The Secret to Thriving in the Automotive Industry | Justin Allen - Ep 22

0:00I don't know how to say it other than to say that I had to go through a divorce. I'm not trying to be mean to my ex. I spent a couple of really lonely years, and I put that out there because there are people that are going to be listening to your podcast, and there's people in our community that are having a really lonely year right now.

0:16It is okay. I had to shift down and understand the choices I'd made that got me there and what choices I was going to need to make to be in a different place, state of mind, I think, right? Welcome. To Downshift with Taneka Haynes, the automotive auntie. The thing about Taneka, she gets to know you. She'll laugh and cut up with you, but then she'll hit you with some knowledge that you may not want, but that you need.

0:40Let's downshift. Now we're recording. And that's when I told her, like, that is not gonna fly with me. That was good, Justin. And then I said, then brace yourself, fool. Like, what? What was that? Don't you love a good countdown? That was a good countdown. Yeah. Happy Monday, everybody. And what a beautiful thing it is. We all— we're all here. We woke up.

1:13We had a chance to do something better. Do I need to be in earphones and stuff, or does the sound sound okay? No, you sound great to me. Okay. Yeah. Cool. How do I sound, Tanika? Do I sound great? You sound wonderful. You sound wonderful tonight. Sing it. Justin, I'm excited about this conversation. I've been excited for a long time. It's— I appreciate you finally talking to me in public.

1:40Finally talking to you in public, proving that I'm your friend. Yeah. All right. Okay. So take your time. Introduce yourself. For the people that live under a bridge, which trolls. So my name is Justin Allen. So wait, is Ash supposed to introduce herself too? Did I miss that? What's going on? Everybody knows who Ash is by now. Okay, okay. No, I'm not important.

1:59So my name is Justin Allen. I am a regional training representative for Hunter Engineering Company. I've worked for Hunter for about 18 years, but way before that, I was a lover of human beings and chicken wings and nachos. And good times. And I'm so excited that the path that the good Lord had laid out for me involved me being able to love on people and get kind of paid to do it.

2:28You're really good at the loving on people part. Thank you. It's so cool. It's my favorite part. Have you ever been loved on by Justin Ash? I have. Yeah, he like brings an energy into the room that you like, I don't know what to do with all this energy, but I'm going to take it. And then it's like he always creates a good space for people to learn.

2:47I think that's important, especially when we did like the women's only alignment class. You created a cool space for those young ladies to come in, ask all the questions that they may have been afraid to ask in a different setting. And then, you know, we just saw friendships forming and confidence shifting and things happening. And yeah, that was beautiful. That was a— I didn't expect it to go the way it went.

3:15And it was awesome to have you there and Leslie White and other, you know, encouragers kind of pass through. And the end of it, at the end of it, you know, like I've given them certificates and I've thanked them all and it's been beautiful. And I'm just kind of packing stuff up and they hung around for like an hour and a half.

3:32I mean, they just— Creating cell phone numbers and whatnot. Hanging out with each other. Yeah, it was, I created, we created a space where they had never felt that kind of community in the automotive industry. You know, watching what y'all do with like Amazing Women in Automotive and stuff. Oh, it's amazing. It's amazing. And some people— and Tanika, boy, you stood up for me on this— some people would come online and say things like, what, are alignments different for girls?

3:56Why should we have just a class for females or whatever? Like, you know, being kind of snarky and cynical about it. And, um, and I respect everybody's right to their opinions and feelings, right? But at the same time, like, I watch class after class of female technicians who maybe don't feel as comfortable around a group of technicians that they don't know. It's one thing to go to work with your same team every day.

4:18That's a very different thing than it is to be, um, in the minority of whatever you do, wherever you are, in a room full of other people. And add to that the fact that it's, you know, it's oftentimes younger dudes in a, in a class. And, you know, we've all been around enough young dudes to know how young dudes behave, and it's— yeah, it can be kind of, kind of different, right?

4:43So I believe in meeting people where they are, and and being what they need you to be in that moment to make it conducive for training. Right? Right. And so that's what I love about you. That is so cool. You said it right, because everybody was in formers when we did the invites. People on Facebook saying— and women were saying this, right?

5:03Oh, what do you need a women's only class for? When it's like, well, everybody's not as strong as you yet. Right, right. And so it's like even when I went to the Women in Automotive Conference, I'm sitting on the airplane and, um, a couple vodka cranberries in, and I just got to thinking that I'm going to a women's only conference, and that's not really my stilo, but I'm gonna walk in this room and there's gonna be somebody that might need me because they're just scared to come out of the shell.

5:30And then let's go in there and just be fabulous for these people because I wanted to do the same thing. Yeah, I wanted somebody to do that for me. So yeah, we don't have to do a women's only alignment class all the time, right? But that's for the girls and the ladies that are not ready yet. Yeah, yeah. And what's the point of them saying stuff like that?

5:50Just to— just people just say stuff to say stuff. They shut up. Like, that was something that she could have kept to herself. And I was really disappointed when people say stuff like that. Like, I don't want to be in a women's only anything all the time, but sometimes a sister got to go in the room with the sisters and talk junk about y'all.

6:08Absolutely, absolutely. You know, and you know, our industry has so few female technicians in it as we stand right now, um, let alone shop owners or anything else. Honestly, we know that, just numbers are there, uh, that goodness gracious, whatever we can do as an industry to help anybody who's willing to come play with us, hang out and learn and grow and improve, man, we're— I'm down.

6:31Like, let's go, let's do it, let's do it. So I'm actually— I'm eager to, um, I, I want to do a Spanish-speaking class also I'm looking for, you know, I need to line up a translator. I think Black's Tire Service is talking about trying to help me do something like that. And I'm just trying, honestly, I'm looking for like, what are other, what are other groups that are underrepresented or maybe have a more challenging time getting served in these ways that I could, that I could find a way to do it?

6:59I think it's very entertaining. I think that's a good idea. I just like how you just want to create a space for everybody. I love that. Justin, let me know about the Hispanic one. Um, okay, I'm, I'm Hispanic and I do speak Spanish. I'm not a— I would like be a terrible translator, but if there's a way that Golden Hour can sponsor it or something, I would love to.

7:24Okay, that's a beautiful thing. Thank you very much. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's— I love that you're doing that. Well, and I know, like, so I did outside sales for Hunter for a long time before I ever became a trainer also, and I I know because of how well I, how I took care of my Spanish-speaking customers. We already know what to do.

7:43We've been to the trainings, paid for the coaching, learned the right way to inspect cars, build estimates, and talk to our customers. That's not the problem. The problem is consistency, because some days it only works when the right person is working, and when they're not, it's a whole different shop. So now you're stuck in that cycle. You need a strong team to run a great shop, But you need a great shop to attract a strong team.

8:04Make it make sense. That's why I rock with Detect Auto. Detect Auto streamlines your service processes with automations that save time, increase maintenance sales, and improve productivity without changing your whole system. It plugs in, guides your team through inspections, recommendations, and even customer communication. Now that's not just based on memory or mood. That's how our shop runs. And let me tell you, I've been using it for over a year now.

8:33My 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. That they get overlooked a lot just because of the language barrier. Just because of the language barrier. Yeah. Other sales guys, and I'm not saying all of them, but other sales humans sometimes would just be a little bit too intimidated and not willing to slow down and try to hash it out.

8:59And so I loved just having the type of a career path where I was able to just slow down and let's, let's Google Translate a little bit, let's look at pictures, like whatever we have to do to get through this just so that they didn't feel like they weren't valued, valuable enough as human beings to be, um, you know, cared for that way.

9:18So yeah, I love it. I'm excited. We'll figure it out. You're so cool. Yeah. So, uh, Josh Coombs this weekend said he complimented you on how generous with your time you are and how genuine you are and how authentic you are. And he said in some situations he thinks WWJD, but what would Justin do? And I thought that was really cool. Yeah, he's a good guy.

9:44He's, uh, and again, that's— I tell you, um, the— to have a career path that allows me to just be genuine and kind and generous with what I have in terms of just information and resources as experience or whatever. It's, it's a, an exciting thing that I never ever anticipated. I never knew this was even an option. Yeah. That's so cool. So, well, you know what prompted me to reach out to you immediately?

10:12I thought I would never see you write a post like that. You were like, people were, you wonder if you should dial it back a little bit. I know that hurt. That did hurt because your enthusiasm is everything, and if you, if you dialed it back, we would think something was wrong with you, man. Yeah, but I do, I do get it.

10:32I do get it. Like, yeah, you create spaces for people to be themselves, and, um, but then somebody was— you were feeling like you needed to put a shadow over your identity. It's interesting. It's interesting. I, I The way it— the way I really meant it is a little bit different than it— than perhaps it came out. Does that ever happen to you all?

10:54Do you ever say something and it comes out like interpreted? Every day, about every other hour. Oh yeah, it's my job. And it's, it's funny, everything we're saying here does relate though. Like, the, the thing was, and it's interesting, like at the Burris's house this weekend or whatever, you'll find yourself in a room um, with a diverse range of people and skill set and, and social whatever, anxiety, or introverts or extroverts or whatever.

11:22And I, because I moved around a lot as a kid, I have a real soft heart for people who appear to feel left out. And so if I see somebody who feels kind of left out and they're kind of quiet and anxious in the corner, I'm gonna dial it down to go and approach them and say, hey, how are you doing? Like, what's going on over here?

11:45I can see that, you know, maybe, maybe you don't feel like that's your kind of bag of tricks over here, but what can we do? Um, and it's like you're— like, you're at a— I'm going to a funeral. I'm going to a funeral in 2 days for my aunt, for her husband. He passed. And, and there's going to be old people there.

12:03And when you go shake that old lady's hand at a funeral Like, I can't, I can't Brian Pollack this lady, right? Like, I can shake Brian Pollack's hand one way. Yeah, I can't shake her hand that same way. That wouldn't be right to her. Um, and so it's like, in that instant when you make eye contact with a person and they're not vibing quite where you are, the ability to calibrate— and this is not about not being true to myself You know, but the ability to calibrate and communicate in a way that they find relatable in that moment is really more what that's about, right?

12:42Like, I'm gonna— I'm not gonna, um, snuff out my light for anybody. I'm gonna— I'm gonna shine. But I— but sometimes I think, for me anyway, I choose to dial it up or dial it down to allow a better connection. Okay. If that's fair, right? That's fair. But because if you're gonna go to the funeral, you're gonna shake her hand and you're gonna cup her hand with your other hand.

13:09Exactly. It's going to be much gentler. You're going to adjust to the situation. Yeah. It doesn't mean I'm any different, didn't change who I am, doesn't love her any differently, but it allows me to meet her where she's at and not over— and I— yeah, the one word in it was like, like, like, I'm not trying to overwhelm people. Now, when it's people Yeah, I don't know.

13:31I don't know. It's, it is definitely— and I love that you reached out the way you did about it. Um, it meant a lot to me too, because yeah, the— we— the people, those of us who are out here eager to go and like get it all fired up, because I'm ready at any point in time, um, we need encouragement on those kind of things too, you know.

13:52So the people said the nicest things, man. Goodness gracious. It was, it really was encouraging. Yeah, for sure. So because I said something similar to Mimby one day when I was at— I keep feeling like repeating myself all the time, but yeah, Napa now, you know, I like to dress up. I like my red lipstick, I like my hair, I like my stuff, I like my things.

14:10Yeah. And then everybody else had on jeans and NASCAR t-shirt or flip-flop, and I was like, right? And I did, and I text her that morning, I said, I think I need to dial it down. Um, I don't want to think people— I don't want people to think that I'm like stuck up or this, that, and whatever. Yeah, that is— well, you two know that ain't me.

14:31We know that, right? But a sister like her, uh, to be cute, why shouldn't I? And I want— you don't want to be cute too, but then like some people will judge you just because they're not as confident, maybe. Yeah, yeah, don't do that. They need us. They do. I agree. We all need each other. And, uh, yeah, it's— I want— I like that when you say they need us.

14:58Thank you. They— I think, I think in an industry with a lot of introverts in it, um, they need that strong encourager. They need that strong voice of somebody who's unafraid to say it and put the stuff out there. And you are a champion of that, right? That is a riot. I'm trying to do better. Like, that's why I agreed to do this Yeah, people are hurting, man.

15:21People are lonely and they're hurting and they don't know what to do and they think everybody else is okay. Like, no, dude, we all crazy. I'm just crazy with lipstick. That's it. I'm crying too. Yeah, yeah, people— the, the internet, for all of the things that it allows us to do and help us figure out or whatever, golly, it separates you. Splits us apart and makes us— it can be very lonely.

15:48No doubt. It is a very lonely thing. So when you teach classes like that, does it fill up your whole cup? Like, do you have a cup like with Winnie the Pooh and he just fills you up? Is that— does that gas you up or does it wear you out? Like, for me, it wears me out. Oh no, it fills me up.

16:08It fills me up. It's so much fun to— it's so fun, but it wears out my whole little social battery. It's just depleted. Oh, no. Yeah. Cause even at Benji's, um, Friday night, I went to bed at 9. I was like, oh my God. Yeah. Y'all had a very long day. Y'all had all— it was a long day. And I felt bad.

16:29Like I showed up ready to party and then I was like, oh, but they've been partying all day. So maybe, maybe that's not the best plan. Um, but yeah, boy, Benji and Christy, you can tell they've been working hard. You know, they've been working hard. Yeah, they went all out. I mean, that was— oh man, amazing. So serious. Yeah, that was the best.

16:50And how cool is it that these things are popping up around the state a little bit? Like, I'm telling you, that is tremendous. I love that Josh is doing it next or whatever, right? And, and Mike Allen. So this is— and just in terms of social events with people around the state, I think that was my biggest That was one of my biggest concerns when Lucas got me plugged in to the AS— to the IGO NC.

17:15Is that what it was? Yes. Yeah. IGO NC. Once upon a time, my biggest concern was that, man, it looks like y'all are having a good time over here in Raleigh and out here in Asheville, we're kind of cold. You know, we kind of need some of this love out in Nashville. And so seeing things pop up around, I think, are super encouraging.

17:36To shop owners around because it's hard to get to Raleigh sometimes. It can be kind of daunting. It's, it's not super duper close to everybody. And I love it, by the way. And ASTA once a year is fine, but finding ways throughout that year to sprinkle a little bit more of— Right, that's the intention. That's what we want to do. Right. Just keep the engagement, keep the networking, keep the relationships open.

17:58Not all about training, not all about, you know, sure. Pen to paper, it's about connection. Like we've been talking about connection, finding your automotive brother so you can talk about that one customer that's about to run you crazy or getting ideas and things without paying for training. It's like, I think for me it's been the network and the network and networking. In the first couple years, it meant everything.

18:23It still does. It still does mean everything. And then, you know, you walk in a room, You see the person that you've been talking to on social media and you make another connection and you realize you're not in the boat by yourself. Right. Do you have thoughts about how your dad grew the business comparatively? Because he didn't have the internet. He didn't have the internet.

18:43Oh, well, he is the internet. Um, okay. Dad has a big personality. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has a really, really big personality. Um, we, we interviewed him yesterday. Hopefully it comes out good. Yeah, but we had some technical difficulties. Hope Braxton's going to do his magic, I know. Um, but that has a big personality. You can't tell him what he cannot do.

19:03He's gonna figure it out. If he, if he messes up this time, he's gonna do it again. If he messes up again, he's gonna do it again. He's like a self-taught person. He's like a guru and he doesn't even know it. Sure. Yeah, he has all these little nuggets. So, but word of mouth, and he's very— I remember, who was it? Neil, Neil Meyer.

19:21We were at Feeling Connections last year, and someone was making fun about what I was driving. They were like, oh, you're so flashy, you're this and you're that. Well, they were being fun— I mean, they were just in fun. I was not offended. And Neil's sitting there, he doesn't talk a lot, and he's like, yeah, I don't know her dad personally, but if you live in Chapel Hill or Carrboro, you know who William Brown is because he's going— he's just going to make himself known.

19:46Yeah, walks in the room, you're like, oh yeah, that's him. Was he doing other things with other shop owners though? Was there that kind of camaraderie? No, that's what he said yesterday. They didn't have all of that, you know. Well, a little bit, a little bit, because our shop was on a block and our building for the first shop— in that building there was 3 different shops.

20:07It was Dad's Body Shop, Hatley's, and then Juergens. Okay, so they were all there together, and so that was a little networking. So that was a community there. Sure. And the car world is so small there's other shops right around the corner that's been there the whole time as well. So, right, community is small. It's not like you have a shop in Charlotte or anything like that.

20:27Sure. It's pretty small. So he sticks out, he stands out for sure. Gotcha. And, um, and that standing out is a part of his marketing. That's a part of who he is. Sure. For sure. Right, right. Always had a personalized tag, always had a crazy automobile, so you knew when he was coming through town. And he's very outspoken. Um, not in a bad way, but just for small businesses.

20:51Because I actually found some articles from the '80s and early '90s, like I want to say mostly in the '80s. Yeah, him being interviewed, and he's pro-small business. And because Chapel Hill and Carrboro, they didn't want you to grow anything like that, right? That, that was very vocal for his time. What was his personalized tag? So I'm not going to say that here.

21:17I know one was Never Satisfied. Okay, um, let me see one of my favorites. There's not a favorite I can say on here without somebody saying something. I'll tell y'all, but his— one of my favorites right now on the Audi, he has an Audi Q7 that he bought for his dogs, the animals. Well, sure, and, um, dogs need that. The tag is For My Dawgs, D-A-W-G.

21:43For my dogs. Yeah, I love it. Corvette, that license plate is Crawl Out because at his age, that's how he has to get in and out of the car. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, no kidding. Um, the other car is Time Is Money. So he's got all the personalized— yeah, yeah, we're known for personalized tags. Yes. I haven't done anything for my last two cars, but I know what I'm gonna do for the truck, so But anyway, enough about me.

22:09We're talking about you, Jimmy. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. We're talking about you. Yeah. The trainer of confidence, the trainer of equipment, the trainer of people. Yeah. Um, I wrote things down when we struggled last time with technology. I tried to write some things down so I'd have other thoughts for you, but you know, these rooms start out with strangers. I start out with a room oftentimes with like 10 to 15 strangers in it.

22:37And that ability to take a group— it's not an ability, that it's a thing I get to watch. The thing I get to watch where you take all these strangers who don't know anything about each other and, and again, you put a bunch of humans in a room and everybody starts trying to suss out where they fit, right? Like, what's the pecking order in this space, kind of.

22:57And, and that can be challenging sometimes. You can see it start to flare up a little bit in certain individuals who think they have all the answers or whatever, and, and finding ways to lovingly and creatively help them to understand that maybe they don't know everything they thought they did, and help them to integrate better into the group. You know, finding that dynamic and, and getting the, the people that don't want to talk and don't want to turn a wrench and don't want to get involved and, and gently getting them up there to do a little bit of work on a car, right?

23:27Working on their confidence or whatever. It is It is so rewarding. Um, I didn't think I'd want to teach at all. I was going to ask you that. Are you a natural teacher? I'm not. I didn't think I was. Um, I think I might be, but I didn't think I was at all. I didn't think I'd have the patience to put up with people, because when you watch people being taught most of your life, like all the, all the elementary, middle school, high school stuff, there's teachers are trying to teach a room that there's a percentage of people that just don't want to be there, and that does not look like fun for me at

24:01all. Um, but it turns out trying to teach people that want to learn something is, is very entertaining for me. Very entertaining, you know. So I didn't expect it. In fact, when Hunter asked me to do it, when they came— when they— I told them I was bored, by the way. I said, I'm not— I love my job, and you see me online, I'm having a good time, but what else could I do?

24:21You know, I love who we are. What What needs are there? And I presented an idea too, right? I'm one of those things you don't like, bring me your ideas, tell me what you think. And I did that and they were like, well, that's a pretty good idea, but how about maybe also this? And so the trainer thing was thrown at me and I kind of, I don't know, I didn't know what to make of that.

24:42Were you just in sales before or you were just training differently? You're just in sales. Sales. And for sales for me involved installing a bunch of equipment and training people on how to use it. You know, so I was doing a good bit of training, so to speak, but it was, um, it was certainly different than just a classroom full of people.

24:59So I didn't think I would like it. I love it. I now have too much demand and don't know how to maintain my schedule. Because you the man, everybody wants to be trained by Justin. Thanks, that's kind to say. I'm not sure it's accurate, but it's kind to say. I am also just not as organized as maybe I should be. Maybe that's also the problem.

25:21No, Rachel's beautiful. She's a lovely one. Beautiful family, all blended. Like, your life sounds like a fairy tale and you are always, always happy, and we know that's not true. Yeah, yeah, it's mostly that. But no, it's mostly— you always find a way to bring light to the room. That's why I wanted to reach out to you, because I really enjoy talking to you.

25:43And I think when you did the, the training for the girls because I was only there for the one day. Yeah, this is amazing. I need to bring you to the shop and maybe I can have a class at my shop and enter and have some more people around. My boys need training because you did training with, um, Benji's crew. Well, some of his crew, correct?

26:03They went to level 3. How many levels is it? 3. Level 3. We do 3. Yep, yep. So they finished all of their training. He was like, I didn't know what I didn't know. That's cool. That's the funny thing too. Like, I'm telling— the thing about training is that, uh, man, we could all be better at anything we want to do. Ashley, what's something you want to be better at?

26:22Communicating. Communicating. Okay. Um, well, turns out you can, right? Like, there's, there's YouTube videos and there's podcasts and there's so many great ways to learn to be a better communicator. And you're going to do that. You want it and you will pursue that. I've been watching your videos too, where you've, um, you know, you're real quick to say, oh, you're quick to say, I'm not real good at this video stuff.

26:42I'm not doing it. I haven't done much of it yet. And, um, the only thing standing between you and being more confident about it is more doing it, you know? Like, that's what it comes down to. And, um, just that idea of being willing to release yourself to that stuff. Like, the last thing you did on the way home from the Versus place where you just did the video out looking out the front of the car, it was brilliant.

27:04It was great. It was good to hear you doing that. Um, but that's, that's what it comes down to. Practice, just like anything else. Yeah, listen to me. I think that's for anybody too, like you don't have to be perfect at what you're trying to get better at tomorrow. But like, right, I just met myself where I was at. I'm like, I know I need to do more videos, but I'm not quite comfortable flipping the camera around yet.

27:26So yeah, I'll practice just talking to the camera and then I'll eventually flip it around. So, right, right. Well, and, um, I'll, I'll go and let me— can I go and drop a tip on y'all right here about doing that stuff? Okay. Yeah. So first of all, Um, if I go— I really want to go back and create a video of like a compilation of when I started.

27:49I started doing videos in 2012. Wow. So right, so 14 years later, I'm fairly comfortable with it, right? Um, but I want to do this compilation video and you're going to see me be like bashful and embarrassed and whatever. Um, Lucas has been— he's, he's— oh, Luke, speak about encouragers. Holy crap, right? Like Lucas is always hilariously encouraging and he, he says, Justin, I have watched you go from like not having it, you know, being very uncomfortable on camera and not knowing what you're doing, all that kind of stuff.

28:18And it's just a tremendous transition you've kind of experienced. And it really— well, A, it's people saying nice things to you like that. And then B, it's, it's just going for it. So here's the tip. And this is the one thing that I do hate about webcams, right? I can't, I can't make eye contact with either of you, right? Oh, it feels like, it's like, which, who don't, who am I supposed to look at?

28:47Yeah, so, right, so when you are making a video of yourself, what's really important is that you are not looking at yourself. You have to look at the camera. Yeah, and if that means on your cam, you know Once upon a time, we had, uh, loose leaf paper that we would put in binders for things, right? Yeah, I still got some. Do you remember the little plastic circles that you could put over the holes to try to keep that page from ripping out too easily?

29:17Right, yeah. You, you can still get those. Okay, you buy some of those and you put that bright yellow circle or whatever right around the camera hole on your phone or whatever, at least as a training aid to get that ball rolling, because then you're just looking into that bullseye. You will train yourself to do that. Wow. Because looking at yourself is what everybody else does.

29:43I don't want— I want— if I'm going to have a psychological connection with anybody, like a positive relationship connection, we're going to have to make eye contact. And just being digital doesn't, doesn't give you the excuse. Because, and, and now that I've said it to you, every video you watch of people talking to their camera or talking to their phone, you're gonna see the ones that are just looking at themselves.

30:09We're, we're absolutely, um, we're hypnotized, kind of. Like, it's not because we're vain, it's not because of anything else like that, but we're kind of worried about— because I'm cute. It's like, oh, look at me. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, hey, how you doing? Right. So like right now, I'm looking at the camera right now. Can you tell that I'm looking at the camera?

30:29Yeah, see? Now wait a second. And that's what I've been doing with y'all. No, but I've been trying to look at you on the screen. But I'm going to sit here and look at the camera and talk to the camera. And it's going to look weird once it's produced. No, it's— well, it depends on where the camera is being produced from. Because right now, you are looking at me.

30:46Like, I'm feeling your eye contact, Tanika. And I love it. Oh, okay, because I'm looking at the blinds and look at these ones. Oh my gosh, no, the blinds behind the camera. Oh, behind that. Okay, okay, right, right. Oh, so we're looking at the blue dot. So I understand what you're saying. If we got the little thing and put up there, it'll focus right there and it looks like I'm talking to you, right?

31:06Well, look back at me for a second. Look back at me. Now I'm looking at you on mine, right? And so all you're doing is looking at my bald spot, but we love But, but do you like— so keep looking at me for a second. The difference is between this, and I'm talking to Tanika in her face. Oh, now you're looking back.

31:26And when I look here, we're— we are— even it'll only be on the video. Yeah, but we would be making eye contact. And so it's hard in here because I want to stare at your face. I want to see your expression. I want to see all that stuff. Yeah, so I'm sitting here talking to— it looks like, um, Was it not R2-D2?

31:46Johnny 5. The camera looks like Johnny 5 looking at me. Oh yeah, yeah, I'll talk to Johnny 5, but then I can't see you. But I understand because now I look like I'm engaging directly with you. Yeah, look at you teaching me the things. I'm just, um, like on my lipstick report, and that's another thing, like, I don't know why I started doing that.

32:06The lips, we love it, it's crazy. We love it because I can I'm stopping and I'm going, I'm stopping and going, I'm just trying to not edit it and be natural. Right. Like, how much editing are you doing? Me? Mm-hmm. Um, very little. Very little. Because you've been doing it for 14 years. Yeah, it's because of the practice. I've only, I've only in the last 6 months started editing out like stumbles and misspeaks.

32:31I just, because I realized I could and it'll shorten my video a little bit. Um, I don't like to do it. I think it's more organic when people see you be a real human and stutter through something and fumble over your words or whatever. Uh, but I also wanted to elevate my game a little bit, I guess. And, and so I just cut out some of that, but it's not too much different.

32:53I really— I don't— frankly, I don't have time to edit much, you know. Uh, someone told me to get Meta Glasses. It's like, do Meta Glasses. And I was like, oh, I, I'm excited about the technology. I'm a, I'm a gadget nerd, and I'm excited about the technology. I want to try it. I don't want to buy them, um, currently, you know what I mean?

33:14Like, I don't want to spend the $300, $400, but I am eager to try some of that stuff. But I want the ones that'll have like, it'll show me the whole computer screen inside here too. Like, I don't know, I don't want that. I'd go crazy. I'd be cross-eyed. That would be so cool. Yeah, it's going to be awesome. I think it's what grabs you than the Meta glasses.

33:31Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm excited about all that stuff, but I love them for a technician too, like for your inspections. That's so cool. Yeah, yeah. Nate Winston and Chris Enright, like they wear them every now and then or whatever, and I find it very entertaining. Mm-hmm. That is so cool. You taught all of this at ASTA, right? I taught— You and Kelly Grace?

33:54I teach most about like how to take pictures that are appealing to the general public for your social media. Oh, by the way, so here's the why. Um, because a lot of you, a lot of the shop owners keep getting harassed by— if you're paying somebody to do your marketing, they're always, hey, could you send me some more pictures? Could you send me some more pictures?

34:13And nobody's sending them anything. Always the same pictures. That's why we always see the same canned advertisements on everything, because nobody's sending any pictures. So if you don't like the pictures you're taking then why don't we have a class and help you take some better pictures, and then everybody will want to eat your chicken wings? That all makes sense. I forgot the, um, hot sauce, your buffalo sauce.

34:33I was ready last time. I know, I know. When we get out of here, I'm gonna— I'm in Silva, North Carolina. This is in my Airbnb. Um, it looks like an AI backdrop. It's so great. I know. I thought the same thing. I was like, is that AI? Is that real? Yeah, no, no, this is my Airbnb in Silva, North Carolina. Chicken wings as well.

34:55I'm gonna text Santana, say, hey Santana, ah, do you want to go get chicken wings with your mama? Yeah, because there's a cool dive bar up the street from me and, um, it's very rough looking but it's my favorite place. What's it called? Braley's. Braley's. Braley's. So we would have— it's not a lunchtime gig, we can't go like during lunch, you'd have to go after hours, after training, so you get beer and it's like Cheers.

35:21You walk in and they say, hey, T! I'm like, what's up, y'all? Give me my drink, give me my wings. I love it. So, um, are they open on a Monday night? Yes. So May 11th or 12th, we need to go. That's fine. Okay, well, I will look at my calendar. That's what I'm saying. I'm gonna look at it now. I'm gonna look at it and I'm like make eye contact with the thing.

35:44But yeah, May— where am I going to be? You said May 11th? May 11th. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Looks like I'm going to be in the town of Durham. Ash, where's home for you right now? It's Phoenix, Arizona. Right now? What's happening? What do I not know? Well, you know a lot of stuff, so there's potential for something to change. Wait a second, you were at Benji Burress's house over the weekend and you're from Phoenix, Arizona?

36:12Yeah, I didn't know that. That makes it even cooler that I got to see you. Yeah, the— that area is home to me. I grew up in Georgia, so— okay, I felt very— I felt homesick while I was there. I was like looking around, I'm like, man, this feels like home. Well, and I was so glad to meet you in person, and it was so cool in that moment because of what I said to you too.

36:32I was like, well, this is Ashley Kaplan's— what my brain is saying, but I heard you introduce yourself as Ash. And I thought that was really cool because I, I really value people the way they want to be referred to. And here's the why on that. My 5th grade teacher— and I might have already said this on Lucas's podcast or something— but, um, her name was Miss Kirby in Brevard, North Carolina, and I loved her.

36:53I thought she was fantastic. She was very sarcastic, very sarcastic woman. And considering I was 11— yeah, my name— hi, hello, my name is Justin Allen. And so on her little roster, it was Justin A or who knows what, but she called me Justina. The whole year long, and she thought it was great. It was the funniest thing to her. And, you know, 11-year-old Justin didn't really know what to make of it, but I knew my name wasn't Justina.

37:19And so ever since then, I tried to be really intentional. Like, I don't care what you want to be called, just make sure I know it and I'll hit the marks. It's fine. So that's mean. She called you Justina. Well, you know, I liked her. She was still a cool teacher. But to hear— Hi, I'm Ash. I was— my brain was like, let's program that in here, and it's not Ashley, but it's Ash.

37:41I like that. Thanks. I am big on names too. Like, it's a big pet peeve of mine if somebody says or spells somebody's name wrong. So I try to be very, very into— I know, poor you, Tanika. People say Tanika all the time. Tanika, Tanika, Tanika. I'm like, that is not my name. But I just said, okay. Siri read it back to me that way yesterday.

38:04I made a reminder and Siri was like, record with Taneka at 6 o'clock or whatever. She's so ridiculous. If I put something, put it in somewhere, I just spell it the way that I want it to be said. So I'll put T-A-N-E-E-K-A. Oh, wow. Yeah. But, um, yeah, so maybe my parents didn't know how to spell. I don't know. I've been trying to get Ash to stick since I was in like elementary school and it never stuck until our group like last year, last year and a half, 2 years that I've been like, I guess like making a name more for myself.

38:41Yeah. And I just started saying, no, I'm Ash. It finally stuck. So I love it. Good job. So at home, which is Charlotte, I grew up in Charlotte. My family, my immediate family, my mom, my sisters, my aunties, everybody calls me Nika. Nika? Yeah, just Nika, not Tanika, right? And, um, but my father has always called me by my whole name. So if my family comes to see me and you say, hey Tanika, they would look at you like, why are you calling her that?

39:11Like, who is that? That is my name. It's my name. Yeah. Or my grandma's calling me Nika Poole. Um, so it's pretty funny. It's funny, I, I gotta grab something. Hang on a sec. Uh-oh, I'm gonna start calling you that. Please don't do that. Only Kitty can do that. Only Kitty can do that. I think when I'm like texting Katie or somebody, I just refer to you as T.

39:38Who else does that? Um, they do that at the bar. Somebody else calls me T. I don't know, your auntie. So I thought you're gonna get something. I did. Okay, so what are you looking forward to next, Tanika? Vision. This is the first time I'm going to Vision. I leave, I fly out Thursday. Cool. Go to Vision. And also on Thursday, the first episode of the podcast is dropping on— so what is that?

40:11That's going to be the 4th or 5th, I don't know. I don't know, first Thursday. Yeah, and I probably got that date wrong because I have the brain of a perimenopausal woman. So, but this week we should have the episode. I'm excited about that. I'm so nervous about it because I don't know, people like, what are they talking about? This is not even good because I'm no Mike Allen.

40:35I'm not all funny. You are. I think you're gonna be. I haven't had any funny things to happen. Like, I'm not gonna have clips or stuff. Oh, sure you will. Yeah, but we'll see. Like, I'm trusting the process. Yeah. And then at the Vision, I get to go to Montana again with Kim and Lola Schmidt— Kim Walker and Lola Schmidt and Sherri Hamilton.

40:59Man, we had a ball last year, and I cannot wait to unwind with those ladies for a week. So I remember the pictures. That was such a cool thing to get to see. It was so life-changing. And that's another thing about the industry and these, these, um, networking opportunities and the trade shows and whatever. You meet people. Like, I've met my automotive family at ASTA.

41:21Yeah. And my first, my first cousin— actually, he says he's my husband— the first person was John Firm, Buckin' Buckaroo Bob. It was the first one that really is like, come here, girl, come here, you know. You know how he is, he's— yeah, lovingly aggressive, right? Um, so that— and you know, I had been talking to Lucas Underwood online, but then I got to meet these people, and these people are my family.

41:48And I really— it really hit home this weekend when normally I'm gonna stay in a hotel, but I was like, no, I'm staying at Christian Benji's house. Where's my room? Yeah, welcome home. I like— I'm walking around my pajamas and bare feet, cats or whatever. I really feel at home with them, and it's good to have because everybody isn't— doesn't have that family.

42:13I have a wonderful family, sure, but to have an extended family that I actually chose, right? And we get to talk about the same stuff. Yeah. And if I'm having a hard time, I know who to call. They can relate to your trials and tribulations of the career path you're on and all that stuff. Yeah. Yeah, so I definitely want everybody in the industry to have that person because those people are available, but you just got to step into the room and find them.

42:35Show up and speak. I was so proud of Santana this weekend. I, I was excited to see him there. Yeah, he was engaging in the class, talking to people. When he left, because he had to go to work, so he left after the second day, and I don't think he got to say goodbye to Jim Kokonas. Of all people, that's the one he wanted to make sure that I told him.

43:00Ah, that he said bye, that he really liked him. And so today, in today's Monday morning meeting, it is, um, we're talking about our weekend, and he said he learned a lot about himself. And I think he grew a lot more respect for the family business because of course it's what he grew up in. He didn't watch any real struggles or whatever, right?

43:22Because I probably hid them from him anyway. But, um, so I'm excited for him. It's like, I got home yesterday, I was like, where you been? I went for a run. He made up his bed this morning before he went to work. Nice. Yeah, yeah, he took over my Audible because I sent him— I said, you should read these books, you should listen to these books if you don't have time to read them.

43:44And he's doing the things, he's like putting pen to paper, making it happen. And I'm sure that he knows that you're fantastic. But I hope that he also enjoyed seeing you be surrounded by so many people that love and care about you. That was a little— yeah, he said that. So Jordan saw it at ASTA last year, in September. He was like, "Ma, all these people are talking to you."

44:09I was like, "I know, baby. I'm tired." But I love it. I love it. And it does, it takes my social battery. Sure. Right, right. But I love it, not for the sake of arrogance. It's just like, it's so warm. And then you get to meet people. Then like, if it were not for this person, I wouldn't have met this person. Yeah.

44:30If it were not for Mike, I would have met Ash. Right, right. You know, so all of those connections are so important. Yeah, so important. I love it. How do people get along without it? I don't know. I don't know. Being an adult is not easy. Being an adult's a hard thing to do. It's the dumbest thing in the whole world. Zero stars.

44:50Well, you figure different chapters of life and it's harder to make friends or you're too busy to do anything with friends or whatever. Being able to get that message midday from Lola asking about some training thing or whatever going on, you know, it's just so cool to have connections around more than just your little bubble, right? And the internet can give you that and but not the same as when we all come hang out.

45:17It's like we all come hang out and it's just a bunch of cackling and catching up. Yeah. And pictures. And it's, it's, it's so wonderful. But I definitely pray for more people that need it, that don't know that they need it, to get it. Yeah, absolutely. Like, like the people that live near something like this, like Ash over there in Arizona, y'all have an event out there, some kind of a Sunshine something or other event, right?

45:44What's the automotive event there? Sunrise and then Ratchet and Wrench. Yeah. And now Ratchet and Wrench moves around, right? Oh, you're right. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, they had it there this year. They kind of move around. Is it in Arizona this year? Okay. Okay. It was. Yeah. Last year or whenever it was. I don't even know what today is. Gotcha. You're right. But that Sunrise thing, like for instance, like there's people over there nearby that have no idea that happens.

46:09That have no idea the good times they could be having and things that could be learned if they went there. That's the stuff that blows my mind, like people with really easy proximity to this stuff. Because sure enough, there we are in, um, Locust, North Carolina. I don't even know, I think it might be Locust where Benji actually— Oakboro, Oakboro, North Carolina.

46:29And we have people from Ohio and people from California and people from, you know, Phoenix and Texas. Like, the people who get it can't get enough of it is what really comes of this, and they are traveling far and wide to make it happen. Just like Tanika, just like you're about to go to Kansas City. Yeah, right. I didn't look at David's recommendation for food, um, but the Joe's Barbecue is pretty tasty stuff.

46:55I just— I'm just gonna throw that out there. Okay. Um, the, uh Like, I can't get enough. I don't get to go to Vision this year. I don't have enough time in my schedule to get to all the places. I'm not going to go to— apparently I just bought the ticket last week. Nice. Yeah, I can't get to Tools this time, um, but I've got to get these things on rotation in a way so that I can do it responsibly and not have Rachel run away from me, right?

47:18But it's just, it's so much fun. And the people that live really close, I just don't get it. They, they literally don't know. That's the only reason. And some of them are introverts in a way that they think there is no way on on Earth I would ever be happy or comfortable hanging around with a bunch of strangers. Yeah, yeah. They don't know the love that exists amongst people that can relate to your struggles and who are not about to ask you to come outside and take a look at their car and tell them what's wrong with it, you know?

47:45Right, because that ain't gonna happen. That part ain't gonna happen. It's just real true connection. Yeah. And nobody's in there singing Kumbaya, people. It's not a whole Kumbaya thing. No, we are drinking more lies and beer than anything coolest thing I've ever seen. It's like a big barbershop. Lies and Beer, is that what you said? Lies and Beer. Yeah, that's fun. It— and, and hey, if you're not into, uh, beer and whiskey, then that's okay too.

48:12We take all kinds in these events. Yeah, you can have your water, you can have the sunny, you get all kind of water, sparkling water, that's right, Kool-Aid, orange juice, grape juice, soda pops, um, whatever, whatever your libation choice is. But it's just so much fun watching people Show up, because I think I've gone to— I think this is going to make my 6th year at ASTA.

48:33Wow. And to— I need to figure out mine too. I always say something different. Yeah, I know. It's close because I think you and I were there pretty much together on the first— pretty close on the first time because Rachel and I came and hung out with you at the bar. Yeah. And I think it was still like you were there charging your batteries up and getting away from people for a minute.

48:50And so I spoiled it. I spoiled it for you. I'm used to it now. I'm ready for it now. I just get some energy drinks, put them in the room, and ready, set, go. Comfortable shoes. Let's go. Right. But so you go and you see somebody else that's at like, this is their first time here and they've got that look on their face.

49:07Like, I have no idea what I'm doing or where I'm supposed to go. And those are the people that I get sucked in real fast. Like, I will help you. I will talk to you. And then the next year they show up with like their spouse and their 3 other technicians and it. It just, it changes lives. It absolutely changes lives. And it is, the training is amazing.

49:25The relationships are the thing. The relationships are the thing. I can't wait for, I don't know who he is yet. It's only on Facebook, but Caleb Mack. I don't know why he's my new best little project. I adore him, watching him and his family. And then I know I'm going to say his name wrong. Anise from Canada. He's got— yeah, that was his first time.

49:48And I do remember, he— I hope he's not mad I'm gonna say it, because I think he was over when he was missing his family and his kids. Yeah. And I remember I figured that out, either he said something, but I said to Benji, or Benji said something to me, he's like, let's all reach out to him at the same time and say, hey bro, where you at?

50:04We're in the room, we're in the boom boom room with Mike Allen, come down and be with us. Yeah, we came down and socialized and I think he— he's so cool. The best time that he's had it. Yeah, he's so cool. Yeah, but just imagine if we can grab like 100 different shop owners, new shop owners, and bring them in every year.

50:25The difference we can make, exponential. It's absolutely— it's crazy, like everyone travels from all over like you were talking about, but I've talked to people that are local, like just— excuse me— just at the training this weekend Somebody that was like just an hour outside of Raleigh that had never even heard of it. Yeah. Yeah. Because they're in their bubble and I'm going to try to be— well, Justin's really good at it.

50:48I'm trying to get louder and louder about it and say, hey, come on outside and play. Yeah, but I guess their algorithm does an algorithm and they don't hear about it. That is so funny, Tanika. That is exactly what it is. Hey, can you ask your mom if you can come outside and play? Yeah, come outside and play. We have so much fun.

51:05It was so much fun. David Carroll was there from up in Maryland. He's got a cool shop out in the woods out in Maryland, you know, and, uh, just such a cool guy. Like, everybody there, it's a riot. I have the best time with all of those situations. Um, like, well, September cannot come fast enough. Yeah, yeah. And especially since you're now on the committee with me, we've got a lot of work to do.

51:26We gotta get the word out. We got a meeting tomorrow at 1 o'clock. Yes, we do. Yeah, I'm having— I'm scheduling my class, and I told the people today because I'm trying to be more organized. I said, here's the thing, tomorrow we're going to take lunch at 12:50 because I got a meeting I got to go to. So somewhere on there. So I'm excited.

51:43I got some superstars to help push ASTA a whole lot more this year. Yay. Yeah. Yeah. So I am trying to figure out how to start wrapping up the podcast. Just start wrapping up. So since it's called Downshift. Okay. And the reason behind that is about slowing down, getting your stuff together, taking a breath, and then— so we're not downshifting past a slow driver, we're downshifting because we're approaching a stop sign.

52:14We're downshifting for either one, but to me it's to pass the slow driver. Yeah, okay, that's not slowing down. Yeah, you have to slow down just a little bit. You can't slow down all the way because then you would go out of business. So we're on a two-lane backcountry North Carolina road, stuck by the body, going 53 miles an hour in 55s on them.

52:33We gotta get— so you're gonna pull back, you're gonna slow down a little bit, okay? Like that. I know, just like, you know, you're not gonna die because you're on a two-lane road. And then you're gonna punch it. You're gonna get it. Yeah. Tell me about a time in your life that you had to do something like that, when life got out of control and you had to sit your butt down and chill for a little bit and reassess.

53:03Okay, then I'll just put this out here this way. I had— I don't know how to say it other than to say that I had to go through a divorce. And I don't want that to sound mean to anybody. I'm not trying to be mean to my ex, but I had to go through that. And I had to learn things about myself differently.

53:26I had to reevaluate all kinds of stuff. And I spent a couple of really lonely years. I had a couple of really lonely years. And I put that out there because there are people that are going to be listening to your podcast, and there's people in our community that are having a really lonely year right now. And it is at It is okay, you know, but I had to go through— I had to do a lot of reevaluating who I am and how I am and all these kind of things.

53:59And as a dad and as a life partner, all of that stuff, I had to shift down and, um, understand the, the choices I'd made that got me there and what choices I was going to need to make to be in a different place, state of mind, I think, right? Yeah. But yeah, so that— and, and I hate it, and I, I think anybody who's gone through divorce hates it.

54:25Like, it's nothing anybody goes into life and like, here's something fun, let's try this. But I say it to other people that if you are in that spot and you are having to go through that, just know that, man, hey, you're not alone. And B, uh, there is— there's as much life as you could possibly want on the other side of your misery right now, if you're miserable.

54:50You know, there's a lot of people that really get overwhelmed and really get to feeling like there's no hope and there's no light or whatever. And, uh, that's an easy thing to feel as a human, especially like we're joking about, like, with the way the internet separates everybody and Yeah, and I'd say, goodness gracious, if you're feeling that way this year, then there may be no more important time in your journey right now than to plug in with other humans.

55:19You know, I want to encourage you, if you're struggling and you're feeling lost and alone and like everything you hoped for has fallen apart and you cannot make sense of it, let's get you to ASTA. And don't— that should not sound like a sales pitch at all. No, no, you know what I mean? It is important, I think. Yeah, the community associated with it.

55:43Um, show up at Josh Coombs' shop next month, right? Yeah, if you're anywhere around, if you're within an hour's drive or whatever. Shoot, I might take a flight. We'll see, right? I mean, just get up. We're gonna have, we're gonna have one once a month for the rest of the year. That is awesome. Different locations. So absolutely awesome. If you're following, make sure you follow the AST Facebook page so you can keep up.

56:07Yeah, but plugging in connections and just know, like you said, you said it a couple times, that you went through it. Yeah. And there's another side. Yes. Yeah. There's no guarantee that none of us are going to get through life without having some, some stuff, right? Right. But getting stuck in it, that's the situation that we don't want to be in. There's a lot life.

56:30That is, that is, uh, as the great philosopher Dory the Sunfish said, or whatever, it's that keep on swimming. Keep swimming. Yes, got to sometimes. And so yeah, don't— the worst thing you can do in those situations is to keep isolating yourself. Just come on out. There's people here that are, are just there to be with you. We don't have to make a big deal out of anything, but just come on out and be around some other humans and get some of that energy.

57:00Nobody's going to ask you to get on that spinny thing that the video camera swings around while you wear the hair and the sunglasses like Tanika and I did back at ASTA. But if you want to get on the spinny thing, have I got a— I've got a plan for you if you want to go. Yeah, yeah, but you might just meet like your new best friend or somebody.

57:21You never know. Yeah, you never know. You, you're probably not gonna meet them sitting on the couch at home feeling sorry for yourself. Probably not. Amazon is not dropping off best friends on the front porch. And, and there's a moment to be at home feeling sorry for yourself. Like, don't— I'm not, I'm not dismissing that at all. There's a time for that.

57:40Oh, there's a time to go in your room and listen to the sad songs. That's that Madea quote I was telling you, Tanika. She said, go ahead, be sad for a minute, cry about it, and then go ahead and do something. Get on, get over. Yeah, come on now, get your drawers on, let's go. Yeah, so now what? Like, okay, you've been upset and that's all right.

57:58Now what? What you gonna do? You gonna box? You gonna kick rocks? Yep. Get in my pocket. Let's go. So we gotta— you gotta go. You gotta go do something. So there's no better— there's no better place if you're in automotive. Get— find out. Come on. Some of you, um, are watching this because someone told you to look out for Tanika and she's amazing, and you do not know the other things going on.

58:22So real fast, ask, like, if you're not plugged into some things on Facebook, the Changing the Industry podcast, maybe Remarkable Results with Carmen Capriato, maybe, um, the Auto Shop Owners Group, like, some of you are hearing this podcast right now and it's your first taste of any automotive people encouraging each other, and you need to go rewind the podcast, go back to that 15 seconds, write down those things I just said, and go plug in online.

58:51Log in online. That's the bare minimum, is to connect online with people and then come out and see us because we're a lot more fun in 3D. We are 3D, and, and we smell good too. You can't even smell us. That's my objective. I want to smell so good this year. I want to smell so good. Absolutely delicious. Yeah. So if somebody wants to train with Hunter Engineering or they want to contact you to have wings and beer How do they find you?

59:20Uh, yes, so, uh, great, thank you for that. Um, you will find me on all of the entertainment-based socials as the letter J and then Allen. So J. Allen Hunter is how you'll find me on there. If you're on LinkedIn and you're very professional and stodgy, then it's just Justin Allen, you know. And that's— I love to connect with anybody anywhere they want to.

59:44Um, You'll find my cell phone number scattered around in places like that too and whatnot. But come and find me. Like, I'm out there to spread hope and encouragement any way we can. And the internet is a— it's a way. It's one way to do it. It's one way. So that's what I'm gonna do. Thank you, Ash. I appreciate that. I appreciate that.

1:00:05Well, love, this was great. I enjoyed talking to you. You have anything else you want to add for the people out here in the internet world? Uh, no, just know you are loved and there is another— there are opportunities just waiting. There's so much stuff just waiting. Don't, don't lose out on it all just because you're stuck. You feel stuck. You're not— you are not as stuck as you think you are.

1:00:29There's ways to get unstuck. Ways to get unstuck. Yep. All right, I'm Tanika. That's Ash. Is that Ash? That is Ash. I'm so obsessed. And we're signing off. Go get you some wings. Go get some wings. All right. 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.

1:01:00We 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.