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I recently had an acquaintance reach out to me about applying for some type of STEM scholarship program. She found me, or knew about me, through some of the AI / vibe-coding stuff I’ve been sharing.

And throughout the conversation, I kept hearing myself use words like “amateur” and “messing around” and “just playing with it.” Which, sure. Technically true.

But also, why was I saying it like that!!?!

Because it wasn’t just humility. It was really me pretending to not care about something that I actually care a lot about. I was making my interest sound smaller so no one else could do it first. Very fun. Very cool. Love when I catch myself doing that…….

The last couple weeks, I’ve felt myself shying away from diving more into the technical side of AI because there are so many people who know more than me. People who understand the industry better. People who know all the weird little idiosyncrasies of tech and models and agents and infrastructure and whatever else is suddenly the thing everyone is talking about online.

And that is true. I do believe that. I am not the smartest person in this field.

But I also only have my perspective. And I’m not going to co-sign myself downplaying my work, because that’s not cool either. I can say “I don’t know everything” without acting like I know nothing. Those are different things.

I know that because I got on the phone recently with an AI consultant my firm pays for, and I expected to be humbled. Instead, I knew just about every tool and process he showed me. I had used most of them. I even had suggestions on my end.

That does not mean I have arrived. It does mean I have been paying attention.

And sometimes I think we downplay the cost of paying attention. Especially if you are used to being around smart people, or being online, or being in rooms where everyone seems more qualified than you. You can accidentally start measuring yourself against the most advanced person you can imagine instead of looking honestly at what you already know.

So here’s my challenge to you, especially if you also feel like you’re not qualified or technical enough to schedule a task, write a Claude skill, set up a simple automation, or build a tiny agent that solves one annoying problem in your life.

Lovingly, I think you might be wrong.

ChatGPT and Claude are great for normal life things. My mother-in-law uses ChatGPT to figure out how she should design her curtains, and honestly, I think that is a wonderful use of technology. We support AI-assisted drapery in this house.

But if that is the only way you’re using these tools, I do think you’re leaving something on the table. It’s like biking around when there are Ferraris on the road.

And to be clear, I am not saying you need to jump into a Ferrari tomorrow. Maybe start with an e-bike. Maybe a Honda Civic. Something practical. Something that moves.

One small way to do that is to stop waiting for the perfect technical setup. I know someone who has said they don’t want to play around with more AI tools until they get a Mac Mini set up. And listen, I understand the instinct. A clean separate computer feels like it would make you a clean separate version of yourself who suddenly knows what she’s doing.

But I do not think an $800 computer is the required first step here.

If your work computer is locked down, or you don’t want experiments living on your personal laptop, you can rent a small VPS. A virtual private server is basically a remote computer you access through the internet. DigitalOcean calls theirs Droplets, and that’s one I’ve liked playing with. I also found a $200 credit code, because obviously we love a discount.

And if you’re reading that thinking, “Sarah, I don’t even know what a VPS is,” good. That is literally the point. You do not need to know everything before you begin. You need enough curiosity to watch one YouTube video and get familiar with the shape of the thing.

Also, because I can hear someone’s IT department geting nervous: do not put company secrets or sensitive work data somewhere random. We are experimenting, not trying to become a compliance case study.

But I truly believe if you can name one problem you actually have, you can probably start figuring out how to build something small around it. Maybe it’s a scheduled task. Maybe it’s a Claude Code skill. Maybe it’s an agent with sub-agents. Maybe it’s just a recurring research workflow that saves you from doing the same annoying search every week.

For me, one thing I wish existed is a better way to know about conferences, events, and real in-person moments my team should pay attention to. That is not a billion-dollar startup idea. It is just a real problem in my day-to-day work. And because it is real, I can imagine building something around it.

That’s where I think the unlock is. Not “how do I become the most technical person alive?” but “what do I keep needing that I could probably make easier?”

Part of what pulled me back into this mindset was, obviously, our nation’s savior Dolly Parton passing this week. I came across an old interview where she talked about not being afraid to look like a loser. She said even when she lost, she still felt like she was winning because she was earning experience she could use somewhere else.

I don’t want to be afraid of looking like a beginner.

I don’t want to be afraid that someone will come across something I say and decide my technical advice is not perfect. Fine. Great. Maybe it isn’t. But I’m in the arena. I’m trying things. I’m learning. I’m obsessed with growth and with figurig out how to make something a little bit easier.

That has to count for something.

So your homework this week is simple: list five things you wish existed in your day-to-day role. Not five giant company ideas. Not five impressive concepts for a pitch deck. Just five annoying little things you wish were easier.

Maybe you wish you always knew which conferences were worth paying attention to. Maybe you wish someone summarized new industry reports every Monday. Maybe you wish you had a running list of smart follow-up ideas. Maybe you wish your scattered notes turned into a clean weekly brief. Maybe you wish someone monitored a space you care about and only told you when something actually mattered.

Then pick one.

You do not have to rent a VPS today. You do not have to buy a Mac Mini. You do not have to build an agent before dinner. Just watch one video. Read one guide. Schedule one task. Get familiar with the next layer.

Because if you are still only typing into ChatGPT or Claude when you remember they exist, this is your sign to go one step deeper.

Not because you are behind. Not because you need to prove you are the smartest person in the room. But because you are probably already more capable than you are letting yourself sound.

And I, for one, am done calling my curiosity amateur.