Aggressively Human: Online Business in the Age of AI, Algorithms & Automations

(FYI - the last 10 minutes has more f bombs than usual if you’ve got kiddos with you).Who doesn’t want to fit in to their local entrepreneurial communities—but how many communities miss the mark, especially for solopreneurs and expert-led businesses? We’re joined by Raven O’Neal, co-founder of Startup Women NC and founder of Savvy Gal Media, to talk about what actually keeps a community alive once the initial excitement wears off.We talk about what Raven has learned building a local community: how most ecosystems are designed for scalable startups, not people selling expertise; why solopreneurs often don’t fit anywhere cleanly; and why “more members” often makes things worse, not better. What surprised Raven most wasn’t a lack of resources—it was how fragmented they are, how little they talk to each other, and how much invisible labor it takes to hold people together.This conversation also names the uncomfortable truth underneath community-building, both IRL and online: it’s real work, often unpaid, and frequently taken for granted. We talk about the politics of funding, the myth that collaboration is easy, and why intimacy, continuity, and clear leadership matter more than growth. * Why most “community” spaces collapse once they try to grow* How startup ecosystems quietly exclude solopreneurs and expert-led businesses* What Raven learned building Startup Women NC—and what surprised her most* The difference between social mixers and real, sustaining community* Why fragmentation (not scarcity) is the real problem in local ecosystems* The unpaid labor required to organize, host, and maintain community spaces* How Raven’s work on Hacking the Patriarchy informs her approach to power, labor, and voice* Raven’s word of the year and how that’s informing her building plans (PS - It contains a lot of cursing)We actually had a meeting where we asked what does growth look like for this group? And a lot of our members said, one thing I love is how small it is. Like how much smaller it is and how intimate our meetings are and how much attention they get and how they’ve gotten to know each other.About our GuestLinkedInSavvy Gal MediaHacking the Patriarchy PodcastFem Led NewsConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsMeg 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

Happy new year! For our first episode of 2026, we’re sharing the behind the scenes of two milestones from 2025. This episode originally appeared on the Off the Grid Clubhouse for paid subscribers, so we’re thrilled Amelia Hruby, PhD has shared this episode with us, so we could share it with you!Go behind the scenes of two book launches: Amelia’s Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media and Jessica’s Leaving the Casino. You’ll get two behind-the-scenes views into self-publishing, including super transparent numbers on our audience sizes and book sales. 👀 Amelia and Jessica had two different launch strategies (for two different types of books), so enjoy the contrasting approaches. We also get into pricing strategies, long-term marketing, and the messy feelings that come up when you can see who exactly has bought your book (and who has not). 😵‍💫* 📖 BUY JESSICA’S BOOK: deeperfoundations.com/casino (or on Amazon, where the Kindle and Paperback edition came early!)* 📖 BUY AMELIA’S BOOK: offthegrid.fun/attention* Join the Interweb: https://offthegrid.fun/interwebConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsMeg 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

In this episode, we talk with Helen Tremethick about the somatic experience of building and running a business. Helen shares how her work shifted from copywriting into regenerative business design, and how somatic education changed the way she thinks about change, responsibility, and client work.We spend time on the gray areas that don’t get talked about much: how to tell the difference between resistance and a real boundary, why not every hard thing is misalignment, and how we can navigate through uncomfortable stretches in our business. We get clear about scope of practice and why she didn’t turn somatics into a product.There’s also some aggressively human moments for Meg and mini-coaching for Jessica about how her body showed up to help make a decision about postponing a launch.* Helen’s evolution from copywriter to regenerative business designer* What somatic experiencing actually means* The difference between scope of practice, staying in our lane, and showing up as your whole self* Why not every discomfort is misalignment—and not every “no” is avoidance* How entrepreneurs confuse resistance, fear, and true boundaries* Why scope of practice matters when working with trauma-adjacent material* What it looks like to design a business that accounts for real bodies and real lives* How values, identity, and lived experience shape copy and marketing* Why “alignment” culture can quietly reproduce hustle and self-blame* The role of witnessing, mirroring, and permission in business decisions“You still need to to do lead gen, showing up and doing the thing. And, so if not LinkedIn, then what? So let’s say we find out that LinkedIn is not the good place for you. That’s okay. I may push it depending upon what your business is and who your people are and may push it and say, okay, let’s explore that. But let’s also explore other alternatives that feel less “Ugh.” So if you have this idea that LinkedIn is the way to go, but LinkedIn is so hard and therefore you’re not doing any marketing, let’s get you into posting somewhere else.” - HelenAbout our GuestHelen TremethickMentioned EpisodesConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsMeg 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

Most people think they have a strategy problem. What they actually have is an implementation problem. In this episode, the two of us talk honestly about something we see over and over again—in our clients, in our businesses, and sometimes in ourselves: the difference between having a strategy and having the support to actually do the work. We both love a good plan, but we’ve watched plenty of perfectly sound strategies fall apart the moment they hit a real calendar, a real workload, or a real human with limited energy.Our conversation explores what strategy really gives you (direction, priorities, a sense of sequence) and what implementation requires (the skills to actually execute, time, and accountability). We compare strategy to a map: it shows where you want to go and the possible routes to get there. And we talk about the gap, when you need turn-by-turn directions, the recalculating voice when they get off track, and sometimes, the driver who can help get them moving again. The conversation ranges from client experiences with “strategy-only” offers to what it means to truly support implementation—through deadlines, accountability, and a bit of hands-on help when needed.* Why “strategy-only” offers often fail to create results* Jessica’s 28-point SEO plan story—and what it revealed about capacity vs. desire* How clients need different kinds of support: the map, the GPS, or the person doing the work* The “recalculating” role—why to choose a provider who will help you get back on course after a detour* Why overwhelm happens when the plan outpaces your emotional or practical capacity* Jessica’s existential “do I go hands on or not” dilemma* How deadlines, feedback, and accountability turn theory into momentum* Why AI can’t be your driver—it doesn’t check if you actually did the thing* The truth: strategy doesn’t scale without implementation rhythms and time managementConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsMeg 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

It’s the one-year anniversary of Aggressively Human! In this milestone episode, we look back at the first fifty-two episodes of the show—what surprised us, how the podcast has performed (and what does performance even mean?), and how podcasting has shaped both our friendship and our businesses.We talk about what makes co-hosting work: shared accountability, complementary energy cycles, and overlapping but distinct guest networks. We talk about how the Aggressively Human podcast served our business goals that we set out for a year ago. We share the behind-the-scenes lessons of running a human-centered podcast—everything from scheduling and editing to scouting guests and showing up with curiosity and authenticity.The conversation also explores how both of our businesses have evolved over the past year—Jessica closing out her first five-year arc with Leaving the Casino and Meg deepening her work in AIO, and how we’re thinking about AI, automations, and algorithms today in 2025.* What makes a co-hosted podcast sustainable for a full year* How mutual accountability keeps the rhythm (even when energy dips)* The hidden work behind guest curation, editing, and show notes* Why we feel more energized after an hour podcast than a 15 minute YouTube* Why we avoid “pitch-me” guests and only invite people they know or admire* What we’ve learned about informal promotion, reciprocity, and trust* How podcasting has strengthened our friendship and creative shorthand* What’s changed in both of our businesses since the show began* How automation and AI can serve memory, not replace humanity* What year two will explore: ethics, curiosity, and using the tools without being used by them“Now that we know what the tools are, we’re seeing what’s starting to be possible, how are we looking at curious ways to bring it into our business models to use these tools, not at arm’s length, but to say, these have a place in the tool belt.” - JessicaConnect with UsListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsMeg 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