May 7, 2025 • 40 mins
In this week's episode Lane and Fred speak with Jamie Wietrzykowski of 4 Guys And A Roof, and Bob Kazmierczak of AAA Club Alliance about what their local companies are all about and how they became small business operator/owners.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to A Heart for Business. I'm Fred Lafever and
along with Lane Months, President CEO the Better Business Bureau
of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, we'll highlight a local
business weekly. You'll discover why these small local business owners
have a passion for what they do and why the
(00:26):
Better Business Bureau has a Heart for Business. Now here's
Lane Months.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Thank you, Fred, and welcome every one of the program.
A Heart for Business, the podcast by the Better Business
Bureau of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. I'm here in
Fred's inner sanctum deep inside of WSPD next to mud
Hensfield in Hensville, downtown Toledo. And our first guest today
on the A segment is the A List guest, the
(00:53):
A Lister, Jamie Witkowski. You may know Jamie's name if
you are from Northwest Ohio South Michigan. Jamie has a
number of businesses and he's gonna tell us about him
and why he likes them or maybe even why he
sometimes doesn't like them.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
If he can't imagine I'm not liking him.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I've had him on the air a couple of times,
and every time I've talked to him about especially the
four guys on a roof part of his entrepreneurship.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
He's just passionate. He's excited about it.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
It's like he loves what he's doing, uh and loves
what his people do for him.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
I think is probably more important than anything else.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
We got to get Jamie and Luck landscaping tea.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Oh my god.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Yeah, for the new Barndo.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Do you know? Do you know Luck?
Speaker 5 (01:37):
I do not.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
That guy is like when he comes in to talk
about Luckland, He's like you, He's fired up.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
He said, Oh, man Fred, we are gonna.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Build you the best backyard.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Thahlah blah blah. And he's the passion that you have
for all the things you do. He's got that for
the landscaping business.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (01:55):
I'm gonna have to get a hold of him because
I just finished a new Barndo build in mont Clova
and I'm starting landscaping the next month.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
He's probably talked.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
He is the guy you want to talk to. And
you guys are two peas in a pod. And I
would definitely have to wear these headphones, but I would
not have any sound coming through them. Yeah, and I
might have to have alcohol with and he I.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Think like you. All right, he started his story is
he started with just a lawnmower.
Speaker 7 (02:21):
Yeah, at a trailer park. That's how most small business is.
He just he started that. Well, what's your origin story, Superman.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Well, it's the same thing, but it involves a roof.
You know.
Speaker 7 (02:32):
Good morning, Lane and Fred, thanks for having me. Jamie Weecherkowski,
owner of four Guys in a Roof and also the
Male Pouch in Swanton, Ohio. Just like most entrepreneurs, you
start out small. The roofing company is now twenty six
years old, started literally twenty six years ago.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
How old were you then?
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Back then? I was twenty seven.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
In full disclosure, I was there when Jamie started. Well
you were, yeah, Jamie was. I remember when he started.
He was very new. Started as a subcontractor for regular
prime contractors and including Kuzhno Restoration where I worked in
he was one of our subcontractors. And even full disclosure,
(03:18):
one time on a particularly difficult case, Jamie was a
client of mine when I was practicing construction law.
Speaker 7 (03:24):
Yes, yes, I've known Lane for a very long time.
And people that are good in the business, they're a
long time in the business. I know many contractors like
Seagate Home Inspections, Jim Johnson known him the same amount
of time. Just like Lane, you run across good people
in the field, and when you see him ten fifteen
years later, you know they're good people because they're still around.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And do you always go back to using those same
people when you're doing jobs and stuff and you need
that extra hand.
Speaker 7 (03:52):
I don't do a lot of subcontracting for contractors anymore.
When I first got started, that's what was necessary to
grow the business. But as time going on, literally ninety
percent of my business is still referrals word of mouth.
Just like you, Fred Lane has probably spoke well of
me over the years. Good friends and family always speak, well,
(04:14):
oh the.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Cough button's not working. I don't know what's going on here.
Speaker 7 (04:18):
Yeah. So it's the same. When you see people in
this industry for that long, you know they're good people.
They wouldn't be here if they weren't.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So that's very true because in construction, not only in construction,
but in construction, a lot of people start, they come
and they go, they work for someone else, and they say,
I'm going to go out on my own, and then
they do and it works for a couple of years,
but something they struggle to persist, and then they're back
working for someone else. And it goes around in a circle.
And the ones that last a long time. In two
(04:49):
and a half decades is a long time. Then you
know they're doing something right. And that is the case
with Jamie. He's always evolving and learning. Oh it's hard
to it's hard. Don't pay you a compliment like that,
but he's always evolving in learning and I've always had
respect for him.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Well and being in it for twenty six years. From
the time you started until now. There's a ton of
other roofers that have come along, all with a thing
that they say, Oh I'm the best because I do this.
So how do you stay on top because you're getting
competition all the time.
Speaker 7 (05:25):
It's really simple, Fred predominantly right now. It's amazing how
many roofing companies are out there compared to when I
started twenty six years ago. Comparatively speaking, it has quadrupled
twenty six years years later. With social media, blogs, Facebook,
everything you can imagine to help grow business quicker, faster better.
(05:47):
I started twenty six years ago, I got rooted really deep,
really fast, and I've learned. I've learned this a long
time ago, and a good friend told me. He said, Jamie,
when things are down and you think things are going slow,
do not focus on your competition or what they're doing.
Focus on your company. Look forward, never look back. Do
the best you can, and you don't have to worry
(06:09):
about everybody else.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And that's true for a lot of things. People always
ask me, did you hear what so and so said?
And I'm like no, because I don't really listen to
other radio stations because if I do, I would be
influenced by them. Same thing's got to be true for
your company. You start watching all these fancy commercials and
stuff from other people, then they're thinking, what am I missing?
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Why am I not doing that right correct?
Speaker 7 (06:30):
Even in this day and age, I always am positive
and a lot of my good friends own roofing companies.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
The strangest thing is, twenty six years.
Speaker 7 (06:41):
Ago, everybody was cutthroat. I want to not talk to you.
You were the competition. You were dead to them. And
I've grown friendships over twenty six years because again, when
you're in business so long, you have to be a
good person at heart, and being a good person at heart.
I'd love to have you on my friend group. And
to be honest, I'm friends with several company owners and
we get along and we have cocktails all the time.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
That is wisdom because it did that used to be cutthroat,
and then sometimes it still is depending on the owner.
A lot of construction owners they are measuring themselves against
somebody else, and they consider everybody that's not them. And
I'm not speaking of all, because there are plenty of
good ones. Yeah, but they look at that and if
you're not in their company, they think of you as competition.
(07:26):
And I used to preach and I stand by it
that it'd be better to have competitimates. Right, competitimates you're friendly.
Sometimes you trade jobs. Sometimes you can't take a job
somebody else would be better for it, vice versa. You
have a circle that helps you out and that lifts
you up, and it also lifts up the community. Jamie,
Oh yeah, you.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
Put out that positive vibe and positive feelings out there,
they come back to you. If you think negative all
the time. And I know there are some contractors out
there that still have that negative vibe and they struggle.
My good friend Steve at Seagate water and foundation roofing.
You know, we get together, we talk all the time.
Things are different when we bid jobs because of the
(08:06):
way he runs his business. But he says, you know, Jamie,
it is what it is. Whoever is a better salesman
right at the end of the day you're putting on
a roof or putting on the same quality product at
the end of the day, Who's got the better personality that.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
And that and the reputation.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Way, wouldn't you rather see good competition that you're on
good terms with prosper because it's the bad competition that
starts to get into price gouging and cutting corners, and
that drives your you know, that drives you out of
the business. By the way, do you still just have
four guys doing those roofs? You must be working their
asses off.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I wish there were four guys on my roof for
a minimum.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:44):
Twenty six years ago, I was working full time at
Faedex driving semi and the company got started very simply
by a couple of guys at work needed roofs done
and we did it. We traded basically labor for labor
with no money, steak and beers for payment. And after
it was all said and done very quickly, a guy
(09:04):
at work that wasn't a part of the group said hey, Jamie,
I want you to do the roof. And I'm like, well, no, no, no.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Thank you. My back hurts, my hands hurt. Just this
is not for me.
Speaker 7 (09:14):
He's like, I'll pay you. Yeah, Long story short. I
bid the job. I called off the work on Friday
from FedEx, worked all weekend, put one thousand dollars in
my pocket, and that my eyes opened up. I'm like,
I made thousand dollars in three days. I think I
can snowball this next thing.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
You know.
Speaker 7 (09:30):
I got my daughter strapped on my front with a
baby backpack hand and now flyers in my neighborhood with
the what's the old printers the dot ones before we
got yes, yes it was, it looked like Minecraft brochures.
I swear it was hilarious. Yeah, literally, And then I
only wanted to print twenty five because ink was so expensive.
(09:51):
I'm like, I got to pick the premium houses in
my neighborhood to solicit because this is money well spent.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
That's pretty incredible. And then, so when did you switched
from that from FedEx to the roofing to the other
businesses you own, because mail pouch is one. Are there
others on your list?
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Correct? Correct? Fred?
Speaker 7 (10:09):
So when the entrepreneur gene opened up in me, I
realized that working for myself was a better thing than
working for somebody else. And once I started doing the roofing,
I stayed working at FedEx for additional five years, working
full time. Wow, sold roofs during the week still worked
on the weekends, and then eventually I dropped down. Part
(10:29):
I was when I was younger, I said, you know,
I and young kids. Oh yeah, I had young ones,
and I got after it. I still had family time
on the weekends Monday through Friday. I worked, the wife
stayed home. And basically it's snowball from roofing, real estate,
and restaurants. I did it all real estate also, Yeah,
I flipped a lot of real estate when I was younger.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
I didn't realize that. So you went in and rehabbed.
You did the work yourself.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Yeah, bought them from Toledo, the bank foreclosures down. Yeah,
right over here.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Jamie, Where are you from? Are you from Toledo?
Speaker 5 (11:01):
I'm from the north end of Toledo, Woodward High school.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Really yep, all right, so you're definitely local.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah. Fred and I were talking because the next guest
is Bob Kasmer's act from Triple A, and I thought, well,
that's two good Polish Toledo names right there. That's Toledo
in a nutshell.
Speaker 7 (11:14):
Yeah, when you're from North End, it's Ski or c
h is very common. And just let you know, graduated
from Woodward and everybody's like, oh, you graduated Woodward and
there's some negative connotations to that. But I just got
nominated to the Woodward Hall of Fame. I just got
a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So did that come from your drive and everything? Did
that come from what you got in school? Or did
that come from mom and dad and grandma and grandpa,
you know, in the old North End.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
To be honest, most business owners have a type personalities,
and a type personalities aren't. They're not initiated by somebody
else or any outside forces. You have it in you
from the day you're born, and if you grow it
like I did, I was fortunate enough. I've always had
that a type personality. I was the kid out there
shoveling snow in the early eighties, making thirty forty dollars
(12:08):
a pop. Shoveling snow for five bucks. You have it
or you don't. What you do with it, now, that's
another situation. You can use it for good or bad,
whatever you choose.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
All right, Well, and there's a lot of times too,
because I shoveled snow when I was a kid like
you back in the sixties and stuff, and my kids
shovel shovels back on Oh heck, couns. We call them shovels,
but they were our hands.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I did it too.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
But the thing is a lot of people in that
same situation type as they reach that first obstacle and
that stops them. And so there's got to be something
in you that when you hit that first obstacle, whatever
it was that didn't stop you, how do you get
through that? That's what people want to know where your
passion for your jobs comes from.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Yeah, it's it's something you can't define in words. I
don't think you. We have three eight personalities in this
little tiny room, so it's it's pretty strong in here.
We're here for a reason.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
You've got two of them.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Well, no, I think I'm big, but not that big.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
But yeah, I just don't want to lose.
Speaker 7 (13:12):
No, yeah, you got to have that drive that pushed
through that don't want to quit. We've all made mistakes,
we've all had failures. But if you look at failures
in a negative way and not a growing experience, that
will bring you down. I've made mistakes. I've had failures
in my life, you know. Just to share with you COVID,
I had to close two beautiful restaurants after COVID and
(13:33):
people are like, you know, that really sucks.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
By the way, I like that restaurant quite a bit.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Oh yeah, fire station.
Speaker 7 (13:39):
I built that with love and passion to support the
local community, the firefighters, the police. You know, it's dedicated
to them. And people are like, don't you feel bad.
I'm like, yeah, I feel bad, but it was such
a good experience building it with some great contractors, and
I have great memories. I don't look at it as
a failure. I'm looking at it as an opportunity. I
did what I wanted to do. It didn't work out.
Let's go on to the next and.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
You learn some lessons from it.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
You do.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
That's the key is to learn from any loss that
you have so that the next one. You already know
how to handle it when you get there.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Yeah. Not everybody bats a hundred every time.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
No.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
You know, it's interesting because you know, you think of
big cities and bigger cities like Toledo, and you you
come to associate them with certain big, very large companies
or industries. Toledo's known for the glass industry, and you
got the Libby's and the and the Owens Cornings and
stuff like that. They're all kind of related. But the
truth is the economic power of a region those there
(14:34):
aren't that many large companies, and a lot of times
they don't have the employees here. They might have the
headquarters here, but they have the factory somewhere else. It's
the it's businesses like Jamie's and the ones in the
Better Business Bureau and the ones we've had on this
program that are really the economic engine of a large region.
Oh yeah, And if you're not a business owner, it's
hard sometimes to understand if you've never been one, all
(14:57):
the different pressures and ways that a business owner can fail.
And I think Jamie's his perseverance is clearly on display
all the time.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
Yeah, you you in this in this industry, I have
these young guns coming up, get it, roofing young guns.
So they're coming after me shooting and.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Jamie, Jamie, I'm supposed to be the funny one, but
really Fred is the funny one. For to defer to
fund there's a there's a pecking order on humor.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
Okay, I'll start out someall baby steps, pakiito, pikeito. But
these young guys they have they have this the knowledge
that I don't because I am older, and they're hitting
the social media. They're doing things right. They know these
the inner sanctum of the social media. And I again
not want to be a loser. You know, Hey, what
do I gotta do here? I am with you fine
(15:42):
gentlemen this morning trying to promote four guys in a
roof mail pouch saloon to stay in front of the curve.
You don't ever want to be on the backside. You
want to be in the middle or on the front.
And exactly right now I'm just pushing through and trying
to stay in front of it.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, social media for any business now is incredible, even
for well for the five oh one C three's to
Little Buffalo soldiers use Facebook all the time.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Every event we do.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
We're on Facebook, so that you're out in front of
the community and people understand. They recognize your name right away,
they see the things you do, they like what you do,
and they contact you. Same thing with any business mail
pouch or four guys in roofs, same thing with the
Better Business Bureau. The more people to hear about the
Better Business Bureau and see the kind of people they're
hooked up with you and our next couple of guests
(16:27):
are going to go, well, that seems like a good organization.
I had to be hooked up with them. That's how
it works. My neighbors they saw what you guys did
to my roof. The guy next door had you come
out and do his roof. Other people in the neighborhood
are getting roofs replaced all the time, and I'm thinking,
you know what, you come and see me.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I got a guy.
Speaker 7 (16:46):
Yes, corrected. And it's always not about the lowest price.
I always tell my customers, get you know, two to
three quotes. Once you get easily yeah, three estimates, you
get overwhelmed. You take your three estimates. You've got to
compare apples to apples. I've been with the BBB. I
think probably after I started my LLC. Just a few
years after that, representative reached out to me and thought, hey, Jamie,
(17:09):
you should be a part of the BBB. And they
told me what attributes I got from it, and I said, yeah,
I want to be a part of that. I think
I've been with the BBB for just shy around twenty years. Wow,
I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, that's right about where we up your dues.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yes, literally, you're like just like a member for life
after that.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
They're based on a number of employees. That's why he
hasn't changed his name to seventy five guys in a roof.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
Yes, I'm grandfathered. I am grandfathered.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
You should be grandfather? You should be grandfather?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Did Jamie? We're gonna have to wrap up here pretty soon?
The segments almost over. They do go fast. What would
you like listeners and customers to know, not just about
four guys in a roof, but as they're thinking about,
you know, if they have a potential roof problem, whether
it's a leak or they just know they have to
get the roof repaired. What in today's market should they
know about her? Is there anything going on with the
(17:59):
tear roofs that they should be concerned about. Is there
what lends some of your wisdom to the listener?
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Sure? Sure.
Speaker 7 (18:05):
With this time of the year, I tell all my customers,
you're coming out of a not a bad winner. We're
one of the few companies that specialize in roof repairs.
We have a full time roof repair team that will
come out, diagnose it, sometimes fix it on the spot
if it's not too major. They have a lot of
equipment on their trucks to do so. If not, they're
going to leave you with an estimate. We do warranty
r repairs, which a lot of companies don't. They're like,
(18:28):
you know, you get the tail light warranty by the
time you see the tail light's warranties over. We don't
do that this time of the year. With springs popping,
we like to tell all our customers if you're getting
a roofing job done, it's better to get the roof
done sooner than later, especially in the early spring before
your perennials pop up. You know, once they start popping up,
you know, we gotta tarp the ground. You got shingles
(18:48):
fall and things get damaged. You know, make sure you know,
if you're going to do some landscaping projects, get your windows,
you're sighting, your roofing done before that because there's so
much scaffolding, ladder tarps, ten fifteen people walking around. Get
it done before you start that. And then when it
comes down to making the final decision of what contractor
(19:09):
you're going to hire, make sure they have the accreditation
of being a licensed contractor. They have their Workmen's com
their member of BBB. Absolutely they're a certified installer of
the product they're doing. We're a Platinum Preferred installer with
o Ones Corning. A lot of contractors don't have an accreditation,
so all you get is the manufacturer's warranty. If you're
(19:29):
not a certified installer, that means no labor's covered. With
four guys in a roof, we install your roof. We
can guarantee your roof if you upgrade to the platinum
warranty fifty years labor and materials with no pro Rationally, that.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Labor portion of a roof warranty is quite important and
a lot of people don't know about it. Thank you, Jamie,
and good to see you again. I'm glad to see
your energetic and haven't lost any of your in vinegar. Yes, yes,
good to see you.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Thank you gentlemen for having me this fine Thursday morning, beautiful,
and thank you everybody for listening.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Did you know our area has over forty thousand businesses.
Some are old, some are new, but they all have
a story to tell about why they sell, how someone
took a chance once upon a time, someone with a
heart for business. Hi, this is Laine Monts, the host
of the Better Business Bureaus Heart for Business podcast. We
know a thing or two about our area's companies, after all,
(20:22):
we've been keeping tabs on them since nineteen nineteen. Join
me in Toledo radio legend Fred la Fever every week
as our BBB superheroes tell their origin story and share
a few industry secrets along the way. Welcome back to
the program, Episode thirteen of a Heart for Business. We
are on the B side. You're the B lister, Bob.
Sorry about that. I am in the studio with Fred
and Bob Kasmer's act from Triple A Auto Alliance, and
(20:46):
Bob is a former board member of the BBB, actually
still a board member, I think, and former chairman of
the board. So Bob I appreciate you coming into the
studio today. You've got some history to talk about with
Triple A, and you were telling me a little bit
about it when we did show prep earlier in the week.
And there is a lot of cool history with Triple
A that I had no idea about.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
Yeah, that's right, Lane, there is. And and first of all,
thanks for having me. You know, it's a pleasure to
be here and good to see you for sure, you know,
And there is a lot of history of Triple A,
and I don't think that you know, it's always good
to kind of revisit that because I was kind of surprised.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Right, So, and how long have you been there?
Speaker 6 (21:23):
I've been with Triple A now this is my twenty.
Speaker 8 (21:25):
First year twent wow okay, yeah, and forty five years
in the repair business.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
So oh really, yes, where'd you come from? Just before
before you get into your history of Triple A, where'd
you come from before Triple A? Then that you have
that history.
Speaker 8 (21:37):
So before Triple A, it was bp OKA or pro Care,
you know, And then I had worked for Firestone Montgomery
Wards back in the day when they had auto repair.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
So Keyward, I believe it's pronounced monkey war monkey War.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I believe it's not pronounced anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
That's true too.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I think they have a catalog now, you know. All right,
So is this true Triple A Club Alliance? Is this
Triple A like everybody thinks of Triple A?
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 8 (22:06):
And that's a great question, you know, Fred, because you know,
Triple A is a group of clubs that is across
the country. They're about forty give or take today. And
then we have a national office that's in.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Heathrow, Florida.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Ah okay okay.
Speaker 8 (22:21):
And basically the club has to maintain its accreditation to
be able to remain a Triple A club. Right, So
there's very strict standards that Triple A sets for the
clubs and we have to abide by them or we
could risk losing the accreditation.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Did those clubs bubble up independently across the country and
eventually stitch themselves together into a national thing? Is that's
what happened with BBB? People don't know that. And there
are some similarities in your system, some similarities. And I
I just love the Triple A story, and you're going
to give us some of the history. And I also
(22:57):
love and and I hope you talk about this how
Triple A kind of brought itself back or reinvented. It's
maybe reimagined is the right word. Reimagined its role in
society as the Internet became more prominent. And I think
that that people would want to hear about that.
Speaker 8 (23:14):
Yeah, absolutely, and you are absolutely right. That's how Triple
A was formed. Actually, you know, a part of that history, Lane,
is that you know, there were basically fifty motor clubs formed,
and it was in Chicago in March March of nineteen
oh two that the American Automobile Association was formed.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Really, the four automobiles were even invented, isn't that No,
that's actually that's visionary. That would be very visionary.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
But someday people will be driving cars.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
We should be there exactly during that time. It was interesting.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
One of the other facts that I ran across is
at that time in nineteen oh two, there were twenty
three thousand vehicles on the road and seventeen million horses.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
Wow, so imagine that, you know.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
That seems like a bad business model.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Horses.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
No, there's twenty three thousand cars. Let's start a business
for cars. Yeah, but there's seventeen million horses. Shouldn't we
just open a feed store.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
Yeah, you would think so, right.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
You know, that industry did not reimagine itself, and so
we're not here today with the Triple A horses. Although
horses are great, I'm not picking on horses, but as
a motor transportation they've declined a little bit. And you
guys had a role. So that's interesting. You know, I
didn't realize it was that old nineteen oh two, that
is quite old, and it came about just as cars
(24:41):
were starting to make an impact.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
It really did, and that's really what brought the uh,
this group of people together that formed Triple A, because
what they were finding is that people would get stranded
on the roadside and not have any way to get assistance.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah, and for the younger listeners, there were no interstates
or highways back then.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
There were just rows, that's right, just roads.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
And during that time, one of the things that Triple
A did was develop road signs to help people navigate
the roadways also know when they were approaching a crossing.
Stop signs. All of those kinds of things were developed
by Triple A.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah. I did not know that. I didn't know where
that stuff came from I thought it was the government.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So how is it different now because I know when
I was a kid, my dad always had Triple A
so this would have been fifties and sixties. He always
had Triple A as insurance. What's the difference between what
was then and what is now with the Triple A
Club Alliance.
Speaker 8 (25:41):
Yeah, So what's different is first, So Triple A Club Alliance,
for example, is a club, right, So we are we
are in thirteen states, in Washington, d C. We are
a part of the National Federation, right and of those
forty other clubs. So that's a little bit of what's different.
But the other parts that are different are the things
(26:01):
that we do, right. So we have travel, we have insurance, okay,
you know, we have roadside assistants, we have our own
auto repair, and then we have approved Auto Repair, which
is a group of shops that fly the Triple A
Moniker because they've met the criteria of Triple A to
be able to do Okay.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
So my parents began buying me the Triple A Card
roadside Assistance card when I was sixteen, and they kept
it up until they passed away, and I've been a
member since then as well. Wow, they and they, and
all I ever knew about Triple A was travel agency
and my roadside assistance card if I got into trouble,
you know. So it's a lot more than that now.
Speaker 8 (26:45):
It is a lot more than that now, and we
you know, and again, you know, we've had to evolve
with the times, right, because the times have changed, right
the days of the old trip tech that your dad
used to get, just.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
My dad, I'm old enough to remember out you guys
would take a highlighter and draw Yeah, I love.
Speaker 8 (27:05):
Those, right, yes, yes, And so now those are done
in such a way that they appear on your phone
and you can literally follow the trip tick through the
Triple A app on your phone, and it is so
cool because it is real time, you know. So now
what you're going to see is you know, any road
construction or anything like that, and it will reroute you
(27:27):
along the way and so forth.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
It is.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
It is really really well done.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
So you hear a lot about don't text and drive,
and we pick on the younger generation for that, but
let's be honest. We had that triptick map in our hand,
in our right hand as we drove with our left hand,
and it was folded up into a reasonably manageable square,
and we would glance back and forth, where the heck
am I did I take a wrong turn?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
See? My mom would have it, but she was one
of those people that had to turn it upside down
so that the map was facing the way you were driving.
She couldn't read it, she couldn't read it the way
it was printed and realized, oh, we're going this way.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
She had to have the map facing.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
The same I think that map was probably the cause
of fifty percent of divorces in the country. While Dad
would be driving and Mom would hold the map wrong
and taste turn right instead of left, and he would
get mad at her, and there was some marital discord involved.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
Well, i'll tell you what.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
You know, my wife was the navigator of the trip
tech whenever we were traveling, and you know, quite honestly,
she became very good at it. You know, I remember
when I was sitting in there, wait a minute out,
where am I going with this thing?
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Right?
Speaker 8 (28:34):
So I didn't work for Triple A then, but anyway,
it was it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
But yeah, they.
Speaker 8 (28:40):
You know, all of that's changed today and the Triple
A app does a lot more too. You know, I
don't think people realize the discounts that are offered by
Triple A, and that's that's probably one of our most
underutilized pieces. You know, there are retailers that you can
get discounts with Triple A and you should look because
it does vary in case.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
So do you for I mean, because I get the
you know thing every month or a couple of months.
You know, hey, here's a free Triple A deal, and
like a lot of people, I probably don't go through
it with a fine tooth comb.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Is all that information in those it is.
Speaker 8 (29:17):
It's on our website, it's in the mailer, and if
you look under discounts and rewards, you'll be able to
find all the places that you can get a discount
and reward, you know, and who knew, Like I'll name
a couple here, but you know Lens Crafters for one
ups really yeah exactly. So you know, it's it's really
(29:37):
cool that you know these things are out there for members,
and it's really something we want members to be aware of,
right because it's the value of that membership.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
So let's talk a little bit about how Triple A
was faced with some some I'll call it an existential crisis.
I may be overstating the case, but the Internet sort
of took over travel, right triple as where I would
go to book a trip or figure out a trip,
and I remember going to the one on Central Avenue,
you know, on the Central Avenue trip I use that one.
(30:08):
I remember that office. I think there's Verizons there now maybe,
but uh so it about you know, shortly after the
Internet became a thing in the early two thousands, that
that was an impact for Triple A something they had
to deal with.
Speaker 8 (30:21):
What happened, Yes, what happened there is really our travel
group had to redesign itself, right and kind of kind
of and so we had to become more technical, right so,
or more digital if you will, which they did. They
did a really good job at doing that. The other
thing that they do is they there are you know,
groups of people that travel together that meet, you know,
(30:44):
these are Triple A travelers, right like there was today's
traveling women, for example, and these ladies would meet once
a month and they'd talk about places they'd like to go,
and Triple A would work on putting the trips together.
So you know, things like that is what trip did
to evolve, you know, and then it's also it was
also about developing relationships with you know, cruise lines and
(31:07):
hotels and the companies.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And you had the brand name in place to have
that strength.
Speaker 6 (31:12):
Exactly. Yeah, but there's but I see Triple A.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
There's been an explosion of Triple A car repair, and
I don't remember that when I was younger, No.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
And car repair was something it was another business line
that car repair was developed for a couple of reasons,
right first, approved data repair and by the way, this
is the fiftieth anniversary of Triple A Approved Data Repair.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
So we're really proud of that.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Yes, and I'm gonna learn a lot about Triple A
tod I'll tell you right now.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Well, that's why I want to have Bob on because
there's a lot more to it, and I think we
just have a default assumption and it's a lot narrower
than what the reality is. That's one thing that I
learned Exactly.
Speaker 8 (31:49):
Triple A is very broad and as it relates to repair,
again laying the you know, repair first, it was approved
daughter to Repair fifty years ago. And the reason Approved
Daughter to Repair was developed is because we were getting
complaints that people were not happy with their repair centers
they were being taken to right, So they wanted to
know that they had a place that they could trust
(32:10):
when they took their vehicle to it. So Triple A
developed standards by which when so in our club, for example,
we have five hundred and eighty approved repair facilities across
our footprint, and in order to become one of those,
you have to it's about a three month process.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
So you vet them.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
Oh they're really vetted.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
Okay, yes, we we do everything. We utilize the BBB,
so you know, BBB rating is one of the first
things we do. And if it's not, if it's not
where it needs to be, we let the we actually
have a shop that's working to move himself from an
F to an A right.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Now, rehabilitating that score exactly.
Speaker 8 (32:53):
Yeah, so and and then they're realizing the importance of
you know that customer survey right, so that it's so key.
And then we actually survey their customers, uh, and we
we get a sampling of them to h and survey
them see how they're performing. We do check with the
Attorney General's office to see if there's any complaints anything
(33:16):
like that. We make sure that they're certified in the
areas they say that they can perform. We inspect the
shop to make sure they have what they say they
have and.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
A physical inspection yep.
Speaker 8 (33:27):
And we make sure that, you know, they have everything
they say they're going to have. And it's a comfortable
place for people to be right, you know, people you know,
believe it or not. One of the one of the
biggest complaints about an auto repair shop is the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
Yeah, you know, and.
Speaker 8 (33:42):
That's one of the first places my guys go when
we're inspecting a shop is what does that bathroom look like?
Speaker 6 (33:47):
You know? So it's but those things are important to
the consumer.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
So I'm a little curious because one of the reasons
that we do this podcast is to discover the passion
of people.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
How long have you been? Did you with Triple A?
Speaker 6 (34:00):
Twenty one years?
Speaker 4 (34:02):
Why did you stay this long? What about them attracted
you in the first place? Why are you still there?
Speaker 8 (34:09):
Yeah, it's an interesting story, Fred. When I was working
for another company, Uh, I did a lady's car care clinic.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
Okay, familiar with when they used to do those, Yeah,
And I.
Speaker 8 (34:21):
Invited Triple A to come because I wanted them to
be able to talk about roadside and what people should
do on the roadside.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
Right.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
I'll never forget the first one that we did, and
it was back in the early two thousands, and the
there was an ice storm that day and everybody was
in my shop, the vendors were there. Everybody said that,
you know, and two people showed up and they said,
are you going to do this? I said, you know what,
(34:50):
there's two people here, we're going to be.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Yeah, you got to do it.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
I think to keep your word.
Speaker 8 (34:56):
Yeah, So so we did the event. Well, guess what happened.
The news annals ran out of news. Every news channel
in the city showed up at our shop that day.
And I'll tell you what. The event became a monthly thing.
Speaker 6 (35:13):
We did a.
Speaker 8 (35:14):
Ladies carcare clinic every month for a long time. Shortly
after that, I got a call from Triple A saying, hey,
you want to go have some lunch.
Speaker 6 (35:21):
And we went and had lunch and they.
Speaker 8 (35:24):
Asked me if I would build the car care centers
here in Toledo. Really, so I did that and I
no longer run those, you know, I mean, I do
different things for the company now. With approved daughter repair,
for example, in our thirteen states. But you know, I'm
with Triple A because it's a good company to work for,
(35:45):
but also for what they stand for. You know, it's
really they are true to their word.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
You know, that's key.
Speaker 8 (35:51):
Yeah, it's about you know, taking care of people, and
that's what it's about. You know, it's not really about
money or anything else. It's it's something I truly enjoy doing.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I think there's some similarities with the Better Business Bureau
System and Triple A in the sense that, of course,
you do you do have to make money. We're a nonprofit.
I don't know if Triple A is actually but we're nonprofit.
But that doesn't mean you can live by not making profit.
You have to have cash floor or you can't accomplish
your missions.
Speaker 8 (36:19):
Well, exactly, you're exactly right about that, and that's you know,
that's a part of you know, the you know, carcare
centers were built so that we can keep membership prices low, correct, right, Yeah,
so there's a way to uh, you know, offset those
costs so we don't have to pass them on to
the consumer.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, if you didn't have if you didn't have that revenue,
I would I'm guessing that you're the membership dues that
someone you would have to charge people, they may not
find that palatable, right they It might be to the
point where you're driving away membership and you'd rather you
need that membership. So you do have to diversify the revenue.
And I think Triple A is just an excellent example
(36:59):
of a long organization that was willing to look and say, hey,
we got to make some changes here because we want
to continue to our mission. We have some missions here
and we want to continue to serve the public. And
I'm impressed by That's that what I call the reimagining story.
Speaker 6 (37:15):
Yeah, you're exactly right.
Speaker 8 (37:17):
And you know when you look at cars today, for example,
and everything that's happening in the in that realm, right
in the in the vehicle realm, you know, we we
are in a good position where we have great relationships
with OEMs and and other manufacturers and they kind of
keep us up to speed on what's what's up and coming.
(37:39):
And what we do then is we we make it
so that we can be able to talk about it
to the motoring public as well as the technicians who
are repairing the cars today and help them get trained, right,
because you know these systems that we have today ADOS,
you know, automatic Automated driver as SYS systems and so forth.
Triple A first worked with SA to develop the naming
conventions for all of those.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
BOP's talking, he's that shop talk. But you guys decided
what the what the vocabulary was going to be to
describe things.
Speaker 6 (38:06):
So it was the same exactly.
Speaker 8 (38:08):
So it was the same across the industry and understandable,
right because you know, for example, when autopilot came out, well,
when you get in a car that has autopilot, what
do you think, let's press the button? Yeah, you know,
and that's not the case. You know, you still have
to pay attention and yes, yeah I took a nap
(38:29):
for a while. But so what we wanted to do
is make sure that everyone was aware of those things
and also then train technicians because you know, repairing a
vehicle becomes different when you have this kind of technology,
because one mistake could cause an accident.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
As we wrap things up, where's the best place for
people other than looking at their mailbox and waiting for
that next letter to come from from the Triple A,
where's the best place for them to go and get
in form me.
Speaker 8 (39:00):
The best place is just go to Triple a dot com.
It's going to ask you for your zip code and
it will direct you to the correct club so it
is zip caated, zipgated, or you could also call one
eight hundred AAA help too.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
And that's pretty good.
Speaker 6 (39:17):
Yeah, that gets you to our call center.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
Excellent.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Thanks Bob for coming onto the program. We appreciate your time,
and as we do another round of them, well hope
to have you back and get into more depth in
some of the ways that you guys have helped another
legal in the laws and traffic laws and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Thank you both, yeap, take care.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
You've been listening to A Heart for Business, the podcast
sponsored by the Better Business Bureau here in northwest Ohio
southeast Michigan. You can listen and subscribe at iHeartRadio and
go back in the archives and listen to any of
the previous shows. We'll be back again next week. A
new episode drops every Wednesday on A Heart for Business
(39:59):
on I Heart Radio, m
Welcome to A Heart for Business. I'm Fred Lafever and
along with Lane Months, President CEO the Better Business Bureau
of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, we'll highlight a local
business weekly. You'll discover why these small local business owners
have a passion for what they do and why the
(00:26):
Better Business Bureau has a Heart for Business. Now here's
Lane Months.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Thank you, Fred, and welcome every one of the program.
A Heart for Business, the podcast by the Better Business
Bureau of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. I'm here in
Fred's inner sanctum deep inside of WSPD next to mud
Hensfield in Hensville, downtown Toledo. And our first guest today
on the A segment is the A List guest, the
(00:53):
A Lister, Jamie Witkowski. You may know Jamie's name if
you are from Northwest Ohio South Michigan. Jamie has a
number of businesses and he's gonna tell us about him
and why he likes them or maybe even why he
sometimes doesn't like them.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
If he can't imagine I'm not liking him.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I've had him on the air a couple of times,
and every time I've talked to him about especially the
four guys on a roof part of his entrepreneurship.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
He's just passionate. He's excited about it.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
It's like he loves what he's doing, uh and loves
what his people do for him.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
I think is probably more important than anything else.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
We got to get Jamie and Luck landscaping tea.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Oh my god.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Yeah, for the new Barndo.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Do you know? Do you know Luck?
Speaker 5 (01:37):
I do not.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
That guy is like when he comes in to talk
about Luckland, He's like you, He's fired up.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
He said, Oh, man Fred, we are gonna.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Build you the best backyard.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Thahlah blah blah. And he's the passion that you have
for all the things you do. He's got that for
the landscaping business.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (01:55):
I'm gonna have to get a hold of him because
I just finished a new Barndo build in mont Clova
and I'm starting landscaping the next month.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
He's probably talked.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
He is the guy you want to talk to. And
you guys are two peas in a pod. And I
would definitely have to wear these headphones, but I would
not have any sound coming through them. Yeah, and I
might have to have alcohol with and he I.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Think like you. All right, he started his story is
he started with just a lawnmower.
Speaker 7 (02:21):
Yeah, at a trailer park. That's how most small business is.
He just he started that. Well, what's your origin story, Superman.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Well, it's the same thing, but it involves a roof.
You know.
Speaker 7 (02:32):
Good morning, Lane and Fred, thanks for having me. Jamie Weecherkowski,
owner of four Guys in a Roof and also the
Male Pouch in Swanton, Ohio. Just like most entrepreneurs, you
start out small. The roofing company is now twenty six
years old, started literally twenty six years ago.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
How old were you then?
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Back then? I was twenty seven.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
In full disclosure, I was there when Jamie started. Well
you were, yeah, Jamie was. I remember when he started.
He was very new. Started as a subcontractor for regular
prime contractors and including Kuzhno Restoration where I worked in
he was one of our subcontractors. And even full disclosure,
(03:18):
one time on a particularly difficult case, Jamie was a
client of mine when I was practicing construction law.
Speaker 7 (03:24):
Yes, yes, I've known Lane for a very long time.
And people that are good in the business, they're a
long time in the business. I know many contractors like
Seagate Home Inspections, Jim Johnson known him the same amount
of time. Just like Lane, you run across good people
in the field, and when you see him ten fifteen
years later, you know they're good people because they're still around.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And do you always go back to using those same
people when you're doing jobs and stuff and you need
that extra hand.
Speaker 7 (03:52):
I don't do a lot of subcontracting for contractors anymore.
When I first got started, that's what was necessary to
grow the business. But as time going on, literally ninety
percent of my business is still referrals word of mouth.
Just like you, Fred Lane has probably spoke well of
me over the years. Good friends and family always speak, well,
(04:14):
oh the.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Cough button's not working. I don't know what's going on here.
Speaker 7 (04:18):
Yeah. So it's the same. When you see people in
this industry for that long, you know they're good people.
They wouldn't be here if they weren't.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So that's very true because in construction, not only in construction,
but in construction, a lot of people start, they come
and they go, they work for someone else, and they say,
I'm going to go out on my own, and then
they do and it works for a couple of years,
but something they struggle to persist, and then they're back
working for someone else. And it goes around in a circle.
And the ones that last a long time. In two
(04:49):
and a half decades is a long time. Then you
know they're doing something right. And that is the case
with Jamie. He's always evolving and learning. Oh it's hard
to it's hard. Don't pay you a compliment like that,
but he's always evolving in learning and I've always had
respect for him.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Well and being in it for twenty six years. From
the time you started until now. There's a ton of
other roofers that have come along, all with a thing
that they say, Oh I'm the best because I do this.
So how do you stay on top because you're getting
competition all the time.
Speaker 7 (05:25):
It's really simple, Fred predominantly right now. It's amazing how
many roofing companies are out there compared to when I
started twenty six years ago. Comparatively speaking, it has quadrupled
twenty six years years later. With social media, blogs, Facebook,
everything you can imagine to help grow business quicker, faster better.
(05:47):
I started twenty six years ago, I got rooted really deep,
really fast, and I've learned. I've learned this a long
time ago, and a good friend told me. He said, Jamie,
when things are down and you think things are going slow,
do not focus on your competition or what they're doing.
Focus on your company. Look forward, never look back. Do
the best you can, and you don't have to worry
(06:09):
about everybody else.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And that's true for a lot of things. People always
ask me, did you hear what so and so said?
And I'm like no, because I don't really listen to
other radio stations because if I do, I would be
influenced by them. Same thing's got to be true for
your company. You start watching all these fancy commercials and
stuff from other people, then they're thinking, what am I missing?
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Why am I not doing that right correct?
Speaker 7 (06:30):
Even in this day and age, I always am positive
and a lot of my good friends own roofing companies.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
The strangest thing is, twenty six years.
Speaker 7 (06:41):
Ago, everybody was cutthroat. I want to not talk to you.
You were the competition. You were dead to them. And
I've grown friendships over twenty six years because again, when
you're in business so long, you have to be a
good person at heart, and being a good person at heart.
I'd love to have you on my friend group. And
to be honest, I'm friends with several company owners and
we get along and we have cocktails all the time.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
That is wisdom because it did that used to be cutthroat,
and then sometimes it still is depending on the owner.
A lot of construction owners they are measuring themselves against
somebody else, and they consider everybody that's not them. And
I'm not speaking of all, because there are plenty of
good ones. Yeah, but they look at that and if
you're not in their company, they think of you as competition.
(07:26):
And I used to preach and I stand by it
that it'd be better to have competitimates. Right, competitimates you're friendly.
Sometimes you trade jobs. Sometimes you can't take a job
somebody else would be better for it, vice versa. You
have a circle that helps you out and that lifts
you up, and it also lifts up the community. Jamie,
Oh yeah, you.
Speaker 7 (07:44):
Put out that positive vibe and positive feelings out there,
they come back to you. If you think negative all
the time. And I know there are some contractors out
there that still have that negative vibe and they struggle.
My good friend Steve at Seagate water and foundation roofing.
You know, we get together, we talk all the time.
Things are different when we bid jobs because of the
(08:06):
way he runs his business. But he says, you know, Jamie,
it is what it is. Whoever is a better salesman
right at the end of the day you're putting on
a roof or putting on the same quality product at
the end of the day, Who's got the better personality that.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
And that and the reputation.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Way, wouldn't you rather see good competition that you're on
good terms with prosper because it's the bad competition that
starts to get into price gouging and cutting corners, and
that drives your you know, that drives you out of
the business. By the way, do you still just have
four guys doing those roofs? You must be working their
asses off.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I wish there were four guys on my roof for
a minimum.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:44):
Twenty six years ago, I was working full time at
Faedex driving semi and the company got started very simply
by a couple of guys at work needed roofs done
and we did it. We traded basically labor for labor
with no money, steak and beers for payment. And after
it was all said and done very quickly, a guy
(09:04):
at work that wasn't a part of the group said hey, Jamie,
I want you to do the roof. And I'm like, well, no, no, no.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Thank you. My back hurts, my hands hurt. Just this
is not for me.
Speaker 7 (09:14):
He's like, I'll pay you. Yeah, Long story short. I
bid the job. I called off the work on Friday
from FedEx, worked all weekend, put one thousand dollars in
my pocket, and that my eyes opened up. I'm like,
I made thousand dollars in three days. I think I
can snowball this next thing.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
You know.
Speaker 7 (09:30):
I got my daughter strapped on my front with a
baby backpack hand and now flyers in my neighborhood with
the what's the old printers the dot ones before we
got yes, yes it was, it looked like Minecraft brochures.
I swear it was hilarious. Yeah, literally, And then I
only wanted to print twenty five because ink was so expensive.
(09:51):
I'm like, I got to pick the premium houses in
my neighborhood to solicit because this is money well spent.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
That's pretty incredible. And then, so when did you switched
from that from FedEx to the roofing to the other
businesses you own, because mail pouch is one. Are there
others on your list?
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Correct? Correct? Fred?
Speaker 7 (10:09):
So when the entrepreneur gene opened up in me, I
realized that working for myself was a better thing than
working for somebody else. And once I started doing the roofing,
I stayed working at FedEx for additional five years, working
full time. Wow, sold roofs during the week still worked
on the weekends, and then eventually I dropped down. Part
(10:29):
I was when I was younger, I said, you know,
I and young kids. Oh yeah, I had young ones,
and I got after it. I still had family time
on the weekends Monday through Friday. I worked, the wife
stayed home. And basically it's snowball from roofing, real estate,
and restaurants. I did it all real estate also, Yeah,
I flipped a lot of real estate when I was younger.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
I didn't realize that. So you went in and rehabbed.
You did the work yourself.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Yeah, bought them from Toledo, the bank foreclosures down. Yeah,
right over here.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Jamie, Where are you from? Are you from Toledo?
Speaker 5 (11:01):
I'm from the north end of Toledo, Woodward High school.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Really yep, all right, so you're definitely local.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah. Fred and I were talking because the next guest
is Bob Kasmer's act from Triple A, and I thought, well,
that's two good Polish Toledo names right there. That's Toledo
in a nutshell.
Speaker 7 (11:14):
Yeah, when you're from North End, it's Ski or c
h is very common. And just let you know, graduated
from Woodward and everybody's like, oh, you graduated Woodward and
there's some negative connotations to that. But I just got
nominated to the Woodward Hall of Fame. I just got
a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So did that come from your drive and everything? Did
that come from what you got in school? Or did
that come from mom and dad and grandma and grandpa,
you know, in the old North End.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
To be honest, most business owners have a type personalities,
and a type personalities aren't. They're not initiated by somebody
else or any outside forces. You have it in you
from the day you're born, and if you grow it
like I did, I was fortunate enough. I've always had
that a type personality. I was the kid out there
shoveling snow in the early eighties, making thirty forty dollars
(12:08):
a pop. Shoveling snow for five bucks. You have it
or you don't. What you do with it, now, that's
another situation. You can use it for good or bad,
whatever you choose.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
All right, Well, and there's a lot of times too,
because I shoveled snow when I was a kid like
you back in the sixties and stuff, and my kids
shovel shovels back on Oh heck, couns. We call them shovels,
but they were our hands.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I did it too.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
But the thing is a lot of people in that
same situation type as they reach that first obstacle and
that stops them. And so there's got to be something
in you that when you hit that first obstacle, whatever
it was that didn't stop you, how do you get
through that? That's what people want to know where your
passion for your jobs comes from.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Yeah, it's it's something you can't define in words. I
don't think you. We have three eight personalities in this
little tiny room, so it's it's pretty strong in here.
We're here for a reason.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
You've got two of them.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Well, no, I think I'm big, but not that big.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
But yeah, I just don't want to lose.
Speaker 7 (13:12):
No, yeah, you got to have that drive that pushed
through that don't want to quit. We've all made mistakes,
we've all had failures. But if you look at failures
in a negative way and not a growing experience, that
will bring you down. I've made mistakes. I've had failures
in my life, you know. Just to share with you COVID,
I had to close two beautiful restaurants after COVID and
(13:33):
people are like, you know, that really sucks.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
By the way, I like that restaurant quite a bit.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Oh yeah, fire station.
Speaker 7 (13:39):
I built that with love and passion to support the
local community, the firefighters, the police. You know, it's dedicated
to them. And people are like, don't you feel bad.
I'm like, yeah, I feel bad, but it was such
a good experience building it with some great contractors, and
I have great memories. I don't look at it as
a failure. I'm looking at it as an opportunity. I
did what I wanted to do. It didn't work out.
Let's go on to the next and.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
You learn some lessons from it.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
You do.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
That's the key is to learn from any loss that
you have so that the next one. You already know
how to handle it when you get there.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Yeah. Not everybody bats a hundred every time.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
No.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
You know, it's interesting because you know, you think of
big cities and bigger cities like Toledo, and you you
come to associate them with certain big, very large companies
or industries. Toledo's known for the glass industry, and you
got the Libby's and the and the Owens Cornings and
stuff like that. They're all kind of related. But the
truth is the economic power of a region those there
(14:34):
aren't that many large companies, and a lot of times
they don't have the employees here. They might have the
headquarters here, but they have the factory somewhere else. It's
the it's businesses like Jamie's and the ones in the
Better Business Bureau and the ones we've had on this
program that are really the economic engine of a large region.
Oh yeah, And if you're not a business owner, it's
hard sometimes to understand if you've never been one, all
(14:57):
the different pressures and ways that a business owner can fail.
And I think Jamie's his perseverance is clearly on display
all the time.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
Yeah, you you in this in this industry, I have
these young guns coming up, get it, roofing young guns.
So they're coming after me shooting and.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Jamie, Jamie, I'm supposed to be the funny one, but
really Fred is the funny one. For to defer to
fund there's a there's a pecking order on humor.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
Okay, I'll start out someall baby steps, pakiito, pikeito. But
these young guys they have they have this the knowledge
that I don't because I am older, and they're hitting
the social media. They're doing things right. They know these
the inner sanctum of the social media. And I again
not want to be a loser. You know, Hey, what
do I gotta do here? I am with you fine
(15:42):
gentlemen this morning trying to promote four guys in a
roof mail pouch saloon to stay in front of the curve.
You don't ever want to be on the backside. You
want to be in the middle or on the front.
And exactly right now I'm just pushing through and trying
to stay in front of it.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, social media for any business now is incredible, even
for well for the five oh one C three's to
Little Buffalo soldiers use Facebook all the time.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Every event we do.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
We're on Facebook, so that you're out in front of
the community and people understand. They recognize your name right away,
they see the things you do, they like what you do,
and they contact you. Same thing with any business mail
pouch or four guys in roofs, same thing with the
Better Business Bureau. The more people to hear about the
Better Business Bureau and see the kind of people they're
hooked up with you and our next couple of guests
(16:27):
are going to go, well, that seems like a good organization.
I had to be hooked up with them. That's how
it works. My neighbors they saw what you guys did
to my roof. The guy next door had you come
out and do his roof. Other people in the neighborhood
are getting roofs replaced all the time, and I'm thinking,
you know what, you come and see me.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
I got a guy.
Speaker 7 (16:46):
Yes, corrected. And it's always not about the lowest price.
I always tell my customers, get you know, two to
three quotes. Once you get easily yeah, three estimates, you
get overwhelmed. You take your three estimates. You've got to
compare apples to apples. I've been with the BBB. I
think probably after I started my LLC. Just a few
years after that, representative reached out to me and thought, hey, Jamie,
(17:09):
you should be a part of the BBB. And they
told me what attributes I got from it, and I said, yeah,
I want to be a part of that. I think
I've been with the BBB for just shy around twenty years. Wow,
I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, that's right about where we up your dues.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yes, literally, you're like just like a member for life
after that.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
They're based on a number of employees. That's why he
hasn't changed his name to seventy five guys in a roof.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
Yes, I'm grandfathered. I am grandfathered.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
You should be grandfather? You should be grandfather?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Did Jamie? We're gonna have to wrap up here pretty soon?
The segments almost over. They do go fast. What would
you like listeners and customers to know, not just about
four guys in a roof, but as they're thinking about,
you know, if they have a potential roof problem, whether
it's a leak or they just know they have to
get the roof repaired. What in today's market should they
know about her? Is there anything going on with the
(17:59):
tear roofs that they should be concerned about. Is there
what lends some of your wisdom to the listener?
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Sure? Sure.
Speaker 7 (18:05):
With this time of the year, I tell all my customers,
you're coming out of a not a bad winner. We're
one of the few companies that specialize in roof repairs.
We have a full time roof repair team that will
come out, diagnose it, sometimes fix it on the spot
if it's not too major. They have a lot of
equipment on their trucks to do so. If not, they're
going to leave you with an estimate. We do warranty
r repairs, which a lot of companies don't. They're like,
(18:28):
you know, you get the tail light warranty by the
time you see the tail light's warranties over. We don't
do that this time of the year. With springs popping,
we like to tell all our customers if you're getting
a roofing job done, it's better to get the roof
done sooner than later, especially in the early spring before
your perennials pop up. You know, once they start popping up,
you know, we gotta tarp the ground. You got shingles
(18:48):
fall and things get damaged. You know, make sure you know,
if you're going to do some landscaping projects, get your windows,
you're sighting, your roofing done before that because there's so
much scaffolding, ladder tarps, ten fifteen people walking around. Get
it done before you start that. And then when it
comes down to making the final decision of what contractor
(19:09):
you're going to hire, make sure they have the accreditation
of being a licensed contractor. They have their Workmen's com
their member of BBB. Absolutely they're a certified installer of
the product they're doing. We're a Platinum Preferred installer with
o Ones Corning. A lot of contractors don't have an accreditation,
so all you get is the manufacturer's warranty. If you're
(19:29):
not a certified installer, that means no labor's covered. With
four guys in a roof, we install your roof. We
can guarantee your roof if you upgrade to the platinum
warranty fifty years labor and materials with no pro Rationally, that.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Labor portion of a roof warranty is quite important and
a lot of people don't know about it. Thank you, Jamie,
and good to see you again. I'm glad to see
your energetic and haven't lost any of your in vinegar. Yes, yes,
good to see you.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Thank you gentlemen for having me this fine Thursday morning, beautiful,
and thank you everybody for listening.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Did you know our area has over forty thousand businesses.
Some are old, some are new, but they all have
a story to tell about why they sell, how someone
took a chance once upon a time, someone with a
heart for business. Hi, this is Laine Monts, the host
of the Better Business Bureaus Heart for Business podcast. We
know a thing or two about our area's companies, after all,
(20:22):
we've been keeping tabs on them since nineteen nineteen. Join
me in Toledo radio legend Fred la Fever every week
as our BBB superheroes tell their origin story and share
a few industry secrets along the way. Welcome back to
the program, Episode thirteen of a Heart for Business. We
are on the B side. You're the B lister, Bob.
Sorry about that. I am in the studio with Fred
and Bob Kasmer's act from Triple A Auto Alliance, and
(20:46):
Bob is a former board member of the BBB, actually
still a board member, I think, and former chairman of
the board. So Bob I appreciate you coming into the
studio today. You've got some history to talk about with
Triple A, and you were telling me a little bit
about it when we did show prep earlier in the week.
And there is a lot of cool history with Triple
A that I had no idea about.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
Yeah, that's right, Lane, there is. And and first of all,
thanks for having me. You know, it's a pleasure to
be here and good to see you for sure, you know,
And there is a lot of history of Triple A,
and I don't think that you know, it's always good
to kind of revisit that because I was kind of surprised.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Right, So, and how long have you been there?
Speaker 6 (21:23):
I've been with Triple A now this is my twenty.
Speaker 8 (21:25):
First year twent wow okay, yeah, and forty five years
in the repair business.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
So oh really, yes, where'd you come from? Just before
before you get into your history of Triple A, where'd
you come from before Triple A? Then that you have
that history.
Speaker 8 (21:37):
So before Triple A, it was bp OKA or pro Care,
you know, And then I had worked for Firestone Montgomery
Wards back in the day when they had auto repair.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
So Keyward, I believe it's pronounced monkey war monkey War.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I believe it's not pronounced anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
That's true too.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I think they have a catalog now, you know. All right,
So is this true Triple A Club Alliance? Is this
Triple A like everybody thinks of Triple A?
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 8 (22:06):
And that's a great question, you know, Fred, because you know,
Triple A is a group of clubs that is across
the country. They're about forty give or take today. And
then we have a national office that's in.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Heathrow, Florida.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Ah okay okay.
Speaker 8 (22:21):
And basically the club has to maintain its accreditation to
be able to remain a Triple A club. Right, So
there's very strict standards that Triple A sets for the
clubs and we have to abide by them or we
could risk losing the accreditation.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Did those clubs bubble up independently across the country and
eventually stitch themselves together into a national thing? Is that's
what happened with BBB? People don't know that. And there
are some similarities in your system, some similarities. And I
I just love the Triple A story, and you're going
to give us some of the history. And I also
(22:57):
love and and I hope you talk about this how
Triple A kind of brought itself back or reinvented. It's
maybe reimagined is the right word. Reimagined its role in
society as the Internet became more prominent. And I think
that that people would want to hear about that.
Speaker 8 (23:14):
Yeah, absolutely, and you are absolutely right. That's how Triple
A was formed. Actually, you know, a part of that history, Lane,
is that you know, there were basically fifty motor clubs formed,
and it was in Chicago in March March of nineteen
oh two that the American Automobile Association was formed.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Really, the four automobiles were even invented, isn't that No,
that's actually that's visionary. That would be very visionary.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
But someday people will be driving cars.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
We should be there exactly during that time. It was interesting.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
One of the other facts that I ran across is
at that time in nineteen oh two, there were twenty
three thousand vehicles on the road and seventeen million horses.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
Wow, so imagine that, you know.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
That seems like a bad business model.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Horses.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
No, there's twenty three thousand cars. Let's start a business
for cars. Yeah, but there's seventeen million horses. Shouldn't we
just open a feed store.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
Yeah, you would think so, right.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
You know, that industry did not reimagine itself, and so
we're not here today with the Triple A horses. Although
horses are great, I'm not picking on horses, but as
a motor transportation they've declined a little bit. And you
guys had a role. So that's interesting. You know, I
didn't realize it was that old nineteen oh two, that
is quite old, and it came about just as cars
(24:41):
were starting to make an impact.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
It really did, and that's really what brought the uh,
this group of people together that formed Triple A, because
what they were finding is that people would get stranded
on the roadside and not have any way to get assistance.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah, and for the younger listeners, there were no interstates
or highways back then.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
There were just rows, that's right, just roads.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
And during that time, one of the things that Triple
A did was develop road signs to help people navigate
the roadways also know when they were approaching a crossing.
Stop signs. All of those kinds of things were developed
by Triple A.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah. I did not know that. I didn't know where
that stuff came from I thought it was the government.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
So how is it different now because I know when
I was a kid, my dad always had Triple A
so this would have been fifties and sixties. He always
had Triple A as insurance. What's the difference between what
was then and what is now with the Triple A
Club Alliance.
Speaker 8 (25:41):
Yeah, So what's different is first, So Triple A Club Alliance,
for example, is a club, right, So we are we
are in thirteen states, in Washington, d C. We are
a part of the National Federation, right and of those
forty other clubs. So that's a little bit of what's different.
But the other parts that are different are the things
(26:01):
that we do, right. So we have travel, we have insurance, okay,
you know, we have roadside assistants, we have our own
auto repair, and then we have approved Auto Repair, which
is a group of shops that fly the Triple A
Moniker because they've met the criteria of Triple A to
be able to do Okay.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
So my parents began buying me the Triple A Card
roadside Assistance card when I was sixteen, and they kept
it up until they passed away, and I've been a
member since then as well. Wow, they and they, and
all I ever knew about Triple A was travel agency
and my roadside assistance card if I got into trouble,
you know. So it's a lot more than that now.
Speaker 8 (26:45):
It is a lot more than that now, and we
you know, and again, you know, we've had to evolve
with the times, right, because the times have changed, right
the days of the old trip tech that your dad
used to get, just.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
My dad, I'm old enough to remember out you guys
would take a highlighter and draw Yeah, I love.
Speaker 8 (27:05):
Those, right, yes, yes, And so now those are done
in such a way that they appear on your phone
and you can literally follow the trip tick through the
Triple A app on your phone, and it is so
cool because it is real time, you know. So now
what you're going to see is you know, any road
construction or anything like that, and it will reroute you
(27:27):
along the way and so forth.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
It is.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
It is really really well done.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
So you hear a lot about don't text and drive,
and we pick on the younger generation for that, but
let's be honest. We had that triptick map in our hand,
in our right hand as we drove with our left hand,
and it was folded up into a reasonably manageable square,
and we would glance back and forth, where the heck
am I did I take a wrong turn?
Speaker 1 (27:50):
See? My mom would have it, but she was one
of those people that had to turn it upside down
so that the map was facing the way you were driving.
She couldn't read it, she couldn't read it the way
it was printed and realized, oh, we're going this way.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
She had to have the map facing.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
The same I think that map was probably the cause
of fifty percent of divorces in the country. While Dad
would be driving and Mom would hold the map wrong
and taste turn right instead of left, and he would
get mad at her, and there was some marital discord involved.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
Well, i'll tell you what.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
You know, my wife was the navigator of the trip
tech whenever we were traveling, and you know, quite honestly,
she became very good at it. You know, I remember
when I was sitting in there, wait a minute out,
where am I going with this thing?
Speaker 5 (28:34):
Right?
Speaker 8 (28:34):
So I didn't work for Triple A then, but anyway,
it was it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
But yeah, they.
Speaker 8 (28:40):
You know, all of that's changed today and the Triple
A app does a lot more too. You know, I
don't think people realize the discounts that are offered by
Triple A, and that's that's probably one of our most
underutilized pieces. You know, there are retailers that you can
get discounts with Triple A and you should look because
it does vary in case.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
So do you for I mean, because I get the
you know thing every month or a couple of months.
You know, hey, here's a free Triple A deal, and
like a lot of people, I probably don't go through
it with a fine tooth comb.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Is all that information in those it is.
Speaker 8 (29:17):
It's on our website, it's in the mailer, and if
you look under discounts and rewards, you'll be able to
find all the places that you can get a discount
and reward, you know, and who knew, Like I'll name
a couple here, but you know Lens Crafters for one
ups really yeah exactly. So you know, it's it's really
(29:37):
cool that you know these things are out there for members,
and it's really something we want members to be aware of,
right because it's the value of that membership.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
So let's talk a little bit about how Triple A
was faced with some some I'll call it an existential crisis.
I may be overstating the case, but the Internet sort
of took over travel, right triple as where I would
go to book a trip or figure out a trip,
and I remember going to the one on Central Avenue,
you know, on the Central Avenue trip I use that one.
(30:08):
I remember that office. I think there's Verizons there now maybe,
but uh so it about you know, shortly after the
Internet became a thing in the early two thousands, that
that was an impact for Triple A something they had
to deal with.
Speaker 8 (30:21):
What happened, Yes, what happened there is really our travel
group had to redesign itself, right and kind of kind
of and so we had to become more technical, right so,
or more digital if you will, which they did. They
did a really good job at doing that. The other
thing that they do is they there are you know,
groups of people that travel together that meet, you know,
(30:44):
these are Triple A travelers, right like there was today's
traveling women, for example, and these ladies would meet once
a month and they'd talk about places they'd like to go,
and Triple A would work on putting the trips together.
So you know, things like that is what trip did
to evolve, you know, and then it's also it was
also about developing relationships with you know, cruise lines and
(31:07):
hotels and the companies.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
And you had the brand name in place to have
that strength.
Speaker 6 (31:12):
Exactly. Yeah, but there's but I see Triple A.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
There's been an explosion of Triple A car repair, and
I don't remember that when I was younger, No.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
And car repair was something it was another business line
that car repair was developed for a couple of reasons,
right first, approved data repair and by the way, this
is the fiftieth anniversary of Triple A Approved Data Repair.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
So we're really proud of that.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Yes, and I'm gonna learn a lot about Triple A
tod I'll tell you right now.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Well, that's why I want to have Bob on because
there's a lot more to it, and I think we
just have a default assumption and it's a lot narrower
than what the reality is. That's one thing that I
learned Exactly.
Speaker 8 (31:49):
Triple A is very broad and as it relates to repair,
again laying the you know, repair first, it was approved
daughter to Repair fifty years ago. And the reason Approved
Daughter to Repair was developed is because we were getting
complaints that people were not happy with their repair centers
they were being taken to right, So they wanted to
know that they had a place that they could trust
(32:10):
when they took their vehicle to it. So Triple A
developed standards by which when so in our club, for example,
we have five hundred and eighty approved repair facilities across
our footprint, and in order to become one of those,
you have to it's about a three month process.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
So you vet them.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
Oh they're really vetted.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
Okay, yes, we we do everything. We utilize the BBB,
so you know, BBB rating is one of the first
things we do. And if it's not, if it's not
where it needs to be, we let the we actually
have a shop that's working to move himself from an
F to an A right.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Now, rehabilitating that score exactly.
Speaker 8 (32:53):
Yeah, so and and then they're realizing the importance of
you know that customer survey right, so that it's so key.
And then we actually survey their customers, uh, and we
we get a sampling of them to h and survey
them see how they're performing. We do check with the
Attorney General's office to see if there's any complaints anything
(33:16):
like that. We make sure that they're certified in the
areas they say that they can perform. We inspect the
shop to make sure they have what they say they
have and.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
A physical inspection yep.
Speaker 8 (33:27):
And we make sure that, you know, they have everything
they say they're going to have. And it's a comfortable
place for people to be right, you know, people you know,
believe it or not. One of the one of the
biggest complaints about an auto repair shop is the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
Yeah, you know, and.
Speaker 8 (33:42):
That's one of the first places my guys go when
we're inspecting a shop is what does that bathroom look like?
Speaker 6 (33:47):
You know? So it's but those things are important to
the consumer.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
So I'm a little curious because one of the reasons
that we do this podcast is to discover the passion
of people.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
How long have you been? Did you with Triple A?
Speaker 6 (34:00):
Twenty one years?
Speaker 4 (34:02):
Why did you stay this long? What about them attracted
you in the first place? Why are you still there?
Speaker 8 (34:09):
Yeah, it's an interesting story, Fred. When I was working
for another company, Uh, I did a lady's car care clinic.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
Okay, familiar with when they used to do those, Yeah,
And I.
Speaker 8 (34:21):
Invited Triple A to come because I wanted them to
be able to talk about roadside and what people should
do on the roadside.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
Right.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
I'll never forget the first one that we did, and
it was back in the early two thousands, and the
there was an ice storm that day and everybody was
in my shop, the vendors were there. Everybody said that,
you know, and two people showed up and they said,
are you going to do this? I said, you know what,
(34:50):
there's two people here, we're going to be.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
Yeah, you got to do it.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
I think to keep your word.
Speaker 8 (34:56):
Yeah, So so we did the event. Well, guess what happened.
The news annals ran out of news. Every news channel
in the city showed up at our shop that day.
And I'll tell you what. The event became a monthly thing.
Speaker 6 (35:13):
We did a.
Speaker 8 (35:14):
Ladies carcare clinic every month for a long time. Shortly
after that, I got a call from Triple A saying, hey,
you want to go have some lunch.
Speaker 6 (35:21):
And we went and had lunch and they.
Speaker 8 (35:24):
Asked me if I would build the car care centers
here in Toledo. Really, so I did that and I
no longer run those, you know, I mean, I do
different things for the company now. With approved daughter repair,
for example, in our thirteen states. But you know, I'm
with Triple A because it's a good company to work for,
(35:45):
but also for what they stand for. You know, it's
really they are true to their word.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
You know, that's key.
Speaker 8 (35:51):
Yeah, it's about you know, taking care of people, and
that's what it's about. You know, it's not really about
money or anything else. It's it's something I truly enjoy doing.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I think there's some similarities with the Better Business Bureau
System and Triple A in the sense that, of course,
you do you do have to make money. We're a nonprofit.
I don't know if Triple A is actually but we're nonprofit.
But that doesn't mean you can live by not making profit.
You have to have cash floor or you can't accomplish
your missions.
Speaker 8 (36:19):
Well, exactly, you're exactly right about that, and that's you know,
that's a part of you know, the you know, carcare
centers were built so that we can keep membership prices low, correct, right, Yeah,
so there's a way to uh, you know, offset those
costs so we don't have to pass them on to
the consumer.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, if you didn't have if you didn't have that revenue,
I would I'm guessing that you're the membership dues that
someone you would have to charge people, they may not
find that palatable, right they It might be to the
point where you're driving away membership and you'd rather you
need that membership. So you do have to diversify the revenue.
And I think Triple A is just an excellent example
(36:59):
of a long organization that was willing to look and say, hey,
we got to make some changes here because we want
to continue to our mission. We have some missions here
and we want to continue to serve the public. And
I'm impressed by That's that what I call the reimagining story.
Speaker 6 (37:15):
Yeah, you're exactly right.
Speaker 8 (37:17):
And you know when you look at cars today, for example,
and everything that's happening in the in that realm, right
in the in the vehicle realm, you know, we we
are in a good position where we have great relationships
with OEMs and and other manufacturers and they kind of
keep us up to speed on what's what's up and coming.
(37:39):
And what we do then is we we make it
so that we can be able to talk about it
to the motoring public as well as the technicians who
are repairing the cars today and help them get trained, right,
because you know these systems that we have today ADOS,
you know, automatic Automated driver as SYS systems and so forth.
Triple A first worked with SA to develop the naming
conventions for all of those.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
BOP's talking, he's that shop talk. But you guys decided
what the what the vocabulary was going to be to
describe things.
Speaker 6 (38:06):
So it was the same exactly.
Speaker 8 (38:08):
So it was the same across the industry and understandable,
right because you know, for example, when autopilot came out, well,
when you get in a car that has autopilot, what
do you think, let's press the button? Yeah, you know,
and that's not the case. You know, you still have
to pay attention and yes, yeah I took a nap
(38:29):
for a while. But so what we wanted to do
is make sure that everyone was aware of those things
and also then train technicians because you know, repairing a
vehicle becomes different when you have this kind of technology,
because one mistake could cause an accident.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
As we wrap things up, where's the best place for
people other than looking at their mailbox and waiting for
that next letter to come from from the Triple A,
where's the best place for them to go and get
in form me.
Speaker 8 (39:00):
The best place is just go to Triple a dot com.
It's going to ask you for your zip code and
it will direct you to the correct club so it
is zip caated, zipgated, or you could also call one
eight hundred AAA help too.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
And that's pretty good.
Speaker 6 (39:17):
Yeah, that gets you to our call center.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
Excellent.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Thanks Bob for coming onto the program. We appreciate your time,
and as we do another round of them, well hope
to have you back and get into more depth in
some of the ways that you guys have helped another
legal in the laws and traffic laws and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Thank you both, yeap, take care.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
You've been listening to A Heart for Business, the podcast
sponsored by the Better Business Bureau here in northwest Ohio
southeast Michigan. You can listen and subscribe at iHeartRadio and
go back in the archives and listen to any of
the previous shows. We'll be back again next week. A
new episode drops every Wednesday on A Heart for Business
(39:59):
on I Heart Radio, m
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