Lives in Williamson County, in the greater Austin area.
AI for media brands.
I run 20+ local publications on software I built with AI. Now I help other media brands do the same through mainstreet gravity and local media HQ.
Read my story →20+ local publications · 175K+ subscribers
Run local media
- The system, the playbook, weekly office hours
Learn the business
- Podcast, newsletter, Meta ads, strategy calls
- 88 episodes · 135K+ plays and views
Bring AI to work
- AI training for you and your team
Want to hire me, or need something else? Say hi.
I also built greetform: free subscriber forms for any newsletter.
MY STORY
Twenty years in insurance. Then I went deep on local media and newsletters.
I spent nearly twenty years in insurance, from catastrophe claims adjuster to running a $9 million Allstate agency. I loved the clients but hated the speed. So I quit to build media.
Since then I've launched 20+ local media brands and grown them to 175,000+ active subscribers. AI changed how fast one person can move, so I started building the software my own publications run on. That became mainstreet gravity.
Now I help other publishers do the same. mainstreet gravity is the system, local media HQ is the show about the business, and so many people asked me for AI help that I started texas AI lab.
Known for
Not Dr. T.J. Larkin, the communications author. Different person.
01Local media growth
Meta ads and newsletters. Local news isn't dying; the old business model is.
AI builder
Software my own publications run on. You don't need a dev team to ship real software anymore.
AI-first marketing
SEO, GEO, and founder-led marketing for small businesses. Most aren't bad. They're invisible to AI.
Receipts
Real numbers. As of October 2026.
- local media brands
- 20+local media brands
- subscribers
- 175K+subscribers
- lowest cost per subscriber, for a few days. It varies widely.
- 8¢lowest cost per subscriber, for a few days. It varies widely.
- podcast episodes
- 88podcast episodes
Field notes
- Local beats national. People care most about what happens on their street.
- AI does the work, people decide. Let the machine draft, build, and check. A human approves what ships.
- Own the audience, rent nothing. An email list you own outlasts any algorithm.
- Local news isn't dying. The old business model is.
- Most small businesses aren't bad. They're invisible to AI.
Local Media HQ podcast
Real operators. Local media, in plain terms. Hosted by TJ.
88 episodes · 34,163 plays & downloads · 5,283 hours listened · 104,350 YouTube views YouTube checked 2026-11-04; plays & hours as of Oct 26, 2026
All 88 episodes →TJ as a guest on other shows
Now
- Running WilCo Guide locally
- Building mainstreet gravity: powering the reinvention of local media
- Keeping greetform available as a free, standalone tool
- Training business owners on AI through texas AI lab
- Proving AI can build a site that feels handmade (you're on it)
Shipping log
GitHub contributions across public and private repos, last 12 months, checked 2026-11-04.
- contributions
- 34,729
- commits
- 26,934
- pull requests opened
- 7,552
- repositories I own
- 123
304 active days out of 368. Busiest day: Feb 24, 2026, 1,659 contributions.Contributions per weekLast 30 days
- Contributions5,603
- Commits2,923
- Pull requests2,535
7,147 pull requests merged in 12 months
tjlark23 · github
Source: GitHub API, account tjlark23. Most repos are private, so their work shows up as counts only.
Straight answers
The questions people ask me most. See them all →
What does a subscriber cost on Meta ads?
It swings a lot. I've seen 8 cents for a few days, and several times that on the same campaign. Creative and local targeting matter more than budget.
Can a local newsletter be a real business?
Yes, if you run it like one. Show up on schedule, grow cheap, and earn from local business packages, directories, and events.
Can AI build a real business website?
This one was. AI did most of the design and code. I brought the facts and photos, and approved every word.
How does a business show up in ChatGPT?
Be easy to verify: one clear website, the same facts everywhere, real reviews, and plain answers. Nobody can guarantee it, but messy facts kill your chances.
