Kevin what what makes you and integrity Customs unique I think
consistency I mean if if I had if I had just pushed one button on all consistency we try to be consistent in
how we respond to our customers how we treat our customers I mean it it’s Integrity is in our
words welcome to the ride and style podcast your turbocharged pit stop for
automotive restyling buckle up with Jesse and Josh
[Music] welcome to another episode of the ride in style podcast I’m excited today for
Introduction & Background
episode 11 with Kell Gil Kevin Gillis excuse me of Integrity custom Customs Kevin I’m Tongue Tied I’m so excited to
see it thanks for being here today well thank you yeah great to have you man I I was just I was just looking at Kevin and
I’m sitting there thinking he first of all if I was in Tulsa Oklahoma right now or Oklahoma City like he’s in I would
not have a sweatshirt on I mean come on it’s winter time does I mean where do
you guys do you guys pick up with like in your products do you guys pick up with like heated seats remote starts
this time of year definitely so people in the South buy that stuff huh yes Yes
actually uh it’s it’s cold I mean for us it’s today is it feels like 47 but it’s
so that’s cold it feels like hey with humidity I mean that’s
important in Oklahoma it’s uh but this we’ve had a mild winter so far and I’m
happy with that I can’t believe it’s warmer there Kevin it’s warmer it’s 45 degrees here in my
area Seattle wow shocker and raining and raining oh man no it is not raining it
is not raining we have sunshine today actually so that’s that’s good uh well I was excited to have Kevin on I mean
Kevin does you know so much for the industry and he’s been around the industry so long Kevin you know I know I
well you’re not old we’re not going to even go there I am old I am old when did did you get started what year did you
get started so I walked into the very first shop and in August of
1983 1983 what what was shop uh sunrof of Oklahoma sun and what
did you what were you doing were you installing were you selling they wanted me to computerize their business they uh
the owner at that time had just bought a brand new IBM PC for
$6,500 and data printer and you turned it on and all it did was Flash at you
and I just came out of a computer programming School thought I knew everything so I wrote a program to
computerize his business so we were doing invoices and we were doing all that stuff slowly putting it together um
and then shortly after we actually got it up running a company called control C came out with a much better program than
mine and within six months I was extend so but I loved the business so I stayed
I became a Salesman actually so tell us about that tell us more about that background and that Journey before and
into Auto restyling how did all that how did all that work that sounds interesting you know I’m not a car guy
yay oh no sorry all of our all of our listeners yeah Josh can understand that
I love cars and uh I’ve always had a multiple cars I’ve never was that big in
working on them or experimenting with them not a mechanic I don’t like to smell of gas I don’t like to smell of
oil I don’t like getting dirty but I enjoy the Dynamics that the
even at that point in time because back then we were more of a um really a order
taking business we we weren’t quite the value added industry that we are today
because we were feeling a need for dealerships a lot of electronics cruise controls rear run of defrosters electric
windows door locks and it really wasn’t until we got into the simulated
convertible tops in the late ’90s that we started going out to deers ships and actually restyling cars and putting cars
on the lot now keep in mind we’re in Oklahoma so we’re always behind times
but it was at the late 90s is when we started going out and putting similar convertible tops on Cadillacs and then
the 98 town car came out and it just like took off from there and so we actually started going out to doers ships and adding stock Unix and and
having you know 15 to 20 cars setting on on the Lots so they can so we became a
value added company at that point in time and we ran with that and I think we still run with that uh today an EXT the
thing that we’ve lost over the last three years is we’re back in the value ad business and that’s the thing we need
to stress for 2024 in the restarting businesses we are a value added business
and we had to uh take our lumps the last three years and it wasn’t easy but like
I said I celebrated 40 years in this business last year and I can tell you the only thing I know for sure about
this business is it’s not easy um it’s full of challenges but it’s rewarding in
so many different ways than other buses so did you so were you guys doing sunroofs I mean the name of the company
was Sun Oklahoma sunroof yeah so we were doing the old ASC sunroof where you cut the cut the roof out then you had to
spot weld the tri you know so that’s why we got in the viny top business because you had to grind the paint off and then
you spot routed the inner ring in and then put the reveal moding on well you
had to repaint top of the car if you weren’t careful so we discovered if you put Bal Tops on you have to repaint
Top’s car so by the way here comes a free simulated convertible top with a with your right why not you know and so
that’s what kind of led us into the vinyl top business and that grew and became um NG Classics changed our our
world back then did you uh did you do gold packages yes so I bought the first
gold plated machine in the state of Oklahoma way back in 1992 at
SEMA and brought it back it was just a brush Tech Machine in a box had two leads that came out of it and that’s all
you got and then they would send you a bottle of purple gold gel the gold that
like potassium Cyanide and then you had to have sulfuric acid and all this other stuff
and yeah so here here’s a funny tid B what did tell everybody what you paid for that uh little uh what what was it
like a 16 oun bottle of gold uh yeah what was it back then 300 bucks
something like that maybe not even that much yeah yeah have you priced it recently oh no yeah I do they even still
do that yeah you can buy it uh it’s it’s about $1,500 yeah man but no it was
interesting we we did all kinds of different um uh designs we we built
tanks so we could dip our grills and wow I wasn’t insane yeah it was insane you
Challenges & Triumphs
you mentioned challenges earlier what were some of the biggest challenges that you faced in the industry and how did
you overcome them and get past all that you know the one common challenge has always been the same that it is
today uh installers but the reason it’s such a big challenge now
is when we when I first started in this business we were in the cool factor of
the world we would have young men come out of high School skip boat tag skip
all that walk right into our our front door and want to work for us I it was so cool uh we used to do t-tops we did
Target tops we did ground effects we didn’t lift anything we lowered everything in those days and these guys
just wanted to come and work and it was just the the the amount of things that
we did and it was just they just fell in love with it and uh that that cool
Factor has gone away a little bit I think that’s one of the ch we have now is how do we get that back into a
Workforce um you because my Workforce like everybody else is getting a little
older you know I 20 years ago my average a my shop was probably 24
25 uh I I I got a guy getting ready tired in 60 61 the same as I a giant so
wow so do you so after sun Oklahoma what you
do so they moved me to Oklahoma City of all places where I am sitting today and
we opened a second store and we we grew that store from uh
84 into 8888 they decided to split ways had some
financial problems so Bank came and got them and I walked down and walked in for
$155,000 bought everything I wanted moved down the street opened up started installing sunroofs and tops the very
next day and what was the name of your um sunus unlimited so I kind of stole
from their I had a car my business cards I’ve got them somewhere I have a business card that’s orange and white
which is weird since I’m know you fan but they were orange I had a sunrof in the car and had a giraffe out of it and
so we bought these big giraffes and I was it was it was corny but you know back then you had to do something be you
know we didn’t have social media be membered by so we did that and we did all the fairs and every Auto Show and
everything you can think of I sold that company in 91 moved back home after I had my first uh son and went to work for
a guy that uh he bought the Tulsa location from the same company and I worked for him for a while and then
started my own again and then yeah just in and out it’s like can’t get can’t get
it out of my blood so what did you love and dislike about owning your own
shop you know honestly I don’t think I ever disliked
anything because it’s uh can I give you a list no I’m joking ex I because what I’ve recognized
and and I say I’m not a car guy I’m not and even though I love this industry and I’ve spent almost my whole career in
it it’s what I fell in love with was small business so I really feel like I
probably walked into any small business in 1983 and fell in love with it I had the right
people I had the right mentors the man that hired me is still alive uh bill is
probably and he’s got of being his late 80s now but I still run into him occasionally me and him did some we sold
the first cell phone in the state of Oklahoma uh I mean you know so we’ we’ve shared some things and done some things
that and so I’ve had some unbelievable mentors in my life and I don’t know if I
would have found those if I wouldn’t have been in distance industry MH but what I love is small business I like
having employees that can come in and talk to me I like dealing with them on a daily basis uh it is stressful it to
wear you out sometimes but man there’s just there’s something about I and and I and you can say well yeah you spent your
whole life doing it you know I I took a three-year Hiatus and went to work for Classic Soft Trim okay and you know who
became roadwire yep and I’ve got nothing bad to say about Classic Soft Trim but
that corporate world was not for me I mean I I just I did not I did not deal
with it very well I I couldn’t make decisions couldn’t make decisions for my employees uh the red tape just all the
stuff that goes with a major corporation I just it darn near run me I I when I
left that company I was I was really done I I’d never been pushed to that point of frustration well you can tell
you’re you bleed small business which is I’m sure oh I do I do when did you go back to when did you go to Integrity
then um yeah it’s so when I left classic I
decided to go become a school teacher so I went back and finished my college degree at 44 and at age 50 I became a fifth grade
teacher but the whole time so Integrity is owned by Joe hair I hired
Joe when he was 19 or 20 as a driver for my shop and he became a a leather
installer when I worked at class of sofm had a branch he was my CRM and he had an
opportunity to start a business I was kind of done he started integrity and so I’ve always been
involved with him I’ve always helped him I’ve worked for him on Summers just different things but I did I did leave
the industry for a short period of time and taught fifth grade for five years so what so what’s worse a fifth
grade class coming high off of a sugar rush at lunch or installers at about 4:00 when they’re
anxious to go home on a Friday what’s worse probably the installers yeah yeah
especially T remote star guys and I hope they oh yeah their their their level of drama is is above and beyond any fifth
grader and and really I would have maybe still be teaching if me and Joe wouldn’t have just had that one lunch one day
that convinced us to get back together it was the the parents I just
couldn’t handle the parents I love the little kids I I I they were great but yeah I had I had parents sitting in
front of me that could be my kids you know because like I said I was 52 53 and
I just I was just looking at him like oh I I can’t do this you I felt like I was teaching their kid and raising them so
you mentioned that the meeting that you had that lunch the one lunch where you guys decided to work together what what
happened there did did he come to you you know it’s really interesting it was really interesting we started um like I
said we’ve always been close and uh I I I treat Joe like he’s my fifth son um I
mean I love the man I mean literally like like a son and he had found a
really tough time in his business didn’t have a mentor I couldn’t be there all
the time and so he got introduced to Josh Elliott at autox and him and Josh
started talking and if you know them they get along pretty well they kind of the same demeanor and Josh invited him to come
out go out to San Francisco to join Ru so Joe called me and said hey I need
some help because he not he’s even today he’s not the best in front of public and he’s still a quiet person he’s like I
don’t know how to talk to these people so we just kind of spent like a month or so just kind of prepping for that and so
what they did is it made him realize hey he needs somebody around that he can really trust that he can put you know go
on vacation and the business is there when he comes back and it made me realize how much I missed the business
MH and so he went out and he was successful became a uh member of Ru and
next thing I know is in Chicago at their next meeting and here we are today so so I guess I didn’t realize you were that
new back coming back to the business when we met you in Chicago okay yeah i’ had been back maybe maybe not even six
months oh okay gotcha man you act like I mean you have been doing it for 40
years but you had that little stall in there for uh teaching you know kudos to
you for being willing to teach that’s a tough industry it’s it’s yeah but it’s man
what a need what a need H we need people like me in the teaching but uh you gotta pay people you know yeah yeah I got my I
got my first uh contract I signed my first teaching contract and uh my yearly pay was
$31,200 I got paid monthly I got my first check my wife looked at it and
thought so H how often do you get paid I’m like once a month She’s Like H okay
I guess I’ll stay in the military yeah I’m thinking H yeah so you don’t know
you’re you know Cindy who is the uh I’m not gonna say better half but I’ll let you say it but for sure you know Cindy
is a captain right yep captain in the military captain in the military pharmacist at a Indian Hospital
in the pharmacy and yeah yeah it’s been an interesting
um been interesting I mean not a career we ever thought she’d be in T and it’s been good for us yeah it’s been amazing
for us I know some other things about you Kevin that I’d love you to share with our listeners uh you also you’re
family man we just touched on that and um you also are involved with some philanthropy and raising funds for
charity uh can you talk about that just a little bit too
H that could be a uh a long conversation uh it it I was raised by a mom that was
charity was always first my mom literally gave everything to people when
they needed it she was just amazingly amazingly a a just genuine person so
it’s always been in me and I’ve always volunteered I’ve always I used to be a check writer so if my heart kind of
fluttered I would stop the flutter by my mind agent and I write a check and I feel good about myself and so for years
we just wrote checks to you know and we would send checks off and who knows where the money went you know about
eight years ago me and Cindy sat down and we decided we’re going to pull all our money back in and we’re going to start investing in our own
backyard and so there’s a few places we send our money to still but I would say 80% of everything we do is in Tulsa
Oklahoma the rest is in Oklahoma and there’s some that Outreach just fess that because I
think if we take care of our backyard and everybody took care of the backyard we we’d be much better off and so that
was our commitment so we started searching out local charities that we could work with and I went to a golf
tournament for a charity called Little Lighthouse it’s a school for special needs kids and a um it it’s just the day
I walked in the door it’s like yeah Heaven is Real This this is I just had a
feeling of Peace in me that was Unreal and I started volunteering and doing things and what it made me realize is I
have two sons I have four Sons I have two born with birth defs it’s been a long journey between my two sons they
probably had 50 plus surgeries and it’s it’s been a long and
I realized that I had never dealt with that I’d never really I just kept all
that emotion inside me and my wife just did what we had to do every day and then I start listening to his parents and
start realizing that you know I’d taken care of it up here and mentally I was in
good shape but my heart still hurt and and I always felt lucky because my wife’s
always had a great job I’ve had a great job we got a great family we always had insurance so a lot of the frustrations
and struggles we went through we didn’t have to just because of our dynamics of our family and so always felt like well
I don’t really have a story to tell and then when I started listening to these parents and and all of a sudden I’m like
oh my gosh I I know exactly how they feel I know how much that hurts I know what it’s like to give a 10-week old
baby over to a doctor to have a surgery and you don’t know what the outcome’s going to be I know that that pain I know
that anxiety and so it gave me a place to share and to start really getting in
touch with that and next just grown into relationships that
I I I I can imagine that some of these families have taken me and Cindy in and
let us be part of their kids’ lives you know when you got a little 5-year-old with dson that walks in the door and he
can say mama he can say Dad Dad he can say sis and he can say Kevin I mean that’s awesome you know
that that you know and but that’s what it that’s the essence of of volunteering
and reaching out it’s not about how big a check you can write it’s not about you know all the time it’s it’s when you
have time give it wholeheartedly put everything you’ve got into it and uh
yeah it’s an old cliche I never believe it but the more you give the more you
get and there is no doubt that me and Cindy have been able to give
more money more time to more people
and we’re we’re better off is that is that why joining like Sema Pro and
volunteering your time for that and other things with SEMA is that why that was a no-brainer for you you know and
and this is interesting I’m glad you asked me that because the no-brainer came from the five years I spent
teaching fifth graders made me realize how important education is and
how important teaching and training and and we don’t have that in
our industry you know at least in my eyes we didn’t have that in our industry
until actually I went out and started I’d gone to a SEMA show just to see all the new stuff and and that started
getting boring because everybody’s being bought up by all these companies you just it’s just a different feel now I
think the show this year was great I loved it I think the networking is is better than it’s ever been um but part
of that is now is you have to be out there a little more you have to be more educated and and be willing to step out
and really start building relationships with people on a different level of just buying now now the relationship building
with Fina is so much different than just being a buyer and someone being a vendor to sell to you and so I think I walked
back into that thought of like we we need to be better at educating people about our products about what we do the
value that we add and then I walk in and discover that I can be on a board uh and
have the ear of of people within our industry like yeah that was like Wow hard to believe you know I me I went
to my first SEMA show in 1988 and took me till what 98 to realize
there was something more than the show yeah I mean well I I think you’re not
alone there a lot of people including myself went to the show for years and years and years not realizing there was
education seminars you could go to that there was networking events that there was volunteer opportunities where you
can have a voice in the industry so you know obviously getting somebody like you has really helped out seem a pro what
where do you think I mean you so in case you don’t know Kevin is the chairel
which means uh you’re six months in now right uh and you got another year and a half uh before you take over the Reigns
as chair for two years and then you’ll fall into that you’ll fall in I know I
remember how it happened I I know I know how that happened he’s on my screen right now looking at him no no no we we
everybody wanted the best man for the job so and you were voted in so uh thank you for your willingness to do that but
you know what if you were to encourage people to maybe they don’t have the volunteer Spirit like you’ve had in the
past with the you know experiences you’ve had what would you say to somebody if they’re in the industry and
they had maybe an hour a month that they could give back how do they get
involved I and you know you would think today in today’s world the way we are we we would it’d be just a
no-brainer but that what we value our time now or what people younger than me
value the time Maks greater than we used to um and so each hour of their day they
they put a higher value on it and and I’m and I don’t always understand it but
what I’m starting to see in people that are in our industry that’s wanting to make a difference and wanting to grow in
this industry they just need to know that they can add value and by volunteering for SEMA and
and taking the time wh whether you actually want to become part of the the the committee and be on the council or
just be on a task force you you need to be involved because the one thing I realized this year more than I ever have
in my life is when SEMA started it started because there was a threat to a
small group of guys that had a hobby that wanted it to continue to grow and
there was a threat for that to be taken away way there’s always been government regulations and so they decided to fight
if you look up today in 2024 that threat’s still there the threat is still real and there’s people
every day that are getting up to try to figure out how we can change the we styling world how we don’t modify cars
how we don’t make these changes and if we really want to deal with that
we’re going to have to have that same ambition and that same effort that they had 60 years ago
go and we have to get involved and we’re going to have to realize that the threat is there and it’s bigger now it’s got a
bigger voice because we are bigger and we have a bigger footprint so those
people aren’t going away they’re always going to be dogging at us the orig looking at us we have to and the reason
I do is because I want the Young Guns out there that are bringing
new ideas and new things to this industry I want them to look up at 61 years old and realize this industry is
still here but they’re going to have to be involved they’re going to have to support they’re going to have to take
one of their hours a month and invest it so in 60 years they can be doing a
podcast or whatever they’re doing then and realize that their industry is is still here because the threat is real I
mean if if we don’t if we don’t fight if we’re not part of SEMA if we’re not going out every day and making sure they understand what we do why we do it um it
could be taken away and that’s real how has the industry changed since you
Evolution & Trends
first got involved you talked a little bit about that but tell me more and and where do you where what how what has changed and where do you see it going
where do you see the future for for restylers the industry
is it’s not as broad as it used to be it’s a little more
narrow we have um we don’t near the the products I
think some of the some of the uh like 12vt industri is more difficult now simulate in veral tops I talked about is
you know it’s gone away um but we always going to be there and I think where we have to really start focusing again is
value added I me we restylers we’re a value added business we add value to customers
experience to the dealer experience I mean to be real we we don’t sell things
that are needed uh you know and we’re in an industry you don’t need to go buy a new
car if you do and everybody just had to buy cars when they need them Ford was to
make a malet and there’d be none of this C it wouldn’t be all this that going on but
people go and they want to buy a car and then they want to accessorize it and they want to modify it and they want to
personalize it and so we serve that need and we have to to take
responsibility for that and make sure that that we’re we’re respecting that
process and we do that by making sure our dealerships understand how we add value
that’s the essence of you know and I think the reason we have to stress that is because what the time period we just
came out of and Josh you probably know this as well as I do we were in a a a
value added world and then once the inventory went away Co happened all
those things that you know are going to follow us in history forever we kind of became a order taking business you know
dealers dealers called us when they needed us when we were going out there trying to do what we do it’s like
they’re like we have 27 cars on the lot that’s all we have well we we couldn’t say they didn’t we couldn’t I mean it
was obvious and so we we accepted that role of of taking orders so what we had focused on now 24
is restylers is that let’s not talk about 19 2019
numbers I’m so tired of hearing about that I’m so tired of hearing like well 24 we’re gonna get back to 2019
numbers is that really our goal is to be at numbers that we were at four years ago is that really I I don’t understand
that goal I I want to go backwards yeah 23 was a a a real year I I felt 23 was
as normal as it’s going to be the only thing we need to compare to is 23 we need to focus 24 needs to be
better than 23 that’s how we’ve always done this business I never looked back and thought Oh man 2007 was great no I
just need to be better than 23 I don’t need to worry about what my 2019 numbers were my 20 numbers 23 we need to move
forward and and realize the value that we now add because our value now is much
bigger than it’s ever been as they DEC contented cars that they scaled back you know it it’s the thing we need to look
focus on and this came to mind today because I I’ve always had this up in my office and I’m going to read it because
I’ll I’ll Booker it um it’s in time to change learners inherit the earth while
the knowers find themselves beautifully equipped to deal for a world that no
longer exist so we had an opportunity to learn we just spent three years having to
relearn things and if we want to look at and if you talk to anybody in our industry right now and you start talking
to them and they start saying I know I know I know I know well they’re not prepared for
what’s coming we we need to be learning we need to be educating we need to be
taking that out and and refocusing that that drive so give 24 gonna be a great
year give some examples because I think that’s a great word that you bring up value ad business we need to be a value
ad business I mean sometimes we get stuck with accessories or upgrades or products but explain the difference
between a product that might be a value ad and a product or a service that we’re doing that’s not a value
ad so I I don’t know that when it comes to products I think that’s a challenge because like said I still believe that
we you we sell most of our products are are more wants than needs sometimes but
value ad means that we’re focused on our individual customers so that when I walk
in the door I bring a value I bring information I bring technology I bring
products I bring an understanding of where the industry is and what we can
can do with them and because and value ad is not is not a
plural the value I add to your dealership is going to be different than
the value I add to the next dealership okay and it’s G to be so so when we walk in it’s each individual customer we have
to understand that that for some of them customers just being there and offering
the product they perceive that as a value and so if that’s what they’re
going to give me then I’ve got to make that value as as strong and as as solid
as possible and so what the dealerships are starting to realize and we’re starting
to see it in advertising at least in our Market dealers are advertising more rebes are coming back where I don’t know
who’s offering them but rebes are coming back or at least they’re using that b yeah um financing is I mean they’ve
decided okay we don’t know what we’re paying for our money but we’re going to start giving it away again so we’re going to start
dropping financing so board’s going to offer cheap financing you know they’re just going to do those deals and so they
realize now that the perceived value of their cars when it was limited is
gone so now they’re having to add value back and the only way they know to do that is incentives yeah so we can’t walk
in offer incentives we’ve got to walk in offer ourselves so having someone there
offering a warranty the the products the knowledge the education having sales meetings again when’s the last time you
actually went out to dealership had a sales meeting got all the guys in there and said hey I mean we have to get back
to that part of our business that they understand that we add value yeah and
and and that’s going to be difference for each each relationship is going to be different you know building up
relationships I mean I know you Josh have you have relationships with owners and GMS and and that goes well yes
you’re a great guy and you’re fun to be around and you’ve got a cool business and you do a lot but the at the end of
the day at some point in time they saw the value you added and that relationship grew it
without value if we don’t keep if we don’t Focus back on that value then we’re just going to be order takers waiting for the phone to ring so you’re
really trying that point time really trying to figure out which dealership every dealership like you said could be different so is the value ad maybe it’s
a profit Center for them is the value ad it’s a it’s a marketing tool it’s a it’s
a gap tool whatever it is I like that I like that Jesse do you see why this guy won 22 2022 2023 seem a
pro person of the year absolutely ke Kevin it it sounds like it ties back to what you said earlier with education
though too right because if you’re trying to add that value and you have to be there and can’t just be an order
taker well then it sounds like you’ve got to we have to teach the dealerships how to make more money how to sell more
you know why why they should help people personalize
right yes it’s um I think bringing information to them that they don’t
normally go out and search for and I think if it could be because if I can add value for this dealership on one
side of town and I start building a relationship then I take that relationship I take that knowledge I
walk over to the next dealership and I may start with what I’ve been doing but
I also have to understand that little could be a different make of car it’s
just different uh social economic you I mean I you know one side of town maybe a
higher class than the lower you know it’s just you have all those things to deal with you know I mean credit scores I guess that’s what we all go on now is
credit scores and so you have to be able to understand how that dealership’s working and are they going to sell these
products in financex or are they going to sell them out front and and you’re going to walk through that step with them just to help them understand why
you’re really there and because we’re going up against guys that can outsell us more than likely if you’re if you’re
at a car dealership and this guy’s you know at a a dealership that’s really doing well he’s he’s gonna outsell you
if you if you get in in a match with him and you’re trying to go toe-to-toe and sell him you’re probably going to lose
but if you go in and you’re bringing everything you have and he can understand what you’re presenting they
don’t say no to you I don’t know if anybody’s ever said no to me or I was trying to sell them something they say
no to my proposal they say no to I’m offering them but but if if you’re not educated and you’re not trying to add
value to them then you leave and you take that as a hit a personal hit like oh well you know guy just didn’t like
me then that’s that’s where you’ve got to start working on coming back with that next proposal and and and just
continue to come back back and offer things and you’ll find the right one sooner away you find the the little you
know the niick and then you’re you’re you’re golden no I love that I love that
and I you know that I’m I’m sure that’s how you train your salese and everything like that we try we try I I I think it’s
the um if you could figure out how to take the now I’m not a big fan of theirs
because I don’t like their coffee I love coffee and I’m sorry Jesse but Starbucks I mean um you know know
Starbucks they they just buy coffee they buy in volume yeah and their coffee is not much better than the convenient
store down the street or the diner but you go to the diner you get a cup of coffee now for like say 99 Cents and you
drink it it’s refillable you go to the convenience store and I want $149 you go to a nice and convenient store that’s
got a machine in you you’re paying you know $2.49 uh and you go to Starbucks and all of a sudden you know you’re paying $449
for the same Cofe so what are you buying what are you buying Starbucks figured
out how to make you sound like the smartest person you’ve ever I mean that you’re you’re skilled so you go into the
diner and you’re like I want a cup of coffee and it’s like black yes you want
cream yes you go to Starbucks and all of a sudden you go I want a Vente triple
hold the skim side of this triple and you they teach you how to sound like
you’re educated you feel good about yourself and so you’re willing to pay $34 49 cents not for the coffee for the
experience so our competitors are walking in with the same products we can all buy basically from the same people
and we’re all going to go at their close to the same price so value ad means you add some
experience to that relationship that sets you apart because if you just go in
and try to undercut your competitors you’ll always lose soon later you’ll lose so you sell V lift kits yeah true
shot vinty leat yeah understand the offset and all that I mean so it’s it’s
like how you present your you know yeah anybody can sell you a bed cover anybody
can but this is what you know when I come back we’re going to show you how to use it we’ll meet your customer and show
them how to use it we’ll put you know it’s just all that little things that you add those values to some of those
guys some of them don’t want it they want price price only I have no problem walking out of video ship all they’re worried about is price yeah fine then
you’re not you’re not the guy call me when you need me I’ll come out and I’ll do it I’ll do my best job but yeah
you’re not going to get I I I can’t add value where value is not perceived well
and just to play off your analogy that’s why they put your name on their Cup on your cup instead of calling you a number
right and we got to do the same thing our customers that’s right that’s right you know you know your customer know you
know critique yourself so when they call Integrity Customs let’s try to make it an experience let’s try to make it
consistent let’s make it it enjoyable let’s make it easy I mean last thing
they want to do is have to add something to the car and then bite to get it done you know make it easy how do you I mean
you know Josh is going down that road with with the the stuff he’s been working on for the last couple of years with his apps and all that stuff you
know not all dealerships are are in on that some dealerships look like no no no no I need a guy to call uh you know greo
my guy I’m leave me alone and then other guys are GNA like absolutely we love this and and realizing that you’re not
you you’re not here to you’re not here to to uh to die on anyone
Hill you just you’re here to make every one of their Hills easier to navigate and so how would that you know be
adaptable you know how do they like you know some guys want to you know give you a PO up front great take it they want to
give you a PO when they sh great take it you know how do you add value to that individual customer experience you know
what was you it’s like you buy two t covers they’re both
the same yeah the customer seem happy when they left but man was it hard to get that thing from Integrity I mean I
called him nine times they finally came out here and did it or you know that that new guy across town I mean he was
out here immediately put it on he showed my guy how to use it the information was in the glove
compartment for the warranty experience so what was best about it experience what’ you pay same
price well why would you call them again my experience they added more value to me they made my life
easier you know one thing I want to uh ask him Jesse because you know we’ve had some manufacturers on right and we’ve
had some restylers what do you expect for you know because we’ve had some manufacturers that listen to the podcast
what do you expect out of a manufacture or a manufacturer rep as a restyler
here’s a chance to if you were if you were to if you had a panel of 10 manufacturers what do you want you I
mean we talked about how you want to treat your customers but what do you expect how do you expect to be treated Andor what are some things that they
could do to make sure you know what difference rates who you buy from
even you know next’s a challenge right now because I buy from I I I’m I buy from
the Costco of the automat after market world I mean there’s there’s big Distributors now that we buy from mhm
and I buy very little of my product from the actual manufacturer yeah there’s
there’s some that we do and and we love buying from our manufacturers because
they’ve got skin in the game I mean they’ve got legitimate skin in the game the frustrating thing about our business
now is you buy from XYZ company they’re a big distributor and they about everybody’s product and so when I call
them I order a tunnel cover I tell them which one I want great they send it to me
if I have any issues with it it it’s a battle you know now it’s like trying to get technical stuff to me what would
help the restyler more than anything is the manufacturers would sit down with their Distributors the guys that are selling
probably 80% of their products and really start working on a way to add
value to us as recers to say hey yes I I want to support in your
area we’re selling our product to XYZ this is the relationship we have with
them this is how we can open up to them because it’s trying to get I mean it’s
like we haven’t figured out as restylers yet how to use YouTube to go sell our products and how to help the dealership
when they have a problem the manufacturers have I mean my guys would my guys would go watch YouTube videos
before they would ever call try to call tech support because it’s impossible
it’s just so maybe maybe if these manufacturers actually start saying okay let’s have a YouTube channel and let’s
start you know let’s start rewarding these guys that post things and and and build a community that supports us when
we’re struggling and so that you know and then the bigger guys I mean Myers and Keystone and all these guys they
they could also get involved in that and realize that it because they all have returns they all they we all face the
same thing and a lot of returns that we have let’s be honest we screwed it up we
got ahead of ourselves for we broke something whatever now we’re trying to return and you know we get a hold of
somebody and there there’s nobody really the experience is gone now you know like
with some of the brands that I buy direct from I I know I can call a rep and he cares he’s met me I mean he knows
who I am and he’s going to try to help me through that process so I think if the the manufacturers aren’t going away
the big box guys aren’t going away if they could somehow build a community
that intermingles and works together so we’re truly trying to support each other through that process
I think their returns would go down I think their their their sales would go up the ease and pain that you know
sometimes it creates just trying to get all this product in and out it couldn’t hurt at all
you Kevin what what makes you and integrity Customs unique uh in in
Unique Selling Proposition & Memorable Moments
restyling and or at least in your area and what sets you guys apart you kind of
touched on it already with how you you deal with customers but I’d love for you to talk a little bit more about that I
think consistency I mean if if I had if I had just pushed one button on all it’s
consistency uh we we just try to be we try to be consistent in how we
respond to our customers how we treat our customers uh you know honesty I mean
it it’s Integrity is in our words so we sometimes we and we get called out on sometimes like oh you call yourself
integrity and uh so you know we get called out on it sometimes and but I think it’s just being honest and
consistent that uh is what our customers they come back
because we’re going to answer the phone we’re going to deliver when we say we’re going to deliver and we’re going to be
honest up front with it and uh and we’re in a small market so it’s you know you
stub your toe a couple of times everybody knows and so I think it’s just and and I reach out I think I have a pretty good
relationship with my competitors and we try to reach out to them and kind of keep the market you know we try to
protect our market and what when I say that is man if I got something to say
about my competitor I I need to call him and tell him I don’t need to go out and trash my competitor other dealerships
that just makes afterm market look bad and so if I’m out there trying to undercut H because you know nowadays
it’s like oh well don’t you sell the same product oh yeah but my install is way better like it’s a box
set you know so where do you get yourself caught up in that all of a sudden you know you beat your competitor
up to the point where you’re trying to tell them that they don’t deliver a a box as well as you do I mean you got be
real careful on how you you treat always respect your industry and if you’ve got
to have something out there take it to the person and let’s deal with that don’t muddy up because you throw mud the
only thing back at you as much yeah so protect protect your market
so protect your Market by and it’s not easy I mean I know guys that have and I’ve got some competitors that they
just I don’t know what they I don’t know what they’re doing but but you still got to respect them you still got to just
you know don’t call them out don’t don’t just protect your your your Market I
love their I love their tagline at Integrity Customs too tell tell Jesse your tagline want my tagline I have a
tagline you know it yeah you guys have an awesome tagline oh my gosh why you guys beat me up on this I don’t even
know my tagline anymore you do are you kidding me no no I really don’t all right let me let me let me from let me
guys find it uh we we when nobody else is looking or something like that right
you’re really close you’re really close are you thinking about it being harder no no I don’t I want to hear
it oh you don’t know know it Josh no I don’t know it oh no I’m giving a hard
time but you don’t you don’t know my you don’t know why so Dino knows it where’s Dino at he’ll be on an episode down the
road oh will he so I don’t want to misquote it because I think we just changed it hang on what you can’t change
the best tagline ever can you can you really it better be I’m about to judge
whether this is better or not actually probably not well maybe we didn’t change
it yeah you put me on a spot oh my god what have I done so you told me not to mess with Stefan now look what you’ve
got me doing i’ I’ve got come back to that I’ve got a I’ve got a good question
while you’re thinking about all that um I would love to know about any memorable like projects any cool projects in your
shop or anything that you’ve worked on that kind of stands out that was special you guys have any that you’re proud of
or anything that you guys this is going to sound okay this is going to sound really really corny okay it’s going to
sound corny but the only thing that in and this is not a this is not a plug
it’s not it and and it’s it can sound like it is but the coolest thing we’ve ever done is
we built a car and took it to the SE show and and I know that just sounds
like you know but I I let’s think about that for a minute I I walked in the door of shop in
1983 I went to my very first SEMA show in
1988 I don’t know how many SEMA shows I’ve been to because I skipped some I’ve walked around and even though I’m not a
car guy I love the craftsmanship I love the Ingenuity the thought process that
it takes to build some of those vehicles to to it’s just it’s amazing what some
people can actually do with their hands their minds and create and you see cars out there that you just like oh my that
I they’re breathtaking you know they’re just like how does someone and I can honestly say
that never in my lifetime did I ever think that anything that I would have
touched that I would have created would be at the sem show I mean it’s it’s
unfathomed that that that is a possibility for a small shop in Oklahoma
it it just seems unattainable and it really has been for
years I mean there’s been guys that have been able to go do it and they they put a lot of effort but for for me to go out
there and show who Integrity custom is to to show one of our products um I mean that’s I mean if you ask some of my guys
at the shop I mean they all thought that was just so so cool to be able to do
something that and we’ve done some great builds I mean I think our I think the best build we ever had is and Josh you
may remember this when we got in the uh March Magnus thing BDS and we had our do
beautiful Tru we had a DOD had a Dodge Ram that and we won I mean I don’t know how many they started with but we we won
the uh March whatever contest for BDS with the the best build and um it was a
great it was a great truck it was a great customer we built another one next to it BDS still uses that picture of the
two trucks setting side by side now that was a big moment but
just having a a cartha show for me
I I’m I’m not I’m not sure that I ever even could have dreamed about that you
know it was just definitely a highlight at least for
me are you talking about the Gladiator you guys built oh yeah that was a beautiful and and what’s great about
that thing Jesse is it was in the Pro cup Challenge and uh you you know it’ll
they do a great job Integrity not only just workmanship but also the package they had a name for it and they had it
was all designed and overlanding and everything like that and what what did they do to it what do you guys remember
the that some of the specifics we did most of was go Rhino so
we had the the rack system in back that you could hang all your like gas tanks and your ramps and we didn’t go over the
top of adding the tent and all that stuff because we wanted to keep it more but I think the thing that probably
where I was the the most proud of is one we came up with a name called the Weekender and so where had decals and
stuff made up then we had uh a a broch actually a a card made up that showed
the available packages so you could go to the dealership and say you know this is the the base package and this what
you could add to it we had a banner and I think it was just the for me at the time it was a way of us just really
showing how a restyler can show up at a dealership definitely wasn’t a retail
yeah I wouldn’t call it a retail uh if we would have built that for retail we would have done it to different I think
the the essence of what we did was really being able to go out to dealership and saying let’s take your
average guy that comes in that thinks he wants to get an Overland this is what we can do and then this is how we can build
upon it and this how we can add value to that experience and and maybe take a guy that was just thinking about getting the
Gladiator for lip lift on it and it working forward with that so it I just
thought it really spoke to where we had tried to to show up in our in our Market yeah
no it was well done it was a beautiful package and a great one to duplicate replicate you know all across the
country um I got to tell a funny story about Kevin so this is 2022 SEMA show
and we were at the uh we were at the pro reception on Tuesday night
and so Colby and I had known that Kevin was about to win the uh person of the
year so we wanted to make sure he was there and of course he shows up and he has one of his nice shirts on you know
and looking good his wife’s there and then what’s really awesome is he walks in and there’s this guy with him I’m
like who is this guy so I go over and I say and Kevin goes hey this is my son he just joined us happened to be in town
and so we invite him he’s joining us for tonight and I’m sitting there thinking this is so cool right his son especially
the year after the year before when Rod wasn’t even there and we had to present it to him over the phone so it was like
totally different this year we had Kevin there we had his family there it was awesome so we’re on stage and we’re like
Okay Kevin has no idea this thing’s coming he was in the back kind of gabbing it up you know so we announced
the winner and we announced Kevin Gillis the look on this dude’s face when he looks up and then he walks fast to the
stage and he doesn’t go up the steps he takes a point blank bend down jump
vertical which I listen the guy just admitted he’s 61 years old and I’m sitting there thinking look at the knees
and hops on this guy he just jumped up three stair you know 18 inches straight
off two feet straight on the stage and was so hyped up about winning that award what did that mean to you that
award um you know it it 22 was a interesting year
for me because I think it was the first time I’d ever really really let me inside out fully just you know
this is who I am like me don’t like me I’m not competing and it was a uh I’m not big on
Awards I’m not big on accolades I’m not big on having my name and lights uh because it’s never been about
me um I am I’m such a small little part of the success of my life uh my mom used
to tell me all the time if you would just get out of your own way things would be better and and so I’ve I’ve
always tried to be um humble uh and what I’ve discovered is in
22 what I discovered is being too humble is not always the best either
sometimes you got to you got to show respect you got to be you got to be able to express
that as humble as I am I appreciate what people say what they think about me and
every once in a while you just have to give yourself credit and be careful how you do it don’t be egotistical and stuff
so that was a perfect timing for me to to receive something like that because
it it was um it was just a way of
like recognizing that you don’t have to be all that to be good
you don’t you don’t have to be know nobody H not everybody has to know your name everything it’s just they just got
to feel that when they’re spending time with you when they’re when you’re actually listening to them that you’re
there and I think for that moment uh there was a lot of people there that
night that meant a lot to me people that uh have helped me get to where I am
today in this business people people have helped me with SEMA get me to that point and for them to be there and to
share that with me was um it was it was it was a very humble moment
and and to have my son there I mean you know yeah I I don’t know if he or me
were more excited true it was it was he was jumping up and down too yeah it it
um it felt really good I mean I can’t lie good it it felt really good not not
and and I you know what I I think what gives me more Goosebumps than anything is when I came
back you know we sent pictures and all stuff when I came back and and I put that on my desk the
um the pride that my guys had when they came and saw it and uh just
um the except I mean just the way they looked at me like yeah it’s about time
yeah know it it was just it it was Unreal I mean and even today I mean you know they’ll come in sometimes and
they’ll just like you know like how you feel today it’s like and it it’s just
that that’s a um it’s a memorable moment I mean it’s something I’ll never forget
but well was welld deserved I’ll let Jesse ask his his final question that he always likes to ask everybody as we’re
finishing up okay so so before you do that so if you look up Integrity hold on let me guess it I I
couldn’t find it but let me guess it I think it is um we do the right thing even when somebody even when no one’s
looking you’re really close so Integrity is the asence of doing the right thing
okay so you you with and and integrity is you yeah
because that’s how we teach our guys you yeah doing the right thing even though I one’s looking okay
and so you’re in the shop and you’re by yourself and you have a
choice to turn to the right or to the wrong you turn to the right and so it’s
just doing that when no one’s looking no one’s judging no one’s watching you just
do it and when everybody’s doing that the tech the drivers the sales team the
inside office staff the owner the GM when everybody’s doing that that makes
for integrity Customs nice the
business um just actually two two little questions Kevin just really quick it um
Advice & Forward-Thinking
short answer what would be advice you would give someone just starting in the Auto restyling industry if somebody if
you were go back and talk to yourself when you got started what would you tell yourself the six month once you were
done computer
programming
wow listen learn check your ego at the
door I love it love it love it can’t get simpler listen learn check your ego at the
door that’s great yeah because when you think you
know you don’t so always be willing to listen and
learn and how do people get a hold of you or uh what what uh how how if they
had questions or they want to reach out and learn more about integrity Customs where should they go so if you’ll call
my JP agency and talk to Josh up an appointment with me I will I yes he’s
pretty good at you’re booked right now but I will I will keep you going well we
appreciate bro keep up the good work we’re looking forward to you being chair of Sema Pro we’re looking forward to your leadership we’re look forward to
your education your training and just your overall mentoring you do an excellent job with it and we appreciate
you a lot I appreciate that I love the fact you guys are doing this uh not that you had me on but just a lot just
getting the word out there getting the passion out there it’s it’s really I love the fact you’re doing it it’s great
so Applause to you guys thank you guys all [Music]
right and then there you have it another high octane episode of the ride in style podcast reved 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 for you to share this podcast with
your Gearheads installers and autol lovers Network because remember knowledge is power but shared knowledge
turn charges the whole industry for more expert resources to supercharge your
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