For many Americans, building wealth feels like trying to assemble a puzzle without the picture on the box. Taxes, insurance, estate planning, business systems, and artificial intelligence often seem like separate conversations. Adriane Mayes and Enyka Gaines believe they belong together.
The Detroit entrepreneurs, educators, and co-authors of Building Wealth and Legacy With AI: A Financial Memoir & Toolkit have launched a movement that combines practical financial education with responsible AI tools to help families make smarter decisions.
Together, they bring more than 60 years of combined experience spanning tax preparation, accounting, mortgages, insurance, entrepreneurship, nonprofit leadership, financial education, and community outreach. Their mission is straightforward: simplify complex financial systems so everyday people can build lasting wealth.
“We’re not trying to create financial experts overnight,” says Adriane Mayes, an AI Wealth Strategist. “We’re helping people understand what they already have, identify what’s missing, and take one practical step at a time.”
That philosophy is reflected in one of the movement’s signature messages:
Find the Leak. Fix the Plan. Build the Legacy.
For Enyka Gaines, a Wealth Strategist with three decades of tax expertise, the work is deeply personal.
Her journey began with a one-way bus ticket, five cents in her pocket, and a determination to earn a college education. That experience shaped her belief that opportunity often begins with access to information.
“Many families aren’t failing because they don’t work hard,” Gaines says. “They’re missing information that should have been available long ago.”
Mayes’ story also reflects resilience. After overcoming business setbacks, financial challenges, and personal adversity, she rebuilt her career through faith, education, better systems, and emerging technology. Rather than allowing those experiences to define her, she transformed them into lessons that now help others avoid similar mistakes.
Instead of overwhelming clients with financial jargon, the pair uses analogies, checklists, AI tools, and step-by-step guidance that make complicated subjects understandable.
Their framework centers around five areas they believe influence every person’s future:
- Family
- Faith
- Fears
- Finance
- Fitness
Each area contributes to long-term stability and legacy planning.
Artificial intelligence has become another important piece of their work. Rather than replacing financial professionals, Mayes and Gaines teach AI as a practical assistant that can help entrepreneurs organize information, improve business systems, streamline workflows, and better understand financial concepts.
“AI should make your life clearer, not more confusing,” Mayes explains. “It’s a tool that helps people make informed decisions, not decisions for them.”
Their educational platform also includes the 30-Day Legacy Challenge, encouraging participants to choose one area of focus and complete one meaningful action each day.
Participants can concentrate on:
- Money
- Taxes
- Business Systems
- Insurance
- Estate Planning
- Apps & AI
The goal isn’t perfection.
It’s momentum.
That practical mindset has resonated with entrepreneurs, caregivers, families, and first-generation wealth builders who often feel intimidated by financial conversations.
Looking ahead, Mayes and Gaines envision Building Wealth and Legacy With AI expanding into a national and eventually global educational movement through books, workshops, digital resources, partnerships, and their growing AI Legacy Builders Circle community.
Their message remains refreshingly simple.
Building wealth is not reserved for wealthy people.
Legacy is built one decision at a time.
To learn more about Building Wealth and Legacy With AI, join the AI Legacy Builders Circle, or participate in the 30-Day Legacy Challenge, visit tinyurl.com/ailegacycircle.