Cedarburg, Wi – At 28, Kenny has already built a career that reflects determination, persistence, and a willingness to keep learning. As the shop leader at Auto Safety Center’s Cedarburg location, he is responsible for much more than repairing vehicles. He helps set the standard for the entire shop, supports his fellow technicians, and makes sure every vehicle that leaves the facility has received the care and attention it deserves.
Kenny grew up in West Bend and attended West Bend East High School, where his interest in automotive work began to take shape. He had always enjoyed cars and knew from a young age that he wanted to become a mechanic. In high school, he took all three levels of the school’s automotive shop classes, along with additional opportunities to work in other hands-on programs, including manufacturing.
Those experiences gave Kenny an early introduction to the kind of work he would eventually make his career. More importantly, they confirmed that working with his hands, solving problems, and learning how things worked was something he genuinely enjoyed.
When his automotive teacher, Mr. Gerald Sorce, told him that local shops were looking for young technicians, Kenny decided to pursue the opportunity. He applied at a local shop and then made a point of following up—repeatedly.
“I kept popping my head in there,” Kenny said. “I was like, ‘Did you check out my application?’”
His persistence paid off. Within a few weeks, he was hired.
That same determination has remained a defining part of Kenny’s career.
Rather than taking the traditional route through college or a technical school, Kenny learned much of his trade on the job. He continued developing his skills through hands-on experience, formal training, and working on his own vehicles. He learned that becoming a good automotive technician requires patience, attention to detail, persistence, and the ability to work through difficult problems.
Automotive repair can be mentally demanding. Diagnosing a vehicle requires technicians to think carefully about what is happening, identify the underlying problem, and determine the proper way to repair it. Even seemingly simple jobs require precision: a technician may remove dozens of bolts, clips, and components and must know that every piece needs to go back exactly where it belongs.
For Kenny, the challenge has been part of the appeal.
Over time, the young technician who started at Auto Safety Center developed into an experienced technician capable of handling a wide range of automotive work. His progression also taught him an important lesson about career development: advancement does not always happen all at once.
“You just wake up and then you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve been doing this for eight years,’” Kenny said.
Today, that experience has led him into a leadership role at the Cedarburg shop.
As shop leader, Kenny helps establish and maintain the standards technicians are expected to follow. He makes sure repairs are completed properly, vehicles are treated with care, and the shop maintains a consistent level of quality. When a vehicle comes back after a repair, Kenny is often the first person to help determine what happened—whether it was a part failure, an issue with the original repair, or something that needs to be addressed with the technician.
The position also means being available to his coworkers.
The technicians at Cedarburg work independently, but they also operate as a team. Kenny serves as one of the first people a technician can turn to when they need help diagnosing or repairing a vehicle. Even if he is in the middle of his own job, he understands that leadership sometimes means putting his own work aside to help someone else.
That willingness to help is one of the characteristics that has made Kenny a leader among his peers. His leadership is not simply about telling others what to do; it is about demonstrating the standards himself, being accountable, and helping those around him improve.
The Cedarburg team currently includes six technicians, and Kenny sees the group as both a team and a family. Automotive technicians spend a significant amount of time together, working through challenges, helping one another, and sharing knowledge. For Kenny, that environment has become an important part of his life.
“Auto Safety Center is my second family,” he said.
Kenny has also continued to grow through the training opportunities available at Auto Safety Center. The company provides ongoing training, including hands-on classes and online learning covering areas such as electrical systems, air conditioning, diagnostics, and other aspects of automotive repair.
For an experienced technician, some of the material may reinforce things he already knows, but Kenny recognizes the value of continuing to strengthen the fundamentals. The automotive industry is constantly changing, and staying sharp requires a willingness to keep learning.
That philosophy also influences the way Kenny approaches new technicians.
His own career demonstrates that someone does not necessarily need to begin with years of formal education to build a successful career in automotive repair. A person who is determined, willing to learn, and prepared to put in the work can develop those skills over time.
The beginning can be difficult. New technicians start at the bottom and have to earn their experience. But with time, responsibility increases, skills develop, and opportunities begin to open.
Kenny knows that process firsthand.
Mike Hilzley of Auto Safety Center has known Kenny the past 10 years. From the beginning, Hilzley remembered being impressed by Kenny’s determination and work ethic. “Kenny was persistent about getting an opportunity, and once he got his foot in the door, he quickly demonstrated that he had the foundation and ability to succeed,” said Hilzley.
“One of the most rewarding parts has been watching Kenny grow from a young technician into the shop leader at Cedarburg.
“That growth is especially meaningful because Kenny’s leadership is now helping shape the next generation of technicians. The same willingness to learn that helped him develop his own career is now being passed along to others.”
The results are visible in the Cedarburg shop. Under Kenny’s leadership, the team recently achieved its best month ever—a milestone that reflects not only the performance of the shop but also the collective effort of the people working there.
Kenny’s story represents the kind of career progression that can happen when an employee is willing to work hard, learn from others, accept responsibility, and continue pushing forward.
“He started as a young person with an interest in cars and a determination to get an opportunity. He learned the trade one repair at a time, developed his technical skills, and eventually moved into a position where his responsibilities extend beyond his own work,” said Hilzley.
“Now, he is helping others learn what he has learned.”
For Kenny, the journey is far from finished. He continues to see opportunities to grow, teach, and learn from the people around him.
“I can either keep growing from it, keep teaching new people what I’ve been taught, and keep learning from when new people coming in can teach me,” he said.
That mindset may be one of the clearest explanations for Kenny’s success. He has never viewed learning as something that ends when a person reaches a certain level. Instead, he sees a career as a continual process of improving, taking on new challenges, and helping others along the way.
From a persistent teenager looking for his first opportunity to a trusted shop leader helping guide a team, Kenny has built his career one step at a time. His story is a testament to what determination, work ethic, hands-on learning, and the willingness to take responsibility can accomplish—and an example of the opportunities available at Auto Safety Center to people willing to put in the effort.