Providing Large-Scale Service and Small-Scale Care With Brian Quisenberry of S&S Tire

Episode 128

Brian Quisenberry

S&S Tire

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Brian Quisenberry is Vice President at S&S Tire. Known for his responsive and dependable leadership style, Brian prides himself on delivering results and fulfilling commitments through a blend of enablement and tenacity. With over 25 years of diverse experience, he has honed his skills as a coachable and loyal teammate, always ready to lead his team towards strategic success that brings real value to customers. Beyond his professional achievements, Brian is committed to excellence and humility, with “Dad” and “Husband” his most cherished titles.

In this episode…

Is it possible to combine the expansive service capabilities of a major distributor with the heartfelt, personalized touch of a family-owned business?

According to Brian Quisenberry, S&S Tire — a family-owned business where he is Vice President — is celebrating its 50th year and has grown from a single retail tire store into a significant player in the tire industry with a vast network across the Southeast and Midwest US. Despite its size, S&S Tire remains committed to offering the personalized, attentive service characteristic of a small, local store. This dedication to nurturing solid and trustworthy relationships with customers and a willingness to adapt and respond to their needs stands out as a cornerstone of their approach. Brian emphasizes the importance of these connections as fundamental elements that have contributed to the company’s longevity and success.

In this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge discusses with Brian how S&S Tire marries big-scale service with small-scale warmth. They touch on Brian’s personal growth, mentorship’s impact, passion for bass fishing, and S&S’s evolution from a local shop to a regional powerhouse. Celebrating 50 years, S&S focuses on customer relationships, cautious expansion, and the importance of a customer-first approach in shaping their future.

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

Brian Quisenberry’s favorite hobbies
How Brian has benefited from building lasting friendships through work
How mentoring from industry veterans has provided Brian with invaluable insights
S&S Tire’s 50th anniversary celebration’s focus on customer engagement
Because of a close-knit company structure, family-owned business dynamics offer quick decision-making abilities
Why simplicity in business operations is a core belief for Brian

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Transcript

Announcer:

Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, where we feature top automotive entrepreneurs and experts and share their inspiring stories. Now let’s get started with the show.

Mike:

Hey, folks. Mike Edge here, your host with the Gain Traction Podcast. Welcome back. So today’s podcast is brought to you by Tread Partners and the Retread Marketing program. I know what you’re thinking. Man, what in the heck is a Retread Marketing program? So I’m glad you asked. It is a customer re-engagement program using IP targeting to win back your best lost customers. It is a one-time, 120-day program that guarantees a 10 to one return on investment. And the best part about it, it’s guaranteed. That is correct. It’s a 10 to one guaranteed ROI, no tricks or gimmicks. These are your customers that are already in your point of sale system right now. So, for instance, if you were to invest $4,000 today, what we’re saying is that you’ll see a $40,000 return within 120 days from that very list of best lost customers. Tread Partners only works within this industry. They specialize in tires and auto repair. To learn more, visit treadpartners.com.

All right, folks, you know I like to give a shout-out to previous guests. I’ve done this a couple of times, but his podcast was awesome. We had a great time doing it. Recently I had Walter Lybeck, CEO of Point S Tire. I was very impressed by his leadership in his organization, the Point S organization. We had a good time on the program. If you haven’t already, please check it out. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or just go to our website, gaintractionpodcast.com.

All right, I can’t wait to tell you about my guest today because I’m very excited about having him. I’ve tried to get him actually for a long time now, but he’s always given me the old Heisman and we finally got him here. But our guest today is one of my favorite people in the tire business, quite frankly, one of my oldest friends in the industry. Brian Quisenberry, Vice President of Training and Development at S&S Tires, headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. He’s also known as BQ. Well, it’s been a long time in the making. Brian, welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast.

Brian:

Hey, Mike, thanks for having me. Really enjoy it and good to be here today.

Mike:

Instead of just getting into the business, let’s just go ahead and talk about your favorite hobby. What’s your favorite hobby?

Brian:

Favorite hobby right out of the gate.

Mike:

Yeah.

Brian:

I used to play a lot of golf, but then I realized that you have to be athletic and practice a lot to play golf, so I never got real good at it. I’m a big bass fishing fan, so I like to go out on my boat, do a little fishing. I think you’ve been out with me a time or two.

Mike:

Yep. I’ve experienced it and I knew you loved it and I love talking about it because we’re in the time of the year that it’s best where you can catch the big ones.

Brian:

It’s getting right out there right now. Yeah, it’s in the 60s out there and it’s spring and they’re starting to bite, so I get a little twitchy inside when the sun’s shining this time of year.

Mike:

Well, and just to give everybody a little bit of an image, you live in Lexington or south of Lexington, but the reality is you work in Lexington and the convenience factor for the lake that you get to go to is on your way to work or on your way home from work.

Brian:

I pass it every day coming in and going home. It’s kind of like insult when you have to go to work that day. But yeah, it’s super convenient.

Mike:

I love it. Well, let’s talk about, I mean, we can obviously talk about when we met and everything, and I was thinking about that today, actually-

Brian:

15 years, hasn’t it?

Mike:

Something like that. Yeah. And we met through one of the twins that worked for you guys at S&S Tire. It was either Josh or I can’t remember his brother’s name.

Brian:

Jason, why now, yes.

Mike:

That’s it. Yes. And we went to a Mexican restaurant I think the first time somewhere maybe-

Brian:

That’s probably right.

Mike:

Because I love Mexican. So that was probably an easy pick. Yeah. Anyway, and we’ve been friends since and we’ve had a pretty good run with just, you guys have had me speak at several things and on from there. But you were part of the old crew that I got to meet at S&S Tire and now you’re part of the new crew. And when I say that, I mean that respectfully because you’ve had so many great people from your company that have retired and cycled through, and you’re kind of in the middle there of that age group, aren’t you?

Brian:

Yeah, I’m in an interesting spot. I was really fortunate coming up at this business to be around some great people that taught me a lot and guys like Terry Magaldi, Al Gumbert, Rick Skinner, folks that have been in the business for a long time. Paul Swentzel himself, our original founder. I got to work with him a bit too, and so I got to see all their perspectives coming up. And now we’ve got younger generations in the business and I’m kind of the old guy now. But it’s fun. It’s a nice role reversal.

Mike:

And I’ll give you guys a little perspective here since this is audio only. His hairline’s proven it a little bit. It’s almost as bad as mine.

Brian:

Yeah, the tire business will do that to you.

Mike:

Mine’s changing color. Yours doesn’t change color though. Mine’s getting-

Brian:

It’s definitely receding.

Mike:

But tell us a little bit about S&S Tire, because honestly, in so many ways with the industry I came from and everything and my introduction into tires, S&S was one of the first, and I learned so much from you guys. But I mean to me, you guys are just top shelf, I mean the people, and I got to meet those guys that you’re talking about. I got to meet Terry Magaldi and was involved in marketing and learned a lot from watching you two and the way you treat your customers. I think that’s one thing that always stood out to me.

Brian:

No, I appreciate that. That’s kind of you. S&S is celebrating 50 years of business this year. So we’ve been around since 1974. That’s pretty amazing in itself.

Mike:

Pretty cool.

Brian:

Yeah. We started as a single retail tire store here in Lexington. We were a Firestone store. Paul Swentzel and Don Schneider started that back in 1974. And as that business grew and they started doing some wholesaling, other warehouses started popping up. We had not just Lexington, but we moved into Huntington, West Virginia and then Nashville, Tennessee. And it grew to what it is today, which is 13 warehouses across pretty much the Southeast and Midwest. We also have a commercial side of the business. We have 15 commercial service centers today and two tire retreading plants. So very ingrained in the commercial side of the business as well. To be a family-owned business and have those arms out in different areas of the industry is a pretty cool thing to be a part of.

Mike:

It is. And one of the things that stood out to me is that you guys, you’ve always been very customer focused.

Brian:

Absolutely.

Mike:

Even the way, when you brought me in with a group that I was with years ago, you were extremely customer focused. You were like, “Hey, man, we want you to help our customers, but you’re the one that’s got to prove it basically.” And you didn’t just jump on our program that we were touting that we could do, but you made me literally go out and go through a pilot program with you and then that worked. And obviously we expanded with you guys and worked a lot with you guys, but you guys were just very cautious about it. But you sent me out to some great customers and great personalities. I can remember, heck, you sent me the Hazard, Kentucky, man.

Brian:

And you survived.

Mike:

Oh, yeah.

Brian:

You did well. We’re really all about creating value. We always have been. And it was ingrained in me early on that people buy from people they like, sure, but also that bring value and that they trust and that treat them with respect. Anytime we were looking to help our dealers, we would make you prove it. Sometimes we were a little tough on you, but we always wanted to bring things to our dealers that we knew worked and that we had good experience with. So always very customer forward in that way, and I think it’s helped us over the years tremendously.

Mike:

Well, and just to speak in today’s date, I think I mentioned this to you just a couple of months ago, because I found it really cool, but a buddy of mine had bought a tire store in my hometown. And I’m obviously very inquisitive about how he’s succeeding, et cetera, who he works with, et cetera. And I asked him point-blank, “Who’s your favorite distributor?” And he said, “Well, that’s easy, S&S Tire.” And I was like, “Oh, really? Why is that?” And he didn’t know my connection with you guys or anything like that, long history or whatever. He said, “Because they come and see me.” He goes, “They don’t come every week, but they come frequently enough to where they’re primarily the only ones.” And he said, “I’m going to buy from her when she shows up. I mean,” he goes, “because she takes care of me.”

Brian:

We’re committed to those relationships and we always have been. Yes, we want to do easy to do business with, but at the end of the day, it is about great relationships and liking who you do business with and trusting us to provide. That’s always been kind of at the forefront of what we do.

Mike:

Well, it said a lot. It said lot to me because I mean, it wasn’t like he was trying, he didn’t know my relationship or knew I knew you guys or anything like that, but he was just a guy in business telling me the truth of why he worked with you guys. And I found it compelling enough to pick up phone, if you remember, and call you and say, “Hey, you’ll like this story.”

Brian:

Yeah, it’s a great story. I was happy to hear it.

Mike:

Well, tell us in this 50th anniversary what you guys got going on. Anything.

Brian:

What we’re doing this year, instead of having a big show for our 50th anniversary, we’ve really focused on a lot of events that are going to go on over the year that really revolve around having fun with our customers. We’ve got sporting events we’re taking people to, we’ve got races and rodeos and concerts and all kinds of things on the docket. So we’re really focusing on that customer relationship piece of the business to celebrate our 50th. We’ll have some open houses and things, but those individual opportunities to get with our customers and have fun are where we’re going to focus.

Mike:

That’s awesome. Just in regards to the brand, where are you guys taking it? I mean, I know you’re in the Southeast right now. You’re kind of touching over into East Texas a little bit from distribution out of Louisiana, but where do you guys see yourselves? And then you also recently acquired, if I’m not mistaken, warehouses in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Brian:

We acquired a warehouse in Knoxville. So we’ve got a location in Knoxville, Tennessee. We just opened a location last year out in Tulsa, Oklahoma. So that’s our furthest west expansion. I would say this business is strategic, but opportunistic. I don’t think we get in a huge rush to open facilities just to open them. It has to be strategic, and we have to be ready when opportunities are in front of us. So, I think that’ll continue into the future.

Mike:

So basically you’re saying when you guys see, and I don’t want to say holes in your market spot, but where you see opportunity open up, like some of your dealers might expand or, let’s say, opportunity to buy somebody out maybe.

Brian:

Absolutely.

Mike:

Is that what you’re… Yeah.

Brian:

Yes.

Mike:

That’s awesome. Tell us a little bit about the company makeup now. I mean, who’s in charge and how you see this transition into the generations because I really find it very cool that I think you told me the youngest generation that’s getting involved now, you’re even excited about how passionate they are in it.

Brian:

Oh, absolutely. It’s a lot of fun. Paul Swentzel’s son Brooks is the president of the corporation, and I’ve known Brooks for a long time now and really enjoyed working for the family and seeing his two sons, Brock and Austin come into the business. Brock is leading the wholesale side of our company, and Austin is a leader on the commercial side of our company. And they’ve both worked up through the organization and got to experience a lot of different roles, and now they’re in leadership positions where they’ll start to grow and take us into the future. And that’s been so much fun to watch them come into the business and grow. So truly a family owned and operated business. We’re not a small business, but we’re not a huge business either. We’ve got 650 employees, very much operate like a family-run business and take a lot of pride in that. Gives us a lot of unique characteristics, lets us act quick and lets us really focus on those relationships and doing what’s most important for our customers.

Mike:

I love it. One of the things that you and I had talked about recently, may have been today when we were just talking about this call, but the vision. The vision statement I have in front of me is “Be the simplest, fastest and most reliable.” But tell me about the simplest because you said sometimes when you’re with your team you’ll say, “We can make it simpler, can’t we?” Or-

Brian:

Yeah. For years, I’ve always believed that there’s a lot of power and focus and simplicity, and it is refreshing to me to see that this company’s vision is to be one of the simplest distributors and commercial providers to do business with. Because a lot of times I will tell folks that when we think we’ve made it simple enough, let’s make it simpler. That helps us go execute, that helps us train, that helps us hit all the marks we need to hit. So I believe in simplicity and I think people ultimately want that. They want to be able to do business with people that are easy to get along with.

Mike:

I would agree. How often do you guys hear things from tire dealers that buy from you and you’re like, “Geez, that’s a good idea.” You know what I’m saying? You’re open to it from what I remember.

Brian:

Absolutely. Yeah. That’s where we draw our power. Our dealers give us a lot of feedback about the business. And again, because we’re family-owned and operated and take a lot of pride in that, we can act quick and make changes when we need to. So that’s a great part of being in this spot.

Mike:

That’s awesome. I’m looking at the mission statement. One of the things it says is “create value, providing essential products and services that move forward the American economy and way of life.” I think that it just sounds very concise, but it’s not just about me, it’s about all of us in this together. I mean, that relationship between distributor and dealer, if it’s rocky at all, man, it creates some pretty sour grapes. But you guys, the way you state it to me, makes me feel good if I was buying from you guys.

Brian:

Well, that’s good to hear. Again, hearkening back to the simplicity that we try to put into everything, we provide tires and service and the people that we provide that to need us because we bring those tires and services that keep them moving forward. And that’s really all about what our mission is. We want to create value as we do that, have great strong relationships and be able to get them the things that they need to run their businesses or to continue to operate their fleets the way they need to operate them and help save them money along the way. That mission statement’s pretty concise for a reason.

Mike:

Do you have a favorite thing about the business in general?

Brian:

Definitely the family-owned aspect and the fact that it’s quick to act. I’ve been around this business for over 20 years now. Spent some time at a much larger company and had a great experience there too. But it’s been refreshing to be in a family-owned environment where you can act so quickly and sit down and make decisions and go.

Mike:

Well, and I knew you through your previous experience as well, and it was funny because you did allude to the fact that as big as S&S was or is, and I know they’re not the biggest or anything, but you could still make quick decisions and go and help a customer out immediately.

Brian:

Absolutely. That’s why we’re here.

Mike:

Yeah. I love it. I think it relates to the simple thing, but sometimes I ask folks about what’s something that you live by? What was it that you said about simplicity again? Wasn’t that the thing we talked about, one of the things that you like to live by or what?

Brian:

Yeah. There’s just so much power in being simple and being focused. So whenever you think you’ve made it simple enough, make it simpler.

Mike:

Yeah, no, I like that. If somebody wants to reach out to S&S Tire, what’s the easiest way for them to contact you guys?

Brian:

They can go to our website, sstire.com, that’ll show them the different areas of our business, wholesale, commercial, all of our contacts, all of our locations. That’s the best way to do it.

Mike:

Okay. Well, Brian, I can’t thank you enough for being part of the podcast.

Brian:

No, thank you for having me. I enjoyed it and will look forward to the next time we get on the boat and do a little fishing together.

Mike:

Now, I just remembered what I wanted to ask you.

Brian:

Oh, go ahead.

Mike:

The funny story, I always get a funny story out of folks.

Brian:

Oh, the funny story. Okay.

Mike:

What’s your career… Something that’s happening, work related. It can be about somebody else, but I mean, anything can come to mind about something funny, wherever you’ve worked in your past and here, whatever. Do you have a story for us?

Brian:

Well, I’ll tell one on myself, and I’ll go way back for this one. My first job was in a grocery store, which I think everyone ought to have to do. It taught me a lot about the public and life in general. But I worked for a few years at a grocery store before I went to college, and I was a front office manager. And we had a situation one Saturday night. I always worked the late Saturday night shift because I was the kid. Nobody else wanted to do it. It was late Saturday night and we had a tornado coming through in the middle of the summer. So we had to get everybody situated in the building because this tornado was coming. And the rule was if you were going to stay in the building, you had to go back to these coolers that were in the back because it was a protected area. So we’re trying to round everybody up, and there’s a mother that gets separated from her son, guessing four years old, chasing him around the store, can’t find him. She’s in a panic. So I’m chasing this little kid.

Mike:

So you spotted him and found him?

Brian:

I spotted him, and I’m chasing this little kid, and I hit a wet spot in the floor. Of course, we were dressed up, dressed shoes, all those things. I hit a wet spot in the floor and I took a tumble on my belly sliding down the middle of the frozen food aisle, and they said, I looked like a penguin.

Mike:

Did you have black pants on and white-

Brian:

O had black pants and a white shirt, sliding on my belly down the frozen food aisle. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I took a lot of grief over that one. But we got the kid, we got him to his mom, crisis was averted-

Mike:

The tornado didn’t hit.

Brian:

The tornado didn’t hit us, so it was fine. But I’ll always remember that as one of my shining moments.

Mike:

I love stories like that, and I love the fact that you’re willing to tell it. That’s fabulous because I mean-

Brian:

If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

Mike:

Well, look, you’re just trying to bring mama and kid back together. You didn’t see-

Brian:

Right. Had to have the best of intentions.

Mike:

That’s a great story. Well, Brian, thank you for being a part of the Gain Traction Podcast. It’s been awesome.

Brian:

Thanks, Mike. Will talk to you soon.

Mike:

Yeah. So to all our listeners out there, thank you for being part of the podcast. If you’d like to recommend a guest, please email me at [email protected]. Until next time, be safe and have a great day.

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.

Contents hide

1 In this episode…

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

1.2 Resources mentioned in this episode: