Overwhelmed by AI? How to Actually Start Using It in Your Online Business (Without Burning Out)

In this episode of She Means Business, Carrie sits down with long-time friend and AI strategist Rick Mulready to talk about what it really looks like to build an AI-first business in 2025 and beyond.

If you’ve been dabbling with ChatGPT, still doing everything manually, or feeling slightly terrified you’re “already behind” with AI… this conversation will feel like a deep exhale and a wake-up call all at once.

Rick shares how burnout and one simple experiment with ChatGPT led him to completely reinvent his business around AI – and why he believes the biggest shift for online entrepreneurs now is moving from people manager to AI manager.

Together, we explore practical, non-techy ways you can start using AI today to save hours every week, make smarter decisions, and free yourself up to do the work (and live the life) you actually want.

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In this episode, we talk about:

• How burnout and ChatGPT pushed Rick to pause his “successful” business and pivot fully into the AI space

• Why traditional “record once, sell forever” courses are getting outdated fast – and why Rick chose a membership model in the age of AI

• What it means to build an AI-first business instead of trying to bolt AI onto an old way of working

• The dreaded time audit and how AI can help you see where your time is really going (without a huge spreadsheet)

• Simple ways to use ChatGPT beyond content: time analysis, decision support, planning trips, troubleshooting real-life problems (like a broken motorhome!)

• How to use AI to:

• Draft newsletters and weekly emails in a fraction of the time

• Turn your FAQ doc into a “world-class” customer support assistant

• Analyse your P&L, ad stats, or sales pages and get clear, actionable recommendations

• The difference between “using ChatGPT for a task” and building AI agents that can research, ideate, draft and send things for you

• What it practically looks like to go from solo operator to having an AI “org chart” across marketing, operations and delivery

• Why aggregating your business knowledge (courses, FAQs, SOPs, offers, etc.) in one place now will make your future AI setups 10x more powerful

• How AI is opening up wild creative possibilities – from building apps without being a coder to helping Carrie’s 6-year-old turn his stories into books and 3D characters

• The mindset shift we all need: choosing curiosity over fear, and committing to 20 minutes a day of “AI practice” so we don’t get left behind

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Resources & tools mentioned

Connect with Rick Mulready

• Website & newsletter: rickmulready.com rickmulready.com
  

• The AI Playbook® community: The AI Playbook on Skool Skool
  

AI & automation tools we mention

• ChatGPT – Carrie’s go-to for time analysis, meal planning, content, motorhome troubleshooting and more

• Claude – Rick’s favourite for long-form copy like email sequences and sales pages

• Relay.app – no-code AI workflow + automation tool for building simple agents and workflows Relay

• Gamma – AI tool for creating slide decks and presentations quickly Gamma

• Dia – an AI-powered browser from The Browser Company that lets you “chat with your tabs” and analyse what’s on your screen in real time Dia Browser

(Always check current pricing and plans for these tools, as they change often.)

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