From the moment you meet Frank Byrnes you sense intuitively he Is the type of guy who Is clear about what he wants, and then just goes for it.
As a teenager it was horses.
“Horses can teach you a lot about business. I learned very early on that what you think is what you get.'
'A wise man once told me that that in order to jump a big wall you have to throw your heart over first. That always stuck with me and it has been one of the key gems of wisdom and inspiration for everything in my life. And that wise man was my late father Tommy. I didn't realise at that time the significance of that advice'.
And that is one of the recurring secrets to the success of Frank Byrnes. Whenever the student was ready, the master appeared. Frank is a consummate learner and attracted the finest of teachers.
He also developed at this time an obsession that would also recur repeatedly throughout his life.
“I recognised that the horse also had to be in top shape. My challenge became to get the best out of that horse. I learned from a fabulous horseman called Henry Gordon how to control a horse, how to observe a horse and how to talk to a horse. You have to connect with the horse.”
If he had to learn the skills of horsemanship, his other passion seemed to come to him naturally. “If anything was ever broken in our house I was the goto guy to fix it. I loved mechanics and from a young age all I ever wanted was to become a mechanic.”
And while many would live in hope and pray that an opportunity would arrive dressed in a tuxedo, Frank proactively sought out a way to fulfil his dream.
“On the day before my Leaving started I knocked on Mick O’Boyle's garage door in City Car Sales and asked for a job. In fact I knocked three times before my persistence paid off and Mick, to his eternal credit, gave me my break to pursue my dream of becoming a mechanic”.
Meeting the masters
While working with Mick he also commenced a four-year apprenticeship with Fás and under the watchful eye of Seamus Coughlan made great progress.
While at Fás, another instructor was Padraig Forde. Padraig was a well known hill climb driver who had also raced in Mondello and so, another passion was unearthed - and serendipitously, another master.
“I became his shadow. By day I learned the theory from the Fás curriculum whilst by night I learned everything that could be learned about rallying from Padraig.”
Where before, his passion had been to extricate the ultimate performance from a horse, it had now transmuted to “getting the best performance from a car.”
In the meantime, he worked as a barman in the Oranmore Lodge to earn extra cash. “I”ll never forget my mother killing me as I tried to wash the grease and oil off my hands with parazone over the kitchen sink”.
So by July 1990 it is fair to say that Frank had by any standard achieved a great deal. Now, two years through his Fás apprenticeship, he had been nominated as Mechanic of the Year. In that, his first year rally driving, he came first in his class in the National Championship.
It would all change irrevocably on the morning of July 4th 1990 a watershed day in the life of young Frank Byrnes.
And then it all changed
As he was drawing silage near the family farm he was involved in a farming accident when the tractor and trailer he was driving overturned.
While the immediate events of the accident are a blur, the subsequent four years of pain and disfigurement will be indelibly etched on Frank’s memory forever.
Crippled and warped, it was the most decisive of ends to all that he was passionate about in life - his horses, his vocation as a mechanic, his career as a national champion rally driver.
And yet, achievers like Frank Byrnes refuse to succumb to the inevitable waves of adversity that all true achievers are asked to confront. “It drives me to this day. You never know when it all can be stripped away from you so you need to seize the day and make every day count”.
He recalled falling off a horse as a youngster and his father telling him to “get back up there again, sit tight, squeeze your legs and throw your heart over every next fence you come across”.
He did exactly this, and through the National Rehabilitation System, attracted another “angel of wisdom” to his cause. “Computers were very new and exciting in the early 90s. I did an 18-month computer course tutored by a marvellous lady called Nina Mc Glade”. Not alone was this an invaluable insight into the burgeoning world of computers and IT but Frank also got his first introduction to the world of business, accounting and systems analysis. He would also be awarded a medal by the City and Guilds for IT - one of only three awarded nationwide.
For a man who refused to take the word “No” when he asked for his first job as a mechanic, getting a job in the IT game was never going to be a problem for Frank. Martin Kirrane and Gerry Grey of CK Electronics, who in my humble opinion produced the best salespeople in the West of Ireland, immediately recognised Frank’s potential.
The skill of seeing things through
“CK were so far ahead of the curve when it came to technical support and customer service. I learned there that if I took something from a client I also took responsibility for seeing it through to completion. It”s one of the premier business skills and is the foundation upon which my current business is based”.
Having excelled in technical support Kirrane and Grey encouraged Frank to try his fortune in sales. Combining his technical knowledge with his strong customer focused ethos and his upbeat and positive manner Frank was a sensation as a salesperson. In his first Christmas selling he sold a fortune of computers.
With returning health and dexterity came a renewed passion for things mechanical again. And so, when Oliver Walsh offered him the position as service manager in Walsh Connolly Motors, he jumped at it.
“Oliver was great to work with - had all the characteristics of an outstanding leader. He was a hard worker, a nice man and gave me the freedom to run the workshop as if it was my own. In addition he was always upping the bar. It felt as if you were always a rung short off the top of the ladder and when you reached it Oliver would add another two rungs. I also learned from Oliver the value of systems and to be 1000 per cent customer focused”.
In 2004 Frank went out on his own and started Frank Byrnes Autobody Repairs.
Initially he struggled. Car sales were at an all time low in early 2004 and Frank was compelled to start small. His first big clients were Mike and Ann Lynskey from Millennium Motors. Together they developed what Frank affectionately calls the “Millennium System” - a system to ensure that clients get their car back, in excellent condition, when they are promised to get it back.
Millennium Motors was followed swiftly by Western Motors, Cunningham and Higgins, MotorPark, Bradleys, and many of the other well known local western car dealerships. Frank”s reputation for service quality, technology systems and customer service - all the traits he had learned from his many masters over his years of business apprenticeship - began to pay rich dividends. It was not long before the big insurance companies began to court Frank’s business. He became an approved Repair Centre for Mercedes and Honda and now a staggering 10 insurance companies recommend Frank as their preferred supplier.
Frank is a finalist for the SIMI/Castrol Bodyshop of the Year Award that is to be announced in February. Win or lose, he now runs a world class systemised business that repairs an average of 100 cars per month from all over the country. As word of his prowess spreads, the European helicopter industry now recognises his expertise and have now begun supplying him with an ever increasing number of jobs.
Building a right team
“One of the principles of business I”ve always believed in is in getting the right people on the bus - ie building a great team. I am proud to say that the team in Frank Byrnes Autobody Repairs are exceptional and one of the key reasons for our great success”.
Frank’s initial rallying career may have been temporarily stalled by his devastating accident but Frank views setbacks as merely temporary. In the early noughties he was three times Irish Hill Climb and Sprint Champion. Over that period he shared an intense rivalry with the flamboyant Limerick driver Paul O Connell. Although O Connell also claimed three National Championships, Frank is the only competitor from below the border who successfully won the Northern Hill Climbing Championship.
He is married to Marian, who has supported him through all his various challenges and victories. They have three children Laura, Sophie and Harry.
Less than two years ago - June 2010 - Frank went for a casual run while on holiday in France. A good friend jibed him with a text saying “hear you are running internationally now”!
Like all true competitors Frank rose to the bait and commenced running. Observe his ability to set, achieve, and exceed his goals: “I figured that if I was to run there should be a purpose to it so I entered for the Streets of Galway 10K. I knew I could run it in 42 minutes so I aimed for 40 and finished in 38 minutes. The buzz was unbelievable. From there I ran a half marathon in under two hours but was appalled at all the people passing me by so I resolved to find a better way to run. I joined “Fit for Life” in Craughwell, began “running with runners” and knocked 20 minutes of my previous best. The difference was amazing. I ran my first marathon and wrote 3:45 on my hand. Despite a bad injury in the race I finished it in three hours and 46 minutes.”
Having had it all taken away from him once before, Frank is eager to give something back. Aoibhe Carroll, who started school on the same day as his daughter, tragically lost her life to meningitis three years ago and her Mum and Dad, Siobhan and Noel, are spearheading a massive campaign to raise awareness of the illness. Frank will run his first Ultra - a race of 39 miles through the unforgiving hills of Connemara - this year to support the Carrolls in their campaign.
As we conclude the interview Frank is still radiating energy. Earlier that morning he had gone out for a run with some of his racing buddies. “They stayed with me for the first nine miles. I did the other seven on my own. You really have to push yourself when you know the others are having a hot shower and a good rest. That’s the difference that makes the difference”.
No mean achievement for someone they once thought would never walk without a limp again.
Pádraic Ó Máille is the creator of The Smácht Change Programme - Ireland”s leading motivational development programme. He is currently recruiting people for an elite group that will work together on a breakthrough goal for one year. An introductory seminar will be presented by Padraic in The Pillo Hotel on Monday, February 6 at 6.30. Further details from Anne on 091 865340 or [email protected]
