The Expert Method

What do people who live past 100 understand about life that children seem to know instinctively? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with longevity expert and author Judy Gaman to explore what she learned from interviewing centenarians—and what surprised her when she asked elementary school children many of the same questions. The conversation goes beyond diet and exercise. Judy sh...

Talent matters. But talent alone rarely builds a lasting creative career. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with songwriter, publisher, and creative industry veteran Greig Watts to unpack what actually separates talented creatives from the people who turn their ability into a real career. Greig shares lessons from decades in the music business, including why creatives need to thi...

Ask a question. Get an answer. Repeat. That’s the search-engine habit Andrew Brummer wants you to break. His alternative: start with the outcome you want, then work with AI to figure out how to get there—without dictating every step. Andrew joins Ian Gatzke on The Expert Method to explore why working effectively with AI is less about learning 50 different tools and more about changing how you appr...

You can know exactly what pattern is holding you back and still keep repeating it. People pleasing. Overthinking. Second-guessing yourself. Imposter syndrome. Reactive habits you recognize in the moment—or immediately afterward—but somehow keep falling back into anyway. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with Carlene Marie to explore why awareness is only the beginning of change,...

In a world filled with competing ideas about success, meaning, identity, and what we should do with our lives, it’s easy to feel like you’re moving without actually knowing where you’re going. In this episode, Ian sits down with Larry O’Nan to explore a more fundamental question: What is your life actually for? Larry shares how his own search for meaning led him from theater and identity confusion...

Why does success so often feel like a constant fight? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with Roberta Ravella to challenge one of the most deeply ingrained beliefs in entrepreneurship: that meaningful success has to come through struggle, long hours, sacrifice, and pushing past yourself. Roberta shares how building businesses through force and self-abandonment eventually led her t...

You know what you need to do. You’ve set the goal. You understand the strategy. You may even have a clear plan for getting there. So why do you still struggle to take action? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with licensed therapist, coach, author, and host of Unblocked, Jessica Smarro, to unpack what actually happens between knowing what to do and following through. Jessica expl...

A title can put you in charge. It can’t make people trust you — and it definitely can’t make them want to follow you. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with Mark Andrew, author of Leading Through the Heat , to break down what leadership looks like when the stakes are real. Drawing on his experience in the fire service, Mark explains why the best leaders earn trust long before the...

A full dining room doesn’t necessarily mean a profitable restaurant. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian Gatzke sits down with Jim Taylor of Benchmark Sixty to unpack the economics behind restaurant profitability—and why some operators can be busy every night and still struggle to make the model work. Jim explains why restaurant owners have to think of themselves as running a business that h...

AI is becoming a new layer of discovery. People are no longer just searching Google for businesses to hire — they’re asking tools like ChatGPT who they should work with. So what makes AI recommend one business over another? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian Gatzke sits down with Wes Towers of Uplift 360 to explore what businesses can do to become more visible, trustworthy, and recommendabl...

What do you do when you know you need to move forward—but you have no idea what the right next step is? In this episode of The Expert Method , Ian Gatzke sits down with Mitesh Jani to explore what Mitesh calls the power of reckless beginnings : the idea that clarity rarely comes before action. More often, the first step simply needs to create enough momentum for the second one to become visible. T...

A great book can still fail if it never reaches the right reader. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with author, ghostwriter, and publisher Lana McAra to unpack why quality alone is not enough to make a book successful. Lana has written and ghostwritten more than 50 books with over one million copies sold, and her experience has shown her that one of the biggest factors in a book...

Most people don’t have an information problem. They have an execution problem. You can read more books, listen to more podcasts, buy another course, or use AI to generate another plan—but none of it matters if you never put what you learn into practice. In this episode, Ian sits down with Damon Lembi, author of The Learn It All Leader , to explore what actually turns learning into growth. They unp...

Most of us know at least one thing we want to change. The harder part is actually changing it. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with Karin Velická to explore why understanding what needs to change often isn’t enough—and how our nervous system, emotions, and attachment to what feels familiar can keep us stuck in patterns we consciously want to leave behind. Karin breaks down why...

AI can answer almost any question in seconds. So why should an expert still spend months writing a book? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian Gatzke sits down with ghostwriter and editor Danielle Hutchinson to explore what makes a business book worth reading—and why the human element may matter more, not less, in the age of AI. They break down how experts can choose the right idea for a book,...

Most founders start out as the person doing everything. That may be necessary in the beginning. But eventually, the same involvement that helped build the business can become the thing holding it back. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian Gatzke sits down with Ari Meisel to explore what it actually means to become a replaceable founder—and why building a real business requires learning to sep...

Most experts assume the hardest part of public speaking is knowing what to say. Peter George argues that’s exactly where many presentations go wrong. Peter is a public speaking coach, author of The Captivating Public Speaker, and host of a podcast focused on helping professionals become more effective communicators. In this episode of The Expert Method, we break down what separates a presentation...

In this episode of The Expert Method , Ian sits down with Jay Jacobson to explore what effective leadership actually looks like when pressure rises, emotions escalate, and there is no clear playbook to follow. Drawing on 45 years in funeral service, Jay shares lessons from moments of real crisis—including his experience responding after the United Flight 232 disaster in Sioux City—and explains why...

Doug Earl Johnston joins The Expert Method to explore a deceptively simple idea: emotions are not just things that happen to us. They are part of the system we use to navigate life — and with greater awareness, we can become more intentional about which emotions shape our actions. Doug is the author of Choosing Emotions, a book built from years of research into 272 emotions and thousands of quotes...

You can have years of experience, strong client results, and valuable expertise—and still get overlooked if people don’t understand what you actually do. In this episode of The Expert Method , Ian Gatzke sits down with Ange Dove to unpack what keeps experienced experts invisible and what it takes to communicate your value clearly. Ange shares her own progression from avoiding self-promotion and re...

What’s the difference between wanting your life to change and actually being committed to changing it? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with Chris Natzke to explore why capable people can know what they want, understand what they need to do next, and still struggle to follow through. The conversation explores the difference between being interested and being committed, why your...

Most people set goals by focusing almost entirely on strategy: what they need to do, what steps to follow, and what outcome they want. But Ryan Fahey argues that strategy is only one part of the equation. In this conversation, Ryan breaks down his three-part framework of State, Story, and Strategy and explains why the way you feel, the story you tell yourself, and the systems you build around your...

Fear and intuition can point you toward the exact same decision—but they come from very different places. In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian sits down with Lynda Leonce to unpack how to recognize the difference between fear-based thinking and the deeper internal signal that comes from living in alignment with yourself. They talk about why fear often feels convincing, how conditioning and ex...

What keeps a creator going when the work is deeply personal, the process is lonely, and the response is silence? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian Gatzke sits down with author and voice actor Aaron Ryan, who has now published 51 books, to talk about the inner drive behind long-term creative work. Aaron shares why creating for approval is a losing game, how he learned to keep making things...

What if purpose is not something you find—but something you bring to whatever is in front of you? In this episode of The Expert Method, Ian Gatzke sits down with Dr. Andy Neillie to explore the realities of leadership: balancing empathy with accountability, having difficult conversations, delegating without abdicating responsibility, and helping people become better through the time they spend und...