The Alimond Show
Jose Del Mundo Branch Owner of Meineke Car Care Center
Our special guest from this Sterling, Virginia gem unpacks the maze of vehicle maintenance and their customer-centric approach, complete with a stoplight system that simplifies your car's health status. Listen closely as we swap tales of unexpected repairs and laugh at the quirks of running a franchise that's less about the nuts and bolts and more about the heart and soul of the community.
Ever wondered what goes on behind the garage doors of a one-stop auto shop? Our guest lifts the hood on everything from routine oil changes to the pesky critters found in cabin filters. They also share the challenges of nurturing the next generation of skilled technicians amidst an evolving industry landscape. Everyone take note: this conversation brings home the importance of customer education, demystifying auto care and reinforcing trust. And for those with an entrepreneurial spark, our guest's take on cutting-edge marketing and business growth is as refreshing as their dedication to service.
We wrap up our chat with a candid look at life's shifting gears—from the rush of car mods to the steady ride of family and homeownership. We'll take you through the supportive bonds formed within the "Real Husbands of Loudoun County" Facebook group and the vital life skills we're passionate about passing on to our kids. And finally, we leave you with a slice of advice on embracing a hashtag selfless life, finding joy in the journey, and cherishing the support of those around you. Tune in for an episode that's as much about engines as it is about the engine of life.
Our special guest from this Sterling, Virginia gem unpacks the maze of vehicle maintenance and their customer-centric approach, complete with a stoplight system that simplifies your car's health status. Listen closely as we swap tales of unexpected repairs and laugh at the quirks of running a franchise that's less about the nuts and bolts and more about the heart and soul of the community.
Ever wondered what goes on behind the garage doors of a one-stop auto shop? Our guest lifts the hood on everything from routine oil changes to the pesky critters found in cabin filters. They also share the challenges of nurturing the next generation of skilled technicians amidst an evolving industry landscape. Everyone take note: this conversation brings home the importance of customer education, demystifying auto care and reinforcing trust. And for those with an entrepreneurial spark, our guest's take on cutting-edge marketing and business growth is as refreshing as their dedication to service.
We wrap up our chat with a candid look at life's shifting gears—from the rush of car mods to the steady ride of family and homeownership. We'll take you through the supportive bonds formed within the "Real Husbands of Loudoun County" Facebook group and the vital life skills we're passionate about passing on to our kids. And finally, we leave you with a slice of advice on embracing a hashtag selfless life, finding joy in the journey, and cherishing the support of those around you. Tune in for an episode that's as much about engines as it is about the engine of life.
So I'm a car repair facility. Basically, I'm a franchisee operator. I work with MyNicky Car Care Center, so I have an auto repair shop. We are located in Sterling Virginia.
Speaker 2:Awesome. And for those of you who have always wondered how to pronounce MyNicky, I'm gonna have Jose say it again.
Speaker 1:So it's a little tricky in the tongue, but it's pronounced MyNicky.
Speaker 2:MyNicky it is.
Speaker 1:German from what I believe, so we have German commercials there.
Speaker 2:And I'm saying that because I have trouble with it. So that's why and I like hearing him say it so MyNicky, that's what it's called Absolutely. And you said that your store is in Sterling, Is that right?
Speaker 1:Yes, so we're located right by the mall in Dallas mall, right behind Best Buy and all that stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, Okay, my husband actually took my car at that exact location because I live in Sterling, oh cool. And he got my oil change. Funny story. I don't know how to oil change or anything Like I've never done. I'm always like here you go, do it. If you get that, a lot of people who are just like bringing this thing.
Speaker 1:So I mean cars are a foreign matter to everybody, right? We drive it every day. Unfortunately, there's always issues that arise. And then when you're in that pickle, what do you do? So we try to make sure that it's easier access to you understanding what's going on on the car. So we take a lot of pictures, give it to you in the dummy word yeah, or dumb it down.
Speaker 2:Please for me.
Speaker 1:I don't know anything about cars, and then we just basically give it like a stoplight Red, yellow, green. So, red is important stuff, yellow coming up and green is like good stuff. Usually, a lot of the things that happen is that people, it's very hard to have an expense that you are not waiting for, like you didn't know. So we kind of like stagger it out, give you an idea so in the next year or two you kind of know what you're going to be, kind of maintaining the vehicle with.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, I just had a question anyway.
Speaker 1:What's your husband? If you don't mind me asking my husband is Patrick Patrick Moore. Moore, I think I remember maybe possibly. Yeah, he went there Right on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but anyway, I just thought it was funny because when I was doing my research for everybody, I was just like, oh, and I just had to look up your number, like wait a minute, you just took this car over there, like I wonder, do you know him? Like. And I found a picture and he's like no, he doesn't look familiar. I was like okay, that's so funny. I was like I'm going to bring it up on the interview. So it's an ice breaker Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So that's what I did. I'm definitely going to research it later.
Speaker 2:Maybe they'd come in the car, my car yeah, I got a little Honda Civic, but anyway, yeah, everything was good. I just needed my little oil change.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and it was all good, just keeping the maintenance there.
Speaker 2:I'm glad, thank you. What all services do you offer here?
Speaker 1:So we do everything. So we're a one stop shop. So the easy stuff we're just like old changes, tire rotations and brakes, tires and all that good stuff. If there are complications always arising, so we also do big stuff. So we do like transmissions, engines, engine repair, all the suspension, all that good stuff. So if you have that squeak, then we'll find out what it is about. Might be a mouse, might be something there, oh my gosh, can you?
Speaker 1:imagine We've seen a couple where we've had like bad Infestation kind of a bad word to say but yeah, like inside of the cabin where there's like rats and like, yeah, so we actually had the. Sometimes we're like showing customers these cabin filters it's the filters that you breathe in, right and then we're like, oh, look at this stuff, we got a rat nest over here. Congratulations. Clean it, we disinfected.
Speaker 2:Wow, do you guys charge extra for that? I hope we don't.
Speaker 1:We actually don't what it's part of the service. It smells very nice after it smells like a brand new car.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness. Well kudos to you guys.
Speaker 1:Thank you, we try Thank you so much for that.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know that it's for the community, right.
Speaker 1:So we're here to really educate everybody about their vehicles because at the end of the day we went to Technical school for it and everything. So we want to make sure that we kind of give the idea to the customers and all of them as one Of our guests, and let them know what's going on with their car.
Speaker 2:Okay, and how many employees do you have?
Speaker 1:so I have two up front and I have like four in the back, so we were about six or seven.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah and how did you find your employees? I know the number one Problem or hardship that entrepreneurs, business owners, have is finding good staff.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. Unfortunately in the industry it is a dying industry because everything these days, everybody in the younger group and generation they want to do things with online or internet stuff or like with computers and networking. So for us to find trade people we kind of have to start fresh. So, for example, we actually are part of the academies of Loudoun where we have a trade school. So what happens is that when the kids are coming out of that trade school, we're teaching them how to get into the workplace, into dealerships or anything, and we kind of like mentor them. So you know, they always say that the best way of having a new employee is to start from ground up. And we also try to make sure that, you know, the new generation does have the ability to repair their cars, even though they always use lift or Uber.
Speaker 2:Yes, so true, so easy. Yes, no, and I think like the concept, like I think I guess cars are cool, but the concept of like keeping up with maintenance, like I get so scared. I'm just like Patrick, can you handle? Like you take it, you can absolutely trust me.
Speaker 1:We have a lot of Women that come in because we're so nice and we educate everybody. Like you know, we try not to like Be as easy as possible for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, no, it's. It's just intimidating, like when they explain like this is wrong with your car. There's, I'm just like can I call my husband? Can I put him on speaker, because I don't know what anything means. So I really appreciate that I'll have to go there. For my first time oil change ever over there, and that would be cool. I'll probably have him with me just to yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, it's all digital, so the pictures that we take, it's kind of you can see why it's important and why it's all like little tech savvy, like yeah, so a lot of the times, a lot of the customers, they, they do a lifeline of course, call somebody that you know, but at the end of the day they kind of make the informed decision because you don't need to do it Right there and then, yeah, it's just for future references, that's good to know.
Speaker 2:It's good to know. And what are you guys doing for marketing or social media? Do you have your own little page for your specific location?
Speaker 1:So we do it is. It is corporately owned, but we are a franchise, so we do have some backing, so we do. Are we part of Instagram or part of, you know, facebook and all that stuff? But we were planning on possibly doing a TikTok just because a lot of people kind of see what the cars are and they kind of grasp it. Yes, it's always fun.
Speaker 2:I like that. Yeah, I think you guys should post like Funny things, like obviously yes, because humor is.
Speaker 1:Like I think humor is number one.
Speaker 2:Yes, educational, but in a funny way where you have people's attention right, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Absolutely it's. It's harder for you to have that serious conversation when you're always funny and having fun with it. Then it kind of breaks the ice. Yes for anything.
Speaker 2:Yes, I agree with that.
Speaker 1:even just this conversation you gotta just he's easily do it Right, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:What kind of advice would you have to anybody who's looking to start their own business, like with a franchise, or just maybe just their own and manage?
Speaker 1:So, to be completely honest, it's not for the faint. It is a lot of work. All the time You're gonna be either on your phone calling, but you always want to think about Not working in it, you want to work on it. So as long as you're kind of in the back and get the people in the right areas where they need to be, then it just flows and it becomes really nice, because it's kind of like a dance. You know it starts to flow really good you get better at it better at it.
Speaker 1:You just keep working on it. Yeah so you see a different perspective because you're outside, and then you're looking into it and showing what could be better, what could be more efficient. How could this help this person? How could this help this person? So it's a lot of training. So Unfortunately, like I said, it's not for the faint, because you do need to train and you do need to make sure that you have the best interest of that person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not your own, absolutely yes, and I think that's a good common misconception. Sometimes that people have is like, oh, when you take your car to so and so or this place, like they find a million things that aren't even wrong with the car. Like how important is it for you to make sure that people don't walk away feeling like that when they come to your location?
Speaker 1:So at the end of the day, I keep telling everybody it's your car, so it's going to be under your discretion on how you drive it. Our job is just to let you know exactly what you're driving so that you can make that decision. As a safety issue or something else, we always try to give people percentages. So if somebody says there's an oil leak, so let's give two examples, right? So if I'm like hey, you have an oil leak, you need to fix it, it sounds pretty scary, yes, but then I'm like hey, your oil is starting to seep out of your oil pan, which is about 10%.
Speaker 1:It's not leaking all the way, but when it gets to 70% then we'll have to address it. So it kind of gives the person hey, there is an oil leak, it's coming up, I should try to save for it.
Speaker 2:So that's probably a different thing, and it can be more expensive, right, the worse it gets. Possibly if you just prevent it, maybe.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Preventative maintenance is number one. Yes, A lot of the times the manufacturers have a specific timeframe for doing it, but the rule of thumb is every 10 to 20,000 miles, you are doing something.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So every year, your tires, you know you're going to either tire, rotate them or balance them or align them, and then your oil changes, of course, twice a year, and that's basically it. The other fluid is every two years, two to three years, depending on what it is.
Speaker 2:And did you grow up liking cars, like, were you watching Fast and? Furious or what's the story there? I was a nerd.
Speaker 1:I was a nerd Really. I was playing video games. I was a Race car video games. I did have some need for speed video games. Ranchoism something like that. Yeah, absolutely All day trying to customize, make my own thing. So I did do that for a while. I had my own business as a customization shop, but it was a lot of headache, more than maintenance and repair. But then again, it's all a headache, but it's all a fun headache, Fun headache exactly Because we do like to educate everybody, exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did learn it, possibly 10 years ago, okay, and ever since then I've been just grinding it. I have actually a good story for you, if you want to hear that, please, please, any story.
Speaker 2:We want it, we want the story. You want the good story, we want it.
Speaker 1:So I was a technician at Hogan Sons like a good year and my mom had a BMW. She loved her BMW.
Speaker 1:It was beautiful Really, and I'm like, mom, let me fix your car. And of course I didn't have any experience or anything, so I just YouTube it. And then she's like, oh my gosh, my whole engine is apart. What are you doing? And I'm like, oh, I'm trying to fix your intake leak, you know, but it was all YouTube and everything went well. So I mean, I feel like shows like this is actually very important because it educates the rest of the world that doesn't have the idea, but through that they could maneuver themselves if they had a little bit of mechanical sense. Right, yeah, so after that, of course, the BMW is great. And then I went to other doing stuff.
Speaker 2:So it was fun, your mom was like maybe you should look into a career for this, because, son, you just saved me money. Well, she was very hesitant for sure.
Speaker 1:Oh, she wanted me to be in business, so of course she was paying my education. So I did have a business education background.
Speaker 1:So I did associates in business, of course, and just the local community school, northern Virginia, yeah, and from there I still didn't know what I wanted to do after graduating, and then I got into cars and after that I really liked it, because it's very challenging. Every day it's not the same, you always have new things to do. So at the end of it I just combined both and I was able to become, of course, a technician at Honda and I was able to, from there, was able to create a business, getting to a franchise, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:I love that. You just got the ball going. Like you just said, you know what I'm going to do. This Next step is this and now we're ready.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's always a plan Right. So I feel like life is about planning Right. So, as long as you have a good background and somebody trying to help you plan something, a good story is basically when I first met my wife, she was our conversation for our first day. Of course, it was Jackson's, it was a beautiful place and all that stuff. But the question that I asked her is what's your five-year plan? That was my, basically my go-to on any kind of days. I feel like if you have a good plan, then you have a good idea on how to get there, yeah, and then from there you can always determine what's the best way and best route.
Speaker 2:I like that. It's kind of intimidating, but that is a good question.
Speaker 1:For a first date. It's horrible. It's a horrible question. I'm starting to be positive here.
Speaker 2:I would be scared, like, oh, you know what, I'm just going to leave, it's going to leave, it's going to leave.
Speaker 1:Thank you, it's going to leave. Yeah, absolutely yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe after appetizers.
Speaker 2:I'm surprised you didn't scare her and now she's like we're getting married.
Speaker 1:Well, no, I mean, I definitely did not scare her, but I'm pretty sure I definitely got her thinking Strong girl, I like that yeah. Absolutely. If I could push you to be better, then that's all I could do, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, Do you have a favorite car that you're just like? Oh yeah, I love this car.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I'm big on race cars, right? So I love the Honda S2000.
Speaker 2:I don't even know what that is, but that sounds cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like a convertible that back in the day that they had and they don't make it anymore, unfortunately. But I had like three of them and I turboed one of them. It was so fun. Like you know, I was just driving really fast, I was young and reckless, but you know.
Speaker 2:And you would like to customize them right, Because you did that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, so that was really cool that was really cool. It's beautiful. It's a roadster that has you know red in luscious red interior. I mean, it was black.
Speaker 2:But when you customized them, what did they look like?
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, it just looked like what did you do. Oh, what did I do? Yeah, I put like different kinds of wheels. I put a bigger turbo in the car. It was pretty much like a real race car on the streets. Yeah, that's awesome, it was fun.
Speaker 2:Um. Do you still have them?
Speaker 1:No. So I and you know when you get older you kind of want to put money into a house, so you have to sell your toys.
Speaker 2:You're smart yeah.
Speaker 1:But sad, but smart. Uh, would I ever do it again? No, I would just keep my cars in the car.
Speaker 2:Aw because you learn right, you do as you go through stuff, you learn and you. Yeah absolutely Experience it.
Speaker 1:So no, sometimes it's always fun to have. Like you know, you play hard after you work hard, so it's always so good to have those moments where you can just relax and just have fun.
Speaker 2:And what kind of hobbies do you have now? Like, I know you don't have those toys anymore, but do you have different toys, Like what do you like to do with your wife? Do you guys have any kids?
Speaker 1:Yes. So me and my wife we actually like go into concerts. So, uh, we we go, we try to go to Jiffy Lube and then see what we like, and then you know a lot of music. So we like.
Speaker 2:What kind of music, what artists and who have you seen?
Speaker 1:Um, actually, this September they're going to have an Ocean City. It's a festival we're going to have, like offspring and Blink 182. Oh, the classic.
Speaker 2:I'm going to see Blink 182.
Speaker 1:The classic, do you?
Speaker 2:remember DC 101, where they had like all the radio stations Absolutely, absolutely I still listen to it. Is it still around?
Speaker 1:I don't listen to radio anymore. Dc 101, yeah, oh, okay. Well, you should listen to like 94.7 now 94.7.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Okay. No, I was like the rock chick, I kind of spilled it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go. It's always going to be part of your life, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, but no, that's great. Does your wife like that music too?
Speaker 1:Oh, she loves it, she, you know.
Speaker 2:Match me in heaven, baby.
Speaker 1:Right Well, to answer your question about hobbies, so right now it's really juggling two kids, and so I guess my hobbies are trying to make sure that they're learning, you know, their future. So I guess that's what I'm going to be mostly taking care of.
Speaker 2:Love that, yeah. What about your wife? What does she like to do?
Speaker 1:She loves to. She actually has a hair stylist, right.
Speaker 2:So she's Okay. Did she cut your hair? She's, come on here. Okay, shout out wife.
Speaker 1:Yes, crystal Young. What's her business? She works at Eclipse in. Vambleton, Okay, and then she does all sorts of hair you know for women and everything. So I learned a lot from her.
Speaker 2:Awesome, yeah, I see you got like the style and everything. Okay, shout out wifey, absolutely. And then, oh, I had a good question and now it's going like. Sometimes I'm like listening.
Speaker 1:And I want to listen to you and like hold that question. Then when I go back I'm like it's so funny, my son, my second son, he has a mohawk actually.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:It's not even a mohawk, it's not even a folk, it's a mullet actually. But he has like five little cuts here little lines and he's got the mohawk, you know.
Speaker 2:That's what's up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he's been. He's like three years old right now, so he's always been having.
Speaker 2:He's like a little baddie.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, he loves it.
Speaker 2:I love that. I kind of got a little bit of a mullet, but I try to keep it professional a little bit.
Speaker 1:Right, right, a little bit. What do you say? Very little. The new thing you could put it up and then shave it.
Speaker 2:The undercut, the undercut. Yes, that's cool. What about your other case? Do they have any cool haircuts?
Speaker 1:So, jackson, he used to have longer hair, but he looks better with shorter hair.
Speaker 2:You're just like to be honest, shorter hair for myself.
Speaker 1:Shorter hair for definitely Jackson, but he's the sweetest guy ever Like he's learning so much he's teaching Ryder, so they're little, two baddies that I've always seen on the fly.
Speaker 2:I love that, I love that. And then, what's your background Like, for example, my background? My parents, for sure Mexican came here, immigrated. What about?
Speaker 1:you. So I'm actually Filipino. I'm 100% Filipino. I was actually raised in the Philippines, since I was in first year of high school, so actually I was. I moved into the United States in like 2020.
Speaker 2:No, I'm sorry, I was going to say it Wow, that's pretty early.
Speaker 1:In like 2000. Okay, so about a couple of years. Yeah, that's awesome. But, like I said, it was such a language barrier so it was very hard for me to transition because you know, when you're in high school you already had your friends from childhood Friends, yeah. So when I was coming in high school that was a little bit harder for me.
Speaker 2:For sure, For sure. Well, it sounds really good. I would not be like, are you?
Speaker 1:you know? No, I had the Janko jeans, don't worry, I was still in.
Speaker 2:Period. That's what I love to hear. No, but that's awesome, like, how was your experience in school? Like I know you said like it was a bit of a challenge because of the language barrier, but how did you manage to get through that and what helped you? Do you have any resources?
Speaker 1:You know that's a great question. There's a lot of stress in school, right so I think by my mom's a planner. So of course she planned, you know, gave me some ideas, but at the end of the year that's why you asked your date.
Speaker 2:What are you planning for five years? Because your mom was very lucky she was a planner, exactly. I love that.
Speaker 1:She would always ask me what are you going to do next year or what are you going to do this year? So it's always about planning or having a bigger goal to where you are so that you could kind of maneuver how to get there, Like a yellow brick road.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah To the visit of Oz, right Yep.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I mean, my shout out for all the young students is just keep doing what you're doing, do what you love, make sure that you're always interested and curious Curious, because that curiosity will eventually get you to where you want to be. And, of course, have fun. Have fun, yeah. Four quarter values Integrity, having fun, always seeking knowledge. And that's all I got. I got three, that's okay. I forgot the other one. Three is a better number, it's always like top three.
Speaker 2:So that's great. That's great. And Do you think your car, your cars, your kids will be into cars too? Like something that you've considered for them? Like yeah.
Speaker 1:I hope so. I think they will be definitely the the cool kids, because they'll have some pretty cool cars to play with everyone's gonna be like please Can you give me a ride to school.
Speaker 2:Oh my god, your dad has like a cool car.
Speaker 1:They're gonna be like, yes, can we hang out at your garage this weekend and I'm gonna put in the work, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:Yes, you got to that's too. Do you have a favorite type of movie like? Do you like horror movies, Thriller?
Speaker 1:I'm a big horror fan.
Speaker 2:I love horror, me too.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately my wife isn't yeah, so ever since we've got together, We've been actually like we like chill so we just listen to, like you know, fun stuff like funny movies and all that good stuff.
Speaker 2:I did the opposite with my husband. I was like, no, we're watching. He's like can you watch something? It's all for you. You know there's comedy action. I was like right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, now it's just, you know, watching what the wife wants, right? So it's usually a lot of TLC and all that shout out husbands for putting you get used to it. Yes, that's right. So we're part of, actually a group called the real husbands of Loudoun County. Oh so there is a group In Facebook go check it out.
Speaker 1:We actually are men that Connect to each other and let you know in case you need something. So, for example, if you need something with your insurance you know all that grown-up stuff yes, if you need a lawyer, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, you need the car repair. We all ask that first and then we all just link up through that.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. I'm my husband because, like all his friends, have like moved out of state and he's like no.
Speaker 1:I need friends. Yeah, just they have like monthly or weekly groups settings that they could meet in person, drink some, you know.
Speaker 2:Even if they're not from Loudoun County, can they come? It's Herndon County.
Speaker 1:Herndon County.
Speaker 2:Okay cool and it's Facebook it's on Facebook. Yeah, hey, yeah, if any husbands or boyfriends or anything are listening real husband, the real husband of loud or H O L C.
Speaker 1:There we go, right there.
Speaker 2:I love that quick shout out to that. Yes, um, what's another one? A good question? Is there anything like that you want to talk about. To that you always had interests, like you know what more people need to talk About this.
Speaker 1:Um, that's a good question. I feel like, at the end of the day, a lot of the things that people don't realize is that Growing up it's a lot of work, and I hope that the schools technically change their their way of teaching because, you know, sometimes they teach you stuff, but they need to teach you how to pay your taxes. Yes, you know how to do this. Giving you ideas, I'm like how to be successful and not knowing that you have to pay something. It's really the worst. So I feel like I want to say a financial advisor, but like somebody that could be a life coach, is big for young students. So if there's a community out there that could have life coaches for young kids and do it as a Like, a workshop or something yeah so that they could go there during the weekends.
Speaker 1:Learn about you know about stuff in the future that the schools don't teach.
Speaker 2:I agree with that. There's some things that I'm like. Why am I learning this like?
Speaker 1:I don't like. How am I so old and I don't know this Exactly?
Speaker 2:I didn't I. Where was I supposed to learn taxes? Probably, what's that Exactly I?
Speaker 1:gotta do this every year. Youtube yeah, you know exactly. The internet is pretty big, so I feel like there's a lot of information there that's being taken. Yeah but they're taking being taken for granted as well, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's such a powerful tool and resource, but it depends where you use it. Like, are you gonna watch dumb videos all day? No offense, because I also watch. You know, or are you gonna like learn something, or are you gonna have a nice balance? You know exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, I feel, yeah, I feel that, uh, you know, as long as there's like some educational purposes for the younger Generation, then they'll learn perfectly, because it is hard to Grow up, because there's a lot of challenges that they don't know about. So as long as I, as a father, I always want to ask my kids how you feel about it or what do you think about it. I don't tell them how they feel or what they did. I want them to be emotionally strong.
Speaker 1:And the way to do that is to give them, make them think in their own ways on how to do it.
Speaker 2:That's good. Oh, you sound like a good dad. Good father.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shout out to all the dads.
Speaker 2:Yeah, shout out all the dad's doing it. Um, do you feel, like, because of your like background, like coming from the Philippines here and living with parents or immigrants such as myself, because that affected the way that you want to bring up your kids and like how you want to raise them, like you realize, like man, this was really hard. I'm gonna make sure that I helped them with this because I didn't know and I want to help them.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean honestly, I feel blessed to be in this area because, first off, it is a great area to grow up in. There's a lot of challenges from the other places, but I do want to make sure that I instill with my kids how to be hospitable and as well as thinking about the other person. Being a man for others is really, I feel like, is being lost today because everybody's like me, me, me, yes. So it should be like what you, you, you, and it'd be life changing.
Speaker 2:Less like more about yourself and maybe have a little bit selflessness and like right.
Speaker 1:Yes, that is perfectly put.
Speaker 2:I agree with that. It's always. It's always eye opening and also heartbreaking when you realize certain things in the world are not I'm trying to say this word's not problematic or whatever when you realize some people just don't care, it's only about themselves and it's not their responsibility, they don't have to care about you, but it just, I don't know, the humanity of it is very.
Speaker 1:I feel like I understand exactly what you're saying, because a lot of the young, a lot of everybody we're so, we're getting so busy with life that we always, of course, we have to think about ourselves, which I understand, yes, but at the end of the day, being that one gesture of kindness, will make somebody feel a lot better. Exactly. And of course. I mean we're all here together.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, they don't make a neighborhood with one person.
Speaker 2:No, it's always a team. It's not me, it's a team Exactly. You know, I love that perspective. I think it is so important and if you see somebody and like need emotionally or anything, just ask them how are you, Are you okay? You need to talk to somebody.
Speaker 1:And to bring that up, yes, since you asked how is it to be a business owner? Yeah, it's really what you could do for your fellow people or your customers or your guests is because at the end of the day it's you know, you don't know what they did in the morning, if they had a car towed or if they had a stressful day. Of course we get the end blunt of it and everybody gets mad at us, but you know, I hate to say it, but sometimes we'll try to be, you know, as Take it out on you guys.
Speaker 2:No, but it's fine.
Speaker 1:It is what it is right, so we want to make sure that you feel better when you leave.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's not always easy. Right Because you feel like people are like.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of issues, right, Because the stigma for auto repair is like they're going to gauge me. I know what they're doing. You're going to give me all these big words.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes. But as long as we have the best interest of our customers, then I feel like it becomes a more of a community place where people could come and get cars repaired and I love that you said that like, even if they're like upset, you want them to leave like in a better, in better spirits than when they came right. That's nice that you have that like you were talking about, like less selfish and more selfless Correct. I think that's really important.
Speaker 1:I feel like that word could be brought out like maybe a hashtag less selfless yeah, That'd be amazing.
Speaker 2:Word of the day selfless. Word of the year selfless yeah. Hashtag selfless yeah, you started that one.
Speaker 1:I like it. I'll put it all up on Instagram.
Speaker 2:There you go, and if you could leave with any piece of advice for our listeners, what would that be? It can be in relation to cars, the car industry, life, home life, what would that be?
Speaker 1:I would say have fun, always have fun, always be open to new ideas. You could listen to somebody and not do it, but at least listen to them and give them that respect. Always have fun whenever you do anything. It makes everything so much easier, even if it's such a difficult job or difficult thing to do or you might think it's stressful. As long as you're having fun and get some fun out of it, then it becomes less. What's so a job Hashtag selfless, selfless.
Speaker 2:Yeah, look at you. Oh, my goodness, I love that. Well, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast and taking time to chat with us. Absolutely, we really really appreciate it so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you.