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GREATERBALTIMORECHAMBER.ORG | 15SPOTLIGHTANNA VEKKER, CO-OWNER, MCCORMICK AUTO BODYMCRAUTOBODY.COMWhat kind of work does McCormick Auto Body specialize in? We%u2019re a full-service collision center, so we do it all: we do body work, we work with insurance companies, we work on fleets, we do mechanical work as well. There%u2019s nothing we don%u2019t do. We%u2019re like a one-stop-shop salon but for your vehicle. We%u2019re a 15,000-squarefoot facility and an I-CAR Gold Class shop. In every industry, there%u2019s a certain organization that gives you ratings, and I-CAR is ours. It recognizes Gold Class shops as those having the highest level of expertise. Myself, my husband and my technicians have to go and recertify regularly. How and when did you come to be involved in the business? My husband started the business originally in 2014. He opened up a shop in Hunt Valley on McCormick Road. I joined him in 2018, and then in 2019, we moved to Randallstown because we needed a bigger space. What was your career like before then? I have a Master of Science in occupational therapy, so I was a therapist prior to moving from New York to Maryland. It%u2019s a completely different field, but they%u2019re both about customer service and understanding people. The automotive world is complex for a person that%u2019s not in it. The point of a repair is to fix the car so that the next time you get into an accident, you%u2019re safe. Nobody%u2019s going to die from a bad paint job, but is the panel going to be able to take a hit next time? So what really matters is the education side of things. When my husband asked me to run the shop with him, I started taking classes day and night. In I-CAR, there are four roles: estimator, painter, structural and non-structural technician. I%u2019m Platinum in all four roles, because as a shop owner, I need to know it all. Originally, we started out in collision, but then customers started asking us if we could do their brakes, and so the idea of having a mechanical division was born. Now we do mechanical, calibrations and collision work. The only things we don%u2019t do is wrapping cars and tinting windows. What are some of the most important lessons that you%u2019ve learned in co-running the shop? Customer service is the utmost priority, and sometimes it isn%u2019t about selling the job; it%u2019s about educating the customer on the difference between right and wrong and letting them make a choice whether they want to fix something or not. There are cars out there that should not be fixed. A lot of being an owner of a shop is customer education and really going the extra step to make the customer feel understood. Sometimes the car is their second-most-expensive purchase other than a house. Sometimes it%u2019s the most expensive. When a person is without their car, they feel out of place. It doesn%u2019t matter if it%u2019s old and beat up, it%u2019s theirs. You spend half your life in your car. Sometimes the customer just wants to be heard because they%u2019re having a bad day and they want me to listen. We do that, and we%u2019ll call the insurance company on their behalf %u2014 that%u2019s the difference between a mom-andpop and a corporate shop.JASMINE LEE, OWNER/OPERATOR, AFTER HOURZ SECURITYAFTERHOURZSECURITY.COMWhen and why did you start the business?I started in 2020. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I used to be a federal officer, but everyone who works those government jobs knows they don%u2019t really care unless you%u2019re coming to work. I was having difficulty prioritizing health and prioritizing the schedule I was being put on. After getting really sick in 2018 and into 2019, I decided I%u2019d have to figure something out where I can be in control of my schedule. I was already doing law enforcement and security pretty much since I was about 17, so a security firm was just the natural progression.What kind of work does After Hourz specialize in?We have three lanes. The first lane is training %u2014 that could be firearms training, active shooter training, de-escalation, things like that. We can do both individual or staff training for businesses. We also do a lot of free in-house training for our officers, and we have a rigorous checklist when we%u2019re hiring. That%u2019s something I%u2019m really proud of. It gives us a bit of a higher standard.