Kayla Williams

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome back everyone, to the Tron podcast. This is your host, Rashad Woods. Today I have a very special guest who's overcome adversity, started her own business as well as a nonprofit, as well as too from the beautiful state of South Carolina, Kayla Williams. Thank you for joining us. [00:00:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me on. [00:00:35] Speaker A: It's an honor. It's an honor. Now, you have a very compelling background and I love the topic that you are a subject matter expert in artificial intelligence. You've also overcome personal challenges as well too. First, before we get into your background, you know, let you tell your background, not me. [00:00:50] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I. Man. So basically I started a non profit shortly after having brain surgery a couple years back. I really did. I came out of that experience knowing that I have limited time left. And as I started approaching life after that surgery, I was like, man, what is holding me back from these things? Oh, the fear of failing. So I was like, let's get past that. I said, worst case, I fail. [00:01:16] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:01:17] Speaker B: And so the first thing that I wanted to do was to open my nonprofit and where we help people with their automotive repairs. [00:01:24] Speaker A: That's automatic. That's automotive service assistance, right? Yeah. [00:01:28] Speaker B: Yes, Automotive services. We're just here in South Carolina right now. But I hope, I hope and pray, like, you know, in the future we'll be everywhere because there's not a lot of help for people who struggle with transportation. My entire family is automotive, but I branched out into, you know, business and nonprofit. Yeah, it's kind of just like all that knowledge put together, I was like, let's do it. So my mother and I started that and then I had, I had always had a full time job, but I worked a side gig doing like tech consulting, operations consulting. And I. And I just kept getting this urge. I was like, you know what? I. I can do this again. What's holding me back? The fear of failure. Worst case, I fail. Money gets a little tight for a little bit. [00:02:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:14] Speaker B: You know. [00:02:15] Speaker A: Right, right, right. [00:02:17] Speaker B: Actually, I'm like, I'm like. But at the end of the day, I had to make the decision to believe in myself. Because honestly, I was surrounded with people who, they all believed in me. They knew I could do it. I was like, why don't I know I can? So I started my company consulting, where I do AI strategy consulting and business operations consulting, mainly focused on small and medium businesses and nonprofits. [00:02:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I saw that. Now, what made you pick artificial intelligence in particular? [00:02:46] Speaker B: Man. So I, I'm A little different. Even though I have my certification in full stack development, I don't actually develop AI. Mine revolves around like the strategy of it. And honestly it just became a passion years ago. Like, I mean, I always dabbled in it. And then about four or five years ago, I really started diving into it because these companies that I was working with, especially the small businesses and the nonprofits, there's a fear around it, but they wanted to embrace it, but they had no idea, you know, how to. So I started doing research into, well, who does this type of thing. And there's not a lot of people that actually do that. You can, you know, hire tech consultants and they kind of have a basic knowledge, but especially on like strategy implementation, policy compliance, all that kind of stuff. I mean, there's just, there was nobody at the time that was doing it, so I was like, well, I can be that person because this is absolutely fascinating to me. [00:03:43] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:43] Speaker B: So, you know, I, I started getting certified in certain things, learning and researching. [00:03:49] Speaker A: Beautiful. [00:03:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, when I had to narrow down my focus on my business, I was like, where do I thrive? What is my niche? What it, what brings life to me every day? And it was that AI strategy and business operations. That's where I just, oh, I love it. [00:04:04] Speaker A: Well, I think too, and I love some of the points you made. And we're going to get to it from the details because a lot of people, you know, automatically, companies in particular will say, I need to do AI right away. And then like to your, some of the points you made was did you start with a plan, policy, are your employees trained? And then laws and compliance? So there's multiple stages that before you dive into the deep end of the pool, so to speak, that you actually know what exactly you're getting yourself into because the ball is rolling. I saw one of your messages you put, it starts with a chat box and it ends with a lawsuit. [00:04:35] Speaker B: Yes, man. Actually, yeah, that got a lot of traction. Like, yeah, I think I posted that on my LinkedIn because, yeah, I mean there's been stories, there's been a bunch of stories of companies trying to dive in and utilize AI. And yeah, there's been a couple lawsuits that have happened out there. And I was like, you know what I need to post about this. [00:04:57] Speaker A: You know, because unfortunately, you know, it, you know, things get hot for the moment and then it becomes the, the newest trend. And we've seen it with all different types of things. Like all of a sudden everybody goes all in and they didn't get the desired Result, I'll give you a perfect example. Like, you know, when everybody was like, we're going to automated checkout at grocery stores, right? And then what happened about six months later, people were like, I hate this. I absolutely hate this. Right? You're flagging down the person to try because it does one little mistake or you type in your phone incorrect. Oh, it's, it's like pulling teeth, right? And you're tired and you just went in and out. So obviously there's some pratfalls to it. But like, so when you focused on small businesses, how did you end up, you know, starting out as this is what I want to do, and then started gaining clients and tractions when it came to small businesses, medium sized businesses and nonprofits. [00:05:45] Speaker B: Really, you know, it's all been through my network over the years. I'm a networker, mind you. I definitely have a people meter that runs out sometimes. But, but I'm a networker. And so I went to the very people that I was hearing these things from, you know, and, and so really what I think, what it started out as was me having these conversations because I needed some guinea pigs, right? So having these conversations and like, what are the issues that you're running into, you know, in the different type of the different industries? Things like that, Right. And that way I could educate myself on, you know, those different industries and the issues that they're having and how they're wanting to dive in and especially understanding their fear around it. Because, you know, that post, I love that you brought it up because that is the fear, right? And you know, well, we want to stay away from it because you never know or it's public or, you know, it's just, it's going to get us in trouble, things like that. And so I went to those very people and really needed to understand their position and the fear that they currently had. So that could be out what problems I could actually solve. Because that's, I mean, at the end of the day, that's a business, right? You, you have to, you got to be doing something that solves somebody's problem, right? [00:07:03] Speaker A: That's the basic premise of business. You're solving people's problems for profit, right? [00:07:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:08] Speaker A: So here's a couple questions that I have for you. Number one, small businesses, if they say, hey, this is not in the budget, I have seven to 10 employees and you know, I don't have the budget to implement artificial intelligence to automate certain tasks, how do you overcome that conversation? [00:07:23] Speaker B: Well, in all honesty, because I'm, you Know, primarily focused on, like, the small to medium businesses and the nonprofit. There's always going to be a budget. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:31] Speaker B: You know, I have some that if it's within their budget, we can go in and take care of things within a few months. Some are like, hey, you know, this is. I tell them, give me your budget so that I can work with you. Because at the end of the day, I just want. I want to give back. I mean, I have to make money, of course, because I got to live. Right, Right. But at the end of the day, everything that I do in life actually revolves around giving back and how I can. Yeah. How I can help and support and amp up. And so. And you're right, that was one of the biggest things I identified, is that, you know, most small businesses, most nonprofits, they do not have the budget for even. Most of them don't even have, like a regular tech person. [00:08:12] Speaker A: No. [00:08:13] Speaker B: Yeah. So much less of a budget to hire somebody to come in to help them utilize AI. So. And that's kind of where my AI and business operations tend to, like, mix and mingle, because I have to understand their operations and I kind of have to help them, you know, identify those bottlenecks and stuff before we can even start implementing. Because there's so many different AI technologies out there, you know, so we. We have to really analyze things first. So whenever we look at our budget, you know, if you can. Only if you can do 20 hours this month. [00:08:47] Speaker A: Cool. [00:08:48] Speaker B: Let's see if, you know, that meshes with my schedule. But if we have to break that up into five hours a month over the next six to 12 months, we can try to do that too. Just so we can get you where you need to be. Because I just love raising up small business. I'm a small business myself, so I love doing it. [00:09:04] Speaker A: And I would imagine too, there's a couple different things that you can, I don't want to say sell them on, but you can, you can tell them that this would be a benefit for them. Number one, you know, employee burnout, right. Is. Is a big thing. Right. So, you know, if you are. That small business owner is family owned, you know, they're pulling God knows how many hours a day in a week. And so you're like, hey, this can be taken off your plate and be automated and you don't have to dedicate the resources to it. And then number two, let's say you're not a subject matter expert in that particular field that you're doing something in. Right. Like, you know, for Example, this podcast alone, you find out really quick, you know, you're not Mr. Social Media Savvy guy. It's a lot more complicated than you think that it is, right? And you're like, I might need to. Because it's not just about making a post, right? That's why they have software out there, Right. And you're not inauthentic by utilizing those things because some of us get lit it like, right? You're like, no, I want to kind of hold on to this a little bit because it's mine, right? And you're like, to that small business owner, you're like, this is going to be a benefit for you because it's going to free up 10, 20, 15 hours a week for you. [00:10:03] Speaker B: I mean, and again, this kind of meshes all into the technology and the operations. I had this one company that's a prime example of what you're talking about. Small business, they had nine employees. I mean great, they had great tenure. These employees were there forever because that, that family really took care of their people. Right. But at the end of the day, these employees were working way harder than they should. I tell people all the time the technology, no matter if it's AI or not, is not there to take over your job because there's going to always have to be somebody that's working there. Right? So let's say like the accountant that you know was taking care of their stuff, they had an in house finance person, right. And but that person was mainly still operating on just spreadsheets and some QuickBooks online here and there, right. And I'm like, no wonder you are pulling 50, 60 hours a week because you know, you're not, you're not utilizing the tools that can help you. I almost see technology pieces, especially AI, as like assistive technology. [00:11:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:11:06] Speaker B: You're putting it into place so that you can focus on what needs to be focused on. Why spend 60 hours a week, you know, having your finance person just go in their transactions and all this kind of stuff whenever they could be helping you put your money where it needs to be in the company so you can grow it. [00:11:24] Speaker A: Right? Right. And they do forecasting models and data analytics and things like that. Right. So it's not just about what, you know, what accounting ledger you're trying to fix for the previous week, previous month, payroll. Like if you can automate, you know, certain things from tax structures, now you can actually look at cost savings within the, within the, the company itself and then focus on, you know, potentially finding more clients, customers or Market share as opposed to just being bogged down in an Excel file. [00:11:50] Speaker B: Yeah, Well, I mean, especially whenever you look at. With small businesses, most of the time, a lot of employees wear a lot of different hats. Right. And, you know, we can talk back and forth all day on whether that's right or not, but all businesses start somewhere. [00:12:06] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:12:06] Speaker B: And when you have those team members wearing those different hats, I mean, it's because they're there to help grow. So why not make their jobs a little bit easier? It doesn't mean that we're just setting it and forgetting it. You know, it's really just giving them the tools that they need to thrive within their position and so that they can, like, operate in their zone of genius without. [00:12:28] Speaker A: That's a very good point. [00:12:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, and that way they don't have all these things holding them back. I mean, if you're operating, even if you're maybe a client manager or something like that, but you're operating out of spreadsheets and manually doing, you know, your project creation on every single one, that is more time that you could be spending maybe touching base with your clients, you know, selling more, growing, networking. And that's really the point of everything, of all of it. [00:12:54] Speaker A: Do you have a preferred software that you utilize for artificial intelligence? You know, I know there's a plethora of them out there right now. [00:13:01] Speaker B: You know, it really just depends on what you're wanting to do. But. And mind you, I'm not a partner. I'm not a partner with it, with any of these. So I'm not making any money off of this. I didn't know I should be because it is my favorite thing ever. [00:13:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. [00:13:16] Speaker B: My God. So I don't know if you. Have you heard of Gamma? [00:13:19] Speaker A: I have not, but I'm about to find out. [00:13:21] Speaker B: You about to find out. [00:13:22] Speaker A: Okay. [00:13:23] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Let me tell you. Let's say I have. It can do like one pagers, PDFs, small, like landing pages and presentations. Right? [00:13:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:34] Speaker B: But let's say I have a webinar coming up. And let me tell you, one of my weaknesses is developing a presentation. Like, I'm a perfectionist when it comes to. I will second guess everything. Does it flow? Does it work? [00:13:45] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:46] Speaker B: But I can create an outline very well. I mean, I can. I can create an outline all day long. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:51] Speaker B: So Gamma, you can go in and you create. They call them gammas. You go in and you can literally, like paste a 2, 3 page outline of what you're talking about. Speaking about whatever. And it's going to do that for you. And I don't mean some of these other programs that are just copying and pasting the stuff into like a template. No, you go in, you choose your theme, and within seconds built. It is the most amazing application I've ever seen as far as like that concern. [00:14:24] Speaker A: Nice, nice. Well, you know, and that's the thing, right? So like, if you're like, it's almost like I'm not a musician, but if you're a great singer and, but you're not a great songwriter, I'm not saying you should, you know, I'm not saying you should have AI write your songs, but to your, but a complimentary thing to your skill set is sometimes better to have, you know, And I don't want to dis musicians because writing a song is very hard, but so hard. But it's more or less what I mean by that is you get to stick at what you're great at. So maybe you have to have a songwriting team or you need to hook up with somebody who writes great songs songs. So you can do that. And you're doing that the same thing with businesses because the business owner can say, listen, I'm great at talking to people, great at sales, but I really am rotten at accounting and cash flow operations. Right. [00:15:09] Speaker B: And so, yeah, well, even down to things, you know, like their marketing and this, that and the other, until they, until they get to a point. I had this conversation with a social media manager recently and we both agreed. I was like, because I don't want to step on your toes. I said, but I, you know, until they get to a point where they can afford to hire on that expertise that, you know, that expert that can really get them where they're going, there still has to be something in place. And so that's where these technologies come in. I love, I had an individual who I just created a simple like GPT for them. I taught it all about them and their business and their voice and, you know, all the things because, you know, he does, he's in a field. I can't actually say what he does, but he's in a field. So which like that is his specialty. And he was like, I can't stand social media. He said, I, I, I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea what to say. I really just want to put out there every post and just be like, hey, this is what I do. Hire me. [00:16:09] Speaker A: Right, right, right. You know, but it's more complicated and nuanced than that. [00:16:13] Speaker B: Yes. Well, I created this GPT for him and he goes in like every other week or so and he's just like, hey, give me some ideas. And the thing is you're, and I recommend to everyone, you never just like copy and paste from any sort of AI. So he goes in, it gives him a couple of posts, he says, oh, cool. And he spends about 10 minutes just making edits and then he schedules them up on the scheduler and he's good to go. [00:16:35] Speaker A: Beautiful, beautiful, wonderful. And you know, the other thing about it is too, is that you're mitigating time. And I think a lot of people don't understand that. You know, obviously it's gotten out of control because if this was in college, when I was in college, it'd be a different story. Right? They probably look at, they'd be looking at my, my transcripts a little bit. But I do think it's a tool to utilize to get you to a quicker destination point. And, you know, I think that the fear of it all, you know, just briefly, like for example, businesses and companies, I would imagine some of the resistance when you said legal, you know, reasons they don't have the budget to handle a lawsuit, you know, in case of data privacy, mishandling information, you know, putting out a liable, something that could be liable or slander of some sort. So how do you navigate those complexities? [00:17:23] Speaker B: Companies, it really, it varies upon the, the industry that they're in. But honestly, what it all boils down to is a really good AI policy. Every company needs it small, big, large. I don't care who you are, your company needs an AI policy because your policy simply, I mean, especially now, cannot be, don't use AI. You know, I mean, something's going to happen. First off, you're going to be left behind in the time. Second off, your employees are going to see these things out there that can help them, right? And they're going to want to utilize them and they're going to unint potentially get your company in trouble by utilizing those. So the best way to, the best thing to do is to, you know, look at your industry, look at the law, you know, local, federal, everything that's surrounding it and, and then create an AI policy and then empower your team. Say these are the ones that you can use that are compliant for us and this is how you can use them, you know, so that at the end of the day they also don't feel like you're holding them back. I get a lot of that whenever I I first step into companies and we start talking about it. Some of the employees would talk about how they just feel, they feel held back because they know that there's stuff that can help them. Yeah. And they're like, I'm afraid to get in trouble. But, you know, I mean, at the end of the day, I also don't want to have to always manually do this. [00:18:41] Speaker A: Right. I do have a question, though. So you're dealing with business owners a lot, family owned. So typically, like they, and I say this respectfully, it's got to be hard to change the mindset because if you are that, you know, that owner, that's, it's family owned and that person's been hands on for 50, you know, since their grandfather, now their father, now them, and they're like, hey, I hate to say this to you, but it's time to take that baby out of your arms a little bit. Like, how does that conversation actually take place? [00:19:08] Speaker B: Honestly, like I said, it all, it all starts with just going in and looking at their processes. I tell them straight up, I'm not here to sell you AI. Maybe you already have. I've run into this. Maybe you already have the technologies in place that would actually streamline your business, but you're just not using them to their fullest capability, you know, so really that conversation just looks like, you know, what are your frustrations? You know, I might not even suggest an AI tool. I've gone in before and I'm like, hey, actually your people just need some training, you know, or maybe you need some training, you know, and so that's really what it looks like. But most of the people that, that I speak with are stuck. You know, they're stuck or they're ready for growth, or they know they have potential or, you know, maybe somebody even in the company has said, you know, maybe, maybe we need to just take a look at this. So I'm not there to step on toes. I'm not there to revamp your, your company from A to Z because your company is your company, what I'm going to do is to basically help your company thrive and identify what we can do to help it. Right. [00:20:15] Speaker A: Right. And the thing is too, is I'm sure you've had customers or clients, you know, whatever you refer to them as is, maybe they weren't prepared this year and then they see all their competitors or the people around them demanding certain services. Right. Like if you're a restaurant, right, and you, you know, there's a restaurant near me, for example, that never Took debit cards. Right. Old school, cash only. Well, if you need to get these younger people into the fold, they got Tap, you know, Google Pay, Apple Pay, you know, and even though they were looking at, they didn't want to pay the 3.5%, 5% surcharge at the end of the day, that's where it has to be for you to get people in and out of the door and to be able to generate more customers because people still leave, you know. [00:20:55] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, and it comes down to a bit of an analysis really. It's how many customers are you missing? If you're, if you realistically only see one a day that comes through that you know, is, is trying to use card and can't, then hey, maybe keep that going. But whenever you're realistically looking at your company and saying how much business am I missing because of exist. [00:21:18] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:21:19] Speaker B: That that's where you have to start saying, okay, then something needs to change. If you're turning away 30 people a day, that totally makes up for the percentage of surcharge, you know, with no questions asked. [00:21:32] Speaker A: Right. And then it's also speed of service that you're starting to provide too. Right. So now you're not. There's a till you don't have to meet the extra bank run. You know, that's a little other detail. But you, you know, you get my point. Some businesses and even though they're successful, kind of had to get brought up to the times. Like listen, you, you can resist all you want, but this is the way things are going. So that's very useful. Particularly, you know, when it comes to your skill set. Is it just you in the company or do you have any other employees or assistants? [00:21:58] Speaker B: So I have an assistant of mine that she, you know, kind of in training on that front. Mainly. Mainly because she, you know, helps me out so much. So she's picked up on a lot of stuff because you need to make. [00:22:12] Speaker A: Sure that you don't get burned out either. [00:22:15] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. Exactly. But yeah, so she does things like honestly, the biggest help and it sounds so small, but she helps to like man my schedule. She knows, because if not I will. I mean, I'll pack my schedule full and I'll go back to back and then I'll reach a burnout where, you know, I to for a week I'd be like, nope, I got to reschedule everyone this week because I can't function. So she kind of helps me maintain, you know, that balance. [00:22:46] Speaker A: Good. [00:22:47] Speaker B: Because like I said, I'm out here to help people. And whenever I'm pouring so much, she basically is here to make sure that I'm also getting poured into. [00:22:55] Speaker A: Now are your clients just local South Carolina or have you expanded outside of your respective state? [00:23:01] Speaker B: So mainly here in South Carolina, I've had a client, let's see, I had like one in Georgia, one in North Carolina. So kind of just the southeast region for sure, you know, right now. And I think that a lot of that revolves around, I could take on, you know, further clients. Like I had one that I did some stuff for over in like Colorado. Right. Most of what I do can be done remotely, you know, but there's something to be said especially whenever it comes to small businesses. [00:23:31] Speaker A: Personal. [00:23:33] Speaker B: Yeah. For that. In person, you know, even I've gone into businesses before and I'm like, you know what? I just need a day where I'm shadowing your people and looking at, you know, what all they do and, and I feel like there's just, there's a lot to be said for that. I learned so much more and I can truly help them. Hands on. Being able to go in person, that. [00:23:54] Speaker A: Makes, it makes a lot of sense. And the thing is too is that, you know, small businesses, obviously I think they would prefer in person as opposed they don't have the, you know, you know, conference room and all the bells and whistles. They're going to be like, hey, there's my office back here. Let's sit down and talk. Right. So yeah. Which is awesome. So I got to ask, what's your background to get into this field? Like what did you, what did you. Was it technical school? I don't anything in particular. [00:24:16] Speaker B: Well, I actually. So I used to be a director of marketing and that kind of was, was my dive into technology because you know, you got to, oh my goodness, when you're doing that, you learn a lot. But I've always been a technical mind and so a couple years back prior to my brain surgery, I got certified in full stack development. [00:24:37] Speaker A: Wonderful. [00:24:40] Speaker B: Really with the AI stuff up until like the past two years or so, it's all been hands on, it's all been learning, developing. I'm actually in the works of like developing my own certification program for people to become an AI strategist. [00:24:55] Speaker A: Nice. [00:24:56] Speaker B: Because it's not just about AI. They have to understand business. They have to understand how to help businesses and how to understand different industries and their flows and processes and policies and compliance. You know, there's so much more that goes into it and I had that piece so when I started really diving into AI, it was really more just a compliment, do it. You know, and it was like, if I learned this, man, I could make an impact, you know? [00:25:25] Speaker A: You know, and the one thing I always. I loved your quote. It was be scared, do it anyway. I thought that that was one of the most wonderful. Like, you know, it was straight to the point. Like, it's five words, right? And it's like, be scared, do it anyway. And there's something to be said particularly, you know, I don't want to talk too much about your medical condition, but you did bring that up. [00:25:41] Speaker B: You're good. [00:25:42] Speaker A: It's almost like once you had that moment, you found your purpose, so to speak. [00:25:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:47] Speaker A: You found your true purpose. And I thought that was wonderful that you mentioned that. [00:25:50] Speaker B: I think that. I really think that on some level or another, always knew what my purpose was. But, you know, there's so much. There's so much fear surrounding, like, you know, you want financial stability, you want. You know, especially whenever you're opening a business, you know, how am I supposed to do everything? How do I even get started? There's just so much that. That encapsulates all of that. And I don't know, I just remember my second upbringing surgery. I remember sitting there and at that point, I was still. I still had like a W2 position, but my company was taking off to where, I mean, it was basically, you know, 20, 30 hours a week. So I've been debating back and forth, do I make that jump? Do I? You know, and that's what it was. I was like, I could be scared. I said, I could be scared of this. It's okay for me to fear it, because there's a lot to fear when it comes into it. I was like, but you know what? I'm just going to do it. I was like, I'm going to do it. I'm going to jump in head first. And worst case, I feel I can always get another job. [00:26:56] Speaker A: Right, Right. Right. [00:26:57] Speaker B: So go ahead. [00:26:59] Speaker A: But the opportunity to do that wasn't going to be there forever. [00:27:02] Speaker B: Exactly. The opportunity wasn't going to be there forever. And, you know, I mean, I'm not diving too deep in, but, like, my time here is probably more so limited than a lot others. And I had someone ask me, they said, if you were lying, and this sounds so cliche, but if you're lying on your deathbed, right, like, not really regret so much, but, like, what. What do you think would be coming to your. Your mind, whether personal or professional, like, yeah. What, what would you have wanted to do or experience or see? And honestly, that was the one thing that kept coming to my mind is I would have hated the fact that I've let fear hold me back from things personally and professionally, you know. [00:27:44] Speaker A: Absolutely. And you know, more importantly, you know, it's, it's. I always reuse the reference because I do martial arts. Right. So I'm a black belt in karate. This isn't, this is about me. This is about you. But I'd rather be in the actual, you know, sparring session getting my butt handed to me than me sitting. Yeah, Sitting, watching it. Right. Because it's easy to critique. It's easy to say that person should have performed better. It's easy to, whatever the case may be. But when you jump in and you really actually have to do it, oh, you could be like, yeah, that was the best three minute butt kicking I ever got in my entire life. Right. [00:28:17] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. It really is. Well, and I really do try to like, I mean, in the same sense, professionally and personally, I try my best to figure out the lessons and say, hey, sometimes there's no lessons. Sometimes something. [00:28:30] Speaker A: Absolutely. Absolutely. [00:28:32] Speaker B: At the end of the day, I'm like, I'm like, what can I learn? And will I regret that experience? Even if I do get my butt kicked, Am I going to regret that experience? Heck no. [00:28:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:28:43] Speaker B: Story I'm going to be able to tell. [00:28:45] Speaker A: Exactly. And you know, and that's the thing is about it, is that, you know, you would much rather find a way to sit back and say that I learned from that, that they never have tried it to begin with. And I think you're a story of resilience. And you know, more importantly, I think you're at the forefront of some cutting technology. And obviously I'm sure your clients love your personality because I'm having a blast talking to you, to be honest with you. [00:29:05] Speaker B: Thank you. Yeah, it's funny, have just. I've always been a people person and for years though I was on, I was just on the back end. I always kept myself kind of, you know, behind the scenes whenever I was working. Even like my job and my five gig and all this kind of stuff. It's funny now that I've kind of like stepped out, I had a contact of mine, someone that's very dear to me. She's in my network and she, she was like, I just had someone message me and was like, who's Kayla Williams? [00:29:36] Speaker A: And I was like, nice. [00:29:41] Speaker B: And she's like, voice is getting out there. And it's funny, that was my goal, Right? One of my personal goals was just, I was like, I just want to be heard. [00:29:51] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:29:52] Speaker B: I want to be a voice out. I want people to hear all my knowledge that I have. I want them to hear my experience. I want to inspire, I want to support and, and just, man, I said I got a lot to say. [00:30:03] Speaker A: Well, that's, you know, that's honestly one of the reasons I started this podcast, right? Because, you know, I, I always, I've told other people and other guests, you know, that I'm like, listen, I'm not smart enough to do what you do, right? But the one thing that I do is I always, my mind's always running. I'm like, okay, you know, I, I, if you saw me at a, at a barbecue or somewhere, you know, getting drinks, you'd be like, who is that guy that references all this random, silly stuff that nobody really knows, right? Like, I'm serious, right? Like, like, I know about, like, the Colossus of Rhodes or I'll know about, like, the, the Siege of Kafa, right? And they'll be like, what is that? I'm like, I don't know, but it's something really cool that I learned. So my mind's always spinning like that. So that's why I started this, because I'm like, I got to get this off my chest, man. [00:30:42] Speaker B: Yeah, no, and I mean, I absolutely love it because I'm the same way. People tell me that I am just full of the most random knowledge. [00:30:49] Speaker A: Yes. [00:30:50] Speaker B: And, but it's also because, you know, and, and if any of your listeners walk away with anything, honestly, it's, of course, don't let fear hold you back. But also, never stop learning. [00:31:02] Speaker A: No question. [00:31:04] Speaker B: My biggest thing, I'm always, even if it's not relevant to, like, what I'm doing, I'm like, this is interesting. [00:31:09] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. [00:31:10] Speaker B: I love learning about new things and, and about people and what they do. It's just so fascinating because I feel like whenever you're growing up and you're, you're going into adulthood, right? Like, you're going through maybe high school, college, you're still only exposed to so many different careers and different things in life, and then you become an adult and you're like, man, I didn't even know that this exists. Existed. [00:31:33] Speaker A: Exactly. Right? Because your county or your state becomes your world, right? And you become very, you can become zip, code or area coded, so to speak. You're like, no, yeah, you know, like, take a bird's eye view perspective and realize that there's lots of things that you don't know, and that's okay. And, you know, and now that you have, you know, all these different tools at your disposal, it's quicker than ever. You just have to make sure that, you know, with anything else. It's a tool. It's not the end all, be all. You have to still research a little deeper just because you got an answer for front of you, you know? [00:32:05] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Exactly that. And. And, you know, the most fantastic part is that because I talk to all of these people, I mean, I tell people all the time one of my biggest strengths is problem solving. But that means that if I can't find the answer, I can find the person that has the answer. Because I firmly believe in operating in my specialty. I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna be trying to do other things that people are doing because I know what I'm doing, but I might know. [00:32:30] Speaker A: Them, and I can get you and. Which is just as smart, too. Just before we go, I just have to know, for people who. Who are listening, how can they find Kayla Williams? [00:32:37] Speaker B: Yeah. So honestly, just. My website is twisted hyphenai.net I'm also on LinkedIn. I'm pretty easy to find on there. If you look up Kayla Williams or Twisted Consulting, I'm right there. [00:32:50] Speaker A: That's awesome. So I'll tell you what, you know, I'll certainly be looking more at the website as well, too. I'll be interested to see how you grow. I'll be following your post as well, too, because they're all positivity and that's what the world needs more of. So I really appreciate your time and it's been a joy, you know, and if you want to AI me. So I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be AI, you know. [00:33:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you so. And thank you so much for having me. Do you mind? Before we hop off, I also want to say that if they want to know more about my nonprofit, it's autoserviceassist.org they can find out what we do. [00:33:22] Speaker A: Absolutely. For sure. And thank you so much, Kayla Williams, for being on the Tron podcast. It's been a pleasure. [00:33:27] Speaker B: Yeah, thank you.