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 79 Episodes
Relationships Compound: Boston College Founders on Shark Tank & the Real Networking Game | Ep. 58 w/ Tiffany McCasland + Sarah Fox
đ Bonus drop:Â Two Boston College-connected founders. Two Shark Tank episodes. Back-to-back weeks. Â And the lesson isnât âhow to go viral.â Itâs how relationships comp...
Deals Die in Follow-Up: How AI Saves the Sale | Ep. 57 w/ Steven Werley (Closable.ai)
Most deals donât die because your offer sucks. They die because the follow-up system is vibes, not structure. In this episode, Steven Werley (Founder, Closable.ai) b...
Representation Is Strategy: Equity, AI & Real Growth | Ep. 56 w/ LaShanda Jackson (No Ceiling Collective)
Representation isnât a ânice to have.â Itâs a growth strategy. And if your systems ignore whoâs missing, AI doesnât fix that â it scales it. In this episode of Is Any...
Audience â Community: Hip Hop Built the Blueprint | Ep. 55 w/ Jeffrey Roe (BRyC)
Hip hop isnât just music...itâs community infrastructure. In this episode of Is Anything Real?, Adam W. Barney sits down with Jeffrey Roe (Beats, Rhymes y Comunidad) ...
Stop Chasing Unicorns: Growth Psychology That Actually Works | Ep. 54 w/ Colin Hodge (DOWN) â Outrageous Startup Growth
đ Book launch day: Outrageous Startup Growth by Colin Hodge (Wiley) âout today (4/13). The startup world is basically a myth factoryâŠand founders inhale it like oxyge...
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 donât work like they used to...and what founders should do when they canât âbuy 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 âAir Cover,â 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. ...
50 Episodes. 5 Truths. 1 Reality Filter. | Ep. 50 w/ Adam W. Barney
Episode 50 is a milestone - but itâs also a pivot report. After 50 conversations across growth, leadership, culture, equity, energy, and truth-telling, the same patte...
Fake Conversions: Metrics Lie, Truth Wins | Ep. 49 w/ Dana DiTomaso (Analytics Playbook)
If your âconversionsâ are just page views, youâre not reporting performance. Youâre committing fraud with better fonts. Â In this episode, Dana DiTomaso (Principal & ...
Trader Joeâs 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/now Podcasthon: https://podcasthon.org/ Trader Joeâs has becom...
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 thatâs 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, be...
Carousels Beat Video: Meta Ads That Convert in 2026 | Ep. 45 w/ Jordan Hawn (Hawn Consulting)
If youâre still optimizing Meta for views, youâre not running ads - youâre renting applause. In this episode, Jordan Hawn (CEO & Founder, Hawn Consulting) breaks down...
Equity Over Optics: Human-Centered Demand Gen in Regulated B2B | Ep. 44 w/ Brandy Morton
Whatâs real: Paid ads arenât fake - the expectations often are. Brandy Morton (PR â comms â B2B/GRC marketer â founder) breaks down how to build demand the right way i...
Always Be Testing: Real SEO/SEM Plays for 2026 | Ep. 43 w/ Peter Kalanda (3 Horizons Interactive)
âSEO isnât dead...LLM search just rewards brands that ship the fundamentals and answer real questions.â If you feel like your ad dollars buy less every month, youâre n...
Reddit = Real: Zero-Click Wins & Comment Ads | Ep. 42 w/ Colin Belyea (Karmic)
Reddit is the trust engine of the internet. Itâs 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 ...
Regulated Ads, Real Plays - What Still Works | Ep. 40 w/ Alexandra Prochshenko (Veloria)
Regulated categories arenât impossible - just unforgiving. Founder Alexandra Prochshenko (Veloria) and I get brutally practical about what still works in paid media wh...
Founder-First VC: Equity, Access & Real Signals | Ep. 39 w/ Christina Quinn (SSC VP)
Founder-First VC: Equity, Access & Real Signals General Partner Christina Quinn (SSC Venture Partners) sits down with Adam W. Barney to move beyond the panel talk and ...
