The BodyShop Leaders Podcast

27 Episodes

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Koos Reineking on What 70 Shops Still Can’t Buy

2026-11-0634:03

“There’s a huge difference between owning something and running something.” Koos Reineking helps run 70 collision centers across Canada. He is also the first to tell you what a company that size cannot replicate: an owner who has everything on the line. In this episode I sit down with Koos Reineking, Vice President of Lift Auto Group, the Kelowna-based collision repair consolidator his son Mark founded in 2016 and has grown to roughly 70 locations across Canada. Koos has worked this industry ...

“I Have No Idea How to Repair a Vehicle”: Elias Akiki on Doing It Right

2026-10-2342:32

“I have no idea how to repair a vehicle.” It is not what you expect from one of the most respected collision repair operators in the Northeast. But it is exactly how Elias Akiki explains real leadership in this industry. Elias took over his family’s shop at 19. He built Akiki Auto Body into a multifaceted operation rooted in people, culture, and doing things the right way. In this episode, he explains why his job is not to decide how a car gets repaired. His job is to follow the manufacturer’...

"Fear Is a Mile Wide, But an Inch Deep" | Logan Martin on Scaling From 1 to 4 Shops

2026-10-0828:45

"Fear is a mile wide, but an inch deep." That's how Logan Martin, co-owner of Mr. Dent Collision Repair, describes the leap most shop owners are too scared to take. In this episode of The BodyShop Leaders Podcast, Logan shares the story of a true family business — three generations of Martins fixing and painting cars in West Plains, Missouri — and how he went from a three-month stint as an accountant to running a growing multi-shop operation now building its fourth location. We get into the r...

"I Thought We Were Doing It Right" The Question That Changed How Josh Piccione Runs His Shop

2026-09-2556:48

Josh Piccione started his collision career manning a pressure washer. Today he's the general manager of Tom Wood Collision Center in Indianapolis, running one of the most heavily OEM-certified shops in the country — more than 20 manufacturer certifications under one roof. But the turning point in his career wasn't a promotion. It was a question he couldn't answer. At his first 20 group, moderator Mike Anderson called him to the front of the room as "the most certified shop here" and asked how...

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

2026-09-1034:48

Kena Dacus never planned to own a body shop. She had an accounting degree, a career in banking, and a husband with a dream. Then Chris asked his boss — a shop owner in his late seventies — about buying the business someday. The next morning he was told that if he wanted to be the competition, it was time to part ways. Three months into their marriage, he was unemployed. What they had left was a 3,000-square-foot building on Main Street in Canton, Kansas, a town of about 700 people. They bough...

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