Will Harris is a fourth-generation cattleman and the owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, where his family has farmed since 1866. After spending more than 20 years running a conventional monoculture cattle operation, Will began dismantling the industrial model and rebuilding the farm around animal welfare, healthy soil, natural cycles, and a radically traditional approach to agriculture.

In this conversation, Will explains the truckload of calves that forced him to reconsider how he farmed, the hidden cost of chemical fertilizer, and what happened when he stopped looking for things to kill and started protecting everything that belonged in the ecosystem. We also discuss restoring Bluffton, growing from a handful of employees to 170, bringing his daughters into the business, refusing to expand merely for the sake of growth, and measuring decisions in generations instead of quarters. We also learn how a Baptist preacher’s wife saved Will from spelling “Tenac” for the rest of his life.

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• White Oak Pastures
• Shop White Oak Pastures
• Visit and stay at the farm
• A Bold Return to Giving a Damn
• White Oak Pastures on Instagram

• 00:00 Highway 27 and White Oak’s Place in Rural Georgia
• 02:01 Six Generations on the Same Land Since 1866
• 04:21 When a Local Food System Became an Industrial Cattle Farm
• 07:49 The Truckload of Calves That Changed Everything
• 10:49 Cheap Fertilizer and the Cost It Hid
• 16:35 How Water From the Farm Reaches Apalachicola Bay
• 19:41 From Looking for Something to Kill to Keeping Things Alive
• 25:32 How White Oak Pastures Helped Rebuild Bluffton
• 29:00 Bringing His Daughters Into the Family Business
• 34:08 The Spur-of-the-Moment Decision to Rename the Farm
• 37:25 Why Bigger Is Not the Goal
• 42:18 Final Wisdom: Decide What Matters and Serve It

April Vokey has spent 25 years building a life around fishing. She decided to pursue professional fishing at 18, started her first business at 21, guided for steelhead in British Columbia, created the television series Shorelines, launched Anchored with April Vokey, and built Anchored Outdoors into an education platform and community for anglers.

In this conversation, April takes us from landing a 300-pound arapaima in Guyana and having 32 spines pulled from her foot to the winter steelhead obsession that became her career. She also explains how a 2008 head-on collision forced her to rethink life and business, why motherhood changed her relationship with risk, and how discarded television interviews led to Anchored. We also resolve two important questions: whether wet jeans are secretly flattering and how many introductions stand between me and Liam Neeson.

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• Anchored Outdoors
• Try Anchored Premium Insiders
• The World Through Your Eyes
• Anchored with April Vokey
• April Vokey on Instagram

• 00:00 Rapid Fire: Wet Jeans, Campfire Dinner, and Liam Neeson
• 02:37 A 300-Pound Arapaima and 32 Spines in Guyana
• 06:07 Turning a Life in Fishing Into a Business
• 10:40 The Salmon That Started Everything
• 13:36 Why Winter Steelhead Became an Obsession
• 18:31 Learning to Guide Before Google Earth
• 20:46 Surviving a Head-On Collision
• 22:38 The Injury That Forced a Business Pivot
• 25:01 Saving the Stories Television Had to Cut
• 27:31 Canada, Australia, Motherhood, and Risk
• 32:19 The Dean River Run She Should Never Have Attempted
• 36:10 Starting Over and Facing an Uncertain Next Chapter
• 37:45 Anchored Outdoors and The World Through Your Eyes

Tyler Sharp is a documentary photographer, writer, filmmaker, and the founder, CEO, and editor in chief of Modern Huntsman, an independent publication focused on hunting, conservation, food, culture, and wild places. In this conversation, we trace the path that took him from USC film school to the Tanzanian bush, years of traveling and working around the world, and eventually building Modern Huntsman.

Tyler shares the story of a lion with a mohawk mane returning to his tent across multiple full moons and another encounter when a leopard charged him from twenty yards away. He explains what Africa taught him about living inside the natural order, why many of the wild places he knew are disappearing, and how misunderstandings about hunting inspired him to build a publication that could reach non-hunters without preaching to the choir. We also talk about balancing creative work with running a business, his connection with the Hemingway family, and what is coming next for Modern Huntsman.

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• Modern Huntsman
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• Read “Hemingwrite to the Rescue”
• WATCH ON YOUTUBE
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• Connect with Steve Seger on LinkedIn
• Follow Longfire on Instagram

Chapters:

00:00 Star Wars, Aragorn, and Fighting Liam Neeson

04:48 The Lion With a Mohawk Mane Outside Tyler’s Tent

12:44 Charged by a Leopard in Zambia

15:41 From USC Film School to Six Months in Tanzania

20:35 Larry Knowlton and the World’s Biggest Joke

22:12 The Wild Places That No Longer Exist

27:39 Why Tyler Built Modern Huntsman

32:17 Translating Hunting and Conservation for Outsiders

34:08 Creativity, Leadership, and Administrative Shit Shoveling

38:14 Hemingway, Writing, and a Life of Adventure

41:51 Why Independent Publishing Needs Subscribers

45:02 Mark Maggiori and the Next Modern Huntsman Volume

After every guest conversation on Longfire, I save one piece of advice that stayed with me. For episode 40, I went back through all 26 interviews and grouped those ideas into five themes: expect the work to be hard, choose direction over activity, build the work around a life you actually want, remember that people are the point, and stay teachable.

This is my slightly late 2026 midyear check-in on what the show has taught me so far. I get into volume and luck, strategy as subtraction, work that gives energy back, the outdoors as a reset, the cost of chasing achievement at the expense of relationships, and why collecting advice is not the same as living it. If one lesson stays with you, send me a note and tell me which one.

Subscribe to Longfire for more thoughtful conversations with builders, athletes, outdoorsmen, entrepreneurs, and original people whose stories are worth gathering around.

00:00 26 Conversations, Five Lessons

01:45 Why Episode 40 Was the Time to Look Back

02:18 The Work Is Supposed to Be Hard

08:34 Direction Matters More Than Activity

13:50 Build the Work Around a Life You Actually Want

19:18 People Are the Point

23:51 Stay Teachable and Optimistic

26:44 Summary and Conclusion

Steve Smith has spent nearly 30 years at the intersection of technology, strategy, and operations, with a career spanning startups, IBM, TSIA, 8x8, and now Intelligence by Intent, where he helps law firms put AI to work. In this conversation, we trace his path from teaching adults to program when he was 13 to leaving corporate America and building a business he says he wishes he had started 20 years earlier.

Steve explains why AI should handle individual tasks while people protect relationships and judgment, how firms can move from chatbots to agents, and how his agent system, Project Ollie, manages email, calendars, research, projects, and client knowledge. We also talk about becoming more present with family, protecting close friendships, skiing with his kids, and the standing rule that work stops whenever his 165-pound Saint Bernard brings him a toy.

Chapters:

00:00 Rapid Fire: Ping Pong, Star Wars, and Steak With Magnus
03:54 Thirty Years in Tech, Startups, IBM, and RevOps
06:46 The Career Move He Wishes He Made 20 Years Earlier
08:54 The AI Advice Steve Gives His Kids
12:40 Building Intelligence by Intent for Law Firms
16:48 Choosing the Right AI Tool and Moving Beyond Chatbots
22:55 Teaching Adults to Code at 13 and Learning How to Learn
26:26 Magnus: Life With a 165-Pound Saint Bernard
33:53 Building More Time for Family, Friends, and Presence
38:21 Writing, Teaching, and Sharing What He Learns
46:24 Project Ollie: The Agent System Running His Business
52:46 Claude Code, ChatGBT, and Agentic Travel Planning
56:12 Final Wisdom: Find What Makes You Tick

Subscribe to Longfire for more stories worth gathering around.

Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pieces-of-impact/id1851467002

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2IGYfTSYNvsD96UjUqqCJt?si=f5abdaf2294c4a35

Connect with Steve Seger on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveseger

Intelligence by Intent:
https://intelligencebyintent.com/

Read Steve Smith’s Substack:
https://www.smithstephen.com/

Connect with Steve Smith on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/smithstephen

Rick Wittenbraker has built a career by following curiosity into rooms he was not necessarily planning to enter. His path has included private equity in Latin America, commodities trading, a medical device startup, YETI’s early growth, angel investing, and more than a decade helping grow Howler Brothers. He joined YETI when eight employees shared one Gmail account, then later joined his friends at Howler Brothers as the company grew from a small team into a distinctive outdoor brand.

In this conversation, Rick explains why the best brands know what they are not, why creativity and originality have to be protected as a company grows, and how curiosity can create opportunities that no career plan could predict. We also discuss building work around things you genuinely care about, investing as an extension of learning, creating companies that can outlast their founders, his belief that every business is ultimately a people business, and why he can beat Liam Neeson in a fight (All Credit to Seth MacFarlane for the bit).

Subscribe for more stories like Rick's.

Chapters:

00:00 Rapid Fire: Liam Neeson, Favorite Brands, and Lonesome Dove
06:16 Rick’s Path From Private Equity to YETI
10:53 From YETI to Howler Brothers Through Friendship
12:49 What Made Early YETI Special
17:49 How YETI Turned Coolers Into a Tribe
19:39 Building a Complete Brand World at Howler Brothers
24:48 Protecting Creativity as the Company Grows
27:58 Why Every Brand Needs a “Not List”
30:49 Finding Work That Overlaps With What You Love
36:08 Investing as an Exercise in Curiosity
46:19 Building a Company That Outlasts Its Founders
51:04 Every Business Is a People Business

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@Steve_Seger2

Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pieces-of-impact/id1851467002

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2IGYfTSYNvsD96UjUqqCJt?si=f5abdaf2294c4a35

Howler Brothers: https://howlerbros.com/

Howler Brothers on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howlerbros

Rick on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wittrick/?hl=en

In this short solo episode, Steve explains why Pieces of Impact is becoming Longfire and what the new name represents. Longfire will continue sharing conversations with builders, athletes, outdoorsmen, entrepreneurs, creators, and original people with worlds worth stepping into, but with a clearer mission: to tell stories worth gathering around. The goal is to help busy, ambitious people slow down, reconnect, and remember the people, places, and experiences that make the work worthwhile.

Kate and Brandon Couden are the husband-and-wife team behind CrossFit Grandview in Columbus, Ohio. Brandon started the gym in 2009 after taking over the old Rogue Fitness gym with almost no resources, a small private loan, and only 14 members. Kate brought 13 years of experience at Lifetime Fitness, where she built a foundation in personal training, nutrition, and understanding what strong fitness culture can look like.

In this conversation, we talk about building a gym from the ground up, growing from survival mode into a real business, and creating a community that can evolve with people through different seasons of life. We also get into the economics of gym ownership, payroll and equipment costs, buying a building, working together as a couple, making decisions when you disagree, and avoiding burnout in a people-based business.

Subscribe for more conversations like this.

Join the newsletter: https://substack.com/@steveseger
Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@Steve_Seger2
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pieces-of-impact/id1851467002
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2IGYfTSYNvsD96UjUqqCJt?si=f5abdaf2294c4a35
Connect with Steve on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveseger
CrossFit Grandview: https://crossfitgrandview.com/
CrossFit Grandview Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crossfitgrandview/

00:00 Building Something That Compounds
02:08 Kate’s Path From Lifetime Fitness to CrossFit Grandview
03:17 Brandon’s Path
05:58 Starting With Almost Nothing and 14 Members
08:38 Early Traction and Getting People Into It
09:55 Moving to Grandview and Building a Bigger Vision
11:48 Nutrition, Childcare, and Keeping Members in the Community
13:41 Barbell, Power Hour, HYROX, and Training for Longevity
18:00 Day-to-Day Ownership and Avoiding Burnout
23:08 Working Together as a Couple
28:34 The Economics of Running a Gym That Lasts
36:23 What They Would Do Differently

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Paul Sereno, a paleontologist, professor, explorer, artist, author, teacher, and one of the closest things you will find to a real-life Indiana Jones.

Dr. Sereno has led expeditions across the world, from the Sahara to South America and now toward the Amazon. We get into AI, de-extinction, lost fossils, the asteroid that changed Earth’s history, whether humans would exist if that asteroid had missed, his course on intelligence in the universe, and why he believes the world is still a playground for the next generation.

Subscribe for more conversations like this on Pieces of Impact.

Join the newsletter: https://substack.com/@steveseger
Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@steve_seger2?si=2E2mUXAfOLL9ztyQ
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2IGYfTS...
Connect with Steve on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steveseger

Guest Links

Paul Sereno Website: https://paulsereno.uchicago.edu/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulserenoofficial/?hl=en

Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro and why I wanted to have Dr. Paul Sereno on
02:02 Dr. Sereno joins the show
06:44 Dr. Safety, black bones, and leading expeditions
11:21 The real-life Indiana Jones comparison
16:15 Why discovery is far from over
24:00 AI, de-extinction, and what people misunderstand
31:59 The Amazon expedition and the next big discovery
37:10 Teaching, science, and the evolution of intelligence
49:19 Lost fossils, repatriation, and preserving history
54:25 Would humans exist if the asteroid missed?
57:49 Naming discoveries, future expeditions, and final wisdom
1:06:54 Where to find Dr. Sereno

Aaron Foss is a serial entrepreneur who has built five companies, including Nomorobo, the service that has stopped billions of unwanted robocalls and spam texts. Nomorobo was acquired by Applause Group in August 2023. Before that, Aaron participated in Techstars NYC with SideTour, which Groupon acquired in 2013. He has testified before Congress three times and has been featured by outlets including The New York Times, Wired, CNN, CNBC, and Fox News.

In this conversation, Aaron explains how to identify problems worth solving, distinguish progress from real traction, and know when to narrow your focus from a wide flashlight into a laser. We also discuss why entrepreneurs should fall in love with the problem instead of chasing trends, how constraints can improve creativity, what he looks for in founders, and why his work with Defy Ventures has become such an important part of his life. Aaron also shares lessons from building and selling companies, along with the books and negotiation tools that helped him along the way.

Subscribe for more conversations like this on Pieces of Impact.

Join the newsletter:
https://substack.com/@steveseger

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@Steve_Seger2

Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pieces-of-impact/id1851467002

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2IGYfTSYNvsD96UjUqqCJt?si=f5abdaf2294c4a35

Connect with Steve on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveseger

Connect with Aaron and explore his work:
https://go.aaronfoss.com/linktree

Learn more about Defy Ventures:
https://www.defyventures.org/

Never Split the Difference Negotiation Cheat Sheet:
https://medium.com/yanda/negotiation-cheat-sheet-31c73031956a

00:00 From Tech Kid to Serial Problem Solver
03:41 The Wing Dipper and Learning Through Real Feedback
07:48 Techstars, Focus, and the Road to Nomorobo
14:53 Retiring at 45 to Coach Entrepreneurs
16:19 Start With the Problem, Then Narrow the Beam
21:23 Constraints, Forcing Functions, and Learning by Doing
29:24 Fall in Love With the Problem, Not Your Passion
35:19 Every Interview Is a Pitch, and Experience Beats a Resume
41:30 Defy Ventures and Entrepreneurship After Incarceration
48:18 Progress vs. Traction: The Proof Investors Need
54:43 Mistakes, Book Recommendations, and Founder Green/Flags
01:05:27 Final Wisdom: Keep It Simple