Unscripted Small Business

Abbey Crane
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Marketing

Our Unscripted Collaborative hosts Keith Bresee, Zaneta Chuniq, Keiron Bailey & 17 year SEO industry expert Jeremy Rivera are having unscripted interviews small business owners, founders and creators across the United States, learning about their challenges, successes and insights into the world of SMBs.

  1. Jun 23

    Get Found, Get Paid: How AI Agents Are Becoming Your Newest Customers with Mark Pearson

    After a stretch of major life changes about five years ago, Mark Pearson trained as a life coach through Tony Robbins, then narrowed into business coaching and, ultimately, AI consulting for small and mid-sized businesses. Today he's the founder of Agent Buyable, where he helps companies do two things: get found by AI and get paid by AI agents. What We Cover Why search has split into two layers — getting found (AEO) and getting paid (agentic commerce) Where agent-to-agent transactions are already happening, from big retailers to Shopify storefronts How a service business can “productize” its offers so an agent can read and buy them Why the biggest volume will be quiet, recurring B2B reorders Building your entity, getting cited everywhere, and writing for humans and bots at the same time Episode Highlights Mark's core framing is that SEO has graduated into the agentic world. First you have to be found — that's answer-engine optimization, making sure ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and the agents built on them can discover and accurately describe your business. Then you have to be able to get paid by AI agents when they act on a customer's behalf. One layer is table stakes; the other is a brand-new revenue channel. This isn't theoretical. Mark walks through where agentic commerce is live today — Home Depot, Lowe's, Etsy, Wayfair, and Shopify storefronts transacting through the new Stripe/OpenAI and Google protocols — and notes the US is actually trailing China, where you can tell an AI to plan and book an entire vacation. For a local business that isn't e-commerce, the bridge is making your calendar and catalog agent-readable so an agent can book and pay on a protected rail. The practical heart of the conversation is productizing services. Mark's example — a chiropractor turning a “10-pack of visits” into a purchasable, schema-tagged item — shows how to define top services as discrete products an agent can read cleanly. Jeremy connects this to entity work: the “Save Fry Oil” brand Google only understood as a verb until it added an About page. If you don't tell the machines who you are, they can't recommend you. They close on a caution worth keeping: use AI to create, not to offload. It's a powerful tool, but it hallucinates and it has only borrowed anecdotes — the real value still comes from two humans actually talking. Verify the sources, keep your own agency, and let the machine amplify the conversation rather than replace it. Connect with Mark Pearson Website: AgentBuyable.ai LinkedIn: Mark D. Pearson About the Show The Unscripted Small Business Podcast is hosted by Jeremy Rivera and features candid, unscripted conversations with founders, operators, and experts on what actually works in running and growing a small business. It's part of the Unscripted Podcast Network. New episodes at unscriptedsmallbusiness.com.

    52 min

  2. Jun 18

    Brad Poulos on Building SMBs That Run Without You

    Brad Poulos is an educator and consultant in the small business space. He teaches in the entrepreneurship department at Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, where he has been on faculty for about fifteen years. Alongside his teaching, Brad consults to small businesses in Canada and the United States, primarily those in the $5–50 million revenue range. He is the author of three books — Most Problems Solve Themselves, The Small Business Operator's Manual, and From Pitch to Payoff — and operates a business planning and cadence system for small business owners at confidentoperator.com. What We Cover Why lean startup replaced the traditional business plan — and what that means for founders today The SaaS expansion trap: why staying in your niche beats being pretty good at five things The Barbados test for knowing whether you own a business or own a job How to delegate outcomes instead of tasks, and what that looks like in practice Organic vs. mechanistic org structure — and how to get the right people in the right seats When to seek angel funding vs. bootstrapping, and why the VC carrot comes with a stick Brad's controversial take: a post-pandemic generation that struggles to solve problems Episode Highlights Brad opens with a story that reframes how most people think about business planning. Early in his career, he raised two million dollars from Bell Canada's board using a thick business plan full of projections — and had never spoken to a single prospective customer before the meeting. That was the old playbook. Today's curriculum is built on lean startup methodology: validate with real customers before you write a single number. The infrastructure shift matters too — what once required custom bank-approval code is now a Shopify checkbox. Entrepreneurship is more democratic, but that cuts both ways. The episode hits its stride when Brad and Jeremy dig into what it takes to actually own a business versus a high-paying job. Brad's test is clean: "If you can't go to Barbados and sit on the beach and you're making money, you do not have a business. You own your job." The fix isn't hiring more people — it's changing what you hand them. Jeremy's framing lands hard: don't delegate tasks, delegate outcomes. A-players figure out the tasks themselves. B-players need the list. Knowing the difference is what separates a good operator from a frustrated one. Episode Exerpt: JEREMY RIVERA I’m curious what your advice is right now for SMBs in manual services — tree trimming like McAllister Tree Service, installing concrete walls in Florida, doing home repair in Tennessee. If you’re geo-based and doing services, what does that look like from your perspective? BRAD POULOS I actually love those kinds of businesses. They’re never gonna go away. A lot of digital tools may come and go, but a tree trimming service will virtually always be here. The thing that’s changed over the past ten years is that the really good players are both good at executing their trade and good at executing digital marketing.  It’s becoming necessary to stand above the crowd and to get the leads first. I’m a member of a group that has a wedding photographer in it, and that wedding photographer is spending...

    45 min

  3. Jun 5

    Txldian The Destroyer: Overcoming The Smoke & Mirrors of The Music Industry

    Discover the multifaceted life of Txldian The Destroyer, a Pennsylvania-born musician, content creator, and pro wrestler, as he shares his journey through music, wrestling, and societal issues. This episode offers insights into creative resilience, independence in music, and embracing one's unique path. In this episode: Txldian’s musical influences, early start in gospel choir, and inspiration from icons like Michael Jackson and Tina Turner The transition from dance to music production and releasing his debut project in 2010 His touring experience across the Eastern Seaboard and upcoming live performances Collaboration with talented producers and artists on his forthcoming album Practical advice for aspiring artists about the realities and challenges of the music industry The importance of viewing oneself as a business and expanding brand through merchandise Creative inspiration rooted in personal loss, betrayal, and overcoming adversity, highlighted by his song "Letter to Mama" His outspoken stance on societal issues, including a concise take on Palestine The unique "sound of destruction" in his music, blending various genres with top-tier lyricism The role of AI in art and content creation, and its impact on originality and authenticity His journey into pro wrestling, inspired by lifelong fandom and supported by industry friends Words of encouragement to follow your dreams, whether creating or destroying, with confidence and authenticity

    23 min

  4. Jun 4

    Paul Pape: Can an RPG could save your business?

    Paul Pape is the barkeep and game master at Gamify Business, where he converts business strategy, marketing, and operational obstacles into role-playing game mechanics. He has run a successful freelance art and design practice for over 20 years, spent six years coaching creatives on Twitch, and holds two TEDx talks to his name — with a third on the way in October focused on dispelling the myth of the starving artist. He works with entrepreneurs at every stage, with particular expertise in serving neurospicy clients — linear and cloud thinkers alike — through his customized Gamify Business consulting process. What We Cover The origin story: how a stuck CEO's love of gaming sparked a four-hour D&D session that became a full consulting method Linear thinkers vs. cloud thinkers: Paul's neurospicy framework and why traditional business plans fail half the entrepreneur population The authority machine problem: building brand recognition vs. actually acquiring customers — and why they're not the same Ride the dragon of passion: Paul's analogy for why chasing fame and fortune directly strips away who you are Scale is the enemy of creativity: the Rule of 100 and why 100 loyal customers can build a business that lasts 80 years The starving artist myth: the origin story Paul is taking to TEDx — and why creatives were making bank before the industrial revolution Episode Highlights The moment everything clicked. Paul's origin story isn't theory — it's a room with a stuck CEO who happened to love gaming. Paul improvised a session where the characters were the CEO's own roles, and the monsters were actual business obstacles: cash flow, unfocused marketing, hiring decisions. After four hours, the CEO said, "Is this what business is? Because if it is, I think I finally understand it and it seems fun." That light-bulb moment became Gamify Business. Paul now runs the game master role for every client until they're ready to take over the campaign themselves. The neurospicy distinction. Paul divides his clients into two types: linear thinkers (neurotypicals who can follow a process A to Z) and cloud thinkers (ADHD, ADD, autism spectrum — who go A, B, G, Squirrel, Clouds, Graph). He has ADD himself, and his son has ADHD — so the framework is built from lived experience, not theory. His books are engineered with variability baked in: sometimes fill in a blank, sometimes draw circles, sometimes roll dice. He also runs a business personality quiz that places clients into one of six categories — and says he can tell you almost everything he needs to know about someone just from which category they land in. The authority machine confession. Paul gave one of the most honest answers I've heard on any podcast: despite 18 months of podcasting, TED talks, and speaking events, he hasn't cracked customer acquisition. "I've built an authority machine and not a getting-customers machine. And that's some honest tea from a guy who's in the machine right now." This maps directly to the brand-building vs. conversion split that affects every consultant and content creator — they don't run on the same clock, and confusing one for the other is expensive. Ride the dragon of passion — and the Rule of 100. Paul's first handhold for any struggling small business: stop chasing fame and fortune directly. "Fame and fortune are two dragons that are very fast. The only way to catch them is to strip away every...

    51 min

  5. May 28

    Cameron Tope - Building a Property Management Company With Integrity

    Cameron Tope is the founder and president of Emerson Property Management, a full-service residential property management company serving the greater Houston area. He started investing in rental properties in 2013 after the oil crash threatened his petroleum engineering career at BP, grew his own portfolio to more than 30 doors, and launched Emerson in 2019 after failing to find a professional property manager he trusted. Cameron is a licensed Real Estate Broker and a member of NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers). He now runs the Houston operation remotely from San Diego. What We Cover Why property management has a long feedback loop — and why shortcuts show up as $20K–$40K make-ready bills six to twelve months later Cameron's QA/QC vendor system: how he vets, tests, and fires vendors using post-maintenance tenant surveys Cash flow predictability in property management, private equity's entrance into the space, and the tenant fee problem The legal side: Texas Property Code changes every two years, and why Cameron now picks his battles carefully Whether rental property investing is actually worth it — and what the internet hype machine gets wrong Episode Highlights The Long Feedback Loop Cameron opens with one of the most honest framings I've heard for why property management is so hard to do well. He calls it the long feedback loop: if you bend a tenant qualification or defer a repair today, you won't know the damage for six months to a year. By the time you walk into the property, you could be looking at a total gut job. It's why systems aren't optional — they're what makes the Emerson approach look effortless from the outside, like Usain Bolt gliding when there's actually fifteen years of compounding work underneath it. Vendor Vetting That Actually Works Cameron's vendor process is one of the most replicable frameworks in this episode. He doesn't trust references — no bad vendor ever lists a bad one — so he starts every new contractor with tiny test jobs. Prove yourself on a sink trap before you touch anything bigger. The accountability layer on top is a post-maintenance tenant survey scored one through five, tracked per vendor every quarter and every year. He shared two unforgettable examples of what that system catches — and why continuous review beats a one-time background check. Cash Flow and the Private Equity Wave The property management business runs at about twenty percent annual client churn across the industry. Cameron runs Emerson at around ten. That stickiness, combined with geographic diversification across Houston, makes revenue projections very predictable — and it's exactly why private equity is flooding in. Cameron is direct about what happens next: fees get layered onto tenants until both sides are being squeezed. You can read more about how Emerson structures its pricing to stay aligned with owners rather than extracting from them. Running Houston From San Diego Cameron moved to San Diego three or four years ago and never moved the business back. His biggest fear was that things would fall apart without him on the ground. They didn't — because the move forced him to build the processes that made remote management possible. If you have to be in every decision, he says, you're never going to grow. The systems either work without you or you don't really have a business. Connect with Cameron Tope Website: emersonpropertymana...

    1 min

  6. May 21

    Knight Lancaster: Navigating Finances, Marketing & Law in TN

    Discover the intersection of Nashville law, accounting, and emerging AI challenges through this insightful conversation with Nashville-based entrepreneur Knight Lancaster. Whether you're a small business owner or legal professional, learn practical tips on cash flow models, regulatory hurdles, and avoiding AI pitfalls in legal and financial sectors. Key Topics: How AI and technology advancements can lead to accelerated inaccuracies in accounting data Essential cash flow models for small businesses, including understanding cash conversion cycles Legal issues surrounding franchise transactions and third-party approvals The impact of AI tools in legal practice, including liabilities related to fake citations and reliance on AI Knight’s business model targeting small law firms and service-based businesses Personal interests including gardening and lessons on time management Challenges of regulatory compliance in franchise and lending industries The importance of attribution in marketing and tracking ROI on ad spend The potential risks of AI applications in high-stakes fields like law and finance Knight’s vision for business growth and community impact

    33 min

  7. May 19

    Meaghan Wall Says Stop Flying Blind on Profit: The Hot Girl CFO on Offer Profitability, Commingled Funds & Cash Flow

    Meaghan Wall is the founder of The Hot Girl CFO, a boutique accounting agency specializing in fractional CFO services, bookkeeping, and taxes for creator economy businesses, marketing agencies, influencers, and online service providers. With over 15 years in finance, she works with businesses in the 500K to multi-million dollar range. In this episode Jeremy and Meaghan cover: — What a fractional CFO actually does and how the all-or-nothing agency model works (bookkeeper + CFO + tax under one roof) — Why most bookkeepers group all revenue into one line item and how that hides your real offer profitability — The legal reason commingling business and personal funds voids your LLC and S Corp protections entirely — Cash flow strategy for businesses with irregular or windfall-style revenue, including how to negotiate contractor payment timing — The low-hanging fruit Meaghan fixes first when she walks into a new client's books — State nexus, sales tax obligations, and why California requires county-by-county reporting — The "money mommy" dynamic and how CFO advisory conversations actually play out with solo founders — Angel investors, private equity, and how to negotiate control while securing capital — Franchises and acquisitions: where Meaghan's experience ends — Why Meaghan only works with mission-driven companies — and what she asks every potential client before taking a call — AI in finance: her software is wrong 45% of the time, and why dabbling is the most dangerous mode — FinSalon: her new mastermind for accounting professionals done being boring and ready to build authority online Connect with Meaghan Wall: Website: thehotgirlcfo.com Services: thehotgirlcfo.com/bookkeeping-services Instagram: @thehotgirlcfo

    31 min

  8. May 11

    Mason McCumber on AI Agents, Agentic Workflows & Building Smarter Business Systems

    Mason McCumber on AI Agents, Agentic Workflows & Building Smarter Business Systems Guest: Mason McCumber, SEO and AI expert — buildwithmm.com Host: Jeremy Rivera About Mason McCumber Mason McCumber is an SEO and AI expert based in Houston, Texas. He has built hundreds of tools and resources to help business owners and individuals learn and apply AI and SEO strategies. He consults with startups and private equity-backed companies and runs buildwithmm.com, where he publishes guides, tools, and training content. What We Cover → The shift from manual AI prompting to agentic workflows — and why most business owners are stuck being the driver instead of the dispatcher → How to reduce AI hallucination and drift using persistent memory, feedback loops, and Obsidian markdown logging → Why all major AI models produce similar output and what that means for content differentiation → Using automation (Zapier, Make) alongside AI for genuinely repeatable business tasks → Practical wins with AI-powered PowerPoint, Excel formulas, and project management — plus Mason's upcoming ZapTime.ai Episode Highlights Mason opens with a memorable analogy: the AI engine has always been powerful, but most business owners have been driving the car themselves. Agentic tools like OpenClaw, Copilot, and Codex mean the AI can now drive — users only need to act as dispatchers, defining the destination and correcting the route when needed. On AI reliability, Mason is refreshingly candid: he personally does not use AI to write most of his own content. He observes that mass-produced AI content increasingly lacks soul, and predicts Google will penalize it more aggressively. His recommendation is to pair human insight with AI execution — not replace one with the other. For long-term AI memory, Mason relies on Obsidian — a markdown-based note system that creates a searchable, persistent database of transcripts, meetings, and working documents. He pairs this with a critical rule: always instruct AI to leave a clear trace of its steps. Repeatability, he argues, is scalability. Mason closes with concrete wins for any business: using AI to generate HTML-based slide presentations instead of PowerPoint, automating Excel formulas, and his upcoming ZapTime.ai for AI-assisted time and task tracking. His single best recommendation for business owners with teams is to use AI for project management first. Connect with Mason McCumber Website: buildwithmm.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/masonmccumber Upcoming: ZapTime.ai — AI-assisted time tracking and task management

    33 min
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Our Unscripted Collaborative hosts Keith Bresee, Zaneta Chuniq, Keiron Bailey & 17 year SEO industry expert Jeremy Rivera are having unscripted interviews small business owners, founders and creators across the United States, learning about their challenges, successes and insights into the world of SMBs.

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