Plenty of shop owners walk in with a big heart and walk out with a struggling business, convinced that charging fairly and taking care of people are opposites. This episode breaks that myth down piece by piece, showing what it actually looks like to run a generous shop that's also a profitable one.

In this episode of Maximum Octane, Kim Hickey and Jason Patel sit down with David Wostarek, owner of Northwest Imports in Austin, Texas. Before opening his own shop, David spent years as a foreman at a Porsche/Audi dealership, caught between frustrated customers and a service department more focused on hitting numbers than fixing the actual problem. That frustration is exactly what pushed him to go out on his own and build something different.

The conversation moves through real, practical territory: why owners need to get away from the front counter so they stop discounting out of guilt, how to onboard even a 20-year tech without sounding insulting, and why skipping that step quietly sets everyone up to fail. They also dig into AI-powered DVIs and estimating tools already saving advisors real time, the growing electronics risk hiding in "cheap" cars, and a smart pitch for consignment sales as an overlooked revenue stream for well-maintained vehicles.

Tune in to episode 141 of Maximum Octane if you've ever felt like the bad guy for charging what the job's worth, or you're struggling to get a veteran tech to buy into how your shop actually does things. David proves you can run a profitable shop and still be the generous owner you set out to be; you just need the systems to back it up.

Episode Takeaways:

• 01:30 Why David used to treat profit like a dirty word, and what changed his mind
• 02:25 The real reason owners need to get away from the front counter
• 05:16 What happens when you open a shop with no end goal beyond "do it better"
• 08:05 Why onboarding a 20-year tech matters just as much as onboarding a rookie
• 11:06 How treating your team as "internal customers" shapes how they treat real ones
• 13:58 The oxygen-mask problem: taking care of everyone except yourself
• 17:04 Vehicle health reports vs. courtesy inspections, and why the difference matters
• 19:09 What AI tools like AutoVitals and Auto Tech IQ are actually saving advisors time on
• 25:00 Why a $20K Hyundai can hide a $1,400 repair bill waiting to happen
• 29:48 The consignment sales idea most shops haven't thought of yet

Connect with David Wostarek:

• LinkedIn
• Northwest Imports

Let's connect:

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

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

Most shop owners complain about finding technicians but do nothing to fix it. They ask, "Do you have ten fingers?" Get a yes, and hire them tomorrow. No interview, no vetting, no onboarding. Just panic. Lisa Coyle heard this enough times to build a solution. She created Promotive to bring a professional recruiting process to shops too busy fighting fires to build one themselves.

In this episode of Maximum Octane, Kim Hickey and Jason Patel sit down with Lisa Coyle, founder of Promotive, and Sam Freeman to discuss why shop hiring is broken and how AI is fixing it. Lisa walks through her background building 360 Payments into a successful business and why she noticed that recruiting was always the hardest part. She explains the philosophy behind Promotive: hire people you'd trust to work on your own family's cars. Sam talks about why most shops lack a real recruiting process and how that costs them talent. They dive into how Promotive uses an AI agent to conduct interviews, screen candidates, and provide detailed summaries and ratings so shop owners can make smarter hiring decisions.

The conversation reveals how the AI agent is surprisingly human-like, with candidates opening up to it and even thanking it for the conversation. Jason goes through a live interview demonstration with the AI agent, showing how natural and effective the process is. Lisa and Sam discuss the data insights shops can gather from properly structured interviews, future possibilities for building technician databases, and how they're already handling 300 to 400 dials per week. They emphasize that technicians are essential workers who keep families safe, and the vetting process matters. Both Lisa and Sam offer free consultation to any shop owner ready to take recruiting seriously.

Tune in to episode 140 of Maximum Octane if you're still hiring on desperation or wondering if there's a better way to find quality technicians. Lisa and Sam prove that the problem isn't the labor pool. The problem is the process.

Episode Takeaways:

• 02:08 How Parkinson's Law applies to recruiting: shops complain more than they actually try to solve it
• 03:11 Why fantasy hiring doesn't work: waiting for a great tech to just walk through the door
• 04:16 The reality of most shop hiring: basic questions and hiring on the spot with zero structure
• 05:20 Why shop owners don't recruit: the urgent always outweighs priorities in business
• 06:09 What led Lisa Coyle to create Promotive after success with 360 Automotive
• 20:34 How Promotive's AI agent conducts interviews and gathers data
• 30:30 The interview process breakdown: realistic questions that actually matter for the role
• 47:45 Why the AI bot approach works better than paper forms or text applications
• 50:27 Why candidates open up to the AI agent like she's human

Connect with Lisa Coyle:

• Linkedin
• Promotive

Connect with Sam Freeman:

• LinkedIn

Let's connect:

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

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

Ninety percent of third-generation businesses fail. It sounds like a doom-and-gloom stat, and it should. But Dan Garlock didn't treat it that way. When his dad said second-generation businesses fail at a super high rate, Dan heard it as a challenge. Now, as he prepares his two sons, Noah and Luke, to potentially take over Silver Lake Auto and Tire Centers, he's facing those same odds again. The difference is preparation. Not forcing kids into the business, not assuming they'll magically know what to do, and not waiting until you're ready to retire to start teaching them what you know. Dan is doing something most family business owners skip: he's exposing his kids to every angle of the operation while there's still time to learn.

In this episode of Maximum Octane, Kim Hickey and Jason Patel sit down with Dan Garlock and his sons, Noah and Luke, to talk about multi-generational family business succession. Dan walks through his family's three-generation journey, starting with his dad, Wally, opening a Shell gas station in 1973, through the pivots and challenges, to Dan and his brother Darren buying the business in 2015. He explains the decision to let his sons choose whether they want to be part of the family business rather than forcing them into it. Noah and Luke share their experiences working different roles in the shop, what they've learned, and where they want more exposure to understand the business better.

The conversation reveals why most families fail at succession and what Dan is doing differently. He emphasizes the importance of starting early, letting kids shadow different areas, and letting them work their way up instead of handing them the keys. Kim and Jason highlight the humility and willingness to learn that Noah and Luke bring to the table, which is the opposite of entitled kids who think the business owes them something. Dan talks about surrounding yourself with mentors who have successfully navigated multi-generational transitions.

Tune in to episode 139 of Maximum Octane if you're thinking about family business succession or you have kids who might join your company someday. Dan, Noah, and Luke show what preparation and intentionality look like when the stakes are this high and the odds are against you.

Episode Takeaways:

• 01:24 How Dan's family went from gas stations to independent auto repair
• 02:34 Why running a business "like a family" creates problems instead of solutions
• 04:55 The full story of Silver Lake's evolution from his dad's startup to second-generation ownership
• 05:30 Why Dan decided not to force his sons into the family business
• 18:20 The importance of exposing kids to different roles and departments early
• 30:36 What Noah learned from service advising and customer interaction
• 30:54 Luke's perspective on wanting more exposure to the business and management side
• 30:36 The gap in knowledge Noah identified and why that matters for succession
• 33:30 Noah's perspective on acknowledging the head start the business gives him
• 33:46 Luke's advice: start early and get deeper into different business sides
• 33:59 Dan's recommendation: surround yourself with mentors who've done this successfully

Connect with Dan Garlock:

• LinkedIn
• Silver Lake Auto & Tire Centers

Let's connect:

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

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