Episode 58 – Bryce Atkas

How did you get this expertise? I did exactly what you said. I tore a lot of stuff up. It was my own stuff, though, and, uh- Yeah. you know what I mean? What’s a better way? You gotta be hands-on to learn. I think that’s- Yeah. you know? I think you can go to school and you can learn all the stuff, but I think the real, the true knowledge comes from hands-on experience and, and the failures that obviously lead to the success, you know? Those are valid points you bring up. I didn’t really think about those things-when I was starting, first started off. Uh, you know, now, yes, those are things I look at, numbers and, and revenue and stuff like that. But I think for me, it was just more of a passion, right? So like, I wasn’t thinking about money, numbers. Obviously, I wanted to pay my bills. I knew that. And I was like, “Hey, let’s have fun while I’m doing it. “I think failure is just as important as success too, ’cause I mean, you might get to a failure point and be like, “Man, like, why did this go wrong? “But then, like, another door opens again. I do try to fix people. Um, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I think, you know, everybody deserves a shot in life. You know what I mean? I was given a shot. Mm-hmm. everybody. Welcome back to The Blueprint. Today, I’m with Bryce Atkas, owner of ACIDynamix. Uh, Bryce is an entrepreneur through and through. Uh, their, their company, ACIDynamix, takes your car to be their supercar, or take the local grocery getter and get the oil changed. We’ll see what he’s got for us. Stay tuned. Oh, and also, let me ask you this. If you could do me a favor and just hit that subscribe button, hit that like button at the bottom. It’s really gonna help us put out more of these. Uh, really helps us get this to you guys, and, uh, really pushes us further down the road. Appreciate you. Thank you. Uh, Bryce, thanks for coming on the show, man. I really appreciate you, uh, joining us today. Yeah, thanks for having us. I appreciate you, uh, asking us to be on it. Yeah. You know, the c- the cool thing is that you and I kind of met through a, a, a mutual, um, hobby, I would say. I don’t know, it’s a hobby for me, not for you. But, um, but, you know, the passion for, for cars and, uh, the rallies and things that we’re doing. But, um, you know, as I got to meet you, I met you on Gumball 3000 the first time, um, and, uh, you know, tell me a little bit more about how that love and that passion has really kind of grown into what you’ve built out today for ACIDynamix. I mean, you know, uh, starting with just what you said, I mean, just meeting each other, right? So, like, connecting with people. I mean, I got to meet you through Gumball 3000. So, you know, you get into this, uh, car customization, and I think for us, it’s not customizing the cars. It’s the relationships we build and the people we meet out of this, you know? Mm-hmm. So, you know, going back to Gumball, you know, we met a mutual friend through that, and then I got to meet you through that. So, I think, you know, the passion turns into building relationships and, and, you know, forming those, and then being able to do things like we’re doing right now. Yeah, 100%. Um, f- you know, the main, the main point of this podcast is like there’s so many people out there that really don’t feel like they can make it as an entrepreneur. Um, and so I’ve put this out there as kind of an inspirational, to let people tell their story of how they made it to where they’re at. What were the ups? What were the downs? You know, what was family like growing up? You know, people don’t feel like they got a full hand dealt to them, you know? And sometimes, just fight through that. Um, quite honestly, most of the people that sit on the other side of me, these entrepreneurs, these guys have not even finished high school. You know? And, but they’ve made millions and millions of dollars in their business. Um, I’d love it if we could just kind of start out early in, in your life and, and your career with, you know, what, what was, where are you from and, and what was family like, you know, uh, at a very young age? Uh, I mean, I was born and raised in Connecticut, so I lived here my whole life. Um, I would say, you know, run-of-the-mill cookie-cutter family. You know, I have older sister, older sibling. Um, you know, basically went through life playing sports, doing kind of my own thing. Um, you know, ups and downs, you know, uh, played football, basketball. Wasn’t the best at them, to be honest with you. I really wasn’t that good at sports. Okay. Uh, something that really stood out to me was, um, motor sports, right? So, um- Okay. I got into motocross racing and, um, as you know, some of those hobbies aren’t cheap, let’s say. Yeah. Right? And, uh, you know, racing dirt bikes, you’re always, uh, rebuilding the bikes, fixing them. I didn’t have money to go ahead and have those things paid for, right? Mm-hmm. So, I started wrenching on it myself, um- Mm-hmm. and, you know, got hands-on with it, and it, you know, it kind of led into other things to the gateway to kind of where we are today, you know? That was where the mechanical stuff started for me, you know? Was this, um, when you, when you went from, uh, you said you played football and, and basketball. At what age was this? I mean, younger age. I mean, middle school, um- Okay. you know, dabbled in basketball, wasn’t the best. Yeah. Played baseball probably a little before that. Wasn’t the greatest, right? Mm-hmm. Um, and, uh, you know, bought a quad, and you know, we have a lot of woods up in Connecticut. Or more so back then than we do now, but, um, it became a passion of mine, right? You know, uh- Mm-hmm. 4 wheels, any 4 wheels or anything with an engine, um, it was awesome to do. So- Okay. you know, that really kind of, I guess, started the, my passion for anything with an engine or, or motor sports. Yeah, you traded that in, in the 8th, 8th or 9th grade type, uh, type timeline, and really kind of jumped over into that. Did you compete in motor sports at all, or is it just on- I did. I, I raced the, you know, novices around Connecticut in the northeast area. Um, and, uh, you know, at the time when I would say college came around, it was a decision of, “Hey, am I gonna keep pursuing this? What are we gonna do? “And I thought- Mm-hmm. at that point that, you know, everybody at that time was like, “Hey, go to college. Go to college. You gotta go to college to get a good job. “Um, even my parents. “Hey, you gotta go to college. “So, um, I took that step to go to college. Now, did I stay there- Mm-hmm. for 4 years? No. It, I didn’t make it 4 years through college, so we could start there. Yeah. Yeah. So, were your parents supportive of you through the motocross stuff that you were, you know, jumping into? Were they like- Yeah. “We want you to go more traditional”? Okay. So they were- No, they were supportive-supportive the whole way. through that. Uh, you know, they, I think like anything else, um, you know, when we grew up in that time, it was, “Hey, go to college. “Mm-hmm. “Um, get your degree, get a good job. “Yeah. Right? There wasn’t like- Yeah. “Hey, go on your own, start a business. “That really, and I think even today, they’re still not pushing the, “Hey, go to college. Go to this. “Yeah. I don’t, I don’t think that’s for everybody, you know? There’s certain people- Yeah. yeah, that maybe they’re road doctors, lawyers, right? That’s part of their, their thing. But, um, for me, that wasn’t. You know, I made it probably, I would say a semester and a half is as far as I made it at college. What did you wanna, what did you go in for? Just getting your basics done, or you just wanted to get a general degree, or what’d you have anything picked up? Uh, I went in for criminal justice, is what I went in for. So- Okay, okay. Sharpshooter. Yep. So, never really, uh, progressed too much and, uh, after being there for a semester and a half, uh, I felt like I didn’t want to go anymore. So I just stopped going to college even though my parents were still paying for it. So, that didn’t work out so well. Yeah. So, they pulled the plug on that and you guys said, “I need to go somewhere else. “Were you working anyt- at any place at this time? I was working full-time. So, even through high school, I never stopped working. Um, and I think that was, you knowAnd, A: You know, football took a lot in high school, right? These guys were practicing 5 days a week. Mm-hmm. Um, I opted to work 5 days a week. Mm-hmm. So I would get out of school, 1:00, you know, for study hall and I would go work all day long, and then I w- that would fund, obviously, racing and, and those motor sports I wanted. Started building cars in high school. I had a big lifted truck, I had an Acura Integra. Um, I funneled a lot of that work money into those cars and I, and I wrenched- Mm-hmm. on them myself, right? So I built them hands-on. Um, and, uh, you know, that was kind ofI was always working, you know? W- were you just, like, looking through, like, you know, something online to find instruction on how to do this, or was it somebody in your family that really helped push you down that line? Or was it, like, a buddy? Like, how did youNo one just picks it up, opens the hood, and, and next thing you know, they’re good at these things. I mean, you’re gonna tear a lot of stuff up before you figure it out, right? So, what, what route did you take? How did you get this expertise? I did exactly what you said. I tore a lot of stuff up. It was my own stuff, though, and, uhYeah. You know? I mean, what’s a better way? You gotta be hands-on to learn. I think that’sYeah. You know? I think you can go to school and you can learn all this stuff but I think the r- the true knowledge comes from hands-on experience and the, and the failures that obviously lead to the success, you know? Mm-hmm. You know, a real good part of, of kind of what you’re saying, uh, as, as you go through this journey, you talked about, “Oh, I had a lifted truck and, and whatever,” and, like, some of those things are aesthetic and, and not necessarily about the performance. But at some point you kind of switch over from, “I want to make this thing do something that is, you know, gonna be more costly by making it do something that’s more powerful, turn it into a supercar or whatever. “Right. That journey along the way, like, how far along down the line were you before you started really trying to tune cars up for speed versus making it look big? Well, I mean, there’s, there’s, there’s probably a good gap, um, from the time where, like, where the college, um, stopped and then where we are today. Obviously, that’s a, it’s a pretty big gap in the timeline but I’ll kind of- Mm-hmm. just run through it really quickly. Um, when I did drop out of college and my parents were like, “Oh, well, that’s great you’re not going to college anymore, but you have 2 weeks to decide what you want to do or you can move out. “Yeah. You know? Oh, nice. Um, I, I went into, uh, diesel. So I actually started into diesel mechanic. Um, I went to school for a year and a half for diesel training. Um, at the time, it paid a little bit more than automotive. Um, you know, the bigger trucks on highway- Yeah. you know, the bigger things on those. Um, so I went into diesel and I was in diesel for probably about 5 years working on diesel trucks in marine applications. Okay. So you got out of that and you found a job that was local to the area? Is that a pretty easy access job? Are there a lot of those locations around, or do you have to go somewhere? Um, I mean, yes and no. I mean, I w- I had a job while I was in school. I mean, they were looking for mechanics for diesel. Um, so- Mm-hmm. I pretty much got a job right away. I was working for a dealership for Freightliner, um- Okay. and then created relationships within Freightliner where the state guys borrow their trucks, from the State of Connecticut, borrow their trucks for Freightliner. So they’re like, “Hey, man,” like, “We’d love to have you on the State of Connecticut, you know, for the DOT. “Mm-hmm. So I end up transferring over to the DOT, uh, State of Connecticut, um, for about 5 years I went to work for them, soWell, that’s cool. So you worked, you worked for the government basically. You were, uhYou were, you were doing s- it was like state taxes or state company, like, like road work trucks or, like, what was it? Yeah. For all the plowing, for, like, on the highway stuff so, b- basically public sector. Um, you know, fixing any of their, their on-highway trucks, their, you know, that mow, mow the highways, all that stuff. So it’s basically all their maintenance for any state trucks. Okay. That’s cool. And so you worked there for how long? Uh, I was there for about 5 years. Okay. So you worked for about 5 years, getting training, learning how things are working. Are you still doing your hobby thing on the side or, like, what are you, you know- So, uh, in the, in the interim when I was at the state, I, uh, kind of started dabbling on side jobs, right? We all like to side hustle, right? We call it the side hustle. Okay. So, I was wrenching out of my house, kind of doing side jobs for all my buddies, this and that, and it came to the point where it was like, “Hey, I can’t have this at my house anymore. I gotta get a location. “So I got a little one-bay- Mm-hmm. um, started working on it, uh, while I was at the state, and it was, kind of came to a head in the road where I was like, “I can’t keep working at night and doing this job at the same time. “And, uh, my wife was like, you know, “Hey, like, if you wanna go in this full-time, I support you. Like, let’s take the jump and do it. “Now, obviously, state, if you’re a state employee or a government employee, right, you have the best benefits they talk about. You have the 401. Yeah. Or you have a pension, I should even say, and the best benefits, right? So you have to decide now, “Hey, I’m giving up my pension, I’m giving up a steady paycheck, I’m giving up all that to go do this. “Right? Which isn’t really, let’s say, the smartest decision, people would say. But what risk is worth it, what’s the reward? You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, that’s a cool, you know, approach that you’re taking to this of like, “Maybe I’m not pla- taking the safest route. Like, I am taking a gamble on myself ’cause it’s a passion that I wanna jump into. “You know, did you see like, “Man, if this multiplies out”Like, how di- how do you go to start setting up a business like that? Is it, “I’ve got 8 or 10 or 12 cars that are already kind of lined up. “Or, “I’ve got more work from these buddies that just keep coming back to me. “? Or, “I need to set up an LLC. I need to go start doing the marketing behind this. I need to find out where I can get more business. “Like how did youI mean, you go from something that’s a daily job to, “My buddies have sent me something over and I’m working in a one bay. “Like, that’s a big jump just to, like, take all that away and then expectA company’s not just about the name. A company’s not about the location. A company is about how much business and revenue you have coming in, right? Right. I mean, those are valid points you bring up. I didn’t really think about those things-when I was starting, first started off. Uh, you know, now, yes, those are things, I look at numbers and, and revenue and stuff like that. But I think for me it was just more of a passion, right? So like, I had the will that I was like, “Hey, I’m gonna s- see this is something I’m passionate about and I know if I put 110% into this,” Like, “Where, where it could go,” right? So like, I wasn’t thinking about money, numbers. Obviously I wanted to pay my bills. I knew that. Right. Um, and I was like, “Hey, let’s have fun while I’m doing it. “You know? And, and then as that progressed, we started to scale the business, you know? Um- Mm-hmm. there was 2 of us at the time working at night, and then we started scaling from there, really. Mm. So you have a partner in this whole thing? Not, no. No partner. Just- All by myself. All by yourself. That’s awesome. All by myself. Yeah. Th- this was a, if you truly an if-you-build-it-they-will-come scenario. Yeah. I mean, you know, I firmly believe that. I mean, there was, you know, steps I obviously took along the way for marketing and, and things of that nature. Um, you know, buying certain cars, right? Like, you know, if you buy this car, are they, are they gonna come to you and have the car worked on, right? So you wanna build the brand. Like, what cars do I wanna work on? Do I wanna work on, you know, everyday Honda CR-Vs or do I wanna work on some of the super cars like we had on Gumball 3000, right? So I think for me the drive was, “Hey, I need to obtain one of these cars. I need to work and get it. “So it’s like you build it, they will come, right? Mm-hmm. So like, I wanted to get something and be like, “Hey, this is what I have. I’ve worked on my own car. Like, trust me with yours. “You know? Mm-hmm. And so when you started, you started working on these different types of cars. You were, y- you said you’d do everything. I’m guessing, you know, the oil changes and the grocery getters and things like that is, because those are daily things that bring revenue in. That’s currently in the situation you’re in right now. But when you start talking about, you know, the super cars and, and big builds and things like that, those take a lot of time. You know, what, you know, what’s your long haul? I mean, you’re not doing a restoration. What’s a long, what’s a long build for someone that comes in and says, “Hey, I want you to take this from, you know, 600 horsepower to 1200 horsepower or 2000 horsepower. “Like, what’s the, what’s the transition of a build when it comes to that? Are we talking like a month or 3 months or 6 months or? I mean, I guess it all depends on how crazy they wanna get. I mean, if you come in and you’re like, “Hey, we wanna do some bolt-ons. “I mean, it could be a day job. Or, “Hey, you know, we wanna really tear this motor down and, you know, give it the business. Twin-turbo it,” all that, you know. “We wanna do-” Mm-hmm. “wheels, tires, front suspension. “Some of the motor builds typically take a lot longer, um- Mm-hmm. due to the fact that parts, you know, obviously, you know, machine shop. Mm-hmm. But some of the smaller stuff we can bang out pretty quick. It all, like I said, it depends on how complex you’re gonna get with the build. And so when you’re looking to do those, are those the type of jobs you wanna do all the time? Are you looking to do stuff that’s more, you know, carry you through every day? I mean, are you lookingI mean, obviously you don’t, you gotta pick a model or, or is this just kind of the way you wanna be for forever? Uh, I mean, th- you know, y- so like I say this, like, the routine maintenance is gonna pay your bills every day, right? I mean, you know- Mm-hmm. you bring a McLaren in here, um, yeah, it’s cool and you post that on social media, right? Everybody likes to post cool stuff on social media, but there also- Mm-hmm. has to be a balance of c- cash flow, right? You want, you talk- Mm-hmm. Everybody talks about cash flow, cash flow. You gotta have routine jobs that are coming in. Clutch jobs, breaks, right? I mean- Mm-hmm. I think there’s some shops out there that stick with just, you know, turbos and that, and they’re known for that. Um- Mm-hmm. we kind of are an open-ended shop. So I have my dealer license, we do sales, we do service, we do the high performance stuff. So we’re kind of hitting on the fact that- Mm-hmm. if you’re coming here, like, we’re kind of the one-stop shop, right? Like, if you’re like, “Hey, I wanna bring my vehicle in, but I just want an oil change. “But then you come in- Yeah. you’re like, “Oh, that’s cool that you wrap. So I want that. “Or, “Can you tint the windows on there? “”Sure, we can do that. “Right? And your time- Mm-hmm. is valuable, right? So like, if you’re putting a dollar on your time and everybody has a dollar value on their time, I want them to be able to drop their car here and then get everything done. They don’t have to waste time going anywhere else. That’s really cool. I, I love the fact that, you know, you can just pop it in and turn it over, you know, turn it into this, a superhero overnight. That’s, that’s, I mean, that’s a really cool, you know, aspect of what you guys do, is you, you do everything, you know, and soUm, you know, going back to the one-stop shop, right? It’s just you- Right. in there. You said we were working in there. Yes. You just hired somebody to come help you out? OrI had, uh, one of my close friends at the time wrenching with me. He’s no longer with the- Okay. company anymore. He’s grown as well too. Uh- Okay. he grew with me through several years and actually went on to his own thing as well. Um- Mm-hmm. and, uh, you know, we pioneered it and we worked at it together. Um, you know, he wasn’t a partner per se at the, at the time when we were doing it- Mm-hmm. um, but I think he was vital in growing the company. I think, you know, having a right-hand man or someone that’s here for you, that supports you too as well, is vital- Mm-hmm. in any company. Um- Yeah. you could be at the top of the totem pole, but if you don’t have someone supporting you from the bottom, you know, w- where are you gonna go? You know? Yeah, 100%. So you guys worked in that one bay for how long? Ah, that one bay, I would say, probably 2 to 3 years where we expanded from there. Um, and then I would say your 3 to 6, 7 year was another expansion. Mm-hmm. Uh, we’re going, coming up on 14 years now. Um, and I would say we’re actually expanding now. We’re up to 2 locations. We’re currently opening the second location. And this, we went from, I would say, 3,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, so now we’re at 15,000 square feet here. We’re building a second building, plus a second location right now. Wow. That’s crazy. Do you ever look back and think, like, “Man, I’ve made it such a long way,” or is it just, like, such a blur still at this moment that you can’t hardly even you know, imagine kinda going back to where you were at? Yeah. I mean, you know, I think I don’t sometimes realize to where you’ve come, you know. Um, I like to stay who I, you know, core to who I am and, and what we’ve built, you know? Yeah. And, uh, I think sometimes it’s hard. You know, you scale, you’re getting bigger, uh, you’re hiring more employees, right? Some people stay with you, some people don’t stay with you. So I think it’s, it’s, it’s important to stay rooted where you were, like, when you first started, you know? You, you don’t wanna lose sense of- Mm-hmm. where you came from and who you were to where you are now, and I think sometimes that gets lost in the transition. That could have a negative effect on the business as well too. Yeah. 100%. So you went from that one bay. You got how many, how many cars could you fit inside of this one bay? You said 3,000 square feet, so I’m guessing you could work on 5 or 6 cars at a time. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. We had, at that time, we had, I think, 3 lifts in. Um- Okay. then we went to 5 lifts. Um, and now, you know, like I said, you know, now I think we’re up to, like, 10 lifts or something like that for what we have- Yeah. for both sides. You know, really when we expanded, we opened another side for the vinyl and the paint protection films- Mm-hmm. and the window tinting, right? We call that the clean side. And then, obviously, the mechanic side, the dirty side. But I also wouldn’t say it’s a dirty shop, ’cause I’m very particular on how my, my shop is, so- Mm-hmm. I think we keep it clean everywhere, you know? Yeah. And I’m just kinda walking people through the process of, like, how you got to the different stages. Like, understanding that you jumped from location to location to location, but there’s gotta be a transition there. There’s gotta be something that says, like, “Hey, man, we’re starting to outgrow. There’s too much business. I gotta, I got more cars or I need more people. I need X. “Like, what was the biggest need that made you think, “Man, this, this size building is not gonna work for any, me anymore. I have to go and, and invest in, in what? “I think it’s more of a, the customer needs, right? When you get to the point where people are like, “You’re not getting back to us,” um, you know, “I can’t wait 2 weeks to get my car in,” right? You have to look at the sense of that as like, you know, um, you know, like just said, hiring an office person, right? You talk about expansion. You know, I was- Mm-hmm. answering all the calls and doing the mechanic work, right? And they get to the point where it’s like, people are like, “Hey, man, I can’t get ahold of you. “”Hey, um, I’m trying to get a job in here. “Right? So, like, you’d think now, like, am I losing those jobs because I’m not answering, right? So does it- Hm. make sense to pay someone on the phone to answer those calls, get those leads, get those jobs, right? Or am I losing them and losing revenue because I’m not answering these things? So, like, like, I looked at it as a, you know, scaling it as I needed it, right? You know, these things. Mm-hmm. “Okay, we need this,” or, “Hey, we can’t get all these cars done. We’re, we’re back like 2 weeks. Well, then we need another lift. We need another technician. “And I think you also have to look at the market too, because you’re notSome of these people go, “Oh, I’m gonna buy everything. I’m gonna get everything,” right? “I want 10 lifts. “And then the market falls out. So you have to be really cautious on, on scaling that too as well. Mm-hmm. And so what went into weighing that out? You were like, you, you felt like you had enough business. You felt like you’ve built enough clients up over, over a certain amount of time that were kinda recycling and coming back to you. Are these all new clients? Are these like’Cause, I mean, honestly, if you think about it, like, some of the money that’s invested into the things that you guys do, I mean, those aren’t needs. Those are wants, right? And so, people that have a lot of wants are a lot fewer than the people that have needs, right? And so are, the need people are gonna come back to you pretty regularly, right? You’re gonna, you’re gonna have that staple keep coming back. You’re building that client base. Is that client base growing faster than the wants need, I mean, than the want side? Or is the need side, you know, the one that’s really kinda carrying things through, you know, as the bulk of your business? And at some point, how much of that starts to shift the other way? I mean, I think it’s a balancing out both. I mean, there’s always needs for cars, right? They need- Yeah. to get done. Um, but we always make a joke, like, it’s like, your wife, right? They always wanna get their nails done, their hair done, right? Mm-hmm. It don’t matter if they have money or not, they’re still going to get their hair and nails done, right? Yeah. If we’re guys, and typically, if we don’t have money, but we still wanna put wheels on our car, do something, we’re gonna find a way to do that, right? Yeah. So you have to look at it at that aspect, is people are, you knowIt’s, yeah, it’s, it’s more of a, a want, right? But, like, it’s some people, it’s their hobby. They love to do it, so they’re gonna find a way to do it, you know? Mm-hmm. That’s interesting. Yeah, and I just wanted to, as those, ’cause you’re gonna make this transition. You’re like, “Man, I got a lot of needs that keep coming back. “Or, I guess what you’re saying is, like, the wants, people are gonna want to do that. They’re gonna figure out a way to make that thing happen. Exactly, yeah. And as soon as they start to figure out a way to ha-I know that I’ve got more of those guys coming in. But from my perspective, like, this is a big investment for a vehicle, right? Like, how many, how many times am I gonna come back and get my car worked on once I get it done once by you? Are these people continually coming back? Like, you did it once, here’s version one. I need you now to take it to level 2, now to level 3. Or is this just like a remake once we get to the point? Well, just what you said. I mean, so we try to make an experience where it’s, it’s an all-inclusive experience, right? Like, you go on vacation, you wanna keep going back on vacation and you had a good time, right? Yeah. So if you come here and we build you a custom car, we do something, we wanna create an experience behind it, right? So it’s like- Mm-hmm. hey, you know, we, we built a custom car. It’s cool looking, right? Now you go on the road, you stop at a gas station. You’re like, “Wow, that thing’s awesome. “You go here, “Hey, who did that? And it becomes almost like, uh, you know, like, like- A rolling business card. a dopamine, like, hey, y- right. Like, “Hey, this is so awesome. “Yeah. And then next year, they’re like, “Hey, man, I really wanna level this up. I wanna change the wrap, I wanna change the wheels,” because they wanna go back out and do it again, right? Man. So I think that comes into the experience play of is, like, making sure they have a great experience and they’re having fun while in the process- Mm-hmm. because it’s something they’re gonna wanna do again. Mm-hmm. Yeah, the journey of the creation is almost as good as the actual creation itself. Correct. I have people- Yeah. that build cars literally because they enjoy the process of it, and they’ll build a full car. I have one client specifically that will literally go out, buy a cool car, build it with us, ’cause he’s friends with us, and then literally drive it for a week and make out on like it sells it, and then he buys another one and does it again. And I’ve probably done half a dozen cars, if not a dozen cars for him already. I think I have 2 of them here right now. Wow, that’s crazy. So I guess he’s, he’s building them out, you’re his hands, and then he goes and flips them for a, for a grip. And then , and then moves on. Wow. Moves on, does another one. Rolls into another project. What a, what a great business model that is, to just ha- be a dreamer and being able to have the clientele that you can kinda sell that stuff to. So that’s- Yup. that’s pretty slick. And for you, you’re happy to have those guys that are just continually giving you, you know, kind of blank slates on stuff. Are they giving you, like, a, a blueprint or a roll, uh, roadmap to do these kinds of things? Or is it aHey, what, what do you think? Some of them, they do. I mean, they’ll be like, “Hey, I want this color wrap,” or this. And then some of them, they’ll be like, “Hey, what do you recommend for performance? You know these platforms. What would you recommend doing? “Right? And ultimately, you know, I give them an A, B, C option. Say, “Hey, these are the options. Here’s an A, here’s a B, here’s a C. “And so they’re part of the process. They can pick. You know, we could say, “Hey, this is what we recommend, but you could also have these 2 too. “And then let them- Mm-hmm. be a part of that, you know? I think part of it’s- Mm-hmm. informing them what are the right pieces to the puzzle, um, what’s gonna work well on the car. But at the same time, you wanna give them the choice too of what a couple of those could be and make them part of that process. Not like, “Hey, just give me your credit card, buy all these parts. “And they’re like-“Okay, well-” Yeah. ” like, what am I buying? “Versus like, “Hey, this is what this is gonna do, or you can go with this one or this color. Um, this is better than that one,” right? And let them be a part of that build, you know? Yeah, that’s crazy. You know, I think about this too, with when, when we have a client for, like, our marketing company. I think about, like, I always ask the client, “What’s, what’s your end goal for this? Like, what are you r- what’s your destination? What are you wanting? Are you wanting views? Are you wanting ROI? Are you wanting leads? Are you wantingLike, what are you wanting us to build a strategy for? “Which really makes me feel like that’s kinda the same thing that you’re bringing to these, to these clients as well, to say, “Look, I can make this thing fast. I can make this thing slick. I can make this thing have a, you know, creature comforts all, all across the board. But what are you really wanting to do? And we can even stage gate this thing through. “Is that kinda the, the process you guys walk through? Yeah, I mean, we have, uh, just, I’ll give you, for instance, now I had, uh, a lady come in. She’s a chiropractor. They had a older Suburban. It’s probably like a, I don’t know, might even be like a 2009 or ’10, right? Thing’s beat up. Like, no joke, it’s beat up, right? But her thing is like, “Hey, I wanna build this for my business. I’ve had it for a while. Like, what could we do with it? “And I’m like, “Yeah,” so we’re basically taking this, you know, 2009-2010 Suburban, wrapping it white, doing a chiropractic design on it with all our logos, painting- Mm-hmm. the wheels on it. You know, and, uh, it’s cool because she’s like, “Hey, this is my budget. Can we work it? “And I just wanna park it out front, you know? So we’re, we’re kinda walking her through that process on it, you know? Um, or you can get someone that buys a brand new supercar, right? And they’re like- Hm. “Hey, I want window tints or PPF,” or, “What exhaust do you recommend? “You know? So I think everybody’s- Hm. different, but I think you can’t just think of it as, like, a supercar. “Oh, we’re only gonna do supercars. “I get people in that are, “Hey, I’m a, I sell insurance. I want this on my car,” or, “Hey, I’m a enthusiast, I want this,” or, “Hey, I race the car, I want this. “So, like, everybody’s different, you know? You get, you get the people that are just for their business. You get the people that are, have been doing it for fun. And then you get the people that are like, “Hey, I just want my car to be safe on the road. “So I mean, there’s reallyit’s a really a wide variety of what you get coming through. You know, that’s, it’s a really interesting perspective of what you’re selling as your business. You’re selling your business as “we do everything for cars,” basically. I meanRight. um, and that, uh, it comes from, like, your upbringing, you know, when you went into the diesels. And you can see that, you know, the, the stages of your love for the, for what you’re doing, turning a wrench and doing those things like that. Um, if you were to give, uh, an elevator pitch, a, a 2minute elevator, or a 30-second elevator pitch when someone says, “What do you do? “You can’t say all that. Like, you say, “What about your business? “You say, “Ah, man, we do upgrades to cars,” or, “We do”Like, I, I’m trying to, I’m trying to find out, like, what’s the, what’s the nugget of the business? Is it, “Dude, we take these things and we upgrade them to be”‘Cause that’s what I saw you as. When I thought of you, I was like, “This dude’s a high-performance tuner. This guy takes, you know, these cars and he makes them into supercars. “Like, that’s what I’ve always known you as, and, and quite- Right. honestly, like, I had no idea about the daily stuff. you know? Yeah. I mean, so, you know, we’ve done f- you know, interviews, like, and even for like this week when we’re doing Dream Ride, right? And they’ll be like, “Hey, like Fox 61 News, like, what’s your punchline? “And I mean, the punchline I would say is like, “We’re the one-stop shop, anything automotive. “I mean, if you could think of it, you could dream it, you could drive it, you could, uh, I don’t know, you could take it in the water. We’ll do anything. You know, I’ve done d- uh, we’ve done snowmobile graphics. I mean, anything. Really anything, you know? And I think that’s really the, the key to the business is like, you know, everybody has their own specialty, and- Mm-hmm. I think ours is really just being all-inclusive for people, you know? Drop the car off here, whatever you want, we’re gonna take it start to finish. Stereo, whatever you want, we’ll make sure it’s done, and it’s done here. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, that, there can’t be too many shops out there that can do everything like that. I mean, you’ve gotta be a special niche. I mean, you’ve gotta be one of, one of a handful of companies that can do that. Am I, am I seeing this incorrectly? I mean, I don’t think so. I mean, I think, uh, you know, it’s a case in point of why we expanded and why we grew. I mean, I think it’s- Yeah. you know, it’s not just the fact of like, “Hey, we do everything,” but it’s a fact of having these people, our, our employees and, and that are passionate about being in the company and doing what they do good, right? I mean- Mm-hmm. you can’t just be like, “Well, I’m gonna do everything, but I’m gonna be terrible at it,” right? “We’re gonna wrap your car- Yeah. but it’s gonna look terrible. We’re gonna, we’re gonna put a motor in there, but it’s gonna blow up tomorrow,” right? Like- Yeah, yeah. you need to make sure that anything we’re doing is done to a high level. And I think that’s- Mm-hmm. the biggest thing is quality control, and making sure that we’re, we’re meeting that expectation, hitting that bar, you know? And I think it’s really tough. It’s not, you know, to say it’s not stressful or to say that, you know, these guys don’t have breakdowns on cars or, you know, we, you know, we’re going through a build process and things break, and we’re scratching our head on what we can do better. I mean, it’s, it’s definitely a painstaking process on some of these things. And I, I think people see the glitz and the glamour on the YouTube, or they see the social media- Mm-hmm. and they’re like, “Wow, that’s cool. I wanna do that. “You know, yeah. It, it is cool and it looks cool, but I would take caution, too, in like that every time it’s not a walk in the park when we do these things either, you know? Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure it’s a, a journey for, for both. I mean, there can be some, some, uh, you know, bumping your head against the wall, too, when it comes to s- things you thought were gonna work or not gonna work, or first time builds- More times than not. More times than not, yeah. More not. Yeah. You know? And, and, and people asking for things that are just unachievable, you know? Like, “Hey, I want this certain thing on there,” and like, they don’t build that for that, you know? It’s like- Yeah. how do you, how do you walk through that navigation? Do you, you guys do custom pieces to kind of force things to work? Or like, uh, tell me a little bit more about like when someone comes in and asks for the impossible. I mean, within relevance, we’ll do it. I mean, there’s a few things that if someone came in and like, “I want this,” and you know, it’s impossible. I mean, there’s 2 things, right? Time and money. I mean, those are the 2 huge things. Like, how much time can we have the car for, and how much do you really wanna spend? ‘Cause at the end of the day, there’s, uh, you know, there’s an hourly cost associated with working on these cars. There’s an hourly- Mm-hmm. cost associated with having a technician on it or an A-level tech, or you know- Mm-hmm. an A-level wrapper. Um, so, I think it comes down to those things. And it’s like, hey, if I have an unlimited budget, yeah, anything’s possible, right? I mean- Mm-hmm. if, “Hey, my budget’s this amount,” well, then we can do these things, and we can work in that budget, but this is what you’re gonna get with that, right? Yeah. Setting an expectation. You know, um- Mm-hmm. if you’re doing a motor build, “Hey, my budget’s 10 grand,” it’s probably not gonna work for a motor build if your budget’s 10 grand, you know? Um- Yeah. so, you know, really sitting down and being like, “Hey, these are the costs associated to do this if we wanna do it right. “And I think some people are like, “Yeah, I’m with it,” or some people are like, “Yeah, that just doesn’t make financial sense to do it,” you know? SoYeah, that’s crazy. You know, uh, coming from, you know, pitches in general, like, and you’re talking to, you know, again, I’m gonna take my business, and I’m gonna say, if I, if I have a client that comes to me, and I say, “What’s your budget? “They’re never gonna wanna give me a budget. These guys wanna, these guys will tell me, “No, just tell me what it’s worth. Tell me what it takes to do X,” right? Right. Um, in the car business, is it different? Do people come to you with like, dreams that are too big? And you say, “Hey, man, what’s your budget? “And they’re able to whittle it down toAre they more accepting of hearing the term, “What’s your budget? “Or are you guys really deliver like, “What exactly are you wanting to do? And this is how much it costs. “Yeah, I think that’s the approach we take. You know, I’ve had the ones say, “What’s your budget? “But I don’t think that always works. I think it’s more along, “What are you looking for? “You know, “What are you trying to get out of what you want us to do? “And then let us throw some numbers together and see where we’re at. I mean, if we, you know, if s- say I come up with a, let’s say a $50,000 estimate, and we’re like, “We’re at 10 grand. “I mean, we’re nowhere close. But may- you know, maybe we come up- Right. with a 40,000 and they’re at 35,000, right? Okay, well, we’re- Yeah. we’re in the same ballpark. Like, let’s, let’s go through this and see where we’re at. So I think sometimes people, you know, know what they’re gonna get and then what they’re gonna spend. And sometimes people don’t know what they’re gonna get. So I think it’s really, again, going back to setting that expectation of, hey, this is what you’re gonna get, and this is what we’re paying for, and, and this is how we’re gonna do it. Mm-hmm. You know, and I think, you know, those are things. I mean, you couldLike you said, I had a guy the other day brought in, uh, cab lights for a pickup truck, right? And he’s like- Yeah. “Oh, these are, uh, an hour install to put on. “And I’m like, “Well, we gotta take your headliner down. I gotta drill holes in the roof. I gotta seal this. “I’m like, “That’s not an hour. “You know, I mean, you’re talking 4 or 5 hours to do this. We put an estimate together and he’s like, “Oh, that makes sense. I understand that. “Like, he k- maybe he came- Yeah. initially thinking, “Oh, I’m gonna spend a couple hundred dollars to do these,” but he left with $1,000 bill. He didn’t leave with a $1,000 bill ’cause I wanted to charge him $1,000. He left with a $1,000 bill because it took that long to physically do the product that he bought. Mm-hmm. And I think if we explain that and break that down, people are easier to be like, “Oh, I understand what you’re saying,” versus like, just, “Eh, it’s $1,000 to do it,” you know? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, walking people through and showing them, you know, the man hours or, or whatever’s invested in this is a, is a much better approach. And I know a lot of people don’t do that. They just say, “If you wanna give it to me, this is the cost,” and move on. And there, there’s a lot of, like, tension and, and stuff when it comes to, you know, a lot of, a lot of car builders. And there’s trust me and do all this other stuff. And it’s like, you know, I really appreciate that approach because you, you pull the curtain back a little bit. Let me walk you through why this is gonna cost you $1,000. This is gonna cost you because of the headliner and the holes and the layout and, and the wiring and everything that goes into it. You can doYou know, you can see somebody get a little closer to your goal by telling them what the path is, right? Correct. Yeah. I mean, the other approach is too, it’s like, I could recommend things to you, right? Say you’re like, “Hell, I bought a brand new car and, you know, I wanna put some film on the front of it to protect the rock chips. “And I’m like, “Well, okay, that makes sense. But, like, what about this? Or what are you doing with the car? Are you gonna lease it,” right? Like, obviously- Mm-hmm. my job is to sell and make money for the business. But I won’t do that at the expense of, like, taking advantage of someone, right? If you’re like, “Hey, I bought-” Mm-hmm. ” a brand new truck and it’s on a lease, I’m gonna turn it in 2 years,” I probably wouldn’t sell you on film on the front of it. Like, you’re gonna turn the truck back in anyway, don’t worry about it. Let’s put ceramic on it instead. We can make it look shiny. It’ll be good for a couple years. We’re gonna save you a ton of money by doing that, you know? Mm-hmm. But you might come to me and say, “Bryce, I’d rather still spend the money. I want the PPF. “Well, at least I did my job and I was like, “Hey, there’s a cheaper option, um, you know-” Yeah. ” that suits your needs. But if you want this one, we can still do it,” you know? And let you make that decision. ‘Cause you might be more up to like, “You know what? I still wanna do the more extensive thing ’cause he was honest with me and said, ‘Hey, you could do this cheaper,’ but I still want what I want. “You know? So I think the approach is like- Yeah. not overselling and not making people buy things that they don’t need either, you know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Is there a type of vehicle that you guys work on more than the other types of vehicles? I mean, we’re more, I would say, European based, so BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, um, you know, Lamborghini obviously. Um, I don’tYou know, there’s the, like you said, the American motor stuff, right? Mustangs- Yeah. and, and that stuff. Um, I do Hellcats, we do Chargers, we do that type of stuff, but we’re more known for our European based market than we are for the American market. We still do it, you know? I feel like those cars- Mm-hmm. are easier to work on than the European stuff. Um, but we’re- Mm-hmm. more known for the European based products. What’s the difference there? I mean, when you say it’s easier to work on, is it just ’cause of the space on the inside? Is it the tools that go with it? Is it harder to get the parts? Like, what makes it easier to work on? On the American stuff? I mean, I feel like- Yeah. Well, make-they’re, they’re, they’re software is a little bit easier, you know? You can- Okay. you know, readily available. Um, some of the parts are more readily available. Some of the tear downs on, uh, American stuff is, is typically generally simpler than the European. European, like, think about taking apart a European car. It’s a process, right? And if you miss, if you skip to step five and you miss 2, 3, you’re, you’re going back. You know what I mean? So, you know- Mm-hmm. youIt’s, it’s more of a process of taking itLike you talked about a McLaren, right? You kindaMm-hmm. Everything is a process. Take this piece off to get to that piece. Take that piece off to get to the next piece, right? And if you try- Mm-hmm. to forego that or skip that, you’re breaking things because you’re not following the process used to fix that car. Yeah. You know, it’s, it’s funny because, uh, I worked on a few cars and, like, you know, thinking about, like, a, a Rover or something, how everything is kinda intertwined or laid on top of each other for- Right. it seems likeAnd, and when you’re going through it, you’re like, “This is the dumbest thing ever. Why would they stick this thing right here when you know I gotta access it in, you know, twice a year or, or 0 or once every, you know, 2 years or so? And you know I’ve got to spend, you know, 8 or ten hours trying to buckle this thing out. “But they do those things for design. I mean, there are some frustrating parts when it comes to a lot of the European design. But they’re also known to have a better designed car. Do you agree with this? I mean, is that, is that the, is that the approach you would, you would kind of lean with? Or do you still think the American, uh, muscle is, is kind of the way to go? Um, I mean, I think, you know, they all have their ups and downs. I mean, listen, we see all the broken stuff. I never see the good stuff. So when people come to us- Yeah. it’s usually falling apart or it’s broken. Um, I think any specific manufacturer or company has their own issues. You know, I mean, you know- Hm. Volkswagen, Audis, we see certain problems. The McLarens, we see certain issues. So I think it’s just, you know, what people say. I mean, generally speaking, you know, y- you think about European cars, they probably go a lot longer on mileage. But I don’t think that really applies to today. You know what I mean? I think you’re seeing across the board, everybody’s kind of even playing field. I think it comes down to personal preference, you know? Red Sox, Yankees- Mm-hmm. I mean, Chevy, Ford, you know? Kind of same thing- Mm-hmm. you know? Yeah. Are you saying the Red Sox and the Yankees are equivalent to each other? I mean, I think the Yankees are far superior than the Red Sox, soI just, I just wanted to make sure that that was put on. There you goUh, it’s so funny because the first time that I met you, I, uh, you know, you’re f- you’re from the same, you know, group of the guys that are hanging out in Boston all the time. And, uh, and I just, I, I just lumped you in with that. And then I remember you saying that you like the Yankees, and I thought-Wow. This has got to be a tough crowd to be a, a Yankees fan in, for sure. Yeah. A, but I mean, listen, when you, you know, you have a team like that, I mean, it’s easy to be a Yankees fan, you know? Ah, man, I’ve hated the Yankees for forever, but hey-that’s the way it goes. That’s the way it goes. I mean, everybody hates my Americans team too, so, uh, you know, good time. I mean, I’m a Patriots fan, so there’s that too, you know? Yeah, yeah. See, here’s the thing. That’s always- When Connecticut, right? So Connecticut’s- Mm-hmm. a weird state. So think about this. You have the New York Jets, you have the Giants, right? Mm-hmm. You have the Yankees down there, and you have the Mets. But no one talks about the Mets. But then- And then up north, you have the Patriots, and you have the Red Sox, right? But if you live in- Mm-hmm. Connecticut, you could sway either way, ’cause we’re, you know, in that state, we’re, we’re right in the middle of that. So we can go Giants, we can go to Boston. So, like, I’m a, I’m a unconventional Patriots, Yankees fan. So, like, I get the best of both worlds, you know? Mm. I had you- And people are like, “Well-“as a Mets, I had you as a Mets, Jets fan. That’s what I had you as. Mets, Jets fan? Woof. Yeah. That’s tough. That’s tough, that’s tough, that’s tough. There’s, there’s no happiness in that household all, all year long. No. No, not at all. That’s cool. Um, so, uh, you’re building this thing up m- back to, back to kind of the, the car stuff, you’re building these, uh, this property up. What’s the next step? Where are you going from, from this point? Um, I mean, I’ve, I’ve, you know, used this, uh, business to pivot into other businesses that I now have. Um- Okay. And, uh, you know, this is still a passion of mine, so I don’t think it’ll everPeople are like, “Oh, are you gonna leave? Are you gonna keep it? “I mean, I’m not going anywhere. I mean, we’re here to stay for sure. I think we’ve, uh, expanded our second location, which is literally ongoing as we speak. Um- Mm-hmm. And I think we see where that goes. I mean, I’ve had, you know, other people are like, “Oh, I wanna open a location here. I wanna go there. “I think it’s really duplicating the business model. And to be- Mm-hmm. 100% honest with you, I don’t feel that I ever have the business model 100% where I want it. So it’s really tough for me to open other locations when I’m not 100% satisfied with where this one’s going. So I think, you know- Yeah. we did pivot, and we do have another one now. Um, I think we s- see where the model goes. We see how that business runs up there and how that model works. Um, and, and, you know, the sky’s the limit. I mean, I don’t e- I don’t ever stop pushing. Um, I think we’ve grown in this location, and now we have that location that’s growing. So I think we see where we end up, you know, in 10 years from now. What are the biggest roadblocks for you when you say, “I don’t think I have this right”? You know, going through and talking about your business model specifically, and it could be better. Um, I think- What are, what are the-I think just ev- I think just evolving with it, to be honest with you. I mean, you know, times change, peoples change. I mean, since we started this business, you know, f- you’re talking 14 years, right? Think about how the world was 14 years ago and what we’ve been through to where we are now. mean, you know- Mm-hmm. you think of COVID and going through those times and all that stuff. So I think, you know, you have to keep evolving with the business. You can never just be like, “I’m complacent. I’m good. My policies are good. Um, I’m gonna run it the same way. “‘Cause I don’t think you’ll stay in business. I think you have to keep changing. And I think, you know, there’s a lot that goes on in the world. And I think you have to adapt to, to how people are, are changing. You talk, like, listen, like, talk about Amazon, right? So now we’re like, “Oh, I can buy it now. I’m gonna have it tomorrow,” right? “I want it now, I want it now. “And I think, you know, in business, thatPeople are coming here, and they’re like, “Well, if I get it on Amazon tomorrow, why can’t I get my car done tomorrow? “Right? So, like- Right. you have to evolve with that and try to push the limits of being faster, being better, trying to meet these goals. So I don’t think, you know, I think that setting that bar high never reallyIt’s always moving to the next level, higher, higher, higher. And then, you know- Mm-hmm. where do we go from there, you know? Mm-hmm. If you’re, if you’re building one, uh, I guess, target for the type of business that you want, would you be more of a, a SEMA build kind of a guy? Or would you be more of a road rally, company? I think I w- Where would you, where would you s-I mean, SEMA, in my opinion, like, you look at the SEMA cars, they’re like, some of them are, like, all show, no go. I mean, what’s the fun- Mm-hmm. of that? Like, I don’t know. Like, you know, we rally. We’ve been on rallies together. Like, if I build- Yeah. something, I wanna drive it. Like, I want to break it. Like, and then I want to go back and build it better again. And I wanna have fun with it, right? Like, these things, we build these things to enjoy them. Life’s short, right? So it’s like, you, you wanna have fun, you know? You wanna have fun in life. You only get one shot at it. I think, you know, I think that’s what brings me back to the rallies all the time, is like, it’s like, “Let’s go out, let’s have fun. “Like, “We only have one shot at this. Let’s go have a good time together and meet good people and spend time together. “Right? I think even, like, that part of the rally speaks louder to me than almost driving too, ’cause the people you meet, you wanna go hang out with them, and you build these- Mm-hmm. friendships that last forever because of a car, you know? Yeah. You know, and, and, and I love that part of it too, because, you know, like I, like I said, we met the first time on Gumball. We now do Rally to Give together, um, which has been really cool for us, you know, because we’ve learned, you know, uh, a whole different segment of people that we get to, you know, friend on the other side of the country, you know, being from Texas and where you guys are so nice to let us come up there and, and hang out with you guys for a week, you know? So, um, that’s been really cool. You guys have turned into our family and everything else. And so, um, it’s been really cool that we’ve been, you knowTook the TRX up there last year, and, uh, you know, you guys let, you know, Boss Hogg on the, on the roads for, for s- for 3 days. And, and again, that thing was, uh, screaming at me, bells and whistles, and every alarm and everything was going on it for about, uh, a month afterward I got back from it. But, um, to me, the road rallies are such a really cool thing, because they bring in all versions of your type of clientele. They can be the ones that have the top end cars and want everything to go with it. They can be the guys that are just the super enthusiasts that don’t have a whole lot, but they really invest in that car and they can show you the things that they did to make it perform or run or do, those types of things. Right. That family and that culture, you know, seems to really fit really well for what you guys are doing as a brand. And I know that that’s notYour business doesn’t equate to a rally, but what I’m saying is, your business does equate to that variety of people and that variety of, um, what people want to do to their cars from the inside out. Would you agree with this statement? I would. I think, you know, I think, you know, obviously, we’re automotive, right? And a rally is automotive, right? So- Yeah. I think, yeah. I mean, I think it definitely, um, you know, pivots to what we do, you know? So I think itAnd, you know, these people see it. And then obviously, like, you know, you know when weYou see the cars we bring. We always bring something flashy or cool. Yeah. Um, and it starts a conversation, right? I mean, you know, I think that’s the biggest thing is like, you know, self-expression. Like, you build your car and it expresses you, right? You know? And then, you know- Mm-hmm. we always have something crazy or some color or what, you know, whatever. And I think it’s cool because it, it starts a conversation. And like you said, with the rally, people are like, “Hey, I wantI brought this car,” right? They just want to talk about it. Everybody loves their car. It’s their main thing on a rally, right? So, it’s cool- Yeah. to have conversations about that, see how they built it, or, or why they wanted to do this, or why they bought that car. And then the same- Mm-hmm. apply wi- apply with us. Like, “Hey, you have that cool car. I saw you did this to it. Why’d you do that to your car? “Or, you know, “How come you wrapped it? “Yeah. Or, or whatever the case may be. You know what I mean? But again, it’s, it’s enthusiasts getting together, like-minded people, you know? Yeah. What I always thought was really cool about, uh, the rally was that I always brought a rental on there, and everyone thought how c- it was a sleeper. It was really just a, just a base model rental car. Uh- That was so much fun. Uh, yeah, it was funny ’cause I- Well, I mean, the good news of that was when, when you get pulled over, you could just pull the stickers off and drive away like you did, you know? That’s nice. Exactly. Exactly right. Or you get to, you get to pull it back up to the, to the Hertz and steam’s coming off of it, and you go, “Thank you for the, for the week. Appreciate that. “Yeah. For sure. You know? For sure. What’s the, what’s the most, uh, damage or impact you’ve done to a car on a rally, car of your own? Like, you’ve put it through the ringer. What’s, what’s the most you were like, “Man, I’ll never do that again because X happened with it? “I mean, listen, I’ve had cars break before we even left. I mean, I think it was 2 years ago when we left from the Del Mar. I had the Aventador down there, and I think it made it for you guys to see it, and then that was it. I, I had to tow it back here. Um, so, you know, I, I mean, I think car breakdowns, yeah, we’ve had it happen. I mean, it sucks. Um, I don’t want to talk about the alternative, ’cause I’ve had a pretty good track record on rally, so I’m not gonna even getI’m not, I’m not gonna say what I want to say. Um, but all in all, I would say, uh, you know, y- listen, if the cars are built right, you can beat on them and you don’t haveYou know what I mean? Yeah. Um, and I think, you know, even being on rallies, um, you know, cars that do break down, I think the other cool thing is always being there to lend a helping hand to these people, or whoever needs help when their car does break down. I think that’s part of it. Mm-hmm. Um, I mean, we’ve all been there. I think at 1 point or another, we’ve all been on the side of the road helping someone or been that person- Yeah. on the side of the road hoping someone’s helping us. So, um, I think that’s, that’s pretty cool. Um- Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I think all in all, I mean, you know, I’ve seen some crazy things on rallies. I won’t discuss those either. But, um, I think, you know, more or less, it’s just go have a good time. Try not to break your car. Um, if you- Mm-hmm. do break it, bring it, fix it and bring it back and have fun with it, you know? Yeah. Yeah, 100%. No, I know that, uh, I think, uh, was it last year you were like a, a day late or something getting to the rally or, umUh, I think it was the year before, because I think the car broke down and I ended up drove through Connecticut. I stopped, picked up another one of my cars because I’m fortunate to have another car in the garage, and meet up with you guys. Yeah. Uh, but it makes forYou know, listen, it makes for an interesting story. And obviously- Yeah. we do YouTube, so it makes for an interesting video when stuff like that happens. So you just gotta make the best- Yeah. My wife said to me, she was with me on the rally, and I remember being grouchy and yelling and swearing, and she’s like, “Who’s better than you? We’re gonna go home and get another car and still be on the rally. “And I’m like, “You know what? You’re right. “I’m like, “I’m not gonna even say anything. “I’m like, “Let’s just, let’s just get it together and go. “And does she, uh, she keeps you balanced pretty well? Yeah. She’s, uh, you know, she, uh, she keeps me in the right places at the right times, and, uh, usually, uh, levelheaded as well too, which is something that’s really important, so. And then- Mm-hmm. obviously supports me through all this nonsense and craziness that we do. I mean, there’s- Mm-hmm. there’s something to be said for that too. Was there a c- or was there any point in time that she got drafted into the business? Um, not really. She, she typicallyUm, she likes to come along, obvi- ob- as, you know, on the rally and have fun with us. Mm-hmm. Um, but, you know, she really doesn’t really get involved in the business too much, to be 100% honest with you. Um, you know, she’ll ask time to time, “How’s it going? “Or, “Why are you upset? “You know, and I think, you know, having someone at home to have a soundboard off of. And, you know, listen, w-Sometimes I get home and she’s like, “Why are you upset? “And I’ll tell her and I’ll be like, “Yeah, this is,” you know, ah, this, “This employee,” or this, that. And she’s like, “No, you’re wrong. “Like, “You need to go back,” or, “You need to call them and apologize,” and, “You’re wrong in this situation. “So, I think sometimes having someone coming in from a level-headed mind to say, “No, you are wrong in this. “And then, you know- Yeah. s- you know, basically acknowledging, being like, “Yeah, you are right, and I have to go back and have a n-, have a conversation. “You know? SoMm-hmm. I think that’s important, too. Yeah, 100%. You know, our, our, our wives kind of kicked it off together, and, uh, instantly became BFFs, so, uh, she’s looking forward to herShe’s, she’s coming again this year, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. She’ll be there. Yeah, 100%. All right, cool. So, her, her security blanket will be there, and we’ll, we’ll be okay. Yeah, no. Um- I mean, listen, it’s y- you know, people think that business is easy. I mean, you know, uh, you know, there’s a lot of mental stuff that goes into this. UmYeah. There’s a lot of heartache. There’s a lot of sadness, I think. And, you know, people don’t really talk about that. But I think, you know- Yeah. just really pushing through that, you know, and, and having a sound board, or, you know, having faith to push you through that stuff, that really gets you- Yeah. on the other side of this stuff. ‘Cause, I mean, it could mentally really break you in half if you’re not strong. You know what I mean? Yeah, no. I really believe that. Like, honestly, like, uh, I’m sitting here thinking about, you know, transitions and moves, and you, uh, look, man, you, you’re a pretty straightforward guy. You, you, you talk an-, uh, a, a good game, anyways, right? And so it’s very difficult when someone goes from one location to the next location. You’re like, “Well, we just needed more places. We just needed another lift, and more people. “And it’s like, “So we got another one. “And I’m like, “Yeah, okay. “Uh, that’s not exactly how that goes, because you’re gonna sit and look at the ceiling at night and go, “How am I gonna make it from this part of the bridge to the next part of the bridge? “And, like, those are the things that everybody’s dealing with. Mm-hmm. And some people are too scared to make that leap, right? And so that’s what I’m getting at when I start talking to you about these things. It’s like, how do you do that? How do you focus onAnd what do you focus on to make yourselfAre, are there details that you’re looking at, or is it, is it a money transaction thing? Is it, “I need more revenue”? Because you have to have something to focus on. It’s not just confidence. Like, it has to beI mean, there’s blind confidence, and I’m sure people have lucked out a thousand times in a row. But, at the end of the day, when you start talking about building a successful business for 15 li- years, like you guys have, that’s mental gymnastics all the way through that. Yeah. I mean, to say the least, it’s mental gymnastics. I mean, for me, so I can’t speak for everybody, but for me personally, it’s been like a faith experience, you know what I mean? Like, going back to, like, church and God, for me, that really grounds me, going through a lot of this. So, I think, like, you have to have something faith-based. I think, for me, it’s like, you know, you get home at night and you’re like, “Man,” like, “this went bad,” or, like, “Where am I gonna go? “Like, and I think sometimes releasing that and just being like, “Hey,” like, “it’s, it’s in God’s hands. “Like, “He’s gonna provide for me, like, for this next step. “And, and honestly, if it doesn’t work out or if something doesn’t work out, like, then the next plan’s there. Like, “It wasn’t meant to be. “You know? S- sometimes I think failure is just as important as success, too. ‘Cause, I mean, you might get to a failure point and be like, “Man,” like, “why did this go wrong? “But then, like, another door opens again. You know? You talk about employees coming and going. Hm. I mean, I’ve had close friends of mine that worked for me and they leave and they go elsewhere. And I think like, “Okay, well, that door closed. That was meant for him to go,” like, “It’s his time to walk out of my life. “Like, and then you see, like, God opens another door, right? And there’s a person standing there, and you’re like, “Wow. “Like, “How did this even line up? How did this happen? “Right? And it’s like a seamless event. Mm-hmm. Nothing ever happened, right? So I think having that faith to be like, “No matter what, I’m gonna be okay. “Like, and, “It’s in His hands and I’m gonna be good on this. “So I think, like, that’s an important part of m-, uh, for me as a business owner, um, that carries me through a lot of this, too. You know what I mean? Yeah, 100%. I mean, literally, the, the people that you hire and that come around your, uh, and that are with you for the journey as you’re going through this, you know, picking the right people. You know, is there a certain thing that, that you look for in someone when you say, “Man, this person is perfect for the type of ride that I have right now,” or, “perfect for the journey that we’re on”? Like, what do, what do you look for when you are looking for an ACIDynamix type person? I mean, I think a lot of that comes back to discernment, you know what I mean? And, and, and being able to read people. Um, and I think, you know, the 2 things for me are, you know, someone that’s, you know, honest and, and respects you. You know what I mean? I think those are the 2 things for me. Um, you know, if they’re an honest person, they respect you, and they’re hardworking. I mean, that’s, that’s the make for, you know, having someone, what they need. They may not be the smartest. They may not know how to do something. But if they respect you, um, they’re honest, they’re smart, they’re moldable, I mean, there’s no reason why you can’t train someone to do something, you know? They just have to have the open mind to do so, and have a positive attitude. Like, if I, if I bring someone in and I feel like they’re negative or theyevery job they had is terrible and, “I don’t like my boss, and I didn’t like that place. No. I didn’t like this place. “I’m like, then probably their track record’s gonna speak, and they’re probably not gonna like me and probably like, not like this place, so I probably don’t wanna hire them. You know? Yeah. I mean, I’m not saying that people can’t change, but I mean, you, you, you look at trends. You look at patterns, you know? W- where have they gone? What have they done, you know? And, and where do they wanna go? You know, what’s their end goal, right? What’s, you know- Yeah. “Hey, you’re coming to work at ACI. What’s your end goal? What do you want out of this? Where do you wanna go? Do you have a family? “You know? “Wh- what do you need to get out of me? What can I help you to get to your goal? “Right? Are you looking to, um, find people that don’t really fit your mold and get them out of there as fast as possible? Or are you looking to say, like, “Man, I could fix this person. “Um, I do try to fix people. Mm-hmm. Um, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I think, you know, everybody deserves a shot in life. You know what I mean? I was given a shot. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I think it’s, you know, what you do with it, right? And I s- sometimes I’ll tell people that. I’m like, “Listen, man, like, maybe you don’t like the way I do this, but, like, be open-minded. Let’s have a conversation about it, you know? “Mm-hmm. “‘Cause I see talent in you, and I see you’re good at what you do, and I don’t wanna lose that. I wanna keep you here. “You know? Sometimes I think the investment’s worth the time, um, to train someone and then bring them up to the level here, you know? And I think- Mm-hmm. you know, e- and also sh- sharing your vision with them, right? Not being like, “Hey, you’re coming to work for me. “Like, no, you’re part of the team. Like, I always tell my guys, like, “We’re a sports team,” right? You know, “You’re, you’re a football team. “And sometimes, uh, you know, people just aren’t performing, and they gotta go. And, you know- Mm-hmm. that’s just part of a sports team, right? You always wanna be performing at yourat the elite level for that team, right? You wanna be a contender. You wanna be in the Super Bowl. You wanna be in the World Series. I think- Mm-hmm. that with my team here every day. I’m like, “I wanna be the best of the best. I want the best people,” you know, and, you know, “we wanna grow and be the best we can. “So, I think sometimes you try to help people, and you see where they can go. Sometimes they don’t, unfortunately. And sometimes you see, you, you see people that you’re like, “Wow, I never thought they’d be here,” and, and they really surprise you, and they, and they pull it out, you know? Yeah. That’s a really cool aspect you just threw out. It’s like aI think the, the people are everything, but you have to be top-tier people to be here. To, to be the kinda person that leads this company and makes decisions for this company and, and puts our name on something that you’ve actually touched or worked on, you have to be top tier of your game to be able to stand in this seat, right? And so, I, I don’t think that’s enough, umI don’t think that’s emphasized enough in, in most companies. For, for most people, they’re just like, “Uh, I got a guy. He’s smart enough. He kinda fits the molds for most other places. “But culture is really everything when it comes to defining how your company produces. Is that correct? I mean, do you guys believe that? Yeah. I mean, I also believe by, by showing by example. I’m not, like, point the finger and say, “Do this. “LikeAnd I know someYou watch some of these podcasts or some of these wealthy guys, and they’re like, “Well, like, if you hire someone, you know, um, you’re paying them to do the job. Let them do it. “And I’m like, “Yeah, that- Mm-hmm. does make sense,” but I also wanna show my guys that I’m not above anybody. Like, If I gotta go clean my bathroom here, then so be it. Like, you know, whatever. Like, I wanna show that I’m, I’m on the same level as you. I came here. I s- I started doing these things that I’m asking you to do, and I wouldn’t ask you to do something that I wouldn’t do. You know what I mean? I actually- Yeah. prefer to be wrenching on a car versus doing paperwork, but unfortunately, that’s not the position I’m in anymore, you know? Um- Yeah. I’d say we got Dream Ride coming up this weekend. I literally workedI l- ISo, I left here at 4:00, brought my son to wrestling practice, he practiced 3 hours, went home, um, iced his hand ’cause he got hurt last night, came back to the shop by 9:00 last night, 9:30. I was here ’til 4:30 this morning. I slept 3 hours- Wow. and I’m back at it again. I think, you know, you really gotta have the passion to do it. I mean, listen, I would love to stay home last night and go to bed and just chill on the couch and watch TV. But, like, unfortunately, those weren’t the cards I was dealt last night, you know? So- Mm-hmm. you really gotta adapt and overcome. And, and, and when I talk about, like, breathe it, live it, sleep it, eat it, everything, like, that’sIf you wanna own your own business, like, y- you need to do that. LikeAnd IAnybody says, like, “Well, I don’t have to do that. “Like, “I could just hire people, and they’re gonna do everything. “Like, I don’t, I don’t buy that. I think it helps you. I think it helps scale a business and grow a business to have good people, right, and build the biggeruh, build it bigger. But I think you always have to be boots on the ground all the time, in my opinion, if, if you really wanna be successful anyway in this industry. Maybe not in a real estate industry or some other industry, but I would say in this automotive industry, you gotta be in the weeds every day. Have you always been like that? Yeah, all the time. AllMy guys laugh ’cause they’re like, “Don’t you have something better to do than, like, sweep the floor? “And I’m like, “No,” like, “I’m good. “Like, “This is my peace. “Like, they laugh ’cause I have a floor scrubber machine, and I’m like, “If anybody breaks this,” I’m like, “it’s like breaking my family. “I’m like, “You not break my floor scrubber. “I’m like, when I come down and start cleaning the floor, it’s like, “Oh, Bryce is stressed out. He’s, he’s cleaning the floors. “Yeah. Well, I mean, e- atyou know, at some point, you know, the simple tasks areyou know, they feel demeaning to some people, but at some point, like, you know they need to get done, and, and, uh, i- it’s a little bit of break for you, and you feel like you’re still accomplishing something, but you can take your mind off of stuff, right? Yeah, 100%. Absolutely. Yeah. Um, tell me about Dream Ride. You said you guys were doing something from Dream Ride. What, what is this, and how are you guys involved? So, I’ve been with Dream Ride for probably the better half of 10 years. Um, and I would sayI’m gonna plug MassAco Rally to give as my favorite event for rallying, but for giving back, for, umthis is an awesome event. So, it’s basically a 3day weekend. It’s probably one of the biggest shows in the Northeast for supercars, hypercars. Um, and I thinkSo, what’s, what’s awesome about this show is likeand I think last year, we raised 5. 5 1000000, you basicallyum, they bring in Special Olympic athletes from all over the world. Uh, other countries, you know, Europe, everywhere. And, um, on Saturday, uh, which is 2 days from now, theywethey match you up with an athlete, and you take them for about a 3mile ride in, in these supercars, uh, around the Farmington, uh, uh, Valley area in Connecticut. And I mean, man, you talk about like humbling and just reeling it in, like, to see the expression and enjoying these kids to be able to do that for a day, like I mean, it’s- Mm-hmm. it’s probably one of the best experiences and feelings. And I mean, we donate a good amount of money to it ’cause it’s for a good cause. Uh, but it’s just awesome. And I mean, I have friends on Facebook with some of these kids that we’ve made races with, and they literally come back to Dream Ride every year to come hang out with us. You know, it’s- Mm-hmm. it’s, it’s such a cool event. Um, so it’s, it’s one of our biggest for the year, one of the most stressful. Mm-hmm. Uh, you know, like I said, I was up till 4:00 in the morning working for it today. Mm-hmm. Um, but I think it’s gonna beYou know, we’re looking for an awesome weekend this weekend coming up, soWhen, when you guys go to start putting stuff in Dream Ride, are there people that are looking for, like, new wraps? They’re looking for, you know, “Get my car ready to do this. “Like, what, what, what goes into, uhYou said you stayed up. What were you working on last night? Uh, I got a 720 that we were doing, you know, new wheels, tires on it, uh, servicing it. So tomorrow, we’re actually heading to Lime Rock. We have a full track day tomorrow on the big track. Uh, and then we head back to the polo grounds and get ready for the Dream Cruise. But, uh, yeah. I mean, it’s kind of like our Super Bowl, right? You know, getting these- Mm-hmm. cars ready. We unveiled the Willy Wonka GTR last year, which was on Rally 2 Give, right? So we unveiled that last year. So, you know, just making sure the cars are clean, top notch, ready to go, shined up, you know. And then, like, obviously the McClarens go out on the track tomorrow, so making sure that was serviced up ready to go for tomorrow. Yeah. When you go to talk about prepping a vehicle to be ready for a road rally, can you tell me the difference between the point checks that you guys do to get something ready for a rally and then the point checks you guys do for something that comes off of a rally? Yeah. So I mean, uh, typical point checks before a rally for me would be, um, obviously checking the tires, you know, making sureWell, and the, and the other thing is where the tires are. Are we gonna be going cold weather or warm weather, right? To make sure the right tire on it, making sure- Mm-hmm. they’re, the proper services were done on the vehicle. Um, a quick safety inspection, make sure there’s nothing, no bushings that are worn, uh, tie rods, things of that nature on it. Um, you know, typically going over them and then, you know, putting the rally packs on them. I mean, safety is pretty much really the biggest concern. Tires, brakes, you know, that stuff. Mm-hmm. Same thing you would do before you went out on a track. Inspecting- Mm-hmm. making sure brakes are ready to go, things of that nature. And then, you know, going on the back end, coming back from a rally, um, you know, making sure the brakes are still good and the tires are still good because those are the 2 things that are gonna wear. And, like, you know, we’re- Mm-hmm. obviously we’re going to Rally 2 Give in, in a, you know, about a month or so, and we’re gonna do a track day, right? So, like, maybe you take your car out on that track and you’re beating on it for, you know, 30 laps. I mean, typically your brakes are probably gonna be cooked, your rotors are gonna be cooked on it, and your tires are probably gonna need to be replaced. So coming post-rally, um, you know, you also want to make sure that the car is safe when it gets back on the road after the rally. Yeah. And, uh, do youIs there a way that you guys test these? Is it just visual inspections? Do you put them on machines to check different things? Do you guys take them for a ride to see if you feel anything? Like, like, what is the, what is the process for that? Yeah. I mean, all of the above. I mean, we have a dyno that we run, uh, tuning on if the car needs to be tuned. Okay. But typically it’s a visual inspection, which are gonna, uh, unveil a lot of it. And then the other thing is up in the area we’re at, we would take it around and make sure that there’s no misfiring, you know, the, that the steering feel’s tight on it, you know. There’s things you know as a technician or that you, you’ve been in this long enough that you kind of, you listen for sounds, you listen for noises, you feel for things. And when you’re connected with the cars, you’ve been doing it long enough, you kind of know what to listen and, and, and see, you know. And then obviously going back to what we said, setting an expectation, “Hey, these are things we found. These are things you should replace. “You know, “Th- these are-” Mm-hmm. “hot items, you know, one, two, and three, and there, there’s some items, hey, don’t worry about this, we can do this when you get back from it. “You know, some people are like, “Hey, do it all now. “”The car’s there. “Some people, it may not fit their budget and I’m like, “Hey, well, these things have to be done and this can be done after the rally or, you know, down the road. “You know? Hm. You just give them a punch list of things that need to be taken care of- Yeah. Correct. you know, at some point. Yep. Well, that’s cool. And then, so the Dream Ride’s this weekend, you’ve gotten little sleep so far. Um, you know, quite honestly, like I, I’m, I’m surprised that we’ve been trying to get on, uh, the podcast together for, for, I mean, uh, quite a while now. And then, and then you guys have had some things, uh, kind of pop up here recently. So I’m surprised that you, you told me yes to this, and I really appreciate you- you- Mm-hmm. you taking the time out to, uh, you know, lack of sleep and everything to kind of jump on here and, and, and shoot it over with us. But, um, you know, we got, you know, Rally 2 Give, which is coming up in another couple of months. And so I know that you’ve got probably, what, 5, 10, 15 cars that are gonna head down your way for prep for that? Oh, yeah. We’ll be in full swing from Dream Ride right into Rally 2 Give. We’ll be kind of just full swing. It’s a little bit earlier this year, so that’s gonna play a factor in that as well, too. SoAnd that comes with, with wraps and everything? You guys do wraps as well? Yeah, any wraps, you know, the decals that go on the cars. We obviously sponsor all the decals every year, so we gotta get all 50 sheets printed with all the decals ready to go on the cars. Um, so, you know, a lot comes into play with that, you know? So, um, you know, f- coming off of Dream Ri- or coming off of Dream Ride, obviously getting all the cars back here, getting the service. What cars are going on the rally, what cars are being wrapped for the rally, you know? Mm-hmm. And then, obviously, the checklists. We obviously sponsor with Matt of whatever he needs us to do for the rally as well too. So usually most of his cars come through for service too, you know? Mm-hmm. Are there any new materials that are out there right now that you guys are, you know, super jonesed about? Like, you know, chrome was it for a while, and then it got to some of the matte finishes, and some of the sparkles or whatever, the, and then the color shifting stuff. Is there anything new that’s out there right now that’s kind of groundbreaking? Not really. I mean, they’re coming up with colored PPF now, which is new. It’s coming out, so as opposed to vinyl wrap and you have the colored PPF, I mean, in my opinion, it’s, it’s really expensive. It does last a little bit better. Um, and yeah, obviously it’s another option in the arsenal. “Hey, you can go with this, you can go with that. “So it just gives another option that’s out there. So they’re always evolving with new stuff that’s coming out. I think some of it is maybe they get a little ahead of themselves. Some of it is, is really good. And, you know, there’s, there’s a lot of different stuff that comes out. So we try to read through the marketing and see what’s actually the best stuff. I like to run up a lot of my cars and see how it lasts, and then we can tell you, “Hey, yeah, we’ve run this. We know it’s a good material. “So, I think- Hm. a lot of that comes into play too. Can you tell, uh, tell just the listeners out there, what’s the difference between a regular vinyl and PPF? Now, I know the one’s a protective film, but literally, like, what’s the difference? Like, how does it work? Why is one s- so extravagantly more expensive? Uh, well, you have color changing vinyl, which is really thin, right? And then you have the paint protection vinyl, which is a lot thicker. It’s like 7 to 10 mils, right? Right. So it’s really protecting that paint from getting hit from rocks. Whereas the vinyl is more of a color change. Now, we talk about the color change PPF, which we were just speaking about, right? Mm-hmm. So now they’re taking that thick paint protection film that was clear, and they’re making it in color. problem with that is, is that, um, they’re going a little bit thinner than the paint protection film, what it would normally be, so you can wrap those edges. Mm-hmm. Um, and, you know, so I think, you know, you’re, you’re paying more money for that color film, but I don’t think you’re getting the protection level that you would as if you put the clear PPF on it, if that makes sense. Hm. So really, it’s just a more dense to absorb the impact from whatever’s- Correct. Yes, it’s thicker. rocks or whatever? Yes. Hm, okay. Yep. I thought it was a, I thought it was just a more durable something, or a, a beefier- Yeah. plastic. But it’s more about, you know, the absorption of rocks and stuff that are coming up to keep from chips from happening and actually- Correct. coming in contact with the paint. Ah, okay. Um, so it do- I mean, I mean, I guess ’cause it’s, uh, it’s much thicker too, it’s, it’s ten times more difficult to apply. And folding corners- Sorry, I got, likeI, I was looking at my phone. I apologize. On my plane time right now. Uh, well, yeah, no big deal. Like, I, I appreciate, uh, I appreciate the time that you’ve taken with us. And I know that you got a lot on your, on your plate. But, um, you know, uh, at any time, I’m gonna, I’m gonna stop down there and see about your spot and, and take some photos, and we’ll see if we can, you know, repost on here on, on what you guys have. But, uh, if there’s anywhere that people can find you, and, um, uh, you wanna give out your handles or anything? Yeah. I mean, you know, like I said, I wish I could spend another hour with you, which I know I could definitely do. Um, but we have a Dream Ride dinner tonight, so we have to be there within the hour. Um, if they wanna find us, I mean, all social media. We’re on, uh, YouTube, ACIDynamix. You can search us on there. We’re on Instagram, we’re on TikTok, we’re on Snapchat, you name it. We have it across all platforms. I have a great media guy. Um, a lot of that stuff you can follow if you’re in- inj- interested in what we do and kind of what we were talking about. Um, YouTube’s great because we really do a lot of DY- DIY videos. Shows what we do, how we do it, right? You talk about the McLaren we were just working on the other night. The video’s gonna be going live on there. So we try to really give you an in-depth view of what we do at the shop, um, the guys that work here. So, you know, if people listen to this and they’re like, “Hey, that’s cool,” or, “I wanna learn more about it,” I mean, YouTube’s probably the best place to find us and the videos that we do. And again, talking about Dream Ride, we’re gonna film the whole weekend. So, like, if you think that’s something you’re interested in, you wanna see how it goes down, again, that’ll be live by the end of this weekend as well too, soYep. Awesome. Well, brother, thank- appreciate your time. Thank you for, for jumping on with us. And, uh, until next time. That’s the blueprint. Yeah. Thanks, Brandon. Appreciate it. Yeah, man. See you. Bye.