August 17, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode of The Quiet Warrior Podcast, I speak with Dr. David Hooper—AI marketing strategist, peak performance expert, and proud introvert—about his incredible journey from rock bottom to reinvention. After facing a series of personal and professional crises that left him clinically depressed and morbidly obese, David chose to rebuild his life with intention. He shares how mindset work, physical transformation, and entrepreneurship became his path to healing—and how AI became the quiet ally that helped him and his fellow introverts thrive.
We explore what it means to be an introverted entrepreneur in a noisy world, why AI is the perfect business partner for introverts, and how ethical use of AI can help amplify your voice without sacrificing your integrity.
If you’ve ever felt like you're too quiet to stand out in business—or if you've been curious about using AI in a more human, heart-led way—this episode is for you.
In This Episode, We Talk About:
- David’s transformation after redundancy, depression, and weight gain
- How hitting rock bottom can spark radical clarity
- The importance of mindset, movement, and meaning in recovery
- Navigating entrepreneurship as an introvert
- Creating structure and balance for sustainable energy
- Why AI is the ultimate productivity partner for introverts
- How to use AI ethically to scale your marketing and amplify your presence
- Building a business around your values—not someone else’s expectations
Resources & Links:
- Learn more about Dr. David Hooper’s work: lunarla.co.uk
- Connect with Dr. David Hooper on LinkedIn.
Enjoyed This Episode?
- Subscribe and leave a 5-star review to support more quiet voices being heard.
- Download The Introvert Toolkit - your guide to understanding the introvert you work with, live with, or socialize with.
- Join The Visible Introvert community for access to case studies, frameworks, and strategies that help you speak, lead, and act decisively – without having to perform extroversion.
This episode was edited by Aura House Productions
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Serena Loh.
If you're used to hearing thatintroverts are shy, anxious,
antisocial and lack goodcommunication and leadership
skills, then this podcast is foryou.
You're about to fall in lovewith the calm, introspective and
profound person that you are.
Discover what's fun, unique andpowerful about being an
(00:21):
introvert, and how to make theelegant transition from quiet
achiever to quiet warrior inyour life and work anytime you
want, in more ways than youimagined possible.
Welcome.
Today's guest is Dr DavidHooper, an AI marketing
strategist who helps ambitiousbusinesses get seen, stand out
(00:44):
and sell more by combining clearmarketing strategy with
practical AI systems.
With a PhD in peak performanceand over a decade of experience
leading strategic change, davidhas helped leadership teams
simplify operations, implementintelligent systems and
integrate AI in a way that feelspractical, not overwhelming.
(01:08):
Welcome, david, to the QuietWarrior podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Serena, thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited for ourconversation.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Me too, I think I first saw your story on LinkedIn
and I'm very curious, for thebenefit of our audience, if you
could talk to us about yourstory of transformation, what
that journey has been like foryou.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, no, thank you so much.
My initial big transformationhappened in 2017.
So the background to me is thatI was a athlete.
I was always in pretty goodshape, I knew exactly what I
wanted and I'd spent the bestpart of my kind of school and
(01:57):
then university career aiming toget a certain job.
And I got this job and I feltfully aligned in a real good
place.
And then about halfway throughthat contract, I was made
redundant.
So in July 2017, I was maderedundant and that sent me into
(02:20):
a huge spiral of eating anddrinking and not wanting to
leave the house and I ended upputting on 80 pounds of fat over
the best part of five months.
And for someone who was prettyathletic and, you know, like to
go to the gym and always try topromote health and fitness, it
(02:44):
was a huge shock that I was inthis situation and what that led
to was a diagnosis of clinicaldepression.
So within five months, I'd gonefrom feeling like everything
was aligned to really lookinginto this dark abyss of hopeless
hopeful-lessness easy for me tosay and I arrived at December
(03:09):
2017.
So kind of five months afterthis this, this period where I
was officially morbidly obese Iwas redundant, so I wasn't in
employment and I was onmedication for clinical
depression and I had you couldcall it a couple of rock bottom
moments.
(03:29):
So the first one was aroundChristmas time.
So we were exchanging gifts andI got a t-shirt and it was from
my mother-in-law andfather-in-law, you know, lovely
present.
And I opened it and the size ofthe t-shirt was XXXL.
(03:50):
So it was a XXXL t-shirt andfor someone who usually, when it
comes to clothes, I'm a smallor a medium, normally, that was
a almost tangible piece ofevidence that you know I'd got
into a really bad place and Ihad a moment where I thought
(04:11):
thank you for this present butI'm never going to wear it.
That was my initial thought.
You know.
It was an appropriate present,it was the right size for me,
but I'm going to.
This is one of my kickstarters.
And, anyway, fast forward about15 minutes.
We're sitting around theChristmas table and we're
getting our food and I waswearing a shirt that was so
(04:35):
tight that I thought one of thebuttons was going to ping off
across the table into myfather-in-law's meal and I had
to excuse myself from the tableand go and put on the brand new
XXXL t-shirt that I'd sworn thatI was never going to wear, so I
had to put it on and that wasthe rock bottom moment where I
(05:01):
had nowhere else to go.
I'd succumbed to this T-shirtalmost, and we ended up having
our Christmas dinner and I fastforward to I think it was the
2nd of January 2018.
And I knew the only place Icould go to get out of this
(05:23):
situation was with massiveaction.
And the first part was learningmore about my mind and my
mindset and looking at three ofmy setbacks as opportunities.
So I looked at my morbidobesity as an opportunity to
(05:43):
re-evaluate my body and get thephysique that I wanted and be
the picture of health that Ialways like to be.
I looked at my redundancy as anopportunity to become an
entrepreneur and start my ownbusinesses, which is something
I'd always wanted to do, whichis something I'd always wanted
(06:07):
to do.
And the last part was I saw myclinical depression as an
opportunity to find happinessand real fulfillment, which,
again, I'd never found in mylife before.
So over the next five to sixmonths, I really got to work,
first mentally and I learnedabout all these different
mindset techniques, and thenreally practically and
physically.
So I I lost the 80 pounds, Istarted my first business and I
(06:32):
was signed off my my medicationfor depression journey a real
physical and mentaltransformation.
But yeah, it was something thatI look back on now and it's
really built where I've ended upgetting to.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
That is not one, but threeobstacles or challenges that you
mentioned about hitting rockbottom, and I think a lot of our
listeners will really resonateand appreciate the honesty and
the transparency with which youjust shared.
I'm wondering with a clinicaldepression, the understanding I
(07:16):
have and correct me if I'm wrongis that the meds are necessary
because clinical depression isdifferent from general
depression.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
yeah, it's.
It's kind of to do a little bitto do with brain chemistry and
even evening someone out, um,because a lot of how I felt was
was so negative and so down andI couldn't see any hope, I
couldn't see any positivity inthe world.
(07:50):
Everything was was just, youknow, a negative and that was a
little bit to do with some brainchemistry in my mindset and
what the medication would that Iwas.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
It evened that out a little bit, so it didn't
(08:34):
necessarily mean I was veryhappy and buzzing had been, it
kind of neutralized me a littlebit.
Journey is somewhat different,so I think it's important that
you've highlighted that what itdid was it didn't send you from
one end of the spectrum to theother as such.
It was more that it evened itout and helped you be at a more
(08:55):
neutral state perhaps that is,yeah, that is absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
it it definitely the the medication isn't the full
answer when it comes to anymental health.
Really, it can play a littlepart, and the part it played for
me was being able to in myself,being able to go okay, yes,
thing.
I've we've been through a bitof a hard time over the past six
(09:23):
to 12 months, but if we look atthese things from a different
perspective, we can fix what'sgoing on, we can change our
outcomes, we can pivot in thedirection that our life was
going, and it just gave me thatbrain space to be able to have
those thoughts.
So, like I say, it wasn'tjumping out.
(09:44):
You know, have medication oneday and then the next day, right
, let's go and completely changeour lives.
It didn't happen like that forme personally, but it did give
me that opportunity to havethose thoughts and go well
actually.
Yes, I'm currently morbidlyobese, but in six months time I
might not be.
I'm currently morbidly obese,but in six months time I might
(10:08):
not be.
And, yes, I might not be in ajob right now, but is this the
chance to start a business thatyou've been looking for?
So it was just those, thoselittle um, yeah, a little little
bit of an opportunity to tohave those thoughts, I think.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I like how you mentioned that the meds gave you
the brain space, because Ithink that's the one of the key
elements that makes a differencein someone's transformation
journey.
Being very honest about it'snot one thing, it's not the
other thing.
Sometimes it's like you have totry a few different things to
see what works for you, and youmentioned that you did a few
(10:42):
things in order.
You started with your mindsetand then you changed your
physicality, you started thebusiness and then eventually,
you were able to sign off on themeds, which means that,
underpinning this wholetransition, you could not have
100% control over how it wouldall turn out.
There was no way for you topredict how quickly you're going
(11:05):
to come out at the other end ofthe tunnel, but the meds did
help to even out that transitionand support you while you were
making all those changes in life.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Definitely, that's absolutely right, and they are
just a piece of a larger puzzle.
And when you're in thesituation that I found myself in
, I got to a point where itwasn't suicidal, so I was a very
(11:37):
dark place.
But when you're in such anegative space, you suddenly
have this almost thirst to trydifferent things to get you out
of these situations.
So for me, one of them wasmedication.
One of them was medication.
(12:05):
The other that really made abig impact was learning more
about my mindset and doingthings like listening to
podcasts just like this one,listening to meditation, doing
journaling, starting to thinkabout exercise, looking at my
diet and nutrition and all ofthese things started to be part
of that bigger puzzle thateventually would go on to change
my life.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
So it sounds to me almost like it was an
opportunity to experiment and totry some different things that
had been at the back of yourmind, that you wanted to try,
for instance, starting abusiness, and so that gave you
not only an opportunity but, Ithink, an added impetus, having
come, having just experiencedthose three rock bottom moments,
(12:45):
to now want to do somethingdifferent so that you could come
out of that state that's yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I'd completely agree with that, because I'd been
chasing the wrong things for along time.
So I'd played football orsoccer in the UK at a very high
level and I grew up aroundseeing things like fancy cars
and big houses from the olderfootball players who were on
(13:17):
millions.
And I came out of that systemgoing, oh well, I want all these
tangible things That'll fillthe hole of me not fulfilling
myself.
I want to get all these fancywatches and cars and things, and
that had been a pattern whereI'd been chasing these tangible
(13:38):
items up until that point.
And so I was 27 when this allhappened.
I remember lying on my staircaseit was about two or three
months into the new year, it wasearly in 2018, but I'd started
the process of this and Iremember I was on my staircase
(14:01):
and I've got a dog and I've gota cat and they happened to just
come next to me at that momentand I thought, if we were picked
up and my wife was there aswell, and we were just put in a
field in a tent the middle ofnowhere, I would be the happiest
(14:22):
man in the world, because I'drealized that these things that
we chase, these items.
They really don't make us happy.
It's the experiences and thepeople we spend or animals, in
my case, that we spend theseexperiences with.
That's where real happiness andfulfillment really comes from,
(14:47):
and that led into why I startedmy first business, because, as
you rightly said, thistransformation created the
opportunity for me to thinkright, right, what do I really
want to do here?
And I kept coming back to Iwant to impact people in a
really positive way.
That that was it, and I don'tthink I would have had those
(15:10):
thoughts if I hadn't had this,these setbacks, and I was able
to go and start my own businessand it was a gym gym at the time
and I ended up helping hundredsof people with their own mental
health and their physicalhealth.
So many positive things camefrom such a low point in my life
(15:32):
, which I think is alwaysinteresting.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
It is always interesting, and I think that's
the gift and the metric of goingthrough that kind of suffering.
I've often found that it's whenwe hit rock bottom that we
start to have that moment ofclarity.
Like you said, you know beingon the staircase with your dog
and your cat and realizingyou're the happiest man alive.
Just like that, that's all youneeded.
(15:57):
Like that, that's all youneeded.
But we spend so much of ourlives, decades, just chasing the
wrong things, climbing thewrong ladders, and then
realizing hang on, that'ssomeone else's expectations,
someone else's standards of whatI should be pursuing, and it's
almost a tragedy how much lifewe waste in pursuing those
(16:18):
things.
And then it has to take a rockbottom moment, a wake up call of
some kind, before we almostcome out of that trance and
realize this is not what I want.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yes, that is absolutely right and I felt like
I've had yeah.
I mean that moment on thestaircase.
For me was that almost thatfinal nudge, in that I'd
re-found who I am and you know,my values are all about empathy
(16:52):
and understanding.
And yes, there's another sideof me, as in.
I'm a high performer and I'mdisciplined and very motivated
and all of those things, but Idefinitely lost what I think
makes me unique in that I amthis high performer, but I'm
very empathetic andunderstanding.
(17:12):
I just want to help people.
I definitely think I'd lostthat for a few years, so
thankfully, we're back on tracknow.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Fantastic, and I remember that your tagline in
LinkedIn stood out to me becauseyou talked about AI and the
introverted entrepreneurs thatyou support and how AI can help
them.
So talk to us about being anintrovert.
What's been your experience?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Oh, yes, we were the best.
Firstly, let's, we'll put thatout there.
Initially, I think, yeah, forme as an introvert, I sometimes
think I am a bit of acontradiction in what others
think introverts can or can't do.
Others think introverts can orcan't do.
So you know, I'm a speakersimilar to yourself, serena we
(18:05):
go on podcasts, can be outgoingconfident, and I think my
experience as an introvert hasbeen almost dispelling myths
around introversion that reallyare frustrating.
But no, as a younger person,I've always been fairly quiet.
I've been someone who keptmyself to myself.
(18:26):
I'm very happy with my owncompany.
I'm one of those people whocould be locked in my own house
for a weekend, be very, veryhappy and comfortable.
That's, you know, part of who Iam.
And the other side is, I lovethe solace of being in the hills
with my dog and walking theforests and, you know, spending
(18:49):
time in nature.
That's all part of what makesme able to function, I think, at
the types of levels that I Iaspire to to function at.
So, yeah, I think, um, being anintrovert is something that I'm
still still learning to, tobalance and to deal with.
(19:10):
I, uh, quite often take on toomuch and I have those, those
lows, where you know theenergy's been taken out of me
and I needed to work at gettingmy energy back.
But yeah, it's really allowedme to again find who I really am
and to feel, yes, I'm living mybest life now.
(19:31):
I think that is how I probablysummarize it.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
So how are you living your best life as an
introverted entrepreneur,helping other introverted
entrepreneurs?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I also strive to protect certain times during the
week for activities that willallow me to recharge so I can,
first and foremost, be the besthusband I can be and then,
secondly, be the best mentor andentrepreneur and business owner
that I can be.
I try and do that by well.
Firstly this took a while toget to this point the recipe
that needs to be in my weekwhere I feel like I'm thriving.
So not every day is the same,but if I had kind of a perfect
(20:38):
day or week, it always involvesgetting up pretty early, so I am
one of those who gets up quiteearly.
Involves getting up prettyearly, so I am one of those who
gets up quite early.
I like feeling like I'm theonly person up and awake in the
world.
Really, you know, I, I it's.
I live in the northeast ofengland, a place called
newcastle, and it's always darkand cold here, but there's
nothing better than looking outmy window or stepping outside
(20:58):
and it's dark and it's cold andit's crispy and I just have a
moment where I go, you know, Itake a deep breath and calm
myself down, prepare for the day.
I then exercise.
So I try and go to the gymfirst thing in the morning there
may be things like journalingand meditation and cold water
therapy, depending on the day.
(21:19):
Meditation and cold watertherapy, depending on the day.
I then do tasks that Ipersonally find tough.
So in any interaction I findtough.
So things like outreach for mybusiness, having meetings.
I try and do those things whereI feel I'm in a great headspace
(21:39):
.
So it's either first thing inthe morning or last thing in the
day, depending on what I've gotgoing on.
And then, if I finish the workportion, my evenings are really
important.
So that involves walking thedog, it involves cooking a meal
and then sitting down with mywife, catching up with her,
(22:02):
maybe watching some televisionand going to bed reasonably
early.
So although I get up early, Igo to bed early as well and I
aim for seven to eight hours ofsleep, and that makes me feel
really good.
And then, if I look at the macroof my full week, saturday is
(22:23):
the most important day of myentire week.
So we always ring fence aSaturday to go on an adventure,
and what that means to us isdriving an hour out of the city,
out of Newcastle, is driving anhour out of the city, out of
Newcastle, where we live, intothe Northumberland hills or
(22:43):
forests and go and spending two,three hours exploring
countryside, breathing in thefresh air, reflecting on my wife
and my own weeks and puttingany anxiety to bed that we might
have had, and doing someplanning and some connection and
to give you an idea of whatthat looks like when we're
(23:08):
actually in this environment, ifyou imagine anything from lord
of the rings or the hobbit, youknow a huge, huge lord of the
rings and hobbit fan and we justtry and recreate those scenes,
the green scenes, and uh, it's,it's fabulous.
And then by the end of that,you know, once saturday is being
taken care of, we, we come home, maybe have a glass of wine and
(23:29):
then, uh, yeah, we feel, feelreally satisfied and and almost
ready to go again.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So saturday is almost a bit of a reset day, if, if
that makes sense I love thesound of your saturday and I
think billboard baggins wouldapprove of those five or seven
meals and, you know, by the fire, being very contented.
No visitors, I'm not at home toanyone.
Yes, that is exactly.
I think the the way introvertsthrive.
(23:57):
I love how you've buffered andring-fenced your routine
throughout the week, making surethere's always ample.
You know you're not rushingfrom one thing to another,
you're not packing the weekintensely having to talk to
people all the time, becausethose are things that exhaust
the introvert.
We can do them, but they comeat a cost.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah, that's absolutely right and and I've
tried to I need to get better atthis.
But something I've done in myweek is block out those certain
calendar times for theseactivities.
So when I do face-to-faceconversations or meetings, I
usually take those at the end ofthe day four o'clock, five
(24:42):
o'clock.
And because I know that,firstly, I, I am an anxious,
I've got anxiety.
So if anyone's keeping count,that's another thing that I, uh,
I, uh, I deal with, and I knowthat preparing for a meeting or
a podcast, it's energy, it'senergy.
(25:02):
So I try and have all thosethings at the end of the day so
that I can be my best self onthese calls, give it everything
I've got, and then I know thatwhen we're finished I'll be able
to reflect on it a little bit,but my day's really done after
that, unless there's any actionsthat come from those meetings.
(25:25):
So that would be the first thing, because I sometimes have
meetings, you know, at oneo'clock in the afternoon and
I've excuse me, I would findmyself having these meetings and
then I'd be sitting, slumped by, you know, two or three going.
Oh, my goodness, I can't doanything else today.
(25:46):
So I think, if you're anintrovert just trying to think
when are you able to thrive?
Do you have your most energy inthe mornings and a call would
get you energized for the restof the day Great.
Or are you more like me, whereI try and take care of all the
work I need to and keep thosemeetings at the end of the day
(26:08):
where I can leave it?
Leave it all on the grass ifyou take a sporting term and go
off into the evening going, ok,yeah, I can switch off now.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Thank you for sharing that.
I think it's very important tobe intentional with a routine.
I used to be quite random aswell and just go with the flow
and allow things to happen, butnow I'm learning also to notice
and respect my own cycles.
So, for instance, right now,when we are talking, I'm here
here in Melbourne, australia,and it's 7.30 in the evening.
So this will be my lastinteraction that requires
(26:44):
talking and using that kind ofenergy, whereas for you, your
day has just begun.
So I think that's really usefulfor the introvert to know.
Now, why do you say AI is theintroverted entrepreneur's best
friend when it comes tomarketing?
I'm very curious.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah, I do say that mainly because, as an introvert
myself, I found AI to almost bethe perfect partner.
So, like I said at the start ofour podcast, you know we're the
best, introverts are the best.
We have some incredible ideas,too many great ideas.
(27:23):
Sometimes we've got all thesedifferent things where we're
trying to balance and juggle,and the first point I would make
here is that it's great to havea partner to bounce some ideas
off.
So let's say you are anentrepreneur, you're an
introvert entrepreneur andyou're looking to build your
(27:43):
business.
Right, you probably go I'mgoing to do a new product or a
new offer or a new service justto compliment what I already
have.
Then, suddenly, if you'rewriting these down on a piece of
paper, it might look somethinglike oh, I'm going to do a new
high ticket offer, or I'm goingto start a podcast, or I'm going
(28:04):
to create a new lead magnet, orI'm going to create a community
and a paid community, or maybeI'm going to take my social
media a little bit moreseriously.
And suddenly, all of these 20ideas are, firstly, all
brilliant, but secondly, we go.
Oh goodness me, where do I gonow?
I can't do all 20.
And that's me.
(28:25):
That's how I work, so I getexcited about everything and
want to do it all.
And the first thing I startedto use AI for was having a
literal conversation withsomething like ChatGPT and
saying I'm an entrepreneur, I'mlooking to build out my offer
and create a little bit morewhen it comes to my services.
(28:46):
Here are my 20 ideas.
Which do you think are the topthree we should explore further,
and I would send that off.
And then the reply immediatelytakes me from 20 ideas to the
top three that ChatGPT thinks Ishould go with, and I repeat
that process all the way downuntil I have one idea.
(29:10):
And that just helped mepersonally go from right I'm
going to take on the world todaydown to right.
I can actually take this oneidea.
I could maybe create my somemarketing materials or start to
plan out how that might looklike over the next three or four
months, and it meant I couldwork a lot quicker, because I
(29:31):
think we get stuck as introvertsin the planning phase a little
bit.
You know I used to spend weeksthinking about what should my
business logo look like when youknow it doesn't matter my
business logo look like when youknow it doesn't matter, and you
know, it helps kind of cutthrough the noise and just
creates that space for us to go.
(29:51):
Okay, I've got these initialideas.
Now I've got one idea.
I can really go and take thisforward.
So that that would be the firstpart.
The second part, which is whereit gets a tad more complicated,
is that, as introverts, likewe've talked about, we need to
conserve our energy.
(30:12):
We can't go 100% all the time.
That's not how we're built.
We work in different ways.
If we start to partner with AIpartner with AI our business can
(30:32):
go 100%, 24 hours a day, sevendays a week.
We can take a step back, though, and we can rest.
So what that means is, if weput automations in place or
start to engage different AItools, they can be working while
you're sleeping.
So there's been some bigbreakthroughs when it's come to
things like AI agents.
They are almost like assistantsthat you can have in your
(30:53):
business.
They're like junior assistantsthat can actually do tasks for
you while you're asleep.
So, for introverts, it'sthinking about AI as somebody
you can add to your business andwork with them almost like a
partner.
One, it conserves your energyand, two, you can be doubly as
(31:17):
productive when you start toengage with these tools.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I think a lot of people that I've had
conversations with about AI areconcerned with the human
creativity and the ethics sideof things.
So they recognize that, yes,it's helpful to have AI as a
team member, as a businesspartner, to run those ideas past
and to implement and execute.
(31:43):
But when it comes to the pros,the cons, the ethics, the human
versus the artificial element,they feel a bit conflicted.
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I firstly have massive empathy for those people
because I am one of thosepeople as well.
I am a huge fan of the arts andthe creative industries and I
personally have my own worriesabout those industries.
So I'm definitely not an AIguru who's used AI for
(32:21):
everything.
That's definitely not what myapproach is at all.
When it comes to using AI inyour business, there is
definitely pros and cons.
The first is never claim to beusing AI for your own work if it
isn't your own work.
So if you're working withclients, if you're working with
(32:42):
customers, be super clear whereyou're using AI and people will
acknowledge and accept thatwritten a book and had it
actually published and theeditors had missed a prompt that
that author had accidentallyincluded in their book
(33:10):
transcript and had claimed thatthis was their own work and it
turned out it wasn't their ownwork.
So there's some seriousrepercussions of that plagiarism
and what you know lack ofdamaging your reputation and all
these different things.
So the first part is, if you'reusing AI, be really clear and
(33:30):
say you are Own the fact thatyou are an innovative business
and you're using AI, and thatwill be the start of all.
It's almost like a littledisclaimer, but you're covering
yourself when it comes to theactual creation.
I like to use the term well,I've used it already working
(33:50):
while you're sleeping.
So a lot of entrepreneurscreate some great content you
know this for yourself, serenathis podcast.
Others might have PowerPointsor PDFs or all of these
different things.
Now, what I would suggest isnever using AI to purely make up
(34:12):
content on your behalf.
That doesn't interest me at all.
I think there's no value inthat.
But what I do think there'svalue is we take all of your
previously created materials.
We take all of your previouslycreated materials, we put them
in a folder and we say to AI youcan use my previously created
(34:32):
materials to help me make newmaterials.
Because what we find, you knowI've got, let's say, 1000 social
media posts on Instagram andthey're not doing anything.
You know they're just sittingthere.
They're just.
You know they're sitting idle.
But what I could do is takethose 1000 Instagram posts,
(34:55):
which are my own thoughts, myown feelings, my own experiences
, my own case studies, and askAI to create new posts based on
the stuff I've already done.
So it's using your work morethan once, because when I make a
social media post and I'm veryhappy to be open and honest
about this.
You might go oh, what am Igoing to post today?
(35:18):
Well, I'll scroll through whathave I done previously.
Oh, that was a good story.
I'll tell it again from adifferent angle, or maybe I'll
record a video this time insteadof writing a post.
So it's all about that usingyour own work.
It's called a RAG system, wherethe AI goes into almost like a
(35:39):
library that you've created ofyour own work and it that
information and it it turns itinto something more useful for
you.
So that that would be the thefirst side of things.
And then the ethical challenge.
I think, again, it's a reallyimportant element to always use
(36:00):
ai in in a really positive way.
Don't use any confidential datayou, you know, really at all.
But there are ways you cancreate a ring fence, gpts, where
you can use confidential data.
But if you're just starting out, avoid using, you know, client
data or client names or anythingyou wouldn't want on the
(36:21):
internet, and that would be agood place to start.
So it's definitely a tool,definitely a way that we can
enhance what we're doing, butdefinitely come at AI with a
balanced view of you know.
I'm aware of what this is doingto the environment.
I'm aware of everything thatcould happen with AI and make a
(36:46):
decision where you want to useAI in your business.
It might be that you say, youknow what, I'm not going to use
AI for any creation.
That's fine, but you could beusing AI or autom of your, your
calendar or your emails, or youknow something where it's going
(37:06):
to going to boost you as well.
So it's a bit of you know,picking the opportunities for
you, your business, yourpersonality, your mindset, where
AI may enhance what you'redoing, not hinder it.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
I really appreciate how you've laid it out so
clearly and so transparently,because that really overcomes a
lot of the objections when itcomes to ethics and integrity.
So what we're saying is preserveyour integrity, keep being a
great human being, but also takea macro view and see from a
strategic point of view, as abusiness owner, as an
(37:42):
entrepreneur being on thecutting edge of technology point
of view, as a business owner,as an entrepreneur, being on the
cutting edge of technology howdoes this help me to do things
more efficiently, do things morequickly, cut down some of the
hours I spend looking for oldinformation, for instance, which
information was created by me,so therefore there's no ethical
issue there.
Just as I would go back andlook at old Instagram posts or
(38:04):
LinkedIn posts or my own podcastepisodes to scrape that
information out, someone can doit faster for me now, while I'm
sleeping, as you say.
So that's simply beingintelligent with our use of our
resources, but also maintainingthat creator's edge, in that we
are the ones with that uniquevoice, the unique lived
experience, the unique lens ofbeing an introvert and a high
(38:28):
performer and a quiet achiever,and using all of that to create
something that our clients andcustomers need.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
That's exactly right and it presents the opportunity
for solopreneurs, entrepreneurs,small business owners, to
compete with some of the biggercompanies.
So with the right set of AIagents and automations, a
solopreneur or even, you know, ateam of four, could outwork a
(39:00):
team of 500 that doesn't use AI.
So it evens the playing field alittle bit when it comes to
what your business couldactually go and achieve.
And it can take some lifestylebusinesses where you know you
might be working from a cafe andit's just you and you're, you
know, creating a few differentbits and pieces and you've got a
(39:21):
few clients.
It can take that lifestylebusiness and turn it into a
performance business with staffand locations and all of these,
you know, if that's what theentrepreneur wants.
So it just yeah, it evens theplaying field and it provides
some different opportunities forentrepreneurs to consider.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I think that is so exciting for our listeners, the
introverted entrepreneurs andthose about to start on that
journey, who are exploring allthe possibilities to take some
of what we've just talked abouttoday and start creating a way
forward for them to make this areality sooner rather than later
.
So, david, what is somethingyou're working on at the moment
(40:05):
that you would love more peopleto know about?
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Oh, I think there's.
Yeah, the main thing that I'mworking on at the moment is
building my own business.
So I've been building Lunala AIfor about six months now and we
help small businesses andcoaches and introverts and
entrepreneurs use AI in theirmarketing to get more leads and
(40:32):
interest and attention.
So the way the world that I'min in terms of online, there's
lots of competition and I wantto help get as many eyes as
possible on as many smallbusinesses as possible.
So I'm similar to kind of whatI mentioned just a second ago
Serena.
I'm all for bringing thatattention to introverts and
(40:58):
giving those people anopportunity to grow their
businesses.
That excites me so much.
So we work with businesses todo all of their marketing and
their social media and buildingtheir personal branding and
online presence, all with thisaim of can we help you grow your
business to a point that you'rereally excited about.
(41:21):
So I do have a website, so it'slunarlacouk, and if anybody's
interested, feel free to get intouch with me.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Fantastic.
I'll make sure to include thewebsite link, as well as your
socials, in the show notes sothat people can reach out and
connect with you.
So, david, thank you so muchfor coming on the Quiet Warrior
podcast today to share your AIjourney, but also your journey
of transformation, which hasbeen extremely inspiring, and
(41:53):
also I'm deeply appreciative ofthe courage and the
vulnerability that you've justshown.
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Thank you so much for having me've loved it and uh,
yeah, we'll have to do a parttwo at some point absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to
subscribe to the quiet warriorpodcast for more conversations
like this, and remember to leavea five-star rating and review
on your listening app to help usreach more introverts and quiet
(42:37):
achievers around the world.
See you on the next episode.
To receive more upliftingcontent like this, connect with
me on Instagram at Serena LoQuiet Warrior Coach.
Thank you for sharing your timeand your energy with me.
See you on the next episode.
Hi, I'm Serena Loh.
If you're used to hearing thatintroverts are shy, anxious,
antisocial and lack goodcommunication and leadership
skills, then this podcast is foryou.
You're about to fall in lovewith the calm, introspective and
profound person that you are.
Discover what's fun, unique andpowerful about being an
(00:21):
introvert, and how to make theelegant transition from quiet
achiever to quiet warrior inyour life and work anytime you
want, in more ways than youimagined possible.
Welcome.
Today's guest is Dr DavidHooper, an AI marketing
strategist who helps ambitiousbusinesses get seen, stand out
(00:44):
and sell more by combining clearmarketing strategy with
practical AI systems.
With a PhD in peak performanceand over a decade of experience
leading strategic change, davidhas helped leadership teams
simplify operations, implementintelligent systems and
integrate AI in a way that feelspractical, not overwhelming.
(01:08):
Welcome, david, to the QuietWarrior podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Serena, thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited for ourconversation.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Me too, I think I first saw your story on LinkedIn
and I'm very curious, for thebenefit of our audience, if you
could talk to us about yourstory of transformation, what
that journey has been like foryou.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, no, thank you so much.
My initial big transformationhappened in 2017.
So the background to me is thatI was a athlete.
I was always in pretty goodshape, I knew exactly what I
wanted and I'd spent the bestpart of my kind of school and
(01:57):
then university career aiming toget a certain job.
And I got this job and I feltfully aligned in a real good
place.
And then about halfway throughthat contract, I was made
redundant.
So in July 2017, I was maderedundant and that sent me into
(02:20):
a huge spiral of eating anddrinking and not wanting to
leave the house and I ended upputting on 80 pounds of fat over
the best part of five months.
And for someone who was prettyathletic and, you know, like to
go to the gym and always try topromote health and fitness, it
(02:44):
was a huge shock that I was inthis situation and what that led
to was a diagnosis of clinicaldepression.
So within five months, I'd gonefrom feeling like everything
was aligned to really lookinginto this dark abyss of hopeless
hopeful-lessness easy for me tosay and I arrived at December
(03:09):
2017.
So kind of five months afterthis this, this period where I
was officially morbidly obese Iwas redundant, so I wasn't in
employment and I was onmedication for clinical
depression and I had you couldcall it a couple of rock bottom
moments.
(03:29):
So the first one was aroundChristmas time.
So we were exchanging gifts andI got a t-shirt and it was from
my mother-in-law andfather-in-law, you know, lovely
present.
And I opened it and the size ofthe t-shirt was XXXL.
(03:50):
So it was a XXXL t-shirt andfor someone who usually, when it
comes to clothes, I'm a smallor a medium, normally, that was
a almost tangible piece ofevidence that you know I'd got
into a really bad place and Ihad a moment where I thought
(04:11):
thank you for this present butI'm never going to wear it.
That was my initial thought.
You know.
It was an appropriate present,it was the right size for me,
but I'm going to.
This is one of my kickstarters.
And, anyway, fast forward about15 minutes.
We're sitting around theChristmas table and we're
getting our food and I waswearing a shirt that was so
(04:35):
tight that I thought one of thebuttons was going to ping off
across the table into myfather-in-law's meal and I had
to excuse myself from the tableand go and put on the brand new
XXXL t-shirt that I'd sworn thatI was never going to wear, so I
had to put it on and that wasthe rock bottom moment where I
(05:01):
had nowhere else to go.
I'd succumbed to this T-shirtalmost, and we ended up having
our Christmas dinner and I fastforward to I think it was the
2nd of January 2018.
And I knew the only place Icould go to get out of this
(05:23):
situation was with massiveaction.
And the first part was learningmore about my mind and my
mindset and looking at three ofmy setbacks as opportunities.
So I looked at my morbidobesity as an opportunity to
(05:43):
re-evaluate my body and get thephysique that I wanted and be
the picture of health that Ialways like to be.
I looked at my redundancy as anopportunity to become an
entrepreneur and start my ownbusinesses, which is something
I'd always wanted to do, whichis something I'd always wanted
(06:07):
to do.
And the last part was I saw myclinical depression as an
opportunity to find happinessand real fulfillment, which,
again, I'd never found in mylife before.
So over the next five to sixmonths, I really got to work,
first mentally and I learnedabout all these different
mindset techniques, and thenreally practically and
physically.
So I I lost the 80 pounds, Istarted my first business and I
(06:32):
was signed off my my medicationfor depression journey a real
physical and mentaltransformation.
But yeah, it was something thatI look back on now and it's
really built where I've ended upgetting to.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Thank you so much for sharing that.
That is not one, but threeobstacles or challenges that you
mentioned about hitting rockbottom, and I think a lot of our
listeners will really resonateand appreciate the honesty and
the transparency with which youjust shared.
I'm wondering with a clinicaldepression, the understanding I
(07:16):
have and correct me if I'm wrongis that the meds are necessary
because clinical depression isdifferent from general
depression.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
yeah, it's.
It's kind of to do a little bitto do with brain chemistry and
even evening someone out, um,because a lot of how I felt was
was so negative and so down andI couldn't see any hope, I
couldn't see any positivity inthe world.
(07:50):
Everything was was just, youknow, a negative and that was a
little bit to do with some brainchemistry in my mindset and
what the medication would that Iwas.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
It evened that out a little bit, so it didn't
(08:34):
necessarily mean I was veryhappy and buzzing had been, it
kind of neutralized me a littlebit.
Journey is somewhat different,so I think it's important that
you've highlighted that what itdid was it didn't send you from
one end of the spectrum to theother as such.
It was more that it evened itout and helped you be at a more
(08:55):
neutral state perhaps that is,yeah, that is absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
it it definitely the the medication isn't the full
answer when it comes to anymental health.
Really, it can play a littlepart, and the part it played for
me was being able to in myself,being able to go okay, yes,
thing.
I've we've been through a bitof a hard time over the past six
(09:23):
to 12 months, but if we look atthese things from a different
perspective, we can fix what'sgoing on, we can change our
outcomes, we can pivot in thedirection that our life was
going, and it just gave me thatbrain space to be able to have
those thoughts.
So, like I say, it wasn'tjumping out.
(09:44):
You know, have medication oneday and then the next day, right
, let's go and completely changeour lives.
It didn't happen like that forme personally, but it did give
me that opportunity to havethose thoughts and go well
actually.
Yes, I'm currently morbidlyobese, but in six months time I
might not be.
I'm currently morbidly obese,but in six months time I might
(10:08):
not be.
And, yes, I might not be in ajob right now, but is this the
chance to start a business thatyou've been looking for?
So it was just those, thoselittle um, yeah, a little little
bit of an opportunity to tohave those thoughts, I think.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I like how you mentioned that the meds gave you
the brain space, because Ithink that's the one of the key
elements that makes a differencein someone's transformation
journey.
Being very honest about it'snot one thing, it's not the
other thing.
Sometimes it's like you have totry a few different things to
see what works for you, and youmentioned that you did a few
(10:42):
things in order.
You started with your mindsetand then you changed your
physicality, you started thebusiness and then eventually,
you were able to sign off on themeds, which means that,
underpinning this wholetransition, you could not have
100% control over how it wouldall turn out.
There was no way for you topredict how quickly you're going
(11:05):
to come out at the other end ofthe tunnel, but the meds did
help to even out that transitionand support you while you were
making all those changes in life.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Definitely, that's absolutely right, and they are
just a piece of a larger puzzle.
And when you're in thesituation that I found myself in
, I got to a point where itwasn't suicidal, so I was a very
(11:37):
dark place.
But when you're in such anegative space, you suddenly
have this almost thirst to trydifferent things to get you out
of these situations.
So for me, one of them wasmedication.
One of them was medication.
(12:05):
The other that really made abig impact was learning more
about my mindset and doingthings like listening to
podcasts just like this one,listening to meditation, doing
journaling, starting to thinkabout exercise, looking at my
diet and nutrition and all ofthese things started to be part
of that bigger puzzle thateventually would go on to change
my life.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
So it sounds to me almost like it was an
opportunity to experiment and totry some different things that
had been at the back of yourmind, that you wanted to try,
for instance, starting abusiness, and so that gave you
not only an opportunity but, Ithink, an added impetus, having
come, having just experiencedthose three rock bottom moments,
(12:45):
to now want to do somethingdifferent so that you could come
out of that state that's yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I'd completely agree with that, because I'd been
chasing the wrong things for along time.
So I'd played football orsoccer in the UK at a very high
level and I grew up aroundseeing things like fancy cars
and big houses from the olderfootball players who were on
(13:17):
millions.
And I came out of that systemgoing, oh well, I want all these
tangible things That'll fillthe hole of me not fulfilling
myself.
I want to get all these fancywatches and cars and things, and
that had been a pattern whereI'd been chasing these tangible
(13:38):
items up until that point.
And so I was 27 when this allhappened.
I remember lying on my staircaseit was about two or three
months into the new year, it wasearly in 2018, but I'd started
the process of this and Iremember I was on my staircase
(14:01):
and I've got a dog and I've gota cat and they happened to just
come next to me at that momentand I thought, if we were picked
up and my wife was there aswell, and we were just put in a
field in a tent the middle ofnowhere, I would be the happiest
(14:22):
man in the world, because I'drealized that these things that
we chase, these items.
They really don't make us happy.
It's the experiences and thepeople we spend or animals, in
my case, that we spend theseexperiences with.
That's where real happiness andfulfillment really comes from,
(14:47):
and that led into why I startedmy first business, because, as
you rightly said, thistransformation created the
opportunity for me to thinkright, right, what do I really
want to do here?
And I kept coming back to Iwant to impact people in a
really positive way.
That that was it, and I don'tthink I would have had those
(15:10):
thoughts if I hadn't had this,these setbacks, and I was able
to go and start my own businessand it was a gym gym at the time
and I ended up helping hundredsof people with their own mental
health and their physicalhealth.
So many positive things camefrom such a low point in my life
(15:32):
, which I think is alwaysinteresting.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
It is always interesting, and I think that's
the gift and the metric of goingthrough that kind of suffering.
I've often found that it's whenwe hit rock bottom that we
start to have that moment ofclarity.
Like you said, you know beingon the staircase with your dog
and your cat and realizingyou're the happiest man alive.
Just like that, that's all youneeded.
(15:57):
Like that, that's all youneeded.
But we spend so much of ourlives, decades, just chasing the
wrong things, climbing thewrong ladders, and then
realizing hang on, that'ssomeone else's expectations,
someone else's standards of whatI should be pursuing, and it's
almost a tragedy how much lifewe waste in pursuing those
(16:18):
things.
And then it has to take a rockbottom moment, a wake up call of
some kind, before we almostcome out of that trance and
realize this is not what I want.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yes, that is absolutely right and I felt like
I've had yeah.
I mean that moment on thestaircase.
For me was that almost thatfinal nudge, in that I'd
re-found who I am and you know,my values are all about empathy
(16:52):
and understanding.
And yes, there's another sideof me, as in.
I'm a high performer and I'mdisciplined and very motivated
and all of those things, but Idefinitely lost what I think
makes me unique in that I amthis high performer, but I'm
very empathetic andunderstanding.
(17:12):
I just want to help people.
I definitely think I'd lostthat for a few years, so
thankfully, we're back on tracknow.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Fantastic, and I remember that your tagline in
LinkedIn stood out to me becauseyou talked about AI and the
introverted entrepreneurs thatyou support and how AI can help
them.
So talk to us about being anintrovert.
What's been your experience?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Oh, yes, we were the best.
Firstly, let's, we'll put thatout there.
Initially, I think, yeah, forme as an introvert, I sometimes
think I am a bit of acontradiction in what others
think introverts can or can't do.
Others think introverts can orcan't do.
So you know, I'm a speakersimilar to yourself, serena we
(18:05):
go on podcasts, can be outgoingconfident, and I think my
experience as an introvert hasbeen almost dispelling myths
around introversion that reallyare frustrating.
But no, as a younger person,I've always been fairly quiet.
I've been someone who keptmyself to myself.
(18:26):
I'm very happy with my owncompany.
I'm one of those people whocould be locked in my own house
for a weekend, be very, veryhappy and comfortable.
That's, you know, part of who Iam.
And the other side is, I lovethe solace of being in the hills
with my dog and walking theforests and, you know, spending
(18:49):
time in nature.
That's all part of what makesme able to function, I think, at
the types of levels that I Iaspire to to function at.
So, yeah, I think, um, being anintrovert is something that I'm
still still learning to, tobalance and to deal with.
(19:10):
I, uh, quite often take on toomuch and I have those, those
lows, where you know theenergy's been taken out of me
and I needed to work at gettingmy energy back.
But yeah, it's really allowedme to again find who I really am
and to feel, yes, I'm living mybest life now.
(19:31):
I think that is how I probablysummarize it.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
So how are you living your best life as an
introverted entrepreneur,helping other introverted
entrepreneurs?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I also strive to protect certain times during the
week for activities that willallow me to recharge so I can,
first and foremost, be the besthusband I can be and then,
secondly, be the best mentor andentrepreneur and business owner
that I can be.
I try and do that by well.
Firstly this took a while toget to this point the recipe
that needs to be in my weekwhere I feel like I'm thriving.
So not every day is the same,but if I had kind of a perfect
(20:38):
day or week, it always involvesgetting up pretty early, so I am
one of those who gets up quiteearly.
Involves getting up prettyearly, so I am one of those who
gets up quite early.
I like feeling like I'm theonly person up and awake in the
world.
Really, you know, I, I it's.
I live in the northeast ofengland, a place called
newcastle, and it's always darkand cold here, but there's
nothing better than looking outmy window or stepping outside
(20:58):
and it's dark and it's cold andit's crispy and I just have a
moment where I go, you know, Itake a deep breath and calm
myself down, prepare for the day.
I then exercise.
So I try and go to the gymfirst thing in the morning there
may be things like journalingand meditation and cold water
therapy, depending on the day.
(21:19):
Meditation and cold watertherapy, depending on the day.
I then do tasks that Ipersonally find tough.
So in any interaction I findtough.
So things like outreach for mybusiness, having meetings.
I try and do those things whereI feel I'm in a great headspace
(21:39):
.
So it's either first thing inthe morning or last thing in the
day, depending on what I've gotgoing on.
And then, if I finish the workportion, my evenings are really
important.
So that involves walking thedog, it involves cooking a meal
and then sitting down with mywife, catching up with her,
(22:02):
maybe watching some televisionand going to bed reasonably
early.
So although I get up early, Igo to bed early as well and I
aim for seven to eight hours ofsleep, and that makes me feel
really good.
And then, if I look at the macroof my full week, saturday is
(22:23):
the most important day of myentire week.
So we always ring fence aSaturday to go on an adventure,
and what that means to us isdriving an hour out of the city,
out of Newcastle, is driving anhour out of the city, out of
Newcastle, where we live, intothe Northumberland hills or
(22:43):
forests and go and spending two,three hours exploring
countryside, breathing in thefresh air, reflecting on my wife
and my own weeks and puttingany anxiety to bed that we might
have had, and doing someplanning and some connection and
to give you an idea of whatthat looks like when we're
(23:08):
actually in this environment, ifyou imagine anything from lord
of the rings or the hobbit, youknow a huge, huge lord of the
rings and hobbit fan and we justtry and recreate those scenes,
the green scenes, and uh, it's,it's fabulous.
And then by the end of that,you know, once saturday is being
taken care of, we, we come home, maybe have a glass of wine and
(23:29):
then, uh, yeah, we feel, feelreally satisfied and and almost
ready to go again.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So saturday is almost a bit of a reset day, if, if
that makes sense I love thesound of your saturday and I
think billboard baggins wouldapprove of those five or seven
meals and, you know, by the fire, being very contented.
No visitors, I'm not at home toanyone.
Yes, that is exactly.
I think the the way introvertsthrive.
(23:57):
I love how you've buffered andring-fenced your routine
throughout the week, making surethere's always ample.
You know you're not rushingfrom one thing to another,
you're not packing the weekintensely having to talk to
people all the time, becausethose are things that exhaust
the introvert.
We can do them, but they comeat a cost.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah, that's absolutely right and and I've
tried to I need to get better atthis.
But something I've done in myweek is block out those certain
calendar times for theseactivities.
So when I do face-to-faceconversations or meetings, I
usually take those at the end ofthe day four o'clock, five
(24:42):
o'clock.
And because I know that,firstly, I, I am an anxious,
I've got anxiety.
So if anyone's keeping count,that's another thing that I, uh,
I, uh, I deal with, and I knowthat preparing for a meeting or
a podcast, it's energy, it'senergy.
(25:02):
So I try and have all thosethings at the end of the day so
that I can be my best self onthese calls, give it everything
I've got, and then I know thatwhen we're finished I'll be able
to reflect on it a little bit,but my day's really done after
that, unless there's any actionsthat come from those meetings.
(25:25):
So that would be the first thing, because I sometimes have
meetings, you know, at oneo'clock in the afternoon and
I've excuse me, I would findmyself having these meetings and
then I'd be sitting, slumped by, you know, two or three going.
Oh, my goodness, I can't doanything else today.
(25:46):
So I think, if you're anintrovert just trying to think
when are you able to thrive?
Do you have your most energy inthe mornings and a call would
get you energized for the restof the day Great.
Or are you more like me, whereI try and take care of all the
work I need to and keep thosemeetings at the end of the day
(26:08):
where I can leave it?
Leave it all on the grass ifyou take a sporting term and go
off into the evening going, ok,yeah, I can switch off now.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Thank you for sharing that.
I think it's very important tobe intentional with a routine.
I used to be quite random aswell and just go with the flow
and allow things to happen, butnow I'm learning also to notice
and respect my own cycles.
So, for instance, right now,when we are talking, I'm here
here in Melbourne, australia,and it's 7.30 in the evening.
So this will be my lastinteraction that requires
(26:44):
talking and using that kind ofenergy, whereas for you, your
day has just begun.
So I think that's really usefulfor the introvert to know.
Now, why do you say AI is theintroverted entrepreneur's best
friend when it comes tomarketing?
I'm very curious.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah, I do say that mainly because, as an introvert
myself, I found AI to almost bethe perfect partner.
So, like I said at the start ofour podcast, you know we're the
best, introverts are the best.
We have some incredible ideas,too many great ideas.
(27:23):
Sometimes we've got all thesedifferent things where we're
trying to balance and juggle,and the first point I would make
here is that it's great to havea partner to bounce some ideas
off.
So let's say you are anentrepreneur, you're an
introvert entrepreneur andyou're looking to build your
(27:43):
business.
Right, you probably go I'mgoing to do a new product or a
new offer or a new service justto compliment what I already
have.
Then, suddenly, if you'rewriting these down on a piece of
paper, it might look somethinglike oh, I'm going to do a new
high ticket offer, or I'm goingto start a podcast, or I'm going
(28:04):
to create a new lead magnet, orI'm going to create a community
and a paid community, or maybeI'm going to take my social
media a little bit moreseriously.
And suddenly, all of these 20ideas are, firstly, all
brilliant, but secondly, we go.
Oh goodness me, where do I gonow?
I can't do all 20.
And that's me.
(28:25):
That's how I work, so I getexcited about everything and
want to do it all.
And the first thing I startedto use AI for was having a
literal conversation withsomething like ChatGPT and
saying I'm an entrepreneur, I'mlooking to build out my offer
and create a little bit morewhen it comes to my services.
(28:46):
Here are my 20 ideas.
Which do you think are the topthree we should explore further,
and I would send that off.
And then the reply immediatelytakes me from 20 ideas to the
top three that ChatGPT thinks Ishould go with, and I repeat
that process all the way downuntil I have one idea.
(29:10):
And that just helped mepersonally go from right I'm
going to take on the world todaydown to right.
I can actually take this oneidea.
I could maybe create my somemarketing materials or start to
plan out how that might looklike over the next three or four
months, and it meant I couldwork a lot quicker, because I
(29:31):
think we get stuck as introvertsin the planning phase a little
bit.
You know I used to spend weeksthinking about what should my
business logo look like when youknow it doesn't matter my
business logo look like when youknow it doesn't matter, and you
know, it helps kind of cutthrough the noise and just
creates that space for us to go.
(29:51):
Okay, I've got these initialideas.
Now I've got one idea.
I can really go and take thisforward.
So that that would be the firstpart.
The second part, which is whereit gets a tad more complicated,
is that, as introverts, likewe've talked about, we need to
conserve our energy.
(30:12):
We can't go 100% all the time.
That's not how we're built.
We work in different ways.
If we start to partner with AIpartner with AI our business can
(30:32):
go 100%, 24 hours a day, sevendays a week.
We can take a step back, though, and we can rest.
So what that means is, if weput automations in place or
start to engage different AItools, they can be working while
you're sleeping.
So there's been some bigbreakthroughs when it's come to
things like AI agents.
They are almost like assistantsthat you can have in your
(30:53):
business.
They're like junior assistantsthat can actually do tasks for
you while you're asleep.
So, for introverts, it'sthinking about AI as somebody
you can add to your business andwork with them almost like a
partner.
One, it conserves your energyand, two, you can be doubly as
(31:17):
productive when you start toengage with these tools.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I think a lot of people that I've had
conversations with about AI areconcerned with the human
creativity and the ethics sideof things.
So they recognize that, yes,it's helpful to have AI as a
team member, as a businesspartner, to run those ideas past
and to implement and execute.
(31:43):
But when it comes to the pros,the cons, the ethics, the human
versus the artificial element,they feel a bit conflicted.
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I firstly have massive empathy for those people
because I am one of thosepeople as well.
I am a huge fan of the arts andthe creative industries and I
personally have my own worriesabout those industries.
So I'm definitely not an AIguru who's used AI for
(32:21):
everything.
That's definitely not what myapproach is at all.
When it comes to using AI inyour business, there is
definitely pros and cons.
The first is never claim to beusing AI for your own work if it
isn't your own work.
So if you're working withclients, if you're working with
(32:42):
customers, be super clear whereyou're using AI and people will
acknowledge and accept thatwritten a book and had it
actually published and theeditors had missed a prompt that
that author had accidentallyincluded in their book
(33:10):
transcript and had claimed thatthis was their own work and it
turned out it wasn't their ownwork.
So there's some seriousrepercussions of that plagiarism
and what you know lack ofdamaging your reputation and all
these different things.
So the first part is, if you'reusing AI, be really clear and
(33:30):
say you are Own the fact thatyou are an innovative business
and you're using AI, and thatwill be the start of all.
It's almost like a littledisclaimer, but you're covering
yourself when it comes to theactual creation.
I like to use the term well,I've used it already working
(33:50):
while you're sleeping.
So a lot of entrepreneurscreate some great content you
know this for yourself, serenathis podcast.
Others might have PowerPointsor PDFs or all of these
different things.
Now, what I would suggest isnever using AI to purely make up
(34:12):
content on your behalf.
That doesn't interest me at all.
I think there's no value inthat.
But what I do think there'svalue is we take all of your
previously created materials.
We take all of your previouslycreated materials, we put them
in a folder and we say to AI youcan use my previously created
(34:32):
materials to help me make newmaterials.
Because what we find, you knowI've got, let's say, 1000 social
media posts on Instagram andthey're not doing anything.
You know they're just sittingthere.
They're just.
You know they're sitting idle.
But what I could do is takethose 1000 Instagram posts,
(34:55):
which are my own thoughts, myown feelings, my own experiences
, my own case studies, and askAI to create new posts based on
the stuff I've already done.
So it's using your work morethan once, because when I make a
social media post and I'm veryhappy to be open and honest
about this.
You might go oh, what am Igoing to post today?
(35:18):
Well, I'll scroll through whathave I done previously.
Oh, that was a good story.
I'll tell it again from adifferent angle, or maybe I'll
record a video this time insteadof writing a post.
So it's all about that usingyour own work.
It's called a RAG system, wherethe AI goes into almost like a
(35:39):
library that you've created ofyour own work and it that
information and it it turns itinto something more useful for
you.
So that that would be the thefirst side of things.
And then the ethical challenge.
I think, again, it's a reallyimportant element to always use
(36:00):
ai in in a really positive way.
Don't use any confidential datayou, you know, really at all.
But there are ways you cancreate a ring fence, gpts, where
you can use confidential data.
But if you're just starting out, avoid using, you know, client
data or client names or anythingyou wouldn't want on the
(36:21):
internet, and that would be agood place to start.
So it's definitely a tool,definitely a way that we can
enhance what we're doing, butdefinitely come at AI with a
balanced view of you know.
I'm aware of what this is doingto the environment.
I'm aware of everything thatcould happen with AI and make a
(36:46):
decision where you want to useAI in your business.
It might be that you say, youknow what, I'm not going to use
AI for any creation.
That's fine, but you could beusing AI or autom of your, your
calendar or your emails, or youknow something where it's going
(37:06):
to going to boost you as well.
So it's a bit of you know,picking the opportunities for
you, your business, yourpersonality, your mindset, where
AI may enhance what you'redoing, not hinder it.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
I really appreciate how you've laid it out so
clearly and so transparently,because that really overcomes a
lot of the objections when itcomes to ethics and integrity.
So what we're saying is preserveyour integrity, keep being a
great human being, but also takea macro view and see from a
strategic point of view, as abusiness owner, as an
(37:42):
entrepreneur being on thecutting edge of technology point
of view, as a business owner,as an entrepreneur, being on the
cutting edge of technology howdoes this help me to do things
more efficiently, do things morequickly, cut down some of the
hours I spend looking for oldinformation, for instance, which
information was created by me,so therefore there's no ethical
issue there.
Just as I would go back andlook at old Instagram posts or
(38:04):
LinkedIn posts or my own podcastepisodes to scrape that
information out, someone can doit faster for me now, while I'm
sleeping, as you say.
So that's simply beingintelligent with our use of our
resources, but also maintainingthat creator's edge, in that we
are the ones with that uniquevoice, the unique lived
experience, the unique lens ofbeing an introvert and a high
(38:28):
performer and a quiet achiever,and using all of that to create
something that our clients andcustomers need.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
That's exactly right and it presents the opportunity
for solopreneurs, entrepreneurs,small business owners, to
compete with some of the biggercompanies.
So with the right set of AIagents and automations, a
solopreneur or even, you know, ateam of four, could outwork a
(39:00):
team of 500 that doesn't use AI.
So it evens the playing field alittle bit when it comes to
what your business couldactually go and achieve.
And it can take some lifestylebusinesses where you know you
might be working from a cafe andit's just you and you're, you
know, creating a few differentbits and pieces and you've got a
(39:21):
few clients.
It can take that lifestylebusiness and turn it into a
performance business with staffand locations and all of these,
you know, if that's what theentrepreneur wants.
So it just yeah, it evens theplaying field and it provides
some different opportunities forentrepreneurs to consider.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I think that is so exciting for our listeners, the
introverted entrepreneurs andthose about to start on that
journey, who are exploring allthe possibilities to take some
of what we've just talked abouttoday and start creating a way
forward for them to make this areality sooner rather than later
.
So, david, what is somethingyou're working on at the moment
(40:05):
that you would love more peopleto know about?
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Oh, I think there's.
Yeah, the main thing that I'mworking on at the moment is
building my own business.
So I've been building Lunala AIfor about six months now and we
help small businesses andcoaches and introverts and
entrepreneurs use AI in theirmarketing to get more leads and
(40:32):
interest and attention.
So the way the world that I'min in terms of online, there's
lots of competition and I wantto help get as many eyes as
possible on as many smallbusinesses as possible.
So I'm similar to kind of whatI mentioned just a second ago
Serena.
I'm all for bringing thatattention to introverts and
(40:58):
giving those people anopportunity to grow their
businesses.
That excites me so much.
So we work with businesses todo all of their marketing and
their social media and buildingtheir personal branding and
online presence, all with thisaim of can we help you grow your
business to a point that you'rereally excited about.
(41:21):
So I do have a website, so it'slunarlacouk, and if anybody's
interested, feel free to get intouch with me.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Fantastic.
I'll make sure to include thewebsite link, as well as your
socials, in the show notes sothat people can reach out and
connect with you.
So, david, thank you so muchfor coming on the Quiet Warrior
podcast today to share your AIjourney, but also your journey
of transformation, which hasbeen extremely inspiring, and
(41:53):
also I'm deeply appreciative ofthe courage and the
vulnerability that you've justshown.
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Thank you so much for having me've loved it and uh,
yeah, we'll have to do a parttwo at some point absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to
subscribe to the quiet warriorpodcast for more conversations
like this, and remember to leavea five-star rating and review
on your listening app to help usreach more introverts and quiet
(42:37):
achievers around the world.
See you on the next episode.
To receive more upliftingcontent like this, connect with
me on Instagram at Serena LoQuiet Warrior Coach.
Thank you for sharing your timeand your energy with me.
See you on the next episode.
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