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Power does not always come from pushing harder. Sometimes in life and in business, the smartest move is to slow down so you can move forward with control, clarity, and intention. Just like a great driver, growth means looking ahead, preparing for the climb, and knowing when it is time to change gears.
Andrew Klement [00:00:00]:
Everybody comes into this, like, wanting to take care of people, right? And everybody, I think, means something a little different with that. We had a job that came in 100% my fault. I did an incomplete diagnosis. We sold a repair. We fixed a legitimate issue, but we fixed a quarter of the actual problem. When she calls and goes, hey, it's still making noise, and I say, bring it in. We're going to make it right, whatever it takes. And we can just do that and move on and still have a good week.
Andrew Klement [00:00:23]:
That's why we have to be profitable, so that there are profit dollars to be able to take care of our team, to take care of ourselves, and to take care of our clients.
Caleb Mac [00:00:31]:
Welcome to Downshift with Tanika Haynes, the automotive auntie. The thing about Tanika, she gets to know you, she'll laugh and cut up
Andrew Klement [00:00:40]:
with you, but then she'll hit you
Caleb Mac [00:00:41]:
with some knowledge that you may not
Andrew Klement [00:00:43]:
want, but that you need.
Tonnika Haynes [00:00:44]:
Let's downshift. You would show up late.
Andrew Klement [00:00:53]:
You know what? You know what? Some of us still have to work for a living.
Tonnika Haynes [00:00:58]:
Whatever. Oh, late. Look, 11 minutes late. My time is precious, kid.
Andrew Klement [00:01:04]:
I know, but do you see this plant?
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:07]:
Okay, all right.
Andrew Klement [00:01:09]:
It's alive. And I had to move it so it would be in the shot so you would appreciate it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:14]:
Oh, look at you getting plants.
Andrew Klement [00:01:16]:
Because I was listening to a podcast earlier and you mentioned you were a plant mama, and I said, you know
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:22]:
what, crazy plant lady? I love plants. Oh, God, I love plants. I love them. And. And my youngest son, he's in Florida. I moved him in and whatever. And I'm like, oh, I guess you don't want plants. And he was like, yeah, actually, Mom, I do want plants.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:36]:
And they're just going, I got plant grandbabies and stuff.
Andrew Klement [00:01:40]:
Yeah, there we go.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:43]:
So here we go. We're ready. You got a plant. You got some decorations back there. Look at you.
Andrew Klement [00:01:46]:
I do, I do. We got the branded merch. Like, it's. It's all the things. It's great.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:51]:
All the things. Caleb, meet Andrew. Andrew, meet Caleb.
Caleb Mac [00:01:55]:
Andrew.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:56]:
I was so tickled that you guys, like, almost burnt the. The road up trying to get to me. I just wanted to talk to some young people under 30. But you just turned 31.
Andrew Klement [00:02:07]:
I just turned 30 on Sunday, so.
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:09]:
Oh, okay. You're good. You're 30 in three days. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Andrew Klement [00:02:13]:
I'm basically old, so.
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:16]:
Real. Is that what we're doing today?
Andrew Klement [00:02:19]:
No, no, I. You see what. You can't really tell depending on how good your camera Quality is. See, this eyebrow looks a little funny. It's because my right eyebrow has actually turned gray in the last six months since starting a shop. And I'm going to call it the
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:30]:
stress in the Eyebrow. It looks like he got singed. It's.
Andrew Klement [00:02:35]:
No, it's literally like. It was like one or two hairs went gray and then the whole thing just went gray and it was like.
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:40]:
Well, is any your hair gray?
Andrew Klement [00:02:44]:
No, just. Just the. Just my right eyebrow.
Caleb Mac [00:02:47]:
Okay.
Andrew Klement [00:02:48]:
Stress will do some weird things to you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:50]:
Marvel comic type crap. Turning into an Incredible Hulk.
Andrew Klement [00:02:56]:
Well, yeah, this camera is flattering. You can't see my midsection here, so.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:00]:
Okay, we're good. Caleb, how old are you? You're such a baby.
Andrew Klement [00:03:06]:
Oh, my gosh. Babies, Babies.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:09]:
I'm old enough to be both of y'. All.
Caleb Mac [00:03:11]:
Mama.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:11]:
So listen, I got two young men actively in the middle of building a business. I think if I'm right and I've snooped properly, that you both were mobile at one point.
Caleb Mac [00:03:25]:
Yeah, I was.
Andrew Klement [00:03:28]:
I mean.
Caleb Mac [00:03:29]:
Sorry.
Andrew Klement [00:03:30]:
I'll let Caleb talk.
Caleb Mac [00:03:33]:
I was mobile all May. May 1st last year up until January 15th.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:41]:
Then it got cold as hell out there.
Caleb Mac [00:03:44]:
They got cold way before that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:48]:
It was because you're in Minnesota. Southern Minnesota. We talked about that. But Andrew, where you at?
Andrew Klement [00:03:55]:
Southern Missouri still.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:57]:
I don't know. I don't know the temperature there.
Andrew Klement [00:03:59]:
So we get cold. I'm like. I'm like four hours north of where Zeb is.
Caleb Mac [00:04:04]:
Is.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:05]:
Okay, so
Andrew Klement [00:04:08]:
it's a little bit. It gets a little colder here, but it's still like we'll get cold for two weeks and then it warms up.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:13]:
Okay, so you're not going to freeze your butts off trying to work on cars. And before the mobile shop, you got before the mobile stuff, what did you do? Like, how did you get in the industry? What's the backstory? Everybody. Everybody. All at the same time. Oh, go ahead, Caleb.
Andrew Klement [00:04:30]:
Yeah, sorry, sorry.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:31]:
You're the youngest.
Andrew Klement [00:04:31]:
Trying to be respectful of Caleb. I talk too much anyway, so I'll let him answer this question.
Caleb Mac [00:04:36]:
I started. I started in the industry at a Chevy dealership as a Lube Tech in 2019. Was there up until July of 21. Went to a used car dealer. It first couple years were great. Then it just slowly, progressively got worse. More as. As I grew or whatever in my skill set.
Caleb Mac [00:05:18]:
It was the things they wanted, the way they wanted to fix cars, to sell them and the way that I felt the cars should be fixed due know, sell them for full retail price. We didn't see eye to eye on that. Several other things, like just having to do a hack of a repair using plumbing from the fleet farm plumbing section for a fuel line. Yikes. Stuff like that. Dealership at a used car dealer. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:05:56]:
Wow.
Caleb Mac [00:05:57]:
Just. It ate away at me. I was stressed, burnt out. Not. And, like, at one point, I was pulling cabs off of trucks for 17 or 18 bucks an hour.
Tonnika Haynes [00:06:16]:
So that's the stuff that we hear about in the chats and everything. And I just still feel stupid because I don't know that this crap happens. I mean, I know it now, but it seems every time I hear it, it's surprising. Drew, how'd you get started in this. This crazy industry we call the automotive space? Oh. He starts off laughing.
Andrew Klement [00:06:35]:
Oh, yeah. It's a good story. I'm gonna try to, like, breeze through this real quick. Basically, it started when I was. I was like. I was, like, 13, and my dad bought a lawnmower, and he said, hey, man, I'll pay you 10 bucks if you can make this thing run. And I was like, well, shoot, dude. Sign me up.
Andrew Klement [00:06:54]:
And I don't know how I made the thing run. I just took it apart and put it back together, and it worked. So I bought a. Bought a project car when I was 14. It was an old 89 Toyota pickup and did a head gasket and a timing job on that, and that was, like, just page by page through a Haynes manual. And at some point, my. My parents had an old Chevy van with drum brakes in the back, and it needed brakes. And, you know, the shop wanted 800 bucks to put the brakes on.
Andrew Klement [00:07:22]:
And my dad said, well, hey, Andrew, I'll pay you 400 bucks. And, like, 400 bucks with some serious money to a, you know, 15, 16 year old. So I struggled through that, and. And then I kind of went off the rails, and I didn't do anything automotive. I was a volunteer firefighter, got my commercial driver's license, was driving a dump truck. And I get this phone call from this guy, some kid that I knew. His dad ran a mobile business, and he was like, hey, man, you still turning wrenches? Because, like, I'll pay you a lot of money to come turn wrenches for me.
Caleb Mac [00:07:52]:
I was like, sure.
Andrew Klement [00:07:54]:
So I. I was working. I was working as a. Driving a dump truck, making, like, 30 or 35 bucks an hour driving a dump truck. And I made more money, like, nights and weekends doing mobile work for this guy. And I was like, well, this is dumb. I'll just go do that. Full time.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:10]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [00:08:10]:
I had no idea what I was doing. Was wildly unqualified, had no business working on anybody's car. But. But it was really good practice because I was. I was the service advisor, the parts person. Like, I interface with the customer. I had to order the parts, I had to build the estimates. Like, I did everything myself, right? And I did that for about a year.
Andrew Klement [00:08:35]:
And then I met a cute girl, and I was like, man, I'm gonna get married.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:40]:
Oh.
Andrew Klement [00:08:40]:
And her dad, her dad worked for a. Worked for a shop, and she lived a few hours away from me. And so her dad wasn't real happy with where I was going in my career and is like, why don't you come interview with my boss? And so I did and somehow conned this poor shop owner into hiring me. And that was where I learned that there's actually a right way to do things. And just because it makes it out of the parking lot doesn't mean that it's right. So that was a rude awakening. I worked for that guy for about three and a half years. I got screamed at a lot.
Andrew Klement [00:09:16]:
I was doing full. Doing head gasket jobs on six liter powerstrokes, deep heavy line diesel repair for 18 bucks an hour. And the shop had hired a new foreman. And I kind of became friends with this guy, and the shop fired the foreman, and we stayed friends, and he just kept encouraging me like, dude, you've got to get out. Like, anywhere is better than where you're at. And I started looking, found a place that was hiring, and they wanted seven years of experience. I figured, well, I've got almost three and a half and three and a half rounds up to four and four rounds up to seven. So, like, I'll apply, you know? Yeah, why not?
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:56]:
Makes sense. That math.
Andrew Klement [00:09:59]:
That's some girl math for you. And this, this shop ended up. Ended up hiring me. And I. I went there and it was a, like, my day one was like a 40% pay increase on, like, in the first week. And I was like, oh, I can actually make some real money fixing cars.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:18]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [00:10:19]:
Because I was ready to leave the industry. I was like, I. I hated my job so much that I didn't. I couldn't stand, like, the people I worked with that I literally would go out to my car and eat my lunch cold in my car for, like, three years because I didn't even want to be in the building long enough to, like, warm my food up and then. And then go eat it.
Caleb Mac [00:10:38]:
Right?
Andrew Klement [00:10:39]:
And I was too broke to buy lunch.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:40]:
So, yeah, so do you think both you guys said you had crap bosses? Well, I don't say crap bosses. We're not going to say that because. I don't know. They were. They were.
Andrew Klement [00:10:50]:
I had a. I had. I had a boss that. That came up in the industry in the early 90s, and that's just. That's just how it was. There's no. At least in the part of the world that he was in. And that's just how you treated people.
Andrew Klement [00:11:04]:
And, I mean, I made it three days before he was screaming at me in the shop. And.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:11]:
But then before that, both of you said that you felt like you were not doing the jobs right anyway. Like, you just like, oh, this is how it's actually supposed to be done. So where did your training come in? Where'd you get that? It was just only training for both of you guys.
Andrew Klement [00:11:24]:
I was screamed at a lot.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:26]:
Oh, so you. You were screamed into submission?
Caleb Mac [00:11:30]:
Yeah, it was just on the job training.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:32]:
How you doing, Waggle? What'd you say, Caleb?
Caleb Mac [00:11:36]:
It was just on the job training for me. Like, I. What really got it started was. I mean, my dad has pictures of me doing breaks on my grandpa's car when I was at least six.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:52]:
You guys should probably talk to somebody about this child labor.
Andrew Klement [00:11:57]:
Listen.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:58]:
No, I'm just playing. I don't play that. Mama's a serious mama. We going to work. You gotta eat. Don't you go to work?
Caleb Mac [00:12:11]:
So it was just. I. Like, I had a. I just kind of figured out, like, oh, this is the right way to do things, or this is the way that things should be done. And just kind of. It just kind of came naturally. Naturally to me.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:27]:
And then. So you both are sitting here on the social medias listening to me and other old people complain about the industry and how hard it is to own a shop. And you decide, oh, let me go sign a lease and open the shop. How long have you had your shop, Drew?
Andrew Klement [00:12:45]:
We. In like three days. We're going to be six months. December 1, 20, 25 is when we opened.
Caleb Mac [00:12:50]:
Nice.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:50]:
And Caleb,
Caleb Mac [00:12:53]:
it was a year ago and about a month when I. When my toolbox left that shop to go into my trailer. But I started kind of moonlighting on the side back in November of 24,
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:11]:
so. But when did you get in the building? I feel like you just got in your building, like, in the last couple months. Yep.
Caleb Mac [00:13:16]:
So we moved different, huh?
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:20]:
I said a little bit different.
Caleb Mac [00:13:22]:
Yeah, it. It's been huge. So we moved down here. January 17th is when we got Access to the property moved down here. I open. Was officially open February 16th in a shop. And that was my goal. Being mobile was to build up a client base, going to be able to stack money away to get a new shop.
Caleb Mac [00:13:55]:
And couldn't find anything in the town that we lived in. Couldn't find anything that was affordable and usable place. It was usable. Was way too expensive. And they're just so. And I was. I was gonna build a shop. I was like, well, it's pretty much the only other option I have because I need a place that's warm in the wintertime to work.
Tonnika Haynes [00:14:23]:
Hell yeah, Minnesota. Yes.
Caleb Mac [00:14:26]:
It was New Year's Day. It was four degrees outside. I'm doing a water pump and a Cummins at a truck stop.
Tonnika Haynes [00:14:32]:
Ain't no way, dude.
Andrew Klement [00:14:34]:
You have so much more passion for this industry than I do. I got into good shops and then figured out that there was, like, we had, like. So when I got left the bad shop and went to a good shop, they were like, oh, hey, like, O'Reilly's has a training class, you know, on Wednesday night. You want to go? And I was like, free training. Like, let's do this. And I took every class I get my hands on. And I got to a point in my. In my career.
Andrew Klement [00:14:59]:
And this was, I don't know, a couple years ago, like, three or four years ago, my career, where I was like, I'm good at what I do, and. And you can pay me and you can take care of me, or I'm gonna go find somewhere else to work. Like, that's just it.
Caleb Mac [00:15:13]:
I didn't. And I didn't know. I stuck it out at the place I was. Place I was at for as long as I did because I felt like, well, if this shop is this way, every shop I go to is gonna be this way. Exactly.
Andrew Klement [00:15:27]:
And that's. And that's the trap. I feel like a lot of. A lot of technicians are stuck in. Young and old is like, well, this is just what it is. This is the job. And. And there are good shops out there.
Tonnika Haynes [00:15:39]:
I think the loudest people are the people with the bad shops, though. Like, the. You hear that more than anything about, oh, this is bad. It's a bad industry. The whole industry away. This is crazy. What'd you say?
Andrew Klement [00:15:53]:
I just hear the loudest people, and I asked if you were talking about
Tonnika Haynes [00:15:56]:
Lucas ain't talking about Babel mouth, Mr. Talk a lot. No, Lucas has a great shop. I think he has a great culture, but he's very loud.
Andrew Klement [00:16:05]:
But that's all I was saying. But, yeah, it's. You see all the people. There's. There's, like, such a dramatic, I think, difference between, like, the. The other. The ends of the bell curve are so far apart. Right.
Andrew Klement [00:16:18]:
Like, the. The bad shops are really, really bad, and the good shops are really, really good. And. And there's some in the middle, but they're mostly really good or really bad. There's not. I don't know. At least in my experience. There's not that many aggressively mediocre shops.
Tonnika Haynes [00:16:35]:
I'm an aggressively mediocre shop. But. Okay, so you went for ranching because you said the shop owner was terrible, and now you're the shop owner. What has been the hardest adjustment? Because you got to think about it. Sometimes we just don't know what, you know, as an employee that, you know, running the show was a whole lot different than just, you know, being a part of the circus, being a ringleader, you know, what is. How has that been that adjustment between, you know, I just get my check at the end of the week versus I need to make my own check, and I need to make sure I pay the bills. I have to keep these doors open. Like, what bill? Like, you got a light bill? I'm like, somebody turn the lights off.
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:15]:
Light bill is high. Like, there's. There's an adjustment there. How's that been for you?
Caleb Mac [00:17:20]:
It's been. It was an adjustment, especially last year. Like, just the culture in the town. That town that we were in, it was any. It felt like anything over $500. I was, like, drastically too expensive.
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:42]:
Was that what you was just telling yourself, or they were telling you you were too expensive, or did you just think you didn't deserve that money?
Caleb Mac [00:17:50]:
No, it wasn't me telling myself that it was. It was people that would call me about, like, to do a window regulator on a 2000 buickless saber.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:04]:
I wasn't gold. They're all gold.
Caleb Mac [00:18:08]:
I don't know. I never saw a pewter.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:10]:
A pewter bugle saber, the window regulator, and some cloth seats. But, yeah, they thought you should do it for what, $50?
Caleb Mac [00:18:17]:
Yeah, like, it was $500 per window regulator, and there was two windows that were down.
Andrew Klement [00:18:25]:
It's like, I don't see the issue here. But then some people are just like, well, this should cost. I think this should cost 20 bucks. It's like, well, where do you get that number from? Well, you know, I asked Google, and Google said it should probably only be 20 bucks. It's like, yes, I had one cousin, I've lived. There's so much more that goes into it than just.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:44]:
Yeah, why don't you go ahead and get Google to come over there and do that for you and see how that works out? Google said that is, like the worst thing right now to fight against what Google said. Yeah, but how did you overcome that, Caleb?
Caleb Mac [00:18:57]:
I. I just kept moving, moving forward and took the work that they did. Come in. A lot of it was people that were just passing through town. They're just passing through. Their car broke down on the interstate or something like that. That was a lot of what I did. It was not people in the town that.
Caleb Mac [00:19:20]:
That I actually lived in.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:22]:
But now you have a building and you have rent to pay, so, I mean, just relying on those people. How do you. How do you plan to build your customer base?
Caleb Mac [00:19:32]:
It's.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:32]:
Their mindset is thinking everything's $20.
Caleb Mac [00:19:35]:
I'm not. I'm not even in that town anymore. I'm three.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:38]:
Okay, great.
Caleb Mac [00:19:40]:
I'm three and a half hours cell. So I. I started brand new, and I'm. It's been huge. Now I'm being told, fix it. Call me when it's ready.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:52]:
That's what's up.
Andrew Klement [00:19:52]:
Yeah, that's. That's the kind of clients that you want to deal with and not the ones that are like, oh, I can't. I'd like you to like to pay for an inspection, but I can't afford the alignment. Like, dude, really tow your car out of here. Over $150. Come on.
Caleb Mac [00:20:12]:
Yeah, I'm down here. It's like the first time somebody told me that I. I really did not know what to do for when they
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:21]:
said, just go ahead and fix it, you're like, really?
Caleb Mac [00:20:23]:
Yeah. Yeah. Because I never. I never saw a repair bill that I wrote up for more than a thousand bucks. Twelve hundred bucks. I know.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:37]:
Where are you getting your coaching from? Knowing how to properly charge and, you know, to run a business. You know, like I said, you're not just collecting the paycheck now. You've got to make sure that there's something at that bottom line. At the end of the month, I
Andrew Klement [00:20:50]:
gotta borrow money from my personal account and put it into the shop account so I can make payroll. That's my favorite thing.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:55]:
Ooh.
Andrew Klement [00:20:56]:
Only did that once. Only did that once.
Caleb Mac [00:20:58]:
We're good.
Andrew Klement [00:20:59]:
It worked out.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:59]:
So how did you adjust that pricing?
Andrew Klement [00:21:03]:
No, we just. I was.
Caleb Mac [00:21:04]:
We were.
Andrew Klement [00:21:05]:
We had a slow month and ended up with a big job that closed a day later than we thought. It Would close. And so we didn't have enough to cover payroll. And it was just. It was just a. I. I loaned myself money for a day and then pulled it back out and we were fine.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:17]:
Okay, good.
Andrew Klement [00:21:17]:
It makes for a dramatic story.
Caleb Mac [00:21:21]:
Joshua Coombs was. Was a huge help when I first went on on my own because I. I had felt the 20 markup on parts just across the board was, oh, baby.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:37]:
Oh. But it's. I mean, it's still a lot of shop owners that you've been doing it six months, you're smart enough to say, hey, help me. And then when Josh spoke to you about it was that easy for you to make the adjustment on your price, your parts matrix? Can you imagine how many people are still fighting that? And they've been in business 5, 10 years still marking up parts? 20, 25.
Caleb Mac [00:22:00]:
It was a post on the ASOC hangout group. Somebody was asking about what kind of markup on a used engine or something like that. And he. Josh called me out on it and then gave me his phone number. He's like, give me a call this evening or whatever. And he's like, reach out to Lucas and a few other people. And it's like that parts markup, that parts profit is there to cover if something happens to that warranty.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:40]:
Lights, heat, health, all of the things. Yeah.
Caleb Mac [00:22:45]:
That you have a wheel, a wheel fall off after you do a wheel bearing or something like that. That profit is there to help cushion that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:55]:
The cya.
Caleb Mac [00:22:57]:
Yeah. So that was a. That was a huge eye opener like
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:04]:
that.
Caleb Mac [00:23:05]:
Somebody calls me, there's a problem, I can just bring it in. I'll take care of it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:11]:
That's what's up.
Caleb Mac [00:23:13]:
So I can do that was. So I can make it right.
Andrew Klement [00:23:16]:
Yeah. That was something that was really big for me. Was like, it's really important like it. Because like, everybody comes into this, like, wanting to take care of people. Right. And everybody, I think, means something a little different with that. But we had a job that came in and 100% my fault. I did an incomplete diagnosis.
Andrew Klement [00:23:36]:
We sold a repair. We fixed a legitimate issue, but we fixed a quarter of the actual problem that lady brought it in for. And when she calls and goes, hey, it's still making noise, and I say, bring it in. We're going to make it right, whatever it takes. And we can just do that and move on and still have a good week. Like, that's, that's why we have to be profitable so that there are profit dollars to be able to take care of our team to take care of ourselves and to take care of our clients.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:06]:
Right. So you, you can't save the community and just like destroy yourself, your employees and everything. Like, taking care of community can mean too many different things. And sacrificing yourself and somebody else is not it. For example, I had a really big problem happen in the last 30 days that it's the worst. Like for 10 years I've been on my own with the shop, even though my family's had it for 46. Ten years has been completely solely my responsibility. Mistake cost me $20,000.
Andrew Klement [00:24:36]:
What happened?
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:39]:
We'll talk about that offline. But long story short, yeah, we have to put the dealerships needs to put an engine in the customer's car. An Audi. Audi is a 2018, but it has 60,000 miles on it and my technician made a drastic mistake and I have to make that right for the customer. You know what? Me calling the insurance company is not going to work because if I call the insurance company, they're going to total his car.
Andrew Klement [00:25:05]:
Right?
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:06]:
They total his car. That's not me taking care of my community. I have to stand behind what I did. So it's going to cost me $20,000. And 1. A good friend of mine, Chad Whitley, says to me, he reminds me, that's only one month. I was like, yeah, that's less than one month's profit. And you know what? I've been blessed for 10 years not to have that problem.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:28]:
So guess who won and.
Andrew Klement [00:25:30]:
Exactly.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:31]:
And I was able to take care of my community by doing the job right and making this right for him and not just put him off on the insurance company because he would have lost his whole car. And then I would have had a customer that was livid. He could have did a charge back on the credit card. Anything could have went way left.
Andrew Klement [00:25:46]:
That's. And that's exactly the thing is you
Caleb Mac [00:25:49]:
already raised your rates up.
Andrew Klement [00:25:51]:
Yeah.
Caleb Mac [00:25:52]:
Charge properly paying for it further down the road than just right now.
Andrew Klement [00:25:58]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:59]:
So it sounds like you guys like really are young in this. What may. Even though you started off rough, like you went from cars and then dump truck, then back to cars and Caleb, you've only done cars. You've only done cards though. What makes you want to stay in the industry? Is it just the money? What is it? It's got to be more than the money.
Andrew Klement [00:26:26]:
I'm in it for the money.
Caleb Mac [00:26:32]:
Honestly. The money is a. The money is a big part of it. Especially now. I make more money than I. Than I ever dreamed of.
Tonnika Haynes [00:26:41]:
Yeah.
Caleb Mac [00:26:42]:
I Didn't. Like, I'm pennies compared to what y' all are doing. But, like, I'm at a point where I didn't think I was going to be at this point. When I was 24, I felt it was a year and a half ago. I was. I was burnt out.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:00]:
Yeah.
Caleb Mac [00:27:00]:
I was so burnt out that I listed my tools for sale.
Andrew Klement [00:27:04]:
Oh, wow.
Caleb Mac [00:27:07]:
I'm like, I'm fixing to go out on my own. But I was so burnt out from that job that I was sitting on the couch one morning. Jerry, go to work. I put my tools up for sale on Facebook. Every single one of them. And all that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:26]:
We don't need to hear. We don't need young techs like yourself. Sounds like you're gifted. You've got initiative, like, you're still a baby. My. My son's 22. Okay, so you're. You're doing big things, but somebody, somewhere, some little raggedy shop owner, if you didn't have.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:46]:
You didn't have it in you to stick it out. He could have ruined your life, dude.
Caleb Mac [00:27:51]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:52]:
So I'm so glad that you saw above that and you were able to push forward and find a village. Like, I don't even know. I think how I met you, I think we were on a Rick White thing and. I don't know. Mr. Nickel, love the kids and. Sounds like you got. We've got the same village.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:08]:
I love me some Rick White. Josh Coons right down here in Vietnam. Lucas Underwood got me started in afta. Yeah, he's in Vietnam. Vietnam. So I'm so glad that you are finding the village and sticking. Sticking to it. And Andrew, what.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:23]:
What do you have? You. You're getting ready to do something.
Andrew Klement [00:28:28]:
I do. I have this. Great.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:30]:
This is.
Andrew Klement [00:28:30]:
This is a. For those of you that don't come from a farming community, this is International Harvester blue. This was a limited color that RAM put on their trucks in like 18 and 19, like only a couple years. They made a few of these trucks with this. I mean, it's a great color. I love this color.
Caleb Mac [00:28:50]:
This is.
Andrew Klement [00:28:51]:
You might notice the jagged cut edge there. This is my reminder of why. Why we charge money. And it lives in my office. This is a sawed off chunk of fender flare after one of my guys crunched the side of a Dually truck pulling it into the shop, which cost me. It was. It's an aluminum bed. Aluminum bed.
Andrew Klement [00:29:10]:
And so they couldn't just like pop the dent out and put a new flare on it. They had to replace the bedside it was like seven or eight thousand dollars. And I was able to tell my customer, I'm really sorry this happened. We're going to make it completely right, and whatever it takes to make you happy, we're going to do that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:27]:
But you keep that as a reminder.
Andrew Klement [00:29:30]:
I keep the scrap in my office where I can see it as a reminder. And also, the. The employee that did this no longer works for me. But it wasn't because of this as that. When this happened, he, like, backs the truck up. I still know, pull it into another bay. We'll look at it. And he comes up and he hangs his head and he goes, man, am I taking my tools home? And I said, no, I don't fire people for mistakes, right? I fire them for patterns, you know? And, like, this is a mistake.
Andrew Klement [00:30:02]:
Like, what can we do to change our process so this doesn't happen again? And. And that, I think, for me, was the moment that was just, like, I thought back to some of the shop owners that I have worked for and, like, how they would have reacted in that scenario, you know? Like, I mean, dude, I. I. The. The thing that I got yelled at three days into my first real job was I was taking a transmission out, and there was an exhaust hanger. And I was like, I should have taken it off first. And I ended up with, like, the transmissions on a jack, and I can't get it out. And one of the other techs was like, just cut it, and then we'll weld it back in.
Andrew Klement [00:30:39]:
We go back together. It's an exhaust hanger. It's no big deal. And so I just was like, just cut it. And, like, that's what I got screamed at for, which was like, there's going to be a weld mark and an exhaust hanger under a truck that nobody's
Caleb Mac [00:30:48]:
ever going to see.
Andrew Klement [00:30:49]:
And I had an employee, do, you know seven grand worth of damage to a customer's car? And I said, dude, let's not do that again. Like, in that tone. I didn't yell at him. I didn't scream at him. And that's moves, man.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:02]:
That's that leadership boss stuff. Look at you.
Andrew Klement [00:31:05]:
Look at you. I'm trying. I really am trying.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:09]:
You're doing.
Andrew Klement [00:31:12]:
I am. I am growing.
Caleb Mac [00:31:13]:
There are.
Andrew Klement [00:31:13]:
There is so much more room for growth.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:15]:
Yeah, there's.
Andrew Klement [00:31:17]:
There's so much more room for growth. But I wanted to just say something is that I was not. I was not pushed into shop ownership by bad bosses.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:26]:
Okay?
Andrew Klement [00:31:26]:
I've. I've known that I wanted to Open my own business. Like some kind of. Whether it's shop or something else. I've known that I wanted to do this since I was like 15. And so I've wanted to own the shop. You know, I, I spent a year in high school in a, in a heavy, diesel like tech program at a local like tech school. And I remember sitting in that class and all these other, you know, grease monkeys around me and they're all work for this company, that company.
Andrew Klement [00:31:52]:
I'm sitting here going, you guys are going to work for me. Like I'm going to own the shop. And granted that's just, you know, arrogant 17 year old Andrew.
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:00]:
No, that's confidence.
Andrew Klement [00:32:03]:
It's a little bit of arrogance mixed in there. But, but I've, but I've known that I wanted to do this for a very long time. And so the last like I, and I like, I kind of waffled when I got like really good, like that really good job. After the first one, I was like, nah, dude, I'm gonna retire from this job. Like, this is gonna be great. And then the rental I was living in got sold and we decided to move to Arizona because that made sense. Yeah, it's. Hey, you guys might not know this, but Arizona is hot.
Caleb Mac [00:32:34]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [00:32:35]:
Yes it is. It is the hottest desert in North America.
Caleb Mac [00:32:40]:
But anyway, so I'm from the Midwest. It gets like 20 below here for a few months of the year. But right now it's 90 degrees and I'd rather be 30 degrees.
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:54]:
Ain't no way, dude.
Andrew Klement [00:32:55]:
It's no, I, I love where, where I'm at. So like I live. We moved to the Midwest, we're in Missouri now. So like it's great. Like the coldest temperature that I've seen is like we got down to like negative 10. But it was like one overnight it got cold. You know, we get like one cold snap a year where it's like you get a week where it doesn't get above freezing and then it's like 70 degrees the next day.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:16]:
No, shut straight down, it gets below 30 and we lose our mind. No, ain't no way. I'm hurting. My, my author. Everything would just be aching on me. Oh my goodness. So we're in Vegas like two weeks ago and it's like it's a hundred and what, why? Right?
Andrew Klement [00:33:37]:
Like in Arizona, In Arizona there's like, there's like, I think the Toyota dealership had AC in their service department. Like in, in a, in a county of like 7 million people, there's like one shop that's air conditioned in Arizona? Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:54]:
You have AC in your shop?
Andrew Klement [00:33:56]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:57]:
Okay, cool. You're gonna get it. Yeah. You don't need an AC. It's only 20 degrees so you'll be fine. But no, we've got AC. Honey, it's hot.
Andrew Klement [00:34:05]:
It was 81. It was 81 degrees and 95% humidity today. We ran the AC and it was pleasant inside.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:12]:
It's pleasant. So what is it like? Because Andrew, you got young kids or kid. How many babies you got? Four babies.
Andrew Klement [00:34:22]:
I got four babies. My oldest is eight. My youngest is. She just turned nine months old.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:26]:
Good gracious. How's it like being that young with the business and some babies? That's a lot of babies. And Caleb's got two. So you're building a family and building a business all at the same time.
Andrew Klement [00:34:40]:
And I just built a house, but that's neither here nor there.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:43]:
You're so ambitious. I'm so proud of you.
Andrew Klement [00:34:47]:
Thank you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:48]:
What is that like for you, Kayla? Because I see yours walking around the shop and I think it's so cute. You better pay that baby.
Caleb Mac [00:34:54]:
It. Chocolate milk and hot dogs.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:56]:
Chocolate milk and hot dogs. I told you. I mean that's. That's a hell of a pamper, man.
Andrew Klement [00:35:01]:
That sounds like. Sounds like my service advisor.
Caleb Mac [00:35:04]:
It's been. It's been really good. I'm especially now and that was the biggest. One of the big things that I struggled with when I was working for somebody else was like I got home from. I. I'd leave the house at 7:00'. Clock. We're supposed to be there at 7:30.
Caleb Mac [00:35:23]:
I was in the parking lot by 7:05. Punched in 10 minutes before 7:30. Working right away all the way up until 5. It was just every day and it was just. I was stressed and so I came home just beat. Just completely.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:48]:
Yeah, that's. That's hard on a wife. Like I don't know how she handled that with you, but that can. That can be hard. Cuz she's been at home with children all day.
Caleb Mac [00:35:57]:
I don't either.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:58]:
Yeah.
Caleb Mac [00:36:00]:
So that was, that was a big thing is I just. I wanted to be able to do something that you're gonna have more time with my family. And now my commute to work is 75ft and my wife and kids come out to the shop sometimes during the day when the kids just want to be outside. So it's been, it's been really good. It's been a huge, huge adjustment going from working for somebody else to. I'm in control of my paycheck. But I also wouldn't want any other way. No.
Tonnika Haynes [00:36:43]:
Does she help you at all with the billing or anything in the shop? Does she want to or just being at home with them babies? Yeah, that's as she should be. Yeah.
Caleb Mac [00:36:52]:
She sounds at the. She. She was summoned as a para at the public school in town this winter so that she's not home all day every day with the kids because they're really young. Yeah, but it's. It's been good like this last weekend. We bought a homeless shelter a couple weeks ago and we're out being homeless.
Andrew Klement [00:37:20]:
Foreign.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:24]:
What is this big airplane thing behind you?
Caleb Mac [00:37:26]:
It's a foam airplane. It's electric
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:32]:
so you get to play with your toys more. More. What is that? Man? I would. You're not to be flying that thing. And I'd probably get too low and hit somebody with it and have a whole lawsuit.
Andrew Klement [00:37:45]:
I'd fly that thing Someday. Someday Andrew's gonna buy herself a bush plane. Fly real airplanes. But that's a long way off.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:53]:
Look at you. You swear you got it going on. I love it. So how does your wife. Does she work outside of the shop or does she help you in there at all?
Andrew Klement [00:38:01]:
No, so my. My wife does not work outside the home, which means that she is the definition of marrying way outside of my league, like way out of my league. And she's an incredible woman. And she. She homeschools our four. I mean, we're not really homeschooling the little one. She's a baby. She's just figuring out how to crawl right now.
Tonnika Haynes [00:38:19]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [00:38:19]:
But no, she's just home with the babies. And now she is. She's currently. Doesn't. Isn't. Doesn't do anything in or around the shop. I mean, she'll come in occasionally and you know, she helped with getting the shop ready, you know, painting, painting the office, getting everything lined out, getting the decor all dialed in. So it's just so.
Andrew Klement [00:38:38]:
And you know, there was like. So it's like she's a huge part of it. There's no way I could do this without her. But like day to day operation, she's not involved at all.
Tonnika Haynes [00:38:45]:
Okay, so tell me about. Let's go back to shop ownership. Like I said, this has been the year number ten on my own. And I was raised in the industry, so I have a lot of. I had a lot of background, but just making all the decisions by myself and my dad like would force me to make decisions that I want to make. What is the what is the one mistake that y' all already know? That you will not do that again.
Andrew Klement [00:39:16]:
Customer supplied engines. Oh, not ever. Never, ever, ever again. I don't care who you are. There's just no way I will never do that again.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:32]:
Like, how in the world you end up saying okay to that? You just thought it was the right thing to do to save the community.
Caleb Mac [00:39:37]:
February.
Andrew Klement [00:39:38]:
It was. It was February. It was slow, and. My advisor said yes without really consulting me.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:50]:
Oh, how many do you have on your staff? You say you have an advisor? How many texts? What. What do you.
Andrew Klement [00:39:57]:
I've done advisor in the tech right now, and we're getting close to hiring a second tech.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:01]:
Okay. That's what's up. And, Caleb, you're still on your. I mean, you're still on your own, doing your wrenching and doing your paperwork. Ain't nothing wrong with that, big dog.
Caleb Mac [00:40:10]:
My goal is to hire a tech by the end of next year.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:13]:
Okay. Do you think you ever have, like, people up front?
Caleb Mac [00:40:18]:
Huh?
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:18]:
You ever think you have a service advisor or anything like that?
Caleb Mac [00:40:22]:
Maybe, eventually down the road, but I want to get. I want to get stable enough that I can get a tech in here so I can try to focus more on the. Being the service advisor or whatever and get to build it to a point where, yeah, I could have a service advisor here, too.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:43]:
Yeah, you can do that, no problem. Because it's. Are you being coached by 180 biz? Are you just listening in on a lot of stuff? Like, do you reach out for other coaching companies? I know you talked to Josh. Are you just getting, like, on the job training and just on the Internet training and just getting in when you fit in, and that's like. That makes sense to me. I wouldn't pay for a coach. I would just get all the free stuff as long as I could take it. Drew, do you ever have a coach?
Andrew Klement [00:41:08]:
Oh, buddy, I hired a coach. I hired a coach before I even opened my doors.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:13]:
Yeah. Can I ask who? I'm just nosy.
Andrew Klement [00:41:15]:
You absolutely may. So I'm. I'm a client and lifelong fan of Elite Worldwide. Okay. Matt Lofton was my primary coach before he handed me off to somebody else because. So I guess he's busy or something, which I don't know. But, I mean, he also will, like, take my phone call or answer my text or email, like, right away, any hour of day and night, no matter what he's doing. So I don't either he really likes me or when they say that they're a People first company.
Andrew Klement [00:41:42]:
They actually mean it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:43]:
I think everybody with Elite is really cool. Matt, Matt's awesome guy. Like he shots maybe 45 minutes for me. Talk to him quite a bit. So you got a coach before you open the doors like you are businessman.
Andrew Klement [00:41:59]:
Oh yeah. Oh no.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:00]:
How much of a difference do you think it made?
Andrew Klement [00:42:03]:
I would say. Well that's, that's a hard question to answer right. Because like how much of a difference did it make? Well let me, let's back up in the United States. What's, what's the average time to, to break even for a, for a small business?
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:23]:
I think is it three to five years? I don't know.
Andrew Klement [00:42:26]:
I think it's something like that. Three to five years.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:28]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [00:42:30]:
So we like month over month. We broke even month two and we are in our, we're just finishing up our third as Matt calls them big boy months. And with this month we will be in the black since inception. So we'll have overcome all the losses from the first couple months and be into the black making profit including having paid myself a decent salary the whole way through.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:03]:
Good. A lot of people do not pay themselves first.
Andrew Klement [00:43:07]:
I came off building a house where my general contractor stole 100 plus thousand dollars from me and so I had zero money to start this thing and I wasn't interested in. I didn't see a way that I could do it and get into the building that I'm in without borrowing some money and like spending some money and just kind of going for it. So we started, we started with. I bought, I bought two lifts I hired. I had a service advisor that I that like started with me from day one. So like there was, there was not a time when it was just me. And yeah we very much jumped into this. This is not a, this isn't a job.
Andrew Klement [00:43:49]:
This is a business we're building. I'm striving to build something that's much bigger than a job. I want to build a team and, and I would like to, I'd like to end up multi location at some point.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:01]:
I spent too much of my time running my business. But it was a glorified job and I didn't know. I think I did that for maybe three years before I started started coaching with 180 and but then my hard headed ass didn't want to drink all the Kool Aid anyway. Like the parts matrix and the markups and the things, all the stuff they tell you not to do. You're like I don't, you know it doesn't sound right? It doesn't sound right, but I. You drank the Kool Aid? You just went in there and just.
Andrew Klement [00:44:29]:
Oh, no, I went swimming in the Kool Aid. I dove in here once.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:35]:
I got it in my head like, okay, I do not want a glorified job. I am tired. I can't keep doing this. My knees do not agree. I, um. And I'd like to go home. I'd like to go home and I like to have a weekend. So once I drink the Kool Aid, then it's.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:47]:
It's been a life changing thing, but you just have to get there first. So I like that. You guys are two different. You. You're on the same journey, but you start up the way you're doing it. There's no white right or wrong way to do it. You know, what's working for Caleb is working for Caleb. It seems like you went from.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:03]:
To sugar and, and then Drew Andrew, you too. You went from shit to Sugar.
Andrew Klement [00:45:11]:
Well, yeah, but it was like, it was a long process. It's been. It's been a while since I had a crummy job, like my last. My last employer. So I moved. We moved from Arizona to Missouri a little over. A little over two years ago and interviewed. Interviewed with a couple of different shops locally in town and was not super impressed by any of them.
Andrew Klement [00:45:32]:
I say that casually because I know that one of the shop owners I interviewed with listens to this podcast.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:38]:
So it's all good.
Andrew Klement [00:45:41]:
Anyways, I. And I ended up. I ended up going to work for a Christian brothers automotive franchise here. Here in town. And. Which was basically because I called and was like, hey, do you guys want a solid attack that can work on diesel stuff? And the guy that I talked to, I remember which guy it was, was like, well, the boss isn't in right now, but I'm sure he'd want to talk to you. Let me get your information. And like, and we set up a zoom interview.
Andrew Klement [00:46:06]:
We interviewed. And he was like, look, this is what I can pay you. And it was like $16 an hour more than the other two shops at office.
Caleb Mac [00:46:15]:
Oh.
Andrew Klement [00:46:15]:
Or I was like, cool, dude, I'm down. Let's do it. And, and, and I, and I walked in and told him, I said, hey, dude, my, my long term goal is to open a shop and at some point I'm going to leave you to open a shop, like. And he was like, cool, I'll help you do it when that time comes. And. And so he's. He's in the groups Here Lee. Lee Grant is the guy and he is a fantastic.
Andrew Klement [00:46:37]:
He runs a fantastic operation, takes really good care of his team. And if I wasn't so ambitious and wanting to do this on my own, I would 100% still be working for him. Like. So I didn't. It wasn't a bad boss that pushed me into this. It said this is what I wanted to do. And his ambition gave me the. Lee gave me the.
Andrew Klement [00:46:54]:
The launching pad to be able to. To do that. So forever grateful to him.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:00]:
I love that. That is. That is a great story. And then what kind of shop are you trying to build, Caleb? Because we know what Andrew's doing like three to five years down the road. What is it going to look like for you? Because you've got to have your vision. You've got to have your vision board. You got to have something you're working towards.
Caleb Mac [00:47:18]:
What I'm. I guess ultimately what I'd like. What I'd like is to have a tech or two text in here, possibly a service advisor or I grow to the point where I move into town and this is just my home and not place of business.
Andrew Klement [00:47:44]:
How big is your building right now?
Caleb Mac [00:47:47]:
The shop is 40 by 70. My office is about 15 by 32.
Andrew Klement [00:47:53]:
40 by 70. So what is like. Talk to me like I'm stupid. How many. How many bays is that?
Caleb Mac [00:48:00]:
I can have four.
Andrew Klement [00:48:02]:
Okay.
Caleb Mac [00:48:03]:
Four base. I can have three lifts in here and probably a portable scissor lift on the very end because it makes it. I wanted to have four lifts in here. It would work to have four lifts in here, but I only have one door.
Andrew Klement [00:48:24]:
Okay, gotcha.
Caleb Mac [00:48:26]:
And I don't really feel like cutting the concrete walls out to put a. That's put another door in. I spent enough in propane the last. In the first three months. I. I'd rather not have a.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:39]:
Another trying to heat that joke up.
Andrew Klement [00:48:43]:
Insulation is your friend. Closed cell spray foam, lack thereof. Expensive, but it's worth it.
Caleb Mac [00:48:49]:
Lack thereof on insulation. I just had to redo the roof on the office and it was. There was only six inches of insulation.
Andrew Klement [00:48:57]:
Wow.
Caleb Mac [00:48:58]:
It's got.
Andrew Klement [00:48:58]:
It gets cold.
Caleb Mac [00:48:59]:
It gets cold where you live?
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:01]:
Yeah, Minnesota. That's. That's crazy.
Caleb Mac [00:49:04]:
The office now has 16 inches. The shop will have 16 inches insulation come fall.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:11]:
Mm.
Caleb Mac [00:49:12]:
It's too hot up there to do anything now. So, yeah, ultimately, whether. Whether the business just stays here or I do move into town, I want to replace myself as a tech is. I think I would so that I can do what I enjoy doing. I enjoy wrenching. I don't enjoy doing it seven days a week.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:42]:
Are you still. You're still working in the shop seven days a week?
Caleb Mac [00:49:45]:
No.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:46]:
Okay. It's like, don't do that. You gotta clock out.
Andrew Klement [00:49:49]:
Arts matrix, let's go.
Caleb Mac [00:49:51]:
No, I. I try to work on customer stuff Monday through Friday, and then if there's something that I gotta do so I'm not so behind in the following week because of parts, then I'll do it. Do it quick on Saturday if it's something quick. Otherwise it's my. My own stuff that.
Andrew Klement [00:50:15]:
Oh, so you're like me and you can't stop fixing stuff.
Caleb Mac [00:50:18]:
No, I cannot sit down for long periods of time. Otherwise, I'm just moored. My mind is just wandering. That's why I started building flying model airplanes, is I needed something to do a year and a half, two years ago that kept my hands busy and my mind occupied without turning wrenches on
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:41]:
a car
Caleb Mac [00:50:45]:
so that I enjoy what I do, but I can't keep doing it all the time. So I would like to replace myself as a technician, ultimately. Probably have a service advisor, too, so that I don't have to be here all the time or don't have to
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:04]:
do as much, because those kids are going to get to the point that you're going to have to go to games and recitals and teacher conferences and things like that. So just make sure I take the
Andrew Klement [00:51:16]:
vacations that I see Tanika taking.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:18]:
Yes, honey. Yeah. I'm so crispy right now. Don't make no sense. Just go, ready to get on the plane, go see my other baby. But it. When, When I do that, it. Trust me, there's plenty of times that the vacation was at the Double Tree, less than three miles up the street.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:35]:
We would call them staycation, because that's all mama could afford. So, yeah, if you see me out here balling now,
Caleb Mac [00:51:45]:
that's.
Andrew Klement [00:51:45]:
And that's something that I've come to realize, I think, as. As a shop owner now is like, I know how much work goes into getting to where you're at. And so, like, when I, you know, when I see, you know, these. These shop owners with their private jets and. And their big fancy boats and all these things, it's like, it doesn't bother me a bit. Like, I'm not mad by that. Like, I'm just like, I could. I can do that.
Andrew Klement [00:52:04]:
I can do more than that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:05]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [00:52:05]:
It's like, I'll outwork all of you guys and, yeah, I will get that. I'll get there. Like, you know, I have a boat. I actually have two boats right now, and they're both. Well, one's broken and one's kind of broken.
Caleb Mac [00:52:17]:
I have a boat and it's been sitting since 2016.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:23]:
That. That is a car. Now. Do not put that in the water. It would integrate. They're like, what the hell is this? This is water. No, but. No, it takes a while to get there.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:33]:
But the thing is, when you got the Internet and you've got social media and all this stuff and you're looking at people, what they're doing, like, not knowing the story behind all of that hustle is different.
Andrew Klement [00:52:43]:
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Caleb Mac [00:52:45]:
Well, because.
Andrew Klement [00:52:46]:
And the thing with social media, social media is really a. I have a love hate relationship. I'm. I'm in it mostly for the groups and I really enjoy trolling, and that is why me and Mike Allen are friends. But, like, you see a highlight reel, right?
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:00]:
Like, highlight reel, exactly.
Andrew Klement [00:53:02]:
You know what I'm saying? Like, like, you know, when I. When I go look at, you know, Tanika socials, and you, like, you see, you know, I was just on this vacation, that vacation, all this fun stuff, and what you're not seeing is that, hey, we had a $20,000 screw up, right? Like. Like. Cause we're not going to shout about that because it sucks. And we don't want to talk about that. Nobody wants to hear about that. Like, you know, and so there's. There's so much, like, slog that just goes into, like, getting there.
Andrew Klement [00:53:25]:
And, And I think everybody that has not actually done the thing, like, not actually, like, stepped into shop ownership and managed a business and been responsible for other people's payroll. Like, if you haven't done it, you have no idea what it takes. And you can listen to the podcasts and you can do all the things, which is what I did, like, leading up to it, I was like, man, I'm coming to this. I know what I'm doing. And got into it. And the first day of, oh, crap, we're not going to make payroll on Friday. Like, that's a gut punch.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:57]:
So, yeah, I'm glad you said that because there's so many people, just the highlight reel and then like, dude, just slow down and focus and find a village. Like, I'm glad Caleb has found a village. And I hope it's like, sometimes I feel like I'm intrusive because, like, when I was sending you all the little stuff to help your social media and what I was like, oh, I hope I'M not overdoing it, but if I can give a hand, I'm gonna give a hand. If I can encourage you, I'm gonna do it. Because I was like, oh, let's do this and let's do that and get your colors together. Because I want everybody to win. And winning for me is not the same as winning for Andrew. It's not the same as winning for Caleb.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:34]:
Like, I don't want no damn plane. I just want to be in seat 1F on Delta or American Airlines. I don't need to fly the plane now. I've taken some lessons, but I don't need that. But what I need to do is make sure I have multiple. Which Mercedes am I driving today? Sounds arrogant, but I didn't hey my ass off, right? And.
Andrew Klement [00:54:55]:
And the other thing. And this is what I. I said something to somebody. I was like, I will never buy that because I can't stand working on it. And this guy looked at me and went, like, you know, if you can afford to buy that car, you can pay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:04]:
You don't have to work on it anymore.
Andrew Klement [00:55:06]:
It was like, light bulb. I was like, oh, I can't have a car that's terrible to work on if I want one.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:11]:
I took my truck in for its first service, and the kid is like, oh, I thought you have a shop. I said, I do, but this service is free for y' alls for the next five years. And I'll never fix it. I'll just bring it to you.
Andrew Klement [00:55:24]:
It's just whether or not you want to deal with that experience.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:26]:
I don't want to fix my own car. That's stupid. I can be fixing somebody else's car. But. No, but stay humble, but stay ambitious and always keep your goals right there in front of you. And I'm talking to Caleb because you don't. You don't need. Mr.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:43]:
Andrew thinks he's got it going on. But I'm so glad that you have a coach right out the gate. But you probably didn't need one. Caleb, I'm so glad that you found a community and keep looking for us.
Caleb Mac [00:55:53]:
If it wasn't. If it wasn't for all the connections I made. You Mike Allen, Lucas, Dan Thekin, Josh Coombs and Rick White. Yeah, probably. I wouldn't be where I'm at.
Tonnika Haynes [00:56:08]:
And you're just starting, honey. You're just starting. You gotta look at those little kids and, like, what do you like? Your kids are so young. And I watched Santana in the shop, and I watched Jordan doing what he's doing. I, I just, it just seems like it was yesterday that they were running around helping me sweep the floors and whatever. And Santana's just like getting skin in the game as far as being in the office and running the business and saying, hey, this doesn't look good for the customers to come in. Like he had a little rifle to with one of the service advisors. Well, my assistant.
Tonnika Haynes [00:56:41]:
And he was just saying, hey, this doesn't look good. This doesn't make the office look good. And she couldn't take the direction. I know that's your son. I was like, yeah, but he owns this place eventually, so he's taking pride and ownership in this. So what do you, you think your kids are going to do any of this stuff, Follow you guys footsteps? Are you building the legacy? Is that what we're doing?
Caleb Mac [00:57:00]:
I, I haven't really thought to that thought that far. Like a year ago, year and a half ago, if you asked me that question, I say no, I do not want my kids anywhere near this industry. Now I, I could see them taking over, taking over for me one day if, if that's where, if that were. If that's where it leads. Yeah, if they want to. But it's not going to be a thing where I force them into, well, you have to come work for me kind of thing. It's when you're old enough to start working, you can start working. Want to come work for me or do you want to go work for somebody else? I think it's important for kids to start working.
Caleb Mac [00:57:48]:
I started, I started working when I was 10 or 11 years old with paper out. So I think it's important to, for kids to do work.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:01]:
Yeah, but you don't want to force them to do anything. Same. I understand. Because with, with Jordan, you know, he's always been like, you sound like you guys. Since he's. I knew that boy is going to be tearing something apart and putting it back together was going to be a car, boat, plane or whatever. That is just who he is. That's who he's always been.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:20]:
But I never really put it in my mind that he's going to be working here at the shop with me because I, I just didn't want to disappoint myself and I did not want to put him in that box. So when he went to UTI and then top of his class there, and he'd say, hey Mom, I'm going to work for Mercedes and I got a Mercedes program, of course it, you know, I want my baby at home in my back pocket, of course. But dude, if you're going to go out there and do something bigger and better, go ahead and maybe he'll come home, maybe he won't. But that was up to him. And the same thing with Santana. I had no idea what he wanted to do, but what, maybe six months ago. I don't even think it's been that long. He looked at me and said, hey, Max, I want to retire you in five years.
Tonnika Haynes [00:59:07]:
Shit. Come bring your butt to work and get me out of here. So if I can get them in the numbers, get them in the coaching, you know, try to duplicate myself through him, then I'm excited. But I never wanted to force them to do anything they didn't want to. I want them to love it and see it as a career. I don't want them to be guilty and feel like they have to be there. Andrew, do you have any tech heads? Eight year old.
Andrew Klement [00:59:36]:
I mean, I mean, eight year old's a hothead. I love that girl. She is, she is. She's a personality. Yeah, that's that. Yeah. Well, as my wife would say, she comes by it honestly. That girl can talk like, like she'll talk.
Andrew Klement [00:59:55]:
She'll talk a buzzard off a meat wagon. Like I love her to death, but like she's, she's a lot.
Tonnika Haynes [01:00:00]:
And off of a meat wagon. That's a lot of talking. Yeah, I had to just like, what?
Andrew Klement [01:00:11]:
Sorry. I'm a West coast boy at heart, so like some of these things just like kind of flow and then I'll
Tonnika Haynes [01:00:16]:
hear things, keep them coming.
Andrew Klement [01:00:18]:
Arkansas boys keep telling me and it's like I just, I just, I just adopt things and just like put that on. No. So like right now, you know, I don't know. I think so. I've got. I've got three girls and a boy. My son is. He just turned three a couple.
Andrew Klement [01:00:34]:
Couple months ago, I guess almost, almost three months ago now. But like this boy loves everything mechanical. Like if he sees an excavator when we're driving down the road, it's like he is yelling and hollering because he loves that excavator, right? Like anything, anything with an. Anything with a motor, like, he loves it.
Caleb Mac [01:00:52]:
So I think Grandpa's tractor. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:00:57]:
So there was a dvd back in the day when my kids were kids, it was DVDs and it was Mighty Machines. And all it was is, Caleb, you're young enough. I don't know if you ever seen Mighty Machines. All it was is someone recording excavators and dump trucks and just selling the videos. And like his favorite one, they had a whole 45 minute video of cars being crushed at the junkyard and there was no cartoons. He would just sit there like. Yeah, so I knew Jordan, definitely. I just knew.
Tonnika Haynes [01:01:30]:
And it was also Legos, Legos, Legos, Legos. And he still is heavy into Legos. He built me a LEGO G wagon for Christmas. Yes, all Legos.
Andrew Klement [01:01:42]:
But it says that is so on brand. I love it.
Tonnika Haynes [01:01:46]:
So, yeah, I just, I just knew that's who that kid was going to be. But yeah. So what would you tell, I gotta ask is what would you tell a young tech if they wanted to come into the industry or open a shop tomorrow? What, what would you, what would your advice be?
Andrew Klement [01:02:02]:
Go work for a good shop for a while before you try to open one. It's way harder than it looks.
Caleb Mac [01:02:08]:
Yeah, definitely get, get plugged in with, with a couple of techs at a good shop and find a good shop that's going to value and train you. Yeah, I think training is the biggest part. I didn't know up until a year ago, I didn't know any of these podcasts, the JD Mechanic Changing Industry, Confessions of Shop Owner, any of these Facebook groups. I didn't know any of that existed. Asva, nothing. I, I felt sheltered, whatever, because I felt like when I brought up something that I. Oh, I saw this on Facebook from that autotech mic in Michigan, my boss. It kind of just shy it away.
Caleb Mac [01:02:56]:
Shoot away.
Andrew Klement [01:02:58]:
Yeah.
Caleb Mac [01:03:00]:
Kind of thing. So I didn't really know, I didn't know any of this existed. Now it's like if I want, I wouldn't have gone on my own if training was available to me. If they're taking time to train me to be better. They did train me maybe not the way that I necessarily wanted to be trained. So I'm, I'm thankful for the opportunity that I had to work for them because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be where I'm at now. But yeah, biggest, biggest thing is training. Like thing that I'm, that I'm building is I have a toolbox that I bought from Harbor Freight last year because I needed a toolbox for my trailer before I went on my own completely.
Caleb Mac [01:03:54]:
I want to build that out as a starter set for a high school kid. So they want to, they want to get into this industry, they can come work for me and they got a toolbox already and after.
Tonnika Haynes [01:04:07]:
That's a great idea.
Caleb Mac [01:04:08]:
Couple years if they want to leave they can take the box with them.
Tonnika Haynes [01:04:14]:
I like how you're already thinking about giving back and you're just starting yourself and that, that is, yeah, that says a lot. You're gonna go far with that mentality.
Caleb Mac [01:04:24]:
I want to give somebody a better start in the industry than I had. I don't want somebody that's brand new, that, oh, I, I think I like working on cars. They have to go five grand in debt, get a basic set of tools. So I want to be able to, I want to be able to use that as an opportunity to get a high school kid in or a younger tech that is just starting out. Give them opportunity to see if they're going to like it or not. There was a high school, in order
Tonnika Haynes [01:05:00]:
to do that, you must be profitable.
Caleb Mac [01:05:03]:
Yeah, there was a high school.
Tonnika Haynes [01:05:05]:
That's how you give back. Exactly. That's how some of those profits can do better in the industry. Yes. The.
Andrew Klement [01:05:15]:
I, this, this, this was my first technician hire. And really, really good kid, like grew up in his dad's machine shop. Like he, he was really good at knowing when to stop and ask for help. Like, he wouldn't break that bolt. He'd go, hey man, I'm having some issues here, can you give me a hand? And, and I really appreciate that. And like showed up to work on time, wasn't on his phone all day. Like, good, good, good kid. But he had, he had spent like three years working for the, like a state job and there was just no motivation to want to improve and, and more.
Andrew Klement [01:05:52]:
The other issue that I didn't realize and my coach was 100% correct, which is I don't have the time to coach a new technician right now. Like, I'm trying to get this shop off the ground. And that technician is, is great because he can take some of the low skill work off my plate. Like he can do a dvi, you know, he can pull a car in and rack it. But the amount of time that it takes for me to coach him is like, I'm not able to give him the coaching that he deserves and, and really should have because I'm too busy. Because I, you know, I think that's a great, a great goal. That's something that I want to do. But I made the mistake of trying to do that first as my first hire and it, it didn't work out super well.
Andrew Klement [01:06:38]:
And it's not. And I'm not, I'm not in case he ever listens to this. I'm not mad about this. Like, I'm really not mad about that. But it was just. I thought I could. I thought I had the bandwidth to, like, train and coach a new tech and build a shop. Yeah, no, Andrew does not have that much bandwidth.
Tonnika Haynes [01:07:00]:
Yeah, because you'll drop the ball somewhere.
Andrew Klement [01:07:04]:
And I did.
Caleb Mac [01:07:07]:
Yeah. My first hire is going to be attacked to at least replace me. If not, honestly, I'd like to hire somebody better than me.
Tonnika Haynes [01:07:15]:
Yeah, that's very smart. Like, I. I pushed against that for a long time. As far as my office, it's like, I don't want anybody up there that can. I don't know, I just kind of felt like, and this was years, years ago, that, you know, they might steal from me, they might get me if I. If they know too much. You know, I got to keep my thumb on the neck. But no, it is having my service.
Tonnika Haynes [01:07:36]:
I don't know a damn thing that's going on with the shop right now. I mean, I know what's happening, but, you know, to touch every single car and do all of these things and be in control and not let them make decisions, I'm over that. And what happens is they do better job than me.
Andrew Klement [01:07:55]:
And so I hear that a lot.
Tonnika Haynes [01:07:57]:
Yeah. It's the truth, man.
Andrew Klement [01:08:00]:
So, Tanika, did you. I know you. You came up in. In your family's shop when you were. When you were working in the business, were you, I would assume, like service writers, kind of where you started or how did. How did you start, like, working in the.
Tonnika Haynes [01:08:15]:
So office service writer? And, you know, we were collision center to begin with, so I was an estimator.
Andrew Klement [01:08:21]:
Okay.
Tonnika Haynes [01:08:21]:
I just started first. First it was just answering the phones and washing cars. Well, actually washing cars. Didn't learn to answer the phone. Then slowly learning to write estimates. So I was just bought in piece by piece and just learned skill by skill. So that's how I did it. But by the time dad retired, I had been working.
Tonnika Haynes [01:08:44]:
Well, that's 10 years ago. So that's math. I was 40 years old. I had been doing it forever already. So, yeah, I've been like, I've been doing this a long time. I started. I started getting a paycheck at 16. So that's 33 years ago.
Tonnika Haynes [01:09:02]:
So it's gonna be 50. Yeah. So I've been doing this a very long time. And then, you know, there's some coaching and collision. But I tell my dad now, if I knew then what I know now about the service side of things, dude, we could have been gajillionaires by now because there's such a difference in the way you run a collision shop because insurance companies kind of run it for you. You just do what they say. You're their minion versus the service department. The service industry is much easier.
Tonnika Haynes [01:09:38]:
So the fact that I had to deal with negotiating with the army terriers up insurance company, terrorist people. And when someone has a collision, it's just like that. You know, usually a car needs service or there's a warning before breakdown. There's not a lot of catastrophes that happen in the service department every day.
Andrew Klement [01:09:59]:
You don't get a warning, collision coming soon light on your dash.
Tonnika Haynes [01:10:02]:
Yeah. You don't get a check engine check, collision soon light. So that means most of my clients were at 125% when they came in the door. So I became really good at bringing people down, negotiating with terrorists, and really good at customer service skills. So, yeah, I can. Yeah, I'm really good at that. So that. And then.
Tonnika Haynes [01:10:25]:
But learning the service industry, the numbers on that side and how to price properly and what jobs to accept and how to vet a customer and all of those things.
Andrew Klement [01:10:35]:
No. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:10:37]:
Learning to say no was very difficult. But once I got it and I started drinking that fruit punch, honey, it was. The sky was the limit. Because even my dad, he didn't think that I should say no to these things that I was doing. You can't do that. You can't do that. Blah, blah, blah. I did it, and I'm still doing it.
Tonnika Haynes [01:10:56]:
And we're doing it even better. But he gets it now. Like, he's too funny. He makes an appointment for his own damn car. Come up there and bring a tractor tire. Like, hey, I need to get this tire. And I was like, okay. And everybody would drop everything to do something for my dad.
Tonnika Haynes [01:11:10]:
Oh, no. You didn't tell him? No. You didn't tell anybody? No. Everybody was a yes. Everybody's a yes. Because that's what. What's his name? Ron. Oh, my God.
Tonnika Haynes [01:11:18]:
I used to listen to him. Everything's a yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Never disappoint the customer. Customer's always right. No, he ain't. On the topic of crazy, they batshit crazy.
Caleb Mac [01:11:33]:
Disappointed a customer.
Tonnika Haynes [01:11:35]:
You disappointed them or did you re. Educate them?
Caleb Mac [01:11:40]:
Probably just disappointed them. There was. I was not in the education mode with them.
Tonnika Haynes [01:11:50]:
Oh.
Caleb Mac [01:11:51]:
I had already sat in the parking lot waiting for them for an hour to show up to where their car is working or where the car was broke down. Story is, it's a 07 Ford Expedition alternator went out her Somebody put an alternator on. Yeah, I didn't put the belt on right, but starter won't work. Starter failed. And I had a thing about customer supply parts. But I'm like, this is. It's December. I had done hardly any work.
Caleb Mac [01:12:27]:
I just. I need.
Andrew Klement [01:12:28]:
Desperate.
Caleb Mac [01:12:29]:
I needed something. So I told her, well, it's gonna be $250 to do the start. I'm thinking, okay, it's a remanufactured starter or whatever from the parts store. She. When they finally show up, it is a junkyard starter.
Tonnika Haynes [01:12:49]:
I knew it was coming,
Caleb Mac [01:12:53]:
so I didn't put it in. I sat there for an hour waiting, but when I finally showed up, I'm getting stuff out of the trailer, getting ready to put my jack underneath it, Put jack stands underneath it so I can put a starter in it. They pull out the starter from the vehicle. It is a junkyard starter.
Tonnika Haynes [01:13:12]:
Ain't no way.
Caleb Mac [01:13:13]:
Sorry, I am not installing that starter. I packed up myself.
Tonnika Haynes [01:13:19]:
Why not?
Caleb Mac [01:13:21]:
Yeah, she was upset. I was honestly expecting a one star review, which didn't come, but how she
Tonnika Haynes [01:13:33]:
thought about it, like, that's the dumbest thing in the whole world. Well, people. You know what, that's why I said, you have to educate them. They just don't know what they don't know. They. They be knowing. I'd be trying to make excuses. They know what they're doing.
Caleb Mac [01:13:46]:
Yeah. I saw the writing on the wall that I'm gonna put this in. It's not gonna work. Then I'm gonna be fighting to get paid because the starter.
Andrew Klement [01:13:53]:
Well, the car's still broke. Why should I pay you?
Tonnika Haynes [01:13:56]:
Exactly.
Caleb Mac [01:13:57]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:13:57]:
Well, the junkyard said it started was fine. Of course they wanted your flipping money, you idiot. Who sells it. Let me tell you what's going to happen for you guys 30 years from now. You're going to be so unbothered by any of this stuff. I think, oh, my first podcast with Lucas, it was too funny. That was. It was, I don't know, eight years ago.
Tonnika Haynes [01:14:22]:
I have no idea. But my mentality became, hey, look, my car is outside. I go home. Who you talking to? Like, I can. Like I can smile. It's just like, my car is outside. And they actually, I think they named that podcast My Car is Outside. And I'm serious.
Tonnika Haynes [01:14:38]:
Like, no, help me help you. Like, for real people. People are crazy. But, like, I. I say it over and over and over again. They do not have these same conversations at the dealership. They don't have these same pricing conversations. And Starbucks or Chick Fil a, they're paying 13 to eat a chicken sandwich.
Andrew Klement [01:15:01]:
Now, to be fair, that's the Lord's chicken. Don't be dissing that Lord's chicken.
Tonnika Haynes [01:15:06]:
They do not have these conversations anywhere else. But we are a disrespected something industry. But I think what happens is if the other, you know, if you decided to put that starter on and, and then she screamed at you and she's not paying you and she's like, and you're like, I need another starter and you put another new starter on, there's some person that would have only said, okay, It'll just be 250. There's somebody that would have laid down to that because they don't have the proper coaching or training or know how to run a business. Because in my opinion, what happens is you get technicians such as yourselves, they're. They enter into the industry and they end up in a shitty shop. And with the shitty shop, they just assume everything's like that because they don't know any better because they haven't been in a good shop. And then they decide, forget this, I don't want to deal with this Boss paying me 18 an hour, no more.
Tonnika Haynes [01:16:06]:
I'm gonna go and become mobile.
Andrew Klement [01:16:08]:
I can charge 40 bucks an hour, right?
Tonnika Haynes [01:16:11]:
I'm gonna become mobile and I'm charge 40 bucks an hour. And they don't know the business side of everything. And so they become not shade. I don't want to be disrespectful to the mobile guys. There's some mobile guys out there that are great.
Andrew Klement [01:16:24]:
There are some properly, but the majority are not.
Tonnika Haynes [01:16:27]:
Majority or not, they're on Face Space and Craigslist, if that still exists. And they're charging $40 an hour and they're tearing up. I watch it come through the shop.
Andrew Klement [01:16:39]:
We, we got a job from a client. It was a diesel truck, fuel injectors. This mobile mechanic came out, was going to fix it, collected a $2,500 deposit. And then.
Tonnika Haynes [01:16:52]:
So what that makes them think is all shops are like that, all mechanics are like that. And when you talk about.
Andrew Klement [01:16:58]:
He definitely came in with his guard up when we first talked. And we kind of walked through like, hey, this is how we do it. This is what we do. And, you know, he shared this story and I was like, look, dude, like, we're a real business. We're here Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm you can bet your paycheck somebody's going to be here if you have a problem. We stand behind our Work like, we're here. Like, I got a sign.
Tonnika Haynes [01:17:16]:
I'll see you in the grocery store, bro. I will see you. I'm here.
Caleb Mac [01:17:19]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Andrew Klement [01:17:21]:
Well, he probably shops at a different grocery store than I do because he. He's a pilot. Flies a private jet for one of the richest people.
Tonnika Haynes [01:17:27]:
No, they come, bring the. The groceries to him. That's.
Andrew Klement [01:17:31]:
That's right. I'll be your. Your door dasher here because I need some extra money on the side. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:17:37]:
But then those are the people, the cheap people that are training our clients, and then we have to re. Educate and say, hey, well, why are you charging this much? I would do it. My favorite thing is I could do it if I have a lift.
Andrew Klement [01:17:50]:
Oh, my gosh. I would do it. I know. Well, see, I have. I have. I have a client who has used that line. You know, I. I would do this, but I just don't have a lift.
Andrew Klement [01:18:00]:
And you know what? This is my favorite client, and he gives me a lot of crap, but homeboy has spent, like, $20,000 across, I don't know, four or five different cars that he owns since we started, and he's just like, yeah, fix it. Like, whatever. Okay. Whatever costs, you know? And it's.
Tonnika Haynes [01:18:17]:
And he'll have a lot of those.
Andrew Klement [01:18:19]:
Tease me a little bit, right? I could do this. I just couldn't get to that bowl. I was like, mm, listen, buddy, you just don't want to. And that's okay. I don't want to work on 1984 diesel K5 Blazer. That's an old army truck. It's sitting in my fourth bay right now. But I'm.
Andrew Klement [01:18:39]:
I'm gonna be profitable on the job. So he wants it done right,
Tonnika Haynes [01:18:46]:
and
Andrew Klement [01:18:46]:
we'll see if he gets that. But it's gonna be as right as I can make an 84 Chevy. Like, that was crummy when it was new, and it's not been new for a lot of years.
Tonnika Haynes [01:18:57]:
That car's.
Caleb Mac [01:19:02]:
They have. But they're bringing me the car next week. They just bought because they want me to look at it because they're impressed in how thorough I was with my inspection process and everything. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:19:17]:
What are you using? Are you using, like, tech metric or anything like that? Yeah. Once they see that you're a professional and you're not just
Andrew Klement [01:19:28]:
carbon copy, like, exactly.
Tonnika Haynes [01:19:31]:
And you can respect your hustle, like, okay, this young man knows what he's doing, then that's, you know, that's value. That is you claiming, hey, my labor rate. I'm worth it. This is your report.
Caleb Mac [01:19:41]:
This is this, this is that I started with Shop Boss and I actually just had a zoom call with the original. My original sales rep from Shop Boss the other day. He had a guy that was kind of in the same boat I was in. He wanted me to give that guy some pointers on getting started. Like, okay, I don't feel like I'm doing that great, but I want to help. If I can help somebody be better, I'm going to.
Tonnika Haynes [01:20:16]:
As we all should.
Caleb Mac [01:20:18]:
God didn't put us here to serve ourselves, serve other people.
Tonnika Haynes [01:20:22]:
And the thing is, like, I've said this a million times and I know everybody might be tired of hearing it, but I don't give a. It's my podcast. Once you learn to lead whatever way that you're going to be a leader and you're going to be an influencer or whatever, long as this is to the good of the people, man, you get paid back so many different ways. Like the, the floodgates just open. Like the opportunities are there. Once somebody can see that you're doing good and you're doing it right, I mean, they don't mind you being successful. Like, I'll, I'll go out, I think with the first thing that I bought when I, I was actually, you know, in the black for a long time. I was looking at this car.
Tonnika Haynes [01:21:08]:
Both of my kids were driving and I didn't need an SUV anymore. Like, there's no need for me to drive this Suburban on this Tahoe every day. This and whatever. I keep looking at this little coupe, this little two door white Mercedes. Her name is Perlene and she's sitting up there right now. And I remember talking to her name. Her name is Pearlene. I was talking to a client and we were just talking.
Tonnika Haynes [01:21:29]:
It was after hours, we kept going. And I said, you know, I've been wanting this car and this, that, whatever, she's. I said, but I'm afraid to buy it. And because I didn't want clients to see me driving that car and say, oh, she's charging so much money. Look at what she's driving. And she was like, girl, if you don't go buy that car, we are all proud of you in this neighborhood. And I was like, damn, really? I remember I need to call Elizabeth. She was just like, really? Like, we adore you in the neighborhood.
Tonnika Haynes [01:21:56]:
We see you still at work at 8, 9 and 10 at night. You know, I'd be still at work and customers would be dropping off their car in a Dropbox the night dropped and they're like, why are you still here? Gotta make the donuts. You know, just cause the door's not closed, I'm not open, doesn't mean I'm not working. And so I did right by the community. And so when I parked that car in front of the shop, I didn't get that. I got. Excuse me. That's nice.
Tonnika Haynes [01:22:22]:
That's nice. You know, it sounds a little. It sounds superficial. And I don't want to. Everything's not about material things. But, you know, it's okay to be profitable. It's okay to make money. It's okay to take care of your family, to take care of yourself, because everybody else is doing it.
Tonnika Haynes [01:22:37]:
And you do not have to give back by sacrificing your bottom line.
Andrew Klement [01:22:43]:
Giving back doesn't mean shooting yourself or your family in the foot.
Tonnika Haynes [01:22:46]:
Exactly.
Caleb Mac [01:22:47]:
I felt.
Andrew Klement [01:22:48]:
I recently replaced my daily driver and I felt. And I still feel like guilty about it, which is weird. So I was driving, up until about a month ago, a 1994 Acura Integra. Like just an absolute classic of a car. 336,000 miles on it. Like the car was free eight years ago. That's how bad a shape it was in. And I fixed it and I drove it.
Tonnika Haynes [01:23:14]:
And it's.
Andrew Klement [01:23:14]:
I mean, dude, it's cheap to insure. It got 30 miles per gallon. The cruise control worked, the AC worked, like, you know, what more could a guy want? And then it just got to a point where it was like, this thing's burning a lot of oil. I don't want to. I don't want to do another head gasket on it, you know? And so I. I splurged and I spent five grand and I bought a 2013, 2013 Ford Taurus. And that thing is like a spaceship. It is not.
Andrew Klement [01:23:40]:
It is not. It does not have the turbos on it. But it's a limited. So it's got. I've got leather seats and they are both heated and cooled, and they are gray.
Tonnika Haynes [01:23:48]:
And the car is green.
Andrew Klement [01:23:50]:
No, no, the car is black. It was black leather. It's. It's like.
Tonnika Haynes [01:23:54]:
It's.
Andrew Klement [01:23:56]:
It is.
Caleb Mac [01:23:56]:
Dude.
Andrew Klement [01:23:57]:
It's my. It's my. It's my Teemu. Rolls Royce. But, you know, you should put a
Tonnika Haynes [01:24:03]:
double R emblem on the back of that joker. Oh, my goodness. That. That would be. That would be it.
Andrew Klement [01:24:12]:
It's. So right now I have the. I went every shop I've ever worked for. I have always had the crummiest car in the parking lot, like, by a lot. And. And as the shop owner, it was like, look, guys, like, we're here and we're working. I really appreciate everybody's work. And I'm still driving the crummiest car in the parking lot.
Andrew Klement [01:24:31]:
And now I've got the second nicest car in the parking lot.
Tonnika Haynes [01:24:35]:
Oh, look at you.
Andrew Klement [01:24:36]:
There's three cars. So I went from the bottom to, like, one up from the bottom. Right, right, exactly. You know, and it's just like. And I still felt, like, some guilt about that. And it was like, man, I'm like, I'm spending money on this. And it's like, well, at some point, I just. I need a car to get me back and forth to work.
Andrew Klement [01:24:55]:
And the problem was, like, the old car worked. And financially, it will never make sense to get rid of that car, because I got it for free. I crashed it somewhere along the way, and then I sold it for money. And even with all the repairs over eight years, not counting gas, not counting insurance, but, like, repair, maintenance, and cost of ownership, that car cost me a hundred dollars for eight years. Like, you're never gonna beat that.
Tonnika Haynes [01:25:21]:
No.
Andrew Klement [01:25:21]:
You know, but I just. I wanted a car that was comfortable, that, like, when it rained, the water didn't get inside, but the water kept you awake.
Tonnika Haynes [01:25:30]:
Did a little drip. Oh, I'm awake.
Andrew Klement [01:25:34]:
Cruise control. That works.
Tonnika Haynes [01:25:37]:
Y' all made me feel bad. No. When I bought my truck, I didn't tell anybody, but they knew I was going to buy my truck. And I think that's the only person I told. I didn't put it online. I told my dad when I was bringing it back from New York. Like, I was just like, this. Is this guilt? Like, oh, man.
Tonnika Haynes [01:25:57]:
I was like, but, Sneaker, you have been working so long, why can't you have this? I'm gonna sit and got rid of these kids. House is damn near paid off. You just go get it. It's been. You've wanted it forever. So when I got it, I went and I hit it for a couple months before I told the world that I had it. Like, I didn't even drive it to the shop.
Andrew Klement [01:26:19]:
What was it? Is it a new truck or what was it?
Tonnika Haynes [01:26:22]:
It's a very new truck. It's the truck that's in my logo. Oh, I can't.
Andrew Klement [01:26:27]:
I can't see your logo from here.
Tonnika Haynes [01:26:28]:
What? You can't see the logo? So, yeah, I bought myself the 20. She's a 20. What year is it? She's a 25 Mercedes G63.
Andrew Klement [01:26:40]:
Okay, see, I work. I work on, like, truck trucks. And so I was thinking.
Caleb Mac [01:26:44]:
I'm thinking, like, yeah, I was thinking, like, F350.
Andrew Klement [01:26:49]:
I mean, the thought crossed my mind. I was like, there's no way.
Tonnika Haynes [01:26:52]:
She's been like, no one for a
Andrew Klement [01:26:53]:
long time
Tonnika Haynes [01:26:56]:
always had that. He's always had a dually. He's had a dually for, like, years to pull the horse trailers and all of that stuff. So that's not fun to me. That's look like work. When I see a dueling, I'm thinking that's too much like work.
Andrew Klement [01:27:06]:
Yeah, well, it looks like money to me, but, you know, well, now they
Tonnika Haynes [01:27:09]:
do because nobody's working. They're just sitting there trying to be fancy. But no, if you see a dually coming, it's work. In my family, I'm.
Caleb Mac [01:27:18]:
I'm surrounded by people that have horses.
Tonnika Haynes [01:27:20]:
So everything's a dually. Exactly Right. With a fifth wheel on it.
Caleb Mac [01:27:24]:
Or I'm in a farming community.
Tonnika Haynes [01:27:27]:
So that's a work truck. Not in fear.
Andrew Klement [01:27:32]:
The thing is, those work trucks, they gotta work. And when they stop working, that downtime costs money. I mean, that's. That, like, if you listen to my ads on the radio, it starts with, downtime costs you time, and it costs you money. We can help you minimize the downtime. Like, that's why you should use us, because we don't hold your truck for a month like the dealership will before they even tell you what's wrong with it. Nah, dude, we're gonna get you answers same day or next day. And we are getting most of our repairs done same day or next day.
Tonnika Haynes [01:27:59]:
Look at you and your marketing.
Andrew Klement [01:28:01]:
Oh, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:28:01]:
What are you doing for marketing? You're doing Facebook, Caleb.
Caleb Mac [01:28:03]:
Right, Facebook. And the newspaper.
Tonnika Haynes [01:28:07]:
I saw your newspaper article. When I saw that, I was like, they still got a newspaper? Yeah, I saw that on Facebook. I was like, the hell still has a newspaper? I'm pretty sure we still have a newspaper. I'd have to go research that. Like, I'm in a very small town, community type thing. The newspaper.
Caleb Mac [01:28:29]:
I. I moved from a town of 14, 000 people to a town of 1200. Whoa.
Tonnika Haynes [01:28:38]:
Damn. That's. That's not. I got 1200 people in my immediate family.
Andrew Klement [01:28:43]:
What?
Tonnika Haynes [01:28:45]:
Because it's 1200 people in this neighborhood. That's so wild. That's crazy. Crazy.
Caleb Mac [01:28:50]:
There's 1200. There's 10,000 people in the county. In my county.
Andrew Klement [01:28:57]:
That's because nobody wants to live there Cold.
Tonnika Haynes [01:29:00]:
Everybody froze.
Caleb Mac [01:29:01]:
And everybody doing significantly better than I was if we stayed. If we stayed up there, I probably would be working for somebody else.
Andrew Klement [01:29:12]:
Yeah, well, I think that just goes to show that there are. There are principles in this business that carry through no matter what your market is. So all the people that say, oh, that wouldn't work in my market, it's like, dude, you're. You're living proof that the do. There's. There's some core principles that do things right. And. Yeah.
Andrew Klement [01:29:31]:
What. What was. Really? Sorry. I know we're. We're getting along here, but I wanted to say something while I was on with. With Tanika because I was listening to Tanika's episode with Becky Witt from, I don't know, a month or two ago, and it just occurred to me because I see. I see a lot of. A lot of what Becky posts and, and like, I read through the donuts, right? And I.
Andrew Klement [01:29:50]:
And I like a lot of the stuff she posts and, like, listened on your podcast, and it occurred to me that her and I don't see eye to eye on everything. And. And that there's more than one right way to run a shop. And. And that there's not this, like, there's only one road, that if you're not on that road, you're completely wrong. It's like. Like she's got an amazing operation. That's not.
Andrew Klement [01:30:12]:
That, like, her goals aren't what my goals are, you know, and. And that's okay. And. And there's not. There's not this, like, if you don't do it this way, you're stupid kind of thing. It's like, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Doing business with. With morals and ethics and not, you know, not lying to your customer.
Andrew Klement [01:30:31]:
You know, that, like, there's some guardrails, but it's not a one size fits all industry. And that's part of why I love it.
Caleb Mac [01:30:39]:
Like, I was. There was a. Some people that were downplaying us moving
Tonnika Haynes [01:30:47]:
here, thinking, oh, what happened, guys? I disappeared for a second. Braxton to fix it. Braxton fixes everything. Fix it Braxton. So we were talking. I lost you when you were saying something about Becky Witt.
Andrew Klement [01:31:04]:
Oh, okay. Well, I. You got to hear this part. So sorry. Sorry, Caleb, you got to hear this again. And Braxton can. Can clean this up. So I listen.
Andrew Klement [01:31:12]:
I listened to your episode with Becky Witt, and it occurred. It occurred to me that I, like, I don't. I don't want the shop that she has. And. And it's not that she's Doing anything wrong. It's just like her goals aren't. Her goals and her values aren't exactly what my goals and values are. And that's okay.
Tonnika Haynes [01:31:33]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [01:31:34]:
And I can. I can. I can take. Take. I can take the. The knowledge that she shares and I can implement that in my own way in my business. And there's not. There's not just one size that fits.
Andrew Klement [01:31:44]:
All right. As far as this industry, there's, you know, my shop. My shop does things differently from both of you guys shops, and that's okay. And neither one of us is wrong. Like, you know, and that's like, I'm
Tonnika Haynes [01:31:57]:
right and you're right.
Andrew Klement [01:31:59]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:31:59]:
I wish more people can see that because I think when people can't see that, that they hurt themselves. They really hurt themselves. Like, for example, I start coaching with Rick White. I love me a Becky Wick class. I'm currently with the institute. I listen to Mac, Mac, Mike and Matt's calls all the time. I will show up. I will go to a shop fix class.
Tonnika Haynes [01:32:21]:
Next time I hear. I want to hear everybody's version so I can make my shop my own. Like we. Nothing's cookie cutter people. Oh, you should. You're open four days a week. Four days a week works for me because you know what? I don't want two boats. So it's fine.
Tonnika Haynes [01:32:38]:
My rest is more important than me, and that's okay. So when people get mad at the way other shop. As long as you're not doing anything dishonest and you're not hurting your customer and you're not hurting your employees and your staff and you're ethical. What? Listen, Jeff Code is the first time I told him this. I love to say it because he thinks it's so funny. Brother, what you eat don't make me fat.
Andrew Klement [01:33:09]:
That is my. That is my favorite line that I've. I've like listened to your podcast. I love that line. And that's like, it don't.
Tonnika Haynes [01:33:16]:
I'm serious. If people can get out of their own ways and if you can say, I can say, hey, Caleb, I think you should do this and this and this. And you're like, mister, I don't want to do all of that, but I'll try this one, and that's fine. Like, you've. You've. You're picking your village, you know, Drew, Andrew, you've picked your village. You might not always be with elite. That's fine too.
Tonnika Haynes [01:33:41]:
You might stay there forever. That's fine.
Andrew Klement [01:33:43]:
I'm gonna stay there forever.
Tonnika Haynes [01:33:45]:
I love Their coaching for my service advisor. Oh, my goodness. He is so excited about that coaching. I love Darren. Barney, don't put him on my pocket.
Caleb Mac [01:33:53]:
Amazing.
Tonnika Haynes [01:33:53]:
Like, just gonna put that man in my pocket. But like you said, one size does not fit all. I think at the end of the day, make a profit. Pay your people, right? Okay? Go home, have a steak, do it again tomorrow. Stop lying to your customers, and stop undercharging, because you're making the life of everybody else hell. Mm.
Andrew Klement [01:34:20]:
Free diag.
Tonnika Haynes [01:34:21]:
Yeah, Mike, Free diag. Shit. Not just kidding, but you know what? It works for him.
Andrew Klement [01:34:28]:
We tried the free diag thing for a couple months when we first started out, and. And I. I can see why it works. And I'm not saying I won't ever go back to it, but we. We got burned a couple too many times by clients taking advantage of us, and I was just like, no, I'm. I'm. It was when.
Caleb Mac [01:34:45]:
It was.
Andrew Klement [01:34:45]:
When one guy did it for the second time within, like, a week. I was like, nah, dude that, like, came in, got the free diet, fixed it.
Tonnika Haynes [01:34:55]:
Yeah. Oh, he thought he was slick, but he flowed to play the game. Mm. Mm.
Andrew Klement [01:35:00]:
So we learned about that with the.
Caleb Mac [01:35:04]:
With moving down here. There was some people that were just. Wouldn't let me explain what my thought process was and called me an idiot. Because of the population. Because of the population size. Because of that difference. They're like, oh, you'll be capped at 500 grand a year. I'm like, okay.
Caleb Mac [01:35:31]:
Like, I don't need a. I don't need to turn a million dollars a year in revenue.
Tonnika Haynes [01:35:37]:
I remember sitting in one of Rick's classes at asta, maybe the second year after. I've been coaching with him for a while, and I. The class is packed, right? And I'm sitting on the floor in the back, and I'm just sitting on the wall, and somebody's like, hey, I want to make a million dollars. And I just started laughing because I knew. I knew brushes shut up. And Rick was like, what's so funny to me? I was like, yeah, everybody wants to make a million dollars, but nobody wants to make 20, 25, 30%. Like, you can just be recycling money and making a million dollars. So all the shops that are hollering that, you know, I made 1, 2, 3 million dollars.
Tonnika Haynes [01:36:10]:
Yeah, but did you make profit? Huh?
Andrew Klement [01:36:14]:
What's the. What's the net? What's the bottom line?
Tonnika Haynes [01:36:16]:
Because that bottom line, big dog, that's.
Andrew Klement [01:36:19]:
That's what matters. That's what matters. And that's that's, that's what my challenge right now with my. My advisor, who I didn't mention this. My advisor is my father in law, so he still works with me. That's. That's a fun dynamic, but that's. That's a whole separate episode.
Andrew Klement [01:36:34]:
But that's like, the thing is like, we had like this month, we're. We're on track to. To do more than we did last month. So we're like on track for a good month. And last month our. Our GP, like the grow. Our gross profit margin was like 63.7 or 0.8%. Like, it was solid.
Andrew Klement [01:36:52]:
And we ended up, I think we were at like 19 net, which is good. But this month we're on track to do about the same dollar amount at
Tonnika Haynes [01:36:59]:
like 54% because he's been discounting. Dad has been like, oh, that's.
Andrew Klement [01:37:09]:
That's part of it. But then also like, we're taking on. We're taking like, big job. So like, we did a. We did a repair and it's like it was a $12,000 repair. And you know, our. My part cost. Like, I bought a kit for this diesel truck and it was like five grand my cost.
Andrew Klement [01:37:25]:
And so it's like, you know, I'm not going to make my full margin on a $5,000 part, right? And then, and then I just text in Zeb because, you know, I. I broke a bolt and I was like, hey, man, am I doing this right with buying this kid? And Zeb's an amazing person. I can't wait to actually meet him in person someday. And he was like, how much are you charging for that? I told him and he was like, buddy, he's like, I won't even, like, won't even let that truck in the building for less than 17 grand. And I was at 12 and I was like, oh, I'm charging too little for this job.
Tonnika Haynes [01:38:00]:
Yeah, but I'm so glad that you had again building that village around you, having somebody just pick up the phone because, like, people think like, Zeb's a super, he's a superstar, but he's not. You can't like, not call him.
Caleb Mac [01:38:13]:
He.
Tonnika Haynes [01:38:14]:
He drinks his wine and he talks his just like everybody else. As long as you're not stupid, he's willing to help. He doesn't help.
Caleb Mac [01:38:22]:
I enjoy his videos.
Tonnika Haynes [01:38:24]:
That man is a trip. That man's a trip. So look, guys, look, we've been on here like an hour and 40 minutes. I don't even know. This is a long one. But it was a good conversation that needed to be had. And I'm just more excited to talk to newer people in the industry so we don't have to listen to the old crotchety people all the time. Like myself.
Andrew Klement [01:38:45]:
Hey, I'm like halfway through the episode with, With Greg Buckley or what we call it his. Something called it soup.
Caleb Mac [01:38:57]:
Yeah, he. His, when he brought up mental health at that really resonated with me because I really did. I. I struggle with it.
Tonnika Haynes [01:39:09]:
Yeah. And unfortunately, there's a lot more people than just. You love that. Struggle with that. Struggling with different stages in your life. Like, dude made me cry on my own podcast. Like, who does that? Friend group is way different. Like, did you just make me cry, tear up on my own podcast? But if those are things that are real, you know, we talk about numbers and KPIs all the time, but those are the things that are real and just for anybody out there, old or young, in the industry, without or not.
Tonnika Haynes [01:39:46]:
If it's not your cousin, I know everybody thinks, you know, I can call my mom, call my dad, my aunt, cousin, whatever. Sometimes the person you need to reach out to might be a complete stranger, you know, might be that person you've been following online.
Andrew Klement [01:40:00]:
And most, and most people are happy to help. Like, at least, at least in this industry and the circles that we kind of run in, like, they are happy to help, you know, and that's, that's, that's one of the reasons I've come to love this industry. There was a while where I was like, eh, I don't know, I go drive a truck. But like, I love this industry. I love, I love the positive changes we're seeing. I love being a part of that positive change, you know, Like, I love this industry.
Tonnika Haynes [01:40:29]:
Me too. There's more good than bad, no matter what the Internet says.
Andrew Klement [01:40:33]:
I'm not even fully convinced that that's true, but there's still a lot of good.
Tonnika Haynes [01:40:39]:
I think there's more good than bad. The badges is louder.
Caleb Mac [01:40:42]:
Yeah, that's.
Andrew Klement [01:40:43]:
That's fair. That's fair.
Caleb Mac [01:40:44]:
I think the good is just sitting on sidelines.
Andrew Klement [01:40:49]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:40:50]:
So let's, let's just be louder for the good.
Andrew Klement [01:40:55]:
I mean, that's. That, that is, that is why I'm here on this podcast. Because what I discovered and, And Caleb, I don't know if you enjoy this sort of thing. I like talking. That's why I got the fancy mic up. Like, I, I like talking.
Tonnika Haynes [01:41:08]:
Well, you have a YouTube channel too.
Caleb Mac [01:41:09]:
I have a $50Amazon mic that don't work.
Tonnika Haynes [01:41:13]:
It's all good, bro.
Andrew Klement [01:41:14]:
This was like 40 bucks on Amazon, and it works pretty.
Tonnika Haynes [01:41:16]:
These things are not expensive.
Andrew Klement [01:41:19]:
Yeah, I got a YouTube channel that was. That was fun. But, like, it's really easy to get on podcasts. You just like, hey, man, I want
Caleb Mac [01:41:25]:
to be on the podcast.
Andrew Klement [01:41:27]:
And then, like, next thing you know, here you are like, dude, I got. I got. I got downshift with Tanika. I've been on. I've been on Mike's Confessions of a Shop Owner, which his fault because he didn't hit record until halfway through the episode.
Caleb Mac [01:41:39]:
Yep, yep, yep.
Andrew Klement [01:41:43]:
I've been on Jimmy. Jimmy Purdy's what is his Shifting Gears podcast. I've been on that one. I've been on Jaded Mechanic, and I still trying to get on Change in the Industry. And there's another one, though. Oh, I would love to get onto Josh Parnell's limitless leadership podcast.
Tonnika Haynes [01:42:05]:
Like, send him a message.
Caleb Mac [01:42:07]:
Yes. Me and Lucas.
Tonnika Haynes [01:42:09]:
Send that man a message.
Caleb Mac [01:42:11]:
Me and Lucas recording at ASTA this year.
Tonnika Haynes [01:42:16]:
I am.
Andrew Klement [01:42:17]:
I am. I have. I have blocked off time in my schedule. I am going to do everything in my power to go to ASTA this year. And it's not just to record podcasts, but, like, I just. I just want to go.
Tonnika Haynes [01:42:28]:
Yeah, we're opening up registration, I think, tomorrow. Don't, don't. Don't hold me to me. I really believe it's tomorrow.
Caleb Mac [01:42:35]:
I.
Andrew Klement [01:42:36]:
Because I keep checking. I keep checking, and it's like, oh, registration is not open yet.
Tonnika Haynes [01:42:39]:
And I'm like, we finalized the schedules. All this stuff last week, all this weekend, they've been working on the class schedule and getting all that stuff together. So this day, I did a. A run through registration to make sure there knows glitches. It was glitch free. It's according to me. So we're all going through it to make sure there's no glitches. Make sure it's nice.
Tonnika Haynes [01:42:59]:
And we should be opening it up for you guys soon for Be on the lookout.
Caleb Mac [01:43:04]:
Sweet. Yeah.
Andrew Klement [01:43:06]:
Did I hear that you're doing a class, Tanika, with Mike and Lucas?
Caleb Mac [01:43:09]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [01:43:10]:
I don't know what the hell we're doing. We're gonna have a class. Mike, Lucas, and I. I'm probably just gonna be moderating these two.
Andrew Klement [01:43:18]:
Oh, heaven.
Tonnika Haynes [01:43:19]:
Those are my brothers, those dukes. Crazy. You know, people always ask, oh, are you a part of that? I'm like, are you under the umbrella? I'm like, no, I just love them. We're. This is my podcast. I don't know what I'm doing. But this is mine.
Andrew Klement [01:43:31]:
Nobody tells me that works. Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:43:34]:
Like, why would I be under the umbrella?
Caleb Mac [01:43:36]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:43:36]:
Oh, well, because they were. You guys, shut up. It's my friend. We run all three of us and our lives way differently, but we're still. Those are my buddies.
Andrew Klement [01:43:48]:
Yeah.
Caleb Mac [01:43:49]:
And that's.
Andrew Klement [01:43:49]:
And that's okay. And that's okay. And like, that's. That's the whole point.
Tonnika Haynes [01:43:54]:
Buddies. They might be a little crazy. They stupid. I'm the smart one. But I still love them. Our plan for.
Caleb Mac [01:44:02]:
Is that answer. We're going to come down a week before because I have a bunch of family in North Carolina.
Tonnika Haynes [01:44:09]:
Okay. Come on. K. Wait, where from?
Caleb Mac [01:44:11]:
Where about Charlotte? Goldsboro? Wallace? Raleigh.
Tonnika Haynes [01:44:16]:
Okay, so Goldsboro is where Matt Lofton lives and his shops in Goldsboro. I'm originally from Charlotte, but I had lived in Charlotte like 40 years, so I can't claim that anymore. And Raleigh is where Asta is.
Caleb Mac [01:44:31]:
Yeah. The plan is just stay in Raleigh and people that want to come see us, they can come see us. I'm not driving along the state like we did last time.
Tonnika Haynes [01:44:41]:
That makes sense. I'll make it to Raleigh, then you guys make it to come see me.
Caleb Mac [01:44:46]:
Yeah. All right. But we're.
Tonnika Haynes [01:44:48]:
All right.
Caleb Mac [01:44:48]:
Well, we're planning on coming.
Tonnika Haynes [01:44:52]:
It's my bedtime.
Andrew Klement [01:44:54]:
Oh, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:44:55]:
I want to see my kid tomorrow.
Caleb Mac [01:44:58]:
Oh, geez.
Andrew Klement [01:44:59]:
You can schedule these things in anywhere.
Tonnika Haynes [01:45:02]:
To me. I love it. It's fun. It's fun. I.
Caleb Mac [01:45:08]:
This was fun. I enjoyed it.
Tonnika Haynes [01:45:10]:
I like talking to people and I've got so many in the kitty, like, so I don't know when it's going to be released. This is like number 30 that's recorded, and so I'm thinking that I might have to do two a week for a while to catch up.
Andrew Klement [01:45:26]:
So it's your podcast, Anika. You can do whatever you want. But as a semi retired YouTube guru, when I'm listening to podcasts and I'm listening to like, honestly, I kind of gave up on changing the industry because I don't have time for that many podcasts. And I like Mike's funnier. But listening to a podcast that was recorded six months ago.
Tonnika Haynes [01:45:51]:
Yeah.
Andrew Klement [01:45:52]:
Is like, I don't want to do that.
Tonnika Haynes [01:45:54]:
And that seemed like that's what's going to happen if I keep going this, this way. So I need to start dropping more.
Andrew Klement [01:46:01]:
Yeah. Push them out. Two a week, three a week. Whatever you got to do to keep up. I like having a couple in the queue, but but, like, fresh content. So. Because, like, we're talking about, like, ASTA Expos, you know, we're open up registration tomorrow, and you're listening to that and you're like, AST Expo was three months ago. Exactly.
Tonnika Haynes [01:46:20]:
So I definitely don't want to do that. I've been changing the schedule when I talked to Braxton about it, and until I get a proper. We'll get some more sponsorship because that stuff costs money. I know. Tell Tech Metric to do better.
Andrew Klement [01:46:35]:
I'm telling you, man, TechMetric should be sponsoring this because, like, man, I'm plugging their merch and their product.
Tonnika Haynes [01:46:41]:
Like, tell me about it, man.
Andrew Klement [01:46:42]:
I mean.
Caleb Mac [01:46:44]:
Well, did you see my comment on David Roman's Post on changing his 2 group yesterday?
Tonnika Haynes [01:46:49]:
Oh, what? He said he's just a cornball.
Andrew Klement [01:46:52]:
Oh, he's a.
Caleb Mac [01:46:53]:
He said something about shopware and podcasts.
Tonnika Haynes [01:46:58]:
I was there and he.
Caleb Mac [01:47:03]:
I said something about, oh, we listen to the podcasts that are sponsored by the software or something we use. And that.
Tonnika Haynes [01:47:11]:
That dude's just weird. He's. If he. If David Roman start acting what we call normal, then we would all be so disappointed. He's a necessary evil.
Caleb Mac [01:47:22]:
I'm enjoying.
Andrew Klement [01:47:26]:
Do you see the conversation with Mike when he's. When he was talking about replacing service advisors with a link? Dude, that was a crash out. That was wild.
Caleb Mac [01:47:36]:
I was.
Tonnika Haynes [01:47:37]:
He gets. Poke the bear. Poke the bear.
Andrew Klement [01:47:42]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:47:43]:
It's the best.
Caleb Mac [01:47:43]:
I was about to send Lucas a text and, like, is there something I should know? Like, so I don't push a button
Tonnika Haynes [01:47:50]:
when we're recording and give him a hug. Like, you should walk up to him and touch him a whole lot. Lots of touching Philly stuff. Just give him a hug and say, hey, guy, glad to meet you, David Roman. And squeeze them. It'll be the best friendship ever. Please don't touch that, man.
Andrew Klement [01:48:08]:
I don't do that. I. I just, like, let me. I'll. I'll be there with a cameraman. I will pay for this.
Caleb Mac [01:48:14]:
I will pay for the.
Tonnika Haynes [01:48:15]:
Watch this dude. You. I'm your biggest fan. And hug him like. And just, like, make that noise when you're doing it. Just like. And it would be the best experience and he would really enjoy. He needs that in his life.
Andrew Klement [01:48:30]:
He does. He really does. And we care about him that we're saying this.
Caleb Mac [01:48:35]:
As far as the passion level, this industry, I mean, between Lucas and David is where I. Where my passion level is.
Tonnika Haynes [01:48:42]:
Please move closer to Lucas.
Andrew Klement [01:48:46]:
Yeah, I don't even know what ends of the spectrum that is. Like, I'm like, okay, like David. And David's like, just.
Caleb Mac [01:48:54]:
He doesn't have a passion for it none.
Tonnika Haynes [01:48:58]:
Everybody's stupid. Everything's stupid. Next.
Caleb Mac [01:49:01]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [01:49:05]:
All right, YouTube, let's sign off.
Caleb Mac [01:49:07]:
All right.
Andrew Klement [01:49:07]:
This was fun.
Tonnika Haynes [01:49:08]:
God bless you. Good night. This was fun. We'll do it again.
Caleb Mac [01:49:11]:
Yeah, we'll catch y' all later.
Tonnika Haynes [01:49:12]:
All right. Downshift with Tanika is where we slow down long enough to have real conversations hosted by myself, second generation shop owner Tanika Haynes. This goes beyond your car count, your KPIs. We want to talk about leadership, legacy, mindset, and the messy, beautiful journey of building something that lasts. You will hear stories from shop owners, technicians, and other industry leaders who are figuring it all out by themselves in real time. This is a space for growth, tough love, laughter, and leveling up.