For one operator in the southeast Idaho area, it was second nature following in his stepfather's footsteps and advancing the industry with child passenger safety.
Tyson Daniels grew up at a family-owned quick lube doing various jobs such as painting pits, landscaping, and cleaning up. He officially got started on more technical duties at the age of 16.
Now, at 42, he owns 11 Grease Monkey locations in Idaho, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada with plans for further expansion—and he’s being recognized as a runner-up for this year’s NOLN Operator of the Year award.
Building a Grease Monkey Empire
After high school, Daniels committed to the business and moved up to become manager. He located to the Idaho Falls area and developed a close mentoring relationship with the owner of the shop where he was manager.
"When he put his locations up for sale, I purchased the business," explains Daniels. "Since then, we've bought some stores, sold some stores, and managed to open in additional areas."
Daniels and his wife operate 11 locations in four states. Five Grease Monkey shops in Idaho operate under the Threshold Automotive brand while two locations in Nevada do business as DB Automotive. The branches in Colorado use the name Alder. Expansion into other states was facilitated by managers at Idaho locations relocating to partner with Daniels and operate their own shops.
This stewardship is what drives Daniels. His LinkedIn profile boasts, "Searching for colleagues, (vendors) and customers looking to step over the 'Threshold' to Automotive Service Excellence."
Beyond his own shops, Daniels serves as president of Grease Monkey's International Franchisee Advisory Council (IFAC), where he works with other franchisees within the brand. In this capacity, he travels to different regions with Grease Monkey executives to help advise franchises. In addition to helping other Grease Monkey shops around the country, Daniels has learned from this experience, bringing solutions back to his business.
Daniels also credits the staff at his 11 locations, whose support allows him to spend time away to meet with Grease Monkey executives and other quick lube operators.
"Having strong leadership at the shops, I have been able to (travel)," Daniels tells NOLN.
Safety Initiative
While technicians perform services, it is an opportune time to do a safety check or two. One that has become a passion for Daniels—and a directive for his shops—is child passenger safety.
"This is a big one for me," Daniels explains.
In April, the operator and his staff were recognized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the Lifesavers National Highway Safety Priorities conference.
The cause began when a courtesy technician was vacuuming a car for a customer and noticed the child car seat was not installed properly. She went to Daniels to ask if she should correct the installation. Daniels hesitated due to liability concerns and advised his employee to inform the customer rather than make the adjustment.
Later that evening he called his employee to apologize for the situation. Daniels sent his courtesy technician to safety training to get certification in installing child car seats and lead the charge for the franchise. Today, all of Daniels' Grease Monkey locations have employees certified in the correct installation of car passenger seats. The business has started an initiative that provides free car seats that have been donated for the cause.
"If I could make one impact in the quick lube space, it would be child passenger safety," says Daniels. "It's an opportunity to educate and help our customers."
Daniels has gone beyond reaching out to just customers in this initiative. The operator spoke about the child safety program at a Grease Monkey event in 2023. Since the talk, a few franchises have reached out to learn how to implement the offering at their locations. Daniels has also worked with dealerships, law enforcement, and other organizations about adding the service to their operations. Daniels has an employee in the process of becoming certified to become a trainer.
"Instead of sending employees to (the) training, there can be internal training for employees," Daniels states.
It is a passion for the operator, and he works to raise awareness beyond his franchise locations in Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.
"I would love for it to impact throughout the quick lube industry," Daniels states.
Growing the Brand
With over 25 years of experience, Daniels has grown his business to 11 franchise locations with ambitious plans of expansion. With the three entities he operates, Threshold Automotive; DB Automotive; and Alder, Daniels and his partners plan to open one location under each entity per year to be at 20 stores in three years. The 10-year goal is to reach 50 stores.
While there is a focus for expansion under Daniels's umbrella, he shares his energy across the Grease Monkey brand and the industry with his work with franchisees as well as leading the charge for child passenger safety that gets him recognized.
"Tyson is an incredible franchisee, center owner, and mentor for new and existing Grease Monkey franchises," notes Andy Pomeroy in his Operator of the Year nomination for Daniels. Pomeroy is the franchise support director for Grease Monkey International with FullSpeed Automotive.
"He has served as the president of the IFAC (International Franchisee Advisory Group) for three years and is always leading the charge with best practices,” Pomeroy continues. “He has grown his Grease Monkey store count to 11—starting with five very successful locations in southeastern Idaho, he has added six additional centers over the past two years: two in Utah, two in Nevada, and two in Colorado."
Pomeroy is enthusiastic about Daniels' work within Grease Monkey, as well as outside of the organization.
"He was recently honored by the NHTSA this past month during their 'Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities" for the Child Safety programs that he has implemented in all of his centers," Pomeroy says in the nomination.
"Tyson is a true class act, leader of industry and mentor to his employees," writes Pomeroy. "He's the best that I've seen in my 35 years in the business!"
