Chasing Growth Over Comfort

Jacki Lutz: 0:00

Did either of you guys hit the Wayne did you guys go to the keynote breakfast on something?

Rick Schwartz: 0:03

Yes.

Jacki Lutz: 0:04

How was Wayne Gretzky?

Rick Schwartz: 0:05

Oh he was amazing. Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 0:06

Did you have like a big big takeaway from him?

Rick Schwartz: 0:09

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um you know he uh there are several things, but uh one one of the things he talked about is um just having a p love for what you do and passion.

Jacki Lutz: 0:20

Uh-huh.

Rick Schwartz: 0:21

And I I think that's very much aligned with probably some of the reasons why I agreed to do this. Just some of the things that are important to me. And you know, he talked about being passionate um about some of the things that you want to have in your life.

Liz Whalen: 0:34

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. You know, if you love what you do, it's not work. Oh, that's so true. Yeah, I took that away too. Mm-hmm. And I and it resonates with me on so many levels what he was saying. Like you can't force your kids to to work harder at their sports. It's natural. Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 0:55

You know, and it's the same thing with your job. Yeah. I related so much to his story about um his uh one of a one of the guys, his teammates, and it was, I'm trying to remember whose son it was, but it was like a legacy number nine. Um, a legacy hockey player. And it was that guy's son. Anyway, he was like a good hockey player, but it wasn't gonna be like his whole life, and he wanted to go be a doctor. I can't remember the names.

Rick Schwartz: 1:19

Gordy Howe.

Jacki Lutz: 1:20

Oh, Gordy Howe, yeah. Okay. I didn't know it was his son, yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 1:23

Yeah, it was his son.

Jacki Lutz: 1:24

Yeah. So he was telling the story about like how Gordy Howe's son would be on the bus and he'd have a bunch of books and stuff, and like just being like preparing for when he's not a hockey player, and he gave the advice to Wayne to um also be thinking about his career outside of hockey, because you might not always have hockey, whatever. So then the next time Wayne went on this bus and he had all these books with him, and uh the guy was like, Oh, it's cool that you you're taking my advice. And um, but you looked at the books and it was all hockey books. And he was like, Well, you want to be a doctor, I want to play hockey. You know, it's just kind of to your point.

Rick Schwartz: 2:03

What one of my partners who was at the breakfast with us played professional hockey with Gordy Howe.

Liz Whalen: 2:08

Oh, wow.

Rick Schwartz: 2:09

And he's uh Dave is um a little older. And so when he was coming up, Wayne Gretzky was like the star, and they were from the same hometown.

Jacki Lutz: 2:18

Oh, cool.

Rick Schwartz: 2:18

And he said, I remember Wayne Gretzky when he was an eight, nine-year-old whiz kid.

Jacki Lutz: 2:23

Wow.

Rick Schwartz: 2:23

And he said the stories that Wayne Gretzky told about Gordy Howe are the same things that my partner Dave has said about Gordy Howe. That he was the best in his era.

Jacki Lutz: 2:33

Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 2:34

And he was just a regular guy.

Jacki Lutz: 2:36

That's so cool. Welcome to Auto Care on Air, a candid podcast for Curious Industry. I'm Jackie Lutz, Content Director at the Auto Care Association, and this is Carpal Conversations, where we collaborate on today's most relevant power skills. We're all headed in the same direction, so let's get there together. Hi, everybody. Welcome to another Carpel Conversations. I have Rick Schwartz with Schwartz Advisors here. Hello, Rick.

Rick Schwartz: 3:15

Hi, Jackie.

Jacki Lutz: 3:16

First podcast.

Rick Schwartz: 3:17

Yes.

Jacki Lutz: 3:18

Not first interview by me, because we just did a quick sip.

Rick Schwartz: 3:22

That is correct.

Jacki Lutz: 3:22

Last Saturday, um, which is like a five-minute interview. This is like, that was step one.

Rick Schwartz: 3:27

So like you've graduated. So I've graduated and now I get to do this.

Jacki Lutz: 3:31

I didn't like cancel on you after that. So that should be a good sign.

Rick Schwartz: 3:33

And I didn't cancel on you either.

Jacki Lutz: 3:35

For once.

Rick Schwartz: 3:35

That's like for once.

Jacki Lutz: 3:38

I'm just kidding. Um, and then Liz Whalen with Wayland Search. How are you? I'm good. Thank you, Jackie, for having me. Not your first podcast, but first video. So this will be exciting. This will be easy. Um, I just want to give you guys a quick opportunity to just talk a little bit about yourselves. You're both business owners and um run incredibly, you know, great careers in the aftermarket. So I'd love to hear about that one, Liz.

Liz Whalen: 4:06

Sure. Yes. I am the founder of Wayland Search Group. I have the great opportunity to work with many companies here at Apex and SEMA. Uh, it's super, it's a super honor. I uh started my career as a recruiter working for a large manufacturing company. And the company started organically. I went out on my own in 2004 and started with two clients, three clients, and then built up to over 30, 40 companies today. And um, we partner with companies who are struggling to find talent or may have a confidential search or a leadership search or a professional search and help them place incredible talent with with their companies. So amazing. It's been it's been a dream. Yes, dream job.

Rick Schwartz: 4:54

So uh I am the CEO of Schwartz Advisors. We're a mergers and acquisition and consulting firm. And I've actually been around the aftermarket most of my life. My father was uh in the business, he owned a WD. And when I graduated from college, um I wanted to get as far away from the aftermarket as possible. Um but um I got pulled back in and uh has a way. It does have a way, uh a good way. And a number of years ago, my dad and I decided to start this business, and uh we uh you know we've been at it for about 17 or 18 years now.

Jacki Lutz: 5:30

That's incredible. Um both of your guys' companies are so respected in the industry. You guys should both be so proud. You handle the pressure well too, at least in in person. You guys are here. Um, so that's incredible. Thank you for being here. Um, but we are talking about challenging yourself today. Um I originally wanted you guys on individually. I've been, you know, just had you guys kind of on my mind, like I think it would be cool to talk to. Um and I I learned after I put you two together that you guys had just met each other the week before. I thought that was a fun story. So you guys want to tell that?

Liz Whalen: 6:06

That was fun. I had heard about Rick and saw his badge at Leadership Days. So we went up, made an introduction, and then, you know, a week later we got an email about doing this podcast. It was, you know, it was awesome. It was fake.

Rick Schwartz: 6:22

Yeah, it's the same same for me. I'd heard Liz's name, and we were at uh the Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, and I saw her badge and I said, Okay, there's this person that I uh I've heard of and I haven't met yet. So we we spoke for a few minutes and uh we agreed that we were gonna meet at Apex and then uh then we we got the call from you.

Jacki Lutz: 6:44

That's so funny. I'm I think it's so funny that you guys never met because you guys are both at everything. So like this path's never crossed.

Liz Whalen: 6:50

It's got to I've met a lot of the people that work with you, some of the other partners in the firm.

Rick Schwartz: 6:56

So well, I I'm glad that we finally met.

Jacki Lutz: 6:59

Yeah. Um, so that that's great. So let's talk about challenging yourself. Something that clearly you guys must be doing a lot to be in the positions that you guys are in. So really excited to dig into this with you guys. So, why is it so important to challenge yourself?

Liz Whalen: 7:18

So I, you know, one of the things that I, especially over COVID, it really resonated with me that if I wasn't growing, I was dying in my, you know, business. And when we all went into, you know, that COVID period, I'm like, well, if companies aren't filling positions right now, I'm gonna start growing the company internally. And that's when we, you know, started doing marketing and learning a lot of other aspects of the business. And so challenge yourself just helps your business to grow. Um that's important.

Rick Schwartz: 7:51

I think it's important for me to to challenge myself. Otherwise, I have a tendency to just get stuck doing the same things over and over again. Yeah. And in, I don't know, the last five or ten, fifteen years, whatever it is, I've just found a lot more excitement in in my professional life, in my personal life, when I've challenged myself to take on things, whether it's a hobby or something outside of work, or even when we've had some tough years and we've had to really dig down and say, okay, how do we take the best of what we're doing, but do some other things differently? So it's really about moving forward in life and not being sedentary.

Jacki Lutz: 8:32

Yeah. I think when we when we were having our pre-meeting, um, I love the point that was brought up too about if you're constantly making yourself a little bit uncomfortable, you know, like intentionally, then when it's not intentional in life and life throws you curveballs, you're you're kind of like your brain's kind of used to that feeling of being uncomfortable, and it's a little bit easier to get through it.

Rick Schwartz: 8:56

Yeah, yeah. You know, one of my favorite phrases is learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Jacki Lutz: 9:03

Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 9:04

And um, you know, sometimes when the butterflies are going or the anxiety about, oh, you know, what do I need to do, or I'm just gonna stay in my lane. And sometimes staying in your lane might be the right way to do things. I've just found that when I embrace that sense of being uncomfortable, um, it just opens up new possibilities.

Jacki Lutz: 9:24

Yeah, and I loved the point that you just made earlier too about feeling stuck, because I feel like any time in my life where I kind of felt stuck, or like any time in your life, I think when you actually feel bored, you know, like the monotonous like day-to-day, you're clearly not challenging yourself because you're never bored if you're challenging yourself. Because you're constantly having to think and try. And like it's it's it it makes you a little bit more resilient, you know. And if you're constantly trying to think and try and navigate new waters and do all this stuff, you just don't get bored. It's like this job for me is exactly that. Like, I feel like every day I learn something the hard way. Like you can't get bored, you know? Like, so it's just huge, I think, for your your your your overall happiness and fulfillment of life.

Rick Schwartz: 10:10

Oh, oh, definitely. I I think um, you know, for me, when I I'm doing things outside of work that I I find challenging and sometimes frustrating. Um even if it doesn't work out, usually there's uh some kind of side benefit. And and I can bring that into my professional life and and vice versa. If there's something that we're able to work through in the business um that I didn't think was possible, and then I prove that it is possible, it gives me a little more energy in my personal life. So it there's a lot of back and forth.

Liz Whalen: 10:44

Yeah. Absolutely. I absolutely I I think that um I like to look at the business every single year and look at what can we do different? What sort of thing can we make? And and everything's going great, but it's to step back and question everything, even this week. Like what could we have done different? I mean, we had a fantastic week, but what could we be doing to be improving to be more efficient, be increasing time with people, just everything, looking at the week and reflecting on it to make improvements for what can be done in the in in the next year.

Rick Schwartz: 11:23

That's a really good point, Liz. This year, 2025, has had a lot of challenges.

Jacki Lutz: 11:28

Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 11:28

And in the middle of the year, when we were looking at the fact that things were not going the way we thought they were gonna go, we we had a discussion with the partners at our business and we said, Hey, wait a second. We're the same group of people that did what we did in the last several years. So it's not like we suddenly forgot how to do things. So we use this year when things were not going the way we wanted them to to look at the business and say, hey, what do we need to change that needs to be changed and what do we need to hold on to that's still the core of what we think is the best of our business?

Liz Whalen: 12:00

Yeah. I think too, it's important to, you know, looking at the glass half empty versus the glass half full. You know, when you feel like things aren't going well or something, you know, in our world, you know, maybe we didn't fill that job or someone declined, you can get discouraged, but you have to step back and say, what was going well? What is going well? So you can take time to celebrate those small things because it helps to encourage you to keep going and um find those positive elements when things aren't going well.

Jacki Lutz: 12:37

Yeah, it's like it's it's really how we move forward and like evolve, right? When you're kind of like getting some resistance. I think in our pre-meeting, um, Rick, you described it as similar to working out. Like in order to build a muscle, you have to put some resistance on it, right? And like work out a muscle. It's very similar with our careers in our lives. And if you look back, it's the moments that you were challenged in life that really define you and who you are today.

Liz Whalen: 13:06

Well, we had talked about um when I was younger, you know, when I um I was a cheerleader in ninth grade and then I got cut from the cheer team and was devastated. And you know what? I picked myself back up and went and tried out the next year and made varsity. But it really was just a defining moment. And I talk more about that than a lot of things because it's our failures that help us come back stronger. Yeah. And it's it's it was a pivotal moment. I mean, I was only I was young, but yeah, it was you like you push through. Yeah, you push through.

Jacki Lutz: 13:41

Like getting laid off for me was a moment like that where you like fall on your face and you gotta kind of work a little bit to get back on your feet, whether mentally or or whatever. Um, but I think that that was a defining moment in my life. Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 13:55

Well, Jackie, you know, I we talked a little bit about this when you you were laid off. Um, I remember you put something out on LinkedIn, and I thought that was so brave of you to to reach out. And I I think when when circumstances happen, you know, we have a choice. Are we gonna take responsibility or are we gonna be a victim to the circumstances? And I was so impressed with the way you handled that. And it it it was a must have been tough. And then you you you just put the word out that hey, I'm I'm looking for the next chapter in my life.

Jacki Lutz: 14:31

Yeah.

Liz Whalen: 14:32

Thank you. I appreciate that. That was something I did scared. When you're vulnerable, people can relate to that and it helps others. Yeah. And I think that we have to be willing to be.

Jacki Lutz: 14:42

We had a lot of friends laid off at the time. There's a lot of people that were scared at the time. And and obviously the worst time of the year is November. You know, like no one's hiring in November. Uh, you know, budgets aren't approved yet, so January, you know.

Rick Schwartz: 14:56

And and, you know, even this week I had a conversation, or I'm actually in the middle of having a conversation with someone, and um it's just a reminder: hey, we need to take some responsibility for our actions here, otherwise we're both gonna walk away and just be victim victims to circumstances. So um there are things out of my control. And if I just am clear about what's important to me, what what what my goals and objectives are, you know, it's a lot easier for me to move forward, even though sometimes I end up going sideways or even backwards. Uh then I have to catch myself so I can keep moving forward.

Jacki Lutz: 15:33

Do you guys believe this is a curveball, but do you guys believe that challenging yourself in general could be like a learned skill? I do know people in my life who they always say, like, oh, I love a good challenge. That's not everybody, but there's people that are like, I love a challenge. I don't know if that's a personality type. Do we think that you can actually get better at this?

Rick Schwartz: 15:52

I I think it's a hundred percent a learned trait. Now, I think it's possible that someone might have learned that growing up from their parents and and other people that were influential. I I think it's definitely something that's that's cultivated.

Liz Whalen: 16:06

Yeah. I agree. I absolutely agree too. We also talked about, you know, we can get comfortable with our exercise pattern. Yeah, I think, oh, I exercise, I go walking or I go running for 30 minutes. And then I went to visit my sister-in-law and she meets with a trainer 30 minutes, and that workout kicked my butt. Yeah. And I realized, wow, I really don't challenge myself. Right. So it has helped to question, you know. So, like meeting with other people, talking with other people, seeing what they're doing, people meeting other business owners or like-minded people to help challenge you and think about those things because we are comfortable with what we're doing. But when we start hearing what other people are doing, you know, it does help us to keep pushing, keep growing, yeah, keep challenging ourselves to be to be better.

Jacki Lutz: 16:58

That really leads into like the next part of this is like the how. Like, how do we challenge ourselves? And you kind of just hit on one that I don't think people to think about enough, which is adjacent growth, right? So, like you're in sales. You know, what if you just started learning a little bit more about marketing? What if you just started learning a little bit more about product development or something or anything like something that will help you have better conversations and help you better relate to, you know, certain people in your in your company. It doesn't always have to be, you know, I'm growing in this area and now I'm gonna grow in this completely opposite area. And then, you know, like um, like that addressing growth. It's kind of like what you did with your workouts, right? It's not like you weren't already working out. You just worked out a little bit differently and functional growth.

Liz Whalen: 17:43

Right. I also think like companies do rotational programs. Yeah, a lot of times people think like, oh, I want to go, I want to be a director, I want to be a VP, I want to move up the corporate ladder. But a lot of times in careers, they grow by going laterally. Yeah. You know, you're not gonna get to that next level unless you go sideways a couple of times to learn a different aspect of a business so you can have a greater understanding or a broader view. Absolutely.

Rick Schwartz: 18:12

Yeah, and for me, it it can also start with just being clear what's my intention, what what do I want to create? Even if I don't know how to get there or how to do something. I I just find that when I I'm clear, things start to happen. So, you know, great example in in the career, I think it's important to to learn different skill sets. That opens up new doors. And in in my career, I always wanted to do something entrepreneurial. I just didn't know when and where. And when the opportunity came up, it probably wasn't the best time for a lot of reasons to start a new business. And yet it was one of those windows that was there. And so I knew that my intention had been to create something. I just, like I said, didn't know when. And when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it.

Jacki Lutz: 19:01

Yeah. Scary.

Rick Schwartz: 19:03

Oh, extremely scary.

Jacki Lutz: 19:05

Because I'm assuming you had a job at the time you had to quit or something.

Rick Schwartz: 19:08

Yes, and um, you know, uh uh, you know, kids at home, a mortgage. Um and then because of what we do, it's in mergers and acquisition. Uh, a couple of months after we started the business, we had the September 2008 recession.

Jacki Lutz: 19:24

Oh, perfect.

Rick Schwartz: 19:25

Um, not really. Um, but we stuck with it. Yeah. You know, we stuck with it. And um the other thing about uh reaching out and challenging oneself, I think it's also important to realize I'm not alone. Um, you know, sometimes I know I I catch myself with like I have to do this. I have you know, I have to power through this or I have to figure this out. And a lot of times knowing that there are other resources, knowing that there's other people that I can reach out to. It could be friends, it could be family, um my business partners. I I think when I you know reach out and try and get engaged with other people, um, you know, sometimes magic happens in terms of just the back and forth of uh trying to find a solution.

Liz Whalen: 20:09

Yeah. I think for for me, recently I joined um a business owners network locally, and this group is people with smaller businesses, it's companies with larger businesses. And it doesn't matter how large you are, whether you're 1 million, 5 million, 10 million, 30, 100, because there's business owners of all levels in the group, um, you're still facing the same challenges. Yeah. And, you know, it's super helpful to have that space of a network or an advisory board for people to come in and to challenge you. You know, so it's been super helpful. And and you can do that. I get inspired too by younger, a lot of younger people, you know, their energy and their passion and their excitement. Also love podcasts. I'm a podcast. Yeah, I love reading and listening to Audible. Um, so and other entrepreneurs in different industries. You know, it could be the fashion industry or the, you know, you can get inspired anywhere with people who are passionate about what they do and are like-minded. You know, um, I hey, I mentioned I went to Taylor Swift's concert and I was super um, you know, whether you like her or not, she is excellent at what she does and pursues excellence, and it's inspiring. And it inspired me to go back and, you know, pursue excellence. Pursue excellence. So it doesn't matter where you are or you know, what industry, it's just always reading, learning, listening. Um, and it helps you challenge yourself. Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 22:35

Yeah. And I think I agree with everything Liz said about um challenging oneself and maybe finding uh peers in different Different um careers, professions because they're facing a lot of the same issues. It may not be specific to the aftermarket. And um I I I'm in a group too where it's it's uh business owners and you know we talk about things like uh you know, how are you doing this function at your work, how you doing that, and it's um it's very helpful. And you know, sometimes just just being open to some of the the messages that we all get. Um like Liz, I I listen to a lot of podcasts. I like to read both business stuff and personal uh, you know, stuff for fun. And sometimes I'll be reading a book, a novel, and there's just some kind of message in the novel, and I interpret that novel, that message as, hey, that's something that I needed to hear or read, and it helps me in my my personal life.

Liz Whalen: 23:32

Yeah. The thing about my network group too is, you know, we talk all business, we look at key indicators, numbers, all of the things, but you know, th they'll be comfortable to say, hey, I see you're really excelling at your business, but how's your family doing? Yeah. You know, and if you're not taking time for the personal, it can affect the professional. So you have to look at all aspects of your life to make sure you're thriving in all areas.

Jacki Lutz: 24:01

Yeah, that's something uh Ricky mentioned in our in our pre-meeting, is it's not necessarily about doing more, it's about doing less of what's not important or less important. And I think that that kind of relates to that.

Rick Schwartz: 24:14

Yeah, and that goes back for me. It goes back to the idea of having an intention of what's important and just an idea of where I want to spend my time and my energy. Um and when I catch myself putting a lot of time into things that are just time suckers, I was like, oh my gosh, I just I just put time into something that I'm never gonna get back.

Jacki Lutz: 24:36

Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 24:36

And it's not adding to my life, it's not adding to my personal life or my business. So and then sometimes it's important to just kind of stick with something because maybe there is something that seems like it's a drag, and it's I might like working out, for example. You know, it's not like you're gonna suddenly be in shape after two workouts. That's true. And sometimes I I just find I need to stick with something.

Jacki Lutz: 24:58

Or maybe it's not that workout, maybe it's a different workout, you know, like right? Yeah. A little bit of a change. I feel like something that keeps coming up is also growth and challenging yourself outside of what we're talking about most, which is career. And it sounds like you guys both have some heavy hobbies too, and other things outside of your career that you like to challenge yourself into. Um, how important is that?

Rick Schwartz: 25:23

Well, for me, it's it's it's become really important. It's become critical for a lot of reasons. Everything from um I'm very um passionate and energetic about my work and some of the hobbies, some of the things I do outside of work, that's how I I get a release. That's how I clear my head and just um you know, find myself not thinking so much about work, and then suddenly an idea will come up, and it was the idea that I needed to come up with.

Liz Whalen: 25:52

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, as far as my hobbies, I mean, I love to exercise every morning. I mean, I and I get my best ideas when I'm doing that as well. That's why I'm always fearful to to do that without my phone. Because I have to like record what I'm my thoughts are. But yeah, I'm at a point in my life where my hobbies are my children. So I spend a lot of time watching their activities. So other than that, yeah, I definitely find a release. And I don't, I I'm at the point too, I don't want to mess, you know, yeah, their things because those years are numbered.

Jacki Lutz: 26:25

I remember when I was in Yang, and I really wish I could call the person out, but I don't remember whose name the name of them. But he was leading, I want to say drive at the time, but uh he was just talking about it was like a QA kind of thing. And somebody asked about hiring and what he looks for and and um people that he hires. And um I loved his answer. He said that he really he really likes to um hire athletes if he can. And I feel like that's super relevant because you gotta ask yourself why. Like what why an athlete? And there's a lot of reasons, I think.

Rick Schwartz: 27:05

You know, uh two of our partners uh at uh the business um played sports. One played professional sports, the other um played uh pretty advanced sports, and they talk about some of the best times was not necessarily being on the field. It was in the locker room after the game where they just talked about the game and they they they built camaraderie. And uh some of the other people at our business have also played just sports casually or or just for fun. And um it it's not necessary to have been an athlete, I don't think.

Jacki Lutz: 27:40

Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 27:40

But I think if you have that that mindset of being on a team and supporting one another, and challenging yourself, challenging one another and knowing that um you don't have to do it all.

Jacki Lutz: 27:50

Yeah. Makes you a good team member, you know, taking responsibility for things, passing the puck once in a while.

Liz Whalen: 27:59

I have two kids that play um athletics in college, and their schedule is so demanding at 18 years old and 21 years old. It is inspiring to watch what they have to do. So I agree. I mean, and I get a lot of leaders out, they they also like to hire athletes.

Jacki Lutz: 28:17

Yeah.

Liz Whalen: 28:17

And now that I see my children in it, I know why. You know, they're getting up for 5 a.m. lifts, they have to go to bed, they have to be disciplined to go to bed at nine, and they want to win. Yeah, you know. Um, both of my kids do individual sports, it still has a team component to it. Yeah, but they want to win and they all I mean, they're just always challenging. Well, it's like self-motivation. And that goes back to Wayne. It's you can't put instill that in your child. Yeah, it's a good thing. It comes from within. It comes from within. You don't have to put I've never had to push my children. I was not an athlete, you know, other than cheerleading. Oh, yeah, cheerleading. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, that's an athletic. So wow, cheerleading back then is different than it is now. Sure, yeah. But um, you know, I do think they get their work ethic from me though. I like to believe that. So maybe they didn't get their work their athletic abilities from me. I do think they got their work ethic from me. Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 29:14

Yeah. Um, and I I really too, I I really like the point you made. Um, we kind of got we kind of passed it quickly, but the questioning everything, um, there's a lot, there's always so much to discover about ways, and it's not just how you can challenge yourself as a person, but also like challenging others as well. Right. Like, you know, if you see that, you know, somebody has a skill that could be honed in on and huge for that, um, really helping others and not necessarily like being an official mentor or anything, but being the person that goes up to them and says, Hey, have you ever thought about focusing on this and seeing like what could become of it? You know, like if you see a spark in somebody of, you know, a talent that they might have, but they're not necessarily focusing on it at all. Um, how important that is too for people to sometimes point that out to you.

Liz Whalen: 30:05

Well, and I think you should listen for the people when they compliment you on different things that you're doing. Yeah. And they're tapping into what your strengths are. Yeah. You should listen to them and try to build upon that.

Rick Schwartz: 30:18

Yeah, I I I also think that as someone who's been in business for a while, um, I know that I was helped by other people who either were a formal mentor or an informal mentor. And so I know that um there's still a lot of things today where I think about some of those different people that I came across in my career. So I I think it's important for me to um give some of it back. And if if I can mentor someone, again, it could be a formal situation or it could just be uh, hey, are you open to some feedback?

Jacki Lutz: 30:50

Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 30:51

And something that I see. And, you know, I know that I had to learn and fail sometimes or, you know, you know, struggle to figure some things out. Um, whereas I I wondered, why can't somebody help me here?

Jacki Lutz: 31:05

Yeah.

Rick Schwartz: 31:05

And, you know, some people gave me the space to figure it out. So there's a a lot of give and take in terms of when I jump in versus when I, you know, stay on the sidelines. But I I do think that um because there are people who had a very positive impact on my career and my life, I I just want to look for those opportunities to return the favor.

Jacki Lutz: 31:25

Yeah. Kind of took that extra time to address it, right? It's very easy to just pass by.

Liz Whalen: 31:31

Yeah. I think it's, I mean, it's it's humbling to think about the people who invested in you know, my career and, you know, help me along on my career. And I want to return the favor. I'd like to think that I do with certain people, but there's definitely more opportunity to have that and have that in mind because we we all probably wouldn't be here without the people.

Jacki Lutz: 31:53

Absolutely. I have like, you know, the first person who's my manager at the time, and I remember when he um talked to me about a global management role. I was 28 years old. And I was like looking behind me in the office, like, are you talking to me? Like, but you know, I and I had never been a manager, I'd never, you know, anything like that. So that was, you know, I would I'm to this day, I thank him all the time. I'm like, you saw something in me way before I saw anything in myself. I never would have raised my hand for this had it gone out, you know, never. And um, I worked really hard, and a lot of times it was like thinking, like, I just don't want him to regret ever telling me that, you know, like getting himself into a sticky situation. But yeah, you could definitely be that person for somebody. And I think we should all try to do that. Um or not, we kind of gotta wrap it up. I know it goes by really fast, right? Um, but let's go around the room uh and just talk about, you know, a key takeaway that you're each hoping somebody walks away with today.

Rick Schwartz: 32:53

Well, yes, for a key takeaway, there are two things that come to mind that overlap from I will give you two if you'd like to. Thank you. I'll allow it. Um I I mentioned this a couple of times already. I think it's one is um just being clear about intention. What what is it that I want to accomplish? It could be big or small. Things start to happen for me when I get clear about that. And related to that is also be clear about what's important to me, which is not so much about an intention, but where do I want to spend my time, what's important, what are my values. Um I just find that making decisions is a lot easier when I'm I'm clear about both the intention and values.

Jacki Lutz: 33:29

Yeah, that's huge.

Liz Whalen: 33:31

Yeah, I when I think about challenging myself and, you know, um, I think it's writing things down and keeping yourself accountable and always always just assessing how can I do this better? You know, is there a better way to look at this? What am I doing on a daily basis? But writing things down once you have those in your head, because that's been a game changer for me. Once we started tracking and writing goals, challenges, that is what makes the difference. Because it holds yourself accountable. Yeah. To to do those things.

Jacki Lutz: 34:04

Yeah, that's a great one. Yeah. And I was kind of I had a different one, but just listening to you and you, I I I feel like mine is really, and we didn't like hit on this at all, and maybe we should real quick, but I think there is actually a difference between like if you're trying something new and you feel challenged, there's a difference between like feeling drained and feeling like resistance. And like, so for example, for a small period of time, I was uh put in kind of charge of market intelligence. And I tried very hard at this role. It was very overwhelming and exhausting. And I wasn't gonna fail at it, right? Like I was gonna do whatever I had to do to be successful in this role. But I eventually realized this is not like a good feeling of challenge. This is not where I'm supposed to grow. That's just not, they're not the skills I even want to develop. It's not a muscle I even want to have a big, you know, like it was a really good experience and it gave me great perspective, and I took a lot from it, but it was the wrong spot for me to grow in. So, like that feeling of challenge was not the same as the feeling of challenge I got when I started, like we did this podcast, right? Like that, it was like challenging and exhausting, but also exciting. And I was, you know, bounced out of bed every morning to kick my butt again the next day and like keep learning the hard way and keep getting up. Like there was a difference between those two feelings. So maybe that's something that people should pay attention to, too.

Rick Schwartz: 35:35

Yeah, I think that was a great realization on your part. And you know, I think we've all been in that situation where we realize, wait a second, I I'm doing something, and is this really furthering my life, yeah, career? And um, you know, for me it kind of it goes back to what I was saying about values and and intention, which I do tap into because sometimes when I'm doing something that I really don't like or that I'm resisting, I I if I ask myself, am I doing this in the service of something that's really, really important? Yeah, then I can keep going. But sometimes if I realize, hey, this is not not working for me, then that's the signal I gotta move on.

Jacki Lutz: 36:12

Yeah. And I guess it does kind of go to your point of knowing your intentions, right? Knowing your goals, being clear about those. Because I was not at the time. I was a little younger, you know, it really didn't know what I wanted to do. I kind of wanted to try everything until I figured it out. Um, but yeah, maybe, maybe to your point, earlier point. Yeah.

Liz Whalen: 36:29

And I think I think because we get a lot of I get I talk to a lot of younger kids uh people I work with, they'll have me talk with their kids. And you don't know until you try something. Yeah. And it's when you try something, then you can hone into what you like or what you don't like. Right. So trying it will help you figure it out.

Jacki Lutz: 36:47

And I guess to your earlier point, this is like beautifully coming together, but you had a point about Wayne Gretzky saying, um, you know, if you loving, if you're loving what you do, you don't have to like be pushed to work hard at it. And maybe that's kind of to my point of like, I didn't love market intelligence. Right. So I really had to push myself to like learn it. And it was a lot where I didn't know about anything about podcasting or media either, but I didn't have to be pushed to learn it. I was really excited to learn it. And you know, every failure, you know, at least we know that that doesn't work. Move on. Like we were still, I was still, we were still moving, you know. Um, so yeah, our little key takeaways just came together really, really nicely. What a good finale. Good job, guys. Well, thank you guys so much for being here. I hope the audience got a lot out of this. What do you guys think? You happy you challenged yourself today?

Rick Schwartz: 37:40

I am happy. Um, yeah, I I am. This has been a lot of fun and it has gone by quickly for me. And uh um thanks for inviting me, Jackie. I enjoyed it.

Jacki Lutz: 37:48

Yeah, thanks, Jackie. I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you guys. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Auto Care on Air. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so that you never miss an episode. And don't forget to leave us a rating and review. It helps others discover our show. Auto Care on Air is proud to be a production of the Autocare Association, dedicated to advancing the autocare industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit autocare.org.