002: The One About AI Content Creation, TikTok’s US App, & Kesha’s Indie Comeback

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Wondering if robots will replace your reels — or if TikTok might vanish overnight? This episode spills the tea on AI tools, a potential U-S-only TikTok, and how Kesha just turned label drama into a branding masterclass.

You’ll learn how to protect your audience if platforms shift, why quantity still beats perfection, and the sweet spot where “strategic unhinged” content outperforms polished feeds.

Timestamps
 08:05 – Algorithm wants an archetype, not perfection
 10:45 – Bot-view scam: why fake numbers hurt you
 12:20 – 70 videos scheduled: the quantity test
 20:15 – Guru gap: advice that ignores starting from zero
 23:00 – New U.S. TikTok app? What creators must prep for
 40:45 – AI avatars vs human trust: the ethics debate

References & Resources

• Kesha (independent album)
• TikTok potential U.S. spin-off
• ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude
• Canva AI video feature
• Taylor Swift re-recordings
• Lizzo (tour controversy)
• Zendaya (authentic image)

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📱 Social: @themichellepualani | @joanna_atwork
📩 Michelle: hello@michellepualani.com
🌐 Joanna: millennialmktr.com

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Transcript

002: The One About AI Content Creation, TikTok’s US App, & Kesha’s Indie Comeback

Michelle Pualani: [00:00:00] TLDR, of what we're talking about today and what to expect. We talk all about ai. Should you be using it in your content or not. What's performing better than the perfect polished feed that you have been taught is Marketing Kesha, her new album.

I know you haven't heard that name in a while, but this is what's up with her and why we haven't heard anything. TikTok updates and why You wanna know what's happening in order to protect your personal brand. And why you're gonna be wanting to create behind the scenes content more than anything else right now. Ready for this weekly digest on what is happening in personal branding, marketing, and content creation That converts. Let's dive in.

Welcome back to the Click Tease podcast, where we talk weekly about what's happening in personal branding, marketing, and content creation. Every week, we'll bring you updates on what we're seeing as popular, effective, while also still grounded in the core principles of how to be successful in creating a digital presence.

So I'm Michelle Pulani Houston, the founder of To Be Honest Beverage Company. It's a [00:01:00] non-alcoholic functional spirit brand as well as personal branding, strategist for digital presence and brands.

Joanna Newton: And I'm Joanna Newton. I'm the co-founder of Millennium Marketer. We help people launch and create their own digital products. I love that intro, Michelle, because I loved hearing you say the name of our new podcast. Um, click Tease. This is our second episode. Click tease in this new style where we are bringing you basically a weekly digest of all of the things that you need to know about marketing.

So if you are an entrepreneur, if you are a content creator, if you are trying to grow your business or your personal brand in this personal space, please subscribe to the show. We also have a substack that you can join to get updates delivered to your inbox every week so you know exactly what's going on in the marketing and content creation world today.

We have a lot to talk about, but I'm gonna start with talking about my beverage of the day, what I'll be sipping on while we chat. Um, and it is like my favorite thing that I make [00:02:00] all the time. It's just a very simple brown sugar ice latte that I make, um, at home with espresso, brown sugar, and oat milk.

And that is it. It's not anything super fancy. Um, but I love it. It's very tasty. It's like when I go on vacation and have to drink. Get coffee out. I'm often disappointed and wish I had my homemade coffee. The other funny thing that I was thinking that I was making this today, ' cause it's a half calf, it's like one shot of caffeinated espresso, one shot of decaf espresso.

Um, when I was in my early, my early twenties, I would like. Laugh at people who got decaf and always felt like, what's the point? Why would you drink decaf? But as I've gotten older and I am almost sporty, um, if I drink too much caffeine, I can't sleep at night. So, so this is.

Michelle Pualani: Things change. Things change As we, uh, get older, this is happening. Um, that's actually sounds super fancy. It's something that I feel like someone would [00:03:00] hear and be like, oh, that sounds really decadent.

Joanna Newton: It is delicious and, and I, and I'm making it at home and they're not even that expensive. Like people pay like $8 for a drink like this, and I think it costs me a dollar 25 or something like that, you know, with the, the ingredients that I use.

Michelle Pualani: Amazing. And if you like it more than when you get it out, that is important. So today I'm drinking. I actually got this. I never get it. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I used to work in coffee shops when I was younger. That was kind of where I started in the working world. Worked at. I don't know, four or five different ones.

Santa Barbara, San Diego, actually, I don't think down here in San Luis OB Obispo, but across California. And I used to drink a ton of coffee, like big gulp size. Coffee and do like mixed things in it. I used to really love Irish cream syrup, and I've always pretty much been dairy free. So it'd be some sort of almond milk, oat milk, alternative milk option [00:04:00] with Irish cream syrup and coffee, which I used to love.

But today I picked up this brand, it's, I don't remember the name of the brand, but it's a strawberry almond milk matcha latte, so I actually haven't even tasted yet. So we're gonna taste. Oh, it's good. It's simple. I get macho when I go out, but for me, the cafe is like the experience. I never. Really ever just get drinks to go.

It's always when I'm going to a coffee shop, sitting down, working, or like having an experience, like meeting a friend, meeting my dad. I kind of grew up in coffee shops. That was kind of like one of the activities that we would do when I was younger. And so for me it's an experience. It's not just about getting the drink, you know?

Joanna Newton: Yeah. I think like little rituals and things that make a day feel special are so important. So make sure when you listen to us and you listen to click teas, grab your favorite drink and just hang out with us, right? Talk, think about marketing, learn about [00:05:00] marketing. Um, make your own little ritual every week that you listen to this, because I think it's so important to find those like little joys and things that, that.

That are fun and make you exciting. We were talking before we started filming today. I had quite a time setting up today. Um, I really wanted to get a certain mic working and I wanted to adjust my, my space for better sound quality and really everything went wrong and I think I, it took me about two, three hours.

I finally got it set up right. We go to test and it's not working again. And it's so frustrating. And as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, it'd be really easy to let those things get to you, make you stop, make you think, oh, I'm just not even gonna make this content because it's not perfect. It's not what I want.

But one of the things that's so important to do, just keep going and just get better. Like you'll just get better time. Am I fully happy with what? My sound is today, no, but [00:06:00] like I will work on it for next week and the week after and the week after till it's exactly what I want.

Michelle Pualani: I think that's such an important point to make and as you're listening, like know that. Joanna, myself, personal brands, businesses, we all just get better over time. So I think back to when I first started in fitness and health, I used to be personal training, yoga, functional fitness, like teaching bar. I did all of that and that's how I actually, I came into the online space creating digital programs on platforms like daily and then eventually my own in.

Fitness and wellness. And I look back at, I tried starting a YouTube channel and I was doing yoga and some teaching principles under the Her Healthy Habits brand. And I created like a couple of videos and I just remember thinking like, oh, my backdrop isn't good enough. I don't have the right lighting, I don't have the right camera, I don't have the right mic set up.

And it was such an inhibiting factor. And I look back at that [00:07:00] and say, if I had just continued with the bare bones. Bare minimum setup, but gotten better over time and reached more people early on. Created an audience, like really actually started figuring out what works and what doesn't work, and then over time said, okay, great.

Now I have the money to invest in a better backdrop or this design, or now I understand lighting better because I took this course, or I learned from this person. And so we limit ourselves so much when we have that perfectionist mindset. And really don't just think about it in terms of this is trial and experimentation.

This is a process I'm going to get better at over time, and I'm gonna give myself permission to be bad now, and that's okay.

Joanna Newton: If you wait till you're ready, like you will never start 'cause you'll never be ready. And at least for me, I learn by doing. Like I could tell myself that I'm going to study or read a book or create content just [00:08:00] for fun to test things out, but. If I'm not actually gonna do it, I don't do it. So you get better by creating things, putting them out in the world and doing that.

And one of the things that we talked about on last week's episode was the idea of giving the algorithm what the algorithm wants and creating an archetype and creating a persona for yourself and putting it out there. So I made a decision for me that I really wanted to focus on growing on TikTok. Um, I really like the TikTok culture and atmosphere.

I like the reactions and the responsiveness that's the natural to that platform. So I've decided that I want to focus on. On TikTok and click teases. So click tease YouTube, click tease Instagram, click tease, substack. You can find all of those things in the show notes to follow us along. Um, so I really wanna focus on that.

And then I really wanna f focus on my own TikTok now I'll [00:09:00] be. Not ignoring my other platforms and like posting the things that work in multiple places, but I wanna focus there, focus on that archetype, and focus on creating content that's getting seen. So I've been playing with things like, you know, keywords in my text and my subject line so that my videos get categorized.

If you don't know what that is. And on TikTok, your, your videos can get categorized, categorized for search and how you know if they are is if you click on them. And in that box right above the video, it says, you know, find related content. And there's words in there that means your video has been categorized.

So I've been working on getting my videos categorized and really showing up, trying to post two to three times a day. And I'm seeing a lot of traction. Like I'm getting comments and I'm getting reactions and I'm getting followers. I haven't blown up overnight. I'm not like two x where I was, but I'm growing and [00:10:00] I'm moving and that's really, really exciting.

But one of the funny things that happened is last night actually, um. Some guy who wants me to pay him to get engagement on my site. Sent my video to a bunch of bots, so it got 11,000 views overnight, 11,000 views, but no engagement, no comments. And then he's like, check your dms and I'll get you more views.

Right? And I think a trap, if you're really going after trying to grow, you are going to get scammers who want to put your content, want you to pay them to put your content in front of bots so it gets more reviews. Don't do it.

Michelle Pualani: Don't do it. Don't do it. Fake engagement does not a business make like truthfully. I think that there have been so, I mean, I'm sure that as you're listening to this, you have also gotten dms, gotten emails. I get constant reach outs from people about, Hey, let me do this for you. Hey, let me do that for you.

Some of them are legitimate, like some of them are legitimate [00:11:00] sales outreach for agencies or people who can offer a service. And if I assess the service and I think it's good, I'll trial them. That's fantastic. But there are so many things about getting more views or. Looking at vanity metrics, as we call them, that aren't actually getting the engagement.

And it's so funny. So I have been working on optimizing my personal brand, so we'll get into the story longer at some point on the podcast. But ultimately, closing down her healthy habits was a big decision and pivot for me to kind of let go of where I started in the online space and transition fully to personal branding, marketing, and messaging.

Through my personal brand. And with that I have a ton of content, literally like 70 pieces of content, short form videos that I've just been sitting on that I've never published. And I'll share with you plenty about this because I relate and resonate to the lack of being consistent. Like I can do a lot of things.

I am super [00:12:00] productive. I can check a lot of boxes, but for some reason the consistency is really hard for me, and so I have been looking through AI tools and platforms and strategies to be able to approach like idea to execution and distribution. As fast as possible because I've realized that the quicker and the faster you can fail and execute, the better off your business will be, the more that you will grow.

It's kind of that idea of like waiting for perfectionism, sitting behind the scenes, doing the courses, doing the programs, focusing all on strategy. You have ideas after ideas after ideas in documents, but they don't actually see the light of day. And so for me, that was getting out of that place of. These distractions, this business, I'm pulling in this direction and so I scheduled out 20 days of posting three times a day to all platforms via an AI tool that I'm using, or not AI tool, but like a, a software tool, right?

And we'll see how it goes. I'll update it you when I have like more [00:13:00] information and more metrics to share, but I am just so grateful to have it off of my plate. I don't have to think about it. I don't have to worry about it. It's posting three times a day and then it opens up the space and opportunity for me to be able to create content more easily from here.

And I'm already getting like lengthy comment questions or. Like engagement, which I didn't really expect. I was just like, I just gotta get it out there. I don't really care about the results or anything else. But starting to get views, starting to get likes, starting to get saves, and then like actual people commenting and having a discussion.

And that's where the business is made and that's how you're gonna grow and that's how you're going to eventually make sales and convert those people.

Joanna Newton: I, I love, I love that and I love that you're finding something that works for you. It's so, it's so interesting because in this world of marketing gurus and people telling people what to do, like you really have to find the [00:14:00] system that works for you and like the

Michelle Pualani: 100%.

Joanna Newton: 100%. And the system that you just shared with me.

Would like not work for me. Like, like it would, it would not work for me. It's not how I create content. It's not how I work. It's not how I think the idea of like making 30 pieces of content in one setting and then schedule like that just sounds like torture to me. You know what I mean? But 'cause, and for me, it was actually really funny.

We've talked a little bit on past episodes of this podcast about human design when we were her first, um, and your human design profile. And this actually matches my, my human design profile really well. But I am very good at like reacting to things. So like I don't create content and I don't create ideas or thoughts in a bubble, but.

I can see something and add to it. I can see something and make it better. So a more active approach where I'm, and this is [00:15:00] why TikTok, I think works really well for me, A more active report to where I'm seeing and I'm reacting and I'm building on what's there is way more natural for me. If I were to sit down and film 20 TikTok videos right now, they would just get worse and worse and worse and worse.

Like, because I need that engagement and interaction. And so when you're creating things. Really start to think about, yes, go ahead and look at what people suggest and do, but this is why practice and work is important because you have to figure out what works for you and what's gonna get your real self out there.

And the thing that I feel about what I've really just this past week since starting Click Tees last week, and what I've done on TikTok this this past week, when I look at the posts that I've made in the past. Seven days. I feel like what's there is me like I actually,

Michelle Pualani: Ah.

Joanna Newton: I know it's so exciting. Like, and this is the first time I felt that, and so it's like [00:16:00] working because, and I, I'm leaning into, to me and the way that I work.

Michelle Pualani: And I really wanna be candid about this for our listeners and for you as you're tuning into this is Joanna and. Learning along the way. We have seen success in different areas, but we are not so far ahead of you or in a place of like, Hey, this is the exact route or formula. I think we also definitely come from a space of hearing and learning from so many, like we have learned from the top of the top in the industry of personal branding, digital marketing strategy, business development.

In the online space specifically, and when I say that they're wonderful people and they have great coaching abilities, and I love a lot of the, my mentors that I've had in the digital space, some less than others, but their formula does not necessarily copy and paste work for everyone, and that's okay. We [00:17:00] all have to approach things so differently and it takes the trial, the experimentation, the quantity to be able to do, to execute, to get out into the world to see what does work for you.

I'm actually hosting a follow-up workshop to a presentation that I did for this women's business group and we're doing it in a couple of weeks, and I gave them very clear to dos to show up because one of the biggest challenges that they all shared was. The systems, basically the approach, okay, great, I can have all this strategy, or I can come up with all these ideas, but how do I actually move through the process and the steps of getting it out into the world?

And I think working style is so important in that one of those conversations, one of the people just said, I have been told to time block and, and I was like, okay, great. Well did that work for you? And she's like, no, I've never been able to do it. I was like, okay, do you like the idea of time blocking? And she's like, no, I effing hate it.

And I was like, okay, great. So why are you trying to do it? Like, why are you trying to do it? Because someone else said it worked for them. They are very different. They're coming [00:18:00] at it from a different belief system, from a different perspective, from a different lens, from different life, from different experience in such a different way.

There are different personalities. There're different archetypes or different human design, different, even if you like signs, what are those things called? Cancer Scorpio.

Joanna Newton: Astrology.

Michelle Pualani: Astrology, thank you. Different. As you know, we're all such different people, and that's the beautiful thing about personal branding and the digital age that we are in today with social media.

This is such a beautiful, wonderful time to be alive, to be able to express yourself so authentically, so organically, so originally, and in a unique way that there is a niche for you. That there is a population of people who are going to raise their hand and say, yes, you are my person. I wanna follow you.

I wanna engage with you. I wanna buy what you're sharing with me, whether that's affiliates or you're referring me to something, or it's your [00:19:00] own stuff, your your own digital products, programs, coaching, and it's a. Beautiful thing to recognize that we literally have the opportunity to be anything we want.

Do anything that we want, have the freedom to go anywhere that we want, and establish the life that we really desire. And I just think, I just think that's a beautiful, beautiful, wonderful thing.

Joanna Newton: When you think about the idea of following a guru, right, like looking at a guru strategy, doing what they say to grow, there's a massive problem with that. And, and the, the problem is. Other than they're not you. Right? Part of it, they're not you. They don't work like you. They don't think like you. They're, they're not you.

But another big problem with it is they're not speaking from a place of starting from zero. So even if they remember when they started from zero, when they get on stage, they are telling you what works for someone who already has. A million followers. So [00:20:00] if you are looking to Justin Welsh or Brendan Burchard, or Amy Porterfield, or any of these people to grow, while yes, they can give you lots of insights and strategies, but you're not gonna copy and paste work because starting from zero and getting to a thousand is a completely different case than being at a million.

And getting conversions. It's just not the same situation. And I'm not saying it's impossible for them to speak to that, but a lot of times when I hear, and I've hear, I've heard a lot of these speak people speak in person. And some of them I've even had one-on-one conversations with, when I talk to them, I realize that they grew in the nineties or the early two thousands.

Michelle Pualani: it was a different time. It was a.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, a completely different era. When Brendan Bachar talks about growing his business, he was the first person doing internet marketing.

Michelle Pualani: Yeah, and he would just get on and talk about his [00:21:00] stuff and just talk and just face, like even Facebook Lives, like we're in a different state of the world and a different state of marketing. And again, I totally respect where they started 'cause they did start from zero and I respect where they've gotten to.

But I think that the mindset is completely different. Like I've even had to dramatically shift my mindset about what I used to know about marketing and what did work, and how I approached this space versus what we see today. And that's what this podcast is all about. So if you haven't yet, hit subscribe because it's about staying tuned into not just hacks, not just algorithms, not just trending.

Content, like it's still grounded on mural marketing, sales psychology, marketing principles that are core to storytelling and connection and relatability, and again, connecting with your audience from a psychological perspective. But it's talking about it in the frame of reference of the digital age as we grow, and how social media [00:22:00] has changed our communication style.

How social media has become the platforms that determine and dictate. What people talk about how they buy and where they're spending their time.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, and I love this sh I love this shift for us because I wish I had this, like I wish I.

Michelle Pualani: Absolutely.

Joanna Newton: But instead we're making it. And one of the things we're gonna make sure we do every week, um, you know, while we talk about these topics, we also wanna bring you updates for, for things that have changed or that are changing or happening.

So if you are building your personal brand, you're not like caught, caught off guard. But then you're also not having to like read and sift and find all of the things like we will be kind of your eyes and ears in this world. And one of the things that happened this week that we're gonna. A story we're gonna be following and talking about is the possibility of a new TikTok app being created.

Now, if you remember, you know, earlier this year, earlier [00:23:00] this year, there was a chance that TikTok was gonna be banned and it was actually gone for like about two days, I think, and then came back. Um, but. You know, the US government doesn't want this app with all of our data because it's Chinese and whatever.

We won't get into the politics of it, but it came back and they're still pushing for a us, uh, a sale. Um, but what could be happening is that a US version of the app is gonna be created. Now we actually, we haven't, at least as of filming this podcast, we haven't gotten real confirmations or timelines or details about what's happening.

But I guess a separate US version is being created. Now, hopefully that means creators when they switch over, they, I'm hoping they keep their content, keep their followers. For my own sake, like TikTok is my biggest platform, so I hope that I keep my followers there. But, um. You know, and I'm trying to grow on TikTok as well.

Hopefully we'll keep everything. We actually don't know what's going to happen, so being aware of that is good to know. [00:24:00] Being aware of when that's happening is good to know if everyone's starting from zero again on TikTok, that new TikTok app, if it's a thing. If you jump on there right away, like you're gonna have a, a chance to skyrocket.

So we talked about this last week, but being aware of these changes and new features, algorithm changes, um, app changes, new social media platforms can really help you find a niche by like jumping on and being an early adopter.

Michelle Pualani: A lot of people on TikTok saw that phenomenal growth and phenomenal reach on maybe lower quality content because they. Got on the bandwagon, they jumped on board. And that is actually a marketing technique, is the bandwagon effect, is like getting people on board with something. And the more you see people getting on board with it, then you wanna be on it.

It's like when you see a group paying attention to something on the street, you kind of have to like. Scoot over and be like, oh, what's everybody looking at? That's kind of the [00:25:00] bandwagon effect, and so you're ultimately building on that momentum, and the more that people see your content, the more they like it, the more they engage with it, then it's gonna encourage you to like it, engage with it, and so on and so forth.

It's, it's this domino effect. So utilizing tools in your business, in the digital space in a smart and intelligent way is just an important practice. Does it have to be TikTok? Absolutely not. Does it have to be Instagram? Absolutely not. It can be the platform that's right for you, and it doesn't even have to be social media. I talk to business owners all the time about opportunities in which they can leverage. I. Collaborations, partnerships, in-person events, different ways of getting in front of people that isn't just social media platforms. So we'll continue to talk about marketing principles again as a whole and different directions on the Click Tease podcast.

So hit subscribe so you stay in touch and then join our substack. But ultimately. [00:26:00] What we're seeing is this big shift in marketing towards media, and I think social media is the reason and the driver of that change. So a lot of what we talk about does center around that social media space, and it's one of the best organic, free, accessible tools that you can use, especially if you're operating off of a low budget.

You're just getting started. You don't know your offer completely, you're figuring out your audience, and you get to test. I just put out a video about this, but I think it's so important for us to just consider low follower count as a blessing that this is our time to iterate. You know, people get up to the hundreds of thousands, millions, and I watch creator after creator go through some type of cancel culture issue, and when you're on that big of a stage, it's easier to make mistakes that people are going to either be offended by.

Or not be happy with, or whatever the case is that happens with people in the digital space and why they think it's okay to just [00:27:00] tear down a person, whatever. We won't get into that, but I do think it's important to say I have a small amount of followers right now, so I'm going to love and embody this time to figure out my.

Voice to tune into what I want, to align my energy to the content that I'm creating and get that out in the world and see what works and see what doesn't. Speaking of what works and what doesn't, one of the things that I've noticed so much about how media has shifted and how our social platforms have shifted is that I feel like behind the scenes content, quote unquote, bloopers content is performing better than.

The actual content that's being created. I don't know if you've seen those videos, Joanna, where they're like showing the behind the scenes of filming something and then it switches to the actual filming of the content and it's like the face of the person as opposed to what they were capturing. Right.

And those content pieces are going like wildfire, like a library did it. And then we're seeing influencers [00:28:00] do it and these different brands and everything else. And so. I think we've had definitely a shift insto instead of, of course, the polished content, which we talk plenty about. People don't want polished anymore.

They don't want perfect. I think quality is still of importance, right? Like the video quality, especially for YouTube, the platform that you're on does matter. But people wanna see behind the scenes. They don't just wanna see the finished thing. They wanna see what's happening. They wanna see that real life experience.

Joanna Newton: Yeah. Yeah, totally. And, and, and just showing the whole, the whole process. The whole thing. Um, as, as you were talking, I was thinking about how strange it is, how important like having a personal brand is today because like when I was in college and I was studying marketing. Like none of what we're talking about was like even a thing, like for a business owner now for like public relations, for public figures, none of this was a thing.

But people, when it comes to [00:29:00] businesses, they wanna know the person. They wanna know that behind the scenes, they want to know that connection. And building a personal brand is so valuable because if you change, so if I, if I'm building a personal brand while I'm running millennial marketer and one day I want to.

Maybe switch and do something else, or maybe I wanna add on a, another thing. I have this asset that is beyond my business, that is the connections I have with people. That is the people who know me and like me. And while like say I, you know, the content I post is about marketing and building businesses and, and all of that, if I completely took a left turn into something very different.

My audience wouldn't be very valuable, but say I wanna switch from marketing courses in Kajabi to business operations, like I could or I could add that. So having that personal brand really does that. Now this is gonna feel like a little bit of like a total left turn. Um, but [00:30:00] something a, a story I've been following this week that's sort of related to per a personal brand is of Kesha's new album.

Are you a Kesha fan, Michelle?

Michelle Pualani: So Kesha hasn't, isn't a word or person that has been brought up to me in a long time. I feel like you know that. And Lizzo, for some reason, I

Joanna Newton: Lizzo got canceled,

Michelle Pualani: Kesha. I haven't heard anything about Lizzo. Well, how, why did Lizzo get canceled?

Joanna Newton: canceled, but she's trying to come back. So Lizzo got canceled because there were, we'll come back to Ke up because we've got some good stuff to talk about with Kasha this week. But, um. Lizzo got canceled a while back because, um, a bunch of her dancers spoke out about some really bad labor practices, like bad treatment, long working hours and just like there was a whole situation.

So Lizzo, it was actually just after the Barbie movie, which is funny 'cause like the. The Lizzo song and the Barbie movie all came together, but she was canceled because of this, this [00:31:00] situation, and I know now she's kind of coming back with new music, but she took some time out of the spotlight because of that.

Michelle Pualani: That's so weird to hear and kind of wild because she was awarded essentially for her impact. I forget what the award was, but there was award, an award ceremony recognizing women and. Her influence and hers was like something about like social impact and some kind of compassion. So that's actually kind of surprising for me to hear.

Joanna Newton: My dog is coming to my,

Michelle Pualani: okay. I've been, I've been hearing the barkies.

Joanna Newton: see. We'll see if she, she wants to be in the podcast. It was funny when I was, when I was practicing recording, she kept sitting up next to me maybe, and I was like, maybe you'll sit nice during this episode.

Michelle Pualani: Oh my gosh. She's totally welcome on the podcast. I am a major dog lover, as you know, and so if my dogs were still around, I would have them on the podcast for sure.

Joanna Newton: we'll see if she behaves and doesn't like her, I won't pet [00:32:00] her, so, oh no, this isn't gonna work. So I'm a big Kesha fan. Um, I remember when she first came out, I really thought she was just like a one hit wonder like factory made artist. And some, me and some friends went to a concert of hers kind of.

Ironically, like, like we had season passes to Six Flags and she was playing outta Six Flags and we were like, ha, ha, ha, let's go see Kesha. That would be funny, right? And then I went to her concert and I was like, this woman is so talented, like, like lied. She was so, so, so talented. So then I kind of followed all of her music and got, got into her music, um, and she just released a new, released a new album.

On Friday, so last week. And what's so significant about this is that she recently just created her own record label and it's a completely independent album. So she's this huge artist really just relying on her [00:33:00] personal brand and her connections with her fans to build her own thing versus having to be tied to a label that's taking all of this money and all of this stuff.

And one of the reasons this is so significant is Kasha had some really. Difficult times. In her early days of her recording, there were lawsuits, civil lawsuits and things like that with her producer, Dr. Luke. Um, she says that she was sexually, and I think it's alleged 'cause I actually think she didn't win any of the court cases.

Um, so it's a lot of, like he said, she said situations, but he abused her, drugged her, raped her while recording. Her albums. So she going out, becoming independent, becoming her art artist, and is actually gonna rerecord all of her music, similar to what Taylor Swift did. So she's really. Taking back and owning her content and doing it in a powerful [00:34:00] way.

And people think of Kesha like her. Her lyrics are often kind of like lewd and sexual and about partying and all of these things, but she actually has this amazing brand and amazing story and. Just such a, such a testament to like going out and being on your own and getting past abuse and getting past those tough things and saying, you know what?

This industry is broken. Like the music industry is broken, treats women and individuals terribly. So I'm gonna go do something else. I'm actually going to a concert in a couple of weeks, um, which I'm really excited for. But it's just like, I was watching some tiktoks of her people, of clips, of her concert so far and it got like.

Teary-eyed about her just like really owning her identity, which is a really powerful thing.

Michelle Pualani: Beautiful things about that is one, the power of a personal brand. It really does matter to create something that is. Is yours. That is you, and [00:35:00] that is authentically aligned with your values and what you wanna bring to the world. Because when you do wanna pivot, when you do want to evolve, you can do that.

And I feel like I've had to give permission to clients and to people when I talk to them in the past, because they don't wanna pigeonhole themselves into one thing. Well, if I focus on this, if I choose this niche, if I just talk about this, well then I'm always gonna be that person. And granted, yes, you get, do get known for that thing that that's a positive thing when you're building a business and you're selling products around it.

You can evolve, you can change, you can grow. We've watched so many personal brands and people in this space who have been able to evolve. Even businesses. Businesses who start with a core mission don't always execute on the same products over time. It could be decades into their actual business. And they started with books.

Let's say Amazon, they started with books. Do you know what they are now? Grocery store Audible, which is actually like a digital app, still books related. They do. All different kinds of [00:36:00] industries and things that they sell online, but they started with books. So it's okay to have that focus in the beginning, and it's okay to shift that focus and give yourself permission to evolve and grow with your brand.

I think it's such a terrible and sad thing that this is such a common story for people in the celebrity space. I feel incredibly privileged because I don't really have a ton of exposure to that world. I live in San Luis Obispo. It's a fricking small town. I've been with my husband now. You know, we've been together for almost 14 years.

He's incredibly respectful, supportive, and I've only ever known really wonderful men. But what we hear and see so often in music acting, all of these women who are coming out and speaking out a. Of course ta. They're speaking out about sexual assault, sexual harassment, these experiences that they've had while filming, while recording, while doing these things, and there [00:37:00] is so much.

Oppression of women still in these industries, and I'm so grateful that they're talking about them and they're leading and they're coming back out. But it also makes sense. Sometimes you see just the external side of things, right? With someone like Kesha. Okay. I haven't heard of Kesha in a while. When her music first came out, fun party.

We were younger. It connected. It was great to listen to, and then she goes away and you just think like, oh, she just got burned out, or Her music wasn't successful, or You kind of make these assumptions. But she probably experienced some seriously traumatic things and had to step away for her personal mental health and to recover from that.

Now her ability to come back into the industry and then. Own her content, create the record label. I think that's a beautiful, powerful thing that's encouraging. We see it in Taylor Swift, who we love to talk about on the Click Tease podcast, but Taylor Swift is the epitome of a personal brand that connects, that converts [00:38:00] that.

Has evolved over time. She's continued to evolved, but people still love her and she still faces criticism, and she still has people who don't like her music at all, but it doesn't matter because she has carved out her way of being and it's authentic and people love that and they relate to it. And then storytelling.

Storytelling is such a powerful. Piece of a brand of a business of your content, and that is the way that we're seeing marketing going is storytelling. Being able to capture a story in essence and have the viewer relate to it, have them feel emotion. That is what we need to focus on more when it comes to marketing our brands and businesses.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, and I think with, with. AI being used for content. It's also that storytelling that's gonna make you stand out because AI cannot tell your story. [00:39:00] AI could refine your story. AI could take what you've already made and put it into other pieces of content, but. Your story and your ability to tell a story and share a narrative that AI can never do, and that's what's gonna set you apart.

So when you think about Kesha, when you think about Taylor Swift, when you think about some of these big name people, or even just. Other creators that are coming back, think about the creators you like and you follow. It's probably because they're sharing a narrative. They're sharing a story that like makes sense to you, that relates to you, that connects with you.

So if you wanna be able to grow, you have to be able to get your narrative out there and tell a really good story.

Michelle Pualani: And here's the thing about ai. We are seeing so much evolution in the AI space. I mean, you know, VO three. Google all the other platforms like [00:40:00] we've got AI content creation, we've got graphics, we've got video, we've got copywriting, obviously strategy approach. We've got AI systems one. Opinion about AI that I will share for you as you're listening and starting to kind of sort through which direction should I go with that ai, which tools should I use?

I'm seeing all these things go out there. Keep in mind that everything is based around like a handful of language learning models, predominantly chat, GPT. There are core platforms like Gemini, Chachi, pt, Claude, who represent I think like our Thig. Our three big heavy hitters in the AI space, but every other adjacent and offshoot AI tool is using their language learning model and essentially plugged into their API portal.

Right? So keep in mind that you're starting to explore these tools. You're probably spending too much time looking at the tools without just seeing what are the, all the features that I could actually use in either the free or basic [00:41:00] plan of whatever the big three that you like to use. Or what is available right on like a $20 a month pro or premium paid subscription because the content that they're able to create is pretty amazing.

I actually just found out, which I didn't realize, is that Canva has introduced AI video content creation for like stock video. So you can use a tool that you already have. In that modality. I share this because I spend a lot of time looking at AI tools for content creation and help with copywriting or help with posting or help kind of easing the online systems for my business.

And I haven't found anything that is. As great as those core three that I mentioned that are very accessible, very user-friendly, so try not to spend too much time or energy looking into those things. And then with AI, I am seeing a ton of like. AI avatars like create your own AI avatar [00:42:00] and I don't want to discount it like I do think it's important that you explore and see what works for you.

Maybe if filming videos isn't your strong suit and you wanna create an AI avatar and then have it do B roll content for you, and if it looks good enough for what you are putting out into the world or your products and your offers, or you're just doing affiliate marketing or whatever the case is, I think there's an avenue for that.

But, but. But I big, but I still think that the future of media and marketing is going to be human based. We're seeing AI campaigns come out with AI models, AI videos, ai, social media influencers, like there are AI influencers right now who do over seven figures because they have brand deals and partnerships or whatever. And so I think it's important to acknowledge it, that this is an [00:43:00] evolution and we are seeing it. If you want to explore it, do that. Don't feel like you have to go that direction and recognize that AI is not necessarily going to take over your authenticity, your story, your ability to be human and connect.

And I still think that as we evolve and grow, that humans are gonna wanna connect with humans. I am using AI as much as I possibly can to understand it, to leverage it. I think that you need to, in order to be able to grow in business, the way that we're looking at scale and just people's ability to execute is like an AI system in the back end of your business is going to be.

Operating more effectively, more efficiently, and to be able to do more in order to keep up with the way the business is moving. But in terms of content creation, video talking, telling your story, [00:44:00] I hope that it doesn't get completely replaced by AI because I like, I still want to connect. Humans. And I still think that there's such an important energetic and spiritual aspect to it that I think AI is not gonna be able to replicate or tap into.

And, and that's, that's how I feel about ai. That's, that's the direction. Stay informed, stay up to date, explore it, give it a try, but know that. I do not think it will replace you, especially if you're in it for the long term. Like this is your career. If this is what you wanna do for the rest of your life, I know that people can get online, they can make some money.

Maybe they close their brand in a year or two, or maybe they make what they want, they do something else. They get back into the business, like the work world. But if this is your thing, if you're creating a personal brand for speaking on stages, for being on podcasts, for selling your own digital products and programs, I don't think AI is going to carry [00:45:00] you there.

And I think you need to instead work on your skills of public speaking and storytelling and brand persona and creating that archetype. That's my 2 cents.

Joanna Newton: Yeah, I'll say, I'll say two things about ai. Before we wrap up, um, today's episode, I, I really try to be open-minded to the use of ai and I've had to push myself to do that. Um, I've tried a lot of AI tools, especially for like backend operations, organization, planning, productivity, um, content creation, and here to help my content creation for really the first half of the year I was using AI to refine not right.

I would draft, um, like. Post captions for LinkedIn and things and then give it to ai. And I've kind of trained my chat GPT to talk in my voice and I was letting chat, like edit for me. And I was starting to use chat more often for [00:46:00] writing for clients and things like that. And. I, I don't think it works for me.

And I recently, like I would do it. I would get fewer comments, fewer engagements, all of that. And I stopped like this week, especially like while switching to like. Thinking TikTok first, it's much more natural to just like write up a caption on your phone or, or do that. And I've seen growth, engagement and all of that since cutting AI out from my content altogether.

And I don't know, like I, I wrote a post today and I was just reading it. And I was like, this is so good. Like, AI could never make this, like AI would never make this for me because it's me, it's my voice. So again, I, I really waffle on this because I think my content is so much better when I don't use AI and when I don't use it.

And [00:47:00] so I. I almost wanna, like, as I've crept into ai, I'm like walking back, I'm like, Ugh, this just isn't, it's not for me. Um, it doesn't work for me. And that I will also say thing too about ai. My daughter's over my shoulder looking at what's on my phone or what I'm looking at, and she sees an AI photo that I didn't even notice was AI at first.

She knows, notices it. And as soon as she tells, she goes, that's ai. She goes to my, that's ai, she's eight years old. That's ai. And I'm like, oh, people. People are gonna know and it's gonna get old freaking fast. And I think that Gen Z, gen Alpha is not gonna be a fan of the AI content and they're gonna spot it and they're gonna be out because it totally is a turnoff for her.

Michelle Pualani: I think, excuse me. I think these big brands that we're seeing, [00:48:00] 'cause I read, you know, marketing things and hear from CMOs and things like that, and we've talked about Duolingo on the podcast before. They don't let AI touch their content. I. There are a lot of big brands who are incredibly successful in the, the social media space.

They don't polish with ai. They don't yet let ai, they still use human generated ideas, language way of connecting. Because if it, if you think about it truthfully, like you're having a human consume it, and if you're having a human consume it, it's likely that they're gonna connect with a human origination writing video.

Voice, whatever it is. And I do think that AI is going to get to a point where it is so good that you don't realize, maybe it's ai, but I also did see this post recently and I kind of come from fitness. And so body positivity and body image and body dysmorphia is a really big field of interest. And I think line of thinking that I typically go down is what [00:49:00] is the impact?

Of this doing to our next gen doing to women specifically. And I saw a post recently about women and the rate of plastic surgery that has gone up, not to replicate a celebrity or get a certain type of look that they're seeing on real people, but rather to match filters. And so the filters that are being used on social media now.

Women are bringing that into their plastic surgeons and say, I wanna look like the filtered version of me. Do that for me so I can walk around as a human with a changed face. And the distortion of seeing an AI version of you from a video perspective, thinking of our next generation may, my potential kids, if we have kids, my niece and nephew, and what they're consuming.

I want that to be real. I want humans to have flaws. I [00:50:00] wanna see videos and movies of people without perfect skin, without perfect teeth, without these perfectly put together. AI impacted videos. I mean, we went through this whole shift when it came to photos and retouches of our. Marketing in digital or like billboards, right?

So you have your billboards, you have your magazine articles, you have these places in which celebrities or models are demonstrating the use of a product. And it wasn't advertised or it wasn't well known that they were edited photoshopped, and sometimes dramatically so like that, you look at the original photo, you're like, oh, that's beautiful.

And then you look at the to up photo and you're like, wow, that is really demented. Yes, of course the new version is beautiful, but it's not at all related to what an actual human looks like. And so I think for the health of our culture, for the health of our society, for the health of our next [00:51:00] generation.

That we need to be really conscious about AI and being able to portray. Real people with flaws, with things that make us who we are. Zendaya, I think, is one of the most beautiful women in the entire world. I love everything that she does. She has this funny thing in her front two teeth, like I think one tooth is like slightly and she hasn't fixed it.

The independent of like how much she's done and how much money she's made. She doesn't fix it and she hardly ever wears makeup in her personal life. And I love that about her and being authentic and being genuine, even though she is literally one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Period. So I think that's something important to consider.

We talk a lot about ethics and morals on this podcast about yes, there are people in the world doing these things. Do you want to be a part of that? Or not, and I think it's a personal choice. So that's what this conversation is also [00:52:00] encompassing.

Joanna Newton: Well, thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode of Click Tease. We covered so many great topics from AI content creation, like should you be using it, should you not? How to explore it to what's going with Kesha and her personal brand to really just how to get active and be engaging and really attract new people to you.

So if you enjoyed this. Please give us a subscribe, follow along. You have to tune in next week so you get a, a new update about what's going on in marketing, personal branding, and learn how to make content that converts.

Michelle Pualani: And join the sub stack. You can find everything in the show notes. So we'll see you next time. [00:53:00]