Ep 160: Hiring for Culture Changes Everything with Stacey Black and Ethan Whidden

0:00And when you ask anybody from Promotive, what do we stand for? It's keeping people in this industry that fit the cultures of the shop and they stay. You want to do your job so well that they don't need you. Yes. Right? Yes, absolutely. That's the greatest gift we get. I know some people are like, okay, wait a minute, what about revenue? There's plenty of shops out there that need help.

0:19We're going to just keep pushing forward, but we want to find people that feel good. And we get comments from technicians that are like, you've changed my life. 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.

0:42Are 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. Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Limitless Leadership Podcast. As you know, before we get started, just be, be sure to like, comment, subscribe, do all the things you need to on social media to help this podcast impact people and build leaders just like the leaders we have sitting in front of us today at Tectonic 2026 presented by TechMetric.

1:20So we are live at the conference. This is the first annual conference that TechMetric has. As I shared, called Tectonic, and I'm excited to have two incredible guests, both from the company that, or one of the companies that is a sponsor of the podcast, Promotive. Uh, I'm joined by Ethan Whidden, a sales account executive with Promotive, and Stacy Black, an account manager, not just an account, the account manager, Stacy Black.

1:45And of course my co-host, maybe I'm the co-host, but Brett Beutler is also here. Great to have you guys. Awesome to meet you. Thank you for being a podcast sponsor. Can't wait to hear your story today. Yeah. And speaking of stories, let's go ahead and get right into it. If you would share with the audience a little bit about who you are, what you do, how you do it, and what Promotive is, and then we're gonna get into today's episode.

2:08All right, I guess I'll start it off. So, uh, my name, like you said, is Ethan Wood and I'm— Promotive is the recruiting engine dedicated to helping modern automotive shops hire better and grow stronger. With deep aftermarket experience, they know shop operations, the technician talent market, and how transformative the right hire can be. Promotive runs a full hands-on recruiting process. They find active and passive talent, screen candidates with intention, and guide everyone through a clean, professional hiring experience.

2:35The result is a pipeline of candidates who are aligned, prepared, and ready to contribute. Shops work with Promotive because they deliver consistency, clarity, and real results. They take on the heavy lifting so shops can stay focused on customers, operations, and growth. If your shop needs to hire or wants to build a better recruiting pipeline, visit gopromotive.com. Start a search, schedule a conversation, and see why so many shops trust Promotive to find the right technicians.

2:59Atlantic Automotive is an alliance of leading auto repair shops. They partner with, invest in, and grow exceptional auto repair shops throughout the US. For shop owners looking to take things to the next level, Atlantic Automotive can help you scale with access to technology, people, growth capital, and operational support. For shop owners looking to transition into something new, Atlantic Automotive provides a trusted home for your business and a responsible steward for your legacy.

3:23Atlantic Automotive is not a franchise, a chain, or private equity group. It is a coalition of like-minded auto repair shops united by a shared vision and shared resources. Atlantic Automotive is a faith-based, family-owned company building the number one automotive partnership organization. If you're interested in partnering, go to atlanticautomotivegroup.com and fill out the Start a Conversation form. Sales rep for Promotive. I got brought on, what was it, about 1.5 years ago out of college.

3:51So I graduated with an art degree, studio arts. That's like what my passion is. It's my hobbies. And this was all very new for me. And I was terrified of coming out and being in this like corporate space of, you know, you got to say this and that. You can't be— disrespectful or you get, you know, in trouble or anything like that.

4:07It's way different, right? My first show was SEMA, so I got thrown— That's a party. Yeah, I got thrown into the fire and then dragged across the coals, which was like the best way to do it, honestly, because it was a good experience and I got to know everybody very well. But basically what I do is I talk to shops, I get to hear their stories and what they're doing for recruiting.

4:29And if they need help finding someone, I give them the lowdown on, you know, what Promotive is, what we do, and and how we can help them. I, I'm so honored that you guys are a sponsor of the podcast. It just seems like a natural fit being a leadership podcast and what you guys do in the automotive space with recruiting, talent acquisition.

4:46Uh, you know, and Brett and I, the way we talk about talent acquisition is hiring your CIAT members, people who are coachable, intelligent, who have the right attitude. And the I for intelligent is not necessarily book smarts, but it's emotional intelligence. We work with people. Granted, we work with cars too, but But we're hiring people who work with people, and we all know people are gonna people, and it can be challenging sometimes.

5:07But Stacy, go ahead and share with the audience who you are and what you do and how you do it. So I'm Stacy Black. I am an account manager with Promotive. And once Ethan gets a shop to come on board, I step in and say, okay, tell me about your shop. What works for you? What sets you apart from the other shops in the area?

5:23And my goal is, is to find technicians, service advisors, Ops guys, whoever they need in their facility that matches the culture of their shop. So I can find you an A-tech, I can find you a B-tech, a service advisor, but if they don't fit your culture, they're not going to stay. So that's the challenge I have from day to day. It's just working with them, figuring out, and they may say to me, oh, I want an A-tech that has 10 years experience, blah, blah, blah.

5:51And they go through the process. We find someone. It's like, okay, wait a minute. Let's back up. I really think I need a B that can turn and burn hours. So, you know, we tweak and we turn and we pivot a little bit. We like to say the word pivot a lot at Promotive. But friends, anyone? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And we all scream out pivot, but we want to find somebody that's going to stay at the shop.

6:16That's our ultimate goal. That when you ask anybody from Promotive, what do we stand for? Is keeping people in this industry that fit the cultures of the shop and they stay. You want to do your job so well that they don't need you. Yes. Right. Yes, absolutely. That's the greatest gift we get. I know some people are like, okay, wait a minute, what about revenue?

6:35There's plenty of shops out there that need help. We're going to just keep pushing forward, but we want to find people that feel good. And we get comments from technicians that are like, you've changed my life. And we don't realize the impact that we have. It's powerful. It's so powerful and it's so rewarding. As leadership development coaches, Brett and I know the importance of asking questions to determine, uh, or really understand who we're working with, who we're serving as a coach.

7:03And we ask questions in a way that will allow us to understand what their culture is like. You talked about culture, you said culture a number of times, Stacy. I'll ask you, speak to the listening audience, um, about what it means to create and cultivate a culture at a shop and how important that is? Well, I use two examples whenever I'm working with shops the first time.

7:25The culture, they vary, and it varies on the personality of the shop owner. I had a shop owner that was former military. He was a Marine, very rigid in his processes, ran a phenomenal business, but he wanted somebody that was in there that was used to process. You pick things up, you put things back. Very clean, very, very formal. I had another shop that was very artsy.

7:49They offered chess events on Wednesday nights and people would gather in their shop and they would feature new artists throughout their community and they were just very chilled and laid back. I wouldn't put somebody that's more rigid in the artsy shop, and both were extremely— are still very extremely successful. But it's about building something that fits what you have a vision. You want everyone going with that same vision of, okay, I want to know that it's going to be 4 generations of family that are coming in to get their cars worked on because they know that they can trust us.

8:24And so you want to build around that. I hope that makes sense, but— Yeah, no, it does. I think, well, also Lisa says like, would you take your car there? Yes. Right? Like, would you work there? That's a big question that I have to ask myself when I'm talking to shops, because I'll do all the pre, you know, I'll research their company, I'll go through the website and location.

8:44And as I'm talking through them, you, I guess I don't want to say this, but there's, there's definitely top-level shops and then there's not, right? And there's definitely factors that go into each, but culture, like you said, is how people stay around. And you could tell by just having a conversation with the shop owner how much they care about it. Whereas somebody picks up the phone, they're like, how much does it cost?

9:06What is it going to make me? Way different conversation. So yeah, it's one of the most important parts of keeping people around. Let's keep this topic alive. So now we're going to go internal with Promotive and let's talk about culture, right? Because we know you guys have a culture, right? We do. So what continuously attracts you two to the culture of Promotive every day?

9:31So for me, one, it's definitely the people that work here. I've grown extremely close with Stacy, with Lisa, with Sam, with Brian, with all the, you know, people that I hang out with. They're my friends now. I'm a 24, 23, I'm 24. Oh my gosh. I'm a 24-year-old guy and I'm hanging out with, you know, people that are definitely older than me.

9:54So it was a little bit of a, of a change up, but I feel like I could hang out with them outside of work and definitely partying and having fun and blowing off steam is part of that process. But it starts at the top, like with Lisa, with Sam. They lead by example, point blank, period. Like they show how to do it.

10:13They put in more work than probably 3 people combined. And so that's, that's what I look at. And I say, if I want to be here eventually, at one point in my life, I need to follow this example. And they've been, you know, great for that kind of thing. This episode is brought to you by Limitless Leadership because great teams don't happen by accident, they're led on purpose.

10:35If 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. They 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.

11:03So if you're ready to stop managing chaos and start leading with purpose, head to limitlessleadership.co to book a complimentary discovery call today. 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.

11:24Expect 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, can get $500 off standard pricing with code LIMITLESS500. Go to techmetric.com/tectonic. That's T-E-K-T-O-N-I-C, or use the link in the show notes. I think it's important for leaders to recognize how infectious they can be.

11:54It's really in, like, they're contagious. Like, we, we, we can either infect, we can affect. And when I think about what you just shared, Ethan, especially with Lisa and Sam, you know, we see both of them at just about every industry event, always smiling. Just, I mean, Sam especially, she's like the life of the party. She is. Like, she's a magnet for people who, like, She's a great energy about her, and I know the same can be said inside of Promotive.

12:18Something I really admire and respect is the fact that you guys had, um, earlier this year, and, uh, I'm sure you have them every year, your annual kickoff event. And this year it was in Florida, and you guys rented a big old house and had what, almost 30 people there? And, um, just had games and just like these events and this team building.

12:35Um, speak to the listening audience who hasn't done a, like, a kickoff event or a big, like, team-building activity, almost like a weekend retreat, um, what does that do for you individually and for the team for the, for the duration of the year? So from my perspective, I know Stacy has her own stories to tell, but from my perspective, it's a time where we can get realigned.

13:04We work our asses off like from basically sunup till sundown, we are heads down working and we're figuring out what the strategy is going to be like for the rest of the year. So there's that team bonding part of it. We also do trainings and stuff like that, breakout sessions, all that kind of stuff. But it's once those laptops close, that's, that's where the bonding starts.

13:26Uh-oh. Yeah, it's, it gets pretty, it gets pretty insane. We like to have fun for sure. But, you know, you blow off steam, you get to know people outside of just their work roles., and it's probably one of the most fun environments I've ever been in. Yeah. For me, we are a remote company, so we're throughout the country. So when we say, okay, uh, Connecticut, let's think of Shannon and Alex.

13:51They know that environment. They live in Connecticut. We have people in Florida. I'm in Texas. He's in Denver. You've got California. And so we're all over the country and we always see each other on screen. All day, you know, we're always communicating, but being together and having that experience and sharing stories and seeing the passion that we all have, it really drives home of, okay, the recruiters can see what the account managers are going through and they'll listen in on some of the calls with shops and the shops are like, "I really need a strong tech, please help me."

14:25They get that visual and they see our reaction to it And I think it just makes us stronger as a team because they're able to understand, okay, when I'm rejecting somebody or I'm questioning them on a certain candidate, they've gotten that interaction. They've heard that from the shop 'cause they've seen how we've reacted of, please, let's help these guys. And it's so important to us.

14:50You guys in some of the keynote sessions today are talking about AI. I mean, from Cedille Ford, right? I don't care how many years we go in the future with AI continuing to regenerate and regenerate, nothing will replace culture. And it starts with human-to-human engagement and interaction. You're, you're never gonna be able to replace that, right? So even if you guys are a remote company for the rest of your existence, there's always gonna be power in presence and engaging with your teammates who are your family.

15:24That way you can engage with your customer base however you do it, online through AI or through in-person type meetings when you come to these conferences, right? It's just, it's going to be a pillar for the rest of our generations moving forward. And that's, I believe that's what God intended it, no matter what he's going to do with AI moving forward, right?

15:43Well, I think one of the most moving experiences was when we were sharing our vision boards. Yes. Because, well, first off, I don't think I've ever seen that many people cry like in one sitting. But, you know, for the new people that got brought on to Promotive, it was their first time being part of a kickoff. Right. And so it's definitely overwhelming.

16:03I get it. There's a big house, there's a lot of people, there's a lot of energy in the room. And so you have to stand up in front of everyone and share what your plans are like. What do you want to achieve for this year? And so for a lot of people that brought up, you know, struggles that they were going through, whether it was just personal life, health, fitness goals, whatever it may be, and they're talking about it to everybody and they're extremely vulnerable.

16:25And so putting yourself out there and being completely open to these new faces that you have no clue who they are, right? I mean, it is a bonding experience. Everybody's on the same page. What you just shared, Ethan, really, it really is. It's a testament to the leadership from— I don't like saying top to bottom, but I'll just say from the very top, starting at the top with Lisa and Sam, as you shared earlier.

16:46And what I mean by this is for that amount of people to exercise that level of vulnerability, especially for some who just met some new team members. Mm-hmm. That speaks to the level of safety and trust that Lisa and Sam and you guys are creating for incoming team members. That is critical to the success of not only yourself, but also for your team.

17:09And it's our responsibility as leader to provide clarity and direction, but we can't provide clarity and direction if we don't create safety and trust. The fact that there is already a level of safety and trust is a testament to the leadership that you guys have amongst Promotive. Of course, this is Leadership Podcast. I'll ask you, what does leadership mean to you? How would you answer that question?

17:31I like the word that you used with trust and faith. I think that both of those are extremely important. And watching Lisa, uh, I'm just gonna give you an example. While we were gone to this, and it's a week long, week-long event. And for us, we were used to traveling, so it— our families are used to it, that sort of thing. Some of these people have never left home.

17:55Some of them just had babies within, you know, the last 3 or 4 months. We had one, her son celebrated a birthday, you know, so they're away from home. And what Kat and Lisa did, they sent out letters to the family members while we were gone saying thank you for letting them come. Yeah, to this. How huge is that? Who thinks of somebody, first off, writing a letter?

18:20Because now we email, we text, you know, whatever. They hand wrote out a note saying thank you for letting them come and be a part of this group. Yeah, powerful. Very powerful. Um, Ethan, same question. What does leadership mean to you? How would you answer that question? I think That's a very hard question to answer, but for me, I like, I think a leader should be someone who is adaptable to the person that they're leading.

18:50So for me, for example, I like someone who leads by example. I want someone to hold me accountable, but also, you know, show empathy with me, be there for me, have fun with me. Like that is my kind of leader. That's why I think I like Lisa so much is because she's all of those things. I, we call Ethan out on things just Let it— I cannot stand sugarcoating.

19:10Can I please bring up April Fools? Oh geez. Well, now you have to. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm older. I know you guys are shocked, but I'm quite a bit older. Can't be, maybe a year or two. Yeah, yeah, just a little bit. But I, we developed a channel called Promotion Motion. It's things to motivate our team and, you know, put things out there.

19:33Hey, I walked, 5 miles, or I achieved this on my vision board. And, you know, it's just we're always cheering each other on, or have you guys tried this, or whatever. So every holiday I try to post something fun. So on April Fools', I said, you know, at 58, Brad and I are just, you know, we're beside ourselves. The doctor came back and said that I was expecting.

19:53We're going to go back to the 2 AM feedings and blah blah blah. You know, our friends are laughing and all this stuff, and everybody was cracking up. And I said, oh, at the end, April Fools'. He's like, Stacy, that's the best news I've ever heard. It made my day. It made all of us our day. It's like, Ethan, we love you.

20:15I'm sorry, I saw it, I got excited about it. I love that. Didn't mean to call you out, but that was amazing. That's one of my favorite stories. Well, I obviously, we're very close and I like when I see these things come through, I get excited because it's, you know, it's a a very stressful work day. So I, I, I see the stuff come in and it's, it's, it's good.

20:35It's a nice, nice break. But I guess I wasn't paying attention to the calendar. So yeah, people don't care. Edit that out. Yeah. No, no, it's, it's staying in. Look, I'll say this, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And it's very evident that the two of you care for each other. You care for your team members.

20:50Promotive as a whole. Like we just see it. I mean, we being just the industry, whenever you're going to an event and you see Promotive folks, the, the way you guys just gel, uh, I mean, it, it looks like you guys, it's almost as if like, you know how to hire people. It's, it's just so strange. It's almost as if you understand what recruiting really looks like in an organization.

21:10Yeah. Um, let's say I'm a shop owner and I'm experiencing, um, hiring retention challenges. Um, maybe I'm struggling with interview processes. Maybe I'm struggling with just finding a good team member. Um, What does it look like? I mean, what, what, what, what's, what step do I take if I want to get, uh, involved with Promotive? So I think the first step for anyone is use your own resources, right?

21:35Like see what you can do on your own. Ask the tool guys, see who's in your area, ask your technicians first. And then if that all strikes out, then you should be looking at a recruiting company. I, I like to say there's really 3 reasons why people would use a recruiting company, Promotive in particular. The main one is timing. Like in order to be, there's a very big difference between recruiting and then actually being good at it.

21:57And the biggest part of that is how quick can you get to the candidates, right? Do you have a system in place where you can manage all of these people and are you on top of it, right? So that's the main struggle for shop owners because they don't have time. They're working on everything in the shop. The other reason is, um, you don't know what you're doing.

22:16It's a big, big struggle for a lot of people. There's, you know, a bunch of different platforms they can use. Indeed is obviously the most popular one, but people dump money into that thing. It's literally, I just said this earlier, it is like a casino. What are the machines? A slot machine. Pretty much. It's like, I just put in $200 more a day and I swear I'm gonna get more technicians.

22:36Yeah. No, right? So there's that part of it. And then, you know, maybe you're in the middle of nowhere And you have literally no one to pull from. Well, you gotta look nationwide. You have to do a relocation. And so being the shop owner, you just don't have the resources. So that's why you would use a recruiting company. You should definitely try sales.

22:54You're pretty good at it. Proud of you. Thank you. You know, and, and I'm saying that with kudos behind it because there's integrity in what you just said. Give them a chance to try on their own and then you guys step in and still act in integrity to make sure you're taking care of them. Because your culture cares so much internally, you care about them.

23:15Every single shop owner, right? And you care about the lives you're placing inside that shop. Because, man, it's either going to be an uphill win or it's going to be a downhill battle when you place that one person. Because one person can absolutely make an amazing difference or a terroristic difference if they're placed in a culture that is set and thriving like yours, right?

23:38Yeah, I mean, I had a shop at, uh, one of the training shows, Transformers. They lived in Broomfield, Colorado, which is about 30 minutes of Durango. It's where I went to high school at. And they're just using a different company, and they asked me like, why should I use you? And I asked, well, why would you? Like, are they doing well for you?

23:55Are you finding people? And they said yeah. And I'm like, well, don't. It's a pretty easy decision. So I try to be as more of like a, like a consulting figure when I'm talking to people. Like, I want to understand their situation, what doing, how can we fit in? Because we have two different processes that we can go through with people. So it really depends on the shop's needs.

24:14Ethan, earlier you talked about how a leader needs to be adaptable. And then the word that came to mind earlier was pivot. We got to pivot. Pivot, right? At Vision, not too long ago, Stacy, I heard you share a story, a personal story. And I— and for the audience listening, I asked, ahead of time if she would mind sharing what she's about to share.

24:37But it was a— it's really a testimony about how you needed to pivot unexpectedly. The reason I'm asking you to share this is because I think every, every person has a story, and I think stories need to be shared in a way that will really touch folks who might be going through something and growing through something. And, and I shared this with you before we went live, like that, that story touched me.

25:01And if you would share with the audience what I'm referring to and how you've changed your perspective on things. With perspective, the way that we view things drives the way that we do things. What did this event— I'll say, what did this event do for you and change the trajectory of your life? I— so when I started with Promotive. Prior to that, I, I worked in, um, a field where I was in automotive shops all day, every day, and I would hear them say, you know, get me more techs, I'd buy more parts, that sort of thing.

25:41And I heard that all the time. And when I had heard that one of my former co-workers had gotten with Lisa and they formed this company and, uh, they reached out to me, I thought, this is this is a wonderful, wonderful thing that we desperately need in this field. And so I joined the company over 2 years ago in March, and at that point they had been open for 11 months.

26:08So they weren't even a year-old company, and I knew that they were a startup. And I want to say we, at that point, we had 8 employees, myself included. So definitely very much a startup company. Took the job, super excited, ready to go. And, you know, the thing about Lisa, we, we do pivot a lot to how we can better serve our customers and that sort of thing and moving forward very quickly.

26:35And about a month later, I started feeling bad and I was out of breath. And I'm very active. I'm always going, just always thinking forward, that sort of thing. And at the time we had a two-story house and I would go upstairs to my office and I was completely out of breath. I'm like, okay, what's going on? I'm getting older. Right. And, uh, something's going on.

26:58And so, and living here in Houston, I, I, uh, went to my doctor and within 5 days I found out I was stage 2 colon cancer. And I had to take a step back and go, all right. What's next? Took a new job. I can do this. When am I going to tell Promotive? So after telling my family, that was hard. I had to make the call to Lisa and she stood by me.

27:37She's like, what do we have to do? What do we got to do to get you through this? And so They changed my position. I was an account manager at that time, which is my passion to the very end. But my body with the chemo and going to all these rounds of getting injected with, with that poison, I could not do that job.

28:02And so they rolled me into Ethan's position to help out. And I literally would sit in bed making phone calls to shops. But the thing that was so empowering was when I would go into the chemo room on Wednesdays, it was the same people. I would bring my headset in with my computer and I would call Shops. I would get on video calls with the team, the whole staff or whatever, had no hair.

28:30And I was trying to be a little quiet in the beginning, but they would hear me laughing and they would hear me joking with Shops and they would hear, You know, at times some of my coworkers giving me a hard time about, you know, where am I or whatever, and my nurse would get in the camera and so forth. But after I got off the call, these wonderful, wonderful people would say, did you make a difference?

28:55What'd you do today? How did you help that shop? It got us away from thinking about what was going through our body. And it was so powerful, so powerful. And even today when I go into the chemo room, they ask me, what, where, where are you going? Who you talking to? What do you, you know, are you making a difference? And that's what I want to leave out there with my customers, with my coworkers.

29:26And I think it's so empowering. And what it changed for me is understanding it. Yes, you wanna hit numbers. Yes, you wanna hit quota. Yes, you want to do what's right, but making a difference in people's lives is the ultimate gift. It's the ultimate faith in humanity. Sorry, I was so boxed. No, no apology necessary. First, thank you for sharing. So powerful.

29:51I know I'm not the only one who got goosebumps hearing that. Second thing is this, I normally ask the question of what is the best advice you've ever received from a coach or a mentor towards the end of the show. I'm going to ask that, but before I do, Stacy, what advice can you give to someone who is going through something very similar to what you experienced, where, um, it might feel like there's not a light at the end of the tunnel right now?

30:15It might feel like there's not a lot of hope, and you don't know what you don't know. There's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of just, um, What's next? I can only imagine the range of emotions that you were experiencing. What advice can you give to someone who might be struggling with something right now? Get help. Don't be afraid to go to that doctor.

30:36Don't think it's going to go away. And then talk to your coworkers and, and rely on them to support. I would get texts and cards and just random things in the mail and people saying it's okay, you know, it— get— go to your doctor, please. For anyone listening who is leading people, leading a team, I'm just going to respectfully encourage you to take some time, make some time, make some time with them and ask them questions about how they're doing, how they're doing up here.

31:15If you're listening, You can watch this episode on YouTube at The Bearded Leader. I'm pointing to my head for a reason up here and in here. I'm looking at my heart now. Find out how they're truly doing because a lot of us get so focused on the content before the connection. It's the work stuff, but we're all going through something and life happens.

31:38And for some of us, life is really lifing right now. And it's just, it's hard. It's challenging. And we don't know it if we don't talk about it. We don't ask. And your team members may be afraid to share. You mentioned, Stacy, that it was— you had to think about before you called Lisa, like, oh, how's she going to react? How is this going to go?

32:01I mean, how powerful is it that Lisa embraced every aspect of this? Some people could look at this as a burden, as an inconvenience, and she said, look, you are one of us. You are— we love you, and like, you're not going anywhere. Like, we're gonna make— we're gonna make it work. Um, I mean, that, that's, that's touching. That is really touching.

32:23Um, and again, it speaks to the level of leadership from Lisa's standpoint. It speaks to the culture that Promotive has been able to continue to cultivate. And so I just want to— Lisa, shout out to you. Um, I know you'll watch or listen to this episode, so, um, Love that about you, among many things. Um, now I'm trying to figure out how to segue off.

32:44That's Brett. Here, take the mic, Brett. You got something. We mentioned faith. This is what God wants out of business. This is what God wants out of us in life. Like, there's nothing more important than the story you just shared. Nothing, right? It, it inspired me to want to make sure that I'm always checking in on my team. And I mean him, I'm meaning all my companies, and, and ensuring that this is not just a, a paycheck that they have to feel obligated to pursue and do.

33:30Right? And she, Lisa, showed that the best leaders are still alive, and it's our duty to replicate that. I mean, Ethan, you're 23, 24 years old. You got a gift by seeing what she went through, and you have a gift to now push forward into this world when it comes your turn, to either be able to go through that with grace or be able to help someone go through it with grace.

34:11What a testimony, and thank you for being brave enough to share it. Thank you. I, I, it really— it prepared for any of that when it happened. Yeah, but whoever is Oh, it's a, a story that it's probably gonna be one of the most proud stories that Promotive will have for a long time. Yeah. The story of, of you and your team rallying and everybody supporting you behind the scenes, on the scenes, under the scenes.

34:40I mean, whatever it took for you to be able to get to here today. And I, I'm grateful to know you. Thank you. Uh, inspired by you. I know he is. I know Josh is. Um, there's so much in that. I mean, like, leadership-wise. And I know Josh wants to ask his next question, but, uh, can't say thank you enough. Yeah. Yeah, I'm chomping at the bit over here.

35:04Um, you can't have a testimony without a test and a message without a mess, and you certainly have a powerful testimony. And so again, Stacy, thank you for sharing. Um, I will ask the question now, uh, what is the best advice that you've ever received from a coach or mentor? And this is for either one of you or both of you. Oh, my biggest mentor to this day still is my dad.

35:26It always has been. He's just been a great father. Um, his, his biggest piece of advice that stuck with me, and keep in mind he's, he's great guy, super sweet, he treats me very well, um, but don't half-ass things. That is number one. No matter what I was doing in life, whether it's sports, work, school, relationships, don't half-ass it. If you're going to do it, do it to the fullest, because you get what you put into this world.

35:53Whole-ass it. Whole-ass it. Yeah. All— yeah, the, the two things we can control each and every day is our attitude and our effort. Yeah. And I, I just, I love the idea of providing maximum effort. It's not 100%, Maybe you can't give 100% some days. Maybe you're sick or you're injured or something's going on. You just— you can't give your 100%. I'm sure as you're going through your battle, you could not give your 100% each and every day.

36:17But if you could have given 80, you gave 80, and that's your 100. Providing maximum effort, not half-assing it. Stacy, same question. Best advice you've ever received from a coach or mentor? Make a difference every day, no matter how small. Smiling to somebody in the checkout I do have a story about that. Is it okay to share? Of course, please do. So I'm going through a checkout and I have this, uh, wonderful lady checking me out, but she's pretty upset and I could tell something was going on with her.

36:47And I had a Promotive shirt on and I said, are you okay today? And she said, no, my son is leaving tomorrow to go to diesel mechanic school. And I said, wow, that's 'Wonderful. Congratulations.' And she said, 'What do you mean?' She said, 'I want him to go to college. I want him— I want him to do something with his life.' And I said, 'He is.

37:11He's getting into a wonderful industry.' And she just— she looked at me, and we got into this conversation, and people were backing up. And of course, I was asking their opinions behind me. And that woman came out from behind the checkout, gave me the biggest hug, and she said, You don't know the relief you gave me. Make a difference. It's pretty incredible.

37:36You know, every conference that we come to, we get the opportunity to see all of the people. Like, sometimes it kind of feels like we're on an island, you know, we're trying to make a difference, we're trying to make an impact, but sometimes it feels like it's a lonely road and we're on an island. And then we come to a conference like Tectonic 2026 And we see all these incredible peers and mentors and people who, like leaders who are doing incredible things, making a difference all through the vessel of automotive repair.

38:07And it's a good reminder that this is simply a vessel. We are working with people, we're serving people, leading people, coaching, training, managing people, recruiting people, but you're doing it through the vessel of automotive repair and you're making a difference one life at a time. If you're listening to the, to the show and you're thinking, you know what, I, I, I wanna get in touch with Ethan or Stacy or someone from Promotive, how can I do that?

38:29Where, where do I go? Um, so you go to our website. Um, if you're a technician or a service advisor that's looking for work, there's a section of the, the website that's for that. And you could put in your information and, uh, one of our recruiters would reach out. Uh, for shops, there's also a shop section. You just fill it out and I pretty much call you like 10 minutes after.

38:47Excellent. 10 minutes. Okay, no, that's not on record. I'm gonna, I'm gonna bet the under. I'm gonna bet the under on Ethan. So promotive.com is the website, correct? Go promotive.com. Oh, go promotive.com. I should know that. Go promotive.com. Go check out Promotive at go promotive.com. Thank you both for being on the show. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching if you're watching this episode, and thank you for tuning in to yet another episode of the Limitless Leadership Podcast.

39:13As you know, every episode we look to transform our leadership skills by tapping into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results. So thanks again, everyone. Have a great day today. Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Go make a difference. I'm Josh Parnell and Brett Beitler— I'm going to say it for you, Brett— keep leading well.