How a $2,400 Repair Bill Led to an AI Wellness Platform
People ask me how an auto repair shop owner ended up building an AI wellness platform. The honest answer is: I watched the same story play out hundreds of times.
A customer comes in. The diagnosis is bad — $2,400 for a transmission repair. They stare at the estimate. They do the math in their head. They can't afford it. They need the car to get to work. Without work, they can't pay rent. Without rent... the spiral starts.
I've seen single parents cry in my waiting room. I've seen grown men sit in silence, trying to figure out how to tell their family. I've seen people choose between fixing their car and buying groceries.
That's not a car problem. That's a life problem.
The Stranded Motorist Fund
The first thing we did was start donating. Adam & Son Auto Repair donates 5% of every repair to charity through ShopGiv. That felt good. It wasn't enough.
So we created the Stranded Motorist Fund — a charity specifically for people stranded by car repair bills they can't afford. We help with the repair. We help them get back on the road. We help them keep their job.
But even that wasn't enough. Because the repair bill was usually just the latest crisis in a long line of crises. The employee who can't afford a $2,400 repair also can't afford an emergency. They're living paycheck to paycheck. They're stressed about money every single day. That stress affects their health, their relationships, their work, their decision to stay at their job or leave.
The realization
One day I was talking to an employer — a local company whose employees had been coming to our shop. The employer had an Employee Assistance Program. An 800-number. "We offer mental health support," they said.
I asked: "How many of your employees have used it?"
They didn't know. Turns out the answer was about 4%. Four out of a hundred employees had ever called the number. The other 96 were dealing with their car repairs, their financial stress, their health issues, their career frustrations — alone.
That's when it clicked. The problem isn't that employers don't care. The problem is that the tools they have don't work. An 800-number that nobody calls doesn't help the employee sitting in my waiting room.
Building something different
What if an employee could pull out their phone at 2 AM — when they're lying awake stressed about that repair bill — and talk to someone? Not a stranger on a hotline. An AI coach that knows their financial situation, their health goals, their career aspirations. A coach that remembers every conversation. A coach that's actually helpful, not generic.
What if that same platform could review their repair estimate — give them an honest, unbiased second opinion from a certified technician who has no connection to the shop?
What if, when the repair bill is genuinely unaffordable, there's a hardship fund ready to help — funded not by the employer's budget, but by the charitable donations generated every time a ShopGiv customer shops at a participating business?
What if all of this was in an app the employee already has on their phone?
That's ShopGiv Wellbeing.
What it is today
Six AI coaches — health, financial, mental wellness, career, travel, and language learning — available 24/7 on your phone. An Expert Reviewer that gives certified, conflict-free second opinions on auto repair estimates. An Employee Care Fund for genuine hardship emergencies. Daily check-ins, Weekly Roasts, wellness partners, community clubs.
All of it started because I watched people struggle in my waiting room and thought: there has to be a better way.
What hasn't changed
Adam & Son Auto Repair is still an auto repair shop. We still fix cars. We still donate 5% of every repair. We're still in Colorado Springs, still serving the same community.
The difference is that now, when a customer sits in my waiting room with a scary estimate, I can say: "Ask your employer about ShopGiv Wellbeing. You don't have to figure this out alone."
Some of them already have it on their phone.
[Learn about ShopGiv: shopgiv.com →] [Learn about ShopGiv Wellbeing: shopgiv.com/employee-benefits →] [Get a repair estimate reviewed: strandedmotoristfund.org →]
Dan Adam is the owner of Adam & Son Auto Repair and the CEO of AiN Collective, the parent company of ShopGiv, the Stranded Motorist Fund, and ShopGiv Wellbeing. He lives in Colorado Springs with his family.