DO IT FOR A LIVING
DO IT FOR A LIVING is a podcast for performance racing industry enthusiasts and shop owners. It features interviews with top minds in the performance racing industry about business and tech. The show covers new products, services, and resources used by successful professionals. New episodes are released every Monday, offering practical information to help build performance businesses. Listeners can enjoy it on the way to work or in the shop.
Episodes
217 - Stop Guessing: An Accountant Explains Your Shop's Finances - With Jerry Cecco
Most shop owners glance at their P&L once a year at tax time and have no idea what it's actually telling them. In this episode, accountant Jerry Cecco breaks down exactly how a profit and loss statement should be structured for a performance shop – and how to generate accurate numbers from your daily operations. Jerry spent years installing accounting systems for automotive dealerships before br
216 - Performance Shop Owners: You're Working Harder for Less Money. Here's Why.
You're doing highly skilled work, working harder than the general repair shop down the street — and making less money per hour. In this episode, Richard interviews Kevin to break down exactly why performance, restoration, and custom fabrication shops struggle financially compared to general repair, and what to do about it. We cover the "book time" billing model that lets general repair techs fla
215 - Mastering Manufacturing in Performance Automotive: Lean, Kanban, and Error-Proofing Explained!
Unlock the hidden secrets that are transforming manufacturing efficiency worldwide. In this deep dive, Richard and Kevin explore the powerful concepts that can revolutionize your production line—from error-proofing and Pokeyoke techniques that prevent costly mistakes, to lean manufacturing principles that maximize value while minimizing waste. Plus, learn practical examples—from how to design par
214 - Rebuilding shocks with Chris Hagen of Inertia Laboratory
In this episode, Kevin and Richard sits down with Chris Hagen, owner of Inertia Laboratory. Chris specializes in high-performance damper rebuilds, revalving, dyno testing, and sells high end coilover systems. Before starting Inertia Lab, Chris worked as an engineer for a major vehicle manufacturer, and spent time at AST/Moton - so he brings both OEM engineering credibility and real-world motorspo
213 - Manufacturing Systems for Small Shops with Richard Fielder
In this episode, Kevin and co-host Richard Fielder break down the manufacturing systems used by large-scale factories and show you how to implement them in your small shop. Richard is a controls engineer at Peterbilt where he works with the systems that manufacture semi trucks at scale, and he brings that expertise to help small fabricators, tuners, and parts manufacturers work smarter. Whether yo
212 - Pablo and Alejandro Moreno Update us about Tandem Offroad
In this episode of Do It For a Living, we sit down for a followup with brothers Alejandro and Pablo Moreno, co-owners of Tandem Offroad. Their shop specializes in off-road truck builds and general maintenance, serving customers who demand both performance upgrades and reliable day-to-day service. The brothers share their journey of building a business together, the challenges of manufacturing the
211 - Zach Denney of ECU Master USA returns
In this episode of Do It For a Living, we welcome back Zach Denney for a follow-up to his first appearance on episode 083. Back then, Zach was running Wholesale POwer (WHP), the US distributor for ECU Master, as a one-man operation out of an 1,800 square foot facility, hoping to hire his first employee. Fast forward to today, and he's now importing several brands including ECU Master, Verkline, an
210 - Emily and Zach from the 2025/26 UNT Formula SAE Team
In this episode of Do It For a Living, we sit down with two students from the University of North Texas Formula SAE team. This marks our first video episode and a new format where we explore the next generation of motorsports talent. Emily Gooden is the Operations Manager and Zach Warren is the EV Powertrain Lead - both are seniors studying engineering at UNT. Kevin, who has an FSAE background, d
209 - Peter Agapoglou of Autosport Fabrication
In this episode of Do It For a Living, I talk with Peter Aggapoglou, founder of Autosport Fabrication, about his deep roots in the motorsports industry. Before launching his own shop, Peter built his expertise working for several high-end European and race shops, honing his skills in fabrication, chassis setup, and race car development. Peter also shares his challenges and solutions to running a
208 - Joseph Potak with HP Cult
In this episode of Do It For a Living, I sit down with Joseph Potak, host of the new HP Cult podcast. We talk about his journey in the high-performance world, including his history with Texas Speed and how he became an expert in LS engine building. Joseph shares insights from the several books he has written on building LS motors and swapping them into different vehicles, and what led him to start
207 - Adam Hammer of Hammer and Dolly Restorations
In this episode of Do It For a Living, I sit down with Adam Hammer of Hammer and Dolly Restorations to explore his journey into the world of classic car restorations. Adam shares how he got started, the challenges of building his own business, and the processes he uses to manage complex, long-term projects. We dive into his approach to business management, car building, and project management—cove
206 - Brandon Piper of BSP Motorsports
In this episode of Do It For a Living, we sit down with Brandon Piper from BSP Motorsports to hear his journey from supporting a Dodge Viper race team to building a thriving business. Brandon shares how creating and executing a solid plan enabled him to triple his business growth in just three years. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing—Brandon opens up about the unexpected challenges of relocati
205 - Sasha Anis of Mountain Pass Performance
In this episode of Do It For a Living, we sit down with Sasha Anis, founder of Mountain Pass Performance, to discuss his journey in building a cutting-edge performance business. Sasha shares insights into starting and scaling Mountain Pass Performance, managing production and sales, and pushing the boundaries of innovation in motorsports. We dive into his experience building hybrid race cars and a
204 - Richard Fielder with Evolution Dynamics and Scaling your Business Discussion
In this episode of the Do It For a Living Podcast, I'm excited to introduce a new voice to the podcast: my business partner at Evolution Dynamics, Richard Fielder. Richard will be joining us as a cohost for future episodes, where we'll dive into the ins and outs of running a business. We start by getting to know Richard better as he shares his personal journey into the industry and the experiences
203 - Adam McCreery with AFR Autoworks
In this episode of Do It For a Living, I sit down with Adam McCreery, founder of AFR Autoworks, to explore how he built his business using data-driven decisions. Adam shares how tracking shop hours, billing accurately, and managing overhead have been the keys to his success. We dive into the systems and strategies he's developed to maximize efficiency and profitability while maintaining high stand
202 - Kevin Emr of E-Muscle Cars
In this episode of Do It For a Living, we sit down with Kevin Emr, the visionary behind e-Muscle Cars. Kevin shares the story of his journey to combine cutting-edge electric vehicle power and technology with the classic aesthetics of muscle cars. We dive into the challenges of building an innovative business in a rapidly evolving market, how Kevin approaches modernizing iconic vehicles without los
201 - Season 2 Intro and Matt Beenen of Builtright + Mountech Followup
After a four-year break, we're back with a brand-new season of the Do It For A Living Podcast, and we're kicking things off strong with a follow up from a special guest: Matt Beenen. Matt is an experienced entrepreneur and the driving force behind several successful businesses, Builtright and Mountech. In this episode, he shares insights from his journey, the challenges he's faced, and the strateg
163: Stewart Waliser of Stews Self Service Garage
Stewart grew up in a Seattle suburb and was an active kid. When he turned 16, he got a beater $500 car and was tasked with keeping it running. He used this car to learn maintenance and slowly acquired mechanical skills. He went to college and continued to modify cars. He was living gin the dorm and didn't have a place to do the work so he called several shops, but nobody would allow him to do the
162: Nathan Cicio of Cicio Performance
Nathan grew up in Florida working on cars to help his dad's business. In his twenties, he moved around always chasing entrepreneurial ventures but wasn't always focused on cars. He eventually purchased a 2002 WRX Wagon and then he was hooked! The modifications began and he couldn't get enough. This led to starting a performance shop with two buddies and eventually meeting Doug Wilks who was the ow
161: Chris Riggs from Speed by Design
Chris got his career going in cars by doing a buy-in for body kits while he was in college back in 2001. He ran this business all through college and made a decent living. But, after graduating, he became a medical salesman. He worked there up until 2012 when the company he was working for got bought and he was given a buyout payment. That same year, he started Speed by Design. Initially, he wante
160: Ben Silcock and Andre Simon return to discuss HP Academy
Its been about 4 years since we last talked to Andre and Ben of HP Academy. Originally, they were focusing on keeping the business small and running it themselves. They soon realized that they needed to hire some extra help. They have grown to 7 people and really helps generate content. Andre and Ben now release interviews each week and have greatly expanded their online education program. The onl
159: Bryan Thompson of Powerhouse Racing
Bryan Thompson started out in Utah and bought himself a Toyota MR2. He quickly started modifying it to go faster. He ended up going to college to get a Computer Science degree but was cut short because of his love for cars. He then followed a friend to Dallas to begin working at Dinosaur Performance (which later purchased Powerhouse Racing). Soon enough, he was giving the reigns to run Powerhouse
158: AJ Hartman returns for an update on AJ Hartman Aero
Back in 2017, AJ was humming along and making composite parts for race cars and street enthusiasts. He was approached by a customer who was wanting to help AJ scale the business, so he sold off 49% of the business. They changed the name to RHR Composites, hired 2 people, contracted some aerodynamic parts to be designed, and moved to a larger facility. Along the way, their vision for the future did
157: Matt Beenen returns with BuiltRight Industries
Since he was a kid, Matt always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Using inspiration from his childhood, he decided to start a side gig to follow his dreams. His initial idea consisted of 50 latches that allow you to drop the Ford F-150 back seat down to access some secret storage. To his surprise, a Facebook post in a small F-150 group resulted in him selling out rather quickly. So, he began his journ
156: Alejandro and Pablo Moreno of Tandem Automotive
Alejandro and Pablo Moreno didn't start a shop together but found they could grow a business by working as a team. Alejandro got his engineering degree, worked at Bell Helicopter for a while, and went back to school to get his MBA. In the meantime, Pablo was an auto mechanic, went to flight school, and then decided to start Tandem Automotive with a friend to work on drift cars (hence the name). Wh
155: Theresa Contreras and Sara Morosan of LGE-CTS Motorsports
The business was originally started by their parents who did maintenance and custom work in California. Theresa studied graphic design and worked as a machinist. She went back to work in the family auto body shop and worked in the front end. She taught herself how to pinstripe and paint and continues to do so to this day! Sara was also interested in working at some sort of automotive business and
154: Vadim Belogorodsky from CANtrolls
On this episode we get a chance to talk with Vadim Belogorodsky from CANtrolls. CANtrolls is a company focused on using CAN interface hardware to make engine swaps easier… but it goes way beyond that! Vadim taught himself to program at age 13 and has since worked on medical devices, oil rigs (doing CAN-based Networking) and most recently with Zero Avia an electric aviation startup. Vadim is a stan
153: Reid Lunde returns to discuss his interconnectable relay entered in the SEMA Launch Pad Competition
Reid has been very busy lately managing several businesses. He still has KSTuned which is the Honda racing side and then has Kaizen Speed for the domestic cars. But his new venture is a weatherproof. solid-state relay that can handle heavy current and is interconnectable. This makes it very easy to daisy chain additional relays without having to run more power wires. He also made it so that you ca
152: Johnny Cichowski of Nine Lives Racing
Johnny joined the military after high school, served his time, and then used the GI Bill to go to college. He really didn't know what he wanted to do with his life and began messing with cars and going autocrossing. He worked a short stent helping at a friend's shop and then got a job at PFC Brakes doing sales and technical support. This job took him all over the world supporting various racing pl
151: Jonny Mill of WheelWell.com
Jonny Mill grew up in a small town in California and moved to LA as soon as he graduated high school. He worked at a talent recruiter and had various jobs in the entertainment industry with advertising and marketing. He always enjoyed cars, but things really took off when he developed The E-Stopp (an electronic parking brake). It was intended for handicap vans but soon found an amazing niche in th
150: Charlie Eklund of Hennessey's Tuner School
Charlie Eklund moved down to Houston, TX to attend Tuner School in 2017. The people at Hennessey Performance saw something special in Charlie and offered him a job in the admissions department for the school. Since then, Charlie has been the face of Tuner School to narrow down the applicants and help them get jobs after graduation. To further help them out, Charlie helps students find part time jo
149: Richard Tomlin of Apex Auto Works and White Pony Dry
Richard Tomlin owns a paint, restoration, and fabrication shop south of Houston, Texas called Apex Auto Works. He made a name for his shop by building cages for Spec Miatas and was cranking out one a week. The shop is located on the way to a road course so he catered to the weekend racers and was able to do anything they wanted from complex fab work to paint and body. He recently embarked on a ne
148: Bob Morreale of The Tuning School
Bob grew up working on Fords by building engines and going drag racing. He got turned on to the Buick Grand National and became obsessed with going faster! After some frustration with trying to fine tune their setups, Bob decided to start diving into the actual electronic tuning. This opened a whole new world of going faster and picked up a bunch time at the drag strip. He had a couple computer bu
147: Dave Carapetyan of Rally Ready Driving School wants to teach everybody how to drive a rally car!
Dave grew up in Austin and has lived there his whole life. During middle school, he played in a punk rock band (look up The Snobs – Schools Out, Let's Skate) in the early 2000's. They organized a tour on the east coast and recorded a couple 7" records. While touring and playing shows, he got turned on to street racing. Having no affinity to school, he dropped out of High School and decided he want
146: Dan Kahn of Kahn Media started by sending articles about his car to magazine editors. Now he runs his own PR firm.
Dan lived in a house of car enthusiasts in southern California. Both his dad and grandfather owned their own businesses, so Dan was kind of groomed to have his own business as well. In high school, Dan bought a 1968 Mustang Fastback and spent 2 years restoring it with his dad. Once they finished it, Dan went out and took some "professional" pictures of the car, wrote an article, and sent it to eve
145: Joe Gambino of Rogue Fabrication couldn't find a tube bender to meet his particular needs so he went out and made one himself!
Joe grew up in Oregon and stayed there through college and went to Oregon Tech for Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business. He never really saw himself owning his own business, so he spent several years working for other companies as an engineer. He spent all his extra time playing with and modifying offroad trucks. He soon realized that he could take a pretty good tax write off if he crea
144: Colin McLemore of Mac's Custom Tie Downs is working to become the household name for tie downs of all sorts
Colin grew up buying and restoring pedal bikes and really enjoyed working with his hands. When his dad took a job in Washington with Boeing, Colin bought a 1940 Ford which was quite a step up from the bicycles. He went to college at Washington State University and preferred to look for car projects instead of studying. Having to haul dead cars all over the place, Colin began looking for better sol
143: Chris Walters details how they built up a relationship with Jay Leno over years before releasing Jay Leno's Garage Car Care products
Chris has been in California his whole life and used to have a job at a company that developed vehicle care products for professional body shops. This gave him intimate knowledge about materials and products for the car care market. One weekend, they were out an event demonstrating some car care products and caught Jay Leno's eye. He invited them out to his garage to test out their products and sh
142: Will Baty of Centerforce clutches shares how they continue to innovate to stay ahead of market demands
Will grew up in California and has always had a passion for cars. After high school, he started an apprenticeship at a machine shop working on engines. He went to college, but it just wasn't for him. He was much more interested in racing than he was in going to class. After a few years, he began working at Centerforce Clutches via a recommendation from a friend of a friend. He started as a machini
141: Tony Whatley wants you to turn your side hustle into a successful business
Tony started his car passion by contributing and participating on the LS1.com forum back in 1998. He wasn't happy with the support of that forum and decided that he could do it better. So, he started LS1Tech.com in 2001. All the while, he was working in the Oil & Gas industry. He continued to teach himself various software systems to allow him to create websites, design graphics, and model parts.
140: Bret Voelkel of RideTech explains how his company emerged from the 2008 recession stronger than ever
Bret grew up in Jasper, IN and dabbled with cars during high school. After high school, he worked various jobs in Jasper and then took a job in Florida as a tech rep for the NHRA Drag Racing circuit. A few years later, he started working for a company in California to work for Blower Drive Service. He had been traveling about 300 days per year and decided to settle down back in Jasper with his new
139: Steve Dinan, Founder and former owner of DINAN, made the best products possible and backed them with a warranty and recently started a new service shop called CarBahn
Steve has known he was going to work with cards since the first grade. His dad was an engineer and his mom was a pianist and they encouraged Steve and his siblings to pursue any passion they wanted. This even includes Steve attempting to build a submarine as a kid. He ended up getting drafted to the Vietnam War and worked as an electrical engineer supporting the airplanes. Once he got out, he went
138: Jason Gauci of Lund International talks product development, marketing, and patents for their products in the off-road truck market
Jason grew up in upstate New York and spent his childhood around cars. For college, he went to Clarkson University and got his Mechanical Engineering degree. He had every intention to go work for an auto company in Detroit but he just couldn't commit to the cold weather. So, he moved south to work for Home Depot as a mechanical engineer. He worked his way up the ranks and eventually moved on to wo
137: Brent Picasso of Autosport Labs discusses the process of using crowd funding to make RaceCapture and Podium
Brent is a first generation American and his parents immigrated to the states after WW2. He spent a lot of his childhood playing with electronics. During high school, he practically took over the computer lab in the mid 80's to code and tinker however he liked. He went to college to get a Computer Science degree and worked for Microsoft after graduating. He then moved over to GE Capital to do soft
136: Dave Rowe of EPS Motorsports travels all over the world tuning various race cars using his MoTeC expertise
Dave grew up in Melbourne, Australia and has always been a petrol head. He knew from an early age that he wanted to work with cars and left school at 15 to get an apprenticeship at a local dealership. During that time, he began racing go carts to satisfy his need to race. Once he finished his apprenticeship program, he became qualified to be hired as a mechanic. He then got a job at a shop that fo
135: Lance Stander, the owner of Superformance, tells how he moved from South Africa to the US to pursue his passion for cars
Lance is from South Africa and he grew up working with his dad at his dealership and salvage yard. When he grew up, he took over part of the business and spent years growing it. Eventually, he decided to make the move to America and attempted to continue with the auto salvage business. He came over on a holiday visa and quickly discovered how hard it is to become an American citizen. After 3 rejec
134: Jim Ring shares how he and his brother Mike expanded RingBrothers to include manufacturing billet assemblies and specialty body panels
The Ring brothers grew up around their dad's fueling station and spent their time tinkering with whatever they could get their hands on. Jim moved around a few times and eventually moved his family back home to Spring Green, WI (2 hours west of Milwaukee). He saw a 1969 Camaro Indy Pace car for sale in the paper and had to get a loan from a bank to purchase the car. He fixed it up and ended up sel
133: Kris Miller has helped Powerstop Brakes increase their brand's recognition through strategic sponsorships and by creating excellent content
Kris grew up in Chicago and stayed there to go to college. His family has always been enthusiasts and he grew up tinkering with anything he could get his hands on. He got a degree in Aviation Flight Management and got his A&P License. He never worked in the aerospace industry because he got offered a job at a fuel management company. This company was buildings components of Holly's EFI throttle bo
132: Gary Carbono left his job as a lawyer in Panama to pursue his passion for cars and founded Race Lab Motorsports
Gary was born in Panama but grew up in the United States. His father had a machine shop and Gary was always around cars. He worked at his dad's shop at a very early age and learned the importance of hard work. His parents ended up getting a divorce and Gary moved to Panama to live with his mom when he was 9. In his early 20's, he bought a truck and began modifying it immediately. He increased the
131: John Nguyen quit his day job to pursue Track Spec Motorsports and has parlayed that into the Spec Corvette racing series
John was born in Florida but moved to Philadelphia when he was 10. His dad and he were always tinkering and fixed things rather than replacing them. He stayed in the area and went to college at Penn State to get a Mechanical Engineering degree. Even though his passion for cars never went away, he got a job at a beverage company and ended up in California managing a facility. During that time, he h
130: Scott Molitor of MoFab takes us through the process of acquiring a performance shop to grow his business
Scott grew up in Minnesota and enjoyed tinkering and making stuff as a kid. He played with dirt bikes and 3 wheelers anything else he could get his hands on. His dad got transferred for work and ended up in Colorado. After high school, he enrolled in an automotive program while working at a construction job. After graduating with his Associates Degree, he went hunting for a job. He had bought a Mi
129: Dennis Overholser, co-founder of Painless Performance Products, takes us through the ups and downs of growing his wiring and accessories company
Dennis grew up on a farm in Indiana and went to Nashville Auto Diesel College before getting drafted to the Air Force during Vietnam. He took a position as a mechanic for their vehicle maintenance division and spent his time repairing equipment. When he got back to Indiana, he met a girl whose family lived in Ft Worth. During one of their visits to her family, he realized there were a lot of jobs
128: The Bondurant Racing School just celebrated its 50th year in business! Tune in to hear what Pat and Bob are doing to make it thrive for another 50 years.
Bob has been racing his entire life. He got started in small Morgans and Triumphs in California and was jealous of the loud and fast American race cars. He stepped up to Corvettes and started winning immediately. He caught the eye of Carol Shelby who was trying to get Bob to race in the Shelby Cobra. After Bob had to race against a Cobra, he was convinced it was superior and went over to Carol's t
127: Tim Palazzolo of GAP Racing earned his reputation as a world-class builder by paying attention to the little details
Tim was practically born into working on cars. His dad worked at an automotive repair business and Tim immediately took a liking to cars. When he turned 14, he got a compact truck and began modifying it for the mini-truck scene. He built the car all by himself and was happy to show it off at high school. He got his associates degree and got a job at O'Reilly Auto Parts as a delivery driver. Over t
126: Trevor and Travis Hill of TWOth Autosport want to take novices and turn them into professional racing drivers
As kids, Trevor and Travis saved up their money and spent it on go carts. With a matching contribution from their dad, they were able to get pretty serious and eventually toured around the US and Canada to race go carts. They both ended up going to college but continued to race. Their goal the whole time was to be professional race car drivers and they thought of school as their backup plan. Travi
125: Dirk Starksen from Advanced Clutch Technology (ACT) tells how he got started and how he continues to innovate
Dirk has always been a builder and tinkerer. He started working for a clutch company called Kennedy Engineered Products that built engine adapters and clutches for VW's. He was working as a clutch assembler and was in college for a Mechanical Engineering degree. He worked his way up the ranks at KEP. In 1994, Dirk was working on a project for the Japanese import vehicles and asked his boss if he c
124: Doug and Brad DeBerti build crazy vehicles, race trucks, and have a new show on Discovery called Twin Turbos
Description: Doug and Brad DeBerti, the father and son duo, have a new Discovery Channel show called Twin Turbos. Doug was born and raised in Montana and moved down to Bakersfield, CA when he was 18. In the late 80's, Doug got a new truck and began making custom parts for it. He wiggled his way into a building lease and took out 4 credit cards to raise capital for the new business. In an ingenious
123: Glen Reid of Futura Trailers brought his innovative idea of a lowering trailer to reality
Glen is from New Zealand and his dad actually used to own a trailer company. His dad sold the company in the mid-eighties and it was a couple decades before Glen got back into trailers. After high school, Glen got into construction and went off to create his own construction company. Glen then moved to Dubai and did construction there as well. Over the next decade, he built a very large business w
122: David Schardt of Forgeline Motorsports continues to push the envelope with their carbon+forged wheels
David was born and raised in Ohio and has been there his entire life. Growing up, he was very active in outdoor activities and his dad was racing. By the time he was 18, he had his SCCA license and was racing pretty regularly. When he went to college, he started off in Accounting but changed it to HR and Psychology. During school, he wrote a business plan to distribute wheels in the Midwest. His d
121: Bob Boileau discusses how he became President of Pikes Peak International Raceway and how they have outlasted the previous owners
Bob grew up in Colorado and has been around racing his whole life. His dad raced with SCCA and then became the chief driving instructor in Colorado. His dad brought the family to a race and they met another family of racers. It was at this time that Bob would meet his future wife (she was 11 and he was 13). Bob went to college for a business degree and ended up in California after graduating to be
120: Paul "Scooter" Brothers shares his experience at Comp Performance Group, the SEMA board, and how they look for companies to acquire
Scooter grew up as a mechanic and got his first job right out of high school. He was drafted to the Navy during the Vietnam War where he served as an aircraft mechanic. When he came back home, he got a job at Racing Head Service around 1972. They were having trouble finding good camshafts for their market so they started Cam Dynamics (now Comp Cams) to fill the need. Over the past few decades, Sco
119: Larry Chen works every single day to capture stunning automotive pictures from all over the globe
Larry scraped and saved up $1000 to purchase his first Canon Rebel XT DSLR camera back in 2004. He had been taking pictures with a simple point-and-shoot but wanted to step up his professionalism. He had his own business fixing & building computers but also took pictures as a paparazzi. These jobs were a means to an end that allowed him to take automotive pictures. Over the last 13 years, he has t
118: Chris Stewart took his knowledge of marketing & design and combined it with his love of music & racing to create the GridLife festivals
Chris went to college at an art school in Michigan and focused on graphic design. After graduating, he worked at several design firms and worked his way up the corporate ladder. He was also running a forum called EFHonda to pursue his passion of the EF Honda chassis. He even started his own parking lot meet up called the EF Honda Meet to hang out with fellow enthusiasts. In 2004, they stepped it u
117: John Whalen of Whalen Speed R&D details how he has built up his business over the years
John bought his first Eagle Talon when he was in high school and upgraded to a turbo Eclipse when he got to college. He did quite a few mods and ran it a lot at the drag strip. Then, John and some buddies got together and rented a small shop to modify their cars and others for customers. After a few years, John separated off and took his fabrication equipment to work at another shop. That second s
116: Trevor Doelling of Texas Speed quit installing parts to focus on online sales. Now, they are machining and manufacturing their own parts.
Trevor raced cars all through high school and he progressed over the years with more powerful and faster cars. When he turned 21, he bought a Trans Am that came with the new LS V8. At that same time, his now business partner Jason Mangum also had a Trans Am and they raced against each other any chance they got! Trevor graduated college in 2000 and moved to Dallas, TX to look for a job. It was at t
115: Howard Anderson of AR Fabrication and Darton East believes that slow and steady growth is the best way to ensure success
Howard began his focus in the sport compact performance market building roll cages and engines for customers. He bought his first CNC machine way back in 2005 because he wasn't able to reliably get sleeved blocks. Things were going good until the economic downturn in 2008 when they had to sell off all the assets to stay out of bankruptcy. In 2010, he started Howard's Hot Rods with his wife. This w
114: Three friends - Jeremy, Ben, and John - teamed up with different skill sets to start Fathouse Fabrications
Jeremy and John met during high school and shared their love for turbocharged 4-cylinder cars. Jeremy (aka Fathouse) and John worked behind John's parent's house wrenching on their cars and other peoples' cars. They met Ben at a car meet and struck up a lasting friendship. After a few years of doing car stuff on the side, they decided to have a go at creating a real performance shop. They all brou
113: Jason Whitfield of Whitfield Fab has built his business by doing everything he can in house, including manufacturing weld-ready cages for drag racing
Jason has been hustling to make money ever since he was a kid! He started by mowing lawns, washing cars, putting grip tape on skateboards, and painting other kid's bicycles. When he was 14, he bought a VW bug and immediately began working on it and modifying it. Then he bought a Mazda mini truck slammed it with hydraulics and did other modifications to it. During high school, he teamed up with an
112: Chris Stephens, the co-host of Discovery Channel's Garage Rehab, helps shops improve operations and turn a profit
Chris Stephens started his automotive journey modifying and fixing Volkswagens. His family was big into cars and his brother set out to open up a shop called while Chris was in college. He joined the business and they began working on import cars. As time went on, the business continued to grow and their focus shifted to becoming an efficient service shop. Fast forward to 2016 and Chris saw a cast
111: Tim Suddard of Grassroots Motorsports explains how the magazine got started and how it has changed over the years
Tim grew up in Massachusetts and got interested in cars early on as a teenager. He moved to Florida to go to college and find some better weather. After graduating, he worked at an ad agency and handled a lot of the automotive stuff. He bought a Datsun 240Z and began hosting SCCA Autocross events. He was hungry for automotive information, but all of the magazines were focused on new car specs and
110: Ian Baker of World Time Attack set out to create the ultimate time attack racing spectacle and continues to improve his event
Ian Baker got his racing career going first as a race car fabricator. He was on the forefront of turbo charger installations in Australia. In 2007, he worked with a shop that took a car to the Tsukuba Circuit in Japan to race and wondered why they didn't have anything like that in Australia. Over the years, he has built up World Time Attack to be the premier unlimited time attack race in the world
109: Eric Hazen explains how he and Paul Lucas use their engineering knowledge to design products at Verus Engineering
Eric Hazen met Paul Lucas while at college at Purdue and shared their enthusiasm of cars and engineering. During college, they both had engineering jobs at top level racing companies. After graduating, Eric continued his design engineering position at C&R and Paul started working there as well. During their lunch breaks, they imaging running their own performance business. With their knowledge of
108: Mike Lewin of Professional Awesome shares how they are transforming their racing hobby into a real business
Mike Lewin grew up in an environmentally friendly community and then went to Purdue for Engineering. During college, he met Dan O'Donnel through the car club and they became roommates. Dan introduced Mike to Redline Time Attack and they began working on Dan's Evo 7 to make it faster and faster for each event. While they were building the car, Dan introduced Grant to the team to help build the Evo
107: Victor Alvarez took his love for Supras and turned it into a business with Induction Performance
Victor Alvarez grew up in Long Island, NY and used to spend a lot of time working at his dad's and uncle's automotive shop. Victor was around cars since a very early age but he really fell in love with them when his dad bought a Supra. His family decided to move south to Florida to take advantage of the nicer weather when Victor was 15. When they got there, his dad started another automotive shop
106: Rory Connell has leveraged his network to become more successful and recently became Chairman of the SEMA YEN Select Committee
Rory has spent most of his life working at various automotive businesses. He grew up working on and racing go carts in California. Then went to Wyotech for a formal automotive education in Pennsylvania. He then moved back to California to work for a boat shop, a hot rod shop, and a shop which recorded the Wrecks to Riches tv show. His next job was as a fabricated at West Coast Customs where he got
105: Dom Tucci is expanding the family business of building hot rods with his design firm Dom Tucci Designs
Dom Tucci has been exposed to hot rods his entire life. Both his dad and grandfather built many customs cars during his youth. But Dom didn't originally envision himself working with cars. He went to Syracuse University for Industrial Design and fell in love with 3D modeling and design work. As he progressed through the program, he was still helping his dad out at Tucci Hot Rods and really did enj
104: Ben Horst of Eddy Motorworks epitomizes the term "hot rod" with his Tesla-powered Exocet
Ben started tinkering with cars when he got into high school. When he enrolled at Georgia Tech for Mechanical Engineering (with a minor in Chemistry), his interest grafted towards electric cars. He participated in making a solar vehicle and modifying a Camaro to be a hybrid. Then he took it to the next level and made a tube-chassis hybrid car from scratch using a V-Twin engine, a forklift AC motor
103: Sasha Anis of OnPoint Dyno is positioning himself as a leader in electric car performance
Sasha started his automotive career by buying a small shop just to work on his own car. He started to help friends with their cars and then began charging for his service. He worked at it for several years but just couldn't make it profitable. So he closed the shop and moved on. He worked a corporate job and realized very quickly that he just didn't want that life, so he decided to go back to work
102: Susan Johnson of Moore Automotive takes a deep dive into proper accounting practices
Susan is the VP of Finance for Moore Automotive. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and started her career at a CPA firm. She worked at that firm for a while and then helped several other businesses "fix" their accounting and ensure that everything was setup correctly. She now has a total of 20 years of experience in Finance and Accounting. In 2010, she met Bill who owned Moore Aut
100: Reid Lunde returns as a guest for Episode 100 and tells us about Kaizenspeed and KS Tuned
Episode 100 features a very special guest! Reid Lunde sits down on the other side of the table for his own interview. He has spoken with dozens of other influencers in the business, but never had a chance to really share his story. Now, he gets his shot! Reid's first experience with cars came in the form of RC racing when he was a kid. Not coming from a car family, he pretty much went out on his o
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