On this episode of Own Your Next, I talk with Kayla Orozco, founder and design engineer at Mesquite & Thorn Digital, an independent mobile app studio in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Kayla spent almost six years designing chatbots and phone systems for contact centers. This year she started building her own apps, including Handsful, a baby tracker made for parents of twins and other multiples, and School Supplied, which merges school supply lists into one shopping list.

She shares what surprised her while building with AI, why beta testing is hard, and what marketing looks like when you are self-funded. We also talk about where AI is going and what it means for everyday people. If you are curious about building your own app with AI, this conversation is for you.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Welcome, and meeting Kayla Orozco
0:38 Kayla's background: Brownsville, Texas, and almost six years in conversational AI
1:42 Chatbots, contact centers, and how fast AI has moved
2:09 Handsful: a baby tracker built for twins and other multiples
5:04 What surprised Kayla while building an app
7:07 Beta testing, trust, and launching sooner
8:29 School Supplied: merging school supply lists
11:43 Turning school forms and events into reminders
12:57 Marketing the apps: socials, ads, and UGC on a self-funded budget
14:48 Why marketing is the whole game
16:31 Time, energy, and balance
17:01 Where is AI going? Regulation, Hollywood, and everyday people
19:56 Fear of new technology and new kinds of jobs
21:56 The pivotal moment question
22:33 Building her own thing
24:35 Taking action
26:04 Wrap up and where to find Kayla

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KAYLA OROZCO AND MESQUITE & THORN DIGITAL
Kayla on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylaorozco
Mesquite & Thorn Digital: https://www.mesquiteandthorn.digital/
Studio on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mesquite-thorn-digital/
Studio on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mesquiteandthorn

HANDSFUL (baby tracker for twins and other multiples)
Website: https://handsful.app
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/handsful-baby-tracker/id6797077032
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.handsful.app

SCHOOL SUPPLIED (merges school supply lists into one shopping list)
Website: https://schoolsupplied.app
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/school-supplied/id6777847242
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.schoolsupplied

Also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Jim Kreinbrink has kept his agency growing for more than 20 years while search, and now AI, changed everything. His secret? "The problem isn't the problem. My reaction is the problem."

I'm Jennifer McPherson. I didn't start my first business until I was 48, and Own Your Next is about taking ownership of what comes next in life, business and leadership.

My guest is Jim Kreinbrink, owner and founder of HyperDog Media. He founded the Denver-area agency in 2004 and has spent more than two decades driving growth through search, paid media, digital PR and now AI-driven discovery. Jim also started the Denver SEO Meetup in 2007, created SearchCon in Breckenridge, and AgencyCon grew out of SearchCon. He brought AgencyCon back last spring and it sold out. I was there, and I'll see Jim at the next one.

We talk about the moment that changed his agency's direction, staying open to new technology (including AI), keeping a human in the loop, the emotional side of losing a client, why agencies need to remarket themselves to their own clients, and building community in Denver.

🐾 Connect with Jim Kreinbrink
HyperDog Media: https://www.hyperdogmedia.com/
Jim's bio: https://www.hyperdogmedia.com/jim-kreinbrink/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hyperdogmedia
HyperDog Media on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hyper-dog-media
AgencyCon: https://agencycon.events/

🎧 Listen to Own Your Next
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/own-your-next-bold-moves-in-business-life/id1861608494
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47U9XlAOcCQzH9NHLJvX54
Substack: https://jenmcp.substack.com

💬 Want to use AI in your business? Comment SKOOL and I'll send you an invite to my free Level Up AI community.

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Drew Hendricks has a degree in Philosophy and Ancient Greek, spent ten years as a wine buyer in San Francisco, and now runs Nimbletoad, an AI-powered marketing agency. In this episode, Drew shares how he jumped from wine to the web, why he calls AI "a revolution, not just an evolution," and what small businesses should do right now to get found when customers ask AI instead of Google. We talk content creation, SEO's big shakeup, building an AI growth flywheel, and the bold moves still ahead of him.

Highlights: Drew's entrepreneurial journey from the wine industry to founding a digital agency, how AI is changing marketing and business operations, using AI for content creation and SEO, generative engine optimization (getting found in AI search), building a continuous growth flywheel with AI, cost-effective AI tools for small businesses, and Drew's next bold moves.

Learn more about Drew Hendricks at nimbletoad.com. Own Your Next: Bold Moves in Business & Life is hosted by Jennifer McPherson. New episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.