Automotive Excellence With 2024 AAPEX Technician of the Year Johnathon Bemis

Johnathon Bemis is the Lead Master Technician at VIP Tires & Service, which is known for its comprehensive tire and auto repair services in New England. Notably, Johnathon received the prestigious 2024 AAPEX Technician of the Year Award, recognizing his exceptional skills and dedication in the industry. Johnathon’s automotive journey highlights the importance of perseverance and continuous learning in adapting to the fast-evolving automotive industry.

In this episode…

The automotive industry is experiencing rapid technological advancements, requiring technicians to learn and adapt continually. What does it take to become a world-class technician in this field?

According to Johnathon Bemis of VIP Tires & Service, becoming a world-class technician requires a supportive employer who provides a platform for success, continuing education, and a positive work culture. VIP encourages its technicians to pursue certifications, pays for training, and fosters a collaborative environment where technicians can network and share ideas. Johnathon also emphasizes the importance of using all resources available for diagnostics, including online searches, and the need to stay up-to-date on the latest technologies and techniques. 

On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge chats with Johnathon about his career path, the importance of certifications, and rapid changes in automotive technology. They also discuss the importance of a positive work culture and what it takes to be a successful technician in the modern automotive industry.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [03:07] Why Johnathon Bemis made an unexpected career switch at the age of 32
• [04:27] How Johnathon achieved 29 ASE certifications in record time
• [05:54] The rapid changes in the automotive industry since 2010
• [08:59] Tips on leveraging Google for faster vehicle diagnostics
• [13:09] How an economic downturn led Johnathon to automotive success
• [18:46] The supportive culture fueling VIP’s employee success

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Johnathon Bemis 
• VIP Tires & Service 
• Tire Business
• TJ White on LinkedIn
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn
• Tread Partners

Quotable Moments:

• “I’m not really one to seek out the limelight and be the center of attention.”
• “This industry changes so fast. If you’re not learning, you’re staying behind.”
• “Cars don’t talk back.”
• “I enjoyed working on cars in my yard, so I figured, what the hell?”
• “Use everything at your disposal — you’re that much further ahead.”

Action Steps:

1. Keep pursuing certifications and continuing education: Continuous learning is vital in the fast-evolving automotive industry, helping you stay relevant and efficient in your role. 
2. Leverage technology and online resources: Utilizing tools like Google and technician forums can save time and improve diagnostic accuracy, allowing you to address customer issues more effectively. 
3. Build a supportive network. A strong network provides knowledge sharing and emotional and professional support, which are crucial for long-term success.
4. Embrace change in the industry: The automotive sector is rapidly advancing with technologies like EVs and cloud integration, requiring technicians to adapt quickly to stay competitive.
5. Nurture a positive work culture: A healthy culture leads to enhanced job satisfaction, increased productivity, lower turnover, and a more cohesive team.

• Gain Traction Podcast
• Johnathon Bemis
• Mike Edge
• Tread Partners
• VIP Tires and Service

Transcript

00:02
Announcer
Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast where we feature top tire and auto repair professionals, shop owners, industry executives and thought leaders and share their inspiring stories. Now let’s get started with the show. 

00:20
Mike
Hello folks. Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, the official podcast for the industry’s leading publication tire business. I am Mike Edge, your host. My guest today is Jonathan Bemis, lead master technician with VIP Tires and service in the New England area. Jonathan is also the recipient of the 2024 Apex Technician of the Year award. But before we get in, let me tell you who sponsors this Tread Partners and its educational marketing highlight for today is when it comes to your PPC budget on marketing and ad spend for multi location operations, don’t put all your ad spend with Google in one bucket. Divide it up for accountability and control. If you’re pulling one, you know, big Google Ads campaign across all locations, you might miss what’s really happening. One shop could be struggling while another shop’s overwhelmed with customers. 

01:13
Mike
By using location specific strategies, you can fine tune your approach to give each shop exactly what it needs when it needs it. All right. Also, if you haven’t already checked it out, the podcast I did with T.J. White with TireSource Neighborhood Care, they’re in the Canton, Akron, Ohio area. Please do so. I encourage you. It was a good podcast. You can find it at gain traction podcast.com. So let’s get this podcast started with the number one technician of 2024, Jonathan Bemis. Jonathan, welcome. 

01:46
Jonathan
Thank you. 

01:47
Mike
What an honor, man. You know, I got to read about it in our publication tire business, but that’s quite an achievement. I mean, across the entire nation. 

01:56
Jonathan
Yeah, no, it was definitely eye opening experience. 

02:02
Mike
So, you know, when we met the first time we talked about you, you applied for it, but you really had no ambition for this. I mean, somebody, they talked you into applying for it, right? 

02:12
Jonathan
Yes, lately, I mean, I, I’m not really one to seek out the limelight and be the center of attention. I like to just, you know, go to work, do my job, you know, get my pay raises and go home. But they kind of, you know, pushed a little bit and I got some help from the CEO on writing some of the stuff because, you know, ways with words aren’t great, ways with cars are awesome. So he kind of gave me a little bit of help with writing some of the questions out and making sure that what I was trying to say got across clearly. And it worked, obviously, because they chose me and we got to go to Vegas. 

02:48
Mike
Well, man, that’s what it’s all about, and I think awards like this, I mean, even though your name’s on it does say a lot about your team, doesn’t it? 

02:55
Jonathan
Oh, definitely, yeah. VIP gives you a place to succeed and a place to want to go. 

03:00
Mike
Well, that’s awesome. So did you always know you wanted to do this or did I mean, or was it just ingrained in you? 

03:07
Jonathan
No, neither. This was a, this was a late life choice. I didn’t. I did some tinkering in my own yard, but I could barely do a break job. 14 years ago I went to. Oh yeah, no, this was out there, right? All right. This was backyard stuff for me. And I had the opportunity to go back to school and I said, well, you know, it’s time to make a career out of something instead of a bunch of dead end stuff. And I enjoyed working on cars in my yard, so I figured, what the hell, you know, I was 32 years old and it was 2010, and I said, well, you know, yeah, wife. And at that point I had a son. And I said, well, it’s time to make something of myself. 

03:45
Jonathan
And so I went to school, got a two year degree and that’s. That was 2012. I entered the actual automotive workforce. 

03:52
Mike
That’s a fantastic story. So you, I mean, really, then you haven’t been at it a long time, but your achievements. Don’t you have every certification you can have from ase? Asm? 

04:04
Jonathan
Not quite. There’s a whole nother level above world class. 

04:07
Mike
Okay. 

04:08
Jonathan
But there’s a, there’s President’s Club. That’s 50 of them. 

04:11
Mike
How many do you have? Dang on, man. Within the period of time though, you’re rocking, aren’t you? Technically. I mean, I don’t know your space as well though, so I mean like, as you climb that ladder of certification, that seems like you’re gaining them pretty quick. 

04:27
Jonathan
Yeah, I didn’t have any when I started a VIP three and a half years ago. 

04:30
Mike
Oh yeah, you’re rocking, man. That’s awesome. 

04:34
Jonathan
I’d taken three. We took four when I was in college for this. It was part of our program and I failed one. I made a mistake and didn’t flip over the last page. It was still on paper and. Oh yeah, that was. That hurt. So I referee took it. That’s it. I had three when I left college. Most of the places I work don’t really care about ases that much. I spent some time at dealerships, I spent some time at A few independents. And nobody really gave too much about ases. And VIP put some emphasis on it. And when I got hired, it was, you know, part of being hired was that I had to get at least a one through a eight. So I did that. And then I kind of thought, well, you know, I got this many. 

05:13
Jonathan
Let’s see how many more I can get. And. And you get up to 14 or 15, and you’re like, well, geez, it’s only another 14 or 15 to get world class. So I just kept going. 

05:22
Mike
That’s awesome. Well, I love the fact that VIP requires that or. And. And then encourages you and pushes you to that. Because I think, you know, I think we all would admit continuing education is. I mean, it’s important in life. Whether you’re. You’re doing it through somebody giving you like a certification, official piece of paperwork says, hey, you accomplished something, or just reading a book. I think, you know, constant learning is just. You got to be constantly learning something. 

05:46
Jonathan
Oh, yeah, absolutely. This industry changes so fast. If you’re not learning your. 

05:51
Mike
Your. 

05:51
Jonathan
If you’re not learning, you’re staying behind. 

05:53
Mike
I can’t imagine. I would say even since 2010, since you got in it, there’s been substantial changes. 

06:01
Jonathan
Oh, yeah, and we got hydrogen coming. We got EV is, you know, almost mainstream now. It’s getting there. Yeah. Things have changed so much. We got, you know, data being stuck back to the cloud for the dealerships and OEs to look at. I mean, it’s just. It’s. It’s crazy how fast it’s changing. WI fi. I mean, all the stuff that’s in vehicles, that wasn’t there in 2010, 11, 12. We were still looking at, you know, basic fuel injection. GDI was just coming around when I entered the workforce. 

06:32
Mike
Isn’t that amazing? I mean, honestly, it seems like it’s all accelerated. Like, you know, I grew up in the 80s, so I’m gonna use a little bit. But, you know, if you look at basically, I mean, cars from without, I mean, I know there’s a few features, but from the 60s, 70s, 80s, everything was pretty much still the same, wasn’t it? 

06:51
Jonathan
Yeah, big. The big. The big 90s technological advancement was OBD 2. You know, we didn’t have that for the audience. Real quick, OBD2 was just a federal requirement to be able to communicate with vehicles, essentially. 

07:08
Mike
Yeah. Like a plugin. 

07:09
Jonathan
Yeah, it’s the plug under your dash so that the scan tool can communicate, all because of emissions. It’s to make it more streamlined. OBD1 was very basic. OBD2 gives you a lot more bi directional control, communication, all that stuff. 

07:24
Mike
Yeah, but like I said before that everything basically, other than like some features that you know, bells and whistles on the car, everything was pretty much the same the way it ran, wasn’t it? 

07:34
Jonathan
Oh, yeah. You had, you know, you had old power and ground, you had a fuse box, you had no modules, you had, you know, you had a basic module that ran your fuel injection in the 90s and you didn’t really have modules that ran much else. And now everything’s a module. Your window switch is a computer, everything it has to talk to the body control module. And if it doesn’t do that correctly, that can throw stuff crazy out the window. I’ve seen ports, I’ve seen door switches cause a no start on Jeeps. 

07:59
Mike
No kidding. 

08:00
Jonathan
Yeah. 

08:01
Mike
Oh my. Did it take a while to figure that one out? 

08:04
Jonathan
A little bit. I use every, this is another thing for technicians out there that are listening. You got to use everything at your disposal. When you’ve exhausted all your options or you’re seeing something that’s really specific, don’t be afraid to Google it. Use everything. If you can get through something quicker and get on to the next customer, you’re that much further ahead in. If you’re flat rate, you’re that much further ahead. If your customer’s waiting, you’re that much further ahead. I’m not afraid to throw something on a Google search or identifix and see what other technicians have seen. I know some techs out there that think that’s, that’s not the way you should be doing it. You should just be doing it old fashioned and looking at everything. And I’m like, why? 

08:43
Mike
Oh yeah, no, I’m. Listen, I’m not the, I’m not a mechanically inclined person, but I do know one thing. I can go to YouTube. I can watch, I can watch sometimes like you know, to fix something, a two, three, four minute video, bam. 

08:58
Jonathan
Stuff that you don’t see every day, you might as well search and see what you can find. It might give you a quick, oh, look at this. If I search, you know, if I look at this component and it’s bad. Okay, if it’s not bad, I’ve eliminated that test right out of the diagnostic tree and I can move on to the next one. 

09:15
Mike
Listen, I was never, I never fit the stereotype. The old stereotype growing up was always that men won’t ask for Directions, by golly, I, I was such a speed hound when I was young and wanted to get to places fast. I asked for directions. I did not want to waste time going around for another three miles on a, you know, a path. You know what I mean? And same thing with, like, fixing something. I, I don’t want the long route. I’m not, I’m not interested in figuring out how long it’s going to, you know, trying to figure it out and the pros and cons or whatever, I just tell me. Yeah, Yep. 

09:46
Jonathan
I’m the same way. I’ll, you know, I, I have access to identifix at work and I, I don’t use it as a lot of text. Will use it as a crutch, and they just go throw parts and stuff. We don’t do that. But if it gives me a test that’s, you know, 17 steps into the diagnostic tree and I can jump to that test because somebody said, hey, I’ve seen this 86 times out of 92. I’m going to go test that component real quick and see if that component’s failed before I do all the electrical testing and wiring and all that stuff. 

10:09
Mike
Ain’t that amazing? You know, one thing, I mean, I’m going off topic here, and I’m good at going down rabbit holes, but have you ever had a situation where you go to the doctor and they want to do an X ray and then they say, well, then we’ll do an MRI after that? And I’m like, well, why don’t we just jump to the MRI if that’s going to tell us the exact. Well, by. By. They’ll say this by the rules. We have to do the X ray first. I’m like, but you’re telling me that you probably won’t see it and we need to do the mri, but we’re going to pay for the X ray. You know, saying that, it’s like, why are you putting this step in here? Let’s just go to the mri, right? Yeah. Drives me crazy. I’m all about man. 

10:45
Jonathan
Yeah. I’m about efficiency. Get it. Get it done. Let’s go. 

10:48
Mike
Yeah. That’s awesome. Well, so have. What did you do growing up, let’s say. Because you told me you didn’t get into this until you were 32. Where. Let’s say, let’s talk. What was your first job growing up? In high school? 

10:58
Jonathan
First job was at a hospital as a dishwasher. Age of 14 or 15. 

11:03
Mike
Nice. Get those old Dish pan hands or wear the gloves or whatever. 

11:08
Jonathan
Not too bad. They had big steam automatic washers. You just loaded the dishes in and it ran through and sterilized everything. And then you put them out and then you. And then we had. We had to run food up to the rooms and give them to patients. And. 

11:20
Mike
That’S a good experience. 

11:22
Jonathan
That was an interesting. Interesting. I haven’t heard but one. One. One summer of my freshman year, I think. 

11:29
Mike
Yeah, anytime. I think anytime you have to work with the public, it’s a phenomenal experience. Not whether you like it or not. It’s not the point. I’m talking about phenomenal in regards to how you learn a lot about just Joe Public out there. 

11:46
Jonathan
Yeah, I was pretty quick to learn healthcare was not my field of choice in any capacity. 

11:53
Mike
I think that is funny. When you’re a kid and you’re growing up and doing jobs, you immediately find out, this is not what I’m sitting. 

12:01
Jonathan
Want to do a few times on the back side of the. Of the business. I worked for Filenes when it was. When we had a Filenes in Bangor, I was out on the loading dock. Same thing. I don’t like cars. Cars don’t talk back. 

12:20
Mike
Well, there’s a lot of truth to that. And at least, you know, the car is being honest. He’s not going to lie to you about, you know, his problems. He wants you to be. He wants you to fix it. I mean, you know, you deal with people. I’m telling you, it’s. I have a lot more admiration. The odor I’ve gotten for people that run big organizations. I mean, you know, and the amount of people they got to deal with because it just takes a certain set of skills. I mean, you know, and it’s impressive. But what’s. So when did you. So you get married and you got a kid and everything, and then, boom, you have this revelation. I’m gonna go be a mechanic. 

13:02
Jonathan
Yeah. I had lost my job during. I’d lost my job during the economic downturn during 2007. Eight, nine. 

13:08
Mike
Oh, yeah. 

13:09
Jonathan
And I got a letter saying, hey, you. You lost your job during an economic downturn. We’ll pay for all your schooling. What do you want to do? I was like, oh, well, holy hell. I was working on my junk vehicles in my yard, and I kind of enjoyed it even when I didn’t go right. And I was like, well, you know, screw it. Let’s see how. Let’s go to automotive school and see how that works out. And I really enjoyed it. And I Had a hell of an instructor. He did a phenomenal job putting a bug in my ear on how to do your job right and how to get ahead and how to succeed. I guess, and I guess I’d say I had to owe him a bit for the automotive side of it. 

13:44
Jonathan
Just the teaching he did our first year was pretty phenomenal. 

13:48
Mike
Man, that’s awesome when you find somebody like that, isn’t it? Because you can look back and be grateful. Yeah, it’s almost like he’s like God had a reason. He had us bump into each other at the right time and I needed that guy and he needed me maybe. Yeah. That’s awesome. Well, let’s talk about real quick. What does it take to, you know, become a world class technician when you get that, you know, at that level? Ultimately I would assume your employer matters. 

14:19
Jonathan
Oh, yeah, I think the employer definitely matters. If you’re not. If you’ve got an employer that either doesn’t want to push you or doesn’t really give you much of a place to succeed or succeed, you’re probably really not going to want to even push for that next step. Like I said earlier, VIP kind of gives you a place to get into and gives you a place to succeed and gives you a place you want to go to work and they kind of push you to keep going. And they pay for all the ASCs and they do quite a bit. And so I don’t know, if I’d been working anywhere else, I probably wouldn’t have never would even gone for ASCs. I’d have just left it all alone and continued on with what I’d been doing. 

14:56
Jonathan
Yeah, I owe quite a bit to those guys and you know, the leadership team and John Quirk, the owner and all those guys. 

15:04
Mike
So that’s awesome. I love the fact that you, I used the word platform. When someone gives you a good platform to stand on, I mean, it’s amazing what some people can do with a platform. You know, if, you know, maybe they can’t build that platform, but if they’re given that platform and they’re able to stand on a certain platform somebody else has already provided, they can take themselves and that company to new heights. 

15:27
Jonathan
Yeah, yeah. We had eight world class technicians now. 

15:31
Mike
Oh, man, that’s awesome. Yeah. So do you cover with, with that skill set? Do you, are you, do they rely on you from multiple locations? Because I know you guys have a ton. 

15:42
Jonathan
Not really. And I’m lucky to Be in a market with four out of the eight. 

15:50
Mike
Okay. 

15:51
Jonathan
So the other three buildings around us all have world class technicians in them. 

15:57
Mike
Gotcha. 

15:58
Jonathan
So I’m kind of in a unique market where I don’t have to really worry about that. I still get calls from one or two here and there and I call them and pick their brains. We kind of bounce ideas off each other. We do. We just had our master tech summit where all the master techs in the company get together, have a day of networking and talking to each other and learning and a little fun and it’s a great experience. But no, that the unique market. I mean, I don’t have to worry too much about covering other shops or helping too much. I get calls here and there. See that? A call, I do get a call from a non VIP employee this summer from Massachusetts. 

16:35
Jonathan
His customer, who I’d worked on his car, couldn’t figure something out and the customer told him to call me. 

16:43
Mike
Man, what a compliment, huh? Yeah, that’s awesome. 

16:46
Jonathan
I, I gotta hit it. Hey, you gotta call out here. I’m like, from who? Because I don’t answer the phones if I don’t have to. A tech in Massachusetts. I’m like, is it one of ours? No, I’m like, what the hell? All right, well I’ll answer it. And he’s like, hey, this is so and so from this shop. And I, I was. You, you apparently were working one of our customers cars up there when it was broke, Nick broke down. I was like, oh yeah, yeah, we did that. Yeah. We can’t go any further. Can you tell us what we should be doing? 

17:16
Mike
That is fabulous. 

17:18
Jonathan
So, yeah. 

17:19
Mike
Is that when you said, you guys must not be ase? 

17:23
Jonathan
Yeah, yeah. I was kind of thinking to myself, well, it’s not really a shop. I think I’d want to take my stuff to. 

17:29
Mike
Well, all right. So that goes into my next thing. I would say another important factor towards becoming or you know, getting to this state where you’re at right now, World class mechanic, is the culture around you too. It sounds like you guys have a great culture. 

17:46
Jonathan
Yeah, it really is. It’s a, it’s a phenomenal culture. They pay us pretty top money and you know, do what they can to keep us happy, like I said. And they provide us a place that we can network and we can talk and we got leadership team that’s always pushing. We got, you know, free trainings. I was in Portland, Maine this summer for some A bunch of advanced oscilloscope classes put us up at the hotel, paid us for the training, fed us the whole works. And that’s the culture that they drive is that the training and all that stuff is one of the most important things. 

18:18
Mike
You know, I’ve heard this from great employers before and people in the, you know, the C suite of management, but they, the really good ones will tell you, look, I try to create a culture to where my employees and the people we hire and call them, our associates, members, et cetera, whatever, they can’t afford to leave, they don’t want to leave, they can’t find another place better than what we provide them. I want to be the best in every cate. Just, you know, not just pay because pay is not going to keep somebody ultimately, but the whole experience they got to, they. I want them to buy in and, and take it and make it their own. And it sounds to me like you guys at the technician, your, Your group takes it and makes it your own. 

18:59
Jonathan
Yeah. Yep, to a certain degree, definitely. For sure. We, like I said, it’s definitely we kind of. They. I’m the lead at that shop, so I kind of get to run, have the shop run how it should be run, and I get to kind of control that even though we have a manager and he’s obviously above me and what he kind of defers to me. And that’s the same thing in Old Town at, you know, where we got Tom Wheeler and the same thing in Brewer with Wesley Luther. They kind of defer to the text on what should be going on in the shops and what should be happening and how we should be approaching this or it doesn’t matter. Just it’s the culture that you guys are one of the most important people we have in the building. 

19:37
Jonathan
And we’re going to make sure you understand that and we’re going to make sure to defer to you and you know, individual dealings. 

19:43
Mike
That’s awesome. 

19:45
Jonathan
We don’t really make policy and all that stuff, but, you know, we got a customer in. What should we be doing with this customer? What should we be doing with this car? 

19:51
Mike
Well, on a personal level, what’s your favorite. What’s your favorite movie of all time? 

19:59
Jonathan
That’s a tough one, man. That’s, that’s a daily question and it changes daily. The John Wick series of movies are pretty good. Terminator food Veteran Day was a good movie, man. 

20:13
Mike
You’re going by, you’re really dating yourself, because that was the way. Hey, I was too. So that way, that guy runs. And you know the T2 guy, the terminal dude, He’s. He’s freaky. You know, the straight arms running like that. 

20:27
Jonathan
Specifically. Specifically to try to run like a robot. 

20:30
Mike
Oh, he. He did a great job. I mean, but yeah, you. You’re kind of like when you watch that one. I remember because you grew up on the first one, and you think there couldn’t be a more, you know, crazier character than a guy you can’t kill and he’s mechanical. But then the liquid dude shows up. Okay, this. This can’t. You can’t get any better. 

20:53
Jonathan
I’ll really date myself and say the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action movies are pretty good, too. 

21:00
Mike
Yeah, you are. What’s your favorite food of all time? 

21:06
Jonathan
Oh, God. 

21:07
Mike
Anything that eats. 

21:09
Jonathan
Yeah, pretty much. Pizza, burgers. It don’t matter. 

21:13
Mike
Doesn’t matter. 

21:14
Jonathan
No, if it’s out of bay, I’m hungry. I’ll probably eat it. 

21:18
Mike
What is it? 

21:19
Jonathan
I said, if it’s edible and hungry, I’ll probably eat it. Some of that weird stuff I want, like, haggis and nine. I ain’t no sheep stomach. 

21:27
Mike
No, no, I’m with you there. Look, I’m a good sports bar guy. 

21:32
Jonathan
Yeah, yeah. Give me a good. Or go. Give me a good dive or a good diner. 

21:36
Mike
I’m a great dive guy. I mean, I, I, I. So I had to travel around at one point in my career and do a lot of conferences for tire people. And one of my favorite questions used to be, and this was all. I was in the Southeast. I was just going throughout the Southeast one year, and my wife thought I was going to die of a heart attack. But I, I could literally eat barbecue every day. And, and I liked, I like them all. I mean, if you got a full parking lot, they’re all good, right? I mean, you know, and everybody. But everybody thinks theirs is the best. Now, to me, they’re all good. I love them. All right? So. 

22:08
Mike
But I could go to any tire guy in any town that I went to, and I said, of course, I baited the question, like, y’all got a good barbecue around here? And of course, everybody takes it personal. Hey, yeah, we got the best, you know, and then where is it? And then that’s where I’m going to eat that night. And I got to try. And my wife’s like, why do you. Why are you doing this? I said, I’m on the road. I got to find some enjoyment about, you know, driving this much. But on top of it, I said, I’ve just turned myself into a food critic. I mean, you know what I’m saying? 

22:35
Jonathan
Yeah. I wish we had barbecue up here, but this is the Northeast. We don’t get that. We get lobster, a lot of lobster. And I can buy lobster cheap. So I don’t go to the lobster shacks and pay 40 bucks for a lobster roll. I just go down to the. I just go to the dock and pay 40 bucks for 50 pounds of lobster. 

22:51
Mike
Oh, you dog. I need to get up there and see you guys, because I do love seafood. 

22:55
Jonathan
Yeah. 

22:56
Mike
But I like. I’m. I’m kind of like you. I. If it eats good, I’m. I’m. I’m in. 

23:00
Jonathan
Yeah. 

23:00
Mike
Yeah. 

23:01
Jonathan
A couple Father’s Day ago, my wife bought me a big smoker, so I’ve been smoking everything I can smoke. She’s. Why. Why’d you smoke a pillow? Because it smelled good when I slapped. I don’t know. Anything I can fit in that damn thing gets smoked now. 

23:19
Mike
Oh, that’s so funny. I. I. Listen, I know a lot of. I know a lot of people that don’t like smoked meats, but I. I think I would rather have smoked meat than anything. I think I love anything. I mean, it doesn’t matter. Yeah, I. I think. I think you can make bologna into a delicacy. 

23:34
Jonathan
You know, he smoked some butter last year. 

23:38
Mike
I haven’t. I haven’t done that one. 

23:40
Jonathan
Yeah, yeah. Of course it melted and turned into clarified butter, but it also took in a shitload of smoke flavor. 

23:44
Mike
Yeah. But do. You could turn it. And turn it right back into solid. 

23:48
Jonathan
Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was delicious. He did that. She smoked some. She smoked some cream cheese. She smoked some Mac and cheese. I think she’s used it almost as much as I have. 

23:57
Mike
That’s why you got the gift. 

23:58
Jonathan
I come home from work, she’s like, hey, I smoked the chicken. And I’m like, God, I love you. 

24:04
Mike
I’m glad you got me that gift. 

24:06
Jonathan
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. 

24:08
Mike
Thank you for that gift. That’s awesome. Well, Jonathan, I can’t thank you enough for being a part of the podcast today. 

24:14
Jonathan
Yeah, no, I appreciate you having me. It was fun time. 

24:16
Mike
I’ve enjoyed it. And congratulations again on the award, and I appreciate the insights, I think our audience did, too, about, you know, your. Your path. 

24:23
Jonathan
Yeah, it’s been a. It’s been a. It’s been a. Oh, a quick one, I guess a rapid path, because, like I said, Only 12 years. Most people are like, you’ve only been doing this 12 years. I’m like, yep. 

24:34
Mike
Hey, when you get to 50, let me know. Put you back on the podcast. I think that’s cool. Go. That you’re. You’re getting. 

24:39
Jonathan
I’m 45. If I get to 50 and I’m still doing this, I did something wrong. 

24:43
Mike
No, I’m talking about. I’m talking about those certifications. Oh. 

24:47
Jonathan
Oh, no. I’m. I’m not going for too many more. All right, now I’m gonna. I’m gonna keep my world class. I’m gonna go for a few more A’s, and I think they’re Gonna split up L4 into a couple tests. I’m probably gonna try to get those. But now president’s club is you can’t get it unless you’re invited. So even if you get all the ases has to invite you to be part of. And it’s all vanilla. It’s every. It’s every ASE test, except for I think there’s, like, two that you cannot take unless you’re, like, invited in. So it’s all the military tests. It’s school, but, I mean, it’s literally every test they have. 

25:19
Mike
Yeah. All right, well, stay in touch. Anyway, I love that. I’ve enjoyed having you. 

25:24
Jonathan
Yeah. 

25:25
Mike
Well, to all our listeners out there, thank you for being part of a podcast. We are always grateful for you. If you’d like to recommend a guest to me, please email me@mike treadpartners.com Till next time, be safe and have a great day. 

25:40
Announcer
Thanks for listening to the Gain Traction podcast. We’ll see you again next time. And be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.