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Employee Spotlight on Lori Lucas
Lori Lucas fell in love with cars at a young age. As a teenager, she could tell the make and model of most cars in the dark, just by the headlights. Lori graduated from Lindbergh High School in 1979 and began her automotive career in 1980 at an import automotive warehouse. In six years Lori worked her way up the ladder to become general manager of the warehouse. In 1995 Lori gave birth to Sam. While on maternity leave, Lori got a fantastic job offer from a repair shop in downtown Webster Groves (RPM Automotive). The new job would work out better for Lori in two ways: a better schedule to allow her to care for Sam, and a better opportunity for long-term career advancement. At RPM Lori became familiar with the service side of the business, and she became a successful service advisor. In May of 2002 Lori and Sam’s lives took an unexpected twist. Six-year-old Sam was diagnosed with Atrial Septic Defect (a hole in his heart) and would require open-heart surgery in June of 2002. Lori was forced to take a leave of absence from her job. Sam came through the surgery without complications and is now able to enjoy a normal, active lifestyle. It was in the summer of 2002 that Najjar Car Care expanded its operation on Watson Road and needed an additional service advisor. Mike Najjar had heard about Lori’s abilities and contacted her. After a couple of weeks of serious consideration Lori decided to join the team at Najjar Car Care. Since joining Najjar Car Care Lori has become an ASE Certified Service Consultant, graduated from the Dale Carnegie Human Relations Course, and has served on the ASE panel that helps develop the test questions for the nationwide ASE tests. Lori and Sam are both huge Cardinal fans. When Sam is not playing baseball, Lori and Sam like to watch Cardinal games. In July of 2008, Sam’s baseball team travelled for a tournament to Cooperstown, New York. Lori was able to visit the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame while there. Lori loves people even more than baseball. Her customers are impressed not only by her knowledge of vehicles but also by her helpful, caring attitude.
Employee Spotlight on Shawn Mead
When Bob Rogers retired in 1993 and sold his Amoco station and carwash to Mike Najjar, Shawn Mead had already worked there for several years. The new company saw Shawn’s leadership potential and promoted him to manager. Shawn Mead has stood side-by-side with Mike Najjar through busy times and slow, through battles with Amoco, through closing the carwash and moving to the new shop on Hampton, and even through a completely unfounded lawsuit attempt by a former employee (It was thrown out before ever getting close to going to trial). Those of you who know Shawn are familiar with how much he loves his job. When asked what he likes best about working for Najjar Car Care, the answer doesn’t take any time to think. “I love to spend time with my customers. I really enjoy it when we have time to just sit down and talk.” When you ask someone what they like the best about their job, the natural follow-up question is what they like the least. Shawn answered this way: “Any kind of unhappy customer upsets me. And the worst is those cases when they are unhappy because of something we did to upset them.” (Editor’s Note: Fortunately, the large number of positive letters received over the years compared to the very small amount of complaints received tells us that there aren’t many times when Shawn has to get upset.) Shawn and Pam’s house is located on a six and one-half acre plot in Festus. The large lot gives them plenty of room to house their four kids and all their pets. They have two Quarter horses and four dogs: a Rottweiler, a German shepherd, a terrier and a Chihuahua-Dachshund mix. That’s not all! There’s also Wiggles, a so-called “miniature” pig, who was supposed to weigh thirty pounds when grown. Wiggles now weighs 120 pounds. (He must be on the same diet as Mike Najjar). Shawn’s list of pets wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Frisco, a Quaker parrot who talks. Frisco has picked up some of the following phrases from living in the Mead household: “I love you!” “Pretty bird!” “Oh, big boy!” “Eric, STOP that!” Working about fifty hours a week, taking care of six acres and all those pets doesn’t leave Shawn with a lot of free time. When he does have time, Shawn enjoys horseback riding and riding four-wheelers around his property or at St. Joe’s State Park. But his favorite activity of all, even more than his job, is babysitting Kiley, his new granddaughter. Shawn says, “Kiley is the biggest joy of my life right now.” Employee Spotlight on Scott Ramsey Scott Ramsey answered a newspaper ad and we decided to hire him. Scott had a college degree in automotive technology and several years of experience at both service stations and new car dealerships. I had a very good feeling about Scott from the start. He showed up the first day in a big four-wheel drive truck with huge off-road tires, and a gigantic toolbox in the back. I thought to myself, “This guy is a real mechanic!” That day was October 5, 1992. Scott has always done everything an employer could ever ask. Back when we still sold gasoline, he helped out on the pumps when we were busy. When we had nobody to run the front office, Scott assumed the role of service advisor. Many of our customers know Scott as the “Ace,” the guy who can fix any kind of problem. Automobile technicians don’t often get recognition for their skills and abilities, but they should. Scott has passed all the ASE tests and earned the rank of Master Automobile Technician, with the L1 (advanced diagnostic) certification. He is a State of Missouri Recognized Emission Repair Technician. In November of 2001 Scott was on the winning team at the Missouri State Diagnostic Challenge. Scott and his wife Sandy have been very happily married since 1986. They have two children, Sabrina and Brendan. Sabrina learned how to change the oil on her car before she even got a driver’s license. Scott says: “I have always loved cars and fixing things. But when I worked at the dealer it was only about money. I was just a number to them. I came to work for Mike and Leslie because they care about doing the jobs right for their customers. Our shop has the best equipment around. Mike spends money to make the shop better every year. My friends that work for other places can’t believe how much training our company sends us to each year. Every year new cars get more complicated. I want to continue to learn new technologies, and Mike is committed to invest in the equipment and training that I need to maintain my Master Technician status. I’m looking forward to what the future will bring.” Employee Spotlight on Ed Starns But Ed’s automotive career actually started in St. Louis. His first job was at Meyer Texaco on South Broadway. Ed started like many of us “old-timers”, by pumping gas and fixing tires. He left his family, his job at Texaco and his high school sweetheart behind when he enlisted in the Army. He was only 16 years old at the time, and his parents had to give him special permission to enlist. He actually obtained his high school diploma while in the Army. Ed became a Combat Engineer in the service, and learned a lot about machinery and heavy equipment. After six years in the service, Ed came back to St. Louis and began his automotive career. In 1998 Ed and Karen, his high school sweetheart were reunited and became husband and wife. How they became engaged is quite a story. Karen wanted Ed to get away from cars for a few days, so they planned a vacation on Mackinaw Island in Michigan. While Karen planned the trip, Ed was making plans of his own to propose to her. They stopped on the way, and Ed couldn’t wait to get to the island. He proposed to her on the beach at Lake Michigan. Between them they have three sons and one grandson. Ed’s employees love working for him. His concern for his customers is contagious, and all the guys really want to please the customers. John Jackson says, “Ed is such a class guy. He has been so helpful to me, teaching me, and encouraging me to advance myself.” Gary Hoffmann, a long-time mechanic at Wells-Harrison, who had left several years before, decided to come to work at Najjar Car Care when Ed became the manager. And two of Ed’s former co-workers at his old job decided to follow Ed and work at Najjar Car Care in Collinsville. Ed loves people and he loves cars, which has helped make him both a successful mechanic and service manager. He also loves sports. For many years Ed played competitive softball on a traveling team. Now he limits himself to following sports and not playing. He is an avid baseball and hockey fan, and has season tickets to both the Blues and the Cardinals.
“Pig Pen” Kevin Stroud Celebrates 30-Year Anniversary on the Job Kevin Stroud and Family. From left to right: Sara, Mary, Karen, Kevin and Andria. November 2007 was a big month to celebrate in the Stroud household. Kevin and Karen celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary on the 5th. And November 7th, 2007 marked Kevin’s 30th year at Wells-Harrison Tire and Najjar Car Care. Kevin and Karen were both born and raised in Collinsville. They met and started dating in high school. After about eight years of dating, they tied the knot. Kevin and Karen have three daughters. The family has done a lot of traveling over the years, planning vacations around soccer tournaments. Sara has been to Disney World and played in a tournament there. The family went to Colorado Springs and toured the Air Force Academy. That trip was also tied in to a soccer tournament. When not watching soccer, Kevin and the family like to bar-b-que, play washers, and sometimes camp or go floating. Kevin’s first job was a result of him being the only boy to sign up for Office Practice class his freshman year of high school. The teacher needed part-time help on her farm, and Kevin was the only student in the class big enough to qualify to do the work. When he turned sixteen and got his license, Kevin went to work at Cullop-Jennings Florist. His new job was delivering flowers. But Kevin only stayed there about a year. The Stroud’s next-door neighbor was a mechanic at Wells-Harrison Tire. He told Kevin about a part-time job opening and Kevin applied for the job. Marvin Conway, long-time sales manager (now retired), hired Kevin on the spot. Kevin has worked here ever since. Marv was a great teacher. Kevin learned almost everything there is to know about tires from Marv. In addition, Kevin has completed a weeklong brake school at Hennessy Industries, earning “Ammco Approved Brake Service Tech” status. Kevin also completed a course at Moog Automotive for steering and suspension service. He recently enrolled in the Professional Service Advisor Development Program, and has already attended four classroom sessions geared toward improving his product knowledge and customer service skills. What does Kevin like the best about his career? Why do they call him “Pig Pen”?
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I can remember it like it was yesterday. In the fall of 1992 Reavis Amoco only had one mechanic, and he was good at exhaust and brakes, but knew nothing about the computer systems on the newer vehicles. We needed someone knowledgeable about the onboard computers and the new fuel injection systems and pollution controls. 
Ed Starns has been the general manager of our Collinsville location since we purchased it in June of 2005. Ed came to us from the Collinsville BP-Amoco, which had to close because of the new shopping center development. Prior to that Ed spent fifteen years with Midas. He started as a mechanic and later became manager and area supervisor. 
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