Old School + New School: Blending Veteran Wisdom with Fresh Ideas

The studio glow-up set the mood: take something proven and make it feel new. That’s exactly where our conversation goes with Delaney and Andrew Kitching of GB Remanufacturing, two paths into the automotive aftermarket that prove this industry is more dynamic, tech-forward, and welcoming than most people expect. From a tech startup and influencer marketing world to finance and sales, they found a resilient ecosystem where listening hard, building mentors, and adding digital fluency turn fresh ideas into real results.

We dig into what newcomers wish they knew on day one: how complex the supply chain really is, why AAPEX can change how your entire team sees the business, and how to present ideas without tripping egos. You’ll hear practical tactics for earning trust—document the current state, ask better questions, run small pilots—and for leveling up fast with mentorship, peer feedback, and networking that actually moves careers forward. We also talk about the balance of old school plus new school: keeping quality, relationships, and service at the core while layering in content strategy, SEO, analytics, and digital storytelling that speaks to technicians, WDs, and buyers.

There’s candid perspective on family business dynamics... earning respect, protecting legacy, and staying humble while you push for change. If you’re new to the aftermarket, you’ll leave with a clear roadmap: learn the ecosystem, find mentors, walk the trade floor, and pick one process to improve with a trusted partner. If you’re a veteran leader, you’ll hear how to invite new voices without sacrificing what works. Hit play, share this with a teammate who needs the nudge, and subscribe for more candid, practical conversations that help all of us grow. And if you enjoyed the episode, leave a quick review, your feedback helps more curious pros find the show.

To learn more about the Auto Care Association visit autocare.org.

To learn more about our show and suggest future topics and guests, visit autocare.org/podcast

Chapters

• 0:00 New Studio Setup & Banter
• 0:54 Show Intro & Guest Context
• 2:40 Delaney’s Path: Tech to Aftermarket
• 5:08 Andrew’s Path: Finance to Sales
• 7:00 Why Young Talent Overlooks the Aftermarket
• 9:01 Entering With Fresh Eyes Without Friction
• 12:05 Listening First, Then Adding Digital Fluency
• 14:15 Presenting Ideas Without Tripping Egos
• 17:05 Learning the Industry’s Complexity Over Time
• 20:00 Mentors, YANG, and Networks That Accelerate Growth
• 23:52 Bringing Non-Marketers to AAPEX for Context
• 26:57 Old School Plus New School: Finding Balance
• 29:07 Family Business Dynamics & Earning Respect
• 31:47 Final Advice: Network, Ask, Be Teachable
• 33:37 Closing Credits & Subscribe CTA

Transcript

Jacki Lutz: 0:00

It's a pretty cool setup. Wait till you see it on the video. We had a it was pretty pretty much I think I've done two other podcasts in here before today, and it was just like a gray box. And the difference just from the little bit that we've done makes a huge difference. When did you do this? Last night was really new. I'm pretty proud of how this turned out.

Delaney Kitching: 0:23

This looks amazing. And you guys installed this? We didn't realize we sure did.

Jacki Lutz: 0:27

The skills we've learned in the last year is it's wild. We should have counted. But now we can um add wall, wooden wall paneling to it.

Delaney Kitching: 0:39

We just did something similar to this in our break room at work. I just redesigned our whole break room and it was the most fun project.

Jacki Lutz: 0:45

Oh, I hate it. I hate design. There's too many options. A lot of subjective options. Yeah, that's the problem. There's too many possibilities, but I 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 are all headed in the same direction. So let's get there together. Hi everybody, welcome to another Carpal Conversations. I am here with Delaney Kitching, Marketing Manager at GB Remanufacturing, and Andrew Kitching, Director of Sales at GB Remanufacturing. We had a little turn of events that brought us together today. I had a little cancellation, and uh we happened to be in Washington, D.C. area for the um summit, the legislative summit happening this week. So I was like, who's gonna be in town? And one person led me to different names, and eventually Delaney's name came up. So I'm so appreciative of you guys uh being willing to stop by Bethesda and record this. Um Andrew happened to be in the car with her when I was my call with her. So I was like, well, is Andrew want to be on it too? So here we are. It's good to put people on the spot a little bit. Yeah.

Andrew Kitching: 2:12

Yeah, we just landed uh 35 minutes ago.

Jacki Lutz: 2:15

So your head's not spinning at all. You're not on a different time zone at all. Everything's fine. Well, it's only so you guys came from California?

Andrew Kitching: 2:22

Yes.

Jacki Lutz: 2:22

So it's actually early for you guys.

Andrew Kitching: 2:25

Yeah, three hours early.

Jacki Lutz: 2:26

Yeah, it's like two o'clock.

Delaney Kitching: 2:27

You guys are fine. Except for I actually landed in uh LAX from Spain on Sunday. So I'm a little more So you don't know what day it is. But we're gonna record it podcast. That's okay. Let's do it. First podcast.

Jacki Lutz: 2:40

Yeah, when I was talking to you guys about um, you know, what topic should we talk about? Um, I loved what you said, Delaney. So you kind of, you know, I don't know what we're calling the topic quite yet, but um it's really about how the industry is really evolving and changing and how interesting it's becoming for, you know, a younger generation to enter. Um, and I am hoping you'll tell a little bit about your story coming from the tech industry and then coming to the automotive aftermarket with your family and what that journey's been like.

Delaney Kitching: 3:10

Sure. So um I joined GB Reman in 2021. Um, but before that, I uh graduated college and I worked for a small tech startup um in the influencer marketing space. And so as you can sort of imagine, you know, the influencer space is fun and it's fresh and it's dynamic and it's um certainly changed a lot in the last couple years. And so um, you know, coming from that industry, I wasn't totally sure what to expect from the aftermarket. Um, you know, something we've sort of chatted about is that in college, you sort of feel like you hear about the same couple industries, whether it's tech or it's finance or it's, you know, medic medicine. Um and I felt like the aftermarket I had never heard of, you know, from college or anything like that, but I grew up alongside it, not in it. Um, you know, with my dad and grandpa starting our business. But um I was sort of, I don't know, I was a little nervous, I guess, to join the industry as, you know, coming from such a uh talked about and upcoming tech uh world. And so I was really pleasantly surprised, not to say that I was doubtful that I would enjoy, you know, working for the family business and entering the industry, but I just wasn't sure what to expect. And I think I've been really, really surprised at how um how many young people are in the industry, first of all, and how many opportunities there are for everyone. I think um, you know, our industry is totally changing, but there's also a lot of things that we can take away from what's worked so well. Our industry is super resilient. Um, and so I think I think there's a lot of opportunities for young people, but uh that maybe aren't necessarily expected or talked about. So it's been great so far. Um I think this podcast is one of the things that is um is something that sort of shows me like our industry is evolving. Oh, that's so cool. It's it's been really cool.

Jacki Lutz: 5:08

So yeah, that's awesome. What about you, Andrew? You have a similar but different path.

Andrew Kitching: 5:13

Yeah, so I I went to school for finance and marketing, and uh I originally wanted to be a uh financial advisor. And um once I got my degree and I went through and got a couple internships, I uh landed a job at Wells Fargo and I was like, hmm, this is not exactly what I thought it was gonna be. And um, I was lucky enough to give in the opportunity to jump into a sales role for another automotive company, and I absolutely loved it. I love the networking, I love the travel, I love the um just relationship side of things and getting to know people, and um I just hit the ground running with that. So um, yeah, I've been with GB for just over 10 years now, and um, yeah, I absolutely love it.

Jacki Lutz: 6:02

Yeah, that's um that's awesome to hear. I kind of have a similar story, but I, you know, I started after my bachelor's, I started working in like event management and then went into uh medical sales actually. Wow. And really didn't love either one of those industries. And then I kind of took a little sabbatical and came back and got hired by Schrader. Um, and uh that was kind of my my kickoff in the industry. But I kind of similar to you guys, you guys at least had a little bit of insight into the automotive aftermarket because of your family businesses. Right. So you knew of it, you knew it was an option for you, but it wasn't an attractive option for you.

Andrew Kitching: 6:38

Yeah, I mean it wasn't uh what I first thought I was gonna do, you know, right? So it but it panned out that way. And um I do say, you know, when you jump into this industry, it's a big thing is just to get involved. Um and that's why you got, you know, you got yang and you have all these other um committees and meetings and stuff that you can go to to get involved, and that just makes it a heck of a lot easier.

Jacki Lutz: 7:04

Yeah, it's a great way to meet people and kind of get a good a good umbrella view of the industry and everything going on.

Delaney Kitching: 7:12

And yeah. Yeah, I think when you know, when I was in school and I was studying marketing, you hear a lot of things, you know, you want to be working for some big cool, I don't know, maybe some really cool brand that you've always followed, like you know, a lot of fashion brands, or actually for me, I wanted to work for Spotify. Um I had a radio show in college and I thought it would be the coolest thing. I thought for a long time actually that a job that you could do at Spotify was making their playlist.

Jacki Lutz: 7:41

I found out now that it's AI, but um but it might not have been back then.

Delaney Kitching: 7:45

Yeah, but I always thought, you know, I would do something that was super, super, you know, I thought I would join an industry that was very aligned with my passions. And while I I can't sit here and say that I'm super passionate about the parts that go in cars, it's an essential industry. Um, and I think that there's so much to that. Um that you just, you know, maybe it's maybe people are hesitant to join it because it's, you know, it's just so in ingrained in everyday life that they don't even realize that, you know, that there's a whole industry behind that and the industry is big and it's powerful. Um and I yeah, I I wish more young people would, you know, at least consider the aftermarket or even learn about it, have the opportunity to to get to know it. And I know autocare does um some events at colleges and stuff and career fairs and whatnot. So that's a great, I mean, that's a a great thing that we're starting to try to share the industry with with younger generations.

Andrew Kitching: 8:43

I will say, you know, the more events I've been to the last couple of years, you've noticed more and more young people attend the events. Um and that's been huge. I mean, there's a lot of new faces, a lot of people just getting out there networking and doing all that, and that's huge for our industry.

Jacki Lutz: 9:00

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you know, I guess what has been I when I think about like young people entering the industry, and now we're saying like, yeah, there's a lot of technology here. There's a lot of things that are exciting and changing, it's very fast-paced. Um what is what is it about young, like when when you're young and coming in, I th I would imagine like you have fresh eyes, you're looking at this industry, and you probably see potential in some areas, but you're a little bit, I don't know, timid to go out and be like, this is what I think we should do, right? Because who's gonna listen to you? You're 22 years old, coming out of college, you don't know anything about the industry. These guys have been in the industry for 40 years, you know, they know the industry, they know what they're doing. So, like, let's talk a little bit about what this could mean. So, and and I think we're talking to young people, but I think we're talking to, I don't like using young and old. I don't really love it, but I don't know the other words right now. But like, you know, people that have been in the industry for a long time and people just entering the industry. That's the industry veterans? Yes, industry veterans. Yeah, there we go. Um, and then people in the middle, like Andrew and I. Like I think we're very much, you know, Q2, yeah, turn in the corner to Q3, you know. Um, but I I think when you come in and you you have ideas and you you're trying to think outside the box and you you're coming from a tech industry or you're coming from another industry where they did things differently, there's there's there's gotta be some advice around how to handle those kind of conversations and really make an impact and uh do great things without stepping on toes, without looking kind of like ignorant, like you don't know enough to be giving us these ideas, you know? Um, I think ideas should be really welcome. So that's why I think we're talking to all parties, right? So there's something about the listening side and there's something about the talking side, and they both need to be kind of done correctly for the dialogue to work. So does anybody have any advice of like how does someone ha handle giving ideas?

Delaney Kitching: 10:58

Yeah, I think I think from my perspective, I think Andrew and I have sort of come from similar, you know, backgrounds, obviously being family, but also just in how we've been raised. And I think um, you know, something we've sort of talked about in the past is just the importance of listening and trying to, like you said, um, trying to take what knowledge you can from the people that have made this industry so successful. Obviously, our industry is the way it is because of the people that have been in it for 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, or you know, even I mean a hundred years ago, there was people in this industry making it work. Um, and so I think it's really important, one, that younger generations first just take the time to listen. I would say the best advice you can do, or uh the best advice that you can have when you enter the industry is to just listen, talk to people, be very open to meeting new people, ask people to introduce you to people, um, ask a ton of questions because everyone in our industry is so more than willing to um, you know, give advice and knowledge. And um I think that's something at that's actually very cool about our industry. Because there's, you know, there's some industries that feel very cutthroat, and I would say ours is the complete opposite. Um, but so I would say first thing would be to listen. And then the second thing is, you know, there's skills that um are being taught now that you know maybe weren't being taught 30 years ago. And I think we can apply a lot of those in situations where maybe we're getting the understanding and the expertise from people that have been in the industry for a long time, but you can add, you know, your fresh spin to it, or maybe it's a very specific skill that you can add, like I don't know, like um the words escaping me, but like digital uh like less manual, more I guess yeah. Like like for example, I think a lot of our uh the younger generation in the industry is kind of bringing our industry up to speed with social media, with content creation, with digital. There's a d digital to help you so bad. I don't know. Digital marketing, digital digital fluency, I guess that's what I was going for. Digital fluency. So I think you can take uh an understanding and knowledge from people who have been here for a long time, but then also kind of add your own twist to it and and try to fill the gaps where you see them. Yeah um and I think it's a really cool dynamic, and but there's a way to do it respectfully too, without you know, feeling like you're trying to just reinvent the entire wheel on an industry that clearly works very well.

Andrew Kitching: 13:35

Yeah, it's on that point. I I think it's all about how you present your idea. I think you don't want to come off being younger to a veteran. Um you don't want to come off like a know-it-all. You wanna it's how you present your ideas is what's key. So once you have your idea and you say, okay, maybe this is a better way we can do this, these are the reasons why, but you gotta you gotta be very cautious of how you present that idea so you don't offend people. Um but to Delaney's point, uh listening's key, uh asking questions. I was lucky enough when I was younger in the industry, I got a had a couple mentors that really took me under their wing and sort of said, hey, look, you know, I think you should do this, or you know, this is how I do it. If you want to take what I've done in my career is I've taken a little bit from this person that I really liked, took a little bit from this person, a little bit from this person, and sort of made it my own pitch. And that's what really helped me uh throughout the industry.

Jacki Lutz: 14:35

Yeah, there's a and I don't mean this in a negative way, but I I I a lot of times, you know, I I do a lot of content in front of my bookshelf and everyone's like, What's your favorite book? And my favorite book is the four agreements.

Andrew Kitching: 14:45

Okay.

Jacki Lutz: 14:45

And at its core, the four agreements is a kind of a little bit about ego. And I it's coming to my brain now because you always want to try to help protect the egos around you. It's a good way to look at things.

Delaney Kitching: 14:59

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 14:59

So, and it goes for both sides. So the people that, you know, are receiving this new information and new ideas, and also the ego of the person getting them. So it's just one way to look at it that the person receiving this information, whether it's like, well, they don't know anything, they have been haven't been here long enough, they don't understand why this won't work. I'm like, okay, well, don't squash it. Right. Don't ruin the ego so bad that they're not going to bring up any other ideas, right? Like, you still want this person to be a little idea shop for you. And then on the on the flip side, don't bring an idea to somebody and being like, I can't believe you've been doing it wrong all these years. Like, hello, there's a tool that does this AI, and you just have to press a button. Like you guys are wasting all your time and you know, treating them like they're stupid or something, like you're gonna crush their egos. And then they're not gonna like, even if they like your idea, they're not gonna like you. You know, like there's there's definitely some ego protection that should take place, you know, in in this whole thing. Um, so do you guys have any examples of like in your own, you know, company how this has maybe happened? You know, anyone coming in with fresh eyes or fresh ideas and changes you guys have been open to?

Andrew Kitching: 16:04

I mean, I was, you know, when I first came in the industry, I was probably at fault for a lot of that. Where I came in like just a little too hot. It was um, you know, I thought I could, you know, change the world and you know, we should be doing this, we should be doing that, and w why are we doing it this way? We should be doing it this way. So it was, you know, from my own experience, I was like, okay, you gotta throttle back here a little bit like that. You know, we just like I said, I just came in a little too hot. Did somebody tell you that or did you uh I realized it once I um I could tell people were sort of hesitant to have conversation with me and a little bit like that. So it was sort of self-inflicted and I sort of realized it myself.

Jacki Lutz: 16:48

Okay.

Andrew Kitching: 16:49

Uh also probably talking to my wife a little bit too. She was like, Well, how did you present it? How you know, how'd you do that? And and um so I just sort of had to take a step back and say, okay, I gotta stay in my own lane here a little bit, realize that I'm still fairly young, and um you know, so I it was a lesson learned, yeah for sure.

Jacki Lutz: 17:09

So there'll be signs.

Andrew Kitching: 17:10

Yes.

Jacki Lutz: 17:11

If this is uh if this is you.

Andrew Kitching: 17:13

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 17:13

Anything you can think of over there?

Delaney Kitching: 17:15

I've you know, I don't know if anything specific comes to mind, but I would say, yeah, I sort of I I remember, you know, at certain points from just joining the business, um sort of just looking at some of like the ways that we did things or the processes that were in place. And obviously with n without a full understanding, I would be like, well, that's weird. Why do we do it that way? And why don't we have a set way of doing it this way? Or maybe this could be like way more efficient. But then, you know, you ask the questions and you hear why, and you're like, oh. And there's you know, there's typically room for improvements always, but there was a reason why it was done that way. And I think I think the the key is to, again, like, you know, it's easy to come in hot when you're totally new to something um and you don't understand why you don't know how things are exactly. You don't know what you don't know, and so I think um it's important to be mindful of that, but also that doesn't mean that you need to stop looking for new new ways of doing things or you know, new ideas or new energies.

Andrew Kitching: 18:19

Because your ultimately your goal is to try and be more efficient for the company and try and just improve in any way that you can. But like I said, it's it's how you present the information without offending people and doing that stuff.

Jacki Lutz: 18:32

So Yeah, and I feel like what you're talking about is really being teachable. Yeah. You know, like don't be the know it all, be the lifelong learner. Yeah. Um, you know, and I think I always tell people, I think I I try I have so much more faith in people who don't know what they don't know, but they're asking questions and they're learning, and you can actively watch them do that and go through that journey versus the people who can't be they're not teachable, they're not multiple. They they think the world is really one way and you know, they're kind of stuck there. I don't have a lot of faith in people like that. So, you know, maybe the message there is just to be teachable and be open to you know, some things don't need to be fixed either. There's really two schools of thought there, exactly, right? And where do you want to put your energy? Like you could have a great idea, and it's not that you should squash it completely, but maybe there's just budget issues right now. Maybe it's Q4 and that's just not the priority right now, you know? Yeah, you know, maybe there's another thing there too, if like, you know, an idea does get shut down, like understand why. Right. Was it budget? Was it timing?

Delaney Kitching: 19:32

And I think being teachable helps you actually become really confident because you, you know, you're you're willing and able to admit that you you don't know it all and that um, you know, you can you're gonna take something out of this and learn from it and adapt and grow from it. And I think um I think that's so easily done by just asking questions and you know, don't ask the questions just to ask questions, but genuinely if you're curious about something, ask the question because it's like I said, there's a lot of people in this industry, and uh, we're lucky enough within our company that are so more than willing to to help you understand why things are the way they are, or if there is improvement that could be made, they're they're gonna ask for your opinion because it's it's about trust too, I think, within you know your company and your colleagues and your coworkers and whatnot.

Jacki Lutz: 20:23

So I do think when people enter this industry, it is like a huge elephant to eat because it's kind of a complicated industry. Yeah. To truly understand it from like, you know, manufacturing down to you know garage level. Like it's there's a lot of yeah. I mean, the way we get car parts to where they need to go is just mind-boggling. And I can imagine it's just a lot. And I feel like I learned it a bit slower because like being in marketing, you like when you first I first came in here, I didn't feel like I needed to know, I didn't need to live the hood, right? I just I just needed to do the marketing, I needed to know the main points, you know, this kind of thing. And that's how I approached my career for a long time until I started getting more involved. I got involved with Yang and some other stuff and started really being a part of the bigger industry conversations and things like that. And that's when you start feeling like, you know, you should bring some ideas back to your company because you networked. You talk to somebody about this problem they're having, and we're having the same one, and this is what they did. Um, so you know, before you start sharing ideas, I do think some one of you mentioned kind of like networking and and you know, having somebody introduce you to people. That's a huge part of it too, because before you take an idea to your boss, yeah, you could have a nice network around you that to vet that idea with. Like, tell me all the reasons why this wouldn't work, right? You know, like before you go out in front of that presentation and you know, yeah, whatever.

Delaney Kitching: 22:24

I would say like with the with that sort of situation where you're starting to bounce ideas off of people, I think that's huge in our industry. I think there's so many um there's so many communities within the aftermarket that are very vocal about mentorship programs, like Yang, for example. I'm I've been in the Yang mentorship program for I think this is my third mentorship program round. That's awesome. Um, and it's so great because it gives you access to one, a group of people your age that you can just talk about ideas with or challenges, you know, that you're looking at and trying to figure out and solve. But you also have a mentor who, you know, provides basically direct access to, hey, throw anything at me, see if it sticks, let's talk about it. And I think that's something that's pretty unique about our industry too. People are are very um very willing to to to be there to just chat through things and and then you can you know take that conversation, take what you learned from it, and then bring it back to your your organization or or your supervisor, your boss. But um, yeah, I think the the idea exchange is really cool in our industry. It's so good that you feel that way.

Jacki Lutz: 23:34

I really do. Yeah. Yeah. Especially just being kind of newer and coming in to because how long? I'm sorry, how many years have you been? So I joined in October 2021.

Delaney Kitching: 23:43

So coming up on four years.

Jacki Lutz: 23:46

Four years ago. Fun four years. This is a fun four years to join.

Delaney Kitching: 23:50

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 23:50

You joined right after COVID, too. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Delaney Kitching: 23:53

So yeah, well, and so being in a marketing position as well, it was really hard to get a grasp on the whole, you know, the industry as a whole. And I remember starting with just just trying to figure out exactly what our parts did, you know, what you the quality and and all that that we stand behind and trying to market that. But then as you start to understand how the industry works, it's it's such a complex industry. And I remember going to Aftermarket 101, and that tremendously helped um understanding the industry as a whole. But even then, I had to have, I don't know, probably six, seven different people explain to me the difference between you say that. I mean, I was like, uh, when am I gonna understand this? I don't know when it's gonna click. And then all of a sudden, at some point, I don't know when, but it I was like, oh yeah, I yeah, I know how it works.

Jacki Lutz: 24:44

Some people told me when I first entered this industry, they're like, talk to me in 10 years. Then you'll kind of start to be, you know, you kind of start to get it. And honestly, that's not far off.

Andrew Kitching: 24:53

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 24:54

No, it takes a while because, like, yeah, you can understand the diagram now. You understand how it works. That's exactly what you're doing. You don't go ahead and you don't got all the context and why, you know, like yeah, why people are the way they are. What what what's touchy about, like what are WDs touchy about? You know, like all these other things. Um, yeah, there's just a lot of context. You're so so anyone who has been shut down idea-wise, just know you're not alone. It is a very tough industry, but that is why you need to be able to listen and need to be able to learn things too. But I don't know if that means you keep your all of your ideas close to your chest. You know, like I still think that they're valid and you might be surprised what comes out of it. Like this podcast was a passing idea. Yeah, you know, and like, yeah, if luckily it fell on the right ears, but you know, who knows? I just think that it really goes on both sides, and who knows how many ideas get thrown away every year. Great ideas that could really be the big change everybody needed, but they were just passed off too soon. Yeah.

Andrew Kitching: 25:47

Yeah. To speak on a little bit more about like, you know, being younger in the industry and and trying to get a better grasp of what the automotive industry is, you know, walking into Apex and walking the trade floor, I mean, it could be super overwhelming, right?

Delaney Kitching: 26:00

Oh, yeah.

Andrew Kitching: 26:00

So we do something cool at GB where we'll bring one or two staff members that you know, trying to they really don't have any idea of what the automotive industry is. And we'll bring them out to Vegas, they'll work the booth, they'll walk the show, and they're like they always come back like, oh my god, like how big is this industry? We have no idea. Because they don't go to like, you know, customer events.

Jacki Lutz: 26:24

What kinds of roles are these?

Andrew Kitching: 26:26

So this would be engineers or like engineer, um an engineering manager, uh fulfillment manager, maybe someone in shipping.

Jacki Lutz: 26:34

Nice, even human resources.

Andrew Kitching: 26:36

Human resources will come out and just be like, Wow, this is what you guys, this is what the industry is.

Jacki Lutz: 26:42

What a perfect way for them to see with their eyes.

Andrew Kitching: 26:44

And then when they come back and they're talking to their employees, they're like, you wouldn't imagine what I just saw last couple days in Vegas. Oh, that's such a good It's pretty neat.

Jacki Lutz: 26:52

That's a good advice for people. I know uh at my previous job when I was uh working for a supplier, I won one time I brought my graphic designer.

Andrew Kitching: 27:00

Okay.

Jacki Lutz: 27:01

And he was like, oh, like had so many more ideas, could finally, could finally see like what our competitors are doing and like you know, what what everybody's doing. I remember there was one year when we did more SEMA, but there was this um, it was like a I don't know, on like um stock as like a stock photo of a guy in like a tech blue technician uniform onesie. Like, do they even wear those? Um, but it was always the same guy, and he was on like five different companies, you know. I'm like the same dude. And I'm like, I'm so glad he was there. I'm like, how else would you know? Everyone's using this guy, you know? So yeah, that's really great advice. Just to like expose people in early on.

Andrew Kitching: 27:43

Yeah, yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 27:43

Like, don't wait too long before doing that.

Andrew Kitching: 27:45

Like so we've had a couple that are like mid-20s will come out and uh we'll show them like what Yang is and just walk the show and try and meet, like introduce them to people and it it's pretty neat what they come back with.

Jacki Lutz: 27:57

Yeah, yeah. That's so good to support your employees that way. Um, and just like, you know, because before I worked for the Auto Care Association, I was a very involved map member. And I think that that that m really set me apart in my company because if there was any ever anything we didn't know, I felt like I had the network to go find out. Right and people knew that. So like that was a tool I was able to use throughout my whole career and constantly was able to bring things back to them. So yeah.

Delaney Kitching: 28:25

I've seen I've seen a lot too with like my dad. Um he is huge on leaning on his network, you know. I he's got he's he I he remembers everyone's name, and you know, if something comes up, he's like, Oh, let me just call, let me call so and so, or oh, we're going through this. Hmm, let me see what you know, maybe what what they've been doing about it, or and I think that's that's pretty unique to this industry for sure.

Jacki Lutz: 28:51

Yeah. It's fun once you start finding the people that you're gonna grow old in the industry with. Yes. Because people do leave, but a lot of them come back. Yeah. Yeah. So like it's kind of fun, especially, you know, we get to interview a lot of people that have been around for a while, and you see the the friends that they've had for decades, you know, like these guys are competitors, but they have such good rapport and they've been literally working, competing for 40 years, and they're still got good rapport and laugh together. And you know, that's gonna be us with our little Yang buddies.

Delaney Kitching: 29:20

That's right, that's right.

Jacki Lutz: 29:21

Fewer years for me and Andrew, but still. Yeah. So um one concept I love is there's old school and new school. It's kind of the I don't know, play on words. But um, when we were texting back and forth, something that kind of came out of it was maybe it's not so much old school versus new school, it's old school plus new school. Right. So like maybe we can just dig into that real quick and what that could look like. You know, like old school being this is the way we do things, this is what's worked all this time. And maybe, you know, the new school is adding to it.

Delaney Kitching: 29:56

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 29:56

You know.

Delaney Kitching: 29:57

Yeah, I think that's yeah, I mean, to me it's it's all about finding balance within that, right? Like we've sort of talked about, I don't want to say the same thing too many times, but like I I really said it's about listening and taking what you can from one generation and then adding your unique perspective on it. And again, like we've talked about the way that you present it is very important. But I think, yeah, I think it's I think our industry o already does a great job of keeping that mentality of old school plus new school. I think there's a lot of things that we're doing as an industry that Is proof of that. Um, you know, you see it at events like this where you have people our age here, you know, going in and willing to go speak on Capitol Hill, but we're also speaking with people that have been doing this for a long time and everyone is just as passionate about it as the next. And I think that's it's a pretty strong testament to to how our industry works to kind of bridge the the generational gap, I guess, that is pretty apparent sometimes, you know. Sometimes you're at Yang events and you know, maybe there's a couple young people or maybe there's um people that have been there for a long time. And um but I think I think our industry does a great job of sort of bridging that gap and and finding that balance of taking what you know and what's worked and then you know listening to new ideas and being open to them as well.

Andrew Kitching: 31:23

Yeah, I find a lot I've noticed a lot more companies have invested in younger staff recently. Um, you know, being I'm on Yang, I I deal with the sponsorship committee. So I've been talking to a lot of uh companies and stuff, and you know, when I'm asking about their involvement with Yang, they're like, actually, yeah, we used to have only five people potentially in Yang, now we got ten, and now we have fifteen. And they're they're investing in the young automotive group, and I think it's only gonna make the industry grow even more.

Jacki Lutz: 31:56

I think so too. I think it's gonna retain. Yeah.

Andrew Kitching: 31:58

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 31:59

Once you can make friends, you don't really want to leave. Exactly. You know, like start over somewhere else.

Delaney Kitching: 32:04

Exactly.

Jacki Lutz: 32:04

Yeah, and you guys have an interesting dynamic too, just coming from family businesses. I'm curious, do you guys ever get in heated arguments with your fathers or uncle in your case, Andrew? I guess now, but like because just different views of the world and I wouldn't say arguments.

Delaney Kitching: 32:21

I'd say I'd say I would I don't want to speak for both of us, but I think both of us are pretty lucky. I think um are within within the day-to-day at work, I wouldn't say there's ever arguments and maybe disagreements, but not even really disagreements. It's more just well, why do you think that or why do you say that? Or you know, and again it comes to talking about. Seek understanding, that's very good. Yeah, I I would say, you know, we we're lucky to not have a lot of that because I I actually still live at home. Um, and so I live at home with my mom, my dad, my brother also, and he also works at TV. Oh wow. So, you know, you'd think you can't afford to argue. Yeah, I mean, honestly, we really can't. And so we don't.

Andrew Kitching: 33:08

So I think there's not gonna be any dinner on the table if you did something.

Delaney Kitching: 33:11

Yeah, it'd be a really awkward dinner. Yeah, it'd be a really awkward dinner conversation. Um, you know, if we follow it. Do you have dinner conversations about work? Typically, no. If things are really busy, I'd say like now uh work conversations happen, you know, right around Apex time and you know, all of us are busy, and my mom's like, Why are you guys all home so late?

Jacki Lutz: 33:33

Like, well, because Apex is, you know, a month or two months away. And um but imagine being your mother around the dinner table and you guys are all talking about work, and she's like, Why had I fix this meal for us to spend time together?

Delaney Kitching: 33:46

Yeah, but I I would say we're pretty lucky in the sense that there's not a whole ton of that. And I think you know, that's not always the case for family business. You hear a lot of you hear both. You hear both. You hear really, really good stories, and sometimes you also hear really bad ones, but I'd say we're pretty blessed in that sense.

Andrew Kitching: 34:01

But yeah, I would agree. I I think, you know, obviously we're all very passionate about growing the business, and you know, we look at it, you know, not only day by day, but generation by generation. So we try and be very strategic on the decisions we make. And um, you know, from time to time maybe emotions you know are out there, but they're all in good intent, right? So we're all trying to look out for what's for best for the company. And um but I agree with Delaney. I think for the most part, um everything's been pretty smooth. We're one of the lucky ones. Good. Yeah.

Delaney Kitching: 34:36

I would say the intentions part is pretty key because you know, it's hard not to go to work and make a decision decision without thinking about like, okay, they started this business, like they made it work, they've put in so much time and so much effort and so much risk, you know, too, that comes with family business. Um and we don't want to let them down. We want to not only not let them down, but we want to wanna prove to them that like we are we are the next generation and we can we can handle it or we're learning to handle it as we go. I couldn't do that like today, but um, you know, always striving to just kind of I guess carry on the legacy and and I think that's where the good intentions come from. It's like we want to make you proud. Yeah.

Andrew Kitching: 35:21

Um I think too it, you know, obviously being family, um, you know, we try and earn that respect, you know, with with our employees. Not that it was, you know, so and so given to us, but you gotta, you know, put in the time, you gotta, you know, earn your stripes sort of deal. And I think we both come from that mentality and trying to prove ourselves. And um, you know, I think that's that's been key.

Jacki Lutz: 35:48

That's huge.

Andrew Kitching: 35:48

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 35:49

The kind of humbleness there. Well god, that's awesome. So just to wrap it up, I usually like to go around and just see um, you know, if if people were to only take away one thing, what do you each of you hope that that is?

Andrew Kitching: 36:03

Uh I would say if you know, if you're newer in the industry, um get your name out there. Um network, like you can imagine, go to all the events, um, ask questions, listen, um, get a couple mentors if you're lucky enough, and really just become like a sponge. And um, yeah, just go to as many events as you can and and uh just sort of hit the ground running.

Jacki Lutz: 36:29

Screen.

Delaney Kitching: 36:30

I would I would agree with all of that. I would say, yeah. And when you do go to those events, you know, don't it's it's so easy to say this, especially after doing it for a couple years, but truly there's no there's no reason to be intimidated or scared to go up to someone and just introduce yourself. It's very normal to do that in this industry. And I think as someone, you know, that's young and entering an industry that still relies so heavily on face-to-face and in-person events, um, it is not uncommon to just go up to someone and introduce yourself. It's not weird. It's it's not everyone does it and everyone has done it at some point. So nobody's gonna be like, why is this person coming up to me?

Andrew Kitching: 37:13

This random person.

Delaney Kitching: 37:13

Yeah. Dwayne, you introduce yourself. Yeah, yeah. They're not gonna be like, that was so weird. We're at a networking event and someone just came up and introduced themselves. So just go up to someone and introduce yourself. And you know, if there's a conversation that's worth having, have it. And if there's not, you met someone and you move on and you try it again with the next person until you find people that the conversation's really easy with. And I guarantee you're gonna learn something from them. Um, so I would say that would be my my best advice. Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 37:41

Those are great. I think I think mine is probably along the lines of um kind of for both sides, you know, listen, be open-minded, you know, to to new ideas on both sides. Like, you know, be open to the why they might not be able to work and be open to why they might be able to work on both sides. Um, but this has been really great. Thank you guys so much for having us. Scooting over here up with the airport real quick before we all head to DC and and walk the hill. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Andrew Kitching: 38:08

Yeah. Thank you for having us.

Jacki Lutz: 38:10

Thank you for having us. It was awesome. 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 Auto Care Association, dedicated to advancing the autocare industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit autocare.org.