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Shop Talk Her Way is where former shop owner and coach JeanAnn Saint Grace opens up the books on what it really takes to run a profitable, sustainable, and well-balanced auto repair business.
With decades of experience in bookkeeping, operations, and leadership, JeanAnn brings an honest, no-fluff approach to shop management — all from a woman’s perspective. From financial systems and staffing to communication and culture, she shares insights that help shop owners (and especially women in the industry) take control, build better businesses, and enjoy the ride.
Whether you’re turning wrenches, balancing the books, or scaling to your next location, you’ll find encouragement, strategy, and a healthy dose of “you’ve got this” in every episode.
Shop Talk Her Way is an AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching production — helping shops thrive, her way.
Thanks to WorldPac and the WorldPac Training Institute (WTI) for sponsoring Shop Talk Her Way. Visit worldpac.com for the latest in auto parts distribution and wtitraining.com to explore training programs that can take your career to the next level.
[00:00:00] JeanAnn SaintGrace: I know the difference between pursuing the life that you really, really wanna have and just putting one foot in the other, in front of the other and going through your life and through your day. So if you can start to find that purpose in your step, the thing that puts the spring back in your step, finding the joy, finding time to play and have fun is, is so, so important so that when you come into work, you're sewing that energy back into your team and into your shop
[00:00:38] JeanAnn SaintGrace: What's your dream? Do you ask yourself that question? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Well, I'm gonna ask it for you. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Shop Talk Her Way. This is JeanAnn SaintGrace, and today we're gonna talk about what's your dream. So I'm recording this on July the 3rd, so the day before Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
[00:01:04] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And it makes me nostalgic, honestly. Um, when you think about the challenge of creating a new nation based in democracy under, um, years f- well, thousands of years of, um, tyrannical and monarchical rule, um, it was a revolutionary idea. No pun intended. Um, and in addition to that nostalgia, the other things that came up for me this week were that, um, I watched a couple of older movie-- well, they're 40 years old now.
[00:01:46] JeanAnn SaintGrace: I watched Pretty Woman, and I watched Field of Dreams this week. And it's like, well, what do those two things have in common? And what they have in common is they're both about people choosing a different path, even choosing an unpopular path, people who are being held in place by judgments and really having to buck the system in order to fulfill their dreams.
[00:02:12] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And it's interesting because in Pretty Woman, at both the beginning and the end, there's a gentleman walking across the street, and he's kinda yelling, "What's your dream?" And I, I always jokingly kind of throw that out at people. Like, "What's your dream?" So, so that always speaks to me. And when we watch that movie, it, it seems like a lot of people focus on the Julia Roberts role, where she's the Cinderella, and she's finding her Prince Charming, and she's getting her dream come true and getting her happily ever after.
[00:02:49] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And that is obviously one of the themes of the movie. But the second theme of the movie is the Richard Gere character, where he's moving from a very rigid, very controlled, very tightly held persona that isn't truly him. Um, he talks about how his mother was a musician, and there's this very artful, soulful part of him that he holds back, and he doesn't show the world because it makes him vulnerable.
[00:03:16] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And as we get to the end of the movie, and instead of being the corporate raider, going in, breaking companies down, and selling them off in pieces as revenge against his dead father, he decides to team up with a business owner and build things and become a creator and become, um, a builder of a legacy for his future that's more based in creativity and creativeness rather than destruction.
[00:03:44] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And obviously that all catalyzes because he meets Julia Roberts, but the truth is he held the keys to his prison the whole time, and he could have at any moment changed his, his role, his, his gig, his job, his career. He could have at any point changed his life. And it took a catalyzing moment for that to happen.
[00:04:15] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And for a lot of us, that's the truth, right? We get very comfortable or we become trapped playing a role that maybe doesn't fit us or suit us anymore And, and that's really a shame because if we're, if we feel like our life is holding us hostage or we feel like we're in some kind of a prison, or we're, we're beholden to something that isn't ourselves, that's not how our life should be.
[00:04:43] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And I really, um, I really think it's important that, that everyone have the life that they wanna have. I mean, let's face it, all of us would like to be rolling in money. All of us would like to have that level of financial freedom, and the truth is, we can all have that. It just takes good decision-making.
[00:05:07] JeanAnn SaintGrace: It takes sacrifice sometimes. It takes dedication and growth and learning and becoming the next best version of ourselves. It also takes a lot of courage to look yourself in the mirror and say, "I'm not living the life that I wanna live, and how can I fix that?" And sometimes, let's face it, we're gonna have to break some omelets or break some eggs to make some omelets, right?
[00:05:31] JeanAnn SaintGrace: We might have to reorganize our businesses. We might have to sell our businesses. We might have to just turn our life completely upside down in order to live the life that we wanna live. But I can tell you from my experience that living a life that isn't yours and feeling stuck or feeling overwhelmed or overloaded day in and day out is not the way that we should be living our lives.
[00:05:55] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And so really looking at yourself and saying, you know, "What role do I wanna play in my business? Do I wanna have a business? Do I have the team around me that I need to succeed at the way I want this to run?" And it's about having the courage to reach for that next level. And I really, I really strive in my coaching practice, both with, with auto shop businesses and in personal coaching, to really get people to identify the thing that lights them up.
[00:06:28] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And if, if your, if your shop isn't the thing that lights you up, but it pays for the thing that lights you up, then we can find some joy in it, then we can find purpose in it. If you're just not happy, then... and it's time for a change, then it might be time for a change. And what I can promise you is that if you start making positive movement in the right direction and you believe in yourself and you believe in the vision that you have, then you can start to attain it You have all heard the, the real-life stories of people who have just created a vision and then moved towards it.
[00:07:10] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And you don't have to move towards it in a, in a, a way that is forceful. It's just taking one step and then taking the next step and keeping your eye on the outcome that you, you desire. And sometimes we have to have a little bit of soft focus because sometimes we think the person who's there to help us turns out to only be there to help us for a short period of time, or they turn out to be no help at all, and they create some kind of a challenge that, that shifts us into a different direction.
[00:07:39] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And, and all of those things are gifts. Even though they might not feel like gifts in the moment, those are actually all gifts And I, part of my mission in life, this is, this is what I'm here for. I'm here to help people figure this out. There's, there's experiences that I've had and abilities that I've been given to help people build their future, to, to tap into the, the what do I want and how do I get there, and then be there to help give them someone to talk to, support, guidelines, cheerleading, whatever it is that they need on that, that path.
[00:08:21] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And I mean, it has been so rewarding when somebody makes those decisions or decisions get made for them, but they ultimately end up getting what they want, and now the passion's back for the business. They've got a team around them that wants to move in the right direction. They've cut out all the dead wood, all the toxicity, and now everybody's just focused on moving forward.
[00:08:47] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And that's a really powerful place to be. When work becomes fun again, then life really lightens up. Life starts to move in all the directions that we need it to move in. And I, I... My other part of this is the field of dreams. You know, if, if you build it, they will come. Going the distance, easing the pain, and then knowing that ultimately it's all for you.
[00:09:16] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And when I say it's all for you, it's not all for you in a way that's selfish. It's in a way that's self first. A lot of us have bought the, bought the program, drank the Kool-Aid. That means that we have to take care of everybody else first. And the truth is, we can't take care of everybody else first if we're not taking care of ourselves, if we're sacrificing our health, if we're not taking time to do the things that reinvigorate us, um, what is, you know, out there in the, in the atmosphere of self-care.
[00:09:50] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And, and I don't mean bubble baths and pedicures. I mean actual honest to God self-care. Are we getting enough rest? Are we getting the right foods? If we have a health challenge, are we addressing it and taking care of it? Um, these are all the things that give us life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
[00:10:11] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And I don't mean to be trite when I say that. Those words have power to them. And, and it wasn't something that was written lightly. That's in the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Every person has inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and they're God-given, so that means they're not...
[00:10:34] JeanAnn SaintGrace: There's nobody that can take them away from us except us So this might sound highly idealistic, and it is because we have to reach higher. We have to reach towards something. If we keep our heads down and we have our eyes on the ground, then we're never gonna look up and see the horizon, and that's where we miss the mark, right?
[00:11:00] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Because we're so intent on putting one foot in front of the other and never looking up that we don't see the beautiful sunset. We don't see the things that we've built. We don't see the relationships that we h- are in and the change that we've affected in the world. And I can guarantee you that every single one of you who is listening to this or watching it has touched a life in such a way that, that that person's life has changed forever.
[00:11:27] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And you never know what that is. It could be something as simple as giving somebody a compliment as you walk by them in the grocery store. It could be a, a hardcore heart-to-heart talk that you share with them at some point. It could be just the fact that they knew that they could pick up the phone and know that you were there, and that gave them the courage to move forward.
[00:11:48] JeanAnn SaintGrace: We can never underestimate the effect that our presence has. And so, you know, when I talk about building culture in your shop, being there for your team, being a supportive leader, all of these things are intertwined with that. Being the one person in the world who probably sees your team and hears them and listens to them and gives them space to express themselves where they might not be able to elsewhere, that's a powerful thing.
[00:12:20] JeanAnn SaintGrace: That's a h- that's an amazing amount of human interaction, and it's powerful. I talked to a client this week who, um, out of the blue, a person that she, she kind of was acquainted with and kind of, you know, passed by, showed up f- in front of her really needing help, really needing guidance. And, and she was able to give them the time.
[00:12:47] JeanAnn SaintGrace: She helped them shift their life. She helped them shift a perspective about themselves just by being there, and that person was drawn to her. Th- there was no, um, like, "Well, I'm here to help you." Th- the, the girl just showed up and needed help, and m- and my client and my friend, she's both a client and my friend, was there to help her.
[00:13:08] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And, and she said, "There's, there's... I'm not getting anything out of this except feeling good And that's beautiful, right? There's no strings attached to this stuff when we do it. We don't, we don't wish somebody a nice day hope, hoping that they're gonna give us something back. Like, that's not why we do it.
[00:13:27] JeanAnn SaintGrace: We do things without the strings attached. Maybe we, you know, buy one of our team members a birthday cake or, um, if their bonus comes in a form of something they really, really want, or we know they like a certain kind of candy and we bring it to them and make sure that everybody on the team gets candy that day.
[00:13:46] JeanAnn SaintGrace: It's those little things. It's remembering their birthday. It's knowing their dog's name or their kid's name or what sports their kids are playing and if they had a big game and asking how it was. This is how we make few- people be seen and heard. It's not hard, but we have gotten into this kind of self-encapsulation, and so many of us have been hurt by our families, by other people, and we're all walking wounded, and I count myself in that we.
[00:14:18] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And I go through phases where I shut people out, and then I open back up, and I shut people out, and I open back up because the shutdown is, it serves a purpose, but then I've gotta go back out into the world because I can't live in that shutdown place for too long. So, so I know what I'm talking about.
[00:14:38] JeanAnn SaintGrace: I'm not talking to you from a lack of experience in this. I know the difference between pursuing the life that you really, really wanna have and just putting one foot in the other, in front of the other and going through your life and through your day. So if you can start to find that purpose in your step, that, the thing that puts the spring back in your step, finding the joy, finding time to play and have fun, whether it's with your team or if you have kids or with your family or your spouse or a group of people that you know, going out and reinvigorating yourself is, is so, so important so that when you come into work, you're, you're, you're sewing that energy back into your team and into your shop And, you know, it was kind of a joke when my husband and I were building our shop, and we told ourselves regularly, "If we build it, they will come."
[00:15:33] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And, and that energy was infused in the whole process when it got hard, when I was fighting with the city for permits, or they were fighting with me over what trees to put in the landscape. When I just wanted to throw in the towel and crawl under a rock and say, "Screw this. This isn't what I signed up for," that if you build it, they will come would come back to me, and that would get me moving forward again, that this is all for a higher purpose.
[00:15:58] JeanAnn SaintGrace: It's not just for the purpose of getting a building put up. It's not for the sake of fighting the fight with the city. It was for a higher purpose. And, and as you, you can see, like, as we build and as we build momentum, then the momentum takes over, and maybe the bumps in the road aren't so big. Sometimes we just hit the wall, and then we've gotta really reassess ourselves, reinvigorate ourselves, and then find a way to move forward.
[00:16:25] JeanAnn SaintGrace: So it's, it's so interesting that, you know, with the gift of perspective, um, as you, you see things that you've seen 1,000 times. I mean, I've watched Field of Dreams, I don't know, 1,000 times, and I always get something a little bit different out of it. I always see things from a little bit different perspective.
[00:16:49] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And sometimes you've gotta do the crazy thing. Sometimes you've got to say, "I am done with this part of my life, and I need a new start in it." And that's legit. Sometimes we get stale. Sometimes we can rebuild where we're at, and sometimes we need a wholesale change And it takes courage, and it takes bravery, and it takes a deep love of self and a lot of vulnerability to say, "This isn't working for me.
[00:17:15] JeanAnn SaintGrace: I need to change it." And like I said, a lot of times we're holding the keys to our own prisons. We have the power to change it. Why don't we? We don't because a lot of us have had it ingrained in, in us that if you change careers, you're a, quote-unquote, "flake." I'm not saying that, but that's judgment, right?
[00:17:37] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Um, there's a lot of us who were raised by boomers who th- did the same job their whole life. They never changed. They just, they just grunted it out and ground it out for a paycheck until they retired because changing was too expensive, or they would've lost their retirement, or they would've lost this, or they would've lost that, or there was some kind of judgment on it.
[00:18:00] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And it's a shame, honestly, to think that you would stay in a job that isn't fulfilling, that isn't giving you some kind of, of fulfillment, of purpose because you don't wanna look one way or another from the outside. You shouldn't have people around you who want to hold you in a place where you're unhappy, who want to hold you in a place where you're uncomfortable or even miserable.
[00:18:27] JeanAnn SaintGrace: So there's a time to put your blinders on and, you know, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead if you need to change your life. And, you know, I, I have lived this. You know, when my husband got sick and there was no way, no reasonable way for us to keep the shop and take care of his health, there were people saying, "You know, you're making a bad decision.
[00:18:53] JeanAnn SaintGrace: You're, you're throwing your shop away. You're sho- throwing your life away." And I was-- we were-- I should say I was, but we both were strong in our conviction that the shop was not the place where my husband could get treated and hopefully heal. And, and in that moment, it was, um It was very much we had to just turn off all the outside noise and go with where we were being guard- guided from our hearts and what, what turned on the light bulb and made us think, "Okay, we can move through this."
[00:19:31] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And, and I will never forget how as we made those decisions, the opportunities came up and presented themselves, and it became easeful in some ways. Like, it was still heart-wrenching, but at the same time, the steps w- were easy. You know, we, we found a buyer for the shop who wanted to do a full cash deal, short escrow.
[00:19:55] JeanAnn SaintGrace: They were just chomping at the bit to get their hands on it. And, and that's a unicorn, right? That is something that is a gift. And, and I always look back on that and think h- how powerful that was that once we put our mind to that decision, and we turned a co- away a couple of bad offers. You know, we di- we weren't desperate.
[00:20:17] JeanAnn SaintGrace: We didn't jump at the first, you know, s- whiff of a buyer. We were very careful with the buyer. We were very careful with the person that, that was going to buy the shop from us. And so there's time for discernment. You don't have to be rash. The idea might come to you in a moment, in a light bulb moment, that entrepreneurial seizure that, um, the E-Myth talks about.
[00:20:41] JeanAnn SaintGrace: But at the same time, you, y- don't dis- don't discount the light bulb, but also be discerning, you know, and see how the puzzle pieces start to fall together. Once you find your aligned point, then the things start to come. Once you get right in your mind how you want your shop to run and the team that you want around you, and then you start to consciously build that, the whole, the whole, the whole feel and culture of your shop changes.
[00:21:13] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And I've seen clients do that. I have seen them just flip a switch in their head that says, "This is what I want my shop to look like, and this is how we're gonna get there." And then they execute that plan. And it's through careful hiring. It's through implementing practices that make their business better.
[00:21:31] JeanAnn SaintGrace: It's through, you know, taking the steps and, and putting everything together to get them where they wanna go So I encourage you all to, to take time on a regular basis and examine where you are and where you wanna be. Because we're all being drawn. There's, there's a s- there's a, there's a calling in all of our souls to be happy, to have the amount of freedom that we desire, to have the life that we desire.
[00:22:02] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And if it looks like, you know, I mean, I, I'm a perfect example. We sold everything, we moved, and things didn't go exactly the way I planned for them to go, but I found a way to flourish in, in the, the situation that I have. And I'm not in a prison. I'm happy. I, I am thriving. I am, I am happy to be where I am, and I feel blessed to be where I am.
[00:22:31] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And some of it looks, looks like happy coincidences and accidents, but all of it has moved me in this direction, and just the right person showing up at the right time saying, "I have a tool for you. I have something for you that will help you on your way." And, and like I said, it's been everything from really solid mentors who helped move me forward, all the way down to somebody saying something nice in the grocery store, or the, the comments from a member, or even comments they, they get left on social media as a d- you know, as a result of the podcast.
[00:23:06] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Um, all of those things help to propel me and have helped move me in this direction. So the, the, "I can't do that because..." We have to really look at those why nots. You know, why can't you do it? Is can't something that you're putting on yourself? Um, you know, you wanna move to a, a tropical island. Hey, they're out there, right?
[00:23:33] JeanAnn SaintGrace: You wanna move from Florida to California or California to Iowa or y- whatever you wanna do. You wanna downsize your house. You wanna upsize your house. You wanna, you know, live on a homestead and have chickens and a milk cow. Like, I don't know what your dream is, but you can get there, and the only limit is the effort and the time and the, the vision that you hold.
[00:24:00] JeanAnn SaintGrace: You're holding the keys to your prison, and you're also holding the keys to your heaven. So I know this is a little out of my normal realm, but this is also a realm that I live in. And, you know, Shop Talk Her Way is just a, an ex- an, an, an expansion of, of other work that I do. But it is all about you guys, ladies, guys, people, everybody out there getting the life that they want.
[00:24:31] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Your shop your way is how I coach and, and what my wish is for all of you. And, and maybe your shop your way ends up not being a shop at all. But that, that's an individual decision. That's an individual choice. And, and it's okay to say, "This is taking its course," if that's where you're at. Or, and it's also okay to say, you know, you're doing something else and all of a sudden you wanna own a shop, and that's okay, too.
[00:25:02] JeanAnn SaintGrace: It's okay to change your mind. It's okay to say, "I want something different and I'm gonna go in that direction now." And like I said, it takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of bravery. Um, sometimes it takes some blue face paint and a sword and say, "I'm crying freedom, and I'm, I'm going this direction.
[00:25:21] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Who's coming with me?" So I, I hope that this lands in the spirit that I, that I, I hold for it because this is very powerful to me to be able to tell you you can have the life that you want, and you're the only person holding you back from that And, um, one of our partners in getting the shop that you want, getting the life that you want can be Worldpac.
[00:25:49] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Um, you know, with their, their parts and service and also with Worldpac Training Institute, there's, you know, knowledge is, knowledge is freedom. And, and the more you know, the more you know. So whether you need help managing your business or you need technical training, um, Worldpac Training Institute can help you with that.
[00:26:09] JeanAnn SaintGrace: And they're just one of the things that can help you with that. And you never know who you might meet in a class, right? Getting, getting out there, pe- meeting other people in our industry who are in the same position that you are and have found a way forward. I see these success stories every day. And if you don't feel like you're a, a success story yet, then maybe it's time to get an outside vision.
[00:26:37] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Maybe it's time to, to talk to other peoples and... Other people. Other people in your industry, to find a coach, to talk to a consultant, to, to get some new ideas of how do you refresh and reinvigorate yourself and your business. And inevitably, as I've said before, what happens with coaching is that you end up becoming the next best version of yourself, and I see it all the time.
[00:27:04] JeanAnn SaintGrace: So y- y- don't be afraid to reach out. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to find somebody and say, "This is not working for me." You don't have to have all the answers all the time. Nobody can. And it's tough sometimes, especially if you're a solo owner and you don't have a business partner or a spouse working with you in the business.
[00:27:23] JeanAnn SaintGrace: There's no one to talk to because nobody understands what you're going through. Even if you have a second in command, they might be, you know, at a different total d- different trajectory and thought process than you're at, and they just can't understand. And also, if you're, if you're thinking about making big changes in your business, talking to your employees probably isn't the best idea.
[00:27:48] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Just a little, little hint there. Um, so go out there and, and do the thing that makes you happy. Get yourself excited again. That will con- begin to filter through every part of your life. You will feel reinvigorated. You will find new purpose. You may even find a place where the business holds a specific corner of your life, but you open up to a new hobby or a new group of people or a new direction that, that helps you to find and fill that purpose, that joyfulness, that excitement again.
[00:28:22] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Um, but if you are just doing the Groundhog Day wash, rinse, and repeat, um I, I, I want to encourage you to go out and, and reinvigorate yourself and reinvigorate the joy and the purpose that you originally had in your business. So to conclude, I want you to consider what is your dream? What do you want your life to look like?
[00:28:45] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Start with the finish line and work your way back. That's how you get to where you wanna be. And you all deserve it. You've all earned the right to have exactly the life that you wanna have. And there's no dream too big, and there's no dream too small. So go out there, take the world by fire. Love your people till it's weird.
[00:29:09] JeanAnn SaintGrace: Go get your shop your way. This is Jeanann St. Grace, and I wanna thank you so much for being here, um, and listening to me or watching me. Um, in the show notes y- are all the ways that you can contact me. If you'd like to leave a comment, if you'd like to be-- get in touch with me, there's, there's so many ways to do that.
[00:29:26] JeanAnn SaintGrace: I'm easy to find, and I welcome you. I welcome you to have a quick conversation, to set up a discovery call. If you just need some guidance, the first call's always on me. So go out there and have a great day, and I will see you on the next episode of Shop Talk Her Way with Jeanann St. Grace. Thank you.