When AI Comes for Your 23-Year Career
The day I realized my industry might be obsolete
Messy Monday truth: I didn't want to get going today, and here's why. This morning, while eating breakfast and trying to convince myself that everything was fine, I watched a podcast episode that sent my anxiety through the fucking roof.
"The AI Daily Brief" - episode titled "How this Totally Unhinged Ad Shows the Future of Advertising" terrified me.
The Moment Reality Hit
Twenty-three years. That's how long I've been producing commercials, managing film sets, coordinating the chaos that turns creative ideas into actual content people see on their screens. I sold crap to the masses and called it art.
And in the span of one podcast episode, I watched my entire industry potentially become obsolete.
AI can now create commercials—not just assist with them—create them from concept to completion. There are no crews, no locations, and probably not many producers like me managing the endless moving pieces that make productions work.
My claws are dug deep into my old career, and I can't seem to let go. But watching that episode was like being told the ground I've been standing on for over two decades is actually quicksand.
The Shower Panic Spiral
I showered after breakfast, and that's where the panic really set in. You know how your brain works in the shower - all those thoughts you've been pushing down suddenly have nowhere to hide.
Where does this leave me? What am I going to do? How do I pay my bills? How do I reinvent myself at 46 when the thing I've built my entire professional identity around might not exist in five years?
The shower panic is real, people. And it's coming for all of us.
The Terrifying Truth
Here's what I realized, standing there with shampoo in my hair and existential dread in my heart: something will come for all of us at some point.
Maybe it's AI. Maybe it's economic shifts. Maybe it's industry changes we can't predict. But the question isn't IF we'll need to pivot - it's how fast we can do it when the time comes.
And for me, that time is now.
The Only Hope I Have
The only thing keeping me from completely losing my shit is this: I'm already in transition.
While other people in my industry are still pretending everything will be fine, still clinging to the old ways of doing things, I'm already building something new. I don't know what it looks like yet, but I'm moving.
Being terrified means I'm taking this seriously. Being scared means I understand the stakes.
The Pivot Imperative
I'm in a pivot and need to accelerate my footing fast. Here's what I'm doing about it:
Keeping my 30-day commitment - Building new skills and a new identity while I still have time.
Building something AI can't replace - My lived experience, my intuition, my ability to connect with people going through what I'm going through.
Betting on myself instead of an industry - Industries change. Human connection doesn't.
Moving faster than my fear - Because standing still feels safe but is actually the most dangerous thing I can do right now.
What This Means for All of Us
If you're reading this and thinking "thank god this doesn't apply to me," I have news for you: it probably does. AI isn't coming for just advertising. It's coming for accounting, writing, customer service, data analysis, and dozens of other fields—probably this website.
The question isn't whether your job will be affected. The question is what you're going to do about it.
The Silver Lining
Here's what I'm choosing to believe: if AI can replace what I've done for 23 years, then I need to become irreplaceable in new ways.
I need to lean into what makes me human—my empathy, my intuition, my ability to hold space for other people's messy transitions, my lived experience as a cancer survivor who's starting over at 46, and my willingness to be vulnerable about the process.
AI can create a commercial, but it can't survive cancer, feel the terror of starting over, or connect with another human being who's going through the same existential crisis.
Today's Crumpled Ink
Today, I choose to pivot faster than my fear can catch me.
Maybe this panic is exactly the push I needed. Maybe being forced to change is the best thing that could happen to someone who was too scared to change voluntarily.
Maybe the end of one thing is always the beginning of something else.
The Messy Monday Truth
I'm scared as hell. I'm clinging to a career that might not exist much longer. I had a panic attack in the shower over a podcast episode.
But I'm also moving. I'm building. I'm becoming something new while the old me is still dissolving.
And maybe that's enough for today.
If your industry is changing, if AI is coming for your job, if you're having your own shower panic about the future, you're not alone. The ground is shifting under all of us.
The question is: are you going to stand still and hope it stops moving, or are you going to start dancing?
When reality hits, you have to decide what to do about it.
