Your Home Has a CEO Problem (And AI Just Fixed It) -- with Katherine Gruenberg

Hello. Welcome back to The Human Side of AI, and I'm your host, Flora. I'm so glad you're here. A quick note before we get into today's episode, because I'm all about accountability and transparency. So I did not have our Monday AI hosts run their show this week. I know, I know. But the good news, they're coming back this Monday, so make sure you're tuned in. And honestly, after you hear today's conversation, you might understand why I got a little behind, because if I had had access to this platform my guest is building, I genuinely think I would've had time to make it happen. So that's right. Today's guest is creating something that I have not been able to stop thinking about since we hit record. Her name is Katherine and she is the founder of AI Powered Social, where she teaches small business owners how to use AI in practical real life ways. And we love that. But what she came here to talk to me about today is something that she's quietly building in the background, an AI house manager, an operating system designed to handle all of the logistics, the mental load, and invisible labor of running a home so that That might be the time you sit down to do your actual work. You're already set up for success. Katherine's background is fascinating. From a bagel franchise and a '50s diner in the mountains in New York, to Las Vegas, to landing a spot in the Anthropic partner network, to this. Oh my gosh, the line is so clear once she tells it. So I wanna warn you, this one is going to make you wanna reorganize your entire life, but in the best way. So let's get into it.

So it looks like it's recording here on this end.

And now we're officially recording.

Yeah.

Okay, great. So Katherine, let's, let's run that back. Please introduce yourself and, and tell people where you're calling from in this season.

Sure. Absolutely. So my name is Katherine Grunberg. I'm very excited to be here today. Is this the actual podcast? Like, are we recording the podcast right now? Okay.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

We're here.

All right. So my name is Katherine Grunberg and I am the founder of AI Powered Social, where I teach small business owners how to use artificial intelligence in practical ways in their business. And we are here today because I believe we had discussed, I am working on a small project called the AI House Manager. So it's an operating system where it supports basically your success before you start your day. All of the—

Oh, beautiful.

All of the productivity that, you know, basically you have to do as far as house management to put you in a successful position, whether, you know, you have a full-time job or you're an executive or you're running a business, but this is like everything that has to happen before you start your day. Yeah.

Wow, that is so valuable. So luckily we're okay on time and we're gonna, we're gonna cover a lot, I have a feeling. So, so Katherine, let's, let's run it back. I'm still curious how you move from place to place in the season. So I wanna come back to that. And then I wanna, I wanna really learn how, you know, Katherine in New York, you know, the version of you then got into AI and then, you know, and I wanna learn kind of your story on how you brought it to this place. So take me back.

Sure, absolutely. So I'm originally from New York and from New York I moved to upstate New York and my husband and I, have been in hospitality and ran restaurants for, you know, for a long time. He ran a bagel franchise with his family, and I jumped in and helped them. And then from there, we moved to upstate New York, and we purchased a '50s diner and a motel. Oh, fun. In the Adirondack Mountains. And we did that for 9 years. Raised our, you know, our two sons were born there and decided that we, you know, we were chopping wood and living off the land and, you know, skating around jukeboxes and having a great time. And, but, you know, tourist times changed and it was a very small town. So from there we moved to Las Vegas.

That's not a small town. Yeah. Okay.

The complete opposite. We were there for 9 years, continued to raise our 2 boys, and that's kind of where my journey started in technology.

What brought you to Vegas though? You guys woke up one day and said Vegas or?

Well, my husband's in hospitality and, you know, it was really the hotspot to get the best opportunities for our family. And he was lucky enough to land an amazing opportunity, you know, near Caesars.

Awesome.

And so that was our— and we had friends there, so that was our ticket to go. So we loved it. Absolutely fantastic experience, fantastic season there. And that's kind of where my technology experience started. My younger son, has some challenges, and I was also in hospitality and realized that I had to do something that gave me the flexibility that I would be able to support him. So that's pretty much where my tech started. I actually got a scholarship to the Flatiron School for software development.

Amazing.

And then that evolved into just front-end development because I really loved that. Then we kind of crossed paths with a phenomenal YouTube group that was there with Sean Cannell and Think Media. Okay. They pretty much taught me everything about like social media, marketing, YouTube, you know, YouTube growth. And that was amazing. And from there, you know, COVID happened and I had to really, you know, I was kind of just dabbling and doing things with my son and homeschooling him. And long story short, COVID happened and realized that, hey, hospitality completely shut down and mommy had to start, you know, really pulling the strings to, you know, put food on the table. So I went all in on AI-powered social. I was doing social media marketing for local businesses and It kind of grew from there. Then, you know, artificial, AI came in, ChatGPT started, and people started reaching out to me, you know, just, what do we do with this? How do we, you know, how do we even start with ChatGPT? I don't even know where to go. A lot of people still very afraid of it, but business owners were reaching out to me because they knew it was something that they had to be a part of. Yeah. Start integrating into their business because this is where technology was moving and it was moving very fast.

So people are coming to you at this point. Have you already started dabbling with AI or like talk to me a little bit about kind of like where you are in your AI journey at this point?

Yeah, so, um, so I, you know, small business owners were coming to me. They were new, uh, because I was already sharing, um, that, you know, this could help you with content creation just because I was, uh, more so in on the back end of social media management for small businesses. So, you know, businesses were already like, oh my gosh, you know, I'm like, this could shave hours. We can, you know, automate, you know, well, at that time we weren't automating just yet, but at least we can use it for, you know, copywriting, you know, graphic designs. That was still a little, you know, in the beginning, that was interesting. But moving forward, moving forward from there, you know, we were trying, I was introducing it and trying to teach them better ways that they could efficiently at least get content out. Perfect. So that's basically where that journey started. And then, you know, I use it in my business every day. I just got accepted into the— for the opportunity of the Claude Anthropic Partner Network.

Awesome.

Congrats. So I'm really excited about that, trying to pull together my team. So that's just been amazing.

Tell us a little bit about that.

Yeah, so the Anthropic Partner Network is basically a certification that, you know, you're going to go through and take. So they have some prerequisite kind of like courses that are online right now. And then I am quite honestly learning more about it because they haven't shared that much, just that I was accepted into the network. I need, you know, 10 people to come in with me. And once that, once you kind of pass that certificate, those prerequisites that they require, and you get those certificates, that puts you in the position to go into this partner network where you will continue to grow and obtain skills, and they're going to start referring clients to you.

Amazing. Amazing.

Yeah.

So, okay. So, ah, so much I wanna cover with you. This is fun. You know, immediately you, you said a phrase that just kind of truly resonated with me. You said success before you start your day, right? And, and as I'm, and this is really why I kind of take a step back and like, okay, let's go back a little bit, right? Because there are so many aha moments in this conversation with you, right? Like you are a mom, your background is in hospitality, like, and, and Well, real quick caveat, I had a dear man. I tried to wait tables for a while, and years later I run into him. I'm actually with my family, my father at the time, and he said, you know, respectfully, sir, your daughter was the worst waitress I've ever had. We love her, but she was like just terrible. So, but I say that because I recognize that like hospitality is very much— it's a trait. I mean, it's kind of you either have it or you don't, you know, and I didn't. I still don't, but that's okay. And, you know, to see you and your family clearly have that in you. And so this house manager, it makes so much sense, right? Because it's— that's in you. That's who— that's like a core value of you to really have this management. Anyway, I want to come back to that connection because to me it was so relevant. Absolutely. Okay. So fast forward a little bit. Talk to us a little bit about, you know, you're really doing this AI strategy. What was your aha moment to really bring it home to this, this, this house manager?

So, you know, it's— I gotta tell you, so I read Dan Martell's, uh, book.

Cool. Okay.

And, um, he talks about that his house manager was the most successful hire that he's ever had. I believe it. And I was like, how can we, you know, I don't have the space yet in my business to bring a full-on house manager, you know, into my home. But I said, how can we take this information and you know, input it into AI and create like an operating system that would actually help me manage my home so that, you know, it's more structured, it's more organized. You know, I've been moving a lot over the last couple of years. So that's very important to me because quite honestly, I'm like, where is that spatula? I know I packed it, you know, a year ago when I was at this location and I cannot find it, you know? So, You know, and even just like as a busy mom with sports, meal planning, um, I, my dream is always like, oh yes, I meal plan and I watch all the YouTube videos and meal prep and all of that. But you know what?

You're living.

And this happens and you know, 3 days later I have an empty refrigerator and I can't get anything done. Uh, on top of, you know, where I'm serving and, you know, nurturing my clients and I, you know, I'm client for, you know, I have fulfillment services that I, that I do in my business as well. So this has been, you know, probably in the works for the last couple of months. I've been doing a couple case studies around it, but, uh, one of the first things that I created out of it was an automation that works with my Notes app and my phone. Ooh. That it is connected to my supermarket. So I put the shopping list in my Notes app. And then when I pull up to, you know, one of the lists I have is Costco. So when I pull up to Costco, it automatically pulls up my list and, you know, tells me I've arrived at Costco. Here are all the things that you know, you have on the list so I can go through and pick them out. If it's my, you know, if it's a supermarket, like I don't do a lot of Walmart orders, but maybe Target. Target's one of them that I do use. And I like to use the pickup. So I'm working on it so that it will actually place my pickup order for me. And all I have to do is just drive up and, you know, through the Walmart app, I mean the Target app, it tells you that your order's ready. But I don't, I could just send them the list, you know, send it the list and it just takes care of it for me.

Wow.

I'm also, I also have like recipes attached to it. So if I know I'm, you know, making viral gyros, that's the new thing in my house this week. That's on, you know, that's trending on TikTok right now. You know, I make sure that all the ingredients are on the list and when I pull up so I don't forget anything, you know.

Awesome.

Yeah. Wow. You know, that's just a little thing. But also, you know, I've kind of organized like when I water my plants, you know, my nighttime routine. So you know, it'll show up on ChatGPT, you know, on tasks that, you know, I have to start my nighttime routine by 7:00 PM so I can get all the, you know, the boys' sports things laid out.

Yeah.

You know, backpacks packed, because, you know, I try and remember, but I can't. And, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of people that are really on top of all of that, but if I don't have something—

They're faking it. There's no way. That's unconvincing.

If I don't have something helping me out, sometimes, Sometimes, you know, a client call comes in, an email comes in, and it's out the door, and now I'm, you know, scurrying around. So even for house cleaning and organization, I first moved into my new home, I snapped a picture of the entire kitchen, and then I put all the open boxes of all my kitchen utensils and appliances and plates And I put pictures of that into ChatGPT, into my AI house manager, and I told it, I'm like, where do I put everything? And it basically zoned out every single area of my kitchen. And I mean, this would've taken me days. And in 4 hours I had everything organized, accessible. And everything that I wasn't using, you know, boxed up, put away. And this has been the most amazing kitchen setup I've had yet.

Wow. And that means a lot coming from you with your background. So I actually, I want to, I want to take a minute and, and I don't know, I don't know if you, hopefully you get enough credit, right? But your background is the perfect recipe for what you're creating, right? Like it's, it's hard to imagine anyone else with any other background with their, you know, could have, could have led to these steps, right? So I just wanna give you credit there. And I'm curious, you know, if someone's listening to this and they're like, oh my gosh, yes please. You know, how do they take it outside of using, you know, ChatGPT or whatever LLM they're using to kind of do some of the prompts that you've shared? How do they, how do they actually access, you know, this tool that you've created, this, this operating system that you created?

Absolutely. So I'm in the process of making it accessible.

Awesome.

So probably, you know, I'll be in connection with you.

Please.

If you want to learn more and how to actually use it. But basically, I want to make it super simple.

Yeah.

Because I need simplicity. I don't want to, you know, it has to be on a platform that I'm already using, right? I don't wanna add to my, you know, I want it to give me more time, more freedom, less friction. So I basically am connecting everything to my phone. So all the automations go right through iPhone and—

Wow.

Yeah, so, you know, whether I'm using Claude, so my two mains are obviously are Claude and ChatGPT. So whether I'm using either one of those, I have set up so that all the automations go through my phone. So whether it's shopping, whether it's kitchen organization, whether it's, you know, my biggest thing right now is also running my home finances.

Awesome.

Just like a business, right? A lot of the times, you know, I would say like, you know, I don't know why, but But sometimes doing home finances is always like, you know, you're like, why am I not a billionaire?

I don't understand. I spend like money and I don't get it. Exactly.

Well, even doing the business finances, you know, it's just, I don't know, it's just not my favorite thing to do. I can play on AI all day. I, you know, I can, you know, upload, you know, edit, do all kinds of things. But for some reason, you know, it's always just like, oh, it's time to pay the bills. But now it's easy. Every Saturday I make sure that, you know, I have already set aside time that I'm going to take care of that. And it almost removes the mental friction and the resistance because I know that's the time we're going to look at this. Fridays I do the business finances, Saturdays I do that, and it actually takes me less time than when I was, you know, just kind of like scatterbrained and picking one day a month, right? Every Saturday I know what's going on. I review subscriptions. I know what's in, what's out, what's coming in, what's not. And it just makes it so much easier.

And as you're talking though, I'm hearing, you know, this could also work for the person that's I was, you know, only able to do that once a month, you know, like that. And, you know, and, and, and, and Catherine, um, you know, a lot of our listeners know this, but, but I live in Panama, right? So, um, you, you know, we, we actually, we have a house manager, and, and, um, we're very, we're blessed to have, you know, the ability to do that when, you know, you're living in a developing country with U.S. salary. Things look a little different, right? And, and I can't tell you, like, the running joke in my house is that, like, we can't go, we can't leave, we can never leave this poor girl alone. Like, this Saturday morning, my husband's like, Najee, where'd you put our, my belt? You know? And I'm like, hey Najee, where'd you put, you know? And I'm over here like, this would work. And, and, like, trust me, there are people on a pedestal in my life. She's up there. Like, this, she can do no wrong, even if she puts our belts in crazy places.

Um, but then you're here.

Yes, that's what I'm saying. I'm like, she, like, this tool would give her the direction that I am not able to give her. And it's like, even my house manager could use this, you know. It could be from people who don't have capacity to, to think about tomorrow and can only look at this once a month, to people that— I mean, the range here is incredible.

It really just, um, it really just, you know, it customizes on your schedule. So if you want to do it once a month, you know that you have that time set aside, right?

Amazing.

And then just kind of taking, removing the friction and helping you structure the, like even the shopping, the meal planning, the organization gives you the mental freedom so that you can do it once a month. Totally.

And Kevin, that's, you know, at, at Gem, at, at Gem AI, you know, the whole reason that we do this is because we believe AI allows you time to be more human, right? And so that's the whole concept of these podcasts, the human side of AI, right? Because I'm really wanting to learn how these different humans are, are using it. And, and to me, this is like so head on. It's like it's giving you more time to be human. Period.

Absolutely.

Cool. Yeah.

That, and that was really the, I would say the purpose because I felt like I was expelling so much energy just trying to keep all of the things together that, you know, at this point, and then I'm like, and then when I sit down to work, I'm like, I still have so all the, you know, like the weight of all of that.

This is so relatable. Everyone can relate to this. Totally.

So the weight of all of that. So there are a few other companies, like there's one company that I know, I believe they're called Sage House, that also runs a house management system, but it's not through AI. They, they use a lot of like Notion documents.

Okay.

Right. But I'm like, I, if I have to print stuff out, that's not something you have your house manager do. I'm like, if I have to print stuff out and now I'm, you know, checklists and fumbling through, you know, that's just not going to work for me. I said, I just need something that, you know, is going to be on my phone. It's going to work off my calendar. It's going to send me a reminder and then it's actually going to you know, execute safe.

Yes. Right. Yes. And to do it for you.

Right.

To execute it for you. Right. So, so you touched on this briefly. I wanna come back to this and, you know, for full transparency, I'm gonna read my screen because I had my AI draft up some questions and it was a good one. So let me, let me read it. Um, what does mental load actually mean to you? Right. And you didn't use it in that phrase just now, but but you have. And, and why do you think productivity-focused AI tools miss the mark for so many people? And I know you were just kind of touching on that, but let's, let's come back to that a little bit more.

So I believe that the, you know, the mental load is basically, you know, especially for me, my mental load is remembering, tracking, planning, anticipating, and just managing you know, life just, man, outside of work, right? So for me, this app has been helping me with— but then when I'm, you know, actually working, it just takes, you know, so soft because I know after I'm done with work, these are the items that I'm gonna complete and this is gonna set me up for success for the next week, for the next month. And then, you know, I think productivity tools miss the mark because they focus, you know, more on the output instead of the stress relief. So, and I don't think they really, you know, I think sometimes I've used a lot of productivity tools, but then I have to remember to use the product.

Yeah, no, it becomes an extra job. Right?

And so if it's not already in my everyday set of like apps and tools that I'm already using and I have to add something else, then, you know, for me, now I have to remember to do that. Now I have to remember to end it. You know, for me, I always use notes. You know, I'm always in and out of Claude, ChatGPT. So I have a project in there actually in both of them that's an AI house manager, an AI house finance bookkeeper. I have one for organization. So I can at any one point in time, I have one, you know, that's just for meal planning. So I can just at any one point in time, I go in there, I remember that recipe, I can upload, you know, to the shopping list. So, you know, for me, if I'm already using the tool, it has to be, you know, accessible and what I'm already using for it to be productive for me.

I totally get it.

Yeah. So just like one and, you know, and where I started was just quite honestly, was setting up my kitchen. And I was like, wow, this was so amazing. Like usually this would've taken me, you know, days. It would've taken me the whole weekend to unpack everything, figure out where I'm gonna put everything and, you know, and then still worry about, you know, work the next day and everything. It literally took me 4 hours to put everything away. Have it super organized, and, you know, and it was just fantastic. So at that point I was like, what else can this do?

Yeah, well, and, and there are a few things I want to touch on there because you would never think, how could an AI help you unpack your kitchen, right? Like, that's not, you know, they're not actually like unloading your boxes and putting the spaghetti sauce where it needs to go, right? And, and I, I think that's something that often would get missed as a tool to help you with that. And I know personally, like, okay, I grew up in Austin, Texas, right? And if I were to go back to Austin right now, I would use my GPS, right? Even though these are streets that I've driven on thousands and thousands of times in my life, right? And it— but I say that because there's just something nice to, like, having direction given to you, even if you don't necessarily need it. It takes that mental load off. And, and with this kitchen, it's like, you know, it— to have that accountability partner to really like give you that direction, I mean, what a relief.

It really, you know, it really was amazing because it actually broke. So not everybody's kitchen, you know, every kitchen is different.

Totally.

Yeah, it broke, and I was like, wow, this one's a little bit smaller, has a little bit less space, doesn't have a pantry. What do I do, right? So it actually sectioned it off into zones, which I thought was brilliant. And it told me where to put everything. So I was like, this is great, you know? And so it just, it gave me more clarity, more structure. And for me, it's the decision fatigue. I, you know, I overthink a lot. And, you know, and for me, I was like, okay, great. That's fantastic. You say it goes there, it goes there. Perfectly. Let's do it. All the appliances, plates, this, that, done.

So until someone's able to use your operating system and it's accessible to others, what do you recommend for them to just kind of start transitioning their mind into using AI for their own house manager in the time being?

Yeah, so I would— so my recommendation would be to start with one problem and pick one tool. Right? Beautiful. Like I said, like for me it was the kitchen. I was just like completely overwhelmed. And then I did my office and I'm actually still working on my office. But, but, you know, it's— it was, you know, just one problem and one tool. Pick, you know, pick Claude, pick Gemini, pick, you know, and what is— what is it that you're trying? What is the one problem that's overwhelming you the most? Is it laundry? Is it planning? Is it emails? Is it, you know, a nighttime routine? Is it your kitchen? Yeah. Pick one thing and then just go from there. I would, you know, I'm definitely, I love to share. I have a couple of prompts that, you know.

You read my mind. I think we're connected.

I have a couple of prompts that I, you know, that I have. I also have a few iPhone techniques and tips that you could use, uh, especially—

where do we find this?

So I'm just, I just playing around with AI, and then I, I also, um, research a lot like what actual, uh, house managers do.

But do you share these prompts on your website, or where, where can other people get a little bit of this knowledge?

I haven't, but I will.

Okay, cool.

And I will love, love, love to give you the link.

Amazing.

And I can share all these resources. Absolutely. Yeah, but basically, you know, I research, I've been doing this for a couple of months and prior to, I said, I really wanna get like, I wanna see how it works, if it works, if the execution is, you know, if the automations work on my phone, you know, How's it all, you know, connecting? And I've been kind of testing it out the last few months and it's been making a tremendous difference. But, you know, mainly I research what actual, you know, house managers do in luxury homes. And I say, then how can I apply that to my everyday life? And how can I utilize that not just for my home, but also business organization, right? And it's been awesome. So, and quite honestly, I've taken the grace and space where I'm not like rushing it, right? Where I've been doing one problem at a time. Great, how can we automate this? How can we make this better? And how can it save me time and give me more energy? And that's where, that's the place that I've been coming from. And I'm so excited to share it because I've been kind of like just doing it on my own. And I'm like, you know what? I wonder if, you know, Flora would be interested. It's been so great.

No, honestly, Katherine, and I like, sorry for anyone listening, um, this is truly the first— I, I'm like afraid to say this out loud, um, this is truly the first like service that I've talked to that I'm like, okay, yes, this would actually take time away, like save me time instead of me using time to use it. And, um, And there, you know, I've talked to so many founders of so many great products and services and, and they're all doing such great things. And to me personally, like, I'm like, please, please make it available. Yeah. So it's, I, and I feel like so many people are gonna feel that.

That's fantastic. Well, you know, thank you. But yeah, I will, I would absolutely, you know, be honored and thrilled to share with you all the resources that I have and You know, I have, like I said, I have some great little tricks on the phone that will help save you some time. And the other thing is, you know, there's no learning curve. It's basically like, take a picture, put the prompt in, done. Fantastic. Great. Here's the shopping list. Send it to Target.

Awesome.

I really appreciate it. You know, so that's where it's been.

Success before you start your day. And I just keep coming back to that. And it's not even before you start your day, it's throughout your day, it's at the end of the day. It's, it's just, it's allowing you that space to be more successful where you need to be.

Absolutely. Yes.

And I'm really excited. Well, Catherine, I know we're a little over. Thank you so much for connecting with me, and, um, I'm really excited to continue following your journey and wherever you end up in, in the next season. And, and You know, I hope you enjoy your time where you are now and, uh, just thank you so much for this conversation.

Flora, thank you. It's, it's been amazing and I really appreciate this opportunity.

Cool. Talk to you soon.

Okay.

Have a good one. Okay. Bye.

Okay. Bye-bye.