EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT AI. NO ONE'S EXPLAINING IT.
REAL TALK AI
Education before implementation.
REAL TALK AI is a 3-week AI workshop for small business owners, entrepreneurs, 9-to-5 professionals, and creatives ready to understand AI on their own terms.
Cohort 4 coming this Fall.
THE REALITY CHECK
There are people in your network who refuse to touch AI. There are people using it every single day, feeding it personal information, and never questioning what comes back.
Both groups are flying blind.
Small business owners, creatives, entrepreneurs, professionals from our communities are still being handed fear or hype instead of real education.
Our communities deserve better.
THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL AI WORKSHOP
This is not a features tour or a recycled deck. REAL TALK AI offers live instruction and real Q&A facilitated by an experienced strategist who has presented at the UN General Assembly Science Summit and Congressional Briefings of Women of Color on emerging tech.
REAL TALK AI gives you the full picture to decide for yourself.
The real history, from the first questions about machine intelligence to the shift that changed everything. Then the fundamentals, what these tools actually are, in plain language, and what AI can do and what it cannot.
We go where other workshops won't. The ethics, the copyright, the environmental impact. Who benefits and who gets harmed. Not optional if you create or run a business.
Practical and safe ways to use AI as a tool for your career or business. Best practices, critical thinking, and how to use it in a way that works for you without creating dependency or compromising your work.
By the end you can spot an AI hallucination before it costs you a client, know what you're actually agreeing to when you upload something, and use AI without becoming dependent on it.
IS THIS YOU?
"I will never use AI" ............... "I use AI for everything and never double-check it"
Wherever you are on that spectrum, this workshop was built for you.
You might be a small business owner who knows AI is unavoidable and wants to approach it with your values intact. A creative watching this technology reshape your industry who needs facts, not panic. An entrepreneur building something new and wanting to make smart decisions from the start. A 9-to-5 professional who sees AI changing your workplace and wants to stay ahead of it. A freelancer or consultant trying to figure out where AI fits in your work without losing your edge. Or someone who has been told this technology is not for people like you and you are ready to prove that wrong.
THE WORKSHOP
3 Sessions.
2 Hours Each.
Live and Interactive.
WEEK 1 — What Is AI, Really?
WEEK 2 — Ethics, Copyright and the Stuff Nobody Tells You
WEEK 3 — Practical and Safe Ways to Use AI
Cohort 4 coming this Fall.
10:00am to 12:00pm PDT (Pacific Time)
90 minutes of instruction.
30 minutes of open Q&A.
Sessions are recorded and available for 30 days after your cohort's final session.
All participants who complete the workshop receive a REAL TALK AI badge and certificate of completion.
YOUR INVESTMENT
$399
This is an investment in yourself, your business, your career, and your future. In making sure you are not the last person in the room to understand a technology that is reshaping every industry you work in.
Two cohorts now enrolling.
Choose the schedule that works for you.
10am - 12pm Pacific Standard Time
COHORT 2 — 3 Fridays: July 10, 17, 24
COHORT 3 — 3 Saturdays: July 11, 18, 25
• Scholarship seats are available for those who need them. This workshop was built for community access and that is not a footnote. APPLY HERE
Same Real Talk. Bigger Table.
REAL TALK AI also runs as a private cohort for teams, nonprofits, and organizations. Same no-jargon, education-first approach, built around what your people actually deal with day to day. Group size, format, and timeline are shaped around your team, virtual first, with in-person available where it makes sense.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR
I’m Marisa “Ritzy” Estrada Rivera, a first-generation Mexican American emerging tech strategist and the founder of Zócalo. My mission is to empower people, expand access to new technologies, and help create a sustainable future by bridging tech, art, social impact, and community. Before this, I spent years in the music and visual art industries, so I know firsthand the importance of cross-cultural engagement and communication.
Too many people from marginalized communities have experienced being the person in the room who isn’t expected to be there. That’s exactly who Zócalo built REAL TALK AI for.
Presented at the United Nations General Assembly Science Summit
Delegate and presenter at the 6th Congressional Briefing of Women of Color in Blockchain in Washington, DC
Contributor to the Crypto Council for Innovation & W.K. Kellogg Foundation report, Building a More Equitable Web3
Co-author of Women in Web3: Inclusive Futures
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
RECEIPTS, NOT JUST NOTES
Every participant who completes the workshop receives a REAL TALK AI certificate of completion and badge.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESIONS
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Yes. All sessions are recorded and available for 30 days after the final session.
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None. This workshop is for wherever you are on the spectrum of knowledge and experience.
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You're encouraged to attend live for the Q&A, but recordings are available if life happens.
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Absolutely. A limited number of $10 scholarship seats are available. Click here to apply.
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All participants who complete the workshop receive a Real Talk AI badge and certificate of completion.
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Live instruction, real Q&A, a community of people asking the same questions you are, and a facilitator who has presented this content at the United Nations and Congressional Briefings, not an algorithm deciding what you see next.
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All sales are final. No refunds will be issued. However, your spot may be transferred to someone else prior to the first session. To arrange a transfer please contact us at web3@ritzyperiwinkle.com
THE BOTTOM LINE
The people making decisions about AI are not thinking about your business, your career, or your community. That changes when you understand what they are building.
You found this page for a reason. Real talk. Honest answers. No hype.
Literacy is leverage. Especially for the people who have been told this tech is not for them.