Pattern-Seeking Entrepreneur Podcast

Aaron Spool spent years believing he was bad at connecting with people.

He was wrong. He just hadn't found the right frame yet.

In this episode of The Pattern-Seeking Entrepreneur, I sit down with Aaron Spool — founder of Eventus Advisory Group — to explore how a kid who struggled socially became an adult who makes his living connecting people, seeing patterns, and designing systems that let others shine.

In this conversation you'll learn:

• How frequent moves as a child built unexpected social agility and empathy
• What it actually means to map your zone of genius and build a company around it
• How Aaron listens for suffering others can't yet name — and why that's his superpower
• The difference between managing people and designing systems that don't need you

Timestamps: 00:00 - Seeing connections instead of people 02:39 - Natural strengths in relationship building and strategy 03:31 - Moving frequently as a child and building adaptability 04:21 - Connecting beyond structured social norms 05:18 - Authentic relationships in business success 07:40 - Childhood influences shaping his protector instinct 08:25 - Actionable kindness and social responsibility 09:42 - Becoming a systems designer 10:18 - Hiring within your zone of genius 11:16 - How thinking differently led to market insight 12:08 - Listening for suffering others can't name 13:08 - Group dynamics vs. one-on-one relationships 14:00 - Building remote cultures rooted in individual connection 15:41 - Mapping his zone of genius 18:48 - Connecting like-minded individuals through pattern recognition 20:08 - How business structure understanding leads to impactful connections 21:15 - Core values through relationships and service 23:39 - Managing personal limitations and fitting the business to his strengths 24:52 - Redesigning work for optimal leadership focus 28:18 - Patronage: enabling others to shine 29:45 - Connecting impactful people for collective growth 30:58 - Authenticity in perception and communication 33:24 - Eliminating administrative drain 34:54 - Nourishing energy through human connection 38:19 - Strategic workspace design and resource allocation 42:04 - Presence and emotional equilibrium 45:02 - Frustrations and misunderstanding others' behaviors 46:50 - Meditation and presence as perspective 48:19 - Addressing issues, not numbing pain

Resources & Links:

• The One Thing by Gary Keller
• When by Daniel Pink

Connect with Aaron Spool:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronspool/
• www.eventusag.com

Connect with Jonathan:

·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

·       Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

·       YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur

Nobody told Megan Hansen it was okay to be herself.

At work. At home. In her marriage. So she spent decades being exceptionally good at being someone else.

In this episode of The Pattern-Seeking Entrepreneur, I sit down with Megan Hansen — IT business owner, Six Sigma black belt, HR veteran, autism advocate, and someone who is just now — at 46 — learning what it means to take the mask off.

If you've ever been the most capable person in the room, and the loneliest — this one's for you.

In this episode, Jonathan and Megan will explore

00:01 - Megan's early realization of thinking differently 02:30 - Focus, curiosity, and crafting as innate superpowers 03:48 - The surprising link between art, math, and pattern recognition 04:20 - Her autism diagnosis and the obsession with understanding herself 06:38 - Lake Cook Solutions, SeedVoice, and building businesses that fit the human 09:09 - Building diverse, supportive teams and authentic leadership 10:43 - Thinking outside the box and managing overwhelm 12:24 - Tools for reducing anxiety — including AI and baths 14:05 - Redesigning her business environment for better fit and efficiency 16:58 - The power of SOPs for business resilience and documentation 17:11 - How communication styles shape business partnerships 19:24 - Building trust and rules of engagement with a business partner 21:08 - Creating employment programs and opportunities for autistic adults 42:07 - Shaping a positive future through understanding and resilience 54:12 - The journey of self-acceptance, unmasking, and authentic living 55:01 - Overcoming fear to take brave steps toward goals 64:27 - Meet more neurodiverse people — and break the stigma

Resources & Links:

Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You — Jenara Nerenberg

AspiriTech — employment and support for autistic adults

Megan Hansen is a business strategist, entrepreneur, and chaos organizer who sees the world in process maps. After 18 years in corporate HR outsourcing, she traded burnout for entrepreneurship — joining Lake Cook Solutions, building multiple businesses with her husband, and co-launching SeedVoice, a VoIP company, in 2023.

A late-diagnosed autistic woman, Megan brings a whole new layer of self-discovery to her work helping people untangle messy ideas, build better systems, and move toward their goals with clarity and confidence. She is a little nerdy, a lot heartfelt, and very into reading, crafting, cooking, tea, coffee — and probably hiking next, because she doesn't really know how to do anything halfway.

Connect with Megan Hansen

Website: www.lakecooksolutions.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/megan-hansen-69712828

Connect with Jonathan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur

A grieving father stood up at his son's funeral and described him as a provoker and provider of love.

His son had profound disabilities. He couldn't speak. He couldn't live independently. By almost every measure our society uses to assign worth to a human being — he didn't qualify.

In this episode of the Pattern-Seeking Entrepreneur, host Jonathan Domsky sits down with Dr. Joanna Grace, founder of the Sensory Projects — a sensory engagement and inclusion specialist, author, and TED speaker who has attended far more children's funerals than anyone should.

She says she can't think of a better eulogy for any of us.

Because the people the world has decided don't count may have the most to teach us about what counting actually means.

We talk about why the philosophy we built Western civilization on may have left an entire category of human beings out of the definition of personhood. Why pathologizing difference is one of the most dangerous things we do to each other. And what it looks like when you stop asking how do we fix this person and start asking what is this person trying to tell us.

If you've ever felt like the room wasn't built for the way you think — or led people who felt that way — this conversation will change how you show up for them.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Challenging traditional measures of worth

03:11 - Neurokin and recognizing oneself in autism

05:34 - The danger of pathologizing difference

09:19 - Sensory perception and profound disabilities

10:41 - Philosophical foundations of personhood

17:30 - Autism as a way of being, not a behavior

19:12 - Joanna's sensory stories

25:44 - Interdependence over independence

Resources & Links:

• The Subtle Spectrum by Dr. Joanna Grace
• The Scale of the Spectrum by Dr. Joanna Grace
• Joanna Grace - The Sensory Projects

Connect with Joanna Grace:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannagracethesensoryprojects/?skipRedirect=true

Website: https://www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk/home

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSensoryProjects

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoannaGraceTheSensoryProjects

Connect with Jonathan

·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

·       Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

·       YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur

Most people mask their rough edges to get ahead.

Brian Burkhart helps you figure out what you've been masking — and why stopping might be the best business decision you ever make.

In this episode of The Pattern-Seeking Entrepreneur, Jonathan Domsky sits down with Brian Burkhart — best-selling author, founder of SquarePlanet, and Northwestern University professor — to explore why perfection is forgettable, and why the thing you've been coached to hide might be your most powerful asset.

Brian has spent decades helping leaders find the words for who they already are — and the courage to say them out loud. He's coached 10 Shark Tank teams, over 40 TED talks, and hundreds of C-suite leaders.

In this episode, Jonathan and Brian explore:

• Why perfection is forgettable — and what to strive for instead
• The difference between masking who you are and adjusting how you communicate
• How Brian's 10-step framework, rooted in Aristotle and Socrates, works for any message, any audience, any stage
• What it really means to stand for something — and what it costs when you do
• The tension between authenticity and adaptability, and how to navigate it with integrity

Timestamps: 00:00 - Why authenticity matters in a mask-driven world 01:20 - Brian's early realization of thinking differently 03:49 - Communicating with courage: honest humor and real boundaries 05:47 - Standing for something over conformity 09:10 - Peeling back layers to reveal authentic core values 12:52 - Perfection is boring — art stands out 16:25 - The gift and challenge of colorblindness 19:09 - Communicating with neurodivergent and nonlinear thinkers 22:49 - When to adapt and when to hold your ground 27:22 - The real costs of making waves 33:12 - The myth of the perfect script 40:22 - The evolving scoreboard: joy, nature, and simple pleasures 43:01 - Money as freedom, not status 45:48 - Visualizing future success: courtroom wins and coming home 52:39 - Self-awareness as the key to breaking through 57:31 - The 10-step framework rooted in ancient rhetoric

Resources & Links:

• Square Planet
• Nikita Gill — "The Truth About Art"
• Brian’s 10-step framework for masterful presentations
• More about Brian

Connect with Brian Burkhart:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brianburkhart  

Website: squareplanet.com  

Connect with Jonathan:

·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

·       Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

·       YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur

The most powerful productivity tool in history is here. And most people have no idea how to use it.

Not because they're not smart enough. But because nobody has built the bridge between what AI can do and how real people actually work.

My guest today is building that bridge.

Jeremy Robb is Chief Learning Officer and Founder at RobbClan, helping SaaS companies scale through learning systems that train not just the human — but the AI agent alongside them.

In this conversation: why neurodivergent minds may be uniquely wired for the AI-augmented workplace. Why conflict is one of the most underrated tools in any team. And how one process went from six weeks to two days.

If you've ever wondered whether AI is going to make you more valuable or less — this one's for you.

In this episode:

00:00 - AI's transformative power in productivity

01:26 - Jeremy's story: thinking differently since childhood

07:39 - How Wayfinder onboards roles with AI

09:36 - Supporting neurodivergent minds with AI

12:50 - Burnout, autism discovery, and resilience

20:39 - Conflict and open communication

22:35 - Six weeks to two days

27:45 - Designing environments for neurodiverse minds 33:21 - Vision for an AI-augmented future

36:35 - Funding and fear slowing AI adoption

48:56 - Discovering your genius with AI

Resources & Links

• RobbClan
• Wayfinder Platform

Jeremy Robb is a Chief Learning Officer specializing in scaling SaaS organizations through strategic learning systems. He reduced customer time-to-value from six weeks to two days and built onboarding programs that accelerate adoption and revenue impact.

Jeremy has held leadership roles at ServiceNow, Abnormal Security, and NetBrain Technologies, and is founder of RobbClan Productions, where he advises startups on scalable onboarding ecosystems. He brings deep expertise in AI-driven enablement and human-centered design, with a particular passion for accessibility and neurodivergent inclusion.

Based in San Diego, Jeremy is a husband and father of two autistic sons — an experience that informs everything he builds.

Connect with Jeremy Robb

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrobb

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@leadershipinlearning?si=VJLmzqvENPmWFw9a

Spotify Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ODvPkTzFeazW1DE15m22C?si=j8d-PcNkSnKUJXJagTesjQ 

Website: https://www.robbclan.com

 

Connect with Jonathan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur

Every struggling business is missing one of three things.

Revenue. Efficiency. Or happy people.

That's it.

Not the wrong tech stack. Not the wrong org chart. Not the wrong market. One of those three things — or some combination of them — is what's actually broken.

In this episode of The Pattern-Seeking Entrepreneur, host Jonathan Domsky speaks with e-commerce operator and digital product builder Paul Bates. Paul has spent seven years applying a simple three-variable equation across businesses doing $60M–$150M in revenue—and it works every time.

What sets him apart isn’t just spotting the real problem beneath the symptoms, but cutting through noise, politics, and blame to focus on what actually matters.

They explore how he thinks, the strengths and challenges of that mindset, and how he’s designed his work and life around it.

If you’re someone who sees what’s broken before others do, this episode is for you.

In this episode, Jonathan and Paul will explore:

Timestamps:

00:37 - Feelings vs. fixing: why the distinction matters01:33 - Social cues, emotional intelligence, and relationships02:56 - Autism strategies and the art of reading others04:07 - Paul's superpower: seeing through emotional noise to financial reality05:21 - What's really hiding beneath surface-level business problems06:16 - Team communication and data flow breakdowns07:13 - Turning vague issues into specific, solvable problems08:00 - Curiosity-driven learning and hands-on building09:43 - Paul's consulting focus: from product to problem solving10:25 - Complex data migration and systemic bottlenecks11:49 - Why vague project scopes destroy client alignment13:56 - Why service providers fear asking the right questions15:05 - Technical accuracy vs. energetic presence in team leadership16:25 - Building teams with contrasting strengths18:13 - Managing conflict through real-time, safe conversations20:24 - Adjusting rhythm and environment for peak productivity23:35 - Slowing down to create space for quality29:13 - The core business framework: dreamer, driver, analyst30:25 - Three metrics that actually matter: revenue, efficiency, happiness32:19 - Using AI and mental models to optimize decisions33:14 - Minimizing energy drains for personal sustainability37:04 - Envisioning fulfillment in relationships, startups, and purpose40:39 - Gratitude, anticipation, and daily reflection as life gauges45:33 - Embracing vulnerability and chaos for breakthroughs52:45 - The walk that revealed his coaching purpose53:20 - Final reflections and how to connect with Paul Bates

Paul Bates is an e-commerce operator who focuses on translating digital technology into real business outcomes. He's led significant revenue expansion through digital innovation and built high-performing teams by treating them like startups—empowering ownership and creating environments where strong operators thrive.

Connect with Paul Bates

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulhbates/

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Jonathan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur