01 The Text That Said “You Should Be Teaching AI” | The Origin Story
✨ If You Feel Like Everyone Else Got the Memo on AI and You Didn’t
You’re not imagining it. It really does feel like everyone else picked up a new language overnight while you missed the memo.
Two years ago, if you’d told me I’d have a podcast teaching people how to use AI, I would’ve thought you were insane. Not because I thought AI was dumb—because I thought I was the last person qualified to teach anyone anything about it. I was the person ignoring it. Actively. On purpose.
So how did I go from “I don’t have time for this” to using AI every single day? That’s what this first episode is about: the text message that started it, the moment I realized the tech-savvy person in every room might not be me anymore, and what this show is actually going to cover each week. If you’re ready to stop feeling behind and start using AI in a way that actually works for your brain, you’re in the right place.
💬 The Text That Changed Everything
I’ve never really been just one thing. I have a consulting business, I build brands and websites, I help organizations raise money, I run fundraising events, I work in publishing, I produce a podcast or two. Somewhere in there, all of that turned into an actual business—Kat Murphy Consulting—mostly because a mentor refused to let me hide behind a made-up business name and insisted I put my own name on what I’d built.
But here’s the thing about spending your days building things for everyone else: the thing you want to build for yourself is always the easiest thing to put off. Mine was my own brand. I’d basically ghosted my own social media—the cobbler’s kids have no shoes, except the shoes were Instagram posts.
So I gave myself a 30-day challenge: show up every day, real content, face on screen, no excuses. Around the same time, a friend about 20 years older than me mentioned she relied on ChatGPT for everything, and I remember thinking: wait, if she’s using this for everything and I’m barely touching it, maybe I’m the one who’s behind.
Reluctantly, I started playing around with ChatGPT. It didn’t click right away. But I was scrambling to post every day, and I started seeing creators using Claude AI to build a week’s worth of content in minutes. That got my attention. People started asking how I was editing my videos, so I made a few tutorials that turned into a little series called KatKut.
Then, about halfway through the challenge, my best friend Siobhan texted me out of nowhere after watching one of those videos: “You should be teaching AI.” She didn’t mean make a couple ChatGPT videos. She meant there’s a whole generation of us who built careers and full lives without ever needing much more than basic software, and now it feels like we were all supposed to be paying attention this whole time and missed it. Calendars, bills, the house, side hustles—all 400 things floating around in my brain, and she said, “we would pay money for something like that.”
That’s when the part I hadn’t admitted to myself yet showed up: technology was passing me by. I felt like my parents watching me text at full speed on a keyboard they couldn’t follow—except now I was the one who couldn’t keep up. And that was disorienting, because I’m usually the tech person. I’m the one people call when something breaks. Give me a problem and enough time to click around, and I’ll figure it out.
So I did. I’m not starting this podcast because I’ve spent years mastering AI and I’m descending from the mountain to hand you my wisdom. I’m just figuring it out too—I’m just really good at figuring things out. When I find something useful, I test it, decide if it’s actually worth your time, and come back and explain it like a normal person. We’re learning this out loud, together.
🔑 What This Show Actually Covers
Every episode lives in one of four lanes:
Catch up without the shame spiral. No “wait, does everyone already know this?” energy—just the beginner-friendly entry point, no tech-speak required.
Protect your peace. AI shouldn’t replace your brain—it should give your brain more room to think, create, and actually be present. The second it starts adding to the overwhelm instead of taking it away, that’s worth talking about too.
Clear your plate. Concrete AI tricks for the lists, calendars, bills, and admin that eat your brain space, so you have more time for what you’re actually trying to build.
Build a system that sticks. Turning one-off AI tricks into something repeatable, instead of collecting a hundred prompts you’ll never use again.
📋 Quick Recap
Catch up without the shame spiral—no assumed knowledge, no tech-speak.
Protect your peace—AI should free up brain space, not add to the overwhelm.
Clear your plate—practical tricks for the admin stuff.
Build a system that sticks—repeatable, not one-off.
🌱 If You Haven’t Tried This Yet
Start with one thing. Grab the free 5 AI Prompts to Get Your To-Do List Under Control Today (link below)—five specific, copy-paste prompts for the to-do list that’s been lying to you about how much you can actually get done today. No broad “AI for productivity” vagueness, just one small, usable win.
🔗 Resources & Links
Free lead magnet: 5 AI Prompts to Get Your To-Do List Under Control Today—grab it at theprettyshinythings.com
The Shiny List (weekly newsletter)—sign up at theprettyshinythings.com
Next episode: the bigger question of where AI actually fits into your life, and what it’s not worth using for
🧡 Go Be Present, Be Creative
That’s the whole point of this show: not doing more, just having more room—for your family, your creativity, the thing you’ve been meaning to build. If any part of this hit home, I’d love to hear it. Message me on Instagram at @hey.katmurphy or email kat@theprettyshinythings.com and tell me: when did you first feel like you were behind?
Until next week—go be present, be creative, embrace the pretty shiny things, and let the robots handle the rest.