From Family Business Escapee to Industry Leader

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A small group of us are quietly planning our first retreat of 2026 here at Wild Woods Retreat.

It will be a spring, camping-style experience. Simple. Grounded. Intentional.

We’re designing it around something most business spaces ignore. The fact that being in nature changes how people think, feel, and process. Not metaphorically. Viscerally. When you’re walking through the woods, sitting by a fire, or letting your nervous system downshift, conversations land differently. Insights stick. Decisions clarify.

We’ll be using the land itself as part of the work. Guided exercises. Deep reflection. Space to breathe. The kind of environment where transformation doesn’t need to be forced because it happens naturally.

We’re keeping it small on purpose. There may be room for two or three additional people, but this one will be application-only to ensure the right mix.

If that sparks curiosity, just reply and let me know you’d like to be considered. I’ll share details directly.

And speaking of people who’ve figured out how to build serious businesses without disconnecting from their humanity…

This week’s Entrepreneurs Gone Wild feature is a perfect example of what grounded leadership actually looks like in the real world.

Amber Kendrick runs an eight-figure auto parts business in Michigan. Not a digital brand. Not a coaching company. A gritty, physical, legacy business that most people misunderstand.

She refuses hustle culture. Her team works real forty-hour weeks. Sustainability is baked into the model. And her best thinking doesn’t happen in front of a screen.

It happens outside.

Amber’s story is sharp, honest, and unexpectedly refreshing. I think you’ll see why it belongs here.

Let’s dive in.

The Tow Truck That Accidentally Launched an Empire

In the 1950s, a Michigan farmer had a bad year. Then another. The crops weren’t cooperating. The bills weren’t either. So he did what resourceful people do when life turns inconvenient. He built a tow truck.

That single act of creative desperation turned into something no one expected. A little towing gig. Then, a yard full of wrecked cars. Then, strangers showing up asking to buy parts right off them. Before long, the farm had quietly morphed into something else entirely.

Welcome to the accidental birth of Pete’s Auto Parts.

Fast forward several decades. The farm is gone. The business is thriving. And the current CEO isn’t the grizzled old mechanic stereotype people imagine when they picture auto salvage.

She’s an English major. A former runaway heir. A woman who grew up sweeping floors in a place she had no intention of returning to.

Until she did.

Meet Amber Kendrick, the unexpected leader steering Pete’s Auto Parts into a modern era where sustainability makes sense, and customers stop gasping at repair bills.

Child Labor, Character Building, or Both

Amber grew up in the family business. Not by choice. Kids in family businesses never have a choice.

She shoveled drains. She cleaned out vehicles in August heat that could melt a grown man. She climbed warehouse racks hotter than a sauna. Whatever the job was, she got the glamorous version of it.

No one is surprised she ran. College looked like freedom. Words looked easier than wrenches. A professional job with air conditioning looked ideal.

And yet. Small business has a magnetic pull. It gets inside your blood and sits there quietly until one day you realize… oh. This is who I am.

So she dipped back in. First in the office. Then running departments. Then taking a job offer across the country to run someone else’s salvage yard. Then another.

Each leap sharpened her instincts. Each move gave her the kind of experience very few successors ever earn.

When her dad finally said yes, she wasn’t just prepared. She was formidable.

Not a Junkyard. A System. A Strategy. A Smarter Way Forward.

People hear “used auto parts” and picture chaos. Rusty rows of cars. Oil puddles. A broken sign swinging in the wind.

Pete’s is not that story.

The place is clean. The parts are OEM. The process is meticulous.

Vehicles come in from insurance companies. Some were totaled for a single dent. Others for one bad airbag. Most still have perfectly good engines, transmissions, interior components, wheels, electronics, and body panels.

In the right hands, those parts get a second life. Customers save real money. Landfills don’t fill up quite so fast. And unlike cheap aftermarket parts that warp, rust, or fail early, OEM parts were designed for the vehicle they’re going back into.

There’s nothing scrappy about this. It’s just smart.

A Company Where Humans Are Allowed to Have Lives

Amber does not worship overwork. She’s been down that road and saw where it leads. It’s not impressive. It’s avoidable.

At Pete’s, most employees work forty hours. Not the fake kind. The real kind where people actually go home on time. Her dismantlers often finish their weekly quota early and head out for a long weekend.

Turnover is low because people stay where they’re treated like adults. Managers rise from within because experience matters. Respect isn’t a perk. It’s baked in.

This isn’t the hustle-and-grind fantasy many owners cling to. It’s an actual healthy workplace. Rare. Effective. Shockingly functional.

Delegation: The Grown-Up Skill Nobody Learns Soon Enough

Amber used to do the pricing herself. And the accounting. And whatever else she could pick up simply because she was good at it.

But being good at something isn’t the same as being required to keep doing it forever.

When she finally handed off parts pricing, she knew her replacement wasn’t as skilled yet. Didn’t matter. Freeing up her time moved the company forward more than perfect pricing ever could.

And here’s the kicker. People grow. They get better. Sometimes better than you.

Now her team handles details with precision while she handles strategy with clarity. That’s what actual leadership looks like.

The Outside Habit That Keeps Everything Running

When you run a multi-million-dollar business, you need clear thinking. You don’t get that scrolling Instagram at 7 a.m.

Amber walks her Cairn terriers every morning. No phone if she can help it. She hikes Michigan dunes that empty right onto Lake Michigan. She practices yoga on a bluff as the sun rises. She rides horses through fields where the seasons change in slow, cinematic increments.

These aren’t hobbies. These are survival strategies.

Every entrepreneur has a version of burnout waiting in the wings. Amber just refuses to invite it onstage.

Her Philosophy on Worrying: Stop Rehearsing Trouble

Amber heard something once that stuck: Worrying is just practicing bad outcomes early.

And none of the imagined disasters ever unfold the way your brain insists they will. So she brings herself back to what’s real. The cold air. The wind in the trees. The dogs. The moment she’s in.

The future will handle itself when it becomes now. It always does.

Her Advice for Entrepreneurs Building Something Real

Find people to learn from. Not just mentors. Peers. Competitors who behave more like collaborators. Owners who are willing to tell the truth about what worked and what absolutely did not.

Let your team rise. Let them take work off your plate even before you think they’re “ready.”

And get outside. Seriously. Your brain needs it more than your calendar wants to admit.

Connect With Amber

See what Pete’s Auto Parts offers and why people across the country trust them: https://petesauto.net

You’ll also find links to their Facebook page and their YouTube channel where you can hear engines run before you buy them. Yes, really.

Listen in on this conversation - it’s pretty inspiring.

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