RR 256: Rachael Wacha from City Auto Repair

Rachael Wacha was born and raised in Gainesville, FL. Her career started in the Salon industry, then to writing home and auto insurance coverage. In 2010, she started working for her father at City Auto Repair, Inc. It didn’t take her long to fall in love with the business.

By 2012, she had doubled sales in a year. In February 2013 Rachael was written about in a nationwide automotive magazine. Since then, Rachael went from managing the business to owning it in 2016.

City Auto Repair is a AAA approved repair facility. Rachael is currently the President of the Automotive Service Association in the Gainesville/Ocala area.

Rachael is extremely passionate about educating women in automotive repair, which is why she started hosting free Car Care Clinics, “Lipstick and Dipsticks” for women.

Talking Points:

• Overcame challenges in her early life. She was on Medicaid, on food stamps and a single mom.
• Joined the family business and was not sure where that was going to go.
• Cleaned up the place and joined the service counter because she knows people.
• It did not take long for her to get accepted on the counter.
• She learned that she was very much the same as her dad. He did not appreciate how important she was to the business.
• In 2012 she doubled sales in a year.
• At 31-year-old Rachael became the shop owner.
• She connected with Gary Gunn and joined a ‘50’ group.
  • It was her most incredible experience to join that coaching team and mentoring group.
• She is part of Aaron Stokes mastermind Shop Fix Academy.
• She shares the moment when she got a big raise from her dad.
• She struggled with finding good service advisor help.
  • She found a superstar that loves the business just as much as she does.
• Rachael finds things positive in every challenge.
• She is investing in vocational training and engaging with students.
• Rachael is working on being better organized in her office.
• Looking for a ‘B’ tech for the shop.
• Is starting to share her numbers with her team.
• Her goal is $1MM in sales.
• Having Monday morning meetings with her team and setting standards (goals).
• She offers advice on succession plans.
• Our industry is so competitive but we are stronger when we are together.

City Auto Repair Website

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