Your website looks great. You've invested in SEO. So why aren't customers finding you?

In this episode of Own Your Next, I sit down with Emily Au, co-founder and marketing director of Ready Artwork, to talk about AI search, declining website clicks, and getting your business recommended by tools like ChatGPT and Claude.

Emily shares how her agency has adapted through more than 20 years of change, from designing logos and business cards to supporting B2B companies and public agencies with digital marketing.

This conversation also brings us full circle. Emily hosted my first podcast appearance. Now she joins me to share her experience building a business, listening to clients, and staying authentic as technology changes how we work.

We discuss:
• Why a good-looking website isn't enough to generate leads.
• How zero-click searches affect website traffic.
• Where traditional SEO fits alongside AI search.
• Why client education and communication matter.
• How small agencies partner with engineering firms on public-sector projects.
• Why Emily launched She's Got Hustle to spotlight women entrepreneurs.
• The value of human connection in an AI-driven business world.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Emily Au
01:00 From graphic designer to agency co-founder
03:44 Knowing your work versus running a business
05:00 Using AI to reclaim time
06:04 Reinventing an agency through industry changes
08:27 Listening to clients and solving website problems
09:30 Zero-click searches and AI SEO
11:11 Partnering on public-sector projects
14:57 Getting found through AI search
17:50 Helping clients understand AI
21:32 Why Emily launched She's Got Hustle
23:44 AI and human connection
26:27 Working with technical teams
28:51 What Emily plans to own next
30:17 Where to connect with Emily

CONNECT WITH EMILY AU
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlyau
Website: https://www.readyartwork.com/
Emily's bio: https://www.readyartwork.com/author/emily/

FOLLOW READY ARTWORK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadyArtwork
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readyartwork/

LISTEN TO RAW SPOTLIGHT
Featuring Emily's She's Got Hustle conversations:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-spotlight/id1771924521

CONNECT WITH JENNIFER MCPHERSON
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-mcpherson-9160b715
Chickenango Marketing Solutions: https://www.chickenango.com

Subscribe to Own Your Next for conversations with entrepreneurs and business leaders about decisions, setbacks, and their next move.

Are you using AI to search for businesses, services, or products? Share your experience in the comments.

#OwnYourNext #AISEO #DigitalMarketing #EmilyAu #ReadyArtwork #Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness

On this episode of Own Your Next, I talk with Kayla Orozco, founder and design engineer at Mesquite & Thorn Digital, an independent mobile app studio in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Kayla spent almost six years designing chatbots and phone systems for contact centers. This year she started building her own apps, including Handsful, a baby tracker made for parents of twins and other multiples, and School Supplied, which merges school supply lists into one shopping list.

She shares what surprised her while building with AI, why beta testing is hard, and what marketing looks like when you are self-funded. We also talk about where AI is going and what it means for everyday people. If you are curious about building your own app with AI, this conversation is for you.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Welcome, and meeting Kayla Orozco
0:38 Kayla's background: Brownsville, Texas, and almost six years in conversational AI
1:42 Chatbots, contact centers, and how fast AI has moved
2:09 Handsful: a baby tracker built for twins and other multiples
5:04 What surprised Kayla while building an app
7:07 Beta testing, trust, and launching sooner
8:29 School Supplied: merging school supply lists
11:43 Turning school forms and events into reminders
12:57 Marketing the apps: socials, ads, and UGC on a self-funded budget
14:48 Why marketing is the whole game
16:31 Time, energy, and balance
17:01 Where is AI going? Regulation, Hollywood, and everyday people
19:56 Fear of new technology and new kinds of jobs
21:56 The pivotal moment question
22:33 Building her own thing
24:35 Taking action
26:04 Wrap up and where to find Kayla

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO ON YOUTUBE
https://youtu.be/9bICmFsEMR8

JOIN MY FREE AI COMMUNITY
https://www.skool.com/level-up-ai

KAYLA OROZCO AND MESQUITE & THORN DIGITAL
Kayla on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylaorozco
Mesquite & Thorn Digital: https://www.mesquiteandthorn.digital/
Studio on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mesquite-thorn-digital/
Studio on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mesquiteandthorn

HANDSFUL (baby tracker for twins and other multiples)
Website: https://handsful.app
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/handsful-baby-tracker/id6797077032
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.handsful.app

SCHOOL SUPPLIED (merges school supply lists into one shopping list)
Website: https://schoolsupplied.app
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/school-supplied/id6777847242
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.schoolsupplied

Also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Jim Kreinbrink has kept his agency growing for more than 20 years while search, and now AI, changed everything. His secret? "The problem isn't the problem. My reaction is the problem."

I'm Jennifer McPherson. I didn't start my first business until I was 48, and Own Your Next is about taking ownership of what comes next in life, business and leadership.

My guest is Jim Kreinbrink, owner and founder of HyperDog Media. He founded the Denver-area agency in 2004 and has spent more than two decades driving growth through search, paid media, digital PR and now AI-driven discovery. Jim also started the Denver SEO Meetup in 2007, created SearchCon in Breckenridge, and AgencyCon grew out of SearchCon. He brought AgencyCon back last spring and it sold out. I was there, and I'll see Jim at the next one.

We talk about the moment that changed his agency's direction, staying open to new technology (including AI), keeping a human in the loop, the emotional side of losing a client, why agencies need to remarket themselves to their own clients, and building community in Denver.

🐾 Connect with Jim Kreinbrink
HyperDog Media: https://www.hyperdogmedia.com/
Jim's bio: https://www.hyperdogmedia.com/jim-kreinbrink/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hyperdogmedia
HyperDog Media on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hyper-dog-media
AgencyCon: https://agencycon.events/

🎧 Listen to Own Your Next
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/own-your-next-bold-moves-in-business-life/id1861608494
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47U9XlAOcCQzH9NHLJvX54
Substack: https://jenmcp.substack.com

💬 Want to use AI in your business? Comment SKOOL and I'll send you an invite to my free Level Up AI community.

#OwnYourNext #DigitalPR #SEO #AgencyLife #AgencyCon #Entrepreneur #AISearch