Monica Froese

Monica Froese
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Headshot of Amy Vaughan next to the Empowered Business® Podcast episode 96 logo.

This sales funnel alternative has a 95% retention rate with amy vaughan

This week on the Empowered Business Podcast, I’m chatting with Amy Vaughn, CEO of Together Digital—a powerhouse community that’s redefining how women grow online businesses. We’re digging into why the old-school sales funnel just doesn’t cut it anymore and how a relationship-first approach can actually scale your impact faster.

Amy breaks down the “ask and give” networking model, why so many women feel left out of traditional spaces, and how real connection leads to real growth. We also talk about where AI fits into all of this—and how it’s leveling the playing field for business owners and moms alike.

If you’re ready to ditch transactional tactics and build something that actually feels good and grows, you’re going to love this one.

In Today’s Episode We Discuss:

How relationship-first business models outperform traditional sales funnels: I talked with Amy about how her community, Together Digital, flips the script on traditional funnels by putting the human experience first—and why that approach actually drives better results.

Why networking feels broken (and how we can fix it): We explored how women often feel shut out of typical networking environments and what it looks like to create more inclusive, authentic spaces where real connection can thrive.

The power of the “ask and give” exchange: Amy broke down how her community encourages women to both ask for help and give generously—and how this simple shift builds deeper trust and stronger business relationships.

Why scaling doesn’t mean removing yourself from your business: We challenged the idea that founders have to “step back” to grow. Amy explained why doing 1:1 onboarding and staying close to her members actually fuels scalability and retention.

Rethinking community design for women: We talked about how everything from the layout of networking events to the tone of conversation impacts whether women feel safe and seen—and how small changes can create a big impact.

How AI is helping women work smarter, not harder: Amy shared how she uses AI to multiply her small team’s efforts and how her members are using it to lead innovation inside their companies and simplify their lives at home.

How to lead the AI conversation at work—even if you’re not a tech expert: We discussed the importance of women staying at the forefront of AI adoption and how to confidently advocate for its responsible use in any professional setting.

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn and learn more about her community at TogetherInDigital.com. You can also find her on YouTube, Instagram & Facebook.

As always, the best place to hangout with us every day to be on top of online business trends and AI is the Empowered Business Society®.

Monica Froese [00:00:01]:
Welcome to the Empowered Business Podcast where strategy meets action. I’m Monica Froze and I’m here to help you create, sell and scale digital products the smart way, using AI and proven strategies to build a sustainable, profitable business. If you’re ready to turn your expertise into digital products that sell and eventually grow into a thriving digital shop, you’re in the right place. Each week I break down real world tactics, unfiltered insights and bold business moves. Because building a digital product business should be sustainable, scalable and designed for long term success. Let’s ditch the fluff, leverage AI to work smarter and turn your expertise into a thriving digital empire on your terms. Let’s get started. Welcome back to the Empowered Business Podcast.

Monica Froese [00:00:49]:
Today I’m talking to Amy Vaughn, who is the CEO of Together Digital. And what she does is she runs a 500 plus member community providing relationship first business models that outperform traditional sales funnels. This is a podcast where we talk so much about sales funnels. And when I decided to have Amy on the show, I thought that this topic of talking about putting the human experience before the sales funnel and flipping the whole model on its head would be so interesting. And she explains how she does this in her business. And we also talk about a lot of challenges that women face in the workplace face as entrepreneurs. And we talk about the importance of networking and how we can bridge the gap of networking between women and men. It’s a really fascinating conversation and it really does remind me why I started Redefining mom all the way back in 2013 and left my corporate career.

Monica Froese [00:01:44]:
So let’s dive into today’s episode and hear all the gems that Amy has for us. Welcome back to the Empowered Business Podcast. Today I’m talking to Amy Vaughn, who is the CEO of Together Digital. And what she does is she runs a 500 plus member community providing relationship first business models that outperform traditional sales funnels. This is a podcast where we talk so much about sales funnels and when I decided to have Amy on the show, I thought that this topic of talking about putting the human experience before the sales funnel and flipping the whole model on its head would be so interesting. And she explains how she does this in her business. And we also talk about a lot of challenges that women face in the workplace face as entrepreneurs. And we talk about the importance of networking and how we can bridge the gap of networking between women and men.

Monica Froese [00:02:37]:
It’s a really fascinating conversation and it really does remind me why I started Redefining mom all the way back in 2013. And left my corporate career. So let’s dive in to today’s episode and hear all the gems that Amy has for us.

Amy Vaughn [00:22:14]:
So every person in the room is having a different experience. And so this is really to just help people broaden that understanding of what it’s like to be the only in a room. But then for those who are the only in the room to understand that individual power perspective and what they have to offer and know that networking isn’t all just about asking for help and taking. It’s about asking and giving. Which we’ll talk a little bit here too about how we do that within together, digital. And so yeah, the book is. I feel like it’s much needed. I’m hoping that we can get it published within the next year or so.

Amy Vaughn [00:22:45]:
I have so many people asking me, like, when is it coming out? I go to events. It’s still fraught with things. Like I was at one last week. That was a number of other associations that we partnered with. And it was a bar setting, open floor, no elevator service to the second floor stairs. Only my husband came with me. He’s hard of hearing. There was music blasting the whole time.

Amy Vaughn [00:23:06]:
The AV was really poorly set up, but they couldn’t control the music overhead. It’s just there’s so many things and then there’s big crowds. I think there’s a lot of power too in small rooms and having big conversations. I think networking, we think the more people we can pack in, the better. And my post Covid brain says, no, thank you.

Monica Froese [00:23:23]:
I agree. Have you heard? I. So I’ve heard this a lot, especially from people who work in corporate still that I hear from women that their worst bosses are women. And it grates on me so much because I’m like, no, it’s because. So this was my experience. Let’s just take the proverbial 12 person boardroom. You walk in, there’s 11 white men and one white female. And then she is incentivized to want to keep her seat.

Monica Froese [00:23:50]:
And I’m like trying to explain to people that this is still all created by the patriarchy. Even women don’t understand it. And it, it grates on me. When I was in corporate, I saw it like I had female managers who were terrible to me and it was because if I had a better idea than them, I was a threat to them. If I performed, my numbers were better. And I’m like, men get in the room together. And I saw it time and time again in the boardroom. They compete.

Monica Froese [00:24:13]:
They’re not Even mad at each other about it. They’re just like, it’s like a competition to them and they still share things amongst each other. And then women into the room and they’d be like, shut down and be like, you’re my enemy. And I’m like, why are we doing that?

Amy Vaughn [00:24:26]:
It’s how we’re socially conditioned for sure. It’s scarcity mindset for women. There’s so much about our upbringing and then there’s the whole sugar, spice. Everything that is never be aggressive, never be draggy is absolutely real. There are lots of women out there unfortunately still who do have the belief that they clawed their way to the top and thus any other woman coming up behind them should have to go through what they had to go through. And I have just never felt that way. I’ve never seen it that way. And I really don’t feel like our members within together digital would we have a whole member code of conduct.

Amy Vaughn [00:25:03]:
It’s outside of a non solicit but it’s also really about treating each other with respect and kindness and really being aware that we’re talking to people that are different than us. Right. Treat others how they want to be treated versus how you want to be treated. I think that goes a long way for creating a safe space and environment to make really more meaningful connections. Because that’s my other beef with networking. It’s very transactional. It’s like, how many business cards can I hand out? That’s not the point. That’s really not why you’re there.

Amy Vaughn [00:25:30]:
You’re not there to close a deal or make a sale. You are there to connect with people, find common grounds personally, professionally, so that then something better and bigger can grow. Because as humans, that’s how we are wired whether we like it or not. And so when it feels awkward to be just passing out the business cards and pitching yourself, there’s a reason why it feels awkward. You’re not being authentic. You’re not there for relationships.

Monica Froese [00:25:53]:
When I say I used to despise networking in corporate, so when I started the business I thought I was going to despise it in my business. And I almost shied away from it in the beginning and then it all of a sudden clicked. I’m like, oh no, no. It’s because of the system that I was in that I despised it when I do it in the business. And I have always sought out the more collaborative environments where we really, we, we openly share information. We want to just genuinely help each other succeed. It’s not about you’re doing better than me or like any of that, it’s just very collaborative and you hit the nail on the head. I.

Monica Froese [00:26:26]:
I love that this is a topic you talk about. So the other thing I want to talk about, which I’m so curious about this, so I mentioned before we start recording that sales funnels are a big thing in my world. One of my signature programs is about building your digital product sales funnel. And one of the things that I will call it a phrase, I guess a catchphrase maybe that you use is ask and give exchange versus what we think of as a sales funnel. Can you explain this concept?

Amy Vaughn [00:26:52]:
Yeah, absolutely. To me this is our magnetic content framework. It really is what attracts the right people to us at the right time. Even though it works like a marketing funnel, the intention is truly good. Where I think my creative director 30,000 Foot View opportunity helps me because I can see how the networking’s connected, how the marketing funnel connected, how relationships are all connected as a part of completing closing a sale. Because as a membership based business, I’m not just looking to bring in new members unless they are engaged and unless they are sticking around and renewing. We have a 95 to 98% retention rate for our members and they are super engaged and involved in the community. That happens because we listen to them and we start by opening up the floor at every event, virtual or in person, an ask channel on our slack community.

Amy Vaughn [00:27:38]:
This is opening the opportunity, the door for our customers, potential members, for us to listen to them. And it’s hard because as women, we aren’t used to asking. We are conditioned to give, right? We have that mentality of oh my gosh, I had a great podcast guest like probably a year or two ago now talking about human giver syndrome and how us as women are constantly conditioned to be the nurturers and the planners and the givers and the doers, even as we’re moving through the tap, right? Listening and getting women to ask for what they need without guilt or shame is hard. Like I will be even on a one on one member onboarding call, which I do those as well, to be able to listen. And I’ll ask members, how can I help you? What do you need? And they all look at me like a deer in the headlights because they are just so not used to somebody asking them, how can I help you? What do you need? So sometimes it’s a matter of even knowing what to ask for. And so I often say it’s like a muscle you have to build. You have to get used to asking and knowing what to ask for. And then the second part of that is once you have asked for the help receiving it.

Amy Vaughn [00:28:43]:
So that’s why we do it at every juncture within the online community, in person events, at our online events as well. Just giving everybody the chance to say, what do you need? No guilt, no shame. Make an ask. We really encourage the listening audience to really make sure that they ask questions about the question before they make assumptions. Because again, we just said from a intersectional standpoint, you cannot assume somebody’s lived experience based on a single question. You need to dig in. And so we ask more questions before we start to give advice. And it’s just this beautiful opportunity for us to really understand what are the kinds of things, the challenges that women are facing personally and professionally within our industry.

Amy Vaughn [00:29:23]:
Great. We have blog post ideas, now we have content ideas, we have workshop ideas, we have conference talk ideas. And so we basically take the voice of our customer and amplify it in our marketing, in our messaging, at our events. And that just attracts the people that we need to attract. Because she’s scrolling through her feed and she’s, oh my gosh, this is me. I feel this. I know what this is. The all the things you and I have been saying up to this point, it is like a true standard together.

Amy Vaughn [00:29:50]:
Digital coffee chat, virtual coffee chat, which we have that on Slack too. It’s really cool. It’s like a virtual roulette of networking where you get paired with a different member like once a month and you do a virtual coffee chat. And like you said, once you hear somebody’s story, you’re like, oh my gosh, same. I feel you. I know that. And so that is really what attracts a lot of our members is when they come to our events virtual or in person, and they get the opportunity to either witness or do the ask and give exchange. Not only is it fueling our content and our messaging, it’s attracting those new members.

Amy Vaughn [00:30:21]:
And so then we take that attracting new members and we really work to connect with them. Obviously, just beyond the transactional, that includes like me doing the member one on one on board. People are like, but you’re like the CEO, I don’t want to take any of your time. I’m like, no, my time is yours. You are literally why I’m here. And for me to be able to sit with you for 30 minutes and understand how you found us, what you need personally and professionally, what are some of your goals that you know we can help you achieve. For me, to be able to open that door for you and show you where to go, what events to attend, maybe what individuals to talk to. It just gives me such a better line of sight.

Amy Vaughn [00:30:57]:
It blows me away that people are like, oh, because you have three letters after your name, you’re not accessible. There’s always a closed door. I’m like, no, I have a calendar that is always open to members. And so that’s where we make that opportunity to connect. And then after we’ve connected, we just repeat the cycle. Listen, amplify, attract and connect is like our magnetic content framework and really our sales funnel in a lot of ways because our ambassadors and members, they advocate for us, they do this for us without us having to implement it. They go out and they share their stories and experiences and somebody will say, oh I have the same thing. The next thing I know I’m on a call for onboarding and they’re like so and so referred me.

Amy Vaughn [00:31:33]:
I would say 85% of our members are through referrals, which is what I would prefer anyways because like I said, quality over quantity. I want the right women who are ready to ask and give in equal measure, who are open to hearing and supporting other women who maybe don’t have similar backgrounds to them and really show up and create that safe space for them as well.

Monica Froese [00:31:51]:
So what I think is interesting, a lot of traditional advice really in business, definitely an online business, is Amy, that’s scalable for you to do.

Amy Vaughn [00:32:01]:
You’re not going to be able to.

Monica Froese [00:32:02]:
Scale if you’re doing everyone’s onboarding and basically you’re saying, but if you develop your community with a human first approach, that is actually a very scalable thing for you because you’re doing a lot of work to attract the right people and by do and then you’re making sure they are feeling seen and heard out of the gate by you. The magic of that is also you’re getting this great pulse on what people actually need for future things that you develop. Oh, this goes against everyone’s well advice.

Amy Vaughn [00:32:34]:
I love it. I was a rebel with a cause.

Monica Froese [00:32:36]:
It’s in my bio. You really are. So did I understand this right? You have an ask channel in Slack that’s for non members members to get.

Amy Vaughn [00:32:42]:
It like no, we just have one for members. Yeah, it’s members only because everything we talk about within together digital, the asks are always confidential. I think it’s a really important thing for us is that it remains confidential. Now sometimes we’ll take an ask and we’ll leverage it for social media. But we always check with a member first to make sure that she is okay. Should we identify you? Should we not identify you? I even do anonymous asks within our Slack channel. But what’s different about that Slack channel too is that and I love showing people when I’m onboarding them. And sometimes I’ll give non members a peek behind the curtain if they want to just meet and talk with me about membership.

Amy Vaughn [00:33:14]:
Is that these women, they don’t just like give a thumbs up or a little emoji. Like they go deep and they will give bullet points and they’ll share links and resources. They’ll offer up their calendar and time for anything anybody asks, whether it’s something personal or professional or super technical. And I just love looking in there and seeing the ways in which they are showing up for each other because they’re really truly trying to help. Oftentimes we don’t realize most of the time people really do want to help us and it’s just hard to ask. And like I said that muscle is such an important thing to build and to grow. And it’s scary, right, because we’ve all been burned. But it never happens unless you actually start taking the action.

Amy Vaughn [00:33:53]:
Like courage and confidence comes after the action, not before it.

Monica Froese [00:33:56]:
So now can any. Can you go to your live events if you’re not a member or everything you can. So you can buy like a one off ticket to get the experience, see what it’s like. Yeah, I like that. And can you do virtual events like that too?

Amy Vaughn [00:34:09]:
Yep. Okay.

Monica Froese [00:34:10]:
One up. Ability to get a feel for the community before committing to doing.

Amy Vaughn [00:34:13]:
Absolutely. Yeah. And I realized too, like I think you do, you have to get in and get the vibe and get the feel for the folks in the space, either physically or virtually. So yes, like our AI Marketing summer camp was open to members and non members. Obviously it was free for members. We do a monthly masterclass on marketing and digital marketing and professional personal development and leadership topics. And those are also if you want to pay to show up, you can pay to show up. Or if you just want to get a membership, you get all 12 for the whole month and then everything.

Amy Vaughn [00:34:43]:
That’s the thing about virtual it’s great. It all gets recorded and then you can go back to it when you need it. Which is another thing. I think even just showing up, whether it’s virtual or in person showing up is hard. It’s hard anymore. Post Covid. There’s just something about the ways in which we’re choosing to spend our time I used to joke and say that I think it. I’ve already.

Amy Vaughn [00:35:02]:
I’m 40. What? 43. 44. 43. No. 44. Okay. Anyways, I’m 44 and it’s one of those things.

Amy Vaughn [00:35:08]:
I’m like, I’m at midlife. Ish. I guess, depending on how you would define it. I joked that Covid gave us all a midlife crisis. It made us force our mortality potentially. And so I think people are definitely not just in our events, but all events that I have been a part of and other larger communities and conferences. People are fundamentally looking at how they spend their time differently and prioritizing it differently. And so that’s to me also why I think making networking events and community building events more accessible and ideal for diverse groups is so essential if you really want to get people in the door.

Amy Vaughn [00:35:43]:
Just don’t think about it as bodies. It’s quality over quantity, small rooms, big conversations when it comes to these kinds of events. And to me it is the long game and it is going against all of the atypical sales marketing BS that’s out there. But this is what works for us and this is what’s worked for our business and this is how we’ve been able to survive, which will be 10 years next year. Which is amazing. As a small mission based business focused on women, where DEI is getting shut down, constantly getting defunded, where women’s rights and priorities are being pushed down, I’m really proud to say that again we’re in this happy little safe bubble. I’m just glad that we’re still here and hanging on.

Monica Froese [00:36:20]:
Yeah. All the progress that we have made. It’s great to see that we have groups like yours still out there that are for our cause and helping us still unite and make sure that we don’t get shut down like that. Okay, so to end this, I want to ask because so much of what you do is based on that human connection, how is AI fitting into the world? You did an AI summer boot camp, so clearly you’re not like boot on AI. So how does it fit into your business and how you not only use it inside of your business, but also how you teach your members to you?

Amy Vaughn [00:36:51]:
Absolutely. In so many ways. As a small business owner, I think AI is a great democratizer. It helps me and my team of three work like 10. I have always been a process person, despite being creative. I love a good process because it clears the way for creativity. People tend to throw people and bodies at problems versus a process. I’m always like let’s think process first and then if we need to add people, we will.

Amy Vaughn [00:37:14]:
Which probably comes from becoming a CEO in the midst of a pandemic with a mission based business. But yeah, I would say AI is a great democratizer for us. We had already leveraged it before in the way of like certain automations and editing and. But with generative AI, obviously that has really shifted our ability to leverage it and use it for different things. I am leveraging as a small business owner workflows and agents and things like that that really just help me optimize the time I spend doing repetitive tasks. And so my thought is always like with AI, if you’re afraid, it’s because you don’t understand. You need to take time to understand and then the fear will start to go away. Like I said earlier too, like courage comes after the action, not before.

Amy Vaughn [00:37:56]:
So I think getting in and playing around with some of the tools that are out there and just getting curious is going to help you. And then once you start to realize what AI can do, you’re going to try to AI everything. And even as a mom, like I had this really great podcast guest on our show the Together Digital Power Lounge, a woman named Sarah Dooley who works for Visa and started this little side thing that is AI empowered moms talking about how you can leverage AI to reduce the mental load of motherhood. I have used it to help plan birthday parties. I have used it as a counselor. I have used it for so many things on a personal level that I absolutely love it for training. I was like, I need to get in better shape. Help me.

Amy Vaughn [00:38:34]:
Here’s my age, here’s my weight, size, all this. And I’m like, help me figure out a good workout plan. It’s a good diet for me and it just saves me so much time and energy. Obviously AI, there’s a level of responsibility, accountability that needs to happen. So there’s always that what we call human in the loop, which is usually you and or maybe one other person. So whatever you’re leveraging AI for in your business, just really make sure that you are holding it accountable, that you’re double checking the resources, that you’re questioning it. I, even though I know it’s not human, I do talk to AI a lot like a human. And I’ll be like, where’s the blind spots in this? Can we check this? Invalidate this.

Amy Vaughn [00:39:10]:
So always owns the way. You would be somebody bringing you information anyways, always be questioning AI. Don’t just take it for what it is. And always leverage it as like a draft or a 1.0 versus like your final version. So that’s on a business slash personal standpoint. And then for together digital, our members, they’re just hungry to learn. I think that’s like a part of our psychographic for our members is that they are just lifelong learners and they love to learn. Women are losing their jobs more than men with AI because AI kind of sucks up the work that often gets done in the middle.

Amy Vaughn [00:39:40]:
Right? That’s a lot of stuff in the middle. And the thing that I hear a lot of is that AI is not going to replace marketing. It’s just going to out the bad marketers, which is a hundred percent true when you’re not checking the work and.

Monica Froese [00:39:51]:
You’Re just using generative AI to do all your marketing.

Amy Vaughn [00:39:54]:
But we’re teaching them a variety of tools and ways in which they can leverage it to maximize their time and energy and really do the less of the robot type work and do more the creative human work. Right. Because that’s what we would all probably rather be doing anyways. Nobody wants to be a machine. I don’t think maybe they do. But that’s to me what AI has been able to do for people within our space and in our industry. So we are definitely embracing it wholeheartedly, but we’re constantly poking at it, asking questions, talking about ethics, all those different types of things to really make sure that our members are aware. Because what’s happening is a lot of the women within our organization are leading the initiative within their organization to actually implement AI.

Amy Vaughn [00:40:33]:
So we’re just really trying to help educate them on what are the tools, what are the ethics, what are the regulations, what are the best use cases so that they feel empowered when they go to work to be like, hey boss, look, this is where we need to use AI. This is how we use it. This is how we do it responsibly. Then I realize that’s an uphill battle for a lot of folks. I’m a small business owner. If I just want to flip a switch, I can flip a switch. That’s what I love about running my own business.

Monica Froese [00:40:53]:
Yeah, same. Okay, so I really like the way you’re looking at it because I tell my audience, I’m like, AI is here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. We can either be on the forefront of embracing it and figuring out having that say and how we want it to fit into what we’re doing and how it’s being used, or we can.

Amy Vaughn [00:41:12]:
Let it be A runaway train.

Monica Froese [00:41:13]:
And I’m. I feel like I’m perfect for your community when you talk about it because I’m also a lifelong learner. And one of the things I love about AI is that it has given me this path of learning again. Like I’m like a sponge lately with everything going on. And now I’m like listening again and learning new things and trying new tools and automating things that I never in my wildest dreams thought could be automated without human intervention. And I just think it’s. If we embrace it for what it is with that keeping ethics for in the forefront and realizing it. Like I don’t.

Monica Froese [00:41:49]:
I’ve never believed in fear mongering anyways. Like this, everything. This is going to destroy this. Or just say that. I use this example a lot because.

Amy Vaughn [00:41:56]:
It seems to click with people.

Monica Froese [00:41:58]:
The first house I bought with my ex husband, what it was built in 1954 and there was a milk door on the side. My daughter one day goes, why is there a hole in the house? And I said, well, that was the milk door. The milkman used to come by every day or two to deliver the milk before there were reliable refrigeration systems in house like a refrigerator. And she was like, wait, what? And I use that example because I’m like, hey, there’s no milkman anymore.

Amy Vaughn [00:42:23]:
Right.

Monica Froese [00:42:23]:
So as we evolve, different jobs go away, but it also creates innovation for new jobs. The refrigerator came out, eliminated the need for a milkman, but now we need repairmen for these appliances and or women. And so I use that example just.

Amy Vaughn [00:42:41]:
Because it’s a great.

Monica Froese [00:42:42]:
When people say, hey, AI is going to destroy, let’s say, my industry and listen, that’s a hard thing to face. By all means, if AI is really overtaking your job, I understand that’s going scary to you see it also as an opportunity because now you have all of the stuff at your fingertips to go learn and explore and so be open to the pivot because honestly, what’s on the other side, it’s probably going to be a lot better for you.

Amy Vaughn [00:43:04]:
Yeah, I agree. You’re not going to be replaced by AI. You’re going to be replaced by people who understand AI better because that is where the future of a lot of this kind of work is going. Example is my husband was an academic professor for 15 years and did mathematical modeling for pharmaceutical research and in different data studies. And I had told him 10 years ago when my agency was doing a sentiment model, I laughed because they were doing social listening and they were Trying to create a model. And I’m like, this isn’t a model in the sense of what you’re saying it is. Marketing has always had this issue of big data, right? It’s just sitting out there. We have so much of it, we don’t know what to do with it.

Amy Vaughn [00:43:37]:
Now he’s working for a company and is head of AI research for Verve Labs where they are taking the voice of customer and basically using AI to maximize it. Create individual agents where you can talk to your customer, all this cool stuff and like they’re trying to hire and they’re like, it’s so weird and hard to hire job descriptions. I said, because you’re creating new jobs and new roles. And so this is where really understanding you don’t have to be a programmer, you don’t have to be a developer, you don’t even have to be a data scientist. I am not kidding you. One of the women on his team that is like the one who really understands his model and what he’s doing the best was a stay at home mom for the last 15 years. So you don’t have to have all the special skills in the world. You just have to be willing to show up and to learn.

Amy Vaughn [00:44:21]:
Really, I think that’s like the best advice ever. Show up and learn. Be willing to learn. And in every situation, whether it’s networking or AI, just be ready to show up and be ready and open to learn. Give yourself some grace. Nobody has this all figured out yet. Funny thing, when I go to events to talk about AI, people want to like pose as experts. And I was like, there ain’t nobody outside of maybe I guess Sam Altman that’s like a true expert.

Amy Vaughn [00:44:43]:
And even he probably doesn’t even know because it’s so hard to see what’s around the corner. But I am with you. I think keeping an open mindset and a learner’s mind about it is what’s going to take you far and really open up new doors and opportunities for you. But I think it’s going to be really interesting to watch how the next few years shake out. And you’re right, it’s not going away. And I think being a digital marketer for 50 years, 15 years, just helped me embrace new technology from the very beginning. But I do understand some folks truly find it frightening, but the best thing you can do to fight that fear is knowledge.

Monica Froese [00:45:12]:
Agreed. Completely agree. This has been an awesome conversation and I know everyone’s going to love it. If people want to follow you, learn more about together digital. Maybe join your community. How can they do that?

Amy Vaughn [00:45:23]:
Yeah, absolutely. So they can go to our website togetherindigital.com and learn more about membership. If they want to connect with me, LinkedIn’s probably the best place to find me. Just mention that you listen to the podcast and that you want to connect and I’m happy to share my calendar, have a quick conversation. Like I said, I’m really just trying to pay it forward. This community gave me so much and changed my entire life and career and I’ve loved to watch that happen for so many of our other members as well. So yeah, I’d love to talk with you if you’re interested.

Monica Froese [00:45:50]:
I will link to all of this in the show notes. And thank you so much for this great conversation today. That’s a wrap on today’s episode, but your next step starts right now. If you’re serious about selling digital products and want the AI powered tools, expert strategy and real human support to make it happen, then you need to check out the Empowered Business Society Inside. You’ll get AI driven trainings to create and sell digital products faster, a private community for expert feedback and real time support. Exclusive access to the Monica Memo podcast and if you go probably grow, you’ll get monthly marketing shortcuts, live Q&As, and 20 off of the Empowered shop perpetually. Because smart business owners sell smarter, they don’t work harder.

Monica Froese [00:46:33]:
And the best part? You can get started for as little as $9. The best business growth happens when AI and real humans work together. Ready to make your next move? Join us inside of the Empowered Business Society. You can check us out at EmpoweredBusiness Co board slash Society. See you in the next episode.

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