Authority in the Wild

You can be very good at what you do, with a real track record, and still have nobody calling. Carey James of Brand Alchemy spent years selling to doctors and scientists, some of the smartest people in the world, and kept seeing the same thing happen to them. In this conversation he explains why capable experts stay invisible, why your personal brand matters more now that AI can copy a resume, and why the thought leadership you are trying to build starts with something you cannot see from where you stand. If you want to stand out as an expert and get booked on podcasts and stages by the right people, this is a good place to start.

You'll hear what a scientist who studies the brain said when Carey brought him an offer to speak at the New York Marathon, and what a small-town librarian in Kansas told Carey on a day he was skipping class. It's for founders, consultants, coaches and experts who know their work is good and still feel unseen, and for anyone who wants to build a personal brand without pretending to be someone else. By the end you will know what staying unseen has been costing you, and the one-week exercise Carey would start with.

🟪 Important Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(00:41) Why You're Invisible Online

(06:38) Keeping outside feedback honest

(16:10) Turning feedback into a clear message

(25:26) When clients still hold back

(33:37) Why podcasts in an AI world

(40:29) Could AI replace podcast hosts

(47:30) A first step this week

🟪 About Carey James

Carey James is the founder of Brand Alchemy and a voice on trust, positioning, and authority-driven growth. After scaling multiple companies from startup to multimillion-dollar revenue, he now helps founders and executives become the obvious choice in crowded markets through thought leadership rooted in psychology, neuroscience, and real-world sales experience. Carey believes trust is the last sustainable competitive advantage. His frameworks have helped executives build industry authority and turn expertise into revenue without relying on gimmicks or personal branding clichés.

🟪 Connect With Carey James

- Website: https://careyjames.co

- Brand Alchemy: https://brandalchemy.io

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/careyjamesofficial

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

- Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca

- X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

Shane Lukas teaches organizations how to hold onto what they believe under pressure, and he built that method in a jail cell, in isolation, with a short pencil and a scrap of paper. Years of activism had put him in front of a system that wanted him to explain his values away, and he had to decide on the spot which of them he would keep. One question carried him through the days that followed, and the answer is still on that list.

In this conversation, we get into:

- The question Shane asked himself in that cell, and why it made the next few days bearable

- Why honesty is probably a guiding value for you rather than a defining one, and what a sick dog has to do with it

- How he decides when to turn down a client, including the one he declined after asking his team how they felt

- The body signal that tells you a value really defines you, and the cocktail party that left him asking "who was that?"

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(04:59) Why mismatched values become dangerous

(12:44) How to dig out your real values

(18:39) When a client's values clash with yours

(25:30) The three tiers of your values

(32:26) What your body knows about your values

(39:03) Is courage a trait or a method

(44:25) What was on the scrap of paper

🟪 About the Guest

Shane Lukas is an activist, public speaker, and award-winning designer known for his work at the intersection of storytelling, leadership, and organizational change.

He is the founder of A Great Idea, a conscious creative agency he has led for over a decade, partnering with organizations, foundations, and community-based groups to strengthen alignment, build trust, and translate values into decisions that hold up in practice.

Lukas has taken the TEDx stage as a speaker, hosts the Power Beyond Pride podcast, and has received multiple awards for his design and leadership work.

Through speaking engagements, creative strategy, and education, he works with leaders and organizations to navigate complexity, improve collaboration, and create advocacy and impact that lead to sustained action.

🟪 Connect with Shane Lukas

- TEDx talk: https://saveyourspark.com

- Speaking and consulting: https://shanelukas.com

- Agency: https://agreatidea.com

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

- Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca/

- X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabemarusca

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

In 2015, Aaron Golub snapped a successful extra point for Tulane against UCF and became the first legally blind person to play in a Division I FBS football game. His coach never told the other team. Aaron did not want them to know.

He got there by finding a narrow role he could win, repeating one motion thousands of times, and later pursuing NFL free agency. Today he works with companies and leaders as a speaker and consultant, and he is building a software company in an industry he had never worked in before.

This conversation starts with a constraint that will never go away, and asks what you do on the day you stop waiting for it to disappear. Near the end, I give Aaron a live case: a founder with three clients loses one of them overnight, has 30 days of runway, and a team that is frightened. He walks through the first 72 hours.

If you are carrying a limitation you cannot simply work your way out of, this episode gives you a place to start.

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) The constraint he could not change

(01:15) Finding a role he could actually win

(05:11) "If Aaron did it, what's your excuse?"

(11:07) The first step most people skip

(22:34) When his own team got it wrong

(24:43) Why the 5 AM plan backfires

(27:30) Where accountability stops working

(33:16) 30 days of runway: the first 72 hours

(38:41) Building in an industry he knew nothing about

(41:51) Who should reach out to Aaron

(43:06) What to do today if you feel stuck

🟪 About the Guest

Aaron Golub was born with no sight in his right eye and limited vision in his left. He played long snapper for Tulane University, where in 2015 he became the first legally blind person to play in a Division I FBS football game. After Tulane, he trained for and pursued NFL free agency.

Aaron is now a professional speaker, leadership consultant, and executive coach who works with organizations on resilience, leadership, and team building through keynotes, workshops, and one-on-one coaching. He is also a co-founder of Precision Search.

🟪 Connect with Aaron Golub

- Website: https://www.aarongolub.com

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarongolub

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaronjgolub

- X/Twitter: https://x.com/aaronjgolub

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aarongolub

- Precision Search: https://precisionsearch.io

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

- Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca/

- X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

Most podcasters fail because they copy the wrong strategies.Learn why your podcasting mistakes are holding you back and how to fix them.

Chris Jordan, former key member of the Lewis Howes Podcast team, joins me to break down the most common podcasting mistakes. Many creators spend their time trying to replicate the exact blueprint of top-performing shows, only to find that it does not work for their specific situation.

This conversation centers on why you need to stop chasing trends and start focusing on your unique podcast audience. We look at the gap between what works for massive shows and what actually moves the needle when you are building a podcast from the ground up. If you feel like your show is stuck despite following all the standard podcast growth strategies, this perspective might be the reset you need, together with actionable insights on how to get the most out of yours.

Most podcasters fail because they copy the wrong strategies. Learn why your podcasting mistakes are holding you back.Chris Jordan, a key member of the Lewis Howes Podcast team, joins us to break down the most common podcasting mistakes. Many creators spend their time trying to replicate the exact blueprint of top-performing shows, only to find that it does not work for their specific situation.

This conversation centers on why you need to stop chasing trends and start focusing on your unique podcast audience. We look at the gap between what works for massive shows and what actually moves the needle when you are building a podcast from the ground up. If you feel like your show is stuck despite following all the standard podcast growth strategies, this perspective might be the reset you need.

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(00:14) The Biggest Mistake Podcasters Make

(09:57) Turning a podcast into a media company

(17:58) Where podcast growth actually happens

(23:04) What makes people click an episode

(28:53) Do title formulas wear out

(34:00) How closely you can copy a title

(40:29) The first 30 seconds problem

(46:24) Growing when nobody knows you

(52:46) The old episode that came back

🟪 About the Guest

Chris Jordan is a top podcast & content strategist, who has worked behind many top personal brands and thought leaders like Lewis Howes, Daymond John, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, Sinead Bovell and more.

🟪 Connect with Chris Jordan

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imchrisjordan/

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

- Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca

- X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

Jermane Cheathem has spent more than 20 years in commercial equipment finance and his referral partners made him over $50 million in closed deals. He's the only guest that appeared on this podcast 3 times. And for a good reason. I always learn something new from him and I bet you will too.

At his peak he made 300 cold calls a day. Today he works the same four hours and makes none of them, and one coffee at a Starbucks turned into $6.4 million in deals. So I asked him what all that activity was protecting him from, why founders keep buying tactics that make things worse and what a box of chocolates in Dubai has to do with any of it.

Then I put my own business on the table. Two offers, revenue split down the middle and a client description I was sure was specific enough. In about seven minutes he showed me I had been describing the wrong person and who I should have been talking to instead. I told him I would make the call the same day.

If you keep adding funnels, ads, and tools to a business that still feels stuck, this episode gives you a perspective that might change the way you do business forever. Enjoy!

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) The Fix That Makes Things Worse

(06:04) What 300 Calls a Day Was Hiding

(11:16) Same Four Hours, Different Game

(15:10) The $6.4M Coffee

(21:29) Who Else Needs Your Client to Win?

(27:47) The $30 Chocolate

(36:24) The Deal He Found Playing Basketball

(41:00) My Business on the Table

(44:35) The Only Person I Should Be Talking To

(49:07) Before You Buy Another Tactic

🟪 About the Guest

Jermane Cheathem has spent more than twenty years in commercial equipment finance. He runs Creators Learn, where he trains equipment finance brokers to build businesses on referral partners instead of cold outreach, and his site credits those partners with more than fifty million dollars in closed deals. He is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

He left corporate employment in 2016 and built his finance company from scratch, with no capital and no employees.

🟪 Connect with Jermane Cheathem

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jermane-cheathem/

- Website: https://creatorslearn.com/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jermanecheathem

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

- Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca

- X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

In January 2026, Florian Kaspar was setting up Clay and other go-to-market tools inside someone else's startup. By September he had taken his years in recruiting and bet them on a single job title: GTM engineer. He now runs Pipebuilders, a headhunting business that places only that role, and he hosts the Pipebuilders podcast, where he interviews the people who do the work.

Florian sits between founders who want AI inside their sales and the small group of people who can build it, so he sees the job offers, the salaries, and the hires that fall apart.

I came in as the skeptic, because to me GTM engineer sounded like a fancy title. So I asked him what these people do all day, what they really earn, how much pipeline one person can create, and what it costs a founder to hire the wrong one. He also told me who should never hire one, and why a job post and a CV are the wrong tools to find the right one.

If you still do every sale yourself and your next move is to hire a salesperson, this episode gives you a different way to look at that decision before you sign anyone.

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) One Bet on a Brand-New Job Title

(04:56) The Unexpected Backgrounds That Win

(10:12) When You Shouldn't Hire One

(17:23) The 40% Accurate Job Post

(23:52) Watching Them Think, Live

(29:59) Goodbye CVs?

(37:36) Why 80% Write Back

(45:03) Agency, Fractional, or In-House?

(47:05) What It Really Costs

(55:04) Try This Before You Hire

🟪 About the Guest

Florian Kaspar after leaving his HR career to become a GTM Engineer, he decided to double back and bring GTM Engineering into recruitment. Today he runs his own recruitment agency focused connecting companies with GTM Engineers.

🟪 Connect with Florian Kaspar

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florian-kaspar1
• Pipebuilders podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/033DXdkcG2wHA4PdhVUgfg

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

• Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

Being funny is a skill, and Andrew Tarvin has the data showing most of us never practice it. He studied computer science and engineering, managed projects at Procter & Gamble, and joined his first improv group only because his best friend needed someone organized enough to run the meetings. He was terrible at it.

Today he runs Humor That Works, has trained 250+ organizations and his TEDx talk on the skill of humor has passed 16 million views.

Somewhere between those two points is a method, and this episode walks through it.

I opened this one with a confession. I have a physics and computer science background, I tinker with tech all day, and I truly cannot remember the last time I made someone laugh. So I asked Drew to treat me as the test case.

In this conversation, we get into:

• The eight separate skills hiding inside "being funny", and why you probably already have at least two of them
• The one habit Andrew's own assessment shows only 30% of people keep, and what it changes about how you see your day
• The three reasons a joke breaks trust at work, and why the joke itself is rarely the problem
• Why AI is the worst possible audience for your humor, and the one job it is actually good for

Andrew's Humor Intelligence model treats humor as eight competencies you can measure, practice, and point at real problems, instead of a personality trait you were born with or without. If you have ever been told you are not funny or you stay quiet in meetings because a bad joke feels riskier than silence, this episode gives you a place to start this week.

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) Two Nerds and The Theory of Funny

(01:21) The Hidden Payoff of Being Funny

(06:42) The Eight Competencies of Humor

(10:32) Engineering a Laugh

(14:53) The Two-Part Practice

(19:54) Funny Without Telling Jokes

(23:07) Where Humor Goes Wrong

(30:41) Forms of Humor

(34:54) How to Not Break Trust with Humor

(41:06) Where to Practice Humor

(46:35) AI and Humor

(50:58) Action Point

🟪 About the Guest

Andrew Tarvin works with top organizations–including IBM, NASA, and the UN–to solve human challenges with humor solutions. A best-selling author, Andrew has been featured on Dry Bar Comedy, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC, and was named a ‘Visionary Alum’ by the P&G Alumni Network. His TEDx talk on the skill of humor is one of the Top 50 most viewed TEDx talks on YouTube with 15+ million views (only half of which were from his mom). He has delivered programs in all 50 US states, 36 countries, on 1 planet (Earth). He loves chocolate and singing the Hokey Pokey with his 4 year old daughter (because that's what it's all about).

🟪 Connect with Andrew Tarvin

• Humor Intelligence Assessment: https://insights.humorthatworks.com/assessment
• Humor That Works: https://www.humorthatworks.com
• Humor Intelligence coaching app https://studio.com/apps/humor/intelligence
• Personal Website: https://drewtarvin.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/drewtarvin
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theandrewtarvin
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theandrewtarvin

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

• Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

Lauren Pires was born with a rare neuromuscular condition that leaves her with roughly 33 percent of the physical strength of an average person.

She hid it for more than 30 years, and during those years she built an 11-year career in event production at one of the largest music festivals in Canada, a job made of long days on your feet.

At 32 she stood on a stage and spoke about it in public for the first time, at North America's largest inspirational speaking competition. She came second, then second again in the finals, and today she speaks to companies about invisible disability, resilience, and belonging.

I live with an autoimmune condition, so this conversation got personal fast. We compare the excuses we both used to get out of a hike, how much of your day hiding something actually eats, and the question everyone with something to hide eventually faces: who do you tell first, and what happens after that.

If you are living with something people cannot see, or you are ambitious and your body keeps saying no, this episode shows you what keeping it hidden is costing you and what she found on the other side.

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) When Ambition Meets a Body That Says No

(04:42) The Secret She Kept for 30 Years

(10:18) What Hiding Actually Costs You

(14:15) The Energy You Get Back

(17:04) A Tiny Ritual Called the Daily Yay

(21:54) The Upside Nobody Talks About

(26:59) Walking Away After 11 Years

(30:56) Afraid of Being Seen Differently?

(35:49) The Room She Loves to Speak In

(41:53) The Line That Rewired Her Brain

🟪 About the Guest

Lauren Pires is an invisible disability speaker from Canada who talks about resilience, joy, and belonging. Born with Central Core Disease, a rare neuromuscular condition, she concealed it for over 30 years while working in event production, public relations, and hiring at a nonprofit behind one of the largest South Asian festivals in Canada. She first spoke about her disability in public in 2022 and went on to become the runner-up inspirational speaker of the year at Speaker Slam. She now speaks to corporate disability employee resource groups and conferences, delivered a TEDxMississauga talk in 2026, and is the creator of the Daily Yay, a practice of noticing one good thing every day.

🟪 Connect with Lauren Pires

• Website: https://www.laurensaysyay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurensaysyay
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurensaysyay
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurensaysyay
• TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWVUgHY3ibM

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

• Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

Thibault (Tibo) Louis-Lucas burned 500,000 euros of VC money and spent four years on ideas that never generated revenue. Then he rebuilt from zero, sold Tweet Hunter and Taplio to Lempire for $8 million, and now runs a bootstrapped SaaS products portfolio that makes over $1 million per month.
Not one of those products started as an original idea. Every single one entered a market that was already crowded and won anyway.
In this episode he shares his entrepreneurial journey while walking us through his full playbook in order:

• how he picks what to build
• how he validates it before it eats a year of your life
• how a copied product beats the companies it copied
• how he prices
• how he turns strangers into his sales force.

Halfway through, I pitch him a product I have not announced anywhere and let him take it apart on air.
If you are sitting on an idea and cannot tell whether it deserves another year or a fresh start, this episode shows you how he makes that call.

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) From Burning VC Money to an $8M Exit

(03:54) Ship Until Something Works

(05:55) How to Choose What To Build

(08:47) Your Weird Workflow Might Be a Product

(15:01) 10x Better at Exactly One Thing

(19:40) Gabe Pitches His Secret Project

(24:51) The $15K Bet That Became His Best Product

(29:08) The Audience Myth, Debunked

(35:34) How to Run Multiple Products in the Same Time

(37:30) Pricing That Filters Your Customers

(41:07) Turning Strangers Into a Sales Force

(43:22) How to Improve Your Product Based on Feedback

(47:35) How to Get Started to Build as a Non-technical
🟪 About the Guest

Thibault Louis-Lucas, known online as Tibo Maker, is a French SaaS founder and product builder. After two failed startups and a stretch as CTO of a fast-growing scale-up, he co-founded Tweet Hunter and Taplio and sold both to Lempire. He now runs a bootstrapped portfolio that includes Revid and Outrank, built for small founders who want more sales and more traffic, and documents his builds, wins, and failures publicly on X.
🟪 Connect with Tibo

• Website: https://tmaker.io
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/tibo_maker
• Revid: https://revid.ai
• Outrank: https://outrank.so

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

• Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

Personal branding changed: expertise is now table stakes, and people buy who you are before they check what you do. Personal brand strategist Magali De Reu breaks down the personality first content system she used to rebuild from zero on LinkedIn, land a Netflix client seven days after one post, and turn content into discovery calls and paying clients.

After walking away from a startup that owed her close to 100,000 euro, Magali rebuilt her business on LinkedIn with nothing but her own voice. In this episode she teaches the full system: the three personality signals (scars and stripes, stance, style), the swappable test that tells you in ten seconds whether your content is generic, how much of yourself to share without trauma dumping, the open questions that pull out the stories buyers actually respond to, why content templates become a cage, and how writing about moments instead of topics makes content creation easier and more relatable.

If you are a consultant, coach, solopreneur or founder trying to get clients from LinkedIn and stand out with your personal brand, this conversation gives you the diagnosis and the starting point for tonight.

🟪 Timestamps

(00:00) Seven Days Later, a Netflix Client.

(01:09) The Red Flag That Changed Everything

(02:58) Why LinkedIn?!

(04:32) What Everyone Gets Wrong About Personality First Content

(09:56) How Much of Yourself Should You Share?

(13:45) How to Get Client from LinkedIn

(16:32) The Questions That Unlock People

(21:16) A Safe Space and a Safety Blanket

(29:08) The Pigeon That Outperformed the Experts

(30:49) Why Templates Become a Cage

(35:44) What to Do Now To Start Your Content Journey

🟪 About the Guest

Magali De Reu is a personal brand strategist based in Antwerp, Belgium, who works with consultants, speakers and senior experts on positioning around personality rather than competing on expertise. She is a TEDx speaker and the author of two Dutch books on neurodivergence, "Aut of the box" and "Allemaal Autcasts", and she spent years as a technology writer and talk show host before building the practice she runs today. Her work rests on a single argument: in a market where knowledge has become a commodity, the part of you that cannot be copied is the part that gets you hired.

🟪 Connect with Magali De Reu

• The Obvious Yes Challenge: https://www.theobviousy.es/fll-challenge
• Website: https://magalidereu.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/magalidereu
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magalidereu

🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca

• Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca
• X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabemarusca
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca