Nicole Donnelly – From Licorice Dispensers to AI Wellness: A Journey of Grit, Growth & Innovation

The Proven Entrepreneur

Welcome to another episode of The Proven Entrepreneur Show, where we dive deep into the real stories behind the world’s most resilient and innovative business minds. I’m your host, Don Williams—entrepreneur, author, and eternal optimist—and today, I’m thrilled to introduce a guest who embodies the spirit of invention, perseverance, and purpose-driven innovation.

Joining us from Vancouver, Canada, is Nicole Donnelly—founder of AI Smart Ventures, a serial entrepreneur, and a passionate advocate for using artificial intelligence to improve lives. But Nicole’s story doesn’t begin in a boardroom or a tech lab. It begins in a mobile home on a dusty desert road, where a young girl with a wild imagination crafted licorice dispensers and left them in neighbors’ mailboxes, believing—wholeheartedly—that she could make their lives better.

That same spirit of service and creativity has carried Nicole through decades of entrepreneurship, from selling her first company during the 2008 financial crisis to building AI-powered wellness tools that help women manage perimenopause and hormonal health. In this episode, Nicole opens up about the emotional toll of being sued by her own family, the lessons she learned about hiring and trusting the wrong people, and how she rebuilt her business—and her relationships—one step at a time.

We explore the power of automation not just as a tool for efficiency, but as a system of care. Nicole shares how she created “Charlie,” an AI agent trained on women’s health data that offers personalized supplement, nutrition, and lifestyle recommendations based on the user’s cycle. She explains how AI can be used to automate empathy, scale support, and even remind you when it’s time to eat black beans to reduce PMS symptoms.

But this episode isn’t just about tech—it’s about trust, trauma, and transformation. Nicole and I discuss the psychological weight of entrepreneurship, the importance of starting before you’re ready, and why testing your idea with real paying customers is more valuable than any business plan. We also talk about the darker side of AI—how it can be misused—and why Nicole would ban its use in human trafficking and exploitation if she could.

You’ll also hear about tools like StrengthsFinder, Kolbe, and Culture Index, and how Nicole uses them to build stronger, more aligned teams. We touch on the power of mindset, the importance of asking AI first, and how even something as simple as automating your inbox can save you hours each week.

Whether you’re a founder, a dreamer, or someone navigating the messy middle of building something meaningful, this episode will speak to your heart and your hustle. Nicole’s story is a reminder that entrepreneurship isn’t just about solving problems—it’s about healing, growing, and daring to believe that your ideas can change lives.

🔗 Mentioned in this episode:

• Nicole Donnelly: Founder, AI Smart Ventures
• Don Williams: Host
• ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Gamma: AI Platforms