The Fine Line Between Viral Content and Rage Bait | Bryan Pollock, Tonnika Haynes and Braxton Critcher

The Fine Line Between Viral Content and Rage Bait | Bryan Pollock, Tonnika Haynes and Braxton Critcher The Jaded Mechanic Podcast · Jun 30, 2026

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Brand

Volkswagen

A famous German car brand known for making cars like the Beetle, Golf, and Jetta. It was originally started in the 1930s in Germany.

Car

1978 Chevrolet Truck

A classic, boxy Chevrolet pickup truck from the late 1970s. They are very popular among truck enthusiasts because they are easy to fix and have a timeless look.

Term

door rates

The hourly price a mechanic shop charges you for the time they spend working on your car.

Concept

technician shortage

A major problem in the car repair industry where there aren't enough young people training to become mechanics, leading to long wait times at repair shops.

Term

scan tools

A hand-held computer that mechanics plug into your car to read the error codes when your 'Check Engine' light comes on.

Place

Hershey

A town in Pennsylvania famous for chocolate, but also well-known among car enthusiasts for hosting one of the biggest classic car shows and parts markets in the world.

Person

Greg Buckley

A respected auto repair shop owner and business coach who helps other mechanics learn how to run successful businesses.

Car

A mechanic joke about whether you are ready to quit a bad job. Since mechanics own their own giant toolboxes on wheels, 'taking the wheels off' means you've decided to stay forever, even if you complain constantly.

Term

10 millimeter

A specific size of wrench attachment that is used on almost every modern car. Because mechanics use it constantly, it is famous for mysteriously disappearing from toolboxes.

LIVE

Okay, you do you, like you, and we're gonna do us. I don't care as much as I used to care about what somebody else was doing and whether it was wrong for the industry. Mm-hmm. I'm past that point. I put my focus on my people, which is the technicians, and that's where I put my focus. And it's like, this can work for you, and it might not work for you.

It depends on the type of person. You may go to a dealer and love it, and you may go to an independent shop and love it, and both of them are opportunities.

Yeah, but the nipple chafing Yeah, I, I- Isn't nipple chafing a thing for dudes?

There's tape for that.

Oh.

Well, I didn't use the tape. I was in pain. Couple days' pain

Your, your nipples bleed? Yeah. Oh, yeah, they did. Oh,

man.

I still...

You should've seen all the skinny people I still outran.

Yeah.

They ain't got no will to live, them people.

Well,

it's- They're just over there so upset 'cause they ain't eaten nothing ...

threshold, right?

How long did you run?

Five- 3.1 miles. Ran it in, like, just under 30 minutes.

Who's, who's in... Braxton, you look marathon-ish. You done a marathon?

No. No.

Other than- No,

a 5K. 5K, okay. That's not long

enough. Oh, what was your 5K time?

Braxton way better shape than me. 27 minutes?

I was, like, 12. Oh.

Oh. Oh my God, it didn't count.

I, I don't remember. Yeah. Yeah.

Disc-

I am not a runner ... golf. Disc golf. Yeah. That's, that's what keeps me in shape. I'm all about it. Yeah.

Yeah, and we're just jumping in. Well-

Oh, please. Come on.

Come on. Yeah.

You, you, you gotta get the- I'll be in front the whole time

you gotta get your, uh, the sun's out, buns out. Do the shot there, Bryan.

Talkin'

about Oreo

teeth?

No, yeah. Now, now tell the, the people what that is.

It's my emotional support wiener.

Yeah.

With mustard. With mustard.

Yeah. Yeah. Just mustard. Okay.

So-

So- So- Anyways, on that note. On that note Here we are.

Enough of, enough of the wiener shenanigans.

Tools, Pennsylvania 2026. Whoop, whoop. And we got four... No, wait. My math is terrible. Three podcasts represented at this table.

Two and a half.

Oh. Who's the half? You mean- You discounting yourself? No,

no. I- Stop

that. Yeah. I'm not- No. I'm not really here.

Well, I'm a half, too. Next year we're all gonna be catching you, so shh.

I'm not really a half. Mike's in charge.

Yeah. So I thought it a va- it'd be a valuable opportunity to, uh, let the listeners and viewers kinda peek behind the curtain of what goes on in our group chat.

Yeah. Not all of it. Dear God, not all of it. Yeah.

Hold on a second. Uh-

A somewhat censored version

... let me take my shoes off for this, Bryan.

Oh my God. That's where-

Oh, it just got warm. It just got warm ...

that's where it went wrong last time. So for those who don't know, uh, we all are in a group chat that often goes off, like, probably hundreds of messages a day.

Like-

I'm, I like the AI-

No, not a day ... summary. Some, some days. Some days. Is that a lot? Oh. Some days it's- Yeah. Yes. Some days.

We hit 100 some

days. Yeah. Lucas, Jeff, Tanika, me, Josh, Bryan- I don't have a lot of words ... and Mike.

I don't.

Yeah, it's usually Bryan- If

I have time- ... Lucas, and Jeff ... if I have time, I'll get into it.

But a lot of times, like, something will happen and I'll be like, "I ain't got time for this." Yeah.

No, it's a lot of back and forth. There are a- some days where it's not much happening- Mm-hmm ... but there's a lot of days where it is. Mm-hmm. One of the conversations that we have had at length- Oh ... two or three or four times, and I have notes.

Watch out, holding

these notes. Dang, he's been taking notes.

Uh-huh, uh, is social media and reels. And- It's the devil, mama ... and it's all Jeff's fault. It's

the devil.

It's all Jeff's fault, that jaded guy over there. Uh- Oh, I know People will blame me 'cause I'm the one that edits- Yeah ... the video. Yeah. Uh, but people think, "Oh, Braxton, he, he made somebody say something that I was...

uh, that they didn't." But really,

I mean- He cut it off. But- I mean, everything bad that happens on all of these podcasts is your fault.

Well, it's actually Mike. Yeah. It's Mike's fault. It really comes back to Mike. Yeah, Mike. Well, really, you know, I- it could be Lucas too, 'cause he's kind of the guy that started all

of this.

Well, listen, th- they're the leaders, are they not?

Yeah.

They're the leaders. Yeah. So- Who's the leader? M- Mike Allen and Lucas Sundwall.

Oh. I thought you were talking about- The, the- ... buying gas in Canada. You were like, "Leaders." Leaders.

Sorry.

Like Leader cola?

Leader cola. Like Super

Troopers? Okay.

Does that look like spit to you?

Yeah, it does. Oh,

man.

It sparkles. I don't know. Thanks.

Thanks for the tip. Wipe it off

with your- It's sparkly ... wipe it off with

your wiener. Thanks, Mom. Yeah. Yeah.

Thanks, Mom.

Now you look good.

Now

you're looking too good. Not

the first time he's had a wiener on his nose.

Whoa. Ooh.

Ooh. And that's what happens in

the chat.

I, I might edit that out. That might

have

to go. That might get edited out.

Braxton- Yeah ... take that out. That means you can't.

Yeah. 'Cause

they're gonna

like, "What

did he say?"

Usually people are like, you know, "Braxton, edit that out." And I tell people, "When that gets said, that means-

Guaranteed it's still in

that's not coming

out." "

wasn't paying attention and she just

said yeah, that stayed." That's, that's gonna... That, I'm leaving that in. So reels, and I wanna talk about social media because any business today-

Mm-hmm ...

social media is critical.

Yeah. It is.

And in... Well, maybe not for Bryan's business, but- I mean- If, if you had social media- I,

I posted in December, I...

December 17th 2024- Good job ... was the last time I posted on our business page.

If you did social media, you probably couldn't handle it, 'cause you'd have way more business.

All right. They'd probably, nobody would show up. They'd be like- I

just think it's a situation- They couldn't find it ... at your facility, like how much more do they expect you to do, right?

That's how I would look at that in that situation at Wilco, is like- Yeah, I'm

fine. Yeah. I don't need any more to do. Yeah. We got too much to do.

I think you have other people that could pick up that torch and run with it.

I feel like that the results of that and the additional car count would be not for me.

Yeah.

Zero stars.

Yeah. We get, we get excited. When we have a, a cancellation, we get excited.

Oh.

Even if it's someone we like. Yeah, '

cause you can take

a break. I'm like, I'm s- we're like, "We're so happy you canceled," because we have too much to do.

That's a good problem.

So for- And

it's very fortunate I've recognized that, and it's not common, and I understand that.

Yeah.

But it is reality for rural Joe. That's the situation. Yep.

For anybody, uh, but Bryan- ... uh, social media is, is important. And in growing a podcast, y- y- you know, you need a social media, 'cause if you don't, how, how are s- people supposed to know that you're out there, right? Mm-hmm. Right. And reels, clips from an episode, are one of the easiest ways to get people to say, "Hey, oh, there's, there's a, there's a podcast.

I gotta check this out." Agreed. That is how Jeff has turned into who he is today in this industry, is because he's had some reels go crazy-

Absolutely nuts ...

lately.

Yeah.

And then Confessions, Mike's not here, but Bryan on Confessions has had a number of reels recently, one that's got 2.4 million views.

I feel so bad for all them people looking at my ugly face talking about-

not tearing down a Volkswagen engine. I almost feel bad for them. They could choose not to look at it.

Yeah, but you and I have discussed this at length several times. There's so many people out there that are not in the industry that are just wake up every day and choose violence, that are angry- ... and just wanna cuss out the professionals.

Yeah.

And it's, and it's- We've-

They're really mad. Yeah, like, yeah. And like, sometimes I comment, "Thank you," like when they- Yeah ... really get going, I'm like, "Thank you." If you guys driving it, thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you. Thanks for the help. Yeah. Appreciate you. Mm-hmm. Love you. Bye.

Yeah. Thanks for helping the algorithm.

Thanks for helping the algorithm.

But there comes a certain point that, the reason I brought this up was, in the chat, I mean, there's a lot of negativity with these reels. Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's good for growth. People will follow the page and follow- Well, there's nothing- ... and listen to the podcast ... negative about,

about not tearing down a Hitler mobile.

No.

Nothing negative about that. You can't say Hitler mobile.

That's what they are. It was Hitler's car company. It's facts.

Are

you- History.

Are you tearing it down?

Nein. Nein. We are asking ze questions here.

We are not tearing

it down. I mean, I'm not in on this.

But Lu- so Lucas, uh, has brought up a number of times, you know, the conversation about where do we want these podcasts to go.

Mm-hmm.

Because some of the reels that have gone viral have gained a lot of followers, and those followers are people that, like you said, like, they wake up every morning and just wanna be mad.

Right. And sometimes you will gain that following, and that turns into the things that your followers expect to see.

Yep. Mm.

Um, and so I wanna, I just wanna talk about it, because this has been in our group chat for months and months and months. Right. It comes up about once a month, and recently it's, it's been a real topic of discussion.

I usually

ignore it. And so I wanna get all of your guys' thoughts on reels and social media, and the importance of it, and the brand of it, the five-year plan, how does that go into it, uh, especially for these two guys who have already seen that. But also Tanika, starting out, thinking about the kind of content that you want to release that creates the

following- She won't have the negativity

that you want to have. She- No ... she can say the same exact thing, Jeff- Yeah ... and I can say it more eloquently.

Yeah. Yeah.

And here's the thing-

And you've already experienced some of it-

Yeah ...

recently.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, on a smaller scale, but you've already experienced some of the hate that can happen.

You

had a negative thing?

Mm-hmm. Somebody giving you a problem?

Well, it was with Becky. Yeah. It just watching people be ignorant. Oh, I forgot

about that. Yeah.

Yeah. Yes. It's like- Yeah ... are you even listening? You're just ignorant. That's a major conversation we did have. Right.

I forgot about that.

Yeah.

That was on

TikTok, I think it was.

That was on TikTok. And, and- And then on Facebook ... one, one on Facebook too, yeah ... so on Facebook I just, like, and then I asked, I said, "Do I delete this?" Yeah. "Or do I just leave it there?" 'Cause I don't wanna just- No ... filter- You delete it ... the-

You delete it.

You delete that ignorance. That- Yeah. And I was like, "Yeah, delete that."

Yeah. Then people can go F off- Yeah ... and when they're done F-ing off- Yeah ... they can keep F-ing off.

I mean, even coming to my inbox and saying, "This lady is crazy and off her rocker," and blah blah blah. I was like, "Well, did you listen to the whole podcast?" No.

Who cares? Like

we-

Like, and what, what do they, what do they think you're gonna do?

Like take it off of Spotify? Like take it

off. Oh, man, I'm sorry. Let me

take it off for you. Oh, oh, I'm so sorry that you messaged me. Let me take that off of Spotify. Why don't you just go do whatever you do?

Like turn it off. Yeah. If you

don't like it- Then listen to another one ... skip- There's 800 and f- everybody's a podcaster.

There's eight million of them. Go listen to somebody else.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah, but the hateful stuff is just, I'm, I'm- Mm-mm ... not ready for that. Not-

Yeah, that had me, that had me... Oh, you remember. I was- Yeah, you,

yeah, you remember that ... I was irritated. As you should be. Like- I was irritated ... and

I, when I had her on, I had similar comments too, and I would just immediately- Oh, it, it's not necessary

I didn't even ask

for

permission, I just deleted

them. It's not necessary.

I would think, "Okay, I've seen this person here on this podcast, this podcast. Let me shut up and listen." But everybody's so fucking smart that they're stupid. It's like you couldn't look past what offended you. I don't know why it offended you, 'cause to me, it's none of your damn business.

Well, that's,

yeah. Everybody's

so smart, they're stupid. And, and you could n- yeah, you're so smart, you're stupid. Yeah. And- But they're not smart ... you didn't even take the ter- time to listen to the message.

To what was said. Yeah.

You couldn't get past the reel.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

So when people can't get past the reel, and we talked about that-

That's,

and I- You can't get past the reel and you listen to the highlight because- And that's-

just like on the news. I, I mean, I think about it and I go back and forth with it 'cause me and Braxton have talked about it. On the news, the news will tell you something something something, details at 11:00. You're like, "Shit, I wanna know now."

Yeah.

So it's kinda like the same thing, right?

Yeah.

So-

They try...

I- if it bleeds, it leads. Yeah. It gets eyeballs. Yeah.

And then you come to find out it was in another state. What makes me mad is that my local news will talk about something, and it was another state news reel.

That happened in

Oregon?

Yeah, like- Yeah ... it must be a slow news day.

Yeah.

So.

Who cares?

Lucas has pointed that out and, like you said, it's, it, it's the reels that are driving people to at least comment and engage- Mm-hmm

which is what you, at the end of the day, you want.

Right.

But it has to transition to actually listening to the episode for people to get the true context, and a lot of people, depending on how the reel comes up- I see his point. What he was trying to say to me is that because it, if the reel is effective enough in angering them, they're never gonna listen to the whole episode.

Mm-hmm. And that's the, that's that fine line you gotta watch where you gotta say it- I think ... just in a certain way. Mm-hmm. And say it in a, just enough that they, they don't get, like, angry, but it piques their curiosity. Mm. Then there's a, there's a recipe to that, and I don't know what it is. You

wanna, you wanna hear the uncomfortable, what I think the deal is?

I honestly think that people are so used to being spoon-fed, they ain't even capable of going to find out what your podcast is and where to get it from. Yeah. I don't think they have the brains to do it.

Well,

all I- I think 50% of people are dumber than average, or the median, technically the median. I don't think half these people could even get there from here.

Mm-hmm.

So how

many

times you gotta see- I mean, not even talking about pod- Yeah ... yeah, not even talking about podcasts. So how do you- Somebody calls a shop- Yeah ... and then asks you what your o- y- your office hours are. How the hell did you just call me? Did you not Google that? Could you not, like- We know

they ain't got the Yellow Pages

look one more spot down? And if they do, we'll call 1-800.

It's right there. You, that is not a phone call. Like, people just do not...

Yeah. What are your office hours? The ones that were posted- The one

that were posted ... above

the call button.

Exactly.

Above the call this place button. Yeah. It, I, they're not capable of getting the information.

Yeah. They're not. They're really not.

I've been in this industry

25 years, and I've never heard of this, and this guy doesn't work on cars. Well, if you've been in the industry so long y- you can't use a Google search to figure out who this guy is, come on, bro. Yeah. Like, don't be lazy.

And we're no longer working on a 1978 Chevy.

This is we're talking about a new one. No, they're

lazy. It's the average competence level, and it's, that's everything, you know, the 50% of people are dumber than the median. I can't say average 'cause that's not technically accurate. It's the median. Whatever. They don't know the difference anyways, those people.

Yeah. I, I find, um, like, again, you know, my, the two that, like I was joking, every morning when I wake up, I get notifications from the Jaded Facebook page saying there's more comments on Sherwood's reels. It's always those two. Three, four, whatever that he did, but it's, "You can't mark up a spark plug," uh, "Don't tell me we can't charge $200 an hour," um, all this kind of stuff.

And it's every morning when Jeff turns his phone on, there's a, a notification for that. It's been great for engagement, but, like, I'm sitting here going, "I'm tired of reading comments about this reel." Yeah.

It's like the Sixth Sense. Like- "I see dumb people."

I, you know, I would wanna-

Instead of "I see dead people"- If I, yeah

like, "

I see dumb people." If I had more time, I'd go back and just sit there and try, because that's the way I'm wired, right? Is okay, let's, I'll go back and forth with strangers all day, all day. That doesn't bother me at all. Right? And yet I don't have the time, and I'm running out of the physical energy to do it because they don't wanna ever say, like a win would be to say, "Okay, I see your point.

You were right."

I'm not gonna change what I'm doing in my place. But

I can see

where you're coming from. But I can see why you do what you do. They're not, most of them are not capable.

Never.

That's the reality, right? Yeah. And it's like we always, you know, everybody talks about the change, the change, the change.

Well, I know the unfortunate reality. Most people ain't changing- No ... until they have to change or lose their business. Mm-hmm. And half them people or more will just lose the business anyways. Yeah.

It's like somebody said-

That's the reality of the situation ... the

average shop rate's still 70, 80, or $90, and I said, "On what planet?"

Good door. On what planet are you seeing- Good door ... door rates under $100 an hour? I don't know. Like, we know of a few pockets maybe, yes, and they're not fixing I don't, they're not fixing and they're not working on a lot of the same stuff that maybe a lot of people that we run with are trying to work on, right?

Sure. There's not, and that's not to say that there isn't a place for that. But when you... what, what do you qualify as being a listen- You can't,

you can't work on, you know what, though? Yeah. You know what? To be quite honest, you can't work on Chevy pickups for 90 bucks an hour and grow. You can work on Chevy pickups for 90 bucks an hour, and you as the shop owner can go to work all them hours, and at the end of the day, you can take home $42,000 a year, and hopefully your spouse works and earns an income and health insurance, and you can make it work if you want a hobby.

Yeah.

But that's what they think- If you wanna work yourself- ... saving a community is. I'm gonna do the community a favor- I'm not- ... and work myself into a hole ... you know how I am- And my back and my shoulders and my knees ain't gonna be that good ... I

am serving the community by providing them the best effort I have.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

That's how I'm doing it. I am being honest with them. I'm telling them when the cost per mile to maintain that car is starting to get a little high, it's time to get a new one.

Yeah.

We tell people to trade their car in all the time.

Right.

All the time.

I have to do it, too, especially-

That's how I'm doing it.

Yeah.

But I'm certainly n- I'm not in this for the experience anymore.

No. So let me, let me step in, because let me just give you a glimpse into my brain. So I'm listening to this conversation- Mm-hmm ... and I'm not an automotive guy. I, I can't talk technical terms as you guys do or owner terms, not, that's not me.

Me either, yeah. Mm-hmm. But I just heard three different reels that I could cut right now and get views- Mm-hmm ... from what you guys just said. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And my job as producer extraordinaire is to grow shows. El Capitan. Grow the show. El Capitan. And, and this is, this is me, and I want you guys to, to tell me if I'm wrong, and to tell me how I need to shift and improve and downshift, right?

Yep. So- Oh, there's a plug.

Tell you how to improve? How am I supposed to tell you how to improve? Here's my confession. Yeah. It's a downshift.

It's

not, it's not my wheels. And not be so jaded.

O- okay, that, w- we're going too far with that one. Let's go.

Uh, I just heard those clips, and I would clip what you said about, we tell people all the time, you can't charge $90 an hour, uh, to do a Chevy and grow.

And- You can't ... and, and that's true. And grow. And- You can't ... that's what he said. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm

And I would clip that, and people would get all hot and bothered about it. Too

bad. Oh, you want too much money, and this, that,

and the other. And, and

so-

I don't care.

But the idea is- That's the thing, though, like, I don't care

still do

to,

to me-

Do you really?

Yeah.

It bothers you?

No. I mean, I would, yeah, I still do. It will bother me- Really? ... for now. I'm just starting. Okay. I'm not ready to step on toes. Oh, man,

I- What, let, let me interject in this. Let's, let's remove you from the podcast realm, though, for a minute- Mm ... and go, like, let's hypothetical.

Then somebody was to call you tomorrow and say, um, "Yeah, I wanna bring my 1992 Chevy truck into Brown's Automotive."

You, no, we don't do that.

That's right.

What, what I'm saying is- So, snowbird ... not, I do care about how other people would feel about that reel, not the fact, no, I'm not charging no damn $90 an hour.

Right. That's not happening. Yeah. But if he cut a reel and then it would cause controversy, I don't feel comfortable with that yet.

Oh, there's no controversy. There's just people who are right and people who are wrong. Yeah.

Oh,

okay. It's not controversial. It's, it's not a debate. I'm right, they're wrong.

Oh, okay.

You

just

don't

like the negativity

in the comments. I don't like the negativity that goes along with it. Yeah.

Yeah, too many people think it's a back and

forth. '

Cause

I'm not

comfortable

with, yeah. Like, somebody's wrong. I'm not asking for your input because I'm trying to set up my business model here.

Yeah. I've already got the business model, right? Yeah. And, and we ain't doing that. Oh. Like,

the, the- Oh, what do you do, Frank, that works for 90 bucks an hour in your shop? Oh, you have a real job at the town- Yeah ... so you can have health insurance, 'cause you can't afford to pay your health insurance at your shop.

Right. So all the people who- Those

are the people commenting, right? Yeah. They have to have real jobs. Yeah. Real jobs, because their automotive shop, much less pay for benefits for employees, they can't even have health insurance themselves. That's right. They can't freaking afford it.

So they're servicing all the late '90s to mid-'90s stuff that's still on the road.

Good for them. And they're, and the, and the same people that come in that have, haven't had a mortgage that they've had to pay in, in 50 years, it's all been paid off, and they're coming in and they feel like they're the best thing in the world because the people still have them convinced they ain't got no money and just keep patching it up, and they've been patching it up for 10 years.

And they go, "What are all these events you go to? Like, I don't know how you can even afford that. I could never shut my shop down." And it's like, stop working on old rusted junk, and you can maybe make some profit. And even if you don't come to event, maybe you could pay yourself. Maybe, you can hire some talent.

Maybe. That's- Dun, dun, dun. That's a big maybe.

Instead of crying about the technician shortage, maybe you can hire better ones. But no, you would have to turn some of your

customers away. Or you have time to train some. Right. Whether, whether you can hire them if, if they're truly... If you're in a situation and area with low population- And this is not

going the way that Braxton wanted

it to go No, no, no.

It's so funny. Well, 'cause I, I know what you're saying.

And I'm trying to get, like-

The reels, the reels do not bother them.

Yeah. Uh-uh. Well, no, no, no, no. What, what I'm saying is I think when we got into this, we... And I'm new to growing a brand too. Right. Like, you know, I'm not... This is not my, like I've been doing it for 30 years.

We're all new at this social media stuff, and I don't think any of us understood what exactly we were getting into- Yeah ... on driving

people crazy. Yeah. Yeah. There was... I didn't know that... You're absolutely right. Yeah. I didn't know that so many people... I didn't know that you would say you could cut a reel that's just somebody saying something that's common sense to somebody who's educated in how this has to work.

Yeah. I didn't know people could get that pissed off. Sure. I mean, people get pissed off. Yeah.

And why they got so much time to get that pissed off? Why are you not at work? Like, that was a whole paragraph you w- Yeah.

Like, dude, you know what time it is? But some, some people at work have a lot of free time still in front of their screen.

There you are. They still do. Yeah. And that's what, that's why they're charging

$90 an hour. And, and the idea around all of this stuff started with changing the industry, right? And I think that is, you know, one of the core things about all of the shows, is to help encourage people in their journey in this industry.

Yep. Right? Right. That's, that's the deal.

I just had a guy- But- ... I talked to in the parking lot that listens to the podcast. He, he knows, he knows I like, uh- weird oddball vintage scan tools. Yeah. And he gave me a scan- And he said that he picks up- Oh, right on ... and he picks up stuff from, from David and Lucas.

He picks up stuff from all of us. Yeah. And he said he really likes it, you know? And that's, that's

the goal. That's what we want. And you're gonna have those people.

And that's what he does. But we talk about this stuff- He takes a little bit from each, and he sees- Yeah ... what works for him. Right. Some stuff doesn't.

talk about- And he's super reasonable, and I'm like, "I never see him in the comments." And I'm like, "Well, thank goodness this guy's- Yeah ... out here."

The, the, the- David, I'm happy you're out there ... the best people aren't always gonna be doing that. Yeah. But the, the thing is, and we talk about this at trade shows, is honestly, we can't actually change the industry.

Mm-hmm.

You can give people- They have to change

themselves.

Right.

Yeah.

You can give people advice, and you can do your best to help them, but for the most part, what? 10% whatever of the money- Maybe ... yeah, whatever it is you say it is, that's always gonna be true. Yeah. Like, I don't think you're actually gonna see tangible growth- Yeah

in more shops doing things the right

way. And that's, and that's the guess. We always guess, okay, who- Yeah ... who's actually willing-

It's a small

number. The top

10%. You know, is it 10? Is it five? Five. Who know? I don't know.

Because we are at- But it's very, very small ... it's, it's

not the majority, that's for sure.

We are at Tools

Pennsylvania- Mm-hmm ... in April. It's beautiful, here at Hershey. It's a great place to be, and there's 400 people here. It smells delicious, man. It smells delicious. Man. There's 400 people here. You know how many shops in a 200-mile radius need to be here right now that aren't? 200

mile- It'd be crazy.

I asked Brett how many shops were within 20 minutes of here- That aren't here ... and he almo- he rolled his eyes in the back of his head. Yeah, yeah. He goes, "Dude"

Yeah.

He goes, "This is insane."

Yeah.

He goes, "You can't get..." He goes, he was talking about some groups he's involved in. He goes, "I have a whole group that I'm involved in.

There's only three of them here."

Yeah. 'Cause people would rather complain than change.

Mm-hmm. Exactly.

And if you a- you know, challenge them, say, "Hey, dude, why are you only charging $90 an hour if you know if you charged correctly..." You go, "Well, how do you say it's correctly?" I see. "If you charged correctly, you wouldn't have to have that job at the city and then break your back here.

So do you really have two jobs or a job and a business? 'Cause it sounds like you got two jobs." Yeah. Right. So you call somebody out on their crap. It

sounds like they got a job and a hobby.

A job and a hobby, exactly.

A job and a hobby. Exactly. I use the term business loosely- Yeah Loosely ... and job loosely.

It's a hobby. Yeah.

Yeah. '

Cause a job, you can go get benefits at a job.

Mm-hmm.

You ain't getting benefits at a shop. That ain't even a job.

Yeah.

Right?

So- So let me, let me pose this question: If a year ago today we didn't post any reels-

Mm-hmm ...

like, positive ones or ones that could cause some rage, if we posted none, would you have the same reach and impact- That you would today if we had not.

So le- let me, let me... There's somebody out there, and he, they ain't worth saying the name, but there's a person out there in, in the, in the, in the s- scope of what we do that makes himself out to be, you know, a, a white knight coming along rescuing people with broke down cars. Mm. And it, and it's all got this, this- I

fell for it for a little bit too, bro.

Yeah. And it's all got this, um, tangible feeling that it's all positive, right? And so he had a ton of followers, ton of engagements. Like the, the GoFundMe and all this kind of stuff is great. And it, I guess you could spin that as say it's all positive. But it, again, it comes back to w- my favorite word is perspective.

Because it's very easy to sit here and say, "Every other shop doesn't know what they're doing is ripping people off," and that's a very negative thing to say. But if your audience is who you made it up to be want to hear that, to them it's very positive, right? So it comes back to perspective. We're not out here...

The outliers that are in these channels that we run in, right? They've already changed the industry for themselves. Mm. They've already changed the industry in their local area because they're not doing the norm. So positive and negative is, is perception and I think what, what I became overwhelmed with was just like I felt like I was, yes, getting a lot of com- uh, comments and a lot of communication, but it was in such a negative place that it was pointless to try and get them to see the other side, 'cause they didn't want to, right?

And I don't know if that's the difference between a rage bait and a clickbait maybe. Mm-hmm. 'Cause a rage bait is gonna get somebody angry and they don't even wanna have the conversation, they just wanna be heard by their- Yeah ... opinion and that's it. Whereas clickbait maybe gets people to engage.

That's- So, so, so, uh, you didn't answer my question.

Sorry. But we can come back to that. So the guy that stopped you in the parking lot-

Mm-hmm ...

never comments.

No,

I've, I've- But he sees all the stuff that you

know of ... I should say I've never seen him comment. He says- And so- ... he really appreciates it. So there's people... So the deal is, the, the reality is- Yeah

all those reels have to be posted to catch the eyes of people. So the people who are- Yes ... willing to do the work- Yes. Yes ... 'cause those are out there, right? 'Cause remember, I only said 50% of people are unwilling to do the work, right? If I, I- Or whatever the number is. There's a percentage of people who are willing to do- Yeah

the work.

Yeah. But, and, and this is my perspective, and this is where I want you guys to tell me if I'm wrong, I making reels am not trying to cut something that makes that person look bad or create negative rage. Mm-hmm. I am trying to get eyeballs.

Mm-hmm.

And those eyeballs help those people. Because you, you're not- Yeah, and, and-

gonna change the bad people in

this industry ... and him and I had about a half-hour conversation. He, he didn't need our help. Yeah. He's, he's got his stuff together. He's got multiple businesses. Oh, yeah. Um, he's diversified multiple businesses, multiple industries.

But those people, the ones that actually do care and will change, to me- He's

interested in listening

won't, won't-

He sees that reel ...

won't ever see reels-

Exactly ...

without eyeballs. He sees

the reel. Yeah. He sees the reel.

Yeah.

H- now he's interested. He's like, "Oh, I wonder what these guys are all about." Right. Now he clicks on it, he's like- Oh

yeah,

this is pretty cool. Yep. I'm gonna listen to this, right?

And if, and if, if we only posted, you know, the super positive feelgood stuff, which isn't all about what you guys talk about, to me, if I, if I cut only those things, it wouldn't be a accurate representation of what goes on on the shows.

Because sometimes- No ... there are, there are things you guys talk about that are rage.

Yeah.

And that's okay. Mm-hmm. And I, so it wouldn't be an accurate representation, but also if I only cut reels for those, you wouldn't get the eyeballs, you wouldn't get the attention- No ... the listeners to then have people like that, 'cause he probably would've never heard about the show had he not had other people in the comments getting attention- Driving

and rage. Driving. Right. If you don't have some of the negativity-

Driving the algorithm ... you're not gonna get... Right. And then, you know, the, the social media sees that he's involved in automotive. Exactly. Among other things, though.

Right.

He's involved in multiple industries. Yep. From what I understand, he's a, you know, he's in, he has a couple restaurants, um, do- does a little dirt work, construction type work, stuff like that.

He's got multiple... And he's not, he's not... He, he was, he was a technician, you know? He's a guy, and he's, he's talking about maybe, you know, narrowing back down and focusing on a certain thing, but he didn't need it. He's successful in multiple businesses, right? So when you have somebody that's successful in multiple industries-

They're gonna seek

out

knowledge

they don't need, they don't need Mike's help and my help. Yeah. But they're going to actively seek out the knowledge, and he's like, "Hey, I kind of, I like listening to your guys' show." You know? Mm. It was, it was interesting. But like you said- Without all the engagement as far as comments though, the algorithm never drives that so somebody sees that.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 'Cause that's the reality. That's the reality, right? If nobody, if it doesn't grab people's attention, okay, like let's see, let's say The Confessions, let's say Mike and I sent The Confessions page to the, to the couple hundred people we know, right? Let's say there was 1,000 people we know that we sent it to, and every, all those thousand people like it, right?

If you don't ever put anything on there that may be a little thought-provoking or spicy, as some people call it- Yep ... it never gets commented on. People are like, "Oh, yeah. Okay, yeah. Well, whatever." Right? It ne- none of that ever happens, and it never grow, it doesn't grow to 27,000 followers like it has, right?

Yeah. You sit there at 1,000 followers till the end of time, and the, those thousand followers are people who already know your opinions and already know the conversation you're having. Yeah. You never actually reach out beyond the bubble that you already had.

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Right? It doesn't happen. And that's, that's well said.

That's, that- Yeah ... that's how I, I see it. Yeah. And I, and I, and I too- And I, and I went

to- And I'm a stupid grease monkey, and I figured that out ...

I, I went to, I played, uh- ... I played baseball in high school with a guy who, uh, got married and has a kid who's about two years old that was born without half of his arms and half of his legs.

Oh, I like this. Mm. And they're Christians, and they chose, the doctors knew this was gonna be how the baby, you know, they took the ultrasounds, and they were like, "You could abort this child." Mm-hmm. And they chose not to abort the child, and so they wanted to create this social channel around what happiness that the child gives them, but also what kind of value of life that he has, hoping to inspire other people- Mm-hmm

in similar situations to keep the kid.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. That's their hope. And they post all kinds of really heartwarming videos about this kid and their life together, and they have hundreds of thousands of followers online. Mm. And if you go and scroll in there, while none of their content ever has anything to do with negativity or rage- Mm-hmm

it's all good stuff. Sure. They got a lot of hate in there. Of course they will. Oh. A lot of hate in there. Yep. Oh, it's terrible. "Can't believe you, you're, you're trying to monetize your child"- Yeah ... or, "I can't believe you're in here trying to, uh, show off this sad kid's life." Why are

they so mad? Like- Why are they so mad?

Let me, I

have- I guess I just don't understand that, but I definitely see what you're saying. And what

I'm, what I think is- I have a- ... no matter what- Mm-hmm ... kind of content you post-

Don't be an idiot ...

you're gonna have stupid people out

there. Do those people understand how stupid they are, though? Not- Right.

But they're- No, they don't.

I have a g- I have a good friend who has, who has a disabled child. Um, and there's medical expenses involved. And my, my friend does, he does pretty well for himself now, and they can, they can absorb that. He does well enough for, for himself that he's just, I just talked to him not too long ago.

He says he's super thankful for the position he's worked himself into in life with his, in his financial position that he knows that he can take care of his daughter without having to rely on- XYZ, right? Yeah. Mm-hmm. So let's just, let's just dive into that. The, the men- the mentality of the average American.

How stupid are these people to think that that child doesn't have medical bills? How do they know that even if, even if this page is making money, why are they getting pissed off? What do they think the parents are gonna do with the money? They're going to seek treatment to improve the life of the child.

People don't think like that. That's why people

piss me off.

Because-

Yeah, people do kinda-

People piss me off.

Like, who cares, dude? I guess it's still shocking to me, and I, I'm gull-

Because- ... not gullible, but- ... it's not, they, they, they, it's not that they don't know that the child has medical expenses, but they don't know the, the, the expense of what something like that is.

Yeah. A custom wheelchair, a- They don't- ... a custom vehicle to move a wheelchair around. They have no concept.

They don't understand that the expense of taking care of this child could be 30,000 a month. And

then they're- They don't understand ... exactly. They, they don't understand that. And then they're mad that if it's monetized through

social media- And I'm not saying that is, but-

They're mad that if it's monetized through social media, and their living conditions are better than theirs.

Maybe they're on a house with a lawn, and they're in some terrible apartment in s- on skid, like, in the skids. And they're looking at that going, "Must be nice." Like- Is it? That's- What, you know. Yeah. That's, that's the, the stupidest conversation that ever gets happened or anybody said because- I know ... must be nice.

Oh, I hate the must be nice. The must

be nice.

But that's, but that's what they're saying when they- I

never see any of the must be nice people at the shop at 4:00 in the morning. Yeah. It's weird. Yeah. So weird. You know what? Man, a lot of times I'm at the shop Sunday afternoon.

Sunday afternoon, and people are dropping off their cars, and they're like, "What are you doing here?"

I was like, "'Cause it's my job." I got stuff

to do.

I got stuff to do. I

got stuff to

do. Like, the, I know it closes. I still come in here to work. Yeah.

But it's the must be nice attitude that is what has spawned so many people to grab a keyboard and try and make themselves feel better.

Must, must be nice. In most cases, must be nice is linked to an adult that's incapable of making a good decision, and they've chosen Newports- Sure

and Red Bulls-

Yeah ...

instead of improving their financial position. I'm gonna,

I'm gonna express myself with these two sleeves of tattoos as I stand there and ask if you want fries with that.

Yeah. Yeah. That's must be nice. Yeah, I got five thou- That's the typical person thinking must be nice ... I can't afford to fix my car, but I got $6,000 worth of ink this year.

That's exactly what it is. That is

my favorite, Chad.

Right? Oh.

Choose your heart, man.

You know? So it's like, w- and, and they- Like, they wouldn't wanna trade positions

with that parent. Braxton's gonna be cutting all the clips out. Look at Braxton, he's pumped right

now. No, but what Braxton is trying to get at makes sense, that if it were not for the Real Spicy or not, we could not get the message out that we're trying to put out.

100% agree.

Yeah.

100% agree.

Yeah. Yeah. It's just how you said to me yesterday, just don't engage them in the comments. Yeah.

Just let them do what they gonna do.

Right. 'Cause you gonna change their mind? Or say it just like

you say it.

You gonna change their mind? Bless you.

Bl- bless, bless it.

You know?

Right? You're so smart. Or, I, and I say thanks for listening. I started doing that. Right.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. That'll be a good one.

Thanks for listening. I'm gonna

try that out.

Like, I wanna, I

wish, like, thanks for listening. I don't think I'd have engaged anybody in our comments and-

And then a cash register sound would come out Copyright, copyright.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening. Cha-ching. Ching. Just put another dollar in my pocket, thank you. Right? Then, and you don't wanna be that arrogant because it's like- But,

hey, you, you started it I started it, so- Uh, yeah ... hey. That's it. That's, that's fair.

I mean, think about, like, you know- Fair Thanks for nice teaching

we have 27,000 on Facebook.

Right.

37,000 on Facebook. Followers, okay. And we got, and we got, you know, other big followings on social media.

Sure. I got 725. But Facebook is

the big one. That's- Yeah. Oh,

girl, we

can- Think about the people- That's it ... who, like- Let me know ... are mega famous. Oh. Who have, like... You can't even imagine.

You think it's bad with the amount of followers we have. Think about, like, millions of followers. Sherwood and Sherwood comment. Trying to think about it everywhere. Or

Sherwood. Sher- Sherwoods. Are almost at 500,000-

But I'm talking about people- ... followers on YouTube ... who have millions and millions of followers.

Yeah, right. Yeah. Like, you know, athletes, celebrities. They have a social media- They have a manager ... manager. But, you know- Absolutely ... at, there comes a point where you can't respond to these people. Right. Mm-hmm. You physically do, would not have enough time in the day to do it, and if you did, you're gonna go crazy.

Yeah. Yeah. So you're, you, there has to be, like... And this is what I was saying earlier, too. Like, we didn't know that this is where it was gonna go. Yeah. And so now we're experiencing new things. We didn't really know we were gonna have to do this. This

is a Mr. Rogers. But- Can you, can you put, can you cut the Mr.

Rogers in there? We- you're learning so many new

things. So many new things. Like, so many- Please add that in there ...

I'm so proud

of you.

I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. You're learning so many new things today. Yeah. Yeah.

So I mean, it's like, uh, we kinda just have to, you have to find the off switch somewhere.

Yeah. And there, 'cause, 'cause there's, I mean, as the page, it's good to engage with people.

Yes. Yeah.

But sometime there is a line there somewhere where it becomes unhealthy for you. Mm-hmm. You gotta protect your peace, man. Yeah. Listen, you listening to

auntie. You gotta protect your peace. Man, I used to hold the flashlight for my dad, and none of the, not a single one of them people bother me.

And that's the thing, like, and that was-

Oh, you know what? I take that back. I had one guy- Who hurt your

feelings? Who hurt

you? I had one guy hurt my feelings.

Was his name Mike Allen?

No. I won't get into it. It's a long story. But- But Mike doesn't look at here. But I made some- No,

Mike, no ...

I made some phone calls.

I have to tell Mike, "Hey, by the way, that video's doing well." "Oh, it is? Okay, good." I made some phone calls, and I found him, and I called his cell phone, and we had a conversation. Ooh. I found him. Yeah.

Oh.

I found him. He had a lot, he had a lot to say online. He didn't have a lot to say on his phone. It was weird.

And that's

sometimes the difference. Keyboard warriors. Yeah. Oh,

yeah. I said, "You know what? You know what? I don't..." He said something to the, to the, uh, effect of, "F your whole bloodline." Yeah. You know, 'cause my background picture's a da- my, my dad's gravestone with his, uh, military service plaque on it. And, um, it, and it said, "Especially Ron," well, my dad's name's Ron.

Oh. My chi- my child's name is Ron. So I made a couple phone calls. I found the guy. We got, we're straightened up. He won't, he won't be commenting again. He,

he won't say nothing no more.

He gonna be all right.

Yeah. But see, that's, that's taking it- So that's-

That

irritated me ... that's ta- of course. That's the only one, though, that I've ever really- Of course, '

cause that's taking it- What was the video?

to another level. What was the, like, what was the video context? I can't

remember what's

happening. Yeah.

But the thing is, what would piss you off so bad- Right ... from a clip in the inter world that you feel like you had to say something like that?

That you have to say something like that- Who the hell are you?

and have a refrigerator hunting you down. That's not good.

Can-

It's not a good situation.

Candace has to remind me a lot of times, 'cause I'm a very competitive person, and I love my- ... I love my sports teams. And there was a time where it was bad. Like, if my team lost, don't talk to me for a day or two. Like, it was bad.

And I've gotten a lot better, but she has... Whenever I start to get upset about something stupid like that, she's like, "Braxton, you realize there's starving people in Africa right now that have real problems." Oh, gosh,

here we go.

That, a- and that's a, that's true.

That got me to- And, and if that's true in real- That got me to 400 pounds.

"You have to finish your dinner. There's starving kids." Come on.

But see, th- th- th-

on me, Mama. "All right.

Yes, ma'am." Yeah, yeah. Put, puts it in perspective, though. Yeah. You know, people got real problems. Sure. People are in the hospital right now with issues, and you're over here perfectly healthy with a good roof over your head- And no man 'cause I can't get

all flats-

getting upset about

your

sports team ... at the, at the wing restaurant All I wanted was all fat. Fish meal Well, some people really want, wouldn't mind it for a drumette

When we put ourselves out in the automotive realm, we have to remember that a lot of us that are our audience is people not in the realm.

So they all have a situation of where they feel like they didn't understand what the repair was, or they didn't feel the repair was f- fair. Or like you and I go back and forth so many times.

First thing, what is fair?

Yeah. And, and- Anyways ... but the second thing is, is like it didn't, they, they were ripped off.

They were just frankly ripped off. They were promised that this part would fix this complaint, and it didn't fix it, and the fucking light's back on. Pardon my language. Yeah. And they're mad, and they're angry, right? We have to remember a lot of those people have that, that are watching, and what the algorithm's gonna show to them are the exact people that are watching.

So they're not interested- Mm ... in us trying to be better than those people that screwed them over.

Into cutting somebody up.

They gotta... Exactly. They're gonna throw hands through the k- screen at someone, and we represent that. And that's the difference is it doesn't matter how hard we try. Right, and that's

fair.

You know? Yeah.

But, you know, that sucks for them, I guess.

Well, and, and- Um,

and- I don't know why, why are people... I don't wanna go on the tangent. I was gonna say, why are people paying for cars that ain't fixed anyways? But that's a

different- Well, you, uh, yeah. How many times have you asked, and what doesn't make sense?

And I- Like, why do people... And I know shops that have, I know shops that have subbed cars out to the dealer 'cause the, the shop- Yeah ... can't get to the bottom of it. They send it to the dealer. Dealer puts a bunch of parts on, writes them a bill for $2,900, and says, "Yeah, the car ain't fixed- Mm-hmm ... but all these modules are here now."

I'm like, "Why are you paying them?"

Yeah.

They didn't fix it.

Yeah.

But that's a whole, we can't get into that convo. That's another

podcast. We can't get into the conversation about it. Well, it's a completely different subject matter as to what's the real- We still fix cars and that's that's the thing ... what's the real money that you can charge people if they'll pay $1,400 and it doesn't fix the car?

And you're-

$1,401 ...

and you're the bad guy. I said that how many years ago? Four, 15

years ago.

Who wants The Price is Right?

Yeah. $1,401. $1,401.

But it is. Yeah.

But it is. If they put $1,400 into it and the car ain't fixed, and you find a broken wire, what is the fix worth? What's the market value of the fix?

The market value.

I like how you put that.

$1,401. $1

than the car was worth. And we, and we don't do that- Yeah ... to be very clear. However-

But ...

that's the, I don't know.

Yeah.

Braxton, what else do you have for us?

I love this stuff. It is great. Dude, good, good for you guys. He's cut so many reels on this. The reel

guys. Yeah, so many, yeah.

So many reels. And he's got so many more angry people, and we're not going to respond to them. Um- Because if you're angry, we don't like you Cutting that one too Not me.

Not me, I, I like you Well, they're not our people though. No. Well, that's the thing,

right? Like- They're not our people yet. Well- They're gonna change the industry and they will become our people

No, no, you- It- Can I tell you something Greg Buckley told me one time?

Yeah.

Uncle Buck. I was real frustrated. I was trying to help somebody with something, and I was just super frustrated. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, this guy just won't, he won't under- He's choosing not to understand- Mm-hmm ... this guy." Greg Buckley told me, and I just talked to him this morning, and I told him I took that advice very seriously when he...

I literally told him this this morning. But Greg told me one time, he goes, "Bryan, you're not the Messiah, you can't save all these people."

Yeah. That's what he said. Oh, I like that.

Yeah.

That's what he said.

Yeah. I am not Captain Save a Hoe.

Well-

Yeah.

I was gonna say, Tanika loves to say this, and I think in this situation with people getting upset online, we have to remember what you eat don't make me fat.

said it right, too. What you eat don't make me fat.

And you- Can't

worry about

that ... what you have to do- I thought it was

other people's cake don't make me fat.

Either way. No. No, down South. We down South. What you eat don't make me fat.

Okay.

Uh, so- I ain't arguing

with

you ... I think, I think we have to remember that these are our missions.

Mm-hmm. We're trying to help the industry, and we're gonna stay focused, but some people just aren't gonna get on the train. Mm-hmm. And there's- Just like they won't show up

for training ...

right. There's just nothing you can do about it. Right. And you can do your best- Mm-hmm ... and, uh, don't worry about the rest.

Yeah. I don't know. Look at-

No, look at that. Look at that ... Bryce still dropping bars. Look at that. Do your best, don't worry about the rest.

Yeah. Freaky. Word to your mother. That's the th- that's the thumbnail image. That's the thumbnail image. Yeah. Bryce Tide till I die. Word to, to

your mother. Word to your mother.

Word to your

mother.

Uh- Um, I think in, in some ways it's like we don't- We don't necessarily s- talk about the positive things enough because it would seem braggadocious, right? Sure. And the reality is is so what we just discuss is we discuss always the challenges. The challenges, the challenges, the challenges.

Yeah. No, I agree with that. We don't, like, you don't ever puff your chest out, like, outside of, um, the circles necessarily on some of the amazing things that you do,

right? I don't really do that many amazing things. I've just screwed- Oh, shush ... a lot of stuff up, so I figure a couple things- I know ... in here

and there.

I know. But-

Yeah, maybe that's something that we try to lean into this year- And that's so like- ... is, hey, highlight some of the good stuff.

And that's what I keep thinking going forward is- We do, we do talk

about that

the shop too. Tamika does a good job at that.

I try to do- Yeah ... I

try to

do that. You do. I wanna, like, this is where I'm from, this is where I went, and this is what's happened.

Yeah. This is the good that came out of it.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. A- and you always wrap up the episode with like, "Hey, what gives you hope about this industry?" Yeah. Encourage someone- Mm ... that's in shoes that you were in 20 years ago.

Right.

Like, stuff like that,

you know? 'Cause I f- I find that people think it's just them, and they're still thinking that in 2023.

Yeah. It's like, "It's just my shop. It's just me. I'm not doing good." No. No. You're

doing great. No. Same problems, different zip code.

Yeah. You-

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Everybody's

facing the same challenges. Well, I'm not gonna be like, "Man, I ain't-" And,

and that's another point.

And they're looking, nah, they're looking at the highlight reels of our lives-

Mm.

Yep ... on social media-

Oh, yeah ...

and they're thinking those other 23 hours- Yeah ... are just as easy, 'cause that's all we share is the highlight reels on any social media, whether it's business, personal, podcast. The people that get online and cry for a living to music, now that's a different beast. We'll talk about that in another episode.

But really, that's what we post. We edit our highlight reels, and we put music behind it, and you make, make everybody laugh for the likes, for the dopamine. Yeah. And that's what people are seeing, and then that's how they get the feeling, like, "Oh, it's just my shop. I'm the only one that's struggling." And that's why I was telling with Benji today, I was like, "Listen, dude, if you're, you've got three bays and your capacity is 500,000 a year, get there.

Don't sit there and compare yourself to the guy that has- Yeah ... $400,000 a ye- a, a month. Stop looking at those fools- Yeah ... 'cause they're miserable anyway.

Mm-hmm.

And they smell funny. Um- W- work on you. Yeah. Focus on you, boo.

Yeah.

Yeah. Do the best you that you can do- Yeah ... and go from

there.

So,

and I'll tell

you,

social media h- has, has done way more damage than it has good.

Absolutely.

Sure. Uh, I mean, there's a lot of good out there in there, but yeah, it's, it's, it com- everybody wants to compare their self to everybody else

at every walk of life. Well, how is everybody taking these vacations? Baby, that vacation reel was from three years ago and you went no damn where. You believe that?

Or did go somewhere, but I'm just saying. Yeah. Um, but yeah, people believe all of the, the highlight reels.

Yeah.

Well, yeah. It's what people want to show because they wanna make it feel better. Like, how many people are in dead-end relationships and, uh, open marriages and stuff, and they're still posting celebratory, you know, "This is our anniversary"?

And yet, you know-

Man, I know a couple ...

right? And it's like, and- Wait, wait, wait. What you just- Or you know the backstory and you're like, "Oh, there-" Yeah,

I know the real story-

Yeah ...

and it's like, "Oh."

And that's, that's ugly, and I'm not trying to put those people on blast, but I mean, that's exactly the highlight reel.

To show you that people are lying.

Yeah.

People are not who they post to be.

And from the business standpoint, we've talked about this, people can get in there and get all up on... but, like, this is the revenue that we generated, and this is the hours that were turned and everything, and then we can go, we in the industry know that there's also fallout from that, right?

And it, and so when

we- Yeah, some of those business models, although they may work for a few years-

Yeah ...

there's certain business models that have an expiration date that has to do with population- Yeah ... density, market size, so on and so forth.

Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah, and that's when we get into that, you know, everybody was so dis- it was so divided last...

two months ago, right? Yeah. When that happened, the, the plane crash. And everybody was so divided, and it got so toxic in one weekend. That was,

that was ugly.

It was terrible. Yeah. And it was like, holy crap, like, everybody just chill for a minute. Like, it doesn't- It's ugly ... what that ha- what they, uh, talk about all day long isn't for me.

But you know what? But it doesn't mean that, like, but

again- What they eat don't make you fat either. That's right. Mind your business. If you don't like it, keep it moving, big dog.

Yeah. You

know- And like, this, f- for me, that's not my b- model. Yeah. Todd Hayes, he's not my model. Mm-hmm. You know? I choose to do it this way.

Yeah. You choose to do it... but as long as

we're treating- They all have an expiration date ... the customer

right.

And everybody looks a certain way online. Uh, mm-mm. And then you find somebody in that market that's actually involved, and you find out that, oh, maybe that people- That

they show up every Monday at that shop and go- People

are, are exaggerating- Yeah.

What do you have for me? ... about how great it is, and the staffing gets changed more than Bryan changes his socks. It's not as great as everybody thinks it is. Yeah. You know, there's a lot of people acting like everything's great- Yeah ... but then there's a lot of people that have a whole-ass hiring manager 'cause you can't fr- keep people in the building for more than 30 days.

Yeah. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyways.

But yet those people in that, that represent that side of the industry, they're still our people, and they're still within our industry.

Exactly.

And that's the thing, it's like we, we need to remember that they still deserve a somewhat level of respect, you know?

Um- Somewhat ... and, uh, and, and at least of- Okay, you do you, like you always say- You do you ... and, and we're gonna do us, right? Yeah. And it doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong. I promise you,

I will keep doing me. Yeah. Somebody'll have a gun to my head- Yeah ... I'll just keep doing me. I'll risk surviving the gunshot wound.

Yeah.

Um- I'll

just keep doing

me ... and that's the thing, so it's like-

That's how it's gonna go ...

I, I don't care as much as I used to care about what somebody else was doing and whether it was wrong for the industry. Mm-hmm. I'm past that point, right? I, I put my focus on my people, which is the technicians.

Yep.

And that's where I put my focus, and it's like this can work for you, and it might not work for you. It depends on the type of person. You may go to a dealer and love it, and you may go to an independent shop and love it. It, both of them are opportunities- Mm-hmm ... and, and avenues for some young people to get into.

And then

sometime even that, on that level, you gotta be like, "Dude, if it's so bad-" Yeah ... do something about it." Do something. Right. And that's- Buy some K- So

I have

tell- Yeah. Go ... I have to tell so many of them, right? Like, it's like, "So let's really-" "

Why do you keep going there?" "Why you still complaining about, or

why are we having this conversation again?"

Yeah. Yeah. "

Bro, did you take the wheels off your toolbox? What's the trouble here?"

Yeah.

Right? "Well,

you

know, you know." Get it

out.

I don't wanna move. Well-

And then when you say that, other people get mad. I don't really care. Yeah. I just, you know. Well, no, you're just trying-

don't wanna move ... to help them think, 'cause you, I'm not finna sit here and listen to you m- make the same complaint.

If you can tell me- Yeah, you're

gonna sit here and complain how you get screwed every single week- Every

single day ...

well, why don't you go try a different shop and see if it's you

the shop? "Well, I

don't wanna move." Let's

try that. "

Because

I don't know." Let's at least change one thing. You can't change you 'cause you are you.

Yeah. Change your environment. If you still suck in the next environment- Then

it might

be you ... maybe it's time to check the mirror. Maybe it's better in the next environment. I don't know. Mm. I don't know the answer. Yeah. I'm not you. I don't work beside you. I can't tell you. But yeah, well, you gotta

do something.

I'll tell you

what.

Yeah. Doing nothing... Yeah, do something. Shit

or get off the pot, as my grandpa used to say.

Do, do something. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, and that, the thing I can show them person after person that moved across the country to, to

find- Oh,

my gosh ... a better opportunity. Mm-hmm.

And everyone's like, "Oh."

You know me, I talk to some people who bring people in from across the country all the time.

Yeah, all the time.

Built whole businesses with transplants. Well,

look at, look at Zeb. Zeb threw that money up there and said, "I don't care where you come from, come here if you can do the job." "

Well, you know, I can't come

way out there because-" And it's like all of the sudden, all the hands went down.

Mm-hmm. "I'm not coming." Everybody talks a big game, and then somebody says- "

Show me what you can

do" ... "Come here tomorrow," right? Crickets. "We've got more bays and more cars than you can get done," and nobody comes and knocks on the door except a few people. I open up that post on Facebook

right now and my phone will go chirp, chirp, chirp.

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, and it's, and again, there's a big difference between having the, the- Trying to be heard-

Mm-hmm ...

right? And legitimately complaining. And this is what I, I have to have this conversation all the time with, with my mom, is that sometimes, like, it sounds like complaining, but I'm just trying to unload, right?

Mm-hmm. And that's a lot of the people when we put ourselves out there again, is they're complaining and it sounds like complaining, but they're just trying to be heard- Mm-hmm ... and get some, some tension out of themselves that makes them feel better. Mm-hmm. Right? And, and, you know, no- nobody likes to hear, "Well, suck it up, buttercup."

Like, uh, I had to... Like, I had to walk uphill both ways to school. That never taught a kid- In the snow ... to appreciate, you know, the fact that they- Oh, yeah. Don't

forget the

snow ... didn't have to walk through

snow.

Don't forget the snow. Right?

Tanika didn't. There, there was no snow.

But you know what I'm trying to say, right?

Like, that never made anybody appreciate better. It was just, okay, it's a disregard.

It's like- No. Well, you want to f- you want to be a sounding board, yes. Yes. But then when, uh, Jimmy Bob complains about the same thing- Mm-hmm ... for five weeks-

Yeah ...

I don't hear that shit no more, Jimmy Bob.

That's right.

Like, what are you gonna do about it?

Yeah. Like, Bryan was like, "Okay, well, what are we doing?" Do

something. Change

something.

Do something. Do something.

Yeah.

If you're like, "This place is horrible. This place is a prison," move. Yeah. Move. Get out. You're

not trapped there. Get out. There, there... You're not trapped. I mean, dude, it was a, a shop owner, friend of my father's, and he sent me a message on Facebook, and talking, talking, talking.

He was like, "Listen, you should do this. Consider this. You know me from my childhood. Now you know the type of people that me and my father are. I am telling you, the best advice I can give you right now is to shut your door and come to Feeling Connections and listen to Becky Witt on this Friday. I will pay for you to go."

Oh, man, you know I got a... Listen, you know what? Oh. You know what? Never mind.

All the excuses. Can't, can't, can't.

Yeah. Can't, can't, can't. But it, it's... Yeah. Well, Jimmy- I got,

I got a car lot f- I got a lot full of cars. Yeah, I got a lot full

of cars. I

can't,

I can't, I

can't miss a day. Can't, can't, can't, can't, can't.

Yeah,

that's not working out for you, big dog. Jeff, one

saying, quote I use from my wrestling coach. I, I had the best wrestling coach- What'd he say? ... on this planet. He was, he's in the coaching hall of fame. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Just, he was good.

Yeah.

And he used to, if we were, if we were messing around and not, not doing what we were supposed to do and getting beat or something, and, uh, he'd, he'd pull you aside and he goes, "You know, you're out here finding a way to lose.

It's just as easy to find a way to win."

Yeah.

Right? And they- Facts ... what they do is they keep making the excuse, and they keep finding a way to lose.

Yeah.

And it's just as easy to find a way to win. And, it's not as comfortable, but difficulty level longterm, winning is easier than losing longterm. Mm-hmm.

And that's how you-

Losing's easier short-term

that's how you create that movie- But longterm, it sucks ... that you play in your head. Mm-hmm. Is when you keep finding the people to blame and the excuses that you're gonna make. And

the people to listen to it.

That's right. And then nobody else will listen to it. It's you- No, you'll

find some trials that'll, that will be- Sure.

Sure they are ... sharing the misery, m- the misery with you. Oh, the,

oh- In the, in

the, on Facebook ...

some, some other person that chooses to lose also- Yeah, like- ... will be like, "This- ... "Yes, man, you're right." ... y- you're right, this sucks." That's

right. This-

Right? It's like- ... fucking...

Ugh.

And that movie in your head- And that may make

a change

that movie in your head is what will really screw you up.

Yeah. Make a change. Josh talks about that all the time.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's your very r- 'cause here's the thing, that's your very real reality, is whatever you picture in your brain- Yeah ... as the reason for- Yeah, visualization ... why you act this way or whatever, that's the movie.

Jim and I have a whole section, uh, in our class on, on visualization.

Yeah.

Right? Like-

The beauty

of it- You have to visualize- Yeah ... where you want to be.

Yeah.

You have to visualize it. Yeah. Right? And, and-

And then build steps

to get there ... and it's not, and it's not some hokey pokey BS that... I m- what do you think, what do you think these trainers are teaching some of these professional athletes to do?

Mm-hmm. Visualize. Right? Do you th- a quarterback visualizes the throw to the ball at the, into the receiver's arms. Yeah. Right? Yeah. People visualize, professional Olympic shooters, right, they Winter Olympics this year, they're off skiing around and shooting, right? They're all visualizing the shot.

Yep.

It's not some hokey pokey BS.

If you walk up to the putt

thinking you're gonna miss it,

well, you're

gonna

miss it.

You're gonna miss it. Yeah. You have to visualize it. They were talking about the Olympics, and I don't watch, you know, I'm not skiing. Black people don't ski. I'm lying. I just say stuff like that. Um, but they were saying- There's definitely no water skiing

when you're skiing- ... you know, in, on s- on the slopes. Yeah. Yep. You're going fast as hell. Uh-huh. On two little, skinny little pieces of me- Two little runners. Yeah. But they say you just have to look at where you're going.

That's right.

Yeah. Like, if they didn't look at exactly... 'Cause I'm like, how can you- And we have-

focus at that speed?

And with, and with snowmobiling, we have a funny saying, "If you ride out in the powder, if you look at a tree trying to avoid it-" You're going to hit that tree. You're going to hit the tree. Right. Every single time. You steer into it. You have to look where you wanna go.

If you're gonna, if you look right, you're gonna go right.

Yeah, you have to look where you wanna go. So if you don't wanna hit the tree, you better be looking at the gap. If you look at the tree, you hit the tree.

Yep.

Every time. Yeah. Every time. Not just like- Dude ... "Oh, it might work out." No, every time.

Hey, George, look out for that tree.

Yeah, you have to visualize. And some people, like Jeff said, their visualization or the, as Jeff referred to it, the movie they're playing in their head- Right

is woe is me, woe is me, woe is me.

This industry sucks- You know, this is a prison ... I'll never do this. I can't get anywhere. But then they say it so much that other people believe it. That they b- other people believe it, right. Like, no, dude, you suck or maybe you're in the bad shop. But the loudest person- How many-

gets the attention.

And how many- Well, how- ... high school educated level people do I have to go through that have just m- absolutely made it in this industry? This industry's so terrible.

Yeah.

I, I have, I have dozens of people that are just killing it.

Killing it.

Some of them didn't make it out of high school.

They're multimillionaires.

Some of them didn't make it out of high school. Right. They're multimillionaires.

Nothing, like sh, Daddy's story. He's 18 years old with a kid, me. Mm. And I tell people statistically, according to statistics- Get us on Mike Tirico ... shouldn't even know where he, I wouldn't even know who, I shouldn't know who he, know who he is, and he shouldn't be anything.

Mm-hmm. High school, did graduate from high school, started a shop, but he had people behind him that believed him, and he kept his eyes on the prize.

And he did the work.

And he did the work. Did the

work.

Yeah.

You have to do the work.

You have to do the work. A lot of

people are trying to skip out on the work.

That's the problem. You know, the, 'cause like I was saying, the coaches are saying, "Well, work on your business, not in it." No, you gotta do both. You have to do both for a long time.

You have to do, we have a whole section of that in our class. That

we talk about that.

How do you know what's wrong if you don't show up?

Yep.

Do the work

Mm.

You

gotta do the work

After hours, before hours

You have to do the work, and it's the same as, like, the more technical side of stuff that I do. If you think that I showed up to shop from 9:00 to 5:00 and I supposedly figured out all this magical crap between 9:00 and 5:00, it's mm-mm. No. No.

No.

No. But they have to have- And you can choose what you devote- ...

work-life balance

It, it... And you can choose. I'm ignoring

you. He gave you the side eye.

You gotta have

work-life balance. And you can choose how successful you are.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yep.

Here's the deal. If you put in an extra 20 minutes a day, the st- the statistics that Cocona's collected, so I'm assuming they're correct because he's a master researcher.

Mm-hmm. So I'm gonna believe him. The statistics say that if you put an extra 20 minutes a day, you'll achieve a level at a certain thing, if you focus on that subject for 20 minutes a day extra, you'll achieve mastery of that subject at a level that will put you within the top 10% of people in that subject.

Yep.

That's what 20 minutes a day extra work gets you. Is 20 minutes a day even that much? You have lu- everybody's got a half-hour lunch. Your shop, the guys take a half hour lunch? They

got an hour.

Okay, wolf your cheeseburger down, spend 20 minutes of the day watching, scan or da- choose your flavor. I don't even care what you watch.

Yeah. Choose your flavor. Watch it. You don't have to do what I do. What Jeff knows what I've done. Yeah. In 20 years, I've put an additional 20,000 hours in outside of-

Yeah ...

right?

Training.

Yeah.

And that's what you get. What I have, the blessings that I have, is what I get for that extra effort.

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

But you're certainly not just gonna show up, and somebody brought it up in the class the other day, "I have a girlfriend. I want my work-life bal-" O- okay, buddy. That's fine. So if you would like to be... Now this is gonna, this is gonna be a rage bait click. Mm-mm. If you would look up, go online, go to the US Labor Statistics, look up what the average salary of an automotive technician is, and if you want to be, if you want to 9:00 to 5:00 it, you will be that average technician.

You will earn the average salary. Mm-hmm. Good luck. Don't complain to me when you chose average.

Yeah.

You're choosing average.

Yeah. Well, that's exactly what the

real- They choose average, and they get pissed off at their average. Yeah. Bro, you chose average. I didn't choose average for you. Yeah. You chose average.

This is how you live now. I think-

The re- ... I can get away with saying this, the girlfriends really mess techs up

Oh,

it's- The girl... I can get- Oh, I got

young guys. I can,

I can say it. Yeah, no, I'll say it. I'll

be the female. I- yep. 100%. The girls really mess up a tech. They get all- The girls in the w- ... twisted up Oh, whoa,

whoa.

They get all twisted up over these girls, and I'm like, "Bro, like-

Especially if you're- ...

pull your head out of your ass. We got shit to do."

Especially if you're with a toxic one. That was me way back in the day, and-

Even, I

think- ...

and

I, and it cost me a job ...

I think that even a re- even, even a, even a girl is not a problem.

I think their head gets all discombobulated, and they're all like, they can't even make heads or tails on what the situation is, and they start acting stupid. I've seen it happen.

Mm.

I've seen it happen, and it's, it's, oh

my God. Well, you had one, you had one that left your shop and followed her.

Remember that? That's how much, that's how much- I forgot about that, but I love everything about it ... but,

but that's what I mean. You and I have talked so long.

He freaking... This kid- Yeah ... his freaking girlfriend broke up with him. This kid go, drives to the Buffalo Airport the next morning instead of coming to work, gets, buys a plane ticket, flew

up.

Left his toolbox and everything?

Left his shit.

Ain't no way. Uh, yes- She must

had him good then ... yes way, Miss Tina. Well, she

was working- Yes

way.

She was working with, uh, WAP.

I ain't never seen... Yeah.

Wings and Pizza.

Yeah, Wings and Pizza. Wings and Pizza. That's exactly what we meant when we said

that. Yeah,

yeah.

But no, I had a young lady started off as a tech with me. She was really young, and she wanted to do it. She was doing a good job. She wanted to be a diesel tech. She could have-

Mm-hmm ...

got a boyfriend.

Mm-hmm.

And I said, "Let me tell you something." Then her mom kicked her out. I said, "If your mama kicks you out, you know- You got problems

you, you got problems." Yeah. And she, "Oh, I'm gonna be late." 'Cause he was down in Vietnam. So it's an hour and a half, two-hour drive, and she's trying to come back and forth to work.

She's called Vietnam? Vietnam? Vietnam. I, I never heard that. Is that what we call Fayetteville? Yeah. It's

a military, a Vietnam.

I'm fa- So- I'm, I'm, I'm familiar with a military town. I had never heard it called that. Vietnam.

Me either. Me

either. But my life-

She lost her job ... my

life has been improved

now that I've- She was down in Vi- Vietnam. So you tell Josh he lives in Vietnam.

I know. I'm going to tell Josh.

We gotta reel it in.

Okay.

Sorry.

Uh- Oh,

it's 5:00.

I love it. You guys have given me more content to cut and create reels and- That was not the point of

this whole

conversation, but he's enjoying it ... uh, I, I love it all. Uh,

when is Vietnam getting cut? 'Cause I wanna put that on endless loop- ... 'cause I

will laugh at that forever.

We'll do it in the Forrest Gump.

How much are you willing to

pay, Bryan?

Vietnam. I'll get it after tomorrow. And we'll get Michael, we'll get Michael Gunther to put, like, your face onto Rambo's body.

No. Oh. I wanna be Forrest

Gump. He's my favorite.

Vietnam.

Oh, yeah. You could do- You know, he says, "Vi- ... to run it out of Vi- yep

e-nam."

Wait, wait, we can get around Robin Williams. "Good morning, Vietnam."

Vietnam. Oh my gosh. Okay, okay. Sorry. Focus, reel it in.

Well- Sorry. We're back, Brandon. Sorry ... I love

you all. And I think these conversations are valuable for us and the listeners, uh, especially the ones that actually care- Right ... and aren't just here 'cause they mad.

Yeah. But, you know, the, you guys, I believe... 'Cause I came, I worked for a Christian radio station, and I really do believe that God called me out of that space to be in this one to help you guys do what you wanna do.

Yep.

And I love getting to do what I do, and sometimes, you know, there are, uh, there are things that we gotta figure out.

Yeah. And this has been one of those. This, 2026 so far has been figure out how to manage social media, how to build a brand, and really come up with where you wanna be. Yeah. Like, where, where you wanna be in five years. And I think we're s- really changing things up on how we do it all. Yeah. And it's been fun.

It's been fun to work with you

guys, so. I've learned a lot. And I do appreciate you. Yeah. I've

learned

a lot.

100%. And- Well, I'm learning a lot, too. I mean, it, you know, like I say, I'm kinda new at this at the same time. Right But, um,

I love you guys. So bottom line, what we want from our listeners is to get past the reel.

Yes. Yes. 'Cause we need the reels in order to reel in new listeners- Yeah,

you're that pissed off- ... so that we can- ... go listen to Old Time ... continue to do our work. Yeah. Yeah. But we need you to listen to the whole- I don't know what- ... 30-

I don't know what percentage of it is, but say if you had 100,000 views on a video Let's say there's 1,000 people that actually go to watch the, the full episode. That's still good. Like, I mean- Yeah. That's 1,000 people. That's 1%, right? That's a, that's 1%. That's a 1,000 people that wouldn't

have gone to see that- To 100.

Can you imagine if we change- Right, 100 people ... if some, if you take 100 people-

Yeah ...

and-

Convert them ...

one.

Yeah.

One. I wrote down here with Dan and Rachel, they brought two, w- a guy that's running a shop and his employ- so one, one shop. One shop is a huge change. Yep. Yep. I was excited. I was like, "This is awesome."

Mm-hmm. This guy's mind is blown. Yeah. He's down here. That's the power of just one. So if anybody wants

to know what we wanna do- One at a time even ... other than

hear ourselves talk- Yeah ... what he just

said. That's right. One at a time even. One shop, one shop at a time. That's

right. One shop at a ti- one bite at a time.

Yeah. That's right. That's our unit motto- Yep ... right there. I'm gonna say like Jeff does, I loves you all. Yeah. I loves you all. How do you, how do you say it?

I loves you

all. I love you all.

God bless, good night.

Yeah. Thank you for listening.

Chop, chop.

I'm not saying nothing.

Because you know if you do, you won't.

Stop. Yep. And that is

the rest

the

schedule. He won't stop. Oh. If

you could do me a favor real quick and 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 ASAP group and to the Changing the Industry podcast. Remember what I always say, in this industry, you get what you pay for. Here's hoping everyone finds their missing 10 millimeter, and we'll see you all again next time.

About this episode

Go behind the scenes with Bryan Pollock, Tonnika Haynes, and Braxton Critcher as they peel back the curtain on their chaotic group chat and the realities of modern social media. The crew debates the double-edged sword of viral reels, exploring how massive view counts often invite intense negativity and "rage bait" comments from outside the industry. They share personal experiences with online hate, discuss whether to delete ignorant comments or let them fuel the algorithm, and weigh the long-term impact of viral fame on their podcast brands and automotive businesses.

10 millimeter door rates Greg Buckley Hershey scan tools technician shortage Volkswagen wheels off your toolbox

Chevrolet C/K Tesla Model Y

Original notes

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Recorded at Tools Pennsylvania 2026, this discussion brings together Jeff with Bryan Pollock, Tonnika Haynes and Braxton Critcher to talk about the realities of growing a podcast and business through social media. They explore why short-form content and reels are essential for reaching new audiences, the downside of viral clips attracting negative comments, and the challenge of balancing attention-grabbing content with long-term brand integrity. The conversation also covers dealing with online criticism, protecting your mental health, and staying focused on helping people make meaningful changes instead of chasing internet arguments.

Timestamps:
00:00 Do You Focus?
01:34 Disc Golf Banter
01:52 Emotional Support Wiener
02:10 Tools PA Roundtable Introduction
02:30 Group Chat Chaos
03:32 Reels Are the Devil
05:05 Why Social Media Matters
06:51 Viral Reels and Online Hate
09:29 Deleting Ignorant Comments
11:01 Rage Bait vs. Clickbait
15:00 Shop Rates and Industry Reality
16:24 Producer Clip Strategy
20:58 Can You Change the Industry?
23:53 Choosing Positivity
29:34 Why Good Content Still Gets Hate
32:42 The "Must Be Nice" Mindset
34:40 Handling Large Audiences
35:53 Protecting Your Peace
36:16 Keyboard Warrior Stories
38:34 Why Viewers Get Angry
41:01 You Can't Save Everyone
42:30 The Highlight Reel Trap
48:24 Stop Complaining—Start Changing

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The Jaded Mechanic Podcast

Jeff Compton

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64:15