Shows / Aggressively Human
Aggressively Human
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…
Episodes
- Aggressively Human
The week we almost ended Aggressively Human
There’s a so-called “best practice” for most business podcasts: release every week, book guests for about half your episodes, and don’t break the algorithm…
Aggressively HumanRunning a community like a house party with Darnell Brown
Is your community a quiet library? Or a lively house party? And how do you design and market a community designed for the goals of you and your members? In…
Aggressively HumanThe role of a website with Eleanor Mayrhofer
Anyone can spin up a website with AI now. But for experts who built their careers offline, the hard part was never the tool. It’s knowing what to publish…
Aggressively HumanOur fall launches: What worked, what didn't, and what changed mid-launch
Spoiler Alert: Neither of us “sold out” our fall launches. But looking at who joined and why, we don’t think that’s the whole story. In this episode, we look…
Aggressively Human“How do I know what I sound like” with Samantha Pollack
Most of the conversation about AI and writing is stuck on whether it can write well. Samantha Pollack thinks that’s the wrong question. The one that matters…
Aggressively HumanBrand Voice vs. AI Voice with Justin Blackman
Most of us can spot AI-written copy now, even if we can’t say exactly why. With tools like Pangram scanning content for it, sounding like the default has real…
Aggressively HumanHumanizing Data (and Strengthening Sales) with Tanisha Tate Woodson
Most research gets done to communities: someone extracts the data, publishes the paper, and is never heard from again. Tanisha Tate Woodson built a firm on the…
Aggressively HumanCold outreach... as a human?!?
Most of us have a very specific image of cold email: a stranger who never heard of us, selling something we never wanted, in language no human being would…
Aggressively HumanHow we designed our fall programs (and who they're actually for)
Most program pages tell you what you get — the calls, the modules, the bonuses. They almost never tell you why the thing is six weeks instead of six months, or…
Aggressively HumanWhy We Need a Party for Our Failures with Jess Manuszak
[A note before you listen: This episode includes candid discussion of suicide, suicidal ideation, mental health crisis, psychiatric hospitalization, addiction…
Aggressively HumanThe secret to becoming referable
We’re both getting pitched constantly by emails that clearly came from a bot that scraped our show notes, and the reason they don’t work isn’t the outreach…
Aggressively HumanMaking a lifetime of work legible with Jessica Abel
Most of us who work for ourselves aren’t one clean thing—we’re cartoonists who also teach, consultants who also write, coaches who also run the whole business…
Aggressively HumanWe're back! Our summer hiatus recap
Aggressively Human went on hiatus for July, and we’re back to talk about what the break actually looked like! In this episode, we catch up on what our month…
Aggressively HumanOur summer downshift (and our July podbreak)
Taking the whole month of July off breaks the weekly cadence we’ve held all year—and one of us is famously bad at taking time off. But this isn’t a best-of…
Aggressively Human"Would Recommend": How to build customer experience with Nikki McKnight
When you need a VA, a podcast producer, or just a new place to get your nails done, what do you actually do? You ask someone. But we don’t recommend someone…
Aggressively HumanFrom Domains to Entities: Being Findable in 2026
SEO in 2026 doesn’t look anything like it did even a year ago, or even a month ago as you’re reading this in June of 2026. If you’re still thinking in terms of…
Aggressively HumanUsing email as a service provider vs. creator with Bev Feldman
Most email marketing advice gets written for one audience: other online business owners. The cadences, the launch sequences, the “reply and let me know what…
Aggressively Human"But what if someone steals my idea?"
Getting ripped off online used to feel like the worst-case scenario for putting your ideas out there. Now it’s a near-certainty — your work has already been…
Aggressively HumanBTS: Evolving the Deeper Foundations Membership from 20 to 150 members
After nearly two years and a survey of 50+ members, Jessica’s Deeper Foundations membership had clearly outgrown its original container — and Jessica finally…
Aggressively HumanBuild it or buy it? Vibecoding with Joe Casabona
AI coding tools have made it possible for anyone to build an app by just describing what they want. And solopreneurs are doing exactly that—from quiz tools to…
Aggressively HumanWhen AI FOMO is real: Speed vs. Discernment
The AI adoption conversation in early 2026 is loud, fast, and full of warnings that you’ll be left behind if you don’t move now. But for most of us, the real…
Aggressively HumanWhy you should care about Business Governance structures with Strange Birds
Business governance — LLC, C-Corp, Co-Op…. sounds boring as hell. But is it? Instead of setting up a traditional partnership or agency, Anna and Janel of…
Aggressively HumanCreating an AI Clone with Diann Wingert
AI clones and GPTs are increasingly common, which brings forth so many questions! But the “aggressively human” question we’re exploring today is how much care…
Aggressively HumanCozy Launching: Launching while Life-ing
We’re both mid-launch as we record—and neither of us is following the big launch playbook. In this episode, we turn the mic on our own businesses as we’re…
Aggressively HumanIs your inner child running your business with Nicole Lewis-Keeber
Which version of you is running your business right now? It might be your inner 16-year-old who thinks networking is stupid, or your inner 6-year-old who…
Aggressively HumanCommunity Trends for the Age of AI with Becky Pierson Davidson
In 2026, “community” is the new trend. The barrier to entry to launch a membership or community is lower than ever, which means the bar for making one worth…
Aggressively HumanName It and Claim It: Our perspective on Frameworks
In this episode, we talk about frameworks — what they actually are, why they matter more than ever for getting found in AI search, how they set your work…
Aggressively HumanNotion, ADHD, and Actually Useful AI Agents with Meighan O'Toole
Many conversations about AI in the entrepreneur space default to content generation — blog posts, social captions, first drafts. But that’s only one layer of…
- Aggressively Human
How being human has built a web design business with Shannon Mattern
What if the answer to growing your business wasn’t building a funnel or crazy AI workflows, but being human, and building discernment and relationships? In…
- Aggressively Human
Self-Employment as a Spectrum with Amelia Hruby
The narrative surrounding self-employment is often binary: you’re either running a full-time business or you’re not. But is that the reality? What would be…
- Aggressively Human
Is it burnout or boredom?
Every business owner hits that point where the thing that used to light them up now feels like a slog — and it usually happens right when the work matters…
Aggressively HumanAre we recording a podcast or a leading a movement?
Most podcasts don’t make it past episode 10. But somewhere around the year mark, something shifts—what started as exploring ideas and meeting people can…
- Aggressively Human
The State of Social Media in 2026 with Andréa Jones
Social media in 2026 is definitely not the same as before 2020—and not even the same as it was last year. And for our “Aggressively Human” take on how social…
- Aggressively Human
Has the "online course bubble" popped?
Lately, a lot of well-known course creators have closed their flagship programs or shut down their podcasts. Other online course creators who will “never again…
- Aggressively Human
The stories that get shared: Community-Forward Media with Lex Roman
In this episode, we talk with Lex Roman, founder of Revenue Rulebreaker, about why solopreneurs and micro-business owners are almost invisible in mainstream…
- Aggressively Human
The expert's paradox
The longer you’ve been doing your work, the harder it can be to explain it. In this episode, we talk about what we’re calling the expert’s paradox: why people…
- Aggressively Human
Goal-Setting: An Aggressively Human POV
It’s New Year, New You Time - which means it’s time for goal setting! (Cue the cheers and the groans). But we have thoughts on traditional goal setting. In…
- Aggressively Human
What makes communities work in real life with Raven O'Neal
(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…
- Aggressively Human
A tale of two book launches: Behind the Scenes with Amelia Hruby
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…
- Aggressively Human
What our bodies are actually telling us with Helen Tremethick
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…
- Aggressively Human
Do you *need* more strategy? Strategy versus Implementation
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…
- Aggressively Human
Our Aggressively Human 1-Year Retrospective
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…
- Aggressively Human
Gratitude to go along with your turkey and gravy
It’s our first US Thanksgiving episode! And while many podcasts are paused today, we wanted to bring some Aggressively Human to you while you’re cooking…
- Aggressively Human
Retainers, Courses, and How Solos Scale with Nick Bennett and Erica Schneider
What if the most human decision in your business is your offer structure? In this episode, Jessica and Meg are joined by Nick Bennett and Erica Schneider, the…
- Aggressively Human
Why We’re Blogging Again (and You Should Too)
After years of focusing on podcasts, teaching, and newsletters, Meg just released her first blog in three years. In this episode, Meg and Jessica talk about…
- Aggressively Human
Ensh*ttification is by design (and what to do about it)
The platforms we built our businesses on are breaking down—and not by accident. In this episode, Jessica and Meg take on ensh*ttification, the term coined by…
- Aggressively Human
Beyond Copywriting: AI Bots in your business with Mary Williams
While AI still can’t fold your laundry, it can help you build a business that runs smarter—and a life that runs smoother. In this episode, Jessica and Meg talk…
- Aggressively Human
Leaving the Casino: The Origin Story
What happens when every business book tells you what to think—but never explains what or how to do it? In this episode, Meg interviews Jessica about her new…
- Aggressively Human
Moving towards conflict with Shivani Mehta Bhatia
What happens when our usual ways of dealing with conflict stop working (if they ever worked)? In this episode, Shivani Mehta Bhatia joins Aggressively Human to…
- Aggressively Human
How to navigate the cycles of creativity without blowing up your business with Megan Dowd
What happens when your content calendar makes you want to set your business on fire? In this episode, Megan Dowd joins Aggressively Human to talk about what it…
- Aggressively Human
How a launch changes you: Meg's Evolution from AI Skeptic to Strategist
We often talk about launches as big, flashy events. But what happens behind the scenes when you’re not just releasing something new—but becoming someone new in…
- Aggressively Human
The Skeptic’s Guide to AI-Enhanced Copywriting with Prerna Malik
Let’s be honest, we started this podcast as AI skeptics — skeptical of AI to write and sound like us without falling into language homogeny, AI pitch slaps in…
- Aggressively Human
A Conversation about Online Business Ethics with Erika Tebbens (Part 2)
What happens after you leave a business you built? How do you relate to work, money, systems, and your nervous system when your entire identity has changed? In…
- Aggressively Human
Remixing Work with Erika Tebbens (Part 1)
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…
- Aggressively Human
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…
- Aggressively Human
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…
- Aggressively Human
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…
- Aggressively Human
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…
Aggressively HumanThe Changing Role of Content: AI, Algorithms, Automations, or none of the above?
“Do you want to show up in those AI search results? Because AI is searching the internet now. AI is a search engine and it's looking at all those same things…
- Aggressively Human
Leading as a human in the workplace with Alison Coward
Everyone has been in bad meetings—and for many of you, being trapped in terrible meetings is one reason you became an entrepreneur in the first place. But what…