When a professor at the College of Charleston asked us to come talk to her Identity and Community class and Digital Marketing Capstone class together on the last day of the semester, I said yes without hesitating.
Here's the thing: when Mark and I walk into a room together, it's not just a presentation. It's a demonstration. People don't just hear what we're saying. They watch how we interact, how we back each other up, how we finish each other's thoughts. We've built a business and a life out of the same principles we were about to teach. That's hard to fake, and I think students can feel the difference.
The professor texted me afterward. She said half of her 53 students chose to do AI automation or build out a website for extra credit. At the end of the year. After finals.
She also sent me their essays. I read every single one.
On AI and why I'm not going to pretend it's optional
I am not an AI evangelist. I'm not a tech person. I'm a mom, a business operator, and someone who was deeply skeptical of all of it until I wasn't. And the moment I stopped being skeptical, everything got faster.
That's the message I brought into that classroom. I'm not here to hype AI. I'm here to tell you what I've actually done with it. I've built out websites in under six hours. I've scanned inboxes and turned email threads into action lists. I've used it to do in minutes what used to take me a full afternoon.
The students who were paying attention wrote that down.
"Nicole explained that AI is becoming a large part of the world and we need to learn to use it before we fall further behind. This made my list because it was so refreshing to hear an adult say. Since AI has come around, it has been pushed down our throats to not use it."
That sentence, "pushed down our throats to not use it," said out loud what a lot of young people are quietly experiencing. There's a cultural resistance happening in certain academic circles, and I get it. The concern about authenticity is real. But the answer isn't avoidance. The answer is learning to use it well.
"I am not one to use AI, but after both Mark and Nicole opened my eyes to how the industry is using Claude especially, I realized this is a tool to truly understand."
One student was refreshingly honest about her own resistance:
"I really don't like AI so I didn't enjoy that part of their talk. But I see where they're coming from. We must learn how to use these tools to stay in the game."
I respect that more than fake enthusiasm. Awareness is the first step. And then there was this one, which made me laugh:
"I need to be a little less aversive toward AI. I'm going to make a website using Claude. Something fun, maybe about sharks or cats, just to get used to it."
Start with sharks or cats. That's genuinely good advice.
Mark told them: spend two hours a day messing around with it and you'll be an expert in three months. That's not a pitch. That's just true. Repetition builds fluency.
"I use it for just formatting. But Mark explained how Claude rolls out new stuff every day and I want to be well-versed."
The students who leaned in didn't just put "learn AI" on their lists. They got specific. One planned to use it to create a Substack content calendar. Another wanted to use it to budget for a study abroad semester. One wrote about using it to help her mom design furniture layouts for a new house.
That's what I want people to understand. AI isn't just a career skill. It's a life skill. And the people who figure that out now are going to have a very different next five years than the ones who keep waiting.
On knowing what problem you solve
This is Mark's message and I believe it completely. Before you update your LinkedIn, before you chase the internship, before you build the personal brand, you have to answer one question: what problem do you solve for people, and are you the best person in the room at solving it?
It sounds simple. It is not simple.
Most people skip this step entirely. They build the resume first. They chase the title. They list the skills. And then they wonder why nothing is landing. The answer almost always comes back to the same thing: they haven't gotten clear on what they actually solve for someone else.
The students felt that.
"Problem solving made my list because it really helped me go 'whoa... what do I do with my life?' Even though I have a while, I definitely need to think about it."
"Mark explained that everyone is going after the same jobs. It's not about how much you've accomplished. It's what you've accomplished. Problem solving is #1, but even bigger is realizing what problem you can solve that others can't."
"Mark literally said: 'Figure out what problem you can solve and put it at the top of your resume. I don't like resume formatting.' This made my list because I've reworked my resume 17 separate times. So what's one more? Light work."
One student connected it directly to earning power:
"Mark talked a lot about learning how to solve problems and that's what you get paid to do. This summer I will make sure to use my problem solving skills in my job instead of asking others. This will be helpful because it will grow my skills in the future, which in turn I will make more money."
Another was honest about where she was starting from:
"When he said it I realized I don't really have anything that makes me stand out."
That honesty is everything. You can't build on something you haven't named.
Mark fired hard workers. He's told that story before and it still lands. Not because he's heartless, but because he understood something most people miss: working hard at the wrong thing doesn't help anyone. Using the tools available to you, solving the problem efficiently, delivering the result. That's what you actually get paid for.
"Mark found it very interesting that he's fired many hard workers because he knew he could find people who are doing the work better and less hard. This proves it really is about using your resources and tools to their full ability."
One student turned the concept into a summer experiment:
"Ask 3 people in my life what problems they solve, at work, at home, out in the wild. Evaluate which kind of problem solver they are. Do they use a playbook or do they write the playbook."
That is a genuinely brilliant exercise.
"Aside from communication skills and team leadership, all the things automatically listed on a LinkedIn, what are my authentic skills that someone else cannot replicate?"
That's the right question. Generic skills are table stakes. What's yours, specifically?
I want to add something here that I don't think gets said enough: knowing what problem you solve is not just a career move. It's a confidence builder. When you know what you're good at and who you help because of it, you stop chasing and start attracting. You stop performing and start producing.
I said it to the class directly: you want to stand out always and provide more than what is being asked. You don't want to have people having to ask more — you want them wanting to know more. Be known as educated and overqualified. Always.
"Authenticity is the main component that makes you stand out in the workplace. It's what creates your shine. I plan to be me, no mask, still professionally filtered, but myself in front of mentors and employers."
Yes. That.
On the relationship thing
We weren't planning to make it personal. But toward the end of the class, the professor did something unexpected. She told the students a story about us.
During COVID, for 72 days straight, I sent a text to a handful of our neighbors every night. The signal was the Mockingjay sound from The Hunger Games. It meant our girls were asleep. Come to our yard. Bring a lawn chair and a cooler. We built fires and stayed out for hours, sharing stories, sharing fears about what none of us understood yet, strengthening friendships we already had and building new ones we didn't know we needed. We didn't have answers. We had a yard, a fire, and the belief that showing up for people matters.
The professor called us connectors. She said we bring people together. Then she turned to the class and asked us directly: how did you know, and what advice do you have?
Mark went first. He said that our genetic programming for mate selection is not optimized for the world we actually live in. The decision of who you're going to spend the rest of your life with is the biggest decision you will ever make. Pick your best friend. He said he and I didn't like all of the same things when we met. We didn't have everything in common. But we make concessions on the things we like to do because we'd rather do them together than apart. He said the most valuable relationships you have are the people who will call you on your bullshit. That integrity, showing up, being authentic, being transparent about what you think and how you feel, those are the things that make a relationship work. And that the purpose of life is meaningful relationships.
I said two things. Transparent and constant communication. And short term discomfort over long term dysfunction. We do not lie in our house. We share things fully and quickly. When something is hard, we say it out loud instead of letting it calcify into something worse. It is not always comfortable. It is always worth it.
The students heard that too.
"The biggest decision in life is who you're going to spend the rest of your life with. I want to take this with me every day. It impacts your personal life and business, and I'll never forget it. They're very inspiring."
Another wrote something that stopped me:
"I'll continue to mull over the idea of marrying your best friend. I have a best friend. I don't want to have to find someone MORE 'best friend' than her. But then what?"
I read that one twice. And then this one, which I think might be the most honest thing in the whole stack:
"Mark and Nicole explained finding the 'Journey of Life' together as a couple, but I also resonated with their explanation as the journey of MY life."
That student got it. The point was never just about romantic partnership. It's about being intentional with who gets access to you, in love, in friendship, and in business. Mark always says: be careful who you give your energy to, because it compounds in both directions.
"After moving away from home for 9 months, I have realized how fast time passes and how I only have 3 months back with my family before I leave for 9 again. I want to live more in the moment and soak up my time with my family and hometown friends."
That's the work. Not networking. Not optimization. Just being present with the people who matter.
Mark and I walked into that classroom because someone asked. We didn't have a deck. We didn't have an agenda. We had a business, a marriage, a set of hard-won opinions, and the willingness to be honest about all of it.
I don't think young people lack ambition. I think they lack examples. They've been taught to perform readiness instead of build it. They've been told to network before they have anything worth saying. They've been handed resume templates when what they needed was a framework for thinking.
What I took home from reading those essays is that when you show people what real looks like, a real partnership, a real business, real failures on the way to real wins, they respond with honesty. And honesty is where the actual work starts.
One student wrote, at the bottom of her paper after six thoughtful action items:
"Thank you so much for a great class. You're amazing."
That one wasn't on the prompt. She just added it.
That's the whole point.
FAQs
What did the students take away most from the guest speaker session?
The three most common themes were learning to use AI as a practical tool, getting clear on what problem you solve for others, and being intentional about who you give your time and energy to.
What AI tools did the students respond to most?
Claude came up repeatedly. Students were particularly struck by real examples of using it to build websites in under six hours, scan and summarize emails, and create content plans and budgets.
What advice did the speakers give about relationships?
Mark spoke about the fact that our genetic programming for mate selection is not optimized for the world we live in, and that picking your best friend is the most important decision you will make. Nicole spoke about radical transparency, constant communication, and choosing short term discomfort over long term dysfunction.
Why does knowing what problem you solve matter so much for young professionals?
Because generic skills are table stakes. Every resume lists communication and teamwork. What makes someone hireable and promotable is knowing specifically what they solve, for whom, and better than most. That clarity drives confidence, compensation, and career trajectory.
How can college students start using AI practically right now?
Start small and start today. Use it to plan your week, draft your LinkedIn, research careers, or build something just to get comfortable. Spend two hours a day with it and you will be an expert in three months.
