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Aaron, Owner Of Off Road Fabrication/Customization Shop
62 Plays1 year ago
Aaron sits down with The Jobs Podcast to discuss all things "Off Road". Aaron is the owner of Rock Brothers Off-Road Custom Shop (https://www.facebook.com/rockbros4x4/) that specializes in off road suspension, bumpers, wheels, tires, differentials, etc for Jeeps, Land Cruisers, etc. We talk welding, fabricating, as well as how to learn the above skills and what all it takes to run and grow a successful business.
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Music by: SnoozyBeats - Song Title - "Keep It Calm". Please check out SnoozyBeats on PixaBay for a ton of awesome content! - LINK
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Transcript
Introduction to the Jobs Podcast and Guest Aaron
00:00:11
Speaker
Hey folks, you're listening to the jobs podcast. I am your host, Tim Hendricks. Your time is valuable. I'm not going to waste it. Let's get right to the interview. Hey, Aaron, how you doing, man? Hey, I'm all right. How are you, sir? I'm doing good. Thanks for joining me today. So.
Aaron's Expertise in Off-Road Fabrication
00:00:27
Speaker
Your area of expertise is fabrication, off-road suspension, tires, rims, engine swaps. I mean, is there anything you guys don't do? Do you do axles, differentials, all that good stuff? Yeah, we do all that stuff. you know I try to stay in my lane.
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah.
Quality Over Quantity: A Lesson from Aaron's Dad
00:00:49
Speaker
yeah are sutton Something kind of funny that I always go back to ah is something that my dad told me many times. My dad's in the food safety business and they always told me if you go to a restaurant and they have 80 items on their menu, you need to go somewhere else because it's going to be terrible. Oh, yeah.
00:01:08
Speaker
so i I try to stick to what we're good at because you know we can be somewhat of a perfectionist with the work that we do. We we try to put out a premium product at the end of the day. so yeah the others There's a few things we don't do. We don't really build motors. We don't do um but don't really build transmissions. but yeah i mean we we We do a lot and I try to facilitate many things as well. so Well you mentioned your dad there and that sounds like he gave you some good advice. Let's jump back and tell me where when did you first when was the first little suspension that you did? Where were you born? Siblings? All that kind of good stuff.
Aaron's Upbringing and Move to Arkansas
00:01:51
Speaker
So going way back, I was actually born in Ohio in the north. But Ohio, i I do not remember any of that. So we we lived in North Carolina until 99. And then my dad's work brought us to Northwest Arkansas, which is the home of Walmart. Yeah. And yeah, so I've been here since 1999. And you know I've moved away a couple times, moved to Texas a couple times, doing some work in in Texas and oh and then I used to travel but as well, travel the country, actually installing automotive centers at Walmart and Sam's Club oh all over the country. yeah so ah I've got to see a lot.
00:02:39
Speaker
doing that. And, you know, you live on the road, you live at hotels and stuff. So, ah you know, you could say I lived on the road for for a little while too. But um yeah, that probably gets old, doesn't it? and Yeah, yeah, you know, in, I mean, i I'm in my mid 30s. I just I don't, I don't know if I could do it now. Yeah. Because because my body's broken. Just from life. Yeah.
00:03:06
Speaker
But yeah, it it does. It gets old for a while, i'll just being on the rung all the time. So it goes to the people that do it you know all the time. was your Was your dad, or did you have any older brothers or anything that were always turning wrenches at a young age, and so you were out there holding the flashlight and getting yelled at, and that's how you learned how to work on cars? No. You know what? It doesn't run in my family much, actually. what am i what am i I think it's my great uncle. My my dad is my dad's actually an immigrant. ah He integrated here in the 70s from Iran. Oh, wow.
00:03:45
Speaker
And a story that he always tells me is my, I think it's my great uncle um used to, he he would drive to, he would drive like two or three countries over and buy cars and bring it back and sell them. And then when they moved here to the States, ah he kind of worked on stuff then. But as far as anyone in my family, no, I mean, my, my, my one brother is nine years younger than me. And then my other brother was disabled. ah So he, you know, there there really was nobody ever turning my trees that I was around, I've always just, I've always just since a young age, I've always liked taking things apart, and, and, you know, seeing how things work and, and putting them back together, and, and, you know, getting the satisfaction, ah and you know, taking something totally apart and put it back together, it still works, ah is is the, you know, the good part of the whole thing is it works after you've put it back together. So, oh, yeah, that's always important. yeah There was there was no real inspiration, I guess,
00:04:43
Speaker
As a young as a young kid grown up.
Joining the Army and Gaining Experience
00:04:47
Speaker
So you do welding to when you did you take any kind of shop classes or welding classes or anything in high school or did you do is it after college when you started kind of tinkering with that stuff.
00:04:58
Speaker
You know, i i yeah you know but college, I actually didn't do any college myself. i I did maybe a semester of the community college here. I actually joined the army right out of high school. Oh, right on. that i And I was in the army for about five years.
00:05:16
Speaker
So it wasn't until I was maybe, and I was actually, I was um was National Guard. So I did some active time in the Guard. but So I had a job during you know all that too. So I was probably about 19 or 20 when I got my first, actually it was a fencing job and we had to do some welding there.
00:05:39
Speaker
As far as ah like training goes, um I was in an apprenticeship for for plumbing and pipe fitting. Okay. and And we learned a lot of stick welding there. Okay. And then sometime after that, I ended up in ah in a production fab shop, fabbing all kinds of different things, mostly stuff for like JB Hunt trucks. ah Oh, sure. and And trailers and stuff like that.
00:06:09
Speaker
So I kind of ah kind of knew a little bit before then, but i mean a lot of it's just been on the job experience as far as welding goes. That's probably a good way to learn though. You have some people there that can show you if if you're doing it wrong, they're going to let you know probably. Yes, yes. Those types of environment can be pretty brutal. So yeah, they will absolutely let you know. Got to have a thick skin. yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's definitely that kind of industry.
Passion for Jeeps: Business Beginnings
00:06:36
Speaker
So when did you shift gears, no pun intended, into the off road, you know, doing the suspensions and fabrications for, I'm assuming you do bumpers and and spare tile holders and rear bumpers, all that kind of stuff. Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:51
Speaker
So what what got me started really on this side was about 15 years ago, I bought my first Jeep and the i mean the rest is history, man. yeah i just I just fell in love with with the with you know Jeep Wrangler and fell in love with the lifestyle.
00:07:13
Speaker
Yeah. and and i you know I've always i always had wanted a Jeep. I always thought they were really cool. you know and In fact, before that, I remember going to the the ah the the tow yard. and Me and my buddy went to the tow yard and they had an 89 S10 that was just beat to hell. and i think I think I gave them like 300 bucks for it.
00:07:41
Speaker
Nice. And we towed it home. It didn't run. We we were we found out that somebody somebody did some unkind things to the gas tank. yeah Okay. So it it needed a new fuel pump. So we put a fuel pump in there, did some redneck stuff and and made it run. And that that thing was actually dubbed the redneck roller coaster.
00:08:06
Speaker
And that we had a lot of fun in that thing. And that that was really what but got me started down the off-road path. you know and And then I bought a Jeep and and and I started you know working on my own Jeep and started hanging out with people that loved working on Jeeps and loved going to wheel and off-roading. And then you know I always wanted to work for myself. And and you know finally, but myself and a buddy in line, you know we're like, hey, let's but's start doing something. And so we we started
00:08:41
Speaker
We started working on other people's Jeeps in the garage at his house. and that you know That's really where it all started, was in a garage. You know, the thing about the Jeep, the Jeep lifestyle and and folks that are into Jeeps and I've never owned a Jeep
The Jeep Community and Aaron's Involvement
00:08:57
Speaker
myself. I'm a Toyota guy. I've had an old Land Cruiser and now I have an old first gen Sequoia that I just love that thing. Those are great. Yeah, you can't go to Toyota. And an older Tundra and whatnot. But I've always liked the Jeeps for two main things. The one is,
00:09:12
Speaker
this The catalog of accessories and aftermarket is just off the charts. It's insane. You can think of something and five people have already got it and it's for sale. think Yeah. and The other thing about Jeeps is that Jeeps, they're like the owners are like this brotherhood that, I mean, it's kind of like the Land Cruiser guys, but they're a much smaller number.
00:09:34
Speaker
It's really a cult. Yeah, it almost is. And everybody's like, hey, I think I know that guy. And then they just start you know rattling off all the accessories they can see on your vehicle. And it really is kind of fun to watch from the outside. and but Yeah, it's yeah, go ahead. No, I was just gonna say so the Jeep thing. I'm not surprised when people say that that's what got him into off-roading stuff because it seems like such a common thing. You get that Jeep bug and you get the aftermarket accessory lifting tires, everything.
00:10:05
Speaker
You just can't stop. So it happens. It happens. I've got guys that come in to my shop and you know everybody's got a story about their jeep that they have and and the jeeps that they have had. And you know so many people come in and they're like, oh yeah, this is my 10th jeep. and you know or or Or they have eight more at home. you know Maybe only half of them run. but yeah You know, so yeah, that that really is a great thing about Jeeps is there's, you know, you know you you see a blue Jeep running down the road with red wheels and and this bumper and that bumper and you're like, name I know that guy, I don't know his name, but I know i know that Jeep. Yeah. So that that's the cool thing about them is is how much and customization you can do to them to make it your own.
00:10:58
Speaker
And Toyotas, you know, there probably isn't quite as many ah support for Toyotas as there is Jeeps. Right. There's not. but Yeah.
Expanding into the Toyota Market
00:11:08
Speaker
But the Toyotas are right there, man. there There's so much with those. And that the you know the first the first probably three or four years that I was in business you know was mostly Jeeps. That's what I kind of stuck to more. That's where I knew the best. But then you know started slowly progressing into into the Toyota world and then you know even breaking out from there. But Toyotas are great, man. they're they're they're Really, they're overengineered.
00:11:37
Speaker
Yeah, I had to replace the starter on my first gen Sequoia, which has the 4.7 liter in it. And that starter, you got to take the the intake manifold off and it's buried down there. Man, I'll tell you what. Yeah. But I will say this, even though that was a beast of a job,
00:11:55
Speaker
I have 283,000 miles on my Sequoia and that was the original starter. so ah it's still it had the It had the original date stamped on it from 2001 and I thought, all right. It's amazing. I was cussing that engineer as I was you know laying across my engine digging into that, but I had to tip my hat to whoever designed that starter. so That's amazing. Yeah.
00:12:19
Speaker
if If someone wanted to kind of follow in your footsteps and you know a lot of people out there like to do things with their hands, I myself have been tempted to go to Harbor Freight and get a little $99 welder just to see how I can glue metal together essentially. Sure. what What kinds of, you mentioned some of the good training that you got when you were working in some of those fab shops.
00:12:43
Speaker
yeah Is it, ah would it be more advantageous to go and take some kind of formalized training before or is it just depend on the person? Yes, I think it depends on the person. I think it depends on how you grew up, where you grew up, what, you know, what was around you. You know, if you grew up, if you grow up with, ah you know, your, you know, say your dad is a welder, you know, you're probably, you're probably going to learn how to weld as you're younger, but yeah.
00:13:12
Speaker
you know For somebody that wanted to really get into welding and you know you maybe you don't you know you have a little bit of experience with it but not much, it it really is a good idea to go get formal training at some sort of welding school because they're going to teach you you know the the the ins and outs of everything and you're going to learn all of the lingo and and what to do and what not to do. And and and then from there, you know some of those schools will help you actually find a job afterwards. and Oh, yeah yeah. You just learned a lot more of the technical stuff.
00:13:51
Speaker
you know things that that yeah i mean Some of it I probably don't even know now or ah or you know have have known and forgotten you know because I i don't weld every day anymore. we We do a ton of welding but yeah takeck TIG welding is is really where it's at anymore. that if If you were going to go to school to learn any type of welding, TIG welding would be the one. If you were going to only take one process of welding to do, TIG welding would probably be the one. I'm going to show my ignorance on welding. Is TIG welding the one that you use with gas?
00:14:28
Speaker
so So TIG welding does use gas. Don't ask me what it stands for, because I i don't remember off the top of my head. But you've got MIG welding is with a lead and the that spits out a wire. right that's oh yeah That's MIG welding or flux core welding. There's also f flux core welding, which is the same thing. It's a wire feed, but it doesn't use gas. The wire is actually shielded. And okay and then MIG welding actually uses a gas mixture And then TIG welding also uses a gas mixture, but you have a ah little stick of tungsten that you sharpen into a point and then you've got a filler rod. And then depending on the type of machine you're using, you've also got a pedal and the pedal turns your ah your lead on or or puts power to your tungsten and then you've got to fill a filler rod. So you've got to use your foot and both hands its to to do TIG welding.
00:15:29
Speaker
Is welding, you know you talked earlier that your body's suffered some ramifications of you know using your hands to work. You can see in some of these positions where if you're welding over your head or hunched over something for hours at a time, yeah do you know your local chiropractor pretty good? or I do. I go three times a week. There you go. a Smart man. Right on. Yeah, I mean, know I'm broken for a lot of reasons. I played ball for 10 years and wrestled in high school and then, okay you know, was was in the army for five years and I held explosives. So I, you know, picking up yeah heavy things. And then um I've always had hard, laborious jobs and i've I've always worked really. So yeah, I mean, i mean for welding specifically,
00:16:16
Speaker
Yeah, you you can get into some seriously uncomfortable positions where you have to you know and and things that I don't have any idea about. You look at videos maybe maybe of of guys that are doing pipeline welding and they're laying in the mud and they're soaked in water and they're upside down and they're welding overhead, which is the worst.
00:16:41
Speaker
Yeah. and and you you know you just I've been upside down inside a ah foundry tank welding crossbars in with a TIG welder and it's sad it's it's not fun. or yeah you got guys you know i I used to do iron work and and you you know i mean The highest I've been is 30 feet in ah in a boom lift, but some of these guys are 100 feet in the air in a boom lift that sways 20 feet you know side to side, and you're up there swaying, trying to make a weld and race. you know Yeah, yeah i mean it it can be a brutal job.
00:17:23
Speaker
it's It's cushy when you're when you're in a shop. You're in a shop doing production, welding, fab work, that type of stuff. it' You
Running a Small Business: Sacrifices and Responsibilities
00:17:32
Speaker
have a lot more you have a lot more ah ways to be comfortable, which is sure but really one of the most important things in welding is trying to be comfortable.
00:17:41
Speaker
Well, you said something a second ago that I've heard from almost everybody that I've interviewed. You talked about how it's hard words and you work hard. And I think that's something that, you know, you've you're in a position now where you're successful. You've got your own shop. You guys are kicking butt. Your name's out there. People know who you are, especially in the off-roading world.
00:18:03
Speaker
But you had to pay your dues, you had to work hard, you had to sacrifice your body and time. Absolutely. And and grind it out a little bit. But now you're reaping the benefits of all of that hard work.
00:18:15
Speaker
Yeah, sacrifice is the is the big word there, ah Tim. it's it It really does. Getting getting far enough ahead in probably any industry, yeah, takes takes a lot of sacrifice. It does. And especially if you're running a small business, it does, man. It takes it takes all the sacrifice. yeah i'm i don't I don't have kids. I don't have like a huge family here. you know i've I've got my girlfriend and I've and i've got my dog. ah so um I'm lucky enough in that aspect that I don't you know i guess i don't have that more responsibility you know ah in that side of things. so i've I have the luxury of being able to put you know all of myself into my business, but it it does, man. you know Some weeks, you don't get paid.
00:19:08
Speaker
Right. you know I mean, that's just part of it, you know especially when you're starting out. Those are eating ramen and and and and butter spaghetti noodles yeah yeah on the weekends, you know because it does. It takes sacrifice, your time, your blood, your sweat, and and your body in this industry, especially for sure. those and and In any small business, time is money.
00:19:36
Speaker
And yeah, it's it can be hard. It can be hard for sure. I've talked to a couple other small business owners and you know there's ah there's a big benefit that also has a big drawback. The big benefit to being the small business owner and being the boss is that you needed to make all the decisions.
00:19:52
Speaker
But, and it's a big but, all of the responsibility is on your shoulders. and so If you're willing to take on that challenge, the sky's the limit, but you have to understand it's going to mean longer days. Sometimes you got to work weekends. You got to miss certain things because you're trying to grow your business and that's just part of the deal.
00:20:12
Speaker
so yes Yes, absolutely. man that is um That is the thing. You know you work for yourself, so you know you don't you don't necessarily have someone to answer to except when when you're in a retail type of business. you know Of course, your customer is your boss.
00:20:32
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, once you get to a point where you know, like, like me, I've got, I've got, I've got a manager that manages my shop. And so that leads me to be able to talk to customers and, and do the business side of things. But yeah, I mean, you can, you know, Hey, I'm going to take today off and go hike in the woods. You know, if, if, if you're at a point where you can do that, yeah, you, you can do that. Nobody's going to tell you, uh, no, you got to come into work today.
00:21:00
Speaker
you know But like you said, at the same point, you know sometimes you've got a project that's that's got to get done this week ah and it you know you got 40 hours to work on it and you've got all the other these other things to do. Well, yeah, if you're going to probably be working some 16-hour days.
00:21:17
Speaker
to to to meet that deadline, to get that out so that you can continue being able to reap those benefits. and so you know It's kind of a give and take i think with any small business. you know so For sure. Yeah. if you If you could go back in time, let's say go back 15, 20 years, and this question sometimes I don't even like to ask it because A lot of times I find that the journey that people went through was what made them successful. But if you could go back and maybe redo something, would you go back and get formal training? Or is the way that you learned the best way for you personally to learn? Or was there classes you would take or different business decisions you would make? Anything that really stands out that you you kind of wish you could undo if you ever look back?
00:22:05
Speaker
Yeah, you know I think in life it's important to not live with regret and because they're you know we're in the here and now and there's nothing you can do to go back. And and it's really just a waste of of of mental energy to even think about what I could have done, what I should have done.
00:22:26
Speaker
That being said, there are things that I would do differently for sure. I i think anyway, you know, I i never worked. in a mechanic shop. I have never worked in a mechanic shop other than my own. so you know If I was able to go back, you know I i may i may you know would would have gone and and and worked at a couple shops maybe to try to see how everything is ran that way, like the business side of things. you know i've I've really just had to figure out on my own you know what's how you know to try to be efficient and keep production at its optimum level
00:23:06
Speaker
and and be able to you know also bust out a 100% perfect product at the end of the day when it leaves. you know it It probably would have been nice, I think, to to have been able to work in some of those shops to be able to to read those different things. but But like you said, on the same side of things, you know i I have been in many, many different industries And I have done a lot of different things and i I feel like all of these different things that I've done through life helped me today ah to be able to you know figure out different things. Being able to problem solve different things that come up require you to know a lot of different things with the type of stuff that we do, you know but you know making things work.
00:24:00
Speaker
that's That's the big thing about what what we do is is modification. you know yeah and and Sometimes you may you get this thing that comes in and you got to put this thing on it and it doesn't fit. and You got you gotta to really sit down and figure out how am I going to make this thing fit on here? I got to make it work.
00:24:19
Speaker
And and you know you got to sit down and and figure some of these things out. but I would imagine you run into a scenario pretty often where, all right, because I put a this bumper here, but then it's going to interfere with the wheel and he wants a lift. And then I've got to make sure there's clearance and then the approach angle. And when he turned the wheels on the front, do they rub? And you know there's all these downstream effects that you have when you start modifying a vehicle that If you don't anticipate those or no, if I do A, then B and C and D are going to happen. And I have to address all those. You could get yourself in a little bit of a pickle so I can see the problem solving that would have to go on when you're doing that kind of stuff.
00:25:01
Speaker
Yes. and and There is no type of formal training that will teach you those things. Right. That's experience, isn't it? It's experience. It really is. you know Going to school is that is not a bad thing. i mean it's it's good i I feel like it is good to go to school so that you can learn all of the things that that you won't learn in a shop. When you get to a shop,
00:25:27
Speaker
You're, you're there to work, you know, I mean, you're, you're there to learn too, but that shop's going to want you to work and, and be productive and move stuff out the door and you're there to make money, you know? Yeah. So, you know, going to school and learning all the things that they teach you and you know, in like an automotive setting can be very important to learn, you know, or you can just go start working in a shop and be an apprentice.
00:25:54
Speaker
you know we've we've we've got We've got that too. yeah you You'd have to do it when you're young and enough. and and i I don't know if it's possible in today's economy, but yeah you got to work for cheap. and ah aid and no one's No one's going to pay you $25 an hour if you don't know nothing in a shot.
00:26:17
Speaker
Thank God for YouTube because I've learned a ton on how to work on my vehicles on YouTube. You know, that's the other thing. Yeah, YouTube, the old old YouTube mechanic. You know, I mean, but we use YouTube too. even Even, you know, the great big manufacturers, these guys, they've put out YouTube videos on how to install the products. So, you know, youtube YouTube really is a tool now. There's a lot of, there there are a lot of There's a lot of misinformation out there, too. Oh, yeah. mean You got to be able to use reasoning to try to figure out which one, which guy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about and in which one he does. And the same goes for forums.
00:26:58
Speaker
but yeah Yeah, it's amazing what what you can learn just from watching a 20-minute video on YouTube. but you gotta You also have to know your limitations, not only with your skill set, but your tool set. and I've had a few instances where afterwards I thought, you know what, I should not have tackled that. I made it work somehow, but I ended up spending more and it took three times as long as just taking into a mechanic. so yeah you know Yeah. You've got good memories now. Well, I've also got some scars on my knuckles. So that's, you know, that's another thing. That's for another conversation, but, um, yeah, yeah, that's, that's accurate. Talk to me about, give me a kind of a snapshot. Let's say it's a Tuesday morning, your alarm goes off, you get up, you drive to work and drinking your coffee. What is a typical day for you? Like when you come in to the shop, you know,
00:27:52
Speaker
things Things certainly change day to day. you know Mondays, for example, Monday mornings are for inspections. you know so so you know We may have 15 vehicles outside that we're were're waiting to to work on. you know Some of these vehicles are here because We're waiting on parts, so we we get a vehicle in, we do an inspection and then we figure, okay, we you know for for the repair type things that we do, we inspect it and we order parts and then it goes outside and we wait for those parts to come in. but
00:28:31
Speaker
Like I say, for for a Monday morning, you know from Monday from when we open like 8 o'clock to noon is for inspection. so Any vehicle that's outside that needs to be inspected will come in. any Anything that comes in, whether it's here for upgrades or it's here for an engine swap or axle swap, whatever it's here for, whether it's an upgrade or repair maintenance, we do an inspection on it. If it's a vehicle we have never seen before,
00:28:57
Speaker
We inspect the whole thing. I mean, we look over everything that can move, pop, break. I mean, anything you can put your hands on, we look it over, you know mostly as a courtesy to the customer so so that there's not there's not any surprises. Sure. They may not be aware something's wrong.
00:29:18
Speaker
They may not know that something's wrong and and it's our job to let them know that, hey, these bushings are wore out or your opinion bearings are loose and you need to rebuild the rear axle or this shock's leaking or your rear main seal's bad, whatever whatever the case may be. you know they they you know and People bring us our their vehicles, they're putting their trust in us to tell them you know that, hey, this you have this problem, you need to fix this.
00:29:44
Speaker
and
Vehicle Inspection and Customer Satisfaction
00:29:45
Speaker
And it may not be urgent. you know It may be, hey, you need to fix this in six months or a year, or or hey, your wheel's about to fall off. I don't recommend that you drive this right now. right you know so and that And both of those things happen. They they happen all the time.
00:30:01
Speaker
so you know i mean Week to week, Tim, it it just varies because there's so many projects that we have that are that are in different phases. and so we We have long-term projects and then we have our short-term stuff that's just kind of day-to-day, you know this is a one-day job, this is a three-day job.
00:30:25
Speaker
So you know as far as when I get to the shop, I come in and I i check my you know i sit down at my desk and I check my emails and my voicemails and see if I've got anything there. you know i I might check on and shipments. you know What am I getting delivered today? What do I need to make space for on the rack? yeah we We get deliveries just constantly from UPS, FedEx, and my distributors have their own routes that they drive.
00:30:53
Speaker
Right. So, you know, trying to do inventory on parts that come in, you know, maybe they've come in the day before and we got to get this stuff, you know, put into our inventory and get it on the shelf. And and then from there, you know, like I say, I have a shop manager that kind of keeps things on track, ah you know, it gets gets the guys going. But, you know, as as far as management goes, i I use a shop management software that everything is categorized. So you know we've got categories for vehicles that are not in the shop yet, or not even in the parking lot. and We've got ones that are in line. you know We can see what's in the shop now. So all the guys have to do is go get on the computer, see what is in the shop now, and it tells them what all needs to be done, or or they can look at that and see what's in line. They needs to come in. That's pretty slick. You would have to have that with so many moving parts, quite literally moving parts. that Yeah, you could use track of something.
00:31:51
Speaker
Yeah, yes. Yeah, everything is recorded. And, and everything is on, you know, you pull it up on the screen, and you can see everything. You can see what, what needs to be done, what has been done, you got, you know, technician notes, you've got advisor notes, you know, so if, if, you know, if a note needs to be taken, you know, like, ah this vehicle doesn't have any oil in it, or whatever, we usually put that on the vehicle, but you know The vehicle came in and it had an engine code. We're going to record that in there because if it came in with an engine code, we need to either fix that or when when it leaves, we need to make sure that that engine code is not there because it's something that we did. so it It helps for many many things that the that software
00:32:41
Speaker
Do you break down the different guys that work for you? Do you have guys that, okay, this is a guy that works on the long-term projects. This one's getting, the suspension's gonna be rebuilt. I don't know if that would take four or five days, depending on parts. yeah I mean, do you have guys that will just, this is the long-term project guy, and this is the guy that just busts out all the small stuff, or this is the welder, or does everybody kind of jump in and just do whatever needs to be done whenever it needs to be done?
00:33:08
Speaker
Yes and no. so okay um Brent is my shop manager and and I have to give him credit because I would not be where I am now without his help.
00:33:23
Speaker
Right. and so and and Between me and Brent, we we really compliment each other because he's he's really good at all of the things that I'm not. I have a very decent fabricator, but Brent blows my doors off me and I got to be honest. Brent is way better fabricator than I am. He's been doing it a lot longer than I have. and and and so when it When it comes to you know but we do We do like a lot of roll cages. I have some experience bending tube, but not not not a ton. I've built a couple go-kart frames out of some tubing and done some other things, but it's not what I'm the best at. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of skill to be able able to do those things.
00:34:15
Speaker
And, and Brit, Brit's got it. Uh, we've got, and we've got software for that too, for bending tube. Um, and, and he knows that. So, you know, when it comes to, to bending tube and a majority of the serious fabrication that we do that, that really falls on Brit. Um, so, and then I've got, I've got a guy, uh, his name is Angel.
00:34:39
Speaker
And, uh, he's my body guy. So we do, we do body work and we do paint. I don't do a ton of it. I don't normally, you know, if somebody just needs a paint job, I'll probably send him to a, to a different body shop. Paint is a whole new world. That's a whole yeah man. Yeah.
00:34:59
Speaker
And I, I, I don't even want to touch it. I'm great with a spray can, uh, and, and some, you know, decent primer, but, you know, when it comes to sanding a car down and, and making sure all the lines are perfect and, uh, you know, getting that nice sheen and gloss, you know, by the time it's done, that's I don't, I don't, it's not me.
00:35:22
Speaker
I don't even have to tell you the guys that do that are they're artists, man. That is amazing to see somebody. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's it's it really is. you're yeah I mean, it really is an art um and and it can it can be mediocre and it and it can be, you know, amazing. I mean, you know,
00:35:45
Speaker
um so Angel Angel does that stuff for us. you know When we're doing a full build, we're do you know we do restorations and we do restaurant lots. Right now, we're working on one that's a ground-up build. We're literally building from the ground up. He does a lot of that stuff, even just little stuff. Just this week, we did we did a repair on ah a Jeep's hardtop, which is fiberglass.
00:36:12
Speaker
ah you know They had a little crack in it. They had to clean that up with some fiberglass repair stuff and slap a little paint on it. and you know and It looks great sending out the door. so Those are my two main guys.
00:36:26
Speaker
you know when i so and then Then we've got another guy. so our Our third guy is ah Scott. His name is Scott. and He's not been with us very long. Scott has been with us maybe two or three months now.
00:36:42
Speaker
but he's young. He's, he's one of those guys that, you know, I was talking about earlier and that's kind of an apprentice, but Scott's 21 years old, uh, and walked into my shop one day, one, one afternoon and, uh, you know, was looking for a job and the type of, the type of business that I'm in, that the the specific, you know justt not just automotive, there's tons of automotive shops, there's tons of mechanic shops, but there are not a lot of shops, at least not in my area specifically, that do exactly what we do.
00:37:18
Speaker
and so i really have've I've had a lot of people that come and are looking for a job, but for me, ah I've got to be picky because we We really try our damnedest to put out the best product we can possibly put out and having the guys that can do those things is really hard to come by. Somebody that somebody that takes pride in the finished product that that once it's done, they step back and they they they go, oh my God, i I did that, that looks amazing. yeah It's hard to find those types of people. you know right A lot of people just want a job.
00:38:02
Speaker
They just want to come to work, work nine to five, have an hour lunch, and and go home to their wife and kids. And there's there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with going to work, putting in honest days work and going home. there's There's not anything wrong with that. But the type of work that we do requires passion, and it requires grit. And and when this when this guy walked into my my office,
00:38:31
Speaker
Instead, he was looking for a job. I'm going to be honest, at first, you know I just kind of brushed him off. you know it was like you know you know People come in here all the time, they want a job, but you know most of them are just mechanics and they're parts changers. that's that's not That's not the type of work we do. We're not parts changers. We don't just do parts and stuff. you know We're not replacing water pumps and alternators.
00:38:54
Speaker
So you know this guy walks in and he hands me his resume and you know i'm I'm looking it over and he's talking and you know he's telling me that that it would be a dream for him to work at this type of place.
00:39:08
Speaker
and and you know So i'm I'm looking at his resume and at the time, you know I wasn't really hiring. I actually had another guy that was working for me.
00:39:19
Speaker
that was actually a machinist and and we have some machine tools in the shop for fabrication that he was really good at and operating. so I wasn't really looking to hire another person, but I ended up sitting down with Scott and kind of picking his brain and asking him questions. and And you know he was telling me some things about what he does, and and he seemed he seemed to have that passion for this type of work.
00:39:50
Speaker
and And so one of my guys had come in and and needed some help looking at something. And so I you know i had already told Scott that I wasn't really hiring. He says, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and go. And I say, no, you know give me a second and just just wait just a minute.
00:40:09
Speaker
And so I go out into the shop and I i call Brent and and i I tell Brent, I say, hey, go go grill this kid, man. Just just go just go give him. Just give it to him. And I say, look, I've already talked to him and I have a feeling about him, but I want you to go talk to him and see what you think and see if we're thinking the same thing. And so I i go do what I'm doing and and come back and You know, Brent kind of looks at me and, you know, Scott's in the office and he says, man, I think that guy has some potential. And and I said the same thing. I said, you know, I really think the guy has some potential. So, you know, I guess my point is that, you know, if you're going to go look for a job, you you don't want to go in like this other guy that comes in. he He walks into my shop and says, hey, I got fired today. I need a job.
00:41:03
Speaker
Oh, good grief. Who's going to hire that guy? Nobody. Nobody's going to hire you. if That's the attitude that you have. You know you need to walk to work there. Yeah. So you know but back to your original question, that those those are the three guys that I have. So but we all we all kind of work on different things. We all have our own specialties. Scott's happens to be CAD. Scott is better at computer-aided design then than any any of us other guys. angel doesn't
00:41:39
Speaker
know it at all. I don't know it at all. Brent is proficient with it and actually has gotten better with it, but that that is Scott's strength, that if you will, ah is is kind of that area um and and he's learning. But you know and and we're as as the company grows, I'm constantly trying to add more people to the team.
00:42:04
Speaker
che to you know kind of build what what I would call our A-team, if you will. so There's always room for growth. Oh, yeah. There's a balance too between growing too fast and but then also offering more services and more stuff and yes, something that every business just has to figure out as they go along. Yeah, you know you don't want to outgrow yourself.
00:42:28
Speaker
for sure. you don't Don't grow too fast. you know i'm ah the the The best way to do it, I think really is is is to yeah know when you're expanding, don't expand until you're busting at the seams or when you got $20 million dollars in the bank, whatever. Yeah. Well, kudos if you got $20 million. dollars You're doing some, right? Yeah. Yeah, sure. Sure. Yeah. Hey, what do you like most about your job? If someone just said, what's the one thing that ah you like the most?
00:42:59
Speaker
you know For me, it's it's probably the people. yeah you know i i I get to talk to a lot of people and and I've got people that call me from not all over the country, but I have people that call me from different states. I've had people call me from four states away, or maybe five. I've had people call me from Florida and Louisiana, and we've got vehicles in the shop right now that are from Memphis, Tennessee that's 10 hours away. I get to talk to all kinds of different people.
00:43:39
Speaker
um and and Even you know with my suppliers and my distributors, um you know those guys are all over the country. um and everybody has um Everybody has something interesting you know to say and ah you know and then in in the business, it's it's cool to be able to have somebody come in with an idea of what they want. Maybe it doesn't even exist, but they have this idea. and so they come They come to us and say, hey, I have this idea. Can you make it a reality? and We make it a reality. we make
00:44:18
Speaker
you know It's ahs not all all glorious. you know Sometimes it's it's nitty and gritty, and and the work sucks. But right when when the guy comes in and says, I have a dream, and we can make that dream a reality for somebody, and by the time it's done, this guy comes in and is just blown away by what we've done, that that's what doesn't for me.
00:44:40
Speaker
As a customer, I've taken, you know, my Sequoia is just a lowly Sequoia, nothing fancy, nothing, you know, rock crawling or whatever. But I found a local powder coating guy and my rims were looking pretty rough. And I was pricing new rims and the man methods are nice, but good grief. They're proud of those, man. They sure are. Yeah. And my stock rims were structurally good, but I just didn't like them cosmetically. And this guy gave me a price I couldn't believe I brought in my rims, and they look brand new in a different color. And they look, it just changed the entire vehicle. He facilitated something I didn't have the ability to do myself for a fair price. And I'm happy. He's happy. Everybody wins. So yeah, I absolutely can see why you would really like that part of it a lot. Yeah, it you know,
00:45:27
Speaker
um but is They bring joy to people you know a lot of times. People love their cars. and and in the Jeep world and and in in other worlds of it, but I feel like feel like it has more to do with the Jeep world than maybe others probably. ah Every Jeep has a name. you know Everybody that buys a Jeep, I've never been really that way myself ah with naming inanimate objects.
00:46:00
Speaker
ah but it is it's It's a thing with Jeeps. they've They all got a name. and and Because people feel the need to have names on these things, they they get very attached to them. and so when When somebody brings this thing to you, it's their pride and joy, and they're they're trusting you with it.
00:46:22
Speaker
you know to not you know scratch the paint or you know making their dreams come true with. us so it it you know it's it's really It's rewarding for sure that way. yeah When I look back at the off-roading industry, you know i my first kind of legitimate off-roading vehicle, like got older Toyota 4Runner, is a 99, I think.
00:46:45
Speaker
and I remember when I got my first BFGs put on there, man, I was riding high. yeah i yeah acted in you know This was years and years ago. Back then, really, all he had was like Rancho. Suspension was kind of like cutting edge. But now you've got Icon and Fox and everything else. They're just brands I've never even heard of making some really awesome stuff. and Of course, the Australians and all of their Oh, sure. Yeah. That's where it's at for the Toyotas. Oh, yeah. But what' what technological changes or advancements, have you seen anything that really stands out to you as like, man, this is this is like a game changer as far as the off-roading industry goes? Yeah, man.
00:47:27
Speaker
you know I mean, with the off-road industry for sure, I mean, and in every industry, technology these days is just, it's light speed, man, it's insane. And and companies are constantly doing you know research and designing new things and you know it's it's it's really hard actually to to keep up with.
00:47:53
Speaker
everything that's that's the newest, greatest, best thing that's come out, you know you know which is why it's really nice to be able to go to these expos like the SEMA show. SEMA show is over a million square feet of the latest and greatest. yeah yeah and so If you don't go to things like those, you you don't always see it up close and personal, but So it's hard it's hard to to pick out one specific thing, you know but us us, particularly the guys at the shop, a couple of us at least are are really into like offered racing, like ultra four racing, for example. Ultra four is like a mix between desert racing and rock bouncing. It's like you put those two together
00:48:45
Speaker
and and you build this badass car and a lot of and innovation has come from from these cars, I think. so you know One thing that I've seen personally in the last i don't know four or five years maybe, or at least that I've known about coming about in the last four or five years is like live valving in shocks.
00:49:11
Speaker
where oh okay you know some of these side-by-sides and stuff, and ah they've got them from the factory now. um even i think I think maybe some of the new Ford Raptors have it even where you've got you've got a button on your dash and you flip that button and all of a sudden your shocks have a mind of their own now. and they're you know They're adjusting to these bumps that you're hitting and they're rebounding differently and they're hitting differently. and you know Maybe they're you know they're they're getting softer and they're getting stiffer all at the same time.
00:49:47
Speaker
And so that that that's huge. I mean, that that is um ah just an an and innovation that I wasn't expecting, I guess. ah But you know they're they're just constantly coming up with with new things. you know yeah So it's it's really, it's hard to keep up with it all. That's pretty impressive. I mean, I'm happy with my Bill Steins, but I'm sure you can find something nicer than them.
00:50:14
Speaker
so Those things are great. Oh, yeah. I mean, for my needs, they're fine. But what's for your business? What are your future, like your future plans? Where are you wanting to take your company? Where are you wanting to take all that you offer? So, you know, if I go back,
00:50:36
Speaker
ah yeah Like I said earlier, i i started I started in a garage. I started in a little you know what's a garage, couple hundred square feet. yeah and that's That's what I had. and I worked a full-time job at the time. i mean When I first started, I was work i was doing iron work. i mean that's That is a hard job. and I was doing it 50, 60 hours a week and now I'd come home and I'd work another 20 hours a week on the side.
00:51:04
Speaker
And and you know by the time by the time I decided that it was time for me to pursue this more heavily, yeah I had three or four Jeeps at my house that weren't lying, that I was you know in the process of working on. And so when it came to that, it was like, all right, it's it's time to hit the ground running. So I i quit my job. and and started working out of my garage full time. um And that lasted maybe six months before I found a place to move into that wasn't too far from my house. Excuse me, but
00:51:44
Speaker
actually already had a bunch of equipment in it. so In the very beginning, I was ah very fortunate to have just kind of fallen into finding this shop that already had a lift and there was already a welder that I had access to and a bunch of other tools. you know I really just had to bring my own tools that I had and was able to you know kind of start there.
00:52:09
Speaker
But but you know a lot of businesses get loans and or that they you know people have you know accrued savings and or they you know they piece it you know real slowly. ah you know
Business Expansion Journey
00:52:22
Speaker
There's many and different ways to do it. eyes I started with nothing. i I had nothing when I started.
00:52:30
Speaker
and Yeah, I was like 20, 26, 27 years old when I you know finally decided to start my own business and and I have slowly grown as the years progress. you know i i worked I worked out of somebody else's shop essentially.
00:52:50
Speaker
and Then you know it kind of came time for me to move on and find something else. and and I found this little bitty spot, it was like 1,200 square feet. and i I moved into there and I bought a lift and I bought a welder and you know I worked out of that 1,200 square feet.
00:53:08
Speaker
and then And then I was able to actually move right next door from there into a 2500 square foot shop. And there you know I was kind of able to offer you know a little bit more to my customers. I was able to do a little bit more.
00:53:25
Speaker
You know, I was able to find somebody else to come work for me and and help take some of that load because I mean, i I did this purely by myself for like the first four years. For four or five years, I did this all by myself. That's a lot for one person. It is, man. It it really is. In fact, as you say that, um i i was so I was so stacked up with work.
00:53:54
Speaker
That I was getting burned out man and you know, to be honest, I i was not able to do it all. I couldn't i could do the work, but the the actual work.
00:54:09
Speaker
and answer the phone calls and send in voices and build quotes and do taxes and you know all the things, all the different hats that you have to wear as a business owner. and and I didn't go to business school. you know i didn't i didn't get it you know I didn't get any formal training on any of that stuff. so you know i'm I'm hitting the ground running and I'm learning as I go. and You know there's a lot of stuff you gotta learn pretty quick when it comes to managing a business not just running everything but actually managing the business side of everything. And i got burned out and i actually you know i i i almost closed up shop and went to work for one of my one of my suppliers and i finally.
00:54:58
Speaker
You know, some things fell through there in and that was kind of a sign to me that I needed to tighten my belt and and just get after it. And that's what I did. And not long after that is when Brent um came to work for me and and he he he did it. And I mean, ah i I probably without Brent, man, it it would have been tough. I got to say that.
00:55:26
Speaker
So I don't know, Brent, but I sure do like him a lot. He's great, man. He's a great dude. Good. he He does a lot for the shop. That's for sure. I mean, yeah, ah he's he's he's part of it.
00:55:38
Speaker
So after Brent came to work for me and we're working i out of a 2,500 square foot shop, you know, and, and we're moving forward and stuff's going good. And, and we really were getting to the point where, like I said before, we're busting at the seams, man. I got two lifts in this little 2,500 square foot shop. And, and, you know, we're, we're adding tools and we're adding equipment and there's just not enough room to be able to work on all this stuff. We need to hire another guy and.
00:56:08
Speaker
And this's where are we going to put up? We don't even have enough room for another lift. and and so the The area that I'm in is constantly growing. I mean, this um if I'm not mistaken, this is in the top 10 fastest growing areas in in the in the country, ah rock north or sorkanas yeah because vainly because walmart right in and the Viking community here, the but the the mountain biking. This here is actually named the mountain biking capital of the world.
00:56:41
Speaker
they They even moved the Denver, the the Olympic team from Denver to here, the Olympic mountain biking team moved here. So this this area is just constantly, constantly growing at an insane rate and the infrastructure and the housing market can't keep up with it. So for me, looking for a bigger space that wasn't ridiculously priced ah was really hard because at the end of the day, I got to think about my bottom dollar and I got to make sure that everything's in my budget. you know and so I i yeah i've spent probably close to a year trying to find
00:57:19
Speaker
someplace to move to. and i i mean I was constantly looking, at constantly checking you know the the real estate boards and hired. I ended up getting a real estate agent and trying to find someplace where I could move to it is just impossible. everything was and you know Either they wanted too much money for it for what I could afford or it wasn't exactly what I needed, not enough space, not ah you know way too far out of town. i mean There's just so many things.
00:57:47
Speaker
and then you know Finally, I had a conversation with my current landlord and I said, hey man, like i just I want to let you know upfront and and ahead of time that I'm going to be moving out of this shop to find something but bigger because I'm just ah busting out the seams. I just can't i i can't keep working out of this place. you know and so I was trying to give him a heads up.
00:58:10
Speaker
and where I was then in the 2,500 square foot shop right next door was another one of his properties, literally right next door. and That was a 10,000 square foot shop. Right then he offered it to me. He said, why don't you just move into this place? I rent it to you for this much.
00:58:30
Speaker
and you know and and That's what we did. We went we went from 2,500 square foot to 10,000 square foot you know in in about a month.
00:58:41
Speaker
So that that's been, that's been the best thing, you know, um, that happened so far was, was, you know, really, when you move a shop, it is, it's, you know, yeah I'm sure you've moved houses before. It's the worst thing ever. Moving a shop is worse. It's worse. It's terrible. know lie How much crap you have until you have to move it on. All right. Well, and everything is heavy in a shop. So oh yeah, it's it's terrible. You know, luckily we had a forklift, so we were able to move all that stuff over a lot easier that way. But, you know, getting everything set up in this building we moved into, it didn't have any 220 power anywhere. You know, we had to run airlines. You had to do all these things just to be able to to get in there. But so, you know, and now that's where we're at. We're in this 10,000 square foot shop. And, you know, it's and we're making it work.
00:59:36
Speaker
but you But in the next couple of years, we'll probably be in the same situation where we're we're starting to bust at the seams. We've added all this equipment. you know i've add I've added a manual mill and I've added a lathe. And we recently purchased a CNC plasma table. Nice. And we we've got a 10-foot brake press and three lifts. And you know we're constantly constantly adding more fabrication equipment, a paint booth. We bought a paint booth recently.
01:00:06
Speaker
And so we continue to add all these things. There's not going to be a enough room for the vehicles, you know, so in, in the future.
01:00:17
Speaker
The plan is to try to get into some production type work. um so to where you know We've got maybe four or five guys that are working on on the the repair and the upgrade and the and the fabrication side of things where we're or building vehicles and we're you know doing our resto mods and restorations and putting lifts on.
01:00:44
Speaker
And that's one side. And then, and then we get another team of guys on the other side to start doing production, um, you know, bumpers and, and, um, just different things that, you know, maybe we see because like you said earlier, man, there's.
01:01:00
Speaker
a thousand different companies that make the same damn thing. oh yeah yeah you know Everybody's got grab handles and you know but see you know bumpers. you know They all look a little bit different. so The market's just so saturated with those types of things. You know you really have to kind of you You have to do a few things. You got to be able to compete with the pricing and be able to put out a premium product that's, in my opinion, that's made in the US. That's not imported from China with Chinese Steel.
01:01:34
Speaker
yeah which is you know at the end of the day, 90% of it is probably is inferior. At least oh yeah how they any any of the what I like to call chinesium that I have seen personally has always been an inferior product.
01:01:51
Speaker
So you know you've got to be able to buy this material at a good price so that you can sell it at a good price and your product better be better than the next guy's. ah you know and At the end of the day, man it doesn't matter how good or bad your product is. If you don't have good advertising, it doesn't matter.
American-Made Quality vs Cheaper Products
01:02:11
Speaker
yeah I tell you, I agree with you 100% about the American made stuff. Yes, you can save some money if you buy something from China, but where you lose out is you put it on your vehicle and it looks good and you're happy with it. Let's fast forward two years. That thing is arrested. It's a piece of junk and it doesn't last. and If you would have just ponied up a little bit more,
01:02:35
Speaker
right from the get go, you would be much happier in the long run and you'd have a much better product strapped to your view. so yeah you know I absolutely agree. Sometimes you got to wait and spend a little bit more, save your pennies, but it's it's worth it in the long run.
01:02:50
Speaker
so Yes. I i believe in in keeping the dollars local whenever were possible hey um and especially keeping your dollars in the United States to keep the jobs here. you know i I really think that's important.
Learning from Failure and Persistence
01:03:09
Speaker
yeah and i I believe that 90% of the time you're going to get a better product. Sometimes yeah you don't have a choice. Sometimes that part is going to come from China whether you like it or not.
01:03:20
Speaker
right and If it doesn't come from China, maybe it's coming from India or it's coming from Korea or Vietnam. you know there There's a lot of lot of products that you don't have a choice. that It's going to come from another country like differential gears, ring opinions. Those stuff, it's almost impossible to buy in the US. They're getting cut in India, they're getting cut in Korea, and then they're getting shipped back. so yeah it's It's tough, man. but you know we We try and I try to to keep the money that we spend and the money that that customers are giving me to spend in the US because it's just better. I got a question for you, but I think I already know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask it anyway. You kind of alluded to it earlier. if What's the best advice that you can give someone on how to deal with failure?
01:04:15
Speaker
Oh, you know, in in life in general, ah you know, is is full of failures. And you know I wish I knew this off the top of my head, but you know one of the great inventors, whether it was Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin, what what are those types of guys you know say you know he failed at inventing this thing a thousand times. yeah The one thousand and one time he got it right. And it's you know the best invention of the century. But how many times did he have to fail? And how many times did he have to think about giving up
01:04:52
Speaker
before he said, no, I'm going to figure this out. So, you know, when you, you know, to to say it a different way, when you fall off the horse, you got to get back on, man.
01:05:05
Speaker
And and that's that's really all there is. You gotta you gotta to roll with the punches and you you just can't let it get you down. But yeah you also gotta know when when to step back. you know I think there's both sides of it. you know Just because this is the best thing for me doesn't mean it's the best thing for the next guy. So maybe you know this thing interests you and and you think,
01:05:34
Speaker
you know I really want to do this." and and You get in there and you're like, this is not what I thought it was going to be. It's okay it's you know it's okay to fail. It's okay to to step back and tell yourself, you know maybe I need to do something else.
01:05:49
Speaker
right but you know You just got to keep moving. That's all there is to it. One of the advantages that I'm kind of realizing is I get a little bit over. and know I'm 50. But if you look back on life, there's times when it's like, you know I just was banging my head against that wall and was proud of myself that I didn't give up. If I would have just paused for a second and stepped back, I could have figured out another way around that brick wall or over that brick wall or under it. Yes, absolutely.
01:06:20
Speaker
Usually as as you get through experience and you've got a you know a thick forehead from banging into that wall over and over again you go alright that's uncomfortable i'm gonna stop and see there's gotta be a better way to do this yes you know you learn some things is is but you know experience is a.
01:06:36
Speaker
is sometimes a pretty rough instructor. Oh yeah, absolutely, man. you know Anybody that comes to work for me, especially if they're new, I've made many mistakes. ah you know I've been in business for for eight years now, and I've made many, many mistakes.
01:06:56
Speaker
But the important thing is that you learn from those most mistakes and you try not to make them again. Sometimes you're going to make the mistake twice, but it's the most important, like you said, to step back. When you make a mistake, you need to step back and retrace your steps and figure out where did I go wrong? How can I do better the next time? What do I need to learn? you know Maybe I just need to not do that.
01:07:22
Speaker
anymore or or whatever it is, but yeah, yeah, absolutely. you know we We have to do that with what we do. you know Sometimes we get this crazy thing that comes in and we've got to make it work and you know we may try it one way and it doesn't work and we may try it another way and it doesn't work and finally, okay, we got to step back and and try to look at the bigger picture to try to figure out what's going on. um and you know so it takes It takes a lot of patience, that's for sure.
01:07:55
Speaker
If you weren't doing your current career, if you weren't involved in what you are, and I can tell you're passionate about it, but everybody has usually more than one thing that they like to do. Is there another career or occupation that if you could go back, you know, I'd really would like to do that, but it just wasn't in the cards kind of things?
01:08:14
Speaker
Yeah, you know if if this was not what I was doing and it had to be something else, you know that there's probably a couple of things that I would do.
Alternative Career Paths
01:08:27
Speaker
one One thing is probably some type of sales.
01:08:30
Speaker
which is is what I almost went to go do when when I thought about shutting down the business and going to do something else. ah At that time, I had learned so much about the industry that I'm in and so much about. um At the time, it was really all about drivetrain. That's been one of my specialties when I first started doing this. you know Somebody told me, hey, you need to learn you know Whatever you're going to do, find a niche. Find the niche and stick to that and and learn everything you possibly can about it. and For me, that was differentials. I was going to go work for a company ah that that does that. they're They're a differential company. That's what they do. I know the product really well. and so I thought, you know I can talk about this stuff all day long, so maybe I'll just go sell it. and it and it would have been you know and It would have been good money.
01:09:27
Speaker
But ah you know I've actually, and so well probably a couple of years ago now, maybe, you know I i yeah was talking with my girlfriend and you know i so I said, you know if if I ever stop doing this, I think I want to do something maybe more meeting meaningful, something where I can help. you know and And the thing that that i if if I ever don't do this anymore, and I'm a position where I don't have to make a lot of money, i would I would go work for an agency that deals with sex trafficking. Because I think that's a huge problem in the world. And there's saying there's not enough people dealing with it.
01:10:14
Speaker
you know it's It's not a glorious job, I'm sure. It's a terrible job to be in, but somebody's got to do it. and i I don't imagine that you know it it you're not going to get rich doing it. you know so that That would probably be what what i would what I would do.
01:10:36
Speaker
That is an excellent answer. And ah I'll be honest, and it wasn't wasn't the one I was expecting. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. The salesman thing. It's interesting to hear someone that says they want to go into sales and they want to be because they're knowledgeable on it. A lot of times I hear people talk about sales because there's a lot of money in it.
01:10:57
Speaker
But I've gone into car dealerships or whatever to buy something. And I've just spent a few hours looking over the product that I'm interested in. And I go in and I can tell within a minute that I know more about the product and the salesman. And it's like, I don't believe a word you say because you've just told me three things that if you just read your own brochure, you're wrong. So It's really great. yeah yeah I've had that same experience with with car sales with myself where you know you can tell right away, you can tell this guy doesn't know a damn thing about what matters under that hood. you so If you're listening to this and you want to be in sales, you got to know what your product is. You don't have to know everything, but at least read to brochure. You got to know everything, man.
01:11:43
Speaker
i Personally, I think it's important that if you don't know what you're talking about, you tell somebody. would People call me all the time and and why don know want know they just want to know things. They want to pick my brain because I've been doing this for a long time. and and ah i've created you know People have found out that they can call me because we we really know we know what we're doing, we we know what we're talking about.
01:12:09
Speaker
So people call me all the time you know asking me different questions and asking about, hey, can you do this? Can you do that? you know And sometimes I don't know. And, uh, you know, if I don't know, I'm going to tell you, I don't know, but I'm also going to tell you that I'll figure it out because that's, that's been, that's life and sure he sure. I have had to figure things out on the go because that's, that's how I've learned. And that's how I've got to where I'm at is by learning on the fly and researching and figuring it out. And that's, that's really.
01:12:46
Speaker
For me, that's that's a lot of a lot of it is just kind of sitting back and figuring it out. so yeah I think it's important to know what you're what you're selling because if you don't know what you're selling, how do you know that what you're selling is the right product for the person that you're selling it to? Right. you know I would much rather have, if I call a salesman and I ask him 10 questions and there's two he doesn't know,
01:13:15
Speaker
I'd rather him just say, man, I don't know the answer to that, but I will find out and get back with you and then actually do so. Guess who I'm going to call the next time I'm interested in a product or guess who I'm going to recommend, the bad guy. Yes. so Yeah, exactly. yeah Yeah. It's so easy. It's so easy to be good in sales, I think, but what do I know? I'm not a salesman. I'm just a customer, but yeah, I don't know.
01:13:39
Speaker
yeah Hey man, this has been an awesome conversation. you I can see why you're successful because your passion comes through loud and clear so please thank you with with your off-road stuff and the mechanics and the welding and everything.
01:13:55
Speaker
it's It's pretty easy when you talk to somebody within a few minutes to know, are they just doing this because it's a job and they're kind of good at it and they don't really like it? yeah Or do they eat, sleep and breathe this stuff? And you're one of those guys that's just, you're looking at catalogs on your days off and you're talking with your friends about it and you do it on the weekends. So that's, I really enjoy talking with people like that.
01:14:16
Speaker
Yeah, like I said, man, it's it's a lifestyle. It really is. so yeah yeah you know i mean And I do it. you know i I don't just work on these things. you know we we We live it. you know we We all have our own off-road vehicles that we take out and we get on the trails just the same as as our customers do and we're right there beside them. so you know It's great to be able to be on both sides of it and and and i do I do love what I do.
01:14:45
Speaker
Well, thanks for letting me represent the Toyota guys, even though I know you're in. We'll pull each other out of a ditch when we see each other, right? Absolutely. now That's all that matters and all that matters is that we all collectively hate the Honda Ridge lines. there you know My father-in-law has one of those, but he's a retired farmer, so I'll cut him some slack. but yeah Yeah, thanks. its Different structure, different folks. Oh, yeah. It has this place just not on the trail. so Sure, absolutely. Aaron, thanks so much, man. This was an awesome conversation. I really enjoyed talking with you. Yes, sir. Thank you so much for having me, for having me, man. This this has been great. Yeah, and before we go, what's the name of your what's name of your business? It is
Rock Brothers Offroad: Business Details in Rogers, Arkansas
01:15:29
Speaker
Rock Brothers Offroad. And you're and you're located where? We're in Rogers, Arkansas.
01:15:36
Speaker
Write it right in Central Rogers. ah if If you look it up on Google, it's Rock Brothers Off-Road and Custom Fabrication. and yeah like Like I said before, man, I yeah get people that call me from from Dallas and from Memphis and from South Louisiana and Florida. and you know Sometimes these people are just passing through or whatever. They got family here. but ah you know It surprised me really the first time it happened. But anymore, you know people called me from six, seven hours away and I'm like, all right, let's let's make this happen. So yeah, it's it's cool. Don't travel for quality, man. Don't travel for quality. Yeah, yeah that's that's what we do. That's what we do. So yeah, we have a lot of fun doing it. But yeah, no plans that move in any time soon right now. Right on, man. Thanks so much, buddy. We'll talk to you soon. Have a good day. Thanks again.
01:16:28
Speaker
And that wraps up another episode of the jobs podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. Hopefully you found that interesting. As always, I wait until the end of an interview to ask you to like, subscribe and share. I feel it's important that I earn that support from you. Thanks again, and we will see you on the next one.