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Last week I told you I'd been fighting the label "marketing guy" for 15 years.
That marketing felt small. That leadership was the main event.
That I was wrong.
This week, we're making it official.
This newsletter is now called C.R.E.A.M.
Cash Rules Everything Around Marketing.
Wu-Tang is for the kids…
Last week I said being a good marketer is the purest form of leadership. The kind that understands people. Tells stories that make someone feel seen. Builds trust before asking for anything.
That's the main event.
…and right now, in 2026, the marketers who win are the ones who figured out how to use AI without losing the plot.
Not the ones pretending AI doesn't exist.
Not the ones letting AI write generic LinkedIn slop and calling it thought leadership.
The ones who use AI to move faster without losing the human work that actually wins.
That's Easy Mode.
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I am writing a book called Easy Mode (out September 2027, BenBella Books).
The thesis is simple:
Humans do what humans do best. AI does what AI does best. That's how you win.
Humans: judgment, relationships, story, taste, strategy.
AI: speed, scale, iteration, pattern recognition, execution.
Most people are fighting this. They're either terrified AI is coming for their job, or they're using it to churn out workslop that sounds like everyone else.
…or worse, they’re creating new work that only adds to the stress and friction of current operations.
These miss the point.
AI is going to replace “the marketer…” the performer of marketing tasks.
... but not the “Taste-maker.”
The marketer who understands their market, their customer, the latest trends, the psychology of community building and connection… AI will not replace human judgment.
The marketer (leader) with the best judgment wins.
That's Easy Mode.
…and that's what we’re going to be diving into with this C.R.E.A.M. newsletter.
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Enter the 36 Chambers
Every week, one chamber:
An experiment or receipt from real AI growth work (what worked, what failed, with numbers)
A playbook or system you can run Monday morning
A teardown or signal take that filters the AI noise
No growth-hack bro tactics. No AI hype or fear porn. No advice from people who've never done the work.
Just the real stuff I've tested, broken, rebuilt, and tested again.
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This week's chamber: Guffy Wright and the Attach High framework
Guffy Wright is an insurance broker, Real Estate Practice Leader, Board Member, and Partner at The Mahoney Group.
He advises owners, CEOs, and CFOs on risk decisions with consequences that can follow a company for years.
His new book, Attach High: How Elite Advisors Remove Friction from High-Stakes Decisions, dropped today.
I had him on Finding Peak last week. Listen to the episode here.
Here's the core idea:
Attach to the standard. Detach from the scoreboard.
Attach to the client's best decision. Detach from the commission.
Guffy's framework is built on three forms of decision friction: cognitive, emotional, and directional.
…and a three-part response: Value, Vulnerability, and Validation.
One of my favorite parts:
"Friction is not failure. It's information."
When you detach from the outcome, everything simply becomes a datapoint.
Most advisors see hesitation and reach for pressure. Another call. Another deck. Another burst of urgency dressed up as leadership.
Guffy sees hesitation and gets curious.
What is unclear?
What feels unsafe?
Who is not aligned?
That's the difference between a salesperson and an advisor. Between someone chasing a commission and someone building a career.
This is Easy Mode in action. Guffy does the human work (judgment, empathy, curiosity). The framework does the structural work (clarity, safety, alignment).
The result? Decisions that stick. Clients who trust. A book of business built on something other than desperation.
Grab Attach High on Amazon. It dropped today.
If you advise, sell, lead, or make decisions that matter, this one's worth your time.
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Welcome to the 36 Chambers
C.R.E.A.M. is me done lying about my lane.
I built Rogue Risk from a laptop to acquisition in four years on content, story, and systems. No ad budget. No inherited book of business. Just marketing.
Then I spent four more years calling myself a leadership guy while the receipts said marketer.
C.R.E.A.M. is the receipt.
Growth marketing in the age of AI. For the people who actually do the work.
If you're a founder, marketer, or agency owner trying to figure out how to use AI without losing your soul, you're in the right place.
If you're looking for generic ChatGPT babble or "10X your funnel with this one weird trick," you're not…
This is the way.
Hanley
✅ Follow for tips on growth, marketing and AI (and insurance).
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