Unscripted Small Business

Most companies buy AI backwards — they pick a platform before they have named what they are actually trying to fix. James Ernst of Core Order thinks that single inversion explains most of the disappointment small and mid-sized businesses feel about AI.

James spent eighteen years in marketing and public relations at agencies around the country, took a three-year detour running his own restaurant in Buffalo, and has spent the ...

Cameron Tope runs a several-hundred-door residential property management company in the Greater Houston area — and he operates it 100% remotely from San Diego. In his second visit to Unscripted Small Business, the founder of Emerson Property Management lays out why $20,000 a month in marketing is worthless if nobody answers the phone, how AI became a delegation tool rather than a magic box, and why he gives his...

Richard Hickman spent his first career hunting Russian hackers as a digital-forensics consultant. Then he became a stepdad to five kids overnight, walked away from the on-call life, and started helping his wife build her coaching business — which accidentally turned into Piqued Consulting, a marketing agency built entirely for high-ticket coaches. In this episode he hands Jeremy Rivera the exact playbook: the CRM fo...

A broker once told a cocky 25-year-old plumbing-company owner five words that gutted him: "Louis, your business is worth nothing." Five years later Louis Swart sold his next business for $5M — and the only thing that changed was delegation. In this episode of Unscripted Small Business, Louis (founder of Iron Brij) unpacks the systems that turn a business you own a job in into one that's actu...

Every purchase is a trust purchase. So why do we obsess over clicks?

Joshua Altman, Managing Director of Beltway Media and a fractional Chief Communications Officer (CCO), joins host Jeremy Rivera on the Unscripted Small Business Podcast to explain why the metrics most small businesses chase are quietly misleading them — and what to build instead.

We get into the "Four Languages" model (what people READ, SEE, HEAR, and EXPERI...

Jeremy Rivera sits down with Jorge Chavez, president and co-founder of Topaz Sales Consulting, on the human side of selling in an AI-saturated world. AI can research the prospect and draft your questions — but it can't read tone, listen in real time, or find the next question on the fly. Jorge makes the case that trust is still built person-to-person, and lays out a refreshingly counterintuitive philosophy: stop trying to clo...

Jeremy Rivera sits down with Ameera Virani of The Designed Life — a coach with two decades in personal and professional development who grew up producing the stages for icons like Wayne Dyer, Bob Proctor, Tony Robbins, and Robin Sharma. Ameera helps women (especially in midlife and seasons of change) get exceptionally clear on what they truly desire and build a blueprint to live it intentionally across health, business, wealt...

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 l...

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 Themselv...

Jared Harman is CEO and founder of One Group Agency, a Vancouver-based full-service marketing shop. Eight years building the agency, 25 years in marketing, and a contrarian read on AI: its real value sits in back-end logistics, not customer-facing creative.

In this episode

• Where AI actually adds value right now — operations and workflow, not the brand voice
• The real cost of AI content: subscriptions, tokens, an...

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 Mi...

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...

Business psychologist Dr. Julika “Jules” Novkova joins host Jeremy Rivera to unpack the human side of running a small business — why founders freeze, what creativity actually means in a “boring” service business, and why authenticity is alignment rather than a public-facing mask.

Jules’ PhD research on creativity and innovativeness turned up something counterintuitive: no single personality trai...

Cameron Tope tried to hire a property manager for his own rentals in 2013. Companies blew him off; the ones that responded weren't licensed and wouldn't send statements. So he built what he couldn't find.

Cameron is broker, owner and founder of Emerson Property Management, serving several hundred owners across Greater Houston — run entirely remotely from San Diego. He started investing in rentals after the 2013 oil crash put...

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...

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 accelerate...

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 a...

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 co...