Episode 458: A Look Back at AI in the Pet Industry in 2025

What did AI actually do for the pet industry in 2025 and what’s the real risk if you don’t adapt going into 2026? This episode is a passionate, real-talk reflection on how AI revolutionized the pet industry in 2025 and why pet business owners can't afford to ignore it in 2026. I share real examples from inside the mastermind, my personal experiences, and exactly how AI helped us become faster, smarter, and more aligned across every area of our businesses and lives. From hiring to headshots, route planning to recruiting, I break down how AI isn’t just a tool, it’s a way of thinking. If you’re still treating it like a copy machine, you’re already behind. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The mindset shift from “Is AI safe?” to “How do I use AI authentically?” Why AI is not just about automating tasks, it’s about creating freedom How I used AI to write training, create SOPs, and plan goals for my mastermind members The difference between using AI as a thought partner vs. outsourcing your brain Why even your pet sitters and dog walkers need to know AI basics What “wrapped” reports and Elf on the Shelf have to do with your next level of growth My warnings (and tough love) for those still stuck in 2023 thinking Timestamps: 00:00 — Why ignoring AI in 2026 will cost you everything02:21 — Using AI to analyze dating data (and why it matters for your business)05:00 — 30+ ways we used AI in the mastermind this year07:12 — Rewiring your brain with AI-powered goal setting13:00 — Thought partner vs. outsourced brain: which one are you?23:30 — Why even your dog walkers need to understand AI28:15 — The AI tech stack I swear by (and how to access it all for $20) Notable Quotes: “If you refuse to use AI in 2026, you’re going to look like the sitter still using pen and paper.” “Most of you aren't using AI wrong—you're just not using it deep enough.” “Stop acting like ChatGPT is the entire universe. That’s like insisting skinny jeans are still in when the world’s moved to wide leg.” “The winners in 2026 are the ones who use AI as a co-strategist—not just a copy machine.” Resources & Links: Try Magai AI Hub: Get access to ALL the major AI models in one place (and 30% off your first 3 months) Book a 20-minute strategy call with me. Need website copy help? Get in before the rates go up. Follow me on Facebook for real-time AI examples Transcript: Welcome to another episode of Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, and this may be one of the last episodes of 2025. As such, we’re going to talk a lot today about just how far we’ve come and what is actually possible. I hope that this episode excites you, delights you, and lets your brain start thinking about all the things that are possible this year because of AI. I’m not exaggerating. There has never been a better time to own a business than right now. The things that we have access to and the things that we are able to do without having to go out and try to hire somebody are impeccable. If you ignore AI in 2026, and this is my warning as we look forward, you’re going to look like the sitter who’s using pen and paper, not online scheduling. At the start of this year, back in January 2025, I was trying to convince people that AI was not a fad and that it was actually here to stay. By the end of the year, now, most of you are no longer asking if it’s safe to use. You’re asking how to use it and still be authentic. That’s what I’ve been here for every step of the way, pacing alongside you. At the same time, I have a lot happening behind the scenes where we are far ahead. I want to keep being your filter. I want to show you exactly what you need to know for your specific pet business so you don’t get overwhelmed or distracted by shiny objects. AI is a spectrum. You can show up at a mediocre surface level, or you can go deep. The breadth of what you can do with it is enormous. Thinking that AI can only be used for your pet business is actually a detriment to your life. I hope that through my ideas, the things I show you, and what I share on Facebook, you start to see real examples of people applying AI to their lives. Earlier today, I posted about a client where we downloaded her entire dating profile and analyzed her behaviors. The data came in as raw files that were unreadable on their own. But once we plugged that data into AI that can interpret spreadsheets, something most of you already have access to, we were able to help her redesign her profile. It was wild. If you want to run a pet business in 2026 and you refuse to use AI or think it’s wrong, you’re going to fall behind. Clients may not always know you’re using AI, but they will feel the difference in your speed, creativity, and professionalism. Without AI, you’ll continue feeling overwhelmed and overworked. So many people say they wish they could clone themselves. Now you can. The question is whether you will. A concrete example of this is Precise Petcare. They introduced AI into their software earlier this year, especially for routing and internal systems. Time To Pet was once considered the top platform, and they were highly innovative in their early years. They made smart business decisions that allowed them to reinvest and eventually sell. Since then, innovation has slowed. What excited me was seeing Precise Petcare integrating AI. That shows a mindset shift. Earlier this year, I was teaching people how to use AI to improve SOPs, training programs, and business systems. We were doing dozens of things with it. Goal setting changed. We moved from traditional ninety-day goals to AI-assisted breakdowns that translated big goals into monthly themes, weekly affirmations, and daily actions. That already evolved. In the mastermind now, I built a bot that talks with members for nearly an hour and produces a personalized mantra or script they can record themselves. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between reality and imagination, so we leverage that intentionally. From there, we’re creating music in genres people love using their own future-focused words. We’re creating images, turning them into video, and reinforcing progress in ninety-day increments because that’s what the brain can process. We use ninety-day increments because the brain can’t truly comprehend years into the future. It needs small dopamine wins so it can evaluate progress. March comes and you ask yourself, did we get there or did we not, and what did we learn. We have all these trainings, and I want to explain them because it matters. We worked on building foundations for employees by identifying personal goals, creating full hiring plans, and implementing employee love systems. We created emergency SOPs like what to do if there’s a dog bite. We worked with people scaling multiple businesses at once, combining boarding, training, and retail. Staffing optimization has been fascinating to watch evolve. Early on, we were manually inputting addresses and routes. Now it’s far more intuitive and efficient. We’ve created newsletters, generated headshots for staff, strengthened operations, and built SOPs, manuals, and training systems. Every AI model will give you answers, but without strategy and vision, you won’t know if those answers are good. You need to ask what’s wrong with this, where the blind spots are, and how to make it better. Otherwise, you’re not using AI effectively. We used an AI operator to book a dog walking service on a website. An agent went in and completed the entire process. That happened in March of 2025. We’ve created hiring ads in different tones, optimized websites, built GPTs for care notes and handbooks, and designed entire interview processes. We’ve developed systems to create highly specific client and employee profiles for marketing and hiring. We’ve streamlined interviews, onboarding, and training as separate systems. We’ve turned images into cinematic videos that look incredibly real. Many people rely on the image model inside ChatGPT, and it shows. You should not only be using ChatGPT. Things will look very different by the end of next year. I’m only halfway through the list of things we’ve done. Short-form video creation is so easy now that every single AI training I’ve created is under twenty minutes. Most are ten minutes or less. The biggest challenge is not the technology, it’s creating enough mental space to imagine what’s possible. I want you to stop using AI in a remedial way, just asking it to reword text and then editing it yourself. That’s surface-level use. Earlier this year, many people were in shock, worried about jobs being replaced or things sounding fake. The reality is AI will replace jobs for people who don’t know how to use it. It’s like having a powerful car and not knowing how to drive it. I spent the first part of this year focusing on emotional regulation and mindset before technical training, and I’ll continue doing that. We’re now using AI for things beyond business. We’re analyzing fitness wearables, health data, travel plans, conversation starters, and life organization. People are gathering years of medical data and using AI to analyze it before going to doctors. You can improve health, parenting, time management, even do fun things like palm reading or Elf on the Shelf scenarios. I take a photo of a room and ask AI to put our elf into mischief. There are endless possibilities. When you repeat AI tasks frequently, that’s when they should become a GPT, a system, or a style. AI helped me diagnose a car battery issue and find solutions. It can even help style outfits or reduce decision fatigue. The point is curiosity. Ask if AI can help solve a problem, even if you don’t know the right prompt yet. One of the most important things you need to do right now is protect your brand voice. If people can tell you’re using AI because your captions suddenly sound generic,