Episode 273 - Learning from Mistakes and Building Stronger Businesses With Tara Topel

0:02Hey folks, David here, and I'd like to thank you for joining us for the Changing the Industry podcast. Lucas and I started this podcast with the goal of capturing the frank and open conversations you typically have at industry events. Those conversations cover the challenges we face in our business and lives, as well as difficult repairs, new products and services, and everything in between.

0:26We hoped that these recordings would spur our listeners to enact the change they'd like to see in their own lives and businesses. That's also why we've partnered with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. My first management class was with Cecil Bullard, and his genuine passion for helping others in an honest and ethical manner permeates his entire organization. And if you need some of the Institute's help, they have a special offer for our listeners.

1:00Click the link in the show notes and get signed up for a free business analysis. They'll go over your current situation and give you advice on your next steps. And they have everything from free resources and online classes to peer groups, one-on-one coaching, and specific help for MSOs. So don't miss out on this great offer. Click the link in the show notes.

1:26And now on to the podcast. A lesson that you've learned and how you would do things differently going forward. Oh, let me tell you, oh, I have so many of those. And, and you know what, here's my thing, here's my big thing right now, is, is it is all of the lessons that other people have enacted, right? Like, they've made the messes, and now I'm learning from their decisions.

1:55I didn't even get to make half the decisions, and I'm learning from them. Ultimately, it's about you, the shop owner, Lucas. The shop owner is the problem. That's, that's what you say. I don't disagree at all, because ultimately, you know, coaching company that says that. Yeah. The owner fixed the shop, something like that. Yeah, I mean, I could see that. Did you steal it from them?

2:20No, I stole it from Lucas. I just saw Lucas's like TikTok or whatever the other day that said like, you are like the shop owner is— we are the problem. You watch Lucas's TikToks for like 3 seconds? Yeah, as long as you get the first 3 seconds, it's worth it to watch, so I'm good. It's really all I— and he gets the— he gets the revenue.

2:41After 3 seconds. I know. Like, I just comment back to these technicians that are like commenting and they don't really have a full understanding of what they're saying. They think they do, but they don't truly understand. And you can't, like, it doesn't matter what you say to them. They're convinced that you're wrong no matter what you say. And that's just social media as a whole, but technicians seem to be a little bit worse.

3:03And so it turns into this big circle where they just like go around and around and like, it's really just me making laughy emojis. And then they come in and it just goes in this like 30-minute circle. That's not true. He types it out. And he doesn't really type it out. He says, hey AI, uh, respond the way I would respond. And then AI spits out this text he copies and pastes.

3:24That's what he does. So everybody that's getting upset at Lucas is getting mad at his AI because he doesn't type anything ever. Did you know that 20% of Americans are functionally illiterate? No, I, I can— half of them can't read past a, uh, 6th grade level. Okay, that's what you're arguing. Did you start recording? You started like 15 minutes ago. Your, your AI is arguing with functionally illiterate people.

3:53That's what I'm telling you. That's like— and it's, it's beautiful. It's beautiful, David. It is so beautiful. It is. Is it? Yeah, it is. It, it really Wakes me up in the morning. Watching your AI argue back and forth with people who can't read or write? Yeah, it's, uh, because I don't have to type it out, man. It's like so much faster.

4:14I, okay, I just, I just want to share something. I want to know whether the AI can capture the nuance that, that I would provide the snark. Yes, it would capture your snark in a heartbeat. As a matter of fact, it already does. Because you dump everything you say into AI. So I have a David bot. And, um, you just don't know about it.

4:32I, I just, I'm just telling you, just, I don't think I've put out enough content out there that it would pick up on the, the subtlety. He just put in like, respond like Beavis and Butt-Head, or like, exactly, exactly. That's called experience. I'm okay with it. Special spice to the snort. You know, it's, it's got to be— David's thing is, is he has to say it in such a way that they feel like they're winning.

5:03But David really knows, to anybody that has any intelligence at all, they look like a moron. And that is just the way that David— No, no, I'm, I'm, I'm not that sophisticated. I'm saying that I don't have to do anything. I just have to let them talk. And because they are functionally illiterate, they just, uh, expose themselves. I had somebody that came back with me, came back at me with a comment saying that I didn't know how to use then or than, which was not true because I used then incorrectly, or correct, completely correctly, and they had misunderstood it.

5:39So I rewrote the sentence for them and said, hey, I found out today that 20% of Americans are functionally illiterate. You seem to be one of them. Let me rewrite this for you. And then I wrote Then it is worse. Then, comma, it is worse. See, the same sentence as what I had written before. I used it correctly. You're a moron. Um, I didn't write the rest of that out.

6:03I just, I just told them. And turns out nobody can read or write. Well, 20%. No, 54%, half cannot read past 6th grade level. So. You write something for a 7th grader, they're completely incapable of understanding it. So I am convinced it's getting worse. Right. So like the, yes, you know what's making it worse? Lucas AI is making it worse. AI is ruining the people that can read or write are giving it, giving up on it completely because they don't have to anymore.

6:39AI will turn it into a TikTok, TikTok dance for them. And, uh, do all the writing for them so they don't have to do anything now at all. An article the other day that less than 1% of Americans can read or write cursive. That could be right. 1%. 1%. Like, I mean, it's all the elderly population at this point. I mean, you're getting into that.

7:04Are you calling me elderly? No, I'm just saying, David, you— can you not Is it? So it's all the boomers, they've died, and now it's us. Everybody's dead, yeah. Gen X is the last generation that can read cursive. I just want to point out that C.S. Lewis was written for children, and children now cannot read or understand C.S. Lewis. Yeah. I still remember my grandmother, like, lecturing me about being able to do a signature on a check consistently and repeatedly in the same way, right?

7:40I remember that. And, and now, I mean, most kids don't even know what a check is, right? It's unbelievable. I mean, that was when I was 8 or 9, you know. I, uh, I had this little bit of an epiphany earlier, and, and it has nothing to do with automotive. I guess it kind of does have to do with— I'm like, when do we talk about cars?

7:58But this is cool. No, we don't talk about cars. Okay. Um, so my like my family's always had timeshares, right? Like, and they're like right down the street, their staycation kind of deal. But long story short, I have found it very interesting because I realized that my parents did things for me when I was younger. Like, they wanted to go on vacations, they wanted to go see museums, they wanted to go do things.

8:24And now that I'm a parent and my kids are getting a little bit older, I realize that all those times— Lucas and I have been telling you about PartsTech for a while now. And how it gives you access to unlimited parts and tire vendors and direct integration with over 35 shop management systems. And now they've just launched a new referral program. All you have to do is open your PartzTech account, go to my shop, and click on the rewards tab.

8:50There you'll find your referral URL, which you can share via email, text message, or on your social media. If your referral signs up for a new account and places 5 orders in the first 30 days, PartsTech will send you a $100 gift card. That's it. Nothing else is needed. Your referrals can get you $100 just for using PartsTech, which by the way is absolutely free to get started with.

9:15So if you're using PartsTech already, start sharing that referral link. And if you haven't signed up for PartsTech yet, what are you waiting for? Click on the link in the description or go to partstech.com/podcast. That's partstech.com/podcast. Hey, one more thing. If you find out that your shop management system doesn't integrate with PartsTech, it's time to upgrade. David and I use what we believe to be the very best system on the market, Shopware.

9:44With unmatched features like Parts GP Optimizer and DVX, which is their digital vehicle experience, Shopware really is way more than just a shop management software. With it, you'll be able to create an immersive and interactive experience for your client. Setting you apart from everyone else using run-of-the-mill software. Are you ready to upgrade? Click the link in the show notes to get started.

10:03Thought it was all about me. It was really about them. It was, it was that they wanted to spend time with me, right? And I wanted to be here, like, engage. I had this fear of missing out thing with the family business. I really enjoyed, like, being around the stuff and didn't want things to change without me seeing them change. But, but, you know, I think that in some ways because I'm, I'm up here, I'm trying to go swimming with my family and, and do family stuff this week and spend more time with them doing some fun stuff.

10:31I mean, I think that as a parent you get to this point that you see them growing up and you're losing grasp on that, and they're like developing so fast. And, and as business owners, like when we go to those places, I remember my parents, they didn't have cell phones at the time, right? When I was growing up, like if we went and we did something, they weren't thinking about the business or focused on the business because Nobody could call us and say anything about the business.

10:53They couldn't look up the financials for the business on their phone. They couldn't pull it up on a computer or a tablet. It just wasn't available at that point in time. And so I just think that business owners are at a disadvantage as parents right now, and they have to be more intentional about taking time with their families than they've ever had to be before if they don't want to just like look up and see their families disappear at some point, right?

11:16Like they're going to grow up without them. And like, David, I remember you talking about you had that one picture. And so I was actually sitting in the sauna a few minutes ago thinking about this. You were talking about the one picture you had where you remembered when that picture was taken. You were wholly focused on something that had gone wrong at the shop.

11:35And you look back now and you see it very differently, right? I just wonder if we're committing enough to the people that we're doing this for. Like, in my head, I've got this vision that one day I'm going to have the shop to this level. And one day I'm gonna have the family business to this level and it takes care of them.

11:51But like, life is happening now. It's not happening one day when it is successful and leaves them something. I, I think it's better to just have really big life insurance that goes into a trust and leave them something that way, you know? Like, this doesn't seem like it makes a lot of sense at this point. Here, try this: stop caring. That's a— that's an option.

12:17Yeah. Or what do you think of that? Stop caring? Yeah. Well, I mean, viable. I mean, to a certain degree, I think you have to control your own brain of who you're with and what you're doing, right? You have to be able to shut it off. Um, personally, I think that— I don't think— I think that EVs are like the Do you guys remember beta tapes?

12:41Lucas probably doesn't. I don't even know how old. So there used to be, before VHS tapes, there were these things called beta tapes. And people went out and bought beta players and they were, they were smaller. They're a little heavier, but then VHS technology came out. So anybody that had a beta tapes or the beta players, like crap, because VHS was far superior.

13:02So then VHS took off. I think that. EVs are like the beta tape and that I really do think flying car technology is not that far out. Like it's already happening. I mean, there's already flying taxis, there's already flying cars. So I'm kind of like giving up my secret, my crazy secret. But I also remember back in the day when somebody said like everybody would have a cell phone and people wouldn't have house phones anymore and everybody's like, that's crazy.

13:29So I can be the crazy, but I really think like you're spending all this time thinking like, I want this shop to be there in the future. I really don't think people are going to be like driving cars around as much. And the other thing is that a lot of these same kids that can't necessarily— that can't read cursive or that are using AI are also not driving.

13:52So there's that too. Kids aren't getting their licenses until way later. If they even do, they're using transit, they're finding other ways, they're moving to cities where they don't have to. So they don't want to drive. They don't have any interest in driving. And, and see, like, I grew up wanting to drive. I was driving at, you know, 10, 11, 12, 13, right?

14:10Like, I loved that. And, and my daughter now has no interest in it. My son's very different, but my daughter's like, man, I don't care. Like, I can get wherever I need to go. It doesn't matter. I don't need that. I'll Uber, you know? And, and like, that's a whole different mentality. And, and it is more convenient. And I, I sometimes I wonder what we trade for convenience.

14:29Like, you know, you, you look at an auto repair shop, you can charge a lot more than your competitor if you're more convenient. Like, just that one thing alone sets you apart. If you're more convenient, if you're faster, if you offer rides, if you offer loaner cars, if you do things to make it convenient, you pick up and deliver, and you maybe bring them a loaner car and you drop it off.

14:49Those are the things that really set things apart. And, and so I just wonder, like, are we trading our souls for convenience. Like, you think back 50 years— you're mistaking convenience for accessibility, possibly. But like, I'm saying convenience is an overall— I'm less convenient and more expensive. I'm only open 4 days a week. I don't let you wait, right? I try to make it as inconvenient as possible to I mean, like, do what you would do at, uh, what's convenient in auto repair, right?

15:25What's that? The consumer defines what's convenient in auto repair, not us. Like, that's what we're all searching for. No, I think there's, there's universal conveniences, like being open lots of hours, being open on the weekends. When I need you, you're available. That's convenient. It's convenient to have 50 locations because I can just go down the street. I don't have to drive 3 or 4 miles to get to the shop.

15:48Those are all conveniences, but that also makes you accessible. And I don't think you can charge extra for that because you're so accessible that you end up making yourself accessible to everybody, including people that shouldn't be able to afford a high-quality product or unwilling to pay for that, I should say. Affordability is relative. You can afford it. You can choose to buy an iPhone 17 Pro or have a well-repaired car.

16:22Sometimes you can't do both. Some people can do both, some, some cannot, but most people don't do that. They go, hey, you're unaffordable, but I'm walking around complaining about it on my $1,800 phone. Uh, I mean, I'm not going to disagree with you, right? And I, I think that their priorities may be a little mixed. And it, you know, is it possible that the priorities are so mixed because we've not suffered at all and we've like not had to deal and we're so used to like the world serving us in this way?

16:55Remember I was talking about the deal with the chick that, that went on the, the mission trip and she was talking about her like son and they said, don't drink any water. And she was saying, hey, we got somewhere, there was no water. And he was saying, mommy, I'm thirsty. And so like 4 hours later, they finally found clean water he could drink.

17:12And she said, that really created this world for me where I saw a whole different equation of the life that I have here. Is our life so convenient that it's spoiled us rotten and we don't even appreciate the basic nuances of being able to get up and go get breakfast somewhere? Or even just turn on a water faucet. Yeah. I question these mission trips.

17:35Why is it that these mission trips always take off to other countries? Have you ever been to East St. Louis? No, I would rather not. Where are the mission trips to East St. Louis? If you ever go to East St. Louis, they need a little Jesus down there. They need buildings built. They need running water and streets. They don't have any of that.

17:53East St. Louis is rough. It is America, but it is rough. It is about as rough as it gets. It is completely dilapidated. It is destroyed. It's Blight everywhere. Uh, people don't have— there are sections of that, that strip there where they've got blankets as doors. That's their doors. They have blankets. It's, it's ugly. It's really, really rough. No mission trips to that.

18:25Can't be bothered. We're going to go to Fiji instead. Our mission trips to Fiji. God called us to the Philippines. I'm sure. Yeah. Where it's nice and warm and tropical. That's where God called you. God didn't call you to East St. Louis in the middle of winter, go get shot at. I'm not gonna— I'm not gonna disagree with you. That's it. I mean, you're not wrong, but they're doing— they do mission trips to South Africa.

18:50You're gonna get shot down there too. Yeah, I mean, you get shot in Albuquerque, and like, safety is not guaranteed, right? Like, there's no such thing as safety. You could fall off the couch and die, right? Right. Like, you're not guaranteed safety. But it— there is an illusion of safety. There is an illusion that you are somehow deserving of safety and the government should protect you.

19:13But I mean, the government can't protect you, right? Like, they, they show up after it's happened. They don't show up when it's happening. They don't show up to defend you, right? That's not preventative. Yeah, I mean, I think that we have this false sense of security in this world today that, that's misleading at best. David's right though. I think that there definitely are— I mean, there's mission trips probably right in our own neighborhoods, you know.

19:40Yeah. So people don't pay attention to that. The point though is that you, uh, you, you turn it off by stop, stop caring. Put good people in place and then just leave it alone. Listen, listen, I have been forced into that situation. I did not choose that situation. Choose what situation? To put people in place and just walk away. Like, I had to get to the point that the people who are running the shop, I trusted them.

20:06I knew they were going to do what's right. I coach them through the problems we have and we do the best we can, but I can't babysit it. And that luxury was taken away. It was not optional. And so it, it was like, we talk about that a lot. We talk about preparing your life for the what if. And for, you know, not even just succession planning, but what happens if you can't work anymore?

20:30What happens? And, and all of these people who say, I'm just gonna go start my own business. It's like, great. Okay. Explain to me what that looks like. And they say, well, I'm gonna work by myself. I'm gonna this, and I'm gonna keep all the profits. It's like, right. But you have a job. You don't have a business. And what's the result of that if something happens to you?

20:46You can't take care of your family. Mm-hmm. So what do you have to do? You have to build amenities into that so you can. So, all right, I need short-term and long-term disability. I need key person insurance. I need business income loss. I need— by the time you pay for all that, now you're making the same amount of money as somebody who had a business would make with all the stress and all the frustration, right?

21:07Because you're, you're having to like, work much harder to get that small little glimmer of money. So I mean, I just, I don't think that business owners are well enough prepared for that environment and for that thing. And, and you know, you don't know the challenges you're gonna face until you have to face 'em. Right. But once you face those challenges, you look back and say, oh man, I was not as prepared as I should have been.

21:28I did not have things set up as well as I should have had them set up. This is actually super— financials for the shop worked because I made them work. And I, I would like, Okay, I don't really think the net profit on the P&L's right, and I don't think that's right, and I don't think that's right, but I can go in here and do this, and I know what the numbers are, and so I'm looking through the chart of accounts and I'm seeing the weird thing.

21:46Well, all of a sudden when I don't have the time and capacity to do that, guess what? Hey, Eric Joran, I need your help right now. I need you to handle this. I can't do it. And so I just see so many shops that are not prepared for the what if. It actually is what I was gonna end up talking to you guys about because it's, it, The— my, like, lesson or whatever was that we got to start a business without a business plan.

22:12We're in a very small town. We walked into the bank, we said we wanted to do these things, we needed money, and they were like, okay, here's your money. But nobody ever really made us stop and do this plan. So I think probably maybe like 5 years into business, I took a free, like, small business development center, you know, like business writing a business plan.

22:33It was the best thing that I've ever done. And like, they make you do a SWOT, you know, they make you like go through all of those things. It's like the what-ifs and the planning for it. But I think that so many, even of the questions you look at like ASOG or a lot of the people like asking questions, it's like, you have the answers, go figure it out for what it means for you because everybody's different.

22:56So, and honestly, like, as far as the whole plug is that that is what the Auto Care Association— so we just developed a new vehicle. We're finally getting into a good roll and here comes Lucas interrupting the episode. Folks, now you know exactly why I hire Shop Marketing Pros to do my shop marketing. It's that I am spastic and all over the place and I lack consistency.

23:19But here's the thing, that doesn't work in marketing. You see, marketing takes 30, 60, sometimes 90 days to be effective, and I was all over the place with my marketing. There was no consistency at all. Caused these waves in my business because I was so inconsistent. And that's why I am so happy to refer Shop Marketing Pros. They bring consistency. They are true professionals.

23:47I'm going to encourage you, go down to the link below and get your free digital marketing inspection. Just like we do digital vehicle evaluations for automobiles, they're doing the same thing about your marketing, and they will help you get your business turned around. Service Experts, um, so it was CCPN, now it's Vehicle Service Experts, and there's a hub on the website, and it's developed by a lot of really like high-level, really sharp shop owners Um, but there's a ton of information there and it's, it's a great resource, especially for people, um, trying to figure things out.

24:25But I think there's a lot of shops out there that are just like, they don't know who their market is. They don't know if they wanna be like, you know, the David's shop where he charges a lot and is able to, you know, limit the conveniences, whatever it might be. Um, but all that information is there and it actually just came out last week, Monday.

24:49Oh, nice. So I am really excited about what it is and would like to be able to get more feedback. Ultimately, it's just starting. So I really want to be able to have feedback from, um, what people think and, you know, if it works for them. As far as like all the industry data, it's all right there too, because the Auto Care Association has access to a ton of data as far as like making decisions for your business and how you want to write your, which is such a big part of writing a business plan.

25:18So, um, that's a big part of— let me ask this. Okay, so here's the deal, is like, I talk to a lot of shop owners, technicians, service advisors who don't know anything about ACA, right? And for a long time, I don't want to get myself in trouble. David didn't even know what ACA was, right? Well, I not only did I not know what it was, but like it didn't feel like it was for me, right?

25:43It felt like it was for manufacturers. It felt like it was for part people. It felt like it was for legislators. It felt like it was for people far above who I am, right? And I didn't feel a way to be engaged or involved or part of what they were doing. But like, it is kind of a big deal for our industry moving forward, and they are the most powerful association.

26:04Like, they're a, they're a very large association. They are very important to our industry. You recently got more and more involved, right, through this role. And, and we even had talks like, hey, I don't feel connected to this, is what I told you. I, I don't, I don't see how I'm relevant to what they're doing. And that helped me a lot because your feedback is what really helped to drive a lot of my direction and what we needed to do to understand how do we reach out to the shops and how do we represent?

26:36Because you're right, it was made up— I mean, it's made up of manufacturers, distribution, suppliers, you know, obviously there's media involved there, but it's all the people that are doing the things for us as shops, yet nobody's really reaching out or asking us what we think and need. So, this last week I was able to sit on the panel in Atlanta for Auto Care Connect and they asked us questions, things that they don't think about or consider when they're, you know, coming up with the cataloging and coming up with the information that we see, whether it's on PartsTech or, you know, when we're going through and it's like, how do you, how do you have

27:14these multimillion-dollar companies and develop products for people but not ask the people who are using them? Yeah, we've, we've actually had some interviews at Apex where we had like epiphanies on both sides. Right? The person we were interviewing and us, we were all like, wait a minute, you didn't know that? You didn't understand that? You didn't think about our perspective and we didn't think about your perspective?

27:37Maybe if we had some conversations about this. Because if you look, like, if you go into ASOG, if you go into changing the industry, there's a lot of complaints and concerns about things that they just don't understand or see. They never hear that. And, and my buddy David from Power Probe is a great example. Of that is like years ago we were having talks and he was like, oh, I didn't even think about that.

27:58Y'all didn't know about that. And so we, we can work together to help the company, right? Because the company can reach more people, it can be heard better, it can be better received, and we can get a better product on our end by working and networking with those vendors, with those people to get what it is that we're looking for. Because usually if you look at those complaints, it's not that far off.

28:20It's like, hey, the cataloging is off just a little bit here, or maybe I don't have all the information I need, or I don't have the picture I need, or I don't— right? And, and so that engagement, that involvement. So, but let's, let's take a step back. I want you to tell the listeners what ACA is, and I want you to tell the listeners, is there a spot for them to be involved?

28:43So Auto Care Association, it's interesting because I don't often hear it called ACA other than probably mostly you, Lucas. I really— a lot of people just I call it Auto Care or Auto Care Association. And like the big words and like all that stuff trying to get it out. I got to use abbreviations. Okay. And that's the question. There are a lot of associations, right?

29:02There's like ASTA, like there's like all of the things, ASA, and it's like, what is Auto Care in and amongst all of that? So something for me being in Wisconsin, we don't have a local representation. So WACA is probably the closest thing to us. And I can't, because of the state that I'm in, I'm not technically a member. I'm still a non-member through WACA.

29:23So because of the fact that I don't have an association locally that I get to be part of, then I looked to the national association, which is Auto Care Association, and it's made up of basically the entire aftermarket. Like it represents the whole aftermarket. Everything you can think of that's in the aftermarket is represented there. And yeah, I think they recognize the fact that, well, the other thing is that it's really hard for shop owners to do what you're doing and step away from their shops and be part of what's going on in the industry.

29:52They're so like head in the stand or like, you know, just like in the under the hood as far as taking care of the cars and not the business. So we need more people. We needed more shop owners. And so we— it's similar to me coming to you saying like, why isn't this something for you? And how do we make it something for shop owners?

30:11Because there needs to be more representation there for sure. So, excuse me. So right now, honestly, the biggest way to support AutoCare is to go to that hub and get us some feedback and tell us, is this helpful? Is this not helpful? If we just spent, you know, almost a year developing something that isn't helpful, I want to know that. I really don't want to be wasting my time and energy on something that isn't helpful for other shops.

30:38We also represent, we also understand that the majority of us there represent probably like the top 10% of shops in the country. But that's not who needs the help. Like, that's not who needs, you know, to grow and to develop, and that's not how we raise the industry. So we're trying to get out there and trying to help those other shops be able to develop and grow.

31:01And, you know, it's like, it's a hand up. Like, we're trying to help those people do better and then us all do better as an industry. So you bring up some really important points because, like, the technicians in, in, you know, I was talking about the fact that I've got all these upset technicians right now because I'm talking about really hard topics that involve them, and they're, they're not exactly hearing the things that they want to hear out of my mouth about it, right?

31:23Um, I'm still a, a huge advocate for treating technicians better and paying them better and creating a better environment for them, but I'm not exactly saying what they want to hear right now, which is like, hey, I understand you want more money. For that, we have to raise our prices. And they say, well, why do you have to raise your prices? Because like, listen, there's a certain fixed expense with the business.

31:44There are expenses that have to be covered, and your wage is part of that. And so we have to have balance. I can't just write you whatever check you want and not expect the business to have to pay for that. The money's got to come from somewhere. And so we've been having those conversations, and one of the things that I see over and over again is these guys are saying like, hey, you and David run your shops the right way, and you work in a group of people that run their shops the right way, and y'all are trying hard to take care of your people.

32:11But you don't know what it's like for the other 90% of shops. You've never set foot in a shop that has worn out, broken equipment, that does not care at all if you're safe, does not care if you're happy, does not care if you have benefits, does not care if you have enough money to feed your family. They don't care. All they want is the KPI.

32:34All they see is the KPI. And that's a very valid point because We're reaching 10% of the industry right now, right? And, and these people trying to make change, you know, like your shop and, and the other shops of those engaged with ACA, MOACA, ASTA, right? All of those are the crème de la crème of shops, and that's a small percentage of shops in the United States today.

32:57How are we going to reach them? Like, how are we gonna— and do they even care, right? Because that, that's the problem that I'm running into right now. Is if I go out to shops and say like, hey, here's some important things, your technicians are feeling this way, you're saying there's a technician shortage but you're treating them this way and doing this, they're like, yeah, but I'm not changing.

33:15I don't care. I don't care how they feel. I don't care what they want. I don't care about the industry. And it's almost like this little segment of David's mentality towards the industry. I don't give a crap. It doesn't matter to me. Now I know David cares about the industry and a lot of it is just him joking and playing around. He genuinely does care about the industry being better.

33:35But these other shops, they don't care. So how do we reach them and what's the end? Like, how do we make actual change in the industry? I don't think you're going to change people's mentalities. I think if somebody doesn't want help, it doesn't matter what you're talking about their life. Whether it's business or whatever, they're not— there's nothing you can do at that point.

34:06But for the people that do want or that start being like, maybe they can't pay their bills, maybe they're like not making it, whatever it is that makes them so uncomfortable to be able to make a different decision for them or their businesses, then I think that there needs to be accessible information for them to be able to do that. Like they need to be able to reach out.

34:24And that's what we're trying to do is to be able to have a easy go-to place for people to be able to, at any level, but especially at that level, to be able to help people. And I can say, like, you know, I didn't start out in a brand new facility. You know, our shop, when we took it over, it was pretty much under.

34:41Other people had come out, like Dan's dad was, you know, in his 70s, almost 80 when we took over the shop, but he was still trying to run it like he did back in the day. So we had to dig ourselves out, and it wasn't Old Bay, and it was, you know, there are things that were broke down and there were things that, like, it was that environment.

35:02But at some point I had to figure out, like, we need to do better, we're going to go out, right? So I think it just has to be there and be available for people and be easily accessible and easy to understand. I think that's the big thing is, like, when they're ready for it, right? But like, for me, I didn't know it was there, right?

35:26I didn't know it was a resource. I didn't know. And you wouldn't because it wasn't until last week. I know, but I'm just saying like ACA as a whole, ASTA— oh, the organization, because it existed for the manufacturers and the, you know, the parts people. And so now we've got to educate and bring awareness to it and have other shop owners sharing it.

35:48Yeah, and I know the parts people, I'm just going to be totally open and honest and I'm not here to appease anybody, but think about the information that shop owners get about how to run their businesses and where it comes from. Majority is the parts people. But if you really think about what we do, we get paid for what we know. Like nobody's talking about the labor side because who's there to represent it?

36:13So those are a lot of the conversations that we're having as shops is yes, you parts people, that's great that we can sell parts, but there's less and less parts on vehicles and there's more and more information. And we need to talk about the knowledge and what it takes to be able to really keep working on these vehicles. So those are the more of the conversations that are happening now that we are growing.

36:35And the goal is that we are able to have more and more shops be able to be part of that. So that's what we're kind of going towards. I'm hoping that we can just call it a community and that you don't even have to pay, that you just get to be part of it for the betterment of the industry. I can't say that because I'm not the one who gets to decide, but that's basically how Women in Auto Care is.

36:55You don't have to be a member of Auto Care Association to be in Women in Auto Care. You know, you don't even have to be a woman to be in Women in Auto Care. You just have to support the fact that there should be more females in the industry, you know. So you just, you could just sign up and get that information to be part of it the way that it's set up right now.

37:13So I'm really hoping that we're able to do that. Into the future. We're just not there yet right now. So it really comes down to like me needing the feedback. But you're right, it wasn't there. And that's us trying to be the change that we want to see for the industry. Right. I just think that, that it's been time and time and time again that associations have brought a resource and we can't ever get the shops to actually use the resource.

37:36Right? Like if you want to get better, if you want things to change, if you want things to improve, if you want a difference, then you're gonna have to put some work in to make that happen. I'm gonna tell you, I think, you know, we kind of started this off like, what's one big thing that, that you look back on and would have done differently?

37:55I wish I had tackled the hard stuff sooner, right? Like, I wish I tackled the accounting side. I wish I tackled the financials and having the processes and procedures. And like, I'm not talking about, you know, line by line, you have to do this and you have to do that. I'm talking about, I wish I had standards in my business and had developed things that it could run without me much sooner.

38:17So then that way, when it came time that it had to— and, and the reason I didn't is because it was hard, right? Like, I didn't tackle the hard things front and center and just go for it and say, I'm going to make this work. The, the bill pay and some of the financial stuff in the shop is a giant pain in the butt right now because it wasn't what I wanted to do.

38:36I wanted to work on cars. I loved working on cars. I love tinkering with cars. And then I love talking to the clients and doing the client thing. And see, the problem is, is that I gave myself the excuse to say, as a business owner, it's my job to fix the car. As the business owner, it's my job to make sure the clients are taken care of.

38:55I should have been delegating that far sooner than I ever did and then learn how to run the business, because as a business owner, my job was to run the business. Had nothing to do with fixing cars, had nothing to do with talking to clients. Does it make a difference? It does. But if I want an actual business that can survive me, right, like it can go— once I'm done and gone, I can't be here anymore, the business is still a business— then my job is to run this place like a business.

39:28I've seen the destruction that running it by the seat of your pants will cause. And I mean, it is utter destruction. You can— let me tell you something— you can take $3 million and piss it into the wind so fast it will disappear and it won't even matter. You won't have anything left, and you'll get to the point you don't have anything to clean up if you don't run a business like a business.

39:49David, you don't say much, but your face says everything. He says a lot of dumb things, that's all. Do you, do you, are you working day to day in the business? Me? Yeah. Yes. I'm sorry, that sucks. Do you choose to do that or you have to? Well, right now I have to. Yeah. Are you doing— do you mean in operations? Do you mean am I in operations?

40:14I am not in operations. I'm working in Arizona right now. I'm working remote. I'm doing like my business owner, all the things that I— all the hats that I wear as the business owner. Also, we have a towing company, so there's a towing company and our service center, but I'm doing that from here. So when you say, do you work, I guess I wasn't really clear.

40:32Were you asking if I'm like service advising or if I'm— oh, are you doing anything? Like, I pay the bills. I do a lot. I do, I do. I wouldn't call that work though. Okay, we're in different situations. I do, I do oversee operations. I do like, I try to empower them to do what they can do, but once they get to a point they know when they should ask questions or not.

40:54And then they'll ask, like we have Slack, so they'll ask questions. The questions that I get is, uh, when's this bill gonna get paid? Hey, can you get the power turned back on? No, I make sure the power's on. But sometimes the trash bill doesn't get paid, so they're like, hey, the trash is piling up. Those are questions I get. Hey, when are you gonna pay the trash bill?

41:16It's like, oh yeah, I should do that. And then I go and I pay the trash bill. That was my work for the day. And I'm like, woof, I'm tired. I'm going to go home. I wish I could tell you that he was joking. He's not. No, I'm not. This is that. Yeah, that's, that's what I do. That's, I don't, I don't, uh, involve myself in anything within the shop.

41:38But you know, I don't know, like Lucas, you chose to do all that because you're stupid. I'm just telling you like the whole. Every single one of those steps, it was just like, hey, figure out how to do this, don't involve me. I mean, I, I get it, but there's like stuff on the back side of it. And, and if I had stayed in 3 bays, that would work.

42:00If I had built a 4 or 5 bay shop, that would— even with 10 bays, it's just more people. No, there's layers. It doesn't work, I promise. No, it doesn't work that way. It is a different animal all of a sudden. And you look up and you say, what have I done? I can't believe I was this stupid. What a terrible idea this was, right?

42:22Because like, it gets substantially more complex. The bills are more complex, the bills are bigger. And so like, they get bigger, they're not, they're not complex. What the hell? Oh no, it gets like, okay, you have a much bigger facility. And it's moving parts. Do you know there are nooks and crannies in a big building that parts can go missing that you don't even know they're there?

42:45Okay, but they can go missing in a smaller building too. Missing $5,000 worth of parts. Yeah, the numbers get bigger. I understand that, but I'm saying that the parts disappear. Trust me, I have piles of parts in the back room too. They're like, hey, what's this? Why do we have a fender for a Kia Forte? It's like, well, you see, there's a whole story behind it.

43:02Why do we have a Tesla wheel just sitting here? Yeah, you get stories all day long. But that's, that's what I'm saying is like you, you build a process and go, hey, how do we make sure this doesn't happen? Don't involve me. So David, how many bays does your shop have? I have 4. I have 4 and 2 pull-through. I have a whole extra building too.

43:22Like I have 2 bays that you pull into. Oh, pull-through. Okay. Yeah. I have a whole extra building too. That was a mistake just to do ADAS. I don't do ADAS. I mean, I do, but you've also not marketed that you do ADAS. Yeah, but here's the thing, like, it's not, it's not even a matter of like marketing to do the volume that I would need to.

43:44I would need to go to shops. You know what shops tell you? Oh, I don't have to do that. I just tell the customer, or I don't even say anything. That's what we found out. We did a whole episode on that. They don't even tell the customer that the car needs ADAS calibration. They put it back the way it was supposed to.

44:05And then when you go, okay, but it's, it needs calibration now. It's like, yeah, but then I would have to charge the customer for the alignment and the extra calibration, which is, it's $300 to $700 to do two calibrations through like front radar and front camera. Uh, plus the alignment is another whatever, $700, $800. That you have to tack on to that front condenser.

44:33So now that condenser was $2,200, now it's $3,000. You look like the asshole shop. So the guy doesn't want to be the asshole shop because he's charging $3,000 to do the job properly. So he just does the $2,200 and just doesn't say anything. And then, and then when you tell him, hey, but the— it's off. Like, even if the car drives fine, you don't know when the car is going to stop when it's not supposed to, or you're not going to know when the car is going to accelerate.

45:01Like, there's going to be— the car is going to do funny things. And he's like, yeah, I should probably do something about that. But the shop owners have no idea the risk that they're taking on. And then when you tell them, hey, it's $325 for me to do a front radar that includes an alignment check, $325, they're like, oh, I'm not paying that.

45:22No, you're 100% right. At the same time, there's a lot of lawyers that are running out of things to do because of AI right now, and there are more and more lawsuits. Hey, I'm all for it. If lawyers are watching this, start finding shops that don't do ADAS calibrations and aren't getting declines and find some way to sue them into oblivion. I'm— it's already— that's what I'm saying.

45:45I know, I'm not either. Let's make it happen. I'm right there with you. You need to go out in droves and hit every single shop and go, how do you deal with ADAS calibrations? And then they were like, oh, I don't have to worry about it. You want some redneck answer? And, uh, not mountain folk, redneck, like stupid. I was getting ready to get offended.

46:02You got his feeling. He just thinks I say some, some rednecky and he thinks I'm talking about it. It's not. No, mountain folks aren't rednecks. But I also, I also don't understand how glass companies can go out and do calibrations without having the alignment done, because you're— what are you setting the calibration to? So they can do a check. So the machines will often do like, they'll have you do like a rolling compensation.

46:29Like they'll, they'll have you push, pull, and pull, pull and push the car and then turn the steering wheel, and then the machine goes, hey, the alignment's off. At that point you have to stop and go, hey, I need the car aligned. But that's not what's happening. That's, that's my, that's what my problem is, and nobody's talking about it because the glass companies are going, putting in windshields, calibrating it.

46:52There's no wheel alignment machine. There's nothing actually happening. So, so what are they doing? What are they like, what are they setting the calibration rates to and how far off are they and how's a car going to drive? Because no light is going to come on and tell you it's wrong, but everybody's programmed that if something's wrong with their car, a light is going to come on.

47:08Well, they spam the machine until the machine takes and says it's good. Probably. I don't know how you do it outside. Nobody asks me that question. I ask it all the time. We had a Honda CR-V. I could not calibrate it because I had so much junk in my building that I couldn't get the 35 feet in front of the car that it needed in order for the calibration to go.

47:34Like we hit 30 feet and it's like, well, we're going to have to reassemble this half disassembled car, push it out of the way. And then, and then it'll, it'll take, but because we didn't have that 35 feet, but if you're doing it outside, you may have the 35 feet, but there might be some interference sunlight. It can be light. It can be like there's too many variables trying to do it outside.

47:58So yeah. And the, and the ground., but you can compensate for the, for the ground not being level. Um, but my point is like, I don't know how you're doing that. That's what you're going to tell the lawyer anyway, right? Well, yeah. Well, the machines have, have some, some of the machines, not all the machines, some of the machines, the machine that I have does compensate for uneven floors.

48:18So you don't have to have perfectly level floors, but some of these machines that don't have that compensation are saying, oh, just do it on the alignment rack. How the hell does that work? Like, you have to roll the car around, like, and push it forward and backwards and this and the other. It's perfectly level. But, well, but I mean, if it's a, if it's like a flat bay aligner, like a parallel that goes down, it has to be completely flat.

48:41And then you have to still have enough room in front of it because on some cars it's 35 feet. That's like, uh, that's a lot. A King Ranch is 50. Yeah. And the other thing that's interesting is level is not flat. Flat is not level. Yeah, it was one of the most difficult things we had to take into consideration when we built our building.

49:01It was like we spent endless hours building it to the specifications of what you're supposed to do for ADAS. What that is, is— and trying to get the run— like trying to get things to flow properly and like all of those things, you know. So yeah, if these lawyers don't do their jobs and sue these shops into oblivion, every single one of these shops, every single one of these shops that are working on these cars that are not doing calibrations and they're not putting declines on the ticket.

49:29Yeah. Like Shopware allows you to do. You can put the decline on there even if they don't take it. Right. And just, and look, if you're one of those shops that don't, I don't have the equipment, I don't have the this, I don't have that. Okay, great. Go find you an ADAS calibration center in a building, not outside, an ADAS calibration center or the dealer, and then just mark it up 300 or 400%.

49:52And, and the reason being that you want the decline. We're like, hey, I'm going to charge you $750 to do this thing, or you could take it down here and they'll do it for $350. I have to charge you $700, and they'll decline it. But at least they know that you— this has to be done, right? But if you don't do anything, they need to get sued into oblivion.

50:13So there's a whole section on the Vehicle Service Experts Hub about ADAS. So there's best practices, there's all kinds of information. Calibrations— you think they're going online to learn? I'm saying if they— if, if anywhere around and they want to learn more about it, then at least they have the right information to be able to make their decisions. And if it's not the right information, then I want to know that right now so that we can change it.

50:36You know who really should get themselves involved? Who is the insurance companies. They need to pull the garage keepers if they're not They don't care. They're the ones that are telling us not to do it. They're the— a lot of insurance companies are blocking the collision companies and they're saying, oh, you want to do ADAS? Prove it. Yeah, exactly. Okay, well, who's gonna— who's gonna have to cover it if something else happens and the car doesn't do what it's supposed to, or you get sued because somebody dies in that car and it was at a shop?

51:05Who's going to take care of that? Yeah, but they're telling us not to do it and we have to prove it that it has to be done because they don't want to have to pay for it on the front side. You know, well, I get that, but that's— it's in the— it's in the repair manual. But they'll— they'll interpret it, or their— their very best.

51:22They will fight you to the point— like, it's— it's almost like, um, malicious compliance to a degree. They'll— they'll put you through so many hoops that they hope you never ask again, right? They push you really hard. This reminds me of a situation I want, I can't remember. I think we were flying to Oklahoma. It may not have been Oklahoma. It may have been a trip before that, but there was a, there was a flight to Chicago in the gate next to ours.

51:51And so I'm sitting there and the pilot comes out and he said, folks, here's the deal. He said, I flew this plane yesterday and there's something wrong with the elevator on this plane. Of all the things that I'm willing to try, the elevator's not one I'm willing to skip on. If it, if the elevator is not right, we're not flying. And that's all there is to it.

52:10And he said, so I've asked them to either bring us another plane or have maintenance come check it. And this pilot and a maintenance man stood in the jet bridge to where everybody could hear them and screamed at each other for 15 minutes. And that pilot said, listen, I'm just telling you that I know something's wrong because the way the airplane feels and the way it's responding, I don't like it.

52:31And I'm telling you that if, if I'm, I'm not going to be the guy flying this plane unless you come up with a way to show me that it's fixed and it's corrected, because it is my responsibility to keep these people safe. And so maintenance went back and forth for 15 minutes and they said, we spent 8 hours on this yesterday. Everything is good.

52:52Everything is fine. And he said, that's great. I'm telling you, the plane doesn't feel like the plane should feel. It doesn't feel like it always feels. I'm— something's not right. And so they went back and forth, and eventually they brought another plane over. And then I overhear the maintenance guy come in and say, I hate to tell you this, but he was right.

53:08We found something. And that was 30 minutes later, right? And so, like, ultimately the driver of the car has responsibility of what happens with that car when they're driving it. And, and some of the conversations that have been had are Right, but we don't have autonomous cars in the States right now. The driver is still responsible for what happens, but the, the, the problematic part comes from they are depending on a safety system to keep them safe.

53:38And if that system doesn't function as designed, right, and it's like the elevator on the airplane, it— if it doesn't work, the plane doesn't go up and down like it's supposed to. They're instituting like automatic braking across the board on every car. Okay, so the car is going to need some form of autonomy. I agree, but ultimately, who is responsible for what that car does?

54:04Who's responsible in a Waymo? Google. Um, they drive around people's cul-de-sacs all day long. No, I know, but I'm saying, if— but who's, who's responsible then? Right. Well, I mean, in that case, right, like whoever works on the car is ultimately responsible. Whoever's servicing the car, whoever's maintaining it, whoever's verifying it's doing what it's supposed to be doing is responsible at that point in time.

54:30But yeah, it can't be the passenger in the back seat, can't be responsible. No, of course not. Of course not. Now I guess that's the argument, one of those, and I think that's why we pushed away from autonomous cars for the general public. I think that's what the pushback came is. I think at some point the manufacturer said, hang on just a minute, not only do we have to decide if it runs over the baby in the carriage in front of it or drives it off a cliff and kills everybody in the car, right?

54:55It's all— you also have to be responsible for is it doing what it's supposed to do. It's all just technology. So flying cars work better, it'll be fine. There will never be flying cars. I had to burst that bowl. Ever. I think we're gonna teleport. There already are flying cars. I understand that, but I'm saying like mass acceptance of flying cars. No, there's a flying taxi in North Carolina.

55:18Yeah, there's, there's more of them. There's a bunch of them in Las Vegas too. You can fly from one spot A to spot B. I, I'm saying that I hope you live to be old. I hope I get to be wrong. We're gonna go, David lived to be old. Have you seen what this dude injects himself with on a daily basis? He's going to live to be something, but old ain't it.

55:41What he injects himself with? I'm preserving myself. Oh, I'm not laughing at you. I didn't know what you were talking about. Okay. Thanks for clarifying. Sodium benzoate. All of it. Just kidding. It explains so much. We're going to go in the complete opposite direction and we're going to go like they're going to start going old school on cars. They're going to be like, hey, we're bringing back this, we're bringing back.

56:09And, and the reason— my reasoning for that is the complete and utter rejection of things like stop-start. And then like EVs, yeah, EVs were completely, um, rejected by the consumer. Then nobody wants EVs. So if you do want an EV, like, now's the time to buy it because they're coming out of lease and you can get a 4 or 5-year-old EV that's dropped 75% of its value.

56:33That's the thing, nobody wants used EVs. There's like hardly a market for it. Like, I don't know, I'd grab a Model S. What's that? You can make them like a roller. You just have to find a different power plant. I'd grab a Model S with like 40 or 50,000 miles and drive it for another 60 or 70,000. But I don't think it's about miles at that point.

56:55I think it's about how old the batteries are. Yeah, I don't know. In my heart of hearts, I'm like, it's like a Prius. Prius batteries go 250,000 miles in 15 years. I've got to ask, like, so you, you had this dream of buying a Tesla for the longest time. What happened to buying a Tesla? Are we buying a Tesla? We not buying a Tesla?

57:17What, like, what's the— what's— I saw the build quality of the Tesla and realized at the end of the day, if I don't— I just could not believe how shitty they are. They are so poorly built. And then, you know, they're still developing their technology where I can go get a— I can go get an EV Toyota, like a legit Toyota. Yeah, what do you think Elon's building that technology for?

57:46For Toyota? Flying taxis? No, I'm just— I just look— I'm just— so we can go to space? Well, maybe. I'm saying people are going to see the, the flying vehicles and be like, nope, I don't want it. You're just not gonna— they're just gonna say no to it, just like they did the EVs. And we're gonna go old school. I'm just— we're gonna go— it's gonna be a regression back to 1990s type cars.

58:17What about— let me ask you, what about human drone pods? What about those, David? Because, I mean, like, we have drones that can lift 400 pounds, so we just put you in a little cylinder and then, like, hey, and scoop me where I need to go. I look— I'm looking forward to those days where I can just get in and play on my phone or sleep while it takes me wherever the hell it is I need to go.

58:38We're not that far away from that. I'm like, can't wait. I hate driving. Can you imagine a thunderstorm? So no flying car, like, you don't want to be the one to operate it, but you just want to get in and, like, almost like a— you want it to, like, Waymo you. Yeah. Is that what you're talking about? Okay. I'm okay with that, to fly me where I need to go.

58:54Yeah. I think they're going to have a really difficult time like policing how people fly. Yeah, because cars are way better. Yeah. Well, at least there's being on a road. There's roads though. That's what I'm saying is like, that's what I'm saying too. I know this person's not going to run into me because there's no road there to cross. So you think being in the air and being able to go up or down instead of just like right or left is way better?

59:23There's no anything. Have you ever been on a lake with like boats and these people are like all crisscrossing each other? And it works out perfect because people have to slow down and pay attention. Yep, because people have to slow down and pay attention. If you look at traffic studies, that's why there's so many roundabouts. Because stop signs, people like signs, people don't pay attention to signs.

59:46They get used to seeing them everywhere and they just ignore them. I know, but if you have to actually slow down and pay attention, look at other countries and how they don't have like traffic control or whatever. Yeah, just pay attention, it's way better. I just need to point out, people just stop using their brains in the show where everybody realizes that David and I are not very good shop owners because we don't have boats, and David just made it very clear.

1:00:08Hey, I don't have boats. We don't have beach access. No, I don't have a boat. But when I, when we go to a lake, I rent the boat and we go out on the lake and it's fun. And yeah, like you kind of follow a path kind of, but then there's like these little boats that are going so much faster and they're just like, and I'm like, how do I not run into these?

1:00:29And in my mind, the only reason why that's happening is because there isn't 10,000 boats on the lake. There's like 7. And so we're not running into each other, and everybody just kind of keeps their distance because they don't want to— where it would be fine because there's no signs, there's nothing telling you like where you have to— like your brain doesn't like tell yourself, do you know how many people crash and all they have to do is veer right or left, but they feel like they have to stay in the lanes and then they rear-end somebody in a car?

1:00:58Yeah, that's what automatic braking is going to fix. Great. I am. They're not stopping. I'm saying because they're not paying attention. And why is the automatic braking happening? Because people can't think for themselves and do what they're supposed to do. So now the car can't supposedly do it. We established because they can't read because the signs are in cursive. The signs are in cursive.

1:01:19That would fix them. Listen, I'm just saying that you need to extrapolate out the, the intelligence level of someone that is incapable of reading something designed for a 7th grader. Like they can't, they can't understand things, right? So just extrapolate that out to the general public and go, okay, so half of these people on the road shouldn't be driving. And then the other half are distracted because they're bored by driving and they play on their phones.

1:01:50So everybody's screwed across the board. It sounds like you're speaking from experience, David. I'm playing on my phone. I can read past a 6th grade level. I know. I don't know how we're still alive at this point. I really don't. Automatic braking. Because of automatic braking. Yeah, until somebody doesn't do a calibration and then it breaks when it's not supposed to. My shop's doing my calibrations, let me tell you.

1:02:16And roundabouts, you just drive right through the middle of those. See, in some areas they don't, they don't they, they keep the, um, the, the curbs, they're smooth and they don't put anything in the middle. And those roundabouts are suggestions. You could drive around like an idiot or just plow right through. Come see me in Wisconsin, you can show me how it's done.

1:02:39No, if they put something in the middle, I got to drive around. I just don't have anything. One at 60 one time, did not know it was there. It was dark, it was late at night. There you go. That's who it's made for. But at 60, they are not small. You go airborne at 60. Were there cameras? I know I'm seeing Dukes of Hazzard.

1:02:59See, that's the thing. Lucas makes fun of me. Lucas makes fun of me because I drive distracted. But one of the things that I do in order for me to be able to play on my phone is drive really slow. I can— so everybody is going 60 and I'm going 40, and it's easier for me to stop and maneuver around when I'm going 40, uh, than 60.

1:03:25And or like on a regular road, I'm going 25. Like my wife goes, you should speed up, and I go, no, I'm playing on my phone. I'm not even paying attention to what the hell's going on in front of me. Do you see the irony here about David? What I'm hearing him say is like he doesn't care about business, like about— he just— you just don't care.

1:03:43But when you're driving, you can definitely care about whatever it is that you need to care about. It's scrolling toilet reels is what it is. That's what— that's David's toilet reel time. That's when he cares. He cares when he's driving. I mean, look, I'm just watching the memes. The only person who is going to stand up in that courtroom and be a character witness saying, no, I've never seen him drive on his phone, okay?

1:04:11I promise I've never seen it. I know he killed a bus full of kids. I promise he's never done that. And then they're just going to start showing— I'm driving too slow to kill the bus. That's what I'm saying. Like, if anybody's going to die, it's going to be me because I'm driving too slow. I'm just going to bang into the bus and then just cause a bunch of damage, but I'm not going to kill anybody.

1:04:29I'm just driving too slow. Somebody's going to cut that into a completely different comment, okay? Into the— out of it. I stay in, I stay in, in the all the way to the right or all the way to the left. I don't get in the middle because when you're in the middle lane, you gotta pay attention and cars are on both sides.

1:04:51This is getting cut into a reel, I promise. Where do I hit the mark clip button? Yeah, this button right here. I need to make sure they know about this. Why do you make— you gotta make everything dirty, Lucas. I did— I didn't make it dirty. He's not the one that said bang in the bus, you are. I'm not banging on anything.

1:05:14Yeah, it was just on the bang bus, it's fine, it'll be okay. No bang buses for me. Oh man, I don't know who's going to be more upset, Mark or Shopware. I mean, something's going to be upset. Then they're going to stop watching around the 50-minute mark. Everybody— I've seen the, I've seen the stats. It's like at 50, it's like, so after 50, you can say the most off-the-wall shit.

1:05:41Nobody ever pays attention. They're like, that was a really good episode. They're like, oh yeah, just clip out the auto care part and just put that out. And that's what they'll watch. That'll be perfect. That'll be perfect. Okay, boys and girls, thank you for listening to the Changing the Industry podcast. If you enjoyed the show, do us a favor and leave us a review on your favorite podcast player.

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