Empowering Women through Automotive Confidence with Talena Handley

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You want tech and tacos, Tacos and tech you know we got tacos and tech is on smash border green guacamole keeper countins counting beans Contador quentan frijoles found us trying to raise some queso la vida San Diego school of rappy rapping fire tortillas round jalapenos in these modern times a crappy beer and coffee My coding yoga posse fold the body origami we be surfing coronado eating tacos El gordo, the taco stand in pesto lucha libre and sombrero Got a shout out to cost angels by the ocean Watch the sunset la Hoya shores Entrepreneurs trying to get funded When San Diego Startup Week is popping in the summer Oceanside, the Tijuana esti be full of hustlers from couch surfing to penthouses right on the beach. Tech leaders who who believe stars are within reach we interview and founders who be shooting for the Moon SDTechOS with your host, Neil Bloom.

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Startups get the party. Startups get the.

Welcome to the Tacos and Tech podcast where we discover cutting edge San Diego technologies and the builders making it happen. I'm your host, Neil Blum, San Diego's tech ambassador. And together you're going to put a face to the name of today's tech leaders with our own blend of local lifestyle.

Startups get the party. Startups get the party started.

Thanks to our friends at Cox Business for being an instrumental resource to our startup and tech community here in San Diego. As a partner in San Diego Startup Week, quick pitch and top tech awards, Cox Business has helped our ecosystem grow into the community it is today.

And welcome back to the Tacos and Tech Podcast. I'm your host, Neal Bloom, and I am joined today by Telena Hanley, founder and CEO of Girly Garage. Hey, Talena, thanks for being on.

Hey, thanks for having me, Neil.

It's a real pleasure. I'm excited to get to know your story a little bit more. Real quick, do you want to give us a one minute overview of what Girly Garage is?

Yeah, for sure. So Girly Garage is an educational platform to help educate women about their personal vehicles so that they become safer and more confident on the road and are less likely to get taken advantage of at auto shops.

Ooh, love this. All right, we're gonna dive all into it, how it started and everything, but I want to get to know your background a little bit, which I Think's obviously pretty relevant to how you started this. We only got to know each other during Startup Month last year, I think, kind of behind the scenes. You were part of the Startup Month incubator, I believe, right?

Yep, I was part of the first incubator. It was really fun.

That's awesome. Well, I'm excited to hear some progress where things are since then. But where are you from? Where'd you grow up?

I'm from Northern California, which was helpful growing up with a little extra space. I always tinkered on motorcycles. I got my first motorcycle when I was 4 years old. You know, ever since then, growing up, my grandpa used to refurbish Model Ts and Carmen Ghias, so we always got to work in his workshop and have fun. And then when my car was stolen for the second time, I decided to put myself through mechanic school because I didn't want people helping me with it. You know, I just had these big trust issues because I had that same stigma of, you know, I'm gonna get taken advantage of. So that's how I started in auto mechanics. And that was, gosh, 13 years ago. And then my education in automotive took me all across the US And Canada. I worked for various race teams. I worked for Porsche. Yeah. And I have just had a ton of fun.

Wow. Super interesting. So what kind of cars were you working on at Porsche Team?

Oh, so Porsche. I actually worked at Porsche of San Diego, and I learned I got a really nice education there because I got more of a, well, round because dealerships have back of house where all the service happens. Then they have front of house where you have finance and sales and new cars and used cars. So that really kind of rounded out my education rather than just working on cars. But as far as race cars, my favorite race cars to work on were the Ferrari F430s when we worked for the F430 challenge, and we got to open for F1 up in Montreal, Canada. And that was epic.

Wow, that sounds epic. That's really cool. It sounds like, obviously you come from a pretty handy family working on cars. Entrepreneurial, too. Did other people own businesses or when did this idea come to you?

Yeah, I really didn't realize how entrepreneurial my family was until I started on my own path. My mom did Discovery Toys. I don't know if you remember that, but she had her own business doing basically that and Tupperware parties. And my dad had his own construction company. And here we are following the path.

I love that you also went through sdsu I think at one point as well, too.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's how I got turned on to entrepreneurship. I'm not kidding you. I saw a sandwich board that led me to the zip launchpad, and that sparked my interest in entrepreneurship. Eventually became president of Entrepreneur Society at San Diego State. Made some amazing things happen there, and that launched me to be where I am today.

Oh, that's really cool. Were you working on Girly Garage, like, at sdsu? Was that, like, one of the, like, the ideas already that you were working and planning out?

No, that's. That's a great question. I was actually working on. I was working on a business I called Butt Butts, and I was attempting to make the manufacturers of cigarettes to be responsible for their waste, because cigarette butts are the number one garbage on the entire planet. The number one man made garbage. And I found out that you can't change customer behavior to that extent unless there's, like, government intervention. So, yep, definitely learned a lot in that program. It was definitely an incubator that I would follow through.

Again, you got to tell us what happened to Butt Butts.

I kind of let it dissolve. I went through the whole process. I did a lot of customer research, and it was a good exercise for what I'm learning today.

Okay, got it. So when did the idea for Grow the Garage actually come to fruition?

Yeah, in the middle of COVID You know, I'm working on. I have four vehicles, and I was working on my own four vehicles, and one of my best friends calls me up, and she's like, hey, you know, I just had my oil changed, and they told me that my brakes are metal to metal all the way around and that I need spark plugs, and they made it sound really scary. And she's like, I carry my kids around in this car. Can you please check it out? I was like, yeah, bring it over. And I was like, first question, is it making noise? And she's like, no. And I'm like, then they're not metal to metal. So she brought it over. We took her tire off together and checked her brakes. She needed brake pads, but not rotors, and we saved her $2,000. And that's when I was like, holy cow. I need to use my skills to help people.

Yeah. How did you actually start? Because that's the hardest thing for everyone.

Yeah. I mean, I was already tinkering and fixing things, and then it's been growing and pivoting a lot since we met at San Diego Startup Month. And I'm working on a Way to reach millions of people, because I really want to help millions of people. There's 227.5 million licensed drivers in the US and 49% of them are women.

Huge audience, that's for sure. So is content kind of the first thing that you've been working on and getting it out there?

Yeah, that's a good question. Because they all kind of go hand in hand. So I do one on one info sessions and I educate women about their personal vehicle. Now when that's happening, a lot of times you find something that has failed or something that's leaking, and so then we go in and repair that together. So they're learning an extra step. And while repairing it, I will also film it and then publish that information to my YouTube channel. So it's kind of a four step process.

Got it. Okay. So what have you learned? I'm just curious some of the pivots that have happened so far, you know, in building this and starting it.

Yeah. So many pivots. I realized that auto mechanics have been paid the same rate for the last 40 years.

Wow.

So they make the same hourly wage. You might see the hourly wage go up, but that just keeps the lights on. So all the overhead with having a shop is so expensive. So I realized that that is not the path to helping millions of people. So working on cars and doing that every day is not something that I can use to reach all of the people I want to help. And so the first pivot was heading towards education and creating a platform that can reach more people. Now we're heading more towards an app. There's two things that people want when something happens to their car. It doesn't matter if you're walking out and you're trying to go to work, or if you pulled over on the side of the road, or if you made it home and something's making a really weird noise. You're like, I don't know what that is. We should get it checked out. You want two things. You want someone to tell you it's going to be okay, and you want someone to tell you what to do. And so that's how I'm going to start spreading my wings and finding a way to help people.

Hmm. Okay. And where is the business model in relation to that too? Like, where are you finding that? Weaving in and iterating to?

Yeah, I'm practicing that. Obviously, since we're so early stage, I'm actually celebrating my year anniversary at the end of this month. But yeah, subscription model is definitely an easier way to adapt to that so that people who have maybe an older vehicle and they're going to have regular questions for a mechanic and you don't want to spend, let's say every single time you had a question for your doctor, they're going to charge you your $70 copay to talk to them for five minutes. It's the same thing with a mechanic. They're going to charge you either on the 30 minute basis or hourly basis just to ask them questions. So that's a really helpful service. I think I can provide people by having a subscription model. And then there's also the rare occasion where it's like it happened once. It was a big occurrence. I just need it taken care of. And people can pay for that on a per basis as well.

Got it. Interesting. Take us through kind of where. What's your vision? Like, where are you, where are you trying to take this? I don't know if you want to go like a year from now or just kind of. What are you trying to build it into?

Yeah, I envision Girly Garage to be a household name, honestly. I think that it's something where when parents sign their kids up for, you know, driving school, that a partnership with Girly Garage will help educate those kids about the machine that they're climbing into so that they're safer and know how to take better care of that machine. So, yeah, household name. You could be like 1-800-Flowers. Oh, girly garage.

I love it. I have an investment in a driving school, so I need to connect you guys.

Oh, fantastic.

Yes, I will connect you guys for sure.

Thank you.

They're a Southern California company and it's Coast. Coast AI. So I'll connect you guys.

Yeah, that way we can help so many more people. That's amazing.

Exactly. You've gone through a few different, you know, entrepreneurship programs you mentioned, you know, at sdsu, I think you're at the Rec, you know, as at Miramar and obviously Startup Month, like one, you go out there and you ask for help. Sounds like it, right? And you get help in return. Can you give some of our audience members maybe some pieces of advice of like, why to go through some of these programs and how to get the most out of it.

Totally. Not everybody is a business person, first of all. And I actually took business at San Diego State and I feel super blessed because they give you little pieces of everything. They give you pieces of taxes, they give you pieces of accounting. They give you things that you need to build your business. Not everybody has that basis so not only that, but the camaraderie for me specifically having that momentum to move forward because you know that you're surrounded by people who are going through the same emotional struggles as you is just so complimentary. And it just really drives you forward every day. And I have been through a few. I went through Zip Launchpad. I went through San Diego Startup Month. I just finished Connect all at the Jacobs Center. That was really, really wonderful. And just started at the REC Innovation Lab. And I highly recommend just ask for help. Like, one of my biggest learning processes for this year has been that it's okay to be wrong. And that was. That was hard for me to learn. And when you fail, it's not failing, but when you fail to learn, that's something that you need those people there to help you bounce back from.

Got it. How much do you get out of being with entrepreneurs who are at the exact same stage that you're at versus, like, a mentor who's maybe kind of already done it before?

I think it depends on the mentor. Every piece of involvement is helpful. Like, I never say no to somebody who wants to offer me advice, even if I don't necessarily take their advice. You know, maybe that sparks some sort of thought process that you never had before. So I would say mentors. I always ask for mentors, but these groups, you can't compare. Like, being next to somebody who's going through the same trials and tribulations or can help you brainstorm because they're at a similar stage. So helpful.

And I would say it's harder to find. I feel like it's harder to find a group of, like, cohort that's at the exact same stage as you. And yet that's what you get out of the programs as well. Right. They kind of cohort you. You go through things together over a certain period of time, a few months. So good on you for looking for that, you know.

Thank you.

Take us through also a little bit, you know, where else you need help? Where can the community get involved? Especially on your path to being a household name.

Yeah. Actually reaching out, DMing me on Instagram or leaving a comment on YouTube. If you need help, my phone number is on my website. If you need help, I'm collecting data right now, which is how can I best help millions of people? So if you have automotive questions, I would love it. If you reach out.

Love it. Okay. We'll make sure that your YouTube and other channels are in our show notes. We do have to ask one of the hardest questions of the Podcast. What's your favorite taco spot? We gotta know.

Okay, so San Diego specifically, right?

Yep.

Okay, so everybody's about the Taco Tuesday, but I have the best spot for Taco Wednesday. Okay.

Ooh.

So I go to Fatfish in PB and their entire bar menu is half off on Wednesdays. Oh, my God. They have the best cauliflower tacos and avocado tacos and so good.

Ooh, good one. All right. We haven't had that one named before, so we will add it to the taco database. Love it. Do you have a favorite taco spot outside San Diego too, that you would have named?

I mean, we're so close to Mexico. The tacos here are the best.

Yeah, okay. We will go with that for sure. Well, Talena, thanks so much for for being on and sharing your story. We're excited to continue following you along as you build Girly Garage. You want to give your website out where people can can go and find it too?

Yeah, for sure. Every platform. Girly Garage G I R L I E spelled the best way I e not y. Garage.com, youTube, Girly Garage, Instagram, Girly Garage come find me. I'm happy to help.

Awesome. Well, thanks so much.

Yeah, thank you.

Thanks for joining us on the Tacos and Tech podcast with Neil Blum. Thanks again to Cox Business for helping make this possible by expanding the reach of the San Diego tech ecosystem. Big shout out to School of Rap for our rad intro musician. And thanks as well to Nest Podcast network where we are recording live inside their studio at Nest Co working in Bankers Hill. You can find Neil Bloom on Twitter at Neobloom as well as fresh brewed tech and tacos and tech Pod on Twitter too.

Get the party started, startups. Get the party, startups, get the party started.

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Sam.