Heidi Schwende joins The Angry Ops Guy Podcast for a reflective conversation about what this year has actually felt like inside an agency. She’s a good friend and a strategic partner, so this one goes beyond surface-level industry talk.

We dig into the trust gap in the market, how many business owners show up already burned, and why chasing volume is a losing game. Heidi shares how she’s built her agency around long-term partnerships instead of quick wins, leaning into trusted specialists inside the WSI network and refusing to compromise on quality just to close a deal. There’s some venting, some laughs, and a few honest swings at the parts of this industry that deserve it.

Then we get into what’s quietly stressing everyone out: AI search, declining traffic, LLM visibility, and what happens when the machines start remembering what you publish. We’re not just optimizing anymore, we’re teaching. Foundations still matter, and when shortcuts replace substance, the market corrects it. If you run an agency or depend on one, this is the kind of conversation you have when you’re tired of pretending everything is fine and you still care enough to fix it.

Part 2 with Eric Cook shifts from sustaining agency Ops to surviving what’s coming next.

This episode unpacks the rise of AI agents, LLM-driven search, and what happens when your real "customer" isn’t a human - it’s software making decisions on their behalf. From conference takeaways to practical application, Mike and Eric explore how operators need to rethink SEO, content structure, and digital strategy before the ground shifts under their feet.

It’s thoughtful, forward-looking, and grounded in real-world application. Plus, in typical Angry Ops Guy fashion - the episode wraps with harmless sabotage, questionable professionalism, and proof that even seasoned operators can’t resist acting like middle-schoolers when given access to a live chat.

In this new episode of The Angry Ops Guy Podcast, Mike sits down with Eric Cook - one of the most respected operators in the WSI network and a longtime friend who’s been in the agency trenches longer than most. The conversation spans leadership, burnout, travel overload, crisis management, and what it really takes to sustain a high-stakes agency when the internet never sleeps. From banking-sector pressure to tech outages, client trust, and the hidden cost of always being "on", this one is grounded, honest, and packed with hard-earned perspective.

And because it’s still Mike and Eric, the seriousness never goes uninterrupted for long. Somewhere between life lessons and Ops wisdom, the conversation detours into man-child humour, near-miss disasters, and the kind of friendship you only earn after years of mutual respect, bad decisions, and surviving agency life together.

Part 2 goes deeper into what happens after you’re forced to step away from agency life.

Jack Porter-Smith talks honestly about rebuilding career 2.0, why autopilot is dangerous, and how he’s refocusing on advisory work, writing, and peer support without sacrificing his health. It’s reflective, grounded, and useful for anyone trying to figure out what comes next once the Ops grind finally stops.

And because it’s Mike and Jack, none of that seriousness survives for long. The conversation keeps getting hijacked by the dumbest man-child friendship moments imaginable, including a hospital voice note that goes wildly off-script and a legendary client call nearly detonated by one perfectly timed instant message.

He’s finally here!  Jack Porter-Smith crawls out of the Ops grave for his first-ever guest spot on The Angry Ops Guy Podcast. After a full-blown health collapse and walking away from his multi-million dollar agency, he joins Mike for a raw, darkly funny breakdown of burnout, survival, and what happens when your inbox starts feeling like a weapon. The two swap war stories from over a decade in the trenches, get brutally honest about leadership and ego, and somehow still find time to roast each other to hell and back. It’s half therapy, half roast and somehow still useful if you’re trying not to lose your mind in digital marketing Ops.

Stick around for Part 1’s big finale: a little Photoshop, a buffet, and the moment Mike officially becomes a WSI legend (for all the wrong reasons).

AI isn’t coming. It’s already buried in your day-to-day, whether you meant to use it or not. This week, Mike and Christina finally go there - no hype, no predictions, just the raw truth about how AI is changing the day-to-day for Marketers and Ops leaders who are drowning in work.
 
We’re talking real tools, real tasks: chasing unresponsive clients, writing smarter follow-ups, turning brain-fried notes into usable briefs, getting content approved without twelve rounds of hell. Christina’s using AI to manage teams and still sound like a leader by Friday afternoon. Mike’s using it to get shit done faster, without burning out or overthinking everything. This isn’t a trend. It’s a survival tool. If you're still doing things the long way, you’re already behind.

This one spirals - “Waste of Time” is the Angry Ops Guy’s break-up song for a client who didn’t get it and a system that never does. It’s fast, frustrated, and weirdly funny in all the wrong places.

Mike Gualtieri is back with Emily Lundy to unpack track three from Ops-285: Curator of Thoughts, digging into lost deals, devalued expertise, and the brutal reality of building someone else’s dream while your own burns out. There’s ops therapy, fat jokes, a tracking tag meltdown, and a heartfelt jab at Mike’s best frenemy, Jack Porter Smith.

If you’ve ever worked 12 hours straight only to be asked “what’s that and where?” - this one’s for you.

Full song track at the end. You’ve been warned.

Time tracking sucks - everyone hates it, nobody does it right, but your agency depends on it. This week, Mike and Christina unpack the brutal truth about the most avoided operational task in the business.

We dig into how time data reveals padded hours, broken processes, and phantom productivity and why skipping it leads to bad hires, over-serviced clients, and money bleeding from every retainer. Somewhere in the chaos, Mike blames Cookie Monster for his weight issues, Christina outs her PR team as the worst offenders, and we both admit: if it’s not tracked, it didn’t happen.  Hate it all you want - time tracking isn’t micromanagement, it’s survival.