Kyle Blankenhorn came to Ken’s Tire as a tire changer after serving as a small town Iowa police officer and working for TSA at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. His grandparents founded Ken’s Tire, with three locations in eastern Pennsylvania, and Kyle — who has managed two of the stores — is now helping run the successful third-generation business. He attributes the success of Ken’s Tire to the longevity of the staff and their ability to learn from mistakes.

In this episode… 

In recent years, staffing and supply chain issues have been prevalent throughout the tire and auto repair industry. According to Kyle Blankenhorn, empathetic leadership is an important factor in overcoming the staffing shortage.

Kyle says Ken’s Tire has recently hired employees coming directly out of high school or vocational school and, like all new employees, they tend to make mistakes. Fortunately, Kyle has been in their shoes and made the same mistakes. That experience enables him to review the problem with the new staffer, figure out what went wrong, and how to move forward. 

On this episode of Gain Traction, Neal Maier engages Kyle in a conversation about the trials and tribulations of running a tire and auto repair shop. They discuss ways to overcome staffing problems and supply chain issues, and the keys to success for a group of three stores in business for almost fifty years. Kyle also shares his non-traditional journey toward working in a third-generation shop. Tune in!

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• Kyle Blankenhorn details his long journey into the tire business
• Why Ken’s Tire has been successful over the past four decades
• The importance of being an empathetic leader
• Kyle speaks on the reasons behind recent supply chain issues
• How Ken’s Tire has changed as a result of supply chain problems
• What is the best piece of advice Kyle received from his father?

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ken’s Tire 
• Ken’s Tire on Facebook  
• Neal Maier on LinkedIn
• Tread Partners

Sponsor for this episode...

This episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. 

At Tread Partners, we provide digital marketing for multi-location tire dealers and auto repair shops. 

By using our strategy, branding, and marketing services, we help shops sell more tires and put more cars in bays.  

We’ve helped companies like Action Gator Tire, Colony Tire and Service, and Ulmer’s Auto Care Center bring extreme growth in paid leads, ROI, and searches. 

So, what are you waiting for?

Visit www.treadpartners.com or email [email protected] to learn more.