Key Highlights
- - Brian Moak transformed his auto care business through people-focused leadership and resilience, turning it into a success story recognized with awards.
- - The acquisition by Telle Tire & Auto Centers allowed Moak to expand his business from 3 to 7 locations while maintaining his core values and culture.
- - Key tips for owners considering acquisition include defining desired outcomes, doing thorough due diligence, and ensuring clear communication about roles and expectations.
- - Moak emphasizes the importance of staying focused on daily operations and team well-being during transitions to ensure continued success.
- - The right acquisition partner can provide support, growth opportunities, and the ability to make a larger impact, as demonstrated by Moak’s positive experience.
“My favorite thing is being able to make an impact in my employees’ lives,” says Brian Moak of HEART Certified Auto Care in Illinois.
Moak and his team at HEART have been through a lot together—including turning a struggling business into a success story and a Ratchet+Wrench All-Star award. His impressive turnaround and people-focused approach caught the eye of many, including Aaron Telle, President & CEO of Telle Tire & Auto Centers. Telle had been reaching out to Moak for more than a year, and it wasn’t the first time he had been approached about an acquisition, but it just wasn’t something that Moak was interested in.
“It’s scary,” Moak says about the thought of handing over the business you’ve built to someone else.
With business going so well, he couldn’t wrap his head around why he would want to give it up. Moak didn’t want to be a cog in someone else’s machine.
“Nobody could replace what I had was my assumption,” Moak says. “My assumption was that if I did get acquired, I wouldn’t be able to make the impact that I was making.”
However, Telle finally got him on the phone and that changed everything for Moak. Within 30 minutes, Moak knew that Telle was special and within two days, they were face to face and making plans.
Early in 2026, it was announced that Telle Tire & Auto Centers acquired the Illinois-based MSO and Moak says he’s having the time of his life.
He’s now able to continue to do his favorite thing—make a difference in people’s lives—just on a much bigger scale.
Sure, there are acquisition horror stories, but Moak has found true happiness. The secret, he says, is finding the right path for your future.
Backstory:
Moak has seen many different seasons as a business owner. Recently, he’s seen success and earned the praises of his peers and become a sought-after mentor; but it wasn’t always that way. In 2016, he was in a very different situation. Seven years after taking over his father’s shop, he was announcing to his team that the business was broke. Rather than accepting defeat, he faced the problem head-on. The problem? Himself.
He took a deep look at his leadership style and business and turned things around through people-first leadership.
Problem:
“I love my team. We have been through it together. We’ve come out the other side and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Moak says.
That wasn’t something he was willing to throw away just because some mega company feigned interest.
“There are horror stories out there; once it’s done, you can’t undo it.”
Being acquired wasn’t really an option for Moak, until that fateful phone call came and he realized maybe he had been thinking about an acquisition all wrong. With the right deal, it could create more opportunity rather than stifling him.
Solution:
The call came again—and this time Moak answered. Within 30 minutes of speaking with Aaron Telle, Moak knew that this opportunity was special.
It can be difficult to know exactly what you’re getting into with an acquisition and whether or not it’s the right path for you. Moak was no exception to this. This wasn’t what he envisioned for himself at all, but the key for him was understanding what a future path for him could look like and what part he would play; Telle was able to answer that for him.
“For me, it boils down to my future. I would say that when you are doing really well, it’s hard to imagine how you maintain your lifestyle,” Moak says.
Moak is a success story on his own. His business was growing fast, and he had a blueprint for what the next few years of his life would look like and how he would grow his business. Moak had been approached many times over the years about being acquired, but Telle was the first to explain to him that what they could do together would be better than what he would be able to do on his own.
“My runway feels even bigger than before,” he marvels.
So, how do you know if it’s the right fit? Moak shares his tips.
Determine your desired outcome.
Everyone’s path is different and it’s necessary to understand where you want to end up in order to figure out the best path to take. For example, Moak has no plans to retire soon, so he wasn’t just trying to sell his shop and step out of the business. For others, that may be exactly what they’re looking for.
“At 43, I was not close to the idea of retiring,” he explains. ‘Twenty years from now, I’d be thinking ‘Is this enough money to get me there?’ It depends on the lifecycle you’re in in your career.”
Do your due diligence.
Take the time to meet with people you are considering doing business with and trust your instincts about them, Moak says. Right away he knew that Aaron Telle was special, and he says other people have had the same experience with him. Make sure you’re working with someone who will take care of your team the way you want and stay true to the values of your business. And be sure that the deal works for you financially.
Protect your culture.
Even if you’re stepping away from the business, the people that work for you need to be considered. One of Moak’s biggest hesitations was about his team and making sure that they’re always taken care of. Culture is huge at HEART, and he wanted to make sure that all didn’t go away with an acquisition.
Define your role.
If you’re stepping away from the business, this one isn’t as important, but if you’re planning on continuing to work for your business, it’s important to understand your new role. Moak is now the Executive Vice President of HEART and is focused on brand growth, leadership development, and identifying similar repair-focused businesses for expansion; all of the details were ironed our and discussed before the deal was final. You don’t want to get into a situation where you sign away your life’s work and end up working in a position that you’re not happy with while someone else takes over.
Aftermath:
It’s been less than a year since the acquisition, and Moak says that everything Telle promised him would happen has happened and he’s really been enjoying the ride. Before Telle, Moak had three locations with a greenfield location being built; he now has seven locations with the greenfield opening in August.
Moak says he’s able to continue to flex his muscles as a business owner without the financial burden that he once had. He now has someone that checks in all of the time and not in a micromanaging type of way, but as a support system that has been really amazing. He also says that he’s able to express his ideas freely and that they’re taken very seriously. Moak says that he’s been able to make an impact with so many more employees’ lives than he did before and he loves it.
“I’m now a part of something much bigger and not in a bad way—a great way.”
Takeaway:
Never take your eye off of the day-to-day. Moak says that he often sees owners going through an acquisition focus solely on the sale and they lose track of the daily operations of their business. One of the things that set him up for success is that when they went through the acquisition they did not go backwards.
“My father once taught me that how you finish something is how you start it,” Moak says.
When the acquisition began, Moak told his whole team what was going on and they made a deal together that they would not end on a downward trend. Before they were officially acquired, they ended stronger than ever and now they’re “killing it” in the Telle world.
“Keeping that focus is critical,” Moak says. “If you’re already running fast, you set a great trajectory.”
