How I Used AI to Rebuild a Brand — and Doubled Its Sales

Summer of 2025, I approached my boss and told him I needed a raise. This was in the middle of tariffs being implemented across the country. My boss told me he couldn’t do it at that point. Business wasn’t doing great — and I agreed. I saw the books. I saw how it was.

Quickly, I thought of a plan. Let’s expand your reach. He asked how. Point blank, I said, let’s overhaul your online presence.

He agreed and asked me to present a proposal and go from there.

I went straight into this project without even thinking about how I lacked the skillset to develop a website from scratch, let alone optimize it.

It didn’t stop me from working on it. I had a goal — I needed to earn more than what I was getting.

As a consumer, I was very aware of what it takes to get me engaged on an online site. It has to show credibility. It has to promote efficiency. It has to focus on a positive user experience at all times — that was non-negotiable. User experience and user interface were the main focal points of this project.

I started involving AI LLMs in the process. I began with Claude. I created a mock of one of our PDPs. Incorporated all possible strategies to ensure that UX and UI were taken into account. Did a lot of A/B testing. And after 48 hours, the mock PDP was created and presented. Boss was happy about it and decided to proceed with the project.

I started the main project and built a timeline organized by phases. I collected all stored information and data from the current locally hosted WordPress website our company was using. It took about a month to complete the entire website — versus the standard web development timeline of two to six months.

I did another presentation and got the approval to go live. But something was missing.

As someone who values continuous improvement, I desired a more sustainable outcome for this project. I did more research on what other LLMs I could utilize to produce a better output based on the standards I had set. That’s when I discovered Abacus AI. I overhauled the entire project again from scratch — without worrying about timeline constraints, because I believed that with my innate efficiency and the right LLM, I could deliver.

I rewrote my project timeline to include additional phases as part of the optimization process.

The outcome — generated using my ability to craft the exact prompts I wanted — was impeccable and far more plausible than the previous version.

I was extremely happy with the result and immediately presented it. My boss gave it two thumbs up.

At that point, my brain wouldn’t stop looking for further improvements that would satisfy what I had declared as my focal point from the start: focus on user experience and user interface.

I achieved both before launch.

A custom Next.js React website with over 150 verified sitemap pages. 70+ optimized Product Detail Pages. A trade account portal. An interactive gallery. A Google Maps–enabled store locator. Automation for all online requests derived from the various forms embedded throughout the site.

This project went live after three months of building — well ahead of what the standard timeline would be if it involved purely manual work. It started yielding results. SEO became the next phase of the project.

Post-launch is what truly excited me, as I would now have visibility into what needed to be done based on end-user feedback and real data.

The constant drive for improvement is what made me formulate more ways to fulfill my goal. AI didn’t tell me what I wanted to do. I told AI what it needed to do for me.

Three to six months after launch yielded approximately $165K worth of out-of-state total sales order value. This did not happen overnight. This did not happen simply because I integrated AI into the project. It happened because I provided the thought and direction as to how this project could ultimately satisfy why I even started it in the first place — to earn more.

I began utilizing AI as my agent. I began seeing AI as my helper. I began considering AI as a collaborator.

Aside from website development and SEO strategies, I utilized AI to automate manual work in the office.

I started by building an internal CRM embedded on the back end of the website I had created.

This CRM houses all pertinent information that helps with data analysis. It provided an avenue to deploy efficient processes to keep the business moving.

We stopped paying for third-party tools — Asana, Monday, Trello, and the like.

My goal was to provide a one-stop shop to fully centralize the entire operation. And I achieved it.

Constant improvement is still on the table. There are still several functionalities waiting to be built, and I already know the next ones will be more ambitious than the last.

But here’s what this whole journey taught me — and it’s bigger than one website, one CRM, or one $165K result.

I didn’t have the skillset when I started. I wasn’t a developer. I wasn’t an SEO specialist. What I had was a goal, a point of view, and the willingness to direct a tool that most people are still afraid of.

That’s the part people miss about AI. It doesn’t replace the human — it amplifies the human who knows what they want. Every result I got came from a decision I made, a standard I refused to lower, and a prompt only I could have written because only I understood the outcome I was chasing.

That’s why AI-enabled projects aren’t just efficient — they’re essential. They put the power to build, compete, and grow into the hands of people who were previously locked out by cost, credentials, or time. A single person with clarity and direction can now do what used to take a full team and a six-figure budget.

I’m proof of that. And I’m just getting started.

AI didn’t hand me a career. I used AI to build one.