December 15, 2024 • 34 mins
Jose Costa with Whistle Express Car Wash joins Trent and Patrick on “At Home with Roby”. Originally from Venezuela, Jose moved to the United States in 2003 to attend graduate school and has stayed put ever since. Tune in to hear details about Jose’s family life, education and career, and nuggets of business advice from his book, Leading with Edge. Along with business advice, Jose also talks about owning the balance in his life by prioritizing family, church and involvement in his community. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Good morning, Welcome to a Home with Roby. Patrick McKay's
and from Robi Commercial and Services, along with Trent Hayston
from the Roby Family of Companies. We are your hosts
nine to ten WBT ninety eleven AM ninety nine point
three FM. Oh thought, I how what it is on
my dog? You ever like you are about to say
something and you question yourself, It's like, did I get
(00:29):
that right?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Uh, there's something about me. I don't really ever question myself.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I was like, am I saying the wrong numbers here?
You know, we're recording on I don't know if that's.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
A good trader or a bad trade.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
We're recording on a Monday, and maybe my brain is
still on a Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And it's a chili rainy Monday. It is chili and rainy.
Yesterday was beautiful though it was gorgeous coming off a
big cold wedge. Yeah we have Today was awesome. The
weekend was was gorgeous.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We're definitely in the holiday and Christmas season. Are a
lot of red and green out on the streets. You
got a green hat over there, Well, you blew my gusta.
When I introduced our guest, I was gonna put it
on for the first time.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
All you just brought it up, so.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You mess me up.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I said, Christmas hat, that's a cool hat. Some American
hair thing, got American flyw on. That thing is blink
as it does. Tell you about the hat in a
few minutes their audience. So we went. I don't know
if I talked about this last week, but we went
the day after thanking, and we talked about the coal
weeks ago, into the mountains and got a tree and
we climb up the hill. We've done this for years
(01:45):
and we get this beautiful tree and Piper's going, I
don't like it. Beautiful tree, eight foot tree. Get this
joker home. It's cold, get it cut, get the branches off,
put it in the stand. My job night. That was
the second day. Put it in water first night, put
it in the stand the second night and put lights
(02:07):
on it.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Then I'm done.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Put it in the stand, take it in my living
room in this like the little Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
And they're like, Rain's like, oh God, it's not it's
too small, and I'm like, it's not too small. That
thing's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well, we can't take it back.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
We're not taking it back. But then the same night,
Rowan was babysitting next door for Michael Cox Fat Burrito,
everybody's been on the radio and uh, and Reagan goes
by to give Rolling something and She's like, oh my gosh,
their tree is gorgeous and humongous. They went to the
(02:44):
other side, they went in to booon and we went
to She had tree envy.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Huh, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
This might be the story of my life.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I could say something now, but I'm just gonna keep
rolling with the show. But so are you gonna get
a second tree and put that with someone somewhere else?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
No, I'm not beautiful. I decorated and actually Christian asked
me over the weekend, texting me to would I get
an office tree?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So I'm gonna go get an office tree. You know
when we used to church for some years. So it's
a good way to sell a couple of tree put
them at my office, you know, like to sell.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Some more trees.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
We we we we have some. I've got to give
a shout out to our our office teams are having
a competition between the services side and the commercial side.
You know, two different floors of the building, and uh,
who can decorate the best for Christmas? We have fake trees,
but uh, you need to come by there looking looking
pretty good with a fake tree. Well, it's there's other decorations.
It's not just a tree. But we got some custom
(03:52):
Roby ornaments that were made. People have wrapped their doors
to look like presents. Uh, it's it's it's pretty. It's
a pretty big child. There's actually a form where you
can fill out and vote on which one you like
the best. If I come by, if you come by, yeah,
I think there's December sixteenth is when it was when
the voting happens.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
What is the what is the prize? To be determined
to get in bed with somebody and shared the prize
some eggnog? Maybe maybe some eggnog. I don't know what
to see we are we always have a have a
carton of eggnog in my refrigerator at all times during December.
I don't think that is the best calorie decision to make.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
You ever had an eggnog jelly bean?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I have?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
This exists.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I don't eat jelly beans too often, but when I do,
they're either green or orange.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Typically like Easter time was when you see the jelly
the jelly beans.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I was eating the jelly bean. Is my toothaches for
three days.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Especially, they've been sitting out for a while to get
a little crunch on the outside, And.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Ma'am, I hadn't talked about this on the radio. Knox
got eight cavities chip off the old block. I mean,
come home, man, the thing is called well water. I
don't know. I know one thing. I've seen him eat
a lot of cat. He doesn't eat any food, and
he's a he's a sizable young man. So I think
the sugar's doing it, and it's a lot's getting stuck
(05:17):
in his teeth, and then he doesn't want to brush
his teeth because he's cantankers like his mama. I mean,
I mean, I'm joking. That was a Jared.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
That was a show.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
She's not here to defend herself. Oh sh to fit
her stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Later.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Well, I give her a hard time because every she
had a pretty good regularity of when she would listen
to the show, since she'd make a comment. Now she's
kind of it's like Netflix, she binge listens. So I'm like,
have you ever listened to the show anymore? She I
know you're tired of hearing this baby, but she won't
hear it till June. You had to listen to us
(05:56):
talk about your Christmas problems for the first five minutes. Wow,
good luck.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
But anyway, so then she tells me so then she
tells me that, uh, you know, if he doesn't take
the dental procedure with novacine only, they'll have to put
him to sleep and that's costs an extra X.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Last week. He didn't handle it well. She called me
like five minutes later, we're leaving the dentist. I'm like, ugh,
what just went our spring break?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
As man as your little your little dude, a little
bit your channel on your inner master p.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Anyway, yeah, master P. I hadn't heard him get in
trouble yet. WHOA all right, well guess yeah we got
my good friend. I've been begging him to come on
the show for close to a decade. Jose Costa fellow
YPO or awesome guy, Great stories, Whistle Express car Wash
(06:59):
and man, I mean just a wizard gave us this
beautiful green hat wil So Express car Wash and we'll
put it on for the first time ever. Jose Costa
when we return at Home with Ruby.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Welcome back at Home with Roby. I'm Patrick mcasac from
Robe Commercial in Services on with Trend Hayson from the
Roby Family of Companies. We are your hostingness the first segment.
Go back, check us out. You can find us anywhere
podcasts are found. Also Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can
find us there as well. Trent, do you have a
book and you have a hat and you got jose
Costa sitting across from you.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
In the room.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I mean, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Well?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I just paid attention to the book. I've had it
in my hand for thirty minutes, and he Jose R.
Costa leading with edge. What is up, my man?
Speaker 5 (07:49):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I'm really good?
Speaker 3 (07:52):
How you doing great?
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I'm glad you're here.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I think he's our second guest in a road that
Hell's from Via that's our origination. Are you first generation
from Venezuela?
Speaker 5 (08:04):
I am yes.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
I moved to the US in two thousand and three
for graduate school.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Oh wow, okay, where'd you go to graduate school?
Speaker 6 (08:12):
I went twice. I went to Northwestern and University of Chicago.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Wow, both pretty pretty presidious university.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
They don't like each other in Chicago because they keep
the debating who's better.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Kind of like the North Carolina duke duke situation.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
That's exactly right, very cool, very cool.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
What'd you study business?
Speaker 6 (08:30):
I did a Master's of Science in marketing at Northwestern
and then I did an NBA at University of Chicago.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Where'd you go to school in Argentina?
Speaker 6 (08:40):
Venezuela in Venezuela University at Metropolitana. I did undergraduate and
graduate work there.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, we get these smart ones in there. And well,
I'm going to reiterate this because it had been a
while since we said it, and I think you have
told me that you are first generation, first generation and man,
you guys got it going on. It's so impressive with
y'all's hustle and it's so refreshing.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Well, uh, this is the best country in the world.
After having spent the first twenty six years of mind
life in another country and have been fortunate to travel
to a lot of different places, we do live in
the best country in the world.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
And thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I would I would top that with that. We live
in the best city in the world. In the in
the best country in the world.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
That too.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You know, we always choke around coming back whenever we
go anywhere. This week and I mentioned we were in Detroit,
there's something about landing at Charlotte Douglas Airport with the skyline.
I mean, I didn't grow up here, and most of
us didn't, but it's just home. I mean, this is
this is the best city in the world. And I
tell that to everybody wherever I go. Whether they want
to hear me or not, that's their problem.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
I think they're listening because we're getting over one hundred
people a day.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Which is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, when we're in business in this area, it is
one traffic people by not love.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
But when you're in construction and development like we are
that it's like.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
It's hard for me to complain about Wilkes and Boulevard traffic.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
To che.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So yeah, no, So, Jose, I know your wonderful wife, Cindy,
you have and you have three children. Just give us
a little give us a little story about coming coming
to the United States, and take us from there.
Speaker 5 (10:32):
Yeah. Absolutely. So.
Speaker 6 (10:33):
I'm the eldest son of a Spanish immigrant and an
Italian immigrant. My mom and my dad that they met
in Venezuela and the plan was for me to come
for graduate school and then go back and take over
the family business. My dad went to University of Michigan
in the late sixties early seventies cool and worked in
(10:54):
New York in advertising in the Madman era if you
saw that show with TV. And in nineteen seventy four
he went back to Venezuela and started a marketing an
advertising agency and over the years it became the largest
consortium of advertising and marketing in the entire country.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Wow. Wow.
Speaker 5 (11:15):
So he wanted me to follow his path.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
So I show up to Evanston, Illinois and meet this
beautiful blonde woman, Cindy, and I thought she was gorgeous,
and we started dating for five years. We coincidentally got
hired by the same company right out of graduate school,
and so we lived in Chicago, Louisville, Kentucky, Oh Cool,
(11:41):
Miami and we've been in Charlotte for twelve years now.
We got three little ones, thirteen, ten, and eight, and
we just love Charlotte.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So the call was like, hey, mom and dad, hoopols. Well,
I'm not coming back, take care of talk to you soon.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
Well, as you know, Hispanics are very close as a
family unit. You don't leave your house until you get married,
so you can go to college, you can work, yet
the moment you leave your parents' houses when you get married.
So I'm very close with my parents, and I would
talk to my dad and my mom three times a day,
(12:20):
three hundred and sixty five.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
Days of the year.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
That's really cool.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
And the first few weeks was give me a month's dad,
I'll come back, but give me a month, then give
me three months, then give me six months, and twenty
two years ago, I never went back.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
You're like, Dad, look look at my girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Man.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I tell I need to stick over here.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
You're the Chicago Bears, I think.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And if you go back and listen to last week's show,
the other thing that I reiterated was I love the
family tightness and how strong relationships are and the people
you're with in front of I mean, the culturally is amazing.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
And to your point, anytime I have the opportunity to
hire someone from outside the US, I do it. They
are loyal, they're hard workers, and they want to prove
something back home that they were able.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
To do it here.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
So last last December, I did the commencement speech at
Northwestern and coming out of the speech, two young students
from India approached me. And fast forward to today, A
DFI and head Tea are part of our marketing team.
So we relocated them from Evanston to Charlotte and we're
(13:41):
sponsoring their visas and they've been amazing team members for
our marketing team.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Hey man, that's what it's about. I got chill bumps.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And when you say our market team, you're talking about
Whistle Express.
Speaker 6 (13:56):
Whistle Express, Yes, we operate one hundred and fifty car
one is in ten states in the southeast.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
That's hot, one hundred and fifty car washes as well.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
What are mainly in the southeast or really all over.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
We go as far as Cleveland. We have ten in Cleveland, Ohio,
and then we come down Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida
all the way up to Virginia. So concentrated in the southeast,
and it's been fun. It's a fast growing industry, that is.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
That is for for sure. And so how long have
you have you been doing this?
Speaker 5 (14:34):
Two and a half years.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
So my last fifteen years have been with eight private
equity firms. Wow, it all started with Burger King and
three G Capital, and I moved to Charlotte because of
Driven Brands, which was private equity owned. Today is a
public company, but back then it was private equity owned.
And bo Jangles was private equity owned. And I ran
(14:58):
an optical company which was private equity owned. So right now, it's.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We met when you were with originally driven driven brands? Yeah,
and what is what was the focus? Similar industry to
now or different automotive services?
Speaker 5 (15:12):
So similar you know a way?
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Yeah, we ran My job was running twelve hundred coalition shops,
so we were one of the largest coalition shops in
North America. We had about three hundred in Canada and
about nine hundred in the US.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So what do you fast You obviously enjoy managing these
multiple location businesses that have private equity or ownership, that
aren't involved necessarily in the day to day operations. What
did you Why are you such an expert at that?
Speaker 6 (15:47):
I love the challenge of like ones you've worked. So
in my formative years, I worked for Taco Bell, I
work for Burger King, and I could see what a
consistent brand looks like across geographies, both domestic and international.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
So pick Taco Bell or KFC or Pizza Hut.
Speaker 6 (16:07):
You have thousands of units in the US, and you
have thousands of units internationally, but everywhere you go there's consistency.
So a lot of these brands in automotive retail, they
originated by an entrepreneur.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
They were like Minuki or Make.
Speaker 6 (16:23):
Or they were successful in the sixties and seventies, and
sometimes they lose the north star. So we come in,
we set that north star. We start making the operation homogeneous.
So you show up and the menu looks the same,
the service protocol looks the same across every single unit.
(16:45):
And then many of them were franchise so you're recruiting
franchisees to.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Come and join the network.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
But today at Whistle Express, all one hundred and fifty
our company owned.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
All right, good stuff, man, that's excited. I can't wait
to I almost start staring at the book here in
a second, because that's where we're gonna go into the
readick segment. This is awesome. Jose, Will you stick around? Absolutely,
Jose Costa. When we return, you're listening to a home
with Roby.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
And welcome back to that home with Roby. I'm Patrick
mcaac from Roby Commercial in Services along with Trent Houston
from the Roby Family of Companies. We are your host.
If you missed the last segment, Man, we are having
a ball with Jose Costa. Trent got a book. We're
gonna find out if he can read it. And he's
got a nice green hat on his head, which I love.
And Jose you were talking to us. Were in the
break a little bit. Well the previous segment you said
(17:39):
something about working with Taco Bell in Pizza Hut, and
I asked him about you know your your time in
Louisville was with young brands.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
It was, yes.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
So Scott Bergram was the chief marketing officer at KFC.
This is in the early two thousands, and he came
to Northwestern. He recruited five of OZ but I wasn't
the lucky one in the first round.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
They only recruited Yeah.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
For some reason, the school just presented students that didn't
need a visa. So fifty percent of the class was international,
and fifty percent of the class didn't get the chance
to interview with big brands like Ford, Microsoft, the American Express.
So my wife is having dinner with the chief marketing
(18:22):
officer and his wife. They're both from Alabama, and she
brings up my name and he literally got mad that
he had not seen fifty percent of the class. So,
coming out of the dinner, seeing D calls me and
she's like, I know you have a job, but I
got you an interview.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
And I flew.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
From New York City to Louisville interviewed on a Friday
and Saturday and got an offered literally the following week.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
That's really cool.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
Yeah, what year was this?
Speaker 6 (18:51):
This was two thousand and four, two thousand and four.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Big difference between New York City and Louisville.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Do you think in twenty years that's evolved with these
universities and stuff.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
I think so it's always a hurdle because the company
needs to sponsor the visa. So as a graduate student.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
You have a year of.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
PTS it's practical training, which lasts twelve months. Once that expires,
if you don't have a sponsor, you need to go
back home. So it makes it challenging both for the
company and the student to find the right match.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Well, I will say in my forum, Doug leb Delennen
Tree has been on the radio show before they were
having some conversations some guys with and he said, I
will sponsor their visa if they're the right person, absolutely
on our team.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
Because if you compare like a small country, let's say
Dominican Republic or Ecuador or Peru, that people that make
it to a very good university in the US there
argue believe that the.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Top talent in that country.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
So you're you're you're getting like really good talent, and
why let them go?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
If I'm in Yeah, I mean I'm on what you're cooking.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
There's there's a lot of firms in our ae C
world that are that are doing this, you know, bringing
bringing architects, engineers and folks like that into their firms
for the exact same reason you just said.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, the top aspiring number one skill set knowledge, but also.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Driven they want to they want to show something back
to their five million friends back home that they can
make it in the US.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Right, Yeah, that's simpler. What what what Marianna was saying
to us is what you're saying right now, basically the
same concept that when you come here, it's it's about
proving yourself.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Yes, every every year we sponsor about two hundred students
here in Mecklenburg County that are Hispanic students. About two
hundred of them are juniors and seniors, and it's a
couple of day workshop to teach them about the career
paths and the opportunities that they have once they graduate
from high school. It could be they want to go
(21:07):
to a lumber yard, or they want to own their
own business, or they want to go to school and
eventually be a doctor. So showing them the options as
they graduate, I think that's important.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Well, a month or so ago we had Danielle was
creating a player on the show. I don't know if
your your children play soccer, but he uses the soccer
ball to teach these Hispanic and with team with Latin
American children about business and get opportunities about why very similar.
(21:41):
That's pretty cool, really cool, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Just right down the street here on Wilkinson bulevarready, you know,
but those of you who didn't hear the show, you
probably drive by it. I mean every time you go
into the airport from the city. It's right there on
the left, right right past Remount, and that's exactly what
he's doing. You're right Trenton. And what was cool about
his show is he's taking kids from you know, West Charlotte,
South Charlotte private schools, public schools and put them together
(22:05):
on the soccer field and they're starting to learn about
one another and each other's backgrounds, which which was really cool.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
That's really cool. I'm wanting to check it out.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
It is really odd. I mean, I'm actually in the
middle of back and forth texting this morning. But yeah,
so he has a not for profit that helps us
folks and teaches these kids and their families, and then
he has the for profit to help shrive to nonprofit.
And it's the integration and the combination of these families
and these kids and going on trips for soccer tournaments
(22:34):
and stuff.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Together that is awesome. I love that.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
It's really cool.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Well, let's change gears while we real fast. And I'm
looking at the book. The last person we had on
the show that wrote a book was Junior Bernard, who
immigrated from Haiti, and his book is coming out really recently,
very soon, if not recently. It called Persist, Persists Persist.
In your book, jose R. Costa is leading with edge.
What compelled you to want to write a book.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
So I went back.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
I go back probably two to four times a year,
both to University of Chicago and Northwestern and teach a
class on leadership. So every time I would finish the class,
they would say, can you share the lights or is
there a book? Is there something that we can keep
to everything that you talked about for an hour? Can
you give us something? And I heard that for years.
(23:23):
It all started back when I was at Burger King
in between twenty ten and twenty thirteen. So after hearing
the same feedback over and over again, I'm like, Okay,
there's something here. It took me a good five six
seven years to put it together, and I mainly did
it so my kids would have something one day that
(23:46):
has in writing my thoughts and it's mainly around leadership.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
So there's a lot.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Of advice and examples from different companies, Burger King, Driven Brands,
Grand Vision, and it's.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Called leading with Edge. That's a I mean, it's a
very entrepreneurial story, right, I mean it's kind of what
we do if someone asking well do you do this? No,
well do you do this?
Speaker 2 (24:09):
No?
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Will you do this? Yes? That's enough time to get asked.
Eventually all of a sudden, you're doing it.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
So Trent was asking, like the kind of the similarities
across retail, and honestly, the business challenges are the same.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
If it's a it's if it's Burger King, or if
it's minor key Take five or or Whistle Express.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
You're I boil it.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
Down to three things, right, You're you're trying to grow
the top line. So every unit, every box the top line.
It's usually a factor of average ticket and traffic, how
many people are coming and how much they're spending. If
you boil it down, those are the two variables. I
want more people buying more whoppers at a higher price.
(24:56):
Yep in a Take five, I on more people buying
all changes at a higher price. So pick your retailer
and just those are the main two variables at the
top line. At the bottom line is cost control, like
in Whistle expressing car washing. I call them the big five.
(25:17):
There's five things that we need to control in the
middle of the profit and loss statement. It's labor, chemicals, water,
repair and maintenance and supplies. If we control those five things,
we increase margin. So you grow top line sales, you
control margin and then you add more units. That's the
(25:38):
third lever or the third lack of the stool. Wow,
So how do you add more units or more point
of cell systems? And there's a great example in that
book at Maco. I compare collision to the dentist. Unfortunately
you had an accident. You were talking about your having
(26:01):
a cavity. You have a multiple multiple cavities. You have
a life event that disrupts your rhythm, right, and you
don't want to go to.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
The collision shop.
Speaker 6 (26:12):
They're dirty, they're on the other side of the railroad.
You know you're gonna walk in thinking it's one thousand
dollars and you're gonna walk out with a three thousand
dollars ticket. So we analyze the situation. More than fifty percent,
close to sixty percent of the customer base was female,
and they felt like the bait and switch. They didn't
(26:33):
want to come number one and number two. They thought
the price was going to be much lower. So we
cross analyzed other industries like Donkin Donuts. They have the
commissary model where they make the donuts in one centralized
unit and then they sell them in multiple smaller locations.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Hang time, can we come back. We gotta go Peah.
This is also I got the vibe you're over here
twitching Patrick.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Excited.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I know it was excitement. You got to pick back
up on Dunkin Donuts when we returned, Jose Costa. Uh,
leading with Edge when we return.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Welcome back that home with Roby. I'm Patrick mccasac from
Robi Commercial and Services along with Trent Hayston from the
Roby Family of Companies. Man, if you miss the last
couple of segments, you've got to go back and listen.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
We are learning leading with Edge, Jose Costa.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
And we're gonna jump right into this because you were.
You were right in the middle of telling us about
dunkin Donuts and their commissary approach.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Not to mention all your your your your wonderful experience
that you shared with us and how it relates to
make up.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
That's it.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
So we were studying dunkin Donuts, like like you said,
and we realized the hop and spoke model basically.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
So we approached Pep Boys.
Speaker 6 (27:55):
And we said within each Pep Boys, you have multiple services,
Like you can get your tires change, you can get
an oil change, you can buy retail products, but they
were not offering collision services. So we tested here in
Charlotte in South Boulevard, a small location within pet Boys,
and it was a drop off location so a customer
(28:19):
had an accident, they could drop off their car, we
would get them a loaner and a week later they
would come back and get the vehicle. They never had
to drive to the body shop. And it was so
successful that over time we got closer to fifty stores
within a store, and they were next to Target or
next to Walmart in a strip mall, and it just
(28:41):
changed the way customers interacting with us.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
See you're talking about the pet Boys right before you
get to Tyvola leaving the city on the right hand side.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I mean that's cool, man, That is so genius. So
the sixty percent of your clients for female, yes, they
felt better about it.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:58):
So we rolled out iPads where they could see the
repair process on the iPad. So the use of technology
helped with the ticket average and when they realize, Okay,
my bumper needs to be replaced. But when you remove
the bumper, there's a lot of parts behind it. Yeah,
and that's why the price goes up because you need
to replace all those parts. So with the use of
(29:20):
technology and then changing the retail experience. By the time
I left five years later, we had seventy two months
of growth. Mako and Carstar were on a growth trajectory.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Seventy two months in a row of growth.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yes, wow, that's pretty good, especially if you're cleaning up
those five in the middle. Get that bottom line right.
I'm the cleaner, you got it. Actually, I'm the growth guy.
I'll leave the hell out of these guys.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
But no, I think what you did there was really
I mean, I don't know if this is a preface
to your book or not, but you simplified a complex
process and that's really hard to do. But the way
you did that, anybody can really understand, from the very
junior associate all the way up to the CEO. You
take those few things and say, hey, this is what
we got to be good at. This is what we understand.
The guys sweeping the floors in the warehouse on his
(30:12):
first day can pick that up, absolutely understand how they
can contribute.
Speaker 6 (30:17):
Make it very simple to understand, and then put the
writing incentives in place. If you put the writing incentives
and you make it simple, people will follow those steps
because you're talking hourly employees, part time employees making minimum wage.
You don't want to make things complicated. The easier you
(30:38):
can explain it, the easier execution becomes.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And then to your point, then you can motivate around it. No,
I mean, I mean it's great. I was following what
you were doing. Our retail side of our business is
our services side very very similar to retail as far
as the numbers, how the numbers work. You know, how
many phone calls do we get out of those calls,
how many convert to allow us to come to their house?
Out of those can versions, how many allow us to
(31:01):
actually perform work at their house? And then what's the
average ticket? Yes, and we can kind of flow that
formula and help really the rest of the business. From
an overhead standpoint.
Speaker 6 (31:10):
I wish we had a lot of time because there
are so many examples, Like right now we're using AI
to predict seventy percent of the business that Whistle Express
is memberships. Yeah, so you buy a monthly membership and
you can wash your vehicle unlimited. So now with AI,
we can predict your lifetime value, how long you're going
(31:33):
to stay, what are the events that can trigger you
leaving and we can.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Get ahead of that.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
So I imagine with the call center yea, and following
up on services, you can do the same thing.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Oh, it's a very similar processes. The memberships, correct I am.
I mean I'm a car wash member and it's almost
like a little community. You start to see the same
people there, they start to get to know you a
little bit. I mean, it's really I mean it's something
that were big support.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
Or we're going to trade your membership there, whistle membership.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
It is down.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Let's go there you go.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
So Jose, I have two questions for you.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Number one, your does your father still have the biggest
great business?
Speaker 6 (32:18):
He does, but unfortunately he passed away six months ago.
I'm sorry, so God bless yes the business still there.
It's it's a fraction of what it was because of
it's a communist country, so that the government has pretty
much taking over everything.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Man, sorry to hear that, and God bless your family. Uh.
One other question, I like to put our folks on
the spot. What is one thing? I mean, you've you've
dropped all this knowledge a day, but if you could
sum it up one motto that you lived by personally,
in business and family.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I think they all go together.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Give us some I always prioritize my family, spending time
with my children, my wife, brothers, brother and two sisters,
and my mom. To me, uh that the punchline of
the book at the end is you own the balance
in your life. Not your work is not going to
own the balance in your life. To me, going to
(33:17):
church on Sundays is extremely important. So being involved in
our church, our community, being close to my family is
really important, and just being a good human being. Life
is too short to work with jerks.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Amen, I'll tell you we had dinner together and WAPO
trip in the fall with Reagan and Cindy and we
had a blast and you can just see. I think
we both get along well with our spouses.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
You go to church with Dave Maguire. Yes, Actually he
figured it out very cool two weeks ago. He's like, Hey,
this guy has just had your picture.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
I was like, he's coming on the radio.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
We're wearing him, so y'all have to meet and hang out.
He we went to college roommates, are went to Harding together. Yes,
thank you, Jose, Thank you guys. Jose r Acosta leading
with edge find it, order his book. Thanks for listening.
Go do the Golden rule today. Treat others the way
you want to be treated. Carry a smile around on
(34:15):
your face.
Good morning, Welcome to a Home with Roby. Patrick McKay's
and from Robi Commercial and Services, along with Trent Hayston
from the Roby Family of Companies. We are your hosts
nine to ten WBT ninety eleven AM ninety nine point
three FM. Oh thought, I how what it is on
my dog? You ever like you are about to say
something and you question yourself, It's like, did I get
(00:29):
that right?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Uh, there's something about me. I don't really ever question myself.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I was like, am I saying the wrong numbers here?
You know, we're recording on I don't know if that's.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
A good trader or a bad trade.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
We're recording on a Monday, and maybe my brain is
still on a Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And it's a chili rainy Monday. It is chili and rainy.
Yesterday was beautiful though it was gorgeous coming off a
big cold wedge. Yeah we have Today was awesome. The
weekend was was gorgeous.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We're definitely in the holiday and Christmas season. Are a
lot of red and green out on the streets. You
got a green hat over there, Well, you blew my gusta.
When I introduced our guest, I was gonna put it
on for the first time.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
All you just brought it up, so.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You mess me up.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I said, Christmas hat, that's a cool hat. Some American
hair thing, got American flyw on. That thing is blink
as it does. Tell you about the hat in a
few minutes their audience. So we went. I don't know
if I talked about this last week, but we went
the day after thanking, and we talked about the coal
weeks ago, into the mountains and got a tree and
we climb up the hill. We've done this for years
(01:45):
and we get this beautiful tree and Piper's going, I
don't like it. Beautiful tree, eight foot tree. Get this
joker home. It's cold, get it cut, get the branches off,
put it in the stand. My job night. That was
the second day. Put it in water first night, put
it in the stand the second night and put lights
(02:07):
on it.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Then I'm done.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Put it in the stand, take it in my living
room in this like the little Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
And they're like, Rain's like, oh God, it's not it's
too small, and I'm like, it's not too small. That
thing's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well, we can't take it back.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
We're not taking it back. But then the same night,
Rowan was babysitting next door for Michael Cox Fat Burrito,
everybody's been on the radio and uh, and Reagan goes
by to give Rolling something and She's like, oh my gosh,
their tree is gorgeous and humongous. They went to the
(02:44):
other side, they went in to booon and we went
to She had tree envy.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Huh, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 3 (02:51):
This might be the story of my life.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I could say something now, but I'm just gonna keep
rolling with the show. But so are you gonna get
a second tree and put that with someone somewhere else?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
No, I'm not beautiful. I decorated and actually Christian asked
me over the weekend, texting me to would I get
an office tree?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So I'm gonna go get an office tree. You know
when we used to church for some years. So it's
a good way to sell a couple of tree put
them at my office, you know, like to sell.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Some more trees.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
We we we we have some. I've got to give
a shout out to our our office teams are having
a competition between the services side and the commercial side.
You know, two different floors of the building, and uh,
who can decorate the best for Christmas? We have fake trees,
but uh, you need to come by there looking looking
pretty good with a fake tree. Well, it's there's other decorations.
It's not just a tree. But we got some custom
(03:52):
Roby ornaments that were made. People have wrapped their doors
to look like presents. Uh, it's it's it's pretty. It's
a pretty big child. There's actually a form where you
can fill out and vote on which one you like
the best. If I come by, if you come by, yeah,
I think there's December sixteenth is when it was when
the voting happens.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
What is the what is the prize? To be determined
to get in bed with somebody and shared the prize
some eggnog? Maybe maybe some eggnog. I don't know what
to see we are we always have a have a
carton of eggnog in my refrigerator at all times during December.
I don't think that is the best calorie decision to make.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
You ever had an eggnog jelly bean?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I have?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
This exists.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I don't eat jelly beans too often, but when I do,
they're either green or orange.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Typically like Easter time was when you see the jelly
the jelly beans.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I was eating the jelly bean. Is my toothaches for
three days.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Especially, they've been sitting out for a while to get
a little crunch on the outside, And.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Ma'am, I hadn't talked about this on the radio. Knox
got eight cavities chip off the old block. I mean,
come home, man, the thing is called well water. I
don't know. I know one thing. I've seen him eat
a lot of cat. He doesn't eat any food, and
he's a he's a sizable young man. So I think
the sugar's doing it, and it's a lot's getting stuck
(05:17):
in his teeth, and then he doesn't want to brush
his teeth because he's cantankers like his mama. I mean,
I mean, I'm joking. That was a Jared.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
That was a show.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
She's not here to defend herself. Oh sh to fit
her stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Later.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Well, I give her a hard time because every she
had a pretty good regularity of when she would listen
to the show, since she'd make a comment. Now she's
kind of it's like Netflix, she binge listens. So I'm like,
have you ever listened to the show anymore? She I
know you're tired of hearing this baby, but she won't
hear it till June. You had to listen to us
(05:56):
talk about your Christmas problems for the first five minutes. Wow,
good luck.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
But anyway, so then she tells me so then she
tells me that, uh, you know, if he doesn't take
the dental procedure with novacine only, they'll have to put
him to sleep and that's costs an extra X.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Last week. He didn't handle it well. She called me
like five minutes later, we're leaving the dentist. I'm like, ugh,
what just went our spring break?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
As man as your little your little dude, a little
bit your channel on your inner master p.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Anyway, yeah, master P. I hadn't heard him get in
trouble yet. WHOA all right, well guess yeah we got
my good friend. I've been begging him to come on
the show for close to a decade. Jose Costa fellow
YPO or awesome guy, Great stories, Whistle Express car Wash
(06:59):
and man, I mean just a wizard gave us this
beautiful green hat wil So Express car Wash and we'll
put it on for the first time ever. Jose Costa
when we return at Home with Ruby.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Welcome back at Home with Roby. I'm Patrick mcasac from
Robe Commercial in Services on with Trend Hayson from the
Roby Family of Companies. We are your hostingness the first segment.
Go back, check us out. You can find us anywhere
podcasts are found. Also Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can
find us there as well. Trent, do you have a
book and you have a hat and you got jose
Costa sitting across from you.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
In the room.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I mean, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Well?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I just paid attention to the book. I've had it
in my hand for thirty minutes, and he Jose R.
Costa leading with edge. What is up, my man?
Speaker 5 (07:49):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I'm really good?
Speaker 3 (07:52):
How you doing great?
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I'm glad you're here.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I think he's our second guest in a road that
Hell's from Via that's our origination. Are you first generation
from Venezuela?
Speaker 5 (08:04):
I am yes.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
I moved to the US in two thousand and three
for graduate school.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Oh wow, okay, where'd you go to graduate school?
Speaker 6 (08:12):
I went twice. I went to Northwestern and University of Chicago.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Wow, both pretty pretty presidious university.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
They don't like each other in Chicago because they keep
the debating who's better.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Kind of like the North Carolina duke duke situation.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
That's exactly right, very cool, very cool.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
What'd you study business?
Speaker 6 (08:30):
I did a Master's of Science in marketing at Northwestern
and then I did an NBA at University of Chicago.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Where'd you go to school in Argentina?
Speaker 6 (08:40):
Venezuela in Venezuela University at Metropolitana. I did undergraduate and
graduate work there.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, we get these smart ones in there. And well,
I'm going to reiterate this because it had been a
while since we said it, and I think you have
told me that you are first generation, first generation and man,
you guys got it going on. It's so impressive with
y'all's hustle and it's so refreshing.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Well, uh, this is the best country in the world.
After having spent the first twenty six years of mind
life in another country and have been fortunate to travel
to a lot of different places, we do live in
the best country in the world.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
And thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I would I would top that with that. We live
in the best city in the world. In the in
the best country in the world.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
That too.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You know, we always choke around coming back whenever we
go anywhere. This week and I mentioned we were in Detroit,
there's something about landing at Charlotte Douglas Airport with the skyline.
I mean, I didn't grow up here, and most of
us didn't, but it's just home. I mean, this is
this is the best city in the world. And I
tell that to everybody wherever I go. Whether they want
to hear me or not, that's their problem.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
I think they're listening because we're getting over one hundred
people a day.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Which is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, when we're in business in this area, it is
one traffic people by not love.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
But when you're in construction and development like we are
that it's like.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
It's hard for me to complain about Wilkes and Boulevard traffic.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
To che.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So yeah, no, So, Jose, I know your wonderful wife, Cindy,
you have and you have three children. Just give us
a little give us a little story about coming coming
to the United States, and take us from there.
Speaker 5 (10:32):
Yeah. Absolutely. So.
Speaker 6 (10:33):
I'm the eldest son of a Spanish immigrant and an
Italian immigrant. My mom and my dad that they met
in Venezuela and the plan was for me to come
for graduate school and then go back and take over
the family business. My dad went to University of Michigan
in the late sixties early seventies cool and worked in
(10:54):
New York in advertising in the Madman era if you
saw that show with TV. And in nineteen seventy four
he went back to Venezuela and started a marketing an
advertising agency and over the years it became the largest
consortium of advertising and marketing in the entire country.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Wow. Wow.
Speaker 5 (11:15):
So he wanted me to follow his path.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
So I show up to Evanston, Illinois and meet this
beautiful blonde woman, Cindy, and I thought she was gorgeous,
and we started dating for five years. We coincidentally got
hired by the same company right out of graduate school,
and so we lived in Chicago, Louisville, Kentucky, Oh Cool,
(11:41):
Miami and we've been in Charlotte for twelve years now.
We got three little ones, thirteen, ten, and eight, and
we just love Charlotte.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So the call was like, hey, mom and dad, hoopols. Well,
I'm not coming back, take care of talk to you soon.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
Well, as you know, Hispanics are very close as a
family unit. You don't leave your house until you get married,
so you can go to college, you can work, yet
the moment you leave your parents' houses when you get married.
So I'm very close with my parents, and I would
talk to my dad and my mom three times a day,
(12:20):
three hundred and sixty five.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
Days of the year.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
That's really cool.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
And the first few weeks was give me a month's dad,
I'll come back, but give me a month, then give
me three months, then give me six months, and twenty
two years ago, I never went back.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
You're like, Dad, look look at my girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Man.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I tell I need to stick over here.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
You're the Chicago Bears, I think.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And if you go back and listen to last week's show,
the other thing that I reiterated was I love the
family tightness and how strong relationships are and the people
you're with in front of I mean, the culturally is amazing.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
And to your point, anytime I have the opportunity to
hire someone from outside the US, I do it. They
are loyal, they're hard workers, and they want to prove
something back home that they were able.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
To do it here.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
So last last December, I did the commencement speech at
Northwestern and coming out of the speech, two young students
from India approached me. And fast forward to today, A
DFI and head Tea are part of our marketing team.
So we relocated them from Evanston to Charlotte and we're
(13:41):
sponsoring their visas and they've been amazing team members for
our marketing team.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Hey man, that's what it's about. I got chill bumps.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And when you say our market team, you're talking about
Whistle Express.
Speaker 6 (13:56):
Whistle Express, Yes, we operate one hundred and fifty car
one is in ten states in the southeast.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
That's hot, one hundred and fifty car washes as well.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
What are mainly in the southeast or really all over.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
We go as far as Cleveland. We have ten in Cleveland, Ohio,
and then we come down Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida
all the way up to Virginia. So concentrated in the southeast,
and it's been fun. It's a fast growing industry, that is.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
That is for for sure. And so how long have
you have you been doing this?
Speaker 5 (14:34):
Two and a half years.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
So my last fifteen years have been with eight private
equity firms. Wow, it all started with Burger King and
three G Capital, and I moved to Charlotte because of
Driven Brands, which was private equity owned. Today is a
public company, but back then it was private equity owned.
And bo Jangles was private equity owned. And I ran
(14:58):
an optical company which was private equity owned. So right now, it's.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We met when you were with originally driven driven brands? Yeah,
and what is what was the focus? Similar industry to
now or different automotive services?
Speaker 5 (15:12):
So similar you know a way?
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Yeah, we ran My job was running twelve hundred coalition shops,
so we were one of the largest coalition shops in
North America. We had about three hundred in Canada and
about nine hundred in the US.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So what do you fast You obviously enjoy managing these
multiple location businesses that have private equity or ownership, that
aren't involved necessarily in the day to day operations. What
did you Why are you such an expert at that?
Speaker 6 (15:47):
I love the challenge of like ones you've worked. So
in my formative years, I worked for Taco Bell, I
work for Burger King, and I could see what a
consistent brand looks like across geographies, both domestic and international.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
So pick Taco Bell or KFC or Pizza Hut.
Speaker 6 (16:07):
You have thousands of units in the US, and you
have thousands of units internationally, but everywhere you go there's consistency.
So a lot of these brands in automotive retail, they
originated by an entrepreneur.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
They were like Minuki or Make.
Speaker 6 (16:23):
Or they were successful in the sixties and seventies, and
sometimes they lose the north star. So we come in,
we set that north star. We start making the operation homogeneous.
So you show up and the menu looks the same,
the service protocol looks the same across every single unit.
(16:45):
And then many of them were franchise so you're recruiting
franchisees to.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Come and join the network.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
But today at Whistle Express, all one hundred and fifty
our company owned.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
All right, good stuff, man, that's excited. I can't wait
to I almost start staring at the book here in
a second, because that's where we're gonna go into the
readick segment. This is awesome. Jose, Will you stick around? Absolutely,
Jose Costa. When we return, you're listening to a home
with Roby.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
And welcome back to that home with Roby. I'm Patrick
mcaac from Roby Commercial in Services along with Trent Houston
from the Roby Family of Companies. We are your host.
If you missed the last segment, Man, we are having
a ball with Jose Costa. Trent got a book. We're
gonna find out if he can read it. And he's
got a nice green hat on his head, which I love.
And Jose you were talking to us. Were in the
break a little bit. Well the previous segment you said
(17:39):
something about working with Taco Bell in Pizza Hut, and
I asked him about you know your your time in
Louisville was with young brands.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
It was, yes.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
So Scott Bergram was the chief marketing officer at KFC.
This is in the early two thousands, and he came
to Northwestern. He recruited five of OZ but I wasn't
the lucky one in the first round.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
They only recruited Yeah.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
For some reason, the school just presented students that didn't
need a visa. So fifty percent of the class was international,
and fifty percent of the class didn't get the chance
to interview with big brands like Ford, Microsoft, the American Express.
So my wife is having dinner with the chief marketing
(18:22):
officer and his wife. They're both from Alabama, and she
brings up my name and he literally got mad that
he had not seen fifty percent of the class. So,
coming out of the dinner, seeing D calls me and
she's like, I know you have a job, but I
got you an interview.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
And I flew.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
From New York City to Louisville interviewed on a Friday
and Saturday and got an offered literally the following week.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
That's really cool.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
Yeah, what year was this?
Speaker 6 (18:51):
This was two thousand and four, two thousand and four.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Big difference between New York City and Louisville.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Do you think in twenty years that's evolved with these
universities and stuff.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
I think so it's always a hurdle because the company
needs to sponsor the visa. So as a graduate student.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
You have a year of.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
PTS it's practical training, which lasts twelve months. Once that expires,
if you don't have a sponsor, you need to go
back home. So it makes it challenging both for the
company and the student to find the right match.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Well, I will say in my forum, Doug leb Delennen
Tree has been on the radio show before they were
having some conversations some guys with and he said, I
will sponsor their visa if they're the right person, absolutely
on our team.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
Because if you compare like a small country, let's say
Dominican Republic or Ecuador or Peru, that people that make
it to a very good university in the US there
argue believe that the.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Top talent in that country.
Speaker 6 (20:02):
So you're you're you're getting like really good talent, and
why let them go?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
If I'm in Yeah, I mean I'm on what you're cooking.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
There's there's a lot of firms in our ae C
world that are that are doing this, you know, bringing
bringing architects, engineers and folks like that into their firms
for the exact same reason you just said.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, the top aspiring number one skill set knowledge, but also.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
Driven they want to they want to show something back
to their five million friends back home that they can
make it in the US.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Right, Yeah, that's simpler. What what what Marianna was saying
to us is what you're saying right now, basically the
same concept that when you come here, it's it's about
proving yourself.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Yes, every every year we sponsor about two hundred students
here in Mecklenburg County that are Hispanic students. About two
hundred of them are juniors and seniors, and it's a
couple of day workshop to teach them about the career
paths and the opportunities that they have once they graduate
from high school. It could be they want to go
(21:07):
to a lumber yard, or they want to own their
own business, or they want to go to school and
eventually be a doctor. So showing them the options as
they graduate, I think that's important.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Well, a month or so ago we had Danielle was
creating a player on the show. I don't know if
your your children play soccer, but he uses the soccer
ball to teach these Hispanic and with team with Latin
American children about business and get opportunities about why very similar.
(21:41):
That's pretty cool, really cool, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Just right down the street here on Wilkinson bulevarready, you know,
but those of you who didn't hear the show, you
probably drive by it. I mean every time you go
into the airport from the city. It's right there on
the left, right right past Remount, and that's exactly what
he's doing. You're right Trenton. And what was cool about
his show is he's taking kids from you know, West Charlotte,
South Charlotte private schools, public schools and put them together
(22:05):
on the soccer field and they're starting to learn about
one another and each other's backgrounds, which which was really cool.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
That's really cool. I'm wanting to check it out.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
It is really odd. I mean, I'm actually in the
middle of back and forth texting this morning. But yeah,
so he has a not for profit that helps us
folks and teaches these kids and their families, and then
he has the for profit to help shrive to nonprofit.
And it's the integration and the combination of these families
and these kids and going on trips for soccer tournaments
(22:34):
and stuff.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Together that is awesome. I love that.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
It's really cool.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Well, let's change gears while we real fast. And I'm
looking at the book. The last person we had on
the show that wrote a book was Junior Bernard, who
immigrated from Haiti, and his book is coming out really recently,
very soon, if not recently. It called Persist, Persists Persist.
In your book, jose R. Costa is leading with edge.
What compelled you to want to write a book.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
So I went back.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
I go back probably two to four times a year,
both to University of Chicago and Northwestern and teach a
class on leadership. So every time I would finish the class,
they would say, can you share the lights or is
there a book? Is there something that we can keep
to everything that you talked about for an hour? Can
you give us something? And I heard that for years.
(23:23):
It all started back when I was at Burger King
in between twenty ten and twenty thirteen. So after hearing
the same feedback over and over again, I'm like, Okay,
there's something here. It took me a good five six
seven years to put it together, and I mainly did
it so my kids would have something one day that
(23:46):
has in writing my thoughts and it's mainly around leadership.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
So there's a lot.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Of advice and examples from different companies, Burger King, Driven Brands,
Grand Vision, and it's.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Called leading with Edge. That's a I mean, it's a
very entrepreneurial story, right, I mean it's kind of what
we do if someone asking well do you do this? No,
well do you do this?
Speaker 2 (24:09):
No?
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Will you do this? Yes? That's enough time to get asked.
Eventually all of a sudden, you're doing it.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
So Trent was asking, like the kind of the similarities
across retail, and honestly, the business challenges are the same.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
If it's a it's if it's Burger King, or if
it's minor key Take five or or Whistle Express.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
You're I boil it.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
Down to three things, right, You're you're trying to grow
the top line. So every unit, every box the top line.
It's usually a factor of average ticket and traffic, how
many people are coming and how much they're spending. If
you boil it down, those are the two variables. I
want more people buying more whoppers at a higher price.
(24:56):
Yep in a Take five, I on more people buying
all changes at a higher price. So pick your retailer
and just those are the main two variables at the
top line. At the bottom line is cost control, like
in Whistle expressing car washing. I call them the big five.
(25:17):
There's five things that we need to control in the
middle of the profit and loss statement. It's labor, chemicals, water,
repair and maintenance and supplies. If we control those five things,
we increase margin. So you grow top line sales, you
control margin and then you add more units. That's the
(25:38):
third lever or the third lack of the stool. Wow,
So how do you add more units or more point
of cell systems? And there's a great example in that
book at Maco. I compare collision to the dentist. Unfortunately
you had an accident. You were talking about your having
(26:01):
a cavity. You have a multiple multiple cavities. You have
a life event that disrupts your rhythm, right, and you
don't want to go to.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
The collision shop.
Speaker 6 (26:12):
They're dirty, they're on the other side of the railroad.
You know you're gonna walk in thinking it's one thousand
dollars and you're gonna walk out with a three thousand
dollars ticket. So we analyze the situation. More than fifty percent,
close to sixty percent of the customer base was female,
and they felt like the bait and switch. They didn't
(26:33):
want to come number one and number two. They thought
the price was going to be much lower. So we
cross analyzed other industries like Donkin Donuts. They have the
commissary model where they make the donuts in one centralized
unit and then they sell them in multiple smaller locations.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Hang time, can we come back. We gotta go Peah.
This is also I got the vibe you're over here
twitching Patrick.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Excited.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I know it was excitement. You got to pick back
up on Dunkin Donuts when we returned, Jose Costa. Uh,
leading with Edge when we return.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Welcome back that home with Roby. I'm Patrick mccasac from
Robi Commercial and Services along with Trent Hayston from the
Roby Family of Companies. Man, if you miss the last
couple of segments, you've got to go back and listen.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
We are learning leading with Edge, Jose Costa.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
And we're gonna jump right into this because you were.
You were right in the middle of telling us about
dunkin Donuts and their commissary approach.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Not to mention all your your your your wonderful experience
that you shared with us and how it relates to
make up.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
That's it.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
So we were studying dunkin Donuts, like like you said,
and we realized the hop and spoke model basically.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
So we approached Pep Boys.
Speaker 6 (27:55):
And we said within each Pep Boys, you have multiple services,
Like you can get your tires change, you can get
an oil change, you can buy retail products, but they
were not offering collision services. So we tested here in
Charlotte in South Boulevard, a small location within pet Boys,
and it was a drop off location so a customer
(28:19):
had an accident, they could drop off their car, we
would get them a loaner and a week later they
would come back and get the vehicle. They never had
to drive to the body shop. And it was so
successful that over time we got closer to fifty stores
within a store, and they were next to Target or
next to Walmart in a strip mall, and it just
(28:41):
changed the way customers interacting with us.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
See you're talking about the pet Boys right before you
get to Tyvola leaving the city on the right hand side.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I mean that's cool, man, That is so genius. So
the sixty percent of your clients for female, yes, they
felt better about it.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:58):
So we rolled out iPads where they could see the
repair process on the iPad. So the use of technology
helped with the ticket average and when they realize, Okay,
my bumper needs to be replaced. But when you remove
the bumper, there's a lot of parts behind it. Yeah,
and that's why the price goes up because you need
to replace all those parts. So with the use of
(29:20):
technology and then changing the retail experience. By the time
I left five years later, we had seventy two months
of growth. Mako and Carstar were on a growth trajectory.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Seventy two months in a row of growth.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yes, wow, that's pretty good, especially if you're cleaning up
those five in the middle. Get that bottom line right.
I'm the cleaner, you got it. Actually, I'm the growth guy.
I'll leave the hell out of these guys.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
But no, I think what you did there was really
I mean, I don't know if this is a preface
to your book or not, but you simplified a complex
process and that's really hard to do. But the way
you did that, anybody can really understand, from the very
junior associate all the way up to the CEO. You
take those few things and say, hey, this is what
we got to be good at. This is what we understand.
The guys sweeping the floors in the warehouse on his
(30:12):
first day can pick that up, absolutely understand how they
can contribute.
Speaker 6 (30:17):
Make it very simple to understand, and then put the
writing incentives in place. If you put the writing incentives
and you make it simple, people will follow those steps
because you're talking hourly employees, part time employees making minimum wage.
You don't want to make things complicated. The easier you
(30:38):
can explain it, the easier execution becomes.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
And then to your point, then you can motivate around it. No,
I mean, I mean it's great. I was following what
you were doing. Our retail side of our business is
our services side very very similar to retail as far
as the numbers, how the numbers work. You know, how
many phone calls do we get out of those calls,
how many convert to allow us to come to their house?
Out of those can versions, how many allow us to
(31:01):
actually perform work at their house? And then what's the
average ticket? Yes, and we can kind of flow that
formula and help really the rest of the business. From
an overhead standpoint.
Speaker 6 (31:10):
I wish we had a lot of time because there
are so many examples, Like right now we're using AI
to predict seventy percent of the business that Whistle Express
is memberships. Yeah, so you buy a monthly membership and
you can wash your vehicle unlimited. So now with AI,
we can predict your lifetime value, how long you're going
(31:33):
to stay, what are the events that can trigger you
leaving and we can.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Get ahead of that.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
So I imagine with the call center yea, and following
up on services, you can do the same thing.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Oh, it's a very similar processes. The memberships, correct I am.
I mean I'm a car wash member and it's almost
like a little community. You start to see the same
people there, they start to get to know you a
little bit. I mean, it's really I mean it's something
that were big support.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
Or we're going to trade your membership there, whistle membership.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
It is down.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Let's go there you go.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
So Jose, I have two questions for you.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Number one, your does your father still have the biggest
great business?
Speaker 6 (32:18):
He does, but unfortunately he passed away six months ago.
I'm sorry, so God bless yes the business still there.
It's it's a fraction of what it was because of
it's a communist country, so that the government has pretty
much taking over everything.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Man, sorry to hear that, and God bless your family. Uh.
One other question, I like to put our folks on
the spot. What is one thing? I mean, you've you've
dropped all this knowledge a day, but if you could
sum it up one motto that you lived by personally,
in business and family.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I think they all go together.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Give us some I always prioritize my family, spending time
with my children, my wife, brothers, brother and two sisters,
and my mom. To me, uh that the punchline of
the book at the end is you own the balance
in your life. Not your work is not going to
own the balance in your life. To me, going to
(33:17):
church on Sundays is extremely important. So being involved in
our church, our community, being close to my family is
really important, and just being a good human being. Life
is too short to work with jerks.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Amen, I'll tell you we had dinner together and WAPO
trip in the fall with Reagan and Cindy and we
had a blast and you can just see. I think
we both get along well with our spouses.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
You go to church with Dave Maguire. Yes, Actually he
figured it out very cool two weeks ago. He's like, Hey,
this guy has just had your picture.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
I was like, he's coming on the radio.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
We're wearing him, so y'all have to meet and hang out.
He we went to college roommates, are went to Harding together. Yes,
thank you, Jose, Thank you guys. Jose r Acosta leading
with edge find it, order his book. Thanks for listening.
Go do the Golden rule today. Treat others the way
you want to be treated. Carry a smile around on
(34:15):
your face.
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