For Henry Yach III, providing quality service and performing grassroots marketing is a core component of his shop, Yach’s Body & Custom Inc., in Wausau, Wis. But, ultimately, fulfillment means more—if his business doesn’t embody his value of family, how will he be motivated to carry that value out? How will he sell it to the public? Thus, making “family” part of every facet of his shop culture is essential for Yach III to passionately lead his shop.
“He prioritizes his life in this order: No. 1, God; No. 2, family; No. 3, work,” writes general manager Joe Miller in his FenderBender Award nomination of Yach III. “That doesn’t mean work or customers comes last, but Henry is an example of how, when you prioritize in this way, all three become intimately intertwined and life balances perfectly as it should.”
Yach III—whose father won a FenderBender Award in 2011—discusses his keys to not only separating family and professional life, but making that balance part of your shop culture.
Make Work-Life Balance a Company Value
In addition to his company mission statement (“Glorify God by providing consistent, efficient, high quality collision repairs with an unsurpassed repair experience”), Yach III makes his staff well aware of the values he leads the company by, which, as mentioned above, includes family.
“What really drives me is I look and see how I can run successful business while having good family life as well,” he says. “They encourage to keep going and to make the business stronger every year.”
Choose Projects That Embody That Value
For Yach III, being a business owner extends beyond his shop’s walls.
“You can join all these different committees and boards and throw fundraisers, but some people just do it to list all their accomplishments and they’re not focused,” he says.
So if he does have to perform work outside his facility, he’s sure to choose projects that allow him to continue to live by his business values:
He partners with the Wausau Police Department to participate in such family-centered programs as Safe Kids Worldwide and the Distracted Driving Foundation.
Being involved with area technical colleges and high schools allows Yach III to have direct involvement in recruiting the next wave of collision repair professionals.
Nothing has been more important to Yach III in carrying out his vision and promoting his business than being involved in the church community. “People from my church trust me and will always bring their cars to my shop,” he says. “My hope is that my team will see that trust and reflect me and want to serve other people.”
Achieve a Work-Life Balance
To truly live by his family values, it’s important for Yach III to not become overwhelmed with community projects outside of work and regularly spend time with his family.
“I’m involved in a lot, but, typically, if it involves me being here after 5 o’clock, I won’t do it,” he says.
Yach III says ‘yes’ to many community opportunities, but learning to say ‘no’ to some has allowed him to truly focus on a core group of ventures that allow him to represent the business stress-free.
“If I say ‘yes’ to everything, I’m going to be overwhelmed,” he says. “When I do something, I want to do it right. I want to commit.”
Include Family in Grassroots Events
In addition, Yach III tries to sign up for community events where he can involve not only his own family, but his team’s family, as well. “Opportunities where I can do where I can engage my family or team, I don’t say no to a lot of those,” he says. “If I can involve them, I will.”
FenderBender Awards Insights feature past FenderBender Award nominees. To nominate an inspiring collision repair professional, or for more information, go to fenderbenderawards.com.
