AI for Growth: Lessons from Leaders Julie Foster

Megan Driscoll: Welcome to AI for Growth Lessons from Leaders. Today I have with me Julie Foster, and I'm really excited to have Julie today because Julie is actually a client of mine. So I thought it would be fun to have someone on who has been doing some AI lead gen, who's an actual real small business trying to implement ⁓ AI in simple ways. So thank you so much for being on the show, Julie.

Why don't you introduce yourself, say a little bit about who you are and your business and tell us all the good stuff. Julie Foster: No, I'm good. My pleasure. Yes, sure.

So my name is Julie Foster. I am the founder of A New Path, Life and Grief Coaching. I am a Certified Grief Coach, ⁓ Life Transitions Coach and Certified Grief Educator. I do have 10 years of experience as a therapist in the substance use disorder treatment field.

And I only stopped working in that field in 2017. after my mom was diagnosed with glioblastoma. So ⁓ it made the most sense for me out of everyone in my family to be her full-time caregiver. So she lived exactly one year from diagnosis and that entire time I just assumed that I would know how to grieve because I'm a therapist.

I'm supposed to be trained in this. And ⁓ it was completely shocking when she was gone. how little I actually knew about grief and just in my attempts to get some help from my support and help for myself and my siblings and my dad, ⁓ I realized it's really hard. There's not a lot out there.

So, you know, the little entrepreneurial side of my brain was like problem, solution. You know, I'm a very solution focused person. it was, it's passionate. I'm passionate about it.

⁓ This took me down such a rabbit hole, a nerdy rabbit hole of researching and reading and listening to podcasts and just digging out anything about grief, grief theory, grief people, podcasts. And then that's how I decided to get certified as a grief recovery specialist and a grief educator. So it's... It's a nice mix between my therapy background because the skills are transferable, but I'm very niche into grief.

Yeah. Megan Driscoll: Yeah. Well, you know what I love about, um, well, so, you know, I, we've talked about this because I also lost a, I lost a parent to glial blastoma, which is considered a rare disorder, but I feel like I know a lot of people who have family members. It's crazy.

Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, so we kind of bond over that too. And in fact, actually there's been such a, um, I think it's interesting.

Um, and I don't know that this is like, you have to. Julie Foster: Me too. Yeah. Megan Driscoll: grieve like a terrible loss of someone to have something really wonderful happen.

But I know that like a lot of beautiful things came out of my dad's passing. And ⁓ I wrote a book about it called Seeking Purpose. And I know that this business of yours is born out of the loss of your mom. And so I do think that there can be a lot of good that can be on the other side of it once you get past that grief.

Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Sure. Megan Driscoll: And I agree with you. agree that, you know, I feel like there's a real lack of support in that space specifically.

⁓ but the other thing I want to mention, ⁓ cause this is a bit, this is a podcast for business owners, ⁓ for small business owners who are growing and we're going to talk about AI obviously. But I do think that, ⁓ what is so lovely about what you just said is like, you had an entrepreneurial spirit, you saw a gap and, ⁓ like an issue that needed to be fixed and you decided to fill that gap and fix it. And so, you know, it's. hard for people to get started.

Just get started. So many people have great ideas and they just never do anything. So congratulations to you for having the idea, moving forward, doing the research, getting the certification, starting the business, all of the difficult things you did. You you've done them all.

And now it's just about kind of like walking through the door and, and, developing your strategy for, reaching out to people and letting them know that you exist. Yeah. Julie Foster: Yes. Thank you.

Yeah. Exactly. Yes. My husband and I, I'm sorry, my husband and I own a plumbing business.

So I've always been on the back end, not the idea or front of the house, but on the back end, making things happen and making sure we don't go homeless. yeah, it's a whole different experience now being like the business owner. Megan Driscoll: And that's written. Go ahead.

Yeah, I mean, for sure. you are the chief bottle washer, right? Like the jack trade of everything. And I think that's one of the things, ⁓ this comes up a lot and I'm sure that you felt this way, but ⁓ it does feel overwhelming, right?

To start a business. Yeah, so talk a little bit about that. Cause I think that where AI comes in and we're gonna talk about how AI helped your business. I think that it comes from a place of feeling totally overwhelmed.

So talk about that. Julie Foster: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

So overwhelming, yes. Yes, yes. I can be the best mental health counselor. I can be the best grief coach in the world and be the worst business owner.

They can be, they're two different things. When they merge nicely, that's the sweet spot. ⁓ So yes, I remember having our first conversation and you're like, what is your business? What do you wanna do?

And I was like. Vomiting word vomiting like I want to help people with grief. I want to have individual counseling. want to, you know, coach people individually, coach people in groups.

I want to write a book. I have I want to do a blog. I want to do a podcast. I, you know, I want to help this person and that person.

And you were like, Whoa, let's slow down. And, you know, we want to make this a profitable business. So let's start where, you know, you already are showing up. And so that was really, really helpful because I was like that.

I was in that mentality for at least a year before we really sat down. And that's all that's all good because I was, you know, letting my ideas fester and bringing them to life. But yeah, now making it a business is a whole other realm. And, you know, one of the hardest transitions for me was going from, you know, corporate climb the ladder kind of gal.

and running programs ⁓ in the substance use disorder treatment field. So I was the boss a lot, but now I'm like the boss of me and my time and nobody else really. It's my schedule to control, which is good, but actually AI has actually helped me with that. Like the scheduling and where to use my time and how best to maneuver as a business owner.

Megan Driscoll: Yeah, that's great. Yeah, and think that, you know, we talk a lot about on the show how important it is to have like a game plan, like a work process. Like, what are we, like, what are you trying to accomplish ⁓ and working behind, like... backwards from there, because you can implement a whole bunch of technology and solve a problem that you don't really need to solve, or you solve the wrong problem, or you solve a problem at the wrong time, right?

And I think for you, and the thing that we talked a lot about was you weren't really 100 %... You kind of knew what you wanted to do, obviously, but you were really broad, like, I'll do anything. And so having a very specific niche, but we also didn't know really at the beginning of working together which... Julie Foster: Yeah.

Well, yeah. Megan Driscoll: was going to respond. We had some ideas. And so one of the things ⁓ that I think was really interesting and helpful, and I'll allow you to talk about it, but just was this where we started to go to sell your services and where we've ended up.

So do you want to talk about that kind of journey a little bit? Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Yes, that's been a very interesting journey, surprising and pleasantly positive. But so I just assumed that hospice staff, so like the nurses, the CNAs, the therapists, know, all the hospice organization staff would just, you know, need my services.

And how great will this be that I can, you know, give them a place to bring their grief that they experience probably every day. ⁓ So we did one round of our reach out, give me a list of all the hospice organizations in Massachusetts. And the response was, it was a pretty good response rate, but actually now in practice, it's not going that well. It's just not a good fit, it's not a good alignment.

⁓ kind of have figured out the reasons why. But then we said I said, well. let's go from there. so, you went and found a list of all the states and towns in Massachusetts that have councils on aging, senior living, ⁓ active living centers for active living.

⁓ And so that list has been super fruitful. Such a pleasant response, such a pleasant surprise. I'm currently running. ⁓ two eight week grief support series in two different towns and the response has been amazing.

And personally for me, it's been really fun to be supportive in a way that's so well received. Megan Driscoll: And I think that's the key to like, if you think about how much money big companies spend to try to uncover what their market is, like, you know, and they're testing and testing. really in like eight weeks, we were able to figure out what was and was not. And we even did a whole treatment center, US treatment center, thinking that that would be another, you know, a group of people that would really want this.

And it turned out that it was just when you're able to look at these campaigns against one another, it just became so clear who you're. Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Yes. Megan Driscoll: perfect buyer was, right?

Like they have money, they have a need for programming, they have a group of people who have grief, right? I mean, one of the things that I think Don done me later was like, my mom lives in a senior living facility and like every week she loses a friend, you know, or someone that she knows and it's hard for everybody. ⁓ Julie Foster: Yes. Yes.

Yes. Megan Driscoll: you know, especially when they're cohabitating in such a way that they become really close with one another. So it just turned, it just kind of like, because we were able to do it so quick and dirty and kind of fast, we were able to get to this like, ooh, ooh, we're onto something, you know? Julie Foster: Mm-hmm.

Yeah. ⁓ It's gem. It's like a little gem that we uncovered. Megan Driscoll: Yeah.

And then one, think two is really great. And this is just a sales strategy just for people in general, but it's like, once you have one win, you just use that win to get, it's kind of like a snowball that starts down the path because now you're like, ⁓ well, I'm working with this town and I'm working with this place and I'm working with this senior living facility. And it just builds and builds and builds on itself. So we're really like at the beginning of the, we're at the beginning of the end of figuring out what we.

Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Yes. Megan Driscoll: should focus on, what you need to focus on, if we're at the beginning of really seeing the fruits of that effort and the execution. So the other thing that I want to talk about, because I think this is a very common, I just actually spoke with the business owner this morning, she owns a gym, and she was like, I actually was thinking about AI this morning and how it might be able to help my business, because I'm really, really frustrated with everything.

And just. Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Yes, yes. Megan Driscoll: overwhelmed, too many things.

⁓ One of the things that I think, and so we talked about, do you have a CRM? And she's like, I don't even know what a CRM is. And ⁓ so we've been, so I think. Julie Foster: All right.

Megan Driscoll: You haven't received your CRM yet, right? ⁓ But you've gotten a little bird's eye view into like what it's going to do and the automations. How do you feel? You haven't had it yet.

You don't have it yet. But how do you feel about like the prospect of having one? Like, do you see the benefits yet? Or are you kind of like, I just need to wait and see what it looks like when it's done.

Julie Foster: Yeah. No, I'm already seeing the benefits tenfold. I'm thinking back to all of 2025, I took my efforts and joined a ton of networking groups, put my physical body out there, know, anywhere I could, any, you know, tabling events. And while that was really fun, I learned a lot and I learned that I'm only one person and this is going to take me forever to build this, you know, community of clients who are open to getting help with grief.

So, ⁓ you know, this CRM already before I've even really had it in my hands has helped me cut that time in half. What we did by being able to pull all of the towns in Massachusetts and, you know, fire off a whole campaign would have taken me a year, more, more than a year to get you know, call email, keep calling, keep email. Like it just cut out a whole year of my life and, you know, saved me so much energy too. was, you know, by the end of 2025, I was actually really exhausted by doing all of those physical networking events.

I learned a ton. It was fun, but I was exhausted and, you know, I need to be more efficient if I'm going to, you know, have a successful business. So it really already has reigned me in. to a place where I'm like much more strategy centered and looking at the data and being like, okay, that didn't work, this does work, we're gonna move forward with that.

Just much more strategic. ⁓ yeah, before I became a mental health counselor, I was in the CRM world and that was more way back when people bought from catalogs. And so was catalog marketing and that was really fun. So I do have the ideas in the back of my head, working with you is like making them real and accessible in alignment with my vision.

Megan Driscoll: So one of the things that I think is kind of interesting about the CRM and the, so this is for anybody who doesn't know, it's a client management system, essentially. It gets you off of an Excel spreadsheet or whatever sort of nonsense that you were using beforehand, because it's just not, it's just not a workable, you can't work in an Excel spreadsheet. ⁓ It's just not something, you know, unless you know macros and you, someone has really built it for you to operate, you probably could get away a little while like that.

But there's something about everything getting cataloged, every email, but getting loaded that you're sending all your information, tagging people so you can find them very quickly, setting them into Julie Foster: Yes. Megan Driscoll: sort of like a sales pipeline that's automated. like, ⁓ you are going to be receiving a CRM that's populated with probably six or 7,000 people, not only just their names, but where they work, their phone numbers, their email addresses, all of them have received emails from you.

So they have received emails or they've responded in some way. These are people that haven't opted out, but they have been receiving over time. ⁓ And now you have the ability to automatically reach them. as often as you want to.

If you want to send a monthly newsletter to them, every single one of those new contacts can get a monthly newsletter. And they're not just names. These are executive directors at senior living facilities. are your prospects.

These are people that you can sell to who might not have bought from you today, but are going to be able to buy from you in the future because you're going to be able to stay in contact with them. So it's almost like an instant overnight business. That's kind of how I talk about it. it's hard to see the green Julie Foster: Yes.

Megan Driscoll: I think when you first start this, it's like, there's a little bit of trust. You gotta trust me. You have to trust me that when I turn this baby over to you, you're gonna be so excited. But I think if you can trust in the system, then when we get there to the part where we actually turn it over to you.

Julie Foster: Yes. Megan Driscoll: Um, it's a really magical moment. So I'm excited to actually do that. It's almost feels like when you're an interior designer and you, you basically do the big reveal or whatever.

This is kind of how I feel when I like turn the CRM over to you. Um, and I will note that it does take some time, um, to set it up. Uh, it can be a little frustrating. There's a lot of backend connections that have to happen.

There's, you know, there's a lot of information that we have to gather. Cause we really, for me, um, in anything that we do, it's really important that the AF Julie Foster: Yes. Megan Driscoll: tools and the tools in general, the tech that we provide works and it's something that you will use. Julie Foster: Mm-hmm.

Yes. Megan Driscoll: anybody can do kind of a quick and dirty setup of a CRM and then they'll never use it and what's the point? So it's really about like making sure the backend setup is correct. We know what we're trying to accomplish.

It's easy to use. I strip a lot of the CRMs down to very basic information so that when you walk in there, you are not confused even on day one. ⁓ So yeah, so I think it's gonna be like a real game changer. I mean, it's already been a game changer, but I think it's gonna be like a real game changer for your business as we move forward.

Tell me a little bit about some of the AI that you're implementing. Julie Foster: Yes. Megan Driscoll: on your own for like organizational purposes or tell me some things about you've worked with that you've liked or things that you've tried and you didn't like. Julie Foster: Okay, so my business coach has really helped me see even just the basic chat GPT, how it can help in so many ways.

⁓ And like I alluded to earlier, it initially helped me figure out how I will work best in this new schedule, this new pace of life. ⁓ so she taught me to go into chat. GPT and say, you know, this is what I'm this is my business. This is my personality or what's the other thing?

⁓ No, ⁓ like those personality tests, what the hell are they called? ⁓ What was it? ⁓ human design, human design. Take my human design, put it in Chalk GBT and say, this is what I wanna do.

This is how I work. And then build me a schedule for the next 30 days. And so it spits out, you should spend this amount of time on reaching out to your current contacts and this amount of time going to network events. It just helps me figure out.

how best to use my time and be efficient. ⁓ And then now ⁓ I've been using it for now six months to build my planning, like my group ⁓ content. So when I'm doing group coaching, ⁓ so now it has like, it understands my voice and my strengths and my weaknesses. It will tell you your weaknesses too.

And... Even I applied for ⁓ a $25,000 grant and it helped me, you know, really put my business in perspective of this grant. And it's just, there's no end to what it can do. It's just how you're asking it, what you're asking it, what you're feeding it.

So let's chat, cheapy tea. And then I have another friend who has helped me see the value of Claude. Is that what it is? Claude.

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm. Megan Driscoll: Yeah, I like clad.

Julie Foster: I'm just in a trial phase of it and that's more about my brand voice and making sure it's the same all the way across all channels. ⁓ And then where I can ⁓ in the future, my next phase or my next growth opportunity, I hope is to create online courses so that I don't have to be physically at each appointment or each event. you know, another stream of income. ⁓ So even, you know, Claude has been saying, you know, when, know, when you use this content, it will also transfer nicely to your online or your digital products or your digital platforms.

So I'm starting to like Claude. Megan Driscoll: Yeah, I think that's really important to like ⁓ to be thinking about ⁓ how to multiply yourself as a business owner, right? Especially in a service based business where you can only bring on as much work as. Julie Foster: Mm-hmm.

Megan Driscoll: you can bring on, right? Like it's your time. And when you're full and you're saying, time out, I can't work anymore, that's it. Unless you're going to increase your prices significantly, your revenue is going to be capped.

So moving to an online course platform, I think, is a really amazing thing for sole practitioners that are in any field of like a. Julie Foster: can handle. Yeah. Yeah.

Megan Driscoll: that you're doing. ⁓ And then, you it's interesting too, I think we've talked on this podcast a lot about sort of making sure that your GPT understands who you are and kind of like an origin story, because then they will give you... Julie Foster: Yes. Megan Driscoll: information that is based on what they already know about you, because they're actually learning who you are and learning your voice.

And so I think that that key, that's really key and important to keep in mind. And then, so, okay, so in terms of, the other thing we didn't talk about was, so a lot of people to small businesses struggle with social media, and they don't know what to say, and there's a lot of like, Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Yes. Megan Driscoll: What do I say?

When do I say it? Like, ugh, you know? ⁓ So I actually work with and I sort of just pass the cost of actually the social media strategies, strategists that I work with. I really just pass on to clients.

There's like a through, it's like a throughput. ⁓ She charges me and then I just charge the client basically. But she's amazing because she does deep research into like what is the content that makes sense? And then she provides you with like a three month calendar and you can just grab and go.

How is it doing that? working with her or working with me with her on her content. Julie Foster: Yes, having that as a tool ready to go has helped me so much. It keeps me on task.

She did really do a great job with the deep dive and getting, I feel like she really knows me and my vision and what I want my business to look like and sound like. So that is first, number one, I trust that. And then, yeah, so, and then I took a physical calendar and wrote out like, week one, the theme is, know, anticipatory grief. And then, you know, Monday, Wednesday, or, you know, we're posting Monday, Wednesday, Friday, you know, Monday is a true, you know, truth, a trust building posting.

And I never was one to really pay attention to how many views are you getting, or, you know, what kind of response and, but now that she's taught me to pay attention to that, now I can I have data. to see what resonates with clients, what resonates with people versus what totally fell flat. Don't do that again. yeah, that has been such a pleasant surprise to have that as a tool.

Yeah, it just ended. April 1st, I'm on my own. I'm trying, know, using what I've learned for the next three months. Megan Driscoll: Yeah, and you can go back and refresh with her.

We talked about that, getting another three months worth of data. Between that, you might get another six months out of it, repurposing what she does. Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Megan Driscoll: ⁓ because I do think there's something really nice about not having to think it through. And also I love the 90 days. Like it's really nice to actually be like, okay, I have content for 90 days here that I know is going to resonate. don't even need to think about it.

All I have to think about is like, what picture do I want to capture when I post it? You know, I just think it's, it's really great. I actually use, I know you went on an individually posted, you know, you actually set it up through, I think through meta to do it, but I use a platform that I really like. It's a new AI tool called social B.

⁓ Julie Foster: Mm-hmm. Megan Driscoll: And I really like SocialBee because you can load any of your platforms in there. It posts it all at once, just like a hoot sweet would, but I like SocialBee better. It seems a little bit easier to use.

It allows you to sort of categorize the types of posts you're doing. ⁓ It also allows for like automatic first commenting, ⁓ which is really nice. So if you're like, link in the comments, you know, it's automatically putting it out there. ⁓ It has all the analytics in one place.

So whatever platforms you're using, even if it's like Pinterest or whatever, it doesn't matter. All your analytics are all in one spot. I really like social B it's pretty cheap monthly fee for the ability to kind of like one stop shop, push everything out. So I'm just making that suggestion to you, but to the audience too, for social media management, I do really, really like it.

And I've been, yeah, you're welcome. And I've tried Hootsuite. I mean, I've tried them all and Julie Foster: Thank you, that's helpful because I've literally been doing all of that manually. Megan Driscoll: This is the one that I like the best, yeah.

Well, listen, it was amazing to have you on today. I love having a client come and talk about AI and talk about their business and startup and whatnot. It's been really fun. ⁓ Where can people reach you if they want to connect?

Julie Foster: So my website is anewpathcoaching.com and my email is Julie at anewpathcoaching.com. yeah, on my website I have a free 30 minute consultation to get to know somebody, whether grief coaching is an appropriate service for them and then we go from there, so yeah.

Megan Driscoll: Well, and I can attest to Julie's one of the kindest, most wonderful people that I've met. there's no better person I would want to saddle with my grief. You can handle it. If I ever get myself in a situation, which it's inevitable, it's inevitable.

⁓ You're the first person I'm calling. So it was great to have you on. Thank you so much, Julie. Julie Foster: Thank you.

Yep, yep, I can handle it. Yes, call me. Yes. Thank you, Megan.