AI Queens: Smart AF AI Tools, Automation, & Business Tips with Erika Stanley

AI Won't Kill Your Art. It Might Just Fund It (with Blume Bauer)

Queens, my guest today is Blume Bauer, a fine arts illustrator, creative business educator, and founder of The Yellow Studio, where she's spent 30 years teaching artists how to turn their craft into real income. Her whole vibe is slow living and big money, and she came in ready to challenge some of the things you might believe about AI and art. Here's the part that got me. Blume teaches artists to use AI for all the non-art stuff that running a business requires, the artist statements, the captions, the SEO, the product mock-ups, so they can get back in the studio and make the thing they love. And she makes a bold case that handmade art gets more valuable as AI grows, not less. Here's what we get into: * Why the "AI is a demon coming for artists" myth misses the point entirely * How AI handles the business stuff so you can spend more time creating * The accessibility piece: how AI opens up art-making to people who couldn't make it before * Why your years of honing your craft make you a better AI user, not an obsolete one * How Blume turned a 90-day legging challenge into a sustainable print-on-demand business Here's what I want you to take away: AI doesn't replace your skill or your story. There's still a human in the loop, and that human is you. If you've been holding back because you think tech and creativity don't mix, consider this your nudge to just get in there and try it. Ready to stop overthinking and start building? Sign up for our next AI Queens Buildathon at aiqueens.com/build [http://aiqueens.com/build]. Connect with Blume Bauer: * Website: youryellowstudio.com [http://youryellowstudio.com/] * Open Studio Community: youryellowstudio.com/open-studio-invite [http://youryellowstudio.com/open-studio-invite] * YouTube: youtube.com/blumebauer [http://youtube.com/blumebauer] * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/blumebauer [http://linkedin.com/in/blumebauer] * Everywhere else: @blumebauer Connect with Erika * Instagram: ⁠⁠@erikatheaiqueen⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen] * Website: ⁠⁠AIQueens.com⁠⁠ [https://aiqueens.com] * Mile End Digital: ⁠⁠MileEndDigital.com⁠⁠ [https://mileenddigital.com] * AI Queens Society Substack: ⁠⁠AI Queens Society [https://aiqueenssociety.substack.com]

Stop Burning Through Claude: 12 Smarter Habits for Building with AI

If you've made the jump from ChatGPT to Claude and keep slamming into the token wall mid-project, you are not alone. It's the conversation Erika keeps having at AI Business World, after workshops, and in networking event side chats. Claude is genuinely one of the most powerful AI tools out there right now, but if you don't know how it actually uses tokens under the hood, you'll burn through your usage way faster than you expect. In this episode, Erika breaks down what tokens really are (think fuel in a gas tank), why long conversations compound against you, and 12 habits you can start stacking today so you can stay in Claude and actually get your work done without bouncing back and forth like a pinball between Claude and other LLMs. What we cover: * The single highest-leverage habit: editing your original message instead of piling on corrections * Why every new message in a long chat costs you more tokens than the last one * The PDF problem nobody talks about and how to fix it with Adobe Acrobat's AI Assistant * One topic, one chat: why scope discipline saves your usage (and the planet) * How to use Projects, batching, and smart timing to stretch every token If you can just do a few of these, it's going to make a huge difference. Once they click and become part of your routine, Claude stops feeling like it's fighting you and starts working like the strategic partner it's actually meant to be. Mentioned in this episode: * Check out Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant: ⁠Get started with AI prompts for Acrobat AI Assistant⁠ [https://creatorlink.shop/4ltg0sM] * Sign up for the next AI Queens Buildathon: ⁠aiqueens.com/build⁠ [https://aiqueens.com/build] Connect with Erika * Instagram: ⁠@erikatheaiqueen⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen] * Website: ⁠AIQueens.com⁠ [https://aiqueens.com] * Mile End Digital: ⁠MileEndDigital.com⁠ [https://mileenddigital.com] * AI Queens Society Substack: ⁠AI Queens Society [https://aiqueenssociety.substack.com]

AI Can't Fix a Mess: How to Adopt AI Responsibly (Without Losing Sight of the People You Serve)

This week, Erika sits down with Jasmine Schwarz, founder of Schwarz Strategic Services and an AI stewardship consultant who helps nonprofits adopt technology responsibly, ethically, and without losing sight of the people they serve. Jasmine came to AI through sociology, healthcare, finance, and nonprofits, and she brings a perspective that cuts straight through the influencer noise. The two of them get into the BS being sold by AI influencers, what governance actually means (hint: it's not just regulation), why AI amplifies whatever you already have going on, and how to start adopting AI in a way that protects the people you're trying to serve. What we cover * The biggest AI lie being sold right now and who actually profits from it * Why "if the tool is free, your data is the fee" and what to do about it * What AI governance really means, starting with people, then policies, then institutions * Why AI can't fix messy systems, it just turns up the volume on the chaos * Setting limits so you don't lose five hours hyper-focusing on one AI feature If you've been hesitant to adopt AI because it feels icky, overwhelming, or like one more thing on the pile, this conversation is going to give you a grounded, human-first way back in. Start with your people, clean up your documentation, and find a community where you can be the fifth grader to someone else's fourth grader. Ready to start exploring AI in a hype-free space? Join the AI Queens Society at AIQueens.com [https://aiqueens.com] and learn alongside other women who are figuring this out together. Connect with Jasmine * LinkedIn: Jasmine Schwarz [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-schwarz] Connect with Erika * Instagram: @erikatheaiqueen [https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen] * Website: AIQueens.com [https://aiqueens.com] * Mile End Digital: MileEndDigital.com [https://mileenddigital.com] * AI Queens Society Substack: AI Queens Society [https://aiqueenssociety.substack.com]

What Real Businesses Are Actually Solving With AI Right Now (Live From SMMW)

Fresh off the stage at Social Media Marketing World and AI Business World in Southern California, Erika is bringing you straight to the conference floor. In this episode, she sits down with a handful of attendees to ask the one question that matters most: what is the real problem you're most excited to solve with AI when you get back to work? From a restaurant marketer using AI as a strategic sounding board, to a nonprofit marketing director ready to ditch the copy-paste chaos, to an AI operator cleaning up her skills library — the answers are as varied as they are inspiring. Plus, Erika wraps up with a longer conversation with her friend and colleague Rhiannon Frans about automation, solopreneur autonomy, and why the people with the most freedom to experiment with AI might not be who you think. If you've been waiting for permission to point AI at a real problem in your business, this episode is it. Links mentioned in this episode: * Download the AI CMO: aiqueens.com/cmo [http://aiqueens.com/cmo] * Erika's episode with Michael Stelzner: Building an AI CMO That Becomes Your Strategic Marketing Partner [https://www.aiqueens.com/ai-queens-podcast/ai-cmo-ai-explored-podcast-michael-stelzner] * Connect with Rhiannon here: https://rhiannonfranz.com/ [https://rhiannonfranz.com/] * And find her on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RhiannonFranz [https://www.youtube.com/@RhiannonFranz] Connect with Erika: * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen/ [https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen/] * AI Consultancy: https://www.aiqueens.com/ [https://www.aiqueens.com/] * Branding & Web Agency: https://www.mileenddigital.com/ [https://www.mileenddigital.com/] * Join the AI Queens Society: https://aiqueens.substack.com/ [https://aiqueens.substack.com/]

Brand Before Bots: The 3-Part Blueprint I Use With Every Client Before We Touch AI

If your AI outputs feel generic, off-brand, or just not quite you, the problem probably isn't the tool. It's the foundation underneath it. In this solo episode, Erika walks through the Brand to Bot Blueprint, the exact framework she runs every single client through before touching a single automation, custom GPT, or content system. Recorded fresh off Social Media Marketing World and AI Business World, this one is your "okay, what do I actually do next" episode. Erika breaks down why most people are using AI like an intern when it could be working as a full-on CMO, and shares a real client story (Little River Fishing Fleet in Myrtle Beach) to show how the blueprint plays out in practice. What we cover 1. Why AI sounds generic when you skip the brand work, and what changes when it actually knows you 2. The 3 parts of the Brand to Bot Blueprint: Brand, Internal, External (in that order, no exceptions) 3. The difference between AI as an intern and AI as a strategic CMO 4. A behind-the-scenes look at the Little River Fishing Fleet brand build 5. How to figure out where AI can save you the most time inside your business right now The biggest takeaway: your AI is only as good as what you feed it. Start with brand, then build the systems, then amplify what you're already creating. That's the order. That's the blueprint. Ready to do this work with Erika? Book a 90-minute Brand to Bot Blueprint deep dive ($850, applied toward any larger package). You'll walk away with your full brand, internal, and external plan, plus your first custom-trained brand bot. Head to AIQueens.com or DM Erika on Instagram or LinkedIn to get started. Connect with Erika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/erikatheaiqueen/] Erika's AI Consultancy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.aiqueens.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.aiqueens.com/] Erika's Branding & Web Agency: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mileenddigital.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.mileenddigital.com/] Join the AI Queens Society: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://aiqueens.substack.com/ [https://aiqueens.substack.com/]