Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittney Spencer.
Brittney, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My name is Brittney Spencer and my husband, Geoff and I own Spencer Auto Repair. My husband and I met when we were just 14 years old. We have always been each other’s biggest supporters and best friends. We grew up in California and moved to Arizona in 2010. Leaving family was not easy for us but we knew that living in Arizona would be the best option for our future! My husband attended an automotive trade school and worked as an automotive technician. I was working and attending school at Arizona State, Go Sun Devils! In 2013 we purchased our home in San Tan Valley, Arizona and then shortly after received the best possible news! We were expecting a daughter that winter! We were over the moon excited but like many young families wondering how we could best provide for our daughter and balance work, child care, and family life. We always had dreams of opening our own Auto Repair Shop and felt that now, with a baby on the way, this would be the best time to pursue our dreams. With a lot of faith, we started very small! I was finishing up my degree at ASU and Geoff was working 50+ hours at his full time job. So on nights and weekends, we would help clients doing mobile auto repair. We have always been blessed with amazing customers willing to spread the word about our shop. With very little financial resources word of mouth was our best marketing! Finally, after a year of Geoff working 70 + hours on vehicles (between his full time job and our business), we decided the best thing for our family would be to take a leap of faith and open our first shop location in Florence.
Geoff gave his two weeks’ notice at the shop he was working at and myself, our six month old daughter Bailey and Geoff committed to serving our local company full time at Spencer Auto Repair. With long hours and hard work, our shop continued to grow and slowly we added more staff. Every time a small business grows it is a challenge because you are taking a risk but we have always been blessed with amazing team members who care about our customers and community just as much as we do. Our first employee Will started as a part time technician and now serves as our cooperate Customer Experience Manager. Since opening our first shop we have been blessed to be able to add another beautiful Daughter, Tessa to our family and 4 more auto repair shop locations in (San Tan Valley, Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler). We credit our growth to our amazing customers willing to share the word about their experience and also our high level of customer service. Our team is committed to providing the best possible service to our customers and we perform every repair with the honesty and integrity we are willing to put our name behind.
As a technician, Geoff learned both the positive aspects of the industry and also things that needed to change. One mission we have always had in mind is the fact that everyone drives differently, has different needs for their vehicle, and different plans for their vehicle. Auto Repair and Maintenance is not one size fits all. That is why we have always and continue to operate on the principle that our job as an auto repair shop is to help our customers “get what they want out of their vehicle” We make only recommendations that would benefit that specific customer and we know this because we take time to get to know our customers needs. We love serving our local community and also enjoy giving back, In March of 2017 Geoff and I started our Spencer Auto School Acceleration Program, where every month of the school year we donate a portion of sales to five local schools in the community’s we serve. Arizona schools are something we are so passionate about because we know that our kids are our future and the more funding schools have the more they can develop students. In the 2018- 2019 school year we were proud to donate over $7,400.00 to Arizona Schools.
Has it been a smooth road?
Business ownership has been the biggest blessing for our family but the road has not always been easy. As a mom and business owner, one of the biggest internal battles I face is balancing my duties as a business owner along with my favorite job in the world, Mom. As a business owner, you are never off! There always can be unexpected tasks that need to be addressed right away or additional work that needs to get done. Balancing that with your children’s school, homework, housework, T-ball, and carpool can be hard but this has helped to learn how to manage my time well. I prioritize my work based on the order of importance and always make sure to have a little room in my schedule for unexpected tasks. Things don’t always go smooth, some days we are early and it feels like we have everything figured out and some days we are rushed but every day is a new adventure!
For us, making time for family is so important. Our favorite Sunday activates when the shop is closed is visiting the Phoenix Zoo or playing at the local park or attending a community event.
Another challenge for me personally and many working moms and dads is making time for self care. I have not always been the best at this. When you are a working mom and wife the last thing you often think about is yourself. It was not until 2016, a time when I was really running myself thin, when I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that damages the liver that I took this seriously. With the additional fatigue and joint pain from the disease, balancing time to exercise, eat right, and rest has made it to on my list of priorities. I have learned to slow down on my bad days and take full advantage on the days I feel well! We are not always dealt with the cards we imagine but it is what we do with them that makes our life amazing and allows us to persevere.
For our business, the largest challenge we have faced is to learn how to grow and still maintain a consistent level of service across our locations. Quality control is so important to us. Making sure each and everyone has a great experience at all our locations. We have had to build up our internal community within our team so that everyone is on the same page and after the same mission! My husband Geoff and our Customer Experience Manager Will do an amazing job communicating with every one of our stores each day. Helping to make sure our customer has the best possible experience. We are blessed with an amazing team.
Tell us more about the business.
Spencer Auto Repair is a full service automotive repair shop. We specialize in all aspects of mechanical repair such as oil changes, tires, brakes, full engine diagnosis, transmissions, alignments, A/C & Heating, cooling systems, emissions and much more. We are proud to offer a three year, 36,000 mile warranty and technicians with over 40 years experience.
I am most proud of the way we treat our customers. Above everything else we are going to do what is right for our customers. We stand behind our warranty and workmanship. We know that often when customers come in to see us they are experiencing a stressful time. Outside of regular maintenance, repairs are often unexpected. We take pride in walking our customers through the process and taking as much time as needed to make sure our customers understand what repairs are needed and the overall condition of their vehicle. We will never make a decision for a customer but we will ensure that they have all the information they need to feel confident about their decision. Our team works hard to get our customer’s vehicle back to them as soon as possible and we provide free shuttles to and from our locations to make the repair process as smooth as possible.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I am proud to say I see much more transparency in our industry in the next five to ten years. Recently we have moved our inspection process to an all digital inspection. What that means is all our technicians are equipped with tablets they use when they are doing inspections on our customer’s vehicles. When a vehicle is in our shop we can text a full report to our customers. In this report, we can attach pictures and videos so from the comfort of our waiting room or the customer’s living room they can visually see the concerns that the technician is seeing. For example, if a vehicle is leaking fluid we can take pictures of the area or a video and show the customer the leak. This builds trust and open lines of communication with our customers and I believe more shops will be adopting this in the future.
Contact Info:
- Address: Spencer Auto Chandler- 1270 W. Chandler Blvd Chandler AZ 85224
Spencer Auto Mesa – 2730 E Baseline Road Mesa AZ 85204
Spencer Auto Tempe- 2650 N Scottsdale Road Tempe AZ 85281
Spencer Auto San Tan- 2769 E Combs Road San Tan Valley AZ 85140
Spencer Auto Florence- 26096 N Contractors Road Florence AZ 85132 - Website: www.
spencerautorepair.com - Phone: 480 722-1700
- Email: b.spencer@
spencerautorepair.com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/ spencerautorepair/ - Facebook: www.facebook.com/
spencer.auto.az
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