A highway nearly killed the family business, and a wrecked truck helped bring the next generation into it. In this episode of the Johnny g & Friends Podcast, Johnny sits down with Jimmy and Joe Matlock of Matlock Tire in Tennessee. It's a conversation about the kind of customer service that turns a tire business into a community institution.

The story starts in the 1960s. Then, Interstate 40 pulled most traffic away from Jimmy’s father’s full-service gas station. Instead of closing the doors, the family adapted. They moved deeper into tires, retreading, and service. They also built the business around relationships rather than transactions. That same mindset guided Jimmy years later. He unexpectedly returned home from college after his father’s sudden passing. He found himself leading a business he never planned to run.

Joe’s path into the business was just as unexpected. A teenage truck wreck led to a next-day work assignment. He eventually moved from pre-law and corporate life toward the family business. There, he found a better fit in people, service, and relationships.

Throughout the conversation, Jimmy and Joe discuss the balance between old-school retail service and modern business tools, including technology, reporting, AI and the value of still walking out to a customer’s vehicle, looking them in the eye and earning trust the traditional way. Jimmy also reflects on his years in public service and the connection between serving customers and serving constituents.

Today, Matlock Tire has grown to five Tennessee locations, more than 100 employees and a rare culture of long-term loyalty, including multiple employees with 20, 30 and even 40-plus years of service. For Jimmy and Joe, the secret is simple: treat employees like family, treat customers like relationships and keep showing up for both. It is a legacy built one handshake, one repair and one team member at a time.

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Some revolutions don’t start with a plan. Sometimes, they begin with a loss that changes everything.

For Alex Bebiak, Safe Tread Alliance and the Road Ready Foundation began after his 19-year-old son Jackson died. Jackson died in a 2023 crash after his car lost control in the rain. When Alex later saw the vehicle, he noticed nearly worn-out tires. They had worn almost to the legal limit. That moment sent him into a world he never expected to enter: tire safety, tread depth education and the push to rethink the old 2/32-inch standard.

Before this, Alex spent 32 years in the restaurant business. Today, he’s working with safety groups, police departments, driver’s ed programs and tire industry leaders to make tire tread part of a much bigger conversation.

In this episode of Johnny g & Friends, Alex shares Jackson’s story, explains why 4/32s is so important, and makes the case that tire safety education can save lives.

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Getting cut from your high school basketball team isn’t usually the start of a tire career. But for Dale Donovan, at just 15 years old, he found himself trading time on the court for time learning the tire industry firsthand. What could’ve been a setback quickly became a turning point.

Today, Dale serves as CEO of Donovan Tire and Auto Centers in Cincinnati, where he’s built a reputation around something simple: connecting with people. That ability to talk to customers, understand their needs, and earn their trust became one of the defining traits of his business.

It’s also what led to an unexpected opportunity. After a customer recommended him, Dale stepped into a live call-in radio show, eventually hosting it for nearly 20 years and reaching listeners across Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.

In this episode of Johnny g & Friends, I talk to Dale about how that early turning point shaped his career, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and why personality still plays such a big role in long-term success.

The Indianapolis 500 is one of the most recognizable events in all of motorsports. But in the Indianapolis 500, behind the scenes, is someone away from all that spotlight, preparing and coordinating events with a well-oiled team. That person is Lisa Boggs.

Lisa serves as director of motorsports programs for Bridgestone. That means she helps oversee the company’s involvement in some of the biggest racing events in the country, including the Indianapolis 500. But Boggs didn’t set out with a lifelong plan to work in racing.

In this episode of Johnny g & Friends, we get an Indianapolis 500 behind-the-scenes look as we talk to Lisa about how she found her way into the racing world, what it takes to support one of the most historic events in motorsports, and why the relationships built along the way remain the most important part of the job.

In this season-ending conversation of Johnny g & Friends, the question that we asked during every interview – How do you work on the business instead of in the business? – becomes the connective tissue for a powerful wrap-up of tire industry greatness. What emerges across these voices is a shared truth no matter the strategy or leadership style. The fact is, growth only happens when owners trust their people, step back with intention and learn to see their companies from above the daily grind.

Some of this season's guests described the shift as a gradual climb – learning to listen differently, picking up ideas from peers, or letting experiences outside the tire industry reshape how they think. Others talked about moments that forced perspective, like stepping away for school, putting new decision-makers in charge, or creating “stress tests” where the team must run without the owner’s voice for two straight weeks. The results were consistent: teams rise, leaders evolve, and businesses take on a new trajectory.

For many, working on the business meant sharpening systems or simply walking into the store with the eyes of a customer. For others, it meant delegation, intentional learning, or acknowledging that leadership requires a different energy than turning wrenches or writing service orders.

Taken together, these conversations reveal something bigger than process or policy. They show what greatness looks like in real shops, run by real families, in a real industry – owners who are present, invested and humble enough to grow by working on the business instead of in the business.

When Ed Mitchem joined his father’s business, techs changed tires on the ground with floor jacks. Selling seat covers and curb feelers was part of the daily routine. That was 85 years ago. Today, the Mitchem Tire legacy continues with five thriving locations, a loyal customer base, and a third generation carrying the torch.

Ed helped grow the company through decades of change, expanding from a single downtown shop into a regional brand built on smart buying, no-nonsense advertising, and a service-first mentality. After all, his motto: Before you switch ’em, see Mitchem – stuck around for a reason.

Ed officially stepped away from the business ten years ago, but his impact still runs deep. Now, his great-nephews Corey and Stevie Kruze are helping to lead the operation, taking lessons learned from the shop floor and applying them in a modern market filled with new challenges.

Today, Johnny g talks to Ed, Corey and Stevie about what’s changed and what hasn’t. He also talks about why the business still feels like family, even as the industry gets more crowded.

Kristen and Kent Cristy didn’t plan to take over Reeves Tire in Joplin, MO. But when John Reeves, Kristen’s father and founder of the business, faced a health scare in the late '90s, they stepped in together and never looked back.

Kent gave up a future in medicine to help his community stay on the road, learning every inch of the business from the ground up. Kristen brought her sharp attention to detail and managed the office, handling payroll, HR, and everything behind the scenes.

In 2000, they officially bought the business. Over the next two decades, they opened two more locations, navigated a devastating fire, and kept the Reeves Tire name strong in Joplin, MO.
In today’s episode, Johnny g talks to Kristen and Kent about growing a business as partners in work and life, why they’ve focused more on stability than scale, and what it means to preserve a legacy.

If you’re in the tire industry in Northeast Ohio, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of TJ White or his business, Tire Source. Founded by his father, Tom White, in 1991, Tire Source has become a fixture in Ohio. It has six locations and a reputation built on service, transparency, and local relationships.

TJ worked his way up from the service bays, learning every part of the business firsthand. That includes tire installs, sales, and store management. As General Manager, his leadership style reflects that path: practical, people-focused, and built on trust.

With a solid, trustworthy legacy in place, TJ pushes things forward with determination. He's working on it through better communication systems, modern training platforms, or a more personalized digital experience for today’s customer.

In this episode of Johnny g & Friends, TJ joins Johnny g to talk about leading with humility. They also discuss modernizing a legacy brand and why independent tire dealers still win by putting people first.

Now in his mid-90s, Jack Furrier has navigated more business cycles, met more customer needs, and created more solutions than most entrepreneurs could imagine in a lifetime. He's become a legend in Arizona, with his face practically synonymous with Jack Furrier Tire, but his story doesn’t start with tires. It starts in Parma, Ohio, where a young Jack decided that bagging groceries for $4 a week wasn’t going to cut it. So, he bought balloons wholesale and sold them outside the Cleveland Indians baseball stadium. In 30 minutes, he made more than his grocery paycheck. That moment sparked a lifelong pursuit of independence.

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Some people take over a family business and stay the course. Brandon Harrell took one and completely redefined it. Brandon’s grandfather Luther founded Harrell’s Tire & Auto 80 years ago. Brandon joined the business in 2005 with big plans. He knew he needed to upend the status quo. In 2021, he bought the business from his father, Charlie. In just four years, he grew it from $4.6 million in revenue to more than $30 million annually.

He started with a relentless focus on staffing, service, and operational efficiency to drive the business forward. While many struggle to find workers, Brandon built a waiting list of people wanting to join his team. He borrowed strategies from Chick-fil-A and added AI to streamline recruiting and phone systems for greater efficiency.

Brandon joins the Johnny g & Friends podcast to explain how he scaled the business so quickly and intentionally. He shares why he hires from the hospitality industry instead of the tire business and prioritizes service over price. He also explains why treating employees like customers drives long-term success and loyalty from both groups.