From Tires To Tow Trucks: DJ Harrington’s Journey

A single dinner turned into a platform that now reaches more than 20,000 listeners—and the story behind it is packed with grit, heart, and field-tested lessons. We sit down with our friend and mentor, DJ Harrington—the Tow Doctor—to unpack how a path that once pointed toward the priesthood led through retail grind, Uniroyal hustle, and a world-class speaking career that has influenced the towing industry across continents. DJ’s stories are kinetic and practical: converting competitors into partners, reviving a legacy tire brand with creative branding, and transforming product “problems” into service bay traffic and loyal customers.The conversation moves from business tactics to the deeper why. DJ shares a family table moment that changed how he saw leadership—numbers as families, decisions as futures. That perspective fuels everything we do at the American Towing and Recovery Institute and with the Cardinal Legacy Towing Group: train hard, teach safety, and build leaders who take care of their people. We also get real about health. DJ opens up about Guillain-Barré, CIDP, and the fight to adapt; Wes talks about Parkinson’s and the toughness it demands. The takeaway isn’t pity—it’s a playbook for resilience: processes and procedures, stacked with daily courage, protect teams in the field and at home.You’ll hear how this show started, why we doubled down on great guests, and how live recordings at industry events turned our archive into a learning library. Expect stories from global stages, shout-outs to legends like Zig Ziglar and Lee Iacocca, and simple rules that help towers work smarter: prepare, pre-read, say yes to the moment, and convert every touchpoint into trust. If you care about safer recoveries, stronger businesses, and a community that shows up for each other, you’ll feel right at home here.If this conversation moved you, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a teammate who needs a lift today. Your support helps us bring more training, more voices, and more practical guidance to the people who keep the roads moving.