Shop View: Jammin’ J Automotive

It's hard to imagine a more frightening scenario as a small business owner. The very business you built comes crashing down quite literally and metaphorically due to factors beyond your control. Once Jacquot was unpinned and extracted, he made a quick call to his wife to check the security footage and to implore her to get down to the shop. She made the 30-minute drive in 10 minutes. Hurting and dazed, all Jacquot could think was how annoying it was going to be to clean up.

Rebuilding After the Accident

Jacquot was seriously injured, requiring 89 doctor's visits and more than $60,000 in medical bills, and he even had to have some of the nerves in his back deadened as a result of the accident. The damage wasn't just physical—it was a traumatic and violent experience all around. Simply recovering took an enormous amount of willpower, but Jacquot could only rest so long before having to simultaneously work on restoring his business.

Jacquot is a co-chair of the St. Louis chapter of the Midwest Auto Care Alliance and was fortunate enough to have several chapter members and fellow owners help him clean up after the accident, but that was just the beginning. The rebuild process had a seven-month timeline, and the temporary conditions added to the difficulties.

"I went through the entire summer of 2020 with no air conditioning in this office and no windows that open,” Jacquot says. "It was brutal."

Still, he felt that he had no choice but to soldier on. His insurance ultimately paid out about $45,000 for the rebuild, but it wasn't until he hired a new employee amid the construction that he was able to make time for the dozens of doctor's visits and contractor meetings required to get back to normal.

"I’d like to say I was strong, but I don’t know that I was," he says. "You just have to go through it."

Back in 2018, he had moved from a tiny three-bay gas station setup to the current seven-bay setup, which required its fair share of rehabbing and upgrades but was far more accessible. Looking at Jammin' J Automotive now, it's essentially impossible to see the damage. Jacquot paid out of pocket to add new windows ("So I can see it coming next time," he jokes), so the lobby is full of natural light. The same desk that survived the crash got a new countertop to replace the damage, and customers can wait comfortably and grab a cup of coffee in the rock 'n' roll-themed lobby. The rest of the shop remained untouched, which includes the sharp custom paint job that Jacquot himself designed and painted across the full exterior of the building.

"I’m pretty proud of this new shop setup," he says. "I have plenty of space between the bays and the cars. In my old building, I couldn’t pull in a long truck and shut the door."

Staying Strong

Jacquot's biggest piece of advice is simple: "Have good insurance, and when the guy who's going to determine what gets paid for and what doesn't comes around, you stand your ground." he says. That extends to fully understanding what your insurance will cover as well as being ready to fight for everything you deserve. Try to document every change, every day, just in case the insurance company suddenly changes course or demands proof that the work was done to code.

After the first accident, Jacquot added stones along the strip of land between the shop and the road. In July 2023, a car crashed into the barrier. Jacquot soon replaced the stones with even larger ones, just in case, and in December 2024, a truck slammed into the larger stones. Despite the truck flipping over vertically, the shop (and the driver) emerged undamaged.