How I AI

How a Public Relations Strategist Uses AI to Save Time and Create Media Impact

• Brooke Gramer • Season 1 • Episode 20

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Welcome back to How I AI! In this episode, I’m joined by Tianna Robinson,  fractional Chief Communications Officer, award-winning publicist, founder of Intertwined Agency, and creator of AI for PR. Tianna has built her career representing culture-shifting talent and brands at the intersection of entertainment, sports, social impact, and technology. Now, she’s pioneering ways for communicators and small business owners to integrate AI into their PR and marketing workflows.

We talk about the changing PR landscape, the power of AI literacy, and why the human touch still matters in an increasingly automated world. Tianna shares real-world examples of how AI tools and agents have transformed her client campaigns from weeks of work to hours, her go-to platforms for PR pros, and why building a personal brand is no longer optional.

🔥 Topics We Cover:

  • The evolution of PR in the AI era
  • How to integrate AI into communications workflows
  • Examples of AI agents automating press outreach and media list building
  • The importance of AI literacy for communicators
  • How to pivot your services to stay competitive
  • Building a personal brand in the age of automation
  • Balancing automation with authenticity
  • Prompting like a publicist and why good prompts matter
  • Serving marginalized communities in the AI revolution

 Connect with Tianna & Learn More:

 Resources & Links:

 AI & Productivity Tools Mentioned:

  • ChatGPT
  • DeepSeek
  • Grammarly
  • Notion
  • Motion
  • Zapier

 AI for PR & Media Tools:

  • Propel AI
  • Muck Rack
  • Cision
  • Canva Magic
  • Firefly (transcription)
  • HERO: Help a Reporter Out

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Learn more about Brooke's exclusive Collective AI offers.

"How I AI" is a concept and podcast series created and produced by Brooke Gramer of EmpowerFlow Strategies LLC. All rights reserved.

Brooke:

Welcome to How I AI the podcast featuring real people, real stories, and real AI in action. I'm Brooke Gramer, your host and guide on this journey into the real world impact of artificial intelligence. For over 15 years, I've worked in creative marketing events and business strategy, wearing all the hats. I know the struggle of trying to scale and manage all things without burning out, but here's the game changer, AI. This isn't just a podcast. How I AI is a community, a space where curious minds like you come together, share ideas, and I'll also bring exclusive discounts, and insider resources, because AI isn't just a trend, it's a shift, and the sooner we embrace it, the more freedom, creativity, and opportunities will unlock. How I AI is brought to you in partnership with the Collective AI, a space designed to accelerate your learning and AI adoption. I joined the collective and it's completely catapulted my learning, expanded my network, and showed me what's possible with AI. Whether you're just starting out, seeking community or want done for you solutions, the collective gives you the resources to grow your business with AI. So stay tuned to learn more at the end of this episode, or check my show notes for my exclusive invite link.. What if you could shrink your workflow from weeks to hours without losing the human touch? In today's episode, Tianna shows us exactly how she's doing it at her PR agency, using AI agents smart prompts and tools like Propel AI to make press outreach and brand storytelling faster, sharper, and more impactful. Before we dive in, I want to remind you that How I AI is more than a podcast. It's a hub for your resources, tools, and guidance to help you work smarter with AI. Every episode's show notes are packed with my partnerships, the AI tools we discuss and guest resources so you can implement what you learn from each episode right away. You'll also find a link to book a 30 minute strategy call with me where I'll help you align your AI adoption strategy. If you love the show, please rate and review it. It helps this small but growing brand reach more people. Now let's get into my conversation with Tianna. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of How I AI. today I have Tianna Robinson. She's the founder of Intertwined Agency and she's the creator of AI for PR. Tianna, thank you so much for being here. Thank

Tianna:

you for having me, Brooke. I'm so excited to be here and I'm so excited to have this conversation.

Brooke:

Yes, we are in Miami, Florida today. It's a hot summer, plenty Miami, but I'm so excited you're here today. I would love to first just open the space to hear all about you, who you are, and. All the amazing things you're doing now and PR and

Tianna:

AI again. I am Tianna, the founder of a strategic communications company called Intertwined Agency. For years, we worked at the intersections of entertainment, sports, social impact and technology, Working with talent brands and influential figures globally. We've done some amazing things over the course of eight years. We were the first DEI agency hired by the recording Academy in it, 65 year history. Wow. We worked alongside women of black women and ensuring that Brittany Griner returned home and that Kamala Harris was added to the presidential ticket. And we also were very instrumental in getting Kiki Palmer, her role on Good Morning America three as the first. black or the youngest black woman in broadcast history. Now we have launched an initiative called AI for pr. As you know, times are changing, everything is pivoting, and the world is ai. And we want to ensure that not only do we not get left behind, but other communicators and PR professionals don't get left behind. And also small business owners have the tools needed to equip theirselves. To properly execute their PR strategies in the age of ai.

Brooke:

Wow. That is an impressive background. Thank you. And you have such a natural knack for PR, I can already tell. How did you get into the space?

Tianna:

In terms of how I got into PR, I was actually raised in PR. I'm from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born and raised. And my aunt was actually one of the biggest publicists in Philadelphia at the time. And she had an agency. That worked at the intersections of entertainment, sports, and politics and it, was a family business. I would literally leave school every day, go to the office. Times were very different then. So like I was telling you earlier, I was clipping newspapers And scanning them and, you know, working events. and, my goal was to always move to New York and, work in PR. it just kind of came like second nature now when it comes to AI. Yes. That's my big question. That is a completely different game. Ai. So I was an early adapter in 2022 when ChatGPT and Midjourney Released. I was like, oh, This is so cool. This is fascinating. And I played around with it a lot. Like, oh, this is fun. I'll just do this for her. Crap and giggles, right? But then the Hollywood strikes happened. Yes. and. AI was at the center of the, Hollywood strikes. I, am in sag. And everything just shut down. everything was disrupted. Yes. Sorry. We had studios that are trying to replicate the voices and likeness of actors, you know, iconic talent. We had, AI writing scripts and just, just a complete disruption. and I was like, whoa. If. Ben Stiller and Shonda Rhimes, and all of these huge mega stars and millionaires are worried about AI What's gonna happen to my small strategic company? right? Yeah. So I really started paying attention and then I went to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos, and this is where the top 1%, the decision makers are. Right. And the conversation was literally Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, And what I realized is that There were no other creatives in the room, and decisions were being made for us. and it was very clear the writing was on the wall that if you don't adopt in some way or if you don't learn AI or incorporate into your business, yeah, you will get left behind. And that's how AI for PR was birthed. because I started teaching myself and my team AI and started implementing into our business and realizing that a lot of My colleagues and my peers. We're Far behind. Yeah. So then I started going into different companies and doing workshops and teaching. And then with the economy the last couple years, we all know the economy has just a lot of small brands and businesses can no longer afford traditional PR services, but what they can afford is to automate their PR services. So we implemented AI for PR where it's not only for comms and PR strategists. But we offer these services for small business owners and entrepreneurs. As well.

Brooke:

That's incredible that you were able to have such foresight and the right environment to be able to act quickly and be an early adapter into this space. My next question for you is how did you start to integrate it immediately? Was it essentially chat GPT? Did you completely. Start to rework the way that you use your project management systems.

Tianna:

Absolutely. At first it was chat GTP, right? Yeah. Now chat GTP is like my bestie. I call her a chatty patty. At first it was relying heavily on chat GTP, in terms of, Editing and, you know, rewrite this press release. Yes. But then eventually and very soon after, a lot of the traditional media databases that we use, say the Cision or the Muck Rack they started adding AI powered tools into their services. So it made it easier. But then after that, so many AI platforms are just popping up overnight. And so for example, notion, I do. Everything at Notion, it pretty much runs My agency runs an entire campaign from inception to conception, from beginning to end everything from compiling media list to drafting client briefs, like literally everything. now, And, this is me being very transparent again with the economy. I've had to make some internal cuts in terms of my team and I was able to rely on AI apps like Motion, where in motion. I have an AI executive assistant. I have an AI sales representative can that can do lead generation and that could

Brooke:

great

Tianna:

schedule things for me on my behalf.

Brooke:

Yeah, an

Tianna:

AI project manager, there's just. So many ways to incorporate AI into your business. and I can keep going In terms of, tools. Yeah. I think

Brooke:

It's expanding because a lot of people are at that moment where they're needing to invest in technology and restructure their workflows, and There is a trade off when it comes to how much you're spending and how much you're earning. And when it comes to laying off staff, we're in that space. Everyone's experiencing it. It is

Tianna:

heartbreaking, you know, to, and this is something that I grapple with as a small business owner. It is heartbreaking to have to lay off or let go human talent, but the reality of it is I can have a whole AI suite with agents and these different platforms, for well under. a thousand dollars a month.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

Whereas though even A freelance or a consultant can cost me triple that.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

And the AI doesn't take, PTO ai doesn't take Yeah. A coffee break and not, this is not me saying that the human touch or, you know, human experience is not needed. However, from a bottom line standpoint of view, which I think a lot of business owners and larger brands as well are facing. It's all about the bottom line when it comes to business. And that's where we're gonna see more AI being integrated into every business.

Brooke:

Could you maybe bring me through an example workflow or a case study of you integrating AI for pr? And the efficiency

Tianna:

Absolutely. Absolutely. So what would take weeks, You know, weeks ago, is it, we're talking about. Developing an AI campaign. PR campaign. Okay. At one point it could take, we should would come into my office, it would be Google Notes. Everywhere we have the big, you know, Blackboard, a Blueboard, it's a team of four or five of us strategizing. I'm running my mouth. One person is taking notes, The other person is developing the timeline. Yes. Now that can happen within a matter of hours. So you're going, going with the pipeline strategy, I think. I'm always very clear with saying like, I, am the strategist. I am the brain, I am the genius. Ai, AI is my assistant. So I'll give you an example for notion. We were actually working with an AI hair company. That basically You can take a picture of your hair and upload it into this AI and it'll tell you your hair. texture nice. And the best products to use for your hair. Nice. So with that company, in addition to doing the media relations We also automated their systems within their company. Wow. We did that within a matter of 48 hours of building out an agent that strategically pitched press and media relations for them to different publications. So we say, okay, we have our business driven Press, We have, Propel ai, which is another AI tool that I use specifically for pr. They could do, Various publications, right? So we have the business driven ones, we have the culture driven ones, we have the hair ones, right? Completely done. The AI agent that does that alone. Then we built out another AI agent that pitched speaking engagements and podcast engagements for the founder and the CEO. Yes, I get a lot of those. Yeah. Now, how do you feel as though when you get those emails, can you read them and automatically tell their ai? I can tell which ones

Brooke:

are ai. Yes, I can. How. Just because they haven't done the due diligence and the research, it's very high level what they're saying about me. And yeah, I can just tell when someone's actually more of a human. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it's okay to use AI to help you write your emails. Mm-hmm. Like we're all being efficient right now, but you can tell when someone is thoughtful when they do it, or if it's just AI that did it, with no oversight. Exactly, yeah. Or someone. Yeah.

Tianna:

What I like to call that is AI generated bull crap. There's a lot of AI generated bull crap going around because people are not. Using the human touch, I always say, the reality of it is we're all gonna use ai. We can, you just, you cannot get around it, right? Mm-hmm. But you cannot solely rely on AI like I, said, you are the genius, and AI is your assistant. AI is your assistant,

Brooke:

so you're twofold. You are crushing it in pr, but you're also enabling companies and teaching. Which do you like better right? now?

Tianna:

So as a publicist by nature, right? Yeah. What I do is pr, like that's PR is in my blood. Like I just, it was a family run business, but I'm leaning and as I see the evolution of my company and my business and myself I'm more so leaning into that, consulting space or that education space where it's empowering Other people to implement AI into all of their practices. Yes. Whether that's pr, whether that's marketing, whether that's real estate, whatever that is. Mm-hmm. That's where I'm leaning towards, because I do think pr, as I once knew, it is completely antiquated, and especially from the media relations standpoint of view, how many publications are folding. Like some of our faves don't exist anymore. Yeah. How many are going digital? How many editors. are losing their jobs? And that, that's a whole nother conversation we're talking about, How influencer culture has really taken over. Right. So I do, you know, foresight, I do see me more so transitioning fully into the AI space. Mm-hmm. And really expanding there.

Brooke:

That's awesome. Could you touch on a little bit more, you spoke about MuckRack and Cision and how they're integrating ai. Have they been doing that well? do you use those? a lot? Like what would you recommend in your toolbox for someone in the PR realm and vertical to start to integrate ai? What would be your recommendations? So Cision is the og, right? Yeah,

Tianna:

Cision graduated college into Cision. I prefer. MuckRack now. Mm-hmm. To be honest, I do feel as though their AI technology is a bit more advanced. Okay. So you can pull a name of, let's say we wanna pull up John at the New York Times, right? Mm-hmm. You pull up the name of John, we can see all of his like all of the beats that he's covered for X amount of time, right? Yeah. And it also has an integration where it can help you compile the pitch to him. So that makes it easier. And then it puts everything into these handy dandy folders. It's super organized. Yeah. I personally prefer muck Rack. Okay. I actually don't even have a Cision account anymore. Okay. Sometimes we use it if a client has Cision, it will do it on their behalf. But other tools that I tell publicists that you should have in your toolbox, Grammarly, I dunno if you use Grammarly, yet. Yes, I do. Grammarly game changer. Yeah. And it's not just to edit, Your, Spot your grammar, Correct your grammar. Yeah. It is the tone and persuasiveness that is really helpful, whether I'm writing a pitch, Mm-hmm. Like I said, I like to diversify my pitches. Yeah. So whether I'm talking to Forbes or Complex or Essence, it can literally take the same pitch, the same idea, but Change the tone and persuasiveness within a matter of seconds to be appealing to that writer. So they're not receiving that AI generated bull crap, you know? Yeah. It's very, Tailored and unique to that set writer. Whether I'm writing A speech for a CEO or I'm writing website copy, it's just super efficient. Yeah, very easy. Love Grammarly. Propel Ai Propel is actually a tool created for Pr professionals Okay. and I consider it just like a PR assistant. you can literally, it's almost like you can run a whole agency from a there Wow. Within Propel Descript, which I'm we talked about earlier. Yeah. Um, Descript Is amazing with not only editing, but taking different shots from. interviews and stuff and creating, repackaging them for social purposes. What else do we love? I love? Canva Magic. It, me too. It's so just easy from a design perspective. Firefly for meetings, transcription. Zapier for automation. I can keep going. Did I say no? I said notion. I said motion notion. motion describes what's

Brooke:

motion.

Tianna:

So motion is the, is pretty much It's AI agents. Okay. But they're already created. So you can have an AI executive assistant, it's like a marketplace. Yeah. For agents. Yeah. I don't know if necessarily would call it a marketplace. It's a tool. It's a platform. Okay. And you create your own agents within there, right? So I have my AI executive. Assistant who does my calendar. So I used to do everything on Calendly. Now you go through this executive assistant, In terms of, My expenses from traveling. Yeah, it manages all of that. Then I also have a project manager who helps me manage my team. Then it's also, like I said, a sales lead, where now we're doing lead generation, which is something that I shied away for a very long time. But when we're talking about growth, especially in today's economy, yeah, you have to be a little more aggressive with business. But I don't have time. Or patience to sit and do cold emailing or cold calling. So I do have that AI sales lead, But I will say I do have to play around with it a bit because I do feel like some of the emails that you said you receive and they're very high level, they're not very Bespoke And, Unique. It's not quite there yet. Yeah. But we'll give it one more time.

Brooke:

Okay. Great. My next question for you is, I've noticed In the industry, and you touched on this already, Less people are investing in pr. It's one of those costs that people are like, do I really need it? Mm-hmm. What can I do myself? And I've seen a lot of these ads online of Pitch Your Own Self, you don't need pr. How are you remaining competitive in this day and age where a lot of people are starting to DIY things? Yeah. With the help of ai.

Tianna:

Yeah. Grit, hustle. Yeah. In ai. Yeah. And ai. I'm not one of those publicists who wanna lie to you.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

PR has shifted tremendously over the past few years. And it's not just ai. Like I said, it's the rise of influencer culture. it's the pandemic, it's the Hollywood strikes, it's the layoffs in the music industry. it's it's just been complete chaos. And like, again, when companies look at the bottom line, and if people feel as though I can do this by myself, like if I can go onto ChatGPT and write a press release. Yeah. And then I can have this media list and I can just blast it out. Yeah. Why do I need pr? Why do I need pr? How do I stay competitive? Creating AI for pr? Yes. Staying ahead of the curve and just being brutally honest with myself that this time next year my agency might look completely different.

Brooke:

It might

Tianna:

only be AI automation.

Brooke:

Yeah,

Tianna:

because I do think even the AI consultant and teaching, we're gonna hit a bubble there as well.

Brooke:

One of my most downloaded episodes to date is a solo episode I did about pivoting with ai. And so you just hit on something super crucial that you were able to pivot and create AI for pr. Can you speak more about AI for PR and also any words of advice for someone who just graduated college and is entering the workforce as a PR agent? And how to adapt and pivot.

Tianna:

Absolutely. So AI for PR is, as of now, It's an initiative that was initially created for comms and PR professionals, and we expanded for that to be for small business owners and entrepreneurs as well. At first, we were literally just teaching you basic AI practices. This is how you use AI in your business, this is how you implement it. Then we added in the automation. Eventually the goal, something that we're working on is our own platform. Or our own SaaS, where my agency is literally my. Agency is doing everything from The strategizing to The pitching. But I do think we're gonna see that when AI is out of this functionality efficiency phase. And I do think AI's gonna go into a phase where it's more so about identity and cultural awareness.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

In terms of a PR agent just coming into the workforce. Whew. Take a breath. Take a deep breath Because from my understanding. The job market is brutal right now. Yes. Brutal right now. So be patient with yourself, but also be agile and, Actually feel Bad for a lot of the young people entering the workforce now because they have to be so multifaceted. I would say diversify. Do more than pr.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

Unfortunately. Do me more than pr, whether that's strategic communications, crisis comm. We're always gonna need crisis comms. Some politician or some entertainer is always gonna do something crazy. Maybe you niche down and specialize in crisis communications. Maybe you create a SaaS for ai. and pr. Yes. But it's all about diversification. It really is. and I also say build a personal brand. And that's something that I feel as though I waited a bit later in my career to do. Yeah. Because I was always running behind celebrities or. doing this for a brand. And I came into my career in an era where the publicists were black and you were behind the camera. You weren't on the red carpet. But now, today, I think it's imperative to build a personal brand. And Reid Hoffman, one of the co-founders of LinkedIn, said it best by 2030, the, nine to five is almost gonna be non-existent.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

And if you don't create a personal brand and have multiple streams of revenue, you will get left behind. So diversifying create a personal brand.

Brooke:

such great advice. One of my first initial internships was PR in Miami. And I've had quite a bit of experience in PR here and there, and I'm sure that listeners are like, wow, every episode I share about a different job I had, I really have done pretty much anything out there. So I really appreciate that advice. I think it's just so important to be speaking to how to pivot, how to be agile, how to adapt. Another thing which I think is super important to share in our storytelling arc, Maybe tell me about a flop, something that happened when you used ai, or any resistance or challenges to adapting in this space.

Tianna:

Let me think. A flop, Because sometimes they, sometimes she ChatGPT flops a lot, to be honest with you So, I'll tell you this. When I first started AI for pr mm-hmm. it was AI for pr.community. Yeah. Now it's AI for PR through intertwined agency is an initiative. Mm-hmm. Everything lives through our agency website.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

But I was writing, I was actually pitching before I had the AI agent that was pitching me. I was pitching myself. And the whole pitch was about Tianna Robinson, the founder, AI for PR community. And me being neglectful because sometimes AI does give you that crutch where you're like, oh, AI's super smart. and high IQ. Hi, I just hit send. There is no AI for PR community.

Brooke:

Oh. So

Tianna:

That was very embarrassing. That was very embarrassing. And that taught me a lesson. You still have to. fact check with ai. Yes. You still have to read it still needs, again, that human touch and that human eye. Mm-hmm.

Brooke:

I think it's important to talk about the challenges of adoption. Yeah. Because people might get discouraged if they come up against the first hiccup of using it or Use it once and be like, oh it's not giving me what I thought it could and just give up.

Tianna:

With that, there's a few things. Like anything Yeah. When. you adapt to anything else, there are always gonna be challenges when. There's a disruption.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

AI is a major disruptor. It is disrupting the way we work, the way we create, the way we communicate, and the way we think about intelligence. So I think with disruption there also comes a lot of fear and confusion and not knowing, and that's where that resistance comes in. But again, that goes back to encouraging people to be agile. Mm-hmm. But more importantly, to be AI literate. Yeah, You have to be AI literate. You have to teach yourself some way or somehow, and I know So many people are saying AI is not gonna take your job. It is. AI is gonna take your job. Yeah. Point blank period. If it's not AI directly, it's someone who is AI literate

Brooke:

That is

Tianna:

gonna take your job. And I encourage people, especially from marginalized communities black, brown woman to really use ai because I think the good side of it is gonna be an equalizer. Yeah. AI is no longer just for the tech bros. It's for everyone. And it's such easy access. Learn Literacy Literacy is vital.

Brooke:

Such a great point. You already are creating in this space and developing products. I wanna know if you've experienced or played around with vibe coding or have you thought about if you were to create your own software or your app? Because I think that PR is one of those industries where it takes so much communication mm-hmm. and you deal with so many different people. It's one of those spaces that could benefit so much if you were to create an app or an AI SaaS or pr, have you thought about doing that? I, have.

Tianna:

I, have. I, have. I, you know, I can't say it yet. Do you guys have an idea? Yeah. But ideally I would love, and this goes back to what I was saying earlier about getting out of that phase of AI efficiency and AI functionality, and focusing on, you know, AI identity and AI culture, it would be amazing. To take myself and my brain and literally have a Tianna 2.0. Yeah. And have an AI SaaS that can work directly with, whether that be a brand or in an individual, understand their brand, their goals, and create a strategic plan. Yeah. And it may be monthly, every month you get. Press release, you get social strategy and you get press placement. Mm-hmm. That would be ideal. But one thing that we are working on that's releasing where people don't talk about enough is prompting. Yeah. So we have a ebook coming out called Prompting like a publicist.

Brooke:

Nice. Because

Tianna:

prompting is really the key. So many people just go on ChatGPT or on DeepSeek, and they're like, Hey, tell me. Something about Miami,

Brooke:

yes, you're

Tianna:

not properly using right ai, right? To properly use ai, you have to prompt, you have to give it exact directions. You have to give it a role to really optimize its use. So I don't think people talk enough about. Prompting. And as a storyteller and as a communicator, you know, our role is so vital that I really want to, Work in that space of helping people understand, prompting and use it to optimize their business.

Brooke:

That's great. Whenever that ebook is done, I'll be sure to link it in the show notes. Oh, thank you. Yeah, of course. Absolutely. Um, That's one of my favorite questions to ask is what are you building? Or what are you wanting to build? Because we are all in that. fortunate space right now. Yeah. Where we can create our, it's a

Tianna:

gold mine. Yeah. It's really a gold mine. I mean, I would love to create an AI that can go to the gym for me and knock out the squats for me, and then my body just sees the results. But I don't think we're there yet. Yeah. But if I could take myself, my brain, my like. Thrown in at a SaaS. Mm-hmm. Amazing. I think even an agency eventually, right? An agency that, like I said, strategizes, conceptualizes, and then you have on automation, The press releases or whether that be, you know, helping you write the thought pieces for the LinkedIn or for your substack. I do think all of that is possible, and I would actually love to see it. On a subscription basis. Where again, a lot of companies cannot afford a six or$7,000 retainer anymore. But they may be able to afford a$300 subscription every month. That gives you all of these services and you, they can add their own human touch on it. But the basis of what needs to be communicated is there. And that's when that college student comes in as a crisis communicator, If their brand ever needs them, they then come in as a consultant. Yeah. But the core of their communication is, their strategy is already done. It's automated.

Brooke:

Wow. My next question is a little bit more into pop culture and you spoke about the importance of building your brand and just the influencer economy and how everything has been shifting and continues to shift. I'm curious on your thoughts of the future and the industry. I saw some friends of mine were stating that this issue of vogue this month had its first AI. Generated model. Did it really? Yes. For a Guess ad. And people are very up in arms about it, as you can imagine. But what's the future look like and how do you, with your PR thinking hat, how are you pitching clients in this ever evolving landscape that is becoming more and more AI integrated?

Tianna:

Whoa. You just taught me something today about Vogue. Um, I'm not surprised. I don't know if you also heard like Timbaland, The producer, he created an ai, Music label and he has a new artist. Wow. An AI artist. on there. And people have been up and arms about it, like completely upset. I understand the frustration.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

But again, it goes back to being agile and realizing that. AI is not going anywhere, is the way of the future. But I do think it is imperative to not completely lose The human touch or the human connection because how many people are going to identify with an AI model, truly. Right. And it's so interesting how we went from a couple years ago of, you know, inclusivity and showing people from, you know, all different backgrounds and shapes and colors and sizes. To AI models. I think a lot of companies are gonna crash and burn Mm-hmm. with being so AI focused because it's not gonna resonate With humans. And That's one thing that's never going to. Go away is, you know, human connection and human resonance. In terms of pitching clients, it's gotten a lot harder unless you're like, I have some A-list clients where I don't even have to pitch them anymore. It's more so reactive where it's that name where everyone wants them, and I'm literally more so just managing the responses. But for a lot of smaller clients who don't have a big name yet, the pitching. Pitching is brutal.

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

Pitching is brutal. And it's a lot of factors that go into it that a lot of these editors are spent like, because they get four or 500 emails a day because there were so many layoffs. So I work with uh, Social media consultants, right? I'm very transparent with my clients is that PR alone will not get you where you wanna be within your business. Mm-hmm. You need Digital strategy. you need. depending on your goals, you need. A social media presence. Mm-hmm. And I probably shouldn't be saying this as a publicist, but in today's day and age, yes. For a lot of smaller brands or smaller influencers, it's actually more useful than pr. Than traditional pr.

Brooke:

Yes. Get your

Tianna:

Instagram game up, Substack, TikTok, all of them. Yeah, absolutely. Even streaming, I'm not fully understanding streaming yet, that I have to catch up there too.

Brooke:

I think that people still might undermine social media in some ways. It's so crucial and important. It's a full-time role. It's a full-time role. I just launched my YouTube last week. Congratulations. Thank you. And I'm gonna get on TikTok soon, and I'm integrating into that space. I know it's so important. Something that just came to me. I saw somewhere,'cause you were talking about this as well. That people in HR being overwhelmed by the amount of applicants Yeah, for one job because AI has been able to make people more efficient applying and submitting resumes. And you touched on editors being a little bit overwhelmed. Do you feel like that is a niche for people to. Make more efficient when it comes to pairing up editors with pitches. Is there room for that in the AI realm'cause I can imagine they must get so many submissions in a day now, a day hundred compared

Tianna:

before. I've had some editors be like, let me show you my email address. Like a editor from Billboard was like, Because I'm like, are you ignoring me?

Brooke:

Yeah.

Tianna:

Cause the days of, and COVID shifted this, the days of, Hey, let's go get some coffee, or you know, let's do a lunch. It's changed a bit. We're getting back to it. Yeah. But that relationship building that was once there and was imperative, in PR has shifted a bit. So I'm like, I know you're not ignoring me. And he goes, let me show you my inbox. This is just today. It was over 300 emails. Whoa. Now, from an AI perspective,'cause you touched On HR as well. I, from my understanding, a lot of these companies, The HR departments have tools where the AI flags and looks for keywords. Yes. Within. Resumes. Yes. And nails are the select few or small percentage of resumes that they pull. But also most jobs are, Nepotism. It's based on the relationships that you have.

Brooke:

Mm-hmm.

Tianna:

How we would apply those same tools to editors. I'm not really sure as of yet, because say I am pitching, I just did an initiative for Black Music Month, right?

Brooke:

Mm-hmm.

Tianna:

Unless that editor is specifically looking for black music month stories to cover. How else would they Yeah. You know, fill their information. Yeah. But You also do have Hero, which is it's help a reporter out, right? Huh? And it's, it started out as a newsletter in a database and editors will send out, Hey, I'm looking for farmers in Minneapolis who specialize in corn and bananas. So I'm assuming they have some AI component on their end where they just like filter through. But I'm not really sure, but you might just be giving me idea. I might have to create a SaaS. That is a like to be, it's open space. Yeah. Pairing people up in a more efficient way. Yeah. I

Brooke:

think is like a big Yeah, I think so too. I think so. My next question for you is to share. You know, any word of advice, if you, have just one thing that you want people who are specifically in PR and ai, what's the core message you like to share?

Tianna:

Be agile. Yes. Be an early adapter learn AI literacy is imperative. Yeah. AI literacy, far surpasses going on ChatGTP. Yeah. Learn tools, Learn systems. learn how you can integrate them in your business and never stop learning. Ai The technology is moving so rapidly. We don't know what The next three years are gonna look like. We don't know what the next three months. are going to look like. So the harsh reality of it is, especially if you're just graduating or earlier in your career, things are gonna shift and change so rapidly. You have to be open to continuously learning and implementing.

Brooke:

Beautiful. I love that input. Awesome. I think we covered such amazing feedback and key points, and you've done so much in this space, in such a short amount of time. What's next for you?

Tianna:

Still learning. I feel like as much as I wanna say, oh, I'm an expert in this space, who's really an expert true in ai true besides Sam Altman, Learning, Learning and adapting. And I would love to get to the point where I do have my own SaaS um, And bringing the teaching to the masses. But really, again, I'm really huge on. Marginalized communities, black, brown, and women, because we are not using it. And um, Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum did a study about how AI is gonna widen the wealth gap even more. Yes. And I would hate to see communities who are already marginalized or underprivileged, get even more loss. So I would love to do, More work within those communities, whether it's an AI literacy program or partnering with. Different platforms to bring awareness. I don't know what that looks like yet, but um, it really happening to those communities to ensure that people are not left behind during this AI revolution.

Brooke:

Such an important point and keep me updated on that. I'd love to get involved in any way that I can. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time today. My final wrap up question is just to give you the floor to share how people can reach out to you. How can they connect?

Tianna:

Oh, thank you Brooke Thank you. Yeah. Intertwine agency.com. I know that's a long one. You can log into intertwine agency.com and download the free AI for PR playbook where it is a short playbook that tells you how to implement AI into your PR practices. My favorite tools and tips, you can find me on LinkedIn, Tianna, T-I-A-N-N-A Robinson. And Same thing on Instagram, Tianna n Robinson. And keep a lookout for the prompted like a publicist. Ebook, which will be dropping Very soon.

Brooke:

Wonderful. Thank you so much for your time today. Thank, I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank

Tianna:

you for creating this platform. Of course.

Brooke:

Wow I hope today's episode opened your mind to what's possible with AI. Do you have a cool use case on how you're using AI and wanna share it? DM me. I'd love to hear more and feature you on my next podcast. Until next time, here's to working smarter, not harder. See you on the next episode of How I AI This episode was made possible in partnership with the Collective AI, a community designed to help entrepreneurs, creators, and professionals seamlessly integrate AI into their workflows. One of the biggest game changers in my own AI journey was joining this space. It's where I learned, connected and truly enhanced my understanding of what's possible with ai. And the best part, they offer multiple membership levels to meet you where you are. Whether you want to DIY, your AI learning or work with a personalized AI consultant for your business, The Collective has you covered. Learn more and sign up using my exclusive link in the show notes.

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Brooke Gramer

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