5: The Unstuck Entrepreneur: How Jen Murphy Uses AI to Reclaim Time and Creativity
Episode 5 of Kinwise Conversations · Hit play or read the transcript below
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Lydia Kumar: Welcome to Kinwise Conversations, where we explore what it means to integrate AI into our work and lives with care, clarity, and creativity. Each episode we talk with everyday leaders navigating these powerful tools, balancing innovation with intention and technology with humanity. I'm your host, Lydia Kumar.
Today, I'm so excited to chat with Jen Murphy. Jen is the entrepreneurial force behind a successful wedding planning company based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. She's a mom, and as a fun note for listeners, Jen is a classmate of mine in our MBA program. What makes Jen's perspective so valuable is her fascinating journey from a decade in social work, grappling with systematic challenges and mental health and disability services, to finding a new path that blends her deep commitment to community and human connection with her creative and organizational talents.
In the highly personal world of event planning, we'll be diving into how she leverages AI to enhance her human-centric business, the surprising ways her social work background informs her current work, and her insights on embracing new technology without losing that essential personal touch.
Lydia Kumar: Hi Jen. I'm so happy to have you on the show today. For our listeners, Jen and I are actually in an MBA program together, which is how I met her, and it's been really cool to hear snippets about her work in class and in different groups that we've been in. But I want to pause now and give Jen a chance to go ahead and introduce herself and talk a little bit about her work and who she is.
Jen Murphy: Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited for this conversation. I think it's extremely timely, and very much needed. Um, but I am Jen. Um, I am a business owner of a wedding planning company based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. And as Lydia mentioned, uh, we are also in an MBA program, and I also work full-time as an event planner. And I'm a mom of a college kid and a dog. There's always something going on.
Lydia Kumar: I feel like you do a lot of things. Have you always been in the event planning space, Jen? How did you begin working on weddings and with events?
Jen Murphy: Yeah, I started off in mental health. So I went to NC State for undergrad and I got my Bachelor of Arts in social work. So I worked in social work or as a social worker for about 10 years. It's crazy to say I did anything for 10 years at this point. Um, and I struggled a lot with the parameters of mental health, um, and just the lack of resources and, um, the amount of people that we could not help. Um, although we made lots of major strides with the people who have the right resources or the money or the insurance, there are a lot more people who don't. Um, and that was really hard for me to just stay in a broken system.
I specialized in two different sorts of sides of it. I worked with people who had eating disorders, mostly women that had eating disorders. I worked at a treatment facility. Um, and then I also worked with people who had disabilities, um, and helped them find employment and keep their employment. So I loved working with those communities. My heart is in community based work, but I just, it's hard to work in a broken system. There's only so much you can do. So it just felt like defeating work after a while, and it was really hard for me to leave because I'm very much a right-fighter. Um, and so it's hard to give up a fight, but when you realize it's bigger than you and there's not much you can do, it's like, how do I spend my energy? And I decided that I wanted to shift into something that would feed into my creativity and still help people, and I wouldn't have the same barriers that I did in mental health. So I was planning events for friends and family, and I did that for a little bit. And then I was like, I should turn this into a real thing and see what happens. And um, I think this December will be 10 years.
Lydia Kumar: That's amazing. When you think about community and the importance of community and mental health and how you're planning events for people in your community, it just feels like there's a throughline for you. I feel like we're getting at one of your values and maybe something that you've been able to carry forward. Can you speak a little bit to that?
Jen Murphy: Absolutely. Um, it's weird, I call myself an intra-extrovert because I really value my alone time. Um, but I love being around people. Um, I love just community. I love a mission. Um, I always say if I didn't have, if I wasn't a mom, I probably would be like in, uh, like, I don't know, advocacy—not, I mean activism, um, and like, like a Jasmine Crockett, like I love her so much. I'm like, that's who I would be, but I'm like, my kid gets one mom, and I'm just not willing to put my life on the line for it. So I found safer things to do. Um, and so it allows me to really work with people and in my social work background, you learn about crisis management and just like conflict resolution, and there's a lot of that in weddings. There's a lot of that. There's lots of therapy that happens on our calls, where it turns into a therapy session because the couple can't make a decision. And then I can tell it's like a bigger discussion that didn't happen in that moment, but you could just feel like this has been an ongoing conversation. So people often, yeah, people,
Lydia Kumar: I feel like we often fight about the same things in different contexts, and so I'm sure you're seeing a lot of that in the wedding spaces. It's like the thing that you hold, the thing that you're carrying just shows up in bigger ways when you're more stressed.
Jen Murphy: Oh my God. Family dynamics, friend dynamics, every—I don't tell couples this off the bat, but I, I'm always like, you lose one friend every wedding. There's one person that becomes jealous, and it is just like true feelings really start to show up because, and I'm for the life of me can't figure out like, what is it about these supposedly like, these high moments in people's lives that have just created this level of just like, uh, friction? And I think it's just the amount of attention that gets put on that one person, and then that kind of reveals the other person's like, deeper feelings. So it's really interesting.
Lydia Kumar: Weddings are so human, and like social work is such a human thing too, where you're working with people, and then events and, and weddings are so human because you're bringing together this huge community of friends and family for an event that feels like the most important event in someone's life. And that is, that's so big. And so your ability to read people and be with them and navigate complicated emotions has to be so key to do the work that you do. And it's more than just the execution side of being able to manage the logistics and the plans and the vendors, but it's also knowing who the people are that you're working with so that you can help them have the event that they want because you're not just putting an event on, you're actually crafting something alongside of them.
Jen Murphy: Absolutely. It, you know, I always go into any of the work, like even when I'm like, I don't feel like it—'cause we all have those moments where I'm like, I don't feel like working on this floor plan or this timeline. I was up last night doing one, and but once I finally get into my rhythm, I'm like, what would I want mine to look like? What, what would I want someone to do for me if I, if I had a planner? Um, like how would I want them to structure it? So I try to put myself in their shoes, and I feel like that's what keeps it very human and keeps us humble in the process and not like, oh, we do this all the time. Like, no, every, every event is very different. And they have different dynamics and different goals and different everything. Even though the, like the end result is ultimately the same, everything is just different across the board.
Lydia Kumar: So this is a podcast about generative AI, which you know, and you are in an industry that is so human-centric. And now we have this artificial intelligent technology, and so I'm curious about how that has entered into your work and what it's looked like for you.
Jen Murphy: Yeah. Um, it's amazing for me. Like I embrace it, you know, like I am all for anything new. It's an adventure. Um, but I think for me, like I have found that in our industry, most of our work, or at least as a planner, you're essentially a project manager. So it requires a lot of organization. And really keeping your details clean through the process, um, and really tracking with your clients as this thing is evolving. So the biggest weight that I think it has helped me manage better is keeping things organized. Um, I think most of us, if you've been in school or you've had to like work on a project over and over and over again, like just feel like you're just beating this dead horse. Then you find that you make errors and you miss them because you've looked at it a million times. You've memorized it pretty much. And having, uh, any kind of AI is helpful to like, help me identify those things and kind of take a step back and help me identify discrepancies or things that maybe I didn't initially catch, or, you know, things that don't match, which is our job is to like find the discrepancy and make the day cohesive and make it flow. And if so, if there's friction, like that is really the core of my job to make sure we undo that, or we smooth it over, or we come up with a new solution. And sometimes you're just doing so many different things that you miss it. And so it's nice to know that I have, um, something that can sort of catch those things behind me. Um, and so that's helpful and you know, just really just keeping the details organized, that makes my process go a lot faster. So being able to, like, it allows me to not be in the mundane so much like I used to. Um, and I can focus on like real client work, like that one-on-one time where I used to spend hours reviewing vendor contracts and you know, like we review those contracts, not because we're attorneys, but because a lot of vendors put a lot of their requirements and expectations in their contracts with the client, and so like that's valuable information for us. Um, but going through this legal jargon would take hours to go through one or two, which just is not efficient. Um, when I really just need to know like how many hours are you gonna be here? What do you need in order to do your job? And any other thing like that that stands out. But I'm reading like pages and pages of just legal jargon. Now I can just plug it into like a ChatGPT and I'm like, give me the logistics of like an event day. What does this vendor need? And it spits it out and we're done onto the next vendor, onto the next thing, and I can, you know, put that into their timeline or make sure that we've covered this information when we meet with that vendor and that client, um, so that everyone's on the same page.
Lydia Kumar: It's such a good example of using the technology to take away that busy work. Your highest leverage skill is not reading complicated legal documents. It's being alongside people as they're navigating this huge day and trying to remove those frictions. That's such a great example of a practical thing that someone can do to be able to find the most important information so that they can do the most important work that they have to do.
Jen Murphy: Yeah. And it doesn't cost the client more money, you know? It's like we charge, I charge based on like on average, this is how long it typically takes us to do it. So now we can spend that time on more important things that they need. We've been able to streamline packages even more just because we know, like here are the things that are like wash, rinse, repeat, and then that leaves all this extra room for like, customization, personal details, hand-holding, whatever it needs to be. But spending that kind of time on a vendor contract is just, it, it's frivolous when you think of the grand scheme of like what I'm going through, you know? Um, but you, you don't want to waste the vendor's time either when it's all laid out right here.
Lydia Kumar: You need that information. But legal documents are such a pain. They're hard to read. They take a lot of time. You dive through them and you can read over something and have to go back. So it's a really cool use case to think about for anyone who has to review documents like that.
Lydia Kumar: Jen shared how AI transforms tedious tasks into efficient processes, freeing her to focus on what truly matters: human connection. If you're ready to integrate AI strategically into your organization with clarity and care, discover how to embark on your AI journey and leverage the special pilot launch pricing by visiting kinwise.org/pilot. That's kinwise.org/pilot.
Lydia Kumar: You were talking a lot about using AI for your project management, and so if you were going to teach someone how to do what you do when it comes to having AI help you catch those details, could you kind of walk through how you have learned to use it? And I'm also curious about what AI tools that you like to use.
Jen Murphy: I go between ChatGPT and Claude. So Chat is good for like drafting out those emails when you're like in your feelings, and I'm like, I really have a lot of words, but they're not appropriate. So I'm just gonna brain dump it into Chat, and it's gonna make it sound so much better. Um, and I feel like Chat does a really good job of helping me brainstorm initial ideas. So like I consider myself to be a creative, but I get stuck in that ideation stage. Mm-hmm. And so like I really enjoy being able to sort of ping-pong back and forth where I used to do that with my friends who are also business owners, but sometimes they're just not in the right headspace or they don't care about your project the way you do, and it just feels like you're not getting what you need. And now it's like, I'll just ask Chat. Um, and, and then Claude is really good for large documents. Like you can upload, like if I have a lengthy vendor contract or a timeline that I need it to like help me go through, um, that I've already created, um, or just have like a bunch of documents that I'm like, does this all make sense? You know, I can dump it in there and Claude can, um, sort of condense it down and like review that. And then now there's DeepSeek, and I've been playing around with that. Um, I, I don't know how I feel about it yet, but apparently it's supposed to be, it's supposed to be blowing all these other ones out of the water. I, I play around with it here and there, so I, I don't have strong feelings about it yet, so I'm, that's still pending. Um, and then there's this other one that I don't think a lot of people know about. Um, it's called Gamma AI, I think. Um, and that one helps me create lead generation documents. So, you know, like for my marketing, um, it, I can just like put the content in there or I can say create a, a, uh, 10-point checklist for beginner brides, and it'll create a PDF that people can download. And now we're, I've exchanged information with them. I can keep in touch with them and grow my community, um, my platform and potentially book new clients. And those, um, lead generations used to take me, I used to do them on Canva. And they would take me days to design just 'cause that's not my wheelhouse. So I'm just spending a lot of like brain power on something that I shouldn't be doing, and I didn't want to pay anyone to do it. So now we have all of these other like tools that can, that can really like expedite that process in a major way.
Lydia Kumar: For you, you've shared a lot of examples about how using AI tools have saved you time and made you more efficient. How do you see that time being reallocated for you and your business? How do you see that time being reallocated for you or your business? And maybe if you have a story. Like you were working with a particular client and you were able to use time in a different way, that kind of thing.
Jen Murphy: So many stories. Um, even last night I was up working on a floor plan, um, and I have a client who's getting married New Year's Eve. Um, so she's doing like a New Year's Eve wedding, and we don't typically do floor plans this far out. If you're, if you're doing day-of coordination, which is what most people are familiar with, that's when we come in about 90 days before the wedding day and we just take all of the work the client has done and tie up, tie up all their loose ends, and we organize it, we make it clean. We, we put it into like final documents and get it going. So we're really early in the process, but she's trying to do her rental order to get her linens, the number of tables she needs, chairs, you know, like any of that stuff. And most clients seem to do okay on their own without the floor plan. But this one was like, I visually need to see it. Um, and I get that. So it's, I'll offer to do it early for people. Um, so I was doing one for her last night, and, um, she wants family-style dinner, which means long tables, like not rounds. 'Cause you can't really do family-style on a round table. It doesn't make sense. You want long tables, kind of like Beauty and the Beast where like people can pass around food and like, you know, share and, and it's supposed to be a very intimate situation, but the logistics of the venue and the ballroom and the number of people and the tables, and it's like this, none of this makes sense. And it's so early in the process that I'm like, none of this is gonna be true by the time we really start this process. But a lot of times, like you just kind of appease them so that they can get to the next step. A lot of times I'll get stuck, and so I was, and I, I like shot myself or I was sort of beating myself up, 'cause I'm like, you spent so much brain power on this that you could have just like asked ChatGPT, run the numbers for you. How many, like we've got this many guests. I need this many head table, and then this is, how many are leftover? How many tables do we need? And you know, like for family-style, like what does this look like? This, it is just so many details and just like, you're having a family-style dinner. It sounds so simple, but I'm like, when you really get into the weeds, like, and so I'm like, I finally just go on AI, and it's like, oh, you need this many tables. Um, you don't put people on the ends because servers, the servers need to be able to reach around and get to people and it's all these things that people don't think about, um, in real time. And so like, this was at like 1:00 AM at this point, my brain is like done. So I'm like, I need some help because I thought I could just throw this together. And I was like, you know, you kind of do a simple task thinking you're gonna be in and out, and then you're not. And then now you're committed to this thing, and it's like, I've got to like get a hard stop, but I also want to wrap it up and send it to the client too. Um, so Chat helped me get out of my own way, um, and just really helped me like, make sense of it. 'Cause I just had too many options on the table, and I was like, you need to narrow this down to three to send to her. Um, and so that is like one of the many examples of like just being in the weeds and like, it just being able to get me to the answer faster and just making it clear.
Lydia Kumar: It seems so helpful, especially if you're a solo entrepreneur who's doing a lot of work independently, and you talked about how you have friends who are also business owners, who you can bounce ideas around with, but there's something so helpful about being able to have a kind of partner that you can just spit out ideas with, so it can help you identify something that can help you think about the details that you might be missing, and then all of a sudden it's like you can get unstuck faster. And then once you're unstuck, you can move on to something else, to the next thing, because we have limited brain space and capacity. And if you're spending hours making a floor plan, then you're not spending hours thinking about something else.
Jen Murphy: Yeah, absolutely. Like I, like, I love the brainstorming phase of it, and um, so I think AI can help in pretty much every phase. Um, but I'm, I am particular about using it in, again, these like mundane tasks, so then like I can really show up in all the other areas that a client expects me to show up because I don't, one of my friends is really into AI, and he's like, you can really like, plug in all these things into your website and it can do all this for you and talk to your clients. And I'm like, I'm not ready for that yet. Like, I don't, I really want it to be behind the scenes. I don't, I don't think clients are ready for AI to be the thing that's doing it and they know it. You know what I mean? So, um, for me there's a fine line of like that ethical line and just being like a true professional and people feeling like they're getting what they paid for.
Lydia Kumar: What do you think is appropriate for AI to do and what is not? Like how do you make that call?
Jen Murphy: If AI can make, again, those like mundane, repetitive, administrative sort of tasks, where it's just organizing things, um, I think that's absolutely okay because I'm still a thought leader. When it takes me out of being the thought leader, then I think that's where it crosses the line. And I think that's,
Lydia Kumar: Jen's insights beautifully illustrate that the future of work with AI isn't about replacing human touch, but about enhancing it ethically and thoughtfully. If you're a leader, educator, or business owner, grappling with how to maintain that essential human element while embracing new technology, explore our AI visioning and policy labs or our workshops for team leaders at kinwise.org/workwithus.
Jen Murphy: Um, and, and I've played around with it 'cause people have asked me like, well, people like, why would they hire you and they could just use AI to do their wedding? And I'm like, yeah, they could. But AI, the biggest thing is like, AI's not gonna show up. ChatGPT is not gonna be the one at your wedding to greet your DJ and your venue and your guests and tell your DJ that you forgot to put a speaker into the hall where cocktail hour is. So it's awkwardly silent in there right now. It's not gonna do that. Um, but also like I have put it into like ChatGPT, just to see like I'm a bride and I don't know like how to plan my wedding, plan my wedding for me. And I am like, some things are correct, some things are very wrong. And I'm like, if someone followed this, it would, it would, no, it would be a disaster. So there's, we still have a ways to go. Um, and I think people still want people to help them. I think what we're finding with this whole AI thing and people being nervous about it, is people are like, we still want human connection. I think that's just gonna look different. And again, like we will be able to show up without having to do so much admin or heavy lifting of just stuff that we really don't want to spend our time on, and we can focus on like the actual important work that we are like, this is why I do what I do.
Lydia Kumar: That's really beautiful and something I think about all the time is what are the trade-offs that we can make with this technology? Personally, I don't think we're going to not have work to do. I just think that the work that we're gonna have to do can look different than it has in the past. Just like when the Industrial Revolution happened, work looked different. And so I think as we learn how to use this technology, it doesn't mean work disappears. It just means that the way we do our work changes, and there can be some really good things about that. Hopefully we do less mundane things so we can really lean into our gifts and the skills that we have.
Jen Murphy: Yeah.
Lydia Kumar: I'm wondering how did you start, and what did that feel like at first, and what has the journey been like?
Jen Murphy: Probably my, my same friend, um, JK. He is Mr. AI. Like he goes to the AI conferences, like anything he could do with AI, he's gonna do it. And so, like he was, I'm sure the reason that he's like, you need to try this thing out. And I'm like, fine, whatever. Um, and then like, I, I think I just like started asking, I really, it's gonna sound so dumb. I started asking it like random questions, and then I was like, you know, you kind of get excited. It's like, oh wow, this is like really cool. And then I was like, say it like Kevin Hart. And then it did. And I was like, this is so funny. And then it was like, oh, let me see if they can like help me, you know, with this, I don't know, like this checklist or this email or, so it kind of like, I think, you know, like for me it was just like, I'm just gonna play. I'm gonna just throw like spaghetti at the wall and just see like, what does it come up with? And even down to like, I was joking with someone the other day about like relationship advice, like the whole tone. I don't know if you've ever done that like in your personal life, but the whole tone of like ChatGPT changes. It's like, in my mind it was a gay man talking to me because it was like, "Yes, girl!" And I was like, whoa,
Lydia Kumar: That is so funny.
Jen Murphy: So funny. I was like, I like this version of Chat. It was hilarious. I was like, okay. So I guess it tries to like meet you where you are, like, we're like working, so we're gonna be serious. We're not working. We can like have all the feels.
Lydia Kumar: Yeah, because you know, it's trained on people and there are relationship people that it can imitate. And so if you would've given, and it would've probably given you relationship advice in the voice of Kevin Hart if you had asked it to. So I guess another thing I'm curious about, you're a business owner and you started using AI and you're using it successfully, and you have friends who are also business owners. Do you see people, other people who own businesses using AI to the extent that you are yet? And do you have advice for people who may want to start and aren't there yet?
Jen Murphy: Yeah. Um, I think most of my like counterparts in their respective fields, I mean, my one friend I mentioned, he's in marketing. Other one is a videographer in the wedding industry. Another one's a real estate agent, another one is an estate attorney. We're all using it, um, and I think most of them are using it to either automate their systems, um, just help them with those administrative things or like bookkeeping, like, let me plug in all my expenses, help me figure out my bookkeeping so I can give this to my CPA. Um, just very practical things that save us a lot of money and just figuring out like, I was gonna hire this person, but I don't need them for this like, mundane thing, or they can do that on AI for me and all the other things that need to get done by a human being, you know? Um, so we, we all talk about it a lot, um, in, in like, how is it helping you? How's it helping me? And so I found that like anything that's speeding up those things that we really don't want to do, even down to like social media, like help me figure out some ideas and a script or whatever the case may be. Um, so I'm finding that most of us are using it for those reasons. Um, and then for people who haven't done it, I was at a conference a couple months ago and it was about AI in the wedding industry. And the like the speaker was like, how many of you are using it? And there was probably like 50 of us in there and only like five of us raised our hands. And I was very surprised at like, why, why aren't you guys using, like we do hard work, like our days at a wedding minimum, 12 hours. Like, you know, like when you have a wedding day, you're gonna be there probably 12 hours. So it's just like I'm looking around and I'm confused. I'm like, why are you not using this thing? But a lot of the folks in there, like, we're all different ages, you know, it's like, is it an age gap? Is it just a technology gap? And like, I think the more that we're having these conversations, I'm realizing the same people that are not using AI, they're probably not using like basic systems that we've gotten comfortable with, like Excel. Like they're just not comfortable with that. So I think, um, thankfully, like AI could be like a way to expedite them to use those like, sort of standard systems that we use every single day. Um, and so I would just encourage people to like, just use it for your everyday uses until you get comfortable, like your grocery list or like maybe your meal planning or you need a workout plan or like whatever feels approachable to you, something that you're already familiar with, I think is the best way to start versus like trying to have it create like something for you that you have no clue about. Like start with what you know, and, and, and that you can decipher like what's true and what's not true. And then now you start to build this trust with the system and really understand how it works. And then you can go into more advanced things and be able to still identify things that don't feel like it may be for you or accurate. 'Cause it's not always right. Um, sometimes I'm like, "Chat, we're breaking up today. We're not doing this because you are way off. I don't know who you've been talking to, but it is not me." Um, but yeah, like just start with what you know, like just your normal thing. Like, I want to set a schedule for today, or like, how often should I take my dog on a walk? Like, don't overthink it, just make it simple. Start with what you feel comfortable with and then grow from there.
Lydia Kumar: Absolutely. The technology is actually pretty intuitive. It's just, you know, breaking into it. The other thing that I thought about when you were talking about what you know, I found that when I have the language to ask AI what I want, I get way better results. It's something that's been particularly cool about being in business school, and you may have felt the same way. It's like, I have more language so I can ask it to do different kinds of things. And so one piece of advice I would give people is, take the time to learn about different topics or things that might be interesting or helpful to you, because if you have the language, then you'll be able to do more with it.
Jen Murphy: Like I, we're in class and I want to ask a question, but I don't know how to phrase it. 'Cause I'm like, I don't even know what we're really talking about. I'll plug it into Chat, and I'm like, what is this and how does it work? And I'm like, oh, okay, now I understand.
Lydia Kumar: I totally get that. So now I'm gonna flip us back to the event industry. What changes do you see coming when it comes to planning events and this new technology?
Jen Murphy: I feel like the event industry is either very tech or not. So there's this like pendulum of, or this two extremes where you have these, like, especially the production companies, they are very advanced. So they're in the, like the tech of all of it. Like they're, they're already there. I was at a meeting the other day, we were planning an event for Epic Games, so we do their holiday party. And the production company like brought in all this, like this big proposal of like, here's what we want to do this year. And most of it's AI-generated, you know, but it's like 3D and like you can just, all the stuff that you could think of, like that would be in like a Pixar movie or something like that.
Lydia Kumar: Oh, that's a good question. Um,
Jen Murphy: Um, but then you've got vendors who, like I said at that conference, like they've never even touched AI and they're still doing stuff the old way. I feel, and it really annoys me, but I see a lot of vendors that don't have systems in place and for the life of me, I don't know why they make it hard for a client to pay them. And I'm like, there's so many things that you could do. Jen Murphy: Even if you put it in an AI system, it could tell you like, here's an easy way for a client to pay you. Um, but I see a client and the vendor going back and forth in an email on how a client needs to pay them. I'm like, this should be your number one priority. Like this is why you're in business. Like obviously there's a thing you love to do, but you want to get paid, and this should not be a barrier. Um, and there's so many vendors that that's a barrier, and that's just how they function. I'm like, it's such a waste of your time. Like that's, that's one of those things that you don't need to be in. Just let it automate itself. Figure out the language, figure out the system, let the people pay you, and that's it. Um, but I see that a lot. Um, so I think there will be kind of like what's happening in the world where there's like this separation of like, I know nothing about it, and I, and I'm not gonna do anything about it. And then I'm very advanced about it, and we're gonna just hit the ground running. So I think there will be some sort of gap, and I'm, I don't know how that's gonna play out over the next five or 10 years. Um, but I, as we're seeing in most industries, if you're not gonna keep up, you tend to get left behind. So I would hope that those people would embrace it. But, you know, I guess only time will tell.
Lydia Kumar: Absolutely, and I think because you can ask so many questions and figure out how to do things so quickly with ChatGPT and other AI tools, I could imagine more people entering into different spaces because you can figure things out on your own with a level of ease that has, has never been accessible before. Just like, you know, when you see, like in the past you'd have to go to the library and now you can Google those things, and you can ask your very specific question to ChatGPT and get a pretty accurate, detailed answer. It may not be perfect, but it'll give you enough for you to get started.
Jen Murphy: That's a huge change where you used to have to Google things or try to find it on YouTube, and it was like kind of what you needed, but not, not really like, so you're trying to piece all these things together and now you're just getting exactly what you need. And I've heard people say like, I don't even go to Google. I just go to ChatGPT to find local restaurants. And they're like using it as a directory. Now, I haven't done that yet, but I've heard people say that.
Lydia Kumar: So you can see that people are finding things in different ways, and that's changing the parameters of how we spend our time and how long something takes. And that opens up time to do other things, whether that's personal or professional. And when we have more time to do other things, it can make us show up in our professional spaces of our job better than we are when we're stretched super thin. So I think there's a lot of hope there too.
Jen Murphy: Oh yeah, for sure. Well, I'm excited to see what happens. I know there's like a scary part of AI, so, excuse me. I hope, you know, I hope that is tamed somehow. Um, and maybe the scary part is just all of us making it scary. Um, but, you know, we've heard so many different things and I, I tell people, I tell people, I'm like, we got through Y2K. Whatever that was. And I'm like, we'll get through this. Like you mentioned the Industrial Revolution and all these shifts in history, and I'm like, this is what that is, and things will just have to shift. Um, and I'm excited to be alive for, to watch this real history happen and one day talk about it. Like it, you know, it's yesteryear. Like when, I mean my, my dad was the director of Sprint and so we had internet in our house, but I remember like the day that we got internet, like, it's so weird to say that 'cause I'm like, you're not that old. But I feel old. I'm like, and the internet is in our home. But it, and it wasn't accessible to us. It was like, this is what my dad does for work. It was in his office. Like that's it. Like it wasn't for anyone else. And now this, like everyone has it. I've got it on my watch, on my phone, like my, like I've got the Ray-Ban glasses. That's all there, you know? And it's just so crazy to see in this lifetime, like we went from watching it start to now we're, you know, like it's just, you can't function without it. It's become essential.
Lydia Kumar: Absolutely. So I want to bring us to my last question, and that is, what is the idea or question about AI that you cannot stop thinking about?
Jen Murphy: Um, I, I think it is part of that, um, I think it is the, the fearmongering that I hear where it's like, you know, bad people are gonna make it do bad things. And I'm just like, what does that mean? Like, really, like what does that mean? What does that look like? Um, so that's sort of looming. Um, but I think more commonly I'm thinking about, I'm really thinking about people getting left behind and I, and I don't want them to. And I really like, I'm like, it's such an easy tool that I, I don't, people are terrified of change and that's just like, man, this thing is so powerful in a good way. Um, if you know how to type, then you know how to use AI. And I just want people to know, like it's that simple. Um, and you should try it because that's, this is where we are. Um, and I just, I want people to be able to keep up, no matter your age and what you do for a living. Um, because it's, it's gonna be integrated into our everyday lives, even more than what it is now. And I just hate to see like people be resistant just because it's different. Um, and so like that's something I think that's like the community side of me is like, we need to embrace this thing. It's here. It's not going anywhere. You just gotta be okay with it and, and learn how to like, allow it to help you.
Lydia Kumar: That was such a fascinating and practical conversation with Jen Murphy. A huge thank you to her for sharing how she uses AI to support her very human-centric business. It's a powerful example of how these tools can help us offload mundane tasks to free up more time for what truly matters: creativity, client relationships, and our own wellbeing.
And continuing our theme of AI and deeply human professions. Join me next time on Kinwise Conversations where I'm honored to be joined by Mariah Street. She's an attorney whose personal experiences ignited a passion for helping others navigate the crucial conversations around legacy planning. We'll explore her journey, how she balances the profound human element of her work with the practical applications of AI, and the ethical considerations she navigates in a highly regulated industry. You won't want to miss it.
Lydia Kumar: To dive deeper into today's topics with Jen, I put everything for you in one place. Just head over to the resource page for this episode at kinwise.org/podcast. There you'll find the full transcript, more about Jen, and a list of ChatGPT prompts inspired by our conversation. You'll also find details on our AI as a thinking partner mini-workshop, which is perfect if you were inspired by Jen's story. Finally, if you found value in this conversation, the best way to support the show is to subscribe, leave a quick review, or share the episode with a friend. It makes a huge difference.
Until next time, stay curious, stay grounded, and stay Kinwise.
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I hope you enjoyed hearing Jen Murphy's valuable insights on integrating AI with human-centric work in event planning. If you're inspired by her approach or have an upcoming event, here's how you can connect with Jen and her team:
Weddings Made To Order Official Website: Discover their services, portfolio, and learn how they craft unforgettable events with care and creativity. Visit the Website
Connect on LinkedIn: Follow Jen's professional journey and insights on event planning and business. Connect on LinkedIn
Follow on Instagram: Get a visual dose of their beautiful work, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and daily inspiration for event design. Follow on Instagram
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Prompt 1: For Streamlining Vendor Contract Review
"I am a wedding planner reviewing a vendor contract. My goal is to quickly extract all essential logistical information and key client obligations related to the event day. Please act as a specialized contract analyst.
From the following text, identify and list:
Vendor's Service Hours: Start time, end time, and any overtime clauses.
Required Resources/Setup: What the vendor needs from the venue or planner (e.g., table size, power access, setup time, specific equipment, meal requirements).
Client Responsibilities: Any actions or approvals the client (or planner on their behalf) must provide before, during, or after the event.
Payment Schedule & Terms: Key dates, amounts, and methods.
Cancellation/Reschedule Policies: Deadlines and potential fees.
Deliverables: What the client can expect to receive (e.g., number of photos, video length, specific items).
Here is the contract text: [PASTE FULL VENDOR CONTRACT TEXT HERE]"
Prompt 2: For Overcoming Creative Blocks in Event Design/Theming
"I am an event planner designing a [TYPE OF EVENT, e.g., 'New Year's Eve wedding', 'corporate holiday party', 'gala fundraiser'] for [NUMBER] guests at a venue with a [DESCRIBE VENUE STYLE/FEATURES, e.g., 'grand ballroom with high ceilings', 'rustic barn with outdoor space', 'modern downtown loft'].
My client's primary vision includes [CLIENT'S KEY VISION/MOOD, e.g., 'an intimate, family-style dinner', 'a vibrant, energetic celebration with lots of dancing', 'a sophisticated and elegant affair'].
Please generate three distinct, innovative concept ideas for the event. For each concept, suggest:
A unique theme name.
Key decor elements (lighting, floral, rentals).
Ambiance suggestions (music style, overall feel).
Interactive guest experiences (if applicable).
A brief justification for how it aligns with the client's vision.
Help me get unstuck from standard ideas and think creatively."
Prompt 3: For Efficient Floor Plan Logistics & Calculations
"I need help with event logistics for a [TYPE OF EVENT, e.g., 'wedding reception']. The event space is [DIMENSIONS OF ROOM, e.g., '60ft x 40ft'] and we are expecting [NUMBER] guests.
We are planning a [TYPE OF DINNER SERVICE, e.g., 'family-style dinner', 'plated dinner', 'buffet'] with [TYPE OF TABLES, e.g., 'long rectangular tables', 'round tables of 8-10 people'].
Please calculate the following, ensuring optimal guest comfort and service flow:
Number of Tables Needed: Specify type and estimated seating per table.
Recommended Layout Considerations: General placement of tables, dance floor (if applicable), serving stations/buffets, and bar areas.
Clearance/Walkway Dimensions: Minimum recommended space between tables and around key areas for guest and server access.
Service-Specific Notes: Any unique logistical considerations for a [TYPE OF DINNER SERVICE] (e.g., space for serving platters on tables, server access points).
Provide these calculations and considerations in a clear, bulleted format."
Prompt 4: For Drafting Professional Communications from Brain-Dumped Notes
"I need to draft a professional email to [RECIPIENT TYPE, e.g., 'a client', 'a vendor', 'a venue coordinator'] regarding [TOPIC, e.g., 'a delay in linen delivery', 'a change in the guest count', 'a request for venue access'].
I'm feeling [YOUR CURRENT EMOTION, e.g., 'frustrated', 'stressed', 'a bit annoyed'] about the situation.
Here are my unrefined thoughts/key points I need to convey: [BRAIN-DUMP YOUR UNFILTERED THOUGHTS, CONCERNS, AND NECESSARY INFORMATION HERE]
Please transform these notes into a polite, professional, and clear email. Ensure it maintains a respectful tone, clearly states the issue, and proposes a solution or requests specific action. Do not include any overly emotional language."
Prompt 5: For Generating Lead Magnet Content (e.g., Checklists, Guides)
"I am creating a lead magnet for my event planning business, targeting [TARGET AUDIENCE, e.g., 'newly engaged couples', 'couples planning a destination wedding', 'corporate event organizers'].
I need a [TYPE OF LEAD MAGNET, e.g., '10-point checklist', 'quick guide', 'top 5 tips'] titled '[PROPOSED TITLE, e.g., "The Essential Wedding Planning Kickstart Checklist", "Your Guide to a Stress-Free Corporate Event"].'
The purpose of this lead magnet is to [PURPOSE, e.g., 'help them get started with their planning', 'educate them on common pitfalls', 'provide value before they book a planner'].
Please generate the content for this lead magnet. Ensure the tone is [TONE, e.g., 'encouraging and informative', 'professional and authoritative'], the points are actionable, and it concludes with a call to action to learn more about my services.
Focus on [SPECIFIC TOPICS/AREAS OF FOCUS, e.g., 'initial budget planning, vendor selection, timeline basics', 'venue scouting, guest list management, entertainment options']."
