It happened again. I came to write the newsletter and I had the best of intentions, so many plans, had been chatting with Claude about it for a couple of days, trying to remember things during the week that I wanted to share.

When I finally got it all into Claude today it was a series of screwups, one after another. First I chatted forever about a fantastic freebie I wanted to build, then I threw in details about what had happened this past week (not in any sort of order because usually I can do that and the AI figures it out). And then I got caught up in figuring out the actual build for what the freebie would need to include and when I looked up, 2 hours had passed and my build window was getting smaller and smaller.

After a bunch of fumbling back and forth, I finally made the freebie (a pale shadow of my original plan) and it's now 10:33PM CDT on Sunday and I figured, cool, Claude has all the bits and pieces I dumped in earlier, let's just write this puppy.

WRONG. Dead wrong.

I don't know if it's because I'm using the newest model (Opus 4.7 Adaptive) or if I'm really as scattered as this thing is making me sound... I honestly don't know.

But it's been a wild week.

It started with a fractional coach I deeply admire reaching out to offer me coaching. She's seen me struggle with monetizing my expertise. I've spent thousands of dollars this last year on group and community coaching but haven't done any 1:1 for over a year. Different experience and yes, it's intense in a way I hadn't anticipated. Good, confronting, and intense.

This past week contained our first 1:1 session, my first co-led B2B corporate training sessions with the extraordinary Brannon Skillern, 2 different founders from other parts of the world reaching out to partner with me (I'm going to deliver practical AI training to their communities) and another very exciting business proposal from one of my buddies.

I shouldn't be surprised that the first week I'm actually doing work for which I'm making money that will actually pay bills is also the week I start 1:1 coaching. All of you who've been with me over the last 10 months know how much I've struggled with this. How many times I felt like I was turning a corner only to be back in the delicate dance of keeping my bank balance in the black.

There's been a lot of resentment I've been carrying around. But worse than that, I've been making myself wrong for feeling those feelings. My new coach? Said resentment is 1) forcing myself into work that isn't me and 2) doing all the 'right things' and watching it work for everyone else.

What it all comes down to is that I have to stop trying to wedge myself into the business structures that don't fit me or what I'm building. I've been acting like I'm starting over when the reality is that I have 30+ years of experience working in corporate. I'm not starting over simply because I changed what I do. I'm a veteran in a new format. And I'm finally starting to have language for what that format is. I'm an AI Translator. An AI Strategist. An AI Educator.

I want to give this some sort of neat packaged ending but the reality is it doesn't have a neat ending. It's definitely a to-be-continued.

Here's what I keep forgetting: the thing people keep asking me for is probably the thing I've been dismissing as "just how I think."

You have one of those too. The thing your friends text you about at 11pm. The thing coworkers kept pulling you into even when it wasn't your job. The thing you do so naturally you've never thought to charge for it.

You've been calling it "no big deal." Other people have been calling it "can you help me with something?"

You're not starting over. You're not behind. The reputation is already there. You just haven't built the business - or the belief - to match it yet.

I don’t remember much of this past week (the gift and curse of having ADHD) but here are some links to things that touched, moved, inspired me, or simply made me laugh entirely too hard.

Don’t believe the narrative about menopause

I love this woman. I've never met her, probably never will. But the power of her truth comes through in the 2:20 of this video. Our culture says we as women shrivel and disappear as we age. Guess again.

ADHD Truths

I’ve been following this guy for months. He's so completely himself in every video he does. And I relate to how he describes his experience of having ADHD. Especially the part about emotions. 100% ACCURATE.

My laptop won’t charge

My hubby (Smidge) is an IT guy. Has been his whole life. You can imagine the crap he got growing up in Northern MN and loving computers rather than hunting and fishing. The IT guy in this video shows why knowing which cord goes with your laptop matters more than you think. Less than 30 seconds.

Just roll

Any other older GenXers out there who remember the roller skating rink? The snowball? Those big plastic combs in the back pockets of bell bottom jeans? This one is for you. Less than 30 seconds.

Partner of the week

Turns out newsletters don't pay for themselves. Who knew?

This week's partner helps keep the lights on (and is the AI notetaker I’m considering switching to…)

Granola connects your meeting notes to tools like Claude and ChatGPT, ​​so your AI actually understands your work context. Update your CRM, extract tasks, or write follow-ups without copy-pasting a thing.

Try Granola free

Remember the resentment I mentioned? Turns out it was pointing at something. I've been letting the stuff that makes me ME get crowded out by all the stuff I thought I was supposed to be doing.

So I built you a prompt. You paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot. It interviews you one question at a time and pushes back when your answers are too polished. If you say "spending time with my family," it's going to say "That's the postcard version. Try again."

This week I realized that three different people were asking me for the same thing and I'd been too close to see it. You probably have a version of this happening right now. This prompt helps you find it.

ROCO = R (Role) - O (Objective) - C (Context) - O (Output)

Role: You are a perceptive friend who notices patterns I'm too close to see. You are warm, direct, and slightly pushy. Never say "that's great," "I love that," or "what a beautiful insight." If I give you a vague answer like "I'm a good listener" or "I help people," say "That's the bumper sticker version. Give me a specific person and a specific moment."

Objective: Help me figure out the thing I do that people keep coming to me for - the thing I've been dismissing as "just how I am."

Context: Interview me one question at a time. Start by asking what people come to me for help with. When I answer, push for specifics - who, when, how often. If I'm stuck and say "I don't know," try asking what people thank me for, text me about at weird hours, or keep coming back for even when it's not my job. Do not ask me to paste a list or do any prep work. Just ask me questions and wait for my answers. Keep going until you can see the pattern I can't.

Output: When you've heard enough, give me:
- The pattern (in my words, not yours)
- One small thing I can do this week to test whether this pattern is real

The Matriarchy Minute is where I spotlight women doing work in AI that you should know about but probably don't.

This week: Bethany Crystal.

Last week I attended a session through AI Snack Club called "How to Build Your Personal Operating System with Claude Code." The presenter was Bethany Crystal - founder of Build First, longtime vibe coder, and someone who's been building her own apps for over a year including two iOS apps she made for her kids.

Bethany was inspiring. Follow her on Substack: @bethanythebuilder

Friday, April 24th | 10:30 AM CDT - 30 Minutes (note that the time is later this week due to having paid work! 🎉)
Friday Jam Session with Joy Prompt Club. 30 minutes. No agenda. Just prompts, play, and people who get it. Open to anyone who wants to join in and has questions or a problem they’re trying to solve. You do not need to be in Joy Prompt Club to benefit from these fantastic humans.

The Executive AI Edge - Digital course (90 minutes) with me and Kate Sargent. $449. For the executive in your life who's nodding along in AI meetings and understanding none of it.

Joy Prompt Club - My favorite little virtual place in all the interwebz.

AI Confidential Prompt Kits - 10 copy-paste-ready prompt kits for the stuff you actually need help with - resumes, LinkedIn profiles, interview prep, content, career direction, caregiver sanity, all of it.

I said up top that this doesn't have a neat ending. It doesn't. But here's what I'm taking into next week: I'm done wedging myself into business structures that don't fit. I have 30 years of experience and a reputation I didn't even know I'd built. This week I'm going to act like that's true.

What are you taking into next week? Hit reply. One sentence. I want to hear it.

Take care of yourself, take care of each other.

Deb 💜

P.S. If you try the Name Your Thing prompt and the AI catches you downplaying yourself, hit reply and tell me what it found. I want to hear the pattern you've been ignoring.

P.P.S. Protect Your Joy takes 10 minutes and one honest answer. The AI will push. Let it.