LIVE
My role in this industry continues to be, how do we amplify the message to everybody that technicians are super-talented people that deserve your respect?
Beyond the Wrench with Jay Gannon from Wrenchway.
Good morning and welcome to Beyond the Wrench.
My name is Josh Arnold and I am your host today.
And I have a guess that maybe a few of you may know, may not, Mr. Jay Gannon.
Welcome to Beyond the Wrench.
Kind of weird being on the other side of this.
Well, welcome, Jay, you're a professional and so today we're flipping things around for once.
We want to know a little bit about you and where everyone should start in a conversation is your superhero origin story.
I want to hear a little bit about your beginning and then we'll dive into some of the big points of the career.
Yeah, it's always awkward to talk about yourself.
So I give a lot of our guests credit for going through this and sharing their origin stories because that is one of my favorite parts of the show.
But mine is, I think, probably, I don't know, some people might know it, some might not.
But started off, I've grown up in Wisconsin my entire life or lived in Wisconsin almost my entire life.
And my dad had been running a shop.
He started as a mechanic. Actually, he was a police officer. He was a bunch of different stuff before he was a mechanic and was working at a shop in a neighboring town.
That shop owner then wanted to open a second location, open a second location in our hometown.
And after, I don't know, a year or two, wasn't loving having a second location.
So offered it to my dad. My dad and my parents in general were super, super young when they had me.
So my dad was 17. My mom was 18 when they had me.
And so I think at the time I was nine years old when they started the business, the shop, which is just an independent shop that's still in business today.
But they started it with like a, I don't know, it was like a $2,000 loan from my great grandmother.
And so when you, it was truly, and like, you talk about not having any money to start a business, that's kind of how our family was.
And so, you know, early on, that really got me introduced to the industry.
And I loved being at the shop, right? Like from when I was a little kid, my brother and sister were the opposite.
Like they didn't really want anything to do with it. And I was just there all the time.
So I, you know, anytime that I could be there, I was at the shop and just always, you know, at the time we were so small that like my dad's buddies would come around.
And so it was always cool for me to go hang out with them.
But I really was, you know, trying to help out as much as I could, even at that early age where, you know, I was taking out the garbage and answering phones.
And, you know, I kind of joke all the time that, you know, back then you were writing up paper work orders and you were writing up paper appointments, right?
So you had just a normal calendar. And I didn't know much, but I knew that an LOF took 30 minutes, right? Or whatever it was.
And so I could block that off if somebody said that they wanted an oil change.
And so it really started that way as I grew up in the shop.
It was kind of always my plan to become a technician.
And like I just saw how cool it was, or in my eyes it was like the coolest thing in the world, seeing all the tools and seeing, you know, everything.
So, you know, kind of just kept working through the shop and started working on cars a little bit.
I think really they held me back until I was 16 to truly working on cars.
And so, you know, kind of started off like everybody else where it was doing tires and oil changes and, you know, started to get into alignments and that kind of stuff.
And, you know, it always just thought I was going to be a technician. And so I went through high school.
When I was done with high school, I decided to go to UTI. So I went to UTI down outside of Chicago, graduated there after, you know, a year, year and a half, something like that.
And came back and worked for my dad. And that wasn't the initial plan.
Like I think that would have been 2002.
And at the time, it wasn't like it is now where everybody's so desperate for text, right? Like it was, you know, it was a little harder to find a job.
It was a different market. And, you know, it's funny, we have a customer of ours on the wrenchway side right now that I joked around with them that, you know, I had wanted to work.
It was this big dealership group in Madison, Zimbrick. They're great, great people.
But they have these huge, beautiful facilities. And I just remember driving past them on my way back from UTI all the time saying, you know, I'd like to work there.
But I was really afraid of going in and applying with them. And now you talk to them all the time and you're like, oh, they're just normal, great people, right?
So it was one of those things where, you know, almost out of intimidation, I ended up going back to work at our family shop.
And spent, I don't know, it was a couple years as a tech. And I wasn't good at it.
I really like, you know, and I look back and I was so young going into that and and not not being fully mature.
Some would still question my wife included would question that if that's ever actually happened, the maturity thing, but yeah, every way.
But definitely at that point, like work was very, very secondary to going and hanging out with my friends and having a good time.
Right. So it was it was one of those things where I think I've always said, I feel like the industry has a way of putting you in the place you're supposed to be in.
And it was pretty quickly evident that that's probably not the place that I should have been in.
And in quite honestly, looking back, I probably should have gone and worked for other people first, right?
And I think I've I've had a lot of friends that are that run very successful businesses that have now told their kids to go work elsewhere.
Right. And I think it's anybody that's listening, if you have family in the business, I would encourage you to maybe have your child go work somewhere else first
and have a chance to mature and work for somebody else. But I did come back and did that.
And that was kind of, you know, I think a tough realization for me at the time that I wasn't that great at it.
And I wasn't overly passionate about it. Like, when it got hard and you, you know, you maybe took for granted growing up in a shop, how hard the job is.
100%. And then when you get out there and do it, you're like, Oh my goodness, you know that just getting that connector to undisconect is not fun.
Right. And so that part, you know, and especially like, you see people that are talented at doing it like you probably are.
And I did not possess that talent, right? Of like having the patience to try and get my hands in a place to where it's going to be uncomfortable and trying to get that
get to that thing that you need to get to. So, so that ultimately kind of I was like, what am I going to do now? Yeah, well, yeah, it is. And it was really
like I looked at the people in the front and I have always really enjoyed talking to people just in general. So that was, I didn't think that there were many career options there
because I looked at our own family shop and we had a relatively young service manager, service writer. And I just didn't see a future there.
And so I just went and actually went the diesel route for a while. I went and worked. Yeah, I worked for a company at the time it was called diesel injection service.
And it is now called Alliance Power, but they've they've grown a lot over the years, but it was a it started off as an injection shop. And I went and I started off in customer service there.
So I like remember reading the ad this is back when you read an ad in like the state paper. And I saw that there was a job. And basically the job was you went and talked about parts all day.
And I was like, Oh, that that sounds pretty cool. And so I got there and ultimately just, you know, fell in love with the people side of the business. And I think it was such an eye opener to me that there were
things beyond just working on cars that I could bring value to the industry with. And it from there was like just kind of took off right like I think I found my passion and found what I like doing and that kind of set the foundation for everything moving forward.
Listening to you talk here because I've heard your story a few times right I've watched the podcast we've spoken countless times but a couple of things I picked up in your origin story there that I think kind of led you to the big wrench way that we all know you from
now is the Taj Mahal dealership that you would drive by every day the intimidation that you experience approaching them. And then it seems like you kind of dipped your toes in a little bit of everything in the industry service advisor diesel.
I did not know about that at all. Automotive and obviously just growing up around it so it does sound like the origin story set the foundation for where you are today which is with wrenchway but how did you get there how did you get to be the co founder of that.
Yeah it's it's a great question went through a few other jobs worked for Bobcat company for quite a few years and then ran parts and service for a big egg dealership and during that time.
And honestly even looking back I had the idea for what eventually became find a wrench back in like 2003.
I yeah that was the first company so I started that in 2017 and that was truly a recruiting firm right so we recruited technicians for shops all over the country.
And it's it's really it was me in my basement when we started right so I was doing yeah yeah right exactly I'm back in my basement today.
The
I had the idea a long time before we actually started it and just because I knew that there were issues with people finding technicians and my family was one of those people that were some of those people that were having trouble finding technicians and so the funny part about find a wrench was that
I named it after basically a saying that my dad had when I was a kid he would say I can't find a damn wrench anywhere.
Like he's talking about text right so yeah start started that what year actually 2017 yeah 2017 shortages in effect for technicians at that point right.
Yeah they were but at the time we had like no competition right like it was really really easy to sell.
Hard part was actually fulfilling what you were selling right so because there aren't enough technicians it was you could do everything in your power to find somebody and come up short.
And then the other side of it was and this was really maybe a time where I started to think differently we had placed a technician in a shop that called us like two weeks after we placed him.
He's like this is the worst place I've ever worked at like this is awful the people are miserable and it was totally the opposite of everything that they told us in the call leading up to that right.
And so it was kind of heartbreaking for me that we would have led somebody to a place that wasn't good.
And so that was kind of where the idea for wrenchway came then right was the really trying to figure out how we can give a technician the ability to do their research on a shop and make sure it's the right fit for them not necessarily the right fit for what our objectives are right so.
Both sides of the agreement for the technician and for the shop being transparent.
Yeah just a just a fit right like like you've been through it where it's just trying to find the right place that fits what you want.
And and so I brought on a business partner in 2020.
We were actually set to launch wrenchway in March of 2020 of course you probably remember what happened in March of 2020 that little thing called covid.
So that delayed us a little bit but ultimately started building that we ended up sunsetting find a wrench in 2021 which is kind of wild because it was a profitable company and and we had grown a brand on that side.
So we when I brought on mark as a business partner mark brought like a completely different skill set right he is a CPA by trade.
He really does enjoy doing the stuff that I don't like doing which is really really nice and kind of vice versa I like doing the stuff that he doesn't.
And so that that was kind of what kicked off wrenchway right was just the thinking that we wanted to give a technician the ability to do their research on a shop.
That's that's a that's an awesome thing to do for the industry and I think it speaks for itself.
I noticed in there that you said you you sunset a successful company so that why must be really powerful for you to give up on something that was working so well to just help which is awesome to see.
Yeah.
And when we say it was working well like recruiting is one of the hardest jobs you can do right like it wasn't it wasn't like the most enjoyable thing in the world to do.
Okay.
So it was just it was it was a profitable company but I think we had the desire to do something more and maybe you know as we launched wrenchway.
Our mission has not changed it's to promote and improve technician careers and that was something where you know when I looked back when I was a kid.
And I've said this a lot lately in some of the content we've done but it was one of those things where I when I was a kid you did it was a cardinal sin to steal tech from your neighboring shop right like you just didn't do it.
And then here I was I started a company that's doing just that very thing right and.
And so as great as it was I didn't feel like we were actually attacking the core of the problem or the root of the problem and that was really something I give credit to mark on and opening my eyes to because that was something where.
When we're building something like wrenchway that's very very purpose focused.
I think I get a lot more satisfaction out of out of this side than I ever did with the recruiting side.
So better return.
You're you're you're aligned with what you wanted to do on business.
It's a win-win.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's it has been and I think it's been cool to see the growth in wrenchway as a whole and just the the amount of industry support that we have now.
It didn't happen overnight.
Believe me it was it's been a battle but it's it's been pretty cool.
Well that's great to hear.
Now question that everyone I think always asks when it comes to this industry is going to be flat rate pay.
Yay nay for against.
It's a question that will always pop up in every interview with every person since the beginning of time.
So this is the first time I've heard it Josh.
So we want to hear from your stance.
What have you seen since you're across the industry you you see so many professionals on on a daily basis.
It's obviously one of the hottest topics in our industry and has been for a long time now.
I think there's a lot of gray area here.
Right.
I think when you go on to social media platforms and you see the text kind of over and over again having the message.
Of we need to eliminate flat rate.
We need to at least adapt it a little bit.
You hear that maybe some of the pain that the text have with the pay plan as a whole.
I think one of the things that we have to come to.
A reality in is that a lot of dealers probably aren't going to change that right or a lot of shops in general.
If they're on flat rate they're probably not apt to change their entire pay plan.
Now I say that I have seen a lot of shops at least give options of different pay plans here recently which I think is encouraging.
Because I do think that that shows that they're that they're listening.
Right.
That's a big thing.
Right.
Like I think that's what most texts want is just a shop that's going to listen to them.
And so adapting a pay plan I think is a way of showing that you are listening.
The reality is I think a lot of a lot of shops are probably not going to change and we have to come to that realization.
And if we do come to that realization then maybe we can come with some more productive thoughts and how to make it better.
Right.
And how to make it more fair.
Some of it is probably simple as far as you know hey even with flat rate you get a 40 hour guarantee or you get you know some type of floor.
So you still feel comfortable in being able to pay your family's bills.
So I like it from the sense that it's productive production based.
Right.
So if you're good at your job I mean you've seen it right where it's very rewarding if you're putting out a lot of work.
And I think for those texts that are very productive it can be very lucrative.
And so there I don't know that there's ever going to be a win in this conversation.
Right.
Like it's kind of a dog chasing your tail a little bit.
But it is one of those where I think the more we come to reality and start to understand the shop side.
Right.
Like at times I think it can be easy to live in our own shell or our own bubble and not understand the other side.
And same goes for shops.
Like if you're not truly trying to listen and understand where a technician is coming from you're going to really battle attrition.
You're going to battle turnover with your staff because it doesn't give the appearance that you even care.
And so I think it takes better understanding from both sides.
I think that can be initiated by the shops if they start the conversation with their teams and really maybe provide a little bit more transparency with how they make money and how expensive it is to run a shop.
I don't know that most texts.
I shouldn't say most texts.
A lot of texts truly understand how expensive it is to run a shop.
Right.
It is not cheap.
Yeah.
I think there's there's a lot of gray area like you said not to be a fence sitter by any means but I would say in my experience leadership of a shop.
There's a lot of factors around flat rate.
So is it just flat rates fault.
I think that's a little bit too specific to say I think there's a lot that goes into it.
And I'm sure you can agree that a good leader will make a good shop no matter what the pay system is.
Well in the leadership side is so important before we maybe touch on that a little bit further.
I will say there are so many different variations of flat rate pay that you know I think there are times where a shop does themselves a disservice because they don't talk more about the pay plan itself.
Right.
If you put yourself in the flat rate box yet you have some differences from other pay plans that maybe other groups have.
Talk about that a little bit and talk about why your plan is a little bit better.
Right.
Or if your plan isn't better be realistic about it and try to make tweaks to it to make it better.
Right.
Right.
100%.
There's a lot to dive into on that side of things but that is always going to be one of the questions asked in every interview.
How much do technicians really make?
Want to know the truth?
At Wrenchway we work with some of the best shops and dealerships across the country.
We've discovered that technicians often earn more than what some online sources may suggest.
For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that technicians make on average 47k per year.
But we know that's not an accurate earning potential of modern day technicians.
We've teamed up with ASC to create an online technician pay tool.
A free easy to use resource for both aspiring technicians and those already in the auto and diesel industry.
This tool lets you explore real pay data with customizable searches by industry shop type location and experience level.
So you know what to expect when interviewing, asking for a raise or just what to look forward to as you progress in your career.
To check it out visit Wrenchway.com slash pay or follow the link in the show notes.
We need your help and encourage current technicians to anonymously submit their own pay data to help make the tool better for all technicians.
Lastly, thank you for your continued support as we work to promote and improve careers in automotive and diesel.
We couldn't do it without you.
So I want to know more about your growth and what you've done because again, you've communicated with so many people across the industry.
You've had to have had some lessons along the way that probably everyone should hear.
So do you have something that comes to mind of what piece of feedback have you received that has really stuck with you over the over the years?
So, so, so many lessons to me.
I think the biggest thing for me is patience, right?
And I think this applies to anybody that's out there.
And this wasn't maybe specific advice that I got from anybody.
You know, I think maybe your elders at times will tell you this.
And I maybe wasn't overly receptive to hearing it, especially under years.
But I think when when you look back and I'm 42 now and when I look back in my early 20s or even early 30s, I was so driven that I wasn't willing to wait around to watch something kind of mature
or watch something happen.
And I go back to my very first job and that, you know, I'd only worked there for like two years and I was really upset that I hadn't gotten a promotion yet.
Right.
And I was probably 24 years old, something like that.
And it was, you know, they're like, you're on this right path.
Like you're doing really good at your job.
Like just hold up for a second.
And for me, I just didn't have that.
I didn't possess that patience that I think you need in a lot of ways to really truly understand things.
Right.
And even going to when I went into lead parts and service for a big dealership group, you know, I was young.
I was like 30 when I took that job and you immediately have a lot of people under you.
And a lot of people that were under me had been there longer than I'd been alive.
Right.
Like there were a lot of those folks.
And so that was kind of a humbling experience in the sense that, you know, I hadn't been a parts person yet.
Here I was leading an entire parts division.
And I, you know, even looking at the service managers and their daily responsibilities and duties, I learned so much.
And I wish I had taken a little bit more time to truly learn their positions and spend some more time in those positions before getting that big leadership role.
I feel like I was a decent leader, but like I also like there were elements of jobs that I didn't truly understand, right?
Like of what they, what went into their day to day responsibilities.
And I did, you know, I did really try to learn that, but I look at like parts, for example, and how you start to look at like inventory turn.
And I had to learn a lot about that really, really fast.
And so I tried to immerse myself in learning about that.
But when you're managing millions of dollars of inventory, it really can, it can be a humbling experience really fast.
So for me, the patient side was one thing that looking back over my life, I wish I would have been a little bit more patient.
But then at the same time, I look at it and I think that impatience was ultimately what led me to start a business in the first place.
Yeah, it sounds like, you know, you had some failures that led to what it is today.
Lots of them.
I think everyone does.
I think that's where the most successful people come from, you know, drinking from the fire hose, getting into things that they probably shouldn't wait too early on and learning lessons and it gives a good sense of perspective on everything.
What is one of your favorite moments specifically on the podcast?
I mean, you're having these moments with these people every day and please don't play favorites with somebody speaking to you.
But what are some moments that really have stood out to you that maybe just shifted your perspective on the way you looked at things?
That's a hard question to answer.
So many great guests over the years.
You've been one of my favorites.
Obviously, I think you've been on the podcast like four times or something.
When we first started the podcast, it was 2020 as well, right?
So we started that around the same time that we started Wrenchway.
And so we're over five years into the podcast of releasing them every Wednesday.
And I think the lessons I've learned through the podcast have been phenomenal, right?
Anything from some of my favorites around habits and routine and some of maybe what would be seemingly the non-sexy stuff, right?
Like, I love talking through that.
You and I had just had a conversation about that not too long ago.
I love that piece.
What I also love is the ability to sit down for an hour with extremely smart people and just be able to pick their brains, right?
And I consider myself extremely lucky for being able to be afforded that time to be able to do that.
There have been so many people that we've gotten on the podcast that I thought was kind of a pipe dream when we first started the podcast, right?
We just had Mike Spagnola, the CEO of SEMA on, which is awesome.
We've had authors on.
I was just telling you before we hit record that Dave Anderson, who is one of my favorite authors, has now become a really good friend.
And I think over and above all of the advice and the learnings, it's so cliche to say this, but it is the ability to, I think, deepen relationships
because in this world where everything's so busy, we're going so fast all the time.
It allows you that hour to sit down with somebody and truly get to know them.
That's awesome.
No, it's been cool.
And to be part of it along the way for me, it's been huge.
I've seen myself grow through the podcast and I look forward to looking back.
And I'm sure other people see it as the same way.
It's very much a timeless, timeless thing that you're creating here with every single person that you pull on.
I appreciate that.
I do listen back to that.
Like I listened back to some of our first ones a few months ago and they were embarrassing.
How bad my audio was and just everything in general, just how much of an amateur I was.
And so I think you grow over time with it and it's one of those things where you put in the reps and I think you get a little bit better at it every time.
Well, you definitely put in the reps, put in the work, put in the non-sexy.
What would be one thing that you would want every listener to take away when you do these podcasts?
What is something that you want them to get from each episode that you put together?
I hope at least some level of inspiration of, you know, it can be so hard in your day-to-day grind to kind of see...
I think we all get in ruts at times, right?
And I think not just our podcast but other podcasts that I've listened to have been a really nice avenue to maybe get out of one of those ruts
or find that inspiration and see that, you know, a lot of these stories that we start off with are the origin story, right?
And you get to hear from these wildly successful people and so many of them started like you and I did, right?
Where they started on the ground floor and worked their tails off.
We still have so many... This is probably some of our more old-school guests, but they started off working, you know, pumping gas or, you know, doing some really, really entry-level stuff.
A lot of them, you know, Ed Roberts comes to mind who is a personal favorite of mine that, you know, started off as a lube tech and didn't even have tools to start.
And so just, you know, I hope when somebody listens to it and especially somebody early on in their career, they can listen to that and see what the impact of hard work will have over the course of their career.
That's great. I know for me, the moments that I get from them, especially it's cool to see people that you know, but you do learn from people that you don't, right?
And just different experiences, but we all started from the bottom and now we're here type of thing.
Yeah, yeah, a little Drake reference there. Yeah.
I will say one kind of secondary benefit or something that's been cool has been we'll have somebody on the podcast and then either a prior podcast guest or just an industry connection will reach out and say,
hey, I really like that person and what they had to say, would you mind doing an introduction for me?
And so there's been so many over the years where I've been able to connect people because of the podcast and have even seen some of our guests be on other podcasts because of an intro and that kind of thing.
So, you know, I think anytime you can connect good people is a win in my book.
I mean, I feel like that's kind of what Wrenchway does, not to steal your motto or anything, but like it does seem like your goal is to connect the automotive industry, create a foundation, schools, businesses, whatever it is, you're connecting people at the end of the day and creating a platform for them to connect through.
So I guess the next question I want to know is what's next for Wrenchway? What's the big horizon? What's the big goal?
Well, I think it's similar to our mission. I hate to point right back to that, but truly is to promote and improve technician careers, right? And that improved piece is a huge piece. How do we better educate shops so that they know how to handle the difficulties of people, right?
And people in technician specifically, it can be hard, especially in this competitive environment to keep everybody happy. So being able to maybe push the limits on that a little bit, I think continue what our work has been over the last few years.
The other big thing, and I think everybody that follows Wrenchway has seen this where we have really, really taken off with the school side. And I think we hit a pain point there to where so many of these schools are having budgetary challenges and it's preventing maybe that kid that's interested in our industry to get a good experience because they don't have the resources to be able to offer those young people.
So the school assist side, and not to make this a commercial, but that part has been really, really cool to see. I think it's one of those going back to the shift from find a wrench to Wrenchway. One of the coolest things in that that is something that everybody wins on, right?
If the schools get more resources, the shops ultimately get a better supply of technicians into their shops. And all in all, like to me, foundationally, that's how we fix this entire thing, right? Is to really attack it at its core and get more people into the industry as simple as it sounds, get more people in the industry and keep the ones we already have in the industry happy.
Focusing on the pipeline of the technicians from where it starts at the younger generation. For those that don't know, what does Wrenchway do on the school side? I mean, what are you guys connecting with? What do you guys support the schools with?
Yeah, so basically we give this away for free to all schools, right? So the shops are the ones that pay the membership fee and that helps us pay our bills. The schools don't pay anything for anything. And our hope is that they never will, right? And I think when you look at what they need for support, a lot of times it's very simple stuff.
It could be somebody to come speak to their class. It could be, you know, a case of break cleaner in a lot of cases, right? Like, because if they don't have the budget, ultimately the teachers can end up paying for it out of their pocket, and that's not fair to anybody.
And so we on the platform allow the teachers and the schools as a whole to go on and ask for things. And then that is broadcast out to our network of shops. And it's simple in the idea, but the streamlining of communication has been absolutely huge.
And really what we've learned through this process has been there a lot of times the disconnect comes in that a teacher leaves or retires. And maybe that relationship that the shop had with the school goes away with that. And so our entire team, I shout out to our entire
Wrenchway team right now. We just went through about a month and a half of a very aggressive blitz where we took people from our marketing team, people from our other teams throughout Wrenchway, and had them all focused on reaching out to schools and getting
updating and verifying contact information. We had a back to school forum that helped us kind of get them kicked off with the school year. And that has been really hard. I don't think people understand like how much time and effort goes into that side.
But just something as simple as that. And then I think as we evolve, it's going to be more and more critical that the school has that good contact on the shop side as well, right? We know at times there can be turnover in that service manager chair. And a lot of times if they're the ones that carry that
relationship, that relationship tends to go away. So as we continue to grow this, I think we've gotten our cadence better with how we approach schools. I think at first we were probably way overbearing and way aggressive in reaching out.
At times we still probably send too many emails, but it is like trying to get the right cadence and trying to learn how often people want to hear from us. And I think when the school started to realize that there was no catch to this, then they started to be way more open to it, right?
And I think we still get that question from time to time, by the way, where they're like, okay, this is cool, but what's the catch? Like there is no catch. Like we want to bring you more support from the industry. And so as the word starts to spread among schools that we're doing some great things.
And honestly, a year ago, we entered a formal partnership with ASC. And what ASC has done for us has been awesome. They are great people to work with. Dave Johnson, their CEO that came on board a couple of years ago, has been very open.
And our collaboration with them has been phenomenal. And so we continue to grow that school side as a whole. I think schools are more generally aware of who we are now, whereas, you know, when we first kick things off with school assist, you know, four years ago or whatever it was.
The schools were very skeptical as to why we were reaching out. So I think once we earn that trust, that that's really kind of bridged the gap in them understanding who we are.
No, that's that's super awesome. I think that schools is definitely the place that needs the most support. And it's awesome that you do it for free, not doing it for profit. That's, that's fantastic to hear.
I was going to ask you because you talked about the ASC a little bit, but what integration have you had with ASC? Because I've seen a lot of taglines and stuff like that on your page. What's what is what's happening behind the scenes at Wrenchway?
Yeah, so a lot. And I think it started off as just general collaboration through like our voice of technician survey and the technician pay tool, which if you haven't gone and checked out the technician pay tool, go check it out.
It's a cool, just an awesome tool that continues to evolve and we need to get more data points out there. So technicians get out there and it's, it's anonymous, but I think it helps everybody out if everybody starts to understand maybe the general
climate of salary. With ASC, the way that we've approached this is they, they had a lot of boots on the ground presence across the United States. We don't, we have the technology, right? And so helping them streamline some of those relationships because even with their field reps, they can't get out to every school all the time for everything.
And so their goal is to get more ASC accredited programs, right? Which makes a lot of sense. You want a program that is really, they're living up to a standard, right? Whereas if they're not ASC accredited, they're not living up to a standard or they don't have any pressure to get better in a lot of ways.
So for us, I think we've been able to bring more awareness to that. And, and really, you know, as we kind of grow that relationship, there are a lot more opportunities for us to help them streamline a lot of those relationships. And it's very, it's one of those relationships where as you dive into it, the more and more we dive into it, the more and more benefit we've seen.
And it all, like all credit goes to Dave because he's been open to that relationship and having, you know, this company that is Wrenchway help them out in a lot of ways. And it's mutually beneficial, right? As every great partnership is, like, if both sides feel like they're winning in that relationship, I think those are the best ones.
That's, that's, that's pretty awesome. ASC has been a big factor in my life coming from Subaru and Toyota. So it's great to see that you guys are working together makes me happy to see that partnership. One, one kind of final question here, speaking more on the future, but maybe not Wrenchway specific.
What, what do you see for the future of the industry? What does the futuristic shop look like in your mind? What do you, what do you see for the next 10 years for technicians, service advisors and all, all of the above?
That is a great question. I think it's a continued evolution of what we've started, right? Where, you know, there's still a lot of complaints about the industry. But if you look at how many strides the industry has made in even the last five years, I think we're in a better position as an industry.
And we continue to push that forward, right? My vision or what I'd like to see happen is just general respect of technicians, right? Like in outside perception of technicians change, changing and even internal perception of technicians, right?
Like when you go into a dealership, you're starting to hear more and more from GMs that really do value their techs. And I don't know if I could have said that five years ago, right? Like you're seeing more and more of that. So I think continued evolution of that while being truthful with young people about what the profession is, right?
I think there are times where maybe we overly promote the cleanliness of being a technician. You hear a lot of people talk about how, well, you don't get dirty. You just took up a laptop now. I'm like, I don't know. Like I've been a lot of shops and it depends on the job. Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, is it getting cleaner? Absolutely. And it is becoming more and more of a destination job, I would say.
And, you know, there are still bad days as a technician, right? I never want to mislead somebody. But I do think the opportunities are getting better and better. And, you know, we had done a podcast with Brandon Stechler, which if you haven't followed Brandon, he does phenomenal, phenomenal content.
Does a lot with Motor Age Magazine. And he had in the episode I did with him, we talked about how the model is in Europe. And specifically, I think it was Italy where, you know, their Ferrari technicians are wearing lab coats and working on these things, right?
So, I think maybe an evolution to some of that workshop mindset of, you know, these are true professionals that use really advanced tooling and their knowledge is incredible. And, you know, I kind of going back to my origin story, one of the reasons that I respect technicians so much is that it was something that I failed at, right?
So, being able to look at how talented all of you are as technicians and hopefully my role in this industry continues to be how do we amplify the message to everybody that technicians are super talented people that deserve your respect?
100%. I think you nailed it. Changing perspective around a job that was thought to be something different for so many years. And I know I feel it in my time in the industry.
And I just wanted to end this by saying a thank you to you because not only have you been a major impact on my career, the time that I've known you, but just what you're doing for the industry is you are connecting people.
You're bringing the best to the forefront to have conversations and to spread that word and that is making a big change and a big impact. And finally, just thank you for letting me kick you out of your chair here today and for joining us on the podcast.
Well, thank you for all of those really, really kind words. You know, it wrench away certainly wouldn't be what it is today without supporters like you, right? And I look to a lot of, I feel like we've created some, they call it raving fans out there, people that do really support the platform and really the mission of what we're doing.
And I kind of always feel like what people say about us behind closed doors is really the true kind of perception of wrenchway. And over the years, I think that maybe some of those conversations have been really, really positive.
And I think maybe if we are trying to bring people together for the greater good of the industry, I think we're doing the right thing. And so that's kind of always our true north, right, is being able to see how we can put people together to make the industry better.
And so the fact that you've said that and went out of your way to say that means the world to me. That is really, really cool. And I just generally appreciate your support. And we've got to get you back in this host chair a little bit more.
I think maybe some more guest host appearances would be great.
Maybe so, maybe so. Well, that's about everything I got.
All right. Well, I just want to thank you for having the idea to do the guest hosting. And it was a little different for me to be on this side of the chair for the podcast. But I think the world of you and how talented you are as well.
And I see you continuing to push the envelope and going back to some of our prior conversations where you've been a guest on the podcast, something like you helping others study for their ASC tests. It doesn't go unseen.
And I think I brag you up all the time when I have a chance on how awesome that is that you would go out of your way to help other people out.
So keep doing what you're doing too. It's been a pleasure to get to know you over the years and look forward to our many, many more conversations in the future.
Yes, sir. Me too.
That wraps up another episode of Beyond the Wrench. If you liked this episode, please show your support by rating and following the podcast.
You can also watch the video interviews on Wrenchway's YouTube channel. Speaking of Wrenchway, did you know Beyond the Wrench is managed and produced by the Wrenchway team?
Wrenchway is an online community dedicated to promoting and improving automotive and diesel careers. We help technicians find the best shops to work at, and we also help auto, diesel and CTE instructors get more support from local industry.
You can learn more by visiting Wrenchway.com.
0:00
49:08