Changing The Industry Podcast · 2026-06-29 · 1h 16m
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
47 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Trevor Schlientz shares his unconventional path to becoming an automotive expert, starting with a teenage attempt to rebuild a Ford Taurus transmission from an AutoZone manual, progressing through UTI training where he completed automotive, heavy truck, and industrial programs simultaneously, and becoming Master ASE certified before age 20. The conversation explores the limitations of current ASE certification standards, with hosts questioning whether a paper test can truly measure competency - especially for modern vehicles with advanced diagnostics, ADAS systems, and electric powertrains. Dave Mackles' new AvTech credentialing system emerges as a potential alternative that applies PhD-level research to professional competency verification. Trevor emphasizes learning from failures, including cars that "beat him up" and became case studies for training. The episode tackles industry credentialing challenges, how lobbyists influenced Senate legislation on calibration certification requirements, and the disconnect between ASE certifications and public awareness. Key insight: ASE's General Service (GS) certification was criticized as a marketing tool to inflate shop credibility rather than meaningful career advancement.
Trevor attended UTI after high school and completed automotive, heavy truck, and industrial programs simultaneously by double-phasing his classes - 12 hours daily for a year with new classes every three weeks. He took all eight automotive ASE exams his first attempt as a student, achieving Master ASE certification by age 19.
The episode argues that ASE certification relies on paper tests that cannot measure true competency, especially for modern vehicles with advanced diagnostics, ADAS, and EVs. Additionally, ASE's General Service (GS) certification lowered the bar to allow shops to advertise more "certified" technicians without meaningful standards.
AvTech is a new credentialing system created by Dave Mackles, who earned a PhD studying professional credentialing standards. Unlike ASE's paper-based testing, AvTech uses research-based competency verification methods and addresses modern vehicle complexity including EVs and ADAS systems.
The industry lacks standardized competency measures that reflect modern vehicle technology, and lobbying efforts have blocked legislation requiring technician certification for critical tasks like calibration. Additionally, the public doesn't understand or recognize ASE as a meaningful credential.
Trevor considers cars that "beat you up" and problems that initially defeat you as the most valuable learning experiences - he's created case studies and training materials from his own failures to teach others not to repeat the same mistakes.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
There are pockets of genuine operational insight - the vendor-offset-for-training-cost strategy, the jaw-dropping comparison of automotive to dental continuing education requirements, and the point about ASE's marketing spend - but the majority of the 76-minute runtime is career biography, failed-transmission nostalgia, and generic social media coaching that adds little for a working operator.
I calculated it out one time, I figured I had over 100 hours of continuing ed a year for multiple years. And in hindsight, I don't feel as though I really got ahead in this industry. I felt like that's what I had to do to just stay mildly current.
if you go to their budget and you see that they've spent less than 1% of their total income on marketing, um, like, do you think anybody's gonna know about them?
The sub-1% ASE marketing budget observation and the GS certification corruption critique are genuinely sharp, but the broader framing - techs need more training, rising tide lifts all ships, don't attribute to malice what is ignorance - is well-worn industry conversation recycling known aphorisms rather than first-principles thinking.
when all of a sudden we were creating GS certifications that lowered the bar so substantially, just so certain people could say that they had ASC certified technicians based on a donation that was given to the organization
do not contribute or do not attribute to, uh, malice. What can be construed as ignorance
Trevor is a genuine hands-on practitioner - 15+ years as a technician, Master ASE certified out of tech school, and owner of a specialized Pico scope training and support business he acquired and rebuilt. He has real credibility in a narrow technical niche but is operating at small scale and is largely unknown outside his community.
I hung up the wrenches, stopped being a full time technician and started being a full time Pico guy
the after sales support far outweighs the cost of the equipment
A handful of concrete data points land well - Vision's 1,200 first-time attendees against roughly one million industry techs, 100-plus hours of annual CE just to stay current, and the dentist's 24-hour annual requirement - but the episode lacks hard business metrics, revenue figures, or documented training outcomes that would make the claims actionable and verifiable.
there's 1200 first time technicians here this year... there's like a million technicians in the, in the industry nationwide and we have 3,000 of them here this weekend
I calculated it out one time, I figured I had over 100 hours of continuing ed a year for multiple years
The host shows genuine curiosity with biographical follow-ups and one notably sharp pivot to challenge Trevor on his low public profile, but there is almost no pushback on substantive claims, the conversation drifts badly into social media coaching in the final third, and most exchanges settle into mutual validation rather than productive tension.
I gotta pause you for a minute because I'm really curious now. Did you ever figure out what was wrong with the Taurus transmission?
I don't feel like you'd really put yourself out there that much until probably the last six months or a year.
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
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Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Speaker A: For years, the automotive industry has been plagued with the perception of shady business practices, greedy owners and incompetent technicians. It's time we flip the script.
Speaker B: Good clap, David. I'm very proud of you. I don't know if you know this, but this is not a standard podcast, David.
Speaker A: We started this podcast in order to bring everyone together to have the tough conversations everyone's been avoiding. Instead of endless complaining and pointing out the problems, we seek to get everything out in the open and look for real solutions. To do that, we bring on industry experts, vendors that are changing the game, multimillion dollar shop owners, as well as those that are struggling every single day to pay the bills and everything in between. We're not professional podcasters pretending to know how it is. We're in the trenches every, every single day, trying to pay the bills and hopefully achieving some success. So if you're tired of overly polished scripted conversations, it's time to tune in to the Changing the Industry podcast. Lucas and I are proud to partner with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence as a means to help shops whether they're getting off the ground, hiring their first technician, or looking to pass along their business to a new generation. So jump down to the show notes and check the link in the description, which will take you to their events page. The Institute is committed to bringing world class training to shops all over the country, including their Leadership Intensive, their Mars Intensive, and the Service Advisor three day Intensive. Some of these events take place all over the country, so jump down to the show notes, click the link, find an event near you, and experience world class training unlike anything else you've seen.
Speaker C: And now onto the episode for the output for sure. Well, I just crop the 4k gets cropped and then I run individual tracks and then I switch.
Speaker B: Sure.
Speaker C: So when you're talking, it'll switch to you, and then when I'm talking, it'll switch back to me.
Speaker D: Learning video editing is. I can fix cars, I can use the scope. Don't, don't.
Speaker C: It's a lot easier. It's a lot that this is all so much easier, let me tell you. Uh, not the, like, the hooking up the pico is cool. And then, uh, once you learn the program, you know, you can put the settings in or whatever. Uh, and then the information interpretation is also not overly difficult, depending on what it is that you're looking for. Um, but then you're like, oh, okay, well, that, uh, intake valve is sticking. Uh, it's like, oh, okay, well why is it sticking? Uh, well, it's sticking open. That's what's causing the misfire.
Speaker D: Yep.
Speaker C: It's like, okay, well, what do we do now? Well, we got to take the cylinder head apart and change. Change out the valve or replace the cylinder head. It's got chains. It's a pentastar. It's like, oh, okay, well, good luck. I don't want to do any of that.
Speaker D: Sounds a lot like quarter and engine move on.
Speaker C: That looks like work. Yeah, that's work. That part is work. The diagnosing. You have to have a lot of knowledge. I don't know that's that much work work. And I can tell you, because I enjoyed doing it and because I enjoyed
Speaker B: it, it couldn't have been that much work.
Speaker C: It wasn't that much work. Uh, because it was fun for me. It was interesting for me. And then the minute the hard work hit. Yeah. I was like, I'm m out.
Speaker B: I'm out. I'm good. I'm good, buddy.
Speaker D: I can commiserate with that. Even though someone else may think something is difficult, if it excites you, it starts to become easy. I like diagnostics. I liked getting into testing, and so, you know, that's the direction I wanted to go. And I'll be honest, there was a point. It's like, man, if I got to do one more brake job, I might as well just leave this industry and go work in H vac. Because it's like, I go to school. I know.
Speaker C: Sounds like a diagnostician, though. Like, my. My diet tech is the exact same way. He's like, please don't have me do any more ball joints. And I. I don't. I don't necessarily have. I don't have a problem with him doing that. I didn't have a problem doing the ball joints or the brake jobs or the tires. Uh, I mean, it was just work work. Right. You know, it's like. And, yeah, it's not very interesting. It's pretty boring. And then. But, you know, you put your headphones in and listen to some music, and then you got everything kind of where it's supposed to be.
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker C: You get bang out that. Then you start timing yourself, see how quickly it can do the job. I can make a game of it. But what I mean, like, you got to take those chains off, and then you got to take. Disassemble the front end of the car. Or, you know, if it's sideways, it's even worse and everything. Like, you're reaching down to get that one bolt out, and you shouldn't Twist it with your hand and you're like, screw that noise. And I know. Hell no. Yep, hell no.
Speaker D: I remember that.
Speaker B: And you know, here's the thing is there's techs who enjoy that mechanical aspect of it and they take it apart,
Speaker C: put it back together.
Speaker B: Yeah, they love that part. And then there's techs who enjoy the diagnostic or deductive reasoning process. Right. I'm very much the one who enjoys the deductive reasoning process. But once I find the answer, I am no longer interested.
Speaker C: Yeah, the answer.
Speaker B: Like, and it's like, why do we not charge appropriately for diagnostic testing? Well, it's because, like, I can spend all day doing that. Like, it is, like it is my whole purpose in life just trying to find the answer. I don't have to. Like, I'm not doing it to get money, I'm doing it to get the answer.
Speaker D: Yeah, because of the satisfaction. I mean, and that's a big difference between going from being a tech to being a business owner. Because when I was a technician and I would nail that diag job or nail that repair and I'd do my test drive, park it out front, climb out of that car, reach over my shoulder and beep, beep, like the dopamine hit from like another job well done. And now there's somewhat less of that in the office. Even though it's incredibly rewarding to do tech support, some, a lot of business stuff, you don't always see the completion. It's never really done.
Speaker B: As a shop owner, let me just make it very clear that, that like once you realize the business side of it as a diagnostician or you get that, you know what would have been a dopamine rush for fixing the car, then you're like, oh, there's 112 behind it. Uh, yeah. And oh, I have to do this to pay my bills and oh, what's the chance they're not going to pay me? Or what's the chance that they're not going to go pick it up for two weeks or charge storage.
Speaker D: Yeah, that, that helps.
Speaker B: That does help. Uh, introduce yourself.
Speaker D: Well, um, so my name's Trevor, Trevor Schlintz. I, um. Former technician turned auto nerds owner. Right. So, um, you know, when I was in tech school, I did tech School, uh, UTI way back in the early, early mid 2000s. And I did everything they offered, automotive, heavy, diesel, industrial. I just, I wanted to learn how everything worked.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker D: And I've always been mechanical, always been interested in, in how things work. Took up, can't tell you how many toys and. And things I destroyed as a child. And, um, you know, I knew at the age of five I wanted to work and I wanted to work on cars. I really never had the phase where I wanted to, you know, I want to be an astronaut. I'm going to be a firefighter. It's like, nope. What do you want to do, Trevor? I'm going to work on cars. That was my singular focus from 5 to even to today. Like, I still want to know how this stuff works.
Speaker B: And
Speaker D: I got to a point in my career where I felt like I maxed out. I had been M Master ase since I graduated tech school.
Speaker B: Where were you working up to that point? Give us the pathway.
Speaker D: So, um, my first job was at a small transmission shop, uh, in Sparta, Michigan, north of my house, north of Grand Rapids. And that was in high school. Started working there for summer job. And it was a roundabout way where I got connected with the owner because I had attempted to rebuild a transmission, an automatic transmission, myself. I bought a book from autozone about rebuilding transmissions for Ford Tauruses. And I made a deal with my parents because they had a Ford Taurus with a bad transmission. And I made a deal. If I fix the car.
Speaker C: It wasn't just the torque converter, by the way. No, um, it was definitely was not.
Speaker D: If I fixed the car and I put all of my own money, I was mowing lawns and doing, you know, I. Doing, uh, different, you know, jobs. Like, if I fix the car, I get the car as my first car. And my parents are like, sheesh, if you could fix it, go for it.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: So I. I spent a ton of time, pulled the engine out, pulled the transmission out, got a book, read through it, dove in. Of course, this is before YouTube. This is before I, uh, had any formal, real formal training. And it didn't work. But I tried, you know, I tore it apart multiple times and I tried. And I got connected with this guy who owned his own trance shop. And it's because I was fixing another car and he had said, um, come to my shop. Like, you need to come work for me. Um, I mean, I'm a teenager who's never had any formal training, who just tried to rebuild an automatic transmission because he bought a book from autozone like that. In hindsight, I had no business trying to do that, but I was gonna try it. And, you know, I'd fixed a lot of other stuff, so why not? And that was my first job. And I learned a ton. I was R and R in transmissions for him, I was the young kid. I had some skills. I understood tools. My dad was a handy guy. So I learned, you know, he fixed stuff, you know, fixed the cars when I was a kid. And I was always, I was always the annoying son over the fender. Dad, what's that? Well, you know how, you know, what am I going to do here, what I'm going to do there? And my dad was the same way. If he didn't know how to do it, he got the climber or the Hanes manuals and learned how to do it. And you know, when I got to high school, a little further into high school, we had the Kent Skills center, which is the local VOTEC automotive, uh, training. But you can only go when you're a junior or senior. So freshman year, my guidance counselor wanted to know we were talking trajectory. It's like, what are you going to do? I'm going to work on cars. And he's like, okay. Wasn't super supportive in it, but he's like, well, I guess you're going to the skills center. Junior senior year, I go to the skills center. I'm m working at the transit shop when I can, lunch or summertimes and stuff. And I started working for Pep Boys. And I got connected via the school fair at the skill center. UTI was there. I had seen their infomercial on, uh, Speed, uh, Network. And it's like, that's where I wanted to go.
Speaker C: There were so many students from that speed network.
Speaker D: And that's where I went.
Speaker B: I gotta pause you for a minute because I'm really curious now. Did you ever figure out what was wrong with the Taurus transmission? What were you doing?
Speaker D: No, it beat me. And it still bothers me to this day.
Speaker B: And he didn't tell you?
Speaker D: Oh, no. We attempted to rebuild it. Um, and the conclusion that that trans shop owner had said, he's like, I think you've got a crack case.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And at the time, so to finish the story I should say he had shown me, he's like, hey, here's another one Taurus that has a bad engine. And this person's only asking like 400 bucks for it. You've got a Taurus that's kind of rusting out with a good engine and a bad trans. And here's one for sale in the newspaper. The newspaper for like 400 bucks. Uh, he says it needs an engine. He's like, if it's not as rusty, go buy that car. Put your engine in that car.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And that's what I did. And that was my first car is I took the engine out of the one from mom and dad and I put it in the other one, which I bought and I paid for all the parts and did all that and then subsequently scrapped the car that I could not fix. And it still bugs me to this day, like, and I wonder, having had a career fixing cars for well over 15 years, the ones that beat you.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: You still wonder. And I think now it's like, hm, if I knew then what I know now, could I have found it?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And there's a few cars. It's like, yeah, I, I, if I knew then what I know now, I, I could have fixed that.
Speaker B: I've, I've got a 70s Kjet Mercedes that wakes me up sometimes at night and I, you know, and then, and then I talk to people that knew the kjet and they're like, they're like,
Speaker D: don't let it, don't let it.
Speaker B: That wasn't gonna get fixed, bro.
Speaker D: No, but, but you learn the most from those.
Speaker C: Oh yeah.
Speaker D: The ones that eat your lunch, you
Speaker B: learn to say no from those very well at 2.
Speaker D: But the ones that really eat your lunch, the ones that beat you up, they're the ones that teach you the most. And I have some that, uh, I've made case study material out of and I've made class material out of.
Speaker B: Mhm.
Speaker D: And I got no shame in saying, like, yeah, I threw the same part on this car twice. That's the definition of insanity. Right. Do the same thing over and over expecting different results.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: But I learned from it. And here's. Let me show you where I went wrong.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And now don't do what I did.
Speaker B: Exactly. You know, exactly.
Speaker D: That's, that's wisdom, right?
Speaker B: Yeah. Amen.
Speaker D: It's learning from other people's mistakes is, is wisdom.
Speaker B: So then you went to uti, Right? They got you hooked on the uti.
Speaker D: I went to UTI after high school. I, I was in my element. It was all automotive all the time. I was in gearhead heaven as a 19 year old. And they actually had a program that if you could swing it financially, they would actually let you double up on your classes. At the time they called it double phasing. And I really didn't like living in Chicago. Uh, you know, living north of Chicago in a Chicago suburb is very different than grand, uh, Rapids.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And, and it's like, you know, I can do it, I can get the loan. I'll, I'm gonna double up. So that means that for a year, 12 hours a day, five days a week, new classes every three weeks. I was hammering it out. Yeah, I did everything again, automotive, heavy, uh, truck and industrial. So I did big rig transmissions. At the same time I was doing automotive. I did industrial heating and cooling. Like, I did everything they had. In fact, at the very end, they had released a pilot class on professional, uh, service writing. And it's like, I'm gonna take that too.
Speaker B: That's pretty cool.
Speaker D: It's like, I'm here, the loans are already approved. Like, I'm going to take everything you have.
Speaker B: Yeah. And get my money's worth.
Speaker D: Exactly. And while I was there, I took my first round of ASCs. And at that point, it's like, I've been go big or go home for a year now. Why not? Uh, it'll never be cheaper for me to do the test than it is right now because students get a discount, or at least they used to. And so I tried to do. I did all eight automotive ASCs my first time.
Speaker B: Wow.
Speaker D: And by the time I graduated, I was Master AC certified. That's badass, dude. And in hindsight, which I mean, I'm still proud of, but in hindsight, there is no way a 19 year old just graduating tech school should be able to be master. Well, I mean, by their standards, uh,
Speaker B: I think it, you know, we've talked to Fonzlo about it and Fonzlo said, look, if you do a little bit of research on this, you'll find that it's base level proficiency. Right. And I think that's one of the things we say that sometimes and it upsets a lot of people. Right. Like we get some hate mail over it. But the reality is, if you look at the test, if you look at the information, uh, how could you test competency with a paper written test? I don't think that you could.
Speaker D: I think it could, I think it could be done. I don't think you'd like it. But I say this and I've had the ase anti ase conversation with, with clients and shop owners. Just, you know, like, spirited discussion. Because I believe in it.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: But I also see some, like, I see their perspective. Right. And I posed the question and, and this is where you. Everybody usually kind of goes like they don't know. The question is, what, what, what is the better, what do we have that's better?
Speaker B: Uh, AvTech.
Speaker D: You know, that's a relatively new one.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker D: That's only come m around the last couple years. Right.
Speaker B: Yeah. Well, really, just last Year.
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker B: Um, and so Dave Mackles, um, I think what's interesting about that, very, very different approach. Right. And so in talking to Dave, Dave went to school. He, he's always been an instructor. The first time I ever sat in one of his classes, you know, he was a college instructor, really well known college instructor, really poured his heart into instructing. Um, really cool story. We did a podcast with him. Go back and listen to it. But, um, he was noticing that his wife had a professional career and that she was required to prove competency. Right. That she couldn't just go do a job. And he was talking about the fact, like, hey, okay, fine, you've got a standard 1995, 2000 automobile, that's one thing. But you talk about an EV, you talk about a car with ADAS on it, we're talking about a very different machine. We're talking about a very different liability
Speaker D: structure, very different animal.
Speaker B: Yeah. And he said we should have some type of credentialing. So he started doing research. Mhm. And started going to school. I want to say he got a PhD in the study of credentialing.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker B: He didn't just say. Yeah, he didn't just say like, hey, I think we should do this. He said, I want to understand it. I want to understand how does it work, why does it work, what do you do to make it work? And then I want to bring it to the automotive industry. Right. And so it's a very different concept than anything we've seen before. Um, and so I think that he's on the right track, but it'll take years to gain that momentum, you know, and he messaged me, I don't mean to steal his thunder, I'm going to do an episode with him about this. But, um, he messaged me and he was talking about the fact that he was sitting in the Maryland, um, one of either congressional or one of the political hearings.
Speaker D: Okay.
Speaker B: And they were talking about the, uh, legislation that was going to require technicians to be certified to calibrate a car. And he said that we already had this laid out. There's very clear documentation of why it's important. It's very clear that we should have credentials for this. And the nada shows up and all of a sudden the senators come back in and say, uh, you know, the lobbyists have really let us know how terrible of an idea this is overall and how it's going to have a negative impact on these businesses in such a way. We just couldn't stomach that. Right. And he was saying, hey, I'm really concerned that big money shows up and sway something that's as important as I feel this is. And I think we're going to face that when it comes to credentialing. Right?
Speaker D: I think we should. I think we should face that.
Speaker B: I agree. I agree. You know, it's almost like I never thought about this and somebody really smart, I'm not going to say their name, I'm not going to try and throw them under the bus like this. Somebody who, some of their roots came from the founding of ase, right, like the very initial founding, said to me one time, he said, do you know when everyone knew it was over for ase? And I said, what are you talking about? It's over? And he said, well, he said, just watch and see. He said, do you know when we knew? And I said, when? He said, when all of a sudden we were creating GS certifications that lowered the bar so substantially, just so certain people could say that they had ASC certified technicians based on a donation that was given to the organization. That bothers me. Right. Like, that's concerning.
Speaker D: Well, I guess now, I don't remember when ASE released the GS certification. I know it's relatively new, um, but I think it could have had value or, you know, because even a general service tech, like, there should be some demonstration, uh, of competency and capability, um, and. It doesn't help in a lot of ways, but some bar, better than no bar.
Speaker C: You're being diplomatic. The only reason why they put that in there is so they could just advertise that they had everybody that was ASC certified just so they can make the customer comfortable to walk in there and get their car worked on. But honestly, like, a general service technician is not an aspiration. That's like your first step. Like, you're just, you're brand new to the industry. This is how you take off tires and put them back on. And yeah, I mean, test not going to that. Like, this is internal training that we're going to put you through. And the aspiration is we get you two master certified, but in the meantime, you're not going to be master certified. And the fact that they're like, well, we want to sue that all, or so, uh, get out of here. Yeah, you want to say that because you put out work well, you want to be able to, uh, lull the customer into a sense of, uh, of, um. What's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker B: Confidence or.
Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Comfort or confidence that their vehicle is not, uh, not being Hacked apart.
Speaker B: I do believe. I think you're right. I think that there could be value in a certification that a engages somebody who's in that GS role and says, hey, this is a really good feeling to say that you've accomplished something. This is a really good feeling to say that, hey, you're taking steps in your career to move this thing forward. This is a. But that wasn't what happened.
Speaker D: No.
Speaker B: Right. I mean, that's concerning to me. Right?
Speaker D: I mean, rightfully so. I will say this in my. In my. From my perspective, in my experience. Um, I'm part of a. I'm part of a business networking group back home. We meet every Wednesday. And it's. It's one, uh, person per profession, per chapter. BNI. And I've been in my BNI chapter now for, like, coming up on 14 years.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker D: I actually started in BNI representing the shop I used to work for. And my employers at the time, when they approached me about it, they said, hey, we think b and I would be good for you. Um, we'll pay you to do it. We'll pay for it. Your job is to bring work in for the shop. Uh, all right, boss, I'll do that. That sounds awesome. But through that, I met mortgage brokers and attorneys and all kinds of other professionals. And for 14 years, I have talked to them and I have trained them and I have learned from them. And in my experience, from them and, um, other people in the public, they have no idea what ASE Is. It's totally irrelevant to them. They don't know. And in some regards, they don't care because it's never like, they were never taught or it never equated as being something valuable to them.
Speaker B: So.
Speaker D: Which is, I think, the hardest hurdle to get over.
Speaker B: But hold up now. Hold up now. Okay? And I've upset a lot of people by saying this. I'm not trying to upset you. I'm just saying if you go because their budget and their p. L. Is public.
Speaker D: Right.
Speaker B: You can go download it right now.
Speaker D: Okay.
Speaker B: And so if you go to their budget and you see that they've spent less than 1% of their total income on marketing, um, like, do you think anybody's gonna know about them?
Speaker D: Of course not. Right.
Speaker B: They've not done anything to make themselves relevant.
Speaker D: I didn't know that you could. I didn't know that it was public information.
Speaker C: It's a non profit stuff.
Speaker B: It's a nonprofit. You can go down there.
Speaker D: I guess I never really thought about it from that perspective.
Speaker B: And so here's the thing is like I started having questions about it and Dave has really taught me a lot about this stuff. But I was on advisory councils for the local schools, right? And so here I am, I go to these advisory councils and the instructors are saying, hey, you just need to understand that we have to meet two obligations, okay? Obligation number one is we have to make Native happy because we have to have a Native accreditation and we have to have this curriculum and we have to teach them this curriculum. Obligation two is we actually have to teach them to fix cars. And I said, well, like, aren't those two one in the same? Oh, no, no they're not. They're not even remotely one in the same. What do you mean? Well, because NATEF is so outdated, right? The curriculum is asinine. It's so far from what you would think it should be.
Speaker D: Yeah, I have no idea.
Speaker B: Yeah, so we're teaching them rebuild alternators and power steering pumps and calipers.
Speaker D: And so it's like, that's okay, not really relevant today. Ah, it helps with. It may help with understanding how they work, but it's not relevant in the day to day repairs.
Speaker B: So NATEF accreditor, good friend of mine, been friends with him for a long time, is a, uh, instructor at a community college, getting ready to retire, stands up in front of, well, not these cameras, but some other cameras in this box over here, stands up in his school and says, I'm just going to tell you right now, like, I don't care if they're mad at me and I don't care if it hurts their feelings. I've spent my life's work as a technician, as a, uh, shop manager, as a shop foreman, as a master level certified automotive technician, and as an instructor teaching these kids how to become automotive professionals. And I'm going to tell you that it really chaps my ass when I go into a school that's really well known, that does not meet the required minimum M standards I.e. go, no go. And I walk through that door and it's obvious, it's blatant. And they come to me and they say, tell you what, uh, we're going to make some telephone calls. We'll get this handled, don't worry. And then I get a call from leadership within the Native organization saying, hey, we've reached an agreement that everything's okay. Right? Because it's a big school with lots of money.
Speaker C: Right?
Speaker B: And he said that publicly. The video's still up on our YouTube channel. Uh, right.
Speaker D: I have to Go look for that.
Speaker B: Yeah. And so I have a problem when an organization becomes about money instead of its stated purpose. Right. And I think it's easy to end up there. I'm not criticizing them for ending up there. It's really hard to take an organization of that size with that important of a job and keep it on track, keep it on course and keep it moving. Especially when the majority of people see that opportunity and they're like, I can make a lot of money doing this.
Speaker D: But you're talking about what Simon Sinek would call the split, what they do and what they say on a graph,
Speaker B: uh, they diverge absolutely 100%. And so, you know, I, I feel like we, we just sat down with, with Cecil for lunch. Right. And Cecil's working really hard for no other reason than like, hey, I've been in this industry for 50 some years and I'm not doing a really good job of converting the other 90% of people that we're not reaching as far as educating, as far as technicians, service advisors, shop owners, the people in the industry we need to reach. We're not reaching them.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker B: And so I want to work to reach them. And is it licensing that makes that happen? I don't know.
Speaker D: It's, you know, as when we talked with Cecil earlier, what he described was something that is very lofty. I mean it is a Herculean.
Speaker B: I agree.
Speaker D: I mean that will be a tectonic, I mean, utterly massive shift.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: But, um, you know, part of it a, ah, few years ago, I don't remember the keynote speaker who it was, but here at Vision, you know, we've got a few thousand technicians here. You know, um, you know, over the course of the weekend. I forget what they're averaging. You know, there's 1200 first time technicians here this year.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Which they said was a record this morning at the, at the breakfast, which I can remember when they said we, you know, they were so excited. We had over 500 first time technicians.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker D: Or first time attendees. It's like we're up to 1200. You know, vision's up to 1200. I say we're. Vision is up to over 1200 first time attendees. That's awesome. Here's the problem. There's like a million technicians in the, in the industry nationwide and we have 3,000 of them here this weekend.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker D: I don't know what the percentage is, but there's a whole lot bigger percentage that aren't here.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: That. And I'm still dumbfounded in a way with my job. Now when I start talking with either clients or potential clients or just people on the phone and I, you know, I start telling them and they're like, what's vision?
Speaker B: Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker D: They have no idea it even exists. I can't tell you how many people I have told about vision. It's like, like, you got to go to Kansas City and get trained. You got to go to, you know, you got to go to these things. You got to talk to your, you got to talk to your, your Napa rep, you got to talk to your, your O'Reilly's rep, you got to talk to your AutoZone rep. I don't care who your reps are, you got to talk to your reps because they should be doing training and
Speaker B: they should be sharing stuff about these
Speaker D: things and, and events like this. I. So for me, prior to my, you know, my buying Auto Nerds, I would go to six Napa classes a year.
Speaker B: Mhm.
Speaker D: Put on, you know, my shop was part of that auto care center. I'd go to six John Thornton classes a year. I'd come to vision and get 24 hours of training in a weekend. And then I was spending time in my nights, my evenings, and I was doing more. And I calculated it out one time, I figured I had over 100 hours of continuing ed a year for multiple years.
Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker D: And in hindsight, I don't feel as though I really got ahead in this industry.
Speaker B: You just maintained.
Speaker D: I felt like that's what I had to do to just stay mildly current.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And when I talk to. Because we had clients that were, you know, former dentists and I talk about training with them. Hey, how, you know, I'm sure to be a dentist, you gotta do continuing ed. How much is it? Oh, we gotta do 24 hours a year. And I'm like, But like, you're digging with sharp tools, you're doing like surgery in people's mouths, and you only have to do 24 hours of ED a year to keep your license. And I was dumbfounded.
Speaker B: You know, and here's the thing is like, we talk about those numbers and it is an astonishing number that, that. And you get in the groups, right? Because like the change in the industry, Facebook group is starting to connect with people that it's never connected with before. Like, these are people. Because like, once you've been on Facebook for a while or in the social media circles, you kind of know everybody, right?
Speaker D: Yeah. You see their posts, you see the.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Um, the outspoken ones. I'm a Lurker.
Speaker B: Right?
Speaker D: Like, I watch your stuff. Don't. Don't expect to see me post a lot.
Speaker B: M. Just say it. Well, so, like, if you go in and pay attention, you're starting to see growth in that group that we've not seen in other groups. People who truly want to be engaged, people who truly want to be a part of it. But you also look at, you say, now wait just a minute. There's that many technicians, that many service advisors, that many owners out there that are not engaged at all. And then you start looking at the post from some of those people. They're completely disconnected.
Speaker D: You can tell.
Speaker B: Absolutely. They have no clue. And part of that is on them. It's their responsibility to search out this knowledge because it's available out here now. Right. It's like Skanderdanner, if people are not. Like, the videos are still up on YouTube.
Speaker D: Oh, yeah.
Speaker B: He's Scanner Danner Premium.
Speaker D: How on earth at this point do you not know of Paul Danner?
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker D: You might not know his first name is actually Paul, but, I mean, but he's somebody I would love to meet someday.
Speaker B: He is a legit dude.
Speaker D: You got that impression? I've got that impression. It's like, man, that is a guy. I bet in real life, no cameras. He is exactly how he is on camera.
Speaker B: He just seems like his family is
Speaker C: nicer and, um, quieter and real person. Yeah.
Speaker B: And the most lovable family you'll ever meet, right? Uh, most lovable family you'll ever meet. But here's the thing. Look at all these people who come in and they're so angry and they're so frustrated. They're so disassociated with the industry as a whole because they didn't know. And all they had to do, they're like, this place is terrible. There is no training. There's no information. There's no logic. There's no blah, blah, blah, here's what's wrong. And we said, but look, there's solutions. We're all working. But you've not been in the party. You've not been here to do something about it.
Speaker D: It's the same in the technical groups. I mean, you're a little bit more on the managerial side. I mean, you got technicians. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure. But, like, the technical groups that I'm a part of, you can tell when somebody makes, uh, a post and they don't know what they're talking about.
Speaker B: Dude, it make.
Speaker D: Listen, and there's. And. And I have a rule and, and I've had, I've had to explain this to a few clients, like, hey, I'm not going to go hunt down people on social media to tell them they're wrong. Right. I'm not going to hunt them down to, to offer my training. If, you know, if somebody wants to throw my hat in the ring, I sincerely appreciate it, but, like, I'm not going to go hunt people down. Like, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and if they find me, awesome.
Speaker B: Dude, I just can't handle. I got out of the technical groups because I got so angry because all these people were showing up and they wanted a silver bullet now. And Brian Walker and I talked earlier about silver bullets and he said, dude, you can't get so upset about that because silver bullets are still useful. And, uh, I'm not saying that he's wrong. I'm not saying I disagree with Brian on that, but here's where I'm at. Don't come to a Facebook group and not have at least tried to put some work in. It almost feels like a slap in the face. I worked really hard to learn.
Speaker D: It is kind of a slap in the face because it's taking without giving.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And, you know, if, if you, if you want to, we all need to be able to lean on others, but that also means that somebody needs to be able to lean on you.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker D: And if you don't show up and present yourself as somebody who can be leaned upon, then you're here to take. You're here to harvest and leave.
Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker D: And that is something. So I tell you, I don't know if you know this. Um, so Tom, you know, Tom Roberts, who started Auto Nerds, he had a forum that predates pretty much all modern social media. The forums were started in 2004.
Speaker B: Holy cow. Okay.
Speaker D: When I took over the business, I took over everything. The Auto Nerds forums used to be. If you talk to some of the old nerds, older nerds, like, prior to social media, that was their social media. Right. And there was. There's, to this day, across the board, though, to this, uh, day, there's no, like, we don't get noise.
Speaker B: Yeah, Right.
Speaker D: A lot of social media stuff nowadays, you get the noise.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker D: You get the people who are there to harvest. You get the people who are throwing up comments, you know, adding garbage, answers to somebody's question just because they want to be a jerk on the Internet.
Speaker C: Right, Right.
Speaker D: Like when a new member, when a new client joins the forums and they start to post. I am very fortunate. And I. And this is why I knew I needed to try. I needed to buy this business, I needed to save. It is because the community, if you post up a capture and you're like, guys, I got, uh, this problem. I don't know what's going on. Can anyone help me?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: They don't respond with garbage answers like you get on social media.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: They're like, hey, your time base is too long or your sample rate's not high enough. Make these changes, report back to me.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And all of a sudden you get a dialogue going, and you've got clients, teaching clients and pointing to past case studies. And, you know, we've got, uh. It's a thing of beauty when you can get five or ten high level lab scope users, picoscope users, auto nerds, customers and clients when they're all working together. I'm telling you, there's almost no problem that we can't solve. Usually it's either fixed or somebody runs out of the will to continue, whether it's the customer or the shop or the, you know, whatever. Like, we either fix it or it don't get fixed.
Speaker B: Give. Give us the rundown of how you got to Auto Nerds. Because, like, I interrupted you in the middle of the story. How did you get from. From technician to auto nerds?
Speaker D: So, um, training.
Speaker B: Okay?
Speaker D: I was attending training, and I had reached a point in attending classes that were put on by, um, auto seminars, automotive seminars. And it was, um, John Thornton, and it was break time or after the class. I was like, john, I'm coming here. I'm learning stuff. This is awesome. I need a pico. What do you recommend? Who do you recommend? And whatnot. And John being John, you know, he's very. He's not pushy in any way. He's like, hey, you can get it from Pico. You can get it from. From Carlos and George over to Es Wave. He's like, you can get it from other vendors. He's like, find one that's the right fit for you. And it was another attendee who's now, uh, an amazing friend of mine. In fact, I credit him with. With me buying this business, okay? He's like, hey, you know, you got to look at auto nerds. And I'm like, what's auto nerds? I have no idea. What are you talking about? He's like, trust me. Go check out Auto nerds dot com. You. You'll want to. You want to buy it from Tom. Trust me, all right? And I Did. I checked it out and it took me a few years to, to decide and work, frankly, work up the cash. Uh, and when I pulled the trigger, I bought my scope from Tom in 2016. It was going to be my tax rebate present to me, right? And um, you know, the shop I work for, we had a scope, but it was a Vitronics older unit. And I struggled because I'd go see John on Monday night or Tuesday night and the next day it's like, man, I want to do that test on this scope. And I couldn't figure out how to do it. Turning the dials like, it's like I know what I saw, but I couldn't translate the buttons to make it appear the way I needed to on the scope. I wasn't using apples to apples. I wasn't, it wasn't a comparable tool comparison wise. And I bought mine from Tom and that got me into the forums and that got me the training and support videos. It got me the email support, the screen share support, telephone support. Like. And the way auto nerds has always been is that if you purchase your pico from them, so long as you own it and so long as you don't give away resources outside of the Pico group, unlimited email, phone screen share support, unlimited streaming of the training videos, it has always been the after sales support far outweighs the cost of the equipment. And I learned a ton. I met really cool people. It's because of the people, because of Bob who connected me with auto nerds to begin with, that I came to Vision my first time. And you know, I was, I was at a point in my career, I was kind of trying to find something else. And um, I had actually started with the blessing of my, my employer. I had actually started a side gig where I was doing, I was doing pre purchase used car inspections on the behalf of the buyer.
Speaker B: Oh, that's cool.
Speaker D: And I was going to dealerships and doing a technical inspection. I bring my scan tool, which, I mean I own my own Verus Scan tool. And I was inspecting cars on nights and weekends.
Speaker B: That's actually a really cool.
Speaker D: Yeah, I called it Automotive Consultants in Michigan. And I actually, that was the first training classes I ever did. And I invited my BNI people and their family members. It's like, hey, do you want to come learn about your car and why that shop is telling you to change your oil earlier than the book?
Speaker C: Right?
Speaker D: Because I'm telling you there's reasons for that. And the very first training class I did was, was it Was about maintenance on cars for non. For non repair people.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker D: And I mean, I was getting some traction. Um, I think to this day, I had about 500 inspections over. Over the couple years I was doing it. Um, and then 2020, and in spring of 2020, everything. Uh, actually right after Vision, I can remember when I was here at Vision, and everybody was joking about the Wuhan flu.
Speaker B: Yeah. And it's like they had hand sanitizer
Speaker D: set up everywhere, but they had the donut wall. You remember the donut. They had all the donuts on pegboards outside in the foyer.
Speaker B: Hey. I got on the airplane going home, and all these people had masks on. And like, it was literally as soon as I got home, stuff started shutting down. Exactly. Right.
Speaker D: Well, because of that, Tom couldn't have his employees in his. In his shop. Right. Because he had. The business was in his. His pole barn, and he couldn't. He had already been a, Ah, Ah. A technician, a trainer, and then, you know, and then support and sells a pico stuff. He'd already had three whole careers. He's like, guys, I gotta shut it down. Like, I can't have people in the building. I can't do it by myself. And I got like, I can't. There's nobody, like, in line to take over.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: So he shut it down. And as one of his clients, I was severely disappointed. And truthfully, I was trying to figure out a way to, like, download everything. Like, how can I steal it for myself because it's gonna die. And then because of my network, because of my group, then I started wondering if I could buy it. I'm like, could I really. Could I really do this?
Speaker C: Right?
Speaker D: Could I really buy this business and then carry it forward? What would that look like? I have no idea. Nah, uh, there's no way, man. This is gonna cost. This is gonna be astronomical. He's gonna need more money than I could dream of and no way. And truthfully, I sent him an email one time, and it was like, I don't even know if I could do it. What would it take? Just throw it out there, right?
Speaker B: Yeah, the nerves. You're writing it, wondering if you should send it or not.
Speaker D: Exactly. And it's like, you know what he got to lose? Beer may have been involved.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker D: And he shot me an email back like, minutes later. We need to talk. Let's talk tomorrow, right? Let's wait until.
Speaker B: Yeah, uh, let me sober up and then.
Speaker D: Then we'll talk. And we talked. And I'm like, I. I don't know. That I could even do this. But I'm like, what you did, what you've built and the community around it and what the community was about was too valuable to just watch it die. And I spent all summer talking to every wise man I'd ever met. Financial planners, coaches, attorneys, like, um, accountants, like, I mean, I. I talked to everybody from my group that could possibly support me.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker D: And I. I had to call Tom. And it's like, tom, I can't do it. There's no way. I said, I can't get you any money. I said, I can liquidate my retirement, but I'm going to take a 25% penalty right off the top, and it ain't that big.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: You know, and he came back, he said, I'll hold the note. And I'm like, I'm the one to do it. Seriously? You're willing to loan me. You're willing to bet on me to do this? And he's like, well, I am between a rock and a hard place. He said, there's nobody else. And he says, I think you could do it. Um, I know the possibility is there. And he's like, I think. He's like, I think with your ideas and your age and your energy, he's like, I think you could do it. Well, when somebody says that they're willing to bet the farm on you, yeah,
Speaker B: buddy, that's a big deal.
Speaker D: I'm jumping like, how do you say no to that? Somebody that's willing to offer you, especially
Speaker B: somebody that had been a mentor to you and somebody that had.
Speaker D: Yeah. And it's like, okay, uh, here we go. And so, um, I talked to my boss, and I told him it was one of those, like, hey, uh, boss, can we talk? And he got the oh, no look on his face. And I told him, it's like, I'm going to buy auto nerds. I've been working on this all summer. He didn't really. He didn't know. And I said, I'm going to buy auto nerds. I'm going to start selling Pico products, and I'm going to do my best to teach people how to use them. And I could see in his head, he was. He was doing the. The gears were. Were rolling. And he realized he's like, this isn't about more money.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: This isn't about, you know, you know, I'm leaving if you don't X. Yeah. He's like, no, this. This is an opportunity that, like, I can't say no.
Speaker C: Right?
Speaker D: Like. And I explained the whole thing to him. And, and he's like, he actually, he's like, how can I help?
Speaker B: That's awesome.
Speaker D: And it's like, whoa. Cool. And um, you know, he allowed me the use of his building for the training classes. The first ones. That shop only works Monday through Friday.
Speaker C: Mhm.
Speaker D: So like when I book classes for Saturdays, a lot of times I use their building.
Speaker B: Wow.
Speaker D: And um, his son has now since bought the business. And his son and I are very good friends. We were friends since high school. And you know, after buying Auto Nerds, I, I rehired Tom's right hand man. His uh, name is Brian. He's actually running the business right now while I can be here at Vision.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker D: Um, which is awesome. And Brian himself is a former technician or former college level automotive instructor and longtime Pico user. So like he is the perfect person to help run tech support for Pico users. And that was five years ago last September. So we're talking five and a half years ago now. I hung up the wrenches, stopped being a full time technician and started being a full time Pico guy. And since then I've, I've, I've continued to attend Vision. I have submitted classes. I have an aspiration to be an instructor here at Vision. I haven't achieved that yet, but hope maybe this will help.
Speaker B: Um, yeah, well, I mean I don't feel, and don't take this the wrong way, please, but I don't feel like you'd really put yourself out there that much until probably the last six months or a year.
Speaker D: That's true. Um, my training by design, I wanted to start small and it's kind of, it's picked up more. Um, it was actually Vision. Last year, um, Eric Zigler kicked me to say, hey, you need to submit classes to Apex. He's like, their window of submissions is closing. You need to do it right now.
Speaker B: I saw it and I was like, oh, that's so cool. I was like that we need to pick these classes because like when we were talking about it, I was telling Mark and I was saying like, hey, all Nerds is, is a really well known brand. I think people will take this class. I think people will be. And so I thought it was so cool that you submitted and I, I feel like the more places you submit, the, the brand name alone.
Speaker D: I intend to, should, should drive. I intend to. And I've done more, more training. So last year I really started doing more travel training. Um, this year I booked more training. I've scheduled more training events. At home for the first six months. Um, my coach, he's like, hey, you need to get your first six months booked, you know, on the calendar as soon as possible. It was later than coach wanted, but I did get it done in January, so it was only a couple months behind.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker D: But, um, you know, I will continue to submit, I will continue to do training and I'll continue to go and do training wherever people will have me.
Speaker B: I want to explore this idea, uh, um, of doing training. So for instance, like at my shop, right. Like I want to bring instructors into my shop and I want to invite anybody in the community, whether it's the changing the industry community, whether it's, you know, local people, whatever. I want to invite people. Mhm. And do a training and we divide the cost across everybody. Mhm. And we train as a community, an automotive community. Right.
Speaker D: I recommend that, I suggest that to people all the time. I don't get very many tickers, so the fact that you want to do that is pretty awesome.
Speaker B: Well, uh, we need to sit down and talk about what it would cost to do that. And I think that I would recommend shops so those listening. I mean, I think this is how we start training people at a higher level is we create community. Right. This is what we do. We go hang out at the shop and we train and we have a good time and we engage and we network and we build relationships. Uh, you know, I was talking earlier in an episode about uh, how shops throw other shops under the bus. But if you grab a bunch of technicians and you realize we're all fighting the same challenges and if we're training, like, I think that changes that dynamic.
Speaker D: Certainly does.
Speaker B: We're seeing that other shop as a human being. And I've got one to Eric a couple times, my lead tech, because it's like he, for the longest time he automatically jumped to the other shop, did something maliciously and I'm like, dude, do you wake up in the morning and think about doing something that's going to cause harm to somebody else? Like, I don't think they are either. They may just not know.
Speaker A: Right.
Speaker B: And so I think that we as an industry have to change that narrative.
Speaker D: Well, one of another way to say what, what you were talking about, um, I don't know where it comes from precisely, but, um, do not contribute or do not attribute to, uh, malice. What can be construed as ignorance.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker D: It's like more often than not in my experience, I mean everyone that I can really think of in my life, I don't think I've ever actually met anybody that was evil. Yeah, most people are good and they want to do a good job.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Unfortunately, too many people are ignorant. It doesn't mean they're dumb. Doesn't mean they're stupid. Yeah, they don't know. They don't know because they don't know. They do things that are detrimental for themselves or their clients or whatever, you know, and it's. How do we get, how do we help them get over that ignorance?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: While they got to come to training. And like, in your, in your case, what you're talking about is absolutely how some of this stuff should be done. You know, you, you know, if you're, if you, if you strongly want to build, you know, you believe in. Strongly, uh, if you strongly believe in building a community and contributing, giving first and to maybe receive, then hosting is huge and getting those colleagues in, you know, it's not. And I know that there's nuances to it all, but hosting, training, and bringing in your colleagues in your neighborhood, in your city, that a rising tide lifts all ships.
Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, 100%.
Speaker D: And I know there's nuances. I know there's, you know, some, some owners are like, well, my, my, my texts are going to get poached. Like, well, you know, if they're going to get poached, then odds are you're probably not doing what you need to keep good text.
Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Why would they ever consider doing that?
Speaker D: So, yeah, uh, here's the thing. If, if you don't want your text to get poached and you want to, you know, you want to benefit from this, maybe you need to, to volunteer to host. If one shop does all the hosting, well, of course they're gonna get their pick of the litter. But if you got five shops in a town or neighborhood that are like, hey, this month it's, uh, at one shop, and this month it's at another shop.
Speaker C: And
Speaker D: I only sort of recently learned this. Um, you know, if you, if you want to have training at your shop, you know, you should reach out to your suppliers.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Right. Because The Napa's, the autozones, the O'Reilly's, the vendors.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: They want you to be trained. They want your techs to be trained, too.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Because that keeps you from warrantying out parts that don't need to be warrantied.
Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker D: Cuts their labor reimbursement costs when techs are trained. So you might actually be able to offset some or possibly even all of your training expenses if you talk to Your vendor be like, hey, I want to get somebody in here to train us on this.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And if your vendor supplier is on board for that, okay, maybe they just buy the dinner or maybe they help you rent the tables and chairs or uh, they loan you the tables and chairs. Yeah, but those organizations should want to help you, right? You know, I've been told I can't, can't prove it, but I've been told that there are some shops that some vendors have said we're not gonna warn, uh, we're not gonna accept any warranty from you anymore.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Because you keep warrantying out stuff that ain't broken.
Speaker B: Yeah, I've seen it many times.
Speaker D: And it's like that's, you know, they buy the part, they put it on it, didn't fix it, they wipe it, they take it back off, they clean it up, put it back in the
Speaker B: box, act like nothing ever happened, you
Speaker D: know, and how many, you know, and that's not fun either.
Speaker B: Yeah. You know, yeah.
Speaker D: Because I, uh, don't know, issues.
Speaker B: But what, what's the future for you and auto nerds? What does that look like? Where do you want to be?
Speaker D: I want to be an instructor at Vision.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker D: Part one. I want to reach out to more industries and I've already started this to some degree. Marine, um, I want to get into. Because marine technicians.
Speaker B: Mhm.
Speaker D: Are not that dissimilar from automotive technicians. No, of course not. A boat is just a floating vehicle. Most of them have an automotive based engine. Computers still function the same. Electricity doesn't care what it's in.
Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker D: So like I would like to, to get into marine, I would like to get into industrial. Um, I actually have a few clients that are um, electricians. Mhm. They install standby generators. So imagine being an electrician. Right. You got three phase down and now you're having to diagnose the Kohler engine in this generator.
Speaker B: 12 volt.
Speaker D: Because the generator fires up, it throws an error and then shuts down.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Now we're taking automotive type knowledge and have to combine it with electrician mains power.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And we've got electricians that need to learn a little bit of 12 volt automotive type information because they're working on stationary generators.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: I would love to have more of that.
Speaker B: I love it.
Speaker D: I want to, I want to have, I want to develop trainers. I, I need more people on my team. I need a team because I can't be everywhere. And what we do, what I try to do is too important to not share it, uh. If I had two or three or a half a dozen auto nerds trainers, then we could have classes here. We could be doing classes on the east coast, the west coast, Canada, Mexico. I want to do more, and I'll tell you. So were you there for the keynote this morning?
Speaker C: No, I wasn't.
Speaker D: Um, I'm gonna blank on his name. The keynote speaker from this morning.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Um, he had, uh, a part where he's like, what is the one thing that you need to do? Like, the one hurdle you need to overcome? And like, what is that? And he had us, you know, share it with the people at your table. And I'm gonna share it. I'll share it with you now. And for me, I need to get over, frankly, my fear of when I make training material, and that's talking to the camera.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: You know, it's weird. Feels weird to me to talk to the camera, especially when there's nobody around.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: You know, I can be at the front of the room and I can wing it, and I can. And I am, um, on cloud nine. I am.
Speaker B: I'm gold.
Speaker D: But at least internally. But in my. In the quiet of my office with me and the camera, I stutter. I stumble over every word. I get frustrated. It gets worse. I get five minutes into one video, and I can't take it anymore. I gotta stop and go do something else.
Speaker C: M. You just repeat what you messed
Speaker B: up and just keep truck.
Speaker D: And. And I've been told that, but I've not been able to do that. And, um, you know, you know, we. Before we got going, you know, we were talking about the cameras, um, you know, recording my own stuff and then learning how to edit it all together. You know, frankly, uh, there are days I'm. Most days I'm too busy doing other stuff to like, oh, that's right. I need to record a video on that and make new material. Now. I have done better. I have a videographer friend that is. We are working together now. And what's cool is that he's going to be able to do a lot of the editing. I'll be technical advisor to make sure it's all technically accurate after the fact. But he could run the cameras, he could run the microphones, he can cut out the, uh. And make, you know, the first iterations, and then we can start to make training videos out of that.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: So, like, that is a sort of a new project that we've. That I've started.
Speaker B: I love that. I love that. And I. Man, I would love to see you more engaged on social media. I know you say like, man, I hate.
Speaker D: I struggle with that so badly.
Speaker B: Well, then find somebody who wants to do it and find somebody. Yeah. Uh, like you make a couple short little videos just showing a tip or a trick or something. When you drop it in our group, man, you're going to help so many people.
Speaker D: I'm here because I was hoping you could help me springboard some of that.
Speaker B: Just did.
Speaker C: But you got to make the video.
Speaker D: You guys have all the footage. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker B: But, well, I mean, look, dude, I'm telling you, I think pick up, uh, uh, DJI Pocket 3. The Pocket 4 is getting ready to come out just
Speaker D: for.
Speaker B: No, you're sitting. I prefer the DJI because I can walk around and like, I pace.
Speaker D: I've seen a lot of those videos, by the way.
Speaker B: Yeah. So I pace.
Speaker C: I'm.
Speaker B: I'm an anxious pacer. I, I don't know if he knows this, but when we talk on the phone, I'll get in 10,000 steps in a 30 minute telephone call because I
Speaker C: do the same thing.
Speaker D: I, Yeah, I pace around in my office. I've got a wireless headset.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: So unless I have to be at the keyboard.
Speaker B: Yeah. A lot of times, dude, I'll make myself dizzy.
Speaker D: I'll walk all over my house. You know, talking on the phone for sure.
Speaker B: And so like, hey, I'm going to challenge you. Go out and start making a couple videos, 30 to 60 seconds of something that'll help a technician.
Speaker C: That's a lot harder than. Because his videos are on 30 seconds. I thought they were. They. You have to get really, see this. You have to get really good at being concise with your words. And that's the hardest part. Somebody that can bang out a 30 to 45 second video without having to cut it up 18,000 times to get it down to that 30 seconds. Like, I didn't say that cut. I didn't need to say that. That's extremely hard. Um, I wouldn't worry so much about that. What you, what you could get good at though, and what's a lot easier to do are live streams. Live streams. I'm telling you right now, live streams are so different than sitting down and trying to talk to the camera. Because I can't sit down and talk to the camera without rubbing my words and having to stop and repeat myself over and over and over again. Where if I sit down and do a live stream. I mean, we record podcasts and I don't, I don't edit those. They are. It is what it is. I don't care. But when you're doing a live stream, you're getting feedback from whoever's watching. And that feedback allows you to just keep rolling and then it just turns like you standing in front of a class and speaking, which is a lot easier to do than. And that is concisely get your words out in front of a camera.
Speaker D: That is another project. There's so many, but that is another one. So we do webinar training for the Pico group.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Um, you know, I do them 11 times a year. It's a two hour webinar. It's usually the third Thursday of the month. And, uh, we call it group therapy.
Speaker B: Oh, we definitely need that in the automotive space.
Speaker D: All right, well, so the clientele group for model nerds is our Pico group.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: So group therapy was the Pico group. Group therapy.
Speaker B: Right, right.
Speaker D: That's the, the community getting together. And I mean, I moderate it. Sometimes it's me doing training, sometimes it's clientele sharing case studies.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker D: Sometimes we talk for 45 minutes about current events. Um, I can't think of the company, but the one company that bought, um, they went down six months ago and all those dealerships couldn't access their parts catalogs.
Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker D: You remember that one? Hm. That was like a 30 minute segment that month.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker D: Because it happened like two days before group therapy. And I usually started off like, so what do you know this month that you didn't know last month?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And one guy's like, I didn't know. Every dealership in my town used to say the same software. He's like, I can't get parts from anybody.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: I'm like, I didn't even know that that company existed.
Speaker C: Right.
Speaker D: Uh, you know, I learned from my clientele. I do what I can to share what I know. Sometimes we take case studies. Somebody might be struggling. And there's been a few times where it's like, hey, we got group therapy tonight. Let's talk about that. That vehicle you got going right now. And let's get five or 10 people looking at these captures all at once and see if we, if, if there's something I'm not picking up on.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Or you're not picking up on. Let's work together. And some of the best group therapy sessions I've been, you know, part of, I learned, frankly, I learned more. I think I learned more than they did.
Speaker C: Yeah. You know, the only thing I'll challenge you is you need to think in terms of scale. So that works great in this really small community. You know, you gotta think, well, how do I translate this into essentially toilet content? So somebody's just in there scrolling on the toilet through social, uh, media. And it doesn't need to be longer content. Like you don't think in terms of two hours. It can be an hour that you just livestream on Facebook and also live stream on YouTube. And then that becomes a training video that just happened to post up. And it could just be something that I just got off the phone with XYZ Shop and I had to teach them how to set this particular thing up so that they could capture this and then make this determination, just go through that process. That's it. Just a live stream. You pull your computer up, the camera's on you, you're talking and going, I just want to cover this real quick.
Speaker D: Covered it with somebody talking about like live streams on the fly.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Not, not like, well, we're gonna have
Speaker C: a live stream you can set it up to if you be a little bit more regimented about it, because otherwise you're just not gonna do it. Because trust me, you, you get through the flow. And you're like, this is a great idea. I should. And you're like, eh, uh, you think of a thousand reasons why you should probably just wait. If you set a time and go, okay, oh, that's a great topic. I.
Speaker B: And you make a post about it. So you have to do it.
Speaker C: You can make a post about it or you can just write it down.
Speaker D: That is something I struggle with.
Speaker C: Hey, I record.
Speaker D: I can disappoint me all the time. If I promise somebody I'm going to do it, it makes it easier to do it.
Speaker C: Yeah. So if you set a specific time and go, hey, on Mondays at 6pm I'm going to sit down and I'm going to bang out at least a video a day. Uh, on those Mondays, or you can do one a day, however m many you want to do. Um, who's the clickfunnels guy?
Speaker B: I can't remember his name.
Speaker C: Anyway, he, uh, Russell Brunson.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker C: Yeah. He used to say if you do one livestream or one webinar a week for an entire year, you'll eventually, by the end of that year you'll start generating more revenue. He says seven figures I think depends on. But to think that you can't sell picos just doing that all day long to the point where you cannot keep up with the support. Uh, that's entirely doable.
Speaker D: That's part of the passion I need to build a team.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker D: Someday I want to retire. I want more somebody else to carry the flag.
Speaker C: Don't necessarily think, what am I going to do? If I would just start and sit down and go, this is the time I'm going to record. And if you don't want to live stream it, don't live stream it. But I'm just telling you, live streaming it makes it a lot easier. Uh, because it does feel like you're getting some feedback and then just bang out the video. The pieces of software that are really easy to use turn the phone on. It does a live capture or a webcam or whatever. It doesn't need to be anything webcam. It streams the screen capture and then you hit a couple of buttons and it blasts it onto YouTube and Facebook and that's it, you're done. Just go through the content, click around, and then you'll start to see questions pop up. And then it turns into an hour and 45 minutes of you answering questions. Because everybody's sitting on the toilet and they can just post a question. I'm not kidding. That's what it is. They sit there and post a question. That's how he gets all his views. By the way, they're sitting there. It's men taking a crap. Balls hanging into the toilet. By the way, we at the end of the podcast. Nobody listens to the end. The balls are hanging, sitting there in the toilet. Or type in the questions.
Speaker B: Dipping in the water.
Speaker C: Anyway, all I'm saying is if you do that on a consistent basis and you just, you just sit there and say, this is what I'm going to do. This is my marketing plan for 2026, man. Uh, I'm just telling you, by the end of the year, you will be selling so many more because you know what to do with. And you won't have to submit classes. People will be emailing you going, can you please submit a class? Because we'd love to have you at our event because we've seen you on social media and just posting in our group alone, which are more than welcome to do. Uh, I just looked it up while he was in there blabbering because he's boring at 13,000 members, which is a big number. That's. That's really good. 11,000 active members.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker C: And that's what we're proud of, by the way.
Speaker B: The other 3,000. 3,000 active members.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker C: It's not even that. It was like there was another shop owner group or. Or something or another. And they had plenty of members in there, but I think the active group number was under five. Yeah, it's just these groups have huge numbers, but it's the same 100 people posting in comp. And then that's it. Where we have all sorts of.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker C: People just random. Just get. Getting in there. Clicking on dealer, text and then.
Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
Speaker C: And then the. What's hilarious is I would say, um, good. 20, 30, 40% have never listened to the podcast. Yeah, they don't know. They're like, they don't even know who we are. Yeah, they have no idea who we are. Our super names are on this, on the screen. Like when you click on the. That's our faces. But they don't even pay attention to that. They're just like, it's toilet content. They're on the toilet and they're like, join. And then they got on there and they're like, oh, this is automotive. I'm gonna start posting questions on there. And then I get in there and go, hey, you know, we have a podcast that covers this whole thing. Well, here, watch this or listen to not to it. That requires an attention span and everybody's completely lost that. It's all 30 second reels now on the toilet. I'm just a little salty about that, is all I'm saying. That's why I don't like posting the stupid reels just feeding to the machine. Screw that noise. Sorry. All right, we're done.
Speaker B: Uh, no, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So do you have to buy your scope from auto nerds to be part of the auto nerds community?
Speaker D: No, we have.
Speaker C: He M means yes. Buy your pico from him, jerk.
Speaker D: So we have a subscription that we can do.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker D: Um, to get that more subscriptions are coming. That's one of the projects that is in flux right now. Um, because I understand that people inherit picos. They, they buy them used, they got them from another vendor. Then they found me later like, you know, I want to help more people. And so I need. I am working on ways to bring more people in.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And, um, so, yes, there are ways we can do it. It would be a subscription. Um, the, um, one of the things you mentioned it, but I didn't cover it earlier. Um, after tech school, my first. My first job as a technician post tech school was at a new car dealer. And I realized really quickly I did not belong there.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: Because they were not about fixing cars. They were not about Taking care of the customer.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker D: And then I went to the used car lot owned by the same dealer. It was worse.
Speaker B: Yeah. They definitely didn't.
Speaker D: Then that one. That one. Um, there was one. I was asked. No, I'm sorry. I was told to reuse rotors that were below minimum thickness.
Speaker B: Oh, man.
Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
Speaker D: So I went to lunch at 9:00 in the morning.
Speaker B: Yeah. Never came back.
Speaker D: And when I came back, the car was on somebody else's hoist.
Speaker C: Yeah. And then that's a used car world, though.
Speaker D: I mean, and it's not great.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker D: But when I left there and I hit the independent world, that's when my views, my moral compass m. The compass of the shop and what the customer wanted were all in alignment. Because at the independent world, the best independent clientele are the ones that love their car. They don't want a new car payment. They want to keep driving Old Betsy. And they're the ones that are willing to throw down to fix it, and they want it fixed. Right.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker D: And I stayed in RV in. In this industry, let's face it, uh, it's pretty common for technicians to bounce around.
Speaker B: Yeah. Okay.
Speaker D: So I was at the dealership, new car dealer for a few years. I was at the used car lot for a couple years, totaling five between the two. And then I stayed in the same independent shop for a decade.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker D: Uh, before buying auto nerds. Uh, so, like, well, that is where I got my thing and 100% started. And.
Speaker B: Well, so here's. Here's my challenge to you. I'm gonna. I'm gonna leave here and next week. Do you have a shop pass or is it like, I have to sign my text up individually?
Speaker D: We can do a shop pass.
Speaker B: Okay. I'm gonna sign my text up.
Speaker C: Okay.
Speaker B: That's my promise to you.
Speaker D: Okay.
Speaker B: The promise I want from you is you'll start doing some live streams or some videos in the group from time to time just to get out of your comfort zone. Right. I'm not asking you to do training for free or anything like that. I just want to see you posted in the group because you're among friends, you're among people who care about you. And so I want you to be in there posting.
Speaker C: Yeah. We want to see you succeed. Don't think of it as training. Think of it as. I'm just going to give you a tip on.
Speaker B: Exactly.
Speaker C: Because I know how to use this thing inside and out. And. And here. At the very least, even if you don't own one, we don't Have a pico. I used to have a pico in my shop. I don't have anymore. But a lot of times people are aspirational. These technicians want to get to the point where not only do I own one, but I'm also proficient at it.
Speaker B: Huh.
Speaker C: And they're almost scared of buying one because in their minds, this is, I'm telling you this, 100% true. Their minds, they don't. I'm not at that level yet. I'm not a pico guy.
Speaker D: I know.
Speaker C: And they want to get to that point.
Speaker D: I know.
Speaker C: And it. It sort of pushes everybody to better themselves within the industry. If at the very least somebody's microfeeding them content going, oh, that makes sense. Oh, that makes sense. And they've seen the same tips and tricks so many times, they can repeat it to them because they've watched it so many times. And now they go out and buy their own pico and they're comfortable. And you just made that one technician. Yeah, that much better.
Speaker D: My level one class that, that I do, um, is I made it and I've had to cut it down for time. It is meant for new users to be able to take the scope out of the box and start making captures. Level one is all about getting something on the screen, getting something useful on the scope. And we're not talking about. And m. I spend very little time on coils and fuel pumps and the nitty gritty.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker D: I start off with battery, starter, alternator.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker D: Because it's almost entirely universal and you can practice it during an oil change. It gets you two minutes of scope practice.
Speaker C: That's your first video right there, dude. And that's your first video right there. Like, I'm going to show you how to capture battery voltage. You're going to start the car six times. And I'm telling you right now, half these cars are going to fail. Because the old Jim Morton thing, most of the time, I could fix most cars by just putting batteries in them. And cars, uh, have gotten a little bit more sophisticated since then, which puts
Speaker D: more load and requires a better battery.
Speaker C: Yeah. Healthier battery. Exactly. So I'm going to show you how to do this real quick. This is how quick this is. Bang, pop, pop, pop.
Speaker D: I will do it. I'm going to do it. And I'm going to say it. I'm gonna say it here so it's on camera. I will do it. I love it.
Speaker B: Let's do it.
Speaker D: I will do a video.
Speaker C: We'll amplify the crap box.
Speaker D: Uh, it's gonna be Battery.
Speaker C: There'll be 800 comments.
Speaker D: It'll be. And I will post it to the Changing the Industry podcast.
Speaker B: Let's do it. Thank you for being here.
Speaker D: I sincerely appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker B: Yes, sir, Absolutely.
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