Are you fed up with the corporate bullshit holding you back? Welcome to Invest in Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. The ultimate launchpad for entrepreneurs ready to seize control and unleash their creative genius. Hosted by Phil Better, the podcast mogul. Each week he's breaking the chains of conventional work with bold strategies, raw insights, and inspiring success stories from the digital entrepreneurs who took the risk and invested in themselves. This is your call to arms. Invest in yourself, break free from someone else's rules and build the empire you deserve. Now let's dive head first into today's explosive episode.

Welcome back to another insightful episode of Investing Yourself, a digital entrepreneur podcast. I am of course your host with the most Phil Better. And today, we're diving deep into the transformational world of digital marketing, AI innovation, and strategic growth with a true industry leader. Our guest today is an executive powerhouse with over a decade and a half of experience in the digital marketing industry, a true OG, as he is the leader of Comrade Digital Marketing, a trailblazing agency with offices across Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and, of course, Europe. He's grown his team from just himself to over 70 experts, specializes in in inbound marketing for the legal, home improvement, and health care sectors with an average client ROI exceeding 600%. It's no wonder the agency has been celebrated on Inc five thousand's list and garnered, of course, just a few numerous marketing performance awards. But the achievements don't stop there. Since relocating to Florida to drive his agency's expansion, this innovator has harnessed technology and AI to supercharge operations.

He's developed an AI based lead qualification system with an 85% accuracy rate saving over thousands of hours annually. By shifting the agency's focus to vertical specialization, he's unlocked new levels of scalability and expertise, redefining what's possible in the digital marketing. And, of course, we're gonna touch on all that. But beyond running a high performance agency, he's a thought leader who's passionate about helping businesses automate processes, identify growth, opportunities, and optimize costs. Whether sharing insights on podcasts like invest in yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast, or transforming clients' outcomes, he's paving the way for the future of marketing innovations and entrepreneurs. So prepare to be inspired and empowered as we welcome the remarkable Ivan to the the podcast. Ivan, thank you so much for being here.

Phil, what an introduction. Thank you so much for having me. Well, I like to I

as my problem.

And use it in my other app. You

You are it is fair games. If you want to steal that, or bore that, I am okay with that. That helps my brand go out because people will become get to know me as the person for intros. But, Ivan This is I am

the best intro I've ever been given, so I really appreciate it. You just make my day.

Great. That is done. The podcast is over, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. No. Ivan, I'm excited. We matched over on Matchmaker, a great podcasting platform. So if you're a podcast and be your guest, go check out, Matchmaker.

But I saw your pitch, loved it, and I was like, I need to have you on because when you're touching on AI, which I love, you're helping businesses, like, in the small mom and pops to some of the bigger ones grow, which is amazing. And, of course, you're an innovator. So, like, you you hit all the the you're the trifecta of a guest. So I wanna know, what made you throw off the shackles of nine to five and become this entrepreneur, become a comrade entrepreneur, if you will?

I love that too. Just framing. That's you're welcome, entrepreneur. That is so cool. Yeah. I feel, ever since I was a kid, I I guess I found myself, taking a leadership roles in school and in after school activities. I guess it was always a part of who I was and who I am till this day. When I started working in digital marketing, I was my point, early twenties.