The Magnifying Glass: Heather Terry on AI & Adaptability

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I have a whole slew of chronic
illnesses.

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My capacity for doing
significant amounts of work has

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been impacted, but AI enables me
to circumvent that, navigate

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that in a way that I wasn't able
to five years ago.

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AI can be a great tool for
helping close gaps and skills

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and, and and supporting that,
but it will never be more

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powerful than when you're
putting it where you know best

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and using that AI to magnify
what you are really strong at.

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It is an unbelievably powerful
tool.

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The Leap Lounge, a podcast about
real people, real leaps, and

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what it took.
Welcome to the Leap Lounge.

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I'm here with Heather Terry
today.

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And Heather took her leap from
teaching and then content

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marketing into founding Curious
AI, where she now helps

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organizations and individuals
rethink the relationship with

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work through AI.
She's passionate about building

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a more flexible, inclusive
future for work, especially for

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parents, people with chronic
illness, and others who

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traditional workplaces may have
left behind.

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So welcome to the podcast,
Terry.

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Heather.
All right?

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Nope.
That's it.

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You know what?
Oh my gosh, it's early in the

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morning.
Good times.

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My my whole life I've been the
girl with two first names, so I

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am accustomed to it.
But yeah, thank you.

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I'm happy to be here.
I wanted to get started by

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talking a little bit about where
you are now before we go back to

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where you started in your leaps.
So as the CEO of Curious AII am

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leading our business strategy as
we are doing consulting with

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clients and supporting AI
innovation and adoption.

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And we are also developing a
software that we are in beta

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testing now and we'll be moving
into partner beta testing and

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client beta testing in about
four weeks.

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Very exciting.
And So what we are working on is

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a platform to help companies
manage their AI journey,

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evaluating their AI performance
so that they can make the

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decision with actual metrics on
which AI tools are serving them,

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which ones aren't, and
diagnosing why that is before

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they make a decision.
And.

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And it's so great that you are
in the AI space now, and it's so

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different from where you
started.

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So you were a teacher?
I was, I thought so my favorite

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show stopper in networking
events is in the first half of

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2019.
I was teaching Shakespeare and

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creative writing and now here I
am at the front of an AI

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strategy company, Applied AI.
It's been an interesting

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journey.
This is not in my 5 year plan to

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be sitting here today, but here
I am and I, you know, just you

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know, adaptability and
flexibility is the name of the

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game.
Adaptability and flexibility

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clearly is, and if you could
have even imagined yourself in

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five years, this was nowhere
near what your plans were at

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all.
No, no.

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So in 2019, I was leaving the
teaching field and I was going

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into content marketing.
And so then, you know, I was

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advancing became senior content
marketing manager.

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And when ChatGPT 3.5 hit the
market, my chief marketing

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officer asked me to learn at
side of desk.

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I just wanted to know if there
was anything worthwhile there.

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And, you know, the existential
crisis of, Oh my God, I just

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started a new career in content
marketing and I'm seeing a

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future where my five year plan
was in jeopardy.

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So I decided rather than
fighting against that coming

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tide, I, you know, read the
writing on the wall and decided

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to become very good at large
language models.

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And so I dug into it.
I became the point of contact

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person for training the AI
systems, training the people on

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our staff for learning the AI
tools and just making sure that

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I was staying abreast of how it
was developing and it was

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developing rapidly.
I started training some people

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across the company, you know,
building some tools and making

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some recommendations to other
departments.

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And I decided after a couple
years that that would be

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something I could moonlight
doing for companies in my area.

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And so I came up this crazy idea
that I was going to do Curious

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AI and I was going to Moonlight
Freelance doing this.

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And I had some very good friends
and some family members who

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heard what I was doing and they
believed in it and they threw

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their lot in with me and very
rapidly now.

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So we are this is about 18
months ago that I decided to

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moonlight.
And so that was early or late

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2024.
By early 2025, we were founding

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curious and there was a group of
us and we're moving forward.

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I just hired, I just hired a, a
contractor salesperson that I'm

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on boarding.
He's got a road map to become

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full time and it's just
exciting.

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That is hugely exciting.
I mean, it's almost meteoric

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when you think about it with
going from, you know, teaching

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Shakespeare to content marketing
to, hey, I've got this idea

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after I was forced sort of in a
way, to learn how to do this.

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And now you're hiring and you
have a new location too, right?

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Yes, yeah.
We just moved last week.

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So it's been an exciting couple
of weeks.

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So we are in a larger space.
We are no longer.

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I had originally an 80 square
foot office, tiny little thing.

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Now I have the space to actually
host.

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I've got a desk off to one side
right where I had my interns

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working and I'll be able to host
some office hours with clients.

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We're going to be setting up a
recording space.

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You can see behind me is going
to be I'll be setting up for

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some podcasting and some
recording myself.

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And then next door to US, one
door over, we've got access to

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an event space that's included
with access is included with

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their release.
And so I'll be able to host

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larger events, about 50 people.
How cool is that?

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I mean, and that's huge.
OK, I want to go back a bit.

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I want to go back a bit just
because there's so much here to

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unpack.
So you're an English teacher and

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what made you decide to go into
content marketing?

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So I've got a Master of Fine
Arts in English Literature and a

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Master of Fine Arts in Creative
Writing, and as I was finishing

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my creative writing degree, I
knew that I wanted to go more

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into a writing career.
I was becoming frustrated with

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feeling like I had my hands tied
trying to help students, and I

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wanted to find a better way to
go through developing my skills

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and finding new ways to help
students.

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So I decided that I needed to
leave the public teaching world

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and I secured a position at it
was Hurricane Labs, which is

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important because the former
owner of that company now is our

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Chief AI officer.
He's one of the ones who

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believed in what I was saying
and threw his lot in with us.

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So like became their mark, end
up becoming their content

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marketer and working there for a
few years.

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And when the CTO and owner
decided to sell the company and

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retire, I listened to a
different company during the

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acquisition process.
And so again, Fast forward and I

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had this crazy idea and the
former owner of Hurricane Labs,

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he was getting a little bored in
retirement, was curious about,

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he was curious about what I was
doing.

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And so I, you know, he's
bringing a lot of, a lot of

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experience from cybersecurity
world and, you know, and machine

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learning and AI to the table.
And he's, you know, throwing his

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lot in with us.
So it's just been said, it's,

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I've been very fortunate.
I've been very humbled that how

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things have progressed.
It just became, it just blended

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together very easily where the,
the moment was right, I could

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tell.
And so like moving from teaching

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and it was right for me in that
moment to take a step to a

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different direction so that I
could feel more satisfied with

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the, the impact I was having.
And then the connections and the

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people that I, I met along the
way.

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You know, it all, it, it's, it
feels crazy.

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It feels like I am just like out
of this world, like it, it's,

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it's unreal.
Like right, Shakespeare and

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creative writing.
Now I'm leaning AI strategy.

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But also it was so organic and
natural.

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Like it just flowed together and
it was, it's just feels like

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when you're coming home, like
that moment of everything's just

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sort of settling into place was
very much the sense as curious

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came into being.
You know, those first six months

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I was completely floored, mind
blown on how easily everything,

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not that it's all been easy.
It's definitely had its

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challenges, but the people that
have come together to support

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was just a this transition was
so well supported.

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I am very grateful for that.
That is so amazing.

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I mean, especially with the
different, it's almost like

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synchronicities in a way with
how one thing led to another led

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to another led to another.
And you have him on board to

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help you out with the CEO
wingness of it.

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Because that was going to be my
next question is, how did you

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learn to do all of this?
I mean, OK, so you're kind of

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pushed off a ledge a little bit
with Chat 3.5, ChatGPT 3.5 and

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having to learn it.
But it sounds like there are a

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lot of things that you kind of
just went, hey, let's do this

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thing.
I mean, how did that all come

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together?
So I mean, to be sure, Bill

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again, Hurricane Labs former
owner, he has been an incredible

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mentor, guiding me, advising me,
you know, pushing back when I

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rightly need push back.
But so I guess, I don't know, I

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think I've been, my parents
owned a small business when I

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was growing up.
I spent my childhood underneath

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the counters pretending to be a
salesperson on the phone and had

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my little briefcase and old
invoices and they had an

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embroidery business.
And then when I was in college,

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my parents are truck driving, I
took over the business and I

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managed it for them.
And that's how I bought my extra

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things when I was in college was
I was running their business and

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running the embroidery.
And so that kind of, you know,

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grew.
I just grew up in that

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environment and then had the,
the fortune of, of being able to

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make those decisions.
I was the only one working it.

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I didn't have any employees.
It was just me doing the

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business.
But so I was able to make

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decisions and learn from
mistakes rapidly go from there.

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And being a teacher, you're, you
are, you know, teachers have a

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big support system, but also
when you're in your classroom,

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you're in a bubble.
And in a lot of ways you are in

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an isolated environment and you,
you're king or queen of your

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domain.
But also getting support can

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take time.
So a lot of times you're just

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making executive decisions on
the fly and managing it as best

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you can.
And I was in inner city school

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as well, an alternative Academy.
And so there was certain degree

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of navigation that was needed,
both executive decision, but

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also then like connection,
building rapport, figuring

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things out that would work for
the scenario at hand.

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That might have been more
unorthodox because of the the

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dynamic of the room.
Just like all of these little

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elements where the critical
thinking, the critical writing,

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being able to deep dive the
creative writing and being able

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to see scenarios and, and come
up with new, new ideas that are

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fictional creative.
I'm a science fiction writer.

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That was my, my, that's my
preferred genre is science

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fiction and fantasy.
And so questioning what is

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possible is intrinsic to who I
am.

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So now I question how we're
doing things, what we're doing,

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how we do them, why we do them
that way.

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And then I say, well, what if we
do it this way?

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And AI allows me to prototype
very rapidly and then I can take

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it to my tech team.
You know, I have the CTO Mike,

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who's my cousin and you know,
he's self-taught coder and he

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takes that and takes my
prototype and runs with it.

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And then Bill comes in and helps
us with fine tuning security.

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And so it's just it allows me to
be set loose creative

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creatively.
It's like you're using all of

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your skill sets instead of just
certain pieces and some parts of

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your skill set that you didn't
even know until you started

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diving into AI.
Yeah, it's been, it's definitely

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been a learning curve both in
skills that I've picked up over

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the past year, year and a half,
but then also learning curve in

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how my past is where the actual
value is and what it is that I

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do, you know, creative writing
workshops, like even then, the

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creativity itself and doing
innovation and understanding

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small business and the
challenges that small business

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owners face.
I, I grew up in, in that world

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and I, I remember, I remember it
well, my parents, the struggles

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that they face when a machine
went down at a critical time

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and, or when a particular order
came in at any of those, any of

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the challenges, marketing and,
and making sure that you have

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enough pipeline.
And so coming in and putting

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those together and realizing
that that blend is truly unique.

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That my ability to bring
creativity out in others that I

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fine-tuned at for 10 years as an
English teacher, as a creative

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writing teacher, and you know,
do it leading creative writing

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workshops.
That that exercise isn't unique

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to writing papers and stories,
but that is a process that

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applies very readily to creating
new tools with AI, custom tools

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with AI, where these tools that
we can build now are so

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personalized that companies can
have a truly custom fit AI tool

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that their competitors cannot
buy off the shelf.

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They can have, they can broaden
their Moat with a fully custom

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fit suite of tools that is
unique to their company, to

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their knowledge base and to
their people.

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The best thing you have in
business when you have AI, you

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know, sweeping through the best
thing you have is your people.

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Like that is what it's going to
be your distinguishing factor.

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And being able to use AI to
magnify that difference, like

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being able to pull that
innovation and creativity out of

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people so that they can see it
for themselves and start leaning

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into it.
That's creative writing.

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It's, it's, it's the writing
process.

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It's just a different output.
A completely different output.

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And I love what you just said
about how humans are really the

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best part of all of this because
so many people have this fear

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that AI is going to take
everything over and it's going

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to erase creativity.
How do you actually see that

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augmenting creativity and
augmenting, you know, the

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humanity in all of this?
I mean, I, so I think that any

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leader that is going through and
planning to use AI to sweepingly

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cut back on their people, I
think it is short sighted.

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And my favorite little saying is
that AI is a magnifying glass.

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And if you have an expert in the
room, it will magnify their

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expertise.
And if you have an empty chair,

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you will magnify that you have
an empty seat in the room and

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that's a problem when you know
the AI cannot fill that seat.

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It is not, it is not able to do
that, but for using it to

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magnify the experts you have for
magnifying the people that you

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have working with you this I
mean you will not find a tool

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more powerful than an expert
paired with AI.

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So coming in and having that
plan that you're going to figure

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out how to 3X10X any of your
employees, understanding where

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that where that capability is
and what's going to be a driving

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factor behind some of how your
company's going to need to

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evolve.
That is a pretty critical piece

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to AI adoption.
And being clear with your

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employees that their jobs aren't
at risk that you are looking to

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grow.
I mean, if you, if you grow, if

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you, if you grow the impact of
your employees, each employee by

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5X, which is pretty conservative
as far as how AI can impact

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productivity.
You'd be 5X ING your company.

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The, the income, the revenue,
the, the, you know, the

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viability of your company.
And so are you trying to

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maintain status quo and reduce
headcount or do you want a five

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extra company?
And that's an amazing question

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because we've got so many
companies who are letting people

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go like crazy right now who I
don't think have figured out

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really what the purpose of all
of this can be and the direction

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it is going into.
They are and then six months

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later when it all falls apart,
which it does, they crawl back

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and ask those people back and
some of them accept and some of

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them have moved on and the
company is poorer for it.

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And so these, I mean, it's
happening, but again, it's short

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sighted and in six months
they're going to be hurting.

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Then there's also just the the
attrition factor where you're

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hiring fewer people.
You're maybe not laying off the

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ones that you have, but you
foresee hiring fewer people.

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And that's another
understandable aspect.

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I'm certainly doing more work
with my small team than we would

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be, would be possible if we
weren't, if it wasn't for AI.

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But I'm going to need, I'm going
to need leaders in my company in

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five years as I advance to
higher strategy and I'm needing

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people to backfill.
I am the salesperson, I am the

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lead consultant.
As I'm filling in those

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00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:20,520
functions, as I advance into the
more strategic leadership, who

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00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:26,000
am I going to have fill those
seats if I'm not bringing in?

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If I'm not bringing in junior
members, even though AI can

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handle a lot of the work that
junior members typically do, If

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I'm not bringing those junior
people in and having them work

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with the AI, having them work
with my leaders now, As for

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their mentorships, I'm not going
to have leaders in five or ten

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years.
I'm going to find myself in a

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00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:55,320
sticky situation and hoping I
could pay a premium to steal

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00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:57,640
someone away from another
company and bring their skills

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00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,560
on board when I could have just
been training and advancing the

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people in my own company.
And so again, it's it's short

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sighted to use AI to reduce your
headcount and it's short sighted

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to not plan on hiring junior
members.

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You have to plan for what the
next phase of leadership?

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00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:18,640
What?
What is your?

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00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,520
Hierarchy going to look like and
how are you filling those roles

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because AI is changing the way
that looks and now you need to

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think about how you're actually
going to create that longevity

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of leadership.
Thank you for that.

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And I hope that speaks to our
leaders who are listening to

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this podcast because so many
leaders today still don't even

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think about building a bench and
for what the next generation is

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going to be coming up.
They don't think about

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succession or any of that.
And this makes it obvious what

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you just said, how important it
still is to do all of these

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things.
So that way you aren't going to

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have to bring somebody in from
the outside and train them up on

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all of your processes and
products, etcetera, etcetera.

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00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:06,680
So thinking about the work that
you're doing with Curious AII,

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one of the things that you
mentioned is how you're making

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the software bespoke.
Very, very by company, by what

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their needs are and everything
else.

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And I know that you are a huge
fan of accessibility because of

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things that are in your
background on that.

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Could you tell me a little bit
more about that?

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00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:33,200
Sure.
So as far as the custom way that

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we work, as far as building
tools, we, I, I am, we, we are

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tool agnostic, we are platform
agnostic and we don't gatekeep,

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which means that when we create
a, an automation, a build it, we

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give the entire package over to
the client.

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So it lives in their system
behind their own firewalls and

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security protections.
It's operating on their systems.

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We create the strategic
framework that allows that

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system to work, but then we
build it into their own organic

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system.
When the contract terminates,

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they don't lose access, it is
just going to live in their own

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environment, which is really
important to me.

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AI is changing so rapidly that I
don't see it as valuable to

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gatekeeping anyway, but I also
want small businesses to be able

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to have high functioning systems
that aren't going to nickel and

356
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,800
dime them to death.
With how AI is coming in and

357
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,880
impacting the markets and how
the big box stores are already

358
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threatening small business, I I
don't want to be a contributing

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00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:40,160
factor to that.
So that's part of my, my, my,

360
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my, I guess my moral, my mission
with curious.

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But then I have a whole slew of
chronic illnesses.

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I describe myself as jankity.
I've I've got autoimmune, I've

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00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,440
got endometriosis, I've got
migraines.

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My spine isn't at all right.
It's going 102% curvature loss

365
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,840
in the wrong directions and all
sorts of fun things.

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And so any given day, my
capacity for doing significant

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amounts of work has been
impacted if I have a significant

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migraine, being in front of a
computer is really difficult and

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I have word loss when I'm having
a migraine.

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And so being able to capture my
thoughts as a writer creative

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writing MFA But in losing my
words, it can be very difficult

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to do what I do.
But AI enables me to circumvent

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that, to navigate that in a way
that I wasn't able to five years

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ago.
And so creating functions within

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my AI.
So I have built my AI tool to

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00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:50,760
recognize my speech patterns
when I'm having a migraine

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because sometimes the speech
patterns manifest before I have

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00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,600
other symptoms.
And so she she tests her name is

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00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:04,280
Tess that she named herself.
She will flag those as saying

380
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,600
like, hey, like I'm noticing
you're losing your words.

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00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,560
You're you're punctuating a
little bit differently.

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00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,800
And I fine-tuned her myself.
I know my writing style

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00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,200
extremely well.
It is part of and you know, it's

384
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,040
that's an also an intrinsic part
of me is that my writing

385
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:24,560
training and so I trained tests
to recognize testing my AI to

386
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,880
recognize those signs as well,
because the language changes

387
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,800
would often happen before I have
other symptoms, including the

388
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:37,240
pain symptom of a migraine.
So she can flag that and say,

389
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,920
hey, like, I'm noticing this
happening.

390
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,680
Like are to you, if you think
that you're having a, an

391
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,000
episode, a migraine episode,
would you like to clear your

392
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,160
schedule?
It's gotten very good to where

393
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,840
she recognizes my speech
patterns, but that is dependent

394
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:53,560
on me being able to recognize
it.

395
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,000
And so the big thing when we're
doing these custom builds is

396
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,320
focusing first on their areas of
expertise.

397
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:06,680
AI can be a great tool for
helping close gaps and skills

398
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,200
and, and, and supporting that.
But it will never be more

399
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:14,640
powerful than when you're
putting it where you know best,

400
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,720
where you can fine tune it the
best, and using that AI to

401
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,360
magnify what you are really
strong at.

402
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,680
It is an unbelievably powerful
tool.

403
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:27,600
And so that's what I help people
figure out.

404
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:32,320
It can be very difficult for
people to necessarily recognize

405
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:37,080
the metacognition of what they
do and where they do it.

406
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,000
If you've ever tried to teach
someone how to do a task that

407
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,960
you know extremely well, it can
be very challenging to

408
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,800
externalize that process.
But as a teacher, that is what I

409
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,640
did for 10 years was externalize
the creative writing process,

410
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,880
which is a challenge.
It's a real challenge to be able

411
00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:00,520
to to do that.
And so helping other people

412
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:05,240
figure that out, teach it to the
AI and then fine tune it from

413
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:09,680
there, that is a big part of
that, that customization of

414
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:11,880
those tools is, is helping
people recognize their

415
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,880
strengths, externalize the
process, do the metacognition,

416
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,240
and teach the metacognition to
the AI.

417
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,000
And all of this is just so cool
to me because having been

418
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,360
through so many changes in
software platforms and it's

419
00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:27,720
still, it doesn't work and you
have to create all these

420
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,400
workarounds and everything.
So making it so that it works

421
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,280
specifically for what your needs
are for your business, that's

422
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,440
enormous.
It's one tool for, it's a tool

423
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,200
that is for a company, for a
task within that company, for a

424
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,760
person doing that task.
And it it can change and we can

425
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,640
adapt it for if you have 10
different content, if you have

426
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,320
10 different content marketers,
that's 10 different writers who

427
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,120
have 10 different writing
processes.

428
00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:59,880
It shouldn't look the same.
It shouldn't be A1 size fits

429
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:02,520
all.
And with AI, it doesn't have to

430
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,720
be.
It can be fully custom and

431
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,960
supporting people where they
need and want it, rather than

432
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:13,120
just sort of trying to jam an
Octagon into a square hole.

433
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,480
Huge.
It's work changing.

434
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,800
It's literally changing the
business of work and how it's

435
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:27,640
done.
So it's all so intertwined with

436
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,480
who you are and where you've
been and where you are now.

437
00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,760
And it's just, like you said,
it's like this practically with

438
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,040
how you wound up putting it all
together.

439
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,840
But you also said this wasn't
easy.

440
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,840
So what were some of the pain
points along the way for you?

441
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,720
Well, we are bootstrapped, which
means that we were, we have been

442
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,320
funding ourselves to get us
ourselves here.

443
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:55,680
We did we.
I did have a friend help us out

444
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,520
with getting some initial
support as far as being able to

445
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,520
fund my, specifically my, my CTO
being able to quit his job and

446
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,440
and code full time for us.
But otherwise we've been living

447
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,480
off of savings.
We haven't been pulling from the

448
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,000
company.
We've been just like

449
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,560
bootstrapping and that's been a
challenge to navigate.

450
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:19,640
We are in the process of
securing funding for our launch

451
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,120
now.
So that's a new adventure to go

452
00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:25,920
down is figuring out that
process.

453
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,760
I am a terrible salesperson is
another part.

454
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,240
I am, I am not a good
salesperson.

455
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,400
I am the bottleneck.
I love talking about AI and the

456
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,320
potential and the creativity of
it.

457
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,880
Like I I love it.
I love the innovation.

458
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,440
Not a great salesperson.
And so getting to that point,

459
00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,560
I've been working with a sales
coach who has been fantastic and

460
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,280
he's really been helping me set
up my system so that I can start

461
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,680
doing a better job with the
sales side as I'm preparing to

462
00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:00,440
onboard an actual sales team.
I was fortunate that my, sorry,

463
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,520
my husband who is our chief
financial officer, he has a

464
00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:06,760
degree in organization
supervision.

465
00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:11,000
So it's been a huge help with
like organizing our organization

466
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,240
to have the business structures
that we need.

467
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,840
But there's certainly been quite
a bit of learning curve as far

468
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:23,600
as coming from managing a small
business where I was a team of

469
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:30,360
1A business of 1 to now all of a
sudden having multiple people

470
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,840
working with me and navigating
those relationships, those

471
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,240
workflows.
It took some real thinking to to

472
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:41,160
figure out.
So you've talked a lot about the

473
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,280
business and the pain points.
What about you personally?

474
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:53,600
Imposter syndrome.
I mean, I, I know that it it is

475
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:59,600
both feels very organic to be
here, but also what the heck am

476
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,520
I doing here?
I'm, I am, I have 3° in English

477
00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:09,160
and literature and I'm at the
front of a tech company and, and

478
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,800
who in their right mind will
listen to me?

479
00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,160
But then I also know that my
ideas and values are strong.

480
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:17,040
My value, the value that I bring
is strong.

481
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,040
But there's that, that monster
in the room, the corner, the

482
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,480
questions, are you actually, is
it worth it?

483
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,760
Are are are you actually
bringing something valuable?

484
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,160
And every time I have a success,
I like, I use that like, OK,

485
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:36,680
like, hush, little monster in
the corner there that this

486
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,040
imposter syndrome can be set
aside.

487
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:43,200
The anecdote that Stephen King
likes to give about his writing

488
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,680
journey is that he threw Carrie
in the trash and his wife dug it

489
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:48,520
out of the trash and told him
not to throw this out.

490
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,800
There was something to it.
And so like when you put

491
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,680
yourself next to these people
who have done impressive things

492
00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,520
and to know that they still
question themselves, like that's

493
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:03,480
a, a big check in point that I
have to do with myself.

494
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,720
Like this imposter syndrome, it,
it's everywhere and everyone

495
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,680
struggles with it.
Even the most famous, you know,

496
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,800
the, you know, with high
notoriety and, and fame and

497
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:19,480
glamour, they struggle with
their value and their worth all

498
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:21,040
the same, just like the rest of
us.

499
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,760
And I think that's been the
biggest challenge for me to

500
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:28,480
overcome is, is resolving myself
to acknowledge that I have that

501
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,320
anxiety, that feeling, and I'm
going to do it anyway.

502
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:38,400
And like having that faith can
figure this out and that I have,

503
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,240
and then trusting my people that
I have the right advisors around

504
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:47,240
me, mentors and, and, and
teammates that can support those

505
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:51,280
gaps where they are.
And then, you know, we figure it

506
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:55,800
out together.
And that's so powerful, what you

507
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,440
were just saying about the faith
piece of it and bringing that

508
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:03,600
into it, as well as the imposter
syndrome, which I, I feel like

509
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,080
if you don't have imposter
syndrome, something's wrong with

510
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,800
you.
You know what, We all have

511
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,840
imposter syndrome in some way,
shape or form.

512
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,600
So thank you for bringing both
of those up.

513
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,480
And the faith piece of it.
I mean, you have a family also

514
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,400
and you know, along with the
other things that you're going

515
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:25,480
through with migraines and other
disability, I mean, you're

516
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,800
making the world a more
accessible place and a way for

517
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:33,080
people to adapt and give them
the tools to continue to be more

518
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:38,560
productive.
With everything that you've done

519
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:45,280
in your leaps, what's one thing
that you would recommend to your

520
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:46,640
former self?
Starting the path?

521
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,560
Man, just one.
OK, give me a handful.

522
00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:04,320
What do you got?
Oh, push harder.

523
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:13,040
Earlier on, I if so, I had this
vision of what I was going to do

524
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:19,280
and I waffled and bounced around
on different ideas.

525
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:24,480
And now where I'm sitting we're
at, where we're at right now is

526
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:26,960
much closer to what my original
idea was.

527
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:32,040
And so I just did.
I lacked the confidence in that

528
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:36,160
concept.
And so just having some trust in

529
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,760
those ideas and, and pushing
forward and staying focused on

530
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,240
them.
The focus is a big one and not

531
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,600
letting myself get distracted by
everything else around.

532
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,880
Like AI is a noisy space.
It is a noisy space.

533
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,800
The products are, there's a ton
of them and it's noisy.

534
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:57,840
The people, competitors of mine
or parallel adjacent services,

535
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:00,560
there's a ton of us and it's
just going to get louder.

536
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:05,240
And the shiny object syndrome,
looking around and seeing all of

537
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:09,880
these things, staying focused is
the biggest thing for me.

538
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:13,719
And I know that anyone who knows
me and is listening to this is

539
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:15,719
going, yes, Heather, you've been
telling you that please stay

540
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:18,800
focused.
But it is, it's like that's been

541
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,239
definitely the, the biggest
challenge is making sure that

542
00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:28,360
maybe I document all the ideas,
but I run them down like I see

543
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,280
them through and don't change
the strategy.

544
00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:34,760
There was definitely a lot of
learning curve early on because

545
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:39,960
we evolved so quickly that the
strategy was I felt was needing

546
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,560
to change because of the number
of people who was having joined

547
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,320
so rapidly.
But ultimately they were joining

548
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,199
that original idea.
And that original idea is where

549
00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:52,960
we've ultimately come back
around to finally full circle

550
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,480
and it's been we are stronger
for it.

551
00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:03,440
So trusting the vision, staying
with the vision, and continuing

552
00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:06,080
to trust yourself as you make
the leaps along the way and

553
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:08,920
focusing.
And accepting that you're going

554
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,880
to make mistakes, especially
when you're making a pivot like

555
00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,720
this, there's going to be areas
where you need to have that

556
00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:17,480
resilience, where you need to
have that.

557
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:21,840
It's not just resilience and the
face of focusing on your vision,

558
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,800
but also you have this vision.
But sometimes the steps along

559
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,480
the way to that vision are
really murky, and you're going

560
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,320
to misstep, you're going to
stumble, but something's not

561
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:36,520
going to pan out.
And you can't let that put you

562
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:42,240
off the vision because the
vision is worth it.

563
00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:46,920
Sometimes the steps need to be
figured out along the way.

564
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,640
Taking a circuitous path is not
a bad thing.

565
00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:54,360
Thank you so much.
Heather, I was going to ask you

566
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,640
another question, but you ended
that so perfect that I'm like,

567
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,040
is there anything that you would
like to add?

568
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,120
That this has been a lovely
conversation and I quite enjoyed

569
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:10,840
it and thank you for so much for
reaching out and asking to have

570
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:13,760
me here.
Thank you for being here.

571
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:18,320
I can't tell you how much I
appreciate it and you and your

572
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,680
vision along the way.
This has been phenomenal and

573
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,960
seeing how all the
synchronicities and things work

574
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:29,120
and trust it it it's not just,
you know, doing the things you

575
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,520
know you're supposed to do is
doing the things that you also

576
00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:36,000
want to do in the vision that
you have and just in a way going

577
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,480
for it is there.
How can people find you and

578
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,320
connect with you?
Yeah.

579
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:44,520
So you can connect with me on
LinkedIn.

580
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,680
I'm happy to make any
connections personally or on the

581
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:52,800
company website which is
www.curiousai.us.

582
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:56,480
Thank you so much for your time
today, Heather.

583
00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:59,800
Can't wait to see how people
respond to this episode because

584
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,280
this has been pretty powerful.
I appreciate you.

585
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:05,440
Thank.
You I appreciate you have a good

586
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,960
one.
If this episode provided some

587
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:13,120
inspiration to keep moving
forward, please like, share,

588
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:16,280
comment, and subscribe.
And be sure to keep coming back

589
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:19,240
for more conversations about
what happens when people answer

590
00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:22,000
the call to reconsider the
age-old question.

591
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:23,080
What's?
Next.

592
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:25,640
Until next time, keep moving
forward.