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Are you a business owner? Or are you on the verge of taking that side hustle to the next level? Or curious about the world of entrepreneurship? Join Vivian Kvam, Co-Owner of Tandem Works, each week for a behind-the-scenes at small businesses and what it takes to succeed.
Each episode is full of inspiration, education, tips, and great conversation with people like you, people who are figuring it out. Take your business to the next level with insight from expert guests in business, leadership, and marketing.
00:00:00
You. Welcome to Riding Tandem Works, a podcast about building businesses leadership and creating positive impact for our communities. I'm your host, Vivian Kvam, and I invite you to ride Tandem Works with me as I have candid conversations with inspiring business owners, leaders, and experts who are building on their dreams and creating impact. Get ready to be encouraged and learn practical tactics to help us build successful businesses, become incredible leaders, and have positive ripple effects. Let's go.
00:00:33
Welcome back to this episode of Tandem Works Works. Today I have Susan Pitts here to have a great conversation about AI, which is just such a hot topic right now. But before we jump into all that, let me tell you a little bit about Susan Pitts. She is a seasoned business advisor, and she does have extensive experience, which I have tapped into, as has Michaela alongside me. Sue is just amazing at guiding small businesses to success, and she currently is serving as the regional Director at the Iowa Small Business Development Regional Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
00:01:09
And you probably, if you've listened to any of the other episodes, have heard Sue's name come up more than once because sue has helped so many businesses locally that we've chatted with on this podcast. And so her organization, and Susan Pitts specifically, comes up often. So if you're like this sounds familiar. You haven't met her yet, but you've heard her name a lot. She works closely with startups, existing businesses in southwest Iowa and really helps them grow and scale their business.
00:01:34
And she has over 20 years of experience with business development, sue has also developed a deep understanding of the challenges and I think this is important, of small businesses and what they face. And she uses that knowledge to help her clients identify things early, look for growth opportunities, develop effective strategies, implement best practices. Because she just has so much experience in these areas, she can spot things before they happen. And that, I think, is just a really cool she's kind of a wizard when it comes to that. And she's also an expert advisor in the areas of marketing, digital marketing, website content, search optimization, all of which I know are near and dear to her heart.
00:02:13
But as soon as artificial intelligence started to trend as a life changing technology, sue began, of course, researching and utilizing AI to see how it would affect small business industry, because that's what she does. She sees things coming and gets ahead of it, and she sees things coming and gets ahead of it. And she's begun integrating into her trainings how businesses can leverage AI to drive growth and innovation. And that is why we're having this conversation today. So welcome, Susan Pitts.
00:02:41
Thank you. I'm glad to be here. Yeah. Finally, the infamous. You're actually famous.
00:02:46
I won't call you infamous. Maybe we go with infamous. I'm not sure. I think it's funny how no one knows me as sue. Yeah, it's Supit it's Supit it's funny.
00:02:56
Okay, so I've had this conversation with numerous people where there are some people who are just so dynamic you have to use two names. Well, thank you. I never thought about it that way. I just was always puzzled. Yeah, because it's when I get greeted.
00:03:09
By someone on the street. Su pits it is, it's true. Yeah, there are certain people and it's like you have to have both the names. They've got to go together. And I think it's because you just have that kind of personality that you can't contain it in one name.
00:03:23
There you go. So sue, tell us a little bit about I know I just gave your bio and introduction there, but talk to me a little bit about what it is that you do on the day to day and why you love it so much. Sure. So the Small Business Development Center is they don't like us to say free, but it is no cost service for small businesses. We're federal and state agency.
00:03:45
Basically we're funded federally and federally through the legislature and through the state legislature. And then locally we're funded or supported 35 to in my case more like 50%. So I want to give kudos a little bit to Iowa Western who is the grant keeper. So basically I am their employee. But they have supported the SBDC at least since I've been there from 2004 to an extent that I can have a second employee to help me.
00:04:13
So really upping our services and our support to small businesses. So I want to thank Iowa Western for that. Yeah, it is so good to have partners like that because this is a national organization, right? And so people can find like do they call it a chapter? Is it a local chapter or if.
00:04:30
Someone was looking so basically regional centers. Regional center. So we have a state center out of Ames so that's iospdc.org and you'd be able to find all your centers or where you are. So when you sign up for services it will automatically bring you to a map so you can see where you're at and find your center, the one that's closest to you. So if I'm in California yeah.
00:04:51
So then, that is the Americas. Small business developmentcenter.org, I believe. I don't think it's Gov. America's Small Business Development Center. Google it.
00:05:00
And then they'll have a map of. All the states where you can find you. Yeah, but there's the only ones who pits to be closed.
00:05:08
So anyway, all of us are no cost service to small businesses and to startups. I think a lot of people think of us as business plan writers and that's a lot deeper than that. It goes a lot deeper than that. We're about 60% existing business help and 40% startups. And yes, we do help with business planning.
00:05:30
I'm a big stickler on business plans versus business planning. What's the difference to you? You write a business plan after you have thoroughly done your planning. Okay. And if you don't need a business plan because you're not going to get financing, the results of your business planning could be on napkins or sticky notes all over your room, and it still has the same effect that you did.
00:05:50
Planning a business plan is a piece of paper that gets shelved. They often do, don't they? Yeah. And if you think of a business plan, the first thing you do is you Google it and you find templates or you use AI, but you haven't done the planning behind it. So I'll talk a little bit about that when we get into AI and Chat perfect.
00:06:10
But you haven't done the planning behind it. So using a template is great, but you need to personalize it. Like, where is your business, what's the market there? What's your product uniquely like? And no one else can write that but you.
00:06:22
And by doing planning and planning is usually we use different models, but it's guessing, so I'm going to do this business and I'm guessing that the market needs this and then testing, and that's the most awkward part, but going out and asking people, yeah, that validation piece. Yeah. And I know you and I have had conversations about that on panels and various other things about how do we validate an idea. Yeah, it's our baby, so we think it's a great idea, but it might need some Pivots to actually fit into your market. So speaking of the AI, though, and I love you already, and AI can help your business plan, et cetera, do you remember what you first put to Chat GPT specifically?
00:07:08
Because there's a lot of AI out there and we're going to talk about it. Did you really? Okay, so you just put in like supits and that was it? Yeah. What did it do?
00:07:15
Well, I've died nine times. It gave me a lot of obituaries.
00:07:20
That's probably not the best thing to use. I mean, that's more like Google because they don't really get into personal things. And what Chat is up to is, I think, 2021. Okay. But with Chat GPT four, it will be more current.
00:07:33
So that's really not the best thing to put in. But explain that a little bit, though, for people who maybe are new to all of this. So it's changing daily. Everything is. I mean, not only AI isn't Chat GPT, that's just a tool.
00:07:46
Artificial intelligence, by the way, just to define it for everybody. Yeah, there's an update coming for that that is in beta now that some people can use, is the fourth version. It will be more current. And when you say current, what do. You mean by that?
00:08:00
Like, it's pulling information that's more current. This minute, so it'll be a lot. More powerful versus the one right now is pulling information only up to 2010 21. Oh, 2021. Yeah.
00:08:13
Well, that's better. Yeah, I was like 2010, 2021, I. Realized that I might have to rethink. Some things here and again. I might be misspeaking a little bit because I'm nowhere near like a techie expert at it.
00:08:26
My outlook with working with businesses on any level, whether it's marketing, AI or anything, is kind of on the low hanging not low hanging fruit, but on the general area that small business can understand so that they can either maybe do it themselves. But knowledgeably go out and outsource, kind. Of like crash course one on one level set. Yeah. So you need to understand what you're doing, not just going, hey, I think I need AI, or hey, I need social media marketing, and I'm going to hire someone for $500 a month, hand that over to them, not have any idea what they're doing or what I want them to do.
00:09:06
So it's just getting them on all different topics and levels to understand what they don't know and what they need to know. And the reason why you would outsource it is maybe it's a little bit too much high tech or they just don't have time because they're busy making cookies for their business. Definitely. So the first thing I put into Chat GPT, I think I should have looked back because I can see my whole history. Yeah, I should have looked back at it right before I came in here, but I'm pretty sure I put in and asked it to write me either asked it to write me a poem about the rocking chair in my living room.
00:09:37
Or I might have asked it to write me a social media post with a call to action selling my grandma's rocking chair, which is not my grandma's rocking chair, but that's just what I put in there. And it did. And I was like, oh my gosh, I can't even ask it for, like, a call to action. And it gave a call to action. And so since then, I have used it for so many things.
00:09:56
I've used it to help write video scripts, to generate ideas, brainstorm ideas for names, social media things, get me started on blog posts. I've used it for podcast outlines to help me just kind of organize ideas, shopping lists, recipe ideas, I mean, right? What are you using it for? Everything, but mostly, like, outlines or as a really fast Google. Even when I did this AI class, I asked it to come up with an outline for me, for AI and using it in small business.
00:10:28
I think there was a couple more words and it came up with an outline for me that probably would have taken me a day of just trying to sort through my thoughts, looking online, what's out there, what's going on. And a lot of times I approach these topics from almost like a business that doesn't understand perspective, and using a week to understand it on the level that they need to understand. So again, I'm not a super expert in it. Right. Understand that businesses need to embrace it and use it.
00:10:58
So, like you had mentioned already, AI is not chat GPT. That is just something that people are really all a rage about right now. It's just been everywhere in the news, everyone's talking about it. But AI artificial intelligence is used in many platforms and people have probably encountered it and been using it maybe even without knowing. Right, right.
00:11:17
What are some of those examples and things that you've covered or talked about? Sure. Basically, AI is taking data from the Internet and being able to use it to automate things. That's kind of a real simple explanation, but it can be anything from if you're using Calendly or you can book me as a booking program. In its simplest form, that's pulling information and data from your calendar and sharing it.
00:11:42
Chat GPT is a tool that a lot of these things are using to make it smarter. So it's a common ground, not only chat, but just the OpenAI. Right. So it's using a lot of that technology of being able to kind of read the internet or read the data and read the information and jumble it all together so quickly. Other tools are using this.
00:12:07
So like calendar, appointments, email is getting smarter. It's being able to automatically sort how does it know how to do that? It's reading the email, it's saying, okay, this is a management email, or this is a social media email. If you ever thought of like when if you use Gmail, how it sorts.
00:12:28
Things like that. Yeah, that's AI. It's using that data, kind of matching it up and reading what scary, reading your emails, social media management, being able to put a post on Facebook and Instagram at the same time. I like using hootsuite. That's always been AI technologies.
00:12:51
But with new advancements through the OpenAI network and then also Google's doing one, and I think Microsoft barred. I think Google's is barred. Yeah. So it'll be kind of the same. Microsoft has one as well.
00:13:04
Controversial, from what I understand, is kind of the guts and the brain behind all the other tools being able to use these things. What are some of the ways? Well, I was kind of looking through like, just the surprising ways that it's being used with supply chain management, customer service, chat bots, which has helped so much with customer service, and that's been around for quite a while. But also, like you were saying, automating things. I mean, that's huge for supply chain management, being able to automate things in that regard.
00:13:35
Like you mentioned, the marketing, social media, it can help with SEO, so many different things. Are there other things that you're encountering? I think that covers a lot of it, but basically, anything you kind of think of, you can use a big brain to help you solve. Right, right. And that's basically what it is.
00:13:53
Yeah, it's like aggregating, right? So general management data analysis is going to be huge and it's not something that I know huge amount about. I know, like, let's see, I thought I wrote and predictive analysis basically. So putting your database of maybe your POS system who bought when they bought into an analysis AI system will be able to analyze that going, okay, you need to market more in this area or you need to buy more of this thing. So the inventory management and the supply chain management detecting trends by looking at that, saying, okay, it looks like it's a little different than some of the data reports that we have now.
00:14:37
It's a little more going to be a little bit more predictive. Yeah, predictive is what I was saying. It's like helping with those predictions and being able to look at that. I know I had written down too, which I don't know a ton about this yet, but just also being helpful with fraud detection. Sure.
00:14:52
And then one of the other ones was financial analysis as well. Right. So that predicting ability to aggregate so much information and go, okay, this is what's been happening. So here's the trend that we see. And obviously a human can do that.
00:15:08
It just takes a lot more time. Right. Such a time saving tool. And I think by saying like all of that stuff, we're using POS systems and we're using financial accounting systems, and if you're not come talk to me, you should be. But all of those systems as they are working on AI already, they're all grasping it, thank goodness, and integrating it.
00:15:31
So you're going to see QuickBooks Online or Wave is in another free accounting system, adapting more into the reports. So actually taking your data and doing some predictive analysis when you maybe you're spending too much on this. This is what we're seeing. So instead of you analyzing it's going to come spit up these reports so. You can see that.
00:15:52
And you're still going to have to make decisions with those. Absolutely. You need to embrace those. Click the buttons. Yes, I want to use AI.
00:15:59
We can talk a little bit about the scary. Yeah, I do want to talk about that because we just listened to a bunch of stuff and people are probably I know, I've thought like, do I want it? Analyze my finances and that right. There's a lot of scary feeling, I think, especially around things like the chat GPT or like Snapchat now has a chat bot within Snapchat. So it's like you name it, you put a skin on it and it is causing fear and uncertainty.
00:16:26
Especially as pieces of AI start to feel more human. Like when we talk about things combing through data and automating and making it faster, that somehow feels acceptable. When it starts almost feeling like you're having a conversation with something, that's where I feel like that starts to feel scary, as well as just the data mining in general, like the security piece. Right. And I think the security piece because of the advancement of it, I mean, there's blockchain and I don't know for sure, but I don't hear that as much of the security.
00:17:06
I think it's quite a bit more secure. I might be wrong as just it becoming quicker than us. Yeah. So right now, and this is the case for four years, my daughter or even six years, my daughter graduated two years ago at Iowa State. They were running assays through detectors to see if they were using AI types of things.
00:17:30
Well, they weren't as advanced as they are in January, which is now more advanced today. It's just changing so fast. So the ability to have those checkers is they're becoming not as smart as the AI. Is winning the fight over the human. Brain checkers moving faster.
00:17:52
Yeah. So I think that is scary. In my opinion. The Internet was scary, right? All change is scary.
00:18:02
The printing press was very scary. It is scary, but I don't think the solution in my mind at least now certainly keep aware and definitely there's a lot of like and I don't have any examples, but if you Google them lots of weekly or daily newsletters that kind of talk down a little less technology that you can listen to and kind of keep up on things and just being aware of it. But I also think if you don't learn it and you don't understand it, it's kind of like the people in the early 2000s that we're fighting social media. Like, I'm not going to do it. That's a trend.
00:18:43
It's not going to help my business or I'm not going to have a web going away. And it's not going away. It's definitely not going away. I do think it will advance your business and it's going to advance your competitors. Sorry if you're not along the ride.
00:18:54
So it is scary and I think that it's a part of our lives that we need to understand. How do you recommend to your clients right now that you're working with Getting Started? One, understanding it, maybe trying things out for the first time. And again, you were probably using AI more than you know. But just with everything booming right now, I think it's much more in people's faces.
00:19:18
What are you telling people? I mean, the easiest thing is kind of to start with, like, start with chat. GPT is probably the easiest one to start with. But also when you're looking into your businesses and seeing things that could be improved, strategies that could be improved, or systems that can be improved, start doing the research. Are there tools that can help with that?
00:19:36
I think a great example actually relates to this podcast. So one of the issues that held me back from Getting Started was just the time that it would take and it's still time intensive. However, I did find a program called Cap Show and it's AI use. And what I do is I take the audio from this podcast and I upload it in and then it combs through it and it kicks out a transcript, it kicks out notes, it gives ideas on what the title might be. It will give a blog post, a LinkedIn post, social medias.
00:20:12
It'll pull out quotables. So it has a whole package that it pulls out from that audio. And it's not 100%. There's plenty that I have to go through and go, no, that's not actually what it was about. But I get to pick some things.
00:20:25
Like, here's the general topic. I talked to Susan Pitts. I can put your name in. It helps me get ahead and take the workload down and take the time down. And that, to me, is one of the big things that I'm seeing, is for a small business owner, time is money.
00:20:40
How about anybody? Time is money. Yeah. And a lot of the tools, I think a lot of small businesses have adapted Canva and Canva is AI. Have you tried the image?
00:20:51
And I was just saying text to image, so they have text to image, which is you put in wild. Yeah. And also really funny sometimes. Yeah. You can create elephant in the room.
00:21:02
I think that's the one I did, actually. There's one on our Facebook page right now that Jenny, who's on our team. We had a podcast. The baking flamingos. And so I think she asked it, she just put in flamingo.
00:21:14
I don't know exactly what she put, but something like Flamingo Baking and Kitchen. And it created an image and it's on our Facebook page right now. Yeah. And Chat is using other technology and putting it into there. So, I mean, not Chat, Canva, they're actually using and Magic, right, is one.
00:21:31
Of them where you can put in. Like that's in Canva, yeah, yeah. And that is chat. Yep. Because it's pulling that.
00:21:36
It's pulling it is using that Wix, which is a website creator that I have small businesses use a lot, has integrated in Chat. So you can write say what the paragraph is. My service is in Council Bluffs and we do roofing, so you can just kind of put fragments of words and put the details. I mean, you could write 500 words and put it in there and it's just going to reconfigure it. So that it is grammar.
00:22:05
Yeah, grammar correct. Helps with that. A voice as well. We were talking about this a bit before, but I've also written things. I like what I wrote.
00:22:15
I'm not good, but I want it in a different voice or for a different audience. So I've put what I wrote in and said, Write this. I always say please, by the way. Do you say please? No.
00:22:26
I was like, Please write this. I'm talking to a person. It just feels polite. I'm like, maybe it'll be nicer to me if I'm but anyway, I'll put in, please write this in, and I'll change the voice, active voice, things like that. Or third person, first person, et cetera.
00:22:42
Female voice. Female voice. You can even put in your old voice. Yes. You could put into, like, write this for a board member and then rewrite it for a community member or that.
00:22:53
Gets really we're an audience. Target audience is mothers with children of two. And now my same product is more doctors or something like that. So it changes the voice. So going back to scary, I think what is really especially with Chat, where the text, the image creators, the image creators, is it going to replace artists.
00:23:16
Right. Is copyright infringement. Yeah. Because it is pulling from art somewhere. Right.
00:23:22
So addressing the art, one thing that Josh had said on our webinar, and Josh is your he's my coordinator, SBD's coordinator. And he's my techie guy, so he does a lot of it's. One thing about AI, and depending on how quick it goes and how scary it gets, whatever it's going to change, we need to think about it in a way. It's going to change the workforce. It's not going to take away the workforce, necessarily, but the workforce is going to have to know AI.
00:23:56
So you still can be an artist, but possibly using that to tighten up your ideas and then redoing it in your own way, or making your ideas come quicker, or getting out a writer's block. Gosh, it makes me think of back to my so my background is actually in photography, my degrees in photography, like fine art photography. Right. It makes me think of the transition from painting to camera and photograph and. How about film to digital?
00:24:25
And then you have film to digital. This has been going on, I think, the speed that's different. But people were like, well, it's not art because you didn't paint it, you just took a picture of what was already there. And so that is, and even to today continues to be from the artist's perspective, is it actually art if I didn't paint it or cut it and glue it? And I just took a photo, right.
00:24:52
Is it mine? Is it a piece of art? And so that was a discussion that came up a lot in art history class and just in general. So it's interesting to me how it was a brand new, literally medium for artists to express themselves. And now you're considered an artist if you're a photographer.
00:25:10
It just makes me think, what is the AI artist going to be? Yeah. And I think understanding how to use AI is going to be a skill that's as important as coding or reading. We've talked about that a lot, too, of will content creators. Again, with the Chat GPT piece, I know we're really focusing on that, which I think is fine today.
00:25:31
It can write, it's a copywriter and it generates in voice and can change and it can also proofread and all these things. So does that mean it's the death of the copywriter? I mean, that's a big question. Or is it the death of the copywriter or the content creator, social media or writing for your website, et cetera. What do you think?
00:25:54
So it's really early to tell, but I think the skills change just like film photography to digital photography. I think you need to understand how to use the tools in front of you because everyone else is so it could make and also just like there's better Googlers. Look, I think I'm a really good Googler. Okay, explain that. Searching for things on Google, I think it's a skill.
00:26:18
Like I'm good at it literally all day long when I answer the phone, people ask me questions, they can't find the answers, but I can.
00:26:28
So I think understanding how to use these AI tools to the best and then also taking what's spit out and don't use that, but use it to your advantage. So that is definitely something that I think everyone I've talked to who's using the Chat GPT piece, they have all said, yes, it's great, but I always change it. Yeah. And not even just because they're like, well, I'm worried about copyright and that, but I think everyone has told me at this point where it's at and I imagine it will get better faster. But right now I still have to do a fair amount of changing of things to make it in my voice or I'm like, now it doesn't feel right.
00:27:12
Right? Do you feel like you can spot it? Yes, I can, especially so I had an AI generated business plan. Did you? Yes.
00:27:20
Like it just got emailed to you. Well, I had someone working on a business plan and it got emailed to me. Yeah. So what did you think? Okay, you open the email, you pull it up, what goes through your head?
00:27:31
Well, first it was 50 pages about a coffee shop. So no one writes a business plan that's 50 pages about a coffee shop? Yeah, no, I don't think it was a coffee shop. Some kind of retail thing, but still a simpler type. And when you're writing business plan, it's getting down to the facts so that someone can read it quickly.
00:27:50
Not to shame anyone doing that. I think it's the understanding of how. To use it, but part of me, I'm like it's brilliant. Yeah, good for you. Yeah.
00:27:57
You want to use it, do it. Absolutely want to use it because it was well organized, but it also was not personalized. So it said things like authentic quality food. Okay, we need more details about where that authentic quality food is coming from, like the exact distributor. So filling in those details.
00:28:17
So it was very abstract. Is that the word? Or just not detailed. Very generalized. Generalized, long and lots of fluff words that didn't mean anything, especially with the local business.
00:28:29
So there was not a lot of local in there. I think it's a great tool to kind of put in. What I try to do more is write me an outline and that helps me point, that helps me organize my thoughts, like write me an outline and what are the points under that outline that I should research and do instead of completely writing it. And I do that for content and blog posts because I feel like then it's in my voice. I've used it too.
00:28:58
For brainstorming. Yeah. When we do a ton of brainstorming, and this is interesting because you do start to go, oh gosh, is our service going to be needed anymore? Or will people just be able to brainstorm? And to your point, you do have to know how to use it.
00:29:13
So somebody who's skilled at being able to use it, maybe they don't need us. Right. But I also have said I'm not worried about that. I actually like it as a tool even for our team to use. When we brainstorm, sometimes you just are stuck, especially a small group brainstorm.
00:29:31
There's only two or three brains. Well, then you're only pulling on two or three experiences and two or three ideas. And so we've used it a couple of times for we're stuck here, so give me some other ideas for naming the company XYZ and we'll put that in. Honestly, you've been doing that for years and years in Google. Right.
00:29:50
So it's just quicker. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I'm like, I'm going to go look in Google Images and see what someone else has put together done to give me some inspiration. Absolutely. Going. So the other part of I think that the big talk is, and it's available to everyone, and sometimes our minds are not emotionally mature as in children.
00:30:10
So when you put something that can write them an essay about a book and a certain eleven year old's voice on their phone, it's pretty easy for them to use and not blaming them. Right. Part of me goes, Good for you.
00:30:27
There's two parts to that. Yeah. And I do think it's an issue and I think schools are handling it the best way they can. I had three job shadow students come to my office and we were talking and talking about what I do and talking about small businesses, and I was asking about what they were looking at doing. One of them was marketing, one of them was data analysis, something like that, in the business world.
00:30:53
And I asked them what they knew about AI and Chachi PT. And they three immediately, in unison, said, nothing. Right. Nothing vaping either. So I think it's rightfully so.
00:31:08
We don't want our children not learning. Yeah, it's interesting. I am curious to see where that goes. But it does make me think too. From a business owner's perspective, are there ethical considerations such as the students, like they should be operating in this way?
00:31:28
What are some of those things? Have you encountered or researched? It's never been okay to copy someone else's paper. So in my mind I'm kind of seeing that as kind of copying someone's else's paper. So right now where I'm at and I might be wrong, I'm using it to enhance my imagination in my mind but writing my own.
00:31:51
So I think the copyright it's like. When people are writing copy for their brochures, et cetera, like just a straight copy paste out. I'm starting to wonder for the business owner, is that ethical or should they always tweak it? Yeah, right. Start going yeah, I'm not sure.
00:32:10
I mean I always tweak it. I always find it a little bit general and not local and not my name. Right. So when I'm writing a blog post or my website content, it's all about me and my business and what I'm finding there is right now general too general. Yeah.
00:32:28
I imagine though, it'll get better. Yeah, I imagine too. And then that's where I think I don't know the answers to this by the way, for everyone. I don't know. No, I'm just thinking through that.
00:32:38
Like as a business owner myself, I'm excited about the tools available. I love calendar, I love chat bots that can help with customer service and get people information quickly. I love when I get on a website and I can be like, oh yes, I realize I'm talking to a chat bot but it is helping me and now I don't need to spend the time on the phone so I appreciate so many things like that and just automating. Well also like blogs. Some blogs like creative writing but factual writing.
00:33:09
Yeah, like if I'm doing a white paper and I want to know about what our workers comps needs in Iowa and what does a business need to do if I have chat GPT and I put in the right things, you can also say I only want this information to come from gov websites. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. So if it rates me up something, I feel like factual source. It's not creative writing, it's me reading that information to them and giving them the information.
00:33:38
Now what I am going to do is I'm going to research every point and make sure it's right. If we were to summarize everything we just said, what would you say are kind of like three to five ish bullet points. What are a couple of bullet points for the pros and what are some of the cons for business owners with all of the AI that's out there? I think the pros are there's tools out there to improve your efficiency and productivity? The con there is, it might replace employees but I think just like anything else.
00:34:12
When robots came, it replaced employees, but new technologies came that employees need to learn. So it's expanding our learning. I think it's a wild, wild west, so I don't know. And I think it can enhance your customer service. It can enhance your decision making where you might not have time to really look at your data.
00:34:31
You can put it in and trust that these trends are going to help your business. Yeah, it's good. And I think it is important that regardless of how you feel about it, you said it earlier, it is here. And so getting researched on it and understanding it, just shutting your eyes to it doesn't make it go away. Right.
00:34:55
And then you can choose how you want to engage with it, what you are willing to participate in, what you're not. Then you can make some decisions there and you may discover some things that really enhance what you're doing in some pretty cool ways. Yeah, I mean, for me right now it's time saving. What do you think are some of the challenges or barriers that you're finding clients have trying to engage with things like this? Like what gets in their way?
00:35:22
Is it more of a knowledge, a skill set? What do you think is going on? Yeah, I think knowledge afraid of it. I mean, I have clients that don't have websites. Sure.
00:35:33
I don't have time to do it, I'm busy as it is. I'm not techie. That's one of the things I love about it. I'm like, you don't need to be techie. No, you can be.
00:35:41
I mean, there's definitely some applications for it. It takes high technical skill and ability if you want to be able to program things and customize exactly how you. Want to use it. And I think as far as what businesses should be paying attention to, almost every industry has associations and I think the associations are going to restaurant association, any of the associations have the responsibility to start looking into it, start trending on what the good things and the bad things to use. So in the least point if you're going to do any research is connect with associations because they're there to find out those trends and AI certainly is going to be top of mind.
00:36:27
And that way it's kind of like, okay, in my industry, people are using this. That's really, I think, a super smart point that you just made of because I think there can be a lot of pressure of I have to learn so many things as a business owner. So leaning into that association and people who are in your industry too, then it's very specific. And I was going to add to that, I think that also helps from the legislation and legalities and all of those things that can be specific to you and your industry that you may need to know and they can help keep you on top of that. Yeah, I think definitely belonging to those associations and keeping track of them and attending their workshops or most of them do virtual now after 2020, which is kind of a nice thing.
00:37:13
Okay, I have some rapid fire questions. What do you think is the biggest misconception about owning a business? That it's easy. That I don't have to answer it to anyone anymore. You have to answer to yourself now.
00:37:28
Yeah, that's true. And sometimes being alone is hard as well. And that's why we have resources like myself and other resources in our community. You're not alone, which I'm just going to point out real quickly. One of the ways that you helped our business was during a pitch, the Rev Pitch Local bank here, Tandem Works.
00:37:49
And you were one of the mentors, was that right? Yeah, a mentor, I think it was. There was kind of a mentor team. Then of course there were the judges and then the sponsors, et cetera. And we connected with you and I think that was one of my more in depth engagements with you.
00:38:03
I think so, yeah. And man, what a resource you were and are and continue to be to us, to Mikayla and I, there's numerous times where we thought, I'm not sure, I'm not sure I'm like Susan Pitts, will know. Well, the funny thing is you're probably the most like me, probably exceeding my knowledge in some areas. Well, it's nice for me to turn back around to you and go, what do you think? Yeah, it is good.
00:38:26
It's good to have like minds, but with differences variances there, right. Okay, next up, what's an important piece of advice you have been given and actually applied to your life? And I usually say to your business, I feel like if it's to your career or something, gosh, I wish I. Had time to think. Not very good at thinking on my toes.
00:38:50
That is not true. Sometimes thinking about myself, you know what I mean? Advice I've gotten and you've actually applied it. That's the kicker there. Yeah, a lot of us get advice and we wish we had applied it.
00:39:02
And this really isn't like life advice or anything like that. But the first thing I'm thinking of is we have a national conference and I think I started in 2004 and it was 2005 and blogs were just coming out, but it was kind of like this foreign thing, like blog flog, whatever. And I happened to go to this gentleman that was teaching about this and his advice was this is the first thing that's coming out that is innovative. So as an advisor, if you're going to be the best advisor, to spend 5 hours, 10 hours of just learning all of the new things. And I have done that and so people are like, did you go to class for SEO?
00:39:43
And it's like, no, I just read a bunch of blogs. I have that time that's part of my job. I have that time because I'm learning it for you and your business, and it's a good block of time of me just learning. So I think that was the best advice that I walked out with that. Conference, and we're just applying it again today.
00:40:02
Like, with all this, we don't know everything about it, but you're researching it and willing to share what you know. Yeah. I mean, when I'm driving, I'm listening to podcasts about now. AI right. Okay.
00:40:13
A lot of it's going over my head, but I'm hoping it will sink. In just by, like, wait, what does that mean? Yeah. Okay. So what would you tell your 18 year old self, knowing what you know now?
00:40:25
What would I tell myself? I don't know how to really put it, and I I think I do this every morning. Like like, you are as good as you think you are. Don't doubt that. What?
00:40:37
Do I have any business doing a class in AI? And it's like, no, you have business. It's okay. Yeah. So I think that doubt that comes in your mind, and I think at 18, it was probably coming in a lot more.
00:40:48
Yeah. It's powerful. Yeah. Michaela has talked about this on here before, but she and their daughter, little one at home, they high five each other, buried themselves in the mirror, which I think she had heard from Mel Robbins. And they do it, and it is it's that like, no, you're good enough, and you've got it.
00:41:09
Don't doubt it. You've got it. Yeah. Okay. So what is your favorite kickback and relaxed beverage?
00:41:16
I've had everything on here, like, all kinds of people. Actually, my favorite is just flavored seltzer. Yeah. And vodka. There you go.
00:41:26
That's my simple that's your simple thing. I'm really into the bubbly lately. Yeah, that's what bubbly one. This is, like, putting me in a category of, like, I have to have this at home all the time, but I have a soda maker that I make my own. Bubbly water.
00:41:40
Really? Yes, and flavor it like wet's, fresh cucumbers. Cool. And I don't always put vodka in it. I just drink that on just making sure people are dead.
00:41:49
It's all good, though. I really love an old Fashioned. That's my jam is there right now. A song, a book, or a podcast that's just really inspiring you. So the one that I probably this is a whole nother podcast.
00:42:05
Okay. And I don't want to come out as against any kind of businesses, but of exploring exploring scams and predatory types of things. So that's kind of the world, except for AI that I've been in. So Roberta Blevins is in the anti MLM world, but also not mean about it just more about exploring different types of. I really like how adoring and loving she is.
00:42:35
And it's just like this is my experience with Le Rowe, but she has some good guests on there. And it goes from anything from cults to predatory business scams. So that's one I kind of like right now. That one right now, yeah. Awesome.
00:42:47
What excites you the most about the future? I've been talking about so much future stuff. So I've been doing a little more moonlighting and doing things on my own and possibly starting my own business because I think I know how. Really? I think you probably do know how.
00:43:06
Yeah. Wouldn't it be interesting? I think that would be an interesting thing to follow someone like yourself who has helped so many, and then you start your own and then see how it goes. Right. It's one of those doubt things.
00:43:18
Kind of like I'm just a teacher of it. Right. Doer of it. But I was not really a single mom because my kids had their dad, but also just had a lot of responsibilities. So it wasn't my responsible act to start a business.
00:43:31
And I got into this in 2004 and loved it. Kind of best of both worlds. I had owned businesses before that. Okay. But now my kids are graduated from college.
00:43:41
Now I'm just responsible for myself. Right? Yeah. Cool. Are you going to share what kind of business you would start, or are you holding that hold on to that one for now.
00:43:48
Yeah. Lots of ideas. Yeah. All right. What is something people often get wrong about you?
00:43:55
I get told to smile a lot. To smile? Yeah. Which is something I don't recommend people saying to people, but I think just serious. And I'm not all that serious.
00:44:05
You're not that serious? Yeah. I'm with you. Yeah. This is really funny that you bring this up when I was probably I'm just say kind of 14 ish, maybe somewhere teenish, preteen teenish.
00:44:17
I had a girl come up to me in Girl Scouts, and she said, do you ever smile? And I was like, what? Yeah, I smile time. And to your point, I was like, who says that? Right?
00:44:32
But also, I was like, what must I be doing for someone to walk up to me and say, do you ever smile? Like, it must be quite a different outside my body here than I'm experiencing inside my body. And I did realize that I don't smile, or I didn't smile a whole lot readily because I was often just thinking and contemplating oh, yeah. Which is okay. And people thought I was unfriendly because of it.
00:44:54
Yeah, I get that. And that's literally what she was saying. And I started to notice then that it was true. Like, people really thought that I was intimidating and unfriendly. So sue.
00:45:04
I actually did this. This is a real story. I was like, okay, I want to be perceived as friendly because I feel friendly inside. Right. And I want to be perceived as happy because I'm happy inside, but that's not what's coming out of my face.
00:45:17
And so I did an exercise. This is real. Every time I got onto the freeway, because I was driving by this point, every time I got into the freeway, I would come onto the freeway, and I would grin from ear to ear until I got back, literally to practice smiling and using my smile muscles and to get it feeling normal and everything. And so I would practice smiling, and I used the freeway as my cue so I remember to do it, and I was like, people must think I look like a crazy person, just, like, smiling away. But I smile a lot more now.
00:45:51
Yeah. I've never had anyone say that to me. Yeah. So there you go. Yeah.
00:45:57
I also think it's kind of like we're all different, right? We are. And with the way I dress or the way I look or the way I smile, doesn't get to know me. So I sometimes find that a little dangerous, especially when it's when someone asks, like, smile, and it's like, I want to. Right?
00:46:19
Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Man, we're more alike than we thought. Okay, last one.
00:46:23
You ready? Yes. What can business owners do to make the world a better place? You mean like, you work with so many business owners. What can they do to make I.
00:46:33
Mean, I think I think think social good. What ways can you give back but not donating so much? I mean, donating and being social good. There's two ways to look at it. I mean, you can do green or you can donate things, or you can bring in employees that may not be employed as easy, but looking for ways that your product can help the community or that your business can help the community.
00:47:00
But also and this is kind of I'm a business person side. Right. Not that you don't want to be too giving, but give things to things that are also going to help your business succeed. So match up those target audiences. I think it's a great way to help get yourself known, and you feel kind of icky like, okay, I just want to give.
00:47:23
I don't want anything back to my business. But there is a way to not go broke because you're giving and be classy about it. Yeah, I think it's okay to be giving, but also to have it help your business without being that unethical. Sure. No, it totally makes sense.
00:47:37
Unless you have a very good bank account that you can give to other things. But I find with advertising and with donations, especially when you're in a small town, so constplus is a small town, but even smaller towns, you're always being hit up for this Rotary auction or this auction. I don't mean to call it Rotary. I love Rotary. But there could be 20 auctions, and there could be 20 sponsorships for the Humane Society.
00:48:03
And then the newspaper is coming with ads, and they're having a special page for the football team. I remember our first year in business when I was helping my husband at the time with his chiropractic clinic. We were saying yes, yes, because we want to be a part of the community. And that was the biggest thing. And then you look and it was like in the thousands at the end of the year that really didn't go to anything, just getting our name out there.
00:48:28
So we tried to organize a little bit more like yes, here's the budget, we want to give and we want to be giving, but we only have this much, right? So we have to narrow it down. So we might as well narrow it down to the people that are going to use our services or that's our target market. Sure. It makes sense what you're saying.
00:48:48
We run into similar where we want to give. Frankly, we don't actually want to give to everything. There are certain things that we're like, well, we'd probably give here before we give there, but in general we want to have generous spirits and same and so we actually identified different categories that we were willing to give to and some of them are based just off of things that we really believe in. Yeah, us. And so we knew that we would feel that connection and tie and do more than just give the money that we knew because we loved that type of entity that we were going to give our support and be ambassadors, et cetera.
00:49:31
And so we ended up identifying those and then we have a certain amount of money and that does help us then give permission to say gracefully, but no to some of those because there's many things you can give to. But I love too how you pointed out it can be more than just monetary, can be skills and time and being an advocate and just talking about talking about things that you love. Yeah. Using organic materials or locally produced food that you're bringing in. Absolutely.
00:50:03
Community, for sure. Well, thank you so much for all of this. And if you're wondering about ideas of places you give, you go to Chat GPT and put in what are some ideas for places I could give based off of my interest, just to bring that all full circle, right? Yeah. Thanks so much for sharing and I do just so appreciate again that your support of local businesses, but just businesses in general.
00:50:26
We always put contact information here. So I just wanted to point out to people, because you have said this before, if you're even not in the area, if you reach out to Pits, she will help you get connected to the right one in your area. Absolutely. So thanks again for being here. I really appreciate it.
00:50:41
Yeah, no problem. Bye.