Carter Pembridge: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Shop Boss Radio. It is myself and Khrist yet again, and we have our wonderful new guest this month, Danielle. Is it Commendor? Is that how you say it? 

Danielle Commandeur: Commander. 

Khrist Hussein: Commander. 

Carter Pembridge: Commander. See, that’s strong. I was gonna say- … I was gonna say Commander. I’m like, you know what? That’s… I feel like that’s just like the, the macho Rocky IV viewer in me is like, “Commander sh- sounds cool,” but I didn’t wanna be wrong with it, you know what I mean? 

Um, no, but, uh, how, how, how’s your day going, Danielle? I know how Khrist and I day go. We see each other all day long. 

Khrist Hussein: Too much. 

Danielle Commandeur: Oh, you poor souls. Um, our day is good. It’s, um, super windy here, um, in the Great North. So, um, I apologi- I can hear… I don’t know if you guys can hear it, but out this window I can hear the wind, so hopefully that, um, isn’t- 

Carter Pembridge: Wind howlin’ 

Danielle Commandeur: bothering you guys or bothering us, but- 

Carter Pembridge: Wind how- whereabouts are you, Danielle? 

Danielle Commandeur: I am Grand Prairie, Alberta. 

Carter Pembridge: Oh, [00:01:00] you’re Canadian. 

Khrist Hussein: Go Canada. 

Carter Pembridge: Hey, there, there you go. We’ve got, uh, we’ve got, uh, two true Canadians and one, uh, transplant into Canada. Uh- 

Khrist Hussein: Take off, eh? 

Carter Pembridge: Ch- Khrist, Khrist always wants to, wants to claim me into Canada, but uh- 

Khrist Hussein: He’s 100% a hose head- 

Carter Pembridge: Yeah 

Khrist Hussein: Danielle. He’s like, he’s a transplant- … from the South. But I promise you, he started, he has a daily poutine. Um, he’s found- Oh, yeah … an affinity, uh, for, he has a, a, a shot of maple syrup- Tim Horton’s … in the morning. And he loves- Yeah … he loves his Timmy’s. 

Carter Pembridge: I think- So- I, I like Timmy’s. You know, I mean, basically liking Timmy’s is like really all that really you need to do, I feel like. 

Uh, Timmy- 

Khrist Hussein: He switched over to Back Bacon, yeah. 

Carter Pembridge: I, I, yes, I am missing that, but I do take, uh, take my moose around town, so. Yeah. Um, I do- Oh, yeah … I do balance it out, guys. Um, I’m, I’m somewhat cultured and, and, uh, a- and welcomed into society [00:02:00] here, so. 

Khrist Hussein: He takes his moose. God bless you, Carter. God bless you. There’s literally… Listen, there’s people down south that are so confused. 

How do you get around town?” I say, “Well, when the kayak’s frozen, sometimes we’ll go snowshoe it.” Um, I mean, there’s ways. 

Danielle Commandeur: Right. Sometimes we get out the dog sled. 

Khrist Hussein: Yep. That’s right. That’s right. And we- Which… 

Carter Pembridge: yeah … sometimes- A- and that’s, that’s why, Danielle, we have you on because you’re our first, uh, dog sled mechanic. 

That’s right. Um, for all the- Sleds. 

Danielle Commandeur: We repair the dog sleds up here. The eight dogs on a sled- It’s all up here … are so difficult … we just, yeah, the canoe is a good one. We can definitely use the canoe in the summer. Um, and then the people who are, the people who have macho dollaros- Those ones go on a sled, a Skidoo. 

Khrist Hussein: That’s right. The balancing machines for them are very different than we’re used to in typical shops, but- Yeah … still very valid. Yeah. Well, that’s, [00:03:00] that’s actually awesome you are, um, in Alberta, ’cause then there’s gonna be some very solid questions that I’ve got that I’m gonna put across, which is gonna be very poignant. 

Go ahead, Gary. 

Carter Pembridge: Well, well, since we’re… Yeah, well, I mean, you know, it’s like Austin Powers when he’s like, “You know, if we’re gonna speak English, we’re gonna speak English English,” right? So guys, if we’re gonna speak English, well, then we get right in now, in there to, to it there, bud. We’ve talked about- Let’s go, bud 

cars and getting it all fixed up there, and yeah, so, no, I’m kidding. Take her for a ride, bud. Uh, yeah, exactly. Um, anyway. No- Take off … uh, no, absolutely. Thank you for jumping on here. Um, I love this intro already. It’s, it’s awesome. Uh, we’ll, we’ll get back to cars for all the car heads out there. I’m sure they, they wanna hear about that. 

But Danielle, honestly, what I’d like to do, and I, I do this with everybody that we bring on, I think it’s incredibly important because I like to kind of show, you know, hey, all the different backgrounds out there and how it works. Like, how, how did you get into cars in the first place? I guess we can start there. 

Danielle Commandeur: Well, I guess it [00:04:00] was, um, I just grew up i- around cars and my stepdad was a heavy duty mechanic. Mm. And he raced on, on the evenings and weekends. We had a, um, a dirt track car, um- Oh, yeah … it was number 43. Um, uh, for some of the fans out there, they know what 43 is. 

Carter Pembridge: Um- Who, who’s 43? Am I missing some- I feel like I, I’ve like, I’m thinking of like 40- popular 43s. 

I’m like, “Is there, is there a 43 you’re talking about?” I don’t know racing too much. 

Danielle Commandeur: Um, Richard Petty. Yeah. I… Khrist, maybe you’re a big racing guy. 

Khrist Hussein: Well, it- Carter, Car- Car- 

Danielle Commandeur: You know, now I said it. I was like, “Hold on, that’s Mark’s number.” 43. So we raced, and, um, it was just kind of cars were a thing, and then when I met [00:05:00] my… 

Well, he’s my husband now, but back then he was my boyfriend, and he was into cars. We had, um, you know, a Mustang, a Camaro that was always around. So, um, you know, a square body, a ’77 Ford truck. That was something that we drove for a while. Um, I guess it was just always around. It was just something that we did as a family and something that we grew into. 

So, um- Right on … it’s just always been there. It’s not a became a car. It was just basically born with it. 

Carter Pembridge: Grew up around it. 

Danielle Commandeur: Grew up around it. Awesome. Ford Mustangs. 

Carter Pembridge: Strong American brands that you just listed there, absolutely. Uh, I won’t believe- Unbelievable. Okay. We can edit that out, right? Yeah. So you grew- So American brand  

Danielle Commandeur: I don’t know if there’s too many Coma- Canadian branded auto makers, so I think we have to go American.[00:06:00]  

Carter Pembridge: Yeah. That, that, that is true. Um, you know, I was just in Rome actually. Let’s call it more American team Canadian. Yeah. I, I was just in Rome and, and I saw all kinds of different, uh, car brands that I, I, you just don’t really see out here, and honestly, different models of, uh, brands that we have, um, obviously here, but different models that you don’t see here, right? 

I was looking at Audis and there’s all kinds of different Audi builds. But uh, you never see these running around, uh, you know, Toronto or anything. 

Khrist Hussein: Um- I can see you on like a nice Vespa, um, in Italy just- 

Carter Pembridge: Dude. Brother. Yeah, tempting, but, um, I, I’ve never driven a motorcycle or a scooter or anything like that, so I didn’t wanna fall. 

‘Cause it’s all cobblestone roads, dude. Like there’s… I, I wouldn’t trust myself on a open paved road, let alone those. 

Khrist Hussein: I’ve seen you walk on a cobblestone, and it’s probably better you do not put wheels on it, so I’m with you. 

Carter Pembridge: Dude, you got it. I feel you. You got it. I feel it. Absolutely. I get it. Um, yeah. Yeah. 

Well, okay. 

Danielle Commandeur: We went to Europe a couple years ago, and I- Oh, yeah … all we thought was, “There’s no way. None of those European vehicles [00:07:00] would last like a week on our roads.” 

Carter Pembridge: You get that thought and then you think, “Man, I could not drive my car, uh, in this city because the roads are so tiny” and, and you kinda have to have those little smart cars to get around some of those places ’cause they’re so narrow, uh, the roads. 

Yeah. And it’s funny, like, it’s kind of the opposite. Like, when I’m down in Latin America, it’s constant honking. I guess you don’t have to go down to Latin America to do it, but you can go to freaking New York or any big city. It’s constant honking all the time. Um, but then in, in a city over in Europe I find that people are just reckless. 

Like, they’ll just walk out in front of cars and, and cars will cut each other off. But there’s almost no honking. It’s almost like they just accepted that everyone’s insane there- Weird … and drives crazy. It’s so weird. Here- Like, you barely hear any honking … 

Danielle Commandeur: here if you honk, in Gr- here if you honk at somebody going down the street… 

I know what you’re talking about ’cause I’ve been to a few of those places. Yeah. They just honk all the time. Yeah. But in, in Grande Prairie if you honk to [00:08:00] a fellow driver on the road, they may just jump out of their vehicle and beat you up. Like, they’re not honking at people around here. 

Khrist Hussein: There is some, uh, form of honk control. 

Um, yeah. Like- Yeah. You know- It’s steep … occasionally you might honk at someone, but it’s at your own peril. Yeah. It’s known as go time. 

Carter Pembridge: If you honk at someone here, like, it, you’re saying something. It’s, there, there’s a reason for it, right? Where some places they don’t do it at all- Yeah … and some places, uh, it’s, it’s kind of lost its value ’cause it happens so much. 

Um, but it’s- 

Khrist Hussein: Yeah, I’m in a town of, like, 5,000 people. If somebody honks at me, I I feel it. “Hey, Bob, calm back down there, eh?” Like, why… we’re on, what did I do? Let’s go chat. Um- Yeah. You wanna hug? Like, how do we, how do we de- Yeah … how do we defuse the situation here? 

Carter Pembridge: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Right on. So, so Danielle, you’ve, uh, you’ve kinda grown up then around cars. 

Um, was… And, and you said your, your [00:09:00] dad worked on heavy duty, so, like, those big old f- you know, Freightliners and, and that kinda thing, like, the big old semis? The real big stuff? 

Danielle Commandeur: Um, sorry. Yeah. A little chuckle out of that ’cause 

Carter Pembridge: No, no worries. 

Danielle Commandeur: Um, yes, uh, yeah, he worked on heavy trucks and heavy equipment, so yes, your Kenworths, Freightliners, Highboy trailers. 

Carter Pembridge: Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, so- Yeah … y- did you grow up just kinda h- like helping him out and just kinda getting yelled at when you weren’t holding the flashlight right kinda thing? 

Yeah. Is that was… 

Danielle Commandeur: that’s exactly right. Well, I mean, that’s what we did for work. I didn’t really go to work with him, but we hung out in the garage, like working on the race car or something like that. Um- 

Carter Pembridge: That’s aw- so, so like Talladega Nights, you always wanted to go fast with Dad. 

Danielle Commandeur: Oh, yeah. That was what it was all about. 

Mm-hmm. Everything was go fast. Go fast, turn left. 

Khrist Hussein: Yeah, always left-hand turns, yep. That, that’s- In all fairness, Carter- [00:10:00] If you’re turning right, if you’re on the track and you’re turning right, you’re doing something wrong. Yep. Carter, in all fairness, you were holding the flashlight wrong for your dad, just so it was your fault. 

Carter Pembridge: Uh, yeah, that- Yeah … and the flat head Phillips thing, uh, I’ve gotten scolded a few times. But, um, but, but anyway, uh, Khrist, it reminds me of that video. She says, you know, “When you’re turning right, you’re doing something wrong.” So remember that video you sent me where the guys follow, uh, they’re, they go on the wrong track- 

and all the cars follow on the wrong track- Yep … and race track. Anyway. Yep. Yep. Um, okay. After- So y- yeah, so okay, so, so you’re, you’re growing up, you’re around this, you know, you’re, you’re helping Dad out. Um, when did it become… Like, when did you actually… did you start with something else in another industry that, and then came over to cars or did you just kinda stay in cars throughout? 

Danielle Commandeur: That’s right. Yeah, I worked, I, you know, I went to college. I’ve got my business degree, so I worked, um, you know, some retail. I worked some non-profit some other facilities. And then, [00:11:00] um, our shop, we opened our shop 13 years ago, so this is, um, year, uh, I guess year 14, depending on how you count on things. 

But, um, October 2023 um, my husband was actually off on a WCB claim, which, um, workman’s compensation. I don’t know what they would call that in the US. But, um, he was injured at work, so he needed to go, um- you know, he needed to learn a new skill is what they decided for him. Um, so- Mm-hmm … he started learning how to kind of, um, run a shop, I guess you could say. 

Um, he went, started doing business school, um, so that they could retrain him to maybe work more in the front office. And, um, shortly after that one of our neighbors came and he said, “You know what? You really should open a shop.” And we went, “Well, I mean, we don’t know anything about really running our own business.”[00:12:00]  

And I mean, I had the business background, but I wasn’t really, like, I’d never ran a business. And our neighbor said, “I’m gonna invest in you. I really think you guys should do it.” So a dream- 

Oh, wow. 

Um, yeah, it was really great of him and, um, he saw that in us and So we s- kind of thought, “Well, let’s give it a whirl. 

Let’s try it.” Um, we went and we leased a building, and we… The neighbor lent us some capital to start up, and, um, the rest is history, I guess. The, um, some of my husband’s contacts that he had worked with previously were wondering where he had went, and, um, just word got out that we opened our own shop, and the people came. 

And, um, so we started out with one employee and my husband at the shop, and then I was still working my full-time job elsewhere. Mm-hmm. And then I was working all day at my other job, and then I would [00:13:00] come over to the shop, and I would do invoices and bookkeeping and marketing- The fun stuff … and all the sorts of things. 

Yes, absolutely. Right. Yeah. So I was working all day and then working all night. And, um, we hired an office girl who didn’t have very much work to do, and I just, one day I said, “You know what? This is silly that I’m basically paying someone to work in the office for, you know… I could just pay myself to work in the office and instead- Mm-hmm 

of basically working two jobs, I could just come in and…” Um, so I started working full time probably about six or eight months into the company, and, um, we’ve both worked here every day since that. So my husband and I both, um, come to work together every day, and we go home together in the evening. Well, some days. 

Some days he’s allowed to come home. Um, but it’s been really great and, um, I do all the front stuff, the dealing with the customers, [00:14:00] the work orders, the bookkeeping- Yep … marketing. Yep. And he’s the brains of the operation, in the back with the mechanics. Um- Sure … although if you talk to him, he always says that I’m the brains of the operation. 

And, um, I think that’s what makes us work so well together because we both really appreciate each other’s role. 

Khrist Hussein: Good for you. 

Carter Pembridge: Yeah. That, that’s incredible. Um, absolutely having that relationship, I find that a lot of the best shops that we talk to, uh, I’ve said this before, but they’re, they’re family shops. 

Um, it just seems to… You’re starting with a level of trust that a lot of other ones simply, um, might not have, depending. Now, you said something earlier, um, I wanted to hone in on, right? Y- you kinda said, “Hey, I, I have a, a business degree, but I’ve never actually done it myself.” I’ve always found it interesting that people in universities that… 

‘Cause, ’cause I also went to university and, and, you know, was in these courses, the same ones that you probably took. And you have these guys that teach you how to run a business, yet they’ve never actually done it themself, right? Um, you know, so I’ve, I’ve got, not as successful [00:15:00] as yours, but I understand kind of some of the things that it, that it, goes into it and, and you’re definitely thriving. 

Um, I, I wanna kinda ask you- You know, that had to have been scary on a few fronts, right? Kind of- Um … how do I actually jump into it? But then also, I’m taking other people’s capital. You know, not scary might not be the best word for it, but just maybe a little bit anxious on, in starting up a business and taking that risk. 

But then also you have the added fact that, you know, you’re actually taking investors’ money as well. So there’s another level of, uh, um, you know, I wanna make this work for myself obviously, but also, you know, I wanna do my investor right as well. I mean, talk us kind of through that early part- Mm-hmm … of the business. 

Danielle Commandeur: Yeah, it’s a big leap. Um, I think that’s why I stayed at my full-time job at the beginning- … so that, you know, we had kind of that backfall. But you’re right, like, and that was a big conversation with our, you know, our neighbor [00:16:00] who gave us the funds is like, “What if this doesn’t work? What if you don’t get your money back?” 

And, um, you know, he was fine with that. He just said, “You know what? This is the savings and I wanna spend it, and I think you guys are the right choice.” And, um- but yeah, it is scary, and you’re right. Like, we all sat in those business courses going, “Hey, you’ve never ran a business before.” “You can’t give me this.” 

Um, but they were smart people. I actually am still in contact with some of my instructors and, um, yeah, it, it was huge. Like, at the beginning … Actually, I have a fun one. Um, you know, we got a check from a customer for a bill, and it was, let’s say f- it was 14,000-ish. And my husband, he comes and he’s like, “Look, we got $14,000. 

This is so awesome.” Like, “Look at this.” And I said, “Oh yeah, but our bills are 13,000, so we only made 1,000.” And he was like, “Oh, fine.” And I was like- [00:17:00] Yeah. So it looked like a big check. So I- Yeah … I alw- I still tease him about that. That was right way back at the beginning, and he was so pumped. He’s like, “Look, there’s a check for 14 grand.” 

And I said, “Yeah, but we have payroll and power thing.” 

Carter Pembridge: Yep. Yeah, this much of that check. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So- Uh- So he kind of was like- You get to eat your- He just had no- … eat your ramen with the extra spice on it, so yeah. 

Danielle Commandeur: He just had no real concept of like … Yeah, like, that wasn’t really like, let’s just take that 14 grand and run with it. 

It was like, “Okay, we’re gonna pay that. We’re gonna use all, pay all the bills, so I need a few more of those checks.” 

Khrist Hussein: Mm. And that’s what happens a lot with, um … You know, we’ll see a lot of, people that were techs, guys that were techs for a long time, you know, 15 years at a shop, and they go and open up their own place ’cause all they saw was that job was $3,500 and I only made $150. 

But the actual cost to get to that job and get it done was pretty substantial. Um, that’s actually a really [00:18:00] good question. Tenure on your techs. Um, this is obviously, uh, one that is consistently and ongoing in every shop. How do I get good techs? How do I keep good techs? Now, being open for 13 years, kudos to you. 

Congratulations. Very difficult business to succeed for that extended period of time. Do you have a certain path or onboarding or process you follow to make sure, one, you guys are girls that are pretty good, but two, that they stay on board with you for as long as you can? 

Danielle Commandeur: Um, I’m looking for the business owner who has that formula. 

Khrist Hussein: We always are. 

Danielle Commandeur: Send them my way. Um, yeah, you know, over the years we’ve definitely perf- you know, developed an onboarding strategy that we use with our staff. Um, I’ve got, you know- I guess a few systems that I have in place that, yeah, you know, the [00:19:00] hope is to keep people long-term obviously. Um, our biggest thing that our staff talk about, um, when they talk about y- what they enjoy working here is the fact that we are actually, like, the owner is in the building working- Mm-hmm 

alongside them. And we spend a lot of time being part of the team. So you never hear me say, “I’m the boss,” or you never hear my husband say, “I’m the boss. We’re gonna do it like this because I’m the owner.” We might say something like, “I’ve done this for 13 years, and I’ve tried all the things, and this is what works best.” 

Um, but, um, we really firmly believe that we’re all part of the same team, and we’re all rowing the same boat. So we aren’t, um… a lot of our staff will say, like, that they really appreciate that we’re here alongside. And you know, if this camera was portable [00:20:00] and we could go out to the shop, you would find that my husband is actually probably under the hood of a car with one of my technicians right now. 

Mm-hmm. He’s working- That’s awesome … alongside them. So, um, that’s one of the big things that keeps our staff working with us. Um, I have had, you know, the odd person who says, “I feel micromanaged. This manager’s al- you know, the boss is always here.” But, um, you know, 90% or 95 per- percent of the people are, like, really happy that, hey, I’m working at a place where my boss, you know, is my teammate and supports me and comes out and works with me. 

And they really like that. It’s not that, you know, the boss is some entity that stops in once a week or just comes to give me shit or something like that. They- Mm-hmm. We are here. Mm-hmm. We’re hands-on with our team, and we support them, and they support us. So, um, I think… I don’t think it’s a magic formula, but that’s what’s working for [00:21:00] us is that we’re here with the team, part of the team. 

It’s not us and them. Um- It’s all of us together in the same boat. 

Khrist Hussein: That, um, I mean, that answer says it. Um, and I’ll, y’all, I guess the summary is, is it’s not just a process, it’s being present. So it’s making sure you’re, you’re, you’re part of the team. I’m not at home, just barking orders. I, I’m right there in the trenches with you. 

Mm-hmm. That’s a huge point to be helpful. Yeah. And, and- Good for you … yeah. 

Danielle Commandeur: And, like, all shuttle customers, I will… You know, this morning I took a customer to town because my girls were busy doing their thing, so we’re all just part of the same team. We all are trying to make this business successful. 

And, you know, if I hire someone that’s not part of the team, they need to go be not part of the team somewhere else. 

Carter Pembridge: No, I, that, that’s a great point. Um, yeah, it reminds me, you know, you said, you know, you don’t have to, like, pull rank on anyone. Um, it [00:22:00] reminds me, I, you guys probably weren’t Game of Thrones fans, okay? 

But there’s a great Game of Thrones quote, um, where there’s this, like, incessant, like, uh, p- teenager who’s just a terrible king, and he’s throwing a big fit, and his grandpa’s there. And, you know, he throws a fit. He says, “I’m the king.” And then the guy says, “Anyone who has to say they’re the king isn’t a king, man.” 

Hmm. Yeah. So, so, so it reminds me, because it’s so true. True. Like, you think about, uh, sales teams that you’ve been on. You know, Khrist and I were blessed to be on an excellent team now with a great manager, but we’ve been on ones before where, like, they feel the need to remind you who they are. You see it in football- Yeah 

coaching, coaching staffs. You know, there’s, uh, uh, Hu- Hue Jackson, he was the guy for the r- for the, the Browns, I wanna say, actually, and he had to tell Todd Haley in a meeting on Hard Knocks, you could see it, “Hey, I’m the one who runs the show here.” Um, and there’s friction. So I bring that home to say, [00:23:00] um, that environment where everyone feels like they’re part of one unit and, uh, they can really, trust everyone, they feel comfortable, they feel like, you know, it is a home away from home. 

They don’t wanna… You know, they, they don’t hate their lives when they’re at work. They actually enjoy being there and the people they work with. That’s such an incredible feeling. But also, that rubs off on the customers, because customers can feel that when they arrive, um, and drop their car off. They can feel if there’s tension or they can feel if it’s a well-run machine. 

Um, so I wanna kinda dive into that aspect, you know. Obviously, customers like your team. They like you. They keep com- They’re keeping you open, right? Um, what are some things that you do, you know, in the customer process, how you handle customers? I mean, it sounds like that’s really kind of a big part of your day-to-day there. 

Danielle Commandeur: Yeah, absolutely. Um, and you’re right. Like, our customers do feel like family, um, when they drop off. Like, you’re kidding around, um, you know. Um, [00:24:00] we just try to keep it light with our customers, make sure that they feel welcome. Like, there’s- Um, our customers are allowed everywhere in our sh- like, if a customer says, you know, “I wanna look at my car,” or, “I wanna see,” um, they can go in my shop. 

Like, that’s there’s no- Oh, right on … mystery around here. 

Khrist Hussein: Oh, you let ’em wander. 

Danielle Commandeur: Well, we don’t let them wander. Yeah. But we’ll take them back and they can have a look, or often my husband’ll come, we’ll call the customer, um, and say, “Hey, um, I, I would like to show you. Can you come down here? Can we come pick you up and show you?” 

And my husband will take them out and they’ll show- That’s- He’ll show them, um, what’s happening with their car or whatever. Um, we have a huge reputation in this community for taking care of female clients because, um, a lot of girl- a lot of women, um, it’s a good, it’s a stereotype, [00:25:00] but a lot of shops perpetuate it. 

So, um, girls come in and they go, “Oh, well, they don’t know anything, so I’m just gonna, you know, fleece them or charge them for all sorts of stuff.” Um, my husband will, like, take that lady back to their vehicle and say, “This is what I’m… You know, this is what I see.” And, he’ll shake the tie rod or he’ll wiggle the tire or whatever. 

He’ll show them, “This is… You know, it’s a good thing you brought it in because look at how much play you’ve got in your wheel bearing,” or, um, and stuff like that. So then it just- Develops a com- a comfort level with that customer, they go, a trust level that they can be like, “Okay, you know what? I know that they’re really taking care of me and they’re really taking care of my vehicle.” 

So, um, you know, lots of times people will post like, “I’m looking for a shop that, you know, isn’t gonna take advantage of me for being female.” And, you know, we’ll get a ton of referrals on that because people are like, “No, like these guys really take care of you.” [00:26:00] And we’ll show… Like anything a customer wants to ask, we’re an open book. 

We will show them, take them to the back. Um, but we also get to know them. We, you know, ask them about their kids, their pets, whatever. That’s key. And I think that just makes them wanna come back because we care about them as people. We aren’t just looking at them as, you know, their vehicle- Customer number 

and the opportunity to make money. Like we’re here, you know, we’re part of the community, and we want people to be safe on the road, and we’re taking care of our customers so that they’re safe and then their family is safe. And that’s what it’s about for us. It’s not about… You know, obviously we need to make a profit ’cause we’re in business, but it’s not about making a profit, it’s about taking care of the people that take care of us. 

Carter Pembridge: Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know what? You kinda hit the nail on the head there. Um, that’s the difference between someone being, you know, a customer that you’ve, you’ve ripped off and you never see ’em again, or someone who you’ve treated [00:27:00] fairly that will- … be a customer for life. Um, you know, and, and I saw this you kinda did it perfect there with how you treat your customers. 

I saw this when I was in Rome there, um, and I think it’s relevant to the auto industry. I think it’s relevant to what Khrist and I do as well. Um, when you’re in Rome and, and really anywhere in Italy, honestly, or in Venice too, same stuff, but all the rest- There’s all the restaurants in a tourist area, they’re all basically the same. 

Outdoor seating, pizza, wine, pasta, and the food is pretty much all the same. I’m sure there’s better places, and they would argue with me on, on that. But the prices are all so roughly the same ’cause they’re competing with the restaurant right next to them. Um- The difference was, I found, was occasionally you’d run into someone who was extra friendly who owned the shop. 

They wanted to know about you, where you’re from. Uh, they would find a way to connect with you. Um, they would joke with you versus the other guy who’s just out there trying to wheel you to a table, then he’s onto the next one, right? Just that level of service. Khrist and I talk about this very frequently. 

Um, shop softwares [00:28:00] out there, more or less they mostly kind of do a similar thing, um, with a different flavor to it. You know, they might do s- one thing different or one thing better than the other. But overall, um, is the customer going to join… Is he going to sign up for the software and implement it into his shop successfully, or is he going to sign up all of a sudden, it’s, uh, it’s ghosts, and he doesn’t know how to use it, and his shop is falling behind, and it’s actually now a big detriment to his day-to-day? 

You know what I mean? So I love the fact that, uh, you take pride in, in how you treat your customers. It sounds like a big focus to you guys, and, uh, no wonder, you know, you guys are, are going 13, 14 years strong here, so. 

Khrist Hussein: I’ve actually got a follow-up to that. 

Danielle Commandeur: Appreciate that. 

Khrist Hussein: And, um, it, it, it is becoming somewhat of a rarity to be able to, um, maintain business for, extended periods of time. 

So it is a, a giant congratulations, and you should definitely wear that. Um- the question I’ve got is, um, you know, I was in a shop years and years [00:29:00] ago, and it was very different than it is right now. Now knowing you’ve gone through it for 13 years, probably one of the bigger ones that I’d have a real hard time dealing with, and I’m curious how you do, is, um, you know, ba- back then it was, it was YouTube. 

There was YouTube. People would come in and say, “I saw this on YouTube.” It has gotten substantially worse with, uh, the addition of AI and people coming in and saying, “I saw ChatGPT said to do it this way,” or, “It should cost this much.” Now, when you have existing customers that you’ve dealt with, how do you border that line when they’re blatantly either wrong, um, y- what they’re saying is completely inaccurate, or they read it wrong, put the information in wrong? 

How do you cr- you know, bring them back to reality, um, and still maintain your, your professionalism? Yeah, I, I would struggle with this. That’s why I’m asking. 

Danielle Commandeur: Um, well, it’s a loaded question, but you know what, um, what comes to mind immediately is we actually had… This [00:30:00] actually happened this week, is a lady came in and she used, um, Google Mechanic, and it told her… 

She basically thought she was gonna need, like, a whole new module, computer system for her vehicle, um, ’cause her ABS, her brake system, her ABS light was on, and she thought through her do- Google Diagnostics, she came up with she must need a whole new module. Um- Which, sorry if I’m using industry slang, but that’s like a, a control module. 

Yes. Like a basically a mini computer. ECU. Which would be very expensive. Um, turned out she needed an ABS sensor, which is about a $30 part. Hmm. So, um, we just… You know, when that lady came in and she told us that she had been on Google and she felt like that’s what it was, we just say, “Okay. You know what? 

That’s really, you know, helpful. [00:31:00] It helps us narrow down where you’re at. Um, but what we’ll do is we’ll bring it in, we’ll do a diagnostic, we’ll have a look at it using our equipment, um, and we’ll go from there.” So we usually just tell them that we’re gonna do our own diagnostic just so that we know, you know, that we know what steps have been taken and, um, go from there. 

But it is difficult definitely with, the fact that your internet is right on your cellphone and right easily in your hand. Um, sometimes I call it Dr. Google too, or Google Mechanic. But, um, it’s the same thing when you try to look up your medical, Yeah. 

Khrist Hussein: WebMD. 

Danielle Commandeur: You know, WebMD, yeah. When you try to look up your medical when, you know, you might have a hangnail, but meanwhile Google’s telling you that you’re probably dying of cancer. 

Khrist Hussein: Um- Yeah, I put in that I sneeze, and it says I got two weeks left. Um, yeah, like it’s- Yeah. It’s- … very inaccurate. 

Danielle Commandeur: You know, with- … with this lady, you know, it was like maybe a $200 bill for [00:32:00] the sensor and some diag time, ’cause really the sensor’s a plug-and-play. It’s not- … it was such a little bill, but this poor lady had herself so worked up that she was worried that it was, park the car in a farmer’s field and go buy a new car, ’cause she thought it was just gonna be, like, a huge bill. 

Um, it’s a little bit scary. Like, sometimes we’ll kid with them and we’ll be like, “Whoa, like, slow your roll. Let’s just, you know, start at the beginning.” Um, but it’s good that people are trying to educate themselves a little bit. What’s scary is that the education, you know, in this case, in this example, like it went from zero to, you know- Yeah 

300 when it only really needed to be zero to 15. And, um- You know, as long as we can take care of the customer, get her back on the road and make, um, make it right, that’s all we need to do. We just… I, I get the Google comments several times per week, and we mostly just say, “Hey, you know what? That’s great. 

I’m glad you looked into that. We’re gonna [00:33:00] try- we’re gonna, do our own diagnostic here, and we’ll make sure that we’re making a good decision.” 

Khrist Hussein: Good for you. And that’s a great call which you just had, a true story that somebody thought basically their engine’s cooked and it’s, you know, a, you know, $100 repair. 

Um, we wanna make sure we’re doing right by you. That’s a great way to bring them back to reality and still, of course, maintain your professionalism. Kudos. Good for you. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, that’s all you can do. So Now- Okay, go ahead, Carter. You got one and I got one. I’ll, I’ll follow it. 

It’s on a different topic, so it’s not really segued. 

Carter Pembridge: Well, no, I w- I was curious ’cause obviously, you know, you talk about, um, the customers, and that’s a common thing. I mean, that’s, that’s like, uh… I mean, I feel like with any, uh, uh, consumer-facing business, like you’re going to have situations like that. You know, “Well, you know, hey, all I need is, uh, you know, a, a piece of pen and paper to handle my business.” 

“Okay, sure. Sounds good. Call me in six months when you don’t have the part [00:34:00] number from the job you guys are coming back for. Uh, we’ll talk, we’ll talk then, right?” Like, it just kind of depends upon, um, what people… I don’t know. It’s, it’s like, uh, people obviously wanna save a buck, but the s- at the end of the day, you know, sometimes, um, it’s best to probably get it done right ’cause it’s gonna save you in the long term. 

It’s just how you effectively communicate that with who you’re talking to. Um, and for you guys, it’s a safety thing a lot of times. It’s like, “Look, I cannot, like, comfortably let you out of the shop with how this thing is driving. I can’t comfortably put my name on this.” Um, so no, I, I could, I definitely, uh, empathize with that. 

Now, I wanted to ask you on the marketing side, um, ’cause I’m understanding from the notes here that, you know, you guys are fairly, um, involved in your community, which is another way that you stand out from, uh, your competitors who might not be. Um, you know, marketing-wise, let’s dive into that. Some people will do, um, you know, they’ll invest into local [00:35:00] soccer teams and put their brand on everything. Um, some people will leave flyers at all the local restaurants. Some people will throw all their money into Google, uh, or Facebook, right? 

Do you, do you have a particular way you like to attack, uh, marketing? 

Danielle Commandeur: Um, I do a lot of my marketing on social media. It’s- Okay … just something that’s, um, quite popular up here. Um- Yep … word of mouth is huge. Um, we like to call- Big as- … Grande Prairie the big little city. It’s a fairly big city, but, um, people know each other. 

A lot of people here have lived here many, many years. So- … um, word of mouth is really important. But we do do a lot of community support. Um, we believe very firmly that our community supports us, so we support our community. Mm-hmm. Um, we need our neighbors, they’re very important. Um, and I think I even mentioned it earlier when I was talking about, um, staffing and stuff like that. 

But [00:36:00] our community is what supports us. We would not have a business if we didn’t have our community. Mm-hmm. So we need to support our community. Um, we spend a lot of time, you know, supporting things that are kids focused or nonprofits, which is very, um, important. So, um, United Way, um, s- Center for Suicide Prevention, um- Mm-hmm 

the Ronald McDonald House, those are charities that are close to our hearts. Um, we do, um, definitely children’s and, like, you know, sports. We just, uh, recently supported a youth expo, um, and we did a 4H, um, event. Um, you know, the kids are our future. You know, kids are maybe, maybe they’ll take care of us when we’re in a senior’s home, I’m not sure. 

Hmm. But, um, you know, kids are our future. We’ve gotta support the kids. But we wanna take care of each other, so our Center for Suicide Prevention here in [00:37:00] Grande Prairie has a Men at Work program that focuses on men’s mental health, which is very important. We have our technicians, um, most of them are m- male. 

It’s a male, male-dominated industry, although women are moving in more and more. But, um, very important to support the Men at Work program and, um- we support a lot of different… Oh, par- oh boy, I almost forgot PARDS, which is our, one of our favorite charities, um, which is, um, Peace Area Riding for the Disabled Society. 

And so what they do is they have horse they have a barn and they have horses that are retired horses that have been donated from, um, different ranches or different, um, areas around here. 

Carter Pembridge: Very cool. Yeah, very cool. That’s neat. 

Danielle Commandeur: And then, um, so it’s mental and physical disabilities that they, um, work with, but they’ll deal, like, lots of Down syndromes, autism, [00:38:00] stuff like that. 

And these people who are ordinarily maybe confined to a wheelchair get some freedom, get out of the wheelchair, get on the horse’s back, and, you know, are able to go for a ride. Um, but if you ever wanna look it up, if you just put pards.ca in your search engine, you should find them. But it’s a wonderful, wonderful organization. 

We deal a lot with them, and we have an agreements with them where we, they have a, a van that drives around and picks up, um, their clients, uh, handy, like a, a van that’s wheelchair accessible, et cetera. And, um, we do all the maintenance and stuff on that van for them so that they, um… I wanna say youth, but they actually have clients all the way up to their 50s, 60s. 

Um, they take care of anyone. But it’s a really, um, it’s such a great organization, and we’re really proud to support them. So I apologize to my PARDS friends if they’re listening to [00:39:00] this in the future that I forgot about them right at the top. But, um, you know, we just really believe in taking care of our community, and, and our community takes care of us. 

Carter Pembridge: Y- you said something there that I, um, I talk to, you know, my wife about, I talk to, um, people in my community about, and I’ve got a pretty good community this way as well, and there’s a lot of places unfortunately that aren’t this way. Um, but really a lot of it comes down to that exact thing, like you take care of your community takes care of you. 

Um, it’s not constantly trying to undercut each other and, you know, cheap out on it and then everyone’s cannibalizing each other. Uh, you know, it’s a lot of s- small families and, and, and small businesses from those families and people support. And I don’t know how it is where you are, but like I’m okay to spend 10, 20% higher to my community because I know it’s gonna be done [00:40:00] right. 

I know the guy. Um, but I know if I’m doing something, they’ll gladly invest and, and, and spend with me too. It’s not a, you know, we’re trying to whittle each other down until there’s zero margins and everyone’s suffering, which unfortunately, um, has become an all, all too common. And in terms of, you know, the charity work you do, I think that’s wonderful. 

Um, I don’t know if you’re a religious person, but you know, there’s a lot that can be said about, um, you know, it’s good for the soul and, and what you put out there comes back to you. Um, and, and that can be, you, you can interpret that in many different ways. Um, but it’s no… It makes complete sense that people trust you with their vehicle. 

They feel comfortable coming in. You know, you guys are taking care of your customers, but also your community as well. So a lot of shops can learn from can learn from that. You know, Khrist and I, we talk to shops who you can just tell who you’re talking to. You know, sometimes you can tell you might be talking to someone who’s not good faith. 

Um, sometimes you can tell you’re talking to someone who, you know, they, they do [00:41:00] have situations where they do have great systems set in place, right? But this is great, I think for shop owners to hear this. 

Khrist Hussein: Super helpful and is necessary. You know, Danielle, he says he’s about community, but I asked him for 10 bucks last week and he said no. 

So it’s- Don’t… It’s a, it’s a front. But that is actually a really great point he brings up and, you know, not whittling each other down on prices is such a huge factor. You guys are on the same team, and it gets lost. Now on, on, on that, on that front- Again having remembered how much I would ask for things to get repaired for, you know, 20 years ago versus now, it is a giant difference. 

A windshield used to cost, the guy from Apple will come by, I’ll give him 100 bucks and a 26er, he’ll take care of it. It’s a $1,400 fix because there’s, you know, sensors and ADAS and everything else all over the place. How are you explaining that to customers? Especially, you know, you’ve got customers 13 years, you know, you’re, you’re bordering on second [00:42:00] generation coming to bringing cars to you that you know, what, what cost this before costs this now without just saying, “It’s just more expensive.” 

Do you have a certain path that you’re following to explain that? 

Danielle Commandeur: Um, I blame COVID. I always just say, “Well, it’s because of COVID.” I don’t know if that’s a good answer. 

Khrist Hussein: You got another four years you can pull that still. Don’t worry. Just say it’s ’cause of COVID. You can get away with it. It, it breaks the ice. 

Danielle Commandeur: Um- You know, um, I usually just, if someone does start asking some questions like that, like I just kind of explain like we’re at the mercy of our suppliers as well. Yeah. So their prices have gone up. Therefore I say my… Like, I haven’t changed any of the way that I run my business. Um, the supplies that I’m buying are more expensive, so I have… 

You know, they just naturally go up. Um, but we did have a lot of factories close in our industry, which I’m sure [00:43:00] you’ve- … heard of. But, um, there’s just less suppliers now, so supply and demand as well, and it’s just unfortunately there’s not as many suppliers, so demand is, and cost, um, price increases as well. 

But I usually just explain to my customers like I haven’t changed my formula, I haven’t changed my percentages or anything like that. The cost that I’ve paid has gone up, so therefore my cost has gone up the same amount. And um, it’s tough but I mean, we all… You know even a gal- a gallon of milk or a five liter of milk is- Everything 

you know. When m- one of my favorite stories is when my, my son is 31 now, and when he was a baby, I used to dig through the coach cushions and under the seats of the car and wherever I could to find $3.18, was how much it was for a jug of milk for him [00:44:00] back, when he was baby. Now that same jug of milk is, six, $7, right? 

So like sometimes I’ll tell customers that. Like I’ll just, you know… That’s one of my favorites, you know, one of my best stories is, you know, I knew a thing of milk was exactly $3.18 because I had to scrounge up that change to- Mm-hmm … to buy that for my baby. And um, you know, it’s just the way it goes. 

Like I mean, inflation is just part of our lives, and I don’t get a lot of pushback on that sort of thing because we are reasonable, um, in our, in our markup. And, um, the customers generally understand. The best thing is that they also shop for their groceries and they know how much their grocery bill went up, so they can easily understand how much the parts have gone up. 

Khrist Hussein: Well, and you’ve also done the job to earn the respect from these folks over the term. You have not, done what the sleazy shop [00:45:00] does and, you know, hammer people and try to get the one sale out of them. You’ve done- Yeah … you’ve earned that respect. So all this is basically to say Carter should loan me the $10. 

Danielle Commandeur: That’s right. Yeah. That’s why he, he definitely should lend you that 10 bucks. It’s a lot of money. Yeah. And he knows you’re good for it. He knows you’re gonna give it back. So- 

Khrist Hussein: Oh, I won’t. 

Carter Pembridge: That’ll be the first- I don’t even know- I won’t Buddy, I gotta explain, global economics to you. I will explain global economics to why that’s impossible, okay? 

But that’s for another time- I appreciate you … all right? All right. I was gonna say- Next- … we segueing right now. Next podcast. Well, yeah, I guess if you join in next time. There, there’s wars going on, dude. The Straits locked down, okay? There’s a lot of problems with that, okay? Transportation costs. $7 and 50. 

7.50. Um, okay. No, like- All in, all in pennies. All in pennies in the mail How much are we paying? 

Khrist Hussein: There’s no pennies anymore. There’s no pennies anymore, Carter. There is no pennies anymore. There’s no pennies anymore, Carter. It’s just, that’s a, that’s a solid point for me. 

Danielle Commandeur: So Khrist, are you in Canada? 

Khrist Hussein: I am. 

I’m actually in Ottawa, Ontario. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. ‘Cause I was gonna say- I’m, I’m in Canada too … well, when I was in the US a couple weeks ago and I got some [00:46:00] pennies. 

Oh, you did get… I, I still have pennies, and like, I’m not giving them to nobody. That is- 

Carter Pembridge: They’re gonna get rid you away with the pennies too, uh, too soon actually. 

They’ve decided that as well. But, uh, at least we don’t have, uh, dollar coins. Okay? Um, dollar bills are the, are the way to go, buddy. 

Danielle Commandeur: Well- You already know … or a toonie. Come on. Yeah I… 

Khrist Hussein: look, we make it hail up here in Canada. We can, we don’t need to make it rain. This is- Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. 

Yes. Okay. I’m sorry. Um, no. Continue. We derailed. 

Carter Pembridge: Danielle, is there, is there any additional, um, things you wanna put out there maybe to the, the shop that’s just thinking about getting going or maybe is going in that first year that might be struggling? 

Um, or maybe even for the shop that, you know, they’re in year two or three, they wanna grow but they feel like they’re kind of in the rut 

Danielle Commandeur: Oh, boy. Oh, boy, I guess for someone who’s, like, s- starting out, my advice [00:47:00] would be, you know, make sure you do your research. 

Make sure… it sounds terrible, but get your insurance is a big one. You know, a lot of these guys, they start up, they’re in their basement, they’re… they lease a shop, whatever, and they don’t have adequate insurance. Insurance is huge in our industry. 

Um, if you do a brake job and they drive down the road and their tire falls out, it falls off- Mm … and now there’s a car accident and somebody’s injured or hurt, you need that insurance. Like, get that insurance. Get your licensing. So, um, in Alberta we’re regulated by what’s called AMVIC, Alberta Transportation. 

Um- 

Like, there’s lots of different in- industries, but you have to be AMVIC registered. And a lot of sh- these guys will open up and they’re just running shop. If you aren’t AMVIC licensed, you’re called a backyarder, and in Alberta that’s [00:48:00] illegal. So get your registrations, get your insurance, get your, you know, all that back end stuff that nobody wants to think about that’s not glamorous. 

Make sure that you’re protected and make sure your customer is protected, because you don’t wanna be that guy who’s injured a family. Um- Yeah. So, you know, that’s not glorious or fun, but that’s just one thing as a shop owner, when I see these, um, new shops opening, I’m like, you know, make sure that you’re registered, make sure that you’re protected, make sure your customer’s protected. 

Um, do your research. Know what market you’re gonna be. Um, the other thing that I see a lot of these young shops doing is they’re gonna do everything. We can fix this, we’ll fix that, we’ll do that, we’ll do tires, we’ll do… we’re gonna touch everything. Just know what you’re good at and do that. You know, be good at what you’re good at.[00:49:00]  

Um, and what else would I say to a new shop owner? I don’t know. Make sure your rate is good. Like, I, I do see that as well. Like, new shops will open up and they’re like, “I’m gonna charge 100 bucks an hour.” Like, “It’s gonna be cheaper. I’m gonna charge 80 bucks an hour.” Um, and I think what they’re doing is they’re thinking, “As a tech, I made, you know, half of that- and I don’t need to make that much more.” Like, you know, But they aren’t realizing what their overhead is or what their expenses are gonna be or, you know, all of that other stuff. And, you know, so they get a bunch of customers ’cause they’re gonna come for that cheap hourly rate, but then they’re gonna be overpromising and under-delivering. 

So you g- you gotta set yourself up for success. Do your research, know what you need to, you know, take care of yourself. But… And also, I don’t know, maybe don’t be [00:50:00] cocky. Like, you know, don’t be like, “I’m the best. I’m gonna do all of this,” and, you know, “I came from here and there, and I’m gonna, you know, do such a great job.” 

Um, we all, you know, we all have to live in the same world, and if that one guy is just being, like, super cocky and thinks he knows everything, you know, that’s gonna come around to bite you in the butt. So just, you know, um, be confident without being overconfident. Um, and also, like, other shops, like, we have a really good network of other shops in, um, in our area that we deal with, and you should never be, like, too proud to reach out to somebody in your industry and say, “Hey, you know, what kind of advice do you have for this or advice for that?” 

And, like, I get calls all the time from other shops saying, “Hey, what do you do in this situation?” And vice versa, I’ll call them and say, “What do you do in this situation?” Or, “This just came [00:51:00] up,” or whatnot. And, um, you know, we had one right around Khristtmastime with a fellow shop in town, and, um- You know, the customer wasn’t happy with them, so they came over to us and I said, “You know what? 

That’s actually a pretty good shop, and, you know, they’re human and they might have made a mistake. And, you know, I urge you to, communicate with them.” And, you know, so I kind of wound up being a little bit of a middleman, and I got the customer back over to that shop, which- Oh, wow … sounds silly because, a lot of shop owners would’ve been like, “I’m just gonna take this customer and tell them to forget that other shop, and I’m gonna take,” um, you know. 

But I also didn’t… I knew that that shop is a, is a… They’re also a good shop and, you know, their team is only human, just like the rest of us. And yeah, a mistake was made, but I wanted them to have the opportunity to fix that mistake. [00:52:00] Yeah. And I know that they’re going to reciprocate that to me. And, um, I think it’s so important to work together with, um, you know, with our coworkers. 

Like, it- they’re part of the community too, right? Um, so they might be a competitor, but, um, same competitor that I’m talking about, actually, what he said to me on the phone is, You know, he can’t fix every single vehicle in town, and I also can’t fix every single vehicle in town, so we need each other because neither one of us has the capacity to fix everything. 

So you need to work together with your, you know, with your competition as well. And, um, I also wish every upstart, every new company, the best of luck, ’cause, I mean, why not? We started one day too. 

Khrist Hussein: Yeah, no, right on so be nice, be professional, see the $1,000, not the $14,000 check. [00:53:00] And know you’re getting into a business, not a friendship. 

Carter Pembridge: Good for you. Right. Absolutely. I would add on top of that actually, you know, if, uh, you have a, a big network of shops there, um, you know, make sure, uh, you know, they’re all taken care of, and if they need Shop Boss, they can call me. Um, not Khrist, so, uh- I’ll call Khrist … definitely do that. No. No, but I do- 

Khrist Hussein: They’ll, they’ll, they’ll probably- I, uh- They’ll probably loan me 10 bucks, that’s all I’m saying. 

I don’t think I need them out there. 

Danielle Commandeur: I’ve been a Shop Boss customer for a really long time I support Shop Boss, um, a lot, and I promote them as much as I can. I could have worn the matching shirt to Carter today, ’cause, um, one day I got some mail with some swag in it, which I really appreciated. 

But, Shop Boss is great. And, um, you know, C- Carter, you started talking about it way back at the beginning of our conversation today about how Shop Boss just treats everyone like a person, and that’s a huge reason [00:54:00] why I stay with Shop Boss. Like, if I get on the chat, maybe they’re annoyed with me, y- you know, Melissa, Matt, Victor, like they all know me by name. 

They’re like, “Oh, hey Danielle,” like, “How are you?” And, um, that’s the winning touch right there, is that they know their customers, and they’re gonna take care of their customers. And, you know, that’s what we do with our customers, so when I get that back from, you know, one of my vendors, I really appreciate that. 

Um, and you know, I get calls quite often from other shops that say, you know, “I was thinking about joining Shop Boss, and what’s it like to, you know, have a Canadian company that’s dealing with a US, um, supplier?” And, how is it with, the stuff we need to implement in Canada? ‘Cause we obviously have different rules than US does. 

And, um, I get lots of those calls of, um, you know, people who are thinking about joining Shop Boss, and I’m a huge Shop Boss [00:55:00] supporter. I really love, um, the program itself. But it’s the people behind the program that keep us as the customer. ‘Cause, there’s other software that we could use, um, but are we gonna be treated like a number, or are we gonna be treated like a person? 

That’s huge. 

Carter Pembridge: Yeah. You actually, uh … Yeah, I mean, we, you know, we, we touched on that, but definitely appreciate, um, that as well, and I’m sure our support team also is gonna love hearing that as well. Um, you know, and, and actually you touched on it at the beginning, you know, overhead. I wanted to touch on that quickly too. 

You know, Shop Boss, not to sit here and go to a, a, an ad or anything like that, but it is something we talk to- Mm-hmm … ’cause we talk to a lot of new shops obviously. But, um, you know, profit per hour in this respect is ma- is massive. You know, plug in your overhead. Uh, Khrist taught me this at the beginning, and I didn’t realize how, how prevalent it was, but a lot of shops, they will literally wait till the very end and cross their fingers and hope they made money that month. 

Um, I want … I didn’t realize how [00:56:00] popular it was, but you just ask people and they’ll, they’ll either, A, they’re, they’re really … I don’t think they wanna see the numbers, so they don’t, they don’t really have an answer for you, or, or B, they’ll tell you, “Yeah, we just kinda hope at the end.” Shop Boss will have a profit per hour number there to where when you build out a ticket, you immediately know including all your overhead if you’re hitting that number or you’re spending money to do work. 

Um, and it’s something to keep in mind, right? So I think you said it yourself there, you know, make sure you, you do the groundwork, make sure you do it right and everything’s kosher, but also- You know, that’s where software might be able to help out too, is make sure you are profitable. Um, because, you know, I’m not a math guy, Khrist is not a math guy. 

Mm-hmm. We use our fingers to count. Um, and a lot of technicians, they’re not math guys either. Uh, some are. We have those conversations. I hate it when we have those conversations. I’m like, “Dude, stop talking about stats with me, okay? I’m gonna show you how to build a ticket.” Don’t talk… Okay, fine. We’ll have the number conversation, okay. 

Um, but anyway. No, definitely thank you very [00:57:00] much, um, Danielle. And I think that’s gonna go ahead and wrap up this episode of, uh, Shop Boss Radio. Khrist, anything you wanted to throw in there before we wrap up? That was great. I appreciate it. Danielle, now that we know each other a little bit better, I can call you, we can complain about Carter together. 

Um, this is gonna be a perf- Yes, we- This is a great connection down the road I think we definitely should. Yeah. Although, he’s an import to Canada, so maybe we should treat him a little bit nicely. Or we can just do it behind his back. He won’t even know about it. Okay. We’ll do it behind his back. Yeah. 

That’s better. Yeah, I’m for it. Danielle, thank you so much. Can I talk behind my back if I know you’re doing it, okay? I’m not secretive like that, Carter, okay? I didn’t go covert. All right. Danielle, thank you so much. That was awesome. Appreciate it. Have fun. Thank you. 

Danielle Commandeur: It was really great meeting you guys. I hope I gave you some good information. 

Carter Pembridge: Great stuff.