Ep 122 - Trey & Sasha Holley | Stop Looking for A-Techs. Build Them.

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Mike Allen sits down with Trey and Sasha Holley, owners of a 10-bay repair shop in Thomaston, Georgia, for a conversation about growth, technician development, working with your spouse and building a business that can eventually survive without you. Trey and Sasha share how losing Sasha’s father suddenly forced them into the business side of automotive before they were ready—and why watching him work himself relentlessly shaped the kind of shop they want to build today. They also explain why struggling to find an experienced A-tech completely changed their hiring philosophy after they took a chance on a high-school student, bought him a toolbox and developed him into a productive young technician now learning diagnostics. The conversation gets into their 400-hour backlog, whether becoming a multi-shop operation is actually something they want, succession planning for their son and the uncomfortable question of what happens to your business if you die tomorrow. And in true Confessions fashion, Trey eventually admits that one of his shop’s biggest historical problems wasn’t employees, technicians or customers—it was his own attitude.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Do You Really Need an A-Tech?
01:29 – Meet Trey & Sasha Holley
03:59 – From Two Bays to a 10-Bay Shop
05:38 – Being Thrown Into Business Overnight
06:15 – Losing Sasha’s Dad at 51
08:57 – Starting Their Own Shop
11:02 – Running a Business With Your Spouse
13:03 – When Employees Play Husband vs. Wife
16:40 – Moving a Technician Into the Front Office
18:17 – 400 Hours of Approved Work
19:27 – Stop Looking for A-Techs—Build Them
20:50 – Teaching a Young Technician Diagnostics
22:49 – The Never-Ending Growth Problem
23:56 – How Much Growth Is Enough?
25:39 – Building a Shop Their Son Can Inherit
26:08 – What Happens If the Owners Die Tomorrow?
28:36 – Mike’s “Oh Shit, I’m Dead” Book
35:08 – What Happened to Sasha’s Dad’s Shop?
38:04 – Their First ASTA Expo
47:03 – Stop Making Excuses and Show Up
51:09 – Trey’s Confession: “The Problem Was Me”
52:44 – “I’ve Only Had Two Leave in Tears” 😂