A Chat with Founder of GreaseMonkey Mobile, Stephan Walters

You’re on a road trip across the country. You’re getting hungry so you decide to get off the highway and then find yourself in a some random town in the DMV area. It is brought to your attention that your taillight is out, you realize your break feels a little stiff, or maybe you need an oil change. You don’t know where you are and you need to find an auto shop that is both close by and cheap. That’s where GreaseMonkey Mobile comes in. The GreaseMonkey app connects drivers with the independent auto maintenance and repair community to save them time and money. Within the app, you can schedule appointments, message the repair shops, find local deals, and store your personal vehicle information. We had the opportunity to hear from GreaseMonkey Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Stephan Walters about his inspiration, goals and how he felt on the best day of his company’s existence:

Tech Day: What was the inspiration for the company/how did you get involved?

Stephan Walters: “Ironically my inspiration for GreaseMonkey came while I was having car issues. A few weeks after I had moved to Falls Church, VA; my right taillight went out. The first thing I did was call my Mom back home and she recommended I go to Midas. I thought to myself that I would probably pay a fortunate and wished there were a way I could find other auto shops in my area to compare prices and find deals. That’s when a light bulb went off in my head and I thought others could definitely benefit from a service like this.”

T: Was there ever a time when you thought that the business would fail?

S: “I never thought GreaseMonkey would fail. I’ve always been confident in the idea of GreaseMonkey because to me it seems like a win-win situation for both drivers and independent auto shops.”

T: What did you feel like on the best day of your company's existence and why?

S: “For me, my favorite day of GreaseMonkey was launch day. I saw it as the day GreaseMonkey evolved from just a spontaneous idea in my head to a mobile platform for drivers and businesses.  I felt as if all my long nights and early morning I put into GreaseMonkey finally paid off.”

T: What’s your differentiator?

S: “I think GreaseMonkey’s differentiator is that we are a platform that bring benefits to both drivers and the independent auto community. For drivers, we are offering them a hassle free way to shop around for services and deals to save them time and money. And for these businesses, we’re giving them an affordable way to engage their customers over mobile devices and reach new consumers who are looking for services they provide.”

T: What’s the level of growth you’d be satisfied seeing in the next year?

S: “I would like to see GreaseMonkey expanded into many more cities. As long as users see the benefits in our app then personally I will be satisfied.”

GreaseMonkey Mobile has changed the way that drivers and auto shops interact by allowing them to communicate directly through the app.

You can meet the GreaseMonkey Mobile team at DC TechDay on October 6th!