Ep 150: Embracing Change in Family Business Leadership | Bill Haas and Sara Fraser

0:00To me, leadership is providing space for somebody to fail. That what you just described is what makes a business healthy. We don't agree on everything, right? We have to, we don't do everything exactly the same. Mm-hmm. You're listening to the Limitless Leadership Podcast, the podcast designed to help automotive repair shops learn how to lead, coach, train, and manage their team better by sharing proven techniques and thought-provoking interviews from industry leaders.

0:30Are you ready to transform your leadership skills by tapping into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results? Let's get ready for liftoff. It's time to go from great to greater. Here's today's episode. All right, so welcome back to another episode of the Limitless Leadership Podcast. We are, uh, at the 2025 Apex Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, joined by two friends of mine, two industry folks, two coaches in the industry, my friend Mr.

1:06Bill Haas and his daughter Sarah Fraser. Thank you both for being here. Thank you for having us. Speak into the mic, Bill. Step up, sir. Step up to the plate, my friend. All right, there, there you go. There he is. All right, uh, well, if you would, so you guys are with Auto Ignite Management. Another coaching company in the industry. I love having other coaches join me on the podcast because I think all three of us would agree this is about collaboration, not competition.

1:30There are a lot of folks within the industry who need coaching, who don't even know about coaching, and we don't know what we don't know. But when we know that there are coaches out there who are available, who are willing and able to help like you guys are able to do, it can really change the game and quite frankly change lives. And so if you would share with the audience who you are, what you do, and how you do it.

1:55So my name is Bill Haas, and I'm the, I'm the president of Auto Ignite Management. So I've been in the industry my entire life. I started out as a technician, worked in a Lincoln-Mercury dealership, uh, worked for a few independent shops, started my own business. Uh, the second shop that I opened, I opened with one employee in 1,500 square feet., and we grew that business to 13 service bays and 21 employees.

2:21We did that for 18 years. And after we sold that business, uh, first time in my life honestly that I didn't know what I was gonna do next. And really my whole life I always had a plan for what was gonna happen next and how I was gonna do that. And at that point I didn't. And, uh, I ended up going to work for General Motors as a contract trainer.

2:41So I spent 3 years with GM. I taught all their automatic transmission courses and an 8-day electrical electronics course. Those were my specialties as a technician. And, uh, after 3 years with GM, I was contacted by ASA, the Automotive Service Association. I went to work for them and I spent 12 years as an executive with the association. And after 12 years, I felt like I really needed another change again.

3:10I'm probably one of those guys that I have a difficult, a difficulty working for other people. Sarah, can you confirm this? Yes, 1000%. And I think that's where I get it from because I'm the same way. So after 12 years, I left the association. I started Haas Performance Consulting. And so I was just coaching repair shops and going out and doing business management training, speaking at conferences and that kind of thing.

3:36And 2 years ago we rebranded to AutoIgnite Management. Now that was done purposely for the business to have a life beyond my name. Okay, so that was very intentional. Um, Sarah joined the company 7 years ago, and I'll let her tell that story. Um, and in, in the last 3 years we've really been on a growth pattern. We've, we've now got 8 employees.

4:01We do a lot of different things. We do business coaching, we do service advisor coaching, we do hiring management. When shops need technicians and service advisors, we provide those services. So I think the good news for me, I'm kind of looking at the sunset of my career, but it, but it's really enjoyable for me watching the company grow and watching Sarah do what she's doing.

4:27So I, I've had a great career. I love it. I'm not ready to leave. Don't take that the wrong way. I'm, I'm here for a while. Leading a shop can be isolating, especially when you're trying to grow and still take care of your people. Tectonic 2026 brings together shop teams who care about the same things you hear on this podcast. Coaching, accountability, training, and building leaders at every level.

4:48Expect hands-on workshops, role-based sessions, and honest conversations you can take back to the shop on Monday. Tectonic is happening April 9th through the 11th. In Houston, Texas. Tickets are on sale now, and Limitless Leadership Podcast listeners can get $500 off standard pricing with code LIMITLESS500. Go to tekmetric.com/tectonic, that's T-E-K-T-O-N-I-C, or use the link in the show notes. So good. Well, we're glad you're here for a while, Bill.

5:16From, you know, from the outside looking in, and now as I've gotten back into the industry as a coach myself, I have a great deal of respect for you and what you've been able to build over the years. And I may be asking you on this episode for some advice for myself on how to scale a small company amidst a large industry like this one.

5:39Thank you for sharing all that, Bill. Sarah, if you would, go ahead and share with the audience who you are, what you do, and how you do it. Yeah, so I'm Sarah Frazier. I'm the Vice President of AutoIgnite Management. I run our hiring management program and how I ended up here is kind of interesting. It's, it's not really that Dad pulled me into the industry.

5:56I fell into it on accident. So a daughter of a shop owner grew up around it when I was younger. Never thought I would end up in it. And I was helping my mom buy a car one day and my mother-in-law knew a guy that had a used car dealership and service center. So we went to see him and found a car and we're just chatting and all of a sudden I feel like I'm on a job interview buying this car and I was like, Glenn, are you, are you looking for somebody?

6:20And I was in between jobs at the time, and so I ended up taking this job at the shop to work. I think I started out 15 hours a week just answering phones. And I mean, he was a one-man shop. He bought cars, fixed cars, sold cars, did everything all on his own. I ended up joining him. I stayed with him for about 6 years.

6:36I watched this one-man shop grow to a staff of 15. We took over the building next door. We hired a sales manager, hired a service advisor, you know. So I got to really be in a front row seat watching this happen. And I became a full-time office manager, so on top of that I was learning QuickBooks and all of those things. And so it was a really cool experience.

6:57And after 6 years seeing what my dad was doing on this side of the industry, I wanted to be part of that. I wanted, you know, he would come to events that were close. We don't live in the same state, so if he was doing an event in Chicago, I'd go watch him speak and I'd get to meet other people in the industry on this side.

7:12And I was like, how do I get, like, I wanna be part of that. I wanna be able to help other shops. And so I kind of pitched to him this like, how do I get into working for you? And so really what I started doing was social media for his clients. Like that's how I got my foot in the door. I don't even do that at all anymore.

7:29It's completely evolved into something different where we just saw the need with clients struggling in this hiring space. And my background before working at a shop, I was a store manager for a Blockbuster Video. So I had done, hiring, firing, all of that stuff. I have a pretty strong background in retail management, and I was talking to a shop and I said, let me see your job ad.

7:50What are, what are we putting out there? And so I look at their job ad and I was like, we can definitely do better than that. And I said, let me just rewrite your job ad. Let me post it. Let me do a couple interviews and see what happens. And we ended up finding somebody. I fell in love with the process. And so that kind of organically grew as something we did just for our clients.

8:09And then I started doing webinars and teaching classes on the hiring process. And now it's something I run full-time. I have a team that works for me in solely in the hiring management program. And it's, it's a challenge, but incredibly rewarding. So I absolutely love it. It's interesting how, you know, you yourself experienced this type of situation when you're given a hat to wear, which was the social media manager.

8:31And then as time goes by, you see that this person is capable, competent and confident in what they're doing. So we start giving them other hats to wear, and years go by, and then you, you look up and realize, hey, I'm wearing 6 different hats, none of which are the hat that I actually got hired for. My question to you, especially as, as a, as part of your hiring management team, we see this a lot in this industry where someone gets hired based on a job description that they applied for, they're given a hat to wear, and years will go by, or months or years will go by, and they're, they're suddenly wearing multiple hats.

9:04And here's the unfortunate reality: a lot of times they're given a lot of— a lot more hats and not compensated for the hats that they're wearing, at least not appropriately. How do you coach a shop owner or a team member within a shop on how to not only get the right person on the bus and get the wrong person off the bus, but how important it is to effectively onboard, properly train, and consistently coach, all while making sure they're wearing the right hat at the right time?

9:30All right folks, as you know, great leadership isn't about doing everything the best. It's actually about having the right partners in your corner to build your shop success. It's about putting the right team in place. It's about choosing the right vendors to make you a pro, making pro moves. And when I think about the pros, I think about Shop Marketing Pros. The know, like, and trust factor, that's a real thing.

9:52And Shop Marketing Pros understands that. That's why I wanna recommend Shop Marketing Pros to become your marketing partner in your shop. They get to know, like, and trust you and your business to then help your audience get to know, like, and trust you too and bring your shop to the next level. So when I talk about making pro moves, this is the kind of move I'm talking about.

10:12This is the kind of standard-setting partnership that's gonna elevate your shop. So if you're ready to become a pro in your shop, visit shopmarketingpros.com and partner with the best. This episode is brought to you by Limitless Leadership, because great teams don't happen by accident, they're led on purpose. If you're tired of wearing all the hats, putting out fires, and wondering why your team won't step up, Limitless Leadership is for you.

10:36They help leaders transition from player to coach who develop people and multiply impact through in-person or online leadership training like the Limitless Leadership Blueprint or their Roots to Results coaching method. Their services are designed to help you tap into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results and help you create safety and trust in order to provide clarity and direction. So if you're ready to stop managing chaos and start leading with purpose, head to limitlessleadership.co to book a complimentary discovery call today.

11:06So I'm a big advocate of something that we call a stay interview, and it's a yearly interview with, or even like a every 6-month interview with your current employees that is not a performance review. It is not tied to a financial gain. It is a check-in on what they're doing, how they're doing it, how are we doing as an employer? Is there anything that, you know, we could provide for you?

11:27Do you have strengths that we're not utilizing? Do you have skills that you wanna learn? And also, are we asking too much of you? Are you doing things that maybe you weren't originally doing and now you've picked those up and is your plate too full? And recognizing burnout before it happens. Yeah. And, and getting ahead of that. So I think that's one of the things that I'm a big advocate for is just that, and that's, Comes down to communication too, you know, checking in and, and being the kind of boss and leader who is present and open to have those conversations.

11:53And, you know, that isn't going to— that you're not afraid to go to and say, hey, there's too much on my plate today, like, how, how can we work through this? Or, you know, when I first started, this is what I was doing, and now I'm doing this, but I'm still only getting paid this, you know, and, and how do we walk through that?

12:07I love the idea of the stay interview. I really— I think it's important that we're asking our employees, our team members, Hey, how's your stress level? How's your workload? Are we overwhelming or underwhelming our team member unbeknownst to us? Bill, I got to ask you because Sarah talked about when she was kind of in the industry, but not really. She was working for the one-man shop who was, who was buying and selling cars.

12:32And then you, you as her father, see her in this small environment growing environment, and I've got to assume you had a lot of opinions about what this guy or gal was doing incorrectly or not. Were you able to just be the dad on the sideline or were you chiming in? No, no, I was never the dad on the sideline. Okay. But Sarah would call and she would present scenarios and she's like, hey, what do you think of this?

13:02Is this how this should happen? Right? Yeah. And so we'd have those conversations, but I wasn't inserting myself into, I need to change that business. Yes. Okay. I just wanted to give her the guidance and the counsel of what she would have to deal with because she was there. That was her life every day. It wasn't my life. It was her life.

13:24Okay. So there was a lot of that, a lot of those kinds of conversations and helping her. Because I wanted to make sure that she was well taken care of, number one. To be honest with you, when we were in Chicago together and she came to see me speak at a conference, and then from that conference we were driving back at my— at the time my dad was still alive.

13:49So I'm like, you come to Chicago, we'll hang out for a few days, and then I'll drive you back and I'll spend a few days with Grandpa and then I'll fly back home. And so we got in a plane, we got in a car to drive from Chicago up to Wisconsin. And I don't think we were on the road for 20 minutes.

14:07And she looks at me and she says, "You know, I could do what you do." And my response was, "I know you can. I don't have any doubt." And she says, "Well, give me one of your classes and I'll go teach it." And I'm like, "No, that's not how this works." I said, I know you can do this, but you're going to have to create the content.

14:31It's you going to— you have to own it. The only way that you're believable in front of that group of people is it has to be you. It has to be yours. You have to own it. That's good. And so that's really what started with— she's like, well, how can I get started? And so we— it was interesting because At the time, I had a little bit of a reputation for doing a lot of generational stuff, getting shops to— businesses to understand the different generations and the dynamics of having a workplace with all these different generations and the needs and wants and that kind of thing.

15:09And I had been approached by somebody to do a podcast on this generational thing. And I said, "Hang on a minute. Let me think about that." So I called up Sarah and I said, "Here's an opportunity. If you want to do this podcast, I think I can make this happen. Are you willing to do it?" And she's like, "Yeah, I'm willing to do it."

15:35So I called the podcaster back and I said, "Here's the deal." I said, "I can make this happen for you," I said, "but it won't be me." I said, it'll be better than me. I said, number one, it's going to be a young person. And I preface that with, I don't know why all you people want to hear an old man talk about generational differences.

15:55I think you just say wise, Bill. You're just a wise man. Keep going. And I said, so this will be a young person. I said, and on top of that, I said, it's a female. I said, and this is something our industry needs. Our industry needs, number one, to hear from young people. And we need to hear from ladies because they're a part of our industry.

16:18And, and at that time, they were kind of ignored, right? Um, so that really launched that whole thing. She prepared for the podcast and went on, and, and the, the podcast turned out great. Um, and then she, like she said, she started doing classes on the hiring and social media and different things that she was very knowledgeable in. And it didn't take her long to get a reputation for, hey, this is somebody who could listen to and, you know, take something away from, from the time we spend with her.

16:48Sarah, let me ask you this because there's a lot of, of our listening audience who are in a shop, whether they own it or whether they are an employee at the moment, but they're, they're in the family business. Mm-hmm. Maybe the owner is riding into the sunset, very similar to your wise father— wise, not old— and they are about to essentially pass the reins to their son or daughter who's also in the business.

17:18Or maybe they are in the opposite, maybe it's the son or daughter. Anyway, long story short, long question is this: what advice can you give to the listening audience who is trying to carve out their own path like, like you've done with— it was Bill Haas Performance Consulting. It was Haas Performance Consulting. Okay. So now being able to carve out your own path, you did the rebrand to Auto Ignite Management.

17:44You are, you are, you're not churning out your dad's content. Like this is your stuff that you're doing. What kind of advice can you give to someone who's gonna be walking those same, those same, that same path? I think the thing that I really had to learn was that I didn't need to be him. Okay. I didn't need to be another Bill.

18:02I didn't need to have the exact same opinions, the exact same talking points, the exact same content. I had to find what I was good at. And not only that, but like what I enjoy. What are the parts of this industry that I am passionate about, that I love to talk about, and how do I lean into that? And then also just, letting go of this unrealistic expectation that everything I'm gonna do is gonna be exactly how he would've done it because that's, that's not true.

18:31And being able to find a space in which I could do the things I wanted to do that still fit within the company. And then, you know, we had kind of talked about Haas Performance Consulting and what that looks like and how the name is really him being a one-man company for so long. Like that's when people would reach out, they wanna work with Bill.

18:52Well, now we have other service advisor coaches, we have other programs. And so being able to kind of remove the name, plus I'm not a Haas, you know, so how do we make that work? And for a minute there, we almost talked about making the hiring company its own separate thing. And that's where the IGNITE came from. That was gonna be Auto IGNITE.

19:10And I don't know how we, we kind of just stumbled back to that. And I wanted something that would be an easy acronym because, you know, our industry loves acronyms. And so, yeah. We kind of— yep. So AIM is where that came out of. And the logo just came together like that. Like I saw it the second I said AIM, I was like, it's a target.

19:29It has two arrows to represent the two of us. It's on fire. Like it just kind of— orange is my favorite color. It all kind of came together. And but also being able to have those conversations in a way where I'm not offending the work that he's done and saying, you know, your current name and your logo is bad because that's not what it was.

19:49It was how do we have this conversation in a way that we're moving forward without disrespecting everything that you've already built. And so kind of finding that fine line to be able to see the future and see where we want to go and what I wanted to do, but also not any disrespect to where we had— you had been, I guess, prior to that.

20:10I think that's amazing. It's a way that you get to honor the legacy that you've been able to create, build, but also embody the future that you are moving towards and aiming towards, quite frankly. I'll ask you, you know, this is a leadership podcast. If I were to ask you, what does leadership mean to you? How would you respond to that? To me, leadership is providing space for somebody to fail.

20:32And that is something that I've always been given that grace to try something, even if it sounds wild, because if I fail, I'm gonna learn from it. Yeah. And we're gonna fail in a way that we grow. And I think that's part of growth. And if we are put into environments where you're so afraid to do anything because you're afraid to fail, you're not going to grow.

20:52And that's just not— leaders that lead that way or lead out of fear, you're not encouraging growth. So to me, when I think of really good leaders, it's the people in my life who have given me that grace and that space to fall flat and pick myself back up. I love that answer. You know, when we can provide for our team members a safe space, place, and platform so that they're not afraid to try something and potentially fail.

21:16Like, the problem is with failure, we just If we fail at something, we often think, well, I failed, therefore I'm a failure. If I lose, I'm a loser. And like, we all know that those actions don't become our identity. And unfortunately, it prevents us from actually taking action because if we fail, we just believe that this becomes our identity. And when you can create this safe space, place, and platform for your team members and those that you're leading and those that you're serving, that's a powerful opportunity that a lot of shop owners are not capturing at the moment.

21:47Bill, I'll ask you another question I, I ask every guest in this podcast. What is the best advice you've ever received from a coach or a mentor? Very early in my career. Um, so think about this as a, a young man, 16 years old, going to work in a Lincoln, Lincoln Mercury dealership, knowing that I'm gonna spend 2 years there as an apprentice learning the trade of being an auto mechanic, my mentor was an older gentleman by the name of Vince.

22:21And Vince said something to me that has stuck with me my entire career. And what Vince said was, "Kid, don't make me look bad." Okay, so, but here's the thing. Sarah, this might be some words for you. But if you dissect that, What Vince was really telling me was, pay attention. Yeah. Don't screw around. Okay. Follow instructions. Okay. Because if I failed to follow instructions, if I showed up late for work, you know, all those things that made Vince look bad.

23:03Yeah. And so those were— that was so simple. But yet it was so impactful that it's like, as a young man, I'm like, wow, I can't make this guy look bad. I got him right. And he was the most respected guy in the dealership, right? And the reason I was put there was Vince was 2 years away from retiring. And the plan was— the service manager's plan was bring in the young man.

23:33He works with the old guy. The old guy's got 2 years to make sure this kid is on the right path. Okay? And Vince did that for me. Vince, I will remember Vince till the day I die. Just, just an incredible individual, right? But so smart. I hope I never made him look bad. I doubt you did, Bill. I love how You, these are words that came, you said, you said when you got into the industry, so we're talking just a few years ago, right?

24:083 or 4 years ago. So, um, but I, but I will say in all seriousness, I, I, we know that when we receive some feedback, um, we receive some coaching, we receive, um, some cases even criticism, especially at a young age, sometimes that sticks with us for a long time and good, bad, or indifferent. It really changes the trajectory of the way we think about things.

24:33And that's really a, a, a reshift of perspective that Vince gave you. And with perspective, the way that we view things drives the way that we do things. I've gotta assume that it prompted you to just start taking ownership. Like you became an entrepreneur in Vince's business. And I'll say from the outside looking in and just from our time today, our time together, Sarah, I'll say I can see the ownership that you take with AIM.

24:58Like you recognize the opportunity to, um, essentially step into a, it's like, it's like buying a, buying an existing shop, you know, like you guys know you're collectively building something greater that, that has been able to be built on the foundation of everything that you, that you laid, Bill, but you're able to take ownership because you are your own person. You're not going to maybe always disagree or always agree with your dad.

25:24You're not going to share his opinion on everything. But that's what taking ownership looks like. And that's a, that's a responsibility that I think a lot of folks within our shops can start taking is that, that ownership. When you start thinking like an owner, you just start doing things differently. And there's a level of pride that comes with it that is often, um, uh, not captured.

25:48Well, and Josh, to that point, that what you just described is what makes a business healthy. We don't agree on everything, right? We have to— we don't do everything exactly the same. So it's our different perspectives and the viewpoints and knowledge that I might have which would be legacy versus knowledge that she brings that would might be newer, innovative, or challenging. Okay.

26:22All those things are what make the business healthy. When those things aren't happening in a business, what are you? You're probably comfortable and you're not growing. Or you're dying. That's right. Okay. Yeah. There you go. Okay. What's, what's the path? The path is we're either learning and, and doing new things and growing, or we're not doing anything anymore. I mean, and that's one of the things, you know, that— well, we've done the leadership training.

26:49A lot of times I'll talk about suppressing creativity. Okay. That's a failure of a leader, right? When somebody brings us new ideas and we say, oh no, we've always done it this way. What you're essentially doing is you're suppressing the creativity of that individual that pretty soon all they're doing is coming to work and doing the work. They're not thinking about how I could help the company be better, how I could improve our process, our efficiency, our customer service, our any of those things.

27:21So, you know, those are things that I look for when working with a shop is, is this a shop that's embracing the employee's input? Or are they suppressing creativity? Because everybody has creativity, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Right? So you got to be able to tap into that. You got to be able to find how that's going to, one, engage the employee, and two, how does the business become better because of it?

27:51That is so critical what you just shared, Bill. We know that non-creative behavior is actually learned because you think about Young children in your life, 3, 4, 5 years old, they have wild imaginations. I mean, they like, they are so creative. But as we get older, as we go to school, we're told, no, Bill, don't learn that. Learn this. Bill, hey, no, Sarah, don't learn that.

28:09Like, don't do that. Do this. And so we start, we start putting this box around us and unbeknownst to us, and we're suppressing creativity. And when someone brings you an idea and we silence it like that, we're silencing their voice. I mean, they're not going to bring us more ideas if we're constantly silencing them. What they essentially do after they've had that experience a couple of times, they've learned that this is not a place for me.

28:34They've already started looking for another place to go. Yeah. Well said. Well, let me ask you, if someone is listening or watching this episode and they like what they hear, they're like, you know what? I could use some help with hiring. I could use some help with getting the right person on the bus and getting the wrong people off the bus. I could use help with effective onboarding, proper training, consistent coaching.

28:55Let me find out what— let me see what all the fuss is about with AutoIgnite Management. Where can they go? Sure, they can find us at autoignitemanagement.com. They can email us, uh, either Sarah, Sarah@autoignitemanagement.com, Bill@autoignitemanagement.com. The best way to get a hold of us. Awesome. Well, I would encourage you, if you're listening, to find out what all the fuss is indeed about Um, I can tell you as I get to know both of you more, I really admire and respect what you've done, what you're building, and where y'all are going.

29:25And I'm excited to be a part of this journey with you. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. And thank you all for tuning in to yet again, another episode of the Limitless Leadership Podcast. As you know, we look to transform our leadership skills by tapping into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results. So thanks again for tuning in. Have a great day, everyone.

29:43Don't forget to smile today. Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. I'm Josh Parnell reminding you to keep leading well.