I knew from a young age, I wanted to play the drums. I got my first small kit when I was five and when my friends and I started a "band," heavy quotes, I played paint buckets. When I was 15 years old, I knew I needed a real kit.

This is the story of how I got it, and how one man's incredible kindness had a profound effect on me.

Show Notes

• Read the Story at Casabona.org
• Rate: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser
• Get Unstuck in 2025

2024 has been a transformative year for me. I learned a ton about myself and my business, and for the first time in a while I feel like I’m not flailing. I’ll have the clearest plan I’ve had in a long time in 2025 — one that’s reinforced by conversations I’ve had, not just hunches. So for the last episode of the year, I wanted to do a quick year in review where I talk about my biggest success, my biggest failure, and the lessons I learn.

Plus, some feedback from last week’s episode on using AI.

My Biggest Success

This was definitely ranking #1 in Google for “Podcast Coach”. It shows that my work to grow this area of my business is working out!

Biggest Failure

My Be everywhere strategy. I made a big deal about it and abandoned after 4 months, since it was very clearly not working. It was basically all downsides. It also resulted in two other outcomes:

• Going to stop publishing on Medium in 2025
• Shutting down my membership

Lessons

• Know your niche. I thought I knew mine but it got a lot clearer the back half of the year, and I saw a positive impact because of it.
• Don’t discount SEO/Google, and even ChatGPT, which is being used for search more. As social media is fracturing further,
• Focus on one thing at a time. My Be Everywhere strategy left me trying to do too many things at once, and none of the succeeded.

Links

• PodMatch
• Maker and Moxie
• Podcast Advent
• My Experiment with Substack and Being “Everywhere”
• My Be Everywhere Strategy was an Incredible Failure
• How to be a Scrappy Researcher (to Actually Sell Products) with Becky Pierson Davidson
• I’m Shutting Down my Podcast Membership
• We Need AI Disclosures
• Matt Medeiros
• The Podcast Setup
• Mike (Bagel) Barugel

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:32) - My Biggest Success
• (06:01) - My Biggest Failure
• (09:34) - Social Media is Fracturing
• (11:30) - 3 Lessons from 2024
• (16:25) - Feedback on Using AI

Ready to get Unstuck? Visit https://streamlined.fm/unstuck for 33% off.

It’s been two years since ChatGPT went mainstream, and AI has completely transformed how we work. While I maintain some hesitancy and skepticism in using AI, it has made it’s way into my daily life for certain tasks. While I’ll tell you all about that, I also talk about why the human touch will always matter, no matter how advanced these tools get.

So strap in (yes, I wrote these words without any intervention from AI) for a look into how I’ve been using AI as a solopreneur. And don’t worry — I’ve mostly edited out the rambling rants.

Top Takeaways

• AI tools like ChatGPT have improved significantly, especially with features like custom GPTs and web-connected capabilities, but there’s room for growth in personalization.
• AI has become an essential tool in my workflows, particularly for providing fresh perspectives during ideation and research, and “rubber ducking.”
• As we move forward, it’s important to balance efficiency with authenticity, using AI for support while ensuring it doesn’t replace meaningful human interactions and creativity.

Links

• Apple's Definition of a Photo
• The Coming Wave
• I'm on Bluesky
• Send your feedback

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:52) - I'm AI Hesitant
• (05:49) - How I'm Using AI
• (11:09) - ChatGPT is Replacing Google
• (14:16) - My Thoughts on Apple Intelligence
• (15:26) - What is a Photo?
• (20:21) - Feedback — How You're Using AI!
• (23:59) - The Future of AI
• (27:09) - Wrapping Up

Ready to get Unstuck? Visit https://streamlined.fm/unstuck for 33% off.