Reprogramming the Mind: Healing Trauma, Building Success, and Finding Strength with Alyssa DelTorre

Summary

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Podcast Summary: What Are You Made Of?

Episode: Reprogramming the Mind: Healing Trauma, Building Success, and Finding Strength with Alyssa DelTorre

Host: Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco
Guest: Alyssa DelTorre
Date: June 1, 2026

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Overview

This episode dives deep into the profound personal journey of Alyssa DelTorre—a former Miss United States, entrepreneur, and AI/business strategist—as she shares her story of overcoming trauma, finding resilience, and using those hard-earned lessons to build an impactful career and empower others. The candid conversation explores the cycles of trauma, healing and self-discovery, entrepreneurship after adversity, and practical perspectives on integrating technology like AI into modern businesses. The episode is equal parts raw personal narrative and actionable business wisdom, offering hope, realism, and tangible advice for personal and professional growth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of Tenacity: Surviving Early Trauma

[01:06 – 05:02]

• Alyssa’s earliest challenges:

  • Openly recounts a life marked by severe traumas—sexual abuse by her father from age three, repeated abuse through childhood, rape at 14, a life-threatening assault by her father at 19, and being kidnapped at gunpoint at 25.
  • Despite these events, Alyssa describes "tenacity" as her defining trait:

    “No matter what life has brought me, challenged me with, it's the tenacity to still get back up, find a way, find a solution and take care of myself, the situation and not giving up.” – Alyssa [01:06]

• Alyssa discusses the recursive nature of trauma, linking cycles of abuse in her family and her process of self-forgiveness and empathy towards her parents:

  “He [father] did what he was programmed from that trauma to do and ended up hurting the whole family...I forgive myself for being hard on myself and, you know, not knowing the systems and potentially putting myself back in situations that hurt me when I was younger.” – Alyssa [05:32]

• Defines trauma in terms of programming the mind, referencing "The Body Keeps the Score" and relating her healing to understanding physiological responses:

  “The mind is a computer, so when you enter in a code, it runs a program. Trauma being a code runs the program of whatever you’re going to be reactive to or avoidant of, repeating the same patterns for survival.” – Alyssa [02:55]

2. The Path to Healing & Coping Mechanisms

[05:02 – 14:03]

• The therapeutic journey: therapy and self-study in psychology enabled Alyssa to break repetitive cycles, transforming trauma into tools for self-growth.

• Speaks with appreciation for lessons learned, stressing the messiness but ultimate worth of the healing journey.

  “It's not that you're healed completely. It's that when something registers with you, you now know how to deal with it.” – Alyssa [04:41]

• On cycles of trauma and intergenerational patterns:

  “It's always a cycle. My biological grandfather...was highly abusive...My father experienced a massive, massive amount of abuse, even more so than what I experienced.” – Alyssa [05:32]

• On the limitations of the justice system and the difficulties for survivors to get justice:

  “Our justice system isn't fully set up in a way to support victims the way that it should.” – Alyssa [07:25]

• Notable survival moment: Detailed recounting of her kidnapping at gunpoint, manipulation, and escape using wit and calmness.

  “He finally took a break...I heard the door didn't completely lock...I crawled up the stairs...stole the keys off the counter, ran out, grabbed his car and went to the airport...and got on the next flight.” – Alyssa [11:45-13:19]

3. Reprogramming Relationships After Trauma

[14:03 – 19:49]

• Alyssa shares the ongoing impact of trauma on her relationships—more discernment, skepticism, and self-protection, but also clearer boundaries and filters for healthy partnerships:

  “I used to see the best in people...Now that is not the case and it's definitely the defense mechanism...it’s also been a great filter.” – Alyssa [14:16]

• Discusses the phenomenon of being attracted to unhealthy people due to patterns set by trauma:

  “The attraction is to what you're used to. So you find the good person, but then the attraction's not there...You have to figure out how to rehabilitate your attraction.” – Mike [17:15]

• Redefining partnership, seeking a “mastermind team” dynamic:

  “If I'm going to look for somebody or date somebody, I want somebody that I can build with...we're almost like the secret mastermind team...You're going to make sure I look good behind my back, right? Like that.” – Alyssa [19:05]

4. From Survival to Entrepreneurship

[20:39 – 23:27]

• Early independence at 17, hustling to make ends meet, learning the ropes of small business, technology, and self-reliance.

• Unorthodox entry into entrepreneurship: from custom bikini designer to cosmetic work, website building, promotional modeling, sales, and agency ownership.

• Organic beginnings as a coach/consultant—began when friends started paying for her advice.

  “I had a group of women, young women that came to me when I was about 24 and they're like, hey, can we pay you to talk to us and give us advice? I didn't even know that was a thing way back when.” – Alyssa [21:51]

• Developed expertise across tech, sales, psychology, and leadership, now works with multi-million dollar companies to optimize both people and processes.

5. Embracing and Applying AI in Business

[23:27 – 31:16]

• Alyssa’s background in coding and automation made her excited to integrate AI as a lever for efficiency, not for replacing humans but boosting their productivity:

  “It's not about replacing people...I stand in the sense of making somebody more efficient in their output so that for them their hourly rate goes up...and then they can accomplish more as well.” – Alyssa [24:33]

• Key misconception: people assume AI tools are inherently secure:

  “Just because you have access to an LLM, you can vibe code something, if you don't understand the actual security component...you can open yourself up to extreme vulnerabilities.” – Alyssa [25:30]

• Practical advice for businesses:

  • Start integrating AI with admin, onboarding, and documentation—the most repetitive and cost-intensive areas.
  • Use AI to create and audit SOPs and processes, freeing up human time for higher-value work.

  “Administration, training in onboarding...can be done with AI to reduce that human cost because...humans are still the most expensive resource.” – Alyssa [29:24]

• Cautions that online platforms and "free" tools often monetize user data:

  “If it's free or cheap, you're the product.” – Alyssa [28:28] “You can even be paying for it and still be the product.” – Alyssa [28:33]

• Recommends advanced users explore local, open-source AI models to retain more control over their data.

6. Redefining Success & Navigating Status-Driven Environments

[31:16 – 34:51]

• On the importance of enjoying both entrepreneurial freedom and personal life; redefining the finish line as balanced living rather than constant pursuit of "the next level."

  “If I don't ever become a billionaire, okay, big deal. What's a billionaire going to do for me?...and be, you know, financially comfortable, then it is what it is, you know?” – Mike [32:04]

• Navigating Miami’s competitive, image-centric culture:

  “If you’re gonna come to Miami, you better have a very strong sense of who you are, your standards, and where you’re actually going, like, your goals for life. Because when you come here, the city’s gonna tell you who you are, or you tell the city who you are.” – Alyssa [32:26] “You can come here and you can genuinely be you because you have such extremes of everything here. Like, you can be bold, you can have big dreams, you can dress boldly, wildly. Nobody’s gonna blink an eye.” – Alyssa [34:23]

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Memorable Quotes

• On the cycles of trauma:

  “The worst things that have ever happened in history have been done by humans. And we’re all capable of crazy, horrendous things. And it just depends on what program is running.” – Alyssa [13:30]

• On healing:

  “It’s messy, but it’s worth it.” – Alyssa [03:52]

• On business and value:

  “Nothing happens in a business, life, transaction, society, anything without people.” – Alyssa [21:05]

• On AI and privacy:

  “If it’s free or cheap, you’re the product.” – Alyssa [28:28]

• On Miami:

  “You come here, the city's gonna tell you who you are, or you tell the city who you are.” – Alyssa [32:26]

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Notable Segments & Timestamps

• Alyssa’s early life and trauma: [01:33 – 05:32]
• On healing, forgiveness, and the justice system: [05:32 – 09:01]
• The gunpoint/kidnapping story: [09:37 – 13:28]
• Impact of trauma on relationships: [14:03 – 16:09]
• Entrepreneurial journey, early business hustles: [20:39 – 23:27]
• Moving into AI and business systems: [23:27 – 25:23]
• Security and misconceptions in AI: [25:23 – 29:12]
• Balancing ambition and personal fulfillment: [31:16 – 32:04]
• Thriving in Miami’s culture: [32:26 – 34:49]

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Further Information

Alyssa DelTorre:

• Website: alyssadeltorre.com
• Socials: @alyssadeltorre on all major platforms

Fun Fact: Alyssa is a former Miss United States, reflecting her multifaceted expertise in performance, business, and personal development.

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Takeaways

• Trauma does not have to be your identity; it can become the foundation of growth and empathy.
• Healing is a process about acquiring tools, not achieving a fixed "healed" state.
• In business, balance tech adoption with human understanding; AI is a tool, not a replacement.
• Whether in relationships or business, clarity of standards, self-worth, and continuous discernment are key to growth and safety.
• Building a successful life is about knowing your core values and not letting the environment dictate your path.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome back to the what do youo Made up show. It's your boy, C Rock here I'm with Alyssa Del Torre. We were just chatting up before I hit record and we're going to find out what she's made of. Thank you all for joining and making sure that you keep coming back to hear these amazing guests, their stories and things you can implement in your life from the experience of others. Alyssa, thanks for joining me.

[B]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

Yeah, no, my pleasure. And we, I think we met through either a connection or I Instagram DM'd you1 or the other.

[B]

It was connection. Yes.

[A]

I do a lot of reach out too. So that's why I wasn't sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So this is a thing where I have this amazing network and people will introduce me 10 to 15 times a week. Very thankful for that. Shout out to all those in that one network doing that. And we're just trying to create an environment, ecosystem of amazing people that can help each other expand and, you know, collabing even with other networks. And it's been pretty amazing. So Alyssa is a person that came to me through the network and I wanted to share her with you all. So, Alyssa, we start this show the same way every time. And that's with the question, what are you made of?

[B]

First word that comes to mind is tenacity. No matter what life has brought me, challenged me with, it's the tenacity to still get back up, find a way, find a solution and take care of myself, the situation and not giving up.

[A]

So has life been hard for you?

[B]

Yeah. Where do you want to start? Back when I was three.

[A]

I don't know because I don't know your life. So you pick. You pick where we start.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So. And I've given speeches on this before, so I'm an open book. I'm very grateful for my experiences because it's given me the ability to be able to help a lot of people. So it started when I was three. Father sexually abused me. There was physical, mental, emotional abuse my whole life in that. And then raped at 14. My dad came after me when I was 19. Literally thought I was going to die and had to push back and stand up for myself. If I didn't, I don't know that I would be here. And then at 25, kidnapped with a gun held to my head. And that's just like the personal life.

[A]

Wait, wait, wait. Where did you grow up?

[B]

In Minnesota.

[A]

Okay. Okay. Yeah, Minnesota's been in the news a lot.

[B]

Yeah. But it was back when it was like the well oiled, beautiful machine.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like everything was clean, pristine. It was the picture of the perfect neighborhood. Like great education, health care system structure. The streets were clean, the sidewalks were clean. You would never suspect that. But as everybody knows, abuse and issues happen where people are.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So wherever people are, that, that's what's going to happen for sure.

[A]

Human beings.

[B]

Yeah. And you know, I've gone through my own journey with therapy and independent study of psychology to help figure all of that out and put the pieces together because I kept running into the same problems. I always say the mind is a computer, so when you enter in a code, it runs a program. Trauma being a code runs the program of whatever you're going to be reactive to or avoidant of repeating the same patterns for survival.

[A]

Right. Like you're doing these things because you need to survive. You think you need to survive. And, and you're still in danger at all times. And that, that, that sympathetic nervous system is on like overdrive. Right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and there's so many studies out there and everybody's heard, you know, the body keeps a score. Well, how do you start working with the body? How do you start understanding all of these systems? So I went down every single rabbit hole possible and I'm, I'm really, really good now to the point where like I would go through it again because it made me who I am and I love who I am. I love the knowledge and the value that I'm able to provide people and the way that I actually see the world and systems and structures and patterns which I didn't see before. And if it weren't for all of that, I wouldn't have these gifts. So it's made me better, which I know to a lot of people especially going through it is very hard to hear. And I'm not going to lessen the work that it took to get to this point. A lot of tears, a lot of trial, a lot of error. And all I have to say is it's worth it. It's messy, but it's worth it. And it's understanding how this works, how your emotions, your body, your physiology and how other people work. When you understand that, that's when you can start to move the needle into the healing and understanding. And it's not that you're healed completely. It's that when something registers with you, you now know how to deal with it. You have the tools in your toolbox to be able to work with what's being presented to You.

[A]

That's right. That is so true. And if you don't address those things and confront those issues, you continue those cycles like you said, and it's destructive to you, but it's also destructive to the people around you and that you come in contact with. So what was going on there? Like, did you ever find out, like, you know, were you only. Only child, by the way?

[B]

No, I have an older brother.

[A]

Okay, older brother. And did you ever figure out, like, what was going on there? Like, was it otherwise a happy household and great marriage that your parents had? Or, like.

[B]

So it. It's always a cycle. My biological grandfather, who I never met, was highly abusive. Now, how he was raised, I have no idea. I never met him. And my father experienced a massive, massive amount of abuse, even more so than what I experienced. So he struggling and currently struggling with addiction and poor behaviors and habits. And so he acted out. He did what he was programmed from that trauma to do and ended up hurting the whole family. And it's unfortunate, but again, understanding his story and what he went through in his childhood, I can have empathy and understanding that doesn't mean what he did was right or that, you know, I forgive that whole thing. I forgive myself for being hard on myself and, you know, not knowing the systems and potentially putting myself back in situations that hurt me when I was younger. But like, my mom, she did the best that she could, you know, and she. That is one thing. My mom loves me like there's nobody's business. So I do know what it is to be loved and loved unconditionally and have her sacrifice and do whatever it took to keep me safe as much as possible. Obviously, she was a victim of his abuse as well, and so is my brother. So that's where it led me on the entrepreneur journey because I was on my own at 17. And then you got to figure that out, whole system out and the survival mode, and you get scrappy and you learn a whole nother way to survive.

[A]

Was there any justice served, not only as, you know, for justice purposes, but to protect others?

[B]

No. Yeah, no, there is. It's really weird to say that and know that because as many victims experience, when it's somebody outside your family, there's still a fear and an apprehension to go to authorities and to get justice. Obviously you should, but you also need to protect yourself. And there's many times that as a child, you don't have the rights. Even my mother, she can't necessarily testify on my behalf because of the relationship. Like, our justice system isn't fully set up in a way to support victims the way that it should. And, you know, by the time he finally admitted it, my mom was in a place to listen, and we even had a whole family conversation in the kitchen. I remember it vividly. He admitted to my mom everything. Everything that I had said had happened. And, like, statutes were just on the verge of changing. Like, you only had seven years previously. Well, if something happened when I was three.

[A]

Did you remember? Did you remember?

[B]

I remember everything.

[A]

Oh, yeah. And when did you eventually say something to someone?

[B]

I started when I was about 10 years old.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And of course, I was told it was a dream that didn't happen. Don't tell anybody about it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, it's very stereotypical in that sense.

[A]

And then when you were 14, you found yourself in a another situation, and that was that at a party. Was that it? Like, what happened with that one?

[B]

No, that was a boyfriend.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

So again, getting into a relationship with somebody who I shouldn't have to begin with, the signs were there. Looking back, hindsight 20 20, a very toxic individual. And you're 14.

[A]

Like, what do you know about toxic individuals? You know what I mean?

[B]

Like, correct.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When you're living in a toxic environment and you're trying to figure out what's normal, what's not.

[A]

Right, right, right. And then gunpoint situation, what happened with that one?

[B]

Yeah. So my ex husband and I had met this individual who was our realtor at the time. We were about to purchase condo, and that fell through. I had since been divorced in a new relationship, living in Michigan. And because he was like an acquaintance and a friend, you didn't think. I didn't think anything of it. And he was like, hey, I have a job opportunity. Come, I want you to interview, check it out. You know, have these other partners on board, this and that. So from Michigan, flew me to Minnesota and picked me up in his car. And he was like, yeah, we're gonna go to dinner, we're gonna have a preliminary meeting, then we're gonna go to the office the next day. Well, all of a sudden, we're not going to a restaurant, and we're going into, like, the middle of nowhere, which is, like, out in Buffalo, which, if you're familiar with Minnesota, there's some areas there that it's like. It's farm fields and horse fields. You're like, okay, what's going on? This isn't where the restaurants are. This isn't what you told me. And all of a sudden, he flipped a switch like, drag me into his house, locked all the doors. Turns out he's been on a bunch of substances and was obsessed with me. Completely lost his marble. Yeah. Locked me in the basement and was waving a knife and gun around. I saw him doing drugs in the kitchen and basically said, like, I want you to write a marriage agreement. And like, you listen to me and you tell, like, I'm gonna tell you everything that's gonna go into it and keep writing it. And when it's done, like, I don't know what he was gonna do next, but I'm like, okay, I gotta figure this out. Like, I'm just gonna keep writing. And he threw paper and a pen at me and I just kept writing everything. And I was like, okay, can I like add some things? And he's super high on drugs at this time and he's like, yeah, go ahead, like add whatever if you want. He's cursing. And so I just keep writing and writing and writing. I think I got to like 12 pages front and back. And he finally took a break and was like, I need to go grab something upstairs. Went upstairs and, and keep in mind too, he had, he had said he had an animal and there was pee and poop everywhere in the house, but there was no animal to be found. And like everything was just disheveled. Not the person that I had remembered at all. And as he goes upstairs, I heard the door didn't completely lock. You know when the door handle, when it clicks back into the lockout, makes that sound. And I didn't hear that, like it tapped and went out. So I crawled up the stairs and they were carpeted, so I was trying to be super, super quiet. And I had a small bag there, left it, stole the keys off the counter, ran out, grabbed his car and went to the airport and stashed the keys in his car hub, the wheel hub, and sent a picture of that to him of where it was blocked him, got on the next flight, like booked a last minute flight and went back to Michigan. And right as I was going to call the authorities and tell them, turns out the next day he had been arrested for indecent exposure with his ex wife in front of his children because he made his children watch. So like completely crazy.

[A]

Jesus.

[B]

Yes, yes. And to get like, you never know what people are capable of. And I always tell people the worst things that have ever happened in history have been done by humans. And we're all capable of crazy, horrendous things. And it just depends on what program is running. Yeah, right. So taking care of yourself, grounding yourself, understanding how this works is essential, for sure.

[A]

And how did this affect relationships going forward from that point? That and the. The previous experiences that you had. How did you navigate all that?

[B]

That is a great question.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

Yeah, because it's nuanced. Right. And I think being more discerning with people, I'm more closed off right away. And I observe and I try to collect as much information as possible to protect myself. Because when I was younger, I used to see the best in people. I used to trust and be generous and open up so much easier. And now that is not the case. And it's definitely the defense mechanism because I've been through so much. But it's also been a great filter because I've avoided once I have found out some things of other individuals. It's helped me avoid multiple not so great situations in the future. And yeah, like I would say, I'm very analytical and grounded and practical. I joke that when I. When I've tried to date that there's so many people that are so used to toxic relationships and they like the highs and the lows, and I don't have that because of everything. I don't want the highs and the lows. Like, I want steady, consistent, stable, grounded, practical. Obviously, have fun and do all those things. I'm not like, no, no, no, I get it. Weird.

[A]

I get it. You know, I get it.

[B]

But. But in general, the communication is everything to me. The character, the integrity. You could present me with such a beautiful facade. I don't care. I care about this. I care about this. I care how other people are treating you and responding to you and what they have to say about you behind your back. And it's. I almost feel like a little mini PI. Like, I want to know all those things before I enter into a relationship.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And. And have you found yourself being able to do that and. And have a great relationship since then?

[B]

I have found great people. A lot of times it's timing situations where they've either wanted to travel, live somewhere else, and then I also live in Miami now, so that's not completely conducive to finding the relationship. And I moved here because of business and networking, and it helped my business a ton. I didn't want to move to Miami. I was actually avoiding Miami, but it is such an international hotspot for that. So it's not something that is super high on my priority list, But I'm always open to it if the right person comes Absolutely. Everybody wants love. And I. I love being in a relationship. I still have a lot of love to give and receive as well, but it's kind of like God's timing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm not going to chase it. I'm going to allow it to come when it's meant to.

[A]

You know, there's a weird phenomenon that happens where if you've been through trauma and toxicity and all that, that you find people, that you use the discernment and then you find the people that are, like, aligned and good, but then the attraction's not there, because the phenomenon is this attraction is to what you're used to. So you find the good person, but then you run into this person and you're just like, the attraction's not there. So you have to figure out how to rehabilitate your attractive, your attraction.

[B]

Right, Right. Yes. Yeah. And I think a lot of people are used to the quick hits of dopamine and excitement, being super spontaneous in the world of social media and, you know, where I live, all the different events and things that are going on. And there's the illusion of quality options when, if you're actually vetting for compatibility and logistics and character and what you want, people don't realize how small their options actually are. So they have an illusion of. Well, there's so many women. I think there was, like, there was a study of, like, three or four women for every man in Miami. And I'm like, okay, we're also the only fans capital of the world.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And you know how there are a certain group of men that really train women to date, being transactional, looking for things like, is that what you're looking for? Are you looking for, you know, an actual partner that wants to build with you, talk to you, that you can be vulnerable around and isn't going to judge you? That's actually going to have more respect for you and care for you and build you up and that you have this dynamic where it's like behind the scenes and even in front of people, you're building each other up and, like, you're tracing with each other. That's what I believe. And, like, if I'm going to look for somebody or date somebody, I want somebody that I can build with and that we're almost like the secret mastermind team that no matter what you're doing in your career, I'm going to help you. And, like, even on the back end and when you're not around, I'm gonna make sure you look damn good, and then vice versa. When I'm out doing whatever, you're gonna be that, you know, voice in my ear, helping me strategize, you know, the motivation, whatever it might look like. And you're gonna make sure I look good behind my back, right? Like that.

[A]

This is huge because in the morning times, my wife and I, we, we sit on the couch, drink our coffee and we talk to each other about our businesses, what we have going on, decisions we need to make, and you know, we've grown into this. But it's, it's crucial. It's crucial and I'm so blessed to have that. And I don't know why I was blessed. I mean, we've been married 23 years now and I don't know why, because I don't believe that I deserved it at the time. But you know, she's, she's helped me grow into the man I am today, which I'm thankful for. So this is all great information for sure. Let's talk about the business side of things now. So what did you start in business before you got into, you know, strategizing for businesses and AI systems and all that, which is relatively new, the AI stuff, you know, coming out over the last few years. How did you get started in business?

[B]

Well, I was. Started being on my own at 17. So that's when I was like, okay, I have a part time job but I want to make more money, you know, move out, take care of myself, pay my bills. And so I started getting creative with it and then went to beauty school, community college, and then I went down to Texas. But in that time I'm like, okay, well if I'm going to do hair and makeup on the side or I had a custom bikini company where I made custom bikinis for a lot of bodybuilders that I'm like, I need a website, go out, look for a website. I'm 17, 18 and I'm like, oh, 10, 20,000. Yeah, that's not, that's not going to work. So I started to dive into code and then the drag and drop templates and things like that started to come out. So I was like, oh my gosh, great. I don't have to go so deep into learning this. And started learning the tech side on that way, always did promotional modeling and you know that I ended up moving up on my own agency, managed a marketing tour. So I traveled all over the US training people, sales, B2B and direct to consumer on site guerrilla marketing. And I got headhunted to a marketing firm where I was in charge of A team of 400 salespeople across the entire US trained them B2C direct consumer sales. And we were like the top sales team of that company for about six months straight. So I'm really proud of that one. And then it's like it just started to accumulate and I had some people from my healing journey. I was just posting stuff online and then I would drop some of the business stuff in there. And I had a group of women, young women that came to me when I was about 24 and they're like, hey, can we pay you to talk to us and give us advice? I didn't even know that was a thing way back when. And I'm like, yeah, of course, absolutely. So started doing that and then it was just referrals one after another. And I got to the point where now I work with multi million dollar companies, go in, do full audits, look at all the different areas, business systems. And then looping in the background of psychology, the leadership, how to actually talk to people and work with people. Identify what's going on with them to elicit the response that you're looking for from your team. Because nothing happens in a business life, transaction, society, anything without people. So that led me then to when AI got super big, adding in the AI component. So it's just all accumulated.

[A]

So take us through the decision to get into AI because obviously you hear about it, everybody hears about it and then you hear these things where you know, if you don't get on board now, you're going to get left behind and all this. But what made you decide to add that to your repertoire?

[B]

I've always been fascinated by the tech side and have previously built websites and seeing what it could do and the email marketing, social media, there was the auto schedulers, even on Google. Like there's so many aspects of AI that we've been using that we didn't even realize what it was like even a CRM that we push out a marketing campaign and then it tracks responses. We've had that for a long time. Well, that that's a version of an agent, right? So digging into optimizing the business, I saw the opportunity with the agents and what it can do. With my background of coding, I was able to pull incredible results from prompting it and from vibe coding and being able to solve real world issues for somebody's business like oh, this is a game changer because now we can close that time gap where we're reducing overhead, cost waste and increasing revenue like this. And it's not about replacing people from my point of view. And some people, they, they have that goal in their business. That's not where I stand. I stand in the sense of making somebody more efficient in their output be higher so that for them their hourly rate goes up because there's taxing less time, less emotional and mental bandwidth to get the same result and increasing their output so then the company has a greater ROI and result from that same individual and then they can accomplish more as well.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. What are some misconceptions people have about AI? When you start to go into a business or talking to someone about it? Like what are, what are some misconceptions

[B]

people have that all of it is secure? I think that is my biggest thing. Just because you have access to an LLM, you can vibe code something if you don't understand the actual security component and building those into any custom platform app, anything else, you can open yourself up to extreme vulnerabilities. And if you have customers you're dealing with, their address, their phone number, credit card numbers, if you know I'm involved in a med tech software that that's their medical information. You have highly sensitive information that if you get hacked, you are now leaking all of your customers information and if it comes through you, you're technically liable. If you build something, you build something recklessly, you're liable for that. And there's going to be more legislation that's coming down on this and they're still figuring out how to regulate all the AI stuff, but that was all there previously with websites and software. It's absolutely going to translate to this. So making sure that you have somebody that's understanding like come up with the idea, have, you know, if you want to play with it, work with it. Absolutely. But then before you launch it, have somebody come in and do audit of it, you know, just like any other expertise you always go through and pull somebody in who's an expert at it to audit it and say, yep, check, you're good to go.

[A]

Yeah, just like also individuals, you know, when you're searching on Google, right. And or visiting websites, everything's tracked. Well, AI is no different, it's actually worse. And your thoughts are going into AI. A lot of times when you're talking to chat, GPT and what have you and all that stuff's being calculated and tracked and you basically have a profile built upon you, you know, and yeah man, it's, it's kind of, it's kind of freaky when you think about it because you know, you go in there and you think you're in the comfort of your own home and you're sitting there talking to chat GPT, prompting it, asking questions, telling it your thoughts and all this. And basically they're going to know how to market to you to get the most out of you. And it's not always in good intentions, you know. So yeah, definitely, definitely something to think about. I don't know how you regulate that because most human beings say too much in public anyway, let alone in their own home.

[B]

100%. Well. And there's already patents out that you can look up of the listening devices, the sensors in our phones that actually influence your mood and your thoughts in social media and the algorithms of how that is influencing us purposely. And that is allowed. They know this, it is open, it's allowed. Like our government knows about this. Again, if it's free or cheap, you're the product.

[A]

Yep. You're paying some way, in some way. It may not be money.

[B]

Well. And you can even be paying for it and still be the product. So now they're just collecting both from you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And that's where. Go ahead.

[A]

No, no, go ahead.

[B]

No, that's how I was gonna say as much as you can pull locally, like get a separate computer, download an LLM locally that's not connected. There's a lot of open source stuff out there. So I highly Recommend Searching on YouTube or GitHub and getting somewhat acclimated. There's step by step tutorials that you can download an LLM just like ChatGpt and Claude or Gronk, whatever you want locally that they're not farming and harvesting your information.

[A]

Yeah, for sure. Now what if a company's thinking about integrating AI into their business? What are the first one or two things that they should think about using it for?

[B]

I would say the administration, training in onboarding. Some of that is the most expensive work that is easily duplicable, repeated and takes a lot of time that can be done with AI to reduce that human cost because again, humans are still the most expensive resource. So looking at what foundational systems that you have, the SOPs, the documents using AI1 to create those documents, to look at the SOPs, you can have it even screen record a day of work or prompt it like hey, this is this role, these are the actions going in. And a lot of times companies and the C suite doesn't always have an awareness of all the admin and repeated work going into each of these roles that by speeding some of that up, again they're Going to get more ROI out of a salesperson.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, for me, I look at these things and I'm like, man, you know, I freed up so much time using AI that I feel guilty sometimes. And we have a company and sales are coming in and this and that, and we're fulfilling and all that. And I'm like, I should be doing something like, yeah, why have so much free time? And it's. It's crazy. So the important thing is also to. You can excel and grow and spend more time more efficiently, but you can also have a life which is just as important. And for me, you know, I was just thinking today, like, it's okay that I can go hang out with my kids during the day. It's okay. I spent time with my wife during the day because. Yeah, because that's the life you go

[B]

into being an entrepreneur or work so that you can have money to spend on your family and the time and be with the people that you love. Like that. That's the end goal.

[A]

Yeah. And so many people are like, okay, more, more, more, more. What's next? Next level, next level, next level. And by the way, that never ends like that. That's a chase that you never have a finish line to. And so for me, I just. I've. I've identified the things that are important to me. I love my daughter's development in travel, softball. I love hanging out with her, spending time with her, doing that. I love spending time with my wife, doing whatever the heck we want. I love to golf. I love to work out, and I love to travel with other entrepreneurs. And so I just listed those things out, and then I do whatever I got to do to maintain those things. And if I don't ever become a billionaire, okay, big deal. What's a billionaire going to do for me? Like, if I can achieve these things that are important to me.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And be, you know, financially comfortable, then it is what it is, you know? So, yes, it's important stuff for people to think about. So, last thing here in Miami. And, you know, I travel. Miami's like my second home. I go to LA a lot. Very pretentious. How do you avoid falling into the trap of that pretentiousness?

[B]

I always say, if you're gonna come to Miami, you better have a very strong sense of who you are, your standards, and where you're actually going, like, your goals for life. Because when you come here, the city's gonna tell you who you are, or you tell the city who you are.

[A]

Damn, that's good.

[B]

Yeah, there's like a joke of the. The two year turnaround. If you can last longer than two years in Miami, like, you're good, you can handle it. But it does. It chews people up and spits them out because they have that. That fear of loss, and they want to experience everything. And I get it. When I first came here, it was intentional networking. So I didn't go to the events to experience the events. I went for an output for me of networking and seeing, you know, who's gonna actually be a great fit for me, what I have going on. Can I offer value to them? You can. It's very expensive. There's always something going on, and there's a lot of places that don't ever close down. So, yeah, you can get into trouble. Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

The culture, finding good people, the culture diversity was my favorite thing. Like, I. I had mortgage branches down there, and I got to hang out with some people that were Cubans and learning all different cultural things and all that. And really, you know, tailgating at a Dolphins game is way different than an Eagles game. I'm sure different than a Vikings, too, but I don't really care about the Vikings. But like, like, tailgate in Philly is like, like cold most of the time. Everybody's bundled up and, you know, there's focus is just getting drunk. And in Miami, it's a party. The tailgating in Miami, it's hot. I went to a Jets game and Dolphins game, and it was like 80 degrees, and everybody's in shorts and T shirts, and the food is just phenomenal. And it's just the music, the Latin music's going. And I was just survive. Anyway, where can people go deeper? Oh, go ahead. Sorry.

[B]

I was gonna say one thing I have to say about Miami is you can come here and you can genuinely be you because you have such extremes of everything here. Like, you can be bold, you can have big dreams, you can dress boldly, wildly. Nobody's gonna blink an eye. You don't come across as crazy. Like, that is one thing that I love about Miami is they just accept people for who and what you are.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So that's also so true.

[A]

All right, Alyssa, where can people go deeper with you?

[B]

Alyssa Del Torre.com all the socials are at Alyssa Del Torre.

[A]

Awesome. By the way, I didn't mention this because I. I don't want this just to be your identity, but, like, you're a former Miss United States, I guess, hailing from Minnesota, and so, yeah, you've had some background and also performance, I would say because you have to perform to win that. And that helps in sales. That helps in business as well. So say that as well. All right, folks, go check her out. Alyssadeltorre. Com and Alyssa Del Torre on Instagram. Alyssa, thank you so much for your time today.

[B]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

All right, hang tight while I wrap this up. That's this episode of the Woody Made up show. Go hit the subscribe follow button at the top of your favorite podcast platform and keep coming back. And until next time, be that one.