Paving the Road in a Male-Dominated Industry
In Episode 3 of the Ride in Style podcast, we sat down with Chelsea Allen, a powerhouse entrepreneur and the visionary behind Crush Customs. Chelsea’s story is one of grit, growth, and genuine innovation—an inspiring roadmap for anyone striving to build a name in the competitive world of automotive restyling.
Chelsea’s entry into the auto industry was anything but traditional. As a woman stepping into a male-dominated space, she faced skepticism early on. But instead of backing down, she doubled down. She educated herself deeply, mastered her craft, and transformed assumptions into admiration.
“I had to prove I wasn’t just passionate—I was capable. I knew the business. I lived it.” – Chelsea Allen
Her early challenges only fueled her determination to lead with excellence and authenticity, earning respect through her performance and customer-first approach.
From Adversity to Innovation
In Episode 3 of the Ride in Style podcast, we sat down with Chelsea Allen, a powerhouse entrepreneur and the visionary behind Crush Customs. Chelsea’s story is one of grit, growth, and genuine innovation—an inspiring roadmap for anyone striving to build a name in the competitive world of automotive restyling.
Chelsea’s entry into the auto industry was anything but traditional. As a woman stepping into a male-dominated space, she faced skepticism early on. But instead of backing down, she doubled down. She educated herself deeply, mastered her craft, and transformed assumptions into admiration.
“I had to prove I wasn’t just passionate—I was capable. I knew the business. I lived it.” – Chelsea Allen
Her early challenges only fueled her determination to lead with excellence and authenticity, earning respect through her performance and customer-first approach.
Chelsea didn’t just survive the industry—she redefined it. Her journey led her to launch Crush Customs, a full-scale automotive restyling brand that goes far beyond aesthetics. The business combines high-quality craftsmanship with emerging tech to deliver modern upgrades and unforgettable customer experiences.
A key turning point? Leaning into digital transformation. Chelsea implemented an interactive configurator app that empowers customers to visualize upgrades, see real-time pricing (both retail and wholesale), and confidently make decisions. This transparent, tech-driven process has become a key differentiator—and a sales driver.
“Technology gave us the power to meet customers where they are, and that changed the game.”
Forecasting What’s Next in Auto Restyling
Looking ahead, Chelsea sees explosive growth not just in vehicle customization, but in the revitalization of used cars. With new car prices skyrocketing, more customers are investing in upgrades to extend the life—and style—of their current vehicles.
She highlights retrofitting as one of the most promising opportunities. Adding Apple CarPlay, interior restyling, and smart tech features to older models is a booming segment. This trend is reshaping how shops position themselves—not just as restylers, but as upgrade specialists.
Dealerships, she says, are also catching on. Those who embrace partnerships with skilled restylers or bring services in-house are better positioned to offer added value and stand out in a crowded market.
Leading with Purpose—and Paying It Forward
What truly sets Chelsea apart is her willingness to give back. She’s a mentor, a motivator, and an advocate for others—especially women—looking to break into the auto industry. Her message? The path may be tough, but it’s not impossible.
“I’m always open to sharing what I’ve learned. If I can help someone take that next step, that’s a win.”
Want more stories like this?
Be sure to subscribe to the Ride in Style podcast for insider insights from restyling pros, shop owners, and industry disruptors.
This episode features Chelsea Allen of Crush Customs—a trailblazer setting the standard in modern automotive upgrades.
Read The Transcript
I was wondering if you might be able to share some of your biggest challenges that you faced in the industry and how
you’ve overcome them one big challenge One Challenge is in the
beginning anyway I think being a woman is a
challenge and I think most people in this business would think it comes
really easy because oh you should be able to go in there and just sell anybody
anything welcome to the ride and style podcast your turbocharged pit stop for
automotive restyling buckle up with Jesse and
[Music] Josh hey welcome to another episode of
the ride and style podcast today we’re excited to introduce Our Guest chelia
Allen of crush customs and she’s also has the Cars and Coffee exposed TV show
wo also involved in Sema Pro and so we’re going to get right into it today chelia
thank you for being on the show thank you for having me and I gotta say Jesse this is probably finally we
get a good-look guest on the show no offense to Joey and prer and whitesman
Ian’s pretty good-looking too but we finally have one of the queens of the
industry definitely it’s definitely upgraded the show significantly yes
thank you I owe it to my mama so yeah got to give her props I had nothing to do with it yeah and you know what it be
I want to start there because you show when I when you and I first met a few years back I had no idea you were second
generation I just assumed you were first generation in the industry and then you sent me a picture of your mom on the
cover of what was the name of that magazine it was like Auto Trim it was Auto Trim Auto news yeah I apologize it
was the SEMA Edition yes and what year was that it was like 1980 it was early
it had to be early 882 yeah yeah yeah cuz they started in
the business when I was born which was 79 and so yeah it was probably around 80
83 84 maybe wow so she’s been yeah and where was that and what is her business
Introduction & Background
what does she do so she it’s evolved just like all of our business businesses
have in this industry she started out her and my dad started out white Walling
tires and pin striping how awesome and those were the two Services they offered
and from their 20 something years my they were in business 21 years they were
in business together they went from they did rag tops they did uh window tent
they did sunroofs they did uh gold plating wood grained dashes you name it
bodyside moldings uh a lot of these things that we don’t even do anymore in South
Carolina too right no Savannah Georgia Savannah Georgia that’s right what was and what’s the name of their shop it
started out was Allen’s Auto Trim okay then it was Auto extras and then yeah
and then it was Stripes Etc and Stripes Etc is still in existence and then my
mom was actually one of the pioneers of P protection film wow and so she was
yeah she’s always had her finger on the pulse as far as what’s hot and what’s
new and next and so that was every year we start we would go to SEMA and she
took me the very first year I was I came into the business and our whole objective every time we went to SEMA was
just to find one product one product that we could bring back and incorporate
into our business and we always said if we could can find one good product then it’ll be worth the trip yeah and so that
was our whole initiative and she saw very early on that paint protection film
was going to be a huge industry and we all got certified sadly her money was not well
spent because I got certified and never touched the car again I was like this is too detail
oriented for me so I I retired myself but my mom she
perfected the craft and she’s been doing paint protection film ever since so her
main business now GeForce films they do vinyl wraps full color change they do
window ENT and they they’re an expell dealer so they do a lot of ppf a lot of
ppf they’re probably the most respected ppf shop in the Southeast what a lineage
to come from that is so I know I grew up I used to go into a restaurant and I
would see a group of guys come in and I would immediately say th those are Car Guys those are car I think it was my mom
she instill for me very early on she’s those guys over there sell cars don’t
mess with them I got asked do you consider yourself a car girl or a car
person by default yeah it by default Josh I think you and I are like this
where we’re it when you grow up in it you just take it for granted I think
yeah I do get excited still I get excited what I get excited about in my
business are my customers and how happy they are because we are bringing them a
service that is enhancing their most prized possession and so to see the joy
that it brings them brings me happiness but I don’t know I don’t know I don’t
dream about cars you can be see Jesse this is you can be in this business and love this
business and not be stupid crazy about cars or I mean I people go oh my gosh
what’s your next car I’m like I hope I never own another car it’s such a pain in the butt getting cars and stuff like
it’s just like I see all these cars I can drive any of them it doesn’t matter I you know Drive Lambos you drive this
you drive that you’re whatever okay it’s nothing yeah I just picked up my dream
car and it I bought it a year and a half ago it’s a 89 Bronco it’s the OJ it’s
the it’s white it’s in great condition and I I picked it up from a shop that I
took it to to have some work on and so I was able to drive it for the first time and you know what I think some of my
excitement was a little you just want to be on TV followed by a bunch of cops and the helicopter looking down on you
that’s what get you excited about that car it’s a 89 okay so it’s not the smoothest ride and I had to drive it
like an hour back from this shop and I was just like I don’t know if I’m about this life or not she drops she takes it
to her shop and she’s okay guys I need heated seats I need a touchscreen with Bluetooth and carplay I need a backup
camera for sure I got to get I need leather I need yeah it’s that’s the problem with the old vintage cars like
that it is an absolute rabbit holes I don’t know we’ll see I’m going to I’m going to fix it up and then I might keep
it I might flip it out so you it it was a family business right and so did you
like how was the transition getting into it and did you ever consider doing something else were you doing other
things maybe pursuing other careers and then you just got sucked in or how did all that happen oh yeah I’ve always been
in the entertainment business in just the entertainment field period I went to performing arts schools all my all
during grade school all the way up into high school I became a dance teacher so I taught for the board of educ a in
Savannah I I I was a dance teacher for three years in a middle school Magnet Middle School I would have probably 100%
been an Entertainer uh if I hadn’t pursued cars and I became a mom really early so my
daughter’s I was pregnant with twins at 21 so I living a starving artist life
would have been okay if it was just me but I was like gota I’ve got to find something I can be flexible with I can
still make money and and my mom was hiring
yeah so I started off with her doing wood grain dashes that was what I was doing wow and I can’t even I look back
now I’m like how did I make a living out of doing wood grain dashes but I sold the hell out of wood grain dashes i b
trim where are you I don’t even know if they in business still is so awful but we did so much wood grain
and starting to do those kits i i i i elevated from doing just the Press on to
the core exchange ones where I had to take apart the dash and replace it and so I was starting to work with tools and
I I started learning how to take things apart and I said I I think I can maybe
do more with this because I’m handy and then I started doing grills and chrome
accessories and things like that and body kits and spoilers and I was all
mobile and I was going to the dealerships doing and installing and and
that was great it it was a really great time because it was a good Hard Day’s
Work and it was good for me yeah but 100% I would have taken a different turn probably had I not had my daughters and
to be honest Jesse she this girl still till just recently W was and still
is a performer she’s still was on the road Stills got chops sing dance
performer Entertainer flying to La flying to New York flying to Chicago
doing shows and then coming back doing Monday through Friday to crush customs and flying out Friday night doing a gig
Friday Saturday Sunday flying back don’t let her fool you she was still one foot in there and one foot in the other I I
was I was for a brief time 2006 I had a friend call me and and say
hey uh MTV is holding auditions for a TV show that they’re doing and and I said
ah I said hey at that honestly at that point I think having twins will make you
fearless and I was like you know what do I have to lose and I hopped on a a
flight and met my friend in DC and stood in line and what do you know I actually
made the auditions got a call back I ended up on making the band if you wow
we’re all going to tell our age if we know wow you were on making the band wow yeah so I went to New York for
a little while and I was there and I was hanging with Diddy and and the whole bad
boy crew and all that it was just such a great experience and but I did that for a while and then I came back and yes and
then I started pursuing music in tandem with paying the
bills through the Auto respelling World yeah and I did that I was doing there
was a time when I first moved to Atlanta I was doing a hundred shows a year and I was I was working for Naji fatou at the
time who was the owner of trim illusion and I I packed up my van on
Monday and and hit the dealerships during the week and on the weekends I was out and I was gigging so I did that
for six years and then I uh took a position where I wasn’t gigging as much
but it was great it’s been great being able to do both because I think what you
do outside of what you do for work I think has just as much an effect on you
as the time you spend at work because it it just really rounds you out makes you whole we all have our passions and I
think you got to still feed those and you now does that how did the Cars and Coffee exposed TV show come into the
into the picture curious yeah so I actually we filmed
ride of your life with Courtney Hansen we did the first installment of that man
we started filming that probably three years ago and then Co happened and we
had break for Co covid Courtney Hansen found me on social media and wanted
another woman to be a part of the show that was in the car business and we’re a
little hard to find but we happened to be right around the corner from her she was in Marietta and so they asked she
asked me to be a part of the show asked Crush to be the interior experts and we did that it was a great great show and
just from my some of my contacts there they knew that Damen Harvey who produces
Cars and Coffee exposed was looking for talent and he called me up and asked me would I be interested and wanted to come
meet me and we hit it off and it’s been great ever since that’s awesome how long so how long total has that show have you
been on that show Let’s see we started filming
probably I don’t know six months ago okay cool okay yeah so pretty recent yeah and
we’re about to start filming season two in January and where can everybody catch
that so it’s on Roku TV it’s on a streaming platform called Power tube
which is a lot of car content Pinks All Out is on there a few other of your favorite car shows and it’s also on
YouTube either one of those stre streaming services and then who knows what for second season we’re hoping we
can get some Partners some networks that might want to offer it so we’re working real hard towards it yeah awesome that’s
great and what I love about that is it’s cars and& coffee is this Grassroots organization that I don’t know if much
about it but anybody can host a Cars and Coffee and it’s it’s all of these shows
all over the nation and and it’s all Community oriented so people do it
because they love cars people for the community and we can go out there and we
could be standing next to a a a Mustang Super Snake and we’re interviewing this
guy about his car and then turned to our left and we’re interviewing somebody about their Toyota
Avalon but it’s all about the stories it’s all about how people love their
cars and the things that they’ve done to them the mods and so again it brings me
back to what my mission is with what I do with crush and everything that I do
that it’s always about people and and just learning their stories and being able to to tell those stories whether it
be through restyling or a television show so do you so would you suggest that
a manufacture or a shop that’s out there or something like that um just go to
cars and& coffee and try to host an event um oh yeah especially if they’re trying to bring some recognition some
brand recognition or things such as that you just cuz they I’m just thinking it could be a shop easily you could host it
at your shop space if it’s a manufacturer host it at your manufacturer space you don’t have to but
just you know get invol and give back to the community that way 100% it’s when
people hear the name they know what it is and they know what to expect and it
the name itself is a draw so I I 100% if if you have the time and the bandwidth
because it is a lot of work it may not be at first a lot of these you got to start somewhere so some of these cars
and coffees though they’re hosting like three to 5,000 cars on on a on a Sunday
wow they are huge events so they get big and you just got to have a team and some
time and some organizational skills and a venue that’s important and and I think
that it’s and one one of the things that I’ve seen that people do is they do it at malls a lot of times like on a Sunday
morning because typically malls won’t open until later on in the day yeah so
you got all this parking space and that that gives people an opportunity to
start in a space where they can also grow there as well that’s great I’d love to um go back in in time a little bit
with you and and through that Journey because we glossed over it really quick and I was wondering if you might be able
to share some of your biggest challenges that you faced in the industry and how you’ve over them I’m sure you’ve seen
some rough spots here and there I oh yeah let’s see how do we Okay
where do you start one big challenge One Challenge is in the
beginning anyway I think being a woman is a
challenge and I think most people in this business would think it comes
really easy because oh you should be able to go in there and just sell anybody anything and
but it’s not it’s I’ve had I remember I was at a Chevy dealership one day trying
to get some business from this sales manager finally got him to say yes I’m
out there putting some Chrome some trimo and Chrome on the truck and this
salesman runs out there and he says I I need you to stop and I was like I just talked to the sales manager and he told
me to and he said no the owner said he do want you to do any work here and a apparently he was had an office that was
above the lot and he saw me which I can only what I know happened at their
conversations later is they saw a pretty girl out there putting on some accessories and so they immediately the
owner thought my sales guy’s just giv her business because she right so um
it’s a lot of that it’s a lot of having to walk in
Challenges & Triumphs
and really overly sell your knowledge about the business about about their
needs and convincing them that you’re more than a cute face but I came in I
tell you when I came into Atlanta Auto Trader used to have strippers going around to
dealerships selling ads not lying yeah that doesn’t help
your cause exactly I came and they had just stopped that when I moved to
Atlanta and I and so I it was it’s just
bad it makes it bad on on on anyone any vendor that’s trying to make their way
honestly in this business to have to come behind and act like that so that’s been a challenge let’s see what else let
me ask you on that real quick do you is it harder do you think to be a sales
woman selling or do you think it’s harder for them to respect you as a business owner because you’re a woman
I think it was harder as a salesperson but what the Assumption was
every time that I walked in a place was that I was a salesperson right I could I can always
see the change in someone’s look and their understanding when they learn that
I own the company and then it’s a different conversation yeah but I even
that has been challenging because there’s always the the good old boy club and one of my big competitors here the
first time I ever met him I was standing in a dealership waiting to talk to the the management staff and he looked over
at me and he said what do you do and and I said I I do chrome accessories and he
said these guys are never going to do business with you I play poker with all these guys they’re never going to do
anything with you and I was just like and I didn’t know anybody and I I walked out and I
left I was like you know probably right but so you deal with that it’s
also very challenging when you’re dealing with people that don’t play fair
yeah people that are paying for the business yeah I grew up in this business
so I was always taught that you don’t pay sales managers if it’s okay with the
owner you can SPI you can do whatever as long as you have the okay of the owner
but that’s the quickest way to burn a bridge for life owner finds out you’re
paying people under the table and and that happens so regular regularly and
you know it when you’re offering a service you’re offering better service than your competitor you just can’t get
through to them and you and I’ve had dealers that were three miles down the road that wouldn’t do business with me
and I know why because you’re getting paid and it’s and that’s challenging it’s really tough I think that’s I think
you bring up a good point because that is a horrible part of our business when we’re trying to grow the professionalism
of our businesses and this industry and this whole payto playay thing now I
agree that you can have let’s say a competition or maybe you offer a hey you get it verified by the owner dealer
principal saying hey I’d like to give a gas card for an order this month or whatever but that ongoing under the
table pay to play it’s I’ve always given the analogy it’s like feeding a wild animal and once you feed that wild
animal guess what every time you look out the back door guess who’s there it’s that stupid animal again that you’ve
just fed and he’s showing up at your door and then what happens is these guys they show yeah and then they go to
another dealership and then they ruin that dealership because they show up like a wild animal again it’s just so
bad and once you get in it’s so hard to get out of it and I think what you’re doing is the right thing is try to be
the hey we do business a different way we do business above board you’re never going to have to worry about me doing
under the table illegal against government yeah it’s so weird I had an
experience and because I I would tell people like look if you have a customer that you’ve already sold a car to and
they want something and you refer them I don’t have a problem with that all day long it’s not in the deal we can I will
compensate you and I had that happen at a dealership and this is I was doing
wood grain I this lady traded in a Jag for a Honda and she had no wood wood
shrim and she had she wanted wood shrimp the dealership wanted no parts of it they
were like we don’t want that in our car in our cars and we don’t want that I was like okay that’s fine salesperson sold
the car he knew his customer still wanted this wood grain Dash and so he
set it up outside of the deal she paid me directly and the guy hounded me for
however it wasn’t long so I I I showed up at the dealership with a check for him because I didn’t think I it was
anything wrong with what I did and someone saw me G give him an envelope
and the manager called me and he said hey the sales manager called me and he
said hey uh GM saw you paying the salesperson and he doesn’t want you to
ever come back to this dealership again and if you come back we’ll arrest you or we’ll call the police and I was like
here I am like Miss play it safe and trying to do everything above board and
still got kicked out of that dealership it cost me a lot of money I was doing a
lot of business with their their used car I was cut off from everything I cried bald crying my car but even that
even when you do things right it’s gez it’s a sensitive subject because these guys have been burned they’ve been
burned by wholesalers it’s it’s the culture and so trying to show people how to do business
different and gain their trust and I will say I think it’s I’m just feeling
it now where I’m starting to get I feel like the respect that I deserve right
because I’ve been around for so long yeah so that’s the other thing it’s okay this person’s been around they’re safe I
know they’re going to be there tomorrow if I have a problem they’re going to fix it and so that’s helped that’s helped
with that for sure it sounds like that was almost like a failure in a sense but not because you had a lot of learning
and growth from it that that phase I’m sure a couple of those and pretty soon after getting kicked in the teeth you
you learn and you start doing things even more above board maybe or or differently right I don’t know how I
could have done I obviously didn’t think I was doing anything wrong because I came in there with yeah but who knows
it’s just a it’s just a testament to how sensitive some of these managers are and
some of these owners are to any type of incentive and it we just got to make
sure we communicate with the management or the owners to make sure that we’re above boards and get in in writing maybe
so and so I have a question how did Crush Customs come about like specifically and the name and it’s cool
brand I just want to know how did you come up with that and what was the transition from the old to the new the
family business and so I yeah so I left family business in ‘ 09 moved to Atlanta
I moved to Atlanta really because music Still pursuing that and I moved to
Atlanta with SCS trims which would become trim Illusions so at that time
Naji was partners with Mike and Sal Ary which I had known for years and I I kept
telling them like I really want to move to Atlanta and they wanted to expand the business and they wanted to get their
product out and so I I started with a truck full inventory and that’s how I
came to Atlanta so I did that until 2013 and just noticing what the trends
were with dealers I felt like with accessories it was it was like a
something extra that it really didn’t need that to sell a car and I wanted to get into the business of providing
dealers with things that they actually needed that would actually add real
value to these vehicles and I felt like that was uh the best direction to head
and in 2013 we got our first brick and mortar and fresh Customs was I just it
was actually my husband and I we started together on the road he would he would
drive the van I would make phone calls we’d go into a dealership I’d go on a
lot make my list go to the dealer dealer would approve the list if we were doing
accessories we I would drop them off with Kurt Kurt would install the accessories I would go to the next
dealer with my list we would like rinse and repeat and we wanted something at
the time it was the two of us male and female I wanted the cover the colors to
express the boy girl thing so that’s why it’s blue and pink and Crush was just a
cool name and I kept thinking like if we want to put a if we want to put our logo on the back of a car what would be cool
and I wanted it to be something that that people could be proud of and you didn’t want it to be auto accessories
Inc that wasn’t cool enough ABC am
yeah yeah and I was also thinking about the brand too in the sense that like I
said earlier with how trendy it is and how much it’s changed even from when I’ve been in the business that I wanted
it to be a I didn’t want it to specify exactly what we did because I knew the brand could grow into different
directions if Crush Customs decided to start making bikes that it it would
still be under the crush umbrella so I just was thinking big and thinking like
okay I wanted a name that I could stick with no matter what direction we went into so what was the first employee you
hired was it a technician was it yes first was uh our office manager and she
is still with me uh to this day um then let’s see uh it was uh a 12volt guy 12vt
guy so then you started getting into 12v uhhuh yep and actually let me run that
back no I did I I I I did hire a friend of mine and she was with me for a while
she was in school at the time she need some flexible single mom I was like look this would be perfect for you you can
work whenever you want to and you can make your paycheck because she was commission so she did that for a while
and then my 12 go my 12vt guy and then yeah and then our first leather installer so that was who we started out
with yeah awesome wow yeah and it’s just and now they do full lifts and wheels
and real good high-end audio and everything they did a car for pro cup
challenge what was that two years ago I think right two or three years ago tell your ride that just was beautiful
beautiful probably should have won no offense to whitesman but yeah but this
thing turned out it was just it was so creative and the just the quality of the work was just unbelievable it was very
good very well done thank you Josh thank do you remember remember what you did on that specifically on that car you guys
remember what kinds of accessories were ated it was the orange leather that got me you had me at Orange hello yeah
during that time it was so hard to get cars for that challenge we were scrambling so I had a
dealer that was willing to let me use or give me one of the cars off the lot but
it was a tell you ride at that time the tell you rides were like crazy just flying off the sh
and so we were able to finally get it but we got it very last minute and we did we actually there wasn’t a leather
kit for that vehicle correct yeah there was not a leather kit so what we did was
we stripped all the interior and we sent it off to Aaliyah and Aaliyah patterned
it for us and sewed it and sent it back and then we did a a few custom hand sewn
stuff from the shop we did interior lighting we did a lift k kit on it we did a luggage rack that was really cool
and we did a really neat wrap it wasn’t a it wasn’t a total wrap we wrap the hood but we did a really cool graphic
and it was in the shape of mountains to reflect tell you ride in Colorado and it
was just a really it was a oneof a kind it was really special and yeah we just
wanted to let our creative Juices Flow and do something a little different it was a little out of the box and
everybody said I don’t know that would orange interior would fly over anywhere but
Atlanta but but it just showed it showed me what could be done even with other
pieces other than leather the dash the steering wheel the lighting that you guys did it it opened my eyes and I I
don’t know why I always have these fireworks so great these firor awesome that’s so cool I don’t know why why why
does my computer I on this Mac while and fireworks go off I think it’s maybe when I say something something really and you
can see they never go off except for maybe one time during the show but I
want to I want to I want to ask you why are you involved you’re now what you’re about three or four years into Sema Pro
being on the select committee one of the main select committee members you’ve obviously been around in that for a
while what is it that why do you get involved why do you volunteer why are you engage with Sema
Pro I think it’s definitely one of my my
motivation is knowing how challenging the business is and knowing that there’s
an organization that is dedicated to helping people with their challenges
helping shops stay in business and just upping the game it’s hard business is
hard I say every day I’m like there’s easier ways to make money true very true
every day is a challenge every day we’re I’ve become an expert Problem Solver and
and and I told my team the other I’m tired of learning hard lessons I I want some easy lessons Okay because I am over
this I feel like sometimes I feel like I when they say what’s your title I’m the head janitor because all we do is clean
up messes it’s like Isle 9 and then it’s like aisle six aisle five yeah right
I wish I could turn my camera around so you could see the back of my computer I have a label maker and I wrote on the
back of my computer so when anyone’s sitting across from me this is what they see it says did you Google it yeah did
before you ask me did you Google it okay because you’ve been doing your job for
13 years and I do not know how to do your job
but I could find with a quick Google search I’m sure uh but yeah it’s so
challenging and so for me I feel like it if I I can help people from having to
make hard or learn hard lessons or if I can learn from other people’s I don’t
have to make hard lessons and finding out what works for
other people and I think that’s what’s so interesting the i’ I’ve visited quite
a few shops of some the Sema Pro members
and it’s just mindblowing how EV it’s done so differently from place to place
and so I use those resources to compare what other people are doing to find out
okay is this something I can bring to my market is this something that I can that will work better for me
differently and and so it’s been helpful for me as on that end just the learning
as aspect and it’s just really nice to know I can call people and ask them what
I think are maybe D questions sometimes I’m learning every day and so it really
it’s helped me on my journey and if I can do that for someone else then I want to be available for that and Pro is
fortunate to have somebody like yourself with your experience and then you’re also your drive to be able to be one of
the main voices for our industry keep up the good work there thank you thank you Josh thank you for answering the phone
whenever I call and just for instance with Josh with the
with our our app now that we have our configurator thanks to Josh I would have
never even known about that had it not been for Sema Pro and that’s been
invaluable for us you I I love walking into dealerships and taking and saying
hey go to the App Store download our app and I love the fact that I don’t have to drop off price list anybody anymore we
came from I came from the days of every everybody wanted a binder oh I hate
binders oh my God will you make me a binder oh oh my God I I I hate it it C
and I would go into dealerships two three weeks after I visited and gave him my book and go back
and my book’s gone why because my competitor stole it yeah yeah I got to
tell you a funny story one of my one of my reps this was like three months ago she comes to me we had our weekly and
she goes hey I’ve got a guy and he says he wants a binder and I said she’s only
been with me a year so she doesn’t know what a binder is I said here’s exactly what you want to tell him now write this down Josh says if you want a binder he
doesn’t want you as one of our customers now I knew the guy so it was okay but I said now go back to him and tell him
exactly that and he texted me very funny I downloaded your app I was like don’t ever ask for a binder he was just trying
to get her out of the store I think but regardless I was like we will never deliver a binder again in my life never
I’m sick of 3M making all the money on binders listen and I right before I did
probably about a year before I I got the configurator I was walking around with I
I spent a lot of money on a really nice it was like a portfolio it was like this
big it was because I’m my goal is always to be different how can I bring this how can I make this different how can I make
this something that is is just cooler is better than what’s out there and so I
did I invested oh my god I’ve probably invested like $6,000 when it from design
to print everything it was beautiful but I was so glad to not ever have to do
that again oh that’s never again but they
love it and that’s such a it’s we’ve we’ve just made it such an integral part of our sales presentation we come in
because what I’ve always emphasized with this business is how to bring value back to what we do
and salale with salespeople they were used to be really good at selling accessories and making
profit right and then we moved into this internet age and then we moved into
these people aren’t sales people they’re product Specialists they’re making flat rate
some of them off of selling cars you think they’re going to care about selling your accessories it’s so I’m
always trying to to show people how crush is bringing value to what to to
what they’re doing and the configurator helps us do that because they can see
those wholesale prices and then they see the MSRP and a lot of times we’ll walk into
dealerships and we’ll tell the managers we’ll say hey look you can get all of your salespeople to download this but
you don’t have to give you don’t have to put any pricing on it like you don’t have to give them access to pricing you
can just save that for yourself and when they pin the deal then you figure out whatever it is but when you go to the
MSRP prices these are retail prices and I’m giving you this information because that is what you should be getting
because that’s what I’m getting because I have a retail side of my business and I have a whole sale set of my business
and I know my retail customers will pay a premium all day long nobody expects
for things to be cheaper at a dealership so that’s already in their mind but the
Comfort the convenience is there they can tie it into the deal if they want to tie it into their financing the comfort
of knowing might not know Crush tust but I know this dealership but they should without a doubt be making
money so we use that as a part of what we’re selling and guess what when you do
that and you show people what value you’re adding then they’re not going to necessarily nickel and DME you right
somebody was telling me because we’ve been really we’re going to have we’re going to go up on our pricing again we
just had a price increase a few months ago and we’ve been figur trying to
figure out how to be creative with making that at soften the blow a little
bit and I had I forget who I was talking to but there probably a pro member but
they were saying that they did something where they did like Leathers they would do 10 for a dealership and their tenth
is if they did 10 within a month their 10th was free and I I thought that was cool
because and what they said also was it really helped cut down on people asking for discounts yeah you we have an
incentive see that’s a really how many have you sold that’s a really good point and I was going to ask you a question
and I think this leads right into it which is I was going to ask you how are you navigating all the challenges of the
supply chain issues and the dealership inventory issues and the economy in general and how it’s affected your
business and I think you just gave one example of that or how else are you dealing with all that right now
so it’s getting better we’re very fortunate to have some really great Partners we never I
don’t think even during covid we ever had problem problems getting Cat
Skin never yeah they were on it we
didn’t have sunroofs we didn’t really that’s almost like why we focus so hard
on our interior at the times this was it was what we could
get yeah and it was like hey let’s run with this because what we have and let’s put some
lipstick on this pig and it it hasn’t so it it’s getting better prices have gone
up considerably I told my salesperson the other day because again we’re discussing all these price increases and
it just blows my mind how dealers just how much has a car increase in price since before Co
right but for some reason they think that everything for us has stayed the same but I I told her I said we should
go we should make like a really simple brochure and then put 20 20 21 price of
eggs $3 23 cost of eggs nine
$7 price of Chevy Silverado and and then put price of leather and again
developing these relationshipss with dealers when you have an issue like we
had a Silverado we got sent the wrong kit three times wasn’t our fault I won’t say
whose it was but three times and it was a dealership vehicle and we had to go back to that dealership three times and
say it’s wrong again and thankfully because we’ve kept our promises in the
past and we’ve met our deadlines whenever we could that I think people
are a little bit more understanding but yeah I do think it’s shifted a little bit Josh because wow yeah I’ve
experienced that and it’s it just the surveys and the and all of that but
again if you just do a really good job communicating to that customer if there’s even an inkling that you might
not have a part when you’re supposed to have it we communicate that to the customer and say yeah just let them know
hey I’m going to pick this up on Monday I’m shooting for Tuesday but it may be Wednesday when I
get no where do you see the industry going in the future what’s your I know you don’t have a crystal ball but if you
did what do you think is going to be changing and happening and in the next few years and
Beyond I think I think we’re gonna have a big opportunity with not necessarily
restoration but repair restyling in the in this in the the used car sector
because I think especially on the retail end where people aren’t willing to pay
what new car prices are now so instead they’re bringing us in we like today we
just finished a a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was totally it was really gross it
was a 2014 so it’s 9 years old almost 10 years old so rightfully so uh it it
looked pretty trash and we were able to for $4,000 come it’s it’s a brand new
car it’s amazing yeah and seat belts were gross we replaced the seat belts we
we did the seats over and uh door panel center console so I think there’s a lot
of opportunity there and then gauging too with like the Social Media stuff I I do all of our social media constantly on
there monitoring insights and what people are responding to how many times people share a post I pay
real close attention to that so that gives me kind of an idea about what
people’s interests are so I see a lot of that I think we have a big opportunity and Apple car plays with cars that don’t
Evolution & Trends
have the newer technology things like that I think there’s going to be a big opportunity yeah that’s awesome hey
thank you so much for being on today this is great how does how do people learn more about you and your companies
and and do they get a hold of you what are your websites let us know where you prefer to send
people absolutely crush customs.com is our website and we also have a feed with
all of our social media on there we have a crawler if you want to if you’re not on Instagram but you want to take a look
at what we’re doing via social media you can look at it through the website you can also visit us on Instagram Tik Tok
and it’s Crush Customs ATL and and watch Cars and Coffee exposed and we’re
starting to film season two of ride of your life with Courtney Hansen on Motor Trend we just started filming that lots
of ways you can connect and we would love to hear from all of you and shops I am open you got if anybody has any
questions they want to call see what’s working what’s not working I’m here I would love to help in any way I
can awesome all right you guys thank you so much
absolutely thank you guys have a great
day and there you have it another high octane episode of the ride in style podcast revved up and ready to go your
hosts Jesse Stoddard and Josh pson shifted your Automotive game into
overdrive if you’re hungry for more insights Trends and gamechanging interviews from the automotive restyling
Universe don’t forget to hit subscribe and leave a glowing review we’d also love love for you to share this podcast
with your Gearheads installers and auto lovers Network because remember knowledge is power but shared knowledge
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business cruise on over to autostyle marketing.com your One-Stop shop for Everything Automotive
marketing until next time keep those Wheels spinning and your passion ignited thank you for riding in style with us
see you on the next lap
