WEBVTT - The Garage Must Go On

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to On the Job. I'm Avery Thompson and

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<v Speaker 1>on today's episode, we're headed up to Vermont, or should

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<v Speaker 1>I say back up to Vermont to check in with

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<v Speaker 1>an old friend from a previous season.

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<v Speaker 2>I am Demenie Pollet, and I am still the owner

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<v Speaker 2>of Gurlington Garage.

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<v Speaker 3>It's been two years now, correct.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess, so, yeah, it's a lot longer than I thought.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's get into it to see how the last

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<v Speaker 1>couple of years have treated Demenie Pollitt and her team

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<v Speaker 1>at Garlington Garage. When Demanie Pollet was last on On

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<v Speaker 1>the Job, she was an open book about her highs

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<v Speaker 1>and lows of pursuing a career in the automotive repair

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<v Speaker 1>business after working for years as a social worker.

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<v Speaker 2>It's nearly impossible to take your own emotions out of it.

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<v Speaker 2>Everyone knows what it's like when their car breaks down

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<v Speaker 2>and when they have this painfully expensive bill that they

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<v Speaker 2>have to pay if they're going to get their car back.

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<v Speaker 2>Everyone knows how that feels.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the things that really stuck with me from

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<v Speaker 1>our previous conversation was a strain working with her mom

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<v Speaker 1>had on their relationship.

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<v Speaker 2>Being partners with my mom owning a business destroyed our

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<v Speaker 2>relationship one hundred percent. When we were still working together,

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<v Speaker 2>we would be in our office and we would just

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<v Speaker 2>constantly be yelling at each other.

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<v Speaker 1>So with her mother now retired from the business, I

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to start by asking Demoni how things were going

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<v Speaker 1>between them.

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<v Speaker 2>It's better. It's much better. It's not like it was

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<v Speaker 2>before we work together. I don't think it ever will be.

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<v Speaker 2>But she's living nearby again, and we have dinner together

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<v Speaker 2>every Thursday night, and she is trying really, really hard

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<v Speaker 2>to build our relationship up again. And I am accepting that.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not trying as hard as she is, but I'm

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<v Speaker 2>not angry anymore the way that I was. So things

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<v Speaker 2>are much better.

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<v Speaker 1>One thing I love about talking with Demanie is her

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<v Speaker 1>honesty and transparency, and Demanie founded Gurlington Garage on those

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<v Speaker 1>same principles, offering her customers honest, straightforward car repairs, no gimmicks,

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<v Speaker 1>no tricks, no lies, and it's proved a successful business model.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah it has grown. I think I have at least

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<v Speaker 2>one more, if not two more employees than I had before,

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<v Speaker 2>and so yeah it has.

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<v Speaker 1>Girlington Garage has even become something of an icon in

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<v Speaker 1>the community.

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<v Speaker 2>People often come in just to buy a sweatshirt or

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<v Speaker 2>a T shirt for someone, but I don't think we

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<v Speaker 2>actually make any money off of it.

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<v Speaker 3>It's just fun.

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<v Speaker 1>So someone that founded their business on trust and transparency,

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<v Speaker 1>it came as such a surprise to me when Demani

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<v Speaker 1>started describing those qualities as her shortcomings.

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<v Speaker 2>One of my greatest feelings is that if you look

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<v Speaker 2>at me and tell me something, I will believe you

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<v Speaker 2>whatever it is. I just believe that people are telling

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<v Speaker 2>me the truth always.

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<v Speaker 1>But it turns out there's a reason because not too

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<v Speaker 1>long after the last time we spoke, Demini discovered that

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<v Speaker 1>one of her employees, an employee she really valued at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, had been well, this isn't a true crime podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>so I'll just say negatively impacting the business financially.

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<v Speaker 2>And then I sat her down. She told me she

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<v Speaker 2>really cared about me, and she was really sorry, and

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<v Speaker 2>I told her I didn't trust her anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>And while there's never a good time for an employee

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<v Speaker 1>to act out of line, it came at an especially

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<v Speaker 1>trying one for Demine.

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<v Speaker 2>I was in the middle of a really deep depression

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<v Speaker 2>and I don't know if I talked to you about this.

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<v Speaker 2>But I get migraines and they had gotten really bad.

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<v Speaker 2>I was probably getting them twenty five times a month,

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<v Speaker 2>so I mean almost every and so when I discovered this,

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<v Speaker 2>I just didn't think I could go back to running

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<v Speaker 2>the business on my own with.

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<v Speaker 1>That feeling incapable of taking the reins, Demani tried to

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<v Speaker 1>make it work with that employee, all in the name

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<v Speaker 1>of keeping the business going, of upholding her obligation to

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<v Speaker 1>her customers and the community.

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<v Speaker 2>She served to have someone who could do the majority

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<v Speaker 2>of the day to day stuff and I could deal

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<v Speaker 2>with the financial stuff. I could handle that, and a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of that I could do from home if I

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<v Speaker 2>needed to, and it would still allow me to try

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<v Speaker 2>and get better.

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<v Speaker 1>But that arrangement didn't last long because as Demanie started

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<v Speaker 1>spending more time in the shop again, she started to

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<v Speaker 1>learn that this same employee had created a very unhealthy

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<v Speaker 1>work environment. And that's when Demanie knew she had to

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<v Speaker 1>draw the line.

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<v Speaker 2>I just didn't want to hurt anyone else, and it

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<v Speaker 2>was for me to deal with. It wasn't for anyone

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<v Speaker 2>else to worry about or deal with.

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<v Speaker 3>That is quite the dramatic update. I wasn't expecting that.

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<v Speaker 4>I know I wasn't either, But don't worry, folks, It's

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<v Speaker 4>not all doom and gloom on this episode of On

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<v Speaker 4>the Job.

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<v Speaker 1>So when we come back from the break, we'll hear

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<v Speaker 1>how Deminie Polytt gets her garage all fixed up and

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<v Speaker 1>running like new. We're back with Demanie Pollett of Gurlington Garage, who,

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<v Speaker 1>as we heard, for the sake of her business, had

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<v Speaker 1>no other choice but to let go of a key employee,

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<v Speaker 1>even if doing so meant that she'd have to spend

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<v Speaker 1>much more time at the shop in spite of some

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<v Speaker 1>real challenging health problems. I know it was often painful

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<v Speaker 1>for Demoni to get into the shop. Once she was there,

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<v Speaker 1>it didn't take long for her to realize that she'd

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<v Speaker 1>made the right decision.

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<v Speaker 2>And my tech came to me and he said, I

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<v Speaker 2>know that things are really hard for you right now,

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<v Speaker 2>but your presence here is really important. It really matters,

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<v Speaker 2>and we really need you here. And I hated that.

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<v Speaker 2>I still hate it, but I know he's right.

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<v Speaker 1>Demoni had found herself in a tricky spot one I

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<v Speaker 1>think a lot of business owners get into when the

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<v Speaker 1>business they started continues demanding more of their time and

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<v Speaker 1>attention than they want to keep giving it.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like my only thing. I don't have kids, it

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<v Speaker 2>is my only thing, and so I think there's a

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<v Speaker 2>part of me that doesn't want to let it die.

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<v Speaker 2>I could live on disability, I really could. And my

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<v Speaker 2>house is almost paid off, and I don't spend much

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<v Speaker 2>money anyway because I don't do anything. I have migraines.

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<v Speaker 2>I just hang out at home all the time, so

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<v Speaker 2>I could, And I think that there is a part

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<v Speaker 2>of me that just doesn't want to let it die.

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<v Speaker 2>I care about it, even though I don't really want

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<v Speaker 2>to be a part of it. I don't want to

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<v Speaker 2>see it, and I want it to keep going.

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<v Speaker 3>I've had some relationships like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Ye yes, yes, it's a dad relationship. You're totally right.

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<v Speaker 1>So what do you do to keep going? After nearly

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen years of criming along and retirement a mere speck

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<v Speaker 1>on the horizon. Well, for Demini, she treated it like

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<v Speaker 1>the cars in our shop. Assess the problem and come

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<v Speaker 1>up with a solution.

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<v Speaker 2>We pull every car in first name in the morning

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<v Speaker 2>and we do the evaluation on each car, and then

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<v Speaker 2>we call the customer and we go through the evaluation,

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<v Speaker 2>we say, here's everything that we found, so you decide

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<v Speaker 2>what happens from that point on, but you're able to

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<v Speaker 2>make an informed decision.

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<v Speaker 1>Taking that same approach to her own business, Demenie evaluated

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<v Speaker 1>Gurlington Garage and realized that in her absence, the morale

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<v Speaker 1>of her team had been severely damaged by that one

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<v Speaker 1>bad apple.

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<v Speaker 2>Every single person came to me and said, I'm so

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<v Speaker 2>glad that you did that. I was looking for another job,

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<v Speaker 2>all of my employees. I was about to lose everyone,

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<v Speaker 2>and I had no idea, like, not even a hint.

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<v Speaker 2>I really didn't know.

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<v Speaker 1>So to remedy that, Demani started having weekly one on

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<v Speaker 1>one meetings with her employees.

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<v Speaker 3>What do these meetings look like? Are they coming into

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<v Speaker 3>your office? Are you sipping coffee?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Sometimes it depends on what time of day. I

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<v Speaker 2>have a tech who usually comes in at luxury, brings

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<v Speaker 2>his luncheon and eats with me. But they come into

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<v Speaker 2>my office to close the doors. I asked them how

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<v Speaker 2>they're doing, how their week has been, and then I

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<v Speaker 2>asked them to tell me something good since the last

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<v Speaker 2>time we met. Something that has been a struggle or

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<v Speaker 2>a hurdle that they had to get over something that

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<v Speaker 2>really didn't go well, and then ask them tell me

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<v Speaker 2>something that they learned or it's something that they're proud of,

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<v Speaker 2>and it takes fifteen minutes. They're really not long meetings.

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<v Speaker 1>As we learned the first time we spoke with Demani.

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<v Speaker 1>Prior to going into auto mechanics school, she was a

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<v Speaker 1>social worker helping people in need. So these meetings in

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<v Speaker 1>a way feel like a healthy blending of her passions.

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<v Speaker 2>The meeting is often about their personal stuff, and I

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<v Speaker 2>think that's really valuable, knowing what's going on in their lives,

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<v Speaker 2>knowing how that's their lives are affecting their work.

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<v Speaker 1>And as anyone who's ever held a job knows, the

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<v Speaker 1>more of ourselves were able to bring into our work,

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<v Speaker 1>the more fulfilling that work becomes.

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<v Speaker 2>I love talking to them, hearing about how they're doing,

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<v Speaker 2>working through whatever struggles they're having, and coming up with

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<v Speaker 2>goals for the future. I don't know, I always leave

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<v Speaker 2>those meetings feeling really good. I really like that. It's

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<v Speaker 2>a really nice part of my day.

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<v Speaker 1>So will Demanie might have resisted coming back into the

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<v Speaker 1>shop these days. Her own relationship with the business is improving, and.

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<v Speaker 2>It was good to get back in touch with the

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<v Speaker 2>business and really be a part of things again.

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<v Speaker 1>And staff morale has definitely improved since Demni's returned and

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<v Speaker 1>instituted those weekly meetings, so much so that one of

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<v Speaker 1>her service advisors recently approached her about potentially taking over

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<v Speaker 1>the business someday.

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<v Speaker 2>In the time that she's sort of been working into

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<v Speaker 2>the role of a service manager, she has decided that

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<v Speaker 2>she really wants to eventually buy the business, which probably

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<v Speaker 2>won't happen for another fifteen years, but it's what she's

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<v Speaker 2>working towards. And yeah, just talking about business ownership and

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<v Speaker 2>management and yeah, are progressing slowly, but they feel stable

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<v Speaker 2>for the first time in about it year and a half,

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<v Speaker 2>which is lovely.

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<v Speaker 1>And while Demanie would love to pass the business off

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<v Speaker 1>sooner rather than later, she's accepted that it can't be rushed.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that I'm going to be there full time,

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<v Speaker 2>probably at least for another year, if not longer, and

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<v Speaker 2>in maybe about fifteen years, I'll be ready to transfer

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<v Speaker 2>the business to them if they are still interested in

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<v Speaker 2>taking it over, and then I will retire.

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<v Speaker 1>But until that day comes, Demenie Pollitt is keeping her

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<v Speaker 1>hands firmly on the wheel.

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<v Speaker 2>It's rolling along and it can't be stopped. It is

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<v Speaker 2>a stable, sturdy business that's not going anywhere.

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<v Speaker 1>For on the job, I'm Avery Thompson.