What does it take to walk away from something that’s “working”—even if it’s not working for you anymore?In this episode, Erika Tebbens joins us to talk about her career pivot out of entrepreneurship and into employment. After years of running a successful, values-driven consulting business, Erika realized that being her own boss no longer served her well. So she made a bold move: she got a job, at a dream company, in a field she deeply cares about. And how Erika’s move back into farming and farm systems so perfectly aligns with the Aggressively Human ethos.This isn’t your typical “how to change careers” episode. We talk about the real emotional rollercoaster of identity shifts, why online business doesn’t always deliver on its promises, and how to reimagine freedom when you're no longer selling yourself online.In this episode:* Why Erika walked away from her consulting business (even though it was “working”)* The grief and relief of leaving behind entrepreneurship* How she landed a job she loves in this economy (and it’s not about hundreds of applications to the LinkedIn black hole)* What it’s like to re-enter the workforce after 20 years of being the boss (and the feeling of only having one job, instead of having 15 jobs as a solopreneur doing it all)* How to tell the difference between real freedom and the illusion of controlAbout our GuestErika Tebbens | Book — You've Got This: A Counterintuitive Guide to Powerful Inevitable Change-MakingConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsConnect with Meg and JessicaMeg CaseboltJessica Lackey This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aggressivelyhuman.substack.com
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Taking Care of the Co-Founder Relationship with Dr. Matthew Jones
When you're building something with a co-founder or even partners (like, say this podcast), it’s not just your business that needs tending—your relationship is the business.In this episode, we talk with psychologist and leadership coach Dr. Matthew Jones to talk about the often-overlooked emotional labor of working in partnership. We explore the dynamics that make co-founding relationships thrive (or fail), and what it looks like to prioritize care, communication, and clarity in a space that’s often full of pressure, ambition, and high stakes.We also talk about how to navigate conflict before it turns into resentment, how to separate identity from performance, and why leading with someone else requires emotional maturity—not just shared goals.Whether you’re co-leading a business, collaborating on a big project, or just trying to make it work with a fellow human in your orbit, this episode is a reminder: the relationship is the container.* Why your co-founder relationship is the most important “system” in your business* How to name the power dynamics that exist—and move through them with care* The three languages present in co-founder communication - and why overindexing on “goals” might be counterproductive* Building routines that strengthen the relationship, not just the company (think “date nights”, but for co-founders)* How we can (and can’t) use AI to help us communicate with our co-founder* Why emotional fluency is core to shared leadership* Matt’s journey of self-publishingAbout our GuestDr. Matthew JonesThe Cofounder Effect: How to Diagnose, Fix, and Scale Healthy Communication for Startup SuccessMentioned ResourcesJohn and Julie GottmanImago TherapyNoam Wasserman’s The Founder’s DilemmaConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsConnect with Meg and JessicaMeg CaseboltJessica Lackey This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aggressivelyhuman.substack.com
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Project Progress Updates: BTS of our Summer and Fall projects
Instead of the polished Meta ads and the seamless email sequences, get the real behind the scenes of our businesses over the summer: the good, the hard, and the realities of summers in our businesses.* Why Jessica is running Meta ads and why she feels she’s doing it wrong* How Meg has leaned into retainer work this summer and it’s been exactly what she needed* The soothing activities of repeatable, even some kind of boring work* Confronting business model realities (“it can be easy to sell or easy to deliver but it cannot be both”)* Meg’s fall challenge: Findable Everywhere (because even though how we search might be changing, the fundamentals of showing up in AI and SEO are even more critical). * Jessica’s summer program debrief, and how it went from 9 prompts to 6 videos, 30+ prompts, and 10 detailed resources.* Jessica’s fall, including the Define Your Foundations business building cohort and the book launch.Join us this Fall:* Findable Everywhere: A 5-Day Challenge to Show Up on Google, ChatGPT, And Wherever Your Dream Clients are Searching* Define Your Foundations: Escape the “Tactics Trap” and start building real business foundations.Connect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsConnect with Meg and JessicaMeg CaseboltJessica Lackey This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aggressivelyhuman.substack.com
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Remixing your business (and your copy) with Samantha Pollack
“It's not, you know, oh, ‘I was working with these clients and then I was in the shower and while I was washing my hair, I had this great idea and I made a website.’ Like it's never that way, but that's how it looks on the outside.” - MegWe always see the polished outcome of change.The business owner who goes on sabbatical… to emerge with newly-refined offers and a perfect website.The offer idea that emerged in the shower… and is immediately birthed into a pristine sales page (with seemingly no revisions needed!).But what happens in the middle? And why does so much of the work happen after the first draft of any change in the editing and remixing process?We talk with Samantha K Pollack from Indie Copy Studio about what it means to remix your business through her journey from a launch copywriter behind-the-scenes of big brands to her new business model. We talk about the slow, murky, and very real process of business change: how shifts actually unfold, how you know something’s no longer aligned, and how hard it can be to hold the tension while you figure out what’s next.And we talk about editing: the power of an editor, why learning the craft of editing and writing is so important, when you need a copywriter (and when you don’t), and why editing is for your business, not just your writing.* The honest, behind-the-scenes look at a business in transition* The specific kind of stuckness that shows up when you're evolving* Why actually doing the work you want to do comes before the website, not afterwards* How Sam approaches editing as a craft, and why it matters* Why you need to learn your own rhythms to avoid sounding like generic AI (and why editing is safe from this generation of generative AI)* Why learning to edit your own copy helps you make better business decisions* The awkward truth that your website will never fully keep up“And when you look at someone else's writing and you're like, ‘this really spoke to me, like I really loved this little line right here. And then here's a place where I felt like I didn't really understand what you were talking about anymore.’ You're developing your own critical eye for writing and then you can apply that to your own writing.” - SamanthaAbout our GuestSamantha Pollack - and join the “Get the Mixtape” newsletterThe Craft small group writing workshopSubstack: https://substack.com/@indiecopystudioConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsConnect with Meg and JessicaMeg CaseboltJessica Lackey This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aggressivelyhuman.substack.com
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Is it a lion or a Slack notification? Nervous system management with Shulamit Ber Levtov
Entrepreneurship is hard. And it’s even harder when your nervous system is stuck in a mode that’s not serving you.In this episode, we sit down with The Entrepreneurs’s Therapist Shulamit Ber Levtov to talk about the nervous system realities of entrepreneurship—especially for those who didn’t become entrepreneurs by opportunity but by necessity.We talk about what it means to choose our nervous system activities, how to understand what’s in (and out of) our control, and the unique paradox of entrepreneurship: you get freedom… and also you’re the one holding the whole thing together.As Shula says, “Entrepreneurship and mental health are inseparable. We write business plans, marketing plans, financial forecasts, but where’s the mental health plan?”Whether you’re burned out or just bracing for what’s next, this episode offers frameworks and honest permission to put real nervous system management at the center of your business.* Why your nervous system is a business asset* How to distinguish between societal pressures, industry pressures, and our own decisions impacting our nervous systems* The paradox of entrepreneurship: control and uncertainty at the same time* Why some of us didn’t “choose” entrepreneurship—and why that matters* The role of locus of control and how it helps you manage business stress* When to phone a friend versus make a business decision in the moment* How to build a personalized nervous system toolkit (without another productivity checklist)“And then there's the very basic individual nervous system reaction to response running your own business. Business success equals survival. Intellectually, I'm not gonna starve and die if my business fails. I mean, it's gonna be stressful, it's gonna be hard. I may have very heightened circumstances. I may lose my house. A lot of really bad sh*t can happen, but it's survivable stuff if your business fails. But this is intellectual knowledge, not nervous system level stuff.” - ShulamitAbout our GuestShulamit Ber LevtovConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsConnect with Meg and JessicaMeg CaseboltJessica Lackey This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aggressivelyhuman.substack.com
About Aggressively Human: Online Business in the Age of AI, Algorithms & Automations
In a world focused on more: more content, more followers, more marketing, more scale, more noise… we’re facing less trust, less contact, less reach.
We’re drowning in AI-generated slop, being pitch-slapped by “personalized” email funnels that couldn’t be farther from authentic, and struggling to be seen by a pay-to-play algorithm.
It’s never been easier to create and connect more cheaply and at more scale, with less trust and more skepticism.
But for experts and service-based businesses? We’re seeing the pendulum swing back.
The answer isn’t to play by these trends. It’s to be **aggressively human.** aggressivelyhuman.substack.com
Listen to Aggressively Human: Online Business in the Age of AI, Algorithms & Automations, The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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