Wed, 16 Sep 2026 07:05:35 -0400 https://www.whatbreaksfirst.com en-us © 2026 Oceans XYZ LLC yes a4a4a92d-e64b-54cb-bb47-c172d63d9552 marketing@oceansxyz.com af7a13b0-b0d2-11f1-a0eb-03155fae9dd9 Oceans Talent episodic false Every company hits a moment where the thing that worked at ten customers breaks at a hundred. What Breaks First sits down with founders, operators, and industry voices who have lived through that fracture: the hire that came a year too late, the process nobody thought to build until it was too late not to, the handoff from founder instinct to operator discipline. Hosted by Ian, joined by Matt & Ben, each episode trades the highlight reel for the honest account. No case study gloss. Just what actually broke, what it cost, and what replaced it. For founders, operators, and anyone building past the point where duct tape stops working.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) product-market fit, operational scaling, founder to operator, scaling startups, growing pains, founder stories, executive operators, entrepreneurship, small business growth, leadership, operator interviews, what broke first Oceans Talent marketing@oceansxyz.com https://storage.buzzsprout.com/44uhq4iu54kvhfbyiv6dfnnncquw?.jpg https://www.whatbreaksfirst.com Ian Myers Matt Wallaert Evan Walther WBF Episode #1: Andrew Graff & Ian Myers Andrew Graff has run Allen & Gerritsen, an independent creative, media & PR agency in Boston and Philadelphia, with over 100 people, for 31 of its 41 years.

After his trusted and beloved EA left for another career path, he went through half a dozen in-house Senior EAs that couldn’t keep up. When he was on the brink of giving up, he was introduced to an unconventional solution from a country he had never heard of before.

"I was skeptical. I'll be candid: could this work? But I was frustrated enough to be open-minded enough to say I could do it a different way."

So he treated it as a three-month experiment. Low risk, in his words, and buying himself time, because it was clear he couldn't keep doing it himself.

Then he met Dulara.

"Honestly, meet Dulara, I was like, within three hours, all right, this is life-changing."

His own onboarding team told him she was the quickest person ever to onboard into the company.

What it looks like now: a half-hour call every morning, then an end-of-day summary of what she closed, what's still open, and what he owes people.

"We look like the most responsive team ever, because within an hour or so she's like, here's his availability, pick a time, I'll send an invite."

And the line that best illustrates what it’s like to have a great EA:

"For somebody who's never been to New York, she can navigate me in meetings in New York better than anybody before."

Introducing episode one of What Breaks First, hosted by Ian Myers, Founder & CEO of Oceans Talent.

]]> Andrew Graff has run Allen & Gerritsen, an independent creative, media & PR agency in Boston and Philadelphia, with over 100 people, for 31 of its 41 years.

After his trusted and beloved EA left for another career path, he went through half a dozen in-house Senior EAs that couldn’t keep up. When he was on the brink of giving up, he was introduced to an unconventional solution from a country he had never heard of before.

"I was skeptical. I'll be candid: could this work? But I was frustrated enough to be open-minded enough to say I could do it a different way."

So he treated it as a three-month experiment. Low risk, in his words, and buying himself time, because it was clear he couldn't keep doing it himself.

Then he met Dulara.

"Honestly, meet Dulara, I was like, within three hours, all right, this is life-changing."

His own onboarding team told him she was the quickest person ever to onboard into the company.

What it looks like now: a half-hour call every morning, then an end-of-day summary of what she closed, what's still open, and what he owes people.

"We look like the most responsive team ever, because within an hour or so she's like, here's his availability, pick a time, I'll send an invite."

And the line that best illustrates what it’s like to have a great EA:

"For somebody who's never been to New York, she can navigate me in meetings in New York better than anybody before."

Introducing episode one of What Breaks First, hosted by Ian Myers, Founder & CEO of Oceans Talent.

]]> Oceans Talent Buzzsprout-19777478 Wed, 09 Sep 2026 23:00:00 -0400 644 executive assistant, delegation, agency, leadership, operations, offshore talent, Sri Lanka, agency growth, founder, advice, workforce model, AI and human talent, hiring lessons, operational fit 1 full false