Remembering Aaron - The Best Moments of Success Leaves Clues

0:00If you're running after happiness, you're running after the wrong thing. Happiness is a result of fulfillment. Amen. He is so humble to just go, hey, I was wrong back then, here's the right way. And I just love that attitude. Yeah, and that tells you he was balanced in his family. That tells you that he spent the time, he invested. Yeah, it's important to invest in the family and the people around you.

0:20Yeah. For those of you are listening and watching, the whole goal of the podcast is to encourage you. Berg, Jay, you and I are on the show. We are. Today we're gonna do a best of, uh, we're gonna be honoring our good friend Aaron, um, and we're gonna be watching some really cool episodes with him and stuff we were talking about throughout the year, a couple years now., on the show.

0:54So I'm excited about it. Me too. Me too. Probably be a little emotional, but, um, yeah, I'm, I'm super excited. I have loved the podcast and following. Our camera guys put this out here. They've preempted that we're gonna cry during this episode. So I hope you also have your tissues by you. It's gonna happen. We're gonna, we're gonna try to hold it back here.

1:14Yeah. Um, but so I'm excited for it. I do have a little bit of backstory to go into. Okay. Let's hear it. He and I got on. This podcast together. And a little bit, I mean, when you think about all the things that have happened, um, you also think through that there's not a lot of coincidences about the way things happen, but there's a lot of providence, there's a lot of faithfulness from God when stuff like this happens in life.

1:37And I learned to go back a little bit to give you a little story. I don't think you know this, but probably don't. So several years ago, um, I was with a company. Aaron and I kind of had different circles we were in, but I was with a company and we had grown it up to done really well with it. And, um, we ended up selling the company for about $300 million.

1:55So it was a great deal. We all did really well. And then, uh, we moved over to the acquisition company and stayed on with them. Well, after that happened, the company had like 200 people in it. It went downhill drastically. We went down to about 100 people, cut about 50% of the— so wow, time lost, all leadership. Like, it was, it was really heartbreaking.

2:17Of something we built. And I honestly, I was going through a lot of depression during that time. Okay. Um, because you lost a lot of your team. Lots of team, a lot of hope, a lot of just seeing people's lives really broken apart and people who had spent probably 15, 20 years. Some of the people who were in that company had started their careers in that company.

2:36Wow. And then all of a sudden for them to see it go to this thing and then it just broke apart was devastating. Sure. And it was really hard as a leader walking through that. Um, and I was really dealing with a lot and I just kind of, I think it was one of the trips we went to Mexico. I was really struggling and I just, it was really good time to refocus.

2:55And I said, this isn't gonna stop. Like it isn't gonna break me. It isn't gonna change things. We're, I'm gonna do something different. Okay. So I started my own podcast interviewing people just and started networking and getting out there and stuff. Right. Okay. Fast forward 6 months, Thomas, uh, he no longer was doing the podcast. Yep. And TJ calls me out, he's like, hey, you're doing a podcast, I think you'd be great, let's talk about doing the podcast together.

3:20And you just think about that and the framing of things that go wrong, for sure, and figuring out what you can do in those moments that will either break you or turn it into something else. Sure. And like Aaron said in one of the posts, you know, God doesn't call the qualified, be qualified to call. Yep. And so there's a, there's a point in that where you have to make a decision, something different.

3:44And so I'm so thankful that it all worked out. And that's when we got to be on a show together and just as friends, and I got to learn more about his world and being around him. So for the past year, so thankful we got those moments together. And you got to hear all the testimonies of all of these business, you know, shop owners that are out there and share that journey and see the fruits of, of what he's been putting in and pouring into all these people.

4:08Yeah, it's, it's always so cool because 9 outta 10 times everybody, like you think, you know, you get on the show and they're talking about their revenue and their GP and all this kind of stuff. It's always about the impact of their life. Yeah. Uh, I would go sit with just a husband and wife who are on trips every now and then and they'd be like, well, yeah, our shop's doing this and this and we're doing great, but man, our marriage.

4:30Yeah. Yeah, man, our family. And it was always like, So cool. That's awesome. That's the awesome stuff that you get to see. Amen. That you really get to see happen. So it was, it was fantastic. So we're, what we're gonna do, okay, we're gonna watch some clips. Okay. We put together some best of clips with some really great guests and we're gonna watch them and we can talk about 'em and just relive some moments.

4:53I love it. All right. I love it. We're gonna talk, start out with this awesome guy, Chuck Swain. All right. That's awesome that you're giving back. It's awesome that other people now get to benefit from your experience. If somebody tries to sell 'em a shop, you're gonna know what to look for. Yeah. Don't Don't do it. Just don't. I'm just kidding. Kidding.

5:11You'll be wiser than smarter. It is absolutely— I mean, no, I've made— I'm making more money than I've ever made in my life. My brother-in-law, I don't know if you knew, so I took $1.055 million in debt to buy the shop. Shop was $900,000. It was $30,000 he tacked on for something, I don't know what it was., and I wanted to have a— oh, I had some closing costs and I wanted to have $100,000 in the bank for operating capital.

5:41Mm-hmm. So I took that as debt and I was saying that. So at age 51, I was a negative millionaire. I'm 8 years in and I paid all that off, you know? Wow. Amazing. And we're making great money and, and we've got the time to Enjoy it. What's— and that is the key, Mike, right there, brother. That's it. Yeah, it don't get any better than that.

6:07Yeah, you got to be able to go out in your convertible, cruise around, get in your RV, go fishing, go to the mountains, go skiing, go to the Bahamas, do whatever it is, but you gotta have time to go. We're going to Europe next month. Um, must be nice. It is. Oh, I love it. That line, it is. I have no, I have, you know, and it is, that's one of the things you get with this community is the ability to, to share your wins with a group that won't be jealous, that appreciates the effort.

6:40They're happy for you. Yes. Mm-hmm. They wanna see you go. 'Cause we, none of us wanna hear that line. It must be nice. No, but a man, what a great comeback. It is. It is nice. Tell you what, Chuck is the— I love Chuck, man. He's awesome. He's so sweet. He's so awesome. He's such a good guy. Yeah. But him talking about being a negative millionaire, I always love that because you think about people start out.

7:05Oh yeah. And just really have to turn things around. And that guy totally did it. So yeah. And there's a lot of people that see the success now, but they don't remember all of the He was a million dollars in debt. Like that was a huge risk, but he, 8 years later, turned it into time freedom and wherever he's going, traveling all over the place.

7:28So cool. That's what I loved about that comment. It must be my son. He's like, it is, it is. You guys hear it all the time. All the time. Especially if they, they just see the output. They never see the hard work behind it and the sacrifice and all that stuff. Yep. But to be confident with that, cuz that is the mind change.

7:43Mm-hmm. That is the switch, you know, uh, Aaron always talked about, like, even when he was doing well with money, I remember the first time he called me when he bought, he bought a Mustang, that Mustang at auction. Oh, okay. He felt so guilty. Yep. And he called me and I was like, dude, that is awesome. Yes. Thank goodness. Like, I'm glad you were buying a Bible.

8:05But, and that's that community around. Yeah. You get in with people who really care about you succeeding and doing well. Like, I think it was Owen Buchanan in one of the episodes, he talked about buying his first new truck after working really hard. And that is so difficult when you have been scrapping and just trying to make it by. Yeah, well, your subconscious is constantly trying to pull you back into the familiar, into the familiar.

8:31That Mustang was not familiar territory for Aaron. Like, he called Adam Preiser, you know, Adam and I were just talking about this the other night. You know, he's like, should I buy this car? Like, what do you know? And that, that success is so unnatural and you really have to reprogram your mind and reprogram, unprogram all the things that, that, uh, happened under your childhood and in teen years and everything else.

8:56Yeah. And I think there's always that, the feeling of what's going to happen, like, oh yeah, hold on to stuff because you think, well, something could drop. Oh yeah, it could go wrong. Sure. Lose all this tomorrow kind of thing. Absolutely. And there is definitely some, you know, diligence and some planning, but when you are able to, and you're able to take the trips, you're able to do those things, it is nice.

9:15Sure. And to be proud for it, because, you know, that's the thing, rewarding the goal. Yeah. So there's not that burnout. It's such a big deal because it is hard. Yeah. And your family, you take them with you through all this stuff. Oh yeah. Yeah. So they need to see the benefit and be a part of it. On the both the good.

9:33So it's, yeah, I love that. Yeah, it is nice, man. It is nice. Yeah. Chuck's just an amazing, amazing human being. So yeah, super proud of his success for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Fast forward to 2017, I was on that same Facebook group and saw a conference called Shop Hackers, which I believe was your second one. Probably. And, uh, went to that and just learned a ton.

9:59I'm just taking notes and I'm just a sponge. And went to the meeting afterwards where you guys told us more and how to join. And I joined immediately. And, uh, that year I was do— I did $450,000 that year that I came to you in November. And, uh, had basically essentially doubled every year since. It's just been absolutely tremendous. I mean, there's, uh, well, let's say we'll double probably the first 3 or 4 years.

10:23Okay. So walk us through that. So $450,000, what was the next year you think? Uh, it was, it was just under a million. It was like $980,000. And the year after that? Uh, the year after that, I'd say, I think we hit around 1.6 or 1.7. I think it was 1.6, 1.650 or somewhere around there. And it's just progressively not doubled since then, but you know, last year we were at 3 and this year we're tracking 3.6, 3.7.

10:47Wow. It's been a snowball and a kind of a flywheel. So, you know, I would not, I shouldn't be listening to this guy or, oh, I should be. So let's talk to that guy. Boy or girl that's new, they're just getting going. They're doing $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 a year. Maybe they've been going 10 years and they're just, they're done. They're, they're tired of being broke.

11:06They're tired of not getting anywhere. And now they're searching. What advice would you give them on how to find accurate quote unquote free information? Just be relentless. Ask questions and have absolutely no fear of what other people might think of you if they saw that you asked that question regardless of how long. Honestly, The longer you don't ask the question, the more stupid you look, because that means you've been doing it X amount of time and still don't know whatever Y is, right?

11:34So if you're worried about that kind of stuff, ask all the questions early, uh, because that's the natural time of when people are supposed to start learning things. You know, 10 years of, in any industry, you should be fairly expert in that area and making really good money or figured out that you can't make money and moved on to something else. So just, just be vulnerable, show your belly, um, get uncomfortable.

11:54That's where the breakthrough happens. But ask. Ask questions, but with clarification. So don't just tell me what to do. Tell me why, why to do it. And then tell me how you do it in your company and in your business. Man, the pursuit of knowledge. And if that doesn't sum up Brandon Peavy, I don't know what does. Oh yeah. That dude. And, and he's maybe doubled or tripled since that video.

12:17Wow. He's now got 4 shops, maybe 5. Yeah. I can't, I, I lost count. Of how many shops he's got, but the pursuit of knowledge, that is Brandon Peavy. Yeah. And it's so cool to see, but not only that, he is now multiplying that knowledge to everybody else and he is a massive part in the community. It's just so cool to see that.

12:39Yeah. He's a solid guy. The thing about him that I find interesting, he talks about being uncomfortable and asking the questions and just getting the knowledge and taking that in. And he's kind of one of those guys, like, he's really smart. Yes, very intelligent. Yep. You can tell he's a thinker. Oh yeah. But he's also okay just having no ego. He just wants to find the information.

13:03Yeah, doesn't matter. And a lot of times we struggle with being vulnerable like that and asking the questions and looking stupid. Yeah, looking dumb. I find most of the time people are too concerned about looking dumb, looking stupid to ask the question and get the information they need in order to be successful that will save their life. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? It's crazy that pride gets in the way so much at that level.

13:32They're not even going to ask the most basic question. Yeah. Like if it's, if it's deep down inside and you think it's a problem, ask the question, put the ego aside, put the pride aside. Because at the end of the day, It's just gonna block you from getting to your next level. Yeah. It's almost, um, you know, a lot of times we talk about ego, we think about being prideful.

13:55Sure. But there's actually an ego of caring too much about what people think. Listen, sure, sure. You have an ego that you can't let go of looking dumb. Yeah. Asking a question. Yeah. Learning something new. Yeah. And then obviously asking the why, but it really is being comfortable in discomfort. If you think the discomfort of being unsuccessful and drowning in your business is more comfortable than just asking dumb questions, man, you, it'll save you a ton.

14:26It isn't just, it's true. Where do you want to be? Yeah. Just break it down. And where do you want to be? And Brandon did that. I mean, he just basically, he's at one point, he's like, I just need to learn. And he became a sponge. Yeah. I love that word relentless that he used. He just kept asking questions, asking questions. Adam Preiser, I believe, was his coach in the very beginning, and Adam was challenged by him because he's like, this dude just keeps asking questions and he has no, no, like he didn't care.

15:00Just he'd put everything out there, asking all the questions. They didn't know how to take them exactly. But he was over there in the corner thinking through and processing everything and coming to his own conclusion and building a roadmap and a plan. And man, I love to see the work that was in, in Brandon and how he just kept on asking questions.

15:21That's interesting you say that because I think Brandon's also one of those guys that doesn't just ask the question and get the answer and then just go, oh, that answer. Yeah, he actually builds a playbook. Yes, 100%. Real strategic. Uh, you know, he's, he's not just tactical. Hey, ask the question, do the thing. He also goes, okay, I'm gonna ask that thing, I'm gonna document the thing, see what the output of the thing is, and then start building the roadmap so I understand all of this.

15:47And then he starts training other people. I think that's a whole nother level of just asking the question that he just naturally kind of falls into. Yeah, absolutely. And with that knowledge, he teaches other people, just like you said. And when he teaches is when everything locks in. And I've seen him go back and go, I was wrong 6 months ago when I built all the playbook out.

16:07And actually this is the right answer, having lived this through other people in other shops. Oh wow. It's so cool. It's like he is so humble to just go, hey, I was wrong back then. Here's the right way. And I just, I just love that attitude. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. I, it's a really great lesson. The other thing that I took out of there.

16:27And this happened nonstop on the podcast. Nonstop. You can go listen to any episode. I promise you, you'll hear this. Well, how was your revenue doing? Oh, it was X. What'd you do the next time? You doubled. What'd you do the next time? We doubled. What'd you do the next— like, it just was nonstop. And so it, to me, it's, it's everybody says it.

16:49Yeah. There's a playbook. Yeah. Learn it, understand it, perfect it, put it in practice and do it. And if you do it, there's an outcome that you can see. And so it's, it's baffling at times to see shop owners really struggle where they just don't want to put it together. They're either complacent in where they're at. Sure. Or they don't want to see the other side of it, or maybe they just don't even know.

17:13But I don't know what you think about it, but I'm always surprised. They're not asking the questions. They're not curious. They're just, they're more caught up in being comfortable with where they are. And not getting outside of the, outside of the box or outside of their comfort zone to get to that next spot. Yeah. I mean, I think shop, some shop owners who don't want to see that type of level of success also belittle themselves and their place in the world.

17:41Because I think that one of the big things that you see with a lot of these owners who are doing well, they're impacting other people's lives that are in their shop. They always talk about. Hearing about the service advisor who can now afford to buy a house because you're paying them well because your business is doing well. Yeah. And so for an owner, they have a huge leadership place in these other people's lives.

18:01And I think some owners belittle themselves. They're like, this is all I really need to do, or all I should do. But what they're also doing is keeping everybody around them down. Hmm. They don't realize the place they have in everybody's lives as a leader. Absolutely. To really go after it and allow other people to succeed. And they have a big role.

18:18Yeah. That they need to fulfill. Yeah. And so getting that help and finding the playbook and moving and, and Brandon's just a rockstar coach. He's amazing. And so getting a coach like any of those guys is helpful. Yeah. I love what Aaron always talked about is when in doubt, focus out. And it's so true. Like if we have so much introspective and so much We're just looking at ourselves and we don't focus out.

18:46We only focus on ourselves. We don't worry about the team or where everybody else is going. And it's so true. Yeah, that's a great point. And Jay, I, I just feel like there's hard either way you go. You, you know, choose your hard, whether that's gonna be 10 years and now I'm not gonna go search, or 10 years I'm gonna be humble enough and curious enough to go outside and ask more questions and get more knowledge, or Am I gonna choose the hard of, I'm gonna figure this out on my own, you know?

19:14Yeah. I think there's also in the shop, when you think about what's hard, mm-hmm, the hard is taking risks. The hard is having hard conversations with your employees. Yes. Making hard decisions and being bold and brave about making some of those decisions. Yep. The other hard is not being successful and watching your life suffer. Yeah. Watching the people around you suffer. Yeah.

19:35And one is active and one is super passive. And so you're going to have to choose a hard one. It's going to be hard one way or the other. One you're going to slide into and one you're going to step into. It's good. And so you've got to pick one or the other. They're both going to be rough, man. Either way, either way.

19:52And there's some pretty bad outcomes, but I can tell you right now, if you choose active, you step into something. Absolutely. It's going to change you in a way that you'll never see. You would never have seen if you hadn't let it. Yeah. And it'll grow you and it's so much more fulfilling. I, I mean, one of the, one of the things I talk about with my kids is if you're running after happiness, you're running after the wrong thing.

20:13Happiness is a result of fulfillment. Amen. And so that type of active of stepping in and pursuing. Yeah. And choosing that hard. Mm-hmm. On the other side of it is such a fulfillment that blows out of the water anything else that you'll find on the other side. Yeah. So true. Choose your heart. Yeah. Choose your heart either way. Well, I love this one.

20:35Oh boy. Well, this guy, this guy. So Bird got to come sit down with us on the couch. Um, and I loved your story and all the things you kind of went through and going after shops. You, you need to go listen to this one. It was really good where he talks about. Going after something and not working out, going after something and not working out, going after something and not working out, and kept pursuing, kept being in that mindset and going after it.

21:05And so look, choosing the hard always doesn't always just immediately pay off. Oh yeah. It's a commitment. And choosing hard over and over and over and over again. Yeah. So that, I love, I love that story. We got a little clip of it. Oh boy. See what you say. I don't remember what I put on here. Okay. Didn't work out once. You wanted a shop.

21:25It didn't work out again. Yep. And you said that you sat there in that moment and you said, okay, God, this is a sec— like, again, this is happening. Yeah. What do I do? And you were there for a year. You stayed there and you could have left, you could have done something else, but yep, you're asking, why am I here? What did you hear?

21:42How did you deal with that disappointment? What did you work through during that time? A lot of patience. So I had a, I used to have a really bad temper, like really bad. And I think through that, like I learned a lot of patience and, and that I needed to trust God and like, he's got, he's got the plan. He's got, and like, I think in that moment, like I was super depressed and like was searching for like everything, like what is going on in that moment?

22:15And. If, if that had happened like perfectly smooth and like I had done all that, I wouldn't have learned so many lessons that I need today to get me to sitting on this couch. Again, a total God timing. A lot of timing stuff for you, man. A lot of timing things that have happened. It's crazy. Like all the people that he's brought in my life and like all the things that are lined up and it's just, I, I look back and I'm like, I could not have like planned all this stuff out.

22:44Like definitely wouldn't have picked me to go through 2 obstacles in like the shop thing, but yeah, like I needed to go through all that. So yeah, it's been, it's been crazy. Good advice. Great story. Thanks. It's a really good story. And, and I gotta give props to you. ShopFix would not be where it is today without your help. And so that, you know, It's funny how, uh, God, you know, they, they say those things, the teacher appears when the student's ready, you know, all that stuff.

23:13But I think the same thing happens with need and promotion in life. Mm-hmm. We had a need. You were also due a promotion in life. Sure. And I think all of that coincided and that promotion was you getting to go from owner to being a coach, which you wanted. Yes. And you were getting to do coaching, but you weren't getting to influence where things were going.

23:30And I think that What, right when our need appeared, he matched that with your ability. And so that was cool. Absolutely. Absolutely. Sure. I know you can't start that. I know, I know that one. Jay, what did you do to me? Uh, man. Yeah, God's timing is so good. And in choosing, choosing hard and choosing to, to persevere through all those, all those lessons.

24:12And I did have a temper back in the day. Uh, it's true. Patience. God's got a plan. Always has a plan for you. But you can't just sit back and like let things happen. Like you have to pursue, like keep pursuing relentless pers— pursue, you know, your calling. Yeah. Uh, man, that, that one hit pretty hard. Sorry. Yeah. I, I, I have a lot of words for this.

24:42I know. I, I know I threw that one on you. But yeah, you did. And I was, I was quiet. Um, no, it means a lot. Uh, I think that was, it's really hard. When stuff like that, when the disappointment, yeah, when the challenges, um, and it really pulls out who you are. And a lot of times the path looks like you don't feel ready.

25:06Yeah. You don't feel capable. You don't feel like you are the right person. Yeah, so true. But yeah, so true. There are, there's a there's an opportunity. Yeah. You say, uh, or I can't remember where I heard it, or if it's for, for those with eyes to see, there are opportunities everywhere, even in hard, even in tragedy, even in things. There's, there's opportunity to help others.

25:35There's opportunity to be there. There's opportunities to step into something that is for you. And, um, I wanted that in there because also because Anne really meant that the timing was right and there was a good place for what was going on. And, um, you know, there's, there's such— it was so— it's so cool to see it happening when you walk through that stuff.

26:00Yeah. And then you look back. Yes. You know, to look back at it and there's a, there's an overwhelming, um, sense of gratitude, you know, when you can look back at challenges. You need to look back at disappointment, have gratitude. Like, it's everything. Talk about choosing the hard— everything. You look back and you see those things and you have gratitude. That's because you stepped in and you leaned in.

26:24Yeah. And it changed you and you came out different. Yeah, definitely have a different perspective now on, on low times or hard times or difficult decisions. Because, man, if I hadn't gone through every one of those low times, had not got rejected on every shop and just felt super depressed. If I hadn't gone through all those, like, I would not be sitting on that couch, on this chair right now today.

26:54And I'm overwhelmed with gratitude on those lessons because the, the, the guy way— the Michael way back then, the Berg way back then, he wasn't prepared. He wasn't the right guy at all in the moment. But God had a plan and he goes, all right, we're gonna work on this. We're gonna apply a little pressure here. We're gonna refine, we're gonna put you through the fire.

27:17And on the other side of all of your adversity is who you are meant to be. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, for those of you who are listening and watching, the whole goal of the podcast is to encourage you. Absolutely. And we've talked about this. We want you to be inspired. And so I, wherever you're at, be inspired, be encouraged that you have the opportunity to be on the other side of wherever you're at and to look back with gratitude.

27:48Yeah. Look back with thankfulness and to be in a place that you can be proud of, that you can be thankful that you're there. So I just wanna encourage you, if you're in a rough spot, there is another side to this thing. Amen. Amen. Lean into that pressure. Lean into that pressure. Yeah, it's, it's funny. The one thing I've recently been thinking about is that, you know, a lot of times when you're going through pressure, there's a fear about who you are.

28:16True. And I often find that the greatest promise is on the other side of that lie or that fear. Yeah. And so we lean into it like, oh, I'm not, I'm not this or that. I'm not this or that. Actually, the promise is you are that. You will be that. You have to press into this thing. Amen. And so, um, if there's something you're afraid of, if there's something you're fearful for, um, it's probably the opposite of that is the promise.

28:46So, um, but yeah, man, just, uh, the stuff you went through, um, it's impressive. It's impressive. So, you know, anyway, God's got a plan. Yep. I inherited Ashley's tribe, which was a blessing. I mean, we have so many great clients, like, that have been in ShopFix for so many years. You know, y'all, y'all spoke to Nicole and Nick Jones. Yeah. Um, in January, like, um, those two, like, awesome people.

29:10Love them. Yep. Love them. So it's the kind of people you'd have over for Thanksgiving. Like, it's, uh, I love, I love the ShopFix family cuz I'm like, These are my people. And, you know, sometimes you hang around somebody, you're like, I don't know if I'd hang out with you for Thanksgiving. Yeah. But there's a lot of amazing people that are in the auto industry, and I'm just so thankful, and maybe I'm biased, probably am, that most of those amazing people are in ShopFix.

29:37And we get to hang out with these amazing people, even when they're struggling and they don't have belief in themselves that— I love your line about yet. That we can get them to turn around so they'll get to that next spot. Yeah, a lot of times they just need, um, they just need a little extra dose of hope, um, because for whatever reason they just have— they've ran out on their own.

29:57And I think that's why they come to the conference, um, is to, to just continue to hope. And then with that hope, they're able to eventually find that breakthrough they need to gain momentum and, and change and succeed. But, you know, some people it happens, you know, quicker than others. Amanda, we really appreciate you coming on and thank you for doing such a great job with all the clients.

30:18Amazing coach, amazing family. Your dad's awesome too with his radio show and everything. Yeah. It's just amazing what you guys have done. And I'm super happy you brought your little brother. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and thank you so much for the opportunity to be on the, on the podcast, but also the opportunity to be a part of ShopFix. It's amazing. Um, that too is something, you know, when you think about what you wanna accomplish, um, just being able to pour into so many people, I didn't realize that was gonna be an opportunity for me.

30:42Thank you for— you do an amazing job. We are super proud to have you on the team. The hope. Ah, so true, man. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Uh, just pouring on that hope for clients and just giving them hope. And hey, you can do this. You can do this. So impressive, everything she's done. Yeah, everything she kept talking about. I mean, dirt bike rider.

31:10Yeah, amazing dirt bike rider. Yeah. And she was into medical, so her— the way her brain would think about things and how it processed information was very different, very unique, very educated, very smart. You know, Aaron would talk a lot about having more females in the industry and how we need more female owners in this industry because they bring such a unique piece that's really important.

31:32Yeah, it's in a very male-dominated industry. So really appreciate what she does and how she brings that to her coaching and brings that to her tribe, as we call it. Sure. Um, but yeah, it's very impressive. Yeah, she is so inspiring. I mean, the things that she has accomplished, both with, with her dad and the whole business and coaching, and, and I mean, her son is crazy good on motocross, and they are like all over the place, all over the country.

32:02She's like, yeah, he'd place second or first or whatever, and Um, it's really cool to see her as a mom, as a leader in the business, as a coach. She is just, she's inspiring and she inspires so many people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the other thing that I loved about it and in that episode is she is, um, so driven to do, like she sets up in her teams how we communicate, what's the structure.

32:30She talks about doing the operating system. Sure. And Gino Wickman and the Traction and all that. Yep. But that she implements all these things and puts them in place and lets them run and gets that game plan going. And I think a lot of times in business it's hard because you start doing the things, but you forget about the structure that keeps you disciplined to stay on track.

32:48Yes. You know, I do it too. I will get all the metrics set up, I'll get all the numbers I like running, and I'll take care of it. And then you'll come in one day and you're kind of just looking through stuff and you realize, I'm not staying on track because I have no system. Yeah, I don't have— I don't have these things in place that I'm doing and going, okay, I've got to this.

33:04You gotta be disciplined and do this day in, day out. It's not just about doing it and kind of half doing it. You put it in place and you run the play. And you empower the people below you. You empower your other leaders in your organization. She was really good at that. Yeah. Really good at that. And, uh, it's my favorite day.

33:21And, uh, it was yesterday with the class in. Now there's only 34 in this class. And, you know, I just talk about, you deserve this. This is your opportunity. Most people fail because they don't dream big enough. Yeah. They don't have a vivid vision. They don't reverse engineer. They don't write down their goals. And I said, you gotta bring in your family, your wife, your husband, whoever it is.

33:40You gotta tell your kids, you gotta yell it from the rooftops and you gotta want more. But the biggest thing, mom or dad or your uncle or your grandpa told you weren't worth anything. Use that as a chip on your shoulder. But you, I'm here to tell you, it takes 100 interviews to get one of you here. It's time. To recognize we're gonna break that generational curse.

33:59You are allowed to be a millionaire. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah. And it's a belief. Yeah, it is. So for everybody else that's out there, 900 employees, what's your total top line right now? Ish. Uh, we will do north of $300 million. I'm shooting for $325 is our budget. But, um, but $300 north of that. But here's what I'm more proud of. Revenue is amazing.

34:20I used to puff my chest out 10 years ago. Go talk to everybody about revenue. And we all know those people. We walk in a room like, what are you doing? And no one— now me and my friends, we're on group chats. We only talk about EBITDA. We're at 26% of the bottom line. 26. Awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. I can tell you, Aaron, a lot of people are like, if I had $10 million, I'd be good forever.

34:41They get the $10 million. They're like, well, I, you know, the goalpost, like, this could be 30. I'd change it. Yeah. It's my, for me, it's, it's my wife. She brings me down, doesn't let me get too far. At the same time, she keeps pushing me. She'll, if she thinks I'm taking a risk, she's like, hold on a second. And she'll, she'll navigate it with me and I have to walk her through my thinking.

35:02This is why I wanna spend money on this. This is why I wanna hire this guy. This is why I wanna buy this building. This is why I wanna make this move. And then she'll go, okay, all right, I see it. But if you don't have somebody not just validating you and saying good job, but also just saying, hey, you're on solid footing.

35:17Yeah. What you're doing makes sense. What you're doing is making a difference. I think then you're able to go those long distances through the desert without having anybody encourage you. You're able to do huge things and not have to have, as long as I have my wife backing me, honestly, everybody else can say whatever they want. But the moment it's weird with her, man, I feel it at work.

35:38I feel it everywhere. I mean, it's Tommy Mello is a force. Yes, he is. You gotta know. So yeah, he is. You get it through the podcast, but when that guy walks in a room, oh yeah, he is on. Yep. And he is, but he's so sincere and he's so like what you saw in that, he is that way off camera, off audio.

35:58He is sincere about it and he is a force. Yep. It's insane to think about how much he scaled the A1 Garage Doors and yeah, he just doesn't accept anything remotely close to mediocrity. Just, I mean, just expels it from his life just immediately. And going back to that vivid vision, like there's no room in his vision for any type of mediocrity.

36:27Yeah. Just kills it. Yeah. There's, there's 3 things in, maybe 2 or 3 or 4 or 5, but, um, things in that video that I, I always remember is when he's talking about breaking the curse, the generational curse that you can be a millionaire. Yeah. Cause I remember vividly talking about that with Aaron when we were younger and he talked about, I want to be a, I want to have a million dollars.

36:52I want to be a millionaire. And that was a thing that he set in his head, but he had to break a lot of stuff off in order to think, am I worth that? You know, cause we, we talk a lot about in these episodes, uh, value and worth. And we mix that up between our value of what we bring in our job and our worth as a human, and we mix them all up and we start to, you know, figure out, well, what, what am I worth?

37:20What is my value? You know, and he had to break off a lot in order to go, I can do this. When he went through all the hard times and he went through being taken down to his knees, and what that basically said is, you're not You're not valuable enough to get out of this. And a lot of owners feel that they put the, I got myself here.

37:43Absolutely. I'm not worth getting out of this thing. Yeah. And that's when he got angry and he went out and started attacking it. And so that breaking it off, when he said it, you felt it in the room when he said, we need to break off that generational curse of people not feeling like they should be millionaires. Amen.. And it was like, yeah, absolutely.

38:05That point in, as a business owner, when you get angry, like Aaron went through this, when you get angry, the world starts shifting. Like you start, I'm not putting up with that. I'm putting up with this. And you just start choosing hard every single time because there's nothing but hard all, all around you. In that moment, you're like, well, I'm going to choose this hard and double down.

38:36And yeah, I'm pissed off. I'm angry at the world right now. I'm gonna do something about it. Yeah. Yeah. The other thing in that one that really got me is how much he cares about his people and how he talks about pulling in your family and what are your goals. And he would sit down with guys and he'd ask them, what are your goals?

38:54Your goals aren't big enough. Yeah. He would tell them that. You can imagine the owner coming out, hey, what do you want to do? You want to do the interview process? It needs to be bigger, my friend. Yeah. And he would do that and he would call people out for it. And I think Tommy, man, I love that guy, the way that he would just dream bigger for other people.

39:12And he's like, your dreams aren't big enough for the amount of people that are in there. And that's what, when we're talking about owners, you need to dream big so that people around you can have big dreams. Absolutely. And so that part to me was great. And the last part where Aaron's talking about Lydia, his wife, yes, supporting him. Lydia is unbelievable.

39:34She is an amazing woman that a lot of people don't see. Yeah. And the amount of strength and courage and bravery she has is just unreal. And you feel it because, you know, in order for him to do what he had to do, Amen. He had to have her. Amen. And so she was so a part of everything, even if he maybe didn't ever see her.

39:57She's so a part of everything. Yeah. And she's so a part of everything now. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It was cool to see just in the last, you know, month walking through everything. She would say over and over again, well, his dreams are my dreams. It is our dreams together. Like, no, no, no. This is our dream. Like we are, yes, I'm in it with you.

40:20Yeah. I don't, I don't necessarily need to dream on my own. Your dreams are my dream. It was just, it was really awesome to see them. I mean, what a team over the last 20-something years. What a team. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. Everything they did, they did, they did it together. And he always processed stuff with her because she's such a strong person that It was a good balance.

40:43It was a great way for them to process. And she's just, she knows everything about the business because she was a part of it. She'll tell you, I don't agree with that. That's dumb. Or I don't agree with that. That's stupid. There's no way, you know, that person doesn't need to be in there. That's a wrong call. That's the wrong call. Yeah.

41:00Uh, just really cool. And they would bounce off each other. Yeah. Having that team is so important. Well, I think. Is owners, you know, having that partner that really helps you out and sees the difference of— you're going to go through hard stuff, and having a partner, um, that you're back to back with, communicating with, yeah, yeah, is a, is a big deal.

41:24Yeah. And it really, I think for a marriage too, in a partnership, it really brings a lot of fulfillment in it, um, when you know that you've got a team member Yeah. Backing you, then you're backing them and you're both fighting. Yeah. Aaron always, always brought it up like, like, show me your closest friends, show me your team, and I'll show you your future.

41:46That's just, man, you know, what a, what a powerful team that they were. And that, that was the future. Mm-hmm. Yeah. The people you surround yourself with. Navigates you to where you're gonna be. And the way they pour into you and the way they take from you— yes— makes all the difference. Yep. And even the little things about just like when you're successful, when you're being able to do things, to be able to challenge and encourage other people and just say, man, champion you.

42:20Because I mean, let's be real, we're not really good all the time at encouraging people and saying, hey, you're awesome, man, and brother, I love you and I care for you and there for you. And there's a lot of a lot of people in the world that don't have that. Sure. There's a lot of people in the world who walk around and they don't realize what it's really like to have a close friend, a close brother, a close sister to walk with you and to say, hey, this is really important.

42:45And so the people you surround yourself with that do that or don't do that, yeah, they change your trajectory. So true. Because they feed into your life. Yeah, yeah. And that's why when we talk about community, we talk about getting in a tribe at ShopFix and coaching company. And sharing your numbers and talking about the hard stuff. You do not have to do it alone.

43:06Yes. And that's one of the, the things I love the most about the community at ShopFix is it is the most encouraging group of people I have ever met. I'm talking about not just a few, hundreds, thousands of them, all encouraging, all wanting to push you forward in everything. Yeah. You know, the one thing I've heard since Aaron's passing is how much he encouraged people.

43:35Yes. How much he poured into people. Yes. You're awesome. Love that you did that. You're amazing. You're great. You did so well. It's such an encouragement and just a way for us to remember that we don't waste those words. Yes. And that we say it. And we mean it. And we, we tell the people around us what we think because we don't see what's going on on the inside and they need to hear it.

44:04And he did that so well and he did that so often. Yeah. Yeah. That, um, is really inspirational. He saw people where they were going to go in 10 years. He saw right through them and he saw that little boy, that little girl But then he saw the giant leader that they were meant to be, that they were called to be. And he just put fuel on that fire.

44:33It was so cool. I absolutely, that's, that's one of my favorite lessons that he did over and over again. It's that encouragement. And so I learned early on, I think you get your standards, not your goals. So I just changed the standard just a little, not a lot, just a little bit. And that started to shift my self-confidence over time. And then what I really do believe, the Bible says where there's no vision, the people will perish.

44:59It's probably one of the most overquoted scriptures, if there's such a thing. Yeah. And I think it's sort of misunderstood. I don't think it's that people have no vision. I think they have a depth perception problem. Okay. Meaning if you ask the average person, what do you want, happy or sad? They'll usually say happy. Sure. Rich or poor? Probably rich. Life full of a lot of memories or same day over and over?

45:20I'd like some memories. Their depth perception issue is they think it's further away than it is. And because they've been programmed to think it's so far away, they've created thoughts and patterns and habits, rituals that perpetually keep it that far away. And what if that's the adversary trying to convince you it's so far away? And God's saying, no, no, no, it's one decision away.

45:41It's one new relationship away. Like at this event, someone here at this event made a decision that'll change their life, but someone else didn't do that. They made a connection. They made one connection that changed their life. Someone didn't do that. Someone else here picked up one strategy that changed your life. You're usually one away. And if you begin to live your life in anticipation of those ones, yeah, the reticular activating system in your mind starts to see what it believes to be most true.

46:06But if you live in anticipation, they don't exist. You're oblivious to them when they present themselves. And that's why people can go through life with their blinders on and other people look like winning is easier for them. It's not easier. They're open to seeing these one mores. And in my own life, I can tell you, by the way, I think you're also one poor decision away from changing your life.

46:24I've made some really bad ones that changed my life too. And I have some friends that have, so, so I think this one away is a significant thing and I firmly believe it. Like I'm not that smart or talented, but I have done a lot of one mores in my life. I'm curious. So Ed Mylett has so much in this. I have to stop it in the middle because That whole thing about the vision is like they've programmed themselves to see it so much further out.

46:48Yes. That was— I just, I love that part because his whole thing was just one more, one, just one more rep, one more thing, one more change, one small deal. And changing the way you think about what you can achieve, and that is just one more connection, it's one more thing. And be looking at, like we said, the— those who have eyes, have eyes to seek and see opportunity., and he's programming to look for it.

47:13Yes. It's so powerful. It's so powerful to, to even think about like the depth perception is, is, is what he used in there. And a lot of people don't think that their dreams are actually ever going to be a reality. They'll say it and they'll say it publicly, but they actually don't believe it. And The moment you start adding up those one thing right after another and start stacking, good right decisions attract other good right decisions.

47:47Poor decisions attract poor decisions. The law of attraction, it keeps, keeps going in perpetuity. And he is so right. Just one more right decision.. And a lot of people even listening to this call right now, or this podcast, you're one right decision away from getting on a trajectory of putting you closer to your dream and decisions over and over and over again that happen.

48:20Mm-hmm. Yeah. I love that. And I love that it's, you know, when we think about the vision of what you want to do and those goals, a lot of times you build up in your head how hard they're going to get beat again. And he's just like, it's just one more connection. Yeah. So one more decision. It's just one more little thing and it's attainable.

48:36Absolutely. I, I know you, uh, maybe I said it a different way, but I know you've felt this before and you just said you're thinking about this rest thing. What do you think your strategy's going to be to try to figure it out? Because you're way down the road further than us. You know that that's maybe what, that might be the single best question I've been asked in like 5 years.

48:52Mm-hmm. And it's, I can, I have an answer and I've done it and I gotta tell, I'd love to hear it. This is good for you cuz you're about to approach this. I want to hear this. I will be the only person who will say this probably. Ever on a podcast, but I, um, got to the point where my notoriety had gotten, you know, significantly greater than I thought it was going to.

49:11And I had a TV show coming out with NBC. My, you know, I had some stuff happening and, um, I had to make the hardest decisions of my life. What is this costing me at this stage of my life versus what's the reward for it? And I can't, I'm so proud of myself. I consciously decided to pull the plug. And I have not posted on social media in 2 years, although I'm coming back.

49:32I'm going to do more, but I couldn't. I had to be all in or all out. In my case, I decided not to do my TV show. There's something else I'm pulling the plug on right now, and all of my peers think I'm crazy. Fame and notoriety and more is intoxicating. And this is a lesson for very few people listening, but it is for you.

49:51Every ladder you climb and every rung in the ladder you climb, I'm convinced there is a trade-off for that climb. I'm convinced of it. Wow. Right. And I eventually got to the point, and I'm amazed knowing me that I went, I don't think this trade for the next rung is worth what I'm going to give up for it anymore. And so I stopped feeling obligated to keep climbing.

50:18It's intoxicating. It's addicting. It's who I am. Is there a way that I can create the same impact without having to climb more and climb more. There's this great clip on social media of Jim Carrey, and it hit me the day that I was praying about it. Like, and he basically says this, I'll summarize. He basically says, I'm gonna say something to you no actor's ever said before.

50:37And here's what he said. This is so contradictory to personal development, so I have to be careful, but I'm gonna say this to you. He said, I've had enough. I don't need to make another movie. I don't need another award. I don't need more money. What I need is a little bit more peace. I need a little bit more growth. I need a little bit more solitude.

50:58And I went, that's me right now. That doesn't mean that this isn't just a season of rest, but I'm on this group text. I'm giving you a long answer. I'm on this group text. I love it. By the way, I mean, I, I was gonna be honest with you. That's one of the best questions I've ever been asked, and it's one of the realest answers.

51:13And it may not be the season everyone listening to is at yet, but it's fair warning. And it may, it may be a season where you go, you know what? I, I've, I've gotta decide what this rung is worth. Yeah. By, and I'm, by the way, I'm super glad I climbed the rungs I climbed, but now I'm at a stage where I wonder what, and what's the climb look like for me?

51:31Wow. I picked that because I know Aaron talked a lot about that and the, the cost for the stages of climbing. And he loved the impact and Aaron. Was super driven and, um, he loved it. He loved seeing the impact in people's lives. That's what drove him. It wasn't the money, it wasn't any of the— this other stuff. He loved successful business.

51:56He's a great businessman, so he, he liked that part. Yeah. But more importantly, he likes seeing the impact. But there's also a trade-off that as you grow, if you're not careful and balanced and thinking about each rung, each climb, Yes. It starts to pull away from you other things. And he was watching that a lot. Oh yeah. It's very calculated. Very calculated.

52:19Like he took meticulous journals mapping out his steps and going, is this cost worth it or not? What am I giving up? What am I gaining? Constantly. Uh, man. Yeah. It's, it's also, I think is Um, as success happens, it can also pull you to focus on self more if you're not careful. And Aaron always, always carried a balance of— he loved his family.

52:51Yeah, absolutely loved his family. Yeah. One of the things I know about Aaron is that when he left us, there wasn't anything else he could have said that he would have regretted or that they didn't know. Yeah. And that tells you he was balanced in his family. That tells you that he spent the time, he invested. Yeah. It's important to invest in the family and the people around you.

53:11Yeah. We're not promised tomorrow. And so as he grew, as he was changing, as people were, he saw that, he saw the, the, the impact of it. He always thought about what is it gonna cost? So what is it gonna take away? That is also important. That also needs to be thought about. And that's why he asked that question the way he did.

53:31And Ed Mylett, this guy, his podcast is ridiculous. Like he has on there some of the most amazing people. He's had thousands of episodes. And for him to go, that is the single best question I've been asked in the last 5 years. Yeah. Like it's pretty phenomenal. That part to me really struck me because you knew that that guy was sitting there going, thinking about that same problem., and he was trying to make sense of it, but Aaron was at the start of that problem.

53:57Yeah. And he was really trying to think, how did you go? Where, what did you do? Because I need to be thinking about that and going that way. And he always sought out people who were smarter than him. He always sought out people who were ahead of him. Yeah. And that to me was so impactful to hear him get the answer from Ed and go, that's gold right there.

54:20So true. There's people. It's interesting to watch people as they're, as they're climbing those rungs, right? They are, they are sacrificing their time over and over and over again. But the higher you climb, the more you're wanting to get back your time and get back those relationships and pour back into the people you care about and you love people. It's just, it's interesting, the phases of that ladder and the relevance of that comment.

54:51Yeah, it's huge. It's so funny, um, something about Aaron, because of that time he had limited time, he always, like, he always was doing something even when we were just, you know, hanging out or whatever. He was always involved. But one of the things he would do, as you get busier with the things and the impact you're having in your life, he would set up things that would save him time.

55:15And I'll give you an example, like with a dirt bike, okay, with a motorcycle, with something where he was going to transition and go spend some time doing it. He would have that thing completely set up with the riding gear, the right everything, the, the gloves, the boots, the whatever. He would have it set up so that when he was going to transition his time, yeah, it was ready to go.

55:38He didn't have to spend a lot of time transitioning and going into that thing. He can just go do it. Go enjoy it, and then transition out. Sure. And so there's an efficiency as you think about the things you do in your life that, you know, as you're trying to invest, you, you, we say get out of the $2 problems and the whatever they are.

55:56Oh yeah. You know, uh, stop going to Costco, send somebody else, you know, make the big decisions in your business. But he would set up these things that would make him more efficient, more effective, and the other things that he, he wanted to do And so there's things that you got to think about as you're transitioning, as you're moving up. How do I set up my desk so that when I come in, I can get right to it?

56:16Yeah, I don't have to spend 20 minutes figuring out where are my notes, what am I going to do today, what's happening, I got a meeting coming up I'm not prepared for. And he would do that so that way he could be as effective as he possibly could be in the moment, whether it was a family, his personal time, getting peace with other people, he'd be prepared.

56:35Intentionality. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Was it, it's not one more day, it's one less day. Yeah, that's right. Make the most of the days. Well, this is, um, didn't cry as much, held it back. We held it together. Um, Aaron loved you guys. Yep. He thought the world of you and he wanted the best for you. Amen. And, um, if he was here, he would tell you you're awesome.

57:01And you're amazing and you can do this. And he would challenge you to dig deep and do the hard stuff and to press in to the places that you're not comfortable and to be okay with discomfort. And he would challenge you because he knows you're worth it and he knows that you're capable and he knows that there's a side of you you've not yet tapped into.

57:25So we would just encourage you— Berg and I would encourage you to just tap into it. And today, take a moment after this and sit down and write down what is it the thing that you want to do next. Dope. What is the one thing? And open your eyes and start looking for it because it'll come around if you're looking for it and you open your eyes.

57:43Start asking questions. Start being curious. Curiosity is one of the number one character traits of great leaders. Be curious. Don't always have the answer. Ask the questions. Be good at asking good questions. So hopefully you leave this with lots of encouragement, a plan, some strategy, some encouragement. I'll say it again. Um, but we love you guys. Thank you for listening. Thanks for watching.

58:11Thanks, guys.