The AI Reality Check
The mum who turned loneliness into a place to belong
Tracey Hall is the CEO and founder of Heroes of Today, a community built for people who need somewhere to go, people to connect with and a place where they are known by name. The business grew out of her own experience of repeated school moves, isolation as a mother and watching her son struggle with loneliness during online learning.
AI is useful for first drafts, grant applications and the blank page, but not for the tone or judgment that make a service feel human. For Heroes of Today, the real work still comes from showing up in the right local groups, building trust and keeping the message plain.
What’s the quick origin story of your business, and what makes what you do genuinely different from the other options your customers are looking at?
Heroes of Today wasn’t created from a textbook or a business idea. It came from my life.
I went to 17 different schools growing up, so I know what it feels like to constantly be the new person, trying to find your place and your people. Years later, I experienced isolation again as a mum without family support around me. Then I watched my own son struggle with loneliness through online learning—and I knew I couldn’t just sit back and accept that this was happening to so many people.
So, I created what I wish had existed for us: somewhere people can simply turn up, be themselves and know they’re welcome.
What makes Heroes of Today genuinely different is that we don’t try to “fix” people, and we don’t expect real connection to happen at a one-off event. Our members cook together, create things, play games, share meals, talk about life and slowly build real friendships. It’s relaxed, it’s human and it’s led by lived experience.
We care about the whole person—not just their age, diagnosis or circumstances. We’re creating somewhere to go, people to connect with and a community that knows their name.
Where does most of your new business come from today, and where do you wish it came from?
Right now, Facebook does most of the heavy lifting—especially local Facebook groups and homeschool groups. Word of mouth is the other big one: one parent tells another parent, or someone sees what we’re doing and thinks, “I know someone who needs this.” We’ve had one booking through Eventbrite, so it definitely isn’t where our people are finding us yet.
Where do I wish they came from? Everywhere people are already quietly saying, “I’m lonely,” “My teenager has no real friends,” or “I just want somewhere I can be myself.”
I’d love parents, GPs, counsellors, councils, youth organisations and community services to know us well enough to say, “You need to meet the Heroes of Today crew.” I also want more people to find us through media stories and honest conversations about loneliness—before things reach crisis point.
Because people shouldn’t have to search endlessly for somewhere they feel welcome. Heroes of Today should be the name that comes up when someone needs somewhere to go, people to connect with and a community that will know their name.
What’s one thing you’ve actually handed over to AI in the last year, and one thing you tried it on and went back to doing the human way?
I’ve handed the first draft over to AI.
Social posts, grant applications, newsletters, program ideas—anything where I know what I want to say but I’m staring at a blank screen thinking, “How the hell do I get this out of my head?” AI helps me pull the mess together, find a starting point and save a ridiculous amount of time.
What did I try handing over and then take straight back? My voice.
AI can make something sound polished, but polished isn’t always me—and it definitely isn’t always Heroes of Today. If it sounds corporate, clinical or like it could belong to any charity, I will keep pulling it apart until it has the warmth, honesty and personality our people know us for.
AI can help me find the words, but it can’t replace lived experience, gut instinct or knowing the people sitting around our table. That part will always be done the human way.
Have you noticed a change in how customers find you or what they already know before they reach out? Is anyone arriving through AI assistants like ChatGPT yet?
Most people still find us through Facebook groups or word of mouth, but they’re often arriving with more of the story already. They’ve seen a post, followed a conversation in a group or had a friend send them our details because they thought, “This sounds like your teenager.”
By the time they contact me, many already understand that we’re not a class, therapy service or somewhere teens are forced to socialise. They usually want to know the practical things—where we are, what happens on the day and whether their teen will feel comfortable.
As far as I know, nobody has found Heroes of Today through ChatGPT or another AI assistant yet. If they have, they haven’t told me! Right now, the strongest recommendation is still one human saying to another, “I think you’ve found your people.”
If you were advising someone in your industry on all of this for the next 12 months, what would you tell them to actually do, and what would you tell them to ignore?
Honestly? I’d tell them to stop overthinking it and talk to actual people.
Get into the Facebook groups where your people already are. Listen to what they’re struggling with, answer their questions and let them see the real person behind the organisation. Build relationships with local councils, GPs, schools, homeschool groups and other services—but don’t just send one email and expect magic. Keep showing up.
I’d also tell them to use AI for the things that take up ridiculous amounts of time. Let it help with the first draft, sort out your messy thoughts and get you past the blank page. But read everything before you put your name on it. If it sounds like a robot, a government department or someone swallowed a business dictionary, fix it.
And what should they ignore? The idea that they need to be on every platform, follow every trend or look perfectly polished. You don’t need 20,000 followers. You need the right people to trust you enough to turn up.
People don’t connect with perfect. They connect with real—and in our industry, real connection is the whole bloody point.
Thank you to Tracey Hall and the team at Heroes of Today for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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