You don’t need me to explain the stereotypes to you—the way that far too many consumers still view the quick lube and maintenance industry. We write about it fairly often in the pages of NOLN, and highlight the strategies many of your peers have taken to prove those stereotypes wrong. That’s one of the goals of this magazine, and that’s why we strive to put a person on the cover every single month: We want to show you the true face of your industry, the men and women who operate with a professional, progressive approach, working to push the entire industry forward.
That’s what makes the Operator of the Year award a special project to us here at NOLN, and hopefully, it’s why the feature story associate editor Matt Hudson put together on this year’s winner (p. 16) will have an impact.
It’s often said that awards honor the “best” in a particular space, but that’s not the way we look at it. The Operator of the Year award offers a reflection of what makes this industry great. The award isn’t about performance rankings, built from a long list of KPIs; although metrics can play a role. The awards aren’t a popularity contest, either, but they are based on nominations from you and your peers. So, performance plays a part, but so too does resourcefulness, passion and dedication to improvement. Just as we do each month with our publication, we want to highlight the true character of this industry through the people who represent it best. And these are the very same people who inspire us at NOLN to push ourselves, to improve our publication, to diversify the media channels through which we produce content, and to make an overall greater impact.
Across the country, there are people who run their operations the right way, who treat employees and customers with dignity and respect, and who help provide a service that makes a difference in people’s lives. We’re lucky enough at NOLN that we get to witness, hear and share your stories every day. We understand the obstacles you overcome and the lengths you go to overcome them. We see that passion, dedication and pride in all you do. And we’re proud to help break more stereotypes and push forward together in 2020.
