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 talking about:

1. Building AI tools that help small businesses compete with the big guys (without the big budgets)
2. Using AI to automate content scheduling so solopreneurs can batch and chill
3. Creating custom GPTs and courses that teach visual creation without the fear factor
4. Launching paid memberships because static courses can't keep up with how fast AI moves
5. The difference between using AI and selling AI expertise

If you've ever opened ChatGPT and stared at the blank screen going "...now what?"—this episode is your spark. It's not about being perfect. It's about being curious and exploring what's possible.

Oh, and I'm totally handing out stickers that say "My Bot Squad Makes Bank" because why not? 😎

>>MEET THE GUESTS<<

Maddie Van Patton

Wedding industry pro helping small businesses in California's Central Valley compete with the big names using AI tools and custom bots.

Connect on IG: https://www.instagram.com/maddie_vanpattie/

Emma Tiegan

Working with Smarter Queue—a social media scheduling tool built for solopreneurs who want to batch content and let AI handle the rest.

Learn more: https://smarterqueue.com

Lauren deVane

Visual AI strategist and creator of Prompty Poppins and Bot Muse. She teaches entrepreneurs how to use AI for image generation.

Connect: https://www.instagram.com/youraiauntie/

Get a sneak peek of what we are building with wAIv, your AI monetization platform.

🤖Train AI to sound like you (in under 2 hours) with BrandCalibrator™

🔹Let’s talk Bots for your business! Book a coffee chat

🔹 Connect on Instagram

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please help us share it by:
2. ⭐ Following the show—this helps you stay updated and supports us!
3. ⭐ Leaving a positive review—this boosts our ranking and helps more entrepreneurs find the podcast.

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Entrepreneur School is proud to be featured on the Feedspot list of 30 Best Canada CEO Podcasts!

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.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. Why expert-backed AI is NOT the same as a generic large language model
2. The shocking stats behind the online course boom—and bust
3. How AI completion rates are 3–5x higher than traditional courses
4. Why "time to first result" has dropped from 4–6 weeks to 2–5 days
5. The difference between teaching people how to think vs. letting them use your thinking
6. How supplementary AI tools are elevating coaching sessions (not replacing them)
7. Why your old worksheets should probably become interactive bots
8. What the $50 billion AI Education Tools Market means for creators in 2025
9. How to pair your expertise with AI without losing the human touch
10. A sneak peek at Project Vault and what we're building for expert-backed AI monetization

The Big Idea:

Courses teach others how to think.

Expert-backed AI tools allow others to use your thinking.

It's like having a little clone of you—or a brain extension—that your clients can access whenever they want. And that? That's a game-changer for implementation, impact and income.

🤖See what an AI tool built on your expertise actually looks like. Explore wAIv

🤖Train AI to sound like you (in under 2 hours) with BrandCalibrator™

Follow our new Instagram account @joinwaiv

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please help us share it by:
2. ⭐ Following the show—this helps you stay updated and supports us!
3. ⭐ Leaving a positive review—this boosts our ranking and helps more entrepreneurs find the podcast.

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Entrepreneur School is proud to be featured on the Feedspot list of 30 Best Canada CEO Podcasts!

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'll also share:

1. The origin story of wAIv and Gravia Studio (and why naming a company is WAY harder than it should be)
2. What a "bot squad" actually is—and why it's like a custom GPT, Claude skill, and workflow all rolled into one
3. How we're protecting creator IP in a world where people are already feeding your worksheets into ChatGPT (yep, it's happening)
4. Why we believe in *human-first AI adoption*—and what that means for your business
5. A sneak peek at our beta program and how creators are already rethinking their entire delivery models
6. How you can try the **AI Tool Launch Playbook** and experience what wAIv does firsthand

This isn't just another AI tool. It's a philosophy shift. It's about enhancing your expertise, not replacing it. It's about helping your clients get results faster while deepening the work you do together.

If you're a coach, course creator, or consultant who's ever thought, "I wish my clients could access my brain when I'm not there," this episode is for you.

🤖See what an AI tool built on your expertise actually looks like. Explore wAIv

🤖Train AI to sound like you (in under 2 hours) with BrandCalibrator™

Follow our new Instagram account @joinwaiv

1. If you enjoyed this episode, please help us share it by:
2. ⭐ Following the show—this helps you stay updated and supports us!
3. ⭐ Leaving a positive review—this boosts our ranking and helps more entrepreneurs find the podcast.

--------------------------

Entrepreneur School is proud to be featured on the Feedspot list of 30 Best Canada CEO Podcasts!