About Jerry

My profession: Professional ASE-certified auto technician and shop owner.

My experience: Over 25 years of hands-on experience in the auto repair trade. Small business management and a TON of self-help books under my belt 🙂

My passions: Blogging, small business, self-improvement, cars, tools, gardening, DIY.

A picture of me, the creator of Jerry Petrillo.com

Who am I?

Hi, I’m Jerry.

Welcome to my about page, let me tell you a few things about myself and why I created this blog…

I’m a mechanic/business owner with over 25 years of experience turning wrenches and 42 years of navigating life.

When you grow up in a family business, go to a technical high school, and work every summer vacation in a shop since 14 years old, almost 30 years of experience at 42 years old is possible, trust me.

So what’s with the blog?… Well, this blog is my outlet… A way to relax and disconnect from everyday life.

“I genuinely appreciate you checking out this page… If your still interested below is a short story about me and how I got where I am today.”

my Younger Years

I spent weekends with friends, fishing, hanging out, riding dirt bikes, and taking things apart. Me and Tommy, (my best friend to this day) would work on stuff for hours. His dad had all kinds of cool stuff, plus an insane amount of tools crammed into a good-sized shed in the backyard.

We always had something taken apart or being built, that was just the way we hung out. When we wanted something to drive or ride we found the parts and built it, the shed was like heaven to us back then.

We had tools and a TON of stuff to work with at our disposal, it’s amazing his parents even let us back there when I think about it.

We had welders, grinders, and torches, you name it we had it, and we were still pretty young, things got downright crazy at times.

I still remember welding engines to bikes, racing geared-up lawn tractors, and pulling engines out with a chain hoist wrapped around a huge tree branch.

Fun days for sure…

Summer would never be the same

As I got older I knew that I wanted to own a shop and fix cars for a living. My uncle’s place was where I wanted to be, he was, (and still is) a juggernaut in the business, he is a master tech and the person who gave me the chance I needed.

I still remember the Summer my uncle had me start working at the shop. He was in the process of building the place we are in now, a massive shop compared to the two-bay service station right around the corner.

Come to think of it… I never actually got hired for the job, I just came in for a Summer and never left.

More on that later…

My early shop days

When school was done for the year my friends were ready to party, I was getting ready to start work.

My Dad would drive me to the shop in the morning, and pick me up after work. I had no license and no car… I was on his schedule, man it sucked waking up ass early but it got me there and back.

I’m grateful for those days, I was a 14-15-year-old kid punching holes in the concrete block for the exhaust fan, plumbing the water separator, and doing whatever I could to be part of the place. Half the time I had no idea of what the hell I was doing but I either asked or did it anyway.

This has always been a big part of my life and the reason I am where I am, thinking on your feet is a very valuable trait.

people I looked up to

My uncle was my idol, cool under stress, straight to the point, and highly respected for good reason. He’s the kind of guy who if the shit hits the fan and he’s around, everything is going to work out.

I got really lucky to be in the shop every summer. It kept me out of trouble and I was making way more money than any of my friends, the trade-off? 10-hour days… 5 days a week, but at least weekends were on the table.

I grew up around people who were very long-time employees and more like family.

They all had heads on their shoulders, they weren’t the typical “paid-on-Thursday, broke-on-Friday guys.” They are guys that know how to live right and get things done.

But man did they bust my balls, I was a kid, not knowing which way was up or down. Their ball-busting was all in good fun and I started earning their respect after a while.

It felt good at that age to be part of the big picture. I dreaded the thought of being the kid who always had an excuse for everything, so I pushed myself to do what I had to do. In my head, if they can do it, I can, there were no other options.

High school days

When high school came up I immediately applied for tech school. I got in and spent 4 years splitting class and shop. Those were some of the best days of my life. I met so many great friends and learned a ton.

Junior year I was finally able to join the work program and leave early to work at the shop. Shit, I couldn’t even get suspended, when I did it meant a week at the shop. Imagine that, suspended for a week and making money, I still laugh.

I graduated in 2000. College was never on my radar, I wanted to own a business.

The grind begins

I went to work at the shop full-time in 2000.

Fast forward to today and I’m a partner, soon to be owner in the business. In the meantime, I own my own LLC and small shop so I keep busy.

My love for blogging and online business

Let me tell you how this blog came to be.

I snagged an interest in online business a few years back and started blogging.

I fell in love with it, blogging became my vice. I started without any knowledge whatsoever and slowly built it up to what you see here. It was natural that my niche would be in fixing cars, on top of that I enjoy self-development and small business.

There’s work to be done but I like it…

I’ll add to this as time goes by, relating experiences and going more in-depth. Check out the blog, there’s gotta be something in there for you if you read this far!