ON THE COVER
Born into a family of collision repairers, Michael Menna impressed Pino Gagliardi with his indepth knowledge of the repair industry.
“Bringing my experience as a serial entrepreneur brings an understanding of where to invest, what to invest in and where to stop throwing money—but it doesn’t make me an expert in how to repair vehicles. Michael has that. We do well together because we respect each other’s abilities.”
Photo by: Eddie Chan
to help make this transformation possible, Michael Menna. An industry insider who had grown up in the trade, Michael had worked at his father’s GTA store for close to a decade. “He impressed me within sixty seconds of our meeting—with his demeanour, his industry knowledge, and his vision,” says Pino. “Of course, I hired him.” “We hit it off. I think it was because we both had no interest in running a nice bodyshop,” explains Michael,“We wanted to run the best facility around.” With Pino’s traditional business background and Michael’s in-depth understanding of the repair process, the two were able to entirely remake the Downsview facility. “Even as renovations, installations and new hires were disrupting the business, we managed to keep our doors open throughout
the transformation,” says Michael. “It meant a lot to our clients and insurance partners.” Both Pino and Michael agree that the transformation would have been impossible, had it not been for their excellent “peanut-butter-and-jelly” working relationship. “Pino has taught me a lot in our time together—including how to get people to follow you through fires,” says Michael. “In this business, every good project and leader requires the right attitude. These guys have seen Pino’s attitude. There isn’t a person working here who doesn’t know he is there for them.” The value of this reinvestment into his facilities not only ensures he upholds his commitment to providing premier collision repairs for his customers, but also ensures his team is equipped to do so with the resources they need.
“Bringing my experience as a serial entrepreneur brings an understanding of where to invest, what to invest in and where to stop throwing money—but it doesn’t make me an expert in how to repair vehicles. Michael has that. We do well together because we respect each other’s abilities.” This dynamic hasn’t just made an impression on the team at CARSTAR Downsview, but also on the entire CARSTAR network. At its annual network conference, this year named CARSTAR Acceleration, Gagliardi received the widely praised President’s Award for the business’ success in 2019. “Next, we bring what we’ve done here to our other locations. After that—well, there are a lot of possibilities. And I’m excited to help Pino pursue them,” says Michael. “No question—he is going to stick around for the ride.” As CARSTAR closes out its landmark 30th anniversary year, it expects to see its existing franchise family to continue raising the bar for excellence, continued growth across North America and continued emphasis on giving back to the communities it serves. As for Pino? “Oh yes,” says Pino.“I’ve caught the collision business bug.”
DECEMBER 2019 COLLISION REPAIR 17