March 18, 2025 • 22 mins
How could AI transform your business?
A question that is more relevant every day. From making your business more efficient to creating slick operations, but what does that actually look like for a small business owner?
In this episode I am joined by the wonderful Maria Kelly, an executive coach who transitioned from the corporate world to entrepreneurship. Maria started out very shyly using AI to eventually being blown away by the results it could get her.
We discuss the learning curve she has had to go through to be able to use tools like Chat GPT, what she uses AI for now in her business and what that means to her as a business owner.
There are so many potentials for growth for small businesses when using AI, knowing when and how to use it is key.
Join me and Maria to find out how it could change your business!
"I always ask - could I do this with ChatGPT?" - Maria
You’ll hear about:
- How AI can significantly enhance efficiency in business operations.
- Why crafting effective prompts is crucial for maximising AI's potential.
- Ways solopreneurs can leverage AI to manage multiple tasks effectively.
- Understanding AI's limitations is essential for effective use.
Connect With Maria:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/askmariakelly/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/askmariakelly
Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@askmariakelly
Ask Maria Kelly - https://askmariakelly.com/
Maria’s Linktree - https://linktr.ee/AskMariaKelly
Connect With Me:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/accessible-ai/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heather_aifnt/?hl=en
AI for Non-Techies - https://nontechies.ai/home
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@aifornontechies
Join my Academy - https://nontechies.ai/ai-academy
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maria Kelly (00:00):
I was very shy at
(00:00):
first with AI, like a lot of
people still think I thought it
was just about going in and
typing things and creating
content and well, thanks to you,
I have to say, I discovered that
there was much more to it. And
now I basically, anytime I want
to do anything, I think, could I
do this with chat GPT, and most
(00:22):
of the time the answer is yes
you can, and it's been mind
blowing.
Julie Wilkinson (00:41):
Hello, welcome
to the second episode of how I
use AI by AI for non techies. I
am Heather. I'm founder here at
AI for non techies, and I'm
absolutely delighted to have a
really lovely guest today, and
somebody I've noticed I was just
saying I would have this I'd be
so happy to have this
conversation, even outside of
the podcast. I'm so interested
to find out more about how Maria
(01:01):
is using AI. So Maria Kelly, our
guest today is an exec leader
who's escaped the corporate
world, just like me, to start
her business in 2021 she now
coaches executives, mentors mid
level professionals, all looking
to boost their careers and
trains leadership teams into how
to work more effectively
together. She's Swiss, Irish and
multilingual. And Maria has
(01:23):
lived all over the world, in
Geneva, New York, all these
places I'd love to, love to live
in London and now best city in
the world, Barcelona. She loves
multicultural environments and
working with international
businesses when she's not
helping her clients. She
volunteers as a mentor. Attends
a Toastmasters reunion or goes
hiking with her husband and
their Jacobi cookie. So first of
(01:44):
all, what is a Jacobi? Maria
Unknown (01:46):
Jacobi. So I discovered
it was called a Jacobi. It's a
mix between Jack Russell and a
beagle. I was a bee. I was
calling it a giggle. And then I
note, I discovered one day that
it actually did have a name, and
it's called a jacker B,
Julie Wilkinson (02:01):
Jackie, okay,
good. I was wondering what the
B? I thought it's got to be Jack
of sun in there somewhere. Yeah.
Thank you so much for joining
us. I'm really, really happy to
have you here. Thank you for
having me. I would love to know
more about your story. So can
you tell us about your
transition from the corporate
world into starting your own
business and the role? It's a
big question, how AI is
supported this journey.
Unknown (02:22):
Yeah, yeah. So I went
from, you know, managing, I had
a global role. I worked for
Sotheby's, the Auction House.
Went just before, just before I
left, I was managing a global
division, which was the luxury
division, so it was over 100
people all over the world. And
obviously I wasn't doing that
(02:42):
alone. I had teams working for
me and helping me and and when I
decided to start my own
business, I realised, you know,
all these people that were
helping me weren't there
anymore, and I had to do all my
own marketing, my finance, my,
you know, I had business
analysts, I had business
directors, I had strategies. I
had loads of people working for
(03:03):
me. I had an assistant, and
suddenly I had to schedule my
own appointments. I had to, I
had to do all my own marketing,
and I had learned how to do all
these things, and it was a lot
of fun. But I have to say, at
first I was like a bit
overwhelmed and trying to learn
all these things. I spent a lot
of time, and then I discovered
all these different AI tools,
(03:24):
and suddenly my life changed.
Julie Wilkinson (03:27):
Could you tell
me, can you remember what your
first tool that you found was?
Unknown (03:32):
It was probably
Calendly. Ah, yeah, I think it
was canonly, and that the time
saver, that is. I mean, how many
backs and forths with people you
are you know, to make an
appointment, to cancel, to
change, to find the right time.
That was, that was, that was a
game changer. Just through the
actual fact that it's automating
(03:54):
at all. You can change your
calendar, you can attach, I
mean, I find it's great even,
because it looks really
professional. Also, when you
know someone books an
appointment that they they can
do it, they can go in and choose
their time. But then also, for
me, I've set up a fact that they
receive an email afterwards.
That's a welcome email that has
a little video, you know,
(04:14):
saying, Hi, looking forward to
speaking with you. And I've
attached some of my
testimonials. So it's a great
way of making, you know, some
something as casual as booking
an appointment into something
that looks really professional
and that can put already start
selling in a way, before you
even have spoken to the person.
So that was, that was probably
(04:35):
the first one I found, and has
been I, I've been using it
since. It's
Julie Wilkinson (04:40):
those, it's
those seemingly, seemingly small
tools, aren't they? That those
those things that actually take
away the need to do those
repetitive things every day,
like you say that all those
clicks, all that back and forth,
which it doesn't take much kind
of brain space, but it takes so
much time, then I think AI is
excellent at those things. But
for me, it was an. Note taker.
(05:00):
Those AI note takers, I think
that that's probably, and still
is the one that gives me the
best ROI out of all of the
tools. Okay, brilliant. And
Unknown (05:08):
I agree, I agree with
you. The note taker is the
second one I just I discovered
that much later, unfortunately,
but that also was a game
changer, because I used to type
up all my notes and sent them to
my client. I mean, so the time
again? Yeah, as you say, AI for
me, it's a time saver. It's
really it's giving me back more
time. It's making me more
(05:28):
efficient and makes me look more
professional. So because I'm
able to turn around things much
quicker, and lots of people are
not using it, so makes me
standard, you know, yeah, that's
it.
Julie Wilkinson (05:39):
And, yeah,
exactly that I find exactly the
same thing. So it's not just
about speeding things up. It's
about giving a better service
and making exactly as you say,
it makes you seem just more
future facing, more and more
efficient. And you know, I'd
love but you know, if a client
says, Oh, what do we talk about?
I can send you the entire
transcript or an analysis of it,
or a video clip, or anything you
like. You know, it's there's
(06:00):
whole new things we could do now
that we couldn't do before,
which was really exciting. You
mentioned, you know, we do a
little form beforehand, but you
mentioned using AI as a personal
assistant. Could you walk us
through, apart from Calendly,
how, how I helped you as an
assistant? Please. That'd be
great. So
Unknown (06:18):
I started very, very
shy. I was very shy at first
with AI, because I think, like a
lot of people, still think I
thought it was just about going
in and typing things and
creating content and well,
thanks to you, I have to say, I
discovered that there was much
more to it. And now I basically,
(06:38):
anytime I want to do anything I
think, could I do this with chat
GPT? And yes, that's fine. The
answer is yes, you can. And it's
being mind blowing. And it's,
it's, it's just yeah. Again,
it's about time saving. If I
need to write an email, any kind
of email, I can just go in and
(06:59):
say, Please write me. You know,
I have prompts, so now I spend a
lot of time creating the
prompts. So now I have them. And
I'd be like, create, write me an
email about this subject, and
I'll have an email, and then I
just need to go in and Twiggle
it, you know? And sometimes, not
even sometimes, it's just so
perfect. I'm like, poof, I send
it out. So it's the writing of
the emails, the writing of my my
(07:21):
newsletter, I create, like, the
foundation the ideation, like,
what subjects could I talk
about? I've downloaded, you
know, all my client pain points
or challenges, and now it gives
me ideas of what I could talk
about. But then it also
produces, like, again, I have a
prompt where it produces the
foundation of my newsletter. And
then, of course, I go in and
(07:41):
write and put my personal stuff
and change it. I use it for and
then I've built on that. I have
a prompt that then does a
LinkedIn post from my
newsletter. And that creates the
clickbait, a clickbait, you
know, post image, and the can,
you know, I create in Canvas
too. So I have a bunch of things
I've put in place that now make
(08:02):
me really win a lot of time that
I would probably be delegating
to an assistant otherwise. I've
used it to create proposals for
my clients. I use it, as you
said, you know, note takers. I
record every single conversation
I have with clients or, you
know, prospects, and then I'll
download it into chat, GPT, and
depending what I want, whether
(08:23):
it's write me a proposal based
on this template, or, you know,
analyse the call. What could I
have done better to get
feedback, like, you know, to
improve my my my pitch on my
call? Yeah, there's so many
things you can use. You can use
that normally you would have
asked somebody else to do, but
it's done so quickly. I mean,
(08:43):
I'll, if I have a meeting with a
client and we do, like, you
know, we we do stickers on the
wall or things like that, I'll
take a picture, and then I just
download the picture and I say,
extract it all. I don't have to
go in and rewrite it, you know,
it's, it's all these little
things. This makes me really
save time, and then it's all
there's the whole business side,
(09:04):
which I've as a solopreneur. I
really miss having a team. I
love the leading teams. I really
enjoyed the brainstorming, the
working with groups of people,
and having no one to bounce
things off is really hard, and
now I started doing it with
chatgpt, and it's great for
brainstorming, for strategies,
creating strategies for I've
(09:25):
done my PR strategy. I've done
my marketing strategy on it. I
analyse data. I've been using it
for so many different things.
Recently, I interviewed a whole
like 15 people in a company. I
then downloaded all the notes.
It was a 360 on one of the
leaders. I downloaded all the
notes, and I said, Okay,
analyse, you know, what are the
current trends? What are things
(09:46):
that come up? It did that in a
few seconds, like the 15, just
taking the notes and actually
writing that report would have
taken me a week, and it did it
in a few seconds. And then I was
like, I just had to go. It and
say, I think you're forgetting
this or that. And that's the
thing about it. I think it's a
great tool, but it can't replace
(10:07):
you. I mean, I wouldn't use it
for something I don't know what,
what I'm asked if I wouldn't use
it for something I don't
understand or I'm not competent
about, so I wouldn't go and ask
it to do like a market analyse
of of the trade market, of the
of the, you know, financial
markets, because I wouldn't
understand. You could give me
any answer, I wouldn't be able
to make sure it's right. But for
(10:28):
things that I understand in my
business, that I can do this,
it's just a time saver, and then
I just need to make it look
good, make it, you know, make
sure I have everything in there
that I want to and it's, it's,
it's an incredible tool. It's
just, it's just amazing. I'm
every day, I'm discovering new
things. I can do it, and it's
just mind blowing. It's
(10:49):
incredible.
Julie Wilkinson (10:50):
I think you've
given us. I think that is such
was thinking, This is absolute
gold. As you were talking,
there's about 30 different use
cases in there, and there's so
many things. Before this
Unknown (10:59):
fall, I started writing
down, I have so many things. I
was like, I can't, I couldn't
even remember everything. But,
yeah, it's, it's amazing.
Julie Wilkinson (11:05):
It really is
incredible. It's just, it's
bonkers that people aren't using
it, yeah, is it just, I think
the main blocker is that people
don't realise what it can do.
And this is why I was doing
this. I wanted to record this
podcast so people go, Oh, I
didn't realise it could do that.
But there's a couple of things I
wanted to pull up, actually. So
one of the things you mentioned
that prompts take time to write.
I think that is another thing
that people from, from my
(11:26):
experience of training people,
they think they open chat, GPT,
they type something in quickly,
and they get a quick response.
But that's not how it works, is
it?
Unknown (11:34):
No, no, and I have a
like, I've created a prompt bank
in notion where I have and it's
becoming a monster, frankly,
but, but, but every time I do a
create, like a prompt for
something specific, I'll save it
and then I try and templatize it
to be able to reuse it in the
future, because the time I'm
spending doing and then, well,
(11:55):
typically, for that client, when
I was doing this 360 I spend
maybe 30 minutes to an hour
writing that prompt to get the
result I wanted, saying, you
know, making sure I was telling
it everything I wanted to look
for. And, you know, so, but I
think it's time really well
invested, because I do this
once, and then I can use it for
all my next clients and, and,
(12:16):
yeah, it's, I think that's where
you should be spending the time
to win the time. You know, it's
a long term investment,
absolutely,
Julie Wilkinson (12:24):
absolutely. And
I think, yeah, the more you've
got a sort of a machine then
that you can call back on at any
point and you can get those
amazing results. I think another
thing you said that was also
really, really important. I
mean, you said so many, so many
brilliant things then, but one
of the main things that stuck
out as well is that the need for
humid, not giving it, not giving
it something that you so you
need to be able to describe what
good looks like, and then you
need to recognise it the other
(12:45):
side. So when people say, I'm
worried about AI coming to
replace me, I think if you are
working with someone you know,
say, if it's your manager, if
they don't understand what AI
can do, then that's the only way
that that could, that it would,
it would go wrong, is what I'm
trying to say, yeah. You can't
possibly, yeah. I met somebody
who said, Oh, I don't need
(13:06):
copywriters anymore. I've got
AI. And I thought, oh, good luck
with that, because you're going
to end up with a load of generic
copy because you can't want it
properly. You won't know whether
it's any good, and you'll just
watch it flop, because it won't,
won't be fit for purpose. It
won't engage people, it won't be
good enough to to attract
traffic or maintain it when
they're there, there'd be no
point to it. It just be filler,
like Laura ipsum. Text, yeah, so
(13:28):
I think yeah, there's Yeah,
thank you for that. That was
really, really good, I think,
for our listeners who are
solopreneurs, you know, like us
small business owners, what
advice would you give them about
incorporating it into their
daily operations. How do you
reckon people should start?
Because I think that's, that's a
scary thing, isn't it? How to
start?
Unknown (13:46):
Yeah, I think, I think
it's about starting actually,
and it's about trying new
things, and you're constantly
refining. It's never finished,
right? So for me, it's been,
I've been experimenting a lot, a
little bit, I know, I've blocked
myself an hour a week in my
calendar to learn about AI, and
(14:07):
usually it's with you. It's I
look at your online or your
newsletter or something, but I
want to make sure I'm learning
because I know it's evolving and
changing, and I realised that
it's really going to help me.
And I speak to so many of my
clients in corporate, they're
like, Yeah, I heard about chat
GPT. And I'm like, you're not
(14:27):
using it and or my clients that
are looking for jobs. And I was
like, you can use it to write
your CV. You can use it to,
like, to improve your CV. You
know you can improve. You can
use it to write your your you
put, you download job
descriptions that you're
interested in, and you extract
the important points that you
need to put in your letter. It
can write the letter for you. I
(14:48):
mean, there's so many things you
can do, and people are not using
it. So for me, my advice is just
start using it. And it can be
one thing, or, you know, like,
whatever you find might be. Be,
you know, useful to you, but
there's so many tools. I mean, I
started listing them before
this, this call, and I realised
I'm using, like, on an almost
(15:09):
daily basis, 1234, like, maybe
10 different AI tools for my to
help me and and, and still, I
know I'm not using it as much as
I could. I mean, like Zapier,
I'd like to really learn more
about that, because I know I can
automate a lot of things, but,
you know, you need to pick your
battles. So, so it's, I have a
(15:31):
list of things, but it's, I
think it's about, you know, give
me a shot trying things. And I
think chat GBD is a great place
to start, because, actually,
it's free. You can do a lot of
it with the free version
already, and it's a great way of
tipping your toes into it. And
it's, I think, the most
versatile that you can do the
most things with. The others are
very you know the note takers. I
(15:53):
mean, more and more people are
using note takers when they see
me coming on calls, and they're
like, what's that? And I
explain, and they're like, Oh my
God, I need that. Note takers,
uh, Calendly, if you're, you
know, if you're, you're an
entrepreneur, definitely having
the E signature for your
contracts, you know, all these
little things that just make
your life easier. Grammarly, you
know, Hemingway, all these, it's
(16:14):
just, it's little tools. But,
yeah, I think that's the thing.
It's tools. It, yeah, it can't
be. It's not a replacement for
the work you're supposed to be
doing, but it's, it's definitely
a way of, you know, helping you
be quicker, more efficient, more
professional, also, because I
think it does bring a level of
professionals. And yeah, so I
(16:35):
encourage anybody who's not
using it to start using it. It
Julie Wilkinson (16:39):
becomes such a
pleasure as well. So I've got a
whole weekend this weekend, of
planning a boot camp, and it's
an act like four times two
hours, and I've I couldn't, I
feel like it would be so much
harder. I would be using chord
as a sound board. I'm gonna
write down. I've just scribbled
down on my ideas, and I know
that I'll flesh that out in a
fifth, a sixth of the time that
(17:00):
it would do normally, and
there'd be lots of back and
forth and me going, does this ad
here, I hear the pain points of
the people that I'm doing this
for, is this, and it's going to
be better and better and
stronger than I could ever do on
my own, even though the ideas
are all my own, still. So it's
not, it's not outsourcing the
creativity and the thought. Is
it, I think people that try to
do that, but you mentioned
earlier about that you'll add in
(17:22):
pain points. You'll add in notes
from client meetings, that data
is so important that you're
adding in original information
that will replicate real
problems, real experience, real
opinions, real expertise. If you
leave that to chatgpt or
whatever you're using, that's
where things start to go wrong,
because it can only spit out
generic stuff, because it
(17:42):
doesn't have an experience. I
think that's really important
too, that you know the bad data
in equals, you know bad, bad
data out, doesn't it? That's,
that's super important.
Unknown (17:51):
And you really need to
check what it's giving you,
because, I mean, it forgets
things, it hallucinates things.
It's it will give you, it will
give you quotes that don't
exist, they will give you
references. It's about you
really need to check everything.
And that's why, I think that's
why I'm saying, you know, it's,
it should be like a resource to
(18:12):
help you. It shouldn't be,
shouldn't be doing the job for
you. I say that's the
difference.
Julie Wilkinson (18:18):
Yeah, I think
people when they hear about
things like hallucination. So
that is the name for when
people, when it, when it makes
stuff up. I think that can put a
lot of people off. And they go,
Oh, well, if it's gonna what
would you say to people that go,
I'm not gonna bother because it
will make stuff up. Why would I
bother with this? You should be
you should
Unknown (18:37):
be able to recognise it
when it makes stuff up. Because
if you're using it for or, first
of all, or you should double
check. I mean, it's very simple
to go and check when it's
telling you this quote by this
person or this research, you
know, you go and ask, I asked
him. I said, Where, what are
your sources? And he was like,
Oh, actually, I don't really
have a source. And I was like,
so you're making it up, even
(18:57):
though I told you not to, you
know? So it's, it's, I think
it's about just, it's about
being attentive, and, you know,
to detail, and just making sure
that you know what you're
talking about. You're not, I
mean, I don't go out and ask it
to do stuff that I wouldn't be
able to talk about myself. And
so therefore, I can make sure
(19:18):
that what I'm asking it to do is
it's like if I had an assistant
and I was asking them to do
something I didn't understand, I
wouldn't be able to check their
work. This is the same it's
exactly the same thing, right? I
Julie Wilkinson (19:28):
love that.
Yeah, it's that really, really
good analogy, and you wouldn't
be able to give them a good
brief either. And that's what a
good prompt is, too. Okay,
brilliant. So looking ahead, how
do you see AI shaping the future
of I think my original question
was executive coaching, but I
think how would you see it
shaping the future for small
businesses? Because I think
that's where we are in this
conversation. How would you
(19:49):
think, what changes do you think
there'll be for people like us
running businesses in the next
couple of years? How do you
think it's going to evolve? I
Unknown (19:57):
think it's going to
give us more capacity. It's the.
Definitely it's, it's a money
saver to start with. It's giving
us, it's giving us opportunities
to do things that we couldn't
before, as a single person you
know, so So it's giving us more
capacity to deliver. It's giving
us we can afford to provide a
(20:20):
service that we couldn't before,
because it was probably, we had
to outsource it, and it was very
expensive. So I think it's
definitely going to, I mean, I
think I feel, I feel like
there's more and more small
businesses creating themselves,
and I see it just with my own
clients, who are a lot of them
in the corporate world, wanting
to go off and do their own
business. So there is a change
(20:40):
in the market, in the job
market, definitely, where people
are losing confidence in big
companies and decide, you know,
I'm not going to be dependent on
a COVID or or as a corporate
company to to make sure my
future is assured, that I need
to, I need to have my own thing.
So more and more people are
probably going to start their
own businesses, and they're
(21:01):
going to become more and more
savvy in these these tools. And
the better you get at us, the
more successful, the more
chances you are of success. I'd
say absolutely,
Julie Wilkinson (21:11):
absolutely and
that, yeah, the ability to grow
to whole new revenue levels
without hiring is so exciting,
so exciting. I think it's just
wonderful. Thank you. So Maria,
that was amazing. The time has
just flown by. I could speak to
you for hours. Hopefully you'll
come back and we can continue
this conversation, because I'd
like to speak about coaches and
executives do as well. Thank you
so so much for your time. I
(21:31):
really appreciate and I think
that's going to inspire an awful
lot of people just like you and
I, who are running businesses,
you know, one woman band, a one
man band, and yeah, who have
aspirations to grow and there's
now entirely new ways to do it.
So thank you so much for your
time, and hopefully we'll speak
again soon.
Unknown (21:50):
Well, thank you,
because you're the one who's
really taught me everything I
know about AI. So I've been
following you from the
beginning. The minute you
started your membership, I was
like, I'm in because I need
you're speaking the same
language as me, and I'm not a
techie, but I see the I see the
advantage, and I could see that
this was a good thing. So thank
(22:11):
you very much, because it's not
just me, you know, I'm spreading
this to my clients, so you're
helping a lot of people with
what you're doing. Thank
you very much. That's lovely.
Thank you.
I was very shy at
(00:00):
first with AI, like a lot of
people still think I thought it
was just about going in and
typing things and creating
content and well, thanks to you,
I have to say, I discovered that
there was much more to it. And
now I basically, anytime I want
to do anything, I think, could I
do this with chat GPT, and most
(00:22):
of the time the answer is yes
you can, and it's been mind
blowing.
Julie Wilkinson (00:41):
Hello, welcome
to the second episode of how I
use AI by AI for non techies. I
am Heather. I'm founder here at
AI for non techies, and I'm
absolutely delighted to have a
really lovely guest today, and
somebody I've noticed I was just
saying I would have this I'd be
so happy to have this
conversation, even outside of
the podcast. I'm so interested
to find out more about how Maria
(01:01):
is using AI. So Maria Kelly, our
guest today is an exec leader
who's escaped the corporate
world, just like me, to start
her business in 2021 she now
coaches executives, mentors mid
level professionals, all looking
to boost their careers and
trains leadership teams into how
to work more effectively
together. She's Swiss, Irish and
multilingual. And Maria has
(01:23):
lived all over the world, in
Geneva, New York, all these
places I'd love to, love to live
in London and now best city in
the world, Barcelona. She loves
multicultural environments and
working with international
businesses when she's not
helping her clients. She
volunteers as a mentor. Attends
a Toastmasters reunion or goes
hiking with her husband and
their Jacobi cookie. So first of
(01:44):
all, what is a Jacobi? Maria
Unknown (01:46):
Jacobi. So I discovered
it was called a Jacobi. It's a
mix between Jack Russell and a
beagle. I was a bee. I was
calling it a giggle. And then I
note, I discovered one day that
it actually did have a name, and
it's called a jacker B,
Julie Wilkinson (02:01):
Jackie, okay,
good. I was wondering what the
B? I thought it's got to be Jack
of sun in there somewhere. Yeah.
Thank you so much for joining
us. I'm really, really happy to
have you here. Thank you for
having me. I would love to know
more about your story. So can
you tell us about your
transition from the corporate
world into starting your own
business and the role? It's a
big question, how AI is
supported this journey.
Unknown (02:22):
Yeah, yeah. So I went
from, you know, managing, I had
a global role. I worked for
Sotheby's, the Auction House.
Went just before, just before I
left, I was managing a global
division, which was the luxury
division, so it was over 100
people all over the world. And
obviously I wasn't doing that
(02:42):
alone. I had teams working for
me and helping me and and when I
decided to start my own
business, I realised, you know,
all these people that were
helping me weren't there
anymore, and I had to do all my
own marketing, my finance, my,
you know, I had business
analysts, I had business
directors, I had strategies. I
had loads of people working for
(03:03):
me. I had an assistant, and
suddenly I had to schedule my
own appointments. I had to, I
had to do all my own marketing,
and I had learned how to do all
these things, and it was a lot
of fun. But I have to say, at
first I was like a bit
overwhelmed and trying to learn
all these things. I spent a lot
of time, and then I discovered
all these different AI tools,
(03:24):
and suddenly my life changed.
Julie Wilkinson (03:27):
Could you tell
me, can you remember what your
first tool that you found was?
Unknown (03:32):
It was probably
Calendly. Ah, yeah, I think it
was canonly, and that the time
saver, that is. I mean, how many
backs and forths with people you
are you know, to make an
appointment, to cancel, to
change, to find the right time.
That was, that was, that was a
game changer. Just through the
actual fact that it's automating
(03:54):
at all. You can change your
calendar, you can attach, I
mean, I find it's great even,
because it looks really
professional. Also, when you
know someone books an
appointment that they they can
do it, they can go in and choose
their time. But then also, for
me, I've set up a fact that they
receive an email afterwards.
That's a welcome email that has
a little video, you know,
(04:14):
saying, Hi, looking forward to
speaking with you. And I've
attached some of my
testimonials. So it's a great
way of making, you know, some
something as casual as booking
an appointment into something
that looks really professional
and that can put already start
selling in a way, before you
even have spoken to the person.
So that was, that was probably
(04:35):
the first one I found, and has
been I, I've been using it
since. It's
Julie Wilkinson (04:40):
those, it's
those seemingly, seemingly small
tools, aren't they? That those
those things that actually take
away the need to do those
repetitive things every day,
like you say that all those
clicks, all that back and forth,
which it doesn't take much kind
of brain space, but it takes so
much time, then I think AI is
excellent at those things. But
for me, it was an. Note taker.
(05:00):
Those AI note takers, I think
that that's probably, and still
is the one that gives me the
best ROI out of all of the
tools. Okay, brilliant. And
Unknown (05:08):
I agree, I agree with
you. The note taker is the
second one I just I discovered
that much later, unfortunately,
but that also was a game
changer, because I used to type
up all my notes and sent them to
my client. I mean, so the time
again? Yeah, as you say, AI for
me, it's a time saver. It's
really it's giving me back more
time. It's making me more
(05:28):
efficient and makes me look more
professional. So because I'm
able to turn around things much
quicker, and lots of people are
not using it, so makes me
standard, you know, yeah, that's
it.
Julie Wilkinson (05:39):
And, yeah,
exactly that I find exactly the
same thing. So it's not just
about speeding things up. It's
about giving a better service
and making exactly as you say,
it makes you seem just more
future facing, more and more
efficient. And you know, I'd
love but you know, if a client
says, Oh, what do we talk about?
I can send you the entire
transcript or an analysis of it,
or a video clip, or anything you
like. You know, it's there's
(06:00):
whole new things we could do now
that we couldn't do before,
which was really exciting. You
mentioned, you know, we do a
little form beforehand, but you
mentioned using AI as a personal
assistant. Could you walk us
through, apart from Calendly,
how, how I helped you as an
assistant? Please. That'd be
great. So
Unknown (06:18):
I started very, very
shy. I was very shy at first
with AI, because I think, like a
lot of people, still think I
thought it was just about going
in and typing things and
creating content and well,
thanks to you, I have to say, I
discovered that there was much
more to it. And now I basically,
(06:38):
anytime I want to do anything I
think, could I do this with chat
GPT? And yes, that's fine. The
answer is yes, you can. And it's
being mind blowing. And it's,
it's, it's just yeah. Again,
it's about time saving. If I
need to write an email, any kind
of email, I can just go in and
(06:59):
say, Please write me. You know,
I have prompts, so now I spend a
lot of time creating the
prompts. So now I have them. And
I'd be like, create, write me an
email about this subject, and
I'll have an email, and then I
just need to go in and Twiggle
it, you know? And sometimes, not
even sometimes, it's just so
perfect. I'm like, poof, I send
it out. So it's the writing of
the emails, the writing of my my
(07:21):
newsletter, I create, like, the
foundation the ideation, like,
what subjects could I talk
about? I've downloaded, you
know, all my client pain points
or challenges, and now it gives
me ideas of what I could talk
about. But then it also
produces, like, again, I have a
prompt where it produces the
foundation of my newsletter. And
then, of course, I go in and
(07:41):
write and put my personal stuff
and change it. I use it for and
then I've built on that. I have
a prompt that then does a
LinkedIn post from my
newsletter. And that creates the
clickbait, a clickbait, you
know, post image, and the can,
you know, I create in Canvas
too. So I have a bunch of things
I've put in place that now make
(08:02):
me really win a lot of time that
I would probably be delegating
to an assistant otherwise. I've
used it to create proposals for
my clients. I use it, as you
said, you know, note takers. I
record every single conversation
I have with clients or, you
know, prospects, and then I'll
download it into chat, GPT, and
depending what I want, whether
(08:23):
it's write me a proposal based
on this template, or, you know,
analyse the call. What could I
have done better to get
feedback, like, you know, to
improve my my my pitch on my
call? Yeah, there's so many
things you can use. You can use
that normally you would have
asked somebody else to do, but
it's done so quickly. I mean,
(08:43):
I'll, if I have a meeting with a
client and we do, like, you
know, we we do stickers on the
wall or things like that, I'll
take a picture, and then I just
download the picture and I say,
extract it all. I don't have to
go in and rewrite it, you know,
it's, it's all these little
things. This makes me really
save time, and then it's all
there's the whole business side,
(09:04):
which I've as a solopreneur. I
really miss having a team. I
love the leading teams. I really
enjoyed the brainstorming, the
working with groups of people,
and having no one to bounce
things off is really hard, and
now I started doing it with
chatgpt, and it's great for
brainstorming, for strategies,
creating strategies for I've
(09:25):
done my PR strategy. I've done
my marketing strategy on it. I
analyse data. I've been using it
for so many different things.
Recently, I interviewed a whole
like 15 people in a company. I
then downloaded all the notes.
It was a 360 on one of the
leaders. I downloaded all the
notes, and I said, Okay,
analyse, you know, what are the
current trends? What are things
(09:46):
that come up? It did that in a
few seconds, like the 15, just
taking the notes and actually
writing that report would have
taken me a week, and it did it
in a few seconds. And then I was
like, I just had to go. It and
say, I think you're forgetting
this or that. And that's the
thing about it. I think it's a
great tool, but it can't replace
(10:07):
you. I mean, I wouldn't use it
for something I don't know what,
what I'm asked if I wouldn't use
it for something I don't
understand or I'm not competent
about, so I wouldn't go and ask
it to do like a market analyse
of of the trade market, of the
of the, you know, financial
markets, because I wouldn't
understand. You could give me
any answer, I wouldn't be able
to make sure it's right. But for
(10:28):
things that I understand in my
business, that I can do this,
it's just a time saver, and then
I just need to make it look
good, make it, you know, make
sure I have everything in there
that I want to and it's, it's,
it's an incredible tool. It's
just, it's just amazing. I'm
every day, I'm discovering new
things. I can do it, and it's
just mind blowing. It's
(10:49):
incredible.
Julie Wilkinson (10:50):
I think you've
given us. I think that is such
was thinking, This is absolute
gold. As you were talking,
there's about 30 different use
cases in there, and there's so
many things. Before this
Unknown (10:59):
fall, I started writing
down, I have so many things. I
was like, I can't, I couldn't
even remember everything. But,
yeah, it's, it's amazing.
Julie Wilkinson (11:05):
It really is
incredible. It's just, it's
bonkers that people aren't using
it, yeah, is it just, I think
the main blocker is that people
don't realise what it can do.
And this is why I was doing
this. I wanted to record this
podcast so people go, Oh, I
didn't realise it could do that.
But there's a couple of things I
wanted to pull up, actually. So
one of the things you mentioned
that prompts take time to write.
I think that is another thing
that people from, from my
(11:26):
experience of training people,
they think they open chat, GPT,
they type something in quickly,
and they get a quick response.
But that's not how it works, is
it?
Unknown (11:34):
No, no, and I have a
like, I've created a prompt bank
in notion where I have and it's
becoming a monster, frankly,
but, but, but every time I do a
create, like a prompt for
something specific, I'll save it
and then I try and templatize it
to be able to reuse it in the
future, because the time I'm
spending doing and then, well,
(11:55):
typically, for that client, when
I was doing this 360 I spend
maybe 30 minutes to an hour
writing that prompt to get the
result I wanted, saying, you
know, making sure I was telling
it everything I wanted to look
for. And, you know, so, but I
think it's time really well
invested, because I do this
once, and then I can use it for
all my next clients and, and,
(12:16):
yeah, it's, I think that's where
you should be spending the time
to win the time. You know, it's
a long term investment,
absolutely,
Julie Wilkinson (12:24):
absolutely. And
I think, yeah, the more you've
got a sort of a machine then
that you can call back on at any
point and you can get those
amazing results. I think another
thing you said that was also
really, really important. I
mean, you said so many, so many
brilliant things then, but one
of the main things that stuck
out as well is that the need for
humid, not giving it, not giving
it something that you so you
need to be able to describe what
good looks like, and then you
need to recognise it the other
(12:45):
side. So when people say, I'm
worried about AI coming to
replace me, I think if you are
working with someone you know,
say, if it's your manager, if
they don't understand what AI
can do, then that's the only way
that that could, that it would,
it would go wrong, is what I'm
trying to say, yeah. You can't
possibly, yeah. I met somebody
who said, Oh, I don't need
(13:06):
copywriters anymore. I've got
AI. And I thought, oh, good luck
with that, because you're going
to end up with a load of generic
copy because you can't want it
properly. You won't know whether
it's any good, and you'll just
watch it flop, because it won't,
won't be fit for purpose. It
won't engage people, it won't be
good enough to to attract
traffic or maintain it when
they're there, there'd be no
point to it. It just be filler,
like Laura ipsum. Text, yeah, so
(13:28):
I think yeah, there's Yeah,
thank you for that. That was
really, really good, I think,
for our listeners who are
solopreneurs, you know, like us
small business owners, what
advice would you give them about
incorporating it into their
daily operations. How do you
reckon people should start?
Because I think that's, that's a
scary thing, isn't it? How to
start?
Unknown (13:46):
Yeah, I think, I think
it's about starting actually,
and it's about trying new
things, and you're constantly
refining. It's never finished,
right? So for me, it's been,
I've been experimenting a lot, a
little bit, I know, I've blocked
myself an hour a week in my
calendar to learn about AI, and
(14:07):
usually it's with you. It's I
look at your online or your
newsletter or something, but I
want to make sure I'm learning
because I know it's evolving and
changing, and I realised that
it's really going to help me.
And I speak to so many of my
clients in corporate, they're
like, Yeah, I heard about chat
GPT. And I'm like, you're not
(14:27):
using it and or my clients that
are looking for jobs. And I was
like, you can use it to write
your CV. You can use it to,
like, to improve your CV. You
know you can improve. You can
use it to write your your you
put, you download job
descriptions that you're
interested in, and you extract
the important points that you
need to put in your letter. It
can write the letter for you. I
(14:48):
mean, there's so many things you
can do, and people are not using
it. So for me, my advice is just
start using it. And it can be
one thing, or, you know, like,
whatever you find might be. Be,
you know, useful to you, but
there's so many tools. I mean, I
started listing them before
this, this call, and I realised
I'm using, like, on an almost
(15:09):
daily basis, 1234, like, maybe
10 different AI tools for my to
help me and and, and still, I
know I'm not using it as much as
I could. I mean, like Zapier,
I'd like to really learn more
about that, because I know I can
automate a lot of things, but,
you know, you need to pick your
battles. So, so it's, I have a
(15:31):
list of things, but it's, I
think it's about, you know, give
me a shot trying things. And I
think chat GBD is a great place
to start, because, actually,
it's free. You can do a lot of
it with the free version
already, and it's a great way of
tipping your toes into it. And
it's, I think, the most
versatile that you can do the
most things with. The others are
very you know the note takers. I
(15:53):
mean, more and more people are
using note takers when they see
me coming on calls, and they're
like, what's that? And I
explain, and they're like, Oh my
God, I need that. Note takers,
uh, Calendly, if you're, you
know, if you're, you're an
entrepreneur, definitely having
the E signature for your
contracts, you know, all these
little things that just make
your life easier. Grammarly, you
know, Hemingway, all these, it's
(16:14):
just, it's little tools. But,
yeah, I think that's the thing.
It's tools. It, yeah, it can't
be. It's not a replacement for
the work you're supposed to be
doing, but it's, it's definitely
a way of, you know, helping you
be quicker, more efficient, more
professional, also, because I
think it does bring a level of
professionals. And yeah, so I
(16:35):
encourage anybody who's not
using it to start using it. It
Julie Wilkinson (16:39):
becomes such a
pleasure as well. So I've got a
whole weekend this weekend, of
planning a boot camp, and it's
an act like four times two
hours, and I've I couldn't, I
feel like it would be so much
harder. I would be using chord
as a sound board. I'm gonna
write down. I've just scribbled
down on my ideas, and I know
that I'll flesh that out in a
fifth, a sixth of the time that
(17:00):
it would do normally, and
there'd be lots of back and
forth and me going, does this ad
here, I hear the pain points of
the people that I'm doing this
for, is this, and it's going to
be better and better and
stronger than I could ever do on
my own, even though the ideas
are all my own, still. So it's
not, it's not outsourcing the
creativity and the thought. Is
it, I think people that try to
do that, but you mentioned
earlier about that you'll add in
(17:22):
pain points. You'll add in notes
from client meetings, that data
is so important that you're
adding in original information
that will replicate real
problems, real experience, real
opinions, real expertise. If you
leave that to chatgpt or
whatever you're using, that's
where things start to go wrong,
because it can only spit out
generic stuff, because it
(17:42):
doesn't have an experience. I
think that's really important
too, that you know the bad data
in equals, you know bad, bad
data out, doesn't it? That's,
that's super important.
Unknown (17:51):
And you really need to
check what it's giving you,
because, I mean, it forgets
things, it hallucinates things.
It's it will give you, it will
give you quotes that don't
exist, they will give you
references. It's about you
really need to check everything.
And that's why, I think that's
why I'm saying, you know, it's,
it should be like a resource to
(18:12):
help you. It shouldn't be,
shouldn't be doing the job for
you. I say that's the
difference.
Julie Wilkinson (18:18):
Yeah, I think
people when they hear about
things like hallucination. So
that is the name for when
people, when it, when it makes
stuff up. I think that can put a
lot of people off. And they go,
Oh, well, if it's gonna what
would you say to people that go,
I'm not gonna bother because it
will make stuff up. Why would I
bother with this? You should be
you should
Unknown (18:37):
be able to recognise it
when it makes stuff up. Because
if you're using it for or, first
of all, or you should double
check. I mean, it's very simple
to go and check when it's
telling you this quote by this
person or this research, you
know, you go and ask, I asked
him. I said, Where, what are
your sources? And he was like,
Oh, actually, I don't really
have a source. And I was like,
so you're making it up, even
(18:57):
though I told you not to, you
know? So it's, it's, I think
it's about just, it's about
being attentive, and, you know,
to detail, and just making sure
that you know what you're
talking about. You're not, I
mean, I don't go out and ask it
to do stuff that I wouldn't be
able to talk about myself. And
so therefore, I can make sure
(19:18):
that what I'm asking it to do is
it's like if I had an assistant
and I was asking them to do
something I didn't understand, I
wouldn't be able to check their
work. This is the same it's
exactly the same thing, right? I
Julie Wilkinson (19:28):
love that.
Yeah, it's that really, really
good analogy, and you wouldn't
be able to give them a good
brief either. And that's what a
good prompt is, too. Okay,
brilliant. So looking ahead, how
do you see AI shaping the future
of I think my original question
was executive coaching, but I
think how would you see it
shaping the future for small
businesses? Because I think
that's where we are in this
conversation. How would you
(19:49):
think, what changes do you think
there'll be for people like us
running businesses in the next
couple of years? How do you
think it's going to evolve? I
Unknown (19:57):
think it's going to
give us more capacity. It's the.
Definitely it's, it's a money
saver to start with. It's giving
us, it's giving us opportunities
to do things that we couldn't
before, as a single person you
know, so So it's giving us more
capacity to deliver. It's giving
us we can afford to provide a
(20:20):
service that we couldn't before,
because it was probably, we had
to outsource it, and it was very
expensive. So I think it's
definitely going to, I mean, I
think I feel, I feel like
there's more and more small
businesses creating themselves,
and I see it just with my own
clients, who are a lot of them
in the corporate world, wanting
to go off and do their own
business. So there is a change
(20:40):
in the market, in the job
market, definitely, where people
are losing confidence in big
companies and decide, you know,
I'm not going to be dependent on
a COVID or or as a corporate
company to to make sure my
future is assured, that I need
to, I need to have my own thing.
So more and more people are
probably going to start their
own businesses, and they're
(21:01):
going to become more and more
savvy in these these tools. And
the better you get at us, the
more successful, the more
chances you are of success. I'd
say absolutely,
Julie Wilkinson (21:11):
absolutely and
that, yeah, the ability to grow
to whole new revenue levels
without hiring is so exciting,
so exciting. I think it's just
wonderful. Thank you. So Maria,
that was amazing. The time has
just flown by. I could speak to
you for hours. Hopefully you'll
come back and we can continue
this conversation, because I'd
like to speak about coaches and
executives do as well. Thank you
so so much for your time. I
(21:31):
really appreciate and I think
that's going to inspire an awful
lot of people just like you and
I, who are running businesses,
you know, one woman band, a one
man band, and yeah, who have
aspirations to grow and there's
now entirely new ways to do it.
So thank you so much for your
time, and hopefully we'll speak
again soon.
Unknown (21:50):
Well, thank you,
because you're the one who's
really taught me everything I
know about AI. So I've been
following you from the
beginning. The minute you
started your membership, I was
like, I'm in because I need
you're speaking the same
language as me, and I'm not a
techie, but I see the I see the
advantage, and I could see that
this was a good thing. So thank
(22:11):
you very much, because it's not
just me, you know, I'm spreading
this to my clients, so you're
helping a lot of people with
what you're doing. Thank
you very much. That's lovely.
Thank you.
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