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When Employees Say the New System Is Making Work Worse, What Should a Manager Check First?
A scheduling system can look successful on a dashboard and still give a manager a very real problem when the next schedule goes live. On October 2, 2026, WIRED reported that nurses at HCA Healthcare described problems with Timpani, the company’s AI-assisted scheduling platform developed with Palantir. Some nurses said schedules ignored preferences or left them spending additional time trading shifts and trying to get problems corrected. HCA pushed back on the broader criticism, saying nursing leaders retain final authority over schedules and pointing to improvements it says Timpani has produced across the system.
That disagreement creates a harder management question than deciding whether the technology is good or bad. Dr. Julie Donley spent decades in psychiatric nursing and nursing leadership before becoming a leadership coach, and in our conversation she kept returning to the human side of change. Her earlier thinking offers a useful way to examine this situation, even though we weren’t discussing HCA or Timpani specifically.
A manager can have solid rollout numbers in front of them and still have an employee describing a specific problem that needs an answer. Sometimes the employee is struggling with change. Sometimes training, support, or the local process is the issue. Sometimes the system produced an incorrect result. The manager has to find out which one happened before turning a complaint into a story about someone’s attitude.
A Good Rollout Metric Can Still Miss a Bad Tuesday
HCA has reasons to describe Timpani as a successful rollout. In a company-supported June 2026 strategy paper later republished by HCA, the company reported that the platform had expanded to more than 130 hospitals and more than 1,200 nursing departments. HCA also said creating a schedule, which could consume much of a nurse manager’s day, had dropped to roughly two or three hours per scheduling cycle. The paper reported improvements in skill mix and a decline in turnover in departments using the system.
Those are company-reported results, but they still matter. A manager looking at them would have a reasonable basis for believing the technology is doing useful work.
Nurses interviewed by WIRED described a different part of the experience. They reported specific scheduling problems, including preferences they said were overridden and patterns that left them trading shifts or trying to get schedules corrected. Their accounts do not establish that Timpani is failing throughout HCA. They do show that broad performance numbers can miss a problem occurring on one schedule, in one department, for one employee.
HCA’s response matters too. The company said Timpani does not remove nursing leadership from the process and that local nursing leaders retain final authority over schedules. If the human manager still has final authority, what happens when an employee says the schedule is wrong?
A company may measure how quickly the first version of a schedule gets produced while an employee experiences the process through the calls, messages, trades, corrections, and approvals required afterward. A system can save substantial time overall while still producing an exception that takes too long to fix. A nurse can also be frustrated by a new process without that frustration proving the software is broken.
For the manager, the useful unit of analysis is smaller than the rollout report.
What did the employee request? What did the system produce? What policy or staffing requirement affected the result? Who had authority to change it? How long did the correction take?
Those answers tell you more about the immediate management problem than either a company-wide success metric or a broad complaint about automation.
Resistance Is a Possibility, Not a Diagnosis
Resistance is real. People get attached to familiar routines. They can dislike a new process because it feels awkward, unfamiliar, or slower at first. HCA’s earlier account of the Timpani rollout discussed adoption and described nurses as creatures of habit in the context of introducing the system.
Julie has a useful way to think about that kind of difficulty. In our conversation, she described her HARD framework, with HARD standing for “habits attachment resistance and discouragement.” She developed it while trying to understand why change can feel so difficult.
The framework becomes useful here only when a manager treats those as possibilities to investigate rather than labels to attach to an employee.
Imagine two complaints. One nurse says, “I don’t like this new scheduling system.” Another says, “I requested Tuesday off, the schedule put me on Tuesday, and I had to trade two shifts to fix it.” The first statement may point toward discomfort with the change. The second gives the manager something operational to check.
The emotional reaction may still matter, but the manager now has evidence to examine.
Two questions need to stay separate: How comfortable is this employee with the change? Did the system produce the expected result?
An employee can be skeptical of a new process and still identify a legitimate defect. Someone can prefer the old way while correctly pointing out that the new workflow creates an unnecessary exception. Someone can also be frustrated by a system that is functioning as designed and simply needs a better explanation or more support.
Julie’s framework gives a manager several possible explanations to consider. Is habit playing a role? Is the employee attached to the previous process? Is there resistance to a legitimate change? Has repeated difficulty created discouragement?
The manager still has to check the evidence before deciding which explanation fits. Look at the request, the output, the applicable rule, and the correction. If the complaint disappears under inspection, adjustment may be the larger issue. If the complaint survives inspection, calling it resistance does not make the operational problem disappear.
Support Means Knowing Who Can Fix the Exception
A rollout feels very different when an employee can point to a problem but cannot find anyone who can fix it.
Julie talks about support in practical terms. In our conversation, she asked, “What are the support systems? What’s the you know scaffolding that I need to support me right now.” She was talking about getting through difficult change more broadly, but the question fits technology rollouts well. Training is only part of support. Employees also need to know what happens when the system produces an outcome they believe is wrong.
Lee Barker, an inpatient psychiatric nurse at an HCA hospital in Kansas City, described that kind of difficulty in a September Working People interview. His account was not an independent audit of Timpani and does not establish how scheduling works throughout HCA. He described difficulty getting local scheduling concerns corrected far enough in advance to make the process workable.
That turns support into an operating question.
Who is allowed to override the schedule? Does the employee know who that person is? What evidence does the manager need before making a change? How quickly does the employee get an answer? If the same type of problem keeps appearing, does anyone recognize it as a recurring exception rather than treating each case as a fresh annoyance?
Suppose, hypothetically, an employee says the new system scheduled them on a day they had properly requested off. The useful response is not simply, “Give it time.” The manager can check the request, the generated schedule, the relevant staffing rules, and the person with authority to change the result. The employee then needs an answer explaining whether the system made an error, a policy overrode the request, or the request was entered incorrectly.
A correction worked when the immediate problem is resolved and the organization can explain why it happened. If nobody can trace the path from the disputed output to a clear answer, the support process deserves scrutiny too.
Measure the Time Spent Fixing What Automation Gets Wrong
One of HCA’s strongest arguments for Timpani is time. The company says nurse managers can build schedules much faster than before. That is a meaningful gain if it holds up in day-to-day work.
The harder question is what happens to the time saved after the first schedule is produced.
Julie talks about attention as something people too easily give away. In our conversation, she said that “one of the biggest gifts that we have that we often throw away is our attention.” She was talking about focus more broadly, but the same idea matters when a manager evaluates a new system. Time spent fixing exceptions is still work, even when it arrives in small pieces across several employees instead of one obvious block on a manager’s calendar.
That does not mean every correction proves the automation failed. Any scheduling process has exceptions. Someone calls out. Staffing needs change. A request conflicts with coverage requirements. The relevant question is whether the new process reduces the total burden or moves some of it elsewhere.
A manager might save several hours creating a schedule while employees spend additional time reviewing it, finding conflicts, locating someone who can authorize a change, arranging trades, and following up. The opposite may also be true. Timpani could remove enough manual work that occasional corrections remain a strong net improvement.
A deployment total cannot answer that local question.
Managers need to look at the less glamorous evidence. How many exceptions are being raised? What types keep recurring? How long do they take to resolve? Whose time gets consumed? Does the same issue reappear in the next scheduling cycle?
Technology rollouts are often measured by the work they were designed to eliminate. The work created around the new system can be easier to miss.
If Timpani produces a strong first schedule and only a small number of quick corrections, the efficiency claim gets stronger. If an organization repeatedly saves time at the front end and spends it again through trades, appeals, and manual repairs, that is useful management information too.
The goal is not to hunt for hidden failure. It is to measure the whole job.
Investigate One Complaint All the Way Through
The manager responsible for the team or rollout should pick one recent complaint and follow it all the way through.
Start with the expected result. What was the employee trying to accomplish, and what should the system have done? Compare that with the actual output. Look at the schedule, the request, the staffing rule, the approval path, and the correction itself. Identify who had authority to change the outcome, how long the employee waited for an answer, and whether the same kind of problem has happened before.
The result should be more specific than “the employee hates the new system” or “the software works fine.” Maybe the request was entered incorrectly. Maybe policy overrode the preference. Maybe the employee misunderstood the new process. Maybe the manager lacked enough authority to correct the exception quickly. Maybe the same scheduling problem keeps recurring and needs to be escalated.
The manager should be able to explain why the result occurred and whether the correction prevented, resolved, or at least clarified the same problem for the next cycle.
That is where the human side of leadership becomes operational. Julie has spent much of her career thinking about what happens when people move through change while still needing to feel heard, respected, and supported. A manager does not have to agree with every complaint. The manager does need to understand what happened well enough to respond to the actual problem.
Following one complaint through to an answer is a small enough job to do this week, and it may tell you something your rollout report missed. Dr. Julie Donley is also one of my co-authors in Decisions, Courage, and Action. Read Julie’s contribution in the book on Amazon for more from her alongside the other co-authors.
About Dr. Julie Donley
Dr. Julie Donley is a leadership coach, author, speaker, and former director of nursing in behavioral healthcare. Her psychiatric nursing and leadership experience informs her work with managers and executives on communication, conflict, stress, and the human side of change. She developed the CARE Leadership Model, built around communication, appreciation, respect, and empathy, and is the author of Leading at the Speed of People and Does Change Have to Be So Hard? Learn more at drjuliedonley.com. Connect with Dr. Julie Donley on LinkedIn.
Media and interview inquiries: To request an interview about leadership communication and managing change, use her speaking inquiry page.
Meta’s AI Sent a Buyer to His Door. What Did the Seller Actually Approve?
A buyer showed up for a Facebook Marketplace pickup that seller Matt Robb said he did not know had been arranged. According to reporting on the September 26 incident, Meta’s Muse assistant had handled the conversation, provided pickup information, and moved the transaction far enough along that the buyer made the trip.
The important correction came on September 29. Matt Robb said he had selected an “Allow Always” setting, expecting the system would still stop and ask before certain actions. Meta said its review found no breach of its privacy controls. That makes the incident more useful to a business owner, not less. The problem becomes much more ordinary: you thought you approved one level of authority, while the software treated your approval as permission to keep going.
That question came back to me when I interviewed Donna Blevins, who works with entrepreneurs on decision-making and AI workflows, about how she was using AI inside her own business. Donna wasn’t talking about Meta, and she wasn’t proposing a security framework. She was describing something much more practical: how she gives an AI assistant a job without immediately handing it the whole job.
Her example involved Google Drive. Before letting the AI create or reorganize anything, she told it to enter a folder, inspect what was there, and report back. “Don’t do anything. Come back and tell me what you see.” Only after she checked that first result did she authorize the next small action.
That sequence matters a lot more once the AI is talking to customers instead of organizing folders.
What “Allow Always” Actually Changes
The September 29 follow-up changes the story in an important way. Matt Robb later said he had selected an “Allow Always” permission. His expectation was that Muse would still stop and ask before certain actions. The follow-up reporting said that “Allow Always” authorized continuing messages using a template that contained his pickup information.
The evidence supports saying there was a mismatch between what Matt Robb thought he had authorized and what the permission allowed the assistant to keep doing. It does not support saying Muse secretly defeated its own controls or somehow operated outside any permission at all.
Meta’s position was that its review found no breach of privacy controls. That is Meta’s conclusion about its own system, not an independent technical audit, so I would not treat it as the last word on every detail. At the same time, the later permission review makes the simpler “AI ignored the rules” version hard to defend.
There is another layer here that matters to business owners. Meta describes Muse as using a separate permission system for actions connected to outside services. In its technical explanation, that permission layer can allow an action, block it, or ask for approval. That means there is a difference between the instructions you type into the conversation and the actual authority the product has been given.
Meta made that distinction even more relevant on September 29 when it announced Muse for Small Business, with connections to tools including Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, and Canva. Meta says publishing, sending, and spending require approval in that business version.
The September 29 announcement came after the Marketplace incident and is relevant here as business context, not as the product version involved in Matt Robb’s reported experience. It shows where these assistants are headed: closer to the parts of a business where a mistaken approval can become a real customer promise, a published change, or a transaction.
A prompt can say, “Check with me first.” A product setting may already say something broader. If those two instructions do not mean the same thing, the owner needs to know which one actually governs the next action.
That is where Donna Blevins’ much smaller Google Drive example becomes useful. She does not begin by giving the assistant a whole workflow. She starts by narrowing what it is allowed to do.
Donna Starts With “Just Go Look”
Donna Blevins’ example starts with a small instruction that sounds almost too simple to matter. She gives the AI access to a Google Drive folder and tells it to inspect what is there. Her exact instruction is: “Don’t do anything. Come back and tell me what you see.” That separates looking at the assignment from changing anything.
The assistant can look around, open folders, and report back. Donna still decides what happens next. She is not asking it to reorganize the drive, rename everything, build a course structure, or make a dozen changes while she hopes it understood the assignment.
After the assistant reports back, she gives it one limited task. Create a folder. It does that and gives her a link. Donna clicks the link and checks the result herself.
She then tells the AI to look at the structure of another course and use that as a model inside the new folder. It creates the structure, Donna checks it, and she notices a problem with the naming. She tells it the naming structure she actually wants, and the assistant adjusts.
That back-and-forth is important. The useful part is not that Donna found a magic prompt. She is reducing the size of the mistake she might have to catch.
If the first assignment is “look and report,” there is very little to undo. If the next assignment is “create this folder,” the completed result is easy to inspect. If the naming is wrong, she can correct it before the same mistake gets repeated across the rest of the structure.
She connects this directly to something she says elsewhere in the interview: work on one thing at a time and finish it.
I think that is where the example becomes useful for a business owner. A lot of AI delegation gets vague very quickly. “Organize this.” “Handle this.” “Take care of these messages.” “Run with it.”
Those instructions may feel efficient, but they make the finish line harder to see. If the assistant does five things at once, you now have five things to inspect and five places where your definition of “done” might differ from the machine’s.
Donna’s sequence makes the completed work visible. She can point to the folder, click the link, inspect the structure, and decide whether the result is good enough for the next instruction.
That does not prove her approach would have prevented the Muse incident, and Donna was not testing Muse when she described it. What I can take from Donna’s example is more specific. Her working habit keeps the assignment small enough that she can still see what authority she has granted and what result came back.
That becomes more important when the assistant moves from folders and file names into customer communication, where the finished result might contain a price, a promise, a date, or a commitment someone else will act on.
What “Handle This Customer” Leaves Unsaid
Suppose a prospective coaching client sends a message asking whether a workshop is a good fit and whether there is still room to join.
An AI assistant can do a lot of useful work before the owner ever touches the reply. It can pull together the workshop description, summarize the person’s question, draft a response in the owner’s tone, and flag anything that appears to require a decision. If the draft sounds stiff or generic, the owner can correct it the same way Donna corrects language that feels too academic or unlike her.
The owner still has to decide when a draft turns into a promise to a customer.
For example, an instruction written for this article might say:
“Draft a reply using the workshop information I’ve already approved. Do not send it. Flag any question about price, availability, refunds, dates, or special terms for me to decide.”
That is not Donna’s wording or a proprietary method. It is an application of the way she already works: give the assistant a bounded task, inspect the result, then decide what happens next.
The owner may be perfectly comfortable letting AI explain what the workshop covers. The owner may still want to personally decide whether to extend a discount, promise a seat, change a date, or make an exception. Those are not merely writing choices. They create expectations for another person.
This is also where Donna’s concern about voice becomes useful. She talks about feeding AI enough examples that the writing sounds like her and asking it to “donatize” material that does not. That matters, but sounding like the owner solves only one part of the problem. A polished reply can still contain a promise the owner never intended to make.
That is why chat instructions and product controls both matter. A sentence such as “ask me before sending” may help define the assignment, but it does not replace whatever permissions the software itself uses to govern sending, publishing, purchasing, or other actions. Different tools expose those controls differently, so the owner has to know what authority was actually granted in that product.
For one business, finished might mean a draft waiting for review. For another, it might mean a summary of the customer’s question with anything requiring an exception clearly flagged.
The narrower you make that finish line, the easier the result is to inspect. Once you trust the workflow and understand the permissions, you can expand it deliberately instead of discovering after the fact that “handle this” meant more than you thought.
Define One Finished Task
Donna’s advice about finishing three small things a day sounds like a productivity idea, but it also helps with delegation. A task is easier to hand off when you can tell whether it is actually finished.
For the customer-reply example, “handle these messages” is too fuzzy. A better finish line might be: prepare one reply using approved information, flag anything that requires a decision, and stop before sending.
That gives the owner something concrete to inspect. The draft exists. The unresolved question is visible. The assistant has reached the stopping point.
A useful five-minute exercise is:
- Choose one recurring customer task.
- Write down the exact finished result you want back.
- List the decisions the assistant may make without you.
- Mark the point where it must stop and wait.
This is an operational suggestion, not a proven security method. It does not replace the product’s own permission system or guarantee that every tool will behave the same way. Its value is simpler: you can see whether the assignment itself is clear before you widen the authority.
Donna’s one-task-at-a-time habit gives you a practical way to test that. Finish one small workflow, inspect what came back, correct what is wrong, then decide whether the next version deserves more room to act.
A checked draft can be a finished task. The assistant does not have to complete the entire customer interaction for the work to count.
Keep the Decision You Actually Want to Keep
The cleanest place to start is with one task you can inspect. Once you have one workflow you can inspect and correct, you can make a deliberate decision about whether it deserves more authority. Donna’s one-task-at-a-time approach keeps the handoff visible instead of letting the assignment quietly expand.
Before you hand over another customer task, decide what the assistant may finish and where you still want it to stop. Donna Blevins is also a co-author of Decisions, Courage, and Action, our book about making decisions and acting on them. Pick up the book on Amazon to read more from Donna and the other co-authors.
About Donna Blevins
Donna Blevins works with entrepreneurs on decision-making, self-talk, practical execution, and AI-assisted workflows. In her conversation with Robert Plank, she described using AI in small, reviewable steps, including inspecting Google Drive folders, checking completed work, correcting naming and tone, and giving the assistant one task at a time. More about her work is available at donnablevins.com. Connect with Donna Blevins on LinkedIn.
Media and interview inquiries: To request an interview about AI workflows and decision-making, use her contact form.
1671: Leadership Through Change and Self-Assurance with Erin Herman
Business leaders aren’t crumbling under change because it’s unfamiliar, they're exhausted because it’s constant, confusing, and out of their control. In this episode, keynote speaker and change management expert Erin Herman explains how organizations can turn change into a competitive advantage by pairing clarity with empathy to create genuine confidence. She breaks down why AI and other workplace shifts trigger fear around identity, certainty, and job security, and what great leaders do differently in those moments. Instead of reacting to surface-level resistance, Erin shows how to listen “between the lines” to uncover deeper concerns and rebuild trust. She also shares her KEG method (Courage, Empathy, Growth mindset) as a practical framework for taking small, courageous steps that accumulate into massive transformation. If your team is overwhelmed by change and stuck in survival mode, this conversation offers a roadmap back to alignment and momentum.
Erin also dives into the hidden forces behind self-limiting beliefs, especially for ambitious professionals and women in leadership. She reveals why women often wait until they meet 100% of job criteria before applying, while men typically move forward at around 40%, and how this mindset quietly blocks career growth. By cultivating a “delusional belief” in your own success, you can move forward even when fear is present, instead of waiting to feel perfectly ready. Erin contrasts fragile, externally-driven confidence with durable, internal self-assurance that can’t be shaken by gossip, criticism, or a bad performance review. With self-assurance as your foundation, you can process feedback, adjust your behavior, and still remain grounded in your worth. Listeners will walk away with a clearer understanding of how to replace hesitation and self-doubt with intentional action and resilience.
Through powerful personal stories from selling elevators in a male-dominated industry to securing a $300M commitment for St. Jude, Erin illustrates how boundaries, courage, and discomfort shape a fulfilling career. She candidly shares how she swung from having no boundaries and over-apologizing to being too rigid, and how she finally landed on healthy boundaries that protect her energy while empowering her team. You’ll learn how to say no without guilt, support others without carrying their burdens, and define your leadership style with clarity and care. Erin also unpacks the quote, “Don’t let your comfort zone become your cage,” and shows how micro wins and intentional risk-taking create long-term change. Whether you’re a founder, executive, or emerging leader, you’ll gain tools to lead with courage, design a culture that supports growth, and navigate change without burning out your people. If you’re ready to stop performing, start truly leading, and change your superpower, this episode will give you both the inspiration and the structure to begin.
Quotes:
"Great leaders don’t just answer surface-level questions; they listen between the lines to understand who’s feeling uncertain about their role, their identity, and where they fit in."
“Boundaries delivered with clarity and care are essential to leadership; they’re how we create trust, consistency, and real results.”
“Don’t let your comfort zone become your cage. When staying comfortable costs you more than the risk you could have taken, it’s time to move.”
Contact Details:
- Change Is Coming. Are Your Leaders Ready? Get Erin Herman on Your Stage
- Ready to Lead What’s Next? Connect With Erin on LinkedIn
- Follow Erin Herman On Instagram for Bold Leadership, Confidence, and Meaningful Impact
- Ready to Lead With More Courage & Confidence? Follow Erin Herman on TikTok
- Your Next Leadership Breakthrough Could Start Here: Follow Erin Herman on Facebook
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:01 — 28.9MB) | Embed
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Too Busy for the Gym? What One-Minute Workouts Still Ask of You
A one-minute workout sounds almost too small to skip. That is part of what makes a new study published September 30, 2026 so interesting, especially if your usual excuse is that the day never leaves you a clean hour for exercise.
In the randomized trial published in Frontiers in Physiology, researchers followed 60 sedentary women ages 18 to 25 for eight weeks. Half were assigned to a resistance “exercise snacks” program, while the other half continued their usual routines. The exercise group improved more than the control group across the study’s measured lower-body strength and endurance outcomes. The appealing part is the size of each bout: one minute.
Fitness coach and author Phil Ross has talked about exercise snacks, small spaces, limited equipment, and finding ways to make training something you will actually repeat. When I spoke with Phil, he kept returning to an idea that gets lost when we obsess over workout length. The minute still has to contain some attention. You still have to do the movement, then come back and do it again.
That matters once you look past the headline-friendly part of the study. Participants were not assigned one minute of exercise per day. They were asked to complete 11 one-minute bouts each weekday and 10 each weekend day, with the bouts separated by at least 30 minutes. That added up to 75 minutes a week, with app-based instruction and monitoring built into the program.
For someone running a business from a desk, that creates a more useful question than whether one-minute workouts “work.” What has to be true about your day, your setup, and the way you approach those minutes for you to keep doing them after the first burst of enthusiasm is gone?
One Minute Is Not the Whole Commitment
The phrase “one-minute workout” is accurate in one narrow sense. Each exercise bout in the September trial lasted about 60 seconds. It becomes misleading if you picture someone standing up once, doing a minute of squats, and calling it a day.
The women assigned to the exercise group completed 11 of those bouts each weekday and 10 on Saturday and Sunday. The bouts were separated by at least 30 minutes, which spread the activity across the day instead of packaging it into a conventional workout. Over a week, the prescribed exercise added up to 75 minutes.
These were not necessarily casual movement breaks, either. Participants were expected to reach a perceived exertion of at least 7 on a 10-point scale. They received instruction before the intervention and used a mobile app with exercise videos, reminders, performance recording, and exertion monitoring.
That context matters when you look at the results. Researchers compared 30 women assigned to the exercise-snacks program with 30 women who continued their habitual lifestyles. After eight weeks, the exercise group improved more than the control group across the study’s measured lower-body strength, explosive-strength, and muscular-endurance outcomes.
That is useful evidence. It is also more specific than saying tiny workouts make you stronger.
The study involved sedentary women ages 18 to 25. It did not test older adults, men, people already exercising regularly, or people trying to manage back pain. It also did not compare exercise snacks head-to-head with a traditional 30- or 60-minute workout. You cannot take these results and conclude that ten scattered minutes are universally better than going to the gym, or even that every kind of brief exercise will produce the same results.
There is another reason to resist turning one trial into a universal formula. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in Frontiers in Nutrition on September 28 looked at 22 exercise-snack studies involving 994 participants. Across the available strength studies, the researchers did not find a statistically significant pooled improvement in strength. They rated the strength evidence as low certainty.
That does not put the review and the September 30 trial into some scientific cage match where one has to win. The review’s literature search ended on February 5, 2026, more than seven months before the newer trial was published, so it could not include the new results. The studies it did include also differed in their participants, exercises, schedules, and outcomes.
The reasonable conclusion is that the evidence is still developing and “exercise snacks” describes a broad idea rather than one standardized workout.
The part I find more immediately useful is what the September trial reveals about commitment. Researchers reported 100 percent adherence during the eight-week intervention. That is impressive, but it happened inside a structured study with instructions, an app, monitoring, and a defined finish line.
That environment matters.
Most of us do not have a research team noticing whether the 2:30 p.m. exercise break quietly disappeared underneath email, phone calls, client work, a kid pickup, or whatever caught fire after lunch. Nobody sends you a study reminder when you decide to keep working for another 40 minutes. There is no investigator waiting to record whether you followed the plan.
A shorter exercise bout removes one real obstacle. You no longer need to find an uninterrupted hour. It does not remove the need to decide what you are going to do, make it accessible when the opportunity appears, know how to perform it, and come back later to do it again.
That is a more interesting challenge than finding sixty seconds.
Short Does Not Mean Mindless
One reason short workouts get appealing so quickly is that duration is easy to measure. You did a minute. You checked the box. You moved on.
Phil Ross puts more attention on what happens inside that minute.
When we talked about exercise habits, Phil said, “Every time you go to swing that kettlebell or do your push ups, try to do it better than the time before.” That was not a comment on the September study. It was part of his broader coaching approach, and I think it gives us a useful way to think about what a short bout is actually for.
“Better” does not have to mean heavier weight, more speed, more repetitions, or turning every break into a miniature fitness test. It can mean cleaner movement, better control, better positioning, or simply paying enough attention to notice what you are doing instead of racing through the minute because the timer is running.
Suppose you have exactly three minutes between calls. You could grab a kettlebell, rush through a set while half-reading Slack, drop it back on the floor, and tell yourself you exercised. You could also treat the same small window as practice. You already know the movement, you give it your attention, and you notice when your form starts getting sloppy.
Those two versions may occupy the same amount of time. They are not necessarily the same experience.
The September trial measured outcomes such as strength and muscular endurance. It did not measure “quality of attention,” and it did not test Phil’s idea that trying to perform a movement better improves adherence or results. The study tells us what happened under one particular eight-week resistance-exercise protocol in sedentary young women. Phil gives us a separate practical lens for what a person might pay attention to when training outside a study.
I like that lens because it takes some of the weird pressure out of fitness goals. If the only score is how long you worked out, a one-minute bout can feel almost embarrassingly small. If part of the score is whether you practiced something with a little more control than yesterday, the minute has a job.
Maybe your schedule does not allow a traditional workout Tuesday afternoon. You still have a chance to practice something you already know. The useful question is whether you showed up with enough attention to make the repetition worth doing.
Phil also described exercise as an “opportunity of improvement.” His phrasing is a little different from the usual productivity language around habits. He is not telling you to optimize every spare minute. He is trying to remove the feeling that exercise is a chore you survive and replace it with the feeling that there is something small you can get better at.
That changes what a short session means. The goal is no longer to make the timer stop. The minute becomes practice.
Will You Repeat It Tomorrow?
The real test of a short workout starts when nobody is watching.
In the study, participants had a defined protocol, app support, instructions, and a research team behind the process. Ordinary workdays are less cooperative. Suppose a call runs long, someone needs an answer, lunch moves, and the exercise break you expected to take at 2:00 has disappeared by 4:17.
A missed window may simply show that the plan does not fit the workday yet.
Phil talks about this from the preference side. Some people like classes. Some want a training partner. Some prefer to work alone. He said the important thing is to “remove that dread factor” and find something you actually like enough to keep doing.
That does not tell you the correct exercise dose. It does help you think about whether the plan has any chance of surviving contact with a normal Wednesday.
If you hate the activity, resent the setup, or need twenty minutes just to get ready for a one-minute session, the small size of the workout will not save it. The friction is somewhere else.
This is where I would make the experiment very simple.
Pick two transitions that already happen in your workday. Maybe one is after your first morning call and the other is before lunch. Maybe it is when you finish recording an episode and again before you shut down for the day.
Decide what you would actually do in that window. Use a movement you already know how to perform safely. Figure out whether you need any instruction before you start. Make sure the space or equipment is available instead of turning the break into a scavenger hunt.
For one week, track only three things:
- What opportunity you planned to use
- Whether you actually used it
- If you skipped it, what got in the way
That is enough. You do not need a 30-day challenge, a color-coded habit tracker, and a new identity as someone who wakes up excited about burpees. You are trying to learn where the friction actually lives.
I have two kettlebells in my office. One is near the door and a larger one sits behind me. When Phil and I talked, I brought up how useful it can be just having them there between meetings.
That setup does not guarantee I will use them. It removes one obstacle.
If the kettlebell were in the garage under three boxes, I would have a different problem. If it is sitting a few feet away and I still leave it alone all afternoon, then equipment access was not the problem after all.
The same logic applies if your preferred activity is not strength training. Phil talked about people choosing different formats, including classes, training partners, solitary workouts, yoga, Pilates, and other activities. His broader point was that the activity and setting have to be something you can live with.
Suppose your planned break keeps failing because meetings slide over it. That points toward a scheduling problem. Suppose the time is available but you keep avoiding the movement because you dislike it. That points somewhere else. Suppose you are willing to do it, but every time the opportunity appears you are unsure which exercise to choose. Now the issue may be instruction or too many decisions.
A skipped opportunity is not automatically a character flaw. It is information.
That is especially important when we compare everyday life with a study reporting 100 percent adherence. A monitored eight-week protocol answers a research question under structured conditions. Your own week answers a different question: where does this idea actually break when nobody is organizing the day around it?
A one-week schedule experiment does not prove a habit has formed. It does not reproduce the September trial. It does not tell you that two short breaks are the correct amount of exercise for your health.
It gives you evidence about your own workday. Instead of vaguely saying “I am too busy,” you can see whether the obstacle is timing, setup, uncertainty, preference, or interruption.
That gives you something specific to change.
Progress Still Takes Time
Short sessions can reduce the size of the commitment without shortening the amount of time it takes to improve.
Phil gave a useful example when he described a 75-year-old client who eventually worked up to a weighted Turkish getup. According to Phil, the client had been training with him for a little under two years and needed about eight or nine months before he could perform the movement.
That is one person’s experience, not controlled evidence and not a benchmark for how quickly anyone else should progress. It is also an advanced movement, so the point is not that readers should copy it.
The useful part is the time horizon.
It is easy to hear “exercise snacks” and mentally connect short sessions with fast results. Those ideas do not automatically travel together. A workout can be brief while adaptation still takes weeks or months.
The September trial itself lasted eight weeks. It measured changes over that period under a structured program in a narrow population. It did not show what happens after six months, whether participants kept the routine afterward, or how quickly someone outside that population should expect to improve.
This becomes important when you start defining what you want the exercise to do for you.
Maybe your goal is functional rather than dramatic. You want a basic movement to feel more controlled. You want to feel more confident using a piece of equipment you already own. You want an activity that currently feels awkward to become familiar.
A short practice window may make those attempts easier to fit into the week. It does not eliminate the time required for improvement to accumulate.
That is where Phil’s older client becomes useful. The interesting part of the story is not a one-minute breakthrough. It is that a difficult movement eventually became possible after months of training.
There is something almost reassuring about that. You do not have to force every session to prove that the whole plan works. Today’s small bout can simply be another exposure to the thing you are learning to do.
That also gives you a better way to judge progress. A one-minute session can be evaluated immediately for whether you showed up and practiced with reasonable attention. The larger result belongs on a longer calendar.
Those are different clocks.
Confusing them is how a useful idea turns into another fitness disappointment. You try something small for four days, do not feel transformed, and decide the concept failed. Or you start increasing difficulty too quickly because the sessions feel too short to “count.”
Phil’s example points in the opposite direction. Give the work enough time to become work.
The same patience belongs in any experiment with short exercise. The size of the session can be small. Your expectation for how quickly your body changes does not have to be.
When you look at your own week, the first useful result may have nothing to do with strength. You may discover that the morning window works and the afternoon one never does. You may discover that the equipment is accessible but the activity itself is something you dread. You may discover that you are perfectly willing to exercise once the decision has already been made.
Those are useful findings because they tell you what to change before you build a bigger plan.
My kettlebells sitting in the office do not make me exercise. They make one particular excuse harder to use. The next question is whether I actually use the opportunity and keep using it long enough for the practice to mean something.
My office kettlebells make one excuse harder to use, but I still have to decide to pick them up. Phil Ross is one of my co-authors in Decisions, Courage, and Action, and his approach to repeatable effort gives you a useful starting point for taking action. Read Phil’s contribution in the book on Amazon.
About Phil Ross
Phil Ross is a fitness coach, college professor, and author whose work focuses on strength, movement, and practical ways to make exercise easier to fit into daily life. He created the BodyBell Method and has written several fitness books, including Exercise Snacks. His approach emphasizes technique, repeatable practice, and finding forms of training people are willing to continue. Connect with Phil Ross on LinkedIn.
Media and interview inquiries: To request an interview about exercise snacks and strength training, use his contact page.
Resources
McDonald’s AI Pricing Dispute: Who Really Gets the Final Say?
McDonald’s says its franchisees make the final call on menu prices. Reuters reported something messier. On September 29, 2026, Reuters published an investigation into McDonald’s existing pricing recommendation system and reported that five franchisees said they felt pressure to follow the company’s recommendations.
McDonald’s responded on October 1 that franchisees independently set their prices and can reject recommendations. The company also said the system does not set individualized customer prices and does not use real-time dynamic pricing.
That disagreement matters beyond hamburgers. If a company can truthfully say, “A human makes the final decision,” several practical questions remain. Who decided what the system should optimize? What information does the person making the decision actually see? Can that person disagree without creating another organizational problem? Who owns the result if the recommendation turns out to be wrong?
AI product executive Jason M. Riggs works on AI products in restaurant automation, where apparently simple outputs depend on a long chain of product decisions. In our conversation about AI leadership and decision speed, he described the complexity behind AI-powered drive-thru ordering, where customer requests can depend on menu data, modifiers, promotions, brand rules, point-of-sale systems, and human judgment during product development.
That does not give Jason inside knowledge of McDonald’s pricing system. It does give him a useful lens for examining what “human judgment” actually requires once AI starts recommending decisions that affect customers and the business.
For an executive, founder, or operator rolling AI into real decisions, the useful question is not whether a human technically remains somewhere in the loop. The harder question is whether that person has enough context, authority, and accountability to make the judgment meaningful.
The AI Recommendation Starts Long Before Someone Clicks Yes
The easiest place to look for human judgment is at the end of the process. The system makes a recommendation, someone looks at it, and that person accepts or rejects it. A lot has already happened before that moment.
Jason sees this in restaurant AI from the product side. When he described AI-powered drive-thru ordering, he pointed out that something as ordinary as ordering a hamburger gets complicated fast. Different brands use different language. Menus have modifiers, combos, coupons, limited-time offers, and rules about how those choices get entered into the point-of-sale system.
Drive-thru ordering and pricing are different problems. Jason did not build or evaluate McDonald’s pricing system. His example is useful for a narrower reason. It shows how much business judgment can disappear behind a clean recommendation on a screen.
Someone had to decide what the system was supposed to accomplish.
Reuters reported that McDonald’s pricing engine analyzes restaurant data and produces pricing recommendations for individual locations. Its reporting also described company involvement in parameters used to generate those recommendations, based in part on interviews with former employees of Tiger Analytics, which worked on the system.
Even if a franchisee ultimately decides whether to accept a recommendation, the recommendation did not arrive from nowhere. Someone selected inputs. Someone decided which outcomes matter. Someone decided what should count as an improvement and how the recommendation should be presented.
Those choices happen upstream.
The same issue shows up in smaller businesses. Suppose you give a sales manager an AI recommendation about which leads deserve immediate follow-up. The manager still has the final say, but the system may already have prioritized deal size, recent engagement, industry, or another signal before the manager sees anything.
If the system ignores something the manager knows from experience, the quality of the final human decision depends on whether the manager understands enough about the recommendation to challenge it.
Pricing can make those hidden choices particularly important because several reasonable objectives may pull in different directions. A recommendation could favor transaction growth, profitability, traffic, customer perception, competitive positioning, or some combination of them.
There is no need to guess which objective McDonald’s system prioritizes in a particular case. The Reuters reporting supports a more useful point. A recommendation is the output of choices made before the local operator ever receives it.
McDonald’s says franchisees independently set restaurant prices and may reject its recommendations. That distinction matters. The software recommends. The franchisee has the formal authority to act.
For an executive introducing AI into a consequential decision, formal authority is only one layer to inspect. You also need to know what problem the system was built to solve, what information shaped its answer, and whether the person receiving that answer knows enough to question it.
Otherwise, the final human review can become approval of a decision whose assumptions were settled somewhere upstream.
The next issue is what has to be true inside an organization for the ability to say no to function as real decision authority.
Having the Final Say Is Different From Being Free to Use It
Jason gave a useful example from his own restaurant AI work.
He described an AI system questioning an automatic upsell because the model considered it a mistake. From the model’s perspective, that recommendation could appear reasonable. From the business’s perspective, the upsell was intentional.
Someone had to know the customer, the business rule, and why the rule existed. Someone had to recognize that a technically plausible recommendation conflicted with what the company was actually trying to accomplish.
That is a more demanding version of human judgment than simply checking whether the AI produced an answer.
The analogy to pricing has limits. Jason’s drive-thru experience tells us nothing about whether a particular McDonald’s pricing recommendation is good or bad. It does show why an AI-assisted business decision can carry assumptions that are not obvious when it finally reaches the person expected to approve or reject it.
At McDonald’s, the company’s position is clear. Franchisees independently set menu prices and may reject the recommendations they receive.
Reuters reported a more complicated experience from some operators. Five franchisees told Reuters they felt pressure to follow the recommendations. That does not establish that franchisees lack the authority to say no. McDonald’s disputes any suggestion that the system removes their pricing control.
That tension is worth examining without pretending we can resolve it from outside the company.
Authority on paper and usable authority inside an organization are not always identical.
Imagine an operator receiving an AI-assisted recommendation that conflicts with something they know about their local customers. They may know a nearby competitor has changed an offer, that a particular item is unusually price-sensitive, or that a short-term event distorted recent demand.
The important issue is not merely whether there is a way to reject the recommendation. It is what happens when the operator does.
Can they explain the decision using information the system did not have? Does the organization want that local judgment, or does disagreement automatically look like resistance? Is the recommendation one input among several, or does it gradually become the default answer that requires special justification to challenge?
Jason described a related accountability problem in corporate decision-making: “nobody wants to make a decision because if you make a decision, you’re accountable, and you have sort of this group accountability, which means nobody’s accountable.”
AI can make that problem stranger.
The system recommended it. Corporate supplied the tool. The local operator approved it. Responsibility can become distributed across the process even though somebody still has to live with the outcome.
Meaningful human judgment requires more than keeping a person somewhere in the workflow. The person needs enough context to question the recommendation, enough authority to act on that judgment, and a clear understanding of who owns the result after the decision is made.
The Software Doesn’t Live With the Consequences
A person being present in the workflow does not automatically mean that person owns the decision.
AI can produce an answer, recommendation, or next step, but the system does not experience what happens after somebody follows it. Jason put this bluntly while talking about large language models: “they don’t care about your time, they don’t care about your money.”
He was not talking about McDonald’s pricing technology. The broader management problem still applies to AI-assisted decisions. Software can recommend an action without having any stake in whether it helps the customer, damages a relationship, squeezes a margin, creates extra work, or turns out to be wrong. Someone inside the business still owns those consequences.
That person needs more than permission to click yes or no. They need enough information to understand what the recommendation means and enough authority to challenge it when something important is missing.
Suppose a pricing recommendation looks mathematically reasonable but conflicts with something a local operator knows about the market. Meaningful judgment requires a way for that information to matter.
If the operator can technically reject the recommendation but has no useful way to explain why, or expects every disagreement to trigger another layer of approval, the organization has not necessarily created better human oversight. It may have created a slower rubber stamp.
Decision speed matters here.
Jason has argued that faster execution can expose slower corporate decision structures. Teams can produce analysis, prototypes, and recommendations faster than before, then sit waiting for finance, leadership, or another alignment meeting to make the next call.
Adding AI does not fix that problem if every automated recommendation creates another queue of humans waiting to approve it.
The answer is not to have a person manually bless every routine transaction.
In Jason’s restaurant work, the goal is eventually to let a well-designed system handle the situations it was built to handle. Human judgment matters heavily while the product is being designed, while exceptions are being defined, and when something consequential falls outside the expected pattern.
Keeping a human involved everywhere can defeat the reason for automating the work in the first place. The harder management job is deciding where judgment belongs.
For a consequential recommendation, someone usually needs to understand what the system is optimizing, recognize information it may not have, know when an exception deserves attention, and have clear authority to act. Someone also needs to look afterward and determine whether the decision produced the result the organization wanted.
The McDonald’s reporting makes that ownership question visible without resolving it for us. Reuters reported that several franchisees felt pressure to follow pricing recommendations. McDonald’s says franchisees retain pricing authority and may reject them. Those accounts should not be collapsed into a conclusion the evidence does not establish.
They do expose a useful test for any company using AI-assisted recommendations.
If a recommendation goes badly, who is expected to explain the decision?
If the answer is the operator, manager, or executive who approved it, that person needs more than ceremonial involvement. They need the information and authority required to exercise judgment before the consequences arrive.
Jason warned about the opposite habit directly: “Don’t let your human judgment atrophy, because it will.”
Keeping that judgment active does not require slowing every decision down. It requires deciding where human responsibility sits and giving that person enough room to use it.
Audit One AI Decision Before You Add Another Approval Layer
The practical way to use Jason’s ideas is to inspect one consequential AI-assisted decision already happening inside your business.
Do not start by asking whether the company needs more AI governance. That can easily produce another committee, policy document, or approval step. Start with one real recommendation that somebody is already expected to accept, reject, or act on.
First, write down what the recommendation is supposed to improve.
Is the system trying to increase revenue, reduce cost, improve conversion, shorten response time, protect margin, reduce errors, or improve customer experience? If nobody can state the goal clearly, it becomes difficult to judge whether the recommendation is useful.
Jason described the danger of approaching technology backward when he talked about a company pushing employees to use more AI simply because leadership wanted more AI. His reaction was blunt: “Here’s a solution. Go find some problems.”
The warning still applies after a system is already in place. You need to know what problem the recommendation is meant to solve.
Next, name the decision owner.
Not the department. Not “leadership.” Not “the team.” Put one role or one person beside the decision.
That does not mean one person performs every step or ignores everybody else’s expertise. It means someone has clear authority to make the call when the recommendation matters.
Then define what evidence would justify overriding the system.
This gives local knowledge, customer information, unusual circumstances, or better data a way into the process without turning every disagreement into an argument over whether somebody “trusts AI.”
A sales manager might know a large account has gone quiet because the buyer changed jobs. An operations leader might know a supplier delay makes the recommended schedule impossible. A restaurant operator might know something about local demand that is not represented in the data feeding a recommendation.
Human intuition does not automatically beat the system. Disagreement still needs a path.
If the only acceptable answer is whatever the system recommended, the person reviewing it does not have much judgment to exercise. If every disagreement requires three meetings and executive approval, you have created a different problem.
Finally, decide who looks at the outcome.
A recommendation should not disappear after somebody approves it. Someone needs to check what happened.
Did the decision improve the thing the system was supposed to improve? Did it create a customer problem somewhere else? Was the override justified? Did the recommendation expose something the human decision maker had missed?
That is where the organization can learn instead of merely accumulating approvals.
For one AI-assisted decision, write down four things: the goal, the owner, the evidence that can justify an override, and the person responsible for reviewing the result.
This is not a framework Jason named, and it is not a claim about how McDonald’s should structure its pricing process. It is a practical application of the problem his comments expose.
A recommendation can arrive in seconds. You do not necessarily need another layer of review around it. You need to know who owns the decision, what would justify saying no, and whether anyone checks what happened next.
Faster Decisions Still Need an Owner
The phrase “final say” sounds reassuring until you try to define it.
A person may technically approve or reject a recommendation, but that only matters if they know what the system is trying to do, can see when important information is missing, and have enough authority to act on their judgment without turning every exception into a bureaucratic fight.
Reuters reported that several McDonald’s franchisees felt pressure to follow pricing recommendations. McDonald’s says franchisees remain free to reject them. The reporting does not let us settle what every operator experiences inside that system, but it exposes a management question that will keep showing up as companies put AI into consequential decisions.
Who actually owns the call?
Jason has made the same broader point from a different direction. Faster execution only helps if decision-making keeps pace. In his words, “speed without clarity just creates chaos.”
Pick one AI-assisted decision in your business and make sure you can name the person who owns it, the evidence that would justify overriding the recommendation, and who checks the result.
If you cannot name that owner, the decision process is still unfinished.
An AI recommendation can arrive in seconds, but someone still has to own the call. Jason M. Riggs addresses that tension in “Decision Speed with Human Judgment,” his contribution to Decisions, Courage, and Action, the book we co-authored. Pick up the book on Amazon to read Jason’s chapter and the other co-authors’ perspectives on making decisions and following through.
About Jason M. Riggs
Jason M. Riggs is an AI product executive with more than 25 years of experience across software, hardware, cloud, and applied AI. In the September 4, 2026 episode of Marketer of the Day, he was identified as Chief Commercial and Product Officer at Audivi AI, where his work includes AI-powered drive-thru automation. His experience focuses on product leadership, decision speed, organizational accountability, and the role of human judgment as AI makes execution faster. He is also the author of The MACH-10 PM and The MACH-10 Leader. Connect with Jason M. Riggs on LinkedIn.
Media and interview inquiries: To request an interview about AI leadership and human judgment, visit his press page.
Resources
1670: Authority Economy, AI Trust and Business Growth with Tracy Repchuk
In today’s rapidly shifting AI-driven landscape, business owners and coaches are discovering that information alone is no longer enough to stand out. Tracy Repchuk explains how artificial intelligence has turned information into a cheap commodity, wiping out the advantage once held by experts who simply “knew more.” Instead, she introduces the concept of the Authority Economy, where trust, positioning, and credibility have become the true currencies of choice. Rather than trying to shout louder in a noisy marketplace, leaders must intentionally build authority capital that clearly separates them from AI-generated noise and short-term imitators. Tracy shares how decades of navigating technological disruption have shown her that those who adapt and elevate their leadership rise above the chaos. This episode is a roadmap for anyone who feels overshadowed by AI and wants to become the obvious, trusted choice in their niche.
The Authority Economy Framework that Tracy reveals is built on three core phases: diagnosis, alignment, and signals. First, she helps entrepreneurs identify the hidden authority gaps in their pricing, offers, positioning, and messaging so they stop guessing at what’s broken. Next, she walks through authority alignment across seven critical pillars, ensuring that everything from premium pricing to buyer-fit messaging reinforces a powerful, trust-building narrative. Only then does it make sense to amplify visibility and broadcast authority signals such as results, recognition, media features, and leadership presence. This strategic sequence prevents visibility from simply magnifying what is not working and instead turns it into a multiplier for impact and revenue. Listeners will walk away understanding why random posting, networking, and speaking are not enough without a solid authority infrastructure behind them.
Tracy also opens up about her personal journey as an introvert who has spent 40 years in business, spoken in 47 countries, and weathered every major technological shift from early PCs to the internet to social media and now AI. She shares how a near-death experience clarified her purpose: to help others fulfill their mission by combining her technical background with marketing and strategic thinking. The conversation highlights why leaders must claim a category-of-one position, let go of being merely “good,” and step fully into visible, confident authority before AI creates endless clones of their expertise. Listeners are encouraged to begin with her Authority Alignment Assessment at AuthorityIndexScore.com to diagnose their own authority leverage gaps and get a customized report on what to fix first. Tracy also discusses her new book, “12 Laws of the Authority Economy,” which lays out the governing principles entrepreneurs can use right now to organize and future-proof their businesses. If you want to transform from overlooked expert to sought-after authority in an AI-saturated world, this episode delivers the insights and next steps to make that shift real.
Quotes:
“Artificial intelligence made information abundant; what used to be our greatest asset is now the cheapest commodity in the room.”
“Visibility and authority are not the same thing; visibility simply magnifies reality, so if your message and positioning are off, getting seen more just exposes what’s not working.”
“You have to start focusing on authority-building assets, your authority capital, because that’s what makes you the trusted choice in an AI-saturated world.”
Contact Details:
- Explore Tracy Repchuk’s Authority Economy and Turn Your Expertise Into Lasting Authority
- Ready for Your Next Level? Turn your Expertise Into Lasting Authority, Impact, and Growth
- Discover Your Authority Score: Unlock Your Next Level
- Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn and Elevate Your Authority
- Follow Tracy for Insights that Elevate your Authority and Impact
- Get Fresh Insights to Build your Authority, Influence, and Impact: Follow Tracy on X
- Unlock Powerful Business Insights: Follow the Tracy Repchuk YouTube Channel
- Grow your impact: Get inspired on Tracy Repchuk’s Pinterest
- 12 Laws of the Authority Economy on Amazon
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1669: A Life of Impact and Kidney Transplant Legacy with Dr. David Kountz
Segregation, poverty, and a complete lack of role models didn’t stop pioneering kidney transplant surgeon Dr. Samuel L. Kountz from transforming modern medicine, and his story is finally being told in depth. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Dr. David Kountz, M.D. shares insights from his book A Life of Impact, a biography of his father’s journey from rural Arkansas in the segregated South to worldwide recognition as a transplant innovator. Listeners will hear how a childhood incident watching a surgeon repair a friend’s broken leg sparked an “impossible” dream for a young Black boy with no clear path into medicine. The episode explores how Dr. Samuel Kountz navigated racist barriers, built key relationships such as with future Senator William Fulbright, and persisted through under-resourced schooling to eventually enter the University of Arkansas medical school. You’ll learn how his background in chemistry and immunology positioned him perfectly to enter the brand-new field of organ transplantation in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This conversation sets the stage for understanding not just one man’s rise, but how his determination changed what was medically and socially possible.
The episode dives into Dr. Kountz’s remarkable surgical career, during which he performed over 500 kidney transplants at a time when the procedure was still viewed as highly experimental. Dr. David Kountz explains how his father combined technical excellence with extraordinary bedside manner, earning the trust of patients and families facing terrifying, unproven treatments. Listeners will hear how consent conversations in that era were radically different from today, requiring patients to take a leap of faith on what felt like science fiction, moving organs from one human to another to save a life. The story highlights that while modern audiences may take kidney, heart, and organ transplants for granted, in the 1960s this work was “like landing on the moon.” Beyond the operating room, the episode emphasizes how Dr. Kountz championed teamwork, insisting that transplant success depended on nurses, surgeons, and the entire care team performing in sync. These details give the audience a vivid look into the human, ethical, and emotional dimensions behind a procedure that is now routine but was once controversial and feared.
A key highlight of the conversation is the 1976 live kidney transplant on the Today Show, an audacious public education effort that led to roughly 20,000 new organ donors signing up in the weeks after it aired. Dr. David Kountz describes watching that broadcast as a teenager, understanding the enormous risk to his father’s reputation if anything went wrong, and witnessing his calm confidence born of repetition and mastery. The episode explores how this national TV moment helped demystify transplantation for both the public and skeptical physicians, shifting it from fringe experiment to mainstream medicine. Listeners also learn how Dr. David Kountz forged his own path in internal medicine and medical education, intentionally avoiding being a “carbon copy” of his father while still being guided by his example of joy, optimism, and purpose-driven work. He shares powerful life lessons, including his personal mantra of taking work seriously but not taking oneself too seriously, and using humor and levity to ease anxiety for students and patients. By the end, the episode frames A Life of Impact not just as a medical biography, but as a universal blueprint for resilience, focus, and staying committed to your goals despite discrimination, doubt, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Quotes:
"He understood he needed to demystify it; to make it a very real kind of event so that people could see transplantation not as science fiction, but as a medical reality that would become more and more common."
"You should never not be willing to look for help and look for others who can help you achieve your dreams."
"Anywhere he would go and try to start a new transplant program, you could educate one very smart person who's the surgeon, but you also have to educate that entire team."
Contact Details:
- Discover a Legacy That Changed Medicine: Explore the Official Website of Dr. David Kountz
- Connect With Dr. David Kountz on LinkedIn for Insights that Inspire Healthier, Stronger Leadership
- Follow Dr. David Kountz on Instagram to Be Inspired; Think Differently; Live Purposefully
- Follow Dr. David Kountz on Facebook to Discover Insights that Inspire Change
- A Life of Impact: A Biography of Samuel L. Kountz, MD on Amazon
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1668: Rapture Timing, Tribulation and End-Times Clarity with Howard Hunt
End-times prophecy can be confusing, especially when popular teachings seem to conflict with Scripture and history. In this episode, Howard Hunt, author of “Warning Rapture: The Great Disappearance, An Eventual Problem in Timing,” shares insights from over four decades of intensive study on the rapture and the tribulation. He explains why he believes the widely accepted pre-tribulation rapture view is based more on assumptions, recent history, and financial interests than on clear biblical foundations. Drawing from passages like Daniel 9, Ezekiel 38–39, and 2 Thessalonians 2, he lays out a detailed sequence of prophetic events that challenges conventional thinking. Howard also uncovers the historical roots of rapture theory in the 1830s and how it spread through movements, teaching institutions, and study Bibles. His research raises tough questions about why so many believers expect to be removed from suffering when the apostles themselves endured great hardship. This conversation is designed to help listeners think critically about what they have been taught and return to a deeper, Scripture-first understanding of end-times doctrine.
Howard walks through the idea that a coming war involving Israel, Russia, and surrounding nations could trigger a peace treaty that marks the start of the seven-year tribulation. He explains how this covenant, linked to the Antichrist, sets prophetic “time” in motion and why the midpoint when the Antichrist stands in the temple and declares himself to be God is so crucial. Listeners hear how Howard differentiates between the general tribulation and the “great tribulation,” connecting it to the true wrath of God described in Revelation. He also discusses why miscalculations about rapture dates have caused real-world damage, from people selling possessions in anticipation of escape to believers becoming disillusioned when predictions fail. Through personal stories from ranching life, time in Israel, and ministry experiences, he illustrates how easily people can follow spiritual trends like sheep led astray. Howard emphasizes that a misguided hope of avoiding hardship could leave many unprepared for deception, persecution, and apostasy. This episode challenges Christians to rethink comfort-driven beliefs and to anchor their expectations in careful, contextual biblical study.
At the heart of Howard’s message is a call to spiritual readiness, genuine faith, and a living relationship with God rather than reliance on sensational timelines. He urges believers to “study to show yourself approved,” describing true worship not just as outward expression but as a lifelong pursuit of knowing God and His Word. The conversation highlights the urgency of preparing hearts, sharing the gospel, and strengthening the kingdom of God within, especially if current global tensions point toward a rapidly approaching prophetic season. Howard also shares how near-death experiences, personal loss, and hardship deepened his dependence on grace and convinced him that God can meet people anywhere, even at their lowest point. He reminds listeners that faith is activated through listening being quiet before God, using our “two ears and one mouth” to hear more than we speak. The episode closes with an encouragement to be ready, watchful, and compassionate toward others as prophetic events unfold. For those wrestling with questions about the rapture, tribulation, and what lies ahead, this discussion offers clarity, challenge, and a powerful invitation to seek truth beyond popular theories.
Quotes:
"It's the Bible that says to study to show yourself approved, a workman rightly dividing the word of truth. To worship God is to learn of Him."
"End-times deception is basically monetary. The rapture teaching went into the Scofield Bible, it went to the universities, and it really brought in the money."
"I just want to share information that may be beneficial to the brethren and to people who do not know the Lord, because there’s a lot of pre-trib stuff going on all over, and it’s deceptive."
Contact Details:
Warning Rapture: The Great Disappearance, An Eventual Problem in Timing on Amazon
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1667: Data-Driven Podcast Audience Growth with David Ledgerwood
Podcast downloads alone rarely prove whether a campaign reached the right audience or delivered business value. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, entrepreneur David Ledgerwood of Listen Network Co explains how targeted podcast distribution and audience analytics can help agencies move beyond vanity metrics and demonstrate ROI. Drawing on decades of entrepreneurial experience, Ledgerwood shares how he has built and bootstrapped a portfolio of niche businesses through changing markets and economic downturns. He discusses the value of pattern recognition, patience, and knowing when to refine an idea, or move on. His practical business philosophy centers on keeping cash reserves, limiting debt, and letting complementary ventures support one another. The conversation offers useful perspectives for founders, agency leaders, and marketers seeking sustainable growth.
Ledgerwood describes Listen Network’s approach to making podcast advertising more measurable by connecting campaigns with human downloads from carefully defined target audiences. With demographic and professional insights such as age, household income, and job titles, agencies can better understand who engaged with a podcast campaign. That data can help teams report on performance, build client confidence, and shape editorial decisions around audience response. He also explains why podcasting’s open RSS ecosystem can make attribution difficult, and why measurement tools can make the channel easier to evaluate alongside other digital marketing. Beyond podcast analytics, Ledgerwood outlines RIGGG’s owned-media strategy, spanning video, podcasts, newsletters, webinars, and community building. His approach emphasizes creating content infrastructure a company controls rather than depending entirely on social platforms, paid media, or third-party PR.
The episode also explores how to manage several ventures without scattering time and attention. Ledgerwood says his partner group uses a shared backlog and Scrum-like prioritization, shifting focus toward the work closest to revenue while accounting for capacity and well-being. He cautions against assuming every available hour will be productive and encourages founders to plan realistically, make deliberate progress, and avoid rushing. Family is central to his perspective: as a father of five, he prioritizes parenting and recommends putting phones away and making time for meaningful conversations with children. His guiding reminder, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast,” captures the value of preparation, focus, and doing the work carefully. For entrepreneurs interested in podcast ROI, owned media, bootstrapping, sustainable business growth, and work-life balance, this conversation offers practical ideas and hard-earned lessons.
Quotes:
"The most important thing isn’t the money, it’s your time. You can only work on one or two things at the same time, so what rises to the top really matters."
"I’ve always been passionate about the podcast agency space, but we’ve all been fighting against an open, anonymous protocol. Podcasts don’t play along with traditional marketing data."
"If we can get really precise about who your podcast reaches, that becomes statistically representative of how your target audience behaves when presented with your show."
Contact Details:
- Put Your Podcast in Front of the Right Audience: Visit Listen Network
- Ready to Win Bigger Deals? Build Your Enterprise-Ready Agency Today
- Turn Your Expertise Into Content That Compounds: Start With Riggg
- Discover New Ways to Grow Your Business. Connect with David Ledgerwood on LinkedIn
- Follow David Ledgerwood on Instagram for More Business Insights
- Learn, Think, Grow: Follow David Ledgerwood on X
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:27 — 43.2MB) | Embed
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1666: Employee Wellness, Sleep Habits with Cynthia Conigliaro
Business owners and corporate leaders aren’t just juggling deadlines and revenue goals they’re also battling exhaustion, information overload, and conflicting health advice. Today’s guest, Cynthia Conigliaro, founder of Work Well Webinars, brings over 25 years of experience in health, mental health, and organizational wellness to help professionals finally make sense of it all. With a background in weight loss, social work, and an MBA in organizational development, Cynthia bridges physical, emotional, and workplace well-being in a way that’s practical and sustainable. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Cynthia breaks down why so many ambitious, health-conscious people still feel confused and frustrated. Between contradictory nutrition headlines, evolving research, and the constant buzz around new wellness trends, it’s easy to feel paralyzed. Cynthia explains how to cut through the noise by using trusted sources, listening to your own body, and partnering with qualified professionals while still taking advantage of the best that AI and modern tools have to offer.
A major focus of the conversation is sleep as a non-negotiable pillar of health. Cynthia shares simple but powerful strategies to improve sleep quality, from getting morning light within 15–30 minutes of waking, to building a consistent bedtime routine, to handling those middle-of-the-night wakeups without spiraling into anxiety. She also reframes self-care for busy entrepreneurs and leaders: it’s not indulgence, it’s an operational necessity. When leaders model healthy boundaries like not sending 10 p.m. emails they create cultures where employees are more energized, loyal, and productive. The episode also dives into AI and wellness, emphasizing how tools like ChatGPT can support prevention, self-awareness, and better doctor visits without replacing the human element of care. Cynthia shares how AI can help track habits, organize observations, and reduce fear in the moment, while still keeping medical professionals at the center of diagnosis and treatment. AI becomes a complement, not a substitute, for real-world expertise.
Finally, Cynthia explores the role of resilience in both life and business. She explains that resilience isn’t something a lucky few are born with; it’s a skill developed through facing stress, setbacks, and even trauma. By recognizing how much we’ve already overcome, we can build confidence to handle what’s next. Her philosophy of “count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms” captures the mindset shift that allows high achievers to pursue big goals without burning out. If you care about longevity, mental fitness, and building a healthier company culture, this episode will give you practical tools and a fresh, encouraging perspective.
Quotes:
“No one size fits all. What’s good for someone may not be good for you, so a lot of wellness is really listening to your body and choosing strategies that help you live optimally.”
“Sleep is a non-negotiable pillar of health. Some people need more, some need less, but we all need to understand why we actually need to sleep.”
“You really can’t pour from an empty cup. If a leader is exhausted and practicing unhealthy coping styles, it’s not going to set a good example for their employees.”
Contact Details:
- Bring Wellness to Your Team: Visit Work Well Webinars
- Start Your Wellness Journey: Book Your Wellness Coaching Session with Cynthia
- Ready to Take the Next Step Toward Better Well-Being? Connect With Cynthia on LinkedIn
- Follow Cynthia on Instagram and Book Your Wellness Coaching Session
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:42 — 36.7MB) | Embed
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1665: Fandom Marketing to Create Passionate Fans with David Meerman Scott
Turning customers into raving fans isn’t just for rock bands and blockbuster brands, it's a repeatable business strategy backed by neuroscience. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, David Meerman Scott bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, Fanocracy, and the upcoming The Fandom Playbook (late 2026) breaks down how fandom marketing can transform the way you grow your business in an era of AI slop and online chaos. Instead of chasing shallow clicks and fleeting attention, David shows how to build deep, emotional connections with the people you serve. You’ll hear how mirror neurons and our hardwired need for tribe and belonging explain why video, live events, and in‑person gatherings can create “I feel like I know you” relationships at scale even when you’ve never met your audience in real life. David shares practical ways to bring that same energy into your brand, from hosting conferences and meetups to simple client dinners that turn customers into a community. If you’ve ever wondered why fans camp out for product launches, travel across the world for events, or tattoo logos on their bodies, this conversation connects the dots and shows how those same principles apply to your business.
David also reveals one of the most surprising fandom strategies from his new book: tearing down the wall between your personal and professional life. Through stories like the skateboarding dentist who grew new patients by 33% and revenue by 23% just by sharing his passion online, David illustrates how authentic quirks and hobbies such as surfing, classic cars, Lindy Hop dancing, and more make you memorable and magnetic. Passion is contagious, and when you let people see what you genuinely love, you stop being just another provider and start becoming someone they root for. Another underused play David unpacks is unlocking hidden data inside your organization to create value that fans can’t get anywhere else. You’ll learn how companies like Hagerty Insurance built a massive fandom by freely sharing aggregated classic car values, and how a secure data‑room provider turned anonymized M&A activity into must‑have market intelligence for Wall Street. These examples show how so‑called “boring” data, when opened up and packaged well, can become a powerful fandom engine that attracts, educates, and retains your ideal audience.
Throughout the episode, David ties these ideas together with a clear promise: in a world dominated by algorithms, automation, and AI‑generated noise, leaning into humanity is the contrarian advantage. The Fandom Playbook: How to Create Passionate Fans in a World of Online Chaos distills his 20+ years of research into nine concrete plays you can start using today, whether you’re a startup founder, consultant, CMO, nonprofit leader, or creator. If you’re ready to escape online chaos, build a real tribe around your work, and make your marketing feel fun again, this episode will give you both the inspiration and the roadmap to start building your own fanocracy.
Quotes:
"As I was researching this idea of fandom, this thing came up again and again and again: it's a genuine human connection."
"If you can build a tribe of like‑minded people in your business, any way that you can have in‑person connections, you are building fans because you're building a tribe."
"Show us in your business world who you are as a person. What are those things you're passionate about? Because passion is infectious."
Contact Details:
- Turn Customers Into Fans → Explore David’s Strategies
- Stop Selling. Start Creating Fans. Discover the Fandom Marketing Strategy
- Discover Smarter Ways to Create Fans: Connect with David Meerman Scott on LinkedIn
- Follow David Meerman Scott on Facebook for Fresh Marketing Insights
- Want to Build a Fan-First Brand? Follow David Meerman Scott on X
- The New Rules of Marketing & PR on Amazon
- Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans on Amazon
- The Fandom Playbook on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:19 — 34.8MB) | Embed
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1664: Authentic Networking Dinners with Brandie Weaver
Traditional networking is getting louder, colder, and more automated, and that leaves a lot of business owners feeling disconnected. Instead of forcing small talk over stale coffee, Brandie Weaver of The Listening Table is bringing people back around a real dinner table, where intentional conversation, chef-led meals, and live music create authentic relationships that actually matter. Her traveling supper club attracts Americana music fans, entrepreneurs, and business owners who are tired of transactional networking and ready for genuine community. In this episode, Brandie shares how she turned a decade of producing large-scale music festivals into a high-touch, relationship-driven business model.
She explains how The Listening Table is carefully curated long before guests ever sit down: researching attendees in advance, placing people at the right tables, and using personalized place cards with funny facts to spark conversation and laughter. Phones are put away, awkwardness is eased, and even the most extroverted attendees feel supported walking into the room. The result is a space where people don’t just exchange business cards, they form friendships, travel to shows together, and collaborate on real projects. Brandie also walks through the business side of creating premium, intimate experiences in an industry with tight margins. Running The Listening Table alongside her experiential marketing agency, she uses per-seat pricing, memberships, and smart negotiation with chefs and artists to make each event sustainable without sacrificing quality. For guests, the ticket isn’t just a fancy night out, it's an immersive experience that would easily cost as much as a high-end concert and dinner, but with deeper connection built in.
A big focus of the conversation is Brandie’s belief that the smallest details can have the biggest emotional impact. From vintage 1960s Reader’s Digest books hollowed out to reveal branded flasks, to desserts paired with guests’ favorite cocktails, every touchpoint is designed to make people feel seen, valued, and part of something special. As she looks ahead to future dinners in Driftwood and Bentonville and an expanded calendar of events in 2027, Brandie is committed to one simple goal: ensuring that everyone who joins The Listening Table walks out feeling better, more connected, and more human than when they walked in. If you’ve been craving deeper, more meaningful networking in a fast, AI-driven world, this episode offers a powerful blueprint for creating experiences that people never forget.
Quotes:
"All I can say is, you just have to come to a dinner and experience it; you'll understand, it's magic."
"We don’t just go to attend an event to wander around a room, never have anyone speak to us, and walk out feeling more lonely than we did before we arrived."
"As we disconnect in order to bring us all back together for connection, we just need to be nice to one another and think about these things."
Contact Details:
- The Table Is Waiting; Come Be Part of the Experience: Visit The Listening Table Today
- Turn Your Vision Into Meaningful Results: Explore Brandie Weaver Official Website
- Connect with Brandie on LinkedIn for Her Latest Insights and Ideas
- Follow Brandie on Facebook for Personal Stories, Honest Insights, and Ideas Worth Sharing
- Follow Brandie on TikTok for Quick Insights on Leadership, Partnerships, and Growth
- Don’t miss Brandie’s Next Insight: Follow Her on Instagram
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:48 — 29.9MB) | Embed
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1663: AI Companions, Careers, and Corporate Culture with Josef Stetter
Business and career success in the age of AI won’t come from using more tools; it will come from using them more humanely and strategically. Today’s guest, Josef Stetter of Cultural Transformation Systems and TEDx speaker behind “Humans, Not Headcounts,” has helped over 12,000 people land jobs they love, with a 90% success rate of getting them employed in under three months using proven systems that blend AI with authentic human storytelling. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Josef reframes AI not as a task-running “agent” but as a deeply personalized AI companion a system that knows your history, values, style, and accomplishments so well that it can write in your voice, surface forgotten strategies, and even preserve your legacy for your kids long after you’re gone. He shares how his own AI companion has already written successful summit applications, matched his exact tone, and helped him show up more powerfully in his career without losing authenticity.
Josef also dives into the brutal reality of today’s AI-driven job market, where a single remote posting can attract 20,000 resumes and applicant tracking systems decide who gets seen. He explains why generic AI-written resumes fail, and how to stand out by combining AI with quantified impact stories: not “I answered phones,” but “I handled 60 calls a day across 12 lines,” proving capacity, performance, and value at a glance. He reveals how he reverse-engineered top resume scanners and ATS platforms so clients can hit 95%+ match scores across dozens of systems with just one strategically built resume. Beyond individual careers, Josef tackles the crisis of corporate culture and employee disengagement, where disengaged workers are costing the global economy trillions of dollars in lost productivity. He argues that culture isn’t pizza Fridays; it's what people say when managers leave the room. Josef shows how misaligned values, unclear leadership, and the misuse of AI (every department running its own rogue tools) create compliance risks, burnout, and massive internal conflict. He outlines how organizations can introduce AI responsibly by setting clear guardrails, centralizing standards, and preserving human authority over decisions that truly require empathy, ethics, and lived experience.
This conversation is a powerful guide for anyone who wants to use AI to enhance human potential, not erase it. Whether you’re a job seeker trying to break through automated filters, a leader worried about AI chaos inside your company, or a professional who wants an AI “second brain” that actually sounds like you, Josef’s perspective will help you navigate the AI wave with strategy, heart, and integrity. Stay tuned to learn how to build AI companions, design standout resumes, and create workplaces where humans are treated as people not headcounts.
Quotes:
“AI can simulate empathy, but it cannot be empathetic. It can say ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ but it will never feel the pain of an unfinished conversation with someone who’s gone.”
“It's not about just using AI for marketing tasks; it's about companionship; about having something that knows your stories, your traumas, and how you moved through them so it can help you connect more deeply with other human beings.”
“I’m not here to tell a company how to run its business; I’m here to tell leadership: if this is the culture you want, own it, and then attract the people who actually thrive in that culture.”
Contact Details:
- Discover How Cultural Transformation Systems Can Help You Build a Culture That Drives Results
- Ready to Turn Ideas Into Real Growth? Connect With Josef on LinkedIn and Start the Conversation
- Follow Josef on Facebook for Insights that Drive Change
- Follow Josef on Instagram for Powerful Insights that Can Change How you Lead and Grow
- Follow Josef on X for Fresh Insights that Spark Growth and Action
- Learning My Why on Amazon
- Humans, Not Headcounts on YouTube
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:08 — 49.6MB) | Embed
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1662: AEC Project Controls and Cash Flow Mastery with Percy Williams
A technically successful AEC project can still turn into a financial disappointment when profits quietly fade and cash flow stalls. Today’s guest, Marine veteran and senior project controls leader Percy M. Williams has spent over 20 years on the financial front lines of architecture, engineering, and construction projects from sub-$10,000 jobs to $100+ million programs. Drawing on experience with major multidisciplinary firms like Aecom, Percy wrote “The AEC Project Controls Playbook” to help firms safeguard profitability, improve cash flow, and deliver on their promises with integrity. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Percy breaks down why project controls aren’t just back-office paperwork; they're the guardrails that protect margins, stabilize cash, and prevent “profit fade” and “margin erosion.” He explains how seemingly small deviations from standard procedures, such as starting work without a fully executed contract, can snowball into seven-figure problems, delayed billing, and strained vendor relationships. Cash truly is king in the AEC world, and Percy shows how disciplined controls keep money moving and projects viable.
Percy also introduces his leadership framework built on character, competence, courage, and communication, with character as the foundation. Drawing from his Marine Corps background, he shares how a personal “code” values, ethics, and principles you refuse to compromise directly shapes project outcomes and financial performance. Technology and AI can help process data, but they cannot replace the human leadership required to influence behavior, honor commitments, and deliver projects within the profit and margin targets originally sold to the client. This conversation dives into lessons learned, common pitfalls, and practical best practices for AEC project managers, project accountants, and controllers. Percy highlights why frontline leaders must be treated as true business partners, empowered to make timely decisions in the best interest of both the project and the organization because by the time issues reach corporate finance, it’s often already damage control. The AEC Project Controls Playbook serves as a desktop reference, giving both new and seasoned professionals a way to regularly revisit fundamental principles, refresh their discipline, and continuously improve.
If you’re responsible for projects, profitability, or cash flow in AEC or any business that depends on contracts, billing, and delivery this episode offers a clear roadmap to protect margins, strengthen financial resilience, and ensure that what looks good on paper actually holds up in reality.
Quotes:
"When I say deliver projects with integrity, I mean if we sold a project at a certain profit and margin, it’s our responsibility to actually deliver within those parameters."
"You can have a project that looks healthy on paper, but if you don't maintain those project controls disciplines, you will experience profit fade or margin erosion."
"Character plays a key role in the project manager doing the right thing to deliver not just the services and materials, but also the financial commitments we said we would honor."
Contact Details:
- Your Path to Financial Wellness Starts Here: Discover PM&JM Financial Services
- Ready to Transform Your Financial Future? Connect with Percy Williams on LinkedIn
- Build a Stronger Financial Future: Follow Percy Williams on Facebook Today
- The AEC Project Controls Playbook on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:07 — 31.7MB) | Embed
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1661: Christian Trauma Healing and Forgiveness with Kari Dumouchel-Parker
Pain, loss, and unanswered questions about God can leave people feeling stuck, bitter, and far from hope. Guest author Kari Dumouchel-Parker has walked through decades of both mountaintop beauty and real-life trauma, and she’s turned those experiences into powerful stories designed to help readers heal. Drawing from over 30 years of backpacking in the Smoky Mountains, Kari weaves together physical danger, solitude, and problem-solving on the trail with the emotional and spiritual work required to face heartbreak, abuse, grief, and fear. In this episode, Kari shares how her long-distance hiking adventures, getting lost, crossing dangerous rivers, facing washed-out trails, and pushing through exhaustion became living metaphors for navigating life’s hardest seasons. She talks about the moment she chose to trust God’s sovereignty in the face of real-world danger on the Appalachian Trail, and how that same trust shows up in her characters and stories. These wilderness experiences shape the emotional landscape of her novel Sanctuary, where the main character, Tess, leaves everything familiar in Florida to start over in the West, confront her pain, and rediscover who she is.
Kari also dives into her core belief that real growth comes through pain. An easy life rarely forces anyone to look inward, but hard events expose our character, our blind spots, and our patterns. She explains the crucial choice we all face after a traumatic or painful event: either get stuck in bitterness and stay emotionally frozen in that moment, or take time to analyze what happened, what we contributed, and what we’re being invited to learn. For Kari, forgiveness is not about excusing the offender or pretending the hurt didn’t matter; it’s about stepping out of the emotional “ring” with that person and handing them over to God, so we can finally move forward with mental and emotional freedom. Her nonfiction book God Reigns introduces readers to who God is, what His attributes reveal about His heart, and the hidden snares that quietly stall spiritual growth. It tackles the everyday battles believers face, the lies that keep people stuck, and the reality that God deeply loves and pursues each person. Sanctuary, by contrast, uses the vehicle of romance and adventure to explore wounds, identity, and the longing for a great love. Tess encounters two very different men and experiences two distinct kinds of love, all while wrestling with grief, past trauma, and the search for purpose. Kari draws from her own loss of her husband, as well as real-life professional experiences that inspired the backstory of the antagonist, to ground the novel in emotional truth.
Throughout the conversation, Kari emphasizes identity, calling, and the current cultural confusion over who we are. She believes that knowing you are deeply loved by God and understanding something as basic yet profound as truly embracing your identity unlocks the ability to live out your calling with clarity and confidence. Her hope is that Sanctuary and God Reigns will help readers process their pain, release lifelong bitterness, and recognize the quiet ways God has been calling and “wooing” them all along. If you’re wrestling with trauma, spiritual questions, or the fear of starting over, Kari’s stories and insights offer both a challenge and an invitation: you don’t have to stay stuck in the past; you can step into healing, forgiveness, and a new chapter of life with God at the center.
Quotes:
“A lot of people don’t want to forgive because they feel like if they forgive, they’re releasing the other person from the bad event. They think they’re punishing the other person, when in fact they’re punishing themselves.”
“If your life is easy, you don’t have any reason to grow because you don’t have any chance. You think you’re okay; you don’t see that there’s a personality issue that may have led you down the wrong road.”
“When you forgive, God says they’re My problem; they’re not your problem. You can get out of the ring, go on and live your life, and whatever that person’s situation is, it’s not yours anymore.”
Contact Details:
- Discover Stories of Hope & Healing: Explore Kari’s Books Today
- Need Hope for Your Next Chapter? Follow Kari on Facebook for Faith, and Inspiration
- Don’t Let Your Past Define Your Future: Follow Kari on Instagram for Faith, Healing, and Hope
- God Reigns on Amazon
- Sanctuary on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:38 — 27.0MB) | Embed
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1660: Modern Ecommerce & Whatnot Live Shopping with Stephen Somers
Business owners don’t struggle because of a lack of online opportunities; they struggle because they’re overwhelmed by options, stuck in “learning mode,” and unsure which path will actually produce a reliable income stream. Today’s guest, Stephen Somers, co-founder of Marketplace Superheroes, has helped over 10,000 students build real e-commerce income using Amazon and now the fast-growing live shopping platform Whatnot. He’s gone from quitting his 9–5 to running a global education business, bringing in expert instructors, and guiding everyday people into profitable side incomes online. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Stephen breaks down how social shopping and marketplaces like Amazon and Whatnot are creating powerful opportunities for regular people to build a modern, scalable income stream. He shares how Marketplace Superheroes evolved by buying out a partner, bringing in specialists like Mike Sieben for Amazon and Josh Garrett for Whatnot, and shifting his role from “do everything” founder to content-driven leader supported by a team of experts. Along the way, Stephen is transparent about the hard lessons: including launching a freight company during COVID, getting hit by an 8x spike in shipping costs almost overnight, and losing millions in the process while still keeping the core education business growing.
Stephen also explains why AI is an accelerator, not a replacement for serious entrepreneurs. Yes, AI can answer technical questions and speed up tasks, but it can’t replace nuanced strategy, real-world experience, or the accountability that comes from a community and coaches who are actually doing the work. Marketplace Superheroes now uses AI to build better tools for students, not to eliminate the need for training, coaching, and implementation. The big differentiator? Students who win are the ones who move past endless research and take consistent action testing products, launching streams, buying inventory, and iterating instead of consuming more content. A major focus of this conversation is Whatnot, an $8B-and-growing live auction marketplace where sellers stream from their phones and buyers bid in real time. Stephen explains why trading card games are currently one of the hottest categories, how his team went from zero followers to nearly $250K in 125 days and close to half a million dollars in sales, and how students like Shameen from Canada have generated over $50K in under 90 days even without being “typical” young livestream influencers. He also zooms out to the bigger trend of live social shopping, why TikTok and others are racing into this space, and how being early, but strategic can create a serious edge.
Stephen closes by sharing a powerful mindset shift inspired by Charlie Munger: “To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want.” Instead of obsessing over self-belief, he encourages aspiring sellers to believe in a proven system, follow the process step by step, and take the actions that a “deserving” person would actually take whether that’s launching an Amazon listing, going live on Whatnot, or finally committing to an e-commerce side hustle. If you’re interested in building a modern online income stream with Amazon, Whatnot, or live social shopping, and you’re ready to graduate from passive learning to real execution, this episode will show you what’s working right now and how Marketplace Superheroes are helping people do it.
Quotes:
"Nothing’s really changed; people used to get free information from books, then from YouTube, now from AI, but the problem is still the same: most people don’t do anything with it."
"Stop believing in yourself; it’s a waste of your time if you’ve never sold anything online before. Instead, believe in the system in front of you."
"We didn’t jump on Whatnot just because it was new; we did it because it perfectly aligned with what we already do and we wanted, for once, to actually be early on something."
Contact Details:
- Build your Online Business with Marketplace Superheroes
- Turn Amazon Into your Next Growth Opportunity: Connect with Stephen Somers on LinkedIn
- Follow Stephen Somers on Facebook for Amazon Business Insights and Strategies
- Follow Stephen Somers on Instagram to Unlock Smarter Amazon Strategies
- Join Stephen Somers on Threads for e-commerce Tips
- Subscribe to Marketplace SuperHeroes on YouTube for Proven Amazon Growth Strategies
- Follow Stephen Somers on X for Smarter Amazon Strategies
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:05 — 39.9MB) | Embed
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1659: Children’s Book Self-Publishing and Strong Heroines with Amy Hawk
Amy Hawk covers Children's Fantasy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Amy Hawk explains how a story written for her niece became a children's fantasy about courage, independence, friendship, and believing in yourself. She began writing The Tales of Rumpus in 1998 because she wanted her niece to have a strong female hero who did not wait to be rescued.
Many aspiring authors dream of writing a children’s book that actually matters, but get stuck on questions like: “Is my story original enough?”, “How do I find an illustrator?”, and “What if I self-publish and nobody ever sees it?” Today’s guest, Amy Hawk, answers all of those questions through the real-world journey behind her inspirational children’s fantasy, The Tales of Rumpus. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Amy shares how she wrote The Tales of Rumpus back in 1998 for her niece, long before “strong princesses” were common in mainstream media. Instead of another damsel waiting to be rescued, her heroine Princess Caitlyn is proactive, determined, and learning to stand on her own bringing themes of independence, earned confidence, equality, chosen family, curiosity, and human connection into a magical adventure kids actually want to read. Amy walks us through her free-flowing writing process letting characters “live in her head,” discovering the real ending as she wrote, and revisiting the manuscript every decade to refine it while realizing the story’s lessons still hold up over time. She explains why she finally decided it was “time to share” the book, and how modern self-publishing made it possible to publish a deeply personal project without compromising her vision.
We also dive into the real-world challenges of illustration and production. Amy describes collaborating with Page Publishing’s illustration team to pull the images out of her imagination like an enormous bullfrog and a round, cornerless castle onto the page. She talks candidly about when to stand firm (keeping Princess Caitlyn blonde and blue-eyed like her niece) and when to compromise on visual details to keep the project moving. Amy also previews how she’s now experimenting with AI-assisted illustration for future projects, balancing creative control with respect for traditional artists. Beyond creation, Amy is refreshingly honest about the hardest part for most authors: marketing. She shares her painful lessons with fake “promoters,” wasted marketing spend, and empty promises of Amazon visibility. You’ll hear what’s actually been working: legitimate partnerships, features in magazines and newspapers, radio and especially podcast interviews, plus in-person book signings where she connects with readers face-to-face. As a family nurse practitioner in the ER, she’s grounded, used to high-pressure environments, and very clear-eyed about the realities of chasing visibility as an indie author. Amy also previews her growing story universe and brand beyond The Tales of Rumpus. You’ll hear about Daniel the Dragon, a finished spinoff that’s now in final edits, as well as her planned adult murder mystery, Footprints in the Sand, built from real-life experiences and stories from the ER. Throughout, she ties her work back to her own life being adopted, finding a chosen family, and why those themes naturally show up in her fiction.
If you’re a children’s author, aspiring writer, or creative professional wondering how to bring a meaningful story to life, protect your vision, and navigate the messy world of self-publishing and promotion, this episode delivers both inspiration and hard truths. Amy closes with the quote that carried her through nurse practitioner school and now applies perfectly to authorship and entrepreneurship alike: “Will it be easy? No. Will it be worth it? Yes.” To learn more about The Tales of Rumpus, invite Amy on your show, or explore her upcoming projects, visit AmyHawkBooks.com or contact her via info@amyhawk.com or 573-280-7448.
Quotes:
“I'm a firm believer in things happening how they're supposed to, so I think it was a story that was meant to be shared when it finally was meant to be shared.”
“I love book signing because I love to meet people and just look them in the eye, because people can't lie to you when they look you in the eye.”
“I wanted her to have somebody who was super strong, who knew what she wanted, was going to go get it, and who was a female character.”
Contact Details:
- Discover your Next Magical Adventure: Explore Amy Hawk’s Books Today!
- Follow Amy Hawk on Facebook for More Stories, Book Updates, and Adventures!
- Discover More Stories, Magic, and Book Updates: Follow Amy Hawk on Instagram!
- Join the Adventure: Follow Rumpus Tales on X!
- The Tales of Rumpus on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:12 — 29.1MB) | Embed
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1658: Seed Stage B2B Startup Marketing with Lara McKeithan
Lara McKeithan covers Startup Marketing in this Marketer of the Day episode. Lara McKeithan explains how seed-stage B2B founders can build a focused marketing engine that produces traction before they reach Series A. She typically works with startups that have launched a product, gained initial customers, and now need to scale beyond founder-led sales and marketing.
Early-stage founders don’t usually struggle because their product isn’t good enough; they stall out because marketing is scattered, reactive, or an afterthought. In this episode, seed-stage B2B marketing partner Lara McKeithan of PierForStartups.com shares how she embeds herself inside startups as their de facto marketing team owning the strategy, building the systems, and helping founders show the traction investors want to see. Lara works with pre-seed and seed-stage B2B SaaS and tech companies that have launched, landed early customers, and now need to scale beyond founder-led sales and referrals. She explains why trying to “be everywhere” with limited time, money, and data is a recipe for burnout and disappointment. Instead, Lara focuses on a handful of high-ROI channels, competitor and landscape analysis, and quick wins in the first 90 days to generate revenue that can be reinvested into longer-term growth like organic content and SEO.
A big theme of this conversation is how much startup success depends on founder behavior, not just the idea. Lara shares what she’s learned from working with over 50 startups: the best outcomes happen when founders treat marketing as a collaborative partnership staying involved in the narrative and customer insights without micromanaging every blog post or pixel. She also explains where things tend to “crash and burn,” from hiring marketing help too early (pre-launch) to delegating without communication or clarity. We also dive into how AI is reshaping startup marketing. Lara talks about the shift from hands-on execution to a more strategic, project-management-driven role, where AI can handle much of the production work landing pages, websites, copy drafts while a human still needs to set priorities, interpret data, and ensure the brand feels real, differentiated, and not like generic AI-generated “slop.” As content channels get flooded with AI output, founders who lean into authentic positioning, real customer understanding, and intentional messaging will stand out.
If you’re a B2B founder with a working product, early traction, and pressure to prove month-over-month growth, this episode will help you understand when to bring in marketing help, what to expect from a true embedded partner, and how to avoid common early-stage mistakes. Lara also shares her own evolution, rebranding Pier, niching into B2B, and learning to build her own brand instead of hiding behind client work plus a simple but powerful lesson for entrepreneurs: you don’t know until you try, so ship, learn, and iterate.
Quotes:
"At the seed stage, you really need someone who's not going to just toss you into a company and hand you off and pull some levers; you need someone who's embedded in your product, your customers, and your team."
"You have to trust the people you're working with and delegate and build a team around you to help you succeed, even at the early stages."
"There's still a lot of creativity, thought, and intentionality that needs to go into marketing, even more so now with AI."
Contact Details:
- Turn Startup Potential Into Growth: Discover PIER for Startups Today
- Build a Stronger Career: Connect With Lara McKeithan on LinkedIn Today
- Follow Lara McKeithan on X for Fresh Insights, Ideas & Inspiration
- Get Inspired and Learn Something New: Follow Lara McKeithan on Instagram Today
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:35 — 33.8MB) | Embed
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1657: AI GEO Search Visibility Strategy with Callum Kennard
Callum Kennard covers AI Search Optimization in this Marketer of the Day episode. Callum Kennard explains how businesses can use generative engine optimization to become the brands AI systems cite, recommend, and surface in search results. He describes SEO as the training wheels for GEO, recommending roughly three to four months of SEO traction before pursuing a dedicated AI visibility strategy.
SEO isn’t dead; but it is evolving faster than ever, and AI is quietly rewriting the rules of visibility. In this episode, AI and search expert Callum Kennard, Head of Sales at ClickSlice, breaks down Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and how it’s transforming the way brands show up in AI-driven answers from tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. If you’ve ever wondered how to become the recommended brand when someone asks an AI for “the best agency,” “top tools,” or “where to buy,” this conversation is your roadmap. Callum explains why GEO and SEO are deeply interconnected, but not interchangeable. He shares a practical approach: use traditional SEO as the “training wheels” for the first 3–4 months to get indexed, build authority, and earn basic visibility. Then, once the foundation is in place, shift into a focused GEO strategy that targets prompts, not just keywords. Instead of optimizing for short search terms, GEO is about understanding and influencing the full sentences and complex questions real users type into large language models.
You’ll hear how ClickSlice uses advanced tools like Semrush and, more importantly, Profound, a GEO-focused platform with over 2 billion data points to map out what LLMs are already saying about a brand, its competitors, and its niche. Callum walks through how his team runs a full AEO/GEO audit to identify top citations, key prompts, content gaps, and winning strategies. For some industries, that means doubling down on PR, digital magazines, and Reddit; for others, it’s all about owned content and site structure that LLMs trust and repeatedly reference. This episode also dives into the metrics that actually matter in the age of AI search. Callum shares how ClickSlice tracks visibility score (how often you’re cited for your target topics), average position within AI-generated lists (are you #1 or buried at #7?), citation share, and sentiment around your brand. He also explains how Google’s evolving focus on information gain rewarding original, authoritative, and uniquely helpful content directly connects to both SEO rankings and AI Overviews.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by AI search, GEO, and the shifting landscape of digital visibility, this episode will give you clarity and a concrete path forward. Callum outlines why early movers in GEO are already seeing a significant percentage of their revenue come from AI-generated answers, and why waiting another 6–8 months could mean paying double just to catch up. Whether you run an e-commerce brand, a service-based company, or an established 7–9-figure operation, you’ll discover how to position your brand so that when users ask AI for recommendations, you are the answer.
Quotes:
“SEO is kind of like the training wheels of GEO; you can’t get ranked in AI answers without a certain level of SEO, because you first need to be discovered.”
“There’s no point optimizing everything for GEO if you don’t really know what prompts you’re targeting that people are actually going to be searching.”
“Most agencies jumping on the AI hype are just selling you SEO and calling it GEO; without proper tools and data, they’re basically shooting in the dark.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Grow Online? Work with ClickSlice and Turn Search Traffic Into Real Results
- Unlock Smarter Strategies: Visit Callum Kennard Official Website Today
- Turn your Vision Into Impact: Start with Guava Studio
- Connect with Callum Kennard on LinkedIn and Discover Insights to Grow Smarter
- Follow Callum Kennard on X for Practical Insights to Grow Smarter
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:14 — 40.2MB) | Embed
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1656: Relational Leadership for Business Growth with Joshua Evarts
Business success isn’t just about products, pricing, or marketing tactics it’s driven by the quality of your relationships. Today’s guest, Joshua Evarts, author of “If Jesus Smokes Cigars: 8 Lessons in Relational Leadership” and owner of The Vault Cigar Lounge in Meridian, Idaho, reveals why likeability and authentic connection are your most powerful competitive advantages in a noisy, tech-saturated world. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Josh and Robert unpack how three major shifts the internet and social media, COVID-era isolation, and the rise of AI have reshaped human connection. While technology has made communication faster and easier, Josh explains how it’s also blurred the lines between superficial “likes” and true influence. He makes a compelling case that leaders and business owners must become far more deliberate and intentional about building real relationships if they want loyal customers, strong teams, and long-term success.
Drawing on 30 years of experience in software for law enforcement and the military, real estate development, and running a cigar lounge, Josh shows how a relationship-first culture consistently attracts healthier employees, better customers, and stronger vendor partnerships. He shares stories from transforming a historic Bank of Meridian building into a thriving community hub where the primary currency is relationship, not just cigar sales. In a world where Amazon can always beat you on price, Josh explains why experience, community, and culture are the new differentiators. Josh also breaks down the idea of relational leadership in a practical way applying it not just to CEOs, but to teachers, coaches, parents, frontline managers, and anyone who influences others. He talks about not underestimating conversations, the power of active listening, and why authentic one-on-one interactions will always outperform empty metrics. You’ll hear how he uses historical figures like legendary coach John Wooden and his “pyramid of success” to illustrate how focusing on culture over outcomes can still produce extraordinary results, including Wooden’s 11 national championships. The conversation dives into how retail, third spaces, and community-building are evolving in the post-ecommerce era. From Apple Stores to new-style bookstores and cigar lounges, Josh and Robert explore why businesses that win today are those that design rich, in-person experiences instead of relying solely on transactional convenience. Josh also shares a powerful personal regret turning down a trip that turned out to be a private dinner with the UK royal family as a lesson in saying “yes” to rooms and relationships you can’t fully predict in advance.
If you’re a business owner, leader, or creator who feels pulled toward deeper impact, not just more clicks and followers, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you show up in rooms, create culture, and invest in people. You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of why relational leadership isn’t a soft, optional skill but a strategic advantage you can’t afford to ignore. To go deeper and explore Josh’s full framework, stories, and lessons, head over to ifjesus.com and check out If Jesus Smokes Cigars: 8 Lessons in Relational Leadership.
Quotes:
“Make sure you’re a ‘yes’ person who’s willing to be available, because there are things in life you can’t plan for that you might miss out on if you’re not in the room.”
“I’m not an anti-technology guy; technology is an enabler but if it’s not pointing toward an authentic relationship that results in a business transaction, then we’ve missed the mark.”
“A lot of times when we’re in places where we’re leading, we don’t listen. We underestimate the conversations happening around us that could inform how we lead and how we make decisions.”
Contact Details:
- Ready to Elevate Your Career and Leadership? Book Joshua for Your Next Engagement
- Visit The Vault & Discover Your Next Favorite Cigar
- Connect with Joshua on LinkedIn and Take your Career to the Next Level
- Follow Joshua on Facebook for Insights, Inspiration, and What’s Next
- Follow Joshua on Instagram for Inspiration, Insights, and Behind-the-Scenes Moments
- Follow IfJesus on Instagram, for Faith, Inspiration, and Daily Encouragement
- Follow IfJesus on X and Discover Faith that Inspires Action
- Follow IfJesus on TikTok and Let Faith Transform The Way You See Life
- If Jesus Smoked Cigars: 8 Lessons in Relational Leadership on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:21 — 38.9MB) | Embed
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1655: Healing After Abuse and Betrayal with Margaret Mearns-Bass
Margaret Mearns Bass covers Christian Healing in this Marketer of the Day episode. Margaret Mearns-Bass shares how forgiveness and reconciliation can help survivors of abuse and betrayal move from hidden pain toward healing and freedom. Drawing on her own childhood abuse and marital betrayal, she distinguishes forgiveness from reconciliation: one person can forgive, but two people are required to reconcile.
Many survivors of childhood abuse and betrayal are told to “forgive and move on,” yet they’re given no real guidance on how to heal, reconcile, or deal with the deep and lasting pain. Today’s guest, Pastor Margaret Mearns-Bass, author of “Broken: The Healing Power of Forgiveness After Abuse and Betrayal,” shares her remarkable story of surviving 14 years of sexual abuse by her father, navigating infidelity in her marriage, and finding genuine healing and freedom through God’s grace. In this episode, Margaret explains the critical difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, and why that distinction matters for anyone recovering from deep wounds. She describes how you can choose to forgive on your own, but true reconciliation requires repentance, accountability, and a willing heart on both sides. Through her own journey with her father and her husband, she shows why “cheap apologies” and vague statements like “I’m sorry for everything” often prevent real healing instead of promoting it.
Margaret also dives into the physical impact of emotional trauma, sharing her experience with atrial fibrillation and what her doctor recognized as broken heart syndrome. She connects emotional wounds, silence, and shame to real health consequences, and encourages listeners to see a broken heart as something serious and valid, not “being dramatic.” From a biblical perspective, she challenges how many churches only teach half the message: urging people to forgive, but rarely teaching believers how to seek forgiveness, repent, and restore relationships. You’ll hear how Margaret found freedom by telling the truth, writing an honest letter to her deceased father, describing what her broken heart really looked like, and refusing to carry someone else’s shame any longer. She offers practical steps listeners can take, such as writing a letter of forgiveness (even if the person has passed away or is unreachable) and putting into words the shape of their broken heart as a path toward clarity and release.
This conversation is filled with comfort, conviction, and hope for anyone who has asked: Where was God when this happened? Why am I still hurting? Is reconciliation even possible after such deep betrayal? Margaret’s story shows that while you can’t outrun your past, God can redeem it and use it to help others whether through your story, your calling, or simply your willingness to speak the truth. If you or someone you love is dealing with the aftermath of abuse, infidelity, or lifelong emotional pain, this episode will help you better understand biblical forgiveness, recognize the power of truth, and take your next step toward healing. To learn more about Margaret, access her resources, and find her book, visit MaggiesHiddenManna.com.
Quotes:
"God wants to heal the people who are broken, but He can't heal them if they shy away from His presence."
"You can't run away from your past because it's part of you; but God can take that and make something good from it."
"We're no longer teaching biblical forgiveness, which also includes seeking forgiveness. The church is only teaching half the gospel."
Contact Details:
- Discover Hope, Healing, and Purpose at Maggie’s Hidden Manna: Visit the Website Today
- Visit Margaret Mearns Bass’s Website Today and Start Deepening your Walk with God
- Follow Pastor Maggie Bass for Faith-Filled Encouragement
- Broken: Forgiveness and the Journey to Reconciliation on Amazon
- Broken: The Healing Power of Forgiveness After Abuse and Betrayal on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:50 — 38.2MB) | Embed
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1654: AI Personal Branding and Expert Authority with Christine Blosdale
For many experts, the real challenge isn’t learning more or doing more, it's being clearly seen, understood, and trusted by the right people. Today’s guest, Christine Blosdale, the Expert Authority Coach behind ExpertAuthorityCoach.com, helps entrepreneurs transform their unique energy and authenticity into a powerful “bat signal” that attracts ideal clients and converts attention into revenue. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Christine shows how to use AI as an amplifier of your true voice, not as a shortcut to sounding generic. She explains how she’s trained her customized ChatGPT (lovingly named “Charlie”) to mirror her natural communication style so well that it can generate on-brand offers, messaging, and marketing assets for both her and her clients. You’ll hear how giving AI clear direction, thoughtful prompts, and consistent feedback leads to far better results than treating it like a disposable vending machine for content. From there, Christine dives into the foundations of effective personal branding, starting with the business platform most people ignore: their website or landing page. Before ramping up podcasts, books, and social media content, she makes the case for building a clear, conversion-focused home base that immediately explains who you are, who you serve, and what transformation you provide. She walks through how a short welcome video above the fold, a focused call to action to book a complimentary consultation, concise “About” copy, and a small, well-structured set of offers can dramatically improve how visitors perceive and engage with your brand.
Christine also unpacks the role of social proof and visibility in the age of AI. Instead of relying solely on traditional SEO, she introduces the concept of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and explains why FAQs, testimonials, and review pages matter more than ever. By turning real client questions into clear Q&A content, and by publishing authentic written and video testimonials, you make it easier for AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity to identify you as a credible solution and surface your brand in response to user queries. An important theme throughout the conversation is trustability. Christine emphasizes that sales become easier when trust is built first and that skipping this step is where many service providers go wrong. She describes how her complimentary consultations allow potential clients to experience her style and expertise without risk, while also giving her the chance to screen out persistently negative or uncoachable prospects. This approach helps her protect her own energy, serve the right people, and create long-term client relationships that feel mutually beneficial rather than forced.
If you’re ready to stop blending in, harness AI in a more personal and powerful way, and build an online presence that clearly signals who you are and why you’re worth hiring, this episode offers a roadmap. From sharpening your website and offers to increasing your visibility in both search engines and AI platforms, Christine’s strategies will help you become the trusted, in-demand authority you’re meant to be.
Quotes:
"Your personal branding, your business, your offers, your communication style, that's all energy. You have to think about what kind of bat signal you're putting out there."
"With technology, the more you work with your AI, the more it gets to know your style, and it gets to replicate your messaging and your communication."
"You need to develop trust before you can develop sales. So many people are so concerned about making the money that they skip over the trustability factor."
Contact Details:
- Ready to Get Seen, Trusted, and Paid for What you Already Know? Visit ExpertAuthorityCoach.com
- Connect with Christine Blosdale on LinkedIn for Expert Tips, Insights, and Inspiration!
- Watch, Learn, and Get Inspired. Subscribe to Christine Blosdale’s Channel on YouTube!
- Want to Grow your Influence? Follow Christine Blosdale on Instagram
- Ready to Turn Your Expertise Into Impact? Follow Christine Blosdale on Facebook
- Follow Christine Blosdale on TikTok for Quick Tips to Get Seen, Trusted, and Remembered!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:25 — 62.4MB) | Embed
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1653: AI Content Visibility for Authority Building with Lisa Apolinski
Lisa Apolinski covers AI Visibility in this Marketer of the Day episode. Lisa Apolinski explains how professionals can make their expertise visible to AI while becoming the clear authority clients choose. Her first step is asking an AI what you are known for, then comparing that answer with the reputation you actually want.
Business owners aren’t just competing for human attention anymore, they're competing to be seen and understood by AI. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, digital insider and authority strategist Lisa Apolinski explains how your content, messaging, and online presence must now be optimized not only for search engines, but also for AI systems that increasingly “research” you on behalf of your audience. If AI can’t clearly detect what you do, who you serve, and why you’re different, you’re effectively invisible in the new digital landscape. Lisa introduces her concept of Authority Power, the ability to turn your hard-won expertise into undeniable authority that attracts right-fit clients ready to invest at higher levels. She walks through a practical “homework assignment”: ask an AI tool, in the third person, what you are known for and compare that answer to what you want to be known for. Any gap between those two reveals missing or unclear messaging in your LinkedIn profile, website, YouTube, and other social channels. From there, you can update your content, lean into more precise language, and create a clear, consistent, and congruent experience everywhere your brand appears.
Rather than letting AI produce generic, “vanilla” content, Lisa shows how to use AI as a strategic language calculator that refines the words you already use, surfaces phrases worth repeating, and reflects back themes you didn’t realize you were communicating. She challenges experts to stop underselling themselves with “better, cheaper, faster” language and instead speak boldly about the unique, transformative “3 a.m. problem” they solve for a specific, narrow niche. This is where true authority is built by deciding exactly who you want to serve, what problem you solve better than 95% of others, and then aligning all your messaging around that promise. Lisa also opens up about “blowing up” her full-service agency in 2023 to focus solely on her area of genius: language, content, and writing that drives revenue. She shares lessons from her own false starts with personal branding and generic content positioning, and why the shift to Authority Power finally clicked with both her and her market. Along the way, she breaks down a smarter approach to digital marketing experiments: cut underperforming ads quickly, ignore vanity metrics like empty traffic, change one variable at a time, and trust your gut when something isn’t working. When you dial in your message and audience correctly, conversion rates can jump dramatically, and business suddenly feels exciting again instead of overwhelming.
If you want to become the go-to authority in your space, be accurately represented by AI, and attract ideal clients instead of chasing them, this conversation will show you how to realign your language, sharpen your positioning, and take decisive action. Lisa shares how to connect with her on LinkedIn, subscribe to her content-packed newsletter, and book a free 30-minute consultation to start unleashing your own Authority Power.
Quotes:
"Sometimes AI can go way off the mark and blend you down to something so vanilla it could work for everybody, and we don’t want to go there."
"The riches are in the niches. We want to know specifically who we want to target and why that right-fit client is ideal for us."
"Let your buyer's journey be their journey, not yours. It's their experience, not yours."
Contact Details:
- Write your Book. Build your Authority: Start your Journey with Indie Books International Today
- Become the Go-To Authority in your Industry: Explore PhatKat Consulting Today
- Turn your Ideas Into Influence: Connect with Lisa Apolinski on LinkedIn
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:21 — 37.6MB) | Embed
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1652: Founder Exit Strategy & Life After Liquidity with Jerome Myers
Jerome Myers covers Founder Exit Strategy in this Marketer of the Day episode. Jerome Myers explains why founders must prepare themselves for an exit just as carefully as they prepare their businesses. He calls the belief that a liquidity event is the finish line the transaction illusion, because the harder stage often begins afterward.
Many founders spend decades building a company they hope to one day exit only to discover that the deal they dreamed about leaves them feeling lost, lonely, and full of regret. Today’s guest, Jerome Myers of Exit to Excellence, has studied more than 3,500 founder conversations, 400+ podcast interviews, and over $2.5 billion in exit value to answer a question the exit industry rarely asks: what happens to the founder when the business they built no longer needs them? In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Jerome introduces the “Founders Exit Paradox” and shares why an estimated 75% of founders regret their exit, even when they get the money they were aiming for. He explains how a business quietly organizes every part of an owner’s life calendar, income, relationships, and even identity and why selling that business without a personal plan can feel like falling off a cliff. Using his powerful mountain expedition analogy (ascent, summit, and descent), Jerome highlights that the most dangerous part isn’t building or selling the business; it’s what happens after the liquidity event when the structure disappears but the money, time, and opportunity suddenly expand.
Jerome also breaks down the concept of business maturity asking whether your company is “acting its age” or if it’s still a “baby” that can’t function without you. He shows why founders who remain the catch‑all problem solvers get trapped, and how building a self‑sustaining, independent business is essential not just for a successful exit, but for a healthy life after the deal. Instead of treating exit planning as a dry financial exercise focused on EBITDA and GAAP, he uses story and parable, drawn from his audiobook “The Exit Expedition,” to make the emotional and psychological side of exiting both practical and deeply relatable. You’ll learn the real reasons founders regret selling from loss of identity and sudden loneliness to getting 40–60 hours a week back with no meaningful way to use it, and how a structured process can help you define who you are, who you spend time with, and what truly matters beyond your company. Jerome shares why being intentional before the exit is the key to avoiding lottery-winner-style meltdowns, and how to design a new “filter” for opportunities so you don’t say yes to everything just because you finally can.
If you’re thinking about selling your business someday or simply want to build a company that doesn’t depend on you for every decision, this conversation will change how you think about exit strategy. Jerome recommends starting with his Exit Risk Assessment at exittoexcellence.com/era, a complimentary diagnostic that reveals your highest‑risk areas, hidden dependencies, post‑exit vulnerabilities, and 90‑day action items to reduce risk. Whether an exit is five months or fifteen years away, you’ll see why a good exit strategy is really just good business strategy and how to prepare not only your company, but yourself, for the next chapter.
Quotes:
"Most owners are the catch-all whatever the problem is, if it doesn’t fit in one of the employees’ job descriptions, it is my problem, and I must go solve it."
"Exit strategy is just good business strategy. You’ll enjoy your business more the better you are prepared for an exit."
"The reason so many founders regret their exit is not the money. It’s that they don’t know how to introduce themselves anymore and they struggle with who they are without the business."
Contact Details:
- Ready For What Comes After the Exit? Explore Exit to Excellence Today
- You Built It. Now What? Discover What Comes After The Exit: Take the Red Pill
- Assess your Exit Readiness: Start your Successful Transition
- Connect with Jerome Myers on LinkedIn → Discover what’s possible beyond the exit.
- Discover What’s Next: Listen to Your Next Today on Apple Podcast
- Exit to Excellence: A Journey to Your N.E.X.T. on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:20 — 37.5MB) | Embed
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1651: Innovation Leadership and Breakthrough Growth with Ted Santos
Ted Santos of Turnaround Investment Partners teaches disruptive leadership: CEOs who create the right problems, with no existing blueprint, so teams unlock innovation, new markets, and breakthrough growth. In this Marketer of the Day conversation he explains why companies stay stuck on comfortable problems, how intentional challenges like the iPod-to-iPhone leap stretch an organization, and why blind spots quietly kill initiatives. The through-line is disruptive leadership that builds people's capacity to solve unfamiliar problems instead of recycling last year's playbook.
Most companies have smart people and solid products, yet still miss out on their biggest growth opportunities. The problem isn’t just strategy, it's that leaders keep solving familiar, comfortable problems instead of creating bold new ones that force innovation. Today’s guest, Ted Santos of Turnaround Investment Partners, works as an outsourced Chief Innovation Officer, helping CEOs deliberately create “the right problems” that unlock new markets, galvanize teams, and drive breakthrough growth. In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Ted explains why effective leadership means becoming a “professional troublemaker,” the kind of CEO who sets seemingly impossible challenges and lets the organization grow into the solution. He shares powerful examples like Steve Jobs demanding 1,000 songs in your pocket and turning the iPod into the iPhone, and Howard Schultz positioning Starbucks as the “third place” between home and work. These weren’t random ideas; they were intentional problems with no blueprint, designed to reveal gaps in the market and stretch people beyond what they thought they could do.
Ted also uncovers the hidden, psychological side of innovation: why most breakthrough initiatives fail not because of bad ideas, but because of limiting beliefs and blind spots inside the people tasked with executing them. He tells the story of a mortgage professional in his 60s whose lifelong habit of joking to feel accepted was quietly killing his deals, until coaching helped him unlearn that blind spot, redirect his strengths, and double his productivity twice in six months. Ted’s work shows that when leaders and teams confront these internal roadblocks, they gain the capacity to handle uncertainty, collaborate more deeply, and consistently produce high‑impact results. The conversation goes further, connecting business performance with personal life. Drawing from his book, “Here’s Why You Can’t Find Love,” Ted explains how unresolved relationship issues and high divorce rates quietly drain corporate productivity costing an estimated $300 billion a year. He argues that companies must evolve beyond the old two-gear model of “hire in good times, lay off in bad times,” and instead develop employees so deeply in communication, conflict resolution, and resilience that it becomes more expensive to let them go than to keep them.
If you’re a CEO, founder, or business leader who wants to build a culture that thrives on uncertainty, finds hidden opportunities, and creates sustainable breakthroughs in both work and life, this episode will challenge how you think about leadership, innovation, and human performance.
Quotes:
“Most breakthrough initiatives fail not because of bad ideas, but because of what people already know about their limiting beliefs, mental roadblocks, and blind spots.”
We’ve accepted a world where companies only operate in two gears: hire in good times, fire in bad times without ever looking for a third, fourth, or fifth possibility.”
“Imagine making your employees so valuable that it costs more to lay them off than it does to keep them.”
Contact Details:
- Protect Your Ideas; Secure Your Future: Book Your Free IP Consultation Today
- Create Your Next Breakthrough: Connect with Ted Santos on LinkedIn
- Master Change. Drive Results: Subscribe to Ted Santos YouTube Channel
- Transform How You Lead: Follow Ted Santos on Facebook
- Here's Why You Can't Find Love on Amazon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:18 — 38.9MB) | Embed
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