In this episode of the Startup CPG podcast, Daniel Scharff and Caitlin Bricker dive deep into how emerging brands are using AI for operations and back office support. Joined by two powerhouse founders—Yaminah Childress of YANY Beauty and Veronica Blue of Phenomenal Foods Co—they explore how small teams are using AI to scale smarter, save time, and simplify complex workflows.

From AI-powered forecasting and document automation to personalized marketing and product costing, this episode breaks down the real-world tools that founders are actually using. Yaminah shares how she leverages tools like Perplexity AI and Contractor AI to manage agreements, expansion strategies, and even create AI assistants.

Meanwhile, Veronica reveals how ChatGPT has become her go-to tool for recipe costing, unit economics, and preparing investor-ready projections—all as a solopreneur.

Whether you're skeptical, curious, or already experimenting with AI, this episode will give you practical ideas and fresh inspiration to apply AI in your own business ops.

Tune in now to learn how these founders are turning AI into their ultimate business partner.

Listen in as they share about:

• Initial Skepticism Around AI
• AI as a Tool for Business Efficiency
• AI as a Tool for Lean Teams
• AI for Financial Modeling & Forecasting
• AI Building Internal Knowledge Bases
• Legal, Regulatory, and Forecasting Uses
• Custom Tools & Software
• AI as a Creative Partner

Episode Links:

Website: https://yanybeauty.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamyaminah/ 

Website: https://phenomenalfoodsco.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vblue/ 

Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.

Show Links:

• Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
• Join the Startup CPG Slack community (20K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Daniel's Linkedin 
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at [email protected]
• Episode music by Super Fantastics