It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. Aside from the holidays, I have spent the last 30 days in full business recovery mode following a disastrous workspace migration in ChatGPT on November 30th. I didn’t want to come back until I had something positive to report. Over the summer, before joining the AI Advantage I launched my startup using a ChatGPT Plus account tied to my personal email. As a (now) professional founder, I eventually realized it was necessary to separate my personal data from my business for IP protection, liability, and future HIPAA compliance with the app I’m building. When I started my ChatGPT account I hadn’t even thought about starting a company yet. Everything was mixed up. All my personal topics and my business building topics were in one account. Which is not a good thing. I knew enough to upgrade to a ChatGPT plus account when I started iterating business ideas, because I did not want them being trained on any of open AI models. I did everything by the book. I followed the documentation and even used ChatGPT to build a migration checklist. What happened next took my business out at the knees. ChatGPT wiped out every last bit of my data. Their support was nonexistent—no apology, no refund, and no path to recovery. $632.00 spent for a two year Business Workspace and nothing to show for it, everything gone. While my "founder discipline" meant I had backed up my core IP and design docs locally, I lost months of context and chat logs that served as the backbone of my cognitive scaffolding system. It was a disaster of epic proportions. I’ll admit it: I cried. Sobbed actually. I’m normally not a crier, but I had worked so damn hard for several months building something that I know is going to help people. I refused to let it be the end. I have spent December reconstituting my operations from the ground up, but I didn't go back to what broke. After learning that this has happened to dozens, if not hundreds of other founders and businesses, I migrated my entire company to Google Business Workspace (Enterprise Standard) and Gemini. The difference in professional stability and support has been night and day. Because of this move, I’ve recovered enough momentum to stay on track for our first product launch this January.

**EDIT: if you are putting together a stack like this for a business, make sure that you are using separate business emails, a separate business credit card, and a separate business bank account to purchase these services! You do not want to mix your personal and business, especially if you are building a company that will later scale. It is a prime imperative to set everything up cleanly from the beginning. Please search out my post on security for AI apps and workflows for a deep dive on the reasons why** Disclaimer: I have zero financial interest in any app or service mentioned. If you want AI tools to work together without paying for a dozen separate apps, start with a single automation hub. These platforms connect everything — your email, forms, spreadsheets, CRM, and AI model — under one subscription. Pabbly Connect One-time or very low monthly pricing. Replaces Zapier for most no-code automations. Works with Gmail, Google Sheets, ChatGPT, Notion, Slack, Shopify, and hundreds more. Albato Low cost and lifetime options. Supports thousands of apps, including Google Workspace, Airtable, and OpenAI. Lets you chain steps and create if-then logic without code. N8N Cloud Free to self-host or around twenty dollars per month for the hosted version. Allows unlimited workflows, branching logic, and advanced API calls. It is open source, so you can expand it later. These hubs let you keep using the free tiers of ChatGPT, Google Drive, or Canva while paying for only one connector. Choose one automation hub and build everything inside it instead of paying separate subscriptions for multiple linkers. Once you have a single backbone, you can attach whatever AI or business tools you need and control all your data and automation through one dashboard. LINKING AI TOOLS TO WORK TOGETHER A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND SMALL BUSINESSES If you want AI to run parts of your business while you focus on strategy, you need more than one smart app. You need a small network of tools that talk to each other. Here are the core platforms that make this possible, what they do, and how to combine them.

When Zack Kass talked about his oncologist father winning an award - "Bedside manner wasn't a feature - it was the product." The patient who spoke loved the way he made her feel. Be a human first. So the takeaway is to use AI as a tool but remember to be a human first. This really spoke to me. I am one of those people who would have mostly been replaced by AI if I were still in the workforce, since I started out writing code in IBM assembler language. That was a very long time ago (over 50 years). When I retired, I was a database administrator. My technical skills have always been better than my human skills. I am still working on those. 😊 I use ChatGPT a little bit, and I am enjoying learning more at this summit.

*Edit: See newer posts about JSON prompting too. Get fast wins today by applying these to everyday tasks. Each prompt can save you hours or help you learn and grow more in less time. 1. ChatGPT Use it to draft blog posts, product descriptions, email campaigns, and outlines. Action: Paste one piece of your existing content, ask it to improve tone, clarity, or engagement, and then publish the revision. PROMPT: “Act as my business writing assistant. I will paste one of my recent blog posts or emails. Improve it for clarity, flow, and reader engagement while keeping my original tone and message intact. Then create a strong headline and call-to-action.” 2. Canva Magic Studio Create branded visuals, short videos, and social media posts in minutes. Action: Open a blank template, click “Magic Write,” describe your brand and goal, then let it design three post options. Adjust colors, download, and post. PROMPT: “You are my brand design strategist. Suggest three social media post ideas using my brand colors and tone focused on [goal: awareness, lead generation, etc.]. Include suggested text overlays and layout ideas that I can build in Canva.” 3. Perplexity.ai Instant research engine powered by AI. Action: Ask one question about your market or competitors. Use the citations it provides to craft a quick insight post or market update email for your clients. PROMPT: “Research current trends and top challenges facing [target audience or industry]. Summarize key insights in five bullet points with one cited source each. Finish with one quick action I can take to address each challenge.” 4. OpusClip Transforms long videos into short, high-impact clips. Action: Upload your last video or webinar. The tool finds engaging highlights and formats them for social media. Post one clip a day for consistent visibility. PROMPT: “I will upload a full-length video or podcast link. Identify the three most engaging short clips for social media. Suggest timestamps, hook captions, and one sentence summaries I can use for each clip.”

Hello everyone, Let’s all get to learn something about our roots. What’s one thing your hometown is known for? It could be a local dish, a festival, a landmark, or something only the locals understand. Share yours and let’s see how diverse our roots are.