If your “conversions” are just page views, you’re not reporting performance.

You’re committing fraud with better fonts.

In this episode, Dana DiTomaso (Principal & Founder, Kick Point Inc. | Founder & Instructor, Analytics Playbook) breaks down why fake conversions keep surviving...and how leaders can rebuild measurement that reflects reality.

This isn’t just an analytics episode. It’s a leadership episode: because truth requires standards and psychological safety, and client trust collapses when dashboards become theater.

What you’ll learn

• The most egregious conversion setup Dana’s seen (and how it makes revenue look imaginary).
• Why “contact page views” are not leads...and the cleaner alternatives.
• Why GA4 + paid platforms don’t always match and how GTM trigger mismatches create measurement chaos.
• Dana’s metric take: stop using bounce rate; use engagement rate.
• The agency founder play: improve measurement, then wean clients from bad metrics to good metrics without detonating trust.

Connect with Dana

• LinkedIn (where she posts most): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dditomaso/
• Kick Point: https://kickpoint.ca/
• KP Playbook: https://kpplaybook.com/

⚡ Your next step

Book a Transition Leadership Foundation Call (20 min):

https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/foundation-call-20min

SURPRISE DROP - Podcasthon Week (supporting the ACLU).

Donate to the ACLU: https://action.aclu.org/give/now

Podcasthon: https://podcasthon.org/

Trader Joe’s has become a mythology factory - and when information is scarce, myths multiply.

In this episode, I’m joined by Patty Civalleri, author of Becoming Trader Joe, co-written from Joe Coulombe’s journals. Translation: we’re not doing hot takes. We’re doing what actually happened - and what leaders can actually learn from it.

This is a leadership episode disguised as a brand story:

• Constraints create strategy
• Culture is what you reward + refuse
• Differentiation isn’t a slogan, it’s a system
• And community matters (including who you let in and what energy you protect)

What we cover

• The real Trader Joe’s origin insights people get wrong
• The Four Pillars of Differentiation (and how to apply them today)
• Why myths spread when leaders don’t control the narrative
• Building a culture people can feel (not just read)
• Energy discipline: protecting the mission from negativity

Patty Civalleri (site): https://pattycivalleri.com/

Patty Civalleri (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattycivalleri/

Book (Becoming Trader Joe): https://bookshop.org/a/72042/9781400225439

Your next step

Transition Leadership Foundation Call (20 min):

https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/foundation-call-20min

Most marketing teams are still trapped in a fake war: brand vs. performance. Jesse Resnick and Walter Shock (Co-Founders of Ei Digital) argue that’s the wrong fight, and that attribution is basically a magician: great at misdirection, terrible at telling the truth.

In this episode, we break down what actually compounds in 2026: building end-to-end systems that connect creative, targeting, measurement, and learning...so your funnel doesn’t just “perform”…it improves.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why treating performance like “just a numbers game” is a fool’s errand (the art + science have to work together)
• The real modern flywheel: data → creative insights → more creative → better algorithmic matching
• Why last-click attribution keeps steering budgets wrong (and why Google often “gets credit” it didn’t earn)
• A real-world test: turning off brand keywords (yes, even with a massive brand) and what actually changed
• How to use Meta as a real-time learning lab with a Minimum Viable Campaign (MVC) instead of “focus group theater”
• The leadership move most teams skip: second-order metrics (because lower-funnel reality can invalidate upper-funnel “wins”)

Connect with Jesse, Walter, and Ei Digital

• Ei Digital: https://eidigital.com/
• Jesse Resnick (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesseresnick/
• Walter Shock (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-shock-40486119/

Want help building leadership + growth systems that actually hold up in the real world?

Book a Transition Leadership Foundation Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/foundation-call-20min