Sean Guthrie spent 20 years helping build one of the most impressive growth stories in the collision repair industry. Starting alongside his father Jim at Car Crafters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sean worked every role in the shop before stepping into operations leadership. When the family made the decision to partner with private equity, Sean served as COO of the newly formed Open Road Collision and helped scale the business from 5 locations to 37, growing revenue from $35 million to over $140 million.

In this episode, Sean shares what that journey really looked like from the inside. He talks about the team that made the growth possible, the SOPs and systems that kept things from falling apart, and how they worked to preserve a family culture even as they expanded across multiple states. He also gets into the details on launching dedicated ADAS calibration centers, building a technician apprentice program from scratch, and why he believes every shop owner needs a calibration strategy.

Sean is candid about the harder moments too. He shares the story of almost selling to a major consolidator before walking away at the last minute, the challenges of balancing family dynamics in business, and the deeply personal decision to step away after two decades. His advice for shop owners in early growth is grounded in experience and humility.

If you're running a collision repair shop and thinking about growth, leadership, culture, or what the future of this industry looks like, this is an episode you don't want to skip.

The BodyShop Leaders Podcast is powered by BodyShop Marketing, the agency helping collision industry leaders grow smarter and lead stronger.