Why This Podcast Exists (And Why It Matters More Than Ever)

The Problem We're Solving

Let's be brutally honest: most people are tired of hearing about AI from people who've never run a real business.

Every guru on Instagram claims they're an "AI expert" after playing with ChatGPT for a weekend. Every LinkedIn post promises to "10x your productivity" with some prompt template they copied from someone else. And every YouTube video shows the same tired examples that have absolutely nothing to do with actual work.

Meanwhile, real business owners are out there with employees to manage, customers to serve, overhead to cover, and problems that can't be solved by copying and pasting a prompt into ChatGPT.

Here's what nobody's talking about:

The plumber in Jacksonville who's running 6,500 competitors into the ground—but only 800 of those competitors even have an Instagram account. The metalworker creating incredible custom pieces but spending hours manually updating Etsy listings. The property manager drowning in HOA documents that would take days to read through. The coffee shop owner tracking inventory on spreadsheets while competitors use AI to predict demand.

These are real people. With real businesses. Facing real challenges.

And when they look for help with AI, they find:

• Tech bros who've never signed the front of a paycheck

• "Thought leaders" who've never managed a single employee

• Consultants selling $10,000 courses on prompts you could find for free

• Influencers making money by teaching people how to make money teaching people

We're done with that.

Who We Are (And Why We Started This)

Andrew has spent six years in digital marketing and advertising, partnered with multiple six and seven-figure companies, and in 2024 alone, generated an additional $15 million in sales for his clients at I AM Media Group. He knows what works in the real world—not just in theory.

Chad has been in real estate for over a decade, made Forbes 30 Under 30, and sold over $100 million in real estate. He's built businesses from the ground up and knows what it takes to scale.

Here's the thing we realized:

We're not AI researchers. We're not engineers. We're not computer science PhDs publishing papers on neural networks.

We're business owners who are researching, learning, and implementing AI every single day—and seeing results that would've cost six figures and months of development just two years ago.

In the past week and a half alone, one of us wrote 45,000 lines of functional code using AI. That's work that would have required hiring a full-stack development team, spending $100,000-$200,000, and waiting months for delivery.

But here's what really pushed us to start this podcast:

We kept running into the same problem over and over. Real business owners—people with brick-and-mortar locations, actual employees, and real overhead—don't know anything about AI. They don't know how to use it. They don't even know where to start.

And the people teaching AI online? They've never run a real business. They've never made payroll. They've never dealt with an angry customer or a broken HVAC system or a supplier who's three weeks late.

There's a massive gap between the people who understand AI and the people who actually need it.

We're here to close that gap.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Where We Are Right Now

Everyone's talking about the "AI revolution." But here's what they're missing:

We're in the middle of the biggest business opportunity of the decade, and most business owners are completely ignoring it.

Not because they're lazy. Not because they're dumb. But because nobody's showing them how it actually applies to their world.

Think about this:

• There are 6,500 plumbing companies in Florida. Only 800 have Instagram accounts. That's 12%.

• There are 1.1 billion websites in the world. Only 18% are considered "active."

• 95% of websites haven't been updated in three years.

Translation: We're STILL in the content revolution. We're STILL in the dot-com era.

People haven't even figured out how to post consistently on social media, and we're expecting them to implement AI agents and automate their entire business?

That's not reality. That's tech bro fantasy land.

Here's What We Believe

Belief #1: AI Should Make You More Human, Not Less

The goal of AI isn't to replace the craftsman. It's to remove the bullshit that prevents the craftsman from doing their craft.

The welder shouldn't be spending three hours writing product descriptions for Etsy. The electrician shouldn't be manually scheduling appointments on a paper calendar. The restaurant owner shouldn't be doing bookkeeping at 11 PM after a dinner rush.

AI should handle the business stuff you hate so you can focus on the work you love.

Belief #2: The Best Business Owners Will Use AI as a Force Multiplier, Not a Replacement

We don't believe AI is going to take everyone's jobs. We believe it's going to separate the winners from the losers.

The winners will be the ones who figure out how to run a business with 3 people that used to require 20.

The plumber who uses AI to optimize routes and schedule appointments will beat the plumber who's still doing it manually.

The coffee shop owner who uses AI to forecast inventory and staff optimally will beat the one who's guessing.

The contractor who uses AI to generate proposals and manage projects will beat the one who's drowning in paperwork.

It's not about replacing people. It's about efficiency at scale.

Belief #3: Small Businesses Deserve the Same Tools as Fortune 500 Companies

Ten years ago, if you wanted enterprise-level customer service, you needed to hire a team. If you wanted advanced financial analytics, you needed a CFO. If you wanted to analyze massive documents, you needed to hire lawyers.

Today? You can get all of that for $20/month with ChatGPT Plus.

This is the great equalizer.

The solo entrepreneur can now compete with companies that have 100 employees. The local business can now operate with the efficiency of a national chain. The blue-collar worker can now access tools that were previously reserved for white-collar executives.

But only if they know how to use them.

Belief #4: Media Comes First, Then Your Business

By 2026, successful businesses won't just "do marketing." They'll be media companies first that happen to sell plumbing services, coffee, real estate, or whatever else.

Look around. The companies winning right now aren't the ones with the best product. They're the ones with the best content, the biggest following, and the most trust.

Pink's Window Washing doesn't win because they have better squeegees. They win because their social media is fire and their customer journey is seamless.

The company with 100,000 followers will beat the company with 1,000 followers—even if the smaller company has a slightly better service.

That's just the reality of attention economics.

And AI makes it possible for any business to become a media company overnight. You don't need a production team. You don't need a marketing agency. You just need to know how to use the tools.

What We're Building (And Why It's Different)

The Hey Chat Podcast isn't just another AI podcast. We're building something fundamentally different.

We Talk to Real Operators, Not Influencers

Every week, we sit down with blue-collar business owners, local entrepreneurs, and people actually doing the work. Not people with 500K followers who sell courses. Not "business coaches" who've never run a business.

We're talking to:

• The property manager who just opened a coffee shop

• The metalworker creating custom fabrications

• The electrician teaching tutorials on YouTube

• The accountant serving local businesses

• The contractor building homes

These are the people who actually need AI. And we're showing them exactly how to use it.

We Don't Just Interview—We Solve Problems Live

Here's our format:

1. We learn their business. What do they do? What are their biggest challenges? Where do they spend the most time?
   
   
   

2. We identify opportunities. Where could AI save them 10 hours a week? Where are they leaving money on the table? What processes could be automated?
   
   
   

3. We give them a roadmap. Not vague advice. Specific tools. Exact workflows. Step-by-step instructions they can implement today.
   
   
   

Then we follow up in future episodes to see what worked, what didn't, and what they learned.

This isn't theory. This is implementation in real-time.

We Break Down What's Actually New (And What Matters)

Every week, something new drops in the AI world. A new model. A new tool. A new feature.

Most podcasts either:

• Ignore it completely (because they don't actually use AI)

• Hype it to death (because they're trying to sell you something)

• Get too technical (because they're talking to other engineers, not business owners)

We do something different:

We test it. We figure out what it actually does. And we tell you whether it's worth your time or not.

No hype. No fluff. Just: "Here's what dropped, here's what it does, and here's how you can use it in your business today."

We Answer Your Questions (And Build in Public)

We're not pretending to have it all figured out. We're figuring it out alongside you.

Every episode, we answer questions from our community. And we show you exactly how we're building this podcast, growing our audience, and using AI in the process.

You'll see our wins. You'll see our failures. You'll see our next moves in real-time.

Because the best way to learn is to watch someone else do it first.

Why This Matters for Small Businesses in America (And the World)

Here's the reality: Technology always wins.

When cars were first introduced, the CEO of GM (who used to sell horse-drawn carriages) said they were overhyped. Too clunky. Only for the rich. Not practical.

Then Henry Ford showed up, and the entire horse-drawn carriage industry disappeared practically overnight.

When the internet emerged, businesses said "We don't need a website. Our customers know where to find us."

Then Amazon showed up and bankrupted entire industries.

When smartphones launched, people said "Nobody wants to carry a computer in their pocket."

Then the App Store launched and created a trillion-dollar economy.

Every single time, the skeptics got left behind.

And every single time, the early adopters built empires.

The Tale as Old as Time

There used to be an entire industry built around whale oil. People went out on ships for months, caught whales, and extracted oil for lamps. It was the #1 industry in the United States at one point. Dangerous work. Hard work. Generational work.

Then John D. Rockefeller discovered you could just dig a hole in the ground and pump oil out. Way easier. Way cheaper. Way more scalable.

And yet, there were still people out there catching whales, insisting their way was better, saying this "petroleum" thing was just a fad.

Guess what happened to them?

They got smoked. Completely wiped out. Not because they were bad at catching whales—they were probably the best whale catchers in history. But because the game changed, and they refused to adapt.

The AI Revolution Is Different (But the Same)

Here's what makes AI different from every other technology revolution:

It's not replacing ONE industry. It's transforming ALL of them.

The printing press changed publishing. Electricity changed manufacturing. The internet changed commerce.

But AI? AI changes everything.

• The plumber who uses AI to optimize schedules beats the plumber who doesn't

• The accountant who uses AI to analyze financials beats the one doing it manually

• The marketer who uses AI to create content beats the one staring at a blank page

• The developer who uses AI to write code beats the one typing every line

This is a foundational technology. Like electricity. Like the internet.

And just like those revolutions, the people who adapt early will build massive advantages that compound over time.

What Success Looks Like

We have a vision for what this podcast becomes:

In 1 year: We're the go-to resource for small business owners who want to understand AI without the BS. We've helped hundreds of businesses save thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars. Every AI company trying to reach small businesses wants to sponsor us.

In 3 years: We're the #1 AI podcast for real business owners. When someone opens a business, they don't just get a business license—they subscribe to The Hey Chat Podcast. We have a community of 50,000+ entrepreneurs who are implementing AI, sharing results, and helping each other grow.

In 5 years: We've fundamentally changed how small businesses in America think about technology. We've proven that you don't need to be technical to leverage cutting-edge tools. We've created a movement of business owners who work smarter, not just harder—and who have time for the things that actually matter.

But here's the real goal:

We want to look back in 10 years and see thousands of businesses that are thriving because they listened to episode 3, or episode 47, or episode 203. We want to see the local coffee shop that automated their inventory and saved $50,000 a year. We want to see the contractor who used AI to streamline proposals and won $2 million in additional contracts.

We want to see businesses survive that would have otherwise closed.

Because that's what this is really about. It's not about the technology. It's about the people using it.

The Uncomfortable Reality About Survival

Let's talk about something nobody wants to admit:

If you're a small business owner and you're not thinking about AI, you're not going to make it.

Not because AI is going to take your job. But because your competitor who IS using AI is going to eat your lunch.

They're going to:

• Respond to customers faster

• Operate with lower overhead

• Scale more efficiently

• Make fewer mistakes

• Have better margins

• Reinvest those savings into growth

And you? You'll be working 80-hour weeks wondering why business is getting harder and harder.

We don't want that to happen.

That's why we're building this. Not to scare you. But to give you the tools to compete.

Who This Podcast Is For

You run a blue-collar business

You're a plumber, contractor, electrician, HVAC technician, metalworker, or tradesperson. You work with your hands. You solve real problems. You don't have time for theory—you need tools that work today.

This podcast will show you how to automate the parts of your business that aren't the actual craft. How to handle scheduling, customer service, bookkeeping, and marketing with AI—so you can focus on what you're actually good at.

You're a local business owner

You run a restaurant, coffee shop, retail store, gym, salon, or service business. You have a physical location. You have employees. You have overhead. And you're tired of national chains eating into your market share.

This podcast will show you how to compete with enterprise-level efficiency on a small business budget. How to use AI for inventory management, staffing optimization, customer retention, and financial analysis.

You're a creative professional

You're a designer, photographer, writer, videographer, or content creator. You're worried AI is going to replace you. You're not sure how it fits into your workflow without making you obsolete.

This podcast will show you how AI makes you MORE valuable, not less. How to use it as a creative partner that handles the tedious stuff while you focus on the work only you can do.

You're curious about AI but overwhelmed

You've played around with ChatGPT. Maybe you've tried Claude or Gemini. But you feel like you're only scratching the surface. You don't know what you don't know.

This podcast will give you a roadmap. Not just what AI can do, but what you should actually be using it for. Specific tools. Exact workflows. Real examples from real businesses.

Who This Podcast Is NOT For

Let's be clear about who this isn't for:

• If you want to learn about the technical architecture of large language models, go somewhere else

• If you want academic discussions about AI ethics and philosophy, this isn't it

• If you're looking for get-rich-quick schemes, we're not your people

• If you think you can just copy-paste prompts and print money, you'll be disappointed

• If you're not willing to actually implement anything, don't bother

This podcast is for people who want to DO, not just THINK.

What We're Really Fighting Against

The enemy isn't AI. The enemy is apathy.

The enemy is the business owner who says "I'll figure that out later" while their competitor is implementing it today.

The enemy is the mindset that says "I'm too old to learn this" or "I'm not technical enough" or "This doesn't apply to my business."

The enemy is laziness of thought—the habit of just reverting to "we've always done it this way" without questioning if there's a better way.

That's what we're fighting.

Because here's the truth: The tools are available. The technology exists. The barrier isn't technical anymore—it's psychological.

And our job is to break through that barrier. To show you that you CAN do this. That it's not as complicated as it seems. That you don't need to be a programmer or have a computer science degree.

You just need to be willing to try.

Our Promise to You

If you listen to this podcast, here's what we promise:

1. We will never waste your time. Every episode will have actionable takeaways you can implement immediately.
   
   
   

2. We will talk to real people. No fake gurus. No influencers selling courses. Just real business owners doing real work.
   
   
   

3. We will test everything first. We won't recommend a tool we haven't used ourselves. We won't hype something that doesn't work.
   
   
   

4. We will admit when we're wrong. If we recommend something and it sucks, we'll tell you. If we change our mind, we'll explain why.
   
   
   

5. We will keep it simple. No jargon. No technical BS. Just plain English explanations of complex topics.
   
   
   

6. We will show our work. We're building this podcast using AI. We'll show you exactly how we do it so you can replicate the process.
   
   
   

7. We will answer your questions. Drop a comment, send us a message, leave a question—we'll address it on the show.
   
   
   

The Bottom Line

Here's what this comes down to:

Small businesses are the backbone of America. They employ half the workforce. They define our communities. They're where innovation actually happens.

But right now, small businesses are getting crushed. By big corporations with massive budgets. By online competitors with better technology. By rising costs and shrinking margins.

AI is the great equalizer. It's the tool that lets a 3-person team compete with a 300-person corporation.

But only if you know how to use it.

That's where we come in.

We're not here to sell you a course. We're not here to grow our personal brand. We're not here to become influencers.

We're here to show you how to survive and thrive in the AI era.

Because we genuinely believe that small businesses that figure this out will dominate the next decade. And the ones that don't will struggle to keep the lights on.

It's that simple. It's that important.

What Happens Next

This podcast launches with a simple goal: Help 1,000 small businesses implement AI in the next year.

Not teach them about AI. Not talk to them about AI. Help them actually implement it.

If we do that—if we help 1,000 businesses save time, save money, or make more money using AI—then this podcast is a success.

Everything else is just noise.

So here's what we're asking from you:

1. Listen to the show. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts.

2. Implement something. Don't just consume—actually try one thing we talk about.

3. Share your results. Let us know what worked, what didn't, and what you learned.

4. Help us find more people to help. If you know a business owner who needs this, send them our way.

That's it. That's the plan.

No complicated funnels. No upsells. No bullshit.

Just a podcast trying to help real people with real businesses figure out this AI thing before their competitors do.

A Final Thought

Ten years from now, there will be two types of businesses:

1. The ones that adapted to AI and are thriving

2. The ones that didn't and are gone

We're building this podcast to make sure you're in the first category.

The tools are here. The opportunity is now. The only question is whether you're going to take action.

So what's it going to be?

Are you going to be the whale oil guy insisting the old way is better?

Or are you going to be the person who saw the wave coming and learned to ride it?

The choice is yours.

But we'll be here every week, showing you exactly how to do it.

Welcome to The Hey Chat Podcast.

Let's build something incredible.

Ready to get started? Check out our latest episode on YouTube, subscribe to the podcast, and join thousands of business owners who are figuring this out together. Drop a comment with your biggest AI question—we read every single one, and yours might be featured in our next episode.