I was a fireman very early on in my life and a police officer, so I'm very militaristic, clean.
I've been into cars my whole life, I've always bought and sold a few here and there on the side, as kind of a hobby.
So I think you want to keep a keen eye on things. Grab it and go. Sure, you check your financials, but don't be afraid to take a jump. Learn the trends.
Look, I'm still a goateed guy with a bunch of tattoos, but I've got a poodle and not a pit bull. I don't kick boxes and I don't scream at other people.
If you feel like it's going to work, do it. If it doesn't, get out as quick as you can.
That's been the secret to 'Gas Monkey': Move fast. I opened the first restaurant within a year and a half. Most people wait five years. I always move quickly, and in today's market, no matter what you're in, you can recover from a mistake faster than you can recover from not doing.
I used to watch some of the other motorcycle shows on television 10 or 15 years ago because I was a gearhead and I'd be depressed at the end because I can't afford a $200,000 motorcycle.
I'll have everyone from 90-year-old ladies wanting to come up and kiss me on the cheek and say they love the show to dads bringing their newborns over wearing onesies.
I've always wanted to build a '37 Lincoln Zephyr.
My style is very hands-on. I own everything we do or the vast majority of everything we do. I don't do a lot of letting people just use my name like a lot of people in my position would do.
I went dead broke - twice! - trying to get Gas Monkey up and going. And when I say broke, I mean sleeping on my sister's couch and can't pay-the-rent type broke.
You see the hair and the clothes, I look flamboyant. But I'm not the guy with the lake house and the boat. I don't own a home, or a plane. Really, all I want in life is beer in the fridge and a hot rod.
I want people to come to town and come by the shop and buy a T-shirt, then go by the bar-and-grill and have a hamburger or go hear some music. I want to be a destination - the destination.
I could've gone to Harvard twice, the money I lost on cars.
Building brands and helping people figure out their identity - as far as a business identity and everything - was kind of my niche.
My goal in the beginning was to build a lifestyle brand around what I love to do, which is motorcycles and cars. That was our main goal from the very beginning.
Getting a TV show and getting on to Discovery was the main goal when I started the company in 2004.
I'm a brand type guy and we want to make sure that 'Gas Monkey' is out there in every arena that we can be. I'm also never short on ideas and I usually try to get them out there at all times.
We have a massive following and a loyal following. We've never bought a follower or any of that stuff that brands do, it's all organic.
I get the team set up good and then I'll let them do their thing. At the end of the day, if you put the time and effort into interviewing and finding the right people for a job, you've got to let them do that job.
