Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricky Jordan.
Ricky, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m from Lewisville area, just a few miles from our home office. This is home for me. My dad and his friend Bill Bernick started Fifth Gear Automotive Repair in 2004, and I’ve been involved since the beginning. At the time, the vision was simple: build one strong shop that could support the founders and provide great service to the community. I was brought in early with a plan for succession, and over the years, I worked my way through every part of the business.
I didn’t plan on being in the automotive industry. I was never a great student and barely got through high school. I gave college a good run but never felt like I was getting the kind of return I wanted. When Fifth Gear started taking off, the real education I was getting from working alongside Bill and building the business far outweighed what I was getting in class. I left college just short of finishing and committed fully to the business. I started as a service advisor, built teams around me, and eventually grew into a leadership role.
From 2015 to 2020, we shifted from being a one-shop operation to something bigger. We realized that in order to retain and grow talented people, we needed to create opportunities beyond one location. In 2019, we opened a second shop, and by 2021 we were officially in scaling mode. Today, I serve as President and co-owner, but more importantly, I help lead the machine that builds more machines. We’re focused on building great teams and developing strong leaders so we can continue growing the right way.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road definitely hasn’t been smooth. In the early days, we faced the typical struggles like cash flow, profitability, and all the pressures that come with trying to keep the doors open. One of the biggest challenges back then was leadership redundancy. If something happened to me, the business could’ve been in real trouble. That pushed us to start thinking long term and investing in leadership depth.
As the company grew, my biggest personal challenge was learning to let go. When you build something from the ground up, it’s hard to turn over areas like operations, marketing, or finance to someone else. But if you want to scale, you have to let people operate at their highest level. I had to learn how to delegate and trust others with the things I’d built. That’s still something I work on every day, but I’ve come to see that empowering great people is one of the most valuable things I can do as a leader.
Another challenge is building infrastructure fast enough to support growth. We’ve tripled our team in just the last few years, and that kind of expansion requires real investment in training, onboarding, and culture. We’re now developing a full internal leadership academy to formalize how we train and certify future leaders. It’s all part of building a business that’s built to last.
We’ve been impressed with Fifth Gear Automotive Repair, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Fifth Gear Automotive is more than just a repair shop. We see ourselves as a people development company that happens to work in the automotive space. What sets us apart is our commitment to building strong individuals and strong teams. We don’t just hire for skills, we hire for mindset and growth potential.
We believe in building businesses around great people, not the other way around. That’s our formula for scaling. My job as President is to support that growth by creating systems, coaching leaders, and making sure our values stay intact as we expand. Right now, we’re focused on formalizing our internal training and launching our leadership academy. It’s our way of making sure every team member has a clear path for growth within the company.
Our culture is based on development, not just performance. We’ve learned that if you take care of people and invest in their potential, everything else, customer service, revenue, operations, falls into place. That philosophy is at the heart of everything we do.
How do you define success?
To me, success is about legacy and impact. It’s not just about revenue or how many shops we have. It’s about building something that lasts and creating opportunities for others to grow. I want our people to look back and say they became better leaders, professionals, and individuals because they were part of Fifth Gear.
Success is also about building a business that runs on strong values and doesn’t depend on one person. That’s why I’m so focused on leadership development and building out infrastructure that can support long-term growth. If we can continue scaling while staying true to our culture, and if our people keep developing into the best versions of themselves, that’s success in my eyes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fifthgear.biz
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fifth_gear_automotive/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FifthGearAutomotive/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fifth-gear-motorsports/
- Twitter: https://x.com/FifthGearAuto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FifthGearAutomotive
Image Credits
Juan Garcia
