Adam W. Barney
Adam W. Barney helps transitioning leaders navigate career and leadership inflection points with clarity and momentum. Author of Make Your Own Glass Half Full and creator of EnergyOS. Based in Boston, fueled by family and music.
Appears in 57 Episodes
Representation Is Strategy: Equity, AI & Real Growth | Ep. 56 w/ LaShanda Jackson (No Ceiling Collective)
Representation isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s a growth strategy.And if your systems ignore who’s missing, AI doesn’t fix that — it scales it.In this episode of Is Anythi...
Audience ≠ Community: Hip Hop Built the Blueprint | Ep. 55 w/ Jeffrey Roe (BRyC)
Hip hop isn’t just music...it’s community infrastructure.In this episode of Is Anything Real?, Adam W. Barney sits down with Jeffrey Roe (Beats, Rhymes y Comunidad) to...
Stop Chasing Unicorns: Growth Psychology That Actually Works | Ep. 54 w/ Colin Hodge (DOWN) — Outrageous Startup Growth
📘 Book launch day: Outrageous Startup Growth by Colin Hodge (Wiley) —out today (4/13).The startup world is basically a myth factory…and founders inhale it like oxygen....
Founder Growth Without the Ads Crutch | Ep. 53 w/ Daniel Perumal + Nick Alter (ThriveSide)
Daniel Perumal and Nick Alter (ThriveSide/Founders Best Friend) explain why paid ads don’t work like they used to...and what founders should do when they can’t “buy gr...
Humble Influence: Why Followership Wins | Ep. 52 w/ Jim Matuga (Inner Action Media)
Jim Matuga (proud resident of West Virginia and Founder of Inner Action Media) has built a 14+ year agency, a statewide storytelling platform, and a leadership philoso...
Paid Ads Are “Air Cover,” Not Pipeline | Ep. 51 w/ Penny Hill (Three Threads Consulting)
Penny Hill (Three Threads Consulting) brings a reality-first leadership take on one of the most worshiped myths in B2B marketing: that paid ads drive direct revenue.In...
50 Episodes. 5 Truths. 1 Reality Filter. | Ep. 50 w/ Adam W. Barney
Episode 50 is a milestone - but it’s also a pivot report.After 50 conversations across growth, leadership, culture, equity, energy, and truth-telling, the same pattern...
Fake Conversions: Metrics Lie, Truth Wins | Ep. 49 w/ Dana DiTomaso (Analytics Playbook)
If your “conversions” are just page views, you’re not reporting performance.You’re committing fraud with better fonts. In this episode, Dana DiTomaso (Principal & Fou...
Trader Joe’s Truth: Differentiation, Culture & Leadership | Ep. 48 w/ Patty Civalleri
SURPRISE DROP - Podcasthon Week (supporting the ACLU).Donate to the ACLU: https://action.aclu.org/give/nowPodcasthon: https://podcasthon.org/Trader Joe’s has become a ...
What Actually Works in Growth | Ep. 47 w/ Jesse Resnick + Walter Shock (Ei Digital)
Most marketing teams are still trapped in a fake war: brand vs. performance. Jesse Resnick and Walter Shock (Co-Founders of Ei Digital) argue that’s the wrong fight, a...
Brand From the Soul | Ep. 46 w/ Alexander Michael Gittens (Rupert Rodney)
Most people talk about brand from the neck up: strategy, tactics, frameworks.Alexander Michael Gittens talks about brand from the soul: identity, humanity, equity, bel...
Carousels Beat Video: Meta Ads That Convert in 2026 | Ep. 45 w/ Jordan Hawn (Hawn Consulting)
If you’re still optimizing Meta for views, you’re not running ads - you’re renting applause.In this episode, Jordan Hawn (CEO & Founder, Hawn Consulting) breaks down w...
Equity Over Optics: Human-Centered Demand Gen in Regulated B2B | Ep. 44 w/ Brandy Morton
What’s real: Paid ads aren’t fake - the expectations often are.Brandy Morton (PR → comms → B2B/GRC marketer → founder) breaks down how to build demand the right way in...
Always Be Testing: Real SEO/SEM Plays for 2026 | Ep. 43 w/ Peter Kalanda (3 Horizons Interactive)
“SEO isn’t dead...LLM search just rewards brands that ship the fundamentals and answer real questions.”If you feel like your ad dollars buy less every month, you’re no...
Reddit = Real: Zero-Click Wins & Comment Ads | Ep. 42 w/ Colin Belyea (Karmic)
Reddit is the trust engine of the internet. It’s where buyers validate big decisions - and where AI and search borrow real perspective. In this episode, Colin James Be...
Brand Soul > Super Bowl Shine | Exclusive Drop Ep. 41 w/ Steve Biegel (Dreamboat Group)
Award-winning strategist Steve Biegel shows why purpose outperforms spectacle - and how to use Think > Say > Do to win beyond Super Bowl weekend.This exclusive drop la...
Regulated Ads, Real Plays - What Still Works | Ep. 40 w/ Alexandra Prochshenko (Veloria)
Regulated categories aren’t impossible - just unforgiving.Founder Alexandra Prochshenko (Veloria) and I get brutally practical about what still works in paid media whe...
Founder-First VC: Equity, Access & Real Signals | Ep. 39 w/ Christina Quinn (SSC VP)
Founder-First VC: Equity, Access & Real SignalsGeneral Partner Christina Quinn (SSC Venture Partners) sits down with Adam W. Barney to move beyond the panel talk and i...
Introvert Leadership: Inclusion Without Burnout | Ep. 38 w/ Sharon Hurley Hall (Introvert Sisters)
What if leadership stopped rewarding loudness and started rewarding truth?In this exclusive drop, Sharon Hurley Hall (journalist, author, anti-racism educator, and Co-...
Say Something True: Authentic Growth & Rev-Share Plays | Ep. 37 w/ Aaron Wolpoff (Double Zebra)
“Say something true.” In this episode, Aaron Wolpoff (Owner and Fractional CMO, Double Zebra) and I unpack authentic growth: the one-truth positioning pass, when rev-s...
