Latest / Auto Collabs / It's a Real Job with Bruce Miller

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It's a Real Job with Bruce Miller · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  I mean, I know you guys got to talk to our guest today, Bruce Miller [upbeat music] This is AutoCollabs. In Louisiana.
• 0:14
  A little bit- Louisiana I've gotten to know this cat a little bit through some other, you know, groups that we're a part of. Just one of the coolest dudes. I'm really excited to see...
• 0:24
  You know, like, this is a guy that wears his faith on his sleeve. You can tell it runs deep in his DNA.
• 0:30
  Um, he, he cares about his family, he cares about his people, and, and, and I think, I think we're gonna see a lot of that today. And, I mean, y- you know, he's always wearing that hoodie, all gas, no brakes. But...
• 0:42
  A- and I really hope this happens- [laughs] You know what, you know what strikes me about that? Yeah. Slow down here real quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 'Cause he's got this hoodie.
• 0:48
  I meet him, he's got the hoodie, it says all gas, no brakes. And he's like, "Yo." [laughs] It's like real relaxed. Super chill. Yeah, yeah. Way relaxed. Yeah. Leaned back in his little- Right...
• 0:59
  in his stance, you know, and it's like, all gas, no brakes, you know? So the juxtaposition to that- It's on the inside... I'm interested to see how he balances that. I mean, like- Yeah, that-...
• 1:06
  this is a dude that used to be e- executive leadership at franchise stores, and now he's, like, flat brim hats, hoodies. Yeah. [laughs] He's just like, "Yo." He's a sleeper. Yo. He's like that- He's a sleeper...
• 1:16
  he's like that Honda Civic that back in the '90s- [laughs]... like, the kids would trick out and they'd pull up.
• 1:21
  They wouldn't tint the windows or anything, and then off the line they would just dust anything that came next to it. Oh. Do you guys remember that? That- I remember that. I absolutely remember that. Yeah.
• 1:29
  [laughs] That's great. That's great. Well, we hope you enjoy this conversation we have with Bruce. [upbeat music] Hey, Bruce. Thank you so much for giving us some of your time today. We really appreciate it.
• 1:41
  No, no problem. Glad to be on the show. Um, appreciate, uh, you guys giving me the invite. So, uh, we met for the first time at the Digital Dealer, uh, Conference just, uh, several weeks ago. Feels like a long time ago.
• 1:52
  Yeah. But it wasn't that long ago. And, uh, I was really struck by your, your just genuine, personable demeanor, and your, like, ability to say things very, like, natural language. Yeah.
• 2:06
  I, I understood everything you were trying to say immediately. Where does that come from? Uh, being in sales my whole life, uh, always, uh, you know, you have to be an effective communicator, you know?
• 2:17
  So I, I guess it comes from that, you know, being in sales my whole life. I guess it comes from the confidence in, that I know who I am and I know what I bring to the table.
• 2:27
  So I, I can just say what I want or communicate how I want. I, it doesn't really matter if you like it or not [laughs] or... You know what I'm saying?
• 2:35
  So I can freely just explain who I am, talk, talk how I want, be how, be how I want, and, uh, communicate how I want. And, um, I don't really care how it comes across 'cause I'm just being me, you know?
• 2:46
  Uh, recently, in the last year, year and a half, two years, opened my own business, and now I'm my own... I own my own business. I can dress how I want, I can talk how I want, I can treat my employees how I want.
• 2:56
  So I'm, I'm, I'm on this, like, uh, just this, this confidence level where, uh, I'm just gonna be me, you know? So, uh, that, I guess that's maybe where it comes from. Real, real talk though- Yeah. You-...
• 3:06
  by the end of Paul's question, I was, I was like, is he gonna make some funny joke about your Louisiana accent? [laughs] 'Cause that's just messed up. That was, that was- You know? [laughs]...
• 3:14
  that was the bu- that was the bump set, actually. It was- [laughs] Yeah. I mean, but I- You know-...
• 3:20
  I've gotten to know you, Bruce, and you say, "Treat my employees how I want" and this and that, and I think, you know, for some people listening, they might think, well, oh, y- you know, here's another boss.
• 3:30
  [laughs] No, y- that, that's not to be taken in the wrong way. You're not someone that's just rolling in being like, "Look, I'm the boss." Mm-hmm. No. You know? That's not how you want to treat your people.
• 3:41
  So where, where does that all come from? I mean, you know, like, the being authentic to who you are, but you also have this all gas, no brakes. How do you
• 3:50
  reconcile all gas, no brakes, hustle mentality or whatever that means to you, to also building an environment in your store where people can thrive?
• 4:00
  It co- it goes by, uh, it comes from being treated the wrong way for 10 years of my career. Being, uh, just... I, I was somewhat misunderstood.
• 4:10
  I was, you know, I was, like, a Christian car salesperson who, who, who didn't drink, didn't go to the strip club. The, you know, so I was mistreated.
• 4:18
  My first day on the job as a 21-year-old salesperson, my, I asked my manager to, "Can I have off on Wednesdays?" 'cause we had church Wednesdays. And he says, "No.
• 4:28
  Uh, you're gonna have off whenever I tell you, and from this point on, I am your God." Mm. And I'm like, "Okay, cool." You know, like, I, I, but I needed the job- Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
• 4:38
  [laughs] I needed the job, so I couldn't quit, you know? I was, like, a high school dropout. I was like, I barely got hired. I had to hustle my way to get hired.
• 4:44
  So I, you know, uh, so I learned for 10 years how to not be treated, how, where a GM w- would, wouldn't pay somebody a $500 bonus. You know, the store's making $200,000, you don't wanna pay a $500 bonus.
• 4:58
  Uh, uh, dealership group don't, don't celebrate salesperson of the month. Dealership groups don't take their teams to, to dinner and things like that.
• 5:06
  So when I became the, a, a manager of managers, when I came, became running stores for these, these last 10 years, I made, I made, I made a culture of, of, of, "Hey, we do this, you're gonna get this.
• 5:18
  We're, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna celebrate. We're gonna go to Pelicans games. We're gonna go to dinner. We're gonna, we're gonna have, you know, uh, e- events," you know?
• 5:26
  Salesperson comes to me and says, "Hey, man, I'm $1,000 short on my mortgage," but the dude's been working for me for two years. I know him, I trust him. I let, I, I give him $1,000.
• 5:36
  I kn- and it comes out of my own pocket, not, not from the company, you know. And then, then I run the risk of not getting it back, but you know what?
• 5:43
  That guy really needed me, and I know him, and we work every day, and I have a relationship with him. So how can I j- how can I not, how can my relationship with you only be transactional? Well, how can I- Mm. Mm.
• 5:55
  How can my relationship with you just be on what you provide for me? No.
• 5:59
  So, so I've always been that person, and I've, like, alienated myself with upper management-By the way I wanted to treat people, by the way I wanted to, to do things.
• 6:09
  And so now that I, I am my own boss, I can do what I want. You know- So that- Go ahead. That, that is- Um- I, I think here's the thing. If you listen to, like, 25 inspirational podcasts,
• 6:26
  you know, uh, a bunch of, like, thought leadership on how to be a manager, a lot of what you just said would kind of be, like, tossed out there as, quote unquote, "best practices", right? Yeah.
• 6:38
  But to put it into play and then to just really, really clearly say, "How can I work with someone every single day and make this relationship transactional and not relational?" That's...
• 6:53
  It's like, it's a bold statement in itself to, like, to say that the audacity of someone to do the other is, is almost unbelievable to you. I, I love that you're like, "We take them to Pelicans games."
• 7:05
  I actually know what the Pelicans are because I, I, uh, used to live in Pensacola, so I was very close, uh, to, you know... I, I know what the Pelicans are across the- Yeah. Yeah... across the, the water there.
• 7:16
  Um, but, like, where, uh... Because I think a lot of people think, like, "Hey, this is my work team. This is my work environment."
• 7:24
  How do you balance the engagement of going, "I know that my culture and my people have to go beyond, um, just work hours or things that we do together to do business"?
• 7:36
  How do you balance the, like, I'm, I'm still your manager, and you still need to do things and, and, and get things done and have business outcomes with the relational aspect of things?
• 7:46
  'Cause I think, like, sometimes people can just fall in the ditch of either side. How do you balance that and not fall in ditches? Um, I'm not the best at it. M- my- [laughs]... my managers tell me all the time- Yeah...
• 7:58
  m- my managers tell me all the time, "Hey, man, Bruce, you can't treat the salespeople like this or that. They, they have to answer to us." So, so I'm not the best at it. But, um- [laughs]...
• 8:06
  when you make deposits in people's lives, it's easy to make withdrawals. If you're only making withdrawals, y- y- you're gonna create this culture where, uh, people hate to be there.
• 8:15
  'Cause all you, all you're doing is just asking, asking, pushing, pushing, uh, telling them what they're doing wrong, making, you know, these withdrawals, and there's nothing in the, in the account.
• 8:24
  But when you make deposits, and you do things right, and you, you treated them a little bit, you gave them a little bonus, you paid them a little bit early, you paid them, you know, y- you did something that was, like, beneficial to them and they know that, "You know what, man?
• 8:36
  He didn't have to do that," there's equity in that account. And so when I de- when I, when I'm demanding, "Hey, man, this is the last three days of the month.
• 8:44
  I need a good, I need, we need 10, 12 deals these last three days.
• 8:47
  I need everybody to buckle up," when I ask, I normally get bec- because I make deposits, because there's equity in, in, in the relationships of, of my employees. I have a lot of equity.
• 8:57
  And I, I have, uh, see other, seen other situations where people are asking just like I'm asking, they get nothing because they didn't make no deposits. Mm. So, so that's, that's the main way that I, uh, I can, um...
• 9:10
  I'm giving freely from my heart. I'm helping in, in those areas. But at times when I need, I need them, I can easily push them and get, get, get it from them because I made those deposits. Tell us a story, like,
• 9:24
  you've, you got this mindset where you're constantly investing into people's lives, and you told us already several, like, little anecdotal stories about, you know, instances when that has happened.
• 9:35
  One of the things that we are, at Asotu, fascinated about are all these inspiring stories in the auto industry that we hear all the time and, uh, you know, of people whose lives were literally changed by their involvement or their being welcomed into the industry.
• 9:51
  Can you think of one story from your, you know, your last 10 years of, uh, that you'd wanna share with us of somebody's life literally being changed because of their involvement in the industry? Uh, m- mine.
• 10:02
  You know, but let's just- [laughs] Let's get me, you know, but, uh- All right. Let's do that. Let's do that. It's the story you know best. Yeah.
• 10:09
  Man, I came into the industry as a high school dropout, newly married, ba- baby on the way. Like, thir- 30 days later, a baby was born. That's in it, man, right there. [laughs] Yeah. Wow.
• 10:21
  Back in, 21 years old, and I'm, like, married, and I had a baby, and I needed a career, uh, a real, real job, you know? And, uh, man, I jumped into the automobile business, and it was like love at first sight, you know?
• 10:32
  Um, I, it was a, uh, the first month I, like, maybe within three months, I made, like, $5,000 in a month.
• 10:38
  And in 2000, you know, 20-something years ago, 5,000 a month was, like, a lot of money, and I, I, I was used to making $2,000 a month.
• 10:45
  So I made two and a half times a normal income in this industry, and it changed my life, you know?
• 10:51
  Uh, I would always teach my salespeople that, uh, a good month, like, it's okay, but if you have, like, a few good months in a row, it will change your life.
• 10:59
  You'll start, you'll start looking at different restaurants to eat at. You'll start looking at different cars to buy. And the car business, you know, changed my life.
• 11:05
  You know, it, it made, it took me from a negative to a positive immediately, you know? I was the black sheep. I was...
• 11:12
  When, at my, me and my wife's wedding, there was not a single person at that wedding that thought we was gonna make it, you know? Or, you know, or this was gonna last more, more, more, more than it, it did.
• 11:22
  Um, and, um, you know, I, I'm at the wedding and, and I can think now that we would have Christmases at my house, and every single person at that wedding was at my house, driving cars that I sold them, you know, 15 years later, you know?
• 11:34
  [laughs] Wow. Yeah. The car business absolutely flipped the script for me.
• 11:38
  It, you know, it, um, it made all my hard work, all my passion, all my determination, it turned it into, like, profitability for me and my family. My, my three kids went to the best school in New Orleans.
• 11:50
  That's 18 or $20,000 a month tuition. My, uh, oldest son, uh, graduated a four-year degree from Tulane University. I paid for that, cash.
• 12:00
  You know, like, uh, you know, he got half off 'cause he was a real smart kid, but I had, I paid for that. [laughs] Still take that. Yeah. I'll take it all, all day.
• 12:07
  You know, a lot of my friends have Rolexes and this and that, and I said, "Well, I got three kids with private education and, and, and Tulane degrees, and that's where my Rolexes are." But- Ah...
• 12:16
  but the car business-Absolutely. It, it, uh, it set me on a path that, that I was not supposed to be on. I wa- I was not a college graduate, I was not a high school. You know, I was like, I, I didn't have good parents.
• 12:28
  I had nobody coming to save the day. It was only me, and the car business changed my life. I don't know where I would be without the car business.
• 12:35
  You, you said something I wanna key in on really early on, and I love this, right?
• 12:38
  'Cause obviously at Asotu we're, we're launching, w- you know, our, our TV show, More Than Cars, which really underscores the stories of how people got into the business and really how it changed their lives.
• 12:49
  And so you said, "I needed a real job." Yeah. Correct. And I think that's so fascinating, right? Because there's, there's tends to be two narratives out there. There's the like, you know, the, the consumer online, right?
• 13:05
  The, the vocal minority who have to complain about the business, and then there's the very real Gen Pop who we hear this over and over again, who turn to the retail auto industry for the real job. Like that- Mm...
• 13:20
  is a de- definition in their mind, like, "This is a real job." So is, is that how you were seeing it at that moment where you were like... What, what, what would an unreal job be to you in that moment?
• 13:30
  I, I didn't wanna work offshore, I didn't wanna be construction, a framer, painter, you know, working the trade. I, I was doing some of that. A busboy. These are all jobs that I had.
• 13:39
  You know, I was always, you know, I was hustling. I always had two jobs. I was always trying to, you know, trying to get it to the best of my ability. But this was like a real job.
• 13:47
  Like, this the first time I ever been to a new car dealership when I, when I, when I applied for the job.
• 13:51
  And walking in and wearing a shirt and tie and, you know, like, not having to sweat all day, not having to go, you know, to take a offshore type job where you're gone three weeks out of the...
• 14:00
  This was a, what I consider a real job, and it gave me like a real opportunity to make, you know, the real, real money, you know?
• 14:07
  Uh, all those other jobs, like you're tra- you're, you're exchanging your time for money, you know? Right. The longer you work, the lo- more hours you get, you get overtime, things like that. Mm.
• 14:15
  But the car business, you know, you do work long hours, but the, the, the t- the hours for money exchanged is greater. And, um, it just was, it just was something I could be proud of.
• 14:23
  You know, I, "Hey, I'm, I'm, I'm wearing a shirt and tie and I'm going to work and I'm in, I, I, I sell new cars for a living." It, it was a, it was a, it was a real job. But in, in my world, it was a real job, you know?
• 14:34
  I like it how, how now that you can dress how you want, you don't wear a shirt and tie anymore. [laughs] That's great. [laughs] It was good in the beginning, but now I, I wa- I'm, I'm free, you know? So.
• 14:46
  Well, I think, I think- [laughs] But what happened, I think, over time is your, your definition of a real job, like at the moment, right? Like that's...
• 14:53
  We all have these visions and pictures of what we think making it looks like- Mm... especially when we're younger.
• 14:59
  And to you, that was like, "Hey, a job where I don't have to, you know, trade hours for dollars, and I don't have to, you know, use my back and my hands to, to make a living."
• 15:08
  And it was like you just had this vision of like, "Hey, this is a path for me- Mm... that can get me there."
• 15:13
  And like, as obviously the industry's changed over the last 20 years, and now probably more people don't wear ties than do wear ties in the auto industry. Um, it's probably pretty, pretty fair to say at this point.
• 15:23
  But the still, what it represents is, like, the opportunity to make your own path.
• 15:31
  The opportunity to, if you apply yourself and you pay attention and you invest in the people around you and you invest in learning the business, there really is nothing stopping you from moving up. Correct.
• 15:41
  And that, and that's, that's a real job. Yep. Yeah, well look, uh, my older son's working for me, but my middle son just graduated high school. Uh, and um, he's coming right to sell cars, you know?
• 15:52
  Uh, school wasn't the- Right... for him. You know, he, he, he's kind of, you know, A- ADHD, dyslexic. I guess he's got a little bit of me in him.
• 16:00
  [laughs] And, um, so testing and the, the structure of school just really wasn't for him.
• 16:04
  So I'm not gonna like, just for the sake of what the world wants me to think about a college degree, I'm gonna force him to go to college when it was... He didn't do good in high school, you know?
• 16:14
  But he's charismatic, he's a great person. People love him. He's, he, he, he's... Y- you can't, can't keep him down. He's, he's a overcomer. He's gonna excel in the car business, you know? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
• 16:26
  So he's gonna come sell cars for me, and I'm, I'm, I'm gonna proudly share that. I'm gonna proudly say, "Hey, I, I started with nothing. Now I own a business that I have two of my sons working in."
• 16:38
  I, I might, uh, uh, I might smile the rest of the year, you know? 'Cause it- [laughs]... 'cause that's a very proud accomplishment to me. But that's what I think about the car business.
• 16:45
  That I'm, I'm- That's your ROI on the Rolex fu- There you go. Yeah, yeah. Man, I tell you what. "Hey, I got your university. You come make it back for me." [laughs] Yeah.
• 16:52
  My, my son Bruce, he told me yesterday on his vAuto call, he says, "Hey, Dad, uh, our cost to market is down 5% the last 30 days when everybody else's cost to market is up 5%." He said, "Why you think that's the case?"
• 17:03
  I said, "Well, I, I, I don't know." He says, "Because of me, and, uh, me giving you the data." [laughs] Come on now. [laughs] He said, "I'm watching the data, Dad." Oh. "Look at us. We're gonna be profitable." Yeah.
• 17:14
  [laughs] Oh, man. That is, that's an unbelievable feeling. I, I say this all the... Like, I want my kids to desire coming out of high school or college to find the indust- the auto industry.
• 17:25
  And if, and e- even if it's not them, like their friends, and that there's such an energy around not just what I'm doing in the industry, but like the broader industry- Yeah, yeah... that it's attractive. Mm-hmm.
• 17:36
  And it's cool to see like your sons going, "Yeah, this is attractive." And the, the last statement there where like, "I'm looking in vAu-" Your son's not just like a car person.
• 17:47
  He's, he's almost like a kind of a data scientist, right? Yeah. Yeah. He's g- he's getting off of a, uh, of a call going, "Look at the data, Dad.
• 17:55
  Look at how I'm moving these numbers to make sure that profitability exists within our business." Like, reframing that for people and going, "No, no, you've gotta think really, really well.
• 18:05
  You've gotta have like a good head- Yeah... on your shoulders to be able to be profitable in an inventory management system like vAuto- Yeah...
• 18:12
  and managing like customer expectations and lead traffic and all that type of stuff. It's- Yeah, yeah... that's huge. Yeah. And, and, and it's, and it's like, it's great that it's my son, you know?
• 18:21
  It, it, uh, for years I've had other-Great peop-, you know, people working for me, young. I, I, I always say that between 16 and 25, the dumbest species out there is a male. You know, a m- a, a human male.
• 18:32
  [laughs] We're dumb. We make stupid decisions. Oh. We think we're bulletproof. And, um, so y- so for years I would take pride in, like, taking those young kids and teaching them about life, you know?
• 18:43
  And, and so now it's even more rewarding that, uh, that I'm gonna have my two sons.
• 18:47
  You know, I have, uh, two, two, two, uh, a 22-year-old and a 23-year-old salespeople on my, uh, on my staff right now that were friends with my son.
• 18:56
  I coached them all in travel baseball, and they've been doing really well, making four or $5,000 a month, do- doing, doing r- really well. So, um, I took pride in, like, you know, teaching them and helping them.
• 19:06
  Uh- That's great... but now, now it's my sons, you know? So, uh, I have a 19-year-old salesperson that's a f- that's a friend of mine's son. He, he sent him over here.
• 19:13
  I have a, a 19-year-old tech, a, a 19-year-old detailer, a 18-year-old tech.
• 19:19
  So I take pride in taking these young men, you know, and, um, th- they got a, they have a, they have a saying that an army of a, you'd, you'd be more afraid of a army of, uh, sheep led by a lion than a army of lions led by a sheep.
• 19:32
  Yeah. I said, "Well, I, I wanna be the army of lions led by a lion." You know? So I wanna take these young men, teach them how to excel in life, and see how far we can take this, you know? That's a bold proposition.
• 19:43
  So what's next for you? Like, you, you now have your own store. Uh, you're, you're leading these young men. What do the n- what does the next 12, 24 months look like for you?
• 19:52
  Like, what's your vision of what that starts to create? Uh, um, I'ma open up another, you know, the economy of scale.
• 19:59
  I'ma open up another used car lot within the next 90 days, you know, because a lot of the expenses that I currently have are not gonna duplicate, you know? It, I'll be- Mm...
• 20:05
  I'll make good money from another location because I'm paying for human resource, technicians, you know, different things here that I'm not gonna have to pay for there 'cause we're just gonna use it, use it here.
• 20:15
  So I'll open up another used car lot.
• 20:17
  The vision is to open up, to own 10 dealerships, you know, whether, uh, that's 10 fran- 10, uh, 10 used car lots or, uh, mix in a few new car franchises, but that's the vision, you know?
• 20:27
  When I first started this journey, I went down the path of trying to own a new, new car franchise, but I, my, I had nothing but my name. I didn't have a company. I didn't have...
• 20:36
  Well, now I have $2 million of floor plan, another million dollars of loans all in my company's name, and if I find one of those small year, uh, rural, uh, new car franchises, I'ma buy it.
• 20:47
  The next time that, that, that opportunity comes across, I'ma buy that and then, um, put all these used car lots underneath that new car franchise to get all the banks.
• 20:55
  And, uh, so it's a whole plan, but the, the goal is to own 10 dealerships. Whether I do it in the next three months, six months, or five years, that's the...
• 21:04
  When I was 24, 25 years old, I was, like, writing some stuff down and I was like, "I had this plan to own 10 used car lots." I don't know where this came from. Ah. I w- I forgot about that plan.
• 21:15
  15 years go by climbing the corporate ladder, making good money. I forgot that I had a plan to own 10.
• 21:21
  And when I was terminated from my managing partner position and I was sitting there trying to figure out the next step of, steps of my life, I was reminded, "Hey, didn't you wanna own 10 used car lots?
• 21:30
  Didn't you wanna be a business owner?" And so now I have two, and then I'll have three before the end of the year, and we're just gonna keep going, you know? That's amazing.
• 21:39
  Well, Bruce, I have full confidence you're gonna do that.
• 21:41
  And hey, maybe someone's listening right now that wants to, the, to give you a shot on the new car side, uh, 'cause this audience could certainly use someone with, uh, culture and heart and, and pride in, in leading people that you do.
• 21:53
  Uh, but thank you so much for spending some time with us. Uh, Bruce, you are a true gentleman and a scholar, and I can't wait to see what you do next. Thank y'all.
• 22:01
  I'm so grateful to be in the au- the Au- the Asoto universe. Y'all everywhere. I, I get email- [laughs]... notifications, and I'm, and now I'm a part of the Asoto universe, you know? It's awesome. You definitely are.
• 22:13
  Thanks, sir. [upbeat music] Oh, what an absolutely fun conversation. I love, like, the, the heart and the intensity that he had around bringing his sons into the store.
• 22:29
  Like, it was a point of pride and joy, um, that he's able to bring- I thought he was gonna cry... and, yeah, I thought he was gonna cry. He might have been crying.
• 22:36
  [laughs] And not just that, but he's like, "And my son's friend is working for me, and the, the guy down the street, his fr- his son- And I have this guy who's 18-... and I'm bringing on"...
• 22:44
  and this one who's 19" Like, I'm like, this guy, he's not building a dealership. He's building a mentoring program for young men. Yep. It's unbelievable. [laughs] I know. Without, without a doubt.
• 22:53
  Without a doubt there's this element of him understanding what the auto industry can do for somebody, and then just being an advocate. Like, there's literally nothing more Asoto than that story.
• 23:04
  And, and that story in the making, honestly, uh, on the way out, too. And he's like, "Yeah, I'm gonna have 10 dealerships." He's like, "It might happen three months from now, it might happen 10 years from now."
• 23:12
  I was like, "Eh." Look at how he's- I believe that is the kind of guy that could make it happen in three months. Yeah. He just says it like it's no big deal. "I'm gonna open a thing here. I'm gonna do a thing there."
• 23:20
  Yeah. Yeah. It just, it's like no, no factor. I love the master plan of it, too. Like, he, he, he knows, like, "Okay, I'm gonna own 10 stores.
• 23:28
  I'm using independence to leapfrog into maybe a franchise if the opportunity presents itself."
• 23:33
  This, this is a guy that's moving so strategically that he almost frees himself from the day-to-day, um, like, ups and downs, ebbs and flows of running a business, where he's like- Mm... "Eh, that was today.
• 23:45
  That doesn't mean it's gonna be tomorrow, and I'm still working towards my goal." Like, I, I really get that sense and really appreciate it about him. So good.
• 23:52
  Well, hey, I mean, that, that, that interview and that time was, like I said, there's nothing more Asoto than that legacy.
• 23:59
  So thanks for joining us today on this episode of Auto Collabs, when we have Kyle Mountserre, Michael Cirillo, and myself. We'll see you next time.
• 24:07
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• 24:20
  If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
• 24:27
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs. Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet?
• 24:46
  Not yet.