Harley Sitner: Revolutionizing the VW Camper Van Experience Ep16

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:32.240
Music.

00:00:32.105 --> 00:00:36.345
To learn more about this class-leading VW magazine.

00:00:38.145 --> 00:00:42.445
You ever meet somebody who's so deep into the VW world that it's almost like

00:00:42.445 --> 00:00:43.945
they speak a different language?

00:00:44.465 --> 00:00:46.765
That's Harley Sittner. He's not

00:00:46.765 --> 00:00:50.905
just wrenching on old vans. He's built an entire ecosystem around them.

00:00:51.325 --> 00:00:56.665
His shop, Peace Vans, has become a go-to spot for anybody who loves these rolling

00:00:56.665 --> 00:00:59.465
pieces of history. But here's where it gets interesting.

00:00:59.825 --> 00:01:03.645
Harley isn't just about the nostalgia. you a note, he's pushing things forward.

00:01:03.705 --> 00:01:08.345
He's actually working on an app that could completely change how VW owners maintain,

00:01:08.565 --> 00:01:13.065
track, or even connect their buses and vans. Think about that, guys.

00:01:13.605 --> 00:01:17.365
These things were built decades before smartphones, and now he's the one bringing

00:01:17.365 --> 00:01:20.745
them into the digital age. How stinking cool is that?

00:01:21.145 --> 00:01:24.325
So today we're going to get into all of it. The passion, the problem solving,

00:01:24.505 --> 00:01:28.625
the road trips, and of course, the inevitable breakdowns that come along with

00:01:28.625 --> 00:01:31.205
olding one of these timeless pieces of history.

00:01:31.565 --> 00:01:35.465
Let's get into it. Harley Sittner, welcome to Dub Life Diaries.

00:01:36.185 --> 00:01:40.485
Awesome. Thank you so much for having me today. It's been so much fun to learn

00:01:40.485 --> 00:01:42.545
about your podcast and your passion.

00:01:42.925 --> 00:01:49.385
We spent a minute or two off air before this and just awesome to connect with

00:01:49.385 --> 00:01:51.385
someone as excited as I am about that.

00:01:51.625 --> 00:01:55.825
Thank you so much, man. I got goosebumps from that. I appreciate that so much. I feel that.

00:01:56.045 --> 00:01:58.545
Appreciate that. All right, before we jump into some questions,

00:01:58.725 --> 00:02:00.225
I know this is going to be a killer interview.

00:02:00.525 --> 00:02:02.525
I do have a couple of shout outs to mention.

00:02:02.885 --> 00:02:05.845
First shout out I want to give is my buddy Caleb Mayfield. Now,

00:02:06.005 --> 00:02:09.285
Caleb is the one that actually told me about you and gave me your name.

00:02:09.445 --> 00:02:13.645
So I got to credit him to getting connected with you. So I appreciate that, Caleb.

00:02:14.165 --> 00:02:19.085
Shout out to my sponsor, Volksmania Magazine, the flyest VW magazine on the

00:02:19.085 --> 00:02:21.965
face of the planet. This is an international production.

00:02:22.765 --> 00:02:26.685
It's very quality. the pictures, the stories, everything is awesome.

00:02:26.905 --> 00:02:30.705
You guys need to subscribe. US subscribers use Dublife 10.

00:02:30.965 --> 00:02:34.985
That's D-U-B-L-I-F-E, the number 10 or one zero.

00:02:35.405 --> 00:02:38.845
At checkout, you get 10% off your first issue.

00:02:39.305 --> 00:02:41.565
Also, shout out to Salty Dub.

00:02:42.045 --> 00:02:49.445
Born by the beach, built for the road, Salty Dub events and VW swag, www.saltydub.com.

00:02:49.625 --> 00:02:56.165
Last shout out, and it's back to my man, is to Dino Styles. Dino's Garage and DC Metro.

00:02:56.505 --> 00:02:59.565
Just want to thank you for your support, my brother. Give you a shout out.

00:02:59.825 --> 00:03:04.025
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Dino's Garage, DC Metro. If you need a VW mechanic

00:03:04.025 --> 00:03:07.085
in that area, he is your guy.

00:03:07.945 --> 00:03:12.505
All right, Mr. Harley, welcome back to you, man. It's all about you now.

00:03:13.137 --> 00:03:19.237
Awesome. Thank you. So what was your first VW? See, now that's an interesting story.

00:03:20.597 --> 00:03:26.677
I actually lusted over VWs. I mean, I like to think about my first exposure

00:03:26.677 --> 00:03:32.317
to VWs was really, you know, it was 1988, I would say.

00:03:32.317 --> 00:03:36.757
So pretty late in the game, but, you know, seeing my first dead shows,

00:03:36.777 --> 00:03:41.897
you know, I was in college, you know, Hamilton, Ohio,

00:03:42.697 --> 00:03:49.837
you know, some Midwest shows, Ann Arbor, Madison, which was up Alpine Valley, all this stuff.

00:03:49.837 --> 00:03:52.397
And yes so you know

00:03:52.397 --> 00:03:55.437
i kind of got exposed to you know like seeing people serving veggie

00:03:55.437 --> 00:03:58.857
burritos in cold sierra nevadas you know in

00:03:58.857 --> 00:04:01.737
the parking lot and was like oh my god these are

00:04:01.737 --> 00:04:04.597
like rolling homes these are little camp mobiles and

00:04:04.597 --> 00:04:09.917
you know and i always wanted one in the early 90s when i purchased my first

00:04:09.917 --> 00:04:14.297
vehicle for myself it was actually a jeep and something always felt off about

00:04:14.297 --> 00:04:18.857
it and i took it down the baja peninsula and was traveling in it but i'd see

00:04:18.857 --> 00:04:21.897
everyone in their VWs. And I was like, that's actually what I want.

00:04:22.897 --> 00:04:28.257
And, you know, just put it off, put it off until finally my daughter was born in 2010.

00:04:29.277 --> 00:04:33.597
And I, you know, like, like just was like, I need to finally,

00:04:33.877 --> 00:04:37.597
you know, like start living life like in the moment and finally pull the trigger.

00:04:37.757 --> 00:04:42.197
So, you know, my, it's kind of ironic that my history with VW,

00:04:42.397 --> 00:04:45.817
despite this being so enmeshed in the world really only goes back,

00:04:45.817 --> 00:04:48.577
you know, 15, 18 years or so.

00:04:48.877 --> 00:04:53.737
And that was, yeah, that was my 1991 Volkswagen van again.

00:04:54.017 --> 00:04:57.277
And, you know, so I purchased that in 2010.

00:04:57.677 --> 00:05:00.457
It broke down the very first time I drove it.

00:05:01.057 --> 00:05:05.557
Uh, and then I've got a lot of these stories, more of the stories will unfold.

00:05:05.737 --> 00:05:06.797
I'm sure over the next hour.

00:05:07.037 --> 00:05:09.657
What's the backstory on peace, peace vans.

00:05:09.977 --> 00:05:13.537
Uh, yeah, so it had a huge impact on the VW community.

00:05:14.137 --> 00:05:19.117
Yeah, so what happened was, like I said, I bought my first VW camper van.

00:05:20.006 --> 00:05:26.026
And it broke down, and I really struggled to find anyone qualified to work on it.

00:05:26.446 --> 00:05:29.746
And this was, you know, like the vans were starting to become popular again,

00:05:30.086 --> 00:05:32.746
you know, around like 08, 09, 2010.

00:05:33.546 --> 00:05:38.226
And I stumbled upon a little shop called Peace Vans that was in the Seattle

00:05:38.226 --> 00:05:42.186
downtown sort of, you know, urban corridor.

00:05:42.966 --> 00:05:45.546
And, you know, they were, you know, like they were terrible,

00:05:45.746 --> 00:05:49.286
to be honest. It was a terrible experience. They didn't really fix anything.

00:05:50.146 --> 00:05:53.326
The van broke down like a few blocks away from the shop.

00:05:53.466 --> 00:05:57.706
Awesome. I kept going back, but really sweet people, you know,

00:05:57.866 --> 00:05:59.626
and like really like kind.

00:05:59.946 --> 00:06:06.126
And so basically what happened was the owner, it was just three people and it

00:06:06.126 --> 00:06:09.646
was losing money and the owner was going to close up shop.

00:06:09.906 --> 00:06:12.486
And I was like, you know, don't do that.

00:06:12.806 --> 00:06:16.726
You know, like I actually at that point I was had transitioned out of corporate

00:06:16.726 --> 00:06:21.726
life. I actually have a long previous career, like working at places like Microsoft

00:06:21.726 --> 00:06:24.646
and big consulting firms and startup.

00:06:25.786 --> 00:06:27.766
Yeah, that's I've been joked that

00:06:27.766 --> 00:06:31.146
I've been joked that I'm the most overeducated person in the industry.

00:06:33.086 --> 00:06:36.906
And so, yeah, so I I went home and I told my wife, you know,

00:06:36.986 --> 00:06:39.586
hey, you know, that little shop that I've been using Peace Fans,

00:06:39.726 --> 00:06:40.326
you know, they're closing.

00:06:40.666 --> 00:06:44.126
And, you know, I think I I think I want to take it over, you know,

00:06:44.306 --> 00:06:48.146
like keep it alive. and I was willing to spend a lot of money on my van.

00:06:48.346 --> 00:06:51.926
And I kind of learned at that point, if you really want to keep your VW running,

00:06:52.106 --> 00:06:56.106
you kind of need a close personal relationship with a mechanic or you need to

00:06:56.106 --> 00:06:59.366
be able to like wrench on it yourself, which was not me. That's right.

00:07:00.318 --> 00:07:03.658
So I was like, wow, I'll have my own personal mechanic paid for it.

00:07:04.018 --> 00:07:07.698
So, yeah, so I, you know, went through a small little negotiation and basically

00:07:07.698 --> 00:07:11.398
just took over the shop. It was three people losing money.

00:07:11.978 --> 00:07:14.798
And, you know, kind of that was 13 years ago.

00:07:14.938 --> 00:07:20.718
And I've since, you know, shed all my other business interests and doubled down

00:07:20.718 --> 00:07:22.358
and doubled down and doubled down again.

00:07:22.478 --> 00:07:24.718
So that's two to the third.

00:07:25.218 --> 00:07:29.178
So probably another one. So two to the fourth, you know, into Peace Fans.

00:07:29.178 --> 00:07:34.278
And it's, you know, we're up to about 30 people, a bunch of different lines of businesses.

00:07:34.798 --> 00:07:37.718
Yeah. Just in case you want to see their staff, they're behind me back there. Yep.

00:07:38.098 --> 00:07:41.298
Recognized leader in the space. And it's been an amazing journey.

00:07:41.518 --> 00:07:45.498
You know, I like to tell the story, you know, that I came home that day and

00:07:45.498 --> 00:07:48.298
told my wife, hey, I think I'm going to take over this VW shop.

00:07:48.598 --> 00:07:53.238
And she's like, that's a fucking crazy idea. Like, what are you doing?

00:07:53.478 --> 00:07:55.958
And that's kind of my indication that I was on to something,

00:07:56.138 --> 00:07:58.278
you know, something, something fun. Amen.

00:07:58.498 --> 00:08:04.218
That's good. You saw the triumph in the potential tragedy for what was being said.

00:08:04.338 --> 00:08:06.758
That's actually a leadership skill.

00:08:07.338 --> 00:08:10.278
So pretty cool, man. Pretty cool to see that.

00:08:10.438 --> 00:08:14.758
So running this shop now, 13 years, you specialize in, well,

00:08:14.838 --> 00:08:18.738
a lot of things I saw on the website, but obviously one of them for this podcast

00:08:18.738 --> 00:08:21.038
and the purposes of is VW Vance.

00:08:21.038 --> 00:08:27.898
Over the time, over the years, what's the craziest or biggest or just one of

00:08:27.898 --> 00:08:31.278
the restorations that has stuck out to you? Oh, there's a bunch.

00:08:31.498 --> 00:08:36.058
I mean, on the air-cooled side, actually, just yesterday, I just met the woman.

00:08:36.398 --> 00:08:41.198
We restored a 1977 Westphalia for a customer.

00:08:41.338 --> 00:08:45.098
And it actually turned out it was the only, in 13 years, this was the only project

00:08:45.098 --> 00:08:48.258
we ever did where the customer didn't see it through to the end.

00:08:48.618 --> 00:08:50.438
Yeah, you know, just kind of gave up.

00:08:51.028 --> 00:08:54.528
And, you know, it's taking a while and his life changed.

00:08:54.548 --> 00:08:58.488
And so we finished it and it sat around the shop for about a year or two because

00:08:58.488 --> 00:09:00.508
I loved it. It was a beautiful restoration.

00:09:02.028 --> 00:09:05.768
And, you know, I literally put one post on Instagram. I was like,

00:09:05.828 --> 00:09:07.148
hey, I think we're going to sell this bus.

00:09:07.308 --> 00:09:10.228
And some woman like texted me and was like, I want that.

00:09:10.868 --> 00:09:14.108
And that was a couple of months ago and she just picked up yesterday.

00:09:14.308 --> 00:09:17.788
So that was an amazing project.

00:09:18.188 --> 00:09:21.708
I mean, 77, you said it was. yeah 77 yeah

00:09:21.708 --> 00:09:24.608
that stuck out to me because that's the year i was born so oh wow

00:09:24.608 --> 00:09:28.508
okay yeah we did a 71 high top

00:09:28.508 --> 00:09:32.568
bus that was really fun working on the high top conversion you

00:09:32.568 --> 00:09:35.608
know right now we're actually doing a full restoration on

00:09:35.608 --> 00:09:38.848
the carmen guia which we don't work on a lot of non-camp camp

00:09:38.848 --> 00:09:42.728
mobiles but it's a really interesting customer and

00:09:42.728 --> 00:09:45.908
maybe it's you know heretical to the audience but

00:09:45.908 --> 00:09:50.008
the customer wants to convert it to electric as well oh dude

00:09:50.008 --> 00:09:53.148
we're rolling in one big project

00:09:53.148 --> 00:09:58.528
for him and he's kind of a i can't really say who he is but he's he's a he's

00:09:58.528 --> 00:10:05.148
a well known entity with the local music scene here very cool yeah so that's

00:10:05.148 --> 00:10:08.848
going to be a really fun project yeah sounds like it well you know what year

00:10:08.848 --> 00:10:12.268
is the gear just so i can visualize the I think it's a 71.

00:10:12.788 --> 00:10:15.468
I'd have to double check. Yeah. Pretty sweet. Yeah.

00:10:16.148 --> 00:10:20.068
And then like other restorations, you know, really like the big part of our

00:10:20.068 --> 00:10:23.628
business is water-cooled Vanigans, the 80s era Vanigans.

00:10:23.868 --> 00:10:28.208
And so we've definitely done some projects that hit almost six figures on those.

00:10:28.748 --> 00:10:34.428
Full body and paint restoration. And some of those projects really stand out.

00:10:34.428 --> 00:10:39.588
You know, rust buckets where we are literally like cutting out metal and,

00:10:39.588 --> 00:10:43.728
you know, cutting mad, buying donor vehicles and cutting metal from those.

00:10:44.068 --> 00:10:46.868
And, you know, those are, those are always big projects.

00:10:47.288 --> 00:10:49.388
Yeah. So yeah, a lot, a lot of those.

00:10:50.209 --> 00:10:53.629
What else? We've got a thing in the shop right now we're doing some work on.

00:10:54.089 --> 00:10:56.849
Cool. Anything cool to it?

00:10:57.629 --> 00:11:01.309
No, just a standard kind of like resto project. Yeah, got you.

00:11:01.509 --> 00:11:03.369
Might convert it to electric.

00:11:03.689 --> 00:11:07.789
Oh, another one. We're investing pretty heavily in EV conversions that we can talk about later.

00:11:08.069 --> 00:11:14.329
Yeah, cool. So anyway, that's kind of like some of the higher profile projects that come to mind.

00:11:14.549 --> 00:11:21.489
Oh, a 70-1 Doka double cab. That one comes, that's local.

00:11:21.509 --> 00:11:23.729
So we see that quite a bit. We restored that.

00:11:23.929 --> 00:11:26.109
And that was a really fun project as well, too.

00:11:26.469 --> 00:11:28.089
How's the scene out there? The

00:11:28.089 --> 00:11:31.809
Seattle scene? Is it different out there in other parts of the country?

00:11:32.209 --> 00:11:35.869
Yeah, it's pretty solid. You know, I don't think it's not like Southern California,

00:11:35.869 --> 00:11:38.249
but it's not that far off.

00:11:38.649 --> 00:11:42.469
There's a lot of people still into the, you know, the camper scene is very,

00:11:42.609 --> 00:11:47.129
very like ubiquitous up here. You know, a lot of people still camping and camping

00:11:47.129 --> 00:11:49.149
a lot and being outdoors in their V-dubs.

00:11:49.889 --> 00:11:54.249
But yeah, you see, there's, there's, there's quite a rich culture. It's really nice.

00:11:54.509 --> 00:11:57.249
Yeah, that is. That's awesome. I think in Florida where I'm at,

00:11:57.369 --> 00:11:59.929
central Florida, might as well be South Florida, I feel like,

00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:04.529
but it's too hot multiple months throughout your, you know, here too, too humid.

00:12:04.769 --> 00:12:08.989
And yeah, man, too much, but, but it's cool to see, you know,

00:12:09.069 --> 00:12:13.629
it's still super popular here, but a lot of like beach theme vehicles.

00:12:13.629 --> 00:12:17.889
Yeah, here you still get it's a lot of the campers, you know,

00:12:17.989 --> 00:12:21.189
I mean, a lot of the campers ended up on the West Coast, you know,

00:12:21.249 --> 00:12:25.069
it's kind of like almost a downhill slide from the East Coast to the West Coast.

00:12:25.729 --> 00:12:30.809
Maybe that's what happened. Yeah, it seems like most campers end up on the West

00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:32.889
Coast eventually and just live out their lives here.

00:12:33.528 --> 00:12:39.208
Yeah. I mean, it's beautiful. It's beautiful area weather. I've been all over that, that area.

00:12:39.568 --> 00:12:43.648
Back in a previous life, I opened up health club facilities. Oh, wow.

00:12:43.808 --> 00:12:47.728
And we were partnered up with an anytime fitness location out there.

00:12:47.748 --> 00:12:50.888
So it was like Orting, Buckley, DuPont, Yelm.

00:12:51.208 --> 00:12:56.728
Oh yeah. All those areas that kind of harbor Seattle area, but it was beautiful.

00:12:56.728 --> 00:13:01.068
We were out there in July and it's windows open and just absolutely beautiful.

00:13:01.068 --> 00:13:03.968
Yeah so peace vans

00:13:03.968 --> 00:13:06.928
obviously you guys you know are a very

00:13:06.928 --> 00:13:09.868
popular shop but you know i want to hear your take

00:13:09.868 --> 00:13:12.668
on what makes you guys stand out from the rest

00:13:12.668 --> 00:13:18.128
of the vw shops that aren't just out there but are everywhere yeah i mean i

00:13:18.128 --> 00:13:23.768
think honestly it comes down to like you know our management you know like i

00:13:23.768 --> 00:13:28.688
you know like this is a bit you know i am i don't wrench so i am while I'm an

00:13:28.688 --> 00:13:30.228
owner and I'm passionate and I'm,

00:13:30.328 --> 00:13:34.908
but I am a manager and I manage the business and I hire the best people and

00:13:34.908 --> 00:13:36.888
coach them and mentor them and retain them.

00:13:37.248 --> 00:13:40.048
So I am not out there like micromanaging the team.

00:13:40.508 --> 00:13:45.948
And, and I bring to the shop and all of our businesses, a very high degree of

00:13:45.948 --> 00:13:46.968
professional management.

00:13:47.408 --> 00:13:51.728
So while there's a certain charm to going into your, your, your like 40 year

00:13:51.728 --> 00:13:56.608
old VW shop and you know, the owner is out there wrenching and you know,

00:13:56.688 --> 00:13:59.268
your receipt is all dirty with grease.

00:13:59.588 --> 00:14:03.968
And, you know, there's something about coming into a shop where you're writing

00:14:03.968 --> 00:14:07.368
a really big check and having like a high degree of confidence that like,

00:14:07.668 --> 00:14:09.768
you know, we're going to honor the schedule.

00:14:10.468 --> 00:14:14.488
Everything's going to be done perfectly. You're going to get calls every week

00:14:14.488 --> 00:14:18.088
on your project. You have an open door policy.

00:14:18.608 --> 00:14:22.828
You know, you can just sense that the team is like really, really happy to be here.

00:14:23.228 --> 00:14:27.228
And that kind of flows through to the work that you see coming out of the shop.

00:14:27.488 --> 00:14:34.228
So I think, and I've seen this, just being a manager versus a mechanic.

00:14:35.868 --> 00:14:39.088
It elevates the experience of the shop.

00:14:40.008 --> 00:14:43.608
People are welcome back in the shop and welcome to see what we're doing and

00:14:43.608 --> 00:14:49.268
talk to the dirty, everyone who's dirty back there if they want. Like that's why.

00:14:49.948 --> 00:14:54.328
But there's, I think, just our ability to meet our deadlines,

00:14:54.328 --> 00:14:58.068
to, you know, really be great stewards of your money.

00:14:58.308 --> 00:15:00.528
A lot of our customers are spending a lot of money.

00:15:00.928 --> 00:15:06.028
And I always joke, you know, we're not taking your money and paying last month's taxes.

00:15:06.328 --> 00:15:10.568
We're a very well-run organization. Yeah, that's a selling feature.

00:15:11.088 --> 00:15:16.548
Yeah, it is. It's a trust builder instantly. Yeah, and I empower my front office

00:15:16.548 --> 00:15:18.268
team. They're not scrambling around.

00:15:18.408 --> 00:15:22.128
They have plenty of time to answer the phone, respond to emails,

00:15:22.128 --> 00:15:26.508
you know, talk to people that just, and we, you know, we have an open door policy.

00:15:26.708 --> 00:15:29.248
Like we, people come in all the time.

00:15:29.991 --> 00:15:33.351
You know, where you can see behind the photo you got there, right behind the

00:15:33.351 --> 00:15:37.011
shop, is the light rail station that comes from the airport.

00:15:37.531 --> 00:15:41.051
And, you know, there's a big van in the back on, like, a container.

00:15:41.351 --> 00:15:45.531
And people stop. They see the van, and they're like, oh, my God,

00:15:45.671 --> 00:15:49.091
what is that place? And they get out, and they come back and visit.

00:15:49.271 --> 00:15:54.911
And so, you know, just that accessibility and transparency, I think,

00:15:55.031 --> 00:15:58.991
you don't see in a lot of repair shops, let alone, like, highly specialized

00:15:58.991 --> 00:16:00.971
shops. I picked up on something else too.

00:16:01.111 --> 00:16:05.611
I picked up on the accountability side of running a business.

00:16:06.031 --> 00:16:13.231
A lot of the hippie theme misses that era, that business culture that,

00:16:13.691 --> 00:16:16.731
hey, we're going to stick to these deadlines come hell or high water.

00:16:16.731 --> 00:16:20.731
So I noticed that. And then here's what else I wanted to say to that.

00:16:21.111 --> 00:16:25.931
What you see a lot of times in leadership is that people actually operate better

00:16:25.931 --> 00:16:27.811
under guidance and instruction.

00:16:28.491 --> 00:16:32.811
They crave it. They want it. So when you're a great leader and you're giving

00:16:32.811 --> 00:16:37.291
guidance and you open door policy and all these things that you mentioned, dude, it's a win-win.

00:16:37.451 --> 00:16:41.511
You probably have a fantastic culture and that's probably why they're all there and still there.

00:16:42.031 --> 00:16:44.771
Yeah. And that's, you know, I mean, I, you know, like I really,

00:16:44.951 --> 00:16:49.111
really try to let, you know, everyone on the team to do their best work,

00:16:49.271 --> 00:16:51.871
whatever that is. Yeah. Right. But in the right seat.

00:16:52.231 --> 00:16:56.351
That's. Yeah. And then, and then have them be unencumbered with things they don't like to do.

00:16:57.007 --> 00:17:02.327
You know, and so like, and so really just make sure people are in their strengths.

00:17:02.827 --> 00:17:06.287
That's just, you know, I tell my team, I tell my front office team,

00:17:06.287 --> 00:17:08.607
I'm like, you deal with the crazy people.

00:17:08.907 --> 00:17:12.527
I'll deal with the psychos, you know, so I've got their backs,

00:17:12.527 --> 00:17:16.207
you know, like anything ever is going south or something really weird is happening.

00:17:16.407 --> 00:17:19.467
Like I've got your backs. Like I will take care of this.

00:17:19.627 --> 00:17:23.327
Like you don't get paid enough to like deal with true, like,

00:17:23.547 --> 00:17:27.047
you know, like sideways situations, which are few and far between,

00:17:27.047 --> 00:17:31.527
and usually they have nothing to do with our work or even, like, customers.

00:17:31.547 --> 00:17:35.707
There's, like, someone coming in off the street and being, like, all weird and stuff.

00:17:36.007 --> 00:17:39.727
So, yeah. Still, man, another strength, another leadership strength that,

00:17:39.727 --> 00:17:41.467
you know, you don't pass that stuff down.

00:17:41.767 --> 00:17:45.487
You know, the general don't send soldiers into battle that he wouldn't go battle

00:17:45.487 --> 00:17:47.687
himself. So that's pretty cool, man.

00:17:48.107 --> 00:17:51.447
Yeah, and so I think, you know, like, parallel to that, you asked what makes

00:17:51.447 --> 00:17:54.627
it special. It's also the quality of working the attention to detail.

00:17:54.847 --> 00:17:58.407
Okay. I mean, I don't, you know, we don't, you know, like our mechanics aren't

00:17:58.407 --> 00:18:02.627
flat rate, you know, so they're not trying to make time or, you know,

00:18:02.647 --> 00:18:06.927
they're all very well paid with great healthcare plans and PTO policies.

00:18:06.927 --> 00:18:10.987
And it really allows them to do their absolute best work.

00:18:11.287 --> 00:18:16.487
You know, they want to take an extra three hours and make like that thing look

00:18:16.487 --> 00:18:18.867
beautiful on a 50 hour project.

00:18:18.867 --> 00:18:24.487
I'm like, yeah, like go like, you know, you know, get that perfectly in place,

00:18:24.647 --> 00:18:29.287
cut the zip ties, paint the thing like, you know, like wash the part that we

00:18:29.287 --> 00:18:33.667
didn't even replace, you know, like go, go the, go the, go the extra mile.

00:18:33.907 --> 00:18:35.907
Like I will never ding you for that.

00:18:36.307 --> 00:18:38.827
And so, and that shows up. So, yeah.

00:18:39.247 --> 00:18:44.507
Yeah. Fantastic. I was just visiting a sister shop in the Bay Area last week, actually.

00:18:44.507 --> 00:18:47.347
And you know they were like one of their mechanics came out

00:18:47.347 --> 00:18:49.987
heard i was there and was like oh my god i just worked on one of

00:18:49.987 --> 00:18:53.027
the vans you restored last week and like the

00:18:53.027 --> 00:18:55.867
work was impeccable and i was like yeah

00:18:55.867 --> 00:18:58.807
that's kind of what we want to hear we want anyone to open

00:18:58.807 --> 00:19:01.507
any engine bay and be like oh my that

00:19:01.507 --> 00:19:04.587
must be peace fans that that is like clearly like

00:19:04.587 --> 00:19:07.507
a peace fans project yeah that's awesome

00:19:07.507 --> 00:19:10.467
so speaking of projects i did notice on on

00:19:10.467 --> 00:19:13.247
the website the the i guess

00:19:13.247 --> 00:19:17.107
the push towards the new id buzz so first

00:19:17.107 --> 00:19:20.587
i just want to ask the short answer what what do you think of the new id buzz

00:19:20.587 --> 00:19:24.987
like or i mean i love it you know i mean i also like obviously we've made a

00:19:24.987 --> 00:19:29.367
big bet on it i couldn't possibly say i don't like it because we're you know

00:19:29.367 --> 00:19:33.367
we're multiple figures into investment and have a really great relationship

00:19:33.367 --> 00:19:36.027
with vw of america and you know they want to be,

00:19:37.544 --> 00:19:42.464
But with that said, I mean, there's no other vehicle on the road right now that

00:19:42.464 --> 00:19:44.324
makes people smile like that.

00:19:44.764 --> 00:19:50.864
Like, literally, I have a picture where I parked. It's a big Tesla facility down the street from us.

00:19:51.024 --> 00:19:54.584
And I parked a green ID bus next to a Cybertruck.

00:19:54.824 --> 00:19:57.044
And I did a little, like, this or that.

00:19:58.444 --> 00:20:03.384
Anything probably got 100,000 views. And, you know, like, it was just,

00:20:03.524 --> 00:20:05.904
like, it's the anti-Cybertruck.

00:20:05.904 --> 00:20:10.464
And it's just the anti, like, just all the car, all cars look alike these days

00:20:10.464 --> 00:20:16.064
and, you know, love or hate the ID buzz, but it stands out and like kids love

00:20:16.064 --> 00:20:17.384
it. You know, that's my proxy.

00:20:17.604 --> 00:20:21.504
Like the kids come up to it, like at the car shows, which has been one of the

00:20:21.504 --> 00:20:22.844
only places to see them lately.

00:20:23.584 --> 00:20:27.124
I mean, kids hug them, you know, just, it's friendly. It's approachable.

00:20:27.504 --> 00:20:30.964
It's cute. It's fun. It's, and then I'm like driving.

00:20:31.144 --> 00:20:34.504
It's a great, if you like EVs, it's a great driving experience.

00:20:34.504 --> 00:20:36.544
I mean, it handles really great.

00:20:36.884 --> 00:20:41.364
It's fast. You know, obviously as an EV, it's basically silent.

00:20:42.184 --> 00:20:47.424
So, you know, I mean, is it the first car I would choose to drive? Probably not.

00:20:48.224 --> 00:20:52.644
But it's an amazing evolution of a platform.

00:20:53.124 --> 00:20:59.104
So, yeah. And we, you know, we've been waiting for a modern VW camper for 25,

00:20:59.284 --> 00:21:06.224
30 years. So, you know, we decided to pretty much go all in on it and we're

00:21:06.224 --> 00:21:07.264
really excited about it.

00:21:07.364 --> 00:21:11.784
So, but it's, it's, there's no question it's not for everyone and they're not

00:21:11.784 --> 00:21:17.164
building a lot of them either. So it's a very niche car right now. I like them personally.

00:21:17.544 --> 00:21:21.144
Yeah. I like them. I love them. I love the technology and what you said.

00:21:21.284 --> 00:21:24.924
I love that my five-year-old, when he sees one, he feels like he's got to go touch it.

00:21:25.164 --> 00:21:28.444
And I'm like, Hey, hold on. That's someone's car. Don't do that.

00:21:29.044 --> 00:21:32.564
Yeah. there's nothing else out there's literally like i mean there's nothing

00:21:32.564 --> 00:21:33.924
else out there that generates.

00:21:34.564 --> 00:21:37.504
And and like people's people pull up alongside me

00:21:37.504 --> 00:21:42.004
on the highway and honk their horn and wave at me you know and that's like i

00:21:42.004 --> 00:21:49.304
don't know that i i tend to over yeah i tend to over index on things that make

00:21:49.304 --> 00:21:55.984
other people happy and the id buzz is like squarely in that category so it gets bonus points from me.

00:21:56.464 --> 00:22:00.524
So when you're not working on vans, I know you travel a lot, right?

00:22:01.044 --> 00:22:04.364
Yeah. I try to travel a lot. Yeah. Do you do this by road?

00:22:04.824 --> 00:22:10.344
Yeah. I try to take a lot of road trips, you know. Do you have a road trip van that you take?

00:22:10.764 --> 00:22:15.084
Yeah. I like to travel in my 1991 van again. That's the original vehicle.

00:22:15.384 --> 00:22:19.604
It's the one I have the most memories in. I feel really comfortable and happy in it.

00:22:19.984 --> 00:22:23.144
It's just, you know, it's my happy place. And I was lucky enough to just,

00:22:23.304 --> 00:22:25.564
just last week, I just had a week.

00:22:26.284 --> 00:22:30.604
We have a small set of VWs that live in Baja, Mexico, that we rent.

00:22:31.432 --> 00:22:35.512
And I saw that on your website. Yeah. And I sent my van down there for the winter

00:22:35.512 --> 00:22:38.452
so I can go visit it and have it down there.

00:22:38.832 --> 00:22:41.732
And my partner down there drove it up to San Diego for me.

00:22:42.132 --> 00:22:45.752
And so I flew down to see San Diego last week and drove up the coast.

00:22:45.952 --> 00:22:51.872
And it was so much fun to be back in my van after like a four or five month hiatus. I bet.

00:22:52.392 --> 00:22:55.752
Yeah. And I had a really good time just reconnecting with, you know,

00:22:55.832 --> 00:23:00.052
just the road and, you know, rolling down the windows and the music loud.

00:23:00.052 --> 00:23:04.452
And, you know, getting away from the office as much as I love my job and my

00:23:04.452 --> 00:23:08.892
team and, you know, as much as I love my kid getting away from her for a week.

00:23:09.612 --> 00:23:12.272
So, yeah. Let's talk about this app.

00:23:13.312 --> 00:23:17.152
I'm interested. So you're working on an app for VW owners.

00:23:18.592 --> 00:23:22.292
I learned a little bit about it, but I want to hear it from the horse's mouth.

00:23:22.552 --> 00:23:26.452
Yeah. So a couple of things about it. So, you know, we do own an app and it's

00:23:26.452 --> 00:23:29.352
actually built for everyone. You know, we're going to we're going to build out

00:23:29.352 --> 00:23:32.112
some features exclusively for VW owners on it.

00:23:32.432 --> 00:23:35.572
OK, but it's called it's called Seeker, S-E-K-R.

00:23:36.092 --> 00:23:39.872
And it's and it's really used for finding campsite. That's its prime,

00:23:39.932 --> 00:23:42.772
you know, off grid campsites. That's its primary use case.

00:23:42.992 --> 00:23:46.692
OK, I have a boondock. I don't want to be in a big RV park. I'm sick of this

00:23:46.692 --> 00:23:48.912
state or national park campground.

00:23:49.152 --> 00:23:54.052
And it's got an interactive map where users can rate sites. They can plot locations.

00:23:54.492 --> 00:23:57.832
You can make those privates. Only your friends can see them. and.

00:23:58.592 --> 00:24:01.532
And we're going to build in some features so you can connect with other people

00:24:01.532 --> 00:24:04.312
on the road. So I have a VW camper van.

00:24:04.492 --> 00:24:07.732
You have a VW camper van. We're within like 30 miles of each other.

00:24:08.212 --> 00:24:09.912
Maybe we can message and meet up.

00:24:10.612 --> 00:24:15.932
Oh, cool. A lot of permission-based stuff has to be set right and safety and all that.

00:24:16.252 --> 00:24:18.892
But, you know, we know how to do all that stuff here. I have a background in

00:24:18.892 --> 00:24:21.612
that. So, yeah, we're really excited about it.

00:24:22.132 --> 00:24:26.112
There'll also be, you know, forums for getting help. We'll have a dedicated

00:24:26.112 --> 00:24:28.352
VW forum for all VW owners.

00:24:28.592 --> 00:24:32.012
Um, you know, obviously there's other resources for that kind of stuff,

00:24:32.012 --> 00:24:36.552
but really there's nowhere that knits together the camping, the events,

00:24:36.752 --> 00:24:40.012
the resources, and then the social nature. Like, okay.

00:24:40.312 --> 00:24:42.692
I want to find, so right now it's focused on camping.

00:24:43.372 --> 00:24:48.132
And, you know, I think as it gets a little more momentum, we will open it up

00:24:48.132 --> 00:24:51.332
to other, like other VW owners for their, their vehicles too.

00:24:52.132 --> 00:24:56.352
When, when do you think that this, this app's gonna, gonna be available?

00:24:56.612 --> 00:24:59.912
When's it going to drop? You know, so the current version is available right

00:24:59.912 --> 00:25:05.232
now on both app stores, Google Play and the Apple App Store, Seeker, S-E-K-R.

00:25:05.492 --> 00:25:10.572
Okay. You can download that. You can sort of use a free version of it and find campsites.

00:25:10.992 --> 00:25:15.352
Okay, so it's already there. Yeah, there's a set of features that you have to pay for.

00:25:15.592 --> 00:25:20.572
But, you know, I think it's now $1.99 a month, $1.99 a month, so pretty affordable.

00:25:20.952 --> 00:25:24.432
But it's something that I'm pretty passionate about, and we're just experimenting

00:25:24.432 --> 00:25:27.092
with and following what the users use.

00:25:27.272 --> 00:25:29.252
And innovating features based on that.

00:25:29.732 --> 00:25:33.352
So I'm going to check it out. Cool, man. It's a lot of fun. Yeah.

00:25:33.992 --> 00:25:39.692
So running the company 13 years, what's one of the biggest business lessons

00:25:39.692 --> 00:25:42.452
that you've learned along the way? Oh, God.

00:25:43.132 --> 00:25:46.092
Depends on which axis you want to think about. You know, from a,

00:25:46.452 --> 00:25:51.952
like if I put on my CFO hat, like cash is king, you know, and I don't know if

00:25:51.952 --> 00:25:54.172
any of your listeners are small business owners or.

00:25:54.919 --> 00:25:57.939
You know, like the P and L is interesting. The balance sheet is interesting,

00:25:57.959 --> 00:26:01.919
but man, like cash is King, you know, like managed to cashflow.

00:26:02.139 --> 00:26:05.299
Like I had a mentor, much larger business than mine.

00:26:05.739 --> 00:26:08.439
You know, you know, I remember one time talking to him, he's like,

00:26:08.499 --> 00:26:10.579
yeah, I only look at cash in the bank.

00:26:10.999 --> 00:26:13.759
You know, like if I have a lot of cash in the bank, we're doing great.

00:26:14.259 --> 00:26:17.179
If we're not doing a lot of cash in the bank, I start doing other things.

00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:22.379
And, you know, there's kind of like as a small business, like you can lose sight

00:26:22.379 --> 00:26:24.919
of cashflow. and all of a sudden you're like, things are going great.

00:26:25.199 --> 00:26:28.239
And then you're like, you know, like, whoa, wait a minute. You know?

00:26:28.399 --> 00:26:33.199
So I think though, if I put on like my overall, like CEO hat.

00:26:34.059 --> 00:26:38.519
It's really about, you know, like one of the mantras I give my team,

00:26:38.659 --> 00:26:43.719
I try to teach my team is, you know, focus on the relationship and not the transaction.

00:26:44.439 --> 00:26:49.539
So in any given transaction, like, I don't, I don't honestly, like, I don't care.

00:26:49.899 --> 00:26:53.939
Like, you know, if I have to refund that or discount that or,

00:26:54.159 --> 00:26:58.319
you know, like, like, you know, you know, give a bunch of money back.

00:26:58.819 --> 00:27:00.959
I want to preserve the relationship.

00:27:02.159 --> 00:27:05.619
And, you know, over time, like if we do that right, we'll be profitable.

00:27:06.179 --> 00:27:09.939
So like, how do you get out of the weeds on like, oh God, like,

00:27:10.039 --> 00:27:14.379
you know, like, you know, and empower the team to do that, to make those decisions.

00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:19.819
So, and that's kind of Similarly, like really, you know, just empowering my team.

00:27:20.419 --> 00:27:24.279
I'm really proud of my team and the longevity. And when people leave,

00:27:24.419 --> 00:27:29.379
it's sad and it's always, you know, difficult because I empower them to do their

00:27:29.379 --> 00:27:32.779
best work and trust them and, you know, let them make mistakes.

00:27:32.979 --> 00:27:35.699
And don't, you know, I don't ride their case when they make a mistake.

00:27:35.879 --> 00:27:38.219
I'm just like, well, what, you know, what could we have done differently here?

00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:43.119
Yeah, it just sounds like just a lot, maybe your previous life,

00:27:43.419 --> 00:27:46.439
even in corporate, when you mentioned that you were in there.

00:27:46.639 --> 00:27:50.079
I think it shaped, you know, the outcome for now.

00:27:50.279 --> 00:27:56.719
It allowed you to be this fantastic leader that people probably seek to look out and to go work for.

00:27:56.939 --> 00:27:59.979
Yeah, I think they would reflect back the same thing for the most part.

00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:03.299
I mean, there's definitely like, sure, every once I get something you just don't

00:28:03.299 --> 00:28:04.599
click with, you know, or.

00:28:04.779 --> 00:28:08.859
Well, I mean, that's, you know, that's life. But again, when you're when you're

00:28:08.859 --> 00:28:13.979
a good leader, you look into, OK, why don't we click and what can I put on in myself?

00:28:13.979 --> 00:28:20.379
You know, I've mentioned to a lot of contractors in the past,

00:28:20.439 --> 00:28:22.199
I work with contractors a lot.

00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:25.699
I'm a sales trainer outside of this podcast.

00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:29.579
And I tell them all the time, if you lose somebody or if somebody leaves,

00:28:29.619 --> 00:28:31.339
it's your fault, not theirs.

00:28:32.495 --> 00:28:36.235
What could you have done differently or better? So, yeah, man,

00:28:36.315 --> 00:28:37.895
I completely respect that.

00:28:37.955 --> 00:28:40.975
I'm really proud of the fact that I can leave the business.

00:28:41.315 --> 00:28:45.655
I can walk away for a week, two weeks, three weeks even. I could probably leave

00:28:45.655 --> 00:28:48.595
for a month and these guys would be fine.

00:28:48.915 --> 00:28:50.555
They all would thrive.

00:28:50.915 --> 00:28:56.675
They know how, you know, I always tell them, just like think about what I would

00:28:56.675 --> 00:28:59.475
do and just go do it with your own flavor.

00:29:00.755 --> 00:29:03.575
That's so great. you literally get out

00:29:03.575 --> 00:29:08.095
of your own way by getting out of their way and then

00:29:08.095 --> 00:29:10.815
you can leave you know which is i can then i can leave

00:29:10.815 --> 00:29:13.855
yeah a lot of people business owners small or

00:29:13.855 --> 00:29:16.895
large can't say that they have to be the ones in control

00:29:16.895 --> 00:29:19.715
in their business they can't kind of let the

00:29:19.715 --> 00:29:22.895
reins go so respect it it's been

00:29:22.895 --> 00:29:25.995
a really hard lesson for me to learn i have this another sort

00:29:25.995 --> 00:29:29.035
of mantra around like you know this doesn't really apply in

00:29:29.035 --> 00:29:31.755
like safety situations like wrenching or tying knots but

00:29:31.755 --> 00:29:34.515
like there really is no perfect way you know

00:29:34.515 --> 00:29:37.655
like there really is no like so people get so attached

00:29:37.655 --> 00:29:42.835
to their way of doing things and like sure if you're torquing something down

00:29:42.835 --> 00:29:48.175
to a spec it has to be to that spec right but 90 90 of this 90 of the stuff

00:29:48.175 --> 00:29:51.855
is like you you want to do it that way if you're really passionate about it

00:29:51.855 --> 00:29:56.035
like i don't care you know i'm more like outcome focused Does it get done?

00:29:56.355 --> 00:30:01.655
Yeah. Does it get done really well? And are you stoked about how it got done?

00:30:01.895 --> 00:30:05.515
You know, I'm not really about the how, you know, it's really the what and the

00:30:05.515 --> 00:30:07.595
why are really more important questions.

00:30:07.955 --> 00:30:10.615
There's probably some folks that are going to listen to this that,

00:30:10.675 --> 00:30:13.635
you know, might be wanting to start their own, their own company,

00:30:13.755 --> 00:30:16.455
their own restoration business, or even something similar.

00:30:16.635 --> 00:30:20.135
What would be advice that you have for somebody that's listening to this that

00:30:20.135 --> 00:30:22.695
becomes inspired to do this on their own?

00:30:23.367 --> 00:30:27.827
Yeah, I actually was on a recent podcast a couple months ago for a podcast.

00:30:27.827 --> 00:30:29.947
I think it's called Acquiring Minds.

00:30:30.027 --> 00:30:31.847
It's about buying and selling businesses.

00:30:32.067 --> 00:30:36.427
And it's a really, I think it's like a two-hour deep dive into like my experience here.

00:30:36.687 --> 00:30:38.467
Wow, awesome. Yeah, super interesting.

00:30:38.887 --> 00:30:43.607
But, you know, I would, you know, it's a couple things. Like owning your own

00:30:43.607 --> 00:30:46.527
business is like super, super stressful at times.

00:30:46.647 --> 00:30:51.387
Like not everyone is wired to do it. Like you have to both be simultaneously

00:30:51.387 --> 00:30:56.507
like the most optimistic person in the world and the most pessimistic person

00:30:56.507 --> 00:30:58.827
in the world in the same moment.

00:30:58.947 --> 00:31:03.387
You have to be like, oh, my God, like I'm so pessimistic.

00:31:03.547 --> 00:31:06.087
I got to see all the risks and manage those and control those.

00:31:06.187 --> 00:31:10.467
And so optimistic that I'm going to ignore all those risks and we're just going to go for it.

00:31:12.167 --> 00:31:15.847
It's quite hard to do that at the same time.

00:31:16.707 --> 00:31:20.347
So, and you also, I think owning your own business, if you get to a certain

00:31:20.347 --> 00:31:25.767
scale, you have to like be, you have to like enjoy people because at some point

00:31:25.767 --> 00:31:27.567
you're going to add a team and,

00:31:28.147 --> 00:31:31.047
you know, you know, we've already talked about this a few minutes ago,

00:31:31.127 --> 00:31:35.927
but like a happy team is the, you know, most critical thing you have,

00:31:36.087 --> 00:31:37.187
your most important asset.

00:31:37.567 --> 00:31:44.507
So you have to, you know, be able to lead and, you know, provide joy and health.

00:31:45.206 --> 00:31:49.566
For your team. And that can be, you know, hard for, you know,

00:31:49.706 --> 00:31:51.946
some, some people that just aren't able to do that.

00:31:52.146 --> 00:31:57.026
Right. I love the comment that you have to like people in one of my sales classes,

00:31:57.026 --> 00:32:02.186
I teach, and you've heard this before, people usually buy from people they like and trust.

00:32:02.566 --> 00:32:07.666
But I say this all the time, people buy more from people who like them. Yeah.

00:32:08.026 --> 00:32:11.306
You got to like your customers, man. You can't be that type of,

00:32:11.446 --> 00:32:12.766
you know, back office type,

00:32:12.966 --> 00:32:15.946
hide from the public type people anymore that's

00:32:15.946 --> 00:32:19.246
not really the yeah that's that that doesn't work yeah and

00:32:19.246 --> 00:32:22.166
we are so lucky like it is so easy to

00:32:22.166 --> 00:32:25.666
love our customers so yeah that

00:32:25.666 --> 00:32:28.466
podcast i was referring to like i talk it's a

00:32:28.466 --> 00:32:31.926
lot of like most of the guests are like they own like hvac businesses

00:32:31.926 --> 00:32:34.846
or it businesses and and i talk

00:32:34.846 --> 00:32:37.946
a lot about hugging my customers that is a core part

00:32:37.946 --> 00:32:41.046
of our value system here like you know obviously with

00:32:41.046 --> 00:32:43.926
consent but you know like you know we hug a lot of

00:32:43.926 --> 00:32:46.726
our customers and that's like i mean that that's a

00:32:46.726 --> 00:32:49.646
core value of us like if you're really i saw that where

00:32:49.646 --> 00:32:52.826
did i see that i'd rather hug 100 customers than serve

00:32:52.826 --> 00:32:55.706
a billion is that isn't that i i think i

00:32:55.706 --> 00:33:00.986
said that you did i saw that a quote on i think your website or something yeah

00:33:00.986 --> 00:33:04.286
yeah i think i said something like that on the because i think i was talking

00:33:04.286 --> 00:33:08.446
about the app oh like you know i love the app and building the app but i would

00:33:08.446 --> 00:33:13.426
rather like i'd rather like hug 100 people than serve a million You know, it's just like,

00:33:13.666 --> 00:33:17.666
which is hard because serving a million is a great fricking business model at

00:33:17.666 --> 00:33:20.306
like 90%, you know, gross margin on software.

00:33:20.946 --> 00:33:24.506
Yeah. I'd say. Yeah. It's a much better business model, but.

00:33:24.726 --> 00:33:27.046
You could have the first VW bus helicopter.

00:33:27.886 --> 00:33:31.446
Right? I think those guys at Skinner are, you know, they, they,

00:33:31.446 --> 00:33:34.906
they have one. I see it, man. I see it. It's getting close.

00:33:35.146 --> 00:33:37.986
It's getting, it's interesting to watch that. I know. Yep.

00:33:38.653 --> 00:33:42.713
So five years down the road, Peace Vans, what's coming up? What's the dream?

00:33:42.893 --> 00:33:46.753
I mean, the dream is to keep the dream alive, you know, to really continue to

00:33:46.753 --> 00:33:52.093
be one of the dwindling resources for this community and to really continue

00:33:52.093 --> 00:33:56.833
to provide services and expertise and support for the community.

00:33:57.193 --> 00:34:02.353
We want to continue to be like a main pillar of the VW world in the Pacific Northwest.

00:34:02.953 --> 00:34:07.133
So, you know, that's the primary focus. I mean, obviously we want to,

00:34:07.173 --> 00:34:11.813
you know, we want to build a business around the ID buzz, you know,

00:34:11.873 --> 00:34:17.473
get younger families into camping and road trips, not in an RV, in a camper mobile.

00:34:17.753 --> 00:34:22.673
And if they need a reliable EV to do that, we want to be able to provide that.

00:34:23.073 --> 00:34:26.353
And then, you know, like I mentioned earlier, you know, we are investing fairly

00:34:26.353 --> 00:34:27.813
heavily in EV conversions.

00:34:28.293 --> 00:34:32.893
I'm really passionate about that space. I think, I think you talk to a lot of

00:34:32.893 --> 00:34:38.273
like Gen Z kids and, or even like younger millennials.

00:34:38.733 --> 00:34:41.633
And they're like, yeah, I don't want a car, you know, cars suck.

00:34:41.893 --> 00:34:45.613
And then you show them like an old Kia or, you know, something like that.

00:34:45.733 --> 00:34:49.453
And they're like, oh, I would fucking, I, excuse me. I would, I would buy that.

00:34:49.813 --> 00:34:52.973
You're good. You know, like I want that. But then, then they're like,

00:34:53.073 --> 00:34:55.633
oh, the motor and like no one can service it.

00:34:55.773 --> 00:34:59.293
And then you're like, wait, it's an EV. And they're like, oh,

00:34:59.413 --> 00:35:01.233
yeah, I'll buy that in a heartbeat.

00:35:01.573 --> 00:35:05.973
You know, like they like it like they'd like they don't like today's cars.

00:35:06.213 --> 00:35:09.413
It's not like they don't like cars. Right. Today's cars suck.

00:35:09.633 --> 00:35:15.113
You know, it's an interesting take because what you're describing is my son.

00:35:16.297 --> 00:35:19.157
I've got a few of them But you know the

00:35:19.157 --> 00:35:22.477
one that's at the Driving age you're you're describing Imperfect

00:35:22.477 --> 00:35:25.237
I'll be I'll be really honest And I don't mean to throw him

00:35:25.237 --> 00:35:27.837
under the bus But he said he's 17 and he

00:35:27.837 --> 00:35:30.737
doesn't Have his driver's license yet and it's Not because he's

00:35:30.737 --> 00:35:33.517
an idiot he's actually a really smart Kid why doesn't he have it

00:35:33.517 --> 00:35:36.437
because he Doesn't want to fucking drive right He's not

00:35:36.437 --> 00:35:39.737
inspired to drive at all Dude totally I was

00:35:39.737 --> 00:35:42.937
driving When I was 14 because I couldn't Like to drive breaking

00:35:42.937 --> 00:35:46.517
the damn law you know right you're right

00:35:46.517 --> 00:35:49.757
it's like yeah there's nothing like it's an

00:35:49.757 --> 00:35:52.977
important skill to have and you know like you i know you

00:35:52.977 --> 00:35:56.497
get from a to b yeah nothing really appealing

00:35:56.497 --> 00:35:59.657
about it other than the functional nature of it these days you

00:35:59.657 --> 00:36:02.717
know but you show like a category of these kids like these classic

00:36:02.717 --> 00:36:05.597
cars and they're just like that's cool and

00:36:05.597 --> 00:36:08.357
we're like yeah that's cool you know he loves my he loves our

00:36:08.357 --> 00:36:11.157
guia he loves the thing goes he likes to

00:36:11.157 --> 00:36:14.457
hang out with me and drive around in them so you're describing

00:36:14.457 --> 00:36:17.277
it perfectly so anyway

00:36:17.277 --> 00:36:19.997
so we're really interested in that and then honestly for me and

00:36:19.997 --> 00:36:23.017
i'm 57 and some of my engineers who

00:36:23.017 --> 00:36:26.257
work on this ev stuff you know they're in their they're in their early 20s

00:36:26.257 --> 00:36:29.597
and it's really fun to hang around a bunch of young smart people

00:36:29.597 --> 00:36:32.377
sure you know it's like super energizing and nothing

00:36:32.377 --> 00:36:35.557
absolutely nothing against my aging technicians on

00:36:35.557 --> 00:36:38.457
the air cool water right but it's

00:36:38.457 --> 00:36:41.797
really fun to have these like 20 something super smart

00:36:41.797 --> 00:36:44.717
engineers like wrenching on old stuff but.

00:36:44.717 --> 00:36:47.597
Also like writing software and you know printing their

00:36:47.597 --> 00:36:52.117
own circuit boards you know it's like super cool man I was like I just like

00:36:52.117 --> 00:36:55.097
being around that energy it's just it's and that's one of the reasons I have

00:36:55.097 --> 00:36:59.477
my own business and peace fans is so I can assemble like who I want to be around

00:36:59.477 --> 00:37:04.377
like I only want to work at a place I think the people yeah the only way I can

00:37:04.377 --> 00:37:07.577
really control that is like oh I get to hire and fire the people.

00:37:08.077 --> 00:37:13.497
I got some quick fire pretty much off-the-cuff style, you know. Yeah, go for it.

00:37:13.957 --> 00:37:17.317
All right. Favorite VW of all time? Oh, God.

00:37:18.290 --> 00:37:22.870
Probably a Ghia, like a 71. You know, it's probably a Ghia, maybe even, yeah.

00:37:23.330 --> 00:37:27.650
Sweet. Yeah. Go-to road trip snack. Oh, God.

00:37:28.710 --> 00:37:31.710
Cherry Coke and salt and vinegar chips. Mmm.

00:37:32.230 --> 00:37:35.050
Nice. A little sweet, a little salty. Actually, a lot. Yeah,

00:37:35.050 --> 00:37:37.650
and with that is, you know, I make a joke with my kids sometimes.

00:37:37.650 --> 00:37:42.950
Like, you know, that actually keeps me awake because it gives me a stomach ache. It's not the caffeine.

00:37:44.910 --> 00:37:49.030
So it's a self-inflicted stomach. Right. Yeah. You figured it out.

00:37:49.250 --> 00:37:51.410
That's funny. Air-cooled or water-cooled?

00:37:52.110 --> 00:37:55.990
Both. I can't. You know what I mean? My business is built on water-cooled.

00:37:56.350 --> 00:37:59.250
Air-cooled is way more enjoyable. No question.

00:37:59.870 --> 00:38:05.290
Awesome. If you could road trip anywhere, no limits, where would you go?

00:38:06.130 --> 00:38:09.570
North Africa. Ooh, super cool.

00:38:09.730 --> 00:38:15.490
I had a company on a few months ago called Afro Beetle in South Africa.

00:38:15.490 --> 00:38:21.650
Oh, cool. And they're a South African company that specializes in restoring beetles.

00:38:21.770 --> 00:38:25.130
And they also have a rental service out there. Oh, cool.

00:38:25.410 --> 00:38:29.870
Yeah, they rent them. Yeah, pretty cool. Afro Beetle. They're several episodes

00:38:29.870 --> 00:38:32.130
ago. You could check them out. Check them out, yeah.

00:38:32.410 --> 00:38:38.890
One tool every VW owner should have in their toolkit. Triple A card.

00:38:41.210 --> 00:38:45.030
Touche, my friend. Yes. I'm proud.

00:38:46.170 --> 00:38:51.470
My fuel pump just failed, and I just had AAA. I was just going downtown to grab

00:38:51.470 --> 00:38:53.450
some shirts for an event. No big deal.

00:38:54.830 --> 00:38:59.910
Just right up the road, and yep, AAA. So yeah, okay, good, good, good.

00:39:01.230 --> 00:39:06.250
Any maybe breakdown stories that we didn't touch on? Yeah, I've got a hilarious

00:39:06.250 --> 00:39:08.250
one. All right, good. Let me hear it.

00:39:08.970 --> 00:39:12.910
I mean, so this is so – I've talked a lot about EVs,

00:39:13.730 --> 00:39:18.810
But we were delivering an EV to San Francisco, like a 77 bus,

00:39:19.130 --> 00:39:24.050
and like a really high-end clothing company is one of the vehicles they own,

00:39:24.230 --> 00:39:26.330
they've been using for marketing.

00:39:26.610 --> 00:39:29.950
And we're in San Francisco. Now, if you've been in San Francisco recently,

00:39:30.290 --> 00:39:33.430
now we have like driverless cars. There's about 400 on the streets.

00:39:33.710 --> 00:39:36.790
Yeah, I've seen them in Arizona, actually. Yeah. Yeah, super cool.

00:39:36.790 --> 00:39:44.470
And so our little electric bus stopped working and we're stuck in traffic and

00:39:44.470 --> 00:39:48.810
this electric, this, I mean, this driverless car is behind us honking at us

00:39:48.810 --> 00:39:51.570
because there's a double yellow line that it couldn't cross.

00:39:51.770 --> 00:39:56.070
And at the point, at that moment, we didn't know it was, it was driverless.

00:39:56.210 --> 00:40:02.750
So we're like out the window doing the universal go around us and honking at

00:40:02.750 --> 00:40:06.970
us. And we kind of were on a hill, so we kind of were slipping back towards it.

00:40:07.110 --> 00:40:09.630
And it was freaking out, honking more at us.

00:40:10.378 --> 00:40:14.738
Oh, my goodness. And then we realized there was no one in the car.

00:40:15.178 --> 00:40:19.378
And we realized, like, oh, it hasn't been programmed for this scenario of,

00:40:19.458 --> 00:40:26.558
like, if you're behind a VW bus, you know, give more buffer zone.

00:40:26.938 --> 00:40:29.638
Look for the hand waving you around.

00:40:30.358 --> 00:40:33.698
So I actually wrote a letter, an email to the company saying,

00:40:33.818 --> 00:40:39.858
hey, FYI, you need to program your driverless vehicles for old VW buses and

00:40:39.858 --> 00:40:41.798
how to handle when they're in front of you.

00:40:42.318 --> 00:40:46.998
It was hilarious. It was so funny. Hopefully. It had no idea what to do with

00:40:46.998 --> 00:40:48.198
us. That's interesting.

00:40:48.558 --> 00:40:52.958
So we called Uber in Arizona, in Scottsdale, when I was there.

00:40:53.398 --> 00:40:59.918
And to the ride to the airport, no driver. I mean, it was so new to me still,

00:41:00.038 --> 00:41:04.038
it was like a year, maybe 18 months ago, I was filming it with my phone and

00:41:04.038 --> 00:41:05.458
I was, people were like, what?

00:41:05.698 --> 00:41:07.738
Like, how's that? So yeah. Interesting.

00:41:08.378 --> 00:41:11.898
My other favorite story is probably, you know, a couple of years ago we were,

00:41:11.938 --> 00:41:16.818
we were driving up from Baja and I was with another couple and their,

00:41:16.818 --> 00:41:20.118
their van broke down like just as they were crossing the border.

00:41:20.678 --> 00:41:25.638
And I actually pushed them with my van across the border and the border agent

00:41:25.638 --> 00:41:27.358
was like, what the fuck, what are you doing?

00:41:28.178 --> 00:41:32.638
Like what's going on here and i was like and i had my kid with me and it was

00:41:32.638 --> 00:41:36.838
an older couple so i was like that's that's her grandparents and they're sick

00:41:36.838 --> 00:41:42.198
and we have to get home and like like they got through and like and i pushed

00:41:42.198 --> 00:41:45.358
them you know so then there's our turn and he's like.

00:41:46.270 --> 00:41:50.170
He's trying to get them to go and, but their car, you know, their van was broken,

00:41:50.470 --> 00:41:54.150
their bus was broken and they weren't moving forks. And he made a push them.

00:41:54.270 --> 00:41:57.350
And he ended up not even checking our passports. He's like, just go.

00:41:58.070 --> 00:42:02.070
Whoa. Cause he's like, just get out of here. So I then had to push them another

00:42:02.070 --> 00:42:04.350
like 500 yards up and down the thing.

00:42:04.450 --> 00:42:07.350
And yeah, I don't know if you know, when you push vehicles, bumper to bumper,

00:42:07.490 --> 00:42:08.730
it's not a pleasant experience.

00:42:09.170 --> 00:42:14.910
Yeah. Especially if there's any, yeah. Yeah. They get ahead of you and then fall back.

00:42:15.030 --> 00:42:19.250
And like the, it was just, it was ugly so yeah i bet i bet i got that visual

00:42:19.250 --> 00:42:23.150
who in the vw world inspires you most.

00:42:23.790 --> 00:42:26.790
Oh wow we work i just visited

00:42:26.790 --> 00:42:29.670
the team you know this is you know the water-cooled van against because

00:42:29.670 --> 00:42:32.390
that's central to our business there's a team down in los

00:42:32.390 --> 00:42:35.530
osos in southern california go westy and you

00:42:35.530 --> 00:42:38.550
know the owner there like i really got to know him personally on this

00:42:38.550 --> 00:42:41.490
last trip and just you know his story he comes

00:42:41.490 --> 00:42:44.430
from like deep bw roots you know like

00:42:44.430 --> 00:42:47.470
beetles and you know just wrenching and

00:42:47.470 --> 00:42:50.170
how he built a really successful business and you know

00:42:50.170 --> 00:42:53.050
and really admire him so he's probably not that well

00:42:53.050 --> 00:42:56.110
known in the community but his business he's built

00:42:56.110 --> 00:42:58.930
and his dedication to keeping our core

00:42:58.930 --> 00:43:02.350
platform the the van again alive is really admirable

00:43:02.350 --> 00:43:05.250
so yeah that's just

00:43:05.250 --> 00:43:08.270
how he stuck with it you know like i don't think his business

00:43:08.270 --> 00:43:11.570
really started getting going till his early 50s you know

00:43:11.570 --> 00:43:14.850
that's a long road you know to to to march

00:43:14.850 --> 00:43:17.690
on to struggle along until you hit the

00:43:17.690 --> 00:43:24.350
sweet spot yeah it's like the kfc uh yeah yeah that probably yeah the good old

00:43:24.350 --> 00:43:31.190
kernel like 67 or something when yeah yeah yeah fascinating so speaking of somebody

00:43:31.190 --> 00:43:37.350
like that Who would be a historical figure that you would road trip with past or present?

00:43:37.550 --> 00:43:40.830
I would love to like, I mean, just not going back that far, I would love to

00:43:40.830 --> 00:43:44.110
party with, you know, some of the merry pranksters from the sixties.

00:43:44.330 --> 00:43:48.050
You know, there's Kerouac and, you know, that crew, you know,

00:43:48.130 --> 00:43:51.030
Ken Kesey, you know, someone from that era.

00:43:51.190 --> 00:43:55.690
Like, I just think that that, you know, that was a real golden era of road tripping

00:43:55.690 --> 00:44:01.030
in America and just, you know, just, just the dawn of all that to participate

00:44:01.030 --> 00:44:02.910
in that. I think would be really special.

00:44:03.726 --> 00:44:10.266
Awesome. So before we wrap up, I want to give everybody an opportunity where,

00:44:10.266 --> 00:44:13.646
you know, they can find you if they want to follow Peace Vans.

00:44:13.946 --> 00:44:18.246
Shout out your socials and where to get in touch with Peace Vans.

00:44:18.766 --> 00:44:21.706
Yeah i mean the the best way you know we spend

00:44:21.706 --> 00:44:24.726
a disproportionate amount of time unfortunately like

00:44:24.726 --> 00:44:27.786
on instagram you know it's kind of where we actually like

00:44:27.786 --> 00:44:31.666
put effort so that's the best way to reach us we're the most responsive on that

00:44:31.666 --> 00:44:36.826
platform we do try to push a lot of content on youtube so all of that's you

00:44:36.826 --> 00:44:42.666
know peace fans i actually respond to every single email i get harley h-a-r-l-e-y

00:44:42.666 --> 00:44:47.386
like the motorcycle at peacefans.com love hearing from people individually.

00:44:47.986 --> 00:44:51.466
And you responded to me yeah right

00:44:51.466 --> 00:44:54.146
took a while oh it took a while hey man like i

00:44:54.146 --> 00:44:57.066
there was a couple weeks where i went dark and i literally

00:44:57.066 --> 00:45:00.226
like every day i was like i gotta i gotta get back in touch with joe this like

00:45:00.226 --> 00:45:05.146
dragging this this out and you know so overwhelmed you know i got a big team

00:45:05.146 --> 00:45:09.646
and a lot of responsibilities and a 15 year old and oh man i still thinks it's

00:45:09.646 --> 00:45:14.646
fucking crazy that i do this but yeah i love hearing from people it's really

00:45:14.646 --> 00:45:16.686
it's really kind of emotional,

00:45:16.906 --> 00:45:21.886
you know, like we inspire people, you know, like I didn't set out to do that, but it's really,

00:45:22.186 --> 00:45:26.166
I relished the opportunity both as a business owner and as a,

00:45:26.246 --> 00:45:29.726
you know, someone passionate about road trips and about, you know,

00:45:29.826 --> 00:45:33.066
the VW world to sort of, it feels like the, you know,

00:45:33.406 --> 00:45:37.266
one of many, but that a baton has sort of been passed to you.

00:45:37.406 --> 00:45:39.086
So I take that very seriously.

00:45:40.006 --> 00:45:45.386
Awesome, man. And I can tell that you do, I can tell, I can see your passion, you know, I can hear it.

00:45:45.826 --> 00:45:49.906
And you can just tell a lot of times the way people talk about their businesses,

00:45:49.906 --> 00:45:53.466
the way they manage their, you know, their employees.

00:45:53.666 --> 00:45:56.626
You don't even want to call them employees. The way they manage their team.

00:45:56.966 --> 00:45:58.806
Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah.

00:45:59.266 --> 00:46:03.446
So any final words for the, for the VW community or, or, you know,

00:46:03.546 --> 00:46:07.266
really anybody, you know, in the, the, the van again, or the van life or the

00:46:07.266 --> 00:46:09.266
bus life, any, any final words from you?

00:46:09.266 --> 00:46:12.566
Just get outside get outside and touch grass you

00:46:12.566 --> 00:46:15.786
know it's like so easy to get sucked into your phone and you

00:46:15.786 --> 00:46:18.626
know the virtual world and you know and it's it's

00:46:18.626 --> 00:46:22.366
and it's designed to do that you know it's insidious you know it's like it's

00:46:22.366 --> 00:46:26.086
it's architected it's engineered some of the smartest people in the world are

00:46:26.086 --> 00:46:29.786
trying to keep you addicted to that device to get your attention so they can

00:46:29.786 --> 00:46:34.106
sell that to advertisers and you can break that cycle by going outside and touching

00:46:34.106 --> 00:46:37.846
grass that's That's the best advice I've heard in months.

00:46:38.366 --> 00:46:42.466
So just outside touch grass. I love it. Break the cycle, you know,

00:46:42.646 --> 00:46:45.266
and take, and if your kid will listen to you, take them with you.

00:46:45.666 --> 00:46:49.786
You know, I know it's a hassle to get mine to go, but every once in a while I get her to do it.

00:46:51.122 --> 00:46:54.662
Well, Harley, this has been awesome, man. I really appreciate your time. This has been great.

00:46:54.842 --> 00:46:58.522
This has been so much fun. I can't thank you enough for, you know,

00:46:58.522 --> 00:47:00.462
the effort you've put into this podcast.

00:47:00.902 --> 00:47:06.502
And it's an honor to be on it. And your passion, too, is just admirable.

00:47:06.862 --> 00:47:10.222
And I'm so glad you reached out and we finally connected the dots.

00:47:10.402 --> 00:47:15.402
And I hope your audience has found it, you know, fun and look forward to continue to stay connected.

00:47:15.782 --> 00:47:18.982
And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:47:19.562 --> 00:47:23.062
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:47:23.062 --> 00:47:25.102
the people in the Doves that drive their dreams.

00:47:25.362 --> 00:47:29.922
If you loved today's episode, don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

00:47:29.922 --> 00:47:31.242
so you never miss an adventure.

00:47:31.642 --> 00:47:36.202
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the Dove life? Awesome.

00:47:36.522 --> 00:47:41.542
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries or shoot

00:47:41.542 --> 00:47:43.302
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:47:43.782 --> 00:47:49.082
Dove Life Diaries at gmail.com. Until next time, keep the engines humming and

00:47:49.082 --> 00:47:52.482
the wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you.

00:47:52.682 --> 00:47:54.962
This is Joe Person, I'm signing off.

00:47:55.280 --> 00:48:53.792
Music.