Carl Hutchinson has been in the car industry since 1982, but has worked on vehicles long before that time. He has a passion for engineering, for understanding how vehicles operate, and how to repair a customer’s concern. Earlier in his career, Carl started working at a GM Dealership, then went to work at independent repair facilities as a technician and eventually became a service advisor. Carl’s experience in the automotive industry led him to his current position as co- owner with Maureen Hutchinson of Complete Automotive in Springfield MO., where he works every day to provide high quality, valuable service to all customers.

Carl is an Alumni with Ozarks Technical Community College, Springfield MO Campus. He currently sits on the Automotive Advisory Board with Ozark Technical Community College, member of South East Rotary, and a member of the Springfield Midwest Auto Care Alliance chapter.

Carl has his Master ASE Certification, L1 and Service Advisor certification and is an AMI Graduate.

After over 32 years in the automotive business, giving back the knowledge and experience to those of the next generation that are coming into the industry is an honor. It’s exciting to see the culture of the industry change to a more positive, cleaner, technical atmosphere, with an emphasis on great customer service.

Changing the culture of the industry is exciting to move into the next generation of automotive technicians, service advisors, and owners.

Key Talking Points:

• Founding member of Midwest AutoCare Alliance
• ASC Master Certification L1, Service Advisor Certification, AMI GraduateLead by example with continuous training 
• Involved with automotive technology education with local community college80% of board members and influence are from dealerships
• Independent shop owners MUST get involved- incite for students on real world perspectives on the automotive industry (soft skills required)
• Attitude changeWasn’t known as the “nice guy” 10 years ago- pessimistic, saw negative in everything 
• Surround yourself with the right people that will tell you the hard truths- will be hard to hear, when you don’t know what’s wrong you also don’t know how to change. You are the average of the 5 people you are with most. 
• Carrying baggage- alters how you treat peopleCarl came from a fatherless background. He began to see his negative outlook on that situation weigh on his children. Reconnected with his father and baggage was lifted. Didn't realize how much that situation affected him emotionally until it was addressed.
• Start by getting small wins- create list and focus on what you can do each day
• Read “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman  instilled the knowledge he needed to address as a person.
• Starting writing 1 thank you card every week for 1 year- thanked the people around him and acknowledged what was impactful to him. Lifted burden and was pivotal point in life- became grateful for the small things in life
• Positive change is infectious
• Started getting involved with community- church and youth groups
• We are what we tell ourselves we are
• Business cultureOpen, friendly, family environment- employees want to come to work and be apart of the team 
• Taking care of internal employees and external customers
• Identify the attitude and culture of business prior to hiring  
• Easy to get a bad reputation within industry, takes longer to develop positive reputation 
• Entrepreneurial operating system- how many jobs do you do?“What is EOS,” “Traction,” and “How to be a great boss” by Gino Wickman
• Having people obtain ownership in their position- giving your ‘seats’ away, divide and conquer   

Resources:

• Thanks to Carl Hutchinson for his contribution to the aftermarket’s premier podcast.
• Link to the ‘BOOKS‘ page, highlighting all books discussed in the podcast library HERE. Leaders are readers.
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