Build Your Shop, but Don’t Forget to Build a Life | Greg Buckley - Ep 14
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
- —Living life to the fullest is essential; don't wait until retirement to enjoy experiences.
- —Consistency in shop operations is crucial for success, regardless of who is working.
- —Empowering your team leads to better performance and a healthier work environment.
- —Transitioning leadership roles can be challenging but is necessary for growth.
- —Engaging with the community and giving back can provide fulfillment beyond business success.
Frequently asked
- How can I ensure my shop runs smoothly without my constant presence?
- Building a strong team and empowering them to make decisions is key. Training and clear communication can help maintain consistency.
- What should I do if I feel disconnected from my team?
- Regular check-ins and open conversations can help bridge the gap. It's important to understand their needs and provide support.
- How can I balance work and personal life as a shop owner?
- Setting boundaries and prioritizing time for personal interests and family can help maintain a healthy work-life balance.
▸Full transcript
Like, I don't want to be 50, 55, 60 saying, "I wish I would've done this." I'm gonna say, "I did that and it was fun," or, "I did that and I will not do that again." And people say, "Why were you in Montana? Why were you not in Montana?" There's so much to see in this country. There's so much to do in life.
You can't wait till you're 65, 70— No. —to start living. You gotta live every day. Welcome to Downshift with my sis, Taneka Haynes. We all know as shop owners, sometimes you gotta slow down. In order to speed up. And that's what this podcast is all about. It's time to downshift. What's going on, Uncle Buck? Nothing, man. Nothing. It's making my day right here.
This is it. This is it. This is it. Yeah. Being here with you on your show. Down, downshift. We can talk soup and downshift all at the same time. We make a batch, you know? So, so I've been tectonic. Tectonic is being— it's wild. He spent some money on this thing. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's 7 figures. That's me too.
Yeah, that's not what you can— we can't be nosy like that, but yeah, yeah. I mean, from what— here's the, here's the, here's the key: whenever you go to one of these events and you don't have to pay for any booze at all, right? You didn't have to pay for one single meal. Not one meal. It was first class food. Somebody complained about the lemonade.
Seriously, somebody complained about lemonade. Yeah, people, they must be part of that Change Industry podcast. Probably those dumb suckers, duck pluckers. Um, but no, this is, this is good. Oh yeah, this is good. Um, well, the classes could have been longer. I think that probably needs to be adjusted. Yeah, I think it'll happen next year because they're moving down to the convention center.
Yeah, which is going to be pretty good. But, um, speakers were great. Oh, the panel that Mike did, oh, was that crazy? That was a good panel. I took a Facebook Live. I know you did, and I recorded. I did. It was on Soup Live too. It was on Soup Live too. Good. That was good. He had some good questions, and he did still was himself.
Yeah, ruffle a little feather. I would have given about another 10 minutes and we'd be fist fighting. Yeah, I told him, I text him when, um, he got off stage. I said, you know what, if Cecil was a good 20, 30 years younger, he would beat you up backstage. He would have. Yeah, he would have got up and really made a scene.
Yep. You'll see. Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. It would have been Jerry Springer Show up in there because Mike— and he knows how to push people's buttons. That's why I love him so much. I know. Yeah, he's a good kid. But you know what, if Mike started acting normal and being very professional, we'd think something was wrong with him. Yeah, it would. If he came and had a really good professional podcast and was polished We'd be like, what's the matter with Mike?
Somebody check on him. So it is what it is. That's right. What have you been doing? Really just hanging around, just doing, building the shops, getting them together. Building what shops? What do you mean? Well, I mean just getting them, getting the enterprise together. That's our goal for this year is really get to hone the enterprise, make sure we're all good, get the processes down.
And the future might open up for, another one. Okay. We're kind of counting on— How hands-on are you with that? I thought you were leaving it to the son-in-law. I am. I'm not really— I'll tell you, I'm not really that hands-on. I, uh, I really don't go in as much as what I used to, um, but I think that that might change a little bit.
You know, I, I had a, had a spell, you know, after my procedures, you know, with the, with the heart and all that Woke you up. You look great, by the way. Well, thank you. You know, what happened was, you know, I realized that, hey man, you know, the Superman cape got a little tear in it now. Yeah. You know, I got to be careful.
But more importantly, when I got done that, you know, I had a time when I really was mentally not bright, you know, and I couldn't— in fact, I didn't even want to leave the house for about 2 weeks. Told my wife and she goes, "Well, why don't you see a doctor?" You know, and like a, you know, a mental doctor. You can get what's going on.
A therapist is what it's called. A therapist. Yeah, thank you. A mental man. Yeah. You know, see what's happening? Yeah. But no, it kind of like took me out a little bit. So, you know, I told the boys, I said, "Listen, you know, I'm kicking back." You know, we had been on that route, but I got to the point where I wasn't— I didn't feel like— I let go too much, you know.
And my coach, I pretty much dumped the business on him, and I stepped back, like, and like, the coach was running my business. And yeah, and that's exactly what was taking place. I was out of the scene. I wouldn't make a meeting. I would find an excuse, you know, all that kind of stuff. And finally, you know, the coach calls me out, sends me an email, tells me, you know, I'm this, I'm that.
And, you know, I go, "Well, you're pretty much right." Yeah. I go, I said, "I let go too much." And I told her, I said, "I let you have too much authority where it's my responsibility." You know, so worked all through that. And it gets a little deeper where I didn't feel like I was wanted. And this is the thing that I'm speaking about down in Dallas at the ASL.
It's called mattering. Where do you matter? How do you matter? And so when everybody in your family tells you that, hey, look, we got this, we're okay. And you're like— You don't need me anymore? Because they tell you that's what you want to do. You want the shop to be able to run without you. Yeah, exactly. You don't. No. Because you don't, yeah, what am I supposed to do now?
Exactly. You're right. Your identity, your everything. Like, where do I go? What do I do? And yet it's a sign of success where, okay, you're here, your shop's still humming along. I'm here, shops are still humming along. That's what we want, right? But when we get there— If you don't have another job to do. Right. Well, they talked about that on the stage today.
You sell the shop and then you get— $5 million, $10 million. It's like, yeah, but where am I supposed to drive tomorrow morning? Right. It's like people that retire and go right back to work. Yeah. So for me, I've been diving into a lot of nonprofit work. Okay. I saw that. Yeah. So you did find your way back to doing something? I did.
Yeah. And it's really great. I'm really involved with some really good groups. In fact, I leave here and I go and we're one of the charities that I support. Is having its major fundraiser tomorrow evening down at the beach. And I'm— How inconvenient. Oh yeah, I know, right? Yeah. Daggone, gotta go to the beach. It's a concert for the kids with this organization called Paul Cares.
And we help kids who are getting into culinary and musical arts. 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. 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.
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Okay. And there's a little small venue, about 65 people. We get an acts from around the country, regional, and then all the proceeds, you get like a 3-course. This is no joke. This place is, it's like a speakeasy. Okay. Right? There's only 63 seats. It's got major acts that come in and they play an intimate setting. The prices are anywhere from like $59 to $89.
Okay. And you get a 3-course dinner, get some wine, and you get great entertainment. And so, and 100% of proceeds go to the, um, to the mission. So that's cool. And then on with, uh, the other ones, uh, while I'm interviewing, what, Autism Delaware? I just did those. I saw that one. Yeah, beautiful people. Beautiful people. And then I'm on the board with the YMCA down in there, and I'm an ambassador for them.
So this is my path where I want to help others. I get involved. And it's more than goodwill. My dad always taught me, like your dad taught you, support those that support you. Yes. You know what I mean? Right. You got to bring it home every once in a while. Yeah. That's what Uncle Buck's doing. That's what Uncle Buck's doing. I like it.
So, you know, it's a lot of fun. It makes me sad that you had— you were saved, the doctors were able to fix you. Yeah. But you still felt broken. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you feel that. And I don't know if— I mean, I can only speak for me, but You know, you go so long and the thing is that once you start to feel vulnerable in terms of health, you get scared, you get, you know, what if?
And then in my case, well, what if something happens and I'm not there for my family? Yeah. And then you start going, well, that's why I didn't want to go out of the house. You know, until one day I got in the truck and I said, damn it, I'm just going to go down to Millsboro. I'm going to take that 85-mile drive.
I go on the highway and I'm driving like 90-year-olds, white knuckles. I'm doing 55. I never do 55 in the far right lane. Yeah, exactly, right? Pops, man. Exactly right. You are— you're the old man now. I'm definitely an old man at that point because I never drive 55 or 65. I'm, I'm, I'm 80. Fratual and scared and Driving scared, running scared.
Yeah. But no, you went back into the office. Yeah, I got back in slowly but surely, started going back in and seeing the guys, getting back used to it. And now this past month or so, really getting back involved and doing things and talking to the boys and having the meetings and doing what I have to do to be an owner. Yeah.
And they're okay with it, but I still got to give them their wings. I got to let them do what they want to do. And they're doing a great job. I mean, I got no complaints, you know, just little things. But you did it. I mean, they can do it without you because you taught them how to do it without you. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's like the boys right now. I was coming back from Florida to see Jordan. And I'm just thinking, "I'm just so sad, but I'm so flippin' happy." I got to his apartment. He was still in class. I'd opened the door. The apartment's clean, clean enough for a boy. His bedroom was a hot mess. Bathroom's clean, kitchen clean. I don't know if he cleaned it because Mom was coming, but I don't think so.
And I'm just thinking, he went to class, and he's gotten there on time. Time, and he's really enjoying it. And he's got— when I moved him, the first day, time I moved him, got furniture and pots and pans and stuff. And he said, "Hey, Mom, I want some plants." I have— I'm a plant mom. I am a crazy plant lady. And I was like, "You want plants?"
I was like, "Yes! Got another one. I got a plant baby." The plants are still living. The plants are growing. So, he's taking care of them? He's taking care of them. There you go. And I'm just thinking, I wanna go in there and mom— I'm cleaning. There's nothing that needed to be cleaned. And I was like, "Okay, he doesn't really need me as much."
He still needs my money, of course. I was like, "This boy is— the refrigerator's stocked." Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. "He's got his crazy posters on the wall." I'm respecting him as a young man. I'm like, "Look at this. This is what I did. And I don't like this chapter, 'cause I want you to need me." Right. So, same thing with the big one. He went to college.
He's back home, and he— It's home, but he— you raise them to not need you. You build your employees to do their job and do it better than you. Yep. Um, and so when they have a situation, like they had a situation last Wednesday and I was able to coach them through it, they didn't ask for a lot of help. They were like, this is what's happening, this is what we think, and this is what we think we should do.
This is what I'm going to tell the customer. I want you to go over to make sure I'm not missing anything. And I'm like, Damn it, you've got it. Yeah. OK, I'll sit back here and watch Dateline. They've got it. And I'll go up there and pet a puppy and hug a customer every now and again. So if I can see a customer coming that I love, and I'm like, oh, hey, how you doing, whatever.
How's my car? I don't know. I have no idea. Hailey's going to take care of you. Stuart's going to take care of you. And if they don't, let me know. You know, a little humor there. But you raise them up the way they should go. That's good parenting. Yeah, that's your parenting. That's your coach. I mean, you as a leader. Like Josh talked about leadership today, and that's not really something that I really bought into that much a couple of years ago.
"Just tell me how to make money and get out my face." "I don't wanna hear about this part." Like, me and Michael Smith from the Institute, like, I've told him twice, "You know, you really get on my nerves, Michael, with all of this hocus-pocus stuff." But now, when he talks, I'm just like, "Yep." I was stubborn again. I didn't wanna listen to it.
But I have found that with leading your team and empowering your team at work. If you're not in the automotive industry, I found that people in the automotive industry are— that are not— are also listening to my podcast. So it's pretty cool. No matter what industry you're in, if you're a leader and you're leading properly, that will affect your KPIs. That's going to make you money.
Yeah, period. Because you're telling them what they need to know, what they need to do to do their job correctly. They want to win for you because they respect you. And then they realize, if I win it, if I play this base, she's going to play this, this guy's over here on this base, and I don't do baseball, but whatever that is, if everybody's in the position and they're playing their game to the best of their ability, we're all going to win.
And then the customer's going to be happy and then they're going to spend more money and then we get more money on commission. It all just trickles down. Yeah, it's like the trickle-down effect. Well, the thing is, you know, a coach's favorite saying when they're doing their presses is, "I got to put them in a better position to win." Yes. And that's what leaders will do.
So let me ask you this. What's that? Outside of your dad, what other life experiences do you think made you a better leader? It was my grandmother too. Okay, your grandma. That's right. Yeah. Grandma Kitty. I laugh because, you know, we have a lot of podcasts and YouTube videos of the gurus, the Simon Sinek, or all the people that we listen to when we want to get refreshed, right?
My grandmother always did that. There's a guy named Les Brown. Okay. And I believe Les Brown was probably one of the OGs of motivation speakers. He's back there with Jim Rohn. Okay. He's an older Black man and he's funny and he tells his story and he's just very motivational. And my grandmother always listened to stuff like that. And as a kid, it got on my flippin' nerves.
But it's not like I can control the radio and we didn't have headphones. So whatever Keith was listening to, that's what we're going to listen to. And Grandma had— we lived in Charlotte and Grandmother had her shop in Albemarle. Actually, it was called Troy. So it's about an hour, hour 15 outside of Charlotte, maybe longer. And that's kind of how I know Benji, 'cause it's out in the boonies, like in that area.
And she would always listen to that. She was always wanting to do better. And Grandma's a Capricorn like me. And she— Get out of here, you're a Capricorn? Yeah, I'm not— I know, I'm not bossy at all. I'm a sweet little lamb. Say it. Say it. You are? Yes, I am. So, you know how we are. What date? January 3rd. 18th. Yeah, so Grandma's the 15th.
Okay. Um, oh man. Yeah, so Capricorn, Capricorn. And I— she was— as a kid, I thought she was the meanest person in the world and the smartest lady in the world and the richest lady in the world. Okay. And I wanted to be like Grandma, so I got to— and I don't know if you went to the institute and thing in Florida, but my story is not— it's not a story, my life is— I got to see both sides of the tracks, and I decided I wanna live over there with Grandma, over there on one side of the tracks, 'cause we get to do stuff, and she works hard, but we have stuff, and it's
fun. And outside of being a beautician— so, anyway, her beauty shop, she had two. She had one in Charlotte, she had one out there in Albemarle, and she served underprivileged in Black communities that didn't have, like, a beauty shop or anything like that. So, she'd go up there, like, twice a week, maybe 3 times a week, and work all day. And not only did she do hair, she would sell things like socks and purses and earrings and stuff.
Like, she had a little market. She was always hustling. So watching my grandma hustle, and then I could watch the rewards. I remember when she bought— I want to say it was an '89 or '90 Nissan Maxima. And that's when it had the keyless entry with the little buttons. Okay, yeah. And that's the year it starts like, "The key is in ignition."
It talked to you. I remember Grandma going to buy that car, And she bought it in cash. Okay. Yeah. Wow. And I remember the guy telling her that if you buy this in cash, we have to report you to the IRS. And she said, okay, anything over $10,000 needs to be reported to the IRS. All right. Yeah. Right, right. And she was like, okay, so?
And I was like, damn! Yes! Grandma said, so what? That's right. She said, so what? Yeah. Sir, Mr. Car Salesman, my grandma said give her her car. And I just thought it was cool. But it also— yeah, it's a big impression. So she made a big impression on me. Okay. And same thing with Dad, you know, he was young. My dad was— I'll tell people, it's funny now, I was a high school project.
Dad was 18. There you go. Yeah. And so when he bought his shop, I think he was like 20, 21 when he first started working. I think it's what he said. Yeah. And, um, just watching him work all the time watching him work. And I adore him. So if he was out there milking cows, I would be a farmer right now. Because I just respected him that much.
And I just wanted to be around him. I wanted to be around the greatness. So it's those two. Those two make the biggest impact on me. Well, that's a huge impact. It's a big impression. And that's the same way that I think most entrepreneurs will look at something like— I know for myself, my whole family, They were all in business. You know, there was my grandfather and his 6 elder brothers, and they were into either booze, they were bookies, they were painters, they were leather tanners, furniture salesmen.
Yeah. They had it all. And one was an accountant, I think. That was Frank, the oldest one. Yeah, and so our whole family dinners were bunch of ballers. Oh yeah. But yeah, my grandmother's brothers and sisters, like her, uh, my uncles— well, I guess it'd be second uncles and great— is it great or second? I don't know. But her brothers and sisters, concrete, concrete.
And like the cousins that are my age, they're still concrete cowboys. There you go. So they get it from their grandparents. Um, concrete, real estate, all the things. Just watching a family full of hustlers. Yeah. And ballers, or whatever you want to call it in this day and age. And just as a kid getting together and going on family vacations and family trips and saying, look, this is We're a bunch of nut jobs, but everybody has their own business.
It is. And, and I'll tell you what, I know for a fact I couldn't work for anybody. I don't know about you, but I couldn't. I, I, I mean, all the times my dad fired me and how many times— because that fired me. I don't know how many times I got fired. I got fired for a tattoo. I got fired so many times.
I got about 10. He would fire his own daddy. Oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, the funny side for me was I'm in the Bay, right? And me and my dad, we're butting heads at the time, right? Because Like anything else, I'm trying to tell him I'm doing it my way and he's going, "No, no, no, no, no. We're still sticking with my way.
You got time." But I kept going at him, you know? And so we had a tire dealer down the street, Mickey Dwyer was his name. So Mickey would come up for gas every week, right? 'Cause we had gas at the time. And so I'm in the bay and Dad comes up to me, he says, "Hey, hey, hey, son, come on out here.
Talk to Mickey. You know, I want you to see Mickey Dwyer." I go, "Okay, all right. Yeah, no problem." Put my tools down and I walk outside and, Dad's grabbing me. Hey Mickey, how you doing? Hey Gino, what's up buddy? He says, hey, um, you need, you need a tire guy out here, right? And, uh, he goes, yeah, I'm looking. He goes, well, here you go.
And he pushes me off and he fired you. He got you another job though. And the next day I'm slinging tires down at the tire shop. You better not tell you I didn't, you know. And then one time, one time he, um, I was, uh, rebuilding my '67 Mustang. I had the motor out and had that. It was racked and I'm tearing it down.
And I bought another car and I bought another one, all Mustangs. I ran out of money. And I got this car sitting on the side of the building and it's sitting there for a little over a month or so. I come into work one day, it's gone. He goes— I said, "Where's my car? Where's my car?" And he goes, "I had it towed."
He goes, you ran out of money. That's some William Brown stuff right there. He said it. He had a toad. And he goes, you ran out of money. You don't have nothing. I don't want nothing sitting on my lot. And you said, okay. I couldn't do nothing. What could you do? He wouldn't even tell me where he had the toad away from.
To this day, you don't know what happened to the car. You know, I mean, and I said, okay. You never did that again though, did you? Never again. Every time Daddy would punish me, like any kind of punishment I got, I never forgot it. Yeah. I mean, it would just be like, dang, okay. I'll never forget that lesson. Next. I'm so sorry.
Yeah. Yeah. But it worked. You can't do that. You can, you can do that. When people say you can't do that anymore, you can. You can. You can. Yes, you can. Yeah. I mean, and it made me realize, hey, look, you can't go out spending more than what you got. You got all these cars around you, Greg, and I loved Mustangs. I still do.
Yeah. And I had had a '67 I was rebuilding, then I picked up a '64.5 convertible from down the airbase, and then I had a '65 '65 and a '68 fastback. And hard-headed. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, and it was crazy, it was crazy. And then, um, you know, we had at one time we had 5 locations, all gas stations, right?
And we just mismanaged, we just didn't know how to manage at that time. But I was running a shop, uh, it was a 24-hour shop on a main highway, uh, in Newcastle And so I'd have to pull a 24-hour shift every once in a while, and I wouldn't say no, you know. I, I kept up with the grind. But that's the kind of stuff that, you know, uh, I look back on it and the lessons I learned from not just him, but I think we're fortunate that our families were all in business.
We have so many lessons, and I know that I can look at some of my good friends that had the 9-to-5s and they may have made out okay, but they certainly didn't have the life that we had. Not happy. No. Not fulfilling. No, not fulfilling. No. Always at, I mean, somebody else's, you can be fired in a moment. Yeah. Yeah. So my cousins called me, like, I think I was on a flight here.
He was like, "Cuz I just finished listening to your podcast." He was like, "You motivate me all the time." Like, I'm glad. Good. I'm so glad. We are just, I got a wonderful family. My dad's side of the family, they're all nut jobs, but they all work so hard. You can look up to 'em. It's real people. It's real people. It's just real people doing real people stuff.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and then, like I say, I don't know how many times Daddy fired me, or— At the last 2 to 3 years we worked together, his name was Mr. Brown, I would cartoon kill him out every day. Like an anvil, just sit there and look at him like, "Okay, Dad, okay." Well, it got to the point that he didn't like the job anymore.
I don't think he was happy with the shop because we grew from, I don't know, I would say 1,000 square feet to 25,000. But that was part of his dream. But he really liked the art of fixing a car. Yeah, he loved, he loved the— he's an artist by heart. And so the customers and the bills and the complaints, because he grew more money, more problems.
I don't think he enjoyed it as much. And then I was ready to implement processes because I had went to school for business. He was an auto body man that opened a business and, by God, was very successful. And I wanted to change things. And he's like, "Can't do that. Can't do that. Can't do that." Because even after he retired, and I started running the service department, because he decided to rent out the body shop, well, I would make changes.
And he said, "That's not— I wouldn't do that if I were you." Well, I learned otherwise, Dad. And so, when I would tell people, "No," when I start firing customers, and I started to— limit, um, there's no walk-ins, no waiters, right? We're not doing this, we're not doing that. Um, well, limiting waiters because it was— we're on the highway and we would get people that would stop, I need air, I need air, I need air.
And it's not the people that you could turn into a customer, right? It would be a nastiness about it. And so I had to self-correct that, like, hey, this is not— this is— that's like 3 gas stations you passed to get here. And I can't have him drop everything right now. Because at the time, I probably had a tech and a half to do this.
I can help you, but hold your horses. Yeah, right. Like, there's customer service, and I love servicing the customer. I love the— I love a thank you, and I love a smile. But what I want— yeah, we do. I do. And I love a thank you. That's why I will cook for you all day just so you can say it was good.
That makes me happy. That makes me whole. But when people take advantage and they're just nasty, Because they think they can be. Because you're just a dirty mechanic and it's just a dirty shop and all I need is some air. You can take your monkey butt somewhere else with that. Now, if you want me to help you, I'll be glad to help you.
And yes, we do have to write this up because if I touch your car, I'm liable for whatever I do to it. I just want air. Well, you're just going to go to the gas station because I'm going to check it. I'm going to see if there's anything in your tire. We're going to do it right. Yeah. Well, I don't want that.
Well, you don't want to be here. And with a smile, of course. And trying to control my customers, trying to make sure I was attracting the clients that I wanted. And not saying yes to everything, that threw Daddy off. He's like, "You're not going to be able to do that." I was like, "I am." Yeah, you are. Yeah. I did it. I done it.
I did it. That's the hardest part. He respects it now. That's the hardest part of when there's a transfer of ownership from one family member to a younger family member. It's rough. I mean, the lesson I saw from my own dad, and again, I talk about it, but In 2006, right, we were moving to the current location from his original. And he kept saying, "I want 40 years.
I want 40 years here. I gotta have 40 years." So we stayed until his 40th anniversary at that shop. But it cost us because the person that we ended up getting the building from, the place we're at now, When I called him, because my attorney— there's a whole fiasco. So we're having issues with the oil company, right? We got to leave. They're jacking up prices.
It's a whole crap show. Okay. So my attorney goes, find anybody who has a service bay that you can jump into. First person we wrote to was Mr. Shelton, and sure enough He says, "Where you been?" Been waiting for you. He's been waiting for us since 1999. Ooh, this says a lot about you guys. Yeah. And he knew about, he was a transmission rebuilder and he had bought this place, but he was retiring.
So when we found that out, it was easy. But Dad didn't want to go. He refused to leave. And it got to the point where I had to tell him, Dad, You can't be here by yourself. You know, uh, he was 60— 66, right? 2006, 66. I think that's right. Yeah. And you can't just be a cashier at this place. There's no— there's not enough money for you to pay the rent.
If we leave, you know, the rent from us goes away. How you gonna meet the bill? They're jacking your rent up. You're not meeting the volume. You know, that whole game. And finally, he came around and he goes, "Okay." But we made it to his 40th year. But after that, we were out. And that was tough on him. That was really tough.
That is sad to listen to. Mm-hmm. Because that's how many years of his— 40 years of his life. 40 years, yeah, of him— And you got to close that door one more time. Yeah. And so we kept everything we could. They used to have a placard over the name, a ceramic placard. And in fact, I still have that, I believe. Yeah, it's still there.
Well, I have it now. Eugene G. Buckley, proprietor. That's old school right there. Oh, yeah. Yes. Oh, yeah. I love it. Yeah. And I still have it. And so we're coming up on our 60th this year. This is our 60th year, July 7th, I think. So we're trying to get a little celebration about that. Oh, that should be a big party. I hope to, because we used to do a lot of cool stuff.
And that's what I miss. I miss— I mean, we would have— I mean, Dad and I, uh, we built the crown of the Statue of Liberty for July 4th over top of the building on, on, um, PVC. Okay. And it had lit— it was lit. Uh, we had jazz bands come in. You got to do something, cuz USA is turning 200— 250, right?
250. Yeah, that's— man, that's a week's party you should be having. Oh, it should. It's got to be. I mean, I'm trying to find uniforms right now and shirts for for it with red, white, and blue and 60 on it right now from a couple vendors. Um, but yeah, we, we had the band, uh, I dressed as Keystone Cops, we had walking Statue of Liberty, uh, Dad was in a straw hat, and, and then, oh my God, the things we used to do.
You talk about hustling. Um, we were friends with a nightclub owner and a promoter, so he had the number one club in, in the Wilmington area. And Dad, at the time, he was selling hot dogs. We had 3 or 4 hot dogs. Gene's Dogs were all around the city. So this— Your dad don't know how to sit down. He didn't know how to sit down.
He didn't. I love it. Oh no. So plus being a, he was into racing and boats and all that. So the promoter comes up and he goes, "Hey Gene, man, I'm doing this big, big beach thing." He goes, "You wanna sell hot dogs like Coney Island?" And Dad goes, "Yeah." So here we are, we're piling tons of sand. We're building a beach inside this disco, right?
Oh, he was having a beach party in the club? Inside the club. Oh my goodness, I thought he was going to the beach. Oh, oh, okay. So we had the hot dog carts. We had us dressed up as the beach, like lifeguards. And we're in there slinging dogs in the middle of this club. And it was so hilarious. Dogs and liquor, hot dogs and alcohol.
That is, uh, I mean, that's the kind of stuff we used to do. And, and he— you can still do it. You talk about your grandmom, right, and how she hustled. This is what we li— we live this life, you know. And, um, it, it started when he was in Pennsylvania because I was originally born in PA. And so we lived with my grandmom, and my grandmom would take in— we call them, they— we call them strays, but they were kids who didn't have a home, right?
So our— the first 5 years of my life, I mean, it was kind of like a revolving door. There were characters. Thank goodness they were all good people, right? Nothing really happened. But we had this flavor going through this whole house. And my mom, my mom, my mom, Gertie, Dirty Gertie, I called her. Uh-oh. Dirty Gertie. Dirty Gertie. She hated me when I said that.
I said, come on, my mom, you know I love you. And she gave me that smile. And, uh, She was from, uh, Shenandoah, Virginia, and, uh, it was always, uh, chicken and dumplings. Uh, and, uh, what was her Sunday dinner? Yeah, chicken dumplings, beans, and my grandfather made navy soup. But we would have all the people in there, and then she had a pool.
So everybody was at your house, at Dirty Gertie's house. Dirty Gertie's house. It's an old Dirty Gertie's house. Old Dirty Gertie. And she was a character. And yeah, it was That's how we grew up for 5 years. Then we moved down to Delaware, um, and we had originally apartment, then we moved into Albin Park. Um, just some crazy stuff, you know, the things I've done.
I don't know, man, it's a whole full life. It's, it's a really full life. Really? Yeah, I mean, it's been, it's been good. And I think like we talked about, all of these elements that we experienced has made us not only who we are, but how we are leading and what we see in others. I mean, my experience, I'm not the hard-ass leader because I know that to get the best— I know what it felt like.
Yeah. I know the best to get out of people is to work with them, lead them, take their best skills. Yeah. I know you good at this. It's not, "Hey, can you give me 5 more minutes?" words at next week's staff meeting. Just, I know you don't want to talk. Or do you have everything that you need to do your job? Right.
And I don't know if that's just a snack or if that's a tool. What is it that you need for me to do your job better? That's— well, we have to ask that. Yeah, because I don't know. He's like, you know what I need? I need one more of these Jacks. I said, okay, what else do you need? The newest guy, I'm diabetic, there's no diabetic snacks in there.
I should know better, I'm diabetic. "Make sure I got some diabetic-friendly snacks." And that little simple thing let him know I'm listening to him, and I'm gonna do what I said I'm gonna do. And sometimes, I do forget. Like, you, as a father, you told that kid, "Yeah, I'm gonna buy you those skates." And you did not buy the skates 'cause you just were bad.
You just said, "I forgot." So, every Monday, or whenever we do a meeting, "Is there anything you need from me? What am I missing? What is it that I can't see? What have I—" grown nose blind to here in the shop. Help me help you make your job easier, because without you, I can't do it. I can't do it. You're right. You can— your toolbox has wheels, and that works both ways.
My toolbox has wheels. Like, yeah, their toolbox has wheels. So we don't want them to use it, do we? Correct. So let's see if we can keep them parked. And that's what we were talking about on the panel today, or they were, you know, where they said, look, it ain't all about the money. I had a tech tell me that early, early on.
Yeah, he said, it's not always about the money. And I was like, Really? Then I start looking at things differently. Because I mean, we've all had them, but I mean, I have a tech with me that will go to 40 hours, but he won't strive for 45, 50, 60, but he's a good solid tech. He likes to go home, cut his grass, manicure, meticulous.
Oh yeah. Yeah. Lies and all. And it's my nephew. Oh, okay. Because money doesn't drive him. Doesn't drive him. He's got to make sure I pay the bills and I can eat. And then, I want to see the lines in my grass, and I need to go fishing. Yep. So, now, my newest guy, we're on a 4-day work week. He said— he's been with me 6— I don't know how long he's been there.
He says, "I didn't know what to do with myself on Fridays." And I said, "Go fishing." He said, "I can't go." You can go fishing. Yeah. You can go. You can go any— you can go to the park and walk. You can sleep all day, whatever. You wanna go get another job, go get— you have the freedom to live and not just work to live.
You work to pay bills. You're actually working to live. Because we are told that you have to work, go to school, get a good job, pay bills. You retire, and then you die. Right. Like, I don't want to be 50, 55, 60, saying, "I wish I would have done this." I'm gonna say, "I did that, and it was fun," or, "I did that, and I will not do that again."
And people say, "Why were you in Montana? Why were you not in Montana?" Right. It was beautiful. Right. And I, when Kim told me, hey, you want to go? I said yes. I booked my flight. That's a bucket list for me, by the way. I was like, yeah, it is beautiful. So beautiful. There's so much to see in this country. There's so much to do in life.
You can't wait till you're 65, 70. No. Just start living. You live every day. Every single day. Yep. You got to do it every single day for sure. But the thing is, how do we, how do we instill that into our Team members. I mean, they got a lot of, I mean, let's face it. Yes, I think life may be a little bit more difficult for them nowadays.
Maybe it's not as, it's more complicated than what we might have had. But still, you know, when we look at them, like I got a young man who is a GM Master Tech, world-class technician. His thing was, he says, can I get off early? One of the things he goes, All I want is to get off early on Tuesday so I can pick up my daughter.
Wow. They were divorced and all that. And he's trying to rebuild his relationship with the daughter. I go, absolutely. I said, that's no problem. But then he came up, and I always check on him. How you doing? How you doing, man? You okay? What's going on? And then he's slowly coming out of his— The shell. Yeah. And he says, man, I'm having a tough time.
I don't know what to do on Saturdays. You know, I go, you know, what he's telling me, he's kind of like, you know, I don't have too many friends. And I said, man, meeting people is rough these days and all that. And I kept thinking, I said, what could I put this young man into? Where could I show him or direct him to go?
And I know we can think about it, but what about all of our other team members? How do we kind of, make them look through a different lens and, you know, do that? Well, people don't go outside anymore because they just follow everybody on social media. True. People don't pick up the phone and call each other anymore. They just check on you via your Facebook status.
And so, I think this generation grew up with that. And there's a really big disconnection. And how to fix that, I don't know. They're gonna have to learn to unplug. Like, I don't know how old this young man is, but what do you love? What have you tried? Like, one thing that my grandmother always said is, "Teach a man to fish. It's not the whole thing he'll eat for a day," or all of that.
"He'll never get in trouble. He'll always have somewhere to go." Doesn't have a hobby. Everybody's hobby is on their cell phone. Everybody's hobby is connected to Wi-Fi. I know I did a lipstick report one day, and I was like, do you even enjoy your mortgage? Just go sit on the back porch. Yeah, like sometimes people are so busy doing so many things that they're not doing anything.
Maybe he needs to learn how to lip some— rip some lips, go fishing. Maybe he can start bowling. But he also needs to realize, and it's something that I realized early on, and I attribute that to ASTA Your friends do not have to look like you. So none of my friends look like me anymore. Very few look like me anymore. Like Jordan is hilarious.
I don't know if you met Jordan. I don't think I did. Jordan, um, it's hilarious. And I remember he was much younger and he said, "Mom, all your friends are old white men." I was like, they are, um, because that's who I bond with in the industry and they have knowledge and I want, and they're funny. And then You know, and Santana went out with me to Josh's thing at Benji's house.
And he's like, "These people just really know— these are really your friends?" I was like, "Yeah, I know." 'Cause he's like, "Well, where are we gonna stay?" I was like, "We staying at Benji's house." "You don't stay at nobody's house." "This is Benji's house." And he walked away. And I remember, he just made some connections. And this is a 22-year-old young black man.
And he had to leave to go to work. So, he had to leave early on Saturday. And he texts me back, and this is what he says. He said, "Hey, Mom." "that tall man, I didn't get to say bye to him. It's the one that was talking." And he was talking about Jim Kokonas. He fell in love with Jim Kokonas some kind of way.
Did he? Yes, he had so much— he's like, "I really enjoyed listening to him. I'd like to meet him again." And I'm thinking, "Oh, wow." But that's a connection that he wouldn't have made otherwise. So, sometimes, we'll let race, and sex, and status, and— financial status get in the way of a true, pure friendship. Sure, it does. So there's things for us to do that don't cost money.
There's things to do outside of work. But I think social media and the internet really messed up the connection between humans. It did. And, and I don't know how to escape it. It's, it's tough anymore to put the phone down or forget about it. I know that a few people that I know have completely— they're not even on it. And they carry a flip phone and that's it.
That's all. Sometimes you have to unplug. I'll tell you what, I met Chrissy Falco, Rich's wife, at Women in Auto Care in— where were we? Fort Worth. We probably hang out all the time. She literally lives 20 minutes from me. Never knew it. Really? We've been to lunch. It's the best. We've got the same flipping birthday. Our birthdays are the same. Really?
And yeah, she— we've had lunch twice here. It's the best. It is the best. I love that woman. And I would have never talked to her 10, 15 years ago. Yeah. Because what do I— I don't know anything. I don't know her. Do your friends— do your friends— like, okay, you're talking about expanding your circle. Yeah. Okay. Do you find that your friends kind of stay more cloistered?
I lost a lot of friends. Yeah, yeah, same here. Yep, that's a hard one. Um, it's— it can be tough. Yep. Yeah, I mean, yeah, no, I, I know that. Now you're tearing up. Yeah, you're tearing up. Okay, well, I lost a lot of people that I thought were— that were friends. I see. Okay, so But Kim Walker would laugh at this.
She said I don't have enough testosterone in my body. I will cry over anything. But nobody's been replaced. Yeah. The whole thing that you check on people via social media. Yeah. I like to show up for people and I might show up too much because the Capricorn in me wants to. But they didn't show up for me. Mm. A shame. Yeah. But I have to give grace and forgive because maybe they didn't know how to show up for me.
And I also don't know how to tell them that, "You didn't show up for me." So, they haven't been removed. But they're like, here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At some point, they may come back around. At some point, they may come back around, and I'd be open to that. But I know I can't chase it. Because I have so many other people around me that are helping to fill my cup.
That's true. And I've been invited into rooms that I thought I'd never be invited into. And I've made some great connections right here in the industry, right at the shop. Customers that turn into a friend. Yeah. Other shop owners, man, woman, the wife of the shop owner, just getting together just to cackle and have a drink here at Expo or whatever and not even talk business, just talk about just stuff.
'Cause we all have so much in common. And yeah, hands, the color of your hands and feet will really keep you away from people that you are just alike. So, I'm glad I'm so, I've never been closed to stuff like that. I think some people are. I think we need to have, we need to be open enough to be attracted by other people or another circle or get involved.
Like, we're not afraid to enter another room. As you say, you know, I really think entering the room is very important. And I was telling somebody right before, the only time that I was told that I couldn't enter the room was by the spirit that was sitting on my shoulder. Okay. Nobody has ever said, Tanika, you do not belong in this convention center, or you are a female shop owner and you don't know what you're— Nobody's ever said that.
Only Um, only spirit on your shoulder. The spirit on my shoulder. Yeah. And then I would just— you flicked it away. Um, and then I'll just go in the room. But I was telling the person, you know, we did the thing for Techmetric, uh, a couple— he's like, well, you know, what do you do now? Like, I want to know what you do now.
What do you do now? So now I feel like I laugh and I say automotive auntie. Because there's a lot of youth walking around here now. It is so marvelous. Yeah. And I get excited. And this is where social media is good. They come up to me and they're like, "Oh, Miss Tanika, I wanted to meet you." I'm just like, "Why? Why do you want to meet me?"
And I said, I decided that, "Okay, Tanika, your next journey is to be the person that you wish you saw." 15, 20 years ago in the industry. Yeah. You need to become that person, right, for somebody else. Not because you're somebody special, you're some guru. That's not it. Maybe it would have been a little bit easier for me— not saying that it was hard— if I saw someone that I could relate to instantly.
Mm-hmm. For example, you know, we've done Hunter. Equipment, and Justin Allen did a women's only alignment class. And I remember having that in one of the women's group that we were doing this for ladies only. And Justin was gonna teach it, and I was gonna be there, and a NAPA rep, all the women were gonna be there. So, "Kumbaya, sister," right? This lady says, "Oh, we don't need that.
We don't need that. We should be able to go into the room with the men, and we don't need that." I was like, "You don't need that. You don't need that." I needed that sometime, even though my dad raised me very well, and I had the confidence that some women don't have at a young age. But sometimes, you do doubt yourself. You still doubt yourself now.
Every now and again, shows up. So, if I can be in the room, and then, my little niece can see me and say, "Oh, what? Okay, I do belong here." And that's all I do that day, then to God be the glory. But I'm not gonna let her stay there. I'm just gonna be like, "Okay, come on now." Come on across the hall.
The big white scary men are not gonna get you. Come on, they ain't thinking about you. So that's who I want to be. And that's where I think the industry, that's what I think my job is right now in industry. I think you are absolutely finding a place within the industry. But like, I think I might have mentioned to you before, I said I personally don't want to see you play the short game.
And you got a voice that carries outside of our walls. And you've got a persona that goes way outside our walls. You do. And that's what I'm trying to say. I just said, don't deny it. But learn to work it for the betterment of somebody else. Yes. I want to make sure I'm doing good. You're starting off on a good foot. I mean, you got a lot going on.
And with all of the experiences that we just been talking about, they come in handy because you don't want to treat somebody the way you were treated. Right. And you always want to make somebody better. Yes. Okay. And that's what us CAPs are known for. Yeah. I was in the leadership intensive. The Institute with Michael again. And I remember he said, "I need you to, you know, write down your why."
And my why has been changing. Kids are grown, shop's running, all the things are lining up. Mm-hmm. What do I do with myself? Yeah. Don't know what to do with myself. But it comes to you. It will come to you. But it's been there, and I've been— I've been not listening to it. So, Braxton was recording. And Braxton is the young man that does all the editing and stuff for the podcast.
"Miss Tanika, you should do a podcast." "Shut up, Braxton. Shut up. I'm not doing that. That's stupid. I stutter. I don't wanna do it." "Miss Tanika, you should do a podcast." "Bleh!" And I wish I— I haven't memorized it, but when he said, "Write down your new why," it just flowed. And I said, "Okay, God wants me to do exactly what I just said."
And I gotta stop not doing what he told me my next assignment was. When we were in Montana, we were talking and everybody was saying, you know, "What are you struggling with?" And we're just talking at the table. The ladies talk at the table after dinner. And I said, "I prayed the prayer of Jabez and I asked God to—" 'Enlarge my territory, keep me from doing harm.'
That is not a stingy prayer. Some people think that's a stingy prayer. It's like, 'No, enlarge my territory, but keep me from doing harm.' And I said— and he said, 'Okay, my child.' And he came down and said, 'Okay, my child, I will do this, and this is your assignment.' And I was like, 'No, no, um, that ain't what I meant, Jesus.
Uh, that's not the territory that I wanted you to enlarge, sir.' Is this my blessing? You mean I gotta talk to people and I have to make eye contact? Because I'm an introvert. I really am. We get it. Come on, seriously. I will have to go to my room and recover from this before I go to the party. Yeah, but it's fine because my grandma did not go for that.
She would say, what's wrong with you, the cat got your tongue? I would be hungry if I wouldn't speak up. I called my dad for the longest. Okay, so yeah, I'm talking and being open, that's not for me. And that's one of the reasons I started doing the Lipstick Report. To make myself talk and to listen to my own voice and things like that.
And, uh, yeah, so the prayer that I prayed, and God said, okay, okay, my child, I will bless you. And then I told him, that ain't what I meant, sir. And he's like, oh, you don't get to tell me what to do, I'm your daddy. And I was like, God, Jesus, is this how this works? Yes, it is. It must have been a heck of a conversation you were having.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I called him by his whole name, Jesus Antonio Christ. Listen to me. There you go. But be careful what you ask for. Yeah. But I love it. And I hope great things come from it. And if only I reach 7 people and make a difference in 7, 7 is a good number. Well, you know what? You made a couple points the other day about just that.
Yeah. Right? I'm not worried about who's listening, whatever. You are your audience. I was talking to me. You're your fan. Right? And that's who you worry about. It doesn't matter what the numbers are.. It's a matter of, did you put out a good product? Did you put your voice out there? Did you make people feel something different? Yeah. And when they come back to you and go, damn, Tanika, I mean, you hit me over the head.
That was great. I get 'em in the direct messages from people that are not even friends. That's right. Like I got two last night and I was like, who is this? Like he's talking to me. Yeah. But it makes me really feel good. Yeah. But that's not why I'm doing it. I'm not doing it for the likes and then for my little serotonin, whatever stuff in your brain.
Yeah, it's not ego. No, it's not ego. But if somebody can hear me, and like yesterday, the Lipstick Report is like, eat some chewing gum, your breath stink. Maybe somebody forgot that. Did you see that one? I was afraid to come in. I didn't— my Mentos. I was gonna say, hey, man, if I can make you laugh real quick and you're having a bad day, then good, because I'm trying to make myself laugh too.
Yeah. Um, but I prayed that prayer, and it seems like that's what Jesus Antonio Christ wants me to do. And, uh, I will do that. I will be kicking and screaming and cussing the whole time because he knows that I say bad No worries, but I'm working on it. And, um, so that's why I was like, okay, let me go to these conventions.
Yeah, because this, this time I met a couple young ladies. Like, one lady that worked for Techmetric, she was adorable. And then Gabby that works for Kukui was like, they'll go on, nieces, everybody come here, look at all the young people. And, um, it's great, it's great. That's who you're reaching. You're going to be auntie Automotive Auntie. It is too funny that I know that.
What's his name? Uh, Richard Check Engine Chuck calls me TT. TT. Yeah, there you go. And so, I mean, I like it. It's part of my new— why am I crusade? What are you gonna do? You doing charity work? Yeah, yeah, got soup radio going on, uh, Shop Soup. Uh, we're building it up little by little. Um, I'm gonna come on DJ one time.
You know what, I've, I've The invitation's there. We're gonna get that together. I've got all kinds of things planned out, but it's a slow roll, a little bit slower roll than I would've liked, but it's getting there. And I'm putting the pieces together so this whole kind of like network that I wanna build is gonna be right on point. If you build it, they will come.
But we got, I got some good things. And the 302 side where I'm interviewing all of the local, the Delawarean groups and the YMCA Oh gosh, Special Olympics. I'm learning, I'm learning how to interview properly. Uh, you know, I hired a coach, um, a podcasting coach. Oh cool. Uh, Clint Ravenscraft, great guy. Uh, I had followed him decades ago when he first started.
There's a podcasting coach? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And he was one of— he's one of the OGs, like the original podcasters, and he started off on the floor of his room He was selling insurance and he decided just to whip out the laptop, an old beat-up thing, and he has pictures of it. And then he grew into this voice, you know, but he's really solid with his information and his style.
And I had been involved with a lot of info marketing groups, you know, and that's helped me learn marketing for the shop, you know. I mean, really well-rounded from YouTube to, uh, podcasting now and all of that. So, um, I got a hold of Cliff and he had come back online. He took a break and he's called the Pod— it was the Podcaster— Podcasting Answer Man.
You gotta, um, send me a link or something. Yeah, I will. Yeah, I will. And he's a great guy. Um, him and I, we— I mean, I had him for about 3 or 4 months of coaching And he just refreshed everything for me. So now I know what direction I'm gonna go to. And we had this funniest conversation because I said, I said, Cliff, I said, I'm having a problem, man.
I said, right now I really hate my industry for, you know, just everything was going on. So much drama, so much anger. And he came to me and he goes, hey, Greg, you know how long I've been doing this? And he goes, you know what? I hate the podcasting industry. And I go, what? I'm like shocked. I'm like, but he goes, it's all a money grab because all the people doing this, doing that.
And he goes, I know that they have to make money, but it's not the right content. Everybody's doing this or doing that, and they're all talking, you got to do video. And he's saying, you don't have to do video. So, you know, we're going back and forth on strategy and all this stuff, but we had a really honest conversation, and I've got it I've got it available to record to put it out there.
Because we had links that were sent or that whatever, Fathom, they take notes on. OK, so I've got the video and the content for him. But he's a very good grounded person, him and his wife. And they've got all— we just have good talks over style, content. And he was always like, why, why? What are you doing? What are you doing? And I go, "Well, I want to go here."
"No, you don't." You know? It's like— Yeah. So I mean, I'm learning a whole new thing because this will be a career move for me. I really have enjoyed my time with technology. I mean, I've been making movies and being on video since I was 12. Really? Yeah. I mean, I got the old-time splice out and cut and splice, edit and do all of that.
So you get to do full circle and do what you really, really, really want to do. Yeah. Producing, editing. I had all the— I was the videographer for everything and everybody. And even with this nonprofit, I'm the videographer. And I was up 4 o'clock this morning editing video that goes on the TVs, the monitors tomorrow night. Oh, really? The director, he calls me up.
He goes, hey, can I add some more slides? And I told him, I said, Frannie, I'm going away. I go, I can't— I don't know what condition I'm going to be in, right? So, you know, you're messing up my drinking time. Yeah, he was too. Back on it. So he said, come on, can you do it? I go, okay. So I got it done, you know, and I enjoy it.
You know why? Because it just feeds me your imagination, um, and, and that's— it's healthy. And then I can go back and I can relate to technology, uh, and understand the digital side and bring everything in. But, you know, overall Um, that's what Uncle Buck's doing. And, you know, I'll still be the shop owner and be the dad and be the guiding whatever for some people.
And, but we're, um, yeah, we're doing— it's fun. I got— the most important part is, you know, I got to find my groove again. Yep. This is what it comes down to. That's what mattering is about, finding who you are, where you're at, and, and get back on it. Get back on it. Get back on it, man, and have fun. You know, we're only here for so long.
A season. Yeah. And so for most guys, it's like, well, how am I going to go out? What do I want to go out like? Do I want to just wimp out, or do I want to go out like a shooting star? Guns a-blazing! Yeah, I want to go out like a shooting star. Yeah, you know, blaze, you know, just beautiful. That's it.
Yeah, you know. And so when I'm done, I'm done. But until then, I'm gonna keep trying to do something, whatever I can do. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I love it. Yeah, yeah, just keep on keeping on. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's all good. Well, we got to get out here because Mike's going to get us— Sunil's kicking us out at 6. Oh, pack it up.
Are you going to Tools? Oh yeah, I'll be at Tools. Yeah, I got a whole crew from Millsboro coming up. Yeah, I'll be up there. Cool. Yeah, yeah, checking things out, checking things out. Well, don't get too far into everything else that we miss you in this world. Oh, you got so much to contribute still. Well, I appreciate what the industry's done for me, and, and everything I can give back to it, I'm more than happy to.
Um, I, I just want to be— I just want to talk common sense and give you real world stuff. Yes. You know, if, if I hurt, I'll tell you I hurt. Yeah. If I tell you I'm Riding high, riding high. I'll tell you all my warts. I'll tell— I don't care. You can learn anything about me you want. Yep. I don't care.
No KPI talk, none of that stuff. Just real stuff. No. Yeah. Tell you my music, my history, what I've done. Done some stupid stuff. Yeah. You know, it was fun though. It was fun. Oh God, it was fun. I'm still here. Yeah. I don't know how. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, you know, I just I don't know, Tanika, I've had a really great life.
Good. And it's still a great life. It's still a great life. It's still a great life. I got a great family, got a really, really, really great wife who's honest as the day is long. Can't stand how honest she is. Tears me up. But if she wasn't, you'd probably have an ego like this. She'd be like, "Oh, honey, please sit down." She will reel you back in.
Back in. She takes me down in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat. And I'm going, what? Yeah, you know, hey, you'd rather hear from her than the outside sources. Oh yeah, it's just like, why didn't you tell me I have a booger in my nose? She's the one that's like, hey, yeah. But then, you know, like today, like I forgot some stuff that I'm— that I, I packed my own son.
I normally do, but I called her up, I go I forgot my socks. I forgot my pair of shoes. I said, I go, "Honey," I said, "How come you're not here?" And she's like, "Uh-huh." Exactly. I told you. Yeah. I love it. I love it. That's good. Well, then I'll see you in a couple weeks. Yeah. Pennsylvania. Okay. And I really enjoyed sitting down and talking to you.
I love this. I love it. This is good. Love just getting real. This is good. And sharing what we've been through. And knowing you're a Capricorn, Yeah, that's even better. Yes, yes. You know, not too many of us, uh, kind of want to chirp about ourselves a little bit, but yeah, you know, because we can be some mean people. Oh yeah, I choose to be the nicer Kevin.
I can be mean though. Oh, my, my sister, she's a, uh, Leo, and she knows. She goes, I know when I get on your wrong side because you just come in and you go like that. It's— you take action. I can cut my eyes at somebody like nobody's business, like No, we're not doing that today. Yeah, yeah, they reach a point. Yeah, and after that, done, done.
Yeah, so, well, it's a great time. I really appreciate you having me on. Absolutely. Yeah, we're gonna do it again. Okay, do it again. Yeah, 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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209 - The Real Story of Growing an Independent Auto Repair Shop with Andy Severein June 24th, 2026 - 01:00:41 Show Summary: Andy Severein shares how Andrew's Auto grew from a single shop into a thriving multi shop operation through coaching leadership and a commitment to continuous improvement. Jennifer Hulbert explains how understanding financials improving repair order value and developing managers helped transform the business. They discuss building a strong culture creating opportunities for employees and preparing the next generation of leadership. Their story shows that long term success comes from intentional growth consistent training and serving both customers and employees well. Host(s): Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development Guest(s): Director of Programs & Owner of Service Plus Automotive Owner, Andrew’s Auto Show Highlights: [00:02:29] – Jennifer shares her journey from shop owner to Institute program director. [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: ...
The Rise of the Specialist: Redefining Automotive Professionalism [THA 485]
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"> Host Carm Capriotto is joined by shop owners Craig Noel, Brett Beachler, and Tom Palermo for an important discussion on how “The Rise of the Specialist” is moving from idea to implementation inside automotive repair shops across the industry. Written by Carm Capriotto, “The Rise of the Specialist” is a growing movement and declaration designed to elevate the language, image, professionalism, and culture of the automotive service industry. In this episode, the panel shares how they are actively implementing “The Rise” within their own businesses, from changing terminology and redefining job titles to elevating customer communication, shop presentation, and team culture. The conversation highlights the real-world challenges and successes of shifting away from outdated labels like “mechanic,” “wrench,” and “technician” and embracing the more professional and accurate title of “specialist.” Carm explains that this movement is more than a branding exercise; it is a professional evolution aimed at helping the industry better reflect the expertise required to service today’s highly advanced vehicles. Modern automotive professionals are diagnosticians, calibration experts, technology specialists, and problem-solvers operating in one of the most sophisticated skilled professions today. Throughout the discussion, the shop owners explain how adopting the language and principles of “The Rise” has strengthened team pride, improved customer trust, and helped create a more professional identity within their organizations. The panel also explores how service advisors play a key role in communicating the value of diagnostics, testing, and specialist-level expertise to clients in a way that builds understanding and confidence. The episode draws powerful comparisons to professions like medicine and culinary arts, emphasizing that automotive specialists deserve the same respect given to highly trained experts in other industries. Just as chefs and medical specialists earn recognition through mastery and continuous education, today’s automotive professionals must also be seen as specialists whose expertise protects the safety and reliability of every vehicle entrusted to them. “The Rise of the Specialist” has already gained momentum throughout the industry. Carm’s signature keynote, The Rise of the Specialist, has been delivered to influential audiences across North America, including the ASE Board of Governors, Ford Motor Company, and hundreds of forward-thinking automotive professionals. What You’ll Learn Why “The Rise of the Specialist” was created and what it representsHow shop owners are implementing “The Rise” in their businessesWhy the industry must move beyond outdated titles like “technician” and “mechanic”How language shapes customer perception, professionalism, and team cultureThe role service advisors play in explaining specialist-level diagnostics and repairsHow hospitality, presentation, and communication strengthen customer trustWhy this movement can help attract the next generation of automotive professionals This episode demonstrates that “The Rise of the Specialist” is no longer just a concept; it is becoming a real cultural shift within the automotive industry. By adopting language that reflects expertise, elevating professionalism throughout the customer experience, and embracing the identity of the specialist, shop owners are helping reshape how the industry sees itself and how the world sees it. Download 'The Rise of the Specialist': https://remarkableresults.biz/rise Craig Noel, <a...