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Gus Herlong is the CEO and Co-owner of Palmetto Garage Works, a multi-location auto service franchise group based in South Carolina. Starting with five distressed Midas stores in Columbia, he has grown the company to 34 locations across multiple states. His leadership has earned him recognition, including the Tire Business Humanitarian of the Year Award, the IFA Franchisor of the Year Award, and the Midas Franchisee of the Year Award. Gus is also a key voice in the Midas dealer network, having served on the IMDA Board and as an advisor to Midas Corporate.
In this episode…
The automotive service industry is evolving rapidly, with franchise owners navigating shifting markets, NIL marketing trends, and workforce development. Many operators are finding success through expansion, creating deeper community ties, and developing leadership within their teams. How can shop owners grow their businesses while staying grounded in their values and mission?
According to Gus Herlong of Palmetto Garage Works, success comes from embracing hands-on leadership, learning from early failures, and staying deeply involved with the community and team. From starting as an oil change tech to leading a 34-location franchise group, Gus has turned setbacks into stepping stones while investing in staff growth and community partnerships. He also uses NIL marketing with local college athletes to stand out in a competitive industry.
On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge welcomes Gus Herlong for a conversation about grassroots leadership, overcoming early business failures, and building a company culture that values authenticity and service. Gus shares insights on NIL marketing, expansion strategies, and the power of giving back.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [01:45] The team effort behind winning multiple industry awards
- [02:40] How Palmetto Garage Works grew to 34 franchise locations
- [04:18] How Gus Herlong and his father started the business in 2008
- [06:28] NIL marketing and its impact on college athletics and local businesses
- [13:06] Gus’ career path from oil change tech to CEO
- [16:21] Early financial struggles and near-collapse of the business
- [19:01] Expanding into Charleston, Greenville, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
- [32:45] “Failing forward” and mentoring a new generation of leaders
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Quotable Moments:
- “You’re not a Midas employee — you’re a Palmetto Garage teammate. That’s what you tell people.”
- “Failure is just a First Attempt In Learning. I’ve got a PhD in stupid ideas.”
- “If the community trusts me with their cars, I need to reinvest in them too.”
- “Most people don’t wish they were where I was — they wish they were where I am.”
- “My wife’s been a saint — half our anniversary trips have been disguised store visits!”
Action Steps:
- Embrace hands-on leadership: Don’t be afraid to work shoulder-to-shoulder with your team to understand ground-level needs.
- Use NIL marketing creatively: Collaborate with local college athletes to differentiate your brand in a crowded market.
- Give back to your community: Implement ongoing charitable initiatives like food drives or car giveaways to build local trust.
- Fail forward and mentor others: Encourage your team to learn from mistakes and create space for growth within your organization.
- Stay grounded during growth: Remember your early struggles and use them to guide authentic, value-driven business decisions.
Transcript
00:02
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.
00:19
Hey, folks. Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, the official podcast for tire business. I am Mike Ed, your host. My guest today is Gus Herlong, president and COO of Palmetto Garage Works in South Carolina, and He is the 2024 recipient of the Tire Business Humanitarian of the Year award. He’s also the recipient of the IFA Franchise of the Year award and the Midas Franchise of the Year award. So let’s get started. Gus, welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast.
00:52
Thanks for having me, man.
00:53
You had a. You had a stellar year last year with all these awards.
00:57
You know, we did. I mean, one of the things I’ve told a lot of individuals that I’ve talked to about last year is while my name might be on a lot of these things, there is absolutely no way I could have done it without the team behind me. So our team here gets all the credit. It’s, you know, I might have my name on it, but like I said, we’ve had a really good, cohesive team effort, you know, expansion trail going on, and that’s been organic, that’s been new stores that we’ve opened and you know, that snowball starting to roll downhill. So we’re excited. It’s gonna be hard top 20, 24 with what. What you listed, but we’ll give it a shot.
01:37
Yeah, I mean, you guys hit the trifecta. I was gonna ask you know, how do you top that year with these. This many awards? And, and we would. And just staying in that direction of motivation. But just to give audience a little. How many stores do you operate?
01:52
So in the last few weeks, we’ve actually taken over two additional locations here in South Carolina. So we’re up to 34 locations total right now.
02:00
That’s 34 Midas stores, correct?
02:03
Yes, sort of. So we have Midas auto service stores mostly, but we also have Speedy Oil Change franchises that Midas used to own. Speedy.
02:11
Yeah.
02:11
And when we opened those Speedys, we would co brand them with a Midas. So we do have 34 stores hanging a Midas sign out front, but some of those are co branded with a quick. With a quick lube and yeah, 34 total.
02:26
Well, congratulations again. That’s outstanding. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this because he was a great interview. And then we found out like when were doing our preliminary call. Just getting to know each other. Brian, Beers. I want to give him a shout out. He’s Midas franchisee with you. Correct.
02:42
Brian’s a great guy. We’ve been very close for four years. We’re actually right at the same age. Came out of school at the same time, met each other at the first Midas convention together and realized were like two weeks apart in age or something. So we both tracked and they had seven stores. We had like six or seven at the time. It was almost like a mirror image of the father son relationship. So the two of us have stayed really in touch pretty well. And now he’s at 33 stores, I’m at 34 stores. So great friend, great mentor, super smart dude that’s taught me more than I’ll ever. Than he’ll ever forget. But, you know, so it’s. He’s a great resource.
03:20
That’s awesome. Well, let’s talk about where you guys began. And, you know, it’s a father son thing, but tell me how you got in the business.
03:29
So. So dad and I own the business together. He’s, you know, on. He’s on the 18th green, fixing to head into the clubhouse and, you know, enjoys life, likes to be the mayor of the town. And, you know, I’m more of in the weeds, Like, I’m in the stores, like I just told you earlier. I was in Washington, D.C. Working in our stores up there. You know, just shoulder to shoulder with our guys. That’s. That’s more of my motto. So. So the pair has worked really well together. But this started back in 2008. We. We acquired five Midas locations in Columbia, South Carolina, which is where I was born and raised and where our whole family lives.
04:09
So you’re a game. You’re a Gamecock, right?
04:11
I am not.
04:12
Not.
04:13
I’m a Clemson Tiger fan through and through. And they embarrassed me and let me down yesterday on the. In the March Madness basketball tournament. But we’ll take our licks, we’ll take our wins. But funny enough, the building straight across the street that I stare at all day long is the University of South Carolina Law School. So I stare at that branding all day, every day when I.
04:34
That’s brutal, huh?
04:36
Yeah. And I’m right here in the heart of Columbia, so it’s. I’ve grown up with it. My right hand guy, one ball over, is as obnoxious a Carolina fan as you can find. So I’m just. I’m used to it.
04:46
I like a guy like that. I well, you guys had a decent run in football there with Dabo there for several years.
04:54
We did. I mean, it was. And I would say we’re still, you know, on a good trend. I mean, he went 9, 10, 12.
05:01
Yeah.
05:01
Here for, you know, 15 years. It’s, you know, when you get that champagne taste of playoff national championship five years running, it’s kind of hard not to be there again. But, but, you know, look, there’s a lot worse places you could be.
05:17
Well, nobody, they’re not calling for Dabble’s head yet or anything like that.
05:21
I mean, the, the, I’ll call them fake fans are. But, you know, the trustees, the university, the. Through and through donors and boosters, there’s, I mean, they’re not stupid. Like, you know, they see what he’s done. So he’s, it’s not like he’s forgotten how to coach.
05:39
Yeah. I mean, like you said, he’s still winning nine, 10 games. I mean, you know, it’s not like. And the other thing I think all these coaches are going through, especially the ones that are established, man, this readjustment thing with the Nil stuff, that’s difficult to navigate. You know, the whole.
05:55
And it’s forever changing. Like, you know, they just passed law where, you know, you have to cap what the university is going to be paying in which previous to that it was uncapped. And then the players are, you know, the transfer portal getting involved. It is. I do not envy those guys.
06:10
No.
06:11
That have to lead these programs like Dabo and Beamer at Carolina or any of them, quite frankly. It is, it is rough. And I talk out of both sides of my mouth here because I don’t like how that’s set up. I like, I’m traditional, I’m a millennial, but I’m old school. Like, I don’t even have much social media. I don’t have that. I don’t do all that.
06:31
Yeah.
06:31
A little odd from that standpoint, but I like how football was. You could say it was biased because, you know, were going to the national championship every other year, but. But I don’t like paying taxes either, but I have to, so. And I was there when I take local marketing dollars, I’m dipping my toe in that nil, you know, so we partner with University of South Carolina football players and Clemson football players. You know, so we’re in that. We’re, we’re part of the problem.
07:05
Yeah.
07:05
Yeah. You know, yet it’s not something I really love being.
07:08
Well, yeah, I know we’re going down a rabbit hole, but I’m good at this rabbit stuff. But the interesting thing to me, if you think about the debate, I get the fact that, and I’m a traditionalist too, I didn’t want to see a lot of change. Now I always did want playoffs. So I will admit that I got burned out on just the whole bow selection thing. Every team makes it. If you got even record six and six, you can get a bow. I mean, come on. You know, but the nil thing, these guys, you know, some of them, there was no way for them to make money, go to school full time and play football or an athlete full time. And then they get in trouble for taking money and anything.
07:46
It’s kind of like maybe, you know, I know it feels like we did this all or none thing. So it’s almost like why couldn’t they just come up with a program that said hey, if you’re on a full ride, you’re going to need some money and we don’t want it to go come from underneath the table. So everybody’s allowed some type of an allotment of maybe $3,000 a month or whatever to cover expenses, minimal things, you know, just take care of you versus now. I mean, gosh dang, these kids are signing like billions. Yeah, what did Manning sign at Texas? Wasn’t it like I, I don’t have.
08:21
Any, you know, first hand knowledge, but you keep hearing all these rumors of 10 million, you know, dollars for, you know, whatever. I mean even some of the guys here at Carolina, you’re talking two and $3 million for one year to be there, you know, and it’s just, that’s crazy, you know how hard it is to work in the automotive business to make some kind of money like that. I can’t tell you because I haven’t gotten it yet. But you know.
08:43
Well, but the other thing is, I mean the transfer portal just shakes it up so much now. Kick and drop in the transfer pro. I’m leaving, I’m just moving on. I’ve got another.
08:53
Yeah, so that’s just, that’s what I’m referring back to. It’s, it’s so, it’s. I can’t speak from experience, but it’s got to be so brutally tough for these leaders of these programs to. I mean what you have to navigate now is just not even football related.
09:10
Think about this. You kind of, you gotta navigate some kids emotions hey, kid, I just. I just need you to stick around, pay your dude, pay your dues here a little bit, and you’re gonna be our starter, but I need you to. I need you to buy in. And the kid goes, no, I want to start my sophomore year. I’m out.
09:25
Yep.
09:26
Yeah, I know. And probably end up at a decent another program because the other program’s got a hoe in that position. So they’re like, hey, we’ll take you. I mean, it’s. Yeah, it’s crazy.
09:39
I’m sorry. You know, back to like, you know, what we’re doing with it. Like, if. If it’s there and it’s available. With my business, I mean, I call it the sea of sameness. If I’m in the sea of sameness, you can do all the local marketing and all the stuff you want. And if it’s. I can unplug my brand and plug somebody else’s brand in there because they’re offering the exact same thing. Well, then this almost virtually useless. Yeah. You know, you’re just checking a box. So while I might not like nil because of what it’s doing to the football, you know, I’m part of the problem. You know, it’s. It’s legal, it’s available. So I’m gonna take myself, business wise, out of that sea of sameness and do something that my competitors aren’t.
10:21
Yeah.
10:22
You know, I’m gonna have the quarterback of the University of South Carolina, even though I’ll never pull for him, you know, in a game, but I’m gonna have him in my shop taking pictures, posting on Instagram, doing videos, and then purchasing social media ads and. And my branding is going to have offers with. With his backing and his following.
10:39
Yeah.
10:39
You know, so that is not something that a competitor can pull my brand out and put theirs in because they’re not doing it right. At least, I mean, they could. But look, that’s. That’s how we’ve gotten into that nil, from a business perspective, to put our name out there in front of a lot of clients that might not have heard of us or considered us before.
11:00
I think our challenge, Gus, is probably this. You and I are probably the lays out there, free market guys. So we appreciate competition, we appreciate, you know, differentiation and things like that. The hard thing is when you grow up with universities in school, you know, say a football program, you now it’s in a marketplace and it loses that stability that once was kind of like, you know, once you decided to go somewhere and you Played for somebody, you’re typically going to be there four years. And it created at least a stable environment. Now it’s a free market for players. You might as well call it the minor leagues of sports now.
11:38
Well, that’s, yeah, that’s what is frequently referred to, you know, the mini NFL or whatever you want to. Yeah, but yeah, it’s, it’s gonna be interesting to see how that continues to shake because every single year some other iteration or twist comes out of how the new football nil transfer portal layout is. And so, you know, part of me is like, all right, I’m tired of the change. Let’s settle down. Like, yes, what is the program? What is it going forward? Let’s just run with it.
12:05
It stirs so fast. Well, listen, I, as you can see, I digress on topics like that and I enjoy them. But you were telling me you were getting out of Columbia, you live in Columbia and you were getting out of school and your dad.
12:18
Yeah, so dad was in the technology business, selling, you know, mainframes, check counting machines, you know, big equipment, mostly the banks and financial institutions for 33 years. I mean, he went right in out of college and that’s the business he was in. And he made his career successfully in that business. And as anybody knows, his technology business continued to evolve and rapidly started changing, you know, within the last couple of decades. But, but I, you know, born and raised here, went to school, went to Walford College up in Spartanburg and you know, finished my degree there in four years and came out with a, with more than one bachelor degree and started in the business.
13:02
You know, dad decided that he wanted to start figuring out what his, you know, early 50s or whatever his age was, transition out of that technology business and into something that, you know, he had more passion for, was a little more stable because technology was changing so much. It was just becoming very difficult and not what he had done for three decades. So we came together, I take three bachelor’s degrees from Walford College and I start changing oil at $10 an hour at one of our lower volume stores for about six months. And then I was a service advisor at that same store for four or five months and then transitions to, you know, being a store manager for a couple of years at a different location. And so I cut my teeth all the way at the bottom.
13:49
And now I’m president, COO and owner with my dad. I’m the only person that can say they have started in this business at the Very bottom at a rate that we don’t even come close to paying anybody now. And, and now I’ve gotten away up to where I am. So. But don’t get me wrong, I got a PhD in stupid ideas and I screw up all the time. So, you know, I like to champion things like that, but I learned from a lot of failure.
14:17
But isn’t it amazing how much you learn hands on versus in a classroom? I mean, period.
14:23
I can still, like in Washington D.C. This week, I can still go out there and fill a courtesy checkout just as fast as any of those guys out there. Like, wait, who’s this guy? Where he, what’s he do? Like, I thought he was supposed to be a guy in Colombia. It’s like, no, he’s here to help you do better on your courtesy check. So it’s, you know, but that’s, it was fun cutting my teeth there. And, and, you know, and from the expansion standpoint, those five locations were very distressed, very tired. And so we had to invest in a whole lot into those locations and revitalize them, you know, get them, you know, more customer friendly. The equipment was very tired. And so that was kind of a. We didn’t know what were doing.
15:01
You know, we came into an industry we didn’t know much about. And, you know, so you buy a business, you don’t know what you’re doing, you put money in where you know, today I wouldn’t do. But again, there’s failures, there’s issues that we ran into that we had to battle our way out of is where we learned not to do it. But again, but yeah, I mean, we went into financial trouble early on because. Had to get out of it, like, so it was, you know, there were certain questions of whether, you know, is this even going to work? Are we going to have to close the doors or, you know, so that.
15:32
Was, oh, y’all got to that point sometimes we got really close.
15:38
And I don’t believe I, I firmly don’t believe we wouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t had to go through those trials and tribulations that was years. Yeah, you get yourself into that pickle where you’re like, you know, is payroll gonna, you know, go through? Is the bank gonna help me make sure that everybody gets paid and float it, or credit cards being paid with other credit cards? You know, that’s tough, you know, and when you get there. You got to make a really a man moment. Like you got to make a decision where, like you’re going to get yourself through this or you’re just going to go ahead and give up. And we got ourselves through and it takes years to get out of that hole.
16:14
Not only because you’re working differently than you wanted to, but what you were wanting to do didn’t work. So change it. And you know, you put your blood, sweat and tears in and then, you know, all of a sudden you’re having fun again. So once we figured out, you know, a better path, got ourselves into a better position, you know, we’ve started expanding. Obviously, you’ve seen us, you know, we had the five stores and we’ve built stores. I’ve bought corporate stores. I’ve bought Independence. I bought other Midas locations. I’ve opened closed Midas stores. I’ve taken out the Tractor Midas franchises that where they were trying to get out of the system. And all along the way that’s gotten us to the 34 stores we’re at now, mostly in South Carolina. We were based here in Columbia, dead center of the state.
17:00
We’ve got 14 locations in this greater metro area. I’ve got eight locations in the greater metro of Charleston, South Carolina. One store in Florence, South Carolina, which is a very rural town. It’ll always be a single store town, and then one location up in Greenville, South Carolina, which is the second largest metro in the area. That’s the only store up there. So as you can see, we’re entering that upstate South Carolina market and have intentions to expand up there.
17:29
Nice.
17:30
In the short term to develop that infrastructure and footprint to deliver the same service to the upstate outside of South Carolina. We bridged into North Florida with an opportunity to take over the five existing stores in Jacksonville as well as the one store in Gainesville. Once again, from an expansion standpoint, five stores in Jacksonville is probably not even a third of the footprint we need to have. And even in Gainesville, that Gainesville to Ocala and the Villages and Wildwood, that whole central Florida territory is great prime area for us to look at. And then lastly, our Washington D.C. That’s the newest footprint outside of our existing South Carolina territory.
18:15
But we’ve got four locations up there and, and have moved somebody up there to run those stores and have an active role in trying to expand the location count up there as well to support that infrastructure. So we’re on fun now. We’re excited. I told you the nightmares that went through, those are choices that we made and we put ourselves in that situation, but we had to make the choices to get out. And luckily we had the intestinal fortitude to do that and battled our way out of it and reaping the rewards for that hard work.
18:50
Well, and it’s amazing to me how many entrepreneurs I meet, and it seems like almost every entrepreneur has to hit that wall at some point. To where do I keep going or do I fold up here? Because it, it’s, it just seems inevitable sometimes when you take that risk. And it’s always inspirational to hear folks like yourself, your stories that you, how you get to that, hey, did we cut or fish a fish or cut bait here? You know, and you guys continued. And I, I, that’s impressive. But what’s awesome, I tell people.
19:22
All the time, like, family business is great, family assistance is awesome, but it’s tough. Yeah, you got to merge personal and professional together, and then, you know, that’s got its own wrinkles to it. But to your point, when people look at entrepreneurs or successful individuals and say, you know, God, I wish I could do that, or I wish I was there, I wish I knew what he did. It is so minuscule. I’ve not found many that didn’t have to go through those speed bumps in their career path. There is so little that just, you know, hit it lucky and never screwed up and still were able to keep their nose clean and make their way all the way to a growth pattern that’s just fantasy. Hollywood, La land.
20:05
Amen.
20:05
You know, you look at somebody and say, God, I wish I was there. It’s like, yeah, you say that now, but you certainly don’t wish where I was to get here.
20:12
I have a, I have an older friend of mine. He actually coached me when I was in high school. He coached me in football while he was in college. He was a my freshman year coach. And he went on to be very successful in business. But before he did, he was part of 10 companies that had failed. And his, I think maybe nine, and then his 10th was successful, but it was so successful, you know, he got to retire early, things like that. He’s traveled the world now he’s a consultant, and he does a lot of different projects or whatever, investor, whatever you want to call it. But I’ll never forget what he said to me because I was talking to him about his path and he could be honest with me. He knew I knew him since he was Young.
20:47
And he said, man, you know, it’s so weird because everybody thinks I’m smart now. He said, because I have money in the bank. He goes, all of a sudden I’m getting asked to be on boards of colleges, all this other stuff. And he said, you know, you get board, bank boards, etc. He goes, but it’s almost superficial. He goes, because they think I’m successful. But I still remember the nine or the nine painful companies that I was part of that were trying to lift off the ground with technology and all this other stuff. And he said, but you just got to keep going, you know. And he said, and, but it’s funny because everybody now looks at you like, oh, you’re successful, it’s easy for you got money or whatever. He goes, bull crap. He said, the pain.
21:30
He goes, I, he goes, you see that side? He said, I still remember the pain, you know. He goes, that’s how brutal it was. So he goes, I do have an appreciation, but maybe that’s part of the process. I gotta, I appreciate it so much now where I’m at, but it goes, man, that path was really well, that.
21:48
Goes back to my last comment. Like, you know, when people look at you and be like, wow, look at that, like, you know, you’re so lucky or, you know, what I remember is where I was exactly. And, and that’s where I can keep. Anytime I want to get frisky with my thoughts or ideas. I think back to, do you remember this? Like, you know, so yeah, I mean, to your point like that, I mean, I’m only 36. I just 36 years old. So like, you know, I’m still an infant. In the Midas system we got, I’m in the shadow of giants and legends, you know, out there in the Midas system.
22:20
But, but you know, I, I asked to be on the IMDA board, you know, about 12 years ago, you know, so that’s the International Midas Dealer association and you know, representing the Southeast at, you know, 24 years old, you know, and so that’s okay there. Now I’m cutting my teeth on, you know, somebody sees perceived success.
22:41
Yeah.
22:42
And you know, I’m on the board and soon after that I’m the vice president for a three year term and then became the president for a three year term. And now I’m on the immediate past president. So I’m on the executive committee for this thing for almost a decade. And you know, then Midas asked me to be a Co chair of the advisory council, co chair with the CEO of Midas. And so, like, okay, well. And I was doing that simultaneously the president of the imda. So I’m representing corporate and I’m representing the franchise. I was like, boy, I feel like I’m fighting against myself here because those are two different agendas that. I don’t know.
23:15
This is going to take some, you.
23:17
Know, gymnastics to wade my way through this type of relationship building. But. But it was. And I was doing that in 2020, which, if y’all remember what happened then. Oh, God, a whole lot of uncertainty in 20, 21 and 22. And so I’m doing that and now I’m, you know, immediate past chair. But, but to your point, you know, people, you got to stay grounded. You know, there’s. There’s been opportunities that have been asked for that just didn’t. It didn’t quite make sense. Like, you know, if I don’t believe in that agenda or it’s just not gonna, you know, I’m not going to do a good job fighting for you as a board member or whatever you want me to do, but if I do, if it is something I’d like to do, then.
23:57
Then sure, if it makes sense, my staff, you know, is here to support me. You know, we’re in a good spot. You know, the. The governor of South Carolina is, for whatever reason, taken an interest in, you know, having me help him, you know, so I’ve gotten him fooled at least. Just. Just kidding. But, yeah, he’s got me, you know, and I love serving the state, you know, so when he’s targeted appointing me to different positions, I’ve been in a place where I, I’ve been able to, you know, do that with. On some of his committees for regulations. And more recently, one he just appointed me to, that had to be a Senate confirmation hearing on Jobs and Economic Development Authority for South Carolina. So, you know, but I think.
24:36
I think that’s important for. For the small business out there to know that a guy’s like yourself is sitting on some of these committees, boards or whatever, because now they know, like, if they listen to this, they know that, hey, there’s a guy that’s been through my pain, you know, and everybody gets it. And you. You get to look at it from. From your past experience, you know, building an. As an entrepreneur, building a. In a certain industry, obviously. But it’s. I think it’s refreshing to know a guy like you sits on those boards that’s had that Kind of experience.
25:11
Yeah, I mean, it’s like, you know, it’s kind of like today, you know, when I put myself in, you know, I was in Washington D.C. I had a board meeting every single day I was there. Which is halfway frustrating because I’m like, I’m here to work on, you know, working with my team, but at one point during the day I’m on it. But, you know, it’s kind of, I was telling you, like, you’re going to get what you get with me. Like if I try to prep myself for everything that I do or everybody I need to talk to, I’m just going to be like freaking out all the time. So, you know, I, you know, my experience is what I’ll talk about and you know, there’s not going to be any fluff to it. So.
25:44
I would bet though, that quality in you is your, your authenticity is what probably helped you win these awards. Not you, I know in general, but the whole company is that you, you. Your. I bet your authenticity permeates Palmetto Garage. I mean, I, I’m curious to know what, you know, what qualified you guys that you know, of that. Why you guys won the Humanitarian award. I mean, because it involves community service, correct?
26:12
Sure. You know, so they name one person each year. And so I think I was like the 36, we know for like 36 years. I think I was the 36th name humanitarian of the Year. I wasn’t the one that applied. I didn’t nominate ourselves. I think Midas Corporate, or at least somebody up there did. And so they knew only scratching the surface what we do, because I don’t do our community involvement for anything other than reinvesting in our communities. I’m not, I’m not hunting for the awards. I’m not hunting for anything other than if you trust me as a community to put business here, bring possibly your largest investment to me and trust me to fix it. You know, then you also need to trust that I’m going to be reinvesting in the community you’re here and that’s a core value.
27:00
You know, we have certain core pillars with our organization, Family First, Family organization. No matter how big we get, there is. There is going to be the silly laws and regulations and local municipalities, hoops that we got to jump through. But at the end of the day, our core is going to be back to family and our people. Like I even tell our guys, you are not a Midas employee. That’s the people at corporate. You just work in A building that has that flag. You know, You’re a Palmetto GarageBurst employee. You’re one of Gus Furlong’s teammates. That’s what you need to tell people when you say, this is what I do for a living. And so it’s, I was up in, like I said in Washington D.C. This week. I heard several of our teammates say that to the customers that were walking in.
27:41
Like, well, pgw, you know, is who owns these stores. And I’m a PGW teammate. That is so refreshing.
27:48
Oh, I like that.
27:49
Like, those are, those are certain core pillars that we try to run the organization by second, obviously, is community involvement. You know, whatever it is that we believe. And I say we because if I live in Columbia, I can drive this. But if I’m not in Charleston, my leaders down there, my teammates down there might feel very passionate about something. If I feel that same passion myself, that’s the direction we’re going to go in Charleston. Same with Gainesville, Jacksonville, Greenville, Washington, D.C. Again, if, if that community and that leadership and that those clients are going to trust me to turn their assets over to me and give me their hard earned money to build our business, then they need to realize or understand or expect that I’m going to be reinvesting that community where I can.
28:45
That’s awesome.
28:46
That’s different. Like, you know, like, you know, it might be food, it might be blood, it might be leukemia, it might be what we call Project Spark where we give cars away every year right around Thanksgiving. So there’s a lot of different iterations that, depending on the community and the path that we’re going to, to make that reinvestment in the community. But back to your question. What qualified us? I, I guess, you know, the attention got out there of what, you know, when we’re in one market and we do a lot of food drives. Okay, that’s great. When we enter another market. Now we’re doing a lot of blood drives in another market. Now we’re doing, now we’re giving away cars every year you just start to see, like, you just start to get the attention.
29:26
And, and so when I guess the nomination was made and were selected and they started act, they flew down here, entire business flew down here and interviewed us. They were like, holy cow, like you’re actually doing way more than what you were nominated for. But once again, I answered the question as they asked me. Yeah, but it’s not because we’re chasing anything other than that’s. Just a pillar of.
29:48
Dad and I were meeting the other day a month ago or so, because obviously right here at tax time, and we started looking through, like, if you added everything up tied into our church, the project spark or the vehicle giveaways, gift of transportation, the blood drives, the food drives, the different donations, were, I think, at 22 to 23% of giving from what, you know, what we made was over 22% of what we gave back. You know, all in which I, I didn’t know that until we sat down and added it up. You know, so it was just.
30:22
But, you know, that’s. That’s awesome. I mean, honestly, it’s kind of goes with that mantra. And I was going to ask you what your motto, man, our mission statement is, but, you know, it’s that attitude of you give and don’t count the cost, you know, and you, you just keep giving and you don’t count the cost. And, and God will provide and obviously you guys have been blessed in that way. And I think it’s awesome.
30:48
Yeah, it’s been great. I mean, we, you know, we’ve got, we’ve got our mission statements, you know, and it’s something to the. I don’t have in front of me, but it’s something to the. It’s in our handbook, you know, through honesty, integrity, we’re, you know, we’re going to be here to provide the best service to our clients and to our teammates. You know, is basically what it says. But, but more so what I try to live by. And you asked me about, you know, what might be a motto or quote that you personally and I used to. We’ve moved offices, we built our new office. A lot of stuff that was on my walls is different now. But, but it was more geared around, you know, failure and effort and, you know, the, you know, the. No that I get, you know, so.
31:29
And it’s not a specific quote, but I’ve always, you know, failure F A I L first attempt at learning. And I’ve always said, fail forward. I told you earlier, I got a PhD in stupid ideas. And every single one of those instances, some sort of failure. And some of them are very big. Some of them are just, you know, a kick in the forehead. But, but at the end of the day, it’s like, you know, I put my hand on a hot stove, I’m not going to do it again. That was a massive fail. You know, I’m gonna fail forward, not put my hand on a hot stove.
31:56
But now, you know, but yeah, so.
31:59
Like when you fail, it’s not the end, you know, it’s, you know, you learn from it and you move forward because end is effort never dies, you know, so like, learn from it, apply the effort to get to that next level. And it’s like climbing the mountain. Because every single one of those notches that I’m able to recognize that failure, learn from it and fail forward, you know, I’m able to notch myself up that ladder. And so that’s what’s helped create that self development that, you know, I myself have been able to get myself to where I am. But what I try to instill in all of our teammates, you know, at least my senior staff for sure.
32:39
The right hand guy that I told you about earlier, I mean, he’s 24 years old, so like I’m trying to catapult him up that mountain, you know, so he can be even better right hand guy. But like my vice presidents, my directors, you know, some of these guys have developed from, you know, I acquired a group of stores and they came in. It’s like, I’m not sure this guy’s going to make it. And all of a sudden, they’re one of the greatest leaders we got because they realize, they listened, they applied, they realized where they failed, and they’ve grown so nicely. And so you take this holistic umbrella picture of where our organization is. That’s why I say my name might be on some of these awards and my name might be on the front of some of these buildings, but it’s not me.
33:20
It’s. It’s the whole culmination of our team and how they’ve all, you know, stayed in their lane and grown their own path and cohesively network that together to build what we got.
33:31
Man, that is so well said. I am, I’m excited to have gotten to know you a little bit better. I really appreciate Gus you being on the Gain Traction podcast show today.
33:42
You know, I’m excited to be here. You know, this is actually my first podcast that I’ve done. So I told my wife, she listens to all kinds of podcasts. So she was, I was driving to work today and she was texting me. She’s like, what’s the name of it again? And like, so I was texting her back while I’m driving. Don’t do that, guys. You know, it’s not safe. But, you know, so I’m sure she’s going to be hunting for this one and you know, probably embarrassed and I’m calling her out now. But so yeah, this has been great.
34:09
That’s awesome. Well, thank you for being on the podcast. I, I really mean that. And your story is awesome. And I think it’s just people need to hear what you’ve been through in that regard to know that, hey, you know what, just keep plugging. And, and I love what you’re say. Your definition of the word end again. Effort never dies.
34:27
Effort never dies.
34:28
I love it.
34:30
Yeah. I’ll tell you a funny story about my wife. If she actually does end up listening real quick, please do. On our expansion show. So we got married in June of 2020. Again, crazy year to be doing anything like that. And so, you know, our honeymoons, you know, getting canceled and so we’re having to SC like three weeks before, you know, so, you know, and she’s been a saint with all that we’ve been doing because, you know, close to a year later, we’re talking about our first anniversary again, we didn’t really get to go on a honeymoon. We just drove to the beach. And so I’m looking at our Florida opportunity. I’m like, how do you feel about trip to Jacksonville for our, you know, first. For our first.
35:10
And she’s like, as long as it’s a nice hotel, we’ll go to that beach and whatever. So we spent our first honeymoon going to Jacksonville and visiting Midas stores that I was looking to take over, you know, and so cool. All right, so 2022 comes and we’re on more expansion trail and you know, but then 23 comes and I’m looking at going to Washington D.C. So. And you know, so I’m like, hey, honey, what do you think about going to Washington D.C. For our anniversary? And she was like, yeah, I think that’d be cool. I was like, cool, because there’s some stores up there I want to look. So a lot, I would say half of our anniversary trips have been in conjunction with visiting Midas stores. And, and now I’m having to visit these things.
35:53
So like I said, she’s been an absolute saint to be, you know, raising our now three year old while I’ve been, you know, growing this empire and trying to provide for him. But, but yeah, so call out to her for putting up with me.
36:05
That’s well said. And it does look, it takes sometimes look, it takes that blend of being well willing to mix business and pleasure just because that’s the nature of a family business. Period.
36:17
Right?
36:18
Well, hey, I really appreciate it. Thank you for being on.
36:21
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Look forward to hearing it and following you going forward.
36:25
Congratulations again. So to all our listeners out there, thank you for being part of the podcast. We are grateful for you. If you would like to find more podcasts like this, please Visit Gain Traction podcast.com We will see you again soon from Gain Traction. Have a great day.
36:42
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