The BodyShop Leaders Podcast

Daniel Burkholder
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Marketing

The BodyShop Leaders Podcast brings you real conversations with the people shaping the future of collision repair — shop owners, vendors, and innovators who lead with purpose. Hosted by Daniel Burkholder of BodyShop Marketing, each episode dives into the lessons, mindsets, and breakthroughs that drive top-performing shops and the leaders behind them. No fluff. Just authentic stories and practical insights to help you grow, lead, and build a smarter, stronger shop. Powered by BodyShop Marketing — where the best shops come to grow.

  1. Sep 10

    How a Firing Started a 40-Employee Shop | Kena Dacus

    Kena Dacus never planned to own a body shop. She had an accounting degree, a career in banking, and a husband with a dream. Then Chris asked his boss — a shop owner in his late seventies — about buying the business someday. The next morning he was told that if he wanted to be the competition, it was time to part ways. Three months into their marriage, he was unemployed. What they had left was a 3,000-square-foot building on Main Street in Canton, Kansas, a town of about 700 people. They bought a secondhand paint booth for $2,000 and learned the hard way why nobody moves a booth themselves. Chris wrote estimates all day and did body work after he locked the front door. Then the backlog hit twelve months, and they went all in. Three years later, the same owner who let Chris go called. He needed to sell fast. They closed in thirty days. Today Dacus Auto Body runs multiple locations plus a towing company, with more than 40 employees, 16 OEM certifications, and I-CAR Gold Class status. Kena joins Daniel to talk about why she'd be more selective about OEM certifications if she could start over, how she and Chris divide visionary and integrator roles, what leading the Kansas Auto Body Association taught her, why she pushes shop owners toward SkillsUSA and trade school advisory committees, and what she really thinks about where women stand in collision repair. The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

  2. Aug 28

    Doug Higgins on What Your Shop Is Actually Worth

    "I'm sorry to tell you, the business is worth whatever somebody is willing to pay for it." Doug Higgins has watched shop owners fixate on a multiple they heard at a conference and then make bad decisions for years because of it. In this episode, I sit down with Doug Higgins, founder of Collision Advisory, a fractional CFO practice built specifically for collision repair operators. Doug spent more than a decade at Kroger in high-level finance roles, including running the numbers for a $2 billion division and working M&A and strategic planning at the corporate level. Then he left the Fortune 100 behind for collision repair, where he ran a collision MSO and an ADAS calibration company at the same time under the TAG umbrella. Doug breaks down the financial side of shop ownership that most of us never get taught. He explains EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA in plain English, including what add-backs are and why a buyer wants them. He walks through the number one cash flow mistake he sees, why operating out of your checking account puts blinders on you, and why a five percent sales drop can turn into a twenty percent profit drop when your cost structure is stuck. We get into why he pushes back on the 7X valuation talk and the question almost nobody asks: why are you worth that? He also gives three things you can do this week to get a handle on your numbers, and shares a genuinely contrarian take on where independent shops land five years from now. If you own or manage a shop and your books aren't where they need to be, this one is for you. The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

  3. Aug 14

    Brian von Tress: "We Burned the Ships and Said We're Doing This"

    At 53 years old, Brian von Tress cashed in his retirement, walked away from a COO role at a 19-shop chain, and opened his first body shop with no private equity and no safety net. "We burned the ships and said we're doing this." In this episode, I sit down with Brian von Tress, the Founder and President of Collision Pros Inc., a 13-location MSO spanning Northern California and Nevada with 170 employees. Brian's collision career started at 15, sweeping floors and washing cars to earn money for his first car. He went on to earn his MBA while working full-time, spent time at Caliber Collision when they had just 15 locations, and climbed to COO of a 19-shop chain before betting everything on himself. Brian breaks down what it really takes to scale a bootstrapped MSO, including why the jump from four to six shops was a nightmare and what infrastructure he had to build to get through it. He shares his acquisition playbook and how it's shifted from buying small underperforming shops to buying market share. We talk about the devastating Camp Fire that destroyed his Paradise location and displaced eight employee families, and how he kept every one of them on payroll. Brian also gets into why he still sends handwritten birthday cards to all 170 employees, what Tesla certification actually costs and how it's changed, and how independent operators can compete against PE-backed consolidators through what he calls guerrilla warfare. Whether you're running one shop or thinking about your tenth, Brian's journey is one you need to hear. The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

  4. Jul 17

    Brad Green: You Come Second

    What does it take to grow a single family shop into a 14-location MSO spanning two Canadian provinces in just seven years? According to Brad Green, Director of Operations at Raydar Collision Group — it starts with recognizing that as a leader, you come second. In this episode, Brad sits down with Daniel Burkholder to unpack the people-first philosophy that's fueled Raydar's rapid expansion across British Columbia and Alberta. From his start washing cars in the rain at a small North Vancouver shop to overseeing operations across 14 locations, Brad shares the real mechanics behind scaling a collision repair business without losing your culture along the way. You'll hear Brad's take on why accountability is really just communication, how to stop managing by gut feel and start using data without overcomplicating it, the biggest mistake shop owners make when scaling from one location to two or three, why he wrote a candid article on women in collision repair and what the response taught him, navigating the "Bermuda Triangle" between shops, insurers, and OEMs, why a safe repair isn't enough anymore — it has to be a safe AND profitable repair, and his advice to any shop owner who says "we can't find good people" — maybe look in the mirror first. Whether you're running a single shop or building toward your next acquisition, Brad's approach to leadership, patience, and playing the long game on your people is a masterclass worth hearing. The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

  5. Jul 3

    From Bankrupt to Bluebird Cafe to Body Shop Legend — David Luehr's Story

    David Luehr started his first collision shop with a $100 bill and a borrowed paint gun. Two years later he had 13 employees and was doing over a million dollars a year — and then he lost all of it. In this episode of The BodyShop Leaders Podcast, David — founder of Elite Body Shop Solutions and co-author of the #1 bestseller The Secrets of America's Greatest Body Shops — shares one of the most unexpected comeback stories in collision repair. From bankruptcy to a touring country band that opened for Brooks & Dunn, to a corporate buyout that blindsided him, to the mission that drives him today: helping independent shop owners avoid the mistakes that nearly cost him everything. If you own or manage an auto body shop, this conversation is full of practical, been-there advice. You'll hear why "more work" can quietly bankrupt a growing shop, the "ownership shift" that gets owners off the shop floor, which business pillar to fix first, and the five things that turn a shop into a magnet for good technicians. David also makes his case for why now is the best time to be an independent. Whether you run a single location or a growing MSO, you'll walk away with ideas you can use this week. Be bold, be learning, be limitless. #AutoBody #CollisionRepair #BodyShop #DavidLuehr The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

  6. Jun 19

    Dan Carranza: We Before Me, Building a Shop Culture That Actually Lasts

    What separates the collision shops that are thriving right now from the ones that are barely holding on? According to Dan Carranza, it comes down to one thing: culture — and whether it actually lives on the shop floor or just in the owner's head. Dan is the CEO and founder of Accelerate Growth Partners and one of the most well-rounded voices in the collision repair industry. He spent 16 years building a PBE distribution business to five locations before selling to LKQ, then another 14 years in senior corporate leadership at LKQ and Akzo Nobel. Now he's channeling 30 years of hard-won experience into coaching and consulting collision repair owners on vision, leadership, mindset, and building teams that last. In this episode, Dan breaks down why most shop owners have a culture gap they don't even know exists, why goals without commitments underneath them are worthless, and what it really took to walk away from a senior executive position to bet on himself. He also shares what's coming with Collision Next 2026 and the simple philosophy that drives everything he does: we before me. If you want to lead better, grow smarter, and build something that lasts — this one's for you. Connect with Dan: Website: dancarranza.com Email: dan@dancarranza.com Topics: collision repair leadership, shop culture, coaching, PBE distribution, MSO growth, technician retention, vision and mission, Collision Next 2026 The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

  7. Jun 10

    Sean Guthrie, From the Family Shop to 37 Locations and the Team That Made It Happen

    Sean Guthrie spent 20 years helping build one of the most impressive growth stories in the collision repair industry. Starting alongside his father Jim at Car Crafters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sean worked every role in the shop before stepping into operations leadership. When the family made the decision to partner with private equity, Sean served as COO of the newly formed Open Road Collision and helped scale the business from 5 locations to 37, growing revenue from $35 million to over $140 million. In this episode, Sean shares what that journey really looked like from the inside. He talks about the team that made the growth possible, the SOPs and systems that kept things from falling apart, and how they worked to preserve a family culture even as they expanded across multiple states. He also gets into the details on launching dedicated ADAS calibration centers, building a technician apprentice program from scratch, and why he believes every shop owner needs a calibration strategy. Sean is candid about the harder moments too. He shares the story of almost selling to a major consolidator before walking away at the last minute, the challenges of balancing family dynamics in business, and the deeply personal decision to step away after two decades. His advice for shop owners in early growth is grounded in experience and humility. If you're running a collision repair shop and thinking about growth, leadership, culture, or what the future of this industry looks like, this is an episode you don't want to skip. The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

  8. May 22

    Tim Paap: From Chicken Wire on a '67 Mustang to Most Certified Shop in Central IL

    Tim Paap bought a rusty '67 Mustang at 15, discovered his love for collision repair with chicken wire and body filler, and opened Paap Auto Body as a one-man shop in Mattoon, Illinois in 2001. Nearly 25 years later, he's built one of the most OEM-certified collision repair facilities in central Illinois. In this episode, Tim shares the full story. From Nashville Auto Diesel College to painting cars after hours to save money, to building his first shop in a 30x50 pole barn with a homemade paint booth. He talks about the person who told him he'd never make it and how that became the fuel behind everything he's built. Here's what we cover: How Tim went from a three-car garage to a 10,000 square foot multi-location facility. Why he invested over $600,000 in OEM certifications including Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, Ford, GM, Nissan, Kia, and more. What shop owners need to know about EV repair and why it's not as intimidating as it seems. The Concierge Center concept and how a converted Jiffy Lube transformed his customer experience. How a luxury hotel scent inspired him to rethink every detail of his facility. His stance on insurance steering and why he refuses to participate in most repair networks. Co-founding Estimating Professionals with Mark Probst and their mission to raise the bar on estimating across the industry. Building a family legacy with his son Zack, from taping wheel wells at five years old to becoming an A-tech. Their drag racing hobby and how it strengthens the father-son bond. His sponsorship policy that holds the community accountable. What being a BodyShop Leader means to Tim. Whether you're running a one-man shop, thinking about OEM certifications, or figuring out how to stand out in your market, this episode is loaded with practical takeaways from someone who's been in the trenches for over two decades. Connect with Tim Paap at paapautobody.com or find him on Facebook. Check out Estimating Professionals at estimatingprofessionals.com. The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The BodyShop Leaders Podcast brings you real conversations with the people shaping the future of collision repair — shop owners, vendors, and innovators who lead with purpose. Hosted by Daniel Burkholder of BodyShop Marketing, each episode dives into the lessons, mindsets, and breakthroughs that drive top-performing shops and the leaders behind them. No fluff. Just authentic stories and practical insights to help you grow, lead, and build a smarter, stronger shop. Powered by BodyShop Marketing — where the best shops come to grow.

Information

  • Creator
    Daniel Burkholder
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The BodyShop Leaders Podcast
  • Show Website
    The BodyShop Leaders Podcast

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