Good Enough Isn't

Patrick Patterson & Myles Biggs
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Marketing

"Good Enough Isn’t" is a podcast about the hard truths behind growth, leadership, and innovation in the age of AI. Hosted by Patrick Patterson and Myles Biggs of Level Agency, each episode cuts through the hype to explore what’s working — and what isn’t, in business, technology, and marketing. Expect bold insights, unfiltered conversations, and a relentless focus on results. Because in a world moving this fast, good enough… isn’t. 

  1. 6d ago

    Irreplaceably Human: What Cannes Lions 2026 Means for Creative, AI, and Marketing

    Send us Fan Mail Featuring: Patrick Patterson (CEO, LE), Howard Diamond (CRO), and Pat Van Gorder (Chief Partnerships Officer) of Level Agency Host: Myles Biggs Episode Summary Level sent three leaders, CEO Patrick Patterson, CRO Howard Diamond, and Chief Partnerships Officer Pat Van Gorder, to Cannes Lions this year, and this episode is their debrief. Rather than a straight recap of the world's biggest creativity festival, the conversation centers on a question every marketing leader is quietly asking right now: as AI absorbs more of the work, what actually stays human, and what does that mean for how brands should be building their teams, their agency relationships, and their creative? The panel keeps returning to one phrase: irreplaceably human. It surfaced constantly at Cannes this year as agencies, brands, and platforms all tried to name what AI genuinely cannot replicate: taste, judgment, curiosity, and one-to-one connection. The group unpacks the split they saw play out at the festival itself, a creative side focused on craft and human insight, and a media and technology side focused on scale and automation, and argues the two are only getting more valuable when they're built together rather than treated as separate disciplines. From there the conversation turns practical. The panel discusses why creative is becoming the clearest competitive differentiator in a market where every brand has access to similar AI tooling, how client conversations about AI have shifted in six months from "are you using it" to "how are you proving ROI with it," and why award-winning creative work correlates with measurable business outcomes rather than existing as a vanity exercise. They also make the case for indie and scaled independent agencies having a real moment at Cannes this year, not just attending, but presenting, partnering, and winning. What You'll Learn Why "irreplaceably human" became the unofficial theme of Cannes Lions 2026, and how the panel defines what that actually means (taste, judgment, curiosity, and relationship, not just craft)Why creative is becoming the differentiator that separates brands when everyone has access to the same AI and algorithmic toolsHow client expectations around AI have matured in just six months, from proving you use it to proving it drives value and ROIWhy award-winning creative work correlates with real business impact, not just recognition, and what that means for how brands should evaluate creative investmentThe rise of "brandformance," the blending of creativity, media, and performance into a single discipline instead of three separate onesWhy scaled independent agencies had a breakout year at Cannes, from panel stages to award shortlists, and what that signals for brands evaluating agency partnersA practical framework for evaluating new AI tools and models (their own internal evaluation process, covering discovery, testing, safety, and measurable outcomes)Why the next frontier for brands isn't just AI content, but conversational and agent-facing brand experiences (business messaging agents across Google, Meta, and TikTok)Why "permission" to put creative back at the center of strategy, not as an afterthought to lead volume and cost per lead, was a real takeaway for how the panel is changing their own approach Featured Panelists Patrick Patterson is CEO of Level Agency, where he leads the agency's overall strategy and its approach to applying AI across marketing operations and client work. Howard Diamond is Chief Revenue Officer at Level Agency, leading the agency's sales and client growth strategy. Pat Van Gorder is Chief Partnerships Officer at Level Agency, leading the agency's strategic partnerships across technology, media, and platform relationships. Connect With Our Panelists Patrick Patterson: linkedin.com/in/pattersonworkHoward Diamond: linkedin.com/in/howarddiamondPat Van Gorder: linkedin.com/in/patrick-vangorder Connect With the Show Level Agency: level.agencyMyles Biggs on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mylesjbiggs How to Support the Show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Good Enough Isn't wherever you get your podcasts, share it with a colleague who's thinking about creative and AI, and leave a rating and review. It helps more marketing leaders find the show

  2. Jul 1

    The Power of Story: What AI Can't Replace

    Send us Fan Mail The Power of Story: What AI Can't Replace Featuring LaQuita Cleare, Founder of Clear Communication Academy Episode Summary In a world where AI can generate content on demand, the ability to tell a genuine, human story has never mattered more. LaQuita Cleare, founder of Clear Communication Academy and a communication coach who has worked with leaders across more than 50 countries, joins Myles and Patrick to make the case that storytelling has moved from important to essential. The conversation opens with a sharp observation: AI has leveled the playing field on information, which means the only thing that separates a forgettable leader from a memorable one is the stories they tell and how well they tell them. LaQuita traces her path from an eight-year-old rejection outside a Chicago theater workshop all the way through years in Hollywood as an actress and producer, and explains how those experiences shaped the framework she now teaches executives. She unpacks what she calls the Engagement Code, connection plus content plus delivery equals engagement, and walks through why most leaders skip the connection piece entirely and wonder why their teams, prospects, and audiences are not moved. The Hollywood analogy runs throughout: leaders who do not know who they are outside of their title cannot tell a compelling story, and audiences can feel that immediately. The episode closes with a nuanced take on AI in the storytelling space. LaQuita draws a clear line between using AI as a ghostwriter (reductive, often damaging) and using it as a thought partner to mine your own experiences and find the stories worth telling (genuinely powerful). Patrick shares how he extracted years of meeting transcripts to surface the stories he was already telling without realizing it, and LaQuita ties it all back to what AI cannot replace: presence, authenticity, and the willingness to fully commit to your own story. What You'll Learn Why LaQuita says storytelling went from "important" to "essential" in the age of AIThe lesson she took from her first rejection at age eight and how it still shapes her approach todayWhat Hollywood taught her about separating personal identity from professional outcomes, and why more leaders need to make that separationHow the Engagement Code (Connection + Content + Delivery = Engagement) applies to everything from sales calls to company town hallsWhy small, everyday stories are often more powerful than blockbuster moments, and how the belief you have in your own story determines how others receive itThe right way and the wrong way to use AI in your communication and storytelling practiceWhy every leader needs their own value story, not just the company's version of itFeatured Guest LaQuita Cleare is the founder of Clear Communication Academy and the creator of the Engagement Code framework. She has coached CEOs, politicians, royal families, and Fortune 500 leaders on the stages and in the boardrooms of more than 50 countries. Before building her academy, LaQuita spent years in Hollywood as an actress and producer, where she learned the mechanics of storytelling from the inside out. She holds a master's degree in psychology and brings together the science of human behavior and the art of performance to help leaders communicate in ways that inspire action, not just understanding. Her work is rooted in a simple conviction: brilliant people lose the room every day because they lead with logic and skip the connection. Connect With LaQuita LinkedInClear Communication Academylaquitacleare.comConnect With the Show Follow Good Enough Isn'tConnect with Myles Biggs on LinkedInConnect with Patrick Patterson on LinkedInHow to Support the Show If this episode hit, the best thing you can do is leave a review and share it with one person who needs to hear it. It helps more people find the show, and it means the world to the team.

  3. Jun 17

    People-First AI Transformation: Mohammad Anwar and the HUMAIN First Framework

    Send us Fan Mail People-First AI Transformation: Mohammad Anwar and the HUMAIN First Framework Featuring Mohammad Anwar, President & CEO of Softway and Culture+, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author Episode Summary Mohammad Anwar is the President and CEO of Softway and Culture+, a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and one of the more honest voices in a conversation about AI that tends to be dominated by hype. Mohammad built Softway from a one-man software shop he started at 20 -- out of necessity, not ambition -- into a 300-person firm, only to nearly lose it all by 30 when the chip on his shoulder calcified into full-blown arrogance. The turnaround came from an unlikely place: a University of Houston football comeback where the coach credited love as the reason his team won. That moment launched a three-year behavioral transformation that tripled Softway's revenue, improved EBITDA margins by 43 percentage points, and eventually produced two Wall Street Journal bestselling books and an entirely new business, Culture+, built on the idea that love is not a soft concept but the most powerful strategy a leader has. In this episode, Mohammad and Myles go deep on why 78% of workers believe their jobs are not safe in the age of AI, why 90% of AI pilots are failing, and why the answer in both cases is almost never the technology -- it is the people. Mohammad walks through his HUMAIN First framework, unpacks the critical difference between efficiency and effectiveness, and makes the case that the organizations most likely to win the AI era are the ones willing to put humans at the center of the strategy first. What You'll Learn Why 90% of AI transformation initiatives fail -- and why the root cause is almost always people, not technologyHow Mohammad's HUMAIN First framework resequences AI rollouts to lead with human readiness before process and technologyThe difference between efficiency and effectiveness, and why measuring AI success through volume or token usage is the wrong metric entirelyWhy "behaviors eat culture for lunch" -- and how behavioral change, not strategy, is what actually drives organizational performanceThe concept of "choose your hard" and why the path that feels easier today almost always becomes the harder one tomorrowWhy the leaders best equipped to understand and deploy AI are those who understand humans -- because AI is, at its core, built to mimic human intelligenceHow AI, when used intentionally, can make us more human at work rather than more robotic -- and why that reframe changes everything about how you approach adoptionConnect With Mohammad Softway: https://www.softway.com/Love as a Strategy: https://www.loveasastrategy.com/Books: "Love as a Business Strategy" and "Love as a Change Strategy" -- available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all major retailers in print, audio, and ebook formatsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manwarsoftway/Connect With the Show Level Agency: https://www.level.agencyMyles Biggs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mylesjbiggs/How to Support the Show If this episode resonated with you, hit subscribe so you never miss another conversation. Leave us a review wherever you listen. It helps more people find the show and keeps us bringing guests like Mohammad to your feed.

  4. Jun 1

    What Google Marketing Live 2026 Really Means for Marketers

    Send us Fan Mail What Google Marketing Live 2026 Really Means for Marketers with Bill Buchanan and Nicole Jennings Google Marketing Live 2026 dropped a wave of announcements that left the marketing world buzzing. In this episode, Brad Stephenson sits down with Level Agency President Bill Buchanan and EVP of Service Delivery Nicole Jennings to explain what actually matters, what brands should do right now, and what they'll wish they had started sooner. Bill attended GML in person, including a rare behind-the-scenes session with Google's keynote team. Nicole brings her perspective from Brand Performance and her leadership over Level's full service delivery organization, which spans media, SEO, creative, and development. Together, they unpack why Google's pace of change is unprecedented even by Google's own standards, and what it signals for where search is headed. This episode was recorded just before Brad took the stage at SMX Advanced to speak on unifying the search experience. The conversation covers how AI mode is reshaping the funnel from top to bottom, why the new ad formats are less important than the foundational infrastructure beneath them, and why the brands that get the data foundation right now will have a compounding advantage heading into the back half of 2025. Bill and Nicole also walk through what CMOs in higher education, healthcare, home services, and financial services need to prioritize, and close with the one thing everyone will wish they had done sooner when they look back at this moment a year from now. What You'll Learn: Why Google's shift to AI mode is unprecedented even by its own historical standards, and what "ripping the Band-Aid" really means at this scaleThe three things Bill says every brand will wish they had done earlier: fix the data foundation, compete for AI citations, and treat SEO, paid, and content as one unified solutionWhy YouTube strategy and AI Max are the two things Nicole says to pressure test your agency on immediatelyHow AI is blurring the line between SEO and PR, and why brand mentions are the new backlinksWhat QFCs, attributed brand searches, and Meridian mean for CFOs who still believe in last-click attributionIndustry-specific takeaways for higher education, healthcare, home services, and financial servicesWhy Nicole's single highest-leverage move for a CMO this quarter is a scalable, repeatable YouTube strategyFeatured Guests: Bill Buchanan is President of Level Agency. With decades of experience in digital marketing and a front-row seat at Google Marketing Live 2026, Bill helps shape the strategic direction that guides how Level partners with clients across SEO, media, data infrastructure, and AI adoption. Nicole Jennings is EVP of Service Delivery at Level Agency, responsible for the full range of client-facing services including media, SEO, creative, and development. Nicole brings a practitioner's perspective to big-picture platform changes, translating what Google announces on stage into what brands actually need to do on Monday morning. Connect With the Guests: Bill Buchanan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wbuchanan Nicole Jennings: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolejennings/ Connect With the Show: Level Agency: level.agency How to Support the Show: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone on your marketing team who is trying to make sense of AI search.

  5. May 20

    When LLMs don't like you: Has your brand's SEO survived the search-pocalypse?

    Send us Fan Mail When LLMs Don't Like You: Has Your Brand's SEO Survived the Search-pocalypse? Featuring Matt Beaulieu, SEO Director, Level Agency Episode Summary The search engine results page has changed more in the past two years than in the entire history of SEO. In this episode, Brad Stephenson (SVP of Marketing and Sales Enablement at Level Agency) sits down with Matt Beaulieu, a 15-year SEO veteran and Level's resident expert on AI brand visibility, to unpack what is actually happening to your brand inside large language models, and why most companies have no idea. Brad and Matt break down the shift from a 10-blue-links world to one dominated by AI Overviews and zero-click environments, where informational queries are being answered without ever touching your website. That is not the real problem, though. The real problem is that LLMs are building a consensus about your brand from sources you may have forgotten existed, including outdated social profiles, Glassdoor reviews, Reddit threads, attorney websites, and Wikipedia, and the picture they are painting may be costing you business right now. The good news is that this is fixable, and the brands that move first have a real window to pull ahead. Matt walks through Level's AI Brand Consistency Audit process, the content and technical levers that actually influence how LLMs cite and recommend brands, and how to approach reputation repair in a way that is authentic and durable. Whether you are a CMO who has never thought about schema markup or an SEO practitioner trying to evolve your approach, this conversation gives you a clear place to start. What You'll Learn Why clicks from search are down 45 to 50% for many brands, and why leads can still be up if your content strategy is rightHow LLMs build a "consensus" about your brand across dozens of sources, many of which you do not controlThe most common culprits behind unflattering LLM outputs: outdated social profiles, negative reviews, regulatory mentions, fee criticism, and WikipediaWhat an AI Brand Consistency Audit looks at and what Month 1 of an engagement looks likeThe content formats LLMs love most: answer capsules, FAQs, ordered lists, tables, and simple extractable languageWhy off-site activity (backlinks, brand mentions, Reddit, UGC communities) matters more than most brands realizeThe "black hat" LLM tactics that worked briefly and got shut down, and what that means for content strategyWhy challenger brands have a real opportunity to overtake established competitors in AI-driven search right nowThe one thing Matt wants every CMO to do tomorrowFeatured Guest Matt Beaulieu is an SEO Director at Level Agency with 15 years of experience in search. He began his career at a white-label SEO company working across SMB, mid-market, and enterprise brands before joining Level three years ago, where he now specializes in higher education (with a deep focus on trade schools) and financial services. Matt leads Level's AI brand visibility practice and developed the agency's proprietary AI Brand Consistency Audit methodology. Resources Mentioned Level AgencyReddit + AI Virtual Insider Session ReplayFree AI Brand Visibility AuditConnect With the Show Brad Stephenson on LinkedInMatt Beaulieu on LinkedInHow to Support the Show If you found this episode valuable, leave us a review and share it with a marketing leader in your network. Every share helps us keep bringing you conversations that go past the surface level.

  6. May 6

    Stop Treating AI Like a Tech Problem

    Send us Fan Mail Episode Summary Charlene Li has been right about every major wave in technology for three decades, from the internet's disruption of media in 1993, to social media's challenge to organizational power, to the AI revolution reshaping business today. In this episode, she makes a bold claim: most leaders have their AI strategy completely backwards, and the gap isn't technical; it's a leadership problem. If you're still treating AI as an IT initiative, you're already behind. Charlene unpacks why organizations that are winning with AI aren't doing it by chasing tools or running endless pilots. They're doing it by connecting AI to their actual business strategy, building cultures of psychological safety, and developing what she calls "superhuman", humans and AI working in integrated intelligence. The distinction between a company that knows AI is important, one that's using it, and one that's actively leading it is what separates the winners from the rest. The conversation also goes deep on the human cost of AI adoption, the truth that not every job will survive, and what leaders owe their people in terms of transparency, reskilling, and trust. Charlene doesn't sugarcoat it. She challenges leaders to stop promising safety they can't guarantee and start building the scaffolding that gives people confidence, no matter what comes next. What You'll Learn Why putting "AI" next to "strategy" is already the wrong move, and what to do insteadThe Double S Matrix framework for prioritizing AI initiatives by size of value and speed to valueHow to identify the knowing-doing-leading gap in your organizationWhat rituals and ceremonies actually move the needle on AI adoption (and the Ally Bank example)Why the cost of being wrong is now almost zero, and why most cultures still act like it isn'tHow to build "superhuman" organizations that combine AI efficiency with the five uniquely human capabilitiesWhat honest leadership looks like when AI is displacing jobsFeatured Guest Charlene Li is a New York Times bestselling author, former Forrester analyst, and founder of Altimeter Group, the independent research firm she built to tackle cross-functional disruption problems before selling it to Prophet. She has advised 14 of the Dow Jones Industrial 30 companies and is the author of seven books. Her latest, Winning with AI, argues that everything most leaders think about AI strategy is backwards. She is a recognized expert in digital transformation, leadership, and what it takes to thrive when disruption arrives. Connect With Charlene Website: charleneli.comBook: winningwithaibook.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charleneliAI Leaders Community: charleneli.com/community/Connect With the Show Level Agency: level.agencyPatrick Patterson on LinkedInMyles Biggs on LinkedInHow to Support the Show If this episode gave you something to think about, share it with a leader in your network who's still treating AI like an IT project. Subscribe to Good Enough Isn't so you don't miss what's next.

  7. Apr 8

    Why Distribution Wins: Lessons from 4 Exits and the AI Era

    Send us Fan Mail Why Distribution Wins: Lessons from 4 Exits and the AI Era with Raj Singh (VP of New Products, Mozilla) Episode Summary This week, Myles Biggs and Patrick Patterson sit down with Raj Singh, a serial entrepreneur who's built and exited four companies across the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19, and now the AI wave. He's currently VP of New Products at Mozilla, where he's building an AI-powered small business suite for the ownership economy. Together, they break down what it actually takes to build something that wins: how to find insertion points before the market does, why distribution is still the hardest problem in tech, what the "95% rule" means for AI product design, and why the team, not the technology, is almost always why startups fail. Whether you're a founder, a product leader, or just trying to understand where AI is actually taking us, this conversation is packed with hard-won perspective from someone who's been in the arena through every major disruption of the last 25 years. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why distribution is still the hardest problem to solve, no matter how good your product isThe "95% rule" for evaluating which problems AI is actually suited to solveHow Mozilla is building a Shopify-equivalent for solopreneurs and service providersWhy Raj believes it's always the right time to start something and what that really meansThe "explore, expand, extract" framework for knowing which PM archetype your product needsWhy teams burn out and how that's often what actually kills startupsWhat the next 12 months of AI adoption look like inside enterprisesHow the web itself is being rebuilt for an agent-first worldFeatured Guest Raj Singh — VP of New Products at Mozilla, four-time founder with exits spanning the dot-com era through the AI wave. Builder of AI calendars, remote work tools, food communities, and now an AI small business suite (Solo, Trunk, Pencil, Post Full) inside Mozilla. Connect With Raj LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rajansingh/Twitter/X: @mobiletrajConnect With the Show Level Agency — https://www.level.agency/Patrick Patterson's LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/pattersonwork/Myles Biggs' LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/mylesjbiggs/How to Support the Show Subscribe so you never miss an episode.Share this episode with someone navigating the AI wave.Rate & review if it brings value — it helps us reach more listeners!

  8. Mar 25

    From Behaviors to Exits: The Business Psychology Behind Every Great Transition

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode, hosts Myles Biggs and Patrick Patterson sit down with Laurie Barkman, succession and exit strategist and founder of Business Transition Sherpa. Laurie has lived a remarkable arc: one of the first professional digital marketers at American Eagle Outfitters, CEO of a 125-year-old logistics firm, and a private equity veteran who now helps founders build businesses that do not collapse without them. What holds it all together is a conviction she has carried since the start: business is psychology. Whether you are selling jeans for a hundred dollars or guiding a founder through a hundred-million-dollar exit, how people decide and trust has not changed. The tools have. Tune in to learn why hope is not a strategy, how to build a business that thrives without you, and what the early digital marketing pioneers can teach us about navigating AI disruption today. Key Takeaways Business Is Always Psychology: The fundamentals of how people decide, connect, and trust have not changed. The tools are different. The psychology is not.Build a Business That Thrives Without You: Owner dependency is one of the biggest risks to enterprise value. Laurie breaks down the three dimensions of exit readiness: personal, financial, and business transition, and why starting earlier is always the right answer.Hope Is Not a Strategy: Most founders do not know what their business is actually worth. Laurie explains how to think about multiples, what buyers really look for, and why working on value drivers every day is just good business.Anti-Fragility Is a Competitive Moat: Fragile systems break under stress. Anti-fragile ones get stronger. Laurie unpacks why the human ability to unlock clarity for clients is something AI cannot replicate.The Entrepreneurial Gene: Patrick argues for unending curiosity and ego-free humility. Laurie adds risk tolerance. Together they map out what separates founders who scale from those who stall.Write Down Your Processes. Now: The businesses that win are the ones with documented decision-making frameworks. If the knowledge walks out the door with one person, you do not have a transferable business.The Interviewing Framework That Works: Strengths, motivations, and fit. Laurie shares the framework she used to land her CEO role. The reframe: every hiring manager is trying to hire the least risky person.Resources and Links Guest: Laurie's website: lauriebarkman.me Laurie's book: The Business Transition Handbook Laurie's podcast: Succession Stories Laurie's LinkedIn: Connect with Laurie Barkman Connect with the show: Myles's LinkedIn: Connect with Myles Biggs Patrick's LinkedIn: Connect with Patrick Patterson Level Agency: Learn more about Level Agency Special Offer: AI Visibility Audit: Find out how prepared your business is for the AI Search Revolution. Get your AI Visibility Scorecard today.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

"Good Enough Isn’t" is a podcast about the hard truths behind growth, leadership, and innovation in the age of AI. Hosted by Patrick Patterson and Myles Biggs of Level Agency, each episode cuts through the hype to explore what’s working — and what isn’t, in business, technology, and marketing. Expect bold insights, unfiltered conversations, and a relentless focus on results. Because in a world moving this fast, good enough… isn’t. 

Information

  • Creator
    Patrick Patterson & Myles Biggs
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Good Enough Isn't
  • Show Website
    Good Enough Isn't