You already know what to build

Hey there!

I had such an interesting conversation with a mom at my son’s school last week. She's been in finance for 12 years, feels completely drained, and keeps saying "it is what it is, I don’t know what I would do instead anyways" When I asked what lights her up outside of work, her whole energy shifted.

"Well, I love creating these elaborate activities for my kids… I spend hours researching child development and designing these little fun learning experiences. But that's just mom stuff, you know?"

Just mom stuff.

I wanted to shake her (lovingly) and show her the thousands of parents desperately searching for exactly what she creates naturally.

The Etsy shops making six figures selling activity guides.

The YouTube channels with millions of views teaching developmental play.

The communities of parents willing to pay monthly for fresh ideas.

She couldn't see it because she'd never been shown the possibilities.

But that’s not even the real barrier that keeps most of us stuck.

It's not lack of knowledge about the digital economy—yes, there's a learning curve, but that's easily fixable.

It's not lack of opportunities either—those appear as soon as you start looking with the right lens.

It's our ego's attachment to who we think we're supposed to be.

We've invested so much in building our professional identity that starting fresh in a new space feels like we're throwing it all away.

After building expertise and status over years, the idea of becoming a beginner again feels terrifying.

However difficult this shift feels, I believe the AI era is urgently asking us to get comfortable with becoming beginners again—and soon. 

There's a very high likelihood that all of us will be forced into beginner status in some capacity, whether we choose it or not.

The pace of change means the skills that made us successful yesterday might not be enough tomorrow.

The choice isn't whether we'll need to learn new things—it's whether we'll do it proactively on our own terms, or reactively when we have no other option.

At any age, we can choose to become beginners again.

Actually, we should.

The willingness to learn, change, and reinvent ourselves over and over again is essential for thriving in the new AI era.

We are multipassionate humans for a reason. 

Those sparks of joy you feel.

That flow state when you're deep in something you love.

That's not a distraction from your "real" work—it's your intuition pointing toward something meaningful that you should be pursuing.

It’s never too late

I spent the past 8 years in corporate AI—and while I genuinely love this space, I realized that sitting in endless Zoom meetings and creating presentations was draining my soul.

Now I'm taking that same passion and skill set and channeling it into something that energizes me WAY MORE: simplifying AI and automation for people building online businesses who've been feeling overwhelmed by all the noise. 

Instead of building B2B AI SaaS solutions that sit behind corporate walls, I'm sharing what I know so that people cut through the complexity and tech-bro jargon and actually use these tools to future-proof themselves and their businesses.

This didn't happen overnight. It started with getting obsessed with AI art creation, which led to one thing, then another, and slowly opened up a roadmap where I felt joyful again.

This is how I know this is it (at least for now!):

As soon as I open my computer to work on this stuff, time disappears.

I'm in flow—something I hadn't felt in years at my corporate job.

The digital economy has created something unprecedented: the ability to turn virtually any interest, passion, or natural skill into sustainable income.

But most people can't see the bridge between "I love doing this" and "this could pay my bills."

So that’s why I recorded my latest Youtube video.

Why I made this (slightly obsessive) breakdown

In this video, I took one interest—manifestation—and mapped out 11 different ways to monetize it.

Not because everyone needs to get into manifestation, but because I wanted to show the sheer variety of business models available once you understand the creator economy.

I covered everything from Amazon KDP journals (one creator made nearly $1M from a single shadow work journal that started as personal practice) to building apps with AI, creating digital communities, and print-on-demand products.

Each path requires different skills, different energy, different approaches—which means there's something for every personality type.

The point isn't to do all 11 things. It's to see that when you start with what genuinely interests you, the monetization options are abundant. You don't need to force yourself into someone else's business model or pretend to care about a "profitable niche" that bores you to tears.

You can watch it here:

Your next move (if this resonates)

If you're feeling that familiar spark of "wait, maybe I could actually do this," here are three prompts to help you explore:

Prompt 1: Interest Audit 

I'm someone who works in [your current field] but I'm drawn to [your interest/hobby]. Help me identify the specific skills I already have within this interest that others might find valuable. Ask me questions to uncover what I naturally do well in this space and what aspects energize me most.

Prompt 2: Monetization Mapping 

Based on my interest in [your specific interest], and knowing that I'm [brief personality description - introvert/extrovert, prefer creating vs. teaching vs. building community, etc.], suggest 5 digital business models that would align with my natural strengths. For each, explain why it fits my personality and what the first step would look like.

Prompt 3: First Product Blueprint 

I want to create my first digital product around [your interest]. Walk me through choosing between a simple digital download, a mini-course, or a template/tool. Help me identify what my audience in this space actually struggles with and needs, then outline what my minimum viable product could look like.

The beautiful thing about starting with your interests is that the work doesn't feel like work.

You're already consuming content in this space, already thinking about solutions, already seeing what's missing.

You just need to start creating instead of only consuming.

If you have an interest but genuinely can't see how to monetize it, I want to help.

What interest have you been dismissing as "just a hobby"? Sometimes we need an outside perspective to see our own magic.

Reply to this email and tell me what you love doing—I'll send you back some specific ideas for how I'd approach turning it into income streams.

This isn't about convincing you to quit your job tomorrow or promising overnight success.

It's about showing you what's possible and igniting a spark of curiosity within you, so you can go on your own side quest and see where it leads you.

What moves you might be exactly what someone else is searching for.

Until next week,

Your AI Solopreneur Bestie, Elena