177 - How Chris Pietrzak Went from 2 Bays to 11 Lifts and Is Redefining Mike’s Garage

177 - How Chris Pietrzak Went from 2 Bays to 11 Lifts and Is Redefining Mike’s Garage November 25, 2025 - 00:50:46   Show Summary: One year after buying a tired 2nd-generation shop, Coast Guard veteran Chris “Pizza” Pietrzak has turned Mike’s Garage in Pennsauken, NJ into an 11-bay, tech-forward operation with rising profits and a loyal team. In this episode of The Leading Edge Podcast, host Jimmy Lea sits down with Chris to unpack his 22-year journey from “this place will be yours one day” at a tiny two-bay shop… to being told “take it or leave it”… to finally owning the building, the business, and the vision. They dig into switching from paper to TechMetric, implementing DVIs, building SOPs from scratch, investing in young techs (including buying their tools), and why Chris’ magic-wand wish is to reset society’s view of the automotive repair industry.   Host(s): Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development   Guest(s): Christopher Pietrzak, Owner of Mike’s Garage & Pietrzak Automotive   Show Highlights: [00:02:31] - Chris spends 22 years in a two bay shop he was promised, then walks away from a bad deal and lands a 10,000 square foot, 11 bay facility on a main highway. [00:12:55] - He learns to build his own P&Ls, equipment lists, and projections so he understands the numbers and goes into purchasing Mike’s Garage with confidence. [00:14:40] - Instead of changing everything at once, Chris stabilizes the shop, then methodically upgrades equipment, services, and systems. [00:15:37] - Six months in, he switches from paper to Tekmetric and partners with The Institute to shore up his weaknesses as an owner. [00:19:43] - Chris makes DVIs and photos standard, using SOPs so every car is inspected the same way and trust with customers grows. [00:24:13] - His veteran service advisor uncle embraces new tech as Chris shifts check in photos and communication to the front counter. [00:26:04] - Integrated parts ordering replaces 15 browser tabs and phone calls, freeing the team to focus on higher value work. [00:34:47] - To lower the barrier for entry level techs, Chris buys their first tools and lets them keep them after a year if they commit. [00:42:08] - He sets a long term goal of multiple locations and a four day work week to attract talent and create more family time. [00:46:10] - Chris dreams of resetting society’s view of automotive repair so technicians are seen as skilled, respected professionals, not “grease monkeys.”   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at [email protected], and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at [email protected].   Episode Transcript: Jimmy Lea: Hello, friend. My name is Jimmy Lea. This is the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence and you are listening to the Leading Edge podcast. Joining me today is Chris. Chris is the owner of Mike's Garage and he is loaded located in New Jersey. Chris, good morning. How are you, brother? Christopher Pietrzak: Good morning, Jimmy. Christopher Pietrzak: I'm good. How about yourself? Jimmy Lea: I am fabulous. Congratulations and thank you. Congratulations. Why? Today, one year, one year anniversary of Mike's Garage, powered by Chris. Congrats, bro. Christopher Pietrzak: Thank you. Thank you. Jimmy Lea: Dude. That, that must have been one heck of a journey. Christopher Pietrzak: Oh it's been a wild journey for sure. Christopher Pietrzak: That's the say of the least. Jimmy Lea: Hey, so what's the weather like in Jersey right now? Jimmy Lea: Cold. Christopher Pietrzak: It's on the nicer side, you know, it's about 40 degrees, so. Jimmy Lea: Oh, you're not bad. We're 37, mostly sunny high of 44 today, so that's nice. Yeah, we got similar weather patterns. I'm in Highland, Utah. Okay. Just outta Salt Lake. Jimmy Lea: So yeah we got similar today. Christopher Pietrzak: Being forgiving. My, my heat's been acting finicky in the shop, so I said I gotta, I have a guy coming up, but he can't make it out until after the holidays. So I said, just hold off the weather. So I'll get my guys freezing out here. Jimmy Lea: Right? Yeah. Do you go get him a butane or propane heaters? Jimmy Lea: Do you hook up that? We have, Christopher Pietrzak: I have two, two waste oil heaters and two gas heaters. So the gas ones are my backup, so I have something. The waste oil. Heat can be finicky at times. Jimmy Lea: Oh, so is it the waste oil that's having the finicky problems, issues for you? Oh, got you. Okay. So you're on backup at the moment? Jimmy Lea: Yes. All right. And how's, how is the shop by the way, Christopher Pietrzak: going? Good. Things are going good. You know, recently we've switched over to a tech metric, got hooked up with Chad, with the institute with some coaching. So things are progressing. You know, I can't complain. You know, I don't look behind me. Christopher Pietrzak: I just keep looking forward and just make tomorrow better than today. That's all. Jimmy Lea: There you go. You're like an Italian race car driver. You don't need a rear view mirror. You're just going straight ahead. Christopher Pietrzak: There we go. That's it. That's it. Fast and furious sense of looking in the past. Jimmy Lea: And let's get into this, Chris, let's talk about your journey because everybody's journey here in the automotive aftermarket is unique and it's special and it's awesome. Jimmy Lea: And I love to hear what your journey is. How did you get into the automotive aftermarket? Christopher Pietrzak: I got into it it was just in high school and I was working a retail job and. My uncle had gotten into cars, my dad mechanical abilities, but never an auto mechanic. He was more of a maintenance mechanic for, you know, a factory. Christopher Pietrzak: So that was in my blood. But you know, I said I wanted to work on cars and my uncle had, then he worked parts and he said, I found a shop that had a unfortunate incident where they lost a technician and they're looking for a young kid to start. I mean, I was 17 years old. He brought me over and I just, I'll never forget that day, the owner was talking to my uncle about what he was going to expect from me, my uncle to him, and said, put his hands up. Christopher Pietrzak: And he said, he's ours. I only brought him here. So I spent the next 22 years of my life at this place. You know, it became, I took a little break. I joined the service. I was gone for about eight years, but the industry called me back. You know, I, came back and was working back with him and everything was great. Christopher Pietrzak: You know, he was getting older and he was always under the pretense that this place would be yours one day. And that sounds great, especially coming from, you know, hearing it from someone at the, you know, I respected in the industry. He's got 50 some plus years in it. And I'm like, okay, well what he says makes sense to me. Christopher Pietrzak: It wasn't until. We got closer to that time when I started getting a grasp on what it actually takes to purchase a business. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Christopher Pietrzak: And that's when we kind of got into the, it was never an argument, but it was just at the end of the day, he doesn't wanna retire, which I have to respect, you know, that's just, you know, he is 80, 84 years old now and he's still working. Jimmy Lea: Shut the front door. 84. Are you saying he's wrenching or is he working the office? Christopher Pietrzak: Oh, he's rent never. Never in the office. When I was there, it was, he doesn't like answering the phones. He doesn't like computers and he doesn't do billing. Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. So Christopher Pietrzak: he just wanted to wrench. The rest was put on me. Christopher Pietrzak: Which I gladly accepted that role. Okay. Speaker 3: Okay. Christopher Pietrzak: Because in the back of my mind, one day this place was going to be mine. You know, the countless hours of coming in early, staying late, working the weekends, just to keep this customer base happy, thinking this is gonna be mine one day. Well, we hit the situation where, you know, he didn't want to get involved with numbers. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Right. Christopher Pietrzak: He didn't wanna get involved with providing me with any sort of, whether it be inventory, property, appraisal, business, appraisal, equipment, any of that. He said, that's all on you. Okay. Then I actually started looking into it, comparing it to what he was asking, and we just couldn't, it was originally offering some seller financing. Christopher Pietrzak: Then we kind of, we backtracked on that and it was just, this is the number, take it or leave it. And just so happened that same uncle that dropped me off there Speaker 3: Yep. Christopher Pietrzak: Happened to now be the service writer for Mike's garage. Mike had heard the story, you know, through them talking and he had mentioned to my uncle and said. Christopher Pietrzak: Well, does he wanna buy this place? So we came down and we talked and you know, they were talking comparable numbers and the first shop was a two bay shop, two in-ground hydraulic air to hydraulic lifts that leaked. You know, it had to, yeah, they Speaker 3: did. Christopher Pietrzak: You know. I never realized how unsafe it was until I left and was like, wow, I've been working under that for 20 something years. Christopher Pietrzak: I should have been addressed. But, and long story short, now I have, you know, 10,000 square foot, 11 bay facility right on a right, on a major highway. So it's a win-win. You know, every, I always tell myself everything happens for a reason. You may not know, you may not know tomorrow, but eventually. You'll realize that everything does happen for a reason. Christopher Pietrzak: And you know, in that moment when that deal was falling through, I was not in a good place. You know, that was, yeah. Ever since I, when I met my wife, you know, she, when we first met, it was always, whenever we talk about the future, it was, I'm gonna own a shop. I'm gonna own a shop, I'm gonna own a shop. If I hell or high water, I'm gonna own a shop, whether it's the one I'm at, whether I find one or whether I just rent a garage and start this. Christopher Pietrzak: I said, I'm not gonna let the years of dedication, hard work that I put in to maintain this clientele to go out the window. Christopher Pietrzak: You know? 'cause there's been times where it's like, do I just leave this state? Do I find somewhere else? You know, do we start fresh somewhere else? And I said, no. You know, I put in the work. Christopher Pietrzak: And this is what I don't like saying what's owed to me. 'cause I don't feel anything in life is owed to anybody. But I earned it. I earned this clientele. I earned, this is my home, this is my area. I'm not leaving these customers. So Jimmy Lea: congratulations on doing that, that there's so much to unpack in there. Jimmy Lea: So first of all, thank you for your service. Which line of military were you in? Coast Guard. Coast Guard. Congrats. My father-in-law was also Coast Guard during wartime eight years. That's phenomenal. Congrats on coming back to it. So when you were at the previous location, what was the footprint? How many lifts, how many employees? Jimmy Lea: What did that look like? Christopher Pietrzak: It was, you're looking at it, I was everything. It was me. Yeah. It was me and the owner. That was it. It was two bays, two lifts, oh my gosh. One drive on, one drive on, and one center post forearm lift, which we did have one outside lift that was not being used. There was a vehicle on for 20 some years, but I bought an F Body Camaro that I needed to, that was doing a motor in, so I needed to drop the subframe, which I needed that lift for. Christopher Pietrzak: So. I ended up rebuilding that lift just so I can do that job. Oh my. But Jimmy Lea: that's hilarious. Yeah, Christopher Pietrzak: it was. I was there and we had one other guy there, but he had retired and that's when the owner was like, I'm not gonna hire anybody because I don't want it to be your burden. I want you to hire who you want. Christopher Pietrzak: And then 12 years went by. Jimmy Lea: Yeah, 12 years and the guy's still there and he's still drinking the coffee every morning and he's still having the same conversations. Oh, that's hilarious. So you, hey, you've heard it said before where if you want to hear God laugh, you tell him what your plan is because he says, Hey, you know what, I got a better plan for you, Chris. Christopher Pietrzak: Absolutely. Jimmy Lea: Absolutely. And so now you're in a 10,000 square foot. 11. Did you say 11 lifts? 11, yes. 11. Oh, congrats, man. How many techs are you? Christopher Pietrzak: I have four. Four technicians. Yeah. One service writer, not including myself. Jimmy Lea: So you step in as the catchall. Christopher Pietrzak: Exactly. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And you have to, man. You have to, until you get to the point where you've got enough technicians, enough service advisors, and a manager, then you're able to work on the business all the time. Jimmy Lea: But right now you gotta be in there. You gotta be in for the grind. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. So 22 years you were at the previous location combined altogether. 22 years, yes. Wow. Congrats on enduring all that and getting to the point where now you own Mike's garage and everybody probably wants to call you Mike. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: Hey, I see you. He's Mike there. Jimmy Lea: I wanna talk to Mike. Christopher Pietrzak: I, my, I have one, one of my techs here, his name is Mike. So when people say, I wanna talk to Mike, I say, well, listen, Mike, if they're looking to complain, I'm gonna hand over the phone to you. You'll handle this. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Oh, that's great. He's gonna quickly change his name to Michael. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah, that was it. Been about the name of the business and I've been working with Chad about this, that I want to change the name and my last name is not an easy one to say or spell. So I said Mike has an easier ring to, I said, it may just be easier for me to change my name to Mike instead of changing the business name. Jimmy Lea: Oh yeah. Well, you're powered by Chris, or that's it. How do you say your last name, Chris? Christopher Pietrzak: Pizza. Pizza. Pete. Zack. Yeah. The R is just in there for looks Jimmy Lea: right. It's a silent R. Christopher Pietrzak: Yep. Yep. Jimmy Lea: My wife's name is Rhonda and she has a silent H. She made a joke a while ago that she was gonna put in a silent seven in place of the H and just have it be our seven oh NDA. Jimmy Lea: It was funnier when we were talking about it. It didn't catch on. Oh, that's cool. Mike. Mike Chris. Christopher Pietrzak: There we go. That's all right. That's all right, Jimmy. I'll take it. Jimmy Lea: You'll take it. Well, congrats on where you're at, man. Here you are. A year in. When you bought it from Mike what did that look like? Jimmy Lea: Is what did the deal look like for you on your side? Christopher Pietrzak: I mean, the deal broke it down. I got the property and the business, you know, and to sum up a long story, his analogy was, you know, the place just needed breath of fresh air and needed some new ideas, you know, to really unlock its full potential. Christopher Pietrzak: You know? And when I first, when we were first doing the business again, I was. A lot of it was on me. You know, the bank wants numbers. Yeah. And I want numbers. I want numbers. It's purchasing the place. You know, the owner's always going to tell you that the place is profitable. I've never seen someone selling something that say, it's not worth, it's not worth it. Christopher Pietrzak: So to do my own due diligence, and it really gave me a good idea on the numbers, you know? Mm-hmm. Instead of just somebody giving me a report and reading it. It's totally different when you're the one creating the report, you know? Yeah. The numbers kind of sink in better. So, you know, I handled all that situation, you know, between equipment, p and l, statements, expenses, projections so in the moment it was driving me nuts. Christopher Pietrzak: I was losing sleep over it after everything settled. I was glad that I had to go through all that, you know, it was a lot of work, but it was a good learning experience. You know, and then once we took over it was kind of step one was cleaning up. You know, I kept, everything kept ev all the systems in place that were in place that seemed to be working, you know, paper statements, you know, were handwriting notes, texts are getting clipboards. Jimmy Lea: Oh boy. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah, that got old pretty quick. Was tired. How Jimmy Lea: quick did you go from paper to tech metric then? Christopher Pietrzak: About six months. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Christopher Pietrzak: You know, once I told everybody, I said We may we're making settlement, I was, I'm letting the dust settle. Jimmy Lea: Amen. Christopher Pietrzak: Then I'll start reviewing, you know, everything from internet provider to insurance. Christopher Pietrzak: I said, but I'm not looking to change the world overnight. I said, I want to dissect it, see where we're at. And then I, you know, he was the internet provider. Everything was so out of date. So everything takes time. You know, we were just updating everything between equipment and services and then I got to the point where, you know, I started doing my research on these different softwares available and Speaker 3: yeah, Christopher Pietrzak: you know, I landed with Tech Metric. Christopher Pietrzak: Honestly I listened to a lot of podcasts. I was listening to a lot of change in the industry, which led me to the institute and Oh, nice. It really sunk home. When, between the process of purchasing to then shifting gears to now running and owning and running the place, I realized that I need help, you know? Christopher Pietrzak: One thing I've learned from my first garage I've worked at and the interim would always tell me was, you know, I know what I know and I know what I don't know. And you know, I knew my strengths and my weaknesses and I wanted to minimize the weaknesses. So we got hooked up with the Institute and even the short period of time that I had been with the institute and switched over to Tech Metrics, I can see. Christopher Pietrzak: I don't feel it gradually because it just happens. You know, Chad gives me an assignment, you know, here let's work on this, work on that. And in the moment you're thinking, you know, how's this really gonna propel me to the next level? And then even just like I said, the short period of time on where I, I feel like I was two months ago to where I'm at now, I never would've expected myself. Christopher Pietrzak: To be at this point in general, I've always envisioned my, like I said, the shop I was at, he was 80 some years old. We just left a DOS based billing software about six years ago. The biggest issue was getting RI ribbon ink for the printer. You know, it was carbon copy, so to go from that. And it was a cash or check only. Christopher Pietrzak: No credit cards, no sort of electronic payments, no. And. A lot of my mentors and people who have been with Mason's beginning of the process are all older. Speaker 3: Oh yeah. So, Christopher Pietrzak: you know, in this area, I feel like I'm kind of blazing the path of this new generation of auto repair. You know, where we're headed with, whether it be dvs, you know, stuff that. Christopher Pietrzak: People got, you know, I don't wanna say get away from, they never really got involved with Speaker 3: Yeah. Because they Christopher Pietrzak: feel like it's too much work. Speaker 3: Right. You know? Right. Christopher Pietrzak: This has been working for me, this is what you gotta do. Everybody, you know, and I'm, and I say, great. And then I also listen to them, Andre, the same ones that are complaining about, whether it be the industry as a whole or business. Speaker 3: Yeah. And. Christopher Pietrzak: And a lot of 'em, I'm very grateful for the support the community, the auto repair community I have in my local area. Jimmy Lea: Oh, it's so true. It's so true. There's enough Christopher Pietrzak: work to go around, you know, you have your few gatekeepers, but at the end of the day, they're not hurting me. Jimmy Lea: Yeah, and there's a few shops that you really don't wanna lock arms with. Jimmy Lea: They're not your friends, they're not your enemies. They're just not people you want to be associated with. And that's fine. But there is such a great community out there that does wanna lock arms with you, that does want to see you succeed because they know, as, you know, every car passing in front of your shop and their shops. Jimmy Lea: There's no way you guys could all handle every vehicle that comes through. Speaker 3: Absolutely. Jimmy Lea: There is a variety out there. And you wanna lock arms with those that are gonna help you succeed, which this community is very strong. So I love that you're in this six months after you started, you switched to Tech Metric, you're going for paper to computer. Jimmy Lea: I'm interested to know your customer base. When you switched and started doing dvs, what did they, what was their response? Christopher Pietrzak: Day one, it was paying off. I don't. I don't see any negative side of a DVI. I feel big. Everybody's biggest hurdle is time. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: Guess what? You have to practice to make it perfect, so it's not going to be smooth out of the gate. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Christopher Pietrzak: And one thing that worked with Chad and is an SOP, get it in writing. Once, once there is a repetitive process, things will move faster. I'm still not there yet, but we're working towards it. You know, we're getting the system going to where nothing's overlooked, but d need to be standard practice across the board in this industry. Jimmy Lea: Totally agree. Christopher Pietrzak: There's no way. How you're going to gain the customer's trust and have them change their views on this industry is we have to elevate our side as well to meet the expectations that we want them to see us as. They're never gonna take us serious if a picture tells a thousand words, you know, it does, and the time that it saves. Christopher Pietrzak: One of my biggest hurdles was my service writer, who's my uncle. You know, he was here at Mike's when I purchased it, and he stayed. So the transition, I'd say about half the people think he's Mike anyway, you know. Oh, that's funny. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: That's good. Christopher Pietrzak: It just, it makes it smooth. I still have a few customers that come in that didn't even realize I painted the building. Christopher Pietrzak: So that's when people start asking like, oh, did Mike sell? Because he painted the building. Yeah, because somebody's cleaning up around here. Something had to happen, so, oh, that's Jimmy Lea: great. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: I was wondering if you took a pressure washer to everything, washed it all down and then started doing up your paint. Christopher Pietrzak: Everything I could, it wasn't burn. I burn out my pressure washer. Cleaning that the floors and the oil heat is not it's nice burning your waste, but it's messy. It's messy. Jimmy Lea: Oh, it is. The soot and the grime and the grease and the grit that comes from it. Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: Yep. Yeah. And then it gets in the biggest obstacles, keeping it outta customer's cars, Speaker 3: you know? Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. So, but we stay on top of that. But it's been, you know, with the whole switching over to Tech Metric and with the customer feedback that I've been getting between now offering online billing, online payments. Jimmy Lea: Oh, how about the text to pay Christopher Pietrzak: financing options? Phenomenal. It's a game changer when it comes to, you know, how I've always seen it done at the previous shop and it's, if you want a line of credit. Christopher Pietrzak: It's like, yeah, we'll arrange something now. We don't have to do that. Here's, you can apply and click here. You can deal with them. Click there. And it's been, like I said, and just the communic, the forms of communication. They can text the shop number directly, whether it's I'm having an issue instead of the my counter guy spending 10 minutes on the phone. Christopher Pietrzak: Trying to get a description from a non-automotive background individual. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Christopher Pietrzak: To make sense of what's happening, where a simple text and picture done. No phone call needed. You can, he continues to work. It comes in, we look at it. Send a picture of the VIN or the tag. I can already get it going. Jimmy Lea: So question for you about your service advisor. Jimmy Lea: That's your uncle. So I'm guessing he's got a few years on you and he went from paper to tech metric to digital vehicle inspections, text to pay, online pay. What was his adoption of all this technology? Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah, so, he's open to it, you know what I mean? That's the good part. You know, he's. He is been nothing but supportive in the changes I've made. Christopher Pietrzak: A lot of the times it's me, I have to do certain things a certain amount of times before I can be affluent in it. So I tend to, you know, he's more than willing to go through it. I, but I gotta have, you know, going through the process now. Vehicle check-ins, for instance. You know, I want these pictures taken, this done. Christopher Pietrzak: At first I have the text doing it and I'm saying, well stop. Let's have you do it. You know, this way, if there's an issue that can be seen directly in that moment, it can be addressed, and it's not a phone call 20 minutes later. Again, all about time management, you know, oh, it's here for a noise. I noticed just your oil changes is overdue. Christopher Pietrzak: I noticed your tire light's on be, do you want these things addressed? Easy enough. But yeah, he's been, he is been grasping it, you know, getting, especially with the texting estimates, inspections, it saves him time linked up through parts tech, having all our suppliers on one screen. You know, it's once, once you get some repetition. Christopher Pietrzak: It and I wish I could talk to every person who is nervous about making a change like that or doesn't trust certain situations. You know, I don't trust them when it tells me this and that. You're missing out on just a smoother workflow all, all across the board, you know, whether Oh, it's so true, dude. Jimmy Lea: So true. Jimmy Lea: It's, Christopher Pietrzak: you know, having that. Like, it's still new enough to me where I can still remember having 15 windows open from different suppliers or pulling out your sheet, what all your phone numbers, going down, making phone calls, write down, okay, Napa was this much, c and m was this much, worldpac was this much, what brand? Christopher Pietrzak: And all of that is eliminated by having these systems in place. Jimmy Lea: Technology. You've got the technology in place. Yeah. And you've got systems in place and you documented it all into an SOP so that now onco can follow it. You can follow it, and when you hire the next advisor is gonna be able to follow that same process and procedure because you've got it established Christopher Pietrzak: 100%. Christopher Pietrzak: That is my main goal going through main goal when it's coming to SOPs, implementing procedures and processes. That's what I told Chad is my biggest goal is to get these procedures and processes in place, and I tell them, I know for example, him, you have decades of experience in this industry. I have technicians that have decades. Christopher Pietrzak: I have technicians that have weeks in the industry. Yes. I said, my goal is to put these into place. You are my beta testers. Let's go through it because at the end of the day, something happens, I need my system to be plug and play. You know it's not gonna be a hundred percent because you can't plug and play relation customer relationships. Speaker 3: Yeah, true. But Christopher Pietrzak: I can plug and play processes. I know that whoever I have on front counter is going to take the four corner pictures that will change. The gauge cluster and the inspection sticker. That's what I need from my front counter, whether regardless of who's sitting up there. Speaker 3: Oh, I love it. Speaker 3: You know, Christopher Pietrzak: that's my whole goal, you know, is to get these processes in place so it can be a plug and play scenario. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Well, and I love that you're involving your technicians, whether they're two weeks on the job or two decades on the job. You guys are my betas. I need to know if this works or not. Jimmy Lea: You get their buy-in and you take their feedback as well. And the the brand new technician might have some ideas that are outside of the view of the dudes that have been there for 20 plus years because they've got some form of technology that's gonna help. With the process procedure and the efficiency where somebody who's 20 plus years, they may not have been exposed to that technology yet. Christopher Pietrzak: Yes. Jimmy Lea: So by I, I Christopher Pietrzak: look at it, I look at it as a benefit, having that 30 year technician and that for a month technician. Some people say, oh, it's tough having training. He represents 90% of my customer base. Yeah. If I can explain it to him. So he understands it. And it's the same with my wife. You know, she's not fluent in the automotive business. Christopher Pietrzak: She supports me, but I asked for her feedback and she goes, well, I don't really know. I don't really know. I said, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I need feedback from you. And I need feedback from the guy who's been doing it for 40 years. Yes, because that's on. I've worked around guys. We've had a crew where they were all veterans. Christopher Pietrzak: Trying to implement change into a group of veterans is a little bit trickier than having a mix. Yes. I have guys that have a year, like I said, up to 40 and everywhere in between. Speaker 3: Wow. So Christopher Pietrzak: we have, you know, it's a good, it's a good blending. The younger guy can help out the older guy when it comes to technology. Christopher Pietrzak: You know how to, let's do this, do that. And vice versa. He is got questions about how things work, you know, and they kind of have their own ecosystem back there. You know, I'm always, I'm the go-to guy for any question, but I it makes me proud to see my team work as well as they do together, you know? Christopher Pietrzak: Oh, I love it because this is my family here. You know, I have enough at home. I have four kids home, but. You know, at the end of the day, this is, most of my time is spent, you know, it's, and that's, I wanna make the best of it, and I want to, I want them to have a good experience as well. And making changes without looking for input is just setting yourself up for failure, because you could do something that makes sense to me, you know? Jimmy Lea: And to that point, so, you know, I love that you talk about training and you need the training. Your guys need training as well. There's a lot of conferences and trade shows that are very close to you, by the way, I don't know if you're aware of like, tools. Do you know about tools? I, you know, Pennsylvania, I have. Christopher Pietrzak: Okay. Jimmy Lea: You take your dudes up there. It's not that far. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. Quickly drive. Jimmy Lea: Another one is WMDA. The Wilmington, Maryland, Delaware automotive Association. They've got a conference that's coming up. It's a one day, one and a half day, two day event. That's really good. Asta down in North Carolina. Jimmy Lea: Phenomenal, phenomenal show to go to. Christopher Pietrzak: I've heard. I've heard. About Asta. Jimmy Lea: Well, and Asta is where Chad's gonna be. 'cause Chad, that's his backyard. I mean, he drives from, it's a couple hours drive or something for him to go from Locus over to Raleigh. But the, to the point of training, you've gotta budget that into your business. Jimmy Lea: 'cause if you just say, okay, everybody, hey, we're all going to ASTA next September. Pack your bags, make sure everybody's ready to go. And you haven't accounted for that in your business. Now it's, that's a heavy lift for the entire business to do it. Check your numbers, work it in there so that out of every car you service between now and September, you got a dollar or $2 or $10 or whatever the numbers is. Jimmy Lea: You've gotta analyze that and know what the numbers are so you can take the full shop to the training, or maybe you don't take the full shop. Maybe you take half of 'em this year and half of them next year. Guys, this is what we have to do. We have to perform at this level. Anybody performing at this level? Jimmy Lea: 'cause you analyze your numbers. Anybody performing at this level gets to go to the show because essentially you're paying your way to go by performing at this level. Anybody under that, you know, we just, we can't afford to take you. Christopher Pietrzak: And it shows me that you're invested. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. You know Christopher Pietrzak: it, let alone the money that you're making me is great to pay for the trip. Christopher Pietrzak: But the fact that you are performing or overachieving shows me that you're invested in this. Yeah. So I will, I tell them I will invest as much as I possibly can into you if this is what you want. Speaker 3: Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: This is not, you know, it's not a let's go on a vacation and not take any information in while you're there. Christopher Pietrzak: And by taking everybody, like you said, maybe not making it a performance based marker that gets you eligibility. There's not a, there's no, no investment into it, you know? Yeah. And that's all I, that's all I want, you know, people to, I want everybody to love it as much as me, Jimmy Lea: right? We do. We want them to love it. Jimmy Lea: And the point of training is, well, what if I train 'em and they leave? Chris, what if I take 'em to all these conferences, all these trade shows? What if I train them and they leave? Okay, well, what's the opposite of that? What if you don't train them and they stay? Now you've got technicians that aren't going after the training and you're pouring into them. Jimmy Lea: You're pouring into them knowledge and information, taking them to the training. So I applaud you for doing that. That is phenomenal. Chris. Thank you very much. Christopher Pietrzak: Thank you. And one of the programs, like I, I've been working with the local high school. Jimmy Lea: Nice. Get Christopher Pietrzak: some, you know, get some guys that come over. Christopher Pietrzak: Summertime was a little bit easier. Now it's, you know, but now they went back to school. But, you know, my, my newest tech here speak. I purchased tools, you know, and I said, these are my tools. Until you have 12 months here, you give me a year you can take and you decide that this business, this industry is not for you. Christopher Pietrzak: They're your tools to take. But until then, you know, I can't, I feel like one of the biggest drivers that keep people out of this business is the cost of equipment. Jimmy Lea: Oh yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: Just basic hand tools. Jimmy Lea: It's true. If you wanna get professional grade automotive professional, you are spending five grand to get a small box and a good set of sockets and wrenches and that. Jimmy Lea: You easily five grand. Christopher Pietrzak: And then you're asking these guys or gals to make that purchase without even them understanding if they wanna be in this business. Speaker 3: Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: Like you're asking them like, you know, give automotive a shot. You know, you might like it, but then it's like, but in order to even give it a shot, you have to drop $5,000. Christopher Pietrzak: And then they're like. You know, I can go make coffee for $22 at the local Wawa. Christopher Pietrzak: And you know, my big, my always pitch with that is, you know, room for growth. Speaker 3: Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: You know, this is where you're starting in this industry. The sky is the limit on where you wanna take it. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. That's awesome. Christopher Pietrzak: And that's. That's solely on you. You know, I can I'll lead a horse to water. Christopher Pietrzak: I'll provide you with what you need, provide you with the most up-to-date scan tools, you know, tire equipment. I'm trying to make it as easy as it is as I can for you to try out this business. Yep. You know, and to be successful. And you, the more you show me that you're invested in it, then the more I'll support you. Jimmy Lea: Dude. That's awesome. Congrats, man. That is so awesome. Thank you. It sounds very similar to this. The story I had with my son he decided that he wanted to play baseball, and I was like, oh, okay. Hopefully this isn't a flash in the pan, but just in case. We went to Walmart and we bought a bat, an eastern bat, just a inexpensive little bat, a tiny little glove, tiny, you know, pair of cleats that he could wear. Jimmy Lea: Is this the real deal? Is he really gonna enjoy this? And it was finally when the coach came to us after a couple years and he says, you know, you really ought to get James a, a proper. Oh, okay. Yeah. He likes it that much now, does he? Yeah. Yeah. You might consider getting him a different glove and at that point we, instead of being out a couple hundred bucks for a bat and glove and cleats, it was like three 50 for a bat and two 50 for a glove and cleats that are a hundred bucks a pop. Jimmy Lea: And oh my gosh his baseball career. Woo. Christopher Pietrzak: Luckily he went to baseball, not ice hockey. Jimmy Lea: Oh yeah, ice hockey, Christopher Pietrzak: all that gear. Jimmy Lea: Oh, the padding, the sticks, the clea the skate, the traveling. Oh. Like he was, we did do travel baseball. Luckily for us it was very close within driving distance. We were in St. Jimmy Lea: George, Utah. So it was either Vegas or up to Cedar City, beaver, maybe even as high as Lehigh Provo. So it was always driving distance for us. We never went state to state that would require flying. That's good. Yeah. Except for once we did go to Cooperstown. Oh, Christopher Pietrzak: okay. Jimmy Lea: You know, Cooperstown very Christopher Pietrzak: nice. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. My, my kids are still younger, but you know, like the baseball program always has a fundraiser to send the Cooperstown team out there every year for the tournament and. Jimmy Lea: We did it. Dude. It was so rad. It was so much fun. They have that 200 foot back wall and so there's a lot of home runs that are hit out there. Jimmy Lea: It is so cool. So much fun. Christopher Pietrzak: I'm looking forward to it. That's why I have to get all of my systems in processes in place, because I have a family that there's nothing more in this world that I love spending time with. You know, I said, my wife's supporting me through this, you know, I said like, I know I'm. Christopher Pietrzak: Burning the candle on both ends. I have, this is a lot of work, but at the end of the day, you know, I would love to be able to spend more time and when there's an event, it's not, dad's gotta work. He can't be here, you know? Yeah. Jimmy Lea: No, you gotta be there. You gotta be. They're only Christopher Pietrzak: young. They're only young once. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Amen, brother. Oh, congrats. What sports are they into? Is it ice hockey for your kids? No, I Christopher Pietrzak: haven't got that. It's baseball. My oldest is baseball, football, wrestling. Wow. And my second son, he's not into much. He's got, he is got a little bit of a delay. So he's his sports career. He loves, he's a big supporter of his brother and sister. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. He comes out to support them. And then my oldest daughter, she's flag football, dance gymnastics. And then my youngest, we haven't dabbled yet. She's just about to turn two, so we got time on Jimmy Lea: that one. Oh, you got time on that one. Oh, congrats man. That's awesome. That's awesome. Sounds like you got a beautiful family there and young. Jimmy Lea: They're growing. They're gonna develop. And that's the beauty is you are the caddy in their life. You get to help guide and protect them for a few years. Christopher Pietrzak: Worst case is if hiring process gets tough I got four techs lined up, you know? Jimmy Lea: Yep. They're ready. Let's bring them in the shop. Jimmy Lea: Oh, man. Congrats. That's so awesome. Yeah. Well, speaking of the the future is our children, but what about Mike's Garage? What's the future for Mike's Garage and what's the future for Chris? What does that look like? Christopher Pietrzak: Ultimately? I would love to purchase that shop that I was supposed to buy the first go around. Christopher Pietrzak: Just been talking, I haven't been here long enough. I was very fortunate on what this property appraised for and what was purchased for. Speaker 3: Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: You know, so I'm fortunate to where I have some equity here and I just don't have enough. We haven't been here long enough for the bank to feel comfortable to borrow against it, but I said I would love to go back and purchase that place. Christopher Pietrzak: Long story short, I'd like to have multiple locations and a four day work week. Jimmy Lea: Oh, there you go. Christopher Pietrzak: So I said that's a lot of baseball Jimmy Lea: you'd be traveling to. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah, and I feel like I said I'm not at a four day work week. I hear horror stories about hiring process. I've dealt with a few of my own. I said sometimes it's not about money on what you can offer employees. Christopher Pietrzak: People start hearing that you have a four day work week. People aren't, people are more in tune to, you know, hey, maybe I don't mind four 10 hour days or four 11 hour days. Like, we'll still get, you know, I said obviously that process is. I'm not at the point of implementing anything yet. I have a thought process of where I'm headed on how I'm going to do it, but ultimately that would be where I would wanna be a four day work week. Christopher Pietrzak: I said it's two birds. One stone makes employee happy and it's gonna entice help coming in, you know, and set up and just let the word of mouth travel and amongst the tech community. See what see what happens. But right now I got a good squad. I don't need any more help currently, but I'm always open to the idea, you know, Jimmy Lea: you, yeah. Jimmy Lea: And you will, you've got 11 bays with four techs, so each tech has two bays at the moment. But really, if you optimize every single one of those bays. You should be doing 40,000 per bay. That's 400,000 a month times 12, that's 4.8 million a year. That's the potential you got at outta your shop. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. I have to get, where I'm running into with the new system is service writer. Speaker 3: Yep. Christopher Pietrzak: You know, he's from what he's learning, yeah. You know, a new system then to now. When I purchased the place, we had two techs Speaker 3: that he Christopher Pietrzak: was writing for, so I brought on one left, three new ones came in. So now I'm asking him to learn a new program as well as your workload now doubled. Christopher Pietrzak: You know, as far as writing. Jimmy Lea: It does. It does and it doesn't because of the technology. It's probably the same as what it used to be by adding two techs Christopher Pietrzak: and I'm more, you just gotta get that system Jimmy Lea: down. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah. And I'm more involved with it. You know, there was the old software I came in, it was what was being used and it wasn't used nearly as efficient as that could have been. Speaker 3: Right. You know, Christopher Pietrzak: little details that were left out of bills. That were just screwing up the whole number system. Couldn't get any information off of it. Speaker 3: Oh no. Christopher Pietrzak: Didn't quite understand how he was making the bills, so that's why we pulled the bandaid off and said, we're switching it up. I'm gonna become more fluent in this software so I can help with service writing as well as training. Christopher Pietrzak: You know, I can't rely on one person to do it all right? And I feel like as the owner, I should have the answers. I should know how things work in my own place. Jimmy Lea: There you go. There you go. Well keep at it, brother. That's awesome. Congrats. You got a bright future ahead of you, even if you buy the other location, just to be able to have it as your own personal headquarters. Speaker 3: Exactly what, Jimmy Lea: whatever it looks like, brother, that's gonna be phenomenal. And to be a passenger on this ride, watch this stuff happening with you. Chris, this is gonna be awesome. Congrats. Thank you. Congrats. Thank you. Well, last and final question for you, brother. I, if you were to have a magic wand. Jimmy Lea: And you waive this wand, it grants your wish. You can wish for anything you want to except for more wishes. What would you wish for Chris? Christopher Pietrzak: I would wish that we could reset society's views and opinions on this industry and not make anybody look at us a certain way or think about this industry a certain way. Christopher Pietrzak: Just to give us a clean slate to give, to afford us the opportunity to earn the trust of society and kind of change the perspective on how this industry is viewed. Whether it's from parents having discussions with their children on what they wanna do when they get older. You know, simple comments like, oh, you don't want to be a grease monkey, or, so you know, this is this that. Christopher Pietrzak: Train of thought, that mentality is long gone and in are the new ways of thinking. Grease monkeys have no place for it really anymore. You know, they're far and few between. They are what technicians used to be. Now there's no, people need to take, technicians need to take pride in their work and not portray themselves as just a mechanic. Christopher Pietrzak: Yeah, nothing drives me more. When they say, well, I just work on cars, you don't just work on cars. This is a very respectable field to work in, and the level of training is so underestimated and it's really, it's our jobs as business owners to communicate to our communities and our customers so they can understand what goes into this business and. Christopher Pietrzak: What sort of training? Anywhere from the appearance of my building to the appearance of my texts. You know, dress for the position that you want, not the one you have. I said it boils down to how we talk, how we present ourselves, whether that's our language and or our appearance. It's has to change. I wish I could just change it all and just reset and give us, like I said, I'm not asking. Christopher Pietrzak: Like I said before, nothing is owed to anybody. Yep. But just gimme the opportunity to earn that respect and you know, let you to change your mind, hope, and let you be open to the point that this is just as much of an important career as. Nursing, welding, you know, any sort of these professional crews, we need them all. Christopher Pietrzak: We need everybody. We do, you know, it's not, these cars are not gonna fix themselves and I don't care if they can drive themselves, if you plug them in or you gas 'em up. They all have tires. They all have brakes. You know, this industry isn't going anywhere. We just have to adapt to change with the times, you know? Speaker 3: Yeah. Christopher Pietrzak: Unfortunately. I'm not the only one that feels that way, and a lot of resources, time and money is being put into this industry as a whole, and I couldn't be happier to be in it. And through all the good days and the bad days, I, people call me crazy, but I still love what I do. There is still just a rush on fixing something, especially when nobody else can fix it. Christopher Pietrzak: That customers look on their face when they just I don't know how you do it. You know, it's, I'll never get over that feeling. And, you know, no matter how much I'm cussing inside my head, I still absolutely love what I do. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Because at the end of the day we'd give the shirt off our back to help people. Jimmy Lea: And that's why you got into this business is to help people. We just happen to work on cars. Exactly. Exactly. We just happen to work on cars. That's it. And Chris, I see it happening. I see that wish coming true. You are elevating this industry. You are elevating the transparency with customers, with clients, with your digital vehicle inspection, with your ability to put a new coat of paint on a building and have people know there's something happening here. Jimmy Lea: Keep in, keep involvement with that high school that is our future. That's where it's gonna happen. That's where it's gonna go. Yes. You are making a difference, brother. Keep it up and thank you. Christopher Pietrzak: Appreciate it, Jimmy. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate it. Jimmy Lea: You're very welcome. Thank you. Christopher Pietrzak: Thank you.