Latest / Towing News Now / The Legacy of Towing: Three Generations Strong

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The Legacy of Towing: Three Generations Strong · Towing News Now

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: you're on the train to success with april and wes wilburn.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I'm dj harrington, the co-host, better known as the toe doctor.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: We're all on our way to the town of proper towing and recovery, along with our producer, chuck camp, in the studio.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Don't go to the town of woulda, coulda, shoulda.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: You coulda had done this.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: You should have done that.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Listen every week to thought-provoking wisdom from great guests.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: So if you have Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia or the number one podcast, or maybe Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts, turn in on Wednesday and be turned on all week long.
• 0:56
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• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Our podcast studio phone number is 706-409-5603.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I'm proud to be part of a great team at the american dorm recovery institute.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Let's make 2025 our best year ever.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Now let's take a quick break and we'll be back with a great interview.
• 1:31
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• 1:39
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• 1:42
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• 1:49
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• 1:55
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• 1:58
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• 2:04
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• 2:12
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• 2:23
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• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Welcome back listeners.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: You know you're listening to the number one podcast in the towing and recovery industry.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Towing News Channel is growing larger and larger because of sponsors and because you're telling your friends and neighbors about this podcast Every week.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Wes and April Wilburn do their very best to bring you informative episodes like the one you're about to hear.
• 3:00
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• 3:02
  Speaker 1: We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia or wherever you get your podcasts.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: So, without further ado, april, I'll turn it over to you.
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: Thank you, dj, very much for that and, as promised with the intro, we are starting our multi-generational.
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: Actually, let me just say it this way Wes has been involved in training for more years than I've been alive, which is not true, I'm old, but he's been doing it for a really, really long time.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: He's been doing it for 30 plus years and because of that range of years that he's been doing it, he's been privileged and honored to educate multi-generational families of these great towing industry leaders that we have and this is a first in a series Our first ever that we have in this series is going to be Jim Conroy, with Jim's Towing, and I would like to introduce Jim and his son, william.
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: Jim, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
• 4:07
  Speaker 6: Yes, ma'am, my name is Jim Conroy.
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: I'm second generation owner of Jim's Towing.
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: I've been in the towing business since I was 15 years old, which is back in 2000.
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: My father started the business in 1986 and I took over the business in 2018.
• 4:22
  Speaker 6: Met Mr West, as he was saying, back at a tow show in Myrtle Beach, south Carolina, several years ago and we all clicked very well together, and my father's done training classes with him, which got us into the heavy industry.
• 4:36
  Speaker 6: And then I took several training classes with Mr Wilburn and I'm confident in saying I've gained most of my knowledge from him and I still rely on him heavily when I get into a bind.
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: And my friend recently got into the business as well and has become the third generation in our family in the towing industry.
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I can't tell you how awesome that is to see that all around the country.
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: That is to see that all around the country.
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: As you know, many multi-generational family businesses don't end up having a next generation interested, so it's very nice to see that, that there is a next generation interested.
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: We got to meet William out of a class recently.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: Real quick for our listeners.
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: Tell us what part of the country you're from and a little bit about the size of your operation and the scope of your operation.
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: Well, we're out of Somerville, South Carolina, which is just on the outskirts of Charleston.
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: We currently have three locations that are getting ready to open, our fourth location in the Charleston and surrounding areas.
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: We have 36 trucks in our fleet and we've been in business since 1986.
• 5:45
  Speaker 6: We do everything from light-duty towing with rollbacks all the way up to heavy-duty hauling with lowboys, land dolls.
• 5:52
  Speaker 6: We have heavy-duty wreckers and a rotator and with our fleet we're confident we can get anything done.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:20
  Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely, and there's a huge army base there, or navy base that the army uses, have a close working relationship with the Naval Weapons Station here in Charleston and do a lot of business with them, so they're a big part of our operation.
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: That's awesome that you make part of your business serving the country.
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: That's very awesome to see William tell us about your experience and how things are going getting involved in the family business so, as Jim said, I'm still fairly new to it, but I've been to a few of your courses.
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: I've learned a lot in the few years that I have been doing it and, honestly, I really love it, and I love being the third generation in our business.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: How long have you been doing it?
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: And, honestly, I really love it, and I love being the third generation in our business.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: How long have you been doing it, william?
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: How long?
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: I know when you're raised up on something you're kind of doing it from the time that you could walk, kind of, really.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: But how long have you been actually behind the wheel doing it?
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: So behind the wheel probably just, I'd say roughly a year, but I've been with the company for about three so I do a little bit of everything and that's a good way to learn a little bit of everything
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: too, though, and to touch on william william a little bit in the towing industry he, uh, he actually probably towed his first car at three years old.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: I've got pictures of him sitting in the towing industry.
• 7:46
  Speaker 6: He actually probably towed his first car at three years old.
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: I've got pictures of him sitting in the tow truck.
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: He took his first heavy-duty recovery course.
• 7:50
  Speaker 6: That was actually a rotator class that we took together at the Florida Tow Show when he was six, so he was certified to run a rotator at six years old Wow.
• 7:57
  Speaker 6: He's been in it a while.
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome to see.
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: We just did the New York Toe Show.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: We did a kids event up there and there's a gentleman there that looked to be about my age with a baby in a stroller and I was walking over getting ready to do the kids event.
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: We got him hard hats and gloves and stuff and all the kids had safety wear on.
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: But each one of them got to step up and run the rotator, pick a car, swing it through the air and set it down and then do it again.
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: So it was a big, a lot of hoopla going on.
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: It was a lot of fun.
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: The kids really enjoyed it.
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: And a fellow you can tell he's from New York City from the heavy accident.
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: When you go to the New York Towed Shed there'll be some folks from the New York City area, there'll be some folks from upstate, but I can tell the fellas from the city area and he goes hey, wes, how you doing?
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: He said you're doing the training here with the kids.
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: I said well, yeah, we're running the program anyway.
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: He said man, that's great.
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: I know you don't remember, but 25 years ago at Knight's Collision you taught a course.
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: So I made the assumption it was his grandchild and he quickly pointed out to me that it was his child.
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: Like I said, it felt like my age.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: A little bit of ageism, but okay.
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: Well, yeah, we do it all the time on this program.
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: But anyway, he quickly assured me that that was his son, and then also just how proud he was.
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that we um things like that that drive us in the industry yeah, we, we definitely want to, we definitely want to be one of the people who encourages that.
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: Um, very, this, this industry is a very noble profession.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: We don't always get that title or that respect, but we are a very, we are very noble people and, um, if we can instill that in the little ones when they're that small and when they're that impressionable even if they don't do this for a living, they'll at least have that high regard and high respect for it, um, for what their family does and what their family put into it.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: Um, that people don't see.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: You don't see what you have to sacrifice or or give up to do what you do and I know that william has because he's been in that family.
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: But if you're outside of it, you don't know well, you know, the whole concept of the Toe Show has changed.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: A vast majority of them are about making money, and that's it.
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: And yes, I understand an organization has to make money in an event like that to fund their program.
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: But it's very obvious as you look around which ones care about the family or not.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: This year the Florida Toe Show brought back Kids Night on Friday night.
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: Proud to say, cardinal Toeing Legacy Group, the organization that I'm involved with now, helped sponsor that Also.
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: Bald Eagle Toeing in Florida.
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: Bald Eagle Toeing in Florida.
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: Please clean that up for me.
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: Chuck Also sponsored the kidsowing in Florida.
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: Please clean that up for me.
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: Chuck Also sponsored the kids event in Florida.
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: Up in New York, our EV Clever app, along with Cardinal Towing.
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: Cardinal Legacy Group.
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: Sponsored the kids training event and, like I say, each child got a proper hard hat.
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: They got safety, proper hard hat.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: They got safety glasses, gloves and each one of them got a certificate.
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: They got a certificate of participation.
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: And I have to tell you it was a great feeling, dj, when eight hours later two young men that were about I don't know seven, eight years old, both had their hard hats on, still had been there all day.
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: They'd been a band you know, stayed with their parents and as they were leaving they both had their hard hats on.
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: So probably a good point to take a quick break.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: Can you guys hang around and we'll come right back after the break.
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the best towing companies offer a combination of great training, efficient operations, along with quality supplies.
• 12:05
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• 12:51
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• 12:59
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• 13:06
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• 13:08
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• 13:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome back listeners.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Of course you know you're listening to the Towing News Channel and this is a great one.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: I always tell April that this is a great one Jim's towing in the Carolinas, South Carolina, now going on his fourth location.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: But I want to remind all of you, if you have a third-generation tower that you'd like to hear from, by all means dial the hotline number here in the podcast center 706-409-5603.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: And we're more than happy to have Wes and April Wilburn do their very best to get that third generation to run.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: We want to thank every one of you.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Please remember to like, review and share everywhere.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: We're over 20,000 listeners per week and I can't thank you enough.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: So, without further ado, this has been a great one, april, I'll turn it over to you for Jim's telling thank you very much, dj.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: And sometimes I forget, when we're doing these things, how involved DJ Harrington is and what we do, what we do now.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: You have met.
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: You have met this great family.
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: Um, yeah, you've met this great family.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: Um, I don't know, um, jim, if you remember meeting dj or not, but he does leave an impression, that's for sure.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: He's very memorable.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: We call him the godfather of the towing, the towing podcast, for for good reason.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'd met him briefly in Myrtle Beach that time, but I never realized that Jim's the Conroy family had 36 trucks and three locations presently going on their porch.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: He's just a humble, humble guy and when you meet him you're just like a Wes Wilburn.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: Wes Wilburn is a very humble guy and I'm proud to know him.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: I'm proud to know the whole family.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: It's great, and one day I'll get a chance to meet William.
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: I hope to get a chance to meet you.
• 15:23
  Speaker 6: We definitely appreciate your kind words and you know I I'm proud to say that I've modeled my business off of the great people I've met, the industry, such as west.
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: So I I credit 100 of my success to the, the people who have guided me through this industry, and west played a very big part of that.
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: So, yeah, I agree with you.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: I agree with you, Jim.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: He has helped a lot of families in the touring and recovery industry and we all need to tip our hat to him.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: He's a big guy.
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir, and I learned from him very early on that this industry has a lot more to offer than just money.
• 16:03
  Speaker 6: That was very important in the way I modeled my business when I took notice of my father.
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: Very humbling, gentlemen, very humbling, thank you.
• 16:13
  Speaker 5: Just to clarify one thing, dj.
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: The three-generation thing is three generations of people have had one person from each generation in a class.
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: Oh, one person from each generation in a class Not at the same time, although that did happen one time in Alabama.
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: Grandfather was there, father was there and son was there.
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: But others like Jim's and Renwalski's would be two examples.
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: I've had three generations of their family in a class, but not at the same time, and it's a responsibility that I don't take lightly.
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: Again, it's very humbling.
• 16:59
  Speaker 5: We go back to the New York Toe Show.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: A year ago we went up there and I saw someone from Roosevelt toowing, mw Roosevelt, and I recognized immediately that was Warren Roosevelt, who had served on the board of directors at the Towing Museum back about the turn of the century and at that point I was just starting out on my own.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: I'd been with Wreckmaster for a decade but I was starting on my own and went to the New York Tow Show and didn't know many people in that part of the world.
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: You know, with my accent that doesn't invite a lot of people to talk to you in that part of the world that don't know you.
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: So anyway, it was a long story short.
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: Warren always made sure that I was sitting at a table with people you know introducing etc.
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: Going to dinner with his group and he was one of the founders of the association, one of the leaders, and I never forgot that kindness and that generosity.
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: So last year when I saw this young couple, they were there with the Roosevelt truck shining it up, showing it at the beauty contest for the trucks.
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: I walked up to him I said I thought the world of your father.
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: He was just such a great man.
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: I served on the board of directors with him at the museum and the husband and wife are looking at each other.
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: The wife is Warren's granddaughter.
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: They look at each other and they say oh, museum, oh, you're talking about granddad, aren't you?
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: Oh my God, dj, I never felt so old in my life.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Join the club.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: But anyway, many families I've been blessed to interact with.
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: Jim, you said some kind words about your success, one of the things I want you and William both to keep in your mind, and everybody listening, one of the things I want you and William both to keep in your mind and everybody listening all you folks that perform in the industry the way you do and bring service to your community.
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: You would be successful with or without interaction with me.
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: It's nice to think that maybe we helped make that path a little easier for you, but you would have been successful with or without me and you folks got to know that in your heart, right, dj?
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Yes, but a lot of it.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: You know Wes, it's the way you do the training and, just like Jim said, you added more than just the ability of hookup and so forth.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: You added that atmosphere of this is why we do what we do.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, do you think how many meals Jim's dad has gone without?
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: How many meals Jim has been not there?
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: How many birthday parties he did wasn't there, and now William is accepting the same role of being in the industry.
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: So that kind of leads me to something that I want to ask Jim.
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: And then I want to ask William and I know what Wes is saying that with or without him, that might be true, but I think when you do something and you walk out into this world, you impact people, whether you know it or not.
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: And in some ways we know it.
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: Wes knows it because he's done the education, he's done the class and he's got it so formulated and he knows what you guys need.
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: So that's kind of a knowing thing.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: But there are other things that he does that you pick up on, that he isn't aware that he's giving this contribution.
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: But the question I want to ask you, Jim, is you have taken this from your father.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: You have taken this over from your father.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: In what big way and in what maybe unknowing way did your father contribute to how you have picked this up and moved it forward yourself?
• 20:52
  Speaker 6: That really is a tough question because I got to say just about every decision I make in business.
• 20:57
  Speaker 6: I ask myself what would my father do?
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: That is a testament to your father right there.
• 21:05
  Speaker 6: I'd say the most important lesson my dad taught me about business is the impression you leave on people is far more important than what you get from them.
• 21:16
  Speaker 6: Using that in my day-to-day life and the way I interact with every one of my customers whether good interaction, bad interaction or anything in between I always treat them with respect, and that was something I learned from my father that you know whether respect is given or not, you always show it, and that's a testament of your character.
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: That that is something I've never uh thought of in the way that you said it with.
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: Uh, it's more important the impression that you give than than what you think of somebody else.
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: That's very, very important.
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: That's very powerful, and that's a small thing somebody else.
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: That's very, very important.
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: That's very powerful and that's a small thing.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: See, that's the thing that he's just exampled.
• 21:51
  Speaker 6: Your father example of that to you and he he opened my eyes very on that.
• 21:57
  Speaker 6: In our industry, nine times out of ten when we're interacting with somebody, it's because they're having a bad day.
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: It's on us to remain professional and try to make those people smile while we're interacting with them.
• 22:09
  Speaker 6: They may not be in a good mood, but we need to go into every situation expecting that.
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: Exactly.
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: Because they are having a bad day.
• 22:17
  Speaker 6: Their car's broke down.
• 22:18
  Speaker 6: They're having to spend money they weren't planning on spending.
• 22:20
  Speaker 6: The least we can do is make the experience pleasurable.
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: As much as you possibly can.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and sometimes you can't really make it pleasurable, but you can make it not more.
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: Uh, you can.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: You can make it a little bit easier.
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: You can make it not as hard don't have to be a jerk about things yes that's right.
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: You, you can't win every situation, but you, you also don't have to fuel any fires yes, that's exactly right all right william to put you on the spot.
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: Everybody's listening to you.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: What you got.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: I think the most impressionable thing that I learned from my dad with coming into the business is obviously, most importantly, how you treat people and having patience with people.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: So I think the most impressionable thing that I learned from my dad is obviously how you treat people, making sure that you're there for the people that ultimately support us and help us with making our business run, because we heavily obviously rely on our customers.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: So I think the most important aspect that I learned about business from my dad is about treating people with respect and having patience with people because, again, like he said you, the only, the main reason you guys are talking is because somebody's having a bad day, so it's ultimately important not to make it worse.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: I also learned a lot about logistics with him and you and learning to take a deep breath and think about the situation that you have, maybe reference past training, things like that.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: It's definitely a plus to have those different points of view and those perspectives.
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: You know to think it more than the one angle.
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: I agree with that, but I got some other questions.
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: William, I can't remember for sure.
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: Were you around your grandfather in the business?
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: I can't remember he's been gone for what six or seven years.
• 24:25
  Speaker 6: Seven years.
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir, he died in 2018.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Gotcha.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: I was around him a lot.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: I actually spent like most of my time with him, like all summers.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: I was here at the shop, you know playing, clinging to his side or washing trucks, you know kind of doing whatever I can.
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: So I'm very, I'm very familiar with the industry, like I.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: I just started getting back into it, um, but I I did definitely learn a lot from him as well.
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: What do you, what do you think is the most important thing you learned from him at the, at the business?
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Um, I'd say he taught me a lot about patience and, you know, working with people and he was very, he was very compassionate.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: So I learned how to deal with situations when you know people were irate or it was a sad story where you know something bad had happened and the people were having issues, you know, covering a bill or something.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: He was always really, really good with that kind of thing.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: So probably about the same thing my dad said is you know, ultimately, what it boils down to is problem solving.
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: Absolutely.
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: Is your mother involved in the business?
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: No sir.
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: Okay, I just wanted to give her a shout out, if she was.
• 25:42
  Speaker 6: But just to touch on one more thing about my father, one thing that really stands out with me that he always said to me because money was never of any importance to him whatsoever, he just wanted to survive that that was how he modeled his business from the beginning, was he?
• 25:57
  Speaker 6: He wanted to have his own job and wanted to be his own boss.
• 25:59
  Speaker 6: So he, he, was all about survival.
• 26:02
  Speaker 6: But the way he looked at profits was it's easier to ask a million people for a dollar than to take a million dollars for one man, so don't try to hurt anybody.
• 26:11
  Speaker 6: Oh yeah, absolutely, and and I've always, I've always thought of that.
• 26:17
  Speaker 6: And by doing that, you know, of course, we're one of the cheaper companies in town because we don't have as high of a profit margin.
• 26:25
  Speaker 6: Then again, know, we're not in a very affluential part of Charleston, so it's best for our community that we're not extremely expensive.
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: Right, you know everybody.
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: That's one thing.
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: People don't realize that there's business strategies and marketing thoughts.
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: A whole lot of people think you just get a truck and jump in and the rest will come to you.
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: And it's not that way at all.
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: Adapting to your surroundings, reading the room are huge to be successful in any business, especially a towing business on any business, especially towing business.
• 27:01
  Speaker 6: I never appreciated how much my father did until I had to do his job Because, up until he passed away, I was the driver and I managed.
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: I was his main driver and I managed all the other drivers, but I never really had to deal with the business side of this, and that was something that I never gave him his due respect on, because this is a very tough industry.
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: Very tough it is, there's no doubt about it.
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: Some great people in it and some other folks that aren't so nice sometimes yes, sir I remember one thing about your father.
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: You know I did several different events at myrtle beach.
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: I remember coming to someone for training um, and I also remember he came to the first tow show where we actually did it as a tow show, apologized and I think you were with him, I'm almost positive you were Got there on Friday morning apologized profusely that he wasn't staying.
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: We were very busy and I don't have any.
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: You know I'm shorthanded whatever.
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: You know traditional towing.
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: I'm shorthanded whatever.
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: Traditional telling the story.
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: But he said I towed a car up here so I had to stop in walk around.
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: He bought something for one of the vendors, bought something for me, supported the show the best he could Again apologizing profusely and he bought a couple, I don't know.
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: He bought one raffle ticket, ten raffle tickets, but didn't you win first prize and he win second prize or something like that in a raffle.
• 28:29
  Speaker 6: I was waiting on an opportunity to tell that story in this podcast.
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: There we go.
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it was a very small show.
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: I remember it because it was one of the first show shows I went to with him.
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: But it was a very small tow show.
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: There wasn't very many people there at all.
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: And I believe that's when I met you, mr West.
• 28:45
  Speaker 6: I may have done a class with you prior, but we never really spoke very much.
• 28:49
  Speaker 6: But we bought some products, like you said, and then we were leaving.
• 28:54
  Speaker 6: A lady stopped us and said hey, would you like to buy a raffle ticket?
• 28:57
  Speaker 6: My dad said no, you know we're not going to stay.
• 28:59
  Speaker 6: She said well, please, I haven't sold a single raffle ticket and you know we'll call you if you win.
• 29:04
  Speaker 6: So my dad said yeah, I'll buy one.
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: I said I'll buy one too.
• 29:07
  Speaker 6: And, yeah, we ended up winning first and second prize.
• 29:12
  Speaker 6: I think it was a TV and a set of Go-Jacks.
• 29:15
  Speaker 6: So, like Wes said, we were just stopping through.
• 29:19
  Speaker 6: We had a car to tow in Myrtle Beach and we picked it up and my dad said well, we need to stop in and let me introduce you to Wes.
• 29:24
  Speaker 6: And that's the whole reason.
• 29:25
  Speaker 6: We stopped there and you got guilted in buying those tickets and you won.
• 29:31
  Speaker 6: Yeah, we ended up getting a.
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: TV and a set of Go-Jacks for $20.
• 29:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and we got us that Goldwick random from Quality.
• 29:39
  Speaker 5: That helped facilitate getting that to you.
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: Also want to shout out Gay Rochester.
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: INA Towing Network.
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: We really appreciate their sponsorship.
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: Perry Beatty and the Pro Stop Program.
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: Hazmat.
• 29:51
  Speaker 5: Hazmat Responder Network.
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: Just wanted to give some thank yous while we could.
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: So Jim and William got any closing thoughts you want to leave us with?
• 30:01
  Speaker 6: Give me just a moment, please.
• 30:02
  Speaker 5: While you're thinking, I'll ask you a question.
• 30:04
  Speaker 5: You came to some toe shows as a oh no, I guess you said the first one you wanted to do was with your dad.
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: Here's my question Toe shows, like the Florida show and the New York show that are state association shows, should they get back to doing events for the kids and things exclusively for the family, in your opinion?
• 30:26
  Speaker 5: Absolutely.
• 30:28
  Speaker 6: Absolutely.
• 30:28
  Speaker 6: I think the vendors are very necessary so that we're all up to speed on what's new in our industry.
• 30:36
  Speaker 6: And you know, obviously we get some pretty good deals on the equipment as well in our industry.
• 30:40
  Speaker 6: And you know, obviously we get some pretty good deals on the equipment as well.
• 30:42
  Speaker 6: But you know, I think it should be more family oriented.
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: Let you know interest, the kids and the wives and you know, the whole family and in our industry, because there's not a whole lot for them to do that yeah, I think.
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: I think if they could gear it towards, obviously you guys want to go because you're in the towing industry, but if they make these events that are the family oriented and then make it something that you look forward to next year, you know.
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 31:11
  Speaker 6: I was just going to say, unless I'm having a truck delivered to the show, I got to drag my wife there.
• 31:16
  Speaker 4: Yeah, believe me.
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: Believe me, I understand.
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: I'm one of the vendors of this show and I don't always want to.
• 31:22
  Speaker 4: I don't always want to be there, um, but it's having something that they, that the family, can look forward to.
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: I think the florida show is on the right track.
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: They did that friday evening pizza party thing again.
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: Coronal children legacy group was the sponsor of it, Very happy to be a small part of that, and I think we as an organization are going to try to partner with other organizations like the Florida Toe Show people like Estro and the New York Toe Show people and help bring that atmosphere back.
• 31:56
  Speaker 5: So that's at least what we're going to try to do.
• 32:00
  Speaker 6: Well, we'd love to get involved If you can find any.
• 32:02
  Speaker 6: What we're going to try to do.
• 32:03
  Speaker 6: Well, we'd love to get involved.
• 32:04
  Speaker 6: If you can find any way, we can help.
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: please reach out and let me know.
• 32:06
  Speaker 5: Okay, yeah, we will, because one of the things with doing an event like this I told everybody I said I need a lot of eyes around you know, not that kids are running wild, but just you know we had everybody a safe distance away, but just you need a lot of eyes More like a lifeguard kind of a thing.
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah, if you were at a pool, you would have more than one person looking at it.
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: So yeah, so we will reach out to you.
• 32:28
  Speaker 5: Are you planning, as far as you know, are you planning on being in Florida this year?
• 32:33
  Speaker 6: Yes sir, we'll be there.
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: Okay, and we'd love to help.
• 32:42
  Speaker 5: We'll definitely reach out to you.
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: All right, sounds good April.
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: Anything to say to Jim or William?
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: I want to say that, or DJ for that matter.
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: Or DJ Well, DJ knows that I love him, Don't you DJ?
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Well, yes, but if I listen to William and to Jim Conroy, I started thinking.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: To Jim Conroy, I started thinking.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: I explained to one person, jim, when they said what is Wes Wilburn like?
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: And I said Wes Wilburn teaches you how to develop from within, so you never go without, because he shows you how to be safe on the white line, but he shows you how to be a professional, honest representative of one of the finest family-owned industries.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: So he really is.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: He's the guy who develops you from within and if you listen to him, you'll never go without.
• 33:38
  Speaker 6: I couldn't agree more.
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: Thank you, dj, that's very kind.
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: Couldn't agree more.
• 33:40
  Speaker 5: Thank you, dj, that's very kind.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: It's true, thank you, and I hope William gets to meet you and goes to the classes and he'll learn to grow up to be like his dad and like his grandfather.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: I will say I have been to a few of Wes's classes and I just went to the North Carolina heavy duty class or course in North, like I said, in North Carolina, and I enjoyed it a lot.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: And I've been to some other courses and I think my favorite part is getting to hear from Wes and how he sets up his courses.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: He makes sure he kind of makes sure that everybody understands what's going on and that everybody gets an opportunity to work with the truck and he's very patient.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: So I really do enjoy his courses and it's honestly an honor to meet him.
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: I'd like to touch on that a little bit as well.
• 34:38
  Speaker 6: I've taken courses from, I'd like to say, probably just about every instructor in the country.
• 34:43
  Speaker 6: I've only got one instructor's cell phone number in my cell phone and that's because he gives it to us at the class and says if you need me, you call me.
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: I've never had another guy do that and that's what stands out to me.
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: This guy will answer my call at 9 o'clock at night if I need him to FaceTime me and work me through a rollover.
• 35:05
  Speaker 4: I don't have any other friends like that in the industry.
• 35:06
  Speaker 4: With that being said, god bless you, mr Wilbur.
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: Thank you, jim and William.
• 35:12
  Speaker 4: You guys are such great people too because, yes, you have done that.
• 35:15
  Speaker 4: You have called us and we have, you know, got you guys help.
• 35:17
  Speaker 4: But we've called you a time or two also with another friend of ours who may be down in an area, and if you have not been able to do it yourself, you've gotten somebody else to go out and get them.
• 35:26
  Speaker 4: So it is a full circle kind of a thing with us, and you guys are very great friends to have.
• 35:33
  Speaker 4: If we're great, it's because we have great friends.
• 35:37
  Speaker 6: It's families like you all who have turned the towing industry itself into a family, so we appreciate you guys we appreciate y'all too.
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: Wes is stepped away from the mic right now, so we're gonna go ahead and close this down.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: Dj.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: Okay, you got it very much you.