GB Tavern Tales Episode 22- Drewbie Wilson- Slaying the Inner Saboteur: Discipline, Systems, and Self-Worth

Tonight's guest battled a monster that most adventurers never even realize is hunting them — because it doesn't live in a dungeon. It lives inside.

The Inner Saboteur.

This creature doesn't breathe fire or swing a blade. It whispers. "You're not worth that much." "Who are you to charge premium prices?" "Just grind harder — eventually it'll work out." It convinces you that burning yourself to ash is the same as making progress. It keeps you stuck in patterns that feel like effort but produce nothing but exhaustion.

Drewbie Wilson knows this monster intimately. A few years ago, he was over 300 pounds, burned out, grinding without a system, and completely disconnected from his own worth. He wasn't living. He was surviving. And barely.

But here's where his quest gets interesting: Drewbie didn't just lose the weight. He rebuilt everything — health, mindset, business — from the ground up. No gimmicks. No shortcuts. He learned that discipline beats motivation, systems beat struggle, and that valuing your time is the first step to valuing yourself.

Today, Drewbie is the author of Crushing The Day and Poop Soup, and the founder of Call The Damn Leads. He went from tech support at a startup to the executive team of a multi-million-dollar company by focusing on fundamentals most people avoid.

Tonight, he pulls up a chair to talk about the battle every creative entrepreneur fights in the mirror — the one where you're your own worst enemy, and the only way forward is to finally get out of your own way.

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

Connect with Drewbie Wilson: 🌐 https://callthedamnleads.com/ 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewbiewilson/ 📘 https://www.facebook.com/DrewbieRides/ 📺 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8D6DQ9xzSM67bKGTGldWmA 📸 https://www.instagram.com/callthedamnleads/ 🎵 https://www.tiktok.com/@drewbierides

Connect with Paul Pape: 🌐 https://gamifybusiness.com 🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/paulpape

Some adventurers hunt. They chase leads through frozen territory, sending cold emails into the void, hoping something sticks. Billy Sammons builds fires instead — and lets the warmth draw people in.

Billy discovered something powerful by accident. He made a video for a local brewery — not as a marketing strategy, just to help them succeed. That single act of generosity became his main referral source. He'd stumbled onto a truth most creative entrepreneurs miss: warmth beats cold every time.

In this episode of Gamify Business Tavern Tales, Billy shares why The Lone Wolf approach leaves creative entrepreneurs starving, what it actually looks like to build a village instead of hunting alone, and how his "Live Local Warm Marketing" framework helps creatives grow through giving rather than grinding cold outreach.

If you've ever felt exhausted by the hustle-harder playbook — more emails, more ads, more DMs to strangers who don't respond — this conversation offers a different path. One where opportunities find you because you've become valuable to your community, not because you've out-hustled everyone else.

🎲 CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Welcome to the Tavern [Add timestamps after recording]

🍺 CONNECT WITH BILLY: [Insert Billy's links]

🎮 CONNECT WITH GAMIFY BUSINESS: Website: https://gamifybusiness.com Take the Quiz: https://gamifybusiness.com/quiz Book a Call: https://oncehub.com/GamifyBusiness60MinCall

📚 PAUL'S BOOKS: The Creative Player's Handbook to Business The Creative Player's Workbook The Game Master's Guide to Business Quit Selling Your Shit! The Bard's Guide to Storycraft

Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

GB Tavern Tales Episode 21- Mark Stern- The Artifact Crafter: The Magic Pixels Can't Replicate

When was the last time you remembered a Dropbox link? A WeTransfer notification? A PDF invoice?

These digital moments vanish into the ether the moment they arrive. But a beautifully crafted package? A thoughtfully designed unboxing experience? That becomes an artifact — something a client holds in their hands, shows to their friends, maybe even displays on a shelf years later.

Tonight at the Tavern, Mark Stern pulls up a chair to share the forgotten magic of physical touchpoints in a world drowning in digital noise.

Mark is the founder of Custom Box Agency, where he helps brands transform forgettable digital transactions into physical experiences that clients actually remember. He's a former Deloitte strategy consultant with a Duke MBA who traded corporate clarity for entrepreneurial creation. He's been featured in Joey Coleman's book Never Lose an Employee Again, recognized as a Forbes Next 1,000 Entrepreneur, and serves as a mentor at SXSW.

But here's why Mark's wisdom matters for creative entrepreneurs: you don't need a massive budget to create memorable moments. Whether you're a photographer delivering prints, a designer presenting a brand identity, or a maker shipping your creations — there are touchpoints in your client journey where a little intentionality transforms a transaction into a treasure. Something they keep. Something they show others. Something that turns a one-time client into a lifelong champion.

In a world where everyone else is shouting into the digital void, sometimes the most powerful move is to put something real into someone's hands.

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

Connect with Mark Stern: 🌐 https://customboxagency.com/

Connect with Paul Pape: 🌐 https://gamifybusiness.com 🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/paulpape

GB Tavern Tales- Jerry Brazie- Survivor of the Blighted Lands

Some adventurers come from kingdoms with resources, mentors, and maps. Tonight's guest came from the Blighted Lands — a place where survival itself was the first boss fight.

Jerry Brazie grew up dirt poor, one of nine kids, in circumstances most people can't imagine. He's been shot at. Stabbed. Beaten. Left for dead by a world that didn't care whether he made it or not. There was no safety net. No backup plan. No one coming to save him.

And yet — over thirty years, Jerry has built twelve companies generating over $450 million in revenue. He currently runs both an 8-figure and a 7-figure company, plus The Kronos Group. He didn't just survive the Blighted Lands. He mapped them.

But here's why Jerry's story matters for creative entrepreneurs: he's discovered something most business advice ignores. The difference between a $200K business and a $2 million business isn't a different set of problems. It's usually just a zero. The challenges don't change — they just get bigger. And the emotional nature that makes creative people brilliant at their craft? It's often the same thing that blinds them to the business realities that could set them free.

Tonight, Jerry pulls up a chair to share what the Blighted Lands taught him about scars, survival, and the uncomfortable truths creative entrepreneurs need to hear.

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

Connect with Jerry Brazie: 🌐 https://jerrybrazie.com/
🔗https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrybrazie/
🔗https://www.youtube.com/@UCozoCB-ugZR-Fkq1AYnF1Uw 

Connect with Paul Pape:
🌐 https://gamifybusiness.com
🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/paulericpape

GB Tavern Tales- Marnie Wills- The Cursed Weapon and the Tool That Wasn't

Most adventurers have walked past a weapon they were certain was cursed. "That's not for people like me," they tell themselves. "I'm not a tech person." "I'm not a numbers person." "I'm not a business person." And so the tool stays on the ground, untouched, while they struggle forward without it.

Tonight at the Tavern, Marnie Wills shares the tale of a weapon she avoided for years — convinced it would drain the magic from her work rather than amplify it.

Marnie spent years as an entrepreneur who put all her skill points into building — two fitness businesses, a nationwide programme called SportyMinis — while actively avoiding the Technology skill tree. She was certain that particular branch of the map simply wasn't meant for adventurers like her.

Then came a fateful side quest in February 2023. A reluctant encounter with an AI tool revealed something unexpected: the "cursed weapon" was actually a legendary item she'd been walking past for years.

But here's where her quest takes an unexpected turn. After eight years building SportyMinis, Marnie chose to leave that dungeon behind — walking away from a campaign that looked successful on the character sheet but no longer aligned with the adventurer she was becoming.

Tonight, she shares what she learned about unlearning limiting beliefs, discovering that the scariest tools often become our greatest allies, and finding the courage to abandon a long campaign for a quest that actually fits.
🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

Connect with Marnie Wills:
🔗  https://linkedin.com/in/marniewills
Connect with Paul Pape:
🌐 https://gamifybusiness.com
🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/paulpape

GB Tavern Tales- Russell Van Brocklen- The Niche Slayer's Path to Premium Pricing

What if the secret to building a premium creative business isn't serving everyone — but solving one impossible problem for one specific person?

Tonight at the Tavern, Russell Van Brocklen pulls up a chair to share how he built a thriving business by rejecting the "help everyone" trap. When a dyslexic student came to him — someone the system had written off — Russell didn't try to fix everything at once. He focused on one impossible outcome: could he take a college-bound student reading at a middle-school level and get them to graduate school writing proficiency in a single school year?

The answer shocked everyone. A 7-8 grade-level leap for less than $900 per student. Every participant entered college and graduated without accommodations, with GPAs between 2.5 and 3.6. His approach earned New York State Senate funding — external validation from people who hold the purse strings.

Russell's framework — One impossible kid. One quest. One case study. One premium offer. — applies to any creative entrepreneur tired of undercharging, overworking, and trying to be everything to everyone.

If you've been told to "niche down" but don't know what that actually looks like, this quest is for you.

To learn more about Russel head over to:
https://www.dyslexiaclasses.com

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

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Website: https://www.gamifybusiness.com
Paul's Website: http://www.paulpapedesigns.com 
IG: https://www.instagram.com/paulpapedesigns/
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GB Tavern Tales Episode 17 - The Guild Navigator: Enel Soeson on Finding Better Quests, Not More

Most solo adventurers spend their entire career staring at the tavern quest board — grinding one-off jobs, saying yes to everything, burning through hit points wondering why victory still feels like survival.

But there's a whole layer of this world that tavern questers never see. While we're scanning for our next gig, there are Guilds meeting in back rooms — Fortune 500 companies, corporate events, high-paying clients who don't post on the board at all. They work through connections. Through reputation. Through people who know how to open those doors.

Tonight at the Tavern, Enel Soeson pulls up a chair. She's a Guild Navigator — a longtime solopreneur who's built businesses on two continents, burned out from carrying every role in the party alone, and learned the hard way that grinding more tavern quests will never get you to the life you actually want.
Her message challenges everything most adventurers believe: You don't need more quests. You need better quests. And to get those, you need to learn a different game entirely — one built on strategy, positioning, and knowing which doors are worth knocking on.

If you're exhausted from chasing one-off clients, underpaid despite being great at your craft, and wondering if there's another way — this quest is for you.

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

Connect with Enel Soeson:
🌐 https://dankb2b.com/
🔗//stan.store/DANKB2B - FREE tools
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@dankb2bgrowth
Email: [email protected]

Connect with Paul Pape:
🌐 https://gamifybusiness.com
🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/paulericpape

The Phantom of Lost Wonder is a shapeshifting specter that afflicts nearly every adventurer who enters adulthood. As children, we wield creativity effortlessly — it's our natural magic, our birthright. But somewhere along the journey, this dark enchantment takes hold, whispering lies: "You're not creative anymore." "That's just for kids." "Real adults don't have time for imagination."

Tonight at the Tavern, Patrick Williams pulls up a chair to reveal the truth: creativity cannot be lost. Only misplaced.

Patrick is an award-winning artist who's exhibited throughout the United States, Japan, and China. He holds black belts in both Karate-Dō and Aikidō. He's a TEDx speaker. And for over 40 years, he's been teaching people how to vanquish the Phantom and reclaim the creative power that's been theirs all along.

Through his frameworks — Creative Colonization, Creative Collapse, and Creative Metamorphosis — Patrick maps the journey from buried creativity to full restoration. Whether you're an artist who's lost the spark or an entrepreneur who needs imagination to survive, this quest is for you.

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

Connect with Patrick Williams:
🌐 https://patrickwilliamsstaycreative.com
📧 [email protected]
🎤 TEDx Talk: "Creativity: Lost and Found" — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sy0ZciwT3g
Instagram: 

Connect with Paul Pape:
🌐 https://gamifybusiness.com
🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/paulpape

The Bankruptor is a shapeshifting demon that doesn't just steal your gold — it steals your security, your dignity, and your future. One day you're riding in style, the next you're bumming rides from strangers. One day it's the latest and greatest, the next it's whatever you can get.

Tonight at the Tavern, Christian Brim pulls up a chair to share how he survived The Bankruptor's ambush as a child — watching his family lose everything to bankruptcy — and turned that devastation into a mission. Now, as CEO of Core Group and host of The Profitable Creative podcast, Christian helps creative entrepreneurs learn the language their numbers are speaking before it's too late.

Because here's the truth most creatives avoid: numbers tell a story. And if you don't learn to read that story, The Bankruptor will write the ending for you.

If you're a creative entrepreneur who's talented, getting clients, but the financial side feels like a foreign language — this quest is for you.

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.

Connect with Christian Brim:
🎙️ The Profitable Creative Podcast
🌐 https://www.ProfitFirst4Creatives.com
🔗 https://www.ChristianBrim.com

Connect with Paul Pape:
🌐 https://gamifybusiness.com
🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulericpape/

GB Tavern Tales Episode 14 - Conner Tyson: Ettin of Scarcity

The Ettin of Scarcity is a two-headed monster that's taken down more creative adventurers than any dragon. One head whispers "real artists don't care about money" while the other growls "who are you to charge that much?"

Tonight at the Tavern, financial coach Conner Tyson pulls up a chair to share how he helps creative entrepreneurs slay this beast. After climbing out of $60K in debt himself, Conner now guides designers, photographers, makers, and creative solopreneurs through the wilderness of irregular income, pricing custom work, and building systems that turn feast-or-famine into steady, sustainable gold.

If you've ever underpaid yourself, avoided looking at your numbers, or believed that charging what you're worth somehow corrupts your art — this quest is for you.

🎲 Business is an adventure. Don't be an NPC.