Justin Salisbury

Breeze Thru Car Wash

Justin Salisbury joined the carwash industry in October 2011 as a
customer service attendant for Breeze Thru Car Wash at their Cheyenne, Wyoming, location. “To be quite honest, I didn’t think much of the industry, let alone know there was a ‘car wash industry,’” he said. “What I found was an incredible organization within a complex industry that captured all of my key interests for a career.”

Through his hard work and dedication to learning the business and industry, Salisbury was promoted to an assistant manager position after only a few months. Not long after that, he was offered the site manager position at that same Cheyenne location. As the company experienced successful growth, Salisbury was offered the role of regional operations manager, which he started in January 2013 — less than two years after joining the car wash industry — and is still in today. This role allowed him to put both his experience and education to work.

Salisbury works closely with more than 70 employees at four locations. He said that he thrives when he’s developing others. “I really enjoy when we hire someone who is either skeptical about the industry, had a rocky past or doesn’t believe in themselves,” he said. “We transform that into a success story — we help them find their limits by challenging them and support them by teaching them that failure is a building block to success.”

And Salisbury promises there’s no shortage of challenges in the industry. “There hasn’t been a day that has passed without a challenge being presented,” he said. “For me, challenge is motivation.”

His 10-year challenge to himself? “I would like to develop dynamic operations to allure the best talent to this industry.”

Leading people is a clear theme in what drives Salisbury’s success. When asked about the best career advice he’s ever received, he chose two, and both focus on leadership. The first came from the Breeze Thru president: “No matter how willing you are to teach, it doesn’t mean someone is prepared to listen. They may hear you, but in order to teach them, they must be ready to listen.” His second favorite piece of advice came from a book: “Anxious to praise, loathe to find fault.”

This advice, along with his natural skill and interest, has helped Salisbury think a lot about what it takes to be a leader. He sees leadership and management as two entirely different categories — leadership captures the ability to influence another, Salisbury said.

Salisbury prides himself on the influence he has had and how that has contributed to Breeze Thru’s successful organizational growth, retention of the “right” employees, more opportunity for employees, increased demand for employment at Breeze Thru Car Wash and future success for wherever the road may take their employees.

When Salisbury isn’t busy leading others to successful careers, he enjoys spending as much time as possible big game hunting in the woods or fishing in a remote stream or lake.

Mark Torres

Quick Quack Car Wash

Mark Torres started his career in the car wash industry in 2008, although it hadn’t been where he expected to be. “I graduated college in 2008, a time when the economy was not exactly hitting on all cylinders,” Torres said.

There weren’t many job opportunities; everyone who was employed wanted to hold onto whatever job they had until they had a better sense for where the economy was headed. “I decide to start gaining any experience I could in my field of management, and the only thing available was in car washing,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘This was better than nothing, and if nothing else, I could do it for a few years and then eventually find a real management job.’”

Torres didn’t expect what happened next. “I fell in love with it,” he said.

Torres is now a regional manager for Quick Quack Car Wash. He oversees eight car wash locations, eight car wash managers and more than 60 employees. When Torres started in the industry, he illustrated a desire to learn all aspects of the car wash industry, including manufacturing equipment and maintenance, sales and marketing, and accounting and finance.

While Torres did learn every aspect of the business, his best memories have to do with his team. “I’m a regional manager over sites in California, Colorado and Texas. With the travel that’s included in this role, there are stretches where I don’t see parts of my team for weeks at a time,” he said. “When I come back to a city, and all the sites in that city have excelled and flourished by their own determination and work ethic — those are my fondest memories.”

“Knowing that I could help develop my teams’ thinking, work ethic and self-discipline to a point that they can be self-sufficient is extremely gratifying,” Torres said. “It’s not only that it makes my life easier — believe me, getting to that point is never easy — but knowing that if and when these employees go on to do other things in their lives, I played a small role in their success, the success of their children and other future generations.”

Being away from his teams for such long periods of time, one might think that trusting his employees to do the right thing would be a challenge. That’s not the case for Torres. “The best career advice I ever received came from President of Quick Quack Jason Johnson: ‘Even when it is hard, you have to trust employees to do the right thing. Even if they or employees in the past have given you reasons to distrust, you have to try to begin each relationship and each interaction as though the person in front of you is 100 percent trustworthy.’”

In his off time, Torres spends time camping, hunting, fishing or golfing. His desire to teach his employees also extends into his personal life, where he enjoys teaching his daughters how to camp, hunt, fish and golf.

Jami Sloan

Ver-tech Labs

Jami Sloan started her career with Ver-tech Labs in October 2013. The company, which manufactures a line of cleaning products including detergents, degreasers, surface cleaners, floor cleaners, sanitizers and a variety of specialty products for a number of industries, was a perfect match for her.

“I’ve found my permanent home with Ver-tech Labs,” Sloan said. “I get to spend my days in the lab teasing apart the formulas, understanding and improving upon the raw materials and optimizing the performance of the Ver-tech line.”

After completing her undergraduate degree in marine biology and her masters in integrated biosciences, Sloan was looking for an environmentally friendly company that fit with her water resource science background. Prior to joining Ver-tech, she worked with a nearby zoo on its overnight and summer camp program, as a biologist on seismic survey vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, teaching high school chemistry and training and researching dolphins at a facility. Sloan’s passion for research led her to Ver-tech, where she’s now the technical director.

Kent Nygren, the western regional sales manager for Ver-tech, said that Sloan is an example of leadership that breaks the mold. “Working in a STEM job where the average chemist is 50 years old and more than 60 percent male, Jami is a young woman committed to manufacturing products that perform and are safe for our environment,” Nygren said. “I would venture to say that she is one of the few women — possibly the only woman — in charge of the chemical department of a car wash manufacturer. Women have traditionally been underrepresented in the car wash industry, and Jami is an example that we are changing with the times and embracing national efforts to employ more women in STEM positions.”

Her work in the lab touches all aspects of product development, including selecting the raw materials, developing the manufacturing instructions, conducting field-testing for product performance and product refinement.

“One benefit of my position is the flexibility to work in the lab and out in the field,” Sloan said. “I enjoy putting together new products in the lab, but the best part is seeing them in action. I enjoy visiting our customers and getting product feedback from our salesforce. The best memory thus far was seeing the first product I ever formulated online at a car wash.”

And her work outside the lab is respected as well. “Jami has increased opportunities for dialogue, works in the field regularly with the sales representatives and provides the sales team with more science-based information to share with our customers,” Nygren said. “She has provided us with improved tools to monitor chemical performance, media to show customers the science behind the products and, most importantly, a tighter quality control system to ensure consistent, high-performance products are being delivered to all of our customers. Jami is a transformational leader, well-liked by the Ver-tech Labs sales team, the production staff and our customers.”

When she isn’t busy in the lab or testing her products in the field, Sloan enjoys spending time with her family. She has two daughters and enjoys taking them for bike rides, hiking, exploring parks, as well as attending their dance and T-ball practices.

Brian Corey

Hoffman Car Wash, Inc.

Brian Corey joined Hoffman Car Wash, Inc., in 2009 as a full service supervisor after a friend told him about the company. “I’ve always been in the customer service field, so I looked at it as a great opportunity to learn a new type of business,” Corey said.

Within four years, he was promoted to store manager at one of Hoffman’s busiest full service and detail center locations. In 2014, his location washed 219,531 vehicles, had the highest sales and saw the biggest increase in profits of all of Hoffman’s full service car wash facilities. His store also had the lowest cost-per-car in the entire company when it came to customer incidents.

Hoffman Car Wash President Ron Slone said that while those statistics are impressive, it is Corey’s unique ability to handle every detail, situation and opportunity that comes his way that really makes him an effective, emerging leader.

“Brian is not just satisfied with attaining excellence — he maintains the highest level of performance in his car wash,” Slone said. “He is committed to providing our customers with the highest quality possible, every single day, and challenges his staff to exceed our customers’ expectations.”

One day Corey and his staff look forward to the most for exceeding customer expectations is Veterans Day. “We provide a free car wash to all veterans,” he said. “It’s just a rewarding day. It’s actually the majority of our employees’ favorite day of the year!”

Corey cares about performance and customer service, but he also cares about his staff. “Brian has been an effective coach and understands the importance of his role in developing future leaders for Hoffman Car Wash,” said Slone. “He constantly shares the location’s successes with the employees and makes sure they know that it would not have happened without their help.”

The best piece of career advice that Corey said he ever received was to manage with respect. “It’s the old adage, but if you treat employees the way you would like to be treated, they will respect you and at the end of the day, give you their best effort,” he said.

His assistant managers and other staff members said they pay close attention to how Corey works because their goal is to manage like him one day. “That is quite a compliment,” said Slone.

According to Sloan, going above and beyond isn’t a cliché for Corey; it’s his credo. Both Corey’s staff and his customers agree: He makes sound decisions, is compassionate, never loses sight of the business objectives and will do anything for a customer or one of his employees.

“Hoffman Car Wash is fortunate to have a manager of Brian’s capabilities working in our company,” Slone said. “We also believe that he’s been a positive influence on a number of our employees, which we know will bode well for the future of the car wash industry.”

Zane Roper

Time To Shine Car Wash

Zane Roper started working in the car industry in his college town while completing his bachelor’s degree in business administration. While he was busy being an assistant manager and finishing his degree, his family was busy building their first car wash. After graduation in 2009, he joined the family business, Time To Shine Car Wash.

Family and business go together for Zane. The best career advice he’s ever received came from his dad. “Find something that you love doing and then go do it better than anybody else,” Zane said. “You have to love what you do. Life is too short to not be having fun at work! Those words of wisdom are from my dad — he’s been a big influence on the kind of father, friend, coworker and leader that I have become today. I don’t know what I would do without him.”

And for Zane, that work is in the car wash industry. “Zane is a true car wash professional,” said Time To Shine Car Wash Owners (and Zane’s parents), Mike and Teresa Roper. “Car washing is not his job; it’s his career. He is committed to Time To Shine’s success and to the success of the industry as a whole.”

Zane is following his dad’s advice and working hard to become better at the business than anybody else. “Professional development is important to him,” said his father. “He’s attended The Car Wash Show every year, many SECWA Road Shows and a Wash Different Workshop since he graduated from college. Zane is responsible for keeping up with the latest in industry trends and keeping our washes on the cutting edge.”

All that effort has paid off. “Zane has been instrumental in the growth and success of the organization,” said his parents. Zane is the general manager over seven Time To Shine locations. He handles all of the daily operations, but also manages staff. “He has seven managers, one technician and one human resources manager reporting directly to him,” said his parents.

Working with others is Zane’s favorite part of the job. He loves working with others, learning from them and sharing his experiences and knowledge. “We’ve received many calls from operators outside our organization, thanking us for the help Zane has given them,” said Zane’s parents. “Zane is always more than willing to help others when they have questions or problems.”

Of all the people Zane has met, one of the most memorable was a Navy SEAL and sniper who served for the country for 37 years. Zane met the man during a Veterans Day promotion called Grace for Vets.

When Zane isn’t busy running the family business or solving others’ problems, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons. The family loves to travel, participate in outdoor adventures, cheer on University of Tennessee sports teams and volunteer with their church’s youth group and middle school small groups.