How a Joke Turned Into an AI Agency at 18

A year ago, if you told me I'd be running an AI consulting agency, I would've laughed. And honestly, that's kind of how it started.

It Started as a Joke

My friend Anthony and I were messing around one day, filming a video about me "starting an AI agency." It wasn't serious. It was just content. We were having fun with the idea, talking big, throwing out ideas about what it could look like. We posted it and moved on.

But something about it stuck with me. That video planted a seed I couldn't shake. I kept thinking about it. What if it wasn't a joke? What if I actually did this?

The Real Beginning

That question led me to my co-founder Rhett. We'd been close, and when I brought the idea to him, he didn't hesitate. We were both all in from day one.

The first thing we did was invest in ourselves. We enrolled in a paid automation agency course and spent two months going through everything. We learned the foundations. The frameworks. The terminology. How the space worked and where the opportunities were. It gave us a base to build from, and I'm grateful for that.

But here's the thing nobody tells you about courses: they only take you so far.

Building Taught Us Everything

The real education started when we stopped learning and started doing. Once we got our hands dirty and actually began building for real clients and real problems, we learned more in a few weeks than we did in two months of coursework.

That's not a knock on the course. It gave us the language and the confidence to get started. But there's a difference between studying the game and playing it. We were playing it now, and every single day was a lesson.

We made mistakes. We hit walls. There were nights where we were troubleshooting until 2 AM trying to figure out why something wasn't working. But every problem we solved made us sharper. Every client conversation made us better. Every failed attempt taught us what not to do next time.

That period shaped us more than anything else.

Going All In

A few months in, we had a decision to make. We could keep doing what we were doing, taking on projects here and there, playing it safe. Or we could go all in.

We chose all in.

We looked at each other and said, "We're not half-doing this. If we're going to build something real, we need to commit fully." That meant longer hours, harder conversations, and way more pressure. But it also meant we were finally building with intention instead of just experimenting.

That shift changed everything.

Building Our Own Software

Once we committed, we realized something important. The tools we were using were fine, but they weren't ours. If we really wanted to stand out and deliver something different, we needed to build our own custom software.

So that's what we did.

For two months straight, Rhett and I went heads down building. Designing, developing, testing, breaking things, fixing things, then breaking them again. It was the hardest stretch of the entire journey. But when we finally deployed our software, it was one of the most rewarding moments I've ever experienced.

We built something from nothing. Something that actually worked. Something clients could use.

Where We Are Now

Today, AUSH AI is a real company. We work with clients on custom AI configurations tailored to their specific business needs. We're still selling and improving our software every single day. Every week it gets better. Every client teaches us something new.

I'm 18 years old. I don't have a degree. I don't come from a tech background. I started this whole thing because of a joke video with a friend.

But that joke turned into a vision. That vision turned into a commitment. And that commitment turned into something I wake up every morning grateful to be building.

What I've Learned So Far

If there's anything I want you to take away from this, it's that you don't need to have it all figured out to start. I definitely didn't. I just had an idea that wouldn't leave me alone and a co-founder who believed in it as much as I did.

The course helped, but building is what made us who we are. Going all in is what separated us from everyone else talking about doing it. And creating our own software is what gave us something truly ours.

You're never too young. You're never too inexperienced. You're never too early. The only thing that's too late is never starting at all.

This is just the beginning. Thanks for being here.