For founders, small businesses, creative people and performers, and the organizations that serve their communities. I help you turn a big idea or a messy operation into a plan you can follow, systems that hold up, and the right people and money around you.
You have an idea, or a business that has outgrown the way you run it. We get clear on what matters, build the systems, and launch.
Talks on AI for people running small operations, on family history, and on how creative work gets finished.
Towns, recreation departments, senior communities and nonprofits buy and fund more than most businesses realize. I know how that world works and how to get in the door.
When the plan lives in one person's head and the systems run on memory, the next step stays unclear. I work on the problem you bring, with the people and tools you already have.
Two meetings. I learn how your business actually works, then give you a plain read of where you stand and a 90-day plan with the first three moves named. Most clients start here.
Bring one job that eats your week. In two sessions I set it up with AI and hand it over with a one-page guide.
One clear page with your photos and your words, live.
Larger projects (launch and operations setup, a new venture, an operation that has outgrown itself) are scoped and quoted after a short call.
In person around Rochester, or on Zoom anywhere.
I'm a non-engineer with ADHD and a fused neck. This year I built an AI system that reads my mail, tracks my money and keeps my projects from falling through the cracks. Some of it works well; some of it failed in useful ways. A practical, honest talk for small-business groups, libraries and anyone wondering what AI can do for one person.
Jewish history told through one family's paper trail: who left, who stayed, what they carried, and what the records got wrong. I trained in anthropology and did field research in Cuba; this talk applies that method to my own family. For genealogy societies, congregations, libraries and senior communities.
He has released more records than most songwriters finish songs. A listening talk on a prolific writer's habits, including a 2015 record-shop performance of a song before it reached the record. For libraries, lifelong-learning programs and music rooms.
Talks from $150.
90 minutes, hands-on, bring your real work. Also as a series of three. From $300.
One family line researched and turned into a short illustrated story, delivered in three weeks.
A guided family-history project that ends with a few slides the student presents.
Towns run concert series and recreation programs. Senior communities book activities every week. Nonprofits partner with businesses that help them deliver their mission, and existing programs fund work that businesses could be doing. I spent my career inside that world: I know who decides, how they budget and what they need to hear.
I map the programs, organizations and existing funding your business can sell into or partner with, rank them by fit, and set up your first approach. You take it from there, or we keep going together.
Who it suits: businesses and artists whose customers are communities. Performers, instructors, makers, food and drink, wellness: anyone whose work fits a rec center, a senior community or a town calendar.
For mission-driven organizations: program design (youth, camp, engagement) and strategy, scoped and quoted after a short call.
Katie Beyer was launching a craft-beer education business in Rochester. I researched the market and the competition, then rebuilt her plan around how the business could run: ticketed events for 10 to 20 people at partner venues, private parties and corporate settings. Her Beer 101 events are running.
Justin Gurnsey's band had hours of concert footage and no time to sort it. I cut an hour of gimbal footage into whole songs, kept the stage banter between them, and filed everything by show and set so Justin could hand it straight to his editor. Next: the band's website.
Ben Mayer-Freed brings the clay to you. I built his plan: who buys (independent-living communities, town recreation programs, private parties), how to price it like gig work, and a materials budget to launch on.
I've spent more than twenty years building programs, teams and systems.
At the Louis S. Wolk JCC of Greater Rochester I spent thirteen years, twelve of them directing Camp Sisol and the Gesher after-school program: up to 300 campers a session and 80 staff. I led the camp through ACA accreditation and secured the foundation funding for the Wolk Dining Hall and a new playground. At Hillel Community Day School I taught K-8 and led the International Baccalaureate candidacy.
Since 2024 I've run Irving Insights, helping businesses, artists and organizations get clear and get moving. I hold a BA in anthropology from SUNY Geneseo, with original field research in Cuba, and a certificate in nonprofit management from St. John Fisher University.
I also teach, write songs, research family history and build my own tools with AI. I live in Rochester, New York.
Tell me what you're building and where it's stuck. I reply within two business days.
Or email daniel@irvinginsights.com
