How Entrepreneurs Use AI Without Losing Their Edge (Full Transcript)

[00:00:02] Speaker 1: I think the thing that technology has done is that people think I'm bigger than I am.

[00:00:06] Speaker 2: Yes.

[00:00:06] Speaker 1: Yes. They do expect more because I seem bigger.

[00:00:17] Speaker 2: I actually recently had somebody say, like, oh, how big is your team? And I was like... I'm like, uh... Why? You've met all of them. Yeah. And they were like, wow, I thought you had, like, a much bigger... I thought you had, like, a whole team of people. And I'm like, oh, great. That is an illusion that has been made possible by technology. I am leaning into AI. Not, like, terribly. Like, I want to keep my cognitive brain function, so I still, like, do my own writing. And I still, like, create my graphics in Canva. So, like, I'm very... Like, I'm very... Like, I want to keep those skills. I'm excited about, like, technological advancements and how they can help grow the business and make things more efficient. Are you all using AI? Are you leaning into that? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:01:10] Speaker 3: Uh... Okay, so... With grant research, it's very manual. And I have, like, two million tabs open at once. So, there's always a concern, like, will AI be able to do what I'm doing at, like, a millisecond? For me, right now, I don't think it's able to right now. But it's definitely a concern. Like, will we be around in five years with the development of AI? I think we will. And that's why I think it's important, as you're advancing in tech, to also build that personal brand we talked about. Like, people need to know you as a founder, as a creator. Just in case if things kind of are a little bit rocky, at least you still have your personal brand to fall on.

[00:01:48] Speaker 4: Me being the STEM guy, I'm using it a lot. Just trying to look at how we can be innovative. I think we should embrace it, right? No, we don't need to be afraid of it, but we also don't need to use it for everything. I think it's just allowing us to maximize our time for things that we really need to focus on.

[00:02:06] Speaker 1: Now, being a business owner, it took me, like, a year, year and a half to actually start embracing AI. Like, I have all of these scheduled systems. Like, I have, like, reports. I have all of these things that AI does for me. Airtable for shifts. Like, everything is, like, run through there. And I've gone from against it to, like, yes.

[00:02:29] Speaker 2: Well, I was just thinking, yeah, for the logistics of your business, like, nothing can beat that.

[00:02:33] Speaker 1: Yeah, it's great. It's, like, all of the minutia, all of the operations, all of the things. Like, I tell her what to do. It gives me reports. I don't have to do all of those things one by one. But I'm also a 40-something woman that has gone to school. And I can, like, look at something and know that when AI is telling me something, I'm like, no, there's something wrong here. And I think that's the issue that a lot of people have, just copy-pasted.

[00:02:59] Speaker 2: And then when you do that, it's terrible. And they outsource not just the work, but the thinking. Yeah.

[00:03:04] Speaker 5: I try to be really mindful about how I use AI. There are certain things where it's, like, there's no reason to add on another thing to my plate. So, like, for example, Zoom's integrated AI transcription feature. It is so much better of a note-taker than I am. I was always a terrible note-taker, like, even in, like, undergrad. I would either write everything down and be like, we have every detail that I don't need. Or I would be like, oh, what is this weird symbol that I drew? And then there's, like, seven words. I'm like, why was I writing about bananas? I don't quite get it. And it does such a good job getting the big things down that I can actually give my clients a better summary than what I would typically do. And I get to pay attention to what I'm talking about with my clients. I get to be more present with them. And that's what has been really helpful for me.

[00:03:59] Speaker 2: I've been using Zoom for 10 years now. And without Zoom, I mean, I just definitely wouldn't have the business that I have. Like, it's just made connecting with people so much easier, bringing my community together. It's been indispensable for me, for sure.

[00:04:17] Speaker 1: I think it was essential during the pandemic. And it's just become, I don't even think about it anymore because it just is. You know, it's like, let's just have a call and, like, a meeting. And it's just like, let's have a Zoom.

[00:04:31] Speaker 4: We can now do a STEM project with kids everywhere via Zoom. And literally, we have, it's a TV show. It comes in five, four, three. You can do so much in Zoom. I had no idea. And then it allowed kids from, we had kids in Bermuda. We had kids in Ghana. We had kids in Atlanta. Like, it was just kids everywhere. And then it allowed, because kids hadn't seen each other for a while, there was a Girl Scout troop in California. And they would stay on after. It was, like, 20 girls. And they would just talk to each other because they weren't able to engage. And so, I think for us, technology has just been great for many different reasons.

[00:05:11] Speaker 5: It allows me to get a better assessment of people's cats because me showing up could affect their behavior. They may be hiding. There's a lot that I can get remotely that you don't see in person.

[00:05:25] Speaker 2: You know what actually is interesting? For you, it's cats. But for me, it's people. Because we're talking about, you know, sensitive things and, like, you know, dating and relationships can be very triggering. And I actually think it's more comfortable for my clients to be on Zoom. I don't know. It's like that buffer somehow makes people more comfortable opening up.

[00:05:44] Speaker 1: I think Zoom humanized everyone when you're working. Like, it allowed a little bit of a glimpse inside your personal space. And everyone became human. And this whole thing of, like, I don't know, structure and corporate and levels just, like, disappeared. Because it doesn't matter whenever you're at home with Zoom when you have, like, a cat or a kid screaming or something. Yes. It's like, oh.

[00:06:11] Speaker 4: Amazon.

[00:06:11] Speaker 1: It's like, come at me.

[00:06:13] Speaker 2: Just like me. Yeah, totally.

[00:06:17] Speaker 4: I definitely had to decide that, hey, we need to get in front of people. You have to get into the community. You have to go back to networking. You have to. Some of these interactions are bigger than online. Sometimes it's actively forcing yourself out of that isolation. Because we, as solopreneurs, operate in silos a lot. And sometimes we've got to get out and see different things.

[00:06:40] Speaker 2: Yeah. I actually think that technology helps with isolation. Because you can be connected. Like, there's so many communities that I am connected to because of technology. But I do think that balancing. And you have the coffee shop. So you have that in-person, always have that element. But I think that balancing and making sure that we are spending time in person and we are gathering with people in person.

[00:07:06] Speaker 3: I do thrive in isolation in a bit. I think I could just put my head down and focus. But I could be intentional about going to those events, going to those galas, creating those Zoom parties, doing the challenges. So I feel like I have a good balance.

[00:07:20] Speaker 1: Being an entrepreneur in general is a very lonely thing. Because unless you have friends that are actually going through the same thing that you're going through, no one's going to understand. They don't get it. And I do have a coffee shop. But I can't talk about what's happening to my clients or to the baristas.

[00:07:39] Speaker 2: Imagine the customers are coming in and you're like, let me tell you about my day.

[00:07:43] Speaker 1: This P&L is killing me. So it's really, really isolating. For me, technology has made it easier. I don't feel like it's isolated me more. It's just made me have more time to be able to do those things, like going out and networking and spending time outdoors and doing the things that I want to do. But that's one thing that I was not prepared for being an entrepreneur. I thought it was going to be more like, oh, I'll go into the office and I'll have friends. And it's like, nope.

[00:08:13] Speaker 2: No, you're working. But also connecting with other entrepreneurs. Technology makes that so much easier.

[00:08:21] Speaker 3: I think sustainable growth is a key phrase for me for all eternity because it's easy as a solopreneur to be like, I can be doing more. I should be doing more. My competitor is doing this. And social media says to do this. But I have found similar, like staying in my lane and just saying, OK, how can I be 1% better if I need to be, if I need to do that? And listening to feedback from your clients is really important. Customers, super important.

[00:08:49] Speaker 5: You don't have to do everything. You don't have to do everything.

[00:08:53] Speaker 2: Not only do you not have to, you can't. And you shouldn't, probably. But I care about scale for a few reasons. Number one, there's the challenge of it. Number two, I'm actually very mission-oriented when it comes to my business and the change that I want to see. So I feel like I have to scale because I just want to reach more people. And I can't do that if I'm just working with clients one-on-one. I mean, there's only one of me.

[00:09:24] Speaker 1: I sell coffee, so I'm in the business of scaling because one coffee won't pay the bills, but a lot of them together will. But that's been the hardest thing of how to, for the first two years, I said yes to everything because I felt like I couldn't say no. Or it's also that I feel like I have to prove something because I left my corporate job and now I'm doing this. I have to prove that I'm as big as I can be. And it's pretty impressive what we've all done. It's just impressive on its own. Why is it not enough for me? And that's what I keep struggling with because how do I manage all these things?

[00:10:06] Speaker 3: And I think that with sustainable growth, there's also experiments to growth too. Because you may be doing a lot of different marketing things and you find one lever and you're like, this is the lever that I need to just lean in and just kind of stop everything else to focus. So I think I start off with experiments first and then I can just put gas to what's working.

[00:10:27] Speaker 1: That's smarter.

[00:10:30] Speaker 5: And it's okay to be like, okay, this experiment didn't work. Like good scientists.

[00:10:36] Speaker 1: Don't you guys feel like now that you're doing your own thing, you have more pressure on yourself from you to do more?

[00:10:45] Speaker 4: It's more of a thing of like, I want to one-up myself. But at some point you're like, hey, you should enjoy some of these wins. Like these are mega wins, right? But it's like, yeah, you get at the award or whatever it may be and then you wake up tomorrow and it's like, okay, I got to top this. Now, I don't know if that's social media driven because we're kind of used to something new or is it, yes, me internally. I want to be better than what I did the other day, like 1% better each day. So I'm trying to do a better job of celebrating the wins and understanding. But then you also don't want to get comfortable within that because we have to sell more like these boxes. We have to get them out to more people. So it's a very interesting balance that I have not figured out yet. But I am doing a better job of celebrating the win.