Two generations make up the Davis family business Team. L-R - Dad, Ken Davis; daughter, Sonja Middendorf; Mom, Audrey Davis; and son Wade Davis.

Ken Davis and his family made a pact about five years ago: Never to discuss business at home. It wasn’t easy. Ken, his wife, Audrey, son Wade, and daughter Sonja Middendorf, have been mingling their family and the business, Ken’s Auto Body, for a long time.

Sonja and Wade, in fact, have been hanging out at the auto body shop every day since elementary school age, and working there since their teens. Neither initially considered following in their parents’ footsteps and continuing in the business. Now, their jobs parallel the ones their parents had a few years ago: Wade supervises the mechanics and the repair operations and Sonja is the office manager.

Mom and dad are still around a lot, but they are “more gone than not.” With their children taking over the management of the business, Ken and Audrey discovered a couple of years ago they can let go a little — the shop is in good hands.

The couple have different philosophies about retirement, however. Ken, who stays in touch electronically even when away, calls himself semi-retired but would like to be retired “tomorrow.” Audrey, who says she’s a workaholic, isn’t ready “to 100 percent retire yet.”

“It’s a really competitive business but a good business,” Audrey says. Americans love their cars… I have a passion for cars like anybody else… It’s important to have that passion.”

Understanding that passion for cars is probably one of the reasons the business is tremendously successful. The body shop goes above and beyond for their customers, with things like guaranteeing the work for the life of the vehicle or giving rides to places like Tacoma.

“We really care about people, and know cars are the second-biggest investment behind the home,” Ken says.

The shop has 18 employees including the four family members, and Ken says they are “as big as we want to be.” But that may change once the second generation takes over completely. Wade plans to add tow trucks so they can handle more things in-house, and eventually hopes to open a second shop.

“There is a lot of pressure to be as good and even better,” he says. “My parents saw a good opportunity to give me a career, and I want to do everything I can to keep it up or (do) it better.”

That pressure in some ways has existed for the two young people since they were little. Growing up around the shop as the “boss’ son” was tougher on Wade, who was the oldest, Ken says. “It was probably as tough on them as it was on us,” he chuckles.

But being around each other 365 days a year has made them closer and stronger in many respects, all of them agree, even if at times they were “head to head.”
“We are stronger than ever and the business has benefited from that,” Audrey says.

“Was it a lot of work and a lot of pressure? You bet,” she says.

Originally from Oklahoma, Ken got out of the Army in 1971 at Fort Lewis, and later moved to Kitsap County at the insistence of his older brother. He got his first job in the county working for the previous owner of the shop that was located where the business is today.

He started doing some car repairs out of his garage part time, working both places. Eventually, he outgrew the garage and opened a shop behind the Red Dog saloon in Port Orchard with his brother’s help. Audrey, in those days did everything from detailing cars to working in the office.

“Once I opened my own store, it was like a house on fire,” Ken says. “It never slowed down.” He eventually outgrew that place. Ken’s Auto Body has been at its current location, on Sydney Avenue, for about 18 years, after the former owner made Ken an offer he couldn’t refuse. Being able to turn over the business to his two children means the body shop can continue its tradition. “If we couldn’t run it as a family business or be hands-on, I’d probably downsize,” he says.

Brother Darrell, a welder by trade, still works at the shop now and then. Then there is the extended family connection: Their other brother owned an auto shop in Oklahoma City, and now his son is at the helm. Occasionally, Ken’s two nephews will come from the Oklahoma business to the Port Orchard shop, and the local family goes to Oklahoma, to learn from each other.

Things will probably change for the Davis family as the husband and wife shift more responsibility to the younger generation. One thing is certain: “We can be like a normal family,” Ken says. Meaning they can talk about things like the weather at the dinner table. He says 95 percent of the time they can manage to avoid mentioning business at home.

But for Sonja and Wade, that was part of growing up: watching their parents go through struggles of building a business, being their after school themselves, hearing the discussions at home in the evening. “It’s part of me, in a sense,” Sonja says. “I’ll probably have my hand in it my whole life.”

As Audrey recalls the days when they had only one desk, and whomever had the most important job at the moment got to use it, she says she has never considered going back to work for someone else after leaving her career. Those early years were stressful indeed, “but you can’t achieve anything without dreams,” she says.

“Trying to balance it all and give it all 100 percent, when your husband needs 110, your children need 110, and your business needs 120, it took a team effort,” she says, adding that having good staff is really important.

“I love the business,” she says.