The Technicians Who Get Ahead Do THIS | Bruce Bolen - Ep 40

0:00The pay. So there are some shitty employees out there that do not pay technicians properly for what they are worth. But the key word there is, what are you worth? What do you have in your toolbox that is worth you making $125,000, $150,000 a year? Welcome to Downshift with Tanika Haynes, the Automotive Auntie. The thing about Tanika, She gets to know you.

0:29She'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. Let's downshift. We're in there like swimwear. Good morning. So it's 10 o'clock. It's 10 o'clock where you are too. Yeah. All right, so I'm guilty of not— I don't like to look up people because it gives me like— Because I don't want to have a pre— I don't— I want to guess who you are just by your Facebook picture.

1:00So you gotta— like, you reached out to me and you said you're at Tools with us and that was your first training and you want to talk about it. Well, let's talk about it. Yeah, I mean, uh, but I left my fan on. Can you hear my fan? I'm complaining about you, mine is loud. Yeah, excuse me. I mean, I don't hear it.

1:20I'll get in trouble. He'll tell me he heard it. So I gotta come back in. I'm back. I can hear it now. Yeah, I mean, Braxton will figure it out. Braxton's magic. Yeah, yeah, he's got a wonderful way with those clips. With everyone else he messes with. Oh yeah, those clips, they start stuff. I like them. Sometimes I'm like, look, Braxton, bring it back a little bit.

1:48Come on, come on, man. But it worked. I mean, because you want people to pay attention. But the problem with the clips is that people don't go past that. You know, it's like the news. You know, news is like, oh yeah, tragic tragedy here on Main Street, tune in at 6. And nobody turns in— tunes in at 6, so nobody really goes to listen to the whole podcast.

2:11And that's where the problems can arise. Oh yeah, without a doubt. Yeah, not listen to the whole thing, but I like it though. I mean, I'm getting used to it, the podcasting and the clips and the— I don't, I don't think we do rage bait, but some people might say so. I don't care. I do care, but everyone's got their own definition of what rage bait is, you know what I mean?

2:34It's just like everything else. So yeah, I just like to think of my clips as commercials. Yeah. Preview, sneak preview of this week's podcast. All right, I mean, that's, that's pretty much where it started for me. Like, I, I've seen a couple of like Jeff's clips floating around, and then I'm like, what's this, what's this all about? And, you know, started listening to his podcast, and then that's when he, he threw out about Tools and Hershey, and I'm like That's an hour away from me.

3:10Like, never been before at all? Like, to nothing? Yeah, no, it's— I mean, the, the, the most like training that I've ever done was, uh, like the NAPA classes or whatever that are local to, to us. And even then, like, I wasn't going to all of them. I'd— I would go to whatever, you know, my boss or company would send me to.

3:34So, but when I heard about that, I was like, oh, like, that's right around the corner. Like, let me see if I can get in there, um, see if the company will assist in financing that, which of course they didn't. How did that all go? So you walk up to your boss and say, yo, it's a training, I want to be better, this will help us make more money, make us more productive.

3:58And he said, he or she said Just no. Yeah, so, um, they're probably not gonna like this, which I, I still have yet to hear an answer back about. Can I or can I talk about them? But the company I work for is Firestone, so they have their own internal training stuff, and they do not pay for the trade show events. So AFTA, Tools, SEMA, all that fun stuff, they're, they're not going to pay for it.

4:32It's, it's self-financed, which I get it. Like, they got their own thing that, like, that's what they want to teach. The thing I didn't like is that some of the classes at the, those training events are the same ones I'm going to go to at an NAPA class, right? So, well, being that Tools was your first one, how did it compare to— how did that training compare to what Stone has been offering you?

5:04Well, so with where I'm at in my level of knowledge, there's not a lot of classes for me. Like, it's, it's all like some of the basic stuff. Um, they, they do have some of the more advanced classes, but the last one I went to was I want to say it was like 17, 18, and they flew me out to Colorado to their training facility.

5:36Um, and it was like, it was, it was like a technical college school, if you will. And, uh, they had something set up with the one instructor there that he would do the advanced level diagnostic class for Firestone. Auto repair shop owners often reach a point where they cannot answer basic questions about their business. How many cars are in the bay? What's today's revenue?

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6:28Learn more at techmetric.com or use the link in the show notes. We already know what to do. We've been to the trainings, paid for the coaching, learned the right way to inspect cars, build estimates, and talk to our customers. 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.

6:50So 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.

7:17Now that's not just based on memory or mood. That's how a shop runs. And let me tell you, I've been using it for over a year now. My ARO is up 63%. 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 that's not bad. I mean, that's better than what I can imagine other shops are doing, but that is a long time ago.

7:44Oh yeah, yeah. And it's, um, like my— so my area manager had said that, you know, there's, there's other classes that we can go— that I can go to, um, that are more my level rather than, you know, we'll say a basic beginner Um, technician. Um, but he's like, uh, you know, check the calendar, see, see if it's on there and whatnot.

8:13And if not, reach out to me about any class you want to take. So I'd— again, not trying to throw them under the bus or anything, but I don't see anything on the calendar for advanced level stuff, especially not as quickly as you know, tools. That was a couple months ago. We got AFTA next month. So it's, you know, it's— I'm finding that quicker, easier, that I can get into something sooner, right, and expand the knowledge that I need and want.

8:48So how long have you been an automotive technician? How long have you been in the industry professionally? I've been working on cars since 2010, so we're going on What, 16? Yeah, 16, almost 17 years now. So been out for a while though. How long have you been with them? So I had 2, I had 2 stints. One was from 2016 to 2019, and then most recent it was 2 and a half years I think I'm at now.

9:23Okay. So like, it— I've been there for a little while, but also been all over the place too. Like, what other shops have you been in? What kind of work environments have you been in? You and Firestone, we'd call them a big box store. Sorry, no disrespect. Have you been in an independent dealership? Where have you been? Yeah, so, so I've been, um, through like quick lube facilities.

9:44Like, uh, the one I worked at was the Lube Center, which they're pretty similar to like Ford's Kwik Lane or Jiffy Lube. Um, I've worked at places like that. I've worked at mom-and-pops, worked at dealerships, um, worked at other, I guess, corporate chain stores like Monroe. Um, yeah, so I've, I've been around a little bit. What do you like about it? What keeps you running?

10:15See, if I looked at your resume and some another shop want to look at your resume, it's like, this dude's been in every shop in the world, what's his problem? What is not— no, what do you love about it? What keeps you with us crazy people in the industry? Yeah, honestly, like right now with where I'm at, like I think it's the— for me it's the high volume, um, because you know, you always have the— obviously you rely on your service advisor to get more work.

10:41So, you know, when even one person doesn't have a good day, whether it could be customer or manager or advisor or myself, you know, something can always fall through the cracks. So having that high volume will help offset the, uh, not selling of work or whatever, whatever it might be. Um, yeah, so I'm flat rate. Been flat rate forever. Um, so it's, it's, for me, it's always chasing the money.

11:15So I'm not the podcaster that does the flat rate versus hourly. My guys are hourly plus bonus. Never been flat rate. When we had a body shop, they were flat rate. Um, that was different. What do you prefer? You prefer flat rate because you can just knock it out? Yeah, I mean, I, I make really good money on flat rate. Um, so it's like, I worked for a shop that was hourly and they didn't charge for diags and they didn't properly track hours.

11:48So when I was working for them, I was on a salary position with bonus that if I flagged, you know, over 40, I'd get X dollars more per hour or whatever. Uh, well, because they never billed diag and they didn't flag stuff correctly, I never cracked bonus. So, but it was, it was a mom-and-pop place and they were really good people. Just, they were the typical shop that had cars sitting there for years because, you know, like the customer would have 8 cars So he dropped one off and be like, hey, whenever you get to it, you get to it, just figure it out for me.

12:35So like, they didn't really have the drive per se to want to get stuff done. It was, you know, Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. 5 o'clock Friday, you clock out and you don't worry till Monday, and then Monday starts cycle all over again. But you rather work 10 days a week, which is fine. Yeah, yeah, work, work 37 days a week and flag a billion hours.

13:01That's right. But you know, every— I mean, everybody has their own thing, whatever makes your boat float. Because I'm a 4-day work week girl in the shop, but we, we burn through those 4 days. But that probably wouldn't work for you because you want to work 7 days a week and just keep it moving. You must have really good young knees. So tell me, I mean, no, they're, they're, they're good enough.

13:27They pop in the morning almost all the time. So I will hear, and we'll hear in the, the comment sections when these conversations are happening, somebody's gonna say, oh, you should be open 7 days a week. Oh, you shouldn't be. You know, to each his own, however you're in your shop. And you're apparently where you're comfortable. You're happy at being a Firestone.

13:48Do you ever have any desire to open your own shop? Well, that's, that's kind of where I'm, I think I'm leaning towards in my 5-year goal here is, is look at branching out and, and getting my own shop and just rolling into, you know, shop ownership and tech life until, you know, I can phase into just a shop ownership position. Um, because yeah, it's— we just talked about knees popping.

14:22It's— I'm not gonna be able to work on cars forever, right? So I'm, I'm thinking, you know, if I can get something now where it's, it's, you know, set something up that when I am retireable, I guess you could call it, that I'm not killing myself every day. Yeah, so it's, you know, it's— I figure set myself up a little better, set the kids up, you know, do, do the whole, a whole everything, get everything, you know, better for, for everyone.

14:58So how long you did in the next 5 years? That's in your 5-year plan? Yep. Cool. So tell me what made you— so you listen to Jeff on the podcast, you heard about TUS, and you're ready to attend. What really wanted you— what What made you want to attend this particular training? Uh, so it's tools, like I said, because it was in my backyard.

15:18Was like, yeah, I might as well go there, check it out, see how it's going to be. And then I was like, you know what, Jeff's going to be there, like maybe I'll just hang out with him for the whole week, which I kind of did. And like, we, like, we ended up having dinner together, you know, Jeff, me, you, Braxton, his, his wife, uh, Benji, and, uh, I can't remember his wife's name, and then Frank and Margarita.

15:49We all, we all had dinner together. And, you know, that was— I think that was like day 2 or 3. And basically me and Frank hit it off. And now Now me and him talk like all the time. Really? Uh, yeah, that's the first time I met Frank. I like Frank and he's pretty cool guy. Yeah, we, uh, we, we send each other random stuff all the time.

16:17Um, like the one thing I sent, there was like, it was like right around July 4th, was like a bunch of like July 4th America like stuff. One of them being what's the What's a kilometer? So I sent it to both Frank and Jeff, and they, they both laughed about it. Frank was like, well, that's rude. But there's something to be said about that community.

16:43Like, a lot of people know Benji and Chris— that's Benji's wife— we're pretty good friends. Like, once you step outside the trade show, that community that you can build from those relationships that you just that just start up in the lobby or over a dinner, over a drink, those mean a lot. And they're going to take you a very, very long way when you decide to step into the other world of automotive and become the boss.

17:05Because that's going to be a struggle with that one too, bro. Oh yeah, it's— I fully expect it. That's when I— so when I first started talking about it, uh, with my wife, I was like, hey, like, you're, you're probably gonna be, you know, number 2 here Where it's me and, me and you doing it. And she's like, okay, whatever. It's like, then we got to get a shop dog.

17:30And I was like, all right, I'm fine with that. It's like, that's— if that's what's gonna, you know, get you locked in for, for my upfront person, then I guess that's what I gotta do. We just gotta get a shop dog. Okay, I'm in. And then that's a lot of training that you're going to have to do when you, when you cross over to the boss side.

17:52And they have that at schools and they have that at ASTA and all the other events like Vision, so on and so forth. And that is going to be a different set of learning. Tell me about, you know, when your boss decided, I'm not paying for this, what really made you say, I'm going anyway? Because I'm assuming that you had to take your own vacation time, pay your way.

18:12Did you stay? Because I think you didn't stay. You drove back and forth. Yeah, no, I drove because, you know, because it was only an hour for me and I'm used to I, I was driving to a, a shop like for, for regular work every day. It was an hour and 15 one way. So I, uh, basically I was like, you know, I'm— I want to go to this training.

18:34I want to see how it is, see if it's something, you know, that I should continue going to, or if it's something like, hey, it's no different than the NAPA classes, I'll just go to the NAPA classes instead. Well, obviously some of the classes there are NAPA classes, but other classes like Steckler's class and, um, some of the other classes with better— I don't want to say better instructors, but different instructors that have different world experiences, um, they— I think they're better than just the NAPA classes.

19:15Hey, this is Tanika from Downshift with Tanika. The ASTA Expo 2026 takes place here in Raleigh, North Carolina, September 24th through 26th. The expo is an investment in you, whether you're a service advisor, shop owner, manager, technician. ASTA has something for you. I am a testimony to what training, continuous education, and being connected to the right community can do for you and your business.

19:41Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day, we forget that we need to grow too. So get out of your own way, step outside of your shop, meet new people, learn something, learn something new, invest in yourself. Make plans to be at ASTA Expo 2026 and use our podcast code for $25 off. That code is DOWNSHIFT25, and that again is $25 off of registration.

20:05Remember, ASTA is for you. Come learn, come connect, Come grow, and I'll see you at the expo. Ah, yeah, because I, I know that the complaint— of course, I don't take technical classes, so what I do hear the complaint is that a lot of the technical classes put on by the parts stores are kind of sort of like just big commercials. Yeah, I mean, they can be depending on your instructor, um, but you know, same thing, like They, they're obviously contracted to do their job, right?

20:39Put on the class and, and, hey, you know, we have XYZ product for this, here's, you know, flyer of whatever's going on. Um, but again, like, it's not the only solution for stuff like that, but some class is better than no class. Like, what bothers me, yeah, I mean, I don't do any training. Yeah, bottom line is if you're not doing any training, you're probably the same guy that still works on carburetors.

21:10Nothing against it, there's got to be someone who does it, but show me a car right now in the last 10 years that had a carburetor on it, you know what I mean? So, so for what I'm hearing is you're taking responsibility for your own career. You're not waiting for your boss to send you to class and this, that, whatever, because you've got bigger goals and whatever.

21:33Um, and it sounds like you know that you are responsible for keeping your skills current. Um, yeah, I say this a lot, you know, you've got the Jada McKenna, you can listen to that. We've got the YouTube videos, we've got a lot of, we've got a lot of opportunities out there for technicians to continue their skills. You know, I've got Scanner Danner, um, Brandon Steckler.

21:55We've got a lot of guys out there that's giving free content a lot of it right there on YouTube. And so if you can sit there and look at— I don't know, what do people look at while they're at work or listen to while they're at work? Whatever you're putting in your head, if you can just sometimes turn on a video or podcast and increase your own knowledge, you know, you don't have to— everybody doesn't have to wait for the boss.

22:17Because even though Firestone is sending you to some training, there's things available. There's people out there in shops that are getting nothing. They're just stuck in a shop that doesn't believe in training, or maybe they can't afford it, afford training. But you just can't use that as an excuse not to train. Oh yeah, like there's, um, I think it's Garage Gurus is the one, um, because I, I had a class with— I think his name was Bill.

22:43Um, he was like, their, their subscription, their monthly subscription tier is like $8. And I'm like, for $8, like, that's, that's, you know, go out to lunch one day. It's like, okay, like, you can just— if you can't afford it normally, you can just skip lunch one day. And yeah, like, like, just pack a lunch and then you can— you, for a whole month, you have access to all their content.

23:12Exactly. So it's like, there's a lot of stuff out there that's definitely more obtainable than, you know, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on training. Like, okay, let's— we'll simplify it. You can go to UTI and get their whole semester, 2 years, whatever it is, of automotive, and it, you know, it'll cost you however many thousands of dollars Yeah, nothing against it because I know your son's going.

23:47My son just finished lots of thousands of dollars. So like the flip side of that is if you already have knowledge, you can, you can just expand it little by little. Like even— I forget, I want to say it's on Jeff's podcast, but I forget who, who he says, says it— get 1% better every day. I mean, even if it's 1% a week.

24:09Like it's still gonna drive you to being better overall, you know. And then again, you're not getting better for the boss, okay? Just like a technician has a toolbox, my toolbox has wheels. Exactly. And when you wheel that toolbox out of that place that you feel disrespected at and that you're not growing at, you wheel your body and your mind along with that.

24:35So you— I believe shop owners should definitely invest in their technicians, just like our technicians invest in their own tools. Our technicians are part of our toolbox. But if you're in a shop that does not invest in training, that doesn't mean just get up and quit today. That means slowly invest in yourself. Take the training, spend the $10, $15 a month subscription.

25:02Every now and again when you're commuting to work, listen to something that is going to get you 1% better. And that means maybe you'll be 1% faster and you'll get your job done quicker. And then you are a commodity. You are that, that unicorn that people are looking for. You can turn yourself from a horse into a unicorn just by training 1% better.

25:26Yeah, and that's the thing is like you don't even have to spend money like you're saying, like Scanner Danner's got free stuff. Like, there's guys on Facebook that— like, I've learned a lot of stuff. Just some of it's stuff I don't even work on. Like, I don't, I don't do a lot of diesel stuff, right? Uh, one guy that I've seen a lot is, um, the skinny white dude that works on Ford, Ford Powerstroke.

25:50And he talks about— I wish I knew you was talking about the skinny white dude that works on Ford Powerstroke. I don't know his name. I just know he's a skinny white dude. He works on Fords. And, uh, you know, I've learned stuff from that, and I'm like, okay, like, that's, that's great information to have. Will I ever use it? Probably not.

26:12But then there's another guy that he's, uh, he does a lot of like transmission rebuilds in his garage, and he— I think he works for a GM dealer. And I found out from watching one of his videos about the newer Silverados where you have to take the, the brake fluid reservoir cap off to press back the, the pistons, but you can potentially blow out— it's, I want to say it's like the pressure sensor or something in the ABS module.

26:46So I'm like, anyone that comes in, I'm like, don't even— yeah. Don't even like attempt to press it back. Crack the bleeder and blow it out the caliper. Make sure the master cylinder's topped off. Like, I don't need— I mean, that came from what, a 30-minute video? And you've saved so much time and potential. That was, that was one of his like 5, 5 to 7 minute videos.

27:11Wow. That is like, you know, he, he brought up— I want to say it was like the, um, you know, service manual of like how to do brakes on the truck. And it's, you know, everyone thinks, oh, it's brakes, I can do that, you know what I mean? And, uh, if you actually read the service manual, there's obviously specific steps you have to do, and that's, that's one of them.

27:37And they— I think there's a warning label of like, you know, if, if it's done wrong or whatever, you can risk damage to the ABS module, and no one takes it into account until they do it. And then it's like, oh, now I got my, my $500 brake job that I was gonna get, get done for $200, now it's costing me $5,000 because I need a module.

28:03And all it took was 5 to 7 minutes of just education. Yep, that knowledge. And that's why it's important. That's— I'll keep saying it, I know it sounds She says the same thing over and over. You gotta worry about yourself. Like, like, it's your responsibility. It's not your employee's responsibility. It's like sending your kid to kindergarten. Like, right now it's back to school, right?

28:26And can your kids go maybe next week? Back to school time. And the teachers are saying these kids do not know how to put on a coat or tie the shoe. And then you're like, well, you're the teacher, you should be teaching them that. No, you know, No, you're the parent. Be responsible for your own rescue. And people are worried. Okay, then another thing, I've just, I try to stay off of the, the socials and I try to stay out of the podcast because I get so upset and I take a lot of things personally and I'm trying to learn not to do that.

28:53But the pay, the pay. So there are some shitty employees out there that do not pay technicians properly. For what they are worth. But the key word there is, what are you worth? What do you have in your toolbox that is worth you making $125,000, $150,000 a year? Oh yeah. And there's a lot of— like, you'll sit there and watch drift videos, cat videos, and whatever on YouTube and TikTok, or you will go straight to comments to go to war with some people, but you're not working on yourself.

29:35You gotta worry about your damn self because your toolbox is your toolbox. That— yeah, I can't tell you how many times, you know, obviously like I said, I've worked all over the place. How many times I've went to a shop and I'm like, I'm the new guy, but I'm also learning everyone else. And it's like The, the one he was— I don't, I don't think he was master certified, but he was a Toyota tech, had most of his certifications if not all, like I said, because I don't, I don't know what he was.

30:11And I had to— I don't want to say fix his problem, but he had a vehicle with, I think it was like a cylinder 4 misfire, and He didn't want to rip it down to figure out the problem. I tore it down literally to where the piston was in my hand, and I said, hey, it's tore down, get your, you know, rep.

30:41I guess I forget what they call them, but they're like general area, like, reps to come in and basically approve or deny what we're gonna do. Yeah, so I, uh, I, I tore it down because I saw scoring on the cylinder walls, and I was like, hey, I think it's— it might be a short block. I was like, but I'm not the one who sees this all the time, so it, you know, get that guy in here, have him look at it.

31:16I ended up going on It was like an extended weekend vacation because the wife's aunt was getting married. So I left, engine tore apart in pieces all over the floor, came back to a missing cylinder head, and I was like, hey, where's the cylinder head and what are we doing to this to fix it? And they're like, oh, we're putting a cylinder head on when that guy showed up.

31:44He said the scoring in the cylinder walls wasn't bad enough to deem replacement. So I was like, okay, whatever. And he, he said we're gonna put a cylinder head on it because they dumped washer fluid like with the head flipped upside down and it leaked down through the, uh, valve guides basically. And, uh, so we ended up doing you know, more or less bearings and piston rings and a new cylinder head, threw it all back together, delivered it to the customer.

32:20You know, it's under warranty. It had like, I think, 58,000 or 59,000 miles on it. And like I said, that other guy being master-ish certified didn't want anything to do with it. I'm like, some things I'm like, you're the guy. Certifications myself just because I'm a good test taker. I'm a really good test taker. I can read a book and take a test.

32:45I could probably be an MD if I had to cut nobody because I can read a book and take a test all day. But I know damn well that I can't do anything that you just talked about. Well, and that's the thing is like, I'm like, hey man, like, like, why am I doing your work? Like, this is your job. Like, you should You're certified to do this.

33:05I'm not. I'm not certified. I was not certified at all through Toyota, but I had, uh, I think it was 5 ASEs at the time, 2 of those being A1 and A8, you know, engine related. And they were like, oh, he, he can do it. He's— I've done a lot of other stuff just there. And, you know, I'm like, if, if I'm stuck doing this while he's stuck flagging hours doing what I like to call wallet flushes, why, why ain't I making the good money too?

33:45So I'm like, yep, he's— he was the— he was the golden, golden boy of the dealership. Had been there the longest and all of that good stuff. It wasn't that. No, he just— he flagged the most. That's all it was. He was doing all the gravy, sounds like. Yeah. Yep, that's exactly what it was. Which, you know, nothing against him. Like, that's what he wants to do, by all means do it.

34:13Um, I'm trying to fix cars, you know what I mean? Like, whether it's challenging or easy, like, I want to do obviously more challenging, challenging stuff pays better, both knowledge and sometimes pay. But like, I want, I want something that's going to give me something out of it, whether it's, it's a learning experience or, you know, the, the good stuff, the green stuff.

34:41You care, you love your job, you're not there just for the money. Even though the money is good, it doesn't sound like you're there just for the money. It is the, you know, you still get excited about fixing something. So that means a lot. And that's the people that we want in the industry. We don't want anybody to say, oh, I can go in there and I can make all of this money, but then you don't care about anything that you're doing, or you don't want to get any better at what you're doing.

35:05And when it comes to paying, like when people say, oh, I only get paid, and I was like, well, maybe that's only what you're worth. Yeah. You ever think about it like that? Like That's what you're worth. And if you want to get better, it's possible. It's all kinds of ways to come out there. You know, ASTA, it does cost money to invest in things such as that kind of training.

35:26But like you said, there's stuff out there right there on YouTube. You just pick what you want to put in your brain. You know, while you're sitting on the cat, what are the videos that come across my algorithm? And I'm just like, what? But then you do, you get stuck, you get dumb in this phone and you're sitting on the toilet and you're like swiping and swiping like, and then next thing you know, 30 minutes have gone by.

35:46Gone by and you ain't learned shit. But you can take that same 30 minutes while you're getting in the shower in the morning and just listen to what's going on. You really don't even have to watch every move that the technician or whoever's doing the video is showing. It's just getting it in your head. And so education is very important. You got education, then you got common sense.

36:07Some people ain't got that either. Yeah, that's not so common anymore. No, no, no. It's easier to be ignorant. And actually, sometimes I think it's What it is, it's elevated. It's like, oh, because that's what we're looking at— stupid people on stupid videos, and they're making all of this money just by being dumb. You got people out here educating people, and then you got the same people that's liking the dumb videos that are technicians that'll go into the content where someone is educating them.

36:35And even if you don't agree 100%, there's always something you can learn from somebody. But they will tear it up in the comments because they know everything and they did everything, and they're the best thing since sliced bread. Right, right. Yeah. Did you decide if you're coming or not? What's that? You coming to ASTA? Is it a done deal? Oh yeah. Yep.

36:55I'm, I'm actually— so me and Frank are coming. Frank's flying in and I'm picking him up on the way down, and then we're sharing a room together. Okay. And we got some classes that align and other classes he's got, you know, more shop owner stuff. Right. Um, because I, I haven't decided— I didn't decide till recently that I was going to do shop ownership things.

37:21So I think, I think I'm going to go to Super Saturday, which is up in Philly area. Um, with, you know, same, same people that did Tools are doing the Super Saturday. I think that one I'm going to kind of branch out into more Uh, shop ownership management stuff, just to, you know, again, like, I, I don't have a shop now, but I do do side work stuff.

37:52So I'm like, you know, I'll just start leaning into that direction, uh, just to get, you know, it's information. All information is good. You got money woes, accounting, marketing. How do you do this and how do you do that? So that's going to be a whole different set of tools that you're going to need in your toolbox. And I'm glad that you're even smart enough to do that, um, before you have even found a building.

38:19So yeah, yeah. So the funny thing even about that is I actually, uh, my realtor from the— with the house that we bought back in '16, I reached out to him, was like, hey, do you do anything commercial? And he's like, yeah, kind of, sort of. He's like, but I have a guy. He's like, what are you, what are you trying to do?

38:38And I was like, well, in the next 5 years I want to see about, uh, I'm looking into opening my own shop. And he's like, oh cool, awesome. He's like, let me, let me talk to my guy, make sure it's cool, and then I'll, I'll pass the information on to you. So I got a phone number now for a guy that does commercial real estate that I can talk to him, kind of get better understanding of like what I should do as far as that goes.

39:07Um, just, you know, again, so when I'm ready to pull the trigger, I got all my ducks in a row. Yeah. And then when you go to Super Saturday, if you can— I said I hear the babies in the background— if you can, I would tell you to take your wife with you. So she's— I believe she's coming down to Asta Is she?

39:26So yeah, so as I have to double-check with her, just confirm, um, because we didn't know, because she's, she's a preschool teacher. She used to be a paid volunteer, but now she's— the other lady had stepped down, so now she's moved up into the number 2 spot as a teacher. Yeah, she can come. I'd love her to be my guest at the women's dinner.

39:51That will be fun. Yeah, I'll, I'll, uh, I'll talk to her, say something to her, see, see if she's got anything figured out. Um, because I don't, I don't think they start school till— I think it's next month. I think it's like right around the time Asta is. Yeah, so like actual, like, school school. So my son just turned 7 yesterday. His school started last week.

40:18So, but the wife's preschool, which is like 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds, doesn't start until next month. I don't know exact dates, but I know it's sometime next month. So I'll talk to her, get some details hashed out. And like I said, I think she's— I think she's supposed to be coming, uh, but I don't— I don't know. Glad to have both of you coming.

40:44So I think when you sent me an email, you said that you have 2 potential little minions under your belt? Yeah. Are you mentoring somebody right now? Yep, I got 2, um, I guess you can call them— well, it's not interns. What the, what the hell is it? Your mentees? Apprentice. Apprentices, that's the word. Uh, yes, I got one who, uh, he started beginning of this year And he, he is very green, like very, very green.

41:22So I'm trying to, to groom him in doing it right before doing it fast. Oh yeah, I mean, I, I have them, and there's, there's a lot of guys in the industry that they know their tools and they know what is tight with their tools, whether it's electric or, or air impact. I'm having this guy torque everything, and he's— he ended up— he actually purchased a $10,000 GearWrench toolbox setup with tools, the whole works.

42:03There's a little extra stuff like, like he, he got a little mechanic's chair and whatnot, like, you know, some extra not necessary things. But he, he— that kit came with, it was a half-inch electric torque wrench. And I said, hey, that's great and all, but you need a 3/8-inch one. He bought one with all that. So, but he dropped 10 grand, you know, he's, he's ready to, to start doing stuff.

42:34Um, so he's— I, I mean, I had him do, do, uh, control arms 2 weeks ago, and then he did ball joints I think last week. And then this week, while I wasn't even there, he did control arms on a RAV4, and he actually had to— he texted me and was like, hey, how do I do this? Sent me some pictures. And, you know, I called him up, was like, hey, you, you do this, this, this, this, and it'll fall right out.

43:06And he's like, how do you know this without actually looking at it? I was like, I've been in the industry way too long. So one day somebody will be calling him, asking him the same question. He'll, he'll know just like that. Yeah. And like, I, I really like that, you know, like, he, he started out like everyone had a cart and a Craftsman toolbox.

43:27That's how he started. And it's like, okay man, like, I know you're trying to do stuff. It's like, not that you need to spend all this money, I said, but you got to prepare yourself for doing bigger stuff. And he started looking at, you know, individual boxes and tool sets and all this stuff, and happened to see an ad on, on Facebook for GearWrench.

43:57I think it's like their Mega Mod kit. So I clicked on it and was like, oh, that actually looks pretty cool. And I sent it to him. And so he started looking through it all and was like, hey, how— what do you think about this one? And it was like box, like big box, a little box, a tray, whatnot. And I'm like That's probably a great starter set.

44:19It's like, you're still gonna have to buy more, I said, but that'll definitely get you set for most of anything you're gonna do. And then he, without even like missing a beat, he ordered it. And I'm like, oh shit, man, like, we probably— how long have we been doing it? How long has he been doing it? Yeah, um, including The time that he's been with me, I think it's been like a year, year and a half.

44:48But prior to— I don't— not immediately, but a little while ago, he was— he spent 8 years in the military doing engineering stuff. So he's got, you know, mechanical background as far as like nuts and bolts and taking stuff apart. Uh, but he's, he's got a drive to get as much knowledge as he can. Um, I actually— I've been— I've contemplated paying for him to go to one of these events because then, like I said, I know where we work is not going to do that.

45:26Uh, but he's also going to all the beginner classes and stuff through them, so he's getting knowledge there. And he's getting hands-on knowledge with me. Um, but I want to, you know, open that door for, hey, like, get out there, learn some stuff, meet some people, and, and, you know, just grow that way. Grow. Well, knowing that he's young— so he sounds like he might be 30 years old, maybe.

45:56Yeah, he's, uh, I think he's 28. Okay, so how do you feel about the future of the industry and the people, the young people that are coming in? Like, I'm proud of my son and everything that he's doing, but then we hear the loudest people say, oh, the industry is crap. It's, you know, it's crap. This is crap. Everything's crap. How do you personally feel about it knowing that you've got this young man coming in under your wing and you can see potential in him?

46:24I think it really depends on the individual. Um, as far as majority rule, um, there's a lot of— I mean, my other apprentice, he's been there for 3 years. He's 23, so he's, he's younger yet, and he has a hard time spending money on, we'll say, everyday tools. He's got 2 BMWs, so he will buy BMW stuff more than something else. And that's a whole mindset.

47:02That's his mindset. You're gonna buy— you got 2 BMWs for a kid. Yeah, I know, right? So, but like, I, I try to give him just as much training as I do my other apprentice, but like, he's not really He's not really in it. Like, I mean, he knows he can leave where he's at and go to Sheetz and make more money, which is like— that's the struggle with coming into the industry.

47:35It's like not a lot of people starting out make— ideally make any money. Um, but it again depends on where you're at. Yeah, but at 23, he's already not investing as much as you think he should. Um, and yes, he can go to Sheetz and get a job and make the same amount of money, but he can't retire from Sheetz. Yeah, I mean, and that's the thing, a career— like, at most he could do is like move up into management there.

48:12And then, you know, just like anywhere, if your store doesn't perform as good as they want you, or you don't move this or that product, then it's like, oh well, it's got to be management. And they'll, they'll move management around. Uh, but again, like, you're, you're capped out at whatever they allow you, whereas, you know, us, we're only capped out at, at what our knowledge is to fix a car quicker, faster, better.

48:44Um, but then, you know, if we get to that point where we're capped out on fixing the car, then it's, you know, move into ownership. And then instead of one store, now we got 3 stores. And, you know, there's a, there's a lot of different ways to make money. What's up, dude? What do you got, a teeny tech behind you? Yeah, I got my 7-year-old down here.

49:14He's gonna be a technician like Dad. Where is he at? Right here. What's up, man? Hi. You gonna be a technician like your dad? Yep. Yeah, you gotta start working on your beard, gang. Where's your beard? You have to have a beard to be a technician. You gotta get a beard to be a technician, kid. Yeah, you gotta grow it out. They're ready to get to the beach, Dad.

49:44Yeah, yeah, we were supposed to spend the day there and I was like, oh, I forgot. Like, let me reach out to Tanika. Well, so I meant to put it in my other calendar app that me and the wife use, and it got put into my Apple iPhone calendar. So I got the email yesterday and I was like, didn't see it till this morning.

50:11And I was like, oh, that's right. I was like, damn it. And I looked at the time and I was like, yeah, I need to get a shower and get cleaned up. I can't smell you. You could have stayed funky. You didn't have to take a shower. Well, I mean, I had to look somewhat presentable. Well, I'm glad you took the time out of your day to spend this time with me.

50:31I can't wait to see you, Asta. Um, you and Frank. And what's your wife's name, just in case I get to meet her? Ava. Ava. Yeah, you know Marguerite's coming with Frank? Uh, no, she's not. Oh, Marguerite. I had to send her a message. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm pretty sure the only reason Frank's coming is because he made a bet with, uh, uh, Buck and Bob.

50:58Oh my God. And, uh, and of course he, he always follows through. So Frank, Frank had to bite the bullet on that one. I'm so glad that you got to meet all of these people. Like, there's something to be said about community at these expos, at these trainings. You know, you get a lot when you're sitting at the desk with your paper and your pen and instructor, But you get a whole lot more, in my opinion, you get a whole lot more from the community that you build around the expo.

51:27And for me, it has been the truest thing that I could say. Like, my community, my team of people, my weird uncles, aunts, brothers, and cousins, I love them all. Yeah. When you're having a good day, a bad day, a win or a loss, or you have a question, there's nothing like being able to pick up the phone. So let me look.

51:48The kids are getting ready to attack you because they're ready. Yeah, they're both here. The baby's there too. Hey baby. Yeah, let me see the baby. Hey baby. Yeah, she's, uh, she's— she'll be 3 next month. So, all right, so I will see you in about 4 weeks. I'm not sure when this will be released, but I'll see you in about 4 weeks.

52:16We will, uh, catch up then and get some dinner again. And you have the best day ever. Hey, we'll try. You do the same. All right, bye kids. Goodbye. Goodbye. Bye-bye. Downshift with Tanika is where we slow down long enough to have real conversations, hosted by myself, second-generation shop owner. Tanika Haynes. This goes beyond your car count, your KPIs. We want to talk about leadership, legacy, mindset, and the messy, beautiful journey of building something that lasts.

52:55You 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.