Interstate Batteries Inc. wants to help tire dealers and automotive repair businesses of all sizes take their shops to the top, so the company has turned to a team of experienced technicians and owners for their best tips. Their insights are the focus of a new video series: Shop Goals.
The 10-episode series kicks off with three experienced technicians:
Audra Fordin, a fourth-generation technician who is the owner and operator of Great Bear Auto Repair in Flushing N.Y. She's also the founder of Women Auto Know, which works to empower consumers as well as honest shop owners through a community.
Ralph Parente, who grew up in his family's Soundview Service Center in Mamaroneck, N.Y., now runs the business. But when he started working on cars the same year he learned to drive, he remembers plenty of customers who didn't take him seriously.
Charles Sanville, who went from technical school to a Volkswagen dealership, and now is best known as "The Humble Mechanic." The master certified Volkswagen technician has a YouTube channel with more than 318,000 subscribers and hundreds of videos.
In the first two episodes Fordin, Parente and Sanville talk about their days as the newbies in the business. (Fordin once had a male janitor relay information to a customer because the customer didn't believe she was a technician.) They also talk about the best ways to train new technicians in the bay, and how to identify the mentors in a business.
Eight more episodes will be released throughout June, Interstate Batteries said.
