I replaced my team with AI to survive 🛠️ | Anjeanette Carter (Stratis)

📺 Watch now on Substack or YouTube | 🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple PodcastsThis week’s Millennial Master is Anjeanette Carter, who has built and lost more than one career.She began as an actor, moved into YouTube, then into writing. At one point, she was earning serious money online, before that income disappeared and forced her to rethink everything she was doing.Today, she runs Stratis Media, a copywriting and LinkedIn personal branding business for founders and CEOs. From the outside, it looks like a straightforward pivot. In reality, it came from a period of pressure, uncertainty, and a market that shifted faster than her business model could keep up with.What makes Anjeanette’s story worth paying attention to is how she responds when a model stops working. When AI began reshaping her industry, she did not wait for reassurance or permission. She restructured the business around herself and AI, letting go of her team in order to keep the company viable.That decision reshaped how she works and how she thinks about leverage, visibility, and resilience. It also changed where she puts her time, her energy, and her attention.This episode looks at what actually keeps a business alive when tools change, platforms shift, and familiar paths disappear. It is about adapting and the skills that continue to matter even as everything around them moves.🔗 Find Anjeanette on LinkedIn, Instagram & SubstackTakeaways from Anjeanette’s episode1️⃣ Sales is what keeps the lights onWhen work dries up, the ability to sell is what buys you time. Founders who can find clients, have conversations, and close deals stay in control when everything else shifts. Relying on platforms, referrals, or luck leaves you exposed the moment demand slows.2️⃣ Personal branding gives you optionsPeople trust people, not companies. When your name carries weight, it becomes easier to attract clients, test new offers, and move direction without starting from zero. This matters most when your business model needs to change.3️⃣ AI only helps if you know what good looks likeFaster tools don’t fix weak thinking. Results improve when you already understand quality, structure, and outcomes. Without that foundation, AI speed just produces more work that doesn’t land.4️⃣ Building on someone else’s platform is always riskyIncome tied to a single platform can disappear without warning. Rules change, reach drops and payments stop. Businesses that own their client relationships recover faster and adapt with less damage.5️⃣ Pivoting early saves energy and moneyWaiting rarely makes things better. The longer a broken model is protected, the more time and cash it burns. Moving sooner creates space to adjust, learn, and rebuild while you still have momentum.More resources from Anjeanette:* Her 10 Minute LinkedIn Fix* Her workshop, How to Land Clients on LinkedInIn this episode we cover:00:00 Introduction to Anjeanette Carter03:01 “Half a million… then zero” (the YouTube wipeout)07:53 The copywriting edge most founders don’t have11:24 When ChatGPT hit: panic, denial, then reality14:11 Why she laid off 7 writers (the part people dodge)19:27 The moment AI beat her team’s work21:56 “I don’t need anybody” (becoming a one-person agency)24:52 You’re not their mummy (hard lessons on leadership)29:33 How she hacked LinkedIn from zero31:38 AI won’t save you if you don’t know the game33:36 The one thing AI still lacks: judgment36:44 AI agents: promising, not ready39:13 3 LinkedIn profile fixes that pull clients in40:35 The LinkedIn lie that keeps you invisible42:12 “Lurkers are buyers” (the real conversion pattern)43:58 Viral posts vs paid posts: what actually makes money45:13 Her dad’s rule: follow the bank account47:40 Money noise (why “enough” never feels enough)48:44 The moving goalposts problem49:54 Timers, not willpower (how she moves fast)53:20 Her controversial take: SEO gets wiped first54:49 “Pivot early. Hope is a four-letter word.” Get full access to Millennial Masters at millennialmasters.net/subscribe