Session 01 · Live · June 24

How To Set Up Claude For Your Creative Business In 90 Minutes (without losing your creative voice)

You'll walk away with it running - not just learned.

Wednesday, June 24 1:00 PM Eastern 90 minutes live Real-time Q&A
Reserve my free Session 1 seat FREE · Full session, no watered-down version
it's free
Mandy Corcoran, founder of Creative Systems Lab, smiling at the camera in her kitchen with her own pattern design as a tile backsplash behind her
You leave with
Claude configured + your Business Cheat Sheet built live.
The Sacred Line

AI runs the business, never makes the art. The art stays yours.

This isn't about AI generating your patterns, your illustrations, or your designs. It's about AI running the business around your art - so you spend more time creating and less time on the stuff that isn't.

What You'll Walk Away With

Three things in your hands by 2:30 PM.

01

Your Creative Business Cheat Sheet, built live.

One document covering who you sell to, what you sell, and how you sound. Not a guess, not a vibe - Claude builds it by interviewing YOU about your business. Downloaded before you log off.

02

Claude permanently set up to know who you are.

We paste that Cheat Sheet into Claude's account-wide instructions. Every chat from now on - laptop, phone, desktop app - starts already knowing your business. No blank slate, ever again.

03

Your first real piece of work, done.

We put the setup to work before you leave: one real task for your actual business (a product description, an email, a caption - your pick) written in your voice with zero re-explaining. Proof the system runs.

Mandy Corcoran at her digital drawing tablet in her studio, mid-build
Why This Works

"I'm not a tech bro teaching artists. I'm an artist who taught tech for 25 years."

I have a programming degree, 25 years in tech, and a decade teaching network engineering and web design at the high school and college level. I've spoken on multiple AI summits.

Then I left it all to homeschool my kids and rebuild as a working surface designer - licensing patterns to brands like Nordstrom, HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Sand & Fog.

Now I do both. I license my art. I speak. I teach. And I run all of it on the same systems I used to teach engineers - translated for how artists actually think.

Multiple AI summit speaker 25+ years in tech 10 years teaching Licensed surface designer
The Format

No replay-only. No pre-records. Just you and me, building it live.

June 24
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
1:00 PM
Eastern Time
90 min
Live build session
Live Q&A
Your questions, real-time
Reserve my free Session 1 seat

The free Claude plan is all you need. Everything we build in Session 1 works on the free tier - Sonnet, Haiku, Projects (up to 5), and Artifacts. No card required.

The free plan has a usage cap that resets every few hours. If you happen to hit it mid-session, no stress - I'll show you exactly where to pick back up, and your work is saved.

Radical Clarity

What's in the session - and what's not.

What you get

  • 90-minute live build session with me on Zoom
  • Real-time Q&A - your actual questions, not pre-submitted
  • The Master Context Prompt - dropped in chat during the session, yours to keep
  • Your Creative Business Cheat Sheet - voice, what you sell, who you sell to - built live as a downloadable Claude Artifact
  • The exact prompt formula I use every day - so you can keep building after we log off
  • Works on the free Claude plan - no Pro upgrade needed for Session 1

What this is NOT

  • Not an AI art class. No Midjourney. No Stable Diffusion. The art stays yours, full stop.
  • Not a six-week course. One live session. Then you're running.
  • Not a sales pitch in disguise. The session is 100% building.
  • Not ChatGPT or Gemini training. CSL is a Claude lab - same way a Procreate educator teaches Procreate.
  • Not gated behind Claude Pro. Free plan is enough. We use Sonnet, Haiku, Projects, and Artifacts - all included on the free tier.
The 90 Minutes, Mapped

Here's exactly what we're building.

The CSL session format is locked: 5 minutes to orient, 15 to demystify, 60 to build live, 10 to celebrate and hand off what's next. No fluff intro. No outro filler. Just building.

01

Here's what we're building today

The brand promise, said plainly. The deliverable on the screen. We get moving - no 12-minute "about me" detour, no "drop where you're joining from" warm-up.

5 min
02

How it works

The Sacred Line, said out loud: AI runs the business, never makes the art.

Why Claude - and not ChatGPT or Gemini. It writes better, reasons more carefully, and feels less like a robot.

The Two Lanes - Fast Track for free-tier beginners, Breakthrough for Pro-tier operators. Both lanes get served in every session.

15 min
03

Build it together (the live portion)

Screen-share. Follow along. Ask questions in real time. This is where you stop watching and start doing.

  • Step 1 - The lay of the land The Claude interface (claude.ai). The two models you'll be using today on the free plan: Sonnet 4.6 (the daily driver - the one we'll work in for the build) and Haiku 4.5 (the speed demon for quick tasks). Heads up that Opus 4.8 exists too - that's the heavy-thinking model that unlocks if you ever upgrade to Pro. You won't need it today.
  • Step 2 - Build your business context I drop the Master Context Prompt in chat. You paste it into Claude. Claude interviews you about your business. By the time you're done answering, Claude has spit out a perfectly formatted ICA and Brand Voice profile.
  • Step 3 - Make Claude remember your business (permanently) We paste your Cheat Sheet into Settings → Instructions for Claude - this is the magic move: account-wide instructions that apply to every single chat you ever have, automatically. No attaching files, no re-explaining yourself. Both lanes work on the free plan.
    Fast Track: Settings → Instructions for Claude. One paste, one save, done. Every new chat - from your laptop, your phone, the desktop app - starts with your business in Claude's head.
    Breakthrough: Settings → Instructions for Claude for the always-on baseline, PLUS a Claude Project (free plan includes 5) with extra instructions for a specific side of your business - like pattern licensing vs. teaching, or your wholesale line vs. your retail shop. Layer the contexts.
    Heads up: The free plan has a usage cap that resets every few hours. If you happen to hit it mid-session, no stress - I'll show you exactly where to pick back up, and your work is saved.
  • Step 4 - Build your Creative Business Cheat Sheet The 4-part prompt formula: Role, Task, Context, Constraints. The two golden rules I use every day: (1) tell Claude what NOT to do, not just what to do, and (2) make it plan its answer in 3 bullets before writing the full draft. Then the reveal - Claude packages everything you just told it into a single Markdown document (three parts: What You Sell, Who You Sell To, Your Brand Voice) and renders it as an Artifact right beside the chat. Edit it on the fly. Download it. Done.
60 min
04

You leave with it running

Real-time Q&A - yours, not pre-submitted. Then the soft handoff: what to do tomorrow, and what comes next in two weeks.

10 min
$0
This session, free

That's not a stripped-down version, a teaser, or a "preview." It's the full session - full deliverable, full me, full 90 minutes, full Q&A. Same product I'll be charging for starting at Session 3.

Session
Live
Replay
Session 2July 8 · Foundations Pt. 2
FREE
FREE on YouTube
Session 3 onwardEmail Funnel build + every session after
$67
Yours forever, included

No fake "$497 value" anchoring. No countdown timer that resets when you refresh. No "only 50 seats left" if it's actually unlimited. The price is the price - and the first two are free because I want you to see how I teach before you ever pay.

For paid sessions: live only. Recording yours forever after. And every session is beginner-friendly. No code. If you can open a browser tab, you can finish.

What's Next

Two more sessions on the horizon. Telling you now, on purpose.

Free · Session 02

Prompting & Your First Workflows

Wednesday, July 8 · 1:00 PM ET

Two weeks after Session 1. I teach the 4-part prompt formula in depth, you build a personal prompt library, and we run your first three real business workflows live. Still free.

Do You Actually Need an Email Funnel?

Wednesday, July 22 · 1:00 PM ET

The first paid session. We build an opt-in and a 5-email welcome sequence - live. I'm telling you the price now so there are zero surprises later.

You don't have to commit to anything past June 24. Come build the foundation. See how I teach. Decide from there.

Questions

Before you reserve your seat.

Do I need a paid Claude account to attend Session 1?
No. Session 1 works entirely on the free Claude plan. We use Sonnet 4.6, Haiku 4.5, Projects (free users get 5), and Artifacts - all included on the free tier. No Pro upgrade required.
What if I run out of free messages during the session?
The free Claude plan has a usage cap that resets every few hours. If you happen to hit it mid-session, no stress - I'll show you exactly where to pick back up, and your work is saved. Nothing you build during Session 1 is lost if you reach the limit.
Is Creative Systems Lab about using AI to make art?
No. It's the opposite: AI runs the business, never makes the art. The art stays yours. CSL teaches creative business owners to use Claude for the business side of their work - writing, systems, email, content, automation - not for generating art.
What will I walk away with from Session 1?
Three things by the time the 90 minutes end: (1) Your Ideal Customer Avatar and Brand Voice, mapped out in a document Claude generated by interviewing you. (2) Claude permanently set up via account-wide Instructions so every chat starts with full context about your business. (3) Your Creative Business Cheat Sheet - one downloadable reference covering what you sell, who you sell to, and how you sound - built live as a Claude Artifact.
Why Claude and not ChatGPT or Gemini?
CSL is a Claude lab. Claude is taught deeply, the way a Procreate educator teaches Procreate - one tool, no hedging. It writes better, reasons more carefully, and feels less like a robot than the alternatives. ChatGPT and Gemini users can follow along and translate concepts, but Claude is the tool we teach.
Is Session 1 actually free, or is there a catch?
Fully free, with no upsell during the session. Session 2 (July 8) is also free. Starting with Session 3 in late July, paid sessions are $67 live and the recording is yours forever. The free sessions are the full product - not stripped-down previews.
Who teaches Creative Systems Lab?
Mandy Corcoran. A programming degree, 25 years in tech, and a decade teaching network engineering and web design at the high school and college level. She's spoken on multiple AI summits. She left tech to homeschool her kids and rebuild as a working surface designer - now licensing patterns to Nordstrom, HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Sand & Fog. CSL is her formalized teaching for creative business owners adopting AI.
What if I can't attend live on June 24?
Session 1's replay will be permanently free on YouTube and accessible to anyone who registered through ThriveCart Learn. For future paid sessions: live only, and the recording is yours forever after.
Wednesday, June 24 · 1:00 PM Eastern

90 minutes from now, Claude knows your business.

Free registration. Live with me on Zoom. You leave with it running.

Reserve my free Session 1 seat

90 min live · Real-time Q&A · Walk away with it built