your craft is beautiful
Is the job I’m working right now going to be worth anything 3-4 years from now? What’s the point of putting more time into my craft? If you’re around my age, you’ve probably asked yourself both (I ask myself weekly).
Earlier this year I joined OnTrac AI, where I help business leaders and their teams figure out where AI tools fit. It puts me in a privileged spot to watch how these tools are changing the world around me. Some weeks I’m amazed at what people send me. Other weeks I’m horrified (like seeing the number of layoff articles attributed to dubious "AI efficiencies").
However, I've witnessed AI excite people who were most strongly against the technology. While I have seen the attitude shift play out during my work, I did not expect to see it in such an unlikely place - my own home.
Caitlyn and I moved our life from Columbus, Ohio to Birmingham, Michigan in 30 days. A new role for me, and coming home to family for both of us. It also meant leaving our Columbus friends behind, which was one of the hardest things we had to do.
On top of that, it meant Caitlyn left her studio of 30+ students. She'd grown to know each and every student personally, and while the move was exciting, it was another thing she had to say goodbye to.
She trained at the University of Michigan and earned her master's at the University of Colorado. So finding another teaching role in Michigan should have been easy...
Rejection
Two months after the move, she was still looking. Summer was coming and local studios weren't hiring. Every lead ended in a "no" or a "maybe later this year once things pick up."
I remember seeing her inbox for job applications and networking around the metro Detroit area. Even at first glance I was overwhelmed seeing it.
Anyone who has sent a great resume only to be met with an auto-rejection knows the feeling quite well.
Walk 1
You will find Caitlyn and me most afternoons walking outside together. Our walks are mostly for us to disconnect and be together. Sometimes the walks change into a deeper discussion on things we are struggling with.
On one of our walks, she asked me a seemingly simple question that changed the trajectory of our lives through today.
"What if instead of applying - I just did this myself?"
Studio
Back in 2023, Caitlyn nearly lost her voice. A vocal cord injury required surgery and almost ended her career as a singer. I remember the time she had to go a full month without speaking and how difficult it was for her. This experience is the reason she teaches the way she does, grounded in helping kids and adults sing safely during sessions. This was the foundation she used to create Marigold Voice Studio.
She called friends, leaned on her network, and dove headfirst into learning to start and run a business. Many decisions piled up at once - marketing, legal, a website, taxes, social media, payments, etc. All of these stacked on top of each other and paralysis quickly took over.
Walk 2
On another walk she told me she was overwhelmed and didn't know how to keep it all in one place. So I asked a question I usually keep off our walks (it's my day job):
"Have you thought about using AI tools to help?"
She didn't hesitate.
"I do not feel comfortable using it."
and I replied with:
"Your craft is beautiful and others deserve to experience it, we will only use it to reach people in your own way. What if we use it with your taste in control?"
Working sessions
The next day, I sat down with her and showed her how I use Claude with hand-typed source documents.
We set up the context for AI wholly around her:
1. Her personal branding book as the source of truth, so every design started from her look.
2. Strict anchors - rules Claude has to follow and can't break (written by us)
3. Workflows where Claude asks her about everything and assumes nothing (!!!)
We kicked off her workflows and she started experimenting. Each night, she became more and more comfortable using the tools. We stepped through prompting her taste documents and using different features together.
When we hit Claude Design with the context she made, she looked at me and said:
"This is actually really cool and feels like magic."
I've taught rooms full of hundreds of people how to use AI, sat down with leadership teams of large businesses, and led countless live building sessions. Hearing the excitement in my wife's voice in that moment made me the proudest I ever been teaching this technology.
Your taste in control
Everything Claude made for Caitlyn started from her taste document - her surgery, why she teaches the way she does, her professional background, and the things that influence her daily, all in her own words.
The rule was simple: Claude makes no inferences about her or what she wants. If it doesn’t know, it stops and asks her.
Caitlyn held to that rule for every piece of content she made for her site and marketing:
Marigold Voice Studio has 8 regular students and is growing fast. When I come home from work, I regularly say hello to a parent in our living room waiting for their kids to finish up with their lesson. Our home has become a warm welcome to students and their parents coming and going to lessons with Caitlyn.
Your craft is beautiful, AI will not replace it
To anyone afraid AI will replace the work you've spent years getting good at - your craft is beautiful. I mean your taste. The thing you fought hard for that makes your work wholly yours.
These tools learned from the global average of everything across the internet. As more businesses rush to use them, a lot of work will start to feel the same. That puts a premium on people who are intentional in exploring the human experience. Find ways to use these tools to amplify who you are and create something that is totally you.
Oh... and if you are looking for voice lessons for your kid and happen to be in the Metro Detroit area.. I know a pretty cool voice teacher :)
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Andrew’s career spans commercial banking, data science, and creative design, and today centers on helping enterprises adopt AI at scale. At OnTrac AI, he is a Senior Manager on Ignite, the firm’s AI advisory and roadmap program for enterprise clients. He holds an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Michigan.
If someone is trying to get more out of their computer, you’ll usually find Andrew right there helping them.
Find more writing at: https://andrewsarafa.ghost.io/