Maximum Octane

Mary Kelly joins us today to give a mini masterclass on how to be more effective throughout our days, increase productivity, and retain our internal customers. Mary is a High-performer and a Super-achiever. Wrote, co-authored, and edited over 15 business, leadership, productivity, and personal finance books. She is a Motivational Leadership Speaker and Growth Business Consultant. Mary served over...

We have an inspiring, educational, and as successful in business and entrepreneurship as humble to educate us about cryptocurrency, blockchain, and how to revolutionize our company, Dr. Mark Hale.  Mark is the Founder of Facepay, a company that most likely will change the payments landscape forever. He has a P.h. D in Aerospace, created four startups, and advised dozens more. Mark is also pas...

Even if we don't realize it, and perhaps just like any other industry, the automotive space is traversed by biases that determine how we treat and expect our internal customers to be and, above all things, how we attract and retain them.  In this episode, Charlene Parlett visits us to raise awareness over the importance of thinking more about diversity and inclusion when writing our hiring ad...

Joining us today is Matt Barnes to talk about the benefits of empowering internal customers, removing the fear of failing, and being aware of our state of mind at work.  Matt is the Owner and Operator of B&B Automotive and Superior Auto Service in Bryan, Texas.  In this episode, we travel to the land where everything's bigger to learn about Matt's unique perspective on leading a busi...

Aden McDonnell joins us today to talk about how rebranding and becoming the CEO of his businesses transformed his life.  Aden owns two companies, McDonnell's ATS (Automatic transmission Specialists) and GOS Performance, and ran a third business, Destroked, a machine shop in Denver where he managed the sales and tech support. He rebranded and now operates his businesses under the umbrella of G...

In this episode, Pam Tures brings a magnificent example of how liberating can be to develop a good second in command and a solid staff we can rely on. As the co-owner of Lee Hill Auto Service, Pam built a supportive team that gave her the freedom to nurture her passion for artistic expression. She founded Bee-Potsitive Creations, the space where she produces fused glass and pottery sculptures, one...

We are thrilled to have Bruce Spencer again on the show. This time, our conversation revolves around habits, creating space and time to rest, transparency, and freedom.  After a long and successful trajectory in corporate America, Bruce decided to pivot and get into the automotive industry, buying Walt Eger's Service Center in Maryland.  In this episode, Bruce talks about the importance...

Visiting us today is Bruce Spencer to talk about his experience joining the automotive industry as an "outsider." After several relocations following the needs of his corporate career, Bruce decided to pivot and find a way that allowed him and his family to settle down. Bruce found a fantastic opportunity to do so by buying Walt Eger's Service Center in 2016.  Bruce Spencer is the Owner of Wa...

After attending ATI's last conference in March, our guest, Wendy Hawk, decided to do something different with the information she gathered throughout the event.  In previous years, the notes, the brilliant ideas, and the revolutionary methods compiled in a notebook would lie on a shelf, slowly drowning in oblivion.  This time, Wendy decided to act, organize the notes, and use them to hel...

In today's episode, the #1 Relationships Coach, C. Regi Rodgers, visits us to discuss how we establish and build romantic and business-related relationships.  Former renowned Pastor C. Regi Rodgers has been featured in "I'm Just Saying" from TCT Network, "Heavenly Sent" from the Word Network, "Atlanta Live" from TV 57 in Atlanta, and other local cable and national radio programming. Regi lead...

Today, we are joined by two remarkable women, pillars of ATI, Katie Plitt and Ashley Lehr, to talk about how they deal with being a spouse, a mother, and the backbone of an organization with over 1700 members and more than 80 workers.  Ashley, whose son Travis is almost 4, and Katie, mother of Caleb, who just turned one, talk about their daily routine, how they juggle the responsibilities of...

Laura Ritch and Rosa Anderson joined us today to talk about how they decided to open a soothing salt spa at the back of Integrity Auto Care. Laura is a US Army veteran, who met her husband Robert while stationed in Norfolk, VA; they got married in 1992, and then she transitioned from active duty to a military wife. Rosa is a former nurse who had to leave her profession due to health issues. Althou...

How much attention are you paying to your business' Google reviews? Probably not enough. Of course, reviews might look like a double-edged sword to many business owners. We all love positive five-star reviews, but what if we get a wrecking one-star review?  Regardless of how we deal with good or bad reviews, being relevant on the web is more important than ever: a company that doesn't exist d...

No one is in business to lose money; however, we've been taught that profit is the bottom line, and before thinking of it, we must take care of the expenses, the debts, salaries, and so forth. Therefore, following that old-school thinking, what comes first will get more attention, dedication, and time, and what comes last won't. Our guest, Ron Saharyan believes the exact opposite; profit must alwa...

For many entrepreneurs, putting a system together seems too complicated, a ton of effort, and a series of time-consuming routines when, actually, systems are natural freedom producers. To explain the multiple benefits of having sustainable, reliable, and replicable systems in our business is the amazing Wendy K. Walters with us.  Wendy is a Motivational Speaker, Dream Builder, Author, Ghost W...

Accumulating stuff we barely use is something almost all of us are guilty of. It has become a national issue, thousands of storage facilities around the country are full, and all of them have a waiting list.  The stuff we refuse to throw away or sell occupies a physical space in our homes or offices, consuming our time and energy. That is why decluttering has multiple benefits, and our guest,...

One of the toughest lessons our guest, Frank Leutz, learned from his first experiences as a business owner is to have a clear idea of what kind of business we want to build. He overworked himself to exhaustion, spending over 20 hours every day at a packed garage that looked more like a car dealership than a repair shop. During that time, Frank lost the first five years of his daughter, and on top...

Becoming a more home-based society during the pandemic didn't eliminate the threats to our and our employees' safety. The threats simply followed us home. To our guest, Terry Choate Jr, taking care of our external and internal customers is the best way to enhance our organization's security.  Terry Choate Jr is the CEO, Co-founder, and President of Blue-U Defense. This company provides Fortun...

We already know that many variables are working against shop owners in the battle of getting qualified internal customers and retaining them. The first step to solving this problem, just as with every issue, is focusing on what we control. To our guest, Jay Goninen, that would be asking ourselves if the job we offer, the working conditions, and the environment at our company is attractive, and if...

The international conflict between Russia and Ukraine presented itself as the perfect opportunity for small business leaders to execute one of our favorite activities: creating a smokescreen in front of us to distract ourselves from taking care of our businesses. Although the conflict is real, and our business might be affected by it long-term, we can't do anything about it now. So, why do we insi...

To succeed in the entrepreneurial journey, we need more than determination, consistency, commitment, and grind; it is also crucial to put a plan in place, surround ourselves with experienced experts, and get guidance.  Our guest, Adam Kushner, found a great way to reverse engineer the entrepreneurial process, inspired by his experiences in endurance sports. He suggests we start by identifying...

There is a subtle yet extraordinary difference between owning something and being responsible for it. An employee will take care of something they own a thousand times better than something they are held accountable for. This works for material things like a gas pump or a tire rack and intangible things like customer service. The amazing discovery was made by Steven King, owner of King's Smokehous...

Service Advisors are the bridge between external customers and service technicians. They transfer customers' doubts and concerns to the technicians and determine the repair timeline. For the most part, Service Advisors have the last word on which internal customers should be sent home when they are not helping achieve the levels of excellence required.   Our guest, Brittany Schindler, GM...

Among hundreds of other things, the irruption of social media gave means to virtually every person on the planet to share their voices, knowledge, opinions, and, of course, market their businesses. Although podcasting is not considered a social media per se, it certainly does a great job at offering people the chance to share their voices and opinions, and needless to say, market their businesses....

Statistically, companies have a small percentage, between 10 and 20%, of top performer internal customers and a similar number of people on the exact opposite side of that spectrum. The rest of the entire workforce is in between those two groups. Ironically, most companies dedicate their time and resources to trying to "fix" those underperforming collaborators in an attempt to recover them. This p...