Business Lessons from a Repair Shop and a Pipeline

Some of the best business lessons I ever learned didn’t come from books or boardrooms. They came from a shop floor and a pipeline right-of-way. 

Through high school and college, I worked at my grandpa’s auto repair shop, Loop Auto Repair, on the south side of San Antonio. It wasn’t the fanciest place in the world, but it had a loyal following built on years of trust and dependable service. I didn’t realize it at the time, but working there gave me the blueprint for what great service looks like. Not a theoretical, customer-journey-mapping kind of service. Just showing up, doing right by people, and fixing their problems the right way. 

Later, I worked with my dad on natural gas pipeline projects as a welder’s helper. That experience taught me everything about work ethic, presence, and perseverance (also, heat exhaustion). 

We didn’t set out to recreate either of those worlds when we started BUILDSTR. But years in, I realize the best parts of our company come directly from the shop, the right-of-way, and two very important men who have set a great example for me. 

People First, Every Time 

Grandpa prioritized people over process every single day. Customers would call when they were stranded on the side of the road, or even if they just had a low tire at home and didn’t have the tools to fill it. He would send me to meet them wherever they were, to fill their tires, or bring them to the shop so they didn’t have to wait on the roadside for a wrecker. Those customers never went anywhere else. Not because of coupons or fancy equipment, but because they knew someone cared enough to show up when they needed it most. 

And when a customer couldn’t afford the fix, we’d find a way. Grandpa would send me to the pick-n-pull, the local scrap yard, to find used parts at a price the customer could manage. It wasn’t about maximizing the ticket. It was about getting someone back on the road without putting them in a hole. 

The principle behind all of it was simple: the human side of business is the most important. Grandpa showed me that with his customers. Dad showed me the same thing with his crews. 

Dad’s crew followed him from project to project across state lines, through brutal conditions, because he took care of them. He matched their effort and then some. When the crew ran overnight tests, he was right there with them. Not because he had to be, but because that’s who he is. He paid out extra hours when he could, and when someone’s family needed help, he helped. He didn’t manage from a distance. He was present. That’s what loyalty is built on. 

That mindset is baked into BUILDSTR. We don’t scope projects just to land logos. We build partnerships around real problems and invest in outcomes that actually matter. Our team takes things personally; that’s how we’re built. It’s in our DNA. We care about the people we work with, not just the projects we deliver. 

Trust Is Built on Giving a Damn 

Loop Auto customers came to us because of our reputation for honesty. We fixed what needed fixing, didn’t upsell what didn’t, and got people back on the road quickly. 

It wasn’t just about money for these customers. It was personal. People trusted us with their way to work, their only family car, and their ability to pick their kids up from school. Sometimes, they didn’t have another option. There was no backup vehicle sitting in the driveway. 

That’s a big responsibility. And once someone gives you that kind of trust, you either honor it or lose it forever. 

At BUILDSTR, trust is our most valuable asset. It’s why the same architects who scope your solution stick around to deliver it. It’s why we don’t oversell tools you don’t need or run up hours on red tape. If something breaks, we show up. If we screw up, we own it. 

We treat every project like something important is riding on it, because it is. For our clients, these aren’t abstract systems. These are launch days, board meetings, investor demos, and 3:00 a.m. on-call moments. And because we treat their work like it’s our own, that trust holds. Through the hard calls, the long nights, and the next project after that. 

Show Up First, Be Present 

While Grandpa taught me how to be of service to people, Dad taught me how to show up. 

He was a welder turned superintendent for large, multi-state natural gas pipeline projects: long hours, constant travel, tough conditions. From a young age, I worked alongside him as a welder’s helper: buffing and grinding welds, carrying rods, rolling up leads, and doing whatever else made the welder’s job easier so they could stay focused. It taught me to anticipate needs and support the people doing critical work. 

Some days started before sunrise in freezing cold or sweltering heat. But you didn’t complain. You worked. Timelines were tight, the stakes were high, and we didn’t get to vote on the weather. That’s where I learned to thrive under pressure. Put your head down and get the job done, no matter what. 

But Dad didn’t just work hard. He loved the work. You could see it in how he talked about a job, how he walked a site, and how he treated his crew. The grit wasn’t something he forced. It came from caring about what he was building and who he was building it with. He used to tell me, “If you put your brain and heart together, nothing can stop you.” That’s something I still teach my own kids today. 

It’s what made his single rule for me make sense: Every morning, I had to beat him to the right-of-way (the project site). He didn’t care if I was asleep in the truck when he pulled in. He just wanted to see my truck parked at the site before his. That small rule taught me something huge: how you show up matters. Being early meant you were ready, dependable, and part of the team.  

I didn’t know it then, but that rule followed me long after I left the right-of-way. At BUILDSTR, we bring that same energy. We don’t wait to be told. We anticipate, adapt, and own the work. We don’t shy away from the hard stuff: critical outages, security incidents, tight timelines, the riskiest migrations. That’s when we’re at our best. And that’s the standard we hold ourselves to. 

Composure Is Contagious 

I never saw Grandpa mad. Not once. I saw him deal with late deliveries, angry customers, busted parts, and busted tools, but he never lost his cool. 

He had a saying for everything, but my favorite was, “It’ll feel better when it quits hurtin’.” He’d say it when things were really bad, or maybe you’d just cut your hand, and he was trying to take the edge off. 

When things go wrong, people don’t need someone who matches the chaos. They need someone who can steady the room. That’s what Grandpa did without even trying. 

At BUILDSTR, we take our work seriously, not ourselves. We don’t show up with ego, and we don’t show up rattled. We’re proud to be the ones people call when things go sideways, because we know the first job is to bring the temperature down. 

Legacy, in a Different Format 

We lost Grandpa in 2011. Dad’s still the hardest-working guy I know. And I use the lessons I learned from both of them every single day. 

BUILDSTR doesn’t change oil or construct pipelines (well, we do, just not the underground kind). But we help businesses get back on track. We solve the problems that stall momentum. We earn trust through honesty, effort, and outcomes. 

And when things get tough, and they always do in this line of work, we show up early, stay late, and carry our share. 

We’ll bring you gas if you’re stranded. We’ll be at the right-of-way before you get there. It’s ingrained in us. It’s why we’re here. 

Thanks for the example, Dad. 

Miss you, Grandpa.  

P.S. If you’ve never stood next to someone changing a fuel filter while they simultaneously smoke a cigarette, you haven’t really lived.