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.

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

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.

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

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!

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.

I'm sharing:

• How to filter out the AI noise without missing what's actually important
• The difference between excitement and overwhelm—and how to move forward with intention instead of panic
• Why chasing every shiny object means building nothing sustainable
• My own struggle with staying focused while building a platform in the AI space (spoiler: I'm figuring it out in real time too)
• The mantra that's keeping me sane: What am I protecting? What am I building toward? What's one step forward right now?
• A sneak peek at our platform reveal happening April 16th (and why I'm nervous and excited in equal measure)

If you've ever felt that low-level hum of "Am I keeping up? Is this going to change everything? What am I even supposed to do with this?"—this episode is for you.

Because here's the truth: Your expertise is real. Your relationships with your clients are real. And the value you create is real. AI doesn't change that. It just changes how you deliver it, scale it, and protect your time while doing it.

So let's take a breath together and figure out how to move forward with clarity instead of chaos.

📋Get on the waitlist for our new platform

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

🔹Check out my Interactive AI Starter Kit to see how worksheets can become bots

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

🔹 Connect on Instagram

• If you enjoyed this episode, please help us share it by:
• ⭐ Following the show—this helps you stay updated and supports us!
• ⭐ 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!

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.

In this episode, you'll discover:

1. The two things Prerna will never let AI do—and why her boundaries might surprise you (especially if you think AI can do "everything")
2. How to know if your AI output is actually good enough to send—hint: it's not about the tool, it's about what you know before you hit generate
3. Why people are paying more for certain kinds of tools right now—and what that means for how you position your expertise in an AI-saturated market
4. The sneaky way Prerna stress-tests her copy before it goes live—and how it's saved launches from flopping
5. The question every entrepreneur needs to ask before using AI for anything—because "faster" doesn't always mean "better"
6. Why some clients are still paying full price for human-written copy—and what that tells us about where this is all heading
7. The one thing that makes an AI tool worth buying—and it's not the tech itself

>>CONNECT WITH PRERNA<<

1. Free Skeptic Buyer Bot: https://contentbistro.com/skeptic
2. Claude for Conversions Workshop (recorded): https://contentbistro.com/claude

📋Get on the waitlist for our new platform

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

🔹Check out my Interactive AI Starter Kit to see how worksheets can become bots

🔹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.

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

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.

📋Get on the waitlist for our new platform

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

🔹Check out my Interactive AI Starter Kit to see how worksheets can become bots

🔹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.
4. 
   

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

I couldn't stay silent on this one.

If you've been watching the drama unfold between OpenAI, Anthropic, and the U.S. Department of Defense and seen the uprise in the #QuitGPT momevent… yeah, it's a lot. And if you're feeling stuck, confused, or even a little trapped by your AI tools right now? You're not alone.

I think we need to talk about what's actually happening, what it means for online business owners like us, and what your real options are when it comes to using AI tools that align with your values.

I'm not here to tell you what to think about the whole situation. I'm here to help you navigate what it means for your business—especially if you've been building custom GPTs or relying heavily on ChatGPT to run your content, your programs, or your client delivery.

Here's what we're unpacking:

1. A neutral recap of the OpenAI vs. Anthropic conflict
2. Why so many creators feel "trapped" by ChatGPT right now—and what's really keeping you there
3. What it actually takes to migrate from one AI platform to another (spoiler: it's way easier than you think)
4. How I experimented with Claude this week—and what I learned about switching tools
5. Why you DON'T need to port over 3 years of ChatGPT conversations to use a different model effectively

I’m also announcing we are opening our waitlist for our AI Creator Platform (name to be released at launch). It’s a place where you can build AI bots and multi-agent squads, choose your own models (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and more), and share tools with clients without being locked into one provider.

If you've been wrestling with this decision, feeling stuck, or just wanting more control over how you use AI in your business, this episode is for you.

>> Mentioned in this Episode:

1. New AI Creator Platform Waitlist (brought to you by my new company, Gravia Studio)
2. The Artificial Intelligence Show Podcast. Catch up on the “Pentagon vs Anthropic” issue in episodes 200&201.

>> Your Next Steps:

🤖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.

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

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

You've got AI tools that are more powerful than entire creative teams from a few years ago… and yet you're still doing manual labor.

I'm talking about the endless copy-paste shuffle. The re-explaining your business to every new bot. The feeling that you're supposed to be the one stitching all your tools together when they should be working for you.

If that hits home, this episode is for you.

I'm introducing you to the Bot Squad—and no, it's not a metaphor or a productivity hack. It's a fundamentally different way of using AI where your tools actually collaborate instead of working in isolation.

I walk you through:

1. What a Bot Squad is and why it changes everything
2. The frustration of using custom GPTs that don't talk to each other (hello, copy-paste hell)
3. How I built my own "Pod Squad" to plan, promote, and produce my podcast—without losing context
4. Why this matters for both your internal workflows and your client delivery
5. A real-time example of how I'm using this system to launch our new platform (yep, this episode was created WITH my Bot Squad)

If you've been feeling like you're close to something powerful with AI but still doing too much heavy lifting, you're right. And you're exactly who we're building this for.

This is recorded in real-time on March 5th, 2026, as we're heading into our beta launch. Translation: this tech is happening now, and I can't wait for you to see what becomes possible when AI stops being a collection of disconnected tools and starts being an actual system.

🤖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.

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

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