I'm Christine Russo, building my third media company using the learnings from each time. This is my build. You have yours. And I've decided to share my feelings along the way because maybe you feel that way too. And it's cool to not feel alone. And I'll share how I deal with it. Maybe that helps you too. I share thoughts inside my head which range from neurotic to confident to second guessing myself.

If you are building anything: a company, your personal brand, your career, a non-profit then I hope these thoughts inside MY head connect with thoughts inside YOURS.

We speak our fears to overcome them. And for strength. And for community.

I was asked: How Can I Help You. It caught me waaaayyyy off guard. So many thoughts were inside my head: Wait, do i LOOK like I need help? Do i look like im flailing or, worse, failing? And then the ego kicked in…..I am the helpER not the helpED. Then the paranoia set in…..Is this real or just a polite gesture? Do I answer with something I need help on? 

It caught me off guard and clearly drummed up a lot of emotions.

And THIS is the answer. Well, this will be MY answer. You are free to use it as well.

I truly appreciate that. And yes, I’d love to chat. Would it be ok if I sent you a follow-up to connect a couple of weeks from today. 

There, done. Classy, elegant, buys time and will ultimately answer the question if this statement is real or polite. It also allows you

Now on to the back story. 

What we may be experiencing is both a fear to ask for or accept help AND something new: A complete lack of skill to do so. Why?  

First, the convergence of still many remote workers means you can’t grab someone and ask for a bit of advice on the way to the pantry. Or say, hey, wanted to ask you how I should handle that situation. 

Second and bigger, AI may be making it harder to ask at all. 

AI can and might be causing isolation. And isolation can cause fear about asking for help Additionally, AI has become the mentee. Many try to solve their workplace challenges using Chat or Claude. This gives false sense of security and isolates the person from asking for help. 

The use of AI in work can cause isolation and fear of accepting and asking for help for both corporate workers and entrepreneurs. What may be driving this is isolation.

But don’t take it from me.

Why Mentoring Matters More Than Ever https://www.physicianleaders.org/articles/why-mentoring-matters-more-in-the-ai-era

Mentoring is being rewritten. Talent management executives are realizing that mentoring must be redesigned from the ground up in this new AI context. This isn’t just about accelerating leadership development, but restoring the experiential foundation that AI has removed.

"How AI Makes Workers Feel Lonely And Could Hurt Productivity" (HBR Research)https://hbr.org/2024/06/research-using-ai-at-work-makes-us-lonelier-and-less-healthy

Core Finding: Studies examining AI adoption (including landmark research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology by Pok Man Tang et al.) found that high interaction with AI tools throughout the workday leads to measurable feelings of social deprivation and work-related loneliness.

Impact: The research highlights that as AI takes over collaborative functions, informal workplace dialogue shrinks, leading to higher burnout, insomnia, and post-work social withdrawal.

HR Brew (August 2026) Article: "AI Isn’t Helping Our Workplace Loneliness Problem" by Paige McGlauflin

The Core Shift: Citing global workforce surveys, the article documents a sharp rise in workers actively bypassing human colleagues to ask AI tools for help.  

Key Finding: 44% of respondents confessed they often choose AI over collaborating with human colleagues because it gets work done faster without challenging them, while 37% turn to AI for brainstorming explicitly out of fear of human judgment. The piece highlights how replacing interpersonal check-ins with frictionless bot queries is degrading daily social skills and worsening workplace isolation. 

"Where building a business previously required hirees, agency partners, or co-founders, AI handles coding, marketing, customer support, and financial modeling. Eliminating team touchpoints reduces daily organic human interaction."

"Founders increasingly turn to AI for brainstorming, strategy testing, and decision validation. Because AI is agreeable and instantly responsive, it replaces the messy, critical, but socially bonding dialogue that happens with human advisors, mentors, and peers."

"Organizational psychology studies indicate that heavy collaboration with AI throughout the workday can leave individuals feeling socially deprived and alienated. Interacting continuously with a machine that mimics human conversation without genuine reciprocity subtly increases social fatigue."

"As task execution becomes automated, founders spend less time in collaborative meetings or networking events. The friction-free nature of AI workflows disincentivizes reaching out to external networks for advice or collaboration."

The advice this week is at the top of the newsletter. And it’s that it’s ok to accept help. It’s also ok to ask for help. For me, I have accept it so that makes me feel like I am COLLABORATING and not WHINING because of my generational distinction. In my time in corporate, needing help was considered a weakness. I started in Management Consulting at Deloitte, a very different company and culture back then. Help was a sign of weakness, and that could still ingrained in me.

This community is all about asking and getting help and I appreciate each and every one of you for reading. I do NOT have the answers, I have context. And I also provide the truth. There is no pussy-footing around. And for those of you who have asked to meet with me; I love our time together! Can’t wait to get the first community dinner. A curated group of professionals motivated by curiosity and ambition. 

Register interest here.https://thoughtsinsidemyhead.com/

We are building ourselves and each other. Let's do it together.

▶ASMR

Want to discuss? Or join a room full of people who probably have the same concerns? email me at [email protected]. And I'll email you back, meet you for coffee, or invite you to our dinners.

This will go out every Sunday. Each week has a different topic. They are mostly based on my personal emotional swing that week but sometimes they are based on a conversation someone had with me. I’m feeling really vulnerable about this but I have a lot of positive feedback! I always welcome positive and negative feedback- feel free to send it to me anytime.

And, if you know someone who my enjoy reading this, please forward. They can sign up below.