One of the biggest names contributing to Jiffy Lube’s growth right now is Stonebriar Auto Services, LLC, a franchisee currently operating over 90 Jiffy Lube locations across the United States. Like most brands in the automotive field, its biggest asset is the talented employees working behind the scenes to supply the best service they can.
Though Stonebriar was founded only four years ago, technicians working in the company have had the opportunity to start a successful career by working their way up, such as Richard Minnick, one of Stonebriar’s strongest district managers today.
An Unexpected Turn
Before his time with Stonebriar, Minnick led a career with USA Team Spirit, a company that fundraises for high school clubs and classes. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it put him out of a job, pushing him to find a career that would be considered essential work.
He left his home state of Texas to move to Lexington, Kentucky, and pursue an education. While looking for a job to support himself in the meantime, he came upon an opening at a new Jiffy Lube in Nicholasville, Kentucky, and was immediately interested.
The quick lube business always appealed to Minnick. From an early age, his brother-in-law’s family owned a Kwik Kar shop, offering some early exposure to the environment for Minnick. He found the fast-paced work setting exciting.
Finding A Calling
Joining the Jiffy Lube as a lower bay technician, Minnick began to realize he had many skills that aligned with a career in this field, having training in sales, customer service, and even some experience working in a refinery for ExxonMobil.
“All those skills combined just kind of seem perfect and suitable to lead at Jiffy Lube: talking to guests every single day, helping them with problems making sales, and really leading people to success,” says Minnick.
The transition from a team member to a store manager was not as much of a change as becoming a district manager. Now overseeing stores in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, Minnick has had to master dividing his time between a large swath of the country.
The franchise has experienced substantial growth since Minnick first joined only a few years ago, expanding from 14 stores to 95. Only having a limited amount of time that he can spend at each store, he tries to make each visit as impactful as he can but credits the rest of the Stonebriar team for helping the business to function efficiently.
“People that work for us–our store teams–we all have bought into what we're trying to do here, and we want to all do it together,” tells Minnick. “I have never worked anywhere where I can pick up the phone and call our head accountant and have a conversation about things to figure out something, or our marketing representative, or anybody. So that's really been the big thing here for me.”
Though it can be challenging, getting to work with people and help their stores succeed is what motivates Minnick to work so hard. He describes himself as a motivational manager, always encouraging his team to continually improve upon themselves.
“I really enjoy watching the store manager succeed,” Minnick explains. “I love seeing when that light bulb goes off, and everything clicks, and they figure it out. And I love helping them get to that point.”
Inspiring Others to Succeed
Having started with the company as a technician himself, he encourages not only managers but their staff as well. He knows what their work entails and what it would take to advance ahead if they’re motivated to.
“The sky's the limit, and I feel like if you just keep working hard, and like I said, keep making your guests happy, everything else falls in line,” Minnick says.
Much of his inspiration comes from the support he’s received from his own boss at Jiffy Lube. Having started as a store manager himself before becoming a current regional manager, Minnick credits him with aiding in his professional growth and development.
Whether it’s fellow Jiffy Lube staff or their customers, for Minnick, the most important part of the business is its people. He strives to provide their clients with the best quality service and empowers other employees to be able to do the same.
Knowing when to turn to others for guidance and a willingness to adapt and learn has been the key to Minnick rising to where he is now; he advises anyone else seeking a career in the auto industry to try and do the same. Be open to change, and don’t turn away from leaning on those who are there to help you–a united team is a strong one.
“I truly believe what our executives say, when we talk about, ‘we're not in the oil business, we're in the people business;’ whether that's our employees, our guests, our vendors, that's what it's all about,” says Minnick.
