Faith-Driven Success: Aaron Stokes on Business, God, and Growth

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What if the secret to success is keeping your focus on what truly matters and allowing greatness to sneak up on you?

Scott welcomes Aaron Stokes, founder of Shop Fix Academy and a leader in the automotive repair coaching industry, for an inspiring conversation. Aaron reveals how his faith in God has been the cornerstone of his journey, helping him transform a backyard repair hustle into a multimillion-dollar coaching enterprise.

Aaron and Scott discuss how faith, personal development, and a focus on operations can create a thriving business. They explore the surprising connections between running an auto repair shop and managing self-storage facilities, offering actionable strategies for business owners in any industry.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
8:08 Why “Life Before Structure” is Key to Long-Term Growth
19:23 Practical Lessons on Operational Excellence from the Auto Repair Industry that Apply to YOUR Business
23:05 the Importance of Personal Development and Raising YOUR Self-Image to Unlock New Levels of Success
30:15 How Faith Can guide Business Decisions and Inspire Leadership

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Chapters

• 8:08 Why “Life Before Structure” is Key to Long-Term Growth
• 19:23 Practical Lessons on Operational Excellence from the Auto Repair Industry that Apply to YOUR Business
• 23:05 The Importance of Personal Development and Raising YOUR Self-Image to Unlock New
• 30:15 How Faith Can guide Business Decisions and Inspire Leadership

Transcript

Aaron Stokes (00:00):

Anything that's great should sneak up on you. And I've noticed that everything I've ever built in my life that's great has snuck up on me because I stayed focused on the main thing. I didn't worry about everything else. And I think that's also allowed me to grow faster than everybody else. And that comes from life before structure, not structured before life.

Announcer (00:19):

This is the Self Storage Podcast with the original Self storage expert, Scott Meyers.

Scott Meyers (00:30):

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Self Storage Podcast. I'm your host, Scott Meyers. And on today's episode, we have my good friend Aaron Stokes. Now Aaron is, he comes from a little different background than what you're used to hearing in our guests on this show. He does not come from a self storage background, however, he does come from a background that is very similar. We run down the same path in that we teach people about how to find, evaluate, purchase, and manage self storage facilities. And what Aaron does is he specializes in helping shop owners in the automotive industry maximize their returns, run their businesses just as efficiently as possible. And he is a numbers guy. When he works with folks, they start with the balance sheet, they start with the p and l, and I've seen this in action. He and I met several months back in some other circles from another introduction, and I got to look into and under the hood of what he's doing in his business and also go to one of his events, which I'll talk about in a minute, and to see what he's doing and how he's transforming lives.

(01:27):

And his arena has just been nothing but truly inspirational. And also the fact that he wears his faith on his sleeve and his business does operate as a mission. And you can see that that is evident everywhere. So with that, Aaron, welcome to the show. Thanks, man. Glad to be here. This is two days in a row. You and I get a chance to chat online via video, if you will, and looking forward to being back in the same room with you again here soon. But I appreciate you taking time out. And I guess before we go into the background and the context in which we met and what you're doing, tell everybody here in self storage land, how did you launch the business that you're in right now in terms of going from a shop owner to then teaching to building the massive machine that you have built and this force within your industry?

Aaron Stokes (02:13):

I started in 1999 working on cars in my backyard. Did that until 2004, moved to town and then eventually between 2004 and 2011 opened up two more locations. I will say I didn't open my second until 2009, so I was on one location for a long time. Then we continued to grow and grow and grow, and we got to that next level and we finally got that third location opened. And once it was opened, I decided to get in a car sales. I had a guy that I'd hired to run it for me, I trusted, and then he ended up stealing from me, the whole theft, closing the car lot down, all the stuff, and it cost me about 1,000,004 out of that. I went through several years of hardship, really rough times. I have an eighth grade education, never been to high school except my daughters never went to college.

(03:05):

And so I got to this point where everything kind of culminated and a guy saw me in an event and said, Hey man, will you spend some time and coach me? And I blew him off. I was polite, but I didn't know that I could help and didn't know that he could afford it and just kind of didn't pursue it. And over the course of several months, finally did, and this was the summer of I think 2016, and I eventually got some stuff together, got it to him, and an employee said, you should record some of this. So I did. I recorded it on a cell phone and then gave it to my clients, and I think I sold maybe 11 of those packages back then. I have 11 founding members to this day. And from there, it just blew up. I mean, it was crazy.

(04:02):

2017 is really the beginning of it, and I think I probably had, I don't know, 19 people at my first meeting. I think 19, my second, 34, and then it was like 64 at the very end of 17. And then in 18, I think it was like 104. And then by the end of 18 I was at five 50. And then the one you were just at was nearly 2000. So yeah, it was crazy. Now I've got nearly 1100 owners, 1600 locations and about 3.3 billion in revenue that I'm influencing in charge of consulting, whatever you want to call it, employees. Now we are somewhere in the seven to 11,000 employees that we represent. We've tried to get accurate numbers, and that's been difficult, but it's a lot. And yeah, a lot of weight on our shoulders, but we're happy to do it and we see as an awesome responsibility.

(05:11):

And we are not just doing it for their paychecks, we're doing it for their souls. We talk about God a lot like you brought up earlier, I dance that line. It's hard to know where, but I try to be as professionally friendly as I can and dancing the line, right where I tick somebody off, but they don't leave. I try to say, Hey, listen, I'm trying to help you, but there's more help that I can offer you than just premo in your checking account. And so yeah, that's kind of how I got started and it got me to where I am today. But I've been doing auto repair 25 years in coaching now about seven, almost eight.

Scott Meyers (05:49):

Well, because I haven't been around to be able to watch this from the sidelines, I'm limited through the stories of what you just told in a brief version, but I've got the longer version of that. And then to be able to experience it, Aaron, when Christina and I came to visit per your invitation, which we appreciated just to see, Hey, what is this all about? Because probably so many people that asked you or told you, gosh, are there that many people? You've got that many people, 2000 people that are coming to an event and this many people you're following, I don't even know there are that many shops across the USA. I mean, we coach and teach a lot of folks in self storage and they're just like, wow, I didn't even know that was a thing. So then to see this room full of folks that are all fired up and absolutely excited to be there to then ask 'em the questions to find out, my goal was to understand how you've created this following.

(06:43):

Again, I get to have a conversation with you in another setting with some business owners, but then to then go into the radar and sit at the table at dinner out in the tent, having some fantastic southern barbecue, and to speak with each and every person at the table there and just ask them, Hey, tell me how long have you been in tropics? How long have you been following Aaron? How long have you hit your wagon to him? And why do you keep coming back to these events and why have you been here for 11 years? Why have you been here for five years? And the answer every single time from every single one of 'em was that, not that I'm a better shop owner or he's put a bunch of money in my wallet, like you said, they said, I am a better human being.

(07:20):

I'm a better husband, I'm a better wife, I'm a better father, I'm a better business owner. And they went down the list and it was always about the personal development side and that they are better human beings as a result of being part of your organization and working with you, which speaks volumes to not only you as a leader, but the coaches that you pick, which as you mentioned are the best of the best in the industry. And as humans and what you've created is something that is really just a force to see. But tell me what we see so many folks out there, there's gurus, and I don't even like the moniker that is given because I'm an investor and I'm an educator, and I never professed to be a guru where I know it all. But when you set out, when you finally, I mean, there's a point in which you get to the size where you are, where you had to draw a line in the sand and say, okay, now this is a thing, and I got to treat it like a thing.

Aaron Stokes (08:06):

Yeah.

Scott Meyers (08:08):

Did it happen organically then that you just decided that, Hey, I'm going to be myself or I'm going to do this. This is going to be a part, this personal development side is going to be a part of what I do. Tell me, how did that all evolve From the beginning,

Aaron Stokes (08:23):

I think I had 280 members and I was still running out on the back of a napkin, and I used to be a youth pastor back in the day, so I had my commercial driver's license. I'm still driving the bus to help all these people around, and I had 280 members and I was like, holy crap, I think this is a real business. I was still putting all the attention on my shops because I own my own chain of auto repair shops. And so when I kind of was like, I think this is a thing, my wife was a dance mom, and I'm pawning all this crap off of my wife. I'm like, I need your help for this event. And my wife, she's picking up food, getting supplies, setting things up, trying to make it all look nice, all the trays for all the cookies and all the desserts and all the, we had two, 300 people coming to these events and one of her friends sees her opening up the trunk of her expedition, all this crap falling out.

(09:17):

My wife's all frustrated, she's trying to get it all. She said, what are you doing? She's like, Aaron and all these crazy conferences, I'm trying to help him and I don't have enough time with the kids. My wife's very involved with our kids, so it was really putting a strain on the family life. And she's like, I would love to do that stuff. And she's like, really? Call my husband. And so I interviewed her over the phone, her name was Crystal, and I ended up hiring Crystal, I'm sure you probably met her when you were at the event. She's like the queen of hospitality, and she professionalized our events. All of a sudden we went from three pieces of paper stapled together to actual pamphlets and things being organized and signs on everything. It's a little nuts. People, I don't know that people always get this, but in the beginning they think people show up for, I don't know, the fancy pamphlets for

Scott Meyers (10:06):

Example.

Aaron Stokes (10:07):

And that's not why people come. I'm a big believer in I do life before structure, not structure before life. And so I'll throw it together and staple it, hand write it, throw the whole schedule out the window, wing it, whatever. And if there's life there, I start bringing structure after the fact to shore it up and shore it up and shore it up. If you bring structure before there's any life, you do the fancy pamphlets, you do all this stuff, and then no one shows up. It's kind of like having a skeleton with no flesh on it. You don't need the skeleton. If there's no flesh, the skeleton is only there to support the flesh. And so as I started realizing that in my younger days when this happened, I was like, I'm just going to see this go somewhere. Well, it kept going somewhere and it went somewhere because we brought excellent teaching, we brought raw information, cutting edge information, and we moved lightning fast and none of it was stale.

(11:01):

It was like, right, this just happened last week. This is working. Y'all need to try this. So we were the new hot thing, still are. Now the issue is I got to keep shop fix small feeling. So how do we make people feel like it's small now? It's the whole, oh, well shop fix was good, but it's too big. And so we have to find this way of keeping it small and at the same time remembering where we've gotten to. And so I have to look back at what it's crazy, I have to go, alright, how do I have a private meeting with 2000 people, which we screwed up on our last one. I think our smallest meeting was like 150 and it wasn't small enough. They want to get down to groups of 50, which means I have to spend like a hundred grand on renting tents to go in a hotel parking lot and AC units.

(11:47):

But if that's what my customer wants, we're very customer centric. We do it. But I say that to get back to Crystal, crystal, she's also very customer centric, but when she first came along, she's probably one of the first few that whenever everybody said, Aaron, we're too big, we got to stop doing this or we're too big, we got to stop doing that. I said, no, I don't care how big we ever get. We're going to keep doing this. One of the things I do is every other meeting, we take about half of the group and we go to five star restaurants. So I will rent five restaurants at 80 people per restaurant, all five star steakhouses and send all my people to 'em. And they do that usually once or twice a year. And the reason for that is I need someone who's not used to being in a really high-end environment to be in a high-end environment and go, wow, this is awkward for me.

(12:38):

And I am teaching them how to change what they're used to change their standards and exposing them to higher quality food. And I just remember my first time I went to a nice dinner and how uncomfortable I was and how it rocked me. And so my goal is to do the same with them, to give the young guy that's aggressive, a chance to go chase down the baller in the room and sit next to him. That's what it's about. And to give the baller somebody who's serious, who's good soil they can so they're seed into and get significance out of the conversation. And crystal's the only one that if I said, no, this is what I want, she would fight to keep it. And if you get into shop fix and actually pay attention, the detail is insane. And it is only happening because of what she's doing. And I'll show you, this was our pamphlet from our last meeting here in this building. I own my own training center as well. That one you were at was at a hotel. And so on the back, I have my map. Well, everybody kept saying, Aaron, we it do an app so they don't have to use this. Well, we tried doing an app without this and they nearly burned me at the stage.

(13:51):

It didn't work out good, but then people kept opening new tabs on their phone to find the map. I said, put the map back on the back. Everybody fought me on it. Crystal's like, no, we're going to do this because hospitality, right?

(14:02):

Well, in one of these, I don't think I have it in this one, but it was at the event you were at, we had all the drink tickets built into the page that you could tear off. We had the map with it all laid out, all the restaurants you could walk to everything. It's not in this book. I sadly don't have it. We have lots of our little different things here and all of our worksheets, et cetera. But I was super impressed with how they put this together, the conference that we're speaking on, et cetera. This is all happening because I dreamed it up on a stupid napkin. And my team, all my coaches, all the different groups for 2025, all the upcoming events throughout the entire year already posted so they can plan their vacations, all of our sponsors, our schedule, everything. This is all happening because this stupid idea I had on a freaking napkin one day, I didn't know if it was going to be a thing. And now structure has come the fact and built this. It's a nice glossy book that costs me $8,000 every time we have an event. But that's part of our culture, that spirit of excellence. And so I think that for anybody who's starting something, it all needs to be about the core.

(15:11):

What is the freaking thing that your client wants? They're not paying me for a fancy book. They're not paying me for this. They're not paying me. They're paying me to change their freaking lives. So if I just get really, really good at that, and then I backfill, backfill, backfill, backfill on the backside, all the other stuff like fancy books and really good customer service. We have Crystal's Corner now where she has everything from Tums to bubblegum to Pepto Bismol to Excedrin at our conferences. She's like the Walgreens and it's crazy.

Scott Meyers (15:42):

Guess what? We never had at our events that we now have at all of our events, ever since I witnessed that, we have a place at the back of the table that looks like a Walgreens and as a result of your force of nature

Aaron Stokes (15:54):

And it gets emptied out. It is crazy. So yeah, I think anything that's great should sneak up on you. And I've noticed that everything I've ever built in my life that's great has snuck up on me because I stayed focused on the main thing. I didn't worry about everything else. And I think that's also allowed me to grow faster than everybody else. And that comes from life before structure, not structure before life. You can outgrow someone else so much faster if they're so focused on structure and looking pretty in the beginning. You just can't,

Scott Meyers (16:24):

To take a quote from Zuckerberg, he talked about that in a different way and that, yeah, we move fast and break things. And so he doesn't sit back and take structured anything. He's just like, yeah, let's try it. Let's try it, let's try it. And just moves fast. And then they put structure around anything that sticks. And I think any good organization, you'll see that. And that's the way I think my staff gets nervous to say, yeah, we're going to build a plane as it's taken off, but we do many times. And if it really takes off in a source, then okay, now we need to make sure it stays in the air. And so I agree a hundred percent. And one of the other observations that I had, Aaron, as I'm talking to these folks at the event and just watching you from stage, is that it appears as if, I mean, I think any good coach, any good teacher, we skate to where the puck is going.

(17:12):

And I know that's a sports metaphor for Gretzky as well, but some of these folks, they just don't realize what their blind spot is or they don't want to admit it or address it. And like Michael Giber talks about in the E-Myth, these technicians that have a plumbing business and then decide they're a plumber, then they decide to start a plumbing business and now they have to be the CEO and they don't have any business experience. And so they just keep working harder and trying to do what they can to keep to stay moving by working harder as a plumber when they really need to sharpen the saw and learn how to be a business owner and get other folks underneath them. And that's what I've seen you do is that these folks that are in the room, unless they're new and they recognize that that is a challenge in theirs, you've done an incredible job of taking your flock and making sure that they understand what it means to be a business owner.

(18:01):

And that's because you've not only put the onus on them and the responsibility, but also one thing I heard from the front of the room come out of your mouth, which is just pure gold, is that you recognize, and if they don't, they should that not only is it their paycheck, but oh, I think you mentioned there's a whole lot of retirement accounts, there's a whole lot of weddings, college tuitions. There's more people that are rely on this business owner to succeed that even the business owner expects. And that's a huge responsibility that not only should they be aware of and take on, but I really sense and I feel that you're taking that on yourself. Would you say that's somewhat true? A

Aaron Stokes (18:36):

Hundred percent true. We have a saying, fix the owner. Fix the shop. The way you generate in a capitalistic society, more wealth for everyone involved is you increase the speed of money and you only can increase the speed of money. If you're good at marketing, you're good at sales, and then you're good at operations. And what I've noticed is there's all these gurus out there that are good at marketing, good at sales, that's it. No one is good at operations. Where the money is made is in operations in every business in America because there's a lot of great marketers and a lot of great salesmen that are broke, and it's because they don't know how to run their operations. And so if I believe in fix the owner, fix the shop and take it to heart, then I've got to understand what it takes to get somebody to the next level and help them blow through that.

(19:23):

And you'll notice that most people are afraid of the next level every time. And I have to ask them, Hey, do you remember where you were 24 months ago? They go, yeah, yeah, tell me about it. They'll tell me about it for a second. I had 80 grand in the bank, had a lot of debt, a lot more than I do now. Business was half the size it was, et cetera, et cetera. I said, was life simpler? And they go somewhat. Did you ever look at where you are today and think that was scary? Yeah. I said, would you ever want to go back to that place though? No. Why not? Oh, this is still so much better. Even though I was scared now that I'm here, I'm so much happier. Then why don't you keep that attitude for the rest of your life? Why now are you slowing down and getting comfortable? And most of us only push if you think about it, because of the fear of pain, not because of the hope again. And so the moment we're comfortable, meaning we have enough margin in our life for friends enough, we have more friends than we need more money than we need, more time than we need. We let off the gas,

(20:27):

And so we have this much potential, but we execute here. Why don't we execute the same level of potential that God gave us? And my whole thing is if I'm going to fix the owner and fix the shop, I'm going to get that person to step up and move forward. I've got to get that person to see what I see about them, not just what they've been told from their parents, their teachers, their friends that are all losers. I'm not saying everybody's dad or mom's a loser, but if the average person is going to make a lot less than you are and you're a business owner, then they have to see that most of those people are not giving them advice. See, most people are fine with you making a lot of money as long as it's $1 less than what they make. And so you end up giving advice and giving advice and giving advice only to find that this person struggles with this. All of a sudden they don't know how to give you advice anymore. Why? Because their own greed and jealousy kicks in. So if that's the case, I then have to get them to understand they're not shop owners. They're not mechanics anymore. They're not ex-service advisors. They are now entrepreneurs. They're a business owner. And once I can reprogram that identity, they can look at their business more objectively, but as long as they're an ex mechanic or an ex-service advisor or whatever used to work at a dealership, they carry that in. It messes it all up.

(21:49):

I have to get that out of

Scott Meyers (21:49):

Them. I think we spend an awful lot of time, and I never would've expected this in that folks come to our events or they come to us, they attend our webinars, our masterclasses because they do. They want to want to level up, they want to get better, and now they can see that they have a potential. And then no matter whether they take that next step or not or whether they take five steps, there seems to be, which I think you're kind of we're dancing around here, is that glass ceiling. And whether that's some of these, the friends or the five people you spend the most time with that are trying to keep them down because it makes them feel worse about themselves if one of them breaks out of the pack. But I think some of this that I never thought that this would be a real thing until a very wise and intelligent person in our organization said some of these folks, it is programmed in and they don't want success because over the years, rich people are bad. Rich people got the gain by ill, it was ill gotten gain. And so there's a glass ceiling that even subconsciously these folks don't even know that they have. And we've had to really dig deep and have some other speakers come in. And part of our program is really on that personal development side where we have to dig a little deeper and get into the psyche to allow people to break through that and really truly get the success that they've been seeking when they come to us. A

Aaron Stokes (23:05):

Hundred percent. I found that glass ceiling you speak of, that program you speak of is the part that has to be undone. So if I talk to your conscious brain, your conscious brain says to me, Aaron, I want to make 500,000 a year. I want to make a million dollars a year. I want to make 3 million a year. Okay, great. Let's fix your business. My business is broken, can't. There is no broken business. It's a math problem. And the math is designed to give you exactly what it's giving you, whether it's losing money or making money, you design the math problem, so let's redesign it. Okay, well then they automatically go back to their old ways. How come that program you're talking about, well, if you stop and think about just the program, the program is in their head and it controls 95% of their action at the subconscious level.

(23:55):

How do we get the subconscious brain to kick in? Well, we have to reprogram it. Like Jim Rohn talks about in his mentality around, like you just said a second ago, your average of the five closest people you hang out with, which by the way, most business owners, the five closest people they hang out with are their own employees. You got to remember that most don't have a lot of friends. And so they pay to have friends. They don't actually have people they hang out with, they don't pay. And they wonder, I can't ever make more than 60 grand a year. Well, that's because all your employees make 40.

(24:29):

And so my issue right now is I'm trying to get these guys to be reprogrammed. They're like, well, how do I reprogram myself? Well, you're either a thermometer or you're a thermostat, right? And so if you're a thermometer, you're running around telling everybody the temperature, man, it sucks. The economy's horrible. I can't make any money, blah, blah, blah. If you're a thermostat, you set the temperature, dude, I'm going to go in here. I'm going to crush it. I'm going to make it happen. I'm going to do X, y, Z. The moment you start to outperform your personal self-image and you get to that next level, people are going to look at you and they're going to go, oh my gosh, I don't know. I think what you're doing is a little crazy, especially your parents or your siblings, your best friend. And then you let that worm eat in your head and you go, maybe I am crazy.

(25:10):

Maybe I am a loser. And you undo everything that just happened because you'd rather have a friend than have success. And we run from that confrontation. We run from that situation. So they go, Aaron, what do I do? Well, the moment you start to outperform that personal self image, you have to immediately bring your self image standard up higher. So now you're not getting out there outpacing it too much. I have to do it myself. If I make way more money this year than last year, I look at my tax return this year versus last year, I'm like, holy crap, I'm in danger of reverting back to old habits and screwing it all up. So how do I keep that from happening? I keep that from happening by deciding that I'm not going to let myself be programmed by all these other people. So what am I going to program myself with new friends that are going to level me up?

(25:56):

So people ask me, do I really just reprogram myself by hanging out with new people? Yes, go bowling with some successful people. If you suck at marriage, go hang out with some families that they have an amazing marriage. If you suck as a dad, you suck as a mom. You know you're a selfish SOP. Go hang out with people that are awesome with their family. I mean, amazing. Find them at your church. Find them in an event and hang out with them. Your kid's private school people go, Aaron, how do I hang out with better people? Sign your kids up for the most expensive freaking dance lessons you can find karate lessons, baseball, private training, all of it. When you put kids in that private expensive stuff, you meet other parents that are successful and are rock solid people. And you will get programmed by hanging out with those people. People think it's so complicated. It's not. You raise your personal self-image by raising up the people you hang out with. Does this mean you don't hang out with your parents anymore? No. You just may not hang out with them as much as you did before because of the influence. Until you're at a place where you're strong enough that you influence them, they don't influence you.

Scott Meyers (26:59):

When you gave your speech about the four foot by four foot soil and who you led into your garden speaking directly from Mr. Jim Roan. And yeah, I was listening to Jim back on cassette tapes, trying to program myself from him. And that is such an interesting piece and something I've taken with me that I continue to hone in on and discuss over and over at our events and with our folks in that to what you just said, you can quit your friends, you can't quit your family, but you can certainly spend a lot of less time with them. And we give them permission and I give my coaches permission to tell them that over and over again because that is such an important piece. And the other piece that I did want to touch on, Aaron, which I'm so thankful for, is that I think most of my background, and I'm an investor that ended up with an education business, and it was really a chance meeting with a good friend of yours, Dave Ramsey, when I was helping him out, assisting and volunteering at a Financial Peace University event that he had in Indianapolis.

(27:59):

So I've been running it in our church. We have a very large church, and I was fortunate enough to volunteer and backstage Dave is sitting by himself prior to the event starting. I'm thinking, well, where are handlers and where are all the people that even stopped me from talking with him? And so I did. And I went over and shared my story about that, which is basically the same as his in real estate that I almost lost. Well, he went bankrupt. I almost lost it all, but turned it around with biblical financial principles. And after I shared that, he started pointing into my chest and looking into the back of my skull like only Dave Ramsey can. And he said, this is your mission. You have to go out and teach people about self storage because before they fall into that same position that you and I did in the habitation and the residential real estate business, and this is your calling.

(28:40):

And so when Dave Ramsey tells you that, then I went home that night and told my wife, I said, this is my calling. This is what we're going to do. And so that's how we launched our business. And since then, since that time, it really was, it was a divine appointment and I haven't stopped telling that story and the fact that that was through Dave Ramsey and God speaking through him and telling me that this is what I'm supposed to do. And so my business has been my mission field from the beginning. Nobody starts as a 60 hour a week information and seminar business on top of a 60 hour a week shop business or a self storage investing business unless it is an appointment because it's, as you know, it's a slog. It's a behemoth that can take on a life of its own, which it has since then.

(29:24):

But I've always approached it that way and the blessings that have come out of that and to be able to be responsible and to see that light bulb come off or go on in these folks' minds when you help them to recognize, okay, here's the path. Here's the mountain. I'm the Sherpa. You can do this and begin to speak into their lives and tell 'em that they can do and encourage 'em. It has been nothing short of incredible. And I never thought that a knucklehead like me would have the opportunity to be able to do that. And that's why we continue to do so and give the glory back to where it belongs and to build the kingdom together by taking these folks then on mission trips to build houses and how that's grown in the ripple effect of that. And so from the beginning, going back to where we started, Aaron, tell me how God has helped to grow your business, to give you this influence to build the kingdom, and what does that look like on a regular basis as you wap that out? God gave me the ability to speak

Aaron Stokes (30:15):

Without that I would not have the success that I have, and I clearly know it. He gave me the intelligence to be able to decipher people and diagnose people quickly way outside of auto repair. Anybody can walk up to me, start telling me their issues and I can just bang, bam, bam, cut right to the source of it. He gave me a gift and every day I have to honor that gift that he gave me. This business is not a Christian business, but this is a business full of Christians and I have to every day give him the glory and honor for what is happening. Because if it wasn't for Jesus Christ and his effect on my life, I would not have shop fix like it is today. I mean, when the bankers look at it, they're like, are you selling drugs? They just see the hockey stick of the trajectory.

(31:14):

And I'm like, no. I mean this is what it is and it's not believable, and I know it's because of God. There's been so many miracles if I walked you through it all, it's been miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle from how we even bought our training centers, the last one, and now this one. And so knowing that I can't even begin to explain how it has impacted me and changed so much in my life. And so the difference for me, what's happened for me that's made such a huge impact and just absolutely rocked me has been all these tiny miracles that become massive stepping stones that just have opened up huge doors for me. And if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be where I am today. I mean truly it is simply because of that. It is simply because God just keeps working these miracles and I just keep trusting and I'm just one of those big believers I believe in leaning out and where you think you're about to be embarrassed.

(32:15):

That's right when he steps in. And so I just keep leaning out and I keep waiting and he keeps stepping in. I'm doing that on some projects now. I'm like, you know what? I just got to figure it out. More money you make, the more tempting it is to not depend on God and just look at your checking account and at the end of the day you got to go, you know what? I can't put my trust in the checking account. Put my trust in him. Whatever happens happens, I'm not going to worry about it. I'm just going to trust him. And I'm having to literally do that on something right now. That's a huge 25 million deal. So

Scott Meyers (32:47):

Yeah, we found that we tied our way out of debt, and that's really kind of how I found Dave Ramsey to begin with. And so we didn't rely on the checkbook, we relied on him because if that would've been the case, my wife said, I can't write that check. We're going to bounce a check to the church. But guess what? It went through as we then turned the keys of our business over to him as well and committed to tithing corporately to go build houses in Mexico, that was another, that was a hockey stick moment for us as well. And to recognize, I don't know how we're going to do this, but laid it on our heart after we went on a mission trip was somebody who provided a way for us to go and paid for the whole thing minus our error fare. And after we came back, our family was rocked and just changed.

(33:30):

And I said, I want to do that. I want to be able to do that. And she goes, are you crazy? How are we going to be able to do that in the position that we're in? And I said, well, I'm feeling compelled to do that and he's going to bless it. And so we did. We committed to 10% and guess what? The business took off. And that is what has made a huge impact. It's just being obedient to not only the people that we're entrusted to in our care, but also what the resources that come out of that as well. So I know that you're also dedicated to some mission work, and I just saw that you got back from a trip just recently as well. Do you want to share a little bit with Storage Nation about what you're doing to build the kingdom on the mission field?

Aaron Stokes (34:04):

Yeah, I'm a big believer in missions as much as you can go, that's great. But also just getting behind it, putting your money where your mouth is. A lot of people just go on a trip, they think that's it, and there's a reason God's giving you this talent. And I know I'm a producer, that's my calling is to be a producer. My calling's not to be on every board. You go give to a nonprofit, they're like, oh, we'd love to give you a board. So you're like, Nope, don't want it. Don't have time. I've just realized where my lane is. There are specific ones that I want to do trips with, then others that I don't worry about it. One of the ones I do trips with is down in the central part of Mexico, central, northern part of Mexico in a little town called San Pedro and outside of TO and right in Illa, right in the middle of the country.

(34:58):

So I'm a big believer in going down there and helping what they're doing. It's a great pastor and he's doing awesome work. He's got six sister churches that he's over and it's pretty cool what he's doing down there. Then I'm a big believer in this school that's educating kids in Africa and Rwanda where they had the genocide 30 years ago. Real big believer in what they're doing and love supporting them. Going back there probably 12 weeks maybe. So that'll be an interesting trip. That'll be crazy. And that'll be my second time going to that one that was, everybody needs to go to Africa. If you've never been, it means nothing. Like the movies make it or it was crazy. So I really enjoyed that and I'm looking forward to going back there again and hearing the states that get behind that stuff. But you got to be careful too, as you start to become more affluent, the demands in your time can from good causes, nonprofits and can come in waves that will destroy you.

(35:54):

And I've had to learn to do my role and know more than my role. A lot of times they want me to come hang out and do a tour of a facility and do whatever, and I'm like, I just don't have time. I've got to focus on my wife and my kids. We're barely hanging on now. And so I think it's very, very important that we don't get caught up in the ego that comes with giving, do it as much as you can in secret and then go to the events that you feel like you need to go to. But those of you that have kids at Elm, like I still do, you just got to be careful. You got to watch it, but it doesn't give you the out to not take your kids on those trips. Those kids need to go on those trips. They need to see people that are poor than them and are in a rough environment. So I've really tried to do that with my kids every single year, at least once a year.

Scott Meyers (36:49):

Yeah, that was one of the big pieces that we didn't recognize the impact of that, and it was never anything that we wanted to put in our back pocket and pull out with our kids at any time and say, Hey, do you remember when? And you remember how joyful those kids were when we served. However, I don't have to. They recognize it and they felt it and they see it and the magnitude of just recognizing that, hey, this is how most of the rest of the world works, and the only difference between us and them is that you were born here. They were born there. That is the only difference. And by the way, the world doesn't owe you anything. Nobody owes you anything. And so the quicker you understand and recognize that gratefulness will come out of it, I didn't tell 'em to be grateful, but they recognize that.

(37:31):

And so then shortly, we've been going for a while now and shortly after that, my son's belly aching about his battery life and his whatever, and it needed to be a newer version. All I have to do is just look over and give him the eye and he gets it and he doesn't any, he kind slumps. He doesn't get mad. He didn't get mad about it, but he just recognized. And for me too, Aaron, when I start getting full of myself and complaining about my first world problems, we go on these trips twice a year and I can very quickly because of the recency, teleport myself back to the mission field and how joyful I felt and seeing what I'm seeing and experiencing there. And I get over myself pretty quick. And so we go for multiple reasons. And that truly is the bigger ones, is just that you understand the level of gratefulness that you would never experience unless you go.

Aaron Stokes (38:18):

That's right. That's right. Big believer, I think especially if you've got kids, you got to go.

Scott Meyers (38:21):

Yeah, a hundred percent. Well, Aaron, my friend, I'm so thankful for your time today. I know you're extremely busy and I'm thankful for all that you've done to speak into the lives of your flock and everybody that you serve as well as a small group of us that get together and chat about business. I benefited from that immensely. And so I owe you with that of gratitude as well. So Aaron, as we wrap up, what is the best piece of advice that you have ever been given that you'd like to share with Storage Nation?

Aaron Stokes (38:49):

Always ask yourself, how will this be told? And I've, every single thing I go to do, I ask myself to remember, how will this be retold? Not what happened, not what I think happened, but how it will be retold. And that has kept me out of more hot water that has kept me on the path that is, we're coaching so many people, we always have crazy crap happening.

(39:23):

All it takes is something crazy to happen with one of our clients. You want to help good hearted gesture, but maybe you just need to sit back a minute, look to dust, settle, make sure you should, because some other truth might show up that you weren't expecting, that all of a sudden skews your whole view of the situation. So I feel embracing what I just said will lead to more mature behavior and business activity and a more mature business overall versus not worrying about it, not worrying about the ramifications and just running out there and reacting to everything that happens in business. I just don't anymore. I ask myself, how will this be retold? And if I don't want it retold, I don't do anything. And sometimes it takes a lot more courage to stand there and do nothing than it is to actually get involved. Yep, a hundred percent. I think a lot of people get sucked into a lot of distraction. It doesn't benefit their own life or their own business. So just my 2 cents and that is from my thirties till today has helped me greatly versus when I was in my

Scott Meyers (40:32):

Twenties. Well, there's a lot of gold in that, and that's because there's a ton of truth in that, Aaron, so I appreciate you sharing that as well. So Aaron, this is a self storage podcast, but these are also all small business owners and folks that are looking at different things. But if they would just want to lean in to look more about you and your approach and what you're doing over at Shop Fix, what is the best way for them to be able to peer into the glass?

Aaron Stokes (40:53):

We do a little bit on YouTube. That's about to ramp up a lot here soon. We do more on Facebook than anywhere. We do a little bit on Instagram. Again, that's about to ramp up here, but Facebook's probably the place where they can find the most info. That's where I always have got posting happening, et cetera. But it will be hitting the other platforms here shortly.

Scott Meyers (41:15):

Perfect. Well, once again, Aaron, appreciate your time. Appreciate what you're doing and looking forward to being back in the same room with you again here very soon. Alright man. Thanks so much, Scott, appreciate it. Take care, bud. Thanks, Aaron.

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