How a Purple Heart Veteran Became a 6-Shop Auto Repair Owner [RR 1097]

How a Purple Heart Veteran Became a 6-Shop Auto Repair Owner [RR 1097] Remarkable Results Radio Podcast · Jun 23, 2026

Annotations will appear as you listen

0:00

30:02

Car

Chevrolet Trax

The Chevrolet Trax is a small SUV made for regular driving. It’s meant to be practical and easy to handle, with room for passengers and everyday cargo. People may bring it up when talking about good options for daily transportation.

Term

digital vehicle inspections

Instead of writing everything on paper, the shop uses a tablet or computer to check the car and take photos. Then they show you what they found so you can decide what to approve.

Term

Napa CSI

CSI here is a customer satisfaction score tied to how customers rate the shop. The better the score, the more likely the shop is to be recognized or recommended.

Term

Napa consumer financing

Financing means the customer can spread the repair cost out over payments. It can help people say yes to repairs they might not be able to pay for immediately.

Concept

Gold Certified Shops

“Gold Certified Shops” is a certification tier used by Napa to recognize shops that meet certain requirements. The segment ties it to benefits like marketing support, priority directory placement, and enhanced warranty/rebate/training offerings.

Term

NapaOnline.com locator

It’s basically a website tool that lists shops in your area. Priority placement means the shop shows up higher or more visibly when people search for a repair shop.

Term

warranties

A warranty is a guarantee that if a covered problem comes back after the repair, the shop will fix it (or help pay for it).

Term

shop management system

This is the software the repair shop uses to organize jobs and keep track of everything. It helps the shop estimate work, schedule cars, and communicate with customers.

Brand

Napa Tracks

Napa Tracks is software for auto repair shops. It helps the shop run better day-to-day and includes training and support for the people using it.

Term

post-sale support

Post-sale support means help after you buy something. Here it means training and assistance after the shop starts using the system.

Car

Ford Capri

The Ford Capri is a sporty-looking car that was made as a compact coupe. People talk about it because it’s a well-known model from the past and is remembered by car fans. It’s the kind of car you might hear about when discussing classic Ford history.

LIVE

This is the Automotive Repair Podcast Network.

Hey everybody, welcome, Karm Capriotto, a remarkable results radio, excited today about

a really interesting guest, AJ Dubono.

And he's going to be here talking about MSO growth and how he went from zero to almost

six.

I'm not quite sure.

I think he told me that he's almost at six, but when I talked to him a few weeks ago,

he said five, AJ is a US Marine veteran with two purple hearts.

Thank you so much.

I can't wait to tell him when he comes on about his service.

That's kind of so well grounded, I think, in his work ethic.

He's going to tell us all about how he went from zero to hero, not only in his purple

hearts that he's earned and what really happened to him, but we just can't wait to hear

from him.

And in the meantime, thank you so much to our great sponsors.

We'll prove to you that Trax is the single best shot management system in the business.

Find Napa Trax on the web at NAPATRACS.com.

Hey look, we have done some really cool things with our podcast app.

It's the automotive repair podcast network.com.

And frankly, everyone, I have to tell you that we have a brand new URL for you to jump

into.

It's called arpn.app.

So get onto arpn.app, get download the app.

You're going to see all the episodes, all the shows from the Aftermarket, the Automotive

Repair Podcast Network.

So AJ De Bono, welcome Chicago.

Yeah, yeah, thanks for having me, Karm.

Well, great.

You know, I'd love to just understand you were over in, I believe, Iraq and Afghanistan

in the early 2000s?

Yeah, I served from 05 to 09, Iraq in 07, Afghanistan in 08.

We did two tours, but yeah, I was injured on the last one and came back a little early.

What is it like being in the hospital for a year and a half?

Actually, they treat you pretty well.

San Diego is not a bad place to be.

If you're going to be stuck somewhere, you know, it's got nice weather year round.

So I got to wheel around in a wheelchair for a little while in beautiful weather.

I've always admired the heroes that we have in our world in the years of service that

you've given to our country.

What was it like receiving two Purple Hearts?

Sometimes you think that I should have ducked better, right?

I should have been.

But to me, it's something that I really didn't care about.

I really didn't want.

I would have preferred to stay out there with the guys, right?

They're out there.

I got to come back early.

So I got to be whined and dined no matter if I was in the hospital or they were stuck

out there fighting the good fight.

Honestly, I don't really have any strong feelings about it.

It's just a piece of metal to me that they stuck on my chest.

No significance to me.

And I appreciate the people that do appreciate it.

But to me, it's no big deal.

It seems like that humbleness that you have has had a lot to do with the success of your

business.

Could be.

If you're not the first person to say that, actually.

So you came back, you worked at some other companies, I believe.

And then in 2016, you purchased Deal Auto Repair.

I was only in the industry for like three and a half years and my uncle owned one of

the franchises around here and was like, AJ, you got it.

You know what I mean?

And so they gave me 75 grand to put it as a down payment on my first shop.

And that's where it all started.

And we grew from two technicians and me six days a week to what we have today.

Did you get that six story yet?

Signed today.

This morning.

That is so cool.

Well, we can look back at this episode and say that was the day we got store number two.

In fact, I think it's part of the Rx Automotive group, right?

Deal Auto.

So this one will be another Deal Auto.

So Rx is just the St. Charles one.

But yeah, it's a deal.

Five of them are Deal Autos.

And then we got one Rx.

So the Rx had a good rep.

So you left it.

Fantastic reputation.

And I like that I have a secondary one because in case I find another one that's close to

one of my other stores, I can just use Rx.

It just works out.

What a cool strategy that is.

It's one of those in your hip pocket you never know.

Yes.

I love that.

Okay.

Part of what I know about you in starting up was the ability for you to get some SBA

money too.

Not only the 75 grand that came from what it was, a parachute friend just dropped it

in your lap, that money.

And that helped you get started.

And then SBA I think helped because you were a veteran.

Yes.

So SBA helped.

They're a great partner.

Most people are allowed to get, I think it's up to $5 million in funding and I'm pretty

much there.

Actually, I think I got a couple hundred left.

But yeah.

So they're a great partner and they help get you the loans because it helps make the banks

more secure and it's less money down.

Yeah, I know.

Isn't that great to have a great relationship with a bank and then they turn around and

they go to SBA and say, hey, yeah, this guy's a veteran.

We're good.

What I think people forget is, you know, you have to have the ability to pay this thing

back.

I don't think the bank is going to let you borrow something that they don't see success

in the past and or good financial strength.

And I'm sure you have to say, hey, listen, I got a five year plan.

Let me show you what it is.

How is it presenting that stuff to the bank?

It's really good now.

Obviously, I got a nice track record in the beginning.

I didn't know what I was doing like I literally just felt like I was just lying on everything.

I was like, I don't know what I'm doing.

I'm like, I've been in the business three years.

This is what I hope to do.

And like, don't say it like that.

Okay.

Sound more calm.

The thing I love about where we're going with this discussion at this current moment

is how many, and I don't want to say young people, but how many opportunities exist in

our industry for a succession, for acquisition from younger people that's saying, you know,

wow, I know how to turn a wrench, but I'm not quite sure I could run a business.

But in my heart, I really want to own a business sometimes.

I got to sit down with a bank.

I got to sit down with the SBA.

I got to have a business plan.

This is all crazy to me.

I love what you just said.

I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

Did you get a coach right away to kind of help put you in some kind of guidance?

No, I didn't end up getting a coach until I think I was four or five years in.

And it's just like, I want to keep going because my plan was just one store and just be the best

that I can be and help people better than anybody else could.

That's it.

And it just developed.

And what happened that shop two just landed in your lap or you were looking or you would say,

oh, there's a distrust place.

Let's get this.

This will be easy.

Networking is huge in all of our businesses, right?

So I was just networking.

And then I started talking to people and they're like, well, if you have one shop,

you get paid a multiple of three.

But if you have three shops, you can get a multiple of three to five.

And if you have X mount shops, you can get eight.

And so that just started playing in my head.

It's like, well, let's go.

So you were thinking of ultimately one day you're going to be worth X multiple if you keep growing.

And so you had this desire, this hungriness of wanting to grow.

And was it all peaches and herbs on the way up?

It's funny.

I knew we were going to bring this up.

So I started talking to my guys about, what are all the crazy things?

I got guys that have been with me eight years.

I've only been in business nine.

You know what I mean?

So I got guys that have been like, what are some of the crap that we went through?

And from just starting out, two technicians and me, both technicians got sick.

I'm doing oil changes and trying to put a window, I'm not a mechanic.

I hired the next door mechanic and he charged me my whole job just to put it back together for me.

So from that to probably my wife says I rush things.

I'm not patient.

So I bought my third store and I only had 20 grand in each bank account.

So only $60,000 left.

One bad move and I run out of money.

I was pretty overwhelmed at that point.

Did you learn any lesson from three?

So did I learn a lesson yet?

Did you have any money in the bank for four?

I did.

So I did learn a lesson.

I'm not going to say I ever listened to my lessons because I am impatient,

but I did have money set aside.

I didn't rush it as much and it just didn't take as much money.

But as you build, number two was just breaking even, barely breaking even, and I bought three.

So I'm living off 12 is barely breaking even.

So sometimes they didn't.

So it's taking money away and I'm opening up three.

But as you develop, then you start making money off all of them or multiple of them.

So it's not as stressful.

So you're sitting down in your networking group and someone comes to me and says,

hey, I want to grow up, AJ, and be just like you someday.

I want to have all these stores.

And do you sit them down and do the Donch Uncle talk to them in a corner of a room?

Yeah.

Well, I think that's fantastic.

You know what I mean?

You never pissed on somebody's dream.

You know what I mean?

I think that's awesome.

And I would love to help guide you and mentor you towards it.

But you know what I mean?

You got to be able to handle a lot of stress.

And there was a point when my wife says, you, I don't like what I see.

When are you going to stop?

Because this isn't a good look on you.

Is she the practical one?

She's more reserved.

But not a good look on you.

Oh my God, that's powerful.

When I just heard, it's not a good look on you.

So you're the fact that you're go, go, go.

No patience.

Everyone.

I guess the reality was not making you a happy guy.

You knowing that you were robbing from Peter to pay Paul.

Yeah, she, her biggest thing that she says is you were checked out.

You were home with us, but I could tell you weren't here.

You were out there and she didn't like that.

She didn't like that at all.

Now she says, you know, overall, you know, she's like, you're much more calm, you know,

and you're here.

But at that point, it put a huge stress on it to me.

I think I'm hiding it, but I wear everything here as you see.

This is me all day long, but when I'm stressed, you see it.

I bet you.

Wow.

Being checked out, you are in much better mental state today,

knowing that you've gone through these five, you signed the sixth today.

Will you do anything different with number six than you've done in the first five?

Yes.

So what I'm doing differently on this one is even though I bought it today,

I'm letting him run it for another week under his company, basically like it's still his.

And I'm going to take my time and transfer things over because before what I was doing

this, I was like, okay, I'm in there, it's mine and I'm trying to change over utilities,

put in my credit card, put in my point of sale system.

And I'm trying to do all these things while operating and it's just extra stress.

Now I have a list and I can go down my list and I got a general manager that helps me do

all these things and we start getting everything, changing over internet, changing over utilities,

doing that, start training, right?

And we could do that while he's operating and they don't feel a thing.

Are you a Napa Auto Care Center ready to elevate your shop?

Then it's time to step into the premier tier Napa Auto Care Gold Certified Program.

Gold Certified Centers are recognized as the best of the best, delivering a consistent

trusted customer experience nationwide.

Now that consistency means more repeat business, more referrals,

and more opportunities to grow your car count.

Now when you're Gold Certified, you unlock advanced resources, maximizing technology,

boosting your local marketing presence, and keeping your team fully trained on the latest

trends and tools.

In short, Gold Certified Status separates you from the rest.

So what does it take to be Gold?

To qualify, your shop must be a Napa Auto Care Center for at least one year,

have been open for two years or more, employ an ASE master technician

or hold ASE Blue Seal Status, co-brand with the Pro Image Program, maintain a four star

rating or hire on Google, Yelp or Napa CSI, use digital vehicle inspections,

offer Napa consumer financing, purchase $7,500 or more in Napa Parts monthly,

and participate in a Napa Business Development Group.

It's a true partnership and in return, Napa rewards Gold Certified Shops with premium benefits like

free priority placement on the NapaOnline.com locator, annual marketing funds, enhanced

warranties, rebates, training opportunities, and a whole lot more.

Are you ready to take your shop to the Gold level?

Well contact your local Napa sales representative today to see if you qualify

and start your journey to Gold Certified.

Increase car count, build trust with customers and stand out as one of the best.

Talk to your local Napa representative today.

Let's face it, your shop management system is the single most important tool in your shop, period.

Napa Tracks was built from the ground up to make your business more profitable and efficient.

We provide an extensive set of tools to increase and track profitability in real time.

Napa Tracks offers the industry's best post-sale support, hands down, and we train your people

on-site. Yep, on-site and we offer remote refresher training 10 times a week and customer

support is open 6 days a week. Give us a call, visit the website, or join our Facebook community

today to learn more. We'll prove to you that Tracks is the single best shop management system

in the business. Napa Tracks is always customized and tailored for you whether you're a one-man

shop or a large multi-bay or multi-location company. After all, it's your shop. So it's your

choice. Visit us on the web at Napa Tracks. That's N-A-P-A-T-R-A-C-S dot com.

You were telling me that, listen, Carmine, I've got a new approach to buying stores. It just

doesn't, oh, this looks good. I like it. It's in the right neighborhood here. Go to the bank,

come up with some kind of plan and get the money and go. And you said, no, I'm not going to do

anything but acquire profitable shops. You'd almost rather pay a couple of bucks more and give someone

their due back on their success rather than you having to start from sometimes almost negative one.

100% and it ends up costing the same amount of money. In my experience, you buy a failing shop

or an underperforming shop and you're paying with less income coming in, right? You got no sales

coming in. So you're paying out of your pocket anyways, or you could just take that money and

buy a profitable shop. Yes, the number's big. I get it. But at least you're generating income

right off the bat. As long as you can add some value, right?

It sounds smart to me and I know so many guys that have told me this is Carmine,

pay a little bit for the multiple of the success of this business.

If this business can pay for itself based on what you gave to the owner in five years,

you got a great plan and you have a lot less stress because you already know

going in what your cash flow can be because the cash flow is going to pay the note

that you borrowed that you're going to pay this individual, be it all up front or over time.

I think that math logic for acquisition numbers sometimes is right there, but you don't see it.

100%. And when you do this, this is a super successful store I just bought. But there's

a couple KPIs, right, that I concentrate on that I know if I, so their average RO is 350,

mine's 750. So if I can get this KPI up, this thing will be so much more successful. I'll

end up with about 20% more. So you find successful stores that are just underperforming in certain

areas and you can make some minor adjustments, just minor adjustments, do a little bit of training

and it can blow up to be so much bigger than what it is.

You wouldn't have bought it if you didn't know that that would happen. First of all, right?

I might have. You see this opportunity, you know it's making money, but you also know that if you

put in your business principles and all that you know about running a successful business,

this thing can go from, let's just assume it was making three or four or five percent that you

can go to seven to 12 or nine to 12% in a very short amount of time, bringing in your principles

because it is not that extremely broke. It just needs the AJ muscle flex. It needs the AJ marine

discipline. It needs the AJ purple hard attitude. That's all it needs. And I love that you would

pay a little bit more to get where you want to go. So the plan is I can pay for this thing at what

it's currently doing and the spoils will come to me as we continue to tweak. You said the word

training. What kind of training? What I'm realizing is I need to just come in right off the bat.

You said, what did I learn throughout the process? I want everybody to do it my way. I've tried in

the past like, oh, you guys are doing well. I'll let you do it your way. Now I'm just three months

behind because I end up making them do it my way anyways. Not saying my way is the best way,

but I know my way and it shows results. So I had to present how to answer the phone

with us. You answer the phone with a smile and energy. It's just how to present to the customer,

how to listen to the customer. And most important, you got to be honest, I tell all my guys,

treat every one of my customers like it's your mother. If you wouldn't sell it to your mother,

don't sell it to my customer. It's kind of black and white. It's kind of how I built it all.

Totally agree with you. You said my way. Great Frank Sinatra song, by the way.

And I wrote down our way because as I was looking at you and realizing what you currently have,

and you have a team behind you and I'm sure you've got a great culture, it's our way.

There is our clients. And if, you know, how would you treat your grandmother or your mother,

if they were in front of you, what would you do? And if an individual looked at that person as

their particular, that's my customer, my client, they lose track in my opinion of the global picture

of the culture of the business when they looked at it as only theirs. And I think that we have,

in my opinion, yes, we have to appreciate that that client is here and I've got to treat them

the right way. But it's our culture and our commitment to the customer as a whole entity

that makes that person mine at this moment. I'm just being a little soapoppy right now.

No, I like it. 100%.

When I think about what you've learned over the years in your networking group, do you mentor

anybody? I have some friends, you know, they became friends, right? I just talked to him

one yesterday and today, he's looking at buying a second store and he's like, what would you do?

What do you look for? And I'm like, this is not an ideal situation for this, but I like this.

But there are some younger guys that think more highly of me than I think of myself,

which I appreciate. But yeah, so I definitely help out some of the younger guys that are in the

industry that only have one store and say, I want what you have. And I say, great,

you know what I mean? I'm here if you need me, I'm phone call away. What's 10 minutes or 30

minutes of your day once a week or something to help out some, but it's nothing.

Is growth in your friends' minds and or yours about the eventual sale someday?

In my friends, I don't think so. For me, it started out that way. And now it's not so much about,

so 100%, I'm not going to lie like, yes, I grew up in a middle low-cast family. My parents worked

hard. My mom worked 12 to 18 hours a day as an accountant. So I would like my nest egg. I would

like to eventually sell, have that nest egg and then do it all over again and help people,

but just have money, you know what I mean? But what it's turned into, and this is how I get employees

is I'm growing so fast that you'll have room to grow with me. So if you're working for a one-store

operation, for you to move up, your store has to grow, okay? Or the guys ahead of you have to retire,

die or quit. So there may not be a lot of opportunity, but you come over by me. In the last two years,

I bought three stores. So I'm always looking for an ATEC here, a BTEC here, a CTEC here,

a service manager here, so you can grow with me. And so I got a lot of people enticed by that.

So it's turned into growing. Yeah, you're talking career opportunities for people,

and I think that's when they want to come to work for you as a multi-shop operator.

Not that single stores can't do that well, but you're on a track that they can see. Ever have

any hiring crisis in your lifetime? Yeah, my fourth store. I hired a manager,

and he called me. We opened up at 7.30. He texted me at 7 o'clock saying he's not going to make it.

And for whatever reason, that's all history, but he wasn't going to make it,

and he'll give me a call tomorrow. And it ended up taking me a couple months to end up finding

another manager eventually. I got strung along a little bit, but that didn't work out. So I ended

up running that store for at least a month or two and then helping out another guy that wasn't quite

the manager yet. So me and him were doing it together for a little bit after a couple weeks

of me sitting there by myself. You're wearing that on your face, honey.

Those are tough times. Yeah, and it happens. It's the good and the bad. It really is what helps

formulate the adventure, right? It's a good story. People always like, man, that was a tough time.

Yeah, but it's a really good story, isn't it? AJ, did it shape your character? Knowing you got to

dig down deep and cover your feeding all these people, we got to do this thing? Yeah, I think

that was there because one of my things is I get happiness out of making other people happy and

seeing them advance. So what I tell people is like, it's selfish. You know what I mean? It's selfish

that I'm trying to make my... Yes, I'm helping other people, but selfishly, it makes me happy too.

And that's part of the reason of growing like this and advancing people is because it really does.

I get enjoyment out of it. I don't think that is wrong. I think it's very honorable and admirable

that you feel that way, that you want to help people. And I think that's the outstanding

feature of a great leader, which it seems to me that you are. One of the things that I had read

in your bio was about veteran-owned businesses. And I think there was some data in there from 2018.

But back in 2018, veterans employed 4 million people in the US. That's just unbelievable to

think about. Yeah, I didn't know that. That's huge. It is. It's amazing. So what's next?

Store 6 just signed today. Are you on a trek for one a year? I mean, or you say, hey, look it,

I want to take this thing and we want to make as much money as we possibly can with 6. What's your

strategy? No, I actually have two other offers out there. So one's a big store. They have two

locations and they do quite a significant amount of revenue. So I'm after them and then I'm after

another local store. That's another $1.9 million sales. But it's to keep going. I've talked to

a lot of people and they're like, oh, when are you going to stop? I was like, I'm never going to stop

until somebody comes in and writes that check and says, you're done. This is where I enjoy this.

I enjoy going out and talking to business owners and keep going out and growing the company.

That's where I'm at now. If you were in a small group and you were saying this exact thing,

would somebody pull you off to the side, look you in the eye and says, how the hell can you do

this? Where's all the money coming from, AJ? They have. Are people holding paper? This is a great

thing about it. When you buy your first store, you need 20, 30% down, right? As you build a

reputation, there's different ways. One, they require less. So I only needed 10% for this last

one. But what I see people do is they take their money and they go spend it. I make a comfortable

living, but I save a lot of my money. I don't just go out and spend it. And that's to keep reinvesting.

I just know what I need to live and that's okay. And I'm happy with that. But there's ways to structure

deals. My fifth store I bought, I actually got 30 grand back from the deal. I didn't put any money

down. So there's ways to get creative and structure deals with owner financing or keep people

keeping equity or things like that as you get down the line that you'll learn. And those are things

that I learned. That's cool. Great ideas. I interviewed just recently, the episode hasn't come

out. I'm sure it'll come, it'll have been out by the time yours releases, but it was Matt and Judy

Curry. And I heard you say, well, I'm going to get these, I'm going to sell them and then I'll start

over again. I remember you just said that about maybe 10 minutes ago. Well, Matt and Judy Curry

did the same thing. They had 10 store and they sold. And now they're back with another eight.

The energy out of these two people were amazing. They're out of Virginia area. And so when I

heard you say that, I just immediately thought, it can be done. Yes, it can.

It's like, imagine you did all this with 75 grand. Imagine what you could do if you actually had

money. That's really good. I love that. So you're 75 grand, which was the, if you will, the foundation,

the impetus for you to go forward. That been paid back? Yes. And then some. So it's

two of my uncles, one of them passed away, but my other uncle, he doesn't pay, his whole family

doesn't pay for any auto repair. And I took him and my dad to Ireland as a, like a thank you,

like both of them, very obviously without my uncle's money, that wouldn't be here. And without my

dad's support, I wouldn't be here. So it's like, took them both to Ireland. We went for 10 days

this year or last year. Sorry. Yeah. As we kind of wrap this thing up, what do you think your

signature is as a leader to your people? I take pride in knowing about them and talking to them.

And it's getting a lot harder. Like I go to every store at least twice a week, but usually I try

to go there more often. And I say hi to everybody. And I say, how are you? And how is your wife?

And how's your kids? And like I said, it is getting harder. And people told me it would be.

But I really take an interest and I empower my guys and I care about them. And I think they see

that. And I always have taken care of them. And I will always take care of them. And I think

that's important. And I think if I had to say anything, I hope that's what they say about me

down the road. Well, it seems like I love your energy, your spirit, your great attitude. Obviously,

you have that commitment to your people that you just described to us. I think you got the

earmarks for an individual we need to keep our eye on someday. I appreciate that.

AJ Dubono from Deal Auto Repair and RX Automotive out in Chicago. And as of today, he signed his

sixth job and he's just going all guns. Thanks for being on the podcast, AJ.

Thank you, Karm. I really appreciate it, sir.

Also, enjoy the podcast on our Karm Capri Auto YouTube channel.

Karm is all for advancing the professional automotive service industry. Until next time.

0:00

30:02

Chevrolet Trax

digital vehicle inspections

Napa CSI

Napa consumer financing

Gold Certified Shops

NapaOnline.com locator

warranties

shop management system

Napa Tracks

post-sale support

Ford Capri

About this episode

Original notes