From Technician to Shop Owner: The Challenges You Never Saw Coming [THA 507]

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

This is The Automotive Repair Podcast Network.

Carm Capriotto (0:06)

Hey everybody, Carm Capriotto, AST 2026 here in Raleigh, North Carolina, back in the studio. I got Rick White, I got Dan Hensel, and we are going to talk about the relationship that started probably 30 years ago. And you're going to love this because they're both really great friends. It's 37 years ago, and you don't look a day over 49 But thank you so much to NAPA TRACS, Today's Class, Kukui and Pit Crew Loyalty. For over 30 years, NAPA TRACS has made selecting the right shop management system easy by offering the best, most comprehensive SMS in the industry. We'll prove to you that TRACS is the single best shop management system in the business. Find NAPA TRACS on the web at napatracs.com.

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Hey, guys, so it goes back 30 years, huh? Do you remember that, Rick, at all, that Dan actually worked for you?

Rick White (2:08)

Oh, yeah.

Carm Capriotto (2:09)

How many years were you there, Dan?

Dan Hensel (2:11)

Three.

Rick White (2:12)

Three years.

Carm Capriotto (2:12)

Three?

Dan Hensel (2:13)

Three years I worked there.

Rick White (2:14)

And when he quit, he was in tears.

Dan Hensel (2:16)

I had to move back to Buffalo, but I never was from there. So that's where I moved to.

Rick White (2:21)

Right.

Dan Hensel (2:22)

We moved.

Rick White (2:23)

Because Theresa was going to school at Boston College, right?

Dan Hensel (2:27)

Boston College, grad school. That's what brought me to Boston.

Carm Capriotto (2:31)

Got it. And you were looking for work?

Dan Hensel (2:33)

Pretty much.

Carm Capriotto (2:34)

What did you know how to do? Brakes?

Dan Hensel (2:36)

Yeah, basically a muffler shop type gig.

Carm Capriotto (2:38)

Okay.

Dan Hensel (2:38)

I had just got out of the military in 95 off of active duty, and I went to Alford State College for automotive.

Carm Capriotto (2:45)

Thank you for your service, by the way.

Rick White (2:47)

Yes.

Dan Hensel (2:48)

But I didn't know what else to do other than I worked in Monroe, but they didn't really, sorry to say, it was just too basic.

Carm Capriotto (2:56)

Okay.

Dan Hensel (2:56)

It was just under cars.

Carm Capriotto (2:57)

But it was too basic because you wanted more.

Dan Hensel (3:00)

Because I wanted more. All right. You know, and it's like the shops I was looking at was not, at that time, I didn't know anything about independent shops.

But there was just that mentality was like you go work at a dealer. But I just applied to everybody.

Carm Capriotto (3:13)

A dealer or a big chain. So you saw Rick's ad. What was the name of the business, Rick?

Rick White (3:17)

Tremont Street Garage.

Carm Capriotto (3:18)

Okay.

Dan Hensel (3:19)

Melrose, Massachusetts. Just a suburb of the city, north of the city.

Carm Capriotto (3:23)

Is that where you grew up?

Rick White (3:24)

I grew up in Saugus, which was one town.

Carm Capriotto (3:26)

Okay. All right.

Dan Hensel (3:27)

Yeah. It was wicked nice.

Carm Capriotto (3:29)

What prompted you to want to become a shop owner, Rick?

Rick White (3:32)

Grew up in the business. My dad had a shop.

Carm Capriotto (3:35)

Okay.

Rick White (3:36)

I was playing with carburetors when I was seven, and I was rebuilding transmissions when I was 17

Carm Capriotto (3:40)

What are carburetors?

Rick White (3:41)

They were a fuel delivery device before fuel injectors.

Carm Capriotto (3:44)

Nice definition, Mr. Webster. Thanks.

Dan Hensel (3:45)

You're welcome.

Carm Capriotto (3:47)

Thank you so much.

This is going to be a fun episode. Please stick around. You went to work for Rick and then you moved back to Buffalo for what reason that you were crying in Rick's?

Dan Hensel (3:58)

I was a good job, but I went from not knowing anything to being a Class A tech, being from basically L1 master certified in three years.

Rick White (4:10)

Because he wanted it and we gave him the opportunity. I pushed the shit out of him.