Authority in the Wild

Welcome to Authority in the Wild Podcast. I'm your host, Gabe Marusca, helping action-takers achieve Freedom Through Entrepreneurs, without sacrificing the things that matter to you. From sales and engineering to freelancing and business consulting, I've worn many hats for the past 20 years. Leveraging that background, I host unscripted conversations with successful entrepreneurs, renowned business leaders, and subject-matter experts. Learn the insights, tactics, and business principles successful people rarely share elsewhere. Take what you discover and use it to build your path to freedom.

Authority in the Wild is a business podcast hosted by Gabe Marusca, with 141 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Gabe Marusca hosts Authority in the Wild, a business show with 141 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #179

  Lewis Howes' Producer: You're Copying Big Podcasts Wrong. Do This and Your Show Will Grow w/ Chris Jordanw/ Chris Jordan

  Oct 6, 202657 min

  Most podcasters fail because they copy the wrong strategies.Learn why your podcasting mistakes are holding you back and how to fix them. Chris Jordan, former key member of the Lewis Howes Podcast team, joins me to break down the most common podcasting mistakes. Many creators spend their time trying to replicate the exact blueprint of top-performing shows, only to find that it does not work for their specific situation. This conversation centers on why you need to stop chasing trends and start focusing on your unique podcast audience. We look at the gap between what works for massive shows and what actually moves the needle when you are building a podcast from the ground up. If you feel like your show is stuck despite following all the standard podcast growth strategies, this perspective might be the reset you need, together with actionable insights on how to get the most out of yours. Most podcasters fail because they copy the wrong strategies. Learn why your podcasting mistakes are holding you back.Chris Jordan, a key member of the Lewis Howes Podcast team, joins us to break down the most common podcasting mistakes. Many creators spend their time trying to replicate the exact blueprint of top-performing shows, only to find that it does not work for their specific situation. This conversation centers on why you need to stop chasing trends and start focusing on your unique podcast audience. We look at the gap between what works for massive shows and what actually moves the needle when you are building a podcast from the ground up. If you feel like your show is stuck despite following all the standard podcast growth strategies, this perspective might be the reset you need. Timestamps (00:00) Intro (00:14) The Biggest Mistake Podcasters Make (09:57) Turning a podcast into a media company (17:58) Where podcast growth actually happens (23:04) What makes people click an episode (28:53) Do title formulas wear out (34:00) How closely you can copy a title (40:29) The first 30 seconds problem (46:24) Growing when nobody knows you (52:46) The old episode that came back About the Guest Chris Jordan is a top podcast & content strategist, who has worked behind many top personal brands and thought leaders like Lewis Howes, Daymond John, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, Sinead Bovell and more. Connect with Chris Jordan - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imchrisjordan/ Connect with Gabe Marusca - Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca - X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

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  Episode #178

  Why Your Business Is Stuck (And the Fix Nobody Sells) w/ Jermane Cheathem

  Sep 29, 202653 min

  Jermane Cheathem has spent more than 20 years in commercial equipment finance and his referral partners made him over $50 million in closed deals. He's the only guest that appeared on this podcast 3 times. And for a good reason. I always learn something new from him and I bet you will too. At his peak he made 300 cold calls a day. Today he works the same four hours and makes none of them, and one coffee at a Starbucks turned into $6.4 million in deals. So I asked him what all that activity was protecting him from, why founders keep buying tactics that make things worse and what a box of chocolates in Dubai has to do with any of it. Then I put my own business on the table. Two offers, revenue split down the middle and a client description I was sure was specific enough. In about seven minutes he showed me I had been describing the wrong person and who I should have been talking to instead. I told him I would make the call the same day. If you keep adding funnels, ads, and tools to a business that still feels stuck, this episode gives you a perspective that might change the way you do business forever. Enjoy! Timestamps (00:00) The Fix That Makes Things Worse (06:04) What 300 Calls a Day Was Hiding (11:16) Same Four Hours, Different Game (15:10) The $6.4M Coffee (21:29) Who Else Needs Your Client to Win? (27:47) The $30 Chocolate (36:24) The Deal He Found Playing Basketball (41:00) My Business on the Table (44:35) The Only Person I Should Be Talking To (49:07) Before You Buy Another Tactic About the Guest Jermane Cheathem has spent more than twenty years in commercial equipment finance. He runs Creators Learn, where he trains equipment finance brokers to build businesses on referral partners instead of cold outreach, and his site credits those partners with more than fifty million dollars in closed deals. He is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. He left corporate employment in 2016 and built his finance company from scratch, with no capital and no employees. Connect with Jermane Cheathem - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jermane-cheathem/ - Website: https://creatorslearn.com/ - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jermanecheathem Connect with Gabe Marusca - Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca - X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

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  Episode #177

  What Even Is a GTM Engineer (And Why Startups Pay $260K) w/ Florian Kaspar

  Sep 22, 202657 min

  In January 2026, Florian Kaspar was setting up Clay and other go-to-market tools inside someone else's startup. By September he had taken his years in recruiting and bet them on a single job title: GTM engineer. He now runs Pipebuilders, a headhunting business that places only that role, and he hosts the Pipebuilders podcast, where he interviews the people who do the work. Florian sits between founders who want AI inside their sales and the small group of people who can build it, so he sees the job offers, the salaries, and the hires that fall apart. I came in as the skeptic, because to me GTM engineer sounded like a fancy title. So I asked him what these people do all day, what they really earn, how much pipeline one person can create, and what it costs a founder to hire the wrong one. He also told me who should never hire one, and why a job post and a CV are the wrong tools to find the right one. If you still do every sale yourself and your next move is to hire a salesperson, this episode gives you a different way to look at that decision before you sign anyone. Timestamps (00:00) One Bet on a Brand-New Job Title (04:56) The Unexpected Backgrounds That Win (10:12) When You Shouldn't Hire One (17:23) The 40% Accurate Job Post (23:52) Watching Them Think, Live (29:59) Goodbye CVs? (37:36) Why 80% Write Back (45:03) Agency, Fractional, or In-House? (47:05) What It Really Costs (55:04) Try This Before You Hire About the Guest Florian Kaspar after leaving his HR career to become a GTM Engineer, he decided to double back and bring GTM Engineering into recruitment. Today he runs his own recruitment agency focused connecting companies with GTM Engineers. Connect with Florian Kaspar LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florian-kaspar1 Pipebuilders podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/033DXdkcG2wHA4PdhVUgfg Connect with Gabe Marusca Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

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  Episode #176

  How Anyone Can Learn the Skill of Humor (Even Engineers) w/ Andrew Tarvin

  Sep 15, 202655 min

  Being funny is a skill, and Andrew Tarvin has the data showing most of us never practice it. He studied computer science and engineering, managed projects at Procter & Gamble, and joined his first improv group only because his best friend needed someone organized enough to run the meetings. He was terrible at it. Today he runs Humor That Works, has trained 250+ organizations and his TEDx talk on the skill of humor has passed 16 million views. Somewhere between those two points is a method, and this episode walks through it. I opened this one with a confession. I have a physics and computer science background, I tinker with tech all day, and I truly cannot remember the last time I made someone laugh. So I asked Drew to treat me as the test case. In this conversation, we get into: The eight separate skills hiding inside "being funny", and why you probably already have at least two of them The one habit Andrew's own assessment shows only 30% of people keep, and what it changes about how you see your day The three reasons a joke breaks trust at work, and why the joke itself is rarely the problem Why AI is the worst possible audience for your humor, and the one job it is actually good for Andrew's Humor Intelligence model treats humor as eight competencies you can measure, practice, and point at real problems, instead of a personality trait you were born with or without. If you have ever been told you are not funny or you stay quiet in meetings because a bad joke feels riskier than silence, this episode gives you a place to start this week. Timestamps (00:00) Two Nerds and The Theory of Funny (01:21) The Hidden Payoff of Being Funny (06:42) The Eight Competencies of Humor (10:32) Engineering a Laugh (14:53) The Two-Part Practice (19:54) Funny Without Telling Jokes (23:07) Where Humor Goes Wrong (30:41) Forms of Humor (34:54) How to Not Break Trust with Humor (41:06) Where to Practice Humor (46:35) AI and Humor (50:58) Action Point About the Guest Andrew Tarvin works with top organizations–including IBM, NASA, and the UN–to solve human challenges with humor solutions. A best-selling author, Andrew has been featured on Dry Bar Comedy, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC, and was named a ‘Visionary Alum’ by the P&G Alumni Network. His TEDx talk on the skill of humor is one of the Top 50 most viewed TEDx talks on YouTube with 15+ million views (only half of which were from his mom). He has delivered programs in all 50 US states, 36 countries, on 1 planet (Earth). He loves chocolate and singing the Hokey Pokey with his 4 year old daughter (because that's what it's all about). Connect with Andrew Tarvin Humor That Works: https://www.humorthatworks.com Personal Website: https://drewtarvin.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/drewtarvin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theandrewtarvin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drewtarvin Turn expertise into influence: https://studio.com/apps/humor/intelligence Connect with Gabe Marusca Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

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  Episode #175

  What Hiding a Weakness Actually Costs You w/ Lauren Pires

  Sep 8, 202643 min

  Lauren Pires was born with a rare neuromuscular condition that leaves her with roughly 33 percent of the physical strength of an average person. She hid it for more than 30 years, and during those years she built an 11-year career in event production at one of the largest music festivals in Canada, a job made of long days on your feet. At 32 she stood on a stage and spoke about it in public for the first time, at North America's largest inspirational speaking competition. She came second, then second again in the finals, and today she speaks to companies about invisible disability, resilience, and belonging. I live with an autoimmune condition, so this conversation got personal fast. We compare the excuses we both used to get out of a hike, how much of your day hiding something actually eats, and the question everyone with something to hide eventually faces: who do you tell first, and what happens after that. If you are living with something people cannot see, or you are ambitious and your body keeps saying no, this episode shows you what keeping it hidden is costing you and what she found on the other side. Timestamps (00:00) When Ambition Meets a Body That Says No (04:42) The Secret She Kept for 30 Years (10:18) What Hiding Actually Costs You (14:15) The Energy You Get Back (17:04) A Tiny Ritual Called the Daily Yay (21:54) The Upside Nobody Talks About (26:59) Walking Away After 11 Years (30:56) Afraid of Being Seen Differently? (35:49) The Room She Loves to Speak In (41:53) The Line That Rewired Her Brain About the Guest Lauren Pires is an invisible disability speaker from Canada who talks about resilience, joy, and belonging. Born with Central Core Disease, a rare neuromuscular condition, she concealed it for over 30 years while working in event production, public relations, and hiring at a nonprofit behind one of the largest South Asian festivals in Canada. She first spoke about her disability in public in 2022 and went on to become the runner-up inspirational speaker of the year at Speaker Slam. She now speaks to corporate disability employee resource groups and conferences, delivered a TEDxMississauga talk in 2026, and is the creator of the Daily Yay, a practice of noticing one good thing every day. Connect with Lauren Pires Website: https://www.laurensaysyay.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurensaysyay LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurensaysyay YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurensaysyay TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWVUgHY3ibM Connect with Gabe Marusca Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca X/Twitter: https://x.com/gabemarusca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabemarusca TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca

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