Summary:
Who this article is for:
- Small and mid-sized business owners who want to harness AI across their organization but feel overwhelmed by where to start
- Marketing, sales, and operations leaders curious about what practical AI implementation actually looks like inside a real agency
- Anyone wondering whether AI is genuinely useful for a business their size — or just hype
Key takeaways:
- BRJ spent years in “the sandbox” before building any AI service — experimenting internally before ever deploying for clients
- Thalassa is BRJ’s new AI implementation, coaching, and growth service, built on the Fully Leveraged Method
- The Fully Leveraged Method has three phases: The Academy (90-day foundation), The Lab (12-month build), and The Studio (executive-level operating system)
- The goal isn’t more AI tools — it’s less manual work, faster decisions, and a business that scales without leadership becoming the bottleneck
- AI now enables small-to-mid-size business owners to produce 3–5x the output in the same amount of time
What’s inside:
- How BRJ’s three internal AI phases led to the creation of Thalassa
- Why this moment is the “hockey stick” phase of AI adoption
- A full breakdown of the Fully Leveraged Method — Academy, Lab, and Studio
- What each phase looks like when it’s actually working
- How to get started with a free consultation
AI is a hot topic right now, and it’s clear to professionals, agencies, marketers, salespeople — regardless of industry or title — that it’s not a fad. It’s here to stay, a groundbreaking technology still in its very early phases.
A quote I heard on a podcast captures this feeling well: “Today is the dumbest and worst that AI will ever be.” In other words, AI will only improve. Current models, companies, brands, and platforms will become increasingly competitive. As CEO and co-founder of Big Red Jelly, my first step was simply to get involved as much as possible.
I remember when ChatGPT first launched its model a few years ago. It was an exciting, interactive chat that could write, generate ideas, draft emails, and outline blogs. Seeing its evolution — coding, images, text, video, coworking spaces, apps, open-source models — is both thrilling and overwhelming.
How BRJ Got Here: Three Phases of AI Adoption
At Big Red Jelly, our first AI phase was participation. We’ve lived by the mantra “Innovate or die.” Rather than rushing to launch our own AI service, we chose to play in the sandbox. We encouraged everyone, from leadership to staff, to use AI daily, while remaining cautious about deploying it for clients. I never use paying clients as guinea pigs for any new service.
The first phase was simply to start using AI in our day-to-day work and see where it could deliver the biggest benefit. Would it save us time? Would it improve the output? Would it produce better results? One of the low-hanging fruits quickly became clear: AI saved a lot of time. We saw several immediate wins:
- Better note-taking
- More effective follow-ups
- Assistance with administrative and project-management tasks that usually consumed one to three hours a day
For me, that quick win meant I could accomplish far more work in the same amount of time. In the broader economy, people aren’t being laid off because of AI — but many small-to-mid-size businesses are imposing hiring freezes. Owners often say, “I don’t want to let anyone go because my org chart, roles, responsibilities, and KPIs are already set.” Yet my employees can now be 1–5× more efficient, so the next hire I had planned is no longer necessary. That creates its own set of challenges. In summary, phase one was “innovate or die”: we got our hands dirty and started experimenting in the sandbox.
Phase two involved our team developing their own skills, plugins, apps, skins, scheduled tasks, and agents that elevated their work. Team members began using AI to train agents on our proprietary brand-building process, account and project management, Monday.com for client services, HubSpot, and our sales-and-marketing pitch decks. We moved from merely using AI to building on it. We are still deep in this phase.
Now we are entering phase three: sharing the benefits we’ve learned with our clients, staying at the cutting edge, and passing on these efficiencies and wins. This is the genesis and impetus behind Thalassa, the new AI service we are rolling out for our clients.
Why Now: The Hockey-Stick Phase of AI
Staying ahead of the curve is essential. When the internet first emerged, a few agencies and companies recognized its game-changing potential and invested for their clients’ benefit. In hindsight, that was the right move. Many others dismissed the internet as a fad and were left behind.
We must innovate, or we’ll face the same fate. Consider how difficult and costly it once was to create a website; today, AI can build a solid site with ease. The same pattern applied to the early days of Meta ads and SEO. Companies that invested and got hands-on with new SEO or online advertising captured significant market share at relatively low cost. Now, online ads are highly competitive and much more expensive.
We are now in the “hockey-stick” phase of AI, and we want to deliver its power to our clients. To that end, we created a new department, team, and service called Thalassa, powered by Big Red Jelly. Thalassa reflects our commitment to efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness.
The Fully Leveraged Method
At the core of Thalassa is the Fully Leveraged Method. AI now enables small-to-midsize business owners to leverage themselves more than ever before, producing three to five times the work and output. This boost will soon extend to mid-level management, employees, and ultimately benefit customers and clients.
The Fully Leveraged Method has three phases. Each one builds on the last.
Phase 1: The Academy
The Academy is a 90-day program — a blitz, workshop, and speed run rolled into one. It is hands-on, fun, and packed with learning and implementation. This phase establishes the foundation for becoming fully leveraged, aligning people, processes, data, technology, and AI to deliver better outcomes with less manual effort.
During the Academy we:
- Assess how the business operates
- Identify and prioritize the highest-value opportunities
- Establish the shared context and infrastructure the team needs
- Implement the first plays
The goal is to move beyond isolated AI experimentation and give the team a usable, manageable foundation to build on. One of my favorite exercises is to ask a client: “Where do you spend most of your time each day or week?” Mapping the answer usually reveals a mundane, recurring administrative or operational task that AI can handle more efficiently — freeing you to focus on the human elements, working on your business rather than in it.
Common quick wins include:
- Setting up your first scheduled workflow
- Agents transcribing calls and taking better notes
- Sales pipeline reviews and call coaching
- Lead sourcing, scoring, and revenue attribution
- Spreadsheet and financial assistance
When the Academy is working, you’ll see: the highest-value AI opportunities are clear and prioritized; company knowledge is organized and accessible; the team works from a shared foundation; the first plays are live and delivering measurable business value; and clear ownership, access, and guardrails are in place.
Phase 2: The Lab
After the Academy, the Lab is a 12-month engagement for businesses that want to keep building. Using the Fully Leveraged Method, we continue identifying, building, maintaining, and improving plays across the organization while creating systems that make scaling easier.
The Lab builds on the Academy’s foundation because new ideas emerge, technology evolves, teams change, and processes break. The Lab provides an ongoing venue to turn those opportunities into working systems instead of letting them pile up.
Practical activities in the Lab include:
- Managing the play lifecycle
- Agentic software engineering
- Building agentic teams
- Improving AI governance and guardrails
When the Lab is working: good ideas are implemented rather than left on a list; important work becomes easier to repeat and scale; plays become increasingly connected across the business; the team actually uses the systems because they simplify the work; and the company becomes faster and easier to scale as systems increase capacity.
Phase 3: The Studio
The Studio is an executive-level engagement for leadership teams that want to pair the Fully Leveraged work with stronger operating systems, clear priorities, and better execution. It includes everything from the Lab and adds business systems coaching, executive strategy, and a mastermind with leaders from other high-growth companies.
The goal is to help the leadership team build a more scalable business and run it with greater clarity and accountability as it grows. Activities include:
- Applying business operating systems
- Connecting strategy to execution
- Integrating AI into how the business is run
- Executive strategy and coaching
- Mastermind sessions with other high-growth companies
There’s a lot of value in learning alongside a cohort of business owners, entrepreneurs, marketing leaders, and sales leaders facing similar challenges. Collaborating and hearing about other people’s problems, opportunities, and wins creates a “rising tide” that lifts all ships.
When the Studio is working: the team is clear on the company’s most important priorities; everyone knows who owns what and how success is measured; problems are surfaced and solved rather than lingering; AI and automation support business management, not just individual tasks; and the company can grow without leadership becoming a bottleneck.
What’s Next
That’s a key value proposition of the Thalassa AI growth service: removing bottlenecks, finding quick wins, creating leverage, and establishing a fast feedback loop. Even when you’re not in the office, you can work on the business — not in the business — and scale revenue faster than you ever thought possible.
We’ve recruited world-class talent to manage Thalassa and serve as account managers; they live and breathe AI. While many AI gurus, specialists, and technicians exist, few understand both AI and how a business is managed and grown. Our team includes experts in sales and marketing, advertising, brand strategy, finance, operations, and more. Success requires the right strategy, the right people, the right process, and finally the right technology, resources, and training. That combination equals skill and guarantees success.
Thalassa launches in Q4 2026 — and it will keep growing, improving, and refining.
If you’re a small- or mid-sized business looking to capture more market share, eliminate bottlenecks, and harness AI’s power across your organization, brand, and operations, reach out for a free consultation. We’ll conduct a deep-dive audit and show you exactly how AI can:
- Save you time
- Generate additional revenue
- Enhance your brand, website, and content
- Boost marketing, lead generation, and sales enablement
- Strengthen your pipeline
The process is no longer overwhelming, expensive, or confusing — we make it simple and effective. Let’s chat soon.
Frequently Asked Questions About Thalassa and AI Implementation
What is Thalassa?
Thalassa is Big Red Jelly’s AI implementation, coaching, and growth service. It’s built on the Fully Leveraged Method — a three-phase framework (Academy, Lab, Studio) that helps small and mid-sized businesses move from isolated AI experimentation to a connected, organization-wide AI operating system that delivers measurable business results.
What is the Fully Leveraged Method?
The Fully Leveraged Method is the framework powering Thalassa. It has three sequential phases: The Academy (a 90-day foundation-building program), The Lab (a 12-month ongoing build and optimization engagement), and The Studio (an executive-level program that integrates AI into business operating systems and strategy). Each phase builds on the last.
What does the Academy phase include?
The Academy is a 90-day blitz that assesses how your business operates, identifies the highest-value AI opportunities, establishes shared context and infrastructure, and implements the first plays. By the end of the Academy, your team has a usable foundation, quick wins in place, and clear governance — not just a list of tools to figure out on their own.
Who is Thalassa for?
Thalassa is designed for small and mid-sized business owners and leadership teams who want to move beyond individual AI experiments and build a scalable AI operating system across their organization. If you’re overwhelmed by the speed of AI development and unsure where to start, or if you’ve tried AI tools without lasting results, Thalassa is built for you.
How is Thalassa different from hiring an AI consultant or buying AI tools?
Most AI consultants understand technology but not how businesses are managed and grown. Most AI tools require your team to figure out implementation alone. Thalassa combines deep AI expertise with BRJ’s background in brand strategy, sales and marketing, operations, and finance — so implementation is built around how your business actually works, not around the tool.
When does Thalassa launch?
Thalassa is launching in Q4 2026. If you’re interested in learning more or getting early access, reach out for a free consultation and we’ll walk you through a deep-dive audit of where AI can make the biggest difference in your business.
