EP27: His Life Wouldn't Change Until His Name Was On The Building. With Andrew Dominguez Of Asher Auto Group

0:00Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Greg Buckley here for ShopSoup, and we've got another episode with a fantastic shop owner, part of the Auto Service Leaders cover. I think it was one episode or one— yeah, one edition earlier. And he has got a great story. So I'm really happy to get to meet Andrew and his story. So everybody, welcome Andrew Dominguez from DJ— it's DJX Automotive and Asher Auto Care.

0:36And Asher Auto Care, two locations. So, uh, welcome, Andrew. Uh, your story is incredible. You started at such a young age with just a lot of, um, aspirations to, to move up. You had this vision, you had everything, and kind of things went haywire. But how did you Again, tell your story about how you actually started, because it really is interesting. And I know that you're, you know, a lot of people will go through what you did, but you really took it by the bull by the horns and went after it all.

1:08Yeah, yeah. So I got in the industry in 2015. Um, I actually, my first job in the auto repair side of things was, uh, I was a lube tech at a Chevy dealership. And when I was in college. And so I kind of walked in and I needed a job and they hired me on the spot, which I'm not sure why, what it was.

1:33I think it was my charm or something. Yeah, there you go. So, so that was kind of the same thing. I worked, you know, I started changing oil. It was a small Chevy dealership out in eastern New Mexico. And, you know, it was, it was okay. It was a job. I didn't really enjoy it. I didn't really understand the industry. Now looking back is I just, I had no respect for the industry.

1:53I had no respect for the craft of it. You know, it was just a job to me. I didn't really understand the importance of it, even at the LoupTek level, like some of the things. And then it also taught me, looking back, is the lack thereof training, lack thereof processes, which, I mean, it could have ended badly, some of the stuff they were letting me do or having me do and so forth.

2:16So I did that, but I kept seeing them like in the front counter. I saw the service manager and service advisor. I'm like, man, these guys are talking to customers. They're clean. They look like they're making way more money than we are back here. I was like, that's what I want to do. So I ended up quitting that job and I had, I started working some construction.

2:36I'm still trying to find my way. You know, I had quit school at the time and, you know, still living in the college town I was at. I was just trying to figure out what path, what direction I was, you know, felt compelled to go. And my mom actually got in a car wreck, and, uh, about a week later, um, she wasn't feeling good.

2:55And, you know, so I drove home, and she ended up having a brain bleed and had to have brain surgery. So I moved back home, take care of her on that. She's definitely recovered. She's, she's healthy and fine, um, thank God. Good. Uh, but I needed a job. I was back in my hometown in southern New Mexico, and I went to a Ford dealership there and went in for looking for a job, and they gave me a job as a service advisor.

3:22And I didn't even know what they did or really like the position of it, and it's like, hey, build this estimate, call this customer, and this is what you do. I'm like, okay, cool. So I kind of figured it out, kind of one of those just like do it, you know, figure out my own take some direction, ask questions when I need to, but I kind of like that stuff.

3:42So I did that and I started seeing success with it. I was like, man, I really like this. And the pay was good. And that was my first taste of commission-based pay. And I loved it because it was like, I got to put in— what I put in, I got out. So if I was effort, if I did the things, I was seeing it reflected in either, you know, my customer experience and/or in my paycheck, which I mean, pretty much that's all I cared about at the time.

4:08I was 18 years old. Yeah, I was 18 or 19 years old. I can't remember. Um, so yeah, so that was, that was really fun. So I did that and I quickly, you know, I quickly moved up, you know, just not only in sales, but just understanding it and the technician game and, you know, okay, these guys are flat rate. They don't get paid for this warranty times or less.

4:28Okay. How do I make these guys like me to fix my cars? You know, but how do I sell for them? So now they're relying on me, and I like that pressure. These technicians are relying on this front counter to sell so they can get their hours. And just the key to key, like, I felt like I was in control, and I really liked that.

4:46Um, so you really thrived in being accountable and responsible for others? Oh, for sure. Yeah, that was the thing, is like, it's on me. Like, I'm gonna take it. Like, you give me— you, you give me the stack to stack the deck of cards against me and, and say, hey, try to figure this out, you know, kind of deal. And it's like, okay, like that, to me, that's a challenge because what's the worst thing competitive?

5:06Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, I can tell that right away. Yeah, what's, what's the worst thing can happen? So yeah, so I did that for 6 months, um, at that small dealership, and I was like, you know, I was making good money, and I was like, okay, my mom, she, she recovered, and I was like, okay, what, what am I gonna do next?

5:21Um, I wanted to get out of that town, um, my hometown, you know, I knew there was something, so My girlfriend at the time was like, hey, let's move to Texas. And I was like, okay. She was living in Oregon and I was like, all right, well, let's go. My sister was living out in Dallas. Yeah, my sister was living out in Dallas, going to school.

5:44And so I'd only been to Dallas one time before for a wedding. And I sent out my resume and I applied to a bunch of Ford dealerships in Dallas.. And I lined up like 2 or 3 interviews at different Ford dealerships. And I was like, man, I'm going to go to the first one. The first one offered me a job, I'm going to take it.

6:02Like, I don't even care. Like, I don't even know what questions to ask. Like, just give me a job, you know? So luckily I went to the first one I went to was in Dallas and Dallas proper. And it was a family-owned, you know, it wasn't a big chain, corporate-owned store. And I got there and it was just a, I went from a 6 technician, 2 advisor, small country dealership to a 13 advisor, 40 technician, you know, in Dallas proper.

6:33Just, it was just like a mega dealer. Oh yeah. It was just nuts. So, so yeah. So then that was kind of one of those things that it just, it was another one of those, hey, okay, great. Okay. How do we do this? And what you did at a small dealership versus you did at a big dealership.. And I remember like the first day or two, like we're using a new, we're using Reynolds and Reynolds.

6:52I was using ADP at the other dealership. I'm like, okay. And they're like, I'm like, how do we use this? So like, oh, just plug in, make a ticket. I'm like, okay, well, how does this work? So, so yeah, it just kind of threw me out to the wolves and I was like, all right, you know, I'll figure it out. So it was probably a day or two in.

7:06I'm like, this is crazy. This is easy. All I gotta do is be better than the next guy. Like that, that's how I saw it. And You know, my, the whole concept of, you know, on the independent world is, you know, saying yes is, you know, being accessible to the customer, you know, bringing them in now. I've always had that adaptation because I was always the new guy.

7:26I was always the young guy on the totem pole. I didn't have that customer base that at dealerships, you know, the advisor had been there, they build up. And so I was taking, I wanted every customer, I wanted every oil change, you know, they called in, that's what I was doing. So I was just running around writing the most tickets, doing all the things.

7:42And I quickly climbed, I think with probably 2 months being there, I became the top sales advisor, service advisor at that dealership. That's what's crazy. Now, now, how old were you when all of this? What's your timelines on age? Because you're fairly young, right? Yes. Yes. So, okay, I, uh, I graduated high school a year early, so I went to college when I was 17.

8:06I did a year there. Yeah, because I turned 18. Yeah, I turned 18, then I quit. Would have been the start of my second semester. Mom got in the— so 18, worked at the dealership. I turned 19, so I started at the Ford dealership in March of 2015, um, and I left and started at the big dealership in Dallas in October of '15.

8:33I was 19, and I remember, uh, I grew out a goatee so I looked older. I had to do that because like customers were not liking the baby face. And yeah, they didn't like the baby face. They couldn't trust you enough to say that's exactly what it was. And even just like technicians to, you know, other colleagues and stuff, you know, because it was a, you know, for dump me, you don't really hire at that level, you know, an 18, 19-year-old guy with no experience out of school, you know, not even at school, just never had much experience.

9:04You— they think you'd have the chops and the experience, and they didn't trust you enough to say, hey, can you get this ticket done for me? Right, exactly. So I was like, I just had to work hard. I tried to prove to them, which I like that. So yeah, I was 19. I think I lied to everyone for the longest time. I mean, everyone thought I was 22, 23.

9:22Like, I kind of fluffed my age a little bit to even my colleagues and things like that, just to kind of have some of that respect that I had to, you know, try to earn. But it was like age is a barrier, which is a big pivotal part to my story. Is, um, so yeah, so doing that, and like I said, I was 19, 20 years old, no bills, you know, paid off cars, you know, living in an apartment, and, you know, making $100,000, $120,000, $130,000 a year.

9:52Like, you're famous. Just like, yeah, it's just moving fast, and it's like rolling. It was great, you know, getting paid weekly, controlling, like knowing, like, you know, figured out how to play the game with it. But the biggest thing for me was it was fun and it was challenging and it was stressful, a lot of hours, but, you know, I didn't have a family back then and, you know, it, but it was also one of those, it's like, all right, how can I do more?

10:17And at the dealership level, and I'm sure you know it, the biggest problem with it is that there is, there's no incentive to really have accountability on anything. Like, it's just, there's so many loopholes and just little things. And, you know, I kept— it was just like, things are just little issues here. Like, hey, we can fix this. Like, how do we do this?

10:37Like, why are we doing this? Like, we were multi, multi-million dollar company. Why don't we have this? Like, why is 7 technicians pushing in a car? Why don't we have a car pusher? You know, like, just things like that, just that were annoying. Seeing, and it was just like, okay. And then you hit that cap. Like, I hit my cap of what I can do.

10:55Like, there was not physically possible to sell anything more to do within the week and what I was trying to do. And once I had to start paying people to work my Saturdays, that's when I knew, like, I was paying $300, $400 to another advisor just to come in and work my Saturday because, like, I just didn't want to do it anymore.

11:16Um, and so, so it was kind of like I had a plan initially. It was a 2-year plan, like, I'm gonna come in, work for 2 years, make as much money as I can, and then I'm gonna get out and do, you know, what I think— maybe I'll find what I want to do. And I knew it was something in sales. I knew it was something commission-based.

11:32I didn't want to be on anyone's time. I didn't like the hourly stuff. I didn't like to do the busy work, you know, pretending to be busy, um, when the boss walked around because I was on the clock, you know, kind of I wanted that self-accountability. Like, if I didn't want to do anything that day, you know, I didn't. You know, it— my paycheck reflected.

11:49So that was incentive for me. It was like, okay, if I do stuff today, it's gonna— I'm gonna get rewarded at the, at the end of the day. And, and that's the huge thing, um, which will tie later on into this, is like, you know, the commission base and the positives of it, you know, for it. Yeah, I want to hear about that because to me what I'm listening to is I'm hearing a young man in 2015 who really had something built inside of him that was the engine that drove you into the positions you are today.

12:21Oh, yeah. It's very unique. I can tell you there's not many individuals that have that so early and bring it to fruition like you have. So I'm going to keep the story going on how you decided to say, you know what, like, you're getting there, like, enough's enough, um, man, I gotta make my own mark. Yeah, make my mark. And so that was the kind of thing it was kind of— I started turning into— I was never a great employee looking back now.

12:47I thought I was good, so I just, I just, I just started being worse and worse, you know, kind of like, oh, I'm the best at what I do, you know. I didn't have that ego of like, you know, the prima donna, oh, I can make the rules, don't apply to me. I didn't have that. I was always a team player, but I was selfishly doing it to level up myself.

13:11And that was the thing. Like, if there was a customer that was upset on the service drive, you know, I wanted to be the, I wanted to help. I wanted the challenge. Can I diffuse this without being the manager, quote unquote, having the title or being that man? And so I just, you know, inserted myself in all these situations. Because I liked it.

13:28I saw a different approach, and, you know, it's, it's moving fast. I've always had the, you know, move fast mentality. So it's like, why are we going to wait to make a decision? Like, let's just make it. And I've always had that, let's make that with, you know. And so I'm telling guys that have been doing this for 10, 15, 20 years, and they're just like, dude, no, we can't do that.

13:46Like, what's the worst thing going to happen? They're going to fire us? Like, and you tell that to someone, a young kid telling that to someone with a family and stuff like that, they're like Yeah, I'm like, well, screw it, we'll find another job. It's that simple. Well, I think the biggest thing is what we experience is we feel stymied. And when we can't take our energy and our ideas and put them in play because someone says, no, you can't, or this isn't the way it's going to happen, we start to freeze up and then we start to lose interest and then we start to get sour.

14:20I mean, that's where I felt, you know, even in my work experience, and it hasn't been with dealerships or other shops, it's just been with my family and my dad. And I felt the same way, is if he wouldn't allow something to be implemented or we couldn't do something different, and yet I saw it and some other people would see it, then we had the issue.

14:41So, you know, what you're telling everybody is, hey man, I had this drive and we just weren't getting there. Yeah, it wasn't getting there. And, you know, and I, I had to take some humble steps back and say, okay, is this— do I know it all, or is this— does this really make sense in the broader picture? Like, what does this look like?

15:01Um, and I did a lot of comparisons, like, okay, do I want my life to look like this? You know, whether it was the service director, um, or something like that, like, did they— they were working long hours, you know? Yeah, they're making good money, you know, great money, you know, even in essence of that. But it's like there was so much stress and there was so much hands tied in the, in the corporate world, essentially what it is in the dealership world, because they're all pretty much ran the same.

15:25I mean, I haven't seen one that's just extraordinary different, um, kind of deal. And so I was like, man, I don't really want that, you know. They can't even really make decisions. Everything— if they can't make decisions at the service advisor level, like, how are they gonna— how's anything gonna change? I was ranting one day, um, or right before that I was like, you know what, I want to challenge myself more.

15:46We were getting paid off total ticket, total revenue, um, top line revenue. And I said, okay, um, this can be manipulated easy, you know, just you can sell something for $10,000 ticket but have 5% gross on it, you know, I'm still getting paid off the $10,000. So I went to the fixed op director, I said, you know what, I want to be paid off gross profit.

16:08Give me a higher percentage of gross profit. Yeah. And I want that because my numbers are— I've hit all my numbers on the top line sales. I'm hitting effective labor rate. I'm doing all these things. I want, I want something more of a challenge, but have, you know, bigger risk but a bigger reward, you know, kind of deal. Um, and I think they were taken back by that because they're like, you know, they just, they didn't get it..

16:34And they were supposed to change my pay plan and I'm like, I'm only going to ask once kind of deal. And, and they ended up, it never got done. It just, it was kind of like a test. Okay. Is this going to get done? And, you know, kind of show, I have some skin in the game and I didn't truly understand gross profit back then.

16:49I don't think I really did. And so I was ranting one day to another service advisor and he says, come here. And so he walked me to the end. He said, you see that name on the side of that building? He's like, until your name's on that side of the building, what you say is not going to matter. And it's truth. And I looked at him and I was like, and it just was like, you're right.

17:13So how do I do this? And then that was like, so that was like, you know, like a September, October. I was like, you know what, I don't even know how it came about. I was like, you know, I'm gonna start my own Ford specialty store. I can start what I know, what I'm good at, have a lot of customers. If I stay in the area, all I gotta do is do the things that they're not doing at the dealership and just be a little bit better for this, like the one-on-one.

17:37So I start talking to customers. And the thing about Dallas and here in the area we're at is, you know, there's a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, a lot of people, a lot of guys that I met, a lot of customers I met, they just, you know, saw something in it. And that's the thing is, as I saw, that was the big pivot point, is these guys the people that were successful were the ones that were asking the questions like, "Hey, how does this work?

18:02How does your job work?" They were interested. And so I formed these relationships with these guys that owned construction companies to landscaping to just all sorts of random stuff. And so, yeah, so I started asking them like, why do you Why do you come here? Like, what do you look for? And their biggest thing was they had to, like, it's the only Ford dealership in Dallas.

18:28So, you know, you get on the independent world, you know, it had, you know, I think the reputation is getting better, but it's had a bad reputation, you know, throughout the whole, you know, through our time. And I didn't truly understand the independent because I never worked in one side of it. I didn't know that there can be, you know, successfully ran, you know, Right.

18:49Good structure, good technicians kind of deal. I've always believed, you know, the manufacturer should, and I still do that to a certain extent, um, you know, for certain things it should go back to the, you know, the dealer. And whether it's a car or a refrigerator or, you know, a TV, you know, anything, I kind of on that, it's, they do have the most equipped things, um, for it to a certain extent.

19:11So you were doing your, well, you were doing your own customer survey. In a sense, weren't you? I mean, you were just trying to get feedback on why people would come to you instead of anyplace else. And you found that, okay, that they enjoyed the quality of service, that you were the game in town, and you learned from all of that. Did you take away any business intelligence from those operators or the other small businesses to bring into your business?

19:40Yes. And what solidified me making the next jump of like, okay, I'm going to go do this, was obviously you got to have a product, a service or product, and you got to have customers, the two pillars to business, right? And then be able to fulfill it, the third one. What I started hearing was these customers were coming to me. They wanted to meet, they trusted me, they wanted me to deal with their car.

20:10And all those things. I mean, there was things I was doing stuff. I mean, I, to this day, customers call me and say, hey Andrew, I'm looking for this truck. Can you find it for me? Or what do you think about this? And if it's a Ford inside and out, I'm like, yes, that's great. Let me do some blah, blah, blah, blah.

20:25And I'll send them to them no matter how busy I am, whatever on that, because it's like that trust, that input. So there was no, and that's what really stuck with me is I did a big job on a customer's vehicle. I saw them. He's like, Andrew, he's like, I want you to know, He's like, I wasn't going to tell you this because I didn't want you to feel bad.

20:40He's like, I could have got this done at another dealership across town for about $6,000 cheaper, but I bought it from— but I wanted to go with you because I trust you. $6,000. Wow, that's a statement, dude. That's a huge statement. And it was like, so one, it was like, man, like, this is— this truly is— it, you know, backs up my theology of like, okay, people are buying from me.

21:01Like, you know, we're having that. And then I just ultimately felt bad because the level of service that I would give my customers wasn't the same level of service the guy next to me was giving. It was not uniform across that. And that's a leadership problem, you know, that's a dealership problem. And that was never going to change, you know. And so it's like, why does this customer— and I want the greatest.

21:26I mean, I'm not sitting here saying I love the best, but I knew what I would go above and beyond and the next guy wouldn't. And I just— which wasn't fair to that customer. At the end of the day, you know, as a business, we should have uniformity. It should be no matter what, the customer's getting taken care of, and that's everyone's mission.

21:42Absolutely. It comes down to the client. It really does. Yeah, it truly is endgame. Yeah, the endgame. And that, for me, was like— that's what just angered me the most. Um, and so, uh, so yeah, so that was like, okay, I'm gonna do this, I had this, I had the concept, went out to do the Ford only. And that was the thing was people buy from people.

22:03And that's where it truly, I see and I saw the ripple effect of how many customers that followed me and the relationships I still have today. And just from big fleet companies that literally followed me to employees, customers, all that was okay, hey, we're gonna get behind here. This is something which then turned into a big stink. I mean, I— they tried to sue me.

22:28They banned me from the dealership that I left because I went so close. I mean, it was a big— we made a big impact with it because it's never happened before where, you know, if some employee leaves, you don't typically think about you losing customers. You typically don't, unless especially in this area is that no one wants to drive further to a different store or things like that., but I stayed in that same area.

22:52I offered the same thing, but now they had the one-on-one. And what I found too, the day one I started to open up these customers, um, the same customers I've been working with for 2, 3 years, the wall came down the moment they stepped into my store, which we had a great relationship then. They were even more open. They were now, they wanted me to succeed.

23:14They wanted the little guy to win in this situation. And these are business owners, small business owners, correct? Yes. And that, that kind of cohort, that, that is— that resonates within other small business owners. We, we all want the owner to succeed because we know the risks involved and, and we appreciate that. So that was awesome, man. I mean, and you didn't have a non-compete, right?

23:37No, had no non-compete. They started that after I left. Um, they tried, they tried to get everyone with it, but you know, it was just, it was a stink. And it was funny because it was like, why, why, why does it matter? Like, it was just such a— and that was, it came down to, like I said, the leadership side of it.

23:53Like, they were just, it was such an immature— I mean, when I was telling these people the story, because I was trying to figure it out, like, I'm getting cease and desist letters, like, I'm getting all these things, and they were down the street. Like, I was gonna buy parts from them, so I'm having to like figure out, like, I used to have this relationship connection and now I'm just like cut off from it.

24:11I didn't expect it to blow up like that. So, and it was like kind of, and it was just, it was very childish and everything like that. So that I'm talking to other people like that, they're like, what? Like, this is absurd. Like, and so I'm still trying to figure out this business stuff as a loan, you know, which you don't, you know, you don't know what you don't know.

24:28And, and then that was the biggest thing. I think the naiveness and the peer drive that I know I'm whatever it is, I will be okay because that was my fallback plan is I know I can go to any Ford dealership, I know I can go to any dealership or any repair shop or anything in sales and I'm going to be just fine.

24:44That was, that was, I was so confident and here it is, but it's like, how bad does it want to suck? And it was just, it was a thing. There were a lot of mistakes made in the things, but, you know, I stuck to the, I'm going to move fast. I'm going to trust my gut. I'm going to do it even if it doesn't make sense.

25:02And if it doesn't make sense, I'll kill it. If it makes sense, great, I win. But let's just keep moving forward. And the whole— the chase of the money, we were— everything's reflected, okay, on money. It's like, okay, security, that's people's nest egg, it's, it's all these things. So there's so much emotions around money and the driver and all the things like that.

25:21For me was, until I had a ton of money— and I didn't even know what a ton of money then, I think maybe $200,000, $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 was a lot of money to me back then, um, That's when it was like, okay, but other than that, until I got there, I'm just gonna keep spending and keep, you know, living off the $20,000, $30,000, um, you know, my total life savings, you know, to feel safe.

25:44But, but yeah, but because, because that was the thing, and, and I learned so much through that. Um, it was a question I have now: are, are you still single or married at this time, this timeline? And so I was— how was your family going around all of your gyrations and, and your, and your, you know, uh, upswing and, and everything that you're going through?

26:07I mean, personally, it's angst, but what about the people around you, your loved ones and stuff like that? Were they witnessing your, your commitment and everything like that? Yeah, I think for so far. So I was still dating my, my now wife, um, and we had been together since we were 14, so we were high school sweethearts. So she's been through every pivotal part of my life.

26:31Yeah, just crazy. Pretty good. Yeah, even now, I'm just like, yeah, she is. And I think honestly, during that time, none of us really knew what I was doing. Obviously, I didn't know what I was doing, but it was just like, okay, Andrew's starting a shop. Okay, cool. And then it's like, I have all these things and I'm one of those, I don't share a lot of things until I know it's going to happen.

26:54Like, I don't like to put it out there and say it, and then I don't commit to it. I've always been that way. So like, I kept everything— that's why I'm terrible with marketing. We'll get into that. Close to your— close to the vest, in a sense. Yeah, yeah, close to the vest. You know, I'm very transparent and open, but it's like, okay, let me see if this works first, because I don't like to be a failure, one.

27:12Um, you know, that's just— but, uh, but yeah, so like, I was doing all these things, and, you know, I started, you know, asking other people for advice, and it was kind of one of those things like I didn't want to ask advice and then they give me good advice and I still did it the other way. I didn't like that because I saw a lot of people doing that early on too.

27:28So I was like, you know what, I'm just going to figure this out and either win on my own or fail on my own. That was kind of like my mentality for it. So my, I remember another part of it was my, wife, then girlfriend, she had quit her job at this right around the same time I did. And so I quit the dealership and then I had like a month or two of remodel before my shop opened.

28:00So I had like a 2 months where I didn't, wasn't really doing anything. Like I didn't even know what my life looked like then. And I made, and so she quit. She's like, you know what, I'm gonna go back to school. And I'm one of those, if you're not happy what you're doing, just kill it and do something else. Try something else.

28:13Like, just go full force in it. We'll figure out everything else later. And so that's what she was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do. She was unhappy with the job she was working. And so I was like, you know what? You know, I'm Superman. Like, just quit your job. You go to school. She should go to cosmetology school.

28:29I'm like, okay, well, how am I going to pay for this? Neither one of us have income coming in. Now we have bills. She moved in. We're living together at this point to consolidate our bills.. And I'm like, I'm gonna— how do we pay for school? So, and I've always had good credit, you know, kind of on that. I've always been very responsible with money.

28:49And so when I started my shop, I was like, okay, I got X amount of money that I'd saved up for operating costs or whatever. And it was completely wrong. But then I was like, I have a— we can live— if we don't change our lifestyle, we can live for like 10 months just off my savings, okay? Not including the $50,000 credit card line of credit we had, personal credit.

29:12So I'm like, okay, if we just— if that's not changing, it's not cutting out anything, that's just, hey, let's continue to live our life. That's going out to eat, let's do it. And, you know, I like to party back then, um, you know, I was 22, you know, just what, yeah, you know, kind of on that. I was making, you know, $140,000, $150,000.

29:29All the friends, I was paying for everything, you know, I was You know, living happy. Yeah, living life, you know, kind of those things. So I said, let's— we'll do that. And then I'm like, okay, how are we gonna pay for school? And I remember like, you know what, let's just call your parents, see if they'll, uh, co-sign with you. Because I didn't want to co-sign on it because I knew I was gonna be taking out business credit and stuff like that, right?

29:48See if they'll co-sign on a student loan, you know, I'll pay it, whatever. And I remember her parent, her dad, is like, he said no. He said no. He's like Are you kidding me? He's like, neither one of y'all have jobs. And I remember just being so like, I get hurt and mad, but then thinking like, geez, that's like the most smart— like, he's right, you know?

30:11Like, like, it really is. And so for that, and for— yeah, for, for family to say that, to, to do the hard things and make the hard choices and saying, you know what, I support you guys, but I don't want this to be an issue if this can't get repaid, you know, kind of thing. It was at a sense of like practicality.

30:30He's a black or white kind of guy, and, you know, I have a lot of gray. My wife's the same way. It's like, I was like, uh, you know, so very risk-averse. And, you know, and that, that kind of like drove me. So I did two things. And one, it taught me, okay, hey, he's very responsible, he sees that, um, and I can't take this personal, like like, this is business at the end of the day.

30:52This is, um, and the other side of it is like, I'll show you, you know, kind of thing. Like, with it, it gave me the drive. It gave me the drive to, you know, make sure this, this succeeds, you know, kind of deal. And we weren't even married at the time yet, so, uh, tough love, man. Yeah, tough love. And it just— and I respect him so much for that because it was like, it taught me a lot that I didn't know it was teaching, um, and it was kind of that, that process, uh, My father, going back to my father, died of a massive heart attack when he was 39.

31:22Oh, I was 15. Yeah, he was a police officer. And so all these things, my dad was very risk-averse. He was kind of, you know, I would not be where I'm at today if he was still alive. And not in a bad way. You know, it's just that it would— my path had been different. It had been a little bit more conservative, you know, because that's what he was taught.

31:43And, you know, he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to have a lifestyle of struggle and poverty and stuff like that that he grew up. You know, obviously we want better for our kids, but sometimes it's being exposed. So, yeah, so that's where the serving— I wanted to be a police officer. My dad just like made me promise him that I wouldn't get into law enforcement.

32:01Ultimately, he died of a stress-related heart attack of the job, you know, kind of deal. So it all started to tie together. It's like, okay, so how do I serve? How can I give that servant heart of leadership like he did in a thing? And that's where it was, you know, the service advisor, the communications, the relationships of selling, you know, fixing people's problems.

32:22That's kind of how I tied it into— and I really enjoyed that, you know, people's worst day in the car. Like, no one wants to get their car fixed. Like, it, it just— that's pretty amazing. You took that experience of losing your father and how you, you said it pretty clearly, how do I find that servant's heart? Uh, and you found it through serving others in the capacity with your experience and helping them with their vehicle and keeping them on the road reliable and satisfying, you know, what they need the vehicle for.

32:52So, that's a great way to take that energy out of one area and put it towards good use. So, good for you! Good for you! Yeah! So, how did— So, okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead! Yeah! So, just that and like I said and that was the thing like first responder kind of thing, police officer like that, like great! I think it's so passionate.

33:09I love it. Fascinated with it. Even, you know, our military and stuff like that, I have so much respect to them because I could never do that, you know, like the pay. Like I saw my parents, my dad made and stuff like that, they're underpaid and stuff like that. Like, you know, to be a person like that, like, you know, I wanted to make money, you know, I didn't want to grow up, I didn't want there to ever be issue, I didn't want stress.

33:26I saw, you know, my parents stress about money all the time. Like, that was like my main focus is never stress about money no matter what it was. And so, so yeah, so I took that on. That was another thing. So we Didn't close a loan, still got student loans, and then put the rest on a credit card. Wife went through school, you know, I still continued, started with shop, and, you know, 2019 was, you know, it was a rough year, it was hard.

33:52It was taking that step back. Looking back now, it was the step back. I was willing to take a step back financially, just everything, to leap forward. And I think that's a lot of people where we see, I see a lot of people struggle. And I have this conversation with my, Um, with my, with my staff, it's like, if they want that level, if they want to move up into leadership, or if they want that next big payday, so we say, or big pay raise and stuff, it's like, what are you willing to do that you don't get paid for right now and be able to— the next income, are you able to take a

34:28step back, whether it's in time, giving up something? You have to give up something to get to the next level. Right, you do. And it's like, if you're not willing to do that, you're not gonna— if you're not gonna be— you're not succeeding it. You can't have your cake and eat it. Sometimes, right? Correct. Now, you know, one of the things that's interesting is during all of what you just explained to everybody in the audience and all, but you know, you had a rough time with the contract on this location, right?

34:59On, on your original one where you had a a partner, a quote-unquote partner, bail? Yeah, so it was when I started talking about it, another close buddy of mine that worked at the dealership, he was a technician, um, you know, he had been there, he started at that dealership when he was like 20 years old, um, and so he always made good money.

35:18He had apartments, so he had, he had, he had money, he had assets, he had money, credit, he was established, um, he was, and, uh He was a hustler too, a go-getter. And we were talking like, dude, all right, you can be the technician, I'll be the service advisor. Let's just go partners on this deal. All of this, I thought I needed him for the money aspect of it because I didn't want to drain all my savings, you know, kind of a thing.

35:43I was like, how am I going to live? You know, because I didn't have that much money saved up. And so we talked about everything like that. And then I started finding, then I found the building. And he was still on board. And I think that was— and we didn't have details ironed out or anything like that, but essentially he was gonna— I was gonna put up $60 grand, he was gonna put up $60 grand.

36:05Now we're gonna have $120 grand, and we're gonna be— that should get us going, you know, kind of deal. Um, and so like a true 50/50. Yeah, true 50/50 was what we kind of, kind of had to be. But then we're like trying to figure out like, okay, well, if he's working on the cars, how is he going to get paid? You know, like it was just.

36:23But then another technician was one of the top technicians there. This guy, you could tell he was just getting burned out by it. And that guy's still with me today. So when that guy bailed, I was like, I need a technician. I can't work on cars. So I got him. Why do you think he bailed? What was the reason why he bailed?

36:43Just not comfortable with it or just wasn't ready to commit or? Just wasn't ready to commit. Like it was just, it was too real. Like it was just like, He had a, you know, looking back, you know, he had a family and kids and stuff like that. And he had a very cush, cushion lifestyle kind of on that. He'd been there 10 years, so he had 3 weeks vacation, you know, kind of got to do whatever he wanted kind of deal.

37:04So, you know, he had rental properties, he had cash flow, so. So he was comfortable. Oh yeah, very comfortable. And wouldn't have worked out with you anyway because, you know, I think we've all experienced people who are comfortable. And like you just said, you can't stay flat. It sounded like he was willing to stay flat. Right, right. And, and that was a huge thing.

37:22And that was— I think I said, I said it was a God thing on that because like that would— my— it would have been— it would have derailed everything where we would have been at today. Um, it would have been— I may have been that true, you know, getting a partnership and it falls like all the other stories, you know, kind of it.

37:36So, so yeah, so that, that kind of works out. Um, that kind of worked out. It was kind of thinking, okay, so I'm still gonna do it. And that was the thing, it's like, I'm gonna do this 'cause I like the control. It was like, I'm still gonna do this with or without you. You know, you're a benefit, you're a plus if you do come on.

37:52If not, you know, I'll still figure it out. So I had some contingencies and plan Bs in case of that. You know, back to going back to the customers, I was telling one, him and I weren't even that close. I'd only been working him for, you know, probably less than a year. And I was like, hey, I'm thinking about starting my own shop down the street, all this, what can we do?

38:09He's like, okay, he's like, yeah. He's like, you know, well, just let me know the address, you get open. He's like, he's like, and let me know if you need any money, you know, any seed money to start up. And I was like, oh wow, like I was blown away. Like, is that easy? And I was like, but I didn't. And so I kept that in my back pocket.

38:25I was like, okay, that's cool. And you know, as time progressed, well, so I got the lease. Yes, Colorado, found this building, didn't know, didn't even use a broker, didn't know how that stuff worked really. And Yeah, the guy said, you know, $10,500. Oh, I remember it was— they wanted, uh, proof of income. They thought I was operating— they thought I was an operator already, a business and stuff.

38:51So I sent over my personal tax returns because I thought they were— as they asked for tax returns, um, and pay stubs, and they're like, no, we need the business. I'm like, there's no business. There's no business. Yeah. And, uh, I remember the broker's like, "Oh man, we need triple security deposit." And I'm like, "No, that's not going to happen. So here, best case scenario, this thing's been on the market, whatever.

39:18I'll give you your $10,000 security deposit, first month rent." And they're like, "Well, I'm doing a 2-year lease." I'm like, "Okay. Well, that's short enough to, if I fail in 2 years, at least I can get out of the lease. I'd probably at least make it 2 years," it was in my head. Kind of deal. Uh, so yeah, so, you know, we got that figured out.

39:38CO, um, you know, certificate of occupancy, and then doing this, and then I started doing remodel, and I'm like, you know, spending all this money kind of doing all these things, and I'm like, people are telling me advice like, oh, don't do it this or small. I'm like, no, like, I'm going— if I'm doing it, I'm going all in. So I, you know, I wanted— you, you get to the point where number 1 is up and running, and now you're— you have the opportunity for number 2, or your reasons for number 2 weren't really revenue generators.

40:07I mean, it wasn't extra revenue. It was actually for the people you had and you wanted to give them the ability to climb as well as you did. Yes. Yes. So, yeah. So, that was the thing with one, you know, once we got it figured out and taken and it was, you know, 2019, 2020 COVID hit, that sucked. That was awful. But we made it through that.

40:32Um, and I don't have high turnover employee-wise, you know, kind of a thing. We run super efficient, we run super lean at that store. Um, Store 1 will do, you know, $4.2, $4.3 million this year with 5 technicians and a 2-person front. Like, it's just, just run super lean. Well, that's great. I wanted to be strength in numbers. I wanted stability. I knew I wanted to do more, and, and that was the thing was, okay, instead of just cramming people in there to kind of, you know, have the bodies.

41:03But I wanted to have the opportunity to then build and develop and give to the younger guys that I had to fight and do everything and risk, almost potentially risk it all to get where I'm at. And so that was kind of the whole thing for the, you know, other vision. Yes, it's revenue profit generating, you know, and it was just kind of like the game of, okay, how can I do this and can I keep me in this?

41:30I did this one really good, but can I continue to do it and can I do it at a scale of what my why is, the values and the things of it is? And so, yeah. And it was a fresh start to being able to have a clean slate of now I know what I'm doing and implement the process systems and everything from day one.

41:52Versus trying to teach old dog new tricks, you know, kind of a thing. Because a lot of my staff has been there 3, 4, 5 years where I start making all these changes. I joined coaching, I start learning how things should be, you know, um, for my leadership, you know, that, that's the biggest pivotal thing. I think anyone else, you can be the greatest business person, but if everyone just has personal development, leadership, they can do anything in this world.

42:14Like, that's, that's truly, that's the pivotal, that's the change of everything. It is. Yeah. Now, in terms of— do you feel that your coaching— you started with coaching number one while you had number one, or actually kind of prior, right? And then your coaching allowed you to be more confident in getting number two? Because, yeah, number two is the hardest one. And yeah, I mean, I know that I struggled with number two because when I thought I had everything together, you know, I'm 85 miles apart between locations.

42:44And it's a whole different market and it's a whole different scenario. A lot of things that worked up here didn't work down there. And so I had to adjust where we couldn't keep continuity. Fortunately, the SMS and the CRM and the website and all that stuff, that's constant. That's not a problem. But it's working with the people that you have in that area.

43:07So how did you find— did you have to hire all new or did you bring anybody over? What was your What was your pathway to, to get number 2 up and do those numbers that you're talking about? They're fantastic. Yeah. The pathway, you know, for was I was really good at the Ford Specialties. I knew it inside and out. We had the technicians, so we didn't need to have system, certain systems and processes that we needed at an all makes and models store.

43:32You know, like we have a, we run a very high average ticket there, so we don't see a ton of cars. But so like it's just manipulating those numbers and understanding Okay, how do we truly be efficient? What can we do and how do we make the most out of this? Because we're not trying to break that model kind of thing. And then just kind of let it get the core foundation set there.

43:55So with coaching, was coaching helped me in a thing is one, seeing it clearer kind of on that, to understanding the all makes and models. Because everyone's like, you only work on one make and model? Like, that's crazy. There's no way. Like, you're leaving so much money on the table, blah, blah, this. Well, that goes back to being the best at what you know and not getting out of that thing.

44:15And that's what's take— I think what drives down a lot of the industry stuff is that shops, other places will bite off more than they can chew and they can't give that same experience. And that was for us. Yes, we can work on— our technicians can work on anything there, and they will for certain, our certain customers and stuff like that. But we weren't— what I saw is we weren't giving the level of customer service and experience as we were to our Ford customers because they weren't as confident in the Nissan Altima or the, you know, the things like that.

44:43It just, it wasn't like I couldn't say 100%, like, I know that's perfect, it's gonna be 100, you know. I, I just, I couldn't. So I was like, I don't want to, I don't want to do this, um, I, I don't want to do that. So how do we, how do we open it up? So now I'm— but at the same time of it is, is that I'm not giving people a chance to come in and work for this organization because, I mean, it is the culture there, that store.

45:08Like, I mean, it's just our customer. I mean, everything about it is truly remarkable of what we built there. And, you know, the team members and things like that. It's like, okay, how do we get more people to join this and develop it and then be the change, you know, for it? So the pathway to 2 was I was ready to go.

45:27I thought I had success, you know, like, okay, You know, because my goal was just to, you know, pay myself about $150K a year and make 10— actually, it was break even really on the P&L. If I could, if the company paid even, I still got— I made 10. As long as I was making more than I was making at the dealership, I didn't care.

45:46So kind of thing. So I didn't truly understand the grasp, like how much, um, you know, net profit we can extract out of this and do this and how we can get other people to do it. So coaching, you know, broke that down for me. And I just needed to see the numbers, percentages, and— And then you got excited. Yeah, quick roadmap, and then I'm like, okay, here's what I'm in.

46:05So full force. So that's for that. But the leadership, like I said, that was the thing. I thought I was going in there for business advice and the leadership and all that side of it, being able to connect employees and how to hold people accountable and the why behind that. And just in myself as a father, as a husband, and things like that, is being able to lead.

46:25And understand that aspect of it where it helped me, like, okay, so now I can truly pour into these people. Because I was saying, if you weren't an A player, if you weren't the best of the best, you didn't work out at my shop. 'Cause my training, I didn't have, I had no training process. It was like, hey, you do this, I expect you to win on day one.

46:47I'm gonna go fast. If you can't do it, like, you gotta go. Like that was how I ran it. And you know, what's great if you can continue to hire great people every time, but there was times where I hired great people, but they just needed a different way of, they needed some system and process and I ruined them. I basically, they didn't work out, you know, I broke them because I didn't have that.

47:13And so that was a failure on my part. Like this is my fault. Like, oh, that guy couldn't make it in a shop. Like we'd look for all the excuses though. He didn't turn off hours, or, you know, he didn't do this. It's like, no, like, I didn't do that. Like, I tell everyone, like, that's quit me, like, I, I feel them, or even people that I've had to let go, I'm telling, like, hey, I, I was not ready for you.

47:35That I did wrong. Yeah, it's something I did wrong. And a lot of the time it's us, it's us as owners. True. You know, it's, it's something in our system and things like that, and, and that's my fault. And so once I started accepting that, understanding that everything started to really change. But I was looking at deals. I didn't understand what a great location was.

47:54I didn't understand the all makes and models, um, you know, visibility, that model of business. Yeah, correct. And so I was looking at, um, I didn't want to do another specialty, um, for it just because it's harder to scale and just takes more time and effort into the, into the deal and, you know, market share and stuff like that. So So yeah, and then I've seen like all these other— I'm like, I could just be better.

48:18It's gotta be better than the next shop down the street, you know? Like, really is service customers, you know, kind of my thing, fix itself. Um, so yeah, so that's what I, I could have— and I was getting, you know, where I was like ready to move fast. And like I said, I wasn't really— I was making— we were making good money, but it was just I was so used to being in the cycle of make money, spend it, reinvest, make money, reinvest.

48:41I never like backed up and said, you know, I'm gonna put this aside for my family. I'm gonna, you know, have some savings and some nest egg, you know, kind of this, you know, we built a house, we got married, um, kind of on the thing. I just keep adding pressure, you know, of these things where it's like, okay, we're gonna just a little bit more time, time, time.

48:58That's what I just needed was time. I didn't have enough time. Um, I didn't have as much time as, you know, someone else maybe coming in their 40s getting into this business., you know, through that where they've had, you know, years of being able to save. Like, it was making zero money living off my mom to right to here. Uh, and the biggest thing too I learned was credit history.

49:19I couldn't get— I had great credit, but I didn't have a long credit history. So like, the bank's like, thinks up on you. Yeah. Oh yeah. And that, that kicked my butt. Like, I'm like, wait a minute, I got this much money in the bank. Like this, like And they're like, yeah, well, we don't care, like, you're, you're a risk. I'm like, well, what am I supposed to do?

49:37It's, I mean, it's really tough. I mean, you know, for a small business to go to for financing of any type, whether you're refinancing or you're looking for an LOC or anything like that, it's like you're, you're put, you're put through the wringer, man. I mean, gosh darn, like 60+ pages and documents and all that stuff. Gosh, just for any little bit.

49:59So I, I feel you on that one. Yeah. Yeah, I just— and I learned, it was just so much stuff, like so much learning experience through it all. Like, yeah, I mean, I had a paid-off house that I bought when I was at the dealership. My mom was renting from me, we had it paid off. I was going to take out a home equity line of credit.

50:14I screwed up, and I should have done that before I quit my job, because immediately when I quit my job, they're like, oh, you have no income, you don't get approved. I'm like, it's paid off, give me 20%. Like, yeah, you're not— I'm not even asking for the 70 or 80% LTV that you guys do. Like, If I default, you guys get a house for 25% what it's worth.

50:32I think it's so simple. It would be so logical and everybody would understand that kind of stuff. But no, the regulators and all that stuff, it's nuts, man. It really is. It's so crazy. So it's all these things that, you know, I'm making, you know, trying to figure out. And, you know, and this is where taking advice and the broad general business advice and things like that, people from experience.

50:53And here's what I battled the most with. I call it the old way of business and then the new way of business. And a lot of the older guys, the mentors and other entrepreneurs and stuff that I was, you know, going and seeking advice from, they were telling you stuff based off what worked for them, but they weren't stopping to understand that situation.

51:15Because we look at business as business across every industry, but I needed hyperfocus on my industry. Because some of the stuff didn't correlate to what we were doing, you know. Yeah. And that's like, I mean, like the biggest thing was breaking out, you know, putting tech costs and parts cost, you know, into the GP side of it. Yeah. You know, not just having COGS and then having your wages and, you know, on the expense side.

51:45So like that was a huge one because, oh man, this makes sense. I can actually have my margins and stuff. I can set this off like variable stuff like that. So there was just a lot of things that, um, that when I got into coaching, like, okay, this hyperfocus, this is on this, what I needed. They saved me a lot of pitfalls of like just deals that I was going to do, you know, like I said, risky, because like I said, I was about taking risks.

52:05I'm like, you know, I don't got a lot to lose. I mean, I'm still so young, I can rebuild. That was always my mentality. Uh, I don't care, I'm used to working a lot of hours, you know, I got time, like, you know, all these things. You got that Superman cape going on, man. Yeah, just like, you can do anything. Yeah, like, I mean, what's, what's another year or two of suck, you know?

52:22Like, it's already been hard this hard. Like, you know, we'll just keep it going kind of deal. So that was kind of like that. But then they taught— it taught me, you know, being around other people and, you know, the mentorship was like, it doesn't have to be that. We don't have to choose the hard way. And I like choosing the hard way just because that's just the stubbornness of me.

52:38That's the, yeah, the enterpriser and the culture index of me is like, and for it. So, so yeah, so that's where— and to— was everyone told me just open up your first store to all makes and models. I'm like, I don't want to break it. Like, it is making a lot of money. Like, it has a system processes. Like, I don't want to break it.

52:57Like, I, I won't open another store if that's the case. Yeah, right. Why would I? So my second store is like an eighth of a mile away from the first store. It's just on the main drag. So my first store is tucked back, um, off a side road. This one's on the main drag, got 40,000 cars per day pass by it. The building was set empty for a little while, um, and it was kind of one of those things like, okay, let's just go in, let's go full speed, you know, do a nice remodel, hire it out.

53:27Um, it looks beautiful, you know, looks, looks gorgeous, man, really does. It came out great. And so yeah, hired all new staff.. And that was a hard part too. So that was another turning point. And I, and it was good for challenge and I knew it was going to be that way was, you know, just adding the system and process, how we're answering the phone, how we're quoting these tickets, you know, the, you know, not just used to just customers coming in and saying yes to everything, you know, all the repairs that we do at the first store, like they, they, they were choosing to come to us there.

53:55We didn't have to convince them. Here, you know, at the All Makes and Models, our regular general store, like they have so much competition. Like, we have to, we have to convince these customers. Like, we have to, yeah, you know, be, you know, do all the things and make it say, hey, choose us, this is why you choose us, give us a shot, and, you know, let us, let us show you.

54:18But, you know, there's just a lot, and that's what I had to learn. Um, you know, it was a big thing. And then training the staff, got all young staff, um, with it. And so that's been super fun though, is because it's like, hey, like Follow these steps. Like, I trust me, I get you there. That's been like my mission now is like, right, you know, just 3 or 4 years ago, I was where you're at, you know, um, kind of a deal.

54:42Like, you can, you can change your lifestyle, you can change these things, you can get that opportunity to you. Like, we have an advisor, he was 18 when he started, he just turned 19 now. Young guy, fresh, fresh out of high school, um, you know, almost like you were. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so that— and, and so he's been great, you know, he's, he takes— he's a sponge.

55:04He asks the questions, you know, he makes the— he makes the mistakes. Sometimes you just like, you have to forget, you're like, oh man, you know, I forget you're only 18, 19, you know, give him that grace, you know, I've been there before, you know, kind of deal. And so it's been— that's been really fun to, to watch and help pour into that and then, and be able to do that and say, okay, how do we, how do we do this and how do we give the opportunity?

55:26How do we create How do we knock down the barrier of entry to, you know, a career job like this that doesn't need the experience or not just gonna put them on a, you know, have them write up oil changes and that's it. Or, you know, a young tech, just put him on the lube rack and say, hey, change oil, you know, kind of thing.

55:43What's the pathway to that? You know, to, you know, moving up and breaking that out and giving them more opportunity to finding the fit if they want it, you know, it's like giving them that taste of it. 'Cause a lot of people, until you taste, I don't wanna say success, until you taste like a level of responsibility at a, or, and then the monetary side follows it, it changes you.

56:06You know, it makes you grow up, it matures you a little bit. It has these things where it's like, okay, this is what we're doing now, this is what we're talking about, this is why. And so I'm very transparent with all my team, you know, what I'm doing, what I'm working on, what my vision is, what it is like, P&Ls, they see it, they know how much profit we're making, they know if I'm gonna go buy something, you know, it's, it's, it's all that for them because I want them to dream because that's what I wanted.

56:30And a lot of people, a lot of my mentors, it was so— they weren't as transparent, you know. It's kind of a, you know, it's just a common, you know, American thing is that, you know, we just, we don't talk about that, like, you know, profits or money in the bank and all that. It's a dirty word and stuff like that. Yeah.

56:49But I challenge people, it's like, would you be willing, you know, just imagine now you can do it with humility or you can do it with arrogance. You know, there's one thing that's easy to decipher, but you know, one of my mentors, you know, he would talk about everything and I just said, they helped me dream. Like, that's achievable, that's possible. Like, that guy's at arm's length, I get to have a conversation with that guy and, you know, he has this level of success, he has this house.

57:16And he has, you know, this organization, his employees, you know, work for him, you know. Um, and so that, that's been a— that was a huge thing for me that I want to continue to do for, for other people because that's— yeah, that's where my success came from is being exposed to that because I wasn't exposed to that kind of stuff when I was growing up, you know.

57:34It wasn't until I started branching out and meeting, you know, getting out of, you know, this friend's group and being with the, you know, this family successful And then hearing how they're talking about just how the different gener— you know, the cultures and generations, you know, speak things, you know, having a nightly dinner. There's all this stuff that, you know, ties back in that you don't understand that now that we're trying to, you know, my wife and I trying to do for our kids, you know, making sure that we, we have these things, we're talking about these things and stuff like that to keep those pain points for us.

58:04So we're not passing around these generational stuff. That maybe our curse got passed down. Yeah, I can relate to that very well because in my experience, my father's lack of, I guess, wanting to pay attention to the business left it to our generations to kind of clean everything up and move it forward. So there's a lot there to be said about that, and that's a great path.

58:33Um, speaking of all of your success and the businesses, what does Andrew do outside the business? What gets you going? Your family, wife, vacation, travel, golf, swim? What do you do, man? Yeah, so, you know, that's— that was a big thing, um, for me was someone asked me like 3 years ago, like, Andrew, what's your hobby? And I'm like, oh shoot, you know, it was making money and moving fast.

59:01Yeah, it did. It was like kind of like, uh, You know, because kind of one of those things is I, I joke all the time that I'm a natural lazy person. Like, I, if I could literally, if I could literally do nothing all day, I would. I thought I was that way. I would believe it. I thought I was that way until my wife's like, well, you pace around the house every time you're home.

59:22Like, you can't, like, and I'm like, that's true. Like, I do get, I do get bored super easy. It's ADHD. It's just that drive to like, you know, wanting to be more. So, um, so yeah, so my hobby now, um, it's a big thing. The why on that is I have 2 kids. I got a 3-year-old son, 1-year-old daughter, um, which, you know, they're super fun.

59:44I try to spend as much time with them, you know, my wife and I. So like, my family is, is the why behind it, you know, kind of of these things. And it's being able to— everyone told me like 'And you'll never be able to scale and do all these things with the young family. You're gonna have to sacrifice one or the other, you know, to get where you're going.'

1:00:02And, you know, money is a scoreboard for me. That's just the, the challenge of like that. But it's like, really, it's just the ability to control the decisions and the options. And that, that's what I truly want, is I don't want to be— I don't like that feeling as not having options. And the only way, you know, The top way to have options is by, you know, making a good income.

1:00:24And then within that is, if I'm making good money and obviously my staff's making good money, so then, you know, I have— they have options. Or then I limit their options kind of a thing too, was, you know, if I provide a great experience, my credit workplace, and they make good money, well then there's only one option, that's us, you know. So we keep them happy.

1:00:44So it's this reverse thing, it's like I want options. I don't want my staff to have options, not holding them hostage, but I want them to think that way is, okay, how do they have options or they level themselves up to create options? I don't want them to feel hostage to working here, but if they don't want to go out and do that to the next level, then either or they go out and start another business or they go for those things.

1:01:10But yeah, so my family, hobby, I try to play as much golf as I can. That was something I took up a couple years ago. You're talking my language there, man. So the golf course kind of on that, but it's, it's kind of, it's a time-consuming thing. And it is, but it's relaxing too. It is. It really is. I enjoy it. So, um, yeah, the hardest part is, you know, I like to golf during the week.

1:01:32Most of my friends at my age, you know, that are in their 30s are working regular jobs. Um, so they can't take off during the day to go golf. Um, to be them, huh? You know, and, you know, exactly. And they don't have kids. You know, most of them don't have kids either, so, you know, they want to golf on the weekends.

1:01:50I'm like, you know, weekends is my family time. You know, that's kind of a big thing is, you know, trying to, trying to absorb as much time and being intentional with, with what I do is, you know, in and out. So is work as much as I can. You know, I'll go, I'll put in crazy hours, you know, for a week or two, and then I won't do anything for a week or two.

1:02:13So just try to have I don't believe in the work-life balance. I think it's just how to, how to co-mingle, work to live. Yeah, you know, just, just kind of those things. It's how do we do both? And there's just the time of seasons and understanding what season you're in. And I get sucked into certain seasons. I'm a procrastinator. I like stress and chaos, so I wait till last minute for everything, um, which I put a lot more pressure and stress on myself for that, and I'm working through that.

1:02:40But, but yeah, you know, it's just like I like it all at once, you know, like the chaosness. It's like, okay, let's stack it all up. Let's just— it's gonna suck, you know, a timeline of suck for right now, and then let's sleep freely, um, and then have— and I have some free months and stuff. I moved 5 hours away from my stores, um, really?

1:03:02Yeah, so we got out of the, the Metroplex and we moved to West Texas, you know, kind of a little slower pace of life and Um, we've really enjoyed that. That's been real nice. You know, if it's allowed me to get a little bit more organized and be more intentional, um, when I am home, like I'm at home, like I'm in— it feels like I'm on vacation all the time, um, now because I spend more time at home, um, for it because I just fail to check.

1:03:28When I lived closer to my stores, although I'm not in the day-to-day operations, I not a work from my laptop guy at home kind of guy. I just, to me, it's like, it's prison, you know. I just, I can't focus. Like, if I hear the kids doing something, I'm like, you know what, I don't need to do this right now, like, um, kind of thing.

1:03:50So I would go into my stores, or I'd go into my office at my, one of my stores, and I'd get stuff done there. And then same thing, I'd kind of just be distracted by my employees. So then I got to start talking to them. I'm like, well, now I'm, you A lot of times I had to take a look at my manager's face.

1:04:04He'd be like, "All right, dude, it's time to go." I'm like, "All right, sorry. I forgot you guys are working." So just trying to do that and figuring out what that cadence is of the time and being able to have that ability to still being effective and intentional for it. Because although I used to not be very routine-oriented, now I've found myself like I have to I have to be a little bit more structured with it because then I just go on this side scrolls.

1:04:33I'll be doing other stuff that I don't need to be doing and doing the stuff I need to is not getting done. I'm kind of deal. So trying to surround myself with people that, you know, hey Andrew, do this, let's do that, you know, kind of delegation of— they're delegating stuff to me that I need to get done for them. Um, right.

1:04:52But yeah, so we're trying to figure that out. Uh, But yeah, so it's just— that's tough. That's tough. I'll tell you, it doesn't stop. And, you know, I'm 66 and I still go through the same battles. You know, I walk in those— in the shop and I got my son on one end down in Millsboro, my son-in-law's here, and I'll walk in and they'll, you know, I'll hang out, chit-chat, maybe meet some old clients that I haven't seen in a while.

1:05:16And all of a sudden you get that feel like, okay, you don't really want to be here now. We got this, we're okay, you know, and you guys, okay, well, I'll go, I'll go play golf now. Yeah, that's, that's the thing. It's like you want to feel a little bit relevant and kind of the things and you don't want to, you know, don't want to micromanage some things.

1:05:33And, you know, I've kind of had, and I built the culture like my staff is like, I used to kind of just like wait, not saying anything. And I'm just like, okay, well, that's not really efficient. So now I'm kind of like, they just, they know. And I told them like, you have to, especially if I bring on new employees, like you have to get to know me and see how I operate.

1:05:48Like, With the When to Hold, I'm very, very relaxed in a lot of things, probably more than most operator business owners, because I don't hold on to bad, like, problems or stress or, you know, catastrophic things. Like, I just, I let go of things real quick. Like, all right, this sucked, get mad, fail fast. Yeah, 20, 30 minutes and I'm over it, you know.

1:06:14Oh, that was a dumb decision. We lost money here. Okay, whatever. Like, I just, I forgive and forget really easily, fast. And that's the thing. I don't hold on to it. And at the end of the day, like I tell everyone, like, it's going back to it. If you're not happy doing something, if you're miserable, you're stressed, how do we remove that?

1:06:33You know, what's causing your stress today? Okay. Yeah. What can you do to go down the list? Yeah, just go down the list and just let it go. Yeah. Don't let it go. Don't hang on to it. The grudges, whatever that guy did you wrong, whatever, like It doesn't matter. You're struggling financially. Okay, let's make a plan. How do I fix that?

1:06:49You know, come to me. How do we fix everything? Most stuff is fixable and anything within these walls, these buildings, I can help. I can fix. I can pretty much, you know, kind of on that. Anything outside of that, you know, maybe a little harder. I'm going to give you some guidance, but let's just move forward. And a lot of times my staff will be stressed out and it's just things of like this very minute stuff.

1:07:09And, you know, it's, it's easy to say, oh yeah, you know, you got other problems, stuff like that. Our problems are just bigger, you know. The more money we make, our problems are just bigger, and we just have to solve them faster. No money, no problems. Yeah. And so of that, you know, that— but that's a level of responsibility that we've been given.

1:07:25It is. We've been given the scale and things like that. So, you know, the pressure of employees and all that stuff, like, you know, and their families— I don't— it pressures me to be better. And that's where I started feeling like, I got to be better. How do I get better? You got to be better, right? You know, how do I continue?

1:07:40You know, how do I continue to go to these events? How do I continue to pour into— how do I reach out in personal development, not just inside the industry, but outside the industry? What am I doing in my community? Am I, you know, keeping my spiritual life, you know, am I following my— am I in the word, in my Bible? Am I doing those hard things, um, you know, kind of, kind of with it?

1:08:00And then am I leading at home? You know, I notice, you know, and obviously they go hand in hand. If your home life sucks, your business is going to suck. You know, kind of things. If you're stressed at home, you know, you're gonna be stressed in the business. And so, yeah, you know, it's just trying to, trying to mingle those things, the two, where, you know, they, they are blended together, but one doesn't, one doesn't hurt the other.

1:08:22No, no. And you, from just talking to you, and, and we met at Tectonic, um, are you— will you be at the Auto Service Leaders Conference in Dallas? Yes. Straight in your neck of the woods. Yeah. So good. Now we'll have to see each other there. I can't wait for that as well. Yeah, that's gonna be a good one. It's gonna be a great one.

1:08:41There's gonna be a lot of good speakers, good people there. I can't wait to meet up everybody. I know Bryce and the team put on a heck of an event in their past lives as well. But you have a very centered type of person demeanor. You know, even though you might be a procrastinator and all that stuff, that's on the outside. Inside, your core is, sounds, and from what I hear, is really intact.

1:09:08So congratulations on your success. What do you think holds the future for Andrew and the family and everybody? Well, we have some, I have some crazy audacious stuff that goes through my head every day. And, you know, I sometimes wonder, you know, and it was kind of fun. It's one of those things is that, I think a lot of people, you know, they, what their why, they start with their why, but they don't ever stop back to go back and say, okay, what's my why now?

1:09:38What's this changed? And, you know, the constant evolution of everything, you looking at it year to year, like I'm a, I live in the future. That's just my personality is like, you know, what's the next thing? And the measure I ask myself is this, you know, is this aligned with my beliefs? And, you know, is this what God's telling me to do?

1:09:56Or is this what I'm telling myself to do? Is this best for my family? And ultimately, what, what's the big win from it? Like, what's, what's the gain from it? How much effort is it taking? What's the gain? Um, and not necessarily so much now on the money aspect of it, um, but what can this change and influence that's going to be, you know?

1:10:17So, so I have to use that thing to keep myself grounded, you know, on a lot of things and not get too, um, not get too careless and stuff like that with What's the other one? It's growth, or, you know, whatever it may be. Um, I still like to, to be kind of simple on that aspect, but I got, I got some big stuff planned, um, working through.

1:10:37You know, we have a, we have a third location that we're fixing to go under contract on. Nice. Um, so, you know, continue to scale at the pace of, you know, when you can, when you, when you're able to, when it makes sense, and, and like you said, when the timing when the timing makes sense, that you do it. When you've got your pieces together, you're not going to force anything.

1:11:02You don't have to now. But if the opportunity is there, and it doesn't seem like— I want to say this respectfully, but the more successful you become, it seems like the deals come easier. You can approach them in a whole different manner and you can take advantage of things like like that. So, oh yeah, yeah. And it's just being able to like, so my bit, you're exactly right with that, is that you can look at something that, you know, as you mature and stuff and you get different experiences, that you may look at a deal 2 years ago and you're like, oh, that's, that's too expensive.

1:11:36That's, that's— you find all the negative things of it on that, um, for it. But then you look on the other side once you get— so now I can look at a deal, it's like, oh yeah, I can definitely overpay for this, but this is— and then structure a deal or, you know, see an opportunity and it's like, okay, does it check the boxes?

1:11:54It's going to— how long is this going to take away my time? You know, is it going to be— if it's a disaster, how much money can I set on fire? And that's the kind of thing that's what I like to gamble with. The thing is, I like to gamble with the money on the aspect of— when I say gamble, is it— to me, I'm not going to be emotionally tied.

1:12:11If I do a deal and I lose $500,000 cash, is it going to put me— how far is it going to set me back? Or if it's even going to set me back at all? Can I play on borrowed time where if I had to not be involved, do anything, and let it stand on its own? To, let's say I had to do something with my family, or I just can't be involved, or one of the other things, can I, can I do that?

1:12:32And that's how I measure it all. Like, it just, it's, it's not an emotional thing for me. It's like, okay, well then if I lost $500, but if I gained $500 on the $500, like, okay, great. Like, you know, that, that's the win. So I don't You know, I think a lot of people on that, they try to make the deal work or, you know, they try to scale and it's like, okay, well, it's doing this, isn't that like, I look at it is what's the worst possible thing that can happen.

1:12:56And it's like, if it's not that bad, then for me, it's going to do it. If the upside's there, you know, kind of the thing, like I, my second store, you know, we went through some things and, uh, I, when I moved, I hadn't been here as much. I went for training and things like that. And. I could have done, you know, emotionally reacted and did a bunch of stuff, hired different people, you know, created all this chaos.

1:13:17But I'm like, you know what? I'm going to put in my head that it's going to lose money for this long, for 3 months until I can get back and fix it. And it did it. You know, the staff figured it out. We kind of on that, but it wasn't like I didn't make emotional decisions on that. And I think a lot of people, and I still do it sometimes, I'll make emotional decisions and I'm like, wait, Andrew, that's not what got you here.

1:13:36And the thing of the taking the risk in advance, I try to be super conservative. When I started the second store and like the first 4 months were miserable because like I was trying to keep overhead low. I was trying to do this, you know, trying to budget there. And I was like, you know what, I'm going back to what I knew before.

1:13:55It was, you know, just risk it, you know, invest in it and try to get the return. And that's when we started, you know, making strides and for a lot of things. So yeah, I want to continue to open stores as long as I have the capacity and the team. Um, for it, you know, that's, that's the biggest thing is, okay, what can, what can I bring?

1:14:13Can I truly just bring, or is it just gonna be a store and a number? I don't want to do that. I want to be able to bring value to, you know, obviously the community it's in, but also to what kind of staffing and things like that. If it's in a demographics or in a city that I don't, you know, that I don't really love, then, you know, why do I want to be there?

1:14:32You know, I don't want to do it. Yeah., you know, for that, um, just do a deal just to do a deal. Um, can I have the same level ex— you know, customer service? Can I still have the level of talent there? You know, that's a big thing. Does— do I want to send my leadership team? Do they want to drive that far to it?

1:14:48You know, like, those are all the things that I've taken consideration with it. Well, yeah, you gotta do— you're constantly doing a SWOT for yourself, for your business, for everything, you know, and, uh, even personal So, but, uh, hey, we're wrapping up on time here. Uh, Andrew, uh, amazing. Absolutely amazing. You have given, uh, a lot of, um, great advice. I don't care how old you are, anybody listening, any age, you listen to Andrew and, um, not only what you've been through to get to the point of where you're at now, uh, but you've got great lessons that you have taken in.

1:15:23You're, you, you have been executing wonderfully. Um, so there's a lot of lessons that you shared in this episode, and I, I really appreciate it, you know, um, coming from somebody who's been in it for quite some time, listening to you. I'm, I'm— you've got success written all over you. I mean, there's no question about it. Uh, I give you props a million times over, man.

1:15:47It really, really is great. So I'm glad we got the time to talk. Um, You being on the COVID for Auto Service Leaders is just something that is well deserved and your story resonates with a lot. So I'm glad to be able to talk to you, get to know you. Can't wait to really see you down there in Dallas in September. That's September 19th or 17th to the 19th for the Auto Service Leaders Conference.

1:16:17And congratulations, man. Really, congratulations on everything. So thank you very much for the time. And thank you for— yeah, thanks for having me, Greg. And thanks for what you're doing for the industry. You know, I know it's, it's, it's tough out there, you know, you know, in the social media world and stuff like this. But I think it's great. It's what we need.

1:16:35We need more of it. Bryce, honestly, the leader's been great. You know, honored to be on the COVID Um, that's, that's truly a pivotal thing. And I, I, I believe that there's so much more and I think a lot of us just have to continue to step up and truly do it, you know, from the heart, the servant heart leadership. Why are we doing this?

1:16:51We do. It's not from my gain, you know. I know where I stand. I know where I believe. And, you know, for this, this is just to get to that next person to truly say, hey, there is a way in this. There's a different way. And as a whole, you know, we can change this industry, but it's just how do we improve it?

1:17:09How do we just take those steps to improve? I think it's going to take a lot of conversation and a lot of us opening doors to each other and understanding. You make a point. Now, we share our P&L, we share our numbers, we share everything. Well, why don't we do the same with our teams on the industry with everybody else? My mission is to present an avenue where we have good conversations, we learn about one another, we talk about the industry in a positive manner, not negative, because it is something positive.

1:17:48It's a heck of a career for people. You've proven that your success, how you started, it's an entrepreneurial dream. Most everybody, I don't care what trade you're in or what small business you're in, you can take your story and run that through anybody's list of successful stories. Local, local man does good, local boy does good, you know, whatever you want to call it.

1:18:15Um, and we need to hear more of that. We need to do better, and I think we can. I mean, it's, it's, uh, like you said, what do we got to lose, right? Yeah, yeah. I think the biggest thing is set aside, putting the egos down, and just understand, like, hey, we all have this, and it's a pretty privilege. It's a privilege to be a business owner.

1:18:33It's a privilege to be able to have that. And, you know, that, that's like, for me, is like, you know, how's this representing? This is my calling. This is— I've stepped in. I've been given this opportunity. I'm not this great on my own, you know. I got— I'm not, you know, it's— and none of us are. And so it's just of that— it is a privilege.

1:18:49And I think that's the biggest thing, and that's what kind of pushes me more. Should— yep, it's a, it's a gift that we, that we're given And we need to be better stewards. Oh yeah, 100%. You know what I mean? 100%. Right. And that's where we learn from one another. So that— I tell you what, this conversation could go on for another show.

1:19:09We'll get back together. So yeah, well, let me know. We'll definitely do it again. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it, Andrew. So, you know, we'll, uh, we'll, we'll hook up again, no doubt. So great. We'll see you in a couple months.