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Hunter Jensen of Barefoot Solutions, and Sid unpack why AI is moving so fast and the important basics leaders skip during implementation and use: data quality, governance, and a focused strategy that targets real ROI.

Hunter shares practical use cases across support, HR, and sales, plus how to deploy secure, private LLMs with RAG for reliable answers from your own data.

• Three Cs of data: clean, current, complete
• Difference between generative AI and legacy machine learning
• Strategy vs policy vs plan vs governance
• Risks of public LLMs and data exposure
• Practical use cases: documentation, support, HR, sales
• RAG explained for secure document search
• ROI modeling to pick a killer use case
• Hunter’s pivot to product and Compass platform
• Staying current with daily newsletters over books

References:

Rocky Mountain Marketing Podcast Ep 410 -Is Your Team Putting Business Data at Risk with ChatGPT with Hunter Jensen https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-your-team-putting-business-data-at-risk-with/id1506956667?i=1000727063525

The Rundown AI Newsletter - https://www.therundown.ai/

Connect with Hunter:

Barefoot Solutions - https://www.barefootsolutions.com/
Barefoot Labs - https://www.barefootlabs.ai/
Email - hunter@barefootlabs.ai

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Join Doug Shapiro and Sid as they tackle the biggest sales and showroom challenges in the contract interiors industry — from outdated cold calling and bid-driven selling to training that fails to stick. Learn how leading teams are shifting to targeted outreach, story-led sales training, and micro-learning tools that support today’s mobile, fast-moving workforce.

They explore application-based showrooms that simulate real workplace environments, smarter approaches to RFPs and pricing strategy, and how to move from pushing products to delivering workplace solutions. The key takeaway: ask better discovery questions, build trust faster, and sell outcomes that improve how people work — not just furniture and finishes.

References:

Use coupon code FIRSTIN at checkout to get 50% off your monthly membership at sidmeadows.com/community

The Trend Report Ep. 151 - Love What You Do with Doug Shapiro - https://www.sidmeadows.com/episode151

Connect with Doug:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshapiro/
JSI Furniture - https://www.jsifurniture.com/
Imagine a Place Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/imagine-a-place/id1506501256

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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We kick off season seven with Bryce Stuckenschneider, CEO of Loftwall, to explore how privacy-first design, flexible architecture, and AI-forward practices can reshape the workplace while keeping people at the center.

We also unveil DesignStage, a new on-demand CEU platform built to fix the broken continuing education system.

• doubling down on privacy as a product, not just partitions
• why speed, flexibility and human support win dealer loyalty
• lessons from Orgatec and Clerkenwell to guide product roadmaps
• freestanding architecture that scales without mega-manufacturer friction
• leadership through turbulence using conviction and legacy as filters
• AI as a force multiplier for product launches and enablement
• people-first, AI-forward service with human verification
• DesignStage as studio-quality, on-demand CEUs for designers
• podcasts we recommend for practical AI learning

References:

The Trend Report Ep 7: CEO Chat with Bryce Stuckenschneider - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-chat-with-bryce-stuckenschneider-ceo-of-loftwall/id1507944776?i=1000475248980

Design Stage - https://designstage.com/

Big Technology Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLADd6sStSis77HKfbf4KCY6SvthfxeUgn

The Artificial Intelligence Show - https://podcast.smarterx.ai/

Connect with Bryce:

Loftwall - https://loftwall.com/
Email - bryce@loftwall.com

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Send us a text

Welcome to Season 7 of The Trend Report. This opens with a clear plan and a sharper purpose: weekly episodes that blend deep interviews, fast Hot Takes, and 10‑minute professional wins. We invite listeners to help shape topics, join a new Insider Community, and lean into candid conversations that move workplace design forward.

Head over to sidmeadows.com/podcast to learn more about SpeakPipe.

Want to learn more about the Insider Community? Go to sidmeadows.com/community and use Coupon Code FIRSTIN at checkout to get 50% off through February 28, 2026.

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Send us a text

We're doing things a bit differently today. In an effort to show you practical uses for AI, I've put all of the transcripts from Season 6 in and AI platform called Notebook LM. It then created what it calls "The Deep Dive", a podcast episode with AI voice actors who have a conversation wrapping up this season.

I'm interested to know what you thought about the Notebook LM recording. Did you like it? Did you come up with any ideas while listening to the conversation that you could do in your business?

Resources:

Notebook LM - https://notebooklm.google.com/?original_referer=https:%2F%2Fwww.google.com%23&pli=1

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Send us a text

We explore how design moves beyond aesthetics into systems, platforms, and policies, and how iF Design advances that mission through a global award, a new academy, and a rising sustainability standard. Lisa shares practical examples, from packaging tweaks to AI workflows, that turn intent into measurable impact.

Lisa chats about:

• Her values-led career path linking business and design
• How living abroad shaped her curiosity and critical thinking
• Design as problem-solving across products and systems
• Origins and scale of the iF Design Award
• Why iF is less known in the United States
• How and when to apply for the next award
• What the iF Design Academy teaches leaders
• Business fluency and keeping design in the C-suite
• Practical sustainability across environmental and social impact
• Certifications, category-specific questions, and scoring

Visit ifdesign.com, explore the website, explore it's a great resource. We've indexed all winners since 1954. Even if you're not even thinking about participating or anything else, the content inspiration is exceptional.

Connect with Lisa Gralnek:

Lisa’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisagralnek

iF Design - https://ifdesign.com/en/
iF Design Academy - https://ifdesign-academy.com/
Future of XYZ Podcast - https://ifdesign.com/en/podcast-future-of-xyz-by-if-design
iF LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/organization-guest/company/ifdesign

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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We sit down with Heartwork founder Karen John to explore how travel, Italian design culture, and a love of craft shaped a U.S. manufacturing brand that treats storage as a culture-building tool.

We chat about:

• curiosity, travel, and multidisciplinary Italian design
• why Heartwork chose storage and makes it in the U.S.
• color strategy with Laura Guido-Clark and moving past gray
• quality, customization at scale, and installation simplicity
• enterprise clients, culture through design, and durability
• AI to reduce rework and protect furniture quality
• practical career advice, mentorship, and following energy

Resources:

Monday Morning Quarterback - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-V62fgnCiM

Episode 57 - The Power of Color with Laura Guido-Clark - https://www.sidmeadows.com/episode57

Episode 159 - CEO Chat with Natalie Hartkopf of Hightower - https://www.sidmeadows.com/episode159

Connect with Karen John:

Heartwork - https://heartwork.com/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkaren/
Email - Karen@Heartwork.com

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Send us a text

Adrian Leal returns to discuss practical steps for starting or improving your content strategy and focusing on authenticity and impact rather than perfection.

Resources:

Episode 163 - Content + Thought Leadership with Adrian Leal - https://www.sidmeadows.com/episode163

Jay Shetty
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jayshetty/?hl=en
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shettyjay/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@jayshetty?lang=en

Vinh Giang
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/askvinh/?hl=en
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinhgiang/?originalSubdomain=au
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@steven/video/7480090733970607382

Tony Robbins
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tonyrobbins/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/officialtonyrobbins/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tonyrobbins?lang=en

Jefferson Fisher
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jefferson_fisher/?hl=en
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffersonfisher/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@justaskjefferson?lang=en

Tyler Gardner
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/socialcapofficial/?hl=en
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-gardner-68a713200/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@socialcap?lang=en

Niraj Kapoor
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nirajkapur/?hl=en
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nkapur/?originalSubdomain=uk
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NirajKapurSalesCoach/

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
Sid on YouTube

The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/