Meet Claire & Daniel Lovlock

 

We recently connected with Claire & Daniel Lovlock and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Claire & Daniel, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Daniel:
The simple answer is through my faith.
I went out towing one day with a buddy and I liked it – plus the idea of no one being able to tell me what to do throughout my day sounded great.
From a random part-time dispatcher job in college and meeting the right person (the one buddy who invited me to ride in the tow truck for a day), and stumbling upon a new passion. I trusted the process and had faith in God’s plan. I now love towing and I can’t imagine doing anything else, especially the way we get to do it. It is awesome that I get to take my wife and one of my three dogs with me to work. On top of that, I get to be the best part of someone’s worst moment with their car. That’s extremely rewarding for me and I think it is helpful for our customers, because now they don’t have to stay in the negative thought spiral they may be stuck in when they’re dealing with car problems. In Bernice (my truck) they get to relax and laugh, or sometimes we’ll just talk about their life. There is some sort of peace that I believe people walk away with after, and hopefully some new knowledge that makes them a little more comfortable with any decisions they have to make regarding their vehicles.

Claire:
We have not had the most linear path to owning our own towing company. Daniel went to school for pre-med to become a doctor. I studied history and education and became a high school teacher. Now, we are married and own a small business towing company to serve our local community. It is wild. I never imagined I would know this much about cars or tow trucks, let alone owning and operating one! In hindsight, I know that Daniel was placed in my life for good – not only to be a loving husband, but to be a strong business partner too. Without Daniel, I do not think I would have my own towing business.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Frank’s Towing & Recovery provides towing services for all kinds of vehicles, such as lock-out help, jumpstarts, tire changes, winch-out extrications, and more. You may be asking yourself, Why the name Frank’s when our names are Daniel and Claire? Well, our namesake comes from our 75 pound pitbull, Frank. He has the attitude we all wish to have, happy to see people and always glad to be around them. Daniel has been working in the towing industry for more than 8 years. He started out as a Dispatcher, then worked for another small business as a Tow Operator. When we decided to open our own business he became our Co-Owner & Operator. Claire has now been in the towing business for almost two years and is our Co-Owner & Manager. She is our can-do everything gal – from running the office, to working on the truck and throwing dollies.

One of our favorite things about owning our own business is that we get to serve our community and give back. We have sponsored our local Best Buddies chapter for the past two years, have participated in the local Special Olympics Polar Plunge, and we have visited our local Police Department and Fire Departments. We are looking to the future and are in the beginning stages of planning a Touch-A-Truck event to fundraise and do a supply drive for our local schools, too. Along with these efforts, we are dedicated to spreading awareness of the “Slow Down, Move Over” laws in our state to help protect and save lives of everyone who works on our roads. In Washington, drivers are required to move over a lane or slow down at least 10 mph below the posted speed limit when approaching a law enforcement, emergency, construction, transportation, or utility vehicles, tow trucks, or other work response vehicles with flashing lights on the side of the road. On average, a tow truck operator is killed every 6 days. So here is your reminder, please slow down, move over, and help save lives.

We are continuously looking for ways to grow on social media, through YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and Pinterest, too! So give us a follow!
Youtube, Facebook & Pinterest: @FranksTowingRecovery
Instagram & LinkedIN: @FranksTowingAndRecovery
TikTok: @FranksTowingAnd_Recovery
X/Twitter: @FranksTowing23

Daniel:
I am most excited that Frank’s is a husband and wife owned towing business and we’re both from very different walks of life. I don’t think either of us are selfish people, so the idea of giving back is always at the forefront of our minds, but what is exciting about what we do is… if you look up our YouTube channel, you can see some of the things we do are pretty wild and it’s fun to show up to a problem and have people look at you and wonder how you’re going to solve it. Sometimes in the exact moment we may not know right away, but from the skills, knowledge and equipment that we have we are able to come up with a safe plan to get folks out of whatever sticky situation they are in.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Daniel:
So, I had faith on faith on faith. Faith in Claire as my partner to read and understand the language of the filings that was required to start our business and faith in my ability and my work ethic that when given the opportunity, I would not allow failure.
My prior experience was incredibly impactful on our journey. In college, I worked for a large company as a dispatcher, and after that I worked for another small towing business as a driver and operator. This background and experience lead to having a deep knowledge of the industry.
One of my most helpful qualities for starting, opening and continuing to run our own business has been my strong and efficient work ethic.
I believe having a support system is also vital – people who are rooting for you and willing to recommend your brand and share what you are doing. It helps to have people that are in your corner.
Folks can tell you all you need is hard work, but hard work will only get you so far. You need to have passion for what you are doing. I think that if you care and love what you are doing it makes it a million times easier to wake up, and a million times easier to keep pushing and be willing to work at all hours of the day.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Claire:
I do not think either of us could have done this on our own, or just by ourselves as a couple. In the beginning, Daniel leaned on me and my diligence for our business filings and financial knowledge and I leaned heavily on Daniel for industry-experience and his knowledge of tow trucks and how to operate them. I would not have been able to make a decision between a used truck or a new truck, let alone the decision between a flatbed or a wrecker, and back then I definitely wouldn’t have known how to drive or operate one!

Outside of each other, we have an amazing support system from our family and our friends. One of our best friends is thankfully in web design and we hired him to create our logo and brand package, and he helped build our website, too. We have some great friends that own their own towing companies, and we have learned a lot from them being so willing to share their knowledge. In addition, we have made it a habit to network regularly with other owners, drivers, operators, and other business owners outside of the towing industry.

I think Daniel would share this same sentiment, we would not be where we are without our faith and the guidance and opportunities from God. When we have bad days (or weeks) we are able to lean into prayer and our faith to know that we will be alright.

Daniel:
The easy answer would be each other.
The next answer would be our friends in and out of the industry. When we bought our truck and drove home back across the country to start working, our friends greeted us with champagne and a balloon, and they were also our first review online.
One of our friends who also owns their own towing company helped us figure out commercial insurance, random billing issues, and answered other business questions we had when first starting out. In addition, he was very integral in connecting us with his diesel mechanic who has now become our go-to guy for maintenance and any services we may need on our trucks.

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