Ride-in-Style Podcast: Episode 31 Dino Perfetti of Automotive Concepts
- 00:00 – Introduction and Guest Welcome
- 02:28 – First Steps in the Automotive World
- 10:13 – Importance of Collaboration
- 11:42 – Current Role at Automotive Concepts
- 13:30 – Challenges and Growth in the Industry
- 19:17 – Working with John Prosser
- 27:01 – Autonomous Vehicles & Technological Innovations
- 36:16 – Work-Life Balance
- 38:43 – Advice for Newcomers
Dino Perfetti: A Life in Cars, Culture, and Community
When you meet Dino Perfetti, you immediately understand why he’s become such a respected figure in the automotive restyling industry. Calm, thoughtful, and passionate, Dino doesn’t just talk about cars—he talks about people, culture, and creating a business where Monday mornings don’t suck.
On a recent episode of the Ride-In-Style podcast, Dino sat down with Jesse Stoddard and Josh Poulson to share his journey. It’s a story that starts with a teenage kid pumping gas and dreaming of muscle cars, and grows into a career spanning decades, leadership at Automotive Concepts, and a seat at the table at SEMA.
From a Gas Station to the Wheel Business
Dino’s career began right out of high school, when he realized he wasn’t going to make his mark on the football field or basketball court. Instead, he went to work. At first, it was a gas station job, wrenching on cars, driving tow trucks, and learning the basics. That led him to Reliable Automotive, a company that was ahead of its time, using satellite systems in the 1980s to track inventory across warehouses.
What grabbed Dino’s attention wasn’t just the technology—it was the energy in the sales office. “I saw those guys laughing, on headsets, having fun, and I thought, that’s where I want to be,” Dino recalled. By 22, he was signing purchase orders for semi-loads of custom wheels and touring California plants, including Carroll Shelby’s wheel company. That chance encounter—complete with a bathroom break in Shelby’s office—became one of Dino’s favorite stories to tell.
Building Experience, Building Bridges
Dino went on to spend nearly two decades with Waldock, a van and truck conversion company, where he learned the importance of relationships. To this day, he remains close with the Waldo family, a testament to his belief in never burning bridges.
Collaboration, he says, is the key. “It doesn’t matter if it’s your competitor, your vendors, or even people you’re not doing business with. Collaboration is everything.” That philosophy has carried him through challenges, industry shifts, and even his own entrepreneurial venture with Velocity Motorsports. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, John Prosser of Automotive Concepts kept calling, urging Dino to join his team. By 2009, Dino had made the move that would define the next chapter of his career.
Leading at Automotive Concepts
Today, Dino is president of Automotive Concepts’ custom division. The team touches 13,000 vehicles a year, working with both dealers and retail customers. From leather interiors and paint protection film to window tinting, spray-in bedliners, and hydrographic dipping, Automotive Concepts has become a true one-stop shop.
The culture Dino has built is just as important as the services. He points to the book Great Leaders Make Sure Monday Morning Doesn’t Suck as inspiration. For Dino, leadership means creating a place where people want to come to work and making sure top performers know they’re valued. “Monday mornings do not suck for me,” he says with a smile.
Reinventing, Learning, and Leading at SEMA
A turning point came when Prosser told Dino he needed to “reinvent” himself. That challenge pushed Dino toward deeper involvement with SEMA, where he became the first restyler in 20 years to chair SEMA PRO. His leadership helped elevate restylers’ voices within an organization long dominated by manufacturers.
The highlight? Winning the very first SEMA Pro Cup Challenge. “I didn’t think we were going to go home with that trophy,” Dino admitted. “But it was one of the proudest moments for our team.” Another unforgettable memory: being interviewed on stage at SEMA, bookended by Mario Andretti and Jay Leno. “I opened for Jay Leno,” Dino laughs. “Who else gets to say that?”
Looking Ahead: Electric, Autonomous, and Opportunity
Dino is bullish on the future. He sees electric and hybrid vehicles, smart technology, and driver-assist systems as areas ripe for growth. He’s also fascinated by autonomous vehicles—having already ridden in one in Las Vegas back in 2019. For him, the aftermarket will play a central role in helping drivers personalize and adapt these new technologies.
Lessons in Balance and Giving Back
Despite his success, Dino is candid about the challenges of work-life balance. He admits he worked too much during his daughters’ early years, but when his son was born, he made a conscious decision to be present, coaching his sports teams and supporting him along the way.
That same drive to give back led him to run for city council in his hometown. He came just 23 votes short of winning, but says he’ll likely try again. Whether in business, family, or community, Dino’s approach is the same: surround yourself with the right people, keep learning, and contribute wherever you can.
Final Thoughts
For anyone entering the industry, Dino’s advice is simple: choose your circle carefully and never stop learning. Be willing to volunteer, to give, and to collaborate. “You can’t just be a sponge,” he says. “You only get out of it what you put in.”
It’s that mindset that has carried Dino Perfetti from a small-town gas station to leading one of the most respected restyling operations in the country, with a reputation for excellence, integrity, and passion for the craft.
To learn more about Dino and Automotive Concepts, visit ac-mn.com or follow Automotive Concepts AC on Instagram and Facebook.
Read The Transcript
Jesse Stoddard: Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride and Style podcast. Exciting to be here today with Dino Perfetti and uh with Automotive Concepts and um we uh we’ve we’ve actually interviewed you in the past uh for the SEMA Pro Cup Challenge. So, you’re back again. So, Dena, Dino, thank you for being here and how are you today?
Dino Perfetti: Hey, I appreciate the opportunity, guys. I always look forward to learning and sharing knowledge and uh I’ve learned a lot from the two of you and uh so many people in this industry and I just love to share my passion for it. So, thank you for the opportunity.
Josh Poulson: And isn’t he the nicest guy ever, Jesse? I mean, here’s the thing about Dino. Lino and I have been in the trenches together in a lot of things and nothing rattles this guy. Like, he’ll see my blood pressure go up or or he’ll see me get worked up over stuff and he’s just Yeah.
Josh Poulson: Well, let’s just let’s just do the right thing and be, you know, he’s just such a nice guy,
Dino Perfetti: That
Josh Poulson: you
Dino Perfetti: was
Josh Poulson: know?
Dino Perfetti: good.
Josh Poulson: I think most of it comes from your wife, Dino.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah, I owe her a lot. But you know, black hat, white hat, I learned from one of my past employers, and he would never have you wear both hats in a position. You either wore the black hat or the white hat. So, Josh, it’s nice having you wearing the black and let me wear the white when we’re together.
Jesse Stoddard: the the good cop, bad cop.
Josh Poulson: I’m a
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: natural villain
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: and he’s a natural hero. So, it worked out perfect. But no, thanks for being on the show. Awesome. Love
Dino Perfetti: You bet.
Josh Poulson: uh love having one of the stellar guys across the board. But uh usually we like to start about I mean how did you get started?
Josh Poulson: You’ve been in this industry for a while bro.
Dino Perfetti: I know. I hate to admit how old I am, but um I started right out of high school. You know, I think I it’s because of my lack of natural athletic ability that I’m am where I’m at, right? All my friends were stars on the basketball team, football team, and I rode the pine for one year. I’m like, this is not for me. This is so far from being productive that I went right into the workforce at a very young age. you know, then I could afford to, you know, soup up my car and wish I still had my 71 Challenger, but
Josh Poulson: Is that what
Dino Perfetti: um
Josh Poulson: it was? A 71 Challenger.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: What color was
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: it?
Dino Perfetti: Bright red with a white vinyl top and white interior.
Jesse Stoddard: Ooh.
Josh Poulson: Did you buy
Dino Perfetti: Jack
Josh Poulson: it brand new?
Dino Perfetti: was Keystone Classics all the way around.
Dino Perfetti: I was ahead of our time. I took red trailer lights from the semi industry and put them all in the wheel wells and under my car. It lit up red, which is highly illegal that I find out now. But um
Josh Poulson: Yeah, but that’s you. So, you did rock lighting before anybody else
Dino Perfetti: I
Josh Poulson: did rock
Dino Perfetti: did.
Josh Poulson: lighting.
Dino Perfetti: I did. No doubt. Wasn’t
Josh Poulson: Was it
Dino Perfetti: even
Josh Poulson: Did
Dino Perfetti: knowing
Josh Poulson: you buy it
Dino Perfetti: that.
Josh Poulson: brand new?
Dino Perfetti: I did not. No. Gosh. No. Come on.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: I’m not that old. Josh, come on. No. My
Josh Poulson: How
Dino Perfetti: dad
Josh Poulson: much do
Dino Perfetti: bought
Josh Poulson: you remember
Dino Perfetti: it for
Josh Poulson: how much
Dino Perfetti: my
Josh Poulson: you paid for it?
Dino Perfetti: my dad bought it for my brother and I and I think he paid three grand. And uh so what year would that been?
Dino Perfetti: I would have been 7 years old, you know, the
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: car.
Josh Poulson: 78.
Dino Perfetti: And uh and nobody knew my brother was part owner of this car. He never
Josh Poulson: You just drove it everywhere.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. No doubt. But Oh, I love that car. So anyway, that’s how
Jesse Stoddard: That’s
Dino Perfetti: I got started, you know. So I thought, you know, if after school, if I’m not going to be riding the pine watching my buddies play ball, I’m going to go out and make some money. So I started pumping gas. And it’s funny story. My son, who’s 22 now, about 10 years ago, we stopped at a gas station. We’re going to a car show with a 67 Cutless convertible. And I say, “Bud, I got to get some gas.” So, I get out and I flip down the back license plate and I start taking the cab. Dad, what are you doing? You know, he had no idea why I was looking for a gas cap under the license plate.
Dino Perfetti: It just shows how times have changed so much, right? Um but anyway um sorry I lost my train.
Josh Poulson: Well, you so so where did you where was your first job that you actually
Dino Perfetti: Got
Josh Poulson: got
Dino Perfetti: it.
Josh Poulson: paid for
Dino Perfetti: Got
Josh Poulson: in
Dino Perfetti: it.
Josh Poulson: the automotive industry?
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. Absolutely. So I was working at a at a filling station and you know I started wrenching on some cars doing some oil changes and brake
Josh Poulson: No.
Dino Perfetti: jobs at a pretty young age right driving the tow truck you know when somebody got stuck in the snow. and uh a gentleman that owned a big warehouse chain, Reliable Automotive, Fred Faulk, at his warehouse across the street from where I work. He come in with his Cadillac Deville,
Josh Poulson: Heat.
Dino Perfetti: beautiful car, just a super nice guy. So, he said to me, “Hey, why don’t you come across the street and work for us? We got semi uh trucks filled with custom wheels.
Dino Perfetti: We need somebody like you to unload them for us.” So, that’s how I started in the business. Reliable Automotive, who eventually sold out to Aerospeed, who eventually sold out to Keystone Automotive. So, but he had 10 locations around the US. It was amazing. Let’s just show you how old I am. He had satellites on top of these warehouses at these 10 locations that would talk to each other. I mean, this was 1980, right? So,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: you could sit at your computer screen and know how many wheels were on the shelf in Dallas. It was like unheard of. I went home and told my mom and dad. They’re like, “What?” You know, that just shows you how far things have come. It was like a 50inch satellite on top of these warehouses talking to each other and it was cutting edge back then. So
Josh Poulson: Well, nowadays we have the cloud. He
Dino Perfetti: yeah,
Josh Poulson: had
Dino Perfetti: I know.
Josh Poulson: he
Dino Perfetti: Exactly.
Josh Poulson: had the roof.
Dino Perfetti: Exactly. So a year later I was um watching these guys in the sales office go man they’re got headsets on little microphone like air traffic controllers and they’re laughing and having a good time go that’s where I want to be you
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: know. So, I stepped into sales and uh blew away a lot of those older guys, you know, um because I was a passion. I just had
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: fun doing it. And then they later moved me into purchasing. I think I was 22 years old now. I was uh signing purchase orders for semiis full of custom wheels, Keystones, True Spokes, Rocket Wheels, you know. So, then they flew me out to California to tour these plants and uh I was just hooked. I never looked back after that. I just loved everything about it and I met so many great people along the way. Quick story about going to California. One of the wheels companies that I purchased from Carol Shelby Custom Wheels.
Dino Perfetti: I don’t know
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: if you even knew he had a custom wheel company.
Josh Poulson: Mm-m.
Dino Perfetti: So anyway, we just toured American Racing True Spoke. We went over to Carol Shelby Custom Wheels and we’re sitting in a conference room. There’s 10 of us in the conference room and I asked the sales manager next to me, “Hey, where’s the restroom at? I got to use the restroom.” And Carol was sitting the other side of him. I had no idea who this guy was. And he leans over and goes, “Hey, you can use a restroom in my office. It’s right through those glass doors.” So, I walk through these glass doors and I’m looking at this office like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I went into his bathroom and uh I tell that story to people
Josh Poulson: Whoa,
Dino Perfetti: watching.
Josh Poulson: whoa, whoa, whoa. You took a dump in Carol Shelby’s office. Just
Dino Perfetti: I’d
Josh Poulson: say
Dino Perfetti: rather
Josh Poulson: it.
Dino Perfetti: not share that part of it, right? But the toilet seat have poker chips embedded into it. I never forget that. Anyway, so much in Ford versus Ferrari with my son a couple years ago and I I go, “Bud, that guy right there, girl Shelly,
Josh Poulson: I
Dino Perfetti: I’ve
Josh Poulson: took
Dino Perfetti: been
Josh Poulson: a
Dino Perfetti: in
Josh Poulson: dump
Dino Perfetti: his
Josh Poulson: in
Dino Perfetti: bathroom.
Josh Poulson: his office.
Dino Perfetti: I’ve been in his bathroom and he just lied.” He did not, Dad. But he ended
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: up believing me. So anyway, I had no idea back then. He was already through the whole Lemon’s deal and things, but
Josh Poulson: Oh.
Dino Perfetti: I just I was too young to really appreciate that. I wish I would have really known
Josh Poulson: Wow.
Dino Perfetti: what a legacy I was witnessing back then. But anyway,
Josh Poulson: So
Jesse Stoddard: Okay.
Josh Poulson: then
Dino Perfetti: so
Josh Poulson: did
Dino Perfetti: yeah,
Josh Poulson: you
Dino Perfetti: I
Josh Poulson: So
Dino Perfetti: enjoyed that.
Josh Poulson: after you worked there, is that when you went to Waldo?
Dino Perfetti: No, I took a short stint uh with EMG Classics.
Josh Poulson: Oh,
Dino Perfetti: They
Josh Poulson: you
Dino Perfetti: had a
Josh Poulson: did?
Dino Perfetti: branch here in Minneapolis and that’s how I cut my teeth on calling on car dealers and I enjoyed that. Keith
Josh Poulson: What
Dino Perfetti: Smith
Josh Poulson: were you doing
Dino Perfetti: was
Josh Poulson: for him? Just Were you a sales rep or what?
Dino Perfetti: sales rep. Yeah, I would go and call on car dealers. That was
Josh Poulson: Doing
Dino Perfetti: my
Josh Poulson: Simcon
Dino Perfetti: first time.
Josh Poulson: tops and
Dino Perfetti: Oh, corround effects packages and popup sunroofs.
Josh Poulson: Oh,
Dino Perfetti: And
Josh Poulson: yeah.
Dino Perfetti: it was cutting edge and we came out with an electric sliding sunroof, you
Josh Poulson: Oh
Dino Perfetti: know, like,
Josh Poulson: my
Dino Perfetti: wow,
Josh Poulson: god.
Dino Perfetti: you got a sunroof that’s electric.
Josh Poulson: Did you do ever do the Continental kits on the back?
Dino Perfetti: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Josh Poulson: A lot of grills, a lot of Continental
Dino Perfetti: Did it all.
Josh Poulson: kits,
Dino Perfetti: T-tops.
Josh Poulson: a lot of top
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. Yeah. That was fun. Well, then I did that for just a couple years. And then when I left Reliable Automotive, my number one customer was a van and truck conversion company, Waldock. and
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Dino Perfetti: end up going uh in vis going to work for them for about 18 years. So that was a very
Josh Poulson: Wow.
Dino Perfetti: good experience. I worked, you know, I did purchasing there. I um went on the road selling to dealers again. We opened some retail locations around Minnesota. That was another great experience.
Josh Poulson: You can still see their vans on the road today.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. Yeah. They’re only one of a handful left, but back in that day, we had 100 plus employees and Elcart Indiana had dozens and dozens of band companies.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: They’re celebrating their 50th year in business. Wald is this
Josh Poulson: Good
Dino Perfetti: summer.
Josh Poulson: for them.
Dino Perfetti: So,
Josh Poulson: Good for
Dino Perfetti: I’m
Josh Poulson: them.
Dino Perfetti: anxious to go to that event. So,
Josh Poulson: Ah, and you
Dino Perfetti: yeah.
Josh Poulson: can And what I Jesse, if you listen, he’s friends with all his old He doesn’t burn a bridge. Like, he’s still friends
Jesse Stoddard: Great.
Josh Poulson: with Mr. Waldo and his sons. He still hangs out with, you know, he’s just friends. He’s just a good guy. So, why
Dino Perfetti: But
Josh Poulson: why
Dino Perfetti: you
Josh Poulson: do
Dino Perfetti: know
Josh Poulson: you
Dino Perfetti: what?
Josh Poulson: why do you view that as so important? Do you know?
Dino Perfetti: You know, I learned this from John and we’ll talk about John Proer. know that
Josh Poulson: Of course.
Dino Perfetti: in this conversation.
Josh Poulson: Yeah. Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: Got to love the guy.
Josh Poulson: Is he waiting
Dino Perfetti: He’s
Josh Poulson: right there
Dino Perfetti: all
Josh Poulson: in
Dino Perfetti: about
Josh Poulson: the wind wings to be on?
Dino Perfetti: No, but I’m waiting
Josh Poulson: Oh.
Dino Perfetti: for him to be knocking on my door any
Josh Poulson: Oh,
Dino Perfetti: minute.
Josh Poulson: yeah.
Dino Perfetti: He usually
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: does whenever I’m in
Josh Poulson: Doing
Dino Perfetti: the middle
Josh Poulson: something
Dino Perfetti: of
Josh Poulson: important.
Dino Perfetti: something. But he loves to come in and sit in my office and hang out. It’s where the action is, right? He’s
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: got a beautiful office upstairs. He hangs out here almost daily, you know, because he loves hearing the passion and being
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: part of it. He does. Pretty cool. But um yeah, I’m sorry. Go ahead.
Josh Poulson: What
Dino Perfetti: What
Josh Poulson: were
Dino Perfetti: would
Josh Poulson: what So, what did somebody tell you about not burning bridges and everything
Dino Perfetti: Oh
Josh Poulson: like that?
Dino Perfetti: yeah, John, you know, he’s all about collaboration, you know. I mean, that’s our key word the last few years been collaboration. It doesn’t matter if it’s your competitor, your vendors, the vendor you’re not doing business with. It’s all about collaborating with everybody that possibly can,
Josh Poulson: Nice.
Dino Perfetti: you know. So, yeah, that that works out well. I like that part of
Josh Poulson: So
Dino Perfetti: it.
Josh Poulson: then after Waldock 18 years, that’s a long time.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah, I did go out on my own with two other gentlemen. The three of us were going to start our company, Velocity Motorsports. You know, we both had a a good pass with Waldock and they were tires plus guys. They really knew tires, suspension. Um, that was in 06. Then 0809 hit and we had 40 customized lifted trucks all over on dealers lots. Gas hit four bucks a gallon and John started calling. You know, he started calling.
Josh Poulson: Come work for me, Dino.
Dino Perfetti: He actually
Josh Poulson: Come
Dino Perfetti: been calling
Josh Poulson: work for
Dino Perfetti: since
Josh Poulson: me.
Dino Perfetti: I left Waldo. He would he called four or five times a year when I left Waldock. When are you coming? When are you coming? I said, “John, I’m not.” He goes, “Yes, you are. Just a matter of time.” So, he is persistent. You got to love the guy.
Josh Poulson: You started automotive concepts at 08 or 09.
Dino Perfetti: I 09. Yeah. Yeah. 09.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Dino Perfetti: So, it’s been a while. 17 years.
Josh Poulson: Wow.
Dino Perfetti: So really, I’ve had what, four jobs in my whole career, all automotive related, you know? So once you’re in, it’s hard to get out, right guys? I
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: I mean, I I maybe not for you, but I love
Jesse Stoddard: So, Dino, you took us through the history. Tell us what you’re doing now. Like, what’s your role now? What kinds of things are you working on?
Jesse Stoddard: Uh
Dino Perfetti: Okay. I am the president of Automotive Concepts, our custom division. There’s other companies under the automotive restyling concepts umbrella that John oversees that other people run, you know, Bill North with Champion and Jeremy Luffy with Drive Appeal and so on. So, um, yeah. So, I uh oversee our custom division. Uh, we touch 13,000 vehicles a year. Um,
Jesse Stoddard: oh god.
Dino Perfetti: a lot of uh commercial business lately. Maybe we talk a little bit more about that. But wholesale retail, I just I have a great crew from the technicians to the office staff upstairs. It just uh we we’ve created a a nice culture, right? I’m going to
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: get off track for one second. I just started reading a book called um Great Leaders Make sure Monday morning doesn’t suck. Yeah,
Jesse Stoddard: Good
Dino Perfetti: you
Jesse Stoddard: title.
Dino Perfetti: gota you got to look it up. Eric Harkkins. He was with Best Buy for years.
Dino Perfetti: But you know, he talks all about creating a culture, you know, that people want to show up, right? Isn’t that we all want them to want to be here? And
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: then
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: he talks about your top performers, how important it is to acknowledge your top performers. Uh and we all know that a lot of them realize how valuable they are 10 seconds after they quit, right?
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: So, good book to read. Anyway,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: that’s one, you know, that’s one of my life lessons is never stop learning, right? I
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: mean, you can’t. Um, anyway,
Jesse Stoddard: And what’s been one of your biggest challenges in your career? You know, like I know that you’ve seen a lot. So, I’m curious what were some of the challenges that you had to overcome?
Dino Perfetti: um you know changing with the trends and with the times I mean it a lot of people don’t like change you know I do I I I like change you know I don’t like changes in our staff right you want to create a team that you that want to be there every Monday morning right but um you know changing with the trends and the way things have uh you know changed over all the years that’s probably
Dino Perfetti: been the toughest challenge but you know it all goes back to learning from others, you know, joining this Restylers United group that Josh is a part of. I mean, constantly learning from these guys that are doing the same thing I’m doing every day, day in and day out. They have the same struggles, the same successes and failures. So, it’s great to learn from somebody else’s failures, isn’t it? So
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: yeah, that’s that’s been a challenge changing with trends, but
Josh Poulson: So, let’s talk about automotive concepts for a minute. So, you guys, you’re touching 13,000 vehicles a year. How many dealers do you work with roughly?
Dino Perfetti: you know um total over the year and you know a couple hundred
Josh Poulson: Yeah,
Dino Perfetti: couple hundred but on a daily basis as you know I mean there’s some a lot stronger than others right
Josh Poulson: sure.
Dino Perfetti: and it’s and it’s all relationships right so um you know on a monthly basis I would say in the 60 range,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: you know, 60 on a monthly basis.
Josh Poulson: So, what are the what are the popular things right now? If somebody if Restyler’s listening, what are you guys doing, you know, a lot of for the car dealer? And also you guys are very strong retail. So what
Dino Perfetti: Yeah,
Josh Poulson: are some of
Dino Perfetti: we
Josh Poulson: the
Dino Perfetti: are.
Josh Poulson: retail products and then what are some of the uh dealer wholesale products?
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. Yeah. You know, retail, I got to tell you, leather’s been good for us retail lately. You
Josh Poulson: Good.
Dino Perfetti: know, I just yesterday sent John a message. Five leathers today. That’s a new daily goal. So, now we want to shoot for five a day, which, you know, is a it’s a decent number, right? I mean, there’s
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: others
Josh Poulson: That
Dino Perfetti: doing
Josh Poulson: you sold or installed?
Dino Perfetti: sold.
Josh Poulson: Oh,
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: nice.
Dino Perfetti: Sold.
Josh Poulson: Yeah,
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. You can’t install that many a day if you don’t sell that many, right?
Josh Poulson: that’s
Dino Perfetti: So,
Josh Poulson: true. Very true.
Dino Perfetti: so yeah. So, our retail guys have done a great job selling leather. They love getting those calls, those leads. Um Jesse, as you know, um marketing is such plays such a big part in our retail world and we’re constantly watching that and watching how those trends are changing, you know.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: Um so that that’s a challenge as well, obviously. Um but it can all be overcome just by, you know, choosing the right circle and having the right people working with you and and helping you guide through that. But yeah, leather and on the dealer side of things, you know, paint protection film obviously is a huge category for it. And our sister company, P&L Automotive, um they’re number one volume restyler for three years running. They do a heck of a job. So,
Josh Poulson: They
Dino Perfetti: and
Josh Poulson: do a
Dino Perfetti: we
Josh Poulson: lot
Dino Perfetti: feed
Josh Poulson: of people.
Dino Perfetti: them business from our location.
Dino Perfetti: We’re 12 miles apart and they feed things our way as well. Spraying bed liners, window tent, things like that. So,
Josh Poulson: Well, so what sets you guys apart from, let’s say, your competition? I mean, like for instance, I know you guys have like a paint booth.
Dino Perfetti: have what? I’m sorry. You said paint.
Josh Poulson: A paint booth.
Dino Perfetti: Oh, yeah. We have two downdraft boosts. We put them in as soon as we moved in here 17 years ago. Um, so that sets us apart. We do hydrographic dipping, which there’s only one other tank in town that I know of. You know, we’re we’re really going to start working on that. We right out of the gate, we did a bangup job with it. Now, we’re starting to work it back into some packages. So, um, you know, one-stop shop. I met with uh, we did a mailing to, uh, commercial, um, contacts, commercial fleet contacts in the five-state area, and, uh, sent out 500 a day through our Zoho CRM.
Dino Perfetti: And a gentleman emails me right back like 30 seconds after we sent it, he goes, “Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. I’m not happy with my upfitter, you know.” So, I did a re research. um 100 vans in their fleet, looking to add another 25 this year, maybe another 25 next year. He said, “And I also need some new wheels and tires to my wife’s Yukon. When can I stop it?” He came in a couple days later. We gave him a tour and he’s looking around. Is there anybody that does it all in one shop like you guys? Because now we can do his graphics here. We
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: have Nick Stanley, who you both know well, our marketing director. He can help design his new logo because he wants to change his whole look,
Josh Poulson: Oh, wow.
Dino Perfetti: you know. So, um, that’s that was pretty exciting. But, you know, he just made it known, um, I want to go to one shop.
Dino Perfetti: I want to do it all in one place. I
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: don’t have to worry about shipping these vans to three, four different places to have the racking done and the bedlininer and everything. So, yeah, that’s that’s our big advantage is a one-stop shop over our competitor. You know, we we have a handful of competitors that do a couple of the areas that we are in, but
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: there’s nobody that does it all like we do in in our market. So very fortunate for that.
Josh Poulson: And
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: one
Jesse Stoddard: You
Josh Poulson: last
Jesse Stoddard: mentioned
Josh Poulson: question I’ll ask Jesse then Jesse what what are some of the companies you guys have uh merged with or acquired in your market? So P&L
Dino Perfetti: Um
Josh Poulson: we know that’s an sister company.
Dino Perfetti: yeah. Yeah. Which John will will
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: take that over 100% probably in another year from now.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: Um classic soft trim.
Josh Poulson: Yep. The
Dino Perfetti: You know
Josh Poulson: local
Dino Perfetti: there’s a
Josh Poulson: branch
Dino Perfetti: branch
Josh Poulson: up there.
Dino Perfetti: here. We we brought them into our fold five
Jesse Stoddard: What?
Dino Perfetti: years ago now. And then uh Leroy Customs was another Todd Cabrera who’s a
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: great team member of ours now and uh does great on selling to dealers. Uh yeah. Yeah. He brought us to Topper Line, which has been a great addition to our team. He
Josh Poulson: Whatever
Dino Perfetti: was at
Josh Poulson: happened
Dino Perfetti: the
Josh Poulson: to the
Dino Perfetti: Minnesota
Josh Poulson: ENG guys in town that you used to work for?
Dino Perfetti: Oh, Mike and Leon Cook. They got out years ago.
Josh Poulson: Did
Dino Perfetti: They
Josh Poulson: they?
Dino Perfetti: did, unfortunately. Yeah. Yeah. a couple of good guys. I enjoyed that. But yeah, that that’s about it that I can think of. Leroy.
Josh Poulson: Okay.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: You mentioned earlier John Proer. He said we might talk about him. So I’m curious, what’s it like working with an entrepreneur like that? Uh you guys are pretty
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: close and I just love to hear a little bit more about that relationship. And what do you you know what would you say about John?
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. You know, I mean, I consider him a friend. I mean, we uh before I even started working here, we collaborated somewhat, you know, as as competitors back and forth, but you know, he’s just constantly is challenging everybody on his team, especially his executive team. And he doesn’t challenge you in a way. He he um he’s a visionary, right? he goes out and finds ways for us to create excitement in our area and and uh increase gross profit, right? At the end of the day, that’s what’s all about it. But, you know, um yeah, he’s taught me a lot. You know, right now we’re on a big kick.
Dino Perfetti: People buy from people they know, people they like, and people they trust, right? Well, that’s even in your personal life, not just your work environment. So, you know, I right above my door here in the office, it says that exact thing. And you know, my salespeople come in and we’ll be talking about our Toyota business in town, which isn’t as great as it should be, right? And I’d say, “Well, let’s let’s talk about Burnsville Toyota. Who there knows you, Darl?” You know? Well, I know this guy, that guy. I mean, does he like you, Darl? I mean, um, and does he trust you? I said, “Something tells me if if he knows you, he’s going to like you, Darl. We know that, right? And if he likes you, you’re going to earn his trust. But why are we not doing any business there? Right? So, that’s kind of been a big thing that John and I have used recently. I just wrote an article for the shop magazine that comes out next month and uh I talk a little bit about that and the the article is the dilemma of consumers buying online and coming to you for the installation, the pros
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: and cons of that whole thing. So, pretty good article, I think. So,
Josh Poulson: Oh
Dino Perfetti: you’ll
Jesse Stoddard: Wow.
Josh Poulson: yeah,
Dino Perfetti: have to read
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: it.
Josh Poulson: that is a it is a dilemma.
Jesse Stoddard: So,
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: timely
Dino Perfetti: No doubt. No doubt. But yeah. Hey, back to John. I I got to tell you, you know, he came to me 10 years ago. I’d probably been with him for seven. And he said, “You need to reinvent yourself.” Can you imagine somebody saying that to you? You need to reinvent yourself. I mean, I’m looking in the mirror going, “Hey, there’s I I don’t see anything wrong. What do you mean reinvent?” Well, I had heard him say that to another team member a couple years earlier, and uh then I watched what she did over the next couple years. It’s like, “Wow.” And the reason was is that she had an account base um of a group of dealers that um and it was in the finance division of our company that ended up bringing that in-house, right?
Dino Perfetti: So, she lost a big part of her business. Well, she found out how to reinvent herself and she made up all that business and then some and now she’s still 10 years later is a very valuable, you know, employee of ours. So, when he said that to me, I’m like, what? I I had to think about it, right? came back a couple days later and said, “Hey, you know what? I want to get involved in SEMA. You know, SEMA is a governing body of our industry. I mean, there’s so much knowledge there. People have been in it for years and um I want to get involved in that.” He said, “Great, do it.” So, Josh, you were a big help in helping me get started there. But
Josh Poulson: No,
Dino Perfetti: uh
Josh Poulson: I mean it was No, I No, maybe let’s talk let’s pivot there for a minute because SEMA is a big part of our relationship, but also
Dino Perfetti: right
Josh Poulson: just everything you’ve done and so and and listen, SEMA Pro has been around for a long time.
Josh Poulson: Um, however, I mean, let’s it wasn’t always as many restylers uh on Sema Pro. It was very manufacturerheavy and you were in fact the first chair that for SEMA in like 20 years that was actually a restyler. So, what were, you know, uh, why do you think that made a difference or and then with, you know, Pro Cup Challenge, you know, what were some of the just talk a few minutes about
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: those
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: challenges and those good moments that you had?
Dino Perfetti: Absolutely. you know, um, when you’re involved and on the front lines every day, you really know what’s what your customers are asking for, what they’re disappointed in. And the manufacturers, um, they do a great job listening to restylers and, you know, asking questions and, um, some of them even travel with you on the road to try to hear it firsthand from your customers. But when you’re face to face with a GM at a dealership, you know, um, and you’re building that relationship, I mean, a restyler is the one that needed to take pro to the next level, right?
Dino Perfetti: Because they would be able to bring those challenges to the table and have all your select committee members, you know, work together um, and find solutions to those challenges, right? Um, I think that was a pivotal point in pro, um, where we could bring that Josh, yourself, and myself, and we had five or six other restylers on the select committee, and
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: it was just time for them to take the lead for a while. So, um, but the manufacturers played a big part of that of that
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: council as well. Um,
Josh Poulson: What’s
Dino Perfetti: but yeah,
Josh Poulson: your
Dino Perfetti: I think
Josh Poulson: proudest moment of Thema Pro?
Dino Perfetti: I would say I would have to say uh winning that first Pro Cup challenge, you know. I mean,
Josh Poulson: Jerk, you
Dino Perfetti: it
Josh Poulson: beat me.
Dino Perfetti: was the first year. Um, yeah. I don’t know if you can see that trophy behind me
Josh Poulson: Oh,
Dino Perfetti: there, Josh.
Josh Poulson: yeah.
Josh Poulson: I see it. I see it.
Dino Perfetti: You see, I thought you you competed that year and
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: there were some great builds that year. I did not think we were gonna go home with that trophy. I did not. So that was a very proud moment for our team, for the guys on our and women on our crew that helped design that package and put it together and build it. I mean, they were all so proud. I went to Vegas with that vehicle and came home with the trophies. So that I would say one of my proudest moments.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. Um, as far as a me most
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: memorable
Josh Poulson: What’s
Dino Perfetti: moment,
Josh Poulson: my What’s your most memorable?
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. I would have to say I was being interviewed by Kevin on the main stage.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: OC. Am I saying his name right, Kevin?
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah. Okay.
Dino Perfetti: So, he was interviewing me on the main stage. I just became the chair elect actually. And uh they’re mikeing me up to go on stage for an interview and I look up and they’re sitting in the seat in front of me. It’s Mario Andredy. So, I’m sitting watching them interview Mario Andredy and I’m in line next after Mario. You know, I mean, I idolize that guy for years watching him race. So,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: anyway,
Josh Poulson: Did
Dino Perfetti: I
Josh Poulson: you
Dino Perfetti: was
Josh Poulson: look Did you at any time did you say Mario, do you have a personal bathroom here?
Dino Perfetti: think of it.
Josh Poulson: No.
Dino Perfetti: Think of it.
Josh Poulson: Oh, okay. Go. Go ahead.
Dino Perfetti: Probably been more proud of that. Sorry, Carol. But anyway, so then the interview I thought it went great. I really enjoyed talking to Kevin about, you know, just about the industry and why I got involved with SEMA. And then I turn around and they’re taking my mic off and walking up next to me to get in the chair is Jay Leno.
Josh Poulson: So
Dino Perfetti: Jay
Josh Poulson: you
Dino Perfetti: Leno.
Josh Poulson: were you were bookended by Mario Andredy and
Dino Perfetti: No,
Josh Poulson: Jay
Dino Perfetti: I
Josh Poulson: Len.
Dino Perfetti: I opened for Jay Leno,
Josh Poulson: Yeah
Dino Perfetti: you know.
Josh Poulson: I
Dino Perfetti: Who else
Josh Poulson: open
Dino Perfetti: would
Josh Poulson: for
Dino Perfetti: say that?
Josh Poulson: J.
Dino Perfetti: I opened for Jay Leno,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: you know. So, but any another great
Josh Poulson: That’s
Dino Perfetti: car
Josh Poulson: awesome.
Dino Perfetti: guy that I that I got to know somewhat,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: but you know, there were some very memorable moments moments, you know.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: And
Josh Poulson: So,
Dino Perfetti: there’s so
Josh Poulson: uh
Dino Perfetti: many
Josh Poulson: I
Dino Perfetti: others.
Josh Poulson: mean
Dino Perfetti: Vic Edelrock, Lindon over the years. I mean, you goes on and on. So,
Josh Poulson: what what would you say to people who don’t really know what SEMA Pro is or they’re on the fence or you know why should they get involved in SEMA because you and John you had to reinvent yourself right you were like
Dino Perfetti: Right.
Josh Poulson: okay and I want to join
Dino Perfetti: Right.
Josh Poulson: too. So, what did it do for you and what could it do for other people? You know, what would you say to that?
Dino Perfetti: Absolutely. you know, it um put me in alignment with guys like yourself, Josh, and um and all these other restylers and be able to sit across boardrooms with manufacturers, you know, presidents and sales managers, it just um collaborating with them has been amazing. I mean, I’ve learned more through that experience probably than anything else in my career. just how people do business, the right way to do business and how to choose the right products to bring to market. Um, and way pro helped that, you know, is I’ve been going to SEMA back in the reliable automotive days when I was buying wheels until now and I, you know, it’s 30ome years. I think I’ve been there 28 times that I recall, you know. Um, but now we go there in a whole different light. I used to go there and excited to see the big monster trucks and you know all the ones that create this excitement that are aren’t even street legal, right?
Dino Perfetti: Came in a trailer and they go home in a trailer.
Josh Poulson: Mhm.
Dino Perfetti: So I’ll never forget John and I talking in my office one day about yeah going to SEMA. Let’s you know what’s our plan? What are we looking for? And he says God I wish we could go there and look at vehicles that we could come back and build ourselves in our market. And we’re like, “Wow, that’s a great idea.” You know, and I was chair elected at the time and uh we brought the idea to pro and they’re like, “Wow, that’s a great idea. Let’s compete uh you know, amongst restylers around the country.” And we set the parameters, you know, you can put so many hours in, can only spend so much money. You can build the craziest build ever, which might win a vote, you know, for a trophy, but what good is that? The excitement is seeing the ideas of the other builders and coming back to your market and reproducing those over and over again. I mean, that whole concept has worked well for us and obviously for others because we I’ve gotten many phone calls over the years.
Dino Perfetti: Hey, where’d you get this part? Where’d you get that part? You know, so
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: and it’s fun sharing that.
Josh Poulson: Yeah. It’s
Dino Perfetti: I
Josh Poulson: been crazy.
Dino Perfetti: gotta tell you, I gotta tell you, um, one thing I’ve learned recently from John that really, not recently, I would say in the last year, I’ve really noticed that when we’re talking about something, he always will just, hey, let’s call him. Pick up the phone. Let’s just call him. He’ll call anybody out of the blue. I don’t care who it is. I swear to God, I bet he’s tried calling Elon Musk. You know, I’m pretty sure he has. But um so we’re he forwarded a video a real video to me of a cyber truck. It had a crazy body kit on it and wrapped and uh the interior was amazing. So I forwarded on to a gentleman in town that oversees Tesla who’s very excited to have us create excitement, you know, on at their locations.
Dino Perfetti: And he said, “That is epic.” So, I’m showing John the reaction I got from the guy from Tesla. He goes, “Well, let’s find out where that truck was built.” So, he gets on his phone. I’m sitting at my desk and we’re doing some search, find out the shop in Florida, that’s it’s a body shop in Florida that loves to
Josh Poulson: H.
Dino Perfetti: customize cars. Well, half hour later, I’m talking to the guy that owns it and designed this kit and he’s telling me he got the body kit out of uh uh Chzna and uh I’m on the phone with somebody at the Republic of Russia trying to figure out how to get hold of this body kit. So that’s one thing about John. Whenever he’s thinking about something, he doesn’t waste any time. He goes,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: “Let’s call him. Let’s call him.” We I had our rep in here for a toppers and he was telling us about a topper company in Colorado. Sold 3,000 toppers last year.
Dino Perfetti: Wow. How do you do that? Hey, Dino, call him up. Call him up. So I dial up this guy’s phone. Suburban Toppers in Colorado. The guy talked to us for 45 minutes and told us everything he’s done, how he got to where he is, you know. Um, so I tell you, I’ve made a big practice out of that. If you’re thinking about something and you have have a question, pick up the phone, call somebody. You know, you’re only going to learn so much online, right?
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: Researching, but and people are anxious to talk to you about their successes, right?
Josh Poulson: Yeah, it’s awesome.
Dino Perfetti: Especially if you’re not in a competitive market, obviously, right?
Jesse Stoddard: I
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: can vouch
Dino Perfetti: So,
Jesse Stoddard: for John. He’ll randomly call me just anytime just out in
Dino Perfetti: yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: the blue and say, “I got an idea.”
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: And it’s
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: great and he’s always really excited and that’s
Dino Perfetti: Right.
Jesse Stoddard: it actually pumps you up with energy and you everybody likes getting a good positive excited, you know, call
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: about
Dino Perfetti: No doubt.
Jesse Stoddard: about the future. So,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: Without
Jesse Stoddard: um,
Dino Perfetti: a doubt.
Jesse Stoddard: speaking of which, what excites you most about the future, Dino, or of your business or maybe the industry, or what what are you most
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: excited about right now?
Dino Perfetti: You know, I think the future of the aftermarket, it’s just poised for significant growth. you know, um there’s so many key uh key trends and things that are coming that are really going to be opportunities for us. Electric and hybrid vehicles obviously as that grows stronger and stronger. I mean, uh and technology integration that that I think is a big key for our future, you know, smart features, uh infotainment upgrades, um driver assist systems. I mean it’s just uh going to create some great opportunity for all of us. So and you know aligning yourself with manufacturers that are on the cutting edge of those products and are looking at the future is going to be the key.
Dino Perfetti: Working close with them. That’s what helps so well at our RU meetings that we have when these vendors come in and and uh get the stage to tell us what they’re working on and they’re really there to get our feedback. there’s, you know, 17 people in the room that are um well, kind of the top of the industry, right? So, they uh they value that time in front of the group and you know what they can learn and come to market with. So,
Josh Poulson: What I love is what you’re talking about there. I mean, we I was I was on a radio show not too long ago and they the guy’s a avid driver. He loves cars, everything like that. And he goes, “I can’t imagine being in an autonomous vehicle.” And I’m like, “I’m the exact opposite. There is nothing I would love more than to be in an autonomous
Dino Perfetti: You
Josh Poulson: vehicle
Dino Perfetti: and I both.
Josh Poulson: because I was literally driving yesterday on my way home going, man, I wish this car could drive itself so that I could crush out a couple emails, get on the phone, do a few things instead of, you know, I don’t want to do distracted driving.
Josh Poulson: That’s dangerous for everybody. But I would love
Dino Perfetti: Right.
Josh Poulson: and then and then I’m sitting there thinking if I did have that, I would like to have a little desk and I would have to have a little thing here. And I’m like, who’s going to install that stuff? That’s
Dino Perfetti: Right.
Josh Poulson: going to be us.
Dino Perfetti: Right. Absolutely. Yeah.
Josh Poulson: I’m
Dino Perfetti: Hey,
Josh Poulson: waiting for I’m ready.
Dino Perfetti: so I I drove in an autonomous drive, I rode an autonomous vehicle back in 19. I was at SEMA. I love bringing my wife out there. She enjoys meeting up with all you guys on a yearly basis. And uh anyway, so we’re checking out of our hotel and I got on my Uber app and it said, “Would you be okay with an autonomous vehicle?” I’m like, “What? This is 2019.” I I thought that was technology five years from now, right? I said, “Absolutely.” My go, “No way. Tell
Dino Perfetti: them no. Tell them no. I don’t override her too much, but I really wanted to see this car, right?” So, we get our suitcases. We’re down in front of the hotel and a BMW X3 shows up. I’m like, where are we going to put all our suitcases for one thing
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: and it had a name across it, Activa it said down the side of the car and I’m like there’s two dudes in the front seat. I’m like wait a minute that doesn’t make any sense. So we loaded our suitcases in there between us in the back seat and I go what are you guys doing here? And they says well we’ll show you. So the one guy in the past he worked for Activa and it was all their software and their technology that made this car driverless. And in the state of Nevada on uh uh public, no private property, you could not use
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: this technology. So he had to drive it until we got to the street.
Dino Perfetti: He pushed a button, turned around and talked to us all the way to the airport.
Josh Poulson: And
Dino Perfetti: Never
Josh Poulson: it just
Dino Perfetti: looked
Josh Poulson: drove.
Dino Perfetti: at the road. Drove us
Josh Poulson: Wow.
Dino Perfetti: the whole way. And I’m just like, this is so cool,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: you know. And then the first corner we went up to on Paradise, there’s hundred people trying to get across, you know, the road. The light turns green for us to take a right, but we had to wait till the crosswalk was empty. I’m like, “Oh, we’re going to be sitting here for 5 minutes.” Well, as soon as the car noticed there was a break between the people. It was like a Tesla screen, you know, different colors of people, how close they were. It went when it found the opening to go. And I was just in 2019, I was pretty impressed, right? I’m like you, Josh. I would jump in one tomorrow.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: So
Josh Poulson: What about you, Jesse? You going to jump in there in Seattle? I mean, you’re going to have them before I have them.
Jesse Stoddard: Oh, I’m even just just like you guys. I’ I’d rather just take a nap.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: now
Josh Poulson: Yes.
Jesse Stoddard: I love
Josh Poulson: A
Jesse Stoddard: sleeping.
Josh Poulson: halfhour nap
Jesse Stoddard: Well,
Josh Poulson: on my way home.
Jesse Stoddard: love it.
Josh Poulson: Yeah. Wake me up when you get there.
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah, I’m I’m in. Uh Dino, how do you approach
Dino Perfetti: yes.
Jesse Stoddard: work life balance? I know you also are a family man. You got a lot going on. You know, you’re not just all about work. Or is it a myth in our industry or can you actually have some balance?
Dino Perfetti: I think I I I’ve learned to balance over the years. I I was not very good at it early on. And um you know, I I met my wife, she had three girls, three, six, and nine.
Dino Perfetti: And uh I wish I would have spent more time with them, but that’s when I was really working on my career during those years. Um so I regret that part of my life. But when my son came along and our first child together, I thought, you know what? I I need to change the way I’m doing things. So, I started coaching all the sports he was in and encouraged him all the way and decide what he wanted to do. And uh got a lot of joy out of that. And I would have had that with my with my daughters as well if I would have did things a little differently. So, I think as
Josh Poulson: Well,
Dino Perfetti: we
Josh Poulson: you
Dino Perfetti: mature,
Josh Poulson: even you I
Dino Perfetti: pardon
Josh Poulson: mean think even talk about you know I mean what what what have you you even recently ran for public This
Dino Perfetti: Yeah, I put my name in for the city council of a small town I live in, 13,000 people, and I decided on the national night out, all my neighbors are in a culde-sac.
Dino Perfetti: I’m cooking homemade French fries and we’re eating hamburgers and hot dogs. And I hear one of the city administrators go, “We need some change in our city council.” And I’m thinking, “Wow, wonder if I could do that.” And uh 30 days later, I had a full campaign going. Uh I received 1,820 votes. I was 23 votes shy from beating the guy that has been doing it for 12 years. So um you know, it comes back up in a year and I you know, we’ll see if I’ll try it again. But
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: um yeah, again, I like to to help others, right? To improve our city. We plan on living there a long time. So um so I’ve been collaborating heavily with past mayors and other council members. So, I know I can win it next time.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: We’ll see. We’ll see where we’re at in our career, but yeah, that’s a good question. I mean, I it’s important balancing work life, right?
Dino Perfetti: And um it’s it’s a it’s a difficult task sometimes, but
Jesse Stoddard: and
Dino Perfetti: especially when you love what you do so much, right?
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: But my wife’s the same way. She loves what she does. So, we both are very much entrenched in our jobs and then we just uh still have a lot of quality time together. So,
Jesse Stoddard: And
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Jesse Stoddard: what advice would you give someone just entering this space or you know the the world of restyling or aftermarket? What would you what advice would you give somebody?
Dino Perfetti: I would say choose your circle carefully, right? I mean, surround if you, you know, like like I say, you know, never stop learning. Wake up with gratuitity. I mean, those are things I live by, but choose your circle carefully. I mean, um, personal or professionally, especially professionally, right? I mean, until I reinvented myself and got to know all these great people in the SEO organization and I surrounded myself with people that uh you know, they helped me grow.
Dino Perfetti: They helped me grow and it’s been 10 years now and uh I’m so thankful for for that time that those people gave me to help me grow in my career. So, that’s what I would say. get involved, you know, volunteer, you know, but you can’t be a sponge and them, you know, get everything out of it that you put into it. If you don’t put anything into it, you’re not getting anything out of it, right? I tell we do a lot of shows. We love doing shows in our town. You know, the Minnesota State Fair brings, you know, couple million people a day go come through the fair. And you know what I tell my employees? If you don’t want to be there, I don’t want you there. You know, cuz if you don’t want to be there, your our customers going to know it, right? but they do want to be there because it’s such a great opportunity and you’re meeting people now at a state fair only a small percentage of those may be looking for your products but we bring a lot of excitement to every show we go to and uh it just creates conversation and yeah I uh we we very much enjoy our doing
Josh Poulson: You
Dino Perfetti: our
Josh Poulson: guys,
Dino Perfetti: shows
Josh Poulson: you guys do a great job with it. Everything you do, you’re all whether you’re in the Pro Cup Challenge, whether you’re doing a fair, whether you’re doing an auto show. I mean, it’s got a little star behind AC. And that’s truly what it is, man. You guys do an awesome job. We and listen personally I you know you’ve helped me a lot and um we were on our time on pro and you know with my business so you’re always there available and helping out and whether I have a question or whether I need talked off a ledge or whatever you know you’ve always been there to help me out and I thank you for that but also you know I just know you know people at SEMA in general were very thankful for a lot of the heavy lifting you did and a lot of the hedgeways on Pro Cup Challenge and it’s become a staple now. So, and you got you
Dino Perfetti: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: were a big big part of that. So, thank you so much for all the time. And you didn’t get paid a dollar. All you got was a trophy and that’s cuz you won. But you never got paid a dollar and you still have a a fun smile on your face no matter what.
Dino Perfetti: Hey, but those those things I learned and brought back into our business, they paid for itself hundreds of thousands of times over. So, you know,
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: and it’s helped me build a great team of people that are passionate about what we do. I mean, it’s just a it’s a fun business. I I Monday mornings do not suck for me. You know, if you if you get a chance, you got to check out this book. This guy’s pretty sharp about building a culture in your business. So, I’m anxious to finish his book. And you know where I learned about it? I watched the podcast. You
Josh Poulson: There
Dino Perfetti: know,
Josh Poulson: you go.
Dino Perfetti: a guy that became a good friend of mine was the CEO of Best Buy. He started selling computers at Best Buy when he was 17 and when he turned 52, I think, he became the president. and now he’s retired northern motan. He does a podcast, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Pretty cool deal. He wants me to be on his podcast, too. So, that’s
Josh Poulson: Yeah,
Dino Perfetti: where I learned about this book. So,
Josh Poulson: that’s awesome.
Dino Perfetti: yeah. So, I love I love and appreciate what you guys are doing with this without
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: a doubt.
Josh Poulson: Well, any other questions, Jesse?
Jesse Stoddard: Well, I was just going to ask, Dino, um, where can people follow you or learn more about what you guys are doing? Maybe mention your website and and a little shameless plug’s. Okay. So, please
Dino Perfetti: It
Jesse Stoddard: promote
Dino Perfetti: is.
Jesse Stoddard: audio
Dino Perfetti: You
Jesse Stoddard: concepts.
Dino Perfetti: know, we didn’t we we didn’t talk about much about Champion Automotive Products, but we won’t get into that. Maybe
Josh Poulson: Well,
Dino Perfetti: that
Josh Poulson: listen,
Dino Perfetti: you
Josh Poulson: Bill
Dino Perfetti: have to get
Josh Poulson: North,
Dino Perfetti: Bill Nor.
Josh Poulson: Bill
Dino Perfetti: You’ll get
Josh Poulson: North,
Dino Perfetti: Bill Nor.
Josh Poulson: we had him on. We did a live,
Dino Perfetti: Did
Josh Poulson: he
Dino Perfetti: you?
Josh Poulson: did it live from, he was in China, I think,
Dino Perfetti: Oh,
Josh Poulson: when
Dino Perfetti: nice.
Josh Poulson: we did it. Um,
Dino Perfetti: Oh,
Josh Poulson: but
Dino Perfetti: awesome.
Josh Poulson: yeah, if you want heated seats or sunroofs or Tesla tops or Bronco tops, go to championsystems.com.
Dino Perfetti: There you go. Thank you. Thank you for that. You know, and you know, again, I love talking with people and especially people in our industry, u building relationships so they can call me anytime, you know, uh automotive concepts acn.com. You’ll find out all about us and uh pick up the phone
Josh Poulson: and
Dino Perfetti: if
Josh Poulson: listen,
Dino Perfetti: you’re just thinking about and call
Josh Poulson: Nick’s going to be mad if you don’t throw out those Facebook and Instagram.
Dino Perfetti: Oh yeah.
Josh Poulson: You know what
Dino Perfetti: No
Josh Poulson: they
Dino Perfetti: doubt.
Josh Poulson: are?
Dino Perfetti: No doubt. I don’t. Sorry.
Josh Poulson: Tags. Look for Automotive Concepts AC uh on Instagram and Facebook. And Nick does an awesome job for you
Dino Perfetti: He
Josh Poulson: guys.
Dino Perfetti: does. We have a another great team member, our marketing director. So, we’re
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: blessed to have him.
Josh Poulson: Yeah.
Dino Perfetti: So,
Josh Poulson: Well, thank you for everything you do. Appreciate you being on with us. And you got And I I’m I’m surprised we went 40 minutes without John jumping in on this. So, that’s great.
Dino Perfetti: Yeah, I thought for sure he’d be back on the door. He He’s probably at one of his other businesses right now. So,
Josh Poulson: Awesome. Thanks
Dino Perfetti: all right, guys.
Josh Poulson: again, brother.
Dino Perfetti: Thank you very much. Appreciate the opportunity. God
Jesse Stoddard: Thank
Dino Perfetti: bless.
Josh Poulson: Alright.
Jesse Stoddard: you guys. Thank you. Thank you, Dino. Have a great day.
Dino Perfetti: You, too.
Josh Poulson: Thanks Jesse.
Dino Perfetti: Bye now.
Jesse Stoddard: Thank you guys. Bye.
Josh Poulson: All right.
