That philosophy extends to their great crew and who they hire. When entering the door, you will only encounter positive, helpful people – from Service Advisors to technicians to the team of drivers – they all have the same philosophy of respecting each other and each customer. Juke has learned that a skilled but negative prospective employee just won’t make it at his shop. He’ll hire an eager, smart but less experienced person any day of the week.
Of course, it didn’t start out like this. The business was initially very chaotic; a stressful mess with anemic profits. As a client of DRIVE’s, Juke and Jonna have learned that honesty with your customers is key, but possibly more important is being honest with yourself.
Knowing that reaching out for some help and constructive criticism is part of the evolution of a business. Without that training, your shop won’t move forward and that vision of your business at the start won’t be realized. Juke says “I knew I needed help and was fortunate to find DRIVE. It has instrumentally helped me achieve my vision.”
Juke has always focused on happy customers, happy employees and of course – being profitable. Juke adds, “The work is a lot deeper than handing out candy to get a cheap smile. It involves a brutal hard stare at every aspect of the shop. A lot of sights are painful, but improvement comes from honesty. Nothing can’t be fixed. Nothing is beyond a shop owner’s ability if they have the honesty and capacity to work and to listen to your DRIVE advisor.”
With this success comes the ability to work in the community. The shop works with the Austin ISD Alternative Learning Center and invites students to the shop often to encourage future technicians and service advisors – and maybe potential shop owners too.
And finally, family. Juke and Jonna love exploring Austin and beyond with their kids and dog, Bella. Juke races catamaran sailboats semi-professionally both nationally and internationally. Jonna is a true multi-hyphenate…from being a roller derby athlete with the Texas Roller Derby, a musician, an artist and growing the family vegetables and raising chickens – the Juke Auto household is just as funky and fun as the business.
At the end of the day, this Australian-native husband and California-raised wife are an integral part of their community – and their shop is proof that they are now true Austinites.
DRIVE is proud to say they are a client and salute JUKE AUTO as the November 2019 Shop Spotlight of the Month.
