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Mike Berg, who you may know as the Flat Rate Master, got into the auto repair industry out of necessity, he says.
“I was lower middle class, and I had to fix my own cars so I could get to work — and I found that I was good at it, and I enjoyed it,” he says.
After graduating from the Carroll Tech automotive repair program, he repaired garbage trucks, worked in sales for a couple equipment manufacturers, and then spent the rest of his career in automotive repair shops. Now, he is the shop foreman at Anthem Automotive in Atlanta.
Throughout his career he always tried to position himself as a mentor in the shop.
“If the kids are asking questions, I’m always trying to help them,” he says.
Five years ago, Berg was watching YouTube in his spare time, and he saw a gap in automotive repair industry content. For example, Eric The Car Guy and the Humble Mechanic both talk a little bit about the automotive industry, but they don’t continue down that path with their videos.
“I saw the need because so many young kids in this industry come in, and they don't get the help they need, and the shop they're in, and so I started the channel really to help those kids with life skills and working in auto repair,” he says.
Berg talks about lots of different tools on his YouTube channel and is a self-described tool junkie.
“To say I love tools is an understatement,” he says. “Two 6’ long Matco toolboxes full, two roll carts, I’ve got tools in storage because I don't use that type of stuff now. It's always an obsession of mine. I'm always trying to find a better and faster way to do my job.”
Right now, his favorite tools are the Milwaukee quarter-inch extended reach electric ratchet; the Launch Tech Throttle III scan tool; and the Matco quarter-inch impact swivels.
Berg says the best part about being an automotive technician is the challenge.
“It’s always different; you never know what you’re going to get,” he says. “You pull a car in with a check engine light, it’s a bad gas cap, the next one is a communication problem, so it’s always interesting.”
