August 19, 2025 • 23 mins
The technician who turned oil changes into master certifications—and negativity into a movement of positivity.
Curtis Gardner isn’t your typical technician. Starting out with oil changes after high school, Curtis worked his way up to Toyota master certification before taking on the German-engineering challenge at Audi. But what makes his story stand out isn’t just his technical chops—it’s his decision to flip the technician narrative from negativity and burnout to optimism, efficiency, and human connection.
In this conversation, Curtis shares how video inspections transformed not just his customer relationships, but his own career. From becoming “the guy” customers now ask for by name, to creating content that shines a positive light on technicians, Curtis is redefining what it means to thrive in fixed ops. If you’ve ever wondered how to solve the so-called technician shortage, why techs need self-leadership, or how tool organization can actually change shop efficiency, this is the episode for you.
Takeaways:
0:00 The hats don’t fit—but this episode does
1:00 Meet the first technician ever on Auto Collabs
2:15 From Legos to master-certified Toyota tech
3:40 Why Curtis started sharing technician content online
5:07 Video inspections: the tool that changed everything
7:20 How customers react when they finally see under their car
8:50 Becoming “my guy”: when customers start asking for you by name
10:15 Why Curtis makes Zen videos inside Audi hoods
11:45 Self-leadership: the hidden skill every tech needs
13:55 Is the technician shortage real—or just perception?
15:20 Why management isn’t always the best next step for master techs
17:00 Curtis’s vision for the service shop of the future
19:10 3D printing a better way to organize tools
21:15 The human connection that technology can’t replace
Connect with Curtis Gardner on https://www.linkedin.com/in/techgnarr/
Learn more about Techgnarr at https://stan.store/techgnarr
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kyle Mountsier (00:00):
The only reason you two get those hats is
because you don't have heads thesize of a bowling ball.
Unknown (00:11):
This is auto Collabs.
Paul J Daly (00:13):
That's true. You're jealous. They're actually
different hats. Have you triedthe trucker one on? I have the
flap
Kyle Mountsier (00:18):
them all on.
They don't work for me.
Michael Cirillo (00:21):
I mean, it could go both ways. I recently
saw a photo of myself in which Iknew it wasn't good perspective,
because we were standing on ahill, and the photographer was
shooting up a hill. So with aquote, unquote, normal size
head, I look like that characterfrom Beetlejuice that with
Unknown (00:39):
the really tiny head and big shoulders. Oh my gosh,
the
Kyle Mountsier (00:45):
3d perspective is all wrong. This is already
Paul J Daly (00:47):
getting sideways.
Yeah, it's probably appropriatethat it's sideways, because this
is kind of out of the ordinaryfor us to talk to a technician
on the show. Is this the firsttechnician we've ever had on?
Kyle Mountsier (00:56):
I think this is it? This is the first 100.
Paul J Daly (01:00):
My gosh. Curtis Gardner is joining us, brave
enough to join us as atechnician. I don't even know
how much he knows about thisshow, but he's about to find out
Kyle Mountsier (01:11):
a lot of fun.
Hey, we hope you enjoy thisconversation with Curtis, the
first technician on autoCollabs.
Paul J Daly (01:21):
Curtis, what's going on today? It is so good to
be with like, kind of a freshface to us and to our audience.
Curtis Gardner (01:26):
Thanks for joining us. Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you all for having me somuch. You
Paul J Daly (01:29):
know, Kyle, and I say this all the time, but fixed
Ops is so close to our hearts.
And you know, the industry isvery sales focused, very finance
driven, but really the fixed opsdepartment is the heartbeat of
the store that day in and dayout, regardless of what's going
on with sales or offers orincentives, people are showing
up and they have issues thatdealerships are solving for
them. So tell us what got youinto fixed stops in general?
Curtis Gardner (01:53):
Well, first of all, I'm a technician, so
straight out of high school,went into being a technician,
and I've just been riding thatwave sort of last 15 years.
Paul J Daly (02:02):
What did you did you like Tinker as a kid? Like,
how did you High Schooltechnician tell us that story?
Curtis Gardner (02:07):
I think Legos probably did it for
Kyle Mountsier (02:11):
me. My kids gonna be a technician, done
Curtis Gardner (02:15):
the Legos. You know, they got me interested.
And then obviously cars, anddidn't really have a path after
high school and started doingsome oil changes, and just
decided that I wanted to moveforward with being a like a
technician. So where were youdoing oil changes? I did all
changes at a quick car for abouta year. And then one of the
(02:36):
techs there went to a school,and he suggested I go to it. So
I went to the same school, UTI,if you guys know about it, yeah,
and did that, and got in with aToyota dealership for a few
years, and then somehow ended upat Audi.
Paul J Daly (02:54):
What level did you get to in Toyota?
Curtis Gardner (02:56):
I was master certified at Toyota as well.
Just then, just one day decidedI wanted a bigger challenge.
Kyle Mountsier (03:04):
Nice, out is a big challenge. The German
manufacturing ain't no joke,that's for sure. So, um, you
know, one of the things that weknow about you, and we kind of
like caught wind of you fromsome of the content that that
you've been creating online.
And, you know, techniciancontent is few and far between.
So, when people are makingcontent and thinking about
technicians, it's, it's, it'seasier to find than most, I
(03:24):
think, but where, like, wheredid the turn come for you in
just like, being focused on whatyou're doing individually, and
your decision to kind of, like,move and go, you know? And I
think the broader industry needsto hear a different narrative
around the technician path.
Curtis Gardner (03:45):
Yeah, I think there's a ton of negativity in
the space, and I've always beenone to to emit a bunch of
positivity. And so when in mytechnician career in a shop, I
realized that I can help peopleoutside of just my own
dealership, but all over theUnited States and the world,
(04:07):
about just being a technician,keeping a positive mindset,
looking for the brighter side orthe brighter things, also just
how to be more efficient. Wecould all use, you know, some
time to be more efficient and dothat. So the positivity and
efficiency has always been a bigthing for me, and I just knew it
(04:29):
was time to get on social media.
Social media is growing. Thevideo inspections allowed me to
be a lot more comfortable in thespace. So talking behind a
camera, you know, as you get soyou
Paul J Daly (04:40):
got, so you, what you're basically saying is that
the social media content andbeing comfortable with that
started, or at least got, got alittle bit of energy, because at
your store, Video Walk aroundsbecame a thing, yeah, yeah. Like
you had to start there. And thediscomfort of that, that
actually started to prep you forthe social media side, is what
you're saying. Thing,
Curtis Gardner (05:00):
absolutely, because I've been doing social
media for about a year, but thenwe've done video inspections for
about two to three years. Let'stalk
Paul J Daly (05:07):
about video inspections for a second. So I
think it's one of those thingswhen dealerships do it well and
service departments do it well,the results speak very clearly
and very quickly, but there's alot of hesitancy to get started.
I know there's, like, a lot oftechnician hesitancy. I know
there's a lot of fixed opsdirectors trying to say, how do
I get my people comfortable withdoing a good walk, you know,
(05:30):
video, walk around. So how, whatwould your advice be to them?
Because you started fromscratch. I'm sure you were
hesitant in the beginning,right? So tell us about that.
Like when your manager said,hey, get your phone up.
Curtis Gardner (05:44):
Yeah, I mean, definitely they gave us some,
like, iPods to record on, andthat was very just not good
quality, not good sound. And soeventually we were able to use
our phones. And I definitelydidn't want to do it at first,
but did learn very quickly thatcustomers love it, and allows
the opportunity for me toconnect with the customer, which
(06:04):
is important. Not a lot oftechnicians want to connect with
their customers, so I juststarted embracing it. After a
few months, started noticing myapproval ratings went up, my CSI
scores were going up. So I waslike, Well, I just want to focus
on this, because it's a new toolfor us to use as technicians.
It's not in our toolbox, butit's ourselves, and we can use
(06:24):
it to communicate with people,and you have to embrace it.
There was incentives along theway, and those kind of helped.
But just seeing my honestly,seeing my approval ratings go
up, and seeing my hours go up,that was a huge thing for me. It
was
Paul J Daly (06:38):
that pretty immediate. Like, did you notice
that right away, like week one,where you're like, Huh?
Everybody's kind of saying yesto all these, you know, upsells.
Curtis Gardner (06:46):
I wouldn't say week one, because my my video
inspections were very rough,yeah,
Paul J Daly (06:51):
because they were terrible after, like, I want
that
Kyle Mountsier (06:54):
away from my mind. We shot them on iPods, not
on iPhones. These are
Paul J Daly (06:58):
all the kids out there you used to be able to
shoot. There was a thing calledan iPod, which is basically a
phone without being able tocall,
Curtis Gardner (07:05):
yeah. And they give us gimbals and this whole
thing and and they tried reallyhard to get us going. I invested
in my own microphone. I investedin myself as far as my process
goes, and just focused on, howcan my video be inspection be
better for the customer?
Paul J Daly (07:24):
What do you think?
What are the customers lookingfor?
Curtis Gardner (07:28):
I mean, how many people out there haven't seen
the underside of their car?
Yeah, right.
Kyle Mountsier (07:34):
It's almost thrilling. It's like, Whoa.
Paul J Daly (07:38):
Yeah, right. And
Curtis Gardner (07:39):
even if you're just showing them everything's
good, which usually start withthe good stuff, and just show
them the underside of their caris good. You talk about their
their oil change service, youtalk about their warranty
concern, you talk about why everthey're in there, and it feels a
little bit more personalized andspecial to them, especially
recently, I've started to showmy face in the videos at the
(08:00):
beginning.
Kyle Mountsier (08:02):
So, yeah, well, and I think, you know, as I'm
thinking about this, and, youknow, my dad, when I was growing
up, he had, like, his guy,right? The technician is down
the street kind of, like, youknow, like, potentially shady,
but really legit and loyaltechnician, like, but it's my
guy, right? I know my God,right, yeah. And I think that a
(08:22):
lot of times, you know, thefranchise world, at least, can
kind of feel like thetechnicians way over there. I
never see them, I neverunderstand why they're thinking,
why they're thinking, like, Idon't have a guy, but this, this
shortens the gap between, youknow, like, you know, that's,
that's that's just, they justfix it, and then I get it back,
(08:43):
and I don't really know whathappens there in the back. Have
you had people that have startedto come back and tell the
advisor, like, I want Curtis towork on my car now?
Curtis Gardner (08:52):
Yeah, and yeah, I've had that for a couple years
now. I've actually had somecustomers show just a
significant appreciation to meettheir technician, to talk to
their technician. They come backand ask for me. And as video
inspections evolve, techniciansare becoming the face of the
dealership, because people areseeing their text there two,
(09:14):
three times, yeah, and they'rethey're coming back to me, or
they're asking for me, whichfeels great to hear too, because
I'm like, oh, that person wantsto work with me and not the guy
next to me.
Paul J Daly (09:24):
Is that? Is that starting? Has that caused
problems, right? Like, peopleare willing to wait longer. It's
almost like you have, like, asalon and, like, no, no, that's
my hairdresser, right? It's mybarber, and I have to wait three
weeks to see my barber, but Ican see another one, like this
week. Is that starting to
Curtis Gardner (09:40):
happen? I haven't had it congested to that
point, but luckily, thedealership on that has loan
cars. So where you they usuallystay on top of keeping customers
happy while they wait for theircars.
Kyle Mountsier (09:52):
Got it so no. So just I have to ask, because some
of the social media stuff thatyou're doing is like, complete.
Daly against the grain. I saw asas as I was, like, you know,
getting ready to hang out withyou. I saw you sitting inside
the hood of car. Where
Paul J Daly (10:11):
did Indians criss cross apple saws doing the whole
Zen thing? Yeah, I saw that onetoo.
Curtis Gardner (10:17):
So unfortunately, um, having to do
a lot of my content out of mygarage, but my wife and I both
drive Audis through thedealership, so it works out,
yeah, so I'm able to film a goodamount of content through, you
know, my garage. And so I wasjust able to, kind of, sometimes
I have to use some creativity toget that going, but that was
(10:38):
able to just relate totechnicians, but then turn it
into a positive sense, becauseit's, it's so easy to get
wrapped up in flat rate. It's soeasy to get wrapped up in the
negativity around dealerships.
And I'm trying my best to be,you know, the the light in the
dark on the positivity aroundbeing a technician.
Paul J Daly (10:57):
Yeah, okay. I want to go back to something. You
said. You were talking justabout the self leadership needed
to, like, be motivated, to getin the right headspace. You
didn't say self leadership, butI wrote down self leadership
because I feel like thetechnician specifically, there
is a very high necessity forself leadership, because when
(11:20):
you get a job, take the car backto your bay right whatever day
you're having, whatever it maybe, a difficult to diagnose
issue, maybe a difficultcustomer, whatever there's it's
kind of like a like a trackmeet. You have your other people
to lean on and ask questionstoo. But like when you get in
that game, it's like you on thetrack and you have to decide how
you're going to push how you'regoing to keep yourself going.
(11:41):
You feel like self leadership isa critical element to being a
great service. Tech,
Curtis Gardner (11:47):
yeah, I mean that, or discipline, being able
to go back work on the car, stayoff your phone, focus on what
you're doing. You have to pushyourself sometimes, you know,
when you've got three or fourcars lined up, everyone's got a
promise time everyone needstheir cars worked on or
something looked at. I mean, yougot to dig deep sometimes to get
yourself going. If you're havinga bad day or you've had a bad
(12:09):
week, you know, because work canpick up in a millisecond. So you
just got to you said, selfleadership is a great way to
look at it. And I think the guysaround me also focus on what I'm
doing. So if I'm picking it upand moving forward, then they
see that. Like, Well, I gotta dothat too.
Paul J Daly (12:27):
Well, you said, dig deep. What does that mean for
you? What is digging deep? Howdo you give us a look inside.
Give us a look under the hood.
Yeah.
Curtis Gardner (12:35):
Well, some some days are very hard. Like, it's
been very slow for us this year,and there'll be weeks, well, my
hours will be down, and then oneday I'll just have a bunch of
work, and then it's like it's soeasy to fall into that rut of
being slow and being complacent.
So sometimes a walk around thedealership or a song or some
music that gets me going andjust gets me back on track,
(12:59):
because those cars need to getfinished, fixed and worked on.
Kyle Mountsier (13:04):
You mentioned something kind of in our chats
before, about the fact that somuch of the industry is talking
about a technician shortage, butyou feel like there's, like, a
few easy ways to start tacklingthis, like perceived shortage,
both in training and developingpeople that are already in the
(13:25):
industry, but also bringingpeople into the industry. Give
us a bit of the thesis on onwhere you see, like the
technician growth plan or careerplanning, or even getting people
young into a job opportunity inauto tech. How, after being in
it for a long time, and kind of,you know, almost stumbling into
(13:46):
it out of high school, how doyou perceive that that shift
happening so that we can nothave to, like, continue to talk
about a quote, unquotetechnician shortage?
Curtis Gardner (13:56):
Yeah, I think the technician shortage is a lot
of perception. But for youngtechs, they usually start
working on cars, because theylove cars, and they get started
at a dealership. It's easy tomake a lot of money if you know
what you're doing and you'regood at what you're doing,
keeping the training evolving,because cars are changing every
(14:17):
year, but also challengingtechnicians, because when you
get to be master certified,those classes go away. The
training kind of fizzles out.
And there's not a significantchallenge to reach masters level
or to reach a certain amount ofstatus at the dealership as a
technician. So having a plan foryoung technicians to grow,
whether it's you know, upthrough the management or up
(14:39):
through the shop, and makingthat path very clear, because
when you do get to the top, itgets a lot harder to keep people
engaged myself included. I mean,you know, focusing on what I'm
doing and challenging myselfoutside of what the dealership
challenges me to do.
Paul J Daly (14:58):
So what is, what are? Are the things that you're
looking at moving over thehorizon and down the line. You
have a passion for helpingtechnicians. You have a passion
for encouraging them, leadingthem, maybe best practices. What
is your goal in the next 12 to24 months? What would you like
to be
Curtis Gardner (15:14):
doing? Yeah, I think I want to be coaching
technicians on how to be moreefficient, how to keep a
positive mindset. I do loveworking on cars. I just don't
know if that's something that Iwant to continue doing for the
rest of my life, because it isvery physically tolling. But
helping people do what I do andstay positive and keep the right
mindset, how can they keep theirprocess efficient? That's
(15:39):
something that is reallyimportant to me. I'd love to
have my own shop at some point,but I think in the 24 months,
realistically helpingtechnicians just focus on
themselves and not worry aboutall the negativity by the guys
next to them, or or thedealership life, because there
is a lot of that as well.
Paul J Daly (15:58):
Yeah, any management aspirations.
Kyle Mountsier (16:05):
Maybe not mentor, not manager. You're
like, actually, that's a greatmanager. Yeah, I
Curtis Gardner (16:10):
think there's, there's a problem, if I'm just
being very honest, there's a ifyou get to master level and
you're flagging a certain amountof hours, moving up to a
management position cansometimes be a significant pay
cut and and sometimestechnicians are not exactly
people people. They're notpeople people, if that makes
(16:31):
sense, they're not well withpeople managing people. So not
everyone's meant out or cut outto be a manager who manages
other technicians.
Paul J Daly (16:40):
And I mean, but, if you're going to own your own
shop,
Curtis Gardner (16:43):
well, I think there's a difference between
owning your own shop, managing acouple technicians, and then
moving into a managementposition in an already
established dealership, where,yeah, the dealership has its
rules and regulations that itwants you to abide
Paul J Daly (16:58):
by. I see, I see where you're going. He's got the
entrepreneur. He's got thatthere's a better way to build
this mousetrap. Yeah, tell usabout what does the ideal
service shop like? What does theideal shop look like? What's the
experience? How is it run? I
Curtis Gardner (17:11):
think bringing technicians to a bigger light
with customers. I think advisorsplay a significant role, but
also including technicians inthat customer experience with
the videos, bringing yourtechnician up to speak with
customers, or bringing safetyreasons, not necessarily
bringing customer back to speakto the technician, but just a
(17:32):
very honest approach, verytrustworthy approach.
Technicians and mechanics get avery, very bad rep. I mean,
industry needs to be turnedaround. We need to turn this
around for technicians, becausepeople don't trust us, but we've
fixed potentially the secondmost expensive thing in their
life is a car. And I want tobuild that trust with customers
(17:57):
for everyone.
Kyle Mountsier (17:58):
Yeah, I think that the technician, it's it's
mainly a lack of trust becauseof a lack of connection, right?
When we don't have thatconnection, when we're not, when
we're not able to see thatperson, you know, understand
what makes them tick. You know,I talked to so many technicians
that the their biggest fear isletting a car out of the service
(18:18):
drive that isn't safe to driveright? Like, no, no. You need to
get that done, because if youdon't get it done, it's not
going to be safe for yourfamily. Is a thing that I've
heard so many technicians say,and it's not just about like,
can I flag these hours? It'slike, No, I don't want to let
this thing off the lift untilit's fixed so that it goes out
(18:40):
right for you to take yourfamily or get to, you know, back
and forth to work. And I canhear that passion, kind of in,
like, in the back of your mind,and that's where that customer
connection comes really intoplay. I want to dial in on one
last thing, because I thinkit's, it's super cool. You've,
you've, like, created a systemfor how to organize your tools
(19:01):
even so that you can, so thatyou can be more efficient. Where
did that come from? Like, why?
You know, most technicians are,like, throw it in the thing, you
know, like, where did you? Wheredid you, where did you decide to
come up with this, like, toolsystem. I've
Curtis Gardner (19:14):
just designed it on my computer. It's 3d printed,
and it's just something that Icame up with, you know, I see
all these pre designed toolorganization systems. I see all
these big boxes that house thewrenches or house the sockets.
And I was just thought, whydon't we have something that the
technicians can use that fitsexactly how they want to use it
(19:36):
with minimal space. They can fitmore tools in one drawer, or
they can just have it. I mean,as simple as the way it looks
with the color, because it canchoose whatever color you want.
So it just allows technicians tocustomize their chore space in a
way that's efficient for themwith minimizing clutter.
Paul J Daly (19:53):
So cool, that's a simple value prop right there.
Super
Kyle Mountsier (19:56):
easy and totally changes, you know, makes you
feel. Great as a person likeI've got my tools the way I want
them to be with the colors, allthat type of stuff. I know that
technicians care a lot abouttheir boxes. It's a big deal. I
love it to get their boxes Well,Curtis, it has been an actual,
absolute pleasure. I'm excitedabout your passion. I can't wait
to see your next video of yousitting inside the hood of of a
(20:18):
car with your zen moment issuper fun, and I'm glad you're
challenging the status quo ofwhat being a technician looks
like in our industry. And thanksfor joining us here on auto
Collabs.
Curtis Gardner (20:28):
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for giving
me, giving me the opportunity,and thanks for having
Paul J Daly (20:35):
me. Can you say video inspections enough times
in the industry for people tofinally understand
Kyle Mountsier (20:40):
that it works.
Look, I don't know how manytimes I can tell an operator
that all you got to do is getyour whole team doing video
inspections, and your ER goes up40% and your dollars per ro can
go up up like 70 to 100% and allit takes is, like one simple
(21:04):
process change, and Curtis hasit nailed. And then, you know,
he lops on, like, a little bitof personality and some social
prowess, and he's off to theraces. Yeah, okay,
Michael Cirillo (21:16):
but I mean, like, we got to talk about that
for a minute, because astechnology advances, as we get
deeper into the AI ofeverything. And, you know,
automated this and automatedthat. What you just said, Kyle,
I think, is, is such a powerfulpoint, because sooner or later,
what we're going to crave themost is the the things that
(21:38):
we've actually been shoutingfrom the rooftops all along,
which is human connection,personality, soft skills,
experience, regardless
Paul J Daly (21:46):
of where you are in the business, where does where
you are,
Michael Cirillo (21:49):
and in a very real way, technicians and the
fixed operations being verycritical pivot point to all of
that happening.
Kyle Mountsier (21:59):
I think you just have to remember, like, people
want to know their tech. Theywant to know their technician,
right? That's why we have allthese side technicians. And, you
know, you dad knew a guy and allthat type of stuff. And it's
like, why don't you bring thatright into the service lane?
Like, now I get to know, I get alittle bit of insight to who's
(22:20):
working on my car back there,and I agree, it totally changes
what that skill, what that whatthat technicians role is within
the company, what their value isand and gives them like an
elevated career, because theyhave a new skill.
Paul J Daly (22:38):
And the speed to yes on the sales side is way
faster, way faster. Well, look,we hope you had a good time.
Enjoy the first technician everwon't be the last on auto
Collabs, on behalf of KyleMountsier, Michael Cirillo and
myself. Thanks for listening.
Unknown (22:52):
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time you welcome to Annika lab.
The only reason you two get those hats is
because you don't have heads thesize of a bowling ball.
Unknown (00:11):
This is auto Collabs.
Paul J Daly (00:13):
That's true. You're jealous. They're actually
different hats. Have you triedthe trucker one on? I have the
flap
Kyle Mountsier (00:18):
them all on.
They don't work for me.
Michael Cirillo (00:21):
I mean, it could go both ways. I recently
saw a photo of myself in which Iknew it wasn't good perspective,
because we were standing on ahill, and the photographer was
shooting up a hill. So with aquote, unquote, normal size
head, I look like that characterfrom Beetlejuice that with
Unknown (00:39):
the really tiny head and big shoulders. Oh my gosh,
the
Kyle Mountsier (00:45):
3d perspective is all wrong. This is already
Paul J Daly (00:47):
getting sideways.
Yeah, it's probably appropriatethat it's sideways, because this
is kind of out of the ordinaryfor us to talk to a technician
on the show. Is this the firsttechnician we've ever had on?
Kyle Mountsier (00:56):
I think this is it? This is the first 100.
Paul J Daly (01:00):
My gosh. Curtis Gardner is joining us, brave
enough to join us as atechnician. I don't even know
how much he knows about thisshow, but he's about to find out
Kyle Mountsier (01:11):
a lot of fun.
Hey, we hope you enjoy thisconversation with Curtis, the
first technician on autoCollabs.
Paul J Daly (01:21):
Curtis, what's going on today? It is so good to
be with like, kind of a freshface to us and to our audience.
Curtis Gardner (01:26):
Thanks for joining us. Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you all for having me somuch. You
Paul J Daly (01:29):
know, Kyle, and I say this all the time, but fixed
Ops is so close to our hearts.
And you know, the industry isvery sales focused, very finance
driven, but really the fixed opsdepartment is the heartbeat of
the store that day in and dayout, regardless of what's going
on with sales or offers orincentives, people are showing
up and they have issues thatdealerships are solving for
them. So tell us what got youinto fixed stops in general?
Curtis Gardner (01:53):
Well, first of all, I'm a technician, so
straight out of high school,went into being a technician,
and I've just been riding thatwave sort of last 15 years.
Paul J Daly (02:02):
What did you did you like Tinker as a kid? Like,
how did you High Schooltechnician tell us that story?
Curtis Gardner (02:07):
I think Legos probably did it for
Kyle Mountsier (02:11):
me. My kids gonna be a technician, done
Curtis Gardner (02:15):
the Legos. You know, they got me interested.
And then obviously cars, anddidn't really have a path after
high school and started doingsome oil changes, and just
decided that I wanted to moveforward with being a like a
technician. So where were youdoing oil changes? I did all
changes at a quick car for abouta year. And then one of the
(02:36):
techs there went to a school,and he suggested I go to it. So
I went to the same school, UTI,if you guys know about it, yeah,
and did that, and got in with aToyota dealership for a few
years, and then somehow ended upat Audi.
Paul J Daly (02:54):
What level did you get to in Toyota?
Curtis Gardner (02:56):
I was master certified at Toyota as well.
Just then, just one day decidedI wanted a bigger challenge.
Kyle Mountsier (03:04):
Nice, out is a big challenge. The German
manufacturing ain't no joke,that's for sure. So, um, you
know, one of the things that weknow about you, and we kind of
like caught wind of you fromsome of the content that that
you've been creating online.
And, you know, techniciancontent is few and far between.
So, when people are makingcontent and thinking about
technicians, it's, it's, it'seasier to find than most, I
(03:24):
think, but where, like, wheredid the turn come for you in
just like, being focused on whatyou're doing individually, and
your decision to kind of, like,move and go, you know? And I
think the broader industry needsto hear a different narrative
around the technician path.
Curtis Gardner (03:45):
Yeah, I think there's a ton of negativity in
the space, and I've always beenone to to emit a bunch of
positivity. And so when in mytechnician career in a shop, I
realized that I can help peopleoutside of just my own
dealership, but all over theUnited States and the world,
(04:07):
about just being a technician,keeping a positive mindset,
looking for the brighter side orthe brighter things, also just
how to be more efficient. Wecould all use, you know, some
time to be more efficient and dothat. So the positivity and
efficiency has always been a bigthing for me, and I just knew it
(04:29):
was time to get on social media.
Social media is growing. Thevideo inspections allowed me to
be a lot more comfortable in thespace. So talking behind a
camera, you know, as you get soyou
Paul J Daly (04:40):
got, so you, what you're basically saying is that
the social media content andbeing comfortable with that
started, or at least got, got alittle bit of energy, because at
your store, Video Walk aroundsbecame a thing, yeah, yeah. Like
you had to start there. And thediscomfort of that, that
actually started to prep you forthe social media side, is what
you're saying. Thing,
Curtis Gardner (05:00):
absolutely, because I've been doing social
media for about a year, but thenwe've done video inspections for
about two to three years. Let'stalk
Paul J Daly (05:07):
about video inspections for a second. So I
think it's one of those thingswhen dealerships do it well and
service departments do it well,the results speak very clearly
and very quickly, but there's alot of hesitancy to get started.
I know there's, like, a lot oftechnician hesitancy. I know
there's a lot of fixed opsdirectors trying to say, how do
I get my people comfortable withdoing a good walk, you know,
(05:30):
video, walk around. So how, whatwould your advice be to them?
Because you started fromscratch. I'm sure you were
hesitant in the beginning,right? So tell us about that.
Like when your manager said,hey, get your phone up.
Curtis Gardner (05:44):
Yeah, I mean, definitely they gave us some,
like, iPods to record on, andthat was very just not good
quality, not good sound. And soeventually we were able to use
our phones. And I definitelydidn't want to do it at first,
but did learn very quickly thatcustomers love it, and allows
the opportunity for me toconnect with the customer, which
(06:04):
is important. Not a lot oftechnicians want to connect with
their customers, so I juststarted embracing it. After a
few months, started noticing myapproval ratings went up, my CSI
scores were going up. So I waslike, Well, I just want to focus
on this, because it's a new toolfor us to use as technicians.
It's not in our toolbox, butit's ourselves, and we can use
(06:24):
it to communicate with people,and you have to embrace it.
There was incentives along theway, and those kind of helped.
But just seeing my honestly,seeing my approval ratings go
up, and seeing my hours go up,that was a huge thing for me. It
was
Paul J Daly (06:38):
that pretty immediate. Like, did you notice
that right away, like week one,where you're like, Huh?
Everybody's kind of saying yesto all these, you know, upsells.
Curtis Gardner (06:46):
I wouldn't say week one, because my my video
inspections were very rough,yeah,
Paul J Daly (06:51):
because they were terrible after, like, I want
that
Kyle Mountsier (06:54):
away from my mind. We shot them on iPods, not
on iPhones. These are
Paul J Daly (06:58):
all the kids out there you used to be able to
shoot. There was a thing calledan iPod, which is basically a
phone without being able tocall,
Curtis Gardner (07:05):
yeah. And they give us gimbals and this whole
thing and and they tried reallyhard to get us going. I invested
in my own microphone. I investedin myself as far as my process
goes, and just focused on, howcan my video be inspection be
better for the customer?
Paul J Daly (07:24):
What do you think?
What are the customers lookingfor?
Curtis Gardner (07:28):
I mean, how many people out there haven't seen
the underside of their car?
Yeah, right.
Kyle Mountsier (07:34):
It's almost thrilling. It's like, Whoa.
Paul J Daly (07:38):
Yeah, right. And
Curtis Gardner (07:39):
even if you're just showing them everything's
good, which usually start withthe good stuff, and just show
them the underside of their caris good. You talk about their
their oil change service, youtalk about their warranty
concern, you talk about why everthey're in there, and it feels a
little bit more personalized andspecial to them, especially
recently, I've started to showmy face in the videos at the
(08:00):
beginning.
Kyle Mountsier (08:02):
So, yeah, well, and I think, you know, as I'm
thinking about this, and, youknow, my dad, when I was growing
up, he had, like, his guy,right? The technician is down
the street kind of, like, youknow, like, potentially shady,
but really legit and loyaltechnician, like, but it's my
guy, right? I know my God,right, yeah. And I think that a
(08:22):
lot of times, you know, thefranchise world, at least, can
kind of feel like thetechnicians way over there. I
never see them, I neverunderstand why they're thinking,
why they're thinking, like, Idon't have a guy, but this, this
shortens the gap between, youknow, like, you know, that's,
that's that's just, they justfix it, and then I get it back,
(08:43):
and I don't really know whathappens there in the back. Have
you had people that have startedto come back and tell the
advisor, like, I want Curtis towork on my car now?
Curtis Gardner (08:52):
Yeah, and yeah, I've had that for a couple years
now. I've actually had somecustomers show just a
significant appreciation to meettheir technician, to talk to
their technician. They come backand ask for me. And as video
inspections evolve, techniciansare becoming the face of the
dealership, because people areseeing their text there two,
(09:14):
three times, yeah, and they'rethey're coming back to me, or
they're asking for me, whichfeels great to hear too, because
I'm like, oh, that person wantsto work with me and not the guy
next to me.
Paul J Daly (09:24):
Is that? Is that starting? Has that caused
problems, right? Like, peopleare willing to wait longer. It's
almost like you have, like, asalon and, like, no, no, that's
my hairdresser, right? It's mybarber, and I have to wait three
weeks to see my barber, but Ican see another one, like this
week. Is that starting to
Curtis Gardner (09:40):
happen? I haven't had it congested to that
point, but luckily, thedealership on that has loan
cars. So where you they usuallystay on top of keeping customers
happy while they wait for theircars.
Kyle Mountsier (09:52):
Got it so no. So just I have to ask, because some
of the social media stuff thatyou're doing is like, complete.
Daly against the grain. I saw asas as I was, like, you know,
getting ready to hang out withyou. I saw you sitting inside
the hood of car. Where
Paul J Daly (10:11):
did Indians criss cross apple saws doing the whole
Zen thing? Yeah, I saw that onetoo.
Curtis Gardner (10:17):
So unfortunately, um, having to do
a lot of my content out of mygarage, but my wife and I both
drive Audis through thedealership, so it works out,
yeah, so I'm able to film a goodamount of content through, you
know, my garage. And so I wasjust able to, kind of, sometimes
I have to use some creativity toget that going, but that was
(10:38):
able to just relate totechnicians, but then turn it
into a positive sense, becauseit's, it's so easy to get
wrapped up in flat rate. It's soeasy to get wrapped up in the
negativity around dealerships.
And I'm trying my best to be,you know, the the light in the
dark on the positivity aroundbeing a technician.
Paul J Daly (10:57):
Yeah, okay. I want to go back to something. You
said. You were talking justabout the self leadership needed
to, like, be motivated, to getin the right headspace. You
didn't say self leadership, butI wrote down self leadership
because I feel like thetechnician specifically, there
is a very high necessity forself leadership, because when
(11:20):
you get a job, take the car backto your bay right whatever day
you're having, whatever it maybe, a difficult to diagnose
issue, maybe a difficultcustomer, whatever there's it's
kind of like a like a trackmeet. You have your other people
to lean on and ask questionstoo. But like when you get in
that game, it's like you on thetrack and you have to decide how
you're going to push how you'regoing to keep yourself going.
(11:41):
You feel like self leadership isa critical element to being a
great service. Tech,
Curtis Gardner (11:47):
yeah, I mean that, or discipline, being able
to go back work on the car, stayoff your phone, focus on what
you're doing. You have to pushyourself sometimes, you know,
when you've got three or fourcars lined up, everyone's got a
promise time everyone needstheir cars worked on or
something looked at. I mean, yougot to dig deep sometimes to get
yourself going. If you're havinga bad day or you've had a bad
(12:09):
week, you know, because work canpick up in a millisecond. So you
just got to you said, selfleadership is a great way to
look at it. And I think the guysaround me also focus on what I'm
doing. So if I'm picking it upand moving forward, then they
see that. Like, Well, I gotta dothat too.
Paul J Daly (12:27):
Well, you said, dig deep. What does that mean for
you? What is digging deep? Howdo you give us a look inside.
Give us a look under the hood.
Yeah.
Curtis Gardner (12:35):
Well, some some days are very hard. Like, it's
been very slow for us this year,and there'll be weeks, well, my
hours will be down, and then oneday I'll just have a bunch of
work, and then it's like it's soeasy to fall into that rut of
being slow and being complacent.
So sometimes a walk around thedealership or a song or some
music that gets me going andjust gets me back on track,
(12:59):
because those cars need to getfinished, fixed and worked on.
Kyle Mountsier (13:04):
You mentioned something kind of in our chats
before, about the fact that somuch of the industry is talking
about a technician shortage, butyou feel like there's, like, a
few easy ways to start tacklingthis, like perceived shortage,
both in training and developingpeople that are already in the
(13:25):
industry, but also bringingpeople into the industry. Give
us a bit of the thesis on onwhere you see, like the
technician growth plan or careerplanning, or even getting people
young into a job opportunity inauto tech. How, after being in
it for a long time, and kind of,you know, almost stumbling into
(13:46):
it out of high school, how doyou perceive that that shift
happening so that we can nothave to, like, continue to talk
about a quote, unquotetechnician shortage?
Curtis Gardner (13:56):
Yeah, I think the technician shortage is a lot
of perception. But for youngtechs, they usually start
working on cars, because theylove cars, and they get started
at a dealership. It's easy tomake a lot of money if you know
what you're doing and you'regood at what you're doing,
keeping the training evolving,because cars are changing every
(14:17):
year, but also challengingtechnicians, because when you
get to be master certified,those classes go away. The
training kind of fizzles out.
And there's not a significantchallenge to reach masters level
or to reach a certain amount ofstatus at the dealership as a
technician. So having a plan foryoung technicians to grow,
whether it's you know, upthrough the management or up
(14:39):
through the shop, and makingthat path very clear, because
when you do get to the top, itgets a lot harder to keep people
engaged myself included. I mean,you know, focusing on what I'm
doing and challenging myselfoutside of what the dealership
challenges me to do.
Paul J Daly (14:58):
So what is, what are? Are the things that you're
looking at moving over thehorizon and down the line. You
have a passion for helpingtechnicians. You have a passion
for encouraging them, leadingthem, maybe best practices. What
is your goal in the next 12 to24 months? What would you like
to be
Curtis Gardner (15:14):
doing? Yeah, I think I want to be coaching
technicians on how to be moreefficient, how to keep a
positive mindset. I do loveworking on cars. I just don't
know if that's something that Iwant to continue doing for the
rest of my life, because it isvery physically tolling. But
helping people do what I do andstay positive and keep the right
mindset, how can they keep theirprocess efficient? That's
(15:39):
something that is reallyimportant to me. I'd love to
have my own shop at some point,but I think in the 24 months,
realistically helpingtechnicians just focus on
themselves and not worry aboutall the negativity by the guys
next to them, or or thedealership life, because there
is a lot of that as well.
Paul J Daly (15:58):
Yeah, any management aspirations.
Kyle Mountsier (16:05):
Maybe not mentor, not manager. You're
like, actually, that's a greatmanager. Yeah, I
Curtis Gardner (16:10):
think there's, there's a problem, if I'm just
being very honest, there's a ifyou get to master level and
you're flagging a certain amountof hours, moving up to a
management position cansometimes be a significant pay
cut and and sometimestechnicians are not exactly
people people. They're notpeople people, if that makes
(16:31):
sense, they're not well withpeople managing people. So not
everyone's meant out or cut outto be a manager who manages
other technicians.
Paul J Daly (16:40):
And I mean, but, if you're going to own your own
shop,
Curtis Gardner (16:43):
well, I think there's a difference between
owning your own shop, managing acouple technicians, and then
moving into a managementposition in an already
established dealership, where,yeah, the dealership has its
rules and regulations that itwants you to abide
Paul J Daly (16:58):
by. I see, I see where you're going. He's got the
entrepreneur. He's got thatthere's a better way to build
this mousetrap. Yeah, tell usabout what does the ideal
service shop like? What does theideal shop look like? What's the
experience? How is it run? I
Curtis Gardner (17:11):
think bringing technicians to a bigger light
with customers. I think advisorsplay a significant role, but
also including technicians inthat customer experience with
the videos, bringing yourtechnician up to speak with
customers, or bringing safetyreasons, not necessarily
bringing customer back to speakto the technician, but just a
(17:32):
very honest approach, verytrustworthy approach.
Technicians and mechanics get avery, very bad rep. I mean,
industry needs to be turnedaround. We need to turn this
around for technicians, becausepeople don't trust us, but we've
fixed potentially the secondmost expensive thing in their
life is a car. And I want tobuild that trust with customers
(17:57):
for everyone.
Kyle Mountsier (17:58):
Yeah, I think that the technician, it's it's
mainly a lack of trust becauseof a lack of connection, right?
When we don't have thatconnection, when we're not, when
we're not able to see thatperson, you know, understand
what makes them tick. You know,I talked to so many technicians
that the their biggest fear isletting a car out of the service
(18:18):
drive that isn't safe to driveright? Like, no, no. You need to
get that done, because if youdon't get it done, it's not
going to be safe for yourfamily. Is a thing that I've
heard so many technicians say,and it's not just about like,
can I flag these hours? It'slike, No, I don't want to let
this thing off the lift untilit's fixed so that it goes out
(18:40):
right for you to take yourfamily or get to, you know, back
and forth to work. And I canhear that passion, kind of in,
like, in the back of your mind,and that's where that customer
connection comes really intoplay. I want to dial in on one
last thing, because I thinkit's, it's super cool. You've,
you've, like, created a systemfor how to organize your tools
(19:01):
even so that you can, so thatyou can be more efficient. Where
did that come from? Like, why?
You know, most technicians are,like, throw it in the thing, you
know, like, where did you? Wheredid you, where did you decide to
come up with this, like, toolsystem. I've
Curtis Gardner (19:14):
just designed it on my computer. It's 3d printed,
and it's just something that Icame up with, you know, I see
all these pre designed toolorganization systems. I see all
these big boxes that house thewrenches or house the sockets.
And I was just thought, whydon't we have something that the
technicians can use that fitsexactly how they want to use it
(19:36):
with minimal space. They can fitmore tools in one drawer, or
they can just have it. I mean,as simple as the way it looks
with the color, because it canchoose whatever color you want.
So it just allows technicians tocustomize their chore space in a
way that's efficient for themwith minimizing clutter.
Paul J Daly (19:53):
So cool, that's a simple value prop right there.
Super
Kyle Mountsier (19:56):
easy and totally changes, you know, makes you
feel. Great as a person likeI've got my tools the way I want
them to be with the colors, allthat type of stuff. I know that
technicians care a lot abouttheir boxes. It's a big deal. I
love it to get their boxes Well,Curtis, it has been an actual,
absolute pleasure. I'm excitedabout your passion. I can't wait
to see your next video of yousitting inside the hood of of a
(20:18):
car with your zen moment issuper fun, and I'm glad you're
challenging the status quo ofwhat being a technician looks
like in our industry. And thanksfor joining us here on auto
Collabs.
Curtis Gardner (20:28):
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for giving
me, giving me the opportunity,and thanks for having
Paul J Daly (20:35):
me. Can you say video inspections enough times
in the industry for people tofinally understand
Kyle Mountsier (20:40):
that it works.
Look, I don't know how manytimes I can tell an operator
that all you got to do is getyour whole team doing video
inspections, and your ER goes up40% and your dollars per ro can
go up up like 70 to 100% and allit takes is, like one simple
(21:04):
process change, and Curtis hasit nailed. And then, you know,
he lops on, like, a little bitof personality and some social
prowess, and he's off to theraces. Yeah, okay,
Michael Cirillo (21:16):
but I mean, like, we got to talk about that
for a minute, because astechnology advances, as we get
deeper into the AI ofeverything. And, you know,
automated this and automatedthat. What you just said, Kyle,
I think, is, is such a powerfulpoint, because sooner or later,
what we're going to crave themost is the the things that
(21:38):
we've actually been shoutingfrom the rooftops all along,
which is human connection,personality, soft skills,
experience, regardless
Paul J Daly (21:46):
of where you are in the business, where does where
you are,
Michael Cirillo (21:49):
and in a very real way, technicians and the
fixed operations being verycritical pivot point to all of
that happening.
Kyle Mountsier (21:59):
I think you just have to remember, like, people
want to know their tech. Theywant to know their technician,
right? That's why we have allthese side technicians. And, you
know, you dad knew a guy and allthat type of stuff. And it's
like, why don't you bring thatright into the service lane?
Like, now I get to know, I get alittle bit of insight to who's
(22:20):
working on my car back there,and I agree, it totally changes
what that skill, what that whatthat technicians role is within
the company, what their value isand and gives them like an
elevated career, because theyhave a new skill.
Paul J Daly (22:38):
And the speed to yes on the sales side is way
faster, way faster. Well, look,we hope you had a good time.
Enjoy the first technician everwon't be the last on auto
Collabs, on behalf of KyleMountsier, Michael Cirillo and
myself. Thanks for listening.
Unknown (22:52):
Sign up for our free and fun to read daily email for
a free shot of relevant news andautomotive retail media and pop
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if you love this podcast, pleaseleave us a review and share it
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