How SEMA Supports Tire Shops and Small Businesses With Mike Spagnola of SEMA

Mike Spagnola is President and CEO of SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association), a leading trade organization in the automotive aftermarket industry. With over 50 years of hands-on experience in the automotive world, Mike has been deeply involved in everything from car builds to legislative advocacy. Before leading SEMA, he built a career rooted in entrepreneurship and industry innovation, helping small businesses navigate evolving regulations. Today, he champions the interests of automotive enthusiasts and businesses, ensuring that the industry continues to thrive.

In this episode…

Joy and innovation in the automotive aftermarket industry often go unnoticed, yet they drive the growth of businesses and the preservation of car culture. As regulations increase and consumer habits evolve, organizations must advocate fiercely and innovate continuously to survive and thrive. How can automotive businesses, especially tire dealers, leverage industry organizations like SEMA to grow and protect their businesses?

According to Mike Spagnola, who serves as President and CEO for SEMA, advocacy and innovation are at the heart of SEMA’s mission to support its members year-round. Beyond hosting the popular SEMA Show, the organization provides vital services such as emissions testing support, legislative advocacy, product development assistance, and industry education. Mike explains how tire dealers, auto shops, and aftermarket businesses can tap into SEMA’s extensive resources, ensuring they stay ahead of regulatory threats and market shifts while building strong networks that fuel long-term success.

On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge welcomes Mike for an insightful conversation about SEMA’s mission to support small businesses, tire dealers, and the broader automotive aftermarket. Mike discusses how SEMA helps companies year-round through emissions testing, advocacy, education, and the world-famous SEMA Show. He also highlights opportunities for tire dealers to expand their businesses, stay compliant, and connect with like-minded entrepreneurs across the industry.

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

• [01:20] Mike Spagnola’s early passion for cars growing up around muscle cars
• [04:46] How the SEMA garages help members with emissions compliance and product development
• [07:46] Why SEMA’s work in legislative advocacy is critical for the industry’s survival
• [13:03] Misconceptions tire dealers have about attending the SEMA show
• [14:35] Networking and business growth opportunities available at the SEMA show
• [17:01] Why small business owners are the backbone of the SEMA community
• [18:36] The importance of vehicle recalibration training for modern auto shops

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Mike Spagnola on LinkedIn
• SEMA Official Website
• SEMA Show Registration
• Gain Traction Podcast
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn
• Tread Partners
• Golden Steer Steakhouse, Las Vegas
• Piero’s Italian Cuisine, Las Vegas
• St. Elmo Steak House, Indianapolis

Quotable Moments:

• “There are a lot of smart people in the world, but very few willing to work hard and put in the effort.”
• “SEMA’s advocacy work ensures our industry’s survival against legislation that could easily go unnoticed.”
• “Small businesses are the backbone of the automotive aftermarket — and the heart of SEMA.”
• “Pushing through the hard middle part of success is what separates winners from quitters.”
• “Relationships and personal touch are what keep customers coming back — it’s as true in restaurants as in business.”

Action Steps:

1. Join SEMA for industry advocacy and resources: Protect your business from restrictive legislation and access valuable tools and training.
2. Attend the SEMA Show: Buy a $50 buyer’s badge to access the world’s largest automotive aftermarket exhibition and network with manufacturers.
3. Utilize SEMA’s Emissions Labs: Ensure your aftermarket products comply with environmental regulations before going to market.
4. Promote right to modify and right to repair: Stay informed and involved in advocacy efforts that protect your ability to service and customize vehicles.
5. Invest in continuous learning: Attend SEMA seminars, follow industry trends, and network with other professionals to stay competitive.

• Gain Traction Podcast
• Mike Edge
• Mike Spagnola
• SEMA
• Tread Partners

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 retire Business. I am Mike Edge. Your host, Mike Spagnola, President CEO of sema, AKA Specialty Equipment Market association, is our guest today. I’m very excited, but before we get in, this episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. Tread Partners is the leading digital marketing agency that specializes in digital marketing for multi location tire and auto repair shops. Tread Partners works with its clients that have hundreds of locations, down to five locations. Get a professional review of your digital marketing structure from an agency that works exclusively in this industry. Let Tread Partners take a look under your digital marketing hood today. To contact tread partners, visit treadpartners.com you guys know I always like to give a past guest shout out. My past guest shout out today is for Richard Balin. 

01:06
He’s with Raven Truck Accessories, which is also part of the Trail Tire Group out of Alberta, Canada. If you haven’t heard that podcast, check it out on gain traction podcast.com all right, Mike, welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast. 

01:20
Excited to be here. Thanks for inviting me. 

01:22
Absolutely. Well, I’m glad Dan introduced us. Dan Khan Media. Give him a little bit of a shout out here, but great guy. Oh, one of the best. And we’ve just now gotten to know each other and I’ve enjoyed every conversation with him. Curious. You, you are not just a corporate type part of sema as I’ve gotten to know your bio. I mean, you’re a real car guy and you, you’ve been part of SEMA before. It was just. You were part of it in a sense, officially. 

01:55
Yep. Yeah. My first show, I hate to admit it, but my first show was 1979. 

01:59
Oh gosh, how old are you, man? 

02:03
I was there when I was four. No, no, it’s been part of me. It’s, I mean, you know, like all of us, I think we just grow up being car people. Right. And I think for me it probably, you know, I, I can’t remember, but I had to be five or six and you know, for me it was a little bit of. I grew up in the 50s, 60s really in the 60s. And a lot of guys had gone off to Vietnam on my street, in my neighborhood. And those that came home had a few bucks in their pocket and they, when they got home, they were buying. A guy down the street bought a 63 Corvette. And the guy across the street bought a 65 Mustang and Camaros, and. 

02:43
And I would hear these cars from two blocks away, and I’d run out and step on the curb and, you know, just smile and watch him cruise down the street, you know. 

02:52
You were just dreaming, weren’t you? 

02:54
Just dreaming. And then I, I got. I had a. My sister married a guy that was into racing into cars. And he had a Ferrari dealership, or not a dealership, but a repair shop in Glendale. And I would go to his shop and, you know, he’d let me change oil and do those sort of things and sweep the floors. And it was just, you know, it was just part of my DNA from the time I was a little kid, you know, building car models and like so many of us starting to tear apart bicycles and then motorcycles and then cars. It’s. I’m blessed just to be part of this industry for 50 years. 

03:29
That’s a great story. So you know, the show itself is. I mean, the. I know we talk about SEMA a little bit, but you. The show itself is what everybody knows about sema, but SEMA is so much more, and I think that’s kind of important to convey to our listeners today. You want to expand on that a little bit? 

03:49
Yeah. So I talk about what we do the other 360 days a year. You know, several times I’ll introduce myself or we’ll be in a crowd and I’ll say, I work for sema. And they, so they will say something like, well, do you live in Las Vegas? Because that’s where our show is. And, you know, our headquarters are here in Southern California. You know, we have a. Our main locations here in Diamondbar, California. And we’ve got a facility in Detroit. We have a facility indy and a facility in Washington, dc. Your office is in Washington, dc. 

04:18
On the history side, you kind of started in la, right? 

04:20
Started in California. Yeah. I mean, if you think about the history of hot rodding and cars and really all those guys that came back from World War II, same kind of story, but they came back and learned a lot about working on airplanes and mechanics in World War II. And they came back and started fabricating and going out to the dry lakes and building parts. I mean, if you talk to Isky and Elder Brock and all those sort of guys, you know, it really did. The hot running trend started here in Southern California. 

04:46
Oh, yeah, it’s a great. 

04:49
Yeah. So. But, you know, we do, you know, just one area is the sema. Garages, which, you know, I took part in when I first came here. And they’re product development centers. So a couple things there. We have a full, two full emissions labs, one here in Diamondbar, one in Detroit, where we help members get through that EO process. If you develop any product that affects fuel or air, you have to get a CARB eo. EPA satisfies that as well, but it’s really cumbersome too. Let’s just say you’re developing a supercharger for a 2025 Mustang. You’ve got to first develop the product, but then it’s got to pass emissions before you can sell it. And if you don’t go through that process and get caught, the fine can be as much as $37,000 per part. Sold. 

05:40
So but to get through that process can be cumbersome. Filling out the paperwork, filling out the application, knowing which vehicle to test, knowing what those tests are, finding a lab that can do it, submitting the paperwork to carb, getting all that process done can be really cumbersome. And what we found was that some of our members weren’t getting it done because they just didn’t know the ropes. So we developed the submissions lab. We spent tens of millions of dollars putting these labs together and we helped the member fill out the application. Finding the vehicle, testing the product on the vehicle. We could put the product on the car for the vehicle for that person, and then doing the testing, submitting that paperwork to carb, getting them their carbo. So it’s a big part of what we do. 

06:27
And we account for about 50 of all the EOs that go through CARB, California Resources Board every year. 

06:33
That’s impressive. 

06:35
And then that satisfies all 50 states. We also have SEMA certified, which we do the same process that satisfies 49 states. So if somebody doesn’t want to go through the process for California, it’s the same process, but we can certify it for the other 49 states. And then we have this product development centers. We, we’ve got full staffed garages. I mean, you and I would have fun at these garages. They’re gorgeous. Several lifts, alignment racks, all those sorts of things where manufacturers can come in as our members and we’ll tear cars apart, we’ll scan them, we can get CAD data for them, we can do upfitting. Let’s just say you’ve got some new product that you want to test on a vehicle. We can do that sort of thing in our garages. We’ve got CAD Data. 

07:18
So if you’re developing, let’s say again, you want to develop a different suspension for that 20, 25 Mustang. We have from Ford, all that CAD data which we can supply you with. You can make your modifications. We could 3D, print the parts, put them on the vehicle and test all that product before you actually go into manufacturing that product. Anything that along the product development line for our manufacturers, we can help you with that sort of stuff. 

07:45
So you really aren’t all about just the show, right? 

07:48
No, it’s again, what’s, you know, and then of course, our ledge rig, we do a lot of work in legislative work and. 

07:54
Yeah, I wanted to talk about that, the advocacy aspect that people need to know and why they should be a member. 

08:00
Yeah, it’s big. 

08:00
It’s because there’s safety in numbers and there’s a bigger voice in numbers. 

08:04
Yeah. And that’s, you know, that’s one of the words we really want to get out. And one of the things that I’ve got a charge of is just really understanding more and more people in the marketplace, you know, like yourself, and like dread in those sorts of things because we’ve kind of gone it alone for a while. 

08:20
Yeah. 

08:20
And as legislation gets tougher and tougher, we’ve got to get our voice out. And you know, even if you’re not a SEMA member, which we want you to be, but let’s just say there’s. And we’ve seen it, there’s been legislation to get rid off road tires or to, you know, no longer have sticky tires, you know, that are better for road racing and those sort of street racing, not street racing, but, you know, track racing. You know, those sorts of legislative bills come up and we’ve got to gain all of the industry together to be able to have a voice when those sort of bills come up. I mean, we just fought one in Oregon where they were going to ban leaded fuels at racetracks. 

09:09
And were able to gather enough people together and send enough letters in and work with the legislation to get that bill banned. 

09:19
See, I think that’s so important for people to know and I think, you know, every small business owner understands that the silliest regulations sometimes come out just because of, I mean, you know, it’s the squeaky wheel or the mouse that just keeps chirping or whatever that somehow this legislation ends up in, you know, in the form of a potential bill. And people are like, well, how did that get there? You know, and then all of a sudden it has a chance of passing and you may not know anything about it. And that’s where this having SEMA as an advocacy for you makes a big deal, because you guys are obviously on the side of the tire dealers, the auto repair shops, the hot rodders, etc. 

09:58
Yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, we fight these bills every day. There was one about a year ago, it actually had taken place in Georgia. You couldn’t lift a vehicle, you couldn’t lift a Jeep, you couldn’t lift a truck. And were able to get that reversed. 

10:13
I didn’t hear about that one. That one’s great. That sounds crazy. 

10:17
These things happen. 

10:18
Well, see, I think. I think the whole issue of right to repair is crazy. I. I can’t. You know, the whole thing that we’re fighting here on that one. And I just recently had Roy Littlefield on from TIA to talk about it because he’s the. The government liaison for the organization. And, you know, it’s a. That’s a. It seems to be their full court press right now is that issue. And it’s. 

10:38
Yeah, we’re taking it even one step further to say not only right to repair, but right to modify. Yeah, and. And the be the ability to continue to modify vehicles. I mean, I just got word this morning that on dot on the 25 Dodge, 2500 and 3500 trucks, you can’t get in to change the Speedo calc, so you can’t put an oversized tire on. On the truck. 

11:00
Oh, man. 

11:01
That literally came to my desk this morning. And, you know, we’re going to have some discussion about that. And that’s where this right to modify takes it a step further than just right to repair. That’s just one example, and that’s why. 

11:14
I’m glad to have you on here. I want people to be aware of what’s going on. And I think our podcast. We want our podcast to do a little advocacy, you know, and then we get dealers on here and they talk to other dealers. But this is important, Stu. I’m curious because, you know, I represent a lot of folks in the tire industry, tire dealers, et cetera. Our audience is primarily tire dealers, auto repair shops. Let’s talk about tires with SEMA and the whole south hall and that. That awesome experience that you and I know. But let’s. I’m just talk to the folks that haven’t been, but have always considered going and even why a tire dealer should be a member of sema. 

11:52
Yeah. So this is Something that’s actually become a pet project of mine. I’ve had a chance to work with TIA probably in the last year and a half. I had a chance to speak at a couple different tire associations. 

12:04
Awesome. 

12:05
And it really came to my mind that we aren’t reaching out well to the tire industry. And so I’m glad to have this opportunity today that, you know, there are Tyler dealers that come to the SEMA show and we’ve got tire manufacturers that come to the show and you know, of course hunters there and all these other manufacturers that develop alignment tools and all those sorts of things. But it, through all these different conversations, I really became aware of the fact that while we have lots of tire shops that come to the show and we’ve got manufacturers of equipment that come to the show and we’ve got, you know, plenty of tire manufacturers that come to the show, the opportunity for expanding that is huge. 

12:53
So, you know, I look at it as what’s the percentage of the market that actually shows up at the show? And probably the largest area for growth for us is in the tire industry. 

13:02
That’s awesome. 

13:03
We, we’ve come to realize that there are thousands of mom and pop tire stores out there that aren’t coming to the show. And so we’re doing some marketing work in that area. And we’re going to start with California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida. But we really want to take it nationwide to make sure that attire dealers across America understand that they can come to the show. As we started to survey some of these smaller shops, they didn’t realize that they are welcome at the show. They didn’t realize that they could get a buyer’s badge and come to the show. Some felt that the show was a consumer show because they look on YouTube and they see consumers up front or they see consumer activities going on. And there’s a section of the show that is for consumers. 

13:51
But I was surprised how many in our questionnaires, in our surveys thought that they, it wasn’t a business to business show in that tire industry. And so we want to make sure that every tire store across America understands that they can buy a fifty dollar buyer’s badge and come to the show for four days and meet with tire manufacturers, meet with equipment manufacturers, meet with suspension manufacturers and brake manufacturers and all the undercarriage products, all those things. There’s 2500 manufacturers that display at the SEMA show. It’s the largest gathering of aftermarket automotive products in the U.S. Yeah. 

14:35
And what I’ve learned, when you go there, you Know, sometimes you just go there and you don’t. The things that you think you’re going to do and learn, yeah, you get those on the agenda. But there’s, it always seems to me that you get way more than you expected, if that makes sense, by the people you meet. I mean, just simply conversations that you have. You’re going to network with people that you never expected to. You’ll be standing at a booth, run into somebody that’s like minded and next thing you know, when you’re in a conversation and now you got a new business associate potentially, or just somebody to throw ideas off of it. It’s wild. But everybody’s there that’ but everybody’s like minded there. 

15:14
Well, you know, TIA puts out a big event there and, but you’re right, you run into other small business owners, you run into other tire dealers, you run into, you start to see trends, you see upcoming trends. You see, you know that the overland market is much bigger than anyone ever thought. Right. And so there’s opportunity to sell, you know, all those lift kits and tires and wheels. And you see those trends there, you know, you see the ability to outfit all these other products. You, there’s always, you know, we get over 2,000 new products in our new product section every year at the SEMA show. You see where trends are going. You see where, you know, the ability to do body wraps and all these different areas that you can expand your business with are all there at the SEMA show. 

16:02
And, and then of course there’s all the crazy builds. I mean, there’s 1500 crazy builds out there that are just celebrating this industry. But you know, we can all expand our business. I mean, the lowrider industry is bigger than we think it is. The Overland, you know, all those sorts of things. There’s seminars, we put on over 70 seminars at the show on different small business products and topics. The majority of SEMA members are small business. They’re $5 million and below. 

16:28
And that’s important, that’s, that’s what makes up the industry, period. 

16:31
Right. Yeah, right. That is, that is the. Probably the biggest area that SEMA protects is the smaller business owners that, you know, sometimes people think that we’re, it’s all about the big OEs and it’s all about these major manufacturers and all that they’re there and we’re glad they’re there and they’re part of the fabric of the automotive industry. So one thing exciting about SEMA is it really celebrates the Whole fabric of the automotive industry. 

17:01
Absolutely. And to go back to south hall for folks that are listening you, when you go in there, I mean you may see tires that you want to start carrying. I mean, you know, there’s just, there’s a wide, such a wide range on, and they’ve got them on such a wide range of vehicles that you’re just, your eyes just get open and ideas pop. And you may, you may think about testing a market in your area, whatever a product in your area. It’s. The sky’s the limit as to your opportunity. I think, I think it’s an important show to attend especially if you’re in the industry and you just want to learn and then you’re going to network by default. 

17:40
It just happens if you’re, if you can greet somebody you don’t know, next thing you know you’re going to be in a great conversation. 

17:46
It absolutely happens. And you know, I think some tire dealers also think that we’re only selling very custom tires and wheels and that’s just not the case. Those tire manufacturers are there selling their whole breath of range from really aggressive tires to replacement tires. And, and so you know those well. 

18:06
And they put, and they put them on some great looking cars too. They sure did buy them. Yeah. I mean, that’s fun. 

18:12
Yeah. And you know, again, we know that these tire dealers want to expand their business. It’s not just selling replacement tires every day. There’s opportunity for custom wheels again and for, you know, brake kits and suspension and you might need a new tire balancer. There’s always deals at the show. There’s always a show special on, you know, a tire balancer or equipment that you might need that’s, you know, all. 

18:36
Those, that’s a great point. Yes. 

18:37
Lifts, you know, all that sort of stuff. And seeing the newest trends in alignment, I mean one of the areas that we really focus on that really hits the center of the bullseye is even the ados is all the, what’s going on with all these automatic driving systems. So self braking, lane change, departure warning, things that you need to be aware of when, let’s just say you’re putting a leveling kit or a lift kit or a different set of tires and wheels. There are times when those vehicles, late model vehicles have to be recalibrated. And so we have a lot of discussion about that. We have training seminars on that. We have equipment that does that sort of thing and just awareness Just plain awareness. 

19:18
Yeah. You got me thinking, if somebody’s sitting here right now thinking, okay, how do I get started? Where do I go? What do they do? How do they sign up? 

19:29
Yeah. Seow.com just SEM show.com go in and register. You do have to prove that you’re a business. So it’s not open to the public. It is a business to business show. Tuesday through Thursday, Friday is open to consumers. Now we’ve just started that in the last couple years. But you know, they, we may ask you for a proof of who you are, a business license, those sorts of things. But we want to keep it that way because we really want it to be for, yeah. People to do business at the show Tuesday through Thursday. And then if you want to just come Friday as a consumer and buy a ticket and come in Friday, lots of consumer events Friday for you to see. But really to do business, you got to be there Tuesday through Thursday. That’s when went to there. 

20:15
Well, you don’t even have time to go see everything even. I mean, it’s that big, folks, if you’ve never been. I mean, you could spend days in one of the halls. 

20:26
Absolutely. So I mean, to give you an idea, there’s about 1.2 million square feet of just booth space, but it’s on 3 million feet of campus. And then there’s outdoor activities, there’s drift going on. There’s, you know, nitro circus. There’s all these kind of fun activities that. 

20:43
Yeah, you gotta give yourself time to stop and gawk at things. I mean, you know, you’re gonna stop and look at so many things that you’re gonna get captivated with, take pictures of whatever. It’s, it’s, it’s absolutely, truly mind blowing. And it’s the, it’s. What’s the biggest show in Vegas now. 

20:59
Yep. 

20:59
Or has been the last three years. 

21:00
Yeah. Number one show in Vegas. The really the number one automotive business to business show in the U.S. For sure. 

21:06
For sure. Well, you know, going back to a little bit about who Mike is there a quote, a code you live by? 

21:15
So, you know, I have an opportunity. I, you know, I, I grew up because I had some great mentors around me. You know, I wasn’t necessarily the best student in high school, but I had an opportunity to be around some really great people that mentored me even in my childhood around the neighborhood. Some of the men around my neighborhood that were into cars and work and all that Sort of stuff. But for me, and now I get a chance to talk to high schools and colleges and that sort of thing, which I love, because, you know, it’s kind of passing it on. Right. I, I had those breaks and I had those people talking to me. But what I, you know, there’s probably two things that people ask me about a lot is, you know, young people that want to come into this industry. 

22:06
One is what I tell them is, and I was this way, I found that I was intimidated in the beginning by people that were really smart, that had gone through multiple degrees in college or gotten through college. I didn’t finish college, but had. You know, I can remember a time when I got to work with a Harvard mba and I thought it was going to be so impressed, and I wasn’t. And what I found was that there’s a lot of smart people in the world. There’s very few people willing to work hard and put in the effort. 

22:35
Yeah. 

22:35
And, and that’s what I try to tell young people is, look, just having that degree isn’t going to get you there. I mean, you’ve got to be able to put in the time, you got to put in the effort. You got to be able to roll up your sleeves. You got to be able to put the overtime in. And, and I’m still a student in this industry. I still pick up as many trade magazines as I can and read them and understand them and listen to podcasts. And, you know, even at this position in this age, I, I, I feel like I still try to be a student in the industry. I still go to car shows, I still go to car races. I still go to all those sorts of things to continue to expand and learn the industry, and that takes work. 

23:14
And then the other thing that, you know, I get asked about is, you know, what is, what did you find to be the most difficult thing in your business? Because I, I came from private business before. 

23:23
Yeah. 

23:23
Joining Semen. 

23:24
Well, and you’re, but you growing up, your dad, you said, was a restaurant owner. 

23:30
Yeah, well, he was a bartender at a restaurant, actually. 

23:31
That’s awesome. 

23:32
Yeah. And, and, but, you know, what I found was, you know, people say, what was the most difficult thing you found in business? And for me, it was that I’ve got a great family. I’ve got three wonderful kids and a great wife of 44, almost 44 years, and five grandchildren. But finding that balance between work and family has always been difficult. Right. I mean, you want to work really hard to support your family. But then you also need to have family time with your kids and grandkids in my case now. And I continue to try to find that balance between those two things. And I’m blessed that we’ve been able to do that. I’m blessed that, you know, again, I got a great family and they, my two boys are in the industry, which is exciting. 

24:20
My daughter’s a stay at home mom and teacher. But finding that balance between home life and work is always something that I constantly try to remind myself of. 

24:32
I think it’s something that you constantly have to do because you could easily, you can always get easily pulled one way or another. And it’s, yeah, it’s the challenge in life. But being cognitive of it means that I think that you’re at least doing some of it, if that makes sense. 

24:49
Yeah, you know, well, and again, I’m blessed that my kids are all car kids. So we, you know, they race legends and off road racing and those sorts of things. So I get to do that with them. And we go dirt bike riding and you know, we do family activities that are also in this industry, which makes it really nice. 

25:10
That’s awesome. Yeah. So I had a boss one time tell me and he was a hard worker. I mean he put in a lot of hours, but he also had set hours. And he told me one time, he said, look, the way I achieved my balance is if I can’t get it done between the hours that I’ve got set for myself and for my clients, it’ll be here tomorrow. But I got to get home to the family, you know, and I noticed, you know, if he has to become in, if he had to come in early, he’d do that or once in a while if he had to stay late, those things happen. He gets that. But his rule of thumb was I leave at my set time every day, period. And I go home to my family because I work. 

25:47
He goes, I work hard. I’m not, I don’t guess whether I put in the, you know, good hours. You know, I was getting after it and things gonna happen and that’s just part of it. But I, I have to have a cut off time. And that’s just what it is. 

25:59
Right? Yeah. And then again, the other side of that is, you know, there are people today that think they’re going to be successful with minimum hours and Right. And then question you when they’re not successful, you know, so it does take effort. It does take it’s you. 

26:14
You have. So I have five kids and I try to tell them, look, the idea is you’ve got to, you gotta find something you love, but you also have to love. And that, you know, when they’re young, they don’t understand this, but I’m like, you grind. And I don’t. The grind is not a negative. The grind is just the daily Monday activity of just doing the same thing sometimes. But you just gotta love the process. And I said, and then the reward is later. That’s just, that’s like the cherry on top. But if you love the grind, then it’s never work, in a sense. And you, and you just, you’re doing it. 

26:48
And they’re, they’re all older now, so they’re starting to understand that they, you know, they can pick up the parts that they really do like and try to achieve that kind of, I don’t know, peace of mind, if I’m trying. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. 

27:03
And. And, you know, the other thing is that people don’t often understand that part in the middle. So there’s that excitement in the beginning when you’re doing something and you’re pushing it and pushing it. Then it gets hard. And a lot of people only see that in success or give up in that middle and continue to push through that grind and continue to understand through the way and make correction and make change and push through those sorts of things to get to that end. People give up in that middle. 

27:35
Yeah. 

27:35
And. And you got to keep going when it, when the, when it looks like Gez, the chips are against you, or this is tough, or I can’t get cooperation or whatever it is. You just got to be resolved and push through that middle. And people don’t talk about that middle, but. 

27:52
No, they don’t. We always talk. 

27:55
That middle’s real. 

27:56
That’s the real part. 

27:57
Really. 

27:57
I mean, and it’s usually the longest part. 

27:59
It is. 

28:00
You know, and it’s the loan. 

28:01
It could be the loneliest part. And it, and it. But, but you just got to be resolved. And you know, you got to push. Now if you’re making a lot of mistakes, that’s another thing. But. Right. But it’s. These aren’t overnight successes. These are all baby steps. 

28:17
Well, you probably love this one too. Thomas Edison. What was his quote when he, somebody had said something to him about failing with the light bulb like 10,000 times, and he Said I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work. 

28:31
Right. 

28:31
You know, and that’s. That’s the mindset, you know, because obviously he was trying it different ways. And, you know, he knew. Okay, check that one off. Okay. But he didn’t, you know, and I love the Disney story. I think he went to 160 banks before he got a loan. 

28:48
Yeah. 

28:49
You know, but he knew he had something. Now everybody thinks it was a foregone conclusion back then that, you know, oh, he was just successful. He was a smart guy. Whatever. No, he was a grinder man. 

28:58
Right. 

28:59
Yeah. 

28:59
You got to grind through that middle. Yeah, for sure. For sure. 

29:02
Real quick, before I let you go, because you. We had talked about restaurants. What’s your favorite restaurant in Vegas? 

29:08
Oh, I probably have two. I. For sure. The Golden Steer Steakhouse. Yeah. Been there. Gosh, forever. 

29:16
And it doesn’t change. Right? 

29:17
And it doesn’t change. And you can just spell the Rat Pack, being there from the 60s. 

29:22
Well, it’s not just to give people a visual if you haven’t been there. It’s. It’s leather and wood. I mean. 

29:26
Yes. 

29:27
Yeah. 

29:27
And red leather and wood and dark and. But. But probably one of the best steaks in America. 

29:33
True, true. 

29:35
And. But if you’re in Vegas and you’re coming in for the SEMA show, what are we in April right now? Make your reservation now because. Because by November, you’ll get in it. I mean, I go there. I’m in Vegas, I don’t know, three or four times a year. And I’ve got a book. Even in the summer. I got to book three months in. 

29:54
Advance to get in there, but that tells you everything. 

29:58
Yeah. Amazing place. And then for Italian food, I like Piero’s, which is kind of that same era. It’s right across the street from the convention center. It’s an Italian restaurant. It is. Same thing. You would think that Sinatra was in there last night. It’s dark, and it’s very Italian, and it’s good food, and they’ve got entertainment in the bar, and it’s definitely a over 45, over 50 crowd. Although you see young people in there, but great food. Great. The servers are amazing. Same thing you better make. If you’re coming in for the SEMA show, make your reservations now, because that place packs out as well. And then indy, it’s got to be St. Elmo’s. You know, Sam, almost as the other steakhouse that I love. And of course, we have our PRI show. 

30:51
We we also own the performance racing industry and that trade show which happens in December. But anytime I’m in Indianapolis, I love the cold. I love to go, I love to go to see an elm. Very famous. And you gotta get a shrimp cocktail while you’re there. It’ll. It’ll burn your eyes out and your nose. It is, it is lots of horseradish in that sauce. 

31:15
I’ve heard about that place and I’ve never been because I’ve never, I’ve always been late in trying to get in there or you know what I mean, it’s last minute type thing, whatever. But yeah, I have to plan ahead. I need to do that. 

31:27
No, it’s a great place and it’s same thing, it’s old style. I, you know, I think you and I talked about this before, but for me, I love to go to restaurants that are one and off mom and pop, you know, entrepreneur shops. You know, any of us can go to a steakhouse chain or, you know, whatever, any name the food chain. But I love, it’s like our business, right? It’s like all these tire dealers, it’s like all this aftermarket industry. I love supporting that entrepreneur, business person that’s stuck his neck out. And if I can do that over a big chain, I’ll do that every time. 

32:03
Well, I’m in Owensboro, Kentucky. It’s the home of Michael Waltrip, Darrell Waltrip and the Green brothers. But we have a restaurant here that’s been here 40 years. The owner literally is in there every day and he walks around and he’s got an apron. You’ll see him cleaning up messes. I mean, he’s, he doesn’t care. He’s always in, he’s always involved. But here’s the thing, it’s always full and the food. I even told him one day, I said, kobe, his name. The restaurant’s Kobe’s. And I said, kobe, how is it that, you know, when I was in High School, 40 years ago, that the literally your prime rib sandwich tastes the same, your chicken tenders taste the same, your gumbo, they make some of the best gumbo I’ve ever had. It tastes the same. He goes, well, I do have a little secret. 

32:46
I said, what’s that? He goes, I’ve had the same food prep guy the whole time. Is that not amazing? 

32:52
Yeah. 

32:52
And he has a lot of the same waiters and waitresses. And I told him, I said, your turnover rate is amazing for this industry. You have the Same people. And they know me. I mean, they know you because they see you, and it’s just. But to your point, that’s why I like to eat there, because it’s local. It’s an entrepreneur, but he’s in there all the time and loves what he does. 

33:14
It reminds me of that. The other thing I try to tell our staff all the time is that personal touch with consumers, right. With. With our customers is you’ll go into the swankiest restaurant that’s got the, you know, maybe the best food around, and if you’re treated like a number and that service level isn’t there, you won’t go back, even though it could be great food. Right. And you can go to the hole in wall down the street, and you know, you pull up and it’s, Mike, how are you today? How’s the family? Hey. I see. Is that a new car you got? It’s that. It’s almost that Cheers sort of where everybody knows your name. 

33:50
Yeah. 

33:51
You know, that’s. That’s what I want for sema. That’s what I want for pri. That’s what I want for. When I was in my private business, that’s what I wanted for that sort of relationship. Having that relationship with your customer, having that ability to connect, having that ability to understand each other and know each other. You’ll go back every time. I mean, there were times when I was in business when, look, to make my number for the quarter, I. I needed some extra orders, and I would call my customers and say, can you help me out? And they would give me an extra order. And there were times when they were like, hey, Mike, I need a promotion or a discount or a, you know, I need some help. Could you, could you help me in this area? You do it every time. 

34:29
Absolutely. 

34:29
You do that because of that relationship and that business trust in each other, and that’s so critical to business, and so many people forget about that today, man. 

34:38
I think that’s so important that you said that, and I think it’s important for our audience, if you’re listening right now, that you know, this is coming from Mike Spagnolo, the president CEO of sema. He wants to know you. He wants to, he wants the. The Cheers atmosphere, in a sense, he wants you to be a member so that we can all help each other. And I hope to see you out at SEMA this year talking to the audience. I mean, I, I, you know, and if you run into me because you see me wearing Something gain traction on or if you see me at the tire business booth, that’s what we’ll be this coming year. We’re gonna do some of our podcasting there. And you know it, that’s what makes it. 

35:16
So I’m, I’m on behalf of the tire industry, I’m asking them to be members of SEMA for you, please. 

35:22
And please come to the show. I mean, and again, same thing with me. I, I walk the halls as much as I can during the day and I stop to talk to people because it helps me understand what their needs are. It helps me understand where their struggles are. It helps me understand where they’re doing well and you know, where we can help and you know, especially on any areas where the reason we have these emissions lapse is because people were having trouble getting emissions compliance work done. And yeah, you know, the same thing goes for all these other areas where SEMA can help because United, you know, we are, look, we’re a 337 billion dollar a year to the US economy industry. I mean, that’s huge. Right? And we don’t always act that way. We’re just the SEMA side of performance businesses. 

36:10
$53 billion a year to the U S economy. We employ 109 million U. S jobs and. 

36:16
Amazing. 

36:17
We don’t necessarily act that way as strength when it comes to people picking on us. 

36:23
Yeah. 

36:23
And we got to do better at that. And joining SEMA and being part of SEMA and connecting with each other gets us there. So that when we get picked on, we’ve got, we can fight back. And you know, we’ve got, I’ve got 14 people in our DC team, just an office in DC and we pick up on issues every single day and go out and advocate on behalf of this industry. And I got to tell you, we’ve had a lot of wins lately because of it. 

36:48
That’s awesome. Well, Mike, that’s a great note to end on and I, I can’t say enough. Thank you for being part of the Gain Traction podcast. It’s been. 

36:56
Thank you. Love, love to be here and hope we could do it again. 

36:59
Oh, we will for sure. So to our listeners out there, thank you for being part of our podcast. Without you, we can’t do it. We’re very grateful for you. If you want to find more podcasts like this, please Visit Gain Traction podcast.com Till next time, have a great day. 

37:18
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.