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Making Time Travel Work

Hotchkiss and Cialella have both carved their own respective paths to get to where they are today, but something that has benefited both men in their careers has been the presence of strong leaders in their lives.

Hotchkiss got introduced to entrepreneurship early in life, and that introduction went well beyond a lemonade stand. His father had an automotive repair shop when Hotchkiss was growing up, which gave him perspective on running a business in the industry.

“My dad was a mechanic when I was born. I can remember turning the first wrench when I was three in a garage behind our house in Waterloo, Iowa. So, it stemmed from that,” Hotchkiss says. “I can remember pumping gas, changing tires (and) fixing tires, things like that, before I was even 10.”

Hotchkiss can point to some non-industry related life experiences that set him up for success as well. He excelled in sports throughout high school, acting as captain for several of his teams. He even set a record for 400-meter low hurdles that stood undefeated for 20 years.

Hotchkiss has pursued each new experience with determination. Once he finished high school, he carried that dedication onto becoming a Navy Diver. After he graduated from the Navy, he had his sights set on his next big adventure.

“I always knew I’d own my own business of something someday,” Hotchkiss says. “I just never knew what that would be until I actually got out of the Navy and got into the real workforce.”

He was able to make that longtime goal a reality when he bought his first company in 2001. Since that time, he has opened two other businesses including All Tune and Lube Total Car Care.

As for Cialella, he traces some of his leadership inspiration back to the career he spent working in insurance. Before getting into preventative maintenance, he was a self-described “car guy” but he had not directly worked in the industry.

His insurance career allowed him to witness leadership examples that he took into his own approach with Victory Lane, which he and his wife Lauren purchased in 2014 from the original owners Derrick and Jane Oxender. Cialella says he practices leadership from the bottom up, exactly how it was done at his previous employer.

“Every single executive at my former company... started pretty much at an entry level [and] moved up (and) moved cross-functionally,” Cialella says.

The idea of knowing a business structure from top to bottom stuck with him, as did the approach taken by his former boss. His boss was able to identify the needs of the workplace through his own involvement and integration efforts within the team.

“My boss, who was the president of the claims department, would come into our office and he’d be sitting in a cubicle somewhere,” Cialella says. “He wouldn’t be sitting in an executive suite; he wouldn’t be sitting in an office on the phone. He was sitting in a cubicle out on the floor with all these other representatives.”

Upon observing these strategies, Cialella has applied a similar take to his own leadership at Victory Lane. He takes time to understand how each job and element within the business structure work as cogs in the machine’s overall success. He doesn’t want to miss any details that he would not be able to see if he stayed in his own silo at the executive level.

“I really tried to figure out what was going on from the very bottom of the organization all the way through because you can’t lead an organization if you don’t understand how it works and what nuances the people that are working for you are dealing with every single day that make their jobs harder or could make it easier,” Cialella says.

Apply the Skills

Transferable skills are valuable in this industry. Hotchkiss and Cialella have both applied their skillsets in effective ways.

Over the course of his professional career, Hotchkiss has worked within multiple industries. He utilizes what he learned to instill a well-rounded mindset into his All Tune team that keeps the goal of success at the forefront.

“I try to put it in my employee’s hands. I’ll give them the tools to be successful. Whether they use them or not is up to them,” Hotchkiss says. “If they don’t use them and they’re not successful, I’m not afraid to say, ‘Hey this just isn’t for you.’”

Hotchkiss looks at his employees as partners because he says they all have the same end goal of providing for themselves and their families. He says by showing them how making the business money makes the employees money in return, they can see the importance of a strong cyclical relationship.

“They have to run each of their positions like it (is) their own

LEADERHSIP STYLE

How would you describe your leadership style?

Cialella: “I think I’m a pretty pragmatic leader. Some people would call me intense. I would say it’s more passionate than anything else.”

Hotchkiss: “I want my people to take accountability and responsibility, so I teach them ... I try to use the carrot versus the stick.”