In this episode of The Collision Vision, Cole Strandberg chats with Shauna Davis, President and Founder of Kaizen Glass Solutions, about a piece of the collision ecosystem that impacts safety, cycle time, customer experience, and revenue — glass repair and training. Shauna came into collision through tooling and training for glass work, recognized a critical gap in how technicians were being prepared for today’s tech-intensive vehicles, and built a business on continuous improvement — that’s what Kaizen means — to train collision centers and elevate glass repair as a strategic capability. 

Cole Strandberg: Looking forward to an awesome conversation. Yours is a name and your organization’s name is one that I’ve heard forever and so super cool to spend some time with you in some of our pre show conversations. Very, very apparent. We’re going to have an awesome talk here today. Before we dive into that, tell us about you. What’s your background and what led you to. I guess we’ll stop at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey.

Shauna Davis: Okay, so a little bit about me. My journey actually into auto glass definitely was not my plan to build my career in the autoblass world. I didn’t really even know about it other than that I drove a vehicle that had auto glass it but my first like job that kind of led me into the automotive industry. I worked for the service department in Fred Ho at Fred Hoss Toyota in Spring, Texas. And that kind of jump started me into the auto world, if you will, give me a little bit of experience. And then shortly after that, I. I kind of had to life shift and move my found myself back in Austin needing a job. Landed a temporary receptionist position at an autoglass tool company. And you know, just kind of, it just was a job at that point. No, no, definitely future in there. I was still working on, you know, what I was going to do and those kind of things. But shortly after I started there, they actually put me through a training program for a week that was then hosted by the National Glass association, the nga. And there is where it kind of like all came together for me. I learned that windshields are not just keeping the wind out of your hair kind of thing as you’re driving down the road. They’re actually like a big structural piece of a vehicle. And it helps, you know, with the roof crush, keep the roof from caving in on somebody when they have a rollover accident. It helps airbags deploy. I had no idea about these things. And I learned that windshields are pretty much the largest safety device in somebody’s vehicle. So it was like really interesting. I kind of felt like an aha moment. Like I feel like this is my mission to, you know, educate people of, you know, what this is all about and why they should pay attention to who they’re working with for repairs and things like that. So after that training, I had like a real life experience of my own prior to working there. I had my windshield replaced and we were testing some stuff and they took my windshield out and they were like, whoever did your job was, it was horrible. You’re lucky. And it was one of those things that I realized that had I had an accident during that time frame, I would have had like an in flight experience that I really didn’t prepare myself or I had no intention of signing up for by any means. So it was like that was kind of one of those other moments. Then during, you know, getting started into all of this, it was like, wow, you know, really hit home of what this is all about. And it really kind of struck that care moment, like kind of struck that passion that I have now that still burns today. So after that, you know, things just kind of quickly evolved from the receptionist position, I moved to marketing, went to sales and marketing manager, and then ultimately became the global sales and marketing director for the company. Traveling the world, doing demonstrations, trade shows, building relationships, all of those fun things,

Honestly, there were some moments that I just pinched myself. Like, who. First of all, all of this because of auto Glass, you know, like, who would have thought, definitely not me, that I would have had a really great opportunity in life experience and stuff and, and growth opportunities all because of auto glass. So that was something I was very fortunate for during, you know, just learning about the industry, building those relationships and things like that. So yeah, that’s kind of, you know, where I’m at today or why, why I’m at where I’m at right now.

Cole Strandberg: That’s how I love it. Well, it’s, it’s, it’s such a great perspective too, and I think it’s a good reminder for the entire industry. Anything that touches collision repair, it might feel commoditized, it might feel basic. Ultimately it’s life and death in so many cases, repairing different components of the vehicle the right way. And it’s what it comes down to. Obviously we’re all here to make money too, but that’s kind of goal number two. Number one is you got to protect people who are putting their faith in you and their family’s safety in your hands. So really good stuff. So we talked a little bit in the pre show call on your path toward entrepreneurship and that burning desire within you to do your own thing. It doesn’t seem like you started your career in glass and in the periphery of the collision industry with this in mind, but ultimately that’s what it evolved into. Talk to me about the problem or gap in the industry that you consistently saw that made you say, someone has to solve it. Why not me?

Shauna Davis: Yeah, so, you know, definitely on the training aspect of it, you know, on the collision world, I was a big point of contact for people in collision that were looking to bring auto glass in house and learn how to do that. Um, and there was so many gaps in like, you know, yes, there was maybe a few options for people to choose from, but I really saw an opportunity of meeting people where they’re at. Not necessarily like, yes, sign up for the class, like, we want your tuition money, we want all of that. But like, it’s more than that. It’s more about being supportive and, you know, following up with them, making sure that they have the resources and the, you know, the tools that they need for it beyond just, you know, learning the steps in the process of it. So, you know, as far as like learning the gap or like identifying, that’s kind of what I saw. You know, I, I mentioned, I’m the point I was the point of contact for a lot of these people that were looking to bring Glass in. And there was a bigger, you know, just a bigger picture for me when I saw that, like, you know, it’s. It’s beyond Auto Glass. There’s other things that they need to know about, you know, that Auto Glass connects to, you know, so I just wanted to be able to have something and create something that was meeting people where they were or where they’re at or where they want to go even, and then being able to provide the service that I really believe in, you know, the customer service aspect of helping people. There’s no secret. We all want to make money, right? So, you know, let’s just get that out of the way. Everybody’s, you know, in business to make money, but for us, and especially for me, it’s more about helping people and educating them on the right way to do things 100%.

Cole Strandberg: And, you know, talking about making money. So much of the last year or so in collision repair, we faced headwinds. And to get a little bit creative and consider bringing more services and offerings in house is something I think a lot of folks have pondered and gone through that thought exercise and so definitely want to dive through the calculus there. Now you realize the problem, the gap in the industry. You were sort of already filling this gap as an employee of somebody else, whether that was actually part of your job or not. Walk us through the origin of Kaizen Glass Solutions and talk about kind of what you do and where we are today.

Shauna Davis: Yeah, so how I started and. And, you know, how that transitioned and everything is really just creating something that was independent, like, you know, a lot of training. Our good training is you have to be, you know, a certified shop in order to go through a training program. You have to work for a company to be able to learn how to do or go through their own training program and internal at that company, or it’s a tool manufacturer that wants to do product training. So I really wanted to create a space that was independent of all of that. Again, meet you where you are. Like, you want to learn this, you want to bring it in. There’s no obligation, there’s no, you know, criteria. You can sign up for our class and we will help you get where you want to be the right way. Really here to help you to do these things. And not even, you know, in the collision world, but people wanting to shift gears or maybe Go out on their own and things like that too. You know, it’s beyond just. Just working with a. A body shop or collision shop. So that was number one, being able to have a space like that and then again be able to add on other features. Like you mentioned, people are looking for other ways to make money. You know, you, to me, you already have a vehicle in your shop. If you’re a body shop or collision. Right. You already have it there. You have a prime opportunity. Take the marketing out of it. Take, you know, pounding the pavement. You already have a vehicle there that you could actually be offering to instead of outsourcing it to, you know, a sublet vendor or bringing somebody else in or, you know, things like that. So that’s kind of, you know, where I saw the aha moment, if you will, you know, to start Kaizen and really what my mission and what is the driving power behind what we’re doing so far?

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, beautiful. Well, and it’s again, it comes down to a math equation. The headwinds in 2025 were no joke. We all know it. If claims volume or collision repair volume as a whole is down 25, 30% and you want to keep growing, maybe take a look at the cars that are already in your shop. How can we expand our offering to better serve the customer? And oh, by the way, make up for some of that revenue and profitability that might be not coming in the door. Walk me through the name. Why the name?

Shauna Davis: Yeah, so I, I don’t. Are you familiar with Kaizen? I think a lot of people educate us. Okay, great. So I, I’ve always just loved this where it’s like, yes, you know, go on the. The some to improve yourself. You know, put your best foot for best foot forward. You know, just power of tiny gains, if you’ve read the book, sort of thing. So I definitely believe in, in all of those statements and the mottos of the 1% better every day. Like, you know, you just have to do a little bit more, you know, than you did yesterday, and eventually you’ll get there, no matter what headspace that you’re in or anything. But prior to like figuring out the name, I had a whole list of options. And then ultimately I even took Kaizen certified training just because I really dove deep into like, the meaning and how it started and, and what you do with it. It’s kind of like that six Sigma kind of program and all of that. And, you know, the five principles of Kaizen where it was like, go to Gemba. Well, I learned that Gimba was training. Like, you go to the place where you go train. So you know, and it’s know your customer. Like, you have to be able to know who you’re selling to and know how you’re going to be able to solve their problems or help them with their problems in order to serve them. And then, you know, another principle is be transparent. Like, you know, be transparent in your delivery, your pricing, your motive, your, you know, all of those things. So it really struck a chord with me of like, what I was trying to do ultimately and especially in the. The place that I was in, just life in general. It just really kind of was like the missing puzzle piece as far as name was concerned.

Cole Strandberg: So love it. Now, how long has. How long has Kaizen been around today?

Shauna Davis: So this. We’re going on our third year so far. Yeah.

Cole Strandberg: Awesome, awesome. Now I want to talk about where we are today, what you’re offering, what you’re doing for the industry. But I always, I’m intrigued by a couple things on how businesses get running. We already talked on, on one, which is the brand. I’m fascinated by all that stuff. Number two is how did entrepreneurship treat you getting started? You were a longtime corporate employee. How are the first six to 12 months off on your own getting things started? How’d that kind of go over for you?

Shauna Davis: Scary, if I just be honest. Scary in a way of just taking the leap, you know, of like, okay, here we go, you know, let’s take the jump. But ultimately it felt like I was doing what I’ve been doing for the past 20 years, you know, for somebody else, just because it was the same, my same mentality, the same process. I’m. I’m also still reaching the same kind of clientele and stuff like that. So it felt very natural and like a routine for me. You know, obviously getting started in business was, you know, we had like, we launched everything, I think within three months we finally had our first, like, student that signed up, you know, and so I was like, okay, we got one, you know, like, here we go. But, you know, within this first six months even, you know, it was a little like, slow going, but people were talking. And that was the biggest thing for me is like, obviously, you know, who I am in the industry, but what we were doing and what we were providing, you know, in the network that I had to get the word out about, you know, the training opportunity and what, how we were doing it, word started spreading and that was really exciting. So a little slow going. Definitely learn some lessons. I put you know, money into certain things that I have that didn’t pay off for us. But, you know, it’s one of those trial and errors that you learn when you’re starting your own business of like, yes, I think this is the, the best idea ever. And yes, I will give you X amount of thousands of dollars. But then, you know, you realize that that return, even though it may be, you know, a longer return on your investment, probably wasn’t the best way to spend that, that initial money at the beginning.

Cole Strandberg: So, you know firsthand. You know firsthand the value of getting that customer in the door and how challenging it is as an entrepreneur. I think a lot of folks in this industry, we might have been doing it for so long or it never was really an issue that we forget how valuable that car in the shop is and the opportunities that that leads to. So love it and appreciate you sharing that origin story with us. I want to get kind of a little more into the operational weeds at this point. We talk about glass, and collision is such an interesting industry in that historically, it’s been pretty compartmentalized, right? A lot of sublet vendors, a lot of outsourcing, certain components of the cradle to grave. Car comes in the shop, car comes back to the customer, ready to go to that point. Glass is often treated as a separate job entirely from collision repair. Do you think it’s important for us to rethink that?

Shauna Davis: Yes, I do, Absolutely. I think it’s. I definitely advise anybody that’s coming to us to. That’s wanting to bring their glass in. Houses don’t fire the glass guy, don’t burn the bridge to your glass guy, because you will need them. But I think absolutely, it’s one of the best things that shops can do today. What they. What’s funny to me or funny to the glass world is that the body guys, they’re scared of glass. Like, they’re scared of it. And it’s like you’re. You’re welding and you’re taking all these pieces and making sure that everything’s structurally sound in this vehicle. But, you know, a lot of them are terrified to touch the glass. And so I think because glass, no matter what they’re working on, it touches every piece of that vehicle. So I think for shops, it just absolutely makes sense for them to do it, know how to do it properly, and have the backup plan to make sure that they. They’re working with somebody that knows how to do those things properly, too, and

Cole Strandberg: It’s funny to hear that, right? These technicians in collision repair, they’re kind of the closest thing you can get to a rocket scientist without being a rocket scientist. Funny to think little old glass would be a scary thing for these extremely talented folks. What are some of the biggest misconceptions shop owners have about auto glass and bringing that in house and what that might mean from a financial and operational perspective?

Shauna Davis: Yeah, the biggest misconception is what I just mentioned is that they have to get rid of their sublet vendor. We definitely advise them not to do that. They will ultimately need some sort of, whether it’s a backup plan or just specialty repairs and things like that. But another misconception is how challenging it is. So like the cost that’s involved with it, the tooling, you know, how to get glass, if they’re not just necessarily using OE glass, you know, how do they get the urethane, the most critical piece of it all of how it all makes it work right about it makes sure that it’s staying in the vehicle, how to get those resources. So I, I think that they get a little, and you know, you go down the Google rabbit hole or you know, some of the social media forums that are out there and some of them may be a little helpful, others may not be, you know, they may, you may have to do a lot, a lot more digging to be able to find the right answer. So I think the biggest misconception is, you know, the price, you know that it costs to invest in getting that in house, the training aspect and then yeah, the resources that you have, like where to start kind of thing, you know, it’s, it’s multiple fold. When I talk to people about bringing certain things that were traditionally sublet in house and the obvious low hanging fruit is more revenue, more profitability. I imagine there are some customer benefits as well. How would glass being tied into the day to day operations of a shop impact customer experience? Something that’s super important really. More now than ever, right?

Cycle time, I always say, and I’ve said it for 15 plus years, I always say if it’s not about time, it’s about money and you know, and vice versa. So for cycle time, that’s huge for a shop, huge. And you know, imagine peak season, a hailstorm that’s coming in your area, you have all of these damaged vehicles and you’re waiting for the glass company that you’re working with to fit you in the schedule, right. So I mean that just causes a major delay within days, you know, maybe even weeks. To, to just be able to have somebody take it out or to put it back in so you can go on to the next step in your procedure. So I think that that’s, that’s the ultimate reason. Obviously, quality control would be the next one, making sure that things are done right. Especially for OEM approved, like certified shops, those procedures matter. I mean, they matter anyway. Right. But. But they really matter for today’s vehicles, just with the technology in it, a lot of shops are already doing calibration on their own, already in house, and they’re still subletting glass. So why are you taking that piece, that one step out and having to wait when you could just continue this whole cycle of what you’re needing to do? So. And you know, it can go on and on, but those are kind of things.

Cole Strandberg: In your shop, you mentioned quality control, and this comes up all the time on the ADAS piece of the conversation. And it’s liability. And I think the easy mile high view of a benefit of subletting ADAs is out on someone else, not my liability. Ultimately, though, that’s not the truth. As we’ve learned, and I think we’ll continue to learn, there’s no better protection from liability than making sure it’s done right. And if it’s in your control and you know, the quality control, I like that impact on making sure you’re returning the vehicle in proper condition.

Shauna Davis: Yeah. On the liability front, whether you sublet it or not, you’re still responsible. It’s your name on that invoice and on your, you know, on the insurance information that repaired, that did those repairs. So, you know, yes, there’s, you know, a sublet vendor involved, but ultimately that’s coming back to you no matter who you use. Right. So why not make sure that it’s done correctly with your own people or yourself, you know?

Cole Strandberg: Yep. Increase what you can control. Right. We always talk about controlling what you can control. You can control how much of the process you’re controlling. So it makes total sense now. I mean, you’ve struck a chord. We’re talking about being in the third year of Kaizen. It seems like the timing is really good. Like there’s some timely conversations happening around training. Why is the need for training in the glass space? Why is that feeling so timely today?

Shauna Davis: It’s the ADAS features and the technology and vehicles. We like to say in some of our presentations that windshields are rolling technology now. It’s like the house that’s kind of connecting all of these, a lot of these features that work in the vehicles. So whether it’s even, you know, side glass, windshields, back glass, these, you know, those are big housing components for this technology. And again, it’s, it’s that step, you know, that you, you know, that you can’t sublet anymore, that you can’t overlook. You can’t say, oh, I don’t want to do that anymore. Especially, you know, with all of the regulations and laws that are coming out that are related to the ADAS features and vehicles liability. I mean, just the risk that you have by not, not doing that yourself or not knowing what to do and who to be working with, that’s the biggest thing, I think that’s driving that, you know, full force.

Cole Strandberg: On the training side, we talk about technicians being a little weary about getting into the glass side of the business. You mentioned that beautifully earlier in our conversation. What are, what are the biggest skill gaps you see when collision technicians are first getting involved in working with glass or some other diagnostic tools?

Shauna Davis: You know, as far as, like, skill gaps, I wouldn’t say there’s a whole lot of gaps. I think it’s more about, you know, the fragile piece of it knowing, like on the tooling side of things, knowing how to properly use tools. Because if they don’t, you know, if they do a wrong placement, I don’t want to get too technical, you know, I don’t know how much time we have for this. But, you know, but there’s certain tooling and, and death methods that people use when they’re removing a quarter glass of how you place, you know, a wire or core tool on the vehicle. And if they place it wrong, maybe they’re placing it on, you know, the roof area. Well, the roof is, you know, glass now. So, you know, they run a risk of like, creating other damage and different parts of the car by not properly knowing how to use those tools and things like that. So I wouldn’t say that there’s much of a gap, but I think it’s just the learning curve of, you know, learning how to do these procedures. And, you know, if it’s a quarter glass, back glass, pink glass, you know, things like that makes total sense. Now, you mentioned even in a past life you were doing a lot of this training, albeit many of the folks out there training, it slanted towards some sort of ulterior motive.

Cole Strandberg: Walk me through how you guys do approach training operationally. How is it delivered what are the benefits? What do you guys do differently from everybody else out there?

Shauna Davis: What we do differently is like I mentioned, we meet people where they are. So, so we do have our main training center. We have host locations and three other or two other states and a couple other locations too, beyond that. But we also offer on site training. So we’re able to pack up, you know, our program and put it on the road and come to them. Especially for larger shops that have, you know, six to 10 technicians or even larger than that. We, we kind of meet them where they are, literally, you know, at their location. And then beyond that is again, just understanding what they’re looking for. You know, like those are kind of like the, the Q A questions. It’s like, what, what’s your goal? You know, are you just really working on, just for them to take, take it out? You know, they’re not necessarily looking for public service. They just want to service the cars that, that are in their shop right now. How do I do that? Right. So, you know, we just kind of evaluate where they were there, what they’re wanting and how we can get them there. And then also I love, I’m very proud of what we do, you know, for our students and the companies that we work with is that our support doesn’t end and you know, after the class is over, like, like you still hear from us, our tech, our instructors still answer the phone for their students. They’re in the middle of a job and they, you know, call them when they need help. It’s not difficult for, for them to get ahold of us to be able to help them. So that’s something I’m very proud of, of course, because there’s nothing like being stranded on a vehicle, you know, or with a customer or you know, meeting a deadline or anything like that, and then being stuck for something very simple that we could help them through and walk them through it. So, and then we also provide a lot of resources too. So beyond just our, our training programs, you know, just the resources that we offer people, whether it’s connecting through auto glass, distributors, software even, there’s a lot of shops that, you know, they use the software for, you know, the collision side, but it’s not necessarily glass friendly for quoting or adding it to the estimate. Like they’re reliant on somebody else’s information. So we have a lot of resources that we provide for people to be able to have access to that, that continued relationship and making sure you’re there for past students or customers or what have You, I mean, that’s the difference between being around for three years versus being around for the long haul. And so very cool to hear. And I know that’s a valuable mindset certainly in this industry where it’s a big industry but a small world. You mentioned it earlier and I want to dive a little bit deeper into it. The glass business has changed. Technology has changed. This is one big glass computer within a rolling computer that we call a vehicle Collision has evolved.

Cole Strandberg: What trends in glass technology? And you mentioned the sensors to bonded glass to calibration. What are we overlooking here? What are the challenges and where is this industry going?

Shauna Davis: I think it’s connecting. I think the bridge is finally being built between the two. I think that glass and collision are finally working together again. I think, I definitely think that it’s going to be continuing that way for a very long time, if not, you know, forever. Now, as far as other things, I mean, it’s the technology, the procedures, the regulations too, that are coming with it. I mentioned the most critical piece for glass is the urethane part. Right. Like that’s what makes it all stick together, literally. So if they’re not staying current on, on that kind of thing and, and paying attention to what new technology and adhesives and, and how that applies to the vehicles that they’re working on. But, you know, other than that, we, we’ve kind of already hit most of the things that I can think of right now.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, Changing so quickly. And I think for business owners in the space who are not really thinking about bringing glass, for example, in house, there’s probably an element of drinking through a fire hose already just on keeping up with the core components of collision repair. But to your point, and it feels like it’s not speculation or opinion, but fact, this industry is trending much more and really quickly into this consolidated one stop, fix all. Maybe not for all customers, but for your core customers. Makes total sense. Now, you’ve seen at this point the operations of a lot of body shops out there. You’ve seen folks who have invested heavily into incorporating these services into their business. You’ve seen people who haven’t and probably now, given the benefit of hindsight, wish they had. What’s the most surprising result you’ve seen from shops that have gone all in on making sure their glass capability is there?

Shauna Davis: What’s surprising? Like, I have one surprise, like moment. I mean, not one, but like one that just comes to mind and it’s a, it’s actually a dealership and it’s something that in my lifetime, I have never seen a dealership that’s focused on selling cars and maybe using their own collision center to repair cars. Right. I’ve never seen them make a commercial that’s advertising that they offer glass services, glass and calibration services to the public. Not, not buy the car from me. But hey, we can also, we are an auto glass shop, right? Like we can do these things. So that was one of the things that was really, you know, in my lifetime, you know, or at least maybe they do exist. But you know, so far I have never seen a dealership run a commercial like live commercial, just solely focused on their auto glass service. And to date they are making six figures just on the auto glass side. And their initial investment was they sent three people over a course of time. Within like six months, they sent three people of theirs for three different locations. I think their investment with tooling and training was under $10,000. And each month they’re making over six figures in revenue.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, talk about an ROI. Fantastic.

Shauna Davis: Case study is the person that we originally worked with that came to us to start sending his technicians to us has been promoted. I mean he’s, he’s made this presentation and made this case like a case study. He built this case study to be able to share with all of their other, you know, auto group locations too. So yeah, win, win for all of us.

Cole Strandberg: There you go. And it’s all about win wins. Right. And I think another side effect and you might shoot me down here and say, ah, no, haven’t really seen that. However, have you seen glass training and making this an important part of the business or even calibration and ADOs being looped in? Have you seen that kind of aid in the recruitment for the next generation of talent? Because every conversation here on the collision vision, at some point I’ll need to fact check this, but it’s like 100% gets into something around the talent shortage. It’s such a big concern.

Shauna Davis: No, I do and I really. One of the goals obviously for us is to make sure that we’re doing our part to have like a better job placement program for people that are wanting like we. One of our big focuses is working with the local high school auto tech programs and even some of the technical colleges that offer a collision program. Not many of them offer a glass. They may touch on glass maybe two days out of their whole program, you know, and so as we know, that’s not necessarily the most efficient training for somebody that’s wanting to do glass or be able to Just add to their skills, you know, when they’re looking for something like that. So that’s something that I really would love to grow more, to be able to have a more hybrid role. You know, we always say for, for the younger generation, like why not add the skill, like we make it affordable for one and easy for you to get into. You know, there’s no wait list kind of thing. It’s a short program, you have the support, you know, ongoing support kind of thing. So to me, higher, if I had a shop, a collision shop, I would rather hire somebody that has all those list of skills instead of having to reinvest and in them right later on. So yeah, I think, I think the job placement thing is, is really a big thing. I think we could all do a lot better and more with that.

Cole Strandberg: Making it as easy as possible to hire good new entrants into the industry not only benefits you listener as a company and as an organization, but the industry as a whole. And I know there’s a push around ADAs being kind of this sleek technology forward, kind of sexy path into the industry. There’s a lot of the same elements on the glass side too that I think will resonate with young people.

Shauna Davis: I do too. And what we love to do, like I mentioned how we, we try to reach, you know, the high school auto tech programs, we love to educate them. You don’t have to be the body guy, you don’t have to be the paint guy. Like you can actually be the glass guy in one of these shops, you know, like that’s the way the things are looking. I mentioned that dealership, you know, the three people that they sent training, they were a part of the service department. They were working on cars like doing all of the different replacements and stuff. And now they are in their own little glass corner like that. That’s what they do. And what they say about it is I love not getting dirty all day. Like, I mean, sure you get dirty, but not like what you did when you were, you know, changing brakes and you know, fixing panels and paint, you know, all of that kind of stuff. So it’s really cool to be able to educate and share that there’s other, you know, career paths that you know, are very profitable. Profitable. You can make a lot of money, whether it’s for yourself or just your hourly wage with somebody by doing this line of work.

Cole Strandberg: Absolutely. Now I want to get back a little bit to your kind of personal story again before we part ways. And I want to clarify this question first by saying you Are a founder, you’re a CEO in this industry, full stop. You’re also a female founder in a space that’s historically male dominated. Right. Plenty of amazing women leaders in this industry, but you’re in the minority there from that regard. Did you face any challenges or advantages kind of coming in as a female founder in the collision repair ecosystem? Would love to hear your story because I think there’s a lot of people in that seat now or aspiring to be where you are now that could benefit by learning your story.

Shauna Davis: Yes. Thank you for that. Yes, I, I’m very proud to have such a, you know, a role like a role like this and, and the space that we are like the collision and the glass side of things and the, and both of them. When I started, like, especially when I started traveling and doing demonstrations and trade shows and stuff, absolutely. It was eye opening of being passed by. We’re like sidestep to go talk to the male representative for the company that I worked for. You know, what’s really cool is, you know, a couple years after those moments were happening is those male, you know, employees would literally bring that person back to me because I was the one that had the answer that they all went to me anyway. So, you know, like, they literally had to bring the, the customer back to me to find out the answer, what they were asking. But absolutely, there’s a lot of she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. You know, like, you have to, it was more of like you have to make sure that you’re putting forth your knowledge and being confident in that and what you’re able to provide for them. The answers, you know, the questions, the technical support and things like that. One thing that I, I think really helped me was just staying connected, like staying on top of like what’s going on in our industry. Not in just back then, not just the glass world, but like what are other people talking about, you know, what of our collision customers? What are, what are their concerns and like paying attention to like what they’re struggling with and just so you have a better understanding that, you know, it’s not just a glass problem that they’re having. Like, it’s a bigger problem. Right. So I think that that was one of the big things that kind of started separating me from, from the rest on the female side of just like, of how people approach me and, and the respect that they would give me over time and like the knowledge, you know, that you bring, like being confident, be the doer of it, not just the sayer Then like what you’re talking about, but actually, you know, showing them that you. You know what you’re doing and you know what you’re talking about. Um, so, yeah, definitely. Luckily, things have shifted since then. There is still, pardon the term, but there is still the. The boys club that goes on, you know, and so it still does exist today. But, you know, because of my growth as a person in general and in this industry, I know that that’s. Those aren’t those people are growing too, and eventually they’ll get there.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, 100%. Well, I so appreciate the look behind the curtain there and, and your willingness to address that, because one day I hope to not even have to ask that question. Right. You’re just. You’re just the founder, but gosh, it’s. It seems like we are trending in the right direction in this industry, but we’re not there. And I think more and more stories like yours and people who are doing what other women in the industry or future women in the industry would like to do and would like to envision themselves doing, I think it’s the most powerful thing that we can do is share those stories and address those questions head on. So thank you for that. You’ve been so generous with your time here today. I’ve had an absolute pleasure speaking with you. I want to kind of wrap this up and then I’ll get some contact information from you and stuff. But one kind of question to bring this all together for collision shop owners who maybe still outsource every bit of their glasswork, what’s the first move you’d recommend they make to start bringing that in house?

Shauna Davis: So I recommend looking at what you’re doing now. Don’t just, like, find the class and send somebody. Right. Like you need it to make sense. I would look at what you’re spending on your sublet vendor. You know, if you’re. If you don’t have a lot of glasswork and it’s not. And you have a good person that you’re working with. And, and we have a question, you know, that you. That we can help you to make sure that you’re working with a good person, but do that evaluation first, you know, make sure it makes sense for you to invest that ultimately it’s a good idea, you know, down the road, but initially, like, is this something that you have to do within the next three months? You know, that’s kind of what that evaluation will provide you. If it is, you know, you have the resources now to be able to get it done. You know that quickly, but I think ultimately it’s just putting those numbers together. The time too. You know how long that job had to wait because of anything Glass related, that you were waiting for a vendor to show up or calibration or you know, any of those pieces that connect it.

Cole Strandberg: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for your time. For folks who want to reach out, learn more about Kaizen, connect with you and follow along with your journey. Where can they do that?

Shauna Davis: So the email address is easy. It’s [email protected] we also have our main number, 512-843-1416 wonderful.

Cole Strandberg: And if it’s okay with you, we first got connected on LinkedIn. You guys put out some great content. I will go ahead and include all of that information plus a link to your LinkedIn page in the show notes. But Shauna, thank you so much for joining us on the Collision Vision. It was an absolute pleasure.