Entrepreneurship Powered By AI | Joey Seeman of Nova Echo AI on #OuiTalkRaw

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Terry:
Welcome once again to rBeatz.com. I’m Terry Hudson, an author, speaker, and connector. Today’s show is all about entrepreneurship, especially AI and entrepreneurship. If you’re a creative of any kind—whether you’re a singer, speaker, author, poet, musician, or small business owner—you need entrepreneurial skills. You also need to understand AI and how it can help your business.

Networking can be tough, and we’ve talked about what it takes to be a great networker. Today, we’re going to discuss something that could revolutionize your marketing at a much lower cost than what you’ve been dealing with. I have an expert here today. His name is Joey Seeman, a teenage entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Nova Echo, an AI company specializing in making sales and customer service calls for businesses.

Joey’s story is incredible, and it might even become a movie one day because of everything he’s accomplished at such a young age. We’ll talk about his entrepreneurial journey and how you can gain skills to change your business as well. Welcome, Joey.

Joey:
Thank you, Terry. Thanks for the introduction. I’m glad to be on the show.

Terry:
You have such an incredible story. Let’s start with how your journey began. When did you first realize you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Joey:
I wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was very young, probably five or six years old. I was talking to my mom about what I wanted to be, like most kids do. My mom always encouraged me to work for myself, saying I should do what I want to do. I would always tell her that I didn’t like being told what to do. Most kids feel that way, but I think I was more serious about it. I hated being told what to do without a good reason. My mom saw that, so she pushed me toward working for myself, believing that would make me happier.

That idea was instilled in me early. As I grew up, I was always thinking about how I could make money and learn by myself. I grew up as an only child, so I spent a lot of time alone, which was great because I could think deeply about how to improve myself. I think that helped shape my entrepreneurial mindset.

Terry:
You’re right. No one really likes being told what to do, and that feeling is pretty common in society. Everyone wants to work for themselves, be their own boss, and not have to jump through hoops for a paycheck. But there’s a lot more to it than that. To succeed as an entrepreneur, you have to develop the necessary skills, push through confusion and fear, and step out of your comfort zone. It’s not something you build overnight. It takes endurance and the willingness to face challenges.

How did you get into AI and entrepreneurship?

Joey:
Yeah, that’s true. Everyone wants to be the boss, but being the boss is a lot harder than it seems. The hardest part is telling yourself what to do, keeping yourself motivated when no one else is telling you. That’s something I take very seriously. I would rather work ten times as hard as long as I’m doing what I know I should be doing.

I’ve also always had two qualities that I think were important in my journey. First, when I start something, I go all in and don’t quit. That mindset was instilled in me by my mom when I was very young. Whether it was a game or a monkey bar challenge, I kept going until I succeeded.

Second, I love solving puzzles. I enjoy challenges where there’s no clear path to success, where I have to figure things out myself. That’s exciting to me.

As for AI, I got involved about a year and a half ago when I was part of a marketing agency. We started using text-based HR bots to follow up with leads, especially for real estate agents. The problem was, people didn’t like texting with AI—it just didn’t feel human. So, I started looking into voice AI, and that’s when I realized this is the future. Voice communication is everyone’s preferred method. So, I dove headfirst into voice AI.

Terry:
We’ll definitely talk more about voice AI and how it’s changing the game. But I want to touch on something you mentioned earlier about your mom. Her parenting style seems pretty unique compared to most. A lot of parents try to protect their children from failure. They don’t want to see them lose or get hurt. But your mom encouraged you to go after what you wanted, even knowing you might fail along the way. That’s a great support system and a very different approach.

Joey:
100%. My mom and my grandparents were all aligned on that approach. They cared about my safety, but they also knew that failure was an important part of success. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, and they were always the ones to let me fail and learn from it. It’s tough, though—watching someone struggle is hard. But I’ve learned that if you don’t let them fail, they won’t truly learn.

Terry:
That’s a great mindset. What if your mom had stopped you from doing what you wanted to do? How would your life be different?

Joey:
I don’t think I would be where I am now. If she had not given me the independence to make my own mistakes, I would have relied more on authority figures like teachers. I would have been more dependent on other people’s guidance. But because she gave me the space to fail, I’ve developed the confidence to trust myself. I think I would have rebelled against her if she had tried to stop me, especially as I got older.

Terry:
There’s that saying, “You can’t light a fire under someone, you have to light it within them.” And I think your mom did that for you. Let’s talk about Nova Echo. Tell us more about your company.

Joey:
Nova Echo is an AI business that specializes in making sales calls and handling customer service calls. We’ve developed AI that sounds human and can interact with customers in a way that’s seamless. Many businesses come to us because they have huge lists of leads they want to contact but don’t have enough people to call them.

For example, a business might have 100,000 leads. If you tried to call all of them manually, it could take over a year. With AI, we can handle those calls automatically, saving businesses time and money. We also help with customer service and appointment scheduling. By using voice AI, we can scale quickly without the need to hire more staff.

Terry:
I know from my experience in telemarketing that training people to make cold calls can be a huge challenge. People are often afraid to pick up the phone, and even after they’ve been trained, it’s hard to get them to stick to it. They spend more time preparing than actually making calls. How does Nova Echo address that problem?

Joey:
In a typical call center, reps are only on the phone for about 2.7 hours out of an 8-hour workday. That means you’re paying for 5.3 hours of wasted time. With AI, businesses only pay when the AI is actually talking to a customer, so there’s no wasted time.

The real value comes when you move your setters to closing roles. Instead of having people focus on the first stage of the call, AI handles that, and your team can focus on closing deals. By using AI in the front end, you can scale your business quickly without the hassle of managing a huge team of setters.

Terry:
That’s huge. And it’s especially valuable in industries where employees don’t want to be on the phone, or when you’re hiring people who are just there temporarily.

Joey:
Exactly. A lot of people in call centers aren’t in it for the long haul. They’re either using it as a stepping stone to something else or just passing through. The turnover rate is incredibly high. But with AI, you don’t have to worry about that. You can scale your business without the constant churn of hiring and firing.

Terry:
Another problem with traditional customer service is the wait time. No one likes being put on hold for an hour only to get transferred to someone else. And often, when you finally speak to a person, they’re not enthusiastic or helpful. It’s frustrating.

Joey:
Right. And people often have to repeat themselves multiple times, which makes the whole experience worse. But with AI, you get an instant response from someone who sounds happy and is ready to help. It’s not replacing humans; it’s providing an alternative that works better for customers. People are frustrated with long wait times and unhelpful representatives. AI offers a much faster, more efficient solution.

Terry:
And would it be customizable per country?

Joey:
Yeah, we have different accents and voices. We have over 25 different voices, so it’s what we were calling from. But yeah, one thing I’ve been seeing in seminars I’ve gone to, whether it’s the music industry, business, or even movies, is that everything is going to be more sexualized per geographical area. For example, Brad Pitt is a famous movie star, but in the future, there will be Brad Pitt’s in each region of the world, and you’ll know them more localized and globalized. We’ve seen this with movies on streaming services—there are things now from other countries that we wouldn’t have seen before. You used to have to be a collector of independent films to find that. So it shows how things are becoming more globalized. I see that as a valuable tool, and I think you’re ahead of the curve on a lot of this.

Terry:
This has done so well for you that you actually had to make a decision on your education. Let’s talk about that because it also involves family support. How did you pull that off?

Joey:
Definitely. My idea of education is different. In my eyes, I wasn’t really making a decision on my education; I was making a decision on spending time with friends versus getting a piece of paper, which I don’t find very useful today. I dropped out of high school in my 10th grade, my sophomore year, about nine or ten months ago. It’s crazy, it’s been almost a year now. I dropped out because I didn’t find value in mainstream education. I didn’t feel like I learned much, and what I did learn, I didn’t find very useful. When I went home and learned on my own, I was learning ten times more in a fraction of the time, and I wasn’t distracted by kids who had no drive to learn or do anything except have fun, which is fine. But if I want to be successful, I don’t want to be around people like that. That’s why I left.

Terry:
Yeah, it’s not about age, it’s about maturity and mindset. In school, that’s different for everyone. I know a lot of people who’ve left school and been very successful. I wouldn’t call it quitting. You weren’t quitting, you were making a decision that school isn’t for everybody. You have to be a self-starter. The same applies to entrepreneurship. School is designed a certain way, and we know the educational system is broken, but there are still great teachers and programs. If you have the drive, though, specialized knowledge might be the better route. You have so many options now: MasterClass, LinkedIn, YouTube, Audible. I’ve learned more in two years from Audible than I did in high school and college combined. That might sound crazy, but it feels that way. It’s just way more.

Joey:
I dropped out with a 4.0. I was doing well in school, that wasn’t the problem. It was that I was literally wasting my time, and I don’t like doing that. It was hard to drop out. There was some FOMO because all my friends were still in school. It was different, and I had never been on my own throughout the day. It was interesting.

Terry:
Some people need that structure. You have to have self-structure. If you don’t, you shouldn’t leave school; you need to see it through.

Joey:
Exactly. It’s way harder to leave school than it is to stay in. I want to make that clear. Unless you want to be a bum, live a life where everything is paid for, and just lie around, that’s easy. But if you actually want to accomplish something, it’s much easier through school than outside of it.

Terry:
I couldn’t handle it anymore because it was frustrating me. People make fun of learning from YouTube or self-help.

Joey:
Yeah, people make fun of it all the time. I don’t understand it. They make fun of self-help in general, and it blows my mind.

Terry:
But the right people don’t make fun of self-help.

Joey:
Exactly. People who are scared to help themselves, or who are too undisciplined to help themselves, make fun of it. They attack people who know things to feel better about themselves. They try to pull everyone down to their level instead of trying to grow to others’ levels. You just have to ignore those people. There are so many opportunities for those willing to grow.

Terry:
Speaking of self-help, we’ll take a quick break and come back to talk more about your self-help journey. We’ll also discuss your company and services for young entrepreneurs.

Quick break.

Terry:
Welcome back to Oui Talk Raw on ourbeats.com. Today, my guest is Joey Seeman, CEO and founder of Nova Echo. We’ve been talking about the company, and I want to ask, what do you think are the biggest opportunities out there for young entrepreneurs—or new entrepreneurs—when it comes to AI?

Joey:
I think Voice AI, and what Nova Echo does, is a huge opportunity. Not everyone can start a software company, but there are a lot of voice agencies out there, and I think that’s a very powerful opportunity. There was a big wave of marketing agencies from 2019 to 2023, but I think the next form of the marketing agency is the voice agency. Every business owner across the world is going to need to implement voice if they want to stay competitive—probably within the next 12 to 24 months.

Terry:
So pretty soon.

Joey:
Yes. Nova Echo is actually partnering with a couple of people to create programs for starting voice agencies. It’s not released yet, but we’ll talk more about that in the future. We want to give new business owners the opportunity to start their own voice agency using technology we’ve already built out for them. That way they can start really fast.

Terry:
There seems to be an entrepreneurial rise in both younger and older generations. With the technology available today, getting involved is easier than ever. But one challenge is pricing and scaling. You have a good handle on this. What’s your advice?

Joey:
Are we talking voices specifically?

Terry:
Yes, but also for entrepreneurs in general.

Joey:
Got it. With pricing, I started very low. When I first started, I was selling packages where we built everything out for $500. That was my first package, and that was low for the value I was giving, but it was the first time I was selling this type of service. I was still learning. I would say start low or start free. Ideally, you don’t have to start free, but in some industries, you do. You need to get clients, master what you’re doing, and learn how to do it better. Once you’ve fulfilled on a free or cheap service, they’ll be happy to give you a testimonial. Get those testimonials, build up case studies, and then start charging more. I went from $500 to $1,250, $2,000, $3,000, and now we’re selling packages from $4,000 to $10,000. Our largest package right now is about $36,000 a year. I would never have been comfortable selling that at first. Start small, and as you prove yourself, increase the price.

Terry:
I think the scaling part holds people back. Figuring out pricing is hard enough, but scaling is a whole different issue. They often try to figure out scaling before they’ve even started.

Joey:
I made that mistake too. What I’ve realized is you should give as much as you can until it becomes impossible to give any more, then dial it back. For example, I could be on the phone with someone for two hours every day for $1,000 a month, but that’s not scalable. Start there, and once you hit capacity, tell people you can only do 90 minutes. Then, when you reach that, say you can only do an hour. By this point, you’ve mastered it and your time is worth more. Do what you can’t scale at first, then switch when you reach your limits. Trying to scale before you start is a mistake.

Terry:
Great advice. People get knowledge by reading self-help books and watching videos. It takes time, and you do the research as you go, not before you start.

Joey:
Exactly. Some of the best books I’ve read are Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, The Diary of a CEO, The Science of Getting Rich, and Unreasonable Hospitality if you run a business. Regardless of the book, what’s important is how you implement it. A lot of people read, but they don’t take action. You can’t just check off that you read a book and move to the next one. You need to read a chapter, implement it, and then move on to the next chapter. Books can change your life, but only if you implement what you learn.

Terry:
That’s great. I tell people the same thing—having worked in the movie industry, it’s like having the best script, director, and actors. But when the director says “Action,” if nobody speaks, nothing happens. Without action, nothing gets done. The same goes for taking action in life.

Terry: I know a lot of people that read all the self-help books and then they want to be a life coach or whatever it is, and their own life is, you know, they haven’t taken action in it to make those things happen. So the action is key. But whether, you know, if you’re going to a seminar, this is another trick that I know you know, which is great. But when you’re hearing something, it can go in one ear and out the other unless you do certain things to, you know, cause it to stick in your brain. What do you use for that?

Joey: Well, two things. One, I immediately do it because if you do it very quickly and you see results from it, you’re not going to forget it. So it’s harder with some things because let’s say you learn about history. You can’t do history. You could maybe write down how you’re going to use it. You just learned to predict the future and what you’ll change based on that. That’s real. Let’s say if you learn a new workout, yeah, you can go do it. You may not immediately see results, but still doing it is going to help you remember. This is the first thing. The second thing is you teach it, which is another form of doing it, I guess. But I find somebody else who I know wouldn’t be able to use that information, would benefit from it. And I teach them and then I also have them do it and teach it to somebody else because now they remember it. I remember it better because teaching is like the best way to remember things and it shows you’ve internalized it.

Terry: Exactly. So, and working with younger or new entrepreneurs, you have a thing that you do, which is a mastermind group and something I’m familiar with, and I want to hear more about yours, how you conduct that and what you have on board.

Joey: Yeah, so we haven’t run an event in a little while because we’re trying to throw fewer and bigger events that are more powerful and have real speakers. So we’re probably going to be putting an event together next month. And I run it with somebody named Sergio Mendes, who’s my partner with the club we’re running or, you know, club master, whatever we want to call it now. It’s small. Right now we have about 90 people in it. The purpose of it when I created it was to have a community of, in this case, young entrepreneurs — or people who want to be entrepreneurs — people who hadn’t started businesses yet or were just getting into business but didn’t know exactly what to do. I wanted to create a community where we could all grow together, face challenges together, and help each other grow. It was very successful when we started it, and we got a lot of people, specifically from my school and Sergio’s school, to join. I built a great community quickly. We realized that we had to do it a little less often so we could bring in more people who were successful. If we only had a group of people who were trying to do something without people who had done it, it became less effective. I realized that quickly, which is why we’re doing it less now, spacing it out, and trying to bring in people who are very successful. But all in all, it was great. All my friends from school are in that group, so we’re very close.

Terry: That’s great. So what future projects are you extremely excited about right now?

Joey: I have a lot of projects going on right now, some of which I haven’t released to anybody yet, and I’m excited about those. But some projects I’m working on right now: I was introduced to a company called Lacie and Joel. Yeah, great company, very, very good for networking. So anybody who is trying to get into networking or throw events, I highly recommend you check out Lacie. Another thing is Triple W. I don’t know if we’re going to keep that name or rebrand it right now, but that’s the group we were talking about, and we’re going to be throwing an event next month. As I said, that’s the plan. We’re trying to get bigger with this, throwing way bigger events with way more successful people and nicer venues. We’re trying to make it something powerful, so that’s very exciting. And then, of course, first and foremost right now is Nova Echo, which is my most exciting project. I’m really passionate about air and I love it.

Terry: And, you know, this is something you do. Actually, our executive producer here has checked it out and loved it, which is your demo. Tell people how you demo and the importance of demoing what you have.

Joey: Yeah. So we have a demo on our website and I have a demo on my phone. I can just call a number and it will start talking to me. Everywhere I go, I tell people, “Oh, it’s an API that can make calls,” and people are like, “Oh yeah, yeah, I heard about that ten years ago.” They were expecting a robot. I’m like, “No, it’s not a robot, it’s an AI.” They listen to it, talk to them, and they’re like, “Whoa, I’ve never seen this in my life.” So demos are powerful.

Terry: Yeah, they are. And with, you know, how you created this company. Of course, it’s in the very early stages, but you’re obviously successful with it. But as things go on, being a pioneer in this, as technology advances and everyone gets on board, what would you like Nova Echo to be remembered for?

Joey: Yeah, and that’s a great question. We want to be remembered as, one, an ethical company. A company that’s not trying to get rid of humans. Inevitably, human jobs are going to be replaced, just like that’s going to happen. But what we want to do is keep human jobs as long as possible, and we want to augment humans and help humans get better. Our goal is not to replace people, it’s to make them better and make companies better. That’s number one.
Number two is a company that changed the world, because I truly believe we’re going to, and we already are on a small scale. There are so many people, like I said before, who call and get terrible support. We can change that. There are so many people who want to make money, and we will have the opportunity to give them a program, like the Voice Agency program I’m talking about, to help them make money. And third, there are so many businesses that want to increase revenue, but they don’t want to deal with setters. They also don’t want to deal with their job. We’ll be able to have these centers offer a better job because we’ll be closed, and we’ll be able to make business owners more money. So, ethical, world-changing, and we think those two are great things to be remembered for.

Terry: Those are some great things to be remembered for because, you know, people have those thoughts. There’s a lot of controversy around it. And to see that somebody in charge of something in that category has those in mind is great. And how do people find you if there’s a business on here that wants to know more about what you’re doing or someone who needs your service? How do they find out more about you?

Joey: So, you can always go to our website, it’s NovaEcho.io. That’s NovaEcho.io. Also check out my Instagram, which is just my name, Joey Y Man. I’m on LinkedIn, and the company is on LinkedIn as well.

Terry: And if they go to your Instagram, they can see that great reel where you’re taking somebody for a ride in your new car. That’s a pretty amazing video.

Joey: Yeah.

Terry: Speaking of that, in that car, I guess you just got it this year. But how old are you now?

Joey: 16.

Terry: 16 years old with the wisdom of at least a 30-year-old. And everything you’re speaking, this is coming from a 16-year-old. Go check out what he’s doing and go see his Instagram. Like, go watch that video. Now, he has a lot of self-help videos on his Instagram, great reels. The one about taking someone for a test drive in his new amazing car that he bought on his own, didn’t have to depend on parents or anything for that. He was able to do that. And it’s because he is that self-starter. There are so many self-starters out there and so many that listen to this. And again, you’re living in a world as a creative where you’ve got so many incredible opportunities, and you are in control, you’re able to take advantage of these. You just have to put forth that effort. You can’t be scared to start. As we always say here, one of the things I’ll eventually have on a T-shirt is: Your first thing will not be a masterpiece, but without your first thing, there will never be a masterpiece. So, get out and get started. Be sure to come back and tune into our other shows.

Terry: I want to say thank you very much, Joey, for being on the show today. You’re an amazing entrepreneur, so full of knowledge, so well-read, like you just spew information, and you put it into action. I greatly appreciate what you’re doing, and it’s been really cool getting to know you through social media and, of course, knowing that you’re the guy, you’re real, you’re doing your thing to change the world. We need so many more of you. So, I greatly appreciate it.

Joey: Thank you, Terry. And I quickly want to second that because this is my fourth project, my fourth company that I’ve started. So, this is not the first time. The first three were not masterpieces. So, 100%. Thanks for having me. It’s great to be here.

Terry: Absolutely. And if you’ll stick around, I’m going to close out the show here, but stick around for me after we go off the air. I’d like to talk to you just a little bit more.
I want to say thank you to all who tuned in here at RBWSJ.com. While you’re on the site, be sure to tell your friends about the site. Come on and listen to our digital stations. Be sure to listen to the other podcasts where so many different jobs or walks of life creatives are interviewed by our other hosts: Jennifer Basco, Greys The Keys, and Annalise Pearl. Be sure to watch our training videos, which are doing so well, and also check out the YouTube channel as well. So, until next time, thank you for tuning in. Always stay curious, and much love. I’m Terry Hudson. Thanks.