Why I started Tiny Wins with AI

It’s 11 at night. You finally crawl into bed, and your brain decides it’s time to get back to work. The proposal due Thursday. The invoice you still haven’t sent. The email you swore you’d answer today.

Sound familiar? Then I made this show for you.

Tiny Wins with AI is a five-minute podcast for small business owners. Every Tuesday, I give you one small way AI can hand you a little time back, something you can try before Friday. Every Friday, we take that same win up a notch. No jargon. No hype. Just small steps you can actually do.

So why did I start it? Here’s the story.

The list isn’t the problem

I’m an ICF-certified life coach. For two years, I coached people through people-pleasing and boundaries. I’ve mostly retired that side of my work, but nobody told my kids. They still come to me with the same thing: a long list and no idea where to start.

Business owners have it even harder, because your list isn’t really one list. A client follow-up sits right next to a dentist appointment. Quarterly taxes sit next to a permission slip. When it’s all in one pile, everything feels urgent, so nothing gets done.

Here’s the thing, though. The list isn’t the problem. The problem is that it lives in your head. And your head does its best thinking in the car, in the shower or at 11 p.m. Never when you’ve got a pen in your hand.

Why tiny wins, not a big AI overhaul

I’ve been learning AI for more than three years. But the first time it really helped me, it didn’t give me time back. It gave me something better.

I have ADHD, and my brain roams. In meetings, when the talk turned to something I didn’t understand or wasn’t part of, I’d drift off. I cared about what was going on. I just couldn’t keep my attention there, and it frustrated me. So I started giving my meeting transcripts to AI and asking for organized notes: what we talked about, the key decisions, the next steps, and the questions I should ask to follow up. Suddenly I could read the meeting later and show up as a real partner. I wasn’t caught off guard anymore. I wasn’t the space cadet. For the first time in my life, it felt like equity. I can’t control where my mind goes, and now I didn’t have to worry about it.

Along the way, I noticed something. Big overhauls stall. You save a two-hour tutorial, set aside a weekend, and then a client emails and poof, the weekend’s gone. One small change a week is different. It fits into a Tuesday, and those small changes add up.

That meeting-notes habit is my proof. It started as one small thing. Then I gave each project I was working on its own folder, and after every meeting I added my notes to it. Over time, each folder became a little library for that project. Now when I have a question, I just ask the project and get the answer, instead of spending 30 minutes digging through my notes. Today I teach others to do the same, so they feel in control of their information instead of lost in it, and can get back to the work they love.

That’s the whole idea behind the show. Five minutes. One win. Try it before Friday.

Who Tiny Wins with AI is for

This show is for you if:

• You run a small service business and do most of it yourself.
• You’ve got way too much on your plate and no one you trust to hand things off to.
• You’re busy, not techy, and tired of AI talk that assumes you are.
• You want a little time back for the work that really matters.

You don’t need a paid plan or a tech background. Most tiny wins work with the free version of whatever AI app is already on your phone.

What to expect each week

• Tuesday, the tiny win: one small thing to try, in about five minutes.
• Friday, the level up: the same win, taken one step further, for when you’re ready.
• Thursday, for newsletter subscribers: a longer episode where I go deeper, show you how I actually work, and sometimes bring in a guest.

One more thing, so there are no surprises. Some episodes may use an AI clone of my own voice. The scripts, the ideas and the production are all mine. Guest episodes are always the real me.

Start here: the two-minute brain dump

Episode 1 is the tiny win I’d give anyone first. Open any AI app on your phone, tap the microphone and just talk. Get everything out of your head. No typing. Then sort it with a coaching tool I used with clients for years:

• Bag it: it’s not really important. Cross it off. You’re allowed.
• Barter it: someone else could do it. Make a trade.
• Better it: only you can do it, so find a way to make it a little nicer to do.

The AI hands you back three short lists, plus a first tiny step for the things that matter most. Pick one and do that step before Friday. Listen to Episode 1.

Then this Friday, Episode 2 turns that list into a checklist that updates every time you brain dump. It’s coming Friday, so keep an eye out.

If AI has felt like one more thing on your to-do list, start there. I promise it’s not as confusing as it sounds. And I’d love to hear what you bag this week. Come tell me at cariegiroux.com.