Automating By Design: Your Business, Life, and Legacy

Most people say the childcare system is broken. Mark Larson says that’s the wrong diagnosis entirely. 👉 “It’s not broken — we just never made the system in the first place.” That single re-frame changes everything. You can’t fix whatwas never built. You have to build it from the ground up. Mark is the Executive Director of Early Matters San Antonio,and he’s doing exactly that. For example, they a...

In the second segment of this Automating By Design sub-series with Kathy Swanson and Mark Larson of Early Matters SA, we look at why childcare is so difficult for families.   ✅What if the problem with childcare isn’t that the system is broken — but that a system was never built in the first place?   Mark calls this being “asystemular,” and it reframes the entire conversation around early childhoo...

Before society spends a single dollar on a child’s education,90% of the brain development that shapes our future employees is already done. That is not a metaphor. That is neuroscience — and it has serious implications for how we think about talent, workforce readiness, and where the real skill gaps come from. Mark Larson of Early Matters SA breaks down why the executive function skills we actuall...

In the first segment of this Automating By Design sub-serieswith Kathy Swanson and Mark Larson of Early Matters SA, we talk about how this San Antonio-based initiative is bringing together businesses, families, policymakers, and early childhood professionals to improve access, quality, andaffordability in early childhood education.   Mark opens with some striking realities: ✅90% of a child’s brai...

Good marketing isn’t supposed to appeal to everyone. It’s supposed to attract the right people — and send the wrong ones running. Jennifer Navarrete’s advice for business owners thinking about podcasting: start with your greatest hits. Not sure what those are? Look here: 👉 What pages on your website people visit most 👉 What your sales team hears on repeat 👉 The questions you answer so often you...

In the final segment of this Automating By Design subserieswith Kathy Swanson and Jennifer Navarrete of Brewing Media, we bring the conversation full circle with some of the most practical — and provocative — ideas of the entire run.   Jennifer opens with a question business owners oftencan’t answer: what are your greatest hits? ✅Her guidance is a standalone podcast series strategy as is an everg...

“You’re going to make me do MORE work? I’m out.” That’s the real objection most business owners have when theyconsider investing in systems and automation. And honestly? It’s a fair one — if that’s what it actuallyrequired. Here’s how our intensive model actually works: 👉 You don’t bring a business plan. You don’t bring a manual. You don’t prep a deck. 👉 You bring your brain. 👉 You already know...

In this segment of Automating By Design with Kathy Swanson and Jennifer Navarrete of Brewing Media, we look at what pain-point-to-process thinking looks like in practice.   Jennifer’s example: podcast guests who show up to recording sessions looking and sounding unprepared — a bad product foreveryone. Her solution became a non-negotiable, concierge-style audio/video design session now baked into e...

Cookie-cutter solutions aren’t solutions. They’re someone else’s answer to someone else’s problem. Your business needs a system built for your business, your team, your clients, and your goals — not a template someone made for an industry. In practice, that looks like: ✅ Documenting your actual processes — not the ideal version, the real one ✅ Mapping the customer journey from first touch to rav...

In this segment of Automating By Design with Kathy Swanson and Jennifer Navarrete of Brewing Media, Kathy gets personal — sharing that the life and legacy thread woven through this show didn’t come from a content strategy. It came from years of real challenge, where systems, habits, and processes became the tools that didn’t just maintain her life but elevated it.   ✅That authenticity is somethin...

“What does free mean to you?” We asked that question about 10 years ago. The answer: “It’s my attention.” That’s the price. And the benefit — at the same time. When someone hits play on your podcast, they’re handing you something more valuable than money: their time, their focus, their intention. Jennifer Navarrete calls it your audio calling card. And the best part? You record it once. Three year...

In this segment of Automating By Design, Kathy Swanson and Jennifer Navarrete of Brewing Media unpack one of the most overlooked revenue drivers in any business: working in your zone of brilliance.   We introduce the four-quadrant genius framework —breaking down incompetencies, competencies, excellence, and brilliance — and land on a striking truth: ✅ 80% of a company’s revenue flows from people...

Before podcasting, if you wanted to be heard — you needed a radio station. If you wanted to be seen — you needed a TV deal. If you wanted to be read — you needed a publisher. Jennifer Navarrete launched her first podcast in 2005. The reaction she got at business mixers? Glazed stares and people looking for the nearest exit. Today she runs a full-time podcast production company working with multimi...

Kathy Swanson sits down with Jennifer Navarrete of Brewing Media for a candid conversation about legacy, adaptability, and the untold patience required to build something that lasts. They explore the practice of “creative destruction” — intentionally reviewing and refreshing your business every two years — as a strategy that signals forward-thinking leadership to both employees and clients. Jennif...