U-R-G On the Go
An informative podcast for the United Recyclers Group. Each week we will feature an entertaining guest that will share their knowledge and information with you, providing you with tips and tools to help you become a more profitable business.
U-R-G On the Go
Navigating Change: Kelly Roepke's Journey from Teaching to Automotive Recycling Leadership
Explore the compelling journey of Kelly Roepke from Y-Yard in Illinois as she transitions from a career in teaching to a pivotal role in the automotive recycling industry. Gain insights into the origins of her family's business, established in 1970, and her experiences growing up immersed in auctions and operations. As a newly appointed board member of URG, Kelly shares her passion for driving the industry's growth and fostering success through collaboration and inclusive management.
Uncover valuable lessons on managing family dynamics within a business, as Kelly highlights the challenges and rewards of empowering team members and shifting toward transparent decision-making. Through her story, witness the transformative power of technology—from launching the company's first website to joining an online inventory platform—that has fueled remarkable business growth. Kelly candidly addresses her experiences as a female leader navigating a male-dominated industry, sharing both the obstacles and triumphs encountered along the way.
Dive into industry trends and opportunities, from leveraging networking organizations to sustaining a culture of continuous learning. Listen as Kelly reflects on the impact of COVID-19, union strikes, and natural disasters, demonstrating the importance of adaptability and education. By involving employees in mission development and cultivating leadership, Kelly underscores the value of loyalty and a shared vision for Y-Yard's future. Join us for an inspiring episode filled with insights on blending family values with business acumen to create a thriving enterprise.
Welcome one and all. You are on the URG On the Go podcast. This is your podcast. It's the true voice of the automotive recycling industry. I'm DJ Harrington, better known as the cardiologist. Each week, we do our best to bring the pros that have a need to know that are on the go this podcast. That's why it's called URG On the Go. Now, the real co-host of this program is the talented Amanda Morrison, who is Director of Member and Vendor Relationships for URG. Amanda, how are you today?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great DJ. How about you?
Speaker 1:Excellent, excellent, excellent. And we have a guest today, one of my dearest friends. I have so much respect for Kelly and at Y Yard her dad and mom, mike and Kathy Nolan, started it back in 1970. And this has been a great success story. So 60 tremendous acres. So I'll turn it over to you, amanda, and you can introduce to our listeners Kelly.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Thank you so much, dj. Yes, we have a great guest today on the show, kelly Repke, and she is with Y-Yard in Illinois. She's actually one of our newest board members as well at URG. So she's, you know, making a difference in this industry and really making some moves and really helping us develop our programs and get further in this industry. So, kelly, thank you so much for being on today.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much for inviting me. I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2:Awesome. So can you tell me, can you share just a little bit of your story of how you got started?
Speaker 3:in the automotive recycling industry? Yes, I sure can, and I know it sounds kind of cliche as I was born into it, but reality we were. So my parents purchased the business here. Neither of them were from Effingham, illinois, but had an opportunity to purchase this campus 60 acres of ground, a couple of really old buildings at the time on July 1, 1970. Neither of them they weren't married at the time but engaged got married that September. So July or 1970 was a pretty big year for them. They were then blessed with four girls and we were blessed again to grow up in and around the business. So from a really early age we were always here present, running around.
Speaker 3:I tell everybody that my dad and my mom used to load us up in the car and on weekends or evenings, we would drive around the countryside to bid on vehicles we may not have known what we were doing at the time.
Speaker 3:But as we grew up, though summertime, we'd take road trips with him. We'd crawl up in the rollback and we would go to the auctions. We were probably five to six years old and the biggest treat at the time was Dairy Queen on the way home. So we have spent a lot of time growing up in the business. As we got older, we graduated into the maintenance department and there we got to mow the grass, weed, eat, paint guardrails. But I tell you that we definitely probably took more lunch or snack breaks than we did work at that time.
Speaker 1:And then we eventually.
Speaker 3:I tell everybody that before we could turn 16 or get our license, he made us learn how to change our own wheel, in case we got stranded on the side of the road and we needed to know how to change our spare over if needed. So each one of us girls spent a little time in the dismantling plant, and I will tell you that that was one that I failed at. Not only are wheels with tires on them heavy, but they also bounce, and so after a little injury to the chin, I decided I'm not made for dismantling. I don't blame you. I spent my summertime and even my college breaks. I would come and help out. I tried my hand at marketing and I looked back at some of the marketing I attempted with the business and have to laugh.
Speaker 3:It was pretty childish, but we tried, and that was back in the days of the fax machines. Also, I drove our rollback and hauled cars home a lot for them before we were too big to have it transported home. And then I went to the Illinois State University, got a degree as an elementary education teacher, graduated, moved back home and I taught for three years in our public school here. So the one thing that our parents were we were very fortunate about was they never put pressure on us and it wasn't an expectation to be here, it was more. If you want to work in the business, then you need to bring something to the table. What do you have to offer? And so I went to teach school for three years. Shortly after that. You know, it was just. I constantly felt there was more.
Speaker 3:I went to teach school for three years Shortly after that. You know, it was just. I constantly felt there was more I wanted to do in life and it wasn't necessarily filling my void as a school teacher. So my dad was getting ready to have another major back surgery and so I told him I was going to take a year's leave and see if I could help out in the business. I was going to take a year's leave and see if I could help out in the business, so I spent most of that time training with him as a buyer and did a lot of the buying in the business. As I got a little bit older then, or about a year later, I decided to resign from teaching and came on full-time. So I've now been here full-time over 25 years. I know I'm not that old, it seems, but you definitely don't look that old.
Speaker 2:That's incredible.
Speaker 3:I'm starting to feel it. My daughter's 23 today too.
Speaker 3:So after that I guess I just really started working in a lot of different departments in the business and learning from the ground up and I know that even as a younger kid in high school, as I was helping out, I was doing the roles but I didn't quite understand them. But the more I submerged myself into it I think it gave me a much bigger appreciation for how the entire business picture fits together. So I got married, had some kids and then my other sister, erin Swingler, who is the vice president of the company. She now is our buyer and as my kids were younger, I decided I would come off the road as a buyer and she transitioned into that role while she didn't have kids. And that was back in the day when you'd travel to the auctions, get up early, preview them in person and so forth.
Speaker 3:From there our story is really developed from there. So she then came on board full-time and the two of us managed the business together at this point.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's incredible. That's an awesome story. I love that you guys started so young and were really immersed into it but your parents gave you the options to whether or not to be in it. I think that probably brought you back right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I feel very blessed, we all had the opportunity to go get an education and if we wanted to work here, um, he also encouraged us to work somewhere else before we tried to come back, just to make sure that this was what we wanted.
Speaker 2:So that's incredible. That's awesome. So, through through all of that and you know your learning lessons. What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned since starting the business and starting in the industry?
Speaker 3:I have learned a lot um a lot of reflection.
Speaker 1:Number one, I've learned.
Speaker 3:it's not easy to work for a family business. Um, it's very difficult when you walk through the door. From the day I started here, um, my dad told us that when you walk through that door. From the day I started here, my dad told us that when you walk through that front door, you drop our relation and you will address me by my first name, and I respect that. And when I interview or hire people, you know I think they probably know it's a family business, but yet that's not something that we openly share from the start, because I was hired to do a job here and that's what I'm going to do. I think some of the other biggest lessons that I've learned over the years is to empower your team and allow them to get involved and to be a part of the decision-making process.
Speaker 3:So, I know that my dad and I have had some pretty heated debates or even arguments at times, and part of it was based upon most of these businesses that were built in the 1960s 1970s. They were a sole proprietorship and they were ran as a dictatorship really.
Speaker 3:And you know, he and I have this open conversation a lot. That, um, when I grew up it was, and when we hired people it was do as I say um, and don't ask why. And eventually I got I found myself in almost a hamster wheel of hiring people and hiring people. And finally I went to him and I said I can't continue to do this. We have to start empowering our people if we're going to grow.
Speaker 3:And that was one of our big turning points was that you can't make all the decisions around here and really we can't together make the best decisions sitting in an office if I'm not working in the field of a dismantler or on the inventory side or out as a parts puller.
Speaker 3:And so that was really when we started to make a bigger shift in the business of empowering the people and developing more of a management team and having consistent meetings on a regular or weekly basis and pulling them together just to talk about what our goals are and being a little bit more transparent. And I've also learned to build a network of people and don't be afraid to reach out to them. So over the years when I've traveled whether it was profit meetings or the air a shows or the URG shows or the Team PRP shows I've learned to shake hands and meet people and learn their story, and you can always walk away with something that can benefit them, but get their name and number because they're friends, not necessarily competitors, and we're all here to help each other. And I know that that's hard. Like something I teach my kids now is build your network and don't be afraid.
Speaker 3:Everyone wants to help, and the only way we're going to get better and learn is if we take the time to reach out and ask for it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I think that's one of my favorite parts about this industry is just the collaboration of the network that you guys are a part of with PRP and URG and ARA, just all of it. I feel everyone's kind of willing to share all that information and help each other grow. So that's awesome. That's awesome that you teach your kids that too. Do you think your kids will end up kind of following in your footsteps, or are you kind of giving them the same opportunities?
Speaker 3:I'm trying the same approach as my father, my husband, also owns his own business. My son Connor has worked for both of us and sometimes it was a tug of war. It's like I get him in the winter, you get him in the summer. So we're just going to kind of wait it out and see. So, as of right now, I think my son's probably leaning to his business, but we do absolutely hope that we've got a third generation somewhere coming into the picture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that'd be incredible, awesome. So you kind of shared some specific challenges that you've had, but do you have just one specific challenge that you've faced that you've kind of overcome in the past, any kind of challenges like that?
Speaker 3:I would say that my first few years here were part of my biggest challenge and that was not only was I a female coming into a very male dominated industry but I was also the boss's daughter and that was very difficult.
Speaker 3:I also worked with my husband at the time and it was very, very hard to balance it all. I found that I worked harder and longer and I hope the employees saw the same thing, but I felt I had to work twice as hard to prove that I wasn't here for reasons of favoritism, and I do think that sometimes my dad had a stricter hand in my rules versus the others.
Speaker 3:I remember when I finally, you know, had two kids and was struggling at keeping up with everything, I'd ask like do you think I could possibly have an afternoon off, Because I probably already had my 50 hours in by then. Well, I don't care, but it better not be on Mondays and it better not be on Fridays, because that's what everybody wants.
Speaker 1:You have to choose a day, otherwise yeah so.
Speaker 3:I'm like, okay, we treaded real lightly on that. But, I would tell you that that was probably a lot of the biggest struggles was there was turnover because that's the boss's daughter, or disagreements.
Speaker 2:And so I think just getting in and learning people and appreciating their, like it's handed over to you automatically, and then having to prove yourself, that would be that would be really tough, especially, I mean, like you said, as a woman in the male dominated industry. Like well, she's not been in this, how is she going to tell me how to do my job?
Speaker 3:But I think eventually they saw where I had different opportunities to add to the business. You know it was. I definitely am not good at turning wrenches but I do understand technology and marketing and really being innovative about growing the business, thinking outside the box. Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Prove what you've got to offer. Right, yeah, awesome. So can you share just a success story that you're particularly proud of with the business and what you've done for that Sure?
Speaker 3:I don't know that I necessarily have one specific success story.
Speaker 3:I guess I just look back at how it's grown. I could tell you one story that we had where I nearly walked out the door Again. It was another heated debate between my father and I, and that was when I first came into the business. I said all right, we're going to develop our first website. So that was one of my first projects. My second big project was we joined carpartcom, or I asked if we could join carpartcom and he didn't understand that, and this was at the beginning of your inventory being available on the internet. So I approached him multiple times asking for permission and finally I walked in one day and I just said well, I guess I'm either going to quit or have to give you my resignation. And, as he tells everyone, he he asked why? And? And I said well, because you're not going to let me try anything new around here, so I'm not sure what my purpose is. And so he said to me fine, you keep track of how much you lose and report it to me on a weekly basis.
Speaker 3:And so my first week I got to walk in. Or second week, or maybe it was a month's time frame, and I walked in and said here's $10,000 in your internet sales. And each month it would continue to climb a little bit and I find it funny because that's a story he likes to tell people and I sit back and I guess since that time technology has been a passion of mine on most days and my uh biggest enemy on others.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it can be a blessing and a curse all in one right, yeah, yeah. Exactly, yeah, can't live with it yet. Yeah, and I feel that's one thing you know, I think one of the reasons why we had you on the board too. You know, you know you're really into you know the technology piece and developing and seeing where you can take things. So that's such a cool story that you have being able to prove what you planned out to do and give that feedback to your dad and say, look what I did.
Speaker 3:Well, that's. One regret I have is I wish I would have taken more computer courses in high school or college. I wish I knew how to do program writing. And so whenever I have a lot of high school or college kids come through the business for tours because we have a local group that's called a CEO group their creative entrepreneurial opportunity class and a lot of them aren't showing an interest in the computer science side and it kind of concerns me because I can see the need sitting here in my seat at work, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's everywhere. You know just all businesses are going towards all technology and integrating with. You know just all all businesses are going towards all technology and integrating with you know, AI and all of that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I agree with you there. I don't have a whole lot of computer science, but you know just the ideas and I think just you know working in it day to day like you do those. You know you get great ideas just by working in it and then coming to us where we have developers and programmers to help kind of develop that. That's what's key about having you guys as board members as well.
Speaker 3:And I did just get off the phone an hour ago with Michael and URG and we were basically getting a refresher on the auto parts search side which was nice and it's just. It's very important. We set things up years ago and then we forget sometimes that they're there or they're operating. So I can't stress the importance of going back and rechecking settings and making sure that they're really accurate with where we're at today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree. Yeah, and our support team and I'm reaching out a lot to our members as well now and just trying to make sure that they're taking a look at those shipping settings and all those different tier settings and and making sure that they have those up to date, cause, yeah, you know, shipping is just growing and getting higher and higher, so you want to make sure you're evaluating those often.
Speaker 3:Awesome. I made a list of questions, so I might be calling you Perfect yes please do.
Speaker 2:Yes, and, like I said, you know, if any URG members have any questions about what their benefits are, I always say just feel free to reach out, give me a call or email me. I have a calendar link on the bottom of my emails so that they can book a calendar, a calendar invite, and so that that way I can share my screen and really go through all of that. So that's awesome that you were able to do that today.
Speaker 1:DJ, I think it might be time for a break. Exactly what I was going to say. Brian was going to say in a minute hey, are we taking a break on this one? Let's take a break. As you can tell, this is a fantastic episode, so take a break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 4:URG can help you streamline your business for maximum efficiency and increased profits. Access powerful software and unique tools. Receive top-level training with industry experts. Network with hundreds of recyclers. Employ e-commerce solutions to boost business. Receive support, resources and discounts, starting at just $150 a month. It's the smartest investment you will make for your business this year. Go to u-r-gcom and click on Become a Member. Your path to a profitable future is just a click away. That's you-r-gcom.
Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. You know you're listening to the number one podcast in the automotive industry URG On the Go podcast with DJ Harrington and Amanda Morrison this week. This has been a great episode, but I want to remind all our listeners we're available on Spotify, stitcher, iheartmedia, pandora, amazon or wherever you get your podcasts. We're out there for you. Now, kelly, you need, when you come back, amanda, I want to tell all our listeners go and look at their website. Kelly spoke about the website and she has this 60 Acres is laid out so beautifully. The person you're listening to now is explaining to you some of the episodes that happened within a family-owned business. I think it's wonderful and this will be one of. We archive every one of these episodes, kelly, and I guarantee you this will be one listened to many, many times over, so I'll turn it back over to you, amanda.
Speaker 2:I agree with you, DJ.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I feel like this is all very good information for all automotive recyclers to hear. Whether you're family-owned or you know however you're running your business. This is all great information. Before we took the break, we were talking about URG and making sure all your settings are correct, but what partnerships and collaborations have been the most beneficial for your business, kelly?
Speaker 3:I would tell you number one being involved in the profit team consulting that has really helped us grow a lot. I remember when I got on my first airplane and flew out to Texas this is another story I didn't tell my father I was going until almost the last minute because I didn't feel he'd buy into it. And he didn't. I think he thought I was the devil child at the time because you know, he said, I've taught you everything you need to know about this business.
Speaker 3:I don't understand why you're going to go, why you need to go and listen to all of this and so what I wanted to know more at that time was how do numbers work and how do budgets work and how do the formulas add up and how do budgets work and how do the formulas add up? And again, I think back in the day of the 1960, 1970 era he would tell me that my budget has always been my stomach and that's how I know whether I'm going to buy more cars or not buy cars and if I'm going to have enough payroll or not payroll. And I wanted to know more of the science and the math behind it, of what makes it tick. So that has been such a big part of the growth of our company. We finally got him to attend a meeting with us and that was a big breaking point and he said you know what?
Speaker 3:I think I've been the one maybe holding you guys back a little bit, but he started to understand the numbers and we're going to be going to our next profit team meeting Monday and Tuesday and he will listen in on all of them and participate. But it's just awesome to start to understand how to drive results and the profits and how many cars you need to buy. But you also have to get them inventory and you also have to get them dismantled. So that's been a really big part of it. We are a member of Team PRP. That's been a big growth for our business and another opportunity for us to get involved, to learn from a lot of the big dogs. You know the automotive industry has the big five and so does our industry out there. So whether it's five to ten, it's nice to get together and meet people who are willing to share.
Speaker 3:And whether that's with Team PRP or the ARA, urg and your state associations. I just I'm a people. Person, I'm a social person so I enjoy going. It's sometimes hard to fit it in your schedules but you know our company vision statement is that we are the team customers prefer and competitors respect. And that sometimes it's hard for people to understand that you want your competitors to respect you, but in our industry, competitors are viewed so differently because we we do work together and we share data and we want to help each other.
Speaker 2:So we've built some amazing friendships over the years by getting involved yep, yep, I, yep, I and I agree those, the conferences, are invaluable, you know, just networking with people, and not just, not just the sessions and the learning that you have there, but being able to meet all different kinds of people from all walks of life and how they run their business and they're all willing to share and I, I, I just love that about this industry and kind of why I've stayed. You know, it's the people it really is.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So, caring and caring and sharing, aren't they Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, just like PRP is doing with, you know, donating for the hurricane relief that all of that has been incredible, and just the way that they've been able to raise so much money for all of that has been amazing, and just the generosity of the industry itself. It's pretty incredible to see.
Speaker 3:I love that they're doing philanthropic activities together, because it makes us all feel better.
Speaker 2:Well, and it makes the industry look good. It makes the industry look like we care and we do, and I think that's what really is cool is we truly do care and we want people to know that we're here for them and if they need especially our fellow automotive recyclers that are in need they're always willing to help. So I think that's just really cool.
Speaker 3:But our business models better. They'd also understand that the reason we're here is to save people money by buying a quality part that is considered used, and it also helps reduce the waste in the environment. So it really drives down to the bottom line of why we're all here, exactly.
Speaker 2:Exactly, yep, and that's also what I love is that we're making a positive impact on the environment and making it better and making it easier for people to get OEM parts. You know they're OEM parts. They're just, you know, recycled parts and they're going to be. If the front end is smashed but the back end is good, you know all those parts are going to be the same parts that you had on your vehicle, so you know you can utilize those parts and it's been yeah, so you know you can utilize those parts and it's been yeah. And just the data feeds and the you know everything going to online and being more accessible, I feel like, is just getting our name out to the world and what we do. So it's all very impactful. If you could go back and give yourself I just kind of want to transition a little bit no-transcript, kind of an in-depth one.
Speaker 3:I, you know, I look back a lot and say what would you do different? And I think that some of the courses or studies I would have invested in would have been different. And you know now that I am officially an empty nester now.
Speaker 3:So my husband might think I'm nuts, but I'm also sitting here thinking what could I go back and learn that would help drive this business again to the next level. I would tell you I wish I had more accounting courses. I think that would help me, or it would have helped me understand sooner the importance of the numbers in the business. I highly recommend that to anybody, regardless, in any business. I think they need to have a lot of basics in accounting. I would also have invested in more technology courses and learned the basics, because a lot of our businesses aren't quite big enough to have our own in-house IT departments.
Speaker 3:And so those are all things that I've had to self-teach and I just wish at times I had more or better a better background or more resources for that to offer the company.
Speaker 2:Yep, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I, I mean, even back then I feel like we didn't, we didn't necessarily know where the industry was headed and the the jumps in technology that have happened just in the past few years, even with with ai and all of that you just never know where, where it's going to take you.
Speaker 2:So, um, it's great that I love that you're investing your time and learning all this new, all these new things and and trying to develop the business and take it further. That's, that's what's going to keep you successful. You know, having the mentality that your dad originally had, you know, not like I've. I've known this business for so many years. I know exactly what's going on and you know, having having that kind of closed minded almost, but you but you're wanting to still grow. You have to really try to finagle your way and making sure that you're going to be able to keep up with all the technology and all the new trends with the industry for sure, and you know, one of our values at our company is being innovative and that's always looking for a better way.
Speaker 3:That's the definition for us it's always looking for a better way. And I'm sitting back and I did. I reached out to a group. You know I'm in a chat group with sales managers across the United States, with a Rob Rainwater group, and it's just nice to have that group. And I said, hey, does anyone have a way that we're automating how to enter our title work? Because whenever we get to sit in someone else's seat in our company for a while, what you find out is why are we doing it this way? There has to be a smarter way, there has to be a better way. So you know, that's where I find myself and my thoughts and my brain working. A lot is who can I call, who can I reach out to? I know what I want, how can I get it done? And then it comes around to efficiencies company. It's saving hours a week and getting better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can see those dollars, the ROI, come back once you implement those changes and really see just like when you got on car parts.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, exactly. I was filling in for the secretary and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is awful, I'm handwriting it here and. I'm handwriting it there and then I'm putting it in the computer, and another secretary has been telling us she's like there has to be a better way. So you know, those are things that we are constantly working on here.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. That's awesome. So, talking about kind of evolving how do you see the automotive recycling industry evolving in the next, you know, five to 10 years? What do you kind of see for?
Speaker 3:it. I see more continued opportunities and growth, not only from the industry changes, but we're all trying to sit back and figure out how are we going to handle electric vehicles. There is a growing concern on how are we going to dismantle them, how are we going to get rid of them. Seminars I sat in at the URG conference was on AI and how it's already starting to play in to the estimates car estimate software, and so it's just really interesting to see, okay, it's coming into our industry as well.
Speaker 3:So we're going to have to put ourselves in a seat or position to adjust again. I think COVID taught all of us a very good, valuable lesson on we are an essential business and people do need us, and it showed the importance of our need even more. So there's so many things evolving in the world. Just last week we had the dock union strike and what that's doing, or North Carolina and the hurricane and the devastation to the North Carolina areas, and our local factories are being shut down because they can't get the resources to keep the factories open and running. So we just have to constantly stay on top of what's going on in the economy and in our industry and adjust with it. But I think it's proven that there's always going to be a place for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, and you know with. You know, precious metals being a, you know, limited resource, you know a lot of we've already seen where the OEMs have problems manufacturing you know chips and whatnot and getting different types of parts and everything kind of being back ordered. And that's where we can kind of meet that need and I feel like that's just going to continue to be something that we can really work on with this industry as well as just developing different ways of how we can supplement that as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I do think with COVID it definitely turned our core commodities into a much higher priority as well. So we just have to stay educated and in front.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I totally agree. All right, DJ, is it time for another break.
Speaker 1:It's time for another break, and we'll be right back.
Speaker 4:The URG Scholarship Foundation was founded in 2014 in honor of individuals who give their talent, time and, very often, their own finances, to ensure the growth and success of the automotive recycling industry. We understand college is not for everyone, so each year the Foundation offers substantial financial scholarships to auto recycling employees and the children of employees that are attending four-year and technical or trade schools, to assist with their education. Don't leave money on the table. If you have a child or if you're interested in attending continuing education, this money is available to you. Go to u-r-gcom and click on the Scholarship Foundation tab. Urg keeping our industry strong through education.
Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Of course you know you're listening to URG On the Go podcast with Amanda Morrison and DJ Harrington, the cardiologist. I want to remind all our listeners that the ARA convention in Reno is October 23rd through the 26th at the Peppermill Resort and Spa. I hope I'll see you there. Please, by all means, come and grow your business and growing your business that's what URG is all about. You know your business, but URG helps you grow your business. This podcast is a great one. Remember to like and review and share with all your employees. Please.
Speaker 1:If you'd like to have another industry expert like Kelly from Y-Yard, who is the newest board member at URG, by all means just dial our hotline number here at the podcast center 706-409-5603.
Speaker 1:409-5603. And from what I'm learning here, I want to first all of the listeners that are in the area where Milton has hit. My prayers are out for you and your families. I commend the people at PRP for raising all the money they did for the generators. I think that's fantastic and remind all of our listeners that we have sponsored vehicles for Tunnel to Towers, which will be given away in Orlando, florida, on Friday, april 11th, at noontime. So if you want to see Jelly Roll and Frank Stiller and those people from Tunnel to Towers UB in Orlando, april 10th through the 12th, for the URG PRP conference for next year, 2025. And, without further ado, I'm going to tell all of you as, observing this podcast, I wish we all had a heart as big as Kelly's for building leaders within our industry, because if you go to their website and you watch how this business is run, you will be impressed, like I am. Amanda, I'll pass it back over to you.
Speaker 2:I agree, dj. I feel like Kelly's a great person to develop leadership. And how have you been able to kind of cultivate the loyalty? We touched on it a little bit before, but cultivating the loyalty and growing your employees, what kind of tactics have you taken at the yard to try to help grow that for your people?
Speaker 3:Well, first I would say it's taken me a long time to get to the point I'm at now and I still have a lot of work to do of delegating and sharing, and I think, as I told you, I approached my dad about trying to change and make a big culture shift here at the Y Yard and to take it more from a dictatorship into sharing and empowering our people. So we started working with a couple of local consultants. I wanted to make more of a formal, a little more structure as to what we're doing, and so we developed a team, an executive committee team, and we brought in managers from different departments and together with all of them we developed our company mission statement.
Speaker 3:We wrote the vision, the mission vision and our values, and then we talked about how we were going to drive those down through the company. And what I've learned over the years is if you get your team to help you develop the materials, they're definitely going to help preach it and teach it better than us standing on the pulpit and pounding it into them. And so since that time we have tried very hard to follow more of an EOS-type system, and that's an entrepreneurial operating system where you're getting your people involved, you're having meetings, but you're keeping what the, you're measuring metrics and you're having weekly meetings where you're going to talk about issues and you're going to address the issues. And are we on goal or off goal? Are we on target or off target? And making sure that happens Now there.
Speaker 3:Now don't get me wrong we've had a lot of periods of where we get too busy or we got so off target that we had to kind of regroup and start over. So that's really where we're at right now. And you know, just this past Friday we were working with another consultant in the business and we had our first quarterly ROCS meeting, and that's your. Rocs are basically what the company needs to be dialed in and focused on in the next 90 days.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 3:I know we all know together as a team that we're not where we're at. But if your people don't understand the why they're trying or why their job's so important in the big picture, that's the biggest problem and that's probably one of the biggest lessons I've also learned is you know, transparency isn't necessarily always about giving numbers out, but it's making sure the entire team understands why their job is just as important as the next.
Speaker 2:That's beautiful. I love that you can really tell that you care about your employees and their opinions and getting that feedback and that's, I'm assuming, why you guys are so successful, you know, and having those employees stay as well and creating that loyalty. You know an employee that's listened to and feels like they're being developed is not going to leave if they, you know, feel like the company is investing in them as much as they're investing into the company.
Speaker 3:So that's awesome, yeah, and we talk a lot about.
Speaker 2:you know, even if we didn't, if we have some turnover, you know we talk about why and well it really probably goes back to we didn't hire to our values and and so we'll see it come back around and you know, putting yourself in the shoes of that employee, I'm sure that they see that in you as a leader and appreciate that. I feel like that's something that's really key in business, and a lot of owners and managers don't necessarily do that, so they don't know the pressures of that job. And so once you really know the pressures and the issues that they're going through and help them try to solve those issues, that's where you're going to really create that loyalty for sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, sometimes it's nice to go, help them be in their seat and deal with things you didn't even stop to think about, Like wow, I didn't think about that, but that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Right, yep, yep, I completely agree. So what are your long-term goals and plans for Y-Yard here in the future?
Speaker 3:Well, right now we are in the midst of a little bit of chaos, because we're adding on finally so and I guess I shouldn't say finally, Our last expansion was almost 10 years ago.
Speaker 3:Then, during COVID, we remodeled our main offices. But we are adding on to our shipping department again and we're finally using a portable loading dock for at least two years now and we can't wait to get these in. We've got two of them we just put in. They're not in service just yet, but again, our shipping and the amount of parts we ship out anymore has just really grown and if you think about it, years ago most of what we did was delivered or picked up, and now we are shipping on a lot of different networks and a lot of different options.
Speaker 3:So beginning of this year we kicked our inventory department out of their home and moved them into another building and expanded our shipping department, and then that's where we added on the loading docks.
Speaker 3:Just last week then we started remodeling their home in the inventory department to expand it to allow them to bring even more cars in. So for us at the Y Yard you know, I know we definitely don't buy as many cars in volume, but we definitely have a completely different business model and we buy a higher-end vehicle with a lot of front ends or low miles on the vehicle, and so we just have to run them through our production department a little bit differently. So we are ramping up and just on last week, friday, we sat down and talked about how we're going to hit a three-year target, you know, and and we've got a pretty big, hairy, audacious goal coming and and how we're going to get there and how many more people it's going to take in every department. But you know, the message to our people was this and and what we wanted to remind them of. And I said you know, every business has two options you either sell it or you grow it.
Speaker 3:And just to kind of put some ease to their mind, while the conglomerates or the consolidators are very active in our industry right now. We just said you know, our goal is to get the next generation into this business, and whether that means they're your family members or our family members, that's the direction we want to go.
Speaker 2:That's incredible. I love that Just the future, that you have the goals that you have set. It's incredible to hear you talk about that. You guys have a three-year plan and have those goals in line. I don't think a lot of businesses really focus on, you know, setting goals for three years from now. You know they're kind of thinking about what's this next day going to bring, rather than kind of taking themselves out of that big picture. So that's awesome that you guys really focus on that.
Speaker 3:Well, that was part of our Friday meeting. We've been working with Jer Banta and again it's more on the EOS operating type system and I called him and I just said this is what.
Speaker 3:I've been wanting help with and this is what I'm looking to do and can you help build this management team of ours to understand it better, so you help run my meetings while I can run the business. And you know, we sat down and said I said I'm concerned that we're not going to hit our three-year goal because we threw a number out there, but we didn't sit down and talk about how we're going to get to that number, and so that's exactly what we did Friday, and while we might have all walked out of the meeting sweating, a little bit we have a clearer picture.
Speaker 3:So there you go. We have some work to do, but it's fun. I enjoy talking about it. I enjoy seeing it.
Speaker 2:Some days, obviously, are a little bit more of a struggle than others, but Well, if you don't have that clear plan laid out, then your employees don't know what the goals are, and you don't necessarily know what the goals are, and so having that clear plan may be a little intimidating, but at least you have something to shoot for. This is all great information for all automotive recyclers. I hope you guys really took a lot from this and are going to be taking some of this information back to your business and really taking yourself out of the day to day and thinking about that high level. Kelly, thank you so so much for being on the show today. You've been incredible.
Speaker 1:DJ, did you have any questions for Kelly before we let her go? I think it was excellent the whole podcast, and I believe that their team is the best and that the competitors do respect and just like their vision and their value statements say on their website. So, kelly, you brought a lot to our listeners and I sure do appreciate you and what you've done for the industry and what you have done for the URG growth. You being on the board will be a great asset.
Speaker 3:Well, I know I have a lot to learn and. I'm looking forward to learning it and then I hope I'll fill the shoes and have something to contribute. But I have a question for DJ. Yeah, do you wear your cardiology jacket during these interviews?
Speaker 1:No, but please tell your mom and dad. I said hi.
Speaker 3:I'll do so. I look forward to seeing you soon and thanks for having me on the show.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Thank you so much, kelly.
Speaker 1:Bye-bye guys, all right, take care.