Students and businesses solve everyday problems with ChatGPT, but marketing and Plan II alumna Sarah Dooley recently recognized a seemingly untouched group of individuals who did not know how AI could benefit them: mothers. With Dooley’s help, an innovative approach greets this holiday season as mothers use generative AI to create decor, gift ideas and meal ideas for their families to enjoy.
As one of the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leader Institute’s FoundHERs, Dooley founded AI-Empowered Mom in 2024 to ensure that the AI revolution did not leave women behind. AI-Empowered Mom educates mothers on ways to utilize AI through paid classes and a blog. Dooley offers classes both in-person in Austin and virtually on Microsoft Teams. On Oct. 20, Dooley hosted her first Holiday Season Prep with GenAI to prepare mothers for the holiday season.
“I hope that moms can use technology to lead more fulfilling and productive lives, which then improves the lives of all of those around them and hopefully makes them a force for more gender equity in the world,” Dooley said.
Dooley’s full-time job working in IT as a strategy and business operations leader for Visa introduced her to the usefulness of AI in corporate technology. She quickly began using AI in her personal life to manage her household and family. She said she saw how AI changed her life as a mom, a partner and a woman, which excited her about the opportunity to educate other moms.
“(AI-Empowered Mom) has given me a greater sense of purpose outside of my day-to-day life and wonderful family,” Dooley said. “I feel that I can help improve the lives of other moms and make a case for improved gender equity by giving moms more time back in their lives. I think time is our most valuable commodity.”
UT journalism alumna Larissa Cartwright grew up as childhood friends with Dooley and now participates as one of the AI-Empowered Moms in Dooley’s classes. She said Dooley’s classes are customizable, meeting each person where they are in their knowledge of AI.
“One of the things that Sarah will start off with is a coloring sheet, so it’s interactive with your kid,” Cartwright said. “Even for the election — I was putting in prompts on how to talk to (my daughter) about how the election (works) when she was distressed by the outcome.”
Suzanne Brown, founder of Mompowerment and Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leader Institute alumna, mentors Dooley in her business and experiences the impact of AI on her life first-hand. Many mothers can feel overwhelmed by technology and AI, but Brown said Dooley breaks each part into understandable bite-sized pieces.
“What she is helping working mothers with, and moms in general, is incredibly helpful because there is a hesitation for the people who don’t actively use AI,” Brown said. “She is using her professional knowledge and her desire to empower and enable these moms.”
