Each week on “Around Town,” our host, Sarah Olson, talks to members of the First Coast community who are making an impact in their part of town. Today, Sarah speaks with Alla Koretsky of HeyAlla
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Transcript:
Welcome back to another episode of Around Town. I’m your host, Sarah Olson, and today joining me is Alla Koretsky.
HeyAlla—what a hot topic this is in today’s age.
Alla Koretsky:
Thank you so much for having me. I’m super excited. Thanks for reaching out, and yeah—I’m excited to be here.
Sarah Olson:
Other than just getting on my phone and asking ChatGPT anything, there’s actually strategy involved. Tell me your background. How did you get involved in AI?
Alla Koretsky:
Yeah, I’ve always been very interested in emerging technologies. One of the first companies I worked for built the first social e-commerce platform of its kind—kind of dating myself, so yeah, I’m that old. I loved working with startups and was employee number one at two different startups.
I saw companies go from idea to growth to acquisition. I’ve always seen trends before everyone else. My first career out of college was as a fashion buyer, and that trained me to identify trends really early because that gave me an advantage. I love learning, diving deep into topics, and kind of geeking out on them.
I think my superpower is taking complicated topics and explaining them in a very simple way. I’ve always been around emerging tech—starting with social e-commerce and subscription box companies. Later, with a startup in New York called Bloom, we developed our own large language model.
That gave me insight into working with datasets and how to manipulate them to extend customer lifetime value. The company got acquired, I went through acquisitions, started working from home, and hit a crossroads—what’s next?
In 2019, I launched my own company with two other founders around blockchain technology. Again, very complicated, but very hot at the time. We built a product focused on supply chain transparency. That led me to asking, how do we take complicated topics and explain them to other companies?
When 2023 came around and OpenAI hit everyone’s radar, I immediately dove into it. My mind was blown by the possibilities.
Sarah Olson:
You could have already taught this with all your background.
Alla Koretsky:
This was really the first time everyday consumers could use a tool in practical ways. You no longer needed to learn computer language—you could use human language to communicate with a powerful system.
I started using it in my own business and saw incredible time savings—writing proposals in seconds, manipulating data for marketing and operations. Friends started asking me to teach them. One friend, then another, and I thought maybe I should do classes.
I started hosting free workshops once a month, bringing people together. I love educating women. In my previous startup, I was often the only woman in the room, especially in blockchain and investor spaces. I didn’t want that same pattern repeating with AI.
Women tend to not be risk-takers by nature. They feel they need to know 95% to 100% before starting. My biggest message is: don’t be afraid to jump in. You need to use it. Through use, you learn how to iterate and eventually teach others. I learn by seeing it, doing it, and teaching it—and that solidifies the information.
So I encourage everyone: just jump in and start.
Sarah Olson:
You’ve developed workshops—mostly for women?
Alla Koretsky:
Yes, especially women founders—women running multiple businesses, passion projects, mothers wanting to leave their 9-to-5. In the past, starting a business required capital, time, fundraising, and full teams. Launching an app or SaaS product could cost $20,000 to $30,000 just to build an MVP.
Now, with vibe coding, you can go from idea to launch in minutes. To make it really good, maybe spend a few months refining—but you don’t need a lot of capital or a technical team. It democratizes access, and that’s huge for women who are often stretched thin managing households, kids, and careers.
Sarah Olson:
We also don’t want to second-guess ourselves—especially when we’re unsure if we’re even using the right prompts.
Alla Koretsky:
Exactly. What I’m finding is that ChatGPT’s free version is good enough to start. When you’re using it more and it slows down, you can upgrade to $20 a month—that’s two cups of coffee. And suddenly you have a strategy partner, personal assistant, development team, and marketing team.
There’s so much you can do with it. Don’t be afraid to start.
Sarah Olson:
Is ChatGPT your preferred program? I’ve heard of Claude too.
Alla Koretsky:
My main program is ChatGPT, but I also use Claude and GenSpark. I like to take the same prompt and run it through all three to see where each takes me. GenSpark pulls from different sources, so it’s fascinating.
Sarah Olson:
It’s like different personalities.
Alla Koretsky:
Exactly. I do have my preferred model—OpenAI—because that’s where I’ve had the most conversations.
Sarah Olson:
You also have workshops and a Substack.
Alla Koretsky:
Yes, I publish weekly on Substack. Things move very fast, so it helps keep people updated. I cover fashion, e-commerce, startups, and AI. I also host workshops and local events in St. Johns for women in tech.
Sarah Olson:
We’re going to get together for that.
Alla Koretsky:
Absolutely. I mostly work with women founders who want to go from zero to one.
Sarah Olson:
This has been a wealth of information. To learn more about Alla and follow her future gatherings, you can visit HGTVJax.com.
Alla Koretsky:
Thank you.
Sarah Olson:
Thank you so much, Alla. To find out more information about her workshops and followings, go to HGTVJax.com.
