In this episode of the Sunny Ray Show, host Sunny Ray talks with Josh, an Atlanta based entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience spanning family manufacturing, radio sales, advertising, and marketing education. Josh explains how he left the family business, moved into media sales, then founded an ad agency before realizing he understood why to advertise but not how. That gap led him to study neuroscience and consumer behavior and eventually build the Academy of Marketing, which became the largest training vendor for companies like Comcast NBCUniversal, Cox, NPR, and CBS. The conversation shifts to a larger warning: AI is rapidly displacing white collar jobs such as CPAs and entry level coders, while the skilled trades face a shortage of over two and a half million workers. Josh describes his new venture, Good Company, which aims to help trades businesses like HVAC automate back office work so they can reinvest in human field labor. He closes by urging listeners to focus on creating real value rather than chasing money directly.
A veteran marketer explains why AI is gutting white collar jobs and why the trades may be the real future of work.
Can you give us your backstory and how you got into marketing?
I started in my family's manufacturing business but realized I couldn't have both a dad and a boss, so I left. I went into radio sales, then started my own ad agency. I discovered I knew how to sell advertising but not how advertising actually worked, so I taught myself neuroscience and psychology to understand marketing as human behavior at scale.
How did the Academy of Marketing come about?
A media VP took me to lunch because he heard I knew his product better than his own salespeople but wouldn't buy it. I explained the difference between why to buy and how to use it. He asked me to train his sales team, so I built a curriculum. Within a year I became Comcast NBCUniversal's largest training vendor, then worked with Cox, NPR, and CBS.
What's the fundamental problem you see that most people are getting wrong?
We have a badly allocated workforce. People were told to get a degree and a good job, but those jobs are disappearing, like CPAs, who won't exist by 2029 because AI will replace them. Meanwhile the trades are short two and a half million workers, paying over one hundred thousand dollars a year with no college debt required.
What are you doing to help people become more AI resistant?
I'm building a co-op starting with HVAC, one trade category at a time. These companies were bought up by private equity and run on outdated, disconnected systems that require tons of admin staff. I'm automating that back office work so companies can reinvest the savings into hiring more skilled field workers, jobs that AI cannot replace.
How is AI already affecting hiring for coding jobs?
I work with an AI company that was hiring entry level coders like crazy a year ago. Just last Friday they told me they're no longer hiring entry level at all, only senior people who can work alongside the AI, because the AI coders are now better than the entry level coders they could hire.
Where can people learn more about your new business and get in touch?
I just started a new company called Good Company, spelled exactly like it sounds, goodcompany.inc. The site will be up soon, but it's dedicated to solving trillion dollar problems with billion dollar solutions. People can email me at joshgoodcomp.in to learn more in the meantime.
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