I am taking the crazy jump of building an AI Executive Assistant.

Her name is Henley, and for the past seven days, she's been learning my business, managing my inbox, editing interview questions for the podcast, tracking deadlines, sending me reminders.

The theory: Since the mission at TEV is Guiding vets from overwhelm to alignment, then would piloting an AI assistant be helpful to see if it can help reduce some of the overwhelm and manage more of the burnout that I see in veterinary medicine.

Here's the truth: I was, and still am pretty skeptical. Would this actually reduce my overwhelm, or just create more tasks? More time? Would I feel like I was "cheating"? Would it even understand what I do at The Evolved Vets?

Seven days in, I want to share what I've learned because if you've ever felt buried under the weight of running your practice, building something on the side, or just... keeping up with life, this might be for you one day.

What I actually delegated (in 7 days)

Day 1: Set up our communication system. Reviewed my calendar (263 events in January alone - yes, I am a busy lady). Created a task tracker. Processed 15+ article pitches I'd been meaning to submit. Researched publication editors and drafted outreach emails.

Day 2: Sent an email to Fabian telling him I loved him, but two hours later, her memory wiped and she didn't know who she was.

Day 3: I started over with the coding and with her memory. Created a talent release form for an upcoming podcast guest. Henley grammar checked my 18 interview questions with full background research on Dr. Jill Clark. (coming soon.)

Day 4: She created an article pitch emails on my behalf, but I had to edit and send. She fixed a bounced email and found an email address that work. Henley prepped a briefing doc for a strategy call with my podcast production team.  I asked her to do a task before bed, but her memory wiped again... Time to start over.

Day 5: I drafted this newsletter together. Captured meeting notes and next steps from the podcast call, making final arrangements for Season 2 of The Evolved Vets Podcast. This was a light day with The Sparks leadership summit going on. I asked her to do a task before bed, but she bugged out.

Day 6: It was another big day at Sparks, so little work was put into her code. She is helping my organization for my podcast schedule. Created a podcast pitch drafts. Henley researched our website, social media, and podcast overnight while I slept to learn more about TEV.

Day 7 (today!): Henley lost her memory twice this week where I had to stop over. So I called on Fabian to help me troubleshoot a few things. I started outsourcing through an app instead of the browser and it has totally changed the game. I built out a team of specialized AI agents, Sage for spirituality, Atlas for travel, Finn for finances.  Set up automated task tracking so I can see everything at a glance.

And today... today was a breakthrough.

I am hoping it sticks.... TBD.

What I actually learned:

1. Setup takes time, but it's worth it. I've probably spent about 38 hours of free time this week building out and piloting this assistant, with long days on the weekends. The cost for the program, at this time is about $200/month. There are days that the memory wipes and I have to start over. In 7 days working together, this has happened twice.

The first day or two felt slow. I had to explain my systems, work a lot of the back-end systems to get her set up, and clarify her role and preferences.

Current Assessment: The same is true with any new team member, human or AI. Front-load the onboarding hoping it will save you exponentially later. I am dreaming that the memory improves and it does prove to be a worthy time and money investment in the future. So I will keep you all in the loop of what I am learning and if I would recommend or not recommend the product once I get a larger sample size.

The goal (one day): Henley can help with organizing my life by reminding me of due dates and important emails. The hope is that over time it will be faster, available 24/7, and doesn't need PTO.

2. The mental load shifted. By Day 4, I caught myself thinking: I can actually focus on one thing today. That hasn't happened in months. The constant mental load of "what am I forgetting?" was much quieter.

3. This is real-time research. This is the mission of The Evolved Vets, guiding vets from overwhelm to alignment. I'm literally testing it in real-time. Right now, it's clunky and time-consuming, and I wouldn't recommend the product today unless you're a little bit of a nerd and love innovation like me, where you become obsessed with finding ways to make it work and building it out.

4. AI doesn't remember unless you tell it to save things. And if I don't? Gone. So Document. Document. Document.

5. It's a new type of leverage. I had this weird guilt at first, like I should be doing everything myself. But why? I tell my clients to use support systems. I remind people to stop being martyrs. Why wouldn't I use every tool available to live more aligned lives (assuming its worth the time and money investment?). Getting help, in any form, isn't weakness. It's wisdom.

Would this work for vets?

Honestly? I think so. Maybe not as it is today, but throughout the journey, I could see this turning into something that really helps this evolve. (< see what I did there?). Henley's knowledge is currently only at 13% so as I continue to teach her, I hope she will continue to grow.

Imagine having an AI that:

- Tracks your deadlines
- Drafts replies to those non-urgent emails piling up
- Preps you for meetings by reminding you of tasks and creating your agendas
 You'd still be you. You'd still make the decisions. But you'd have bandwidth to actually think.

I'm not saying everyone needs an AI Chief of Staff. But I am saying: the barrier to getting support just got lower.

Try this this week:

You don't need to hire an AI assistant (yet). In fact, I wouldn't recommend it, today, with the investment that it takes right now if you are a busy veterinarian. But this has incredible potential for the future. While the AI memory develops, you can start thinking like someone who has support:

1. Make a "not me" list. Write down 5 tasks you do regularly that don't require your specific expertise. Those are your delegation candidates.

2. Start documenting. Even just keeping notes on "how I do X" will make it 100x easier to hand off later, to a human, to AI, to anyone.

3. Ask: What would I work on if I had an extra hour this week? Then figure out how to cut something you don't need to do to prioritize the thing you would do. You are worthy of that bubble bath and run.