In this episode of The Detail Solutions Podcast, Alex sits down with Tou Lo, owner of Yelo Auto Sports, to talk about the evolution of his detailing business, his unique approach to quality and brand building, and what drives him to keep pushing the limits in the industry.

This podcast episode delves into the intricate world of automotive detailing, presenting a profound discourse on the personal experiences and business insights of two seasoned detailers. The central theme revolves around the importance of building authentic relationships with clients, as well as the evolving landscape of the detailing industry, which has seen significant changes in recent years. Listeners are privy to engaging anecdotes about the nuanced challenges faced by detailers, including the balance between passion and practicality when choosing vehicles. Furthermore, the dialogue underscores the therapeutic aspects of detailing work, where the act of enhancing a vehicle transcends mere labor, becoming a source of joy and satisfaction. This episode serves as a reflective narrative on the journeys of detailers, emphasizing the significance of community and continuous learning within the profession.

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This.

Hey.

Hey.

Can you.

Can you hear me all right?

Yes, sir, I can.

I'm using a mic on my.

Yeah, so I just want to make sure it.

It's not.

Is it not too loud, not too.

Now you're good.

All right, Sounds good.

You're good.

Yeah, sorry about that, man.

I'm so good.

I'm so used to doing it at 8 and then I, I completely forgot that, that you were like, yeah, seven o' clock's good.

You sent me that text, I was like, oh, no, you're good.

Just trying to double check.

I know we kind of went back and forth, but yeah, sorry for missing last week.

I just.

Of my buddies from France just popped up.

I was like, ah, I gotta, gotta hang out with him since he's all the way from Europe.

So.

Yeah, no, it's all good.

Listen, man, like, I'm.

I'm at the point now with these that if somebody bails out, I'm just like, yes.

Yeah.

How many episodes are you in.

Dude?

I know you've been going pretty hard because I've seen it for a long time.

Let's see.

So, I mean, it's five years.

It's actually, it's over five years now.

So according to Apple, I have 383 episodes.

So this.

So this will be 384.

A lot of conversations.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I mean, you know, five years, dude, it was, it was a lot.

I never, I never thought that it would go, you know, more than five episodes, honestly, in the beginning because I didn't know what the I was doing.

And it just grew and grew and grew and it was a lot of fun and.

But it, it just started becoming work, you know, and then trying to like, find people and schedule.

And so I was like, you know what, man?

Take a break.

And so now I just kind of, I kind of do them now just periodically.

So, like, it's great that you were like, hey, how do I, how do I get on?

You know, I'm at that point now where like, it would just be so much easier.

People like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

People are just like, dude, I want to come on the podcast.

I'll be like, great, let's do it.

And I don't have to.

And I don't have to worry about anything.

So.

Yeah, no, I get that.

I did a.

We.

I used to do an in person podcast.

I think we shot like 50 in a year.

And it was me and a.

Me and my podcast host, another one.

And then at the end of the year I was like, hey, dude, this is, this is a job now.

And I started for fun.

So.

Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's still fun, don't get me wrong.

I mean, I, I love, I love meeting new people and, and talking to them and connecting them and everything like that.

But like, I always tell everybody it's, it's the, the up to this point and then the after this point, like right now we're in.

It is the most fun because again, it's just meeting, meeting somebody or having a conversation, you know, talking, you know, whatever.

It's what, what goes into leading up to.

And, and on the back end, you know, getting it published and everything.

That's just work and.

Yeah, yeah, it kind of becomes no fun.

So.

Yeah, I mean, if I was, you know, if, if I did any probably other podcasts that wasn't in such a niche industry with, with lower listens, you know, and could actually get some good sponsorship money and, and you know, pay an editor and a producer and all I got to do is show up and do the episode.

Yeah, no, yeah, definitely.

I get, I totally get that.

Yeah, that'd be a lot of fun.

The, the in person thing that you did though.

I mean, like, that's got to be pretty cool because that's the one thing I like about.

Or I liked about doing this, you know, like at MTE or at SEMA or whatever is.

Is because then you're like face to face with a person.

And that's the hard part with this is I'm talking to detailers all over the country, all over the world.

Like, I can't, you know, just hop on A plane and go set up and record with somebody.

So, you know.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

Yeah.

You.

Yeah, definitely.

When you're.

I mean, like you say when you're doing it, Sema just.

You get better energy, too, in person.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That was the one thing the.

The year that we did it at mte and we actually had a booth at mte.

Like, the.

In person.

You're right.

There's so much better energy.

I mean, the video thing is cool because, like, we can see each other, we can feed off each other, but it's just different when everybody's sitting around the table at the same time, you know, kind of thing.

So.

Yeah, one day.

Maybe one day I'll, you know, win the lottery or something.

Yeah, that's more work.

Yeah.

That's commitment.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I'll just fly to everybody's shops and set up and do it that way, you know.

Yep.

That would actually be cool.

Yeah, I thought about doing something like that, too, where you just go to other people's shop and then you get to bring your camera, your equipment, and.

Yeah.

It, like, front center on their shop so that they get to actually display.

Yeah.

What they're presenting to the world.

But I just imagine after 10 to 20 times traveling, it's like, all right, I gotta get on a plane.

I got a life.

Yeah.

See, that's my other thing is, is I don't mind, you know, again, the being at a place.

I just.

I hate the travel.

I hate having to, like, go to the airport.

I hate.

I hate flying.

I mean, not that it's like.

Like I'm scared or anything like that.

I. Dude, I just.

I just hate being stuck on a plane, you know, like, you know.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

So, yeah, it is what it is.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

For still going.

That's like I said, I've seen it for.

Especially your logo has always stood out to me.

And then.

Yeah, yeah.

And so it's just.

Yeah.

I've just seen it for a long time.

I've listened to it, like when I was detailing and stuff like that.

Nice.

Appreciate that in a while.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The logo.

The logo was fun.

The logo actually came about.

I think it was on my personal Instagram page one time.

I was detailing and I had.

So I had my.

My Bigfoot, and then I had the LHR 75 Mini, and I had them side by side on.

On the stool, like with the car in the background or something like that.

And somebody had commented that they thought that they were earbuds at first.

And it always stuck with me.

I was like, oh, they kind of do, you know, like, in a way, they kind of look like Apple.

Apple earbuds or whatever.

So when.

When it came time to.

I was talking with Dave Christian because he used to be kind of in the industry and did a lot of logos for people and everything like that.

And, you know, so when he was like, well, what do you want to do?

You know, microphone and headphones.

And I was like, yeah, like, everybody's done that.

I said.

I said, here's.

Here's the thing.

Like, you know, somebody once told me they thought my polishers were headphones.

So I was like, I want the ear cups of the headphones to be, you know, polishers.

And then they just, you know, go up the handle and then, you know, connect it to headphones.

And.

And.

And it's.

It's so funny because I remember it was MTE a few years back when Jason Brennan was still with Rupes, and I was wearing the shirt with the.

The logo right there on it, and.

And.

And he.

He didn't even see it.

I was like, dude, they're two Rupes polishers.

And he, like, stepped back and he's like, holy, dude.

He's like, all the times I've looked at your logo and I never realized they were Rupes polishers.

So, yeah, so, yeah, that was kind of a.

A fun, you know, little.

Just different, you know, add the industry into, you know, the.

The podcast logo and be different.

So.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

So how you been, man?

What are you up to?

Good.

I just actually got done teaching a class.

Just today.

I taught a class of three students.

Nice.

Window tint.

Okay, so.

Yep.

So we do film just like most detail shops.

I kind of eventually expand a little bit.

Yeah.

So I was teaching a class of three students today.

One that was a previous auto detail student, and then.

And then when the 10th student.

So that was kind of a busy day.

So three is kind of my max for a span of control wanted.

Three is kind of a max.

Yeah.

Yeah, I can imagine.

I mean, I did the.

The PPF thing for a while, tried to do that, but I never.

I never.

I never attempted window tenting.

You know, the.

The guy who trained me for ppf, he was.

He's.

He was local here, but he had been the, like, Eastman west coast trainer for Lumar.

So I just happened to look out because it was.

So I just happened to look out that he was here and he was willing to come to the shop and do it, you know, while everybody was still kind of weird about shutdowns and stuff.

Yeah.

And.

And it was funny.

Like, he, he told me, he's like, he's like, do this.

Then you.

You can get window tinting easier.

And I was like, really?

He goes, yeah, window tinting is harder than ppf.

I was like, really?

Like, I kind of thought that would be a little bit easier.

But he's like, nah, he's like, window tinting is a little more trickier.

Yeah, it's pretty.

There's definitely a bigger learning curve just because you can make a lot of mistakes and it's so easy to pick out.

Yeah.

Everybody looks at their windows.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

That's true.

You just can't get away from it.

Like, especially I always tell my students, I'm like, look, if you're gonna do this car at like a 95 passing rate, which is to me is like a real.

That's like the reality is you're just never gonna get it perfect.

But if you're going to do the best window you ever could in your life, it should always be your driver's side window, because that, that client is gonna stare out that window every single day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's like.

I, I remember, you know, when I, when I worked at the car wash, we used to always, we used to always like, teach the finish line, guys and, and girls, like when you're, you know, kind of dusting down the dashboard or wiping the dashboard, it's make sure you get that, you know, door side of, you know, the steering column, the steering wheel and everything.

Because when they open the door, that's what you see more than anything else.

So.

Yeah, I could see that.

You know, you definitely want to make sure that driver side windows.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

How long have you been doing film and stuff?

It was 10.

I was detailing only for about three, four months.

And then I live.

We're in Minnesota, so obviously we get hit with Midwest winters.

Yeah.

So I quickly.

We quickly realized that, oh crap, we need to add something.

So tinting was the automatic first one.

So just kind of self taught with YouTube.

Eventually went to San Diego to learn a little bit more.

And then, and then we did that for.

And then we started contracting somebody for ppf, which, like, I'm still cool with that guy to this day.

But eventually I.

When the shop grew a little bit, I just, I just got tired of the logistical aspect, you know, you know, like contracting people and then it's like, oh, shoot, there's an error.

Oh, crap.

I can't fix it.

The client's only available today.

Now I gotta call that guy, and he's not available.

So.

Yeah, so ppf.

We've always done it, but I didn't pick it up truly like myself for, like, last four years.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

And that's when I really, really.

I just took one winter where we threw out massive discounts, and I was like, look, we're gonna sit down here.

We're gonna PPF hard for, like, through the winter through these discounts.

And even if I break even on it, on this, I'm willing to pay for just enough material, just earn the.

The labor hours.

That's pretty smart.

Yeah, it works.

Yeah, that's pretty smart.

Like, it was.

All the detailers were starting to get into it.

I.

It's not because I had.

Not.

Because I had a lot of inquiries about it, but it was just like, okay, well, everybody else is doing it, so let me do it.

And then that was kind of my problem, was I didn't have a lot of inquiries for it, so I wasn't good enough, you know, and then.

And it's like everything else, right?

Like, you.

You can't get good at it unless you do it a bunch of.

And.

It would stress me out.

Like.

Like, honestly, like, the thing that.

The thing that I hated about it the most was plotting it, because I was always freaked out that the plotter was gonna, like, yeah.

You know, shift or something.

So I was.

I was always holding my button, my finger over the button, because that's, you know, the guy taught me.

And then.

And in weeding, I hated weeding because I was, you know, too worried about, you know, like, I was gonna tear it or something.

Right.

The actually applying it, even as stressful as it was, I enjoyed that to an extent because I felt like it really makes your brain think, you know, like, it makes you use, like, a different part of your brain.

Yeah.

You know, if it fingers up, you.

You have to, like.

You have to go, like, okay, well, why is it fingering?

Where do I.

Which way do I need to pull it or stretch it or push it or whatever?

And.

And so I like that.

I like that it got me to kind of think.

And not just, you know, because, I mean, when you're with A polisher.

It's up and down and back and forth.

You're not really thinking.

You know, sometimes you get lost in the moment.

You're like, oh, I'm way overworking this product.

You know, I need to pay attention here.

So that was.

That was the thing I did like about it.

But, yeah, plotting it and weeding it just stress me out.

I would take, like, a day to plot and weed, and then I'd be like, all right, I'm going home, because I can't deal with, you know, I gotta come back tomorrow fresh.

Yeah, no, I think the PPF side, too.

Like, whenever you hear.

I hear detailers that, like, because I'm still on all the Facebook groups and stuff, I don't participate in them as much as I used to.

But, yeah, whenever I hear detailers, like, oh, should I pick up 10?

Should I hear people attend to pick up PPF?

Like, in my mind, I'm always like, yeah, you absolutely should.

Obviously, everybody's in a different business, right?

It depends, like, where you're trying to go with your business.

Are you tired of detailing stuff like that?

But I'm like, yeah, you should.

But, like.

But there's gonna be a huge learning curve.

One, and then two.

I always think, like, a lot of them want to hire contractors, and I always want to tell.

I do tell them sometimes that, like, hey, it's cool to have a contractor.

Like, it's nice.

Yeah.

But, like, eventually he might get busier or he might just, like, not be able to help you anymore.

Right.

So then if.

So then if he's been growing your detailings or that part of your operations, and he brought in a large revenue of it, and now he's gone, and you don't know how.

Yeah, well, it's like a huge.

So, yeah.

And that was my fear.

Right?

So that's why I was like, oh.

I was like, oh, well, I have to learn it, too.

Just because.

Well, plus, when you bring in a contractor, I mean, for the most part, they're.

I mean, I don't know how you do yours, but, like, when I contract it out, my guy gives me, like, a wholesale price, and then.

Yeah.

So, like, I can charge, you know, a few hundred bucks more on the retail end of it or whatever, but it's still, you know, I look at the money that I'm basically paying him, you know, after I click for the job, and I'm like, that could have been.

Anything.

Again, like, you know, I just.

I don't get the inquiries for it as much, and I'M fine with that, honestly, you know, because like you said, it's, you know, because then when I do get it, I gotta go.

Like, okay, let me, let me call the guy, you know.

What, what's your availability?

Okay, well, he can't do it for like two weeks, you know, so hold off.

And then, you know, then I've got a schedule, you know, them to drop the car.

Because what I like to do is I like to have the car dropped off so I can do the wash and the prep and all of that stuff.

So all he has to come in and just lay film?

Yeah, yeah.

You know, I mean, maybe if he wants to like re.

Panel wipe it or something like that, but I'll even panel wipe after I polish off or whatever, you know, so then I gotta, you know, okay, leave him in the shop for the day, which is no big deal.

Whatever, you know, hey, man, you know, here's the key.

Just lock it up when you're done and then go in the next day.

And then, and then I lay the coding down and all that stuff.

But, but you're right.

It's just, you know, a lot of times it's logistically a nightmare to get on their schedule.

To your schedule.

Yeah, to the client schedule, you know, so.

And of course, you know, the client always wants it done like quicker or whatever.

So.

Yeah, good, good for you.

For just, I think at a certain volume, it just doesn't make sense.

Yeah, like there's too much logistical time that you're spending and.

Yeah, yeah, somebody.

That's kind of my thing.

I mean, you know, it's a lifestyle business for me, so I don't, I'm, I'm not pushing volume.

You know, if I, if I could do one coding car a week, like, I'm, I'm sad.

Perfect race.

Exactly.

You know, I mean, like, I'm, I'm just like, look, just give me one coated car or one coding car a week or, you know, I mean, even if I could do, you know, like three interiors in a week, like, I'd still be pretty good, you know?

Yeah, so.

So, yeah, so that's, that's the other thing.

I mean, if I was trying to grow it and, and scale the business and everything, then, then, you know, the smart thing I would probably do is kind of like what my buddy did and just hire a PPF person, you know, and pay them a pretty good, you know, hourly or salary or something like that.

So I would just have somebody to, to do that.

But, you know, I just don't Want employees anymore?

Don't want to do.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm at the.

I'm at the.

I. I left.

So I started yellow just on the side of being a full time firefighter.

So that was just a side gig.

Okay.

Kind of more of a passion thing.

Right.

Like, yeah, here's Gary.

You buff a car.

Oh, cool.

My Miata looks great.

Yeah.

Hey, I should do this for other people.

That's literally how it starts.

So I always say, like, some people will ask me, hey, do you.

Do you have.

Did you have a business plan?

I, like, no, dude.

I just.

I was like, yo, my car looks clean.

Like, I think we could do this for the people.

And then, like, it just kind of Evelyn avalanche itself into whatever it is today.

But yeah, but, yeah.

But then eventually I left Fire with the concept or with the mindset of, like, okay, I'm leaving fire to grow.

To go grow my business.

Right.

And that's been about two, three years.

So I'm still.

I'm very much in the thick of like, oh, you got to grow this thing, you know?

Yeah.

So, yeah.

No, and it's funny you say that, because I. I think.

I think that's most of the detail industry is.

Is.

I don't think anybody writes a business plan to start a detail shop.

I think it's detailers.

Yeah, I think it.

I think it's, you know, hey, it was something I did in my driveway.

I started doing Friends and neighbors.

I started doing this.

I started doing that to the point where I was making too much money to, like, not make it a business or there's the guys that I feel like that are, you know, from my side of it is we worked at the car wash. We learned at the car wash, and it was like, well, we can do this.

Let's just leave the car wash and do it, you know?

So I don't.

I don't, you know, hey, if you're out there as a detailer and you wrote a business plan, like, reach out to me.

I'd love to.

I'd love to know what a business plan for a detail shop looks like.

I just don't think we have the acumen, Mo.

Maybe some develop it later and maybe some have it before.

Maybe that's personal personality based.

But I think, like, most detail, like you said you're a car guy that just did a thing that you do naturally in your driveway and you're like, yeah, oh, hey, I tried to buff my car and it came up not bad.

Like, hey, let me see yours.

Like, let Me try yours.

And then your buddy's like, hey, that looks nice.

You should.

Yeah.

Make a Facebook page.

Right?

Exactly, exactly.

And I think a lot of us are forced into, you know, then learning business or coming up, you know, with, with some kind of business idea or business plan.

But I don't think we go into it with a business plan, you know, I mean.

Yeah, I mean there's definitely a lot of guys in this industry that have gotten to a level to where, you know, they're, they're helping out more on the business side.

You know, I mean, two of the people that come to mind that I think of are, are Jonathan Michael Monson and, and Grant Menard.

Like those two guys are, are huge on the, you know, kind of the business side of teaching it and, and helping out and things like that.

But yeah, I think the rest of us just kind of have to go like, okay, this is a real business now.

I gotta start paying taxes and insurance and this and that.

So I need to learn that, you know.

Yeah.

And I think then, then the hurdle becomes can you push yourself or make yourself enjoy that part as well?

Yeah.

I think for someday it, if you don't find the thrill and figuring in that part out, then I think it's, it's been my own battle.

Right.

To like push out of like just being a passion driven, enthusiast, detailer to business owner.

But unfortunately I left myself little choice.

Yeah, cool.

Which is cool.

I, I embrace it for what it is because without it, I don't think I always tell people when I left the fire department, which was a full time salary position in a big city, well paid, that was actually like the stress that comes after it.

It's actually been probably the blessing in this guy.

Right.

So it's, we're still very much in the fighting part, but it's still the blessing in disguise.

It's the, it's like that push, like.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, that, that had to be a huge, probably stressful decision too because here you are doing something like you said, that's, that's salary, benefits and.

Yeah.

I mean you, you literally could kind of do that until you retire.

I mean those, those are typically the types of jobs that like once you're in, you're in.

Yeah, yeah.

It's like police work.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

So for you to have to like weigh that of like, man, the next, you know, however many years I want to do this is like, you know, no big deal.

Or I've got this other thing that's fun.

I'm making a Little bit of money at it, but who knows what might happen to it, you know?

Yeah, no, absolutely.

Like one year, two years, three years, you know.

Yeah.

That's the honest part of it, too, is like, you know, you know damn well yourself that when you leave the.

This salary government job.

Yeah.

Like, there's.

There's no union protecting you.

It all.

All comes out of your brain.

Right.

Your motivation, your drive.

So, yeah, like, you know, like, I had co workers on the fire department side who were supportive, but you also had a lot who.

Are you sure, man?

Yeah.

Sure you want to do this?

Yeah.

Maybe you're just.

Maybe you're just too young and, like, maybe you don't know how life really is.

You know, it's tough out there.

Right.

But, yeah, I think I didn't even think that far.

That's the beauty of it.

Yeah.

I'm like, I'm.

I'm almost like a little bit dumb enough to not even think that far and should be like, hey, I'm ready to move on.

Yeah.

You know, which is also a blessing.

And sometimes it goes against me, but it's.

Sometimes it's.

I think it's just not overthinking it too, and just been like, okay, I think I get my fill of this experience because I. I did 10 years, so.

Yeah.

I think I got, like, enough of, like, a taste.

Right.

Of what this was like.

Right.

And it started to feel too much like a job, which it is.

Yeah.

But it's just one of those things where it's like, the fire department's super exciting at the beginning.

I'm learning, I'm seeing things.

And then after 10 years, I just settled into it where it just became work.

And I was like, oh, this is.

This is what work is like as a fireman and do.

When I left, I was 32, so it was like, okay, what do you want to do now?

Like, you've been here for almost, like, almost 10 years.

You understand what the job entails.

What now do you want to stick here because you have a business that's right here, that.

That's showing you that the possibility is there.

Yeah, exactly.

But at the same time, you still don't know what it is until you.

Yeah.

And I mean, let's.

Let's be real, too.

I mean, firefighter is.

Is probably a super stressful job, you know, as well.

I mean, there's, you know, it's not just, you know, all rescuing kittens out of trees and stuff like that.

I mean, it's, you know, some pretty.

Some Pretty gnarly stuff.

So, you know, that's, that's all kind of also, you know, the other side of it too is, you know, maybe getting out is better for you in the long run, you know, mentally and physically, I think.

So.

Like, like, people ask me, would you want to go?

They're like, hey, if your business.

Yeah.

Not work, would you go back to that?

I'm like, nah, I'm good.

I understand.

I've done it.

I'm cool.

Yeah, I'd say I don't need to go see it again to understand what it's about.

Like, unless it was strictly for, like, maybe trying to land a job, you know.

But yeah, but yeah, I was like, no, I'm.

Are you just like, are you just like, man, my mustache days are behind me?

Like, I mean, my biggest thing, I think, was just the health part of it, you know?

Yeah, that was my biggest thing.

I just had a lot of good co workers and not to take the conversation in weird plays, but just like, people that passed away that I thought were still very healthy people.

Right?

And I was like, dude, they're too young.

Like, they're too young for all this to be happening.

And like, it happened once, it might be just a mishap.

It happens two, three times, then it's just a coincidence.

It's no longer a coincidence.

It's, it's.

It's.

Everything's correlated.

So then I just was like, okay, I'm like, I'm not any different.

I'm just younger than them.

But yeah, that's.

I'm gonna get there too.

So, yeah, that was my biggest thing.

It's just like, it's, it's not as.

Yes.

Waking up all the time at random times of the day for a 30 year career.

Right.

Will take a toll.

So let me ask you this.

Can you make a mean chili?

Because I was not the best.

Yeah.

Have you had the Vietnamese broth with noodles?

No.

I mean, yeah, a little bit.

I mean, I used to make that all the time, kind of just to play on this, my own stereotype.

But I was like, hey, I know nobody's making this, but it worked.

No, I just, I just asked that because I know, I know, like, through, through, like, you know, media and all that stuff, you know, Firefighters are always making.

Some are pretty mean cooks, some are pretty terrible cooks too.

But yeah, yeah, no, but it was a good transition just to, you know, do that and then.

Yeah, take that adventure over to this.

And then now it's, you know, there's always things that I learned from the past job and just kind of take that and, like, bring it into this story of, like, what the businesses.

And business is challenging.

You know, it's.

It's hard.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, it's hard every day because, I mean, that's the thing I always try to tell people is, you know, with this business, it's so up and down right at Evan flows so much, you know, you.

You.

It's.

It's a lot of times it's feast or famine, you know, and you just got to try to like, okay, when.

When we're feasting, maybe let's not eat filet mignon.

Let's get some New York strips or whatever.

So that way, when.

When it's famine, we're not at Ramen Noodles, we can still have New York strips or whatever, you know, but, yeah, it's.

It's so up and down.

And.

And that's the one thing I think, coming from the car wash that I was able to understand, because when I left the car wash and I started the detail shop, the trends were very much the same.

Like when we had busy months in the car wash, I noticed that was when I had busy months and in the detail shop and, you know, when I was slow in the detail shop, I'd be like, well, this is typically when we would be slow at the car wash.

So, like, I was able to jump into it and.

And not be like, you know, oh, you know, we killed it last month.

And now this month I'm sitting around, you know, begging for work or whatever.

Like, I was able to go, like, you know, and especially tell my wife, too.

Like, hey, look, I know we're making really good money now, but slow.

This is going to be a slow time coming up, you know, next month or in a couple of months.

So let's, you know, let's.

Let's budget accordingly.

And so that's the one thing, you know, even 10 years later, now that I've.

That I've had my shop is.

Is, you know, I can still follow the year by when I'm gonna be busy, when I'm gonna be slow, you know, and how we can kind of just, you know, budget our time through so we're not feasting or famine.

We can just stay even all the way across.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's tough.

Yeah.

And that was.

So.

It was military fire detailing.

So I say that because it was salary.

Salary paid government employee.

Pay government employee.

Yeah, maybe.

Like, oh, man.

Actually, I've made pretty, like, okay money, and it seems pretty easy And I was pretty protected and my insurances were good, blah, blah, blah.

So then to.

It was like I said it was a shock to transition over to like, holy crap.

Like, literally no one's gonna do this for me.

And it's not as easy as you think.

It's not as easy as you think because I think I even had goggles when I had a full time job on the other side.

And doing it on the side.

Well, yeah, you had that safety.

Yeah.

Full time job.

So like doing it part time or on the side, right?

Like, oh, this is easy because.

And you can understand the contract, but you can't see, feel the reality.

You can grasp the concept, but you can't feel it till you do it.

Then you're like, oh, right.

Because if you didn't have work on a, on a weekend or, or a week off or whatever, no big deal.

I'm still getting paid for salary job now.

If you don't have work, it's, oh, like, what do I do?

You know, so.

Yeah, yeah, that's, that's, that's the, the struggle.

And, and it just seems like, you know, I don't know how it is.

And, and I always tell people, like, I never know how it is up north because obviously being in Florida, we don't get.

Yeah.

You know, like, we might get a, a cool day, but we don't get winter.

Which is funny.

Like, I've had the past week, I've had three people call me and ask me if I do undercoating.

And I'm like, this is Florida.

Like, we don't have salt and snow.

Why are we doing.

No, no, we don't do undercoating.

And they're like, do you know anybody who does?

And I'm like, no, again, this is Florida.

Like, you know, like.

But, you know, so, you know, even when I have slow time, like, like I don't have like shutdown time like some of you guys will, especially if, you know, the snow's real bad or, or whatever.

So, you know, talking to a lot of my buddies, you know, and they're like, you know, trying to like load up now or trying to figure out their, their winter time, you know, specials or whatever, just to keep going.

And, and I'm just like, okay, cool.

You know, like we're, you know, still 75 and sunny here and you know, we're still rocking and rolling and, and doing stuff.

So.

Yeah, that's, that's the other thing too is you have to look at, okay, winter comes, you know, what, what do I do.

In the.

In the meantime or whatever.

Yeah, yeah.

No, it's that.

And the nice thing with getting a few reps now, a couple years of being just full time and with employees.

And before that, I didn't have the employee.

I mean, I had employees way in the past.

And I went back to solo when I was full time firefighting because I was like, you know what?

It actually works better for me to just do it solo.

And then I left fire, and I was like, oh, my God, I need to have a bigger shot with more people, so let's hire more people.

But at least understanding the.

Slow down the.

The learning curve has been analyzing the data, understanding what's about to happen, and then having the guts to be very honest with your team and saying, look, I'm hiring you right now, and you're coming into March, so you're gonna have a perception of the business, that you're gonna feel that we're just, like, kicking ass at all times.

Yeah.

I'm telling you right now, like, eight months down the road, do not be just surprised when I say, hey, these hours are gonna cut down.

And it ain't against you.

It's not.

It's.

It's nothing.

I.

It's just.

This is what happens.

Yeah, exactly.

It's nice to do, to give the foresight, but obviously, as an owner, you're always like, I don't want to let you know.

You want to give them the hours you want them to.

Right.

To help them build something.

Right.

So that's been the hard part, but it's.

It's the reality of it, of, you know, being in Northern State.

Yeah.

And it's also too, like, you know, not only do you want to make sure that they're getting hours, but you also want to make sure that they're still there for when it does.

When it does kick back in.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Otherwise it gets slowed down and everybody leaves you and you're like, okay, well, whatever.

Like, me and this guy can handle the work.

And now, you know, busy season picks up, and now you're like, oh, we can't handle it.

And now you're having, like, hire somebody and train them, and then you have to go through all that headache.

So.

Yeah, no, I totally get it.

That is the risk and the hardest part.

Part.

But I was talking with a.

A guy that comes to my shop, and he's like, well, we get laid off every winter.

They're like electricians and plumbers.

Right.

Union.

Union guys.

And they're.

They're used to It.

I say, you guys are used to just being laid off, but they're also unions.

It's like, well, we're unions, so we know we're coming back.

Yeah.

But, like, it's not for them.

It's almost in their.

That's just how it's structured.

They know that, like, hey, in the winter there's less projects, so.

And I just thought, oh, that's kind of interesting.

I was like, don't you want to go work somewhere where there's work all the time?

But I guess some of them are like, no, we've just learned to adapt that.

That's my vacation time.

I'm like, yeah, okay.

That's one way to look at it.

Listen, plumbers and electricians make enough money, probably.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They're looking forward to that.

Yeah.

They're like, oh, I can't wait to winter, go to the warm state and spend.

Spend some money golfing.

Yeah, you're right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, as long as they're smart with their money.

I mean, definitely.

But, you know, I'm sure there's probably some out there that aren't smart with their money.

They're probably hurting or whatever.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, because that was like.

That was like, the thing I remember, like, you know, years ago when.

When the Deadliest Catch first came on.

Right.

And you're like, watching these guys and they go out and, you know, you know, catch all these lobsters and crabs and whatever, and.

And you.

You hear, like, as a deckhand, like, how much money they're making for, like, you know, those couple of weeks.

And you're like, damn.

Like, that set me, like, I wouldn't need to work the whole rest of the year, you know, show them.

They're in the bar and they're drinking and they're like, you know, it's like, that's why they're out there every couple of weeks, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

High, high, high energy output.

You probably put so much of it out there that.

Yeah, you probably need to just chill after that.

Two, three months.

Yeah, A couple.

Couple weeks at sea.

Exactly.

Yeah.

You'd be good.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So.

So the shop is yellow then, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Because.

Because every time I've seen it, I always thought for some reason I was like a yellow.

I was like, yeah, just because.

Yeah.

You don't spell it like the color yellow.

So that's.

That's why I was always.

Yeah, that's like, Y, E, L, O, E, low.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yellow Autosport.

So it actually Was my cousin.

My cousin's first name is Yee.

Okay.

Last name is Low, so you would think it would be called yellow, but it was actually yellow because we wanted to play off the color.

Gotcha.

We were only partners for the first year, but then when he left, I was like, I'm just gonna keep it because people already know it and we've already been going to car shows by then and, like, kind of promoting ourselves as such.

So, yeah, I've just kept it the whole time.

It's.

It's Yellow Auto Sports, which I always go back and forth.

I'm like, do we do a change?

Here we go.

Yellow Auto protection or something?

But, well, see, that's the other.

That's the other thing too, that, like, at first, you know, because, you know, being friends with Dave and Dave's always, you know, rocking your.

And stuff.

Yeah, yeah.

And.

And auto sports.

So, like, you know, and knowing Dave as an import guy, like, I thought you were like an import shop.

So, like, you know, especially when you reached out and again, I guess it.

We.

We've been friends for, I don't know, however long on Facebook, but that's how much I guess I pay attention to things.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, like, when you reached out, I was like, oh, this will be cool, because it'll be like, little.

And then, like, you know, I looked at it again and I was like, no, wait.

He is a.

He's a detailer.

He does all this stuff.

So.

So yeah, the auto.

The auto sports kind of.

Kind of, yeah.

It doesn't really match.

And I was.

And I always tell people too.

Now I'm like, hey, are you gonna name.

What are you gonna do?

You.

You're getting into detailing.

What are you gonna name your company?

Okay.

You should probably make it something more searchable.

Like, that is always the first thing I say.

Like, make it something more searchable that people don't have to second guess what your business is about.

Right, right.

And I've always thought, like, I should change it, but at the same time, sometimes I'm like, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's add new.

Like, when it's time to add things in.

Yeah, let's just do it because we.

Yeah, it's broad enough name.

Yeah.

But yes, I get it on from both fronts.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, it's.

It's.

It's cool.

It's different, you know, I mean, again, you know, there's.

There's a lot of, you know, detail shops or auto spas.

I don't know, a lot of them that are doing auto sports.

So.

Yeah, unless.

Unless they are like, like you said, right?

Like bringing in other things.

Like, I know there are some.

But they don't call.

But it's weird.

Like, they don't call themselves auto, auto sports or whatever.

Like, there's a.

There's a couple places around here that, you know, started out as detailing and then, you know, got into film and then got into, you know, doing some, you know, bolt on performance stuff and stereo systems and like that type of stuff.

So they, they, you know, kind of lumped under that auto sports name or whatever.

But.

But they still use like auto spa or whatever.

Yeah, so.

Yeah, no, it's interesting.

It's just different.

So it's just pretty cool.

At least a.

Sets you apart, right?

Let makes you stand out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And that's why I haven't switched.

And I'm like, well, I'm not gonna switch because I'd rather have a bigger umbrella to go under it someday than.

Than to switch and then switch again or switch and then make a new one that.

Well, and plus, I mean, you've been doing it long enough under that name.

Everybody knows who you are, you know, so.

That too.

Yeah.

You know, people know it, so it's no point in switching.

And then if you switch it now, they'll be like, dude, I've been googling for you and I can't find you.

Did you close?

Yeah.

So, yeah, you're right.

At this point, we just keep it going.

But yeah, yeah, no, no, it's.

It's definitely a cool name.

Like I said, it just sets you apart.

But yeah, again, like, you know, just from Dave and all this stuff, like, I just never like, paid attention that you are an actual detail shot.

And PPF and.

Yeah, kind of like your, your standard detail shot.

Right.

It usually is detail with, for the most part, PPF and vinyl are your normal editions.

Yeah, no, that's.

That's all good.

So, yeah, I mean, it's.

Yeah, I'm, you know, that's.

That's on me for not paying attention to, you know, but.

But again, no offense, I. I've been.

I've been trying to dial the Facebook back, so, you know, it's probably a smart thing.

I always think I want to dial mine back and then I think I'm in business.

I'm like, I kind of need it, but I think if I wasn't.

Which stage I am of now with the business and stuff like that, I would probably want to tune out more out of it.

Too, because I'm just getting slightly older and I'm just like, holy crap.

Energy stuck.

Yeah.

And it's, it's the groups, you know, I mean, like, I'm still in a bunch of the groups, but I, I don't, I don't contribute.

So.

Yeah, you know, if you kick me out of the group.

Yeah.

Oh, well.

Yeah, the conversations are different in here.

Yeah, it's, yeah, I mean, you're right, it is because, and it's weird.

Like, you know, I, I, I feel like a little bit bad, you know, because there's, there's a lot of detailers that I still consider to be friends with.

But like, I don't talk to them as much now as maybe I did five years ago or six years ago, you know, or, or just don't follow as much, you know, again, because, because I, I, I don't really like the, the negativity in a lot of the groups and that, and that's unfortunately, like, that's where you kind of find your tribe in, in this industry is, is kind of in the groups.

You know, you kind of find the people that have the same mindset as you or doing, you know, same kind of things and, and whatnot.

And that's where you, you end up, you know, meeting these people outside of the groups or whatever, you know, friend requesting them, DMing them, asking them questions, whatever.

And I just have gotten to the point where, you know, there was, there was, you know, last year, yeah, last year there was so much negativity because of things that happened with my ex co host on the podcast and whatnot that, you know, shied me off of those, of those groups and everything.

And, and I just started dialing it back and, you know, I'd still search, you know, whatever pops up.

If, you know, like, if you, if you were to pop post something, like, I, I kind of see that, but like posting something in a group, I just, I don't look at it anymore.

And I feel, I feel kind of bad that, you know, like, I don't have those, those, I feel like those friendship, those friendships aren't as strong as they once were.

But you're, but also it's, I've noticed that when I do see people that I've been friends with for Six years in the groups.

Like, even they're not as.

Yeah.

Or, you know, I agree more and I agree.

So.

So it's like.

So then I'm like, okay, so it's not just me.

It's like all of us from, like five or six years ago, like, had it with this, you know, and we're.

We're kind of over it.

Yeah.

And then it's.

It's a lot of the new, you know, the new crowd that are coming in and, you know, they're, you know, peacocking, you know, trying to, you know, be seen and heard and.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, that's why I just, you know, scroll past it.

You know, scroll past.

I always.

I always say, you know, it's like.

It's like Dory and Finding Nemo.

Just keep swimming.

I just keep scroll.

I just keep scrolling.

Keep scrolling, Keep scrolling, you know?

Yeah.

Like, from my perspective, it seems like the.

The groups have gotten very.

Like, they're large.

Like, they're so large.

So there's.

There's so many posts, like, all the time.

And, like, you'll have new guys asking, what soap should I get?

And then you got guys who comes in and starts trolling them.

And I'm like, well, that guy's probably brand new, so he's asking a question that to him makes sense.

Yeah, but we've also been.

But with.

Some of us have been in these groups for so long that we're like, yeah, dude, go look in the search bar.

Like, you'll find a.

But.

But then when I look at the number of people on the group on the Facebook page itself, I'm like, yeah, well, yeah, I mean, what else are you gonna expect?

There's a lot of people here.

Like, I don't know who's all active, but there's a lot of people posting, so.

Right.

And sometimes I feel.

And I could be wrong.

It could just be a new guy that doesn't know any better, but sometimes I feel like it's some.

It's.

It's somebody trolling the group.

So you got a troll trolling the trolls, trolling the troll, you know?

Yeah.

Which is kind of just reflective of the Internet.

It's a lot of trolling.

But, yeah, when I go on the Facebook detail group page, I'm just like.

It'S.

I feel like it's more rare for me to now and find a quality response where I actually learned something from it as well.

Exactly.

Than to just be like, what these dudes are just, like, back and forth about.

Well, the other thing Is.

Is there's a, you know, there's a million ways to skin a cat.

Yeah.

But everybody's way is.

Is.

Is the only way to do it.

Right?

So, like, then you get in there and there's, you know, you start reading through the comments and, you know, I'm just like, well, there's no way I do it that way.

Oh, you're absolutely wrong.

That's.

That's a dumb answer, you know, but.

But everybody's doing it that way.

And, and that is their way.

And it's the only way.

God forbid if you try to tell them that that is not the way to do it because, you know, some, some holy YouTuber told them, you know, that that's the way to do it.

So that's the way to do it.

I feel, I feel bad for some of the new guys coming in, but I usually, my advice to them is usually, hey, don't get too caught up in all the answers that you're gonna give and just know there is no one answer.

Yeah.

And you will figure out your own answer.

It might take a little bit of time, but just know that, like, the answer is kind of your answer.

You just gotta come to that conclusion of what it actually is.

And yeah, that's why I usually tell new.

New folks.

I tell that to, like, the students I can come to my class.

I'm like, you should go on these forums because they're good.

You can ask questions, but be prepared.

You will get trolled.

With a grain of salt, too.

You know, I mean, like, you got to know common sense a little bit.

You know, I'm, I'm a little bit.

The.

The new.

So I don't want to say, like, new people getting in, the newer generation getting into this.

I have hope for them because there's.

There's a few kids and, and like, literally, I mean, kids.

I mean, like, I've got one of them who, like, just graduated high school last year.

He's.

He's one of our installers at Aquatech.

And, and, and I met the kid when he was like, 16.

And they're just all in.

You know, they.

They're doing everything they can to do it right.

They're hustling.

They're not on social media bitching about this or that or the other.

I mean, they are literally, you know, they're so young.

They don't, they don't have.

They don't really have shops, so they're like, you know, hustling out of their cars or out of their, you know, whatever And.

And they're.

They're all over the place.

And that gives me hope for the next generation of detailers coming in, that maybe, you know, it'll start getting a little bit better and.

And that, you know, the next generation will start having better talks or better, you know, representation than kind of, you know, these old jaded guys that just have nothing better to do but go on and about whatever, you know.

So I will say that.

I mean, these.

These kids definitely.

I mean, we had one of the kids, he lives in Virginia, his name's Parker, and we were doing a.

A joint training with Maddie and Dave at Gloss University.

And, dude, he drove 14 hours to.

From Virginia to.

To Chicago to come to this training because he wanted to better himself.

And when he got there, you know, he wasn't like, you know, oh, I. I sling this, I sling that.

Like, he just was a sponge and he just asked everybody.

Yeah, I mean, like, There I am.

Yeah, he.

He was.

He was asking Maddie so many questions at one point.

Like, like, I was.

I. I was almost gonna go up to Maddie and be like, bro, you need.

You need to.

You need me to do some interference here for you or whatever.

And Maddie was just kind of like, no, no, it's good.

It's all good.

So.

Yeah, so, yeah, I mean, it's.

Hopefully the newer generation will be better.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I think, like, all generations, right?

You.

Yeah, you have some that are just gonna, like, push themselves really hard and you'll have some that just come in and talk smack.

That's what makes.

That's how they get enjoyment, I guess.

And sometimes I just, like, now.

Yeah, like, I don't post as much as I used to before.

Before I think I was also younger, so I always wanted to share what I was finding out and things like that.

Maybe I'm getting older myself now, like, near my 40s.

I'm just like.

I just.

I got other things I'm trying to think about right now.

Like, I ain't gonna post, but.

Yeah, I just.

I. I do still just stand in the background.

I read because I think sometimes I, like, I tell my 10 students and younger details.

I'm like, sometimes there is a lot of gem in, like, the discussions that happen.

There is.

Yeah.

Like you said, you find your tribe through those.

So, yeah, like, I still pay attention because there are people that.

Whether they're younger, older, whatever, where they say things, and I read it.

I'm like, okay, that, like, triggered my brain to spin a bit, and maybe I'll reach out to that person.

So I still think there's a super valuable spot for the forums, but at the same time, there's just a lot more trolling, I feel like, now than 10 years ago that I have to filter through.

Yeah.

And that's the hard part.

Yeah.

You got to go through, like, 10 comments, like one that, you know, like, kind of makes sense.

And.

And, you know, you're like, okay, you know, but that's.

That's kind of the problem is, is I'll start reading some of the comments, and it's just like, hate, hate, hate, hate.

There could be, like, the next five could be awesome.

But you know what?

Like, I'm out when it's just hate, hate, hate, you know, or, you know, I can't believe you did that.

Can't believe you asked that.

That's a, you know, rookie question.

That's first day.

You should have known that before you even started a bit, you know, like, all the.

All the dumb that everybody says, you know, and it's.

It's like, I can't.

I can't.

I'm just, you know, onto the next thing.

Unfortunately, I've only been 10 years, so I'd have to talk to.

Yeah.

Others that have been longer.

Longer.

I wish I would have seen it, you know, 20 years ago or.

Yeah, I. I don't know, five years ago.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know.

I think it's the same.

I mean, you know, I'm kind of the same as you.

I mean, I've.

I've been doing it 10 years since I left the car wash. And, you know, when I was in the car wash, I wasn't really on detailing.

I didn't even know there was detailing forums on, you know, when I was at the car wash or, you know, on Facebook or whatever.

I didn't even know there was detail forums, like, when you go way back before Facebook.

Right, right, right.

But, you know, talking.

Talking to the old guys, you know, like.

Like Todd Helm and.

And Fermani and Barry, you know, all those old, you know, the older guys that have been doing it forever, and they're, you know, masters at it and whatnot.

You know, they said the forms are the same way.

Yeah, he still had the.

Maybe it's just a detailer trade.

You know, I think it's.

I think it's a human trade, honestly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

It's.

It's funny because I forget who it was that used to always say it.

I can't remember if it was Barry or somebody else.

It Was they were always like, you know, like, does the plumbers always, you know, have to deal with this and that and you know, and sometimes I kind of wish I, you know, should get into a plumber's Facebook group and see if they.

You used a 3/4 PVC B.

You know, like.

No, that is, that is right.

That I think that is just a human thing where you're going to critique.

And I think the Internet makes it a platform that is ultra easy.

And now you get the anonymous, which makes it ultra, ultra easy.

Yeah, you just say whatever you want.

Like you said, it's a troller trolling somebody else that was trolling.

So then you're.

So then the quality of the response is just like, yeah.

And again, like, like you said earlier.

Like, then it kind of sucks for the person that's getting in, just trying to learn because now they're getting, you know, flung at them from all different directions and they don't know like, what's, you know.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, I agree.

You know, and it sucks because I feel like even though I've been doing this this long, you know, I'm still learning, you know, and, and you know, yes, I have resources to go and call people and just ask them and, and get an answer, but sometimes, you know, I want to, I want to learn something on those groups or whatever.

But, but yeah, you know, usually I get a couple of negative ones in a row and I'm like, all right, that's enough Facebook for now.

Let's go over here to Tick Tock and let's watch.

Let's go watch funny skit videos.

Yeah, let's watch it.

Right?

Let's watch a different subject.

Yeah, exactly.

Because I don't really watch any detailing videos on Tick Tock.

Like.

Yeah, no, and I don't either.

I was just.

Give me some little sketches.

The, the, you know, everybody doing the, the exact same trend.

Like, I don't care.

It's still funny, whatever, you know.

Yeah, Yeah.

I was just talking to my employee earlier today and I was like, I think I need to start watching more automotive stuff again.

And he's like, wait, you don't watch that stuff.

I'm like, dude, I watched it like every day for like 10 years.

And I just think I haven't lately because I think my mind doesn't want to.

Yeah, because I think about it all the time.

It's part of the work.

So learning about a product sometimes feels like it is their requirement.

Because I'm in the industry.

It's.

It's What I tell people all the time with, like, people that had.

That are super passionate about things and they, like, I think I'm gonna do this for a business.

And I always tell them, like, yo, I'm just gonna tell you right now, like, that's not a bad idea because you're deep into that.

But I'm just telling you right now, from my experience, it dilutes it a little bit where you might not like your hobby as much, because I can tell you to go.

You can go fishing for fun, but when you're in it.

Yeah.

Now it's.

It just kind of kills it a little bit.

So just be mindful and be careful going into it, but they probably still do it anyway and figure it out.

Yeah.

And that's.

That's the, the sweet spot is, you know, I used to always.

I used to always say, like, I've never heard a detailer say that they had a case of the Mondays, right?

Because I think it truly, at the end of the day, even though it is a business, it is a job, it is work, it's stressful, it's whatever.

It's.

It's what we enjoy to do, you know, and, and whether you throw your headphones on and, you know, listen to music or listen to a podcast or you don't wear headphones or whatever, like you're concentrating on that, you know, two by two piece of paint or, you know, the seat in front of you or, you know, whatever it is.

And.

And it's something that we just all truly enjoy at the end of the day, you know, Like, I always tell people it's.

It's almost therapeutic for me, you know, because I can go and I can put my headphones on and.

Or I don't do head.

I try not to do headphones as much anymore because I started having ear issues, you know, but I.

But I have a speaker in the shop and I.

And I put the music on and I just.

I go and I just deal with that car and the rest of the world.

Like, that's.

That's all I.

That's all I'm concentrating on.

I have to correct this pain.

I have to clean this leather.

I have to, you know, vacuum these leaves off the carpet or whatever it is.

Like, that's the only thing I have to worry about at that moment.

You know, everything else can fade away, you know, until the job's done, and then all that stuff can flood back in.

But while I'm working on that car, like, everything goes away.

I'm not thinking about, you know, a lot of things.

And, And.

And to me, it's therapeutic, you know, and.

And that's why I say, like, I feel like a lot of detailers don't have a case of the Mondays where it's, you know, I mean, my wife, we were, you know, walking on the weekend.

We.

We try to walk every day, and Sunday we were walking.

It's just like, ah, weekend flew by so fast, you know, and I'm just like, whatever, you know, I'm going.

I'm going to work tomorrow, you know, I got a car to do.

Like, I'm happy about it, you know, like, yeah, I'm gonna make.

Go.

I'm gonna go make money, you know, like, so.

Yeah, that's the other thing I think people just have to realize with this is there's a.

There's a lot worse things that you could be doing.

There are.

You know, there are.

And running your own business and being a detailer is not really that bad.

No.

Yeah.

I mean, at the end of the day, you put people that have an interest just like yours, and even not just detailing, but just automotive in general, too.

Like, I always tell other folks, I'm like, it's easy for me to connect with people that come in because they bring me a car there that they like.

And I probably know about the car too, already because I probably watch car reviews about it, right.

And so right away we can talk about cars.

So that's easy.

That's not forced.

That's easy.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, that's.

Sometimes my problem is, you know, I get somebody that's excited about cars, and then I'm excited about cars, and the next thing you know, I'm like, well, if you don't leave, I'm never gonna get started on your car.

So we got to stop this conversation because, you know, 30 minutes, 45 minutes will go by and we're just talking about cars.

It's like, all right, bro, you gotta go.

I gotta get started on this, you know?

Yeah, but that's also how you build those relationships with those people, too, to keep them coming back is by not just treating them like another number or whatever.

You take that time to learn about their car, what excites them about their car, you know, hey, they love it now.

Well, wait till you get.

Wait till I get done with it, you know, done with it or, you know, whoever, you know, then see how much you're going to be in love with it at that point.

Because now then it's going to be shinier.

It's going to be cleaner, it's going to smell good, it's going to look good.

You know, it's going to feel like it drives faster, all those things.

Yeah, there's definitely the.

I try to always hire people that work for me to be.

I mean you have to be in car enthusiasts because otherwise you don't have the, the.

Yeah, you just don't know what it, what that is if you're not enthusiast yourself.

So I think it's always easy.

I like that.

That people come in and are enthusiast.

Excuse me.

And it just makes it easy to connect with, with clients.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We've been a little bit busier too.

I mean, I'm slowing down a little bit, but we were busier.

That's another part of like starting to be much more, more business oriented is I sometimes forget to do exactly what you're talking about because most of my team is kind of handling this stuff.

So I kind of forget to go back to that point.

The interpersonal connection of like a cool M3 that you just brought and like figuring out a little bit more about that.

And so I'm glad that you're actually talking about this because your highlight.

High.

Highlighting it to me to kind of go back into that.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean I, I always think it's, you know, super important to try to, you know, even if it's just, you know, a random whatever car, just try to build some kind of connection with, with the client.

Like I said, I mean obviously there's, there's some, I mean I, you know, I had a, a guy.

There we go.

I don't know why keeps kicking off and coming back on.

I had, I had a guy and his wife last weekend.

It was, we were, we were doing his wife's car.

She had nothing, nothing super fancy.

It was a matte finish, Genesis GV70, you know, but he got into like, you know, they had looked it up.

There was only so many, so many, you know, that color made.

And then there was only so many matte finishes done and so many of them brought to, you know, like.

So I was like, well, dude, that's pretty cool, you know.

And he had A, a BMW 3 Series.

I was driving the RS3 that day.

So then, you know, he was asking me about the RS3 and you know, so we're car guys, you know, he's talking about his BMW, I'm talking about my RS3.

We're talking about the rarity of his wife's, you know, Matt finish.

And like I said, you know, it was 30 minutes in, and I'm like, dude, you know, get out of here.

Like, I gotta get started on the car.

You know, and there's.

There's times that are like that, and then there's other times where, you know, it's somebody that, you know, for them, it's a.

A mode of transportation.

Yeah.

It gets me from point A to point B. I want to.

I want it cleaned.

But, you know, I still try to build some kind of, you know, relationship with them.

Like, oh, you know, it's a cool color, or, you know, I've never seen that interior on one of these.

Or, I don't know, you know, just something stupid, you know, just a build.

Kind of, you know, talk with them for five minutes or so, you know, feel friendly.

Just, you know, don't make it like, okay, take your keys.

Okay, I see you, you know, a couple hours, or whatever.

Because those are the people that.

They remember you that way.

And then they'll call, you know, hey, Alex, I don't know if you remember me.

You know, I came in last year.

You did my interior on my bubble.

Oh, yeah.

You had that, like, different interior I hadn't seen before, you know, and then, like, they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you remembered.

I'm like, of course I remember.

You know, so into for me, those kind of things.

If I can pick something out that is unique or different or whatever about that car.

Even if they call me a.

A year later and they kind of mention that one little thing, I'll immediately remember.

Yeah, I do remember you.

Because I'm the type of person that.