Podcasts about using ai

A.I. has many haters in the copywriting space. Anytime I do an episode related to using some of the many new tools available, I get some hateful DM's, texts, emails, etc...As if my not talking about it will make it all go away. ​ ​Well, here's the thing: I Don't Want It To Go Away! And neither should you. I am 60 years old and I'm producing better and more copy than I ever have. When I say "better", that's not an opinion. I see proof-of-performance metrics every week that prove it. QED. I win the argument. ​ ​ I think the haters out there just haven't figured out where they fit into this new, rapidly evolving world. They're like assembly-line workers watching as sections of the factory are being replaced by robotics...just waiting for the hammer to fall on them. ​ ​ This week, let me share 3 Keys that will ease your mind about the Rise of the Robots, and get you excited about the army YOU command with your own experience and wisdom. Key Insights ​Don't be worried, be excited! You're not too old, too non-savvy, or too anything else Key #1: Redefine Your Value - Your value isn't based on the number of hours you work. It comes down to one question: "How much would it cost to replace you?" If you're a good video editor and AI is enabling you to edit 5 times the amount of videos you could do a year ago, then logically it would take 5 mere mortals to replace you. AI cuts the workload, but your creative abilities and experience are at the helm, keeping it on course. Key #2: Multiply Your Output - This is where the pros and the wannabes get separated. Of course AI can multiply your output, but you can't delegate the task of quality control. That's your job. Your clients don't care how you get the job done or how long it took. They care about results. Use your own "secret sauce"...all of your experience and wisdom, to multiply your output while maintaining the quality your clients expect. Key #3: Master Anticipation and Adaptation - The #1 skill in the A.I. economy is being able to see what's coming and adapting quickly. That sounds intimidating if you're not the kind of person who keeps up with tech trends, but it's not hard to do. You don't have to be first. You just need to be somewhere in that first 20%. How You Can Help Subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will definitely mention you on this show. Questions or comments? Connect with Ray on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Visit Ray's community on Facebook – This is a friendly group of writers, entrepreneurs, and coaches who share ideas and helpful advice.

Today we have a special episode breaking down how investors are using AI.  This is a question I get from many of you, and while there is no shortage of content on the implications of AI, I know there's an appetite to learn more about tangible use cases, how to make sure you're getting the most out of these tools, how to think about advancements in the technology, and ensuring that you're keeping pace with the innovation curve. So my guest today is David Plon, Founder of Portrait Analytics. Now, David and Portrait have been partners of Business Breakdowns since last year, but I specifically asked David to do this episode because, one, he is really front and center to how investors are using and applying AI. But two, and maybe more importantly, he and his team come with a background in investing.  So while the conversation doesn't really focus on Portrait, you'll hear references to what he and his team are building and how they've shaped it for investors, you'll very much understand when you hear David talk that he is someone who understands the pain points of an investor. I think everyone will find something in this episode that will benefit them in their day to day, and I would love to hear the feedback.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Portrait Analytics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - your centralized resource for AI-powered idea generation, thesis monitoring, and personalized report building. Built by buy-side investors, for investment professionals. We work in the background, helping surface stock ideas and thesis signposts to help you monetize every insight. In short, we help you understand the story behind the stock chart, and get to "go, or no-go" 10x faster than before. Sign-up for a free trial today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠portraitresearch.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠joincolossus.com/episodes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps  (00:00:00) Welcome to Business Breakdowns (00:04:05) Meet David Plon: Investor to Founder (00:05:54) Pain Points in the Investment Process (00:09:08) AI as a “Smart Filter” for News (00:11:54) AI's Role in the Pre-Buy Process (00:14:34) How AI Enables Specific Quantitative Analysis (00:17:24) Using AI for Investment Idea Generation (00:21:42) How to Write Good Prompts for LLMs (00:25:27) Structured vs. Creative Tasks (00:27:47) The Value of Experimentation & Real-Time Feedback (00:32:28) Best Practices for Deploying AI in an Institutional Setting (00:35:57) Why Documenting Decision Making is Essential (00:39:19) How Models Have Improved at Using Provided Context (00:42:02) Memory in LLMs: Near-Term Limitations, Long-Term Potential (00:46:24) Applying Agentic AI in Investment Research

After losing his business in the 2008 financial collapse, Doug Thorpe didn't pivot to another startup or chase the next trend. He went bankrupt — and then built a nonprofit to help hundreds of people find jobs in one of the worst labor markets in modern history.In this episode of Second Life Leader, Doug Thorpe joins Doug Utberg to unpack what actually happens after economic collapse — personally, professionally, and psychologically. From running a mortgage-services company wiped out in a 45-day window to navigating unemployment, identity loss, and reinvention, this conversation strips away the sanitized version of resilience.This isn't motivational theater. It's a practical, honest discussion about recovery speed, burn rate, relevance, and why old playbooks fail during systemic change. The conversation expands into modern job searching, why relationships still matter more than applications, and how platforms like Reddit are quietly reshaping how people connect, hire, and rebuild outside traditional corporate channels.If you're facing layoffs, career resets, business volatility, or the uncomfortable question of “what now?”, this episode offers clarity — not comfort.What We Explore• What it actually feels like to lose everything after long-term success• Why bankruptcy doesn't end careers — denial does• How Doug built a nonprofit during peak unemployment• Why most job applications go nowhere (and what works instead)• The role of relationships versus platforms in modern hiring• Why Reddit is emerging as a raw, trust-driven alternative to LinkedIn• How anonymity changes real conversation and opportunity• Using AI to surface real-time market signals instead of chasing noise• Why reinvention is a permanent requirement, not a phaseTL;DRReinvention isn't optional in volatile economies.Bankruptcy is an event — not an identity.Burn rate determines freedom more than revenue.Applications don't get jobs — relationships do.Platforms change, but trust remains the currency.Adaptability beats stability every time.Memorable Lines“It's not the collapse that defines you — it's what you build after.”“Burn rate is destiny when markets turn.”“You don't pitch your way to trust — you earn it.”“Applications are noise; conversations are leverage.”“Reinvention isn't reactive — it's strategic.”GuestDoug ThorpeEntrepreneur, nonprofit founder, executive coach, and business advisorDoug Thorpe is a former mortgage-industry entrepreneur whose company was wiped out during the 2008 financial crash. He went on to found a nonprofit that helped hundreds of job seekers navigate unemployment and career transition during the recession. Today, Doug advises business owners and leaders on growth, reinvention, and navigating volatility without losing clarity or integrity.Why This MattersThe modern economy doesn't reward loyalty or linear careers. It rewards people who can recalibrate quickly, stay relevant, and rebuild without clinging to outdated identities.For founders, operators, executives, and job seekers navigating uncertainty, this episode reframes failure as information — not judgment. The edge isn't avoiding collapse. It's shortening the distance between setback and meaningful forward motion. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dougutberg.com

It’s actually a good thing that some books push you to the edge of your ability to understand. But there’s no doubting the fact that dense, abstract and jargon-filled works can push you so far into the fog of frustration that you cannot blame yourself for giving up. But here’s the truth: You don’t have to walk away frustrated and confused. I’m going to share with you a number of practical strategies that will help you fill in the gaps of your reading process. Because that’s usually the real problem: It’s not your intelligence. Nor is it that the world is filled with books “above your level.” I ultimately don’t believe in “levels” as such. But as someone who taught reading courses at Rutgers and Saarland University, I know from experience that many learners need to pick up a few simple steps that will strengthen how they approach reading difficult books. And in this guide, you’ll learn how to read challenging books and remember what they say. I’m going to go beyond generic advice too. That way, you can readily diagnose: Why certain books feel so hard Use pre-reading tactics that prime your brain to deal with difficulties effectively Apply active reading techniques to lock in understanding faster Leverage accelerated learning tools that are quick to learn Use Artificial Intelligence to help convert tough convent into lasting knowledge without worrying about getting duped by AI hallucinations Whether you’re tacking philosophy, science, dense fiction or anything based primarily in words, the reading system you’ll learn today will help you turn confusion into clarity. By the end, even the most intimidating texts will surrender their treasures to your mind. Ready? Let’s break it all down together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HLbY4jsFg Why Some Books Feel “Too Hard” (And What That Really Means) You know exactly how it feels and so do I. You sit down with a book that people claim is a classic or super-important. But within a few pages, your brain fogs over and you’re completely lost. More often than not, through glazed eyes, you start to wonder… did this author go out of his or her way to make this difficult? Are they trying to show off with all these literary pyrotechnics? Or is there a deliberate conspiracy to confuse readers like me? Rest assured. These questions are normal and well worth asking. The difficulty you might feel is never arbitrary in my experience. But there’s also no “single origin” explanation for why some books feel easier than others. It’s almost always a combination of factors, from cognitive readiness, lived experience, emotions and your physical condition throughout the day. This means that understanding why individual texts resist your understanding needs to be conducted on a case-by-case basis so you can move towards mastering anything you want to read. Cognitive Load: The Brain’s Processing “Stop Sign” “Cognitive load” probably needs no definition. The words are quite intuitive. You start reading something and it feels like someone is piling heavy bricks directly on top of your brain, squishing everything inside. More specifically, these researchers explain that what’s getting squished is specifically your working memory, which is sometimes called short-term memory. In practical terms, this means that when a book suddenly throws a bunch of unfamiliar terms at you, your working memory has to suddenly deal with abstract concepts, completely new words or non-linear forms of logic. All of this increases your cognitive load, but it’s important to note that there’s no conspiracy. In Just Being Difficult: Academic Writing in the Public Arena, a variety of contributors admit that they often write for other specialists. Although it would be nice to always compose books and articles for general readers, it’s not laziness. They’re following the codes of their discipline, which involves shorthand to save everyone time. Yes, it can also signal group membership and feel like an intellectual wall if you’re new to this style, but it’s simply a “stop sign” for your brain. And wherever there are stop signs, there are also alternative routes. Planning Your Detour “Roadmap” Into Difficult Books Let me share a personal example by way of sharing a powerful technique for making hard books easier to read. A few years ago I decided I was finally going to read Kant. I had the gist of certain aspects of his philosophy, but a few pages in, I encountered so many unfamiliar terms, I knew I had to obey the Cognitive Load Stop Sign and take a step back. To build a roadmap into Kant, I searched Google in a particular way. Rather than a search term like, “Intro to Kant,” I entered this tightened command instead: Filetype:PDF syllabus Kant These days, you can ask an LLM in more open language to simply give you links to the syllabi of the most authoritative professors who teach Kant. I’d still suggest that you cross-reference what you get on Google, however. If you’re hesitant about using either Google or AI, it’s also a great idea to visit a librarian in person to help you. Or, you can read my post about using AI for learning with harming your memory to see if it’s time to update your approach. Narrowing Down Your Options One way or another, the reason to consult the world’s leading professors is that their syllabi will provide you with: Foundational texts Core secondary literature Commentaries from qualified sources Essential historical references Once you’ve looked over a few syllabi, look through the table of contents of a few books on Amazon or Google Books. Then choose: 1-2 foundational texts to read before the challenging target book you want to master 1-2 articles or companion texts to read alongside In this way, you’ve turned difficulty into a path, not an obstacle. Pre-Reading Strategies That Warm Up Your Reading Muscles A lot of the time, the difficulty people feel when reading has nothing to do with the book. It’s just that you’re diving into unfamiliar territory without testing the waters first. Here are some simple ways to make unfamiliar books much easier to get into. Prime Like a Pro To make books easier to read, you can perform what is often called “priming” in the accelerated learning community. It is also sometimes called “pre-reading” and as this research article discusses, its success has been well-demonstrated. The way I typically perform priming is simple. Although some books require a slight change to the pattern, I typically approach each new book by reading: The back cover The index The colophon page The conclusion or afterword The most interesting or relevant chapter The introduction The rest of the book Activate Prior Knowledge Sometimes I will use a skimming and scanning strategy after reading the index to quickly familiarize myself with how an author approaches a topic with which I’m already familiar. This can help raise interest, excitement and tap into the power of context-dependent memory. For example, I recently started reading Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht. Since the Renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno comes up multiple times, I was able to draw up a kind of context map of the books themes by quickly going through those passages. Take a Picture Walk Barbara Oakley and Terence Sejnjowski share a fantastic strategy in Learning How to Learn. Before reading, simply go through a book and look at all the illustrations, tables, charts and diagrams. It seems like a small thing. But it gives your brain a “heads up” about upcoming visual information that you may need to process than prose. I used to find visual information like this difficult, but after I started taking picture walks, I’m now excited to read “towards” these elements. If still find them challenging to understand, I apply a tip I learned from Tony Buzan that you might like to try: Rather than struggle to interpret a chart or illustration, reproduce it in your own hand. Here’s an example of how I did this when studying spaced repetition: As a result, I learned the graph and its concepts quickly and have never forgotten it. Build a Pre-Reading Ritual That Fits You There’s no one-sized-fits-all strategy, so you need to experiment with various options. The key is to reduce cognitive load by giving your mind all kinds of ways of understanding what a book contains. If it helps, you can create yourself a checklist that you slip into the challenging books on your list. That way, you’ll have both a bookmark and a protocol as you develop your own pre-reading style. Active Reading Techniques That Boost Comprehension Active reading involves deliberately applying mental activities while reading. These can include writing in the margins of your books, questioning, preparing summaries and even taking well-time breaks between books. Here’s a list of my favorite active reading strategies with ideas on how you can implement them. Using Mnemonics While Reading On the whole, I take notes while reading and then apply a variety of memory techniques after. But to stretch my skills, especially when reading harder books, I start the encoding process earlier. Instead of just taking notes, I’ll start applying mnemonic images. I start early because difficult terms often require a bit more spaced repetition. To do this yourself, the key is to equip yourself with a variety of mnemonic methods, especially: The Memory Palace technique The Pegword Method The Major System The PAO System And in some cases, you may want to develop a symbol system, such as if you’re studying physics or programming. Once you have these mnemonic systems developed, you can apply them in real time. For example, if you come across names and dates, committing them to memory as you read can help you keep track of a book’s historical arc. This approach can be especially helpful when reading difficult books because authors often dump a lot of names and dates. By memorizing them as you go, you reduce the mental load of having to track it all. For even more strategies you can apply while reading, check out my complete Mnemonics Dictionary. Strategic Questioning Whether you take notes or memorize in real-time, asking questions as you go makes a huge difference. Even if you don’t come up with answers, continually interrogating the book will open up your brain. The main kinds of questions are: Evaluative questions (checking that the author uses valid reasoning and address counterarguments) Analytical questions (assessing exactly how the arguments unfold and questioning basic assumptions) Synthetic questions (accessing your previous knowledge and looking for connections with other books and concepts) Intention questions (interrogating the author’s agenda and revealing any manipulative rhetoric) One medieval tool for questioning you can adopt is the memory wheel. Although it’s definitely old-fashioned, you’ll find that it helps you rotate between multiple questions. Even if they are as simple as who, what, where, when, how and why questions, you’ll have a mental mnemonic device that helps ensure you don’t miss any of them. Re-reading Strategies Although these researchers seem to think that re-reading is not an effective strategy, I could not live without it. There are three key kinds of re-reading I recommend. Verbalize Complexity to Tame It The first is to simply go back and read something difficult to understand out loud. You’d be surprised how often it’s not your fault. The author has just worded something in a clunky manner and speaking the phrasing clarifies everything. Verbatim Memorization for Comprehension The second strategy is to memorize the sentence or even an entire passage verbatim. That might seem like a lot of work, but this tutorial on memorizing entire passages will make it easy for you. Even if verbatim memorization takes more work, it allows you to analyze the meaning within your mind. You’re no longer puzzling over it on paper, continuing to stretch your working memory. No, you’ve effectively expanded at least a part of your working memory by bypassing it altogether. You’ve ushered the information into long-term memory. I’m not too shy to admit that I have to do this sometimes to understand everything from the philosophy in Sanskrit phrases to relatively simple passages from Shakespeare. As I shared in my recent discussion of actor Anthony Hopkins’ memory, I couldn’t work out what “them” referred to in a particular Shakespeare play. But after analyzing the passage in memory, it was suddenly quite obvious. Rhythmical Re-reading The third re-reading strategy is something I shared years ago in my post detailing 11 reasons you should re-read at least one book per month. I find this approach incredibly helpful because no matter how good you get at reading and memory methods, even simple books can be vast ecosystems. By revisiting difficult books at regular intervals, you not only get more out of them. You experience them from different perspectives and with the benefit of new contexts you’ve built in your life over time. In other words, treat your reading as an infinite game and never assume that you’ve comprehended everything. There’s always more to be gleaned. Other Benefits of Re-reading You’ll also improve your pattern recognition by re-treading old territory, leading to more rapid recognition of those patterns in new books. Seeing the structures, tropes and other tactics in difficult books opens them up. But without regularly re-reading books, it can be difficult to perceive what these forms are and how authors use them. To give you a simple example of a structure that appears in both fiction and non-fiction, consider in media res, or starting in the middle. When you spot an author using this strategy, it can immediately help you read more patiently. And it places the text in the larger tradition of other authors who use that particular technique. For even more ideas that will keep your mind engaged while tackling tough books, feel free to go through my fuller article on 7 Active Reading Strategies. Category Coloring & Developing Your Own Naming System For Complex Material I don’t know about you, but I do not like opening a book only to find it covered in highlighter marks. I also don’t like highlighting books myself. However, after practicing mind mapping for a few years, I realized that there is a way to combine some of its coloring principles with the general study principles of using Zettelkasten and flashcards. Rather than passively highlighting passages that seem interesting at random, here’s an alternative approach you can take to your next tour through a complicated book. Category Coloring It’s often helpful to read with a goal. For myself, I decided to tackle a hard book called Gödel Escher Bach through the lens of seven categories. I gave each a color: Red = Concept Green = Process Orange = Fact Blue = Historical Context Yellow = Person Purple = School of Thought or Ideology Brown = Specialized Terminology Example Master Card to the Categorial Color Coding Method To emulate this method, create a “key card” or “master card” with your categories on it alongside the chosen color. Use this as a bookmark as you read. Then, before writing down any information from the book, think about the category to which it belongs. Make your card and then apply the relevant color. Obviously, you should come up with your own categories and preferred colors. The point is that you bring the definitions and then apply them consistently as you read and extract notes. This will help bring structure to your mind because you’re creating your own nomenclature or taxonomy of information. You are also using chunking, a specific mnemonic strategy I’ve written about at length in this post on chunking as a memory tool. Once you’re finished a book, you can extract all the concepts and memorize them independently if you like. And if you emulate the strategy seen on the pictured example above, I’ve included the page number on each card. That way, I can place the cards back in the order of the book. Using this approach across multiple books, you will soon spot cross-textual patterns with greater ease. The catch is that you cannot allow this technique to become activity for activity’s sake. You also don’t want to wind up creating a bunch of informational “noise.” Before capturing any individual idea on a card and assigning it to a category, ask yourself: Why is this information helpful, useful or critical to my goal? Will I really use it again? Where does it belong within the categories? If you cannot answers these questions, either move on to the next point. Or reframe the point with some reflective thinking so that you can contextualize it. This warning aside, it’s important not to let perfectionism creep into your life. Knowing what information matters does take some practice. To speed up your skills with identifying critical information, please read my full guide on how to find the main points in books and articles. Although AI can certainly help these days, you’ll still need to do some work on your own. Do Not Let New Vocabulary & Terminology Go Without Memorization One of the biggest mistakes I used to make, even as a fan of memory techniques, slowed me down much more than necessary. I would come across a new term, look it up, and assume I’d remember it. Of course, the next time I came across it, the meaning was still a mystery. But when I got more deliberate, I not only remembered more words, but the knowledge surrounding the unfamiliar terms also stuck with greater specificity. For example, in reading The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner, memorizing the ancient Greek word for will or volition (Prohairesis) pulled many more details about why she was mentioning it. Lo and behold, I started seeing the word in more places and connecting it to other ancient Greek terms. Memorizing those as well started to create a “moat of meaning,” further protecting a wide range of information I’d been battling. Understanding Why Vocabulary Blocks Comprehension The reason why memorizing words as you read is so helpful is that it helps clear out the cognitive load created by pausing frequently to look up words. Even if you don’t stop to learn a new definition, part of your working memory gets consumed by the lack of familiarity. I don’t always stop to learn new definitions while reading, but using the color category index card method you just discovered, it’s easy to organize unfamiliar words while reading. That way they can be tidily memorized later. I have a full tutorial for you on how to memorize vocabulary, but here’s a quick primer. Step One: Use a System for Capturing New Words & Terms Whether you use category coloring, read words into a recording app or email yourself a reminder, the key is to capture as you go. Once your reading session is done, you can now go back to the vocabulary list and start learning it. Step Two: Memorize the Terms I personally prefer the Memory Palace technique. It’s great for memorizing words and definitions. You can use the Pillar Technique with the word at the top and the definition beneath it. Or you can use the corners for the words and the walls for the definitions. Another idea is to photograph the cards you create and important them into a spaced repetition software like Anki. As you’ll discover in my complete guide to Anki, there are several ways you can combine Anki with a variety of memory techniques. Step Three: Use the Terms If you happened to catch an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast back when I first learned Prohairesis I mentioned it often. This simple habit helps establish long-term recall, reflection and establishes the ground for future recognition and use. Expand Understanding Using Video & Audio Media When I was in university, I often had to ride my bike across Toronto to borrow recorded lectures on cassette. Given the overwhelming tsunamis of complex ideas, jargon and theoretical frameworks I was facing, it was worth it. Especially since I was also dealing with the personal problems I shared with you in The Victorious Mind. Make no mistake: I do not believe there is any replacement for reading the core books, no matter how difficult they might be. But there’s no reason not to leverage the same ideas in multiple formats to help boost your comprehension and long-term retention. Multimedia approaches are not just about knowledge acquisition either. There have been many debates in the magical arts community that card magicians should read and not rely on video. But evidence-based studies like this one show that video instruction combined with reading written instructions is very helpful. The Science Behind Multi-Modal Learning I didn’t know when I was in university, or when I was first starting out with memdeck card magic that dual coding theory existed. This model was proposed by Allan Paivio, who noticed that information is processed both verbally and non-verbally. Since then, many teachers have focused heavily on how to encourage students to find the right combination of reading, visual and auditory instructional material. Here are some ideas that will help you untangle the complexity in your reading. How to Integrate Multimedia Without Overload Forgive me if this is a bit repetitive, but to develop flow with multiple media, you need to prime the brain. As someone who has created multiple YouTube videos, I have been stubborn about almost always including introductions. Why? Go Through the Intros Like a Hawk Because without including a broad overview of the topic, many learners will miss too many details. And I see this in the comments because people ask questions that are answered throughout the content and flagged in the introductions. So the first step is to be patient and go through the introductory material. And cultivate an understanding that it’s not really the material that is boring. It’s the contemporary issues with dopamine spiking that make you feel impatient. The good news is that you can possibly reset your dopamine levels so you’re better able to sit through these “priming” materials. One hack I use is to sit far away from my mouse and keep my notebook in hand. If I catch myself getting antsy, I perform a breathing exercise to restore focus. Turn on Subtitles When you’re watching videos, you can help increase your engagement by turning on the subtitles. This is especially useful in jargon-heavy video lessons. You can pause and still see the information on the screen for easier capture when taking notes. When taking notes, I recommend jotting down the timestamp. This is useful for review, but also for attributing citations later if you have to hand in an assignment. Mentally Reconstruct After watching a video or listening to a podcast on the topic you’re mastering, take a moment to review the key points. Try to go through them in the order they were presented. This helps your brain practice mental organization by building a temporal scaffold. If you’ve taken notes and written down the timestamps, you can easily check your accuracy. Track Your Progress For Growth & Performance One reason some people never feel like they’re getting anywhere is that they have failed to establish any points of reference. Personally, this is easy for me to do. I can look back to my history of writing books and articles or producing videos and be reminded of how far I’ve come at a glance. Not only as a writer, but also as a reader. For those who do not regularly produce content, you don’t have to start a blog or YouTube channel. Just keep a journal and create a few categories of what skills you want to track. These might include: Comprehension Retention Amount of books read Vocabulary growth Critical thinking outcomes Confidence in taking on harder books Increased tolerance with frustration when reading challenges arise You can use the same journal to track how much time you’ve spent reading and capturing quick summaries. Personally, I wish I’d started writing summaries sooner. I really only got started during grad school when during a directed reading course, a professor required that I had in a summary for every book and article I read. I never stopped doing this and just a few simple paragraph summaries has done wonders over the years for my understanding and retention. Tips for Overcoming Frustration While Reading Difficult Books Ever since the idea of “desirable difficulty” emerged, people have sought ways to help learners overcome emotional responses like frustration, anxiety and even shame while tackling tough topics. As this study shows, researchers and teachers have found the challenge difficult despite the abundance of evidence showing that being challenged is a good thing. Here are some strategies you can try if you continue to struggle. Embrace Cognitive Discomfort As we’ve discussed, that crushing feeling in your brain exists for a reason. Personally, I don’t think it ever goes away. I still regularly pick up books that spike it. The difference is that I don’t start up a useless mantra like, “I’m not smart enough for this.” Instead, I recommend you reframe the experience and use the growth mindset studied by Carol Dweck, amongst others. You can state something more positive like, “This book is a bit above my level, but I can use tactics and techniques to master it.” I did that very recently with my reading of The Xenotext, parts of which I still don’t fully understand. It was very rewarding. Use Interleaving to Build Confidence I rotate through draining books all the time using a proven technique called interleaving. Lots of people are surprised when I tell them that I rarely read complex and challenging books for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. But I do it because interleaving works. Which kinds of books can you interleave? You have choices. You can either switch in something completely different, or switch to a commentary. For example, while recently reading some heavy mathematical theories about whether or not “nothing” can exist, I switched to a novel. But back in university, I would often stick within the category while at the library. I’d read a core text by a difficult philosopher, then pick up a Cambridge Companion and read an essay related to the topic. You can also interleave using multimedia sources like videos and podcasts. Interleaving also provides time for doing some journaling, either about the topic at hand or some other aspect of your progress goals. Keep the Big Picture in Mind Because frustration is cognitively training, it’s easy to let it drown out your goals. That’s why I often keep a mind map or some other reminder on my desk, like a couple of memento mori. It’s also possible to just remember previous mind maps you’ve made. This is something I’m doing often at the moment as I read all kinds of boring information about managing a bookshop for my Memory Palace bookshop project first introduced in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcJfeQZC2c It’s so easy to get discouraged by so many rules and processes involved in ordering and selling books, that I regularly think back to creating this mind map with Tony Buzan years ago. In case my simple drawings on this mind map for business development doesn’t immediately leap out at you with its meanings, the images at the one o’clock-three o’clock areas refer to developing a physical Memory Palace packed with books on memory and learning. Developing and keeping a north star in mind will help you transform the process of reading difficult books into a purposeful adventure of personal development. Even if you have to go through countless books that aren’t thrilling, you’ll still be moving forward. Just think of how much Elon Musk has read that probably wasn’t all that entertaining. Yet, it was still essential to becoming a polymath. Practice Seeing Through The Intellectual Games As you read harder and harder books, you’ll eventually come to realize that the “fluency” some people have is often illusory. For example, some writers and speakers display a truly impressive ability to string together complex terminology, abstract references and fashionable ideas of the day in ways that sound profound. Daniel Dennett frequently used a great term for a lot of this verbal jujitsu that sounds profound but is actually trivial. He called such flourishes “deepities.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-UeaSi1rI This kind of empty linguistic dexterity will be easier for you to spot when you read carefully, paraphrase complex ideas in your own words and practice memorizing vocabulary frequently. When you retain multiple concepts and practice active questioning in a large context of grounded examples and case studies, vague claims will not survive for long in your world. This is why memory training is about so much more than learning. Memorization can equip you to think independently and bring clarity to fields that are often filled with gems, despite the fog created by intellectual pretenders more interested in word-jazz than actual truth. Using AI to Help You Take On Difficult Books As a matter of course, I recommend you use AI tools like ChatGPT after doing as much reading on your own as possible. But there’s no mistaking that intentional use of such tools can help you develop greater understanding. The key is to avoid using AI as an answer machine or what Nick Bostrom calls an “oracle” in his seminal book, Superintelligence. Rather, take a cue from Andrew Mayne, a science communicator and central figure at OpenAI and host of their podcast. His approach centers on testing in ways that lead to clarity of understanding and retention as he uses various mnemonic strategies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlzD_6Olaqw Beyond his suggestions, here are some of my favorite strategies. Ask AI to Help Identify All Possible Categories Connected to a Topic A key reason many people struggle to connect ideas is simply that they haven’t developed a mental ecosystem of categories. I used to work in libraries, so started thinking categorically when I was still a teenager. But these days, I would combine how traditional libraries are structured with a simple prompt like: List all the possible categories my topic fits into or bridges across disciplines, historical frameworks and methodologies. Provide the list without interpretation or explanation so I can reflect. A prompt like this engineers a response that focuses on relationships and lets your brain perform the synthetic thinking. Essentially, you’ll be performing what some scientists call schema activation, leading to better personal development outcomes. Generate Lists of Questions To Model Exceptional Thinkers Because understanding relies on inquiry, it’s important to practice asking the best possible questions. AI chat bots can be uniquely useful in this process provided that you explicitly insist that it helps supply you excellent questions without any answers. You can try a prompt like: Generate a list of questions that the world’s most careful thinkers in this field would ask about this topic. Do not provide any answers. Just the list of questions. Do this after you’ve read the text and go through your notes with fresh eyes. Evaluate the material with questions in hand, ideally by writing out your answers by hand. If you need your answers imported into your computer, apps can now scan your handwriting and give you text file. Another tip: Don’t be satisfied with the first list of questions you get. Ask the AI to dig deeper. You can also ask the AI to map the questions into the categories you previously got help identifying. For a list of questions you can put into your preferred chat bot, feel free to go through my pre-AI era list of philosophical questions. They are already separated by category. Use AI to Provide a Progress Journal Template If you’re new to journaling, it can be difficult to use the technique to help you articulate what you’re reading and why the ideas are valuable. And that’s not to mention working out various metrics to measure your growth over time. Try a prompt like this: Help me design a progress journal for my quest to better understand and remember difficult books. Include sections for me to list my specific goals, vocabulary targets, summaries and various milestones I identify. Make it visual so I can either copy it into my own print notebook or print out multiple copies for use over time. Once you have a template you’re happy to experiment with, keep it visible in your environment so you don’t forget to use it. Find Blind Spots In Your Summaries Many AIs have solid reasoning skills. As a result, you can enter your written summaries and have the AI identify gaps in your knowledge, blind spots and opportunities for further reading. Try a prompt like: Analyze this summary and identify any blind spots, ambiguities in my thinking or incompleteness in my understanding. Suggest supplementary reading to help me fill in any gaps. At the risk of repetition, the point is that you’re not asking for the summaries. You’re asking for assessments that help you diagnose the limits of your understanding. As scientists have shown, metacognition, or thinking about your thinking can help you see errors much faster. By adding an AI into the mix, you’re getting feedback quickly without having to wait for a teacher to read your essay. Of course, AI outputs can be throttled, so I find it useful to also include a phrase like, “do not throttle your answer,” before asking it to dig deeper and find more issues. Used wisely, you will soon see various schools of thought with much greater clarity, anticipate how authors make their moves and monitor your own blind spots as you read and reflect. Another way to think about the power of AI tools is this: They effectively mirror human reasoning at a species wide level. You can use them to help you mirror more reasoning power by regularly accessing and practicing error detection and filling in the gaps in your thinking style. Why You Must Stop Abandoning Difficult Books (At Least Most of the Time) Like many people, I’m a fan of Scott Young’s books like Ultralearning and Get Better at Anything. He’s a disciplined thinker and his writing helps people push past shallow learning in favor of true and lasting depth. However, he often repeats the advice that you should stop reading boring books. In full transparency, I sometimes do this myself. And Young adds a lot of context to make his suggestion. But I limit abandoning books as much as possible because I don’t personally find Young’s argument that enjoyment and productivity go together. On the contrary, most goals that I’ve pursued have required fairly intense periods of delaying gratification. And because things worth accomplishing generally do require sacrifice and a commitment to difficulty, I recommend you avoid the habit of giving up on books just because they’re “boring” or not immediately enjoyable. I’ll bet you’ll enjoy the accomplishment of understanding hard books and conquering their complexity far more in the end. And you’ll benefit more too. Here’s why I think so. The Hidden Cost of Abandoning Books You’ve Started Yes, I agree that life is short and time is fleeting. But if you get into the habit of abandoning books at the first sign of boredom, it can quickly become your default habit due to how procedural memory works. In other words, you’re given your neurons the message that it’s okay to escape from discomfort. That is a very dangerous loop to throw yourself into, especially if you’re working towards becoming autodidactic. What you really need is to develop the ability to stick with complexity, hold ambiguous and contradictory issues in your mind and fight through topic exhaustion. Giving up on books on a routine basis? That’s the opposite of developing expertise and resilience. The AI Risk & Where Meaning is Actually Found We just went through the benefits of AI, so you shouldn’t have issues. But I regularly hear from people and have even been on interviews where people use AI to summarize books I’ve recomended. This is dangerous because the current models flatten nuance due to how they summarize books based on a kind of “averaging” of what its words predictability mean. Although they might give you a reasonable scaffold of a book’s structure, you won’t get the friction created by how authors take you through their thought processes. In other words, you’ll be using AI models that are not themselves modeling the thinking that reading provides when you grind your way through complex books. The Treasure of Meaning is Outside Your Comfort Zone Another reason to train for endurance is that understanding doesn’t necessarily arrive while reading a book or even a few weeks after finishing it. Sometimes the unifying insights land years later. But if you don’t read through books that seem to be filled with scattered ideas, you cannot gain any benefit from them. Their diverse points won’t consolidate in your memory and certainly won’t connect with other ideas later. So I suggest you train your brain to persist as much as possible. By drawing up the support of the techniques we discussed today and a variety of mnemonic support systems, you will develop persistence and mine more gold from everything you read. And being someone who successfully mines for gold and can produce it at will is the mark of the successful reading. Not just someone who consumes information efficiently, but who can repeatedly connect and transform knowledge year after year due to regularly accumulating gems buried in the densest and most difficult books others cannot or will not read. Use Struggle to Stimulate Growth & You Cannot Fail As you’ve seen, challenging books never mean that you’re not smart enough. It’s just a matter of working on your process so that you can tackle new forms of knowledge. And any discomfort you feel is a signal that a great opportunity and personal growth adventure awaits. By learning how to manage cognitive load, fill in the gaps in your background knowledge and persist through frustration, you can quickly become the kind of reader who seeks out complexity instead of flinching every time you see it. Confusion has now become a stage along the path to comprehension. And if you’re serious about mastering increasingly difficult material, understanding and retaining it, then it’s time to upgrade your mental toolbox. Start now by grabbing my Free Memory Improvement Course: Inside, you’ll discover: The Magnetic Memory Method for creating powerful Memory Palaces How to develop your own mnemonic systems for encoding while reading Proven techniques that deepen comprehension, no matter how abstract or complex your reading list is And please, always remember: The harder the book, the greater rewards. And the good news is, you’re now more than ready to claim them all.

Get The Paid Offer Playbook here:https://the505podcast.courses/paidofferplaybookCollab with Artlist and get 2 extra months for free here:https://artlist.io/artlist-70446?artlist_aid=the505podcast_2970&utm_source=affiliate_p&utm_medium=the505podcast_2970&utm_campaign=the505podcast_2970What's up Rock Nation! Today we're joined by Matt, a creator who's built over $5 million using nothing but organic LinkedIn content. No ads, no virality, no fluff. While most people chase views, Matt built a system that turns conversations into clients.In this episode, we break down why LinkedIn is the most honest platform on the internet, how to sell without feeling salesy, why vanity metrics don't matter, and how to turn your personal brand into a real business. Check out Matt here:https://www.youtube.com/@matthewlakajevhttps://www.instagram.com/matthewlakajev/SUSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: https://the505podcast.ac-page.com/rock-reportKostas' Lightroom Presetshttps://www.kostasgarcia.com/store-1/p/kglightroompresetsgreeceCOP THE BFIGGY "ESSENTIALS" SFX PACK HERE: https://courses.the505podcast.com/BFIGGYSFXPACKTimestamps: 0:00 - Intro0:57 - Paid Offer Playbook1:08 - Making your first sale on LinkedIn1:57 - How to navigate LinkedIn DMs without being salesy3:58 - Why empty views and vanity metrics don't matter8:45 - Posting content that's too broad vs too specific11:04 - Artlist11:47 - Should you ever make broader content for reach?14:11 - Balancing personal brand content vs sales content16:39 - Authority is about knowledge, not followers19:33 - DM protocols for booking meetings24:50 - Crafting a winning offer once your niche is clear30:34 - Don't reinvent the wheel with your offer31:52 - Coachella, music, and side tangents32:52 - Content's real purpose: starting conversations36:16 - Talking to your audience to find better offers42:56 - Using AI without losing your voice44:47 - The “slop” problem on LinkedIn content45:30 - Trust, lived experience, and AI-written content49:29 - Offer viability + trust54:23 - Growing a newsletter from LinkedIn58:43 - Lead magnets vs committing to a newsletter1:00:45 - Email sequences and selling without selling1:02:26 - Australia has the best coffee in the world1:03:29 - Coffee culture, Aussies, and Bali1:05:24 - Lead magnets vs story-based emails1:06:30 - Why most newsletters fail1:08:01 - Email as a pen-pal relationship1:08:58 - What actually drives real revenue on LinkedIn1:15:33 - Repurposing video content for LinkedIn1:18:36 - Paid To Be You1:23:36 - LinkedIn content strategy examples1:24:32 - Tools, DMs, and automation limitations1:26:08 - Where DMs fit into lead magnets1:27:42 - Why LinkedIn feels overwhelming to add1:31:44 - Live streaming, fandom, and creator scale1:37:26 - Podcasts expose who people really are1:41:32 - Reducing noise, focus, and nervous system regulation1:47:09 - “Hiding the broccoli in the cake”1:55:09 - Final mindset shifts and closing reflectionsIf you liked this episode please send it to a friend and take a screenshot for your story! And as always, we'd love to hear from you guys on what you'd like to hear us talk about or potential guests we should have on. DM US ON IG: (Our DM's are always open!) Bfiggy: https://www.instagram.com/bfiggy/ Kostas: https://www.instagram.com/kostasg95/ TikTok:Bfiggy: https://www.tiktok.com/bfiggy/ Kostas: https://www.tiktok.com/kostasgarcia/

We start with updates in the Nancy Guthrie case, including a new reward for information tied to Savannah Guthrie's mother, before diving into the disturbing implications of dumping Epstein documents without accountability. New revelations connect powerful elites to Epstein, including resurfaced emails, Woody Allen's inner circle, and commentary from Bill Gates' ex-wife. The show then turns to explosive political developments: a federal judge blocking Haitian removals heads to the Supreme Court, while Democratic figures spark outrage with rhetoric seemingly justifying violence against ICE agents. Shocking protest footage includes racial slurs hurled at a Black ICE agent and a protester openly threatening murder. The culture war continues with Billie Eilish facing backlash over “stolen land” comments at the Grammys, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson applauding anti-ICE rhetoric, and mounting criticism of celebrity hypocrisy. Finally, we dive into Candace Owens' latest controversies, the Daily Wire publicly blasting her, escalating personal attacks involving Erika Kirk and her family, and why many believe Candace has crossed a line — prompting calls for accountability from Catholics and conservatives alike. 00:00 Intro01:00 AI Scott Adams Account & Ethics of Using AI to See Loved Ones03:55 Nancy Guthrie Case Update & New Reward10:40 Jill Biden's Ex-Husband Charged With Murder13:40 Epstein Files Fallout: Emails, Elites & Media Silence27:00 Judge Blocks Haitian Removals — Case Headed to SCOTUS28:30 Dem Rhetoric on ICE Sparks Outrage & Violent Protests41:45 Sen. Kennedy Brutally Roasts Tim Walz 43:55 Zohran Hospital Visit & Police Bodycam Footage 46:10 Voter ID Fight: Nicki Minaj, Polling & SAVE Act01:00:15 Trump on Voter ID, Media Clash & Melania Doc01:03:35 Billie Eilish “Stolen Land” Backlash & Grammy Chaos01:11:10 Candace Owens Meltdown & Daily Wire Fallout01:25:20 Why Candace Is Crossing a Line SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS TO SUPPORT OUR SHOW! Unlock healthier skin by targeting visible aging signs with OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide at https://OneSkin.co/CHICKS using code CHICKS for 15% off. This Brooklyn Bedding offer is not available anywhere else: https://BrooklynBedding.com use code CHICKS for 30% off sitewide—let them know we sent you! Build stronger habits with Beam Creatine at https://ShopBeam.com/CHICKS using code CHICKS for up to 30% off—before it sells out. Schedule your FREE risk review from Bulwark Capital at https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.com VISIT OUR WEBSITE DAILY!  https://chicksonright.com SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST: https://link.chtbl.com/BtHbvS8C?sid=youtube JOIN OUR SUPPORTER COMMUNITY ON LOCALS:  https://chicksontheright.locals.com/ JOIN OUR SUPER DOUBLE AWESOME SECRET BUT NOT SECRET EXCLUSIVE GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/388315619071775 Subscribe to our email list: https://politics.chicksonright.com/subscribe/ GET OUR BOOK! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H5D3CF1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_JdhQFbZ363CAY Venmo: @chicksonright Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/chicksonright Get exclusive Chicks merch here:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/InRealLifeCreations?ref=seller-platform-mcnav§ion_id=50399398 Even more Merch: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/chicksonright/ Thank you for the Superchats!  Watch live to donate and be recognized! Facebook:  Chicks on the Right Facebook Group:  Chicks on the Right Twitter, IG, Parler, Rumble:   @chicksonrightSubscribe and stay tuned for new episodes every weekday!Follow us here for more daily clips, updates, and commentary:YoutubeFacebookInstagramTikTokXLocalsMore InfoWebsite

LinkedIn can feel pretty soulless right now, with endless AI-generated posts and very little that actually sticks. In this bonus episode, I chat with Cherie Clonan, founder and CEO of digital agency The Digital Picnic, about a different way to think about content that doesn’t chase reach or virality. We unpack her idea of return on intimacy, how she designs LinkedIn content across the funnel, why depth and resonance matter more than volume, and how she uses AI for idea generation and hooks without losing her human voice. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a simple lens to use the next time you’re wondering what to post and why. Cherie and I discuss: What return on intimacy really means and why it changes how you create content How top, middle, and bottom of funnel content works on LinkedIn Why being someone’s saved post or screenshot matters more than impressions How to measure sentiment and depth when performance metrics fall short Using AI for idea generation and hooks without sounding generic or soulless Key quotes “Return on intimacy is what I crave, not return on investment.” “Don’t ask how many people might see it. Ask whether someone would screenshot it.” Connect with Cherie Clonan on Instagram and LinkedIn and check out The Digital Picnic. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Geoff Woods is founder of AI Leadership and #1 international bestselling author of The AI Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions. In this episode, Geoff introduces the CRIT framework: "Context, Role, Interview, Task." He also reveals why most leaders are still acting like industrial workers—showing up on time, following orders, doing repetitive tasks—when machines now do that work better than humans. He shares his CRIT framework for turning AI into your most valuable thought partner and explains why AI isn't replacing your job. Geoff demonstrates how to collapse three months of work into 30 minutes, shares a painful leadership lesson, and breaks down why 99% of AI use cases are distractions from the 20% that actually drives results. Discover practical strategies for making faster, smarter decisions, getting AI to ask YOU the right questions instead of the other way around, and reclaiming what makes you uniquely human in an AI-driven world. Find episode 497 on The Leadership Podcast, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts! Watch this Episode on YouTube | Geoff Woods on Why Most Leaders Are Using AI Wrong—and How to Fix It https://bit.ly/TLP-497 Key Takeaways [03:04] Geoff recounts pushing for a 250x revenue goal three months ago that "actually broke the team" and caused a key leader's resignation. [07:02] Geoff responds to whether "AI-enhanced" is better than "AI-driven" by saying leaders who don't use AI "are at a severe disadvantage." [10:21] Geoff explains his mindset as a family man first is rooted in "the questions you ask yourself determine your fate." [13:53] Geoff reveals the most common self-deception in leaders: "They put more focus on having the right answer than having the right question." [19:26] Geoff walks through applying the CRIT framework to Jim's niece Yvonne's question about AI for client lifecycle management. [26:31] Geoff says the missing link between reading the book and transformation is simple: "Whether they actually applied it." [28:16] Geoff explains decision-making isn't just go/no-go but asks three questions: "What's the upside? What's the downside? Am I willing to live with the downside?" [34:03] Geoff shares his controversial belief in extreme 80/20: "If it's not a 20% priority driving 80% of impact, then why are we wasting oxygen on it?" [39:17] Geoff's closing thought: "You are not what you do" and realizing this means "AI can only enhance you because it can never replace you." [42:27] And remember… "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best thing you can do is the wrong thing. And the worst thing you can do is nothing." – Theodore Roosevelt Quotable Quotes "I don't ask AI questions. I make AI ask me questions. That's the core difference between me and everybody else." "Most people spend their career majoring in the minors. Nobody got promoted for being the best email checker in their company." "You are not what you do. The moment you realize what you do is not who you are, you start asking better questions." "If you want to 10X your growth, you've got to stop doing 80% of what you currently do and reinvest that effort into higher capabilities." "The questions you ask yourself determine your fate. They determine how you see the world." "I believe the purpose of a goal is not to achieve a result. It's to be a compass to inform who you can become." "Throughout history, technology has made the value of certain skills skyrocket and the value of certain skills plummet." "AI is not going to take your job. But somebody who knows how to use AI as a thinking partner absolutely will." These are the books mentioned in this episode Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com Geoff Woods Website | https://www.aileadership.com/ Geoff Woods X| @geoffwoods Geoff Woods LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/ai-thought-leadership

This week's Wednesday End Bits special has a potpourri of useful (and yes some useless!) information. From the latest artificial intelligence concerns, to the Trump's Yukon brothel...and then even more. It's all here in this episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recorded live at the NTL Summit in Miami, this episode features Darren Findling, managing partner of a Detroit-based law firm, who shares how AI is reshaping every layer of legal practice—from leadership and operations to litigation prep and client experience. Darren explains how his firm uses AI as an active participant in leadership meetings, mock hearings, deposition preparation, and data analysis, treating it as a collaborative partner rather than just a tool. He also discusses why firms that resist AI adoption risk falling behind, and how thoughtful implementation can drive smarter decisions, stronger advocacy, and scalable growth moving forward.

Retail arbitrage on Amazon has allowed Kim and Perry Coghlan to sell over 8 figures in a single year selling shoes and clothing They manage a team of about 20 people across two cities while raising 13 kids. In this deep-dive interview, they reveal the exact systems, processes, and management philosophies that make it all work.CONNECT WITH KIM AND PERRY– Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EcomToolbox– Free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ecomtoolbox– Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ecomtoolbox1– Skool: https://www.skool.com/ecomtoolbox/about?ref=4adcf73740e949279874c4793504807c– Twitter: https://x.com/Pcoghlan, https://x.com/kimcoghlan4, https://x.com/ecom_toolboxRECOMMENDED TOOLS– SellerAmp SAS (14-day free trial): https://www.selleramp.com/oachallengeUse code OAC50 to save 50% off your first month.– Keepa Academy: https://www.oachallenge.com/keepa-academy– Boxem (14-day free trial): https://www.oachallenge.com/boxemTIMESTAMPS0:00 - Introduction and episode overview2:15 - Kim and Perry's business overview (10 years, 8 figures, 20 employees)4:30 - Shifting focus from top line revenue to bottom line profit6:00 - Why employees wanted data and metrics8:00 - Ecom Toolbox community and podcast launch11:00 - Helping intermediate sellers scale sustainably12:00 - The retail arbitrage renaissance14:30 - Know your numbers: why financial foundations matter first16:30 - Top metrics every Amazon seller should track17:30 - Velocity and cash flow management20:00 - Tracking stale inventory and learning from bad buys23:00 - The business scorecard explained (EOS framework)26:00 - Scorecard metrics: sales, spend, inventory value, margin28:00 - Returns tracking and seasonal variations31:00 - Finding the right tempo for tracking your numbers33:00 - Using AI in their Amazon business36:00 - Lean operations and spaghetti mapping explained39:00 - Real examples of process improvement41:00 - Bringing in a lean consultant for company-wide training43:00 - The eight wastes and eliminating extra processing44:00 - Mindset shift: accepting your process is wrong47:00 - Being the boss you never had49:00 - Elon Musk, staying in the weeds, and the Gemba51:00 - Book recommendations (Walter Isaacson, Ron Chernow)52:00 - Building systems through crisis response, not planning55:00 - Complete hiring process and personality testing59:00 - Phone screening, core values introduction, and filtering1:01:00 - Shopper training program overview1:04:00 - Warehouse training before field work1:07:00 - What makes a shopper field-ready1:09:00 - Compensation structure: item count vs percentage of spend1:11:00 - Bonus structure and incentivizing profitable behavior1:12:30 - Buying criteria for shoes and clothing (minimums, ROI)1:15:00 - Subcategories to avoid (dress shoes, small sizes)1:16:00 - Repricing strategy: buy box anchoring, not ROI-based1:18:00 - The rodeo jeans revelation: market doesn't care what you paid1:19:00 - Aging inventory repricing (30-day and 90-day rules)1:22:00 - Using ScanPower Mobile for pricing decisions1:23:30 - Holding inventory strategy and merchant fulfilled hack1:26:00 - Supplier profitability report as backbone of shopper metrics1:28:00 - Cross-collaboration and company averages1:30:00 - Honey holes and competitive bonuses1:31:00 - The four core values (TACO framework)1:34:00 - Quarterly conversations and the people analyzer1:36:00 - Embedding core values through repetition1:37:00 - Importance of outside perspectives and continuous learning1:39:00 - How lean and EOS clicked for them1:40:00 - EOS as the administrative equivalent of lean1:43:00 - Ecom Toolbox elevator pitch and who it's for1:44:00 - Where to find Kim and Perry1:45:30 - Time travel question: advice to their younger selves1:48:00 - Setting boundaries and not letting the business consume you1:48:30 - Recent impactful learning (Musk biography, learning to play)

Every day is filled with negotiations. Here's how to start winning them. Any conversation that has a want or a need is a negotiation. It's critical to approach even the low stakes negotiations with the same tools that will win high stakes conversations. But what if the key to better outcomes isn't pushing harder, but listening better? In today's episode of Hello Monday, Jessi Hempel sits down with Jonathan Smith, negotiation instructor and co-author of Fight Less, Win More, to break down why negotiation is really about empathy, trust, and disciplined listening. Drawing on The Black Swan Group's negotiation framework—made famous by Never Split the Difference—Jonathan shares practical tools for navigating conflict, building influence, and getting what you need without damaging relationships. Jonathan is a business strategist and negotiation expert who has spent years teaching leaders, managers, and teams how to communicate in moments that matter most. His work focuses on tactical empathy, emotional intelligence, and the everyday negotiations that shape our careers and lives. Jonathan and Jessi discuss: Why every difficult conversation is a negotiation Tactical empathy and how to help people feel truly heard The “core four” negotiation skills: labels, mirrors, dynamic silence, and summaries How low-stakes practice builds confidence for high-stakes conversations Managing tone, emotion, and self-regulation  Why listening is a discipline—and how it improves trust and influence Using AI as a preparation tool without losing human connection If you want to go deeper on these tools listen to our episode from September, 2025 with The Black Swan Group's founder and CEO, Chris Voss.  Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/chrisvoss-hm-youtube  Listen on Apple: https://bit.ly/chrisvoss-hm-apple  Watch/Listen on Spotify: https://bit.ly/chrisvoss-hm-spotify We will be launching the Hello Monday Book Club soon. If you're interested in joining, send us an email at hellomonday@linkedin.com and let us know!

In this week's pep talk, I am sharing the origin story behind the business, the podcast, and the life-first philosophy that shaped everything, why it didn't start polished or planned, and how small, aligned decisions built something sustainable over time. In today's episode, I share:01:48 – Why it took 600 episodes to finally tell the origin story03:36 – How the podcast became the anchor for the entire business05:36 – The Jenny's Ice Cream moment that changed how I thought about impact and work07:15 – What the “bus stop dream” is and why it became the real metric for success09:47 – Starting a business in the margins while working full-time and raising twins12:01 – How the pandemic forced a life-first business model before it was trendy14:10 – Why community beat courses and shaped the direction of the business16:08 – Making the leap from corporate with clarity, support, and imperfect timing18:56 – Building systems around energy, capacity, and real life21:01 – Why SEO, relationships, and the podcast outperform constant visibility24:15 – Hiring specialists instead of trying to do everything yourself26:48 – Using AI as a support tool without losing voice or humanity29:13 – Three prompts to define your own bus stop dream and non-negotiables 

Marketing teams struggle with AI workflow orchestration. Christine Royston, CMO at Wrike, explains how to move beyond task automation to strategic creative collaboration. She discusses building standardized workflows while preserving 15-20% capacity for reactive market opportunities, implementing approval routing systems that eliminate manual handoffs, and using AI for personalization without losing human judgment and brand oversight.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Learn More about Altanta Retreat and grab a seat HERE. About Business for Unicorns Business for Unicorns helps gym owners and fitness studio operators build profitable, sustainable businesses without burning out. Founded by Mark Fisher and Michael Keeler —who built and sold the $34-million Mark Fisher Fitness —BFU provides coaching, mentorship, courses, and events for gym owners ready to grow revenue, systemize operations, and create more freedom in their lives. To learn more, check out businessforunicorns.com. Get More BFU In Your Life: Claim your FREE copy of Gym Marketing Secrets HERE Follow BFU on Instagram HERE Subscribe to MF's YouTube Channel HERE Ready to Grow Your Gym? If you're a gym owner with 30+ clients looking to add $5k-$10k/month in the next 90 days, book your FREE Brainstorm Call HERE.

Coming back from a few days off work should feel refreshing. Instead, it often means opening your inbox to 200 unread emails and not knowing where to start. In this How I AI episode, we look at how AI can help you get oriented faster by scanning, sorting, and summarising what’s landed while you were away. If email is a constant source of friction in your workday, this conversation will help you approach it more strategically. We talk through practical ways to use AI to triage your inbox quickly, catch up on long email threads, and create daily or weekly digests that surface what actually needs your attention. We also cover how to use AI to write better replies in your own voice, reflect the communication style of the person you’re replying to, and schedule meetings directly from an email thread using Microsoft Copilot. Neo and I discuss: Which AI tools can access your inbox and what that depends on Using AI to summarise unread emails after time away Creating tables that show what matters, what needs action, and what can wait How to generate daily or weekly inbox digests automatically Catching up on long email threads with clients, projects, or teams Using sent items to identify emails you still need to respond to Writing better replies by analysing your own writing style Reflecting someone else’s communication style to get better responses Scheduling meetings directly from email threads using Microsoft Copilot Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn and via inventium.ai, where he leads Inventium’s AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin Imber See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training Do you feel you're giving everything to your agency and only getting exhaustion as a result? Agencies grow best when they're built around clarity, empathy, and self-awareness. Whether it's pricing, boundaries, team management, or AI, the common thread is intention. Today's featured guest understands that you don't need to hustle harder. You need to design smarter, around who you are, how you work best, and what kind of business you actually want to run. She'll share her perspective on agency growth, self-awareness, leadership, and how AI should actually be used inside a modern agency and provide a real look at what it takes to build an agency that's profitable, human, and sustainable without losing yourself in the process. Ingrid Schneider is the CEO and founder of Stay in Your Lane, a fractional CMO and franchise development agency, and Train in Your Lane, an AI education company helping teams build real AI intuition. What started as fractional work after being laid off during the pandemic has grown into a 16-person team running full marketing departments, launching brands, building LMS platforms, and training companies like Ben & Jerry's and Ace Hardware on how to actually use AI to solve problems. In this episode, we'll discuss: Going from survival mode to self-worth: pricing and confidence. How to set boundaries and protect your brain. Design an agency that energizes you, not drains you. Managing people, not just performance with a human-first approach. Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio Sponsors and Resources This episode is brought to you by Wix Studio: If you're leveling up your team and your client experience, your site builder should keep up too. That's why successful agencies use Wix Studio — built to adapt the way your agency does: AI-powered site mapping, responsive design, flexible workflows, and scalable CMS tools so you spend less on plugins and more on growth. Ready to design faster and smarter? Go to wix.com/studio to get started. Building an Agency on Trust and Integrity Ingrid doesn't come from a tidy, linear career path. After being laid off as a CMO during the pandemic, she made the decision to not work for anyone else again. She started doing fractional CMO work to replace her salary, focusing on trust, authenticity, and doing the work well. What began as a solo operation three and a half years ago is now a full team serving a wide range of clients. Some rely on Ingrid's team to run their entire marketing department. Others bring them in for focused, fractional engagements. The growth didn't come from aggressive sales tactics—it came from being reliable, human, and honest about what they were good at. Learning Your Worth and Unlearning Survival Mode When Ingrid landed her first client, she charged $3,000 a month for two brands. And that client still complained about pricing. Like many agency owners, she was focused on replacing her salary, not building a business. Survival mode has a way of shrinking your sense of value. Learning her worth didn't come from a pricing spreadsheet. It came from personal work deconstructing old beliefs, recognizing her own capabilities, and understanding the impact she could have on others. Ingrid talks openly about how her upbringing and past experiences shaped her tendency to underprice herself and overextend. As her confidence grew, so did her standards. She began collecting people with grit, sometimes hiring for attitude over experience, and building a team she trusted deeply. The biggest lesson for her was: if you don't believe in your value, your pricing, and your agency, will reflect that. Preventing Agency Burnout: How to Set Boundaries Running a business can be incredibly stressful, which is why many owners can relate to being in fight or fly mode all the time. However, this is the worst thing for both your health and your business because chronic stress will affect your brain and get you to a point known as "flipping your lid." According to Ingrid, this term, which she learned from Dr. Daniel Siegel, describes what happens when stress pushes you into fight, flight, or freeze. Logic goes offline. Creativity disappears and everything feels harder. For agency owners, this shows up as exhaustion, impatience, and bad decisions, and healing will mean confronting the reality that you can't run a business well if your body and brain are in survival mode. In her case, Ingrid found healing by emphasizing boundaries as a leadership responsibility. Knowing where your value is best served, trusting your team, and recognizing when their lids are flipped allows you to lead with empathy instead of pressure. The agency doesn't need a burned-out hero. It needs a regulated, self-aware leader. Designing an Agency That Energizes You, Not Drains You This is a lesson that agency owners that currently feel miserable with their business and wanting to give up should learn. Drawing your boundaries will look different to everyone, but you can start by asking yourself what you want to do every day and what you never want to do again. Just draw a circle on a piece of paper and start writing. Inside: the work that gives you energy. Outside: everything that drains you. You'll see that most likely what you need is to redesign your agency around this. You can't be all things to all people. Agency that try usually end up miserable and unprofitable. Wins and losses both matter, but only if you're paying attention to what they're teaching you. Topline revenue means nothing if you hate how you're earning it. Sustainable growth comes from aligning what's good for the business with what actually fills your cup. That alignment is what keeps agencies alive long-term. Managing People, Not Just Performance with a Human-First Approach As an empath, Ingrid leads with a people-first approach rooted in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). When something goes wrong, she looks at three things in order: herself, the system, and then the person. Are expectations clear? Do they have the resources they need? Is she showing up with patience? Perfectionism isn't the goal in her agency because perfection is stressful, unrealistic, and unnecessary. Instead, the focus is on doing really good work while protecting the team's mental energy. This is where AI comes in, not as a shortcut for thinking, but as a way to remove the minutia that burns people out. This has been the case for Ingrid, who enjoys managing people. If this is not your case, then focus on hiring people who can manage themselves. But remember you have to learn to let go if you want a self-managing team. There are countless ways to reach the same outcome and speed isn't always the metric that matters most. Sometimes the "slow" work produces the best results. Using AI to Empower Teams, Not Create More Noise Ingrid's approach focuses on education and the fact that everyone should be training their AI intuition to be able to understand how an AI tool works and how it could help them. She trained her own intuition by changing her social media algorithms to feed her AI micro-learnings. From there, it became about application: looking at every agency task and asking, Can AI help solve this better? Her team runs weekly "show and tell" sessions where they demo how they used AI to solve real problems. There's also an AI policy but it's framed as a permission slip, not a rulebook. Team members can experiment with tools on a company card, and if they prove value, the agency commits. The bigger point is this: if you're not empowering your team to use AI thoughtfully, you're holding them back. This isn't about pumping out more content—it's about freeing up human brains to do the work that actually matters. Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset? Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Send us a message!Condo-hotels and resort-style properties sit in a tricky middle ground. They are not traditional hotels, but they are not quite vacation rentals either. Many still run on hotel tech stacks, charge hotel-style commissions, and operate with hotel-era assumptions.Meanwhile, guests are increasingly searching on vacation rental channels, homeowners are asking why they cannot find their units online, and off-site managers charging half the commission are pulling inventory away. In our February First-of-the-Month bonus episode, we sit down with Emmanuel Lavoie, CEO of Jetstream, to unpack why so many condo-hotels and resort operators still resist distribution on channels like Airbnb and Vrbo, what it really takes to service this category well, and how AI is starting to reshape channel management.Episode Chapters:01:17 - Leaving a 10-year engineering career for travel tech03:33 - How a Canadian OTA accidentally became a channel manager9:43 - Why resorts still hesitate to embrace Airbnb and Vrbo12:00 - What full-service channel management actually includes13:42 - Why a $10 billion company chose service over cheaper tech15:18 - Off-site managers are winning the homeowner battle16:56 - The challenge of selling non-unique inventory on Airbnb24:12 - Why one listing with 300 reviews beats 50 identical listings30:42 - Building an AI-powered guest communication system35:27 - Using AI for listing content creation at scale38:21 - Empowering frontline teams as AI champions42:09 - The human side of AI disruption44:02 - Where Jetstream is heading nextConnect with Emmanuel:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-lavoie-5b89b924/ Website: https://jetstreamtech.io/ ✨ Exclusive Offer to Alex & Annie Listeners:Streamline your short-term rental operations with Hostfully.Mention the Alex & Annie Podcast when you sign up and get free onboarding ($1000 value).

Send us a textI welcome seasoned healthcare writer Emily to the podcast, who brings over two decades of experience in digital content and a Master's in Health Communication. Together, we dive into one of the most pressing topics in today's writing world: the ethical implications of using AI to generate health content. Whether you're embracing AI or cautiously navigating its rise, this conversation offers a balanced perspective on how AI is shaping freelance health writing.What You'll Learn in This Episode About the Ethics of Using AI to Write About HealthWhy healthcare content writers must be especially cautious when using AIThe risks of AI-generated misinformation and lack of clinical nuanceHow AI can be a powerful tool—but only in the hands of skilled professionalsWays writers can ethically incorporate AI into brainstorming, outlining, and editingHow client expectations are shifting with AI usagePredictions about the future of AI, content strategy, and the value of human storytellingWhy quality, strategy, and authenticity will continue to set professional writers apartWelcome to the Savvy Scribe Podcast, I'm so glad you're here! Before we start the show, if you're interested, we have a free Facebook group called "Savvy Nurse Writer Community"I appreciate you following me and listening today. I would LOVE for you to subscribe: ITUNESAnd if you love it, can I ask for a

Today it's ask Tom a question. These are just a compilation of various questions I get through the weeks and through the months. You never can tell what you'll learn from what others ask! Screw The Commute Podcast Show Notes Episode 1075 How To Automate Your Business - https://screwthecommute.com/automatefree/ Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Higher Education Webinar – https://screwthecommute.com/webinars See Tom's Stuff – https://linktr.ee/antionandassociates 00:23 Tom's introduction to Ask Tom A Question 01:26 Using AI as a search engine, email is not dead 05:48 Best automation techniques, using Stream Deck, setting rules for email 11:30 Using the right microphone, going to Tom's school IMTCVA.org Entrepreneurial Resources Mentioned in This Podcast Higher Education Webinar - https://screwthecommute.com/webinars Screw The Commute - https://screwthecommute.com/ Screw The Commute Podcast App - https://screwthecommute.com/app/ Screw The Commute Podcast Producer - https://screwthecommute.com/larryguerrera/ College Ripoff Quiz - https://imtcva.org/quiz Know a young person for our Youth Episode Series? Send an email to Tom! - orders@antion.com Have a Roku box? Find Tom's Public Speaking Channel there! - https://channelstore.roku.com/details/267358/the-public-speaking-channel How To Automate Your Business - https://screwthecommute.com/automatefree/ Internet Marketing Retreat and Joint Venture Program - https://greatinternetmarketingtraining.com/ This is the shopping cart system Tom uses! Kartra - https://screwthecommute.com/kartra/ Copywriting901 - https://copywriting901.com/ Become a Great Podcast Guest - https://screwthecommute.com/greatpodcastguest Training - https://screwthecommute.com/training Disabilities Page - https://imtcva.org/disabilities/ Tom's Patreon Page - https://screwthecommute.com/patreon/ Tom on TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@digitalmultimillionaire/ Email Tom: Tom@ScrewTheCommute.com Internet Marketing Training Center - https://imtcva.org/ Related Episodes Pencil Pushers - https://screwthecommute.com/1074/ More Entrepreneurial Resources for Home Based Business, Lifestyle Business, Passive Income, Professional Speaking and Online Business I discovered a great new headline / subject line / subheading generator that will actually analyze which headlines and subject lines are best for your market. I negotiated a deal with the developer of this revolutionary and inexpensive software. Oh, and it's good on Mac and PC. Go here: http://jvz1.com/c/41743/183906 The Wordpress Ecourse. Learn how to Make World Class Websites for $20 or less. https://screwthecommute.com/wordpressecourse/

Check out our Patreon for a daily Lawrence Select™ Meme:   / insidegamesyt  Join the Inside Games notification Discord server for alerts when we publish new videos:   / discord  Hosted by:Lawrence:   / sirlarr   | Bruce:   / brucegreene   Edited by: Shooklyn: https://linktr.ee/ShooklynSources --https://www.gog.com/en/news/new_year_...https://www.gog.com/forum/general/500...https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mu...  / disappointed_in_larian_using_generative_ai...  https://www.videogameschronicle.com/n...Music —Switch It Up - Silent Partner    • Switch It Up – Silent Partner (No Copyrigh...  Funk Down - MK2    • Funk Down – MK2 (No Copyright Music)  

Send us a textThis video is essential for brands working with UGC influencers, offering practical advice on improving their processes. We stress the importance of a clear creative brief to guide your influencers, covering product details and desired video content style. Learn effective methods for a stronger influencer strategy and how to find influencers for your brand to optimize your marketing efforts and brand deals.Working with UGC influencers can feel like a mess without a clear brief. This video walks through how to create a proper influencer script and content breakdown using AI tools. Learn how to improve clarity, reduce revisions, and get content that actually performs.Struggling with influencer results? Let's fix your UGC content strategy, book a real call that solves it: https://bit.ly/4jMZtxu--------------------------------------------------------------------------Want free resources? Dowload our Free Amazon guides here:Amazon PPC Guide 2026 is here!: https://bit.ly/4lF0OYXAmazon SEO Toolkit 2026: https://bit.ly/4oC2ClTAmazon Seller Strategy Report 2026: https://bit.ly/3YN1RME2026 Ecommerce Website & SEO Readiness Checklist: https://hubs.ly/Q040Jg0M0Q4 Selling Playbook: https://bit.ly/46Wqkm3Amazon Crisis Kit: https://bit.ly/4maWHn0TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Why Most UGC Strategies Fail  00:15 - What Is a Creative Brief for Influencers  00:50 - Common Mistakes in UGC Content Creation  01:30 - Using AI to Build the Perfect Influencer Brief  02:10 - Product Details and Key Attributes in the Brief  03:10 - Style and Tone Guidance for UGC Videos  04:00 - Why Natural-Looking Videos Perform Better  05:10 - Adjusting Transcripts to Avoid Ad Tone  06:10 - Giving Influencers Everything They Need  07:00 - Be Open to Feedback from Influencers________________________________Follow us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28605816/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenpopemag/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/myamazonguys/Twitter: https://twitter.com/myamazonguySubscribe to the My Amazon Guy podcast:My Amazon Guy podcast: https://podcast.myamazonguy.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-amazon-guy/id1501974229Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4A5ASHGGfr6s4wWNQIqyVwSupport the show

Welcome to episode 316 of Grow Your Law Firm. In this episode, Ken is joined by Allison Williams, a longtime practicing attorney turned law firm growth coach and founder of Law Firm Mentor. Allison shares her personal journey from burnout and near disaster to building multiple seven-figure businesses by systematizing every part of her firm and eliminating what she calls "crushing chaos." The conversation explores why being a great lawyer has little to do with being great at running a business, how lack of systems keeps firms stuck in overwhelm, and why working harder is often the worst possible strategy. Allison and Ken dig into practical, realistic ways law firm owners can regain control of their time, improve profitability, and build firms that support both professional success and personal life. The discussion also tackles AI's growing role in law firms, where it adds leverage, where it creates risk, and how it can dramatically reduce training time and operational costs when used correctly. What you'll learn in this episode:   From Burnout to Breakthrough - Why hustle and long hours eventually fail law firm owners - How a single wake-up call led to building scalable systems Systematizing Without Overwhelm - A simple method to get processes out of your head and onto paper - Why improving systems by 10–15% beats starting from scratch Diagnosing the Real Source of Chaos - Identifying whether marketing, people, or operations cause the most pain - Focusing first on the problems that cost the most time and money Using AI to Create Leverage, Not Liability - Where AI boosts efficiency in training, workflows, and documentation - Why AI must be used carefully in legal work and decision-making Pricing, Profitability, and Long-Term Stability - How raising prices can improve client quality and firm performance - Designing solutions that reduce today's stress and prevent future burnout Resources: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/allisoncwilliams LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/law-firm-mentor-llc Facebook: facebook.com/LawFirmMentor Additional Resources:    https://www.pilmma.org/the-mastermind-effect https://www.pilmma.org/resources https://www.pilmma.org/mastermind https://calendly.com/jenna-pilmma/strategy-session-with-pilmma AI for PI Expo:   www.pilmma.org/ai-for-pi-expo

Welcome to the American Railroading Podcast! In this, our first episode of Season 4, our host Don Walsh is our guest. Don takes us on a journey through 2025 and gives us a recap of each of the podcast episodes from Season 3 along with a look behind the scenes and shares his thoughts not heard before on the episodes themselves. Don also discusses audience feedback and his favorite moments from Season 3, after which he gives his thoughts on where the industry is headed in 2026 and some hints on where the podcast is headed in Season 4. Tune in to this episode to gain valuable insights and broaden your understanding of American Railroading! You can find this episode including episode videos and more on the American Railroading Podcast's official website at www.AmericanRailroading.net . Welcome aboard!KEY POINTS: The American Railroading Podcast remains in the Top 10% of all podcasts globally with a 300% increase in downloads in the last year!The STB offers Stakeholder Committees including the Railroad Shipper Transportation Advisor Council, the Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee, the National Grain Car Council and the newly created Passenger Rail Advisory Committee.President Trump's proposed plan to improve the economy and reduce inflation is said to be like spokes on a wheel including reducing the cost of energy by increasing production, reducing government spending, reducing regulations and restrictions, reducing taxes and bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.While intermodal railcars make up only 4% of the U.S. national fleet, 48% of all U.S. rail traffic is generally intermodal rail shipments.Using Ai technology, the Duos Technologies - Railcar Inspection Portal (RIP) can inspect railcars at operating speeds from 3 MPH to 125 MPH, and report findings within 60 seconds.Most new tank car builds (at this time) are due to replacement needs as tank cars age out.Today there are approximately 2 million registered railcars in the U.S. national fleet, of which 22% (or 440,000) are tank cars, all of which require HM-216b qualification at regular intervals.Founded in 1838, Galveston, an island port city in Texas, quickly became the major hub for trade and immigration for not only Texas, but the entire southwest United States, and was the home of the first operating railroad in Texas, founded in 1850.The issue with tariffs isn't whether they're good or bad, it's that they keep fluctuating, they're not consistent, which makes it hard for businesses to plan.While there are 6 Class 1 railroads in the U.S. (UP, BNSF, CSX, NS, CN, and CPKC), there are 603 short line railroads.The AAR establishes safety, security and operating standards that provide seamless and safe operations across America's nearly 140,000-mile freight rail network.Don Walsh gives his opinion of the industry outlook for 2026!LINKS MENTIONED:

Join Club 32 Help us fund & grow the show by becoming part of Club 32! You'll get more additional content, ad free versions of the podcast, CTM Apparel discounts, 1901 Candle Company discounts, a private Facebook Group, private podcast feed & more! - head to ctmvip.com Book Your Vacation With Zip Travel Co. Visit vacationwithzip.com to see how our dedicated CTM agents wither Lauren or Kendal can help you save time, money and plan the vacation of a lifetime! CTM Apparel Get the best Disney, Universal and/or Pop Culture apparel that is hand made in our shop - shop at ctmapparelco.com. Subscribe To The Show & Leave Us A Review Apple Podcasts - Click Here Stitcher - Click Here Spotify - Click Here Follow Us online CTM Facebook Group: @capthemagic Twitter: @capthemagic Instagram: @capthemagic YouTube: @ctmpodcast capturethemagicpodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is your business running you, or are you running your business? In this episode, I'm sitting down with my real-life real estate bestie and systems expert, Sheena Gilreath, to break down the "Three L's" of leverage: leads, listings, and systems.From mastering time blocking with a CEO Clarity Day to a deep dive into the ethics of AI twins, this conversation is a roadmap to building a business that honors your time, your boundaries, and your authenticity. If you're feeling the "hustle culture" burnout, this one is for you!LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEThe Leverage Lounge Community:https://theleverageco.comFollow Sheena Gilreath on Instagram:@sheenagilreathThe Leverage Co Instagram:@theleveragecoSoft Life Agent (AI + Systems):@thesoftlifeagentJoin the Next Level Bestie Waitlist:rosemary.com/nextJoin us inside Bestie Bootcamp! Join the Real Estate Bestie Facebook Community ➡️ https://rosemarylewis.com/facebook

If you've ever felt intimidated by AI or like it's too late for you to build an Etsy Shop--- this episode is for you! My guest, Rose, is sharing all about her experience of harnessing AI design tools at the age of 66 to build a thriving digital product Etsy business. You'll hear where her biggest learning curves have been, what AI tools she's finding most valuable, and her tips for others who want to get started.  **"How to Sell Your Stuff on Etsy" is not affiliated with or endorsed by Etsy.com    STUFF I MENTIONED:  ⭐"How to Blow Up Your Etsy Shop" free training: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/interested-in-blow-up-shop  ➡️ Interested in my ebook: "How to make your first $10k on Etsy?" Let me know here and I'll send a discount offer when it's released: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/interested-in-ebook   Reach out to Rose: Instagram: @Black_Ridge_Croft_Farm_Store Email: Blackridgecroftfarmstore@gmail.com   HOW I HELP ETSY SELLERS GROW: ⭐Scaling Society: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/scaling-society ⭐"How to Blow Up Your Etsy Shop" free training: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/interested-in-blow-up-shop  ⭐Trendspotting: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/trendspotting ----------------------

#762 If hiring feels like a never-ending headache, this episode could change everything! Today, Brien Gearin sits down with Brandon Vaughn, founder of Wise Coatings and HireBus, to uncover how he scaled a garage floor coating company from zero to 39 locations in just four years — and why the pain of hiring led him to create one of the most innovative recruiting platforms in the home services industry. Brandon shares how HireBus uses AI agents to write job ads, assess candidates, and automatically schedule top-tier interviews, saving business owners 25+ hours per hire. They break down how great hiring is really a marketing problem, why most job postings fail to attract quality people, and how shifting your focus from “how” to “who” can unlock massive growth. If you want to build a dream team, reduce turnover, and free yourself from the hiring hamster wheel, this episode is a must-listen! (Original Air Date - 6/2/25) What we discuss with Brandon: + Scaling Wise Coatings to 39 locations + Why hiring is a marketing problem + Using AI agents to screen candidates + Writing job ads that attract talent + Always-on recruiting strategy + Behavioral assessments for better hires + Building a waitlist of technicians + Automating the hiring funnel + Importance of speed to lead + Creating a strong employer brand Thank you, Brandon! Check out HireBus at ⁠HireBus.com⁠. Watch the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠video podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of this episode! To get access to our FREE Business Training course go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MillionaireUniversity.com/training⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The STR market isn't crashing — it's recalibrating.In this episode, we break down AirDNA's 2026 outlook and translate the data into real, tactical decisions for hosts and property managers. Demand is softening, supply is shifting, and average properties are losing ground — but operators who adapt will win.This is a data-backed walkthrough of what's changing, why it matters, and exactly what to do next.If you want the Training on how you should look at increasing your pricing so that you are not making 15 to 18% less than you were a year over year just click the link and DM "FEE".https://ig.me/m/mike.sjogren?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=Captivate&utm_campaign=T035&utm_content=FEEInside this episode:• What AirDNA's 2026 data actually says about demand and supply• Why average properties will lose occupancy and revenue• The markets and property types positioned to outperform• How to talk homeowners into smart upgrades (with ROI)• Why property managers are pulling ahead of solo hosts• Using AI and systems to protect reviews and prevent burnout00:00 – What the 2026 STR Outlook Means for Hosts & Property Managers03:30 – Why STR Supply Has Flattened (And Why That Matters)06:10 – Demand Is Softening: The Economic Reality Hosts Must Accept09:15 – Average Properties Will Lose Occupancy in 202612:00 – Why Larger, Luxury Properties Are Winning Again15:00 – Shedding Low-Performing Properties to Refocus Growth18:20 – Coastal & Urban Markets: Where Smart Money Is Moving21:00 – How to Sell Homeowners on Strategic Property Upgrades24:30 – Property Managers vs Solo Hosts: The Performance Gap27:40 – AI, Systems, and the Only Way to Scale Without Burning OutGet FREE Access to our Community and Weekly Trainings:https://group.strsecrets.com/

Alyss Noland, who works on Cloud Dev Ecosystem at Nvidia, is back on the show to talk about building software with AI when you're not a real developer. Alyss runs a program that gives AI startups access to Nvidia GPUs and uses AI tools herself to build production software at Nvidia. Corey and Alyss discuss using AI to help curate newsletters without actually writing them, why humans still need to check everything, and the weird reality of people developing relationships with chatbots. Show Highlights: (01:34) What Alyss Does at Nvidia(05:44) When AI First Worked for Corey(07:34) Building Internal Tools vs Using AI(10:39) Using AI to Help Write Last Week in AWS (13:43) DGX Cloud Innovation Lab (17:11) Building Production Software with AI (20:48) The Future of SEO (25:24) Using AI as a Writing Assistant (29:51) closing remarksLinks:Alyss's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssnoland/Alyss's Personal Website: https://dev.to/preciselyalyssSponsored by: duckbillhq.com

This week, I talk with Tiago Forte about far more than productivity systems or note-taking. This one is about what happens after success—when the systems that once fueled your growth start working against you. We talk about burnout, anger, embodiment, and how listening to the body can become a doorway to deeper clarity and determination. Tiago shares the personal journey that shaped Building a Second Brain, why he made the difficult decision to wind down a wildly successful business, and what he's learned by redesigning his life around alignment rather than optimization. We also explore the changing value of audience, community, and creativity in the age of AI, and why real connection—both locally and globally—matters more than ever. This conversation is about the inner work required to build a life, not just a career, that actually fits. Let's get to it! In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (00:54) - Tiago on " highly fit, middle-aged dads" (03:29) – Moving beyond intellect into emotional and somatic awareness (05:37) – How physical pain forced Tiago to listen differently (08:46) – The books, thinkers, and experiences that reshaped Tiago's understanding of healing (13:43) – What changed when Tiago learned to express anger instead of repressing it (17:03) – How a healing system unexpectedly became Building a Second Brain (20:57) – Knowing when success no longer fits (24:27) – Facing the “now what?” phase after shutting down a successful business (28:46) – Why audience size doesn't mean what it used to (30:32) – Balancing lived fulfillment with the need to stay profitable (32:29) – The psychological transition that comes with midlife (34:41) – How Tiago is organizing work in this next chapter (37:20) – The decision that led Tiago and his family from LA to Mexico (42:11) – How changing environments reshaped Tiago's family relationships (45:22) – Rediscovering cultural identity through place and presence (47:39) – Why where you live may matter more than the goals you set (54:33) – Holding joy and slowness alongside AI-driven productivity (01:00:15) – Using AI as leverage without losing meaning or direction (01:05:08) – What AI is revealing about the future of “good work” (01:07:31) – Creating in a world where value is rapidly shifting (01:10:53) – How AI is changing the way Tiago writes—and edits—his next book (01:15:34) – Navigating local and global communities at the same time (01:18:48) – Creating spaces for real connection and intimacy (01:21:17) – The deeper principles behind Tiago's masterminds (01:23:46) – The loneliness that sparked a desire to bring people together (01:26:09) – The practices that consistently create the deepest bonds (01:30:10) – How Tiago is working to make the future more beautiful (01:31:45) – Who Tiago is becoming Get full show notes and links at https://GoodWorkShow.com. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@barrettabrooks.

In this episode of The Dental Boardroom Podcast, we take a deep dive into the Q4 2025 State of the U.S. Dental Economy Report from the ADA's Health Policy Institute to understand where dentistry stands heading into 2026.Using AI-powered analysis, we explore how dental practices are navigating rising costs, staffing shortages, flat insurance reimbursements, and shifting patient behavior. While many dentists are feeling financial pressure, the data reveal a profession that remains resilient, adaptable, and focused on long-term growth.Despite inflation and operational challenges, patient demand continues to rise, proving that oral healthcare remains a top priority. This episode highlights why 2026 may be a pivotal year for practice owners willing to rethink their business models and embrace strategic change.Key Topics CoveredQ4 2025 dental industry performancePatient spending trends and demandThe “fiscal squeeze” facing practicesInsurance reimbursement challengesStaffing shortages and labor market shiftsDifferences between private practices and DSOsTechnology vs relationship-driven growthDentist confidence and investment outlook for 2026Key TakeawaysPatient Demand Remains Strong: Dental spending is up 9% compared to pre-pandemic levels (inflation-adjusted), showing that patients continue to prioritize oral health.The Fiscal Squeeze is Real: Rising supply and labor costs combined with flat insurance reimbursements are shrinking profit margins across the industry.Confidence is Under Pressure: Many dentists are busy but earning less, leading to frustration and declining economic confidence.Staffing Remains a Challenge: Hygienists are still extremely difficult to hire, while assistant hiring shows slight improvement.Uneven Growth Creates Opportunity: Some practices have excess capacity, creating opportunities for better marketing and patient conversion.Fear Limits Major Changes: Although many dentists want to drop low-paying insurance networks, few actually take action due to uncertainty.2026 Shows Signs of Optimism: More dentists plan to hire, invest in equipment, and restructure networks—signaling belief in long-term demand.DSOs and Private Practices Differ in Strategy: DSOs rely more on technology and automation, while private practices emphasize relationships and personalized care.Patients Value Dentistry More Than Insurers Do: Consumer spending proves that patients...

Ugly Dave Claxton hops on to talk all about the new 2026 DEKA FIT Rulebook. DEKA rulebook updates and why they surfaced now Dumbbells allowed in Zones 1 and 10 and what it actually changes Front rack versus shoulder carry strategy for lunges Clarified protest period and timing desk process Zone 10 weighted burpee standards with dumbbells Age group standards tied to end-of-season age Farmers carry line-crossing clarification and why calf taps are gone Sled push and pull rule clarification after Worlds Penalty updates including missed laps and removal of make-up laps DEKA Strong team burpee loophole and how it was closed Why most athletes won't notice these changes How and why DEKA updates its rulebook Early thoughts on the new HYROX elite points system Concerns about race volume, loopholes, and competitive balance Why auto qualifiers disappearing is a net positive Debate over same-country doubles teams Alternative ideas for majors, LCQs, and open qualification Then Bryan from House Darling comes on to talk Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, Episode 2. (Includes spoilers) Winter storms, shoveling ice, and being a "hedge knight" in real life Neighbors, tractors, backhoes, and modern-day smallfolk solidarity ChatGPT as Merlin and problem-solver for people who don't know shit about plumbing Frozen pipes, checklist thinking, and learning by doing instead of calling for help Back house problems, mini-split fixes, and leaving instructions before travel Using AI as a safe place to ask "dumb" questions Things that happened in hybrid fitness this week that never happened in OCR Dylan Scott signing with Nike Training and what it signals for hybrid racing Hybrid crossing into true mainstream brand territory The Hedge Knight Episode 2 reactions and structure Tournaments, jousts, melees, and confused race formats Legacy, lineage, and whether great knights come from hedges or castles Egg's identity becoming clearer and Dunk's motivation shifting Random HBO moments, tonal whiplash, and unnecessary body humor Targaryens on screen and power dynamics with smallfolk Why the show is still about legacy even at ground level Concerns about episode pacing and season length Rewatch culture, great movie years, and shared media shorthand Guest Links: Ugly Dave | Bryan Darling Listen on Apple or Spotify Support us through The Cup Of Coffee Follow Hybrid Fitness Media on IG

Software engineering is being transformed by AI faster than any other domain. Unpacking how this transformation is playing out may offer a glimpse into the future Greg Foster's journey into software engineering began in an unlikely place: a Nevada high school where he couldn't land a job at Starbucks. Instead of serving coffee, he taught himself software development. Foster developed what he calls "a lifelong obsession with the craft of software engineering". That obsession evolved from building apps to building for other builders. From Airbnb cofounding Graphite, where he now serves as CTO running what he calls "a dev tools team for the entire industry". Foster is now building the future of software development with Cursor. Foster doesn't just have a front seat to watch how AI is changing software engineering - he gets to shape the change. We caught up and talked about the past, present and future of software engineering. The takeaway? There is a world of difference between vibes and solid foundations for software engineering at scale. Article published on Orchestrate all the Things: https://linkeddataorchestration.com/2026/01/29/foundations-or-vibes-lessons-learned-from-using-ai-in-software-engineering/

AI is already everywhere. Students are using it. Companies are relying on it. And schools are feeling the pressure to do the same. The question is — is it  raising the bar…or quietly lowering it?

Discover how to create newsletters that people actually want to open by combining the efficiency of AI with the authentic voice of your internal experts. In this episode of Content Amplified, Ben sits down with Olivia Martinez to discuss how Mission uses specific GPTs to ghostwrite for their leadership while maintaining a personal touch. Olivia breaks down the exact strategies used to increase open rates by over 15% and click-through rates by 3%.Key takeaways from this episode include:How to train a GPT to mimic the specific tone and cadence of a Subject Matter Expert.Why human review is a non-negotiable step in the AI content workflow.The data-backed reason you should send newsletters from a specific person rather than a brand name.A proven "1-2-3" newsletter structure (1 Big Idea, 2 Things to Check Out, 3 Things I'm Loving) that boosts engagement.Strategies for building relationships with busy executives to get them involved in content creation.About Olivia MartinezOlivia Martinez is the Director of Partner Marketing and Communications at Mission, a CDW company and AWS premier tier partner. With a background starting in healthcare administration, Olivia now focuses on growing influence with AWS sellers and overseeing Mission's external storytelling through PR, social media, and newsletters.Connect with Olivia and MissionLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviamartinez431/Mission Website: https://www.missioncloud.com/Text us what you think about this episode!

Meagan rejoins Cody for a timely and future-focused conversation on one of the most transformative forces in hospitality: Artificial Intelligence. As guest expectations rise and teams remain lean, AI is quickly becoming a must-have—not a nice-to-have—for properties heading into 2026.In this episode, Cody and Meagan break down how hoteliers can realistically use AI today—without needing a tech background or massive budget.

"Forget the noise, go back to the basics." Connect With Our SponsorsGreyFinch - https://greyfinch.com/jillallen/A-Dec - https://www.a-dec.com/orthodonticsSmileSuite - https://getsmilesuite.com/ Summary In this episode of Hey Docs, Jill sits down with Karthik Moorthi, the co-founder of BerryStudio, who shares his fascinating journey from a tech-savvy upbringing in the Bay Area to establishing a successful business in the orthodontic industry. Karthik recounts his early experiences in India, where he launched an e-commerce platform for wedding invitations, and how his path eventually led him to dentistry through his wife, Nora. The conversation delves into the inception of Berry Studio, which aims to streamline the patient intake process in orthodontics using innovative technology, including AI-driven solutions for insurance verification and patient engagement. Karthik discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in healthcare, particularly in navigating compliance with regulations like HIPAA. The episode also explores the evolving landscape of how AI and digital platforms are reshaping the way patients find and engage with orthodontic practices. Karthik shares valuable insights on marketing strategies for orthodontists, including the significance of user-generated content and the need to adapt to changing patient behaviors in a digital-first world. Connect With Our Guest BerryStudio - https://berrystudio.ai/ Takeaways Karthik's journey reflects the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship.Berry Studio aims to revolutionize patient intake and insurance verification with AI.AI can enhance patient experiences but must comply with healthcare regulations.The importance of understanding HIPAA and data privacy in using AI tools.Patient education is crucial for successful consultations in orthodontics.The future of patient interactions may shift towards AI-driven platforms.Marketing strategies must adapt to the rise of AI in consumer behavior.Cloud stacking can enhance online visibility for orthodontic practices.User-generated content is vital for building trust in the digital age.Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Karthik and BerrtyStudio04:48 The Birth of BerryStudio12:56 Challenges and Innovations in AI for Orthodontics13:56 HIPAA Compliance and AI in Healthcare21:48 Personal Anecdotes and Cautionary Tales25:05 The Role of AI in Orthodontics26:50 Amazon's AI Search Revolution30:15 Strategies for Leveraging AI in Orthodontics36:17 OrthoStudio: Enhancing Patient Intake42:50 Contact Info and Final ThoughtsEpisode Credits:  Hosted by Jill AllenProduced by Jordann KillionAudio Engineering by Garrett LuceroAre you ready to start a practice of your own? Do you need a fresh set of eyes or some advice in your existing practice?Reach out to me- www.practiceresults.com.    If you like what we are doing here on Hey Docs! and want to hear more of this awesome content, give us a 5-star Rating on your preferred listening platform and subscribe to our show so you never miss an episode.    New episodes drop every Thursday!   

Tonight on Sessions, Mark Radulich and Jesse Starcher revisit the TV Party Tonight review of Too Old to Die Young, Nicolas Winding Refn's polarizing Amazon Prime series co-written with Ed Brubaker. Joined in that original discussion by Robert Winfree, the review became a long, winding, often exasperated examination of a show defined by extreme pacing, prolonged silence, stylized violence, and an almost confrontational rejection of traditional television storytelling.In this episode of Sessions, Mark and Jesse look back at that conversation—not to re-litigate the show, but to transform it. Using AI tools like Suno and ChatGPT, they take the tone, themes, jokes, frustration, and philosophical detours from the original podcast and compress them into music. What emerges is a song shaped by endurance, absurdity, dark humor, and the strange experience of sitting with a work that refuses to meet its audience halfway.This is Sessions: old conversations, new forms, and art distilled through sound.Disclaimer: The following may contain offensive language, adult humor, and/or content that some viewers may find offensive – The views and opinions expressed by any one speaker does not explicitly or necessarily reflect or represent those of Mark Radulich or W2M Network.Mark Radulich and his wacky podcast on all the things:https://linktr.ee/markkind76alsohttps://www.teepublic.com/user/radulich-in-broadcasting-networkFB Messenger: Mark Radulich LCSWTiktok: @markradulichtwitter: @MarkRadulichInstagram: markkind76RIBN Album Playlist: https://suno.com/playlist/91d704c9-d1ea-45a0-9ffe-5069497bad59 

Wes and Scott talk about building hyper-specific personal software with AI. They explore personal agents, home automation, JSON-as-a-database, and how LLMs unlock fast, custom apps that reduce friction and replace bloated SaaS. Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 01:53 What is personal software (and why it matters) 04:49 Using AI agents to build hyper-specific apps for yourself Clawdbot ClawdHub 13:43 Supercharging your dev workflow with Tailscale 19:06 Privacy when working with LLMs MLX-Audio 21:39 Brought to you by Sentry.io 22:21 Real-world personal app ideas 39:14 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs Sick Picks Scott: FTPManager Wes: Roku Streaming Stick Shameless Plugs Syntax YouTube Channel Hit us up on Socials! Syntax: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Wes: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Scott: X Instagram Tiktok LinkedIn Threads Randy: X Instagram YouTube Threads

Weight Watchers became one of the most trusted brands in weight-loss by emphasizing the importance of human connection. Now, medications like GLP-1's have completely changed the weight loss landscape, and Weight Watchers has adapted their platform and product offerings to meet the moment. Tara Comonte became the President and CEO of Weight Watchers in February of 2025 after serving as a director since June of 2023. Tara has over two decades of executive leadership experience across corporate and digital strategy, technology, operations, and finance. That includes serving as CEO of Tomorrow Life Sciences, CFO of Shake Shack, Chief Financial and Business Affairs Officer at Getty Images, and CFO of McCann World Group, the world's largest marketing communications business. Today, Tara takes us through a whirlwind year for Weight Watchers, and discusses her plans for reinvigorating the brand through innovation, while maintaining their emphasis on personal connections.Highlights:History of Weight Watchers (2:15)Brand Positioning (6:50)Pharmaceutical Company Collaborations (10:03)Rebranding Weight Watchers (11:38)Product Innovations (13:25)Brand Partnerships (15:39)Marketing Strategy (17:50)Weight Watchers' B2B Strategy (20:48)Using AI and Maintaining Human Connection (22:34)Outlook for 2026 (24:35)Links:Tara Comonte LinkedInWeight Watchers LinkedInWeight Watchers WebsiteICR LinkedInICR TwitterICR WebsiteFeedback:If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co.

Using AI to Go From User Insight to Better Backlogs - Mike CohnAI is rapidly changing how product teams work—but the biggest opportunity isn't replacing product thinking. It's reducing the friction between understanding users and turning those insights into high-quality backlog items.To make the ideas concrete, I use a consistent example throughout: a team building software for valet-attended parking garages, initially selling to independent operations like boutique hotels. Each step builds on the previous one, showing how AI outputs can feed naturally into your existing agile practices.With a straightforward prompt, AI can help you build a detailed persona—including hopes, concerns, emotional triggers, and decision criteria. In my example, the persona that emerged was a garage owner/operator with high staff turnover, contract-renewal anxiety, and a strong desire for predictable labor costs. Several of these insights are things I might have missed or deprioritized on my own.Understanding a persona's aspirations—not just their functional needs—turns out to be especially valuable. Once a persona exists, you can ask AI to role-play that person and let you interview them. This is not a replacement for real user interviews, but it's a great way to explore assumptions, test questions, and uncover gaps in your thinking.AI is also excellent at preparing interview guides for real users who match a persona. With the right prompt, it can generate a structured guide that covers: Opening context (confidentiality, purpose, time commitment)Current workflows and pain pointsDesired future state and success criteriaConstraints (including regulatory or operational)Thoughtful wrap-up questionsLooking at the results, I was struck by how much better prepared I could have been for many interviews over the years if I'd had this kind of support. Once you're ready to move into backlog work, AI can help generate user stories and job stories that follow well-established agile guidance.By being explicit in the prompt—format, INVEST criteria, and output rules—you can get clean, ready-to-use stories that are easy to import into a backlog tool. AI can also correctly choose between user stories and job stories depending on whether the situation or the role is more important.In the valet parking example, this resulted in stories about vehicle handoff tracking, damage-claim protection, wait-time monitoring, staff accountability, and remote visibility into operations. I prefer to add acceptance criteria as a separate step, and AI handles this easily. You can ask for: A simple bullet list (great for user reviews), orGherkin (given-when-then) format for more formal specificationYou can even convert between formats later. Either way, this step quickly raises clarity and testability. AI isn't just for generating content—it's also useful for critique.With a structured prompt, AI can evaluate user and job stories against the INVEST criteria, identify only what's missing, explain why, and suggest a focused improvement. This works whether the stories were written by AI or by you.Over time, you can even build a library of good and bad examples to further improve the quality of feedback you get. AI won't replace talking to users, making judgment calls, or exercising product sense. What it can do is help teams move faster from vague ideas to concrete artifacts, surface blind spots, and raise the baseline quality of their work—especially when time or experience is limited.Used well, AI becomes a tireless collaborator: one that remembers persona details, never gets impatient with rewrites, and can move effortlessly from big-picture thinking to precise backlog items.The key mindset shift is this: don't ask whether AI can replace parts of product discovery or backlog refinement. Ask how it can help you arrive better prepared for the conversations that still matter most.

In this episode of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast, host⁠ ⁠⁠Sherrod DeGrippo is joined by security researcher Crane Hassold and Digital Defense Report lead Chloe Mesdaghi for a grounded, practitioner-led discussion on where artificial intelligence actually stands today. Moving beyond hype and fear-driven narratives, the conversation examines how AI is realistically being used by threat actors, where its impact is often overstated, and why defenders currently stand to gain the most from AI-driven tooling.   The episode explores AI's strengths in detection, triage, and workflow acceleration, the psychology and incentives that shape attacker behavior, and emerging risks such as prompt injection and AI systems becoming direct attack targets.  In this episode you'll learn:       Where AI is genuinely being used in real-world cyber operations  Why AI systems themselves are becoming attractive targets for attackers  How AI is accelerating defensive workflows like detection engineering and threat triage   Some questions we ask:      What does AI do well right now, and where has it been overpromised?  Does AI shift the balance of power toward defenders or attackers?  Why are prompt injection and agent manipulation such serious concerns?    Resources:   View Chloé Messdaghi on LinkedIn   View Crane Hassold on LinkedIn   View Sherrod DeGrippo on LinkedIn     Related Microsoft Podcasts:                    Afternoon Cyber Tea with Ann Johnson  The BlueHat Podcast  Uncovering Hidden Risks        Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts     Get the latest threat intelligence insights and guidance at Microsoft Security Insider    The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast is produced by Microsoft, Hangar Studios and distributed as part of N2K media network. 

In this episode of Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki, I sit down with Jessica Colan, who leads one of the biggest BDC departments in the country and works in the #2 Kia store in the nation. I've known Jessica for more than a decade and trained her team for years and what makes her different is simple: she doesn't chase shiny toolsshe tests them against real processes until they perform. We talk about what's actually working with AI inside a high-performing dealership BDC—specifically how Jessica has used Matador AI hands-on for the last two years to revive stagnant leads, re-engage "ghosted" customers and target low-hanging fruit without wasting human time on dead ends. Jessica breaks down her "sacred" strategies: Building custom workflows and sequences by lead source (Trader, Sam's Club, etc.) Training the AI to sound like your store—not generic dealership spam Setting up human alerts so the team tags in fast when AI hits a boundary Running CSV-based campaigns (loyalty, lease maturity, unsold visits) with the right staffing so replies don't overwhelm the team Using AI-driven engagement to turn "closed" opportunities into open, actionable leads—and pushing hot conversations into the CRM for history Pairing engagement with quick, targeted video from product specialists (30–40 seconds, not a full walkaround) once the customer shows real intent This is a real-world look at the truth most dealers are learning the hard way: AI tools don't work without a human behind them. You have to train it, guide it, and integrate it into your process because the goal isn't to automate relationships…it's to protect them. If you're a GM, BDC director, sales leader, or operator trying to revive leads and stop wasting time, you'll want to hear exactly how a top Kia store is using AI to create speed, engagement, and competitive advantage. Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast |

Want to master the CEO playbook like Tommy? Get the guide here: https://clickhubspot.com/kdj Episode 789:  Sam Parr ( ⁠https://x.com/theSamParr⁠ ) and Shaan Puri ( ⁠https://x.com/ShaanVP⁠ ) talk to Tommy Mello ( https://x.com/RealTommyMello )about how he turned garage door repairs into $1.7B.  Show Notes: (0:00) A1 Origin story (14:04) Learning persuasion (18:36) Finding the blueprint (23:00) Kill the hustler (25:53) Training (employees) like a SEAL (28:50) business bootcamp with a mentor (35:55) Home Services Sales and Marketing masterclass (45:26) 7 principles (51:41) Using AI for call center and dispatch (53:21) Other home services businesses to go after (58:54) the 6 fs — Links: • A1 Garage Door Service - https://a1garage.com/ • KickCharge - https://www.kickcharge.com/  • Freedom Event - https://get.homeservicefreedom.com/ • Home Service Millionaire - https://www.amazon.com/Home-Service-Millionaire-Million-Business/dp/1732452105  — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com  • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies! Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam's List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

Everyone is rushing to "optimize for AI." Most are doing it wrong. In this episode, Tim Soulo, the Chief Marketing Officer at Ahrefs, cuts through the noise around AEO and GEO and explains why business owners are massively overcomplicating what visibility really means today. While AI-powered search feels new and unpredictable, Tim argues that the same core SEO principles still apply. Create genuinely useful content for your audience, and the algorithms tend to follow. We dive into how traditional SEO compares to AEO and GEO, and where AI actually changes the game. Tim breaks down how large language models decide what to surface and answers a question many founders are asking right now: how much should you realistically invest in boosting AI visibility before the returns flatten out? Tim explains why creating content purely for AI is a mistake, and how updating existing content, improving clarity, and leveraging social media can increase AI visibility without risking long-term trust. He also challenges the idea that SEO has to be slow, showing how AI can help businesses move faster when used correctly. If you want a practical, hype-free take on AI and SEO, this episode delivers. Topics Discussed in this episode: How traditional SEO compares to AEO and GEO (03:44) Overcoming the pitfalls of AI overviews (06:44) Understanding LLM algorithms (09:42) Analysing how well you rank in ChatGPT (12:46) How much should you invest in boosting your visibility? (19:33) Creating content for people, not for AI (25:34) Using social media to improve your AI visibility (27:34) How to update your existing content to make it more AI-friendly (30:02) Using AI to help you rank faster (38:47) Will traditional SEO remain relevant or fade away? (42:51) Mentions:  Empire Flippers Podcasts Empire Flippers Marketplace Create an Empire Flippers account Subscribe to our newsletter Ahrefs Sit back, grab a coffee, and learn how to optimize your brand's visibility in the age of AI.  

AI isn't here to replace your relationships, it's here to buy back your time so you can deepen them. In this episode, Jeremias “JMan” Maneiro (JMan Seminars • The Maneiro Team • Big Brain Chatbots) breaks down how founders and small teams can use AI as leverage, not replacement without losing voice, values, or authenticity.JMan shares the simple frameworks he teaches in workshops and advisory sessions: where AI actually saves time, how to protect your brand voice, what to automate first, and how to build repeatable prompts and SOPs that stick. If AI feels overwhelming or a little uncomfortable, this is your on-ramp—clear, tactical, and human.In this episode, you'll learn:AI ≠ the enemy: why it's not the threat most owners fearKeep your voice: use AI as a tool without losing authenticity or valuesNo copy–paste leadership: the mistake people make blindly using AI outputsLeverage, not replacement: how JMan frames adoption for small teamsBuy back hours: where AI truly saves time so you can focus on relationshipsDiscernment > speed: evaluate new tools without chasing shiny objectsStay human: communication habits that keep you grounded as tech accelerates

"Use AI to build better relationships, not replace them." In this Stay Paid Q&A episode, agents call in with three of the most important questions in real estate today: how to break into commercial, how to use AI without losing trust, and how to convert intent-based leads with ads and follow-up. Luke and Josh share tactical advice on mentorship, networking, AI adoption, calling strategies, and why volume is the true separator between average and top producers.