Hey girl good morning, car guys and car gals welcome.
This is the car guys.
This is probably the sub prime hero and we are brewing celery solutions.
I got ta get me another sip of cardboard, because i got ta get my tongue together, because we got a good conversation and a cup of coffee to enjoy with a friend that is on the other side of the dealership.
That really is going to bring you some great insight and i’m really excited to get into this interview.
But we are up early just like all those people that work in fixed ops folks they are there watching.
The sun rise getting excited to help people out with their transportation problems, so we want to get this bruce started.
So do us a quick favor tag, a car guy, you know what’s up tag a car down share this out folks get there need some help.
Let’s get some people in here today because we got some great information from a superstar matter of fact, a little hollywood going on so we’ll go into that a little bit more in a little bit, but folks we’ll be back, hey man so excited we are so Pumped up, hopefully, you got your little groove on and that music is inside of your head again good morning to charles higgins.
My brother joey bell all the way in the middle east.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
Again, joey man, i’m glad you’re.
Here i’m glad you’re able to watch man, it’s pretty cool, how we can do that across the world at different time zones, different parts and and being in complete different situations.
So, thanks for being here today, um folks, we have a great guest here today, uh, we are really we’re really really really excited about this.
This is a way to get our second season started.
Folks, we got the second season getting released on 120.
20.
20.
21.
Folks part two season: two car guy coffee: let’s brew, all that stuff’s getting ready to happen and russell.
Mr hollywood, we’re gon na get into that a little bit more, but russell is going to be joining us today and russell is a fixed ups, mastermind type guy.
You know: we’ve brought some fixed up guys on here before we’ve made friends with some fixed up guys, and i’m very glad that i have i’ve always been really close with my big stops and my dealerships that i’ve been involved with um.
I think it’s great to have a team team type of atmosphere with those with the people in the back, because those people are producing some big money.
I know plenty of stores out there that would not even be open if it wasn’t for fixed stops, because the front side ain’t doing what they’re supposed to do – or you know so – fixed ops options, making the money for the dealer.
So i’m real happy to have him here today, mr russell hill, and without further ado here we go, mr hollywood.
What’s up, how are you doing you guys? You guys are drinking way too much coffee this morning, i’m only two sips in we’re just getting started.
So you know we have people watching us right now on linkedin we have people watching us on facebook.
We have people watching us on um youtube.
Even we spread, we spread it out there.
So you know we’re gon na have a lot of fun.
There’s gon na! Probably be some questions on here, but most important, i’m ready to question you get some questions about what you do.
I know that you’re, the co-founder of your company man, i’m excited to get into that.
How you got there, where you’re from all that type of stuff, welcome to the cafe? We’re real excited to have you here to be here glad to be here, i’d like to a shout out to uh charity uh, our cmo for for setting this up.
She’s amazing yeah charity reached out to even reached out to me this morning.
She was like hey.
What’s the lake i was like, i already sent it to hollywood he’s good to go so we are here.
We’re live charity.
Thank you so much for connecting us.
Um charity is a uh, obviously a hard worker for you, and she knows you know what she’s looking for because she reached out to us.
So we appreciate her and we appreciate you for being here.
I know that time is money and money is time and it’s very important.
So let’s get this thing going so russ, we do.
This thing called a five liner.
Now these are five questions.
We ask everybody that come on the show.
It’s a way to get to know how you got to where you’re at and what drives you right.
So my first question that i love to ask everyone.
Um.
Is it’s a pretty important question, but before i get to any questions, we always got to do something with all our guests.
It’s a quick timeout.
I almost skipped this.
I don’t know how i almost did it.
Are we taking a couple weeks off of interviewing guys all right? We we’re ready the first thing.
We do every show with every one of our guests, because it’s so important that you apply these three f’s so that you can have a lifestyle that you do.
Keep growing you keep going to that next level.
You can never go to the next level unless you forgive and you can’t go to the next level unless you focus and to rise.
Well, we fly, and flying takes a little bit of trust to trust inside of yourself trust inside your people.
Trust inside of your creator, trust inside of your processes right and that’s the way that you elevate yourself.
So, together there is a little bit of a dance move.
Dance move, can’t wait till we get an entire uh dance floor of people together rocking the kid man but russell hollywood hill.
Welcome to the cafe and you get to fly with these solutionaries today – join us car, guys and car guys, wherever you’re at if you’re driving do it one-handed.
But here we go on three one: two three, we appreciate you.
We we appreciate the energy this morning.
I love the smile.
I love that you’re willing to be part of this.
That tells me this interview is going to be a lot of fun so right into it first question: i ask everyone it’s their purposes or why? What drives you? What is your, why you know it’s a great question? Really, it’s all about the! Why isn’t it it’s not about the? How it’s it’s all about the? Why you know most of things that periodic things come into my head and – and i don’t think any of them are really original.
I i probably stole them or borrowed them from somebody else, but there’s two important dates in in my life and one is the the day i was born and the other one was when i found out why i was born and that started me on a tremendous Journey of um growth uh looking inside um, you know i sometimes reflect that.
We’re, not human beings that have occasional spiritual experience, we’re actually spiritual beings having a human experience.
Okay, the the date i figured out.
Why was december 1st 1994 and that started uh? The second half of my life on just a phenomenal journey of blessings uh more than i could.
I could ever really talk about, and i owe it all to the man upstairs uh, but before that it was uh pretty horrible out there uh very selfish, self-centered self-seeking, and today it’s all about giving back and elevating other people.
You know the old, zig, ziglar philosophy right.
If you help other people get what they want, you’re going to get what you want, maybe not in the time frame.
You think it should be.
That’s another thing you got to deal with acceptance, but that that’s my why giving back and family and and building something uh and leaving a legacy and a footprint that that i i contributed to mankind.
That’s awesome legacy you’re, leaving your legacy on this planet you’re, leaving a mark on this planet.
That is a good of love.
You know, there’s legacies that people can leave that are not good.
You know, like you know, i don’t mean we’re not comparing we’re like an adopt hitler, a saddam hussein.
Those legacies are not what we’re looking for.
What we’re looking for is legacies of peace, of love, of sharing of growth, of continually looking to help other people, not just being selfish man.
You are definitely pioneering that way.
I love your speak when you talk about your, why i love how you you, you said you have a date.
You know when you changed when you went from when you went from living on the dark side till you got the jedi way right, so i’m so excited.
May the force be with you amen, that’s right and always child.
So you know the thing about the force, of course, is real folks and whether you believe it or not, the force is real and in order to tap into it, you have to really open up your mind.
You have to really be in a certain way of life, you know – and it’s cheesy to say, but it is a jedi way of life.
You have to be understanding that you are a powerful person that your mind has a lot more strength and ability than you could ever.
Imagine that you have a gift inside you.
We all do.
We all have gifts.
The gifts are us to find.
Are it’s also? Our job to use those gifts, it’s our job, to use them in a good way and gifts could be as simple as making somebody else.
Smile um, you know helping somebody buy a car, helping somebody get their car fixed help whatever.
That gift is that you have inside you use it share it, love it man and you’re, doing a great job with it.
I’m excited you got me all pumped up this morning, man.
You know a lot of people come on here and they talk about their.
Why they talk about these things? Um! You went into depth about your date on it.
You know before you said 94, what did you do? Um? I? I was uh in the car business.
I’ve been in the car business since 85, but uh you know it’s nothing.
It’s really nothing that either everybody directly knows about, or certainly have been impacted uh with their immediate family, drugs and alcohol.
All right, yeah bad deal, man it just it uh.
It just destroyed everything i touched and i’ll tell you what it you know.
I realized um on that date just down the december 1st that drugs and alcohol really were never my problem.
My problem was right here and right here, yes, sir, and i’m a strong believer that, of course, all of that’s affected up here is by weight of right.
Here that’s right folks, i mean whether whether we’re looking at uh how life began, there’s a spark that is that heartbeat that is created.
So the first thing that starts actually moving and and creating life is that heart and that’s what fuels the brain? That’s? What fuels? The entire body right and as a man think it in his heart.
That’s right! So is he so whatever it is that you believe about yourself at heart? Not what’s not just the things that you say now: faith comes by hearing right and hearing uh, the the word.
So the good word that’s spoken over you or the bad word.
That’s spoken over you, whatever you attach your faith to is: what’s going to be, if you believe things are going to suck they’re going to suck, and i think if you believe things are going to grow and they’re going to be great and prosperous, we’ll keep speaking [ Applause ], your employees are, are going to be good well whatever it is, that you say to them and whatever it is, that you speak is what they believe and that that pours over into the home that pours over into your business that pours over into Your relationships, your hobbies, everything that you do period and and it’s exciting to have somebody on the show – that’s starting us off right away in this entire new season.
That’s coming forward because there is a level of spiritual iq that we want to make sure that we invoke you all to start growing in that we get you all to start getting the understanding that your spirit, man has to be lined up properly and growing.
In order for all of the other elements that come together remember the spirit of joy, we’re coming out of the christmas season right, the holiday season, where joy is all over the place right and we speak of joy and rejoice and exciting, and and so many times It gets subdued to just that time of the year.
Man it does, and and and black type of a lifestyle is something that should be every day right.
Every single day you should be uh looking to to be given every single day.
You should be joyful.
Every single day, you should be uh trying to find the positive and it’s exciting to have somebody in here.
Uh, that’s helping us get this started in 2021.
Getting you some of that joy and fun man, i’m so pumped up.
Thank you so much for just obviously i’m pumped up now that right, you poked something in me.
You may kill something inside the bear right there uh.
I want to dig a little bit deeper with that um, but on the car guys side of it um.
I am very very interested on understanding more of the fixed ops marketing and because we’re some guys that really know how to handle things on the front end of a store.
We understand marketing how to get people showing up to to say hey.
I want this deal on this car, but folks there’s a whole other level of marketing.
If you all get your mail right and you get your discounts on your tires, you got discounts on your oil changes, you’re, seeing all the direct stuff that comes to you at home, there’s a whole other side of marketing that keeps beating the big hungry monster of The back end of every single dealership – and you are a specialist inside of that – and i want to know russell hollywood hill.
How did you get involved inside of fixed ops? Well, you know thank you for the kind word specialist.
I don’t know i’ll just remain a little humble there i mean, i cut my teeth on the variable side and i was actually in retail for 16 years.
I left the retail space in january of 2000 and i went to work for an actual crm company uh.
Well, it wasn’t even that at the time about six months after i i started there uh, we started transitioning over to to crm, and i was there for 11 years, and i saw you know i i ended up after 11 years, getting getting a piece of the Company just from sweat equity, so i learned a lot about stock and partnership, etc, and then i saw all things changing that technology was taking a different twist.
I decided i want to do something different, so i i took the money that i had and i actually bought into another company, which was a technology company that had to do with new and used specials and uh after nine and a half years of that, and I’ve always known a lot about fixed ops, not as much as i know about verbal, but just enough to be really dangerous.
But when i’m out of my element or i’m talking to a real, fixed ops guru, because there’s so many different aspects of fixed operations, the the part that that we are into and that we excel at is on the marketing side of that, particularly with the website.
Um an example you you mentioned earlier about fixed ops has always been the saving grace, for i mean they’re, the ones that make all the money and yet they’re treated like step.
Children, red-headed children, uh that you hear about uh, particularly on the website.
So i remember when websites uh first started coming on the scene uh in the late 90s and they obviously they’ve evolved to where they’re at today, which is phenomenal, but most of the time, tension and effort is spent on the front end and hardly anything on the Back end yeah, we know that the um, the second most visited content page on any dealer’s website, is the specials tab.
Next inventory, if you look at heat maps, that’s the that’s the number two or number one most clicked after inventory, because people are looking for specials.
It’s got a positive connotation associated and that’s where all four of the dealers profit centers, are located online right noon, used and obviously parts and service.
So my partner and i uh from the other company that we sold all our stock back and walked away from.
We.
We had this vision, we had this dream, so we spent about a month and a half, putting together a very detailed business plan that we wanted to revolutionize the fixed operation side of things on the website and pull these dealers out of the 20th century into the 21St century, because, let’s face it, what we do and what’s out there right now, nobody does, but i mean you can get go on some websites now and you’ll still see pictures of scissors cutting out a coupon.
Are you kidding me? You won’t see that on the ver, you won’t see that on the ground kind of thing they got all the fancy tools and all the things to funnel customers and to convert them, etc, but they don’t have any of that.
So that’s what we did.
We um.
We actually rolled this out this year january.
7Th is our go, live date with our first store and then cove it right through it all.
My all my uh dealer vendors, you know, stores are closing.
You know everybody’s panicking, don’t know what to do, but guess who’s still essential, fixed operations right, damn right, yeah now back in 2008, when that happened, uh same thing, but nothing like this.
I mean everything has changed technology shopping habits.
What people want how they want to interact with it and you better serve it up and you better serve it up with three clicks or less or they’re out of there, and so that’s what we did.
We formulated this company rolled it out january 7th.
We got 118 stores during covid, yeah brand new clients.
Uh, it’s been uh, it’s it’s.
It’s been a ride, wow that sounds like one right there.
What an adventure! The discovery, though wow? No, it is yes, it is so like thick stops is huge and it’s just getting bigger and bigger, and what i love is that there’s there’s been some pretty good figureheads popping up and bringing lights to big stops.
You know you’re one of them you’re one of them, and i love that.
There’s a you know.
We had another guest on here, dave boyd he’s, you know, picks up mastermind.
I love dave dave’s, a great guy doing some good stuff.
He got ted ings out there doing the round tables and everything else like that.
So by doing all those things, it’s bringing so much light to where it’s making people excited about being part of big stop.
So you’re going to start seeing in the next three to four years, you’re going to see an increase of really good car people in fixed ops, because people are really starting to see that you can be a superstar in kickstarter.
It’s not just about being a mechanic turner, wrenches or where it’s there’s no chance back there that you can become way more than you could ever imagine right.
You can help and help.
So many people, like you, said during this time you guys were essential.
Big stops.
People are essential during coping there all this stuff because they needed to be there.
People still need their cars fixed.
They still need the cars to be runnable for all the essential workers that were driving to work, also right and so on and so forth.
So that became a big thing on the front side of the house, not quite as essential as the back side of the house anymore right.
The back side of the house is what the where the profit center was for.
All these dealers out there that were trying to you know, keep their stores open.
So i can tell you, i would say a majority of dealers out there.
If they didn’t have big stops, if they didn’t have a good program in the back, if they weren’t running it right, they probably would be shutting down or very close to shutting down right now.
Those those big stops help them maintain good money, help them keep the doors open, help them maintain payroll help them maintain a sense of normalcy throughout all this right right and but then at the same time, there’s people like you showing them how, during all this, you Could grow massively how you can become so much more than you were before? If you go through this situation, you learn, grow, expand by the end of covet you’re going to be a huge fix up, just master right, you’re going to be, and that’s what you go.
That’s what you’re doing and i love it.
I can see your passion.
I love your answer to that because you know you can get answers from people that about their career and it’s very short answers that doesn’t mean there’s no passion in it.
But when someone gives you an answer like you just did that lets me know that you’re really passionate.
You know what you’re talking about that you’re that you have steps lined up.
You know how to implement what you’re trying to implement the whole nine.
I love it and it makes it easy because this is like a talk, show right, yeah.
We definitely uh know that our audience sees us talking plenty yeah, we’re hoping our guests jump in here and uh and get to say things and get to speak um.
It’s exciting, thank you so much for for doing that and for highlighting uh that this time there is growth inside of business.
You have such a key piece of growth.
That’s coming because now people are listening for the solutions to actually start brewing inside of their business and their operation, and it’s it’s not like those seeds haven’t been sown over the years.
It’s not like you haven’t, been knocking the dealer’s doors or saying hey guys.
There’s a solution and then i could help right, but then, when when right we everybody says then right then cove would happen and everybody says i do.
What do i do and then say, hey.
Remember me: i uh.
I got a solution to that.
I have a way to help get you out there and uh that that’s so so important that everybody pays attention to the the facts that there are solutions that are out there, that maybe you’ve already looked past.
So it’s time to start going through that pile of cards right of people.
That said, you know what i got a solution for you exactly.
You know um, and i like that.
What you’re doing right now is making sure that the key to understanding that uh the fixed upside is a valuable, valuable area where you have to invest a little bit of marketing right now, our particular dealership.
We don’t have a an actual service department where we serve as customers.
It’s a complimentary side of the sales department so are, although they’re they’re, very valuable, valuable in the back.
Those that keep the cars running, keep everything good, making sure everything’s looking good.
They are a part of making sure that that product is seen it’s all and looking good when it gets presented to the customer yeah.
Inside of that, like you were saying, there’s a huge, huge profit center.
That’s actually what keeps the dealership running and it’s in the back pays all the bills and that was treated like a step child so so that we don’t uh treat uh like the red head except all right.
I have a.
I have a step son and i absolutely love him as a boy, so i don’t treat any of my kids any different, but i do want to treat everybody like family.
So let’s talk about the rest of our family.
That’s helping this message get out to you today and i want to talk about elite, fi partners and our solutionary friends that are over at that incredible company.
That is making sure that people are getting solutions inside of their finance department.
I mean michael hoffman is a champion of making sure that processes, people and products are in place everywhere.
It is that it goes.
You can get information by going to elitefi partners.
com.
You can also get information about how to think big by talking to think aggro.
Yes and think about they’re amazing man, the it’s the thing about the think again, if it’s more than just a sponsor they’re a partner with us, there’s their friends of ours, their family of ours, you know, and so is elite and pretty much every partner we’ve ever Partnered up with, when we pick out a partner, we we actually choose our partners.
We don’t just take any sponsor that comes on here, so to have people like the think group elite, f5 partners um in the in the couple more that we’ll be announcing here in the next seven days.
Um, it’s real exciting to talk about these people because they’re big partnerships – you know it’s really nice just much like when we have somebody like russell on the show.
That’s a partnership here now now russ is part of the family.
Russ is part of the car guy coffee.
You know community the cafe the whole nine.
So i appreciate you for being here today.
Russ these sponsors are amazing and i’m you know they’re really great people, i’m sure they’re watching right now or if they’re not watching.
Right.
Now they’re going to be watching it later and they’ll love what you’re doing, because you are you’re somebody that they would love to have on the think tank, and i don’t i’m going to invite you to that.
We’ll talk about that some more right! You would love it you’re perfect, for it you’re everything speaking of sponsors look at terry anyway, i’m not gon na, say much more than that, but um.
But now we’re really happy to have you here today.
Russ, you know we’re throwing in these sponsors really quick, because we do love them.
We do appreciate them and matter of fact, this five liner was brought to you by both of them folks and we’re going to keep going so question number three for you today, hollywood and and a reason why i’m going to ask you this is that it’s because You’re talking about your growth right now, you’re talking about what you do, you’re talking about your purpose, but somewhere in there around 94 or maybe after or maybe before there was somebody that hoped that really influenced you, somebody that helped! You see the path of life, somebody that got you to that next level.
You know we all have mentors.
We all have people that influence us, whether it’s somebody you’ve met whether it’s somebody, you have never met.
If you read their book or whatever it is, who would you call that person and who would that person be dale? Carnegie is one uh, but you know the i really had at when that when that date occurred.
I had a really profound spiritual experience and i knew something had to change and i realized in that moment uh, which is something that never happened: uh the previous 34 years of my life, that it wasn’t anybody else’s fault, anymore, um uh.
I every decision every situation, every consequent was uh consequent was my fault, it was nobody’s fault anymore.
I didn’t blame anything.
I grew up and became a man that day, but i really didn’t know what a man was.
I really didn’t know what a father was.
What a son was what a husband was.
These are all things that started me on that journey from that day forward, and i realized that you know albert einstein said the significant problems and challenges that we face today can’t be solved.
The same level of thinking used to create them, so something had to change, and i realized that even even more so today that at this moment in time i’m a sum total.
This is just my experience.
I’m a sum total of everything.
I’ve ever heard read or done up until this moment, so you know, we’ve all heard the definition of sandy right keep doing the same thing, expecting different results right.
Everybody keeps doing the same thing, so i got involved with some people and some uh training in my life, and i realized that all my life i’ve been listening to people says you can’t do that.
I tried that that won’t work and they got interrupted by somebody who just did i stopped listening to those people.
So one of my uh mentors he asked me uh well when he knew i was ready.
One of the first books i ever remember really.
Reading uh was uh how to win friends and influence people like dale carnegie.
It was just a phenomenal book and he he said.
I just wanted to read 15 minutes a day and he said if you’ll do that, i said.
Oh, i could do this.
No.
No reading 15 minutes a day is not as easy as you think.
It is especially when you haven’t read right, which most people don’t uh and he said 15 minutes.
If you do that, i promise you that your life will transform in a year, and it wasn’t six months and it just it kept me.
It kept me thirsty.
So one of the things that that mentor taught me was that what you read, what you listen to and who you associate with, have a direct impact on your output today.
So, if you’re not putting new stuff in today, you’re going to keep getting the same crap tomorrow and the next day and next thing you’re looking back going, what happened? What happened? I am responsible today for what happens today and where i go from this day forward and that’s attributed directly to other people that i impact and work with on a daily basis.
