Heroes in Business - Jose Costa of CEO Driven Brands MAACO Econo Lube n Tune, and others is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes

Episode Date: June 21, 2024

Jose Costa of CEO Driven Brands MAACO Econo Lube n Tune, and others is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes show on Money Radio amfm. They discuss authenticity in leadership and his time working at VP of marketing, research and development for Burger King.

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. Now, back to our super host, David Kogan, founder of Alliances. That's right, this is David Kogan with All the alliances and if you're not bouncing off the wall yet with the incredible heroes we've had on this morning including the original voice of Apple iPhones Siri along with many other commercials the president and CEO of an Inc 500 company was number 19 we just end it with the original housewife of Orange County. Unbelievable. But it's not over yet. We have another hero today. All right. You got to hear this. Wow,

is what I have to say about our next guest. His name is Jose Costa. And you've got to remember these commercials because I can't get them out of my head. The commercials such as, uh-oh, better get Mako. Well, we have the president of Driven Brands, which is over Mako, Car Star, Drive and Style with us now, and many others. Jose, you are on the top of your game. Well-recognized brands, a gigantic company. How did you get to where you are today? Well, thank you, David, for having me. I'm originally

from Venezuela, so I have to say the immigrant mentality keeps me going and pushing really hard and driving forward. I grew through marketing and advertising, mainly in the restaurant space with Burger King and Yum! Brands. And as of four years, I switched industries from restaurants into automotive. And the common thread is franchising. And the common thread is franchising. So Rubin Brands is about $2.5 billion in sales with 2,300 locations across North America and some international markets. So your firm, which you're president, generates $2.5 billion in annual sales. Is that what you're saying? Yes, that's right. That's huge. What would you say are maybe the three to four key things that businesses really need to have to grow to a tenth of that size, half that size, or your size to maintain or expand to that type of volume? or expand to that type of volume?

Well, I think number one is around listening, listening to your consumers, your different constituencies. In our case, our franchise owners, they are the small business operators that day in, day out represent our brand in the eyes of the consumer. So we definitely use proportionately our ears to our mouth and do a lot of listening from our franchise owners, our suppliers, and most importantly, our consumers.

The second aspect was a lot of change management around moving the organization from being very focused in operations to putting the customer first in everything we do, from the way we answer the phones to the way we write the estimates to the way we deliver the car after the service. Number three, I would say, is innovation and continuing to look outside of our industry for inspiration. We challenge our team continuously to look at other businesses, airlines, credit cards, retail, in other spaces and draw innovation, draw inspiration to change our business model. to change our business model.

And recently, about 36 months ago, we rolled out a new program with MAKO where we put small satellite offices outside of the production facility so we would make it easier for consumers to drop off their car, get a loaner, and we introduced a lot of technology and made the space look modern and clean and safe. And that's working really well. We have 22 of those locations open today, and about half of those are inside of Pet Boys. So if you go to Pet Boys to purchase any product, now you can get an estimate for paint and collision with Mako. Incredible.

And again, we have Jose Costa here. He is the president of Driven Brands, so you know his brands, Mako, Carstar. In fact, they have many verticals, such as Repair and Maintenance, Housing, Meineke Car Care Centers, Mako, Carstar North America, Drive and Style. The list goes on. Iconolube Intune. I mean, Take 5 Oil Change. It just goes on. You have thousands of these driven brands across North America. You know, you realize, Jose, this is a huge, enormous responsibility for all this, and I can understand, you know, things can get stressful what would what advice do you have or how do you decompress because we have gazillionaires that

are listening on the show that are our CEOs of major companies but also ones that are starting from scratch everybody feels the stress and stuff how do you what do you think is the best way to decompress I think the best way to decompress at least think the best way to decompress, at least for me personally, is to spend time with my family. I have three small children, and that's my number one satisfaction when I go back home at night and during the weekends and spend time with them. I think number two, being involved in the local community, in nonprofit organizations and giving back. We get caught up in the day-to-day job and responsibilities and stress, but there's nothing more gratifying than giving back.

I'm personally very involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters and almost for the last nine, ten years. I've seen the transformation of a very young boy in Miami, Elian Mejia, to a wonderful teenager today. And the last thing I would say for inspiration and recharging his faith is attending church on weekends as a family and giving thanks for everything that we have. Those are the main three things I would say. So family, community, and church. Phenomenal advice.

And you're listening to the Alliance's Heroes on Money Radio, AM 1510 and FM 99.3. Are you a hero in business? Go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com, the place where entrepreneurs align. And we have Jose Costa. You could reach him by going to drivenbrands.com. That's D-R-I-V-E-N-B-R-A-N-D-S.com. He's creating gazillion jobs out there.

He's giving people the opportunity to become a franchisee, right, where they can look. I mean, so much stuff going on, and I'm very pro-franchise. I think this is absolutely amazing. You know, you mentioned about your children and that. You have three small children. And, you know, a goal certainly of a father, of grandparents, of mothers and that, is to raise them to be successful. And what advice, though, would you say, what's the magic, maybe best possible advice you can give our youth? You said you're working with others and stuff. Entering the workforce or raising children to be as successful as yourself,

what's the magic? I think it's building trust and open communication with your kids where they can feel empowered and secure to bring any subject up to you. And I think that's something that applies both in the workforce and with your kids. To me, if I can build the relationship that my father built with me, with my children, that would probably make me feel like the most successful man in the world. My father is my best friend and he was my best man in my wedding. He still lives overseas and I call him every single night and talk to him and my mom. So I think continuous communication and building trust are

the two fundamental factors. Jose, incredible, incredible advice. And I mean, certainly appreciate it. We've got a little less than 30 seconds left. What's the one thing maybe perhaps on your bucket list that you haven't done that hasn't been checked off yet that you want to do? that you haven't done, that hasn't been checked off yet, that you want to do? I want to continue to change lives in our local communities with our franchise owners across North America, with my family. My bucket list would be to see my kids grow up, go to college, and be successful in whatever career they choose. And in work is transforming small business owners

into very successful franchisees. Fantastic. All right, Jose Costa, the president of Driven Brands, doing so much. I got to tell you, a hero is one that builds a community, able to manage and multitask so many brands at once, growing and creating a ton of jobs that's what our heroes have done today and that's what Jose Costa has and is doing through his hard work dedication being involved in the community David

Kogan with alliances and thank you again to to our producer, loopydocs.com, for all your editing needs. David Kogan with Alliances. You have been listening to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. Alliances is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups. To present your superpower, visit www.alliances.com. To unmask Alliances Heroes' secret identities, be sure to tune in every Thursday at 9 a.m. right here on Money Radio 1510 and 99.3 FM.