can adapt and thrive through changing times.

📝 About Dr. Andi Simon 

Dr. Andi Simon is a corporate anthropologist, award-winning author, and the CEO of Simon Associates Management Consultants. After two decades as a successful executive in financial services and healthcare, Andi launched her own firm to help organizations see their challenges through a fresh lens to spark growth and innovation. She is the brilliant mind behind the books On the Brink, Rethink, and Women Mean Business, and the host of the top-ranked podcast On the Brink with Andi Simon. Andi’s unique gift is her ability to blend deep human observation with actionable business strategy, making her an invaluable guide for any entrepreneur looking to build something truly meaningful.

🎯 Andi’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Follow your curiosity. It's telling you something... Listen to it. Don't delete your gut."

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “What makes you think a business isn't a small scale society? When you begin to apply the theory methods and tools into a corporate setting, you discover that people are people.” – Dr. Andi Simon
• “In tumultuous times, it's not the tumult that gets you. It's trying to solve it with yesterday's solutions. Yesterday will not help you tomorrow.” – Dr. Andi Simon (quoting Peter Drucker)
• "If you can't see it, you can't do it. Visualizing what might happen... begins to make the brain open up objectively to what's possible." – Dr. Andi Simon

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Andi Simon’s website
• Visit SAMC's website
• Connect with Andi on LinkedIn
• Follow Simon Associates Management Consultants on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• AI for Real-World Problems: Learn how to spot friction in everyday life (like fragmented group chats) and apply AI to create a seamless, valuable solution.
• User-Centric AI Design: Discover the core principles of building an AI product that empowers users by keeping them in control, rather than letting AI become an interruption.
• Niche-First Market Strategy: Understand why focusing on a single, powerful use case (like travel planning) is a brilliant way to gain initial traction and build a network effect for your app.
• Bootstrapping to Beta at Lightning Speed: Learn how Ankit went from an idea in March to a live beta on the app stores in just a few months, proving that rapid execution is key.
• Building Trust Through Privacy: Get tactical advice on how to design an AI platform with user privacy at its core, a crucial step for gaining customer trust and adoption.
• Seizing the AI Opportunity: Ankit makes a powerful case for why the current vacuum created by AI presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for entrepreneurs to build something new.

📝 About Ankit Dave

Ankit Dave is the Founder and CEO of Farflung.ai. His journey is a testament to scrappy innovation, having moved from India to the U.S. and carving a path to Google, where he spent a decade as both a software engineer and a product manager. He played a key role in developing major projects like the Fuchsia OS and worked with Gemini, giving him a front-row seat to the AI revolution. In 2024, Ankit took the ultimate entrepreneurial leap, leaving his secure role at Google to build farflung.ai, an AI-native platform that turns talk into action. His unique blend of big-tech experience and a relentless founder’s spirit makes him an incredible guide for navigating the new AI landscape.

🎯 Ankit’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

“Don't wait for the perfect time. If there's something that you want to do, do it. Jump, take that jump, because the perfect time may or may not come.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I personally believe that if you want to do something, don't let anything come in your way. There are always ways or things you can find out which will help you build the things that you want.” – Ankit Dave
• “Every single product that we are using today will go through this change, and I'm not sure when this type of opportunity will come in the future... It's a very good time to go out and build something.” – Ankit Dave
• "Any company which is trying to adapt quickly, I think would be more successful than people who are rigid to their roadmaps." – Ankit Dave

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Farflung’s website
• Connect with Ankit on LinkedIn
• Follow Farflung AI on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The Anti-Focus Method: Discover how running two seemingly unrelated businesses (tech consulting and a brick-and-mortar) can create a powerful synergy that makes you a better strategist and CEO.
• Solve Your Own Problems: Learn how Andrew turned his frustrations as a dad of two toddlers into Stomping Grounds, a community-focused business that solved a real-world pain point he experienced every weekend.
• Bizanthropy 101: Uncover the strategies used by multi-billion dollar nonprofits like St. Jude to run their mission-driven organizations with the ruthless efficiency and marketing savvy of a top for-profit company.
• Why a 5-Year Plan is a Waste of Time: Embrace the power of "discovery-based planning" and a "test and learn" approach to stay agile and responsive in an uncertain market.

📝 About Andrew Mathewes 

Andrew Mathewes is an entrepreneur who thrives at the intersection of data, technology, and community. After a distinguished 15-year career serving major organizations like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the National Civil Rights Museum, he took the entrepreneurial leap in a big way. Instead of choosing one path, he launched two: Jehl Consulting, which helps nonprofits leverage technology for greater impact, and Stomping Grounds, a 1.4-acre family-focused eatery and play space in Memphis. Andrew’s unique perspective comes from his ability to speak the language of both tech nerds and business leaders, making him a powerful connector and problem-solver.

🎯 Andrew’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

“I wouldn't be anywhere without a mentor. So if you're young in your career, if you're just stepping out to be an entrepreneur... I can't urge you to do that enough.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “When everything is so uncertain, it's actually imprudent to plan that far ahead. And instead, you stay in test and learn mode.” – Andrew Mathewes
• “I could not have done it without where the tools are today in terms of AGI and ChatGPT. Doing this completely different business, I've never run a restaurant… I can just pull out my phone and run a deep research report.” – Andrew Mathewes
• “Both [businesses] are rooted in community and rebuilding... that impulse to go back to knowing our neighbors a little bit better.” – Andrew Mathewes

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Jehl Consulting’s website
• Visit Stomping Grounds’ website
• Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn
• Follow Jehl Consulting on LinkedIn
• Follow Stomping Grounds on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• ⚙️ How to build a scalable, repeatable marketing “engine” instead of relying on one-off tactics that don’t produce consistent results.
• 📊 Why you must ditch the “vibes-based” marketing approach and embrace a data-driven, scientific method to find and attract your ideal customers.
• 🤖 The untapped power of AI for systematizing your marketing, improving timing, and automating workflows—saving you dozens of hours a year.
• 💸 How to identify your marketing “North Star” metric (Customer Acquisition Cost) to ensure every dollar you spend is driving real growth.
• 🧪 A framework for effective experimentation, knowing when to pivot, and why failing fast is critical for long-term success.
• 🤝 Why marketing isn’t just about lead generation—it’s about creating a frictionless customer experience that drives conversions and retention.
• 🧠 How to stay curious and continuously peel back the layers of your data to understand what’s working, what isn’t, and what to do next.

📝 About Cristin Padgett 

Cristin Padgett is a fractional CMO and the founder of Guarde Haus Marketing, a strategy-first consultancy that helps early-stage and venture-backed startups build predictable growth systems. With a rich background working with giants like Palo Alto Networks and innovative startups, Cristin excels at the intersection of creative storytelling and operational excellence. Her expertise lies in transforming big ideas into scalable, investor-ready marketing engines that drive traction, credibility, and revenue. Cristin brings a unique, data-driven perspective that challenges founders to think beyond tactics and build a truly sustainable business.

🎯 Cristin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Stay curious. That is how you succeed." Cristin’s most powerful advice is to maintain a relentless sense of curiosity. It’s the driving force behind understanding your data, your customers, and your market.

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “You shouldn't create a marketing strategy based off vibes. Let's put it like that. Don't just go off vibes. There's an art and a science to this.” – Cristin Padgett
• “Fail, fail often and fail fast... the longer it takes you to figure out you're going down the wrong path, the more it's going to cost you.” – Cristin Padgett
• "Marketing is an engine, and you need to develop the structure around it in order to create a scalable, repeatable engine.” – Cristin Padgett

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Garde Haus Marketing’s website
• Connect with Cristin on LinkedIn
• Follow Garde Haus Marketing on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You

This isn't just another planning episode. This framework is designed to create alignment and momentum:

• It forces you to start with identity, ensuring your actions are aligned with the person you need to be to succeed.
• It connects your offers directly to your revenue goals, revealing gaps and opportunities in your business model.
• It helps you move beyond tactical chaos by defining high-level strategy before you get lost in the "how."
• It breaks down an entire year into manageable 90-day sprints, making big goals feel achievable.
• It integrates your life with your business, preventing burnout and ensuring your company serves your ideal lifestyle.

📝 Key Takeaways

Brian breaks down his annual planning into six distinct layers that build on one another:

• The Identity Layer: Who do you need to become to achieve the results you want? It all starts with embodying the identity of the person who has already succeeded.
• The Offer Layer: A strategic look at your products and services. Do they align? Do they support each other? Do they create a clear path for your customers and your revenue goals?
• The Themes Layer: What are the 3-5 guiding principles for your year? Think "leverage over labor" or "visibility over obscurity." These themes act as your compass for every decision.
• The Strategy Layer: Before tactics, you need strategy. This is where you make the big-picture decisions about your focus, market positioning, and key milestones for the year.
• The Execution Layer: Translate your strategy into a concrete plan. This is where Brian maps out his quarterly focuses, turning a 12-month vision into 90-day actionable chunks.
• The Life Design Layer: Your business must support your life. This layer ensures you intentionally plan for health, relationships, rest, and creativity, building a sustainable foundation for success.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, grab a notebook and do a "6-Layer Audit" for your upcoming year:

• Identity: Who is the version of you that effortlessly achieves your goals? Write down three traits they embody.
• Offers: List all your current offers. Is there one you need to cut, evolve, or create to hit your goals?
• Themes: What’s one theme that feels absolutely essential for you this year?
• Strategy: What is the single most important strategic milestone that would make this year a massive success?
• Execution: What is the #1 focus for you in the first 90 days of the year?
• Life Design: What is one non-negotiable personal habit or activity you will protect this year?

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode.
• Want to share your plan or ask Brian a question? Send him a personal email at hello@imetbrian.com.
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian.
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who is ready to make next year their best year yet.

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The "iPhone Moment" Strategy: Learn how to identify a fragmented market filled with single-solution products and create one cohesive platform that does it all.
• Why Hardware Matters: Understand the strategic decision-making process behind building a physical product versus just an app, especially when user behavior (like kids swiping away) is a key factor.
• From Pain Point to Product: Discover how Dhruv turned his own parenting struggles with routine charts and learning tools into a scalable business idea.
• Customer-Led Development: Hear how interviewing over 50 parents was crucial in defining Ami’s core features and validating the market need before a single unit was built.
• AI-Powered Personalization: See how Ami uses AI not as a gimmick, but as a tool to create personalized learning experiences for children based on their unique interests (like counting with cars instead of apples).

📝 About Dhruv Chadha 

Dhruv Chadha is the founder of Ahmi, an intelligent device designed to help parents raise confident, capable kids in a tech-saturated world. With a rich background in consumer technology, Dhruv has been at the forefront of the mobile revolution, building smartphones at Blackberry and Microsoft. He later led the software development for T-Mobile's Sync Up Kids Watch, which became the #1 selling kids' smartwatch at launch. As a father himself, Dhruv combines his deep technical expertise with a personal mission to create technology that enhances early childhood development rather than distracting from it.

🎯 Dhruv’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"If you have a passion for an area and the drive to do it, you can. Just jump in and go do what you're passionate about, and if you see a real problem and you can quantify it, I think it's worth pursuing those problems."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "We're not here to replace the parent. We're here to help the parent and actually bring the child and parent closer." – Dhruv Chadha
• "I really call this the iPhone moment of parenting tech. There is so much tech for parents right now, but they solve like one problem at a time, and they don't work cohesively." – Dhruv Chadha

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Ahmi’s website
• Visit The Connected Childhood Podcast
• Connect with Dhruv on LinkedIn
• Follow Ahmi on LinkedIn
• Follow Ahmi on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to use AI as your personal software developer to build an MVP, even with zero coding experience.
• 💡 The step-by-step process of identifying a personal pain point and transforming it into a scalable business idea.
• 💰 A fundraising strategy for early-stage ventures: why a high-volume, targeted approach to small grants can be your rocket fuel.
• ⚖️ How the Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) model allows you to legally balance profit with social impact, protecting your mission as you grow.
• 🛠️ Why being the "painter" closest to the problem gives you an unmatched advantage in developing effective solutions and products.
• 🤝 The power of partnership and how a co-founder can provide the courage and confidence to turn a prototype into a real company.

📝 About Justin Steele

Justin Steele is the co-founder and CEO of Kindora, a Public Benefit Corporation making professional fundraising tools accessible to every nonprofit. With a background that includes directing $700 million in philanthropic grants at Google.org and degrees from Harvard Business School, Justin combines big-company experience with startup grit. His journey began when he founded his own nonprofit, Outdoorithm Collective, and discovered the very tools meant to help him were financially out of reach. This inspired him to leverage AI to build a better solution from scratch, giving him a unique and powerful perspective from both sides of the funding table.

🎯 Justin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Grab your paintbrush and start painting with these AI programs."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “I would just gut check it. I don't want to know... is this worth my time to do more due diligence or not? And I just literally had the AI do that 10,000 times.” – Justin Steele
• "As a founder, you know, you're supposed to put out products that you're embarrassed by... if you're not putting stuff out that's early prototyping, then you're probably hanging on to it too long." – Justin Steele
• "I have yet to try something and hit a wall where I'm like, 'Oh, I actually can't build the thing.' It's a superpower. It gives everybody a massive edge and we should all be in these tools. It's like jumping into an Iron Man suit." – Justin Steele

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Kindora’s website
• Visit Outdoorithm Collective’s website
• Connect with Justin on LinkedIn
• Follow Kindora on LinkedIn
• Follow Outdoorithm Collective on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 Why your qualitative data (emails, call transcripts, Slack messages) is just as valuable as your quantitative data, and how AI can finally make sense of it all.
• 💰 How to identify and eliminate the 20% of sales efforts that are going nowhere, effectively boosting your revenue without increasing your workload.
• 🧠 A framework for approaching AI: Start with your biggest business problem, not with the technology, to find the right solution.
• ⚡ How to shorten your business cycles from years to months (or months to weeks) by making better, faster decisions backed by real data.
• 🤝 Why AI won't replace entrepreneurs but will empower smaller, more agile teams to compete with monolithic companies.
• 📈 How to move beyond simple dashboards and get the full context behind your data to make decisions you can feel confident about.

📝 About Bobby Thompson

Bobby Thompson is the founder of WUNN Labs, where he is building the infrastructure for better human judgment in an AI-driven world. With a background as a data scientist and a former Chief Product and Technology Officer, Bobby has spent his career at the intersection of data, design, and decision-making. He got disillusioned with the slow, expensive cycle of traditional data science and saw an opportunity with AI to create a shorter, more effective bridge between data analysis and real-world business action. His unique perspective helps entrepreneurs move past the hype and use data to build truly intelligent and efficient companies.

🎯 Bobby’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

“It's the golden era for ambition. Be ambitious. You could do so much more than you could before, and so the people that try and are resourceful and ambitious, they're going to have a lot of success.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "If we keep accelerating faster without better decisions, we're just going to kind of end up in weird places as businesses." – Bobby Thompson
• "The bigger question should be what are your biggest problems that you're actually trying to solve?... And then it's just, AI to solve that thing specifically." – Bobby Thompson
• "I do think you're not going to need as many monolithic companies, which I actually think is cool, especially for a podcast about entrepreneurship. There's going to be a big boom of smaller companies." – Bobby Thompson

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit WUNN Labs’ website
• Connect with Bobby on LinkedIn
• Follow WUNN Labs on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to identify the fear-based patterns in your leadership that stifle creativity and growth within your team.
• 🤝 Why "healing-centered leadership" is the next evolution for building resilient, high-impact organizations that thrive in complexity.
• 💡 A framework for bridging the critical gap between a brilliant plan and successful, real-world execution.
• 🧠 How to quiet the loud voice of your intellect to finally hear and trust your entrepreneurial intuition, even when it doesn't make logical sense.
• 🤖 A balanced perspective on using AI as a powerful tool without losing the human connection that truly drives your business forward.
• 📈 The secret to building "relational infrastructure" from day one to create a culture that fuels, rather than fights, your strategy.

📝 About Dominique Samari 

Dominique Samari is an experienced attorney, strategist, coach, and healing arts practitioner who masterfully blends analytical strategy with a deep understanding of human dynamics. With over 15 years of experience leading planning and training efforts for organizations, including rebuilding rule of law infrastructure in Afghanistan, she has a unique global perspective on what makes teams succeed or fail. Through her companies, Kin Consultant Group and the tech platform Kin Universe, she helps organizations increase trust and strengthen the connections needed to turn ambitious plans into tangible success.

🎯 Dominique’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Don't wait until you have cultural problems—design for relationships from day one."

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• “My intellect is like, ‘well, that's crazy making.’ And then I take the steps, follow my intuition, and it's f*cking magic.” – Dominique Samari
• “[Intuition] is always there. It's always ready for us to use, but you have to chip away the things that get in the way of you accessing that.” – Dominique Samari
• “Culture eats strategy for breakfast. You can have the best ideas, the best strategy but if you aren't building a culture that can actually execute that, then it's all for naught.” – Dominique Samari

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Kin Consultant Group’s website
• Visit Kin Universe’s website
• Connect with Dominique on LinkedIn
• Follow Kin Consultant Group on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The Power of "And Thinking": Discover how to reframe daunting challenges by acknowledging that fear and excitement can coexist, giving you the fuel to take massive action.
• Unlocking Team Potential: Learn Théa's facilitation strategy for building deep trust and collaboration by creating a space for intentional vulnerability.
• Fly Higher, Not Lower: Understand the powerful metaphor for why playing small is more dangerous than aiming for your biggest goals and how to build the courage to soar.
• From Corporate to Entrepreneur: Hear the unfiltered story of making the leap and the specific actions that turned a passion for inclusion into a thriving consulting business.
• The 10-Second Mindfulness Hack: Learn a simple Positive Intelligence technique to quiet the "fight or flight" response and create the mental space needed for strategic thinking.
• Vulnerability as a Leadership Choice: Uncover what vulnerability actually looks like in a business context (hint: it's not about sob stories) and how saying "I don't know" can make you a stronger leader.

📝 About Théa Watkins 

Théa Watkins is an impactful coach and expert facilitator with over 27 years of international experience as a business leader in the financial services industry. After a long and successful corporate career, she took the entrepreneurial leap to found Théa Watkins Consulting. Today, she channels her passion and expertise into helping individuals and organizations realize their full potential through the principles of inclusion, transforming team dynamics and empowering leaders to build more effective, respectful, and high-performing environments.

🎯 Théa’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Feel the fear and do it anyway... and never stop believing in yourself."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Nothing is achieved in life without some struggle and some level of discomfort. That's where the growth and the evolution happens.” – Théa Watkins
• “Excitement is an emotion or has the same physiological impact on your body… as fear.” – Théa Watkins
• "Vulnerability is a key leadership choice in today's world... it's part of showing your humanity." – Théa Watkins

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Théa Watkins Consulting’s website
• Connect with Théa on LinkedIn
• Follow Théa Watkins Consulting on LinkedIn
• Follow Théa Watkins Consulting on TikTok

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to turn a deeply personal problem into a scalable, tech-driven business.
• The strategy of adapting proven technology (like automotive sensors) to innovate in a completely different industry.
• Why data and context are the keys to creating next-level value and insights for your customers.
• A lesson in market adoption: Why "safety" by itself doesn't sell, but integrating it into a cool, desirable product does.
• How to build a demonstrator product to prove your concept and open up massive licensing opportunities.
• Why literally becoming your customer is non-negotiable for developing breakthrough products.
• The financial models, like subscription services, that can lower the barrier to entry for mass adoption of new technology.

📝 About Dom Kwong

Dom Kwong is the CEO of Damon Motors, an electric motorcycle company on a mission to make personal mobility safer for everyone. With over 25 years of experience in hardware engineering and manufacturing, Dom has led global teams at companies like Intel and developed groundbreaking products, from the world's first sports heads-up display to smartphones. He holds numerous US and international patents and brings a unique engineer's perspective to solving complex, real-world problems. Dom's passion is driven by his firsthand experience as a motorcyclist, giving him an unparalleled understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the industry he is transforming.

🎯 Dom’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

You must understand the problem you are trying to solve by putting yourself directly in your customer’s position—not just in their shoes. To truly innovate, you have to live the pain points and experience the world exactly as they do.

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “The problems that we try to solve are the ones that we experience firsthand.” – Dom Kwong
• “The rider is always in control... because you're in control, that gives you greater confidence of your surroundings and that makes you safe.” – Dom Kwong
• “Motorcyclists develop motorcycle technology. That's it. You know, full stop.” – Dom Kwong

💡 Actionable Takeaways

• Look at adjacent industries for inspiration. Identify proven technologies that you can adapt to create a breakthrough in your own field.
• Don't just sell a feature (like safety). Integrate your core value proposition into an aspirational product that people desire for its overall appeal.
• If you lead a team, ensure they are deeply connected to the customer's experience. If they aren't, find ways to immerse them in it.
• Embrace "imposter syndrome" as a tool to stay humble and continuously listen to your team, your customers, and your industry.

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Damon Motors’ website
• Connect with Dom on LinkedIn
• Follow Damon Motorcycles on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You

This isn't just another end-of-year reflection. It's a strategic advantage:

• Gain a Competitive Edge: While everyone else is coasting, you’ll be making the key decisions that create unstoppable momentum for Q1.
• Take Control of Your Future: Your results in six months are a direct consequence of the decisions you make today. This episode shows you how to be intentional about it.
• Escape the "New Year's Resolution" Trap: Stop waiting for a magical date on the calendar. Brian shows you how to use the natural rhythm of this month to build your future self, starting now.
• Turn Downtime into "Up-Time": The natural holiday slowdown isn't a time to drift; it's a gift of space to think, strategize, and decide without the usual daily noise.

📝 Key Takeaways

• Next Year Starts Now. The entrepreneurs who crush it in January and February didn't get lucky; they used December to make pivotal decisions.
• The Opposite of Drifting is Deciding. Drifting is passive; deciding is an act of creation. You must consciously choose to decide on your direction, identity, and actions for the year ahead.
• Success Has a Delay. The life and business you have today are the results of choices made long ago. The decisions you make this week will determine where you are months from now.
• Decide Who You Will Be. The most important decision isn't just what you'll do, but who you'll be. Define the identity of the person who achieves your 2026 goals, and start living as them now.
• Decide What to Leave Behind. Making powerful decisions also means choosing what habits, mindsets, and projects are not coming with you into the new year.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, use the gift of this "slower" season to make one powerful decision:

• Where in your business or life are you currently "drifting" instead of deciding? Acknowledge it.
• Make one concrete decision about who you will be in 2026. What is a core trait of that identity? (e.g., "I am a founder who executes without hesitation.")
• Decide on one thing—a habit, a project, a mindset—that you are officially leaving behind before the new year. Write it down and commit to it.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs to stop drifting and start deciding

📣 Special Thanks and Shout Out to a Brilliant Creator!

A huge thank you and shout out to Andrew Safnauer for the incredible conversation that inspired this episode! Brian was so fired up after their chat about the power of decision-making that he knew he had to share the core message with you. You'll get to hear the full, amazing interview with Andrew on December 20th in episode #1336. Get ready, because his story and mindset are going to blow you away

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• The Neuroscience of Motivation: Learn how serving others scientifically builds the four key brain chemicals (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins) you need to stay motivated and fight off burnout.
• Conquer Your "Negative Bias": Discover how your brain is hardwired to focus on the negative and learn the exact steps to override this programming to take calculated risks and push past failures.
• The "ACC" Advantage: Understand how intentionally doing hard things physically grows the part of your brain (the Anterior Cingulate Cortex) responsible for resilience, giving you the capacity to handle bigger business challenges.

📝 About Aaron Quinonez 

Aaron “Sergeant Q” Quinonez is a Marine veteran, leadership speaker, mental health advocate, and multi-business-owning entrepreneur. After serving as a forward observer in a special forces capable unit in Iraq, he faced a brutal battle with PTSD that left him homeless. Through a combination of faith and a deep dive into neuroscience, he rebuilt his life and founded a janitorial company that now employs over 150 people. Aaron's unique perspective comes from combining his elite military training with his raw, personal journey of recovery to provide a no-nonsense, science-backed approach to building an unconquerable mindset.

🎯 Aaron’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"When we see those big things coming at us that are scary...we need to meet whatever that challenge is head long on the battlefield. But for us, it will be the battlefield of the mind.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "When we feel discomfort, that's not a reason to run. That is a catalyst for growth. We need to say, 'Hey brain, I understand that that in the past has caused me pain, but today I'm going to push through and see what's on the other side.' That's how you build resilience." – Aaron Quinonez
• "When I feel down, when I feel depressed, when I feel anxious, I go look for somebody to help because I know I need those four chemicals to counterbalance those negative emotions that I'm having." – Aaron Quinonez
• "There are no easy days. The easy day was yesterday. And so we've got to do the hard things and push through." – Aaron Quinonez

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit evolve’s website
• Visit The Mental Health Janitors’ Podcast
• Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn
• Follow Sgt Q on Facebook
• Follow Sgt Q on Instagram
• Follow Sgt Q on TikTok
• Subscribe to Sgt Q on YouTube

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 The Human-First AI Framework: Learn why 90% of AI implementations fail and how to ensure yours succeeds by focusing on people and mindset before technology.
• 🧠 Shift from Finite to Infinite Thinking: Discover how to break free from small, tactical questions (like "write me a social media post") and start using AI to solve your biggest strategic challenges.
• 📈 Why CEOs Must Own the AI Strategy: Understand why delegating AI initiatives is a recipe for disaster and how to lead the charge to redefine your market.
• 🎯 The Profit Equation of AI: Kacy explains how to strategically implement AI to do more than just cut costs—it’s about enhancing efficiency, amplifying human potential, and securing your market relevance.
• 🤖 Beyond the Hype: Get a realistic view of how AI can amplify your team’s humanity by automating redundant tasks, freeing them up for high-level creativity, strategy, and connection.
• 💡 Assess Your "Future-Readiness": Learn the key pillars to evaluate—vision, mindset, systems, and culture—to see if your business is truly prepared to compete in the new world of work.

📝 About Kacy Webster

Kacy Webster is a growth partner to visionary CEOs who want to transform their organizations for the AI era. As the CEO of Profit Quiver and a consultant with over 25 years of executive experience in education, workforce development, and enterprise transformation, she is an expert at bridging the gap between grand strategy and flawless execution. Kacy calls herself a "positive disruptor," and her unique gift is demystifying complex technology while focusing on human potential. She provides leaders with the clarity and tools they need to build more productive, strategic, and innovative teams.

🎯 Kacy’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

“Doing nothing is a problem. You are going to in the end, not be able to keep up and compete as this evolves and rolls out... if it isn't me that you reach out to, do something.”

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Technology isn't ever the problem. It's the mindset and the alignment and helping people navigate and see how they can use solutions in order to do great things.” – Kacy Webster
• “If you're not moving in this AI era, you are falling behind. And it isn't just efficiency, erosion, it's relevance and your ability to compete.” – Kacy Webster
• “I believe it's [AI] coming to amplify our humanity because the more time that we will have... we will have time to be more humane.” – Kacy Webster

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Profit Quiver’s website
• Connect with Kacy on LinkedIn
• Follow Profit Quiver on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to reframe challenging moments (like a layoff) as the perfect opportunity to bet on yourself and launch your own venture.
• 🤝 Why curiosity is your greatest tool for connection and leadership, no matter your personality type.
• 📊 The data-backed reasons why building trust and belonging isn't "fluff"—it's the critical foundation for team performance and revenue growth.
• 🧠 How to lead effectively through change by embracing vulnerability and admitting you don't have all the answers.
• 💡 A powerful framework for transforming your team's mindset from jaded and disconnected to curious, connected, and innovative.
• ✨ How to apply the "Leap and the Net Will Appear" philosophy to your own entrepreneurial journey and find the courage to move forward.

📝 About Brandi Croghan

Brandi Croghan is the founder of The What If Collective and the creator of the "What If Mindset," a framework that helps leaders unlock their full potential. With over two decades of experience in leadership development and employee engagement, Brandi has partnered with teams across biotech, pharma, and the beauty industry, including her time with the iconic brand Bumble and bumble. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, she brings a unique perspective that blends corporate expertise with the grit and humanity needed to build cultures where innovation and high performance thrive.

🎯 Brandi’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Stay grounded in that 'What If?'... What if is more than a mindset, it's a movement... of asking 'What if I looked at this differently?' What if I just stayed more curious?'"

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “For the first time I just thought, ‘What if I bet on myself this time?’” – Brandi Croghan
• “You cannot skip the creation of trust and connection between you and your team... it cannot be left out of the equation if you want performance.” – Brandi Croghan
• “Every single one of us wants to be seen, heard, and understood. Every single one of us.” – Brandi Croghan
• “I just leap, you know, and the net’s gonna appear.” – Brandi Croghan

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit The What If Collective’s website
• Connect with Brandi on LinkedIn
• Follow The What If Collective on LinkedIn
• Follow The What If Collective on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🧠 The "Two S's" Framework: Discover why combining your mental STATE with technical SKILL is the secret to unlocking true AI capability in your business.
• 🤝 From Replacement to Partnership: Learn to reframe your relationship with AI as a creative and intelligent partner that augments your expertise, not a tool that replaces it.
• 🗣️ AI as a New Language: Understand why learning to "speak" to generative AI is like learning the new language of the future, positioning you and your business for long-term success.
• 🧘 How to Beat AI Overwhelm: Get practical, science-backed techniques for managing stress and anxiety so you can approach learning AI from a place of calm and curiosity.
• 🚀 Demystifying Generative AI: Cut through the noise and get a clear, simple explanation of what generative AI is and how you can start using it to improve your workflows today.
• 🌱 From Personal Setback to Business Opportunity: Hear Charisse's powerful story of turning a career pinnacle setback into a mission-driven business that helps others thrive.

📝 About Charisse Tabak 

Charisse Tabak is the founder of agency, a company dedicated to helping non-technical professionals navigate the future of work with clarity and confidence. After two decades leading teams and guiding Fortune 500 brands in data-driven marketing and digital transformation, she now focuses on the overlooked human side of AI adoption. Charisse’s unique approach blends AI literacy with embodied leadership practices, providing a holistic framework that empowers individuals to shift from overwhelm to agency. Her grounded, real-world perspective makes her a powerful voice for making the future of work more humane and intelligently designed.

🎯 Charisse’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Stick with your passion and your belief and just keep at it."

📢 Memorable Quotes 

• "Think about this as learning a new language. Because if you can learn this new language, you're going to be able to speak to the future." – Charisse Tabak
• "It wasn't so much about how do I get back to where I was, but where am I going to?" – Charisse Tabak
• "You're working as a partnership with the AI large language model rather than it's more powerful than me." – Charisse Tabak

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Aigent-C’s website
• Connect with Charisse on LinkedIn
• Follow Aigent-C on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to strategically differentiate your agency by solving the real problem, not just fulfilling the client's initial request.
• 🤝 The power of embedding yourself with clients to build unshakable trust and become a true extension of their team (hear his wild iMacs at Samsung story!).
• 📈 The "level up" framework for constantly expanding your skills to meet new client demands and stay ahead of the curve.
• 🧠 How to successfully transition from a hands-on practitioner to a strategic CEO focused on the financial health of the business and empowering your team.
• 💥 The "not afraid to lose" philosophy that fuels bold, game-changing decisions like buying out business partners and launching entirely new ventures.
• ⚙️ Actionable strategies for managing multiple businesses without burning out by cycling projects and carving out dedicated time for each venture.
• 💡 How to transform your own everyday frustrations into innovative, patent-pending products, just like Peter did with his second company, Luna Park Creative.

📝 About Peter Williams

Peter Williams is the founder and CEO of two successful companies: Designerds, a San Francisco-based creative agency now in its 11th year, and Luna Park Creative, a product innovation studio. With Designerds, he has led his global team to deliver world-class design for brands like Amazon, Walmart, and Samsung by embedding with in-house teams to create meaningful work. As a creative who has mastered the art of business, Peter brings a unique perspective on scaling a service business, taking calculated risks, and turning personal passion projects into profitable ventures.

🎯 Peter’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Whatever you pursue, do it from a place of meaning for yourself. It's hard work to be an entrepreneur... it should be rewarding. Nobody should start a business or continue to work in a business where it's just taking you down. It should be bringing you up."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "I'm gonna stop wishing and start doing, because that list will just be unfulfilled forever if I don't start taking action.” – Peter Williams
• “You have to have some level of interest in seeing how far you can push your own abilities and your own expertise.” – Peter Williams
• "It's not like one day you're the CEO. It happens over time." – Peter Williams

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Designerds’ website
• Visit Luna Park Creative’s website
• Visit DRYE™ Fan’s website
• Connect with Peter on LinkedIn
• Follow Designerds on LinkedIn
• Follow Luna Park Creative LLC on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• Why "on time and on budget" is a useless metric if your team doesn't adopt the change.
• How to use AI not to replace empathy, but to scale it across your entire organization.
• The "readiness score" concept: a simple, powerful way to measure your team's capacity for change before you invest time and money.
• The critical link between organizational trust and the ability to implement new ideas successfully.
• How to identify change "saturation" and "collisions" to avoid overwhelming your team and causing burnout.
• The difference between project management (building the bridge) and change leadership (helping people cross it).
• A framework for turning scattered feedback from spreadsheets, emails, and conversations into unified, actionable insight.

📝 About Scott Sager 

Scott Sager is the founder of ChangeMap, an AI-enabled platform that helps organizations navigate transformation with clarity. With over 15 years of experience leading large-scale change initiatives, he saw a recurring problem: leaders struggle to understand what's holding their teams back from adopting new systems and processes. This insight led him to build a tool that makes change management more data-informed and human-centric. Scott brings a unique blend of academic rigor and real-world consulting experience, making complex concepts like organizational readiness accessible and actionable for any leader.

🎯 Scott’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"It's not just curiosity. It's putting in that work to listen and being the person who's going to work the hardest to listen... There are going to be those people who want to help you make it better. Those are the voices to listen to."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “Salesforce doesn't make you a great salesperson. Salesforce equips your organization to help you sell better... people still need to walk across [the bridge] to get to the cool stuff on the other side.” – Scott Sager
• “We injected AI into the platform not to replace empathy and engagement. We put it in there to scale it.” – Scott Sager
• "High trust environments can take on a lot of change, low trust environments not a whole lot." – Scott Sager

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit ChangeMap’s website
• Connect with Scott on LinkedIn
• Follow ChangeMap on LinkedIn

✨ Why This Matters for You

Understanding your inner state is a non-negotiable for entrepreneurial success:

• It’s the invisible force in your sales process. Prospects can sense your underlying desperation or fear, which repels them faster than any flawed pitch.
• It separates you from employees. Unlike a 9-to-5, your paycheck isn't guaranteed. Your internal state directly impacts your ability to generate revenue.
• It’s the source of genuine connection. When you're filled with gratitude and excitement, it becomes contagious and draws opportunities and clients to you.
• It’s your foundation under pressure. You don't rise to your ideal self in tough moments; you fall back on what's truly inside you.

📝 Key Takeaways

• What's Inside Is What Comes Out. Just like squeezing a lemon only yields lemon juice, the pressure of entrepreneurship will only reveal what's genuinely inside you—be it confidence or fear.
• Feelings Are Contagious. Your inner mood, thoughts, and feelings leak into everything you do. Your clients, team, and prospects will pick up on your energy, good or bad.
• Desperation Repels Opportunity. If you're operating from a place of needing a deal to close, that desperation will show up in your communication and push potential clients away.
• You Can't Fake True Confidence. Hoping to be confident isn't enough. If genuine belief isn't inside you, it won't manifest when you need it most.
• Audit Your Inner Ingredients. Success starts with a conscious and honest inventory of your internal state. You must be as careful about what you let into your mind as you are about your business strategy.

🚀 Put It Into Action

This week, conduct an honest internal audit before a high-stakes task:

• Identify one upcoming pressure moment: a sales call, a difficult email, or a big presentation.
• Ask yourself honestly: "What's inside of me right now regarding this situation?" Name the feelings—excitement, anxiety, desperation, confidence, fear.
• Before you act, do one thing to cultivate a better internal state. If you feel fear, review a past success. If you feel desperation, practice gratitude for the clients you already have. Notice how this shift changes the outcome.

🔗 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode
• Connect with Brian on Instagram @imetbrian
• Share this episode with a fellow entrepreneur who needs a reminder that their inner game dictates their outer results

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to identify and break the destructive emotional patterns from your past that are secretly sabotaging your business decisions and leadership style.
• 🧠 Why high-achievers often struggle in their personal lives and how to extrapolate your business acumen to build healthier, more successful relationships.
• 📊 The power of "taking inventory" of your personal life—just like you do for your business—to objectively identify what's working, what isn't, and where you need to pivot.
• 💪 How to normalize and process difficult emotions (like anger and guilt) so they don’t lead to burnout, poor investments, or team conflicts.
• 📈 Why taking 100% ownership (your "locus of control") is critical for entrepreneurs and how to apply it to every challenge, both personal and professional.
• 💡 A masterclass in turning client roadblocks and feedback into innovative services and marketing opportunities that build deep trust.

📝 About Dr. Laura Dabney

Dr. Laura Dabney is an entrepreneurial psychiatrist with over 25 years of experience helping high-achieving professionals and couples thrive. She is the founder of RelationshipRX, a modern therapy and coaching brand designed to help successful people break free from the emotional patterns holding them back in their personal lives. Dr. Dabney is an innovator in her field, moving beyond the traditional therapy model to offer flexible and effective online programs, coaching, and resources. Her unique perspective as both a seasoned clinician and a fellow entrepreneur makes her the perfect guide for anyone looking to align their personal fulfillment with their professional ambition.

🎯 Dr. Laura’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Get help. You don't have to walk any path alone... we all have a blind spot... why not have somebody help you discover what that blind spot is so you don't have to be dragged down by it or held back by it."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "There's no such thing as a right or wrong thought or feeling." – Dr. Laura Dabney
• "You can't change anybody else. You can change yourself." – Dr. Laura Dabney
• "How can we turn this roadblock into help? Where are we missing an opportunity to express our interest and therefore our interest... in helping them find a solution that works better for them." – Dr. Laura Dabney

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit RelationshipRX’s website
• Visit Dr. Laura Dabney’s website
• Connect with Laura on LinkedIn
• Follow RelationshipRX on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 Why your personal brand is your most powerful asset for driving the "Three R's": Relationships, Revenue, and Recruiting.
• 📈 A phased growth strategy to take your social media presence from 0 to 10,000+ followers, including when to focus on posting versus engaging.
• 🧠 The four essential content pillars every founder must use to build authority, showcase personality, attract new eyeballs, and provide social proof.
• 💰 A proven DM strategy that gets a 30-50% response rate by warming up leads through genuine engagement before you reach out.
• 🤝 Why second-time entrepreneurs prioritize distribution over product and how you can apply this mindset to make your next launch a massive success.
• ⏰ The honest timeline for seeing tangible results (inbound leads!) from your personal brand and why consistency is the only shortcut.
• 💡 How to escape the "vanity metrics" trap and focus on the numbers that actually translate to business growth.

📝 About Collin Rutherford 

Collin Rutherford is the CEO of FounderBrands, a done-for-you agency that helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses through their personal brand. A graduate of Dartmouth College where he played D1 hockey, Collin cut his teeth in entrepreneurship by launching a successful moving and storage business to solve a problem he saw on campus. This first venture taught him a critical lesson: distribution is everything. Now, he applies this philosophy to help B2B founders build powerful personal brands on X and LinkedIn, turning their expertise into a predictable stream of high-quality leads and opportunities.

🎯 Collin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"You must have a never-ending pursuit for personal growth... When you stop learning, that's how you plateau personally and professionally."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• “First-time entrepreneurs work on product, second-time entrepreneurs focus on distribution.” – Collin Rutherford
• “Building a personal brand on social media is both 100 times easier and 100 times more effective than building a company brand.” – Collin Rutherford
• “If you're posting in the early stage [0-1000 followers], you're basically just posting into the abyss... It's way more important to comment and engage on the outbound side than actually post content yourself.” – Collin Rutherford

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit FounderBrands' website
• Follow Collin on X
• Connect with Collin on LinkedIn

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• How to proactively identify problems and present solutions to land major clients, including city and municipal contracts.
• The critical mindset shift required to move from a hands-on practitioner to a strategic business owner.
• A powerful leadership framework for instilling purpose and intrinsic motivation in your team, turning employees into future leaders.
• How to build a business that thrives on repeat customers and referrals by going above and beyond and owning your mistakes.
• The strategy behind turning a service business into a scalable enterprise with a registered apprenticeship and franchise potential.
• Why embracing your background and values is a superpower in building an authentic and resilient business.

📝 About Brandon Pankey 

Brandon Pankey is a Board Certified Master Arborist, a Tree Risk Assessment Qualified arborist, and the founder of Blue Pine Works. Having grown up on a family forestry in Eastern Washington, Brandon has dedicated his life to the ethical stewardship of trees. He and his wife, Kay, lead their company in East Central Minnesota with a mission to serve rural communities and preserve urban forests. Brandon’s unique perspective combines deep, hands-on industry expertise with a powerful entrepreneurial drive to create opportunities, build leaders, and make a lasting positive impact on the world.

🎯 Brandon’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs 

"Care. As long as you're caring about what you're doing... if you genuinely give a hoot about what you're producing and how you're producing it and what the end product is for your consumer, it's going to work."

📢 Memorable Quotes

•  “I need to provide for myself by providing for other people.” – Brandon Pankey
• “Even if you're not making the progress that you want to do, you're still beating the person on the couch. You can't get anywhere if you don't start.” – Brandon Pankey
• “Half the thing is just showing up.” – Brandon Pankey

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Blue Pine Works’ Website
• Connect with Brandon on LinkedIn
• Follow Blue Pine Works LLC on LinkedIn
• Follow Blue Pine Works on Facebook
• Follow Blue Pine Works on Instagram

💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business

• 🚀 How to turn referrals into your primary growth engine (and land 15+ clients from word-of-mouth alone).
• 💻 The simple website tweaks that can 3-4x your conversion rate by focusing on trust over tech.
• 📞 Why answering the phone is your most underrated marketing tool (and the shocking stats that prove it).
• 🤖 A practical framework for using AI to reclaim 5-8 hours per week on admin tasks without sacrificing quality.
• 📈 The art of "neighbor marketing" to turn one paid customer into three free ones and slash your acquisition costs.
• 🤝 How to build powerful trust signals that make customers choose you over the competition, even in a crowded market.
• 💰 Why understanding your capacity "breaking point" is the key to scaling without running out of cash.

📝 About Adam Aldred

Adam Aldred is the founder of Orsin, a growth marketing firm that helps home service companies scale their revenue. After a decade in the traditional agency world, Adam saw an opportunity to do things better. He started Orsin as a side project, grew it through pure referrals to replace his wife's corporate salary, and then took the leap into full-time entrepreneurship. Adam's expertise lies in blending data-driven strategies like SEO and Google Ads with the fundamental principles of trust and brand building to deliver measurable results for his clients.

🎯 Adam’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs

"Establish momentum as quick as you can, and then don't let it die out."

📢 Memorable Quotes

• "The average non-answer rate on phone calls is about 20 to 25%... The close rate on an unanswered phone call, like you have to call them back, is closer to 10%. So you have a huge delta in conversion rate or lead to close rate." – Adam Aldred
• "If you're starting a business, your main goal whenever you're servicing a client...should be over delivering on whatever you've promised to do, knowing that when you work that way, people will want to brag about you to their friends." – Adam Aldred
• "Websites that I've built where we're actually adding personalized individual branded photography...the conversion rate is usually three to four times higher across all traffic sources." – Adam Aldred

🔗 Links & Resources

• Visit Orsin’s Website
• Connect with Adam on LinkedIn
• Follow Orsin on LinkedIn
• Follow Adam on TikTok
• Follow Adam on Instagram