In this episode, Adam sits down with Blake Albanese, a partner at Agile Infotech, an outsourced IT company serving small and medium businesses across the Hudson Valley. Blake has been a networker since he was eight, when he walked onto a new neighbor's lawn in Goshen and introduced himself. That neighbor was Jason, who would go on to found Agile. Blake grew up on the floor of his parents' physical therapy practice, picked up Rich Dad, Poor Dad in its kids' version from his dad, and went on to study business and finance at Babson. When he graduated into a job market with no jobs, he started helping Jason with the books, taught swim lessons and became a personal trainer on the side, and put his sweat equity into a company that barely paid. By 2025 he was a partner running finance and sales.

The conversation covers what it takes to learn an industry from scratch. Blake admits that at his first networking events, his best description of the business was "computer stuff," so he started riding along on client visits to put his hands on the hardware. He explains what a managed service provider actually does, why the industry moved from fixing things after they break to watching them before they do, and why outsourced IT isn't the faceless call center people expect. He walks through how Agile came together after merging with a VoIP startup, how the team runs on EOS and Traction with a visionary, an integrator and clear roles, and why "if everything is important, nothing is important" changed how he prioritizes.

Blake also gets into how he uses AI to run his day, including the AI assistant that booked his first meeting with Adam before they ever spoke, reads him his task list on the drive, and drafts his follow-up emails. He shares why he still thinks business comes down to people, what he's learned from his peer group and the books on his shelf, and the company's target of 3,000 secured endpoints.

Whether you're fresh out of school with no offers, learning an industry you didn't study, or a small business owner wondering how to get your IT off your plate, this episode is full of lessons on mentorship, prioritization, continuous learning, and putting yourself in the room.

Find Blake and Agile Infotech online at https://www.aitechny.com
LinkedIn (Blake): https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-albanese
LinkedIn (Agile Infotech): https://www.linkedin.com/company/agile-info-tech

Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com

In this episode, Adam sits down with Jennifer Austin, who runs a community magazine in Beacon, New York, that brings local events, expert advice, sports, real estate and a featured family together in one place. It isn't a magazine full of ads and fluff. It's built on stories from the community and the business owners who serve it, and it gives local businesses an organic way to get in front of their neighbors.

Jennifer has spent her whole life connecting people. She grew up a hotel kid, watching her dad turn around struggling properties by seeing them through the customer's eyes. That hospitality mindset carried her through boutique hotels in Manhattan like the Iroquois, the Michelangelo and the Distrikt Hotel, and on to City Winery in Montgomery, NY. Now she brings the same instincts to publishing: listening first, telling a client when she's not the right fit, and helping businesses share what makes them worth trusting. She also shares how she turned the cold calls she used to dread into something she actually enjoys.

Whether you're a local business owner trying to stand out in your community or someone who wants to sell without feeling salesy, you'll walk away with a new appreciation for the details your customers notice, and how telling your story can turn neighbors into loyal clients.

You can contact Jennifer on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermaustin/

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In this episode, Adam sits down with Justin Corson, owner of Wreck Room HV, the Hudson Valley's place to grab a bat and smash TVs, dishes, and everything else weighing on you. Justin traces his path from St. Louis to culinary school in the Hudson Valley, a year back at the culinary school as a manager-in-training, a few local restaurants, and about eight years managing a small cafe he calls a local institution, to the celebrity-chef dreams, a Chopped tryout, and a YouTube venture that never quite panned out. When the frustration piled up, a conversation with his therapist sparked an idea: there wasn't a single rage room within two hours, so he built one himself.

The conversation covers what it really costs to open a business nobody in your area has done before. Justin breaks down why he walked away from a $300,000 franchise fee plus 6–8% of revenue and built it for half, the thousands he wasted on jumpsuits nobody wanted, and why he won't print merch until he knows people will buy it. He explains how he was so busy in his first months that he had to turn customers away for lack of things to smash, and how partnerships with local thrift stores and the Habitat ReStore solved his supply problem. He also gets into the cash surprises of year two: a lease he paid upfront that came due in full again, and an insurance "renewal" that was really a brand-new policy with 25% down.

Justin gets candid about the real cost of ownership: wearing every hat from janitor to social media manager, hiring help to get home to his family only to fire him over a safety violation, and why you should plan on three times the money and half the family time you expect. He makes the case that the restaurant industry treats burnout as a badge of honor, that society teaches us to bury our anger instead of releasing it, and that everyone who looks perfect online is fighting the same battles. He also opens up about his younger son's autism journey, the local therapy program that helped him find his voice, and his dream of adding sensory rooms so families of kids with disabilities can finally do something together.

Whether you're a career-changer with an idea nobody in your town has tried, a first-year owner staring down cash flow surprises, or someone who needs a reminder that it's okay to be angry, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons on planning, money, mental health, and the mindset to smash through fear instead of being paralyzed by it.

Find Justin and Wreck Room Hudson Valley at the Poughkeepsie Galleria and online at https://wreckroomhv.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wreckroomhudsonvalley/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Wreck-Room-HV-61580917328253/

Want to appear on the show? Find more about the podcast at: https://howsbusinesspodcast.com