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BONUS EPISODE! | Todd Westerlund Has A Confession
256 Plays19 days ago
Got a confession you'd like to make? Call 704-CONFESS (704-266-3377)
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Today, Mike and Todd Westerlund talk about setbacks, success, and Todd makes a pretty crazy Confession. Todd also talks about what it takes to find real success in business, and that it comes down to dedication and drive.
00:00 Mindset's Role in Business Success
05:08 "Pursue Passion, Seek Mentorship"
07:05 Reevaluating Sales Techniques
10:23 Tech Job Breakthrough in San Francisco
15:53 "Embrace Self-Reinvention"
18:16 "Trust Radar: Todd's Intuition"
22:55 "Relentless Reminder of Aging"
23:39 "Relentless Reminder Tattoo"
29:29 Hospital Benefits Arrangement
33:09 Perception of Success and Self-Reflection
34:43 "Maximize Efficiency, Not Hours"
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Content Warning
00:00:00
Speaker
But let's throw in something wild, right? Why not? Because we we need to. We got some confessions. My confession is, and i every time I tell somebody this, they go, that is absolutely crazy.
00:00:16
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.
00:00:30
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 Gallen.
Post-Event Logistics and Travel
00:00:50
Speaker
So, Vision 2025 the books. can I don't know if the mics will pick it up or not, but there's forklifts out there backing up. They're tearing down the expo floor. We're looking out the window here, all the shipping crates. um Quite the logistical operation out there.
00:01:07
Speaker
so you just had four days in KC. Three days, four days? Three days, yeah. We we still ah i have class tomorrow that we're speaking. Oh, really? I know the normal class tomorrow. So 8 to 11. And then after that, I'll kind of make my way to the airport and fly out at 8.50 at night. So we'll see if I can move it up. Yeah, we did. What are you going do tomorrow afternoon?
00:01:31
Speaker
ah Try to get her over your flight. That's right. Push it for the late one and see
Evaluating Event Attendance: Is It Worth It?
00:01:38
Speaker
where the cards fall. So what makes a worthwhile outing to one of these events versus maybe you wish you had stayed in Vegas type of event?
00:01:48
Speaker
um Yeah, great question. ah i think it's how you set it up yourself mentally. You think as far as a company goes, if you're coming in looking for that like ah ROI, you're trying to look at leads and look at things like that.
00:02:01
Speaker
Some people are really big into that portion. portion Um, I look at it as always kind of the, the business development side of things, getting to just talk with people, see friends. And if you're thinking of it like that, it's always successful.
00:02:17
Speaker
When start thinking of, I hear some people, ah I didn't really talk to anybody in the booth or they didn't come by or they didn't buy my thing. And I, So if that's all you're here for, first off, I don't want to go up to somebody who's just going to throw up on me and try to get me to buy your thing and buy your thing and buy your thing. And I got a quota to hit. This needs to make financial sense.
00:02:35
Speaker
um So it's really what you make of it Every time I come to one of these, i always see somebody that I haven't seen in a while. um Always a great benefit. So is this, again...
00:02:46
Speaker
I think you're like you're like a natural born salesperson though, right? And natural salespeople do better at events like this. The dudes who just stand there awkwardly for six hours and then complain about how nothing went right and they don't go to any of the social events and they don't network at all.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yeah. Those ones that you see at one or two events and then they've moved on to a different career.
Career Transition: Technician to Sales
00:03:04
Speaker
I was told i was horrible in sales. I'll never be able to sell. My first, uh, I was a technician 15 years and was interesting. It was really clean, very, very organized. I could, I was a Toyota specialist, a Chevy specialist.
00:03:19
Speaker
Um, Ian and Karen cook. If you're listening to this, my old bosses, i love you guys. Uh, thank you so much. You're life changing. um so no one listens to this. Oh yeah. Okay. They, but they will.
00:03:30
Speaker
Yeah. i see you know um But, um you know, as ah as a technician, i realized I got moved up to the front of the shop because it was presentable. it'd have me come, oh, show him with the brakes, those kind of things.
00:03:44
Speaker
And, you know, as time went on, um ah was not great at saving money. i had a little addiction. Which some of you might understand, it's a little thing called cars.
00:03:55
Speaker
And I had myself nice, I had a 71 Chevelle Malibu, 69 Camaro. I finished, which is kind of odd, the 71 Nova. And I can tell you every part that was on it, hooker, super competition, headers, Holley 650 double pumper, torque or two Edelbrock.
00:04:14
Speaker
I don't know what any of what you just said means. What? Yeah. Oh, that's insane. Wow.
Early Sales Challenges and Learning
00:04:23
Speaker
I'm shocked. so So, yeah. So all that. And I spent all my money on that. I didn't have money like yourself to buy a shop.
00:04:29
Speaker
And so because of that, I went back to school, went into marketing and I really had a goal of, i you know, I want to buy a house and do all these things, see if I could get my my income above where it was as a technician. And at the time, weve seen we loved to mention the Facebook forums. I got blasted out there for just talking about what it was like when I was a technician. and it was like, wow, man.
00:04:56
Speaker
Like, date myself. Like, it's not like that anymore. We make so much more just because you made $24 an hour and you couldn't afford things. Your life is horrible. Like, whatever. There are still dudes out there posting ads for $24 an hour on a flat rate tag. That's crazy. Yeah.
00:05:09
Speaker
That's crazy. Well, they yeah i I wanted to kind of get above that, and I went out there, and...
Finding Passion and Success in Sales
00:05:16
Speaker
What you should always do is you should emulate emulate and look towards people that are where maybe you want to be.
00:05:25
Speaker
so I just went to all the friends with their million-dollar mansions and said, how you guys get here? Teach me. i'm i want to learn. And couple really good friends of mine who became mentors said, you need to do something that is you, okay, and that your your pay is essentially yourself.
00:05:45
Speaker
And they suggested like real estate, you know, this oh you you you would care about somebody and put them in a house. um So I said, okay, I'm going to go sell. And we're getting deep taught here. Nobody knows this.
00:05:58
Speaker
So my first sales job, I sold cell phones, cell phones in the mall. in the mall for... That's a raw sales job, man. That's perform or die.
00:06:08
Speaker
Brutal. I died. i absolutely died. It was about 60 days. um I sold one phone case and I never sold a phone. And my buddy was teaching me. he said, man, I just, I don't know what to say to you, but like, you're not cut out for sales.
00:06:26
Speaker
And I was like, oh man, i was, it was brutal. He's like, you just, you can't sell. And I'm like, man. So, um you know what happened from there is that's that moment where you're either going to drown or you're going to figure it out.
Sales Tactics and Authenticity
00:06:44
Speaker
And I i chose, i there's an actual bench in my hometown that um kind of looks out over this field. And I sat on that bench and I thought about it. i said, how am many how am I going to do this?
00:06:59
Speaker
And I started reading, started reading like crazy. have a library of 300 sales books. And I just started studying. I started studying the best salespeople and really dove into it. And I became very traditional, which was terrible.
00:07:15
Speaker
Everybody would hate me, you know, start up with a little introduction and build rapport and you know dig into the pain and then let's you know close them and oh man. and and As time went on, i i naturally just was like, you know, I can't stand when people say this to me.
00:07:37
Speaker
And I would never hire a salesperson who says, I can sell ice to an Eskimo. I can sell anything to anybody. Eskimos don't need ice. They heaters. Freaking cold. They got all the ice they need.
00:07:48
Speaker
So just sell to people what they need, kind of what you're passionate about. Yeah. So what if you're passionate about ice? Well, if you're passionate about ice, work an ice rink. Yeah. you're right i' mad double I'm a dumbass. I'm sorry. Oh, you're good.
00:08:06
Speaker
It's late. We've been going hard for a few days. Yeah. yeah Um, ah we, uh, up at the crack of dawns going after it. when were, when were you selling, um, when were you selling cell phones? When were you not selling cell phones about roughly what year was that?
00:08:20
Speaker
um Oh, so that had been around 2006. Okay. okay Yeah, 2005, 2006.
Entering Tech Sales and Achievements
00:08:26
Speaker
Okay. And i ended up getting a job um for this company in California. was there became their director of, I don't even know how, director of sales for you know Alameda and Contra Costa County.
00:08:42
Speaker
And we sold a um ah customer service award that was awarded to you by your customers. So meaning you are independently rated and scored.
00:08:52
Speaker
And it's still around. It's called Diamond Certified. It's predecessor. Some of you may remember something called Value Star that kind of went away many years ago. And um it was great. I learned a lot. I got to go into all these different industries. But what what it got me back to is I was in a shop, I was in Tracy Renee's shop, don't hear about Tracy too much anymore, but um she her shirt her shop's in Vallejo, California.
00:09:21
Speaker
um I was in her shop and she kind of got off the phone, she goes, hey, So I was talking to this guy, Rick Barry, he's got this company demand force. And he asked me who's the best salesperson I know.
00:09:32
Speaker
And she goes, i don't really know anybody. She goes, but this guy, Todd, I buy everything he brings to me. And I just realized like, and he's an, ah you're an ex auto guy. Go and go and take a look at this. So for me, um,
00:09:48
Speaker
I kind of had a ah secret internal nervous complex. um You know, I didn't do great in school. My grades are not great. I didn't graduate college. I don't have a ah college degree.
00:10:00
Speaker
And i I always thought like somebody is going to, you know, find me out. Like, oh my gosh, who is this guy, you know? Imposter syndrome. Exactly. it really, it was, and it was bad. I, um,
00:10:13
Speaker
I got on a BART train and I had a i went to go buy my first suit. I remember that I was like, I need a suit. Guy's like, okay. I don't know how this works, man. I i don't even know. I got my first pair of slacks. I go out there, do an interview with Rick Barry and Sam Osmond and all those guys.
00:10:29
Speaker
And they said, listen, we have this automotive CRM technology. um But, well, it's for dental. And it has everything built into it that are called continuing care reminders.
00:10:43
Speaker
So if you could rewrite everything as far as a maintenance reminder, and we've got like 30 customers on beta. And um so I went out and I mean, I got the job. And next thing I know, this Todd, who's doesn't know a thing somehow is in San Francisco on 2nd Street, right in downtown, working in a tech company, going in with a briefcase and slacks.
00:11:11
Speaker
And I rewrote the whole um automotive,
Success and Its Personal Costs
00:11:15
Speaker
you know, ah language, if you will. And then we launched that thing. And You know, this is where the that Todd gets kind of like, oh, um I was the first person in the automotive... just want to be clear. You're referencing yourself in the third person? Is what we're doing? Okay. I just want to make sure we're doing that. referencing myself in the third person because... Micah-proofs.
00:11:35
Speaker
Exactly. Just kind of kind of like to step back sometimes. And, you know, when I'm in those forums and things, sometimes it's like, I don't want to say it, but I'm like...
00:11:46
Speaker
In most rooms, I'm the only guy who's sold a business for $50 million. dollars People don't really know that. People don't know that if you Google and take a look and find out who the Inc. 5000, 76 fastest growing company, the CEO of that company ah is Kukui, that was me.
00:12:06
Speaker
I beat out 4,900 other CEOs that year and two thousand and fifteen to get to that spot And cost me a marriage. I work seven days a week, generally 10 hours a day.
00:12:20
Speaker
it was grueling. I had ah brutal mentors that are industry known that were merciless on me to push myself to that level.
00:12:31
Speaker
um I'm very thankful for It's amazing. and I got a certain humbleness out of it that and' ever I never tell people that. Nobody knows. It's nobody's business. I picked up garbage today. you just told a bunch people of Oh, that happens. There goes the humbleness. Whatever. The humility.
00:12:48
Speaker
am door It's out. It's out. It's overrated. so It is. It really is. and yeah So, um, demand force, then Kikui. Yep.
00:12:59
Speaker
And then you had a couple of short stops and then you ended up in Houston, Texas. right Yeah. Yeah. I actually, i did a pit stop. Uh, the other ones are too brief to mention, but again, you're kind of finding your way.
00:13:13
Speaker
um I did two years at Techmetric. Oh yeah. forgot about that. Yeah. I had a great experience with Techmetric and I'm going to, Kind of tell you guys something about ah when you're looking at companies, and this is not a plug for TechMetric, but it's an important thing that happened at TechMetric.
00:13:30
Speaker
um I knew kind of flying in I was going to get wined and dined by PJ and Sunil. I knew it. I knew guys. You took me to a nice steakhouse. It was, you know, Hey, uh, it's just kind of the way it was. But when I got there, the one thing that was most important to me was to walk to the very back of the building. and I did that.
00:13:50
Speaker
And I found the guy in the very corner. And I looked at that guy and I said, Hey man, how's your job? You love it? And he goes, I do love it. And I said, okay, as what do you do?
00:14:01
Speaker
He goes, no, do some it t work and whatever. And I said, Okay, awesome. And that's where I made my decision to work with them because people at the front, I knew who I was going to run into, but I wanted to go all the way and back and find folks there.
00:14:15
Speaker
So it was a great, ah you know, great two years. I traveled all around, i' had a great time with PJ, a lot of fun adventures. I don't think we can even talk about the Golden Tiki on here in Las Vegas. what well just Golden Tiki is supposed to be an incredible bar, isn't it? It's the one that has
Miata Cars and Colleague Humor
00:14:36
Speaker
like the diving into the pool from the tiki bar.
00:14:39
Speaker
no no. There's just a lot of, uh, it's a lot of art in there, or art installations that could be shocking to somebody that,
00:14:51
Speaker
would be shocked by certain things. I would have never picked PJ for someone like that, but after hearing about his Miata driving habits, evidently, i mean, that's not shocking. Yeah, no, no. I mean, it's, Miatas are great. I mean, my ex-wife had one. She loved that car. She zipped all around in it, you know, it was good. It was good. It was a good car.
00:15:12
Speaker
But I mean, PJ, I can't, Does he is his head just stick out? Now I'm thinking of it. i'm how to see I think he just like wears the car. He doesn't get into it. He just sits on top of it maybe.
00:15:23
Speaker
so What color is his car, did he say? I'm sure that it's hot pink, right? I mean, that's kind of what came to mind, I thought. that or With like a custom-painted unicorn on the hood and maybe some like yeah stars. And there's like a horn that comes out of the front that yeah kind of is aerodynamic. so Yeah.
00:15:41
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, PJ, but that is what But we digress. We do. All right. So a couple of years at TechMetric then. Yeah. um How did you get linked up with Hayes and Crew?
00:15:53
Speaker
You know, um it i think that something I've really practiced hard on is to work on reinventing myself. And that that's just something I think everybody should do. You really need to look at it.
00:16:06
Speaker
you know yourself, where you're at, your goals. And don't be afraid to fully just do a ground up restoration of who you are and um get into try new things, read new things.
00:16:21
Speaker
ah try Yeah, try a new diet, whatever. Just reinvent yourself. And even even work-wise, add new skills. It's kind of one of those things I challenge some of the shop owners out there where I go,
00:16:32
Speaker
When is the last time you've had a significant change or bump in your business? Let's just say revenue. If you're judging everything on revenue or GP or whatever, you there's all different ways you can look at it. But when is the last time you had a really big jump? And if you are out there really talking and teaching and kind of in everybody's face about it, but there really hasn't been too much that's ever moved lately, right?
00:16:58
Speaker
I challenge you to reinvent yourself and move, make that, make that big jump.
Genuine Business Practices and Todd Hayes
00:17:02
Speaker
Um, so I've known Todd for 20 years. This guy, ah back at Kikui.
00:17:09
Speaker
I gave him a demo once. He loved it. He was like, this this thing's amazing, great. And then, ah you know, he signed up a couple of shops for me. I go, okay. And then he beats me up on price. Dude's ultimate sales.
00:17:21
Speaker
I mean, he was just merciless. so I give him great price. There's literally a Todd Hayes Kikui price. i don't know if it still exists, but, and um this guy calls me like, and the whole sales team's right there. Calls me year later, put on speaker and Todd, this is Todd Hayes.
00:17:39
Speaker
ah Call this shop. Talk to him right now. Get him signed up. ah Give him the Todd Hayes price. Love you. Bye. Click. sounds Sounds like him. Yeah, don't. Whoa. Okay, Todd. Like a year goes by.
00:17:51
Speaker
Phone rings. It's Todd Hayes. Hey, Todd. How's it going? Hey, Todd, how are you? Hey, want you to call this guy. Here's the number. Send it to you right now. Give him a call. Get him signed up. Give me the Todd Hayes price.
00:18:02
Speaker
Love you. Okay, bye. Click.
00:18:05
Speaker
So this went on for years and the sales team was like, who is this? How do you have this dude just calls you out of nowhere? Just three shops, two shops, one shop, just it just always. And i and ah somehow in our conversation, Todd has this really.
00:18:22
Speaker
So underlining radar that I've seen him go, I don't trust that person. I thought, man, that guy's OK. And then come at come to find out, not very trustworthy. and I'm like, dude, his radar is, it spot on.
00:18:37
Speaker
so um Over those years, we we and we ran into each other at one trade show. And next thing I know, we're at ASTE. e i I feel maybe where you guys met, I i know was that that was really major moment us.
00:18:54
Speaker
for a lot of us cause I hear a lot of things happen out of that particular year. That was two years ago, right? It was in the air. Yeah. Yeah. It was big. 2023. Yeah. Yeah. yeah And um I just went to go get a coffee and, you know, we can say, ah God bless the coffee or just however you want to look at it. But I walked by him and he was like, Todd, hey, want you come on board and have you run all my companies. And I was like, hmm.
00:19:22
Speaker
I looked at I said, Todd, man, I'm really expensive. And he just laughed at me. He said, I'll call you tomorrow. And I was like, OK. So I told my wife. I was walking to the the office and in my house and passed her in the hallway. said, I'm going to take this call with Todd Hayes.
00:19:40
Speaker
ah He's this guy. He's got a job offer for me, but there's, you know. no There's no way. I was kind of... And man, he's like 17 minutes later walking back down the hallway.
00:19:53
Speaker
And I'm like, hey, honey, guess what? Got a new job. Got a new job. as but and And I mean, I'm the happiest I've ever been. it is 100%. one hundred percent I mean, way better than cell phones.
00:20:08
Speaker
I'm telling you, this this is this is great. um I've always... really excelled at helping people. So demand force was wonderful. Helping people.
00:20:20
Speaker
Kukui was great. Really got to help people and have people say, Hey man, thank you. Really? This really made an impact. But I'm, I guess maybe, i mean, i know. it is the amount of money that you help people to equate to maybe the feelings of happiness you get. I don't know. It's,
00:20:40
Speaker
it I have a lot of people saying, um you changed my life. And that's why it wasn't happening at Kikui. People weren't saying, hey yeah, my web presence is great. And I started to change their life. But um you know I have a good friend, ah ah sam Burridge,
00:20:58
Speaker
who Santa Rosa Transmission and Auto Repair. I've known Sam all the way from Demand Force. us He was my first person that came on board at Kukui.
00:21:09
Speaker
And took me a wild year to get him to to come to ah you know out to Auto Shop Answers. He just... you kind of you If we move jobs, sometimes you get the year penalty. And we're there like, going to watch you for a year, Todd. We'll see if you're there in a year. you know um So he finally came.
00:21:29
Speaker
And i won't give his numbers out, but he ah he can he'll he'll openly tell you. But he doubled. He doubled his revenue in 90 days. And he's like, I implemented this and this of what what Todd did. mean...
00:21:44
Speaker
i mean The hugs from the guy are way better. I mean, he's like, yeah, change my life. I mean, change my employee's life. And everybody, it like he fell back in life with his business. He's really fired up. So so that's what really that's what really drives me when you kind of see me with – With the other Todd, you know, with the two Todd's running around.
00:22:09
Speaker
um it that And I keep hearing those stories. And that's just, I'm like, I found my home. I mean, i just want to help as many people as I can, you know. so But let's throw in something wild, right?
00:22:24
Speaker
ah Why not? Because we we need to. We got some confessions. um My confession is And i every time I tell somebody this, they go, that is absolutely crazy.
00:22:37
Speaker
um I'm covered in tattoos. Big ones. Nobody knows. I'm not going to have you take your shirt off. I'm not. I will take my pants off, right? No. I mean, you said covered, right? A lot, yeah. ah Try somewhere 40, something like that. you still get tattoos, new tattoos? or i do, but I would never really publicize it. Across my back, in big letters, I used to...
00:23:03
Speaker
ah what do you call it? Do MMA and fight. i'm fat and old and not as flexible as I was now and should be a lot more healthier and, uh, looking amazing. Like the Dela cruises of the world, you know, ah guys, you know, uh, your roles are some of the best, but, um, so I got relentless is across my back and big, big letters. And,
00:23:27
Speaker
The reason for that is every morning when I look at that, it's twofold. It's to remind me, I knew I was going to get old and I saw people as they got old, they lost their edge.
00:23:39
Speaker
And I would see that. Why? Why would you lose your edge? What what just, well, you get old and you just say, I'm just going to lose my edge. So I thought in all my brilliance that if I had a very painful, gnarly, gnarly, big giant tattoo ah relentless across my back, um it would remind me to never, you know, lose my edge.
00:24:01
Speaker
But I also was twofold in the fact my mom said, you know, chill sometimes. Too much. Just go, go, go. Brutal, you know? So, you know, you don't always have to be relentless. Right.
00:24:15
Speaker
So it served me well. That's my big confession because any time I tell somebody, they go, really? confession is like something went fucking sideways. That was intentional.
00:24:27
Speaker
like dick That was just, hey, something you might not know about Todd is that he's covered in... sparkly tattoo There's no sparkly. I i think it says Invictus. I know it says Invictus down this leg and ah Indomitable down the other leg. There might be some, it says know thyself on this arm. There could be a dragon. Do you have any thorns around your biceps or like the the bullets around your say this. ah Fuck you, Mike. really Do you totally have the thorns around your biceps? I fucking believe this. sucks now. I want to.
00:24:59
Speaker
Yeah.
Collaborating with Todd Hayes
00:25:00
Speaker
cannot did i just call it it was like 1990 man come on that's what they did that's what they did so you got the armband i had it's it's buried in the tattoo now but you spot it from a mile do you have uh do you have a tramp stamp oh god i don't drive a miata come on jeez absolutely not no no no okay um but back back on back on track there okay so Now you're in Houston. you've You've been sucked into the whirlwind, the vortex, the force of nature that is Hayes and the Hayes show. Hayes factor. um
00:25:37
Speaker
I've been hazed. I would feel like that would be a really challenging work environment because you have to fucking perform. There's no space for mediocrity in that organization.
00:25:48
Speaker
So was it stressful for the first few months or did you come in and just hit the ground? home run after home run. um So i do my best when my back's up against the wall. I wanted to achieve a certain, don't want to pay off my house and there's a couple of things I want to do. Right. So I'm like, you know what? I want challenge myself and, and kind of go into that next level. So I told Todd what I wanted and he said, without skipping a beat, he said, okay.
00:26:16
Speaker
I thought, And then he gave you the performance metrics that you had to meet to get there. So, and and as I watched the way he kind of did things, he was like, walked in, he goes, that's great. Fill the class up and do this and do that. i said, okay.
00:26:30
Speaker
And I did that. And he walked back in the next month, never talked to me the whole month, not one word. Okay. I talked to Todd by 50 times every single day, starts at 3am in the morning, could go till 10 things pop up at 5am.
00:26:44
Speaker
It's around the clock. The pace is full throttle all the time. um But he wouldn't say a word. So the next month he comes in, looks around, goes, OK, good job. Do it again next month.
00:26:57
Speaker
m OK. Meanwhile, I've seen some people miss the metrics, not show up on time, be late, do some things. And he's like, and I'm like, wow.
00:27:08
Speaker
like, you don't hit, you're gone. You are gone. So ah it really, he he brought back a part of me that I think was sitting a little bit on the sidelines.
00:27:22
Speaker
um PJ kind of had some advice for me once, and we weren't, we were, kind of cruising around the Miata and ah together. And we were listening to Journey or Foreigner. we were blasting and something, ah Jukebox Hero together. YMCA. Yeah, YMCA. were going to a wine tasting. um And so he um he just said, man, like one thing I see in you is like you need to go go get that thing again, that thing. Go go find that top of the mountain. Go get it.
00:27:56
Speaker
And, you know, it was good advice. He just randomly kind of said it one day and I was like, yeah, that's really offensive. OK. And the more it started digging in ah you know, i i value him as a really good friend because that is what I what I did. Todd put me in that place and I was able to just comfortably get back into that zone and just really.
00:28:17
Speaker
um be be at the top of my game. So, you know. I think one one of the things that Todd has tried to beat into my very thick skull and I absorb things much more slowly. So I haven't gone back and doubled my business in 90 days, right? Wow.
00:28:33
Speaker
Because i have a very thick skull and I absorb
Providing for Employees and Financial Success
00:28:35
Speaker
things slowly. You can't. Well, I mean, the dudes are telling me they got 24,000 today on Saturday. so So Saturday's work? ah i'm during the maybe Stirring Maybe. um But I mean, over 100K this week. It's good, Mike. It's awesome. It doesn't suck.
00:28:51
Speaker
yeah um but Does it go back? Does it benefit your employees? Oh, yeah. um my My payroll is higher than it's ever been by a long shot. i love that. So um that's that right there and really good benefits. And, um you know, I had this is a sad story. I had a young man technician who ah was making more money than ever made his life and went on bottom motorcycle and didn't have proper training and proper safety gear and he got into an accident last week.
00:29:18
Speaker
He broke his back. um Now, he's going to make a recovery. We're very fortunate in that front. But ah you know one of the things we provide, 100% company paid disability insurance.
00:29:29
Speaker
And so he didn't even know. so like I went into the hospital to meet with him and his mom. And yeah all the paperwork. You just need to get the doctor to fill this out. yeah And you're going to keep getting like I'm going to pay you out through the exclusionary period and then they'll pay you and and for the length of the contract. Right. So um he's going to be able to have income while he's in recovery.
00:29:50
Speaker
Yeah. Because the benefits that we can provide because we charge enough and because we do enough volume that we can do that. So that's a nice feeling. i And ah thank God that he was with you, working with you when he bought the motorcycle, because Mikey was always going to buy the motorcycle.
00:30:09
Speaker
He was always going to crash. wouldn't have been as nice a motorcycle. was very nice motorcycle. There's that. But, you know, hey. And it maybe it wouldn't have been. And because it was so nice, you're going to make a recovery. And, yeah you know, it's that's good stuff. But that right there, that right there, what you're saying is not the motorcycle crash part, but the benefits and the payroll being the highest and all that.
00:30:30
Speaker
That right there will be the best part of my day. I don't know. I mean, unless somebody tells me a better story, dinner or something, but I have a feeling that's going to be the highlight because yeah at the end of the day, ah you know, there's somebody at your company that – Maybe they just had kids or something. And i mean, you're, you're changing their lives and it's pretty powerful to see Todd who has more money in his front checking account than I'll have my whole life.
00:30:59
Speaker
He doesn't have to do this. He doesn't have to get beat up on Facebook. He does not. I think he likes it. I think he likes like shutting down the haters and like, or, or just winning in spite of the haters.
00:31:14
Speaker
Yeah, i i I agree, but you can't win some of the haters that are out there.
Industry Profitability and Success Misconceptions
00:31:22
Speaker
They're just hating to hate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get caught up in a whirlpool of the toilet bowl that's flushing.
00:31:29
Speaker
Well, and get out what they'll do is they'll move the goalpost, right? So if... If it's you can't do X, Y, Z, well, I just showed you that I can. Well, then if you're doing it that way, you must be unethical or they move the goalpost, you can't do A, B, C. Yeah. um Because they're determined to hate on anything that he says just because he's such a brash and out there personality, right? Yeah. um Very true. was talking to, was it Bill or was it Charlie this morning? You said...
00:32:00
Speaker
You know, it's not about the money. If you want to give, you can't give what you don't have. Earn so that you can do whatever the hell you want and give whatever you want to whomever you want.
00:32:11
Speaker
Yeah. And then one of the other ones said, was i don't know if that was while we were recording or not, but he said, if you have a problem that can be solved by money and you have money, then you don't have a problem.
00:32:23
Speaker
True, true. There's some evil shop owner shit right there. you know Yeah. Don't forget that being profitable is evil and it makes you a bad person.
00:32:35
Speaker
I hear it all the time. all have to be broke socialist. Yeah. it's so it's's So there's a weird so weird element out there in the industry right now where success or too much ah success is equated to you're doing something wrong or it's all about success. It's all that. And it's like,
00:32:55
Speaker
You know, i don't know. I compare it to driving down the interstate highway. Speed limits, 70 miles an hour. I'm doing 82 because that's the speed that I do. Anybody who drives slower than me is an idiot and they should get out of my way.
00:33:09
Speaker
Right. Because they don't know what they're doing. Anybody who drives faster than me is crazy and they should be arrested because they're reckless. um So I think that a lot of shop owners operate in that mentality that the way I do it is the only right way to do it.
00:33:23
Speaker
Anybody who doesn't do as much as me, ah well, they need to emulate me and do what I do. Anybody who does more than me ah either is unethical or dirty or they make money their God yeah and all they care about is money ah because – Nobody wants to look in the mirror and say, I'm not doing as good as I could be doing.
00:33:47
Speaker
now And there are people out there who are like, I'm doing exactly as good as I want to do. I'm perfectly happy with this level of success. And in that case, great. Keep doing what you're doing. Yeah. Yeah. You know, the people who are taken home.
00:34:01
Speaker
the best paycheck that anyone in their family has ever made on four days a week, and they got a house at the lake or a house at the beach and a boat, and they are content. Super.
00:34:11
Speaker
Then don't go to Houston. yeah Don't change anything. Just yeah keep doing what you're doing, man. You're living your dream. Live your dream, bro. yeah But if... You're interested in seeing what dreaming at a different level is like, and I think it's worth It's two days. Never come back after that. if you yeah just like ah It's open-armed. It doesn't matter who you are, what you've said, all the grumpiness, whatever. It doesn't matter if you you have two bays or 30 bays. It's it's irrelevant.
00:34:41
Speaker
Just come through for a couple of days. but i was I was talking to Brett Fadley today yeah and I said, bro, you got to go I know that you're never going to open seven days a week. That's fine. yeah Don't listen to that part of it.
00:34:51
Speaker
yeah But why shouldn't you be this efficient and this effective at helping your customers and helping your team on the days that you are open? So go learn the shit that's applicable to you.
00:35:02
Speaker
and if you don't want to open seven days week, don't open seven days a week. But I promise that you won't think it was a waste of time. Yeah. Yeah. And then I told him that that you'll get you'll write him a check for his airfare and hotel if he chooses that says that he doesn't like it. Excellent. And then you what's your card number? Give me that real quick. you know That's cool man um Yeah.
Show Reflections and Car Preferences
00:35:23
Speaker
This time went really fast, man. I i really enjoyed talking to you. Wow. are We there? We're we're over. and i We're over. We're five minutes over, bro. I felt like I didn't even tell. I had all the the the the crazy stories. I mean, ah but we're going to, I guess we'll save this for another. just kidding. When you get back to the house, will you just have somebody take a picture and send to the tramp stamp? I just want to post that as the as the thumbnail for the video. you want Let's see here.
00:35:47
Speaker
I think. think you can Do you have any misspelled tattoos? like No. No regerts. No, I don't have any no regerts. I'll show you this from a distance so you can see it.
00:35:58
Speaker
Let's see. Is this which is facing the camera there? Nice. Yeah. yeah That one? Yeah. You don't want to see that, little baby. What? What? Up to my face. and Why is it so green? Fine. Because it was the whole kind of thing. I was obnoxious back then. It was bad.
00:36:20
Speaker
was still obnoxious, but you know, whatever. It seems to have served you okay. it as It has. It has. Thanks. for Thanks for having me on. I know we really, there's so much going on. The pace that we're at, the pace that we're all at.
00:36:32
Speaker
I'm really, really thankful. really thankful for everything you do. I love that you're stirring it up and getting in there and let's let's get in and maybe even make it a little bit uncomfortable. I think that's all right. I think that...
00:36:45
Speaker
you You said something, and I'll kind of close my one thought off on this, and this is really what it is. It goes all the way back to high school or whatever, is that we've got all these folks that, like, I'm a Chevy guy. I had a 71 Chevelle Malibu.
00:37:00
Speaker
That was my baby. I mean, that thing was just, but- I thought the Chevelle and the Malibu were two different cars. Is that like a trim level of a car? Yeah, it's a trim level. Okay. Yeah. That's how ignorant I am. I know that. I see how shocked you are with that. I am just, but, and those of you out there who got your fastback Mustang or your Barracuda or whatever.
00:37:20
Speaker
Now, each of us at a certain point, we're like, that's the best car. That's the only way. This is, this is the, the way it is. And now I think about it A lot of us shop owners or a lot of us in the, in the industry have progressed and we still have that,
00:37:38
Speaker
I'm a Chevy. That guy's a Ford. This guy's a Barracuda. You know, this guy's Plymouth. This, you know, Oldsmobile, whatever. Pujo.
00:37:48
Speaker
Yeah. me That guy's a Miata. you We've come full circle. We've gone Miata to Miata. Perfect. Good stuff. All right. Hey, you guys, have about have a great day and ah travel safe. Thanks, dude. See you.
00:38:02
Speaker
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.
00:38:16
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
00:38:31
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.
00:39:10
Speaker
Skip.