The counselor at the only college that offered him any financial aid tells him the school does not have an advertising program. The college does have marketing, however, and advertising as part of that program. "Part of that program" turns out to be one class.

There's a kid trying to work his way through college. He's working and going to school full-time. Somehow he has managed to cram all of his classes into his two days off from work each week. It's a lot but not impossible. He continues to earn his degree and work. He's building something. He doesn't know what it is yet but he stays his path until graduation day. The next step is finding a job in his field. "In his field", that sounds so exciting! He has a field!

Every single company that's hiring is looking for outside sales reps. An outside sales rep essentially walks door-to-door in the city selling office supplies. Where is the advertising!? Where are the storyboards!? Where is the art!? Did he throw away the last several years with nothing to show for it!?

With his tail between his legs he keeps going to work at his retail job that's now paying him more than any entry level position is offering. He's stuck. With bills to pay and a new family in the works he's trapped. Life gets in the way and he starts to settle. Although he has a job, it's never good enough. It's not what he wanted for himself and definitely not what he wants for his kids. He moves around between a few more retail management jobs for a bit more money here and there but no more reward.

Eventually he buys his first house and starts working on renovating it. Aside from beloved childhood memories of working with tools on small house repairs and pinewood derbies with his grandfather, who was a carpenter and Navy Sea Bee, he has little knowledge of proper construction methods and relies on reading the directions to guide him. Upon finding him fighting his way through installing a laminate floor, so his family can stop living on plywood, his father-in-law mentions to him that he seems to have a knack for flooring and asks if he ever considered doing it professionally. This sparks a fire in our retail working college graduate and he embarks on a new path—a path more suited for the life he wanted from the beginning.

He starts small, reading the directions on everything, and with the very limited tool collection he's begun to acquire, he starts taking on small jobs. He's obsessive about reading the directions and leaving his customers with something they're happy with. With every job completed he finds himself with another job from the neighbor who asked for a business card and one new tool that he buys to make the next job easier.

In his ongoing quest for knowledge he stumbles on an organization called the International Certified Flooring Installers Association (CFI) and has his eyes opened to an entire industry of like-minded people. From this point on he starts to not only build his reputation in his local market, he begins to build a brand.

He is me. I am that obsessive creative artistic college graduate. I didn't have the luxury of learning from a more experienced installer on the jobsite. I didn't apprentice under anyone in the union. Most of all, I wasn't handed anything. I had to work for it all with a few lucky breaks thanks to those people I've met throughout my journey thus far. Sometimes I wonder how much further I'd be in my ongoing quest for knowledge of the trade if I had something a little more fine-tuned than wandering aimlessly around the internet or calling outdated tech lines that may or may not have the information I was looking for, something that kept up with both the industry as a whole and technology.

That's exactly where Ballin Knows Best comes in. While I'm personally happy to answer every call, direct message, text, or email from any installer with a question, this new chatbot, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), will allow us to help exponentially more installers in much less time, with much more accuracy than I can ever achieve on my own.

Ballin Knows Best is AI tech for the flooring and tile industry based on ChatGPT and Jasper, two different AI platforms. Our team of programmers are in different parts of the world which allows the program to be optimized three times each day at integral times. A website, mobile app, and text number will allow installers to have questions answered quickly right from the jobsite without having to wander blindly through search engines that may or may not have the information they're looking for.

My partner on the project is Jason Potts, a flooring installer, military veteran, tech guru, and founder of Flooring Gurus, LLC. Together we've developed a game changer for flooring installers. No more countless hours wasted on internet browsing for solutions. Ballin Knows Best offers a seamless interface for flooring installers to ask questions and get instant solutions. The chatbot can adapt and grow with industry trends. It isn't just a question answering platform. It learns, adapts, and connects installers to industry professionals. This all-in-one resource offers a searchable database of past questions and answers along with videos and tutorials.

Ballin Knows Best is a collaborative environment that will feature an online forum. Ballin Knows Best will allow flooring professionals to connect, share tips, and discuss projects. It will continually evolve to meet industry needs. The website and text line are live now, and the app will be available soon for free on Android and iOS.