Happy New Year! I've been thinking about something this morning that I want to share with you. A few years ago, I got a message from a shop owner I'd worked with. He told me that the technician we'd helped him hire had just fixed a brake issue on a young mom's minivan. She'd been putting it off for months—couldn't afford the time or money. The tech stayed late to get it done. Gave her a fair price. She drove out of that shop with safe brakes and tears in her eyes. That tech wasn't a unicorn. He was a good technician who finally found a great shop. And when those two things link up, something bigger happens. A family drives safer. A shop thrives. A technician does work that actually matters. That's what this whole thing is about. I know 2025 might have been hard. Maybe you lost a tech you thought would stay. Maybe you're still short-staffed. Maybe you're tired of the hustle. But here's what I want you to hear today: You are building something that matters. Every oil change, every diagnostic, every brake job... you're keeping families safe on the road. That's not a small thing. That's an enormous thing that most people will never understand. And 2026? It's a blank page. You get to decide what you write on it. More importantly, you get to decide who you're becoming as you write it. Not just "shop owner." Not just "the guy who fixes cars." You have the chance this year to become the leader your team didn't know they needed. The shop that the best tech in your town is secretly hoping exists. The place where someone finally feels respected, challenged, and valued. That transformation doesn't happen by accident. It happens by decision. So here's what I want you to do: Take 5 minutes today. Write down one thing you're going to do differently this year to make your shop the kind of place a great technician would never want to leave. Then drop it in the comments. I want to see it. I want this community to see it. Because when we share our commitments out loud, they become real.

Wishing you a safe, happy, and wildly profitable New Year—may 2026 bring you: - No “it just started doing that” mysteries - Fewer comebacks (unless it’s customers coming back with donuts) - Parts that show up right the first time… and in the right box 😭 - A scan tool that behaves and doesn’t turn a 10-minute diag into a novella - Customers who approve the estimate without needing a TED Talk - No 5PM Friday “quick look” drop-offs (we all know those are lies) 🚗💨 Celebrate smart: don’t drink and drive, lock up the keys, and remember—nothing good happens after “just one more pull-in.” 😂 Cheers to a new year of smooth diagnostics, full bays, and paid invoices. Quick New Year Reminder: don’t wait until you’re drowning to hire. Start building your bench now so when the rush hits (and someone inevitably calls in “sick”), you’re ready instead of panicking. If “fully staffed with great techs” is on your 2026 goals list, make it a Q1 move—we’ll help you keep that pipeline warm. 🚀 Be safe and see y’all in 2026!

That's when a technician lead hit one of our client's campaigns this morning. Not 10 AM when the shop is humming. Not during lunch when someone's scrolling. 7:32 AM. Coffee still brewing. Shop still quiet. Here's what most shop owners miss: Technicians don't job hunt on YOUR schedule. They browse while eating breakfast. They scroll after the kids get on the bus. They tap "submit" during a quiet moment before their current shop opens. And here's the brutal truth we've learned running thousands of these ad campaigns: When a tech makes the decision to look, they're already talking to two other shops. Just assume that. So while you're waiting until "you have a minute" to check applications... another shop already called. Already scheduled the interview. Already made them feel wanted. Already got one step closer to making an offer. We call it "speed to lead" in marketing. Same principle applies here—except the stakes are higher. Because you're not competing for a customer who might come back. You're competing for a technician who might never look again for another two years. One of our highest-performing clients keeps their response time under 10 minutes during business hours. They have a system. A person assigned. A process. The result? They rarely get ghosted. Techs actually show up for interviews. And they've hired three A-players in the last 18 months. The lesson: Your recruiting ads can be perfect. Your offer can be compelling. Your culture can be amazing. But if you sit on applications for 3-4 days? None of it matters. Here's what I'd challenge you to do this week if you're currently hiring: Assign one person to monitor applications daily. Set up mobile notifications. Create a template response that goes out within 24 hours—ideally much faster. Make "speed to lead" your new hiring mantra. Because the tech you're looking for is out there right now. The question is: will you be the first shop to reach them and start the conversation?

Your P&L can't out-perform your staffing. Empty bays don't show up as a line item. They hide inside "missed revenue" and "delayed repairs" and "overtime for your remaining guys." It's a financial problem wearing a hiring mask. And here's the uncomfortable truth: most hiring fails before you ever post the ad. That's why Hunt Demarest—the CPA behind Business By The Numbers who's built his career helping shop owners master the numbers that drive their business—featured my hiring framework in Chapter 5 of his new book, Beyond the Bays: A Financial Playbook for Auto Repair Shop Owners. → Grab the book on Amazon Hunt didn't include me because I run ads. He included me because of how we think about hiring before the ad ever gets written. Here's the direct quote from the book (p. 46): "If you don't spend time on the front end, really thinking about what your ideal scene is, and who the ideal fit is, you can't write a decent ad or attract the right person…" That single idea—doing the "ideal fit" work first—is what separates shops that fill bays from the ones recycling the same Indeed post for six months. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU When you define your "ideal scene" before writing the ad, three things happen: 1. Your ad becomes targeted language, not generic filler. You're speaking directly to the tech who fits your culture—not broadcasting to everyone who needs a paycheck. 2. You start repelling the wrong applicants. Sounds backwards, but it's not. A clear ad filters out the job-hoppers and "just looking" crowd before they waste your time. 3. You hire faster. Because you're not sifting through 47 resumes from guys who'd never last 90 days anyway. Since 2018, we've helped 200+ shops hire using this approach. Hunt saw the results and gave it a spotlight in his chapter on technician pay plans. → Buy the book here Drop a comment below: 📖 If you grab a copy, let me know what you think of Chapter 5. 🔧 If you're hiring right now and want a head start on that "ideal fit" work, comment HIRING and I'll send you my checklist.

"Dealership guys have struggled big time coming into independent. It's very difficult for them to transition to what we do." That's a direct quote from a shop owner I spoke with recently. And here's the thing—he's not the first person to tell me this. Dealerships have training programs. Certifications. Factory specs. All the advantages, right? So why do I keep hearing this? The theory: dealer techs often live in one make/system all day… then they walk into an independent shop and see a Honda, a BMW, a Ford diesel, and a Hyundai hybrid before lunch. But I’ve also heard the opposite — some shop owners say dealer techs have been their BEST hires. Their take: “If the attitude is right and they can learn our flow, they crush it.” I'm curious what YOU'VE experienced. - Hired dealership techs → did they thrive or struggle? - What role were they at the dealer? - What did you do (or wish you’d done) in the first 30 days to help them transition? Take the poll and drop the good, the bad, and the ugly in the comments below👇