Shop Fix Academy Podcast

There’s a saying that I really love, that I’ve lived by for many years. “Find a need and fill it”. This saying speaks to service, but also making room for yourself to grow. The employees and even owners that I’ve seen become the most successful seem to really follow this saying too. They do things beyond what they are paid for because it needs to be done, they put the mission above their “title”. In my observation, when someone does this, success seems to be inevitable. This week's interview really drives this home. Eric and Brent Raber and not only brothers, but they own a highly successful 4-location repair shop company in Ohio. This concept is a theme throughout their story. If you work with family or are trying to level up in your shop or give your team opportunities, then this one is for you. 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

This is the final part of an incredible 3 part series with our friend, the very wise, Joe Stokes who is the Regional Director for EuroFix, AutoFix, and Mike's Auto in Middle Tennessee. If you’ve missed parts one and two, then we highly recommend you listen to those too as the Truth Bombs are many. In this great episode, we focus on how to build the superpower known as Emotional Intelligence. This is the skill of learning to manage your emotions, mindset, and even how your body reacts to stress. We reveal how every role in the shop can utilize this tool to improve their relationships with the team, the customer, and even in their personal life. Want to get ahead? Want to level up? Then you’ll love this episode. 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

Part two of this three-part series is focused on what it takes to open one (or more) stores at once. Joe Stokes, Regional Director for a fast-growing Middle Tennessee Auto Repair company, and I dive into how to find the locations, where to find and how to hire the staff, help new employees from out of state, the logistics of overcoming the Tech Shortage, and how to have the right leadership team in place. In addition, we have a great discussion on the mindset of techs at dealerships vs. independent shops. If you’re an owner, a tech, or anyone involved in a growing auto repair company, then this episode is for you. As you may have noticed Joe and I can TALK, so this is another long one, but well worth the listen all the way through. Stay tuned! 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

Our guest this week is the amazing and very wise, Joe Stokes who is the district manager for EuroFix, AutoFix, and Mike's Auto in Middle Tennessee. This is Joe’s second time on the show and if you’ve not heard his first interview, we'd highly recommend it. In fact, it was one of our top listened-to episodes. I asked Joe to come back and share some more wisdom, and share he did! We recorded a 3-part series which we are so excited for you to hear. In this first part of the series, we discuss how Joe dealt with a store that had been affected by an underperforming manager. Yes, this is a long episode, but let me assure you that the actionable “clues” which will help you be a better leader are non-stop. 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

Customer Advocacy. It’s a big part of what we as automotive professionals. Technicians advocate with complete and accurate inspections, and our Advisors help customers understand what is needed on their cars. What would happen if we took this concept to the next level? That’s exactly what guest Rob Choisser of Choisser Automotive Services did. He found himself furious at the fact that so many people make poor financial decisions about their cars from a lack of financial education, the lies told to us by society, and misconceptions about the nature of the car itself. So, Rob built his entire shop model around helping his customers gain freedom from this trap. The result is a thriving, profitable shop, with raving multi-generational customers who are actually financially better off because of his process. This concept is a game-changer for our shops, our customers, and the industry.

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

Having a shop is much like steering a large ship in new waters. Your crew is looking to you for leadership, your passengers trust you to do the right thing, and your family needs you to be successful. Without the right experience, braving these new waters can result in peril, hurting everyone around you and costing you a fortune in money, time, and, ultimately, your future. In this episode, Ryan Blair, managing partner of Simple True Automotive Group, will share the heartwrenching story of when he shipwrecked his shop and how he recovered and made things right. This emotional episode will help anyone struggling to overcome a considerable blow. Stay tuned. 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

What is the point of becoming profitable? I’ve talked to hundreds of shop owners, and not a single one wanted to become rich for the sake of being rich. Almost all of them opened their shop to better the lives of their families, their employees, and their community. While this is a great goal, sadly, many don’t achieve the necessary profit to make this happen. But what if there was a more efficient model you could deploy to make this goal a reality in less time? This is exactly what Matt Carlson of Fix It Forward Auto Care has discovered. In this episode, he’s going to share what he’s accomplished and give you the practical steps so you can deploy some of these strategies in your own shop. 

To learn more about Matt's model, please visit his website, or email him.

[email protected]

https://www.fixitforwardautocare.com

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

There’s a saying that says, “You can’t change your stars” It implies that the family line, situation, or status you are born into will determine what you can accomplish and how far you can succeed. Challenging this notion is the very essence of the American Dream, which declares: “Anything is possible with God, grit, and determination.” Few people I know embody this better than my guest Juan Acevedo of Trustlane Automotive in Salinas, CA. Juan’s story proves that you can accomplish great things despite your circumstances. In this episode, Juan will share his incredible journey and truths you can apply to your life and business. 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

Sometimes things at our shops take some pretty sharp turns, and sometimes those turns are into a ditch, but other times it’s straight into a canyon! What do you do? Perhaps it's ego, but for many of us, the first instinct is to hide the pain and fear and try to figure it out on our own. When we are alone, stuck in our heads, in fear, and experiencing pain, it’s hard to think and move forward. Years ago, our guest Adam Preuesser of Motor Works in Minnesota found himself in that canyon. In this episode, Adam will share what happened, how he got out, and how that foundation helped him build an incredible multi-location operation and a life of impact. 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com  

Becoming resilient is one of the most critical traits to becoming a successful shop owner, tech, advisor, or anyone else in this challenging industry. In my observation, resilience is the ability to MOVE FORWARD from the traumas, setbacks, and embarrassments from the past. It’s the ability to acknowledge the past but not get stuck in it. It’s looking forward with hope. This trait allows you to overcome excuses, have self-discipline, and have genuine joy in the present moment. Stan Andrewski of Certified Auto Repair in VA embodies resilience. He has overcome a difficult past and found the strategies that allowed him to cultivate resilience and create an incredible life. The clues he leaves apply to anyone trying to move from surviving to thriving. 

Thanks to our sponsors, Leads Near Me and Shop Fix Academy. They serve our industry and help make this show possible. Learn more about them below.

Leads Near Me is a full-service online digital presence provider for automotive repair shops. Let Leads Near Me effortlessly increase your car count by reaching them at 888-953-2379 or by visiting them online at LeadsNearMe.com

Shop Fix Acadamy’s sole purpose is to stop the average small business from destroying the average family. Call 615-645-3683 to speak to someone on our leadership team about seeing if Shop Fix Acadamy is a good fit for your shop. Learn more at ShopFixAcademy.com