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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.
Tonnika Haynes [00:00:00]:
And I think the people, like, just started or two to three years in, they have to sit there and look at the social media, too, and they're looking at all the wins. Oh, Yeah, I did $1.17 million last week. Okay. And then you're like, well, all I did was 10,000. Like, no, but the week before you did eight.
Anders Gustafson [00:00:16]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:00:17]:
And this time last year, you were not doing anything. So you have to look at your own growth and be your own, you know, race against yourself. And I don't think people know how to do that.
Anders Gustafson [00:00:25]:
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 [00:00:39]:
Let's downshift. Anders. Andy. You're, like, a little bit too old to be called.
Anders Gustafson [00:00:50]:
Yeah, I'm a little too old to be called.
Tonnika Haynes [00:00:51]:
We won't call you that.
Anders Gustafson [00:00:52]:
Yeah, but that was. That was. It was Andy until, like, ninth grade. Andy Pandy to my mom, you know, I made a decision.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:02]:
Andy Pandy.
Anders Gustafson [00:01:03]:
Andy. That was like my mom.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:05]:
Andy Pandy.
Anders Gustafson [00:01:05]:
Andy Pandy, sweetie.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:06]:
My mother calls me Nika Poo.
Anders Gustafson [00:01:08]:
See?
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:08]:
Okay. Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:01:09]:
You were making me feel self conscious. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:11]:
Andy Pandy. I think I called my Santana and Jordan. Jordan stinka man. And Santana's like 300 and 800 pounds kid. And I call him my little bun bun, Bun bun. He's like six' six and huge.
Anders Gustafson [00:01:24]:
But yeah. Okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:25]:
Yeah. So welcome. Downshift with Tanika, and let's get started. Tell me about yourself. Where in the heck are you from?
Anders Gustafson [00:01:34]:
Where the heck am I from? So born and raised. I consider myself an east coast guy. Born and raised in and around New York City. Folks still live out there. Been up and down the East Coast. Went to school in North Carolina and lived in Alabama for a while. That was where I first got introduced to automotive. Working for a big chain out of Birmingham, Alabama.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:55]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:01:56]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:01:56]:
Like in the office, under the car, under the hood.
Anders Gustafson [00:01:58]:
In the office. In the office. Originally, it's this company called Express Oil Change. At the time, they're called Express Oil Change and Service Center. There might be some near you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:08]:
I feel like I've heard it.
Anders Gustafson [00:02:09]:
I've seen that before. Anyway, it's a chain. It was a franchise chain. They do a decent job. They're not like. They're not as bad as some of the big chains out there. I mean, they're more. I don't Know, like, do you like Christian Brothers?
Tonnika Haynes [00:02:22]:
I mean, we don't have those. We do have a couple in North Carolina. It's like, not a lot like here.
Anders Gustafson [00:02:26]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like, the point is, like, I mean, some chains are really bad, but they did an okay job. Like, they weren't trying to, like, rip people off and this sort of stuff. And yeah, I started in an office gig with them and just, I don't know, wasn't super satisfying. Didn't really love my office gig. Learned a lot about how they were running their shops. Got essentially a free education on what it means to run a decent shop. I go all their managers meetings.
Anders Gustafson [00:02:55]:
I go into the stores. I saw the numbers and all this sort of bit. I was really, really eager to get out of Alabama. Just wasn't home. Not where you didn't want to be
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:05]:
there at Forrest Gump.
Anders Gustafson [00:03:07]:
No, no. I mean, it's underrated place, Birmingham. Like, good food, great people, you know, but just. I don't know. Yeah, yeah, okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:15]:
Next.
Anders Gustafson [00:03:16]:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And said, okay, well, you know, I think I've learned a lot about this. I was really young. I was 26 or something, and I was like, I think I've learned enough about this. I think I can open a shop. Pretty naive. Pretty stupid. And my wife and I had some family.
Anders Gustafson [00:03:38]:
She was my girlfriend at the time, but we both had family in Southern Virginia, like Hampton Roads area, Norfolk, Suffolk kind of stuff. And I was like, we should. We both have family there. Things are going good in the relationship. Like, let's move to Virginia and we'll open a shop.
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:53]:
I like the Clampets.
Anders Gustafson [00:03:55]:
What's that?
Tonnika Haynes [00:03:57]:
We loaded up the truck and we moved to Virginia.
Anders Gustafson [00:04:00]:
I remember towing my Honda Civic behind the U Haul and, like. And I didn't fix it to the U Haul properly. And I remember one, like, one guy honking at me because I had, like, one wheel, like, falling off behind, sleeping in the rest stop in my U Haul.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:19]:
So, yeah, you can do that stuff when you're young. You can't sleep in a U haul at 45, 46.
Anders Gustafson [00:04:23]:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, yeah, not far off. Loaded up my truck, moved to Southern Virginia. We opened our first shop in Suffolk. That was early 2010, 12. And it went better. I guess it was okay. I don't know.
Anders Gustafson [00:04:45]:
I mean, we'll get into this.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:46]:
I mean, like, how old were you at the time, though?
Anders Gustafson [00:04:48]:
I was in my late 20s.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:49]:
Okay. That's not. I mean.
Anders Gustafson [00:04:50]:
Yeah, okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:50]:
That's pretty ambitious.
Anders Gustafson [00:04:52]:
Yeah. Yeah, it was I mean, naive, ambitious. I don't know.
Tonnika Haynes [00:04:55]:
You can do that when you don't have children and stuff. And you can make those kind of decisions.
Anders Gustafson [00:04:59]:
That's exactly right. You know, And I mean, I, like, the. The only thing I remember thinking at the time, I remember being scared. So can I curse them?
Tonnika Haynes [00:05:10]:
Curse?
Anders Gustafson [00:05:10]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:05:10]:
Yeah, you can curse.
Anders Gustafson [00:05:11]:
I remember being scared shitless because I had never, like, led anybody. Like, I had never been responsible for, like, somebody else's performance or their paycheck or their groceries. Yeah, anything. Like, nothing. Forget. Like. Yeah, Like, I mean, not even, like, in a little boring corporate job where I have, like, one little underling for me. Like, I.
Anders Gustafson [00:05:30]:
You know, and so it was. That was the moment, like, the week beforehand where I was like, all the. Like, figure out how to get the, you know, the store open and figure out where to get the money and all that. Like, that didn't really stress me out until when I was like, oh, my
Tonnika Haynes [00:05:46]:
God, like, I gotta keep doing this every day.
Anders Gustafson [00:05:48]:
I gotta keep doing this every. Or, like, someone's gonna, like. Like, they're gonna, like, work for me, you know, I don't know how to, like, describe, like. Yeah. And, like, they're gonna have. They're gonna have. They're gonna have to listen to me kind of thing. Like, I had, you know, that was.
Anders Gustafson [00:06:04]:
I mean, remember just having a total, total breakdown because I had a. I had met some guys, other shop owners, and they were like, well, you've come and see how we do it and you can bring. I had a master tech kind of level guy that totally fell into, like, backwards how I found him. It just so happened that he had just moved across the street from where we were gonna put the shop, and he was currently commuting. Like, his new commute was going to be like an hour and a half away. So when he saw that, like, we were opening a shop, he just stumbled in there one day. He's like, hey, are you. Are you going to open a shop? Because I now have a.
Anders Gustafson [00:06:48]:
I just moved here and I have a really long commute.
Tonnika Haynes [00:06:49]:
So it worked out.
Anders Gustafson [00:06:50]:
Yeah, it worked out. But we went to, you know, a friend shop to, like, learn and see and these sorts of things, like how guys were doing it or whatever. And I just, like. I remember the night before that, like, I was gonna be bringing Richie with me. And I mean, you a skirt. I was so scared.
Tonnika Haynes [00:07:13]:
I was so scared.
Anders Gustafson [00:07:13]:
I was so, so, so scared. It ended up. I mean, obviously it ended up being fine or good enough. Like, that first year was not super fun, but it wasn't like a total failure. We did okay. We had a decent location. Like, that was the one thing that I took from, like, the big chain that they're like, you want to be someplace where people can see, people can find you. Location, location, location, location, location, location.
Anders Gustafson [00:07:40]:
So that was like the main thing that I took away from. So that helped. Right. Because I didn't know how to market. I didn't know, like, you know, most people don't.
Tonnika Haynes [00:07:47]:
They don't realize until, like, you have a dream and then you're like, wait, whoa. Gotta do what?
Anders Gustafson [00:07:52]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:07:53]:
So you were like every department, Your hr, your marketing, your accounting, your. All the things. And you just didn't even know all the things that really went into running a business.
Anders Gustafson [00:08:02]:
No, I had no idea. I mean, I was the manager.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:03]:
Right.
Anders Gustafson [00:08:04]:
I mean, I was. I was essentially not even. I was the advisor. Like, I mean, I didn't. Was not good at working on cars at that point.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:10]:
Right.
Anders Gustafson [00:08:10]:
You know, no. Knew almost nothing. But. Yeah. So, yeah, the accounting didn't get done for the first year.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:20]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:08:21]:
You know, but like, it'll come up. Like, that stuff I know about. I'm very comfortable with it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:27]:
You just didn't have time for it or.
Anders Gustafson [00:08:28]:
I just didn't have time for it. You know, that was it. It was just like all day, every day. Just like, you know, I don't know. Just felt like I couldn't leave the counter in case somebody called or like, whatever. I was like, afraid to do anything that felt like it wasn't running the shop.
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:45]:
Customer facing stuff.
Anders Gustafson [00:08:46]:
Yeah, like, customer facing, like, people forget
Tonnika Haynes [00:08:48]:
about all the back office stuff.
Anders Gustafson [00:08:49]:
Yeah, yeah. So I just felt like it was like being dishonest if I, like, went to, you know, disappeared from that or whatever, you know. So, yeah, it just got ignored. You try to do it at night or whatever when you get home and
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:02]:
it's, you know, bring your work home and then. Well, I mean, coaches call it now scheduling your hats.
Anders Gustafson [00:09:09]:
Sure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:09]:
So you just didn't do a good job with scheduling your hats.
Anders Gustafson [00:09:11]:
No.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:12]:
I mean, that's a learned thing because I guess, I don't know, I'm not a technician, but technicians that go from technician to shop owners, they don't think about that part the same way that you didn't think about that part. It is what it is. And you ended up with how many stores, though?
Anders Gustafson [00:09:24]:
Just two. Just two.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:26]:
Just two.
Anders Gustafson [00:09:26]:
Just two. Yeah. We ended up opening another one that was like 45 minutes away down in Virginia beach. And it was Fine. It was an okay store. Definitely did not. I got cocky. The first store ended up doing pretty, you know, pretty well after a couple years.
Anders Gustafson [00:09:42]:
And so I was like, oh, great. You know, just rinse and repeat kind of thing. And the, and the other one was gonna be in a fancy neighborhood, you know, lots of money. I was like, you know, this'll be well.
Tonnika Haynes [00:09:56]:
What didn't translate. I mean, if you did good at
Anders Gustafson [00:09:58]:
that one store, I think honestly might have just been the location. Right. You know, like the other one was just like, like people couldn't ignore us. It was, you know, right next to the brand new Kroger that just went in and like, you know, they'd put in Ulta and all the other like nice shops and we were just like right there.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:14]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:10:14]:
And I was just like, people couldn't ignore us. Like they were just like bumping into us. And the other one, I thought it was going to be good because it was near like a Home Depot and same thing, like shopping center. But it was just like, it was like tucked behind and like not as visible from like the street and these sorts of things. And again, I wasn't like, what we were really good at was service and taking care of people. Like that was our marketing. You know, I was not gifted at like figuring out how to, how to
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:43]:
get the new people into the new store.
Anders Gustafson [00:10:45]:
Yeah. How to get people there. Like when they were there. Everyone was always super happy.
Tonnika Haynes [00:10:48]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:10:49]:
You know, these sort of things in this, the shop wasn't. Didn't do poorly, but it just, I don't know, maybe I had too high expectations and I don't know if I ever do that. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:01]:
People say, oh, don't you want to be a multi shop owner? Like, I don't think I want to do that. I want to have to do it again.
Anders Gustafson [00:11:05]:
I get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:08]:
It sounds scary. Like you said, you go in there and this shop is working really good and you've got all your hats, you know when to wear them, you've got the team, you've got the counter, you've got your customer base and then you want to go do it again. Maybe I'm just a sucker and I'm just like too scared to do it. Maybe if I did it, it would be fine. And you're supposed to challenge yourself. Right?
Anders Gustafson [00:11:27]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:27]:
I don't want to. I'm too old for that.
Anders Gustafson [00:11:29]:
Yeah. I mean again, like starting all over,
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:31]:
like having another kid right now, almost 50 years old. The first two came out fine. And Then the last one would just be an asshole. Like, I don't even know if, like, that was a mom. I was a good mom. I had two kids. And what is with this?
Anders Gustafson [00:11:42]:
What happened, Little Jimmy?
Tonnika Haynes [00:11:43]:
What is. Because, yeah, mom, you're a mama. You're old.
Anders Gustafson [00:11:49]:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, still change. Things change. Yeah. It's gone by and you just got different priorities or whatever. And so, I don't know, again, I was definitely stuck a little bit in. This was a different path than, like, any of my other friends were taking. Like, you know, most of them stayed in office jobs or, you know, were working in finance and these sorts of things.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:13]:
I don't think any of my friends really respected what I was doing.
Anders Gustafson [00:12:16]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:17]:
Yeah. I was at UNC Greensboro, so I was about 45 minutes from the shop, and I would work every other day.
Anders Gustafson [00:12:23]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:23]:
With dad, and they were still in school and they had careers in buildings that had ac and they got dressed up to go to work. So up until now, I really don't think they were like, oh, that's going to be so cool. You're going to work in the exact shop with your dad. I don't think anybody ever said that. I mean, they adore my dad, but. No.
Anders Gustafson [00:12:41]:
Yeah. No, but there was. There was definitely some of that. Yeah. Where I felt like. I don't know, I think some of that, like, second shop just felt like, you got to.
Tonnika Haynes [00:12:49]:
Right. You gotta show them.
Anders Gustafson [00:12:50]:
Yeah, yeah. Or, you know, that this is what it's about. It's about getting bigger and, you know, and growth and these sorts of things and. Yeah. That was not the case.
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:02]:
That was not the case.
Anders Gustafson [00:13:03]:
Yeah, that was not the case. It was not. It's. Yeah. I split. Went from being. Feeling pretty good about stuff to going back to that place of just, like, feared. Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:13:14]:
Like, I don't know, you know, first shot was going well. I'm starting to grow into the role. You know, I feel good and confident and these sorts of things. And then, you know, when that second store is not, I'm like, I don't. I have these moments where I don't. I don't know what to do.
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:32]:
Did you try coaching or anything like that? Or was that even a thing that you ever heard of before?
Anders Gustafson [00:13:36]:
No, I like truth. You know, one of the biggest mistakes I made is I was not a good participant of the industry. Like, I lived, like, in my little island, like, just. I don't know. I just. I don't know. I guess I wasn't. I don't.
Anders Gustafson [00:13:50]:
I don't know why.
Tonnika Haynes [00:13:51]:
No, it's a lot. I mean, you. I don't know, statistics. I'm not going to sit here and say X percent of these people do not go up and get coaching, but there's a lot.
Anders Gustafson [00:14:00]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:14:01]:
I want to say it's like only 10% of shop owners go to conferences
Anders Gustafson [00:14:04]:
and do the things I had never had. Never been to conferences. You know, I didn't, I didn't know anything about. Again, I wasn't. I definitely had that mindset of like, that I was competitor to other shop owners in the area.
Tonnika Haynes [00:14:18]:
Even though there was 1.8 million cars dropped.
Anders Gustafson [00:14:20]:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, I definitely had a little bit of that they don't want to talk to me, I don't want to talk to them sort of stuff. So, yeah, a lot of the bad habits.
Tonnika Haynes [00:14:30]:
Well, I think people still feel like that, so it's not uncommon. Do you think if you had coaching or a partner with another shop that you can bounce ideas off of that? It would have been different, I think.
Anders Gustafson [00:14:45]:
I mean, there was. Yeah, of course, like, it definitely could have done better because in the end, like, the first shop may be doing well despite me. You know, if I'm being totally honest, like, there was some. I mean, okay, I made some good decisions, but, you know, I certainly wasn't the best possible leader that I could have been. You know, I wasn't like, I was still learning and these sorts of things. So, like, when it came to the second location and it was just, you know, not hitting, like I could have used
Tonnika Haynes [00:15:20]:
just.
Anders Gustafson [00:15:20]:
Yeah, some more. Rah, rah, some more, you know, some support, some emotional support and stuff. We were having kids at the same time. Like, it was not. I couldn't be putting this on my wife, you know, to like, come home
Tonnika Haynes [00:15:31]:
and bring all the negativity.
Anders Gustafson [00:15:33]:
Yeah. You know, she didn't want to hear this shit. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Nothing to. So, like, I wish I had, like some guys that I could kind of talk to, but I mean, I even remember, you know, with my friends, the same guys I was like, trying to impress is. Oh, yes, it's doing good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:15:51]:
It's doing good. You're lying.
Anders Gustafson [00:15:52]:
Yeah, you're lying. You know you're lying. And that was definitely one of my biggest weaknesses, like, is just always feeling like I had to, like, I made the decision to do this, like, it has to be successful. I have to present this image of like, you know, it's all working out, it's all going to. Going great. And like.
Tonnika Haynes [00:16:11]:
Yeah, we were just talking about that, you know, and I think it happens a lot on the social media now. Everybody's talking about all the happy stuff and all the, oh, yeah, we did this and we did that. We did this. And then actually in the back corner of their shop crying because, oh, shit. Oh, my God, I can't pay this. I can't do this. This. This is not happening.
Tonnika Haynes [00:16:28]:
Can't find a tech and there's real situations happening and then. But I don't know if it's ego. I don't know if it's testosterone, because I'm pretty sure women do it, too.
Anders Gustafson [00:16:36]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know. I mean. So, like, one thing I loved about the shops is, like, they did keep me busy and kept me off of social media, you know, and, like, off of my phone. I noticed after we sold the shops, and again, now you have a little bit of free time and, like, I'm back on social media a little bit more. And obviously social media had changed. You know, it keeps, you know, comparing 10 years ago versus right, right now.
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:03]:
We're not talking about MySpace anymore.
Anders Gustafson [00:17:05]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. But, like, I didn't realize it. How much it was messing with me when I started spending a bunch of, like. I don't know, I guess I felt like I should have been more excited after we did sell the shops and, like, things worked out okay and. But then I was spending all this time on social media and I'm reading things and I was feeling way, way, way worse.
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:31]:
Really?
Anders Gustafson [00:17:32]:
Oh, my God.
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:32]:
Because you're comparing yourself to people's stories and their. People's stories reels, right?
Anders Gustafson [00:17:36]:
People's stories. Constantly. Constantly. And. And. But. And it doesn't come naturally to me to be like, you know, like, I worked really hard. I, you know, did okay with my business.
Anders Gustafson [00:17:46]:
I sold them. Like, you know, look, you know, it was just kind of like, oh, man,
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:50]:
he's got three shots and he still run. Oh, you were companion. Or. So what do they call that?
Anders Gustafson [00:17:54]:
Yeah, I mean, the. I don't. I don't know. I just, like.
Tonnika Haynes [00:17:57]:
I just remember dialysis. Paralysis. Is that what that is? I don't know if that's what that is. I don't think.
Anders Gustafson [00:18:02]:
Yeah, it was more like. I mean. Yeah. I just remember having that moment where I was like, oh, my God. Like, I feel like shit when I spend a bunch of time on social media. Like, you know, I'm. And I. But I'm.
Anders Gustafson [00:18:17]:
But I'm proud of myself, you know, so it's, like, weird. It was just it was really hard to.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:23]:
You couldn't toot your own horn?
Anders Gustafson [00:18:25]:
No, no, it doesn't.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:26]:
Like, we need a class on horn tooting. I can horn toot. I can horn, too.
Anders Gustafson [00:18:32]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Toot your own horn. Right. And it doesn't have to be in a way that, like, so many people do it now, which is, like, Right. You know, you know, pretending like there's no problem.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:40]:
Oh, no, there's problems.
Anders Gustafson [00:18:41]:
Yeah, yeah, there's problems. I like, it's perfectly fine to share your thoughts and be open and toot your own horn about, like, you know, but be honest.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:47]:
Be honest about it.
Anders Gustafson [00:18:48]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:48]:
Like, yeah, the shop's doing good. I don't have to be there all the time right now. It is a blessing. I have a wonderful team.
Anders Gustafson [00:18:54]:
Right? Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:18:55]:
I've learned after. I mean, I've been doing it for 10 years on my own now. It's not like I just started.
Anders Gustafson [00:18:59]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:00]:
And I think the people, like, just started.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:02]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:02]:
Or two to three years in, they have to sit there and look at the social media, too, and they're looking at all the wins. Oh, Yeah. I did $1.17 million last week. Okay. And then you're like, well, all I did was 10,000. Like, no, but the week before you did eight.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:17]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:18]:
And this time last year, you were not doing anything. So you have to look at your own growth and be your own, you know, race against yourself.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:25]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:25]:
And I don't think people know to do that. What? I think that's kind of in your personality. Like, I. Yeah, it's a little bit
Anders Gustafson [00:19:32]:
of my personality, for sure. Like, you saw my stuff yesterday. The most boring.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:38]:
That was funny to me.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:39]:
Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:40]:
But now that you're saying it, I'm like, that was sad.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:42]:
No, but I mean.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:43]:
But you did it on Pray. It got attention.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:45]:
I did do it to be funny. Like, humor. Humor is like, sarcasm is definitely my, you know.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:50]:
That's your go to.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:50]:
Yeah, it's my go to. I feel much more comfortable.
Tonnika Haynes [00:19:53]:
Give me some more of that stuff.
Anders Gustafson [00:19:54]:
Yeah, yeah. Well, as opposed to, like, I mean, all these booths, you know, life changing, you know, world revolutionary. Kind of like, I don't believe any of that, you know, but like, exactly.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:07]:
You got to tell people exactly what it said. It said, most boring booth at Tectonic.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:13]:
At Tectonic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the most boring booth at Tectonic. And in that. In that. Perfect. I was really trying to go for, like the 90s infomercial style, like, you know, but turned on his head a little bit, but, yeah. You know, wanted.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:24]:
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:26]:
There's no flashing lights over here.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:27]:
No, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, I meant, like, the. You know, those. Like, what was the guy. Ron with the rotisserie. The.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:37]:
You're weird. Do you remember.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:39]:
You remember that?
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:39]:
I know you're talking about.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:40]:
You know what I'm talking about. Ron with the rotisserie. And I can't remember what his, like, go to, like, tagline was, but he would, like, make the audience, you know, yell it every time he took the chicken out or whatever.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:50]:
Oh, my goodness. Was it an air fryer? It was, like, one of the first air fryers.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:53]:
Before Air fryer. Yeah, it was like.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:55]:
Like, before.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:55]:
It was literally just like, a little rotisserie kind of thing.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:57]:
And then I had all the attachments.
Anders Gustafson [00:20:59]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:20:59]:
Yes. For the low, low price of.
Anders Gustafson [00:21:01]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:02]:
So you go from selling your shop.
Anders Gustafson [00:21:03]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:04]:
And sell both of them.
Anders Gustafson [00:21:05]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:06]:
And then. Then what do we do?
Anders Gustafson [00:21:08]:
Took a little time off, you know, Got to. Yeah. Be a little bit more helpful. Dad, husband kind of stuff also.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:16]:
So you sold it for some money. Money. So you can sit down for a little bit.
Anders Gustafson [00:21:18]:
You can sit down for a little bit.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:19]:
Okay, cool.
Anders Gustafson [00:21:20]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, ended up being a pretty big shop, you know, and was successful. And the second one was. Meh. Yeah. Okay. But, like, had the foresight to invest in the real estate and, you know, and so, like, a couple things came together that made.
Anders Gustafson [00:21:42]:
Yeah. Made it, like, okay. Yeah. Gave me some comfort. But I have very young children still. You know, it's a long journey.
Tonnika Haynes [00:21:50]:
You went to cleaning boogers and.
Anders Gustafson [00:21:52]:
Yeah, yeah. But it's a long journey. Like, that. That set us up. But it was like, you know, it wasn't the. The end. And so, I mean, I know I was making a joke that I was ignoring all the accounting when it first got started.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:03]:
Yeah, but you're an accountant.
Anders Gustafson [00:22:04]:
I'm not an accountant. I am not an accountant.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:07]:
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:22:08]:
Like, because. Yeah, there'll be some accountant. Be like, you know, you know, like, certifications. You're supposed to technically have, like, certifications for something.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:16]:
You're a money dude.
Anders Gustafson [00:22:16]:
I'm. I'm a num.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:18]:
He's a numbers guy.
Anders Gustafson [00:22:19]:
I'm. Okay. I'm comfortable. I like numbers. I do remember when I realized that I liked the counting. The little. You're gonna hate this story, but, like, the little accounting software that I first started using, it would be, like. It had.
Anders Gustafson [00:22:33]:
It was like a game. Like, if you're like what your accounting software said your bank account balance was and like what your bank account balance were that it like matched. It gave you like this nice big green check. And that was like, that brought me so much satisfaction. The green check going for. That's everything you find every penny check, like, working through. I got the green check.
Tonnika Haynes [00:22:57]:
You don't understand how much I add that 2 or 3 cent to just like, I'm done reconciling. You're the person that will go find that.
Anders Gustafson [00:23:04]:
It doesn't drive me. But I would also make sure that there would never be a 2 or 3 cent day. Like, I was like, I was doing it all times. Yeah, it's weird, you know, but I'm comfortable with it. And in the end, like, it was part of what helped us succeed, you know, it was like just being comfortable with that component of it. I was way more comfortable with the, the numbers and the. I had to work really hard at the shop stuff.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:30]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:23:30]:
You know, like, I, like for me, it was like the business side of it. I wasn't necessarily paying as much attention to it as I could have. Like, I wasn't a natural born marketer or anything like that. But in the end, like, it didn't, like, it didn't emotionally drain me, you know, to like have to work on that stuff. It was emotionally draining for me. It was like being on the counter and like, and like dealing with mine's backwards.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:54]:
I can be on the counter all day.
Anders Gustafson [00:23:55]:
Oh my God.
Tonnika Haynes [00:23:55]:
But when I have to go and do the numbers, my eyes start twitching.
Anders Gustafson [00:23:58]:
I mean, until the day that we sold the shops, I still had, you know, a little bit of jitters when you pick up the phone to call a customer.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:05]:
Really? How many, how many years did you have the shop?
Anders Gustafson [00:24:08]:
10ish. What I meant. Thousands.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:10]:
I love being on the front counter.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:11]:
Thousands.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:12]:
I'm so out of place when I'm not on the front counter. When I go back there and do ownership and management type work.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:19]:
Thousands of calls to customers. Still nervous.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:21]:
Well, if that's who you are, then that's who you are.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:23]:
You can't change it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:24]:
Yeah, it wasn't your thing.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:25]:
It wasn't. Wasn't my thing. I mean, but I, you know, I tried to, you know, push myself, push myself to do it. But I mean, it comes like now I do believe, like, I can help shop owners is what I do. But. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:35]:
Cause you taught a class.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:36]:
Yeah, but I'm naturally inclined. I'm naturally inclined to say it's the most boring, you know, thing I do.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:40]:
Stop saying that.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:41]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:42]:
It's just because I think in that class the other day, like, I was sitting back there, I had questions, and then I know Enrique had questions. We were like, Damn, it's only 45 minutes.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:49]:
Yeah. Oh, you came to our class. That's right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:24:51]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:24:51]:
I saw you in the back. Yeah. That was wild. Like, you know, that was a insight into shop owners. Like, we give the title, like, you know, why you need to sell tires.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:02]:
And then they were like, we already sell tires. Like, what are you doing here? Like, did you read the title of the class? Like, why are you here?
Anders Gustafson [00:25:08]:
The only people that came were, like, the biggest tire sellers.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:11]:
Well, I don't think I sell enough tires.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:14]:
Right, right, right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:14]:
Like, I'm a little afraid of it. For the reasons that you put up there.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:17]:
Yeah, yeah. Because.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:18]:
Well, I didn't understand.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:19]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:20]:
That. Because I just like, oh, we don't get the 55, 65 more. We don't get to do this. But. Yeah, but it. The profit.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:27]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:27]:
Off of it.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:28]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:28]:
Is so much greater than, like you said, the water pump job.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:31]:
Sure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:31]:
So once people see it and break it down, and I think that's probably. Even though they're selling tires, I don't think they can see it.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:38]:
Yeah. That's part of, like, the big picture.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:40]:
So you need to do like a. You need to do a tutorial. I will. Tutorial.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:44]:
You know Dan, right?
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:45]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:45]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:46]:
You and Dan need to put something together.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:47]:
Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, I did that class the first time, like, a year ago at Vision, and Dan came up to me and he's like, I want to, you know, be a part of this. And I said, great. Cause, like, you know, it always helps to have somebody.
Tonnika Haynes [00:25:58]:
Entertainment.
Anders Gustafson [00:25:58]:
Well, yeah, like, you know, proof. Right. You know, like, I can point to, you know, a guy who's got a great shop, you know, and does a lot of tires.
Tonnika Haynes [00:26:06]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:26:07]:
But. Yeah, that was funny to me.
Tonnika Haynes [00:26:09]:
So you're teaching tires.
Anders Gustafson [00:26:11]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:26:12]:
Sales and then the software that you have.
Anders Gustafson [00:26:14]:
Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:26:15]:
I don't know nothing about it.
Anders Gustafson [00:26:16]:
That's fine. That's fine. We are on what we would call the back office side of how you run your shops.
Tonnika Haynes [00:26:23]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:26:23]:
So it's everything from moving your data from TechMetric, QuickBooks, you know, so some people use the back office like that. So we have something similar to that. We have parts reconciliation. And we also just help people with straight bookkeeping and accounting. So don't get me wrong, it's not a straight software product. It's a combination. We Use software and technology to make sure that you're actually getting an ROI on the money that you spend on accounting. Because that's what we think.
Anders Gustafson [00:26:57]:
A lot of guys just look at it is. It's just a sunk cost. I got to do it. I got to spend the money.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:01]:
Necessary evil. Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:27:02]:
Unnecessary evil. And we take the alternative approach, which is like, the people that you're paying to do it spend so much time on what I call brain damage tasks of just like, you know, data and typing numbers and these sorts of things that, like, they, like, even if they were able to contribute to your company on a higher level, at a strategic level, they have zero time. They have zero time.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:26]:
And do they really know what it means?
Anders Gustafson [00:27:28]:
Yeah. So chances are you can't probably hire somebody who would know what it means and also get them to like, do the really, really low level tasks that need to be done to get good numbers out of it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:42]:
Parts reconciliation.
Anders Gustafson [00:27:43]:
Yeah. So you end up picking one or the other. Like, you know, like, you just pay the really low level doer, kind of bookkeeper type. And they don't contribute to your organization strategically because that's not like how they're.
Tonnika Haynes [00:27:57]:
They don't know what it is anyway.
Anders Gustafson [00:27:58]:
Yeah. But, you know, like, if you go and try to invest in somebody who could help you make sense of, like, what those numbers would mean. I mean, kind of like a coach, but not, you know, which is obviously talk about many, many different areas, not just the finances. You're gonna pay a lot to that person and you don't have the low level.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:17]:
Yeah, they're not gonna reconcile that invoice against what came from Toyota to what you had at the shop.
Anders Gustafson [00:28:21]:
So that's why everyone just thinks, like, it's just. It's a sunk cost, you know, it's like it's not gonna help me grow. And, you know, again, as someone who could sit there and do that sort of stuff, you know, for hours and like it and like it, but also am very comfortable with what the numbers are trying to tell me and like, and how to turn that into strategy. Like how you use tires. Yeah. You know, I. That's cool.
Tonnika Haynes [00:28:48]:
I'm gonna have to get a demonstration. I hate them. I can't. And I'm. I can't stand it. The only thing I do like about the new QuickBooks Online is that it's so much easier to reconcile. Other than that.
Anders Gustafson [00:28:59]:
Yeah, no, no, it's fine.
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:00]:
You want to see an eye twitch? You know, normally you can't see somebody's eye Twitch. I'm sure you can see my eye twitching when it's that time. I mean it is hilarious. I'll come out the back office and I'm. They're like you're doing, I'm doing, I'm doing the books and they're not that bad.
Anders Gustafson [00:29:14]:
It's just like, yeah, it's just like
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:16]:
it's not my thing.
Anders Gustafson [00:29:17]:
What fills your cup? Like what makes you feel, you know, good? What makes you feel empowered? Like I don't know, that's for me.
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:23]:
So the numbers fill your cup.
Anders Gustafson [00:29:24]:
Oh, for sure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:29:25]:
And this, how long did it take for you to develop this? Is it software? Can we call it software?
Anders Gustafson [00:29:30]:
I would say, I would call this a very tech enabled service. So we still have like human component to what we do, but we use our own custom developed software to make us so much more efficient that the money that you spend on this can go towards again. Like I work as a fractional CFO for a couple MSOs and this sort of stuff where I'm able to contribute for them strategically and talk to them about things. Big questions that they have, help them understand cash flow, help them figure out buy a store, sell a store, I don't know, talk to them about their PEO situation, actually help them make decisions on their business. But all of the little stuff that needs to get done so I have that good information is done very easily via our software. Does that make sense?
Tonnika Haynes [00:30:22]:
That does make sense. It's very sort of your brainchild of this. Is this your baby? You made yourself?
Anders Gustafson [00:30:27]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean I have business partners, you know, and I have mentors in this. As I said, like I wasn't the best about being a participant in the industry, you know, as a shop owner. So I've this process of like coming to trade shows and meeting people and talking to people. I've been fortunate to run into some, yeah. Some really smart folks and they're, you know, willing to help me and yeah, so it's, it's been very, very, very, very rewarding. Like it's been nice to, yeah. Stay, you know, actually do.
Anders Gustafson [00:31:05]:
Like I felt I learned a lot and you know, and be able to keep using that, that knowledge.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:11]:
And then you could say, yeah, I had to shop for 10 years. So it's not like, it's like you don't know anything about.
Anders Gustafson [00:31:17]:
I do, that's.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:18]:
I do. And I was winning and then. And you were winning at some, I guess at some point you never really lost, you just got out while you're
Anders Gustafson [00:31:26]:
on top I got. I mean, it's. It was. The wholesale story is there was an offer, and I had a 50. 50 business partner. So we got approached by somebody, and they made an offer, and I had a business partner who said, I want to take it. And I was like, you know, I was like, okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:45]:
Oh, you had a business partner?
Anders Gustafson [00:31:46]:
I had a business partner.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:48]:
I've heard nightmares about that stuff.
Anders Gustafson [00:31:49]:
I know that comes up a lot.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:50]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:31:51]:
On. On the stuff. And I have to keep my mouth shut.
Tonnika Haynes [00:31:54]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:31:55]:
Because, like, that wasn't my experience. That wasn't my experience. And I understand. I do understand people's logic, like, how it. How it can go bad, you know, fast. But. And I guess we did do the things that people say, like, if you're gonna have a partner, like, have everything
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:14]:
laid out, don't just get a case of beer.
Anders Gustafson [00:32:16]:
Yeah, yeah. Like, make it all so, like, really official. Official. And he had no. Like, he. I mean, he was the money guy.
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:25]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:32:26]:
You know, he was the guy, like. And had no interest. Didn't even live near us, you know, lived a few hours away, like, so there was some of that, like, I
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:37]:
guess made it probably easier not to have both people right there.
Anders Gustafson [00:32:41]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:32:41]:
Two chiefs there in the shop all the time.
Anders Gustafson [00:32:43]:
But, you know, like, that was part of my motivation, too. I mean, not just because, like, obviously I felt like I had to, like, reward the investor in any way, but, like, that was a motivator for me. Like, when I, like, you know, being scared was definitely a motivator. And, like, being, like, scared of disappointing him was a motivator, but it was also, like, I guess I would turn it a little bit around, which is, like, I really wanted to do right by him, you know, like, it was a positive side of having a business partner. Like, I, like, wanted to do well for myself or whatever, but, like, I was driving some. You know, it's a little bit of ego. Like, some ego from feeling like I could make his money grow, you know,
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:29]:
like, yeah, he got his return on investment.
Anders Gustafson [00:33:31]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:31]:
Like, I.
Anders Gustafson [00:33:32]:
Like, there was a little bit. Bit of ego.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:34]:
So you can go back to him and say, hey, another part.
Anders Gustafson [00:33:36]:
Yeah, yeah, look at this. Yeah. You know, so that's good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:38]:
I mean, the fact that he. He still won. Buggy won.
Anders Gustafson [00:33:41]:
Yeah. Yeah. But it wasn't. Yeah, it was very unexpected, I guess I would say. Like, I was. I thought I was going to be running those. I thought maybe. I don't know at the time, even though the second.
Anders Gustafson [00:33:52]:
Yeah, I was starting to look at the third one, like, Right. As the second one opened. And then that got nixed.
Tonnika Haynes [00:33:57]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:33:57]:
Because the second one wasn't, you know, like I told you. Didn't. Didn't do so hot. Did fine. And. But yeah, at every stage I was like, this is what I'm going to keep doing for forever. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't expect to be out of it after 10 years.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:17]:
That's still a long time.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:18]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:19]:
What do they say it takes? How long before business is profitable? Is it three years? I don't know. I don't know. Statistics.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:25]:
Yeah. A lot of them never are, right?
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:26]:
No, a lot of them never are. And I don't even think they know. They don't know that they are.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:30]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:30]:
If they just lost money's in the bank.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:32]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:33]:
Then I'm good.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:33]:
Yeah, that's fine.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:34]:
But. Yeah, but yes, it's not software. Say, what do you call it again?
Anders Gustafson [00:34:39]:
Shop lovers.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:39]:
You're shop. No, what do you call it's not software?
Anders Gustafson [00:34:41]:
Oh, I don't know. Tech enabled service.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:45]:
Your tech enabled service.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:46]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:47]:
Could show them I take care of where they stand financially. Yeah, yeah. Open some eyes.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:52]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:34:52]:
Make you some small changes or give yourself a pat on the back.
Anders Gustafson [00:34:56]:
Yeah. And it's, you know, it's for all sorts of people. I mean, if you want to grow, if you don't want to grow, like, you know, you know, like we're talking about. It doesn't, like, growth doesn't have to be the, you know, the reason that, you know, you do any of this. Like, but we do want to make sure that, like, people feel that the money that they spend in this area is contributing to the company. We do think it's something that like bigger companies do. Like they use marketing, they use finance, they use HR as like, functions to help you grow a little bit. They're not just like necessary evils.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:31]:
Yeah. For me, account. No. I love my accountant. She's not evil, she's necessary.
Anders Gustafson [00:35:36]:
Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:36]:
But she's not evil. But it's necessary. And yeah. Yeah. I'm lucky because I have one that I really respect.
Anders Gustafson [00:35:41]:
Yeah. And that's what it is. I mean, that's so much of it is like the one. The ones that are really doing well. It's great people.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:48]:
But I just wish she did know more for the automotive side of it to help me make other decisions. Like she's gonna make sure I don't go to jail.
Anders Gustafson [00:35:56]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:35:57]:
An IRS doesn't show up and my books are reconciled and all that good stuff. But there's, like. I'm pretty sure there's some factors that are missing, and that's where people like you come in.
Anders Gustafson [00:36:07]:
And that's what I said. We're not really accountants. Like, again, I'm sure, you know, someone will get mad at us.
Tonnika Haynes [00:36:12]:
They'll be mad. Get mad at me. He's not an accountant.
Anders Gustafson [00:36:14]:
Yeah, I'm not an accountant. We try, you know, it's. We call it operations or financial operations. Like, I'm a good bridge between those two. Like, you know, being able to understand, like, why we need to do it a certain way in the shop, you know, and how that links to what happens with this number in the back office. Kind of, you know, stuff like. And try to make it painless for people, you know, like, painless for your manager, painless for your service advisor to, like, painless for me, painless for you, for whomever. And, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Anders Gustafson [00:36:48]:
I mean, the best part is, like, I get born and raised on the East Coast. I like going, like, different places now. I like meeting shop owners. Like, no, you just said you just
Tonnika Haynes [00:36:57]:
got back from Spain. Are you going to Spain?
Anders Gustafson [00:37:00]:
So we're on a boondoggle. We're on a bit of a boondoggle.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:03]:
He's on a boondoggle.
Anders Gustafson [00:37:04]:
I'm on a boondoggle. My wife was very supportive, you know, of us or me when we were getting the shops. That was a lot of my ego. Like, I wanted to do that. She's raising the kids, this sort of stuff. So she had an opportunity now for her career, now that she's back to working where they let her live in Spain or asked her to move to Spain. And I said, sure, let's do it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:31]:
Oh, cool.
Anders Gustafson [00:37:31]:
So, yeah, we're on a boondoggle. We're out there.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:34]:
Please tell everybody what a boondoggle is.
Anders Gustafson [00:37:36]:
You know what a boondoggle is? Come on from North Carolina. You've never been on a boondoggle before. A boondoggle just means, like a. Like a. Like a. Just a. You just wandering out, not really sure, like, what. What's going on.
Anders Gustafson [00:37:48]:
But it's not permanent, right? You know, it's like, it's, you know, an adventure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:53]:
I'm on an adventure.
Anders Gustafson [00:37:54]:
I'm on adventure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:37:55]:
Okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:37:55]:
Yeah, yeah, it's. It's an adventure that, like, it's been fun. Kids are young. Like, it's cool. They're, you know, figuring stuff out. But, yeah, I mean, I'm only. Would come back, spend a lot of time in the U.S. obviously, get to go all around the country.
Anders Gustafson [00:38:12]:
Like, get to go places I've never been before. Like, it's more. It's more fun for me now. Like, I get to go. I don't go. Got a guy that we work with in Iowa, and it's like. Like, that. I don't know, something about, like, going to Iowa right now feels a lot more exciting than it did when I was living in Virginia.
Anders Gustafson [00:38:28]:
Does that make sense? Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:38:29]:
Go get some potatoes.
Anders Gustafson [00:38:30]:
Yeah. You know, but it's like, I never had a reason to go to Iowa before, and I, like. I don't know, because I didn't have
Tonnika Haynes [00:38:35]:
skyscrapers, but now you're just like, oh, I want to go see it.
Anders Gustafson [00:38:37]:
Yeah, I want to go see it. I want to see what's going on.
Tonnika Haynes [00:38:41]:
Check. Been there.
Anders Gustafson [00:38:42]:
Yeah. And, like, the part about the boondoggle, is it definitely. Like, I love America, you know? Like, it's been a good. You know, that's been. One of the side effects is like, america's awesome. America's beautiful.
Tonnika Haynes [00:38:54]:
Like, you come back home and you're just like, yeah, I like it here.
Anders Gustafson [00:38:56]:
Yeah, I like it here because I'm
Tonnika Haynes [00:38:57]:
just thinking, oh, wow, he lives in Spain. But I'm just like.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:00]:
Which is fun, too. It's cool. It's cool.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:02]:
But it's not home.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:03]:
It's not home. It's not home. And, like. And it's like that classic, like, you know, you don't have. You don't know what you got until,
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:08]:
you know, till it's gone.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:10]:
Yeah. Kind of thing.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:11]:
Like, there's no kfc. There's no Bojangles.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:13]:
It's just like. Like, yeah, America's massive. It's beautiful.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:15]:
And so many places right here in
Anders Gustafson [00:39:18]:
America that I've never been to. Right. You know, and, like. Yeah. You know, it's. Yes. The girl that you've been with forever and you're underappreciating her a little bit
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:27]:
so you can boondoggle together. Been boondoggling.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:31]:
Boondoggle. Yeah. I mean, there's boondoggle. So my other favorite word. Jabroni. You know jabroni?
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:37]:
No.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:37]:
You never heard. Come on. Like, someone's a jabroni. How about jalopy?
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:41]:
No, you have to tell me what a jabroni is.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:43]:
A jabroni is. I mean, anyone who's ever watched. You never watched any wrestling, the Rock, anything.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:49]:
Yeah, the Rock was when I was, like, 20. So I was over. With respect.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:52]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:39:53]:
Yeah. I'm rich.
Anders Gustafson [00:39:54]:
I mean, that was what he would call. Yeah, that's what he would call the people that he was about to rather you jab brony. So it's still like a. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:03]:
The only reason I looked at the rock is cause he was fine.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:06]:
He still looks good.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:07]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:08]:
No, it just means, like, you're a dumbass or an idiot or it's kind of like, yeah, he's a gibroni.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:12]:
He's a.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:13]:
He's a. He's a.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:13]:
He's a jabroni.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:14]:
He's a fool.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:15]:
You can't just say you're a dumbass.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:16]:
Yeah, he's a fool. He's a fool.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:19]:
And jalopy, that's an old raggedy car.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:21]:
Yeah. Yeah. So we would say we'd have a lot of jabronis bringing in jalopies, you know, to the shop, and they're out
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:27]:
here boondoggling and have no money to pay.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:30]:
This jabroni's been on a boondoggle. Now I gotta fix his jalopy. And it's.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:37]:
This is going left.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:38]:
Makes perfect sense. I understand exactly what I'm saying.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:41]:
Oh, my goodness. I know exactly what I'm saying. I have no idea what you're saying. Like, I said something at vision, and what does I say? Oh, my goodness. That's what's up. That's what's up. That's what's up. And it ran her crazy.
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:56]:
And so every now and again, I'll text her and say, that's what's up.
Anders Gustafson [00:40:58]:
That's what's up. Yeah, See?
Tonnika Haynes [00:40:59]:
That's what's up. We're going on a boondoggle in our jalopy with some jabronis.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:03]:
Some jabronis in it. No, but I mean, you know, like.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:06]:
So life is good. Yeah, life's good. Business is good. You're teaching and coaching.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:11]:
Teaching Coach Morgan, guys. But yeah, And I thought, you know, this event's been really nice.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:17]:
Oh, they did a great job here.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:18]:
They did a nice job.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:19]:
Did a great job here. And this is the first time.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:21]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:21]:
And I tell us to Nellis, I'm pretty sure this cost $1.8 billion, right? To put this on.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:25]:
It was fancy, man.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:26]:
It's fancy.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:27]:
It's fancy.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:28]:
You know, somebody complained about the lemonade. You hear about that? Somebody went on social media, complained about the lemonade as if there were not sugar packets right inside.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:37]:
Oh, that it wasn't sweet.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:38]:
That it wasn't sweet enough.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:39]:
Come on. That was like. I mean, so I remember. Grew up in New York, went to college in North Carolina.
Tonnika Haynes [00:41:48]:
You had sweet tea and you died.
Anders Gustafson [00:41:50]:
I Had never heard of it. There's two things like. Yeah, talk about people using weird, you know? So, yeah, the guy, he was on my hall in college and he's like, first night dude from, I don't know, somewhere deep in Georgia. So he had that really strong accent. Yeah. So we got the restaurant, and he was, sweet Tai. Some sweet taste, some sweet Tai. I was like, what the hell is that? And, no, that's way too sweet.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:14]:
Yeah. But I love them both. I can drink unsweetened tea, but sweet tea, it will take you out sometimes. Needs some water with it, because. No.
Anders Gustafson [00:42:22]:
Yeah. And then the other. The other thing that. That drove me insane about the way he would order drinks was he doesn't order soda. He orders a Coke.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:32]:
Doing a Coke.
Anders Gustafson [00:42:32]:
Yeah. He's like, I want a Coke. And they'd be like, what kind of Coke? He'd say, Sprite. I was like, no, no, no, no.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:38]:
You wanted a pop, didn't you?
Anders Gustafson [00:42:39]:
Yeah, I say soda.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:41]:
Okay. I say soda.
Anders Gustafson [00:42:42]:
I say soda.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:42]:
But a soda is a Sprite.
Anders Gustafson [00:42:44]:
Yeah, yeah, a Coke.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:45]:
Pepsi is not soda.
Anders Gustafson [00:42:46]:
Yeah, well, it's.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:47]:
Pepsi is syrup they use.
Anders Gustafson [00:42:49]:
And again, I mean, he's from Georgia. Like, Coke is based there or whatever. But, like, Coke was the word for. Pop was the word for Coke.
Tonnika Haynes [00:42:54]:
When people say khakis. And khakis actually a color, not a pair of pants.
Anders Gustafson [00:42:57]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So he drove me saying, can I get a Coke? What kind of Coke do you want? A Sprite.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:03]:
Yeah, I haven't been that. I mean, I didn't grow up that deep in the south, but I understand.
Anders Gustafson [00:43:05]:
Yeah, yeah, I gotcha.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:07]:
I can relate.
Anders Gustafson [00:43:08]:
You can relate? You can relate? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:10]:
So you boondoggling, building, teaching, what's next? What's next for you?
Anders Gustafson [00:43:15]:
No, we keep going with this. I mean, it's been, you know, keep working on shop levers. Really excited about it. Like, I've been really fortunate to work with some. Some awesome, awesome people and companies. You know, we were talking a little bit like, anybody who pretends that the average small business in America is not like, a complete shit show is lying.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:40]:
I got the best shit show in the world.
Anders Gustafson [00:43:42]:
Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, it goes back to what we were talking about, like, social media.
Tonnika Haynes [00:43:45]:
Yeah, Social media will mess you up.
Anders Gustafson [00:43:47]:
Yeah. Like, you know, everything. But, like, there's a. There's a lot of work to be done to, like, help to try and make it a little less shit. Showy. And that's. Yeah, that's where. That's where we'll be, you know.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:00]:
Yeah. People show up for training and know that it's available, and it doesn't. Doesn't cost as much as you think it cost. No, not training. Cost you a lot of money. Like, could you imagine where you would be if you knew and were open to training in that first couple years of having your shop?
Anders Gustafson [00:44:18]:
I mean, God. Yeah. A lot. Lot different.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:23]:
Right. That's so important. And I know I preach it about every podcast, but it made such a big difference in my life.
Anders Gustafson [00:44:29]:
And when did you start?
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:30]:
I started. Well, you know, I was on my own when my father retired, and that was 10 years ago.
Anders Gustafson [00:44:35]:
Okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:35]:
But I grew up in the shop.
Anders Gustafson [00:44:36]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:37]:
And I watched him. Like, daddy didn't do a lot of training. It wasn't a lot of this for the collision industry.
Anders Gustafson [00:44:43]:
Right, right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:43]:
And I mean, and so he does say he's like, I wish we had all the stuff that you guys had. We've got the Internet. The Internet can be a mean place, but it also can be a source of so much information.
Anders Gustafson [00:44:54]:
For sure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:54]:
Even Facebook can be a source of information if you find the right connections.
Anders Gustafson [00:44:58]:
Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:44:58]:
But, you know, you can get in there. Then there are people just being idiots because they can.
Anders Gustafson [00:45:01]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:02]:
And they can get away with it because you can't reach them through the phone.
Anders Gustafson [00:45:04]:
Right, right, right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:05]:
And so there's a lot of negativity, but then there's a lot of little bright lights in there also.
Anders Gustafson [00:45:09]:
There are.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:09]:
Yeah. So I try to be a bright light with humor.
Anders Gustafson [00:45:13]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:13]:
And like you said, it's not. Being a business owner is not. You do not get the clock out eventually. I mean, like, where I am versus where I was 10 years ago. Two different places. Right before. I probably work 18 hours a day.
Anders Gustafson [00:45:25]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:25]:
You know, I brought the kids to school. I mean, to work with me. I did seven days a week. I was telling all the customers, yes, I had aro. That was sucky. I didn't know my value, didn't know how to price. I didn't believe in marking up parts because I was just scared. So I was just running around owning a shop with fear.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:40]:
I didn't have any numbers to back it up. I didn't know where I was at. I had to check my checking accounts. Like, okay. Yeah, okay, okay. But as I was more open to coaching. Actually didn't start with coaching. It started with Facebook.
Tonnika Haynes [00:45:53]:
It started with the ASOC group with Lucas Underwood just being there and being a mouse. I didn't say anything. Didn't say much. Just looking Looking, reading other people's questions, looking at the answers like, oh, oh, so other people have these problems.
Anders Gustafson [00:46:05]:
Yeah. See, hearing someone else ask that question.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:08]:
Yeah. You're like, okay, I'm not crazy.
Anders Gustafson [00:46:09]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:09]:
Right. So like other people have these problems and I'm not alone. And I could if there's a different way.
Anders Gustafson [00:46:14]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:15]:
Is there? Yeah, I'm interested. I'm interested. And then being open to it.
Anders Gustafson [00:46:19]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:19]:
Being open to different ways to run
Anders Gustafson [00:46:21]:
the shop and like being, you know, learning that people will actually help you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:25]:
Yeah, people will actually help you and they're just not going to run over you. Yeah, they did.
Anders Gustafson [00:46:28]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:29]:
And I'm just thinking, and I can laugh about this now, but I just thought Lucas under was like so cool. He's not. He's not that damn cool.
Anders Gustafson [00:46:36]:
I don't know. Lucas, you're very cool.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:39]:
I've never met you, but just brought me into the coaching arena and then I got to sample different classes and then say, oh. And like they say if you can just take one thing back to your company and implement that.
Anders Gustafson [00:46:56]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:46:57]:
Your coaching is going to pay. Your conference is going to pay for itself.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:00]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:01]:
But if you implement 2, 3, 4.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:03]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:03]:
It's definitely going to pay for it. For sure.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:05]:
For sure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:06]:
And then it'll give you the peace of mind knowing that you're not alone.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:09]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:10]:
You're not crazy. As crazy as you thought.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:12]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:13]:
And you can get past it.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:16]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:17]:
Like we're talking. I know what it feels like to run into your office and feel like you have to be at the front desk, but you got to go check in this part. But then this is happening and that's happening. And then I have a kid with a code in the background and when the shop closes at 5:30 and he's got practice at 6.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:35]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:35]:
But I still got work to do.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:36]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:37]:
And I'm a mommy doing all of that. You had your wife at home. She's probably like, if he don't bring his ass home and come get this snotty nose kid. I am tired.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:45]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:46]:
So I get it. And I do still. And I'm glad that I still remember that. And I never want to want that to that memory to be lost because I always want to respect where I've come from and how I got out of that.
Anders Gustafson [00:47:58]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:47:59]:
But I just have a new level of devils now.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:01]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:02]:
So yeah, I got a new level of problems. But that's going to be anything you do, right? What? Business ownership, being self employed.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:09]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:09]:
That is for Crazy people.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:10]:
That's for crazy people, you know? But there's no other way to do it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:13]:
And I like being crazy.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:14]:
I like being crazy.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:16]:
So it's fun. It's nothing like it. And there's also nothing like it.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:19]:
Yeah. But. Yeah. Hate when people act otherwise. That's. That's the worst part. Because, again, I love. It's part of the game.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:25]:
It's part of the fun. For me, like, it is, like, that's the thing if I'm not learning something. Right. I mean, for me, in the shops, honestly, like. Like, learning about cars was, like, one of the things that I most enjoyed.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:40]:
Yeah. I will creep up on the tech and he's like, what are you doing? I just want to see.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:43]:
Yeah. I just, you know, like, that kept me, like, really, really engaged. Like. Like, you know, I probably should have been more time learning how to, like, sell.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:51]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:51]:
You know, and, like, how to do.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:52]:
I want to see what this is.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:53]:
Yeah. How to do the counter stuff.
Tonnika Haynes [00:48:54]:
Yeah.
Anders Gustafson [00:48:55]:
But, yeah, any. Any kind of learning, you know? So, like, that's where it never stops. Like, there's always, like, the next and it never stops.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:01]:
And even with the business ownership, you know, everybody say, roller coaster ride. So if everybody's always winning and they're lying because they're not always winning. Yeah, they're always winning. Anything about the roller coaster, that means you're going up the whole time, right? That's just boring. I mean, like, you just going up.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:17]:
Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:18]:
The fun part is when you go up.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:19]:
Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:19]:
You go down and you go.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:20]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:22]:
I lived.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:23]:
Oh, my God.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:24]:
I lived. Oh, my God. Let's ride it again.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:26]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:27]:
Cause you're like. When you go up and then you go down that dip, you're gonna piss on yourself sometime if you're not strong enough. But then when you get down, you're just like.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:35]:
Ah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:35]:
Just like. And then you go up again, Right. And then it's a twist and this and whatever.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:40]:
And you get addicted to it.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:41]:
You get addicted to it.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:41]:
People get addicted to.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:42]:
To that stuff. Yeah. And so that's what business ownership is.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:44]:
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. That's beautiful. I've never actually roller coaster.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:47]:
I just made that up. I'm a copyright that.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:49]:
Yeah. Write that down.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:50]:
Do not use that.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:51]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you should.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:52]:
It's recorded.
Anders Gustafson [00:49:53]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:49:54]:
But, yeah, that's what it is. It's fun. It's a roller coaster. I still cry maybe I just still sit there. I do have to find the happy songs like, okay, I'm going to go find my happy song because I almost killed 2.3 people today.
Anders Gustafson [00:50:07]:
Right, right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:08]:
And then I get ready for the next day full of fun adventures and blessings and curses and.
Anders Gustafson [00:50:15]:
Yeah, it's tough. Like, I mean the biggest thing that happened for me like that I'm not proud of is just becoming like so jaded about customers.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:24]:
You know, they're not that bad.
Anders Gustafson [00:50:26]:
They're not. But I became like, they became a
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:28]:
little like, you see em.
Anders Gustafson [00:50:29]:
Yeah, yeah. Like when it started like that was part of the premises, I was like, yeah, we know what the, like, we all know what the reputation of automotive is. So like it's not rocket science. Go in there and take care of the people. And like you should.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:40]:
People are people, man.
Anders Gustafson [00:50:42]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:43]:
Oh my God.
Anders Gustafson [00:50:44]:
You know, and so that was the part that I wasn't proud of. Like, you know, that's the thing that I love.
Tonnika Haynes [00:50:48]:
I like, like self correct. I like correcting people and I'm really good at it. Okay, but the numbers, like, you customer can tell me something and I can just.
Anders Gustafson [00:50:57]:
You get, you get to know. I struggle.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:00]:
Let's, let's talk about this. I do understand why you think this as a consumer, but. No, but I can do this for you. Will this work for you?
Anders Gustafson [00:51:08]:
Oh my God.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:09]:
I love it. I love it. The people that were in our body shop were our former tenants. She would say, could you come help me? I was like, yeah, I'd love to. Yes, ma'. Am. Matt, I know you're mad. I'm so sorry.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:20]:
I'm so sorry.
Anders Gustafson [00:51:21]:
That was amazing. Yeah, you know, I'm so sorry.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:24]:
But you're safe. You didn't get hurt in the accident. God has blessed you. And I know the commercial has you thinking your car is going to be done in three days. It's not. You're going to get done here in 30 days. And you hollering at us is not get done any faster. Actually we move slower when people are mean to us.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:39]:
And that makes a joke.
Anders Gustafson [00:51:40]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:40]:
I'll tell people. I'm going to charge you more if you keep asking me the same question. So the answer is no.
Anders Gustafson [00:51:45]:
And humor always like I got, you know, But I get scared to use humor in those sorts of, you know,
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:50]:
but that's part of my personality.
Anders Gustafson [00:51:51]:
Sarcastic, but like I wouldn't do it with a customer.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:53]:
Oh, I will.
Anders Gustafson [00:51:54]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:54]:
Cuz I can do it. I can smile. And they're just like, okay. She cussing me out. Yes, I am.
Anders Gustafson [00:51:58]:
Yes.
Tonnika Haynes [00:51:59]:
Yeah. This lady, she's like Oh, I think keep calling the dealership by this guy like, cuz you keep asking them the same question. I don't want to talk to you anymore. She said she won't answer the phone. I was like, because you've been saying the same thing for a year. She said, I didn't think about it that way. I was like, yeah, the car's not going to get any better. You know, Fix it, yes or no?
Anders Gustafson [00:52:16]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, nice.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:18]:
This is good.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:19]:
Yeah, it's. It's nice.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:20]:
Life is good.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:21]:
Yeah, yeah, it's. It's good. It is like, you got to keep that in perspective that you are not your business. But that was like, you know, that was not something I was so good at.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:32]:
For sure. But you're getting better at that.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:33]:
You get better at that. You definitely get better at that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:35]:
Every day. 1% better.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:37]:
Yeah, but like those early Google reviews and stuff.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:40]:
Yeah, yeah, Google reviews. I love to answer them. Especially a bad one.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:44]:
I'm so sick of Google reviews.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:45]:
I love them.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:46]:
Oh my God.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:47]:
Yeah, I had a lady went on next door and she just threw us under the bus because our oil change was too high. And I was like, no, it's too high for you.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:52]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:52:53]:
But we're not the chiefest. But we're def. We're not the most expensive. We're definitely not the cheapest. And if we're not the place for you, that's okay.
Anders Gustafson [00:52:59]:
That's okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:00]:
That just kind of makes her feel small. Cause she can't afford it.
Anders Gustafson [00:53:03]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:03]:
But it also values my employees and what we have. And I'm not going to just because you went to the Internet to attack me.
Anders Gustafson [00:53:09]:
To attack you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:10]:
We're not gonna do that. You've never been in my doors before. And for you to come and do this on the Internet, how does that make you correct? And she did. And she said, well, I did my research, you do seem to be a good shop. And blah, blah, blah. She apologized in the threat. Yeah. She apolog was like, love you, bye.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:27]:
Yeah, and I canceled her appointment.
Anders Gustafson [00:53:29]:
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:31]:
Because you're gonna need me. Because you're gonna go to take 5 and they're gonna take 10 and they're gonna take 15 and then they're gonna take off your drain plug and they're not gonna be able to put it back on because I put it on at an angle. And you're gonna have to come see me. And I'm gonna remember your name, baby,
Anders Gustafson [00:53:44]:
take off your pants.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:45]:
And then you're Gonna wish you paid me for your normal change.
Anders Gustafson [00:53:49]:
No, I totally. It's. It's amazing to watch you work, you know, in that. You know, in that regard. Like, I mean, that's like, really, really.
Tonnika Haynes [00:53:58]:
But you're going to be able to work like that in this. In shop.
Anders Gustafson [00:54:01]:
Yeah, you get there for sure. Like, this is some. I mean, it's just questions of confidence and these sorts of things. But, I mean, I'm just the sort of like. Like, I feel at all times a need to, like, prove my value. I don't. I don't know. Like.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:19]:
Well, I don't see it.
Anders Gustafson [00:54:21]:
Yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:22]:
So that's the story you're telling yourself, because when you're in front of the class the other day, you control the chaos because people were asking questions and they got you off subject. But I did not. I did not think that this would be the subject of our conversation. So that is your. That's how you see yourself in the mirror. But that's not how I see you.
Anders Gustafson [00:54:40]:
Okay.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:40]:
And we don't see ourselves. Think about. Okay. Old school answering machine, right?
Anders Gustafson [00:54:43]:
Sure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:45]:
When you leave a voicemail and you listen to yourself on the voicemail. I hate my own voice.
Anders Gustafson [00:54:50]:
Oh, my God. I don't. There's no way. I listen to. To this podcast.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:52]:
Right. I haven't. I really. I listen to the one with my dad. Right.
Anders Gustafson [00:54:54]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:55]:
I hate my own voice.
Anders Gustafson [00:54:56]:
Right.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:57]:
But that's me being hard on me.
Anders Gustafson [00:54:59]:
Sure.
Tonnika Haynes [00:54:59]:
So you're being hard on yourself because you want to be better.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:03]:
Yeah, yeah.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:04]:
But I don't see you that way, if that makes a difference.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:06]:
Well, it does. I appreciate that.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:07]:
So tell the people how we can get in touch with you if they're interested in shop. Levers.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:12]:
Yep.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:13]:
It's not levers. Lever.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:14]:
I say levers. Levers, Whatever. You know, people, you know. Anders. Anders, whatever. You know, it doesn't matter. Shoplevers.com. andershoplevers.com.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:23]:
You know, call my cell phone, whatever. Like, you know, it's. We're.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:26]:
Call me on my cell phone.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:28]:
Yeah. You know, don't. Operators are standing by.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:33]:
And what is that number?
Anders Gustafson [00:55:35]:
914-610-9982.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:38]:
I love it.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:39]:
Yeah. And. Yeah, you get a rotisserie.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:42]:
You get a rotisserie.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:44]:
Yeah. And then. Or a shamwow.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:47]:
A shamwow. And a George Foreman grill.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:50]:
And a George Foreman grill. Yeah, yeah, yeah. RIP George Foreman grill.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:53]:
Oh, man, this is fun. This is fun. All right, well, we'll talk again.
Anders Gustafson [00:55:55]:
Thank you.
Tonnika Haynes [00:55:57]:
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.