Shop Fix Academy Podcast

The Ego is defined by the oxford dictionary as "a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance". Now that doesn’t sound too bad, does it? We all have an ego of some sort. Everyone should have self-esteem and some measure of self-importance… but what happens when this important facet of our minds gets magnified into something unuseful or even widely damaging to ourselves, our shops, and our families. How would you even know if your ego was out of control? More importantly, what would you do about it? In today’s episode, I talk about this with Ryan Hillenbrand, owner of Urbs Garage and Tire in Kentucky. He’ll share about how his own ego got out of control, what this caused, and then his journey to change this and transform into an incredible leader, husband, father, and friend. He shares some incredible lessons and in the end, gives some great clues on how you can master your ego and live a more fulfilling life. 

Knowing the numbers and KPIs in your shop is critical, but I would argue that if you’re not growing yourself and your team through personal development, you’re simply not going to be as successful as you could be. Today we are going to dive into this subject with my guest Juan Barrera, Owner of Auto Solutions in Orland Florida. Juan will share the incredible journey of his personal development and how he went from knowing NOTHING about cars to becoming a successful, profitable, and happy shop owner. 

Our shops are filled with cars, lifts, tools, fluids, desks, and a whole bunch of other stuff… but they are BUILT on the relationships of our team.  

I feel many of us don’t TRULY recognize is just HOW important they are, or perhaps we really struggle to foster and maintain relationships with our team without it feeling forced or being fake. 

In this episode, I’ll discuss this with my guest and 23-year industry veteran, Mike Wandery. Harnessing the power of relationships is his superpower. I love his story because along with each milestone, he recognized and learned the secrets to having HEALTHY, BALANCED, MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL, and STRATEGIC relationships. 

By the end of this episode, you’ll learn the clues you need to do the same in your shop. These clues will help you whether you’re an owner, an employee, or even a vendor supporting the shop. 

In this episode, our guest Guy Roberts shares with us the time he went from being a Service Advisor to a General Manager, and THEN going from General Manager to a District Manager. He’ll share what he learned about how to be a great manager, and leave some great clues on how owners can support their managers and how managers can support their team. 

If you’ve got a service advisor who you think could become a manager, then this episode would be great for them too! 

How would you like to be so driven and so confident that you’d achieve your goals that it scared you a little? What if you were so willing and able to do anything to reach those goals that it made you feel virtually unstoppable?  Our guest, Richard Weis has cultivated a life where this is his reality. In this episode, Richard will share his incredible story of growth, and at the end he’ll provide the unexpected clues that allowed him to build a 6 store empire, creating a wonderful life for himself, his family, and his team. 

There is a business analogy about your business is like a bus and the seats are different roles in your business. Making sure your team is on the right seats or roles is of course CRITICAL to the success of both the employee and the business. What happens when an employee needs to move seats? How do you navigate this change? In this episode guest, Anje Clay will share her story about this very situation and how she and her shop handled the transition well. 

When was the last time you were put into a situation where you felt you had to defend your Shop? The tendency in these situations is to fight hard because doing anything less feels like we aren't doing the right thing by our business or our team. In this episode, our guest Lowell Greene will share the unique formula for handling this mindset that’s made him more successful, less stressed, and more valuable to those around him. 

Lowell has been in our industry for over 30 years, is a master-certified technician, a former shop owner, and for the last 6 years a coach to Shop owners. 

This week we dive into our FIRST EPISODE with an interview with none other than 26-year industry veteran and recent Ratchet and Wrench cover star, Michael Rosenberger aka "The Berg". 

Michael started in the industry literally sweeping the floors in his dad's shop. Through a series of big moves, painful blows, and incredible lessons, he now owns 2 great shops in Texas. In this episode, he will share his transformation and leave some clues you don't want to miss.