Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome to Battle Ready, where I sit down with leaders who've been forged by pressure, built by discipline, and driven by purpose. I'm Ricky Chavez. I'm a retired US Army MBA in Human resources and and team lead at Better Homes and Gardens. Gary Green. And I believe leadership is proven when the stakes feel personal. Today I'm joined by Cynthia Vasquez, founder of Lead With Impact, an AI leadership strategist who helps leaders and organizations move from AI confusion to confident execution using custom apps, marketing campaigns, and AI training that produces real outcomes. She brings nearly two decades of federal executive leadership experience, currently serving as acting Deputy Regional Director at dcsa. That's a lot of word letters right there. And he's also the vice chair of the Greater Los Angeles Federal Executive Board. She's the author of AI Competence or Compliance Revolution, and she was featured speaker for the first ever Latino AI Summit 2026. Hey, welcome.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: Cynthia, good morning. Pleasure to be here.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: Well, thanks. We're glad you're here. In this segment, I'll set the stakes. AI is moving fast, and the real battleground is leadership, clarity, ethics, accountability, and decision making. When you don't have the perfect information now, people are kind of scared of AI right now. How do you feel about that?
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Cynthia, I can understand and you know, I've been doing a lot of research on this, and there's many reasons why, and most of it actually is not within the person.
Some of it is mindset, undoubtedly, but a lot of it has to do with how our brain is wiring is wired and how we have an instinct to fight anything that feels foreign. Basically, it's a survival instinct. So it's not uncommon, but together I can help you get there.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: So it's kind of fear of the unknown, right?
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Exactly. Well put.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: You know, I think that I've had a couple other amazing guests on here like yourself, and it's like a lot of AI, a lot of AI kind of organizations, and I think one of the things that one of the guys, Todd said from one hour shows, you know, people are so scared of AI because their fear of losing their jobs or losing their identity, but if they use AI as more of a force multiplier, their life will get so much better. What are your thoughts?
[00:02:33] Speaker B: I love how you frame that, and I think it's absolutely right. And that's valid. Right. We see a lot of industries being reshaped because of AI and how it's been implemented. And of course, all the different incidents in the news doesn't help to calm those concerns. It is A valid fear. But there are ways to go about it, like you said, to leverage it in a way that you are going to better position yourself. And, and I like to think of it as a new language. And I often say those who speak AI are going to be the ones that end up doing better. Right? Undoubtedly. A lot of industries, and there's been a lot of research on this, especially within the last couple of weeks, showing which industries are going to be heavily impacted by AI. However, if we know this, we have plenty of advance notice to be proactive and start taking the deep dive. And unfortunately, as you continue to stall that, the what, the gap continues to widen. So it's incumbent on all of us that we embrace it. Understand that, yes, there is going to be reluctance, but the longer that we wait to embrace it, the better off we will be for how we do, not only in terms of our job, but it's already all around us, right? We, we have Netflix, we have Amazon, we have it on our text. It's already here.
Now it is on us to take the deep dive, pursue what our interests are, how we learn best, and seek out that material to better equip ourselves, like you said, to leverage the technology and help us use it in a way that will highlight our strengths. Which is what?
How we empathize, how we show up for others and our stories. Right? AI can help do a lot of the admin stuff, but it can't help us build those coalitions, build those relationships. So it enables us by freeing up, freeing us up on having to do those routine, mundane tasks. Now we're able to focus on what matters, the relational aspects of what we did.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: You know, for everyone. Meeting you for the first time, what do you do through Lead with Impact and what problems do you solve for leaders?
Feel overwhelmed by AI.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Ricky, thank you so much for this question. And I, I think it's, it's great for a number of reasons, but I'll start off with addressing what it is that I do and what Lead with Impact is. Lead with Impact helps leaders move from AI confusion to confident execution, not with theory, but with a customized approach, depending on where they're at, meeting them, where they're at, where their needs are, what, where they're at in their tech journey, their tech stack. And I help them get there by building, starting off with a strong foundation on the teaching, depending on, again, where they're at, and then building on that based on their needs. What distinguishes me from others is my unique approach. Since I've been in leadership for many years and do a lot of mentoring and coaching. I take that approach into how I implement AI and meet with others in that I it's not a one size fits all. Everything that I do is custom, whether it be an app that I'm deploying, whether it be a workshop, whether it's a one on one session to get the leader or the founder get to where they need to be at with their A skills, their AI skills. I take my time to do a thorough assessment, not only of the individual, but like from a coaching standpoint, but of where the business is at. So it's a very unique approach that ends up being very productive and very rewarding for both parties.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: So when a leader tells you I don't want to fall behind, but I don't want to blow it, what's your first diagnosis or diagnostic question to find the real issue, skill, strategy or fear?
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Beautiful question. Thank you Ricky. The first step is sitting down and having a heart to heart, a thorough conversation, not a checklist, an in depth conversation.
Because to me I don't want to fall behind.
Makes me think that there's more there and I want to get to the heart of it. So I start by assessing the psychological safety. What is it that the leader isn't willing to actually admit that they don't know? What about their team? What are people hiding behind their AI use or pretending or to understand things they may not?
No training or tool fix that. So we need to work at from that starting point and the only way to find that out is having a deep dive and a heart to heart conversation. So once I know the safety level, I go looking for the real source of the hesitation. Is it a skills gap? Is it a resource gap? Is it a lack of clear direction from, you know, if they work for a business, from the leadership above, like senior leadership are. Is a leader mirroring something that they haven't actually voiced? Is the team mirroring that uncertainty back at them? That diagnostic is exactly what separates, like I mentioned earlier, my approach from everyone else's. I don't walk into any space with a prepackaged solution again, no, no one size fits all.
And what I really like is that by doing so you find that everybody needs a different roadmap per se. And I take my time after that, heart to heart to establish a clear way forward that makes sense based on the circumstances that I see. Right. Some need specific tools implemented and sometimes people come to me and they want something really robust and while that's great and I will definitely build it for them, I sometimes throttle it back a bit and ensure that I'm setting them up for success short and long term. So the solution is always again, customized to the individual, the team and the moment that they're actually in.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: So there's not a one size fit all, huh?
[00:08:43] Speaker B: No, no. Just because we all have a different story. Our missions are so unique and our teams are so unique. And I really think that that's where a lot of the AI implementation falls short because we're all in this race to embrace it and adopt it for fear of getting left behind.
But there's a lot that can get lost in the way because your implementation is only going to be as successful as you're ready for it. So if any of the layers, your data stack, your team, you, your, your tech that you have is not well postured for it, it's going to not give you that high ROI that, that it can give you.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: You know, it's funny because, you know, I think about myself, I put my, you know, I think about AI, think about myself, and it's kind of a lazy thing for me. I mean, my whole family had the iPhone for years and years and years. I was the only one in an Android and they gave me crap and blah blah this and blah, blah that. And finally when I stepped over and did it was that aha moment. It's like, oh my God, you know, the, all the things you can do, although you can do them with Android also, but just kind of the fit. I think it's the, the aha moment for me that kind of helps out. How do you get the prospective client to that aha moment?
[00:10:07] Speaker B: I love that. And, and I think that's again, what's been missing in this space that everybody, a lot of the people leading these workshops or these initiatives assume that everyone is at the same starting point. And that's not true. Some people that I've worked with don't even have a laptop. They're working out of a cell phone or an iPad. So. And because of that, again, you need that tailored approach. It's critical. But to get to your point about the aha moment, easy, short wins, easy wins. And that's what I lead all my workshops with. The first exercise we do is usually something fun, but very empowering, very. That is going to be something that they can implement as soon as we wrap up that workshop. And that helps them see like, I can do this. Right? And having a tangible takeaway that they can share to others has just been proving very, very to be very successful because it makes people feel empowered and they've got this, right? And kind of to your point about the iPhone, that first time that you're able to use it and do something cool with it, you're like, I got this. I can do this. Right? And I mimic that in the workshops by ensuring that the first thing I do or the one on one is going through one simple exercise that they with a powerful takeaway that they can again implement immediately and show off to others. And there's a lot of power in that, in building up that resiliency and that awareness that I can do this.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: So your philosophy is amplification, not automation. What should leaders protect or protect and amplify first? Judgment, customer trust or team capability?
[00:11:43] Speaker B: And why judgment first? You know, you can't replicate how you read a room. Your ethical instinct, the trust that you've built over years for showing up for your people. The professionals and leaders who will fare better in this AI area, in this AI era are the ones who lead with those human capabilities front and center always, and let AI amplify everything else behind them.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: Well, coming up next, I'm going to press into the risk side, compliance, trust, and how leaders stay bold with getting reckless. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Battle Ready. If you like what you're watching, you can watch live or on demand anytime. You can Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku iOS for bilingual program in English and Spanish. If you prefer to be on the go, if you're in your car, if you're like I in my business, just driving all the time, you can down listen to the podcast anytime on NowMedia TV now. Welcome back. I'm here with Cynthia Vasquez. And now we're talking about the parts leaders ignore risk because the real world AI doesn't just create speed, it creates liability. Right? But before we do that, Cynthia, let's talk a little bit about you. Tell me, tell me where you're from, how you got into this, what your. What your career path has went.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: I don't even know where to start. You know, I often think my life is like a crazy roller coaster because it has been right. I set off to be a teacher and then wanted to and work with the UN and then somehow ended up being a special agent, then a supervisory special agent and now my current role. And it's just been a wild but exhilarating ride full of amazing learning opportunities and born and raised here in San Diego. My family is from Guadalajara and Michoacan. I had the privilege to travel A lot throughout my childhood. And I'm grateful for that because it made me ensure that I kept my Spanish skills. And that's been very helpful to me career wise. I mentioned that I've been all over the place and that's actually how I ended up in the AI space. It kind of happened by accident. So I remember distinctly picking up my kids from school and it was a few years back and they were really excited to tell me about a little kid from school who had used AI to do their homework. They were all fascinated with it. I was like, what, what are you talking about? That makes no sense.
I then we get home, they showed me and I'm like, oh no, that's junk. You can tell that's computer generated, blah blah, blah. So a few months after I took a challenge assignment with my agency and was helping with field operations with their comms. So it was a role to oversee communications for my agency. Very high stakes and fortunately I did that with a colleague.
And our responsibility was to push out emails, press releases, set up podcasts, create memos, create agency policy.
Very high stakes and oftentimes with very little time to do that.
So oftentimes we had an hour, sometimes 20 minutes to put something that was going to go to very high level individuals, whether within our agency and oftentimes outside. So we were dealing with internal and external stakeholders at all different levels. And because of the high stakes, I was like, I need something to help me. So I started slowly using AI initially just to spell check and get, ensure my grammar was on point.
And little by little, as I played around with it more, I started to embrace it. And now I could honestly say I'm a fan.
I hate to admit it, but it just, and it was a really crazy transformation because I was very skeptical. I didn't see the value in it. But being in that high stakes environment forced me to use it.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: You know, I, I, I'll tell you, I can remember I had an aha moment, right? So I mean, I'm the typical chat GPT, throw some stuff in there, let it, rewrite it, whatever, you know. And then I went to this chat GPT class with this lady here in the Houston area and man, her motivation, how she just really talked it through and she, the, the way she sold it. Now understand my background's military, right? So I'm used to boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, policy, procedures, whatever. So she's like, you just do this and then you do that, then you do this and then you do that and you have to tell it what to do, Be specific, do this, do that. I'm thinking whatever, I mean, come on, that's what can you really do? And in my real estate, you know, world, I tried it a couple times and I mean, I said listen, find me a house like in this neighborhood, a 10 minute walk from a Starbucks. I just was making up crap just to see.
Oh wow, that aha moment just hit me, you know, I know that just how I felt. I can only imagine how you as a coach, teacher, provider, when you're dealing with people like me who kind of skeptic. I mean that aha moment must be amazing for you to see.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: I love that and I feel like that's why I love it so much. So I'm all about helping people. You know, growing up I, we were very involved in our local church. We always helped with orphanages, food drives, you name it, very involved. And I like to share that because it installed it, it instilled in me a passion for serving others. And they're one of my favorite quotes and something that I live by is this quote that says something such as the measure of a man's life is going to be measured by how much was given in the service of others. Right. And I really believe that. Right. And I'm sure you can relate being a public servant yourself, right? It's about giving to others, showing up for your community. And that's why to me this AI is so exciting because not only am I able to be of service to others and in all walks of life, but I'm also helping them in their career trajectory, right. Whether that be as a founder or in their current role. And it's just very empowering. And that aha moment is almost addicting, right? And to be able to have people walk and almost hold hands, lock arms and walk them through that journey and help them see and get to the other side and see their business or, or their career take off is very exciting and rewarding.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: So now let's, let's. I'm gonna use me as an example because I'm gonna try to get something out of this today, right? So, so, so I'm using chat GPT. Much better. What that does is helps me free up time to do other things that I really like to do versus the stuff that I need to do, right? Then I watch all these TV commercials and all these things on, on TV where it's talking about, you know, where the, where the, the high state person.
Siri put this on my calendar and that on my calendar and whatever and I'm thinking, man, I need to get to that level.
Tell me how you help people get to that level.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: Very easy. Right. Again, like we talked about earlier, it depends on what their needs are. And I, I feel the same. Right. I see all these different ways to be more efficient, these automations that can be implemented, but I tend to think of it as noise versus signal. Because some of these things like the automation for emails and managing your day in your calendar, not everybody needs that. Right?
[00:19:56] Speaker A: Right.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: But some people do. But you may see that and think, oh, I definitely need that, or I'm missing out. But are you really. Does it, it. Where you're at? Does it is actually, is it in line with your goals? And it's funny that we are on this topic because I actually developed an app for that. It's called Momentum. And it helps you focus on what it is you actually need to be in line with your roi, your goals, your vision, your mission. And because it's, it's easy to lose sight of what is actually needed. Right. So when, once we do identify a need, we'll walk through different scenarios and I'll help you implement that, whatever that may look like for that person, for whatever. And I'll give you a perfect example. Just yesterday somebody reached out asking specifically for something like that. And so I'm going to build something once we drop off, just for that, for automating their day and their calendar.
[00:20:55] Speaker A: Well, you know what? I'll be looking for that. All right, so, so, you know, it's funny, so I'm at a place in my life. I'm a, I'm a business owner, I own my own business.
I, I like to say I do pretty well at it, but I want to do more stuff that I want to do because I, it's. I'm in a time in my life where if I can knock out everything and not forget to do the things that I, that I need to do because I'm so busy trying to do the things I want to do. You know, here you go. Need and want, right? I need to do to make money. What I want to do to be have, you know, fulfillment in my life. Which goes back to what you said earlier. It's by giving to others, helping others, and sometimes there's a fine line and there's not enough hours in a day to really maximize your priority.
Although my priority is my clients. Right. I want my priority to be taking care of my clients and allowing me enough time to take care of the things or, or get involved in things. That, that are important to me, like you know, helping veterans that need help and stuff like that.
So you find somebody like me and, and what would you do with that?
[00:22:11] Speaker B: I think like I mentioned having that deep dive, you know, what is it that you want to work on?
And the goal setting, right. And it's tricky and that's where I feel that my approach is so valuable because it's almost from.
It's a merge between the coaching as well as the business standpoint. Right. And I bridge those together because goals can sometimes be conflicting between your business side and your personal side. So I help to get that clarity. Right. And, and then the goals also can shift day to day or week to. Right.
Like you may need to be pushing hard to make this goal that you have for this week or closing a certain deal. But at the same time, it's your son's or daughter's birthday, right? There's going to be a day that week that you're going to have to drop everything you have to. Right. So I help people walk through that and having that conversation, goal setting, creating that roadmap and using that app because it helps you leverage and go week by week. But also like a 30, 60 day model in which you can set your goals and help you decide what's best for the week for that day and where to focus your energy on based on what your energy and your home life situation looks like for that given week.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: So now I'm talking about, I mean I'm being, I'm being all about myself right now, but we're talking about, so we talk about organizations, right? So you have, you go like a pyramid down. Like I, I'm the leader of my organization. I have agents underne me. However, when you come into like a bigger organization, like a small business or a larger business, where do you like to start? Kind of at the top, in the middle or by, by area or how do you, how do you work that in?
[00:24:01] Speaker B: I love that question.
So and, and why I love it is because I actually developed an AI readiness assessment. So I recently participated in a hackathon and I won because of this solution. Right. And again, yeah, hackathon. So basically everybody competes and you do a build of some type or propose a solution. And my solution was this. An AI readiness assessment that assesses your readiness to implement AI at an organizational level. But it includes all aspects, external, internal, the CEO, the, the lowest person that will touch the AI, your tech, what are what software you have, your data and to ensure it, who's going to be Owning the things to ensure that the implementation has everything needed to be successful. So I like to start with that assessment. Your question specifically was with who? I think it has to be holistic approach. For example, let's say I go into your team and I get you all coached up and ready and we launch this beautiful apple.
Well, it's only as good as your people, right? If we didn't take the time to get them ready, it's gonna fail. No matter how beautiful the app is or how amazing it is, maybe a few will take it on, but it's a.
It has to be a bigger initiative than just rolling it out, right? There needs to be communication. There needs to be the getting everybody level, setting everyone, ensuring that they have at least a basic understanding so. So that they can actually use the tool, not just pretend they're using it. Because I've run into that a lot and I actually get a lot of messages from people admitting or telling me, hey, listen, I don't know how to use it. Can you help me? I waited too long and I don't want my boss to find out. And that's actually a thing. So to. To prevent that from happening, I like to. I think the best approach is touching everyone and seeing where we're at and then going from there. You usually by starting off with an assessment and then figuring out what we need to work on next based on what the results of the assessment yield.
[00:26:16] Speaker A: Well, if somebody wants to get a hold of you and maybe have that initial conversation. How do they do that?
[00:26:22] Speaker B: My website, LeadWithImpact IO LinkedIn. You can find me there as well. It's Cynthia Vasquez, and you'll see me. I'm pretty active on LinkedIn and. And we can add the. My contact information, definitely my website. There's a calendar there.
There's my emails there as well. I'd be happy to connect with any of you and help you walk through this AI journey together.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: Well, you know what? I'm. I'm really looking forward to this. I really enjoy this conversation. The funny thing, what you said in my. My little group, it's kind of totally the opposite because, I mean, I'm all excited about something. I find out. I talk to my people. Like, I know that.
Guys, we'll be. We'll be right back. Talking with Cynthia Vasquez. Talk to you in a minute.
Welcome back. I'm continuing with Cynthia Vasquez. And now we're moving from theory to execution. Now the reality is this. We're gonna have this conversation because I'm very fascinated with AI And I'm old, I'm old school, and I need Cynthia to bring me back to kind of reality and show me how we can use this as a force multiplier. Hey, Cynthia, welcome back.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: Thank you, Ricky. Happy to be here.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: You know, we've had it. So prior to our show today, we've had one conversation before, and we talked a little bit about AI and all the great things you're doing and helping people realize that AI doesn't have to be scary. So somebody like me who is. I mean, what do I say about my show? You don't know what you don't know. So I don't even know the right questions to ask or what.
Is that where your interview comes in?
[00:28:09] Speaker B: That and, you know, just ensuring that they realize how powerful AI is.
Right.
I like to tell people, and especially as being first gen and serving underserved communities, it's critical that we empower our people with AI Why? Because now we're not alone. Now, traditionally, we haven't had someone sponsoring us. We haven't had access to coaching because of the price involved for many reasons. Right? But now, that's not an excuse now. And that's what to me is so amazing about AI And I think one of the reasons why I love it so much is now you have experts in our pockets. 24, 7. All you need is say the word, right? And you don't know where to start. Ask it. Say, hey, listen, I'm dealing with this issue. My landlord wants to evict me. Or my boss is asking this crazy thing of me. How do I deal with it? Is this legal? Walk me through it. You don't know what to ask. Tell it. I'm not sure what to do. What should I answer? What? How can I handle this? What are your suggestions? You don't know where to start or you want to learn something? Walk me through it step by step. Teach me, coach me, interview me. And.
And it's so amazing. So I'll give you an example. Yesterday I was mentoring someone who's going through an interview, and I helped set up their AI to interview her for the position. She'll be interviewing her. So it's a mock interview, and the AI will ask her questions and then she'll answer and so forth. So there's a lot of valuable ways to use it. Right. And again, whoever you need to call on, you now have available almost for free or free in some instances to call on. So, for example, you're setting up your llc. You're not sure where to start. Ask it. Here's where I'm at. I'm unsure about this. Walk me through it. Help me think about the next steps. Right? You have a tricky situation at school, an issue with the teacher, disciplinary issue. Tell it. Here's where I'm at. How do I deal with it? Complicated situation with the irs. Don't know where to start. What are my options? Help me respond. What is this telling me? I mean, even an electricity bill, right? And funny enough, I'll share this story that I love. I have solar panels. My dad was able to fix my heatless, my tankless water heater because it broke using AI it told it. Here's what I'm seeing. What are the next steps? And he was able to fix it. And that's why AI is so valuable because it's not only for professionals. Anybody and everybody should be leveraging it to help us again because it's not only a time saver, it's a career saver. And again, it's very empowering. Everything is there at our fingertips. We can learn anything.
And you don't know what to do. So you can even translate it for you, right? Say, here's this letter.
Tell me what it means in Spanish. Help me how to respond. Create the response for me. Just very exciting stuff. And again, just to wrap up, we now have these experts 24 7. No excuses. Let's go use it.
[00:31:37] Speaker A: You know what? I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm all sold, right? I'm, I'm bought in. And, and it's funny because you know, you know, I have my kids, my kids are all into this AI and I'm, I want to take. And I don't want to show how crazy I am. But just the reality is this. I want to do a lot, but I don't want to do anything.
So I, the reason I, so I try to put a schedule together for me and my time.
So I told chat and GPT I want to do. I want to get up at this time from this time. I want you to put my schedule together from now. And I want to, I want to comp this, this, this, this like I do the miracle morning. And it has this thing called savers. I said savers S, A, B E R s are different. There's the things that go along with it. And I want you to. So it put a schedule like you get up at 4:13, you get your cup of coffee. You're in your office at 4:19, you do s for five minutes, eight. I mean it's like, and I was like, oh wow. And being former military, it's like, yes, I got a schedule, I can follow a schedule. But if I make up a schedule for myself, I make this joke about the purple squirrels. Purple squirrel, remember we, I think we
[00:32:51] Speaker B: had, yes, we did have that.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: The purple squirrels get there. You know, it's like, wow. I, I, you know, really, I alleviate the purple squirrels by just going through this schedule. And, and it's, I mean it's, it's invigorating. It's kind of like now I have more time to do what I want to do.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: Exactly.
That's so empowering. I love that feeling.
[00:33:13] Speaker A: You know, it's, it's new, you know what I mean? And I'm still doing well in my business side, so I'm hitting all the things and I'm having time. Like I, you know, my daughter calls me yesterday like, hey, can you go pick up my son at, you know, Jameson at school? I'm like, I, I said something to my, my AI put in my calendar like, yeah, I'm done. And it's like I can kind of more in control of my life, which is very amazing. That's what you like to do. Now we're only with individuals but with the big organization, right?
[00:33:50] Speaker B: Yes. Across the board. Right. And I think what you described beautifully is having a personal chief of staff. Right. And then it goes back to what we were talking about earlier, that it's not a one size fits all. But at the same time you could set this up for a business but also break it down and do something similar for the individual. Right. And I have something similar for mine for my day to day. And it's just so empowering because I don't have to worry about ensuring that I have time for the things that matter because it's already there scripted for me, so I know I'll be able to work it in. Right. And I have one for daily and then a weekly to ensure that I'm setting myself up for success and it helps me ensure that I'm going to hit the benchmarks that I want to hit. Right. And a long way to say yes, I do. The there is a lot of value in what you're describing and a lot of ways that this can easily be implemented at the personal level, small business level or a bigger organization.
[00:34:59] Speaker A: You know what? And so prior to going into real estate, I was a director of HR and Corporate America, did a lot of interviewing, did a lot of recruiting Did a lot of, had a lot of meetings, a lot of things like that. And I can remember, you know, taking notes and missing points because of taking notes, you know, or even in interviews with candidates. I say, hold on a second, I want to make sure I don't miss this, whatever. And then probably, and this hasn't been long for me, maybe a month or so ago, I found an app for my phone call, Q Pl.
I gave that to my wife. So when she does her meetings and zooms, she just pushes a button, puts it next to the meeting and it chronologically puts everything in an outline. And, and me, I'm going to tell you something. I hate to type. I suck at typing. Typing is like my Achilles heel. I rather go do physical work than type. I don't care.
But since that's come into play, it's like I'm more engaged in conversations, you know, I, I don't have to worry about. Can you hold on a second with that point? You know, I, I want to make sure I don't miss anything. Now I, I, I sit it down. I had a big meeting with some investors yesterday and I sat it down, I said, you guys don't mind, I'm recorded, I'll send them all and the, the whole meeting in notes. And when I sent it to them, I got message back. Oh my God, this is amazing. It didn't miss any of the points. It had everything. And this is what you help people learn, right?
[00:36:37] Speaker B: Yes. And, and I love how you said it beautifully. You know, it's just so mind blowing because from an efficiency standpoint, but the most beautiful aspect to me is that you are showing up fully engaged, present in the moment. Right. And, and as a special agent, I can totally relate because there were times, you know, I, I was doing an investigation and I'm, I'm asking hard questions that you want to make sure you catch, you know, even a blink of an eye or how they're gesturing can be a huge indicator. And you don't want to have to disengage to be like, oh, give me a second. Hold that thought, let me write this down. You don't have that luxury. Right? So it, now in the meeting standpoint, it's just so helpful because you can show up fully without having to worry. Did I capture that? And not only that, it helps you build.
I like to kind of have a profile on that business now I have something that I can lean on. What are we focusing on? And then you can see patterns. You can use that data to then inform other decisions in the future.
[00:37:52] Speaker A: Well, you know, coming up in our final segment, I'm going to ask Cynthia about leadership or leading people through the change, fear and identity, how leaders keep teams confident instead of threatened. We'll be right back, Guys. Welcome back to Battle Ready. Stream this episode and more anytime. You can Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS for bilingual programming, both in English and Spanish. And you can always catch this on the road on a podcast at NOW Media tv. Hear any of the guests that I've had on. You can see Cynthia. Listen to Cynthia while you're going trying to figure out what your battle with AI is going to help with.
We're back right now with Cynthia. Hey, welcome back, Cynthia.
[00:38:38] Speaker B: Great to be here. Thank you, Ricky.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: You know, I appreciate you letting me ramble on that last segment about how AI has come to me. So tell me, when you have a company that's really like excited about AI but when you ask them, they don't know what they're excited about because they don't know anything about AI but they know they want to get involved, what do you do?
[00:39:00] Speaker B: You know, again, start small, meet them where they're at. You know, if they already have this high energy and they're loving it, let's, let's continue building on that momentum, whatever that may look like, whatever their biggest pain point is, and that's what I ensure that I'm always focused on, is adding value, not on what I think based on their circumstances, their goals, because I can come in and see a lot of issues. But that may not, they may be willing to live with that. That may not be in line with their goals. And yes, it merits focusing on fixing, but that may not be where we focus first, if that makes sense. Right. We're going to focus on what their biggest pain point is. What's going to be give them that biggest ROI from where they sit. Right. Whether that be at the individual level or the business level. Right. Are they worried about scaling, are they worried about, you know, decision making? Are they worried about marketing? What is the biggest issue that they're dealing with and work it from there, but capitalizing on that momentum that they already have. If they're already all in, let's go for it. But building a roadmap based on what their goals and needs are.
[00:40:16] Speaker A: Well, you said something in the last segment that really sticks in my head and that is you as an agent were use AI so that you can be much more engaged with the people you're talking to and you actually get to watch them, you know.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great question. No, we weren't. And we're. And still, still currently that I know of. Most agents don't have that ability for a number of reasons. So you had to stay engaged and hope you remembered everything.
Right. But I wish we could have, because I would have been able to get everything. Because sometimes, you know, even just a word is a tell. So you don't want to miss that. Right. But as an agent, you're interviewing people and you're watching and taking notes at the same time. But for that, for that circumstance, imagine if we'd be able to hit record, right? And maybe not the, the, the actual interaction, but just the voice, right. That would be so empowering. And it would be a game changer because then you don't have to look away. You're fully engaged. There's a lot of value in that for many of us, 100%.
[00:41:27] Speaker A: Now, you spoke at the Latino AI Summit in 2026 about breaking barriers. What's the biggest barrier you see right now? Access, confidence or leadership vision?
[00:41:39] Speaker B: I think all of the above.
And part of it is we have access, but people don't know. And I think, and that's why this work to me is so important. The 24, seven experts in our pockets, we got to make sure that our communities hearing that message. And I've done a lot, I continue to do a lot of work out in the community, virtually and in person, helping underserved communities realize and create that awareness of AI and how AI can help you. Because there's a not only lack of awareness, but AI implementation has mostly been focused on white collar employees. But as a community, anybody can greatly benefit from this technology.
How are we spreading that message and how are we empowering our communities to use it to advance not only in their education, but also their careers and their day to day. Right. So my message is, you know, 247 experts in our pockets, you don't have a coach. Use AI as a coach, ideally when you can get an actual coach. But in the meantime, have AI be your coach, have AI be a mentor, tell you what to do next, help you with that visibility, help you with the sponsorship that we don't have, help use it in a way that's going to strategically help you advance and propel us forward as a community.
[00:43:06] Speaker A: So when you're dealing with organizations, how do you help them build a culture where people use AI responsibly and creatively without turning it into a mandatory tool fatigue?
[00:43:18] Speaker B: I love that question and it, it's a difficult challenge because on the surface it's adopting it's a tech issue, but I find that it's not, it's deeper than that. It's actually a leadership issue. Right. And it becomes an issue of being a good leader and having those soft, or what we call soft skills, which I don't like the wording, but it's that ability to empathize, to lead with a servant leadership mentality, instilling that psychological safety because again, if your team doesn't feel safe to say, hey, I don't know, it's not going to happen. You need everybody to be part of the journey, everyone to be able to explore together. And what does that look like? The leader goes first. The leader has to lead by example. If they're seeing the leader implement it and modeling the behavior, everyone will follow. Right. As the leader gets better and shows their skills and shows that they're embracing it, everything else will fall into place. But it's not, it's easier said than done. It requires a more holistic approach as opposed to just a tech, tech one.
[00:44:34] Speaker A: So, Cynthia, where can people connect with you? You know, lead with impact on your LinkedIn?
[00:44:39] Speaker B: Yes, lead with impact. Email.
And there's a contact information on my website. I tend to prioritize getting, responding. Why? Because I love the work that I do. But the most important work is serving others from my standpoint. And nothing makes me as happier as connecting with other individuals and helping individuals. You have a question, feel free to ping me. And so just yesterday someone pinged me and said, hey, I'm working on this. I was like, oh, okay, let me connect you with this person. And then later on I was thinking about it, I was like, you know what? Let me send them this prompt. And I created a prompt especially for that person and their situation. Right. And because I just, my mind works that way. So don't hesitate to reach out. Always happy to help and serve my community.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: What should, what should they ask first? If they want to move from confusion to confident execution?
[00:45:36] Speaker B: I, I, you capture that beautifully. I think they should just say, here's where I'm at. Here are my goals. How can you help me? Or if it's a message to me, same thing, Cynthia. Here's my biggest pain point. Here's what I'm dealing with. And I do get messages like that. What do you think I can do? How can you help me? And I usually come up with a customized plan. Sometimes I do that even when they don't ask me. I'll shoot them. Like, hey, listen, I was thinking about this. Have you tried this? Here's a customized plan of how you can do AI and that'll help you.
[00:46:08] Speaker A: So on a personal note, what is your favorite thing about AI?
[00:46:13] Speaker B: My favorite thing about AI is exactly this. Being present, being in the moment, in and because it frees me up to focus on the relationships. Right. And empowering others. I love helping out other people and if, you know, seeing it play out in real life and have immediate results for people, right. Where, you know, it's how people get hired, it's how people do better. It's just nothing more rewarding than that.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: So it's all about just freeing up your experience.
[00:46:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:46:50] Speaker A: You know, Cynthia, thank you. Today I'm walking away with the battle ready truth. AD doesn't replace leadership, exposes it, right? If you're watching, here's your move. Pick one, use case, set your guardrails and lead your people with clarity and courage. Don't chase a trend. You need to commend the mission.
Cynthia's out there available for you guys to reach out to and lead with impact. Is there be find out what your WIFM is. What's in it for me? Cynthia can help you find that. Cynthia, thanks again for being with us.
[00:47:22] Speaker B: Thank you, Ricky. A pleasure.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: I'm Ricky Chavez and this is Battle Ready Only on NOW Media tv.
