Who will tell your story? | AI workspaces | IRL FTW

Hello friends, happy Halloween!

I love having things to look forward to in each of the four seasons. Fall is a time to get cozy and spend quality time with your people. 🍁

I’ve realized that a growing number of you don’t know me personally, so let’s do a quick get cozy with Jess intro to kick things off.

Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know:

1. I was born in Portland but have lived in every major city on the West Coast.

2. I’m the oldest of three—with a 45-year-old brother and a 30-year-old sister.

3. My first job was at a friend’s restaurant, Old Country Bills, where I often worked in the smoking section, following a 75-year-old waitress around asking people if they wanted sour cream or chives on their baked potatoes.

4. I have an MBA from Pepperdine in Malibu, CA. While there, I had a few celebrity sightings. My favorites: Janine Garofalo (using a fake name) ordering a drink at a Starbucks and Jim Carrey driving with Jenny McCarthy on PCH before anyone knew they were dating.

5. My dad has written two songs about me: “The Human Parrot” (as a toddler) and “California Gets Her Back” (in my 30s). Here we are performing live together👇🏼

6. I love riding a bike—Peloton in the winter, Sauvie Island or Banks–Vernonia trails in the summer.

7. I know all the words to “Greatest Love of All” (Whitney Houston) and “Part of Your World” (Little Mermaid), but my go-to genre is ’90s R&B and Hip Hop.

8. I’ve been on a photo shoot with Missy Elliott and a Zoom call with Bill Gates.

9. If I had to pick a wildly different career, I’d become a financial planner.

10. I love the messiness of social media. For all its good and bad, it’s drastically changed how my generation relates to one another. I’m here for it.

Today, I’ll be sharing what I’m loving, practicing and, as always, shining a light on great people. I use this newsletter as a tool to give you insight into how I’m helping leaders navigate a saturated digital landscape with intention and candor. (I try to lead by example.)

If you’ve ever wondered how to build a visible, trustworthy professional brand online—without sounding like everyone else, this is for you.

But if this isn’t your thing, no worries—you can unsubscribe here.

Let’s dig in.

Jess

What I’m Practicing

In July, we saw Hamilton in New York. There are a million things to say about that show, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll focus on just this one…

We don’t think about our mortality daily, but it can be incredibly motivating. As I near 50, I find myself telling people, “I’m only halfway there,” because I plan to live to be 100. Really, I do. Most people smile and roll their eyes. But there’s a freedom in knowing you’re in the back half, but it’s a long back half.

The quietest risk is following someone else’s playbook.

Why do we do it?

Fear (often).

A lack of originality (sometimes).

Laziness (maybe).

My hypothesis?

Most of us are so worried about what others think that we’d rather fail conventionally than succeed unconventionally.

Let that sink in.

Growing up, I was never common. I’ve almost always been the black sheep.

Do you ever feel that way?

But a hundred years from now, none of the people we’re trying to impress will be here. The results we create by being willing to look different? Those compound forever.

What will you want them to say about you when you’re gone?

What I’m Loving

Opportunities to be with people—in person.

A friend invited me to a TEDx event this month. While the speakers were okay, the feeling of being in a room, watching people on stage in real life, was a reminder of how important organic connection really is.

One speaker broke character and teared up at the end of her talk. I teared up too.

Fifteen minutes into a conversation, an attendee I’d just met asked me, “What’s your five-year plan?” I love women like that.

Another woman in her early 30s, who I met at the cocktail hour, shared how unhappy she was in her tech job. She felt alone and passed over. She was working long hours and missing her young kids grow up—for what?

I reminded her that many others have felt the same way. I hope I see her again and get to hear where she landed.

IRL, imperfect conversations are harder than async texts—but they remind us what we’re built for.

Perhaps the best part of the day was spending nearly the entire time with one of my closest allies, friends, and mentors. Sometimes, people come into your life and make an indelible mark. We often don’t say it out loud.

So I’m doing it here: You matter.

While I love that technology lets millions of us live and work anywhere (even if many CEOs want us back 5 days a week), being in unplanned, human environments sometimes…

It’s good for the soul.

➡️ When’s the last time you asked someone to coffee? Try it this November.

You might be surprised by the ideas you generate, the people you meet, or how good it feels to just be with someone.

Pro Tip

Millions of us are using AI for work and personal projects. I literally don’t go a day without it coming up in conversation.

But most people still aren’t using workspaces inside their AI platform.

Why build them? Because they retain context.

I use them daily for topics I return to again and again. Examples:

Professional – To create content for a specific client or company. I teach it my tone of voice, key narrative themes, and communication dos and don’ts. Then I brainstorm and edit with it like a junior employee.

Personal – For trip planning. I input my preferences for hotels, activities, food (all the delicious food), and group vibe. Instead of starting from scratch every time, I can pick up where I left off—with the workspace retaining my prior input for the next trip.

Workspaces take a little setup, but they’ll save you hours later.

💡Bonus: Some platforms let you share or even sell your workspaces (a whole new business use case).

Check out this quick comparison:

ICYMI

I’ve quietly launched an Instagram handle for Co-pilot Communications.

Believe it or not, I’ve been ruminating on what I want to do on that platform. I’ve had laser focus on LinkedIn this past year—where I get huge value and connection. But I also know that different audiences use different platforms, so 2026 might be the year to broaden the aperture.

What would you like to see more of from me on Instagram?

A. Behind the scenes of being a small business owner
B. Sharp, one-liner professional brand truths
C. Rewrites of bad exec comms into badass copy

Reply with A, B, or C.

I’d love your input.

Follow me here ⤵️

Shining a Light + Where’s Jess?

Combo moment this month.

I got to spend time with an old boss-turned-friend. We’ve both left big tech to build our own companies. He’s a few years ahead of me and now leads Wild Gravity, an award-winning production studio that makes digital content from concept through post. Their creative would cost millions at a big agency—but their team is lean, experienced, and (maybe most importantly) has a speak easy downstairs.

He’s also the author of Hacking Advertising.

Want to meet Jon?
Find him here: linkedin.com/in/sneider

Thanks for being here ♥️

➡️ Did a friend forward this to you? Subscribe here. You’ll get pro tips and inspo about once a month.

➡️ See what I’m up to on LinkedIn (my happy place). Connect with me here. 

➡️ Got feedback? Hit reply and tell me what you think. I’m always looking to level up.

See you next month!
Jess