Is your shop's logo doing all the heavy lifting? Spoiler alert: it's not even close.

In this episode of Maximum Octane, branding expert and Director of Business Development at Silver Lake Auto, Krista Oldenburg, teams up with Jason Patel to deliver a masterclass on brand strategy, AI-powered marketing, and the real reason customers (and employees) choose your shop over the competition.

You'll learn how to clarify your mission, stop wasting time on outdated social media posts, and turn ChatGPT into your best marketing hire—no budget bloat required.

If you're still treating branding like fluff, you're leaving revenue and recruiting power on the table. This episode shows you how to fix that.

Episode Takeaways:

1:50 Krista's journey from part-time social media specialist to Director of Business Development

4:10 The Harbor Freight vs. Snap-on analogy—and what it teaches us about branding

7:30 Why "brand" isn't your logo: it's your business DNA

9:00 What happened when Silver Lake got intentional with its brand 2.5 years ago

13:40 How to build a brand that attracts growth-minded techs

15:50 Mission statements that move the needle: "We exist to serve because you deserve better"

18:20 What shop owners get wrong on social media (and how to fix it)

21:10 The power of "edutainment" over generic review posts

24:40 Turning testimonials into trust-building content

26:00 Leveraging ChatGPT to run a strong strategy with a tiny team

30:20 How to audit your website, reviews, and social media using AI

33:00 What it means to "raise ChatGPT like a child" for your marketing

36:50 Creating your own GPT trained with your brand and voice

38:40 Holding vendors accountable like team members

MEET KRISTA OLDENBURG:

Krista Oldenburg is the Director of Business Development at Silver Lake Auto & Tire Center, where she's transformed the shop's branding and recruitment strategies. Starting as a part-time social media specialist, Krista now leads growth initiatives, vendor relations, and a high-impact marketing operation—all with a lean team and an AI edge.

She's a self-proclaimed "professional extrovert" who believes in bold branding, clear messaging, and human-first marketing. Her roundtable at the Super Conference sparked this episode's in-depth exploration of how auto repair businesses can grow by prioritizing brand clarity.

Connect with Krista Oldenburg:

• LinkedIn
• Silver Lake Auto & Tire Centers
• Silver Lake Auto & Tire Centers LinkedIn

Resources mentioned:

• The Brand Infinity Loop
• Leverage ChatGPT
• The Great Eight
• Building Blocs of Brand Identity
• ChatGPT Prompts

Let's connect:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Email: info@maximumoctane.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How about saving your auto repair shop thousands of dollars a month and offering your customers a faster, smoother checkout experience? And the best part: without touching your rates?

In this episode, Kim Hickey and Jason Patel sit down with Dr. Mark Hale, a payments innovator and former QuickBooks CTO, to discuss one of the most overlooked leaks in auto repair shops' profitability: credit card surcharges.

Dr. Hale introduces Express by FacePay, a modern, secure, and customer-friendly alternative to traditional payment processing. From reducing fees to enhancing customer satisfaction and streamlining after-hours pickup, Express is more than a payment platform; it's a strategic upgrade for the way you do business.

Tune in to episode 119 of Maximum Octane to discover how you can improve your margins, increase customer convenience, and future-proof your shop with smarter, safer tech.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• How much surcharges are really costing your shop—and why your customers hate them (2:50)
• Why Express is a win-win: no fees, no friction, no surprises (7:40)
• How one shop saved thousands in just a few months (11:10)
• What the "Fast Break" rental model can teach you about modern auto checkout (16:50)
• How Express secures payments without risky card numbers or chargebacks (22:10)
• Why customer experience is now your most powerful competitive edge (31:10)
• The cultural shift: how to stop resisting tech and start designing for your customer (36:50)

Connect with Dr. Mark Hale:

• LinkedIn
• Express by Facepay

Let's connect:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Email: info@maximumoctane.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever looked around your shop and wondered, "Am I really running this place, or just surviving in it?" Many shop owners start as top techs, but once the bays are theirs, the leadership grind hits differently.

In this episode, co-hosts Jason Patel and Mike Bennett sit down with Clinton Jones, owner of Accomplished Auto, who opens up about the messy, expensive lessons he learned transitioning from technician to shop leader. Clinton shares how a hands-off approach, hiring the wrong manager, missing key financial red flags, and losing connection with the community his business served almost cost him his auto shop.

Tune in to episode 118 of Maximum Octane to learn how to go from running yourself into the ground to building a team that runs with you. Join Clinton's masterclass in why leadership isn't optional, how accountability can transform not just your shop, but your entire life, and the wake-up call that lit the fire, and took Clinton to pay attention to building real systems, setting standards, and stepping into his role as a leader with a vision.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• From tech to owner: Clinton's unexpected journey (1:20)
• When you're ready, coaching works (3:00)
• The hire that nearly destroyed the shop—and how Clinton missed the signs (4:20)
• Why accountability is the real game-changer (8:30)
• “Feelings aren’t facts”—how Clinton learned to lead with data (11:50)
• Building a vision that’s bigger than you (15:00)
• Modeling accountability: Your team won’t go where you haven’t gone (17:10)
• Creating a culture of ownership and pride (21:20)

Connect with Accomplished Auto:

• Website

Let's connect:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Email: info@maximumoctane.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.