From Chemo to Co-Creation, My AI C-Suite
A few years ago, I was playing around with AI like most people - generating bizarre images, asking random questions, marveling at responses and moving on. Then in early 2023, cancer forced upon me an unexpected gift: fresh perspective about EVERYTHING, including how I work.
Sitting in chemotherapy one day, I started collaborating with ChatGPT on an app idea I had buried in Evernote. This time I wasn't playing around with AI, but actually working toward a goal. I asked it to role play with me: "I'm the CEO. You're my C-suite - primarily CPO and CTO, but also CMO and CFO. I have an app idea. Interview me. Challenge my concepts. Document everything."
What happened next marks a major pivot in my 30yr career.
Documentation In Hours, Not Months
During that 4hr treatment session, tapping on my phone, we began building technical requirements documentation. I was shocked and hooked. Over the next day, we built out a detailed feature list, a sitemap, personas, a creative brief and more. Complete enough that I could hand it to any delivery team and say "build this."
Back at the agency I was at at the time, this level of work for clients would've taken weeks, if not months - and a squad of 3-5 people - $100k, easy.
That experiment taught me something critical: AI isn't just a tool. It's a collaborative partner, if you know how to engage it strategically. The key (for me) was role-playing. I positioned myself as a leader seeking counsel from my executive team. The depth and quality of output changed completely.
BTW, I am beyond grateful to share that my cancer is in remission. ❤️❤️❤️
Formalizing My Approach
When I relaunched my independent practice Reasons More, I brought this approach to AI with me. I have shifted from ChatGPT to Claude, but applied the same methodology: "You are my C-suite. Help me create the foundations of this business. Challenge my thinking. Be my vested partner."
Together we defined and documented everything about Reasons More - the audience, their pain points & values, my expertise & service offerings, the value I provide, case studies, service tiers, pricing models, my marketing strategy, tone of voice, and more. I saved all those documents into a custom project and gave it further refined instructions on how to work with me.
Now, I have an on-call and genuine strategic partner for every imaginable challenge - including writing this post. I dictated a few rambling stream of conscious paragraphs. Then, Claude turned that mess into a first draft. Now, I'm making edits before sharing with you.
30min in, I've saved hours already.
Content Creation Nightmare
Thinking back to 2019, when I first launched Reasons More, my top-of-funnel approach to attracting new business was to produce short-form videos. It was incredibly effective. I focused on strategic insights for product and technology leaders. Clear, valuable, engaging. Those videos drove real business.
Then I got too busy with client work to maintain discipline. I'm sure you can relate (whether your business is big or small): we find renewed priority for marketing when business slows, then feel overwhelmed by marketing challenges when we have clients to care for.
It creates a feast or famine scenario, while the obvious solution is consistency.
Anyway, if you've created short form video content, you know the investment is brutal. Even with a team supporting you, it takes 2-4 hours minimum. You have to figure out the topic, write the script, record, edit, and publish - with a clever caption. That's a lot to invest, just to throw a quick touchpoint into social media - the content is valuable and effective, but the process is exhausting.
If you're a leader in your field, you know you should be making videos. But, who has time?
My Vision: 3MIN to Published
I woke up one monday morning, knowing I needed to publish that day and had a vision. I'd open a simple little web app that knows me, my target audience, and what we like to talk about. I'd see a few recent reference articles, each with my own high-level perspective written on the subject. I tap the one that feels most resonant. A script is generated as if I had written it - they get better and better each time I use it.
Then I hit generate and boom - my face, my voice, my script - a video of me speaking to my audience!
Download. Post. Done.
Meaningful content creation in minutes, not hours. That's my dream.
Building meNOTme
I'm excited to share - that vision is becoming reality! I have officially founded meNOTme, an AI-powered short—form content creation tool for executives with valuable perspectives, but no time.
How did I start? With Claude, of course. I took the same approach as I did with Reasons More, I created a custom project - defined the audience, their pain points, my concept, the feature set, program plan, technical and marketing documentation, financial models, and initial legal frameworks.
I've designed all the screens (MVP and future state) and created a functional prototype - still using Figma. With all of that, I've partnered with two co-founding developers, folks I've known for years, who fell in love with the concept and are actively building it.
We should have a testable beta within a couple-few months!
BTW, a key pillar for us is radical transparency. While most folks in the AI space clearly want to obfuscate what is AI vs human, we believe honesty builds trust. Our users, their audiences, and I demand transparency. The name says it all: meNOTme - we're upfront about what's synthetic.
Whatever You Do + AI
This post isn't about building an app. It's not about my own fear of being replaced as an artist, designer, or even content creator. It's about today’s toolset reality, demonstrating how AI has been fully integrated into my daily workflow. I have personally found great value in its ability to streamline processes, enhance documentation, accelerate exploration, and challenge my thinking.
This is what AI integration on a personal level looks like, for me. It’s not replacing my thinking or creativity, but enhancing it. For me, for today, the question isn't whether to adopt it, but how to leverage AI thoughtfully, ethically, and strategically.
The leaders who figure that out early will have a significant advantage.
Curious about meNOTme? Join our waitlist at meNOTme.io
Need strategic design leadership that ships results? That's what Reasons More is for. Let’s talk.