RICHARD RAWLINGS

We have a massive following and a loyal following. We've never bought a follower or any of that stuff that brands do, it's all organic.

If you feel like it's going to work, do it. If it doesn't, get out as quick as you can.

That's been the secret to 'Gas Monkey': Move fast. I opened the first restaurant within a year and a half. Most people wait five years. I always move quickly, and in today's market, no matter what you're in, you can recover from a mistake faster than you can recover from not doing.

I could've gone to Harvard twice, the money I lost on cars.

I'll have everyone from 90-year-old ladies wanting to come up and kiss me on the cheek and say they love the show to dads bringing their newborns over wearing onesies.

I was a fireman very early on in my life and a police officer, so I'm very militaristic, clean.

I really like the variety and I like to do the bulk of our cars as cars that people can understand and relate to and afford.

If you don't have to have a partner, don't take one. If you do need one, look for a partner who can complement your weaknesses with their strengths. If you are at odds, you are never going to get anything done.

We said we could do a full episode - find the car, build it, complete it and shoot it - in two weeks.

I used to watch some of the other motorcycle shows on television 10 or 15 years ago because I was a gearhead and I'd be depressed at the end because I can't afford a $200,000 motorcycle.

I've always wanted to build a '37 Lincoln Zephyr.

Look, I'm still a goateed guy with a bunch of tattoos, but I've got a poodle and not a pit bull. I don't kick boxes and I don't scream at other people.

My style is very hands-on. I own everything we do or the vast majority of everything we do. I don't do a lot of letting people just use my name like a lot of people in my position would do.

Getting a TV show and getting on to Discovery was the main goal when I started the company in 2004.

I kinda thrive on the chaos which is my life. I have a good time when I can, but work is what I enjoy the most.

My goal in the beginning was to build a lifestyle brand around what I love to do, which is motorcycles and cars. That was our main goal from the very beginning.

I went dead broke - twice! - trying to get Gas Monkey up and going. And when I say broke, I mean sleeping on my sister's couch and can't pay-the-rent type broke.

I like the art of making money more than the money.

We've stayed with the business and even though we have the arguments and disagreements that eight guys in a building trying to do a job would have, we try to keep that off the cameras because it's too much drama. Really what it is is we have eight guys who are having fun doing what they do.

Everything I do in business moves toward eliminating brick and mortar. Call us up and anywhere in the contiguous United States, we'll get your vehicle and take care of it.

Vehicle donation programs have existed forever, but the typical model loses a lot. There had to be a place to store them, people who could only go out so far regionally to pick them up.

Building brands and helping people figure out their identity - as far as a business identity and everything - was kind of my niche.

Everyday has its challenges - keeping up with the business, and we are a real business, unlike a lot of the reality shows. We build all the cars. It has its challenges, but at the end of the day, it's not a bad way to make a living.

I'm a brand type guy and we want to make sure that 'Gas Monkey' is out there in every arena that we can be. I'm also never short on ideas and I usually try to get them out there at all times.

You see the hair and the clothes, I look flamboyant. But I'm not the guy with the lake house and the boat. I don't own a home, or a plane. Really, all I want in life is beer in the fridge and a hot rod.