Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:12]:
Hey, thanks for listening to Good News in Auto Repair. I'm Braxton, and today's story is, well, a lot, a lot like the other ones that we've, we've, we've highlighted a need in the industry and someone saw the need and didn't just say, oh, man, I, I, I hope they find what they're looking for. They found a way to themselves meet the need. And that's what this podcast is about, to share the good news that's happening in the industry because it's out there, it's just not being talked about. And so much of this industry has a negative connotation to it. The automotive aftermarket is what I'm speaking of. But there's a lot of good people that do good things that aren't getting talked about. And one of those people is, well, I guess two of them really are.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:03]:
With me on Good News and Auto Repair, Lee Locklear, he is with Cutting Edge Solutions, and Missy Stevens with the Auto Care Association. Guys, thanks for coming on Good News and Auto Repair.

Lee Locklear [00:01:19]:
Braxton, thanks for having me.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:22]:
So I, I, and again, just for, for you listening or watching, I, I don't know much about these stories and that's intentional. I, I don't do a ton of research and the, the ins and outs of what goes on because I don't want to know. I want to know like you and learn in real time. And so I, I think this started with Missy. So start from the beginning. Tell me about what happened and I guess the story can just unfold from there.

Missy Stephens [00:01:53]:
No, sounds good. So as a part of my role with the Auto Care Association, I am a community engagement manager and I actually have three communities for the association. I have women in auto care, I have the tool and equipment community, and then I also have ccpn, which is predominantly comprised of shop owners, independent repair shop owners. So I had a gentleman reach out to me completely unrelated to my T and E community. He reached out to me because he is an instructor at a high school vocational program in Pontiac, Michigan, and he's had an uptick in females enrolling in his program. So when he originally reached out to me, he found me because I was on the Women and Auto Care site. So he wanted to connect with me around how he could further help his, the females in his class and, you know, if there was anything that women in auto care had that could help support them on their journey. And we talked through all those things.

Missy Stephens [00:02:54]:
And as a part of that conversation, you know, he was telling me that he had had the, you know, he just took the program and he was telling me about the high demand that they're actually having to turn kids away because they just don't have enough opening open spots. Which for me was really good news to see that we're getting the interest. Right. But he said that, you know, upon coming into the program he was like, man, he was like, I had some really dated equipment. And he said, but you know, my first and foremost, he said I had to get new lifts because he said I didn't want there to be a safety issue. So basically his entire budget had went towards putting new lifts in the facility. So that being said, he starts telling me how he's got one tool cart with tools in it for his 32 students. And so he was really kind of talking about like what a severe need they had for hand tools so that all of the kids got this really great experience.

Missy Stephens [00:03:50]:
And I'm sitting there like, oh, I know some amazing people in the tool and equipment world. So I kind of, after having that conversation with them, I was having my monthly call with my T and E crew and I said, hey, you know, I talked to this gentleman at the school and, and he's really struggling here. And I kind of walked through it and immediately Lee raised his hand and said, give me his contact info. I want to reach out to him as well as Laura, Bonnie from ATD also did she raise her hand, said, yeah, let me reach out to him as well. And then Lee, I'll let you kind of take it from there. Because from there that's kind of where you took the ball and ran with it.

Lee Locklear [00:04:31]:
Yeah, so I honestly, I don't even remember the gentleman's name. I'm horrible with names.

Missy Stephens [00:04:38]:
Yeah, Colt Gregor was his name.

Lee Locklear [00:04:40]:
Thank you. Yeah, so I reached out to Colt and it was everything that Missy just said that they just didn't have the things that they needed to put prep the students for transition into the industry. So I got with my team and we had a mix of things that we sent them as the, the more questions I asked, the greater the need got, it seemed like. So I think we sent them two AC machines. He was in dire need of a 134Amachine we sent. We also sent them a 1234 YF just so that the kids could be more familiar with what's. What's currently hitting the streets and hitting. Hitting the shops.

Lee Locklear [00:05:30]:
We had some new toolboxes and new tools that we sent. We also had some trade ins and some scratch and dense stuff that had Been sitting around in the warehouse so I don't know, you know, everything that we sent, but it was, it was substantial. It was, it was a lot of tools, a lot of equipment and Colt was just kind of over the moon. I didn't think we did that much, honestly. So we, we did what we felt we could and, and what, you know, and we felt obligated to help because we were in a situation where we could. And I kind of checked that box and moved on, so to speak. Didn't know that it had the impact that it did until I met with Messi and Arizona at, at Auto Care, at Connect. And you know, of course obviously Colt was, was very grateful but he's also a shy guy, come to find out.

Lee Locklear [00:06:29]:
And so that whole sentiment really was lost on me until, until Missy explained it to me.

Braxton Critcher [00:06:37]:
How is this something that you do periodically, Lee, or is this an anomaly?

Lee Locklear [00:06:45]:
I don't know. I don't know that we've made a donation that large before. So everything is based on, we do more where it's needed, if that makes sense. There's schools and there's communities that have budgets and there's schools and communities that do not. So we have a tendency to focus our efforts in the communities that, that don't have the tax base to give, to give them the things that they need. And we, not that if there was another school that needed help, we wouldn't help them. The level of help that we give that school is different. Livingston was, was in, you know, was in dire need of, of, of help and almost no budget.

Lee Locklear [00:07:34]:
So automotive is something that I've done my entire career. I don't really know anything else. So it's something that I'm extremely passionate about. We do, we're very active in our local schools and both at the high school level and secondary, we do training, we do, you know, we meet with the instructors, we sit on advice advisory councils at the school. It's not something that we, it's not accolades that we're after. We just, we feel compelled to support the industry.

Braxton Critcher [00:08:11]:
Yeah, that, that's kind of where I wanted to go was I guess a secondary follow up question before I really get there is are you in a place where you can share a rough estimate of the monetary value of the donation?

Lee Locklear [00:08:27]:
So I would, I would say it's probably about 20 grand.

Braxton Critcher [00:08:32]:
Okay.

Lee Locklear [00:08:32]:
Give or take. Might have been more than that when you factor in the second AC machine. That machine alone, the, the 1234 YF machine alone is probably in that 12, $13,000 range at retail. I don't remember how many toolboxes we sent, but we sent several. And then tool kits. There was some multimeters, test lights, just, you know, the, the things that you really can't, can't teach a class without. It's really tough to teach a, you know, Ohm's law using a multimeter. And you got 32 kids standing around one multimeter.

Lee Locklear [00:09:12]:
Somebody's not going to learn.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:14]:
I mean, first of all, that's incredible and thank you for your generosity. That's it is going to change that. That part of that school's just next 15 years and you're gonna help get more people into this industry. We talk about technician shortages. I mean, that's, that's going to help with that. But my other question is, you know, what I was getting at earlier is, I mean, this is true generosity. There aren't many companies that can just give away 20 grand worth of something and not hurt. And I don't know what the situation is.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:51]:
I don't know if that true, we're a small company.

Lee Locklear [00:09:53]:
It doesn't, it doesn't feel good, I can assure you.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:55]:
Right. That's what I'm saying.

Lee Locklear [00:09:56]:
Gesture feels good. But the, the monetary impact, we, we are, we're, we're relative, especially compared to some of the companies that I sit on, on Missy's council with. We're, you know, we're one of the smaller companies on that, on that council.

Braxton Critcher [00:10:10]:
Okay. So that makes this even bigger. Is, I mean, there, this is coming out of a true generosity like this isn't. Oh, hey, I'll give you, you know, 500 bucks. Hope that helps. I mean, you really made a difference. You went over and beyond in this area. And so, you know that I always am curious to ask people, where does that come from? You know, because you care about the industry.

Braxton Critcher [00:10:36]:
I get that. But, you know, you could still care about the industry and give the $500, the 1,000. Where, where does it come from to really to find the need and just say, hey, you know what, we're going to do this?

Lee Locklear [00:10:49]:
Honestly, I don't know. Probably some of it is my spiritual beliefs, to be honest with you.

Braxton Critcher [00:10:55]:
Yep.

Lee Locklear [00:10:56]:
I, I, I firmly believe that anytime you're in a, in a position where you can help, you have an obligation to help and, and that you should do so willingly and with generosity. The, the industry has been great to me. I've had a fantastic career and so I'm now in a position in my career where I can get back a little bit. And I enjoy that. I, you know, I take, I take personal satisfaction and being in a situation where we can give back a little bit. It's, it's a lot, it has a lot to do with how our company is structured. Most of the people that work for me don't have a background in doing what they do. The personal satisfaction that I've taken from the company is watching them grow and develop.

Lee Locklear [00:11:46]:
So I think, you know, subconsciously that, you know, wanting to be part of somebody's growth and development, see them be better, you know, drives that, that generosity.

Braxton Critcher [00:11:59]:
So when did this happen?

Missy Stephens [00:12:03]:
Oh, gosh. Would it have been, I would say March or April. I mean, clearly it was before Connect in May.

Braxton Critcher [00:12:09]:
Okay.

Missy Stephens [00:12:09]:
Yeah, I would say marches.

Lee Locklear [00:12:11]:
Yeah, I think it was our second meeting. It was technically the first one that I was on because the first one I was on a plane. So it just came up in the first team. I'm new to the council, by the way, so Missy just brought me on the council this year and it was the first, it was the first meeting that I sat in on and she, she, you know, know shared the need and, and we took action.

Braxton Critcher [00:12:35]:
You're setting the standard for the rest of those on the council. Now you got something to live up to, right?

Lee Locklear [00:12:41]:
Either, either that or they're like, dodged a bullet. One or the other. Somebody else did it. Thank God.

Braxton Critcher [00:12:49]:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so the. So how quick do they have the equipment now? So they're prepping for fall semester with this new equipment.

Lee Locklear [00:13:04]:
Yeah.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:05]:
So Missy, you've, you've talked to. I'm sorry, I forgot his name too.

Missy Stephens [00:13:12]:
Colt.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:12]:
Colt. Okay, so what, what, what all did he say about Lee's generosity and the tools they've got Give me like that conversation.

Missy Stephens [00:13:23]:
Yeah, it was, it was really sweet. He reached out to me after the fact and let me know that, you know, he'd been working with Lee and Laura from atd and he said, you know, these people are my heroes. He was like anybody that will, you know, come to the table and want to make a difference in these young kids lives. And he really like talked about how, what a difference it was going to make. I mean, to your point, Lee, when you said 32 kids standing around a multimeter is not doing anybody any justice. So I mean, and then he sent pictures of the students with the tools and they're all holding the stuff up, standing around the boxes. So I think it was super impactful to them too. And in fact, you know, we celebrated that a little bit in Phoenix at Connect and I Think it kind of inspired us as a community to potentially work towards doing a grant each year to a vocational program to, to try to drum up and find some of those needs and just help where we can.

Braxton Critcher [00:14:26]:
Right. I'm, I'm wanting to get, I'm looking up a quote.

Lee Locklear [00:14:35]:
Where is this?

Braxton Critcher [00:14:37]:
Okay, it's a Bible verse and I, and Lee, you mentioned, you know, your faith and I'm a Christian and I don't know what, what type of faith you were referring to, but Luke 16:10, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with very much. And so I'm thinking about, okay, somebody's watching or listening and they, they hear a story like this and, and at their core they want to be generous. They're like, oh, you know, it'd be really cool to help somebody out. And you know, not for notoriety, but they just want to help, but they, they don't have the 20,000 to be able to do something like that. But you know, in my life I've, I've not been able to give a twenty thousand dollar donation like that. But, but I've seen little steps of generosity allow you to one day, hey, you'll grow in that you'll be trusted. If you're trusted with little, you can be trusted with more. And it starts somewhere.

Braxton Critcher [00:15:50]:
So tell me more about, I guess, your generosity, growth and experience and how that started for you because it has to start somewhere. So for somebody that wants to start doing more like that, I guess give us a little bit of how that began with you and how you got to the point where you could do something like this.

Lee Locklear [00:16:13]:
It's a really good question. And yeah, so that, that verse is meaningful to me and so I interpret that as be a good steward and you'll get good rewards. So originally it was time because that's the only thing that I could afford to, to give.

Braxton Critcher [00:16:35]:
Right.

Lee Locklear [00:16:37]:
So whether that was teaching in the evenings, you know, volunteering somewhere, we, when I started the company, I started the company in 2015 in my garage at the house. So obviously we weren't in a position then to, you know, do this kind of donation, you know, to make this kind of offer. And I think slowly, over time, we were good stewards and we were entrusted with more responsibility. So we just keep doing the right thing and good things happen as a result. Time, ironically, is even today, if not more so today than before, time is the most valuable thing that you can give. It's the one thing that we can never get back. You can always make more money There's a lot of other things that you can do. And it was probably, honestly, it's probably easier for me today to give that $20,000 in equipment than it would be to donate the time that I do sitting on the council at the school, going to the meetings.

Lee Locklear [00:17:52]:
I am a liaison, not because I'm required to be or as part of the council at the school, but I'm trying to get, I actively work with the shop owners that we deal with to get them engaged at the school because the shop owners always say, oh, we need the next generation. What are you doing? Well, I'm busy. Well, whatever. So sometimes I grab that, literally grab them by the arm and take them to the school and introduce them to the students, introduce them to the, to the instructors and things like that so that I can foster a relationship between the shop owners and the schools so that those students have somewhere to go and start their career. Watching them now voluntarily take the time to be more engaged with the school is, is meaningful to me as well. So I would say start with time because sometimes it's all you have that you can give, but that time is probably more meaningful than the, than the monetary value.

Braxton Critcher [00:18:59]:
I love that. That's, that's, it's fantastic and so true. Missy, anything you else you want to add to the story or.

Missy Stephens [00:19:08]:
I thought what, what really struck me and was like, so impactful for me was, you know, this guy was not reaching out because he was looking for a handout.

Braxton Critcher [00:19:18]:
Right.

Missy Stephens [00:19:19]:
He was reaching out for me to figure out how he could better help support his female students. Right. I mean, he was reaching out to me because he wanted to help them. And I just thought, gosh, we got, you know, there's got to be something that we can do. So I mean, he was just a very humble gentleman doing, you know, working with our children, you know, creating our next generation of technicians. So I was super glad that, you know, just making the connection was able to help them.

Braxton Critcher [00:19:47]:
Great. Well, Lee, I just, you know, from the future people and generations who are going to experience things because of just generosity, I say thank you and I say thank you to, to future people that you're going to be generous to, because I can tell that, you know, this is, this is not a, a one off. This is going to be a continuing thing for you. So thank you for doing that for this industry and for the people that are going to be using these tools. So thank you.

Lee Locklear [00:20:22]:
My pleasure. Thank you.

Braxton Critcher [00:20:25]:
If you're watching, if you're listening to this episode, this is important for you, I want you to be involved so in the comments below on YouTube, on Spotify, if you're listening on Apple podcast or another platform where you can't comment on reach out on social media in some way. If, if this has inspired you to want to be generous in your community in some way or or maybe you have questions you can reach reach out to me as well. I can, I can get that on to Missy or Lee. But also too, I mean I want to know of more good news stories to highlight just like this because I mean I don't know about you watching but I feel a little more inspired to be generous now myself and hopefully you do. And so that's what this is about, sharing the good news and, and growing together as people but just truly making an impact in this community because that's what we need. So thanks for checking out good news and auto repair.