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 66 Episodes
Quick Pulse: The 90-Second Truth Test - We Proved It Live | Ep. 65 w/ Michael Brooke (The Inside Atlas)
We ran a 90-second “Quick Pulse” live — and it exposed the truth most high performers miss: burnout isn’t a discipline problem. It’s a misalignment problem. In this ep...
LinkedIn Isn’t a Selling Platform: The Human DM System That Converts | Ep. 64 w/ Troy Hipolito
LinkedIn is loud. AI made it louder. So how do you cut through without becoming another copy-paste bot?In this episode, Troy Hipolito (aka “The Not-So-Boring LinkedIn ...
Your Voice Betrays You — Executive Presence That Actually Works (Exclusive Friday Drop) | Ep. 63 w/ Dr. Laura Sicola
If you’ve ever walked out of a meeting thinking “that didn’t sound like me”…you’re not broken — you’re untrained.This is a special off-schedule Friday drop with Dr. La...
Stop Ignoring Customers: The ROI of Response | Ep. 62 w/ Brooke Sellas (B Squared Media)
Your customers are telling you what they want, but most leaders ignore them…then wonder why growth stalls.In this episode, Brooke Sellas (B Squared Media) joins me for...
Authority Wins: The Book Funnel That Sells You | Ep. 61 w/ Jeremy Jones (Jones Media Publishing)
They say “books don’t sell.” Jeremy Jones says that’s the wrong goal because the real job of a business book isn’t copies…it’s credibility.In Ep. 61 of Is Anything Rea...
Pipeline > Clicks: The Paid Ads Mistake Killing Revenue | Ep. 60 w/ Brian Koffler (D.I.G.S. Marketing)
Brian Koffler (D.I.G.S. Marketing) has a blunt take: paid ads don’t “fail” because of creative...they fail because leaders track the wrong scoreboard.In this episode, ...
Hungry Buyers Beat Perfect Marketing | Ep. 59 w/ Gabriel Moldovan (Peak Growth)
Most founders don’t fail because the product is bad — they fail because they’re marketing to people who aren’t hungry.In this episode, Gabriel Moldovan (Co-Founder, Pe...
Relationships Compound: Boston College Founders on Shark Tank & the Real Networking Game | Ep. 58 w/ Tiffany McCasland + Sarah Fox
🎁 Bonus dropTwo Boston College-connected founders. Two Shark Tank episodes. Back-to-back weeks. And the lesson isn’t “how to go viral.” It’s how relationships compound...
Deals Die in Follow-Up: How AI Saves the Sale | Ep. 57 w/ Steven Werley (Closable.ai)
Most deals don’t die because your offer sucks.They die because the follow-up system is vibes, not structure.In this episode, Steven Werley (Founder, Closable.ai) break...
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...
