I may be bloated, inflamed in the face from too much sodium (fish & chips + pints on repeat will do that)… and definitely pale. …. But do not sleep on an English summer.

It’s underrated.

We head back to Lisbon tomorrow after a month of bopping around seaside towns (seriously – where were Cameron and Jude Law hiding because I KNOW they were in Norfolk?), I’m ready for routine again:

• Ready to exercise
• To stop consuming fish dipped in batter. ****literally me every day at a pub

• To get back into my work

Because the real flex isn’t opening a laptop ANYWHERE in the world…it’s closing it for extended periods of time.

And I did close it this month… but not enough.

My 9-year-old could sense my stress. He actually made me a My StoryPro logo in Canva because he knows we’re going through big changes right now.
​
And yes I DIED.

I love that my business is a family affair.
I love that my boys get to see their mom work for something she believes in.

But I sometimes hate that my business is super-glued to my identity.

But I know I’m building something meaningful in a golden era of AI. And that requires my whole self.

Which is why when I came across some data this week it made my stomach drop.

In a Harvard business school article I read:

Women are 20% less likely than men to use AI.
Among ChatGPT users, 85% are men.

Why is this so?
​Women are more likely to see using AI as “cheating.”

Sound familiar?

This tracks.
​
And this isn’t just about tech adoption. It’s about how women show up, take risks and claim space.
​
I see this often with my storytelling clients: brilliant women apologizing for using AI. Like it somehow makes them less authentic.

Meanwhile, my male clients? Nah.

They’re using AI guilt-free to scale their content, optimize their messaging and land higher-paying opportunities.

And the research is brutal.

The study shows college graduates with AI skills are almost twice as likely to get interview offers. Jobs requiring AI knowledge offer 28% higher salaries on average.
​
​And I’m about to land some more doozies.
​
When business schools explicitly allowed ChatGPT, men and women used it equally (~80%). When it was prohibited, women’s usage dropped 38 points vs. men’s 18.

They call it the “good girl effect.”
​Women fearing judgment for breaking even vague rules.

That got me big mad.
​Are we still doing this?! ​
Because the game is already rigged.
​
Because let’s talk about cheating that isn’t called cheating:

✅ Old boys’ networks handing out jobs.

✅ Debt-free Ivy league degrees handed down by family wealth.

✅ VC funding pipelines built by and for men.
​
Is that cheating? Or is that just using the advantages available to you?

And I HATE to say this but women are right to be cautious.
When people think you used AI, they rate you as less competent.

That penalty? 13% for women vs. 6% for men.

So it’s not that we’re scared of AI (well some of us are).

But many of us are making smart risk assessments in a system that judges us differently.

Men are celebrated for “hacking” systems.
Women are called inauthentic.

Meanwhile, the cost of not using AI rises every day.
Especially for entrepreneurs building personal brands or trying to stay ahead in their lane.

If you’re not using it AT ALL, you will fall behind. And I am not trying to fear monger. It’s fact and ladies, we can’t afford to sit this one out. We need to think about AI in a different way.

So here’s my invitation:

Stop thinking of AI as cheating.
Start thinking of it as a research assistant and thought partner.

Use it to:

• Analyze what your audience is saying in Reddit threads.
• Connect your personal experiences to universal struggles.
• Brainstorm story angles you wouldn’t have thought of alone.
• Refine your messaging without losing your voice.
• Challenge your client price hike email.

The goal isn’t to have AI write for you. It’s to have AI think with you.

And also I encourage you to get curious about how AI could work for YOUR situation.

Want an easy way to dive in?

One of my FAVORITE AI Newsletters is called Her AI Drop.

Created by a long time storytelling student of mine, current My StoryPro Member, BALLER founder who just got on the Inc. List for the 2nd? 3rd? Time and someone who is now a friend…. Katie is doing some really cool stuff for demystifing this space for women.

​Her AI Drop​

Also note, she, too, had NO IDEA how any of this worked 8 months ago. But she just dove in and started getting curious.

Because to me, that’s the bigger picture:

Yes I want more women using AI.
But what I really want is more of us building with it.
Creating with it.
Shaping what this era looks like.
Building new newsletter categories like Katie.

And as I write this (In a car back to my husband’s parents house near London), I’m thinking about how fleeting this all is anyway.

How did a whole month just fly by??
How are we starting school in basically a week?

My boys still want to hold my hand on the couch (or play with my ear in public).

They still think it’s fun to make me logos in Canva.
They still LOVE hanging with me and their dad.

I know “THIS” won’t last forever.

So yes – building something new (anything but especially an AI tool) is hard, messy, and VERY uncertain.
​
But it’s also meaningful and reminds me that I am still alive.
And can learn new things….EVEN in my 40s🙄🙄🙄

Because it’s not just about technology.
It’s about making the most of this golden moment – in your work, in your family, in your life…. before it changes. (In case you haven’t noticed I have a tendency to go DARK really fast here.)

But seriously, don’t let the AI gap become another way women get left behind.
​
The boys have been using every advantage available for decades. It’s time we did too.

Your voice matters. Use every tool to make it heard.

Just start.
​
Like Robert did!

Enjoy the rest of August and I’ll see you next week hopefully a little less puffy!

XO,
Patrice

P.S. If you need help customizing AI for your specific business, you can always book an AI Power Hour with me and my co-founder who made my entire backend of my business AI empowered with a team of AI Agents doing so much heavy lifting I no longer need to do.
​
P.P.S As always, My StoryPro is a great way to start using AI while getting more confident with your business storytelling. Just like Robert did above who is about to launch a new consulting business after coming out of retirement!….Just start somewhere.