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Confessions of a Shop Owner is hosted by Mike Allen, a third-generation shop owner, perpetual pot-stirrer, and brutally honest opinion sharer.  In this weekly podcast, Mike shares his missteps so you don’t have to repeat them. Along the way, he chats with other industry personalities who’ve messed up, too, pulling back the curtain on the realities of running an independent auto repair shop. But this podcast isn’t just about Mike’s journey. It’s about confronting the divisive and questionable tactics many shop owners and managers use. Mike is here to stir the pot and address the painful truths while offering a way forward. Together, we’ll tackle the frustrations, shake things up, and help create a better future for the auto repair industry.
Jeff Compton [00:00:00]:
But when they say, my shop struggling because of this, and I got to go, I can help you with that. And they don't take it well. I'm sorry. At some point, the technician me goes, you know what? You don't value me because you're still thinking, it's 1972 and I'm living in.
Mike Allen [00:00:12]:
2025, I default to it. It's the shop owner's fault. Way, way, way. More often than not, for sure, it's these guys that get online and say, it's impossible to hire good tech. I'm paying $26 an hour. Must have own tools, must have diag experience. Must have, must have, must have, must have. There's.
Mike Allen [00:00:32]:
There are good techs out there. They just don't want to fucking work for you for peanuts.
Mike Allen [00:00:37]:
The following program features a bunch of doofuses talking about the automotive aftermarket. The stuff we or our guests may say do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of our peers, our sponsors, or any other associations we may have. There may be some spicy language in this show, so if you get your feelings hurt easily, you should probably just move along. So without further ado, it's time for Confessions of a Shop Owner with your host, Mike Allen.
Lucas Underwood [00:01:09]:
Embroiled in controversy.
Mike Allen [00:01:11]:
Yeah, so. Love controversy.
Lucas Underwood [00:01:14]:
Yeah, we can tell.
Mike Allen [00:01:15]:
So. So, Jeff, how are you feeling this morning, man?
Jeff Compton [00:01:20]:
A little stiff.
Mike Allen [00:01:21]:
Yeah, I would imagine so. I noticed that you were getting stiff while you were wrestling me last night. I felt like maybe you were super excited about the opportunity, as it were.
Jeff Compton [00:01:31]:
Well, it's like a lot of animals that are in a cage, right? When the. When the people start to rattle the monkey cage, that. Some things happen biologically.
Mike Allen [00:01:39]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:01:40]:
Yeah. You can't do anything about it. It's okay.
Mike Allen [00:01:42]:
I have that effect on a lot of people, you know?
Jeff Compton [00:01:44]:
Oh, so you enrage a lot of people?
Mike Allen [00:01:47]:
Well, I mean, engorge. Enrage. Same thing. So.
Mike Allen [00:01:51]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:01:51]:
Yeah. I appreciate you, though, Taking. Taking one for the team like that. It was good. The flatulence when you landed, though. We all could have done without. Tan messaged me after, and she said, that suit smells funny. And I said, you have to talk to Mike.
Mike Allen [00:02:07]:
I think I deserve thanks for the fact that I had the strategic mindset to lie before us being first because they wanted us to be last.
Jeff Compton [00:02:15]:
Yes.
Mike Allen [00:02:15]:
And I was like, I'm not getting in that suit after 10 other people have been in that suit because it seals in the juices and the flavor.
Jeff Compton [00:02:21]:
I couldn't believe, like, I don't know how long it actually took me to Kick your butt. It felt like 90 seconds, but I think we're out there about five minutes.
Mike Allen [00:02:29]:
I feel like it was three or four minutes, maybe.
Mike Allen [00:02:30]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:02:31]:
But getting into the suit and out of the suit and it came off easier than it went on because it was, like, dry and, like, your skin was stick to it going on. But when it came out, it was, like, slick with urine and.
Garrette Malone [00:02:42]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:02:43]:
You know, it had a funny smell.
Lucas Underwood [00:02:46]:
Yeah, it was bad.
Jeff Compton [00:02:47]:
What amazed me was I was the one that actually got to, like, Velcro up Brian Pollock in the back. And I don't know if anybody noticed, I actually had to tug on the material to get it tight enough to go around.
Lucas Underwood [00:02:56]:
Brian, he's a big dude.
Mike Allen [00:02:58]:
He is a large unit, large individual. Did you see when we arrived in the Miata yesterday?
Jeff Compton [00:03:03]:
No, I missed that.
Lucas Underwood [00:03:04]:
That was a great.
Mike Allen [00:03:05]:
Looking down at the hood from over the windshield.
Mike Allen [00:03:07]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:03:07]:
Oh, yeah, it's.
Mike Allen [00:03:09]:
I can't believe he got in it. So I thought we were going to need, like a engine hoist to get him out.
Mike Allen [00:03:14]:
Yeah, that.
Lucas Underwood [00:03:15]:
That was a good video. That was a solid video. Good job, Braxton. Good job, Braxton.
Mike Allen [00:03:19]:
Super proud of you.
Jeff Compton [00:03:20]:
He was.
Mike Allen [00:03:20]:
You're a big boy.
Jeff Compton [00:03:21]:
Yeah. He was the most impressive performance last night.
Lucas Underwood [00:03:24]:
Was going to go sideways, I promise.
Mike Allen [00:03:26]:
Is it not sideways already?
Lucas Underwood [00:03:28]:
Yes, it's terrible. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Mike Allen [00:03:32]:
So for those of you who don't know, I'm joined today. Everybody knows Jeff, but also there's a. Your shop owner from Northern Rock, North Carolina.
Mike Allen [00:03:42]:
Yep. Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:03:43]:
I'm new to this little B+Ellen performance.
Mike Allen [00:03:47]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:03:48]:
I aspire to be just like Mike Allen.
Mike Allen [00:03:49]:
I think you're breaking out into the industry. I think people are going to know you eventually.
Mike Allen [00:03:53]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:03:54]:
You know, I don't know that I want to be known I don't know that I want to be known at.
Mike Allen [00:03:57]:
This famous hard man. It's hard.
Garrette Malone [00:03:59]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:03:59]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:04:00]:
I can. I can honestly attest to that. I'm not saying I'm famous, but it's. It's. I remember now I was talking to somebody this morning, and I can. I can so relate to Paul Danner. The first year I was here, and I was with me, like, he was.
Mike Allen [00:04:13]:
Paul fanboying all over him.
Jeff Compton [00:04:15]:
Well, he was. He would go down the hallways and he wouldn't be able to stop or wouldn't be able to get to where he's going in any reasonable amount of time because people are constantly stopping and trying to thank him. It's that way for me now, and it's like, it's. It's. I keep saying it's. It's a heavy weight sometimes to carry in terms of that many people that just want to, like, share a couple minutes. And I. By all means, I love it, and I'm.
Jeff Compton [00:04:35]:
I handle it better than Paul, but it is, like, I never expected in my life that that many people would want to actually just meet me to say thank you. It's. It's humbling.
Lucas Underwood [00:04:45]:
Even being a board member changes these events for you, right? You know what I mean? Like, we used to go to events to have a good time. And I remember, like, when the association was small, right? There were, like, everybody that was here. We already knew. You know what I'm saying? Like, we had not grown to that point with the association. And so when we went to training classes, when we sat down, and it was just hanging out with your friends to go to a class, and now it's very. Changed the dynamic for us, right?
Mike Allen [00:05:12]:
Well, I think my dynamic might be a little bit different than Yalls, because people want to stop and talk to you about how you've improved their business and their life and how you've made such an impact. And with me, they're just like, hey, where's the Miata? You little.
Mike Allen [00:05:24]:
Yeah, yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:05:25]:
I don't know. They. They want to stop me and tell me how terrible David is.
Jeff Compton [00:05:29]:
I could see that.
Mike Allen [00:05:30]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:05:31]:
They want to tell me, like, how much they dislike.
Mike Allen [00:05:32]:
I'm concerned about David's rage issues. After the last episode that we recorded, Brian really thought he was gonna have to protect me from physical attack.
Lucas Underwood [00:05:42]:
I think it's the testosterone.
Jeff Compton [00:05:43]:
I was just.
Lucas Underwood [00:05:44]:
I think maybe you could use a little bit of that. Like, we could. You know, I've noticed that there's some.
Mike Allen [00:05:49]:
I am a temple of peak male performance. Thank you.
Lucas Underwood [00:05:53]:
I'm just saying.
Mike Allen [00:05:54]:
I'm just saying, Jeff, specifically laughing at that. I don't know.
Jeff Compton [00:05:57]:
I'm just saying, because I threw you around the ring last night, you're far from peak.
Mike Allen [00:06:01]:
You paint a lot to be able to do that, sir.
Jeff Compton [00:06:05]:
So, firstly, people know I don't have $5,000 extra.
Lucas Underwood [00:06:10]:
Why'd you ask me for $6,000 the night before?
Jeff Compton [00:06:13]:
That was for a completely unrelated thing. That was some bad people that were after me about some stuff, and I had to pay it off, and I knew you were the only person that would come through.
Lucas Underwood [00:06:25]:
Listen, bro, if they're charging you $6,000 to fix that piece of coax behind your house, you need to go see somebody about that.
Mike Allen [00:06:32]:
I heard that it was for hookers.
Garrette Malone [00:06:34]:
No.
Jeff Compton [00:06:36]:
First of all, you can't call them hookers. That's not an okay term.
Mike Allen [00:06:41]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:06:41]:
It's not politically correct.
Mike Allen [00:06:42]:
Fishing tournament. What were you talking about?
Jeff Compton [00:06:46]:
Your only fans history, I think, is what I was talking about.
Mike Allen [00:06:49]:
Speed finder.
Jeff Compton [00:06:54]:
It's.
Mike Allen [00:06:55]:
Yeah, it's. I asked Brian if I could get in on the feet finder game, but he said I got to get my toe fungus under control first.
Lucas Underwood [00:07:00]:
Hey, bro, look, you can fit both sides, right? Like, I've noticed the estrogen levels are getting a little bit high. I know about that now because David's explained it all on the podcast, like, 10 times. And so I've noticed, like, there's some. There's some puffiness happening. And, you know, I'm just saying, you.
Mike Allen [00:07:16]:
Know, they're firm, though.
Garrette Malone [00:07:17]:
They're. They're.
Lucas Underwood [00:07:18]:
Bro, I watched them bounce through the. Through the. Sumo, Sumo.
Jeff Compton [00:07:22]:
I had one rub up against me.
Lucas Underwood [00:07:24]:
It's not firm.
Mike Allen [00:07:28]:
So, anyway, Braxton's just like, this conversation.
Lucas Underwood [00:07:32]:
This is going to be a mess.
Jeff Compton [00:07:33]:
It's right off the rails at this point.
Mike Allen [00:07:34]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:07:35]:
All right, so we could sit around for hours and just talk bullshit and make amateur jokes with each other, because that's my favorite thing to do. But having the opportunity to talk to the two of you together on tape is pretty rare, right?
Mike Allen [00:07:49]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:07:50]:
And, Lucas, I mock because that's what I do, your walkie talkie videos, but you've been hitting a lot. You've been hitting a lot of high points and a lot of conversational points and getting a lot of engagement with some of that.
Mike Allen [00:08:01]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:08:04]:
I want to talk about how there are multiple ways to serve our community.
Mike Allen [00:08:10]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:08:11]:
For sure. And. And be profitable.
Mike Allen [00:08:13]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:08:14]:
And take care of your team. And it can be more than just the way that I do it. It can be more just the way that you do it.
Mike Allen [00:08:21]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:08:22]:
Why does our industry insist on shitting on people who do it a different way than the way that I do it or the way that you do it?
Lucas Underwood [00:08:29]:
You know, that's a. That's a really good concept.
Garrette Malone [00:08:31]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:08:31]:
And I've been thinking a lot about that lately, and I've thought recently, because, you know, I look up to you. Like, we joke and we pick, but I really do look up to you, and I have for a long time. There's things that you do that I'm not okay with. Like the way that you run your business and. And to be honest, with everything about.
Mike Allen [00:08:46]:
Your life and your choices.
Lucas Underwood [00:08:48]:
No, no, no, no, no. Like, I messaged you the other day Right. And I was saying like, hey, is this method working for you? Because I am a little bit jelly of like how much additional revenue it brings in.
Garrette Malone [00:08:58]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:08:59]:
I think my concern is like, I'm trying to look at this from an outside perspective and I'm trying to look at where the industry is right now. And I feel like some of this has created the environment we live in right now. And I think that it can be short sighted. And so some tactics can cause like, yes, they make me money right now, but long term they have a negative impact and take our industry in the wrong direction.
Garrette Malone [00:09:23]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:09:24]:
And so I've tried to look at this from the perspective, okay, let's look at H Vac, let's look at plumbing.
Mike Allen [00:09:31]:
Slow down, back up a little bit. Why does it have a negative impact to operate your business in a manner that drives car count?
Lucas Underwood [00:09:37]:
Makes me extremely nervous. No, it's not that.
Jeff Compton [00:09:40]:
It's.
Lucas Underwood [00:09:41]:
I don't think it has a long term negative effect on my business.
Mike Allen [00:09:44]:
So what specifically has a negative impact on the industry?
Lucas Underwood [00:09:47]:
I think that some of the thought processes.
Garrette Malone [00:09:50]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:09:50]:
So I'm not even flat rate pay. Okay.
Mike Allen [00:09:53]:
Because a lot of people got upset rate conversations dead.
Lucas Underwood [00:09:55]:
It is, but, but here's the thing is they got upset thinking that I was saying one thing when I was saying something completely different. I'm not saying not flat rate this or that hybrid is a version of flat rate.
Garrette Malone [00:10:06]:
Right?
Mike Allen [00:10:06]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:10:07]:
But what I'm talking about is take care of your people, do the right thing. Now I know you do that.
Garrette Malone [00:10:11]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:10:11]:
Like we joke and we pick, but I know you do a good job of taking care of your people.
Garrette Malone [00:10:15]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:10:15]:
And if you weren't, you wouldn't be okay with that. Yeah, but there's, there's some operators that listen to what you say and they say, I just want to make the money. And one of the best things that I've ever heard, and David talks about this often. There was a person who was once involved with everything we're doing.
Garrette Malone [00:10:32]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:10:33]:
Years ago and we had the mastermind group. And I will never forget the conversation. I was part of the conversation. This person goes to David and says, hey, because this all started with a mastermind, right?
Mike Allen [00:10:46]:
Yeah, asog, it was the SOG started with the mastermind. Well, not the Expo, correct?
Lucas Underwood [00:10:51]:
No, asog. Long story short, ASOG was just a Facebook group. We all got into it somehow. David started a mastermind because he wanted to take his business to the next level. God knows what happened that didn't happen.
Mike Allen [00:11:02]:
So he helped other people take Their business.
Lucas Underwood [00:11:04]:
He did a phenomenal. Yeah, exactly. But this person said, no, man, I.
Jeff Compton [00:11:10]:
Really just want the bow.
Lucas Underwood [00:11:11]:
Like, I don't, I don't care that it hurts the employee. Like, why is that my problem?
Mike Allen [00:11:15]:
Say, I don't care that it hurts the employee.
Lucas Underwood [00:11:16]:
That is what they said. I was there. They said, I don't.
Mike Allen [00:11:19]:
So that's a bad person. And there are bad people.
Lucas Underwood [00:11:21]:
I understand that, but I'm saying that there are people who would listen to some of the things that you say or some of the things that I say. Take that and spin it and do something that's negative for the industry in the long term. Now you ask me, what do I think that is, is negative? For instance, the, the rolling the die again and putting it into that charge, which we're already expressing, saying, hey, my labor rate just went up.
Garrette Malone [00:11:46]:
Right?
Mike Allen [00:11:46]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:11:47]:
And I'm not saying that.
Garrette Malone [00:11:48]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:11:48]:
Wrong or indifferent.
Mike Allen [00:11:49]:
Oh, I think you are saying it's wrong and that's okay. You can believe that you can be wrong, but you have right to be wrong.
Lucas Underwood [00:11:54]:
In the long term, though, I believe that what it's doing is it's training the consumer.
Garrette Malone [00:11:59]:
Yeah, right.
Lucas Underwood [00:12:00]:
And I think that we've trained the consumer up to this point. Think about dealerships and think about consumer scores.
Garrette Malone [00:12:05]:
Yeah, right.
Lucas Underwood [00:12:07]:
How important is the CSI score to the dealership?
Mike Allen [00:12:10]:
Well, I mean, they think it's the all in. I mean, they screw their advisors over it.
Lucas Underwood [00:12:15]:
Absolutely. And they use it as a tool to, to reduce bonus. Yes, but are you telling me that, that we didn't use that? So the advisor all of a sudden is given a ton of free stuff. The consumer learns. I can come in here and bitch and whine and cry and complain because the advisor doesn't want to lose the CSI score. Now all of a sudden, the advisor is giving free stuff away, Beating the tech up, whatever they have to do to keep that score from dropping. What did it do? It trained the consumer.
Garrette Malone [00:12:39]:
Right.
Mike Allen [00:12:39]:
Well, I think what, what we're talking about here is business model variance. Right?
Mike Allen [00:12:43]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:12:44]:
So who pays for you to close your shop and bring all your technicians to this event?
Mike Allen [00:12:49]:
You do.
Mike Allen [00:12:50]:
The consumer does. Right?
Mike Allen [00:12:51]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:12:52]:
You build it into your labor rate and you build it into your parts matrix. Just like your direct mail, just like your Google AdWords and your SEO work. It's all part of your business model and your expense structure. And so I think what people fail to realize is that for the model that I'm trying and failing sometimes and succeeding sometimes to execute, that's part of my New customer acquisition strategy.
Mike Allen [00:13:18]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:13:19]:
The difference is, you know, AT&T is going to give me a new iPhone if I go sign up with them. If I'm not an existing customer, but I got to pay for the next one if I'm already an existing customer, I'm not going to do that. If I'm going to say the diag is free. Diag is free. And what I'm advocating for, I believe that if you are a general repair shop in a metro area that is trying to grow, yeah, it is a 100% home run methodology and we can get into all the reasons why. But you guys don't need to hear me pontificate on that. Now. If you're a specialty shop, if you're booked out two weeks, if you are in a very rural market or a small town, I don't believe that it works if you're booked out for two weeks, you should never give anything away.
Lucas Underwood [00:14:06]:
For sure.
Jeff Compton [00:14:06]:
I'm going to step in here for a minute because I think going back to what you said and you kind of started in, kind of went a different way. Is the car count driven method of how we do this business right? Or whatever you want to call them, rack attacks or cheap oil change or stuff like that. I think that I'm not going to ever say that it's not effective for generating it is. But I think what Lucas and I talked about a long, long, long time ago was that sometimes in order to bring the change for the whole industry, we've had to take a step back from that right of the I just need all the cars and I just need all the customers and I need to maximize the production in the shop. That's all been good for years in terms of making a couple of key players in the industry segments, excuse me, money, but it hasn't left yet the consumer with a good feeling about what we do. And I think as professionals, when we sit here and we say we actually want to change this, when we see some people that are still like we've heard talk about a certain particular group when they're still pushing the narrative that I know is just old, tired, regurgitated stuff sold to the aftermarket now because it's all dealer ploys, I take issue with that because then that immediately is now going, I feel for our industry a step backwards. And it's something that as somebody that was spent a large part of the time in the dealership side of things and now I'm in the aftermarket. It kind of gives me the creeps When I see what was commonplace there start to trickle down into us.
Jeff Compton [00:15:33]:
Because I think the dealer people, they have no interest at all. Like we talked about last night, in trying to change the industry, they're in survival mode 100%. But if we sit here and say we have to change the industry sometimes, then it means that we might have to back down the car count method, the maximum production method, to change that image for a little while in the customer's eyes. Consumer before.
Mike Allen [00:15:57]:
Ask you a question along that line.
Jeff Compton [00:15:58]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:16:01]:
So the model that like that you're trying to execute on and that you see, because I mean, you've seen, you've been in dealerships, I've been in new, you've been in used dealerships, you've been in fleet shops, you've been in aftermarket shops.
Jeff Compton [00:16:15]:
Y.
Mike Allen [00:16:16]:
So you've been in all of it, Right?
Mike Allen [00:16:18]:
All of it.
Mike Allen [00:16:19]:
The model that you think would be the ideal model, from your perspective, I think is relatively similar to the model that Lucas is trying to execute on.
Mike Allen [00:16:27]:
Yes.
Mike Allen [00:16:29]:
Do you think that there can be a shop owner who has 30 stores across a region and executes on that model?
Lucas Underwood [00:16:37]:
No, it's not possible.
Mike Allen [00:16:39]:
So if it can only be done in ones and twos, and we have an industry with over 100,000 aftermarket shops, do you think that real change in that methodology is possible?
Lucas Underwood [00:16:52]:
From my perspective, I think that real change is possible, but we're going to have to reach people who are not necessarily aligned right now. Do I think that change can happen? Yes, I do. Do I think that that will never work in a scalable model right now, now you look at the Shake Shack model, right? You look at unreasonable hospitality because that's really what the person that we were talking about, one of the coaching companies is talking about, hey, all for unreasonable hospitality. Charge the bazookas for it, right? Whatever you got to do, lay it to it. But it's the unreasonable hospitality model that, that is probably easier to implement, but we're doing unreasonable hospitality while focusing on providing a really high quality product and taking care of the team internally. That's very hard to do at that level because all of a sudden, right, we were talking about this last night. Take a KPI, for instance. That employee has to become a KPI, right? Because I don't know every employee, I don't see every employee, I don't engage with every employee, I don't have a personal connection with every employee.
Lucas Underwood [00:18:02]:
And is it realistic to think that Walmart, their CEO, are they going to have a connection with every employee? No way.
Garrette Malone [00:18:07]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:18:08]:
And that's just it. It's like I recognize beyond a shadow of a doubt, I recognize that my model wouldn't scale to other shops.
Garrette Malone [00:18:16]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:18:17]:
I get it. But I also know that what we're doing isn't sustainable. We've got to find something in the middle, because just look at. That's what I was going to say is look at H Vac, look at plumbing, look at all these other trades. And what did they do? They realized people aren't coming to work for us. We have to shift, we have to do something different.
Mike Allen [00:18:34]:
Well, they also got consumed by equity money. The mom and pop shop is a rare thing now for sure. They sell or they get acquired. There's been massive consolidation in the other trades. We're just next up on the shopping block, for sure. So let me ask you this. And you've done one of your walkie talkie videos about this. Start with the end in mind.
Garrette Malone [00:18:56]:
Right?
Mike Allen [00:18:57]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:18:58]:
So what is your goal? And I think that's a disconnect that we've had is that we all assume that everyone's goal is the same as my goal, or some people do.
Garrette Malone [00:19:09]:
Right.
Mike Allen [00:19:11]:
You find fulfillment in a different way, for sure. And Jeff does, and Jeff finds it in a different way than I do. So there are a lot of people at this event right now. There are a lot of people that serve on our board of directors that find fulfillment and being a pillar of their community and having one incredible store and being able to do anything that anybody needs. And, you know, that is what makes them happy. And so the model to execute for that is very different than, like, I'm. I think I know what my number is, and I'm not there yet. And in order to get to that number, I'm gonna need to add more stores.
Mike Allen [00:19:57]:
And so I cannot, like, if I'm there and I know every customer and all of their kids names and what sports they play and what position they play in sports, and when they walk in, I can ask them about the other two customers.
Lucas Underwood [00:20:07]:
Dude, that's overwhelming.
Garrette Malone [00:20:09]:
Right?
Mike Allen [00:20:09]:
There are people who are incredible at that. Right?
Mike Allen [00:20:11]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:20:12]:
And this is the average of the industry. And when you're like that, you're right here, like, you are the top of the top, and you get in two stores, you've got to be okay with being right here. And you're still way better than everybody else.
Lucas Underwood [00:20:24]:
And you get to 3, 4, and it's impossible to maintain.
Garrette Malone [00:20:27]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:20:28]:
We know that.
Mike Allen [00:20:28]:
And you have 120 stores and you got thousands of employees. You don't know them all. You don't know any of your customers to speak of. There's going to be an erosion over time. So at what point do you go from being paragon of the industry to being what's wrong with the industry? How much money. At what point do you have enough money that you become evil?
Lucas Underwood [00:20:51]:
Well, I. I don't think that. That the money piece is what generates the. The evil concept.
Garrette Malone [00:20:56]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:20:57]:
It's the treatment of the people. And so there's. The big issue is, like, if you want to dig into it.
Mike Allen [00:21:03]:
Yeah, okay.
Lucas Underwood [00:21:06]:
I shouldn't say this, but I'm gonna say this. I. I don't want to say that I came from money.
Garrette Malone [00:21:09]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:21:10]:
But I've always had a good life. You know what I'm saying? Like, I've always had a really good life. My parents did amazing things to take care of me and my brothers. I've been given opportunities that nobody else was given. And so I've had those things. I didn't find reward in those things. While I found when I had the extra money and when I had all that was that people were trying to take advantage of me. And I felt like everybody was coming at me trying to get something right.
Lucas Underwood [00:21:32]:
And that that's not a way that I want to live. I didn't find reward in that. And so that's. That's guided a lot of who I am today.
Mike Allen [00:21:41]:
That is awesome. And it just made something go off in my head, and I could be totally fucking wrong. It's normally what happens. You always knew that there was a safety net and that you were never going to be homeless. You were never going to worry where the next meal came from. And so with that sense of security, it's easier for you to hold money like this and not have the want of money. And so many of the talking heads in our groups, in our trade that are small business talking heads have a little bit of fallback and a little bit of a safety net. My wife is a pediatric dentist.
Lucas Underwood [00:22:19]:
We know.
Mike Allen [00:22:19]:
She's the breadwinner, bro. The shops could all go bankrupt and we'd be okay.
Mike Allen [00:22:23]:
Yeah.
Garrette Malone [00:22:23]:
Right.
Mike Allen [00:22:24]:
It wouldn't be the end of the world. My dad built a very good business that I grew up in.
Mike Allen [00:22:29]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:22:30]:
So I never had to worry, like, oh, shit, I'm gonna have to go pawn something to make payroll.
Garrette Malone [00:22:36]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:22:36]:
For sure.
Mike Allen [00:22:39]:
There are lots of the big names that maybe you don't know in this industry or that the general listener or viewer doesn't know in this industry that came from Money.
Mike Allen [00:22:47]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:22:48]:
And they are proponents of give the world away. Right. Yeah. And then there are people who came from dirt.
Lucas Underwood [00:22:56]:
Right.
Mike Allen [00:22:58]:
And for them, money is the prize. And they're hyper money motivated because they were hungry.
Mike Allen [00:23:04]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:23:04]:
And they, you know. Yeah. Had that hardship when they're so. And they're hyper successful. Like some of the big. Some of the biggest coaches came from a really bad situation.
Mike Allen [00:23:17]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:23:17]:
And they're hyper successful. And they're not ashamed to say that they're money motivated. I don't think money motivation is evil, per se. Money is not evil.
Mike Allen [00:23:24]:
No.
Mike Allen [00:23:25]:
Money is inanimate. It's what you do with it.
Jeff Compton [00:23:27]:
I've worked for a lot of people that didn't treat me really well. Or value me is probably a better word to say that some of them didn't have a ton of money. So it wasn't money that made the motivating factor for how they valued me. Right. It was sometimes the inability to look at what actually is making the money come in. Right. That's where I was as a technician. Perspective.
Jeff Compton [00:23:53]:
That's where I always stay. So there's been lots of people that, like. I don't want to say that like, oh, the rich people or guys that are money motivated because everybody should be money motivated in a sense that we.
Mike Allen [00:24:03]:
Need enough to a degree.
Jeff Compton [00:24:05]:
We need a notch.
Mike Allen [00:24:05]:
You need.
Jeff Compton [00:24:05]:
Yeah, we need enough of it to survive. Survive. Right. I see the people and we've talked about, you and I, some of the people behind the scenes that, like, I look at them and they're going to their fish shop and they're. And they're. They have a car collection that looks like that. How healthy is the rest of their life? What are they really trying to replace? What are they trying to overcome? And that's a sad plight because I've seen it. You've seen.
Jeff Compton [00:24:30]:
I've seen it with people that are, you know, dealt with addiction. And it's got nothing to do with trying to accrue anything at that point. It's trying to fill up a hole. And that's not a good place for a lot of people to wind up. And I see them in this industry. I can spot them a mile away.
Mike Allen [00:24:47]:
So I think the risky part is there 100% are dudes, men and women out there that are like that, that on the surface are hugely successful and are hollow on the inside.
Garrette Malone [00:24:58]:
Right.
Mike Allen [00:25:00]:
But what we can't do is say if they are big and successful like that, then they are hollow on the inside just because there are some. It doesn't because there are some dudes out there who are incredible operators, big operations. They do huge numbers, they make a ton of money. They take really good care of their people. They take decent care of their community. Right. And they're not hollow on the inside. They're super fulfilled.
Mike Allen [00:25:23]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:25:24]:
They're super happy with their life. And that's okay.
Lucas Underwood [00:25:27]:
Yeah, for sure.
Mike Allen [00:25:27]:
So for sure. One of the analogies that I make on a regular basis is I'm the best driver I've ever met. I'm intelligent, I'm safe, I'm aggressive. So when I'm driving down the interstate, I don't care what the speed limit is, I'm going to go my speed.
Garrette Malone [00:25:42]:
Right?
Mike Allen [00:25:42]:
And if you're driving slower than me, get the hell out of my way and follow so that you can see what greatness is.
Mike Allen [00:25:48]:
Right.
Mike Allen [00:25:48]:
If you're driving faster than me, you're clearly crazy.
Lucas Underwood [00:25:52]:
For sure.
Mike Allen [00:25:53]:
And so if your business is bigger than mine and makes more money than me, clearly you're a crook and doing something wrong. And if your business is smaller than mine, you must be an idiot. And you should do everything that I do because I'm smarter than you. And we have a lot of that mentality.
Lucas Underwood [00:26:08]:
Well, so let's think about this for a minute. What happens? It's the circles we get in. You get into Jeff's circle, right? Everybody in Jeff's circle. I've been treated poorly. I've not been paid. Well, it's not. And listen, I've been on to him for a long time. Hey, buddy, seek first to understand.
Lucas Underwood [00:26:25]:
Understand the whole story before you speak.
Garrette Malone [00:26:27]:
Right?
Lucas Underwood [00:26:27]:
Because we talked about it last night. He's been talking about a guy who. Oh, he's their lead diag tech. And he only makes, you know, $26 an hour. Can't believe dude only makes $26 an hour. Well, you don't know the whole story. Maybe he's on a hybrid pay plan. Maybe there.
Lucas Underwood [00:26:39]:
Maybe he's not producing. And the shop owner saying, like, dude, I'll give you $26 an hour. But like, hey, man, you're billing 10 hours a week, right? Like, this isn't going to work. I can't do this. And so I'm saying, like, hey, you need to be a proponent because you are a talking head in the industry. You are a voice in the industry now. You need to be able to communicate with them and help them find a way, right? Because maybe they're not having the hard conversation, right? Me and you have learned to have those hard conversations and Say, hey, Bob, listen, dude, you're not performing. This isn't going to work.
Lucas Underwood [00:27:07]:
It's not just about the money. We have to. We have to figure out what's wrong here. We have to fix this.
Garrette Malone [00:27:11]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:27:12]:
But there's a lot of shop owners and a lot of techs who have never been taught that. Well, in my circle.
Garrette Malone [00:27:17]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:27:17]:
Who are the people that are in my circle? They're small shops. They are struggling. They're trying to find their way, but they're not comfortable doing the Mike Allen thing.
Garrette Malone [00:27:25]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:27:25]:
Well, I want to make the industry better. Well, the people in my circle need a little bit of a boost. Hey, don't forget about your people. This is not a message saying don't make money. It's a message saying, to take care of your people, you must make money. You see what I'm saying? But it's like, hey, don't forget them. Don't throw them away, because that's what they're afraid of, these people. Help me, Builders.
Mike Allen [00:27:47]:
Obviously, they won't say it in front of a classroom full of 100 people.
Jeff Compton [00:27:52]:
No, they won't.
Mike Allen [00:27:53]:
But in casual conversation around the dinner table or whatever else, there's a view that employees are cogs in a machine.
Mike Allen [00:28:01]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:28:01]:
And you. And Walmart sees it that way. And they have to because they need.
Lucas Underwood [00:28:08]:
How else could you manage it?
Mike Allen [00:28:09]:
But. And so that. That goes back to the question I asked earlier, is like, at what point do you flip that switch from being. There's.
Lucas Underwood [00:28:17]:
Yeah, that's just it. It's like, I know you're a good person. And I like. We joke and we pick, but, like, you wouldn't be my friend if I didn't think you were a good person. I know you're a good person. I don't think that you're an evil shop owner. I don't think that switch has to flip.
Mike Allen [00:28:31]:
I just want to push right up to the very edge.
Garrette Malone [00:28:33]:
Right?
Jeff Compton [00:28:34]:
Yeah. You want to put your toe in.
Mike Allen [00:28:36]:
I don't.
Lucas Underwood [00:28:37]:
I don't think there's a dollar amount where the switch flips. I don't think there's a size of the business where the switch flips.
Mike Allen [00:28:42]:
I think it's like pornography. There's not a line. You just know it when you see it.
Lucas Underwood [00:28:46]:
When you fill it. When you fill it. That's when the.
Mike Allen [00:28:48]:
Just the tip.
Lucas Underwood [00:28:49]:
Yeah, that's when you fill. It's when you know you're in trouble. But I guess what I'm saying is that there are people who are in different phases of this, right? Now, they have very different perspectives. Now, if we want to improve our industry and we want to bring them up well, we have to have a message for them that works for them. And I resonate with that message. I have been in businesses that have taken advantage of their people. I understand why they're afraid of that right now. Look, I am not a strong enough operator to develop systems, processes, policies and procedures that allow the business to scale.
Lucas Underwood [00:29:22]:
I'm just not that guy. I don't know how to do that. I'm a good talker.
Garrette Malone [00:29:26]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:29:26]:
But that's where my skill set runs out. Yeah, I talk pretty, I talk purdy.
Garrette Malone [00:29:30]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:29:31]:
But that's where my skill set runs out. And so, like, I have to have either put people in place that can do that in the business. I mean, you know this. I hired a manager and dude would have absolutely put processes and policies and procedures in place and made the business do huge numbers. But I was not okay with his way of doing it. I was not okay with what he was going to do to the people in the situation. He had to go. He wasn't in alignment with me.
Lucas Underwood [00:29:54]:
But that doesn't mean, like, hey, he can go out and do his own thing, make a ton of money. I mean, like.
Jeff Compton [00:30:00]:
He'Ll be a good employee for somebody else.
Mike Allen [00:30:02]:
Yeah, I go back to a dealership, run a service department.
Lucas Underwood [00:30:05]:
Dude, I'm going to tell you right on people, the belief of that person, like the things that they were okay doing, they were okay. Lying, cheating, stealing, whatever it took. As long as I leave this situation with more money in my wallet than you do, is exactly what they said.
Mike Allen [00:30:20]:
So how do you. Because I was a bad hire.
Lucas Underwood [00:30:23]:
Yeah, on your part.
Mike Allen [00:30:25]:
And so did you hire from a position of desperation because you needed it because you were burned out, or was. How do you evolve your interview process to avoid that?
Lucas Underwood [00:30:33]:
I spent the most time and the most energy in that. What it was is I had a technician tell me that I didn't know how to manage and run a shop and that I need to hire a manager. And I said, okay, fine, I'll hire a manager.
Jeff Compton [00:30:44]:
Here's. Here's what I know about this. This my brother, is that he hires from a place of optimism. He sees more potential than most people he ever sitting across the table from than actually really exists there. You know what I mean? And that's a beautiful quality to have. And when we talked about him hiring this person, I kind of could feel the same thing. Like, okay, that poor young man coming in there is going to have get.
Mike Allen [00:31:05]:
Sucked into the trap of I can fix him.
Jeff Compton [00:31:07]:
An adjustment process. Because, like, it's completely different at L and N versus what he comes from. I know it's the same thing. I joke with him, but I don't know if I would be able to fit in his. And he loves me, and I love him because there's tendencies about the way I approach this job that are still back from my old life. And then there's things that, like, would not. He would look at me and go, dude. And I'd be, what, man? This is just the way it goes.
Jeff Compton [00:31:31]:
This is the industry from my perception and the way I was bred into this to think it doesn't fit his model all the time. But it doesn't mean that it's wrong. Right. I'm a good fit for somebody else, I think, eventually, you know. But it's. It's a situation of that to try and take him now and reprogram him back. He's too far in. He's too far gone.
Jeff Compton [00:31:53]:
There was never. That was never going to work, you know, not because you couldn't do it. If anybody can do it, it's you. But because there's too much in his history of how he's been indoctrinated through that dealer mentality. You can't change that.
Lucas Underwood [00:32:06]:
He grew up poor.
Garrette Malone [00:32:07]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:32:08]:
He grew up. He didn't have any money and he was always, like, beaten on and his dad was really rough on him and all this stuff.
Garrette Malone [00:32:13]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:32:14]:
Like, so it was. It was a situation we were talking.
Mike Allen [00:32:17]:
About a minute ago.
Mike Allen [00:32:17]:
Yeah, yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:32:18]:
And. And so he has a very different perspective of life.
Mike Allen [00:32:21]:
If you come from a place of extreme want, then money can become your God if you're not careful.
Lucas Underwood [00:32:25]:
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And that's a dangerous place to be.
Garrette Malone [00:32:29]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:32:29]:
And I don't know that anything I say or you say or Jeff says or anybody else says would ever stop that. Rex.
Mike Allen [00:32:35]:
And what verses it says? Money is not evil, but the love of money is. Yeah, yeah. Is that Proverbs? That's Proverbs, right?
Lucas Underwood [00:32:47]:
He is. He's the lightest Christian we know. He's like.
Mike Allen [00:32:51]:
My wife could quote that.
Jeff Compton [00:32:52]:
If Paul Danner was here, Paul would be able to tell you exactly Proverbs.
Lucas Underwood [00:32:55]:
Somebody go grab David. I just saw him walking around. He'll know.
Mike Allen [00:32:58]:
So I have a comment for you and a question for you, Jeff. One, I had my eyes open significantly two years ago at the Expo when we recorded an episode. And you helped me realize that my opinions and my confidence and bravado you know, everybody comes from their own personal experience. But my personal experience was very narrow because I grew up as a, as a little kid at my grandfather's shop and then as a teenager and a young adult at my dad's shop. And so I'd only ever known shops that treated people well.
Mike Allen [00:33:31]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:33:32]:
And so I hear all these stories from texts. I'd be like, dude, just fucking leave. Why would you ever put up with something like that?
Lucas Underwood [00:33:37]:
For sure.
Mike Allen [00:33:38]:
And I think we were talking on one of your episodes episodes a couple years ago and you're like, you don't effing get it.
Jeff Compton [00:33:44]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:33:45]:
It's like that almost everywhere. And there are very few places that don't screw their technicians over.
Jeff Compton [00:33:52]:
My phone now proves that.
Mike Allen [00:33:54]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:33:54]:
Because as this platform for me is getting bigger, it's multiple messages a day saying either hearing you realize that I wasn't alone or hearing you gave me the motivation, the courage, the courage to go try something else. And it sucks for me. I hate to see somebody leave an independent shop to go to a dealer where they're going to make more money and get some more training. Unfortunately, they're going to pick up some bad habits. Right. It might change their moral compass. But like I it because I want, I want to cheer for the aftermarket side.
Mike Allen [00:34:26]:
What any shop would invest in training.
Jeff Compton [00:34:28]:
Well, this is it. But we've had that conversation with a guy where the shop owner will not attend, will not pay, will not discount like it's all about. Again, it goes back to the discount thing. I want to help that customer out. I want to be what's fair. Okay, two words.
Mike Allen [00:34:43]:
Okay, then help that customer out. But that's a you choice. Yeah, I should. My employees shouldn't take on the burden of my choice to give something away.
Lucas Underwood [00:34:51]:
Sure.
Jeff Compton [00:34:51]:
But if you do is want to help and be fair. The two words that piss me off in this industry more than anything else. And you do it all day long and it becomes your marketing strategy. You don't spend a nickel on marketing, but everybody knows you.
Mike Allen [00:35:01]:
To be fair and help me out. Last night you turned red. I saw a little glaze come over your eyes. And then you jumped on me.
Jeff Compton [00:35:06]:
You said, go easy on me, champ.
Mike Allen [00:35:10]:
Okay. So that was my comment. And so thank you for giving me that perspective.
Mike Allen [00:35:13]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:35:14]:
Because it did. I was a little more self aware that I didn't know what the reality was in the world because I'd only ever been in my family business.
Jeff Compton [00:35:21]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:35:22]:
The question is, do you feel like you're growing notoriety in Your personality is making it harder for you to be employed because I would be scared to have you as a technician.
Jeff Compton [00:35:32]:
I've said that very same thing. And it very near future I probably will be unemployable. I mean we joked yesterday like that Brandon Steckler was saying I'm unemployable. Right. Because he is at that level and I'm not. I'm not trying to say I'm at the level of Brandon Steckler is right. But it's not and it's, we're not talking technical ability that might make me his personality man. But it's, it's a situation of like when I start to associate with some of the shop.
Jeff Compton [00:35:53]:
You and I have talked about this ad nauseam, the shop owner thing. And I start to get it on an understanding that even some of the shop owners that might employ me don't get it at. It's very hard for me. It just becomes want, want, want in their ear when I start talking because.
Mike Allen [00:36:06]:
Some of the other big tech personalities have lost their jobs because of their online presence.
Jeff Compton [00:36:11]:
So I'm very fortunate that the current employer that I'm at absolutely loves the podcast, listens to it, wants to be on. I've never had a boss yet that wanted to be on. I've had bosses now. We've talked about this last couple years that they know about me and they'll hire me. Now what that's getting is the situation of it's like, well, they know that I can really fix cars, I can do some diag right. I can get some stuff done. That's why they're hiring me. But when we get in there and we start to those certain trigger words come up.
Jeff Compton [00:36:35]:
I'm like, whoa, hold on. Let's go back to where this is really what I've been taught. Where the wheels really fall off. It's not in the backside of the shop, it's out front. If you have a technician spending 25 minutes looking for a wheel lock key because your service writer didn't do the due diligence of finding and asking the customer if they write half assed reports down, that's all time that the technician can't get back. And then if we're billing like class I was in yesterday talking about it costs six minutes, $6aminute to run your shop. $6aminute. So if you have them wasting 10 minutes at a time, you just threw away $60.
Mike Allen [00:37:10]:
Which brings me to my next point. Detect Auto is a great app to use with your techmetric subscription to cut down that time and improve the quality of your service advisor write ups. You should investigate Detect, Auto and TechMetric.
Lucas Underwood [00:37:25]:
Sorry.
Jeff Compton [00:37:29]:
I would.
Lucas Underwood [00:37:30]:
If I was Sunil Patel right now, I would be saying, oh, my God, I can't believe I agreed to this. So here's the thing is I, I think it is so important that we have our little family.
Garrette Malone [00:37:41]:
Right?
Lucas Underwood [00:37:42]:
Like, because we're all really close friends. We all talk and that perspective is really important.
Garrette Malone [00:37:47]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:37:47]:
So I balance him out because he gets super wound up sometimes and you got to think, who are the people we're talking to? You talk to one group of people. I talked to one group of people. He talks to one group of people.
Mike Allen [00:37:57]:
He's got a much bigger group of people that he talks to.
Garrette Malone [00:37:59]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:38:00]:
Well, he talk. He's always on social media. I can guarantee you if you send this dude a Facebook message.
Mike Allen [00:38:05]:
How many walkie talkie videos have you made so far this week?
Lucas Underwood [00:38:09]:
I've not made any since I've been here.
Mike Allen [00:38:11]:
I've got a treadmill on a green screen and.
Lucas Underwood [00:38:12]:
Oh, that might work out.
Jeff Compton [00:38:13]:
He'll ramp them up then.
Mike Allen [00:38:14]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:38:16]:
You didn't come to the hospitality suite last night. I know you needed to get some rest. But I have a treadmill with a green screen behind it and people were doing walkie talkie videos.
Lucas Underwood [00:38:24]:
That's awesome. I really want to make sure that I get on that throne and take some good pictures on the throne.
Mike Allen [00:38:29]:
I got.
Mike Allen [00:38:30]:
Lola got some good pictures on the throne. I think she. She did it better than anybody else.
Jeff Compton [00:38:34]:
So that doesn't surprise me at all.
Lucas Underwood [00:38:37]:
But, but, you know, here's the thing is that, like, I think Jeff's perspective can very easily be skewed by the number of technicians he talks to and.
Mike Allen [00:38:44]:
By having his experience.
Garrette Malone [00:38:46]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:38:46]:
And so it, it's. I have to work to keep him balanced and we have to have conversations. We have to talk. We have to navigate through some of this. Because he's not seeing it from the shop perspective.
Garrette Malone [00:38:55]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:38:55]:
For the longest time, he said, I, I don't like the word production. I don't like the word efficiency. It's like, bro, I hate to tell you, like, if the shop doesn't make money, right. You've seen me say in the past couple of videos, money does not grow on trees. Where do you think it comes from?
Mike Allen [00:39:09]:
So I have a confession to make, this confession of Chopper. I see your videos, your walkie talkie video. I don't actually unmute it.
Lucas Underwood [00:39:16]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:39:17]:
That you're doing it again. And if Anybody. T. If anybody tags me, then I. I'll go back and respond to the. But I don't. I still don't actually watch it.
Lucas Underwood [00:39:25]:
Yeah, no, I only tag you just to inconvenience you a little bit. Super.
Garrette Malone [00:39:29]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:39:29]:
Like, that's why I do that.
Mike Allen [00:39:30]:
What you should do is you should make like a five minute video and. And you should come and be like, hey, Mike, I'm really sorry that I didn't get around to what we talked about until the end of the video and make me sit through the whole video and then.
Jeff Compton [00:39:41]:
That's genius.
Lucas Underwood [00:39:42]:
That would be good. That would be good. That's. That's a. That's a primo idea. But, you know, I. I don't know, Mike. I.
Lucas Underwood [00:39:49]:
I think that we're all in different spots in this and we're all in different levels and we all have different experiences that have led us to where we're at. I don't think there's a right, I don't think there's a wrong. I do know.
Garrette Malone [00:40:00]:
Right?
Lucas Underwood [00:40:00]:
So, like 20 years ago, when he and I became friends, I was doing things that. That were very eso. And why was I doing those things?
Jeff Compton [00:40:09]:
Ignorance.
Mike Allen [00:40:09]:
Well, because you couldn't afford not to because this wasn't running well, right?
Lucas Underwood [00:40:13]:
Exactly. The business was a shit show. I didn't know what I was doing. I just knew that I didn't have any money and I knew that it wasn't working. Ryan Giddings is here and you should try and find him and grab him and sit down and talk to him, because. Phenomenal, Phenomenal story, right? I had a technician that's been with him for many years now. Technicians here with him right now. He came to the ISCAN conference in Ogden, Utah, for the summit or for the Institute.
Lucas Underwood [00:40:41]:
And he. We sat down and he said, I just knew you jackasses were going to pull me in and talk about how I need to treat my technicians better. And he said, those stupid dudes don't know what the f. They're doing. They don't know how to do anything. I have to clean up all their effing messes. I mean, dude is raw as it gets, right? And he's just freaking out and he's like. But, man, he's like.
Lucas Underwood [00:41:01]:
We sat there and he said, y' all are talking to me about, like, I need to have retirement. I need to have a backup plan. I need to have a strategy. I need to know where I'm going next. He's like, so I didn't realize he Said then I started getting some training and I realized that the problems that I had were not that my technicians were all dumb asses. Said I didn't know how to run a business. And so now I understand I don't have to be a jackass to them. They're still stupid.
Lucas Underwood [00:41:23]:
He stood there in front of his technician the other day, said, he's still stupid as shit. But like, I'm telling you that the problem wasn't what I thought it was.
Garrette Malone [00:41:32]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:41:32]:
And so it's the same thing. And I think that Jeff gets in his head sometimes that it's really the shop owners. Sometimes the shop owners get in their head that it's really the tech.
Jeff Compton [00:41:42]:
Yep.
Mike Allen [00:41:42]:
So sometimes it is the tech and sometimes it is the shop owner. But I'll tell you that more often, it is the shop owner.
Mike Allen [00:41:50]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:41:50]:
I think we have. We are wallowing in the shitty bed that we have made for ourselves as an industry. And it. So. And we get back to that, well, how are we going to change the industry? I think we cannot change the industry. We need to take. We need to make our own bed.
Mike Allen [00:42:04]:
Yes.
Mike Allen [00:42:05]:
We need to change our own shop and grow a business that takes care of people. And if enough of us grow, successful businesses that take care of people will be better off.
Jeff Compton [00:42:14]:
Because you and I had a hard talk about the technician that you had that you had to let go recently.
Mike Allen [00:42:18]:
Right.
Jeff Compton [00:42:18]:
And it comes back to that, that topic that always pops up again about how techs are overselling themselves. And it's a big, big problem. Right.
Mike Allen [00:42:26]:
Shop owners oversell themselves to text.
Jeff Compton [00:42:29]:
And a lot of people. And a lot of people ask me, what, what. What do they. What do you do about that? And I'm like, all I can do is try to, to, to the young technicians, especially that speak to me. All I can tell them is like, you have to continue. This is not a job. This is a career. It's like I told a young man, Isaac, last night, that you have to train this like it's a muscle.
Jeff Compton [00:42:48]:
You have to constantly, every day, try to do 1% better and improve on your skill set in your brain, your knowledge. Because when your body goes away, you can't produce. This is the thing, the production thing is it's great when you're in your 20s and your 30s and the guys, there's all earmarker exceptions to the rule that say, I'm in my 50s and I still produce.
Mike Allen [00:43:05]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:43:06]:
You go to the gym all day long, you're like roaming and that's cool. Some of Us are not that right.
Mike Allen [00:43:10]:
Roman can't walk, by the way.
Lucas Underwood [00:43:11]:
Yeah, I know, right?
Jeff Compton [00:43:13]:
If we keep building our brain, I still bring value every day as my production backs off. It's the. It's the situation of where people are only looking at production and not at the value of what I bring. And that's the thing. I will become unemployable. He has said to me two years ago, we have to get you out of these shops.
Mike Allen [00:43:33]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:43:34]:
And that was like. That was deep for him to hear it, because I'm like, shit, does he really think I'm that incompetent? He doesn't think I'm incompetent. He just knows that as I'm starting to see the other side, it's hard.
Mike Allen [00:43:45]:
For me to get more angry more easily.
Jeff Compton [00:43:47]:
Not angry, but walk that line of, like, not being able to correct either side. I can take a technician to task and say, you need to do better on this, and this is where you're failing. And I can also take a shop owner to task and say, it's not working, because you're not listening to the people that I network with. They don't give a fuck who I network with. You don't know Mike Allen. They don't know Lucas Underwood. But when they say, my shop struggling because of this, and I got to go, I can help you with that. And they don't take it well.
Jeff Compton [00:44:13]:
I'm sorry. At some point, the technician me goes, you know what? You don't value me. You don't judge me, and you don't. You don't determine my value because you're still thinking it's 1972 and I'm living in 2025. So this is where I'm always walking that fine line of.
Mike Allen [00:44:33]:
I think I default to it. It's the shop owner's fault. Way, way, way. More often than not, for sure, it's these guys that get online and say, it's impossible to hire good tech. I'm paying $26 an hour. Must have own tools. Must have diag experience. Must have, must have, must have, must have.
Mike Allen [00:44:51]:
There's no good techs left. Yeah, there are good techs out there. They just don't want to fucking work for you for peanuts.
Jeff Compton [00:44:57]:
That's why they start their own or.
Mike Allen [00:44:58]:
Or other side of the coin. The guys that are on there that are bragging about their $300 oil changes.
Mike Allen [00:45:05]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:45:05]:
And how they don't give shit away. And not my customer. Not my customer. And then two months later, they're like, what are you guys doing for car count? I don't have any cars businesses down.
Lucas Underwood [00:45:14]:
Well I mean hear it, it's almost impossible to, it's almost impossible to pinpoint.
Garrette Malone [00:45:19]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:45:19]:
It's almost impossible to understand who it is you're talking to. And, and are they even telling the truth? Right, yeah. You can't use social media as a marker.
Garrette Malone [00:45:28]:
Yeah, right.
Lucas Underwood [00:45:29]:
It's really, what is the shop doing? How is the shop performing? And so I don't even like, I don't even read the comments. The, the number of people. I mean I, I had a 25 minute argument with a guy the other day. Not an argument but me just telling him, discussion. Honey, I don't think you understand. He says oh I own my own business, I keep a hundred percent now. No you do not.
Garrette Malone [00:45:53]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:45:53]:
And like I'm explaining over and over again now here's the problem. This is the tech turn. Shop owner does not understand, does not get it. What, what damages our industry. That damages our industry.
Garrette Malone [00:46:04]:
Well, right.
Lucas Underwood [00:46:05]:
And if we can bring those that are coming in up and then look, they can pick whatever model they want, they can pick whatever system they want.
Mike Allen [00:46:13]:
What were most shitty shop owners doing for a living before they were shop owners?
Jeff Compton [00:46:18]:
Fixing cars.
Mike Allen [00:46:20]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:46:21]:
So it is a self feeding cycle.
Lucas Underwood [00:46:23]:
Yes.
Mike Allen [00:46:24]:
Small independence. And so that's, that's why equity is coming in and scooping everybody up because they're professional money makers, they're professional business operators and they're coming into an environment with no competition because these dumb asses, all they know how to do is fix cars. They don't know how to run a business. They don't know how to look at a balance sheet.
Mike Allen [00:46:42]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:46:43]:
And how to read a P L. And we're going to come in there and we're going to kill them.
Mike Allen [00:46:48]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:46:48]:
And they're doing it absolutely well.
Lucas Underwood [00:46:50]:
I mean look how many, look how many have, have sold their shop. Fire sale at the end of the day, did not have any money, did not have any, anything to bargain with. Didn't understand the businesses financials. How many times have I told the story about the shop in my town? Dude says I want, I want two and a half million dollars for it. And I'm like well where's the P and L? I don't have a P and L. Oh well here, my accountant will get you one, let me get you one. And then it shows up with it and it's like okay, well you've not paid rent, you've not paid yourself, right?
Mike Allen [00:47:18]:
Yeah but I took $120,000 of cash out the back door. I should get paid for that too.
Lucas Underwood [00:47:21]:
Exactly. Like, sure.
Garrette Malone [00:47:23]:
Great.
Lucas Underwood [00:47:23]:
That's awesome. But the business isn't worth anything. Ends up selling it for $600,000. And even then it wasn't worth.
Mike Allen [00:47:29]:
It's worth assets and inventory. Somebody's overpaying just for the marketplace.
Lucas Underwood [00:47:33]:
Absolutely.
Mike Allen [00:47:36]:
So if we have an industry that's being taken over by private money because we're so bad at business, that's why it is important if you want to have a career and have a business as a technician turned shop owner to be at stuff like this.
Lucas Underwood [00:47:53]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Mike Allen [00:47:53]:
And stuff like Elites Ignite coming up in January at what's. What was the one in Utah? Mars.
Lucas Underwood [00:48:01]:
Mars, was it?
Mike Allen [00:48:02]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:48:02]:
You've got Mars, you've got Apex, you've got.
Mike Allen [00:48:04]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:48:04]:
Tools, you've got.
Mike Allen [00:48:05]:
Yeah. So you need to invest, you need to come to these events. And if you are a shop owner, you don't need to be coming to the technical classes.
Lucas Underwood [00:48:13]:
No great classes.
Mike Allen [00:48:15]:
But you need to learn how to be a business person.
Mike Allen [00:48:17]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:48:17]:
Because you can be a world class technician and a shitty shop owner. It's going to grind you down to a nub. It's going to make you angry and then you're going to go from jaded mechanic to jaded owner. You're going to become a bad boss and you're going to take advantage and abuse your employees and you're going to create more angry technicians. You're just going to feed the cycle.
Lucas Underwood [00:48:35]:
There's a better way.
Mike Allen [00:48:36]:
So if you want to survive in this marketplace that is evolving rapidly, not just survive. If you want to survive and thrive and reach your dreams and support your community and support your team, you've got to learn how to do it differently. Because it's not going to change if you keep doing what you've been doing. If you want a different result, you've got to do some shit different.
Mike Allen [00:48:56]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:48:57]:
Stop making excuses, get off your ass and come to, come to Raleigh.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:00]:
Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:49:00]:
100%.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:02]:
I want to. I'm going to pick your brain on something. We're going to flip the script here a little bit because you talk about the evolving market.
Garrette Malone [00:49:07]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:07]:
We talked about this last night. Let's, let's take. And the example I used last night was byd. You know what BYD is?
Mike Allen [00:49:14]:
Nope.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:15]:
Giant car company.
Mike Allen [00:49:16]:
Chinese.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:17]:
Way bigger than Tesla.
Garrette Malone [00:49:18]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:20]:
Subsidized by the Chinese government. Some of that's backing out right now. The Seagull is their baseline model. $10,000.
Garrette Malone [00:49:29]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:29]:
All day long so I'm sure it.
Mike Allen [00:49:31]:
Meets all highway traffic and safety standards.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:34]:
Believe it or not.
Jeff Compton [00:49:34]:
It does.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:35]:
It does, it does.
Mike Allen [00:49:36]:
The 30 mile side crash test, it's got.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:38]:
Dude, it's unbelievable what they've done. All the bells and whistles in this car.
Garrette Malone [00:49:43]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:43]:
Really nice car, really nice features, really nice stuff.
Mike Allen [00:49:46]:
Is it serviceable or do you just throw it away and get another.
Lucas Underwood [00:49:48]:
You throw it away and get another one.
Jeff Compton [00:49:49]:
We got talking about that last night at ten grand. Right. If that car comes in and it needs four tires, breaks all the way around, a couple control arms and a tie rod, in our market, you could be up to a five thousand dollar bill.
Mike Allen [00:50:01]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:50:01]:
Just go get a new one.
Jeff Compton [00:50:02]:
Who's putting $5,000 into something you can replace for 10?
Mike Allen [00:50:05]:
Now it depreciated to 7, 500 when he drove it off the lot.
Lucas Underwood [00:50:08]:
Right. Why, why do you, why do you think they're not here yet? Is because the big three, I mean like obviously everybody's going to fight to keep that from coming here, but the reality is, is what does that do to our market? What does that change in our market?
Garrette Malone [00:50:22]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:50:22]:
And I think we all know that the manufacturers and their dealers, they're not necessarily friends. Okay. No, Right. Like there's a, there's a divide, there's friction.
Mike Allen [00:50:31]:
Yeah.
Lucas Underwood [00:50:32]:
Between the two. And so I just wonder, what are your thoughts? We look forward 10 years.
Garrette Malone [00:50:37]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:50:38]:
Does that change your thoughts on your model, where we're going, how this is going to look in five, 10 years? Because that is one of the things I'm taking into consideration in all this.
Garrette Malone [00:50:47]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:50:48]:
Like why have I not expanded into multiple shops? One, you know, everything that's been going on, that was the plan.
Garrette Malone [00:50:53]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:50:53]:
And then all this happened and like I'm not going to lie to you, there was a chunk of me and I think you know this, but there was a chunk of me that was sitting there saying something doesn't feel right. So this concept of like growing the shop, getting it to its max, potential, buying another shop, buying another shop, something didn't align in here with what I wanted and I couldn't figure that out.
Garrette Malone [00:51:16]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:51:16]:
And, and I, I wandered for a long time after we got the shop done. I don't know why, like I just. Something didn't feel, I think you should.
Mike Allen [00:51:25]:
Sell your shop and focus on helping other shop owners.
Lucas Underwood [00:51:28]:
Maybe so. But, but here's the thing.
Mike Allen [00:51:31]:
You think he loses street cred if he doesn't have a shop actively?
Jeff Compton [00:51:34]:
Well, so that's a very good point. It's very Hard for me sometimes when I see people that come under certain coaching groups and sit up there and run a classroom and tell them to just, you know, play the short game.
Mike Allen [00:51:44]:
And there are also coaches that have shops just for the street cred, right? And don't give two shits about their shop.
Lucas Underwood [00:51:50]:
They don't even. Don't even work it. Well, I'm going to tell you right now that just in the time that I've been doing the other stuff, I've been doing my, like, I still know the numbers off the top of my head. I still look at my KPIs daily. But do I. Can I speak with the same authority that I spoke with when I was in the shop every single day?
Mike Allen [00:52:08]:
You've been there and done that. You can for about a decade, and.
Lucas Underwood [00:52:10]:
Then you'll be, well. But I mean, even then, like, it, it's. I'm not thinking in the same way that I was thinking right now. I think it's been beneficial, right? Because like, when. When everything happened, all of a sudden, it was like, aha. This is why nothing felt right. It's because, I guess divine intervention, this is what I was supposed to be doing next, right? It felt like I had purpose in what I was doing again. And I felt lost after we built a shop, right? And that's one of the things you hear Michael Smith, he's doing leadership intensive at the shop in October, right? And you hear him talk about.
Lucas Underwood [00:52:40]:
He said, when, when we're in Fortune 500, he said, everybody hates it, but we, we say, okay, here's your goal. And he said, then we get close to the goal, and he's like, I'm moving the goal up. He's like, all the employees are screaming and oh, my gosh. He's like, has nothing to do with the goal. Has nothing to do with the money. He said, it has to do with momentum. We're focusing on keeping the momentum moving. And if you ever hit your goal and you don't have another one lined up ready to go, right away, he's like, the momentum dies.
Lucas Underwood [00:53:05]:
He's like, I can show it to you on paper. It just happens. It's a human thing. And so that happened to me because.
Mike Allen [00:53:09]:
The shop, the gas, you cross the finish line, start coasting.
Lucas Underwood [00:53:12]:
Exactly. When I built the shop, the shop was what I envisioned, right? It was like everything was about that shop from the time I started the shop. And so then I had it, right? It took me 17 years to get it. And I worked my ass off to get there. And Then I had it.
Jeff Compton [00:53:26]:
I'm like.
Lucas Underwood [00:53:26]:
I feel like I'm wandering aimlessly. I'm out in the middle of nowhere, just trying to figure it out. And so then all the stuff with the family business happened. All of a sudden, it had purpose again. You know what I mean? Like, I felt like I had a reason to exist. I felt like I had a reason to be doing something. And then it's really interesting because now, like, my shop does what it does really well. The numbers could be a lot better.
Lucas Underwood [00:53:51]:
We could put more people in it. We could hit better marks all the way around. Okay. But what's interesting is that now that I'm working in the family business, it's opened my eyes to other things. It's opened my eyes to hospitality. And how can I bring the hospitality that we offer at the family business?
Mike Allen [00:54:10]:
So you're saying you need automotive hospitality?
Lucas Underwood [00:54:13]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Mike Allen [00:54:15]:
I know somebody for that.
Lucas Underwood [00:54:17]:
I think I'll pass.
Mike Allen [00:54:18]:
Hey, what do you get more fulfillment from, the repair shop, the family business, or the media stuff?
Lucas Underwood [00:54:25]:
I get more fulfillment from seeing progress. That's where. See that? That's the thing.
Mike Allen [00:54:30]:
Such a answer.
Lucas Underwood [00:54:31]:
No, I'm telling you, I want three choices. No, I'm just telling you I need to see things progress. I need, like, why Do I answer 250 Facebook messages a week? I answered 250 Facebook messages a week because I find my reward. And seeing those people make one little change in their business, and it get better.
Mike Allen [00:54:50]:
If you've messaged Lucas on Facebook and he didn't get back to you, that means that you weren't in the top 250 of people that he wanted to talk to.
Lucas Underwood [00:54:57]:
Bro, I have. You know, I don't know if you know this, but when you get to 100 Facebook messages in a single day, like, the people at the bottom are really hard to get back to. Like, you have to scroll forever to get back down there, and they disappear.
Mike Allen [00:55:08]:
You don't realize he doesn't like you. It means he doesn't care about you.
Lucas Underwood [00:55:11]:
How many. How many messages do you answer, Mike?
Mike Allen [00:55:15]:
All of them. Unless I don't like you or care about you.
Lucas Underwood [00:55:19]:
Braxton, how does that feel, considering he doesn't answer your messages as long as he pays the invoice? That's exactly right. But, you know, I. I think that for me, the reward comes from seeing progress. The rewards come from, like. Like, I like a big challenge. And, you know, the family business thing, I've never undertaken a challenge like that. I've never been faced with something like that did not want it.
Garrette Malone [00:55:43]:
Right?
Lucas Underwood [00:55:43]:
I've been accused of, like, trying to make this happen because that's what I wanted, bro. Anybody in their right mind who would want that mess is fucking crazy.
Garrette Malone [00:55:52]:
Right?
Mike Allen [00:55:53]:
Where do you want it? Where do you want Lucas's life to be, like, in five years?
Mike Allen [00:55:57]:
I don't know.
Lucas Underwood [00:55:58]:
I don't know. I'm. I don't.
Jeff Compton [00:56:01]:
In mind.
Lucas Underwood [00:56:02]:
Well, of course I've got a goal in mind. I want to create an awesome life for my kids. I want to create sustainability. I want to create a world where they don't have to want for something, but they have to work for something.
Garrette Malone [00:56:13]:
Right?
Lucas Underwood [00:56:13]:
Seth Thorson said to me one time, he said, I will never give my kids my shop. And I said, why? He said, because I want them to work for it. Because unless they work for it, they won't value it.
Garrette Malone [00:56:22]:
Right?
Lucas Underwood [00:56:22]:
And I've watched that happen in the family business.
Jeff Compton [00:56:25]:
Well, that's your own father's mantra.
Mike Allen [00:56:27]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:56:28]:
Right. So I'm not so sure, though, that.
Lucas Underwood [00:56:30]:
Like, it was Brett then. He just got whatever you want, Brent. Brett.
Jeff Compton [00:56:33]:
But I'm not so sure that, like, these. These people that say, I'm not gonna. I don't want to ever. Like, I'm gonna make them earn it. You know what I mean? I'm not just gonna give it to them. I think that's all for a lot of them is just lip service because I don't want to name names. It's a situation of. I've watched them and it's like, as we.
Jeff Compton [00:56:53]:
To talk about. You talked about the nepotism thing last night and how he's. As long as he's known me, I have an issue with it. Right?
Lucas Underwood [00:56:58]:
And I mean, dude will straight up rage out over it. Straight.
Jeff Compton [00:57:01]:
Because it's. It's there doesn't. I see too many with that going back to the safety net thing, right? They're not the star player. A lot of the time that second generation that the family blood runs into, they are not the star player. They're not the key player. They're not. Like, they're there and they're not. It's not that they go without consequence.
Jeff Compton [00:57:21]:
It's not that they don't get reprimanded. But, man, like, to me, it's. If you want to truly be the leader, they have to become the key player. Otherwise, when you walk away from it all, I see it crumble. Too many times I've watched the shops fail because guess what? They didn't. They weren't the leader.
Mike Allen [00:57:41]:
I was 100% the boss's kid for a hot minute. And I would talk back to dad at the shop, and we would yell at each other. And I remember I would get to work, like five minutes late every day. Five minutes late every day. And then Neil Meyer. I think it was Neil, who was the store manager for my dad at the time. And then there was a lead service advisor, and I was a service advisor at the time. And he said, hey, Bobby, you ain't got a hair on your ass unless you send Mike home for showing up late for work.
Garrette Malone [00:58:15]:
And.
Mike Allen [00:58:16]:
Because dad wasn't really involved in the business at this point. And so Neil was trying to deal with the problem, but he didn't want to send the boss's kid home, so he made one of the other guys send the boss's kid home. And that was when I started to grow up a little bit. And dad did make me earn it.
Mike Allen [00:58:34]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:58:34]:
But I also. I got a steep discount, Right. So I bought the business from dad, and it took me many years to do it, but I bought it at a discount over what it would have cost for someone else to buy.
Lucas Underwood [00:58:46]:
Sure. Looking back, do you. Because we had a really deep conversation standing in between the elevators of floor nine last night, right? And we did. No, me and Jeff.
Mike Allen [00:58:58]:
I'm pretty sure I didn't went last night. And I would have remembered that.
Lucas Underwood [00:59:01]:
No, no, trust me, you. You won't remember those conversations.
Mike Allen [00:59:04]:
Michael.
Lucas Underwood [00:59:05]:
We had this deep conversation, and we're talking about our parents, right? And like, you know, mom's not with us anymore. And so that was a. You know, for the longest time, I didn't value their input or I didn't value the time I had with them.
Garrette Malone [00:59:20]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:59:20]:
Because those are the only people who will truly love you until the end. Those are the only people who will truly fight for you in your best interest if they're good parents.
Garrette Malone [00:59:28]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:59:29]:
Those are the only people who are truly on your side in life. And so Jeff was talking about, he's having this argument with his mom, and she's like 78 years old. I'm like, bro, you don't have time to have arguments with mom anymore, right? Like that will be gone.
Mike Allen [00:59:41]:
Cherish every moment, right?
Lucas Underwood [00:59:43]:
Yeah, for sure. And so, like, here I am, I look at that with my dad, and I'm like, I don't think he's right about that. Yeah, whatever. You know what I mean?
Mike Allen [00:59:52]:
Matter, Right. I don't get to talk to him again. Am I going to be worried that he was wrong about that?
Garrette Malone [00:59:55]:
Right.
Lucas Underwood [00:59:55]:
And. And does that. Has that changed in your perspective as well?
Mike Allen [01:00:00]:
So my wife gives me constant reminders about that because she. Her mother passed away 20 years ago.
Mike Allen [01:00:06]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:00:07]:
So we were talking about that the other day because we were. We weren't even engaged yet when her mother passed away. And she's estranged from her father. And so when I get really busy and mom and dad are going to be in town, she's like, you need to stop what you're doing and go be with them.
Mike Allen [01:00:24]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:00:25]:
Because, you know, that's. That's a finite number of chances that you're going to have that and make sure that the kids get to be with them.
Mike Allen [01:00:32]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:00:33]:
Right. And so I appreciate that perspective that Amanda gives me, and I'm really fortunate that I have a really good, really healthy relationship with both of my parents and they have a good, healthy relationship with each other.
Mike Allen [01:00:47]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:00:48]:
So I came from, like, the all American cookie cutter family. Yeah, for sure. Picket fence, two and a half cars, dog outside, that whole deal.
Mike Allen [01:00:56]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:00:56]:
So I'm aware of the fact that I had. I had a pretty good setup going, you know.
Mike Allen [01:01:00]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:01:02]:
And I'm thankful for that.
Lucas Underwood [01:01:05]:
You know, I'm with you.
Mike Allen [01:01:06]:
At the same time. My dad built a business, taught me how to run it, and stepped away in 2016. And I laugh when. When Mark Pons bought Dad's location in chapel hill in 2016, we went out and we had some drinks at the Cronkleton on Franklin street and had a great meal that night. And then I didn't see him at the shop for months. And when I saw him, it was to empty a can of waste oil because he built a shop and had a lift behind the house. Right. He probably came to the shop twice in the next year.
Garrette Malone [01:01:42]:
Right.
Mike Allen [01:01:42]:
He did not micromanage at all. And that was. I think that was great leadership on his part to be able to give me enough rope to sink or swim on my own.
Lucas Underwood [01:01:52]:
For sure.
Mike Allen [01:01:53]:
And that was before I had bought him out. Right. I was still buying that second.
Mike Allen [01:01:56]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:01:57]:
Because we had two stores at the time, so.
Mike Allen [01:01:59]:
Yeah. Anyway. Yep.
Jeff Compton [01:02:01]:
It's tough to know. It's tough to know what to do.
Mike Allen [01:02:05]:
Are you gonna be in five years?
Jeff Compton [01:02:08]:
I don't know. I'll be. I'll be 50 next month. And then after that. And, like, I did not see myself still pulling on a wrench at 55. So, you know. Or 55 is going to be my cutoff because I don't physically. I don't want to do it anymore.
Jeff Compton [01:02:22]:
And I can't I won't be able to. It's just. And it's so funny. I know a younger. I know a tech that's 10 years older than me, but has been out of the industry now 20 years because his. His body's just shot and now he does little renovations and stuff like that. Five years for me is if, if we can continue to get the message out from the podcast to what it's doing, and I'm finding a job that, that will pay my bills and leads me fulfilled, whatever that job may be, is what I'll be doing.
Mike Allen [01:02:48]:
Well, perfect, I would say. I know that we gotta go. We're pushing up against a time limit, but I would challenge you that if you know you're not wrenching in five years, yesterday is when you had to start figuring out what you're gonna do in five years.
Lucas Underwood [01:03:02]:
Absolutely.
Mike Allen [01:03:02]:
And you need to be getting to what that looks like is gonna be a long process. But every day has to be a step closer to rather than further away from that.
Jeff Compton [01:03:13]:
And you're not wrong. You're not wrong.
Mike Allen [01:03:16]:
So I think you're going to be. I think you're going to be the biggest automotive podcast in America.
Mike Allen [01:03:24]:
Yep.
Jeff Compton [01:03:25]:
No, I don't think so.
Lucas Underwood [01:03:27]:
Your.
Mike Allen [01:03:27]:
Your audience is bigger than any of the other ones. You strike a tone that elicits emotion from people and you give a. When you're at these events, you don't blow people off. You don't keep walking. You're not head down. You love these people that you're dealing with. I think you're onto something really big, dude. And I think that that needs to be your focus over the next five years.
Jeff Compton [01:03:47]:
I appreciate that. Thank you. I mean, I'm just trying to do everybody in this room proud. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm proud of you, bro.
Lucas Underwood [01:03:55]:
Very cool. Thanks, everybody.
Mike Allen [01:03:57]:
Yep.
Mike Allen [01:03:57]:
Thanks for listening to Confessions of a Shop Owner, where we lay it all out, the good, the bad, and sometimes the super messed up. I'm your host, Mike Allen, here to remind you that even the pros screen screw it up sometimes. So why not laugh a little bit, learn a little bit, and maybe have another drink? You got a confession of your own or a topic you'd like me to cover? Or do you just want to let me know what an idiot I am? Email mikeonfessionsofashopowner.com or call and leave a message. The number 704-confess. That's 704-266-3377. If you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to like subscribe or follow. Join us on the screen.
Mike Allen [01:04:32]:
Crazy journey that is shop ownership. I'll see you on the next episode.
Lucas Underwood [01:05:04]:
You know, I said just.