From Burnout to Booked Months in Advance: How Ashley Wyatt Rebuilt Her Design Business with Help from an AI Business Coach

**What does working with an AI business coach *actually* look like?** In this episode, brand and web designer Ashley Wyatt (founder of Monarch Design Co) shares how she rebuilt her business from "98% not profitable" and burning out on VIP days... to her busiest summer ever, booked months in advance, leading a team as a confident creative director. We talk about the messy middle she calls "the caterpillar mush" (two babies 22 months apart, a fixer-upper, her husband's job loss — all at once), how she's used Sol™ inside The Art of Becoming for the last six months to work through pricing, priorities, and overwhelm in real time, and what happens to your brand and website when you're mid-transformation and it still looks like *who you were*. **Work with Ashley:** themonarchdesign.co/ **Join The Art of Becoming:** thealignedbusiness.com/become \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\__ **In this episode:** - The "before": VIP-day burnout, underpricing, and the bookkeeper conversation that changed everything - Rebuilding through the hardest season — two under two, a fixer-upper, job loss, a surprise tax bill — and why Ashley calls it her "caterpillar mush" era 🦋 - Planting seeds when NOTHING is visibly growing... and harvesting them a year later (her busiest summer ever, booked months in advance) - What working with Sol™, the AI business coach inside The Art of Becoming, is *actually* like — and how it's different from ChatGPT ("it calls me on my shit... which was good") - Real examples from Ashley's last six months with Sol™: the sick-kid week brain dump, nervous-system check-ins, pricing her packages profitably, and uploading discovery-call transcripts for feedback - The #1 sign your brand no longer matches who you're becoming (the "toxic boyfriend" test) - Ashley's advice for the woman waiting for life to calm down first: "They'll be waiting a really long time." - The full-circle moment: Ashley realizing she's LIVING the future vision she wrote before her daughter was even born **Timestamps:** - 00:00 — Meet Ashley Wyatt + why this story matters - 02:17 — Monarch Design Co: branding, web design, and full creative partnership - 05:55 — The before picture: burnout, VIP days, and "98% not profitable" - 07:54 — The crumbling: babies, job loss, and the caterpillar mush 🐛 - 10:51 — Planting seeds → the busiest summer ever, booked months out - 14:05 — What is Sol™? (And how an AI business coach differs from ChatGPT) - 17:26 — How Ashley actually uses Sol™: brain dumps, priorities, pricing, call transcripts - 22:05 — Nervous-system check-ins (and the soccer-field meltdown story ⚽) - 25:12 — "Stop waiting for the right time" — Ashley's aunt's advice - 26:27 — Why marketing takes a year to work (seeds, parties, and invitations) - 31:19 — The discovery-call story: when your brand doesn't match who you've become - 35:05 — How to work with Ashley + what makes her creative-direction process different - 38:56 — "Who are you becoming?" ... "I've BECOME." 🥹 - 41:10 — Who The Art of Becoming + Sol™ are for (and who they're not for) **Connect with Ashley:** - Instagram: @monarchdesignco - Website: themonarchdesign.co/ - Book a discovery call: themonarchdesign.co/contact **Join The Art of Becoming:** - Doors are open now → close Tuesday, Sept 9 at 11:59pm ET - Everyone's 90 days begins TOGETHER Thursday, Sept 10 with the live Future Visioning Session - Join here 👉 thealignedbusiness.com/become - Come hang out with me on instagram: @kelseykerslake