On the final day of the Fix Auto USA conference, Michael Macaluso, group president of Paint, Collision and Glass, Driven Brands, shared his vision of what is on the horizon for Driven Brands collision as the conference wrapped up and Fix Auto USA franchise family members prepared to take their new insights home to their businesses.

More than 300 Fix Auto USA franchise partners, vendors, corporate team members and collision industry leaders gathered at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort near San Diego for the 2022 Fix Auto USA conference. It was the first time in two years that the Fix Auto USA family had gathered together, and the energy was high as they reconnected and celebrated their successes together.

“We have grown at an incredible rate, and there is still tremendous potential in front of us,” said Macaluso. “When you look at the industry trends, our customer mix and our franchise family, we have a great opportunity for growth ahead. The Fix Auto USA family has proven they are ready to take on any challenges to clear a path for smooth sailing and success.”

Closing day of the 2022 Fix Auto USA conference featured three keynote speakers, including:

• Mike Anderson, founder of Collision Advice, took the stage to give valuable advice about the collision repair industry. Anderson touched on the various challenges that members of the collision industry are facing and provided tips on how to overcome these adversities. He also broke down how to have a successful business into three steps: grow your team, grow your business and change the way you compete.

• Damon Aldrich, strategy development director, Enterprise Holdings, shared his expertise on electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and zero emission mobility. He shared insights into the changing EV market. As of 2021, EVs represented 4% of light duty vehicle sales, and already increased to 5.6% in 2022. However, in California, it is 16%. With the changing market, due to various reasons such as the government policy in California that there must be zero emissions by 2025, now is the time to embrace the change and prepare for it.
• Dr. Jannell MacAulay, retired U.S. Air Force pilot and combat veteran, commander, special operations consultant, international diplomat and professionalism instructor. She gave insight on tools in order to command our mindset through psychological flexibility which increases cognitive capacity, builds mental strength and improves mental resiliency. She also walked the audience through three skillsets to command their mindset: quiet your mind by doing mental push-ups; exercise self-trust by taking risks; control thought patterns by having mindset routines.

The afternoon breakout sessions featured a variety of topics, ranging from understanding benefits and processes in the Driven Brands CCC platform, customizing growth plans with Fix Auto USA, analytics with EDGE performance groups and the collision engineering program presented by Enterprise.

The closing night event featured a sunset sail on the Spirit of San Diego with dinner, music and a live charity auction. The pinnacle of the event was the presentation of the 2022 Fix Auto USA awards for the top-performing franchise partners in the family.

“We are forever grateful for the support and generosity of our franchise, vendor and industry partners in support of the Tim Clark Memorial Scholarship and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,” said Jennifer Paulino, vice president of marketing, Driven Brands. “What made the night even more memorable was to see the artwork and the signed San Diego Padres baseball bat raise a combined total of more $3,500.”

For more information, visit FixAutoUSA.com.