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Ep 23 - Darrin Barney | I Made a Grown Man Cry
348 Plays11 days ago
Learn more about how Tekmetric WILL change your business HERE
Turnkey Marketing does what I'm not good at...Marketing. Even if you know marketing, let Turnkey do it for you, freeing you up to run your business. Visit them HERE
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Darrin Barney is the President and CEO of Elite Worldwide, the coaching company I use. And after this conversation, it further confirmed why I love using them. He made me think in ways I haven't in years. I even teared up a few times in this conversation. Darrin gets it. I learned something from this conversation. You will too.
00:00 Bragging Rights in Tough Times
03:22 "Effective Marketing Solutions for Growth"
07:14 Balancing Gym and Bar Life
12:07 "Elite Coaching Experience Overview"
13:33 Partial Achievement, Constructive Feedback
19:07 "Finding Inspiration from Bob"
22:09 Optimizing Technician Efficiency
24:43 "Enduring Automotive Friendships"
26:28 Automotive Growth and Coaching
29:58 Helping People: The Ultimate Goal
34:10 Child's Emotional Upset Explained
35:58 Balancing Passions and Family Time
39:39 Be More Human
45:50 Prank: Brake Cleaner Swap
47:41 "Toastmasters: Overcoming Shyness Through Speech"
52:18 Jimmy Page's Zeppelin Legacy Journals
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Transcript
Introduction and Family Bonds
00:00:00
Speaker
My son, though, as I was leaving, ah went into his room. I tell him every more every time I leave, I don't care if it's 3 o'clock in the morning, you know, flying out, I go into their rooms and I just tell them goodbye, even though they're sleeping, It's just a thing that I always have done. and i And my boy goes, my 8-year-old goes, ah love you, Dad. Come home soon.
00:00:19
Speaker
The following program features a bunch of doofuses talking about the automotive aftermarket. The stuff we, or our guests may say, do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of our peers, our sponsors, or any other associations we may have.
00:00:34
Speaker
There may be some spicy language in this show, so if you get your feelings hurt easily, you should probably just move along. So without further ado, it's time for Confessions of a Shop Owner with your host, Mike Gallum.
00:00:53
Speaker
All right, so I just got a message from Pollock, and it says, What kind of full-on ESO laugh should we be having listening to all these people bragging about their $300 oil changes, wondering why their phone isn't ringing?
00:01:07
Speaker
It's a cold open right there.
Business Challenges and Market Dynamics
00:01:09
Speaker
He literally just sent that to me. We're sitting down to record. And I think it's a good point. We've just come out of February, and I feel like it was a soft February across the country. right I heard people everywhere talking about how car count was down or consumer confidence was down. They they weren't buying at the same rate that they have been historically. And at the same time, in the echo chambers that we create in our online friend sets and groups of shop owners, you know, these guys bragging about they're the most expensive guy in town. And I don't mind being the most expensive guy in town. I am the most expensive guy in my area, right?
00:01:43
Speaker
But my area can stomach that. Um,
00:01:48
Speaker
and then you've got all the folks that are, I'm i'm very lucky. I'm in a very affluent area, uh, with not a super high level of competition. So don't come to Raleigh, North Carolina, stay away.
00:02:02
Speaker
Um, and but you got these guys who are in hyper competitive markets, right? Bragging about their $290 labor rate or whatever it is ah And then at the same time, the next day they're posting in the same groups about how car counts dead.
00:02:16
Speaker
So without introduction, tell me your policy on disco your thoughts on discounting.
Marketing and Management Solutions
00:02:22
Speaker
so I'm not a big fan of discounting. I hate it. So I want to talk to you for a second about the marketing service that I use, Turnkey Auto Marketing or Turnkey Marketing. They are like an in-house marketing director, but they have a whole team that back you up.
00:02:38
Speaker
Here's the deal. I'm really good, I think, at building relationships with customers and educating them and informing them on their needs. And I think I'm okay at running a shop. What I'm not good at is managing my marketing. And that's why i choose to be more effective, more efficient, more successful with marketing by having a true professional handle it. And that's what turnkey marketing does for me.
00:02:59
Speaker
Everything from website management, Google AdWord management, SEO reporting management, they know what is good and what is not when I don't and that type of thing. And so they can help represent me in a way that I'm not able to.
00:03:12
Speaker
all the way down to managing my marketing budget for the year and whether or not I can sponsor the high school marching band or whether or not I can have a booth at the festival or what size booth I can have at the festival, right? So they take everything into consideration and they work with me to execute on a marketing plan that's successful for my business.
00:03:29
Speaker
I was with Carrie Lynn from the very early days, and I'm happy to report that as her company has grown and her team has grown, I'm really happy with the service that I'm getting from them. I think you will be too. You should book a free consultation now at turnkeyautomarketing.com. I don't think you'll be sad.
00:03:47
Speaker
Look, when I first opened my shop, I thought my old systems would keep up. The software that I had would continue to evolve. But as we grew the slow estimates, scattered workflow, increasing downtime, really just, it was becoming a real problem.
00:04:03
Speaker
That's why I switched to TechMetric. It's not just software. It's a complete shop management system that makes my life easier. Smart jobs, instant estimates, integrated payments, integrated financing options. I mean,
00:04:14
Speaker
It allows me to focus on the work that actually makes me money and not get bogged down in the other details. My shop's repair orders have jumped over 300% since switching to TechMetric. And when I need help, their support team responds in real time.
00:04:26
Speaker
actually was online with them asking questions just this week, and I got answers in minutes rather than having to wait for callbacks and emails days later. If your system is holding you back, it's time for a change.
00:04:37
Speaker
Tap the link in the show notes and see how TechMetric can help you move your shop forward. I mean, we could that's a well we could spend a lot of time coming from a guy that that has ruined his customers because I didn't know, right?
00:04:49
Speaker
So for years, what did I do? I discounted. And now to this day, haven't been in the shop in the front counter for years, and i still people that contact me that are like, hey, you're going to give me a – just order some axles. Can you look at the price make sure it's good?
00:05:02
Speaker
So if you are a non-discounting value-oriented quality shop, which is a very real model that works very well for a lot of people – and you you want to stay away from the coupons or the haggling on price and all that, which I totally get, um and car count drops off a cliff, what's the magic bullet other than...
00:05:25
Speaker
the things we just talked about. Well, see, well, there's two different types of discounting. I'm talking about selling from your wallet. That's the discount I was talking about. No, discounting, heck, if you want to do deals, heck yeah. Why not? Yeah, of course. You do what you got to get customers in the door, right?
00:05:37
Speaker
So it's cost of customer acquisition, right? Yeah, exactly. you're either going to pay it in enormous marketing cost to build value, brand, and that kind of thing, or you're going to do it with less marketing costs but more discounts. Yeah.
00:05:50
Speaker
So I've always been kind of a discount model guy myself because as my friends will say, or as my good friend Dutch Silverstein would say, Stein, Stein. Is it Stein or Stein?
00:06:02
Speaker
think Stein. Okay. Braxton says it's Stein, so I'm going to call you Stein, Dutch. But
Routine and Personal Growth
00:06:11
Speaker
I lost my train of thought talking to about Dutch, and he does that to me. He's talking about discounting, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:06:18
Speaker
Well, I apologize. I've got, I just was totally thrown off. We were pressing the record button. I got that message from Brian and I just wanted to talk about it. But Darren Barney, president and CEO of Elite Worldwide.
00:06:29
Speaker
Welcome to Confessions of a Shop Owner. How's it going, man? Yeah, I'm doing good. Thank you, Mike. Glad to be here. And we're at Vision KC 2025. It is Saturday morning, early. It is. ah The expo floor is asleep still. It's not open yet. We're here very early.
00:06:43
Speaker
um But Darren, I think you get up at like 4.30 every day anyway, right? and Today was 3.30, but yeah. Time change, you know? What do you do? You've been up for four hours now. What do you do? Oh, man. Holy cow. ah Do you really want to know?
00:06:56
Speaker
ah Well, maybe. I don't know. Well, you know, sometimes like to walk around, ah you know, with my pants off and down the hallways and stuff. It's a good time. Well, I mean, you 3.30 in the morning time that. Yeah, exactly. Nobody's out. now I have a good morning routine I love doing.
00:07:09
Speaker
But the biggest thing is getting out and going for a walk, getting the blood to go in. So are you an exerciser? Yeah. Okay. I think I posted the other day, it was like, give me a thumbs up if you're like the, at conventions, you're the guy who's at the gym at 6 a.m.
00:07:23
Speaker
or I think I did like the smiley face if you're the guy who's at the bar at 6 p.m. um And I think think you probably know which one of those two emojis I am. Yeah. so But I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people asked what the analogy was to be both.
00:07:40
Speaker
And that's probably something that I should investigate a little bit. Because if I'm going to continue my 6 p.m. antics, I probably need to pick up some 6 a.m. habits yeah at this point my life. Well, we're all wired different. You know? i mean, you think about the Beatles, right? They had their most productive times from like 11 at night until 4 or 5 in the morning.
00:07:55
Speaker
Really? They recorded most of their really good albums, good hits, everything. All that stuff was recorded late at night. I didn't know that. It was just their productive time. Yeah. Well, know that they ah became expert practitioners by playing every night at bars in Amsterdam for like years, right? Hamburg, yeah.
00:08:11
Speaker
Yeah, so or Hamburg, okay. You would know that. So they have thousands of hours of intentional practice before they ever made it. and course. What's the 10,000-hour rule, you know? would say that was from Outliers, right? Yeah. Yeah, it was a long time since I... just finished the new one. Okay.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah. um Is that Gladwell? It's not Gladwell. Maxwell? who Who wrote Outliers? ah Gladwell. Yeah, it's Gladwell. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And it's Revenge of the Tipping Points, the brand new one he just did. Okay.
00:08:39
Speaker
I did hear an interview with him recently where he was talking about... how um ah some of the assumptions that he made were wrong in the first one and how he feels like he did material damage to policing ah policy in the based off based off of some of the stuff that he wrote.
00:09:00
Speaker
I don't remember exactly what the concept was, but yeah. Well, it's just one of those things you learn as you go. Yeah. So Lord knows I make plenty of mistakes. That's part of life, right? It's the whole premise of this show is me talking about what an idiot I am. So the thing is though, is that when to grow, you got to take chances. When you take chances, you fail. it's part life.
00:09:18
Speaker
Yeah. got to keep going. I mean, Tell me a little bit about, ah just give me ah a few minutes about your history and your your progression from shop owner to client to owner of Elite. Yeah.
00:09:29
Speaker
Okay. um So starts like years ago, like when we all turned 16, got our Eagle Scout Award. Dad bought us all Jeeps. So that started everything. Okay. Then we just continued to grow and to keep Jeep going and work on it.
00:09:43
Speaker
And I learned a lot about them. And so we continued to do that. And then my brother and I started a shop 23 years ago. If you're like me, you know there's always hidden revenue in missed maintenance sales or overlooked customer concerns.
00:09:54
Speaker
Detect Auto helps auto shops unlock that revenue by analyzing vehicle service histories, pinpointing maintenance recommendations, and equipping advisors to confidently address customer questions.
00:10:06
Speaker
It's easy. It integrates with your existing software, and your team will love it. ah Check out detectauto.com and see how your shop can stop guessing and start selling better service recommendations today.
00:10:19
Speaker
Yeah, grew that, did really well, but didn't know anything about making money. And so we hired Elite to help us and Elite really came in and helped us to dial the processes and procedures and pay attention to books and numbers and all those things. And then Bob asked me to coach. So I started coaching with the with Elite and and did really well with some clients. And then they gave me the master's program. And then he came to me a couple of years after that and asked me if I was interested interested in buying the company.
00:10:43
Speaker
I remember when it was announced, was it three years ago now at the annual conference prince in San Diego? Two years. Yeah, two. um It was shocking yeah because, i mean, he'd done a very good job of keeping it on the down low before it came out. But I'm really excited about the direction that you're taking, Elite, and kind of the energy that you've pumped into it with some of the team that you brought on and the style that that you're bringing to it. So the Ignite event in Dallas was awesome.
00:11:13
Speaker
It was the best elite event I've been to in a long time. And, you know, I'm an advocate for elite already. I have been. So were you a one-on-one coaching client or a pro service coaching client? One-on-one. Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah. um And how long were you with him in that capacity?
00:11:32
Speaker
um Goodness. I was still there up until year ago. So still getting coaching even after I bought the company because I have my team still working with Coach to make sure that things are growing and improving like they should. and I mean, the best people in the world have coaches.
00:11:46
Speaker
So who who runs the shop now? My Ginger and my brother. So Ginger's my wife, you know, and then my brother Chad. So, yeah. And we have a manager, too, but those two are the ones that kind of oversee everything. and So do they do they have a coach?
00:11:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Well, not at the moment. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You know, i got this guy, Matt Lofton, who does a really good job for me. Isn't he incredible? He is.
00:12:10
Speaker
So for those of you that don't know, haven't been listening to every episode if you don't know this, but I've been with Elite in their 20 group process pro service for my entire adult life because my dad was with them when I came back to the family business.
00:12:24
Speaker
ah So I remember going to 20 group meetings with my current facilitator when I was 13 years old. I would just tag along with dad. um And for the last several months now, I've been with director of coaching Matt Lofton, experiencing the 180 program, which is one coaching call a month with some accountability and some very clear goals each month set.
00:12:46
Speaker
um And you also have the 360 program, which is one coaching call a week, right? Yeah. So we're doing my small shop, my three-bit shop for the 180 program because I think it's kind of a good avatar of what a lot of ah early in the progression shops might look like.
00:13:07
Speaker
And it's kind of the classic A-frame shell station that's on the corner of every downtown in America from the 50s to the 90s, you know? Yeah. um And so the gas pumps are out and dirt square in the parking lot where they dug out the tanks and had the sinkhole they had to fill in and all that. Oh, yeah.
00:13:24
Speaker
So um but he's making me better immediately. I'm good. I kind of am a little bit of a creature of ego. I think I'm pretty awesome. Just ask me and I'll tell you. Right. um But he gave me a list in Dallas of six things I needed to do, and I got four of them done, and I was ready to pat myself on the back. And we recorded last week for the next call, and he did not pat me on the back. like He gave me some kudos for the things I had done, but he gave me some accountability for not doing the things I hadn't done, which I probably need. if i'm Especially in a month, bud. I mean, come on. Yeah. You know? Well, I mean, there's other stuff going on in the world, Derek. There is. Yeah.
00:14:00
Speaker
No, there's not. It's growing your business right now, bud. yeah um So your shops are singular multiple? Single. Single is an off-road specialty shop. Is that right? Yep.
00:14:11
Speaker
So are you building like rock climbers or like swamp buggies or what? We feed the male ego. so yeah So if you have your Toyota Tundra and you want to make it look different, we can level it up. We can lift it. We can do superchargers. We can do whatever you want to do So if I've got like little guy complex because you can go make me feel like a big man. of course. Super.
00:14:30
Speaker
Yeah. It's not just about the little man to big man. It's just about being – you want to be different, right? So ah I know that jeep the Jeep world is hyper-customized, right? Oh, yeah. Are you mostly Jeeps or is it?
00:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, mostly Jeeps. Okay. But we do everything. We really do. Do you do custom build like off-road rigs? Literally just like two frame up? Not as much as we used to. There's not much money in it. Okay. It's really hard because you've got to build a It's hard to make your your time up on fabrication. You know, you quoted it four hours and it takes you eight. and What do you do? How many people are going to come to you and bring you a $50,000 check to start and say, I'll call you if I need another check. and Yeah.
00:15:06
Speaker
There's not a lot of clients. There's not. Yeah. So um do you do regular maintenance and repair, like keeping mom's minivan up and running? Of course. okay Yeah, definitely. How big is the shop?
00:15:18
Speaker
um Well, we've got six techs. Okay. So, yeah. So are you squeezing to six bays or you got like 50,000 square feet? but We're right at six bays. Okay. So right one type per bay. I mean, it's, yeah.
00:15:29
Speaker
We actually have seven and there's one that floats for bigger projects. Oh, wow. So there's no leaving a car hanging a lift. No, not at all. You just like you finish your dag and figure out a way to get it back parking lot. Yeah.
00:15:39
Speaker
We're talking about adding on to the end of the building, but yeah. have plenty of parking capacity? Oh Okay, so you can have a car sitting in the parking for couple of days. Yeah, no big deal at all. um What does that look like in the custom world, like maintaining quality on aftermarket parts supply, like upgrading parts? Because I would think there's some pretty poor quality off-road stuff out there. How do you differentiate?
00:16:03
Speaker
That's where a lot of it comes from experience, and you know what kits to do on a vehicle and what not to do. And a lot it just comes from just doing it. You know, so... How do you educate and turn away the budget guy who wants to do the thing that's going to be a mistake that you know is going to come back angry because his truck's falling apart because he used cheap junk?
00:16:22
Speaker
lot of times just education. you know There's a reason why that kid is so much cheaper than this other one over here. and You go and you talk about the details and talk about why it is, and most of time you can educate him, and he'd save your money and do it right the first time, you won't be back here fixing other stuff. So if they insist upon going the cheaper route, do you say, well, here's a shop that can do that for you? Or do you say, well, sign this saying that you know it's going to fall apart? Or do you just say, no, thank you? It depends on what it is.
00:16:45
Speaker
Honestly, it's by bay it's it's one of those things case by case. because I've been there. and We've all been there When you don't have the money to do something, yet you really want to. And that's part of a lot of our clientele. You know it's the guys that just turned 16 and they inherited the Jeep Cherokee from dad. They want bring it in and have us work on it. So sometimes we will do it. It depends on what it is. If it's a safety thing, and no, we won't do it. But if it's something that, you know, you're doing a winch pumper and you want to use one that's a little bit lighter weight and we talk them, it's like, well, keep in mind, it probably will bend.
00:17:10
Speaker
But is it going to be a safety concern when they're winching? Probably not. It's just going bend and tweak and just have that conversation right up front. Yeah. So... so and you uh where's the shop again it's grand junction colorado okay so there's a lot of off-roading to be had around there right oh yeah i do want to go back real quickly you said i turned 16 got my eagle scout dad got us a jeep we had to learn how to work on it yeah and that was the case for yourself and your brother oh yeah just three brothers yes and three Okay, so ah that's pretty straight-up Americana right there. Oh, yeah.
00:17:41
Speaker
We all are Eagle Scouts. We all got Jeeps when we turned 16, and we all learned how to work on them so that we could off-road and tear them up and put them out together together. and like Just to drive them. You know, the said mid seventy s Jeeps were just piles. i mean state They were, you know, i mean always broken.
00:17:54
Speaker
And so you had to learn how to fix them. AMC is any any motor you know any motor company. So, I mean, they there's stuff from anyway. Yeah, it took a lot of working to figure things out. Okay. Okay. So how long were y'all in business before you decided to start seeking out coaching?
00:18:07
Speaker
ah 17 years. Okay. And what made you
Emotional Reflections and Legacy
00:18:10
Speaker
decide to do that? So yeah, you've heard the story. I mean, i we were busy. We were two months out. My dad had cancer and my brother had went home to be with mom and dad. And and there was the three brothers working there at that time. And he called and he's like, you guys need to come home. Dad's not doing well. And we're like, oh no, we're good. You know, we're we're two months out, all that stuff. And he's like, no, you really need to come home.
00:18:29
Speaker
And we're like, uh, Okay, well, we'll keep going. We'll come over this weekend. and if This is on a Wednesday. We'll come home. ah You know, we'll come over on the weekend. He called like four times that day. And finally at 4.30, he's like, seriously, guys, please come home.
00:18:40
Speaker
So, ah sorry, get kind of emotional about it. So we we piled up in this old 88 Honda Accord we had. and it was five-hour drive, my my younger brother and I. And we drove over there, got there at 11.30 at night. and And he died at midnight.
00:18:52
Speaker
And it was one of those things that i got home, but only had a half hour with him. And it made me really start questioning things because we love what we do, right? i mean, we got there seven in the morning, worked 11 o'clock at night and it's great and you love it, but In the end, I mean, we didn't have any free time.
00:19:07
Speaker
Almost missed my dad dying. So it made me like start internal searching. And that's when I had seen Bob back in 98 and he was, he taught a service advisor class and something he said, the whole class really resonated with me.
00:19:20
Speaker
And I went home one of those nights and Ginger and I were dating at the time and I went over there for dinner and I like after the class and I'm like, I want to work for him someday. He really, you know, it just just inspired me. So that came back to me when I was looking for a coach and what to do next. And I was like, you know i'm going to just check out Bob.
00:19:34
Speaker
And I found Elite. yeah So like never any testing the waters anywhere else? It was just straight into Elite? I'd already been sold on what Bob had said. I'd sat through one of his three-day classes, and it was just it had really spoken to me.
00:19:46
Speaker
And that was just it was just supposed to be. It was a November of 2017. November of 2016. We started in, you know, 2017. You said one of his three-day classes. I sat through... several Cooper classes over the years as a young man and then when I came back the family business in 01 still.
00:20:04
Speaker
um Y'all have multiple different multi-day courses and multi-month courses also. So you have coaching, you have 20 groups, but you also have training events. um Can you just take a minute and tell me, i'm just going to kind of go through about the master's course? Yeah, of course. Master's, six it's a six-month service advisor course.
00:20:23
Speaker
where we go in and we really go and change behavior. We teach them about how to really take care customers. It's not a turn and burn, get them in the door out as quickly as possible. It's more about building relationships. So so and that's that's three days in person and then weekly calls for six months thereafter. There's a midterm, there's a final exam there's ah peer group accountability because you get paired off with small groups of people that you went to class with for homework assignments.
00:20:46
Speaker
yeah um It requires a manager or an owner in place who's going to be active in helping that because they're going to be off the counter for an hour, hour and a half, once a week. one hour class yep And you can't sail through.
00:21:01
Speaker
and is possible to fail out of that class. Yes, it is. um I've sent probably five. now over the years to the master's program. right And it's also not cheap, but rarely is good cheap.
00:21:15
Speaker
ah It has always resulted in an immediate bump in ARO. ah And if they stay engaged throughout the six months, there is no but there it's not like it plateaus and falls off. It's just a new normal.
00:21:27
Speaker
um And so it's an immediate investment return has been my experience. um I'm interested to send someone else now because there's been a little bit of a changing the card. And was talking to Matt about it the other day. said, man, it is just fire how she's doing in the class. And so um the instructor's name Sabrina. Sabrina. Okay.
00:21:49
Speaker
And she's like five foot nothing. Yeah. She's awesome. She's just dominating this room full of big, bald, bearded dude service advisors, right? is It's the avatar that we are now, right? so Well, the thing is is that there's, I mean, the three days I still do.
00:22:04
Speaker
ah so So I still do the three days with Sabrina. okay And it's like, it' I love it. I've been teaching it for years now. And that's why we keep growing it and improving it because I've been doing it for so long and it's like, wait a minute here. Why are we doing this? You know all of a sudden, i mean, recently, within the last year, we've been doing now technician efficiency and how to help the advisor actually struggle you know schedule for your technician strengths.
00:22:23
Speaker
Because how many of us didn't know that, right? it took forever to learn that if you give a guy that's good with three companions, you give him those, he's going to make you more money, right? And so as an advisor actually knows technician's strengths and helps him to schedule for that. Yeah, absolutely. and so So that's the master's program, yeah and that's to help your service advisors. Yep.
00:22:39
Speaker
And you have a owner or manager course. It's also a three-day course. Fly with the Eagles, and that's taught by you and Dan or Matt. No, that's ah Joe Marconi. Joe and Matt? and Yeah, Matt and Tom. Yeah, three of them.
00:22:52
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. um And so these classes, that's a three-day course with financial management, marketing, hiring, recruiting, benefit, you know, building a benefit plan, um how to build estimates appropriately, you know, kind of soups to nuts type deal, right? Lots good stuff, yeah. um And you do each of those three or four times a year in different cities around the country, is that right? Correct. So you just did master's program in Atlanta last week. Yep. ah When is the next master's program? Do you know? That one's the end of May in Denver.
00:23:25
Speaker
and Okay, in Denver. That'd be an easy one for you guys because it won't be too far. Yeah. And when's the next Eagles? Next Eagle's in June. Okay. And where's that one going from? Grand Rapids, Michigan.
00:23:36
Speaker
Okay. So i my ah the guy who runs two of my three stores went to the Eagles program in Raleigh oh yeah last year, and it's been great. yeah He was a dealer long-time dealership service manager guy, so and they have a certain perspective that is valuable but different. Yeah, course. And so getting him a little exposure to that was was awesome.
00:23:59
Speaker
Yeah. um It's just different ways of seeing things. Yeah. We've all been hearing the same stuff forever, but it's just for being reminded of the things that you know you need to be doing or to some people, it's the first time you hear it.
00:24:10
Speaker
So am I missing anything? You've got the service advisor program. You've got the manager owner program. You've got once a month and once a week, one-on-one coaching. You've got the 20 group. I know that there's a tire specific 20 group, but is is that group full?
00:24:24
Speaker
Yeah. and And it's only open to that brand, right? Correct. Okay. Point S. Yeah. um In the 20 groups, there are eight or nine of them. Yeah. It just depends on. many packs? Yeah.
00:24:36
Speaker
We're working through updating a lot of that yeah to make it newer and relevant. You know, we've been doing it the same way for 20 years and it's time to... Well, i and i everything has to grow and evolve, right? course. But I will say that my very best friends in the world in the automotive space are all from this group.
00:24:54
Speaker
Right. And my dad told me this back in 2001, and I didn't get it at the time, but he said, There are only a few people in the world that I can call and say I need $100,000 and they'll send it to me without asking questions.
00:25:08
Speaker
And they're all from this group. And so that is absolutely the case right now. Isn't that cool? Yeah. um Just to have those resources though? Well, and to know that they have faith in me and they trust me and that I would do the same for them.
00:25:21
Speaker
ah is pretty awesome. It's not just about the money though. It's about, you know, i mean we hear the stories all the time and I've known guys that someone's struggling. So everybody will fly out there from the group and go in and just spend some time with them to just help them out, to help them dial in on whatever they're working through.
00:25:35
Speaker
So I was... Last year I was in a hot mess. yeah i've been kind of I'd take my eye off the ball and things were running sideways a little bit. I hadn't told the guys. right We have a group text. We talk every day constantly, but I hadn't told them that thing we were struggling.
00:25:52
Speaker
I went down to Houston. It was at Harrison's meeting. yeah and We talked a little bit privately. and He called me the next day after i got home. and He said, hey, don't ever do that again. And if you do that again, I'm going to fly to North Carolina and beat your ass.
00:26:05
Speaker
So you have to tell us if things are hard so that we can help. yeah If you don't communicate, it doesn't work. um So that's, again, that's the kind of love and accountability that you get from having ah peer group like that. So thank you for facilitating that. Yeah, of course. um Do you have like a vision for where Elite is going? like what What does Elite look like in 2030?
00:26:27
Speaker
mean, we're going to continue to grow and help out the automotive industry. and The goal is to be able to help those guys like myself that didn't know anything about coaching or anything. And I struggled for all those years, and yet we didn't know.
00:26:40
Speaker
I able to help all those people that aren't at Vision, that aren't at any of the training expos, and and help them to grow and get where they need to be. So that's where I want to go there, and i want to continue to help elevate the guys like yourself that have been doing this for a while, that are already dialed in, that have things going, and continue to bring in new content and help them up to that next level.
00:26:55
Speaker
you know So that's the the long-term vision is just we want to continue to grow and do it the right way. I know that you're obviously you're here at Vision. And you're all teaching classes this this year? Oh, yeah. Teach later today. yeah All right. Super. Are you doing the four pillars or which class are doing? No, no. This is ah Get Out of the Grind, the shop owner job description. Okay. yeah right it's Yeah. this That's a real struggle. Well, we're going to talk about, mean, my favorite part about this is that I'm going talking to about their legacy.
00:27:20
Speaker
What are they leaving behind? what are you going to leave behind? What are you going to leave behind, Mike? um Okay, i could have been really obnoxious there. I'm not going to do that. Well, I mean, yeah well but i mean no that's the truth, though. i mean you know We're so busy chasing after these things, but have we really thought about when we die, what do we want our kids to think about us? yeah What about the neighbors and and the people in your community? What do you want them to say? What do you want the industry to say about you when you die?
00:27:45
Speaker
that's what That's what I'm going to be spending a lot of my time today talking about because I want i never thought that. I knew I wanted to take care of customers. And to this day, I have customers around the world. i have some very famous people that are customers, right?
00:27:56
Speaker
Because when we first started, it's like we're going to do everything we could to take care of customers. And my brother and I talked and joked about it. We wanted to be known around the world for taking care of Jeeps and fixing them, you know? And that was just that was just us when we were talking about what we wanted to do. But...
00:28:09
Speaker
That was not serious. I mean, it was serious for us, but I didn't plan it out. yeah And that's what I'm encouraging people to do today is like, really think about what do you want to be known for? what is What does Mike want to be known for when you die?
00:28:21
Speaker
I have no clue. Right? Well, what does Darren want to be known for? I just want to be known that i help people. That's why I'm here upon the earth, to help people get what they want out of life. It's my job. don't really believe that. And it's something that I want to be able to. So my dad's funeral, right? When he when he died, he was he was one of my best friends. I talked to him every day.
00:28:38
Speaker
And when he died, it it hurt. get kind of emotional about it, but it was like one of those things that was really, it hurt. And i stood for two hours after his funeral, and people came and talked to us for two hours before we could go to the burial because people wanted to tell us about how much my dad meant to him.
00:28:54
Speaker
I told myself it's like you know what when I die I want that same thing I want people to say that I did made a difference I want my kids to hear that that I actually made a difference I touched them and I helped them in some way you know people that and my dad stuff was like dad was my Scout leader you know 20 years ago and he helped me just believe in myself and just hearing this stuff and I was like man I want to be that someday where I make a difference you know people are like he was a good guy you know He helped me do this or whatever.
00:29:18
Speaker
So that's that's that's me. I just want to want to be able to make a difference. That's why love doing the master's class so much. Honestly, that's why i still do it. so
00:29:27
Speaker
Darren, you're making me feel bad about myself and you're making me feel like I'm very vain and shallow because I don't ever think in terms of things. But why would We're so busy thinking about the next thing, right? But we got to start with the end in mind. Stephen Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, right? It's in there. It's like, what you want people to say your funeral?
00:29:44
Speaker
Think about it. And just really, I mean, still can enjoy life and do all the stuff you're doing now, but really, what are we doing to make a bigger difference down the road? Oh, I made billions of dollars. Well, good for you.
00:29:55
Speaker
Good. That's great. Well, what what do you do with the billions? Yeah. mean, what are you doing to make a difference to help actually help people? You know? And that's that's the thing is that, I mean, we get paid by the value we add to the world, and i really believe that.
00:30:07
Speaker
But the end of the day, it's about helping people. You know, I did all these studies and I mean, I've studied so many successful people and they all say the same thing. It's like, you know, if I could go back in time and live my life over again, what would you do different? It's like, well, I would spend more time with my family.
00:30:22
Speaker
I would do more things to help people. That's what, that's what the majority of them have all said. And so you think about that, right? And it's like, I mean, granted, these are people that were extremely wealthy when they passed away, but it's like, there's something to that where you got to take care of people.
00:30:35
Speaker
And today it's what matters. I think there is, ah um There is a symptom of society that those that don't have financial success strive for financial success and those who do and money is no longer a concern, they think about those other things. I wish I had spent more time you know traveling or you know with my kids or whatever else. and It's true. no No tombstone says I wish i had spent more time at work, right? um
00:31:06
Speaker
But I want to do really awesome stuff with my kids, and that's almost, not all of it's expensive, but a lot of it's really expensive. Oh, but is it, though? I mean, okay, so you posted something about playing Monopoly. You've done it a couple times, right? Yeah. yeah Do you think that they're going to remember that memory of playing Monopoly with dad? the emotional trauma? Absolutely. No, but the the thing is that you made it fun.
00:31:25
Speaker
Yeah. That's what that's supposed was about. was about, yeah, they were upset, but they had fun doing it. Yeah. They're going to do that with their kids. Yeah. That's what they're going to remember. Yes. The great trips and going on cruises and whatever it is that you like to do. That's great.
00:31:36
Speaker
But it's those core memories of just playing around with dad, spending time with dad. That's what's, that's what's important. Uh, how old are your kids? Uh, I've got, uh, eight year olds, 16 and 18. Okay.
00:31:48
Speaker
And um how does the eight year old feel about your travel schedule? um Actually, this last week was rough. So my grandmother, my group or my my my wife's mom just passed away. We just had the funeral on Monday.
00:32:01
Speaker
Okay. So Monday was funeral. Tuesday I was traveling home. I was at Masters last week. Okay. And then she she tells me on Tuesday, she's Ginger. She's like, um can you, I need you.
00:32:13
Speaker
Can you just stay home this week? I supposed to be at Vision, And was supposed to be doing all this stuff and I'm like, yeah, I'll be here. So I canceled everything. I moved my flights to Friday and so I could be here. Then, you know, flew out yesterday and got here late last night. And um my son though, as I was leaving, ah went into his room. I tell him every more, every time I leave, i don't care if it's three o'clock in the morning, you know, flying out, I go into their rooms and I just tell them goodbye, even though they're sleeping, right? It's just a thing that I always have done.
00:32:35
Speaker
And I,
00:32:39
Speaker
and my boy goes, my eight year old goes, I love you, Dad. Come home soon. And it's like, this is what I do. And he knows. They all know how much I love doing what I do. But it's like, you know, he's got a basketball game this morning. And we're running the the vendor show. And I had texted my wife this morning. I'm like, please call me on the way to the basketball game. and i you So I got to tell this story really quick. okay So last last Saturday, I'm in master's class.
00:33:06
Speaker
And I'm teaching and I'm presenting. And I told her, I'm like, call me so I can go watch Adam's basketball game. He's my eight-year-old. So she called me. She's FaceTiming me. She's watching the game. He comes, throws the ball up, catches it, hits the ball. It hits her phone, and it goes and it tags her in the face hey while I'm FaceTiming. And I'm in Atlanta, Georgia, and they're in Grand Junction, right? So now she has a black eye from the phone hitting her in the eye And she had that we had the funeral on Monday and all that stuff, and she had this big old black eye, the shiner.
00:33:32
Speaker
So anyway, it's just the sacrifice that comes along with trying to do things remotely, right? So anyway, I had ah call last night. um I left the lobby bar early because I was tired as a travel day.
00:33:44
Speaker
um And i was called the house to check in on the kids. The reason I got here late was because two of my three children are in a theater troupe and the premiere of this season's play was Thursday night. So I went to their play Thursday night and and I've traveled here Friday.
00:34:02
Speaker
And so they, you know, it's every night for a little while. And so I called them and they were getting out of theater, ah heading home. it was like 10 o'clock Eastern or 11 o'clock Eastern, whatever time it was. yeah um And my 12 year old was really upset about something. After the play, he was fine.
00:34:23
Speaker
And then during like the mob where everybody's congratulating everybody and giving flowers and all that kind of stuff, ah he comes back and he's upset. And my ah my wife's like, he won't tell me what's wrong.
00:34:36
Speaker
He says he doesn't want to talk about it. And, you know, It was upsetting her because she was worried that there was something like a my bullying situation or what she didn't know. And so she handed the phone to him and he was like, I want to tell you about it, but I don't want her to know about it. And i was like, oh.
00:34:54
Speaker
And then he said, why do these things always happen while you're gone? I wish you were home more.
00:35:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's hard. man But, I mean, he gets it when things are good. But when things are bad, you want to be there for your kids, right? That's what you do. And for what it's worth, I'm really proud of him because he's at that age of life where he's starting to notice that there are cute girls out there.
00:35:17
Speaker
and he worked up the courage to approach the girl he had a crush on and talk to her awesome uh and she shot him down it's his first uh missed shot right it's all right and so it upset him so that's that it's that first moment of rejection right and so i i really hate that i'm not there to kind of be like bro let me tell you some stories about me getting shot down you know but i mean the courage to do that i mean i i certainly didn't have the courage to do that at 12 years old that's for sure so yeah don't should be worried or... It's good thing, you know? Well, but I mean, that's part of the the game of life is falling down and getting knee bumped and then figuring out what you can do next time to make it better. Yeah. you know
00:35:53
Speaker
That makes me want to call him. going call him after that. afterward Well, that's the takeaway, though, is that we just do the best that we can. Yeah. You know? i mean, we still got to do what we are drawn to do, what we're passionate about. But... You gotta make sure you still take the time to call him and FaceTime him and talk with him. And like I'm gonna do in a couple hours here when he's out of the basketball game, I'm gonna get back on FaceTime again. Hopefully the ball doesn't hit her in the head.
Screen Time and Family Engagement
00:36:10
Speaker
But you know, it's one of those things that still gotta be involved the best we can.
00:36:13
Speaker
I mean, when you get home though, you gotta make sure you're there 100%. You know, you're in that phone and we we've talked about this, you know, 11 and a half hours per day is what the average person is spending on the screens per day. That's crazy. 11 and a half hours, 11 and a half hours per day. How many hours per day do you think a person is awake?
00:36:29
Speaker
17, 18? I have no idea. have to look. I really don't know. So the majority of their waking hours, they're in front of the screen now. So think about that. I mean, I'm not talking about just phone time. Yeah, see, Braxton's over here on his phone. But i mean, the thing is, you got this phone right here from this computer is also in that screen time, your TV is also counted too.
00:36:46
Speaker
yeah So 11 and half hours though, but that's time that, cut an hour out of that and devote it to your kids. Be there playing that Monopoly and not in the phone, but actually be there with them. That's what's most important you've got that quality time. Does it count if I'm crushing them on Mario Kart?
00:37:01
Speaker
It's still time together. Yeah, It's screen time for both of us. Yeah. but um yeah As long as I'm destroying them. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I wondered about that because my kids and I love playing too. I mean, it's something we really enjoy doing, but I was wondering about that the other night. It's like, is this really the best use of my time? Because I'm not getting high time with them.
00:37:17
Speaker
There's some crazy stat right now. And I don't remember. I got to look it up, but it's like the average kid has less than, i don't remember what, a seven minutes of of FaceTime with their parent a day. A day? Yeah. That's crazy.
00:37:28
Speaker
Because the parents on the phone, the kids watching screen time, whatever it is, and they're not getting that eye time, you know? So anyway.
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah. and Did you ever let your kids win and games? um The first one, no. And now he's so competitive, and he's always trying to beat me.
00:37:48
Speaker
And it's like I realized that I screwed up. The second one, I let her win a little bit more. She's my daughter. She's my sweetheart. So I let her win a little bit more, and she's not as competitive as the oldest one is because I always just stomped him. Yeah. I just ah try to, whenever there's competition, I just try to crush their spirit regardless of what it is. Yeah.
00:38:06
Speaker
um there might be Amanda doesn't play board games with us anymore. right yeah she's She just goes and does her Bible study or something when we're in there you know flipping tables over and yelling at each other.
00:38:16
Speaker
so It's good. It's nice healthy behavior. It is. Some people raise their children to be Eagle Scouts and get them a Jeep that they didn't have to work on. and I just destroy the psyche of my children with board games. yeah and so You teach them other things.
00:38:31
Speaker
the same thing, right? Yeah, it is. yeah it is it did It's not the same thing. um All right. So one of the things that I always do is I ask for a confession. Like this is the confessional.
00:38:42
Speaker
bless Bless you shop owner for you have sinned. um Anything that's happened recently at Barney Brothers or a story from the past about something that went terribly sideways and how you changed the business so that that didn't happen again.
00:38:56
Speaker
We could be here for i mean three or four hours. i mean My life is a walking mistake, I really believe. I learned it from you know Einstein, or not from Einstein, but... I'm drawing a blank here.
00:39:08
Speaker
Edison. That other smart guy. Yeah, exactly. yeah No, but i mean, you fail so many times creating a light bulb, right? And that's part of life. We're always going to continue to fail. If we don't fail, we're not taking chances. He succeeded 10,000 times at finding a way that didn't work. Yeah, that would exactly. Yeah. yeah You know, and that number varies. And i actually went to Menlo Park and toured that to see where he worked at. It was fascinating place to go see.
00:39:28
Speaker
But it I really believe that if a life without mistakes is a life not lived because we've got to go out and push ourselves to be the best we can be. So, um I mean, this last two weeks has been a blur with everything that's been going on, but I've i've screwed up lots. I think the biggest thing for me is just... ah being more personal with people, especially my employees, because I hold them to high standards and it's like I want results and I want to get things done.
00:39:54
Speaker
And I forget to be a human being. In fact, some of my team will be like, Darren, remember to be a human. And i'm like, oh yeah. Because I just didn't like, okay, so what where are we at? It's like, well, how was the funeral? And I'm like, it was fine.
00:40:05
Speaker
You know, and I just automatically get back into, well, what do you need help with? Let's go. Let's get going. we've I've only got so much time. And so that's my biggest thing recently is I got to remember to be more human and actually care. Yeah, because it's not that i don't care. Yeah, you care. mean, think about them at 2 o'clock in the morning, right? And you wake up and you're just like,
00:40:23
Speaker
You know, i wonder how things are going. Crud, he told me about it. He had this with his going on with his son, and I forgot to ask. I remember it then. But during the day, it's like, man, only got so much time in this role. yeah you know So I got to remember to be more human and just be nice and just care.
00:40:35
Speaker
i mean, because I do care, but it's just like... You got me for a half hour. Let's make the most of this. you know But to make the most that to somebody, it may mean that we're just like talking about the dog not doing well. They had go in and get injections in the dog's knees and me bulldozing over that and going, okay, where are you at with this, this, this, and this, and this.
00:40:52
Speaker
So, I mean, for me, that's biggest thing. I got to be more human. I feel like it's not to generalize, but I feel like I can be that direct and not get drugged down in the those other things that are important, right? But when I'm at work, it's time to talk about work.
00:41:07
Speaker
Yeah. But there are certain employees that I have to sit back and say, how was your weekend? What do you do? You know, have the game go or whatever it might be. And then there are others where I can be like, you good?
00:41:19
Speaker
Great. What are our issues this week? Who's off this week? What problem customers we have this week? You know, what problem cars we have that we're dealing with? um So I think that comes down to knowing your team and knowing the style of communication that connects with them as effectively as possible.
00:41:34
Speaker
Well, that's true, but there's still emotions involved. No matter how much of ah of a non-emotional logical person they are, they still have emotions. And so that's where i that's where I realized this last week. I'm like, I got a guy that works for me, a just incredible driver, and he's just one of those results-driven people, but yet I haven't talked him about personal stuff.
00:41:54
Speaker
And it's like I can tell there's stuff going on. And we just, that wall is there because once again, um get results. You know, he gets results and we're good together, but there's some other stuff going on and I got to be that human again so that he can talk to me.
00:42:07
Speaker
I think, like for me, I need that also, right? But it has to be at the right time and in the right setting. Like if I'm in my office at work, I'm not going to talk to you about my personal life. I don't have time for that shit, right? Exactly. um So it's like for me, ah it's like let's go get a beer after work.
00:42:27
Speaker
Right. And then we can decompress a little bit and we can turn off that I hear a phone ringing and it's rung three times and should I be answering it? um And so it's it's time and setting matters for that, for being able able to relax enough enough about a conversation like that.
00:42:44
Speaker
um But you only have so much time in the day. And that's the hard thing is it's like, do figure that And already spending 12 and a half hours on my phone. Right. No, not just on your phone. Well, I mean, if you want to get spooked, look at look at your screen time right now. yeah you know It's like, wow.
00:42:59
Speaker
And that's time that is wasted not connecting with somebody that's right in front of you. Rex, look at your screen time. See what it is. Oh, you don't want to know. I'm going to look. i'm I'm sure it's terrible. can tell you that. you know Does it give you a report? I turned the report off because I didn't want to know. Oh, he won't tell you then if it's off? Yeah, you won't know. screen ah My daily average for the last 30 days is 9 hours and 33 minutes just on this.
00:43:22
Speaker
Yeah. i I set it up and like play TV shows and stuff. So, i mean, that counts, right? it does. I mean, today it's only like 15 minutes.
00:43:36
Speaker
It's also 7 a.m. Yeah, that's great. Yeah.
00:43:41
Speaker
Nine and a half hours. I mean, but think about that though. I mean, that's crazy, but could that time be used connecting with somebody, you know, and just being that human being? Cause we're here to help each other through this journey in life. Right.
00:43:52
Speaker
I mean, and it's just, yeah. All right. So I asked you for a confession and you talked about communication. want to know the last time you set a car on fire in the shop. Um,
00:44:05
Speaker
Probably my own. I was working on doing a lift kit on a vehicle, and and but my it was on a 4Runner, and I was had to torch something because of all the rust. And, yeah, something's caught on fire, you know? So it's part of the last car to be set on fire in Carfix was my car. It's the crispy fried Miata. was that old junker Miata that I bought for my son and I i'd tinker on, and...
00:44:28
Speaker
I think one of the guys I got in over my head and i asked one of the guys to replace the injectors for me and it did not go well. But yeah it made for a funny security video that we clipped and saved. And um you see it's a big open shop. at's It's 10 bays, five on five. Yeah.
00:44:49
Speaker
No dividing wall in the middle or anything. So everybody can see everything. And it lights. And they got the guy is like, whoa. And he just stands there. And everybody else is just kind of standing there. One dude takes out his phone to get a picture.
00:45:04
Speaker
And then the two people in the building who actually take action, one's as far away from the car as could be in the building, and he grabs a fire extinguisher that's right next to him, and the shop foreman comes out of the parts office and grabs a fire extinguisher that's there, and they converge on the car at the same time.
00:45:22
Speaker
And so it burned for like 15 seconds, right? That's a long 15 seconds when there are eight other people standing there. One guy takes a casual sip of his coffee while he's watching it burn. Like, guys, come on.
00:45:35
Speaker
I guess just frozen in the moment or just they knew it was my car and they just thought it was funny. i don't know. So it could have been a lot worse. Yeah. You know, but anyway. So, yeah.
00:45:48
Speaker
So we do have the chargeable brake clean. And and it so it's really fun to swap the brake clean with the carb clean. And i have a guy that likes to set stuff on fire. And so then he just grabs the thing and puts it out.
00:45:59
Speaker
So I swapped the, I actually charged his green can with the red stuff. And so that way when he went to to do it, it flamed up and it, yeah. He doesn't light stuff on fire anymore because it was funny because he kept squeezing it more and more and the brain was going through fight or flight. And he's just like trying it and it's going whoosh. And it's like, okay, eight Ted, Ted, step back. You're lucky he didn't blow in his hand, bro. so I shouldn't admit that on, but yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:46:22
Speaker
I mean, we all had shenanigans in the shop when we were younger. We used to get strings of ah the firecrackers and light them and throw them under the bathroom door. There's like a half-inch gap in the bathroom door.
00:46:35
Speaker
It was the worst, man. When you're the victim, it's the worst. It's not good time. But one victim and 10 dudes laughing. so Yeah, I know. yeah It's part the fun, right? Yeah. um yeah i We probably should not start a tradition of talking about shop shenanigans. Right. Yeah, that was years ago that I did that. you know i would never do that now. so Yeah, of course not. yeah No.
00:46:56
Speaker
He would never do that now. Yeah, no way. Yeah.
00:47:01
Speaker
So, um sorry, I got to remember to stay up close to the mic. I'm sorry, Braxton. Oh, this is better. I know that you, I typically ask, where's everybody going for training this year and investing in your team?
00:47:13
Speaker
I can ask you about training your team, getting training for your team, but I would imagine that it's different than the training that we get for our teams. Like, do you send them like speaking, like class on how to so be an engaging speaker, that kind of stuff? Of course. Oh, yeah.
00:47:25
Speaker
Where do you find that kind of stuff? Oh, man. That's what I've been involved with for years. I mean, so, yeah, there's a lot of good training that we like to have people go to. what do you think about Toastmasters? Toastmasters awesome. Really? I went to Toastmasters. Yeah.
00:47:36
Speaker
It's really good. I've considered that for my son, actually. And I would go with him. Yeah, to of course. Because he'd be painfully shy to do it without me. but um You know what Testmasters is?
00:47:47
Speaker
It's like ah a weekly group of people in business or in life or whatever. They get together and everybody makes a one or two minute speech every week. And sometimes
Recommendations and Closing Thoughts
00:48:00
Speaker
it's about a topic you know nothing about. Sometimes you find out about it right before you do it. Sometimes it's a prepared speech.
00:48:05
Speaker
I think each week one or two people has a five to ten minute prepared speech. And then they get praise for what they did right and feedback on ways that they can improve their speaking style, cadence, ums and ahs and errs.
00:48:21
Speaker
um All that stuff. I think Carm Capriato actually has Toastmasters group. ah that meets online for automotive industry people. That's cool. So Craig Van, not Craig Van Battenburg, Craig, the other Craig, Craig O'Neill. Craig O'Neill. Craig O'Neill is the host of that Fork Arm. It's, Coastmasters are great.
00:48:45
Speaker
Anything you do to push yourself out of your comfort zone is a way to to get better at speaking. what ah what else How else do you invest in training for your team? A lot of online courses. yeah just We do book reads. That's one thing we do every week.
00:48:57
Speaker
is we do you know like Right now we're reading Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And then each week everybody has to repeatet or report on it. and so i so like I know that that's an incredible book because I hear about someone.
00:49:09
Speaker
I've tried to read Covey multiple times and i just I find it really hard to read. Listen on Audible. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Audible is my brain candy escape. I listen to like sci-fi, space sagas, aliens, time travel. It's really ridiculous, the stuff i listen to on Audible.
00:49:28
Speaker
yeah you ah What leadership books are you investing in for yourself this year? um Book-wise? Goodness. Or Audible or podcast.
00:49:40
Speaker
Obviously, there's one podcast that you're investing in this year. Oh, yeah. Of course. Oh, yeah. Yeah. In fact, I listened to some episodes this morning. So, yeah. You know? So, yeah. I apologize for my language. Yeah. No, it's all good. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's all good.
00:49:52
Speaker
um I don't have specific. I mean, i could I could show you my list, but I think Radical Candor is the next one on my list.
00:50:04
Speaker
ah All right, let's rewind. Let's say that you get a time machine and you go back and you talk to Darren. You talked to Darren 20 years ago and you can't have a conversation about all those things. You say, read these three books or two books or one book or whatever it is. like For me, like How to Win Friends and Influence People is the first one on the list. yep But what else is there on that list for Think and Grow Rich. okay I love that book.
00:50:26
Speaker
yeah I really like Psycho-Cybernetics. Psycho-Cybernetics? Yeah, by Maxwell Malt. He's the guy that Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, all of the big guys, I'll credit...
00:50:38
Speaker
his book for giving them their ideas. What's the the author's name? Maxwell Malt. Maxwell Malt. It just talks about the power of the subconscious and how to harness it. ah really A really great book.
00:50:50
Speaker
A lot of people are like, they don't, you know, i mean it's it's like so basic, but about a plastic surgeon that was trying to figure out why he would go in and operate on some people and they wouldn't be happy. So they come in and they got this, you know, cleft power, whatever it is, and he goes in and he fixes it and they're still not happy.
00:51:04
Speaker
And he tried to figure out why that is. And then it led him on this journey of figuring out steps to help to improve human beings. So um are you a tangible paper book person? or Both. i do Audible and books. Do you have an e-reader?
00:51:20
Speaker
No. a tablet? okay No. No, been looking at one of those ones. In fact, a lot of my I'm in a coaching group for CEOs, and a lot of them are all using the ones that you ride on now. The Remarkables? Yes, I know. and i know i know and if The guys at Pro Service are all using them too. I'm like, gosh, I've got to get into this. They have a Color Remarkable now, and it's still not a backlit screen. It's just like colored pencil-type coloring, and it makes a big difference being able to color coat and and yeah you take a red pencil and circle and underline. That kind of stuff is pretty neat. That's been on my list to check out. I want to get one of those. It's a gadget. i know. It's cool. Some guys But I love writing. it and I write every day. I write in my notebook, and i as like I write every day, and I'd love to be able to just have it in that rather than stacks of notebooks on my wall. Are you a journaler?
00:51:57
Speaker
Yeah. I could never get into it. I hear it's great, like, cathartic. Well, that's where haven't been that good at it. Okay. And so I write every day, but it's about goals and things like that. And so wouldn't it be cool? so So do you follow music?
00:52:12
Speaker
No. okay i mean that's all I listen to music, but i don't like I'm not a musician. Yeah. yeah It's all good. But Jimmy Page, right, the guy from Led Zeppelin, okay he is posting stuff of the stuff that he did during Zeppelin in his journal entries.
00:52:24
Speaker
And I was like, you know, how cool is that to be able to look back at 1968 and they played here at this hall and it was a great show and all these details for us to be able to look back at that posterity thing we're talking about, again, you know leaving your legacy behind.
00:52:35
Speaker
I'd love to be able to have my kids rather than stacks of notebooks of goals and and you know connect with my kid type stuff. It'd be nice to be able to have a little bit of insight into what dad was going through at that time. so one of the One of the cool things that my wife is doing is she invests in a really nice Bible with a custom leather Bible cover and she uses it for three years and she does all of her sermon notes and the and and everything and all of her prayer journal notes and everything in the in the margins and in the the areas that are appropriate and she's trying to get three years and one for each kid so that she can give them the kids and it's a pretty neat practice to go through and to have them have that
00:53:16
Speaker
a window into where mom was and her spiritual journey at that point in her life. So I think that's pretty cool. Yeah, it's just, I mean, there's something to be said about having that, they leaving that legacy, though, you know, for people that,
00:53:28
Speaker
want to know. i'm I'm fearful that though it's the margins are just full of, God, please help Mike stop being such a dumbass. Just constantly just repeat it over and over.
00:53:40
Speaker
um She's a saint for putting up with. I know, right? So, yeah. um Well, cool. What are your three goals for today? Three goals for today is to connect with people. and That's the number one. And and I gotta i want really want to inspire my audience to take changes and make take action when they get done with my class.
00:53:56
Speaker
And then the third one was to connect with you today. Make sure that we had a good podcast, man. Sweet. Makes an accomplishment. I know right? Just mark one off the list, brother. Yeah. All right. What time is your class today? Three o'clock. right. Three to six. Well, I'll reconnect with you this evening and ask how it went. Yeah, sounds good.
00:54:09
Speaker
Cool. Thanks for coming on, man. Thank you. Thanks for letting me be here. Appreciate it. Of course. Thanks for listening to Confessions of a Shop Owner, where we lay it all out. The good, and the bad, and sometimes the super messed up. I'm your host, Mike Allen, here to remind you that even the pros screw it up sometimes. So why not laugh a little bit, learn a little bit, and maybe have another drink?
00:54:27
Speaker
You got a confession of your own or a topic you'd like me to cover? Or do you just want to let me know what an idiot I am? Email mike at confessionsofashopowner.com or call and leave a message. The number is 704-CONFESS. That's
00:54:42
Speaker
three three seven seven If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, or follow. Join us on this crazy journey that is shop ownership. I'll see you on the next episode.
00:55:21
Speaker
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