Exclusive Boss Q&A: Jose Costa, Maaco

The President of Maaco, Jose Costa, went under the hood to inspect his company. He answers hard-hitting questions about his time undercover.

Where does your drive come from?
My drive comes from my family’s values and upbringing. My grandparents and parents were immigrants who came from Europe to Latin America with a dream to succeed by working hard. My father and mother have always told me to put these three things at the core of everything I do and they are: perseverance, my faith and hard work.

What motivates you to do your best at your job?
I have a true calling to help people excel at what they do. I get tremendous satisfaction from helping my team and my franchisees realize their professional, financial and life dreams.

You did a lot of jobs for the first time. Was there anything you learned by doing your employees' jobs?
I learned that I’m not as gifted as I thought when it comes to fixing and painting cars.

What did you learn undercover that you didn't expect?
It doesn’t matter where you sit in the organization all of us have similar struggles and dreams to succeed and provide for our families.

What kept you from breaking your cover when you felt close to doing so w/ Jim?
I wanted to see how far Jim would go because I knew in the end I would talk to him directly.

Are you still in touch with the employees featured on the show?
Yes, I’m in touch with Rambo and Christian. I’ve been back to both shops and got to see Rambo’s new truck and Christian’s pictures from his newborn daughter. Both are exemplary team members and I’m looking forward to building a long-term relationship with them.

Any fun stories from behind the scenes of this episode?
My son loves the Christmas nativity scene, and when he saw me undercover for the first time (the reveal) he thought I looked like one of the three kings. Traveling through the airport with my wig and TSA not noticing that I didn’t look anything close to my ID was pretty funny.