Scaling with AI Without Losing the Fundamentals That Actually Grow Your Business

Episode: Catalyst for the Trades | Guest: Cameron Herold, Founder of COO Alliance

Cameron Herold scaled 1-800-GOT-JUNK from 12 locations to 330 and $2 million to $106 million during his tenure as COO. He's since coached the CEO of Sprint, Tommy Mello at A1 Garage Door Service, and hundreds of leadership teams across 29 countries. In this episode of Catalyst for the Trades, he sits down with Jennifer Bagley to talk about what's actually working right now, and what's getting business owners killed even when they think they're doing the right things.

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The Rate of Change Warning Nobody Wants to Hear

Cameron opens with a principle that applies whether you're running 3 trucks or 300:

"If the rate of change outside your business is greater than the rate of change inside your business, you're out of business."

But he immediately flips it. Chasing every new AI tool—what he calls "shiny object syndrome"—is just as dangerous as ignoring the technology. Owners who spend all their time learning and testing AI systems while letting operations, customer experience, and team performance slip will destroy their businesses from a different direction.

The question isn't whether to adopt AI. It's how to balance adoption with the fundamentals that are keeping the lights on today.

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