"Personal Branding Makes Me Want to Vomit." We Kind of Agree.
A Reddit post: "the concept of personal branding makes me want to vomit… I just want to be a human, not a brand."
Borzou is about as pro-personal-brand as anyone gets. Amanda's gut reaction? She completely agrees with the poster, and she also sees the value.
Borzou's argument: a personal brand doesn't mean reducing your whole persona to what you do for money. People picture the creator they hate most on the internet, and forget that the dozens of people they love following are personal brands too. The real problem isn't branding. It's that most people haven't put in the reps.
They cover:
- Why the semantics of "brand," "authority," and "influencer" trip people up
- Authenticity is hard because people haven't put in the reps
- Matt Margolis and the funny, personal, text-only way to grow on LinkedIn
- The "my son said this, here's what it taught me about B2B SaaS" problem
- Why reframing your service in every post isn't content
- "The thing you want to make content about the least is probably what you should make content about the most"
Want Matt's webinar on doing LinkedIn the fun way? Watch it here: https://vimeo.com/948755217
Connect with us
Borzou on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bronxzou/
Borzou on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/borzou/
Amanda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akfischer/
Show page: https://www.nickelbronx.com/where-brands-get-their-edge
This episode is brought to you by NickelBronx.
Thanks for tuning in to Where Brands Get Their Edge, brought to you by NickelBronx.
If you enjoyed today's episode, follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, and leave us a review — it helps other brand builders like you discover the show.
Want more insights? Visit https://www.nickelbronx.com/ for brand strategy tips and tools to help your business stand out.
20 Oct 2026
Weird Al Outsold Chance the Rapper. Here's Why.
Same weekend. Chance the Rapper, with 18+ million Instagram followers, played to about 7,000 people at Wolf Trap. Weird Al Yankovic sold out 19,000 seats at Merriweather on a Sunday night.
Borzou only went to the Weird Al show because his son and two friends begged to go. It was "the last thing I wanted to do." He came home with a $65 shirt and a brand lesson. A polka-playing accordion master selling out venues in 2026 is a masterclass in two things: being unapologetically yourself, and the part everyone forgets, being really good.
Amanda, a childhood fan, isn't as surprised. The act is clean, theatrical, and works across generations.
They cover:
- Followers vs. tickets: why social currency isn't the whole story
- How a whole new generation of kids found Weird Al
- His nonstop culture presence, and the deliberately fake biopic
- Why authenticity only works if you're good at what you do
- 10,000 hours vs. 20 minutes a day
- Habit-based goals: "read 15 minutes a day," not "read X books"
Seen the show, or know a better one for the money? Let us know.
Connect with us
Borzou on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bronxzou/
Borzou on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/borzou/
Amanda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akfischer/
Show page: https://www.nickelbronx.com/where-brands-get-their-edge
This episode is brought to you by NickelBronx.
Thanks for tuning in to Where Brands Get Their Edge, brought to you by NickelBronx.
If you enjoyed today's episode, follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, and leave us a review — it helps other brand builders like you discover the show.
Want more insights? Visit https://www.nickelbronx.com/ for brand strategy tips and tools to help your business stand out.
13 Oct 2026
I Wanted to Hate Wispr Flow. It Got Me to Pay.
Every app you own already does voice-to-text for free. So why is every entrepreneur community going nuts over Wispr Flow?
Borzou set out to make an episode trashing it. Two months later he's a paying user, and Wispr Flow is his favorite example of what five percent better can really mean. The dictation isn't the feature. The AI cleanup is: it takes out the ums and tightens the rambling so a human can actually read it.
Amanda isn't sold. Price isn't her main objection. She barely uses voice-to-text, she's usually somewhere she can't talk out loud, and she's watched plenty of "sticky" tools get dropped for the next shiny one.
They cover:
- Why Notion and Slack blowing up "didn't make any sense," and why Wispr Flow felt like the same thing
- Okay-to-good vs. good-to-excellent, and why the last stretch is less effort than people think
- AI cleanup vs. raw dictation: texts and emails vs. prompts
- Where the cleanup gets it wrong ("play nine" became a 9 AM meeting)
- The new note-taking feature vs. Granola and TwinMind
- Data privacy: "They say they don't store anything, but I don't believe anyone who says that"
- Free vs. paid, and who it's actually worth it for (hint: the ADD founder)
- Borzou's every-two-months subscription clean-out
Is the 5% worth paying for? Tell us if you're using Wispr Flow or sticking with the free stuff.
Connect with us
Borzou on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bronxzou/
Borzou on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/borzou/
Amanda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akfischer/
Show page: https://www.nickelbronx.com/where-brands-get-their-edge
This episode is brought to you by NickelBronx.
Thanks for tuning in to Where Brands Get Their Edge, brought to you by NickelBronx.
If you enjoyed today's episode, follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, and leave us a review — it helps other brand builders like you discover the show.
Want more insights? Visit https://www.nickelbronx.com/ for brand strategy tips and tools to help your business stand out.
Who has been a guest on Where Brands Get Their Edge
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Chelsea Brigham
Jennifer Tarzia
Haley Bryant
Jordan Solender
Seema Alexander
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 16 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
20
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Contact Where Brands Get Their Edge
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Where Brands Get Their Edge
Who hosts Where Brands Get Their Edge?
Borzou and Amanda and Amanda Fisher and Borzou Azabdaftari host the show. Published by NickelBronx.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes bi-weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Where Brands Get Their Edge take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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