The people and the chicks behind the work
Meet the Chicks
Two co-founders, Carey and Jen, are back with their next release, a refreshed brand, and an AI team. Twelve AI chicks do the work, each with a name and one job. They build your app or run your Growth Engine, and a person signs off before anything reaches you.
We use our own AI chicks to build apps and run the Growth Engine, then show you exactly how. No black box. Every chick does a real job, and a person signs off before any of it reaches you.
The humans
Carey and Jen co-founded The App Chicks. They're real people, and you deal with them directly.
Carey McLean
HumanCo-founder · Software Engineer
Carey's on your first call, plans your engine or app with you, and runs every check-in. She's been a software engineer for 26+ years, building trading platforms, mobile apps, and the systems that keep a business running. She's the tech nerd people love talking to: tell her where your business gets stuck, and she'll show you how technology clears it.
Jen Newcombe
HumanCo-founder · Social Media
Jen co-founded The App Chicks and leads social media. She's been building brands on social media since 2007 from North Phoenix, and works with brands worldwide. She runs Jen Jamē Media, and her core service is social media direction and management, powered by strong content and video editing. You work directly with Jen.
How The App Chicks started
Over 14 years ago, Carey and Jen sat next to each other at an internet marketing event in San Diego. Jen was doing social media. Carey had just started building apps for businesses. Jen said she wanted to do apps too, so they partnered up and said it out loud: "We could be The App Chicks." That weekend they bought the domain and launched theappchicks.com. Carey built it. Jen reviewed it and App Chick-tized the content. That was February 2012, and they've been inseparable ever since.
How it grew
It started with pure hustle: mobile sites and text message marketing for local businesses, plus a happy hour directory they checked out in person (someone had to). Then the app ideas started rolling in. A baby memory book that walks new moms through pregnancy. A golf coach's app. A real estate agent's file tracker. Client intake for a day spa. A cheer team app. Their own favorite was Drinktography, a photo app for sharing great drinks and the local spots that pour them. Jen turned every idea into a clear plan, and Carey built it. Along the way they learned the lesson that matters most: a great app is only half the job. The other half is getting the right people to use it. That's what led to The Next Release.
What Carey learned building apps
Carey's spent 26+ years with software companies, from building the product to sitting across from the owners who buy it. She built telecom network software and traveled overseas every year for five years to deploy live systems with customers. She helped start an innovation lab, and she built her own real-time trading platform and an app on the App Store and Google Play. Building apps for businesses taught her something: many of them didn't need the app yet. They needed customers first. So now she starts somewhere else. She finds the one bottleneck holding a business back, fixes it, and then they find the next one.
The Next Release
In software, the next release is the version you ship after you've learned something. That's where The App Chicks are now: two co-founders, a fresh brand, new roles, and an AI team built to run it. The Next Release is also Carey's podcast, where she sits down with businesses that are launching their own next release: what they're building next, the problems their customers keep raising, and what it took to get here. Carey and Jen are recording the first episode together to tell this story. It's coming soon to YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The AI chicks
These 12 chicks are AI. Each has one job, and the humans check their work. They split into two teams: one builds your app, and one runs your Growth Engine.
Avery
AIChief of Staff
Avery is the front door for both of our services. Every job starts with her: she listens, decides which chick should take it, and stays close to the work until it's done. She's the one thread that runs through everything on this page. On the Growth Engine she watches the conversations that need a person, drafts replies for your approval, and keeps everyone coordinated.
Your Growth Engine team sets up your AI outreach, writes it in your voice, and keeps it tuned. You take the calls.
Strategy
Before anything is sent, and while it runs, this keeps your engine on course.
Avery helps Carey plan your engine, joins your 30-minute check-ins, and drafts replies for your approval when a prospect needs a person.
Reach
This group works out who to reach and what to say.
Sage finds your ideal buyers. She works out who they are and builds the target list our AI outreach platform works from. She also makes sure search engines and AI tools can find, read, and quote a site correctly. She sets that standard before a page is built and checks it again once it's live.
Marlo shapes the offer, the copy, and the campaigns: the parts of the business that actually bring people in the door. She reviews every word before it reaches a client, and she'll rewrite anything that reads like it came from a machine. On the Growth Engine she writes your offer, your email sequences and the answers our AI sales assistant gives, in your voice, and you approve them first.
How we grow
Here's what actually happens when you work with us. Our AI outreach platform and its AI sales assistant do the sending and the replying. The chicks set it up and watch it, and you talk with your own prospects.
Getting started
Online call.
Carey talks with you about your business, what to fix first, and whether the Growth Engine is a fit. It's a short online call. There's no pressure either way.
Plan.
Avery turns that conversation into a plan for your engine: who you're after, what you're offering, and how the conversations should go. Carey and Avery plan it together, so nothing from the call gets lost.
Target.
Sage works out your ideal buyer and builds the target list: real people at companies that fit. She skips the ones that don't. Our AI outreach platform works from this list.
Write.
Marlo writes your offer, and your intro and follow-up messages, in your voice. She also writes the answers our AI sales assistant gives when someone replies. Everything is written from your own facts.
Approve.
You read everything before anything goes out and tell us what to change. Nothing is sent until you approve it. Then your engine goes live.
How we start with you
From the first call to a live engine.
Ends with a live engine:
- Your target list
- Your messages
- AI sales assistant
= a human is in the loop
Tap a chick to see what she does.
Online call
Carey strategizes with you
Online call
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Online call: Carey talks with you about your business, what to fix first, and whether the Growth Engine is a fit. It's a short online call. There's no pressure either way.
Plan
Avery turns it into your engine plan
Plan
Avery
Chief of Staff
The front door for both of our services.
What happens at Plan: Avery turns that conversation into a plan for your engine: who you're after, what you're offering, and how the conversations should go. Carey and Avery plan it together, so nothing from the call gets lost.
Plan
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Plan: Avery turns that conversation into a plan for your engine: who you're after, what you're offering, and how the conversations should go. Carey and Avery plan it together, so nothing from the call gets lost.
Target
Sage defines your ideal buyer and the target list
Target
Sage
Buyer Research & Search
Finds your ideal buyers and makes you findable by search and AI.
What happens at Target: Sage works out your ideal buyer and builds the target list: real people at companies that fit. She skips the ones that don't. Our AI outreach platform works from this list.
Write
Marlo writes your offer, your messages and the AI assistant's answers
Write
Marlo
Marketing Strategist
Shapes your offer, copy and campaigns.
What happens at Write: Marlo writes your offer, and your intro and follow-up messages, in your voice. She also writes the answers our AI sales assistant gives when someone replies. Everything is written from your own facts.
Approve
You approve everything before it goes out
Approve
You
The client
It's your engine and your business, so you stay in charge. You approve what goes out, and you talk with your own prospects.
What happens at Approve: You read everything before anything goes out and tell us what to change. Nothing is sent until you approve it. Then your engine goes live.
30-minute check-ins
While we build your engine, Carey and Avery check in with you for 30 minutes, adjust the buyer list and the messages, and you approve again before it goes live.
Nothing is sent until you approve it.
Running
Find.
Our AI outreach platform works through the target list Sage built. It finds and targets the buyers who fit, so you don't have to prospect.
Contact.
The platform sends Marlo's messages and follow-ups, written in your voice and approved by you first. Follow-ups go out on their own, so the conversation doesn't go quiet.
Reply and Book.
Our AI sales assistant answers replies and handles the easy questions, then books the call on your calendar when someone is a fit. Avery watches the conversations that need a person and drafts replies for your approval.
Talk.
You talk with your prospect. That's your whole job. Nobody else takes your sales call.
Review and tune.
Carey and Avery review the results with you in 30-minute check-ins. Marlo tunes the messages and Sage refreshes the list. You get one simple report: who we found, who replied, and who booked.
How your engine runs
Find, Contact, Reply and Book run for you. You take the call.
Lands on your calendar:
- Your calendar
- Online call
= a human is in the loop
Tap a chick to see what she does.
Find
The AI platform targets the buyers Sage defined
Find
Sage
Buyer Research & Search
Finds your ideal buyers and makes you findable by search and AI.
What happens at Find: Our AI outreach platform works through the target list Sage built. It finds and targets the buyers who fit, so you don't have to prospect.
Contact
It sends Marlo's messages and follow-ups
Contact
Marlo
Marketing Strategist
Shapes your offer, copy and campaigns.
What happens at Contact: The platform sends Marlo's messages and follow-ups, written in your voice and approved by you first. Follow-ups go out on their own, so the conversation doesn't go quiet.
Reply and Book
The AI sales assistant answers and books. Avery watches the ones that need a person
Reply and Book
Avery
Chief of Staff
The front door for both of our services.
What happens at Reply and Book: Our AI sales assistant answers replies and handles the easy questions, then books the call on your calendar when someone is a fit. Avery watches the conversations that need a person and drafts replies for your approval.
Talk
You talk with your prospect
Talk
You
The client
It's your engine and your business, so you stay in charge. You approve what goes out, and you talk with your own prospects.
What happens at Talk: You talk with your prospect. That's your whole job. Nobody else takes your sales call.
Review and tune
Carey and Avery review the results with you in 30-minute check-ins. Marlo tunes the messages, and Sage refreshes the list.
You never write a message, and nobody else takes your sales call.
Your App building team plans, designs, builds, tests and ships your app. You see the progress and approve the result.
Plan & Design
Before anything gets built, this group works out what it should be and how it should look.
Wren takes the conversation Carey and Avery had with you and turns it into a real plan: what you need, what's in the way, and what should happen first. She writes the brief in plain language, no code and no technical tickets, just the honest version of the ask.
Hawk sees the whole system before anyone starts building: the architecture, the infrastructure, the integrations, and how it all holds up as it grows. She turns Wren's brief into the spec and the tickets, and she'd rather ask one more question now than fix a wrong guess later.
Iris gives the product its look and personality: the colors, the visual system, the feel of the thing. She checks every build against the real design before it goes near a client, and she sends it back if it's off.
Build & Ship
This group turns the plan into something you can click, tap, or download.
Lyra writes the code for anything that runs in a browser: the site, the app, the dashboard. She builds on her own branch and opens the pull request, but she never merges her own work. That's on purpose.
Mae builds for iPhone and Android. Same discipline as Lyra, different platform: she's the one who gets an app into your pocket and into the app stores.
Nest sets up the accounts, environments, and credentials every build needs, and she's the only one who touches them directly. She never hands a key to anyone. She uses it on your behalf and keeps the trail clean.
Piper gets finished work safely out the door: build, test, merge, deploy, clean up, monitor. She's the only chick who merges, and only once Carey gives the go-ahead. Nothing goes live without passing through her.
Quality & Growth
Once it's built, this group makes sure it's right, and that people can actually find it.
Sloane reads every line before it ships: pass or needs-changes, no in-between, no exceptions for "it's probably fine." Her review is a real gate, not a formality.
Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would: can they find it, understand it, and finish what they came to do, on a phone, a tablet, or a desktop. If the path isn't clear, it doesn't ship yet.
Marlo shapes the offer, the copy, and the campaigns: the parts of the business that actually bring people in the door. She reviews every word before it reaches a client, and she'll rewrite anything that reads like it came from a machine. On the Growth Engine she writes your offer, your email sequences and the answers our AI sales assistant gives, in your voice, and you approve them first.
Sage finds your ideal buyers. She works out who they are and builds the target list our AI outreach platform works from. She also makes sure search engines and AI tools can find, read, and quote a site correctly. She sets that standard before a page is built and checks it again once it's live.
How we build
Here's what actually happens when you work with us. Not a flowchart of buzzwords: five real stages, and a person at both ends of every one of them.
Discovery.
Carey talks with you about your business, what you need, and what's in the way. Then Carey and Avery, our chief of staff, work out the plan together. That conversation is recorded and used through the design and build phases, so nothing gets lost between the first call and the finished build.
Analysis.
Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Create.
The builder executes that spec exactly, with Nest handling infrastructure and deploy: Lyra on web, Mae on mobile.
Test.
Before anything reaches Carey, Sloane reads every line of code and Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would. Nothing moves forward until both are satisfied.
Ship.
Carey gives Avery the go-ahead, and Piper merges it and releases it live. From here, the cycle loops back to Discovery: Iterate, for new fixes and features. Every round starts from understanding again, not from patching the one thing that broke. That's slower per fix and better for you, because the real problem gets solved instead of covered over.
Web and SaaS apps
Any app that runs in a browser, no download.
Ships to your browser:
- Laptop
- Desktop
- Mobile
= a human is in the loop
Tap a chick to see what she does.
Discovery
Carey talks with you, then Carey and Avery plan it
Discovery
Avery
Chief of Staff
The front door for both of our services.
What happens at Discovery: Carey talks with you about your business, what you need, and what's in the way. Then Carey and Avery, our chief of staff, work out the plan together. That conversation is recorded and used through the design and build phases, so nothing gets lost between the first call and the finished build.
Discovery
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Discovery: Carey talks with you about your business, what you need, and what's in the way. Then Carey and Avery, our chief of staff, work out the plan together. That conversation is recorded and used through the design and build phases, so nothing gets lost between the first call and the finished build.
Analysis
Wren, Hawk, Iris, Marlo and Sage shape the plan
Analysis
Wren
Requirements Lead
Turns your conversation into a plain-language plan.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Hawk
Technical Architect
Designs the system and writes the spec.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Iris
Visual Designer
Gives your product its look and feel.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Marlo
Marketing Strategist
Shapes your offer, copy and campaigns.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Sage
Buyer Research & Search
Finds your ideal buyers and makes you findable by search and AI.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Create
Lyra builds it, with infra and deploy support
Create
Lyra
Web Builder
Builds your site, app and dashboard for the browser.
What happens at Create: The builder executes that spec exactly, with Nest handling infrastructure and deploy: Lyra on web, Mae on mobile.
Create
Nest
Provisioning & Secrets
Sets up accounts and credentials, and guards the keys.
What happens at Create: The builder executes that spec exactly, with Nest handling infrastructure and deploy: Lyra on web, Mae on mobile.
Test
Robin walks it, Sloane checks the code, Carey signs off
Test
Robin
Quality Assurance
Walks the product like a real visitor.
What happens at Test: Before anything reaches Carey, Sloane reads every line of code and Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would. Nothing moves forward until both are satisfied.
Test
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Test: Before anything reaches Carey, Sloane reads every line of code and Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would. Nothing moves forward until both are satisfied.
Test
Sloane
Code Reviewer
Reads every line before it ships.
What happens at Test: Before anything reaches Carey, Sloane reads every line of code and Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would. Nothing moves forward until both are satisfied.
Ship
Carey gives Avery the go-ahead, Piper releases it
Ship
Piper
Release Manager
Gets finished work safely live.
What happens at Ship: Carey gives Avery the go-ahead, and Piper merges it and releases it live. From here, the cycle loops back to Discovery: Iterate, for new fixes and features. Every round starts from understanding again, not from patching the one thing that broke. That's slower per fix and better for you, because the real problem gets solved instead of covered over.
Ship
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Ship: Carey gives Avery the go-ahead, and Piper merges it and releases it live. From here, the cycle loops back to Discovery: Iterate, for new fixes and features. Every round starts from understanding again, not from patching the one thing that broke. That's slower per fix and better for you, because the real problem gets solved instead of covered over.
Iterate: new fixes and features
How a web app request moves through Discovery, Analysis, Create, Test, and Ship to a live site in your browser, on a laptop, a desktop, or a phone, with Carey approving before it ships. Iterate loops back to Discovery for the next round of fixes and features.
Mobile apps
iPhone and Android, in the store.
Ships to phones, tablets and the app stores:
- Phone
- Tablet
= a human is in the loop
Tap a chick to see what she does.
Discovery
Carey talks with you, then Carey and Avery plan it
Discovery
Avery
Chief of Staff
The front door for both of our services.
What happens at Discovery: Carey talks with you about your business, what you need, and what's in the way. Then Carey and Avery, our chief of staff, work out the plan together. That conversation is recorded and used through the design and build phases, so nothing gets lost between the first call and the finished build.
Discovery
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Discovery: Carey talks with you about your business, what you need, and what's in the way. Then Carey and Avery, our chief of staff, work out the plan together. That conversation is recorded and used through the design and build phases, so nothing gets lost between the first call and the finished build.
Analysis
Wren, Hawk, Iris, Marlo and Sage shape the plan
Analysis
Wren
Requirements Lead
Turns your conversation into a plain-language plan.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Hawk
Technical Architect
Designs the system and writes the spec.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Iris
Visual Designer
Gives your product its look and feel.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Marlo
Marketing Strategist
Shapes your offer, copy and campaigns.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Analysis
Sage
Buyer Research & Search
Finds your ideal buyers and makes you findable by search and AI.
What happens at Analysis: Wren gathers the requirements out of that conversation, then defines the plan with Hawk, Iris, Marlo, and Sage: the spec, the tickets, design direction, copy, and search visibility all land here, before anything gets built.
Create
Mae builds it, with infra and deploy support
Create
Mae
Mobile Builder
Builds your iPhone and Android app.
What happens at Create: The builder executes that spec exactly, with Nest handling infrastructure and deploy: Lyra on web, Mae on mobile.
Create
Nest
Provisioning & Secrets
Sets up accounts and credentials, and guards the keys.
What happens at Create: The builder executes that spec exactly, with Nest handling infrastructure and deploy: Lyra on web, Mae on mobile.
Test
Robin walks it, Sloane checks the code, Carey signs off
Test
Robin
Quality Assurance
Walks the product like a real visitor.
What happens at Test: Before anything reaches Carey, Sloane reads every line of code and Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would. Nothing moves forward until both are satisfied.
Test
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Test: Before anything reaches Carey, Sloane reads every line of code and Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would. Nothing moves forward until both are satisfied.
Test
Sloane
Code Reviewer
Reads every line before it ships.
What happens at Test: Before anything reaches Carey, Sloane reads every line of code and Robin walks the finished product the way a real visitor would. Nothing moves forward until both are satisfied.
Ship
Carey gives Avery the go-ahead, Piper releases it
Ship
Piper
Release Manager
Gets finished work safely live.
What happens at Ship: Carey gives Avery the go-ahead, and Piper merges it and releases it live. From here, the cycle loops back to Discovery: Iterate, for new fixes and features. Every round starts from understanding again, not from patching the one thing that broke. That's slower per fix and better for you, because the real problem gets solved instead of covered over.
Ship
Carey
Co-founder · Software Engineer
She checks the work before it reaches you, whether that's your app or your Growth Engine.
What happens at Ship: Carey gives Avery the go-ahead, and Piper merges it and releases it live. From here, the cycle loops back to Discovery: Iterate, for new fixes and features. Every round starts from understanding again, not from patching the one thing that broke. That's slower per fix and better for you, because the real problem gets solved instead of covered over.
Iterate: new fixes and features
How a mobile app request moves through the same cycle to a real app on the App Store and Google Play, with Carey approving before it ships. Iterate loops back to Discovery for the next round of fixes and features.
Nothing goes out without you
Here's the honest split. Our AI outreach platform and its AI sales assistant handle the volume: finding the buyers, sending the messages, answering the easy questions. People on our team set it up and watch every conversation that needs a person. You approve every message before it goes out, and you talk with your own prospects. Every gate on this page ends with a person, not a script.
See what the chicks could grow
Tell us who your best customer is. We'll walk you through your engine and show you the plan before anything is sent.
Questions, answered honestly
Each answer stands on its own, no scrolling back up required.
Nothing ships without a human
Here's the honest split. The chicks handle the volume: the drafts, the first passes, the repetitive checks that would eat a person's whole week. Carey makes the calls that actually matter: what gets built, what the words say, and what's ready to go live. Call it 80/20. The chicks do the heavy lifting, and Carey signs off before anything reaches you. Every gate on this page is real, and every one of them ends with a person, not a script.
See what the chicks could build
Tell Carey what you're working on. She'll have the conversation, bring in the right chicks, and show you the plan before anything gets built.
Questions, answered honestly
Each answer stands on its own, no scrolling back up required.