Show Notes
AI is everywhere right now—and whether you're already using it every day or still a little skeptical, it's becoming harder to ignore. But instead of asking how AI can help us do more, what if we started asking how it could help us create more time and space for the things that actually matter?
In this episode, I sit down with Megan Christie, a local photographer of 20 years who now teaches and consults with small business owners about AI. Megan helps women who run small businesses use AI to reclaim their time, income, and confidence by handing off some of the busywork that can make running a business—and managing everyday life—feel overwhelming.
Like so many small business owners and busy parents, Megan found herself juggling the work she loved with all the behind-the-scenes tasks that came with it. When her husband started his own business, she began exploring how AI could help with some of the repetitive work neither of them wanted to spend their limited time doing.
What started as a way to make their businesses run more smoothly quickly became a much bigger conversation about mental load, time, technology, and how we want AI to fit into our lives.
Together, we explore practical ways AI can make everyday life easier—from emails, scheduling, follow-ups, and business admin to family calendars, meal planning, research, and keeping track of the seemingly endless things we're all trying to remember.
But we also talk about the other side of AI. Megan shares why just because AI can do something doesn't necessarily mean it should, what we should consider before sharing personal or health information, and why privacy settings and understanding how these tools work matter.
We also get into kids and AI, how to help our children use it without replacing their own thinking and creativity, and why AI should never take the place of the real people and relationships in our lives.
In this episode, we cover:
- How AI can help reduce mental load at home and at work
- Practical ways busy families can use AI
- How small business owners can hand off repetitive busywork
- Where to start if you don't consider yourself "techy"
- Using AI without losing the personal touch that makes small businesses special
- Privacy and what to consider before sharing personal information
- What to know before connecting AI to tools like your email
- Using AI when researching health information
- What parents should know about kids and AI
- Why AI shouldn't replace critical thinking, creativity, or human connection
- How to get better results from AI without complicated prompts
- Megan's approach to helping women confidently incorporate AI into their businesses
- Why the goal of AI doesn't have to be becoming more productive
One of the biggest reminders from this conversation is that AI doesn't have to be about squeezing more into an already full day. It can be about taking some of the things that drain our time and mental energy off our plates so we have more capacity for our families, our creativity, our businesses, and ourselves.
If you've ever felt curious about AI but weren't sure where to start, wondered whether you're using it safely, or thought, I'm just not techy enough for this...
This episode offers an approachable and balanced way to think about where AI can support your life—and where you may want to draw the line. Because maybe the best use of AI isn't helping us do more. Maybe it's helping us get some of our life back.
Connect with Megan Christie:
10-minute guide to turning off data collection in ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
Learn more about Banned Book Bingo here.
Connect with the Erie Wellness Podcast: