Share

LifePilot: Be the CEO of your life, not just your business!
116. Why most people are using AI wrong and how to make it work for you with Joshua Vial
Be honest. How are you actually using AI right now?
If you're like most people, you're probably asking it questions, tweaking some copy, maybe getting it to write a caption or two. And that's a great start. But what if AI could actually do the work for you? Like, really do it. Read and sort your emails. Schedule your social posts. Rebuild your website. Research every single person in a room before you walk in.
That's what my husband Joshua Vial has been building in our house for the last few years. And watching him do it has been equal parts inspiring and humbling. Every week I'd see him do something that made my jaw drop and I'd say, Josh, you have to come and tell people about this. So here we finally are.
Josh has spent 25 years as a programmer, co-founded Dev Academy Aotearoa where he helped hundreds of people go from zero to landing their first job in tech, and co-founded FundSorter, an AI platform saving New Zealand charities up to 90% of the time they used to spend chasing grant funding.
These days through Code With JV he runs courses and a newsletter helping real people cut through the noise and actually use AI in their work and lives. He is one of the most forward-thinking people I know. And I finally got him on the podcast.
So if you've been meaning to get better at working with AI and want to tap into its potential, this is the episode to teach you how.
What You'll Learn:
- Why thinking of AI as an "intelligence" is actually getting in your way, and what mental model works better
- The difference between Level 1 AI use (chat windows, copy paste) and Level 2, where AI has actual digital hands and does things for you
- Why AI is really good at producing things that look good but aren't, and how to protect yourself from that
- How to start systematising your work so AI can genuinely take things off your plate
- How Josh went from 2,000 unread emails across six inboxes to a fully AI managed system for almost nothing
- The social media workflow that took him from barely posting to 130,000 LinkedIn impressions in a week
More episodes
View all episodes

119. 119. How to Design Your Next Chapter (Even If You’re Scared) with Amy Goober
43:01||Season 1, Ep. 119What's the thing you've been talking about doing, that you still haven't started?If you're honest with yourself, you probably know exactly what it is. And you probably also know the reasons you've talked yourself out of it. The timing isn't right. You're not sure it'll work. What if you fail? What if people judge you? What if it's too late?Our guest, Amy Goober, is here to call time on all of that.Amy is an Action Coach, workshop leader, and speaker who has been building businesses, raising a family, and reinventing herself across four decades. She opened her first business, a cake bakery in Boston at 26 with zero business experience and a ponytail. She sold it seven years later to focus on her three children. Decades later, when her kids launched and life shifted, she didn’t shrink her world, she expanded it.At 60, she launched Drive Your Life™, helping women stop overthinking and start taking action. Today, she runs Better Together Events & Community, leads Wandering Women Travel experiences, and recently co-authored a book with her 93-year-old mother.She is not slowing down. She is speeding up. And she wants to take you with her.What You'll Learn:Why mid-life is one of the most powerful times to start something new, and why more women in their fifties and sixties are doing exactly thatHow Amy's "open the parachute on the way down" philosophy has carried her through every major transitionThe Drive Your Life™ framework: how to figure out what you actually want, eliminate what you don't, and start taking action without waiting for perfect conditionsWhy toe dipping beats all-or-nothing thinking, and how to test an idea before you commit everything to itHow to widen your circle when life naturally shrinks it, and why in-person connection matters more than everThe accountability structure that actually keeps women moving forward (hint: it's simpler than you think)
118. 118. How to Define “Enough” and Stop Chasing More with Jason Graystone
42:15||Season 1, Ep. 118There's a story we tell ourselves about money and freedom: that they're reserved for the lucky, the privileged, the ones who got a head start.But what if the very thing you lacked growing up is exactly what equipped you to build the most intentional life imaginable?I'm so thrilled to welcome our guest, Jason Graystone.Jason grew up without stability, security, or financial safety. His upbringing was chaotic — at one point, a London gangster was his childminder. But instead of letting that define him, he used it as fuel. By 14 he was running a car washing business. By his twenties, he was methodically learning every investment vehicle he could get his hands on. And by 29, he was financially free.He's now 42. And every year since has been, in his words, a bonus.Jason is a multiple business owner, trader, and investor who has spoken on stages alongside Daniel Priestley, Steven Bartlett, Ali Abdaal, and David JP Phillips. He's delivered a TEDx talk, hosts the Always Free podcast (5 million+ downloads), has 440,000 YouTube subscribers, and has his debut book Always Free out next month — his blueprint for building a life of genuine freedom.In this conversation, we get into the mindset, the money, and the meaning behind it all.What You'll Learn:Why what you lacked most as a child shapes what you value most as an adult, and how to use that self-awareness to your advantageThe van conversation with his boss that changed everything: how pricing up your dream life completely transforms your relationship with money and goalsWhy mental freedom is the foundation everything else is built on, and why you'll never truly be financially free without it firstWhat he witnessed on Necker Island that proved we're all chasing something we already have access to
117. 117. The Freedom Plan Most Entrepreneurs Never Create (And Why It’s Costing You Your Life)
19:08||Season 1, Ep. 117Let me ask you something that I think most people never actually stop to answer: What does your freedom plan look like?Not in a vague, "one day I'll slow down" kind of way. I mean actually, how many hours a week do you want to work? What does your ideal month look like? When do you want to take Fridays off, go hiking, have a full pamper day, travel, or just be?Because here's what I'm seeing way too much of right now: people letting life and business happen to them, instead of being fully intentional about designing the life they actually want. And I just can't stop talking about it.That’s why in this episode, I'm getting into what it really means to create a life-first business. I talk about hustle culture, the myth that you have to sacrifice everything to build something meaningful, what it really means to build a business that works for your life, and the beautiful work I'm doing with a client in the dental industry who is, for the very first time, asking herself how she actually wants to live.This is the stuff that fires me up. Because I genuinely believe,with every single part of me, that you can build a business you love, run it in 10 to 20 hours a week, make really great money, and live a really great life. And it is not selfish. It is not unrealistic. It is intentional.What You'll Learn:Why so many entrepreneurs accidentally build businesses they resentThe difference between seasons of hustle and a full-time lifestyle of overwork (and how to know which one you're in)What happened when I found my 2025 vision notes and realised I'd actually manifested most of themWhy your financial freedom number is the starting point for designing everything elseHow to reverse engineer a freedom plan that gives you spaciousness, abundance, and a business that matches your dream lifestyle
115. 115. Why Working Harder Isn't Working Anymore with Dr. Amy Albright
52:43||Season 1, Ep. 115You're not broken. You're not lazy. You're not behind.Your brain might just be firing in the wrong places, and no amount of hustle can fix that.That's exactly what Dr. Amy Albright helped me understand in this truly profound conversation.Dr. Amy’s journey began as a neuroscience student and self-described atheist, until a profound spiritual awakening during an acupuncture session changed everything. Since then, she’s spent over three decades integrating cutting-edge brain science, quantum biology, energetic healing, and intuitive wisdom to help visionaries, CEOs, and changemakers unlock their fullest potential.Together, we explore what it truly means to combine the mystical with the measurable, not in a “woo” way, but in a grounded, deeply scientific approach to human transformation. We talk about real-time brain mapping, nervous system regulation, consciousness expansion, and why most personal growth models are built on the false belief that we’re broken.We also dive into how motherhood rewires the brain, why intuition is a trainable skill, and how shifting your internal state — not just your strategy — changes everything from leadership to creativity to ease in life and business.If you've been working harder but getting diminishing returns, if you feel stuck in old patterns despite knowing better, or if you're ready to stop operating from outdated software, this episode will shift something in you.What You'll Learn:Why the model of "I'm broken and need to fix myself" is outdated software that keeps you stuckThe neurological shift that happens in a mother's brain (amygdala changes) and why it can make "going all in" feel impossibleHow to stop popping your energy out of yourself and into your children, partner, or business, and why centering back into yourself makes everyone feel saferThe difference between aspirational spirituality ("bliss bunnies") and grounded transformation that creates measurable changeWhy zooming out to the meta-frame (instead of staying zoomed in on immediate problems) is a strategy, not a bypass
114. 114. My HYROX Race Lessons (And the Science-Backed Reasons to Do Crazy Hard Things)
23:50||Season 1, Ep. 114I need to be honest with you: I didn't enjoy my HYROX race last week. Not one moment felt like I was “crushing it.” I was slower than I wanted to be, overheated, disappointed, and questioning myself more than once.And you know what? That makes it the most valuable thing I've done so far this year.This is the story of how a tough race taught me more about resilience, self-efficacy, and mental strength than any perfect performance ever could. It's about what happened when I debriefed with my AI coach ChatGPT, how the science of stress inoculation actually works, and why doing hard physical things — especially when they don’t go to plan — can radically change how you show up in every other area of your life.If you’ve ever felt disappointed after something you worked hard for… or wondered whether pushing yourself physically is “worth it”, this episode will shift how you see challenge, confidence, and growth.What You'll Learn:Why the challenges that stretch you don’t always feel good in the moment and why they matter more because of itWhat HYROX actually is and why it's become a $140 million global phenomenon that makes "average people feel like athletes"Why this was the first event I've paid for that I genuinely didn't enjoy (and why that made it so valuable)How self-efficacy, stress inoculation, and generalized confidence actually work (backed by research from Albert Bandura)Why my brain learned more from struggle than it would have from a perfect race
113. 113. Why growing on social media is the riskiest business strategy in 2026 with Jenny Melrose
41:57||Season 1, Ep. 113Let’s be real: are you creating content everywhere but connecting with no one?Posting daily, showing up on multiple platforms, but your audience isn't growing. Your email list is stagnant. And the profit you thought would follow? It's not there.Here's the hard truth: you might be building your entire business on borrowed land.That's exactly what happened to today's guest, Jenny Melrose. She had 660,000 followers on Google+. Then one day, the platform shut down and she lost every single one of them. That painful lesson completely transformed how she builds audiences—and it's why she's here to share what actually works.Jenny is a former reading specialist turned marketing strategist, author of Influencer Entrepreneurs, and host of the Influencer Entrepreneurs podcast. She's been building online businesses since 2009 and has weathered every major shift in the digital landscape.In this conversation, we dive into her PACK framework for standing out authentically, why your personal brand is your greatest defense against AI, how to create one piece of content and repurpose it into multiple formats, and why your email list is the only audience you truly own.If you've ever felt invisible online despite showing up everywhere, or wondered how to use AI without sounding generic, this episode will change how you build your business.Get ready for systems, strategy, and the wake-up call you need about where you're investing your energy online.What You'll Learn:The PACK framework: Positioning, Authenticity, Confidence, and Kindness (and why each matters more than ever)How to find your unique positioning by looking at your real life experiences and the problems people already come to you forWhy complete flexibility in your business will actually drive you insane (and what to do instead)The content creation system that starts with keyword research and ends with SEO-optimized blog posts, podcast episodes, and YouTube videosHow to use AI effectively: as a brainstorming assistant, outline creator, and editor, without losing your unique voiceHow to stop comparing yourself to that 35-year-old making millions (and be kind to yourself instead)
112. 112. Behind the scenes of my Saudi Arabia trip and being back on the global stage
29:06||Season 1, Ep. 112I almost deleted the email that changed my year.There it was, sitting in my inbox while Josh and I were testing out our new standing desks in our Bali villa, a speaking invitation to Saudi Arabia that looked way too good to be true. And honestly? I thought it was a scam. But this is the story of how that "sketchy" email turned into me standing on stage as the only female keynote speaker at one of Saudi Arabia's largest entrepreneurship events, flying business class, staying at the Ritz Carlton, and getting paid to share a message I deeply believe in.More than that, it's about what happens when you plant seeds without knowing where they'll grow, when you show up with intention even when no one's watching, and when you stay open to possibilities that sound impossible. Because the real twist? The reason I got invited traced back to someone I'd spoken to six years ago and a manifestation practice I started at the beginning of 2025.If you’ve ever wondered how big opportunities actually happen, or felt called to think bigger about what’s possible for you in your work and life, this one’s for you.What You'll Learn:How a random email in my inbox turned into a dream speaking opportunity (and why I thought it was a scam)What Saudi Arabia is really like in 2025, the massive transformation happening, what surprised me most, and what I got totally wrongWhy being the only female keynote speaker felt like both a privilege and a responsibilityHow someone I spoke to six years ago became the reason I got invited and what that teaches us about showing up authenticallyWhat it's really like to speak on an international stage Why this trip reminded me that the world is more open, more curious, and more interconnected than we think
111. 111. Quit Setting Goals and Use the Annual Anchors Method to Transform Your Year in 2026
20:52||Season 1, Ep. 111I'm about to tell you something that might sting a little: in about three weeks, you're probably gonna be doing the exact same thing you did all last year.I know. You've got your goals. You've got your intentions. You're ready for a new year, new start, new you.But unless you've got a methodology that actually works, that niggly feeling you have right now? It's probably right.Here's what I realized after years of hitting some goals but always ending up back at baseline: I wasn't changing who I was in order to get what I wanted. And without that, nothing was ever gonna fundamentally shift.That’s why, I'm sharing the Annual Anchors Methodology, the framework that completely transformed how I approach my year. Instead of chasing 47 different goals, I focus on three foundational anchors that ground me in what actually matters. And it really works!.After listening, you'll understand why being comes before doing, how to choose your three most important priorities for the year, and you'll have a concrete roadmap to make this your most intentional year yet (without burning out or giving up by February).What You'll Learn:Why most goal-setting fails (hint: you're skipping the most critical step)The be → do → have framework that actually gets resultsHow I chose my three Annual Anchors for 2026 (and why my business isn't one of them)The exact structure: one anchor + one "so that" statement + three committed actions + a 90-day habit trackerWhy breaking up with my phone is already changing everything in just two weeksThe difference between reacting and responding, especially in your closest relationshipsWhat it means to prioritize intuition over hustle this year