Edmonton Motorshow 2014

 It's throwback Thursday right?

I may not be throwing back that far but in the blogging world 4 weeks might as well be 10 years.

I wasn't sure that I was going to share this post since we are not the biggest Motor Show fans at the moment.

After 5 years of renting space at the show our name was again printed improperly in the program.

Though this may not seem like a big deal, it is to those of us who struggle to build a brand with limited time and money.

Every mention of our business counts so we were quite disappointed when this error occurred and the show not only downplayed it but did little to rectify it.

Not that I'm discouraging you from visiting the Emdontno Motering Shaw in the future, it's a great event.

Just saying.

Our first stop was of course to visit Daddy.

That's the main event for us.

 Fiona was less than impressed this year but Cedric was quite in awe and walked around with me to check out the Emporium.

 His favourite find, however, was this single deflated green balloon that he spotted at the Derrick Dodge booth.

They of course had no problem handing it over and he proceeded to drag it around like an unfortunate pet.

 The one thing that did catch Fiona's attention was the toy booth that we always land across from.

If I'm being honest though, her favourite part was skipping freely to the car after we left.

Any opportunity to get the guys in front of potential customers is great.

Even so, this felt like our last appearance at this particular event.

Never say never though right?

Today confirmed that an IT tech I am not.

Well, I was planning to post something a little more interesting than this today.

That's what you get with a blog though right?

Whatever is either fabulous or not-so-fabulous for the writer that day.

Today I fall on the not-so-fabulous side.

I sat down to get a little work done this morning and was met with 8 emails from Google warning me that my site was infected with malicious malware.

Not this one, you're safe to be reading this.

Our shop site, the one I haven't updated in months and has been nagging in the back of my mind.

It has now blown up in my face.

Thankfully Google is warning all it's visitors not to open the page so hopefully few have been negatively affected by it.

I, however, was immediately put into a panic.

I don't know how to fix this.

The extent of my coding is changing links in the codes others have already written.

I know, I seem so qualified to run our site right?

We had the site built and since then I have flubbed my way through making small changes.

I have added pictures, videos, links, etc. and that's about the extent of it.

I have actually been meaning to build a new site with the help of an online builder that is dumbed down to my level a little more user friendly.

I guess this gave me just the kick in the pants I needed.

Any free time {read: time in which my children weren't screaming/crying/fighting/peeing} I had today was spent building a site with the help from my new best friend Go Daddy.

It's far from finished and is still flagged as dangerous while I wait for a review but I think {and hope} I'm on the right track.

Anyone out there have site management tips?

Our 5th Day of Christmas: Christmas at Shield Autobody

On our 5th day of Christmas we wound up at the shop.

I've had lyrics on past posts so can't stop.

We like to think of our team at the shop as a family.

We care for each other and annoy each other.

There's lots of laughter and fighting.

You know, just like a family.

So when it came time to do a Christmas card, naturally a family pic was in order.

Playing photographer for this shot taught me that it takes on average 62 photos to end up with one that works.

They look nice right? 

Well here's one of the other 61, deciding how to pose.

 "Let's do a jumping shot!" said the girls and Jeff...and no one else.

 We had a former cheerleader in the group who attempted to coordinate a pyramid.

Alonzo is so ashamed in the background.

 And did we really think anyone wanted to see this angle of the shop?

I'm happy with the one we chose but am also pumped to have the bloopers in my arsenal.

Our mini Christmas trees came out again this year.

{Jeff hard at work in the back.}

The guys have managed not to kill taken great care of this Christmas cactus which is blooming just in time.

Finally our landlord had these very seasonal trees planted this year.

Every year we talk about going all out with our decor at the shop for Christmas.

And every year we drop the ball.

Next year is the year.

 Yep, definitely next year.

Merry Christmas from Shield Autobody!

Today I Realized I Can be a Pain in the...

Good customer service is extremely important to us.

I can't count how many times Jeff and Jason have gone way out of their way for a customer.

They'll go in at crazy hours for a drop off.

Drive someone across town.

Spend hours sourcing just the right parts.

Jeff has even been known to respond to texts at dinnertime {shocking, I know}.

If we get a request that seems off the wall we do what we can to make it happen.

And it's not just the owners, we have some amazing employees {and past employees} who work so hard and take as much pride in our work and joy in our successes as we do.

This is not intended to be a big old pat on the back.

I am aware of many other businesses of the same mind.

But lately I'm wondering why this doesn't seem to be the standard anymore.

For years, we've made excuses such as "it's Alberta and good help is hard to find."

Why?

I'm not pretending I have the answer, we've had a lot of staff turn over.

Sometimes we know immediately that someone doesn't care about the job.

We just don't accept that attitude. 

But is it now rare that we don't accept this?

The trigger for this post is two fold.

Just last week I was chatting with some friends about how there seems to be a lack of initiative among many workers.

One of them told a story about how her husband was at a coffee shop and asked for a dark roast.

The barista replied that they were out of dark roast.

He then proceeded to turn around and point to the shelf behind him stuffed with, you guessed it, dark roast.

Well today we were doing our weekly grocery shopping.

I've mentioned before that getting a cookie at the end of our shopping trip is a big perk for my kids.

When we went to get said cookie she replied that they didn't have any cookies to give.

Now I would like to say that I know we are in no way entitled to a cookie.

 My kids will be fine without a cookie.

I so appreciate that the store provides the kids with free cookies and it is a great example of good customer service.

I have also mentioned in the past that I want my kids to know that they can trust the information I give them.

It breaks my heart if I set an expectation for them and can't follow through with it.

For all of you out there thinking that they will need to learn that you can't always get what you want, I don't disagree.  

My kids however are toddlers and have plenty of opportunities to learn this and...well...they're toddlers.

Back to our shopping trip.

In the past I may have simply said "ok" and moved along.

But as I get older I find that I care less about the judgement others might have of me and more about accountability and responsibilities.

And I think that if you put out a sign that says you offer a service, you are responsible to provide that service.

So instead I said "Can I ask why?".

She replied that the shipment hadn't arrived when ordered.

They had been out for two days and had been sending kids away empty handed.

I said "In that case you wouldn't just open a different type of cookie?"

The assistant manager overheard and said that they had to follow policies so that wasn't possible.

I said "I don't mean to be a pest and we really appreciate that this isn't something your company needs to do but I have just told my kids they would receive a treat so it's disappointing."

And you know what?  

They agreed.

They opened a box of the chocolate chip cookies with M&Ms on top and the kids were thrilled.

The kids got an extra special treat but I think I was even happier that them.

Those employees may have called me names after I walked away but I felt in a way that I made a very little breakthrough.

I know policies are necessary and do need to be followed.  They're not, however, in place to prevent good customer service.

Don't employers want staff to that take initiative, think outside the box and make their patrons happy?

I know we do.

And really, do they have a detailed cookie policy? 

Seems excessive no?

I also understand that some people don't love the job they're doing and maybe aren't paid fabulously.

But what is the worst thing that could happen from putting in more effort?

In fact, you would most likely get more job satisfaction from your mind-numbing-minimum-wage job.

You're there either way, why not make the best of it?

If nothing else, I guess the next 10 kids will get a cookie instead of being turned away like the past 2 days worth.

Upside/Downside

Upside to owning your own business:

You're the boss so you can decide to cut out early on a Friday for your Mountain getaway.

Downside to owing your own business:

You don't. 

Ever.

For Melissa's Roadrace in Banff this year we were going to leave at noon on Friday.

Cut to Thursday when it became quite apparent that this was not going to happen amidst the estimates, car returns etc. crowding that day's schedule.

Even some major help from the Old Man {thanks btw} didn't get us out of town before 5.

I would say live and learn but I've learnt this lesson all too often.

I'll just keep being the optimist and plan accordingly.

The Ups and Downs

Upside to owning your own business:

When your childcare doesn't pan out you don't have a boss to tell you that you can't bring the kids to work.

Downside to owning your own business:

When your childcare doesn't pan out you don't have a boss to call in sick to so the kids have to come to work.

Mo' Money Mo' Problems {this title's for you Jules}

It's been a while since I've felt frustrated.

Family life is good.

Business is good, still growing 

All is good.

But yesterday we I got a call from our bank.

Now it's time to get real.

They haven't adjusted our accounts since we first opened them.

We are operating with the same accounts that we were when our sales and receivables were a tenth of what they are now.

The message I was given was that they still wouldn't be changed.

And this from a bank that advertises their commitment to "helping you grow your business"?

We were told a year ago that our requests were a done deal.

They weren't.

Then we were told that once our new books were in and we showed our growth it wouldn't be a problem.

It was still a problem.

Recently we have had a couple of people working on our application and were given hope.

To no avail.

I am frustrated.

Frustrated that in order for us to grow we have to juggle our funds.

Frustrated that we may have to look at more expensive and less practical financing options to continue this rate of growth.

Frustrated that the account manager had the gall to comment on our "large" salaries taking away from our bottom line.

I guess she doesn't realize that we've just started taking these well deserved and not at all large salaries.

Nobody says business is simple.

And as I've said in the past, if we're going to have a problem I'm glad it's not a lack of sales.

I just didn't think we would ever have a problem convincing the bank to let us pay them interest.

I haven't bored you with money ramblings in a while.

About time right?

I promise I won't make it a habit.

Shield on Shine

I meant to share this last week but it slipped my mind with everything we've had going on.

Jeff headed down to the Shine FM studios and got his radio voice on for our new ad.

I've posted it below for your listening pleasure.

You're welcome.

The Beginning of Our Giving

“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” 

~ Arthur Ashe

Running season is fast approaching.

For some it never left.

 I'm not that tough anymore.

When in University I woke up at 5am 7 days a week year round to run.

Those days are long gone.

I really tried to get to the indoor track a couple times a week.

 And I got owned at strollercize whenever possible.

But nothing beats running outside, especially since we're lucky enough to live down the street from Mill Creek.

You may remember that last year I ran the Melissa's 10K as my postpartum-get-back-in-shape goal.

Other than that I ran only for fitness.

This year will be a little different.

 Jason, Chloe {our partners}, Jeff and I have committed to running as many charity races this summer as possible.

{We are also hoping to rope a few employees in.}

It's important to all of us to give back to our community.

We are not yet in the financial position to give dollars so we're giving what we can, time.

Now don't forget, this is a precious commodity around this joint.

We're not busting at the seams with spare time either.

Today I signed us up for our season opener.

We'll be running the Edmonton Police Foundation race.

It's a half marathon but we'll be crushing the 5K.

Go Team Shield Autobody!

{I did say season opener after all.}

I'm partial to the idea of the races since we also get the health benefit.

I would love to hear of any other ways we can be of service though.

Anyone know of charitable events that a could use some extra bodies?

Shield's 15 Seconds

Of bunny hopping that is.

The unthinkable happened today.

Not in a million years did I think the shop would partake in bunny hopping never mind on morning television.

But, here they are with the wonderful Bridget Ryan, hopping their little hearts out.

Just click the photo below and enjoy.

The Welder in Action

Just popping by today to share some shop pics with you.

As you may remember, we recently acquired some new equipment to make our shop one of the best in the city.

This is our new Pro Spot I4 welder at work.

I should also mention that we have a new bodyman, Gabe.

He's been with us since the beginning of the year and we couldn't be happier to have him on board.

My Evening With Oprah

You know, just an intimate gathering of, I don't know, 10,000?

That's a guess obviously but you get the point.

The seats were packed with Edmontonians but we weren't alone.

There were people that came from out of town, out of province and even out of country.

All to catch a bit of the magic that is Oprah Winfrey.

I didn't even consider buying tickets.

As you know, we are not in the position to be spending on such luxuries.

Then out of the blue {though Oprah says there's no such thing} my Mom calls me up, informs me that she's going and invites me along!

{Thanks Mom, extra thanks since I just now noticed the ticket price.}

I wore tights you guys, a skirt and tights, any excuse to get dressed up you know.

Wonderful Husband came home early to give us lots of time to get settled.

We took a back route and made it to Rexall Place in record time, leaving an hour to get settled.

I thought at first that this would land us in a deserted arena.

Not the case.
At all.

The place was buzzing.

Bottlenecks were forming at the doors.

Line ups were forming at the ladies restrooms, prompting some of the mens to be temporarily converted.

Either everyone was really excited to see Oprah or the punctuality was due to the abundance of X chromosomes {sorry guys, it's a little true though right?}.

Maybe a little of both.

I mean, this was an important night.

As she herself remarked, Oprah has raised many of us.

I have memories at ten years old of my Mom quickly making an instant coffee, grabbing some social teas and settling in for Oprah after work.

I can't count how many times she or I have said, "On Oprah..." or "Oprah says...".

Too many "aha" moments to count.

Now, I promised a little inspiration.

This was mine, I do not expect it to resonate with everyone.

The beauty of this event though, was that there were so many great moments that it would be near impossible to walk away without your own "aha{s}".

~Your life is defined not by how successful you are but by how significant you are.~

This is not a direct quote since I couldn't get it in my iphone fast enough and continue to listen to the wisdom.

I just love the idea that we could measure the "success" of our company not by how many dollars we make but by how we put those dollars and our time back into service in our community.

This very idea came up in a recent planning meeting.

We all had this same sentiment but you can count on Oprah to put it so eloquently.

Stunting Our Growth

I just needed a soothing picture.
This reminds me of a time when we had few worries, sitting on the Versailles grounds. 

I am feeling so frustrated right now so this may end in a rant and I apologize if it does.

You may be better off not reading any further.

I'm suffocating.

The business is growing and fast.

This is great but the growing pains haven't yet subsided.

The parts and materials bills are stacking up and I can't pay them yet.

Why not, right?

You get paid for the job and the parts come out of that right?

Seems so simple and that would work so well if we got paid right away.

The problem is that some of our accounts pay in 60+ days.

This means that we're paying our own vendors in 60+ days.

Apparently this is not unusual and I'm going to have to get used to it.

I just feels awful.  

When I get a bill I like to pay it.

ASAP.

Now for the rant.

You would think that our bank would support growth.

In the past they have been very supportive.

We were able to grow well on our small line of credit and equipment loan.

I have a hard time understanding why it seemed so easy to get so much credit at the beginning and now it's impossible.

Now that we have more than quadrupled our sales, paid down our initial loan and been loyal to this one bank we are being denied the funds we need to continue this rate of growth.

Honestly?

If we were paying you all this interest, wouldn't you want more?

Ok I'm going to stop there before I get too rant-y.

This is the point where I would end the conversation with the "business-specialist" on the phone so that I don't start raising my voice and being rude to this person who's hands are tied anyways.

That wasn't bad right?

Thanks for sticking it out, I feel better.

Work Is Your New Favourite

{The Christmas movies are out so I apologize in advance for any Elf or Grinch quotes.}

Jeff  and Jason are working a ton, almost every night and weekend.

Obviously our family time has been minimal.

So minimal that I was starting to worry that the unthinkable would happen.

Would we actually not find time to get a Christmas tree?

Well, Jeff and I had a blowout discussion this weekend.

We all came to the conclusion that we need to start a schedule.

When you work for yourself no one is assigning shifts.

You work when you decide to.

This can be great.

When you're still in the growing stages, not so much.

You end up feeling the need to work as much as possible.

The business is your baby.

You want it to grow and thrive.

You're terrified of failing.

We understand that this is what we signed up for and are willing to put in the time.

It was, however, getting out of hand.

For example, the looming thought that we would be Christmas-tree-less.

I'm happy to report that Christmas has been saved and this is what we did last night.

No More Identity Crisis

We finally have our new sign.

It looks great and now we don't come off like a shady backdoor operation.

Up to this point putting money into advertising our name seemed pointless.

It was near impossible to find Shield Autobody unless one of us had told you what to look for.

Until now that is.

One more step closer to taking over the world.

And...Here We Go Again

It's official, we are crazy.

The only consolation is that we now have some partners to share the craziness with.

I know I still haven't introduced Jason and Chloe.

I really have every intention of doing so.

We have been so happy with the partnership.

It has taken our business to a new level.

I was just starting to feel comfortable.

Comfortable?  That won't do.

{That was the universe stepping in again in case you didn't recognize it from previous posts.}

I kind of thought we had bought all we needed at the shop for the time being.

So naive, I know.

We have loaded our space with all this great equipment, what else could we possibly buy?

Why the space of course.

That's right.

We are considering getting ourselves a {very} permanent location.

Delving into the world of commercial real estate.

You know how "they" say that your house will be your largest purchase?

"They" might be wrong.

The thought of a mortgage for $3,000,000 makes me ill.

There are 6 zeros there folks, 6!

I hope that I look back at this post someday and laugh.

Laugh about how I thought $3M was a lot of money.

Yes, I'll have a good chuckle with my personal assistant while we're being flown by private jet to our beach front house in Maui from the condo in Paris.

Too much?

Roush

Once in a while we get something really rare through the shop.

This definitely fits in that category.

It's a 2012 Roush Mustang RS3.

There were only 24 with these specs made.

"In Canada?" I asked Jeff.

Nope, in the world.

Now that's rare!

Equipment {AKA Before You Came Into Our Lives We Missed You So Bad}

It's here!

We have all the equipment in.

We are now arguably the best equipped auto body shop in town.

Frame Rack

This is what allows us to do framework on site.
We are now officially a full auto body repair shop.
{insert applause}

Velocity Max

With this we can measure the condition of your vehicle's frame including body openings.
It will tell us exactly what needs to be done to return it to it's original state.
We can also give you printed documentation of this information.

 

Welder

The ProSpot i4 can handle the most difficult to weld materials.
It includes an OEMprogrammable feature with detailed repair illustrations and customized weld programs.
Translation {for those with my level of knowledge}: Super amazing welder, fix good.

If you want more detailed info visit the Shield website.

It's Something Unpredictable

Photo courtesy of Jenna McColl-Easby

This weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada.

I'm thankful that we are able to make time to have meals with both our families.

That both have very strong, loving families.

That we have a beautiful family of our own.

I'm also thankful for another family.

Our shop family.

It drives me crazy how some big corporates say that they care about their employees.

Who's they?  

The CEO?  

Does he know the employees?

Now I'm not trying to say the proverbial "Man" is all bad, I've been treated quite well at large companies.

My point is that there's a difference between "taking care of" and "caring about" your employees. 

Well, we take care of our employees but we also really care ABOUT them.

We often put their well-being ahead of our own.

So when someone leaves this shop family of ours it's sad.

We had such a situation yesterday.

The parting is probably best for both sides.

Sometimes if it's not a good fit then you just can't force it.

I did, however, find myself sitting up last night thinking about his family.

He wasn't just a number to us, we knew his family's names and some of their struggles.

I know he will be fine, he's an inspiring person who has done so well for himself and his family with little to start.

In the end it's right.

Paying Off

I just had to share this photo of Jeff and Jason hard at work.

Rockin' the PPG swag.

We've been missing Daddy lately since he's been working many late nights.

I'm happy to say though that this was our biggest month yet.

We hit 150% of our old record.

It feels good to know that the changes we've made lately have paid off.

The best change we made was taking on Jason as a partner.

Now we need to solidify our staff so these guys don't have to work so many hours.

Jeff also sent me this photo of a recent paint job.

They painted this racing stripe in black matte.

It's even clear coated with a technique that keeps the matte look.

We're all taking a well-deserved weekend off. 

Have a great one!