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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.
Benjie Burris [00:00:00]:
I don't think that there's more blue-collar jobs now. I think there were more when we were younger. But I think that that mentality of you, you had to go to college to be able to be somebody, I think that was very much prevalent. I know my mother begged me to go to college. While I feel like there's a lot more college degrees now, how many people do you know that got a 4-year degree, come out—
Kristy Burris [00:00:24]:
Actually working in it.
Benjie Burris [00:00:24]:
And either couldn't find a job or found a job and absolutely hated it and then went to work doing something else? Welcome to Downshift with Tanika Haynes, the automotive auntie. The thing about Tanika, she gets to know you. She'll laugh and cut up with you, but then she'll hit you with some knowledge that you may not want, but that you need.
Tonnika Haynes [00:00:45]:
Let's downshift. All right, let's get this party started. We don't need to introduce you. We don't need to introduce you. We know who you are. Let's get with it.
Kristy Burris [00:00:57]:
Who are you? Okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:00:58]:
Who are you? Who are you? You finished?
Benjie Burris [00:01:03]:
Who are you?
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:05]:
Now that's stuck in my damn head. Grow up.
Kristy Burris [00:01:08]:
No.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:09]:
Oh yeah, I interviewed Rick yesterday. It was Rick and Buck and Buckaroo Bob.
Benjie Burris [00:01:12]:
Oh my God.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:13]:
And we went down the memory lane and I wrote it down. Of course I can't remember shit anymore. I think it's been 5 years we've been rocking. We've been— it seems like forever.
Benjie Burris [00:01:21]:
Mm-hmm, it does seem like forever.
Kristy Burris [00:01:22]:
We're family.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:22]:
We are. We're family. I love it. I love it. Talking about that journey. We know your journey. We don't want to talk about that anymore. Everybody know and love you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:30]:
Kind of gets on my nerves at times, but hey, it is what it is. But what I do want to talk about today is your secret weapon.
Kristy Burris [00:01:37]:
Oh.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:38]:
Yes. We know that you've done the classes and had the coaching and read the books and drank the Kool-Aid and your shop is running well and you're never at work. So that's the joke. Everybody knows that. That's been established.
Benjie Burris [00:01:49]:
That is a joke too.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:50]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:01:51]:
I am still there more than I want to be.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:53]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:01:53]:
Not really.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:54]:
But your secret weapon and something that you need to figure out how to get on paper is this one.
Kristy Burris [00:02:02]:
Oh, me?
Benjie Burris [00:02:02]:
I have told everyone that when she got involved in the business, that's when the business really took off. Because I've always, I always ran it by the seat of my pants. I mean, even, even with, with Rick, after, after all of Rick's training and coaching, It never really— or I never really focused on the business the way I should have until she got involved.
Kristy Burris [00:02:30]:
He got you a really, really long way.
Benjie Burris [00:02:32]:
Who did?
Kristy Burris [00:02:32]:
Really, you did really well with him, but you got tired. And by the time you did it all day, every day, you got really, really tired. And then I had to remind you that you were paying somebody and you were gonna do it.
Benjie Burris [00:02:43]:
I'm tired, boss.
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:44]:
So he wasn't implementing.
Kristy Burris [00:02:46]:
He was implementing. He wasn't implementing quite as quickly as probably Rick wanted him to. You know, when you coach with anybody, they tell you, you have to do the work. I can give you the information, but if you don't do the work— so he would do the work sometimes half-assed. And I was like, no, sir.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:05]:
So he was just a regular asshole shop owner.
Kristy Burris [00:03:07]:
Yeah. You are paying him. He was a tech turned shop owner. And therefore when it got hard sometimes, He didn't wanna do the work.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:15]:
And we're talking about him like he's not here.
Kristy Burris [00:03:16]:
And I am a tight ass.
Benjie Burris [00:03:18]:
Y'all know I'm sitting right here.
Kristy Burris [00:03:19]:
So, brother, if we are paying somebody, you are doing the work.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:22]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:03:23]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:23]:
I wonder how often that happens. Shop owner goes to coaching, and we sit in the classes, we take all the notes, and then we don't do shit about it. And we just do a little shit.
Kristy Burris [00:03:33]:
Do a little shit. Do a little shit. Do enough to make coach happy.
Benjie Burris [00:03:36]:
Do enough to get by.
Kristy Burris [00:03:37]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:03:38]:
I'mma get by.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:39]:
And then when it doesn't work, We blame who? The coach.
Benjie Burris [00:03:43]:
Anybody but me.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:44]:
Anybody but you. So do you think that you would be where you are if it was not for your secret weapon here?
Benjie Burris [00:03:51]:
Absolutely not. Ain't no way in hell.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:55]:
Because Christy's a teacher by trade. I think everybody knows that. She's an educator.
Kristy Burris [00:03:59]:
I am.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:00]:
Um, I don't know how— did you stop because you needed to be at the shop more, or—
Kristy Burris [00:04:05]:
Health. I have a lot of health issues, which I'm doing really good right now.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:09]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:04:09]:
But it, it comes in waves. So I actually had gotten so bad at one point that they basically told me, you're either gonna have to come out or you're gonna be dead in a year. Like, this is where we're at. These are your choices. And I still wouldn't give it up. I was like, no, okay, well I'm gonna make it through the end of the school year. I'm not gonna leave my babies until, you know, the end of the school year, I'll leave. And that's when my neurologist laid it on the line and he was like, this, you don't understand what I'm saying to you.
Kristy Burris [00:04:37]:
And still, I didn't give it up.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:39]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:04:40]:
What finally made me say, okay, they're right, is I was struggling really bad on a lot of the medicines that I was on. I was like, I mean, we're talking like 100 pounds different than now from what they had me on, blown up like a fish.
Benjie Burris [00:04:55]:
She was on a pile of medicine.
Kristy Burris [00:04:56]:
I was drugged up. I mean, I still take a lot of medicine every day, but at that point, we didn't have the meds right. So I was in bad shape. I couldn't remember names. I couldn't remember how I got to work some days. And I don't, you know, I don't mean like I was driving when I shouldn't be or anything like that. It's just, I lived in a fog. And one day I was working with my kids and all of the sudden I could not remember the student's name.
Kristy Burris [00:05:24]:
I could remember her modifications and all the things she needed, but she asked me a question and I just remember that I was just staring.
Tonnika Haynes [00:05:30]:
Mm-hmm.
Kristy Burris [00:05:30]:
And I was like, this is it. I'd always said I would not call it until I was not a benefit to them anymore. And I will not be a detriment to them. So that was the day that I came home and basically said, I think they're right. I think I need to step back and see if I can improve my health. And I have.
Benjie Burris [00:05:48]:
But it— but she— what she won't say is, is when she came out of that classroom, the mental side went to hell. Yeah. I mean, she, she got into a really dark place because that was her. I mean, teaching was her.
Kristy Burris [00:06:05]:
That's my identity.
Benjie Burris [00:06:06]:
She is damn good at it. Damn good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:06:09]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:06:09]:
And to take that away from her, it was bad.
Kristy Burris [00:06:15]:
It's your identity. It's your friends. It's your kids. I mean, it's who you are. It's what you do. And they took me out like in October of one year. So, you know, you're moving into the dark season. And I just, I remember short days, long nights.
Kristy Burris [00:06:29]:
That winter, being in such bad health. And I just remember several times wishing that I just wasn't around. And that's not how I think, you know. I mean, I'm kind of a Negative Nancy by nature, but I'm not that bad, you know. And I actually felt like a lot of the medicine that they had me on at that point was really too much. And I took myself and my dog to the beach one weekend, and I detoxed myself. I never told him what I was doing or anything else. And I don't know how I didn't die.
Kristy Burris [00:07:00]:
But, uh, but I did it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:07:01]:
Well, you know how you didn't die.
Kristy Burris [00:07:02]:
Well, I do.
Tonnika Haynes [00:07:03]:
Because like, he— meaning, I believe in a good Lord. You do too.
Benjie Burris [00:07:08]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:07:09]:
He just moved you from one area of teaching to another. That's how I see it. Like, I know what you have coming on the horizon, what you aspire to do. But let's talk about how you— Came into the dark place, came back out on the other side, and then went into the shop. I don't know, did you physically go into the shop, or was that just mental coaching when Dungaloong would come home?
Kristy Burris [00:07:33]:
So I've always, you know, been there. I mean, I've always been a shop owner with him and, and did things when he needed me to in the evenings and at night, even when I was in the classroom full-time. Or I fixed cars in my sleep because he dreamed about the cars he couldn't fix, and I had to talk him through them. So I jokingly say, man, I'm practically an expert at this now. But I don't really know how I, how I went back in. We, we had an employee that left and basically in a nutshell, he could not do all of the bills by himself. So I don't really work there now per se, you know? But he had a lot of bills and stuff he couldn't do. He couldn't figure out how to reconcile things.
Kristy Burris [00:08:13]:
He didn't have time to. It's not that he couldn't.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:15]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:08:16]:
It's having time to. And so I just kind of said, you know what, I'll come in and help until you can, you can get caught up and I'll learn how to do it the right way. And then we'll teach you how to do it the right way. And then we'll be gold. Right? We'll be, we'll be set. We don't have to depend on anybody else to do this anymore. Because when you're dependent on somebody else to do it, especially finances, it's not always good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:39]:
And sometimes things can get missing.
Kristy Burris [00:08:41]:
Yes. Yes. And we didn't have that issue with our person that left then. She was, she was terrific. Um, but We've been in that situation before, you know? So it's, it's just you're not willing to, to go back. You don't go backwards.
Benjie Burris [00:08:54]:
We've came too far.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:56]:
How long ago was this when you—
Kristy Burris [00:08:59]:
Maybe 3 years.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:00]:
3 years?
Benjie Burris [00:09:01]:
It's been longer than that.
Kristy Burris [00:09:02]:
Has it?
Benjie Burris [00:09:02]:
Yeah, it's been longer than that. Time flies. Time does fly.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:06]:
Time does fly. And we've been having a whole lot of fun. Like, you show up at all the events and you're there. You take classes apart from Benji. And I know, Benji, you want this to be about you, but it's not. I'm so sorry. 'Cause I'm thinking, looking at Christy, and look at you guys, you have a really wonderful relationship from the outside looking in. And I'm sure it's from the outside out too.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:25]:
Everybody really wants to know, is the boob story true? Is that how you met your husband? Through fake boobs?
Kristy Burris [00:09:31]:
Absolutely.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:32]:
We need to hear your version of it though.
Kristy Burris [00:09:34]:
So, you know, we got married when I was 19. So, I had not been out of high school, I guess, very long, if even— was I out of high school when we met? I guess so. Yeah. Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:09:44]:
Just out of high school.
Kristy Burris [00:09:46]:
So, you know, when you're going to prom, you get the, the, you can't wear a bra with your dress, obviously. So you get the silicone boobs and that's what you stick inside and that's what you wear and it zips up in your dress and you're golden. Well, in high school, you didn't. We didn't. Well, I didn't, you know, I guess I wasn't blessed with the chest. I don't know. But anyway, that's what we put in our dresses my senior year. We all had these little cutlets.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:08]:
Yeah, exactly.
Kristy Burris [00:10:09]:
So we put those in there. Well, afterwards we just, we would always play jokes on each other and we would like Velcro 'em in people's lockers and stick 'em in the principal's office. Like we would do random stuff with 'em that should have got us like in major trouble.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:22]:
Mm-hmm.
Kristy Burris [00:10:23]:
Somehow or another, she was a troublemaker. I, I was, I was. No. Oh yes, I was. Oh, I was.
Benjie Burris [00:10:27]:
I will admit it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:27]:
You still are.
Benjie Burris [00:10:28]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:29]:
You still are. I, I know Chrissy.
Benjie Burris [00:10:30]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:10:30]:
I should have never graduated high school. But technically, um, but they were in my car. They had made their way to the console of my car and I guess they'd just been riding around in there for a while. So I go up to the shop because that's where, you know, we'd gone for years. My grandpa actually used to own that service station back in the day before I was around. But by default, that's just where my daddy always took our cars and I went with him. And therefore I continued on and go in one day and I needed a—
Benjie Burris [00:11:00]:
She come in for a service and a tire rotation. And he was I needed the wheel lock. Because she was one of them shitty customers that wouldn't put the wheel lock out on the seat.
Kristy Burris [00:11:11]:
I don't think I knew what a wheel lock was. But at any rate, I'm sitting in there on this little bus seat because this is not like, you know, this was back in the day, back in the day at the service station. And when he came back in and he was holding my boobs in his hands and he said, is there something that you need to tell me? And I said, yeah. Get your hands off my titties. I'm pretty sure that was it. He was probably like, I'm gonna marry that girl one day.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:38]:
And you hadn't met each other before the titty stuff?
Kristy Burris [00:11:40]:
We had.
Benjie Burris [00:11:41]:
She, she had been coming up there since she was a little bitty girl. And she— well, I had never, I had never played with her boobs until that day.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:49]:
How's that? Okay.
Kristy Burris [00:11:51]:
Yeah. So funny story. Apparently, my grandpa said that I told him when I was like 12 or 13, that I was going to marry that little boy that worked at the service station one day. I don't remember that, but I believed my Pawpaw when he said it. Like he said, he said, you better stay away from that Burse boy. Burse boy's trouble. He said, when we started dating, I told him who I was dating.
Benjie Burris [00:12:13]:
Grandpa liked me better than he liked her.
Kristy Burris [00:12:15]:
But he said, you told me you was going to marry that little boy one day. Oh, sure enough.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:21]:
And you guys have raised some amazing kids.
Kristy Burris [00:12:22]:
Thanks.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:23]:
I appreciate my extra niece and nephews.
Kristy Burris [00:12:26]:
They love you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:27]:
And I watch you talk about the apprenticeship program. You guys are doing a lot of community service work. You're heavy in the community. Everybody knows that that is your soapbox, and we enjoy it all. And I really think you need to teach people how to do that outside of Frog Pond. And that's not— I always say Montgomery County, but it's not. What's that?
Benjie Burris [00:12:48]:
Stanley County.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:50]:
Stanley County. But we were talking earlier today, and I said, don't talk about that. That's what I want to talk about. the podcast. So you're a special education teacher. That's your, that's your love.
Kristy Burris [00:13:00]:
Technically, I was certified regular ed. And then in the last few years of teaching, I went back and added on for special ed because for some reason, all of the behavioral students or students that struggled, just, I did well with them. I loved them. I understood them.
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:17]:
I don't know.
Kristy Burris [00:13:17]:
It's like getting a husband. I was going to say.
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:21]:
And then there's Benji.
Kristy Burris [00:13:23]:
So I've taught them all. Actually, all of my blocks in the day weren't special ed, but I did both. I did resource and regular ed.
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:29]:
And we've had this conversation. It's weird to be asking these questions again, but the audience, they were not there, so you have to listen to it again. Special education, I don't even know the proper way to say that anymore. Do you think that everybody that was labeled special education that came through the program deserved that label?
Kristy Burris [00:13:49]:
No, I mean, I don't, I try not to look at it as a label though. Like in my mind, like you, you can be academically gifted in one area and, and struggle in another area. It's just finding if you have so much of a deficit in one area, we have to figure out strategies to fill that gap. And that's where the label comes in.
Tonnika Haynes [00:14:09]:
Okay.
Kristy Burris [00:14:10]:
But I think that some of your most intelligent people in the world have the label of special education. I think that we don't always conform in our teaching when we're taught how to teach to maybe what they need or to be willing to take the extra time for what they need. And some people just don't understand what they need, you know? So I don't know how to answer that question the appropriate way. The appropriate way on my podcast is not for the masses. Yes, because technically they do have a deficit. They have to be, you know, tested to prove that they have the deficit. But do I think that you could pick all of the special ed labeled students if I put 15 in this room and 5 of them were? You might pick the wrong 5.
Tonnika Haynes [00:14:56]:
You were talking about the young man here at lunch. Do you mind sharing that?
Kristy Burris [00:15:00]:
I don't mind at all. So our state used to have a program called the Graduation Project, which, to be honest with you, I thought was a pretty good thing. It kind of started their freshman year of high school and it worked all the way through senior year. And it was like where they learned how to research a topic that was important to them. In lots of cases, it might be what they thought they wanted to do when they grew up.
Tonnika Haynes [00:15:21]:
Mm-hmm.
Kristy Burris [00:15:21]:
And then they learn how to research it properly and they learn how to write papers on it. And then they would have to present on it. And part of that presentation, you were in front of a panel of people that scored you and you were either proficient or not. And so when I always volunteered to do that, I just thought it was the neatest thing to watch, you know, all of their hard work culminate into this one event. I know they were nervous wrecks and I tried to make them not nervous because I know I can talk to kids, but I struggle to talk with adults. So I get it. It's the same concept. But there was a group of special ed students who struggled a little bit more with communication maybe than some do, because some really don't struggle in that area at all.
Kristy Burris [00:16:05]:
But these did. So therefore, by default, they asked a panel of us who really dealt more with those students and maybe what we should look for and appreciate the skills that they have as opposed to the skills that they don't have based on what they should have. You know, will you guys come in and work on this panel and listen to the kids? And they can't ask you to score them higher, so that's not what they're suggesting. They're just suggesting that you think about it really deeply. So I was like, oh yeah, I'm so excited to do this. And there was this one young man, I couldn't tell you his name, I never taught him in my life, he didn't even go to my school, so we countywide again. But I saw him come in and I could tell he was just, I mean, he was really going to struggle looking at his feet, pacing, panicking, not dressed appropriately for what they wanted you to be dressed for. He was actually looked more like a little mechanic.
Kristy Burris [00:17:00]:
And that made my little heart smile to begin with, but you know, I get it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:04]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:17:04]:
Part of the scoring was how he was dressed and all the things. And I didn't think he was going to be able to talk. You had like 5 minutes that you had to talk in. And I just didn't think he's going to be able to do it. They got his presentation up on the board for him. They got him ready, staring at his feet. He's pacing. He's back and forth.
Kristy Burris [00:17:21]:
I mean, you could practically see the panic was about to set in. I thought he was going to melt down. And the dinger went off and this kid turned into Einstein. He was talking to us about building engines and he machined parts and he blew my mind at the things that he knew and the way he presented them. I won't say he made terrific eye contact, like looking us right in the eyes, but he was looking at us and he was looking at his board and he was talking and he was presenting and he went nonstop. And as soon as that dinger was off, done, back. The intelligence was sparkling.
Benjie Burris [00:18:00]:
But he was in his, he was in his element there.
Kristy Burris [00:18:03]:
He was, he was. And if I remember correctly, he was not to be able to graduate with a diploma. He was going to graduate with a certificate. A lot of his issues were communication-based. And at that point, I realized not everybody has to have a degree. You don't have to have a college degree. You don't have to have a high school diploma. Yes, you should certainly try to get it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:27]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:18:28]:
It does go a long way. But if you have special needs that hold you back, There should definitely be a bridge of other options for you to get into the career that you want to be into. You know, I think a lot of times people say you have to have a diploma or you can't work here. You might should look into that just a little bit further because you might be turning away some really talented individuals who just need help in certain areas. Is he ever going to stand up and, you know, teacher, own his own business? I don't know. My gut would tell me probably not. Is he going to be a rock star in what he's doing? Yeah, absolutely. And you would not want to turn down that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:12]:
Yeah, we were at your shop, we were talking about what Josh talked about, how the education system takes the— I lost all my words— takes the imagination and the spark out of kids, and you are conform, conform, conform. And then some people Some kids just have it in them, and it's that one thing that they have it, and they might not have the history lesson or the English lesson, but the math and the electronics and all the things that it needs. I don't know what all it needs to be an awesome mechanic. It's not what I do. But imagine those people only getting a certificate that are so employable, but they don't have a high school diploma or a GED or an ASC, and they just get shunned out of the workplace.
Benjie Burris [00:19:57]:
All they're looking for is somebody to give them a chance.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:59]:
A chance. And you guys are really good about giving chances and building people.
Kristy Burris [00:20:04]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:04]:
Not just technicians, but the whole person.
Kristy Burris [00:20:07]:
Your goal to be a leader is to build other people up. Yeah. And you can't overlook anybody when you do that. Everybody has a strength and everybody has a weakness. You need to find that strength and you need to find that weakness and you need to build on both.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:22]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:20:22]:
You know, we— you're right though. We have had some good kids come through and ain't one of them retired from the shop yet. And that's okay. We've had some really good kids. And I told the story about the young lady, and she wasn't in an apprenticeship program, but her father had passed away. She was very young and she wanted to learn about cars. And she came up and we ended up hiring her and she worked for us part-time. And she's, she's not in the automotive field anymore.
Benjie Burris [00:20:55]:
She, she is now doing her own thing as a photographer. She's the one that came out and shot whenever we did Josh's as well.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:02]:
Oh, really? Okay.
Benjie Burris [00:21:05]:
But we took this young lady in and she became part of our family. So she got married, what, about a year ago now? She got married and she asked me to dance with her. Oh, and it was— that was touching. That was—
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:24]:
I mean, there's not a KPI to measure what You had to feel at that moment.
Benjie Burris [00:21:29]:
It was, it was just, you know, that was, that was a lot. But stuff like that, just by, just by giving somebody a chance, that's all it was. Just give them a chance.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:39]:
And here it is, we're talking about the touchy-feely emotional stuff, the things that are not measured in KPIs and building the industry, because everybody swears that they want to do better and build the industry. And I bet you any amount of money there's someone watching this right now said, but you didn't— you spent all that time with her, you didn't make any money.
Benjie Burris [00:21:56]:
That's okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:57]:
It's okay. Because you know, you are so flipping rich. You just did the dad going— the thing on Facebook. What's real wealth?
Benjie Burris [00:22:04]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:05]:
You know, after you've bought— okay, you've bought everything that you can possibly buy, or whatever you want, whatever it is that you want.
Benjie Burris [00:22:10]:
We don't need for nothing.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:11]:
You don't need for anything. But that is a KPI that you cannot measure. That is not a culture— that is a— that's a learning experience. But that's not something you're going to learn from a book. That's going to come from trial and error. And that's going to come from that phone call saying, hey, Uncle Benji, would you mind doing the first dance with me?
Kristy Burris [00:22:32]:
What are you going to be remembered for when you die? Right? That's always what I think we should live by. You know, especially like, like with me being sick, I used to think that all the time. Like, I have to have goals. Like, what are my goals? I have to measure things in little goals so I can keep going, right? Like, what do I want to be remembered for? 'Cause I'm probably not gonna be old. So, what am I gonna be remembered for?
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:53]:
Right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, knowing that, I feel— everybody knows that I feel like my sons are special, and everybody feels like their sons are special. But what I do find is when I'm hearing people talk about youth, I have young people in my shop. You have young people in your shop. I just— and this might sound redundant. Some people listen to podcasts, we're going to mix these up so they don't sound redundant.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:23]:
Shop owners have to get out of their own way in thinking that all the kids are stupid.
Benjie Burris [00:23:28]:
They are not.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:29]:
They are not.
Benjie Burris [00:23:30]:
No, they're not.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:30]:
And to be blunt, in my opinion, they're the stupid ones for thinking it.
Benjie Burris [00:23:34]:
And they're not lazy.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:35]:
And they're not lazy. I think with COVID that COVID generation that had to go sitting at home in front of a computer, There's something to be said about how they had to deal with that.
Kristy Burris [00:23:47]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:47]:
And with the kids that no longer have PE, shop. We had shop, we had leatherworking, we had ironwork. There was mechanics. That's how my father came into the industry. You can go to cosmetology school. You can do that. There was blue-collar stuff, all right, that they do not offer anymore.
Benjie Burris [00:24:06]:
Correct.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:07]:
How many kids have been excluded from that. And then now we're saying we have a shortage in the industry. And then we have the parents. I mean, these are— there's a whole lot of subjects because I get mad about this. We have the parents making their kids go to college so they will look good.
Kristy Burris [00:24:25]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:26]:
Yeah, you got to go to college. You got to go to college because what are my friends going to think if you don't go to college?
Kristy Burris [00:24:31]:
I think in part, a lot of that is maybe they didn't get the opportunity. And they feel like it's held them back and they want to push their child to because, you know, that generation, there weren't as many blue-collar jobs then. And maybe they're struggling in what they're doing now because they didn't have the opportunity. They don't realize that the tables have kind of turned now. We push college, college, college. Well, not everybody's college material.
Benjie Burris [00:24:53]:
True.
Kristy Burris [00:24:54]:
Do you want to owe for 4 years of college and come out hating what you do? If we can improve apprenticeships and provide more opportunities for these students when they're in high school, if somebody will take the time to sit down and say, hey, what do you— what do you think you want to do? You know, maybe freshman, sophomore year, what do you think you want to do? All right, well, maybe by junior year we need to, we need to find somewhere to place you and get you a little extra practice there. You know, maybe get you some class credit or heck, maybe make a few dollars or maybe not. Either way, give them a chance, talk to them, get them in the door. They're either going to love it or hate it, but I'd rather them find out then.
Benjie Burris [00:25:35]:
That's the time to find out.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:38]:
And then that's where we're throwing wrenches.
Kristy Burris [00:25:39]:
Yeah, that's where I think the system fails us. I really do. And I think part of it is funding. Part of it is, is that teachers are burnt out. And, you know, we do have a lot of teachers in our industry, not in our industry, teachers now who are not certified teachers because of the shortage. And those things all are a domino effect back down to the student, and then the student is a domino effect to the community, and the community is a domino effect on out. So just wait to where we are in 5 or 10 years when those doctor shortages are there, or those, you know, even more so now, plumber shortages and electricians and technicians. I mean, our plumbers—
Benjie Burris [00:26:24]:
see how long you wait. HVAC, electrician, automotive, whatever.
Kristy Burris [00:26:28]:
Yep.
Benjie Burris [00:26:29]:
You know, I'll push back just a little bit. I, I don't think that the— that it's— there's more blue-collar jobs now. I think there were more when we were younger. But I think that that mentality of you, you had to go to college to be able to be somebody, I think that was very much prevalent. I know my mother begged me to go to college.
Tonnika Haynes [00:26:51]:
Mm-hmm.
Benjie Burris [00:26:52]:
I knew when I was young and in high school, I knew I wanted to fix cars. I never realized I wanted to to own a business, but I knew I wanted to fix cars. I loved it. I loved doing something with my hands. So while I feel like there's a lot more college degrees now, how many people do you know that got a 4-year degree, come out, and either couldn't find a job or found a job and absolutely hated it and then went to work doing something else?
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:24]:
So I really would like to know the statistics on that. Because it's got to be high.
Kristy Burris [00:27:28]:
They're out there. I've looked them up before. It was high. Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:27:32]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:27:32]:
Yep. And then they have to go get a job to pay all that debt back.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:36]:
Yes.
Benjie Burris [00:27:37]:
And you can come out and you can get a good blue-collar job and you can make good money. I've told this story and it— I love this. I will never forget when Cody graduated high school. What we were going to pay him at the shop. And she got mad. She said, I got a 4-year degree and I didn't make that. I said, hey, you chose your path. He chose his.
Benjie Burris [00:28:06]:
This is what he's worth.
Kristy Burris [00:28:08]:
I was working on my master's at that point. And I was like, do you know how much money I'm going to make when I finish my master's degree? There is no way I'm going to pay that kid that kind of money coming out of high school. There's no way.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:19]:
But that just shows you about the priorities in America at some time.
Kristy Burris [00:28:23]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:24]:
Like, you're educating these people that's making all the money, and you can't even afford to live in the community that's the school that you're teaching at with the money that you make to educate the future leaders of America.
Kristy Burris [00:28:36]:
A master's degree in education does not pay well. I think it does not.
Benjie Burris [00:28:40]:
What's North Carolina rank? I mean, ain't they like 40? Okay, I was gonna say 40-something in teacher pay. I mean, that's, that's sad. That is, that's pitiful. It's beautiful.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:51]:
And I wonder how much of that is— not attacking teachers, 'cause you know I love you.
Kristy Burris [00:28:56]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:56]:
But I had a hard time with teachers with the boys and the things that they would say, especially in elementary school. But that was mostly a private school and they were just kind of narrow-minded. I told you about the pink bear. They didn't want Jordan to color his bear pink. And I said, oh, he just— and Jordan said, just 'cause you ain't seen a pink bear don't mean it don't exist. Do not take away my baby's imagination. And I think back on, you know, he was always at the shop. Grandfather's been in the business.
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:20]:
Mom's in the business. He's watching us, right?
Kristy Burris [00:29:22]:
Mm-hmm.
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:23]:
And it was around maybe Thanksgiving break or Christmas break, but he was on the way to work with me, and he was gloomy. Like, I never see that. He's never doom and gloom. And I look over at my son, and I said, bae, what's the matter? He's like, Jordan, nothing. Jordan, what is wrong? Nothing. We sit in the front parking lot. I was like, we're not getting out of this car until you tell me what's wrong. And he's crying because he had not gotten an acceptance letter from college.
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:50]:
And so that was painful for him. But I had no idea that he'd applied. And I looked at my son and I said, son, at what point did I make you feel like you needed to go to college? He's like, well, everybody's going to college. I was like, but that's not your path. And I thought, you know, I figured you're going to be at trade school. I was going to ship you off to Frog Pond or ship you up to— like, you know, I don't want him to work right in the shop with me. I want to send him into the world so he can come back and respect the shop a lot more. And I was like, I didn't think you wanted to do that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:30:19]:
And he was so down on himself. And he's like, well, everybody applied and I didn't get any applications back and this, that, whatever. And so his whole little light was dimmed in that moment. But I do know that right now my son is much smarter than a lot of his college-educated friends.
Kristy Burris [00:30:36]:
Oh yeah. He's found his niche.
Tonnika Haynes [00:30:37]:
He's found his niche. He's always known what it was and I've always known what it was. And I just had to just help him find his way there. I wonder how many parents just don't know that their kids are lost and cannot have that conversation with them. Like, what do you want to do? I don't want you to do what's going to make you $125,000 a year. I want you to do what's going to make you happy. And then we'll figure out how to make the money based on that.
Kristy Burris [00:31:02]:
Sounds like—
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:03]:
Hey, did I fail somewhere as a parent? Or did somebody tell him that his job was just going to be dirty and that's not cool, you should go to college? It's crazy.
Kristy Burris [00:31:11]:
I worked with some great teachers. And then I worked with some mediocre teachers. And I think there are reasons for all of that, you know, based on experiences that they've had. I do remember one time working with a teacher. We had this little student and I loved this baby. He was going to be an NBA star. He was. Now, did we know that his chances of being an NBA star were slim to none? Absolutely.
Kristy Burris [00:31:40]:
But you do not say that to a child.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:43]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:31:44]:
You talk to them about what they're going to do when they're an NBA star. What are you going to do to help your community when you're one? What are you going to do outside of that? Whenever you're pedaling, you know, in your backyard, what are you going to do? All the things. And I remember that she basically flew out and told him that he was too big and too short and too— and I was like flabbergasted. And I lost my cool. I went in a side room and we had a conversation about how you don't ever dim their light. I know we have bad days and that's all it really was with her. She'd had a really bad day and I've had bad days too. I get it.
Kristy Burris [00:32:19]:
And I'm sure that I said things.
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:20]:
You're not taking that on the babies though.
Kristy Burris [00:32:22]:
I try not to. I mean, I'm sure there were days that, you know, I said things that were taken out of context or things that I didn't mean, but to ever just come out and crush somebody's dream. No, because I, Side story, but I hated school. I loathed it. I almost quit.
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:39]:
From an educator?
Kristy Burris [00:32:40]:
I almost quit high school. I had, in order to, to stay in high school, I was not going to college. I had my mom drop me down to basic classes. I told her that was the only way I would agree to stay in and graduate. 'Cause I didn't wanna do college prep 'cause I thought it was just ridiculous. I didn't wanna go to college and all the things, and I hated it. And the reason that I hated it what I figured out later on in life was because of a couple of different teachers that I had. They made me hate school.
Kristy Burris [00:33:08]:
Now, this was, you know, from middle school up. It was not elementary school. I'd, well, with the exception of one, I had really good elementary teachers. But I redirected that thinking later on, you know, how can I, how can I not let them win? And so I went to school originally, to work EMS. I wanted to be med center air flight nurse. That was my goal in life and still would love to do that. But when we had Cody, we figured out that schedule was just not going to work.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:39]:
Daggone children.
Kristy Burris [00:33:40]:
Yeah, no. Mess up everything. I know. Threw out my days of being on the chopper, but—
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:45]:
And you're short enough too.
Kristy Burris [00:33:46]:
That would've worked out. I know. I'm telling you, I think I would've been good at it too. So that's why I was in the fire department and did EMS and all that stuff. But I was like, all right, I'm about to get a new dream. And for some reason that kept popping in my mind, you know, like I don't know why God works in mysterious ways. It popped into my mind. He's a miracle worker.
Kristy Burris [00:34:02]:
And I was teaching children's church and I loved all the babies. And I was like, you know, maybe I need to reconsider this. 'Cause a lot of little different signs just kind of pointed me that way. And I remember I told him, I think I'm going to go see if I can go to school. Basically, we had no money. I mean, we were broke as convicts. He was like, well, you want to go to school, you're going to figure out how to. So, I went to the community college and talked to them about what we could do to, you know, get daycare for Cody and if we qualified for any grants or anything like that.
Kristy Burris [00:34:31]:
And I remember going after that to tell my mama that I was going to go back to school to be a teacher.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:36]:
She probably wanted to flip the table.
Kristy Burris [00:34:38]:
She fell out on the floor. She thought I was joking. But I never forgot that my entire teaching career, you know, all of the kids that push back, there's a reason they're pushing back. And sometimes it has nothing to do with school. Lots of times it doesn't. Now, I grew up in a really great home. Don't get me wrong. I did.
Kristy Burris [00:34:58]:
So mine was not that. Mine was genuinely teachers saying and doing things that they should not have. And I know it was a different time back then, but sometimes when people just burn you out, they burn you out and you don't forget it. And you quit.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:12]:
Especially if it's an adult and you're supposed to look up to these people.
Kristy Burris [00:35:15]:
They just didn't help. Like, I struggled a lot in math. I mean, I did. And that, that was, Just, I just didn't get it. Still to this day, hate math.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:25]:
Numbers.
Benjie Burris [00:35:25]:
But hates math, but yet she's in control of the financials.
Kristy Burris [00:35:29]:
I am. I'm big on books. She don't mess up on the money though. To the penny. That's cuz if they got off the penny, I wouldn't know how to fix 'em. But you know, I just, they wouldn't help. And I remember them demeaning me and like embarrassing me and just, wow.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:46]:
Cuz they probably hated their own life.
Kristy Burris [00:35:47]:
I was always pretty mature for my age. I just quit asking for help, you know? And, and looking back, like, that's why I— that's why I went back to school to be a teacher. I think that's why I wanted it so bad, was so that I could have the opportunity to fix that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:36:03]:
And that's why we need you to turn into Teacher Christy in for the automotive industry, because I think you can either— technicians that still love what they do could mentor people in middle and high school.
Kristy Burris [00:36:22]:
Absolutely.
Benjie Burris [00:36:23]:
Yep.
Tonnika Haynes [00:36:23]:
And same thing for shop owners. Shop owners can find that technician the same way in middle and high school, or at church, Boy Scouts, things like that. We have to get back community involvement. And I know, like we say, a lot of the trade schools and the community colleges, the big dealerships are there, and they're going to get they're going to be there first picking and choosing and whatever. But if you can get one or even two, you might not get all 10, get one or two like you've done at the time, and not complain about it. Just remember how much of a jerk you were. Remember, remember how much of an asshole you was, Benji? Still is a little bit. You just got money to pay for it.
Benjie Burris [00:37:01]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:02]:
Remember that and help bring another technician along and let them mess up because you messed up. And that's how you learn. We still messing up.
Kristy Burris [00:37:11]:
Yep. 1 or 2 turns into 2 or 3, turns into 3 or 4, turns into 5. It's gonna take a while, but it's gonna domino effect, right? And then you're making a difference.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:21]:
Just do it. And even if you're not doing it right, you're not doing it right, you send Benji a message via Facebook and say, hey, bro, what would you do? Like, what did you do? Because I'm pretty sure you would be open to say, hey, this is what I did in my community.
Kristy Burris [00:37:35]:
Absolutely.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:36]:
But instead of everybody's talking about stuff, but nobody's doing stuff. You know how I feel about that. If everybody talks, oh, we should do, we should do that.
Kristy Burris [00:37:43]:
Just do it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:45]:
And if it doesn't work, then that didn't work. But you can figure out what little pieces worked in that experience you had and recreate it, and then don't do the things that were bad, just like in a diagnostic process, right?
Kristy Burris [00:37:54]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:54]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:37:55]:
And listen to the feedback.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:56]:
Listen to the feedback. Listen to the feedback of techs. I have to find a tech to interview. Listen to your staff. Listen to the young techs, the ones that were stuck here. You got them. You can see something good about them. Make sure you have the one-on-ones and be able as an owner to also take criticism.
Kristy Burris [00:38:18]:
Correct.
Benjie Burris [00:38:18]:
But you know what'll happen before long? You'll have a whole group of technicians who want to be involved and who want to be that uncle, that mentor, that leader. And that's what we've got now with, with Justin and Devin both. I mean, these guys, when we hired them, We told them point blank upfront, look, we are very much into the apprenticeship. We, we will be bringing young people through this shop. Either you're on board or you're not. If you're not, this ain't the place for you. And now I look at like Justin in particular.
Kristy Burris [00:38:53]:
Mm-hmm.
Benjie Burris [00:38:54]:
The amount that he pours into the, the kids right now, it's Ethan and Isaac as well. Isaac's still a very young technician. But his want to, to give to these, the next generation, man, it's awesome.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:13]:
And he's not that old. How old is that?
Benjie Burris [00:39:15]:
Justin is 30, 32.
Kristy Burris [00:39:18]:
Yeah, I think.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:19]:
Yeah, that's pretty young. And we're not talking about a 50, 60, 70-year-old tech.
Benjie Burris [00:39:24]:
No.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:24]:
Yeah, we're talking about, dude, you know what your life was. Yep. Because I remember it. At your shop, he was saying you turned his life around.
Kristy Burris [00:39:33]:
He—
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:34]:
you know the path. You're still hip enough to communicate.
Benjie Burris [00:39:37]:
He turned his life around.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:38]:
With your assistance, though.
Benjie Burris [00:39:40]:
We were just along for the ride.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:42]:
He knows what the ride felt like before he got there. And he knows that he didn't want to be at Lowe's and stocking. They can get good money at Lowe's. Oh, you make the same money at Walmart, same money at Lowe's. Yeah, but is that what you want to do?
Kristy Burris [00:39:56]:
Are you happy?
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:57]:
You happy with that smock on?
Benjie Burris [00:39:58]:
He, he is, he is a part of something now. And all of them are.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:03]:
Everybody wants to be a part of something.
Benjie Burris [00:40:04]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:40:05]:
And like, personalities mesh because like when Gage was at the shop, you know, he worked really well with Justin, but he also worked really well with Devin. And it's like the next thing you know, they kind of naturally pick who they learn the best from. So like Ethan now, he'll, he'll work with any of them and he learns a lot. But I think he spent more time with Justin in the beginning, whereas Gage spent more time with Devin. And they just kind of—
Benjie Burris [00:40:29]:
Gage was with Bobby to start with.
Kristy Burris [00:40:31]:
He was.
Benjie Burris [00:40:31]:
And they got into a little altercation.
Kristy Burris [00:40:34]:
Yeah, well, Bobby was a great tech. Bobby didn't— and he told us his weakness was teaching. He didn't feel like that was something he was good at.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:42]:
He was a little too old for it.
Benjie Burris [00:40:44]:
No, no, no, Bobby was young. Bobby was in his—
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:47]:
Bobby tried to help.
Kristy Burris [00:40:48]:
Yeah, but you either love it or you don't.
Benjie Burris [00:40:51]:
Come on now, we can't do that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:54]:
Beat them. Beat them. Maybe you still got to beat the hell out of them. Beat the hell out of them.
Kristy Burris [00:41:00]:
See if they can hang. Sometimes you don't have to pick your team. Your team ends up picking you. They either decide if they feel like that's where their home is or not. And I mean, I feel like we've got a great team now. I hope that they stick with it. They're really good teachers, even though they don't think that they are sometimes. They're, they're growing into it.
Benjie Burris [00:41:18]:
They're growing into leaders. Whether they stay with us or whether they go somewhere else, I think we have definitely changed their outlook the, the next generation of techs.
Kristy Burris [00:41:29]:
You have.
Benjie Burris [00:41:29]:
And I think no matter where they go, I think they will always be leaders.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:34]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:41:34]:
Devin and Justin and Isaac. I mean, again—
Kristy Burris [00:41:37]:
And Ethan. I mean, Ethan's grown so much. He's young. It's hard to like—
Benjie Burris [00:41:41]:
18 years old.
Kristy Burris [00:41:42]:
We keep trying to think like, oh, he's still high school, he's still an apprentice. But man, he's graduated so much. He graduates this year.
Benjie Burris [00:41:48]:
Yep, he graduates this year. But I mean, he is going to be such an amazing leader one day. He will be a leader. You know, he, he told us whenever he came there that eventually he wants to own his own shop. He wants to do a resto shop. Dude, I don't care what you want to do. I want to help you get there no matter what. And if he wants to be a shop owner, I want to help him get there.
Benjie Burris [00:42:11]:
Yeah, because he's just— he's a good, good young man.
Kristy Burris [00:42:16]:
Yeah, it'd be good for the industry.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:17]:
It'd be great for the industry. And then other shop owners and younger techs, well, you know, the 30s. He said, we all just grabbed one. I think about when you just said that, how my dad— and I'm going to talk about my dad. If you don't hear me talking about my dad, then hit stop. But I watched my dad, watching dad grow up and build a business, and very young when he had me. So I watched him grow up as well. I didn't know that at the time, but now look back.
Benjie Burris [00:42:42]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:42:43]:
Yep.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:44]:
All the people that he taught.
Benjie Burris [00:42:45]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:47]:
I think he has his favorites, but if my dad has trained 100 people through his years, 98 of them will be there for him at any time. And like you said, they don't have to stay. They don't have to stay. But you know that you've put something in that tech or in that office person, in that young lady, anybody that you touch, even through the Boy Scouts. That, that's the true KPI right there, to get that back. For example, and I keep— I'm gonna get Curly on here one day— how Curly— he fired Curly and told Curly, you gotta go. He sent Curly to Rick Hendrick. He's like, because I'm holding you back.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:24]:
I've taught you all that I can teach you. You gotta go. Now he has a million-dollar shop. Gave my dad the keys. There's nothing my father could have bought— well, he could have tried— to give him the feeling that he must have felt when Curly Opened that shop and gave him a set of keys to that shop.
Kristy Burris [00:43:40]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:41]:
So one day Ethan's going to give you a key to the shop.
Benjie Burris [00:43:45]:
But you know what?
Kristy Burris [00:43:45]:
I had—
Benjie Burris [00:43:46]:
I'm fortunate enough, and I've told a lot of people about the one job that I had. I started in high school where me and Christy met was Avra, Avra Whitley. I worked for the man for 17 years. There is so many times that he should have fired my ass.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:02]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:44:02]:
And I know it. And I've told everyone.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:04]:
You know it now, right?
Benjie Burris [00:44:05]:
I do. Yeah, I do. But He was more of a father to me than he was a boss man.
Kristy Burris [00:44:11]:
Right.
Benjie Burris [00:44:12]:
And, and I look— and, you know, you don't really think about it at the time when you're, you know, when you're a kid and you're working and you're, you're hard in it. But I look back now and I think, I think that's had a lot to do with, you know, you talk about, well, you've kind of calmed down a lot. I have. I have. I think more about, you know, what would, what would Abe have done here?
Kristy Burris [00:44:33]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:44:33]:
Because, I mean, there's There's been times where I, and I'm not proud of it, I've had employees that I have made cry. I have made them rage quit.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:43]:
Some people are still proud of that right now in 2026, owning a shop. Isn't that sad?
Benjie Burris [00:44:50]:
It is. It is. And I don't know. I've said it time and time again, you can get anywhere you want in life as long as you help enough people get to where they want to go. And I believe in that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:01]:
And I do believe that more and more every day as I dive deeper and deeper into leadership. Deeper, deeper into my new why, spirituality, and whatever. Somehow, if you do what you're supposed to do, and if you listen to, read, and follow the words in red, it trickles down, and everything falls in place. Your KPIs are— all those KPIs that you've been chasing that whole time, and that dollar amount that you've been chasing that whole time, that bottom line, it's so much easier to get to.
Benjie Burris [00:45:33]:
It'll come back tenfold.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:35]:
It comes back tenfold. Tenfold.
Kristy Burris [00:45:37]:
And, and at that point, it's almost less important to you than some other things.
Benjie Burris [00:45:42]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:45:42]:
You know, look, I—
Benjie Burris [00:45:45]:
we will never be rich rich, but we're rich beyond measure right now. You know, we don't want for, for things. We, we have more junk than what we need.
Kristy Burris [00:45:57]:
Yeah. And one day we'll finish paying for all of it.
Benjie Burris [00:45:59]:
Well, the bank owns it. I'm sure the bank owns it.
Kristy Burris [00:46:01]:
The bank owns a good bit, but that's all right.
Benjie Burris [00:46:04]:
But to me, the real wealth is, is what we've created within the community.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:10]:
Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:46:10]:
You know, I— dude, I tell everybody I'm from Frog Pond. Where the hell's Frog Pond? Dude, it's east of Charlotte. I'm proud to be from Frog Pond. I'm proud to invest in that community, whether it's the football team, the baseball, the cheerleaders, the, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, whatever. Yeah, that's, that's who we are. You know, the, the teacher appreciation. And we've talked about this before. It's not, it's not writing a check.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:38]:
It's showing up.
Benjie Burris [00:46:39]:
It's showing up. It's showing up. It's, it's serving others. I truly believe in that.
Kristy Burris [00:46:45]:
Yeah. No matter what you do, you can serve others.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:48]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:46:49]:
You, you should figure out a way to. You don't have to serve hundreds of people at the time, but find one. And one that you can help.
Benjie Burris [00:46:58]:
And you ain't got to go across the world either to find people that need help.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:01]:
They're right there in your backyard.
Benjie Burris [00:47:02]:
They're in your community.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:03]:
They're right there in your backyard.
Kristy Burris [00:47:04]:
They are.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:05]:
And another thing is like, I'm just thinking, you know, my shop's grown, your shop's grown. You remember my KPI when I met you. We've grown, but there are shop owners out there that really want to do what we're talking about. They want to make a difference. They want to stay small. They want— they want to be in their community. But I feel like they're getting pulled by coaching companies and the internet and social media that, yeah, dude, you should be making $4 million per year. You need to fire that joke and do this and do that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:42]:
Now, you know I believe in firing somebody in a minute. You need to do this and you need to do that and you need to do that. I need shop owners to know that I need for you to figure out how much money you need to make for your shop to offer benefits, for you to retire and pay yourself. Because first of all, you know, a lot of us don't pay ourselves. For you to be able to take a vacation, okay? I need you to figure out what that bottom line is. What is that goal? And don't reach for somebody else's goals that they put on you.
Kristy Burris [00:48:11]:
Correct.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:11]:
If you don't need to be like— for me, it was, oh, Chanika, why are you not open 100 days a week? Because I don't need to be open 100 days a week. I'm good at my 4 days. I do Every goal that I set, I can do within 4 days. So if you want to spend more time with your kids, you don't have to be open 7 days a week, and you don't have to make $2 million, and you do not have to have an ARO of $1,700 per car. That's not what you need to do. If your heart is set on, I want to build a brand, I want to be there for my community, I want to make my family and my Lord proud, and I want to make sure I can pay bills.
Kristy Burris [00:48:43]:
Correct.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:44]:
Yeah. It is okay.
Benjie Burris [00:48:45]:
You stay true to yourself.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:46]:
Stay true to yourself.
Benjie Burris [00:48:48]:
Yes.
Kristy Burris [00:48:48]:
And you're building something, hopefully, in a lot of cases that the next generation will step up and take. Like, that's been our thing is building something that the family can be proud of.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:00]:
Right.
Kristy Burris [00:49:00]:
You know, and the community is proud of as well. But the family has to be proud of it first, because if they're not, and they're not bought in, and they're not invested, then where does that go?
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:10]:
And but you do have to set that all up to make sure that when the family's looking at it, when Kody was looking at dad at work, and he saw dad working, but he didn't also always see dad pissed off at work or hating work and throwing stuff. And then dad didn't bring that stuff home. And then like, why the heck would I want to do that?
Kristy Burris [00:49:27]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:28]:
But that setup comes in with coaching, and learning how to run your business and not let your business run you. So you act like not a business, not a job, but a business. And then you have work-life balance, this, that, whatever, community service. And then your kids are attracted to that, and they want to be in the family business, right? Because it wasn't painful for them, and Dad was there, and they're not sitting at home singing Cats in the Cradle, you know what I'm saying? They had— they remembered good times in the shop too. So we have to remember that. We have to make it attractive for our, our young men and young women. I heard Liz's and Keith's daughter talk about how much she's excited. to keep the family business going.
Kristy Burris [00:50:09]:
Good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:09]:
Yeah. And to hear Santana step up after Leadership Intensive and say, hey, Mom, I get what you do now. Because he grew up with seeing the money and that we can go on vacation, but he didn't see the why behind it. He didn't see the community involvement because he was a kid. He wasn't old enough to see it. But with the Leadership Intensive and then him coming around a little bit more, he's like, oh, Mom, you are making a difference. And that feels good. And so, he wants to be— he's not a technician, by any— no, he will not be a technician.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:39]:
He can change oil, a tire, and maybe do an alignment, but that's all we want him to do.
Kristy Burris [00:50:42]:
He's a people person.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:43]:
He's a people person. And so, he'll be there with the people, and then Jordan will be wrenching either at the shop or somewhere. But yeah, make it attractive to the kids.
Kristy Burris [00:50:51]:
And invest in them. Like, don't overlook your own kids. Give them the leadership training and all of the training that they need as well. Don't just think that, you know, they're watching everything you do and that they're learning everything you do. They need it as well. They need you to invest in them.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:07]:
And you got to let them come back with their ideas.
Benjie Burris [00:51:09]:
Yes, absolutely.
Kristy Burris [00:51:10]:
You do. Yeah.
Benjie Burris [00:51:11]:
Do you know the one thing that, the one thing that concerns me more than anything right now with, with Cody coming in, you know, not coming into the business, but with Cody coming into the next chapter of owning the business. And this is something that really bothers me is my stress levels are way down now. And it's because Cody has come up so much. But I know that I've put so much off on him, and it really worries me about the amount of stress that he goes through now. And I look at Tom, Tom and Samantha Shearer, and I remember Tom talking about, you know, getting Samantha set up. And Samantha called Tom out on it. You know, he was, he was going to have everything. It was going to be all smooth and roses.
Kristy Burris [00:51:59]:
And Samantha's like, no, it's They don't want to be stressed.
Benjie Burris [00:52:05]:
They don't want that stress. And I worry— I worry about the amount of stress that I've put on Cody. So that's that much more that I want to be able to do, whether it be the leadership or giving anyone the tools that they need to do the job. You know, I want to pull— I want Cody to have everything he needs to be able to take this business to the next level. And I fully believe he will. But I don't want to see the stress because I remember it.
Kristy Burris [00:52:34]:
Because he is a perfectionist.
Benjie Burris [00:52:36]:
Cody is very much a perfectionist.
Kristy Burris [00:52:37]:
He is a perfectionist.
Benjie Burris [00:52:38]:
But I remember the coming home at night, the robbing Peter to pay Paul, the, you know, point blank that we've joked about it, suck-start a Glock. I mean, I remember those, those feelings of, you know, making— doing Christmas bonuses and then worrying, how in the hell am I going to pay—
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:58]:
How am I going to pay my Christmas?
Benjie Burris [00:52:59]:
You know, how am I going to pay the bills now? So that's something that, that I still—
Kristy Burris [00:53:05]:
You don't want anybody on your team to have to worry about. No, not, not anybody.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:10]:
But I'll push back on you with a little bit with that one. You want him to have a little bit of that because you don't want him to be soft, so to speak. I don't have—
Benjie Burris [00:53:18]:
I don't want it. I don't want it given to him on a silver spoon.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:21]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:53:21]:
Don't want it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:23]:
You've never done that.
Benjie Burris [00:53:24]:
Nope.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:25]:
But what you're saying is exactly what Dad did to me. When he decided— and I'm a body shop— well, I was a body shop girl all day. Service department didn't mean anything to me. It's just over there. They did inspections. Well, that wasn't nothing to me. This is all new in the last 10 years for me. But when he said, nope, I'm renting that out.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:43]:
You've got those 2 boys. Go make something of that. I was pissed. I was pissed. I was mad as hell. Because I knew the money that was over there. I didn't know shit about that. But now, as an adult, as his mom— as my kid's mom, I know that you do things to protect your kids.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:01]:
So, I also knew that he knew what he was doing, because that was the stress that took him out of the business. He didn't like it anymore. And he didn't want that for his baby.
Kristy Burris [00:54:11]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:11]:
So, I get that. But you know better, Dad. You just said that you're worried about it. So, my question to you, brother, is what are you gonna do about it?
Kristy Burris [00:54:21]:
Leadership training, which you're doing right now.
Benjie Burris [00:54:22]:
Continue, continue investing in, in the training, in the tools, in the, the whatever they need. And, and it's not just Cody. It's investing in, in the advisors and the technicians, giving them all the tools that they need to lower the stress in the shop. Yeah, that's that. You know, people ask me all the time, what do you do now? You know, what do you do?
Kristy Burris [00:54:43]:
He works. He works.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:44]:
He does.
Benjie Burris [00:54:45]:
My, my biggest thing right now is continuing to build on that culture in our shop.
Kristy Burris [00:54:50]:
There you go.
Benjie Burris [00:54:50]:
And giving the guys what they need to make their jobs easier. Because let's be honest, I mean, it's tough. Yeah, it's tough. Give them what they need in order to, to make it easier and for them to be able to be successful. That's my job. That's my number one goal.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:05]:
Every shop owner should have that goal because all tools do not come from NAPA. All tools do not come from Snap-on or Crowell or whatever. Yeah, there's a different set of tools out there. And like, I'm always asking you, how did you use Josh's thing in the shop? And with the Lunch and Learns, like, let me find all the tools that I can give them, even the tools that they use at home.
Benjie Burris [00:55:25]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:55:25]:
Building a relationship is the biggest tool. That's the biggest tool of all.
Benjie Burris [00:55:30]:
Yeah. That's, that's one of the things that I am most proudest of right now at this point in my career is the culture that we have in our shop. And, you know, that's that key word everybody wants to talk about.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:41]:
And that's the thing. Cultural leadership. Cultural leadership. But it is—
Benjie Burris [00:55:44]:
I'll invite anybody Come hang out with us for a while. It's not just smoke and mirrors. It's not a pony show, dude. It's who we are.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:54]:
I'm working on mine daily. I remember after my 20 Group meeting, the staff was like, oh, they kept asking us, like, what you're weeding. She's like, they're like, I feel like they were looking for something wrong, Miss Tonika. It's like, yeah, this is who we are. This is who we are. I'm not saying that sometimes we're not rolling eyes at each other. Like, yeah, I do want you to stump your toe today. But at the end of the day, I love each and every one of them.
Tonnika Haynes [00:56:20]:
And if you don't reach one goal, or if you mess up, you're not fired.
Benjie Burris [00:56:25]:
It's okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:56:25]:
It's okay. It's because I don't want my technicians, I don't want my staff walking around in fear. There's enough jobs out there that they can get that from. There's plenty of places in this world that you can get— you can just be stuck in fear. I want to have a place of growth, leadership, and some good chicken wings every now and again.
Benjie Burris [00:56:43]:
Yeah, I throw a lot of it back to, to Josh, you know, Josh's class. I mean, and, and it's only been a year that, that I've really got to know Josh. We, we met at Fueling Connections over a year ago and then got to really hang out at, at Tools last year. And man, we have just became such good friends. I mean, talk to him almost weekly.
Tonnika Haynes [00:57:07]:
Uh-huh.
Benjie Burris [00:57:08]:
But to be able to go through his program and, and And I think I feel like I've got a lot of growth out of it myself, and I've seen what it's done for the shop as far as being able to really question and understand each other. That's huge. That's huge.
Tonnika Haynes [00:57:27]:
I love it. I keep telling myself that, oh, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. But what I've been doing, I've been asking you the same questions for like 4 or 5 months. Why'd you do it? How'd you do it? I just need to do it.
Kristy Burris [00:57:37]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:57:38]:
I'm going to do it.
Kristy Burris [00:57:38]:
You just need to do it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:57:39]:
I'm just going to do it.
Kristy Burris [00:57:39]:
And if that's not the program, find the program.
Tonnika Haynes [00:57:41]:
Yeah.
Kristy Burris [00:57:41]:
Like for everybody out there, You know, maybe leadership isn't your thing. Maybe you're weak in another area, but figure out what it is. Quit killing time talking about how you're gonna do it and just do it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:57:49]:
Your boss can kick rocks. Yep.
Benjie Burris [00:57:51]:
Shit or get off the pot.
Kristy Burris [00:57:52]:
There you go.
Tonnika Haynes [00:57:52]:
You got one? You get in my damn pocket. You scared? Well, versus, it's time for the jacket competition. Are you ready?
Benjie Burris [00:58:02]:
Fixing to kick some ass and take names.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:04]:
Kick some ass and take some names. How did this crap even start?
Benjie Burris [00:58:08]:
Hell if I know.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:09]:
It is the best.
Benjie Burris [00:58:10]:
Something Brett got me into 2 years ago.
Kristy Burris [00:58:13]:
Challenge.
Benjie Burris [00:58:14]:
Yeah, he challenged me and then I kicked his ass and took his trophy. And then he was talking all this smack. He was going to take it back at the ASTA. And I really brought the game at the ASTA.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:23]:
You brought the game at the ASTA. That was crazy.
Benjie Burris [00:58:27]:
But as, as Jeff says, Jeff, Jeff bitches that I've got a secret advantage and I do. There's my secret weapon right there. Secret weapon.
Kristy Burris [00:58:36]:
Let me blink. You up. Yeah, we win this thing. I'm competitive. Good Lord, I don't want to do it myself, but I'm like, let me bling you up.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:44]:
I love it.
Kristy Burris [00:58:44]:
This year is going to be toned down a little bit though. You're going to be surprised.
Benjie Burris [00:58:48]:
We're toning down, but there's a reason.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:49]:
This year, this year better not make me cry. If you make me cry—
Benjie Burris [00:58:52]:
There'll be no crying.
Kristy Burris [00:58:54]:
I don't know, she might cry. Don't cry.
Tonnika Haynes [00:58:57]:
You know I cry easy. Kim Walker can't stand it.
Kristy Burris [00:59:00]:
We're gonna make it, we're gonna make it good. You might cry, but we're gonna make it good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:59:03]:
I'm excited for the night.
Benjie Burris [00:59:04]:
It's gonna be good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:59:05]:
All right, well, let's go get dressed.
Benjie Burris [00:59:06]:
Let's do it.
Kristy Burris [00:59:07]:
Love it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:59:07]:
Love you.
Benjie Burris [00:59:08]:
Bye.
Kristy Burris [00:59:08]:
Thank you for having us.
Tonnika Haynes [00:59:10]:
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 at last. 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.