Episode 32: Zane-al Retentiveness and the Cullen-ary Art of Hot Rods




The Round Six Podcast show

Summary: TRENDSETTER, HALL OF FAME MEMBER AND ALL-AROUND NICE GUY ZANE CULLEN JOINS THE GEARHEADS. THEN WE CORRUPT HIM.<br><br> <br> The Gearheads spent the evening with our good friend Zane Cullen of Cotati Speed Shop. He’s a Goodguys Trendsetter, a Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame member, a father and husband. Zane is also a new product judge at the <a href="https://www.semashow.com/news?__utma=258361992.805751042.1531844637.1539632919.1539799388.11&amp;__utmb=258361992.1.10.1539799388&amp;__utmc=258361992&amp;__utmx=-&amp;__utmz=258361992.1539632919.10.2.utmcsr=ET%7Cutmccn=101518_18SS_BOTB_Release%7Cutmcmd=email%7Cutmcct=150062&amp;__utmv=-&amp;__utmk=193552622" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SEMA Show</a>. And one of the three behind the Triple Gun of Excellence Award at GNRS alongside Darryl Hollenbeck and Charley Hutton.<br> We dig deep into the science of running a successful hot rod shop, personnel management and horribly inappropriate jokes. And probably some other things we should have edited. Our lack of detail is your gain.<br> THINGS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:<br> <br> * Conversation immediately goes all SEMA<br> * Talking radical <a href="https://roundsixpod.com/2018/01/25/1968-camaro-teaser-startup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1968 Camaros</a><br> * Getting outside of the box of “expected” build styles<br> * Getting deep into the HR aspect of running a shop<br><br> – Finding the right personnel<br><br> – The importance of communication<br><br> – Balancing the talking with listening<br> * Effective communication between shop and client<br> * Evolution of a brand and a business plan<br> * The genesis of the shop<br> * The evolutionary process and continual improvement<br><br> – Competing against yourself to raise the bar internally<br> * Growing from two to sixteen team member<br><br> – Thinning the herd to keep things manageable<br><br> – Finding the “magic number” in the shop to keep things moving in the right direction<br><br> – Maintaining a good staff<br><br> – The importance of getting along<br><br> – Keeping a focus on the work VS making things personal<br> * On retaining a client base during the busy times<br> * Finding a balance between directing and welcoming creative input<br><br> – Building a complementary team of creative visionaries and detail-minded craftsmen<br> * Working to manage egos and behaviors as well as work output<br> * The importance of not forgetting the people involved on a project<br><br> – Taking the good with the bad<br> * Things go decidedly sexy<br> * Brian tales his share of abuse this time<br> * “You can’t spell TEAM without T-E-A…”<br> * Appreciating your team and employees<br> <br> ONWARD TOWARD THE SEMA SHOW<br> <br> * Behind the scenes at SEMA, judging new products with Dave Tucci and <a href="https://roundsixpod.com/2018/07/13/the-strange-thing-is/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Strange</a><br><br> – Having the opportunity to actually see the new products at a show dedicated to new products<br><br> – Finding the worst of the rest<br><br> – Brian develops the “Tick-Lock-Tach”<br><br> – Alex investigates the market potential of a build sheet removal tool/kit<br><br> – There may or may not have been discussion of a plot for an automotive-based heist film<br> * It all goes terrifyingly sideways<br><br> – The return of the “prison wallet”<br> * Rounding up new clients for a shop<br> * Remembering a client who recently passed<br> * Round Six’s fresh spin on SEMA Show debuts<br><br> – Trusting Brian’s creative vision<br> <br>  <br> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0MMewqxTjuRJy3Li1og1Ju" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"></a><br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-round-six-podcast/id1331245201?"></a>