Canva AI and AI Effectiveness Notes from the Road
🎧 Featured Podcast Episode: Canva, AI, and the Future of Design for Non-Designers with Emily Baillie, Compass Content Marketing
In this week’s episode of ‘AI Literacy for Entrepreneurs’, I sat down with Emily Baillie, founder of Compass Content Marketing and longtime digital strategist turned AI literacy expert.
Emily shared her go-to AI tools inside Canva - from background remover and magic resize, to QR codes that actually drive results. We talked about the importance of quality over quantity, why you should always iterate on AI outputs, and how Canva is quietly becoming one of the most accessible AI tools for marketers and agile teams like entrepreneurs and nonprofits.
📌 Highlights from our chat:
How Canva’s AI tools save time without watering down creativity
Why iterating is the antidote to “AI sameness”
Creative ways to use QR codes to build your email list
Canva’s free subscription for nonprofits (a game-changer for impact organizations)
🧳 Notes from the Road: AI Made August Possible
This August, I lived a dream I’ve been chasing for years - working and playing (mostly) while traveling.
I’ve always managed day-to-day flexibility. Choosing my hours, building around my family, even leaning into the 4-day-week fantasy (though never quite nailing it). But this… being able to step away for weeks at a time, while the business keeps humming? That’s new.
And it simply wouldn’t have been possible without AI.
Automations ran behind the scenes
Custom GPTs picked up the repetitive tasks and got us way ahead of schedule
And of course there are human members of my team that kept the engines running
I was free to focus on strategy, creativity, and life
It’s the kind of freedom I’ve long dreamed about - and finally got to experience this summer.
📸 As I shared on Instagram, the highlights weren’t just about the views or the meals (though, yes please 🤎). They were about the quiet joy of realizing: my systems have my back.
👉 Follow me on IG @aiwithsusandiaz for more behind-the-scenes moments.
Here’s a tiny peek into ✨ 50th Birthday Season, AI Edition ✨
From the iconic rava idly at MTR in Bangalore (yes, the one where you tuck the tiny bowl of ghee into the steaming idly and let it melt before drizzling it all over 🤌🏽- I get why chefs around the world pilgrimage here)…
…to a big fat early birthday famjam in Chennai (my mom outdid herself, and the pandemic time warp made reconnecting with family extra special)…
…to a week in Dubai with friends, where the food and the fun were equally over the top…
This season reminded me: this is the stuff I live for.
And honestly? None of it would have been possible without the systems and support AI helps me build into my business.
So grateful for the freedom to travel, celebrate, and still keep things moving.
🚀 Inside the Marketing Power Circle
Want a glimpse of what’s happening inside MPC right now?
Members are:
Building custom GPTs that act like mini team members
Repurposing content across platforms in hours, not days
Automating the boring parts of business so they can focus on the good stuff
Experimenting in real time with a community that actually gets it
It’s not about theory. It’s about implementation.
If you’ve been dreaming of your own “work from anywhere” summer, start here.
⭐ One Small Ask
If you enjoyed this episode or found value in the digest, please take a moment to rate and review the podcast. It helps more entrepreneurs discover the show - and join us in building real AI literacy.
Peace,
Sd
