I just got back from Social Media Marketing World/ AI Business World in Anaheim, CA (yes, I went to Disneyland—you know me) and I brought home something WAY better than mouse ears: real conversations with real entrepreneurs who are actually making money with AI. And not in some hypothetical "maybe someday" kind of way. Like, right now. Today. In their businesses. This episode is raw, scrappy, and full of ideas you can steal. I sat down on-site with three brilliant humans—Maddie Van Patton (wedding industry), Emma Tiegan (social media scheduling), and Lauren deVane (visual AI queen)—and asked them one question: How are you monetizing AI? What I got back was pure gold.

We're living through another gold rush moment in the online space, and most people don't even realize it yet. Between 2019 and 2021, the online course market exploded from $45 billion to $165 billion. Early movers captured 70% of that market just by being first. But by 2022? The market hit saturation. Course completion rates dropped to 20%. Content fatigue set in. And honestly? I've got my own course graveyard collecting dust on Google Drive. (I know I'm not alone!) But here's what's happening now: Expert-backed AI is creating an entirely new category and it's not just a trend. It's a fundamental shift in how we deliver transformation. In this episode, I'm breaking down what expert-backed AI actually is, why it's different from just using ChatGPT, and how it's changing the monetization game for coaches, course creators, and service providers. This isn't about replacing you. It's about extending your brain into tools your clients can access 24/7 so they get faster results, you have deeper conversations, and everyone wins.

Okay, I'm finally spilling it. After months of being *annoyingly* coy about "the platform," I can officially tell you what Andrew and I have been building—and what it's called. Meet wAIv (yes, spelled like that—lowercase w, capital AI, lowercase v). It's an AI platform designed to help expert creators like you build, protect, and *monetize* your knowledge through custom AI tools we call bot squads. In this episode, I'm taking you behind the scenes of our launch—how we named the company (pizza + whiteboards were involved), why we're doing this, and what makes wAIv different from anything else out there.

I didn't sleep last night. My brain wouldn't shut off—and it wasn't my kids, my snoring husband, or even my senior dog waking me up at 2 a.m. It was the relentless pace of AI news, the fear of falling behind, and the pressure of building in this space while trying to make sense of it all. So I figured if I'm feeling it, you probably are too. In this episode, I'm getting real about what it actually feels like to be a business owner right now—when AI is moving faster than most of us can process, when the headlines are loud, and when you're trying to figure out what actually matters versus what's just noise.

Today, I sat down with Prerna Malik, an AI strategist, sales expert, and conversion copywriter behind multiple seven-figure launches for clients like Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, and Copyhackers. Prerna is co-founder of Content Bistro (soon to be Profitably Yours), and she blends AI, buyer psychology, and conversion science to help entrepreneurs build people-first, profit-rich sales systems. This conversation is a masterclass in using AI intentionally and keeping the "you" in your business.

We're living through another gold rush moment in the online space, and most people don't even realize it yet. Between 2019 and 2021, the online course market exploded from $45 billion to $165 billion. Early movers captured 70% of that market just by being first. But by 2022? The market hit saturation. Course completion rates dropped to 20%. Content fatigue set in. And honestly? I've got my own course graveyard collecting dust on Google Drive. (I know I'm not alone!) But here's what's happening now: Expert-backed AI is creating an entirely new category and it's not just a trend. It's a fundamental shift in how we deliver transformation. In this episode, I'm breaking down what expert-backed AI actually is, why it's different from just using ChatGPT, and how it's changing the monetization game for coaches, course creators, and service providers. This isn't about replacing you. It's about extending your brain into tools your clients can access 24/7 so they get faster results, you have deeper conversations, and everyone wins.