Jeff Compton Tells All - A Real Look At His Industry Impact | Jeff Compton - Ep 10

0:00But I still have a responsibility to tell them that there's other options for them out there. If I was to just shut up and say nothing about who I am— No, we don't want you to shut up. I would be nothing. I wouldn't be the person that has contacted me and said, "My life is so different now because I heard your episode and I went and changed jobs and I'm making $10 more an hour and they love me."

0:25I wouldn't get those conversations. I wouldn't have had that impact. Welcome to Downshift with my sis, Taneka Haynes. We all know as shop owners, sometimes you got to slow down in order to speed up. And that's what this podcast is all about. It's time to downshift. Like, I went and had a blind date last night and I talked that poor girl's ear off.

0:53And I warned her that would happen, um, but she's like, oh yeah, I see why you have a podcast now. And I'm like, yeah, you went on a blind date? Yeah. Was it a friend that hooked you guys up, or was it an app? What did you find this woman? Facebook Dating. Um, who is this woman? She's, uh, oh shit, I don't even know her last name.

1:15Danielle's her first name. Um, okay. Yeah, so she lives like an hour away, which probably won't work. Um, and then there was just no real connection. She's a nice girl, but she's kind of— how do I say that— she's a little skinny. Um, too skinny. I don't know, that's a real thing. It is. And it's not that I like— you know, I mean, it doesn't really matter, right?

1:41Like, if the chemistry is there, the chemistry is there. But she's just not— she's not somebody that would have ever caught my eye just attention-wise, because she's just— she's tiny, she's skinny. So, you know, not my thing. We need something cushion for the pushing, a little bit bigger than that one. Yeah, she's— I was not supposed to say that. Bryson, take that out.

1:59No cushion. Well, cushion, cushion for the pushing, right? And then you keep saying it, and I just keep saying it. We don't have it on his t-shirt, so it's all good. So, so, well, this is why we're here. You've been a podcaster for 3 years. I've been on your podcast. I adore you. Thank you. And Braxton does a really good job of getting everybody's attention with his reels.

2:23Yeah, that dude can edit something and make us all look like nutjobs. And it's funny and it gets attention. Yeah. So in my coaching group, a couple years— a couple years— a couple weeks ago, I'm losing it. Um, so my 20 group, you know, we get together, we meet, we talk, we talk about numbers, we talk about the things, and we talk about stuff.

2:42All the things. Your name came up. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. And I did my best to defend my brother because I'm gonna do that, but a lot of the points were, um, valid. It wasn't hateful or spiteful. And I want to get your take on it, and especially after kind of what's been happening in the, in the Facebook groups and all the anger and all the back and forth.

3:10And, um, you know, I like to joke and I like to have fun, but I also really worry about people's heart and their mental health and their well-being altogether. And what I heard in my group of shop owners— I mean, good shop owners, because they're doing the job, they're doing the training themselves, they're doing all the things that you say shop owners should do.

3:30And I know what is the top 5 or 10% of us are doing it. So I would like to think that they're good shop owners. What they're finding, some people are finding, is that your, your podcast is causing havoc in their workplace, right? And let me get it out. So from what I understand and what I can see from their, their perspective is maybe technicians, or, um, the technicians and the mechanics are only watching the highlight reels and you have nothing to do with that because you're not editing, and they're not getting the whole message.

4:12Yep. Doing a podcast, and they're going into work with the attitude of, I, I should be making more money, and I'm this, and I'm all of that, and I'm quitting, and I'm going to hold the shop hostage because I am the shit. You will respect me. I do not have to bend to your authority. And what I say goes because the Jaded Mechanic says we're all underpaid and we're all this and the industry sucks and we need to just leave.

4:42And that's not what you're saying. I know that's not what you're saying. But what do you say to the technician that's not listening to the whole podcast? They're not understanding where you're coming from and they're definitely not at the level that you are. We're talking about these Jiffy Lube type techs that don't, they're not technicians, they're parts changers. Yeah. And they're not coachable and they're not trainable, and the shop is offering training and they are still not doing their job.

5:11So I'll liken it to like this, right? We see, you know, certain people, uh, this week everybody wanted to pile on them, right? And I'm not talking about myself, I'm talking about people within our circle, right? And, um, here's the thing, a lot of those people make that decision to jump on that person based on how things look on a page, how things will jump off the page at them, maybe it starts to really hurt some feelings and stuff.

5:40I would say that those people, just like you've never listened to anything but a 30-second clip of mine, if you haven't heard the whole episode, you don't know me. You have never met me. And I think it's kind of similar to that. So It sucks that the algorithm works that if it seems like something negative, um, it draws a lot of attention.

6:01And I have by no means have I ever advocated for technicians that they hold the shop or their employer hostage. Now, there are some technicians, and I've talked to a lot of them in the last year, they didn't know their true value and where they were working. And I'm not saying that everybody just pick up a pitchfork and go in and demand.

6:25And if you don't roll out, I'm not saying that, but it's a situation of like always have the conversation first, but be aware that most of us work for that 90% that are not having the conversations that you and Ashley are having. And, you know, the three of us are having about trying to improve the industry and improve the shop every day.

6:44Like Josh says, 1%, right? They're not trying to do that. We already know what to do. We've been to the trainings, paid for the coaching. Learn the right way to inspect cars, build estimates, and talk to our customers. That's not the problem. The problem is consistency, because some days it only works when the right person is working, and when they're not, it's a whole different shop.

7:04So 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.

7:31Now, that's not just based on memory or mood. That's how Shop runs. And let me tell you, I've been using it for over a year now. My ARO is up 63%. That's not new knowledge, that's just consistency. If you're tired of your shop depending on who showed up today. Go check out Detect Auto, book a demo. So the shop owner might be in a dead end.

7:54It would be a disservice to my people, my fellow brothers and sisters that are techs, to not show them or talk to them about what you do when people are in a dead end. You know, they're, they're already where they want to be business-wise, and it's not enough for you, there's nothing wrong with realizing it, but you can't just sit there. Too many technicians for too long have sat there and said this industry sucks, and they've never had a conversation about why it sucks and what should be done to improve it, and they've never tried to hold people accountable.

8:29Now, people accountable for why it sucks, that's a lot— falls back right back on the technician, right? We have not been as professional as we thought we had been. We have not been always the advocate for the customer, and we make excuses for that. Some excuses are valid, I feel, but I don't want people to just immediately hear what I have to say, um, and base it on a 60-second clip that I'm out there like some other podcasters in the realm that I'm not going to even bother naming who every week, um, don't even acknowledge who they are, where they work, what they do, and are just constantly trying to cause an uprising.

9:18There are people with platforms that pretty much will say every week, "You should quit. You should get out." I've never said to anybody, "Get out." I have said, "Move on from where you are." I have said that you have to do more than what you're currently doing for yourself if you want to get to that level where you think you deserve. But I've not ever said, "Get out of this industry."

9:42And that's where I think a lot of it rubs people a lot the wrong way. And it's the same as my detractors that, "Well, you shouldn't have any opinion at all because you're not a shop owner." It's a fair opinion for them to have. The reality is that when every conversation seems to revolve around the fact that it's a technician did this or technician did that or I can't find a technician, I'm not an owner.

10:05But I got one heck of an insight into the technician perspective after 30 years of doing it and the better part of a decade on Facebook before there was a podcast talking to hundreds of technicians a week. So why does it resonate with them so much? I don't know. I think it's because it's relatable. It's like we were just talking about. I'm authentic.

10:34And they like the way you say out. Yeah, it's about out. It's about, about out. It's the accent. But I mean, so do you ever think— I got— nobody wants to change you. If you ever cut your beard and if you ever do anything different, I will unfriend you, okay? So if you find this woman and she's like, well, can you color your beard or can you trim your beard, it tickles, I'm gonna be pissed off.

11:01So don't do that. So don't change who you are. But what scares me is, I guess, is really, do you think it's your responsibility? Like, do you have any— like, you're, you're so influential on so many different social media platforms, right? Do you think you have the responsibility to make your message more clear? Um, to the younger techs or to the techs that are in the bad shop and say, okay, don't rage quit, have the conversation?

11:37Or is that— I mean, is that just too much to ask from one person? Is— what's your responsibility in that? We're changing the industry, right? Yeah. So every day when I wake up, I wake up with knowing that whoever put me here, without going down a religious thing, um, I'm put here to speak for them. I'm there. They are my people. They are who I represent.

12:02So it's not a situation of any— like, I love shop owners. I really do. Like, you guys are some of the most amazing, incredible, hard-working, talented people I've ever met in my life with absolutely awesome stories and insight and perspectives and everything else. But it comes back to that 90 and 10 idea. Round numbers here, where we're talking to 10% of the owners.

12:28Whereas like I talk to technicians that don't even know about these groups other than in passing because they've been mentioned, right? And their owners don't even know about these groups. So they're in a situation of where it's not malice that they're in an environment that maybe isn't good for them. It's just what they— they don't know what they don't know. But I still have a responsibility to tell them that there's other options for them out there, this 10% that we are in our circle.

12:56If I was to just shut up and say nothing about how I live— No, we don't want you to shut up. Yeah, do it. I would be nothing. I wouldn't be the person that has contacted me and said, "My life is so different now because I heard your episode and I went and changed jobs and I'm making $10 more." for an hour and they love me.

13:22And, and I wouldn't get those conversations. It wouldn't have had that impact. So when I have the— in the room, the, the, the owners stand up and say he's all negative and he's causing uprising, you know, I— how do I say that? Just say it. If you're— if your own— if your own environment is already Great. Your people, I won't have any effect on at all.

13:52But if your people are coming to you going, "I'm demanding more because I heard this from him," it maybe wasn't— you maybe weren't as keyed into your people as you thought you were, which is more human nature, right? Like, it happens. We get in a— our good friend that we've talked about, right? Like, he had a rough year because he kind of stepped away from the the plate a little bit, you know.

14:18You know who I'm talking about, and I'm not— yeah, no, we're not throwing shade, but if you are listening into that— yeah, and you forget about your people that's allowing you to do the things that you want to do, and you're not communicating with your people, which are your technicians and your frontline, your service advisor, down to the guy that's taking out the trash, um, you take your finger off the pulse of your business and it turns to shit.

14:44And, um, yeah, I can definitely see that. So I, you know, I cannot back up now and back off the throttle and stop being me, or stop or rechange, you know, rethink how I actually have the conversation, because it wouldn't be authentic. Um, and there's just too much now that has shown me that I am making an impact and I am making a change.

15:07And I don't think for the really good owners out there that I'm having any kind of negative impact. I think the people that are triggered necessarily by me are not really looking at the reality. They're looking at what they hope things are, and maybe I shock them or scare them or make them worried, and that's not intentional. It's just having conversations. That's all it is.

15:31I'm not out there to cause the uprising, you know. So what I think that what they were saying— okay, go ahead, Ash. What do you got, miss? Has there ever been something that you believed in the past and now today don't, but haven't had an opportunity to talk about it and change your mind? I have a really probably, um, what's the word, crystal ball, uh, image of the average technician in the Bay.

16:02Um, and I believe Brian Pollack pulls me back into reality a lot in the sense that he reminds me that I'm not exceptional, but some of the things that I do without even thinking about it, my processes and stuff, and some of it's 30 years in, it just, it makes me not necessarily one of the problem technicians for some of these people that they hire.

16:26So I see all these technicians as hardworking, really competent, and if the job doesn't go right, it's 'cause they weren't given enough time or they weren't paid enough, blah, blah, blah, not training. The reality is, is just some of them, are not good technicians. They don't come with a good attitude. They don't come with good tooling. They don't apply themselves. They don't build themselves.

16:45They don't pour into themselves. And that's because, like, I don't work with 10 other technicians every day, right? I work with one other technician that's my senior, and, you know, senior in age, not necessarily in ability. And I just go to work every day and do my job., to the best of my ability. Cars don't really give me a hard time anymore to fix if I have the tooling and the information.

17:10And that's it. And Brian reminds me that he sees things every day, not necessarily as much in his own shop, but what comes into his shop, of people that paid for things that didn't get at all what they were supposed to get. And that's technicians that are responsible for that. Now, they have leaders who didn't necessarily maybe You know, hold them accountable.

17:31Mm-hmm. At the end of the day, there's a lot of incompetence that I have been not seeing because I'm not exposed to it and because I didn't want to see it at first. And it hurts me sometimes to see how far some of them still have to go to be worth what they feel they're worth because some of them might not have the time, but they have to start by trying.

17:56Pouring into themselves. If they won't even bother, then it just goes like you said, they're uncoachable, you know. Yeah, it's just like the shop owner that starts a shop, um, from the ground up, and then they're just frustrated and they're not doing the coaching, and they think they only have to work from 8 to 5, and they're not staying late and doing the late hours, and they're not going in on Saturday and Sunday, and they're not putting in the extra effort.

18:20And they're comparing themselves to the shop owner that's had a shop for 10, 15, 20 years, and they wonder why they can't get there. And And it's everybody else's fault but theirs. It's like, 'cause you haven't done the work. Yeah. Like, so that, I think that is the demographic that the shop owners that I was talking to, 'cause they're trying to do the work with those technicians that really think like they've done work.

18:42And like, no, dude, you didn't do anything. Like, you really are not applying yourself. And, oh, you're not giving me coaching. Yeah, but you're not even coaching yourself. You're not trying to learn anything else. Like, help me help you. And they're using you and your podcast and the words that you're saying after your 30 years of experience, and they're trying to compare themselves to Jeff.

19:04Yeah. And it was like, no, no, dude, you, you don't even know how to change a belt. Like, literally, we had like, what are you doing? Oh, this is, this is bullcrap. It's not. You're the bullcrap. So I think that's where the disconnect is. Like, I think when you're talking Um, and like you said, you don't have the crystal ball, but when you're talking, the people that are listening to your podcast are looking for a reason to make themselves right and not be accountable for their own downfalls.

19:33Like, they want it to be everybody else's fault but theirs, and they're not looking at a 30-year-old tech that has been in their shoes and has made mistakes. But you've done the coaching, you've done the training, you've done the training again, you're still trying, you're still doing training, 30 years in, and they won't even go to a training if their boss says, oh, we've got training on Friday night.

19:53I gotta go home, my baby mama would— don't get mad. So those are the technicians I think that some of the shop owners are up against that start out thinking they're supposed to start out at $100,000, but can't even— don't even torque the wheels when they're doing a rotation. And here's the unfortunate thing, is the, the shortage has driven a lot of techs owners, excuse me, owners, and I know the truth.

20:18And I, Ashley, you can for sure confirm, as can you, honey, that they're having— a lot of shops are keeping technicians that they shouldn't have to keep if there was a bigger talent pool out there to be pulling from. Now, do you blame the technicians for that? Uh, you blame them if they're not competent, but the fact that we have such low numbers, we have to put the blame back on the industry for that.

20:44Mm-hmm. Because the industry didn't do what it needed to do. I mean, crap, when I was starting out 30 years ago, they were telling me the shortage was going to happen. They were telling us then young people were not coming in in the numbers that they used to, and the industry just kept doing what it does, you know. And what is that?

21:01What is the industry doing what it does? What does that mean? Going into survival mode, just trying to survive, not putting their door rates up, not going to training, not buying tooling, not subscribing, not pouring into themselves as a company. And then sit there and go, these young people can't do this. Well, I'm sorry, if you look at a 1988 versus a 1998 anything, and it's a 10-year window, and you look at the difference in technology that's happened between '88 and '98, and then you think about some of them that were hiring them were there when it was '78, and you think that they should come in and with 3 years just all of a

21:34sudden be an ATEC, you're absolutely over the moon crazy thinking that it can still be a 3-year window and they're an ATEC. It doesn't work like that. Because you might very well still book in a '78, and then the next day you might book in a '98, and both vehicles should go to the same technician. The odds, sisters, of success happening with both of them is about like, go buy a lottery ticket.

21:57They have, depending on their age level and what the complaint is, they have a better chance of fixing the '98 than they do the '78. Right. But the leader looks at it and goes, that '78 is so simple. Whereas the young person might look at the 2008 and go, "That's simple to me. I don't understand why my leader can't understand this concept."

22:18So we have brought these young people into something that the technology is always looking like this, and we've been going like this the whole time. And we look over and go, "Oh crap, look what's coming." But when we don't do anything about it, we just keep surviving. We just keep going in and turning the lock. Every morning and we flick the lights on and we drink our coffee and we complain and wring our hands and go, "I don't know what I'm going to do about this industry."

22:43And it just keeps chugging along. Well, the technicians to survive it have figured out how to survive it. They stay in their lane. But if they stay in their lane and you as the owner think you're staying in your lane, But you're not having a conversation about what that actually looks like and how do we approach these challenges together. You're leaving them hanging and you're putting all the blame on them.

23:10And that's the reality of the dichotomy of what happens in shops most days. We have unrealistic expectations of what we can get through as a company, and we have unrealistic expectations of our people that work for us. Some of that is brought on by how they pay them. I don't want to get into that conversation again. And some of it is just they're not tooled up.

23:30They're not tooled up mentally or physically, huh? Right. So just fix it. Just fix it. Just fix it. Make it. I can't imagine, like, like, it's just make it work. I can't make it work. It ends up going somewhere else, and then yeah, it becomes a cycle, huh? I'll tell you a real quick story. I had a '21 Explorer that the power seats would only work memory function.

23:56He would reach down and touch the switch and nothing would happen. And the— we— so I go over and there's some key points here. I go over to Pro— um, ProDemand, which is all the information system I have, and I punch in the VIN number. That's the other key thing. And I punch in the VIN number and I start looking at wiring diagrams for the power seats.

24:16And I have the switch off, um, and it come from another shop, it was already broken. And I can see by looking at those two wires right away, just from training, the two heavy wires are going to be what makes that switch power, and everything else is going to be an input and output, no big deal. So now I take a power probe, I touch it to the wire, I can make the seat move.

24:32Cool. Okay, I have it open to that switch. This is where the wheels fall off the truck, because the printed service information that I had was completely wrong. And there was like 4 different ways that you can wire a power seat in that Explorer depending on options and, and all this kind of stuff. I didn't have accurate service information on a '21.

24:52It's 5 years old, right? From AllData? Yep. ProDemand, excuse me. Yeah, we only have one. So in my brain, I can already make this switch work, right? I have an open. So I go looking over and over again. I go down a rabbit hole of removing the cowl and looking at the battery junction box and testing powers and grounds to it and power out of it.

25:13It's not coming out. And I get really frustrated, and I go over to Google and I punch in 2021 Ford Explorer power seat problem. It shows me on Google completely different wiring diagram that has a secondary fuse that's not in any of my diagrams, that's located in another part of the car. And it takes me to a video on YouTube that a Ford tech has made that shows me not only where the fuse is, but where the short will be in the seat that caused the fuse to blow.

25:41So that's a 4-minute video that was able to save my butt because of holes in service information. Because a shop owner that I work for only has one, not two, not three, not four, you know. And so I liken it to back in the day, we would all call a friend, you know. It used to be every shop owner I ever worked for had a friend at the dealer.

26:04They would call the parts department and say, I got one here, you guys see this. The internet has become that. So I'm a smart dude and I went down a rabbit hole because of lack of tooling that's provided to me. Now that happens every minute in every shop all over this great land. Whose fault would you— well, okay, so whose fault is it, but what is the remedy?

26:36What is your— what do you think would have helped you in that situation to make sure you have all data identifix, all of the things. Yeah, all of the things. Um, and even if you have all of the things and the car is so new that there isn't— you can't reach out and phone a friend and find a bullet and all that kind of stuff, what is allowing me to stay on task, stay focused, not getting beat down by the, the situation, is how that I know that when I go home at 5 o'clock I didn't go in the hole fixing this car.

27:08So make sure you have enough time. Pay, pay, pay in time, right? Nobody's yelling at me going, oh my God, this has got to get done. Now that's my own environment because we're reconditioning cars for sale. We don't have necessarily— now we still have deadlines because salesmen love to look at something on Saturday morning when a customer comes in and promise it for Monday morning with no idea what the car might need, or it's had one test drive of, you know, 2 miles around the block and that's it.

27:37So it's not that I'm without deadlines, but I'm not punished if we have to spend some time to fix this car. I'm not punished. And that's what this industry, not always intentional, has done to so many young people for so long that that's why they're not coming in. And I didn't expose everybody to this. Every old mechanic that I ever worked with told me, don't do this, get out of this, because this is how they treat us.

28:02And I just ignored them. I said, "Fuck you. I'm going to be better than you. I'm going to make it work for me." And I did. But there was some truth to the warnings that they were giving. So that's how I believe we empower our people to become better is let them fix the damn car within reason. If you can fix it better than them, go lead them how to fix it.

28:27If you can't, You're at a cut bait and fish, or you go back to the dock. Good morning. What's up, Jordan? Happy birthday. He did an army crawl and I just looked down as a kid. Say hey. Happy birthday. Thank you. It's good to see you, Jordan. Get out, go to the car meet. Can I go to the car meet? In what?

28:51What are you driving? What? Oh, you got your— that my truck? Okay, love you. Bye. You need to put a toboggan on your hair. Sweat. Braxton, don't take that out. That's motherhood. He's going to the car meet in Raleigh. Um, well, his truck, he wrecked it, and my friend's painting it because he moves next week. And so his truck's in the shop, in the paint shop, and so he's driving my— not my truck, not the Mercedes.

29:23Cadillac. He's driving a Cadillac, which he can't stand. He'd rather drive his 2015 Jeep that's jacked up on these ridiculous tires. Oh yeah, you go, Jeff. I'll send you a picture of it, my boy, with purple emblems on it and so many hats. And it's just so, so rednecky. I love it for him. But he thinks the Escalade is beneath him, like he'd rather be driving a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

29:46Well, that's so 1990s mom, an Escalade, like, you know. Yeah, right. I'm gonna drive this thing. It's a mom mobile with the antenna. I think he has a 10-foot antenna on the top of this thing that's just in the wind. I know my kid when he's driving by, it's hilarious. Let's get back on task. Oh my God. So again, I got a kid going into the industry, and I like to, um, introduce him to all of his uncles, and he's so lucky that I know that one day he'll be— he can call Benji, he can call— hopefully he can call you, he can call all his industry uncles.

30:23How can you be more of an industry uncle even if you don't want to? Because again, you have to accept— like, I have accepted that this is my calling to have the conversations with people even though, like, I don't want to. This is really uncomfortable for me to sit on this podcast But if I don't do what my Lord wants, has led me to do, which I really believe he has from what the feedback that I'm getting, like, oh, this is so exciting that you're talking.

30:53I'm like, why do y'all want to hear from me? There's something there, whether I see it or not yet. So I'm like an industry auntie, and I love it at this point, even though sometimes I just want to scratch my eyes out and just want to go to sleep. But that's not my ministry right now. I have to do what I'm placed here to do.

31:14Your industry uncle, you have a responsibility to the Jordans. How does that even make you feel? It makes me feel like it's heavy some weeks. And then like, actually, I've been thinking a lot about your technician that you had that was so toxic when you shared with us last time we talked, right? And I, I feel like part of what I'm doing is— can make that person become more toxic.

31:40Or some things that what I have to say might have made them more toxic. And then I feel like if I can reach some of them now and they reach out to me in person through a DM or whatever and say, this is what I feel— I have some real hard conversations with sometimes when people contact me because they think they're all that.

32:01Then you start talking to them about their fundamentals and their process and they ain't all that. They're getting by on pattern failures. They're getting by on maybe somebody's telling them what part to put in and they're absolutely killing the time, right? So they look very— there's that word again— that they look very productive. And it's important, but the true growth as a person isn't how fast you do something because you will slow down.

32:31It don't matter what. Your body just can't keep doing it. It's your ability to pass on what you know. It's your ability to raise everybody that you come into contact with in your business every day. That's your true worth, right? So I've been thinking a lot about Ashley's former employee. Coworker, excuse me. And it hurts me to think that I don't know where that person is.

32:57It doesn't really matter. It is what it is. I'm not excusing the way they would've acted. But me as somebody that's always fascinated about what makes people tick and why they are the way they are, that's the story that I always want to know. I'm not giving them affirmation that the way they acted and conducted themselves was right. That's not what I'm out here trying to do.

33:20But if I can show people why some of them get to where I was and some have gone farther, then I think we truly start to, to fix the problem. You know, when we talk about how 1 in 12 technicians contemplates suicide, like, the rate is so crazy high. Yeah, it's followed only by first responders and vets, people. Like, in all the blue-collar trades, it's the number one.

33:53We— if we can't see that as a real telltale of how— I'm not going to use the word messed up, screwed up, effed up this industry is, but of how difficult it is, then we're missing everything that everybody's trying to tell us. So I want you to get a little bit more uncomfortable And I want you to tell us who you were and who you don't want these kids to become, because they're seeing 30-year-old in the trade you.

34:28Yeah. And you can save them a lot of heartache, pain, stress, high blood pressure, and all of those things. Tell them who you were. Tell us who you were. I was very much that technician that Ashley had. I was very much that technician that like, you know, the joke was, but I have grabbed more than one parts guy by the counter and, you know, tried to yank him across the counter by his shirt collar because I was being disrespected, I thought, or he wasn't hustling the way I needed him to hustle because I had to make money for my employer.

35:00I was expecting, you know, I had people yelling at me about how long it was taking to do something because I was standing 20 minutes at a parts counter. And they were lackadaisical. Lack of effort was really biting into my butt at the time. And that's inexcusable. A long time ago, I had a parts guy on night shift that wanted to fistfight me because he had brought me the wrong brake rotors 3 times.

35:27And when somebody asked me what was taking so long, I said, "Well, if you would stop hiring your effing family." to start hiring qualified people, uh, I might have gotten the parts I needed. That man wanted to fist fight me right in the bay. We were ready to go and somebody was pulling us apart. Now the next day when I had to sit in front of my boss and his boss, who was his uncle, we both got sent home that day.

35:53And from that point on, we were good. We were good. Now, I had good conversation, good relationship with that guy up to that point, but the situation made me very frustrated and very angry, and I said things I shouldn't have said and didn't mean. No excuses. I have been somebody who has made a service advisor pay me cash for a job that he told me to do that he then couldn't have the the cohejos to charge the customer for.

36:31And that was a good friend of mine. But I was, I was, I was the type that if you showed me a hill of principle, I would climb that hill and stake my flag on. So I had— yeah, so because I felt that it was right and it was just and it was deserved. When I look back now, it was all for such an insignificant amount.

36:55Of financial, but the principle's still important. It was just the way I executed was wrong, and I— the way I executed was a result of the culture and the environment that I was in. Not making excuses, but it was. Ashley, what— whatever happened to your, your coworker that way? He's still the lead tech and put on a pedestal. Did you guys ever have— yeah, sorry, go ahead.

37:23They know that he's a problem and they admit it every day. They will not get rid of him because there's nothing to replace him with. They don't think there is. There is. Yeah, yeah. It's like the, the technician that holds the shop hostage, or the, the owner that allows the technician to hold the shop hostage because you don't want to lose production.

37:47And you think you can't find anybody. What I remember, I don't know who said it, well, if you fire him, you will find somebody. And just think about, like, I think it puts the owner in an uncomfortable situation. Wait, I think about it like this. I don't know, I don't know how the barbershops and the beauty shops work, but in the hood, if you go get your haircut, there's going to be a hookup man that comes in selling stuff, whether it's a TV or whatever.

38:12And if, if someone came in the barbershop and they had a 60-inch TV And it's like, oh, brother, I can give you this TV, and you know it's a $2,000 TV. I can get this TV for $500. Even if you don't have that $500, you gonna find that dang on $500 to get that TV. So if you fire that toxic technician, even if they're productive, you got to think about how they are affecting the whole culture of the shop.

38:38If you fire that person, you will be more motivated to replace them. Yes. And your, your production on everybody else will come up 100%. It does. It does. And Ashley— so it was an interesting experiment because one of our other locations was down a tech. Mm-hmm. So they pulled him and sent him over there and he was gone for 12 weeks. Our production and our culture had never been better.

39:02Right. When he came back, that's when I decided to go start remote services, the estimates. And I remember in 2 and a half, 2 years or so, I grew it from 1.1 to 2.5. Very proud of it. And when I was phasing out and we were looking for my replacement, he made a comment that, well, we'll just pull your replacement from the McDonald's drive-thru.

39:28What did he say? But my point is like those people are stuck in their way of thinking that Everybody sucks. Service advisors are terrible. Service managers are no better than the drive-through worker at McDonald's. And it doesn't matter what credibility you have, what credentials you have. If we raise technicians to always think that the front of the house sucks, how are we ever supposed to expect change in the industry?

39:56Good point. When they move that technician to the other location for 12 weeks, what did it do to their numbers and culture and everything else while he was over there? You know, that shop had trouble finding technicians to stay because it was a little bit of a dungeon. It was like one tech plus a lube tech. So it actually did help, like having him there and be a lead tech there helped them bring in new techs that saw somebody consistent in the company stayed there.

40:26So it did actually help in a way. But it ran off 3 service managers in 12 weeks over there. And we had a revolving door of advisors at my location. And I don't take training people lightly. I pour my heart into training people and I train damn good advisors. So for me to pour into somebody and then them have to leave because this technician can't get his head out of his you know what, like, and for leadership, to accept that.

40:57Yeah, yeah, it's ridiculous. From a leadership inspect, uh, perspective, I've done that. I've kept someone around too long because I didn't want— because we were busy and I don't have time to replace them. But the last, the last tech that I had to let go, um, it wasn't a production thing, he wasn't very toxic, it was just something didn't sit right. He didn't own anything.

41:20And I remember the last straw was there's a transmission that was damaged and we had to replace the transmission and front office did a great job. We got everything done. Job was done. And he just did not care that you damaged the transmission. Just, it was supposed to be a fluid replacement. Like what happened? There was no, I'm sorry, boss. Nothing. There was no, no responsibility.

41:48And I said, you know what? This is just bad. But I had another technician that just could not stand him, but he could not tell me why. And he didn't want to, he didn't want to tell me why. But as soon as I let him go, the sun came back out. Yeah. Everybody stepped up to make sure that we didn't get behind because we were down one guy.

42:09Everything worked out and I still don't have a replacement for him, but it's going to happen. But I tell you what, nobody's walking around wanting to throw a wrench at nobody's forehead. Yeah. So yeah, it is, it is a, it's a, a crazy one. I learned recently with hiring and stuff, like when you're trying to hire out of desperation, you're gonna make the wrong hiring decision.

42:34I did that up front twice. So small plug, but I did hire Promotive. I'm very excited to keep like the revolving hiring process going that way. We have the ability, like if at any point someone steps out of our culture or expectations, like there's no scarcity mindset of like, well, I have to keep them. 'Cause I did that too. I had an employee that was tearing everybody apart.

42:57I mean, making awful comments and offensive comments to people, but I was in a bind and so I couldn't let them go. So. And yeah, I had that happen this week with my coworker and he's very, Um, he's older, uh, he's almost 60. Um, he's very, very, very, very jaded, more so than I ever was. Um, and he is very toxic within.

43:24Now it's a small operation, you know, they tolerate it. Um, but he has had several outbursts directed at me that I have had to go to my leader and say, I don't play like this, like, this is, this is This is not good. Like, I'm not paid enough to put up with that. Nobody's paid enough to put up with that. So I'm asking you and tasking you with handle this.

43:50And, you know, supposedly it was handled. It's not. The boss is away in Barbados on vacation and he has another outburst. And sometimes for us technicians, When you just say something to pacify us and say, "Oh yes, I'll handle it. Don't worry, it'll get better," and nothing changes or it stays the same, it's not so much a big middle finger to us.

44:17It's just a situation of we don't feel like we're all that important. It becomes a machine and I'm just a cog and I'm not going to be— The beatings will persist until morale improves. When you pass it off as just the way things are, that's the way he is, or that's, you know, he's always been that. And I'm not young, but it's a situation of like, I come from a very old school of thinking that it's like, if you don't want to handle it, I will handle it, no problems, right?

44:48And I'm not threatening anybody or saying anything, but the— you just did. I got you. The unfortunate situation, you know what will happen will be is you'll be without two technicians instead of just without one. Right. Yeah. And that is not the answer. But we've all talked about it in the groups and we've seen— you can find the videos on the internet of, you know, guys out in the parking lot in front of the service drive throwing fisticuffs, right?

45:13Or out back behind the tire pile, you know. And everybody goes, oh, that's, you know, blah, blah, blah. When you have allowed it to get to that point, right? You've already failed. And we always want to look at those people as they are the problem. And sometimes it is like you've got a toxic individual and suddenly somebody in the shop steps up and does the right— does something.

45:39I won't say the right thing, but does something. Does the something, the thing that needs to be done, should be done, maybe not, I don't know, and takes it to the end. And we would go, that's unprofessional and that's, uh, it shouldn't have had to go to that. You're all right. Yeah, but how did it go there? Because someone— leadership, leadership did not handle the problem.

46:04So now I have to decide when I go in on Tuesday morning, how am I going to handle it again? You know, and that's something that like it You know, I haven't had to think about how many flat rate hours I've made in a long time or any kind of stuff, but those kind of issues still always are around in this industry.

46:26So it's never been my thing to try and make people toxic or try to— I mean, he doesn't listen to me, right? Uh, he doesn't listen to the podcast. It's not his— it's not my target demographic. But there are people out there that probably listen to me, they'll go into the shop every day and think they are better than a lot of other people around them and they should be allowed to can, you know, conduct themselves in a way that maybe is not very good for the team.

46:51And I have never ever said that you get to go unchecked because you're a little bit smarter than somebody else. I've never said that. I believe that sometimes you should be given some grace in the sense that, yeah, maybe he show up 5 minutes late, but, you know, if you're just the kind of person that, uh, can get the car fixed that nobody else in the building would, then sometimes that just is part of the package.

47:19But toxic, abrasive attitude that kills culture, it's inexcusable. I don't care how smart you are, how good your production is, it's, it's inexcusable. How can you teach technicians to become leaders just from, from their toolbox, like Lead from Any Seat. It's a really good book, but like they have a role in leadership as well. They might not own the shop. Well, they have to, they have to see that, that position as an opportunity and not as a punishment, not as a responsibility that cuts into their pay.

48:04Not in a, you know, you can't. And then so it's like the foreman in the shop, right? Sometimes the foreman in the shop, all of a sudden a lot of mistakes happen and everybody's, you know, the service manager has been chewed out by the general manager. General manager is going to chew the shop foreman. The shop foreman is going to go out and it just goes downhill and they chew it.

48:23Just butts get chewed. You look at oftentimes what causes that and it had nothing to do with the technician, or it might have been somebody out in the service drive that was not following a process. But that person now that's been tasked with being the leader got their butt chewed, and it's expected of them that they're going to go out and chew butt because that's what I pay you to do.

48:47That's what you get this salary for, and the rest of them are all on flat rate, and it's your job to go, man, that ain't what it's about. Yeah. I don't know how to make the foreman necessarily the leader. I'm of the old school mentality that the manager's the leader. I think I'm more meaning like, even if you're not given the title, like you're just a B-tech or an A-tech at a shop, you're there to collect a paycheck, right?

49:17Like that's a responsibility that you have to better the industry by choosing to be a leader? Like, rather than go down to the service desk and go chew out the advisor for a mistake, how can you be a better leader and create better service advisors? Yeah, so open ways of conversation. Um, you know, the knowledge that you have, the experience— here's the thing where I catch hell all the time is because I share experiences and knowledge of people, and they tell me that I shouldn't share it because I'm not a shop owner.

49:48I'm not showing you too many times the better way that it was done. I'm just talking about the ways that I saw that I 1,000% know don't work. So, when I see people start talking about using those methods, I'm like, "Whoa, wait. Pump the brakes here. I got a story." And you know, when you do that with your people, your coworkers, that's a form of leading if they're open to it.

50:16Take your knowledge and share it with people. Um, when you're— I believe in— and I, again, it's going to come back to pay. I believe in the team thing where if, if your bay mate has got a rush job, you're doing a brake job, you go do one side, he does the other side, you know, and then you check, make sure. If they're doing 4 tires— tires are an excellent example of this because I've— it's been my whole career.

50:39When you're doing 4 tires and he's doing 4 tires at the same time Okay, you do that. You mount them, I'll balance them. That's right. You know, um, stuff like that. Like, uh, it comes down to teamwork. So the leadership as a team in the back, and I'm blessed because I actually feel like I really have a team that works together. Like my latest Facebook, my service advisor, they had this huge— I mean, I don't know what size tire it was, but they were having a hard time mounting this tire.

51:07It was 3 of them over there mounting these tires for this truck. Truck. Yeah. And then the other guy was over there balancing them. And this is one of my service advisors was out there helping them. And together we all achieve more. But when you get in the headspace of, that's not my job— like, when I'm hiring someone, my latest tech, and I told them, the guy that's supposed to start hopefully in 2 weeks, I said, all of these lifts are my lifts, all of these cars are my cars, we work together as a team to get it done.

51:34So that's my car, that's my job, that or that. I really don't have a lot of that. Because it's 4:45, we've got 2 hours left on this car, you're done with your job. Like you said, you get that side, he'll get this side, and then we'll check each other's work. Yeah, but when we can get past that and work as a team, and the shop owner or leadership promotes that and applauds that and make that part of the culture instead of like, oh man, this is not your job, you need to get this done, I've got 4 more hours left on this, boss, Well, you should have done it quicker, but this technician's just sitting

52:06there twiddling his thumb instead of saying, hey, can you come over here, help your brother out? You know, just saying, you know, shame on you for not getting it done. So teamwork trickles down. Certain pay structures though, the conversation that pops up is, okay, what am I getting paid for that? Yeah, that's what I do, hourly plus bonus. I'm not trying to go down that conversation again, it's been had, y'all know what I think, right?

52:28Yeah, we know what you believe in. But then go ahead. If that guy's helping, if everybody's on flat rate in the shop and you got the right culture and everything's been doing right and all the dominoes are falling, if your brother's there and he needs some help, what kind of man would sit there and say, ain't my problem, that's your job? That's a part of culture as well.

52:49Yeah, because you don't know when you're going to need him to help you bleed some brakes or whatever. I don't know, somebody's going to need somebody. So it's not— it's got to be teamwork. And I don't know if flat rate could really— I've never done flat rate except for in a collision center, but I don't even know how you can get that rate working really well and they would help each other.

53:11So I don't know, that's, that's culture. And it can— yeah, it's not the pay system, it's the culture. It's the culture. But when you got one that's at $200 and the rest of them are trying to hit $80, like, you're never going to see that guy at $200 get help. Yeah, it's just not happening. It's crazy. I mean, there might be exceptions.

53:32I've had a different experience. Only one other time though, it was a unicorn shop that we had a tech who would turn 100, 150 hours a week, and anyone would drop anything to help him if they had to because he would also help them be more efficient so they could turn more hours. But that's— Yeah. That's culture and that's teamwork. Most of the time, that star player that I've seen is not the sharing type.

53:56Be the type to put down their tool and go over. It is sad because that's how we cannot get kids on the bench. We can't get the kids on the— in the industry on the bench because there's nobody in there willing to help them, even though there was somebody helping you, right? And here's the reality: the reason we don't have 3 in the shop hitting 150 is because that one that can hit 150 is not sharing with the other 2 that are only hitting 80.

54:19Mm-hmm. Right. Wow. So because ideally in a perfect world, if we believe everything that we're, you know, if we make carbon copies, clones, we should be able to all bring up closer to that level of what there is. Because I mean, there's just, there's ability and there's knowledge. But I mean, like, if I show you this shortcut and I show you the trick and I show you the pattern of failure, pretty soon you all know it, and then we're all doing it and we're all going up.

54:46You have that one person that holds to them self. And everybody goes, that's my star player, they're producing so much. They're holding the secret. They're not sharing the secret because if they share their secret— like, I won't share my recipes— if they share their secret, then what makes them special anymore, right? And it's, you know, it's called gatekeeping. Or, you know, I used to be, and I've said it, and sometimes it's still— I will say it depends on certain situations— you are training your replacement.

55:18You have to see that in a good way, though, that you're training your replacement, not in a bad way. And sometimes, unfortunately, I have had service managers come to me and say, just go over there and do it for them because I need it done. I'm sorry, you're not learning that way. Yeah. And need it done is a you problem. It's not an us problem.

55:39It's not a me problem. It's a you problem. Probably because you overpromised and underdelivered and now you're back. Becky Witt was just talking about Becky. We just said it was like, when it's going to be done? When it's ready. Yeah. So, you know, and it— life is about clicks, right? So there were people that I would have, like, I would have given the afternoon away if it meant that I was helping my partner across the bay, because, like, I knew I could count on him to do that for me.

56:05But that's not always— it's not that symbiotic relationship everywhere where I can count on the 9 other team members that will just drop and give to see me succeed. They just aren't. It's different personalities. So I was very— I kept my cards pretty close to my chest. But there was a, you know, there was a group of us that like, yeah, I'd go over and donate time, donate hours to help, you know.

56:30I would stop what I was doing to go over there and help them, see them through something, you know. Um, I watched the guy that— one of the most toxic individuals I ever worked for. I watched him change shops and I remember he was there a week and he came to a shop that had good culture. And I remember driving past because it was a shared lot and it had been like 3 years since I had worked with him, but I knew him to see him.

57:00And I remember him watching him try to push a truck in by himself and everybody standing at the doorway watching him laughing. Now, he had been there like 10 days and he had already alienated himself so bad through his attitude and his, and his, you know, the way he was. Old grumpy, grouchy, know-it-all, can't tell nothing, everybody's an asshole and an ignorant dummy but him.

57:24Um, and everybody's smiling and watching him push that truck in by himself. Now, here was the backstory on the truck is that, you know, He didn't even manage to diagnose it properly and fix it, and he was fired the next day. But in a very short, like 2-week period, he had completely divided himself from everybody else in that building. He walked in there on the first day, because of course I'm friendly with them, I talk to them, and they're like, "Oh yeah."

57:53Because they're like, "You know that guy?" I'm like, "Oh yeah, I could tell you stories." And they're like, "Has he always been like that?" And I said, "From all accounts, from everybody that I can talk to." Yeah, he's always been that level of a-hole. So there are sometimes when you bring a toxic person into the shop, um, it, it's not gonna work.

58:18Yeah, no matter how many hours they turn, know how much money they make you, they're going to end up costing you more with the morale Teamwork, culture, and all of that. I believe that's why the idea of the, the working interviews is, is definitely a plus for more people. I think they really need to do that because like you can have an awesome resume and be really smart, everything, and if you come in and people, your, your team doesn't feel a good vibe or doesn't like that person, don't ignore it.

58:49Doesn't necessarily mean you don't give them the opportunity, but you got to start like making yourself a checklist and like, okay, we got to work on this, and, and John doesn't like this about him, maybe we got to delve into why did he do that, or why might have John got that feeling? Just have a conversation, man. Like, don't sit there and go, oh, listen, I'm down for the month, numbers aren't going to be if I don't get a body in that bay.

59:12I'm so tired of body in the bay as an excuse in this industry for why it sucked for somebody. September, dude. But I tell you that, that the last tech that I fired, um, I remember we're not open on Fridays, but there was something that needed to be done. It was a chaotic situation, and the service advisor had agreed The part was there.

59:32He had agreed that he would come in on a Friday, finish the job. He never called. He never answered the phone. She went and got the part. She's sitting in the shop waiting for this person to show up. She went home and drove past him sitting at a lake fishing. And then on Monday, I, she's upset because she's like, I've lied to the customer.

59:54We look bad. You never answer the phone. If you didn't want to do it, just say you're not going to do it. And he had no apologies again. Same transmission guy, no apologies, nothing to say. And I said, you don't think that you owe her an apology for putting her in a situation? No, I'm not going to apologize if I really don't feel it.

1:00:14And this was his mindset, but it also showed up in his personal life. And I tried to coach him through understanding that you're having so many personal issues right now that you keep telling me about But your personality, it all makes sense. Like, you don't understand that you're the problem. And a lot of people just cannot see that they're the problem, or they're not willing to do the work to see that if you make this change in your life, whether it's at work or at home, that your whole life could change by you just being a better person and working on yourself.

1:00:49And some people are not up to doing that. And so I was— I, I tried. What I— at some point you just have to say that base just got to be empty because you're ticking everybody off. People joke about the Canadians, but I'll tell you something, I learned a long time ago that the one word that you can say without really meaning it, but it normally makes the situation better, is sorry.

1:01:12Yeah, he refused to say I'm sorry. I was like, so you can't open your mouth to apologize? And he said no. I was like, oh wow. No, this is who you are. And then as every time he showed me who he was and I tried to smother him and I tried to help him fix himself. If you're not willing to do the work, I can't make you do it, baby.

1:01:33I can spend that same energy on another technician, another employee, and make them a better— not that I'm going to make somebody a better person, but help them be better. And we all can help each other be better. Wreath each other up. Was this the same tech that did not want to go to ASTA? Exactly. Yeah, did not want to go to ASTA.

1:01:57He paid for it and didn't want to go. Yeah, so all my technicians, the whole shop, we go to ASTA. Everybody gets their own hotel room. Everybody— I want everybody participate and just be emerged in it. I want you to be there Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, all of that. Miss Tanika's buying drinks sometimes. We're gonna turn up, we're gonna have fun. He didn't want to go.

1:02:19And so that Monday I got back from ASTA and I was like, you know what, I'm gonna let you go today. You show— if people show you who they are, you better believe it. And he was just— he just kept showing me, and I just kept having more faith in him than he had in himself. Yeah, which— that was me trying to help someone, and that's just a part of, you know, me, my personality.

1:02:40I'm going to try to help you see that you're a better person than that. You could be an awesome tech. You've got it in you. But when— I can't care any more than you. But like you said, the shop owners do not want to lose the money. We don't want to lose the production. We don't want to lose— have an empty bay.

1:02:57So every day I look at that empty bay and that computer screen is dark and whatever, and I'm thinking, oh, I could be making X amount of money. But on the other hand, we haven't skipped a beat. Yeah, everybody else picked up. Because they're doing it for the culture, they're doing it for the team. Ashley, did you ever work on a team where you felt like you had to be somewhat guarded because you'd been hurt before working for somebody?

1:03:20I know that's a tough question. I'm not singling you out, either one could answer it, but I— no one misses— miss— no, um, my own team now. Okay. I am struggling in like figuring out my groove and leadership because of so many bad experiences that I don't ever want to show up as the bad leader that I had. So like I'm missing opportunities or I'm making the wrong decision because I'm so scared of doing the wrong thing.

1:03:49So like my current team, it's a struggle that I can't show up the way I want to show up out of fear. Yet. Yet. Yeah. And they know I'm very open with them. I'm very transparent. Like, this is a work in progress. I'm working towards being better in these areas. So they do appreciate that. But yeah, I, I can tell you sometimes I'm a little bit guarded when I first start at a new place, um, because, you know, the time that you spend sometimes— and maybe I'm not trying to defend Tanika's former employee, but there are some technicians that are walking around out there that have been really hurt in the past and don't necessarily

1:04:33want to be embraced into that culture where we're a family and we're, you know, like, I want to spend time with you away from here and I want to pour into you because we might have at one point been so open and receptive and with it and then things don't work out and all of a sudden these people that you thought were your friends your family, you go different ways, you part, and you carry scars with that with you.

1:05:02Yeah. I believe that that's sometimes why these people that we get labeled as, like, they didn't want to go to dinner, you know, they didn't want to do— they didn't want to have shop lunch. They go and sit by the tire machine and eat their pizza. They don't— that is valid. That is true. And I've recognized that in one that is still with me Um, but I've got him out of that a little bit, and he's appreciative of it.

1:05:27So that comes with insight, just knowing who people— not knowing who people are, you never know who anybody is, you barely know who you are— but trying to reach people. Um, but then you also have somebody that will use you without telling all his business. Oh, it is what it is. Um, this, this young man actually lived on our property because he was basically homeless when I first hired And so I've had a physical embrace with this person.

1:05:54I've tried, I tried to do my best to pour into this person. And the more I poured in, the more he was ready, ready, ready, but he could not reciprocate that. And that is a him problem. And hopefully with age and maturity and life experiences, he would recognize that, hey, somebody was trying to pour into me. I can pour into this young man or this young lady.

1:06:20So maybe all of my work and pouring into him was not in vain, but I knew that I had reached my max of caring. Not, not caring, but I could not let that affect everyone else around me. Yeah, you know, they can't— so what— that, that is true. It became a distraction, and, um, it became a ministry that I was not willing to preach anymore.

1:06:44That's not my job. That is not my current ministry. Uh, but that comes along with responsibility for yourself. And you can, you can walk in this place and not get hurt. Like, you can walk into a relationship, but you're going to be guarded based on the last relationship you were in. But there's, at some point, whoever you're dating, whoever you're with, should not have to keep apologizing for what happened 3 years ago.

1:07:07Yeah, yeah. Or what somebody else did to you. So that's, that's personal self-work. That's work that people need to do on themselves, um, and we can't wait for everybody to come save us. Yeah, so that's a lot of work that needs to be done within ourselves, within the office, the industry, and all of that. And then hopefully if everybody decides, okay, let me work on this about me, it'll trickle down to your team, it'll trickle down to the industry, it'll trickle down in the social media groups, and everybody won't be so aggressive And it also would trickle down to the suicide rate that nobody wants to talk about.

1:07:44Yeah. And the loneliness that nobody wants to talk about. And the shop owner that's sitting in his shop, lights are off, and he's wondering, should I even be here? Or what am I going to do? It'll be easier for me to just leave this place and not disappoint everybody. Mm-hmm. It's Friday night. You know, it's a Friday night. It's another week that we didn't hit the goal.

1:08:07It's another week that the stress adds up at home. And before long, I think that's why some people just— and I mean, if you're at that place, by God, let the business go. Don't let it destroy your life to where you think that you're more valuable to somebody as an insurance policy payout than anything else that you had to offer. You know what I mean?

1:08:31Don't think like that. But we have a responsibility in the—, you know, in the media, in the socials and all this stuff, even though we don't want to, we've talked about our responsibility in this, that when they go and make a Facebook post and they're asking for help, because you think about it, I can't imagine that you will ask for help every time you need it.

1:08:49If you go to a space and you're saying, okay, help me, I can't get this, you probably needed help 6 months ago. Yeah, but your ego, egos and testosterone and estrogen will get in the way of making those decisions to say, hey, Hey, help me, because we don't want to be attacked. But when we get to the point and we're saying, hey, help me, and you're going to this leadership group, this group of your brothers and sisters that are in the industry that may have gone through what you've gone through, what we end up seeing more times than not is that one keyboard warrior that's going to say, well, that's the stupidest thing I ever

1:09:26heard. That's stupid. That's stupid. That's a stupid question. And so then what happens? We retreat. Yeah, we're not going to talk because we're trying to come in here anonymous and we're trying to get help. We're raising— help me! And then you raise your hand, you finally get up and say, help me, and someone says, pow, pow, pow, that was stupid, and they shoot it down.

1:09:47So we definitely have a responsibility, not just us three but people as a whole, to be more responsible in how we react and answer these things. If you don't have anything nice to say, just shut the hell up. And we can have responded to those literally just saying, what an odd thing to say. Yeah, yeah. How did that make you feel? I hope that made you happy to be a jerk today.

1:10:13What an odd thing to say. And then there's times where we really need to answer the question, like there's some constructive criticism, and then people— what you guys call it— a dirty delete. It's like, no, don't answer the question. And just because we didn't answer it the way that you wanted to hear it and it hurt your feelings, now that's different. Well, you say— yeah, go ahead.

1:10:34I did, I did that last week where I, you know, somebody talked about servicing, you know, they had a breakdown in process, right? And they serviced something that they probably didn't need to service, probably needed a replacement, and then they dirty deleted it. And everybody's like, what are you making a big deal about this? The conversations are lessons, right? If we go and eliminate the conversation, all that effort that people put into that conversation— effort, input, whatever you want to call it— it's gone completely.

1:11:02And it should— like, if I could run Facebook, you wouldn't be allowed to delete it once it was up there. Because when I think about all the, you know, people like credit card fee processing questions, right? And like, everybody just wants to pull their hair out because it's been discussed at nauseam. Yeah, at least the conversations are there. When we go and do the delete thing, all the perspectives, input, good things that people said, all gone.

1:11:28All gone, right? It's like turning off commenting. You got what I want. That's selfish too. That is selfish. That is crazy when people— I just don't want to hear it. It's like, okay, but if you don't like the answer to the question, it's like, okay, what's the next answer? If you don't like the ingredients, like, that's not going to work for me, I don't But if you just don't like that you are wrong, like, did you put that question out there to be validated, or did you put that question out there to learn from it?

1:11:52A lot of people, validation. Yeah, it ain't learning. Think about how— grab the hot stove, you know, somebody grabs your hand, oh my God, I shouldn't have had the stove on, and let me get the ice pack. And then the other generations might have been like, ah, I told you, don't touch that. And I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, but like, if you were just coming to look for validation that you— we didn't do wrong here.

1:12:21No, actually, you know, so look at it right or wrong, but take some pers— you're asking for perspective, people give you perspective, it doesn't align with what you did, don't go flipping, like, get all hurt and, and, and hide it, delete it, let it B, leave it there. It is a conversation. It's the same as we all get on this transactional versus relational, relationship-based.

1:12:47Listen, I am for anybody that is helping the shop improve. Doesn't matter who they are. Does not matter. I am— I— they have my respect. They have my support. Am I going to align with everything that everybody says online about how to do this and how mechanics should be? No, I'm not, because I am me, and what I went through has carved into me a belief system and values that I will— when they put me in, when I'm done, my last day, they will still be within me.

1:13:22It is going to be my core. But my God, like, you know, the fact that we're having the conversations, you've come together and we've said there is a problem here. And we're having this discussion, let's keep having it. It— you saw it yesterday, people are saying there's so much division. There's not division. That's not division. So many ideas. That's just a lot of ideas.

1:13:45And, you know, it doesn't apply to you, then just keep moving. If you don't like that, don't do that. We have not divided the industry yet because we don't even represent 10%. Of it. So it is not divided, but it's the 10% or whatever numbers of people that are active that are decided, I'm going to pick up this torch and I'm going to run with it, and I'm going to try and bring up the conversations and improve this.

1:14:14You all have my love. I love all of you because you're looking at the problem and you're saying, we have to do something here. Yeah, I'm not going to agree on everything that Lucas says. He's not going to agree on everything I say. Lord knows we have our conversations where he tells me, whoa, I think you caused some damage there. And I go, eh, not for the person that I'm for.

1:14:37I didn't cause damage. I might have put them on the path to something better for them. But it's just different sides of the aisle, right? It's a different perspective. He's looking at that going, that poor shop owner lost a tech. And I'm looking at that going, that tech might now finally be on their way to somebody that's valuing them to the level that they feel.

1:14:56They may crash and burn. I don't know. I am not there. So I don't ever say to them, "Yes, definitely go," unless they're in my immediate area and we start talking about people that are common acquaintances and I know what you can do and I know what you're like. And I say, "Yeah, get out of there, man. You can make better somewhere else."

1:15:14I'm never going to say, "Go somewhere else because the money's better." But I simply say, you feel like this, why? There could be opportunities somewhere else for you. You could get this. You know, the techs come to me all the time and say, like, I'm in a mom-and-pop shop, the pay is not great, there's an opening at the dealer. And like, me, the guy— and they, why do they ask Jeff?

1:15:38Because Jeff's been back and forth both sides for 30 years. I've done them both. So when I say to them, here's the pluses and the minuses of each, I can say it with firsthand knowledge, not second hearsay rumors and internet bubble about what somebody prints every week on YouTube or says on YouTube that dealerships are terrible and flat rates all over. I can tell them, listen, I've made good money.

1:16:06I learned a lot. Most of my processes and where I got my training came from a dealer. But here's the negative side: I was that guy that was like ready to throw hands at somebody that was going to mess with my paycheck. Yeah, you know. So, wow, uh, we have been talking for 2 years. This is really, really good. So Uncle Jeff, Uncle Jaded Mechanic, where can the people find you?

1:16:35As if everybody doesn't know. Like, we know everybody knows who you are and where they can find you, but go ahead and give your shout out about your podcast and how they can call you or send you a DM just in case they need to talk to Uncle Jeff. So let me start with saying we're on all the social media, um, platforms.

1:16:52We're on LinkedIn, we're on Twitter, X, uh, we're on Instagram, we're on TikTok, we're on Facebook. I will tell you right now, if you shoot a message to Instagram, um, that's not linked up to me, so I won't get that message. So if you're trying to reach out to me and you see the Instagram, just go over and find me at Facebook and message me there..

1:17:12I'll get that message. It'll take me longer to get it if I get it at all through Instagram, so don't do that. LinkedIn and X, that's all being handled from the editor side, so I don't always even see. We come out every Tuesday morning, 6:00 AM my time, at least Eastern, is when the episode drops. If you want to be on the episode, you know, you have something to say.

1:17:40If you're not comfortable, um, recording an episode but you need to talk, still reach out to me. I will talk to you. Now, the problem being sometimes there's only so much hours in the day and so many hours in the weekend especially to have. So I, you know, I will never shut my door to anybody, but sometimes we have to have the recording because it's, it's well worth sharing.

1:18:03And if you're not comfortable, we'll— I'll still talk to you. I'll still hear your story. I will still pour into you what I feel and what I think. But people that are on the fence about like, I'm not sure, I'm not comfortable, I'm not sure about being recorded. Listen, I'm going to start going forward where I'm going to record more, and if you don't feel comfortable and we won't share it, I'm not going to publish it.

1:18:23But I've had too many good conversations that I didn't hit record on that would have really helped other people. And let's be real, people, when you're coming to me and you're, and you're bearing your soul or you're looking for input, that's good gets good perspective for everybody. So share it, man. You know, I'm easy to find. I'm not an abrasive jerk like everybody— some people think, you know, but I will hold you accountable sometimes.

1:18:52I will remind you that like you might be a little bit too big for your britches, you might be in your head too much. And you can hear that from me and go, pfft, You don't know. Okay, I don't. I ain't there. But I've been doing this a really long time, got a lot of different places at a pretty good level, and I wouldn't share it with you if I thought that it wasn't the absolute best thing for you to hear and the truth.

1:19:23So, you know, it is not, uh, I'm not aligned with any one particular I mean, I'm aligned with Lucas. He's family at this point. Um, but I mean, it's a situation of like, you know, I will give it to you as real as I possibly can. It's— I have nothing to gain by giving you anything but my truth. So, and I bet you would do the same for shop owners.

1:19:49So shop owners, if you're listening, he's not out here to take over all the technicians and make them Raise Up and Revolt. There will not be a technician, uh, war happening anytime soon led by Jeff. If you don't understand his perspective and you're only listening to the highlight reels, I encourage you to listen to the whole podcast. And if you're still confused, send the man a message, go on the podcast, have the conversation.

1:20:15But sometimes, sweetheart, the problem might just be you. Yeah, figure that out. There's a lot of well-respected shop owners that I've had great conversations with that I talk to on the regular. And you might be surprised at some of them because you wouldn't think that we'd be aligned. Yeah. But we are very much aligned, right? Some of it is just in the love of the industry and the love of being the absolute best tech we can be.

1:20:41But I'm not out here trying to, you know, everybody needs a union and if you're not getting 50% of the door rate, you're getting screwed. That is not my platform. That is not his platform. But my platform is like, you go in there every day, you try to be 1% better, like my brother Josh teaches me, and you come to work as an open vessel to be, to receive and to give.

1:21:06You pour out of you and you receive back. It's a cycle. It's a circle. And you do that. And then what happens is everybody lifts up. That's the whole goal through this. This is not to divide and say that everybody needs to be $400 an hour because every technician deserves $100 an hour. I am not saying that. I'm quite aware of some of the realities now.

1:21:30So I'm not out to divide. And it hurts me sometimes that some of the shop owners think that I'm only out there to cause an uprising because it's the furthest thing from the truth. I am out here to hold both sides accountable. And that's what we wanted to hit on today. And I'm so glad that you were here and that you agreed to answer some of the hard questions that are not that hard.

1:21:52But I am looking forward to our next conversation. Yeah, I love you guys. You guys are awesome. And I mean, I'll, I'll come on anytime you want. Ashley, you're, you're coming up soon with me, hopefully. I was gonna say we need to record soon. Yeah, because I, I really want to dig into your backstory and, and hear it because I think It's going to be awesome.

1:22:14And, you know, Tanika, darn, you're awesome. You really are. Thank you. And, you know, it makes me so happy to see, you know, the love you have for your kids and Jordan and how much potential you see in him. And I'm so happy that I'm young enough still that I can see where he's going to be in 5 years, 10 years. Ash, you're sitting there nodding.

1:22:39You can't wait to see it too. Like, I can't wait to see it. I've been watching him since he was about 2 or 3. His love for cars, his love for the industry. And when people— especially when he decided to go to UTI, Universal Technical Institute— oh, why'd you send him there? I said, because he wanted to go. I'm going to let him choose his own path.

1:22:56And him headed down to Mercedes in, what, 7 days is killing me on the inside. But that's his path, and if he chooses to pivot, he'll pivot. But I'm not going to keep that kid from running out this dream. He said, Mom, I can't wait to have my own name on the signature of a Mercedes. And I'm like, well, baby, I'll be the one in the store trying to find the Mercedes with my baby's signature on it.

1:23:18So I'm not going to keep him from dreaming. I'm going to try to keep pushing for young people in the industry a little bit softer, softer, nicer industry. And we're going to keep doing great work. Yeah, 100%. 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.

1:23:44We 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.