Are You Running Your Shop… Or Is It Running You? | Darin Johnson - Ep 37

0:00Oh, my tire pressure light is on. How long has it been on? For about 2 weeks. Well, it's gonna be on one more day. We're gonna schedule for 10 o'clock in the morning. Oh, I can't get up that early, sir. You know, if you had a doctor's appointment at 10 o'clock in the morning, you know where you go? You'd go at 10.

0:15Yeah, we will see you at 10 o'clock in the morning. Welcome to Downshift with my sis Tanika Haynes. We all know as shop owners, sometimes you got to slow down. In order to speed up. And that's what this podcast is all about. It's time to downshift. Well, when you're as tech savvy as I am, it is, believe me. Oh my God, I don't want to hear about it.

0:45What you doing on this Saturday? I still have a flip phone, you know. You said that last time. You're not serious. You don't have a flip phone. Oh yeah, yeah, right, right here. It's actually by choice though, because they're, they're, they're durable and they're easy to use and they're not bulky to carry around. And so you can't take pictures and stuff? I mean, what can you do with a flip phone?

1:12Oh, I can, I can text really slowly and talk. That's, that's all I, that's all I need to do. You got to push the button like 3 times to get to the proper letter. Well, no, it's not quite that bad. Okay, okay, like, dude, bro, that's crazy. I thought you were kidding when you kept saying to have a flip phone. I was like, okay, you were being ridiculous, but that's ridiculous.

1:33But hey, nope, I'm gonna post your boat. I'm a— I'm an 80-year-old man trapped in a 50-year-old's body. Oh my goodness gracious. What you got going on? What'd you do today? Well, I actually worked this morning and probably I'll head back for a while after this. Okay, well, I was looking you up. You're in Wichita— not Wichita, Great Bend. Where the heck is Great Bend?

1:56That, that's right dead in the middle of the state. Uh-huh. 25 years you've been wrenching? Yeah. Yep. Well, tell me a little bit about your shop. What do you got going on? Who are you, Darren Johnson? Well, I'm a one-person operation in Great Bend, Kansas, just busy, running ragged all the time. And I'm the, uh, kind of tech turned shop owner. Okay.

2:23And, you know, I have a little bit of a business mindset, but, uh, still need to do a lot of learning. How long have you, um, had the shop? Like, how did you come up in the industry? I've had the shop about 15, 16 years. Okay. And I kind of opened by accident, as weird as that sounds. I was wanting to leave the industry, and I was actually went back to school and was taking accounting courses.

2:57And, you know, I was just working part-time at the shop that I worked at previously and then going to school on a couple of days a week. And, uh, you know, just had a little shop just for tinkering and personal use and just people were just wanting things worked on. And so I'd start doing a few little odds and ends here and there.

3:20And then next thing you know, I'm, I'm in business. So how much do you think that accounting classroom work helped you out in the business? It's helped a lot. Yeah. You know, it definitely— now that I'm getting a little bit more of a business mindset and diving into the numbers, that's definitely— that background has helped with with an understanding of that. Right.

3:45And then I, and then I do all of my own bookkeeping still. And so it wasn't all for nothing. No, it sounds fun. But like, how do you, you started, you say you're around 50, is that what you just told me? Yeah, actually just turned 50 about 2 weeks ago. Well, happy birthday. I am on my way. Yeah, I'm counting down. Like, I've got like 144 days.

4:07Yeah, I didn't do any of that countdown stuff. It was just another day for me. I mean, I think it's different when you're a woman. You're just like, oh my God. But so you started off a shop, um, in a shop. So you started about 24, 25? Yeah, yeah, probably thereabouts. What drug you in the industry? Uncle, brothers, um, granddaddy, dad? You know, a lot of friends in high school were into cars and hot rods, and you know, that's kind of where I got started with the interest in it.

4:40And then Just kind of went from there. And then, and then now that I do it every single day, I have no interest in the hot rod stuff anymore and just kind of burned me out on a lot of that. Yeah. What do you drive? What's your— I know you've got one. I've got— I mean, I do still have my old truck that I've had actually since I was in high school.

5:06It's an old '81 GMC half-ton short bed and LS swapped it about 10 years ago. And I've probably driven the thing maybe, maybe 200-300 miles since then. It just sits in the driveway. We gotta go have some fun. I just left a car show that, um, we went out and volunteered at to judge a car show, and there's some pretty cool stuff out there.

5:31I need a project. I don't need a project. Let me stop lying. Not at all. So you almost got out. We reeled you back in. Um, and you, you want to be a one-man show forever? Is that— that's just your cup of tea? It's working for you? No, no, I would really love to have some help. And yeah, I've had a few people over the years help off and on, and it just never— never have had one that really sticks.

5:58And but I'm actually talking to a potential prospect right now, so we'll see if that works out. He's actually a friend of mine's son, and he's a service advisor at the local Chrysler dealer. Okay. He's been there for a few years, and so I'm kind of working on him a little bit. You think you'll prefer to stay in the back and keep him up front?

6:24Um, you know, I like being in the back, but I mean, the reality of it is I'm 50 years old and I'm not going to be able to stay in the back for too many more years. Well, don't say that. Don't claim that. So maybe if you get somebody up front and then you get a minion in the back, yeah, that would be a total party of 3.

6:44That might work out for you because how, how big is the shop? Oh, it's, it's kind of a weird, a weird layout. It's like 30 by 75. It's really narrow but really deep. So So that, that kind of has some weird space limitations the way it's set up. But yeah, about 2,100, 2,200 square feet. That works for a one-man show, maybe one and a half men.

7:09You can get— make it happen. Yeah, yeah, you're making it happen. Alrighty, so you are coming to ASTA in September for the first time? First time. First time. Is this your first training event like this, or is this your first time coming to ASTA? You know, Vision's about 4 hours away from me. Okay. So I've actually been to Vision twice. My first trip to Vision was last year, and it was an epic fail.

7:38What happened? Well, I got a few phone calls from customers and got kind of stressed out and felt bad about being gone. So I packed up Friday morning and came back home. No, are you serious? Yeah, I was just— it just kind of really bummed me out and I was kind of in a bad place. And yeah, so I just loaded up and went home.

8:04But it wasn't all for nothing. I got to meet— I actually recorded with Lucas and David on Changing the Industry. And then after we recorded, Lucas introduced me to Rick White. Okay, who I am now a client of. Okay, so, so it, yeah, it wasn't a complete wasted trip, definitely. So you do, are you still, you are still coaching with Rick? So this is year number 2 with him?

8:31Um, no, I actually signed up at Vision this year with him, so I'm about 6 months in. Auto repair shop owners often reach a point where they cannot answer basic questions about their business. How many cars are in the bay? What's today's revenue? What advisor closed the most jobs this week? Not because they're not paying attention, because the information is scattered among different tools and no one has the time to connect the dots.

8:56That's exactly what TechMetrics solves. Shop management, payments, and marketing. One platform, one place to look for your shop's insights. Always knowing where things stand. That's the kind of clarity that changes how you lead and win. Learn more at techmetric.com or use the link in the show notes. We already know what to do. We've been to the trainings, paid for the coaching, learned the right way to inspect cars, build estimates, and talk to our customers.

9:24That's not the problem. The problem is consistency, because some days it only works when the right person is working, and when they're not, it's a whole different shop. So now you're stuck in that cycle. You need a strong team to run a great shop, but you need a great shop to attract a strong team. Make it make sense. That's why I rock with Detect Auto.

9:42Detect Auto streamlines your service processes with automations that save time, increase maintenance sales, and improve productivity without changing your whole system. It plugs in, guides your team through inspections, recommendations, and even customer communication. Now that's not just based on memory or mood. That's how a shop runs. And let me tell you, I've been using it for over a year now. My ARO is up 63%.

10:10That's not new knowledge. That's just consistency. If you're tired of your shop depending on who showed up today, go check out Detect Auto. Book a demo. How's it going? It's going good. I, I'm probably not really an ideal coaching client because I'm probably not really putting forth all the effort that I should. But I bet that's true of more people than you think.

10:33I was that person. Yeah, because Rick was my first coach, my first real coach that I would actually claim. And I know I got on his nerves. He's just like, I'm not doing that. Well, when I like— I'm not doing that, I'm not doing that. So because we think we know everything anyway, right? Yeah, we're bossy. We're the owners, we're bossy by default.

10:50It's like, I'm not doing that, that's not going to work. I'm not doing that, that's not going to work. And soon when I finally would do it, like, okay, it worked, I don't care, shut up, you won, you won. So, um, Vision— I went to Vision this year And, um, Shear's got it going on out there. Yeah, but it's different. It's different.

11:08It's the same. Like, I've been at ASTA, you know, we're heavily involved in that, and you just get used to something. But it's always good to go to different trainings, I think. Um, next week I'm going STX. I've never been there. And then we're going to SEMA Apex, and I haven't been there. So I'm excited for all of that because, I mean, like Becky White said, it's a buffet.

11:27Go out there, get what I can get, and just use it in the business. So I'm excited for you coming out. So what do you think you, you're going to gain from ASTA? Well, my, my biggest thing that I want to gain is just to make some connections and maybe exchange some phone numbers, meet some people, and just have a— maybe just gain a little bit of a support system and people to talk to.

11:54Because one thing I can definitely say, you're definitely going to get that. Yeah, because locally I don't really have a whole lot of people to talk to. So yeah, it's, uh, yeah, I kind of feel like you're on an island sometimes. Is it because the shops just don't communicate with each other because everybody thinks they're competition? Why do you think that is?

12:13I, I think that's a lot of it, right? It's really weird because there's a lot— not a whole lot, but there's enough shops around me, and I try to be the same person I am here, you know. Communicating and everything, but maybe 2 of us communicate. Like, I was just at the car show and there was 2 other shops there and it felt kind of weird.

12:32I'm, I'm going to speak to you because I can't shut up, but I'm just like, dude, I can't fix— I'm not— we're not competition. We're in the same industry, but we're not competition. Your client's not my client, vice versa. And so I wish shops could do a better job with that, and then it might be easier to deal with customers if we were kind of all on the same page with certain things, you know what I mean?

12:52So yeah, for sure. Well, Lucas introduced me to ASTA, and that's how I went through Rick White, because I went ASTA Expo, met Rick, start coaching with him. So we kind of started the same. So yeah, look, but there is a lot— there's a lot of community and networking in the lobbies and in the different spots, different little activities we do outside of the training, because of course we know the training is important, if not most important.

13:18But that connection you get where you can just hit somebody on Facebook or exchange your cell number and say, bro, I'm dealing with this right now, what do you think? This, that, whatever. That made the biggest difference for me, you know, not being a technician but being in the, in the office. It's like, okay, am I doing this right? So that's the question I think we all have in our head.

13:37Am I doing this right? Am I doing this right? Am I, am I the problem? Am I tripping? So yeah, to be a sounding— have a sounding board or that whole community will make it for sure. Yeah. Um, Sherry, don't get me, but I didn't, I didn't feel like that at Vision. So with Vision, it was different. It was different. It was good, but it was different.

13:57But like, I think, you know, you get that good old Southern hospitality at ASTA and everybody's just, yeah, networking and swapping stories, and you realize that you're not the only person having that problem, whatever your situation is at the time. So that'll make a big difference. That's the main thing that I'm hoping to get out of the experience. You know, say that people just like, oh, I don't need any friends, I just need— no, you do.

14:24Yeah, you need that network because nobody wants to be in this ship, this ship alone, you know, just out there trying to figure it out. You know, you can't ask Rick but so much. You know, he can give you the guidance and the blueprint, but someone is actually in the trenches with you, that's a, that's a big difference. Somebody's that been there, done that, still doing it.

14:46And me too, brother, me too. Yep. Yeah. So, um, you don't have anybody working with you. How does that even work out? Like, when do you clock in? When do you clock out? It's, um, you're pretty much married to the shop at that point. I mean, I I'm— I hate to say it, but I'm there usually 7 days a week. And I've been getting a little bit better at taking some time off on the weekends.

15:12I, you know, leave a little early Saturday and then sometimes just try to work a couple hours on Sunday morning. But yeah, it's just— there's just so much to do and not enough time to do it. I'm really about to pull it back a little bit, like with the— yeah, I've been wanting I've been wanting to do that for about 10 years.

15:34I just have a hard time saying no. Man, listen, if anybody can tell you how to say no, it's anybody like, yeah, no, we're not going to do that. Yeah. Like you're talking about you're in Kansas and they're calling your cell phone. Come on, Darren. Come on. Yeah. I actually changed my cell phone number because way too many people had it. So, so yeah, that, that kind of alleviated a little bit of that problem so that That was a step, I guess.

16:02What makes you think— what keeps you from like not making a blunt decision like, I'm going to work from 7, even we're going to give you from 7 to 5, and just cut it off and go fishing or whatever you want to do? What keeps you from doing that? Are you a people pleaser? Yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah. That's probably my biggest downfall.

16:21That's not really a downfall. Let's not call it that because I think I am too. I love a good thank you and Um, you know, that's my love language, so I really like to help people. But at some point you just gotta listen. It's 7:45 at night. I want to go to bed. Yeah, like, when you— like, stop being so disrespectful. I don't want to talk to you right now about your car.

16:43Like, my office hours are from here to here. Yeah, and that's, that's the way it is anytime you go out in public in town too. I mean, it's— we're kind of a— I wouldn't want to say a small town, but You know, I think population about 12,000-14,000 people. And so you know everybody and everywhere you go, they, they're not bashful about bothering you at the grocery store or bothering you when you're out eating dinner about, oh hey, when can I get in and what's your schedule like?

17:14And it's like, you meant chicken wings, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's like It's like, okay, I, I want to be rude, but I can't be rude. And you just kind of smile and, you know, say, oh, bring it tomorrow. And then you forget. And then tomorrow, then you got 5 cars showing up that you don't remember what they were. And yeah, just that's kind of the typical chaos of the day for me.

17:43So when I see you in September, I'm going to pop your hand like a 2-year-old. Come on, Darren. Like, you're like, look, dude, I'm eating, I'm eating my chicken wing. Like, gotta learn how to say no to certain things because you don't want to be that person, but you also want to be respected. And then, yeah, what, what, what is your past?

18:05What are your hobbies? What do you like to do? You fishing? You're bowling? Well, you know, honestly, I'm just so wrapped up in the shop, I can honestly say at the moment I really don't have a whole lot of hobbies. Maybe, maybe about the only thing I've got that is remotely close is I like grilling. I do that every now and then.

18:26But yeah, but okay. Yeah, I haven't, haven't gone fishing for about 20 years. I don't know if I'd even remember how at this point, but maybe, maybe one of these days. I'm gonna get you to put a sign on the door, going fishing. I mean, if they're really your good customers, they really respect you and what you do, you can say, hey, I'm gonna take these 2 days off and, uh, leave me alone.

18:52Yeah, it sounds like you're allowing it to happen because you love it. And I used to love it too. I still love it. I still love it. I don't know how to say no that easily. That's why I'm not supposed to be at the front desk, because I'm that person like, oh, let's squeeze them in. Let's just squeeze them in real quick.

19:04Let's squeeze them in. I still do that a lot, but I've learned like, um, No, I can't do that today, but I can do it tomorrow. You know, you have no, and then you give like an alternative. Like, nope, can't do that today, going fishing. Like, oh, you're going fishing tomorrow, Derek? Congratulations, man. Or they'd be like, oh man, you're going fishing?

19:22I need coffee. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm going fishing. You like fishing? Well, I can't go, man. If you don't get your tackle box together and take some time and go out there and get ate up by the mosquitoes and rip some lips What's wrong with you? All right, you want to fix that? Okay, so this is what we're going to fix at ASTA.

19:39What else we're going to work on? We're going to work on time management. What other things are you interested in? Like what classes? I know you want networking and whatnot and just building your, your family, um, automotive family. What else do you want to focus on when you're there? Like what classes are you taking? I took, I took all management classes this time.

19:58Okay. When I went to, when I went to Vision this last year, I I think I took maybe 1 or 2 technical classes and then the rest were management. But I did, I did no technical at all this at ASTA. And I, I honestly hate to say it, I tried to log into my account the other day to— because I couldn't remember exactly everything that I enrolled in.

20:22But I did enroll in it. I mean, even though I coach with them, I enrolled in one of Rick's classes. Yeah. Um, and then I'm actually enrolled in the, the one with you and Lucas and Mike Allen. I got, got in on that one. Oh my God. It's full now. It's crazy. Oh, really? Good deal. Yeah. I knew it. I knew it said it was kind of a limited, limited number that they were letting in.

20:50And I think when I signed up, there was still like 20 more spots. So I got signed up pretty early. It was about 5 clients that we're gonna have to like kick out because we want it to be only for shop owners. So it was like, yeah, we love you, I want you to be there, but we're trying to keep this just for shop owners.

21:08So, um, I know people would just want to come in there for the shenanigans, but we're going to be serious. We're going to have a serious conversation about owning a bit— it's not going to be serious. We're going to try to be serious, but together, the 3 of us Me sitting in the middle of these 2 dingaloons, I don't know how it's gonna work out.

21:27I feel like I'm just gonna be a moderator. Like, I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm thinking it's gonna be fun. It's definitely gonna be fun because, you know, we get along really well, um, and we run our shops completely different from each other. Like, the class is More Than One Way to Skin a Cat, and there is. Yeah, like when I'm listening to forums and, you know, you give your opinion, this is what I do at my shop.

21:49Oh, that's crazy. It's not crazy, it's what I do at my shop. Yeah, if I try to do what Darren does at his shop and make it work for me, that would be crazy because then I would just be like, uh-uh. Like, so if the 7 days work for you right now, then who am I to tell you what to do? But I still want you to go fishing.

22:05Um, yeah, yeah, that's going to be fun. That's, that's my goal, is to try to just get away from the shop more. Hey, this is Tanika from Downshift with Tanika. The ASTA Expo 2026 takes place here in Raleigh, North Carolina, September 24th through 26th. The expo is an investment in Whether you're a service advisor, shop owner, manager, technician, ASTA has something for you.

22:30I am a testimony to what training, continuous education, and being connected to the right community can do for you and your business. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day, we forget that we need to grow too. So get out of your own way, step outside of your shop, meet new people, learn something, learn something new, invest in yourself. Make plans to be at ASTA Expo 2026 and use our podcast code for $25 off.

22:57That code is DOWNSHIFT25, and that again is $25 off of registration. Remember, ASTA is for you. Come learn, come connect, come grow, and I'll see you at the expo. Yep. And there's just always so much to do that you just, you almost feel guilty about stepping away for a day. Or at least I do anyway, because then you start thinking, oh man, tomorrow morning gonna get 5 calls of people checking on things that should be done that aren't.

23:27And then, you know, you get a little, little bummed out pretty quick when that happens. And no, I just need you to schedule— hey, that's what Rick calls it, scheduling your hats. Yeah, I know he still uses that. And you know, fishing can be a hat. Yeah, you're gonna have to schedule your downtime because God forbid something happens to you, Brother Darren, um, they're gonna go to the next shop.

23:50Yeah, I hate to say that, and we, we think that they won't, but come on, we're gonna have to make sure you have some fun in this next 50 years of your life. Yeah, make sure. Yeah, you can't wrench forever and don't have any stories to tell your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews. Oh, remember that time I caught that Big Mouth Bash out there.

24:12And yeah, you need those stories. I don't even know what kind of story— fiction stories, like what kind of lies— but I want you to have some stories by this time next year. Yep. So we're gonna have dimed downtime. Um, you're gonna get a service advisor, and maybe you're gonna get a minion to help you in the back. And between the two of those guys, you— or girl, whatever— you'll have a little bit more downtime.

24:34Downtime in 2027 for Darren Johnson. That's what I'm hoping is happening. And then, then I'll just have to find something to do to occupy the downtime. That don't mean you go and start working at home. Yeah, I've got a tech and, you know, we're only open 4 days a week, and so it seems like every weekend he's fixing somebody's car and doing this and doing that.

24:57I was like, dude, go fishing. I know he loves fishing, so he actually has the, um there's a camera at the pier in North Carolina, and so you can just stream whatever's happening on the pier all the time. So that's what he looked at all day at work. He was like, dude, go fishing. I think this weekend he was able to go fishing because he did say either Friday or Saturday he had nothing to do.

25:18And hopefully he's taking a good nap or catching some fish because we all need downtime for sure. Yeah. So what do you, what do you think you're going to be doing in the next 5 years? Far as the shop, what's your dream if you can do everything that you wanted to and your vision for your shop in the next 3 to 5 years?

25:35Where are you headed? Um, definitely to, uh, have some— a helper or two and just not be tied down and married to the thing. Um, I would eventually— what I'd really love to do is find a young person to train and and teach, and then maybe they could eventually take over at some point, and I could just walk away and say, here you go.

26:06Just riding off into the sunset. Yeah, lease it to somebody and just take it easy. Yeah, while I still can. You don't sound like the guy that's ever taken it easy though. Not really. Like, the last time I went on an actual vacation, I think was in 2018. Where, you know, took like a week off and went somewhere. I mean, because I don't know, going to Vision, things like that, I mean, it, it is a vacation, but then it's still kind of work.

26:38So, Darren, if you don't take those little— I know you've got the whitest legs in the whole world. If you don't take them legs to the coast somewhere and get in the sun And enjoy your life, man. Come on, man. Yeah, come on out here. We'll take you to Dirty Myrtle. Go somewhere. 2018. Oh my goodness. Okay, so vacation is happening in 2027.

27:06I don't want to hear about it. I can't even imagine. I'm sitting here always plotting on where I can go next. Well, in my, my last break after that I actually had open heart surgery maybe about 3 years ago, so I was off a few months for that. And that's, that's actually when I started discovering more about this kind of stuff, right?

27:31Um, you know, because before then I was just, you know, the goal was, oh, you just got to fix the cars and fix the challenging cars that nobody else can fix and when I was laid up recovering from surgery, I was actually watching or listening to a Scanner Danner video. And, and he had mentioned about, you know, the, uh, changing the industry and, you know, Jeff Compton, Jaded Mechanic.

27:59And, you know, as he's rattling these names off, I was writing them down. I'm like, oh, I'll have to check those out. And then started listening to those and been hooked ever since. So So that was kind of the turning point for me where I started trying to be more of an owner instead of a tech. Right. It's got to be a hard transition.

28:21I've never had that transition. I've always, you know, been on the owner's side. I'm not a technician. But laying in the hospital bed, I'm here to tell you that 5 days I spent in the hospital, it was during COVID and my kids couldn't come see me. And thank God my shop ran well without me. But it shows you, I mean, you're here today, gone today.

28:39Yeah, it's a reality, especially the older you get. You know, you're 25, you're invincible. 30, invincible. A couple things are starting to hurt. 35, and you're thinking about it. But 40, like, oh, 40, I, I'm just getting started. You are getting started, but you could also be getting finished too. So yeah, because we're not all, we're not all guaranteed 80, 70, 80 years.

29:00So, you know, don't miss out on the living part of life. But when you're laying it, laying up and You know, you can't move, you can't sneeze, you can't cough because you're worried about your incision. And then you realize the phone doesn't ring as much as you wish it would. You know, the people that you thought would be calling you, checking up on you, yeah, it was a pretty boring week for sure.

29:23Yeah. And he's like, oh man, all the things that I could do. So what was it? It is, um, Dr.— is it Dr. Seuss? All the Places You Will Go. Yeah, I need you to get that book and revisit that and say, oh, we need to do some stuff. Because you— I mean, I love owning the shop, it's fun. And I love this, you know, ASTA because of the community and all the people that I've met, um, grown to know and love.

29:47That is great. But it's nothing like memories of things other than work, because I really enjoy my employees. Like, I can laugh at those jokers every day, but I've got to get get to see stuff. Like, I know— so I turned 50 in January, and what I want to do is take off the month. I am plotting out my month of traveling.

30:10Um, you're laughing. Y'all, y'all gonna see. Yeah, Tanika, look on Facebook. It's gonna be like Traveling with Tanika. I am gonna have fun. I don't know if I'm just gonna stay in the Caribbean for 30 days, or I think I want to go up to like Canada and then go on the West Coast. I'm gonna do some stuff, you wait and see.

30:27Might be a whole nother podcast. But I, I know better, um, because I have been laid up for a week. Can't move, can't do anything. Doctor's orders. Um, and it will sober you for real. So yeah, I'm looking forward to that for you. No, it, it wasn't a— it was kind of a planned surgery, so I had about a month and a half heads up.

30:51And it, you know, I pretty much didn't take anything on. And because I've always got a backlog of cars on the lot, usually 15, 20 cars just kind of waiting and either in the process of doing things. Yeah, it's, it's too much. Are you trying to just be Captain Save Everybody and fixing all the weird stuff? That's probably a lot of it.

31:14I have gotten better at turning some— like, I quit doing heavy line you know, engine and transmission work about a year ago. I did stop doing that. And then, you know, I really enjoy drivability and the nightmare electrical things, but from a, you know, from a business standpoint, it makes no sense at all. So I've been starting to turn some of that away too.

31:40And, but, you know, The day that I left for that surgery, there wasn't a single car on my property. And I'm like, okay, when I get back, this is the way it's gonna be. I'm just gonna take in a few a day and they'll leave and then get a few new ones tomorrow and not gonna let things pile up ever again. And then, yeah, a couple months after that, it was back to the way it was.

32:07So yeah, well, like you were saying, maybe once you find that, um, young technician that you can share all of your knowledge, because it sounds like you know how to do everything, you're You're a unicorn, um, if I can say that. I think you might be a unicorn tech. And, uh, give him some of that unicorn magic because I believe there's kids out there that just want it.

32:26They're going to be coachable. You might have to throw a wrench under them every now and again, but, you know, find somebody to pass that knowledge off to. That would be a different kind of reward that you would, you know, gain. So yeah, you can still— you might still be able to do some of the crazy work that you like it. You like— oh yeah, like you said, it doesn't make any financial sense all the time, but everything doesn't have to make financial sense.

32:49You know, you got somebody, they're having a problem, you know how to solve it, you're just like, I'm not going to make any money off of it, but let me get this done real quick because I know how to do it. So yeah, not telling you not to, but maybe slow it down and teach somebody else how to do it so you'll be winning and winning.

33:10And the same way you scheduled that time off for your open heart surgery, you can schedule the time off for that trip. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to get everything pretty much cleared out before ASTA. Oh yeah, you got that coming up too. I won't be stressed out thinking about everything that I've left behind. And because to be honest, I was When I went to Vision again this year, I actually— I have a friend that's a tech.

33:41We've been friends forever, and he lives about an hour away from me. And I basically kind of paid his way to go. That way I would have somebody to hold me accountable, to make me stay there, right? So, and then when you get to Raleigh, I'm taking your flip phone. He's actually coming to ASTA with me also. Yeah, okay. Yep. So what's his name?

34:06What we're gonna do, as soon as you get to Raleigh and I see you in the crowd, I'm coming to take your flip phone. Yeah, give it here. But nobody's gonna be able to contact you. It's gonna be a wrap. You can have it back on Saturday night or Sunday, whenever your flight leaves. We're, we're actually driving. We're, we're making the road trip.

34:24How long of a drive is that? Oh, I I think he said it's like 18 hours. Oh my God. Yeah, I, I don't know if I can sit still that long, but that's a lot. Yeah, yeah. You're driving 18 hours to come to Vision? Oh, he's coming to— not Vision, coming to ASTA. 18 hours? Yeah, I think, I think we're gonna leave like Monday night and go maybe 4 or 5 hours, stay somewhere, and then Yeah, well, I think on the way there we're gonna probably split it up into 2 or 3 days and just kind of see some stuff along the way.

35:00And good, that'll be like a vacation for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So all you have to do is take the phone, pack it in your suitcase, and put it in the trunk because you're gonna be like, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, turn around, we gotta go back. I've got to fix this electrical issue. Well, then that's kind of what happened to me again this year.

35:24I drove to Kansas City and then I got a few messages. My answering service gal sent me some messages from some disgruntled people. And I was kind of— same thing. I was kind of just ready to come back. But having him there just kind of actually forced me to stay. Once I kind of got out of my own head after a few hours, then I was good the rest of the time.

35:51But yeah, well, that kind of gets on my nerves that these people know that you're out training. Like, if you're answering services say, okay, he's not in the office, he's at a training to learn how to be a better technician for you, how can they get mad? And it's— I shouldn't really make it sound that way. It's like they're frustrated because they can't get their corn right away.

36:12It's like you have 100 good people, then you have 1 or 2 bad ones, and those are the ones that you that you dwell on. You know, the— I mean, I'd say 95% of my clientele appreciates what I do for them, and they're more than happy to wait, and that they're understanding. It's just that 5% that kind of spoils it for you.

36:36So I want you to figure out at the expo how to, um, either fix that 5% or fire that 5%. Yeah, because that 5% that's getting on your nerves, I wonder how much money that 5% actually spends and how much negotiating they do and how much, oh, I can bring my own parts, they do. Like, yeah, probably your headaches. Oh yeah, yeah, I, I used to do that.

37:06And then once, um, well, with TechMetric, you know, I don't know if you use it, what, um do? What software to use? So you know how you can rate your clients, the green, the red, and whatever, huh? Oh, I'll give you a dot in a minute. I will give you a red dot if you make my blood pressure go up every time you call.

37:24No, and I mean it. I mean it. The last red dot, it was like ice or snow we had, and he actually had his car towed in. And I had declined his services before. I was like, hey, we no longer want to work on your car. Messed up his car and had an accident. During the snowstorm or whatever, was told it was sitting there when he got there.

37:40I told him, come get it. And his boss, which is a good customer, said, hey, um, you won't fix his car? And I was like, no. He said, you won't fix it for me? I said, no. I said, because I told him the last time that he disrespected my service advisor, that was the last time, and I meant it. And I know it was a good job.

37:57I know it was going to be a good job. And he would have paid— and actually, he would have paid full price after he cussed for about 3 days. But then I was like, you know what, I'm not doing this with you this time. And I meant it. I was like, you got to come tow it away. Sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're gonna— Darren's gonna learn that.

38:15He's gonna get rid of that crazy 5%. He's gonna take vacation and, uh, he's gonna hire a minion. There's also 2027. It's happening. Sounds good. That's what— that's it. That's happening. I'm telling you, don't make me come to Kansas. You probably don't want to come to Kansas. No, I came to Kansas one time for— actually, I've been to Kansas twice. I guess you were there for Vision.

38:38I was there for Vision. Oh, every time I come to Kansas, there's some crap. So last time I left Vision, that's when we were at the airport and everybody was locked down because there was a bomb threat. Oh yeah, yeah, I was stuck in the hotel for that. And thank goodness for points, because everybody was just stuck in this hotel lobby because I wasn't able to get into the airport.

39:00I just got a hotel room and went to sleep. I said, you know what, I'll just sleep here until my next flight. Um, time before that, I was there for a 20-group meeting with the Institute, and I was in the hotel the night before getting ready to go to the airport the next day, and a storm came through. And I think we were like doing live shenanigans with Mike, and this storm— I was like, whoa, it was too funny.

39:22I was like, hey y'all, I think I'm gonna die in Kansas. Um, I really don't want to die here because it was a crazy storm. I think I've been 3 times. I think I went to one of the Rick White lives in Kansas too. I can't remember exactly who shot me. That was before I was a client, but I think they did one a couple of years ago.

39:46I can't remember whose shop it was, but it was in— I can, I can see her. I think she's got 2 wonderful kids. I can see her and her husband. Is that, uh, is that Kansas? Uh, Candace? Yeah, Candace and Jesse. We went to their shop. They're about an hour and a half from me, and I've, I've never met them, but I, I want to one of these days.

40:09Maybe just take a day off and go up there. They are funny. I remember we were going somewhere, and I don't know who was Jesse saying, you know, your dog runs away in Kansas because it's so flat, you can see him running down the road for like 3 days. Because it is, it's like so flat, there's nothing out there. Well, anyway, so we've got a plan for ASTA.

40:30You're going to come to all the social events. I'm going to take your flip phone. We're going to get rid of the 5%. We're going to plan a vacation, and we're going to work on saying no. Sounds good. Sounds like a plan. And so, oh, so audience, so what we're going to do is Darren and I, you're going to go to ASTA, and then we're going to record maybe 3 months after that.

40:50And kind of see what you learned, how you felt about it, and then what you were able to implement. Sure. So like, I'm really putting you out there to the internet right now because if you fail me, Darren, it's gonna be ugly. So the world is going to be watching you become less of a people pleaser. No, no pressure. We, we want a vacation planned, um, we want scheduled appointments, and we want to hear you actually say, oh yeah, I took Sunday off and I only went to work from 8 to 12 or 7 to 12 on Saturday.

41:27That's what we're looking forward to hearing, a real business owner that the business is not owning you. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. What else do you do? Well, you don't do anything in your spare time. You got dogs, cats, kids? What are you doing? Oh, um, no kids. Have a kind of a long-term girlfriend. We've been together for quite a while, and she has a daughter.

41:51She's 24. And then got a, got a dog. She has a dog, so we have to take the dog for a nightly ride. That's our nightly, nightly routine after supper. The dog has to, has to go ride around for about a half hour. And so yeah, nothing too exciting about you working so much. Oh, I, I don't think she's too crazy about it, but right, um, I mean, she kind of knows what I'm going through and she's pretty understanding of it.

42:25Yeah, we got to get that puppy some more rides, some morning rides with the puppy. Yeah, that's our goals. All right, so that's the plan. Darren's gonna drive 18 hours to ASTA. There are planes that will come to Raleigh from Kansas. Yeah, I've been on those planes. Like, you can get on the plane. But anyway, if you don't want to do that, that's fine.

42:49And then you're going to come and hang with everybody, gonna make a lot of new friends. Everybody's gonna be friends on Facebook, exchange numbers. It's going to take you a long time because you got a flip phone. Um, yeah, don't come up with a master plan. We're gonna have a lot of fun, and then we're gonna reconnect. Well, we're gonna connect anyway on a weekly basis, but we're gonna reconnect with internet, um, after that and, and see how everything is going for you.

43:14Fair enough? Sounds great. Yay! No pressure. I'm also, also looking forward— one of the other things I'm looking forward to when I'm there is meeting, meeting up with some of my 180 Biz family too, because that's been really like 180 Biz family. Yeah, those are my original OG crew. Yeah, I wasn't able to make it to the last Rick Live last month.

43:39But I'm hopefully— I mean, I'm sure there'll be quite a few people at ASTA that I can meet, meet in person. And definitely going to make it to the next one though. I'm not even sure if there's anybody in my original core group that I don't speak to still. Like, Michael Gunther was in my core group, Benji Burris, um, Buck and Buckaroo Bob.

44:04John Firm. Let's see, um, oh man, well, Mustache Mike, he's, he's not in the industry anymore, but yeah, we had a crazy funny group. It was fun, it was fun. There's nothing like those connections, dude. But you didn't get to go to the last Rick Live? I— no, I wasn't able to. We, we actually had a family reunion that weekend, and it was a hard choice to make, but you know, as much as I hate to say it, you know, everybody's getting older and Right.

44:33Doing the family thing's pretty important too. So definitely. So we did, did that. And then, but definitely going to make the next one. And yeah, it's been, been great working with them. It's, you know, I hop into the open hours some and usually don't really have much to say, but just to kind of sit and linger and listen and kind of learn a lot just from listening.

44:59Like, I, I have it on my calendar at 9:10 Monday morning. Oh yeah, get in there. I'm sitting in there listening. Yeah. Um, because there's so much wisdom right there. And then the, like you said, the networking is the best. And so I remember, and I do still deal with all of those people, and it's a great experience. It really was a great experience.

45:18So I do recommend 180 Biz a whole lot to a lot of people. Like, oh, what do you recommend? Like, well, where are you in your business? Oh, this is my first coach. This is your first coaching experience? I think you need to talk to Rick. Yeah, yeah, for sure. It's not just a plug. He doesn't pay me to say that. I truly believe in that whole process.

45:36He's actually my service advisor's in training with, um, with 180 right now because I think that was a perfect fit for her, you know, even though I coach currently with the Institute. But, um, I felt like, okay, this is a good fit for her, and I want— that's where I wanted her to be, and she agreed. She definitely agreed with that. So there's something— there's a little magic he has.

45:57Magic. I don't know if it's that— that's really iced tea in Rick's cup all the time. I don't know if that's hot tea or whatever he's drinking. It's like some kind of magic soup, and he's got all the magic words coming out, and they hit home all the time. Yep. Yes, they always hit home. And just like, dang on it, you called me on my crap, and I'm not even— I'm not even paying you for this.

46:20Always something good in coaching. But so for those that don't believe in coaching, that's between you and the Lord. But, um, you just don't know what you don't know. And in my opinion, everybody at some point needs to experience coaching. Yeah, it, it's definitely made a world of difference in my— even just in my mental health and an attitude about everything. I, I should have done it years ago.

46:48You know, when I met him the first time, you know, we, he just sat and we talked for about an hour and there was no pressure or anything. And I, right. I signed up for the, uh, oh, I can't remember what they called it. The, the Pocket Business Genius. Yeah. Where you can kind of get the, you know, the library of videos and then you get the one, the one live one once a month.

47:12And I did that right away and watched a lot of that. And then when I, when I met with him again at Vision last year, I just said, yep, I think I'm, I think I'm ready to do it. I mean, that's, that's my story. I'm glad, I'm glad that I did. Yeah. So I didn't even think to ask you because you said you've been to, you know, trainings, but this is your first coaching experience, Rick White 180?

47:37Uh-huh. How different do you think your business and the way you run things would be if you started this 5 to 10 years ago? Oh, it'd be night and day difference. Yeah, I wish— I hope that a lot more shop owners understand that. Um, and then people will say, I don't have the money for it. It's like, you really can't afford not to do it, and you don't know how much you're missing or how much you're costing yourself, and that that training will actually pay for itself, whether it's physical or mental health, business growth, or whatever.

48:15That training truly pays for itself. Yeah, you can't do it all on your own. You don't know everything. Yeah, I was like, oh, I know how to do that. One thing that my dad— I was with my father this past Wednesday. I was just sitting out there talking to him. I was talking about, you know, what we got going on, being so busy helping getting ready for ASTA, and He was like, I really wish that I had this, what you're doing, when I was running the shop.

48:38He's like, I had, you know, I was— he's a body man. He's like, I'm good. He's trained a lot of body men. He's really good at that body paint. It's got that, do it blindfolded. Um, he said, but I really wish that I did have this training opportunities that you guys have. And then it's quite scary, like we're talking about, you know, the local shops.

48:56Um, how many local shops just do not participate? Yeah, the ones that do, you know, that I do communicate with, we say the same things. Like, I cannot believe you just don't participate, and it's right here in your backyard. Like, you're driving 18 hours to get what you need, and some people won't even drive 30 minutes, an hour, 45 minutes, or 2.

49:15Oh yeah, yeah, it's like, okay, yeah. And they, they get left behind really quick if they don't, if they don't train. Yep. Those are the shops that are calling other shops trying to figure out what they charge and just undercutting what they charge and all of that stuff. Yeah. It's like, what's your labor rate? My labor rate is XYZ. Whoa. Yeah. And that used to be me.

49:37We all, I mean, we all kind of get along and everybody, oh, I'm, I'm going up next month and everybody else would too. And, and, you know, now I, I know for a fact I have the highest labor rate in my town of, of all the independents and, and I was scared to do that, you know, once I signed up with Rick and we kind of came up with a rate where I need to be.

50:04And I was just really scared and really nervous to do it and haven't, haven't had any pushback whatsoever. Right, same. I remember, I have to look it up, but my average repair order was so sorry, it was so sad that, um, Benji Burris, well, I mean, he laughed He wasn't laughing at me, he was just like, sister, been there, done that. And now I can sit back like, dang, I did what?

50:30You know, I'm still at that time was fixing tractor trailers and lawnmower tires and doing stuff like that. Like, hey, can I drop off my lawnmower tire up there? Like, yes. And then you spend all this time and effort on a stupid tire. Yeah, you got $12 and your tech's looking at you like, what are we doing? So yeah, but you just don't— you don't want to tell anybody no.

50:52And it was hard for me because, you know, we've been around for 46 years now, and these are people that saw me grow up, and these are all my dad's friends. And, uh, well, your daddy used to do this, and your daddy used to do that. I was like, well, you know, I got to pay my daddy rent now, and so I can't afford to do this anymore.

51:11Like, it is a reality, you know, that comes about, like Why am I doing this? And those same people, that same 5%, wouldn't— they wouldn't buy the tire from me. They'd go to Walmart and buy the tire and then want to bring it, or they'd have it shipped in. I'm just like, don't treat me like that. So yeah, yeah, it's a mental game that you have to learn how to pick and choose your clients, how to tell them no properly.

51:38It's like, no, we can't do that, but we can do this. And Training yourself to learn how to say no and not just be the person that does everything for everybody, but nobody does anything for you. Yeah. Yeah. And then one of the other big lessons I learned when I first started with Rick was, and he had mentioned it earlier, the scheduling your hats lesson.

52:00That, that's made a world of difference for me too. Scheduling hats. And that was a big deal for me because I'm a micromanager. By default, I'm gonna try to do everything all at once, all at the same time, all the things all at the same time, because I'm the only one that can do it. I'm the best at it. So all the hats— marketing, accounting, payroll, blah blah— I would just be doing it all, but I would be doing it at about 70% of what it should be done.

52:26Yeah. But when I learned to schedule my hats, and I still have to do that, like, okay, it's on my calendar. Monday, Monday morning, morning, I audit my phone calls and I audit ROs. Um, Wednesdays I work on my social media, my Google presence, and whatever. So I still schedule that stuff even though I'm not on the count— the counter, and I don't have to be a service advisor anymore.

52:45But there's still these other hats that I have to schedule to make sure when I'm doing that, I'm giving it 100%. And when I shut my door, like, if the door's shut, don't come knocking. If it's on fire, then come knocking. But yeah, don't interrupt. This is the time I've scheduled for this. This is the time I've scheduled for that. And this is the time that I've scheduled that I'm leaving at 3 o'clock.

53:10Yeah, hint hint. But yeah, scheduling your hats, that was a good one. Scheduling your hats, scheduling your hats, learning to say no. And, um, scheduling hats was a big deal for me, and pricing properly and not worrying about nobody else's labor rate. That was a big one for me. And, um, presenting all the work and not being afraid to say, hey, you need more than an oil change, brother.

53:38And also learn, yeah, you're gonna need this. This is the work that you need. And most of the time it's like, oh, okay then, I'll get it done. Yeah, so trusting myself that it was— I was a business owner and I had control over what came in and out. Control over my schedule and that clients don't get to tell me what's going to happen and when it's going to happen.

54:01Yeah, I need this done today. Yeah, um, me too, but that's not happening. It is 4:45. You like— we're in a retirement community, so the funniest thing is when somebody comes in the door at 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon and I know you don't have a damn job. Like, Mr. Ben, you've watched TV today, you've watched— walked the dogs 10 times.

54:22And I will ask, oh, my tire pressure light is on. How long has it been on? For about 2 weeks. Well, it's gonna be on one more day. We're gonna schedule for 10 o'clock in the morning. Oh, I can't get up that early, sir. You know, if you had a doctor's appointment at 10 o'clock in the morning, you know where you go?

54:38You'd go at 10. Yeah, we will see you at 10 o'clock in the morning. Your tire's not flat. You got tire pressure light that's been on 2 weeks, and now you want to come in here and get on my nerves, and I'm just trying to get these last couple cars out. So yeah, we— I might have a tech look at that. Can you be here about 10?

54:54Yeah, yeah, yeah. Instead of making that stop everything that they're doing to try to look for this mystery nail or whatever that's probably not even there. It's probably just like, did you check it? No. And then somebody's gonna be— yeah, you're gonna get a lot of that. Somebody's gonna be in the comments, and I don't read my comments anymore, and they're gonna say, oh, all you got to do is check the tire pressure real quick.

55:18Yeah. All he had to do was get his butt up in the morning and get here earlier. Like, getting here 15 minutes before I close— you think you're serving the community by just jumping at everything? Because I will ask the question, like, okay, so how long has that light been on? Oh, it's been on for 2 weeks. It just came on. That's a different conversation.

55:39It just came on, and it's— and, you know, I need to have this checked. Okay, let me check this real quick. But if you don't care any more than— I can't care any more than you. It's like the person with the tire, you know, the check engine light. Let's not even say tire pressure, your check engine light. Well, when did it come on?

55:52It came on about 6 months ago. It's time for me to pass inspection. I need it fixed now. Okay, so we have an appointment on next Tuesday. Can you drop it off with me then? You can't look at it right now? Yeah, and I get a lot of that too. It's, you know, I kind of almost call it like the service station mentality.

56:12I get a lot of A lot of them that just will pull up random throughout the day and, oh, hey, right in front of the bay, right there. Could you come and look at this real quick? Can you? Yeah, my engine light's on. Can you scan it real fast? Real quick. Yeah. And it's like, you know what, t-shirt. Once you get 8 or 10 of those a day, then 2 or 3 hours of your day is gone.

56:37And then you're just that much further behind. And it's sad, but especially in the wintertime, we're right off of the highway. And so— and don't get me wrong, I— like I said, I don't even read the comments anymore. I love helping people, but I also know the people that are just using us. It's like, okay, tire pressures are going to start coming on in October, November, whenever it gets cold, right?

57:01And the first thing I'm going to ask you, if you are a young man or a young woman Have you checked it? No. Okay, great. Now if I check it, I'm going to check it thoroughly. If you just want to top off your tires, I'm going to need you to go to the gas station right next door. Now somebody in the comments is— they're going to say, well, that's not good customer service.

57:24You got the opportunity to gain a new client. I've tried that and it doesn't work in my location. Yeah, okay, because if I put air in the tire and I just release it and the light comes back on, I've got 1-star reviews. I got my tire, my light came right back on. So if I'm going to do it, I'm checking all 4 tires for something in it, I'm checking all tire pressures, and I'm doing a DBI.

57:45Because the last person that touches it is the last person that's responsible. Oh yeah. So I don't just top off air because I've been burned by that. Now if you have the gas station mentality and you have enough crew to get it done at your shop, people out there in the internet You do that, but as for me and my tribe, we don't play that anymore because there's 4 gas stations that you pass to get to me.

58:10Yeah. And oh, and you want to come use my free air? My air is not free because my compressor is not free and that hose wasn't free and that guy that's putting air in it, he's not free. You cannot go to a gas station in North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and not pay $5 at that little air pump. Yeah. And they don't want to pay that $5.

58:31But if I put air in it and I don't properly check it and something happens, I'm the evil person. So I really think I'm evil because I'm not going to jump and just check your tire pressure. Because I can say, yes, I can check your tire pressure, but it's going to take a while because I need to check it properly. I want to make sure there's nothing in there, make sure your valve stem's not leaking.

58:51We're going to, you know, correct all 4 tire pressures and get you back on the road once we reset your light. I just want you to put some air in it real quick. Well, you can just go right there. Yeah, yeah, I gave you options. So that's the thing about saying no, Darren. So you have to say no, and then you have to give them options.

59:08No, we can't do that, but we can do this. How would that work for you? Yeah, we got all off subject. I get mad about stuff like that, man. I don't like to feel used. Anyway, yep. All right, so, well, again, 18 hours to ASTA. I will see you September 23rd or 24th. When you guys think you'll get here? Um, probably Wednesday, probably Wednesday evening.

59:40Yeah, so yeah, I actually checked into the hotel Wednesday afternoon, so it'll be plenty of people there Wednesday night. For sure already, even though classes don't start. And we're staying right there at the convention center. So, okay, so you'll be in the middle of everything. Yep, figure that would— that'd be the best way to do it and can meet and hang out and stagger up to the room.

1:00:04There you go. Ah, that's my dude. Stagger up to the room. What's in your cup? What's in your cup? Um, so hey, I'm excited to meet you. I'm so glad that you're coming, that you're making the effort, and I'll see you in the lobby of the hotel in a couple weeks. That did not sound right. Oh my God. Um, tell your girlfriend not me, not like that.

1:00:22Um, but we're gonna have some fun. I'm excited that you're coming. And, um, then listeners don't have to listen out for part 2. We're gonna find, like I said, find out, you know, how your experience went, what you've implemented, and what have you changed in your business. Sounds great. Downshift with Tanika is where we slow down long enough to have real conversations, hosted by myself, second generation shop owner, Tanika Haynes.

1:00:46This goes beyond your car count, your KPIs. We want to talk about leadership, legacy, mindset, and the messy, beautiful journey of building something that lasts. You will hear stories from shop owners, technicians, and other industry leaders who are figuring it all out by themselves in real time. This is a space for growth, tough love, laughter, and leveling up.