What's Kenner French Thinking!

Most entrepreneurs approach taxes by looking in the rearview mirror. You wait until tax day, tally up the damage, and pay the government whatever is due. But according to R. Kenner French, this "backward-looking" approach is the fastest way to overpay. If you are managing significant cash flow or navigating a $300,000+ tax liability, simply relying on last year's data isn't eno...

Most entrepreneurs are experts at their craft but "accidental" managers of their money. Whether you are scaling a startup or eyeing the retirement finish line, there is a common gap between having a successful business and having a secure future. Often, highly successful people feel a sense of embarrassment because, despite their high earnings, they lack clarity on their "bad math&q...

What does it actually take to move from a solo practitioner at a home desk to leading a high-profile architectural firm? In this episode, R. Kenner French sits down with Matthew Coates, a visionary architect based on Bainbridge Island, to peel back the curtain on the evolution of modern design. Matthew shares a raw look at the "unemployable" spirit that drives entrepreneurs to step out o...

Are you a real estate investor feeling like you’re spinning your wheels with a massive portfolio but very little freedom? Many investors fall into the "more is better" trap, thinking that a higher door count automatically leads to a better life. However, veteran investor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jim Sheils suggests that the real secret to "cracking the code" i...

Why is it that the wealthiest families in the world, like the Hiltons, seem to play by a different set of financial rules? The secret isn't just in how much they earn, but in how much they keep. Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of focusing solely on gross revenue, only to realize on April 15th that they’ve overpaid Uncle Sam because they lacked a proactive tax strategy. In this episode o...

The Blueprint for Commercial Investing: Why the "Big Dogs" Leave the Best Deals for You. For many real estate investors, the journey starts with a single-family home or a duplex. It’s comfortable, it’s familiar, and it’s what everyone else is doing. But according to commercial real estate veteran Luis Belmonte, if you want to find the real alpha in today’s market, you have to look where...

For many entrepreneurs, the ultimate goal isn't just to make more money—it’s to buy back their time. However, the path to efficiency is often cluttered with manual tasks, complex tax liabilities, and the overwhelming noise of new technology. How can a business owner navigate the shift from traditional management to an AI-driven workflow without losing the human touch? In this episode of What’...

In the high-stakes world of entrepreneurship, most leaders treat their businesses better than their bodies. We track our KPIs, optimize our sales funnels, and monitor our cash flow with surgical precision, yet we often ignore the very engine that drives it all: our health. Many driven professionals operate in a state of "functional exhaustion," assuming that mid-day brain fog, stubborn b...

The honeymoon phase with ChatGPT often ends the same way for every business owner: with a phenomenon called "AI Drift." You start with a great prompt, but over a long conversation, the AI loses the plot, misses your formatting rules, or starts sounding like a generic robot. If you are tired of babysitting your AI tools just to get a consistent result, it might be time to stop treating AI...

For many entrepreneurs, their business isn't just a company—it’s their largest financial asset and the primary vehicle for their retirement. However, there is a massive gap between running a successful business and successfully exiting one. Most owners operate in silos, talking to an accountant about taxes, a lawyer about contracts, and a broker about a sale, but rarely do these professionals...

Is artificial intelligence a threat to our local community, or the very tool needed to preserve it? For many residents of Bainbridge Island, AI feels like a distant "tech" concept or a potential risk to the environment. However, as the digital landscape shifts, the cost of staying behind is becoming higher than the cost of moving forward. In this episode of What’s Kenner French Thinking,...

The world of Artificial Intelligence moves at breakneck speed, often leaving entrepreneurs drowning in "breaking news" without a clear strategy. While the mainstream media focuses on the latest chatbot features, true innovators are looking for the frameworks and collaborations that will define the next decade of business. In this episode, R. Kenner French sits down with Tom Allen, founde...

Did you know that Sam Darnold reportedly faced a $250,000 tax bill just for playing in the Super Bowl? Despite the glory of the game, the reality of "duty days" and interstate tax laws means that professional athletes often owe more to the state of California than they actually earned during the championship game itself. But here is the kicker: This isn't just a problem for NFL quar...

In an era where artificial intelligence is leveling the playing field for both innovators and bad actors, small business owners are finding themselves on a new kind of battlefield. Many entrepreneurs operate under the dangerous assumption that they are "too small to target." However, as cybersecurity expert Mike Armistead explains, the "bad guys" are currently ahead, using auto...

Most entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals celebrate their "gross" earnings—the big, flashy numbers shared at cocktail parties. But as R. Kenner French, author of Modern Millions + AI, points out in today’s episode, it’s not about what you make; it’s about what you actually keep. If you are making millions but losing a massive percentage to the IRS because you’re looking in the &q...

Most entrepreneurs and business owners operate in a state of "financial chaos." They have a CPA in one city, a financial advisor in another, and an estate attorney who hasn’t spoken to either of them in years. When your advisors aren't communicating, you aren't just losing time—you are losing significant capital to inefficiency and unnecessary taxation. This "silo effect&q...

Many business owners in 2025 are still paralyzed by the same fear: that artificial intelligence is too difficult, too expensive, or destined to replace them entirely. This hesitation creates a massive opportunity cost, as competitors leverage automation to reclaim their time and scale their revenue. The reality is that AI isn't a technical hurdle; it’s a strategic investment that is more acce...

Most business failures aren’t caused by bad math or poor market conditions—they fail because of people. Whether it’s an unethical partner, a struggling employee, or a leader paralyzed by imposter syndrome, the "human element" is the most volatile variable in any venture. But how do you develop the instinct to see a bad deal before it signs? In this episode, R. Kenner French sits down wit...

The global workforce is standing on the edge of an AI explosion, yet many local governments and traditional industries are still operating on "business as usual" manual processes. As leadership roles open up in cities across the country, a provocative question arises: Could an artificial intelligence model outperform a human city manager? In this episode, R. Kenner French—bestselling aut...

In a world dominated by filtered social media and highly polished corporate PR, authentic connection has become the ultimate business currency. Many entrepreneurs and real estate professionals feel they are "missing the boat" by not leveraging the power of their own voice. Whether you are looking to jump from $100k to $200k in revenue or simply want to establish yourself as a go-to exper...

Many small business owners fall into the trap of believing that "not enough income" is their primary hurdle. However, seasoned financial expert and bestselling author R. Kenner French argues that the true silent killer of entrepreneurship is burnout. When you are buried in manual bookkeeping, complex tax planning, and the day-to-day grind, your growth hits a ceiling. The solution isn&apo...

What happens when a person with unlimited potential is fueled only by trauma? For Andre Norman, the answer was a trajectory that led straight to maximum-security prison. In this powerful episode, Andre joins R. Kenner French to discuss the thin line between being a "natural leader" in the streets and becoming a man of civic pride and international influence. Andre candidly shares how a c...

Many entrepreneurs feel the pressure to evolve but aren't sure how to integrate artificial intelligence without losing their brand's "soul." The transition from a traditional service-based business to a modern media entity can feel like an insurmountable mountain of content creation, scheduling, and technical hurdles. 🏔️ In this episode, R. Kenner French and Elaine Mingus pull...

Most entrepreneurs believe that to build a massive net worth, they have to reinvent the wheel. They spend years stressing over branding, systems, and market testing, only to realize they’ve built a job for themselves rather than a scalable asset. But what if you could skip the "trial and error" phase and step directly into a vehicle designed for high-performance growth? In this episode,...

The AI Advantage: Why Your Business Can’t Afford to Wait 🚀 We’ve all heard that "AI is here to stay," but for many business owners, it still feels like a futuristic concept rather than a practical tool. 🛠️ If you feel like you're falling behind the curve, you aren't alone—but as R. Kenner French explains in this episode, the "dark ages" of business are coming for tho...