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PODCAST

Is Anything Real?

Is Anything Real? is the Reality-First Leadership podcast for builder-leaders who want outcomes, not optics. Each week, Adam W. Barney sits down with founders and operators to unpack positioning, marketing, community, energy management, and influence - plus the numbers behind what actually worked. You’ll hear: a quick Reality Check, a practical Proof Stack (inputs → actions → outcomes), and one EnergyOS habit you can run this week. Specifics over slogans; humane systems over hustle cosplay. New

business management

All Episodes

21:45

AR/VR, Not Hype: 70/20/10 Testing & Real-World Plays...

Is Anything Real? ·

2026/01/14

Is spatial computing the next real channel...or another metaverse mirage? Adam Ortman (CEO/Founder, Kinetic319) brings operator truth: how to explore AR/VR without gambling the quarter, what the 1990s internet can teach us about adoption curves, and the 70/20/10 test budget that protects your core while finding edge wins. We also cover where the early inventory actually is (Roblox, console placements) and the leadership scripts that keep experiments sane. You’ll learnA simple checklist for

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21:30

Clicks Aren’t Customers: $5,266 in Ads, 1 Call | Ep....

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/12/31

Founder/operator Dan Newman breaks down a six-month Meta ads test (spoiler: $5,266 in spend for one sales call) and the lessons that matter for small teams: validate the offer first, track outcomes not optics, and invest in outbound + relationships until the engine is repeatable. We also cover persona pitfalls, “free” messaging traps, and where he’d deploy a fresh $5k right now (search + events). TakeawaysProof over dashboards: engagement didn’t translate to pipeline. Persona/offer

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19:59

Creative Angle over Dashboards: Full Journey Growth |...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/12/24

Brand-side veteran turned collective leader Gabe Wolff makes the case that tidy ROAS and over-engineered account structures distract from what actually scales: a sharp creative angle, a full user journey, and profit-first measurement. We cover misaligned agency incentives, post-iOS14 realities, practical ways to structure campaigns by angle/ICP, and why entry products and retention paths drive LTV more than day-to-day CPA swings. You’ll learn:How outcome-aligned compensation changes

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25:40

Lead with Humanity: Caregiving, Clarity & Real Growth...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/12/19

What happens when the glossy leadership myth meets real life - kids, partners’ health, and aging parents? Yasmine de Aranda argues that caregiving is a leadership superpower and that humane companies outperform hustle cosplay. We map marketing’s role as organizational glue, why growth-at-all-cost fails humans and strategy, and how to build flexible, trust-based teams that still deliver. We close with a protect-your-energy cadence any leader can adopt this week. You’ll learn:How to design

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22:36

Break the Agency Mold: Right-Sized Teams, Real...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/12/17

Agency polish without agency baggage. Jamie Read unpacks how BriteBirch Collective builds project-led, specialist teams that scale up or down fast, why fractional talent creates anti-fragile organizations, and how the commoditization of paid media plus AI content noise makes earned, community-driven attention the smartest bet. We also cover earned-first launches with $0 ad spend, BriteBirch’s BriteStart community for freelancers, and a simple practice for better creative decisions: seek

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27:16

Community over Audience: Measurable ROI & CQLs | Ep....

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/12/10

Most teams confuse audience with community. Yurii Lazaruk explains the difference (one-to-many vs. many-to-many) and maps a measurable framework for community’s impact on support, product, marketing, and sales—including Community-Qualified Leads that move members into the right offer at the right time. We get into avoiding “fandom” traps, when to build audience first, why intentional facilitation matters, and a simple habit to start today: one real conversation a day. You’ll learn:How to

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21:25

Do the Homework: Foundations Before Ads | Ep. 29...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/12/05

Agency veteran Nikhil Vaish, founder of BoostSolo, argues that most ad failures start upstream. We walk through his three-step model: Offer > Homework > Execution, show how AI can amplify both good and bad strategy, and detail a practical voice-of-customer workflow using your own sales calls.Expect a frank conversation about niching down, pricing power, and building the right foundation so ads can finally do their job.You will learnThe Step Two foundation that most skip and how to

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24:05

Attribution Is Fiction: Profit Over Dashboards | Ep....

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/12/03

E-commerce isn’t single-touch - and your reporting shouldn’t pretend it is. Growth leader Andrew Maffettone breaks down how marketplace spillover (Amazon, Walmart, DTC, social) makes ROAS tidy but wrong, why profit beats channel vanity metrics, and how to design campaigns by channel purpose (education vs. capture). He shares a surprising SEO play—using low-cost Google Ads to accelerate rankings—then retargeting for conversion, plus a blunt take on why driving ads straight to Amazon often

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17:33

Community over Clicks: Women, Talent & Real Influence...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/11/26

Community isn’t a channel—it’s an operating system. Shraddha Varma, Co-Founder of Fuzia, shares how a women-centered platform turns creators into contributors, and contributors into careers. We map the community → credibility → opportunity flywheel, plus a pragmatic view of paid media once audience and offer are proven.You’ll learn:How to build a values-driven community that compounds trustConverting community energy into a talent + partnerships pipelineThe right (and wrong) moments to use

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19:53

Credibility over Clout: Books, Wine & BS-Free...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/11/19

Author credibility beats vanity metrics—and hospitality beats hacks. In this conversation, Megumi Calver explains how she helps nonfiction authors and speakers use books as credibility engines, why she built Merobebe to champion women winemakers, and the narrow moments when paid ads are worth it—after audience and offer are dialed.You’ll learn:The difference between “bestseller” clout and durable credibilityHow to grow a thriving community without relying on paid adsWine-world lessons for

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17:07

Building a Global VA Agency Without Ads | Ep. 25...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/11/12

What if you could build a thriving global business — without spending a dime on ads?In this episode of Is Anything Real in Paid Advertising?, Utsav Nagori, Founder of DynaPro Global, shares how he grew a VA agency serving clients across the U.S. entirely through trust, relationships, and ridiculous consistency.From his first few clients to managing a full remote team, Utsav walks through what it really takes to scale when you don’t have funding, investors, or ad budgets — just belief and

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24:52

Stop the Ad Addiction | Ep. 24 w/Jared Tang (Gaggle...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/11/05

Tired of chasing clicks and conversions that don’t convert?In this episode of Is Anything Real in Paid Advertising?, host Adam W. Barney sits down with Jared Tang, Founder & CEO of Gaggle Social, to talk about breaking the cycle of ad dependency and building brands that grow on real connection, not rented reach.💡 What We Cover:Escaping the paid-media hamster wheelHow organic storytelling compounds faster than spendThe LinkedIn content loops that actually drive salesWhy most founders

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25:34

Scrappy ABM, Real Results: Building Pipeline Without...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/10/29

What happens when you stop chasing vanity metrics and start running ABM the way it’s meant to be — personal, measurable, and scrappy?In this episode, Mason Cosby, CEO & Founder of Scrappy ABM, joins Adam W. Barney to unpack how small, focused teams are generating enterprise-level outcomes with smarter, more human strategies.🔥 Topics we dig into:Why ABM has been misunderstood (and how to fix it)How to build real alignment between sales and marketingWhat “Scrappy” actually means in a

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26:06

EQ, Resilience & Real Influence | Ep. 22 w/Chuck...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/10/24

It's time for another Exclusive Drop you don't want to miss!Leadership isn’t forged at the summit: it’s forged in the storm.In this powerful conversation, Chuck Garcia, Columbia University professor, author, and founder of Climb Leadership, joins host Adam W. Barney to unpack what it really means to climb with resilience, emotional intelligence, and purpose .Mountains and boardrooms share the same truth: the climb tests your patience, your team, and your character. Chuck Garcia shares the

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19:05

Fix Your Bank. Scale Your Ads. | Ep. 21 w/Alex Steele...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/10/22

In this episode of Is Anything Real in Paid Advertising?, host Adam W. Barney sits down with Alex Steele, Founder & CEO of Opal, to unpack how agencies can unlock growth by rethinking how they bank.💡 Alex shares the story of building Opal — the fintech platform redefining how ad agencies and creators manage cash flow and credit.From partnering with Visa to solving the agency payment bottleneck, this conversation gets real about money, momentum, and the systems that fuel scale.We

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18:35

Narrative Power in a Noisy World | Ep. 20 w/MK...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/10/15

In a world where ads fight for attention and algorithms dictate visibility, one thing still cuts through the noise: storytelling.In this episode of Is Anything Real in Paid Advertising?, I sit down with MK McGowan, Founder of MK McGowan Studios, to explore how narrative isn’t just marketing — it’s the difference between being ignored and being unforgettable.We dive into:✨ Why narrative intelligence matters more than vanity metrics✨ How to tell stories that scale across platforms and

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27:03

Filtering Noise with AI: Authentic Growth & Real...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/10/08

AI in sales and marketing isn’t about replacing people: it’s about amplifying them.In this episode of Is Anything Real in Paid Advertising?, I sit down with Joe Apfelbaum, Founder of evyAI and CEO of Ajax Union, to unpack what it really takes to scale authentic relationships in the age of AI.Joe shares his journey from building 100+ websites a year, to scaling Ajax Union into one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., to creating evyAI...now powering 20,000+ users across 37

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23:06

CRM That Pays: Lead Scoring, Attribution & ROI | Ep....

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/10/01

Most companies pour money into marketing without connecting it to revenue. Jason Kramer, Founder & CEO of Cultivize, shows how to turn CRM, lead scoring, and simple attribution into hard ROI...and why many campaigns should be trimmed, not scaled.In this episode, you’ll learn:How a 25-year roofing company cut ~$50k in wasted ad spend by tracking every channel (QRs, call prompts, landing pages) and tying it back to sales activity.“Hand raisers,” lead scoring, and seeing buying signals in

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18:33

Building Trust Before Ads | Ep. 17 w/ Abu Kamara...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/09/24

Most entrepreneurs feel the pressure to run ads before they’ve built a foundation. Abu Kamara, Co-Founder of Green Zone Solutions, took a different path. In just 18 months, he built a consulting business around sustainability, logistics, and operational performance - all through relationships, referrals, and trust, not ad spend.In this episode, we cover:How Green Zone went from wide-net consulting to honing in on manufacturing and distribution niches.Why referrals and word-of-mouth still

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23:32

The Future of AI & Creativity | Ep. 16 (Exclusive...

Is Anything Real? ·

2025/09/20

The AI wave is reshaping industries faster than most leaders can process. Few people have navigated it from as many angles as Mike Todasco, former Head of Innovation at PayPal, Visiting Fellow at the James Silberrad Brown Center for Artificial Intelligence at San Diego State University, and holder of 100+ patents.In this Exclusive Drop episode of Is Anything Real in Paid Advertising?, host Adam W. Barney and Mike dig into:The real implications of AI for human creativityHow corporate

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