The Business We Built From Scratch

Radio Chatter is a conversation starter card game for the overland and off-road community. It’s a deck of normal playing cards with adventure-themed conversation starter questions on them. My wife and I co-founded it in 2023 because we noticed something on the trail — people had GMRS radios in their vehicles but nobody was using them. We thought, what if we gave them a reason to?

What started as a simple idea turned into a real business. We designed the product, figured out manufacturing, set up fulfillment, built the website, handled customer support, ran the social media, and learned how to sell, all while we both held full time jobs.

Leaving Corporate For Entrepreneurship

In April 2025 I left the corporate world to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams, but Radio Chatter was only a piece of the puzzle and not central to the plan. I did everything from hackathons to consulting to forming a partnership with others to acquire other small businesses. But I kept asking myself, “why am I chasing all these ventures when the thing I actually love (traveling and being outside) is already right in front of me?”

The Reflection Point

Back in 2024, we secured a nationwide partnership with Midland USA, one of the leading GMRS radio manufacturers. They purchased a large quantity of games to include as giveaways with every radio sold at major overland and off-road events across the country in 2024 and 2025. That partnership put our product in the hands of thousands of people we never could have reached on our own. And at their last event of 2025, they told me they wanted to do it again because they were finding customers coming back to the events and telling them how much they are enjoying playing the game on their new radios.

That conversation, combined with several other signals, made the decision clear: go all in on Radio Chatter.

Leveraging AI

I built our mobile apps — available on both iOS and Android — using AI tools. Not a team of developers. Not an agency. Just me, working through the problem with AI as my co-pilot. I also use AI for customer email drafts, social media content, and marketing copy. Radio Chatter is where I first learned what AI can actually do for a small business, and it's a big part of why I now help other business owners do the same.

What Radio Chatter Taught Me

Running this business taught me more about entrepreneurship than 17 years in corporate, countless books, and hundreds of podcast episodes ever could. When there's no IT department, no marketing team, not much budget, and no one to delegate to, you figure things out fast. Every decision hits your bank account. Every mistake is yours to fix.

That experience is the foundation of my consulting work. When I sit across from a small business owner, I'm not guessing what it's like - I'm living it every day.

That's what makes this different.

Check out Radio Chatter at radiochattergame.com.