How AI, People Stories, and Student Programs are Shaping the Auto Care Industry

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Welcome to AutoCare on Air, a candid podcast for a curious industry. I'm Stacey Miller, Vice President of Communications at the Auto Care Association. And this is Traction Control, where we chat about recent news from the global to the local level and what it may mean to the industry featuring guests on the front lines. Let's roll. Welcome back to another Traction Control. We are at Apex 2025, and with me I have my friend Chris Jones. Welcome.

Good to be here.

So excited to have you. Chris is the group editorial director for Endeavor Business Media, a really fantastic industry publication. You may recognize him from Ratchet and Wrench, but Endeavor Business Media has quite a few publications, right, Chris?

Oh, yeah. We've got, let's see, we've got Ratchet and Wrench, which covers mechanical repair. We've got uh Fender Bender, which covers uh collision repair, ABRN, which is the technical side of that. Motor Rage is the technical component for Ratchet and Wrench. Uh we've got Nolan, which covers Quick Lube, Professional Distributor, which could have control and covers all the tool trucks on the road. Uh P10, which covers all the tooling and equipment, and we've got uh Modern Tire Dealer, which covers tire shops. And then we've got Motor Age Training, which helps you know technicians get trained and ready for ASC.

It's pretty amazing. I mean, how long did it take you to memorize all of those when you first started working there?

I feel like I just got it two weeks ago.

The ramp up time in this industry is insane because you could be here for years and still learning things because there's so much information.

So there is, and the industry is so multifaceted. Like I spent like, you know, my first two years at Ratchet and Wrench covering the mechanical side. Then I'm, you know, took over the group editorial director job, and then they were like, hey, we got this aftermarket business world. We want to revive that. So now I'm on the supply, you know, the parts and supply side, and I'm like having to relearn all that now. So it there's always there's always something to learn in this industry. Like it doesn't stop, and like it never gets boring either.

Yeah, you seem to have a pretty big appetite for learning in our industry because you are absolutely everywhere doing content and coverage. Every time I look on LinkedIn, you're at this conference, you're at that conference, you're traveled here, and like sometimes I think you're at multiple places in a day. I don't really understand how you do it. Um, so kudos. Kudos to you for for doing that and bringing some of the most irrelevant stories to our industry. Thank you so much.

I feel like I've got one of those Hermione like time turners.

I get one. Where did you buy that from? Is it in the canal shops? Because I won't pay any amount for that.

It just might be, yeah.

Oh my God. It's just um an amazing amount of energy. So obviously, Apex is where a lot of news happens. There's a lot of new product launches, companies making announcements. We're doing tons of education in the industry. Like it is the place to be. So if you're not here, that's a problem. Um, but from your perspective, what do you think is some of the most interesting or the hottest news coming out of the show so far that you've seen?

AAPEX Buzz And Real Innovation

Heard so much, you know, and the things that I've heard people talking about. Of course, you know, you've got the usual stuff like terrorist inflation, like all the usual like first-world like problems that we have to deal with every day. But I think it's the innovation. I think you know, the people I've talked to are really excited about the products they're bringing to market. They're excited about the research that's gone into those products, they're excited about the problems they're solving for not just the supply chain and the shop owner, but the people that are the end user. You know, the motoring public, they're very excited about the products that they're bringing to the people. And they're excited about, you know, the the whole innovative process, you know, like the research process. How do we how do we uh locate and solve these problems for people? How do we identify what what's needed next? So it's like, you know, like the whole Wayne Gretzky thing, you know, they talk about the skate tour the puck is going. I think that's what the most exciting things I've heard are just the innovation.

Yeah. I mean, speaking of innovation, I feel like we're probably seeing more AI on the show floor than we've ever kind of seen before. Like every time I'm walking down an aisle, there's a brochure about how a company is now using AI for insights, AI for collision estimates, AI for whatever their business software is. So it's pretty, it's pretty amazing to see how quickly our industry is starting to pick up on some of these new technologies.

Yeah, AI is just, it's it's amazing. And I think, you know, we're at a point now, it's where you have to embrace it, you know. Embrace it or you're gonna you're gonna quickly fall behind. Just finding ways to integrate AI into your daily processes, finding ways to integrate it into your shop to for better efficiency. I mean, it it's out there and it's available. I mean, you don't have to, it's not rocket science. You know, you just open up an app, you know, just learn it. Yeah.

Teach it. It's also really, it seems like one of those technologies that's one of the most accessible technologies we've kind of come across, I guess, in our in our generation, right? Because every time a new technology comes out, there's a learning curve. And that's no different with AI, but there's so many free AI tools and resources to help you learn it. I don't know that there's another technology where I've seen like the knowledge ramp be so quick, right?

Like, yeah, uh no, I agree. And I think you know, and it's so customizable. Yeah, like you can you literally can train it to do things like for you. It's like it's like having an assistant follow you around in your pocket, you know.

Have you used AI to have you did it done anything with it?

I use it all the time. I use it every day. Really? There's not a day that I don't use AI, like I just find ways to integrate it into my life or that I'm teaching it, you know, how to, you know, evaluate certain things. But I use it, I use it mostly as a research companion. Like if like if I'm gonna interview someone and I don't have all the details, because I don't know everybody intimately. There are lots of articles that have people have written, and so I'll just plug it into AI and say, look, here's who I'm interviewing. Help me figure out more about this person so I can ask them more insightful questions as opposed to going straight in on an interview. Hey, what do you do in the industry? How do you like your company? But really learning things that I wouldn't have known had I not just scraped the URL, threw it in the AI, and asked it to give me some insightful questions to ponder.

AI Adoption Across The Aftermarket

Yeah, such a simple and effective use case. I mean, I hate to admit it, but I use it daily too. And um, you know, I just I'm trying my best because it kind of blows my mind how many different things you can do with it. And I've been trying so many things, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. And then I see a way, you know, enterprise companies are using it, and I'm like, wow, like we have a long way to go and there's a lot to explore. So it's kind of like uh what was it? Was it like, you know, Jacques Cousteau? It's like we've only discovered 2% of the world's oceans. It's like I feel like I've only discovered 2% of the world's AI. There's so many tools, and we probably never will discover all of it. So vast the amount of data it's creating for the world.

Yeah, it is. It's it's remarkable.

Yeah. So um, one of the other things you said was uh the end user. And when you said that, I think we have a really big focus on shops and service here at Apex, and it's been growing over the past couple of years. And this year, I think we're seeing some of the biggest focus on service centers. I mean, we're down in Joe's garage, which is literally a show floor with car bays built in, and there are cars here being repaired, getting training on them, demonstrating how to do calibrations. It's it's pretty amazing. And um, you know, I think there's a lot of training and education that's happening as well. What are you seeing from the shop side here at Apex and kind of through your work at Endeavor Business Media? Any trends?

So on the shop side, yeah, it's you know, again, streamlined processes, you know, from the front and from front of house to back of house, using AI again to streamline services, whether it's, you know, better DVI products, whether it's, you know, better inspection products, um, whether it's you know better equipment on the on the uh whether it's whether it's using like you know better SMS products, you know, or updated SMS products, like you know, like Epicore does a lot of really cool stuff with predictive maintenance and data and how they use data to like they were showing me a demo yesterday where they're able to basically even the greenest service advisor can use their interface because they can just plug in a VIN number and it'll tell you all the parts that are on a car that can break and when they can break. I mean it was so wow, it was so detailed. I was like, wow, so a service advisor can look and say, Okay, well you're coming in for this, but here's some parts they're gonna break on this vehicle eventually. So make sure you can ask the customer about do you want to replace this, that, and the third. So there's that's that sort of thing where you're helping the advisor on that level too, because it's I think a lot of shops are dealing with you know younger, inexperienced advisors, they're pulling advisors from outside the industry. So having these tools on the front of house that allow their advisors to like learn on the fly without having to know all the industry jargon or all the industry things, yeah, is important.

And that's probably really good like for our workforce development too, right? Because when you think about we're like trying so hard to attract people to work into the industry, educate people on all the roles there are, and they think, oh, I can't afford it because you gotta go to trade school and get tools or the training. But if companies are shops are implementing tools like that that make it easier for you to be employed there, maybe that's a really good thing for us because we're making ourselves a more attractive workforce. We're using really cool AI tools and make it a little bit sexier, right?

Practical AI For Editors And Shops

Yeah, I mean, there's so many ways. And I you know, there's today's class, which is like uh it's like Duolingo in your phone for shop teaching. So basically technology, I mean, so shop technicians can go in there every day and just quiz themselves and keep their learning up, and the um AI remembers what they learn, what they know, what they don't know, and it requizzes them on stuff. So they're able to, you know, just five minutes a day over a cup of coffee, they can be studying. Wow. So I mean, like everything's really geared towards helping the technicians really like stay on the cutting edge, know what's well know what's happening around the corner, and helping the advisor better serve the customer.

Wow. That's amazing. I could use a little Duolingo for like please teach me. Um so we talked a little bit about what's been going on here at Apex, but obviously you're tracking pretty much the entire industry, which is not a small feat. Um, but the stories you cover at Endeavor, their breaking, um, their general trends that's going on across industry. What are some of the most popular kind of stories or news trends that you're seeing as a whole?

So um I think on our side, like people stories, people it you blow you away that people still love profiles. They love to read about other shop owners. You know, they love reading about other shops and what they're doing and how they you know their their whole like financial work with like our shop views. So people still love that. Wow. Of course, people still are loving reading about ADOS and technology now. So ADOS is something that people are starting to read more of. Uh AI, they want more AI-based content. So those are those are really the hot things that I see people, you know, kind of reading more. And of course, no one's watching the the whole first brands fall out. That's been like hot. That's been some of the hottest stuff on my side of aftermarket business world. There's just every story we put out about that.

Oh my god, I bet. It's what um I mean, I don't even know what to say about that. Like it's a it's a it's a it's a really interesting situation. The um the people stories is interesting because that tells me we always hear that the automotive aftermarket is a relationship industry, like it's a people industry, and that's why you always have such a large turnout to Apex, a large turnout to the Ratchet and Wrench conference, because people want to be there in person for the training and for the networking. And it's nice to see that despite the evolution of technology and all these different ways that we could connect virtually, that like coming together, being together, talking to people, profiling people, like we still want to learn and connect, right? That's just basic human fundamentals.

It is. And that's why people listen to podcasts. They want to hear those stories, they want to hear that first-person experience, they want to learn from somebody else, you know, or find out how they did it.

Yeah. Shout out to all the listeners who want to learn and connect and hear from us today. That's such a great analogy. And then, yeah, tech, ADOS and AI, I mean, that's definitely not surprising to me. There's a lot going on in technology, and trying to stay up to date on that, I'm sure, is been a bear for you because there's something different every single day.

There is, there is, because there's tech I mean, technology is happening in so many different ways, too. It's not just like you know, straightforward, just the AI stuff, but like even the innovation of products because cars are so intricate now. So even the innovation of products and how smart the products are becoming.

Yeah.

Yeah. I I saw this really cool product I'd never seen in my life upstairs at Odyssey, where they've got a battery, and it's like you can monitor the health of the battery in an app now. Really? Yeah, so it's like you have the cells die, this happens, or you can always check the the health of your battery inside the app so that if your battery dies, you you already know.

Service-Center Tools And Training

You're kidding. Yeah. So I know that my car is gonna be, you know, dead tomorrow essentially because it's sitting out in the cold. Oh man. Oh, like, man, look at that. Like, genius. That's great. I could use, I could definitely use that. I got it, I got an issue with the 2018 Dodge Charger that I'm waiting for someone to help me diagnose. There's an electric gremlin that will not go away, and there's a draw on this battery, and I cannot figure out where it's coming from, but maybe I gotta go check out that app because um your girl needs some your girl needs some help. Um, you know, one of the other cool things I noticed at this show that I re I really love that we're doing is um I see more of a focus on the students. Have you hung out and seen any of the student things that have been happening?

So I've not personally got a chance to hang out with the students very much. I've sent some of my other editors to hang out with the students, but it's funny because like people were really excited yesterday about the small engine block. Yes. And like how the 17-year-olds were like getting it done. Dude. You know, and I chat I chatted with Mike Colio of ASC, uh, the foundation this morning, and he was we were just talking about just the students, how important it is to have the students at events like this so they can see it all firsthand, get excited about the industry, because we do have that churn. There's that there's that churn of students who come through, they you know, get through high school, tech school, they go into the industry and then find it doesn't feel as glamorous as they thought. Yeah. And they go out and he's like, Yeah, you know, we got to show them stuff like this. Yeah. Let them talk to the shop owners, let them see all of what the industry has to offer and get them energized.

Yeah. For the students uh that were in that engine building competition, they're going back to Kansas City as champions. And there is like nothing more glamorous than going to your high school on a Monday and someone saying, What did you do this weekend? It's like, well, I went to Vegas for the weekend and I took part in a competition at Apex and then I went to SEMA afterwards. Like, that's freaking glamorous.

Yeah, it's it's memorable. Like, you don't forget that. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, the other thing that I saw, man, that engine building competition, by the way, I was talking with Bernard Tanzi about it um yesterday. We had a whole we had a whole conversation actually made me cry because it's just like so inspiring to see how amped they were about winning and how nervous they were and like how much of an honor it was that they won and the way they were holding the trophy. It's just like very inspiring, like to know that you made a difference in their lives and they're gonna go talk about that to other people. And you hope that it inspires others to want to come and take part of it. Like, I think it's really gonna start a movement. So so, so, so proud. Um, you know, the other thing that took place today that I saw, I don't know if you got a chance, but Tech Force held an event um that was sponsored by Carlisle, and they brought in something like 200 Clark County high school students, automotive students, and um, it was so cool. They all came in, they were like in like technician, I call it the uniform, which is basically like all black. So they're all wearing all black, like they look very techie, and um, they had Chris Fix and they had the humble mechanic, and they were doing like family feud with like it was automotive thing. It was very cool, and they were so excited. And I've never seen a room full of tech students just be so amped, and I thought, oh man, like this is what gets me going, and I think it's so cool to see that this is the place where that happens.

Yeah, and it's important because we need more people like you know, like the humble mechanic, you know, Charles. We need more people like Bernard. Like I was talking to Bernard, and he was like, just he couldn't keep himself like together. Yes, he was so excited about that event, he was so excited about serving the students, you know, being there for them. And it's like we need more people like that in this industry who just have that level of passion. Yeah, you know, and want to help people, they want to change these kids' lives and their trajectories.

Workforce Development And Microlearning

Yeah. And like us, you know, you're a publisher, I'm an association, but obviously we act like a media company here with this podcast, like getting the word out about stuff like that, because my show is called Traction Control. It's all about how to stay ahead of the curb, how to make sure that you're taking challenges and turning them into opportunities and getting the word out about all these things that are happening and providing the education and tools. Like this is the way. Yes. So any company here that's doing that is gonna be important. And so is the work that you know you and all of our other friends in the media are doing. Right on. And I'm I'm I'm pumped. Um so speaking about getting the word out and education, such an important, important, important pillar of our industry. Um, I think Endeavor's doing some really cool and creative journalism. So I caught something that you guys were doing and I wanted to talk about it and hear just like how you're coming up with these ideas. And um P10, which is professional tool and equipment news and equipment news um is doing something called Wednesday wordplay, and it's like a word and a wordle type thing. Like, tell me about that idea.

Yeah, so um Emily and Nadine uh came up with that idea. They came up with the idea of like trying to figure out ways because we've we've been you know working on finding ways to engage with cut you know with with our readers, whether it's doing different quizzes, etc. So they came up with this idea with uh one of our audience uh development members, and they were like, let's do a Wednesday Wordle sort of thing. And uh they just ran with it. Yeah. They ran with it, put it out last week for the first time, and it, you know, it's been successful. They were and it's been fun. It's fun to watch like your team create stuff, you know, like just like come up with these ideas and just try to execute on them and and put them out in the market, and it's just it's fun to watch. Yeah.

I think it's great that we have the liberty to come up with these creative ideas and different ways to engage engage people because I always refer to Apex as like our industry's Super Bowl.

Yeah.

And you know what's tough about the Super Bowl is like attention spans and everybody's doing advertising and everybody's spending lots of money to get their brand out there. But how do you break through the noise in order to get engagement, you know, with new people? And it's something that the brands in this industry are doing, it's something that all of the media publishers like you are doing. Yeah, and it can be tough. So that creativity is really important, especially now when we have all these technology tools to help us execute on it, right?

Yeah, yeah. And I'm and I'm very open to that. Like, you know, when I when I have one-on-ones with like, you know, the various editors, I'm like, you know, find something that you're passionate about and like bring it to market. Like find something that's uniquely you, something you can like sink your teeth into that you're gonna believe in, love, and really turn into something special and put it out there. Just go for it. Like, don't tell me, show me.

Yeah. Don't tell me, show me. Oh, that's like the show thumbnail right there. Don't tell me, show me. Love this. All right. Well, I've given you guys lots of kudos. I really love what you're doing. I really appreciate working with you. I think you're fabulous at what you do. Like, I don't I don't know if you know, but maybe I told you before, like, I came up in journalism too. Yeah, you did, yeah. I get this little itch sometimes, and I'm so lucky that Jackie decided to start this podcast because it allows me to like go back to my broadcaster mentality, which is what I started off of. Because I was like, oh, I want to be like Chris Jones. I want to be like such and such. Like, I want to do these journalism things and I get to do them, and I'm so lucky. And um, you know, we did another podcast that talked about brands as journalists, and just I think it's so cool to see what all the media companies are doing in the space. Everybody's doing a podcast, everybody's doing video content, and then now brands are doing it too. But like, yes, we are like competing in a way, but we're also like filling the cup of knowledge, not only for the industry, but for people who don't know about our industry. Yeah. And the more content that we create, the more we're educating and we're getting awareness for our industry, which is better for all of the issues that we're trying to resolve. So Yeah, no, I definitely agree.

What Stories Readers Crave

Like, I was there's this video that Simon Sinney does, and it's called, you know, the worthy competitor, right? It talks about just, you know, you know, you don't have rivals, you have worthy competitors, you know, people who call you higher. So it's like, you know, yeah, we got, you know, we've got us and we've got other media companies. It's like, do we look if we look at them as competitors, it becomes this very binary thing. But if we look at them as worthy virals, we're looking at the work they're doing and saying, okay, they they've taken it up a notch. How do we get back up ahead of them? And then they're gonna do the same thing, you know, look at us and say, Okay, Endeavor took it up a notch, how do we get above Endeavor? So we're all clock getting higher and higher and better and better. And then in doing that, it elevates the entire industry because we're all providing better reporting every single time.

That's right. What a beautiful observation. I love that. The worthy competitor. I'm gonna look that up. Simon Sinek, for those who don't know, S-I-N-E-K. He's fabulous. All right, Chris, I want to close with um what can companies in the automotive aftermarket do better to support the media like you? Because obviously, you know, we send press releases, we provide interviews, um, you know, whatever you guys need in order to do coverage and provide education. But what else could we be doing to kind of fill this knowledge gap and make sure that we're getting the best content out there possible?

Yeah. I mean, I think you're like when it comes to you know our our sort of media, tell us your stories. You know, I think everyone's got a story to tell, whether they whether they believe it or not, they do. Because you you're living your life different than I'm living my life, different than the person down the streets living their life. So we all have a different perspective, and I think everyone's perspective needs to be told. So share your stories with the media, you know, publish, you know, if you want to write, there's always opportunities. Hey look, I want to I'd love to contribute. Ask to contribute. Fine, but find ways to engage. You know, find ways to engage the media because even if it's not you, there there are people in your shop perhaps that you know that have thought about it or have wanted to give back, and we can provide those opportunities for you.

Absolutely. That's easy if I share your story. Send send an email, right?

Yeah, send an email, share your story, give us your wisdom. You know, we be happy to share it with the media, with the the reading community at large who wants to consume that content. Because I don't know, I don't know much about shops. I don't run a shop, I don't own a shop, I don't manage technicians, but you do. And maybe that maybe you know your experience and what you've learned and what you've done with your shop is something that's you know valuable to somebody else who's up and coming year one, two, three.

Absolutely. That's really great advice. Well, thank you so much, Chris. I really appreciate the combo. Yeah, it's great to be on with you, Stacey. All right, cheers. Yes. 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 that helps others discover our content. Autocare on Air is 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.