Most brands aren’t failing.
They’re just fading into the background.

In this episode, Jeff sits down with David Brier, one of the sharpest and most unapologetic minds in branding, to talk about why so much marketing today feels polished, competent… and completely forgettable.

David calls it the Wall of Beige: what happens when brands optimize for speed, safety, and scale - but quietly lose their nerve, their taste, and their point of view along the way.

We get into why “meeting expectations” is actually a trap. Why pumping out more content won’t save you if it costs you differentiation. And why loyalty isn’t built through clever tactics - it’s built through intention.

From the ritual of opening an iPhone box, to handwritten notes, to small human moments most brands overlook, this conversation breaks down how everyday interactions - when handled with conviction - become the reason people come back, talk about you, and choose you again.

This isn’t a conversation about trends.
It’s a conversation about standards.

If you’re a founder, executive, or brand leader who’s tired of sounding like everyone else - and wants people to stop saying “that’s nice” and start saying “I want more of that” - this is the episode for you.

What we explore

• Why so many brands blend in (even when they’re doing “everything right”)
• The difference between convenience and care
• How fanatical intention turns moments into loyalty
• Why anticipation beats persuasion
• Where authenticity actually comes from - and where it doesn’t

Chapters

00:00 — Turning Ordinary Into Amazing
00:44 — AI, Speed & the Wall of Beige
04:42 — Why Playing It Safe Is Riskier
06:23 — Freshness, Familiarity & Surprise
10:14 — The iPhone Box Lesson
12:03 — Practitioner vs Professional vs Genius
18:23 — Fanatical Intention
22:39 — Why Meeting Expectations Is a Failure
27:05 — Human Effort Creates Loyalty
30:32 — Apple vs Microsoft: DNA Matters
36:40 — Refusing to Let Ordinary Be Ordinary
41:58 — Curiosity Beats Confusion
44:07 — Why Meaning Beats Marketing
55:17 — The Next 4 Years vs the Next 40
58:44 — “I Want More of That”

Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabracen/]

If you are or know a disruptive influencer who would make a great guest, we'd love to hear from you.

Every Like, Share, Subscription and Review means a lot.

Cover art by Daniel Devoy
Music by Stephen Voyce

©2024 The Disruptive Influence Podcast - Jeff Abracen

In this episode, I sit down with designer, educator, founder, and category creator, Nick Broekema, the mind behind the booming discipline of Content Design and one of the most recognizable visual brands on LinkedIn™.

Nick has built something rare: a business that’s 100% inbound. No outreach. No cold emails. No chasing. Just magnetic, systematic content that compounds.

We go deep on:

• How Nick built an audience of 80k+
• How Content Design became a category, and how he's leading it
• The exact steps he took to turn random posting into a business
• What most creators get wrong on LinkedIn™
• Why alignment beats hustle
• The role of clarity, positioning, and ICP refinement
• His pivot from Done-For-You to Cohorts + Community
• And the mindset shifts required to scale a highly creative business sustainably

This is a masterclass in positioning, design, systems, and treating content as a strategic asset - not decoration.

Whether you're a founder, a coach, a designer, or someone reinventing their career on LinkedIn, this is a conversation you will want to save.

Chapters:

00:00 - Teaser Intro

00:41 - Re-Framing, Re-Building

01:08 - The Early Days & Becoming a Category of One

02:50 - From Crickets to Clarity

04:10 - The Coach Who Sparked a Category

05:23 - Why LinkedIn™? Why Now?

07:41 - Quitting, Drifting, and Rediscovering Entrepreneurship

09:20 - Choosing LinkedIn™ Over Instagram

09:53 - What a Carousel Really Is (and Why It Works)

11:30 - Why Visuals Must Be Simple, Clear, and Fast

13:49 - How to Build Leads on LinkedIn From Scratch

15:44 - Compounding Through Conversation

17:05 - The Turning Point: Selling Through Content

18:38 - The Three-Month Danger Window

19:45 - Quantity → Quality (No Other Shortcut Exists)

22:16 - Why You Should Post BEFORE You Need To

26:15 - The Multiple Facets of Content Design

28:21 - Nick's Design Rules (And Why They Work)

30:30 - How His Client Grew 8k Followers and 80k in Revenue

32:22 - Trim the Offer: Why Less > More

34:28 - The 60% Rule for Positioning

36:22 - D.F.Y → D.I.Y: A Pivot That Scales

37:52 - Nick’s Current Business Model

40:10 - Why He’s Leaving Done-For-You Behind

42:53 - The Rise of In-Person Events

44:58 - Why Build a Community?

46:32 - Screen-Sharing, Transparency, and “Winging It”

48:06 - Jeff’s POV on Clarity, Story, and Power of Voice

52:02 - Reframing Stage Nerves into Excitement

53:36 - Nick’s Public Speaking Trauma (And How He Overcame It)

55:54 - Expertise + Stories = Unshakeable Confidence

57:15 - The Anchor of Inbound-Only

58:10 - Jeff on Remembering Your Own Value

59:41 - Jeff’s Storytelling Background & Business Model

01:02:52 - Naming, Positioning & Not Getting “Too Cute”

Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabracen/]

If you are or know a disruptive influencer who would make a great guest, we'd love to hear from you.

Every Like, Share, Subscription and Review means a lot.

Cover art by Daniel Devoy
Music by Stephen Voyce

©2024 The Disruptive Influence Podcast - Jeff Abracen

This is a conversation about what it really takes to build a business, stand out in a sea of sameness, and recover when the hustle turns into burnout.

Louis Butterfield is the co-founder of Awesome Business Videos & Video Heroes, an agency, program & community helping founders create videos that actually get watched on LinkedIn. Known for his playful “videos in the park” format, Louis has carved out a reputation for making content that’s ungeneric, entertaining, and rooted in values. Alongside his wife Jenna Sipponen, he’s built a six-figure business and a fast-growing community - while also confronting the realities of burnout and balance.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How Louis went from living in a yurt and failing five businesses to launching a thriving video company
• Why ungeneric videos beat polished but forgettable content every time
• The park video formula: mix silly settings with serious value
• How partnerships and podcasts became rocket fuel for authority
• The hidden cost of 70-hour weeks and the truth about burnout
• Why stories that sell are really about shared values, not just hooks
• The mantra Louis lives by: Punch above your weight class

Takeaways

• Stand out by changing the setting - not watering down the message
• Trust compounds when you borrow audiences through collaboration
• Community brings accountability and consistency
• Shared values build stronger bonds than formulas ever could
  
  
  

Chapters

00:00 – The role of story: why we’re drawn to people like us
00:25 – Welcome to the Disruptive Influence Podcast
00:40 – Meet Louis Butterfield: ungeneric videos for ungeneric brands
01:10 – From yurts to five failed businesses → stumbling into video
02:00 – Why high-end video no longer works & the shift to LinkedIn
03:45 – The rise of “videos in the park” (and why they work)
07:20 – Behind the scenes: outtakes, swings, and slides
09:15 – From client work to community → launching Video Heroes
13:20 – Building authority: showing wins & stacking trust through partnerships
17:30 – Podcasting as rocket fuel for growth
23:00 – The hard truth: burnout behind the six-figure launch
27:30 – Guardrails, recovery, and avoiding future burnout
31:30 – Purpose & fuel: love vs. fear, family, and the housing dream
36:40 – Finding Ikigai & designing the long game
39:20 – Crafting stories that sell: values over hooks
46:20 – Imposter syndrome, client pain points & the mantra: Punch above your weight class

Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabracen/]

If you are or know a disruptive influencer who would make a great guest, we'd love to hear from you.

Every Like, Share, Subscription and Review means a lot.

Cover art by Daniel Devoy
Music by Stephen Voyce

©2024 The Disruptive Influence Podcast - Jeff Abracen