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Innovative Tools, Industry Networking, and Efficient Toolbox Management with Jimmy Purdy
Innovative Tools, Industry Networking, and Efficient Toolbox Management with Jimmy Purdy
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About this episode
Jimmy Purdy shares insights on navigating SEMA, industry networking, and effective toolbox management. He discusses the unique experiences of attending the convention, including the Tesla loop for easy transportation and the importance of planning to maximize connections. The conversation touches on memorable encounters with industry figures, the significance of personal connections, and the challenges of balancing excitement with the overwhelming nature of the event. Listeners will appreciate the blend of humor, personal anecdotes, and practical advice for making the most of their SEMA experience.
Topics:
SEMA navigation
networking tips
toolbox management
personal connections
event planning
industry experiences
overcoming challenges
motivation in the industry
event insights
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In this episode, Jeff Compton is joined by Jimmy Purdy to dive into the world of toolbox efficiency and innovation. Jimmy shares his philosophy on using a compact toolbox from Harbor Freight to accomplish major projects like building a '68 C10, proving that minimal tools can yield maximum results with the right ingenuity. The duo also discusses the excitement and challenges of attending industry events like SEMA and AAPEX, offering helpful tips for making the most of these experiences.
Listen to more of Jimmy Purdy on the Gearbox Podcast here
00:00 Pulling over to confront doesn't end well.
07:00 Stressed but enjoyed SEMA swag and experiences.
10:48 Relatable show with an intriguing backstory intrigues.
19:14 Meeting product creators at SEMA feels starstruck.
21:30 Can't make everyone happy; business replication challenges.
30:32 Programmers innovate by overcoming part shortages creatively.
31:30 Understand the process; don't just seek solutions.
39:58 Discussing redneck style, In-N-Out, Chick-fil-A.
46:22 SEMA Fest: Exciting event but personally exhausting.
47:33 Unexpected discoveries happen when you engage deeper.
56:37 He's successfully monetizing his 3D printing hobby.
58:14 SEMA showcase displays newly developed tools.
01:03:41 Podcasts and events maintain passion and motivation.
01:12:05 Importance of face-to-face interactions despite frustrations.
01:15:37 Networking creates lasting connections through personal interactions.
01:23:38 Group message critical for organizing and meeting.
01:25:58 I watched the event, avoided whiskey, and was exhausted from travel.
01:31:12 Share, subscribe and join again next week.
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Toyota Prius
"... And they got Av. Av. Not Avi. Is it Ati with the Prius? That's cut in half. Okay. All right."
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Jeep Cherokee
"...checking powers and grounds on an ECM in an older Cherokee for like an hour. Oh, you mean both. I mean, I si..."
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Ford Mustang
"... hotel. It's like horses. And so she'll bring her mustang down and, like, take pictures out there. I'm like..."
Pulling over to confront doesn't end well.
Stressed but enjoyed SEMA swag and experiences.
Relatable show with an intriguing backstory intrigues.
Meeting product creators at SEMA feels starstruck.
Can't make everyone happy; business replication challenges.
Programmers innovate by overcoming part shortages creatively.
Understand the process; don't just seek solutions.
Discussing redneck style, In-N-Out, Chick-fil-A.
SEMA Fest: Exciting event but personally exhausting.
Unexpected discoveries happen when you engage deeper.
He's successfully monetizing his 3D printing hobby.
SEMA showcase displays newly developed tools.
Podcasts and events maintain passion and motivation.
Importance of face-to-face interactions despite frustrations.
Networking creates lasting connections through personal interactions.
Group message critical for organizing and meeting.
I watched the event, avoided whiskey, and was exhausted from travel.
Share, subscribe and join again next week.
Select text to request an explanation
The, like the SEMa, the convention center, where Sema's at, there's the Tesla loop. So remember the Tesla loop, because it puts you up into each different area, right? You don't have to walk 4 miles. You can just take it. Takes you underground, which is a cool experience all on its own, right? Goes up the underground tunnels and pops. I don't know if you've heard about that at all, but that's a pretty cool. It's just cool to do it. But it's also extremely helpful when you need to go from one side to another. At the convention center.
We won't talk anything bad anymore.
No, we can. We could talk about our own little road rage. Mine's nothing, uh, mine's not as, as exciting. I've never had to, you know, get out of the car yet, but I have had more than once to, like, wave the guy down. And then he just keeps going because, you know.
Oh, you've never had to get out before. I guess it's the California thing, huh?
Yeah, I think. I think so. And then it's like, brian Pollock, his stories are the best because it's like, you know, we've all seen the Internet videos and it's like Brian would get out of a car and that person's going to run back to their car because somebody six eight and almost 400 pounds that can handle themselves just got out of the car, right? It's like, okay, if I don't get this car and drive, he's going to flip it over on me and then I can't get away. So I better get away fast.
But I don't. I'm pretty quick. I'm not. I'm not scared of the big guys. The bigger they are, the harder, the harder they falls. But I had, I had, I had one in my, in my youth where, yeah, this guy was, it was, it was a similar thing I was just talking about. And so I pull over and he pulls up right behind me and I'm like, fucking game on, right? And I'm like, I'm out. I'm at the rear of my bumper before the guy's even out of his car, right on the side of the road.
And this dude gets out and he's just shy 6ft, right? And I'm like, this is a while ago. So I was maybe 140 pounds, like, right? But he could, you know, he comes walking up and I'm psyching his face. I'm like, let's roll, dude. And he's like. And he's like, the look on his face was, like, so shocked, because I'm, like, looking up to him and I'm like, dude, it's game on, right? And he's like. And so he stops for a second. He's like, hey, look, I know what's going on, but I can see, like, you, you need to come down to my doja. And I'm like, what? And so he owns.
They call it the pit, and don't if you know who. John. Huh?
Did you. Did you meet John? John Hackleman? Or do you meet chocolate?
No, no, no. It was the owner of the pit at the time.
John Hackleman.
Yeah, I think that was his name. Yeah. And so it was him, right? And he's like. And he's like, I'm the owner of the pit, man. You need to come down, and I can, like, we need to get you in some pads. He's like, he started selling me and shit. It's the weirdest fucking thing that happened. But then, like, hindsight being, I'm like, oh, that could have been really bad for me.
I think probably Jimmy, we wouldn't be.
Talking right now if that.
But it's like, it didn't matter to me at the time, right? I'm like, I don't. I don't care what's about to go down. Right? Yeah, it was a pretty funny story.
He was a serious dude, for sure.
Yeah.
I ran in that circle for MMA forever. Right? My brother did it professionally in nine fights, you know, has trained with George St. Pierre multiple times. Like, I've been around that, but that's.
Like, that's the only dude. And, like, all the different, you know, incidents like that with actually pulled over and got out, right? That's like, it just goes to show, like, if they actually pull over and they're willing to get out, like, it's not gonna be good for one of you. Like, right? Because, like, all the other times and I still, you know, like, dude, I'm not gonna play games with you on the road. Like, let's. We're pulling over and we're going to talk this out, right? And they. They never do, right? They just keep driving along and they're like, they want anything to do with that. And, I mean, hindsight being that's just a stupid, idiotic, you, thing to do anyway. Like, yeah, you know, like, over what? Like, what are we even doing here? Right? But that.
That one was funny because I remember when I got back in the car, I was there with my. A bunch of my buddies and we were head down to the beach and, um. He's like, they're like, what happened? I'm like, I guess the dude owns the pit. And they're like, oh, my fucking God. Like, with Chuck Liddell? Yeah. Is that the place? Cause I don't know. This is like. This is like 15.
This is like 15 years ago, right? I wasn't, like, really into that shit. So I was like. It was pretty funny.
The heyday of it. Yeah, the. Well, that's. And so you and I are going to Vegas. And of course, my brother, when he hears that I'm going there, right, he wants to talk about, like, oh, you need to go to this dojo over there. And, like, do you think he can go to the OC training center? And like, dude, I don't know what I'm gonna have time to do in Vegas. Right. But, like, well, we gotta.
Yeah, we gotta. We gotta unpack this thing. Cause we got.
Yeah.
Oh, man. So for those looking at going, there's. There's shuttles. Right? So avoid walking, like, at all costs because they're shuttles from all the hotels. Like, Treasure island is a good one to stay at because it's pretty inexpensive and it's right across the street from the venetian. And once you get into the venetian, you can take the shuttle bus from venetian, uh, to the, um, convention center because that's where Sema is. So I don't know if you're familiar with.
Not at all Vegas.
Not even a little bit.
I know. What is it? Like, Fremont street is the street to go to. To see things at night, I guess, is how they say.
You'll definitely see things. Oh, my God. Fremont street. No, it's cool. Fremont's cool.
But, yeah.
Go with a friend.
We're staying in a brb Airbnb off of this trip. It's going to be like Lucas and David, I think David's staying with us, which, truthfully, that's the highlight of my trip. If I get to cohabitate with David for a couple days, you may never see him again.
Why would you want to do that?
Just to stir the pot with him? Just to mess with him. Right?
Yes.
Oh, you left beer. Your beard hairs are the sake. Well, whose beard hair is it really? Come on now. Like, just sit like that. I could see, you know, him in his way. You've been. How many times have you been to Seema?
Now, this is the fourth year in a row.
Yeah.
So.
And I've been wanting those since I was 14, so.
Yeah. Fourth year. Yeah. Cause we went in 2020, and it was an absolute nightmare. But it was also one of the best shows that I've been to, oddly enough, because they didn't have, like, the staffing for the shuttles, and they didn't have the staffing for, like, anything. So being the first time, they're trying to, like, navigate and ask somebody, like, how do I get here? Where's this? And then of course, I just lined my docket up with classes. I'm like, every ownership management class that I could possibly think of. I mean, I had shit signed up.
And this won't probably make sense to you right now, but when you get there, you're gonna remember this. You'd be like, what the hell was I got thinking? I had, like, morning classes set at Apex and then afternoon classes set at SEMA.
Okay.
And so I was like, I don't know how I thought I was going to make that happen with everything else going on, but I didn't. And I'm, like, stressed because I'm, like, paid for these classes and I'm, like, running late. I'm, like, running around. We walked from apex to Sema multiple times because we just couldn't figure out the shuttle system. And it's like, it was just an absolute nightmare. But you'd walk around SemA and everyone's just giving you hats and t shirts and like, I have still have swag here from 2020, like. Cause it was some of the coolest shit. They had, like, usb, like, dongles and like, just all kinds of rad shit.
I'm like, this place is. And every year since then, like, their stuff's like, now you get a pen or like, a sticker. Like, oh, wow, what happened? All the cool shit. Like, I had coffee mugs and, like, coasters and like, you just walk around the booth and there's so much cool shit that you can grab a. Now it's like, like one out of every, like, hundred booth has something cool. I'm like, oh, man.
I'm interested in seeing the harbor freight layout. I saw lots of guys last year when they were there walking around that exhibit. And I say, like, you know, to call it an exhibit, it's almost like it was massive, right? That's the. I want to see that up close and talk to some of the people. And then another one I'd really like to meet is the guy Ian from. From. He's now with big tire garage. But he, you know, Ian has been known on extreme four x four.
And he used to be. He was a guy behind the scenes for Stacy David, that did a lot of the builds in the shop and stuff like that.
Yeah.
A lot of people don't know. Ian is Ian's Canadian, but Ian's, like, right around my area. He grew up there.
Wow.
And so it's like, if there's one cat I could meet at SEMA, it'd be him. Now, he's not super popular. Not popular. He's not super active on social media. So my whole goal is, before I get there, is to figure out if he's going to be there and if I can bump into him and just say hello, that'd be pretty cool.
The amount of people you bump into there is just it's amazing.
Yeah. Yeah. And, I mean, I want to talk to Dave from Dave's auto, if Dave's auto will talk to me. And, you know, I got a friend.
Of mine, Kyle, Kyle Hogue. He's actually is in cahoots with with Dave. So I'm actually talking to him, and he's going to try to work something out for us. We'll see how, if we can track Dave down, that'd be and the one thing, too. So the apex and Sema both have an app. So I definitely recommend downloading that app because it'll show you all the appearances of, like, in, quote, celebrities, right? Like Constance Nunes. Like, yes. She's always super nice to run into, right.
Like, she's she is a every year I, like, try to find where she's at because she's always, like, smiling and, you know, comes up, give you a hug, take a picture with you. And she's like, every and you can stand there in line and watch her, like, every single person. She's just like, truly, honestly, like, nice to, like, oh, you're just like a nice person. Like, that's pretty cool, right?
I like to meet Courtney Hanson. I mean, I ever right. Like, way back. 1st 1st female on overhauling. Right, the first, right. Whatever you want to call her, like, spokesperson or whatever, like that.
You've seen that new show she's doing where they so they got a group of people and they go to if you're like, building a garage project, right? And it's been sitting in your garage for ten years, they'll go to your house and they actually finish the restoration in your garage, show up with a van and a group of guys, and they actually finish the build, like, in your garage. I can't remember the name of the damn show. But, yeah, she's she's got this new show going on. It's pretty cool.
Remember when the guys from get you some Richard Rawlings gas monkey? Remember when they had that show and they were going around to the shops? Remember that? And they were, like, helping the garage.
Garage rehab with Chris? Chris. What was his name? I know, I know. We're talking about it was Richard and some other guy.
Big, burly guy with a beard, like. And then I wish that show had never gone off the air because that was the one that I could really relate to. Right. And then it would have been like, I kept thinking, I'd really like to know the dynamic that's going on behind here. Like, what really is going on, right? Because you and I, in this industry, it's probably shops that some of us have driven by. And possibly, maybe there's a backstory to why it got to where it is or some of them. It's hoarding. Right? You see the stuff that they got piled up in there?
Oh, my God. Yeah.
You can never make money in here.
I don't know. A little bit was kind of a dumpster fire as far as, like, I don't know. There was a lot of good advice, and some of it was, like, not so good. And so it was pretty tough because they were trying to do, like, this generic, overarching. Like, this is how you do in every shop and, like, just replicate, replicate, replicate. And you just can't do that. Like, you really have to, like, fine tune a little bit. But I don't know.
And speaking of that stuff, I mean, like, apex, I know Sema is, like, the big. The big spot, but the training at apex is, like, next level. Like, the people that talk there. I know David Roman was doing a class there. Is he doing it this year again, too? He's. He's got his. His hiring class. And I know, like, you know, we give him a hard time a lot, but the dudes.
Is the dude smart? Like, he knows his shit. Like, his hiring class was like, that shit works. Like, if you actually do exactly what he tells you to do. Like, it's an awesome onboarding. Like, if you're interviewing people and you're like, man, every time I get this guy or I hire somebody and something goes sideways, it's like, why does this keep happening? If you follow his procedure? Like, that shit doesn't happen. Like, he weeds out people. Right? Unless you're just looking for a warm body, then, like, hire whoever the fuck you want.
Yeah. Oh, he's an incredible dude. I mean, I haven't really honestly looked at the courses that are offered at either place. I just, you heard me say it when we were talking. This is kind of going to be for me just like a yemenite, not a vacation. But I like a lifetimes of work, of one day on the bucket list, getting to a show. This is not for me.
So what are, what are you looking, what are you looking for when you go there? Like, what's high on your priority list?
If I could shake chip poos's hand, you know, that'll be easy. If I could see Stacy David shake his hand, you know, I don't know.
Where Stacey David's up and chip fooses, you always got a line that's about 30 minutes long, all day long.
Sam Imolo from used to be shade tree garage way back when. That's one of my earliest memories from a car standpoint of like one of the first people that I started to watch on Nashville Network when I was like twelve and got bit by the bug. Just people like that. Do I want to go and sit through a bunch of classes? If it fits into the schedule. But the priority for me is to reach out to some people that really had an effect on who I am now.
Yeah, that's cool.
And what gave me that passion and just be able to connect with them on a personal level and say, hey, you know, never thought I'd be here. Never thought I'd meet you. Never thought I'd be having a platform that I have. Thank you. That's it. That's all. Like I said, if I could meet Ian from extreme four x four big tigers, that'd be super. Because think about that little connection that him and I have.
Like we've driven this, the same roads, we walked into the same parts, stores at different points in our lives. Like, it's to see somebody from my area reach the heights he's has. Unbelievable.
Yeah. And, and it's probably going to be, I mean, we're getting down to not the last time, but I mean, the relevance of who they are is being lost. Like Stacey David. Right. That's a big one. And it's kind of an unknown name to most of the younger guys. Right. And so their relevance is kind of phasing out and we're going to lose the opportunity to be able to go meet them, to be honest.
Like, I mean, I'm not saying this is the last year you're probably going to see them in a show like this, but it's like it's getting there, right? Like these guys, like if you grew up with them, like you need to get there, and you need to meet these guys, shake their hands, because they really are being phased out. And guys like. And I'm not saying anything bad, but, like, dave kind of.
I don't even know that name is.
Did I say that right? See, that's the relevance of where I'm at. Like, these new guys that are coming out built with and doing builds. I'm just not in that scene anymore.
Yeah.
Because, you know, I'm focused on building a shop, right. And so the custom world is kind of like. It's kind of like getting past me and these new upcoming builders that are phenomenal. I just don't know them, right? I walk right by them. I'm like, there's a huge line around, you know, I'm like, where are these guys waiting line for? And then I see the guy. I'm like, who's that? Right?
Yeah.
Like, I have no idea who that is. I mean, chip Foose is always going to be relevant, right? Like, just like. And if Boyd Connington the same thing, he would have a huge line, too, right? Aaron Kaufman, he was there last year. I got a chance to meet him, but the line was short. And I'm like, really? Like, that's Aaron Kaufman, man. Like, no one wants to meet this guy.
Arguably the brains behind the, you know, a lot of the. What got them where they are. Not the brains, I should say. But certainly, like, you look at his cars and his style and what he tried to do, I relate to him a lot. You know what I mean? Like, that. That took a big. Took a lot of guts for what he did, to leave, to say, okay, I want to do things my way. When he was arguably at the.
Whatever that enthusiast market would be, he was at the pinnacle of it.
And to say, oh, yeah, he absolutely could have, like, rode that train out and, like, definitely sold his soul, but, like, also been set up, you know, because Richard really put something. Richard is a businessman. Like, he. I mean, how cool would be to talk to that guy for an hour, right? Like, and get inside of his brain and, like, figure out the shit. Like, because he comes off. He comes off a little kooky, goofy, but he's. He's doing it on purpose. It's all for a purpose.
Yeah. And it's like, he's good at it. He's really freaking good at it. And then he's like, he's smart with what he does, you know? Um, yeah, it's. And. And to be able to, like, work for him, I can definitely feel like the pain there that, like, you know, like, I could see why that was probably pretty hard. But also, like, that's also a sweet ride if you can jump on it.
I'd love to. I'd love to know, though, the breakdown, like, how much better these guys pay. You know what I mean? Like, and that's kind of going back to Dave's idea. I have some inside knowledge on what it paid and what it was like. You know, and then you think about these guys that have these huge followings and, you know, maybe a tv show or whatever like that, and you look at them, you're like, they're only getting, you know, like, a little bit more than what they would have made at the dealership in that same city. You know what I mean?
Yeah, but they're on tv, so they're happy.
I don't want to be on tv. Like, I got enough time. Hard enough time. Just concentrate on what I'm doing. Right. If there was all of a sudden a camera going around me all the time, watching me, like, lose my crap when a bolt breaks off, like, I. Like, it'd be that road drainage incident again. Like, it would just be too much.
Who do you want to run into, man? Because you're kind of more into the. Into the. I don't say you're more into scene than I am. Right. Like, being just where you're from, you know, a lot of it is, like, how many people leave California to go to SEMa?
Oh, yeah, yeah. There's everybody there, right?
Yeah.
I mean, doing the rounds, and you got to look to see who's going to be there, because that's the one thing, too, setting expectations. And, like, the you want to see is not even there. Right. That's a good question. I haven't really put that together. No, I mean, and a lot of it's like, I like the running into the people that are kind of behind the scenes.
Okay.
Right. And the guys that are like. And, like, really getting, like, how did you manage that situation? Or have you gotten to where you are? Those stories are, like, fantastic. Right. And a lot of the time, it's just walking up to a booth and just, like, starting a conversation with, you know, some of the vendors that I use. Right. Like, advance adapters.
Okay.
Yeah. I don't know if you're familiar with them.
Yeah, yeah.
So they're here. Right. They're, like, ten minutes away from us. That's like, their home base is, like. Right. So it's cool to run into them. Right. And be like, hey, what's up, man? Like, and it's like you said, watching that story, like, you're from Paso, from our hometown.
Look at you here at SEMA. And, like, everybody knows advanced adapters, but not just that, but different vendors that I use for different stuff. And it's like, talking to those guys is like, it's so cool to, like, use their product and then meet, like, the CEO or the engineer or, like, the dude, like, behind the scenes that's, like, making the shit happen, right? And it's like, man, I use their stuff all the time. And it's like, you get a little. I don't know. I think that's the closest thing I could call it, being starstruck. Like, when I. When I'm, like, when I use their product over and over and over, like SSBC or, or vintage air and stuff like that, like, just the normal stuff I see every day, then I can run into the people, like, oh, you're the.
The lead engineer. Like, that's freaking cool, man. Then I can ask them questions, hey, why do you do this or that, the other thing? Or how did you. How did you manufacture that, right? And, like, that stuff's cool. And I feel like that's my star struck. I'm like, yeah.
Like, it'd be like meeting Gail banks. Right? Like, as an example for some.
I was gonna say Gail banks is the next one. Yeah. I missed him last year. Yeah.
I would love to meet Jesse James as well. I don't know if he's gonna be there, if he's completely out of the. I know. I, like, I don't think he's building a nearly as many cars as he was right. When he went, when he went to Texas, he kind of was like, more getting into the doing the cars thing than doing the bikes. Now, he'd always done both, not just the monster garage stuff, but, like, he done custom cars, too. But that's another guy that was like, has such a profound influence on me, and I've never been on a motorcycle in my life. I probably never will buy one.
But just his. His way of when he started out starting the way he did. He's famous for, like, he refused to build a bike for Sylvester Stallone because he wouldn't do a yellow bike. You know, stuff like that. Like, it's just, I respect guys that were like, no, man, it doesn't matter what the money is. Like, I can't. I can't go against what my core value is to just put a product out there. Like, and I think that that's, you saw how Orange county choppers, so they kind of people in the industry just beat them down, call them cookie cutters and everything else.
I don't. Cookie cutter or not, there's still some talent there, you know what I mean? And it's just that, that hate that I have, that there's so much going on. That's the shit that just drives me nuts in the industry, period, is like, there's so much hate. If we could just get away from that, you know?
Like, that's why you just, you can't make everyone happy. And that was like two good distinctions, right? We have like Jesse James, one off only. Then you have, you know, Orange county shoppers or West coast shoppers, whatever the hell. That's like they were trying to build a business, right? Like they were trying to replicate something to be more profitable, right? Where Jesse James had a hard time financially. Cause he was building one off custom bikes. Then you got someone like Richard Rawlings that has found that secret sauce to keep the custom shit going, but then still build a brand and be able to replicate it and make freaking money, right? And it's like, what happened? Like the garage rehab got a lot of, lot of bad rap. Like that was just like. And that's probably why the show went away because of everybody on social media.
But then he's got his bar and grills, right? That, like, everybody's like, what the hell is this guy doing? He's known to bar and grill. Got a hot sauce, got an energy drink. Like he's building a freakin brand, man.
Like Sturgis, you know what I mean? Like, they're not doing a ton of bikes. They build one or two. Yeah, but he's going to Sturgis and camping out for a week, selling how many hundreds of $1,000 in t shirts and hot sauce and everything else. Like people that just want to hate on the people that have a hustle. Like, I don't like, I don't hate on your hustle, man. It might not be for me, but.
Absolutely good on you. It feels like it cheapens it and it's like, oh, what is he doing? And it's like, you're just not going to make everybody happy. You got the guys watching the one off builders. Like, man, I wish he had more. I wish he had shirts. I wish he had this and that and the other thing. Then you got the other side that's like, man, they don't build enough custom stuff anymore. They're supposed to be custom and all.
They're doing is. Is selling shirts and selling t shirts, and it's like, oh, my God. Like, there's always somebody, and I. And I've realized, like, once you find a hater, you know you've made it. So I'm still looking for mine.
I'll give you some of mine. I got them. I mean, and it's like, I love it. I absolutely love it. You know what I mean? Like, it's just. And it's. I'm. It's small scale, but, I mean, it's just.
Go ahead and hate, man. It's all right. Like, we don't have to get along. This is all just. Just a small window of who. What we really are. And I can talk about it. When we sat down at Asta, and I wish you'd have been there, I sat down with some of the top guys that are on the TikTok side of stuff for automotive content.
And, like, you want to talk about some guys that have, like, a huge fan base, and then you want to talk about some guys also have some haters. Like, to sit in that room with them was, like. It felt really empowering because it's like, okay, I'm not at that level yet of engagement, but I, like, I know that that guy sitting right across from me, there's, like a thousand people a week that call him an a hole. And it's good. He's so good with it. You know what I mean? It's just part of his, like, part of his Persona at this point. Like, he's just. He's hated.
And it was refreshing to be around people that are that confident in what they're putting out all the time.
Yeah. It's like, you're not. You're not mad at me. You're mad at your dad.
Oh, I was watching Sandler movie last night. Yeah.
That's all it is.
Yeah, I would. And just so many things, like, I'm just gonna be. I told. I told Lucas I'll probably drop ten pounds because I'll try to walk the whole darn thing.
Yeah, you can walk it. And keep in mind, like, the. Like the sema, the convention center, where sema's at, there's. There's the Tesla loop. So remember the Tesla loop, because it puts you up into each different area, right? You don't have to walk 4 miles. You can just take it. Takes you underground, which is a cool experience all on its own, right? Goes on the underground tunnels. And pops, I don't know if you heard about that at all, but that's a pretty cool.
It's just cool to do it. But it's also extremely helpful when you need to go from one side to another at the convention center.
So once I'm in the convention center, if I need to jump on that loop, it doesn't cost me anything.
Nothing free.
Just like an Uber or not even Uber, because I'm not paying it. Cool.
Yeah, it's just. It's free rides back and forth wherever you need to go, you know? And I think the big. The stark difference between the two is, especially at SEMA, there isn't those people, like, it's all industry, and we all have professional respect. So you don't have these, you know, idiots walking around trying to hate on anybody. You know, it's all. It's all good. And that's where you're find all your. In quotes.
Famous people. Right. And all the people that. That you need to find. Apex is a lot more refined. Like, it's very business oriented and very, like, if you need a new tool, you might find it at SEMA. They got some cool shit there. But Apex, like, in Joe's garage.
Like, you walk around there, and it's like, all the most newest and relevant stuff going on. Like, that's where we came across our management programs. Cause they're all lined up in a row. So you can demo, demo, demo. Like, all the way down the line, all the different management programs. Joe's garage, they have active lifts going on. So they have vehicles on lifts, on alignment lifts. They're balancing tires.
You can get in the transmission side where Atra is there. They can show you how their whole subscription works. And you can see all the different stuff for transmissions. The guy's got a transmission live demo where he's taking it apart, putting it back together. Just cool shit. Like. And they got Av. Av.
Not Avi. Is it Ati with the Prius? That's cut in half.
Okay. All right.
You can actually see, like, all the wires and, like, just cool. Like, to see something like that, and they'll show you. This is our training program. Same with garage gurus. I don't know if you have that up there. They got their van there, so you can check out their van. Their whole training program. Just like, all that stuff.
It's just a little more refined for, like, the technician, you know, shop manager, shop owner kind of side. So it's not as big. You don't. Cars everywhere. It's not so many people. It's. I find it to be a little more intimate. You know, I enjoy apex a lot more.
It's just. It's just kind of like. And you, like, you go walk around SEMA and then you go to apex and you realize you're just kind of like.
I think. I think 16 year old me is really interested in the sema. And then like the Jada mechanic, you know, technician 25 years is more interested now in the apex side. But yeah, yeah, yeah. I might get you to walk me around some of that transmission stuff and just kind of see it, because, like, that's something I'd like to see a little bit more of and understand it a little bit better with some of the guys that I see online, you know, what they're doing with the trans go kits and stuff like that. Like, they're really going in, like I said, at this engineering almost level and fixing these things to make them last longer. Like you were talking about, right?
Yeah.
Billet parts and stuff like that. Like, if I could get a better understanding of that versus. Cuz did I see transmissions get rebuilt at the dealership? Yep. They didn't get rebuilt the way that, you know, you see these guys do it, you know, and I'm not running them down, but I mean, the way they do it is at another level. You know, like, you know, you've, you've done it. You've been that it's, it's.
It's interesting. And I want to take off on a tangent a little bit, but the, the more I learn, because I learned transmissions before, like heavy engine diag stuff.
Right, right.
Like, I was building transmissions. I mean, there was VVT around, but like cam actuators and that kind of stuff. I think it evolved more and we got more problems out of them after I was already doing transmissions. And the correlation between the two is, like, almost identical. Like, like the VVT solenoids, the cam actuators, it's all just a hydraulic circuit that's actuating something, right. And it's a solenoid. A solenoid is a solenoid. And it's.
It's interesting to me, these guys that are really, really sharp when it comes to, like, cam actuator codes, timing codes, and then it comes to a transmission problem and they're like, it might. You think it's the solenoid? I'm like, bro, like, you know, like, you know how this shit works, man. Like, you know, like, it's just a hydraulic circuit that's actuated by spool valves and a shift solenoid. Like, it's. It's not, it's not magic. Like, it's. It's very, very simple. Right? Like, and the more I say that, the more they're like, yeah, it's simple for you, right? I'm like, no, it's not.
It's like, it's still hard, but it's like, it's the same. And the more I learn about the engine side of it, I'm like, it just starts clicking together like puzzle pieces in my brain. I'm like, this stuff's, like, not as complicated as, like, everyone kind of thinks it is, you know?
Yeah.
Being, or being around it and, like, seeing it in an open display like that, in, like, a calm atmosphere where you're kind of, like, like you said, kind of on vacation. It's like, that helps. Like, it helps to kind of like, oh, get away from the stress. See the inside. Like, you know what? That really reminds me of something else. And then, like, the puzzle pieces start clicking in your own brain, you know?
So, yeah, that's huge for, for technicians that are trying to get to that next level in their, in their career. Right? Like, you got to get those puzzle pieces to go together. Like, I could. Was there one thing I could tell you? One car that kind of just clicked for me? And then it's changed the path. No, not at all. It just seemed like it was always little tiny steps. 1 minute at a yemenite, at a time of understanding a better process. And then you just keep tweaking the process and tweaking the process until it's like, you know, you look at some of the guys that are so sharp, and I'm like, I'll never be there.
But, I mean, it's like, it's so cool that they started out, too. We all kind of started at the same place, you know? And then it's just whether you develop your process better or you go on a different route with it, like, I'm amazed when I look at the guys, at the programmers and the, the hackers, and I don't want to call them hackers, but the programmers and the guys that are, like, able to virginize a module now and everything like that, to me is so groundbreaking because, I mean, what's the big problem? A lot we're facing right now is shortage of parts, right? Or parts are being phased out before the car really should be phased out for whatever reason you want to say that's happening. And these guys are like, just going, I'm not going to accept that that's going to happen, and I'm going to figure out a way to get around it. And I'm just like, I'd be so scared to open up a module and just start, like, you know, what does this do? What does that do? What if I take this out? What if I unsolder this? They're just like, it's already broke, man. Like, you know, it's, you know, where.
A lot I think that comes from, too, is just understanding. Understanding how it works and not looking for a solution, right? And we talked about that before we started recording, right? Like, these. These guys are looking to fix that problem that's in that box instead of trying to look at the bigger picture, right? Instead of, like, reaching out on these forums and say, what is a, you know, what's a Po 171, and what do I do to fix it? Like, really? Let me give you the freaking 100 page book of what can cause a Po 171, right? Like, why don't you understand what sensors are detecting that and what the enabling criteria is and look up the manufacturer freaking, you know, data, and, like, what. What are these engineers design this process to find? Like, then you understand the process. So, same with the computers. Like, you understand microprocessors. You understand what the Farads are. You understand what the resistors are, and then you can start tracking the circuits down.
You're like, oh, that resistor there, that. So you can, like, you understand what it's all there for. So you're not trying to fix that individual problem. You're kind of looking at the bigger picture, right? And you're like, oh, this is like, yeah, of course. This is all I need to do is disorder this and restart that. Or, or looking for that, that one relay. Like, the. You probably dealt with this, the GM's, the Abs modules that had the relay code that would always come up, and you could crack it open and see that the solder is cracked.
So you just resolder, and it fixes it. And it's like someone might have just showed you that one day, and that was just a fix, but there was somebody somewhere that was like, okay, where's the relay located? Oh, the relay's in the box. So they open the box. Oh, look, the pin that actually, that. The command switch for that relay, the solder is cracked. So I bet when the signal goes out, it's not grounding that. So if I solder, that'll. And so he understood it and fixed it and was like, holy shit.
But, like, looking at from, like, the 30,000 foot view, you're like, oh, man, you've opened up a computer and resoldered something. You're like, you're a freaking genius. And I was like, well, no, not. And it's like, you know, like that. That humble comes out. Like, well, not really. I just was like, I knew what I was looking for, you know? So I don't know. A lot of that shit is, like, doing these seminars or going to these training events.
That's where you start learning all these little tidbits and, like, it all starts coming together, right? And this is, like, the biggest one. Like, the sema apex is, like, my asta is fantastic for networking, and there's some great training there. There's other ones around the country that are great, too. Like. But, like, this one has, like, everything, man. Like, and you, like, said, you can talk to the people that have designed these, the engineers that have designed these products, and then you can really, like, why do you set it up like this? Like, what's the thinking behind it? And then you can really absorb that and you're like, I get it. I understand. Right on.
Like, on the next level. It's so cool, man.
I want to meet. I want to meet Sherwood from Royalty Auto Service. Obviously, if I can get a chance to bump in.
Yeah, that's a good one.
You know, he's going to be there, so.
Just got to track these guys down, man. We just got to track them down, huh?
We run in different, and, you know, you and I run in different things. Like, you're. You're into the coaching thing now and all that kind of stuff. And I'm just still. I don't want to say just a technician, but I mean, it's like, I can sit and watch, you know, Sherwood talk about how he's checking powers and grounds on an ECM in an older Cherokee for like an hour.
Oh, you mean both. I mean, I sit. I'll sit there and watch, you know, Paul Danner. I mean, I just. There's so many videos. There's no way. I don't think you can ever watch all of them. But, like, my sick day.
My sick day when I get, like, actually under the weather, I'd sit on the couch and watching, like, scanner danner. Like, or, uh, ati. Bernie Thompson. I can watch. I can watch Bernie Thompson for hours. And I've sent videos to my buddies and they're like, who is this guy, man? How do you watch this? I'm like, he's a genius. How do you note?
But, like, the. It's funny. I was on the CTI course last week. And again, the instructor there, it always doesn't matter who somebody. Somebody always shares a Bernie clip. That's where they learned it and used it to build their. Their class that they're putting on. And they're like, so he talks so fast, always hard to follow.
Like, he goes so fast. And, like, for him, he's not going fast. Like, he's having a really slow down because his brain's just so, like, gone, you know? He knows exactly why. Why is he that good? He's 40 some years of doing it.
You know, from mining and engineering and.
Like, 40 years of taking a problem car after problem car after problem car after problem car after problem car for 40 years, hooking a scope up to it and just going back to the basics and what do I actually have here and what I have to do? That's it. I. Yeah, you know what I think.
It is, too, is it's like if you try to wrap your head around of him, trying to learn every vehicle and figure out the problems on every single vehicle, that's where your brain starts exploding. You're like, how does he know so much? But it's not what it is. I think it's like, because he truly understands how each sensor works. And all manufacturers use the same. It's hall effect sensors, right? It's solenoids. It's like, everyone uses this. It's all 12 volts. Like, there's no.
It's all the same. And I say that all the time with my guys. I'm like, electrical is so easy because it's always the same. Like, the rules don't change. So, like, when you start understanding it, like, it. There's no magic. Like, it's very, very, very consistent. Like, electrical problems and electrical work is, like, it's always the same.
Like, the rules cannot change, you know? And, yeah, he just. He truly understands, like, how all that shit works. And then. And then he does, he goes in the service information and says, oh, this manufacturer is using this sensor to watch this. And so if that's not right, then that's where your problem. And he just. He just understands it. And then he takes the time to research that service information, which no one does.
Like, like Brian Pollock always says, like, that's all you got to do. Just read the freaking service information.
Yeah, that's it.
That's your answer.
He goes one farther, and when he can't find the answer in the service information because they won't publish it, he reaches out to somebody and finds the answer, you know, he won't accept that that's not published there. He wants to know why. Right? He's what? Um. Like it. Like any typical noob. I went on to read it and kind of looked into first time people going to seem a. What should I perfect avoid? And somebody keeps talking about the hot dogs. Don't eat the hot dogs at SEMA that they'll give away for free because it'll make you sick.
Um, I don't think I even think about that.
Obviously, Vegas is known for, like, I mean, being Vegas restaurants. But, I mean, where are some of the places that, like, you are looking forward to during the day or night?
Yeah. You don't eat during the day at all? No, that's just. Go, go, go. I don't think I sat down to eat at any. The morning is like, get what you can while you can. Because if you guys are an Airbnb, that's gonna be a rough morning. Every morning is gonna be a little rough to try to get down there in time, because we're at Treasure island, which is, like, right across the street, and, like, it's still hard to get into apex by 08:00.
Wow.
I mean, it's Vegas, right? So it's a late night. It's a lot of talking, a lot of walking. You wake up and you're like, oh, my God, what just happened yesterday? I feel like I got hit by a train. And then you're like, just go. Just get up and go. Get up and go. Your feet are aching, your hips, your leg, everything, right. So.
But, I mean, man, Vegas. I love the food there. I love food.
Yeah.
There's a bagel shop, like, right between Apex and sema. Like, right around the corner from the wind.
All right.
Big old bagel up on top of the roof. Bagel mania or something like that. Oh, man. If you like a good bagel, they make a mean freaking bagel. All the fixings in it. I love that. Yeah, there's a taco place, too. Like, walking back, like, around the corner.
It's world famous. Like, it's. It's a good little taco spot. Yeah. For, like, cheap kind of stuff. But they. Man, the steakhouses is the way to go. You know, like, at the Paris, you get up top there, you get the filet mignon with the faux raw.
I mean, you just, you know, $90 for a plate of food for yourself. There's nothing like, you know what I mean? Like, we're doing it. This is Vegas, baby. Put on a suit and go out. Like, I'm dropping $300 on dinner tonight, you know what I mean?
I gotta buy a suit then to.
Come to Vegas, I gotta get a suit, man. Well, you, I mean, you know, Lucas, I'm surprised you don't have a suit by now. He has no, we need David in a suit.
Yeah. I don't.
Like the three of you walking down Fremont street all suited up would just make my freaking.
I'll probably end up like, of the three of us. And it's funny because Lucas is more redneck from by location, but, I mean, it'll be like, if I don't have crocs on when I'm walking by the fourth day, it's going to be a miracle because, I mean, my feet will just be trash. And if I had a camouflage hoodie on that, probably wouldn't think I was that far out of my element, but yet I will be. My buddy was asking me, he's like, well, where do you want to go? And I'm like, well, I heard they have an in n out burger that does really well, right, in Vegas. And I'm like, yeah, yeah. But I mean, because up here, we don't have in n out burger, right? So I'm like, you know, every time I go somewhere, it's like, well, the first time I ever had chick fil a was only, like, four years ago, because we only have two chick fil a's in all of Canada, right? And they're in, like, that number might be higher now, but we never did. So everybody's like, go to chick fil a. I'm like, what the heck is chick fil a? Like, it was, you know, my wife.
My wife is like, she. Leanne is just all about chick fil a. She loves it. Yeah, it's like a family. It's like a childhood, early childhood memory for her.
So it's like, yeah, but, you know, I'm thinking, like, everybody's, like, talking about in n out burger, and I'm like, oh, I don't know. What? So my nights in Vegas, hopefully, is just going to be, like, walking around, seeing things that I haven't seen.
Yeah. I mean, what, what do you want to look forward to? Eat like Hugo cellars. Holy moly, that's a good steakhouse, right? And there's a couple good asian places. Like some good crispy duck.
Like, I've never had crispy duck in my life.
Oh, man.
The only restaurant that I know off the top of my head is, like, hell's Kitchen Ramsay's restaurant, right? Which some people say is not what it really, you think it would be.
You know, I'd rather go to Hugo cellars. And then Gordon. I actually did both. We did Hugo, and then we went to Gordon Ramsay and had the same beef Wellington and, like, hands down, Hugo sellers beef Wellington was, like, by and large, like, yeah, nope. It was good, but nope.
And there was one I saw it popped up on my tick tock feed. There was some old, like, it was an old mafia place where you could go get italian food that looked like.
I would know what I want to do. I haven't done that one, and every year I want to do it, you know? I heard. I heard circus Circus has a good steakhouse, too, but I don't know if I'm going to eat it. I don't know if I stayed at Circus Circus.
There's. And then there's the other one. I can't remember. I sent Lucas the link to it, and it's like a steakhouse that's been there. It's off the strip, I think it's right in, like, a little strip mall.
And it's been, like, the golden. Golden. The golden something. Yeah. Yeah.
And, like, you see their prime rib and you see, like, their lobster, and it's expensive as heck, but it's like, you know, same old, old mafia vibe to it, right? Like, it's been there forever. And that's is where probably, like, you know, all those cats would come and get a steak or whatever, but that's. I've never been so. I mean, now I still think of, like, when I think of Vegas, I think of, like, the movie casino. That's what I think about. It's like, and now that's not Vegas, right? It's not even close, but no different.
Yeah, you gotta spend the money, get. Get the food. You know? Like, you. You're looking at these menus, like, $80 for a plate. Like, fucking whatever, you know? Like, yeah, it's hard. It's hard to go from being on a budget and trying to be frugal every day and, like, watch it to, like, going to Vegas. Like, just fucking buy the. Just get.
Get the meal that you want. You know what I mean? I don't know. It's. It's tough. Cause you're trying to budget everything and you're like, oh, my God, I can't spend a $100 on a plate of food. It's like, just fucking do it, man. It's experience, you know? And it ends up being worth it pretty much every time. Like, every time we've gone and I've gone out, and I'm like, it's just been like, now it's the point.
Like, $90 for a plate of food, no problem. Like, we're in Vegas. Like, it's just a different expectation, right? Like, different experience. Like, yep, no problem. I got no problem with it.
We ate good when we were at Asta. We ate really good. We went to the one steakhouse. We went two nights. I went, first night. I arrived with Mike and Eric and Lola and Tameka, and, like, we had a great time. And then I was with, went to brazilian steakhouse the last night with Lucas and David. That was amazing.
So that was, yeah, they would, they would do that. Brazilian is incredible.
Yeah. There was one in Utah I was trying to get everybody to go to. Oh, no, we don't want to do that. All right, whatever.
Yeah, you come up with the meat sweats. It's literally like, there's a salad bar there, but David's like, don't go to the salad bar. Like, just save, save room. And I'm like, oh, I'm gonna have a little bit of salad. He's LiKe, nope, just, you're gonna regret that. And sure enough, when they start coming out, and it's like, this is lamb, and this is like, like, I couldn't, I was just like, holy crap, man. Like, it was ridiculous. It's 2 hours of eating.
Nothing but protein. Yeah. Makes you sleePy.
That's awesome.
So, um, over there, uh, Reddit said to don't wear, just don't walk around there wearing a t shirt. Like, try to look a little more, uh, professional. So I have to, I should have to go buy SOme clothes, I guess, before I go.
I usually do, like, shorts and flip flops and a t shirt. That's USUALLY me.
Yeah.
With my backwards hat, so maybe I can step it up a little bit. I like, I like to go a little Vegas fancy, you know, at night, and put something nice on before go out to dinner. Like, I always like to make sure, I always like to make sure I dress up when I go out to dinner. Like, I just, okay. I don't know. Maybe I was raised. I don't know what it is, but, like, to look nice, you get better service, you get a little, I don't know, everything just steps it up a little bit. But I think just being comfortable walking around is the main thing.
Right? Like, and I always just walk around in sandals. They're like, how do you walk, like, miles and sandals? Like, I don't know, just my feet. I just, I'm the most comfortable putting sandals on. Maybe we'll do sneakers this year and see if it's any different. But just you gotta be comfortable, you know? And hopefully the weather. The weather's good. Cause that's what when you gotta wear a sweater, you know? Cause you're out. But then you get in there and it's always hot because there's so many people you can, like, carry your sweater around.
But Seema's nice because there's, there's a huge, like, tables full of bags that, like, that are giveaway, usually by what's the name of the company? There's some off road company, but they'll have shoulder bags, right? So you want to grab yourself a shoulder bag because everyone's got handouts or booklets, and by the time you know what you're like, you're, like, trying to hold it in your armpit or whatever. So you got to make sure you got a bag, but you don't need to bring your own because they do have bags that they give away. Yeah, we use it. We use them for grocery bags now all year because we just like, everyone. I'm like, grab another one. Grab two of them. Grab two of them. Like, because in California, you got to pay for bags.
So I'm like, um, sometimes nights there's concerts and stuff going on too, right out in the parking lot. And like the, that's the, that's the.
That'S the sema fest. And to be honest, I have not participated in the sema fest. But if you're into that kind of stuff and you're young and you're motivated and you want to do that, that's probably going to be the best time you've ever had in your life, right? They used to do well, they still do, where they run all the cars out and I, at the end of the Friday, and they open Friday up to the general public, and it turns into kind of a mess. I mean, it's, it's, it's quite, quite the scene, but it is a good time, you know? But for me, by the end of the week, I'm burnt out, and so I can't really, like, I just can't. Yeah, I just physically cannot. I don't have that in me anymore. But now they're doing the sema fest where they have the bands, they have the big, uh, they have all kinds of shit going on. It's, it's just a madhouse.
So I'm not sticking around for that. But I'm all. I'm also there to, like, get what I need out of it. And, like, I'm not really, like, in the big party scene anymore.
Um, they say that you come home from this with a lot of the insight on, like, tooling what you. What your shop needs or what you didn't know your shop needs until you were there.
Good. Dude. That's like, you don't know unless you know. Right?
Right.
Or you don't know until you know. And that's, like, it's the same with, like, going to Asta and you get to meet these people and talk to these people, and, like, all of a sudden, you're like, this has been here the whole time. Like, all you people have been, like, communicating and conversing and, like, how did I not know about this? Right? And that's the same thing. You get there and you're, like, some of the tools and the vendors, like, you would think as big as they are, it would be on a billboard, right? Or you'd be able to see it on your phone or see it on Facebook or see it on Instagram or see it on whatever. And you don't, because they just don't have the marketing budget. So you get there and you're like, you guys have been here the whole, like, this tool or this whatever, right? The software program. Like, this has been here the whole time. I didn't even know about it.
And they have a huge following. They got a bunch of people, and it's like, you just don't know until you know, right? And. And you know what's really sad that, like, kind of twists me up a little bit is you don't know until you ask. And I bring this up. And this will go off on another tangent again, but, like, the funds in your bank account, right? They won't tell you about high interest savings, right? So you get all this money, or you get a little bit of money saved up in a checking account, you move it over to a savings because you don't want it in your checking account, because you want something stupid happen. Like the rate of inflation. You're losing money with it sitting in a savings account. Unless your money's earning like, 2% a year, you're losing money because you're not.
You need to make more than 2% just to beat the rate of inflation, right? So you go to the bank, and I'm like, hey, is there anything I can do with this money? Oh, we lost you.
No, you're right back.
That was weird.
You glitched for a second there, and.
Then a little bit of glitch. I think we're good, though.
Yeah. So you were talking about you go to the bank and then the bank doesn't really.
Yeah. Where'd I lose you?
You lost me right about there. You were talking about what is. And you ask the bank, what do you want them? But what can I do, right, to try and get a better, more interesting.
You got everything. You don't lose anything. That's good. So, yeah, you're asking. So do I need to put it in a simple Ira, Roth Ira, 401K? Like, what's my options here? And then all of a sudden, like, oh, actually, we have a money market account. It's like, what's a money market account? I go, we'll take your money and we'll put it in a money market account. It'll earn, you know, between three and 5%. What? Like, yeah, we'll just put it.
Well, does it lock it up like a CD? And they're like, oh, no, it's not a CD. Because a CD's got to be locked in for six months, and then you can get a higher rate, but that locks all your money up. Right? So you got to be careful with that. You don't. So that the MMA, the money market account, they'll just put in there. You're freely. You can take money out, put money in. Why don't we just do that? Like, why haven't we just been doing that? Well, you didn't ask.
Well, you didn't freaking tell me either. Like, no, I don't know.
That's just like, it's a balancing game. Like, why do we still have an account out there that only pays this .5% interest rate and they call it a savings account if there's something that makes us 3%. Yeah, like, I'm still putting my money in there for savings.
Right.
Why don't you. The one still existing at, .5 if you can do it at three? Because I don't want everybody doing it at three. Right. There's no money in it then, at that point.
And there's a lot of vendors and there's a lot of marketing companies and software programs and all this other stuff. And, like, the. And sadly, the people that represents that company for you, like, your personal representative, just doesn't tell you this stuff until you go to these events. You talk to, like, the CEO or the president or, like, someone that's a little higher and you're like, hey, I've been having a problem with this program. What can. And they're like, oh, well, we have this available that'll help that what I've been, I've been, like, asking for the last six months to the rep, oh, who's your representative? So and so. And they're like, okay, we'll have a conversation with them. And it's like, all of a sudden all.
It's resolved. It's all resolved. You have your solution to your problem. Everything's fixed. Like, how come nobody told me about this? Like, I was getting ready to jump ship? Like, I'm like. And they're like, oh, no, we have, like, this is, this is what you need, right? And same with the tools, you know? Like, hey, I've been trying to solve this. And then you see that. Like, that's the freaking tool I've needed.
Like, where has that been, right? And you just don't know until you go to these events and see them. Like, there's a, there's a swedish company that makes this ball joint press, and I don't know if you've seen it, but it will blow your freaking mind. Like, and they're from.
Is that the one that, like, um, comes together like that to push it?
No, it's a, it's a, it's a big press and it's a hydraulic press and it comes with adapters. So instead of, instead of doing the big c clamp, it clamps on and it's a little mini hydraulic press. Then you click it, you hook air to it and you just hit the button and it just powers, boom. Pops your ball joints right out. Like, I mean, it's like an $800 tool. And I don't, I mean, I don't have that big of a problem with ball joints, but I'm like, for someone like you, where you're at, like, that's like game changing. And I have not seen that anywhere. Like, you look up ball joint presses and it's just flooded with snap on or matco or like harbor freight.
Like, they got the, the share of the budget for Google or Yahoo or Bing or whatever, and so you'll never see those kinds of tools. Or you're like, dude, if you're doing two or three sets of ball joints a day, that will change your freaking life. And you wouldn't know about it unless you went there and seen it, you know?
Yeah, I, what I really want to do is walk up to somebody at harbor freight and say, you guys need to work on being able to get your stuff in Canada. You know, like, it's, it's. And not to run down other tool companies. That's not. What I'm trying to say is that I'm looking for free shit from harbor freight. But, I mean, I can remember trying to buy a cart from harbor freight, like, a year ago. You couldn't buy it unless you went over there, right? And then it's like, for us, if we go over, if you're only over there 24 hours, you're limited on what you can bring back before it froze up again.
We missed that last frozen. Yeah.
So, yeah, so I would be like, how do I get this cart? You got to come over and, like, buy it and then pay tax and duty to bring it back. And then if you're, like, if you haven't been over there long enough to spend $500, you're paying a lot of more money to bring it back versus if you just stay four days. So now it's. The joke is every time I go to one of these events and I. And I travel, when I come back, I grab, like, $500 worth of stuff from harbor freight and bring it back because it's no duty on it, right? No tax. And so if I could just be able to, like, pay to have it shipped here. But harbor freight won't ship to Canada. They use a third party called you ship or something now, which is still better, but you're still paying quite a bit of money to get them to process it.
It just frustrates me. That is frustrating, you know?
I mean, that. That's another one, right? That's like. It's a lot of bad rap is harbor freight. And, like, I only buy snap on. I only buy Matt coke. Just calm down, buddy. Like all those. All those.
All those videos of, like, people showing their member that was going around for a little bit, that viral trend. Like, look at my toolbox. And it was like a freaking, you know, an apartment, right? And I'm like, I've had this box I've had for, like, ten years. Like, I can fit everything in. And I just did. I got one of them us general boxes from harbor freight. I fit everything in it, and I'm like, I built. I got a 68 c ten.
I've been like, I basically built up all the frame cut, you know, shorten everything, like, ground up and nothing more than tools that are in that little box.
Yeah.
You know, and I'm like, I don't need. And I see some of these other shop owners, and they got this big giant toolbox. And I hire new, new guys that come in, like, and where's your box. I'm like that right there. Like, that's it. I'm like, that's all you need, man. Like, yeah, like, I can appreciate it. I got nothing bad to say about someone that rolls in with 40, $50,000 with the tools.
Like, right on. If that's what you need. That's like, that's cool. I don't need it. I just don't. My dad always like, you can figure it out without the special tool. He always like, there's a special tool with it. Someone engineered and built it so you can figure it out without it, too, right? And sure.
Like, maybe the 9th or 10th time in a row, I'm like, okay, maybe I should buy that tool because, right, I've been dicking with this thing I've made for. So it's like, about time, but I can figure it out. And like, that's the fun in it. Like, I don't know. It's frustrating, but it's also a lot of fun to be able to, like, manipulate and, like, find my own way. And that's what really blows my mind when you go to these shows and you see someone that's engineered something that you've been building yourself that you didn't even know someone else already thought of, and then you can have this conversation with them and, like, you both click and you're like, on the same page, like, dude, and that I. And the little spot right there, I like to bend that and like, oh, yeah, that's why I have this little thing flip out. I'm like, oh, dude, you're freaking genius, man.
And you're like. And you just have that instant connection, you know? It's like the coolest thing in the world.
That's what blows my mind when you see the guys that are doing, like, 3d printing of, like, well, I'm trying to think of what his actual handle is now, but he was a former guest of mine, and now, like, I'll say it wrong. So he's 3d printing all these different toolbox widgets to, like, hold pry bars and wrench organizations and sockets and all this kind of stuff all the time.
Yeah.
I would bet by now that he's making as much money with that as he is working as a tech probably that I had on, like, over a year ago, that was like, trying to find his way out. And so for this little side hustle thing that he's got off 3d printer, good for him, and it's pretty cool. I just. I would have really liked to have been able to buy one of the harbor freight metric wrench sets when I was there coming back from Asda. And of course, like, when I stopped at the local store in Syracuse, all gone, so. But I mean, when you see that, that. How that whole trend blew up over those wrenches, the tooling thing for me is. That's what I'm still excited to see is not just harbor freight, but to see all the other tool companies that are going to be there that don't get just like you said, a lot of the push because, like, if there's some really.
Something really cool, something really amazing, I want to see the power pro booth for sure. But I mean, yeah, I. Yeah. And, and then just what do they got set up and then go from there? Because if there's something really neat, then I'm like, okay, I got to figure out how to get this to Canada, you know, and invest in here.
The best one is that is the new tool showcase.
Okay?
So if you're going, you got to check out the new tool showcase. And we've had guys from our Cal poly is a local college here and they actually built something, Armadillo liners. And they were showcased in that new tool showcase. And they're young kids. They're like in their early twenties and they don't have the budget to, like, market this stuff nationally. Like there's. It's like shark tank kind of, right? Like there's all these companies that, like, they don't have the budget to be promoted nationally to. For any of us, you and I, to ever know about them.
And the new tool showcase is SEMA actually puts them in, you know, a drawing and then they get like 15 or 20 different people that win that prize and they all get in this little special booth and you can walk around and see all the new tools that are just been developed in the last year. And that's what's really cool because there was the talking about the toolbit. There was toolbox widgets. I don't know if you've heard of that one, the little orange ones. Like, he was there. He was there about three years ago when he first put it out and now he's blown up, too. And it was like, I remember seeing that and I'm like, that's a pretty cool idea. And I didn't buy any of them.
Kind of wish I would have because it was like half off of what he's selling them now for. That's pretty cool, right? But like all that kind of stuff all. And then a lot of them that have showed up there are gone now, right? They didn't make it, but it's still cool to see the conception and, like, know that, like, man, I remember that guy. Like, you ever heard of the fender lizard?
It sounds familiar. I'm trying to think.
It's a brake stick. It's a pneumatic brake stick. So you can put it on your steering wheel and it'll bleed the brakes for you. Hook it up to air. You hook it up to a twelve volt, you hit have a little wireless button and you can hit it and it'll push the brake pedal for you. He's local. He's a guy that was a tech here at a one city over, and he wanted to get out of wrenching. And so he developed when he called it the Fender lizard.
Because those are the guys that like to lean on the fender when they're watching you work.
Yeah. Yeah.
I've never heard of that before, but I guess they call them Fender lizards. Like, a lot lizard? Yeah, you know, a lot lizards, right?
Oh, there's lots of them around here, for sure.
Anyway, so he designed this thing, and then he showcased it there. Now he's got a booth every year, and it's like, I I know him, and it's like, it's just cool, man. It's just so cool to see these guys. And that's the platform that they jump on to, like, become these bigger companies. It's super cool, you know, and watch it to the conception, the evolution. Not only that, be able to, like, step in and support it yourself. You're like, that's a cool idea. That's an awesome product.
Here's my money. I want to support what you're doing. Like, I think that's the most important thing, too.
That's like. And I'm not a huge power pro. Like, I don't grab it every day, but to see that those two guys are still going to be there, they're still working on new product. Like, they've taken what, essentially the very first tool and built it into this massive corporation with all these great ideas and a think tank and marketing and, like, good on them and to be able to meet them in person. And, like, I mean, Lucas and David had them on their podcast, right? Like, it's just. That's going to be pretty cool just to see what do you guys got coming up next, right? And then all they start whispering about things that they're working on.
It's like, that's the question that you only get there, right?
Yeah.
Or even know just. That's just like, what you said there. I didn't know that about those guys. Right? Like, so to know their. And, like, to walk up to them and, like, ask them, and they're like, oh, you're actually the, like, president. And like, yeah. Oh. And then you can like, hey, what's your story? And then they tell you the story.
You're, like, mind blown. You're like, oh, I thought it was like, this big, huge, you know, industrial, corporate. It's like, no, it's just two humble guys that, like, started from nothing, right? And you're like, you respect their product a little bit more and you understand, like, and then if you have a problem, you can actually reach out to them and be like, hey, so this tool is doing this, and they can help you with it. It's like, you never. How would you ever else make that connection, you know?
And I'm sure you've probably seen it, too, where it's like, when you go and look at something online, there might be a little blurb, a little paragraph at this top that's like a synopsis of where they started from and where they are. Blah, blah, blah. Nobody ever reads that, right? When you're actually looking to, like, purchase something, right? But that'd be so much cooler than. It's like, wait a minute. You guys have been around since the eighties, you know what I mean? And you started. It's like the. What is it? Steve jobs or whatever, that started in the back of his, you know, this tiny little shed, right, and then built, whatever it is. Apple or windows.
I can't remember what I think was.
That other thing was apple. Yeah.
Yeah.
But close enough.
Just those. That kind of success story right? At our. In our industry, it's cool as hell, man. Cool as hell.
Well, it helps you realize that if you're looking at getting out of the industry, right? Like, all together. Like, just. Just hold on, just wait. Like, there's so many other things you can do, you know? Like, because it'll never leave you. Like, you'll get out of the industry, but you'll always be working on something. You'll always, like, it'll always be a part of you forever. You'll never be able to get out of it. And you just made this rash decision to completely leave and go do h vac or something really stupid, you know?
Yeah, no, but, you know, a lot.
Of guys are leaving the industry, and they don't realize all these different paths. And like you said, you can become extremely successful if you listen to these guys stories and then come up with your own product and just follow what they did. Right. They're setting a path for everybody.
Yeah. And I used to say all the time, and I still believe it, that, like, the only reason that some of us stay in this industry and don't go to something else that's a skilled trade is because the excitement of, you know, the way your c ten is gonna sound and perform when you drive it, right. You may hate every other part of that job of putting that car together, right? Like, everything fought you, but that excitement, you can, you can go in there and do somebody's plumbing. There's no excitement at the end other than to just cash the check. You don't have anything.
You get to blow up that toilet. I don't know if that's exciting, but I don't know, especially if it's a gold one, you know, just, just annihilate it. Just walk out like shoulders high. Like, I destroyed that thing today, you know, feeling really good about yours and.
It stood up and held up. That's, that's the, that's the cool part for me is being able to see, you know, the passion, because I, I can, I can lose it within six months, right? I can, I can, you know, and then. So to be able, this is what I say it all the time. The podcast and the events is what's keeping me, this industry. Because, like, what you and I were talking about before I got on the air here, you get faced with something like that and you're like, man, it's the same old cycle again, right? It's the same old cycle. Whereas, like, now I'm going to go there and meet my people that have been, like, were the reason that got me into this, motivated me to do it, showed me that it's like, hey, you can do this. I'm sure that's going to be worth a couple years worth of, you know, motivation and grit and determination to stick with it. Is.
It's funny you brought that up. Cause I've been having that. I'm just with this podcast, right? Like, it definitely. It definitely wears on you. It takes, I mean, it's motivational, but I mean, it's. We were talking about a week ago about it, and I'm just. It's very defeatist to, like, come out and have this information that's really powerful stuff and not really have a lot of people take to it or, like, learn from it or reach out and, like, ask more questions about it. It's really one sided, right? Like we're just sitting here talking with each other.
We have no idea who's listening. We know there's people listening, but we don't know, and we don't see the power behind it. And so you lose your drive and your motivation because you're not seeing something be built. Right? Like, we like to do something and build something and see the results from it, right? And it's the same thing you brought up with the c ten. And I was having. I mean, it's been two years. I've been every single weekend, every spare minute of my life. Like, I've been piecing this thing together.
And, I mean, when I say I took it to the frame, I literally stripped of the frame, cut the frame in half, shortened it, shortened the bed of, rebuilt the engine, rebuilt the transmission, rebuilt the differential, all disc brakes, like, every single nut and bolt I've like. And I. And I enjoy that process, even though it's extremely frustrating when you put the engine in and it's too far forward. And now this custom radio you built is now running into the fan. Now you have to recut your motor mounts and drop everything back, like, all those things. But, like, when it's done, you're like, I freaking did it. I did it right. And just the other day, I went to fire it up for the first time, and it was not running right.
Like, sounded like it had a knock, and I'm like. And it just. It just kicks you right in the end. Like, I don't have time for this. Right? Yeah. I have so many other things I need to do this truck to get it done, and. And it just demotivates you. You're like, now it's not running right.
Oh, and I still got to do the driveshaft, still got to do the exhaust. I'm like, I can't go backwards. Like, why is it always something right? And so, of course, it's. It's maybe something I did when I built it. I'm like, now I got to pull the engine back out, and it's all painted now. Like, the whole thing's painted. I'm like, no. So I just take a minute and breathe.
And I bought a. And I'm going to throw painless under the. I don't know if you heard of painless products before.
Painless wires.
Throw them under the bus here. Because I'm like, why am I misfiring? And so I track it down. My injector is not firing. I'm like, what the hell's going on here? Well, the pins that they put in the connector of the PCM weren't in the right spot. So I took the factory pin out and I convert, and I. And I looked at the connector they gave me and the numbers, and there was two injectors. One was in a completely different connector, and then the other one was just, like, two spots over. I'm like, what the hell happened here? Right? And then, like, that whole process took me ten minutes to figure it out.
And, like, now I'm like, full steam ahead again. Like, that's all it took. Like, boom, dude, I fired that thing up. And it's all snappy sounds all. It's a. It's a 454 big block. Camden. Like, yeah, and it's.
And it's, uh, open headers right now. So I'm telling. Fuel injected. So I'm telling you when you. That thing fucking hit like hell. Yeah, dude. Like, I am like, let's go, right? And I'm fired up. But, like, it's funny, that little tiny snag.
Just it. I mean, it's probably been three weeks that I'm like, I just don't have time for this, right? I'm just defeated, and I just pushed it away, and it affected everything else in my whole life, right? Even though I wanted to say it didn't, it did. And I'm like, that's all it took, man. Like, 20 minutes. And then all it took was that ten minutes to hear that thing fire up and rip, dude, I'm good to go. It happens at the events, too. Like, you get so defeated, and you're constantly with the same people in the same environment over and over and over. And you get to these events, and you talk to people like you and I, and, like, we're motivated and we're going, and they're like, dude, I.
That's why I'm doing this. And then, like you said, six months of, like, go energy, you know? And it's huge.
So I can tell you a story. When I was at Asta, I did my roundtable, right? And that was kind of like, it didn't turn out great because the room is loud and the sound was so. It was hard to hear. Now it's recorded and they'll fix it. But, I mean, like, I got off the stage feeling really good about talking to the four people that I had up on my panel. You know, I had Jimmy Lee. One of Jimmy Lee's jackets I borrowed, right? So it was like fat guy in a little coat, right? Like, I couldn't move my arms because I would have ripped the back right out of it. I.
But I came off of there, and I'm feeling good. Like, the conversation went good. It all flowed. I didn't need a cue card or nothing. And everybody's lunch is finished. And I'm like, I gotta make a beeline down to the thing before they put all the food away or I'm not gonna get a chance to eat. And there's some fried chicken and all this.
I'm like, good banana pudding.
Yeah, yeah. And a guy comes up to me and he goes, love the podcast. And I don't remember this. That's the thing. It's so hard now to remember everybody's name. And he's like, hi, I'm whatever. And I'm like, cool. He's like, I love the podcast.
He's like, listen, I got to ask you one question. He says, I know you want to go get lunch. And I'm like, okay, give it to me. And he's like, I'm 23 years old. He says, I've been doing this two years. I'm working in a shop. I'm here paying out of my own pocket to come to this thing. He says, the guy that I work for is only 29.
It's a new startup shop. He's struggling. We're struggling. Like, he keeps telling me it's going to get better, but financially, I can't stay here much longer with the tool bills and I'm having to pay and all this kind of stuff. He says, do I get out of this industry and go to something else? And I said, I can't tell you what to do from a long term standpoint. I said, I. I said, all I can tell you is right now, at your age, if for 1 second, you don't think that, like, you see a growth in where you are at the business move now, because I said, it's, it's, there's so. There's no.
Never been more opportunity for somebody like you than, than, than ever, ever in the history of this industry. And I'm at go karts that night or the night before, and go karts was like, I just hung it with Cecil. I sat with Cecil and talked to them and some other people at the table and all that kind of stuff. I didn't go ripping around the carts. And I'm going again to the food line. Somebody comes up to me, and he introduces himself, and of course, I don't remember the name. And he's like, seven years ago in a Facebook group, he says, you tore me a new one because I asked an absolutely dumb question. And he said, like, you took a lot of flack for the way you answered me.
And he said, he's like, literally, he says to me, he says, I want to thank you for being that heavy handed with me because he said it put me on a path to where now I don't have to ask many questions. And he's there at this event taking all this training and learning all this stuff. And it's like, so the podcast, like, you do it, I do it. It doesn't. We're not going to get rich doing this. Right? And it's. And it's a big commitment. But for me, every time I have a detractor, every time I have somebody says, you never fixed anything in your fucking life.
Like, you can't fix cars. That's why you don't put anything out there. I remember that. It's like the way I have decided to conduct myself. The conversations I've decided to have for the better part of a decade now has changed people's lives because they've told me and proven to me that it's changed their life. So this is why I do this now, is to stay motivated.
Yeah.
That's been the beauty of it.
Absolutely. Yeah, it is. It is.
Like, that's pretty empowering. It's pretty empowering.
It is. I. I don't know how to put that into words. As far as looking for more, I think, like, Facebook kind of does it to you where the self gratification, that's what I'm looking for. So we're always looking for a little more self gratification for the work that's going into it. And it doesn't take much. It takes one or once. And, like, you're good for six months to a year.
Like, not asking for, like. But. But it does all the negativity sometimes just breed. It does. And then, and then giving someone advice and then seeing them ask the same stupid freaking question like a week later, it's also demotivating. You're like, dude, you're wasting it. Like, why did I waste my freaking time and breath on you? Right? But you got to keep pushing because you never know who's listening in the background, you know? And you'll never have those conversations without getting out to some of these events and, like, seeing these people and, like, talking to them face to face, because sometimes that is way more powerful than hearing someone you know on the podcast or hearing someone or reading someone that someone texts you. Like, getting out there and like shaking their hand and like getting the real, like, face to face interaction sometimes that's, that's what people need to hear and see, too, so.
And no one knows themselves?
No.
Well, you don't know if I do I need to read a book? Do I need to listen to a bunch of podcasts? Do I need to go meet these people and shake their hands? Like, I don't even know what the freak. I need to, like to make that click. And so you just got to get a little bit of everything before you're like, oh, this is really starting to like, absorb with me. And I'm going to go down that, you know, I'm going to keep doing that because that's working.
Like Charles, the humble mechanic. Like, I met Charles the first year I went to Ast and I was, I didn't have the podcast yet. I'm tagging along with Lucas, right? And I remember he's sitting next to Paul Danner. Paul brought him to the AsoG dinner and he doesn't know who I am and I know who he is, but I don't really, like, I'm not a volkswagen guy, so I don't really follow his channel all kind of stuff to three years later when I'm there now, walking around, I'm walking around the expo at Asta and he stops me and he says, dude, he says, I love your podcast. Like, the last guy I would ever thought would be listening would be right. And then he says, we talked for like, it felt like ten minutes. And he says, I'm going to be at SEmA. I'm bringing a car that I built.
Like, this is the first year that I've been like, he's gone to Seema before, but this is the first year, like, Seema is going to have him bring a car. And he's like, when we're there, he says, we need to sit down and have a conversation.
That's cool.
I'm all of a sudden it's just like me that's still where my head's at. I don't realize, and you don't either. I don't realize the amount of people that are out there that who's actually listening. The numbers say one thing, but it's the people sometimes that are just that number when you realize the scope of the people that are connecting with you. And I think that's going to be the cool thing is when I walk around now and Asta small compared to Seema. But if, like, if people stop me at Sema and go oh, my God. I have heard that episode.
Yeah, that one. That one guy's worth a thousand on the numbers, huh? Yeah, I think that's. That's the big thing, right? Like, you can see thousands of whatever downloads, but it's like, sometimes it takes that one person and it's worth, like, a thousand in, like, downloads or whatever. Whatever metric you're looking at, you're like, I do it. Like, I. It's like, you get that I made it. I did it. Like, if he's like, I love that guy.
And he's listening to me, like, I'm. Dude, I'm into it, right? And it's like, talk about being motivated, you know?
Yeah. If Charles the humble mechanic can listen to anything I say and take reference and relevance to it. Oh, my God. Like, I've done something. I've done something in this industry, right? Like, I've relate. He can relate to me now, and I can relate to him on a different level than just. He's a mechanic, and I'm a mechanic, which is not a small thing, but the fact that I can say something that is so poignant in his mind and.
And without. Without even the platform, like, if you run into these guys and have, like, an actual conversation with them, and then you reach out to them on Instagram or Facebook, they will recognize you and remember you. And that's the cool thing to, like. Like Paul Danner, right? Like, that guy was, like, huge for me, right? And to meet him at Asta and then have him on the podcast, it was, like, mind blowing for me, right? And now we can, like, talk on Facebook. And he's like, I'm like, dude, we going snowboarding in this? This is a winner or what? And he's like, oh, yeah, that sounds. I'm like, dude, like, how would I have ever gotten that without going across the country, right? And it's the same thing at, like, when you go into Sema and you run into these guys, like. Like, not saying that me and Constance nunes are in good, you know, terms or whatever, but it's like, I think she might remember me. I think I said hi.
She goes to Madonna in a lot, which is, like, 30 minutes south of us. It's a. It's like this really fancy hotel. It's like horses. And so she'll bring her mustang down and, like, take pictures out there. I'm like, oh, you're back in the area, I hope, you know, enjoy Madonna. And she's like, oh, thanks. And it's like, oh, cool.
She totally remembers me? Yeah, probably not, but it's still a connection.
You know, she had that tv show on Netflix that I remember seeing. I can't remember what it's called now. And that's where I first saw her.
Yeah. Not counting cars, but the other one is counting cars.
That's. That's the other guy, like I keep saying, Vegas.
And he has a big party at a shop during. During Sema, too. So if you want to go there, we get you over there and meet. Meet that guy Danny, for sure. Because I know Kyle's, like, really in cahoots with him, so I know there's, like, some parties that he does over there. Well, and his shops open. It's like a museum. So you can go there and, like, look at all the cars and stuff, too.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah. I would love to meet that night. Like, that's the key. I keep thinking, like, am I gonna have time when I'm there to be able to go and do this and see that and all that kind of stuff? Right?
No, probably not. No. The days go by. They're so long, but they go by so quick. It's. It's. It's quite. It's.
It's. It's almost depressing because you wake up and you're like, let's go. Right? And then, like, you realize, like, every conversation is, like, 20 minutes.
Yeah.
Right. And so you don't have a lot of those. Yeah, you get, like, you know, it's. It's kind of like, I remember the, like, the third or fourth day, I started realizing that, like, every conversation that I'm having is, like, it's taking 20 minutes. And so then you start calculating, how many of these conversations can I have before it's 04:00 and everybody starts leaving. Right? Damn. There's not enough time. Yeah.
And I'm sure everybody comes home. Not home, but they go back to the room at the end of the day, and they're just like. Just like, right. They don't want to go and, like, okay, well, let's go have dinner together and talk some more. Like, I'm sure they want to be like, okay. I've been. I've been constants all day. Like, I want to go hide somewhere and get probably room service instead of, like, going to the restaurant where she's going to be, like, another hundred people waving at her and everything, and she can just, like, recharge for the next day.
Right? Yeah. The next day, I smile and wave and being nice. And so it's. I mean, it depends who you are too. Some people can handle that shit, you know? Like, if you're like David. If you're like David Roman, you can be up at like, five in the morning. You're just go, go, go. And then you go to dinner after and you're like.
And you're just the happiest guy till, like, midnight. And you're just like. And you like, don't even sleep because you can't wait to get back up to be that really go getting kind of guy, you know, that's hugging everybody.
And you've got Lucas and David confused again because that's the whole thing. Like, when you're around. You know what it's like to be around Lucas, right? You can't. It's infectious. You're just like, how do I have this much energy? Well, and I'm not drinking the amount of energy drinks that he is. So, like, what. What's it doing? But it just rubs off on you. And then you just, you know, you kind of come back to David again and that kind of, like, brings you back down to a little more even keel.
Not quite. So not. I'm not trying to say he's a curmudgeon. That's not what I'm trying to say, but, you know.
Not at all. No. Yeah.
He could meet the president and he wouldn't get that excited. You know what I mean? Maybe not the president is a good reference, but you know what I mean? Like, he could meet.
He'd probably be disappointed, I think.
I think, yeah, they could be disappointed in everybody he meets.
He's just disappointed. I'm not. I'm not frustrated. I'm just disappointed right now. And I'm not gonna tell you about David.
You're gonna go meet Jesus. And he'd be like, oh, I thought he'd be taller.
I'm a little. A little disappointed. I'm not gonna. I'm gonna be honest right now.
He didn't look at all like the pictures. Yeah.
I like how he says that about Lucas is like, did he just go make another friend? Oh, yeah. Just downright frustrated about it. Like, just genuinely upset that legs. Like, he's. He's made another friend. It's like, it's okay. I'm sure you're still number one.
Yep. Yeah.
But, yeah, I mean, yeah, you never know who. And that's the other thing too. You won't know who you run into, like outd dinner or out and about. Because a lot of guys do. They don't go and stay walking around Sema and apex, they'll be out, you know, in the city, too. So it's tough, man. It's tough to, like, I love it, hate it. Like, I want to be there all day, and I wanted, like, absorb everything, but it gets overwhelming.
I'm like, I don't get the. I gotta get out of here, right?
And.
And it's like, I need to go back. Like, as soon as you leave, you want to be back, and as soon as you're there, you want to leave.
That's what I have to keep in mind, right? Is I'll probably keep a notebook of what I don't. Like. I'll go there with, like, people that I want to meet. And then if I don't, I have to think about, like, okay, well, next year, right? And then kind of because I think that's kind of how it's going to go for me. Is it? Like, because there's some. I'd like to meet them, but if I have to stand in line for 45 minutes, like, I have to think about, like, is that worth it?
Yeah. And 100% because of all the other things that you're missing. Because. Not necessarily because you don't want to waste your time waiting for that, but it's like, yeah. And I had the same thought. It was like, man, 30 minutes, there's like. Like, that's a big part of the day. Like, and you really chunk it up like that.
You're like, you have, like, eight to four, right, with no lunch. So, like, there's not a lot of time there to, like, make the connections you need to make and, like, get around to the people you need to get to. It's, like, really setting a plan and, like, staying to that plan is, like, I found in the last few years is extremely important if you really want to do it. And then the next important thing is take all that stuff you want to do and freaking cut it in half. Unless you want to give yourself a damn complex, because otherwise you're just like, hey. Oh, good to meet you. All right, got to go. Bye.
And it's like, no intimate conversation at all. You're just, like, shaking hands just for the fact of shaking hands. Right. And that's not fun. Like, I mean, like. Like you said, like, it's just going to have to be next year then, like, if you can't make that happen, just put it for next year, because there's no reason to, like, rush around just for the fact, like, taking a picture with somebody and I mistake the first year or the second year doing that, it's like I want to get to all these people and then take, and then take a picture with them. But in my mind I'm like, okay. Now after I'm like standing in line with the person I want to meet and shake their hand and take a picture with.
Meanwhile I'm thinking where the next one is.
Yeah.
Be present in the moment because I literally look back on it now and I don't even remember it. I have the picture but I don't remember it because I'm like already somewhere else, you know? Yeah, yeah.
Rush up, get a picture. Don't even get it to have maybe the conversation you really want to have.
Yeah. Or physically remember because you weren't even present for the moment, you know, like ah, yeah.
My girls, Lisa and Joelle from promotive have got a party planned so hopefully, you know, you guys will show up to that and I don't know, it's going to be quite a blast, I guess. But those girls know by now that like I'm normally an early, I go to bed early, they go hard. Like they can, they're, they can stay up late, they can just like, they're that way. Right? They're like Lucas's, they're just like, they feed off of it. And me, I'm like, if I got to be at the, at SEMA by eight in the morning, I'll probably be getting up at four because that's how I'm like, I'm a slow starter in the morning. I got a stretch and, you know, things don't work right. And then by like if I'm of four and the party's at 08:00 I'm like, okay, so, you know, so it'd be cool if some of the people that like, I don't get a chance to hobnob with make it to the party because then that's going to be pretty cool.
And there's tons, there's tons of parties. But the planner is important and I think, I think we'll do that group message again that we did last year. So we need to definitely get, you know, the first, the first night there's that big meetup and I think that's critical to really get everyone together so we can get like some sort of message to keep everybody okay. Because that the hardest part about it is finding people and not just like looking for the people that we've been talking about for the last hour, but like our people like us and like keeping our group together. It's really, really difficult as you walk through these places and you don't know who's who, you don't know what's what. And you start out, hey, who are you? Where are you from? And not that you're stuck in a conversation, but you're kind of stuck in a conversation for a few minutes to like, all right, well, you're not quite in my industry where I'm looking for it, but you're a nice person. Hey, thanks. And so to have like, a group of, that we can kind of stay together and, like, know where to navigate, that's, that what's, that's what really makes the experience a lot kind of special because then we're like, we can meet 830 in the morning.
We can all get together like, hey, does anybody know what's going on? And everybody will know something different, you know? And that helps too. Like, hey, I'm looking for so and so. Oh, you know, I saw them yesterday and they said they're going to be here because even though the planner is great on the app and it'll tell you where everyone is, things change, you know, and I've, and I've waited at booths to, and I'm like, they said they're supposed to be here at ten. And I thought, I'm like, oh, no, they changed that last night. They're actually over at the Magnaflow booth. I'm like, what the. Sitting here for 15 minutes waiting like, damn it. So.
And then there's no one to ask.
Yeah, and where's the magnaflow booth? Oh, way over in the other.
Oh, my God.
Yeah, yeah. So cool.
Difficult to navigate, but I think, I think coming together and keeping a group together would be really special to keep help, keep that stuff, keep everybody in the same page, you know?
Yeah, I'll lean on you guys a lot.
I'm hoping, hoping Frank's there too.
Frank?
Frank from. He's one of the salesmen at shop boss. Oh, guys, the guy's just an absolute riot. Yeah, I love that guy. When we're Asta. Last, last year, Lalo and I did the whiskey tasting.
Okay.
It was, it was late. It went really late. And we had the, we had to be out of there like four in the morning the next day. And I don't think we stopped tasting whiskey till like one in the morning. And whoever that guy that was, like, leading that whiskey tasting was like, I could watch him for hours. That guy was a freaking riot.
The last night I was there and I popped in for a few minutes and just watched it because Lucas was popped in for a few minutes, and then there was like, all these, I mean, Benji burst was there, and they were all. And it was like, taste of Scotland, right? And I'm like. And it was at that time, it was probably like 10:00 at night, you know what I mean? And people are sitting in a, you know, 20 people in a room sitting there drinking whiskey, and I'm like, I'm, I'm not signed up for this, and I am not going to be because I had to get up the next morning, same thing at 04:00 my, like, I had to go through TSA. 05:00 a.m. is what I was supposed to go through TSA because my flight was going to leave at 630. So it's like. And God bless it, but there I'm sitting next to becky Witt on the shuttle van going over, right, in the morning, and it's like, thank God there were some people that, you know, you can still talk in the shuttle because otherwise, like, I was so tired, I'd have fell asleep in that short little run over to the airport because I'm like, you know, and then once I get on the plane, it's such short flights. It was like 1 hour can't sleep, an hour layover, can't sleep, you know, finally get home.
So I'm driving back from Syracuse later that day, and it was like, like, 04:00 in the afternoon. I'm just, like, doing the heavy eyes, like, wiped out. Wiped out, you know, which I shouldn't be 04:00 I should be just wired. But, I mean, even if I get up at 04:00 a.m. but it just hit me all of a sudden when I'm in the car driving back, that's when it can all catch up on me. And I'm like, the last ten minutes from home, I'm like, do I pull over and take a nap or like, what do I do? Like, it's just, you know, yeah, a little.
Add a little whiskey hangover to that mess, and it's like, yeah, it was, it was brutal. I probably wouldn't do that again. But I remember sitting next to Frank and that guy, he knew his whiskeys. Like, he was like, he was on point with his scotches and his whiskeys, and we were like, having the conversation back and forth, and then the guy serving it was like, he's like, oh, if you guys, like, try this. Hey, try this. And it was like, it was like, beside the whole flight of whiskeys, we were already doing so we were like, oh, do I get back to the hotel room? I'm like, uh oh, I fucked up. It was like 130 in the morning. And I'm like, I'm like, go right now.
I'm like, I made a mistake because I'm like, wide awake. I'm not even gonna be able to sleep. And I know when I wake up at four in the morning, I don't think this is gonna be gone. Yeah, sure enough, we're on the shuttle bus and we're just staring at each other, doing the wobblies. You know, this is terrible. I gotta be on a plane for 6 hours now. Why did I do this to myself?
So the shop?
No, I had, I was gonna have one of my text go, but he kind of. Not last minute, but a couple months back, he bailed out on me. I had it all set up for him. And I wanted him to bring his wife and his kids and all that, but I'm hoping one of these years I can, I can get someone to commit to it. He's been with me for two years, so he was the one that was kind of, I guess, you call eligible. I don't have anybody that's been around longer than that, so.
Right.
Yeah. And it's an expensive endeavor. So hire someone. Not to say they're not going to stick around, but.
Right.
Like six months in and take them to Sema is like, that's a little tight.
Yeah, definitely. But any closing thoughts?
I think that was it. We got the shuttle, we got the seat, the, the test, the loop. Really important.
Wear comfortable shoes.
Wear comfortable shoes. Get the app.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right. And I gotta find, apparently I gotta find some nice clothes now. So.
You do. You gotta find a suit.
Gotta go get fitted for a suit. I guess before, if you're not gonna.
See him in apex, you need to be. And you can get, you can show up there and pay at the spot. So. Yeah, that is something that. It's in Vegas, right? It's a good time. It's. I mean, semen. Apex are two totally separate things.
Go at the same time.
Yeah.
I'm telling you, if you're not going, you need to sign yourself up right now. Check it out.
Yeah. There's still lots of time left, people. So, I mean, if you're, if you were on the fence about doing it, I know you can still. It's coming in my email that there's still spots available.
Absolutely. There's always spots available.
Yeah.
Always.
Make it happen.
And if you're going and you don't know who to hook up with. Then reach out to one of us, and let's. Let's get together. For sure.
Yeah, for sure. Anybody that's listening, I'm gonna be easy to find. Jimmy's gonna be easy to find. And then, you know, if you want to sit down, have a conversation and talk, that I would love to, you know, we can make that happen. So, Jimmy, I keep saying we need to do this more often, and yet you're so busy, and I'm so busy that it makes it hard to. To get it lined up. We should definitely, for 2025, try to make this a little more frequent occasion.
So we can really start talking about why shop owners are better than technicians. Oh, shots fired, huh? We can talk about. We can talk about why shops always fail. Because the technicians are just prima donnas.
That's it. Yeah.
Oh, man, I gotta. I'm stirring the pot right now. Do you see what I'm doing?
Yeah, I know. Exactly. Because you know exactly what I'm coming from. And, I mean, that's. We could talk about that. Why. Why shop owners are better at running businesses, and most techs are better at fixing cars than shop owners.
Yeah, that's fair. I'll agree to disagree. All right, thanks, Chad.
We'll talk to you later, man. Take care. Hey, if you could do me a favor real quick, like, comment on and share this episode, I'd really appreciate it. And please, most importantly, set the podcast to automatically download every Tuesday morning. As always, I'd like to thank our amazing guests for their perspectives and expertise, and I hope that you'll please join us again next week on this journey of change. Thank you to my partners in the ASA group and to the change in the industry podcast. Remember what I always say, in this industry, you get what you pay for. Here's hoping everyone finds their missing ten millimeter, and we'll see you all again next time.
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