Boobs, Business & Building Culture That Lasts | Benjie Burris & Callie Johnson - Ep 15
Now playing — Downshift with Tonnika
About this episode
Consistency is key - heard that! But, consistency is HARD. That's why I gave up on trying and let the experts handle it. Detect Auto.…
Key takeaways
- —Community involvement is crucial for building trust and loyalty among customers.
- —A strong team is essential for consistent shop performance and customer satisfaction.
- —Networking at industry events can lead to valuable connections and opportunities.
- —Engaging with local schools and organizations enhances community relations.
- —Leadership in the shop requires balancing technical skills with people management.
Frequently asked
- How can shop owners effectively engage with their local community?
- Shop owners can engage by participating in local events, supporting schools, and volunteering for community service projects. This builds goodwill and strengthens customer relationships.
- What are the benefits of networking at industry events?
- Networking allows shop owners to share best practices, learn from others' experiences, and create partnerships that can enhance their business operations.
- Why is having a strong team important for a shop?
- A strong team ensures that the shop runs smoothly, maintains high service quality, and provides a consistent customer experience, regardless of individual staff changes.
▸Full transcript
Funny story, we met over a pair of boobs. Boobs. B-O-O-B-S. Boobs. Boobs. Titties. Titties. Tatas. Tatas. Do tell. I had to go into the glove box to get a wheel key out of it, a registration card or something like that. And there's a pair of fake boobs in the glove box. And there's nobody there but me and her. So I walk into the office, and I've got her fake boobs in my hand.
I said, hey, is there something you need to tell me? And I mean, we had never really talked a whole lot. And she's like, yeah, get your hands off my boobs. Yeah, I can hear that. Yep. And it was all love. It was love from there on. Welcome to Downshift with my sis, Taneka 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. People who are listening now understand that what Braxton just said was really stupid. And we just put up with it. So what's up, guys? Hi. Hey. We are here at Fueling Connections 2026 with ASTA. We snuck away. Becky Witt is dropping knowledge bombs in the room down the way, but we are at UTI in Morrisville, North Carolina.
Yes. Glad you got that right. Super. Well, it's so it's UTI and then it's the NASCAR something Institute. What? It's not Institute. Performance Center. Yes, it used to be NASCAR Tech School. But it's no longer. No, it's UTI. And on this campus for UTI is the NASCAR Performance something something. Yes. So don't hurt yourself. It's okay. It's not my feelings. It's my head that hurts.
Oh, okay. So that'll teach you to stay up drinking all night. Hydrate. It's key. So actually, I got in last night at like 10 o'clock. We had just got back from the restaurant. I'm not going to lie. I was surprised when I seen you this morning. I really was, because I was like, damn, Mike ain't even going to show up for this.
What the hell? Well, I couldn't make it yesterday for the board meeting because I'm lame. But my kids had a tennis match. Kids, singular. One of my kids had a tennis match and it ran late and we didn't— Let's just not go shoving people's stuff in women's space. Speak into the microphone. Speak into the microphone. How's the camera view for her now?
That's got my whole face blocked. Jeez. Last time you didn't have a damn mic on. Don't look at me for that. And got called out on it, I might add. Y'all recorded a whole podcast with no mic on? That was Lucas's gear. It was Lucas's gear that he insisted that we use because it was going to be way better. He's trying to hold his sister down.
That's it. And the audio was a hot train wreck of a mess. And it was all Braxton's fault. Yes. He wasn't there at all. And we were using somebody else's equipment. It's always weird when you use somebody else's tools. It's like you go into a shop and use somebody else's toolbox. It's just weird. Okay, that's what I've heard. I don't know, it's not like I've ever owned a toolbox.
Braxton, I'll throw you a bone. I will say that I got complimented yesterday on the introduction for Tanika's podcast. Said, said, man, I just, I love that every time you come on, I kind of start laughing. Is that good or bad? That's good. Well, did you add both? Did you do the intro recording for it? Is it you? That's awesome. Wait, hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up.
Wait a minute. You ain't even seen the intro to my podcast. I don't listen to anyone's content. None. I listen to my own. Not even— you can give me 30 seconds of your damn time. Hang on. I'm going to do it right now. No, don't listen to it. It's on YouTube. You won't have no service in here. Yeah, I connected to the Wi-Fi because I can follow instructions.
I connected to the Wi-Fi yesterday and it still sucks. I'm just saying. Don't talk amongst yourselves. I don't know what you're saying. Well, you got to listen to it, but you're going to get feedback and crap and all this stuff. Talk to you no more. So anyway. Hey, Catagrace. This is Tanika. She has a podcast I've heard. It's like Downgrade with Tanika.
What is it called? Okay. Okay. Where we going with this? I thought it was going to be friendly. We're going to do something together. But okay. It's called Downshift with Tanika, and I have a growing audience. I'm excited. I get excited when people say, I'm listening to the podcast. It's so weird. I think you are going to take over the automotive podcast world.
We'll see. It's so good. I'm not going to lie. I'm a little disappointed because I've hit the love on every single thing, and I think I've made top engagement one time. Oh my God. It's because Buckaroo Buckin' Bob is on there. I know, right? He's on everybody's top engagement. I don't do nothing but social media. Social media. Come on, man. Do you have a job?
No, he's catching fish on social media. I want to see his phone screen time report. Oh my Lord. Oh my goodness. It's like a toddler walking around. Well, his niece does that stuff, a lot of that stuff for him. She's doing a lot. He's got a social media manager with his login. Yeah, his niece does all of that, you know. Um, I can't remember her name, but she does it for him.
It's done. Yeah. Brian Pollock will occasionally send me a message and tell me who I've been fighting with on the internet most recently. Because I don't engage with any of our content almost at all. Right. But he had— he'll just log in to the admin page and just start trolling the fuck out of people. I need to hire a troll under you.
Yeah. And everybody thinks it's me that's talking. There was one dude, he was like, you know, it's obvious that you're an idiot and you don't know what the hell you're doing. I ran a successful business for XYZ years and I didn't have to get rid of it until I had my divorce. And now I'm a service manager, yada yada. And so Brian was like, hey bro, cool story.
If ever we need to do an episode on how to lose your business and your marriage at one time, we'll call you up. Oh my God. And I was like, does this dude live near me? Do I need to be looking behind my back? Yes. He's like, nah, Chuck, he's in California. Now I never know if I should respond to everybody. Like I usually, I had to delete a lot of them that were just rude, but I just, I stopped responding.
I'll do a check or a heart every now and again, and then I'm just like, you guys are stupid, especially on TikTok. Yeah, this is toxic, man. The comment section is super toxic. I don't, I don't even know what's there anymore. I mean, and plus I got a fair amount of rage bait, right? Which, what does rage bait do? It brings out the haters.
Yeah. Um, Lucas gives us a really hard time about our tendency to lean towards rage bait because I just love kind of being a troll and stirring the pot, right? 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. That'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. Detect 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 shop runs. And let me tell you, I've been using it for over a year now. My ARO is up 63%. That'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. It's like you need to have like reasonable, thoughtful, nuanced discourse to help bring the industry along.
And, and my whole response to that is Lucas, how long have we known each other? Have you ever known me to have reasonable, thoughtful nuance discourse? It's kind of your gig, dog. So does that mean you're going to start making walking videos? Walkie-talkies. Walkie-talkies. Yeah. I mean, some people say that I look like I probably need to get a little cardio in.
Walkie-talkies uphill. Horrible. Somebody told you that? Uphill both ways. Oh, honey. Have you ever been on the internet? Gosh. Kelly, you're too nice. She's a sweetie. You're too nice. So I will say that it is time for Summer Olympics Part 2. We're recording this one week before Tools in Pennsylvania. Last year at Tools— Well, you're not going this time, so nobody got to smell your shit.
I was 3 months into the shot, right? And I hate— one, I hate needles, and two, I had poop breath. I had sulfur breath was a thing. And so I stopped because my breath actually smelled like actual poop. Like clear a room type stuff. Yeah. And he was just sitting there eating the mints like— I was trying to eat like Altoids nonstop.
So it was like— So it was like— Yeah, it was like curiously strong poop breath. You shit a peppermint. Yes, exactly. But now I'm on Wegovy this time, which is the pill because I'm a baby and shots make me nervous. And so we'll see how that works. And I'm going to do hormone replacement therapy and get all raged up and then I can record with David again and be like, rah, I'm more angry than you are.
No, I don't know. Please don't. We have enough of that going on. Hey, so we're gonna have Angie and Callie. That was the most random conversation. And the whole time she's been worried to death. I don't know what to say. I won't know what to talk about. You know, we're gonna talk about her big life. I have been so nervous. I've never been on a podcast.
First time. No, weren't you? Went the whole family on together one time. Yeah, she said she was in the background. Whenever we did the very first one. I was in there when y'all got on Jada Mechanic. Whenever we did the very first one with Jeff. Yeah. I actually listened to that episode. That was a great episode. You guys all did great. Just talking about the family.
Talking about the family. A great family. I don't like— you guys have the blueprint for a great family. We'll pound on them when they little. You're gonna need to write a book. That's what you need to do. How to get shit done with the family. Like, all kidding aside, um, when I came and sat in the, uh, the Parnell class, or the Limitless Leadership class that you had at the shop, um, it was obvious that you guys have like done it the right way.
Like, every family has issues, right? But your family actually likes each other, it would appear, for the most part, more often than not. Most of the time. Yeah, most of the time. Um, and It's truly a family business and the culture in your business appears to be incredible. And the community that you've built around the business, I mean, it was like, it was like some goals.
Yeah. Like what's happened there? I mean, I don't know. You think, you think that that's possible in like an urban densely populated area or you think that's a small town, like a small town existence? Oh, I think that's small town mentality, but you can bring that into the city. Well, But you gotta remember, I've been in that community my whole life. Yeah.
You know, people talk about you gotta have this and you gotta have that. Dude, I'm on a two-lane country road in the middle of a community called Frog Pond. Destination. I mean, we out in the sticks. There is a stop sign like a mile away. There's a stop sign down the road. Yeah. But you know, we, the community has taken care of us, so we've always tried to take care of the community.
And it don't matter if it's the teacher appreciation or, you know, we're constantly doing something with different schools. I truly believe in that. I really do. I truly, truly believe in that. And that's shown through everything that we do. The people that, that are in the shop now, they love it. I mean, they love it. Our kids have grown up there. I've grown up there.
You know, I've told the story many times about me and Christy meeting in the little two-bay service station.. And that's literally a half a mile down the road from where my shop is now. Now, was Christy a customer? She was a customer. My wife was a customer. She actually started coming up there when she was like 12, 13 years old, she says.
And I never really noticed her then. Funny story, we met over a pair of boobs. Once she was driving, she was about— boobs, boobs, titties, titties, the tatas. Do tell. Well, she drove a little '88 Camaro. And I had to go into the glove box to get a wheel key out of it, a registration card or something like that. And there's a pair of fake boobs in the glove box.
And there's nobody there but me and her. So I walk into the office, and I've got her fake boobs in my hand. I said, hey, is there something you need to tell me? And I mean, we had never really talked a whole lot. And she's like, yeah, get your hands off my boobs. Yeah, I can hear that. Yep. And it was all love from there.
It was love from there on. That's a real. Love from first to death. Like, how long have you had the shop though? So we opened in 2007. Okay. Well, let's back up just a little bit. So worked for a man in a two-bay service station, Avery Whitley. Worked for him from my 13th birthday. Started freshman year of high school working for him.
Parents, I wanted a horse. Parents said, you want a horse? Get a job. So I got a job sweeping the floors and wiping up tools at a little service station. And before I knew it, it was 17 years later and done married and kids and all that. Me and Christy got married in 1999, and at that time I was still working for Ave, but I would go here and work on your car and I'd go there and I'd go to this shop and that shop and driveways and out in my driveway or anywhere I could to make a living, man.
We had kids to support. So we built the first shop, which is a little Steelmaster, like Kwanzaa hut type deal. We put a little 30 by 32 up in our backyard. Could not afford concrete. I mean, all we had was the metal building with the back wall, and I had plastic hanging on the front wall. We had just enough concrete. I had a 10 by 10 square pad of concrete in the back corner.
That's where I changed the first engine at in that shop. The rest of it was just gravels. And as I got a little bit of money, I'd pour a little bit more concrete and a little bit more concrete, a little bit more concrete. The fact that you say that as you got more money, then you start to pour patch by patch. If you look at our driveway at our shop, that's how Dad did it.
Yeah. Yeah. I can't wait for you two to meet. I'm so looking forward to that. Yeah. I am so. So what I was getting at is we talked about your community and all the work that you do in the community and all that stuff. When did that become in point? Important to you? Like, was that always in you? Because you're also a Boy Scout troop leader.
Yes, ma'am. So service is in your blood. Has that always been a part of your business to be community-focused? Yeah, yeah, it really has. It really has. Um, Christy's been a teacher, you know, she was a teacher forever. So always in the schools, you know, it was always— knew about this family that needed something, or we're doing a project for the school here or whatever, and we just wanted to be a part of it.
And I don't— I mean, it wasn't really something we set out to do. We just kind of did it because it needed to be done. So you can't be a shop owner— well, you probably could— but and think, okay, I'm gonna do it like he does, like, and it'll be fake. Like, if you decide, oh, I want to be this, I want to do this for the community, you don't do it in the right way, it's not coming from your heart, I wonder if the results are going to be the same.
Servant leadership. Yeah, people can tell. Dogs can tell if you're a good person or not. People can tell. Yeah, I get bit all the time. Maybe you're just hanging out with the wrong dogs. That may be it. So, Callie. So I've known you for years as Callie Grace, and now I noticed it's Callie. What was the choice in the change of the I didn't really change it.
Some people call me Callie Grace still, and some people call me Callie. So I just go with either. Like, if somebody calls either, I'm going to answer to it. How do you introduce yourself to a stranger? Typically just Callie. Okay. Yeah, typically. She's always my Callie Grace. Yeah. To people that I really like, I like them to call me Callie Grace. Okay.
But if it's like a stranger, typically it's just Callie. So for me, just Callie then. You can do either. She doesn't know about you yet. Like, Tanika calls me Callie Grace a lot. It's Kelly Grace. Yeah, but I was really sad because I've heard the two of you referencing her all this time, so I just assumed that's the way to go. So yeah, that's, that's Niecy.
But I was really sad when it's, it's not like Kelly Grace Burris anymore. Like when I see it on social media. Yeah, I get a little— the email signature. Yeah, I'm just like, congratulations, congratulations. I was like, she's, she's married and she changed her last name. It's not even my last name. I do feel a little betrayed. I told Gage he was gonna have to be Gage Burris.
I know, right? He was gonna have to change Gage Burris. GB. I remember that. She'll always be my Kelly Grace. And you guys have moved to Texas now, right? Yes. How is Texas so far? I love it. Do you really? Yeah, I love it. We're actually going to be moving again soon, which makes me both happy and sad at the same time because we've made a great friend group down there that are like our age, Marines.
They're great people. Their spouses are great. So I'm excited. I'm excited to see if we end up going to another country or staying in the United States. That'll be something neat. It's okay, Benji. Don't cry. He'll be overseas at least once in the first 4 years, right? There's a Potential for sure of that. I'm trying to get prepared because I feel like she's going to wind up in Okinawa.
Yeah, I will be honest. I talked about it more than Gage, because when you're first married, there's not a requirement to move overseas. But if you request it, it is 100% accepted because they need people to go overseas. And a lot of people don't want to go overseas. But I've encouraged Gage for the experience of it to go overseas to like Okinawa, Japan or Italy.
Norway. Because I mean, when are you ever going to be able to move to another country on your own dime? Whereas this one, you're moving on the military and we don't have children yet. So you're doing it right. My brother was stationed in Okinawa twice and he loved it. Yeah. Everybody that we've talked to has loved it. I'm encouraging her very much, even though dad don't want to see her go.
They make airplanes. Dude, take off. You got no kids. You got nothing here to tie you down. It's a big, beautiful world we live in. Go see it. Yeah, go see it. Go enjoy it. Yeah. Frog Pond will be here when you get back. Meet interesting new people and kill them. Yeah. Great. You just get to meet interesting new people. Yeah. Yeah.
I love meeting people. The Marine's job. She don't know a stranger, so Callie will make friends no matter where she goes. She'll be fine no matter where she goes. Where'd she get that from? Her mama. That is not true. That's a lie. That comes from you. That's not true. Huh? Yeah. I was like, that comes from you. Yeah, it for sure comes from you.
We don't know strangers. We don't know strangers. I love it. Go back and you, you mentioned that you're heavily involved with the schools and kind of partnering between Frog Pond and the schools. What do you do there? For example, Teacher Appreciation Week's coming up in what, about 3 more weeks, I think, something like that. We will— first week of May. Okay, so we will literally We don't just go and buy pizzas or whatever.
Christy will cook lasagnas or whatever. She will cook and we go up and we serve the teachers. You know, we don't just go up and drop it off and say, "Thank y'all very much," and leave a business card there. We go in and we serve the teachers as they come through. Now, you can't cook for students, but the teachers, yeah, they don't care.
They'll eat anything. So, yeah, you know, just that kind of stuff. And it don't matter if it's football team, baseball, basketball, cheerleading. You know, Callie Grace was in cheerleading forever. Or so, we would constantly do something for the different athletes, whatever they needed. And, and the schools know the businesses that they can depend on, that they, they reach out to. And we get a list all the time.
Girl Scout troops, Boy Scout troops, just anything that involves community outreach, anything we can do in the community. So I think what's important there is what you're talking about is not just writing a check. Writing a check is nice too, right? They need that, but they need boots on the ground. Giving of your time and your attention makes a big difference too.
And I think that's the difference between what we were talking about earlier, about how people can tell. Like, they're appreciative if you write the check. Sure. But if you show up and you're the hands and feet of Jesus, right, or of whatever you're trying to do community-wise, that makes a big difference. So, but again, that community is taking care of us. Yeah.
Yeah. It's because of them that we went from a 30 by 32 Steelmaster building with gravel on the floor to a 6,000 square foot shop that, you know, I can leave now. I think that you probably are a contributing factor to Lucas Underwood's struggles because he saw your shop and he was like, ooh, I want a shop like that. And he bit off more than he can chew.
And now he's like, what the hell am I going to do? Why you talk about that man when he's not here to defend himself? Because that's the most fun time to talk about him. Oh, okay, you're right. So, I know where you're located. It's not too far from Charlotte. And the community has been what it's been. I lived there around '95. That's how we got to talking, because she was like, "There's no way that you know."
I was like, "I do." Like, literally, my aunt's house is probably less than 5 miles from your home. It has grown so much. It is. And a lot of those people are people that have just been running away from Mecklenburg County. Transplants. Transplants. Do you have, how do you deal with that? How do you deal with the big city folk coming in and demanding certain things, certain way, they just don't know how it's done.
And what's that Montgomery County? Yeah, well. Like how do you train that customer? Here's the thing, when you come into our shop, you don't demand what we do because it just won't work. You know, we got— we do things our way and there's a reason we do it like that. And I've had some pretty tough conversations with customers who say, you're trying to work on my vehicle your way and I want it done my way.
I'm sorry, that doesn't work here. You know, I want just the pads replaced. I don't want the rotors turned or replaced or whatever. Sorry, dude. Yeah, people in here don't like water. Yeah, there, there's a lot of other shops around. Carry on. Just put on chains. I don't need tensioners and guides. Just put the chains on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then buy me a new engine when it blows up.
So, um, I do want to talk a little bit about Callie's new job. I love it. Yeah, I love it so much. It's been a really good change. I got to meet a ton of new people. Which has been great. I think people like what I'm doing, or I hope at least they do. I've got good feedback. So, well, you knew a lot of the kind of core people already just through Frog Pond, right?
And through coming to ASTA Expo as an attendee for years and a volunteer. So tell everyone, what is your new gig? I am the membership and events manager for the ASTA, and I'm loving it so much. And I'm going into my— this will be third Expo to attend. I remember Dad talked about it a lot. How many years have you gone? You've been, I don't even know at this point, but you invited me 3 years ago and I went.
I was nervous. I did not know what to expect and I didn't hardly know anybody. I had just started, like I was just in the very start of doing your social media. And so I was like, oh, these people are going to be older than me. They're going to be really smart. They're probably going to think I'm silly because I'm so young.
Definitely older, not smart. Not necessarily smarter. Because I was still in high school at that point. And it was so much fun. I mean, I got to meet some people and I got out of my shell. I talked to a lot of people. That's when I got to meet— What shell? I kind of had a shell back then a little bit. Come on now.
Well, maybe a little. Come on. But last year was awesome. That was when I really branched out and talked to just as many people as I could. I mean, I made so many friends there and I still text them and shop owners too. It's just great. How many people reach out to you? On a weekly basis saying, hey, will you do my social media?
I got one this morning, actually. I'll be dang. I got one this morning. I've thought about it multiple times and I was like, she's got too much stuff going on to mess with my mess. I've had several friends say, hey, would Callie Grace be interested in doing this? For the low, low price of— I'm in too. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. But I like the fact that, so you got two boys, you got a girl, Cody's working in the shop.
She's working in a shop. Other baby is playing, um, what, not Yogi the Bear? He gets paid to go out and scout for where he's going hunting. That's what I tell him all the time. He works for the Department of Wildlife. He's out there playing, he's a park ranger. But as a young lady in the automotive industry, how do you feel fitting in?
Like, does you have no qualms, no problems, no issues? You just fit into any room. Like, how do you feel about young women in an industry? I think it's a great thing. I love it. I mean, I personally, and I think it helps because I talk to everybody, but I don't really feel like I have a problem fitting in a room. And I love that saying, why fit in when you're born to stand out?
Yeah, it's one of my favorite sayings, and I really believe in that. So if I walk into a room, I want to just talk to everybody and kind of make my mark. So I'd like to view life like that. I can't wait till this year, now that she's got this new job with the ASTA. You wait till the next show coming up.
She will be in everyone's face with cameras and questions and I can see it now. Yeah. Well, we need that kind of engagement. It's going to be a busy, busy, busy week for you. But I'm very excited and I've came up with all kinds of video ideas already that I'm plotting out for it. Uh-oh. And I got, I can work with my smile and talk people into doing videos.
So I'm really hoping I can just all kinds of strangers and people I've never met before. Hopefully I can get them in videos too, because I want to branch out and meet new people there. Well, I mean, it was what, like 1,200, 1,300 people there last year? Yeah. So I think there'll probably be 1,500 or 1,600 people there this year. So a lot of opportunities to meet folks.
Yeah, no doubt. I think it's the best networking event in the industry. Like, it's not the biggest, obviously, but at a certain point you get so big that it's impossible to have the opportunity to network with everyone. But with the social events that happened before and during and after, casino night, the spectacular hospitality suite, I mean, it's just, there's so much opportunity to find the people that you want to connect with and you have multiple chances to make that connection and build relationships.
And from a vendor perspective, I mean, there are vendors that show up just in time to set their booth up and they stand at their booth awkwardly and then they leave and they're like, I didn't get anything from ASC Expo. You get out of it what you put into it. Come to the pizza party, come to casino night, go to the pre-party.
Yeah. The pre-party last year was insane. Yeah. I mean, that was like, that was amazing. Yeah. That was a lot of fun. Yeah. Like, and then shop owners that look from the outside in, they're looking at our social media and they haven't come to the expo yet and then they're afraid to come because someone said that it kind of looks cliquey. It's not.
It's not. I would say it's the least cliquey event. It's the least cliquey event. I mean, unless you want to consider 1,200 people a clique. Yeah, 1,200 people clique. Yeah, because we all clique. Yeah. We have a great time. Like there's a spot for everybody. Yeah. Everybody, any shop owner, multiple shop owner, new shop owner, still mobile guy, still doing what you did in the beginning, whatever stage you're at in your business, there's something for everybody.
Yeah. I was— there's a dude here who's Fueling Connections today, and he was in this room because like at 7:50 this morning they were sending people down here instead of the auditorium by accident. So I came in and started talking. He was like, you don't remember me, but we met at the expo last year. And he was a technician who was a high-volume, high-hour-producing technician.
He's making a lot of money. And he said, you know, the conversation that we had last year had a significant impact on me, and I'm no longer a wrench. He's a service director. And he— the conversation that we had with him led him to change his career. Well, look at us. And I'm like, I'm like, dude, I don't even remember you, dog.
But it does feel like it gets overwhelming sometimes. But here's the deal. You're going to meet hundreds of people. The conversations that are had, it's like there's no disrespect meant in the fact that I don't remember this guy. It's just one of 40 conversations you have that day, right? Um, can be impactful on others and on yourself. Because I've had conversations at the Expo before that had a major impact on the direction that I went in my business and in my life.
And it's neat to know that we're having those conversations now that are having an impact. And the dude, he's here getting leadership training because he's now in a leadership role. He went from a technical role to a leadership role. He thought he wanted to own and open his own shop, and he went to Dutch's class about— for technicians that are wanting to own and open their own shop.
He said, you know what, I don't want that. Yeah. I want to be in leadership for somebody else's shop. And so, I mean, there's something for everybody at that event, for any position in the shop and for any position you want to be holding in the future. And I thought that was a pretty cool conversation that just happened this morning. I remember those conversations.
I mean, that's the AST, the first one. That was, that was my game changer. I remember that very distinctively because although my guys don't really believe me, there was a time when I actually had to turn the wrenches and answer the phones and do it all. And it was that first expo. That was back when it was still IGO. That made all the difference in the world.
And it was those conversations. That's where I first met Rick White and, you know, really got to talk to Lucas. And so many people had such an impact. I was like, dude, there's got to be a better way. And I found that way. There's a lot of better— I found it at the ASCA. Same, same for me. Like, you, you went with your father because your dad used to be a part of it too.
Dad was a board member in the '90s. And I remember going to one where there was like 50 people, right? Wow. And there were as many people there manning the booths as there were attendees. And there are shows like that happening all over the country. And have been. Um, and I think one of the things that's different about what is now ASTA— it was IGO at the time— um, is the energy that other people put back into it.
And I think they developed a community and a networking, uh, environment where it was like, we are not competitors. There are more cars driving by the bay of, of the front door of my shop than can I can possibly work on, right? And we don't have to be enemies. We can share best practices. We can lean on each other for help and advice.
My second store is downtown Raleigh, and literally boom, boom, boom, it's 3 stores. The back wall of my shop, if somebody runs through the parking lot in his shop, it's going to run through the back wall of my shop. And there's 3 of those. It's King's Automotive, former IGO president. A longtime board member, current ASTA member. They come to the expo every year.
It's Car Fix. And then it's Piper's Automotive, former board president. Um, I mean, and it's like when I went to look at that building, I walked next door to each of them, said, hey guys, y'all cool with me moving in right here? Like, yeah, if I lose any customers to you, it's my fault. Yep, great. Uh, and we help each other. Yeah.
And that's, I think, what is unique about being a member of ASTA. And now we started as a, as a just a North Carolina kind of thing, right? But now it's really become Southeastern US and national and international because we've got Canadians coming in, we've got Australians coming in, we've got people coming in from the British Isles. And, uh, I just seeing the growth while maintaining that small town feel And everybody's here to help everybody.
It's been pretty awesome. So I'm excited about that. I'm excited about that too. So Callie, don't screw this up. No pressure. No pressure. No pressure. You got this. I hope not. That'll be bad. No, it's fine. You're going to do awesome. I think you're going to do awesome. So I appreciate that. Thank you. What can we expect in 2026 Expo? Any new exciting things that we should be aware of?
Keep it all under wraps. That's what I was about to say. We're just going to kind of drip it out a little bit at a time on the socials. Yeah. Kind of build up the excitement. You're saying if I'd actually made it to the board meeting yesterday, I would know. But since I didn't make it to the board meeting. Yeah. Come on, we don't got to release this episode now.
We can wait. No, this has got to be released ASAP so people know and get ready. I do have a question. When do I have to write the check for the hospitality suite? Yesterday. That's the deadline. Waiting on you. It's going to be cool. We're not in the same space as last year. How did you do that? Are they letting you bring alcoholic beverages in?
Because it's the bar. I don't think we talk about that openly and publicly. We're just going to— it just kind of happens. We're just going to relax and let it happen. Okay. Oh, I saw nothing. That's my mantra for life. No, I think it'd be great. And they said that I can bring in all the arcade games and the poker table and everything.
Really? And so That'd be fun. I don't think there's enough— the way the space lays, I'm not gonna bring all the couches and stuff again this time because while it was a super cool space last year, it was so full of people. It was crowded. Yeah, it was crowded. It was so much fun though. But you gotta bring the throne. The throne must be there.
Oh, the throne will be there, dog. So I kind of want like one of those really gaudy, obnoxious gold thrones with the big red velvet cushions. Is that velvet? You should do that and then add like an LED backlight Behind it, this red. Do not give this fool any more ideas. So it would glow like if you're sitting in the chair, red all around.
That would be so cool. That would be kind of like the throne that I got the picture of your mama in. Yeah. In the speakeasy in Mexico the other night. Did I send you that picture? I don't think so. You should try it. I keep aviator sunglasses with me at almost all times now in case I happen to walk by a throne so that I can have a picture of me with glasses and a whiskey glass.
You need a Game of Thrones throne with the knives in it. You didn't like it from the Game of Thrones? It's very violent. I'm a lover, not a hater. Just because you can't fight. That's the only reason. That's also part of it. Um, there's way too much, uh, full-frontal male nudity in that show for me. Way too many balls. Game of Thrones?
Yeah, man, a lot of balls. It just made your balls feel small? Is that why you— Bobby, because there was like 3 pair of balls in that whole show? I'm very, I'm very, uh, in touch with my balls. Thanks. Oh, we know. There's lots of stories. But keep going. Hold on. What is happening? Are you talking about the balls or the stories?
Both. No, I keep my balls nicely tucked away now. Thanks. Now. Now you wear tighty whities? What? You know, I— we just set up— You definitely don't listen to the podcast, do you? There's a story about my balls that happens. You'll have that. We set up the, we set up the signup page for the Seth Dawson class on AI that we're doing in June.
And there's a series of questions like, you know, name, address, phone number, yada yada yada. And one of them is boxers or briefs. So we'll see what the people who— or commando. No, I think you get to a certain stage in life and you learn not to go commando anymore. Oh, we'll talk about that off camera. No, we don't, we don't have to talk about that at all.
I feel like, yeah, I feel like we've already had a conversation about that on camera once. Oh my God. Um, so poor Callie doesn't know what the hell's going on. Yeah, she's just over there like, what's happening? Hey, can we, can we talk about the, uh, the flying with the Eagles this coming up? Flying with the Eagles? Yeah. I am going to miss that.
And I really wish, because my 20 group meets at the same time, but I wish— You should switch coaching companies. Oh my God. But I really wanted to. Mike, you gonna be there? What dates are they? I need to go again because I've gone twice over the years, but it's a totally new curriculum now that Matt and Joe are on. Is it like the second week back from Tools maybe?
I'm thinking very seriously about sending both of my, my guys up front. And the reason I wanted to go so bad is because I really enjoyed you and Matt's coaching. Those are the best. Those are the only ones that I listen to. It's May 14th through the 16th. Yeah, Charlotte. Matt is really good. He's really good. Homie is smart. But what's your problem?
Why can't you take directions? Um, Just because I think I know everything. So here's the thing, right? Maybe I should be a coach because I've been to all the classes and I know all the right things to say. I just totally fail on implementation. Yeah, I fail on implementation and accountability. I'm— but you also go to a lot of UNC games and you should not be playing.
You should just be like— you just say you went to all the classes and so you should be a coach. That's like saying I went to all the games and I should be a player. Those who can do Those who can't coach, right? Teach? No, I don't know. We're doing a class at the expo. You realize that? You're talking people out of taking our class at the expo.
No, they're coming to see me. Oh, that's true. They're not coming to see you, Otis. You two's doing a class. And Lucas, the three of us. Oh, that'd be good. Oh my. That'd be good. Owners only. Oh my. No sponsors, no coaches. Well, you know I'm gonna be. No. Unless you're there for AV. No, he's going to be there for AV. He's going to be walking around with a microphone.
He's going to be— he's going to be Vanna White. You have to wear a ball gown. Sequins. Okay, Braxton, go ahead and let your hair grow out. It's happening. I feel like Braxton is probably a drag queen, um, like once a month, every third Wednesday. What is his name? Um, what would be your drag queen name? Braxtina. Ryan, hold on. Braxtina, he doesn't have a mic, nobody can hear him.
Braxtina, he agrees, cat's out of the bag. We have a small problem. We got a small problem. I'm texting Ryan about it. Hold on. We got a— the caterer's out front. Okay. And they're— Callie Grace is trying to get a hold of Ryan so somebody can go out there and pick up the food. I mean, we can go. How long we been talking?
40. 40 minutes. Yeah, I mean, I can go out there. ASTA Expo, September 24th through 26th. Come down early, come visit Brown's Automotive, come visit Car Fix, come visit the Car Fix Confessions of a Shop Owner Bar and Lounge, astaexpo.com or astausa.org. You can find us on social media. All of it. Like, follow for more and wear underwear. Come see what all the hoopla is about.
Please. Yeah, you won't regret it. And if you think you're coming by yourself, you're not. Come find me. Yeah, come find us. Come chill. Yes. Yeah, we'll be there. We don't bite. Love, peace, and hair grease. We got to go get food. Love, peace, and hair grease. What? Downshift with Tanika is where we slow down long enough to have real conversations. Hosted by myself, second generation shop owner Tanika Haynes.
This 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.
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The Conversation Women in Automotive Need to Hear | Maryann Croce , Melissa Birdie Patterson and Tiffany Scherado-Birou - Ep 26
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ATTENTION: Shop Owners - Buy Back Your Time | Dan Thieken - Ep 24
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[00:06:11] – Andy explains why he purchased a struggling repair shop. [00:09:00] – Coaching revealed the business metrics Andy never knew existed. [00:11:54] – Average repair order nearly doubled through better processes and training. [00:16:00] – Profit sharing and community support became the business mission. [00:20:10] – Learning financial statements changed every business decision. [00:27:00] – Teamwide coaching fueled one million dollars in sales growth. [00:34:00] – Intentional leadership strengthened culture and employee development. [00:38:02] – A newly acquired second shop quickly doubled its repair order. [00:48:00] – Andy encourages owners to embrace coaching before opportunities disappear. In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode. 👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_3LVDHjy2G4 Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this! Links & Resources: Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com. Episode Transcript: The Real Story of Growing an Independent Auto Repair Shop with Andy Severin 06242026 Jimmy Lea: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or good night, depending on when and where you're joining us from today. It is a gorgeous day outside. I hope you are able to go outside and breathe in some beautiful fresh air. Hey, today is awesome. Today is going to be amazing. We've got a great conversation gonna happen with a phenomenal shop owner, with a phenomenal coach and trainer from the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. But before we get into that, let's talk about you and where you're at, and what's going on in your life. This is going to be an interactive webinar. Interactive how? In the comments section, in the questions, in the comments, put in there where you're joining us from today. Love to give you a shout-out here as we are on the live webinar. We're streaming through many different, multiple streams. Multiple live streams are going out on Facebook, and on YouTube, and on StreamYard. So we've got all these avenues that we're reaching out to the industry to, to, for us to connect, for us to come together. So drop in the comments where you're joining us from, city, state, and your shop name. Love to give you a shout-out so we can recognize everybody who is here for this live event. And it seems that everybody is shy today. Which is awesome. That's great. You know where the comment button is. When you find it, put in there your information, and we'd love to give you a shout-out here as we're on our live event. Streaming on Facebook, and on LinkedIn, and on YouTube, and on StreamYard. Oh my gosh, this is so awesome. This is so awesome. All right, for our conversation today Jennifer Holbert is here from the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. She is a shop owner. She is a a coach, an industry coach, an industry facilitator with the GEAR Performance Group, and most recently moved into the position of director of programs with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. Thank you so much, Jennifer, for being here. Good morning, good afternoon. Jennifer Hulbert: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Excited to be here. Jimmy Lea: Yes. We're gonna have an awesome conversation. I'm in the good morning part, and you're in the good afternoon part. Jennifer Hulbert: I am. Jimmy Lea: 'Cause you're in New York, right? Jennifer Hulbert: I am. Northern New York. Jimmy Lea: Northern New York, awesome. How long have you been in the industry, Jennifer? Jennifer Hulbert: Ooh 25 years? Yeah, 25 years. Jimmy Lea: So you started sweeping floors when you were, like, five, six years old then? Jennifer Hulbert: Yeah, you could say that. I started filing probably when I was in my teens, but officially joined the business in 2001 when we moved to our new building and started as service advising, accounting, marketing, and then now do it all. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No, a- and you've had a long journey with the institute as well, joining as part of the GEAR Performance groups, and then moved into being an industry coach. Jennifer Hulbert: I did. Jimmy Lea: What did that... What's that short story look like for you? Jennifer Hulbert: Yeah. I was a group member in group two for about 19 years prior to the opportunity to become a facilitator with the institute. That was four years ago, and just was recently asked and accepted the director of programs position, so I'll be overseeing all of our coaching programs with our owners coaches, our service advisors, and our managers. So just in the infancy of that position right now, and we've got lots of good work to do and lots of exciting things to bring to the industry that I'm super excited to be part of. So yeah, it's been a journey. I, and I know all the things, all the positions, so as, first time coming to a meeting to being an integral part of a group process and looking at elevating our own internal groups and the members that we were talking to, including myself. So yeah, it's been quite the journey. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. And here comes a shout-out from Downshift with Tanika. "That's my coach, Jennifer." She is. Thank you, T- Jennifer Hulbert: But love Tanika ... Jimmy Lea: Tanika's with Brown's Automotive out of- Yeah ... North Carolina. Yeah. Chapel Hill. David Boy's also saying, "Hey. Yay, Jennifer." And David, are you joining from Minnesota today? Minneapolis? Are you joining from Florida today? Where is home? Where are your feet planted today? Jennifer Hulbert: He's all over the place. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No, that's awesome. That's awesome. Th- thank you for being a coach. Thank you for being in the industry. You are an inspiration f- to many. You have influenced many, and one of those people you have influenced is Andy Severin with Andrew's Auto. Andy, how the heck are you, brother? Andy Severein: Doing wonderful, Jimmy. Good to be here. Jimmy Lea: Good. Bro, you gotta sit up or something. You look... I got out... We Andy Severein: all these people back. Jimmy Lea: There we Jennifer Hulbert: go Jimmy Lea: I'm so excited to talk to you about this conversation a- as we talk about you and your shop and your business. How long have you been in the business, Andy? What does that look like for you? Andy Severein: I started in this business when I was in high school. I swept floors in a shop when I was 14, 15 years old, and got a job working there right out of... I went to Vo-Tech when I was a senior in high school and and their work work experience program puts you out in a shop halfway through senior year. So I started working there yeah, when I was 17, 18 years old, and was in that shop for, probably till I was about 25, I believe. Wow. Left the industry for a little bit, did some different things with trucks, and was learned a lot about life skills and running a business by owning big trucks. That teaches you a lot quickly. And when I got out of that, I got into the used car side of the business in inventory management, which I had my fingers in the repair side of our inventory. I was... I'd say I was a part of this industry at that part p- that point, that time, that 10 years of my life, but in a little different aspect. Yeah, most of my life I've had my hands getting dirty somewhere. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. Isn't it funny we all start by sweeping floors? Yep. We got a shout-out coming in from David Boyd. Y- you need... You're sitting low for a tall guy. Reach up there, grab your camera, p- point it down just a little bit 'cause it looks like you're sitting on the floor. Andy Severein: It's down as far as it can go. I'm sorry. Jimmy Lea: Oh, really? That's funny. All right, Da- David, you just gotta get over it, man. Don't worry about it. Hey, so you got out, you went into trucking, you came back into into a shop. Did you go directly into owning another shop, or did you get back into turning a wrench first? Andy Severein: I went into the dealership world and- Yeah ... and purchasing and inventory management. The shop that we 10 years ago we started Andrew's Auto. There was a shop that had been in business for 50 years. It's I could see it from my house. We were that close, and it was a mess. Oh, I bet. I knew the owner. I had a relationship with the owner for years, and I planted that seed at one point. If you're, when you're interested in, in, in getting out that I'd be interested in talking. And I at that point, I don't know if my interest more was in cleaning the property up because I could see it from my house and it's that bad- ... or actually being in the auto repair business. But really my experience, the relationships I had had people coming to me constantly with advice, and had people- Yeah coming to me with looking at... They were looking for advice on their cars, and they were sharing experiences with me, experiences that they had at shops. A lot of them bad experiences. So it really it really it really Made me realize that there was a need in our area for a good, honest repair shop. Yeah. So that was my drive behind it, not having any idea what I was getting into at that point. I just knew how to work on cars. That w- that was really it. But thankfully through my life I've worked for some really good people, and looking back through, all the way back to when I was sweeping floors, what I learned from each one of those employers and even my years in, in being in trucking, what I've learned from each thing really prepared me for where I am today. Jimmy Lea: Oh, Jennifer Hulbert: yeah. For Jimmy Lea: sure. Jennifer Hulbert: In a previous conversation, Andy, you said you- you've always put yourself in front of the right people. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: And I think right from an early age, that was just inherent in your personality to put you- ... in the right place at the right time, in front of the right person, to give you some of these opportunities. Andy Severein: Yep. Yep. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love that you're learning along the way. At what point as the business grew, at what point did you realize that your role had to change from being involved in everything to truly being leading the business? Andy Severein: Definitely the institute had a, big part in that. I- Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Jennifer, why are you laughing? Jennifer Hulbert: Because we've had this conversation multiple times. Andy Severein: Yes, we have. Yes, we have. So we, I worked from, it was right in December of 2016 is when we started and things went well. We were busy from day one. We grew, we added people constantly. We did our first major addition renovation to our building in the end of 2019. The the, things were going very well, but there was just so many things I didn't know. And when I I was at the Napa Expo in 2022 in Vegas and and was in one of Cecil's classes, and it just it made me realize there was just a lot that I didn't know, and things I needed to know. And w- what he said really resonated with where we were at that point in time. I had no idea. Like I said, I knew how to fix cars. I didn't know what an average repair order was. We were using Mitchell at that point, and I really paid no attention to the reports. I didn't even know what that stuff was, right? We were just using Mitchell so we had a platform to give people invoices. So it taught me right away some of the, key indicators to, to look at, and I thought, "Whoa. We have a long way to go here." Jimmy Lea: Wow, and by that time you had already been six years in the business. Andy Severein: Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And- Yep wow, there comes an eye-opening experience. Interesting. That's awesome. What, what- So from that point, you decided, "Oh my gosh, we've gotta change, we've gotta grow, we've gotta develop." What, at what point did you decide, "Hey, you know what? I need to really look at this coaching and training business. I really need to hire me a coach." What did that look like for you? Andy Severein: What drove that and what's still driving me today, I know I'm getting into the future there, but this business, I started it with my son on day one, and the intention of him taking this business over, I hadn't really put a timeframe on when that would happen, but it I think I realized that I need to make this a well-functioning successful business before I hand it over to him. So that, that was really what, resonated to me at that point. "Hey, we have a long way to go." So that that was, why we made some significant changes there right away and adapting to those changes is hard. I tell people that all the time. Being told, "Hey, your ARO should be this," and you think, "Oh my goodness, how are we ever gonna get from $350 to..." I believe our first goal was $550- ... if I'm not mistaken. And, we were inching- And I- ... inching to 500 and all of a sudden it was like maybe we ought to look at things a little different." Now at 600, I'm thinking, "Oh, my goodness." Jennifer Hulbert: I can remember one of those early conversations of, Jen, everyone's talking about this 850, $900 average repair order but you don't understand, my, my customers are different." Andy Severein: "My Jennifer Hulbert: customers aren't going to accept that because I live in an area of the country where we're completely different." And it wasn't until we started to break it down and Andy, you took a really a hard look at understanding the KPIs. We had a lot of discussions on what they meant, what the formulas were, how they're impacted, and that I think opened your eyes to say, "Okay we can do this with a better and a more thorough DVI, and some sales training for our advisors, and a different marketing strategy and conversations with our customers." So I, I was joking with Jimmy before we started this that's typically the first conversation that we as coaches get is, "Oh, wait a minute, you don't understand, my customers are different." And what we've found is what most people realize is no, they're not. They're, they're- ... Jennifer Hulbert: They will respond to the presentations and the information that you're going to give them. And I have some statistics in front of me. In 2022, your average repair order was $367. End of last year it's 732, and I think this year we're knocking the $800 range. So again- ... with some systems, process changes, ideology changes, training, this is exactly what's possible. Andy Severein: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Absolutely. So I have a coaching question for you, Jennifer. How often- are shops coming to you as a coach or you as a facilitator and singing the exact same song that Andy was singing? Jennifer Hulbert: Often. I would say probably 90% of the time. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: And it's because we're fed, there, there's a lot of noise out there. There, there's a ton of noise of what the industry should be. There, there's news articles there's all kinds of news report of what our industry's reputation is, and it's not positive. So we look at this differently. We wanna educate our customers on what's best for you and your vehicle. Nowhere in our sales process that we teach at the institute or that we coach is a hard sales process. We're gonna look at your situation, your vehicle. We're gonna be open and honest about everything that we see, and then work a plan that's gonna work for you. Andy Severein: I Jennifer Hulbert: love that. So when you address it with honesty and true humility, it, it becomes a different conversation than one of a hard press sales, and I'm gonna sell you services that you don't need. It... That, that's not what we do. That's not the integrity of the institute, that's not the integrity of the coaches, and that's not the integrity of the shops that we work with. So a lot of times it's you don't know what you don't know. True. So you don't understand the power of a DVI process. You don't understand the power of an actual structured sales process. And that's exactly what Andy started to realize, and then really took a deep dive in, is, "Okay, I see things differently now, and I can see where we're benefiting our customers from doing this." "So I'm gonna put all the effort into training staff and making sure that we're starting to work towards those different key performance indicators." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Andy, did you feel called out, just Tanika? She's wondering if this is a setup. She feels like she's being called out right now. Did you feel like you were being called out, Andy? Andy Severein: No. I would say not. No? No Jimmy Lea: When you were first starting, you didn't feel like you were being called out, you didn't feel like you were being spotlighted. And you know what? Now let me tell c- build up a little bit more, clarify a little bit more. I enjoy the process that we have at the institute where we're here to meet you where you are as a business and as a shop owner- Yeah and we're going to start from there. What does it take to run your business? What kind of business do you want to have? 100%. Now- Okay. If that's- Yeah, I do ... the kind of business you wanna have, these are the steps we need to take to get to that business that you wanna run. As opposed to a rubber stamp that says, "Follow this process, procedure, and you'll be successful." Okay you don't understand my clients or my customers Jennifer's laughing 'cause yeah we're gonna meet you where you are. What, how do you wanna run your business? What do you, what does success look like for you? 'Cause Andy, your definition of success might be different than Jennifer's, might be different than mine Andy Severein: Sorry, I dropped out with just a moment there. It was just about a five-second window where I had s- Jimmy Lea: For just the most important Andy Severein: point ... in the meat of that, I lost you. Jennifer Hulbert: He- he was saying what success is to you is not the success to someone else. And I'll use something that's very important to you, and that is compensating your staff very well with your profit sharing plan- and your community involvement and sponsorships. So Andy and I have had the conversation of the effects of that on his, to overall net profit- ... but that's his why. He wants to give the best financial outcome to all of his staff based on their efforts towards their success with a profit sharing plan. And then be a very good leader financially in the community to, to support those organizations that are supporting him. And that's much different than my why, and that's gonna be much different than Tanika's why as well. So we've looked at what's important to you in creating that profitability level so you can carry out that why. Andy Severein: Yeah. Absolutely. That why is something that we've figured out over time. We didn't realize going into it what our true why was. I just wanted to build a race car. I thought, "Hey, I have a shop. I can deduct all these parts and, it'll be great." And it took a few years of doing this until we figured out what our true why is, why we're here, and it's awesome. I love that. I'll back up just a minute, though, Jimmy, to your question, if I felt called out, and maybe I misunderstood what you were saying, but I'd probably share with the people that are listening that are thinking about coaching no. I went in there new to everything that was happening, and I never felt called out, put on the spot "Look at this guy." The group has been awesome from the first time I was there with helping me to feel comfortable and share their, their struggles and successes. I never felt called out in a way that I was uncomfortable. And I'm not sure if that's what you meant, but hindsight, that's what I was thinking. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No. That's exactly it. You weren't called out in an embarrassment point of view, but you were- No ... enlightened into, "Oh, wow, these are some things that I can do. These are the steps I can take and need to take so I can run the business the way I want to." I love that. That's awesome. Now, question for you here about pricing and parts and parts GP and labor rates. This can be very emotional for shop owners. This is an emotional subject. What helped you move from being emotional about these topics and these subjects to becoming more logical in those areas? Jennifer Hulbert: Besides peer pressure. Jimmy Lea: Peer pressure is positive. It can be. Andy Severein: Definitely that emotional attachment that, that, as shop owners you have that. When you're working in the shop, you're, you're turning the wrenches you're hands-on with the vehicles, you're talking to the people at the customer. You're talking to the customers at the counter, and there's people you've known forever, and you know their, their families and their financial situations. There's a huge emotional attachment to that, and it's not bad. Yeah. But it definitely it, it definitely is a hindrance to the growth and success of a business, and I... It took me a while to, to learn and understand that. And it's still why I stay away from the the counter, and the, the service advisor role is so important, and I realize that. I'm so blessed to have the people we have now that are really good at what they do, and they get it. They understand. They're coaching with the APT programs, and I keep putting plugs in for you, but it's been very powerful for us. But overall the growth of the business is dependent on that, so we... I've learned to just stay away Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. Andy Severein: I, of course. Jimmy Lea: You know your strengths and your weaknesses. Go ahead, Jennifer. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: I think you also had an understanding of the overall effect o- of what a labor rate increase will do. So that impacts labor gross profit, which impacts your total GP, which impacts your overall net profit. So- ... when we first started to talk about what is your why, and that you wanted it to input this profit sharing and your community involvement we need- those net profit dollars to be able to do that. And we get those through parts and labor GP. So no, it's not just a 10 or a 15% or 10 or $15 labor rate increase, it's going to overall impact that labor GP, which will help the net profit, which is gonna allow you to do what you want to do. Andy Severein: Absolutely. Yeah, that's so true. Absolutely. Yeah, being in the upstairs your knowledge teaching me initially how to read my P&L. I'd never looked at a P&L. When I started to enroll, I didn't even know how much money we had in the bank. I didn't care. Yeah. Bills were being paid, it was great. But now the composite reporting, which was really hard for me, and you remember that, it was super hard for me in the beginning. And now I'm I'm not gonna say I enjoy doing it, but I see the I see the... I do enjoy doing it. I enjoy the results of it. But the the understanding of how we're getting to net profit and why that net profit is so expensive is so important, Yeah that- It's critical ... that's not being downstairs, but w- my offices are upstairs staying up there and keeping an eye on that is is, it's been my the key to, to, to the growth here. Absolutely. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And let's break this down for those that are watching that don't understand what a P&L is. They hear the word all the time. They hear P&L. This is your profit and loss, pro- P&L, profit and loss. Most shop owners will look at their P&L, they really don't understand it. They're looking for that last number. Is it red or is it black? If it's black we know we're good, we know we're making money. If it's red We're losing money, and that's what the understanding of most shop owners are. At the institute, we also have a financial intensive that helps you as a shop owner to understand how to read the entire P&L, how to get it set up properly with your accountant so that you are getting the right and correct information when you need it most. And a P&L should not take months and months for your accountant to put together and g- and- No ... deliver to you. W- what's the average? How long should it take, Jennifer? Jennifer Hulbert: To, for, to start to make changes? Jimmy Lea: Oh, no. J- In order- Hey, Mr. Accountant or Mrs. Accountant, I would like my P&L. Jennifer Hulbert: You should get that once a month. M- minimally, I would say, our require- our reporting requirement is by the 20th of the month. So you should be getting that by the 15th or the 18th from, for the previous month from your- ... accountant or your bookkeeper. Jimmy Lea: So if you're only getting a P&L once a year, you may wanna either ask for more and get a better understanding, or m- perhaps you need a different- accountant. So if you need a different accountant, we know a guy. Come talk to us. We know a guy. Jennifer Hulbert: We do. Yeah. We do. A- Yeah ... and it, knowing where you're at from a profitability standpoint tells a tenth of the story. So where do we need to put our focus? Yeah. Is it in gross profits for parts? Is it in gross profit for labor? Is it in expense control? Because, so many times- ... we have a lot of members who have really good gross profit percentages, but they're not controlling their expenses and they eat away, their profitability that way. Yeah. We break down our expenses into, what, 30 categories probably, 35 categories individually, and have benchmarks for individual expenses. So th- that's what our owner coaching and our group process does, is we- ... we focus on not only systems and processes within your shop, but the understanding of your financials, so you know- ... which specific areas to target and to make some improvements on. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: And Andy, that's where I credit you because th- we had some, many meetings where he's "Jen, make me understand this. I really need to understand how all this works together," and we probably worked for six months- ... u- until you had that understanding and now you do, and, your profitability is, has increased ex- ... quite a Andy Severein: bit. Jimmy Lea: That's awesome. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of shop owners that are out there that are just like you, Andy, that are in that same position that says, "I don't know what I don't know, and this is definitely one area that I need to know more. Help me understand it." And you dig into it, and you dig into it, and you dig into it and the more you learn, the better you are. Our last financial intensive, I think we had 40 plus people here at, in Ogden at the financial intensive. So next April, if you're wanting to understand your income statement and your profit and loss and your balance sheet, come here to the institute. We've got a phenomenal program for you. You definitely want it. Whoa, that was cool. Now, oh, Raleigh. Props, dude. That was your dr- that was mic drop. Scan the QR code. Get in on our next financial intensive. Yes, that is going to be awesome. We'd love to have you here, y- and you will learn tremendous amount. I want to go back to another acronym you dropped out on, on everybody here. You mentioned the APG. N- our industry is full of acronyms. APG stands for the Advisor Performance Group, and that's with the institute. So Andy, you have your advisors in the program right now? Andy Severein: We do. Jimmy Lea: What have you seen with your advisors? What's the change that they've gone through? Andy Severein: Probably the biggest thing I've ... The biggest thing I appreciate that I that I'm getting directly is, their understanding of the numbers that they're achieving and ... But also, the way the program's put together, allowing them to see the big picture of what the business looks like, what it should look like, what it could look like, whatever your circumstance is. But doing that from a different perspective than myself talking to them, I think allows them to grow. And it's one thing for me, for an owner, for somebody to say something to somebody, but when they're hearing from an actual coach, it's like, "Hey, that guy's not just full of hot air. He knows what he's talking about." Now that's been powerful, but aligning all of our people, Yeah ... through those different programs has been really powerful for us. And that growth that we've really seen in the last, what, year or so I can directly attribute to, and I'll drop another acronym, the MPG program, as well as the APG program. Jimmy Lea: So what's the MPG? Andy Severein: The Manager Performance Group. Yep. We have two managers here now, Nate and Brian. My son, Nate, one of them. They just got back from Utah. We've been so busy, we haven't ... We've done some quick debriefs, but we haven't had time to really sit down and put everything together that that I brought back from the group five meeting last week, or the week before last, and then they came back from Utah with their normal plane delays. ... Oh, no. Jennifer Hulbert: Dang. Andy Severein: But they made it. Jennifer Hulbert: And let's talk about what that growth looks like. So in 2023, you ended the year at 2.1 million. 2025, you ended a million dollars up at 3.1. And you- you've entered the managers and the advisors into the program along with working in the owners of- Yep your performance group program. But like you said, you've aligned your entire staff in the direction that you want to take it- ... with training and opportunities and information of to align to that direction. So just you talking to your staff and coming back from one of the GPG meetings, Gear Performance Group meetings- A- and it's like them trying to absorb what your understanding of the training is- Versus now I'm getting it from a coach who is aligned with that ideology, and now we're gonna move everyone in the same direction. So I think for you, Andy, that's been the biggest change. Now, has it cost you some money? Yes. Coaching is not free. Sometimes, people say, "I want cheap coaching." You get what you pay for. That's what you get. And you're gonna get the results that you pay for. A 30%, 32% increase in two years in sales is the... you could attribute that directly to the coaching. And again I know this sounds like a sales presentation for the institute. It, it's not meant to be that way. I just know that Andy and I have had these discussions over the past three years of how, what can I do to improve? And because- ... you have dedicated the time and the energy to some coaching programs, you've got some very good results. Now, you've set some of that standard. I expect X out of you, service advisor, from a gross profit and an average repair order- ... and an effective labor rate standpoint 'cause you've held those standards high- ... and communicated those expectations, which is also very important for results. But y- you've done a very good job at communicating what the expectation is, and then your team has followed up with those results. Andy Severein: Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: I love it. Y- there's, the saying is you were talking about the expense of training. Training is so expensive. What what if I train my guys and they leave? What if you don't train them and they stay? Andy Severein: Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Andy, have you ever had a situation where you've trained someone and they left? Andy Severein: I have not. We have very little turnover So that's Jimmy Lea: the benefit of training today, is your people will stay. Andy Severein: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. No, we have very little turnover of people. In fact, I think there was only one advisor I had that was, he was here for a short period of time and he had come from managing an entire operation and had another opportunity to go back to what he had been doing. So I don't fault him at all. So he's the only person that I had in training and I hope that the things that he learned, he can take into his future. So- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... Andy Severein: great guy. Yeah. He's a great guy. Oh, Jimmy Lea: I Jennifer Hulbert: totally agree. And let's talk about why your staff stays. What makes you different from some other shops that have some high turnover? And, and- Yeah ... we've talked about this. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Well- What are you Andy Severein: doing, Andy? Jimmy Lea: Is it pizza on Friday? Andy Severein: Wednesdays. Wednesdays. And we try not to do pizza too much. That really gets old, right? We have a big old grill here. I like to make food and do different things. But we really try to take care of our people in many different ways, not just, in their, problems that are going on in their life. We try to speak into their lives as, as much as we can and just be there for them. And, they're our family. We s- we spend more time with the people that work for us than anybody else. I'm careful who I allow into that family. And I feel we've done very well. In fact, we had somebody start here just recently, and his comments are just like every person I've heard in the past. Everybody here just gets along. Everybody helps each other. It's it's, it makes me... i'm really happy of that, and I'm really happy about that, because that's what I want. I wanna treat our guys really well. I want them to be excited about what they do, try to keep them motivated and and try to... My goal has always been to try to have a place that the word on the street is, "Hey, you wanna work for this guy, because they'll really take care of you in every way, not just pay." So it's extending a lot of grace regularly, that's that's part of it. Managing that grace can be tough. But but we... it's a blessing overall. It really is. We have a great staff of people here. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. And what those people are talking about is the company culture, the culture that you have created in your company. They're j- it's, they're just so impressed by it, that this is a great company culture. So I... That doesn't happen by accident What are you doing today as a leader that is different than what you were doing three years ago, four years ago, five years ago? What are you doing different Andy Severein: I can't- honestly don't know if I'm really doing anything different. I hope I'm not, actually. I've always tried to connect with everybody regularly and just, listen to their needs and keep an open atmosphere that they can come to us with whatever's going on, if it's a problem at home or just, bumped into another car in the parking lot, don't be afraid to come to us with anything. And I... so to answer that, yeah, I don't feel like I'm doing anything really differently. I have the help of my wife now. She's a huge part of it. She was here in the beginning for the first five years, and she was working the front desk and it wasn't quite five years. It might've been three or four years and she just couldn't do it anymore. It was way over her head. She's a people person. And she had an opportunity to go work in a restaurant for some friends, which she took, and that opened the door for my, my, my front desk guy, Jimmy, to come in here. Jimmy's just an awesome person. He's just a light. He's always smiling. He's a lot like you, Jimmy. He- Jimmy Lea: It goes with the name. That's, Andy Severein: that's- You're both Jimmy. But yeah, Lori came back here in the beginning of '24, I believe. Nice. And she's been here a little over two years now. I convinced her that her skills, while she was much appreciated at the restaurant, the effort that she was putting in there would be would be very beneficial to us and our staff as we grow here. So she is a huge part of it. Plays Jimmy Lea: defense. Yeah. Jennifer, what are you seeing that Andy does different today? And by the way, Andy, you're constantly improving, so to say you're not doing anything different, it's not exactly true, because that constant improvement- ... is changing and you are becoming better. Andy Severein: True. Jimmy Lea: That's true. So as Coach, what are you seeing different that Andy does today that he didn't do when you first met? Jennifer Hulbert: I would agree with him. I think, hi- his heart i- is in the right place in wanting to do- Totally agree ... what's best for his staff. So that's just who, Andy, you are. I think today you're a little more intentional with that I- in some of the conversations and, interactions with the staff from discussions that we've had. I'll give you a recent example that they've just acquired their second shop months ago. Andy Severein: A couple weeks, three, four weeks ago. Yeah, beginning of May we started. Yep. Jennifer Hulbert: And the advisor there, they're looking to, w- we're gonna look to bring her to the service advisor intensive that's happening right now. She's never- Yeah ... flown before, so Lori says I'll go with you." I will join you on the plane. I will go to Utah with you. I will, get you all set up, make sure that you're completely just at peace with this. But that's who Andy and Lori are. So to say- Love it ... that they've done a lot different I would agree with you, Andy. I don't think you have. I just think you're a little more intentional- Yeah ... w- with it today than you may were three or four years ago. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Andy Severein: Yeah. More clarity. Jimmy Lea: See, Andy Severein: and Jimmy Lea: That's to the core of who you are. That's to your heart. Your heart has always been in that right place. And that constant improvement are things that you're doing, the things that happen, you don't, probably don't see that you're doing it. But a coach, someone on the outside looking in would say, "You know what, Andy? You are becoming much more intentional. You are having these great conversations. Your heart has always been there," and it's something that you don't see because it's second nature to you, Andy. But a coach is gonna go, "Hey, you know what? This is unique. This is s- this is special. This is awesome that you do this." That's pretty cool. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: That's pretty good. So what is the future? You just added a second shop. Does that mean that there's a third one, or is it too soon to ask? Andy Severein: I've planted the seeds for the third one. I did that a while ago. That might have been the second one, but this one just kinda flew in there quickly. But it's in a neighboring shop. I can see it. It's just one, two- Two buildings over? ... two buildings away. So they were our closest- Wow ... competition. Jimmy Lea: Wow. Andy Severein: Interesting. So we had the opportunity to buy that. The owner was was wanting to retire, and hap- wanted to make it happen quickly, so he we were able to work a deal out there. I acquired all of his employees and and, it's been a, it's been really good so far. We- I'm really excited about where that is and I've said this to Jennifer to take a business that has not been run well for years and apply, what we've learned we- we've learned and applied it here slowly to try to apply it to a business like that is, it's a pretty exciting challenge. And, seeing that ARO, it was 200-some dollars when we started it and I think we're substantially over that. We haven't advertised it yet. The building needs a lot of work, and we- we're looking forward to doing that work over the coming weeks and months. So we're really excited of what the possibilities are there. We really just needed some overflow, honestly. We're almost at capacity here where we are, and having a little bit of of option for more base space to send some work over there, customers we can't help in our time, in their timeframe with our busy schedule to be able to capture them is high on my priority list of what to do, love it. Always kinda looking for ways to, looking ahead to, what is our next, next, way to grow. To have... If there's more shops I don't know if that's- If that happens, fine. I'm, I've no problem with that. I'm not focused on that. I wanna... I still see a tremendous amount of improvement we could do where we are, and we'll try to, we'll try to continue to focus on that. But our pattern's been about every three years we do, what's the next step? 2023 we did a pretty large addition to be able to handle heavier pickup trucks and the dually trucks, construction pickup trucks. We were doing a lot of that stuff, so we put an addition on there. So here we are three years later, buying another shop. That's our that's- this is the next step and, what's the next in three more years? That's been our pattern. We've got some ideas, Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. It- What's gonna come in 2029? That's, you Andy Severein: got to be sweating. Jimmy Lea: Exactly. Andy Severein: Exactly. Oh, that's awesome. Got some pre- got some pretty cool ideas. We'll keep focused keep focused on what could happen there and work towards that goal. Jimmy Lea: Yeah, for sure. I- is it too soon, or can I ask this? You only bought this other shop at the beginning of May, so we're looking at six, seven weeks, eight weeks now that you've- owned the s- the second shop. $200 average repair order. Where are you now? In a very short time period, has it increased significantly, or are you still hovering in that 2 to $300 range? Andy Severein: No it's climbed. I think we're in the $400 range right now. I'm sorry, I haven't looked at that lately. I just realized- Yeah ... as you're asking me that question. So we've about- Yeah ... doubled that. Jimmy Lea: Doubled it in less than six weeks. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Implementing proper process, procedures. You intro- did you introduce a DVI program to them? Andy Severein: We did. Yep, introduced that. So that's been good. That's a... W- we're trying to... We have-- There's so many customers there that were the customers that that you don't want, that, we're trying to get rid of 'em. They, you tell 'em what their car needs, they take it home and fix it, and then bring it back and get an inspection sticker. We have state inspection here in Pennsylvania, an annual inspection, so that's a huge part of what we do and so yeah, that's been... working those customers out of our system is the goal here. Make way for good customers. And we've really seen a, an upturn just in the last few weeks of busyness. So it's it's exciting. Jimmy Lea: Oh, that is exciting. That's awesome. Congratulations. So a- as we, we look in towards the future here what leadership skills are you working on today To help you strengthen yourself, strengthen the business as you continue to grow, what are you working on yourself or the business in your leadership realm? Andy Severein: Oh, goodness. I'd love to say that I read a book a week or even a book a month, but that doesn't happen. I, and I could I, probably said it to Jennifer and I'll say it again. What we're doing in the GPG groups right now is so good. What we just did in the group five meeting in Indiana the other week our two main presentations are things that are so relevant to me right now, and that's, defining where in the business, where we need to be and what those roles are, and focusing on those things. That's, it, we're... i, it's funny I still struggle with basic things sometimes it feels even what my roles need to be, but that clarity is huge to me, and we're really, as a, we as our mana- myself and the managers really, working on that stuff. But, I'm, I personally, a- and I'll radiate where I started in, in this business, my goal almost from the start was to work my way out of this and create an opportunity for my son to move into which will probably at this point looks like it'll be my son and Brian together, the two managers. And presenting opportunities for them is exciting to me. They're both going to the to Michael Smith to the leadership- Leadership intensive ... in Washington, DC. Oh, yeah. There's another plug. You'll see the thing come across the bottom of the screen right now. Yeah. But Jimmy Lea: it's not- Leadership intensive in July in Washington, DC. Is that the one? That, oh! There it is. Look at that. There Andy Severein: it is. Oh, Mike Johnson. Jimmy Lea: There it is. Yeah, Raleigh, way to go, brother. He gave me a thumbs up. Andy Severein: But I did that course two years ago, I think it was in Ogden, and I really feel like I could do it again 'cause I'm at a I'm... I've learned so much in two years, but I'm really happy to be able to give those guys the opportunity to do that, to let them grow. Because I look at this now as "Hey this is gonna be for you to run." Yeah. And I want them to outperform anything I've ever done. I just wanna set the stage for them to be able to hit the ground running. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And attending another leadership intensive, you're gonna learn even more because you've had two- Andy Severein: Yeah Jimmy Lea: years of runway under your belt that you have learned and developed and grown. Now when you attend it again, you have such a solid foundation. Now you're ready to build that building. You're ready to build upon what you've already learnt, implemented, discovered, rewrote as your truth tapes. You know what those next steps are gonna be, and y- you'll go to leadership intensive. You, your brain will still melt, we'll still have to pour it back in your head because of the learning that will happen And now the development and growth you'll have for the next year as well will be just tremendous. So Andy- ... Jimmy Lea: Get to the DC, get to the leadership intensive. You need to be there Andy Severein: I'll consider that. Jimmy Lea: That's a good idea. Yeah, take that into consideration. Anybody that's watching this as well, and you see it go back to that QR code, get into that Leadership Intensive. It really will change... thank you. It really will change the way you think about yourself, about your business, about your life- Yeah about why you think the way you think, and then you can help to discover why other people think the way that they think. Andy Severein: Absolutely. Jimmy Lea: Oh, so powerful. So powerful. Jennifer Hulbert: And one, one of the things that I really wanna point out to the listeners is, typically when we have a new client coming into our individual coaching program is they see people like Andy, and they're intimidated. But hearing Andy's story, that he started off, fixing cars in a very small shop himself, building it to now a multi-shop owner, not having to be an integral part of the day-to-day of the business because he has put people in the right seats, grown the business to a level that you can have a mid-tier manager- it's totally doable. Now, does it require blood, sweat, and tears? Absolutely. I own a shop. I was a service advisor for two years full time. You don't get to this point without going through some of those steps, but it is doable. A- and- Yeah ... sitting saying I only have 500 or $600,000 in sales this year," that, that was Andy at one Andy Severein: point. Jennifer Hulbert: And, now we're in a completely different scenario because of the changes and the improvements and the attention you've put to these improvements and your leadership style. So I, I get a lot of new members and I was actually at a group two member, or group two meeting a couple weeks ago, and then had a meeting with a member, and, she said, "Jen, you don't understand what we come back to because you have two managers in your shop." And I said, "Hold on a minute. I was you 15 years ago." So i- it does take time, and it does take attention but it is totally doable, and we can take you from opening your own shop, I have two members who had, have started to work with us prior to even purchasing their shop, to now owning their shop, to becoming a multi-shop owner. So the, all of those steps and processes we have the ability and the knowledge and the training and coaching to fill all of those steps, but it is a process. Yeah. You're not gonna go, from Andy opening your shop to $3.1 million being pretty much a hands-off owner in two years. It- ... had taken 10 or 14 to do Jimmy Lea: that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You... If you keep doing what you've always done, you're gonna keep getting what you've always got. You- Yep ... you've gotta do something to change. And so Jennifer, to this specific scenario, a shop owner that you would have worked with that they went from a bucket and a wrench and a computer to multi shop owner what did their timeline look like? So maybe others who are listening can go, "Oh you know what? In six years, I'm gonna be six years older. I'm either gonna be still with a bucket and a wrench, or I can invest in myself and improve." What's that look like? So Jennifer Hulbert: the timeframe differs be- because of this. So it's your ideology, it's your mentality, it's where do you want to go and how are you going to take the steps to get there? We can give you the information. Again, one of the reasons I've suggested Andy being on this podcast is because he's done a lot with the information to get to where he is today. So if you enact it if you take it home and you actually implement some of the things that we talk about, you're gonna move much faster than someone who is, "You don't understand, my customers are different." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: Two, two totally different types of shop owners. That's true. So I would say the timeframe is different for everyone, but five, six years to go from small to large, Maybe Yeah ... if I had to put a timeframe on it. Jimmy Lea: And I think you hit on the two elements that must be implemented in every situation. You talked about the attention. You've gotta give it attention. You've gotta give it the attention it needs because it doesn't happen by accident. It needs to be it needs your attention. And the second one is that you have to be intentional- Yes ... about what you're doing. Yes. If you don't know what you're doing, you could wander in the forest and be walking in circles because you don't have that compass. Compasses were created before time, before clocks. Why? Because we needed to know where we were going. So compasses are more important. You need a coach, you need a direction, you need some help to make sure you make- Jennifer Hulbert: And some accountability. That, that's what the premise of our whole GPG program is. Is it's not only the facilitator and the coach holding you accountable, you're being held accountable by a group of your peers. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Jennifer Hulbert: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Yes. So if you're listening to this and you are the shop that's at that 500,000 or 600,000, let's start that journey together. We can do this. We can do it together and make it happen for you that in four, three, four, five, six years you're having the same conversation with somebody else who's doing a podcast to talk about your success story, and it's gonna be similar to what Andy has. Andy, final question from me and then Jennifer, a question from you for Andy if you want to pipe in here. And in fact, I might have two. My first question is gonna say what advice would you give another shop owner who is thinking that there's gotta be a next level? Andy Severein: There absolutely is, and I can say from experience to figure out what that level or what your goal is, what do you want to achieve and how can you achieve that? It, it-- That's true to anything in life, but it's having the understanding or the understanding of what tools you can use to, to get yourself to that point. Once again, in my case, it was I wanna work my way out of a job, what does that look like? And but certainly doable, with some input, some coach. People, most shop owners that I've found are pretty close-minded, don't wanna be told what to do. You know- ... they're doing it great, don't tell me. And that's why I was at an auction earlier today for a shop that closed down because, they just choose to just do the same thing they always did, and at the end of the day, they got nothing left. No business and just a bunch of tools to sell Jimmy Lea: Wow ... Andy Severein: doesn't have to be that way. Doesn't have Jennifer Hulbert: to be Andy Severein: that way at all. No way. Nope. Jimmy Lea: No. No. Yeah. They're getting pennies on the dollars for those tools and assets. Jennifer. Jennifer Hulbert: I don't think I have a question for you, Andy. I, and you're a pretty humble guy, and I want you to really hear this, so thank you for being an industry leader, and thank you for setting the tone and the example of what success can really look like. And, I hope you're an inspiration to those who are watching and listening to this because you've done exactly my why. My why is to help elevate individual shop owners, and because of your attention and intention to the information that we've been discussing you've climbed to that level. So I want you to really hear that you are an industry leader, and I thank you for being here, and thank you for being a part of the institute. Andy Severein: Yeah. Thank you. That means a lot to me. I certainly don't see myself that way. I I still hear Parker Branch telling me maybe two years ago, "With a few changes, you'll pass me." I'm like, "Yeah, whatever" Jennifer Hulbert: You're getting close Andy Severein: You are Jimmy Lea: getting close, yeah. Andy Severein: Yep. By the end of 2027 when shop number two kicks in, watch out, Parker. Jimmy Lea: You'll join him in that million dollar net club. Yeah. Andy Severein: That's the plan. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. That's the plan. Yep. Yep. All right. One final question coming from Tanika and then a final question from me. Did you get any pushback from your technicians, the technicians you acquired implementing a DVI program, changing their process, procedure, moving their cheese? Andy Severein: Honestly, if you're asking about the shop we just bought- No? ... not a whole lot because they knew that their leadership was terrible. They knew that there was better way to do things. They're a neighboring shop. They saw our parking lot full of cars all the time and their parking lot empty, right? So- Jimmy Lea: Ouch. Yeah ... Andy Severein: that was, for them to be shown How we do it. They understood right away that it worked. They knew that. So it's, it is it's been... Certainly has its challenges, but it hasn't been hard at all. Teaching them the processes has really been the hardest thing, but the understanding, the knowledge of it the knowledge of, the why we're doing it I don't wanna say it's one of the easier parts of taking over that business, but I think it has been. Jimmy Lea: It kinda sounds like it. It sounds like they were definitely primed and ready for you to step in there and take over. Andy Severein: They were all really hungry, yeah. They knew that our leadership was bad. I don't know why they didn't all quit and walk Jimmy Lea: out. Yeah. No, congrats, man. That's awesome. All right, last and final question. Years from now, years down the road, don't know what that number is w- what do you want people to say about your shop, about your team, and about the owner who built it all? Andy Severein: Boy, I, I hope it's, I hope it's what our goal's always been, and that's that we are just awesome people, trustworthy give back to the community, the same things we've always been. I I hope that can be our legacy here. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. For sure. I hope so as well 'cause you are awesome people. Andy Severein: Yeah. Thank you. Yes, Jimmy Lea: they are. Andy Severein: You guys are too, so that means a lot. Jimmy Lea: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for everybody who's listening. If any of this has sounded interesting or information that you wanna pursue even further, get out your cellphone 'cause as soon as we go to credits, there is a QR code. Let's meet. Let's talk. Let's sit down and review your business. What can we do to help you? Our goal, our core, is to help build a better business for you to... which results in a better life for you, which our intention is to build a better industry. So we are all about building a better business, a better life, and a better industry. With that, my name is Jimmy Lea. I'm with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence, and thank you. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you, Andy. Really appreciate you guys being here. Andy Severein: Yep. Thank you. Jennifer Hulbert: Thank you.
Ep 158: Stop Managing. Start Multiplying Leaders. | Shawn Gilfillan
Failing at Retirement: Building Eight Shops in Eight Years [THA 486]
Thanks to our Partners, NAPA TRACS, Today's Class, KUKUI, and Pit Crew Loyalty Watch Full Video Episode *]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:8e59eec7-a235-4fa3-a072-956fea3fe478-7" data-testid="conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn="assistant"> *]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:49a777bf-d263-4496-bf0b-2eb3a46ac96a-11" data-testid="conversation-turn-24" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn="assistant"> *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:8a36a74e-94b9-45d2-82f2-3a0e09cdfefe-1" data-turn-id-container="request-WEB:8a36a74e-94b9-45d2-82f2-3a0e09cdfefe-1" data-testid="conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn="assistant"> Carm Capriotto talks with Matt Curry and Judy Curry of Craftsman's Auto Care about building one of the automotive industry’s most respected multi-shop operations twice. After growing Curry’s Auto Service to 10 locations and retiring in 2013, the Currys returned to the industry with a new vision, launching eight Craftsman’s Auto Care locations in eight years. Matt shares his role as the visionary leader driving momentum and ideas, while Judy explains how operational discipline, marketing, and customer experience keep the business grounded and scalable. The conversation explores their “5 Ps” philosophy: People, Policies, Processes, Procedures, and Profits, along with their commitment to employee development, strong culture, customer transparency, and community involvement. The Currys also discuss how Digital Vehicle Inspections and an intentional customer experience helped them earn nearly 10,000 five-star Google reviews. What You’ll Learn How Matt and Judy Curry scaled multiple successful shop operationsWhy leadership balance and “staying in your lane” mattersThe “5 Ps” framework for building a strong shop cultureHow employee investment drives long-term successWhy transparency and DVIs build customer trustHow culture and customer experience fuel growth and retention Sustainable growth in automotive repair comes from more than technical expertise. It requires intentional leadership, strong systems, a healthy culture, and a commitment to both employees and customers. Matt and Judy Curry, Craftsman Auto Care, 8 locations, Virginia Thanks to our Partner, NAPA TRACS NAPA TRACS will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with onsite training and six days a week of support and local representation. Find NAPA TRACS on the Web at http://napatracs.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Today's Class Optimize training with Today's Class: In just 5 minutes daily, boost knowledge retention and improve team performance. Find Today's Class on the web at https://www.todaysclass.com/ Thanks to our Partner, KUKUI Stop juggling multiple marketing tools. KUKUI’s integrated platform delivers 4x better website conversions, automated follow-up, and real-time ROI tracking. Get industry-leading customer support with KUKUI at https://www.kukui.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Pit Crew Loyalty You’re probably tired of chasing new customers who never return. We understand. Pit Crew Loyalty ends the one-and-done cycle, turning first visits into lasting, reliable revenue at https://www.pitcrewloyalty.com/ Connect with the Podcast: ...