Training is everywhere in the automotive aftermarket, yet too many teams still treat it like a checkbox and then wonder why sales, retention, and customer experience stay flat. Stacey Miller sat down with Laurie Bacopoulos, founder and CEO of Cobblestone Consulting, to get practical about what actually works when you need training that scales across employees, locations, and channel partners without watering down the message.

They talk about how Cobblestone helps companies pull knowledge out of subject matter experts and package it into interactive e-learning, micro videos, and software tutorials, supported by a learning management system like TalentLMS. Laurie explains why “completion rates” are a weak finish line and how stronger metrics connect training to outcomes leaders care about: SKU sales, reduced returns, improved partner performance, and better employee retention. We also dig into role-based learning paths in the shop environment, so technicians, service writers, and owners can see a clear growth path and stay engaged.

Then they zoom out to change management and modern formats, including brand transition training and the rising power of video. Finally, they get real about AI in training: where it accelerates development, how it can create realistic scenarios from dense manuals, and why it should augment human expertise instead of replacing it.

If you want partner training that drives loyalty, workforce development that reduces turnover, and a clearer way to prove ROI, hit play, subscribe, and share this with someone responsible for training. 

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The hardest part of a difficult conversation isn’t what you say. It’s the story you tell yourself before you ever open your mouth.

We’re recording from the Women in Auto Care conference with two award-winning leaders: Courtney Pedler, Lifetime Achievement Award winner and co-founder of Autology Data, and Lauren Briggs, Woman of Excellence with the NAPA Auto Care team. Together, we dig into why workplace conflict can feel like “landing a plane without being a pilot,” and how a few small communication habits can change the outcome fast.

Courtney shares a simple, powerful framework from the book Difficult Conversations: you’re not having one conversation, you’re having three at the same time. There’s the “what happened” conversation (where you only have half the story), the feelings conversation (where unspoken emotion drives defensiveness), and the identity conversation (where insecurity whispers that one mistake means you’re a bad person or about to get fired). We talk through how to slow down, stop assuming intent, and walk in with clear goals: what you want for yourself, what you want for the other person, and what you want for the relationship.

Lauren brings the practical side of leadership communication and emotional intelligence: using "I" statements, asking better questions, and listening to understand instead of listening to respond. We also cover influence without authority, how to motivate people who don’t report to you, and why connecting someone to the “why” behind a request can prevent conflict before it starts.

If you want better conflict resolution skills, clearer feedback conversations, and stronger team trust, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a rating and review so more leaders can find it.

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AI is changing how drivers discover and buy aftermarket parts, and the shift is happening faster than most teams are ready for. Mike Chung joined by Jon Hedges, founder of Hedges & Company, to unpack what “digital marketing” truly means in the automotive aftermarket when the customer journey spans Google search, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, reviews, video, email, and in-store research with a phone in hand. 

We start with the fundamentals: why being visible online is now table stakes, how the industry moved from paper catalogs to online catalogs and shopping carts, and why accurate product data and fitment details still decide whether a shopper trusts your brand. Then we get practical about measurement. Jon explains how to think about goals, which metrics actually matter, and how to avoid the attribution traps that make reports look great while sales stay flat. If conversion tracking is misconfigured, today’s algorithms will optimize for the wrong actions and send you more of the wrong traffic. 

From there, we tackle SEO versus LLM optimization (LLMO) and what it takes to show up when consumers ask AI tools for shopping answers. Jon shares why original, useful content and technical signals like schema are becoming essential, and why trust frameworks like EEAT (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) will matter even more as agentic AI begins shopping on behalf of customers. The big takeaway: better data and stronger trust signals can help smaller aftermarket brands compete with much larger players. 

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Mexico’s vehicle fleet just crossed a milestone that should make every aftermarket planner sit up: 36.1 million vehicles in operation. Stacey Miller sits down with Evaristo Garcia, Founder and CEO of IDF, to unpack the latest Mexico VIO data and what it means for the automotive aftermarket, distribution, and the North American supply chain.

They talk through where the growth is really coming from (light vehicles), and why Mexico’s average vehicle age stays high and steady at about 16.2 years. That long-lived fleet is shaped by strong new vehicle sales and by something uniquely important to Mexico’s market: used imports from the United States, often called “chocolates.” If you sell parts, service vehicles, or manage inventory across borders, this mix changes how you forecast demand and how wide your catalog needs to be.

Then they dig into the strategic shifts hiding inside the totals. Mexico is still a car-heavy market at roughly 56% of VIO, but trucks and SUVs keep gaining ground as global OEM strategies tilt away from sedans. We also explain IDF’s “modern segment” view: about 14 million vehicles from the last 10 model years, a huge opportunity for aftermarket businesses that want to win on newer applications without ignoring the long tail. Finally, they put Chinese automakers into perspective: more than 10% of new vehicle sales, yet only about 1.2% of the light-vehicle VIO today, alongside bigger penetration in medium and heavy trucks and real-world parts availability lessons.

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Most career advice assumes you already know who you are at 18. We don’t buy that, so we sit down for a real talk about uncertainty, pressure, and the messy path that actually leads to work you like. Jacki Lutz is joined by Zoi Holloway, our communications coordinator at the Auto Care Association, and her Gen Z niece Ayla Ross, a high school senior job shadowing for the week, bringing a fresh point of view on what it feels like to stand at the edge of graduation with more questions than answers.

We get into college vs trades, community college cost realities, and why a four-year degree can still matter for “getting in the door” even when the work itself is learned through experience. We also talk about the technician shortage in the automotive aftermarket and why workforce development, scholarships, and initiatives to bring more women into automotive are becoming urgent. Along the way, Zoi shares how changing majors and following skills like writing, reporting, and storytelling led her into mass communications and a creative communications career.

Then we zoom out to the bigger forces shaping every career decision right now: AI in the workplace, entrepreneurship culture, and the nonstop pull of social media. We ask what companies and associations can do to attract young talent, and why showing the people, the culture, and the “safe to try” environment matters as much as listing job openings. If you’re curious about automotive industry careers, marketing and communications roles, skilled trades, or just figuring out your next step, you’ll leave with a clearer framework and a little more permission to evolve.

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Inflation is forcing a new kind of creativity in car ownership and the ripple effects are everywhere in the automotive aftermarket. We talk with Rob Pietrowski, VP of Research at IMR, about what the data says when repair bills rise faster than household budgets: where demand stays steady because maintenance is non-discretionary, and where the real movement happens underneath through brand switching, outlet choices, delayed maintenance, and more price shopping.

Rob walks us through how IMR measures vehicle maintenance and repairs at scale, including large consumer surveys and monthly repair shop surveying that captures what shops are seeing at the counter. We get specific about the trends that signal financial stress: growing interest in financing major repairs, the “install it for me” path where drivers source parts but pay for labor, and DIY remaining surprisingly resilient thanks to cost pressure and tools like YouTube. We also dig into how shops respond, including reported increases in customer price sensitivity and the reality of entry-level or private-label parts in certain situations.

We zoom out to the long game too: high new-vehicle prices, longer loan terms, and an aging vehicle parc are pushing more owners to approve major repairs that might have been avoided years ago. Then we challenge easy assumptions about EV repair with replacement-rate insights across categories like steering and suspension, HVAC, and tires and why “EVs need fewer repairs” isn’t a complete strategy.

Finally, we look at AI from two angles: shifting employment uncertainty for consumers and the growing battle to protect market research from AI-enabled survey fraud, plus the controversy around synthetic survey data. If you care about forecasting, consumer behavior, aftermarket trends, or EV repair opportunity, this conversation brings practical signals you can use. Subscribe, share the show with a colleague, and leave a rating and review. What trend are you seeing first hand in your shop or household?

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A lot of the biggest threats to the automotive aftermarket don’t start in Washington. They start quietly in a statehouse, inside a bill that sounds harmless until you read the fine print.

Stacey Miller is joined by Donovan Ringo, our director of state affairs and grassroots at the Auto Care Association, to break down what it really takes to monitor and respond to fast-moving state legislation across nearly every state in session. Donovan shares how his background at NAPA, from emerging EV strategy to hands-on workforce development, shaped the way he thinks about advocacy, training pipelines, and the future of auto repair. We talk about the real-world issues members flag every day, from parts restrictions and insurance steering to apprenticeship programs, scholarships, and state funding that can make or break technician recruiting.

You’ll hear concrete examples of what’s happening right now: Utah language tied to OEM procedures that can effectively push OEM-only parts, Kansas momentum that mirrors Maine and Massachusetts right to repair efforts focused on access to OEM data, plus the on-the-ground reality of monitoring similar bills in Iowa and Georgia. We also dig into why “equivalent quality” definitions matter, how we educate lawmakers on certified aftermarket parts, and why a strong grassroots network and the Auto Care PAC (ACPAC) support help the industry show up with clarity and credibility.

If you care about right to repair, consumer choice, repair affordability, and a healthy aftermarket workforce, this conversation connects the dots and shows where you can plug in. Subscribe, share this with someone in your state, and leave a rating and review so more people find the show.

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A layoff can feel like a verdict. A tough pivot can feel like proof you failed. We see it differently, and this conversation shows why. From the Women in Auto Care Leadership Conference, we sit down with April Williamson, General Manager at FJC, and Megan Hansen, Category Marketing Manager at NAPA, to talk about perseverance and truth-driven leadership in the automotive aftermarket and beyond.

April shares the real story behind a career shift that started with 150 job applications and an interview where she openly admitted she didn’t even know what she applied for. Megan explains why that honesty mattered, how she hires for character over a perfect resume, and what “authentic leadership” looks like when you’re guiding a team through uncertainty. We dig into how trust is built when leaders stop performing confidence and start giving context, transparency, and a clear why.

We also get practical about resilience and emotional intelligence at work: the hidden layers people carry, how stress spreads through teams, why high achievers can quietly burn out, and how compassion is a performance strategy, not a soft extra. You’ll hear simple tools you can use immediately, including the “I get to” gratitude mindset, focusing on the next right step, and letting go of old versions of yourself that keep you stuck.

If you care about leadership development and building a healthier workplace culture, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a rating and review so more people can find the show.

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A single waterway on the other side of the world can quietly rewrite your cost sheet in the automotive aftermarket. Mike Chung sits down with Stephan Keese, Managing Partner for North America at Roland Berger, to unpack what the Iran conflict and the Strait of Hormuz disruption mean beyond headlines and gas station prices. We keep it practical and operational: what gets constrained, how it moves through the supply chain, and when you actually feel it. 

We dig into why this chokepoint matters for far more than crude oil, including refining outputs and petrochemical byproducts that underpin plastics like polyethylene and polypropylene, plus other industrial inputs that can affect electronics and materials availability. Stefan compares this moment to COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine energy shock, and recent shipping lane disruptions, then explains why this crisis can stack multiple problems at once: higher energy prices, disrupted ocean routes, rising insurance, reduced air freight capacity, and even looming container shortages as equipment gets stuck out of position. 

Timing is the real trap, so we walk through the lag from oil spikes to resin pricing to finished parts and why the full impact can land months later. From there we get into the hard leadership calls: pricing cadence without killing demand, inventory strategy when transit times stretch, and sourcing choices as companies push toward near shoring and regionalization while still relying on Asia for cost and scale. We also touch on what to watch next, including key indicators like commodity prices, miles driven, point-of-sale signals, and competitor pricing moves, plus how uncertainty can change M&A timing across the aftermarket. 

This episode was recorded on April 6, 2026.

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Gas prices can jump overnight, and when they do, the ripple effects reach far beyond the pump. Stacey Miller unpacks how rising tensions tied to the US Iran conflict could impact the US auto care industry through four pressure points: fuel prices, global supply chains, shipping and logistics costs, and consumer behavior that shifts what drivers fix, delay, or skip.

She walks through what higher oil prices can mean for miles driven in the short run and why the medium-term effect often favors the automotive aftermarket as people keep vehicles longer and lean into maintenance and repair. You’ll hear why a disruption near the Strait of Hormuz matters to parts availability, how rerouted cargo and higher insurance can raise freight costs and lead times, and why these dynamics can feel uncomfortably familiar to anyone who lived through COVID-era inventory volatility.

We also dig into cost inflation at the product level, since so many components depend on petroleum-based materials like plastics, polymers, synthetic rubber, lubricants, adhesives, and coatings. Finally, we look at how consumers respond when budgets tighten: more demand for essential maintenance categories and less appetite for discretionary accessories and performance upgrades, plus the strategic opportunities that can emerge for independent repair shops, domestic manufacturing, and more resilient regional sourcing.

For the latest data, members can check TrendLens at autocare.org/trendlens and qualified manufacturers can use Demand Index at autocare.org/demandindex. 

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This podcast was recorded on March 4, 2026

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