July 13, 2026

#78 Dan Noeltner From Employee to Employer

40 minutes

In this episode:

Dan's start in PDR in 1996 — crayons, fluorescent tube lights, and homemade tools

13 years working for someone else before going out on his own in 2009

The growing pains of hiring, training, and a worker's comp audit that stung

How PDR College and Advanced Skills changed the way Dan ran his business

The COVID hailstorm story — laid off on a Wednesday, biggest year ever by Saturday

Building the business: dealership Quonset hut, three-car garage, purpose-built shop, uptown building with an in-bay automatic car wash and detail bay

Bringing on Stu and Chase and building a family team of techs

Dan's best advice for anyone in their PDR journey

Tool of the Week, picked by Dan Noeltner

An update on PDR Expo, September 25th–26th at the Rio in Las Vegas

Links mentioned:

Dent Specialist Inc (Dan's shop): https://dentspecialistinc.com

Tool of the Week — PDR Finesse Tools: https://pdrfinessetools.com/

PDR Expo: https://www.pdrexpo.com

Follow Dent Repair Now: @dentrepairnow (all platforms)

Hashtags:

#PDR #PaintlessDentRepair #DentRepairNow #PDRExpo #DentRepair #PDRLife #HailRepair #AutoBody #SmallBusiness #PDRTools #DentSpecialist #TheGreatYapChallenge

2. Timestamped Show Notes

00:00 Cold open — on location at Dan Noeltner's house in Highland, Illinois, just outside St. Louis

00:30 Catching up: golf, birthday parties, and great-nephews — Gene and Dan have been friends for 10 years since meeting at an Advanced Skills seminar in 2016

02:00 How Gene and Dan met — the early days of Mobile Tech RX and Bryce Kelly at MTE

03:00 Dan's PDR origin story — started in 1996, his 30th year in the business

04:00 What training looked like in '96 — crayon marks, fluorescent tube lights, no Loose yet

05:00 Bare-bones tools, the old Anson catalog, and meeting Steve from Ultra

06:00 Lacy Tools out of Springfield, Missouri, and the early days before whale tails

08:00 Wholesale hail work, drilling holes, and cutting his teeth on rental cars

09:00 Retail didn't exist yet — 13 years working for someone else, 1996 to 2009

10:00 What it was like to walk away and go out on his own

12:00 Going solo in 2009 and eventually bringing on his nephew part-time

13:00 The worker's comp audit surprise that comes with hiring your first employee

14:00 Self-training a tech — the difference between being a good technician and a good teacher

15:00 The turning point — PDR College, Dan Rokicki, and signing up for Advanced Skills

18:00 Giving credit to Keith Cosentino and Shane for shaping modern PDR

19:00 How Advanced Skills changed the way Dan looked at his business, not just the job

22:00 Working out of a dealership's Quonset hut, then a three-car garage at the house

23:00 Breaking ground on his own shop in 2018

25:00 The COVID story — laying guys off, a 5am phone call, and a hailstorm that changed everything

27:00 Buying the uptown building — adding an in-bay automatic car wash to the business

28:00 The detailing experiment — paint correction and ceramic coating instead

30:00 Adding Stu (future son-in-law) and Chase (Dan's son, now serving in the Air Force) as techs

32:00 On the friendships built in the PDR industry — and how fast you connect with other techs

33:00 Dan's advice for anyone on their PDR journey: always be willing to learn

36:00 Tool of the Week — Dan picks his go-to Finesse tool

39:00 PDR Expo update — September 25th–26th at the Rio in Las Vegas, plus Gene's round table and cold glue class

40:00 Wrap up — where to find Dan and Dent Specialist Inc online

Links:

Dent Specialist Inc: https://dentspecialistinc.com

Tool of the Week — PDR Finesse Tools: https://pdrfinessetools.com/

PDR Expo: https://www.pdrexpo.com

Follow Dent Repair Now: @dentrepairnow (all platforms)

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By Gene Fetty

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