At 20 years old, Austin Miller – then a maintenance worker for an Indiana local grain elevator – had never considered a career in the tire industry. Yet, unbeknownst to him, he already had several of the dormant skills that many have leaned on to succeed in this business: He was a great communicator, was no stranger to long days and hard work, was effortlessly detail-oriented, and had a keen mechanical mind. And, with an employer who Miller says was “known to think outside of the box,” he had to be a go-getter, willing to take on tasks others may raise an eyebrow at.
With those pieces in place, it took only a single, out-of-the-blue conversation with that employer in 2010 to push him into what has become a 13-plus-year career as a tire dealer – and a pretty darn good one.
“I 100% stumbled into the industry by accident,” Miller says. “My employer had just bought a second location in Wolcottville, Indiana, and there was an extra empty building on that land. He looked at the building, looked at me and said, ‘I think we should start a tire/automotive repair shop, and I want you to be a partner in it.’…