Using AI as a Thinking Partner in Your Balloon Business
I’ll be the first to admit it: for a long time, I used AI like a smarter version of Google. Proofread this. Write me a caption. Fix this sentence. And while that’s helpful, it barely scratches the surface of what AI can actually do for a balloon business.
In episode 394 of The Bright Balloon Podcast, I sat down with Emily from Utah Balloon Creations to talk about using AI in a way that’s practical, grounded and actually supportive (not overwhelming or gimmicky). And what became clear really quickly is this: the biggest shift isn’t the tool itself. It’s how you think about using it.
Stop Treating AI Like a Magic Button
Emily put words to something I’ve felt for a while. When you treat AI like a one-click solution — dump everything in, expect a perfect answer out — you’re almost guaranteed to be disappointed. That’s not how it works, and honestly, that’s not how people work either.
Instead, she treats AI like a low-cost operations assistant. You give it context. You explain your situation. You ask one question at a time. And then you have a conversation.
That mindset alone changes everything.
Where AI Actually Saves Time
One of the most useful ways Emily uses AI is for structure. When ideas feel messy, when there’s too much in her head, or when a decision feels emotionally loaded, she uses AI to organize and reflect things back to her.
Not to decide for her, but to help her see blind spots, patterns and trade-offs more clearly. I loved how she described it as a sounding board. Sometimes it tells you what you already know, but hearing it reframed without emotion can be incredibly clarifying.
Pricing Without the Emotional Spiral
We also talked a lot about pricing... specifically how hard it is to remove emotion from it. Emily uses AI to pressure-test pricing decisions, not by asking “what should I charge?” but by explaining her reasoning and asking whether it holds up.
In one example, she nearly underpriced a large specialty install by half. AI helped her account for labor, creative effort, responsibility and perceived value — things that are easy to minimize when you’re too close to the work. The result? She charged more, the client said yes, and she walked away confident instead of resentful.
Ask for Thinking, Not Just Output
One of my favorite takeaways from this conversation was a simple shift: ask AI to explain its reasoning.
Instead of “write an email,” ask for multiple options and why it chose each approach. Push back. Ask “why.” Play devil’s advocate. That’s where clarity happens.
Don’t Get Lost in the Ideas
AI will always have more ideas. Always! And that can be just as dangerous as having none at all.
Emily’s rule (which I’m actively trying to adopt) is this: solve the problem you came in for, then leave. Ideas are useless if they never get implemented, and AI makes it very easy to wander off into 10 new projects you didn’t mean to start.
At the end of the day, AI isn’t here to replace your judgment. It’s here to support better thinking.
And used that way, it’s one of the most helpful tools we have.
You can listen to the full episode to hear all of Emily’s real-world examples and tips for using AI without the overwhelm.
