AI
What I Tell Students Who Are Worried About AI
Graduating students keep asking whether AI will take their jobs. Some tasks are going away—but the best AI still needs someone with taste.
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Marketer · Educator · Dad
There’s a story in there…
I’m Michael Theisen, a marketer, educator, and father. Nice to meet you! It’s okay; you can call me Mike.
My story so far has three chapters — marketer, educator and dad. Each one shapes the others, and together they’re how I think about storytelling, strategy and audience connection.
Latest from the journal
What I Tell Students Who Are Worried About AI01
Marketer
I was once told that analytics was more storytelling than math. I’ve believed it ever since.
Eighteen years across operations, data, CRM and customer relations—the last ten in marketing. Today that means leading marketing for a family entertainment brand and helping other businesses tell their story.
Strategic planning · Marketing operations · Data analysis
Read my full bio02
Educator
Since 2022 I’ve taught marketing as community faculty at Metropolitan State University.
I teach the way I work: with real stories, real stakes, and room for the light-bulb moments. My first in-person class ended early—and taught me more than I taught that night.
The class that ended early03
Dad
Marketing even shapes how my daughters craft their messages.
Lately it’s their latest obsessions—spotted on YouTube, name-dropped at dinner, hunted down in a store aisle—that remind me real people never move through a neat marketing funnel.
How my daughters broke the funnelFrom the journal
All postsTeaching
Those Who Can, Do—and Teach Better Because of It
“Those who can’t do, teach” gets teaching wrong. The people who’ve lived with real consequences are often the ones who explain them best.
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Why Loyalty Programs Fail to Create Loyalty
No rewards program would ever decide where I leave my daughters. Trust decides that—and it’s what really brings customers back.
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The Hidden Cost of Chasing Trends in Marketing
Nearly every student campaign I see starts on TikTok. Starting with the channel instead of the audience costs more than it looks.
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The Quiet Death of the Marketing Funnel (And What’s Replacing It)
My daughters’ latest obsessions never move through a funnel. They loop—from YouTube to a name-drop at dinner to a store aisle full of other parents.
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AI-Ready Teams: Upskilling Marketers for the Next Era
Our website’s AI helper didn’t replace my team—it changed their job. Now they answer a few new questions, teach the helper, and audit its answers instead of repeating…
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