Why the Collision Industry Needs One More Podcast

(And Why This One Is Different)**
Episode 1 – Operational Intelligence

The collision repair industry doesn’t exactly have a shortage of podcasts.
We’ve got shows about insurance, OEM procedures, ADAS, estimating, leadership, and more. The problem isn’t a lack of voices — it’s a lack of operational truth.

That’s why I launched Operational Intelligence, and why Episode 1 is entirely about the why behind this podcast.

There’s a Gap No One Is Filling

After more than 15 years inside collision shops across the country — over a hundred of them — I’ve seen the same pattern repeat over and over:

  • Some shops run like organized chaos.
  • Some shops run like a machine.
  • And nobody is teaching the real things that separate those two realities.

There are owners, managers, and technicians out there quietly doing things that make their shops dramatically more efficient, more profitable, and more enjoyable to work in.
But those insights rarely make it to a stage, a conference, or a podcast.

Most of the industry content focuses on:

  • What should happen
  • What insurers want
  • What equipment manufacturers sell
  • What the industry wishes it could be

But not on what actually works on the shop floor today.

Operational Intelligence is designed to close that gap.

Real Conversations With Real Operators

Before this podcast existed, my sales calls often turned into 45-minute discussions about:

  • Production bottlenecks
  • Scheduling systems
  • Cultural breakthroughs
  • Repair planning
  • Hiring struggles
  • Accountability
  • Daily habits that either make or break a shop

Those conversations were honest, unscripted, and packed with insights that could help every shop owner — not just the one I was on the phone with.

So the idea behind the podcast is simple:

Capture the conversations I’ve been having privately for years…
and share them publicly with the rest of the industry.

Not guru talk.
Not theory.
Not “thought leadership.”
Just real operators explaining what they do differently — and why it works.

What You Can Expect From This Podcast

Each episode is designed to give you practical, usable steps you can take back to your shop the same day.
We’re talking:

  • How high-performing shops build culture
  • How they hold people accountable
  • How they speed up cycle time without burning people out
  • How they cross-train teams
  • How they prevent parts disasters
  • How they think about profit, labor, repair planning, and customer experience
  • How they scale — or at least regain control

Episode 1 lays the groundwork.
Episode 2 (with Brian Davies of BodyWorks Plus) shows the formula in action.

Why This Matters Now

Shops are facing:

  • Rising complexity
  • Skilled labor shortages
  • Insurance pressure
  • Softened DRP relationships
  • Higher overhead
  • Tougher competition
  • A generational shift in ownership and expectations

The industry doesn’t need more noise.
It needs clarity.
It needs operations.
It needs truth.

That’s what Operational Intelligence is here to deliver.
To watch this episode on Youtube, Go here: https://youtu.be/v8G3FCMEpe4