RESET with Joel Comm

What happens when the thing you built becomes the thing that drains you?

Cliff Ravenscraft (the original Podcast Answer Man) shares the real story behind his biggest pivots: walking away from a $750K/year business, rebuilding with workshops and masterminds, getting hit by COVID when the “top of funnel” disappeared, and then taking a personal leap that cost him $70,000 in clients in just 7 days.

And the twist: how ChatGPT + a knowledge base removed the burden that made him shut Podcast Answer Man down in the first place… and why that’s what brought him back.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why “success” isn’t always scale (sometimes it’s depth)

• The 4-step Prosperous Coach method Cliff used to stabilize income

• The ideal-client filter: money + known problem + willingness to pay

• The hidden danger of building a business on one funnel

• The lesson Cliff learned the hard way: people don’t pay for problems they don’t know they have

• Why his comeback isn’t going backward… it’s going forward with better tools

If you’re in a season where your definition of success is changing, this conversation will land.

Cliff’s links:
PodcastAnswerMan.com
PodcastingAtoZ.com

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What do you do when everything in your life looks “good”… but inside, something still feels off? In this raw, unscripted conversation, Ray Edwards and I talk honestly about depression, faith, aging, purpose, dopamine crashes, and the strange comfort of staying in a dark place—even when you know how to get out. This isn’t a how-to episode. There are no five steps. No hustle advice. No tidy answers. We talk about: - Why depression isn’t rational—and never has been - Feeling lost after success, stability, or “winning” - Faith, prayer, and why belief doesn’t make depression disappear - Dopamine cycles, Parkinson’s, medication, and real biology - Why we sometimes don’t want to do the things that help - Getting comfortable in the dark—and how connection breaks the spell If you’ve ever thought: “I don’t know why I feel this way… but I do.” This episode is for you. If something here resonates, you’re not alone—and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. 🎧 Listen. 💬 Comment. 📩 Reach out. Sometimes the conversation is the medicine.

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What does a life well lived actually look like?

At 75, Ken McArthur has already lived more careers than most people have jobs:
computer programmer calculating orbits for NASA, pet store owner, police officer, rock musician, studio owner, film producer, community builder, and now the founder of a new AI-powered platform for human connection.

In this episode of RESET, we don’t talk tactics or funnels. We talk about life:

• Volunteering for the Army in the Vietnam era

• Writing code on punch cards and 16K machines

• Buying a pet store because one fish had 100 babies

• Working nights as a cop in Lakeland, FL

• Building a recording studio and playing music through the best decade of rock

• Creating live events that changed thousands of lives

• Bootstrapping everything (movies, software, platforms) with no VC money

• Why he sold it all, moved to 80 acres in Missouri… and what went wrong

• The simple question he asks people: “What do you want to do when you get up in the morning?”

• His new project, ConnectLab, and how he’s thinking about AI, connection, and the future

• Why he’s on a five-year plan at 75 – and what he wants those years to mean

Ken’s core philosophy is disarmingly simple:

Find something. Make it better. Then do it faster for more people.

If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s “too late” to start over, or whether you’ve already missed your shot… this conversation will mess with that belief in the best possible way.

👉 Watch now and see what a lifetime of pivots really looks like.

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When you hit rock bottom in midlife, you face a choice: crumble or rebuild.

In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Brian G. Johnson opens up about the moment his life collapsed — the divorce, the identity crisis, the loneliness, and the painful process of starting over at 50. No intros. No bio. No fluff. We jump straight into the truth.

We talk about:

• What happens when the life you built disappears overnight

• The emotional fallout of divorce after decades together

• Finding yourself again when everything feels unfamiliar

• Creativity as a survival mechanism

• Why reinvention is the real lifelong skill

• What he wishes he could tell his 30-year-old self

• Aging, meaning, curiosity, and building a life you actually want

• The brutal reality of YouTube — and why it’s “simple but hard”

Brian’s story isn’t about business tactics or internet success.
It’s about rebuilding identity, rediscovering purpose, and learning who you are when the old life dies.

If you’re in the middle of your own reset — or feel one coming — this conversation is a compass.

This is RESET with Joel Comm.
It starts with one honest question.

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In July 1995, I launched my first website — WorldVillage.com — one of the earliest family-friendly destinations for software reviews, games, and educational content.

Built on curiosity and a love for the web, WorldVillage became one of the first 20,000 sites ever created. Within a year, we had nearly a million visitors. But as the years passed and the Internet evolved, the site faded into the background.

Here’s the crazy part: 30 years later, I still own it.

And when I asked ChatGPT how many of those original websites are still online today, the estimate was jaw-dropping — maybe 250 total, and only a few dozen still in the hands of their original owners.

In this episode, I revisit the story of WorldVillage — how it began, what it became, and why I’m now considering bringing it back.

💬 Here’s what I’d love from you:
What should I do with this piece of Internet history?
Should I revive it as a “Cool Site of the Day”-style project — celebrating what’s still great about the open web?

Drop your ideas and feedback in the comments.

— Joel Comm

#JoelComm #WorldVillage #InternetHistory #RetroWeb #VintageInternet #1990sWebsites #TechHistory #WebRevival #DigitalArchaeology #OldInternet #CoolSiteOfTheDay #Rediscover #EarlyWeb

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What if your biggest opportunity is something you can’t see yet?

In this episode, I share a story that changed the course of my life — the moment someone else spotted potential in me that I couldn’t see myself.

Back in college, I loved music but never thought about being on the radio. Until one day, my stepmom said a single sentence that opened a whole new path:
“Why don’t you DJ at the radio station?”

That one question led me to a college radio gig, spinning records in clubs, running a mobile DJ business, and eventually… to becoming an entrepreneur.

💬 In this video, you’ll hear:
• The story of how I became a DJ (and why I almost didn’t)
• How one suggestion changed everything
• The lesson that your next opportunity might already be right in front of you

💭 Takeaway:
Sometimes we need others to help us see our own strengths.
Ask the people who know you best:
“What do you think I’d be great at that I’m not doing yet?”

You might just discover your next big thing.

— Joel Comm

#JoelComm #Motivation #Inspiration #CareerStories #BlindSpots #LifeLessons #DJStory #Entrepreneurship #PersonalGrowth #RadioDJ #CollegeStory #SelfDiscovery #Mindset

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Before I ever had a website, I was already running what I like to call my first “Internet” business — years before most people had even heard of the Internet.

It started with an idea: a one-man software review magazine for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I wrote it, designed it in Aldus PageMaker, printed it, and bundled it with floppy disks full of shareware and games. Then my buddy and I loaded up the car and hand-delivered stacks to local computer stores.

What began as a nerdy side project turned into something bigger — a grassroots publishing operation that brought free software to readers, reviews to developers, and a sense of community to the early PC world. It was creative chaos… and it laid the foundation for everything that came next.

In this episode, I share:
• How I created The Dallas/Fort Worth Software Review in the mid ’90s
• The story behind my first “online” business — before the web existed
• Why floppies, PageMaker, and passion were all I needed to publish
• The moment at CES 1995 that introduced me to the World Wide Web

💬 Your turn:
How did you first discover the Internet?
Were you on BBS, CompuServe, or AOL? Drop your story below — I’d love to hear how you found your way online.

— Joel Comm

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Before the World Wide Web, I was on six different commercial online services. How many of them were you on, or do you even remember? In this show I walk down memory lane to recount the services and what I recall about them. Watch this to see how many you remember!

For the video version of this show, visit http://youtube.com/joelcomm

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A long, long time ago, I purchased my first computer. It was a TRS-80 Model 1 with 4K of RAM. Today I look at that purchase through the lens of modern computing power.

What was YOUR first computer? Let me know in the comments!

And oops... I plugged my microphone in, but NOT into the iPhone! Sorry for the background noise. I'll try to do it right in the future.

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I’ve been making videos online for two decades. My first YouTube video posted in 2006. And for quite some time I posted candid videos designed to speak directly to my audience.

My “Walking with Joel” series was both a live video and then posted to YouTube. They were unedited and not produced. I really enjoyed doing them and the feedback was already great.

So now I’m not shooting video while walking, but I am seeking the same goal… connection. Real connection.

Let’s give this a shot. Here is my first comeback podcast, and hopefully you will sense the connection and I will do many more.

For the video version, go to http://youtube.com/joelcomm

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