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There's probably at least one thing or maybe 100 things that you're still doing that your Virtual Assistant should handle, and it's costing you time, work, and financial freedom.  This is about delegation awareness. Let's dive into the one thing you're still doing that your virtual assistant or someone you delegate to should handle. Delegation Awareness Even with my Virtual Assistant Made Easy clients and coaching clients, I constantly hear them mention tasks they're still doing that they could delegate. Here are two stories: Story #1: The Blog Upload One client was still uploading her own blog every week. When I asked why, she said, "Oh, it's just easy. I just go in and put the things in, and then get the pictures and everything." She had the VA do all the other pieces but was still uploading it herself. All she needed to do was show the VA how and give access. Once she passed it off, it freed up three hours per week. She'd wondered why she was always behind. It was these small things adding up. If you're doing blog or website updates multiple times a week, it takes time away from your core competencies and probably burns your energy doing tasks you didn't get into business to do. Story #2: Social Media Content Another client was still making his own social media posts. When I asked why he was still doing it himself, it boiled down to not being sure she could let it go or how to pass it off. One of my main virtual assistants does all my stories, reels, and captions based on my anchor videos. She pulls quotes, chooses them, adds calls-to-action, and picks images. So I shared my trainings, videos, checklists, templates… everything he needed to pass it off. He regained his time and sanity (because there simply aren’t enough hours in the day), allowing him to focus more on bringing on new clients. I love finding that one thing someone's still doing that they should pass off. It All Comes Down to Delegation Awareness Ask yourself: What have you been doing the past six months that you still want to do versus what you want to pass off going into the next six months?  If you don't have a VA, we've opened eight spots for clients to work with our virtual assistants. They're vetted, experienced, with great English (spoken and written), and have worked with speakers, coaches, trainers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners like you. If you already have one, it's time to look at what else you can pass off. Common Delegation Opportunities Here are some common delegation opportunities that may be ones you could pass off: Inbox Filtering: Maybe you're not ready to pass off your email yet, but could they filter things? Could they put things into folders like “subscriptions”, and “To Reply to”? Delete the spam? Could they even check your junk and spam, make sure nothing fell into there? Reply to FAQs? Could they categorize urgent, to-do, and project-based emails in the right place for you? Calendar Management: Often, I receive emails that include the dates for a program or speaking engagement. I just forward them to Kristine, and ask, "Hey, can you please add this to my calendar?" Very simple. Even things like adding client meetings in there… This is a task you can pass off. If you're like, "Oh, it just takes me a few minutes." Yes, but let's add up again those three minutes, five minutes, one minute, two minutes, ten minutes, over the course of the day, the week, the month, the year. It's hours upon hours, and it's costing you time, work, and financial freedom. Presentations: Have you ever realized how long it takes to make a presentation? Forever, right? If you simply give a virtual assistant your Word document, which consists of just black words on a white page, they can create a whole presentation for you in PowerPoint, Canva, or anywhere else you want them to make it. Even if you think about just putting the text in, formatting the boxes, choosing the images, each of these can take 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or even longer, when you think of all of the slides. That's something that they can do. Other Tasks: How about updating your website, creating a landing page? How about your CRM emails, audio and video editing, newsletters? There are so many things that can be done. The Real Issue A lot of times people think, "Well, I just do this one little thing that I should delegate." But it's actually probably dozens of things that you're doing. A lot of times people say to me, "I don't know what to delegate." Trust me, there's lots to delegate.  But the thing is, when you cling to these tasks, it's a form of control that limits the growth… the growth of you, the growth of your business because when you're focusing on low impact, low quality, low income-producing tasks, you're not going to have enough time for high impact, high quality, high income-producing tasks. It also limits your time, work, and financial freedom. What To Do Well, your task is to identify these one-off tasks, these daily tasks, these weekly tasks that you need to delegate, that you want to delegate. If you're like, "But I don't know how to delegate. I don't know who to give it to. I don't have a Virtual Assistant" all that, just reach out to me, email me [email protected] or DM me on your favorite social platform, and let's have a conversation. Currently, I have three highly skilled vetted Virtual Assistants ready to support business owners, and I’ve opened just eight client spots in my Virtual Assistant Made Easy for you to work one-on-one with one of my vetted virtual assistants. When you join and start with your VA before Aug 15th, you’ll get ✔ A VA personally matched to your needs ✔ My support to get you delegating fast and effectively ✔ 20 bonus VA hours ✔ A powerful bonus suite worth over $25,000 — including content systems, plug-and-play delegation templates, and CEO strategy support If you’ve been thinking, “I need help but I don’t know where to start,” this is your sign — and your solution. Remember This The things that drain your energy do not deserve your expertise. I'm going to say that again: the tasks that drain your energy don't deserve your expertise. If you find it draining to invoice people or to input your expenses into your Google Sheet or financial software, pass it off. If you find it hard to figure out tech, such as creating a landing page or updating things on the back end of your website, pass it off. If it drains your energy, you're in dissonance. You got into business so that you could do the things you love, your core competencies, the things that are your zone of genius. All of these so that you didn't have to do the crappy tasks, the dissonant tasks that you maybe would have to do at a company. Your Challenge If you want time freedom, work freedom, financial freedom, I'm going to challenge you. Think of one task. You've probably already thought of 10 by now. I'm going to challenge you to come up with the biggest list you could possibly do of all the tasks that you could delegate. I'm going to make this fun here. Email me the list. The person with the biggest list by Aug 15th, 2025, I'm going to send them one of my books: Confidence Secrets, Leadership Secrets, maybe Trailblazer Secrets, or Success Secrets. Email me your list. I know I said one task, that's the minimum, but show me how big of a list. I bet someone could get to 100. Is there anything specific that you would like me to cover as we're coming into the fall? If there are any blog topics or challenges that you have, email me [email protected]. If you are looking for a VA (virtual assistant), then let me and my team connect you with one. The cool thing is, I share a lot of my intellectual property with my clients, so my training videos, my checklists, systems, and exactly how I do things in my business as a speaker, coach, trainer, as well as someone who has a podcast, YouTube, newsletter, books, and online courses and so on and so forth. If you want that sort of done-for-you ability to bring on a VA, then reach out to me, [email protected] or visit our website because that's going to explain more about Virtual Assistant Made Easy, and I'm happy to have a chat with you. Until next time, stay dynamic!
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What would you do with an extra five hours a week? I ask this because most entrepreneurs work 60+ hours every single week, even though we're doing this for the freedom. (Sidenote: If you want to have tons of fun this summer but get lots of stuff done so that come fall, you can look back and say, "Wow, that was an amazing summer," and "I got a lot done" then you probably want the Summer Productivity Playbook. It's a mini course with all the things I've been doing in my own business and life to enjoy summer without falling behind and chasing my tail come fall.)  The Reality for Most Entrepreneurs Most entrepreneurs work 60+ hours a week. I see this in people who come to me before they hire one of my VAs or start working with me as their business coach. The shocking stat is… of those 60 hours, only 20% are high-impact, high-quality, and high-income-producing activities. This is why they are working really hard, but not making the money they want. What do I mean by these kinds of tasks? Things like managing the business, CEO visioning, cash flow activities, building relationships, following up with leads, creating new products or services, and completing any tasks that prevent you from generating your desired revenue. The Main Questions What would you do with those extra five hours? What would change in your life with five more hours of freedom per week? It's not just five extra hours to work more. It's five more hours of freedom that could be used for business or life.
 We got into business because we're passionate about what we do and want to make an impact, but also because we want time freedom, work freedom and financial freedom. At a job, we're often capped. We can't make more without promotions or bonuses, but we can build that into our own business. Real Success Stories I have a client who works with one of my virtual assistants. In one of our monthly CEO meetings where we share wins and brainstorm, she said, "I got three new clients last week." I was surprised. Three in a short period was surprising. She explained she had an idea for a funnel, but hadn't properly finished it. Her virtual assistant freed her up to develop the idea, then the VA made the whole funnel happen. They simply turned it on… email campaigns, sequences that brought leads, and she closed them. Amazing! She gained hours by having the VA do other time-consuming tasks, gained more hours because she wasn't doing the work herself, gained three clients and more financial freedom because the funnel worked for her. It has continued to work since then, generating new leads that turn into clients and ongoing revenue. Life's Unexpected Moments God forbid something bad happens in your life, but I have seen five extra hours a week help other clients…
One of my clients has been able to take Fridays off. Another client starts her day an hour later to focus on her own activities. That's what I often do, so I can go for a walk to get some self-care in. What's Wasting Your Time Let's start by identifying what things are probably wasting your time in your business. Remember, I mentioned high-impact, high-quality, and high-income-producing activities. On the other hand, we have low-impact, low-quality, and low-income-producing activities, or no income-producing activities. These are the things that you should delegate to someone else. Someone on your team or delegated to a virtual assistant.  (Side note: we do have some openings right now for four business owners to come into Virtual Assistant Made Easy, and work directly with one of our virtual assistants that are from the Philippines, vetted, hired for you by me, already experienced and know how to do everything from your social media content creation, video/audio editing, research, tech, email and calendar management, and the list goes on and on to email campaigns and YouTube and podcasting and book publishing and course creation and PowerPoint presentations.) Hard Truth: There are many time wasters you’re still doing yourself. It could be as simple as putting in information or adding in data. It could be that email and calendar management. Even though you're like, "Oh yeah, but it's just quick," you add up these little quick things over the course of your day, over the course of your week, over the course of your month and year, and it ends up being a ton of time. Have a Content Creation System to Save Time Looking at how I repurpose my content using my whole Content Multiplication Magic machine (this is something my VA Made Easy clients have access to) I record a video every week that goes on my YouTube. My VA is the ones who edit it, makes the thumbnail, puts it up on YouTube with a description, and then shares it on my social media. The same thing goes for my podcast. My VA is the one who does all the steps. They transcribe it, put it on my blog, pull pieces of it and create social posts, then make other posts that are promoting those different things and write my newsletter. The other BONUS is that all of these assets are my words. Now it doesn't mean that I'm fully hands-off; I do approve them, but it is so fast compared to all the work I could be doing. Can you imagine how long this would take you? It used to be half my week. Now, my VAs do it all for me, and they do it much faster than I could ever do because they're gifted at these tasks, and they're things that they enjoy doing and have become really good at, having done them week after week. But imagine you're still managing your email and calendar, still creating social media posts, and still scheduling them. You're still figuring out your tech. You're still doing every piece yourself. You won't get those five extra hours a week if you don’t look at what you’ll pass off. Your Call to Action As I mentioned, if you want those five hours back, you can join us at Virtual Assistant Made Easy to get one of our VAs, and you’ll get more time back guaranteed. Not sure what to offload or what you can gain with five hours? Do this… Take a pen, take your favourite journal, and you're just going to write:
Then let me know how you plan to use those five extra hours this summer and hopefully beyond, because I'm sure when other people read about them, they will say, "Ah, that's such a great idea, and I want to be able to do that too." Comment below or email them to me [email protected]. You don’t have to be one of the entrepreneurs working 60+ hours a week; you can have more time freedom, more work freedom, and more financial freedom. Until next time, stay dynamic!
Picture this: You're standing in a massive convention center, surrounded by thousands of attendees, your feet are killing you, your brain is on information overload, and you're wondering if you've actually accomplished anything meaningful. Sound familiar?  If you've ever felt completely drained at a large-scale event like Web Summit or any major conference, you're not alone. The excitement of learning from industry leaders and networking with like-minded professionals can quickly turn into overwhelm when you're not prepared for the marathon that these events truly are. But here's the thing: mega events don't have to leave you burnt out and questioning whether the investment was worth it. With the right strategies, you can not only survive but thrive, making meaningful connections and gaining valuable insights while maintaining your energy and sanity. Here are my five tips to get the most out of it and keep your energy. Strategy 1: Prep to Win Before You Go The first strategy is all about preparation. This means getting really clear about what your intentions are. Why are you going? What are your goals? Maybe you have two, maybe you have three—no more than that.
 Strategy 2: Energy Management Is Everything Think about your morning rituals — are you setting yourself up for success, or already rushing out the door stressed? Start with something that grounds you. Maybe it’s quiet time, movement, or just drinking your coffee without multitasking. Fuel your body with real food, not just a granola bar grabbed on the way out. And hydration? Drink water all day long, even adding electrolytes.Most people don’t do it, and then wonder why they crash halfway through the day. It sounds basic, but it can be tempting to grab another coffee, especially if they have a coffee/tea station or a Starbucks on every floor. When evening rolls around, yes! ~ go to the events, the dinners, the socials. Connect, have fun. But don’t feel like you have to stay out until 1 or 2 AM to make it “worth it.” You’re not missing out if you choose rest. You’re investing in tomorrow. Then have some kind of wind-down routine. Something that signals to your body and brain that it’s time to slow down. Maybe it’s calming music on your drive or when you get home. Then get yourself into bed. Not scroll-your-phone-in-bed… actually sleep. You want to show up sharp the next day? It starts the night before. Strategy 3: Network Without the Awkwardness How do you do that? Well, be intentional. Go up to someone and have some quality statements to say, rather than blabbering on for a while.  Think of some conversational starters—not just, "What do you do?" but:
Change up the questions so they're better conversations, and make sure you've got your phone out so you can connect on the event app along with LinkedIn so you can keep that connection going afterward. Having anchor people helps. It could be a friend or someone that you know—if you've had too much stimulation or you feel like you've been "on," then you go over to them so that you can completely chill out. Strategy 4: Don't Get Lost in the Crowd You need to be seen, be heard, and be present — especially at big events where it’s easy to blend into the background. Be Seen: Wear something that pops — a bold colour, a fun accessory, something that shows off you. Not over-the-top or distracting, but enough to help people remember you. Think of it as your walking business card. You want to be approachable, not invisible. Be Heard: If there’s a chance to ask a question during a talk or panel, take it. Come prepared with a few thoughtful questions that show you’re engaged and paying attention. It’s not just about getting an answer, it’s a chance to get noticed and make a connection. Be Present: Don’t just float from person-to-person, half-listening. Stay in the moment. Take notes (when it makes sense), make eye contact, actually listen. This is where the magic happens in connections and building relationships. You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room. But you do need to show up with intention, so people know you’re there, and remember you after. Strategy 5: Know the Tools The app for this event at Web Summit was phenomenal. Not only is the whole event schedule on there, but you can create your own schedule so, in advance, you know where you're going to be at the last minute.
Your Turn: What Are Your Tips? What are your tips for lasting at a major event? What are the things that you do to maintain your energy and not get overwhelmed and get the most out of it? Let me know. Email me at [email protected], or put a comment below. Until next time, stay dynamic! This blog post is adapted from the Dynamic Women podcast. To hear the full episode and more tips for dynamic living, subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to your favourite shows.
In my previous blog, I shared the first part of the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets book launch party where we had Panel 1. Now, let me share with you Panel 2 where the panelists discuss how to lead though challenge and create change. We have our panel moderator Candy Motzek and then three panelists: Jacquie Rougeau, Katherine Johnson, and Laura Richards. These four women are authors and part of the 36 authors that came together to create Leadership Secrets.  Meet the Panelists Candy Motzek (Moderator): Thank you so much for being here. My name is Candy Motzek, and I am so pleased to be moderating this panel. A huge thank you to Diane for hosting this launch party and to all the amazing authors. I’m so pleased to learn from all of you. I'm going to ask you, ladies, to start with your introductions. Laura, can you tell us a little bit about you and your piece in the book? Laura Richards: I'm Laura Richards. I'm a narcissistic abuse recovery expert, and I'm the host of the 'That's Where I'm At' podcast. I wanted to be part of this book because narcissists are everywhere, and I wanted to help leaders learn how to deal with them. My piece gives you three steps for dealing with narcissistic people when you're a leader and how to keep your integrity as you deal with them. Candy: That’s great. Jacquie, I have seen you. You clap for everybody. You are the cheerleader, and I love it. Could you introduce yourself as well? Jacquie Rougeau: I'm Jacquie Rougeau. I'm at my lakefront property here in Lac LaHatch, BC, Canada. I'm a nomad, an adventurer, traveler. I'm also a coach, speaker, and cheerleader for women ready to lead boldly in their second chapter of life. I jumped into the book because I know the power of rising strong and wanting other women to know that they can do the same. My piece is real. It's a raw look at bouncing back after loss, leading with love and always some sass, and finding your fire again, no matter what age. Katherine Johnston: Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Thank you, Diane, for bringing us all together. I'm really grateful for these new connections. I'm Katherine Johnston. I'm the founder and executive director of Global Mindz, and I provide leadership development and coaching worldwide. I must admit, I became a part of this book mostly out of curiosity, wanting to get back into writing. As I enter the last decade of my career, I want to give back, so I love supporting leaders and entrepreneurs to be their best. I hate seeing them struggle and looking for direction and finding a path because there's no recipe. I created this 'Boss and Buddy' concept as a framework to balance between the two roles. It's a playbook, in a sense, based on a leadership book I wrote some years ago with Lisa. Candy: That’s so great. I love this, entering the last decade of your career and wanting to really give back and support people who are coming forward. That’s wonderful. Let me introduce myself. My name is Candy Motzek, and I am a leadership coach as well as a business coach for high achievers. I'm also the host of the top podcast called 'She Coaches Coaches.' I'm excited to be part of this book because that word 'secrets'—it's really easy for people in leadership to pretend like they have it all together, but I really like that idea of sharing the behind-the-scenes. We all have self-doubt. We all experience imposter syndrome. We all have good days and bad days. The piece that I wrote is about the wake-up call. It is so important for us to have collaboration and engagement and support of mentors and leaders who bring us forward, but I wanted to remind us to lead from within as well—to look inside at what's going on with me and making sure that my leadership was aligned with who I am. Leading Through Challenge: What Did It Teach You? Candy: I'd love to hear about a moment when you'd to lead through a challenge, and what did that teach you about yourself and your leadership capacity? Katherine, can we go to you first?  Katherine: Anytime I get this question, it gives me a sense of déjà vu of one of the toughest, personally and professionally difficult moments in my life. What they say—what doesn't kill you makes you stronger—it was life-changing for me. I was a business change leader for the Coca-Cola company, leading a year-long SAP implementation project of 23 team members in eight Nordic and Baltic countries with the same go-live date. No one would ever do that today, but they did. I realized the critical importance of communicating never enough hours in the day, but I did it, and how important it is to motivate others because I could not possibly do the work myself. As a leader, you have to let go. You have to trust your team, enable them, motivate them, and communicate with them because you cannot possibly do it yourself. This was before my two sons were born because I couldn't have managed it otherwise. That understanding of communication and motivation was life-changing for me. I realized I was more interested in people development rather than working with spreadsheets, which was finance and IT, which is my previous background. I switched to consulting and leadership, and here I am, 20 years later, doing what I love. But that was a breaking point. It could have gone either way. I became more people-oriented than task-oriented. Candy: I love that leaning into the thing that draws you the most, and that's probably your strength as well. That's great. Jacquie, what about you? Jacquie: When the company I had poured 17 years of my life into suddenly closed, it honestly felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. I could still feel the emotions of it right now. I was grieving, disappointed, and heartbroken, but I still had people looking up to me for guidance. I wanted to honestly just crawl away and stay with my grief, but I knew I couldn't. That moment taught me that leadership isn't always about having all the answers. It's about showing up anyway with honesty, grace, and grit. I realized I was stronger than I thought I was, and leading through a storm doesn't require a cape, just courage and heart. Laura: I'm thinking back to a community group that I used to lead, and how it really goes along with what I talk about now with narcissists and toxic people in general. I would have people who really looked up to me and I was able to lead, and then I had someone who, as soon as everybody left the room, would come and fight with me in certain ways where it wouldn't even seem believable when I would tell other people. Looking back, what it taught me was I did not have the skills that I needed for such a person. I was very meek. Even though I was having to lead, I thought it was my fault that they were treating me that way. That's why I talk about this now—the way you can keep your integrity as you're dealing with difficult people because it isn't usually about you. It's usually about their toxicity. Candy: Let's go on to the next question. What one change would you like to see made to help more women be leaders? Who wants to go first? Jacquie, I can see your smile. One Change to Help More Women Be Leaders Jacquie: I'd love to see aging women celebrated, not sidelined. There's a belief out there that leadership and women as a whole have an expiry date, and no. Women who are 40, 50, 60+ are packed with wisdom, creativity and fire, but they're often overlooked. Let's start shifting to spotlight them. You're not too late. In fact, you're right on time. We need to focus on reinvention, not retirement. Your life is not over. I'm really here to lift people up and remind them of who they are.  Laura: I second that motion. I'm 58, started this new career at 56. I would love to see women in leadership be just commonplace. When older women are celebrated and it's more commonplace that women are in leadership, I think it sends that message to young girls and teens who are looking and going, 'Oh, I can do that too,' because women hold that place in leadership. I just would love to see it be more commonplace and not something that's unusual. Katherine: This is fascinating because when I initially had the question, “I don't have a lot to say about this”, and now I do. I have three comments. I think it's a tough question. One of the things I've learned recently, I think it requires seeing more women be leaders. I'm thinking from a young like 25 to 45, I think we need systemic changes. There are structural problems when it comes to allowing women to be at their best and be visible and be promoted. When do you have your meetings? Well, after drop-off at school and before pick-up at school. Are you flexible? Can you do your two hours of work at eight in the evening or five in the morning? I think there are some systemic changes especially in certain industries like tech, finance, like a startup. I think there’s some work to be done there. I love that there's a Pay Transparency Act now in BC. There are intersectionality implications, a Caucasian female versus a Black female or a female with disabilities, the pay disparity or promotion disparity increases exponentially. That is a systemic problem, and it's also access to opportunity. I’m very passionate about that. Based on what Jacquie and Laura said, I’m all in on that. One of the things now when I mentor or coach younger women is to say what is most important for you now in the phase of life you are and using myself as example, I had children very late in life. That crazy project I did for Coke with the countries was before kids. Then I had children. I was so grateful. I really focused on them. My son just got his driver's license. He's going to university. My other son is at university in the US. My five years of caring for my aging mother, which took 20 hours a week, are over. I feel like I am in the brilliance of my third career. I don't know if you Jacquie and Laura feel the same. I'm like, “Oh, I have so many hours I can build my business now.” So that's where I would say the risk of a company overlooking people, and whether they're like, they had kids young or they had kids older, but the risk of overlooking people between 45 and 65 that's a bad move because we have the capacity to really put it all in if we want. Candy: Katherine, I loved how you summed that up, too. I won't even say my opinion. It's all of the above and a little bit more. Rapid Fire: Secret Weapon for Staying Calm Under Pressure We're going to wrap it up with this rapid-fire question, and it's going to be like a bottom line, one quick sentence. What is your secret weapon for staying calm under pressure? Katherine, do you want to go first? Katherine: Deep breathing, exhale out two counts longer than inhale. Five years ago, I would have said look calm even when you don't feel it inside because everyone's looking to you, but that creates internal stress. Jacquie: It's always Mel Robbins' five-second rule for me, hands down. It's like 5-4-3-2-1, I take action before that fear takes over. It's my brain's cue to stop spiraling, stop thinking, and start leading, even when I'm sweating through it. Laura: Just do it afraid. I think there are times in that 5-4-3-2-1—just do it afraid. Because there's never a time when none of us are doing it, like we're perfectly fine all the time. Just do it afraid. It's okay. That doesn't mean it was the wrong choice. Just do it. Candy: I do this kind of lean back and take a breath and try to keep perspective. Most of those pressure situations are not that big of a deal in the real world. Conclusion I encourage you to make sure you've a few notes that you can apply to your life, and also pick up a copy of Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets. You can learn a great deal from this diverse group of women from various countries. We have Canada, the United States, Netherlands, UK, Australia, South Africa, the Philippines, and many more. I encourage you to grab the book, buy it for a friend, or do it with your book club. Let us know what you think of it. This blog post is adapted from the Dynamic Women podcast episode featuring the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets book launch party. To hear the full conversation and panel discussion, listen to the original podcast episode.
5 Key Takeaways from Web Summit Vancouver: Navigating AI, Authenticity, and the Future of Business7/2/2025 Didn’t make it to Web Summit in Vancouver? I've got you covered with the five biggest insights that will transform how you think about AI, creativity, and building a meaningful business in 2025. I say the five biggest, but this is without going through all my notes and replays yet. This is what I'm pulling together on Friday morning, the last day of our event.  Takeaway #1: AI Is Not Your Replacement. It's Your Tool There has been a lot of talk about AI over the week, and the key thing to remember is that AI is not a replacement for us. Whether we're solopreneurs trying to use AI to automate all our tasks, or are concerned about our jobs as creative designers, AI is meant to be a tool. I heard from Irina Novoselsky, the CEO of Hootsuite, who discussed how AI is particularly effective for ideation and initial drafts. We know that. They're going to give us some interesting output. But the key thing is human creativity and human authenticity, which has to lead. This is the key piece. If we can bring in human emotion, authenticity, and the skills we have, AI will not be a problem at all. Takeaway #2: Redesign Human Roles in Your Business We need to think about redesigning the human roles in our businesses. This applies to corporate and solopreneurs alike. Everything is automated now. In the age of automation, we have to think:
A lot of times, clients who work with my Virtual Assistants think, "Well, can I just have AI do all of these things?" It helps with coming up with ideas for content posts and drafts for emails. But at the end of the day, you as the business owner, you as the person in that human role, need to approve it, read it over, and put your own spice on things. When we think about human roles, we need to look at what are the breaks in the automation. If we're automating things in our business, where is there a subtle break or big break where we're thinking, "This doesn't work properly"? We need humans to step in and keep that flowing. For example, if we're looking at cutting up video for reels, we can use AI and different software to take different pieces and make choices. But what I've consistently heard is they don't make the best choices. Maybe they're taking half of a quote, or they're not taking the full piece, or they're not taking the best stuff. At the end of the day, you need to make sure that you are the one looking things over and deciding what requirements and guidelines are necessary for this AI to work properly. Also, ask yourself: What gets missed with full automation? Are there pieces around customer service that get missed? Creativity? Maybe opportunities are missed. What are you truly hiring humans to do? Let's create the human role and see how AI can assist them. A key thing mentioned repeatedly is that AI is dumb. AI can't reason. AI can't manage conflict. AI can't lead with empathy. AI can't decide which creative direction feels right. Maybe it can tell you it's in alignment with your values or business objectives, but at the end of the day, your humans—the people in your business—are going to give you that gut decision. This also came up in the interview I did with Cat How, talking about how she looks to her employees for "Are we going to take on this client or not? Are we going to do this project or not?" It comes down to that gut decision. AI isn't really smart in doing that yet. Takeaway #3: Redefine Success Beyond Profitability There are so many hungry tech students here, so many founders, investors, and people looking to build the next unicorn business. However, I've seen so many of these businesses created to solve problems for human good—cameras that can look underwater to find people who have drowned, housing solutions, and others helping with climate issues. Another pitch I saw involved removing chemicals from dyes and developing more natural approaches.  That's one way we can really use our businesses to go beyond profitability. But it's not just about the success of the business—it's about what success looks like for the people around you because of the jobs you're creating. Jillian Harris said, "There's no point in driving a fancy car down the street if everyone else is struggling." It was really nice to see that, while there are some cash-hungry individuals here, there are many people with the intention of building a legacy and making the world better through their business. Profit shouldn't just be a metric. It should be more about the purpose of what we're doing and what impact we want to have. Equity matters too. Consider the following: If I'm working with a global company or developing online software, how can I invest in my employees? How can I work with local vendors? How can I select collaborations that align with our core values? These are the things you want to be thinking about because at the end of the day, when your head hits that pillow, you want to make sure you're feeling good about yourself. You want your business to be solid so that you can leave this world knowing, "I did good, and I put some good businesses out there." Takeaway #4: Creators Don't Need to Build a Platform. They Just Need to Show Up Authentically This one really blew my mind. The point is, creators don't need to build a platform—they just need to show up authentically. I'm speaking about cartoon creators, graphic designers, these types of creators. Take Ingrid, a Mexican writer, illustrator, and full-time webtoon creator. She was on a panel with Webtoon and has created a cartoon inspired by Japanese anime called "The Kiss Bet." It's now become a beloved romance series with over 176 million views and 1.7 million subscribers. She was able to leave her day job to do this. A lot of times people think, "Oh, I need to create an app. I need to create the software myself." You don't. The key thing is looking at the different platforms you can be on. I didn't know about Webtoon. I'm sure people who love cartoons and comics know this has been around for a long time, and there are many others as well. The power is in what you create, not necessarily owning the platform it's on. But there are some big key tips you have to think about here:
 One key thing Ingrid has been doing is using other platforms to help build and promote what she's doing on Webtoon. We think about that as business owners, “Where else can I be to move people to where I want them to purchase from me or be a follower?” But what she's doing is building loyalty. When she decides to create a different cartoon or comic, she has the opportunity to pull her fan base with her. Think about how else you can monetize it. What they've been doing with another company, Skybound Entertainment, is asking, "How can we merchandise this? How can we create other pieces?" It's not just "here's the cartoon," but "Here are T-shirts, here's the actual comic, and here are all the other products," so fans can gobble it all up. You've got sponsorship opportunities, membership opportunities, licensing, live events—so many other things you can do than just the one piece you're creating. Takeaway #5: Storytelling Is Still the Superpower Randy Kumar, CEO of Team Pumpkin, says storytelling matters more than technology in advertising, and that's where we are unique. A lot of people are complaining that they can tell when ChatGPT or Claude or other AI has created the output people are reading. In advertising, people don't want to be sold to—we know that's not new. But the key thing is they want to get to know us, and they get to know us through story. Maybe it's time for us to reconnect with our story. Maybe we think we are connected to our story, but do our people know that? Many of the AI software and speakers on various panels discussed how to amplify your story and share it, then utilize AI tools to enhance its reach even further. If you're thinking about expanding into a new space with a new language, you could use AI to take your original video and put another language in your mouth. I've seen this happen in training videos with my fellow CAPS members (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers). They're providing training videos now in all the different languages their clients' employees speak. This is where we can utilize AI to effectively convey our message to various communities. That's also connected to point four—that's what Ingrid and other creatives on that platform are able to do: put content into other languages and hit other markets in other countries. Think about what you want people to feel. A lot of times, when AI gets involved, we lose the emotion and feeling. Think about how you can infuse your storytelling with values and humanity, then add that into your funnel, sales posts, and landing pages—not just when you show up on camera. Wrapping Up It was a fantastic three and a half days at Web Summit, panel after panel. I encourage you to listen to the interviews I've conducted with some of the women pitching their business ideas and startups, as well as with individuals doing innovative work in branding within this industry. In my next blog, I will share five ways to survive being at a major event, so you don't get overloaded, overwhelmed, and completely burnt out, and you can capture every single piece you need to take away from the time you're there.
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