In this episode of Business & Brews, Matt Pierce sits down with Del Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Acclinate, to discuss leading with purpose, building trust at scale, and why great businesses solve meaningful problems.

Del shares how Acclinate is working to improve representation in clinical research by educating and empowering underserved communities to make informed healthcare decisions. The conversation also explores startup leadership, company culture, learning to delegate, and the mindset required to build an enduring business.

Del also shares the deeply personal story that inspired his passion for healthcare and why reaching his 50th birthday represented a milestone far beyond business success.

Whether you're a founder, leader, or simply passionate about building organizations that make a difference, this episode is packed with practical leadership lessons and meaningful perspective.

• Why Acclinate was founded to improve diversity and trust in clinical research
• The importance of education before engagement
• How to scale a mission without compromising your values
• Balancing purpose with business growth
• Leading teams through both wins and setbacks
• Why founders must evolve from player to coach to owner
• Building leadership teams that complement your strengths
• Del's personal health journey and the family legacy that drives his mission

Companies that focus on solving real problems create stronger long-term value than those focused solely on revenue.

Celebrate victories, learn from losses, and remain steady through both.

Great leaders surround themselves with people whose strengths complement their own.

Founders must continually evolve from doing the work to empowering others to lead it.

The legacy you leave matters more than the number in your bank account.

Summary

This week on Business & Brews, Matt welcomes two special guests, his daughters Kathryn and Whitley Grace, for an honest conversation about money.

From saving and spending to allowance, summer jobs, and impulse purchases, they share the lessons they're learning about financial responsibility and what they think adults could do better with money.

At Immediate, we believe financial wellness starts with education, and those conversations can begin at home.

• Why financial literacy should start early
• Teaching kids the difference between wants and needs
• How allowance and summer jobs build healthy money habits
• Practical ways parents can start money conversations at home
• A fun rapid-fire round with two future financial pros

Whether you're raising kids or simply passionate about financial wellness, this episode is full of practical takeaways and a few laughs along the way.

Summary

In this episode of Business & Brews, Matt Pierce sits down with Brandon Horne, Head of Commercial Partnerships at Greenlight, to discuss his unconventional path from biochemistry student to Army officer to fintech executive.

Brandon shares lessons learned from helping scale high-growth companies, including his experience at Cardlytics and Greenlight. The conversation explores leadership, entrepreneurship, sales, company culture, career growth, and why great middle managers are often the unsung heroes behind successful organizations.

From building relationships that drive enterprise sales to creating opportunities for young professionals to grow, Brandon offers practical insights for anyone navigating a fast-paced career or helping build a company from the ground up.

Key Takeaways

• Growth happens when you step into opportunities before you feel ready.
• Shared challenges build stronger teams than shared successes.
• Relationships and persistence remain critical in enterprise sales.
• Great middle managers are often the foundation of strong company culture.
• Leadership is measured by the people you help develop.
• Small gestures can create lasting professional impact.

This week on Business & Brews, Matt Pierce takes a step back from the usual guest interviews to talk about something impacting millions of people every day: the connection between financial stress and mental health.

From rising costs and paycheck-to-paycheck living to anxiety, burnout, and the emotional weight of uncertainty, Matt breaks down why financial pressure affects far more than just bank accounts. He also shares practical ways people can regain a sense of control, create breathing room, and start reducing the mental load that money stress creates.

This episode covers:

• Why financial stress impacts mental and physical wellbeing
• How “survival mode” thinking affects long-term planning
• The importance of financial literacy without shame or guilt
• Practical steps to create visibility, stability, and breathing room
• Why hope and consistency matter more than perfection

Whether you’re personally navigating financial pressure or leading teams that are, this conversation is an important reminder that financial wellness and mental wellness are deeply connected.

• Financial stress impacts far more than money — it affects sleep, relationships, confidence, and physical health.
• Most people experiencing financial pressure are not irresponsible; they’re reacting to tight margins and rising costs.
• Financial literacy is less about perfection and more about creating clarity, confidence, and control.
• Small habits and small wins can create meaningful psychological relief over time.
• Open conversations about money can help reduce shame and remind people they’re not alone.

In this episode of Business & Brews, Matt Pierce sits down with Jordan Wright to discuss entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, and building a transparent company culture. Jordan shares how his entrepreneurial mindset started as early as childhood, eventually leading him into fintech through companies like Unbill and now Atomic.

The conversation explores how Atomic evolved from simplifying direct deposit switching into a broader infrastructure company helping consumers better manage their financial lives through connected systems and data intelligence. Jordan also shares lessons on product-market fit, customer obsession, startup resilience, and how Atomic competed against much larger players in the market.

Matt and Jordan dive into leadership philosophies around transparency, empowering teams, and creating organizations where people can do the best work of their lives. They also discuss the growing role of AI inside modern businesses and how both leaders are using it to create efficiencies and improve execution.

The episode closes with a thoughtful conversation about balancing ambition with family, recognizing what truly matters, and intentionally creating space for life outside of work.


Key Takeaways

• Customer conversations fuel innovation: Atomic’s leadership team stays deeply connected to customers to uncover real needs and shape product direction.
• Startups can outperform larger competitors: Jordan shares how Atomic successfully competed against Plaid by staying agile and customer-focused.
• Transparency strengthens culture: Open communication around company priorities, metrics, and leadership decisions helps build trust and alignment across teams.
• AI is most valuable when applied practically: The conversation highlights real operational uses for AI, from RFP workflows to productivity tracking.
• Success means more than business growth: Jordan reflects on prioritizing family and making time for what matters most outside of work.

On this episode of Business & Brews, Matt sits down with longtime friend Josh Etress for a conversation on leadership, career growth, faith, and the power of showing up.

Josh shares his journey from ministry to software sales, from operational leadership to executive coaching, and the lessons he learned along the way. From taking bold risks early in his career to navigating major life and career transitions, this episode is full of practical insight for founders, operators, and leaders.

Matt and Josh unpack what separates high performers, why solving problems makes you invaluable, how faith can shape major decisions, and why rest is essential for sustainable leadership.

Josh also shares the story of how he broke into tech by betting on himself in a way most people would not.

If you are building, leading, or trying to figure out your next step, this episode is for you.

• Josh’s path from ministry into business
• Why high performers focus on solving problems
• The advantage of working in a growth-stage company
• Transitioning from sales into operations
• Moving from Birmingham to Nashville
• The role of faith and patience in career decisions
• Sabbath and rest as a leadership discipline
• Breaking into tech by creating your own opportunity
• What excites Josh about coaching today
• Leading with both confidence and honesty

• Solve problems beyond your role to create opportunity
• Effort and consistency can outpace experience early
• Growth environments accelerate careers
• Strong principles apply across any industry
• Sometimes you have to bet on yourself
• Faithfulness often comes before clarity
• Rest is critical to long-term performance
• Great leaders operate in truth, not just perception

Summary
In this episode of Business and Brews, Matt sits down with John Burdett, Founder and CEO of Fast Slow Motion, for a conversation about what it really takes to grow a business beyond the founder stage. John shares his journey from Birmingham startup operator to entrepreneur, along with the lessons he’s learned about leadership, systems, ego, and scaling well.

The conversation explores the shift from being the person who does everything to becoming the kind of leader who builds a business that can run without them. John talks candidly about how founders can become the bottleneck in their own companies, why process matters more than most people want to admit, and how defining the right scoreboard changes everything.

John also opens up about an incredibly difficult personal season, including a life-threatening health crisis and a cancer diagnosis, and how those experiences tested everything he had built. What he found on the other side was clarity: a business designed the right way can create freedom, resilience, and room for what matters most.

This episode is a thoughtful conversation on leadership, identity, and building a company that supports your life instead of consuming it.

In this episode, Matt and John discuss:

• John’s path to founding Fast Slow Motion
• The difference between being a founder and being a CEO
• Why many entrepreneurs become the biggest obstacle to scaling
• The role of ego, humility, and self-awareness in leadership
• How systems and process create freedom over time
• Building a business that can operate without the founder
• What John’s health challenges taught him about life and leadership
  

Key Takeaways
A great business is not one that depends on the founder for everything. It is one that can grow, thrive, and create impact while also making room for a meaningful life.

In this special solo episode, Business & Brews host Matt Pierce takes a break from guest interviews to talk about financial literacy and why it matters.

Drawing on his experience building Immediate, Matt shares a key insight: most people don’t have a money problem, they have a timing problem. When paydays don’t line up with real life expenses, financial stress builds quickly.

This episode covers why so many Americans feel financially stretched, how behavior and planning impact money more than income alone, and three simple ways to take control of your cash flow.

• Financial stress is more common than most people think
• Cash flow timing is often the root issue
• Small, consistent changes are more effective than perfect plans
• Understanding your behavior is just as important as understanding your budget

In Episode 11 of Business & Brews, Matt Pierce is joined by Phil Goldfeder and Charles Potts of the American Fintech Council for a conversation about responsible innovation, collaboration across the fintech ecosystem, and what it takes to build durable, consumer-first financial products.

From Phil’s journey into fintech and the growth of AFC, to Charles’ perspective on standards, trust, and long-term industry success, this episode explores how fintechs, banks, and regulators can work together to move the industry forward the right way.

This conversation dives into the evolution of the American Fintech Council and how it has grown into a major voice across fintech. Phil and Charles share why AFC has focused so heavily on responsible innovation, pragmatic policymaking, and creating a space where competitors can align on best practices for the good of the broader ecosystem.

The episode also highlights earned wage access as a powerful example of what can happen when companies collaborate around shared standards while still competing in market. Matt, Phil, and Charles discuss why governance, transparency, accountability, and compliance are not barriers to growth, but core ingredients for building lasting companies and products.

00:54 – Charles’ coffee shoutout and entrepreneurial roots

01:31 – Phil’s origin story

05:40 – How American Fintech Council came together

06:35 – AFC’s growth and evolution

08:35 – Charles on why AFC’s growth matters

11:23 – Navigating fintech, banks, and government

12:52 – Responsible innovation and pragmatic leadership

16:18 – Mission, optimism, and building with purpose

21:26 – Earned wage access as a case study in collaboration

25:48 – Building standards, durability, and trust

27:44 – Competitors aligning for the good of the industry

29:42 – What’s ahead for fintech in the next 9 months

• The American Fintech Council has grown into a major collaborative voice across the fintech ecosystem
• Responsible innovation requires governance, transparency, and accountability from the start
• Compliance can be a competitive advantage, not just a requirement
• Earned wage access is a strong example of how competitors can align around shared standards

In this episode of Business & Brews, Matt Pierce sits down with John Bowman, founder and CEO of Sure Med, to explore the realities of building a company from the ground up. John shares lessons from early failures, the importance of preparation, and what it takes to scale a business through constant pivots.

They also dive into the evolving overdose epidemic and how SureMed is working to equip physicians with better data and tools to make safer decisions for patients.

• John’s early journey: military, boxing, and entering healthcare
• Lessons learned from his first business and why preparation matters
• The shift from “winging it” to operating with discipline and strategy
• The role of mentorship and surrounding yourself with the right people
• Navigating years of pivots to find product-market fit
• Scaling challenges: growing fast without losing focus
• Understanding the overdose epidemic beyond prescription opioids
• How SureMed helps physicians make more informed, lower-risk decisions
• Building a mission-driven business rooted in purpose and faith

• Preparation creates confidence and better decision-making
• There is no single path to building a successful company
• Growth often looks like chaos — constant pivots are part of the process
• The people and inputs you surround yourself with matter deeply
• You have to survive long enough to figure out what works, then scale it
• Solving meaningful problems requires both persistence and adaptability