Seed and Society | AI, Agents, and Automation

You're the bottleneck in your own business, and every hour you spend on research, content, onboarding, and follow-up is an hour you're not delivering, not resting, and not growing. This episode hands you the exact playbook to fix that without hiring a human you can't afford. I've closed nearly $10M in tech sales over four years and earned seven figures doing it, and I use that income strategically...

You're running a service business with too much to do and not enough hours, and you're probably using A.I. like a fancier Google search. This episode breaks down what's actually possible right now, and how to use it. I've been inside Claude every single day for over a year. More than email. More than any social platform. It's how I write, research, build automations, draft proposals, analyze data,...

This episode covers the transition from corporate burnout to building a virtual assistant business that generates $5K+ months, featuring Sasha Eburn, a former hospitality executive who built a coaching business after 25 years in hotels. Service business owners will learn how Sasha structured her business to prioritize flexibility, scaled from solo VA work to coaching, and designed her income aroun...

Makeda walks through the exact decision-making framework she used when her car died and she needed to replace it fast. This matters for service business owners because the same three-question test she uses for personal purchases applies directly to business investments: software, team hires, office space, or equipment. In this episode: Why Makeda financed a brand-new Chevy Silverado with an 84-mon...

Makeda breaks down why your packed schedule isn't a time problem, it's a systems problem, and shows service business owners how to reclaim 15 hours a week using AI tools to handle repetitive work. This episode is for anyone who feels maxed out on capacity while still showing up for client work, family, and everything in between. In this episode: Why knowledge workers spend 28% of their week just m...

Makeda talks with Jake Isaacs, serial integrator and cofounder of Gathering the Kings, about the difference between visionaries and integrators in business, and why service-based business owners need to understand which role they play naturally. If you're building systems, hiring support, or scaling a consulting or coaching practice, this conversation shows you how to recognize your strengths and...

This episode explores how to align your financial decisions with what you actually want, not what society tells you to want. Lisa Sakai, a financial consultant who focuses on bucket list acceleration, joins Makeda to discuss why financial freedom means doing what you want when you want, not waiting for traditional retirement to live authentically. In this episode: Why service business owners often...

This episode breaks down why concentrated investing in individual stocks can outperform traditional diversification, and how service business owners can use stock portfolios as collateral to build real estate assets without liquidating their holdings. Guest Jaden Sterling, founder of Sterling Stock Picker, shares how he turned $70,000 into nearly $1 million in the 1990s by focusing on one stock, a...

This episode breaks down what a brand actually is and how to build a marketing strategy that extends your expertise without burning out on content creation. Audrey "The Tech Diva" Wiggins, founder of All Together Marketing and host of Tech Diva Biz Talks, shares how she built a 30-year marketing career by starting with what she already knew and turning side skills into client work. In this episode...

Alan Lazarus built a global top 100 podcast and coaching business after a career in tech sales, but his path included financial collapse, family loss, and burnout at peak income. This episode breaks down why external achievement without internal alignment leads to exhaustion, and how redefining success creates sustainability for founders and service providers building long-term businesses. In this...

This episode explores why earning more doesn't automatically reduce financial stress and introduces a four-step framework for resetting your relationship with money. Makeda talks with Pericles Relles, a money mindset expert with over 25 years of experience, about the hidden blocks that keep service professionals stuck at the same financial level even as revenue grows. In this episode: Why clients...

Makeda talks with Shanelle Q., The Brand Hustler, about the difference between building a business and building a brand. For service-based business owners who want more visibility, revenue, and leverage without burning out, this episode breaks down the exact framework Shanelle uses to help entrepreneurs build profitable brands that attract the right clients and unlock scalable income. In this epis...

Makeda breaks down The Connector Method, her framework for building confidence through action instead of waiting to feel ready. This episode tackles the analysis paralysis that stops service business owners from starting, whether that's launching a new offer, raising rates, or building a revenue stream that doesn't require trading hours for dollars. In this episode: Why confidence comes from takin...

Conflict costs you time, energy, and money. In this conversation, corporate M&A lawyer and accredited mediator Leah Brown breaks down why most professionals communicate far less clearly than they think, and how that misunderstanding becomes expensive conflict in boards, partnerships, and client relationships. In this episode: Why most people assume they communicate clearly when they don't, and how...

Bart Merrell never had a traditional job. Instead, he built multiple income streams by spotting opportunities, taking action, and monetizing what he knew. For service business owners who want to break out of trading time for money, his approach to creating side hustles offers a practical roadmap. In this episode: Why Bart switched from pursuing an FBI career to building international business vent...

Paris Cluff, a licensed financial services agent with over 20 years of experience and certified financial education instructor, joins Makeda to talk about building what he calls a Massive Bank Account. This conversation is for service business owners who make good money but still feel like it's not enough, and who want to understand how to turn income into actual wealth and passive revenue streams...

This episode breaks down why understanding your relationship with money matters more than following generic financial advice. Linda Grisley, a certified financial planner turned financial educator, explains how psychology and mindset shape financial decisions and why one-size-fits-all strategies often fail. In this episode: How early money stories and inherited advice (like "pay off your mortgage"...

Jack Alweil went from getting fired as an actuary to building a paid-off rental portfolio and eventually flipping raw land, all while keeping his day job. This episode breaks down how he used creative financing, aggressive debt paydown, and strategic pivots to build real assets that generate income without traditional bank loans or massive capital. In this episode: How Jack used seller financing t...

Matthieu Mehuys, an award-winning author and landscape architect, shares how he turned his expertise in regenerative design into an international business that spans four continents. This conversation explores the business model behind landscape design services, the shift from trading time for money to building scalable systems, and how entrepreneurship creates more lasting impact than grants or d...

Makeda shares how her 10-acre homestead has become a living system that teaches her about grace, patience, and building a life she doesn't need to escape from while maintaining her tech sales career. For service business owners caught between income goals and quality of life, this episode explores how to opt out of hustle culture without opting out of your business. In this episode: Why building a...

Makeda shares why she's building the Connectors Market, a curated resource of tools, systems, and courses she actually uses across her tech sales career, homestead, and family life. For service business owners tired of endless research cycles, this episode explains how she tests solutions across multiple contexts so you can implement faster and build smarter. In this episode: Why Makeda positions...

Makeda records this episode from her homestead garden while planting tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. She connects the slow, intentional work of building a food system to the patience required when building a service business that creates real assets and freedom. In this episode: Why homesteading teaches delayed gratification, the opposite of AI's instant answers but essential when building a bus...

This is part three of Makeda's conversation with Monica Kaufman, certified financial planner. Monica explains how to take ownership of financial systems, why confidence comes from proving to yourself that you can do it, and how raising independent thinkers applies to both parenting and building a business you don't need to escape from. In this episode: Why Monica uses a behaviorist lens in financi...

This is part two of Makeda's conversation with Monica Kaufman, a certified financial planner. They talk about how children absorb money behaviors from their parents, why emergency funds and debt payoff need to happen together, and the legal structures service business owners need to protect their income and family. In this episode: Why financially successful families teach their kids the money sys...

This episode starts a two-part conversation about why wealth isn't the same as income, featuring certified financial planner Monica Kaufman. If you're building a service business with strong revenue but haven't translated that into real optionality, this conversation breaks down how high earners stay financially vulnerable and what to do instead. In this episode: Why Monica shifted her entire appr...