EP22: How His Broken Down Cavalier Lead To His Success. With Guest Shop Owner Nate Winston

0:00Hey, good afternoon everybody. Greg here, and, uh, from Shop Soup Podcast, uh, welcome to another episode. And I'm really fortunate to have good friend and colleague, up-and-coming rising star on the podcast circuits, Mr. Nate Winson from Cuyahoga Falls in Ohio. What, Nate, welcome to Shop Soup, buddy. Great. Hey, thanks for having me here. Good, man. So what's happening up in Cuyahoga? Uh, quite a bit, you know, I'm staying busy.

0:26Opened up a shop about 2 years ago. Um, doing, doing pretty well, you know. That's good. That's good. And you're still, still the solo guy. You're, you're the chief cook and bottle washer and all that, right? That's right. Front to back of the house. You got it. Yeah. You had a little bit of episode with Sour Partnership. How did that like work out?

0:47Where did you start with all that? It was extremely difficult. Um, you know, we, you know that we've had a partnership for about 15 years at my other shop location right down the street from here, about a mile in the same city here. And towards the end of it where I had to get rid of the partner and I kind of had to walk out, it ended up extremely ugly, bad.

1:08Nothing went according to plan that I had set up. And it was like a pretty bad, ugly business divorce almost. Well, it is and it still is. Are you getting things cleared up or have you crossed that line with, with that relationship? Yeah, we don't talk anymore. We used to text. We, I thought we were friends, um, for a very long time, for 20 years.

1:32Mm-hmm. Uh, but once that happened, we stopped texting. We were texting every day, talking every day. We were at the shop together 60 hours a week. But once I got rid of the partnership and tried to split up, it, everything came to a, a stop, a halt, friendship, everything was ended. Really? Because I had to. End it on good terms. Yeah. Uh, it can, trust me, it can happen and, uh, it does happen.

1:55You know, fortunately you, came out, I guess, smelling like a rose with everything, didn't you? If you want one. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I left, I left him in the tumbleweeds in the parking lot with them, you know? There you go. Yeah. That's where you put it. That's right. I had to get out of there. I couldn't deal with it. I was going to die.

2:13I was struggling. You know, I do recall in your early, in your early presence on social and getting to know you, I remember reading and kind of like reading between the lines about your struggles with, with that partnership and how it was going. You seem to have been Um, the guy who was doing everything with no support from your other business half, you know, and that's really not the way that businesses should be ran.

2:38I mean, not only that, that's not the purpose of business is to go to work every day unhappy. You, you, and you were, you were dealing with it, man. I was unhappy every single day. Yeah. At the end of the day, I'd bring that home right to my wife and kids, and that hurt us too. And that wasn't good. It's, it's unfair where we're both taking home the same amount of pay each week salary-wise, and I'm doing 90% of the work and he does 10% of the work.

3:05And I, I just couldn't deal with it anymore. Yeah. That was more of a, um, were you expecting more than just, it seemed like he took it as, well, it's just an investment for me. Yes. Uh, that partnership and, and then he's laying it, he's laying the burden of that investment on you alone. Yep. Because he would always say that it's his retirement plan.

3:26He'll retire. Oh, you, you were his retirement plan. That was pretty nice of him, wasn't it? Yes. 401 is not selling the business, but Nate, I'm his retirement plan. Wow. Wow. Have you ever heard that? That's crazy, man. I mean, to lay that on you and to abandon you in that sense. Well, let's put it this way, you're done. Right. You're flying well, flying high with yourself there, right there.

3:52Now you specialize in what? Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, those 4 makes models? A lot of Japanese imports. Um, I do specialize in, I do service a lot of American cars as well. Mm-hmm. Just from the other customers that came over here from the other shop. I didn't want to just abandon them. I'm pretty good with American cars too, but Japanese cars is what I really love.

4:14To drive, what I love to service, and what I truly know really well. How'd you get your start? I mean, where, where, where did that all begin? Where did your professional career begin in, in, uh, repair? Honestly, Greg, um, I, I'm self-taught. Okay. That's funny. It was, uh, back in the year 2006, 2007, sometime around that ballpark time. I had a 1995 Chevy Cavalier.

4:40I was broke down on the side of the road at 1 o'clock in the morning. Uh, the alternator went bad and I called AAA. It took them 3 hours to get to me on the side of the highway. I was out with some friends, headed back to my apartment. And so once they towed it to my apartment, the very next day I was able to figure out what was going on with my car to where I, I understood that the alternator was bad.

5:05And so I told my dad this and he told me, no, you're not fixing that. Take it to a shop, take it to a professional, someone who knows what they're doing. Nate, you've never worked on a car in your life. And I neglected to listen to him. I was arrogant and naive and I told him, no, I'm gonna do it. So I still have these tools too.

5:25They're special to me. They're sentimental. I went down to Walmart, bought some tools., and I went to Advance Auto Parts down the street and bought an alternator. I put it on, it sat right on top. It looked pretty easy to do. Mm-hmm. Yep. Done. And it, it fired right up, jumped it. I was with my girlfriend's car at the time and I was so happy.

5:45Fixed something that was broken and that sparked something in me. And 20 years later, here you are. Here we are. How about that? Do you have that Cavalier or a model of that Cavalier sitting on a shelf somewhere going, that's my inspiration. That's the reason why I'm here today. I don't. I sold it and I got pictures of it though, but yeah, that's good, man.

6:04That's good. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know what? It's a lot of, a lot of us start that way. You know, we, uh, we get into a garage or we get into a situation and, you know, we need to fix it. Uh, or we're just that curious on how all of this stuff works together. And before you know it, we're, we're doing it for ourselves and then it's a profession.

6:26And then before you know it, we're doing it for others. Professionally, how do you pursue— I see you at all kinds of training events, so I know you train both from the business side and the technical side. So has that been a challenge for you being a one-person shop? I mean, you still have— it's just you, right? It is. Yeah. It's just me.

6:45So like right now, technical side of things, I do some training online through like ScannerGanner premium sessions or listen to different podcasts, videos, YouTubes, things like that that are actually teaching. Business side of things, ownership side of things, leadership. That's where I go to these training events like Elite, Ignite. Go to those events. I network with other shop owners to help me learn how to think like a shop owner and think like a business owner networking.

7:14And so I'm trying to balance them out that way, you know? I hope that makes sense a little bit. No, it does make sense. No, you have to, but you can only choose so much and you know, when you decide to chew too much, then you can, you just can't stomach it. You know, you get regurgitation. Yeah. Yeah. That's, it's a, it's a balance that you have to, and you're doing it pretty darn good, man.

7:36I mean, like I was really, really happy to see you at Ignite. And for those of us, Ignite is the annual conference held by Elite. And I, I, I'm a member of Elite. Nate, you subscribe to Elite? I do. Yes. Okay. All right. So two guys who are really elite right here, aren't we? Yeah. Hey, there you go. That's great. We try, we try to be, let's put it that way.

7:59I got a long way to go. Trust me, even as many years I got into it, I'm still, I can still be as stupid as anybody else and do some stupid stuff. Yeah, absolutely. That's just life. But you know, your advancement, and I think it's a benefit to you or actually kudos to you because with the amount of time that you have You keep yourself simple in the makes and models that you work on.

8:22So you do specialize, which really, you know, cuts down a lot of the, out of the other stuff. Like, you know, you're not worried about learning about a Mercedes or anything like that. If it comes your way, fine. If not, you know, hey, look, I got my, my four horses that I work with and I'm gonna run with them. You know, that's, that's gonna be my forte, my bread and butter, you know, and, and I can succeed with that.

8:42But yeah, I got to tell you, man, I like the Monopoly pieces behind you. What— read them out, man. What do you got going on with those? Yeah. So these are great pieces I like to look at every single day when I'm in my office. I got them online through a website called konig.com, I believe. And then— yeah, K-O-N-I-G or N-I-C-H, something of that nature.

9:05They have a ton of wall art, wall pieces. These are canvases. You know, I'm in business for the rest of my life. You know, and I, I always like to set my goals financially, personally, for the business. Life is all about chances, right? So you want to take that chance or you may lose that opportunity. I've had plenty of those. I just like to look at 'em, you know?

9:25I really do. It helps me be inspired. I think they're great. I mean, who doesn't know Monopoly? You know, you got rolling dice, baby. Oh, I'd kick myself for playing Monopoly when I was a kid. I'd take out all the boardwalks and Park Place and— Absolutely, man. I mean, there were all a lot of, uh, East Coast cities, so I'm familiar with, uh, Park Place.

9:42At Atlantic Avenue, because that was all like Atlantic City. Then you had the railroads, and I always tried to capture railroads, and I wanted to get Park Place, Atlantic City, and I want Millionaire Row, because I could charge them highest rent. So, yeah. It was like being a, you know, an ESO, an evil shop operator. You were an evil shop landlord. That's right.

10:06That is right. You know, the red, that was it. The reds were the apartments and the greens are the houses, I think, right? Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And then, uh, if you get in jail, you go pass go and all that good stuff. It's a great game. I mean, I, I think that most business, if you had a business sense about it, you were playing that game.

10:25Yes. Because you just really, it, it really taught you, you know, what to do if you get, as you start to gain assets and stuff. And then again, how you can lose it as well with the roll of the dice. So there's chances. I love that, you know, That's a great, that's a great thing. I'm probably gonna steal that. Please. Yeah. Yeah.

10:42Koenig, Koenig. I'm gonna look that up if I can put that in the show notes later on. But that's pretty good. But overall, how many years you've been in now? We are about 20 years now. All together. 20 years. How about that? Industry? Yeah. Yeah, that's great. And did you ever work for a dealer or any other shop or anything like that?

11:04No, I have never really pushed up. Good for you. Cool. Independence, no chains, nothing. Really? All by yourself, man. I, that's, I never knew that. That's really super impressive, man. Yeah. My, uh, my partner and I, we, my ex-partner and I, we opened up the shop in July of 2008 where we didn't know anything about business. We did not know anything about vehicles or cars or customer service.

11:28And we did not know that we were in the middle of a recession through the government in July of 2008. We just, he sees me tinkering with the cars. I wanted to get rich as I was only 21 years old. I'm broke and struggling and trying to make money and, hey, let's find a building. Let's open up and see what happens. And so we did.

11:49That was a struggle. Oh yeah. It always is starting off. Absolutely. But nothing and knowing nobody. That's, that's it, man. You're flying, really flying by the seat of your pants and you got your fingers crossed, legs crossed, and everything else is crossed hoping that you make it through the day. Absolutely. I know what you mean on that one, man. I can talk all day about it.

12:12Some days even still it's like that, you know? Oh, sure. Okay, what are we looking for this month? And, uh, where are we going? How are we getting there? Yep. No doubt about it. You know, that's, that's funny, but it's, it's true. That's life. So, you know, how's the family and kids, man? What's, uh, what's happening? Well, Greg, I'm really blessed, man.

12:30Yeah. I mean, I love them very much. The family's great. My wife is great. Uh, married for about 13 years now. We have 4 kids, 2 boys, 2 girls. They're all in school. They're great. They're growing. They're talking. Their attitudes are growing too with it. They're, they're great kids. Yeah. That's good, man. And you get, and you're finding the time to, I mean, you're, they seem to be at ages where, you know, you maybe the ball games, the dances, the recitals and all that stuff are coming your way and you're going to have to deal with that.

12:59You, you, you balancing that out pretty well with everything. We're getting there. Mo has been signing them up for karate and baseball and T-ball, gymnastics and swim lessons this upcoming summer as well. Putting them on the calendars and getting us lined up for it. And luckily they're all in the evenings to where I leave here like right at 5 to where we get to the, um, get the shows and games and stuff.

13:21But yeah, they're doing, we're, we're managing well. Good. That's good. And you're letting your clients know that your priorities are with the family, right? They are. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. She just told me, uh, there's a Friday in April for my son. He's 5 and a half. He's in kindergarten. There's a day where it's like donuts with dad or something like that. So I'm going to take the whole day off on a Friday.

13:43I just spend it with him and my wife and, you know, so. That's awesome. That's the way it should be. That's what you're, that's what business is for, especially in your situation where, hey, look, man, you can lock, lock the door anytime you want, as long as your clients are aware of what you're doing. Absolutely. You know, no, tell them, don't schedule on a day and get it done, you know.

14:04You got 4 kids though, that's gotta be a challenge, or it's gonna be a challenge. It is. Yeah. What's her age range? Uh, my oldest, she, it's, uh, 11, 9, 5, and 3. Okay. All right. A little gap there between, uh, 2 and 3, right? Yeah. Yeah. The 2 youngest are best friends. The 2 oldest are, well, we're trying to make them best friends, but they're rivals, you know?

14:30You know what'll happen? At some point there will be a, a coming together. There were friends. Will be mutual between a lot. Now the other two will have the same thing, but their group will be a lot younger. You know, the older ones closer to the teenagers, they'll start to develop their own friends. And before you know it, there's commonality amongst them and it goes from there.

14:51So I wouldn't worry too long. They might be like strangers now, but they'll be a little closer when you, when they hit those older marks. Yeah. Just a matter of you find, you and your wife finding time. What's your name again? I'm sorry. No. Yeah. Her name is Sarah. Sarah. Okay. Well, and you and Sarah will start to enjoy a little bit more time as they get older, but you're in the, you're in the thick of it, man.

15:11You're in the thick of the kids and all that and balancing stuff out. So yeah, that's what I'm— better get ready. I'm, we're trying, we're trying. We, we got our feet in the teens right now, you know? Yeah. You'll make it though. You, you're determined. If you can do what you did over the past 20 years, and it sounds like you got the, you know, the gumption to do it, you'll, you won't have a problem.

15:33Ain't no problem. And then you got all the support of the industry behind you anyway, in terms of the business side. I do. You know, I do. Families and friends that can help you on the personal side. So that's— Yeah, we got a lot. Yeah. That's good, man. That's good. So, so you had this story that you posted about your car that was stolen.

15:54This is your personal car, right? It is. Yes. It was my personal— Okay., and then you were getting paid back like $6.78 per month or something. Was it from the county, the state, city, or where was it? What, what was this all about? Yeah, that was from the county. So, so the deal is it was 2013 GMC Terrain. It's my personal car.

16:17I got it stored down here a half a mile at another repair shop where they do all of my alignments, right? So I'll take the customer's car down there, drop it off, they do the alignment, and then I get into my personal car to bring my butt back to work as they're doing the alignment. So I just keep it down there for days on end.

16:36Well, one day some guy decided to just go ahead and steal the car. So one little thing is about that story is I always leave my keys in the car. I just trust people to not steal a vehicle. But apparently people do, and I'm wrong. I don't have the guts to steal someone's car, but other people do. But this guy, he, he, he's a big, big burly guy, and we saw him on video camera.

17:04He stole the car, drove it around. The cops found it the very next day, towed it to the impound yard, and they were doing DNA, hair samples. He left his work stuff in there, and it was an easy catch. So they caught the guy and he went to jail or sentenced or prison or something of that nature. And they found him guilty.

17:25He admitted to it. And so we had a few phone call conversations. I had had to show what the value of the car was, which is around $5,000 because it was a nice car, clean, and it was 100,000 miles on it. And so he's supposed to pay the court systems back. Well, I guess he is slowly.. And now the court systems here in Summit County is sending me checks.

17:47Like I'm getting them about once a month. And I, when I got my first one, I thought, great, they're going to repay me my $5,000. Yes, honey, we're taking this to the bank. I open it up. It was a lousy $6 freaking dollars. I saw that. Six bucks! What am I— I can't even buy a gallon of gas with this thing. No.

18:07So they're sending me a few other checks here and there. I'm making Copies of all these checks too, so I can collect 'em all and see and add 'em all up in 21 years. Um, it's ridiculous. So that's where we're at. Well, I take it you had, did you have just liability insurance on the, on the vehicle? Just liability, 'cause it's just me driving it, you know?

18:30Yeah, I got it. I got it. And you know, it was, it was a personal insured vehicle and not nothing through the company, right? No, just me personally, right through my neck. Yep. That's all. That's, that's why I would understand because if, even if you had full coverage, like I don't think an insurance company would've said, oh, here you go, Nate, because the key's in the car.

18:53Correct. Yes. Yeah. I don't want to lose track of it, you know? So I just leave it in the cup holder, you know? It's a safe— Yeah, I hear you. I mean, I had had that habit. I broke it. A long time ago because of the fact of, you know, hey, anything's possible. Now it's like, well, you can clone the, the key fob and get yourself in anyway.

19:13It's like, really? It's, it's kind of scary out there. But you're lucky. You were lucky that in one, you got your vehicle back, right? Yeah. I had to pay a couple hundred bucks to get it back. Yes. Sure. Out of the impound? Yes. Out of the impound. Yes. Got that out and there was no damage to it. Besides just being full of work clothes or something?

19:32Pretty much, yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's— you got lucky. You really did. And now you're getting, you're getting a whopping $6 a month. That's, it's a loaf of bread, maybe a gallon of milk. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. It's an extra, it's, it's extra, it's an extra scoop of ice cream for one of your kids. That's about it. You know, that's about it.

19:53Right. So you got a treat coming for 21 years. Yeah. So I laugh about it cuz I've given up on the process, you know? So, yeah. Yeah. I, I don't— it's not worth the time. It's really not. No. Now, do you know what happened to the gentleman who, you know, took the car? Who, I mean, did he stay in jail or did you have to go to court?

20:13No, I didn't go to court or anything. It was all over the telephone. I don't know where it's at nowadays. I don't know. Yeah. Oh, well, oh, you, you're, you're out of it and done stuff like that. Yep. Yep. Keep working it, moving on with my life, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. So, so what are the plans for, uh, '26 and beyond for, uh, Winston's?

20:32What do you got, uh, lined up? What do I got lined up? One, continuing to just build the shop up with tools, equipment, paying off some debt, things like that. Keep a clean shop. Um, a lot of people are telling me I need to hire, which I do. I have a lot of work. So I'm kind of adventuring into that avenue of hiring my first guy.

20:52Sometime this year. Um, I don't know when, but, you know, my interviewing process is heavy. I need to do hands-on interviewing several different times. I had a guy in last week looking for a job, getting ready to quit the dealership, and he wanted me to hire him the very next day. And he was upset with my process of thinking of how I would like to do things hiring-wise.

21:14And so he went somewhere else. That's fine. You know, I'm pretty picky when it comes to hiring somebody. 'cause I've been down that road many times at the other shop that I have. Yeah. So have you looked into any of the services that are out there now that can like do that prequalification that, so you pretty much can get like a, a walk-in type tech?

21:36Yeah. I met at the Elite Ignite conference. I met this girl from Promotive. Sam Freeman. There you go. Yes. Yeah. Sam, Sam is great, man. Sam is, she is. She's not only like an industry vet, she's incredibly funny and talented. And, you know, I even had to buy her some In-N-Out Burgers when we were out there. She owes me, she owes me a show.

21:59That's what, Sam, if you're listening, you owe me a show. Absolutely. So, so we started speaking a little bit about Promotive and I know, um, I hear Jeff Compton from the Jada Mechanic talk about Promotive as well. Yes. So, yeah, Jeff talks about, he's a, they're a sponsor. In, in the industry. So I'll, I'll reach out to her as well and talk some more.

22:18Yeah, it might be your easiest path and that way you're not under, like the gentleman that came in to see you, kind of like under the demand, uh, cuz they think you're desperate. You, you know, you can be wanting, but it doesn't mean that you are desperate and you do need, I mean, my habits were the same as a lot. I would, if I had a need and you were breathing and could move your hands and had a toolbox, you were pretty much gonna be in the bay, and that was not the right thing to do.

22:46It got me through, don't get me wrong. You know, I know starting number 2, that's the way that I entered it. I, well, I did interviews and I had to do interviews and stuff like that, but as we progressed and I needed help, it was just a matter of if you're breathing, I, I'm gonna use you. And then sure, as it always ends up, rarely do they work out and you've got problems and comebacks and you know, all the stuff to go with it.

23:09So you're doing, it's a painful situation to be in, but, you know, taking your time and being patient. And now I give that to my son and son-in-law and let them, you know, do it the right process, you know. And my coach with Elite has showed us how to do it the right way, and it works, you know. We have stable crews now, and, you know, that's all part of the— all part of the process, you know.

23:32So don't, don't freak out. And like I said, but you might be— it might be good for you and anyone who might be listening if you were in the same situation as Nate, where you need somebody, but finding the time to do those thorough interviews, a service like Promotive might, might actually work out well for you. So, you know, it's good that you're thinking that route, man.

23:53You know? Yep. I am. So what else, what else you got plans? I mean, you've got a lot going on in terms of just being by yourself. Your shop looks great, man. The pictures look beautiful. Thank you. Yeah. Now do you own or, or do you rent the building? I rent the building. Um, It's one suite. It's, there's a big long building divided up into 6 different suites and businesses.

24:13It's about 5,000 square foot. I got 3 bays, 3 offices, and 3 bathrooms. So I have a ton of room to work with, you know? Yeah, you do. It look, the pictures tell me that you got a, a really decent looking shop and that floor of yours looks tremendous. Yeah, we did that a good couple years ago. Okay. I just, I just want.

24:32A clean repair shop. I don't want a dirty grease monkey kind of repair shop, you know? I've always taken pride in cleanliness, you know? Good. Well, you should. I mean, it, it does help keeping organized. That's the biggest part of an efficient shop. Yep. And plus, yeah, efficiency. Plus when you have a great looking shop that's clean, you should be able to attract the right kind of technicians.

24:59Right. Yeah. You know, he wants dirty and, and whatnot, you know? So trust me, I know that I experienced that at number 2, where we took over a shop that, you know, that is not what you would say. Well, it's clean for what it is, but it's not, not a glamorous looking building. And we had struggled with attracting people because they thought that we didn't keep it up or keep it clean and all that.

25:26And even it looks part of the community. It had to be that way. But. You're right. You know, you need to have that as an attraction for a tech, not just a tech, you know, actually people who are looking at to do business with you. Your website displays a lot of really good stuff. I'm, it's a beautiful site. Very good. Yeah. Thank you.

25:44And my shop truly is like a wow factor of a shop because people park up front, they don't know where the garage is and they're asking if they're at the right place. And then they come in through the lobby, they're liking it and I'm like, And a lot of times people will be like, well, where do you work on the cars at?

26:01And they walk down this hallway and they go through the door and then it's like, wow, this place is incredible. Yeah. And I love that feeling and I love that, that pride, you know? Yeah. Well, you should, you should. It's very great. It's, it's a great looking shop. Very clean. As you say, your colors are great, you know, from a branding standpoint.

26:21Yes. You know, so. That's, that's excellent. So besides, besides family as inspiration, what else, what else gets you moving? I mean, uh, what, uh, what I should say, what gets you moving and what keeps you, keeps you alive outside of the shop? When you lock the door, what does Nate Winston do? When I lock the door, honestly, when I lock the door, I, I drive home.

26:42It's a good 45 minutes home. You know, that's my little unwind time, podcast listening time in the car, things like that. And when I get home, we try to eat dinner as best as we can and we get together as a family for the most part and just roll with the evenings and we're in bed by 9, 9:30 and we do it again tomorrow.

27:01Do it again. All right. Now your time off, what do you do? I mean, there's something that, you know, I know like all of us, we, we live and breathe and work ourselves into a tizzy sometimes, but there's that, there's that, there's that little thing that we do that's maybe just a little personal, like You know, for Nate Winston and Nate Winston only, what is it that just grabs you, man, that you said, you know what, I like tinkering with?

27:26As far as like— Don't tell me you want to rebuild an engine because then I'm going to shut the podcast down. It makes me tired thinking about it. I don't know, Greg. I mean, hobbies-wise, if that's what you're after, I used to go running quite a bit. I used to be an avid runner. I still am. That's a great thing to do from time to time.

27:45Or, you know, I used to work out and do CrossFit. Quite a bit many years ago. I'd like to get back into that as well. You know, just try to spend time with my family and kids and vacation. Of course. Or I try to, you know, read my kids' books or, or tinker with little, my, my son Isaac, he's 9. He likes to build these, uh, cars out of Legos, you know?

28:09Um, and he puts 'em together really well. So I'll do that with him from time to time when, when we can. That's it. That's my life. Okay. Well, that's— hey, you know what, you're at the point where, uh, that is— it's going to consume you. Um, you know, you're dedicating yourself to the family, and that's great. Your time, like I said, your time will— will get there eventually.

28:29Yeah. You know, when the kids are a little bit older and you don't need to be part of their life in, in that dimension, you know, everybody has their moment when they say, okay, well, I think I have a little bit of break in time. So what What, what do I like to do? You know, I just try to ask that and make sure that, you know, get the people to get to know you, you know, not only that, but you know, your clients as well and everybody else in the industry.

28:53That way when you come to an event, you know, we can, we can talk outside the shop, you know what I mean? Like, what do we do? Who's this? What's that? What's that going on? And that's what it's all about. But you're doing, you're doing the right thing, man. I, I, I really give you, you know, many, many, many, many compliments on, on how you're operating.

29:08It's. It's good to see, even though you had your car stolen because someone left the keys in the car, um, it's, it's not your fault. Not at all. No, that's very sarcastic right there. I'm, I'm gonna pin you on it, dude. I'm gonna pin you on it. I can't help it. But it is what it is. I say you got lucky though.

29:29You really got lucky. You know, it does. So what, I mean, in terms of all around the industry and stuff like that, what, Where do you see where we're going? What do you plan for in terms of the future of our industry? What do you feel that you'll be tasked with as you grow your own enterprise and the makes and models that you work on?

29:54Where is Nate Winston and Winston's wanting to move to or thinking about moving to? Truly, we're gonna continue to stay right here in this location. Mm-hmm. We have no plans of moving to a new spot or anything like that. As far as the industry goes, it's not getting any easier. It's going to continue to be hard. It's gonna continue to get harder.

30:18Um, the way I see things with the electronic side of things, um, I was looking at a couple of cars recently and these newer cars are now just a simple, not simple, but simply a computer. Your dashboards and the radio and everything is just all screens. It's a rolling computer nowadays. It's getting to the point where your average DIYer, people at home, they don't, can't work on the cars themselves.

30:42A lot of people who used to are not able to any longer. And so now people are just bringing their newer cars to shops. The electronic sides of things are just getting more complicated with these subscriptions that you have to pay for through your Snap-on dealers. I tried to get into do a diagnostic recently on a '23 or '24 Dodge. And I couldn't because the gateway was blocked and I couldn't access certain modules of this check engine light problem.

31:07It's not getting any easier, so we gotta keep up with the training on the electronic sides of things. Do you feel that, you feel like there is going to be a more of a, a, a determined shift towards certain makes and models? Like, like you are, you've got basically two brands, four models, right? Toyota and Honda. And their sisters Lexus and Acura.

31:29Do you feel that that's where most shops will be going to? You know, kind of like not doing the, the full plate, all makes and models, just focusing on a few. I think that's where shops should be going to. You should select just a couple of brands and specialize in them and know them very well. But there are still shops in the future that will just be all makes, all models because they just want to get it all.

31:53I don't like that. I've been down that road before and it's not good to try to truly learn everything cuz that's nearly impossible. You can't learn everything. If that's the case, Toyota would be making Chevy as well, you know? Yeah. You just can't, you gotta be proficient. And then once you are proficient with those couple of brands, you can do 'em a lot faster.

32:13You can know the problems over the phone and you can really help more people out quicker. That's true. I mean, most shops that do focus on a few are, are the ones that are more profitable. Yeah, they are. You said they are more efficient. They know the routines, they know the makes and models, they know the little intricacies that happen, uh, and they're geared towards it.

32:37So there is that, there is that benefit. Sometimes though, it's hard to say no to a customer who has a Subaru and you tell 'em, well, I can only work on your Chevy. You know, that kind of thing. You lose that customer. I mean, in fact, I was just on, on a call the other day with, uh, Seth Thorson. And you know, Seth is big into EVs and Teslas and stuff like that, but he was telling the story of when he opened up his second shop, he wanted the location very badly, right?

33:06And, and he was determined to get it. So he did. He came around and he got the location. And the first thing he did is he fired all the customers and the employees that did not want to go along with his vision of making it Euro. And he clearly defined his vision and role within 20 minutes of meeting the team. And he sent out emails to all the customers, said, if you do not have a European vehicle, I cannot service your car any longer because this is where we're going.

33:35So he wiped out almost $600K per year in revenue from this shop. He did. And, and if you've, you know Seth, right? Yeah, he's like the Elon Musk. I call him Elon Musk, but, you know, jokingly. But, you know, the guy knows what he's doing, and he's— and, you know, when he tells you something, it's with, with direction and, you know, kind of like, like, and, and force, right?

34:03He's gonna say, this is what I'm doing, and he goes and does it, you know. He's He's incredible. Uh, you learn a lot from him, but it was a funny story about how he wanted it his way, but it was all a matter of efficiencies. He said, I'm going to make money doing it the way that I always done it. And for, you know, hey, look, sometimes you got to say no to other things that are out there because it's taking away from the things you do best, you know, saying, so anyway, you know, overall, I think the industry is in for a good run.

34:32We may be more technical, but that's been the case ever since the cars have been manufactured. You know, there's, there's no, there's no escaping it. You know, it's one of those things and you go from there. So, but, you know, overall it sounds like you're doing a great job, buddy. And, you know, you keep climbing that ladder and doing what you're doing and enjoying those kids, whatever vacations you take, you know, you go anywhere in particular.

34:57Yeah. So two, one, we're going to, we're actually in We're taking a trip here in July to the beach, ocean, not Ocean City, but what's the other one down below that everybody goes to? There's Ocean City, Maryland or New Jersey? No, uh, South Carolina area. Myrtle Beach. There we go. Thank you. Myrtle Beach. We're going there for a week. Um, and then my wife and I were starting to plan a little trip to, uh, Florida, Universal Studios.

35:30Okay, good, good. I saw a couple of videos floating on Facebook of people going there and different attractions. And so we're looking into that at some point this year, you know. That's great, man. Great. You'll, you'll love Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach is a lot of fun. They've got the Strand, which is where all the entertainment is. Pricing is always good. Uh, we used, that's what we used to do when the kids were young.

35:54Yeah. We literally would go to a place called the Caribbean or the Caribbean, however you wanna pronounce it. Yeah. Yeah. And they, they had some great deals with their condos. They had a lazy river ride. Okay. With, uh, so the kids really enjoyed that. And this is when they were like maybe 6 or 7, and we'd bring their friends. Like my, my, my boy would have one and my daughter would have one.

36:17So there's like 4 kids with us and we'd have a double suite and it was fun and it was super reasonable, very reasonable. And you could drive it. We'd From here it's like 8 hours for you, it might be like 11 or 12. Yeah, it's a 12-hour flight. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, and now it's probably a little bit quicker, but that's a good choice.

36:37It really is. Have you ever been to the beach? We have. We've been there a couple of times. Um, okay, good. About 5 or 6 years ago. We love it. So we're just, yeah, absolutely. Excellent. Good for you. Good for you. Yeah. All right, man. Well, listen, man, it's been great talking to you, chatting it up. Uh, glad I got that story outta you, you know, cause I was curious.

36:55I was real curious. I was saying, how did my man get his car stolen? And now he's getting paid $6 a month. I mean, it's all good. So, but I want to thank you for coming on here today, taking a Saturday. Are you actually working today or are you just like, you know, hanging out? Come on, you are working, aren't you? Oh man.

37:16Few things I'm working on this morning. Yes. Okay. People's cars? Or business? Working on the business or in the business? People's cars. People's cars, man. There's about a couple of slaps in the faces that are coming your way virtually. You know that, right? I do. Now you can— you, the wife, coach. See, the biggest one that you're going to have is from the wife.

37:38She's going to hit the hardest. Oh yeah. She did it once. You know that, right? Yeah. You just got to say, honey, like, I got to do what I got to do. It's all good. It's all good. So, you know, take it in stride, brother. Take it in stride. You know, 14 years, right? That's what you said. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, look, man, I'm hitting number 40 next year.

38:02You know, I've had my face slapped around a lot of times, you know. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. 40. That's great. You know what I mean? Quick. Yes, you do. That's great. It's just— just stay calm, man. Just stay calm. Trying. I'm trying. But see, the problem is, is they let— they'll fight you tooth and nail and let you get away with this one.

38:26But man, oh man, tell me you don't feel you got a big ozy coming up. You know, I owe you, hun. I owe you, hun. Begging for mercy. Yeah. All right, well, look, I'll let you get back to your work and get your job done. That way, if you finish early, you can go back and make Sarah happy. You know what I mean?

38:44Yes, sir. Very good. All right. Well, listen, brother, thanks a lot for hanging out with us. Thanks. Here on Shop Soup. Appreciate it, Nate. And thanks for sharing your story. Place looks great, man. It really does. Congratulations on your journey, what you're doing. My gosh, man. You know, this is a big thing for you. It really is. But don't let the make— don't let the next 20 years be the same as the first 20 years.

39:04No, they won't. Okay. Promise? Promise. Make a promise. Say, I promise. I promise. Cross your heart. Cross your heart. Let me see. Cross your heart. Cross your heart. Cross your heart. All right. All right. Cross your heart. I was saying cross your heart. Yeah, that's the right thing. All right. You get where I'm coming from. So again, Nate, hey, this is another Shop Soup episode with Nate Winston from Winston's Auto Care.

39:28You can listen to it on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and Google Play. Also, you can— it'll be in rotation on Soup Radio de Femme. That's Soup Radio de Femme. Where I get to play music along with interviews and live training events and everything like that. Nate, by the way, what is your kind of favorite music? I'll put up a little bit of a playlist with you.

39:52Kind of, kind of favorite kind of music. I like— yeah, some country music is pretty good. All right. Give me some artists. You know, I don't know. At this time, you don't know any, right? That's, that's the thing, right? Yes. Best, my wife. My wife will tell me she loves songs, but she can't— she don't know who the hell. You know what I mean?

40:12It's like, come on. I don't know. Is it new country, old country, or is it just like random '90s, early 2000s? So we got Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson. Yes. What are some of the other ones? I know that you got, um, oh boy, just like Dwight Yoakam. You know Dwight Yoakam? Uh-uh. Nobody knows Dwight Yoakam. That's a shame. Or, you know, country music.

40:41I'm sorry. No, scratch out that whole country thing. I like the '60s. I like Elvis. All right. Give me some Elvis. Give me some Elvis. All right. I got Elvis. I got Elvis by the tons, man. I'll put together a playlist for you. Beach Boys, The Beatles. That's my jam. There you go. I'm sorry. That's okay. No problem here. I'm diverse, man.

41:01I put a whole list together for you. Yes. So when I get up there, I'll, I'll say, this is, this is Nate's, Nate's Chance. 1950s. That's me. 1950s. Well, you're an old head, aren't you? I am. I'm old mentality. Yes. I'm sorry. Did you grow up with that? No. No, it's just natural. Yeah, it's just natural. So it just comes to you, right?

41:22Just comes to me. Yeah. So you're kicking back with Chuck Berry and the boys from the '50s. Okay. All right. All right. So yeah, I got you. I say, look, man, no, I grew up with the same thing. My parents were very fortunate. They were from the '50s. I had a hell of a library of music, and I've got all kinds of flavors that I listen to.

41:45So, you know, I'm right with you. But I put that together for you, and we'll get rolling on it. You get back to work. Perfect. Fortunately, I don't want to hear that. I don't want to get— get your ass out there, will you? All right, Nate, good talking to you again. Nate Winston, Winston's Auto Care in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Great guy. Thank you very much.

42:03And we'll talk to everybody later. Thanks everybody. We'll see us, see you again on another episode of Shop Suit Podcast. I'm Greg. That's Nate. We'll see you. Bye. See ya.