Wrench Turners Podcast

Mindy Williams had just come back from having her second baby. One month postpartum, with two kids at home and every reason to wait, she still put her name in for the service manager role. In this conversation, Mindy shares how mentorship, trust, accountability, and one leader’s belief helped her move from receptionist to advisor to service manager at CMA’s Colonial Subaru. Her mentor Ron didn’t j...

Kelli Verdi joins The Wrench Turners Podcast for a conversation about faith, family, automotive, customer trust, dealership culture, and why care is never just a soft skill. Kelli’s story starts long before her career in automotive marketing. Her grandfather owned an automotive repair shop in Tampa, and without realizing it at the time, she was learning some of the most important lessons in the in...

Technicians often say service advisors are one of the biggest problems in the shop. But is the problem really the advisor? Or is the problem that advisors are not being taught how to ask better questions? In the final episode of Season 1 of Earned Influence, Joshua Taylor, Jami Alexander, and Racheal Bright talk about the service lane, the service counter, phone calls, customer communication, and...

Mentorship can change a career. Sometimes, it can change the reason someone stays in the industry at all. In Season 1, Episode 3 of Earned Influence, Racheal Bright asks a simple question with a much deeper answer: How important has mentorship been in your career, and how are you paying it forward today? Jami Alexander shares a personal story about a mentor who showed up for her during one of the...

Senior technicians are often built for the big stuff. Transmissions. Heavy line. Diagnostics. Complex repairs. The jobs that take skill, patience, and experience. But what happens when the shop needs those same technicians to take on more general service? Oil changes. Inspections. Same-day work. Smaller jobs. Gravy work. In Episode 2 of Earned Influence, Jami Alexander brings a real shop leadershi...

What does a dealership service department need to stop doing right now if it wants to keep more customers? In the first episode of Earned Influence, Joshua Taylor sits down with Jami Alexander, Mindy Williams, and Racheal Bright to talk about customer retention, communication, accountability, and what happens when service teams forget there is a real person behind every repair order. Jami brings n...

What actually happens when a great technician becomes a shop foreman? In this episode of The Wrench Turners Podcast, I sit down with Mike Ramirez and Aaron Marion, two experienced shop foremen, to talk about the real work of leading technicians on the shop floor. This conversation goes far beyond diagnostics, flat rate, and fixing cars. Mike talks about going from a producing technician to a shop...

Is there really a technician shortage or is the industry losing good people because shops are ignoring the real problem? In this episode, Marshall, John Baranski, Brent Osmond, and Richard Mueller break down the uncomfortable truth behind technician recruiting, retention, flat rate pay, shop reputation, apprentice turnover, and why automotive technicians are moving into heavy-duty, mining, materia...

So the 10 Mill lads took over. In this episode of 10 Mill Mastery, Marshall Sheldon, Richard Mueller, John Baranski, and the mysterious camera off Josh Arnold sit down for a real technician panel about what’s actually happening inside shops right now. This one goes everywhere. Passwords that change constantly. Scan tools that need updates before you can even work. Videos and photos are becoming pa...

Chris Biediger, better known online as Texas Tool Guy, has lived a technician's story that doesn’t fit into a clean little box. He broke his back at 17. Lost hearing in one ear. Left college. Worked the lube rack. Got humbled by an electrical diagnosis. Left the dealership world. Went back to school. Bartended. Fixed cars in his driveway. Got pulled back into the trade. Built a social media fo...

Most people don’t plan to lead technicians. Racheal Bright didn’t either. She walked into the industry knowing four words… and now leads teams responsible for keeping mission-critical equipment running where downtime costs thousands per minute. In this episode of The Wrench Turners Podcast, we break down what leadership actually looks like in the real world, not theory, not management books, but o...

Brandon Roy grew up in the collision industry. His grandfather was a blacksmith. His father ran body shops and taught collision repair. By the time Brandon was a teenager, he was already sanding panels and painting vehicles inside the family shop. What started in a paint booth eventually turned into a career that spans more than two decades across collision repair, estimating, operations, coaching...

John Baranski started as an automotive technician in the middle of the 2008 recession, when shops were closing and layoffs were constant. Instead of quitting, he learned everything no one else wanted to do. Water leaks. Convertible tops. Hybrids. That grit carried him from fixing cars to fixing boats… and eventually, into leadership. Today, John is a shop foreman in the marine industry, managing a...

Technician recruiting is broken, and Sheila Pogue has seen it from both sides. In this episode of The Wrench Turners Podcast, Sheila shares how she went from a parts counter rookie to leading teams across service, warranty, marketing, and now talent acquisition in RV, Marine, Power Sports, and Automotive. She’s placed techs, she’s hired techs, she’s BEEN the tech’s backup when things went sideways...

Mindy Williams is the definition of a powerhouse. A five-time Subaru Stars winner, Sparkplug Award champion, and the top service advisor at CMA’s Myers team, Mindy knows what it takes to rise from part-time receptionist to full-blown service manager. In this episode of the Wrench Turners Podcast, Mindy shares her journey into automotive, what it means to lead a team while raising two kids, and the...

On this episode of the Wrench Turners Podcast, I sit down with Canadian technician David Rodrigues. For nearly 20 years, David has been mastering his craft on Hondas and Acuras. This is not just a career recap. It’s a deep dive into legacy, leadership, and the reality of working flat-rate. David shares how he started through co-op, landed a rare apprenticeship, and became the go-to diagnostic tech...

This isn’t another how-to-fix-a-car video. This is how to fix yourself in the trade before the trade breaks you. In this Wrench Turner's Podcast compilation, five technicians and leaders drop hard-earned wisdom, not about tools, not about pay plans, but about mindset, ownership, growth, and survival in the bay. 💬 "No one’s coming to save you." That’s the wake-up call running through...

From Parts Ninja to Shop Coach and Service Director of Multiple stores | Robert Migliaccio | Wrench Turners Podcast Today’s guest didn’t just work his way up; he built his way up. Robert Migliaccio started as a teenage car detailer, dropped out of high school, and never looked back. With decades in the trenches of fixed ops, Robert’s story is the kind you don’t hear often, and the kind you don’t f...

Writing accurate, detailed repair orders isn't just paperwork—it's how shops get paid, protect themselves from chargebacks, and deliver exceptional customer service. In this episode of The Wrench Turners Podcast, host Joshua Taylor is joined by Alec Ruffini, a Navy vet turned Fixed Ops leader, and Clemente Dominguez, a fast-rising shop foreman. Together, they break down why most service de...

From Navy Veteran to Coaching Service Teams | Alec Ruffini & Clemente Dominguez | Wrench Turners Podcast Today’s guests didn’t stumble into leadership; they forged their way there. Alec Ruffini, a Navy veteran turned automotive coach, and Clemente Dominguez, a rising shop foreman, join host Joshua Taylor to talk about what it really takes to run a high-performing dealership service department....

The Hard Truth Every Mechanic Needs to Hear in 2025 Feeling stuck in the shop? This video will change how you think about your career. Auto technician pay is flat. Tariffs are rising. Leadership feels clueless. And you are still expected to fix cars, deal with customers, hit your hours, and somehow stay sane. In this unfiltered message from the cold seat of his motorcycle, Joshua Taylor breaks dow...

Today's guest, Louise Azzopardi, didn’t just fall into the automotive world. She ran toward it, with confidence and clarity most of us didn’t have at 15. From her earliest days wrenching in rail yards and truck shops to standing on the world stage as the first woman to compete (and win gold) at Australia’s WorldSkills nationals, Louise has never followed the conventional path. She didn’t just...

Today's guest, Josh Arnold, never planned to be a mechanic. He picked it off a college list like a random raffle number. On day one, his future mentor told him to quit. And honestly, he probably should have. But he didn't. Instead, he worked six days a week at a flat rate, with no shortcuts. Fast-forward, and he is now a Toyota and Subaru Master Tech, a trainer in the shop, and the MyKarma...

Welcome to the FIRST episode of the 10 Mill Mastery Debrief series where we debrief the week's Service Drive Live Topic. In this episode, I sit down with Marshall Sheldon and Josh Arnold to debrief on Service Drive Live and dig into one of the biggest struggles for technicians: comebacks. We cover: ✔️ Why technicians do not get paid for comebacks and why that needs to change ✔️ How flat rate a...

Operating Partner, Fixed Operations Director, Coach - David Sparks Join us as we explore the career journey of David Sparks, a leader whose path in the automotive industry started with detailing, rustproofing, and window tinting and evolved into a deep-rooted passion for technical excellence, leadership, and mentorship. David’s story is one of continuous learning and adaptation. He transitioned fr...