Do you ever feel like you’re making the same mistakes over and over again? Yeah, me too. There are some parts of my life and work where curiosity and experimentation are endless, but when it comes to money, I’m stuck on a treadmill of feast and famine. I know enough of the lingo to talk a good game, but really, I’m still doing business like I did when I started 20 years ago. Underneath it all, I’m stuck in a shame spiral wondering if it will ever change. The truth is that something broke a long time ago and instead of fixing it, I kept repeating my mistakes making the break worse and worse. But as I watch my wife heal from a broken leg, it’s time for me to heal my own brokenness.

• Wisdom Takes Work: Learn. Apply. Repeat. by Ryan Holiday
• Shrinking (TV Series 2023–)
• Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future by Reid Hoffman and Greg Beato
• The Daring Creatives
• Episode photo from Envato Elements: broken glass, impact, overlay, realistic

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about publicity? After I think about celebrities, perfume ads, TMZ, and shameless attention-seekers, I say, “I guess it’s not for me.” Thankfully, today’s guest is on the show to make me laugh and correct my thinking because PR is for everyone. KJ Blattenbauer is a publicist, author, and speaker who helps founders and experts move from overlooked to in-demand through credibility-driven visibility. In our conversation, she gives actionable steps on making sure your visibility is connected to your goals and your audience; it’s about service and storytelling. She also shares the importance of not giving up when someone says no, that all you need is a sprinkling of audacity to make a difference, why it doesn’t hurt to try something a million times, and why you can never have too much passion.

• Hearsay PR
• Pitchworthy: The No-Fluff Playbook to Publicity That Pays Off by KJ Blattenbauer
• Aaron Rodgers: Enigma (TV Series 2024)
• “Untold” – The Fall of Favre (TV Series 2025)
• I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not (2025)
• Three Amigos! (1986)
• Tree Paine – Taylor Swift’s Publicist
• P.T. Barnum
• We Need Your Art: Stop Messing Around and Making Something by Amie McNee
• Threads

Rejection is on my mind today. Yes, it’s because I got rejected for something I actually wanted. But there’s also a deeper reason: Somewhere along my creative journey, I learned to minimize rejection by playing-it-safe, making my dreams small, and maximizing my chameleon tendencies. Recently, Shae Omonijo shared a short video on Substack about her plan for 2026: “Collect 1K rejections.” A lot ran through my mind after seeing the video, “1,000 rejections? One hurt enough! Are you a glutton for punishment?” I think my brain short-circuited when I watched it, but it didn’t take long for the truth to be revealed: I’m a chicken and I’m tired of being scared. If you are someone who has big dreams, but shove them aside because you have an unhealthy relationship with rejection, then this episode’s for you. Oh, and don’t worry, I’m preaching to the choir here because this is the work I need to do for myself as well.

1. Know what you actually want.
2. Adopt a rejection mindset.
3. Stop waiting and start moving.
4. Dream bigger and share often.
5. Allow yourself to change.
6. Learn to separate rejection from failure.
7. Become an advocate for yourself, your wants, and needs.

• Shae O. – “Collect 1K Rejections” video
• Finding Mastery
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
• Episode photo by Jan Antonin Kolar on Unsplash

When you cross paths with someone whose mission is incredibly clear, it’s hard not to want that clarity for yourself. Scott Proposki is a photographer, entrepreneur, and author; his mission is to help photographers all around the world to build a business to last a lifetime. In our conversation, Scott shares stories from his journey living the photography dream—National Geographic, events at the White House, corporate client shoots, millions in sales—then losing it all in 2020, and rebuilding from nothing. We talk about the role of listening in storytelling, the importance of self-awareness, crafting a 25-year plan, doing one thing instead of 20, why photographers aren’t screwed, and why photography is more relevant than ever before.

• Scott Proposki
• Camera Focus: What Photography Teaches About Business, Life, and Success by Scott Proposki
• We Need Your Art: Stop Messing Around and Making Something by Amie McNee
• New England Patriots
• Bill Belichick on Instagram
• Watch Mr. Polaroid on PBS
• Wall Street Journal Podcasts
• Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries
• Episode photo from Envato Elements: Snow covered mountain peaks, Monte Rosa Piedmont, Italy

2026 is upon us and it’s not just a new year thrusting us toward change, it’s everything: society, culture, technology, relationships, work, life—it’s all dynamic, frenetic. Some of us start the year clutching our resolutions tightly, convinced that this is the year we actually live up to them. Others rely on the thesaurus to shift the psychological burden from resolution to something else, anything else, in order to trick our brains into actually accomplishing the things that matter most: “I don’t have resolutions, I have goals.” But it’s going to take more than hacks and tricks to comprehend the amount of change we need in our daily lives. It’s about introducing system-wide curiosity that shifts change from being the end result of an enormous task with a binary value—yes or no—to a daily process that gives us time to explore and open our minds to new realities.

• Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
• The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn by Richard W. Hamming
• Pearl Jam – Do the Evolution (Single Video Theory)
• Photo by Nikoline Arns on Unsplash

When was the last time you got permission to have fun in your business? For me, it’s been too long, so I’m grateful for today’s guest. Dawn Andrews is a business strategist, executive leadership coach, and podcaster who approaches her business as a playground to explore new tools and technologies that not only help herself, but also her clients. In this conversation, Dawn softens the fear around AI through an exploration of how she uses tools to boost her curiosity and creativity. She shares insights into the ways her brain and business work, how creativity can help us manage the world, the important mindset shift we need to make, how beginners can start using AI with a single piece of paper, and actual examples of AI in action.

• Dawn Andrews
• 12 Day AI Quick Wins Series – Dawn Andrews
• Is Your Business Killing You? (GWTW865)
• Jasper
• POSCA Markers
• iA Writer
• Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka
• On algorithmic anxiety – Kyle Chayka Industries
• Airtable
• Make
• MindPal
• Microsoft Copilot
• Claude
• ChatGPT
• Google Gemini
• The Five Minute Journal®
• I am Shae Omonijo
• The Art of Gathering Book: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
• Episode photo from Envato Elements: Glasses With Landscape View On City Background. Vision Concept. 3D Rendering