Master Tech to Millionaire

Perry Adams rented two bays at an Exxon for $200 a month in 1980. Today he is the founder and CEO of Adams Automotive in Houston. His son Joe sits down with him in Bay 1 and asks for the rules he built the shop on, and the mistakes behind them. Joe Adams talks with his father about "Perry's Proverbs", the rules Perry has used to run his shop for 46 years and had never written down until this episode. Perry gives the stories behind them: how he gets a car in the door, why he took on fewer jobs, why he made the shop feel like a hotel, and what arguing with customers cost him. This episode is for auto repair shop owners and technicians. In this episode: - How Perry started: two bays at an Exxon for $200 a month, and what he found out about that rent later - The 1989 move to a 4,000 square foot, one-bay shop, and 100 days of getting it ready - Why a free quick look works: "looking always ends up fixing" - Fix what they came in for, and why the work customers see is the work you do - The question about what cars he likes to work on, and how it changed which customers he works for - Why the waiting room, the front counter and the drive-up cover are set up the way they are - "It's expensive to be right": a $3,200 compressor customer, and Perry's own mistakes with arbitration and repossession - Looking back at the Exxon: rent that went from $200 to $1,350 a month, and going broke again when he left 0:00 Intro 0:55 Bay 1: how Adams Automotive started 3:29 Perry's proverbs: no car, no anything 7:06 Nobody can beat free 8:29 Looking always ends up fixing 10:12 Get them out of the car 11:46 No stop signs 14:33 Fix what they came in for 17:12 The work they see is the work you do 21:10 Messy people, and God's question 26:42 The big engine job 29:09 1975: open heart surgery in front of the customer 32:00 A hotel, not a garage 34:52 Juan and the honor of the job 35:47 Emotional satisfaction doesn't pay the bills 38:42 Hero jobs vs. gravy 40:09 Show them the future: you're the doctor 43:57 I am sold myself 51:25 What's it keeping you from? 53:08 An early answer keeps the phone from ringing 57:12 It's got to be okay to spend money here 59:26 It's expensive to be right 1:02:20 The $800 blend door: a customer for life 1:06:36 Praying it through 1:08:07 No contracts in 46 years 1:11:25 Let God handle it 1:14:43 Outro Build a better shop with AutoShop Answers: https://autoshopanswers.com/classes

Get daily devotionals from Lead Pastor DeVante Tidwell and new podcast updates. Choose your emails here: https://autoshopministries.subscribepage.io/ Listen on Spotify (Auto Shop Ministries episodes in the Master Tech to Millionaire feed): https://open.spotify.com/show/3XYoe6xxI9IRLeBR7LPeuP Shame can make you keep paying for a mistake long after it happened. In this episode of Auto Shop Ministries, Lead Pastor DeVante Tidwell and Joe Adams talk honestly about forgiveness, identity, and finding the courage to move forward. DeVante compares shame to being handed the bill for a meal that's already been paid for. Joe shares his own struggle with shame and the difference between doing something wrong and believing that mistake defines who you are. Together, they explore Proverbs 24:16, why falling doesn't have to end your story, and how God's grace gives us hope for what comes next. In this conversation: • Recognizing the cycle of shame • Taking responsibility without letting mistakes become your identity • Receiving forgiveness and getting back up • Moving toward the future with hope Original episode: Move On to More Featuring: DeVante Tidwell, Lead Pastor, and Joe Adams Subscribe to Auto Shop Ministries for biblical teaching, honest conversations, and encouragement for work and life. If this message helps you, share it with someone who needs encouragement. #AutoShopMinistries #Forgiveness #Faith

Booking an appointment doesn’t guarantee the car will show up. What happens between the first phone call and the customer walking through your door? Joe Adams sits down with Josh Northup, director of the inbound call center, to break down how auto repair shops can turn more phone calls into actual visits. They discuss the difference between booking rate and arrival rate, why asking about price doesn’t always mean price is the customer’s real concern, and how to coach your team using real calls. From handling price shoppers and following up with no-shows to asking better questions and building long-term customer relationships, this episode offers practical ideas for shop owners, managers, and service advisors. Explore AutoShop Answers training: https://autoshopanswers.com Subscribe to Master Tech to Millionaire for more conversations on building a profitable auto repair business through Auto Hospitality.

Joe Adams interviews Charlie Zlatkos about his journey from a hands-on master technician to a successful multi-shop owner. Charlie shares the early struggles, the turning points with mentors like Todd Hayes, and how he learned systems, leadership and customer-first service to build a thriving business. This episode highlights hard work, the importance of treating the customer as the source of everything, the need for repeatable systems, and how training and servant leadership turned a one-man shop into a multi-million dollar operation. AutoShopAnswers.com Auto-Shop-Media.com YouTube

Pastor DeVante explains what it means to be "planted" in the house of the Lord—how consistency, deep roots, and the right spiritual environment help you flourish through every season. He introduces a daily devotional, encourages small daily habits, and invites listeners to commit to Christ and a Bible-based community so they can grow, bear fruit, and find lasting peace.

Become an objection MASTER as Joe and Glenn break down how to overcome common customer objections; using shop tours, empathy, the feel-felt-found method, assumption of sale, urgency, and conviction. They explain how to avoid objections by building trust up front and how to recover when you’re put on defense. Listeners get practical scripts and tactics — calling the competition, offering financing, demonstrating value versus price, and using the “second voice” — all aimed at turning hesitant customers into repeat, high-value clients.   Autoshop Answers 925-980-8012 Autoshop Media

Pastor DeVante Tidwell explores why people hold themselves back — from gluttony, overspending, and workaholism to not asking for help — and how shame and feelings of unworthiness fuel self‑sabotage.  The episode offers practical reframes, examples from Scripture of broken people God used, and a clear invitation to receive God’s grace. It ends with a short prayer and encouragement to stop medicating pain and begin healing at the root.

Pastor DeVante preaches from Mark 8:22–26 about a blind man healed in stages, illustrating how God first draws us close, then corrects, and finally gives clear vision. The sermon explains grace as a refining process — sometimes messy but purposeful — and invites listeners to receive Jesus, be transformed, and bring others to Him.

Pastor DeVante Tidwell and guest host Bill Brusard discuss how to handle the “middle” seasons of life and business, using Numbers 11 and the example of the Israelites to explore faith, temptation, and trust in God’s process. They give practical examples—debt, health, relationships, and business growth—showing how nostalgia and fear can derail progress and how faith, obedience, and community help you move from where you are to where God intends.  

Joe Adams and Chaplain DeVante Tidwell discuss making your best your standard—how consistency, small daily wins, and spiritual accountability beat laziness and compound into excellence at work, in family, and in leadership. They share scripture-based insight, practical micro-win challenges (start a habit, journal progress, show up early), and a call to let disciplined effort open doors in business and life.